Incident Creator ❎

Aged RepRap core developer, ex- firefighter, emergency medic, longhair coder, Incident Creator at the Masterton Fab Lab, and a Twitter refugee.

"Deestne mihi supercilium"

Public Key

npub1snhkuetqran4umlzghhal8qaqfpgc8fcfeyumqnuncc3ujr35tjscdk953

NIP-05 Address

vik@mastodon-nzoss-nz.mostr.pub

Profile Code

nprofile1qqsgfmmwv4sp7e67dl3ytm7lnswsys5vr5uyujwdsf7fuvg7fpc69egpz4mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuerfw36x7tnsw43qj4y0dx

Publishing to

relay.ditto.pub

Author Public Key

npub1snhkuetqran4umlzghhal8qaqfpgc8fcfeyumqnuncc3ujr35tjscdk953

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Last Notes

2026-07-07 08:13:34 UTC

Orbital demo of a Kiwi-developed superconducting #satellite orientation system using no consumables, flywheels, or propellant. I can finally talk about it (phew) https://www.space.com/technology/acceleration-without-fuel-revolutionary-superconducting-thruster-harnesses-earths-magnetic-field-in-1st-orbital-test
#space

2026-06-17 02:30:12 UTC

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@nprofile…v9wr
"Going" you say?

2026-06-15 03:48:51 UTC

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@nprofile…juh3
Absolutely essential. Having your economy destroyed by a misguided American embargo is a genuine national security threat.

2026-06-11 07:48:44 UTC

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@nprofile…gnzg
Used to be my stage name back in the 80's.

2026-06-10 02:52:10 UTC

Doctor: "Can we use AI for this appointment?"
Me: "Certainly, as long as you give me a copy of the transcript so that I can verify it."
Doctor: "OK, let's not use AI."

2026-06-09 02:47:06 UTC

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@nprofile…v9wr
One of the many valid uses for LLM, as long as the brain is employed rather than Ctrl-C Ctrl-V. It can determine document format from the many intrusive scrapings used to build the model.

2026-06-03 21:00:14 UTC

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@nprofile…v9wr
Porcupines do make a percussive rattle, but my only association with rapid disassembly and reassembly of porcupines is making fishing floats from their jetesoned quills.

2026-05-30 08:25:10 UTC

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@nprofile…hf3e
By accidentally connecting an old-school token ring network to the mains you could simultaneously de-cap a whole office building's worth of network card line driver chips. Ask me how I know some day.

2026-05-14 21:30:11 UTC

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@nprofile…gnzg
No, we need an old school calculator with tactile buttons that does copy/ paste to the computer. Anything horrendously complex gets done on the computer directly.

2026-05-14 03:56:50 UTC

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@nprofile…v9wr
I am involving other load-bearing humans, that's for sure.

2026-05-14 03:55:41 UTC

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@nprofile…v9wr
It's the old "making enough room to make room" trick. Once the workbench is installed I can put all the equipment on it and make room. Until then, careful lifts, mind back strain, and where appropriate wear PPE. Living room has temporarily acquired a rather spiffy trinocular microscope. Excellent coffee table toy.

2026-05-14 03:37:55 UTC

In order to install the new workbench I need to move the old table/workbench away from the corner so that I can clear out 5 years of alchemickal crappe and put the old table flush in the corner. So I have to move it where the ... new ... workbench ... is. Damn.

2026-04-23 21:02:36 UTC

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@nprofile…gnzg
I used to set up solar cookers, making solar-powered rice pudding etc. One slight problem: I had an excess of Burmese Cat at that point. It was not uncommon to find a ragged hole in the reflector, a very warm Burmese, and the cream licked off the rice pud.

2026-04-18 06:30:37 UTC

https://mastodon.nzoss.nz/system/media_attachments/files/116/424/300/110/819/327/original/f77d3d85d3d3095f.jpg

2026-04-17 08:44:53 UTC

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@nprofile…gnzg
I saw a biggie in the Waitakere Ranges in New Zealand one night. The entire world was lit up bright white like it was being arc welded for as far as I could see - right out over Auckland from my hill - for about ten seconds. It was ... exhilarating.

2026-04-16 04:16:53 UTC

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@nprofile…v9wr
Until they realize the importance of figuring out how many hills they need to climb anyway.

2026-04-05 00:07:41 UTC

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@nprofile…rnn3
Do you know the author? Quite a few ex-Amstrad dev team above ground and still breathing...

2026-03-28 00:22:29 UTC

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@nprofile…mv7s
And tritoblerone triperoxide. Mother of Nougat.

2026-03-23 19:53:11 UTC

Feeling the need to buy someone a
I DON'T OFTEN TEST MY CODE, BUT WHEN I DO I TEST IT IN PRODUCTION
T-shirt. 🙁

2026-03-04 00:29:33 UTC

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@nprofile…v9wr And therein lies the problem. It's not so much that solar power is cheaper than gas, it's that the infrastructure that's needed to convert from fossil fuels to renewables in any meaningful amount of time would bankrupt the entities during the conversion process. That's a significant issue for everyone dependent on them, which is most people, and would kill our international trade, which we are dependent on.

2026-03-04 00:14:37 UTC

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@nprofile…v9wr
Our industries do. They're so just-in-time they've not enough reserves to convert the country's fossil fuel dependent infrastructure to run on renewables without beggaring the nation and turning the country into a glorified refugee camp. Of course, if they'd started off converting in the 80's when we were bleating about it, the transition would've been done and dusted, but noooo...

2026-02-08 05:40:48 UTC

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@nprofile…gnzg Having seen that photo and misviewed it, I so want to make a parcel with an e-ink freight label that changes when the delivery truck gets close to the stated destination. Several times...

2026-02-05 03:31:01 UTC

During the week, Young Grasshopper found Mum's old 3-in-1 desktop. Having a Ventoy #Linux boot stick, he'd installed Xubuntu on it and proudly showed me. As a reward, I showed him how to install tuxkart. We then formatted a USB card, turned off automount, install Raspbian on it, learned a few command line utilities, used nmap to find the RZero, ssh'd in to it, checked the CPU performance from /proc/cpuinfo, compared that with the desktop (3200 Bogomips vs. 38), and did a remote shutdown.

2026-01-03 05:10:28 UTC

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@nprofile…v9wr What, no duct tape?

2025-12-10 04:24:35 UTC

Given the social media ban in Oz, what's the betting there's an uptick in #Mastodon users in progress?

2025-11-27 03:06:46 UTC

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@nprofile…en2w Call me an old fart, but I still put more faith in Whirring Metal Disks Of Death.

2025-11-13 23:25:54 UTC

Got the MegaChipper running after a 3 year break. Old fuel in fuel line wouldn't start. Turn off fuel, open choke, open throttle, drench air filter with Startyabastard, start engine, gradually open fuel valve. Stay upwind until smoke ceases. Yay!

2025-11-13 05:38:20 UTC

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@nprofile…98cu Are they paying you to swallow this horse pucky?

2025-06-11 05:05:17 UTC

The fruits of our labours. Well, the squished remains of said fruits. Ollivers gonna olive.
https://mastodon.nzoss.nz/system/media_attachments/files/114/662/986/035/209/888/original/84b1441cd6ddcde2.jpg

2025-02-26 01:41:46 UTC

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@nprofile…s06p
It's going to pick up a lot of interference from the flux capacitor ...

2025-02-22 03:50:30 UTC

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@nprofile…n3k0 Also: Don't let computers use you.

2025-02-19 07:35:54 UTC

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@nprofile…s06p
I use it for laying out overlapping/cut images. Not really meant for it, but easier than Gimp and way more controllable than image editing in a word processor.

2025-02-19 07:26:23 UTC

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@nprofile…s06p
Absolutely. Mind you, for those of a certain technological bent, #KiCAD is getting up there these days.

2025-02-19 07:16:33 UTC

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@nprofile…s06p
We use it a lot at the Fab Lab for laser and vinyl cutting. Easy for folks to get hold of and find tutorials for. File format still absolutely compatible after what? Nearly 30 years (called Sodipodi back then - still in the SVG header). There's a grand dame at the lab that creates 3D prints with it, just importing into PrusaSlicer. I use it for CNC work. Our most useful digital tool.

2025-02-15 00:32:00 UTC

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@nprofile…s06p Sadly, us Kiwis have been staring down that particular barrel for a long time.

2025-02-10 21:41:53 UTC

#badjokes
https://mastodon.nzoss.nz/system/media_attachments/files/113/981/760/697/149/153/original/90173c3ad66e86ce.png

2024-02-08 20:17:28 UTC

Thoughts on Briar? Is this really what Signal should have been or am I missing something? Seems to have acquired desktop support since I last looked https://briarproject.org

2023-08-30 08:11:10 UTC

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@npub1trd…ussx Profit is an overriding factor for everything short of the laws o' physics.

2023-08-30 04:10:26 UTC

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@npub1trd…ussx Edge case? Loophole? What's the difference, and does anyone in it for a profit care?

2023-08-30 03:52:03 UTC

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@npub1trd…ussx This'll give rise to the same asshattery found in building companies, whereby it seems your guarantee is backed by Yeehaw Roofing 2015 Ltd., not Yehaw Roofers 2022 Ltd. which was dissolved three years ago and is a completely different company Guv.

2023-08-20 01:40:18 UTC

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@npub1trd…ussx They care a lot.

2023-08-06 08:40:51 UTC

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@npub1trd…ussx
Fill yer boots!

2023-08-06 05:57:37 UTC

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@npub1trd…ussx
I think we have many MP's from the Don't Know Party, following the Haven't A Clue manifesto.

2023-07-14 04:04:58 UTC

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@npub1trd…ussx With *Diaspora I ended up with a system that didn't work, and the idea that I could export my profile turned out to be a pipe dream.

2023-07-03 10:21:49 UTC

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@npub1trd…ussx One wonders what the shared data capacity of 13 million #Mastodon users is?

2023-07-03 08:41:18 UTC

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@npub1trd…ussx It varies with the kid. I think that's the large part of the trick!

2023-07-01 02:09:53 UTC

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@npub1trd…ussx
I get kids in The Lab who have done their various STEM exams. Never heard of Ohms Law. Don't know what a musical chord is. Don't know how many mm in a cm. Can't figure out how many percent to scale something by to make it the right size. They do when they leave The Lab though.

2023-06-09 09:39:24 UTC

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@npub1trd…ussx To misquote an old programmer's addage: If builders made buildings the way developers make websites, the first woodpecker to come by would destroy civilization.

2023-05-13 19:28:47 UTC

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@npub1trd…ussx Sure. Just poking fun at QR codes. @npub1ghk…mngk @npub1r06…3anl

2023-03-26 01:45:02 UTC

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#[0] Makes me feel queasy too, and looks a lot like bullying. Accusing someone of abuse and intolerance while being abusive and intolerant is not going to be universally well received by the world outside of NZ, whatever the excuses may be.