{"source":"https://substrate.dougbelshaw.com","title":"Substrate","updated":"2026-10-24T08:05:49.000Z","items":[{"title":"A stock-looking Rockbox theme for the iPod 5G I built a few years ago","url":"https://substrate.dougbelshaw.com/a-stock-looking-rockbox-theme-for-the-ipod-5g-i-built-a-few-years-ago","date":"2026-10-23T20:33:26.000Z","category":"notes","excerpt":"At the start of 2023, I built an iPod: a 5th generation iPod Video with a 1TB SSD, a bigger battery and a transparent front. The hardware's been great, but keeping it in sync with my large music library has not. My library now stands at around 290GB, in a mix of formats. Apple’s…","image":"https://substrate.dougbelshaw.com/api/uploads/29974f7b-146a-4f67-9dc9-631297c9046a.png","imageAlt":"Classic Revival promo image with screenshots"},{"title":"What even is 'digital sovereignty'?","url":"https://substrate.dougbelshaw.com/what-even-is-digital-sovereignty","date":"2026-10-23T10:13:33.000Z","category":"notes","excerpt":"We've now got a page up for the Digital Sovereignty Unconference that FIELD STATION early next year. To accompany that, Tom and I have co-authored a new dispatch entitled Digital sovereignty is ours to shape which not only points to that page, but gives our view of what we mean b…","image":"https://substrate.dougbelshaw.com/api/uploads/07873d1d-018b-4276-88a0-358ec042e162.webp","imageAlt":"Stylised photo of Tyne Bridge"},{"title":"Updated consultancy website","url":"https://substrate.dougbelshaw.com/updated-consultancy-website","date":"2026-10-21T06:17:06.000Z","category":"notes","excerpt":"Yesterday was a quiet day, so I spent time updating a few things. First up, my LinkedIn profile to be more intentional about the pivot towards systemic work I'm making in the second half of my career. As such my headline now reads: \"Strategy and systems thinking for mission-drive…","image":"https://substrate.dougbelshaw.com/api/uploads/cbea3b6c-abf1-4e87-9a67-89595542530b.png","imageAlt":"Part of Dynamic Skillset website showing three ways to work together"},{"title":"The 'scenius' of open doctoral knowledge","url":"https://substrate.dougbelshaw.com/the-scenius-of-open-doctoral-knowledge","date":"2026-10-19T15:35:07.000Z","category":"notes","excerpt":"Back in 2011, I defended by doctoral thesis. My intention had been to livestream it, which the external examiner was up for, but which my institution, Durham University, wasn't. They did, however, allow me to donate my thesis to the public domain, using a CC Zero license, which y…","image":"https://substrate.dougbelshaw.com/api/uploads/b6930acf-75f5-4f5f-9e7a-37cffdc0e70b.jpg","imageAlt":"Abstract geometric composition showing two overlapping circles with the larger circle surrounded by concentric segmented rings broken at four radial gaps, evoking a target, coil, or schematic cross-section with the smaller circle partially covering the top."},{"title":"Reticulating Splines and decompiled games","url":"https://substrate.dougbelshaw.com/reticulating-splines-and-decompiled-games","date":"2026-10-19T15:12:17.000Z","category":"notes","excerpt":"Over the past few weeks, there's been a lot of attention paid to decompiling: A decompiler is a computer program that translates an executable file back into high-level source code. Unlike a compiler, which converts high-level code into machine code, a decompiler performs the rev…","image":"https://substrate.dougbelshaw.com/api/uploads/0cc36a68-3ecb-4c26-b346-1efa1a95d0f4.png","imageAlt":"Screenshot of 'Reticulating Splines'"}]}