Hi! I’m Mike Cartmell. Originally from Blackpool in the UK, I’m now settled in Singapore with my wife and our two wonderful children.

I’ve had a long career in software development and like programming as a hobby too. I publish open-source code occasionally to GitHub and (long ago) CPAN. One particular interest of mine is making computer programs play games, such as Gin Rummy and Texas Hold ’em, and I make my own games too. I’m interested in Humane Technology and online privacy, and reject Big Tech like Facebook and Google. I self-host a lot of software I use such as my Mastodon instance, social.mike.sg.

I love to travel, and used to travel alone a lot, and I’ve been fortunate enough to visit over 40 countries around the world. That’s still currently on hold until my children are both old enough to travel, but I look forward to more adventures in the near future.

I’m into all kinds of fiction, but especially anything dark and/or psychological; I like writing as well as reading. I enjoy retro gaming, especially Spectrum, Amiga and Arcade games. I like newer games too and have a very long Steam backlog of games that I’ll get around to, eventually.

I’m also a life-long Blackpool FC supporter, like photography, and I’m a fan of curry and craft beer. In the past I used to dance salsa. I’m interested in transhumanism, artificial intelligence and ethics - especially so with the recent progress in AI!

I run a couple of other sites too: