Paul

https://social.xk7.net/@pwaring

UK Whovian, railway & politics geek and event organiser. Freelance PHP developer and Linux system administrator. Frequently gives talks about history (Roman, Greek, World War 2). He/him/Paul

I review follow requests based on your posts and profile, but will usually accept if we have shared interests.

Most toots deleted after 1 month.

Formerly @[email protected] on Fosstodon (my account there has now been deleted)

#NoSearch #NoBot #NoArchive #NoIndex #NoBridge

You might know me from: https://www.roguetory.org.uk/about/biography/
Programming languages: PHP, C, Go, SQL
Human languages: English (native), French (A1/A2), Latin (Beginner)
Business / hire me: https://www.phpdeveloper.org.uk

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Last Notes

2026-08-14 18:12:44 GMT

If you pull the alarm cord on a train or deliberately set off a fire alarm unnecessarily, you pay a monetary penalty. The same logic should apply to a PM setting off an alert on every phone - maybe one month's salary?

2026-08-05 07:28:26 GMT

'Invalid key: Valid keys will start with "ssh-rsa".'
Really Microsoft? A multi-trillion dollar company still doesn't support ssh-ed25519 in 2026?
(this is on Azure DevOps)

2026-08-04 13:47:46 GMT

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We only went through Cyber Essentials, not Plus, so that issue didn't come up (and our managed service provider only supports Windows anyway).

2026-08-01 08:15:51 GMT

Something I was pondering this morning after reading an article on pet ownership: should we subsidise this? We pay child benefit, subsidise childcare and provide free healthcare on the NHS for children. Given that many people consider pets to be part of their family - and in some cases an alternative to having children - should we treat them in the same way? There's also an enormous mental health benefit to many people from having pets.

2026-07-28 12:02:31 GMT

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Having used both regularly, I don't think GitHub offers enough over BitBucket to make it worthwhile switching.
I might just bite the bullet and use Jira, much as I am not a fan of Atlassian products.

2026-07-28 09:01:56 GMT

Currently pondering the best way to restructure the workflow of a development team. Google Docs spreadsheet for the task list is becoming a bit unwieldy, and BitBucket is okay for PRs but not great.
Ideally I would like to move to a proper ticketing system and self-host (keeping everything in the UK is very helpful for compliance), but there seem to be an awful lot of options.

2026-07-15 11:43:20 GMT

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It's good that your GP offers that option - sadly ours only lets you book a flu jab appointment which I think are 3 minute slots. You can't book a longer appointment - you have to book a completely separate one for anything else as the nurses doing vaccinations are just getting through as many people as possible.

2026-07-15 08:56:06 GMT

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You can also get vaccinated at your GP if you qualify for an NHS vaccine and they're signed up to provide this service, but in my experience pharmacies:
1. Are better at managing stock and appointments.
2. Understand that people have jobs and offer appointments outside of working hours.
3. Are often closer to where you live/work.
4. Aren't full of infectious people.
The pharmacy will notify your GP so the vaccination should appear on your record automatically.

2026-07-15 08:45:33 GMT

PSA: Pharmacies in England (and maybe other parts of the UK) are offering appointments for the flu vaccine now, so you can get booked in. Private vaccinations from September, NHS from October. The list of conditions for an NHS (free to you) vaccination is long so a lot of people are eligible, otherwise a private vaccination is £15-25.

2026-07-10 09:33:30 GMT

Can anyone recommend training providers for CI/CD, automated testing and Linux for beginners? I'm looking to get this sorted for my team but it's ages since I did any training.
1. Can be different providers for each topic.
2. Must be remote.
3. Must have UK timezone overlap.
4. Preference for small businesses.
5. Bonus for industry-recognised certificates.
I'm specifically looking for *recommendations* - either people you've used or are prepared to vouch for.
#training #AskFedi

2026-07-05 17:46:33 GMT

Ended up walking around 30km across the weekend, which I am reasonably pleased with. My main fitness frustration is that I have no problem walking long distances on the flat, but struggle with elevation (especially rapid / steep elevation - gradual is usually okay).

2026-07-03 08:37:52 GMT

Pleased at how positive the reaction was to my insurance interview recently. I'd like to do more of that sort of thing but I don't know how they find you (I got an unsolicited email from what I think was scraping LinkedIn).

2026-06-26 11:57:17 GMT

The temperature in my flat has not dropped below 26 degrees for 3 days - one of the downsides of living in a flat (I can't make external alterations such as wooden blinds), on the ground floor (can't leave windows open for security) and near a town centre (can't leave windows open for noise). Combined with high humidity I basically feel like I'm working and sleeping in a mild sauna.

2026-06-18 15:18:54 GMT

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Your gut feeling is probably right. I don't sell into the EU from outside either for this reason, though digital services have slightly different rules.
@npub1ksf…r6s6 has a good post on his travails with this:
https://mwl.io/archives/2399

2026-06-18 15:14:30 GMT

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Potentially yes, you would have to collect VAT. Unfortunately it's a mess of some things done per-country and some things are EU standardised.
It will be a *lot* easier for you if the conference charges the fee as part of registration and then you charge them for the total (but won't solve all the issues).
The thresholds for VAT are very low in the EU, usually low thousands to low tens of thousands of euros (not millions). In some cases there's no minimum.

2026-05-26 15:21:58 GMT

Currently trying to deal with AI crawlers that:
1. Make requests every few seconds.
2. Don't respect crawl-delay directive in robots.txt.
3. Use a huge range of IPs, so can't block on a 'too many requests from this IP' fail2ban rule.
All to feed their LLMs which then hallucinate anyway.
One crawler alone made over 18,000 requests in 24 hours.

2026-05-21 11:13:05 GMT

TIL: The mediainfo command (apt install mediainfo) will show you the codecs used by the audio and video in a file. Very useful if you have a .webm and it doesn't play in Jellyfin - for me most of the time it's the lack of AV1 support in iOS which means I have to convert using a command like:
ffmpeg -i input.webm -c:v libx264 -crf 20 -preset medium -c:a copy output.mp4
Although file size went from 650MB to 2.5GB!
#Jellyfin #ffmpeg

2026-05-21 08:02:28 GMT

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I think it's very difficult. The main qualifications and training I would suggest to people in IT is all DevOps, e.g. get AWS certified (or your cloud provider of choice).
It's going to be a tough few years until the AI bubble pops.

2026-04-21 10:34:44 GMT

TIL: JavaScript's Date is zero-indexed for months, so month 4 (April) is actually month 5 (May). I have just lost an hour trying to debug a problem because of this.
#JavaScript

2026-04-04 12:19:31 GMT

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Lytham St Annes has a lot of cycle routes, an independent cycle shop and an active cycle club. It is pricey though as it's where all the rich old people go to retire, and it has a lot of golf courses. 😀

2026-03-25 09:08:13 GMT

Has anyone heard of or had experience with Our Future Health? I've received a letter from them with NHS branding (I thought it was an appointment letter based on the envelope), but they're actually an independent charity doing health research.
I am a bit sceptical about their data security in particular as they talk about 'de-identification' by removing things like your name and address, which isn't necessarily the same as anonymisation. They also don't give you feedback on your samples.

2026-02-01 18:48:29 GMT

One disadvantage of being a transport nerd is that not only do I get the frustration everyone else does from delays etc., but also the frustration of thinking about all the ways it could be done more efficiently.
This toot brought to you by me having to wait 1 hour to board a tram because the transport operator didn't plan for the 3rd largest stadium disgorging over 70,000 people at the same time, many of whom decided to use public transport.

2026-01-05 08:40:10 GMT

PSA: If you have a postal vote in England (and possibly other parts of the UK), you now have to renew it every 3 years instead of it being indefinite. The deadline for most existing postal voters is 31st January - if you don't renew by then your postal vote will be cancelled. You can renew online, but it's not automatic and you have to wait for approval.
This is to stop 'voter fraud', which is practically non-existent in the UK.
https://www.gov.uk/apply-postal-vote

2025-12-05 15:25:18 GMT

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It certainly has some advantages - I can use it to nudge users into finally signing up for MFA ('this is a good idea' vs 'you must do this because a Higher Power says so').

2025-12-05 08:36:45 GMT

"Backing up your data is not a technical requirement of Cyber Essentials"
WTF?! Backups are absolutely essential, if you're claiming to do cyber security without backups then you're a fool.
(this is the first line in CE 3.3 / April 2026 after the introduction and definitions of terms)

2025-11-20 13:03:17 GMT

I seem to be in the minority (if polls are to believed) in thinking that trial by jury is not a particularly good idea:
"Let's get 12 random people with no legal background, no training on unconscious bias etc., and give them the decision of whether someone is guilty or not. Oh and we'll leave them out of pocket too, so they'll want to wrap things up ASAP."
Yes judges have their problems (bias, lack of diversity), but at least they can have training and experience and are committed to the role

2025-11-13 15:01:45 GMT

Still struggling to find a secondary hosting provider in the UK who meets the following criteria:
1. Dedicated hosting (i.e. a server to ourselves)
2. Managed hosting (OS-level security updates, monitoring for disk use, failure etc.)
3. Enough members of staff to be resilient (not a one-person business)
4. Front-line staff who answer tickets know what they're talking about
5. Small enough to care about fellow SMEs
6. Not Mythic Beasts (because they're the primary provider)

2025-11-12 11:36:03 GMT

UK gov: I wonder how we can improve schools and make lives easier for teachers?
Teachers: Reduced workloads, better pay, clamp down on violence in classrooms.
UK gov: How about... attendance targets generated by AI?
Teachers: WTF?
https://www.theguardian.com/education/2025/nov/12/all-schools-in-england-to-be-given-ai-generated-pupil-attendance-targets

2025-10-15 11:13:52 GMT

Can anyone recommend a UK-based freelancer / micro-business who helps other freelancers to market their business? I am rubbish at this and have also seen a tail-off in enquiries via my website now that search engines serve up my technical blog posts as AI summaries so no one needs to click through to my site.
Looking for recommendations that people have actually used, rather than 'my mate Dave says he's great at this'.

2025-10-07 11:03:29 GMT

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I don't even understand the cost-effectiveness argument. If a vaccine costs £100 to administer (I'm using the cost of getting it privately - presumably the NHS cost is lower since they buy in bulk and aren't trying to make a profit), then even if vaccination prevents 1 case of Long Covid for every 1,000 people vaccinated, that's £100,000 to prevent a case of Long Covid. That feels worthwhile, given the cost to the economy and health service.

2025-10-07 10:57:16 GMT

I really struggle to understand the reasoning of the JCVI when it comes to them deciding (technically advising but their advice has always been followed) who is eligible for a free vaccination in the UK.
They are experts but they also seem to think that Covid is now a 'relatively mild disease for most people'. There is zero mention of Long Covid in their statement, even though numerous studies show that vaccination probably reduces the likelihood of developing it.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-vaccination-in-2025-and-spring-2026-jcvi-advice/jcvi-statement-on-covid-19-vaccination-in-2025-and-spring-2026

2025-09-24 11:58:48 GMT

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I really wish I still had access to the University so I could download these for free!

2025-09-24 09:27:18 GMT

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Thanks, I'll take a look at that.
I want mostly maths - I can always pick up the programming side.

2025-09-24 09:18:23 GMT

Can anyone recommend a good book on data analysis which assumes that you know how to program but have forgotten most of the maths / stats you were taught at school?
I am likely to be doing some of this in the near future but a lot of books seem to assume you're a stats expert who wants to learn Python or R, rather than the other way round.
(I learn best from books rather than videos or websites)
#bookstodon #DataAnalysis

2025-09-17 15:41:45 GMT

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might be able to?

2025-09-12 18:16:01 GMT

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Their furniture is still big and heavy, even if they deliver it. I want things that will fit in my flat and I can move unaided.

2025-09-12 17:13:54 GMT

Business idea: small lightweight furniture for people who live alone in flats and can't fit a massive TV stand in their room or carry it unaided (like me).

2025-09-10 11:47:12 GMT

Has anyone done a systematic, wide-ranging evaluation of making public transport free to everyone? There would be a loss of fare revenue but I can think of lots of upsides:
1. Shorter dwell times = lower fuel costs
2. Fewer road accidents = saving to NHS and economy
3. Faster journeys due to reduced congestion
4. Lower air pollution = saves the NHS money on respiratory conditions
5. More people using = can charge advertisers higher rates
Would these offset the loss of fare revenue?

2025-08-16 13:47:40 GMT

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Yeah ebooks.com are really strict unfortunately and won't even entertain a refund. I bought again from the publisher who gave me one without DRM (but watermarked with my name so they know who has shared it).
Of course, I went looking for a discount code and got several results giving me a pirated version of the PDF...

2025-08-16 10:10:22 GMT

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It's particularly sneaky as the format used is Adobe Content Server Message, which isn't even a copy of the book - it's just a link to it. So when you 'download' the book from the orders page you don't even get the book itself, just a link to the book.

2025-08-16 10:07:30 GMT

Kicking myself for not checking the formats of a book from ebooks.com. All the ones I've bought in the past have included a DRM-free PDF, but this one only has ePub + DRM, which means I officially* can't read it on Linux.
I should have checked so my fault, but it also feels very sneaky and it will be some time before I trust them again.
* yes I know about Calibre, I dislike this buyer-hostile approach though

2025-08-14 10:31:11 GMT

Can anyone recommend a reliable UK based hosting provider that isn't @npub1wy5…64vc? I have clients on Mythic who are happy with the service but need backups kept elsewhere in case Mythic disappear (low likelihood but high impact).
Basically someone like Mythic (UK, competent, front-line engineers who actually know what things like DNS are and don't try and blame the customer) but independent.

2025-07-12 16:09:38 GMT

Great walk today through Lyme Park in Disley (ok I may be biased as the group princeps and primus inter pares). Bit too hot in parts but enough shade not to overheat completely and I picked up second hand books (COVID by Numbers, Thatcherism and British Politics). Nice, albeit rushed, pub lunch and just made the return train. And we had a new person !
If you'd like to come on future walks, the mailing list is:
https://lists.geekwalks.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/geek-walks
#manchester #walks #walking

2025-07-12 15:19:46 GMT

TfGM have totally underestimated the number of people travelling to Oasis (I'm not sure how, it's not like it's a secret how many tickets were sold). Thankfully I know that you can get on the tram from the other side and didn't get caught in the chaos as they tried to funnel everyone through one route. And they're not even trying to enforce the 'no alcohol' rule.
#manchester

2025-07-04 09:24:43 GMT

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I don't count my calories (maybe I should, I wasn't aware of its effect on cholesterol) but I don't feel hungry and I eat three meals a day.
My weight does bounce around a lot in percentage terms, but that's partly from a low base.
I just find the whole weight / health thing tricky as nearly all the advice is how to lose weight rather than maintain a healthy weight.

2025-07-01 11:33:12 GMT

I was told a couple of months ago to lower my LDL cholesterol because it is 'too high' (only just, and all the other measurements are fine, e.g. triglycerides).
But I am struggling because I like cheese, cake and chocolate, and they are all high in saturated fat and the RDA is 20g.
Can anyone recommend sweet treats and cheeses that aren't high in saturated fat? Ideally ones I can buy as I lack the patience or enthusiasm for making food from scratch (yes bad I know).

2025-06-21 07:23:39 GMT

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I really hope we get the forecast rain today. The temperature in my flat has risen by 1 degree every day this week and nothing seems to bring it down. At least it's the weekend so I don't have to switch my computer on, which would generate even more heat.

2025-06-20 10:06:03 GMT

Struggling to function today, it's been getting hotter and hotter, high humidity, very high pollen count. I don't know how to get the temperature in my flat down - opening the windows brings in more hot air and using a fan just pushes the air around. 🥵
Edit: I live in a town centre flat, opening windows at night isn't an option (ground floor + too much noise)

2025-06-13 07:51:49 GMT

If you're planning on travelling south from Manchester Piccadilly by train in August, be aware that Stockport station is closed for most of the month (2-23) and there will be no trains running through it at all. Given how key Stockport is to that part of the WCML, this will create total chaos and is best avoided if possible.
Also there are no Metrolink trams to Piccadilly from most of the network from this week until mid-August (overlapping with the Stockport work).
#trains #manchester

2025-04-29 12:50:25 GMT

Currently dealing with a big hosting provider that not only charges you for 'SSL' certificates, but also makes you install them yourself. They also tell you only to use SSL for sensitive pages, because it's slow, and it takes up to 24 hours for a DNS change to take effect (on their nameservers, not globally).