Robin Phillips

Don't gatekeep pride

2026-06-22T11:22:18+01:00

We went to our local pride on Saturday. We’ve been going for years. When we first went, I thought I was a cis/het ally. I’m not sure if going to pride helped me realise that I’m non-binary, but it certainly didn’t hurt.

I occasionally see people say that straight people shouldn’t be at pride. I think that’s a very bad idea, for several reasons.

How could you possibly police such a policy? One or both partners in what looks from the outside like a straight couple might be bisexual or pansexual.

One or both of them might be trans (despite what the TERFs desperately want us to believe, you can’t always tell) or non-binary.

It’s even harder to tell if an individual is LGBT or not, unless they choose to make it obvious. Even if such a policy is not actively policed, anyone who doesn’t adequately perform queer will feel unwelcome.

There will be people at pride who know they’re queer, but aren’t ready to come out yet. It might not be safe for them to come out. Would you really want to deny them the solidarity of being with people who understand?

There will also be people like me when I first went to pride, that aren’t straight, but don’t realise it yet. I was forty-eight before I realised I was non-binary, and I mourn those years.

For most of that time, I had no idea that non-binary was a thing. I just knew I had thoughts and feelings that nobody else seemed to have, and which I quickly learned not to express. If I hadn’t gone to pride, I might would have worked it out eventually, but I would have even more years to mourn.

Book review: Platform Decay by Martha Wells

2026-05-20T09:02:00+01:00

Platform Decay is number eight in the Murderbot Diaries series. So if you haven't read the previous books, I'd strongly recommend reading those first. It's probably possible to read this without reading the others, but it does assume some prior knowledge, so certain things won't be fully clear initially, but context will probably explain them well enough after a while.

I thoroughly enjoyed it, and if you're a fan of the series, I think you will too. In this book, Murderbot has a new mental health module. Whenever its organic neural tissue "started to generate weird chemicals or whatever", it prompts Murderbot to check in on its mental state.

This means that the narrative includes periodic emotion checks, which give an insight into its mental state. I thought that was an interesting addition.

(Emotion check: I just really need some media.)

In this book, Murderbot has volunteered to carry out a rescue mission. But it's rescuing people it doesn't really know, including a child, and of course, children can be even more disgusting than adult humans. Cue anger, irritation, disgust, and even the occasional good feeling.

Someone on the fediverse mentioned that it's shorter than they're used to. I didn't notice, but the audiobook is less than six hours long, so it's shorter than most novels. Importantly, though, it doesn't feel rushed or cut short. It feels as long as it needs to be to tell the story.

International Museum Day

2026-05-18T09:03:00+01:00

Today is International Museum Day. My local museum is undergoing a major refurbishment, so most of it is closed. The Spitfire gallery, theatre and cafe are still open, and there’s a small display of items chosen by museum staff.

On Friday, the family went to a film screening (the local cult film club shows films in the museum theatre). During the intermission, we had a drink in the cafe, and I saw the key in the photo.

The key is the key to Lidice. It was presented to the Lord Mayor of Stoke-on-Trent in 2017, when they visited Lidice to mark the 75th anniversary of the massacre and destruction of the village. There are only three such keys, and the fact that one was given to Stoke-on-Trent is a mark of the connection between the two communities, a connection born of atrocity and compassion.

I tell the full story in A Ray of Light, but the short version is that in 1942, Hitler ordered the Czech village of Lidice to be destroyed in retaliation for the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich.

The village was completely (and literally) erased, even being removed from maps. At the end of the process, there was nothing left. But a doctor in Stoke-on-Trent galvanised the local miners into action, and they raised the equivalent of nearly two million pounds in today’s money.

That money was used to rebuild the village, and it still stands today. Hitler had wanted the memory of Lidice to die, but the village still lives on, with a monument to all those that have been killed in war.

The people of Stoke-on-Trent should be very proud of what their ancestors did for Lidice. The key is a powerful reminder of the atrocity and the compassion with which it was answered.

Let people enjoy what they like

2026-05-09T16:49:38+01:00

When I was a teenager, I went to see Anthrax play live at Sheffield City Hall. I distinctly remember someone telling me that my music tastes would mellow as I got older. I shrugged - either my tastes would change, or they wouldn’t. I didn’t really care, nor could I see why it mattered.

I recently turned 55, and one of my presents was tickets to see The Big Four Tribute Band at Eleven, a local live music venue. They played songs by Anthrax, Megadeth, Slayer, and Metallica. It was a great night.

The person who said that to teenage me said it with a definite air of superiority. I honestly think they thought that as I got older and wiser I’d come to see that I was wrong about the music that I liked.

I have a request. Please don’t tell people that their music tastes will mellow as they get older. Maybe they will, maybe they won’t. It doesn’t matter either way. But most especially, don’t tell them (or imply) that they are wrong to like it. Just let them enjoy what they like. You might not like it, and that’s OK too.

Book review: The Illusionist by Robert Hutton

2026-05-06T20:52:58+01:00

I recently finished reading The Illusionist: The true story of the man who fooled Hitler by Robert Hutton. The author is one of the hosts of the War Movie Theatre podcast, which is where I heard about this book.

The book tells the Second World War story of Dudley Clarke, who was tasked with deceiving the Italians and Germans as to the Allies’ plans in North Africa and the Mediterranean. I’d heard of Clarke before, and some of the operations that are mentioned in the book, but I’ve not seen the deception story told in this much detail before.

It's an interesting story, and Hutton tells it in an engaging manner. It’s an easy read, comparing Clarke to a stage magician, making the audience (in this case the Axis powers) look in the wrong place and see the wrong things.

If you have any interest in the Second World War, or unusual ways of fighting, this is an excellent book and highly recommended.

Palm m505 and keyboard

2026-04-15T17:55:00+01:00

I’ve written before that I used to own a Palm m105, that I bought a second-hand m100, and that I’m fascinated by the idea of writer decks. A while ago I bought a couple of cheap Palm keyboards, but my m100 wasn’t compatible with either of them. Internet searches revealed that one is designed for the m500 series, the other for a Palm 3c.

I kept an eye on eBay, and got a cheap m505. The battery was dead, so it only worked in the cradle, but it came with two cradles and two power supplies. The cradles have USB connectors, so I was able to plug it into my laptop to try synchronising with J-Pilot.

At first J-Pilot wouldn’t work, but I soon found that it would work if I ran it as root, which suggested a permissions issue. To fix that, I had to add my Linux user to the dialout group. Then I had to install a user on the Palm (just a question of selecting the relevant menu item in J-Pilot), and I could synchronise everything.

Having established that I was able to synchronise and install applications on the m505, it was worth trying to replace the battery. Fortunately, I was able to get a battery on eBay and iFixIt have a guide to replacing the battery.

On connecting the m505 to the keyboard, I discovered that it requires a keyboard driver. I downloaded one from PalmDB.net and used J-Pilot to install it.

So I now have a small display and keyboard, making a writer deck that will fit in two pockets. If I type into the built-in memo pad application on the m505, J-Pilot will sync the notes to my Linux desktop, and I can copy/paste the text to wherever I need.

At this point, I’m not sure how much use it will get as a writer deck. If I find it useful, I’ll look into writing applications for the Palm, and other ways to turn the text into a useful format on my desktop. But copy/pasting from J-Pilot is good enough while I’m just trying it out.

Help me choose a book title

2026-04-07T11:34:00+01:00

My next book will be about Operation Colossus, the first ever use of paratroopers by the British Army.

I’ve picked out some possible titles and subtitles that I like, and have set up a simple poll to get feedback on them. Please fill in the poll to let me know which ones you prefer.

In other book news, I’ve added an AI policy to my author website. The short version is: I don’t like generative AI, and I don’t use it in my research or my writing.

I've installed human.json on this blog

2026-03-29T11:35:00+01:00

I read about human.json a little while ago. I’ve now installed it on this blog, and vouched for some other sites.

I don’t expect it to take off and become a huge part of the web. But that doesn’t mean it won’t be useful. The fediverse is tiny compared to the big commercial social media sites, but it’s useful and important to millions of people, including me.

I don’t like generative AI, and this is a small way to push back against the encroachment of AI into everything.

Neil describes human.json as “a bit of whimsy” and he’s not wrong. But I think that’s a good thing. Whimsical is human, and as AI becomes more and more entrenched, we need more humanity and more whimsy.

Retro Computing

2026-03-16T11:36:00+00:00

I sometimes see retro computing posts online. I have no interest in old Commodore 64s, Amigas, or game consoles. But a while ago I bought a second hand Palm m105 and reminded myself how much I used to love mine.

When they were current, I badly wanted a Psion series 3 or 5. I recently managed to get a series 3 and a 3a for reasonable prices. They’re impressive machines, especially considering their age.

If I can get a serial cable for the Psion, it will be interesting to work out how to copy files between them and my Linux laptop. I might then experiment with using one as a writer deck. Or I might try writing something in OPL, the Psion’s built-in programming language.

Giving blood

2026-02-12T11:38:00+00:00

Yesterday I donated my 50th pint of blood. Because it was my 50th, I got a card. A new gold donor card, badge and certificate will be coming in the post. I don’t care about the card, badge, or certificate. But hopefully they encourage others to keep donating.

I’m happy to give blood, but my autism means that I find it difficult. There is a form with a series of yes/no questions. Some questions instruct you to ignore the next question if you answer no. Sometimes I miss that, answer the next question, then feel bad because I’ve filled it in wrong.

But if I leave the next question blank as instructed, the nurse will check with me, then fill it in and initial it. Then I feel bad because I didn’t fill it in.

There’s always a radio on in the donation area, which makes things difficult. Also, people keep asking me if I’m OK. I know it’s not small talk, it’s a medical professional actually checking in on me. But I find it difficult in exactly the same way as I find small talk difficult.

After the donation, I have to sit and have a drink and snack. I understand why, but I find it uncomfortable, especially if someone tries to engage me in conversation.

As I said, I’m happy to give blood. I just wish it was a bit friendlier to my autism.