I use Zotero to manage my references. Instead of in-text citations of (Smith, 1984) - I want that to be hyperlinked to the academic paper referenced. For example ([Smith, 1984](https://doi.org/.....)) This is possible, if you're willing to hack around with CSL - the Citation Style Language. Here's a fragment of CSL that I've adapted from Brenton M. Wiernik's zotero-tools/apa-doi-in-text.csl …
Continue reading →
I don't often blog about my feelings. Mostly because I find them confusing. Three weeks after our first vaccination jab, my wife and I broke our lockdown to go on a date. In the last 15 months we've left the house a few times for doctor's appointments, a couple of visits to the post office, some brief walks round the park, and that's about it. Nothing social, nothing fun. We thought it would…
Continue reading →
I have a cheap WiFi enabled vacuum cleaner. One morning, I barked "ALEXA! CLEAN THE HOUSE." The gynoid immediately responded with "Now playing songs by Crowded House." The future's ace, innit? So I opened the cleaner's app, hit a button, and heard the sound of a domestic-droid doing its thing. For two minutes. The app spat out this fabulously helpful warning. I trundled downstairs to see…
Continue reading →
Twitter has never really solved its spam problem. It is a constant irritation that ordinary people get booted off the service for minor infractions, while large spam rings go unpunished. For the past few months, some of my old tweets have been getting liked by random women. I'm sure you've see something similar. The idea is, I suppose, to arouse your curiosity. "Who is this young woman…
Continue reading →
Back in the good old days, when men were real men - and people like you knew their place - the world was simple. There were three titles to choose from: Mr, Mrs, and Miss. Perhaps also Dr if you were feeling fancy. But these fucking millennials with their "Ms" and "Mx" - amirite?!!? Anyway, I was signing up to a service recently which wanted my title. I didn't think they needed a proxy for my …
Continue reading →
Marketing really is crap. Recently, SE Railways sent this piece of email drivel to my wife: We don't have any kids, thankfully - and are not having any in the future. My wife was literally recovering from a sterilisation procedure when the email arrived. So it seemed a bit weird that they'd send her a message like that. My wife has never booked a child's fare. She's done nothing to indicate to …
Continue reading →
I have only been on the periphery of this project - back from when I worked at a Mobile Operator - so it's incredibly exciting for me to see this come to life. This morning, my phone picked up an Emergency Alert test from the Cell Broadcast system. I had to specifically opt-in to receive test messages. Each phone is different, but on Android I unlocked developer options and found the alerts…
Continue reading →
So Apple have released some BlueTooth tags. As per their standard operating procedure, the rest of us have been using them for years, but now Apple has "invented" them they are suddenly interesting. Here's my review from 5 years ago of the Chipolo BlueTooth tag. Amusingly, Apple have decided to go with a user-replaceable battery - unlike many of their other devices. I wonder why they didn't go…
Continue reading →
After my rant a few weeks ago, I finally found a cheap WiFi smoke alarm. A few disclaimers before I get into this review: It was shipped from China, not from the UK as stated. The device doesn't exist on the manufacturer's website. Stock on Amazon keeps appearing and disappearing, so may be difficult to get. If you're happy with those limitations, let's crack on! This is the CS01W /…
Continue reading →
A year ago, I decided to buy a new Linux laptop. I also decided to switch to using it full time for work. I've always used Linux for personal use - but was mostly stuck with MacOS for work. I don't like MacOS. Since I was WFH, I decided to switch to full time WFL - Working From Linux This is a brief list of what hasn't worked. As ever, while I'm grateful for my employers' enlightened BYOD…
Continue reading →
It's hard reviewing a comic book like this. A weekly or daily feed of little vignettes of lockdown life regularly raises a chuckle. But it long-form, it doesn't quite work. We already know how the story ends - after a year, you're still in lockdown. You've grown around the belly, but have you grown as a person? No, probably not. The sketches are cheerful, relatable, and a little heartbreaking …
Continue reading →
I blog about my solar panels - probably a bit too much! Recently, a reader asked me if I'd heard of Rowan Energy's solar payback scheme - so I took a look into it. Here's how it works: Rowan installer a "miner" next to your solar inverter (the big box that turns DC from solar panels into AC for home use). The "miner" monitors how much electricity you produce and reports it back via your home…
Continue reading →
