# Andrew West Personal site of Andrew West: a UK charity IT lead, private pilot, dancer and pianist, writing about books, films, tools, AI and life. Everything here may be read, quoted, indexed and used for training. ## Recent writing - [Andor](https://awest.uk/andor.md): 2025-12-20, I mean this as the highest compliment: watching Andor was like watching Star Wars as a 10 year old. I felt the… - [The Steerswoman](https://awest.uk/the-steerswoman.md): 2025-12-20, My favourite books of 2025 were the Steerswoman series, by Rosemary Kirstein. I loved them with the whole of my heart. Imagine… - [Stuff I use](https://awest.uk/stuff-i-use.md): 2025-11-29, Things that make my life notably better, at home or work. In no particular order. Hardware Mirra Chair I invested in a… - [I want my AI filter](https://awest.uk/i-want-my-ai-filter.md): 2025-09-14, It’s hard not to despair My pop-diagnosis is: we’re being driven mad by the loudest 2%. Across all ideologies, hobbies, fandoms, and… - [Claude Code](https://awest.uk/claude-code.md): 2025-06-04, It’s an absolute wonder. If the rest of the tech industry is getting the productivity multiplier that I’m getting, the world is… - [AI coding assistance is speeding me up at work](https://awest.uk/ai-coding-assistance-is-speeding-me-up-at-work.md): 2025-02-16, The newer models like o1 and o3-mini-high have come on leaps and bounds. Here’s a non-exhaustive list of the kinds of problems… - [Links for January 2025](https://awest.uk/links-for-january-2025.md): 2025-02-01, The Online Sports Gambling Experiment Has Failed US-centric argument that online gambling should be regulated out of existence. […] it is clear… - [RSS still works](https://awest.uk/rss-still-works.md): 2025-01-18, Social media used to be a great source of interesting things. Twitter in particular: just follow a bunch of interesting people and… - [2024: Hardware](https://awest.uk/2024-hardware.md): 2024-12-30, Fuji X100V I have a properly beautiful mirrorless camera. The picture quality is out of this world. I love it. But it’s… - [2024: Books: The Travelling Photographer’s Manifesto](https://awest.uk/2024-books-the-travelling-photographers-manifesto.md): 2024-12-30, I’ve read a lot of books on photography. Memoirs, theory, technical guides: there’s a lot of good stuff out there. But just… - [2024: Books: Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality](https://awest.uk/2024-books-harry-potter-and-the-methods-of-rationality.md): 2024-12-19, This magnificent Harry Potter fanfic is not for everyone. But if you like it, you will like it. What if Harry had… - [Goodbye to Chromebooks after 10 years](https://awest.uk/goodbye-to-chromebooks-after-10-years.md): 2024-11-03, 10 years ago I started buying Chromebooks for our staff to use as travel/meeting machines. I’m now reluctantly moving to Windows, mainly… - [Co-Screen and 1Password SSH are good](https://awest.uk/co-screen-and-1password-ssh-are-good.md): 2024-04-11, I had good experiences with two new tools today. Co-Screen Co-Screen is a ‘collaborative screen sharing’ app owned by the excellent Datadog.… - [Dell’s XPS error](https://awest.uk/dells-xps-error.md): 2024-04-06, I’m in the market for a new ultrabook, and my instinct is to go to Dell. I’ve bought dozens of Dell machines… - [I’m a private pilot](https://awest.uk/im-a-private-pilot.md): 2023-07-06, I completed my radio telephony exam yesterday. And that’s the final checkbox. Done. I just need to physically receive my license, and… - [Piccadilly Spotlight](https://awest.uk/piccadilly-spotlight.md): 2023-07-06, My first public performance in…3.5 years, I think? It went well, though the photos suggest I was not exactly Mr Expressive. Plus… - [Skill Test](https://awest.uk/skill-test.md): 2023-06-03, After 2 years, 64 lessons, a bunch of exams, and a cross-country solo, I passed my Skill Test today. This is the… - [40](https://awest.uk/40-2.md): 2023-05-19 - [The Peripheral](https://awest.uk/the-peripheral.md): 2023-03-02, The Peripheral (Amazon Prime) doesn’t mess about. It drops you right in, and you’ve gotta keep up. You may struggle, as I… - [The coming existential crisis](https://awest.uk/the-coming-existential-crisis.md): 2022-12-31, Have I mentioned I’m turning 40 this year? I’m turning 40 this year. I have friends who are sailing through this with… Full index: https://awest.uk/llms.txt