Following instructions is usually a good idea

June 5, 2026

I asked Claude to convert a pdf flyer into an HTML format I could insert into a Markdown block in Squarespace. Here’s the result…

Must you always obey instructions?

December 10, 2021

The short answer to the question that forms the title of this article is “Yes”. Even so…

Writing technology manuals for school: why, what and how

June 4, 2019

Do you really need software and hardware manuals in school? (Spoiler alert: yes.)

Recent book reviews

Review: Power Up, by Matthew Lane

This book looks at the maths concepts — and, to some extent, the physics concepts — hidden in popular video games.

Review: The Shortest History of AI

How is it that ChatGPT, Claude and other Al models appear to perform so well at certain complex tasks that some people become convinced that they're sentient — only for them to then promptly fail at simple tasks that even a child could handle?

Review: Teacher Geek

Every so often I like to take a look, or another look, at a book published a while ago, and today I’ve been looking at Teacher Geek, by Rachel Jones.

Review: Teach Fast

The book contains some interesting ideas.

A question of leadership

I have somewhat dichotomous views of this question of whether leaders make a difference, or much of a difference. I think my views can be classified as macro and micro.