Conor O'Neill / is on Nostr

Human, techie, #cyclist, car driver, pedestrian, #kayaker, reader, #beer #RealAle drinker, tree hugger. Not necessarily in that order.
#Bristol, UK.

Last Notes

2024-06-01 20:14:27

Any cyclists near #BonarBridge in Scotland able to help urgently?
We are touring in Scotland and have suffered multiple punctures and tube splits, so are basically stranded in Bonar Bridge.
If anybody is able to get us an inner tube with a presta valve, this would allow us to move. Ideally a 26" x 2.15" tube.
We are due to get a train from #Ardgay Station tomorrow (Sunday 2nd) at 14:49, but at the moment if we try to walk the bike to the station we would wreck the tyre and/or rim.
#BikeTooter

2024-05-19 15:24:24

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@npub16ju…y8u7
More-or-less the only times we drive any significant distance, it's because we're going kayaking... 😀
And yes, my wife is a kayaker too. 👍

2024-05-19 15:19:48

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@npub16ju…y8u7
I solve that particular problem by never taking the roof rack _off_ our car.
Today, as it happens, our car roof rack is carrying bicycles, not kayaks. Occasionally it does both at the same time.

2024-04-10 09:55:13

All the big UK telecom/broadband providers seem to increase their prices every April, by _more_ than the rate of inflation, as part of their contract.
Can anybody explain how/why they can justify this? Surely digital communications technology is one area where costs are still falling consistently.
Is this because people's bandwidth demands are increasing faster, or what?
(I assume that the actual answer is: "Because they can"! ☹️)
#UKTelecommunications #Broadband

2024-03-21 13:40:02

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@npub198t…hasj @npub19lt…qfjk
It's definitely been on the browser plugin for many months.

2024-03-21 10:11:58

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@npub19lt…qfjk
My password manager has a button to show the password along with the letter counts, making it easier to do this style of request.
(#Bitwarden)

2024-03-10 21:03:51

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@npub16ju…y8u7 @npub19lt…qfjk @npub198t…hasj
Pubs in the UK actually have special protection in law. They are their own individual planning type (sui generis), which means that you cannot (legally) turn a pub into anything else unless you obtain planning permission. You're not permitted to demolish them either.
I don't actually know what the legal situation is if you just close the pub (leaving it unused) but carry on living in the staff quarters (probably upstairs).

2024-02-06 20:20:52

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@npub198t…hasj
If you use a separate machine, then there's no risk of unwanted pop-ups, etc, appearing on your desktop during a presentation.
I've often seen people's email notifications appear; definitely unwanted, potentially embarrassing and/or leaking sensitive information, even if just showing a subject line.

2024-01-15 21:03:01

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@npub1s97…lg0g
I was planting trees with "Avon Needs Trees" yesterday. They use mulch-mats around each tree, but it seems from your photos that you don't. What are the pros and cons? One con is certainly that they take quite some time to peg down.

2023-12-15 13:27:58

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@npub1zdp…vqv8
There seems to be very much a US / UK confusion here.
In British English, suspenders are used to hold up women's stockings. I'm not sure what these are called in the US (garters?).
In American English, suspenders are used to hold up men's trousers (pants). In the UK these are called braces.

2023-11-26 18:37:59

Mossy rocks, taken in Dartmoor, UK, yesterday. #Mosstodon
https://files.mastodonapp.uk/media_attachments/files/111/478/294/958/558/683/original/3ef67bad46716fc2.jpg

2023-11-14 23:11:56

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@npub1g0t…tvm4
This emergency tower block situation in #Bristol is very confusing.
The council's words, and their actions, seem surprisingly contradictory.
They say in their statement: “No evidence has been presented to suggest there is any immediate risk to health and life..." So why on earth do they insist on immediate evacuation?
There's something very smelly about this.

2023-09-18 12:32:57

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@npub19lt…qfjk
I did read the blog post. And yes, I probably reacted slightly weirdly. I'm just very anti-Alexa, I am always surprised that people install such things.
(I'm pretty anti-Amazon in general, though I do use Amazon Web Services for professional purposes).

2023-09-18 09:18:36

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@npub19lt…qfjk
Er, surely you can't expect much else if you have a machine sitting in your house listening to everything you say?
"This is your fault for being tied in to Amazon's ecosystem!"
Not just that, but expecting the Alexa ecosystem to be beneficial to _you_ rather than to _Amazon_.

2023-08-02 18:55:38

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@npub19lt…qfjk
I don't properly understand how the multi-monitor stuff works with these USB-C docks.
Does a (linux) laptop have to have a video card which can support multiple monitors, and then the display bits are all squirted down the USB-C cable to the dock to be split out into individual ports?
Or does the dock include sufficient gizmos to generate 3 screens worth of video?
[I assume the former]