DJDarren

Quality Ass Man by day, tired by night.

#iPod nerd, #ADHD brain, fundamentally lazy.

An actual DJ - Monday nights - 7:00-9:00 UK Time at https://djdarren.site

#ThePlaylist: https://djdarren.site/archive/2025/12/31/theplaylist-db/
Pronouns: He / Him
Avatar is: A baldy beardy chap (me) pretending to drive a hundred year old car in a museum.
Buy me a ko-fi (if you want): https://ko-fi.com/djdarren

Public Key

npub13a4gtpgxq45twzdg0zdyq8fc9szmhlfafwq7chnxvh6gxk3jrw0sctr5vv

NIP-05 Address

djdarren_at_mendeddrum.org@momostr.pink

Profile Code

nprofile1qqsg7659s5rq269hpx583xjqr5uzcpdml575hq0vtenxtayrtgeph8cpz3mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuerpd46hxtnfduqs6amnwvaz7tmwdaejumr0dsaj94gp

Publishing to

relay.damus.io

nos.lol

Author Public Key

npub13a4gtpgxq45twzdg0zdyq8fc9szmhlfafwq7chnxvh6gxk3jrw0sctr5vv

Show more details

Last Notes

2026-05-04 07:33:53 UTC

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Fixed it for you.
https://fsn1.your-objectstorage.com/drum/media_attachments/files/116/515/139/675/932/308/original/ab0604b97e3a2784.jpg

2026-05-04 07:13:42 UTC

LIVE LONG AND PROSPER
- DR SPOCK
#StarWarsDay

2026-05-03 20:10:58 UTC

Well, this is wonderful.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m002vzjt/making-life-on-earth-attenboroughs-greatest-adventure

2026-05-02 09:03:22 UTC

Need to renew my driving licence, so I head to gov.uk, where I discover that they've started doing everything through an app. One Login.
OneDerful
I download the app to my @npub1kwa…e0nj phone and...
...
...you can see where this is going, can't you...
...it fails Google's Play Store bullshit, BECAUSE OF COURSE IT FUCKING DOES.
Jesus fucking wept.

2026-04-08 18:10:26 UTC

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I know, I know, this is the Fediverse, where no one has a Facebook account anyway, but man, it's so annoying.
Trying to contact a local tattoo parlour who seem pretty cool, neurodivergent and LGBTQ+ friendly, and while there is an email address on the Facebook page, it's just fires back an auto reply with instructions on how to use a specific service to book an appointment. I don't want to book (yet), I just want some fucking information.
So we went to the place because it's not far from home. The one woman working in there seemed kind of confused as to why we might be wanting to ask questions, and mentioned breezily that mostly she's contactable by FB Messenger and Instagram.

2026-04-08 17:58:03 UTC

If you are a small business owner, please, please, for the love of whichever deity you care about, don't limit the entirety of your contact options to Facebook and Instagram.
I'm seeing this quite a bit lately, and it's shit.

2026-03-26 07:28:40 UTC

Finally started on #Daypass from @npub1z7x…q5jf on Nebula last night, and it's great.
Nantes looks wonderful, and dammit, I want to ride the big steampunk elephant!
https://nebula.tv/videos/daypass-s1e1

2026-03-25 15:07:48 UTC

IDEA TO IMPROVE MASTODON
Whenever someone tries to reply to someone they don't follow telling them to use Linux, a full window flashing overlay should pop up that just says the word "no". And it won't go away for ten minutes.
@npub1vl7…f6g0 you can have that one for free.

2026-03-15 09:48:47 UTC

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Podcasts must be two things to me to classify as such:
1- They must be primarily audio. If they also happen to be available as a video, so be it, but if any of their production doesn't work because it relies on a visual element, then it's a video chat show / essay and if I'm interested I'll watch it via PeerTube/YouTube.
2- They must be available via RSS in a general purpose podcatcher app. If your podcast is only available on Spotify and has no RSS feed to which I can subscribe, then your show is paid-for content and not a podcast and I won't listen to it.

2026-03-12 08:13:38 UTC

In the continuing adventures of DJDarren catching up with what all the cool kids have known for years; I now have Navidrome running on my server at home, accessible via Tailscale on my computer at work. And I have a script running on my server that watches a folder in SyncThing, which moves any folders that appear in it into the Navidrome folder.
So I effectively have iTunes Match running. For free.
Which is nice.
The client I'm using to access it is Feishin, which is alright, but is still somewhat busier than I would like.
But still, I can download music on any of my devices, drop it in that SyncThing folder, wait a minute and it's available across my devices.
This is the future we were promised.

2026-03-04 13:50:16 UTC

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Me, opening up my Grindr DMs.

2026-02-23 12:51:08 UTC

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In essence, the app still has notification privileges, but I've silenced them, turned off the notification dot, and told the OS not to display them in any way.
Shame there's no way to distinguish between types of notification though. The receipts are fine, the advertising can piss up a rope.

2026-02-23 12:49:01 UTC

I finally got around to adding my bank card to the Lidl app the other day. It means that, as a @npub1kwa…e0nj user, I can pay for shopping using the app, rather than have to bust out my card. Google Pay services don't work in Graphene, because Google.
So, I used it at the weekend, got a notification with my receipt. Lovely. I'm ok with this.
Later on I got a notification telling me about all the new sports equipment they're selling next week.
Absolutely fucking not, Herr Lidl. Your notification privileges have been revoked.
Just went to use it, and the QR code wouldn't load. Restarted the app, but nothing. No QR code at all. So I used my card and figured that maybe the 1 bar of 4G in the store was hampering it loading or something.
Tried it again outside where there's 4 bars of 5G. Still nothing.
Then I tried turning notifications back on, and wouldn't you know, it loaded immediately.
Herr Lidl, you sneaky fucking swine.
Anyway, because I use #GrapheneOS I'm able to trick it into thinking it still has notifications, so no adverts AND I can pay for my shit without needing my bank card.
Use GrapheneOS, it's the tits.

2026-02-20 14:26:14 UTC

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Did...did you have him offed so you could play with his toys? @npub1wq5…mu9u

2026-02-19 21:35:10 UTC

Been trying to figure out how to use a WireGuard VPN to access my #HomeAssistant from outside my home network, and, well, it's beaten me. For now.
I can ping it from other machines connected to the VPN, but I'm damned if I can actually connect to it.
Ultimately the trouble is that I don't know what I'm doing.

2026-02-03 09:38:53 UTC

It occurred to me yesterday, that a possible reason that many normies are turned off of FOSS is because so much of the software contains the word 'Libre'.
Librewolf
Libreoffice
and so on.
And, like, I get it, but it does feel a bit, I dunno...desperate, y'know?
"I'm a web browser, and I'm FREE of the constraints of Big Tech. I am at LIBERTY to be a web browser!"
And by extension, anyone using it kinda sounds like the worst sort of libertarian. But I dunno, maybe it's just projection on my part.

2026-02-02 11:00:07 UTC

Email from Royal Mail: "We delivered your parcel! How did we do?"
Mate, you did the bare fucking minimum expected of you. Your entire job is to accept the parcel that someone wants to send me, transport that parcel to my house, then ensure that the parcel enters my house. That is literally your job.
Reviews are for things that cost people money to experience. I will review a meal. I will review a new record, or a new movie.
I will not review a fucking parcel delivery. Particularly not the default parcel delivery service in the UK.

2026-01-29 18:30:52 UTC

I'm going on record to say that the VERY worst thing about the world right now is Cadbury's decision to put five Creme Eggs in a box.
Five in a box satisfies exactly two markets: folks who want five eggs to themselves, or a group of five who want one each. That's it.
Are you two people who would like to share an even number of gooey chocolates? No. Fuck you. A family of four who don't want to have to fight over the last one? Tough shit.
This would have never happened before they were bought out by The Yanks.

2026-01-29 13:32:34 UTC

Question: Do you pronounce the x in 'quixotic'?
As far as I'm aware, it's a reference to Don Quixote, and his tilting at windmills, so it should be pronounced 'kee-hotic'. But according to an online dictionary I just looked at, it's pronounced 'kwik-sotik', even though you don"t vocalise the x in Don Quixote.
Unless I've been pronouncing Don Quixote wrong all this time...

2026-01-17 12:25:00 UTC

Apropos of nothing.
https://fsn1.your-objectstorage.com/drum/media_attachments/files/115/910/412/884/934/574/original/e02352a00abb410f.png

2026-01-15 12:49:20 UTC

It has been 35 years since I first heard the theme tune to Street Fighter II, but it remains the finest 27 seconds of music a video game has ever offered me.
https://fsn1.your-objectstorage.com/drum/media_attachments/files/115/899/191/216/455/383/original/a2165218d7c1117b.mp4

2026-01-10 18:05:54 UTC

Took a mooch out to Beaulieu this afternoon. The light was ridiculously lovely.
https://fsn1.your-objectstorage.com/drum/media_attachments/files/115/872/110/721/982/949/original/79944c62a4390f86.jpg

2026-01-02 17:49:19 UTC

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I hear your frustration, Anna, but have you considered the shareholder value when witholding your data?

2025-12-12 15:12:36 UTC

Got a horrible feeling that RingGo have updated their app so that it won't work on @npub1kwa…e0nj. It logged me out and won't let me log back in.

2025-12-09 15:00:30 UTC

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Nicely done! Best of luck to you!
Which station will you be on?

2025-12-07 17:43:55 UTC

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"I got into DVDs because I remember my gran's collection"
/me turns to dust

2025-12-07 17:17:19 UTC

Perhaps it's because people actually like to physically handle the media they use. They want to have a tangible connection to the music and movies they've bought? Perhaps they're sick of knowing that they only rent the ability to play things when they subscribe to various streaming services.
But mostly, people like to collect things. How do you collect a Netflix library? How do you collect Kindle Unlimited books? How do you express who you are and what you enjoy if it's all housed on a device that feels increasingly hostile?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ckgl8nj8nvzo

2025-12-01 11:05:36 UTC

Does anyone out there have an informed opinion on mattress toppers to alleviate back pain, and if so, could you suggest one?
We have a new mattress from Ikea, that, after several weeks appears to be causing my partner some discomfort. We could exchange it, but for what? It's otherwise ok and cost us as much as we could afford, so I'm wondering whether a memory foam topper might be a solution.

2025-12-01 09:36:36 UTC

#Whamageddon really bothers me.
Firstly, it's a million miles away from the worst Christmas song (Wonderful Christmas Time - McCartney, hang your head in shame), but also, it makes George Michael into a punchline, despite being a Grade A chap.
In a show of absolute magnanimity, Michael donated his proceeds from it - in perpetuity - to the Band Aid foundation. It still receives that money: around £300,000 a year.
And people actively avoid playing it for a meme.

2025-11-25 08:50:09 UTC

Oh, so yesterday I called around several dentists who were being advertised on the NHS website as currently accepting NHS patients.
One of them said that, yes, they are. If I book a private "Hygiene Appointment" with them for £80, I could then be registered as an NHS patient. I pondered that for a second then asked if I could just register as an NHS patient without paying them £80. They said that yes, I could, but the list currently has 1500 names on it.
So in order to access dentistry on the NHS, I can either wait an unknown period of time, or pay £80 to jump the queue.
That doesn't seem right to me. At all.
And dentists wonder why everyone despises them.

2025-11-09 14:06:09 UTC

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Some people get ridiculously tied up in trying to make sure that the day is absolutely perfect.
I've had two wedding days. The second was SIGNIFICANTLY more fun than the first, because I knew well enough to just make sure the big things were in place and let the rest happen as it will.

2025-11-02 17:25:57 UTC

At the risk of getting a little bleak on a Sunday evening: I was watching a thing earlier where they were talking about how the food benefits in the US are currently on hold because of the government shutdown. It was full of good facts and figures, ably laying out all the ways in which the government are wrong and stupid in this matter.
And not for the first time it occurred to me that the US government don't actually care if SNAP is the most efficient way to distribute food welfare. They don't care if private charities struggle to suffer the cost, while providing less because that's all they can do.
They don't care.
The cruelty is the point.
Thousands of kids will go without food, medicine, and/or heating. And they don't care.
And honestly, how do you argue against that?

2025-10-28 15:53:55 UTC

I've just had cause to remember the Amish Sex Pistols from the Kevin Eldon show.
The sketch is incredible on so many levels, not least that it was even filmed in the first place. How does the idea of a perfect shot-for-shot remake of the Sex Pistols on the Bill Grundy show, but with everyone dressed as Amish make it through production, let alone to air.
Then throw in Matt Berry as Amish Glen Matlock and Peter Serafinowicz as Amish Bill Grundy and it hits a whole other level.
Just amazing.
https://youtu.be/0NQphQZXhFM

2025-10-28 15:50:21 UTC

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Kevin Eldon will always be two things to me:
Simon Quinlank, Hobby Lion
Amish Johnny Rotten - https://youtu.be/0NQphQZXhFM

2025-10-28 15:38:26 UTC

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Disappointed that Kevin Eldon isn't on the poster, tbh. Do they even *want* any British people to watch it?

2025-10-19 10:08:36 UTC

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Hol' up: They charge a tenner A MONTH to access the same features that CarPlay and Android Auto offer as standard?
That's genuinely astonishing.

2025-10-17 06:44:56 UTC

This new Map Men episode is exceptional, even by their usual incredibly high standards. 100% worth 15 minutes of your day.
They put a ridiculous amount of effort into even the most stupid, fleeting jokes. Also, they're one of the few channels whose adverts I watch, because they put effort into those too.
https://youtu.be/eq-kgUpd-5E

2025-10-09 11:06:05 UTC

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Viz have entered the chat.
https://fsn1.your-objectstorage.com/drum/media_attachments/files/115/343/870/461/556/632/original/249b394dc1b0e724.jpg

2025-10-09 10:58:27 UTC

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At least that his explanation for hiding in the toilets...

2025-10-02 07:29:13 UTC

What's the shittest nickname that was bestowed upon you at school?
For a while mine was Beep
To be fair, the logic was kinda funny. Like pretty much all lads of my age at that time, I had the sharpest, straightest centre parting. I also enjoyed reading books.
The school library had recently installed a barcode system, whereby you swiped a book through a scanner to book it out.
My friend Rob, who, it must be said, was a bit of a prick, decided that my centre parting was a scanner for the taking out of books. Obviously.
So he'd mime swiping a book down the centre of his hair and shout "Beep!" at me. And there it was. For a year or so people would shout "beep!" when I walked in the room.
And it never failed to piss me off.

2025-09-29 12:47:39 UTC

Isn't it funny how our expectations often bend away from our enjoyment?
I try not to make a habit of it, but I just looked at the numbers for last week's radio show. Across my site and Mixcloud, it's had 28 listens. Plus the ~15 that listened live.
I was disappointed to see 'only' 16 listens from my site, because that's a bit lower than on previous weeks.
But back when I started doing the show on a different station a few years ago I'd have been lucky to get 5 listens in a week. And that was only ever uploaded to Mixcloud.
I have to constantly remind myself that the numbers are largely meaningless. Five people listening is functionally the same as fifty. And besides, five people listening is five people who have actively chosen to offer me their attention for two hours they won't get back. It's amazing to get even one person listening!

2025-09-21 12:34:29 UTC

#SilentSunday
https://fsn1.your-objectstorage.com/drum/media_attachments/files/115/242/296/031/493/625/original/7cebe500163087c7.jpg

2025-09-18 06:52:37 UTC

Hey, Linux-fingerers, can I ask youse a question?
As someone who is relatively new to the scene, can anyone explain why Xorg and Wayland are separate things, and why, if Wayland is apparently the future, so many applications still don't support Wayland?
Because as someone who just wants a computer to do the stuff, it's really fucking annoying to have to know about shit like this.

2025-09-16 06:37:00 UTC

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LB: Some of us live like the gods we choose to be.
@npub1ruj…5hpl
https://fsn1.your-objectstorage.com/drum/media_attachments/files/115/212/585/196/970/744/original/a8fe8e4ea46023a8.png

2025-09-09 21:07:30 UTC

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Something else I really enjoyed about the Mary Rose exhibition was how they used opaque perspex to ‘complete’ many of the artefacts that had been damaged beyond salvage.
https://fsn1.your-objectstorage.com/drum/media_attachments/files/115/176/377/033/005/877/original/b07ed6b5a3a00d73.jpeg
https://fsn1.your-objectstorage.com/drum/media_attachments/files/115/176/377/343/581/537/original/fbe65b3545cbe7c0.jpeg

2025-09-09 17:49:15 UTC

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I dunno what it was, but at one point I just sat on a bench and looked at it for a good ten minutes.
I guess it's knowing that a group of people - almost all volunteers - went to so much effort to find and recover her. And for what?
Because it was important to them.
And now this beautiful building has been put up around her, and they've spent 40 years washing out the salt water, then drying her out. She was finally considered to be safely dry in 2017.
Just remarkable.

2025-09-09 17:41:51 UTC

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But the star down there is, by some margin, the Mary Rose.
Sunk in the Solent in 1545, she was Henry VIII's flag ship. She was rediscovered in the late '70s, dug out, and brought to the surface in 1982.
I remember the fanfare when the original museum was opened, but have never actually visited. So I was looking forward to seeing her.
And I was genuinely moved by what I saw.
https://fsn1.your-objectstorage.com/drum/media_attachments/files/115/175/548/245/926/283/original/7c13c8721b0a0e59.jpg
https://fsn1.your-objectstorage.com/drum/media_attachments/files/115/175/548/378/927/497/original/3a572244fd7b7349.jpg
https://fsn1.your-objectstorage.com/drum/media_attachments/files/115/175/548/529/214/905/original/78ce8e5539f37cf0.jpg

2025-09-09 17:31:07 UTC

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We briefly glimpsed HMS Victory, best known for being where Lord Nelson died. Then winning the battle of Trafalgar.
Victory is currently undergoing significant restoration work, so most of her is under cover to offer some protection from the elements.
We didn't go aboard Victory because I wanted to visit the star attraction down there...
https://fsn1.your-objectstorage.com/drum/media_attachments/files/115/175/513/429/244/813/original/2285c1282f8bdd97.jpg
https://fsn1.your-objectstorage.com/drum/media_attachments/files/115/175/513/484/851/666/original/b80197a48de53e52.jpg

2025-09-09 17:24:54 UTC

Had a bloody splendid day looking at old boats and that down in Stinky Pompey.
First we looked at HMS Warrior.
#UKOldBoatsAndThatScene
https://fsn1.your-objectstorage.com/drum/media_attachments/files/115/175/484/386/184/387/original/590b4b7695ad592c.jpg
https://fsn1.your-objectstorage.com/drum/media_attachments/files/115/175/484/462/102/272/original/13de2ebb9e0fd344.jpg
https://fsn1.your-objectstorage.com/drum/media_attachments/files/115/175/484/532/875/974/original/69663c8138984072.jpg

2025-08-27 09:23:40 UTC

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I find it interesting that none of the left-leaning parties (Labour tentatively included) use it much - if at all - in their communications. Whereas the Tories onwards to the right use it all over the shop. A design shorthand to signify that what you're about to read is going to be a bit racist.

2025-08-27 09:12:52 UTC

Isn't it kinda sad how, if I see someone flying a St George cross or Union Flag, I assume they're doing it for racist reasons.
And at what point did those flags cross that particular rubicon? Because I don't recall anyone claiming Ginger Spice to be a big 'ol racist at the Brit awards back in '97.

2025-08-08 07:28:36 UTC

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So here's a thing: How do you get a spreadsheet to accurately sort a date column if the dates are formatted as "1 January 1900"?
Because in all the various bits of software I've tried, it sorts by the number, so 1 April 1900 would come before 1January 1900. Which isn't massively useful.

2025-08-08 07:11:36 UTC

Jesus.
I want to get behind FOSS, I really do. I think it's great that there are people out there trying to keep the big corps honest.
But man alive.
After several minutes of trying every key combo I could think of to move a column in Libreoffice Calc, I gave in and searched. You have to select the column, then hold alt, click on a *cell* in that column, and drag.
In Pages on macOS, you click the column and drag it.

2025-08-07 09:04:35 UTC

Can anyone out there recommend a desktop calendar widget for KDE Plasma that will allow me to view a list of monthly tasks? And preferably allow me to tick them off.
#Linux #KDEPlasma

2025-08-04 12:47:02 UTC

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Yeah, I got a bit of medication, but also some kind of plumbing repair as well.
Figured I might have more presenter joy by coming a bit closer to BST, so I'm trying out some Perth-based stations. Currently got 88.5FM on. Haven't had either presenter nor advert yet, but it's only been a few minutes...

2025-08-04 12:36:06 UTC

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Hmm. The only trouble with 2UE (at this time of day for me) is that they don't appear to have presenters at 10:30 pm. So I'm getting the adverts, the music, and the news, but no real human talking at me.

2025-08-04 12:03:32 UTC

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Usually I go to great lengths to block advertising, but when I'm listening to local radio I like the authenticity of hearing hyper-local adverts that couldn't possibly be aimed at me.

2025-08-04 12:01:02 UTC

Having one of those days where I really want to listen to a local radio station from another country, but the stream *has* to retain its adverts.
Anyway, I can't really speak for the quality of the station yet, but 2UE from Sydney is so far ticking the boxes.
https://www.2ue.com.au/
#NowPlaying #Radio

2025-07-31 07:55:23 UTC

POLL
I'm interested to see the results of this, so could you all spread it far and wide please?
When you feel the need to pee which of the following applies?

2025-07-18 04:49:54 UTC

Just woke up to a text from The Boy telling me that his bike has been nicked from the train station, and I'm absolutely enraged on his behalf. Not least because I bought him that bike 10 years ago, and because we spent a lovely couple of hours a couple of weeks back getting it sorted out so he could use it to escape from his Mum's for a bit.
I've had a few bikes stolen, and while I try to be empathetic and imagine a good reason, ultimately I think that bike thieves are fucking scum.

2025-07-14 11:52:43 UTC

Does anyone out there have any tips on how to set up a networked Canon printer in #Linux (#Ubuntu) that requires authentication?
I can install the drivers, my machine sends the job, it even says it's sent successfully. But it never appears at the printer.
I've searched high and low, and at my wit's end with it.

2025-07-10 08:02:04 UTC

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The more I reflect on what's masculine and what's feminine, the less I understand why it's the case.
Take clothing; why is a dress or skirt an inherently feminine item? Sure, (some) men can wear a kilt, but I'm talking light, airy dresses. That's shit's comfy on hot days! So why have we decided that 50% of the population should be shunned if they choose to wear a dress?

2025-07-10 07:56:02 UTC

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This thread has been fascinating for me to read.
My wife/partner is non-binary, and is happy to be referred to as enby. I try to refer to them as, well, them or they, whenever I can. This was something they revealed to me a couple of years ago. And in that time I've begun to reflect on my own relationship to my gender.
Like, I'm a man, but the more I think about it, the less sense that binary makes.

2025-07-08 11:34:43 UTC

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I've also written something, which I hope to be able to read at the funeral, though it's not a guarantee that I'll be able to get through it without dissolving into a ball of tears. And, of course, I'm not convinced it's good enough. It doesn't get to the core of what she meant to me, because how could it. But still, it must!
My brane appears to have calmed down with telling me to send Mum a message about something she might like, though, so that's something I guess.

2025-07-08 11:24:00 UTC

Having a sad 'thinking about my Mum' day today, which isn't overly useful for work.
The funeral is next week, and we're meeting the celebrant tonight to give her plenty to talk about. So I'm sat here doing A Think.

2025-07-06 13:37:55 UTC

My kid just sent me this, and god knows I couldn't love him more.
https://fsn1.your-objectstorage.com/drum/media_attachments/files/114/806/550/029/562/942/original/4a704bf659ae0731.mp4

2025-07-03 13:06:55 UTC

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Seriously, if you're in any way proficient at setting up applications in a docker container, can you follow these instructions and tell me where I'm going wrong?
It seems like every other step fails for one reason or another, and I'm at a point where I've lost all interest in getting it to work.
https://docs.funkwhale.audio/administrator/installation/docker.html

2025-07-03 12:53:10 UTC

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I'd like to think I'm reasonably intelligent, but fucking hell, they don't half make it difficult to follow this shit.

2025-07-03 12:50:37 UTC

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Currently trying to install Funkwhale in a docker container on my server at home, but quite rapidly getting to a point where I think I'm just going to run the Yunohost version and suffer the online storage.
The instructions ask you to put some info in a .env file, except that file appears to be the 404 page file, and my brane is not powerful enough to figure this shit out.

2025-07-03 12:45:14 UTC

Something I really enjoy* about self-hosting things is when you try to follow the documentation TO THE LETTER, but the people who maintain the project have put the wrong thing in the instructions, or haven't updated them properly, so nothing works.
_
* I do not, in fact, enjoy this.

2025-06-29 18:15:40 UTC

Oho! If anyone wants it, #BobVylan's #Glastonbury2025 set is up on WeTransfer.
https://wetransfer.com/downloads/60571ec1e0777be5e7bd672ba6fb2fac20250628202049/5a6e9d?t_network=link&t_s=download_link
Not my link, but I've yoinked it, so if it's dead when you want it, holler and I'll upload it myself.

2025-06-23 15:26:20 UTC

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We've been pushed into a place where the shit we buy is difficult to repair, and the shit we already have that's reasonably easy to repair is difficult to find the parts for.
And it's all just shit.

2025-06-23 15:23:23 UTC

Further ways in which Amazon has made everything just that little bit more shit:
I need to replace some components on my Biggest Speakers, but there is nowhere nearby that sells those components. Not that long ago I could have mooched over to Maplin and for the grand total of about a fiver, strutted out with what I need.
But now I have to trawl about online trying to find things that'll be delivered in a few days because Amazon has killed all the convenient shops.

2025-06-19 21:11:56 UTC

I’ll not lie, today has been weird.
Sitting around Mum’s body in the hospital, cracking jokes among ourselves as if she was still there with us has to rank as one of the most odd experiences of my life so far.
There were plenty of tears, but they were far outweighed by laughter. Mum would have liked that. She’d have tutted, but she’d have smiled.
My step dad fired up his BBQ for lunch. I genuinely wasn’t expecting that on such a painful day.
Humans are weird.
Wonderful, but weird.

2025-06-12 11:08:26 UTC

At the risk of sounding like a boomer, when will BBC news stop with their 'Live' bullshit on the website?
I go there wanting to read about the plane that crashed in India, and am left having to parse information from what is essentially a series of posts. How hard is it to write "A plane has crashed in X area of Y. More information as it comes"?

2025-06-05 12:30:08 UTC

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When the Wind Blows was my Threads.
I never saw Threads until last year, however, I did see When the Wind Blows when I was about 8 and it's stuck in my mind ever since.
It's in the pantheon of greats of "Cartoons that aren't really for kids, but our parents let us watch them anyway", where Watership Down sits upon a throne of anguish.

2025-06-05 12:13:26 UTC

https://fsn1.your-objectstorage.com/drum/media_attachments/files/114/630/686/770/876/643/original/2515fb1a794ca622.png
https://fsn1.your-objectstorage.com/drum/media_attachments/files/114/630/687/281/399/931/original/8643eea4a746e196.webp

2025-05-30 09:12:31 UTC

One of the many reasons I'm happy to be married to @npub1wq5…mu9u.
https://fsn1.your-objectstorage.com/drum/media_attachments/files/114/596/009/503/716/796/original/c3115c2318f05642.png

2025-05-27 07:09:07 UTC

Something I'm learning in my adventures in Linux is that it's vital to have a second, working computer with you in order to search for ways to fix the thing you've just massively broken.

2025-05-24 15:23:50 UTC

The variety of content on Radio 4 never ceases to amaze.
https://fsn1.your-objectstorage.com/drum/media_attachments/files/114/563/490/389/207/248/original/69ffee4bfca95304.jpeg

2025-05-21 07:01:12 UTC

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Exactly! It's an impossible task, but we still beat ourselves up because we've internalised that being fat is a personal failing.

2025-05-21 06:59:11 UTC

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The only caveat I have with this book is that the author is a bariatric surgeon who at times waxes a little too lyrical over the transformative nature of the surgery he performs. How people come into his office six months later and he doesn't recognise them, and how happy they are with their new lease on life!
Meanwhile, I know a couple of people who've had surgery who have put all the weight back on.
That's not to say it doesn't work for many, but it shouldn't be the standard.

2025-05-21 06:55:38 UTC

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Society is all like "You're fat and you should be ashamed! But here are a million different foods that we'll continuously advertise at you that can only make you fat. But you're not allowed to eat them, fatty! But look at them, aren't they delicious?"

2025-05-21 06:48:06 UTC

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Trouble is, sugar is *really* hard to avoid. It's in EVERYTHING. Because studies - funded by sugar producers in the '50s and '60s - found that fat was the primary cause of heart disease.
Which, it turned out, was bollocks. It was sugar.
But by the time we learned the truth, an entire generation of people had absorbed the knowledge that fat is bad, and industrial food production had geared up to be low fat / high sugar.
By the time I came along in 1980 it was in full swing.

2025-05-21 06:45:11 UTC

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Sugar, in essence, is the fucking devil.
I've known this for some years now. I once went almost an entire year without eating a single bit of chocolate, cake, biscuit, or ice cream. It was really. fucking. hard.
But combined with cycling 15 miles a day to work and back, I lost 20kg and got down to my lowest adult weight of 108kg. I felt amazing.
Over the past five years I've regained the lost, plus a bit more. I currently weigh 143kg.
And most of that is because of fucking sugar.

2025-05-21 06:40:46 UTC

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The longer we persevere with our diet, the more our body panics, so it slows our metabolism in order to maintain fat levels. Our weight loss efforts plateau, we get discouraged, we stop the dieting, and our body hungrily laps up all that sweet, sweet fat, plus a bit more to account for the potential famines in the future.
This, coupled with the low fat / high sugar foods that have been pretty much the standard for my entire lifetime means I didn't have a hope in hell.

2025-05-21 06:31:23 UTC

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If I understand it all correctly: in essence, our bodies have a weight set point that they try to maintain. This is set by environmental factors, eg if mum had a low fat diet while she was pregnant, my developing body would have set me up to need more fat.
Every time we diet, our body goes into a panic thinking that we're experiencing a famine, so it sets the weight point higher to account for it. Meaning when we inevitably put the weight back on, we put on a bit more before we level out.

2025-05-21 06:27:42 UTC

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Still reading this, which is quite impressive because I usually start non-fiction/self-help books with enthusiasm then tail off about 1/4 of the way through.
Anyway, it's all fascinating stuff, and while I'm trying really hard to be aware of confirmation bias, it's still leaving me feeling that my fat is not something that I could really help. It was, to some extent, pre-ordained, and at the point where I could have prevented it, I didn't understand it.

2025-05-19 05:14:22 UTC

I'm currently reading Why We Eat (Too Much) by Dr Andrew Jenkinson.
Trying to take it with a little pinch of salt, because ultimately he knows it's mostly going to be read by fat people looking for help and validation. But y'know, it's the first book I've read on being fat that actually explains the biology of appetite. It's helping me to understand why I eat a lot of shit on a biological level. And it's fascinating.
https://www.kobo.com/GB/en/ebook/why-we-eat-too-much
#Bookstodon

2025-05-17 22:51:56 UTC

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Shocking that Israel should score so many points from the public vote...
#Eurovision

2025-05-17 22:50:56 UTC

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Fucking hell, that was harsh on Denmark.
#Eurovision

2025-05-17 22:49:40 UTC

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I'm genuinely surprised at how poorly Luxembourg did. Their song's a cracker.
#Eurovision

2025-05-17 22:48:12 UTC

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Yay! Iceland are in the points!
#Eurovision