@ahnlak@kavlak.uk
@ahnlak@kavlak.uk avatar

ahnlak

@ahnlak@kavlak.uk

Freelance (Web|System|Game) Developer. Builder of BlitHub, among other things. Can still be found https://kavlak.uk/@ahnlak on Twitter. Ex-Londoner Livin' la Vida Loca in Rural(ish) Wales. He/Him. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

reader of sci-fi : average cook : lazy gardener : intermittent homebrewer : semi-retired drinks blogger

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revk, (edited ) to random
@revk@toot.me.uk avatar

Strike 5!

What is wrong with Monmouthshire Council?!

ahnlak,
@ahnlak@kavlak.uk avatar

@revk I suppose they do have to unwind years of "we skip that place", but you would have thought they'd remember by now (although maybe you're just on a later route?)

bloor, to random
@bloor@bloor.tw avatar

I cannot overstate how angry it makes me when customers attempt to implement "Supplier Terms" onto their suppliers long after a contract has been formed, or try to implement new policy that never existed before like "no PO, no pay". Or require a "supplier questionnaire" to be completed.

If you're a supplier, push back.

Tell them there are admin charges for completing a questionnaire, or tell them you can't agree to their "supplier terms".

It's always an attempt to gain advantage unfairly.

ahnlak,
@ahnlak@kavlak.uk avatar

@bloor happens a lot as a contractor, and for some reason the vast majority of contractors seem programmed to just roll over and do what they're told.

People always seem surprised when I tell them that isn't happening without coming to a fresh negotiation.

ahnlak,
@ahnlak@kavlak.uk avatar

@bloor I do sometimes miss my contractor days. I loved haggling with agencies, which is odd because I hate haggling in shops / markets.

I think what I enjoyed most was that they never seemed to understand who had the actual power (i.e. I could just walk and they could explain why to the end client 🤣 )

gadgetoid, to python
@gadgetoid@fosstodon.org avatar

I’d really appreciate someone who understands apt packaging for packages helping me with rpipins and picopins for the . Just used rpipins to debug some inputs and it’s too good to suffer the fate of Python virtual env monkey business!

I use pyproject/hatch. Surely there’s just a “make apt packaging easy” plugin!?

ahnlak,
@ahnlak@kavlak.uk avatar

@gadgetoid how does apt-packaged Python stuff handle the venv traincrash? Does it install stuff into every venv, or ... something else?

ahnlak,
@ahnlak@kavlak.uk avatar

@gadgetoid that's somewhere between "good" and "terrifying" then 🤣

revk, to random
@revk@toot.me.uk avatar

Well that was an annoying power cut.

Mainly because it was only a few minutes. Had it been (so the battery estimated) 19 hours (assuming no sunshine) then I could have felt smug, and offered neighbours cups of tea.

But being so short we had a very brief blip before the battery switched over. That meant some devices (light control mostly) froze up, and I had to manually power cycle lighting circuits. I may have to upgrade them as the ESP32 ones seem better.

ahnlak,
@ahnlak@kavlak.uk avatar

@revk we're mid speccing solar, came to the conclusion that the UPSes catch short power cuts and long ones aren't regular enough to justify the price of gridless support.

I give it six months before this theory is proved wrong ;-)

ahnlak,
@ahnlak@kavlak.uk avatar

@Ryanteck @revk oh we're getting battery(ies) but not the fancy expensive ones that can run off grid ;-)

ahnlak,
@ahnlak@kavlak.uk avatar

@revk @Ryanteck well indeed. We'll be well overspecced on panels, given that they're cheap and easy to put up while they're already on the roof ;-)

Sadly WPD aren't keen on letting us export over the standard :-(

revk, (edited ) to random
@revk@toot.me.uk avatar

Well, this is a bugger.

It is e-paper, so I know exactly when I got in to the shower, forgetting it is not waterproof.

I hope it dries out!

(Yes, we have come fully circle, from the days of the detective declaring when the man died because his watch stopped, through the "broken digital watch shows nothing", right back to "time frozen on screen", even if in Alteran characters)

The poor thing is buzzing randomly on my desk (has a vibrator) - I feel so sorry for it!

ahnlak,
@ahnlak@kavlak.uk avatar

@revk have you considered a moisture detector inside the silicone which screams when you get it wet? ;-)

revk, (edited ) to random
@revk@toot.me.uk avatar

Cultural differences?

If someone replies to something with "bless your heart", do you take it as

ahnlak,
@ahnlak@kavlak.uk avatar

@revk hmm, to me it reads closer to "that's a naively optimistic view" then either of those.

ahnlak,
@ahnlak@kavlak.uk avatar

@revk that said, it's definitely one with a cultural nuance - if I heard it in a broad Irish accent, for example, it would be much more of the sincere, supportive tone.

kavey, to food

Part of lunch yesterday was this fabulous dish, anyone know what it is? First time I've had it and I loved it!

ahnlak,
@ahnlak@kavlak.uk avatar

@kavey stir fried chocolate!

hollowman, to random
@hollowman@fosstodon.org avatar

My verminmedia hub 3 has defaulted over night.
I suspect @virginmedia

ahnlak,
@ahnlak@kavlak.uk avatar

@gadgetoid @Ryanteck @hollowman one benefit to being so rural is that I own every single AP my devices can see.

(the downside, of course, is that my Internet comes sluggishly down a bit of wet string I can see out of my window wrapped around our magnolia tree...)

revk, (edited ) to random
@revk@toot.me.uk avatar

Yep, looks like we have the hat trick, that being the rubbish truck leaving without collecting our stuff. That is three different collections, three days in row. This calls for a visit to them in town I think. If they are not going to actually collect rubbish, eventually the pavement will end up blocked.

On the plus side, I now have more bags for paper/cans/etc, as they could not say when they will re-collect the full ones.

ahnlak,
@ahnlak@kavlak.uk avatar

@revk success!

FWIW although they always say "collection schedule will not change on <holiday>", things always run a little behind for a day or two.

ahnlak,
@ahnlak@kavlak.uk avatar

@revk well you're on a fairly main road, I imagine they're driving past you all the time :)

karohemd, to random
@karohemd@dice.camp avatar

Woke up from my nap too late but Ghostbusters: Afterlife is on BBC 1 right now. I really enjoyed that one.

ahnlak,
@ahnlak@kavlak.uk avatar

@karohemd @kavey I know the critics weren't keen but it felt like a very loving tribute to the original film, capturing a lot of the spirit (pun unintended!)

ahnlak,
@ahnlak@kavlak.uk avatar

@karohemd @kavey it's got a lot of Easter eggs for fans (which I suppose makes it rather appropriate for the season!)

revk, (edited ) to random
@revk@toot.me.uk avatar

OK, screen scraping Monmouthshire council site.

Seems to work, we'll see how it copes with the changes on the day.

Backlight LEDs know bin colours too :-) (boring when only one is green)

ahnlak,
@ahnlak@kavlak.uk avatar

@revk when did they start collecting nuclear waste?!

ahnlak,
@ahnlak@kavlak.uk avatar

@revk perhaps a more urgent question is how you're producing nuclear waste ;-)

ahnlak, to random
@ahnlak@kavlak.uk avatar

There is a very special circle of hell reserved for people who allow you to whitelist IP addresses to access their API, but don't allow you to provide a subnet.

Which is all find and dandy until your system cycles it's IPv6 address on a regular basis for ... some really good technical reason I haven't managed to disable yet.

I'm looking at you Farcebook (although they're probably already destined for hell for a number of other reasons...)

ahnlak,
@ahnlak@kavlak.uk avatar

@seanddotmedotuk I mean I suppose I should be grateful they even have an IPv6 endpoint.

There's lots of confusing things about IPv6 (for example, the fact my system keeps cycling it for "privacy"!), but subnets are pretty much the same as "classic" IP.

revk, (edited ) to random
@revk@toot.me.uk avatar

A week is something of a milestone. Going well.

... maybe ... checking a router that did not do well this evening.

ahnlak,
@ahnlak@kavlak.uk avatar

@revk FWIW, their "local info" page is the most reliable "what day is what" source for an individual address, even if the 'find' is a UI nightmare - https://maps.monmouthshire.gov.uk/localinfo.aspx

revk, to random
@revk@toot.me.uk avatar

WTAF

A contact email on a web site that is "not monitored", and a reply saying to follow a link which is not a link (plain text email).

Arrrg!

Please note that this mailbox is not monitored. If you need to log a report or request a service please follow this link: Request a Service Using My Monmouthshire. For all other matters during normal office hours you may call: 01633 644644 or to see someone in person call into your nearest Community Hub.

ahnlak,
@ahnlak@kavlak.uk avatar

@revk @TimWardCam I think if their website tells you anything, it's that Monmouthshire is not a technically-minded operation.

ahnlak, to random
@ahnlak@kavlak.uk avatar

In today's Internet Of Shite, one of our Amazon Echoes has declared that our WiFi password is wrong, and refuses to connect even after a factory reset.

Our WiFi password has not changed.

richardknott, to random
@richardknott@mastodon.social avatar

In France at the moment, not only is their a legal requirement for car parks over a certain size to have solar panels, supermarkets with smaller car parks are now doing it voluntarily as it makes them money

image/png

ahnlak,
@ahnlak@kavlak.uk avatar

@richardknott of course, if we did it in this country someone would just nick the panels and/or drive an overheight van into them... ;-)

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