Random Geekage

Growing season has come to an end.

2022-11-12T13:50:00+00:00

With the lack of daylight hours and the cold starting, any further veggies will likely be not worth the effort. However, the radishes have been harvested (except the one the resident squirrel had) and they look pretty damn good.

Tempted to expand the "garden" next year, once we are out of the long dark.

Used ThinkPads are quite possibly one of the better investments to make these days.

2022-11-06T13:00:00+00:00

To wit, with apologies to Sean Kennedy...

To my fellow lower and upper class: buy ThinkPads. If I could offer one piece of advice for the future, ThinkPads would be it. The benefits of ThinkPads have been proven in scientific laboratories and our society is going to hell in a handbasket in a rocket assisted fashion. All my other advice pertains to trying to lead some kind of a decent life. You can listen to it, or you can tell me to stuff it, but I will dispense my advice now.

The potato saga has come to a close.

2022-09-07T00:00:00+01:00

A bounty was harvested, we used some of the really small ones as chips and the rest have been stashed for eating later.

Next project is radishes.

Dragged this VPS kicking and screaming into 2017.

2022-08-29T00:00:00+01:00

Now it is accessible via IPv6.

/etc/network/interfaces:

iface eth0 inet6 static
    address 2a03:b0c0:2:d0::334:2001
    netmask 64
    gateway 2a03:b0c0:2:d0::1
    autoconf 0
    dns-nameservers 2001:4860:4860::8844 2001:4860:4860::8888 209.244.0.3

Reboot, add an AAAA record to my DNS registrar and away to the races!

I've switched roles at work slightly which means a new site.

2022-08-18T08:45:00+01:00

Shorter, flatter and most of the way is a legit off road bike route so more cycling needs to be done.

The potatoes are doing pretty good.

2022-06-25T08:30:00+01:00

Seems I have greener thumbs than I thought.

Mark Watney, eat your heart out!

In a change to the usual fare, I'm trying my hands at gardening.

2022-05-25T13:30:00+01:00

I've been meaning to have a go for a couple years. While we don't exactly have much proper ground to grow on, container gardening is potentially feasible. The neighbours upstairs had the same idea, putting out 2 planters of carrots. So I pulled the trigger and went for it.

Spare storage crate, drill a grid of holes in the bottom, mix 2 bags of compost with some sharp sand then drop a few tatties in. Water and wait.

Poor Man's Pressure Washer

2022-03-12T18:00:00+00:00

My friend Scott recently got a new to him bike and as part of a shakedown, we decided it would be good to go to Loch Leven for a nice ride since the weather was good. He gifted me a pressurised garden sprayer from a supermarket when we met up, I explained my parter and I already have one for watering the plants.

No, this is for cleaning the bikes after. Genius.

Especially useful since I don't have access to mains water on the landing outside, nor the inclination to run a hose and power cord for a pressure washer.

Currently reading Busy Doing Nothing

2022-01-08T07:00:00+00:00

by Rekka and Devine of 100 Rabbits. It tells the story of how they sailed from Shimoda, Japan to Victoria, Canada. It simultaneously makes me want to buy a boat and also never be anywhere near open water for the rest of my life.

A giant wave broke over us, and knocked Pino over. I didn’t see it happen. A wall of water washed over me. I saw nothing but water. I fell. The water dragged me off my feet, and carried me right out of the cockpit. I was underwater, my vision blurred by a curtain of seawater. I was facing up, I could see shapes, and colors through the salty, wet veil enveloping me. I remember thinking then: "Well, this is the end. This is how it happens."

Along with Steven Roberts and Peter Knowles, they increase my wanderlust.

Filter Adapter

2021-12-30T00:00:00+00:00

I live next to a busy dual-carriageway and until recently, the windows haven't exactly been what you would call sealed. This means that the various particulates emitted by vehicles can make their way into my home. Corralling them so we don't inhale that nastiness is a good thing.

I've been interested in getting an air filter for a while, but they have a price point that is too high for the function they provide. However, recently Big Clive posted a video about a set of 3d printable adapters for cylindrical filter elements that you can just fix a standard computer fan to. As I have a 3d printer, I set about the task.

You can see that a few months of more or less 24/7 filtering has pulled a lot of junk out of the air.

Now that the windows have been replaced with actually viable frames, they should cut down on a lot of the crud that makes it inside.

Backup Strategy

2021-11-21T12:50:00+00:00

Just over 2 years ago I wrote a post about my backup strategy. Back then, I was using rsnapshot as my utility of choice. However, that has been deprecated in the Debian repos so I figured I would use the opportunity to switch to using Borg.

Pig Monkey has done the vast majority of the heavy lifting with a wrapper script. I have basically just made a few versions of that wrapper with a couple of tweaks to increase the retention times, as well as multiple backup locations (storage is cheap and plentiful, I have a 2.5" USB3 hard drive and a beefy Synology NAS). I also have offsite backups thanks to rsync.net.

Again, like the previous post, there are a handful of systemd units set to start the backups every hour, depending on what network I am on.

TS100 Soldering Iron

2021-11-20T00:00:00+00:00

I think I came across the TS100 soldering iron when watching an Adam Savage video about his portable soldering station. My usual soldering irons have been the cheap, unregulated sort that plug straight into the wall. I have a fancy regulated one but that also needs wall power.

The main advantage of the TS100 is that it can run off anywhere between 12 to 24 volts DC, which makes it ideal for portable use. Its not an iron for day job use, but for occasional hobby and repair work, it does the job well.

The fact it runs off DC means I can power it from my car, the battery I use for SOTA, or one of the many Lenovo power bricks I have.

The key component for running a TS100 off any suitable power source is the DC plug. It needs to be 15mm long, 5.5mm diameter with a 2.5mm centre pin, not the regular 2.1mm pin. Put that on a suitable pigtail with Anderson Powerpole, XT60 or your DC connector of choice and you have an iron you can use at home or up a hill.

Never underestimate the desire of students to acquire an internet connection.

2021-11-08T17:00:00+00:00

Even more so when the administration is not particularly helpful.

A long time ago, the Internet connection wasn’t a thing you would expect to be available in every place you find yourself by default. Internet connection was a privilege available to the luckiest people. It was like that in Russia until the late 2000s, when the situation started to change.

...

To connect this router to the other parts of the network, we laid fiber cables through secret passages in the walls, ceilings, floors, and ventilation shafts. Sometimes even I was surprised how well those cables were hidden. For example, there was a network switch in the ventilation shaft, and in order to reach it, you had to get into the hole in the wall and climb a couple of meters.

...

The client connection procedure was not the easiest one as well. If a student didn’t have a cable in their room already, you had to make a new one. So you go to the closest “switch room” and hope there is somebody there and they’ll let you in. If nobody was living there anymore, you had to go to the administration and try to convince them to give you the keys. Often they didn’t let you in. That’s when you had to resort to the last option: using lockpicks. Yes, you heard it correctly. Network engineers had lockpicks and were trained to use them.

Pavel Safronov on Medium.

Increasing sshd Sessions

2021-09-22T09:00:00+01:00

While playing around with Docker in my homelab, I was trying to get docker-compose to control another machine directly via contexts, instead of having to continually copy the compose file over and run it. However, I kept getting messages along the lines of Secsh channel 10 open FAILED: open failed: Connect failed.

While its probably not the neatest solution out there, increasing the number of sshd connections seems to be a decent workaround. On Debian, the default is 10 which is probably adequate for most folk. However for me, this is too low.

The easiest way I have found to do this is to put the MaxSessions 100 stanza required in a separate file called /etc/ssh/sshd_config.d/10-maxsessions.conf which also has the advantage of being manageable by ansible. If the server needs rebuilt, I can run the playbook after a fresh install and the job is done for me.

Fixing HDMI audio on Linux 5.10

2021-08-23T16:20:00+01:00

Since switching to Debian Testing full time, I have had issues with HDMI audio not working. Videos would play at increased speed and sound would stutter or be completely absent. Using the stable Linux kernel 4.19 works but now that Debian 11 has been released, 5.10 is now stable.

To cut a long story short, today I found a link on the Arch Linux wiki which said to add intel_iommu=on,igfx_off to the GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT line in /etc/default/grub. Run sudo update-grub and reboot to have HDMI sound on the latest (by Debian standards) kernel.

I hope this helps someone else. For reference, this is on a Lenovo Thinkpad T440p, using the Intel i915 driver with nonfree firmware enabled.

It has been 48 hours since my 2nd vaccine.

2021-08-13T13:25:00+01:00

So far, no real issues. Like the first one, my arm is tender and warm at the injection site but seems to be going away faster this time. I also had a warm neck while at work last night.

I was warned by a couple of friends about bad headaches and appetite loss but neither of those have happened. Very slight headache due to night shift lack of sleep but nothing to make me reach for painkillers.

In a couple weeks, I should have full immunity and will be contributing to getting this pandemic over and done with.

APC Network Card ARP Stuffing

2021-08-12T15:15:00+01:00

I am running most of my computer stuff via an APC UPS that I got from eBay. Having an unscheduled power outage is not a good thing - especially when hard drives are involved - so having some leeway in powering things down is always a good thing.

I had been using a USB cable to control the UPS via a server I have running but I figured I would try to get it on the network so that multiple machines can be informed about the power condition.

To that end, I bought a used AP9619 network management card from eBay (all sorts of stuff there!) which was reset by the seller. However, for the life of me, I could not get it to appear on the network. Some spelunking with Wireshark showed it to be making DHCP requests but for whatever reason, my router wasn't responding.

After a minor struggle I managed to get the thing working. First, you need to have the arp command available. On Debian, that is in the net-tools package. Running sudo arp -s 1.2.3.4 00:11:22:33:44:55 then sudo ping 1.2.3.4 -s 113, swapping the MAC address of the card and IP address you want the card to have gets your computer and the card talking. The gist of it is you are "stuffing" the ARP table of your computer with the IP address you want the MAC to resolve to and then using the oversized ping packet length, the device in question acknowledges the IP on a temporary basis. With APC network cards, the default credentials are apc:apc, a quick login and you can set the IP permanently. Clean up the ARP table with sudo arp -d 1.2.3.4.

Got my first covid jab this afternoon.

2021-06-15T20:05:00+01:00

Feels like the day after a wasp sting, dull ache but nothing to write home about. I got the Pfizer/BioNTech variant of the vaccine which has wonderful flu-like side effects that may or may not kick in soon.

Went for a wander with my partner to explore some of the local area.

2021-04-22T16:30:00+01:00

Made a brew with a woodgas stove.

A good day.

Systemd Metered Connection

2021-03-27T19:30:00+00:00

My laptop is set up to download new podcasts every 6 hours. Normally, this is a good thing, particularly when it is at home. However, my work involves night shifts. There is no usable network available so I have to tether to my phone. Now, my data allowance is variable, depending on how cheap I am feeling when the previous allowance runs out. Having my computer chew through that downloading podcasts is not desirable.

Duncan pointed out the existence of a repo that consists of a systemd service file and a shell script which are used to detect if the current network connection is metered and stop running a service.

Having just done a run of nights, my laptop never attempted to grab podcasts in the time I was at work so I consider this a success. No more panicked unplugging of the USB cable and killing the service, only to do that again 6 hours later.

The Itinerant Engineer has posted about owning your own computer.

2021-03-09T10:00:00+00:00

To writ:

I want a computer that can be completely autonomous when I want it to be, but which can also be used to communicate securely with anyone on the planet without being observed by a third party. I don't want to be spied on by Microsoft or Google. I don't want the NSA intercepting my conversations or even their metadata. I want complete autonomy and privacy without having to resort to workarounds that have been invented to give me back some of the control I should have had in the first place.

I agree completely and would add on that mobile phones should be the same way. We carry around these fantastic devices capable of computational feats that would be unimaginable last century, with near instant access to the world's information and yet, we are bombarded with advertising and have our data hoovered up and sold.

Running on snow is an experience.

2021-02-11T15:00:00+00:00

The surface moving beneath my feet is an interesting sensation, particularly when climbing or descending hills. Had to take my time, a solid 6 minutes over my regular 5k run.

One Time Pass

2021-02-06T11:00:00+00:00

My current password manager of choice is pass. Runs in the terminal, uses my GPG smart card, does what it needs to and gets out of the way.

Now, for increased security, it is recommended to use multi-factor authentication to help prevent account takeovers. Usually this takes the form of something you know (passphrase) and something you have (software on a smartphone or a widget of some sort)¹.

I have never been a massive fan of needing a separate device to do authentication with. Fortunately, I came across a solution in the form of pass-extension-otp which augments pass to provide one time passcode functionality.

To set up the account in your password store, you simply run pass otp insert <account name> and then paste in a string of the form otpauth://totp/service:user@example.com?secret=AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA&issuer=service twice. You will likely have to select the manual mode of getting the string instead of using the QR code to set up an app, though you can use a QR code reader and get the full string that way.

Running pass otp -c <account name> will generate a one time code and copy it to your clipboard, from which you can paste into whatever service you are accessing on your computer.

This also means your otp authentication codes are kept off of your smartphone (and by extension, associated cloud services) and can be backed up in a manner of your choosing.

Notes

^{1. There is also something you are, which can take the form of a fingerprint, but those are easy to duplicate and hard to revoke and replace. Retina scans, while not being easy to duplicate, can't be revoked (barring extreme measures).}

On RSS

2021-02-03T19:00:00+00:00

Once Social-Media took its hold on the Web if there was something/someone you wanted to follow online you just added them to your Twitter feed or subscribed on YouTube; a fine idea until you decide you don't like the layout of the site in question or an algorithm decides you don't need to see the work of those you care about as often as you want (aka the curated timeline). I've already spoken before about my general disinterest with Social Media but it wasn't until somewhat recently that I decided to really start looking for alternatives - searching for a better way to interact with the Internet. I found my answer in RSS. I enjoyed the freedom to see sources as I wanted, the flexibility to move to a new reader if I wanted, the complete lack of advertising. It was hard to not fall in love with the service.

Marc laying out facts.

Redesign

2021-01-30T15:10:00+00:00

I've been meaning to give this place a tidy up and a refresh for quite some time now. However, not being particularly skilled in the arts of web development I have been putting it off until I could no longer deal with it.

The site used to have a somewhat modified pelican-bootstrap3 theme which came with an awful lot of cruft. Loads of unused CSS and class decelerations, unneeded <div>s all over the place, it was a mess.

Now the site is working better than ever. Search works properly, same with the books list and loading is near instant.

And in a few years I will do it all again.

I've had to crack open a Waterbrick for actual use.

2021-01-10T07:00:00+00:00

The property next door has suffered some sort of failure with their water. There was a constant stream being ejected from under the gutter and required the fire brigade to force entry to see what the issue is. However they couldn't stop it so the water was shut off at the stopcock outside that property.

For reasons unknown to me, this block of flats is also served via this stopcock, resulting in zero cold water pressure.

Naturally, I have prepared for this.

I can continue to enjoy my morning brews until this gets fixed.

Make Tilde Personal Again

2020-12-27T16:10:00+00:00

From the scuttleverse:

dtBy asks

When did we lose the ~ as a personal designation? Where did these @ motherfuckers come from with their nonsense?

Cy replies

When they invented this protocol called “email” and in their infinite wisdom decided to make it irrevocably depend on the commercial DNS network, the format was user@host. The Twitter corporation decided that was a great idea, except that they wanted to force everyone to use their network instead of DNS. Effectively, Twitter replaced the proprietary, centralized DNS with their own proprietary, centralized name resolution, such that you don’t need a username, since your “host” is your username, and it only resolves on Twitter’s servers. And they paid a bunch of people to pretend like it was a good idea, as well as paying people to tell others how “everyone” is using Twitter, and now everyone uses @ as the personal designation. If there were a better character to indicate corporate obeisance, I can think of none better than @. But I mean it’s just a character so who cares. Twitter can fuck off. I’m just saying where I think those @ motherfuckers came from with their nonsense.

A change of pace for my commute.

2020-12-19T00:00:00+00:00

Worked in the city for once and thought it would be good to try getting the train in

Hardware Ownership

2020-12-07T09:00:00+00:00

But 3D printers- we OWN that shit. You got a $200 Ender-3? You're 100% offline, 100% Open Source toolchain. You can 3D print everything from Gingery patterns for a full hand-scraped post-apocalyptic machine shop to an FGC-9 semiautomatic in case anyone tries to take it from you. Every single thing we own is being taken, put in the cloud, and rented back to us. Willingly. Because no one wants to know how to do anything beyond a narrow scope. We're a world of carpenters willing to rent sharp chisels and saws rather than learn to sharpen them ourselves. 3D printers- you know almost all come with a toolkit? So you can fix it yourself. You know how rare that is? No, you don't throw it away. Ever. No, it's not all glued together into a glass slab. You just, fix it. It's all metal, you can fix it and run it indefinitely.

--Naomi Wu

Passed my Intermediate exam a few days ago.

2020-11-19T08:00:00+00:00

Privileges have been bumped up to 50 watts in most bands and I'm allowed to play about with some microwave stuff. New callsign is 2#0GJA, where the # is dependent on where in the UK I'm operating. For Scotland, I'm 2M0GJA.

Another weekend, another SOTA activation.

2020-10-11T00:00:00+01:00

A nice 2 pointer up Meikle Bin, using Scott's Bandhopper dipole and pole. Managed to work a station in Germany which was pretty cool.

Me working some stations. Photo taken by Scott.

Made my first SOTA activation today.

2020-10-03T00:00:00+01:00

Met up with my friend Scott (MM7CWE) and the two of us schlepped up Moncreiffe Hill in Perthshire. After throwing a tarp over a bench at the summit, I got my Xiegu G90 radio set up with the SuperAntenna set up for 40 meters and after some faff with the slider coil and the ATU, we got started. Scott set up the spot with the SOTA Spotter Android app, I called CQ SOTA a couple times and after about 30 seconds or so, we had contacts rolling in.

Xiegu G90 sitting on top of a 7.5Ah battery

SuperAntenna with a standard Scottish view

Scott underneath the tarp

Didn't get the locations of all of them sadly, however the one that sticks in my mind was a gentleman from Bristol, which is a good bit away. Pretty impressive since I wasn't pushing all that much power.

After a spot of lunch, I took down the SuperAntenna and put up a dipole that Scott has kindly given to me. We had a bit of a tune around the bands. Scott showed how to use the ATU and SWR functions on the radio. Managed to pick up someone in Italy who was doing a contest which was pretty amazing.

Safe to say I have the bug now, we are going up another hill next weekend.

GNU Terry Pratchett

2020-06-15T11:15:00+01:00

I've been chewing through Terry Pratchett's Discworld books while at work (lockdown is great, so much peace and quiet). Sadly, he has passed away but there is a movement around keeping him alive in a sense, via the use of technology.

In my case, its an easy change to my nginx configuration. Just add add_header X-Clacks-Overhead "GNU Terry Pratchett"; to a server or location block.

Additionally, there is a Firefox Addon to let you see who is also participating, as well as a list.

"A man is not dead while his name is still spoken." - Going Postal

Passed my Foundation Amateur Radio exam.

2020-06-15T10:15:00+01:00

My freshly minted callsign is MM7KIG, hope to hear some of you on the air.

Thanks to Essex Ham for the course and to Dave Wilson, M0OBW for invigilating the remote exam.

Update 2020-11-19: I've since passed my intermediate exam

Cycle up a hill.

2020-04-11T12:00:00+01:00

Cycle back home.

Quick bike ride

2020-03-26T11:35:00+00:00

and a shakedown of a new commuter setup. Since switching to the TAD Fast Pack EDC, I've had to commute with my pack on my back which makes for a moist time. My former GR1 setup could be hung on the pannier rack with a little modification but I can't replicate that with the Fast Pack.

Pig Monkey posted about Rok straps earlier so I picked up a pair and went for a quick ride with my usual commuter loadout strapped to the rack. Some minor movement but otherwise pretty solid.

Anti-social distancing, because staying in the flat is lame.

2020-03-22T15:22:00+00:00

We went out to the west coast yesterday. Annoyingly there were still people there.

Drivetrain Refresh

2020-03-15T00:00:00+00:00

I've not been the best custodian of my bike. I don't tend to do massive amounts of miles so maintenance tends to get neglected. Sadly, this is showing in the drivetrain. The chain was slack and the cassette was filthy and looks worn so I figured I would replace them both. Considering that costs less than a tank of petrol for the car it's almost doable as a yearly service.

It was easy to remove the lockring and cassette with the suitable tools and I took the opportunity to remove the "dork disc" that stops your chain falling off the high gear if your limit screw is set wrong.

I've added a reminder to my todo list on a regular basis to encourage me to be a bit better with my preventative maintenance.

$ task add project:fixmakeready due:May recur:60days wait:due-2days Check bike chain wear

Don't unpack.

2020-03-15T00:00:00+00:00

Pull it out and put it back. Be ready to leave at a moments notice. “Vanish before you’re there.” --Moat Group

Waterbrick Sterilising

2020-03-05T20:00:00+00:00

I use Waterbricks for my water storage to help mitigate any unforeseen incidents that result in my local water supply being interrupted for any reason. I posted in one of the Discord servers that I lurk on about using chlorine dioxide tablets for treating stored water and Tim replied about bleach:

Cheapest household bleach, put in 1/2 cup add some water, close and slosh all over like a madman. let sit for 5 minutes you are now sterilized inside. I also setup a spray bottle with the same solution to hit the opening and lids just before filling and fill then close.

I thought that half a cup was maybe too much so I opted for a couple glugs from the jug, maybe 1/4 cup or so but otherwise I did it as described. The rest of the waterbricks will have the same treatment when the time comes for rotation.

Started reading "Say Why to Drugs" by Dr. Suzi Gage.

2020-02-08T11:05:00+00:00

Dr. Gage first came to my attention via Scroobius Pip's Distraction Pieces podcast. She then started her own podcast, Say Why to Drugs and has just released a book of the same name which basically collates the info given in the podcast into print form. It aims to give a good overview of the various substances consumed by humans - whether legal or otherwise - and does so without judgement or bias. Covering what the substance is, what it has been used for historically, what the intended effects are on the body and the potential side effects it has.

The book is very accessible with minimal clinical language and I think it should be required reading for high schoolers, or even earlier. Certainly much better than the puritanical "drugs are bad" approach I had at school.

I've started using GPG again, albeit in a minimal sense.

2020-01-24T20:35:00+00:00

I've started using pass as my password manager, having exported the database from KeepassX. Pass is basically a wrapper around GPG for the purposes of securing your passwords. The files are plain GPG encrypted files which means no weird database format to worry about. Additionally I am using a GPG smartcard as the store for the private keys so that physically needs to be plugged into my computer to do anything password related.

I'm not so bothered about using GPG for email purposes, still to date the number of emails from Facebook that were GPG encrypted is much larger than the sum of all other GPG mail I have received (and probably sent for that matter). So I'm going to use it opportunistically. My public key is available if folk want to help me beat Facebook.

Got into a minor Lego build session.

2020-01-10T00:00:00+00:00

Sets 21309 (strangely missing from the UK store) and 10266.

Brake maintenance was well overdue.

2020-01-08T16:40:00+00:00

I'm not the best at bicycle maintenance and repair but needs must. My front brake has been squealing on and off. Compounded with my lack of finesse at adjusting the caliper lead to one pad being a lot more worn than the other.

The rears are fine for now but they are on the todo list for completion in a few months.

Winter has hit the UK, temperatures have been low for a couple weeks now.

2019-12-07T09:00:00+00:00

My flat isn't the best insulated or heated so it can get a bit parky, especially in the morning. Cold enough that my Dr Bronner soaps go opaque as opposed to the usual translucent.

Better get the heating on.

DIY Skin Salve

2019-10-28T00:00:00+00:00

A while ago, Brian Green of Brian's Bees posted about some skin balm that he created using wax from his beehives. I've tried some commercially available salve and figured a replica of Brian's salve could be tried.

My partner and I have had a couple goes at it now, pretty simple. Melt down roughly 1:1 beeswax:food grade coconut oil by weight in a container, add some olive oil to make it easier to apply to skin plus any essential oils for aroma. Mix thoroughly and decant into little tubs and let them cool down and solidify.

Any cuts, dry patches, blisters, cracking or flaking gets a dollop of the salve rubbed in and it seems to make a difference in healing time.

I've been having some issues with skin irritation on the back of my knees for a couple months. Initially, I thought it was some sort of fungal infection and I have been slapping on some anti-fungal creams of various brands, none of which had any effect. On a whim, I had a look at other possible options and figured the next best fit was likely to be dermatitis.

I started using some of the hand salve on the offending skin and I have seen a massive improvement in condition. Much more pleasing is the lack of itching at night which is aggravating when trying to sleep.

I'm trying to use the bike more, lessen my dependence on the grid.

2019-09-16T14:00:00+01:00

Had a delivery arrive at a collection point and figured I would have a go at cycling out and back. The box was bigger than expected but I had just enough slack in the bungee cords to get it secure.

I have been swithering on getting my Foundation license for a few years now.

2019-08-29T00:00:00+01:00

The one time I went to an amateur radio club meeting, the main business was that the name was not representative of the location the club was meeting at. Which you can imagine, was not that exciting.

However, I came across Julian OH8STN's videos which centre around amateur radio as a means for disaster resiliency and that has piqued my interest again. As a result, I picked up a Yaesu FT-817ND from eBay which seems like a solid bit of kit and I have been told it is a decent radio, especially for beginners to the hobby. I haven't used it much, mainly to confirm that it turns on, transmits and receives so more experimentation will need to happen.

In the meantime, it needs charged.

Cycling early in the morning is the best.

2019-07-21T00:00:00+01:00

Much like running there is a distinct lack of vehicles, people and general noise which makes for a very pleasant ride.

2 hour blast out to Bathgate. Got the first train back home with about 10 seconds to spare.

The bikes I have had in my life have always had flat bars. Until now.

2019-07-12T19:35:00+01:00

I decided to swap my Jones H-Bar to drops in an effort to improve fitness and aero, maybe shave a few seconds off my commute time. The overall width of the bike has dropped quite significantly which will improve manoeuvrability and make getting it down the hall at 04:30 much less of a hassle.

The Dissect Podcast is not afraid to cut away to the heart of the matter.

2019-07-07T08:00:00+01:00

The podcast is a long form discussion (with a significant number of rabbit holes along the way), primarily focused on fitness and nutrition. The hosts are not afraid to tell it how they see it (with a hefty amount of not politically correct crude humour and cynicism) from their point of view of being highly advanced athletes in a number of disciplines.

If you have several hours free and want some knowledge bombs about being fit and healthy, give it a shot.

Today is world backup day.

2019-03-31T00:00:00+00:00

A Pelican 1200 case holds my redundant backup drives.

8TB of storage goodness, media mirrored and system backups managed by the OS.

Another 3TB drive in the background as my daily backup and media storage drive.

A convenient format to lug if I need to hightail out for whatever reason …

Kanteen Maintenance

2019-03-14T19:25:00+00:00

I've been a firm proponent of Klean Kanteen bottles for nigh on a decade now. The two I have have suffered a bit of abuse, scuffs and dings, which only marginally reduce the capacity. I think I could drop one off a building and it would survive.

The stainless bottle and the plastic cap are easy to clean. Sadly, over the years, the rubber o-rings that seal the bottles up and stops errant drips have degraded somewhat. I am not sure what the black stuff is, I can't clean it off and it looks pretty unsightly. Also, there are some tears in the rings which compromise them.

Thankfully, a replacement aftermarket set is available on Amazon and it is a quick job to whip off the old ones and replace them.

Ready for another 10 years of service.

Reading comments on websites is known to be bad for you.

2019-03-13T00:00:00+00:00

Thankfully, ytget lets me download all my favourite subscriptions from Youtube without having to delve into that particular realm of scum and villainy, thus keeping my headspace a lot cleaner.

Backpack Pannier

2019-03-10T10:30:00+00:00

Cycling to work is undeniably a good thing. Sweat on the other hand, is not. My commute is 7.5 miles, a lot of which is uphill. Riding a bike with a backpack full of stuff makes me sweat quite badly and my work doesn't have any sort of showering facilities. Couple that with being required to wear a shirt and tie and you have a recipe for disaster.

My bike has a pannier rack on it so the natural idea is to put a pannier bag or two on. This however would mean transferring stuff between the pannier bag(s) and my EDC backpack irritatingly often and means having extra kit about the place.

The solution then is to put the backpack itself on the bike. A few options were brainstormed. Ratchet straps were tried but ended up being more hassle than they are worth. Using a Greyman Tactical RIP-M panel was attempted but unsatisfactory. What is needed is a way of hooking the backpack straps to the rack.

Way back in the day, I got a Kifaru Paratarp with the peg and pole kit. The kit has basically been retired, got better pegs and hiking poles for that purpose but I kept the poles around for future use. I attached one of the pole segments (basically a bit of aluminium pipe) to the rack with a couple of hose clamps and used a couple pieces of kydex from a previous project to space it out. Hook the straps over the pipe and tighten them down and the bag is securely attached to the bike. Doesn't move an inch.

The major downside to this approach is at low speeds (namely moving off and manoeuvring on foot) the bike is biased to one side which is interesting getting it down the hall at 04:30. At regular cruising speed I don't notice a thing.

Naomi Wu posted on Twitter a guide on forcible entry by the New York Fire Department.

2019-03-09T15:10:00+00:00

The guide primarily focuses on how to get rapid entry to a premises on fire using various implements, as well as an overview of different doors and locking mechanisms. Obviously it is meant for legal rapid entry to save lives but also unintentionally gives ideas when looking for a new home or how to secure your current front door from people trying to gain unlawful entry.

It also reminds me that I want a Halligan bar, more useful in a post apoc situation than a crowbar.

Food Prepping With Huel

2019-03-09T12:00:00+00:00

If you have been in the tech circles in the last couple of years you will have heard about Soylent, powdered food for techies and folk who don't want the hassle making food. Sadly its not available in the UK (at least without paying shipping and import fees).

I found a couple offerings this side of the pond but none were too satisfactory, shipping delays and other faff being the main issues. Until I stumbled upon Huel. Same idea as Soylent but made in the UK, next day delivery with a reputable courier and 100% RDA of everything.

The "food" is dry powder and comes in plastic foil lined bags which are sealed from the factory. I figure they are ripe for food storage. 1 bag is 14 meals at 500 calories a go. 4 bags is a month of calories, assuming a daily intake of 2000 calories. Since they are foil lined, the use by date is a good 8-12 months but being dry powder and (presumably) relatively sterile, the shelf life is probably a good bit longer.

There will likely be a cutoff point where the powder does start to spoil so it will need rotating out. A simple way to keep track of it is to just write the delivery date on the bags I get.

I keep one bag in my bugout/travel bag and another in a pelican case which I can wheel along behind me. If I need to hightail it out, I have at least 2 weeks of food. These 2 bags are the first to be rotated when I get a new delivery which ensures I have the longest life for any bugging out. Old bags get slotted into storage by date order and consumed in time.

I use Taskwarrior to remind me to order more Huel on a monthly basis:

$ t add project:foostorage recur:monthly wait:due-2days Buy 5 bags of Huel

I get my Huel deliveries in 4 or 5 bags a go, my one or two meals a day means I only consume about 3 bags worth a month. If I get 4 or 5 bags every month, then over the course of a year, I can build up several months of stored food. Assuming I can procure potable water, I can basically live for an extended time without having to procure sustenance of any significant value.

Now, I'm not one of those people who are on 100% Huel, I like my real food too much to do that, but I usually have one "meal" for breakfast and depending on what is going on with work, another one or two that day, with a real meal at some point during the day.

My commute to work by bike is fairly tame.

2019-03-09T11:30:00+00:00

The way back however, gets a touch scary at times. Especially the bit with 20 or so meters of unprotected pavement next to a dual carriageway with 40 ton artics barreling towards you at 60+ mph.

The first week of December 2015 brought a massive storm to Lancashire and Cumbria,

2019-02-16T18:20:00+00:00

causing severe flooding which resulted in a loss of power to 61,000 homes and businesses. The Royal Academy of Engineering put out a report of the situation (mirror) discussing the situation:

Most homes in the affected area have gas-fired central heating with the control system and circulating pump reliant on electricity, so had no heating. Many homes have all-electric cooking and thus were unable to heat food. There are few high-rise buildings in the city but all lost power for their lifts and some upper floors lost water supplies. After 30 hours without electricity, many households had to throw away at least some of the contents of their freezers.

The biggest impact on most people was that few knew what was happening. By looking out of the window, it was obvious that there was a widespread power cut but none of the usual sources of information – TV, internet, text messages or social media – was working. Although there was FM radio coverage, many people did not have a suitable battery- powered radio and reporters in the area had serious difficulties in communicating with their studios.

Vulnerable groups, including those relying on electrically-powered medical appliances and residents of care homes, were more seriously affected.

I've been a double edged razor user for well over a decade now.

2019-02-16T17:00:00+00:00

I find the shave to be much more pleasurable than the multi-bladed cartridge monstrosities, not to mention the cost is much reduced.

The main issue comes when it is time to change the blade. Have a fairly sharp (not so good for shaving but will still mess you up) blade - covered in scraped off skin and possibly blood depending on how badly I shave - to be disposed of.

Simply throwing the naked blades in the bin is not suitable. The hazard to anyone down the chain is too high. Similarly, putting the blades in the cardboard container they came out of is also not great.

I thought about the sharps bins you see in hospitals and clinics for needles and scalpels and wondered if there was a consumer version.

Small enough to sit on a shelf and enough capacity for at least a decade of shaving. Clearly marked as hazardous and easily sealed for future disposal into a suitable waste stream.

Rantmedia 1999-2019

2019-01-04T04:45:00+00:00

At 21:00 PT, after 20 years of continuous broadcasting, the internet's longest running internet radio station is coming to an end. James O'Brien (aka Cimmerian) made the decision to end the run instead of letting it atrophy and wither away.

Sad to see it go, Patrolling was a formative part of my teenage years and I fully credit Rant with the solid friendships and the current relationship I have.

Sean Kennedy:

James O'Brien:

Don't hate the media, become the media!

Ytget

2019-01-01T11:45:00+00:00

I've been a fan of command line scripts and software to get tasks done for a while now. A few weeks ago, I tried having a go at hacking on Bashpodder to add Youtube functionality via the use of youtube-dl to get videos automatically, podcast style.

Annoyingly, I couldn't make it run properly and left it for a while. Until this morning when I had some coffee and decided to just break out the functionality to a separate script. Two scripts for podcast downloading may be a bit much but needs must.

Like my bashpodder hack, this script requires youtube-dl to be installed.

It also requires two text files to be in your home folder (or symlinked from elsewhere). .ytget.conf is a list of channels that you want to download from, whether from Youtube or any other service that youtube-dl supports. .ytget.lastrun just contains a timestamp in date +%Y%m%d format - eg. 20190101 - that is when the script was last ran. I recommend initially using a date from a month or two ago, else the script will default to 20180101 and get all videos uploaded since then.

Grab the script, stick it in your $PATH and grab your Youtube subscriptions, free from the need to have a Google account!

Contain Yourself

2018-12-20T10:00:00+00:00

Firefox added containers to compartmentalise web browsing. A smart individual took that concept and made an add-on to containerise the abomination known as Facebook.

Today, I found that another person took that idea and made one to corral Twitter and I had the idea to see if the same has been done for Google. It has.

Those 3 add-ons should go a way to keeping data leakage under control. Of course, augmenting your browser with uMatrix and uBlock Origin is thoroughly recommended for further hardening.

Let's Know Things

2018-12-07T13:00:00+00:00

Recently, Jon Antilles reposted a masterlist which had a link to a post by Colin Wright. Digging around, I fond that Colin hosts a podcast, Let's Know Things, which aims to give contextual information on a wide range of subjects (including tech, politics and sociology) and integrates them into a high level view of how they fit in the world.

The episodes are not particularly in depth, being about 45 to 90 minutes long but they do give a good jumping off point for folk wanting to research them further. Or just gently drift off to sleep to Colin's gravelly voice (dangerous when on night shift).

Cold morning.

2018-12-03T10:30:00+00:00

Run harder.

Been commuting for 3 out of 4 shifts on the bike this week.

2018-11-25T00:00:00+00:00

It would have been 4 for 4 but tonight is night shift, no way am I cycling home 7.5 miles after being awake for 24 hours. My ebike makes the commute much easier and a lot more fun. Aside from nearly running into an idiot who pulled out on me. And having to do a ninja landing after my front wheel hit an edging stone at the wrong angle.

Checking over my bike found that the rear tyre was pretty flat.

2018-11-25T00:00:00+00:00

Given that I have already replaced the inner tube last week I thought an investigation was in order. Cue inner tube in sink of water with resulting bubbles. A detailed look at the inside of the tyre revealed the culprit.

Time to patch this tube too.

Managed to fix the missing page links in the header

2018-10-16T10:20:00+01:00

so I decided use that opportunity to make some changes and update some things. The Reading list has some more books, Now got tweaked and I added an About page with some contact details.

Goruck GR1 Framesheet Upgrade

2018-10-09T17:30:00+01:00

I've been rocking a Goruck GR1 as my EDC pack for several years now. Sadly, over time the stock plastic framesheet has slacked off a bit and allows the pack to sag when it is sitting upright. Its a common issue with Goruck packs but is easily replicated with a 3m A3 sheet of Kydex from Ebay.

Simply pull out the stock sheet, draw round it onto the Kydex and cut out with some sort of rotary tool. Wrestle it back in, job done.

Don't forget your eye protection for when structural failures happen.

Pioneer AVH-X8700BT Password Reset

2018-09-21T00:00:00+01:00

While I was at EMFCamp this year, one of my friends gave me a Pioneer AVH-X8700BT head unit for my van. The cool thing with that radio is it will do Apple CarPlay which is useful since I am currently an Apple user. My current setup is a bluetooth audio adapter kludged into the back of the stock head unit, this new to me head unit lets me connect my iPhone SE to it via a lightning cable.

Sadly, when I powered it up on my desk, I found it was password protected and the hint wasn't any use. Asking my friend what the password was got nowhere, he couldn't remember, any guesses he came up with didn't work.

So it sat around for a week or so while I was at work. Until I had a look around the internet and came across a random forum post for a different radio. Not the same one as mine but I figured I would have a go, the radio was free so if it failed then nothing lost.

I grabbed the RAR from the Dropbox link (mirror) and dumped the contents to a freshly formatted 16GB pendrive, plugged it in the top USB port and powered on the radio. It sat at the password screen for a few seconds then rebooted into maintenance mode. From there it was simple to hit the factory reset option in the menu, remove the pendrive and power cycle the head unit to the language selection screen.

Fantastic! From there I plugged the phone in, set the radio to work with Apple devices and had CarPlay running, controlling my phone from the head unit. Much better than faffing with a bluetooth puck on the dash.

This fix may work for other Pioneer radios from the same family, the link above is for the AVH-4000 but worked just the same.

Manchester -> EMFCamp.

2018-08-30T00:00:00+01:00

See you there!

Glasgow -> Manchester.

2018-08-29T00:00:00+01:00

Van loaded up and on the road again.

Ditching GPG

2018-08-19T00:00:00+01:00

I've been a user of GPG for over a decade if I recall. Been through some trials and tribulations with keychain issues (admittedly mostly PEBKAC) and even switched to using a hardware token for storing my keys on to increase security.

The issue is, the folk I am primarily in contact with don't use GPG. One friend maintains a keychain himself but our communications are over Telegram for the most part. I have had more encrypted emails from Facebook than all other contacts put together. Say what you will about other communications systems and their cryptography (or lack thereof) but they just get out of the way and let me get my messages out to people.

So I am thinking I will ditch the use of GPG. I see no utility in keeping a keychain up to date with subkeys and expiries and moving things to the token etc for one person I don't communicate with on that medium.

If anyone has a really good reason for me to expend effort in maintaining my keychain then please contact me, ideally using GPG. Otherwise I will likely revoke my keys some point this week.

The trick with running

2018-08-19T00:00:00+01:00

is to get into a slight zen/dissociative state. Let the subconscious take over the movement of your legs and have your conscious go elsewhere. Whether it be plans for the day, thinking about things that could have been improved or just plain idle thoughts.

Down to Manchester

2018-06-19T00:00:00+01:00

for a few nights. Pleasure, rather than work which is nice.

Heading down to Newcastle with the work for a couple nights.

2018-06-08T00:00:00+01:00

They seem to like me for the last 3 gigs at the weekend so I'm getting free transport and accommodation for 2 more gigs. Might even get some sightseeing done.

Way aye man!

Going to EMFCamp again.

2018-05-01T14:00:00+01:00

Missed the last one because of a friend getting married but this time, for sure, I am going, along with a bunch of good friends. Should be a blast.

While scoping out a secondary route to work

2018-05-01T13:00:00+01:00

I made a slight wrong turn. While my bicycle may be competent on most terrain, it does have a bit of trouble going through unforeseen mud pits, causing me to stop and flail to avoid falling.

New Addition to the Family

2018-04-02T00:00:00+01:00

20kg of eccentric Get After It. Should play well with the others.

CryptoStorm OpenVPN for iOS

2018-03-22T00:00:00+00:00

I'm a user of the CryptoStorm VPN service for over a year. Took advantage of their Black Friday deal for renewing and got a year of use for $26. 50 cents a day for bypassing any state or ISP tracking and filtering seems like a good deal to me. Bonus: can use the same account on multiple devices at the same time, such as my laptop and phone.

The latter being the sticking part. Could not for the life of me get my iPhone (I'm an Apple user, sue me) to connect, constant timeouts. Well today I found the solution and it is really simple. Just need to go into the Settings app, down to OpenVPN and select the "Force AES-CBC cipersuites" option in the Advanced Settings portion.

Connects within 2 seconds. At the time of writing, my laptop appears to be in Lithuania and my phone in Latvia.

Dash/Plus Extension

2018-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

I've been using Patrick Rhone's Dash/Plus notation system for todo lists for a while now. While idly at work, I came up with a couple extra metadata notations for done items.

The issue I have had is when I do my lists, there is no space for results to be noted or extra explanation to be done. Putting the information at the end of the list gives no link back to where it came from and reviewing the initial todo item gives no idea of what was done.

Basically I solved this with a right angle bracket. The cool thing is it can be done on paper and digitally. +> for done items with more info elsewhere and >+ for the extra information later in the list (or another list altogether). Simple.

Fresh November

2017-11-05T00:00:00+00:00

Good morning 10km run to clear out the stresses of the week.

Thought I would spice up

2017-10-29T00:00:00+01:00

my usual morning run. Stuffed an improvised 9kg(20lb) ruck plate into my bullet ruck and went out on the 5k loop. Started huffing almost instantly and sweat was dripping off 1/3 the way round.

Still got a good time, just under 32 minutes.

Morning Routine

2017-10-04T00:00:00+01:00

Wake up around 5am (not quite #0445club but works for me)
Pint of coffee
5km run
Shower
Depending on how hungry I am, breakfast either before or at work

Been doing this the past week while pulling 12 hour shifts at work and I have to say it is working out really well for me. Combination of early runs and long days mean my sleep is much improved.

Your browser does not support the video tag.

When in a (sub)urban environment, early runs are best.

2017-10-04T00:00:00+01:00

So much quieter at 05:30 than it is at 07:30. Virtually no people to dodge around, no cars to watch out for.

Cordyceps Sinensis

2017-06-08T00:00:00+01:00

Jocko and Echo both sing the praises of Onnit's Shroom Tech products which claim to help both immune system and physical fitness. Sadly, Onnit products are quite pricy, more than I can justify right now. So I got a generic version.

Been taking these strange brown capsules twice daily for about a week now. This is totally subjective and may be completely placebo but I do feel better and happier. My athletic performance feels stronger and unusually I'm not feeling famished mid-afternoon. No capacity to do a proper double-blind trial but this impromptu experiment does seem to be a success.

If I ever end up sprouting growths from my body (or worse), please incinerate me.

Just done my first ever 10km run.

2017-04-15T00:00:00+01:00

Sucking wind hard. Got 3/4 of the way round my usual 5km run and decided to go all Forrest Gump.

I tend to shy away from politics but this is a pretty big thing.

2017-03-29T00:00:00+01:00

~~Margaret Thatcher II~~Theresa May has formally invoked Article 50. 2 years of negotiations before Scotland get dragged out of the EU. Unless Indyref2 happens.

I now have a Jabber/XMPP account set up.

2017-02-26T11:00:00+00:00

Adding to the menagerie of comms systems I am on, you can now contact me at kevinisageek at jabber dot otr dot im.

Been off the bike for far too long.

2017-02-13T16:40:00+00:00

Went to cash a cheque and found myself very unconfident at riding, especially in traffic. Doesn't help that the main road to go anywhere is a dual carriageway, nor does the lack of cycle-friendly paths around here, nor the lack of good places to lock up to.

Excuses I know. Need to make an effort to cycle more and become less dependent on refined dinosaurs.

Maps, as well as books, are to be hoarded.

2016-11-10T00:00:00+00:00

Say what you will about having Google Maps or OSM, paper maps are worth their weight in gold, especially in grid down situations.

Stay The Course

2016-10-30T18:01:00+00:00

Be a fucking wolf. Be a fucking lion. Take no shit. Set goals, smash them. Eat people's faces off. Be a better person. Show people who the fuck you are. Never apologise for being awesome. Stay the mother fucking course.

Since moving to Coatbridge I haven't been out on my bike.

2016-10-06T13:30:00+01:00

This of course, is unacceptable. So I had a quick look on Google Maps for some low traffic routes and found a way onto NCN 75. Fun wee blast along the canal.

A Year of Crossfit

2016-09-04T20:00:00+01:00

Well, year and a few weeks. Been going 2-3 times a week to Claymore Crossfit and I have to say, I have had a blast. Cardio has improved, lifts have gone up, all round fitness has increased. And I have to credit it with some other benefits to my life.

Here's to another year of Crossfit!

Crossfit is one of the quickest ways to put your ego in check.

2016-06-22T13:32:00+01:00

Look at the WOD, think to yourself "that looks easy, no bother." Halfway through the WOD, you reconsider. Finish up, you are humbled by the weight.

One of the great things

2016-06-05T20:30:00+01:00

about having a 110 Defender hardtop is the ability to stick a bicycle in the back and have it be completely protected from the elements, as well as not having to partially disassemble it to get it in.

Training

2016-05-07T10:43:00+01:00

Listen, Genos. You just have to keep doing it. No matter how hard it gets. It took me three years to get this strong.

One hundred push-ups! One hundred sit-ups! One hundred squats! Then a 10km run! Every single day!

And of course, make sure you eat three meals a day. Just a banana in the morning is fine. But the most important thing is to never use the A/C or heat in the summer or winter so that you can strengthen the mind. In the beginning, you'll wish you were dead. You might start thinking what't the harm of taking a day off? But for me, in order to be a strong hero, no matter how tough it was, even if I was spitting blood, I never stopped. I kept doing squats even when my legs were so heavy they refused to move. Even when my arms started making weird clicking noises, I kept doing push-ups.

A year and a half later, I started to notice a difference. I was bald...and I had become stronger!

In other words, you gotta train like hell to the point where your hair falls out. That is the only way to become strong.

--Saitama, One Punch Man episode 3

EDC 2016-03

2016-03-14T17:00:00+00:00

GR1 26l
Field Notes notebook
Pack of tissues
Sharpie marker
1.2 litre Klean Kanteen
Book (Left of Bang by Patrick Van Horne and John A. Riley)
Patagonia Houdini jacket (stuffed into its pocket)
Goruck foot care kit with added plasters
Improvised trauma kit (Combat Application Tourniquet and Quik Clot)
Burt's Bees lip balm and hand salve
Goruck Wire Dopp
15000mAh power bank
Micro USB cable and USB condom
3.5mm audio patch cable (for vehicle radio AUX connections)
Headphones
Network cable and Thunderbolt adapter
Satnav, stupidly long mini USB cable and triple USB power adapter

Coffee

2016-03-08T18:00:00+00:00

Motivation

2016-02-05T17:40:00+00:00

Via @redteamsblog.

Stuff

2015-11-25T20:00:00+00:00

I do stuff. I go places.

Home for the night.

2015-10-15T00:00:00+01:00

Semi Skim

2015-08-05T19:30:00+01:00

Not full fat, not skim.

Semi skim.

Not been on the bike for months.

2015-08-03T17:15:00+01:00

Shocking behaviour, I know. Needs to change. Went up to the co-op for some salad for dinner in an attempt to arrest the dependence on the Land Rover. Legs are burning, throat is raw. Only a 2km trip. Caught a midge in the eye too. Must get better.

Currently reading "Moods of Future Joys" by Alastair Humphreys.

2015-06-26T13:20:00+01:00

It is the first half of his autobiographical account of the 4 years he spent traversing the globe by bicycle on a slim budget of £7000. From London, through Europe, the Middle East and down the east of Africa.

Mornings come peacefully on the road. I wake slowly with the daylight, turning in my sleeping bag, adjusting the bundle of clothes that act as my pillow and dozing off once or twice until my head is clear and ready to begin the day. I lie still and listen to the sounds outside my tent. Sometimes birdsong, sometimes whooshing vehicles, sometimes water, sometimes silence. I unzip the tent door and feel the fresh air on my face. I check the weather and particlarly the wind: strong winds can seriously spoil my day.

What do you need to survive on the Pacific Crest Trail?

2015-06-14T19:00:00+01:00

Turns out, not a whole lot.

“This was not a typical backpacking or camping trip—there is no real time spent in camp, per say. You’re not sitting around and roasting marshmallows and singing songs. You eat for functional purposes—not for the experience of eating. At the end of the day, all you want to do is set up camp and get to sleep so you wake up and do it all over again. So bringing books, Kindles, or other luxury/recreational items that have nothing to do with survival or with walking very clearly becomes superfluous.”

Running downhill

2015-04-29T11:03:00+01:00

is one of the best things in the world. So fast and easy. Running on the flats is tolerable to acceptable. Uphill sucks.

Anyone want a pull?

2015-02-20T12:39:00+00:00

HAM -> EDI

2015-01-01T16:23:00+00:00

Deutschland, ich bin in dir.

2014-12-26T19:03:00+00:00

EDI -> HAM

2014-12-26T14:22:00+00:00

31C3 Packing List

2014-12-26T10:51:00+00:00

I'm headed to Hamburg, Germany for the 31st Chaos Communications Congress, a week filled with hacking, geekery and strange German food. Thought I would make a post detailing the kit I am bringing with me since I have never done one before.

I was going to bring either my Kifaru Express or the E&E for this trip but I decided to get a new pack. The Express is way too big for the short time I'm away for and I have had issues getting it into a plane overhead locker. The E&E is just a bit too small to fit everything I want to take with me.

Enter the Goruck GR0. Plenty of room to fit what I need yet not unwieldy.

Clothes in a Kifaru extra large pullout (2 pairs boxer shorts, 2 pairs socks, 2 tshirts, 1 pair sleeping boxers, merino wool thermal top
1.2 litre (40oz) Klean Kanteen
Map of Hamburg
Notebook, Sharpie and passport
book
USB battery, mini and micro USB cables
Laptop and charger with EU plug (UK one in the photo)
Kindle (not shown)
Spork
Self aid kit
Towel, hygiene stuff and tissues

On me:

Tshirt, socks, boxers, trousers, hoodie, boots, hat
Pen, wallet, phone

Only 2 changes of clothes for a week? Won't you smell? No. The plan is to wash the stuff I wore each day in the shower at the end of the day. Gives me 2 days for everything to dry which is easily doable. Rotate as I go. Trousers can go for a week without being washed though if they get dirty I can wash them and they will be dry in the morning. Gotta love synthetics.

Total pack weight: 10kg. Pack light, go fast.

Well that was easy

2014-12-24T10:26:00+00:00

On Christmas Day last year, I made the decision to not consume any alcoholic drinks for a year. I am pleased to say that I have managed that goal. Like I thought, it was pretty easy. Five nights of drinking a year to zero is a pretty simple goal to reach.

Another year teetotal? Challenge accepted!

Tolerance and Acceptance

2014-10-16T13:09:00+01:00

Last week, one of the folk in an IRC channel I hang out in (#r4nger5 on freenode) came out as being transgender. The single negative comment? Your room is a bit messy.

Tolerance and acceptance, we has it.

Made it to Chicago.

2014-08-11T21:30:00+01:00

Long day, still got more to go. Bloody timezones.

GLA -> DUB

2014-08-11T08:05:00+01:00

Loch Leven by Bicycle

2014-07-30T15:35:00+01:00

Your browser does not support the video tag.

Rule 10 is in effect

2014-07-21T22:44:00+01:00

Not those rules, these rules. Pushed a bit harder on my commute to and from work today and got my quickest times yet. Getting less crap at this bike thing.

So I did

2014-07-08T09:25:00+01:00

07:40 < IronAngel> I'm horny drunk and mean spirited, and you can quote me on that

#r4nger5 on freenode

Wherein we find out about the author's inability to follow instructions

2014-06-19T21:56:00+01:00

So I've been thinking that I really should learn Lisp. A nice programming language unlike any other I have seen. Clojure is one dialect of Lisp which is targeted at the JVM and .NET CLR. A quick search of the Youtubes revealed a decent video introducing Clojure with a practical example and a quick touch on Leningen.

I started going along with the video a couple days ago when I hit a snag. Errors about not finding files, no such namespace etc. The versions of the libraries I was using were quite old, was that the issue? Has the syntax changed?. The answer is a lot more depressing.

(defroutes (GET "/" request (homepage request)) (GET "/:id" [id] (redirect id)))

Can you see the issue? I coudn't.

(defroutes myroutes (GET "/" request (homepage request)) (GET "/:id" [id] (redirect id)))

I missed a single argument from (defroutes). Literally could have put any old ascii string in there and it would have worked.

Sodding.

Days.

Remember kids, when copying code from a video, make sure to get it all.

Going to EMF!

2014-06-03T12:26:00+01:00

Just bought my ticket for ElectroMagnetic Field. Gonna have intensely nerdy fun in a field.

Started reading The Apocalypse Codex by Charles Stross.

2014-05-17T23:35:00+01:00

First dead tree fiction book in several years. More occult computing FTW!

I swear I'll stop with The Laundry Files stuff at some point.

Oh yes, I do like this book

2014-04-29T16:11:00+01:00

Teacher - Dr. Vohlman - has rolled an archaic test bench in; it looks like a couple of Tesla coils fucking a Wheatstone bridge next to what I swear is a distributor hub nicked from an old Morris Minor.

When geeks and occultism collide

2014-04-29T09:30:00+01:00

Yes, its a pentacle. Yes, he's using a fifty kilovolt HT power supply and some mucking great capacitors to drive the laser. Yes, that's a flayed goatskin on the coat rack and a half-eaten pizza whirling round at 33 rpm on the Linn Sondek turntable. This is what you get when you live with Pinky and the Brain: I said it was a geek house and we all work in the Laundry, so we are talking about geek houses for very esoteric - indeed, occult - values of geek.

-- Charles Stross - The Atrocity Archives

I think I'm gonna like this book.

2014 is the year of vagabonding

2014-03-13T12:49:00+00:00

Lots of travelling going on this year. First up, I'm camping in Galloway forest for a week in May. Then in August I'm headed to Illinois to meet up with some folks to head down to Indiana for Gencon. The week after that is Electromagnetic Field 2014. Then if I can get the time off from work, I will be going to the next Chaos Communications Congress in Germany.

Good times.

I think I have a minor Triple Aught Design addiction

2014-03-12T11:29:00+00:00

Now own 2 pairs of TAD trousers. Force 10 AC to be precise, tan and grey colours. Best. Trousers. EVER! Hell, I may retire my DPM trousers.

Bought them from Hennie Haynes who I cannot praise enough. Ordered yesterday at about 3pm, arrived at about 10am this morning. They are bloody quick at processing orders and they nearly always arrive next day. Even with free shipping.

Now, if I could get them in navy blue so I can use them for work instead of the naff trousers provided.

New bike hardware.

2014-03-03T14:54:00+00:00

Got a rear pannier (which will act as a mudguard), front mudguard and a decent pump.

Bike is looking sexy. Plus I can cycle in the rain without getting my arse soaked by water thrown up by the rear wheel.

sshuttle

2014-02-26T00:05:00+00:00

A couple of my friends have been playing about with getting VPNs running. I have tried to do similar in the past but never got it to work very well. However, while skiving at work, I came across sshuttle which is sort of a transparent proxy, ssh tunnel and VPN all rolled into one nice package.

The neat thing about sshuttle is it doesn't require much setup. All it requests of your endpoint is ssh access as a regular user and the ability to run python. Locally you need python and root or sudo privileges as it manipulates your iptables rules to get the job done.

The really neat thing is you can get it to capture your DNS requests so that an eavesdropper can't tell what addresses you are looking up.

sshuttle --dns -r username@sshserver 0/0

is the command to use once you install it. You can add -v flags to make it more verbose but it is already quite verbose as it is.

The one drawback I have found is that it doesn't use my ssh keys very easily. As it runs as root, the root user has no access to my ssh keys and wants the password to login to the remote machine. You can pass it the ssh invocation to use your keyring but if you have that password protected like I have (a good idea), it requests the password for that. Thus, you still have to type in a password no matter what you do.

Its a small drawback, especially seeing as it protects your traffic from eavesdroppers right up to your remote machine. Very handy for hostile (publicly accessible) networks.

Reading TFM does work.

2014-02-24T15:23:00+00:00

Fixed my bike. At least it shifts between all 3 ranges now, albeit with some delay at times. No chain rub though which was the reason for the faffing. Time to get my cycling on!

Better the devil you know?

2014-02-23T20:30:00+00:00

Independence.

Conjures up visions of bloody struggle and violent revolution. But this isn't Ukraine or Venezuela. The streets don't run red with the blood of people fighting for their lives.

No, this is altogether a much less violent affair. A bunch of middle aged men and women having childish arguments about the future of a nation.

As someone who lives north of the imaginary line in the ground that divides this island, I am frequently asked what I think of the whole deal. How will I vote?

Honestly? I have no idea.

I am fairly anarchist leaning and as a result, I would like power to be moved more towards the individual. Independence would be a step in that direction. Not being governed by a group that allows the Church of England to have a say in folk's lives does appeal to me.

However, ideology is not the best thing to make such a decision on. Can Scotland survive being split from the rest of the UK? Do we have the economic power to make it? Oil won't last forever and the shipyards certainly aren't making boats any time soon.

The Scottish Parliament (Alex Salmond and co) seems to think we can. They have produced a rather weighty book which can be delivered for free for you to have a read. My Dad got a copy and when I had a flick through, it was dripping with fervent nationalism from the first page.

I do know one thing. If Scotland does get independence, it will make my trips to Yorkshire a hassle. The Tories have said they will institute border controls which will undoubtedly make things very difficult. The economic losses from the time taken for lorries to cross the border alone will make life more interesting.

The other issue I have with gaining independence is that the Prime Minister will be Alex Salmond. I really do not want that smug face on TV for months. The man is an arse. His sole platform for years has been "independence will fix everything". OK, maybe a little artistic licence has been taken but you get the point.

I also take issue with allowing those 16 and over to vote on the matter as opposed to the usual 18 or over. I don't know about you but I don't trust 16 year olds to act in a rational matter on this subject. You just know they are gonna broadcast Bravehart the night before the referendum to whip them up and "fight back against the English, innit?" or whatever the current vernacular is.

I still haven't made up my mind. Do I go with the same old garbage from London or do I try the new possible garbage from Edinburgh? Middle road of not voting at all?

I'm interested in what you think of the whole thing. Contact me in the usual places or leave a comment below.

My name is Kevinus Isageekus

2014-02-21T11:04:00+00:00

Owner of a slow moving website, caretaker of a buggered land rover! I will get my geek on in this life, but not the next, as I'm an atheist!

--Coined by V, with apologies to Russel Crowe

Home safely on the bike.

2014-02-19T19:49:00+00:00

No breaks, no one ran me over. Still no Bikeyface though.

Also need to adjust my brakes, the levers are a bit flappy.

Made it to work on the bike without dying.

2014-02-19T16:26:00+00:00

Helmet also fits in my backpack. Great success!

Dreading the ride home though. Bloody hill.

We are dreamers, shapers, singers, and makers

2014-02-13T10:18:00+00:00

"We are dreamers, shapers, singers, and makers. We study the mysteries of laser and circuit, crystal and scanner, holographic demons and invocation of equations. These are the tools we employ, and we know many things."

-- Elric, Babylon 5 Series 2 Episode 3: The Geometry of Shadows

Going to Gencon!

2014-02-05T15:55:00+00:00

Gonna see all my Illinois buddies and nerd out at a tabletop gaming convention.

Just come across the idea of microadventures.

2014-01-26T21:39:00+00:00

No trips to the other side of the world, instead, going for more local trips. Gotta try this at some point.

Children’s Bible Coloring Book of PoC || GTFO Issue 0x02

2013-12-30T12:21:00+00:00

Children’s Bible Coloring Book of PoC || GTFO Issue 0x02 has been released! Get it here, or just ask a neighbour.

Mirrored for posterity and neighbourlyness.

Triple Aught Design trousers are the shiznit!

2013-12-30T12:07:00+00:00

They really are. So comfortable. Pockets within pockets. Only been wearing them (Force 10 AC cargo in tan btw) for about 10 minutes and I have fallen in love. Well, when I was in America I got a chance to look at the pair that Pig Monkey gave to Avagdu as a wedding gift. Decided then I wanted my own.

I ordered through Heinnie Haynes here in the UK, less hassle than ordering direct from America, less customs fees and shipping and whatnot.

Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality

2013-12-27T23:19:00+00:00

Started reading Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality again. I had a copy a while ago but it seems to have vanished. For those not in the know, the book is written by Eliezer Yudkowsky and the LessWrong folk.

I'm not normally a fanfiction kind of person, most of the stuff I have heard of tends to be...strange. Slash and suchlike. However, this is actually quite good.

I made a thing

2013-12-18T12:52:00+00:00

I just recorded an episode of R4nger5 Radio. Been a bit of a media drought over there so I thought I would try an experiment in audio recording. Audio quality is a bit rough but hey, its free.

Have a listen and tell me if you like it or hate it.

Serenity's rear end looks better now

2013-12-16T13:14:00+00:00

Old and new brake lights

Old and new indicators

Crack and rusty screw

Broken screw

Extracted screw

All buttoned up, looking good

Well, today could have gone better

2013-12-07T17:19:00+00:00

I've just finished working on Serenity for the day. I would have been finished hours ago on a job that was supposed to be about 30 seconds long. I was relocating the aux battery ground point to a seatbelt mount to cut down on the amount of wiring running all over the place.

I was torquing the nut down to the post when suddenly it got very easy to turn. Lifted the wrench off and saw that the post had sheared.

Balls.

Of course, being a Land Rover, things are never that simple to fix. If the post was in fact a bolt that could be removed, this 30 second job would have turned into a mere 5 minute job. Sadly, the post is welded into place.

Cock.

Cue 20 minutes underneath faffing about with the socket set and a spanner removing 2 nuts and bolts that have been covered up with the general crud that accumulates under Land Rovers. Didn't help that I was scraping my knuckles on the outrigger every 10 seconds.

Eventually the bolts came out and after a little prying the plate dropped onto my gut, along with more built up crap from behind it. I must have looked a right state getting out from under Serenity.

The next task was to grind off the remainder of the post and then drill a new hole for a replacement bolt. Easy enough though my drill bits leave a lot to be desired.

Screwfix is a great place to go to get replacement fixings and fittings. Cheap and they do stainless steel nuts and bolts. However, I must have a wee rant about something.

Bolts are sold in packs of 10. Washers in packs of 10. Nuts in packs of 100.

WHY!!!!

What the hell am I gonna do with 100 nuts! I only needed 3! Come on Screwfix, sell nuts in packs of 10! Make it easier for the DIY crowd to get stuff done.

Anyway, I have the bits I need and the plate is drying after having rust and crap ground off and a coat of hammerite. Need to do the other side but that can wait till tomorrow.

Land Rover Defender ownership is never easy.

Anyone want a tow?

2013-12-05T12:01:00+00:00

Arrived just in time, nice 4 meter tow strop and 2 shackles. Want to get my winching on.

Bought my ticket for Securi-Tay 3

2013-12-03T15:34:00+00:00

Bought my ticket for Securi-Tay 3. First conference in a while. Looks to be a few good talks too. Hope to see some of you there!

Now that is a socket.

2013-11-09T11:53:00+00:00

Its massive!

Britpart, hmmm....

Clojure and ponies

2013-11-08T14:35:00+00:00

Hands On with Clojure from Øredev Conference on Vimeo.

Timelapse Test

2013-10-24T10:55:00+01:00

I decided to test out the timelapse feature of my new to me GoPro camera. Set to take a picture every 2 seconds. Mounted using a cheapo windscreen mount I got from eBay.

To render the video I used this incantation:

ffmpeg -r 1/0.5 -pattern_type glob -i '*.JPG' -c:v libx264 timelapse.mp4

The result is below.

Your browser does not support the video tag.

Not too shabby.

Swapped the genuine air filter in Serenity for a K&N one.

2013-10-17T11:03:00+01:00

Supposedly the last air filter I will ever buy. Hopefully this is true. In any case, it should be cheaper overall given that you can wash them and that will contribute to less landfill.

Democrats Vs Republicans

2013-10-16T21:10:00+01:00

< mephyt> half retarded with the ability to handle velcro shoes is better than trying to hump peanut butter jars while screaming incoherently

I'll let you decide which is which.

Got me a GoPro!

2013-10-13T21:54:00+01:00

Will hopefully start shooting some video.

Land Rover stopping Defender production

2013-10-10T16:20:00+01:00

"What are they going to make instead? Something with nice seats and too much carpet, probably."

-- Viv Wing, from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-24458499

Proof of Concept or GTFO issue 01

2013-10-06T19:13:00+01:00

The Right Reverened Pastor Manul Laphroaig has released the 2nd issue of "Proof of Concept or GTFO". While you are reading that, grab the first issue too. When you have read both, share them!

Because if burning a book is a sin—which it surely is!—then copying of a book is your sacred duty.

Got me some new bling!

2013-10-04T11:51:00+01:00

Bring it on winter!

Il Vicino Italian Resteraunt Review

2013-09-25T19:42:00+01:00

After a long day out in Albuquerque, some form of sustenance is needed. Pig Monkey found a potential candidate so we made our way there.

Il Vicino is an Italian restaurant specialising in pizza but has other stuff available too. The strange thing about the place is that you order and pay for your food before being seated. However, that has the advantage of not needing to hang about waiting for the servers to get your receipt and all that faffing about.

We got ourselves seated and began to take in the atmosphere. The major feature is the 2 large fired ovens used for cooking the pizzas and other food. Evidently they cook really quickly because barely 5 minutes after we sat down we had our food on the table. Quick service or what?

I can't speak for the others but my sandwich (a Panino Casino) was bloody fantastic. Lots of ham and cheese with a nice side salad. Less than \$10 after tax. It was so good that I left a \$5 tip. Seriously, if you ever find yourself in Albuquerque then get to this place. You will not regret it.

Il Vicino, 3403 Central NE, Albuquerque, NM, 87106. +1-505-266-7855.

You know you're in America when

2013-09-18T19:45:00+01:00

you get handed a whole bunch of firearms to have a look at just after waking up.

Off to New Mexico

2013-09-17T16:09:00+01:00

Agent Coulson: "I’ve been reassigned; director Fury wants me in New Mexico"
Tony Stark: "Fantastic, land of enchantment"
AC: "That’s what I am told"
TS: "Secret stuff?"
AC: "Something like that"
--Iron Man 2

Disabling your trackpad when a mouse is connected

2013-08-27T19:43:00+01:00

Typing on my laptop often has the side effect of touching the trackpad and sending the cursor wildly off and inserting text elsewhere. This is highly irritating when programming. Thankfully there is a simple two line fix for GNU/Linux systems using udev. Simply add SUBSYSTEM=="input", KERNEL=="mouse[0-9]*", ACTION=="add", ENV{DISPLAY}=":0", ENV{XAUTHORITY}="/home/username/.Xauthority", RUN+="/usr/bin/synclient TouchpadOff=1" SUBSYSTEM=="input", KERNEL=="mouse[0-9]*", ACTION=="remove", ENV{DISPLAY}=":0", ENV{XAUTHORITY}="/home/username/.Xauthority", RUN+="/usr/bin/synclient TouchpadOff=0" unplug and replug your mouse and you should be good to go.

Source.

Just stick it in my butt

2013-06-04T15:42:00+01:00

An enterprising fellow has come up with a fantastic Chrome extension which swaps all occurrences of "the cloud" with "my butt". Naturally I found that idea to be hilarious.

Folk have then gone on to make versions for Safari, Firefox and Opera. Check it out!

Be wary of strong drink

2013-01-24T15:39:00+00:00

Be wary of strong drink. It can make you shoot at tax collectors...and miss

--Lazarus Long, Time Enough For Love

Wombling

2012-11-14T15:58:00+00:00

For those wondering what the hell this british guy means by wombling, The Wombles were a fictional species of anthropomorphic burrowing creatures who reused and recycled human rubbish. Wombling therefore refers to the act of making use of waste that others would simply throw in the bin (or worse, leave on the ground for others to deal with). In this case, I have wombled a large amount of polypropylene rope and several meters of good quality copper wire from a skip.

Who in their right mind throws away mains thickness copper?! At the very least, it could be scrapped for cash.

The rope hasn't been cared for particularly well. I will need to get the ends whipped to prevent further fraying. Its nowhere near recovery grade so no towing or winching but it will be useful for tying down stuff. Free cordage is always a good thing.

Its worth keeping an eye out for things that have been discarded that could be of use. As the saying goes, one man's garbage is another's treasure.

UK Self Defence

2012-10-10T15:44:00+01:00

11:57 < IronAngel> the example further down of picking up a brick to fend off an attacker
11:57 < IronAngel> soon you will have to have a letter from the home office to buy bricks
11:57 < kevinisageek> true story

Predator Archive

2012-07-24T19:31:00+01:00

Thought I would throw up a copy of some interesting files written by Michael Carlton aka Predator. He was a rather influential dude from Sydney, Australia who was involved in several underground media projects and a whole bunch of other stuff. Alas, he is no more, having passed nearly a decade ago. Information on the guy is surprisingly sparse, the main project he was involved with, http://cat.org.au is offline so information cannot be gleaned there.

However, all is not lost. I managed to get what is essentially a dump of his home folder (predarchive) from my mate Harlequin, who I believe was connected to Pred in some way. I have also just stumbled on the book which is mentioned in various places, Pred.txt(not actually .txt but .pdf).

Go have a read, if you are anything like me, you will enjoy and want more.