Independent writing by Paul Singh on technology, code and the business of building things. Always original, never sponsored.https://www.somethingdecent.co.uk/en-gbhttps://www.somethingdecent.co.uk/development-and-coding/building-a-static-blog-with-astro-content-collections/https://www.somethingdecent.co.uk/development-and-coding/building-a-static-blog-with-astro-content-collections/Placeholder post. How a typed content schema and a glob loader catch broken frontmatter at build time instead of in production.Tue, 19 May 2026 00:00:00 GMTDevelopment & Codingastrostatic-sitestypescripthttps://www.somethingdecent.co.uk/opinions-blogs/youre-absolutely-right-gopros-support-is-just-ai-slop/https://www.somethingdecent.co.uk/opinions-blogs/youre-absolutely-right-gopros-support-is-just-ai-slop/My attempt to get help from GoPro's AI-powered support, and what it says about companies replacing humans with AI slop.Tue, 04 Nov 2025 00:00:00 GMTOpinions & Blogsaiai-slopgoproios-26https://www.somethingdecent.co.uk/opinions-blogs/comfort-in-the-chaos/https://www.somethingdecent.co.uk/opinions-blogs/comfort-in-the-chaos/A reflection on how the everyday order of modern life sits on top of chaos, and why that should bring comfort rather than dread.Tue, 30 Sep 2025 00:00:00 GMTOpinions & Blogsblogchaoscomfortopinionhttps://www.somethingdecent.co.uk/opinions-blogs/the-ai-dilemma/https://www.somethingdecent.co.uk/opinions-blogs/the-ai-dilemma/A brain dump on the AI gold rush: why shoehorning AI into everything leaves me both impressed and deeply uneasy.Sun, 04 May 2025 00:00:00 GMTOpinions & Blogsaianthropicchatgptclaudellmopenaihttps://www.somethingdecent.co.uk/opinions-blogs/if-one-thing-is-infinite-everything-is-infinite/https://www.somethingdecent.co.uk/opinions-blogs/if-one-thing-is-infinite-everything-is-infinite/A late-night thought experiment about infinity: if one thing in the universe is truly infinite, everything else must be too.Fri, 16 Aug 2024 00:00:00 GMTOpinions & Blogsbloginfinityrandomhttps://www.somethingdecent.co.uk/opinions-blogs/everybody-is-weird/https://www.somethingdecent.co.uk/opinions-blogs/everybody-is-weird/A conversation in India about feeling weird turns into a reflection on why every one of us is strange, and why that's fine.Thu, 16 May 2024 00:00:00 GMTOpinions & Blogsblog-posteverybodys-weirdhuman-conditionhttps://www.somethingdecent.co.uk/opinions-blogs/everything-is-fckd-and-thats-perfect/https://www.somethingdecent.co.uk/opinions-blogs/everything-is-fckd-and-thats-perfect/An acknowledgement that the world is a mess, and an argument for why accepting the mess is the first step to being at peace with it.Wed, 17 Apr 2024 00:00:00 GMTOpinions & Blogsblogeverything-is-fuckedeverything-is-perfectopinionhttps://www.somethingdecent.co.uk/development-and-coding/react-components-and-dynamic-html-data-attributes/https://www.somethingdecent.co.uk/development-and-coding/react-components-and-dynamic-html-data-attributes/How to pass dynamic HTML data attributes to React components with a reusable, type-safe pattern.Tue, 18 Jul 2023 00:00:00 GMTDevelopment & Codingcodingdata-attributesreacttutorialshttps://www.somethingdecent.co.uk/opinions-blogs/the-problem-with-a-b-testing-stop-calling-it-conversion-rate-optimisation/https://www.somethingdecent.co.uk/opinions-blogs/the-problem-with-a-b-testing-stop-calling-it-conversion-rate-optimisation/Why most A/B testing isn't really conversion rate optimisation, from an engineer who has spent years building the tests.Sun, 18 Jun 2023 00:00:00 GMTOpinions & Blogsab-testingconversion-rate-optimisationcroexperimentationweb-developmenthttps://www.somethingdecent.co.uk/opinions-blogs/proposal-for-an-industry-wide-crypto-recovery-plan/https://www.somethingdecent.co.uk/opinions-blogs/proposal-for-an-industry-wide-crypto-recovery-plan/A proposal for how the crypto industry could recover trust after the latest crash, beyond waiting for the next bull run.Sun, 02 Apr 2023 00:00:00 GMTOpinions & Blogsblockchaincryptocurrencieshacksrecovery-planscamhttps://www.somethingdecent.co.uk/opinions-blogs/being-mixed-race-is-weird/https://www.somethingdecent.co.uk/opinions-blogs/being-mixed-race-is-weird/I can distinctly remember my introduction to the concept of race. It occurred when I was 5 - 6 years old, walking home from school.Mon, 20 Feb 2023 00:00:00 GMTOpinions & Blogsblogenglish-indianmixed-raceopinionracehttps://www.somethingdecent.co.uk/opinions-blogs/a-new-direction-for-something-decent/https://www.somethingdecent.co.uk/opinions-blogs/a-new-direction-for-something-decent/As part of my new year's cleanup I have decided to attempt to tidy up Something Decent and take the site in a new direction.Fri, 06 Jan 2023 00:00:00 GMTOpinions & Blogsa-new-directionhttps://www.somethingdecent.co.uk/development-and-coding/javascript-proxies-a-lesser-known-super-power-another-article-by-chatgpt/https://www.somethingdecent.co.uk/development-and-coding/javascript-proxies-a-lesser-known-super-power-another-article-by-chatgpt/An ELI5 explanation of the JavaScript Proxy class, written by ChatGPT as another experiment in AI-generated content.Wed, 07 Dec 2022 00:00:00 GMTDevelopment & Codingchatgptdevelopmentjavascriptproxiesweb-devhttps://www.somethingdecent.co.uk/development-and-coding/javascript-events-whos-listening-an-article-by-chatgpt/https://www.somethingdecent.co.uk/development-and-coding/javascript-events-whos-listening-an-article-by-chatgpt/An ELI5 introduction to JavaScript event listeners, written by ChatGPT as an experiment in AI-generated content.Mon, 05 Dec 2022 00:00:00 GMTDevelopment & Codingchatgptdevelopmentevent-listenersjavascriptopenaihttps://www.somethingdecent.co.uk/development-and-coding/cro-development-a-brief-introduction/https://www.somethingdecent.co.uk/development-and-coding/cro-development-a-brief-introduction/A frontend developer's introduction to conversion rate optimisation: what CRO is, how test builds work and what the job actually involves.Sat, 12 Mar 2022 00:00:00 GMTDevelopment & Codingconversion-rate-optimisationcrocsshtmljsweb-devweb-developementhttps://www.somethingdecent.co.uk/development-and-coding/getting-started-with-trellis-bedrock-and-sage/https://www.somethingdecent.co.uk/development-and-coding/getting-started-with-trellis-bedrock-and-sage/A practical guide to setting up a modern WordPress development stack with the Roots ecosystem: Trellis, Bedrock and Sage.Mon, 26 Oct 2020 00:00:00 GMTDevelopment & Codingbedrockdevelopmentfeaturedguideroots-iosagesetting-up-roots-iotrellistutorialswordpresshttps://www.somethingdecent.co.uk/development-and-coding/learn-with-a-layman-beginning-with-the-basics-css-part-1/https://www.somethingdecent.co.uk/development-and-coding/learn-with-a-layman-beginning-with-the-basics-css-part-1/Part one of the CSS basics: what stylesheets are, how selectors work and how to start styling your first web page.Sat, 15 Aug 2020 00:00:00 GMTDevelopment & Codingcssdeclarationsfeaturedlearnlearn-web-developmentlearn-with-a-laymansyntaxhttps://www.somethingdecent.co.uk/opinions-blogs/london-to-glasgow-or-st-albans-by-foot/https://www.somethingdecent.co.uk/opinions-blogs/london-to-glasgow-or-st-albans-by-foot/How my attempt to walk from London to Glasgow ended in St. Albans, and taught me the importance of a good tent.Thu, 23 Jul 2020 00:00:00 GMTOpinions & Blogsbackpackingcampinglondon-to-glasgowtravelwild-campinghttps://www.somethingdecent.co.uk/opinions-blogs/london-to-glasgow-by-foot-hopefully/https://www.somethingdecent.co.uk/opinions-blogs/london-to-glasgow-by-foot-hopefully/The plan: walk from London to Glasgow. The kit, the route and the questionable optimism behind the attempt.Mon, 13 Jul 2020 00:00:00 GMTOpinions & Blogsbackpackingcampinglondon-to-glasgowtravelwild-campinghttps://www.somethingdecent.co.uk/development-and-coding/animate-the-click-event-with-pure-css/https://www.somethingdecent.co.uk/development-and-coding/animate-the-click-event-with-pure-css/How to animate an element on click without JavaScript, using pure CSS in place of the usual event listener.Fri, 06 Dec 2019 00:00:00 GMTDevelopment & Codingcsscss-animationfeaturedlearn-csspseudo-classesweb-developmenthttps://www.somethingdecent.co.uk/development-and-coding/learn-with-a-layman-beginning-with-the-basics/https://www.somethingdecent.co.uk/development-and-coding/learn-with-a-layman-beginning-with-the-basics/The basics of how HTML, CSS and JavaScript fit together, explained in plain English for absolute beginners.Wed, 06 Nov 2019 00:00:00 GMTDevelopment & Codingfeaturedjavascriptlearn-jslearn-with-a-laymanwhat-is-htmlwhat-is-javascripthttps://www.somethingdecent.co.uk/development-and-coding/learn-with-a-layman-an-introduction/https://www.somethingdecent.co.uk/development-and-coding/learn-with-a-layman-an-introduction/The introduction to Learn With a Layman, a beginner-friendly series for taking your first steps toward learning JavaScript.Mon, 21 Oct 2019 00:00:00 GMTDevelopment & Codingbeginnersfeaturedfree-web-development-coursesjavascriptlearn-jslearn-with-a-laymanweb-developmenthttps://www.somethingdecent.co.uk/opinions-blogs/can-we-really-have-democracy-without-conscious-sovereignty/https://www.somethingdecent.co.uk/opinions-blogs/can-we-really-have-democracy-without-conscious-sovereignty/Do we really have democracy? How can it be so when we do not possess total sovereignty over our own consciousness?Fri, 06 Sep 2019 00:00:00 GMTOpinions & Blogsconsciousnessdemocracydrugsfeaturedpsychedelicssocietyhttps://www.somethingdecent.co.uk/opinions-blogs/london-pride-2019-and-my-lesson-in-partying-solo/https://www.somethingdecent.co.uk/opinions-blogs/london-pride-2019-and-my-lesson-in-partying-solo/On July the 6th 2019 the world celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Pride gay rights movement. I attended London's festival alone.Wed, 10 Jul 2019 00:00:00 GMTOpinions & Blogsgay-rightslondonpride-2019socialsocietyhttps://www.somethingdecent.co.uk/opinions-blogs/alabamas-anti-abortion-ruling-is-a-huge-step-backwards-for-the-human-race/https://www.somethingdecent.co.uk/opinions-blogs/alabamas-anti-abortion-ruling-is-a-huge-step-backwards-for-the-human-race/The recent anti abortion ruling by the Alabama State Senate represents a huge step back for the progression of society.Sat, 18 May 2019 00:00:00 GMTOpinions & Blogsanti-abortionfeaturedopinionnpoliticssocietyhttps://www.somethingdecent.co.uk/opinions-blogs/travel-tips-for-backpacking-in-india/https://www.somethingdecent.co.uk/opinions-blogs/travel-tips-for-backpacking-in-india/Practical travel tips for backpacking in India: staying healthy, staying safe and making the most of the sub-continent.Thu, 09 May 2019 00:00:00 GMTOpinions & Blogsbackpacking-in-indiafeaturedguideindiatravel-tipstravellinghttps://www.somethingdecent.co.uk/opinions-blogs/extinction-rebellion-have-highlighted-the-issue-when-will-the-elite-listen/https://www.somethingdecent.co.uk/opinions-blogs/extinction-rebellion-have-highlighted-the-issue-when-will-the-elite-listen/The Extinction Rebellion protests are gaining worldwide publicity but when will the world's elite listen to the masses about climate change?Tue, 23 Apr 2019 00:00:00 GMTOpinions & Blogsclimate-changeextinction-rebellionfeaturedglobal-warmingprotestswealth-disparityhttps://www.somethingdecent.co.uk/opinions-blogs/thinking-in-binary-when-life-is-one-big-decimal-point/https://www.somethingdecent.co.uk/opinions-blogs/thinking-in-binary-when-life-is-one-big-decimal-point/An opinion piece which questions the binary thinking pattern which is used by many people with polar ideologies.Sun, 14 Apr 2019 00:00:00 GMTOpinions & Blogsbinary-thinkingfeaturedfootball-team-effecthive-mentalityopinion-piecerandom-tangenthttps://www.somethingdecent.co.uk/opinions-blogs/animal-aid-unlimited-a-non-profit-saving-animals-in-udaipur/https://www.somethingdecent.co.uk/opinions-blogs/animal-aid-unlimited-a-non-profit-saving-animals-in-udaipur/Animal Aid Unlimited is a non profit organisation based in Udaipur, India. We volunteered for a week and saw the work they do first hand.Tue, 09 Apr 2019 00:00:00 GMTOpinions & Blogsanimal-aid-unlimitedanimal-charityanimal-rescue-indiafeaturedopinionrandom-tangentudaipur-animalshttps://www.somethingdecent.co.uk/opinions-blogs/londons-ulez-charge-another-tax-on-the-citys-financially-unstable/https://www.somethingdecent.co.uk/opinions-blogs/londons-ulez-charge-another-tax-on-the-citys-financially-unstable/London's proposed ULEZ charges will affect the city's financially unstable by hitting them with extortionate charges for going to work.Fri, 30 Nov 2018 00:00:00 GMTOpinions & Blogsfeaturedlondon-congestionlondon-pollutionpoliticspoor-chargeulez-chargehttps://www.somethingdecent.co.uk/opinions-blogs/elon-musk-smokes-weed-joe-rogan/https://www.somethingdecent.co.uk/opinions-blogs/elon-musk-smokes-weed-joe-rogan/Elon Musk took a couple tokes on Joe Rogan's weed joint and the world lost their mind while forgetting his real message.Tue, 18 Sep 2018 00:00:00 GMTOpinions & Blogselon-muskelon-musk-smokes-weedfeaturedjoe-roganmainstream-mediateslahttps://www.somethingdecent.co.uk/opinions-blogs/travelling-happiness-the-lack-of-social-media/https://www.somethingdecent.co.uk/opinions-blogs/travelling-happiness-the-lack-of-social-media/On travelling without social media: what a month away from the feeds taught me about happiness and being present.Tue, 21 Aug 2018 00:00:00 GMTOpinions & Blogscampingdepressionfeaturedhappinessnaturesocial-mediasocietytravellinghttps://www.somethingdecent.co.uk/opinions-blogs/cyclists-really-nuisance/https://www.somethingdecent.co.uk/opinions-blogs/cyclists-really-nuisance/A London cyclist asks whether cyclists really deserve their bad reputation, and what cycle-shaming says about how we share the road.Thu, 05 Oct 2017 00:00:00 GMTOpinions & Blogscycle-shamingcyclistsdangerous-driversfitnessking-of-scotslifestylehttps://www.somethingdecent.co.uk/opinions-blogs/remember-knocking-for-someone/https://www.somethingdecent.co.uk/opinions-blogs/remember-knocking-for-someone/A nostalgic look back at knocking for your mates: life as a youth before the internet and mobile phones took over.Fri, 22 Sep 2017 00:00:00 GMTOpinions & Blogsknocking-for-your-matelife-pre-internetnokia-5110https://www.somethingdecent.co.uk/opinions-blogs/no-i-want-fries-in-that/https://www.somethingdecent.co.uk/opinions-blogs/no-i-want-fries-in-that/A pointless-but-important rant about burgers: why don't burger joints put the chips inside the burger by default?Mon, 11 Sep 2017 00:00:00 GMTOpinions & Blogsburgerchipsfoodfrench-friesscoff-talkhttps://www.somethingdecent.co.uk/opinions-blogs/my-disastrous-norway-adventure-blog-part-two/https://www.somethingdecent.co.uk/opinions-blogs/my-disastrous-norway-adventure-blog-part-two/Part two of my disastrous Norway adventure: driving through the mountains as the mishaps continue to stack up.Thu, 16 Mar 2017 00:00:00 GMTOpinions & Blogsnorwayroadtriptraveltrolltungahttps://www.somethingdecent.co.uk/opinions-blogs/my-disastrous-norway-adventure-blog-part-one/https://www.somethingdecent.co.uk/opinions-blogs/my-disastrous-norway-adventure-blog-part-one/Part one of my disastrous Norway adventure: a road trip of camping mishaps, wrong turns and lessons learnt the hard way.Thu, 16 Feb 2017 00:00:00 GMTOpinions & Blogsnorwaypart-oneroad-triptravelhttps://www.somethingdecent.co.uk/opinions-blogs/if-youre-looking-for-decent-summer-playlists-check-these-youtube-channels/https://www.somethingdecent.co.uk/opinions-blogs/if-youre-looking-for-decent-summer-playlists-check-these-youtube-channels/A short list of YouTube channels serving up great summer playlists full of remixes, chillout mixes and deep house tunes.Thu, 02 Jul 2015 00:00:00 GMTOpinions & Blogschillout-musicdeep-houseloungesoulful-music-mixesyoutube-playlists