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Some work.
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The big bustimes.org news is that now I can tell, using open data, when certain (Arriva and Stagecoach) bus journeys are cancelled, and even when some (Stagecoach) ones are part-cancelled, skipping certain stops due to roadworks or something. Something like this has existed in Ireland and London for some time, but now it exists in a few more places, and it’s another step towards solving the problem of ghost buses.
I thought I’d be more enthusiastic, but there was a weeks-long delay between the data becoming available and my releasing anything using it, and even now it’s unfinished and slipshod. Maybe I’ve lost some joie de vivre, but also I’d’ve felt more motivated if it covered any buses in my local area yet.
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A few weeks ago, the Information Commissioner’s Office communicated some concerns about the cookie banners. Of course I was happy to make the changes requested, grateful for the clarity, and flattered to be on the list of top websites they’re focusing on. I was only a bit bemused by the form they sent me to fill in, which was in the form of a Microsoft Word document containing form components which I don’t think it’s possible to fill in really properly without buying and installing the desktop version of Word?
(Yes cookie banners are bad, the industry needs to give its heads a wobble, and most websites should simply not use cookies for the purposes that require consent … the only half-acceptable excuse is needing the money from programmatic advertising, which conveniently happens to be my excuse.)
Now my eyes have been opened, I keep noticing other websites with non-compliant cookie banners, like mine used to be. I’m not indignant, but rather smug that they (for example the hated Spectator and also the New Statesman) are apparently not top enough to have been prioritised by the ICO yet.
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🎦 Bring Her Back (2025) was the most horrified I’ve been this year, well done everyone.