shortcolin

I'm in Edinburgh. I like designing simple technology and riding my solar e-bike - which even works in Scotland!

blog: https://pointinthecloud.com

Public Key

npub18vp2xruvu743mf7w2vtgdxaqfdxhtq56swem6jly48j63dd7tsjsnkpwxu

NIP-05 Address

[email protected]

Profile Code

nprofile1qqsrkq4rp7xw02ca5l89x95xnwsyknt4s2dg8vaaf0j2nedgkkl9cfgprpmhxue69uhhyetvv9ujumt0d4hhxarj9ecxjmntyjavuu

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relay.momostr.pink

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npub18vp2xruvu743mf7w2vtgdxaqfdxhtq56swem6jly48j63dd7tsjsnkpwxu

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Last Notes

2026-08-20 15:22:53 GMT

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Yes - it's crazy. My MacBook has started using lots more RAM too of late and I need to investigate why. Someone said "Of course you can't do anything today in only 8Gb of RAM" which upsets me.
https://static.toot.community/media_attachments/files/117/128/514/982/727/025/original/06ab5a6fe7a3d36a.png

2026-08-20 15:04:10 GMT

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They say memory keeps getting cheaper. Having said that I've not checked memory prices over the last 12 months. Maybe I should get myself up to date but I'm sure nothing has changed.... ;-)

2026-08-20 13:34:19 GMT

I ran photoshop on a £0.60 Raspberry pi pico processor emulating a 1980s Apple Mac. It inspired me to think about simple computers.
https://pointinthecloud.com/2026-08-19-144600.html
#retrocomputing #permacomputing
https://static.toot.community/media_attachments/files/117/128/085/502/494/545/original/c8ce5f3836e3e9c4.jpg

2026-08-01 19:12:44 GMT

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Aha - yes, thanks @npub10a0…ry2t - the photos give me an idea. I shouldn't admit it in this company, but currently the Psions tend to mostly sit in a box so risk of damage is minimal; I shall add reinforcement to my list of projects. "Port the MAME Psion 3a emulator to a raspberry pi pico and screen to build a DIY Psion" is one of the projects, but the list is long...

2026-08-01 18:59:34 GMT

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So JB Weld seems to be a bit like Araldite...I assume you mix it and then fill around the hinges to provide extra strength around them?

2026-08-01 16:25:22 GMT

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Thank you for this tip. Fortunately the 3a is intact for now, but I'm a little bit scared to breathe on it just in case I need to seek the advice of Dr J B Weld!

2026-07-30 16:31:19 GMT

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I found that issue 10 had an extension for flash memory - https://archive.org/details/palmtop-issue-08/page/n38/mode/1up
and will have to look through the issues 14-34 that I have. I suppose the software article will be in the missing issues 11,12 or 13!

2026-07-30 16:22:33 GMT

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I thought it was likely you had, but you never know so shared. I must get my 3a out and play with it; I'm nervous now though in case I break the brittle hinges. I have an LZ64, Siena, Revo and 5mx so must get the whole collection out!

2026-07-29 21:31:23 GMT

@npub1h4l…g8cc There was a reference in one of the magazines I just uploaded (https://archive.org/details/palmtop-issue-13/page/114/mode/1up) to a "Build your own PC SSD interface" so I thought of you. You most likely have seen this already but just in case, the article is here (which I think has maybe been uploaded by @npub1yfq…kh4f , not me)
https://archive.org/details/palmtop-issue-07/page/n21/mode/1up

2026-07-29 21:10:53 GMT

I did some scanning of Psion documents today at Ucreate at Edinburgh university library:
- Palmtop magazine issues 13-16 and issues 31-34.
- A Psion catalogue listing hardware and software for the Series 3.
- A Psion 3fax brochure.
I miss Psions.
There is a review of the Nokia 9210 (although one page is corrupted); I'd forgotten how excited people were then having a pocket computer connected to the internet -with colour!
They are available at: https://archive.org/details/@shortcolin
#psion
https://static.toot.community/media_attachments/files/117/005/175/369/277/232/original/a48f1d982eab848c.jpg

2026-03-27 22:31:25 GMT

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it might be too late given you got one...but the MZ-N505 I got is quite slow to read. It is a "Type-R" device. If I understand correctly the newer Type-S machines have more RAM which allows faster transfer code to be loaded, or similar. But maybe you already got a fast one.

2026-03-27 20:03:56 GMT

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Instead of the choose your own adventure books I feel the best response is to offer a "Choose your own reply"....
A) I'm glad my blog post introduced you to an exciting new device, and enriched your life.
B) I am terribly terribly sorry and feel guilty for making you spend money on another thing you do not need. I will not write any more such blog posts.

2026-03-27 15:13:50 GMT

@npub1pg4…x3gc Your post about minidiscs inspired me to make a blog post: https://pointinthecloud.com/2026-03-27-134200.html
https://static.toot.community/media_attachments/files/116/301/782/496/025/000/original/2b1fa8d2d7284a02.jpg

2025-12-11 14:49:35 GMT

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I like it when people write blog posts about strange things like this - always nice to discover them!

2025-10-31 20:43:55 GMT

The Omni Centre in Edinburgh had slight cyberpunk vibes today. Such a terrible shame I couldn't be advertised to.....
https://static.toot.community/media_attachments/files/115/470/716/718/240/476/original/286d781921c0059f.jpg

2025-10-31 20:41:38 GMT

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Nice to hear from you - I have been enjoying your web browser contributions! I'm rather enjoying that it doesn't work on modern sites - I wonder how long a typical react website would take to load (Assuming a hypothetical Psion 5zz with 16Gb of RAM that could handle it.)

2025-10-31 20:39:38 GMT

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Yes - I think perhaps the mechanical design was just too clever. Fortunately the screen cable seems OK, but I might come back to you at some point in the future to ask how the cable is repaired....(Fingers crossed it will be OK for a while!)

2025-10-31 20:38:43 GMT

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It's funny to read your comment - I was quite fancying the idea of this being my only computer. I wonder how things would have changed if this was the computer most people had.

2025-10-16 15:17:51 GMT

I repaired a Psion pocket computer from 1999 and got it online so wrote a blog post: https://pointinthecloud.com/2025-10-13-154800.html

2025-09-15 16:10:01 GMT

Retro computing enthusiasts in Edinburgh: there is a Bush CRT TV with SCART input dumped by a bin in Rankeillor St, near the university. I know these things are becoming desirable for the proper period feel in case anyone wants one!
https://static.toot.community/media_attachments/files/115/209/174/475/214/561/original/f4a4eb9e0abac4dd.jpg

2025-09-09 14:30:56 GMT

Was browsing photos in William Patrick Library, Kirkintilloch at the weekend. Discovered the Lion Foundry made these panels for Lothian House at Tollcross, Edinburgh. Trades of Edinburgh: "Printing, Engineering, Brewing, Building"
I knew the Lion Foundary for red phone boxes, but they made all sorts of things - e.g. the giant window surround at Constitución railway station, Buenos Aires
https://www.edlc.co.uk/heritage-arts/exhibitions/online-exhibitions/the-lion-foundry/
Have started noticing panels in other places now - e.g. Fountainbridge library
https://static.toot.community/media_attachments/files/115/174/778/055/479/412/original/a2befad6e2bd83a2.jpg
https://static.toot.community/media_attachments/files/115/174/778/055/326/169/original/20e63e7df581405a.jpg

2025-09-07 15:48:38 GMT

Browsing the swimming pool timetable and they have "casual swimming" this afternoon. I don't have a swimming tuxedo for the formal swimming which I assume is at the other times.

2025-09-01 11:01:07 GMT

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I fixed a talking teddy bear for (if I remember) a 3 year old once, which involved pulling all the stuffing out. She somehow came down from bed and saw me with it on the table and the stuffing everywhere and gave me an absolute look of horror and was quite upset! Fortunately she forgot once it was stitched up and worked again and was very happy, so that was rewarding.

2025-08-30 10:34:48 GMT

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...the code is a bit awkward to find, but there's a "pipistrelle deliverables" zip file in there and it's contained within that.

2025-08-30 10:33:35 GMT

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Actually; reading again - maybe I misunderstood and you're asking "How did I record a bat if I didn't change the sample rate" - used the code from here https://www.pippyg.com/pipistrelleprev.html which works at 384kHz.

2025-08-30 10:32:10 GMT

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Thank you! That is useful to know. Our current best test was sitting on the pavement in front of a car and picking up the ultrasonic parking sensor; this method looks a bit more reliable and elegant!

2025-08-30 10:30:54 GMT

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We recorded the bats by plugging the pico into a linux laptop. The command line was something like:
arecord -f S16_LE -c1 -r384000 -t wav -D "dsnoop:CARD=B2000,DEV=0" bat1.wav
...where the "dsnoop:CARD..." stuff came from running "arecord -L" and looking for the most plausible looking sound card.
FWIW here is one of the recordings: https://pointinthecloud.com/STUFF/bat6.wav in case it is useful to you.

2025-08-30 10:26:38 GMT

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Ah - I changed the sample rate in a different way - I suspect you've done it correctly. I will fiddle about later.
As to the filters - the code in analog_microphone.hpp says "
// don't ask, I can't remember how or why this works ... dick with this at your peril
enum {
COEFFBITS = 13,
"
So I can't at all think why that comment suggests it might be hard to understand or difficult to modify ;-)

2025-08-29 19:52:55 GMT

As an experiment @npub1urh…hamz Soldered a MEMS microphone onto a pi pico, and we got it to classify bats using the https://github.com/macaodha/batdetect2 model. Exciting to hear the bat chirps when playing the WAV file slowed down. Will have to write a blog post soon to explain what we did but for now it is getting dark - which means more bats to spy on!
https://static.toot.community/media_attachments/files/115/113/783/182/572/900/original/6e9ad7214fb5ecfa.jpg
https://static.toot.community/media_attachments/files/115/113/783/671/348/781/original/8acaa69ecef6ae5b.png

2025-08-29 19:44:37 GMT

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Oh interesting - thanks for letting me know. Did you manage to change the sample rate at all? That's where I think I was doing something wrong.
We had success last night recording a bat using the pico! Quite exciting to hear it, and managed to classify it as a pipistrelle using batdetect2 - recorded a WAV file using a laptop and then manually played it through the classifier. Progress!

2025-08-23 04:52:12 GMT

At 5am both the birds and me are awake and the first detections on BirdNet Pi have been made, which is exciting.
Using an Adafruit PDM Microphone and ARM USB microphone library to make a USB Microphone from a Pi Pico, connected to a Pi400: https://github.com/ArmDeveloperEcosystem/microphone-library-for-pico.
There are some weirdnesses still to be investigated but it is nice to see it detecting something.
https://static.toot.community/media_attachments/files/115/076/264/222/178/966/original/a3dfa938cc22f08a.png

2025-08-22 16:26:27 GMT

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So the microphone now works OK on Ubuntu Linux. However when trying on the pi it appears fine but it records silence. I'm just trying to figure out why.

2025-08-22 15:05:03 GMT

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Aha - someone else found the problem: https://github.com/ArmDeveloperEcosystem/microphone-library-for-pico/issues/38
It seems to record voices with Linux. Using the Adafruit PDM microphone first for bird detection and if that goes OK will try changing to the other one for bats.

2025-08-22 14:26:45 GMT

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If you want a collaborator that makes a microphone that says "usb_set_interface failed" then sure! The Pi Pico USB microphone works fine on my Mac but not on Linux. Digging in to see if it is the usual Linux sound mess or something Linux needs but the Microphone doesn't provide....At least it works on MacOS so that's a start!

2025-08-22 12:47:32 GMT

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I would never have thought of that but it makes sense. I'm hoping by playing about with this stuff some interesting things like that will emerge, but who knows! First step is getting the USB microphone code to behave....

2025-08-22 12:46:19 GMT

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That's really interesting - so you mean grasshoppers make some kind of ultrasonic sound which it picked up?

2025-08-21 12:30:09 GMT

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Yes - meeting would be good. Are any particular times good for you? Could you message my phone?

2025-08-21 12:28:02 GMT

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I think it would be neat to build multiple detectors and triangulate bats and show their flight live in 3D - but that might be too ambitious! https://github.com/macaodha/batdetect2 I got that to run on the sample files so curious to see if we can detect bats and identify them!

2025-08-20 18:08:41 GMT

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...although I don't know if you actually want this information: I've just been looking at it so it sort of splurged out automatically. Sorry if you don't actually care and were really talking about cartoons I don't remember!!

2025-08-20 18:06:20 GMT

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I looked at microphones and many projects seem to use similar variants: Warning - too much detail might be incoming: if my notes are correct- pippyg uses SPV0142LR5H-1 microphone; Audiomoth uses SPM0408LE5H microphone; something else uses SPU0410LR5H microphone. These microphones all seem to be rated up to 20kHz but the data sheet shows them testing up to 80kHz. I have no idea what the differences between them are however!

2025-08-20 18:01:34 GMT

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From what I can tell the pippyg microphone software comes from https://github.com/ArmDeveloperEcosystem/microphone-library-for-pico but has extra digital filtering - the source (for the microphone only) is available somewhere in a Google drive file on the site. Sparkfun sell a SPH8878LR5H microphone breakout which might be similar - have ordered one and going to try with a Pico to make a microphone and see what happens.

2025-08-18 15:42:17 GMT

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We walked past Redford Barracks at the weekend and there seems to be some kind of Army "Expo" thing on this week there. I guess perhaps it was flying there to be shown off?

2025-08-14 16:57:37 GMT

I just experimented by using an AI to help me write an AI. It was successful (and I'm impressed), but I suspect I may be being reduced to a tool to help them reproduce.
(I don't why it asked me for help with motors and steel and opposable thumbs when I'm trying to write an audio classifier tool, but nobody really knows how deep neural networks work so I suppose it knows best).

2025-08-03 10:23:37 GMT

Discovered this mysterious old radio aerial/antenna during our Pentland Hills walk yesterday. The information board says it was used to receive signals from South Africa during WW2 but it feels too small and unlikely a location for this. Found a blog which believes it was used by Edinburgh university electrical engineering dept in the 1960s for ionospheric research: https://boghall-radio-masts.blogspot.com/2017/
https://static.toot.community/media_attachments/files/114/964/324/422/881/010/original/5a8afaf5c4002697.jpg
https://static.toot.community/media_attachments/files/114/964/324/790/235/661/original/e980e75929775f8f.jpg
https://static.toot.community/media_attachments/files/114/964/325/571/482/439/original/f5d42d975731ee7b.jpg

2025-06-20 07:30:23 GMT

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I've got one AA battery left over from my Tandy (Radio Shack) battery club membership but I still carry the card in my wallet so I'm waiting until the end of the month so I can claim my next free one.

2025-05-31 07:46:09 GMT

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That is true, but you have to take the perks you can get on the way.

2025-05-31 07:35:51 GMT

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If you phone their "helpline" you get sent a series of bad AI generated emails. My parcel is currently lost, but they started with "experiencing a mismatch between item and driver" followed by "I will tell them to llook for it" until they say "a high likelihood the parcel will not arrive but we are still searching" followed by silence for three weeks. I tell you this as the bad emails did provide some compensatory wntertainment, which you may also enjoy.

2025-05-12 18:15:22 GMT

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I think you might have the right idea...

2025-05-12 17:12:39 GMT

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I remember electronics magazines sometimes had DIY projects - e.g.
A DIY EMG - https://archive.org/details/eti-top-projects-vol-6/page/106/mode/2up
or
"Learn to reduce tension levels" https://www.worldradiohistory.com/UK/Electronics-Today-UK/ETI-Top-Projects-1988-Vol-5.pdf
"Of course it should be stated that various mystics and yogis have previously demonstrated this type of ability but the fascination of biofeedback. The speed and ease with which this type of control can be learned."

2025-05-10 10:27:15 GMT

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Interesting: as a PDA nerd of the time I have vague memories of Casio making this, and perhaps Tandy licensing it - I think their early 80s pocket computers were rebadged Sharp ones so maybe the pattern continued. My searching suggests it is the same as the Casio Z7000 so perhaps my memory isn't completely faulty, but that's a dubious assumption. Speaking Casio makes me think I must get batteries for my Credit card sized "Data bank" clock/calculator to see if it still works!

2025-05-04 09:41:57 GMT

To the sailors I know in Edinburgh: May the Forth be with you.

2025-04-16 06:45:06 GMT

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did you find yourself thinking "How weird that the other person who uploaded it has the same name as me!". My brain has smart moments like that before it figures out what happened.

2025-04-06 17:24:56 GMT

The newly restored gas holder in Granton was looking great in the sun today. It has been turned into a park.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cvgnpn8vx79o
#edinburgh
https://static.toot.community/media_attachments/files/114/292/166/506/188/253/original/e821c0e2092c5093.jpg
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https://static.toot.community/media_attachments/files/114/292/166/845/955/501/original/7949342a31193b24.jpg

2025-03-16 10:09:46 GMT

I woke up early so decided to be all smug and go to the gym while watching all the lazy people sleeping with their curtains closed. Got there a bit after 8am and there was a class full of people doing aerobics, or something: jumping around with lots of music. They were both there earlier than me and being more energetic than me: meh.
I decided that being smug was futile so watched the swans (which disappeared by the time I took this photo) instead. It has a lovely view.
Lesson: don't be smug.
https://static.toot.community/media_attachments/files/114/171/520/196/566/427/original/5fcc536503d0dd4a.jpg

2025-03-05 12:39:31 GMT

Heard a lovely clicking sound while standing outside the St James shopping centre. Looked up and there were around 100 birds in the trees.
I suppose pied wagtails must like having clothes shopping and a food court nearby.
#edinburgh
https://static.toot.community/media_attachments/files/114/109/844/731/388/769/original/27edade9253ed7c7.jpg

2025-01-24 12:16:04 GMT

The EE website tells me I should visit the website because the website isn't working. My brain isn't equipped for this new logic.
https://static.toot.community/media_attachments/files/113/883/250/664/107/570/original/f78a84d21940fa0f.png

2025-01-22 23:30:25 GMT

I downloaded the English language wikipedia text and wrote it to a Bluray disk. I'm very grateful for the generosity of the contributors and the project that I am able to do this and have an offline copy of so much knowledge, and I find it so amazing. I think it will be fun to convert the text to PDFs and visualise how much shelf space Wikipedia would take up in a library.
https://static.toot.community/media_attachments/files/113/874/581/062/304/900/original/fd4886dbaf179802.jpg

2025-01-10 15:24:44 GMT

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In my list of "maybe at some point" projects: I've always wanted to see how much effort it would take to strip out the Psion specific stuff from MAME...I think it would be fun to build a Psion 3a emulator that can run on a microcontroller, and maybe build a "modern" 3a with a mechanical keyboard, or something. I should think a CPU emulator plus the Psion bits isn't (hopefully) too complex and presumably should build faster.

2025-01-07 17:33:41 GMT

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I hope you don't feel washed and reused.

2025-01-01 13:06:57 GMT

@npub17c8…rs80 I'm enjoying this Christmas present - saying "Come and look at this great picture on Mastodon" must have worked! But I might not be able to visit London again after you compared Oxford Circus station to a giant spider. I want to practise seeing things like that this year.
https://static.toot.community/media_attachments/files/113/753/220/129/231/521/original/b000e670bef5f5b6.jpg

2025-01-01 12:45:57 GMT

Beginning the experiment in growing lions mane mushrooms thanks to a Christmas present kit
https://static.toot.community/media_attachments/files/113/753/161/081/735/876/original/7a619cdebaabb57d.jpg

2024-12-23 20:55:13 GMT

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I liked Aqua..I bought an original Mac mini which felt like an evolution of UNIX workstations. I keep meaning to solder a VGA connector onto a Pi Pico, as I see there is a project to emulate an original Mac 128 on one, which looks interesting to try.

2024-12-23 10:30:25 GMT

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I hope you're managing to cope with an OS that has fewer bugs, starts up quickly and doesn't try to upload everything to iCloud. It sounds nightmarish to me...I mean how do you know where the buttons and controls are when the UI isn't flat?
(Apologies...I'm grumpy as I tried to copy files yesterday and MacOS seems to intermittently disconnect USB drives now and it was very annoying).

2024-12-21 20:10:54 GMT

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I read that out and someone said "I had a grandmother that used to talk about closing the light; to turn it off". Confusing...

2024-12-21 18:28:47 GMT

Today I learned after a very important argument: The "correct" orientation for a switch depends on where you are from. Some countries use "Up" to mean "ON" but others (including the UK) use "Down" to mean "ON".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light_switch
Apparently we were both correct, but of course I really know who was right.
Next up in important arguments: Should water go down the drain clockwise or anticlockwise?

2024-12-21 11:01:33 GMT

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Well after a tight race with many many voters it looks like the wisdom of the crowds was correct...from what definitely looks to be a statistically valid sample size.

2024-12-18 12:57:34 GMT

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Ah, you noticed the natural timbre and seductive lushness of my hair then - thank you :-)

2024-12-18 12:13:18 GMT

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Hehe - I didn't think of that one.

2024-12-18 10:58:17 GMT

In today's exciting episode of "Was it a shampoo or high-end HiFi advert" - was
"Deep tonal saturation, natural timbre, seductive lushness, beguiling liquidity and organic flow"
from a:

2024-12-16 05:25:55 GMT

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Thank you for posting this. Woke up on high alert (the storm feels like it is going to blow the place away) but will keep listening as I think I will soon become hypnotised into not minding!

2024-11-25 22:29:04 GMT

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Well noticed! I didn't get to those ones as I was too busy thinking of chocolate, Homer Simpson style.

2024-11-25 22:27:48 GMT

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Ah thank you for the explanation. I must look up how the machine works. I assume it was a development from the Linotype machines, doing away with the hot lead.
I confess I began trying to figure out what the light meant but got sidetracked wondering why English language names a pastry after lightning!

2024-11-25 22:03:49 GMT

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musée_des_Arts_et_Métiers The museum where the machine is held is very worth a visit, in my opinion

2024-11-25 22:02:15 GMT

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I did that thinking it would help and they threw me out of the museum!

2024-11-25 21:55:59 GMT

The most important alarm in any machine: The eclairs have run out.
(From a Lumitype 550 photo-typesetting machine)
https://static.toot.community/media_attachments/files/113/545/798/262/065/587/original/9b48f8aa14c8baf1.jpg
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2024-11-25 20:28:58 GMT

I wonder if the old Powderhall railway in Edinburgh could turn into this? The Aquaponic growing was interesting, but I wonder if it could work in the Scottish cold? https://lesjardinsduruisseau.fr It was lovely and peaceful here, in the middle of the city.
https://static.toot.community/media_attachments/files/113/545/461/491/181/208/original/07f1301205bc5bcb.jpg
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2024-11-25 20:22:53 GMT

This "Futuro house" was one of the many ,many interesting things in the flea markets of Paris. The "wants to live in a UFO" side of me is envious.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Futuro
https://static.toot.community/media_attachments/files/113/545/443/230/289/812/original/0ff02419ea93b49a.jpg

2024-11-25 20:03:07 GMT

I was in the library today and I love these card index drawers and the index cards. I wonder how old they are?
https://static.toot.community/media_attachments/files/113/545/370/846/873/258/original/dcbeccb342a9f12b.jpg

2024-11-15 10:53:06 GMT

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Those compound words must be 64 bit words. 8 bit words are the best ones!

2024-11-15 10:13:26 GMT

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I think we need a word to describe this. I shall fill out my application form and send it to the people who make the words...

2024-11-14 12:58:46 GMT

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Yay...a fan :-) I have to confess...As well as the tactility I miss the sounds the drive makes when it is making these things.

2024-11-14 12:23:42 GMT

I know I'm probably posting about old media that nobody else is interested in...but isn't this 8cm DVD so cute? 2.8 gigabytes of rainbows! I like how the DVD-RAM sector markings are visible which make a nice spiral dot pattern. DVD-RAM appears as a normal drive you can read and write to..no special image writing software needed.
https://static.toot.community/media_attachments/files/113/481/275/460/455/006/original/d29cdaea29e7e006.jpg

2024-11-11 19:18:04 GMT

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Well that proves the point doesn't it - it didn't need to be 6.7Mb and was fine at less than 640k :-)

2024-11-11 19:12:53 GMT

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I remember finding a old birthday card from some work colleagues. Someone had written "Now it's your birthday maybe you can splash out on an 8Mb card for your camera" like it was something exotic (which it probably was then). I wonder what happened to smart media cards...

2024-11-11 19:03:12 GMT

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I'm too old to understand Terabytes - anything more than 640k is suspicious to me still. I took this picture of a badge I have, but the phone camera JPEG image was 6.7Mb. Ummmm.
https://static.toot.community/media_attachments/files/113/465/865/831/072/309/original/d5a212fd942b912d.jpg

2024-11-11 18:05:06 GMT

New document scanner arrived to tackle the pile of paperwork and many photos to scan. I'm very impressed - it scans faster than I can open the photo envelopes.
Found a picture of my pet guinea pig from many years ago, which was nice to see. He was very clever and used to paw at the cupboard containing vegetables when you said "carrots"
https://static.toot.community/media_attachments/files/113/465/635/092/979/010/original/c300496c07d14cf2.jpg

2024-11-11 13:27:20 GMT

Tidying up and I realised I have two disks by the same brand, but 40 years apart, where the blue disk stores 250,000 of the pink disks. To think the white Sony Blu-ray disk holds more than a million of the pink floppy disks, yet the tiny micro SD card which almost isn't visible in the picture stores more than 2 million floppy disks amazes me.
https://static.toot.community/media_attachments/files/113/464/532/681/672/296/original/4036ba8f76cb7764.jpg
https://static.toot.community/media_attachments/files/113/464/533/276/168/609/original/a873276e4e5aba55.jpg

2024-11-11 13:21:20 GMT

They say optical media is obsolete, but in my opinion it looks far cooler than USB thumb drives. I would love to show this to someone in the 1960s - I think it would look like alien technology. To think this mechanism is the culmination of all the tape formats, vinyl records, floppy disks etc and that it can store 128Gb of data - this is maybe the last physical data format there will be.
https://static.toot.community/media_attachments/files/113/464/505/184/724/106/original/9c0b454d93e530ca.jpg

2024-11-05 21:07:10 GMT

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A sunroof! Now you are making me want a brown Mk1 Ford Fiesta Ghia with velour seats and a cigarette lighter. I'll be the coolest person in town with my rear windscreen wiper and wood trim.

2024-11-05 10:24:12 GMT

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They say to look up to see the architectural features while walking in Glasgow...now I have to look down in Edinburgh to try and find where that mystery is. I now have an excuse to look at the old maps in the central library Scottish room to find the foundary too.

2024-11-05 10:19:38 GMT

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I think I will go back and look at the nice dog pictures you have posted as my distraction.

2024-10-23 18:18:02 GMT

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Thank you: It looks likely I will have many questions! I have added Fractran to my list of interesting things to look at so thank you for bringing it to my attention. Cutting computers out of paper reminds me of Bret Victor's graphical "alligator" lambda calculus https://worrydream.com/AlligatorEggs/ - I am currently very curious about the Dynamicland/Realtalk stuff he is researching. I like ways of making computation visible and tangible.

2024-10-22 21:36:47 GMT

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It is cold and windy outside so another one made! Thank you for this: Folding and cutting the paper was fun. Now you have nerd-sniped me into wanting to understand Fractran and have got me thinking of what machines could be made from paper.
https://static.toot.community/media_attachments/files/113/353/199/608/025/435/original/77e1d0842c7f9b9c.jpg

2024-10-19 21:18:00 GMT

Found out that the Water of Leith path near the Dean village in Edinburgh has re-opened so it is now possible to walk between Roseburn and Stockbridge again. The river was perfectly smooth just before the weir so took this trick of the eyes photo.
https://static.toot.community/media_attachments/files/113/336/156/841/056/699/original/3870f96e4471aaaa.jpg

2024-10-19 16:59:25 GMT

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Thank you for posting this! I find audio recordings strangely immersive so liked this. It was a bit confusing listening to it while standing outside a Morrisons car park in Edinburgh though - my eyes and ears told me very different things.

2024-10-11 21:44:23 GMT

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We never had phone extension cables long enough to allow you to use a modem on a horse here in Europe. I only thought they came in the 90s with the GSM horse modems, which I think was an abbreviation for "Gee-up SM" as it was known here.

2024-10-11 21:06:39 GMT

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Oh no. This sounds not pleasant. Did the lightning hit a phone line on telephone poles perhaps? At least it sounds like your power stuff is largely OK.

2024-10-11 20:56:03 GMT

Today I took the form of a bear, standing over a river looking for salmon. I saw a few leaping, though I wasn't bear-like enough to catch them (with my phone camera).
https://www.visitscotland.com/info/see-do/pots-of-gartness-p2570371
(Maybe I should have posted the toad picture separately...just in case: it is not a salmon)
https://static.toot.community/media_attachments/files/113/290/758/223/744/312/original/92be883085593f84.jpg
https://static.toot.community/media_attachments/files/113/290/765/601/046/141/original/15803b3478f130d7.jpg
https://static.toot.community/media_attachments/files/113/290/766/276/706/102/original/e2712ed0520feb46.jpg

2024-09-25 10:14:20 GMT

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It was great to meet you last night. What could be better than talking about dogs and old computers 🙂
I do hope I didn't tire you out though! If I did I have made an excuse: I'm going to blame it on the CRT monitor: Your brain was expecting NTSC 60Hz rates, but the UK monitor displayed at PAL 50Hz rates so time flowed differently and that's why you got back late (or something like that...).

2024-09-24 14:50:33 GMT

My greaseweazle arrived. I read a Commodore disk on an Acorn BBC Micro, loading into my Apple computer. I am truly mixing up the 1980s computer tribes as well as having a MacBook Air with a 5.25" floppy drive.
Next is to try some Digital archaeology and see what is one some old disks that used to belong to my dad.
#retrocomputing
https://static.toot.community/media_attachments/files/113/193/071/375/906/346/original/60b16d72812beceb.jpg