David Artiss

WordCamp Europe 2019: From Paris to Berlin

I skipped WordCamp Europe last year but didn’t want to miss this one, as it’s coming from Berlin.

And, as in Paris back in 2017, I’m here as a volunteer.

Lucie’s bedroom – our biggest house project, so far

We’ve been in our house for about 8 years and, each year for the last few years, we’re attempting to renovate a room. 4 years ago it was the kitchen, 3 years ago it was the top bedroom (aka Laura’s bedroom or, as it is now, the guest bedroom), 2 years ago it was my office and, last year, it was smaller spruce-up of the bathroom.

This year, it’s Lucie’s bedroom and it’s the biggest one yet.

WW: UI Confusion

If you wish to change measurements on the Weight Watchers (now WW) app you have to head to their website to do it (down vote for the fact that you have to). But, once there, the UI gets very confusing.

What’s in my bag? 2019 edition

Back in 2017, I revealed, after just a few months working and travelling for Automattic, what I carried with me in my backpack. 2 years on, and many more trips, and that content has changed. I don’t carry everything with me at all times and will modify the bag contents based on where I’m travelling (travel light, you know!).

What has massively changed is the amount of tech I now carry, as I was always lacking a cable or adapter. A much bigger cable organiser bag has allowed me to put all of this in one place but I’ve also taken the opportunity to review what I have and why.

What’s in my pencil case? 2019 edition

When travelling, I do so with a Clairefontaine pencil case. It’s not too big but enough for to carry a selection of useful stationary items. You see, I like my stationary. Nothing ostentatious but just good quality.

So, what do I carry?

Learning about myself: – no, I can’t remember your face!

In the last couple of years I’ve been exploring and learning more about myself – what “makes me tick” or, rather, what makes me unique (as we all are). If you look on this site’s home page, you’ll see a number of these things. Right now it reads…

Mildly bipolar, an ambivert, aphantasmic and a lucid dreamer. I’m also cross-dominant and a sufferer of sensory overload.

And this is a list I’m slowly adding to – and, for this post, I want to talk about my newest addition, being aphantasmic.

WordCamp London 2019 – Third time’s a charm

No sooner have I got back from Belgrade, I’m on a train to London. I noted the irony of flying over my hotel as my plane came into land yesterday but a day at home between trips was appreciated.

For the third year running, I’m back for WordCamp London, an annual conference for all things WordPress, the biggest held in the UK.

But, unlike previous years, I’m not volunteering.

Support Driven Expo Europe 2019

I missed last year’s Support Driven Expo but, this year, I’m in Belgrade, Serbia for their 2019 expo. Support Driven is a community of people involved within support and these expos are an opportunity for that community to meet, chat and watch some (hopefully useful) talks.

Down the middle: life as a confused average

Whether political leanings or my psychological makeup, I am straight down the middle. Average. A fence sitter.

Except I’m not.

And although I don’t doubt the accuracy of tests that find this, they’re all fundamentally flawed.

The Automattic hiring process

The Automattic hiring process is known for being pretty unique. But having been through it myself and now managing other people through it, I genuinely think it’s an amazing, forward-thinking way to do it.

There are plenty of blog posts around which tell you of the hiring process but with many of these from the perspective of those who failed in their application, the results can be inaccurate or lacking some detail. As a member of the Automattic hiring team, I thought I’d give a more definitive outline.