Thomas Beagle

Civil liberties, geekery, politics, YA/SF books, tasty vegan food, family life. Yes I do have a beagle, his name's Calcifer, and he'd really like to sniff you while you pat him. #nztwits

Public Key

npub1zq9yjgl3dsds83rhgm7cdgjr0lla6e9drxftuy40r5pvw4cq039qaue2l9

NIP-05 Address

thomasbeagle_at_mastodon.nz@mostr.pub

Profile Code

nprofile1qqspqzjfy0ckcxcrc3m5dlvx5fphll7avjk3ny47z2h36qk82uq8cjspz4mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujumt0wd68ytnsw43qv9z5xf

Publishing to

relay.mostr.pub

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npub1zq9yjgl3dsds83rhgm7cdgjr0lla6e9drxftuy40r5pvw4cq039qaue2l9

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Last Notes

2024-09-05 01:54:13

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@npub19xu…e8yd Well I guess that would make the decision easier. :)

2024-08-31 20:21:23

Happy father's day to all the dads out there doing their best.

2024-08-30 22:18:20

Help you feel better when terminal (7)
#CrosswordClue #NerdCryptic #CrypticCrosswords #NerdCore
Favourite if you get it, you'll know. Boost to share. Answer and explanation tomorrow.

2024-08-25 06:05:42

I've been sick all weekend which somehow always ends up with me playing Redfall because I don't feel sick while playing it. I even started to wonder whether I was just malingering.
But then I get up to cook laksa and oh man, it's a *lot* harder than it should be!

2024-08-24 06:18:58

Wanted: Netflix filter for "movie under 100 minutes".
Sometimes I just don't want a three hour epic.

2024-08-16 09:30:39

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@npub1drn…qz4p I saw someone using a housework metaphor the other day.

2024-08-15 23:02:51

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@npub1zg9…nh26 Ooo, that's a good idea, I should try listening to their music.
Sometimes music streaming services feel like living in the future.

2024-08-04 22:03:21

Forbid links to build peer accountability (10)
#CrosswordClue #NerdCryptic #CrypticCrosswords #NerdCore
Favourite if you get it, you'll know. Boost to share. Answer and explanation tomorrow.

2024-07-31 22:16:55

From the NZ Herald. DDoS NZ style:
"Security experts have likened it to sheep blocking a road."

2024-07-30 23:50:30

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@npub19xu…e8yd Well, don't leave us hanging, how many were there!?

2024-07-28 19:19:44

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@npub1ke3…xcva At least it's a pretty pattern? :)

2024-07-28 00:33:37

Get yourself a cat with a fluffy belly that likes to be stroked. #Catstodon
https://mastodon.nz/system/media_attachments/files/112/861/292/514/356/776/original/e38f30b81668b485.jpg

2024-07-27 22:59:31

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@npub19xu…e8yd Make their own decisions? You mean buy their own phones! 😄

2024-07-27 08:39:00

Is it important for a new mobile phone in NZ to support 5G, or has 4G still got a few years in it?
(The 13yo's phone is dying.)

2024-07-26 01:19:47

You know, if *I* was naming a scent, I really don't think I'd choose "Billie Eilish no. 2"
It is described as "dark and alluring" and just who is the target market here?!

2024-07-25 21:19:42

Two years ago they merged all the health boards into Health NZ to save money and be more efficient. Already we're at:
"Siloed units and lack of data created big blind spots, it said. The solution was to devolve more decisions to four regions ..., with a regional deputy chief executive installed in each."
Centralisation of locally delivered services, whether its health, polytechs, or water, is a snare and a delusion only loved by cloud-castle building technocrats and their sycophants.

2024-07-24 03:36:01

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@npub1zg9…nh26 Spray guns are your friend. Sure, they're messy friends and you have to clean up after them, but.... fren.

2024-07-23 06:07:25

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@npub1ke3…xcva Getting the purple line was quite a moment. :)

2024-07-23 04:49:35

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@npub1ke3…xcva At last! Connections
Puzzle #408
🟦🟦🟪🟦
🟦🟦🟦🟨
🟦🟦🟦🟦
🟨🟨🟨🟨
🟪🟩🟩🟩
🟪🟪🟪🟪
🟩🟩🟩🟩

2024-07-23 03:46:43

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@npub1ke3…xcva I haven't lost one yet, I don't want to start now!

2024-07-23 03:39:37

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@npub1ke3…xcva Still staring at it occasionally. Waiting for inspiration!

2024-07-23 01:46:51

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@npub1ke3…xcva Damn it, I'm still stuck on pink and green. One guess left!

2024-07-21 05:41:04

Kim is taking our car to Te Aroha and the 13yo has singing on Thursday evening at 5:15pm in Masterton. But we can't go because the last bus home is at 5:10pm and I don't feel like hitching.
Talk about car dependent culture.
(Autocorrect originally had that as 'cat dependent' which is also a terrible scourge but I don't really mind that one.)

2024-07-20 20:21:13

Chord he oddly played for secret meaning (4)
#CrosswordClue #NerdCryptic #CrypticCrosswords
Favourite if you get it, you'll know. Boost to share. Answer and explanation tomorrow.

2024-07-19 02:31:51

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@npub1zg9…nh26 I seem to have forgotten to tell Kim that the King's Seeds catalogue arrived. Oops. 😂

2024-07-16 02:18:26

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@npub1ke3…xcva Yeah, I'm struggling with Pink and Blue at the moment.

2024-07-15 01:43:24

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@npub1zg9…nh26 We upload photos to Snapfish.co.nz and then get them mailed to us as prints, photo books, the occasional mug, etc, etc.

2024-07-14 19:13:31

Oh no. The cat has graduated from failing to bring camellia branches through the cat door.
That shoe sitting on our doorstep doesn't belong to any of us.
https://mastodon.nz/system/media_attachments/files/112/786/425/885/496/084/original/6d4d87235333b7f4.jpg

2024-07-12 02:51:52

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@npub12nm…wh2s Death of one might lead to a US Civil War. Death of the other might lead to an expanded Euro-Russian war.
It seems we're playing an awfully stupid game with some rather scary prizes.

2024-07-12 02:46:16

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@npub12nm…wh2s Hot take: "That's because Trump is full of vice. He's the 'Vice' 'President' and this is just another example of Biden's sharpness."

2024-07-11 10:01:05

I like the way that Dune just completely ignores the practicality and credibility of its tech and biology.
Ornithopters. Spice-fuelled space travel. Sword fights. A floating baron. Slow shields. Worms speeding through sand. No worries!

2024-07-09 09:49:31

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@npub19xu…e8yd What a classic, pretty sure I read that one.

2024-07-04 23:34:40

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@npub1zg9…nh26 Stepped in ... or stepped up? 10 points for hubby, sounds like a great holiday.
Just don't tell the family where...

2024-07-04 08:26:59

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@npub147m…7rue I saw that moon from my desk at 7am this morning and it was a great start to the day.

2024-06-24 21:45:17

I find it interesting that I'm so against Google/Apple controlling what I run on my phone or tablet, but I don't mind Microsoft limiting what I run on my game console.
Do I view one as a general computing device and the other as an appliance? Is it just that it's always been that way? Is there any material difference or am I just brainwashed?

2024-06-21 17:58:12

Well I sure wouldn't want to be a government that recently cancelled the purchase of replacements for the Picton ferries. https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/interislander-runs-aground-passengers-in-lifejackets/MESDRBENNFABXJL54YJYXDM7KI/

2024-06-20 00:36:45

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@npub1zg9…nh26 I just couldn't tell whether you were telling the truth or not!

2024-06-20 00:25:05

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@npub1zg9…nh26 Poe's Law (Shark Jump Variant) collects another victim.

2024-06-16 09:55:40

How neat. My ad blocker intercepts and blocks the links from InternetNZ's email as being tracking software.
It's amazing how people can't bring themselves to resist the urge to track their members/customers/users.
(I note that we've turned off all tracking for the NZCCL newsletter! We also don't use Google Analytics or similar on our website.)

2024-06-14 06:02:42

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@npub19xu…e8yd Some definitely would. Especially the rich arsehole Musk fans.

2024-06-09 21:37:07

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@npub1e7r…uf8g Someone got the "man or beer" thing wrong. Or did they get it right?

2024-06-06 22:25:05

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@npub19xu…e8yd Windows launches and manage app windows just fine.

2024-06-06 22:11:16

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@npub19xu…e8yd It's weird to me just how little thinking Microsoft had done about it.
They missed so many obvious shortcomings and potential problems with Recall and just ... ploughed on.

2024-05-30 10:13:42

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@npub1trd…ussx Z vegan pies are made by The Hub and are available frozen: https://goodtime.co.nz/hub-gourmet-vegan-pies/

2024-05-30 04:05:37

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@npub1zg9…nh26 This reminds me, I need to cut down the damn walnut nestled between our house and the neighbours. A walnut!

2024-05-29 20:35:00

Proposed: we pass a law taking away the rights to make media and products based on Lord of the Rings. For the good of humanity.

2024-05-29 07:19:57

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@npub19xu…e8yd Quite a few typos there.

2024-05-28 22:07:15

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@npub1drn…qz4p "Wrong and proud of it!" is a hell of a way to go through life.

2024-05-26 23:19:36

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@npub1zg9…nh26 Lay a thick and deep concrete barrier 1m from the fence - and then plant invasive bamboo on the other side of it. Bamboo, the gift that keeps on giving. :)

2024-05-22 07:43:45

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@npub19xu…e8yd US capitalism is too rapacious.

2024-05-22 07:30:22

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@npub19xu…e8yd I see it as a race between community schism/exhaustion (Mastodon) and enshittification (Blue Sky) and I can't face another around of the second, so I'm sticking here.

2024-05-20 19:43:24

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@npub1fha…3ru0 OG LG!

2024-05-20 19:33:43

I used to follow the mobile phone market and have opinions about them; there really were significant advantages from buying the better phone. But that's all changed now and even the cheap phones are pretty good.
I've had my current phone (Samsung S21FE) for 2 years and I don't really have any interest in 'upgrading' it, not least because it wouldn't be an upgrade in any meaningful way.
But the first company to nail a conversational AI assistant might get me to change my mind.

2024-05-12 01:45:16

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@npub1fha…3ru0 Did I just learn too much about you? :)

2024-05-11 23:45:57

Nine don't play but might switch (8)
#CrosswordClue #NerdCryptic #CrypticCrosswords
Favourite if you get it, you'll know. Boost to share. Answer and explanation tomorrow.

2024-05-11 04:50:32

Walked the Remutaka Rail Trail today with the 12yo -18km and our feet hurt.
Should I drive to the south coast of the Wairarapa to look for aurora tonight?

2024-05-04 23:36:04

Idly considering getting a triptych-framed Garden of Earthly Delights and wondering if it would be cool to get it lifesize. Upon checking, it might be that 205cm x 385cm is a bit much!

2024-05-02 07:06:56

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@npub1ke3…xcva Don't do it, the movie is terrible! So pretty, such a bad script.
Maybe listen to the remixed soundtrack instead?

2024-04-29 20:43:55

Through the air a bright light rips,
An energy that also powers ships,
There's so much force,
From a hot enough source,
A reaction best served with chips (7)
#CrosswordClue #NerdCryptic #CrypticCrosswords #NerdCore ⚠️
Favourite if you get it, you'll know. Boost to share. Direct message for clues/answer. Answer and explanation tomorrow.

2024-04-28 21:10:54

Russian sitter blocks game (6)
#CrosswordClue #NerdCryptic #CrypticCrosswords
Favourite if you get it, you'll know. Boost to share. Direct message for clues/answer. Answer and explanation tomorrow.

2024-04-28 20:15:52

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@npub1zg9…nh26 Back in the mists of time we played audiobooks on CD. Possible?

2024-04-27 23:39:22

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@npub1zg9…nh26 Audiobook and audiobook delivery system/setup assistance?

2024-04-26 01:49:44

When the acronym speak gets too much: WANK - weird acronym, not known.

2024-04-25 22:11:48

One-way gate currently sounds like death song (5)
#CrosswordClue #NerdCryptic #CrypticCrosswords #NerdCore ⚠️
Favourite if you get it, you'll know. Boost to share. Answer and explanation tomorrow.

2024-04-17 21:49:09

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@npub1zg9…nh26 Wahoo!

2024-04-17 21:38:29

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@npub1zg9…nh26 Oh my! I would wish a terrible life on her but I'm pretty sure she's already deep in it.

2024-04-17 01:32:21

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@npub12nm…wh2s I'm getting my double on Monday... and then I have a big day planned for Tuesday. Oops.

2024-04-15 23:56:36

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@npub1cxy…vryr I could sell you a page dog-earer?

2024-04-09 21:41:54

Stupid Tidal completely failed to realise that when I searched for Tchaikovsky's Romeo and Juliet I actually meant Prokofiev. Oops.

2024-04-08 04:00:28

Heading into town to speak to some Humanists!
If I don't come back this will be because I've totally misunderstood what humanism is all about. #ToServeMan

2024-04-05 04:44:47

Started a KMFDM radio station on Tidal and quite enjoying the dulcet tones of KMFDM, Ministry, Nine Inch Nails, and Front Line Assembly. Brings back memories. 😎

2024-04-05 02:53:26

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@npub1trd…ussx There already is, arguably. Well at least the first bit.

2024-04-02 20:00:23

Anyone looking for someone to do some web content management work for them?
Kim just finished a Datascape Do It Online form-building contract with Kapiti District Council and is looking for more of the same.
Umbraco, Wordpress, Drupal, forms, Datascape, etc. Remote work, contract or ad hoc. Message me.

2024-04-02 07:58:43

We could:
a) Speed up our court systems by providing the required resources.
b) Speed up our court system by infringing on people's rights.
I bet no one needs more than one guess.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/justice-minister-says-threshold-of-right-to-jury-trial-being-considered-as-increase-puts-strain-on-court-system/KVGGSV2CM5DAJEOX5OHDDRBWGM/

2024-04-02 04:11:27

You will look at your solar power generation app more times in the first month than you will for the remaining lifetime of the system.

2024-04-01 18:19:42

GOOD MORNING

2024-03-30 20:34:16

Both our neighbours have put in new fences recently and they have definitely reduced the number of incidental friendly chats.
I am 90% sure that wasn't their aim but maybe we're really annoying. 😀
Good fences make distant neighbours.

2024-03-28 02:47:24

I have finally read Ursula K LeGuin's very short story: The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas
And yep, I can now see why so many different interpretations have been made!
You can read it here: https://shsdavisapes.pbworks.com/f/Omelas.pdf

2024-03-25 21:53:46

"My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?"
Yes those are cheese & onion hot cross buns.
https://mastodon.nz/system/media_attachments/files/112/158/542/830/532/031/original/7d7d531dce1075f3.png

2024-03-19 08:45:53

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But then you realise that ""A constable may exercise this power without having reasonable grounds to suspect that the person is breaching any conditions of their FPO or that any offence has been, is being, or will be committed by the person",
And that Police only have to *believe* that a person is subject to an FPO,
And they're a recipe for creating a subclass of people that can be searched on a whim at any time, again and again.

2024-03-19 08:42:42

The proposed new changes to the Firearms Protections Orders seem pretty extreme:
"The new search power allows the Police to search the person, any thing in the person’s possession or control, any premises in which the person is present or that the person owns, occupies, or controls, and any vehicle in which the person is present and any other persons present in the vehicle believed to be in possession of arms, and to seize and detain any arms found."

2024-03-18 21:42:55

Political protest is very important in our society even though it sometimes gets messy. Political protest by youth should be encouraged whenever possible and forgiven where necessary. #FreedomOfExpression #FreedomOfPeacefulAssembly

2024-03-15 01:08:53

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@npub1cxy…vryr We're just old. :)
(Proof will be that you'll know what those weird punctuation characters I put at the end mean.)

2024-03-13 18:22:22

The UK Parliament continues to show why extending the parliamentary term is a bad idea - they're *still* putting up with a Tory government that lost public support in Nov 2021 and plummeted to derisory levels in Sept 2022 (currently Tory 20%, Labour 47%).
They don't have to have an election until January 2025.
https://yougov.co.uk/politics/articles/48888-voting-intention-con-20-lab-47-6-7-mar-2024
In NZ we already have an overly powerful govt, the three-yearly elections are our only chance to force a change of course.

2024-03-12 18:47:10

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@npub1qw5…037m The Black Cauldron was not good. Them not doing the rest of the series might be a blessing.
(Also I just reread the series and it's not as good as it was when I was a young teen. 😀 )

2024-03-12 09:11:45

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@npub1g53…v0hh I did my first ray-tracing on the Amiga!
(I also did my last ray-tracing on the Amiga too so this is not an origin story, but it was fun.)

2024-03-12 06:01:09

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@npub1xw2…rmpy @npub19xu…e8yd They're family heirlooms now.
"One day, daughter, this will all be yours!"

2024-03-12 05:21:57

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@npub19xu…e8yd Just an hour ago I emptied out a literal steamer trunk of cables, bits and old game consoles into three plastic boxes.
How many ADSL/VDSL modems does one man need?
Now I need to find out if anyone wants the trunk. We got it for a toy chest but the sharp metal edges on the lid freaked me out too much.

2024-03-12 01:03:30

Sweet fucking enshittification on a stick, what new bullshit is this? #Reddit
https://mastodon.nz/system/media_attachments/files/112/080/017/730/395/765/original/71c0f0f454e87739.png

2024-03-08 07:16:00

You'll never guess who was trying to get into the bathroom rubbish bin. #LidOfShame
https://mastodon.nz/system/media_attachments/files/112/058/833/912/225/815/original/2840f23ae105157d.jpg

2024-03-08 04:17:25

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@npub1trd…ussx But why would I want that as the person wearing them?

2024-03-08 03:32:44

New Zealand politics continues to depress me.

2024-03-06 08:03:45

The Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet shouldn't be trying to tell academics what they can and cannot say about the Government. Implied threats to funding for hurting the government's feelings are a gross misuse of power. https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/511020/victoria-university-professor-spoken-to-about-anti-government-social-media-post

2024-03-05 05:32:27

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@npub19xu…e8yd I'm always impressed by the hot cross buns at New World - consistently pretty good.
Whereas the artisanal ones are all over the show from good to crap.

2024-03-04 20:29:41

Well of course Google directs searches to crappy AI-generated results because those sites are selling ads supplied by Google's ad network.
I think a key moment for Google and the future of the web was when they realised that they could use their market dominance to sell more ads by supplying degraded search results.
The interests of the search company and the ad sales company are aligned, because they're the same company.

2024-02-27 22:48:55

Has anyone seen a good well considered article about how we should handle copyright issues around AI/LLMs using copyrighted material to build their models on? Because currently I'm not convinced that it shouldn't be considered acceptable use.
I'd prefer one not written by either copyright maximalists or AI-corp shills.
I particularly don't want one written by an AI. 😄

2024-02-26 23:15:51

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@npub1trd…ussx This is partly because our Parliament, and its MPs, voluntarily give up that power.
A few back-benchers refusing to obey the party whip on occasion would help reset things.

2024-02-25 19:50:49

Portable computer disappears on standing (6)
#CrosswordClue #NerdCryptic #CrypticCrosswords
Favourite if you get it, you'll know. Boost to share. Direct message for clues. Answer and explanation tomorrow.

2024-02-22 04:11:11

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@npub1zg9…nh26 Time honoured tradition of breakfast for dinner - cereal and toast.

2024-02-20 19:05:12

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BLADE RUNNER obviously matches up to 'knife smuggler'.
And in the movie Blade Runner the main character 'ends' (kills) androids, but for bonus points the clue also refers to the name of the book the movie is based on, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep. Which you should read.