Ray McCarthy

I usually won't follow accounts that mostly just boost posts.
A writer living in the Mid West of Ireland.
Formerly an Electronics Engineer with expertise in RF, programming and IT.

Publisher: https://www.corvidspress.com
Previously: Historians.socal – Joined Jan 21, 2023

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raymaccarthy_at_mastodon.ie@momostr.pink

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Last Notes

2026-07-27 14:30:25 UTC

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Using the Internet is a security risk. Server or client.

2026-07-18 15:20:59 UTC

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Citations?
There was massive population loss from plagues, more than once.
But not population replacement.
Normans invaded Anglo Saxon "England" in 1066, but were never more than a small percentage of population.
Iceland is Scandinavian mixed with Celts (either captured or Emigrated).

2026-07-02 13:07:03 UTC

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Started by the monks* that fibbed about having the graves of Guinevere and Arthur!
😆
Visitors spend money!
12th C. Glastonbury Abbey. So 500 to 700 years later than Arthur.
https://www.medievalists.net/2025/09/medieval-discovery-arthur-glastonbury/
(evil 3rd party javascript & trackers)
About the same time as the Pope "gave" Ireland to Henry II and the Normans invaded. Or about 100 years after the Normans conquered England.
"Joseph of Arimathea had brought the Holy Grail" to Glastonbury. Mediaeval French Fan fiction of Welsh tales.

2026-07-02 11:18:46 UTC

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Should be called the Glastonbury (or similar / related) marshes. Glastonbury connection to Avalon is a late Monastic invention to get pilgrims (paying tourists).
Avalon is a corruption of the Welsh Isle of Apples (Similar in Irish, also place of Apples) an otherworld created by Manawydan fab Llŷr (Irish Manannán mac Lir, not the King in Children of Lir but Ler). It's also a mistaken later idea that the Isle of Man is named after him.

2026-06-28 07:33:39 UTC

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Been like that for a couple of versions at mastodon.ie for me on Linux. A 27″ 4K screen with browser full height & about 1/3rd wide on Linux Mint.
It seems to the height limit rather than particularly a portrait issue.

2026-06-24 18:50:08 UTC

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I think wombats do cubes.
David you are a genius. I must read more Carrot and Pepper!

2026-06-21 19:58:40 UTC

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No, he's not a socialist. He's a conservative. More of the same.
Just better speeches.

2026-06-16 19:28:44 UTC

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No UN dept either?
FCC & ITU should only licence frequencies / spectrum use, not the craft.
I presume there is someone international for maritime wrecks & abandoned ships etc. Maybe they should take it on?

2026-06-15 15:08:08 UTC

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windows 5.x is old & dusty.
Win11 isn't.
This is a stupid design mistake.
Also people should not automatically assume they should have Bitlocker.
The information of most people is of no interest to most laptop thieves, vs difficulty of using the SSD / HDD with a different mobo/laptop if computer fails.
Some people really do need bitlocker or similar. But how secure is bitlocker from the State seizure of the laptop?
I have recovered files on a dead PC from an HDD that had bitlocker.

2026-06-07 18:05:50 UTC

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Thyratrons seem a strange choice compared to triodes, though they do work a bit like Schmitt triggered inverters. More like thyristors. I have some small Russian ones about 14mm x 8mm. Nice glow. The Russian ones look like neon based.
They do make some sense to drive output devices and don't need a heater.
See Lowe tubes of 1926 with the resistors & capacitors encapsulated in glass and two or three "tubes" in one vacuum tube.
Not sure why IBM got a patent for the idea of a module.

2026-05-31 23:36:16 UTC

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No, that's stupid. That escalates to more deaths.
No-one should have had weapons.

2026-05-31 22:14:39 UTC

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Guns
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulsa_race_massacre
I'm with Alister Cooke on this. It's an authorised militia (the US didn't have an army then) that is authorised to bear arms. Not any man.
Too little law (and unprofessional police), too many poorly regulated weapons and poor democracy.
What is the National Guard for? Surely only they and Military should routinely carry weapons.
See also Kent. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kent_State_shootings
Cancel Patriot Act, DHS & ICE. Wrong response to 9-11.
Reform FBI & CIA.

2026-05-30 11:46:53 UTC

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Originally most ISPs provided it, but because of criminal stupidity of people posting warez/copyright programs, music and porn most dropped and blocked.
I've not had Usenet access for years. I ran a small NTTP (not re-sharing any wider internet content) on Packet Radio as like SMTP and POP3 it can be text only (no HTML) and very lightweight.
There are still some chat servers.

2026-05-21 15:34:37 UTC

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You don't even have green, grey or blue eyes, or red, blonde or golden hair (all mutations from the Fair Folk)?

2026-05-21 15:29:01 UTC

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Only for Aés Sidhe or other Celtic fairy folk that are noble (AKA high lords). They are only mere doors for mundane humans.

2026-05-21 15:22:28 UTC

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Actually the walled garden on Donnerail House nr Mallow Co. Cork has two doors like that.

2026-05-21 15:13:33 UTC

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Oh, a portal that is like the Sliders TV show!
Maybe you are forever travelling to different Otherworlds each time you pass through!

2026-05-21 12:45:56 UTC

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That's the inside.
So outside might be the village street. The photographer is already in the super hidden place!

2026-05-20 19:11:59 UTC

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The sane way for social housing is the State borrowing, building and then owning.
An "investor" wants profit and likely pays more to borrow than a Government.
Thatcher was crazy.
See also the stupidity of toll roads, tunnels and bridges here in Ireland where significant funds are lost in cost of collecting the toll and the Private partner makes a profit. Abolish tolls and "car tax" and simply tax the fuel, which is over 60% tax anyway here. Fairer too.

2026-05-17 15:25:17 UTC

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The original "dry" Zinc Carbon cell invented by Hellsen? Sweden & copy patented in USA by a UK Chemist.
The American Novelty company bought that and sold electric torches to NYPD, but no depolariser, so quickly dimmed. Flashlight.
They became NCC / Ever Ready.
Original Zinc cells (1900) were wet and open top!. Telegraph use from 1831.

2026-05-17 15:20:12 UTC

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Duracell is interesting, though other companies may now be higher quality.
Starts 1920s by work of Samuel Ruben and Philip Mallory, and the formation of the P. R. Mallory Company.
Mallory developed the mercury cell and invented the button/coin package, used since 1930s.
Eveready developed the Alkaline cell, but decided it was too expensive & Mallory licenced it.
Approx 1968 the UK stopped UK Ever Ready (spilt off 1908) buying Mallory, which became Duracell.
US ER > Energizer.

2026-05-17 15:07:01 UTC

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Successes since 1950s:
Mercury buttons (1930s) > Alkaline. Silver Oxide, Zinc Air & Lithium depending on application.
NiCd (1940s) > NiMH. Sometimes better than Lithium Ion. > Lithium Ion
Lead Acid > Lithium Ion > LiFePO4, but not for engine starters. SLA/Gel now entirely replaceable LiFePO4.
Zinc Carbon (1880s) > Alkaline > Zinc Air (hearing aids & Cattle Fencers).
Large Lithium Ion > LiFePO4
The LiFePO4 is still improving, safer, still dropping in price. Maybe 15 year life!

2026-05-17 14:56:02 UTC

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The actual article rather than the breathless Yahoo.
https://techxplore.com/news/2023-03-electrolyte-enables-high-efficiency-safe.html
Except it doesn't tell us much.
Except in small portable things, Lithium Ion isn't used now. Solar and EV use Lithium Iron Phosphate which has a very low risk and less toxic production / materials.
Periodically there have been announcements of better batteries in the last 80 years. Some have become reality.

2026-05-10 12:40:46 UTC

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Is that just England?

2026-05-05 08:51:19 UTC

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The difference is most working AI code is stolen and most of it is very poor or doesn't work.
A real human programmer (not a code monkey) will help you analyse your requirements, write a specification, do a design, code it (write the program, implementation) and test it.
While keeping you in the loop.
LLM/Generative AI is mis-sold. A scam and a technological dead end. The model collapses when it scrapes its own outputs.

2026-05-04 16:55:39 UTC

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I learned C++ after Modula-2 and before C.
I learned programming earlier.
Learning a programming language isn't learning programming (extracting requirements, specification, design, coding, test etc).
I looked at Rust. C++ certainly has got too complicated since 1987, but I wonder does Rust *only* help with memory safety?
Main memory safety in general relates to using pointers that are invalid, accessing arrays out of bounds and past the end of strings.
Partly bad libraries & design.

2026-05-04 14:35:27 UTC

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Arrrrgh!
Well, if Elon's Empire crashes, how long before they all fall down?
Sadly Bezo's Bazaar isn't as likely to fail.

2026-04-24 16:39:47 UTC

RE: https://kolektiva.social/@MikeDunnAuthor/116460124411741230
I wonder does the UK RSPB have figures for dirty bird tables?
At least put bells on your cats. They are nearly as bad as humans.
#note1r9r…fqmm

2026-03-04 13:09:55 UTC

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A compiler implements it. The LLM/Gen is a rubbish search engine, database and statistical engine. It regurgitates based on prompts, not formal specifications.

2026-03-04 12:59:29 UTC

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I've a bridge over the river Shannon you can buy.
"make wonderful, creative, unique software using AI."
No. An LLM can't create at all and if it actually works and meets the spec it's likely copied.

2026-02-20 13:06:36 UTC

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But Google Docs anything is rubbish.

2026-02-20 13:05:32 UTC

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At best 40% junk, but unless you are so expert you don't need it, you can't know which is plausible rubbish.
Would you play Russian Roulette every day for hours?

2026-02-14 19:44:36 UTC

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This is a worthless scenario and false conclusion.
Arrogant idiots. What sort of peer review was there?

2026-02-14 19:36:21 UTC

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Did it have much speed up for 16 bit integer maths, or just Floating point (80 bit or 64 bit?)?

2026-02-06 21:48:56 UTC

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NO, the article isn't about powering up SSDs, but they fade in a drawer.
It's proven that HDDs generally don't wear out when powered off. The bearings etc only degrade when they are spinning.
The big plus on SSDs is random access speed, not reliability, for a home user. They are not a backup medium. An SSD in an external USB box is useful for file transfer, not backups.

2026-02-06 21:37:39 UTC

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There are no ideal options for SSD. That's why I have backups and the user data on my workstations and main laptop is on HDD (conventional, not shingled or helium etc). The OS is easily installed and restored from backup on a new SSD.
The point is that an unused conventional HDD will last for decades. That's unlikely for SSDs or any high capacity SD card, USB stick etc.

2026-02-06 20:46:37 UTC

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Not powered off they don't.
An HDD can wear out with use but 25 years is easy for storage in a drawer or box in the attic. Floppy storage is far trickier.
Tape needs carefully stored.
Pressed DVDs* and especially pressed CDs are OK, but "written" ones can fade in daylight.
[* Assuming no manufacturing defects]

2026-02-04 22:18:06 UTC

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Brexit or Covid?

2026-01-22 10:56:18 UTC

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It's tax payer subsidy of air travel, indirectly. Jet fuel isn't taxed, but in most of Europe the train fuel is taxes. Electric trains are a more complicated issue.
UK tried privatising the rail systems and that made everything worse.
Aircraft fuel needs to be taxed equally, everywhere.

2026-01-11 21:13:57 UTC

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The PCs come with Windows.
It's not about Linux. People will only switch if MS makes Windows totally unuseable.
But businesses are being hostage by about a dozen companies that only write Windows Software, and often in the last 30 years have done it badly.

2026-01-05 19:41:03 UTC

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I think Chaucer is old, but maybe Middle English.
I suspect it's 18th C. Scots' Dialect. Not many people can read Robbie Burns either.
Oh!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burns_supper
Some hae meat an canna eat,
And some wad eat that want it;
But we hae meat, and we can eat,
And sae the Lord be thankit.
18th C. Address to a Haggis
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Address_to_a_Haggis
Chaucer was 14th C.
Old English, in the strict technical sense is 5th C. to 12th C.
I had difficulty finding examples of 16th C.

2026-01-05 19:22:43 UTC

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Umm, should I have put content warning?
It's well known and popular as a folk song.
I'm not familiar with the English version, "Three Ravens".

2026-01-05 19:00:37 UTC

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‘Ye’ll sit on his white hause-bane,
And I’ll pike out his bonny blue een;
Wi ae lock o his gowden hair,
We’ll theek our nest when it grows bare.
‘Mony an ane for him makes mane,
But nane sall ken whare he is gane;
Oer his white banes, when they are bare,
The wind sall blaw for evermair.’
[A corbie is a crow, which might be Carrion Crow, Hoodie crow (almost same species), Raven or Rook.]
See Avatar, cropped from Arthur Rackham's illustration for this. The English ver. is Three Ravens.
https://cdn.masto.host/mastodonie/media_attachments/files/115/844/024/021/467/703/original/e82a027736f74918.png

2026-01-05 18:54:12 UTC

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As I was walking all alane,
I heard twa corbies making a mane;
The tane unto the t’other say,
‘Where sall we gang and dine the day?’
‘In behind yon auld fail dyke,
I wot there lies a new slain knight;
And naebody kens that he lies there,
But his hawk, his hound, and his lady fair.
‘His hound is to the hunting gane,
His hawk to fetch the wild-fowl hame,
His lady’s ta’en another mate,
So we may make our dinner sweet.

2025-12-29 14:48:34 UTC

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Visa & Mastercard can't sue.
There is already IBAN (free online transfer in EU), which even works in USA, and other funds transfers apart from PayPal and Western Union.
"13 of the 20 countries in the euro, including Ireland, have no domestic card scheme. You use an international operator, or you pay in cash."
It's alternative to Revolut (can be cardless), PayPal, Apple, Google, Amazon or clunky IBAN (which is only online), not Visa/Mastercard USA Credit or debit cards.

2025-11-25 09:33:48 UTC

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The problem with aviation fuel tax is partly everyone needs to do it.
Remove / refund fuel tax (and road tax?) on all public transport and since competition on that is senseless have only one rail operator and one bus operator, that may or may not be state owned.
See also the waste of mobile radio spectrum by not having one wholesale operator.
Abolish tolls (Ireland) and road tax but put up tax on fuel. Local congestion / pollution taxes need to stay.

2025-11-22 13:54:06 UTC

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No need to post a Deluxe Gamer Mouse to the Finance Director then?
USB and especially USB HID is so wonderfully insecure.

2025-11-02 11:25:19 UTC

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Libertarian (nothing to do with Liberal) and Right Wing since Regan / Thatcher is about freedom, and a level playing field for own national, for large Corporations. About making the top 1% richer. Not personal freedom.
Trickle down economics is the lie that justifies it.
So it's the philosophy to outsource everything. Not to have a single State ownership for strategic resources that really there is only one of. Not to have capital expenditure on housing, schools, hospitals etc.

2025-10-29 17:52:07 UTC

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actually shouldn't be on Cloud at all.
A National railway can afford its own servers.

2025-10-06 10:12:55 UTC

"To many observers, both in the US and abroad, Donald Trump has been behaving strangely recently. Especially online." —The Guardian.
Do they mean more than usual?
See
Lucky Loser: How Donald Trump Squandered His Father's Fortune and Created the Illusion of Success