Obviously, I've never downloaded "warez" in my life. And, for the avoidance of doubt, I was never a member of the so-called "Scene". But such shenanigans were almost unavoidable on the early web and - wow! - is it weird seeing snippets of your history presented in an academic study! Why do people "pirate" software […]
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If you hang around on a social network long enough, you'll find the same tropes being repeated again and again. So, I thought I'd document some of the ones that I personally find annoying. This blog post is an extension of my moderately popular Twitter thread - with a bit more detail about why they […]
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We've had solar panels on the roof of our London home for exactly two years. They've just tipped over the 8,000kWh mark. The first question people tend to ask is "how much do they cost?" And the answer is… "It depends." The costs we paid two years ago aren't going to be particularly relevant to […]
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I've been experimenting with Far Infrared heating. The panel itself is fairly boring technology. A large solid-state "thing" which turns electricity into Infrared energy. But what's the "smarts" in it which allows it to be controlled? TO THE SCREWDRIVERS, ROBIN! There's a single board hiding in the boring grey shell. It's a QNQ010W - which […]
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All gadgets have to include WiFi now. That's the law! Does your home smell horrible? Would you like it to smell lovely? Well, friends, the good folk at Asakuki think that I'm the sort of person who knows lots of putrid people. So they sent me this Essential Oil Diffuser. It's pretty plug-and-play. Pour some […]
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As previously discussed, I'm doing the Certified Blockchain Professional course. It is self-directed learning, so I'm going through it at my own pace. In order to consolidate my learning, and help organise my thoughts, I'm blogging about my reflections on each module. These are mostly notes to myself - but I hope if you find […]
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SUPERCHIMPS! IN! SPAAAAAAACE! The previous book was about neo-Dolphins, this one is about chimps. And it is very good. Ultimately, it is a book about slavery and ecology. What do we owe to our planet? Can we take "lesser" races and bring them sentience and sapience? Should they be allowed to develop their own culture? […]
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The blood donation centre was full. It was literally standing-room only, with those of us waiting our turn stood around until a cheap plastic chair became available. Perhaps it was delays. Perhaps there had been an urgent call for blood. Perhaps the events in Ukraine spurred people to donate. Perhaps, even subconsciously, it feels like […]
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As previously discussed, I'm doing the Certified Blockchain Professional course. It is self-directed learning, so I'm going through it at my own pace. In order to consolidate my learning, and help organise my thoughts, I'm blogging about my reflections on each module. These are mostly notes to myself - but I hope if you find […]
Continue reading →
What with the situation in the world, I've been trying to reduce our domestic gas consumption. Looking through our smart meter readings, our biggest usage is heating (in winter) followed by hot water (showers and baths) then cooking. We have a Tado smart thermostat which turns the heating off when we're out - but I […]
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· Book Review piracy the pirate bay · 4 comments · 400 words · read ~310 times.