Weeknote: 25 August 2025 – Lego Soundwave, ZX Next, iOS 26, apps, VPNs and school uniforms
Soundwave superior! For once, my Stuff column is a properly light-hearted one, rather than me griping about something. Well, apart from chastising teenage me for selling his toys, the massive idiot. Still, I get to revel in a chonky Transformers Soundwave that’s also a Lego set. YASSSSS.
Speaking of Lego, I updated Stuff’s guide to the best upcoming Lego sets and OH MY at that WALL-E and EVE kit.
The ZX Spectrum Next is a hit. There’s lots of bullshit rattling around in retro-gaming circles right now, with a certain ‘new’ company supposedly against toxic social media deciding to be toxic on social media about its rivals. Hmmm. By contrast, the ZX Spectrum Next mob all seem rather lovely about everything. And so it pleases me greatly that the third ‘issue’ of the new ZX Spectrum managed over 1,000% of its funding target, pulling in a whopping £2.6m. If this really is going to be the last ever official Next, that’s a pretty spectacular finale.
iOS 26. Bleh. I still can’t stand Liquid Glass (or, as of dev beta 6, Liquid Frosted Glass). I don’t understand what it’s for, in terms of user benefit. It just seems to be for Apple to say “hey, look at our flashy light refraction tech!” Fortunately, there are good bits in iOS 26, as outlined in my latest tips piece for Stuff.
Apps! I don’t write about apps as much as I used to (mostly because hardly any publications now want app coverage, alas), but the odd piece still rocks up. In fact, this past week, I wrote three. For Stuff, I added AudioKit Synth One J6 to the best free iPad/iPhone apps round-up, wrote a Photomator deep dive, and updated TapSmart’s best task manager apps for iPhone feature.
VPNs are bad! Apparently. In the non-shock of the week, the UK government is now mulling age-gating VPNs and arguing (wrongly) that individuals verifying keeps children safe and so people should stop using VPNs.
Ultimately, Labour’s implementation of the Online Safety Act is starting the process of normalising mandated accounts tied to unthinking verification for any site that might have content that isn’t all suitable for children. Additionally, MPs are bigging up big UK drops in traffic to Pornhub as a victory, but with no context whatsoever. It may be people have moved to other sites, or users are now ‘invisible’. Vilifying a ‘good actor’ porn site also feels very right-wing USA…
Anyway, there’s a big Bluesky thread here that tries to unravel my response to various aspects of this. But first go and read Girl on the Net’s excellent Age verification: what’s the harm?
I hate school uniforms. Mini-G is heading to secondary in September and we’re now immersed in buying her extensive garb. It’s expensive. The number of mandated items is ludicrous. Most of them are single supplier, from a supplier that is woefully inconsistent in sizes – and that has stock issues with whatever mini-G needs. Helpfully, the school has noted it will be zero-tolerance on uniform infractions.
I’m so sick of this bullshit. There is no real evidence that uniforms are beneficial. Plenty of other European countries merely have school clobber guidance, and their kids do a lot better than Brits in school, in terms of academia and socialisation. Ultimately, our obsession with uniforms goes back to class and conformity, and it’s absurdly outdated. I’ve heard arguments it’s about ‘preparing’ children for work. But not that many companies mandate people wearing a suit these days. And I don’t see any benefit in an 11-year-old child wearing a fucking tie to school every day. Fume.
“with a certain ‘new’ company supposedly against toxic social media deciding to be toxic on social media about its rivals”
Is this about the new Commodore? I looked at their Twitter, and the only example of them mentioning a competitor that I could find was the tweet of them mentioning the end of the Speccy kickstarter (“Only a few hours left before the ZX Spectrum Next crosses the finish line ahead of us! Let’s make Commodore history together”), which I read as them promoting the Speccy Kickstarter with some good-natured ribbing thrown in. Is there some drama I’m missing?
I wouldn’t want to miss any Internet drama about 40-year-old computers 🙂
As an aside, I didn’t back the Next, but if they do another run of these, I hope they give it a mode to make it work like a regular keyboard. That way, I could justify having that thing sitting on a desk, because while I’m unlikely to actually use it for its intended purpose, I think it looks hella cool.
(The argument for uniforms I’ve heard is that it removes the stigma associated with not having the latest clothes. At least one study has concluded that uniforms can lessen the financial burden on families. Even though they’re not cheap, they’re more affordable than having to buy brand-name clothes so your kid doesn’t get beaten up at school. But I don’t know if uniforms are the best way to solve that.)
Oh, I forgot:
“chastising teenage me for selling his toys, the massive idiot”
At least you don’t have a mom who thought comic books were bad for kids, gave away your pristine collection of first-run 70s Spider-Man comic books (including number 1) to your best friend, who immediately proceeded to cut out the pictures with a pair of scissors and paste them on his school books.
I’m not even going to look up what these are worth now.
@Lukas: The post didn’t go down well with people in turning it into a competition, and pushing the new C64 to “win” the argument “forever”. Perhaps it was just clumsy, but as a company that has repeatedly banged on about the ills of social media, it could and should have done better.
Uniforms: kids always find something. But there’s no evidence things are worse in countries without uniform. And in the UK, kids will have a go at others about different things instead, be that shoes, bags, coats, or even uniform items being tatty. They’re an anachronism. (Moreover, they aren’t fit for purpose. I’m not sure what value there is in having a 5yo wearing a branded uniform with expensive smart shoes vs clothes fit for comfort and play. And if most adults no longer wear a uniform, it’s bizarre to have children do so.)
As for the comics: oh my. That’s horrible. My parents were rather the opposite: they kept pointedly saying ARE YOU SURE? when I was gleefully selling my childhood for peanuts at a car-boot sale. I regret doing so in some cases. (I don’t give a hoot about eg He-Man nor even Star Wars. But I’d very much like to still have my old Transformers. Somehow, teenage me didn’t offload the Zoids. No idea why, but I’m happy about that!)