james

@james@social.ncot.uk

Welcome to my part of the Internet. On here you'll find links to all my YouTube videos, blog posts and explanations of the various hardware and software projects I've been working on. You'll find me writing C or assembly on various old and obsolete systems, letting the magic smoke out of electronics and working on retro computers.

All opinions belong to me, or the other voices in my head.

Here’s some hashtag soup…

#programming #gamedev #linux #retrocomputing #smarthome #homeassistant

This profile is from a federated server and may be incomplete. Browse more on the original instance.

james, to random

So according to this sign I can do the national speed limit of 60mph down this track. But the track isn't suitable for cars.

Anyone got a horse that can go 60?

james, to python

🧑‍💻Calculating Pi using Python – Gauss-Legendre and Monte Carlo methods – #piday 2024💾
Let's celebrate #piday in this appropriately short video by writing some #python programs to calculate Pi.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/cQA4AHlO8PQ

The first method uses something called the Gauss-Legendre method. It works by iteratively refini
Read More 👉https://ncot.uk/calculating-pi-using-python-gauss-legendre-and-monte-carlo-methods-piday-2024/
#PiDay #Programming #Python

james, to TeslaMotors

Ever wondered what's inside a CCS #EV charger's cable? Well wonder no more.

I think this was on purpose, there's a row of six 7Kw AC units next to it from the same manufacturer.

#electronics

image/jpeg

james,

@dec_hl I couldn't get one out of my car one time. The plug had twisted slightly in the socket because the cable was so thick, and the lock wouldn't undo. Took a bit of wiggling and swearing before it came out.

That fun thought of "what if my car won't let go of the plug? What do I do then?"

This but with more sparks and light show ;-)

(Yeah I know it can't happen, my car won't start if it's plugged in)

james, to random

Spiders? In my keyboard? It's more likely than you think!

janbeta, to random
@janbeta@chaos.social avatar

So basically the 8-Bit Guy is worried about being able to live an "upper middle class" life, opening an arcade with around 90 cabinets he bought, putting his name on a new retro style system that was mostly community driven in the end, releasing his own games to a massively broad audience unheard of elsewhere in the retro community and sometimes only getting 200000 views on a YouTube video in the first couple of days. I’m usually not the person to rant about things like that but: Sorry, LOL. 💸

james,

@janbeta He claims he isn't "rich" but then labels himself "upper middle class" and seems to have enough spare cash for these side projects after not making as much money as he did last year.

Something in that doesn't add up really, does it?

Hearing him almost blame smaller channels for stealing his views because he was one of the original retro channels was pretty funny.

james, to random

1ë2:û134:Û:ãR=0¸6:ãC=0¸12:S=C5+10:çC>6S=64
2V=¤A(C):X=300+C48:Y=760-R*(64-(C<7)4)-V:æ0,(1-3(R>3)-(C>9)((R>3)2+1))(R ƃ3>0)(C<6ƄC ƃ3>0):Z=S/2.5:çC>6Z=V-¤A(C+1)
3ìX,Y:ìX+S*.8,Y+Z:ð85,X,Y-S:ð85,X+S*.8,Y-S+Z:í:í
4ݤA(A)=µ(A/2.23)*48

james, to homeassistant

🧑‍💻Estimating Battery Runtime Using Home Assistant💾
How I set up Home Assistant to tell me the remaining runtime on my home solar battery system.
Read More 👉https://ncot.uk/estimating-battery-runtime-using-home-assistant/
#Battery #HomeAssistant #SmartHome #Solar

james, to emacs

"Search instead for: Vi"

Nice one Google, nice one 🤣

james, to random

You know why BBC #BASIC is the best kind of BASIC?

Because you can write gibberish like this and the computer is quite OK with it.

ben, to random
@ben@hardill.me.uk avatar

OK, this is a anti-pattern that NEEDS to DIE in FIRE 🔥

My bank has just inserted a splash screen when launching it's mobile app, this gleefully announces that I am now paperless, no way to decline, only to accept this change. And if I don't want paperless I have to go hunt in settings.

While I get there are some benefits (mainly for the bank), this should be a informed choice, not a forced action.

james,

@bread80 @ben What's the anti-pattern? Paperless banking or opting users into something without warning and giving them effort to switch it off?

I like paperless banking, I do not care about my bank statements, they can be viewed online, it's not 1980 any more why should I keep them in a box in my house? If I don't have personal financial data on paper in my house, it's one less vector for ID theft.

james, to DOOM

The Cyberdemon from #doom is one of the most misunderstood characters in the game. All he really wants is a hug and a cup of tea.

Life's hard when you have a rocket launcher for an arm and a top-heavy body. You'd be angry too.

james, to random

Intercepted the cat trying to turd on the bathmat. As I whipped it from under her she made a noise that quite clearly stated it was my personal fault I'd stopped her curling one out on the floor.

Then she grumpily went into the litter tray and laid something so foul smelling it had a flavour.

Cats are awesome, get a cat.

SmudgeTheInsultCat, to random
@SmudgeTheInsultCat@mas.to avatar
james,

@SmudgeTheInsultCat What a good idea... Although, anyone capable of writing neatly with jam is clearly possessed.

amoroso, to blogging
@amoroso@fosstodon.org avatar

Jay Adra on why he prefers posting on his blog over social media:

"If you're here, it means you have chosen to be here. There's no one else to compete with. There's nothing else to distract you away. It's just you and the words I write. If you're interested in them, you read. If not, you leave."

https://blog.jayadra.com/social-media-isnt-for-me

#blogging

james,

@amoroso I like the idea, but it's so hard finding blogs to read.

And then even harder remembering to go look at them for new content.

Yes, I'm still bitter Google killed Reader off. They could have kept that and used it to funnel eyeballs onto websites hosting their adverts, instead of jumping on the social media bandwagon with Google+ (which they also killed).

It's also nicer reading more thoughtful pieces than what you can jam into a short message.

SmudgeTheInsultCat, to random
@SmudgeTheInsultCat@mas.to avatar
james,

@SmudgeTheInsultCat I set my phone's ringtone to be the old Nokia one.

The looks I get in public when it goes off are totally worth it 😄

gsuberland, to random
@gsuberland@chaos.social avatar

did a bunch of adulting today and I feel better for it (aside from extreme frustration with broken processes and IVRs that send you round in circles)

james,

@gsuberland do you not pay with a monthly direct debit? I found they'll happily take your money even if a bill hasn't been generated.

They are curiously calm about letting you run up a bill though. I got no queries over owing them 400 quid, so I took my time paying it back. It's not like they charge interest.

What I can't figure out is why my bills are a month old. Just got June-July's but paid for August's usage 🧐

james,

@gsuberland sounds like @nigel and his smart meter fun, where they don't gather data until he phones up and complains.

nixCraft, to random
@nixCraft@mastodon.social avatar

Google is now forcing me to turn on YouTube history. Otherwise, you get a blank page. Why do you do this? Buying premium subscriptions wasn’t enough?

james,

@nixCraft I think it's doing exactly what you're telling it to do...

Without any watch history, how does it know what you want to see next?

I don't get the paranoia, if you have a smartphone you're literally giving Google/Apple your entire life. YouTube watch history is almost inconsequential.

james, to random

The server brain swap is complete and nothing exploded. It did indeed "just work".

Apart from the bit where I tried using the wrong size screws to hold the motherboard in, and had to make a sata power cable because my PSU only has four and I needed 6.

Quantites of black dust were also evicted. I'm off for a shower.

image/jpeg

james,

Hard day down t' pit?
No, discovered my server case had a filter that I didn't know existed and it contained over 20 years of accumulated dust.

TechConnectify, to random
@TechConnectify@mas.to avatar

Also.

It's apparently impossible for people to take information in before barfing their thoughts out.

Lots of people saying "NACS is a tragedy because it doesn't support three-phase" when, y'know, I'm pretty sure I spent some time talking about how we just flat out don't have three-phase power in homes.

Ugh.

Anyway, I'll shut up. Overall, the response has been much better than I figured. I was very worried about how this video would be received!

james,

@TechConnectify The three-phase thing is a complete non-issue anyway.

Also, here in the UK we don't have three phase in our homes, we have regular single phase 240v.

Some EVs will support 3-phase AC charging, but since it's not a standard thing, you can't guarantee a random street charger you find will provide it. So for the majority of AC charging here it's 7kW AC.

But nobody charges with AC outside their home unless it's all there is.

james,

@TechConnectify Something else Tesla have got right is the waiting fee if you're just parked up and not actually charging the car.

All public chargers should do that, it'd make waiting for a charger a bit more predictable. Currently there's no penalty to charging up and disappearing for an hour or so even if your car's full.

I don't think I'd mind the thinner cable either. 150kw Type 2 cables are a bit thick and hard to control.

james, to random

Well that was fun and exciting. So I bought a new server to run Proxmox on, to replace my dodgy collection of raspberry Pis.

Last night I moved this instance off a Pi onto a Proxmox container and completely broke it.

Turns out the "migrating to a new machine" docs miss out a bit where you should probably upgrade the old instance before migration, otherwise you end up in a right mess.

llamasoft_ox, to random
@llamasoft_ox@toot.wales avatar

duw duw, edrych ar y pannas fawr! Bydd Owen yn hapus iawn! :baner: :pannas:

james,

@llamasoft_ox I tried growing parsnips on my allotment, I think something ate them all before they managed to even grow proper leaves.

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