Kim van Wyk

A #SouthAfrica happy husband, lapsed electronic engineer, software/DevOps/data engineer (mainly in Python for the last few years), proud member of the North Durban Lions club & all-round geeky type fellow.

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kimvanwyk@fosstodon-org.mostr.pub

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nprofile1qqsx0gjkvfdp5fkvfvd3ash43r3e7ww75xhz23eapxjjlfretfgeaxspz4mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuerfw36x7tnsw43q8r5v8y

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relay.ditto.pub

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Last Notes

2026-04-04 19:46:03 UTC

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@nprofile…t2t8 @nprofile…jvsu you're checking that's he's got it all covered?

2026-04-02 20:19:00 UTC

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@nprofile…l4wu @nprofile…zm8m @nprofile…zyt0 in this case I was choosing between the Chery Tiggo, the BYD Sealion 6, the Haval H6 and the Jaecoo J7, so it was at least the more pronounceable of the available brands. Jetour, Omada and BAIC didn't have vehicles in the range we were looking at, for a not-even-complete list of the brands that were not available here when you lived here (and possibly didn't exist yet).

2026-04-02 13:34:39 UTC

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@nprofile…t2t8 @nprofile…zm8m @nprofile…zyt0 I had the same thought and was surprised that Chery offered a 10 year warranty on the battery and BYD only an 8 year warranty.

2026-04-02 13:10:56 UTC

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@nprofile…t2t8 @nprofile…zm8m @nprofile…zyt0 looks didn't really enter it, externally they look quite similar. Chery offered a better discount and we preferred the bells and whistles in terms of driver comfort and various driver assistance features. We'd however have almost certainly been very happy with the Sealion too, they're both very nice cars and pretty much on par with each other. The bar was low though, it's replacing a 9 year old entry level manual Ford Ranger doublecab with hand cracked windows.

2026-04-02 11:21:58 UTC

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@nprofile…zm8m @nprofile…zyt0 we've just collected a Chery Tiggo 7 Ultra PHEV. We slightly preferred it to the BYD Sealion 6.

2026-04-01 20:51:54 UTC

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@nprofile…zm8m @nprofile…zyt0 we sold a diesel chugging Ford Ranger this week to buy a PHEV and feel quite lucky about the timing :-)
Our smaller Suzuki Ignis is very light on fuel but a BYD Dolphin is looking like a very nice alternative to it round about now.

2026-03-30 07:55:36 UTC

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@nprofile…65q8 did you have to tread carefully at that point?

2026-03-24 21:04:37 UTC

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@nprofile…65q8 this is of course exactly what one would say to convince us they don't have a secret alt account.

2026-02-22 19:14:56 UTC

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@nprofile…l4wu @nprofile…zyt0 I got this too - in my case I suspect I got 23, 24 or 25 as I think I accidentally clicked the wrong option at some point.

2026-02-22 17:46:31 UTC

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@nprofile…zyt0 I've "aced" it too and I can't say I thought it was very hard. The only one I would have thought was not fairly common knowledge was "hanged" vs "hung" - but as is often the case, what one person thinks is common knowledge is often far from common.

2026-02-17 06:32:19 UTC

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@nprofile…4tyx I saw this earlier, which is from Microsoft's own docs at https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/training/modules/introduction-to-github/3-components-of-github-flow
https://cdn.fosstodon.org/media_attachments/files/116/084/568/097/677/408/original/e0306b55d0ef6647.jpg

2026-01-11 18:14:42 UTC

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@nprofile…cdnh what's the ratio of blood lost to the thorns to lemon juice gained?

2026-01-11 17:10:41 UTC

Talking of solving problems with relays with @nprofile…l4wu reminded me of a hacky but successful project I worked on, which I've just written up: https://kimvanwyk.co.za/260111_relaying-fun-in-parallel/

2026-01-11 16:46:31 UTC

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@nprofile…l4wu Talking of solving problems with relays reminded me of a hacky but successful project I worked on, which I've just written up: https://kimvanwyk.co.za/260111_relaying-fun-in-parallel/

2026-01-10 07:21:10 UTC

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@nprofile…l4wu nice ingenuity there, impressive. I suspect you could buy such a thing but it would be orders of magnitude more expensive for what will just be a relay in a plastic box.

2026-01-09 18:32:32 UTC

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@nprofile…m7l3 almost anything from the BBC's You're Dead To Me, but if I had to pick one or 2, the episodes on chocolate, Graine O'Malley and Leonardo da Vinci were particular favorites.

2026-01-07 19:22:41 UTC

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@nprofile…zm8m impressive - what's the ratio of plaster on the wall to plaster on the floor and plaster on the plasterer?

2025-12-31 16:38:43 UTC

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@nprofile…krge I run a few static Hugo sites on Netlify and a few dynamic Python- based sites on a cheap linode server - a European provider like Hetzner would do for the latter approach. That said, I see Docker as a suitable hammer for every problem from years of usage at work, so this approach may not suit many other people.

2025-12-30 11:03:23 UTC

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@nprofile…0rku assuming you're still in Durban, the sun had been up for more than 4 hours by 9:30, so it's lunchtime-ish, and fruit and Prosecco at lunch is surely fine.

2025-12-29 15:49:26 UTC

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@nprofile…xu68 did you end up with a Bambu, out of curiosity?

2025-12-24 10:53:16 UTC

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@nprofile…d3u3 @nprofile…zwws if you need a benchsaw to cut the gammon you've possibly undercooked it.

2025-12-23 03:08:54 UTC

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@nprofile…80cn this is a better sounding idea than pointsetterism, which is mainly going to be shades of brown or black and will be very hard to get all the dogs to sit still for long enough.

2025-12-21 16:52:58 UTC

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@nprofile…zwws as an aside, I haven't done embedded device software development in almost 10 years and I can still translate binary in my head. This is a problem as it occupies brain space in my rather limited allocation.

2025-12-21 13:16:50 UTC

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@nprofile…zwws are you all generally careful or are there risks of Elf and Safety violations?

2025-12-19 16:27:37 UTC

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@nprofile…v9p2 congratulations Kudzayi, an excellent choice.

2025-12-15 16:47:28 UTC

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@nprofile…d3u3 it's Friday-lite at least with the holiday tomorrow.

2025-12-13 05:12:53 UTC

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@nprofile…vkq7 you're sending me down memory lane with some of these, this has always been a favourite.

2025-12-13 04:56:36 UTC

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@nprofile…nmwl @nprofile…zn69 @nprofile…4t3x that may also depend on where you were schooled - my Standard 6 and 7 years in 95 and 96 were in Somerset West in the Western Cape and there was no cadets program that I recall. It certainly wasn't mandatory if the school even had one.

2025-12-12 11:04:09 UTC

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@nprofile…nmwl @nprofile…4t3x that is effectively what I did. I graduated school in 99 (before I turned 18 as it happens) and then went to university from 2000, but even if I'd started working immediately it would have been in 2000.

2025-12-12 10:56:21 UTC

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@nprofile…4t3x @nprofile…nmwl I've always thought of myself as millennial, using a 1980+ definition. I did see reference once to "geriatric millenials" for those born from 1980-1983 ( or something like that) which seemed needlessly hurtful.

2025-12-11 17:04:07 UTC

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@nprofile…4t3x @nprofile…nmwl I was born on 23 December - I might starting claiming a birthdate of 1982 for this reason :-)

2025-12-09 20:16:49 UTC

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@nprofile…jx3s I devoured those 3 books (along with the Goblin Emperor) in just a few nights, I found them so good. Right up there with some of the best stuff I've ever read.

2025-12-08 04:23:47 UTC

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https://github.com/kimvanwyk/advent_of_code/blob/master/2025/day07.py if this would be helpful to anyone.

2025-12-07 19:04:38 UTC

I spent a large chunk of today on part 2 of day 7 of #adventofcode. My final solution was 10 lines of Python and ran almost instantly, but to get there I had to iterate over several solutions that would need hours. As with every year, I find the exercises very helpful iln reminding myself to explore several options when writing programs.
In this case, also a useful reminder that depth first and breadth first algorithms meet very different needs and that a dict's keys often trump a list.

2025-12-03 22:08:22 UTC

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@nprofile…2raj thank you for this - I'd solved part 1 with 2 loops and was working on part 2 with a many loop approach but your comment about doing it in 1 pass led me to your YouTube video and I picked up a great approach there I'll likely use many times again.

2025-11-29 17:35:57 UTC

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@nprofile…9w26 @nprofile…rp9z @nprofile…es35 good suggestions Paulo, and it's made me think another good one would be a discussion about how a conference like PyCon Africa is different from many others, in terms of both typical attendee and logistics. @nprofile…xu68 would be a good guest here - I organised and attended the most recent PyCon Africa too but Sheena can offer a comparison to PyCon US and other large conferences.

2025-11-23 20:22:53 UTC

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@nprofile…w75p you could presumably cut one of those out of your lives but maybe you should keep both in case one warps and then you have to trek around town for a new one.

2025-11-22 14:17:09 UTC

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@nprofile…32g2 Tassies speaks to a very privileged youth - in the same bottle store you'll still find the still-cheaper Autumn Harvest and Crackling options :-)

2025-11-21 15:43:23 UTC

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@nprofile…32g2 what's always impressed me are the enterprising geniuses who set up a food stall at a long term road works project, arriving at the doors of cars in a stop-go queue with Aromat seasoned freshly grilled mielies and bags of niknaks and the like.

2025-11-21 13:34:13 UTC

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@nprofile…32g2 they're probably the largest courier in the country so one sees their vans a lot - they all carry that brilliant line.

2025-11-19 14:24:42 UTC

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@nprofile…32g2 yikes, too long a day for me I think. Vetkoek is what I was thinking when my brain let me type roosterkoek.

2025-11-19 10:58:51 UTC

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@nprofile…32g2 looks like a roosterkoek to me, yes

2025-11-17 17:41:50 UTC

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@nprofile…32g2 that's a lot cheaper than 24 chicken eggs, but the use-all-at-once requirement might be a bit of a problem.

2025-11-13 11:23:39 UTC

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@nprofile…s70c it would never have occurred to me that something fundamental like sscanf is locale aware - OMG indeed.

2025-11-12 20:15:44 UTC

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@nprofile…s70c I'd also like to know who advised developers somewhere that we separate decimals with a comma here in SA.

2025-11-08 17:58:39 UTC

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@nprofile…zwws ah, so *that's* what the bad sectors are for!

2025-11-05 19:41:00 UTC

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@nprofile…x0wt righty then - I've never seen that on a menu here, so presumably we stuck with the somewhat easier name :-)

2025-11-05 19:34:51 UTC

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@nprofile…x0wt the one and only time I made one myself in an airfryer there was no simmering, only roasting and the equivalent of deep frying. "Eisbein" on a menu here definitely means the deep fried version. I'm now also curious about why we strongly associate with that particular type of Eisbein.
The deep fried version is much like a gammon or ham with very crispy edges. Simmered I'm thinking is also delicious but more like the soft meat you'd find in a slow cooked stew.

2025-11-05 19:27:37 UTC

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@nprofile…x0wt Eisbein is a very common dish in pubs here in South Africa, so it's not just Germany (although we presumably originally got the dish from German immigrants or influences). It is utterly delicious, although I'll readily admit "deep fried pig knuckle" doesn't *sound* great.

2025-10-26 12:53:20 UTC

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@nprofile…lhns I often see junior engineers who like to write code as a hobby (as do I). They tend to feel like they're paid to do what they love, but they can also then feel like something is wrong with them if they don't enjoy a particular day. I've explained many times that there's a reason we have to give you money to have you do the work, it won't all be limitless fun and pleasure. If you enjoy what you do more than you don't though you're better off than many.

2025-10-15 15:33:29 UTC

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@nprofile…0rku *raises hand* excellent waffles at that building behind it.

2025-10-13 18:44:00 UTC

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@nprofile…cuvj Rivers Cuomo is a Python user and has code on GitHub, but I don't know about PyPI specifically. One of the more surreal moments of my life has been explaining that GitHub and git can be used just for one's own code to him, as part of this podcast episode: https://talkpython.fm/episodes/show/327/little-automation-tools-in-python

2025-10-05 16:25:57 UTC

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@nprofile…c97w @nprofile…t0kx @nprofile…gewe much as I'd love to claim the South Africans put aside the traditional rugby based rivalry with the Australians and are hosting a joint conference, it's actually @nprofile…p5cl the @nprofile…t0kx team have joined up with.

2025-09-06 20:18:14 UTC

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@nprofile…8z6w hello, I think you might have a typo - as a South African I would call that bird a Starling. I think the Cape Starling is the blueish bird we commonly see.

2025-08-19 20:15:52 UTC

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@nprofile…6nq0 I'm assuming a "stuff" folder or a main_final_final_USE_THIS_ONE.py file are right out too.

2025-06-05 15:29:10 UTC

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@nprofile…584k and presumably has a lot of arguments.

2025-05-10 07:59:50 UTC

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@nprofile…584k given this skill and Textual, are all your talents shell-based?

2025-04-08 16:23:06 UTC

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@nprofile…e537 congratulations! I spent 13 years at Altech UEC and outlasted only the original Venter :-)

2025-03-29 14:31:23 UTC

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@nprofile…glec following a tip from @nprofile…hg4q I run my WhatsApp in Afrikaans (she does it in Polish). So far the make-it-up button isn't provided for Afrikaans WhatsApp.

2025-03-28 21:03:31 UTC

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@nprofile…fv4z I've also come across this great variant: "There are two hard things in computer science: cache invalidation, naming things, off-by-one errors and scope creep."

2025-03-27 05:31:35 UTC

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@nprofile…wk38 I use search about as much as I have for several years because I actively avoid AI tools, especially in my messaging tools. I don't trust the answers to be right often enough to expend the brain cycles deciding if *this* result is correct or hallucinated. I even run my WhatsApp (by far the dominant tool in South Africa) in a language I speak far less well than English because the AI make-it-up button isn't available in Afrikaans.

2025-03-20 07:29:13 UTC

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@nprofile…7wld happy birthday Graham! 45 is ancient indeed, says the man turning 44 later this year.

2025-03-13 07:13:58 UTC

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@nprofile…7wld @nprofile…rl67 I must be older than I think, I still say ama-zin :-)

2025-03-13 06:48:03 UTC

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@nprofile…rl67 @nprofile…7wld Pie-thon vs Pie-thin used to grate my ear for Python but I've heard the former so often now it doesn't grate. I still say Pie-thin though, like a correct, right-thinking citizen.

2025-03-09 13:01:10 UTC

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@nprofile…c97w I've heard people strongly recommend locust but never used it myself.

2025-03-02 17:36:22 UTC

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@nprofile…axlu waterfox does 1 and 3 I think, I haven't looked for 2.

2025-02-18 18:49:52 UTC

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@nprofile…m624 if they weren't already on the list I'd have directed you to South Africa's EFF - not fans of immigration, particularly other Africans and (broadly) in favour of state ownership of most assets and land rather than individual ownership, to grossly summarise in too few words.

2025-02-14 19:28:34 UTC

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@nprofile…78dv "Atlassian is not good at this" is unfortunately a complete sentence in too many contexts.

2025-02-14 15:04:39 UTC

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@nprofile…rl67 I'm not (completely) asserting it shouldn't exist, although I think my bias is probably pretty clear. I do object to having it take up precious screen real estate I could use for the tools to do my job, ostensibly what we pay a lot of money for the tool *for*. Provide the magic make-it-up machine if you must but leave it on a menu like everything else (where it already appears) and give me the context bar back.
No disagreement from me at all on how well many people can write...

2025-02-14 07:02:48 UTC

Aaargh - Confluence's context menu used to offer useful things like italics and the like. Now that stuff is harder to find in favour of the magic make-it-up bullshit machine which is as likely to improve my writing as me asking my 6 year old nephew. Confluence is a professional tool in which I conduct my professional job as a professional - assuming the most useful thing to me is assistance from the glorified Markov chain to do my job rather than offering essential tools is downright insulting.
https://cdn.fosstodon.org/media_attachments/files/114/000/957/442/514/286/original/fe6df4c96829571d.png

2025-02-11 06:48:43 UTC

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@nprofile…rl67 it's always such a pleasure to watch real craftsmanship and expertise - even for something I know absolutely nothing about it's still obvious those are proper skills.

2025-01-24 20:21:40 UTC

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@nprofile…lrx5 I'd strongly considered going and was thinking of submitting a talk but I had a suspicion the last week of Feb would be the only week Vicki and I could take a belated break (we couldn't in December). Turns out I was right so I'm glad I didn't plan to go to Namibia. I definitely do want to go some year soon though.

2024-04-02 20:34:54 UTC

I came across the phrase "sinister buttocks" the other day: https://www.vocabulary.com/articles/blogexcerpts/sinister-buttocks-and-the-dangers-of-thesaurus-flipping/
I plan to insert "bequest mazes" into some documentation and see if anyone ever asks. The whole topic cracked me up/cocained the protagonist's vertical orientation.