@raymierussell@mastodon.scot avatar

raymierussell

@raymierussell@mastodon.scot

I am just this guy y'know.

Mostly retro games and programming.
Bad jokes, Politics and a bit of soldering occasionally

Download my free #ZXSpectrum Puzzle game "BlockZ"

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raymierussell, to random
@raymierussell@mastodon.scot avatar

Okay which big story is Rishi trying keep out the news by announcing an snap election.......

jbond, to random
@jbond@mastodon.social avatar

A study in the UK has found that electric cars hit more pedestrians than petrol cars. Mostly because the pedestrians can't hear them. Without victim blaming, perhaps the pedestrians should pay more attention when entering the cars space? That space also contains bicycles and e-scooters which are similarly silent.

As a cyclist it's common to have to avoid a ped who stepped of the pavement into the road without looking. Presumably because they couldn't hear any danger.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/may/21/electric-cars-more-likely-to-hit-pedestrians-than-petrol-vehicles-study-finds

raymierussell,
@raymierussell@mastodon.scot avatar

@Wen @jbond @JackTheCat
Legally, Bikes in the UK must be sold with a bell, but there is nothing stopping you from removing it after purchase.

raymierussell,
@raymierussell@mastodon.scot avatar

@Wen @jbond @JackTheCat
I do have a slight problem with modern pinger type bells. They tend to be a bit sub optimal in the rain. Had times where I tried to ping a pedestrian in the rain really struggled to get decent loud ding out of it.

raymierussell, to random
@raymierussell@mastodon.scot avatar

Just thinking that after the water problems in Devon(UK) that I did not hear in any reports of the emergency mobile comms system being activated to warn folks to boil their water in the area.
After testing the system the other year and being told of its virtues it would seem that as a localised public health emergency this would have been an ideal use case.

NanoRaptor, to random
@NanoRaptor@bitbang.social avatar

Go check your backups.

raymierussell,
@raymierussell@mastodon.scot avatar

@NanoRaptor
In some ways the only true offsite backups ever created are the golden discs on the Voyager probes

raymierussell, to random
@raymierussell@mastodon.scot avatar

The UK gov't is considering banning protest groups which

"routinely use criminal tactics to try to achieve their aims"

Maybe the Conservative and Unionist Party of Great Britain and Norther Ireland should be banned.

A few of their greatest hits.

Illegal Rwanda scheme
Partygate
Illegal proroguing of Parliament
Crony covid contracts
Prepared to break international law in a "limited and specific way" as part of policy.

ChrisMayLA6, to random
@ChrisMayLA6@zirk.us avatar

Andy Burnham (still Mayor of Manchester) on social housing:

'One of the main reasons why the country has not built enough social homes for decades is because of the right-to-buy policy. Councils do not have an incentive to fund the building of new homes if they can be sold off cheaply & quickly. In the face of a desperate housing crisis, the existence of right to buy means we are in effect trying to refill a bath without being allowed to put the plug back in'!

Yup, that's about it!

raymierussell,
@raymierussell@mastodon.scot avatar

@djr @ChrisMayLA6

How about only a named individual can own a former council house and you can only own one former council house.

When I say own, I mean properly own, not in a trust or a spouse/partner on paper but really owned by some other person or entity.

kravietz, to random
@kravietz@agora.echelon.pl avatar

Something remotely resembling spring finally came to England 😍

raymierussell,
@raymierussell@mastodon.scot avatar

@kravietz
Could almost be some windows wallpaper.

RickiTarr, to random
@RickiTarr@beige.party avatar

I would make a joke about irony, but honestly, I don't know if anyone actually understands what it is.

And if I did someone would inevitably come along in the comments, and try to explain irony, and even more inevitably someone would correct them, and then really this is just a joke about hubris, which is probably ironic, but who the hell knows.

raymierussell,
@raymierussell@mastodon.scot avatar

@RickiTarr
Irony - how something made of iron feels to the touch.

GhostOnTheHalfShell, to random
@GhostOnTheHalfShell@masto.ai avatar

GOP governors swing into action:
“In America, we respect our workforce and we do not need to pay a third party to tell us who can pick up a box or flip a switch. No one wants to hear this, but it’s the ugly reality. … The experience in our states is when employees have a direct relationship with their employers, that makes for a more positive working environment. They can advocate for themselves and what is important to them without outside influence. …"

:srofl:

raymierussell,
@raymierussell@mastodon.scot avatar

@GhostOnTheHalfShell
Just a pity the electorate cannot advocate (to elected officials) for themselves without the outside interference of donors and lobbyists.

psychicparrot42, to random
@psychicparrot42@mastodon.gamedev.place avatar

deleted_by_author

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    raymierussell,
    @raymierussell@mastodon.scot avatar

    @psychicparrot42 @Doomed_Daniel

    Yup if you have a movie,game, music, audiobook that relies on a service provider to allow you access it then you have never truly bought it. I am not a terribly big gamer but I don't pay for streaming for music and movies/tv. I try to source physical media if possible and put it on my NAS for local streaming.

    raymierussell,
    @raymierussell@mastodon.scot avatar

    @psychicparrot42 @Doomed_Daniel
    The only service I have that causes me concern is audible. I stopped my subscription many years ago but built up a large library over many years before I stopped playing. So audible have had no money from me for a long time but I still have access to my previous credit purchases. I expect at some point a TOS change to fuck me over.

    RickiTarr, to random
    @RickiTarr@beige.party avatar

    Oh no!

    raymierussell,
    @raymierussell@mastodon.scot avatar

    @RickiTarr
    I still use a small Z80 routine that I first found in a magazine in circa 1987.

    ScepticalScot1, to random
    @ScepticalScot1@mastodon.scot avatar

    Scots Labour think we are mugs

    They sent a letter to us from Rachael Reeves making false claims about SNP.She claims after 17 years of SNP Govt people in Scotland are paying more for less.

    Actually we have free prescriptions for all, no tuition fees for students, free bus passes for young people and the over 60's, a child payment of £26.70 for every child under 16, universal free school lunches for primary children, lower dental charges.

    So actually we get FAR more not less Ms Reeves.

    raymierussell,
    @raymierussell@mastodon.scot avatar

    @ScepticalScot1
    Also we are not suffering as many public sector strikes as elsewhere in the UK cos the Scots Gov't wanted to do a fair deal rather get into fights with Unions.

    dgar, to random
    @dgar@aus.social avatar

    Snakes are measured in metric.

    No feet.

    raymierussell,
    @raymierussell@mastodon.scot avatar

    @dgar
    Even though they are all armless, many of them are dangerous,

    psychicparrot42, to random
    @psychicparrot42@mastodon.gamedev.place avatar

    deleted_by_author

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    raymierussell,
    @raymierussell@mastodon.scot avatar

    @psychicparrot42
    Sounds like it could be a serial to me.

    dgar, to random
    @dgar@aus.social avatar

    remembers the days when a long-distance phone-call would go like this: "Hi I'm fine how are you good ok better go this is costing money bye."

    raymierussell,
    @raymierussell@mastodon.scot avatar

    @dgar
    I remember my friends Dad talking to a relative in America (from the UK) using their PC with a mic, speakers and dialup modem. It was in the days when ISPs charged a monthly fee and local call charges applied to your calls. So he was making an international 'call' and paying local rates. Looking back he was a trailblazer. Me and my pal just thought he was a bit strange for talking to people on the internet.

    NormanDunbar, to random
    @NormanDunbar@mastodon.scot avatar

    When Dickens wrote "A Tale of Two Cities" he agreed that it could be serialised in only two publications.

    It was the Bicester Times, it was the Worcester Times. 😁

    (Apologies to non UK readers wondering what the hell the above is about!)

    raymierussell,
    @raymierussell@mastodon.scot avatar

    @NormanDunbar
    His sofa based story ' A tale of two settees' is the superior work.

    RickiTarr, to random
    @RickiTarr@beige.party avatar

    Writing Prompt:

    Write the saddest sentence you can think of.

    raymierussell,
    @raymierussell@mastodon.scot avatar

    @RickiTarr
    Game Over.

    Mrfunkedude, to random
    @Mrfunkedude@mastodon.social avatar

    I swear my dryer has had 8 minutes left for the last 20.

    raymierussell,
    @raymierussell@mastodon.scot avatar

    @Mrfunkedude
    Lol, there is real time and there is laundry time.

    drmambobob, to random
    @drmambobob@ecoevo.social avatar

    I got aggressively beeped at by a BMW driver at a mini roundabout on campus. I was turning right at the mini roundabout having priority over a car to my left (straight in this case as there isn’t a left exit) but the BMW came bolting down from my right expecting to have priority over me even though I was already in the mini roundabout. I really hate drivers like this…they think they have priority all the time and everyone is in their way…

    raymierussell,
    @raymierussell@mastodon.scot avatar

    @drmambobob one of my favourite jokes "you think you have a worthless job? Well, there are people in the BMW factory who's job it is to fit indicators to the vehicles."

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

    I've read a lot online about how "Y2K was overblown". As an engineer who worked like crazy in 1999 to correct our systems this drives me crazy.

    Today I read about games going offline, watches getting frozen and airline tickets showing the wrong date.

    Because of a leap year. Which happens every FOUR years (give or take).

    Yeah Y2K was a one time thing. (Well at least until year 10000)

    Isn't 2038 going to be fun.

    raymierussell,
    @raymierussell@mastodon.scot avatar

    @damieng we are gonna need bigger bits

    HeavenlyPossum, to random
    @HeavenlyPossum@kolektiva.social avatar

    “The mound of discarded fabric in the middle of the Atacama weighed an estimated 11,000 to 59,000 tons, equivalent to one or two times the Brooklyn Bridge…clothing produced by the world’s most well-known brands: Nautica, Adidas, Wrangler, Old Navy, H&M, Ralph Lauren, Tommy Hilfiger, Forever 21, Zara, Banana Republic. Store tags still dangled from many of her findings.”

    We have more than enough clothes for anyone who wants them; there is no material reason for people unclothed or without shoes to remain so.

    People go without because of capitalism: because capitalists profit by interfering with our access to the stuff we make together. It’s more profitable for them to dump mountains of clothes in the desert than it is to let people have those items.

    https://grist.org/international/burn-after-wearing-fashion-waste-chile/

    raymierussell,
    @raymierussell@mastodon.scot avatar

    @largess @HeavenlyPossum
    It is all about creating artificial scarcity. You then make your 'scarce' items have a built in obsolescence so they need to be replaced/upgraded before they really wear out.

    selzero, to random
    @selzero@syzito.xyz avatar

    I enjoyed this era of computing much more.

    raymierussell,
    @raymierussell@mastodon.scot avatar

    @selzero
    One of my favourite things to do was to go into John Menzies where they had a 128k Spectrum connected to a TV turn the volume up full. Write a little BASIC program with about a 30 second delay before it started doing some very loud beeps. The 30 seconds was enough to walk away and get to the other side of the shop for when the beeping started.

    NormanDunbar, to random
    @NormanDunbar@mastodon.scot avatar

    If I used Google to run a web search, then I have Googled.

    If I use DuckDuckGo to run a web search, have I DuckDuckWent? DuckDuckGone? DuckDuckDomethingElse?

    😉

    raymierussell,
    @raymierussell@mastodon.scot avatar

    @NormanDunbar You have quacked.

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