Graham Downs

South African Christian, husband, Software Developer, and author of the urban fantasy novella, Memoirs of a Guardian Angel.

#SouthAfrica #Christian #author #fedi22

Public Key

npub1q8hnju2crm5r4fu7ystcdfav2r8etmx45nsur4le5ljjmhwj5yzs9a5w8f

NIP-05 Address

GrahamDowns@mastodon-africa.mostr.pub

Profile Code

nprofile1qqsqrmeew9vpa6p6570zg9ux57k9pnu4an26fcwp6lu60efdmhf2zpgpz3mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuerpd46hxtnfduqs6amnwvaz7tmwdaejumr0dshn074l

Publishing to

relay.damus.io

nos.lol

Author Public Key

npub1q8hnju2crm5r4fu7ystcdfav2r8etmx45nsur4le5ljjmhwj5yzs9a5w8f

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Last Notes

2026-08-17 08:38:28 UTC

So we're all in agreement about sysadmins, right? X-D #infosec #memes
https://cdn.mastodon.africa/media_attachments/files/117/109/936/093/118/864/original/41c986eff446c65f.png

2026-07-29 07:46:47 UTC

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@nprofile…tyq8 The thing is, because there's a way to extract (monetary) value from them, those corporations can therefore justify investing capital into marketing, to make sure that more people know about them and how easy they are to use. And that's the point: marketing.
Nobody's prepared to throw money at large-scale marketing campaigns for the Fediverse or IRC, because they have no way of making that money back.
"If you build it, they will come" is no longer enough. You need to tell people about it. At scale. Not just one or two of your friends here and there, once in a blue moon, but thousands or hundreds of thousands of people at a time, constantly, so that it's always at the top of their minds.
Neither the Fediverse nor IRC are particular difficult to get into. But people perceive them as difficult because there's a certain friction, a certain mental block, involved in the idea of selecting a server, and the for-profit networks take advantage of that by advertising the fact that THEIR platform is simple whereas the non-commercial ones are not.
If we all banded together and each put some money down to start a massive, global, continuous marketing campaign for a month, I'm sure our platform would explode: I'm talking triple, maybe even quadruple, the MAU by the end of that month.
But it has to be a constant, multi-platform campaign. I'm talking TV, radio, Google ads, X ads, Facebook ads, billboards, the lot. The average person should not be able to look anywhere for that month without being reminded of the Fediverse.
We can do it. :-)

2026-07-23 08:44:03 UTC

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@nprofile…jr49 Morning! I hope your day gets better, and turns out amazing! :-)

2026-07-21 09:23:55 UTC

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@nprofile…efh6 I'm really late to the party, and this status is really old, so I presume you don't mean July 2026, but...
I presume people have told you about the Fediverse <-> Bluesky bridge?
Follow @nprofile…3yvu from your Mastodon account. It'll create a mirror on Bluesky, and Bluesky users will be able to read and interact with your Mastodon posts. :-)

2026-07-17 10:40:54 UTC

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@nprofile…lsls @nprofile…e762 See these two attachments. The first is a screenshot of a document I made in LibreOffice Writer. The second is a screenshot of my file explorer, showing that document in odt and docx format, along with the file sizes. Note the odt is more than double the size of the docx. For a document containing no special formatting, and fewer than 200 words.
https://cdn.mastodon.africa/media_attachments/files/116/934/887/203/055/004/original/029955fc4e2f912b.png
https://cdn.mastodon.africa/media_attachments/files/116/934/890/521/589/642/original/5c431b4a4058e2f4.png

2026-07-17 10:28:15 UTC

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@nprofile…e762 To be fair, odt is significantly larger than docx. Which I guess makes sense, since docx is zipped.
I found this out when someone sent me a docx yesterday, and I made changes to it, and then saved it as an odt before sending it back to him (because I want to start exposing more people to odt, and MS Word opens those fine).
I was shocked at the file size difference. So as an experiment, I saved my edits as a docx too, and confirmed it: the docx was like 20kb smaller than the odt. :/

2026-07-15 06:00:39 UTC

Right, so even after you turn 16 in the UK, and you suddenly get access to social media, you'll still be banned between 00:00 and 06:00, in a government enforced curfew? 😆😆
https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2026-07-15-uk-plans-default-midnight-social-media-curfew-for-16-and-17-year-olds?utm_source=MastodonAfrica
#SocialMedia #AgeVerification

2026-07-13 06:37:54 UTC

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@nprofile…pzsz I often feel like the people who are screaming, "No! No! Absolutely not! Under no circumstances should you use an LLM!" today are the same sort of people who would've been screaming, "No! No! Absolutely not! Under no circumstances should you deploy conveyer belts in your factory/shop!" back in 1913.

2026-07-08 09:34:00 UTC

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@nprofile…ghlm Thanks, my friend. You too!

2026-07-08 08:50:32 UTC

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@nprofile…ghlm Aww, man, I'm sorry to hear about your right eye. How annoying! :(
So, I've had it since birth. I was always a clumsy kid and for years, nobody could figure out why, until I was eventually diagnosed at age 7 or 8 or something (one of the very first in South Africa to be diagnosed, in fact).
I have no peripheral vision and am nightblind, but although I've never driven a car or seen a star or been able to enjoy the "night club period" that most people went through, I mercifully led a fairly normal life. I went to a mainstream school, got a mainstream job, married a mainstream wife (heh).... It was pretty stable.
Until about 10 years ago or so, when the deterioration started in earnest. My field is shrinking rapidly, I'm extremely light sensitive (cruel irony with this disease; you're nightblind, but in the later stages you're also photosensitive), I'm slowly losing colour vision, and my central vision is beginning to get affected, to the point where I'm practically blind in my left eye.
I also now need to be guided around when in unfamiliar surroundings.
It's been a scary ride, to say the least. Particularly since for most of my life, I thought I'd dodged a bullet and I could breathe easily. Unfortunately, it is the nature of this disease that nobody knows how far the degeneration will go or how long it will take.
So... yeah. That's my life, day to day. But I don't like to complain.
I'm exceptionally lucky to have a fully remote job, which I've been working at since before Covid, so when everyone was scrambling trying to figure out how to make this "work from home" stuff work, I'd been doing it for a year already. I also have a strong support system, both in terms of family, but also as far as my work colleagues are concerned. :-)

2026-07-08 06:25:52 UTC

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@nprofile…ghlm Yeah. That must be really frustrating and scary for you. I know a *little* about degenerative, scary, frustrating diseases because I have Retinitis Pigmentosa.
I'm really sorry. 🫂

2026-07-08 05:44:59 UTC

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@nprofile…ghlm Good to see you in my timeline again, Peter. I hope you're doing well! :-)

2026-07-07 05:13:23 UTC

@nprofile…6wcc I just tried to add myself to fediverse.info/people.
I added the requisite hashtag to my bio, then entered my full handle and clicked "Add Me", and got "Invalid response from remote instance".
Would you maybe check logs and see if you can see what it was sending you? Or maybe get in touch with dan and find out what he sends and what he's expecting?
I guess it's entirely possible it's a bug on his side.
I tried one of my other accounts, which is also hosted at mastodon.africa, and got the same results, but I added one of my accounts from a *different* instance, and it worked fine. :/

2026-07-01 07:02:29 UTC

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@nprofile…pjts Yeah, I can imagine how a real architect would get miffed at a software architect being called that. Much like a real engineer, I would think... Or even a real developer (i.e. a property developer).
At the end of the day, all of these analogies to construction kinda suck. We should just go back to being programmers. After all, what exactly was wrong with that?
A "programmer" doesn't need to JUST write code. A programmer can be anyone involved in the process of producing computer programs. :-)

2026-06-29 08:34:37 UTC

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@nprofile…9868 @nprofile…l90m Update: Oh, I just went into the kitchen now to make coffee and noticed that the washing machine is running too. I'd forgotten about that. :D
(And yes, our washing machines live in the kitchen. Just like yours, I believe?) :D

2026-06-29 08:18:20 UTC

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@nprofile…9868 @nprofile…l90m LOL Ah, so comparatively, it might be even more expensive for you. There's no way we could buy a car for R20 000 (well, maybe a *reaaaaaaally* old one). :D
Yip, I agree 100%. An inverter is an investment. Followed by a battery.
People who don't know what's involved only see panels. But the panels are really the least of your worries, in terms of cost.
Well, having said that, I could probably handle another one or two panels on my current string, after which I'd have to put in a second string, which requires a second DB and a whole bunch more cabling, and that gets a bit expensive again (but not as much as the inverter).
In terms of load, it's 10:13 here, and I'm drawing 1225W (and getting in 1379W from panels). I have a laptop on and a deskop, and the pool pump is running (which is consuming probably 800-900W of that total). Daughter is awake but closed in her room like all teenagers, probably on social media or watching videos or something.
She'll probably go make toast in a bit, and that will shoot the consumption up to around 2600W for 5 or 10 minutes. And that would probably cause it to draw a good 600W out of the battery because it's winter at the moment, and the winter sun moves differently through the sky than the summer sun so while we have it for LONGER than we do in summer because we get summer rains, it doesn't hit my panels quite so efficiently. :)
Which, as I said earlier to Jenny, is all well and good, because that's still under 50% of my capacity, but I'm still scared to start adding the kettle and microwave and dishwasher to that, because of my fear (which I now realise might be unfounded; I'll have to do some research) that if everything were to run at once, it'd push me well over 6kW and everything would trip....

2026-06-29 07:58:34 UTC

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@nprofile…9868 @nprofile…l90m €1000 is about R20 000, though. Which is more than half the average middle-class salary in SA.
(It's probably 75% the average lower-middle-class salary, and a little less than double the overall average, according to the last census)

2026-06-29 07:47:18 UTC

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@nprofile…9868 @nprofile…l90m I guess my point was that everyone just talks about solar, solar, solar, but it seems to me that nobody considers inverter strength or battery capacity.
It's not their fault. I didn't know either before I got my first inverter about 7 years ago now (my world, that feels like a lifetime ago). And at that point I didn't even have solar. It was just to provide battery backup because of our load shedding.
I only added solar years later, but that inverter really wasn't geared up for solar because it could only handle like 50v PV in, so we ended up running 6 panels in parallel, which generated a lot of heat and melted the little solar DB box we'd put in.
Eventually that old inverter packed up, and then we saved for a bit and bought the one we currently have. But I think I need a stronger one before putting those last remaining plugs over. :)

2026-06-29 07:42:57 UTC

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@nprofile…9868 @nprofile…l90m I don't have an aircon. It was just my impression of how much they would draw.
I don't run my whole house off the inverter, 24/7. I switch over to grid power when the sun goes down. My battery would not be enough to last the whole night. :/

2026-06-29 07:06:34 UTC

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@nprofile…l90m Here in South Africa, panels are relatively cheap, and we get really good sun, but the bottleneck are batteries and inverters.
We only have 6kW inverter and a 4.8kWh battery, which is nowhere near enough to run aircon. So while many middle-class homes here have solar, we still need to be quite selective about what we choose to run off the inverter vs what still goes directly off the grid.
Do most people with solar where you're from run their entire house off solar, or is it a similar situation there, where people have to be conscious about the size of their inverter?

2026-06-25 16:22:59 UTC

I'm not sure I'll ever get used to "Maynard's All Sorts". It took me forever to get used to "Beacon All Sorts", after they dropped the "Liquorice". :-P

2026-06-21 10:58:25 UTC

@nprofile…6wcc Why do the profile pics for my remote followed accounts keep disappearing?
A user I follow posts, but there's no profile pic. So I click on their profile, and then on the profile pic, and sometimes it loads in and other times it still doesn't.
Then I close and re-open Sengi (or the desktop web, or Tusky, makes no difference), and sometimes the pic is there, and other times it's still not.
But even if it is there, by tomorrow if that user posts again, they have no profile pic again.
But only for SOME of them. Others keep their pics all the time.
Have you noticed this? Or is it just me? 🤔

2026-06-10 06:07:18 UTC

It's strange how Americans tend to say pythON and amazON, where we tend to say pythin and amazin, but they tend to say recird while we say recORD (for the noun, I mean. The pronunciation of rhe verb is different again).
This stuff is so interesting to me. How different words are pronounced different ways in different places and how that came about.
#English #words

2026-06-09 07:44:03 UTC

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@nprofile…jr49 Absolutely! Take care of yourselves! I hope this is nothing too serious?

2026-06-09 06:58:56 UTC

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@nprofile…jr49 Oh, dear. I'm so sorry to hear about your Internet. That sucks. But I really hope the procedure goes well!

2026-06-02 07:00:06 UTC

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Also, make friends with the security guard(s) on shift during your workday. #work

2026-05-30 11:02:07 UTC

@nprofile…6wcc There's still a problem posting images. Text-only posts go through fine, but as soon as you try to upload an image, it hangs and hangs and eventually says there was a problem processing your request. :(

2026-05-29 12:42:05 UTC

Wordle 1 805 3/6*
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#wordle #wordle1805

2026-05-20 10:52:33 UTC

There's a new reason to migrate your device to 64-bit architecture, if you haven't already, and this is a hard limit: 32-bit time will run out at precisely 20380119T031407Z. It's Y2K for 32-bit architecture. After that, it'll probably wrap back around to 19700101T000000Z, maybe... I dunno. :-)
Conversely, 64-bit time will last us until somewhere on 292277026-12-31.
#Y2K38

2026-05-18 05:50:14 UTC

🎉 I just completed the Daily Maverick Crossword in 1 minute and 43 seconds! 🧩 Can you beat my time? 🏆 https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/crossword/daily-crossword-quickie-mon-18-may-2026-/?utm_source=MastodonAfrica #crosswords

2026-05-14 05:23:07 UTC

Happy #AscensionDay, everyone. My childhood minister used to say that the secular world had it backwards: to them, Christmas is a huge celebration, followed by Easter, but they don't really bother with Ascension Day.
In actuality, though, he believed that Ascension Day is hands-down the most important observance on the Christian calendar, followed by Easter, and then only Christmas. :-)

2026-04-30 06:38:19 UTC

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@nprofile…hq99 Yes, that's what I always assumed too. :)

2026-04-30 06:33:03 UTC

So we all know what the English word "defenestrate" means, right? If you didn't, it's the act of throwing someone out of a window.
But South Africans, my dear South Africans, have you ever considered that the word sounds a little bit like the Afrikaans phrase, "die venster uit"?
I'm never going to unhear that now. Never. 🙈
#Afrikaans #words

2026-04-29 10:27:03 UTC

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@nprofile…w7wz That photo verification thing is the most irritating thing for me too. I'm not blind, but I have no peripheral vision, to the point where if I look directly at, say, my eyes, I cannot see my nose or my chin or... you get the idea. And I can't see the frames bordering the photo I have to take, either. And when text pops up saying "move closer" or "move further away" or "angle to the right", I have to avert my gaze to read that text, and then I can no longer see my face, so it drifts away from where they want me to be.
Honestly it never takes me less than 10 tries to get it right. And for some reason my banking apps expect me to redo it every couple of weeks.
I can only imagine how frustrating it must be for you. :(

2026-04-29 08:54:55 UTC

This is really cool: a free five-week program is designed to teach kids aged 9-16 everything they need to know about running a business, with a view to actually launching one when it's done.
https://gadget.co.za/9yearoldbusiness19w/?utm_source=MastodonAfrica
#SouthAfrica #business

2026-04-28 06:54:08 UTC

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@nprofile…lfeq It is if you want it to be. :)

2026-04-28 06:51:25 UTC

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@nprofile…lfeq I still do it when I play Human Or Not. The bots answer it flawlessly, but it throws the younger humans off. :-D

2026-04-24 07:47:01 UTC

Discovery Bank (South Africa's biggest consumer bank) say that at least 43% of their clients now pay for a monthly chatbot subscription. And they're cancelling streaming services in favour of LLM subscriptions: https://techcentral.co.za/middle-class-south-africa-is-ditching-streaming-for-ai/280592/?utm_source=MastodonAfrica
#SouthAfrica #AI

2026-04-23 06:51:53 UTC

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@nprofile…w7wz Oh, sorry, my mistake. It is his song. He recorded it in 1987, although didn't release it until 1992.
Cyndi Lauper released her version in 1989, which is why everyone thinks it's hers.

2026-04-23 06:45:31 UTC

Just Jinjer's "What He Means" is still one of my favourite songs of all time: https://open.spotify.com/track/5QSKMcESPmKFahGqbKAtq6?si=11db959ce753401d&utm_source=Mastodon
#music #love

2026-04-23 06:30:15 UTC

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@nprofile…w7wz The original is actually Cindi Lauper: https://open.spotify.com/track/3J0AoQhAufniMrznCRJASD?si=7c027605da7e4b20&utm_source=Mastodon :-)

2026-04-23 06:24:33 UTC

Did you know that Roy Orbison did a cover of I Drove All Night?! :O
https://open.spotify.com/track/6U7QjXYOaLJ741cIWPBTyN?si=44c0024783834368&utm_source=Mastodon
#RoyOrbison #music

2026-04-23 06:20:44 UTC

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@nprofile…w7wz Morning, Sozha. I hope you have an amazing day! :-)

2026-04-22 07:59:32 UTC

WhatsApp is implementing a paid subscription plan. Time to redouble our efforts to get all our friends on @nprofile…kyv9?
https://techcentral.co.za/whatsapp-to-go-premium-with-new-plus-subscription/280424/
#WhatsApp #Signal

2026-04-21 04:36:24 UTC

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@nprofile…54d6 LOL Influenced by the news of Tim Cook stepping down as Apple CEO after 15 years? I just heard that on the radio as I woke up this morning, and I thought, "Wow, 15 years already!"
My next thought was, "Wow, Steve Jobs passed away 15 years ago already?!"

2026-04-18 06:54:00 UTC

Human or Not is super addictive. I just played 10 games and got a 60% win rate: https://humanornot.so/?utm_source=Mastodon
#AI

2026-04-17 05:34:13 UTC

It's pretty well known that we have a "National Opt-out Registry" in South Africa, for people to opt out of all direct marketing communication. It's also fairly well known that it doesn't work. :P
Well, a new law hopes to change that, by requiring all direct marketers to check their database *monthly* against that list, and remove any numbers they find there: https://techcentral.co.za/consumers-get-new-weapon-against-direct-marketing-spam/280306/?utm_source=MastodonAfrica
#SouthAfrica #spam

2026-04-16 06:53:40 UTC

In Johannesburg and like ebooks? A reminder that you can get a free membership to the City of Joburg elibrary. Visit the site at https://cojlibrary.overdrive.com/?utm_source=MastodonAfrica and look for the little banner that says "Sign up here" to be taken to the application form.
#SouthAfrica #libraries

2026-04-16 05:25:27 UTC

"An ounce of love is worth a pound of knowledge" -- John Wesley #quotes #love

2026-04-15 08:45:57 UTC

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@nprofile…37h5 Well yeah, but two things:
1. I think when people say "CW all political posts", most of the time they're talking about posts that explicitly mention candidates, political parties, and the like. So it depends on your definition of "politics" (I do agree that pretty much everything comes down to politics in the end, though)
2. I think a significant number of people actually aren't interested in reading about or discussing ANY of the things you mentioned, and all they want to do is make jokes and talk shit, and that's why they're on social media. So they would probably want any mention of anything to do with serious issues to be CWed.
That second group would probably be better served by simply not following and/or muting anyone who posts about anything "serious".
But in general, that's the problem I have with CWs in general: everything you can think of is likely to offend someone, somewhere along the line. And I don't want a situation where we CW basically every single post in existence, such that CWs become nothing more than email subject lines.
I'd much prefer that we come up with a list of agreed-upon hashtags that we use for certain topics, and then people not interested in those topics could just mute those hashtags.

2026-04-15 04:51:56 UTC

I think Roelf Meyer is a fine choice for US ambassador... Or, he would've been 15 years ago.
Look, I don't want to sound ageist, and I'm very sure he's just as sharp as ever, and completely up to the task, but at 78, the man should be enjoying his retirement. I wouldn't imagine he needs the money, but when the president calls, it's hardly appropriate to say "Thanks, but no thank you".
But really. Let the man rest. He's done enough for our country. 🙄
#SouthAfrica #RoelfMeyer

2026-04-14 05:00:05 UTC

🎉 I just completed the Daily Maverick Crossword in 58 seconds! 🧩 Can you beat my time? 🏆 https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/crossword/daily-crossword-quickie-tues-14-apr-2026-/?dm_source=blocks-grid&dm_medium=card-link&dm_campaign=inform&utm_source=MastodonAfrica
#crosswords

2026-04-10 06:51:19 UTC

Today in 1912, the Titanic embarked on its maiden voyage. #trivia #OnThisDay

2026-04-03 14:21:46 UTC

Wordle 1 749 5/6*
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#wordle #wordle1749

2026-04-02 04:53:58 UTC

🎉 I just completed the Daily Maverick Crossword in 28 seconds! 🧩 Can you beat my time? 🏆 https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/crossword/daily-crossword-quickie-thurs-2-apr-2026/?dm_source=blocks-grid&dm_medium=card-link&dm_campaign=inform&utm_source=MastodonAfrica
#crosswords

2026-04-01 05:52:40 UTC

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@nprofile…l4wu We're very lucky that the petrol price at the pump is regulated here, meaning we've been protected from high petrol prices for the whole of March (As opposed to Diesel, whose *wholesale* price is regulated, but the filling stations can still charge what they like at the pump).
We were expecting a much higher increase from April, but the government decided at the 11th hour last night that they would drop the fuel levy by R3 per litre for the month of April, to shield us. But of course, now all the other political parties are jumping in to say that, while they appreciate that, they don't know how we're going to absorb that cost because we can't afford any more taxes. So it's a case of "Damned if you do, damned if you don't." :/

2026-04-01 04:59:26 UTC

In case you missed it, here are the fuel prices in South Africa (inland) from today:
- 93 Petrol: R23.25 (from R20.19 yesterday)
- 95 Petrol: R23.36 (from R20.30 yesterday)
- Diesel 0.05% (wholesale): R25.90 (from R18.53 yesterday)
- Diesel 0.005% (wholesale): R26.11 (from R18.60 yesterday)
- Illuminating Paraffin: R28.14 (from R12.54 yesterday)
- LPGAS (per kg): R36.05 (from R34.97 yesterday)
#SouthAfrica #FuelPrice

2026-03-27 10:08:48 UTC

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@nprofile…easl I was recently advised by someone to stop using the wink emoji, because it doesn't mean what I think it means, and it can come across as really offensive. I, too, used to use it far too much.
The wry smile sounds like a good substitute. Perhaps I should try it. :-)

2026-03-26 05:51:14 UTC

🎉 I just completed the Daily Maverick Crossword in 57 seconds! 🧩 Can you beat my time? 🏆 https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/crossword/daily-crossword-quickie-thurs-26-mar-2026/?dm_source=blocks-grid&dm_medium=card-link&dm_campaign=inform&utm_source=MastodonAfrica #crosswords

2026-03-25 05:56:58 UTC

🎉 I just completed the Daily Maverick Crossword in 58 seconds! 🧩 Can you beat my time? 🏆 https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/crossword/daily-crossword-quickie-wed-25-mar-2026/?dm_source=blocks-grid&dm_medium=card-link&dm_campaign=inform&utm_source=MastodonAfrica

2026-03-24 04:43:48 UTC

@nprofile…jvsu Are you okay? I see monoceros has been down for some time now (every time my trends bot tries to access it), but I'm hoping that's either due to some security thing you've put in place, OR that it's coming up periodically, enough for you to check messages.... :)

2026-03-22 09:46:12 UTC

Interesting quiz asking how much you know about Jesus. I aced it, but I did have to stop and think about a couple of the questions. :)
https://www.playbuzz.com/michaelrogers11/only-5-of-people-can-ace-this-impossible-jesus-test?utm_source=Mastodon
#quiz #JesusChrist

2026-03-20 04:43:34 UTC

You can see Autumn is upon us. I've just been outside putting the bin out, and there's just this carpet of orange all down the street. It's beautiful! 🍂 #Autumn

2026-03-10 04:45:34 UTC

🎉 I just completed the Daily Maverick Crossword in 2 minutes and 4 seconds! 🧩 Can you beat my time? 🏆 https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/crossword/daily-crossword-quickie-tues-10-mar-2026/?dm_source=blocks-grid&dm_medium=card-link&dm_campaign=inform&utm_source=MastodonAfrica
#crosswords

2026-03-08 11:30:45 UTC

Another English quiz, where you have to pick between apparently "confusing" words. Honestly, I've never found them confusing, but I can sort of understand how some people do, I guess.... :/
https://www.quizfreak.com/can-you-correctly-use-these-confusing-words/index1.html?utm_source=Mastodon
#English #quiz

2026-03-03 06:29:46 UTC

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@nprofile…6a27 I use Dokuwiki for our group D&D campaign, and it works pretty well.
Or if you want proper discussions, maybe a web forum?

2026-03-02 06:00:37 UTC

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@nprofile…w7wz Morning, Sozha. Have a wonderful day! I hope you meeting goes well. :-)

2026-03-01 10:10:29 UTC

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@nprofile…54d6 Was she wearing a rock dress?

2026-02-26 04:53:41 UTC

🎉 I just completed the Daily Maverick Crossword in 48 seconds! 🧩 Can you beat my time? 🏆 https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/crossword/daily-crossword-quickie-thurs-26-feb-2026/?dm_source=blocks-grid&dm_medium=card-link&dm_campaign=inform&utm_source=MastodonAfrica
#crosswords

2026-02-25 06:59:04 UTC

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@nprofile…rx5g @nprofile…e762 To me, I think it reminded me the most of IRC. Which I used to be very active on. In fact, I met my wife on IRC, so really fond memories. And there you had multiple interconnected servers (the day I met my wife, she was chatting from the CT server and I was chatting from the JHB server, of a well-known South African IRC network which has long-since shut down). :-)
I've also heard it compared to email. You may have an @gmail.com email address, but you can still communicate with an @yahoo.com one.
It just feels... completely intuitive to me.

2026-02-25 06:52:14 UTC

Just reading through the replies on X to @nprofile…e762 's recent tweet about how they're going to be focussing more on Mastodon in future.
There's a lot of anti-Mastodon sentiment on X. Some downright hatred of the platform on principle.
And some of it is from people who've tried Mastodon and really don't like it, didn't gel with it, can't get to grips with the UI or find the general sentiment of the community distasteful.
Which is all fair enough. But a lot of it stems from a complete lack of understanding of how the platform works. Some people think you have to have an account on every server where you want to follow someone, and you have to swap between those servers all the time in order to interact with them.
Others have never heard of Mastodon before, and after clicking on the link to LibreOffice's profile on Fosstodon and trying to create an account, they see that that instance is currently accepting new members by invitation only, so they give up and ask, "Why do you want us to join a platform that requires invitations."
EVEN THOUGH the message about Fosstodon being invitation-only explicitly tells them they can pick a different server, and they'll still be able to follow anyone on Fosstodon or anywhere else on the network.
Why is this stuff so difficult for people to grasp?! I'm not trying to flex or anything, but I joined this place in November 2022, and the concept of "pick a server and follow anyone on any other server" was a no-brainer for me. It was actually one of the drawcards.
I don't understand why people find it so confusing. Why it's such a mental block to people. I just don't. :(
#Mastodon #SocialMedia

2026-02-24 07:37:28 UTC

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@nprofile…56c7 That's called the Oxford Comma. It's a topic of huge debate and nobody can agree.
Those who are against it ("apples, grapes and oranges" -- no comma) say it's a waste of a character and can be confusing, and best case, it feels like a little mark on the page that they should try and rub off.
Those who believe you should always use it (like myself) say that the sentence can be confusing without it. That without it, "grapes and oranges" feel like they're a single list item, apart from apples. Worse, it can drastically alter the meaning of the writing and cause people to make terrible mistakes based on their mistaken interpretation.
But I don't want to sway you; it's up to you. For my money, I'm firmly in the Oxford Comma camp. :-D

2026-02-24 07:04:47 UTC

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@nprofile…56c7 The general rule of thumb is for numbers less than 10, write them out, and for numbers 10 or over, you can use digits. Also for years and times, modern writers use digits.
In antiquity, you'll find authors ALWAYS write out the words, even for years and times ("The year nineteen-hundred-and-eighty-four" or "a quarter to three in the afternoon"), but over time that trend changed, first with years and times -- whereas all other numbers, even those under 10 -- were written out, and then eventually to the current convention of writing out any numbers under 10.
If you're specifically going for an old-timey or "classic" feel in your writing, then write out all numbers. :-)

2026-02-24 06:45:16 UTC

@nprofile…6wcc This instance is really struggling today. If I catch it up for two minutes at a time, it's a lot. Then it's down for 10-15 minutes, up for another 2 minutes, down again, up again.... Are you guys busy with maintenance or something? :)

2026-02-24 06:40:57 UTC

Maybe the days of the old COBOL greybeards earning more money than the rest of us devs can dream of is nearing an end? :/
https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2026-02-24-ibm-posts-steepest-daily-drop-since-200000-after-anthropic-says-ai-can-modernize/?utm_source=MastodonAfrica
#VibeCoding #AI

2026-02-23 07:47:37 UTC

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@nprofile…gtjj @nprofile…kyza South Africa is the same. Huge, nationwide strikes, almost always resulting in much intimidation of people choosing not to strike, or people patronising the company that the strikers are employed by. Severe injury and death of people just trying to live their lives.
Not to mention the property damage, with people standing on highway bridges throwing rocks at cars (and more severe injury and death because that causes accidents).
You are describing exactly what happens in South Africa every strike season.
And it seldom results in any long-term benefits for the strikers -- even if they do get their way -- or the companies (which frequently go out of business because they cannot afford to meet the workers' demands), or the economy, or... anyone, really. Except the unions, who just sit there quietly taking their membership fees. :-(

2026-02-22 14:57:52 UTC

Interesting little English test, apparently "from the 1950s". I aced it, and it told me that apparently, only 5% of Americans can score this high. Good thing I'm not American, eh? ;-)
https://www.playbuzz.com/terrystein10/can-you-pass-a-basic-english-test-from-1950?utm_source=Mastodon
#English #quiz

2026-02-21 07:36:40 UTC

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@nprofile…rcxm 100%. I cannot possibly imagine why I wouldn't want to be searchable. Why would you post publicly on social media if you don't want your posts to be found and read by as many people as possible?

2026-02-20 07:36:27 UTC

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@nprofile…p25k I definitely do get a feeling, yes. And I don't have peripheral vision, so you can't say -- like I've often heard -- that it's something you've unconsciously noticed out of the corner of your eye.
And it's never not been true. When I get that feeling, I'll look around and my wife will be standing there, for example. Not actively *watching* me, necessarily. Just in the room and she sees that I'm deep in thought or something and doesn't want to give me a fright by speaking or something.
So maybe it's that I unconsciously *heard* her enter the room? I dunno. But I definitely get a feeling when someone's watching me.
It's one of the reasons why I can't stand open-plan offices. I hate the idea of people walking up behind me, or even standing a distance away behind me, looking at my screen or watching me work or something. It freaks me out.

2026-02-19 06:21:47 UTC

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@nprofile…8pur I must be honest, I know that's common advice, but it has simply *never* occurred to me to leave the tap running while I brush my teeth. Who would do such a thing?
It takes two minutes to brush my teeth. Put toothpaste on the toothbrush, turn on the tap to quickly moisten it (half a second or so), brush to completion, turn the tap back on, rinse mouth, turn the tap off again.
I just don't see how it would be in any way helpful to leave the tap running. Or have I just been brushing my teeth wrong my whole life? :P
@nprofile…easl

2026-02-10 09:13:32 UTC

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@nprofile…hvu0 It's got to do with the rule-of-thumb that a person needs to be exposed to a message 7 times before they take action. So if you see an add for a product, even without sound, and even for a split second before deliberately turning your attention, that's 1.
If you're browsing the web and you catch a banner ad for the same product, that's 2.
Reading an article and the author mentions that product in passing (even in a negative light)? That's 3.
Driving along the highway and see a billboard for that product, even if you don't consciously take note of it? That's 4.
In the supermarket and see that product stacked on the shelf? That's 5 -- but you're not ready to buy, yet.
On your way home, you turn on the radio and catch an ad for that product, but by that time you're so sick of hearing about it that you change the channel immediately? That's 6.
Turn on the TV and watch a YouTube video, and your ad-blocker fails momentarily and you see an ad for that product? That's 7, even though you spend all your time waiting for the "Skip" button to become enabled.
Something happens in your life that means you urgently need something like that product? Now that particular product is the first and perhaps ONLY one that sticks in your mind, it's cheap enough, and you need a solution urgently, so what do you do? You go out and buy that product.
Yes. Yes, it works. And it works to the *benefit* of the consumer, too. At least, as a consumer, that's what I've often found. :-)

2026-02-04 07:55:03 UTC

I often feel for people who struggle to sleep, I really do. I can fall asleep anywhere in thirty seconds flat, and sleep for eight hours.
I can even take a two-hour nap in three in the afternoon, and still go to bed by ten and sleep all the way until when my alarm goers off at five.
My conscience is clear, I guess. ;-)
#sleep

2026-01-31 15:05:10 UTC

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@nprofile…6aac thats like saying the popular perception of vampires being incredibly sexual beings doesn't work because a vampire, having no blood flow, wouldn't be able to have an erection. ;-)

2026-01-30 07:03:43 UTC

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@nprofile…rcxm I don't think there's any contradiction there, funnily enough. "Write the book that you want to read" is a common enough peace of writing advice, and it comes from the fact that lots of really famous fiction writers of yore say they started writing because they couldn't find anything they really thought was worth reading. :)

2026-01-30 05:09:52 UTC

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@nprofile…34cz "Time you enjoy wasting is never wasted." :-)
I don't know where you are in your journey, but I'm very lucky to be in a position where I don't *have* to make money from my books. I make a little here and there, and it's a nice warm and fuzzy feeling, but I have a day job which I very much enjoy and don't really want to give up.
If you're a full-time author struggling to make ends meet, or an aspiring full-time author desperate to leave a soul-sucking job they hate, I can understand that the stress levels must be very high. I can definitely empathise with that, because I've been stuck in jobs that really didn't do it for me too. In all situations, however, I think you should endeavour to have fun, because when you're having fun, you're relaxed, and when you're relaxed, you're at your most creative. Stress kills creativity.
Just my 2c. And I fully realise that it's easier said than done. :/

2026-01-30 05:01:35 UTC

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@nprofile…34cz I must admit I kind of enjoy the marketing. Which isn't to say I'm very GOOD at it, but I love putting a message out into the world and watching the numbers. Seeing who interacts with it and where they're from. Watching them share it, talk about it, comment on it.
And I enjoy dreaming up new ways to promote myself, thinking about how this or that keyword in my title or description is going to affect discovery. Analysing covers and colour schemes and comparing them to others in the same genre, and reading up on the psychology of how certain visual elements influence certain people in certain ways.
It's a significant part of the author experience, for me. And I think I'd miss it if I didn't have to do it....
Having said that, let me re-iterate that I'm not very GOOD at marketing. I just find it just as pleasurable as the actual writing, sometimes. :-)

2026-01-28 10:48:59 UTC

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@nprofile…0u4x "Fungal" Yeah, I like that way of looking at it. :)
It also depends on your definition of/criteria for "virality". I once wrote a poll <https://mastodon.africa/@GrahamDowns/112196095295343527> that got 7264 votes, 2.5k boosts, 347 favourites, and 96 replies, but I can't remember how long it ran for (a week?). I'd personally consider that pretty viral.
I think if a toot reaches the top of the "Trending Posts" for your instance, I'd probably consider that "viral" too. And that's happened with a couple of my posts over the years.
Obviously, what it takes to get there depends very much on how big/active your instance is. On mine, I think it's in the region of 10 or so boosts in a few hours....

2026-01-28 07:38:12 UTC

I've discovered something interesting about Mastodon: back in the early days of Twitter, before algorithms, when it was just a reverse-chronological feed, and hashtags and lists were been touted as pro strats that everyone should use, there was this rule of thumb that the average tweet has a lifespan of about three hours.
Meaning that if you posted something, and it hadn't taken off (seen significant engagement) within about three hours, you could assume it never would.
And I kinda liked that. I enjoyed the *immediacy* of Twitter, that "you snooze, you lose" aspect of it. It was about what was happening right now. Not what happened yesterday or last week or last month. I missed that a lot after they introduced surfacing algorithms.
And it's one of the things that drew me to Mastodon, back in November 2022. The promise of that same immediate thrill ride: there's no point in scrolling back. Just open it up and see what's happening.
But Mastodon is a bit different. Often, I'll post something, maybe get a boost or a favourite or something within the first 10 minutes, and then nothing. Oh well, it's gone now. And then two or three days later, BAM! I'm seeing boosts and favourites and replies to that post all over the show. Hell, I'm still seeing boosts and favourites and replies to toots I posted two YEARS ago.
I guess it has a lot to do with how Mastodon users in general (or maybe just those who follow me) seem more inclined to follow/search for hashtags, or organise their followees into lists. Maybe I'm on some lists with few other people, and the creators of those lists check them regularly? Or maybe -- and perhaps this is because there are markedly fewer people on here that it's actually feasible -- people are more likely to scroll back to see what they've missed. Even if they do only visit once every 2-3 days or less.
It just seems to be quite a different paradigm. People here seem much more free to use the platform in the way that suits them.
#Mastodon

2026-01-27 16:37:28 UTC

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@nprofile…zm8m Yeah, no, I don't know about that, hey. I really really don't want to go back to a time where Telkom was the only entity allowed to provide fixed-line services. And I'm very, very grateful that Eskom's monopoly is slowly being dismantled.
And I really really don't trust our government (ANY government, in truth, but our government in particular) to do anything to the benefit of the people. I'm scared out of my wits about what's going to happen with the NHI.
I guess if government had a service and it competed on equal footing with private services and they didn't get any advantages over any other, then I'd be okay with that.
Anyway, the point is that in this case, there IS money in it. It's true that the company that plops down the tower doesn't have the skills or resources to offer last-mile access. It's not their core business. But I think the point is that some other business could come in, *partner* with the providing company (be it Starlink or Rain or Amazon Leo or whomever) and run the cables and provide support to get that "last mile" access going. There's definitely money to be made there. It just needs someone to take the initiative and assume the risk.

2026-01-27 08:50:15 UTC

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@nprofile…l0np Yeah, we don't do that sort of thing. If it's not in the calendar, it doesn't happen.
Next time you have a client who wants to meet at "7ish", send a meeting invite for 7:00 exactly. Even if he doesn't actually accept, it will serve as pressure for him and he'll be reminded 15 minutes before.
We've found it a good strategy to avoid situations like the above. It forces people to commit.
I mean, sometimes he'll still only pitch 30 minutes later, and I guess there's nothing you can do about that, but the formal meeting invite sitting on his calendar still forces him to take it seriously, I think.

2026-01-27 06:42:12 UTC

Soon, you may no longer be required to remove your laptop from its bag when going through airport security: https://gadget.co.za/heathrow100ml2t/?utm_source=MastodonAfrica
I'm hoping that other airports around the world (including here in South Africa) follow suit, because this is quite annoying.
#travel

2026-01-27 05:41:45 UTC

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I like what they're saying about the *rural* connectivity, though. Farms, villages, outlying schools.
The reason why those places still don't have reliable access is because a service comes along, plops a tower on the outskirts of those places, and then dusts off their hands and considers their job done. But that's not enough: we need people to come in and connect those towers and other access points with the last mile, making sure that Internet access gets into every house in the village, every classroom in the school, every building on the farm. But that's not what Starlink's going to do either. So we need local providers to *partner* with Starlink and provide and support that last mile connection. That's where Starlink *could* provide lots of value.
#Starlink #SouthAfrica

2026-01-27 05:18:22 UTC

With all this hype about Starlink in South Africa, TechCentral asks, "What's so special about Starlink?", "Will it *really* be affordable?", and "How big is the potential market exactly?"
https://techcentral.co.za/starlink-hype-vs-reality-in-south-africa/276730/?utm_source=MastodonAfrica
Spoiler alert: if you compare it with the prices in our neighbouring countries, you'll see that it's targetted at LSM7-10, meaning actually a very small percentage of South Africans would be able to afford their entry level service. And most of them wouldn't need it anyway because they already have established Internet connections via FTTH or fixed-wireless.
The market for Starlink in South Africa is actually very small.
#Starlink #SouthAfrica

2026-01-25 05:02:44 UTC

It's Covenant Service this morning at church. Once a year in the Methodist church, those of the congregation who are willing stand together and recite this prayer: https://share.google/Bu2u6nwHDzz8WLc7T
(We never judge anyone who is not yet willing or ready. We figure maybe they will be next time)
#Methodist #Covenant

2026-01-24 08:12:20 UTC

Alberton has had no power now since Tuesday afternoon due to a substation fire. The current ERT is 18:00 today. Holding thumbs! #SouthAfrica #electricity

2026-01-07 10:33:38 UTC

I know in the beginning people complained a lot, but I must say I've been rather impressed with Google's AI Search, where you can click under the AI Summary to actually start a conversation and ask follow-up questions, and unlike ChatGPT, those conversations aren't saved between sessions.
It feels a lot less... sycophantic than ChatGPT. It doesn't constantly validate you, or apologise profusely if you correct it, nor does it just agree with whatever you say for the sake of agreeing with you. If you have the wrong impression about something, it will tell you. If you ask a question and the answer is flat-out NO, it will tell you. If it can't find verifiable information about something, it will tell you.
I feel like -- while not impossible -- it would be a lot less likely to hallucinate by making stuff up than ChatGPT is (other types of hallucinations are probably not particularly less likely).
At lease, that's the impression I get.
#AI #LLMs

2026-01-07 09:47:00 UTC

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@nprofile…979u Are you at Spur, by any chance? Somebody's birthday? :-D

2026-01-05 06:49:41 UTC

Today marks the 50th anniversary of the very first television broadcast in South Africa: https://techcentral.co.za/television-turns-50-in-south-africa/275887/?utm_source=MastodonAfrica #TV #SouthAfrica #history

2026-01-04 09:23:09 UTC

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@nprofile…easl I know. But when I asked the question, I was still thinking that I was going to counter with the fact that some "foods" have zero nutritional value. Like marshmallows.
But then I talked myself out of that position by reminding myself that sugar is still a nutrient. And now I agree with you. :-D

2026-01-04 09:20:51 UTC

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@nprofile…easl "... contains nutrients ..." is what I was getting at. Although I would've put it as, "provides some nutritional value."
Although I guess even marshmallows count as food, then: even if effectively all they contain is sugar, sugar is a nutrient and your body does need it. It's just that there are way better sources of sugar out there. Still, eating a handful of marshmallows -- even a whole bag of marshmallows -- every once in a while isn't going to kill you. But doing it every day is probably not a good idea. 🤔