This is a personal blog. I am not selling anything, and I have no interest in building a profile of you. What follows is the whole picture.
Your current choice#
What I use#
Microsoft Clarity — and nothing else. No Google Analytics, no advertising networks, no tracking pixels, no email list, no comments system.
Clarity tells me which posts people actually read and where they give up. Some of what is here was written in 2007, and knowing what still gets used helps me decide what is worth updating.
Cookies, and what changes if you allow them#
Clarity runs in one of two modes, and it starts in the private one.
Without your consent — the default. Clarity is told, on every page load, that storage is denied. It sets no cookies at all. Each page view is counted under a one-off identifier that is discarded immediately, so nothing links your visit to one page with your visit to the next, or to any earlier visit.
With your consent. Clarity sets its _clck and _clsk cookies and can
follow a single visit across several pages, and recognise a returning reader.
That is the part that tells me whether people read a long post to the end or
leave halfway.
I never permit ad-related storage in either mode. There is no advertising on this site, so there is nothing to store.
What Clarity collects#
In both modes:
- Pages you visit on this site, and how long you spend on them
- Scrolling, clicks and mouse movement, used to build aggregate heatmaps
- Your approximate location, derived from your IP address at country or city level
- Your browser, operating system, device type and screen size
- The site that referred you here, if any
Clarity masks text content by default, so form fields and page text are not captured as readable content. It does not collect your name, email address or anything else that identifies you personally, and I never attempt to work out who an individual visitor is.
Data is processed by Microsoft. Their privacy statement covers what they do with it, and Clarity’s own terms describe the service.
What this site does not do#
- No advertising, and no data sold or shared with advertisers
- No cross-site tracking, and no tracking across devices
- No account, login or newsletter
The site remembers your light or dark theme preference, and your choice above, in your browser’s local storage. Neither ever leaves your device, and neither is tracking.
Changing your mind#
Use the control at the top of this page, at any time.
If you withdraw consent after having given it, Clarity deletes the cookies it set, ends the current session and carries on in the cookie-free mode. That takes effect immediately — you do not need to reload the page or clear anything yourself.
Hosting and other services#
Pages you request are served as static files, and the host will keep standard web server logs including IP addresses. Embedded content from other services — the speaking schedule comes from Sessionize — is loaded directly by your browser from those services, which will see your IP address as a result.
Getting in touch#
If you have a question about any of this, or want something looked into, reach me on any of the links in the footer.
Last updated 23 August 2026.