Remembering Frederick Forsyth
Frederick Forsyth, the master of geopolitical thrillers, passed away on June 9, 2025, at the age of 86. He left behind a legacy that captivated readers like me and redefined the genre.
Remembering
2025
232 posts
Pentecost
Looking back from this point Pentecost has been a constant. From childish wonder to adult conviction the story holds.
Christianity
Remembering Bill Atkinson
Bill Atkinson, a brilliant computer scientist and software engineer, passed away on June 5, 2025. He left an incredible mark on the world of technology, especially for Mac users like me.
Remembering
Redesigned Swift.org is now live
The Swift.org website has been redesigned by the website workgroup to be more approachable for newcomers, highlight Swift’s technical strengths, and emphasise its multi-platform support.
Development
Octopussy and The Living Daylights by Ian Fleming
In Ian Fleming’s You Only Live Twice, the twelfth book in the James Bond series, Bond is a broken man, dealing with personal tragedy and a failing career.
Books
Swift at Apple: Migrating the Password Monitoring service from Java
The Password Monitoring service for Apple’s Passwords app, introduced in 2024, was rewritten from Java to Swift, achieving a 40% performance increase, better scalability, and lower resource usage.
Development
Monthly update #0421 • May 2025
Monthly update 421 • May 2025 • 2025-05-01 - 2025-05-31
Monthly Updates
Westerbork Path part 27
Hiked 8.5 kilometres from Wijster to Beilen.
Hiking
Westerbork Path part 26
Hiked 10.6 kilometres from Kremboong to Wijster.
Hiking
Westerbork Path part 25
Hiked 11.6 kilometres from Hoogeveen to Kremboong.
Hiking
The Holy Bible - Psalms
The Book of Psalms is a treasure trove of 150 poetic prayers, songs, and laments that capture the full range of human emotions, joy, sorrow, praise, fear, and hope. Written by various authors, including David, these psalms express the heart’s response to God’s presence, power, and promises.
Christianity
Ascension Day
Looking back from this point Ascension Day has been a constant. From childish wonder to adult conviction it holds.
Christianity
The Man with the Golden Gun by Ian Fleming
In Ian Fleming’s final James Bond novel, The Man with the Golden Gun, the legendary 007 emerges from a presumed death, brainwashed by the Soviets and tasked with assassinating his own boss, M.
Books
Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky
Dive into the mind-bending world of Fyodor Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment! This epic novel takes you on a wild ride through the dark underbelly of 19th-century St. Petersburg.
Books
You Only Live Twice by Ian Fleming
In Ian Fleming’s You Only Live Twice, the twelfth book in the James Bond series, Bond is a broken man, dealing with personal tragedy and a failing career.
Books
Westerbork Path part 24
Hiked 15.0 kilometres from Koekange to Hoogeveen.
Hiking
Westerbork Path part 23
Hiked 14.1 kilometres from Meppel to Koekange.
Hiking
The Holy Bible - Job
Dive into the heart-wrenching world of Job, a righteous man whose life is shattered by unimaginable suffering. Wealth, health, and family all vanish, leaving him to grapple with the profound question of why the innocent endure such pain.
Christianity
On Her Majesty's Secret Service by Ian Fleming
In Ian Fleming’s eleventh James Bond novel, 007 goes on a mission that’s both personal and dangerous. He’s got to find Ernst Stavro Blofeld, the mastermind behind SPECTRE, in his Alpine hideout.
Books
The Holy Bible - Esther
Have you ever heard of the Book of Esther? It’s a super cool story about a Jewish girl named Esther who becomes queen in the Persian Empire.
Christianity
Lange Duinen
Hiked 23.1 kilometres from Amersfoort to Hollandsche Rading.
Hiking
The Holy Bible - Nehemiah
The Book of Nehemiah is a powerful narrative of restoration and leadership, detailing the rebuilding of Jerusalem’s walls and the spiritual renewal of God’s people after the Babylonian exile.
Christianity
The Spy Who Loved Me by Ian Fleming
In Ian Fleming’s The Spy Who Loved Me, the tenth book in the James Bond series, the story takes an interesting turn. It’s told from the perspective of Vivienne Michel, a young woman in a dangerous situation at a remote motel in the Adirondacks.
Books
The Holy Bible - Ezra
The Book of Ezra is a stirring account of God’s faithfulness in restoring His people after the Babylonian exile. It chronicles the return of the Jews to Jerusalem, the rebuilding of the temple, and the renewal of their covenant with God.
Christianity
ICYMI: Memory Safety, Ecosystem Talks, and Java Interoperability at FOSDEM 2025
The Swift community showcased a robust presence at FOSDEM 2025, Europe's largest open-source conference in Brussels, with talks emphasising memory safety, a diverse ecosystem for web services and embedded projects, and Java interoperability.
Development