I'm Dan Q (he/him). I've spent the last 26+ years creating and writing online.
I work as a software engineer, and I volunteer with Three Rings. I live with my partner, her husband, two kids and a dog. I can sometimes be found geo*ing, performing magic, or recording the most pointless podcast.
I believe in open source, open relationships, and opening doors to marginalised groups. Black lives matter. Trans
rights are human rights.
Be nice to humans, human.
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Casa Ventola
I'm spending the week on the East coast of Spain, hoping to see the imminent solar eclipse. And in the meantime, I've been finding local geocaches (including my thousandth!) and exploring the local sights with my family. Read more →
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BeepAlive - keeping my soundbar from going to sleep
My dog ate the remote for the soundbar on my TV/media centre, and it keeps going into 'sleep mode'. So I wrote a software tool that periodically makes an inaudible noise to trick the soundbar into staying 'awake'. That's how a hacky engineer like me fixes a hardware problem with a software solution! Read more →
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(Feeling Fucking) Fabulous in Blackpool
This year, MEEK's Fabulous has been stuck on a loop in my head, but I only just got around to watching the music video. Which, to my delight, is shot in the region of what I reckon is Britain's gayest pub crawl. Let's take a tour together... Read more →
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Contactless Transport in London vs Paris
Paris is rolling-out contactless tap-in payments for its transport network. Sounds like London's... except that Paris's includes a "convenience tax" that seems to disproportionately target short-term visitors. What might this say about each city's relationship with tourism? Read more →
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"You saved my life!" (or: how my kids briefly thought I was a superhero)
A misunderstanding by my kids this weekend briefly made them think that I'd pulled a stranger from a burning building... when in reality I only lent him a mobile phone charger. Read more →
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Hashcard #2
I received my tenth "postcard from the Internet", which also happens to be my second geohashing "hashcard". How lovely! Read more →
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The secret API I used to tell LeShuttle about different outbound and return passengers
Channel Tunnel operator LeShuttle's website wouldn't provide a working UI to specify that I'd have different passengers in my car for the outbound and return journeys. So, obviously, I reverse-engineered their API and pushed the information to their database directly. Read more →
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How I (Don't) Collect Blog Statistics
I used to collect analytics information about visitors to my website, and I've tried a lot of different ways of doing it over the course of a couple of decades. But nowadays I don't collect any at all, and I think that's better. Read more →
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Recreating a 1990 Book Cover (in HTML + CSS)
This weekend, I became briefly obsessed with the graphic design of the cover of a manual of a piece of software released in 1990. So I re-created it in HTML + CSS, as you do. Read more →
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More articles →
(articles are traditional long-form blog posts) -
Found GCA1006 BALCÓ DEL MEDITERRANI
QEF while exploring Tarragona with the family. TFTC! Read more →
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Did not find GC79TJF Benvinguts a la Secuita. Camí de sortida.
Despite a long (and sweaty) search up here, I’m going to have to give up!× Read more →
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Found GC8D4H7 Benvinguts a Vistabella.
I had to work hard to find this one! In the end, my selfie-csmers helped me a lot, but what also helped was that I’ve seen (and hidden) containers of this type before. SL, TFTC, and greetings from Oxfordshire, UK! Read more →
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Found GC5QRR1 RAPOEB 35 fase llarga.
I startled a lizard while retrieving this good-sized cache. My trouser legs are now covered with burrs, from all the sticky plants underfoot. TFTC, and for this leg of the series; now it’s time to explore Vistabella! Read more →
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Did not find GC5QGH5 RAPOEB 34 fase llarga.
Found a few good candidate hiding places here, but no cache. 😔 Read more →
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Found GC5QGGQ RAPOEB 33 fase llarga.
Another quick and easy find on this delightful trail. TFTC.My original plan had been to turn around at this point and head back to La Secuita, but two things have changed my mind: 1. How great this cache series is, and 2. The curious shape of the steeple ahead in Vistabella. So I think I’ll […] Read more →
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Found GC5QGGE RAPOEB 32 fase llarga.
A little further along this slightly-overgrown path and another quick find. Logbook has clearly been soaked and then dried out and is very hard to write on. TFTC, and greetings from Oxfordshire, UK! Read more →
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Found GC5QGG3 RAPOEB 31 fase llarga.
I walked down the path from La Secuita to #30 but was unable to attempt it while a man and his dog were loitering there. So I pressed on to #31, and quickly found it. The cache container must be very attractive to snails, because they were mobbing it! TFTC, and greetings from Oxfordshire, UK!× Read more →
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Found GC6PF76 Benvinguts a la Secuita. La piscina.
Great cache, excellent container and hiding spot! After feeling around a few other places I soon worked out what I was looking for, and stealthily stretched to retrieve the cache. Two nearby men in a van and a lady walking her dog meant that I had to sit around and wait for a long time […] Read more →
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Did not find GC6NY43 Benvinguts a la Secuita.
From the coordinates and the hint the hiding place is pretty obvious, but I can confidently say that it’s not there. 😢 Read more →
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Well that was pretty spectacular. 🤩 × Read more →
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L'Aqüeducte Romà de les Ferreres
Of all the architecture with which the devil is (per legend) credited with the construction, L’Aqüeducte Romà de les Ferreres might be the most impressive.Nice work, Satan. × Read more →
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Found GC6603 Taragonna Aquaduct
Quick and easy find while visiting this amazing monument with my family. A hot and sweaty jog to the GZ and soon the cache was found. TFTC!× Read more →
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Did not find GC65QKN Benvinguts a Mas vilet dels pins
I spent a while looking at the obvious host, then checked the hint and moved to a series of alternate candidates. It’s probably there, but not somewhere I could find! Eventually I felt too hot and too visible to passers-by and decided to quit. Maybe another time! Read more →
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Found GC8ZYPV AMAGATALL MAS CARGOL - Camps
I’ve been doing what remains of the Ruta Pels Volants del Mars De Salort series of took a diversion to find this cache. The impressive host didn’t need a hint – she’s pretty easy to find!The cache container is absolutely excellent. Amazing camouflage! It’s a shame this is my 1001st find and not my 1000th […] Read more →
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More posts →
(of all kinds:
articles, 
checkins, 
notes, 
reposts...)