Will Webberley

If you're a current follower of this blog then you may already know that I'm a bit of a fan of using plain text accounting for managing…

I often talk about self-hosting on this blog, and I'm certainly a big fan of being able to control my own data and systems wherever possible…

If you've ever run your own Nextcloud before, you may have noticed screens like the following in your instance's settings pages. Nextcloud…

I recently signed the web0 manifesto, which embodies many of the values I consider to be important when it comes to technology - and the web…

🎉 This is post 100 in my attempt at the #100DaysToOffload challenge! For a couple of years I have been writing mobile apps using the…

For as long as I've been using Matrix I've hosted my own homeserver on my own VPS and at my own domain. Why I chose to move I previously…

Some people may remember my quest a few months back to find a good alternative to Google Photos for image storage and backup. At the time, I…

Most applications include some sort of outbound transactional email as part of their normal function. These email messages could be to…

I maintain a small number of projects in my spare time. The amount of time I get to work on and maintain these varies depending on my other…

A while ago I posted about how I back-up my personal servers to Backblaze B2. That approach involved adding all of the files and directories…

From the hills of Dusk's End to the small alleys of Main Street, you feel drawn to the lights of this vibrant metropolis in an uncharted…

I've really enjoyed my recent discovery of a couple of traditional-style webzines. Webzines (sometimes referred to as online magazines, or…

I've recently been reminiscing about the "old" days of the web. They felt much more like expressions of personality and creativity. These…

If you run a service that accepts file uploads from users, and then subsequent re-download by other users (such as images), then your…

Background I've recently noticed (and read) more and more posts discussing *BSD systems. Creations like the new (and excellent) OpenBSD…

Another podcast I frequently listen to likely needs no introduction of its own. The This Week in Tech (or just "TWiT") network's flagship…

Last week I gave a talk at the Bitcoin Association BSV Meet-up for Wales, hosted by Tramshed Tech in Cardiff. BSV Wales Image Before…

A few years ago I was in the position of needing a solution to backup and sync dotfiles (configuration files for various pieces of software…

It's been a few weeks since my last post about the Pinephone. Since then I have been playing further with a different graphical shell and…

For many developers, the notion of adding accessibility features - such as image text attributes to web page images and integrations with…

I was performing a standard system upgrade on an Arch server this morning and received the following messages (maintainer details redacted…

The need for notifications I self-host several services on various servers - for both some professional and personal uses. I use automated…

Another project I try to maintain (when I can!) is SSO Tools. This is a simple web service that aims to help developers test their own…

The problem with image uploads Many services - including web and mobile apps - allow for their users to upload imagery. This could be to…

Adding theming and the choice between "light" and "dark" modes to your website can enhance your site's accessibility and make it feel more…

For several years I've been a user of Goodreads. It's a very popular platform, and I primarily use it for keeping track of the books I've…

I don't tend to talk much about the projects I'm working on, but thought this would be a good opportunity to write a post about one such…

Back in April, I bought a Pinephone. I used the phone quite consistently for the first few weeks and I meant to write an update here a…

Some people have complex development processes and flows - making use of tools such as heavy editors and IDEs, Docker for running and…

Providing code snippets on your website or blog can be a great way to convey meaning for technical concepts. Using the HTML tag can help…

The Gemini protocol has gathered even more momentum in the few months since I last posted about it. Its popularity is largely driven by its…

I listen to a number of podcasts each week. One of these is ATP (Accidental Tech Podcast). ATP logo This is one of my favourite weekly…

Many web apps have support for uploading video files. Whether it's a media-focused platform (such as a video sharing service) or just…

I enjoy reading my RSS feeds across my devices - whether it's on my phone when out and about, my Mac in between bouts of work, or my iPad…

The problem Image processing and resizing is a common task in many types of applications. This is made even more important by modern phones…

Loading indicators In user-facing software, loading indicators are extremely important to let your users know that something is happening…

Google and DuckDuckGo It's common knowledge that part of Google's business model is to use the data it knows about you, your searches, and…

Wales Tech Week is an annual event held by Technology Connected. The 2021 event is running this week, aiming to bring technologists together…

Living without workspaces IDEs and richly-featured text editors - such as VS Code and Sublime Text - support many great features. One of…

Recently I've noticed that some of the RSS feeds I subscribe to have become more and more restrictive. A post might contain just a title, or…

Someone non-technical recently asked me the question, "what actually is a server?". They knew it was just a type of computer that runs…

For a couple of years now I have been using a self-hosted Nextcloud as a replacement for iCloud and Google Drive. I won't go into the…

In this post I will talk a little about how I handle my digital notes and to-do lists. In the spirit of my last post on data sovereignty…

The term 'data sovereignty' is something we hear much more about these days. Increasingly I've also heard it being mentioned in different…

I listen to a number of podcasts each week. One of these is Go Time. Go Time logo The Go Time podcast releases episodes every Thursday. Its…

As you may know, I recently purchased the beta edition of the Pinephone. It arrived last week in the Pinephone Beta Edition box shown below…

As is the case with many countries, all businesses in the UK must report the state of their financial accounts to the relevant inland…

I don't use Facebook often. In fact, I only have an account currently because our company uses the "Login with Facebook" functionality in…

Like many people, I own and manage multiple email accounts - for example, some are for work, for home, or for specific projects. I used to…

Simple and RESTful HTTP APIs The HTTP standard is an expressive system for network-based computer-computer interaction. It's a relatively…

Pre-ordering the PinePhone Beta Earlier this week I ordered a PinePhone, which recently became available as a Beta Edition. I've been…

Why use decentralised communication services Centralised communication services, such as Telegram, Signal, and Whatsapp, offer convenient…

The last twenty years of internet evolution Although I was still somewhere between being of single-digit age and a young teen back in the…

Minimising possessions Like many people I these days try and live a minimal life when it comes to possessions. Having more stuff means there…

RSS has had a bit of a resurgence for personal websites and blogs in recent years, especially with the growing adoption of Small Web and…

Python's Flask framework is an easy and excellent tool for writing web applications. Its in-built features and ecosystem of supporting…

By now I'm sure everyone has heard the horror stories about people (seemingly-) randomly losing access to their Google accounts. Often the…

For many small or personal services running on a VPS in the cloud, administration is often done by connecting directly to the server via SSH…

Many people no longer feel comfortable using Facebook. Whether you were never a member to begin with or you've had an account but chosen to…

Shapes and patterns can be leveraged in user interfaces to guide your users, draw attention to content, lend weight or emphasis, or just for…

React state React state management is what gives the library its reactiveness. It's what makes it so easy to build performant data-driven…

Many people would consider RSS - Really Simple Syndication - to be a relic of the past. However I think it has been making a comeback. RSS…

If you need a database for your next project, why not first consider if SQLite might be a good option? And I don't mean just for getting an…

If you've visited my geminispace (gemini://g.wilw.dev) you'll have noticed that I've recently been on a mission to decentralise the every…

Over the past few months I have been trying to use centralised "big tech" social media platforms less and instead immerse myself into the…

Building apps on serverless architecture has been a game-changer for me and for developers everywhere, enabling small dev teams to cheaply…

If you write React web apps that interface with a backend web API then definitely consider trying React Query. The library makes use of…

This short post introduces a useful JavaScript operator to help make your one-liners even more concise. The specification was added formally…

JavaScript has lots of handy tools for creating concise code and one-liners. One such tool is the optional chaining operator. The optional…

I recently stumbled across an article on Hacker News discussing the pros of basic personal accounting using GnuCash - a free and open-source…

This note documents the set-up of a k8s cluster from scratch, including ingress and load-balanced TLS support for web applications. It's…

ZEIT's Now service is great for deploying apps and APIs that are able to make use of serverless execution models, and I use it for many of…

A previous note about Philips Hue bulbs got me thinking that the API exposed by the bridge might be used to warn if the house lights are…

I recently blogged about Nintendo Hotspot data and mentioned it could be more usefully consumable in a native mobile app. Android Hotspot As…

Since getting a DS, StreetPass has become quite addictive. It's actually pretty fun checking the device after walking through town or using…

A couple of years ago I wrote a blog post about wrapping some of Weka's classification functionality to allow it to be used programmatically…

As is the case with many people, all music I listen to on my PC these days plays from the web through a browser. I'm a heavy user of Google…

A while ago I wrote an article for Heroku's Dev Center on carrying out direct uploads to S3 using a Python app for signing the PUT request…

In my last post I discussed methods for streaming music to different zones in the house. More specifically I wanted to be able to play music…

For a while, now, I have been looking for a reliable way to manage zoned music-playing around the house. The general idea is that I'd like…

Surf forecasts Last week I released a new version of the tides Android app I'm currently developing. The idea of the application was…

Back in March, I emailed Magic Seaweed to ask them if they had a public API for their surf forecast data. They responded that they didn't at…

I today issued a full upgrade of the server at flyingsparx.net, which is hosted by Digital Ocean. By default, on Arch, this will upgrade…

Over the last few months, I've started to use Weka more and more. Weka is a toolkit, written in Java, that I use to create models with which…

This is just a quick post to mention that I have made the source for the Gower Tides app on Google Play public. The source repository is…

My hosting for my website has nearly expired, so I have been looking for renewal options. These days I tend to need to use servers for more…

I've been having trouble connecting to Eduroam, at least reliably and persistently, without heavy desktop environments or complicated…

I wanted a way in which users can seamlessly upload images for use in the Heroku application discussed in previous posts. Ideally, the image…

A few posts back, I talked about the development of an Android app for tide predictions for South Wales. This app is now on Google Play. If…

I've taken to writing most of my recent presentations in plain HTML (rather than using third-party software or services). I used JavaScript…

Tides Main Activity I've always been interested in the development of smartphone apps, but have never really had the opportunity to actually…