Neil Brown

English Internet, telecoms, and tech lawyer, running a law firm (https://decoded.legal) on Free software.

Linux / FOSS, legal stuff, Airsoft, and puns. Terrible puns.

He/him. Cishet, lucky husband.

💚 means I am empathising / supportive.

#NoBot / #NoSearch / #NoIndex / #NoGenAI #NoNoNoNoNoNoNoNoTheresNoLimit

Public Key

npub1waxkzn4ulrap2d5qtluxhkl8wcl5lye7y9sg79958s43j9hnsspsqdx0yw

NIP-05 Address

[email protected]

Profile Code

nprofile1qqs8wntpf67037s4x6q9l7rtm0nhv060jvlzzcy0zj6rc2cezmecgqcpz3mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuerpd46hxtnfduqs6amnwvaz7tmwdaejumr0ds7d6u3t

Publishing to

relay.damus.io

nos.lol

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npub1waxkzn4ulrap2d5qtluxhkl8wcl5lye7y9sg79958s43j9hnsspsqdx0yw

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Last Notes

2026-05-22 05:16:44 GMT

Today is World Goth Day.
Wishing a very dark and mystical day to those who, erm, celebrate.

2026-05-16 05:27:57 GMT

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Turns out that I don't actually use that much Free software after all.

2026-05-16 05:26:32 GMT

Neil: There's a wealth of amazing Free software out there! I use loads of it.
Them: What do you use to write documents?
Me: I use vim. I write in Markdown, then convert it. (typst + pandoc)
Them: What about presentations?
Me: I use vim. I write in Markdown, then convert it. (revealjs)
Them: Your website? Blog?
Me: I use vim. I write in Markdown, then convert it. (mkdocs / bssg)
Them: So what about keeping notes?
Me: Oddly enough, I use vim. I write in Markdown... (vimwiki)
#FreeSoftware #FOSS #Linux #vim #Markdown

2026-05-09 15:39:15 GMT

After "age verification" for VPNs, age verification for DNS-over-https? Or just DNS?
Or simple age verification to use the Internet.

2026-05-06 05:55:24 GMT

I was at an ethics seminar, for people from different professions - law, medicine, accountancy etc.
One of the topics was "Is it ever appropriate to form a sexual relationship with a client/patient?"
I was surprised that one person argued, quite strongly, that it was acceptable.
I'm not sure that I'd recommend that particular vet.

2026-05-05 18:56:31 GMT

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@nprofile…y3hp PayPal has blocked the transaction (I'm guessing that it is because it has "Iran" in the title, but I could be wrong...), so let's see what happens!

2026-05-05 18:52:24 GMT

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@nprofile…y3hp @nprofile…u6du @nprofile…uzrv @nprofile…yast
A DRM-free eBook? I'm sold!

2026-05-05 17:03:15 GMT

> nearly £20.5 million committed to develop numberplate ID system for drones – helping police better protect UK skies and prosecute illegal users
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/nearly-50-million-government-backing-to-power-up-drone-and-flying-taxi-tech-and-crack-down-on-illegal-drones

2026-05-05 09:24:58 GMT

Who wants some new, exciting* data protection fun**?
Because the UK has some new requirements around handling data protection complaints, coming into force soon!
Here's a new blogpost:
https://decoded.legal/blog/2026/05/new-requirements-for-facilitating-and-handling-data-protection-complaints/
* not really
** see above
#UKGDPR #GDPR # DataProtection

2026-05-05 05:49:45 GMT

I'm having a less than fun time with body image at the moment. This comes and goes but, right now, it sucks.
For as long as I can remember, I've wanted to be thinner. Even when I was too thin, it wasn't quite thin enough.
And, at the moment, I am far from that.
I know that I "just" need to do more exercise and eat better, but that "just" is carrying a lot of weight in this sentence. Ironically.
No advice, thanks. I'm just venting.

2026-05-04 12:56:25 GMT

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@nprofile…lgr3
> Cheese and coleslaw wrap
Ah, sorry, but I've had to rescind my "welcome back", since you are clearly culinarily deviant.

2026-05-04 12:12:49 GMT

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@nprofile…68uj I press the button and nothing happens. Faulty switch, fuse, or something more severe, I suspect.

2026-05-04 08:13:25 GMT

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@nprofile…hcuq Do you get a public holiday today, or was that Friday for you?

2026-05-04 08:00:19 GMT

It is a holiday, so I am making Sandra Scotch pancakes, with banana and honey.
https://mastodon.neilzone.co.uk/system/media_attachments/files/116/515/247/861/072/324/original/8d487a0d8c4e640c.jpg

2026-05-04 07:24:53 GMT

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@nprofile…xws6 Curiously, that was something that came up early in my reading! (And that the experience can be very different across people.)

2026-05-04 07:19:36 GMT

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@nprofile…xws6 I am doing my reading ahead of time!

2026-05-04 07:15:52 GMT

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@nprofile…xws6 :(

2026-05-04 07:13:07 GMT

People fighting over menstruation was not what I expected from this period drama, but...

2026-05-04 06:30:05 GMT

I wonder if my DIY skills extend to fixing a power shower...?

2026-05-03 16:11:53 GMT

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@nprofile…ygzn
I am self-employed, so no :)
But, for someone working full time, it is 28 days.

2026-05-03 16:07:22 GMT

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@nprofile…ygzn
In England and Wales, we generally have eight per year.

2026-05-03 16:01:12 GMT

Tomorrow is a public holiday in the UK.
Or so I was informed by someone when I offered it to them for a meeting! Oops.

2026-05-03 15:55:10 GMT

Has Tindie bought out Canonical?!

2026-05-03 15:53:36 GMT

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@nprofile…cmq0 Yes!
Although I think the cinema near us lets people take in whatever food they want these days; I remember growing up that they used to prohibit that though.

2026-05-03 12:09:32 GMT

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I watch stuff at home precisely so that I *don't* have the cinema experience.

2026-05-03 12:07:12 GMT

I've invented a box that gives you the experience of being at a cinema, but in your own front room.
You put the box in front of your TV, and, at random intervals, it blocks your view of the screen with the outline of up to three human shapes, for anywhere between 30 seconds and 2 minutes.
It will cost £10/person/hour, plus booking fee.
This is the successor to my ever so popular "turn the TV up until it is way too loud, and then a bit more" service.

2026-05-02 18:14:36 GMT

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I really need to get back into asking people for virtual coffee chats - 15/20 minutes for a voice/video call, just getting to know people better.
Time has not been massively on my side recently, but I really enjoyed that when I did it.

2026-05-02 18:13:13 GMT

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I am not a massive fan of peopling offline. I have to do it, and I do indeed do it, and with practice I have got better at it, but I don't particularly enjoy it.
Chatting online doesn't drain my energy in the same way. I can be tired, and still look forward to "logging on" and chatting.
Anyway, you lot are some of the people with whom I enjoy chatting online, and I am grateful for the opportunity :)

2026-05-02 18:08:05 GMT

I appreciate that everyone is different but, for me, one of the best facets of the Internet is that it lets me meet and talk with people.
IRC, forums, chat rooms, XMPP and other instant messaging, email, social media, voice/video chatting, and more.
I've had the pleasure - genuinely so - of chatting with goodness knows how many people, over many years now.
"Conversing" with a chatbot doesn't hold any attraction to me.

2026-05-02 04:57:32 GMT

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@nprofile…hcuq Amazing call about the Blues Brothers. I love that film.
I have not watched The Lion King film but I did enjoy the show. That's another one where I could sing every song :)

2026-05-01 15:23:54 GMT

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@nprofile…eud6 Yep

2026-04-30 19:30:31 GMT

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Well bugger me.
I've:
- set up my own certificate authority
- created a CSR
- signed that CSR
- installed the resulting cert on a server
- configured apache2 to use it
- added my own root cert to my laptop and my Android phone
- configured Firefox on both my laptop and my phone to trust my root cert
- browsed to my website and got a working TLS connection, with no errors / warnings, using my own certificate authority
*And I've got how I did it with openssl written down.*
My goodness what a faff this was, and I'm not at all convinced that it is going to work with apps on Android.
But that is for Tomorrow Neil.

2026-04-30 16:02:49 GMT

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You can expect a riveting blogpost in due course.
And by "riveting", I mean "utterly tedious and unnecessary unless you, too, have the misfortune to want to run your own certificate authority".

2026-04-30 15:46:48 GMT

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@nprofile…eud6
There are some services that I run where I would like TLS, would prefer not to expose them to the Internet, am not keen on moving around Let's Encrypt cert, and would prefer them to be trusted certificates rather than self-signed certificates, to work better on mobile devices.
Also, a fun learning exercise.

2026-04-30 15:34:29 GMT

Well isn't learning how to run your own CA a lot of fun?
And by "fun", I mean "debugging".
And by "a lot", I mean "a looooooooooot".
I am making progress, today around SAN and Firefox, but this is a bit like plodding around in treacle.
(I'm not looking for advice, although sympathy is welcome :))

2026-04-30 07:23:57 GMT

The UK's Crime and Policing bill received royal assent last night.
I haven't found a finalised version of the text yet, but I'll report back when I do.

2026-04-30 05:59:07 GMT

People who like musicals: what are some of your favourites?
I like loads, but some of my highlights are:
* The Rocky Horror Show (I prefer the stage show to the film)
* Whistle Down The Wind
* Return to the Forbidden Planet
* Fame
* Wicked
#music #shows

2026-04-29 17:54:26 GMT

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@nprofile…htkw That sounds right up my street!

2026-04-29 17:36:14 GMT

New blogpost:
"Please consider publishing a full-text RSS feed for your website or blog"
If you don't already have a full-text RSS feed, please do add one, and then tell me about it and your blog in the replies!
And if you've already got one, amazing, tell me about it too please!
https://neilzone.co.uk/2026/04/please-consider-publishing-a-full-text-rss-feed-for-your-website-or-blog/
#blog #POSSE #RSS

2026-04-29 09:01:17 GMT

Thinking about FOSS, legal advice, and pro bono legal support.
What if there was a fund - be that from a funding body, or donations, or whatever - which paid (at reasonable rates, not Big Law Firm Prices) some lawyers to support FOSS projects.
So that it was free at point of use for those projects, but did not rely on lawyers working for free.
All outputs (subject to sorting issues to do with privilege) would be licensed under suitably open terms, with a goal of maximising re-use.
#FOSS #lawfedi

2026-04-28 08:28:48 GMT

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@nprofile…hcuq
Neither of these things are worth risking breaking your site, if you are unsure and don't have an easy means of restoring should something go awry!
Both the lack of dark mode, and the lack of full text RSS are (for me, anyway; I appreciate that everyone is different) very easy to work around.

2026-04-28 08:04:41 GMT

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@nprofile…hcuq If you were poking around in your backend, so to speak, perhaps you might also consider enabling full-text RSS feeds?
(It does impact on your ability to measure how many readers you get but it also means that those of us who subscribe via RSS can get the whole of each of your posts in our reader, without having to fiddle around.)

2026-04-28 07:39:17 GMT

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Anyway, thank goodness for Dark Reader and similar!
It may not be perfect, but it is certainly a better overall baseline for me than not using it, and being jump-dazzled.

2026-04-28 07:34:45 GMT

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I'm guessing that some people don't know about variable CSS and media selectors. Fair enough, I guess.
Or they use a default theme which doesn't support it and wouldn't know how to change it.
And some likely know about dark mode, but can't be bothered or do not see it as a priority.

2026-04-28 07:30:06 GMT

I am surprised by how few people running websites support a dark mode theme.
How is this not just basic good practice?
Thank goodness for a browser extension which can force a basic dark mode.

2026-04-28 07:07:53 GMT

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@nprofile…hkgk @nprofile…wwlw
Quite possibly but whether they are more energy efficient than the cost of manufacturing them and disposing of the old ones, especially if what has failed is a part designed to fail after a particular term, I don't know.

2026-04-28 06:29:16 GMT

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I am, however, absolutely the worst person to give any kind of dating advice.
"Chat with someone on a forum. Have dinner with them. Decide that this was probably a mistake. Decide that you were wrong. Have a second date with them, cook for them, fix their computer, and, by the end of the date, find yourself completely in love. Realise that, next year, you'll have been married to them for 15 years."

2026-04-28 06:21:23 GMT

Apropos @nprofile…ga9v's thread about "pick-up artistry", when this was in the news years ago, I wanted to have a look at the actual advice being given out.
The language in which was phrased was - inevitably - misogynistic and dehumanising. Typical "alpha male" nonsense.
As far as I could tell, the whole structure was little more than a thinly-veiled attempt to sell books and subscriptions and courses.
Weird, horrible, and seemingly, if unsurprisingly, a complete scam...

2026-04-28 05:53:28 GMT

There is something joyful, and perhaps slightly rebellious, about taking old hardware and giving it a renewed purpose today.
It is somewhat frustrating that this is not the norm, and that so many things are built to be disposable, or are treated as disposable, within such a short time frame.
The constabt push to sell people a new thing is wildly unhelpful.

2026-04-28 05:45:02 GMT

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@nprofile…hcuq
No meetings?! How did you manage that?

2026-04-27 17:37:16 GMT

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@nprofile…srgd
Yes, I filter a lot of sports and party politics related terms, annoying hashtags and so on.
But my main approach is following people reasonably liberally, seeing how I get on with what they post, and unfollowing if needed. So I end up with a feed of stuff which I am choosing to see, on the whole.
Occasionally I mute accounts, but this is pretty rare.

2026-04-27 17:22:51 GMT

One of the many things that I love about this place is - in my experience, anyway - just how friendly, positive, and supportive it is.
People posting their creations, and others saying how cool they are.
Artists showing their art, and people loving it. Buying it if they can.
People posting silly jokes, poems, photos, whatever.
People chatting together pleasantly.
I see very little negativity or bitchiness.
(It may be there; I am commenting only on what I, personally, see, which is inevitably limited).

2026-04-27 06:44:11 GMT

And yes, that is a large (suppressed) pistol.
I am not just pleased to see you.
https://mastodon.neilzone.co.uk/system/media_attachments/files/116/475/310/008/244/885/original/5cdabb47f7292648.jpg

2026-04-26 19:43:57 GMT

Sometimes I have to remind myself - as in, actually tell myself, in my brain (rather than out loud!) - that I can enjoy something even if I am not very good at it.
Sure, it would be nice to improve, but I can have fun nevertheless.
I can also think "here's what I could do better / differently next time" without it meaning that I didn't do enough today.

2026-04-26 17:04:29 GMT

I am *exhausted* after a day's exertions in the woods.
I really need to get fitter.

2026-04-25 19:11:31 GMT

It looks a little warm tomorrow.
This could be... interesting.

2026-04-25 18:19:55 GMT

A joy of computing in 2026: enjoying my social media feed via a terminal client (in this case, toot's tui).
Blissful.
https://mastodon.neilzone.co.uk/system/media_attachments/files/116/466/722/418/252/139/original/8924b67f4896c9e7.png

2026-04-25 07:11:56 GMT

A regular reminder to check, or get someone else to check, your:
* balls
* breasts
* backups
* batteries (UPS, smoke alarm etc)

2026-04-25 06:33:44 GMT

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@nprofile…hcuq I haven't been swimming in *ages*. Enjoy!

2026-04-25 06:28:46 GMT

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@nprofile…hcuq Are you doing anything fun?

2026-04-25 06:22:29 GMT

It looks like a beautiful weekend here.
I am playing Airsoft tomorrow, so today is jobs.
All the jobs.

2026-04-24 20:30:37 GMT

Someone asked me for my business card today.
I had not realised that they were still a thing.

2026-04-24 16:22:38 GMT

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As the actress said to the bishop.

2026-04-24 16:22:07 GMT

If you buy a phone, tablet, TV, or whatever, the vendor should supply you with a simple, free means of installing just the bare OS on it.
Ideally, don't ship it with crapware in the first place, but who I am kidding. Gotta monetise both ends!

2026-04-23 18:57:56 GMT

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@nprofile…0ufy
We would need to find a third person to take part.
Both to meet the regulatory minimum, and also because otherwise it might come across as less about ethics, and more about dressing Neil up like a princess.

2026-04-23 18:51:23 GMT

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@nprofile…0ufy
I would absolutely wear it.

2026-04-23 18:41:37 GMT

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@nprofile…0ufy I look forward to my sparkly princess glitter party bag.
Although I feel that the hair clip is perhaps a trifle vindictive.

2026-04-23 18:39:16 GMT

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@nprofile…vcx6
I am the engineer, the admin, the manager, and the end user :)

2026-04-23 18:33:51 GMT

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@nprofile…0ufy
How about you are in charge of party bags, since you obviously have plenty of ideas!

2026-04-23 18:29:45 GMT

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> We propose that, to be effective, the discussions must involve at least three participants, one of whom must act as the facilitator and guide the discussion. We also propose setting a maximum number of 12 participants to make sure everyone can engage and participate.
So a group of three of us, having coffee and a chat together for an hour or so, three times a year, would meet the proposed requirement.
The facilitator just has to be a solicitor without an adverse regulatory record.

2026-04-23 18:24:42 GMT

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@nprofile…0ufy
I'll even provide a party bag to take home at the end.
The trouble is, I am now actually getting quite into this idea...

2026-04-23 18:21:56 GMT

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@nprofile…0ufy
Call it £200, and you can come to my group!

2026-04-23 18:18:01 GMT

I'm starting to feel a bit more positive about Cyber Essentials Plus. It feels achievable.
Sure, the requirements could be clearer in some areas, but at least they are publicly available.
Do I think that, as an organisation, we will actually be any more secure? No. But then I have been aiming for a high standard anyway.

2026-04-23 17:59:36 GMT

> the SRA proposes a new rule to require solicitors to participate annually in facilitated group discussions about ethical duties and dilemmas for a total of at least three hours.
Interesting.
I wonder how this will work for people who don't have "groups" [of colleagues].
Perhaps I will have to start a group :)

2026-04-23 15:40:23 GMT

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@nprofile…hcuq
140 PRINT "You are likely to be eaten by a grue"

2026-04-23 05:34:45 GMT

Here we go again!

2026-04-22 19:42:22 GMT

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@nprofile…fc9d @nprofile…kxem
It is frustrating that there is no single source of truth.
I've been told that sudo is not acceptable, and the only a separate account with sudo, or a root account, will do, yet it also appears that others have got away with sudo.

2026-04-22 19:27:55 GMT

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@nprofile…fc9d @nprofile…kxem
I'd love to keep sudo, frankly. Losing it felt like a sop to box ticking, rather than actual security.

2026-04-22 18:42:41 GMT

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@nprofile…kxem @nprofile…fc9d
Yep!
I could go for a separate user account, with sudo privileges, and not use it for day to day activities.
But my understanding is that a root account satisfies the requirements.

2026-04-22 18:36:09 GMT

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@nprofile…unx4
It is not about personal data, but rather the collection of information from terminal equipment - a separate regime to the GDPR.

2026-04-22 18:30:33 GMT

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@nprofile…unx4
In the EU, opt-in.
In the UK, probably just opt-out these days. But that still requires clear notice and the chance to decline.

2026-04-22 18:19:13 GMT

This is explained to users clearly, requiring them to make an explicit choice as to whether they wish to enable this or not, I hope.

2026-04-22 18:14:37 GMT

It was rather nice in the garden today.
https://mastodon.neilzone.co.uk/system/media_attachments/files/116/449/713/809/313/105/original/59b396c7b113b199.jpg
https://mastodon.neilzone.co.uk/system/media_attachments/files/116/449/713/817/117/052/original/bbf382145aa31371.jpg

2026-04-22 16:39:30 GMT

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@nprofile…fc9d
Yes, I picked up on this when I was looking at this a while back, so I no longer have sudo privileges.
But I do have access to the root account.

2026-04-22 15:27:12 GMT

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@nprofile…xr5j Nice!

2026-04-22 15:23:06 GMT

Can anyone recommend, please, from their own direct personal experience, an assessor for the UK's Cyber Essentials Plus scheme, who has experience in assessing businesses using Linux for desktop computing?
#cybersecurity

2026-04-22 13:12:30 GMT

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@nprofile…7nvc
Honda Jazz (automatic).

2026-04-22 12:54:13 GMT

It looks like the transmission on my car is beyond economic repair (according to the small local garage that I have used for years) :(
And, sure, if I had a garage / lift, and more time, I might go pokey pokey to see if I could fix it. But I have neither.
So... I guess I might need to think about replacing it, which is a shame.
I'm going to end up with a surveillance trap on wheels :(

2026-04-21 21:12:51 GMT

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@nprofile…h37s Do many people run publicly available services aimed at users of travel eSIMs though?!

2026-04-21 18:43:13 GMT

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@nprofile…m8hf
Perhaps I am misunderstanding your example. You appeared to be comparing someone's choice to adopt an adblock add-on with being subject to attestation.
Have I misunderstood?

2026-04-21 18:37:55 GMT

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@nprofile…m8hf
> Adblock and its many clones are also systems where pesky “other people” decide which parts of a website you can see.
I am not following your logic here.
Are you suggesting that a shared blocklist, or subscription to a centralised list, by a user, where the user decides to install the add-on on their own browser, to protect their own privacy, where they can remove the extension at any time, is comparable to a third party dictating whether software will run on their machine or not?

2026-04-21 17:37:53 GMT

If you run a publicly available online service *which is not available over IPv6*, might you share why not, please?

2026-04-21 06:49:08 GMT

"data centre/center" implies the existence of "data left", "data right", and "data justified".
But "data left" implies "data returned", "data right" implies "data wrong", and "data justified" implies "data refuted".
It is turtles from here on down.

2026-04-20 19:01:44 GMT

Age verification, but you just have to say how much RAM sounds like an awful lot of RAM to you.

2026-04-20 18:17:49 GMT

A while back, someone kept explaining copyleft and Free software licensing to me.
I indicated that I was familiar with the subject matter, but nevertheless, the lecture continued.
Only now do I realise that this was an example of stallmansplaining.

2026-04-20 16:57:48 GMT

I had the day off today.
For $reasons, I can't say what I did, but I am *exhausted*.

2026-04-19 21:24:49 GMT

Google Play Integrity: what if Google dictated what software ran on your computer.
Open source implementations of attestation: what if a bunch of other people dictated what software ran on your computer.
Look, these handcuffs are permissively licensed!
No, thank you.

2026-04-19 15:08:10 GMT

Walking through a shopping centre in Reading, UK, today, there were two people trying to get people to sign up for "World".
It requires you to provide images of your eyes (irises) and face, to verify your humanity.
Fortunately, I carry with me a suitable bargepole, for fending away such nonsense.

2026-04-19 13:31:28 GMT

I love Jitsi, as a self-hosted video conferencing service. I have run it for years.
But... I use it for perhaps a couple of hours every few weeks.
It runs on a relatively low powered box, but still, it is a powered box, and for 99% of the time, that power is just wasted.
So I am going to experiment switching it off, and saving that energy.
If someone wants a video chat, I'm happy to offer XMPP or Signal.

2026-04-19 08:16:56 GMT

Today, I am helping a local farmer get rid of some creatures often confused with rabbits, by shooting them with a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation.
That's right.
Laser hare removal.