@pwaring@fosstodon.org avatar

pwaring

@pwaring@fosstodon.org

UK Whovian, railway & politics geek and event organiser. Freelance PHP developer and Linux system administrator. He/him/Paul

Most toots deleted after 3 months

Book reviews and updates: https://ramblingreaders.org/user/pwaring

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pwaring, to random
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Someone really wants me to vote in the upcoming GM mayoral elections, as I have been sent EIGHTEEN copies of the booklet with the candidate statements (all addressed to me on the envelope, so it's not a lazy post-person sticking all the booklets for our block of flats in one letterbox).

Also it's a bit depressing how many candidates are explicitly anti the Clean Air Zone (no one is explicitly pro, not even the Green candidate).

pwaring, to scifi
@pwaring@fosstodon.org avatar

4.13 Sentient Trains (out of 5) was a good score for The Terraformers by Annalee Newitz at @mcrscifi this evening. Next book is The Cries of Alaere by Barra Hart if anyone wants to join us - despite the Manchester name we meet online, 19:00 UK time third Tuesday of each month (except December).

pwaring, to random
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If you're in the UK, the deadline for registering to vote in the upcoming elections (local, mayoral and others, depending on your location) is 23:59 today.

You can also register for a postal vote if you want to avoid the new ID requirements for voting in person.

Online options are only available in some parts of the UK, so you might need to hand-deliver a paper form instead.

https://www.gov.uk/register-to-vote

pwaring,
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@edavies It's only England & Wales, though there could be Scottish elections at short notice if there's a by-election or Sunak finally decides to go to the country.

pwaring,
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@edavies It's a right mess having each part of the UK do something different, even to the point of eligibility requirements (but I guess that's the price of devolution).

pwaring,
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@james Your wording is actually more restrictive, since you do not need to be a British citizen in order to vote (especially in local elections).

pwaring, to random
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On days like this you realise how little slack there is in the UK train system. A track inspection overrunning early this morning means cascaded delays to trains in the afternoon because the staff are now in the wrong places (our train currently has no driver, sadly I don't think they'll let me have a go).

pwaring,
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Just had a computer announcement that TPWS and AWS are operational, which is good news given that they both relate to safety systems (the driver is powering up the train).

pwaring,
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@penwing Train Protection and Warning System and Automatic Warning System (it is a Northern service for my monthly trip to Warrington). Both will warn the driver if a signal is passed at danger and in most cases automatically apply the brakes, though they can be overridden.

popey, (edited ) to random
@popey@mastodon.social avatar

[POLL] Bookmarks in your browser?

pwaring,
@pwaring@fosstodon.org avatar

@popey I use them for sites I visit often (mostly in the bookmarks bar) rather than things to remember to look at later (for that I use a simple web app that lets me tag instead of using folders). More like a 'most read' shelf than bookmarks.

pwaring, to random
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Instead of saying 'this meeting could have been an email', I am getting in early this morning with 'could this meeting be an email?'

pwaring, to random
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Got on the bus for free as the card machine wasn't working, and of course that also means it's the 1 in 500 journeys when ticket inspectors get on - thankfully they believed me (I guess they could also ask the driver).

pwaring,
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@penguin42 I think it's all linked into the same thing now, so they couldn't issue any tickets or scan passes (most people had a ticket or pass, but I bought a single each way as that's cheaper).

oggcamp, to random
@oggcamp@mastodon.social avatar

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pwaring,
@pwaring@fosstodon.org avatar

@oggcamp Do those prices include VAT, or is it added on top (makes a big difference for anyone who can’t claim it back)?

pwaring, to Bread
@pwaring@fosstodon.org avatar

People who make their own bread or soup: is it possible to do this without using a lot of salt but still have an acceptable taste? I really like both bread and soup but anything pre-made has huge amounts of salt in (2g for a tin of soup, 0.5-0.8g for every couple of slices of bread or a roll, so a serving of soup + bread is often >50% of the RDA for salt).

pwaring,
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Also cooking is hard when you don't like doing it and you live by yourself (so much fresh food like lettuce has a very short use by date but comes in huge packets).

pwaring,
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Thanks for all the comments on bread + soup, it's given me... food for thought.

Soup with less salt sounds like the best place to start, especially as soup makers are available. Even if I can get a serving down from 2g that will be an improvement.

pwaring,
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@linuxlucy Their books are already on my list. 😀

A saucepan requires a working hob, which I lack at the moment (I can't decide whether to try and get it fixed, replace the oven entirely, or go further and get a better kitchen).

pwaring,
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@linuxlucy It's a combined oven and hob, with horrible ceramic (I think) plates. A cheap kitchen that probably hasn't changed since the flat was built 20 years ago (it was rented before I bought it). I could do with more workspace and sockets as there's barely any room to put things down.

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.

pwaring,
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@bloor My favourite wasn't trying to gain an advantage as such, but I had to explain my ESG credentials. This is quite difficult for a sole trader who doesn't recycle (because I don't generate any business waste), has a terrible gender ratio (100% male), makes all business and pay decisions unilaterally and doesn't recognise any unions...

tante, to random
@tante@tldr.nettime.org avatar

One of my pet peeves when it comes to conferences. I know that sometimes you just add something last minute but don't celebrate creating your presentation the evening before.

I don't even give a shit about professionalism it's just a big "fuck you" to your audience who invested money, time, etc. to see you. https://mastodon.social/@ambv/112230099949047603

pwaring,
@pwaring@fosstodon.org avatar

@tante It's the same to the organisers too, who are often volunteers and have put in more time than anyone else. I used to hate it when people would leave breakfast to work on their slides, for a talk that was due to be given in less than an hour...

pwaring, to random
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Finally got round to sending a request to the Internet Archive to remove all my personal sites from the Way back Machine, since they don't respect robots.txt or offer any other way to opt out. Really annoys me that they archive all my copyrighted content without permission, and for no benefit to me (Google at least sends me traffic).

b0rk, to random
@b0rk@jvns.ca avatar

been thinking about how a lot of things that I thought were always true in git have exceptions, like:

  • git's reflogs are append-only, they just get pruned after 90 days (true, except for the stash)
  • you can use the diffs from git show to reconstruct the contents of a commit (true, except for the diffs it gives you for merge commits)

are there other things that you thought were "always true" in git that turned out to have exceptions that surprised you?

pwaring,
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@b0rk git log will show you the whole history for a file (it doesn’t follow moves for example, unless you explicitly tell it to, and even then it doesn’t always work as expected)

pwaring, to random
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Don't think I'll ever buy something that needs assembly from Argos again. Part was missing when I opened the box.

  1. Online order of spare parts: Not available for this item (it doesn't have a part number).

  2. Online chat: We can't do anything, call the store.

  3. Call store: Always busy so you get redirected to the overflow call centre... who can't do anything.

  4. Visit store: TODO

IKEA OTOH: 6 digit code for each part, order online, posted immediately free of charge, no quibble.

pwaring,
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@kinnison Possibly, but I hope not. They did print off some paperwork so it looked like they were going to label it and return it to their distribution centre.

But this reminds me of the UK PC manufacturer who, on receiving a return, would stick a label on it and ship it to the next customer...

pwaring,
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@pavsmith @sldrant I've had parts left over from IKEA before, but I count everything before assembly and it's always been a case of one extra screw (e.g. 9 instead of 8), so I know I haven't forgotten anything.

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