I overheard a few techbros having a conversation next to me at this coffee shop. It was easy, they weren’t using their indoor voices: Dude A: Day one seems to all be about accessibility. They have workshops and… Dude B: Well that’s a massive wank. Day two? Being an older millennial, I can still remember when nerds were on the side of the...
I read a lot of blogs. My public blogroll is woefully out of date; I probably have close to a third more feeds in my reader than what I have published there. Independent writers are my favourite, because I get enough curated, sanitised corporate media in my $DAYJOB and other places. I realise though that while I’ve mentioned how to start...
It might shock some of you to know I spend time in coffee shops. Apothecary Coffee is my favourite on Sydney’s North Shore, tucked away next to the Zenith building in Chatswood. They do great espresso, but I’m a particular fan of their pour-overs. This is opposed to a pour-on, which I’ve thankfully only performed at this coffee shop twice....
In no particular order: The parameters for FORMAT in DOS to prepare a 720 KiB double density floppy disk, instead of high density. When Funan Centre in Singapore was The IT Mall. How to answer a phone call that’s a fax. “Hello, Ruben speaking…” PSSSHHHHHHHHHH aaah hang up and press the button! How to recover a PC bitten by the Chernobyl virus,...
I loved reading syndicated comic strips when I was a kid. I had all the Garfield Fat Cat Three Pack volumes, and oodles of Far Side and FoxTrot. It was also so much fun as a kid seeing them adopt Xmas decorations at that time of year. And yet, I never really made the transition to web comics; Matchstick Cats from my friend Neil notwithstanding. I...
Did you go to university, polytechnic, or a similar institution? If so, do you remember… group assignments? No two words combined strike as much fear in the minds of undergraduates in my experience, other than perhaps pop quiz. I worked with some standout people during some of my group assignments, including Vadim and Clara. But the majority of...
I was fixing a page at work—like a gentleman—but I couldn’t figure out why a simple link wasn’t being respected. I must have read over the output of this script at least a dozen times, if not more. As always, the W3C Validator came to the rescue: Line 36, Column 308: there is no attribute “HERF” Heh, HERF. No wonder. As an aside, I might have a...
Today’s Music Monday is less a specific song, and more an exploration of a band that was a huge part of my childhood. Mad World! Sewing the Seeds of Love! Everybody Wants to Rule the World! Shout (Let it all out)! If you’ve never seen Trash Theory before, the channel explores the rise of popular bands, with a specific interest towards the 1980s....
This is great news, via the Fedora Pagure: As discussed at Flock, the Fedora KDE SIG and the newly forming Fedora Personal Systems Working Group that will oversee the SIG are requesting that the Fedora KDE Plasma Desktop spin be upgraded to Edition status for Fedora Linux 42. amoloney: This request can now be considered APPROVED (+9, 0, 0)....
In no particular order: The serif fonts have been retired. It was fun, but they weren’t as legible on non-HiDPI/Retina displays. You might need to clear your cache or press SHIFT when refreshing to see any change. I’ve added Ninomae Ina’nis and Ceres Fauna to my fan section on the sidebar. They’re talented, comfy streamers who have done wonders...
I’ve struggled mentally with the idea of blocking people. I internalised the oft-repeated idea that I was being closed minded each time I reached for the big red button, and that I could be the “bigger person” somehow (whatever that means). I got around this before by claiming I blocked people for mental health. I’d say I wanted to help and...
Last year I signed up for one of those online book summary services. I’d been curious for a while, and they were offering a steep discount for the first year. I figured I could give it a shot, and cancel it before renewal if I didn’t find it useful. This service promised to “distill” books to their “essence”, and deliver a summary in a half hour...
The Atari ST family of machines are my favourite of the 16-bit era. Introduced between 1985 and 1993, they weren’t the most technically advanced available, nor did they achieve significant marketshare against incumbents like Apple, Commodore, or the ever-expanding PC clone market. But they had so much home computer history soldered into their DNA...
I love filter and immersion brewing at home. I’ve talked about how much I love the AeroPress as a daily driver, and the Hario V60 is a fun treat when I’m feeling a bit fancier. Some nice single-origin beans from a local roaster, fresh water, and those cheap coffee machines make some incredible brews, and they can taste markedly different...
Social media was flooded with pictures of a smoky grassfire at Sydney Airport this afternoon, after an aircraft bound for Brisbane experienced an engine failure on take-off. Fun! Qantas released a statement: Qantas engineers have conducted a preliminary inspection of the engine and confirmed it was a contained engine failure. While customers...
It happens after every big political and sports event. Pundits are publishing their analyses, and they already have tidy, convenient explanations for the outcome. $FOO clearly failed because of X. $BAR clearly succeeded because of Y. Thing is, if the outcome had been different, they’d offer the exact same explanations. $FOO clearly succeeded...