TomF

TomF, 21 hours ago to random

"Very English Conan, what is best in life?"

"To crush the tea leaves, see the milk added before then, and to hear the lamentations of the kettles."

TomF, 3 days ago to random

Spending our 30th anniversary in Walla Walla - a wine town in Washington State. Biggest surprise so far - walking to Safeways! I thought this sort of walkable mixed use planning was illegal in America these days etc...

TomF, 4 days ago to random

Rewatching Twin Peaks, and of course everybody knows it was filmed near North Bend and/or Snoqualmie in Washington State. And I've been there a bunch - it is a lovely part of the world - and seen the signs for the Twin Peaks tourist traps etc.

But then the Sheriff's Department pops up and HOLY SHIT that's DirtFish Rally School! I know that place well - we go there once a year to drive sideways in mud. At the time of filming it was a lumber mill, which DirtFish took over afterwards.

TomF, 11 days ago to random

"Two men say they're Jesus - one of them must be wrong"

TomF, 11 days ago to random

Drag racing guys are so weird. Half their cars are "garage queens" - they look great, but they never actually use them. But oh look at the heavy tools they reach for if you call them "drag queens"...

TomF, 12 days ago to random

Well it's too hot for my celtic brain, I'm knackered from having fun in cars all day, and I've just failed to see the aurora from either of my houses, and now I'm whingeing about it on the internet. I'm having a real #FirstWorldProblems day. Time for bed.

TomF, 13 days ago to random

Holy crap tomorrow's aurora looks insane! If you're anywhere even close to Canada, try to get somewhere without too much light pollution.
https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/communities/aurora-dashboard-experimental

TomF, 14 days ago to random

I'm glad Biden has found a place to draw a line against Netanyahu. It feels like he's been wanting to for a while. Behind the scenes the politicos have been trying to dangle the carrot for ages, and it's not worked, so now it's time for the stick.

Unfortunately, I don't think even copious applications of the stick months ago would have made a single bit of difference. Bibi just wants to kill people. What a mess.

TomF, 19 days ago to random

Finally finished The Good Place. What a masterwork! The density of jokes, the forwards and backwards references, the stuff you have to pause to spot - all so delicious.

Almost none of it is quotable without gigantic spoilers. Amazing.

TomF, 20 days ago to random

Discovered today that the Windows Snipping Tool does video (and audio) recording now. Works great - does a screen subrect, captures the mouse, can pause and resume. When did this happen? Super useful.

TomF, 21 days ago to random

I find it frustratingly ironic that C# doesn't have the C # operator.

TomF, 23 days ago to random

Huh. I discuss electric vehicles with people quite a bit, and a lot of them would like to avoid Tesla for many reasons (build quality, El*n) but it's so hard to get away from the goodness of the amazing charging network.

And now that's gone. Seems like a poor decision. Oh well.

TomF, 23 days ago to random

I don't agree with punishing companies who happen to be in Israel. But I see no other way to stop this bullshit than to use every lever that exists. And the government of Israel won't listen to screaming people. But they will listen to screaming companies.

Are boycotts a form of economic terrorism? Abso-fucking-lutely. But companies aren't people. So this is how it is.

TomF, 26 days ago to random

A bit of rain at lunch time, but the afternoon turned into a lovely day to go vroom with friends. Now if my car will just stop disassembling itself mid race...

TomF, 1 month ago to random

Computers like the ZX Spectrum had each 8x8 block have 1 bit per pixel, and that 1 bit selects between two colours chosen by an 8-bit attribute. For the Spectrum the attribute had 3 bits for colour 0, 3 bits for colour 1, 1 bit to make them bright, and a completely pointless "flash" attribute.

But what if you had twice as many bits?

Well, you'd have four colours per pixel to choose from, and a 16-bit attribute chunk. So 16/4 = 4 bits per colour. Same as the Speecy. Buuuut....

TomF, 1 month ago to random

<me, trying to remember a movie>: Errr - it's the hacker one with the guy. He was in the pirate thing.

Wife: Johnny Depp?

Me: no, the gay pirate thing.

Wife: Black Sails?

Me: no, the OTHER gay pirate thing.

Wife: Our Flag Means Death?

Me: yes!

(I was looking for the movie "Free Guy" - got there eventually)

TomF, 1 month ago to random

Dreams can be very specifically weird sometimes.

Last night I was swapping out the ECU on John Carmack 's black E30 BMW so it would drift better. Annoyingly the sunroof leaked and kept dripping on me.

Maybe I should eat less cheese before bedtime.

TomF, 1 month ago to random

I had not realised that the "Baltimore Oriole" is not just a sports team, it is also the actual name of the bird.

But as a US bird named after a person (Lord Baltimore, first proprietor of Maryland) it is due to be renamed shortly, because colonialism.

But even if it is renamed something like the Slightly More Yellow Than Black Than That Other Oriole (they're all yellow and black - naming them gets tricky) I guess the sports team will retain its name, since they are in Baltimore?

TomF, 1 month ago to random

All these years I've listened to Dire Straits - only just realised the "six blade knife" is a guitar. I am very intelligent.

TomF, 1 month ago to random

Oops nearly hit send on an email where I wrote "knock-off" when I meant "knock-on" and that would have changed the meaning quite dramatically. English is an eccentric language.

TomF, 1 month ago to random

Trip to Cali by plane completed with 0 (zero) infectious diseases! This has basically never happened before - I would always catch something either going to coming back. Thankyou N95.

TomF, 1 month ago to random

Sigh. I have some very clear opinions on gender in sport, but they're complex & subtle, and defy a bunch of common assumptions about sport (e.g. that sport is, or even should be, "fair").

But I'm also sure that most people reading it will get mad at what they THINK I'm saying, and never actually get to the end and discover what I'm ACTUALLY saying. So you know - why bother?

TomF, 1 month ago to random

Rental car review - 2024 VW Jetta. Really liked this car. Bad rental tires of course, but within those limits the handling was excellent. Engine is the base spec turbo 1.5L, and struggled a bit on steep hills, but it was fast enough to not be a problem. Adaptive Cruise Control is a first for me - slightly annoying in places, but once you get used to it, a handy tool. Android Auto, comfortable ride, huge storage space, average 33mpg over 800 miles. Would absolutely rent again.

TomF, 1 month ago to random

Trying to figure out why the company Slack server isn't showing me any new messages for the last 24 hours. Finally realized - it's Saturday. There just aren't any.

TomF, 1 month ago to random

WTF is an "AI-capable chip". It's either Turing-Compatible or it's not. Everything else is just a question of performance.