I set myself a resolution last year - go 12 months without using physical cash. No coins, no notes, no gold bullion, no cheques. I attempted to do all my spending on credit card, Direct Debit, and bank transfer (BACS). It worked! Mostly... Here's where it didn't work, and what I learned from it. Foreign Cash Went to Hong Kong and withdrew £100 in local currency. Was completely unnecessary. …
Continue reading →
Let me preface this post by saying that I am a lazy idiot. I have a problem, I keep leaving the fridge door open. I've come home a few times only to discover my half-hearted push hasn't properly closed the door and it has swung back open. Our new house has a built in fridge, so I can't adjust the feet to make it close automatically. I can't easily attach springs and magnets to force it shut. …
Continue reading →
bləʊk ʧeɪn Noun: any technology which attracts clueless men User Stories are great! A simplified snippet to help you understand the problem you're facing. There are, of course, a vanishingly small number of genuine use-cases for the Blockchain. So cryptobores have to resort to ever more baroque explanations to sell their wares. I recently stumbled on this absolute gem of a user story, and feel …
Continue reading →
We're delighted to announce that our OpenBenches.org project has been awarded a $250 microgrant from Icculus! Ryan C. Gordon@icculusGoogle gave me an award for my contributions to Linux gaming and open source, and while I’m honored to be acknowledged, I can’t accept money from a company that is actively engaging in union busting.❤️ 2,934💬 0🔁 48402:20 - Wed 25 December 2019Ryan C. Gordon@icculu…
Continue reading →
(Usual disclaimer - I used to work for Vodafone UK and Telefonica UK & maintain commercial interests in both. This is intended as a general discussion, not an in-depth investigation.) I just received a scam call - you've probably had a few. A monotonic robot voice told me it was calling from HMRC - the UK tax authority - and there would soon be a warrant out for my arrest. …
Continue reading →
I made a little girl cry recently. "But why do I have to learn Python?" She wailed, "I like Scratch!" "I know," I said, "But there are different programming languages for different sorts of tasks." "That's stupid" she said, with all the perception of 6 weeks Code Club experience. "You can do everything in Scratch." I found it hard to argue with the twelve-year-old - you can do just about…
Continue reading →
The visionary author’s masterpiece pulls us—along with her Black female hero—through time to face the horrors of slavery and explore the impacts of racism, sexism, and white supremacy then and now. Brutal and perfectly executed sci-fi. Doesn't waste any time on the well-worn tropes of paradoxes or stealing a sports almanac. I'd usually find the lack of exposition to be annoying - but here the s…
Continue reading →
I have a limited amount of time on this planet. I also have a limited amount of money to spend. Therefore, like any Homo Economicus, I have a rational desire to get the most value for money for my time-wasting distractions. So, after months of memes, I bought Untitled Goose Game on the Nintendo Switch to play over the Xmas break. I baulked at the price - £18 - but figured since everyone else on …
Continue reading →
Yesterday, January 2nd, my wife received a billing alert from her phone provider. Luckily, she's not with EE - because it's a pretty convincing text. That domain name is specifically designed to include the day's date. If you're stood up on a crowded train, with your phone screen cracked, would you notice that a . is where a / should be? A quick look at the URl shows a trusted domain at the…
Continue reading →
It's really easy to think "I haven't achieved anything this week!" and fall into self-pity. So, at the start of 2019, I decided to give future-me a present. I started a Trello board called "Done!". Each week, I created a new column - "Done 2019-01-04", "Done 2019-01-11", and so on for the rest of the year. Every day, when I'd completed a task, I'd add a new card to the list. Mostly simple…
Continue reading →
I've been waiting for these for a long time. Terence Eden is on Mastodon@edent#LazyWeb can anyone find me some Bluetooth headphones which recharge via USB-C.All the C ones I've found are wired.❤️ 0💬 3🔁 017:18 - Fri 04 November 2016 Anker, through its sub-brand SoundCore - have released the "Life Q10" headphones. They're usually about £45 - but Amazon had an instant coupon which took them down to…
Continue reading →
I was unreasonably annoyed by some media commentator on Twitter complaining about the BBC. So I decided to use data to prove someone wrong on the Internet. In a recent article, the BBC described Christine Lagarde thusly: The role is likely to test the silver-haired 63-year-old, who has admitted before that she lacks economic experience. The commentator was disgusted that she'd be described as …
Continue reading →
