Weeknotes – series 07 episode 18 and 19

User acceptance testing (UAT)

This week I'm heading out to observe user acceptance testing for the thing I've been working on for most of the past 12 months. This is a big milestone! I'm nervous but also looking forward to learn more from users.

Bookmarks

• Introducing Bloggers about Blogging by Matt Jukes
• Using AI to generate web forms from PDFs by Tim Paul
• The Elements of Product Design by Jamie Mill
• A user-centred approach to renaming a service by Ruth Drake and James Nicholson
• "Yes or No?" — One Checkbox vs Two Radio Buttons. By Sara Soueidan
• SVG Export

In It Together festival

Later on in the week I'll be heading to In It Together, a music festival in Port Talbot (which is very close to me). So it's going to be a short week in work.

This is the festival's 3rd year, and it's great to see the line-up getting better every year. The smaller stages have a great mix of drum and bass, reggae and Welsh alternative rock.

Looking forward to seeing Congo Natty, Dr Meaker, Los Dedos, The Mysteries, Adwaith, Melin Melyn, Gruff Rhys and N’Famady Kouyaté.

Snakes!

We have a snake who appears to have moved into our garden. We're pretty sure it's a grass snake. We keep catching it sunbathing by our tiny pond. The pond is full of tadpoles, so I guess the snake is eating them. Hopefully some survive to be frogs!

A year or two ago, I decided to stop mowing the garden, apart from a few paths, so I'd like to think I've created the perfect habitat for the snake.

Great grandad

I also learnt recently that my great grandad setup a health centre for miners in the Welsh valleys in 1946, two years before the NHS was created.

According to accounts of him online, he was a progressive doctor, atheist, noted actor and lapsed communist. He even plays himself in a short film that is available via the British Film Institute (BFI)…

• Mining Review 2/3: Miners' Health Centre (1948)
• Portrait of a Miner: The National Coal Board Collection Volume One (2-DVD set)

I knew he was a doctor, but I had no idea about the details of what he achieved.

I love hearing stories about public service and worker solidarity that resulted from the mining industry in South Wales. So it's amazing to hear that some family members were involved in a little bit of history like that.

Sort of related… I spotted that it was the Pits and Perverts 40th anniversary recently. If you want to learn more about that, I recommend watching the film Pride.