@PaulWay@aus.social avatar

PaulWay

@PaulWay@aus.social

I'm a six foot tall ape descendant in Canberra, Ngunnwal/Ngambri country. I work for a tech company, mainly in Python and on Linux. In my spare time I read, turn wood, go for walks, play with technology, 3D print, play keyboards with friends, and ride a motorbike. At of this post, no-one is currently trying to drive a bypass through my home...

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PaulWay, to random
@PaulWay@aus.social avatar

As a man, I cannot understand misogynistic men.

Obviously I can rationalise their internal beliefs as to why they do what they do - but it's like explaining the behaviour of an animal. "He's been brought up this way, so he just keeps doing what he's been taught".

OK, except these are also clever people who expect other people to change for them. Why does it never occur that the same might apply to them - that they might have to change and accommodate other people? That's what I can't understand.

Sadly I think a lot of men think of things purely in terms of power. They're constantly worried that they're not top dog, so they have to prove they are all the time by doing stupid aggressive things.

Dude. Let's just put it in simple terms. You're not top dog. You're not even a very high dog. There'll always be people who own more, who have more power, who look more successful. That's not important. It's completely useless to compare yourself to anyone else. All you have to do is to be good enough. You have to be good, and you have to be enough, for those around you.

And what you're going to have to learn, my dude, is that everything is about bargaining. You're always going to have to give up something in order to get something. If you love someone, you have to demonstrate that love by giving them some level of control - over your life together.

I went through some of my early life - up to about my early thirties - convinced I was always missing out. I kept thinking that I had done it tough, I'd struggled, I never got what I wanted. I kept on saying to myself, "on this one point I'm not going to give in, because I've given in on everything else." And I'd still lose.

Then I realised I'd been telling myself a bit of a lie. I'd actually had a pretty good life; we hadn't had a lot but we did have some pretty good advantages that set me up for a good career and a sensible life. And I realised that actually everyone else also saw themselves as hard done by, and if we all fought tooth and nail for the things we considered important then we'd just lose our teeth and nails.

Men are so much nicer when they're kind, when they don't have to show off. We can be courageous and selfless and brave and heroic, we can have chiselled jaws and strong chests - and this doesn't have to come at any cost to anyone else.

I love in "The Incredibles" where Mr Incredible admits that he isn't strong enough to watch his family be endangered. This is a guy who lifts train engines and he's not strong enough. And then Elastigirl says "you don't have to be", because they're all in this together, and they know they can do it. In that moment Mr Incredible is strong.

This won't get read much, I know. But I hope it helps some guys out there feel better about being good, and kind, and gentle, and caring.

All the best, my friends.

PaulWay, to random
@PaulWay@aus.social avatar

Today I learned that the Toyota BZ4X can only be DC fast charged twice per day. It's hard coded to prevent further DC fast charging. Sucks if you expected to just drive it like a car on a long road trip, and didn't plan for this weirdness.

To be honest I don't think this is as much of a WTF as the friend who related this news thinks it is. (I don't have a BZ4X so I couldn't give two figs about it). I could still easily structure a 900km drive in one day around leaving home on a full charge, DC fast charge in the morning, AC charge over lunch, DC fast charge in the afternoon, and that probably gets you ~1000KM.

I think it's Toyota trying to protect their batteries - which is interesting because it's something no other car manufacturer feels the need to do. Toyota paternalism or did they just buy a batch of dodgy batteries and fit them to the car anyway?

PaulWay,
@PaulWay@aus.social avatar

@decryption The Leaf, really, is this anomaly in Japanese cars.

It's obviously adapted to cold climates, where passive cooling of the battery is enough. Then it's sold here in Australia and the USA. It's designed using a Japanese charger standard which is revolutionary but basically only gets used by Nissan. It has the fundamental problem that it's aimed to trickle charge but most people in Japan do not have their own garage with a power point.

Despite this they make millions.

My favourite story about the Leaf happened when I was coming home on my Energica Experia - literally on the day I picked it up. We stopped at Mittagong RSL because there's an NRMA charger there (free at the time, remember that?). There was a lady charging a Nissan Leaf there - I looked at the car and it had Tasmanian number plates! She had driven up from Hobart to visit family in Sydney; she was on her trip back.

She loved the Leaf. She loved chargers, because she could stop and talk to the people and EV people are so friendly! She didn't mind stopping, it was lovely to see the scenery. She was happily retired so she could make it a three day trip from Sydney to Melbourne. That car suited her perfectly and its battery 'limitations' were hidden advantages to her.

PaulWay,
@PaulWay@aus.social avatar

@decryption Let's face it though that's never going to happen.

Several friends have gone to Japan and reported there are almost no electric cars there. Even Leafs are a rarity.

Why, when Japan has to import almost all of its petrol and diesel but it generates its own electricity, is it still so wedded to petroleum fuels?

There are lots of hot takes on that question out there, I've shared my own in other posts.

But realistically I don't see any of the Japanese car companies making any full transition to EVs, or making any EVs that are not basically "compliance" cars that are necessary for them to keep selling what they already make.

PaulWay, to random
@PaulWay@aus.social avatar

Donated to @alexkidman 's run for May to raise funds for Multiple Sclerosis research:

https://www.themay50k.org/fundraisers/alexkidman/the-may-50k-2024

A good cause there Alex, keep up the running!

PaulWay,
@PaulWay@aus.social avatar

@alexkidman Always start the run with your favourite song.

PaulWay,
@PaulWay@aus.social avatar

@alexkidman I didn't mean that in quite the commanding tone it takes when I see it this morning.

Mate, you're doing the hard kilometres. I'm just here to cheer you on and contribute to a good cause. Do what you like, whatever works for you.

PaulWay,
@PaulWay@aus.social avatar

@alexkidman There is only one - "Kiss" 🙂

decryption, to random
@decryption@aus.social avatar

tell me again how toyota not going 100% into EVs is a mistake - they're selling more cars then ever! I love EVs, have been driving one for 5 years, but EVs are not the answer for a large portion of motorists yet and hybrid/ICE engines have a long life ahead of them (20+ years imho)

PaulWay,
@PaulWay@aus.social avatar

@decryption @jpm You can have an unpronounceable b4ZX...

I'm wondering whether these sales figures are worldwide, or in Japan, or in Australia.

I can kind of see the brand loyalty thing. All the big car makers build the brand loyalty because they know customers want to limit their choice - pick a car from the manufacturer you already know, they probably have a range of vehicle shapes and sizes.

And IMO that's two big reasons why they're also all basically stalling on EVs. Firstly, because they don't have the range of EVs. And therefore secondly EV sales essentially eat into their existing model sales. Dealers hate this because they like selling what they know and they already know what they get out of ICE sales - lots of lovely servicing revenue. And manufacturers hate having to make a new model or redo all the parts, when you can just do a few minor tweaks on the panels of an old frame and make it look like it's fresh and new.

The Japanese car manufacturers in particular have a very good deal where the government has built in a cost to register an old car, specifically to get people to buy new cars and keep pumping money into their car industry.

And I've also heard that the 'honour culture' in Japan makes it difficult for them to not keep the deals they have with the suppliers of parts specific to the ICE engine - spark plugs, cables, ECUs, radiators, hoses, etc. I'm not sure I trust this view entirely, especially since US manufacturers are dragging their heels too and they've been also outsourcing and off-shoring all those things anyway.

To me it just comes down to: sorry, but it's imperative for the future survival of the human race on this planet that we . Sorry if that gets in people's faces with brand loyalty and decision headaches. Tough. We have to choose.

PaulWay,
@PaulWay@aus.social avatar

@decryption @jpm I wish I'd got around to finding you and chatting at Everything Open 🙂

PaulWay,
@PaulWay@aus.social avatar

@decryption @jpm Ah, OK, I had an impression ... oh well. You missed a good one, anyway 🙂

dgar, to random
@dgar@aus.social avatar

A new study has found that more than half of the branded plastic pollution found in the environment is linked to 56 companies.

https://www.csiro.au/en/news/All/News/2024/April/Global-study-finds-more-than-half-of-branded-plastic-pollution-linked-to-56-companies

PaulWay,
@PaulWay@aus.social avatar

@dgar I guess my immediate thought is: which companies aren't in the list that we would kind of expect to be there?

Things like fishing nets, PET barrels, styrofoam things... these all turn up in massive quantities but most of them don't have names of companies attached. And they almost certainly don't have the name of the company that bought them and used them and then dumped them.

If there's no styrofoam box manufacturers in that list, then it's not because we didn't find any styrofoam in the sea...

jpm, to random
@jpm@aus.social avatar

Cursed (?) idea: a protocol-translating USB1/2 to USB3 hub

PaulWay,
@PaulWay@aus.social avatar

@jpm So a kind of USB switch, rather than a hub?

If I understand what you're thinking here, you want a USB 3 hub that doesn't just push every port down to USB 1 speed when a USB 1 device is plugged in, yeah?

jpm, to random
@jpm@aus.social avatar

So, I finally finished the basic bring-up of the board I’ve been assembling the last couple of days. I found the dead short from 3V3 to GND under the ADC, but needed to do a lot of digging to find it.

Right now, the MCU seems to work using its internal oscillators, and a quick poke shows that the 12MHz crystal is working too. The I2C ADC and GPIO expander appear to be responding, but the RTC isn’t (yet?)

I also think I melted the push-buttons because they don’t push now, and there’s one LED I forgot to hook up to anything in the schematic…

PaulWay,
@PaulWay@aus.social avatar

@jpm Given that Jaycar basically steals other people's products, have you tried Altronics?

PaulWay,
@PaulWay@aus.social avatar

@jpm There's no Altronics in the ACT, so I sympathise.

PaulWay, to random
@PaulWay@aus.social avatar

I always kind of like the guy who is helping me plug my EV in to charge at his motel and says, "I reckon they'll be dead in ten years, those EVs"

"Why's that?", I ask, because conversation is always nicer than rebuttal.

"Oh, they'll never be able to make an electric combine harvester."

"I guess we'll find out sooner or later" I say.

PaulWay, to random
@PaulWay@aus.social avatar

Who's in Gladstone for already?

PaulWay, to random
@PaulWay@aus.social avatar

I also recently had a "butter chicken" pie, and the name was entirely accurate. It contained butter sauce, and chicken, and pie. Not even a hint of spice. This is a pie that would have even there faintest of the British Raj wondering where the spice was. It would have disappointed even my mother, who is famous in our family for not tolerating spice. But it was delicious and filling and at least vaguely healthy.

PaulWay, to random
@PaulWay@aus.social avatar

Why is it so difficult to find out how much long service leave you have? And why does it require a special form to apply for it rather than the standard leave application web app most companies use these days?

PaulWay, to random
@PaulWay@aus.social avatar

Working with my Galactic Cycles mix in my ears is always a pleasure, and it peaks when I hit "Dreamrunner" by Chymera:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jykdBdSo0no

The melody and harmony work together, it's just a beautiful bit of composition, and I love the kind of sparseness in it.

melissabeartrix, (edited ) to random
@melissabeartrix@aus.social avatar

What a bunch of wankers ... Just saying

"My coffee is more important than the climate" is my take of this story

Hugz & xXx

https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/food/drink/coffee-drinkers-revolt-over-huge-cafe-change-amid-was-cup-ban/news-story/6e507a0d041ecd2e1cccf0a386458d4e

PaulWay,
@PaulWay@aus.social avatar

@melissabeartrix If "horrible disposable cup experience" is the way to get people to use reusable cups, then we should have brought in coffee cups made of licorice-flavoured asbestos years ago.

PaulWay, to random
@PaulWay@aus.social avatar

I hope some day when these "loud pipes" bikers have had their hearing destroyed by their stupid exhausts, all the things they used to enjoy in the world are tainted and diminished because of their hearing loss.

No putting on nostalgic classic albums. No hearing their children say they love them, or hearing their grandchildren's first words. Every conversation should be a curse of half-heard mumbles and shouted "what was that"s.

All because they decided to annoy their neighbours she the suburbs they pass through with obnoxious flatulent motorbike noises.

PaulWay, to random
@PaulWay@aus.social avatar

Has someone already said...

PHP is the COBOL of the nineties.

PaulWay,
@PaulWay@aus.social avatar

@jpm Wordpress is still running on MariaDB and PHP. Joomla and Drupal are as well, AFAICS. Major web-facing systems, running on a language with a long and bitter history of stupid, unnecessary vulnerabilities and complexity.

Yes, I'm biased. Yes, I'm sure it now has lots of lovely features now. But the vast swathe of PHP uses legacy 'features', and I'm willing to bet $100 that most of them have had at some point an attempt to remove them and received a furious backlash from the community complaining about having to revise "millions of lines of code" that apparently depends on insecure, buggy, inconsistent and hard to use legacy functions.

I had to support a system that was written in PHP from 2011 to 2012, and it was awful. In one case I wrote a module specifically to try and bring a bit of order to it:

https://github.com/PaulWay/PHP-Console-GetoptLong

Trying to write that module in a clean, consistent way was itself hard because of the inconsistent language I had to use.

The real problem was that the people writing the code I had to support wrote bad PHP. They did not have the discipline, because they did not need the discipline. And that's why, in one case, a misfeature that has been around since the product was written was allowed to continue because the programmers said it was impossible to remove it. When I demonstrated that I had removed it, they said that it wouldn't work. When I demonstrated it working, they said it would take too much time to change all the documentation and the customers had now already learned the bad thing and so it would be too difficult to learn the good thing.

Yes, I'm prejudiced, but this is also why languages such as Python and Go and Rust exist. Because sometimes the way to write better code is to use better tools.

Woodworkers will tell you, you can't make a good table with bad tools. It might sound like it's possible, and you might get close, but it won't be a good table. It will have flaws that the bad tools have left behind which cannot be remedied by other bad tools. It'll be a table, but it won't be a good table.

PHP, and COBOL, are just bad tools.

dcbuchan, to random
@dcbuchan@aus.social avatar

Since Mastodon doesn’t give you a full thread I often see odd snippets from the middle of a conversation. @melissabeartrix keeps my constantly amused.

So I thought I might play with that. Posting some random comments to see if people find d their way back to this post.

Like if you do n

PaulWay,
@PaulWay@aus.social avatar

@MishaVanMollusq @dcbuchan @melissabeartrix

The first time I tried it I was pretty impressed. And I have to say from then on, as I've gotten used to it, it's just got even better.

PaulWay,
@PaulWay@aus.social avatar

@dcbuchan @MishaVanMollusq @melissabeartrix Didn't need to. It worked out of the box first go. And man, it is powerful! But you do want to make sure you're not using it directly overhead.

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