Stuart

Maker of things. Data wrangler. Creator of hex layouts. Co-author of "Cosmos: The Infographic Book of Space". Gone far on a bicycle. Previously a radio/microwave astronomer. He/him.
✨📡🛰📕📊📈🗺️🚲🏳️‍🌈

Public Key

npub1l2knx92vmgna4kyagmu70fyrqlngrg4glvkfyrqyxfzn9kfdp8nqgajn6e

NIP-05 Address

slowe_at_mastodon.me.uk@mostr.pub

Profile Code

nprofile1qqs04tfnz4xd5f76mzw5d7085jps0e5p5250ktyjpszry3fjmyksnessc4tk9

Author Public Key

npub1l2knx92vmgna4kyagmu70fyrqlngrg4glvkfyrqyxfzn9kfdp8nqgajn6e

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Last Notes

2025-03-23 09:03:23

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@nprofile…2m5j I'm not complaining about him. His message is good. I'm very glad there's someone being listened to who isn't pushing awful stuff like the Andrew Tates of the world.

2025-03-09 11:37:10

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@nprofile…sj2x Sure, have different cooking times as is often presented for oven vs fan-assisted ovens.

2025-03-09 11:31:28

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@nprofile…sj2x You have a fundamental difference with me here. I see microwaves as fundamentally different to ovens+air fryers.

2024-08-29 08:12:32

Ctrl+A on the keyboard is often used to select everything. Is there a common key combination to select nothing?

2024-08-17 13:39:46

Call 555-1352 to get a cab in Cabot Cove.
Someone must have compiled a list of all the 555 numbers used in US film and TV, surely?

2024-07-22 08:38:26

Leeds Pride 2024. #Pride
https://mastodon.me.uk/system/media_attachments/files/112/829/171/406/817/602/original/dcd5b6475ee70d84.jpg
https://mastodon.me.uk/system/media_attachments/files/112/829/202/031/043/676/original/c23f51cd6069ea67.jpg
https://mastodon.me.uk/system/media_attachments/files/112/829/202/169/593/054/original/2af17629c527b2e8.jpg
https://mastodon.me.uk/system/media_attachments/files/112/829/206/166/017/148/original/3e42d59551596e59.jpg

2024-07-12 12:49:50

UK folks, what's the most miserable biscuit?

2024-06-17 09:06:40

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@npub19lt…qfjk Just watched those episodes last night. I was also surprised by some commonalities all these years later. Including in language.

2024-06-15 11:35:24

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@npub1yyt…t6x9 I also feel people (at least in the UK) have become less aware or caring of others around them.

2024-06-11 08:50:09

Some journalists used my (available openly) UK comedy panel show data to write a story. It was a bit frustrating to be asked to provide the data for them in a custom format (without them paying me) because it was too much work for their internal data staff to do. And their article is behind a wall so I don't actually know what they wrote in the end. I hope they didn't do anything bad/misleading.
https://www.thetimes.com/uk/media/article/female-comedians-shun-bbc-panel-shows-willy-waving-machismo-h39s76p53

2024-06-10 09:49:35

If an organisation had reached 500 things last year, and they published a headline saying they had got "1000x better", what number of things do you think they were at now?

2024-05-22 10:38:22

An obvious-ism: I wouldn't use a hammer to write Javascript. It isn't the right tool.

2024-05-14 13:42:05

I am simply not clever enough to be able to find the Food Standards Agency's API endpoint (version 2) for ratings. I can find lots of documentation telling me how to use the endpoint (e.g. http://api.ratings.food.gov.uk/Help/Index) but it doesn't seem to want to say where the endpoint actually is.

2024-04-29 12:02:38

I have these empty slide holders that were my dad's. Feels a shame to just put them in the bin because someone somewhere probably wants stuff like this and can't buy it anymore.
#35mm #slides
https://mastodon.me.uk/system/media_attachments/files/112/354/391/870/234/827/original/75b4dd2dd07f38fc.jpg

2024-04-08 20:31:01

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@npub194h…4ewx Absolutely (within 2.7K)

2024-03-19 10:02:55

Got my work's homepage down to 0.006g of CO2 per view.
It dropped below the minimum resolution of Website Carbon's web tool https://www.websitecarbon.com/ so I'm using a ported version of their code (https://gitlab.com/wholegrain/carbon-api-2-0/-/blob/master/includes/carbonapi.php) updated with their v3 figures to see estimates below 0.01g
https://mastodon.me.uk/system/media_attachments/files/112/121/768/205/458/185/original/be96ad729527e653.png

2024-03-13 20:11:44

👀 Rishi Sunak tries to imply that him being PM shows that "racism doesn't exist".
He didn't win a General Election. Conservative Party members decided to elect Liz Truss over him. Then, when she resigned, he became PM by default because the two other candidates withdrew.

2024-03-03 10:25:22

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@npub194h…4ewx Is the link "Designing CSV files" a link? I can't seem to get it to open on my phone. Other links work.

2024-03-03 10:13:47

I don't know enough about the House of Commons to understand why they'd decide to have a vote (division) about something where *nobody* actually voted for it https://open-innovations.org/projects/divisions/?1692954

2024-02-22 11:57:03

If X/Twitter had enough engineers left they might make sure their website widget used lazy loading (only load images that are actually visible). For instance, on Hackney Council's website the Twitter widget loads over 200 images (over 7MB) even though the vast majority will never be seen as it is at the bottom of the page and the majority of the timeline is hidden within a scroll. It'd save X/Twitter some bandwidth costs too.

2023-12-30 19:33:41

I'm a bit confused by the multiple uses of 'only' here. Only on BritBox whilst only being on ITVX? And it is all on iPlayer, isn't it?
https://mastodon.me.uk/system/media_attachments/files/111/671/009/922/773/922/original/91c70070565bb17e.jpg

2023-12-14 15:50:59

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@npub1jc0…sldg I randomly saw this earlier and was wondering where he had got it from given that it says "even today, here in 2019".

2023-12-12 17:58:12

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@npub1xed…yg9w As well as saving 1.1MB, I think you also avoid Google tracking your visitors before they've had a chance to decide if they want to click play or not.

2023-11-09 11:30:06

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@npub19lt…qfjk I don't agree that it is useful however I am stupid and am trying to do it. I have spent 2 hours trying to read the "Consultation at a glance" document (I'm not sure how long the rest will take before I can even start responding). There is so much about it that makes it hard... the lack of linking to footnotes so I have to keep scrolling around and lose my place... that they reuse the same reference IDs for different measures in both "U2U services" and "search services" is not helpful.

2023-10-12 12:01:30

I've had almost two weeks in physical isolation from everyone else. Thankfully I'm now negative.

2023-09-26 18:30:56

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@npub1jhy…5uhr @npub194h…4ewx In doing public outreach about astronomy years ago I used to point out that GPS has to take General Relativity into account. GR isn't just some entirely abstract irrelevant idea.

2023-09-11 12:22:55

The Luvly electric car definitely does a few of the things I've been wanting for years including:
* smaller/lighter which means less energy use, reduces road space, and would likely reduce tyre pollution
* removable battery which makes it possible for people like me to be able to charge at home and can give more range.
https://www.luvly.se/feature/simple

2023-09-04 17:50:57

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@npub19lt…qfjk I had a little look a couple of years ago but didn't know anyone with them to ask for advice. I'll have to have another look.

2023-09-04 16:56:11

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@npub19lt…qfjk Yes, I hang a portable solar panel in my window to charge USB battery packs for devices. As a renter I seem to miss out on being able to have solar or heat pumps or insulation. So I'm stuck with paying more and more or trying to cut my energy use even more which is hard. I already couldn't afford the useless old storage heaters in my property so have had no "central" heating for years.

2023-09-04 16:26:08

UK folks with solar panels, is it possible to get them if you rent? I'm only really after a way that doesn't increase a property value and then put up the rent. And I'd have to be able to take them with me if I have to move.

2023-08-15 12:24:43

My partner introduced me to Bigipedia from Radio 4 (2009/11) and it had me in stitches. Although Wikipedia's entry for it says it is a parody of Wikipedia, I'd say it was also a parody of the likes of Google/Apple/Microsoft/Meta etc.

2023-08-10 16:55:32

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@npub194h…4ewx I can't easily work out the point of Overture Maps from their website. It definitely has a bunch of wrongness near me.

2023-08-08 07:54:37

UK folks, I'd really appreciate some feedback on the new (2023) UK constituency hex layout I put together https://open-innovations.org/blog/2023-08-03-hexes-for-the-next-general-election You can play about with it in our hex builder tool https://open-innovations.org/projects/hexmaps/builder.html?https://raw.githubusercontent.com/odileeds/hexmaps/gh-pages/maps/uk-constituencies-2023.hexjson save the output as HexJSON and update https://github.com/odileeds/hexmaps/blob/gh-pages/maps/uk-constituencies-2023.hexjson
https://mastodon.me.uk/system/media_attachments/files/110/852/912/937/192/586/original/996b63ff724a428a.png

2023-06-11 07:52:07

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@npub19lt…qfjk Sort of related... years ago on planes I have more than once pre-chosen the "Hindu meal" (I don't eat beef so it seemed the closest option to my specific dietary requirements). Each time the cabin crew walked past me with the meal (glancing at me) despite them knowing it was for my seat number. I've had to look them in the eye as they went past and say "yes, that is for me". I hope I did a little to subvert profiling.

2023-05-23 09:24:20

In early 2020 I was drafting a blog post about projects to crowd-source information about street trees. I was annoyed that so many projects (including ones with "open" in their names) created closed silos of data from the free contributions of volunteers. I was trying to come up with a simple tool to make it easy for normal people to update trees in OpenStreetMap instead. Then the pandemic happened. Anyway, more than three years on, I've finally written it up https://open-innovations.org/blog/2023-05-23-where-are-all-the-trees

2023-05-02 09:49:03

A mobile provider have sent me repeated pestering emails asking me to complete a survey about why I closed the account for my dad. Given that I'd talked to their bereavement team I'd hope that they could decide not to send this type of follow-up. The survey includes questions like "which provider did you move to?" with a list of providers or "Other". No concept of "none". Plus they want me to explain my answers. I've given them low scores on their survey *because* of their survey. :(

2023-04-25 13:51:59

Is anyone else in Yorkshire currently contributing to OpenStreetMap or interesting in starting to contribute to OpenStreetMap?

2023-04-20 09:51:38

I know someone with limited mobility who likes to know what is playing on their radio. Unfortunately, due to poor reception, the radio has to sit too far from their chair for them to see its screen. So I'm making a little screen that can sit next to them. There's a button for putting it into sleep mode. There's a button for full power off. There's two buttons to cycle between a limited list of stations. Could do with friendlier buttons but it's a start.
https://mastodon.me.uk/system/media_attachments/files/110/230/509/736/571/507/original/6d76247faa958bd3.jpg