Lmst

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Newsletter done, all published and PDF version uploaded. That's that job jobbed for another three months.
If anyone is interested in reading about #bellringing in #leicestershire you can find it here: https://newsletter.leicesterdg.org.uk/

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Evolution of the installation of solar panels.

Rear view of typical 1950s UK house, extended in 1960s. The original house roof on this south side is a triangle on the right side, the extension added a short ridge and another slope sided portion on the left, with a step back. The house has scaffolding up around the gutter level.

Same house etc. horizontal linear brackets can be seen on the roof.

Same house in the sunshine. Some solar panels can be seen propped up on the scaffolding. A guy is climbing a ladder while holding a panel and another guy is at the top waiting to take it from him. Each panel is about the size of a large kitchen table top.

Panels installed. There are three in a triangle formation on the triangle bit of roof. On the parallelogram section there are three panels staggered.

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@mhoye the other people on my river cruise did not understand my delight at this scene

A view of the Thames, with a floating trash compactor that has a sign declaring “I EAT RUBBISH” in front of the jarringly beautiful, historic Shrek’s Adventure building.

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Catwalk - a series of images.
#cats

Mainly black cat with ginger face and white chest sitting on a fence. She is frames by green leaves and the white trunk of a silver birch tree in the foreground. Her head is turned to her left, looking to the right of frame.

Same cat, same location. Now her head is facing forward looking to the left of frame.

The cat is on the move, walking along the top of the fence. She looks very determined. The green leaves and tree trunk are still in view.

The cat is still travelling determinedly along the fence. The camera angle has changed and the leaves and tree are no longer in shot.

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Pippa agreed to be quite photogenic during today's dog walk. #dogs

Springer spaniel with a brown head and white muzzle looking at the camera. The background is brown making it look like a sepia photograph

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Tetris turned 40 in 2024.

Feel free to boost this if you are older than Tetris.

#Tetris #RetroGaming #OldGamer #VideoGames #Tetris40

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If you can spring clean at the spring equinox, why not at the autumn one (for those of us who missed it 6 months ago!)?
Spent the afternoon tidying, rearranging and cleaning the orangery, and Mark cleared the area in the garage vital for the electrician who is coming on Wednesday to fit solar panels - all the gubbins is going in the garage.
And yes, 'twas on Wednesday morning the electrician came.
https://genius.com/Flanders-and-swann-the-gas-man-cometh-lyrics

A room with lots of windows looking out onto the garden. You can just make out light coming from the glazed roof. Two armchairs invited you to sit and place your cup of tea on the table between them. In the corner is a tv on a table, with a large swiss cheese plant tucked behind it in the corner. There is a dog bed, currently without dog. It is tidy.

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Pet your cat now and give snacks.

ⓘ This post was sponsored by the Central Council of Cats.

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Microsoft releases a new Windows app called Windows App for running Windows apps

Windows App replaces Microsoft Remote Desktop on macOS, iOS, and Android.

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/09/microsoft-releases-a-new-windows-app-called-windows-app-for-running-windows-apps/?utm_brand=arstechnica&utm_social-type=owned&utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social

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Some interesting street art seen in #Leicester today. Not sure what it's supposed to be, but like the concept of the bricks in the wall morphing into something else. #streetArt #graffiti

A wall made of orange engineering bricks. Street art has been sprayed on it, making it look like the bricks are forming some 3d object.

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The unreasonable effectiveness of simple HTML

https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2021/01/the-unreasonable-effectiveness-of-simple-html/

I've told this story at conferences - but due to the general situation I thought I'd retell it here.

A few years ago I was doing policy research in a housing benefits office in London. They are singularly unlovely places. The walls are brightened up with posters offering helpful services for people fleeing domestic violence. The security guards on the door are cautiously indifferent to anyone walking in. The air is filled with tense conversations between partners - drowned out by the noise of screaming kids.

In the middle, a young woman sits on a hard plastic chair. She is surrounded by canvas-bags containing her worldly possessions. She doesn't look like she is in a great emotional place right now. Clutched in her hands is a games console - a PlayStation Portable. She stares at it intensely; blocking out the world with Candy Crush.

Or, at least, that's what I thought.

Walking behind her, I glance at her console and recognise the screen she's on. She's connected to the complementary WiFi and is browsing the GOV.UK pages on Housing Benefit. She's not slicing fruit; she's arming herself with knowledge.

The PSP's web browser is - charitably - pathetic. It is slow, frequently runs out of memory, and can only open 3 tabs at a time.

But the GOV.UK pages are written in simple HTML. They are designed to be lightweight and will work even on rubbish browsers. They have to. This is for everyone.

Not everyone has a big monitor, or a multi-core CPU burning through the teraflops, or a broadband connection.

The photographer Chase Jarvis coined the phrase "the best camera is the one that’s with you". He meant that having a crappy instamatic with you at an important moment is better than having the best camera in the world locked up in your car.

The same is true of web browsers. If you have a smart TV, it probably has a crappy browser.

My old car had a built-in crappy web browser.

Both are painful to use - but they work!

If your laptop and phone both got stolen - how easily could you conduct online life through the worst browser you have? If you have to file an insurance claim online - will you get sent a simple HTML form to fill in, or a DOCX which won't render?

What vital information or services are forbidden to you due to being trapped in PDFs or horrendously complicated web sites?

Are you developing public services? Or a system that people might access when they're in desperate need of help? Plain HTML works. A small bit of simple CSS will make look decent. JavaScript is probably unnecessary - but can be used to progressively enhance stuff. Add alt text to images so people paying per MB can understand what the images are for (and, you know, accessibility).

Go sit in an uncomfortable chair, in an uncomfortable location, and stare at an uncomfortably small screen with an uncomfortably outdated web browser. How easy is it to use the websites you've created?

I chatted briefly to the young woman afterwards. She'd been kicked out by her parents and her friends had given her the bus fare to the housing benefits office. She had nothing but praise for how helpful the staff had been. I asked about the PSP - a hand-me-down from an older brother - and the web browser. Her reply was "It's shit. But it worked."

I think that's all we can strive for.

Here are some stats on games consoles visiting GOV.UK

Matt Hobbs (@TheRealNooshu@hachyderm.io)
@TheRealNooshu

Replying to @TheRealNooshuInterestingly we have 3,574 users visiting GOV.UK on games consoles:
• Xbox - 2,062
• Playstation 4 - 1,457
• Playstation Vita - 25
• Nintendo WiiU - 14
• Nintendo 3DS - 16
20/22
❤️ 27💬 1🔁 010:45 - Mon 01 February 2021

#HTML5 #web #WeekNotes #work

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#foxesInLove #comic

Source: https://foxes-in-love.tumblr.com/post/761591553445806080
Copyright: https://foxesinlove.net

A comic of two foxes, one of whom is blue, the other is green. In this one, Blue looks at Green, as Green approaches him wrapped in a pink blanket, scrunching his face in disgust. Green: Euugh ew it's cold in here! Green's face brightens up as Blue suggests a solution. Blue: Do you want me to go boot up my gaming PC? Green: Yes, please. Blue and Green settle around Blue's computer, with Blue sitting in front of the computer's screen, and Green seated right next to the machine itself. Blue: I think I know just the right game for this. The fans of the computer starts whirring as Blue turns it on, and the PC begins to glow faintly orange as it begins to radiate heat. Eyes closed in perfect serene peace, Green soaks in the warmth.

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Oh cool, I can add my library's catalog search to my list of search engines on Firefox. I right clicked on the URL and it had "Add [Library Discovery Layer]". So I can type a book name right in the URL bar, click on the library's icon, and it will take me there without having to open the OPAC first.

Neat.

#Firefox #Libraries #OpenSearch

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Local news here went straight from US politics to "do you ever wash that water bottle you carry around all the time" and frankly the latter freaked me out more

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Enjoying the fruits of my labor now that I finished my 12-legged 'Carpentopod' table project. See
https://decarpentier.nl/carpentopod for project info. (Or come see it live at Maker Days Eindhoven this 14 & 15 Sept.)

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Hey #Firefox for #Android users, I need your help. We've started rolling out updates for version 130 and it seems that a lot of users with Vivo devices experienced a bunch of crashes. Samsung and Google ones are affected too, but to a lesser extent. If Firefox is crashing for you ping me, I'd love to know exactly what happens at the moment of the crash and right afterwards.

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