mat's recent activity
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Comment on What does the word "cancelled" mean to you? in ~talk
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Comment on US President-Elect Donald Trump ignores transition rules in ~society
mat Link ParentJust as an aside, I do wish people would stop using the word 'circus' to describe Trump and his associated shitshow. I used to work in a circus and firstly, circuses are extremely organised and...- Exemplary
Just as an aside, I do wish people would stop using the word 'circus' to describe Trump and his associated shitshow. I used to work in a circus and firstly, circuses are extremely organised and full of hard-working, highly skilled and dedicated people. They have to be, people get hurt - or worse - if they aren't. You try putting up several tonnes of big top or doing a knife throwing routine with people who don't know what they're doing!
Secondly, I haven't met a circus person who isn't what Americans would call "liberal" or "progressive". They're a diverse bunch of people from many backgrounds who live an unconventional lifestyle and believe in their own and other people's rights to do that. There's no place for hate under that stripey canvas roof.
I would - quite genuinely - trust Cosmo the Clown to run any government department you care to name. I would feel far better having him in No.10/White House/etc than any of the people who have been there in my lifetime.
It's not a big deal, really. But there are better words. Omnishambles. Cockwit-a-thon. Parade of Fuckery.
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Comment on Heat pumps used to struggle in the cold. Not anymore. in ~enviro
mat Link ParentJust to balance out the anecdotes you've heard, I'm in the UK and my heat pump is doing just fine. As are the heat pumps of the various family and friends who have them. My sister lives in...Just to balance out the anecdotes you've heard, I'm in the UK and my heat pump is doing just fine. As are the heat pumps of the various family and friends who have them. My sister lives in northern Scotland and is overjoyed with how warm her house is now - previously her only heating was a couple of coal fires!
Houses here are generally not designed for forced air heating, but there's no reason you can't connect a heat pump to a circulating water heating system (although you do lose the capacity for cooling in the summer if you do that)
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Comment on MomBoard: E-ink display for a parent with amnesia in ~tech
mat LinkThis is really awesome. Such a simple thing to do with what sounds like a great result. I have been meaning to build a device like this for a while. Not because I have someone with a medical...This is really awesome. Such a simple thing to do with what sounds like a great result.
I have been meaning to build a device like this for a while. Not because I have someone with a medical memory condition who needs help, just because we forget a lot of stuff due to being parents and busy. I already have an eink device which displays upcoming events from our house calendar, but one to which we can add notes via the web or Google assistant or whatever would be very useful.
"hey Google write 'don't forget PE kit tomorrow' on the board"
I'd use a Pi Zero and a dedicated Eink screen because that's a lot cheaper than a boox (but it's much more work). Shame Timasomo is done for the year...
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Comment on Guardian will no longer post on Elon Musk’s X from its official accounts in ~tech
mat Link ParentIt's been a long time since I read the Guardian but they always had various sections. Off the top of my head: world news, national news, breaking news, politics, sport, TV, food, fashion,...It's been a long time since I read the Guardian but they always had various sections. Off the top of my head: world news, national news, breaking news, politics, sport, TV, food, fashion, lifestyle, culture, tech, business, what's on, houses, dating.. At that point you only need to localise to six-ish regions and you've got 80 Twitter accounts, easy. They probably have a bunch of legacy ones too, or one-off things for various events like elections or Olympics or whatever.
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Comment on Guardian will no longer post on Elon Musk’s X from its official accounts in ~tech
mat Link ParentPretty sure it's because the linked article is a press release. It's published on the Guardian but it'll also be published elsewhere, and used by other news orgs for quoting from. PRs, if I...Pretty sure it's because the linked article is a press release. It's published on the Guardian but it'll also be published elsewhere, and used by other news orgs for quoting from. PRs, if I remember rightly - it has thankfully been quite a few years since I've had to deal with such things - are generally written in the third person because it just makes everyone's lives easier. Rather than every subeditor having to rewrite to be in the third person, you release something which is ready for publication and save everyone some work.
You'll note the original statement was written in the first person mode, so they're not trying to avoid anything.
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Comment on AirPods or not? in ~music
mat LinkI have some Sony Linkbuds S and they're excellent. They're small, very light, very comfortable, sound quality is fantastic, ANC is decent but not amazing. Good enough though. I don't know how they...I have some Sony Linkbuds S and they're excellent. They're small, very light, very comfortable, sound quality is fantastic, ANC is decent but not amazing. Good enough though. I don't know how they compare to Airpods for quality, the Sonys are a little cheaper to buy.
My ears have always got on well with Sony things, yours might not. I have third-party silicone tips on my Linkbuds but the stock ones were perfectly good.
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Comment on Quincy Jones has a story about that in ~music
mat Link"Frank Sinatra. Michael Jackson. Ray Charles. Malcolm X. Elon Musk. Truman Capote. Buzz Aldrin. Prince. Tupac. Even Leni Riefenstahl. Quincy Jones has run with them all. " One of those articles..."Frank Sinatra. Michael Jackson. Ray Charles. Malcolm X. Elon Musk. Truman Capote. Buzz Aldrin. Prince. Tupac. Even Leni Riefenstahl. Quincy Jones has run with them all. "
One of those articles where you read a bit, think "holy crap this guy had a life", then glance at the scrollbar and realise you're not even halfway through and this rollercoaster has a way to go..
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Quincy Jones has a story about that
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Comment on Car maintenance/replacement advice in ~transport
mat Link ParentI have a 2017 Hyundai Ioniq and it's an excellent car. 150 miles range in the summer, 120 in the winter. Fantastic epmg (5+ miles/kwh with a little care) and service isn't much of an issue because...I have a 2017 Hyundai Ioniq and it's an excellent car. 150 miles range in the summer, 120 in the winter. Fantastic epmg (5+ miles/kwh with a little care) and service isn't much of an issue because things don't really break. There aren't fluids to change and the brake pads are still the factory ones despite having 50k on the clock. Regenerative braking ftw!
Not as cheap as a Leaf, but much more reliable - when my hyundai says fifty miles range, it means it. My Leaf claimed 84 miles on a full charge and was more like 60 on a good day! But you could buy three Leafs of the same age for the price of the Hyundai so swings and roundabouts..
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Comment on Solar + power bank for household appliances in apartment - can I reduce my electricity bill? in ~life.home_improvement
mat Link ParentIt's almost certainly less, I'm afraid. Solar intensity is considerably lower during the winter, even as (relatively) far south as you are. If your panels can do 100W in high summer you'll get...3 days in the winter for a full charge, more or less. I agree that the benefit is muted in this case.
It's almost certainly less, I'm afraid. Solar intensity is considerably lower during the winter, even as (relatively) far south as you are. If your panels can do 100W in high summer you'll get maybe 50W in the winter. For less time during the day. I'd be amazed if you managed a charge in 4-5 days when you're on the dark side of the equinoxes.
This is my average solar array output over a year. Bear in mind this is a daily average output and quite a lot of the day is actually night. Also there was an issue with my inverter so june/july are a bit lower than usual. But it shows how drastically generation drops off in the winters. Your graph would be somewhat flatter than mine though, I expect. Lower peaks but higher troughs.
It is probably worth factoring in the energy cost of producing the panels and getting them to you, and the same for the battery. LiFePo is good chemistry for longevity but the production cost is pretty high. You're probably looking at several years just to break even on the carbon cost of your setup.
You could probably save a decent chunk of power by optimising your power use rather than throwing hardware at the problem. For example, getting a clothes rack and a dehumidifier (or just a window and a DC air circulator) than by trying to run your drier off batteries. The US in particular seems to really like powered clothes drying and it's a terrible waste of energy. Wet things tend to want to get dry all by themselves, you just need to let them. I have lived 30+ years of my life in one of the wetter and more humid countries in Europe without a powered drier and it's never been much of a problem, even when Kid was in disposable nappies which meant the washing machine pretty much didn't stop.
It could individually do the washing machine, oven, and dishwasher just fine, I think.
Yeah, probably. None of those devices run at their rated power constantly. My dishwasher mostly sits at a couple of hundred watts with occasional bursts at 2kW to heat water or drying elements. I can't remember how much power it uses for a full cycle but I'm fairly sure it's less than 1kWh. Similar for the washing machine. Oven likes more power but again, it's not constant. You can mitigate power use there with things like air fryers and rice cookers, which are generally smaller and better insulated so you waste less heat.
It's well worth getting some power monitoring before you invest in any hardware though. Then you'll know a lot more what you need. You can get some nice smart plugs running Open Source stuff like ESP32 or Tasmota which will let you graph your power demands over time.
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Comment on Solar + power bank for household appliances in apartment - can I reduce my electricity bill? in ~life.home_improvement
mat LinkSorry to be a downer but the maths just doesn't work. The Jackery system claims to be 400W of generation. Assuming they're telling the truth, that's going to be in absolutely ideal conditions,...Sorry to be a downer but the maths just doesn't work. The Jackery system claims to be 400W of generation. Assuming they're telling the truth, that's going to be in absolutely ideal conditions, full, direct midsummer sunlight, perpendicular to the panel. Behind a window in the shade is a long way from ideal. If you are lucky you might get half that. So you're looking at 200W max output, at which point you need over ten hours of full sun to charge the battery at an absolute minimum. I'm not sure how things work exactly at your latitude but while you might get that a few months of the year, you definitely won't for lots of it. For comparison, my roof mounted 4kW solar array only averages over 400W for about 2/3 of the year, but I am a bit further north than you so the winters are darker (although the summer days are longer). Right now, a few hours after sunrise on a kinda cloudy day, I'm barely getting 100W out of it!
I don't know if you can get variable rate electricity but if you can, some smart plugs and timers might be a more workable way to save on power bills. Run your dishwasher and laundry at night when the power is cheaper. I pay 44p/kWh during the day but only 13p/kWh at night, so this is what I do in the winter, as well as charging the house battery from the grid. I save some money by doing that in the Dark Times, but I have appliances with timers on and I have 5kWh of energy storage already wired to my house supply.
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Comment on Mindless games, preferably mobile in ~games
mat LinkI keep going back to a game Deimos suggested many years ago, Holedown. It was a few $currency to buy but it's very satisfying to play and has near limitless replay value. I must have sunk hundreds...I keep going back to a game Deimos suggested many years ago, Holedown. It was a few $currency to buy but it's very satisfying to play and has near limitless replay value. I must have sunk hundreds of hours into this when my kid was a baby and I was getting them to sleep. It's playable one handed and requires attention but not much concentration or thought. It's learnable in seconds. I still play to this day.
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Comment on Cheaper ways to heat a log cabin workshop (UK) in ~life.home_improvement
mat Link ParentGetting unnatural fibres damp isn't great either! Ideally you want a one-way vapour barrier between the insulation and the outside so the moisture can leave and not enter. Also airflow, drainage...Getting unnatural fibres damp isn't great either! Ideally you want a one-way vapour barrier between the insulation and the outside so the moisture can leave and not enter. Also airflow, drainage and so on. Wood is pretty good though because it does breathe, so that's a plus. A small dehumidifier can help a lot too.
Right now it's about 97% RH in my garden. That's pretty normal for winter.
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Comment on Cheaper ways to heat a log cabin workshop (UK) in ~life.home_improvement
mat Link ParentElectric heating basically all costs the same. It's all 100% efficient. Every watt in turns into a watt out, eventually. To get more than 100% - which is possible - you need a heat pump, and...Electric heating basically all costs the same. It's all 100% efficient. Every watt in turns into a watt out, eventually. To get more than 100% - which is possible - you need a heat pump, and they're not the cheapest. See my comment below.
Themawrap is better than nothing, but only just. You really want insulation board, as thick as you can afford/have space for. You can, at a push, tape and skim this board with plaster to create a "wall" but it's quite a long way from best practice! A layer of thin plasterboard over the top would be the minimum workable solution, I'd say. Screw a few battens to the wall, drop the boards in, screw down the plasterboard over the top, tape and skim, paint and you're done. If I am making that sound easy, it's because it kinda is. Measure twice, cut once and it's not that hard. Skim coating is moderately fiddly but the rest is simple.
If you don't already have a cavity wall, insulating is a tricky and/or expensive job. But it is worth it. My workshop is next to my wife's office and isn't insulated - despite being (single skin) block walls, the thermal gradient is basically a cliff. Heat just vanishes out of there. Her office gets warm and stays warm, even overnight when there's no heating happening and outside is cold. In the winter the amount of time I can work for is limited by how long it takes for my fingers/feet to get too cold to bear. Nextdoor she's just sitting there toasty warm chatting on Zoom (OK, OK, I know she's working really)
If you have an MKM Building Supplies local to you, they are often the best value for things like plaster and insulation board, and they'll usually deliver free (because shifting full size boards is a nightmare if you don't have a van).
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Comment on Cheaper ways to heat a log cabin workshop (UK) in ~life.home_improvement
mat LinkMy wife's office is fairly similar. I insulted the hell out of it (and because it is quite small, it was affordable to do with fancy wool insulation rather than rockwool, which helps the R-value),...My wife's office is fairly similar. I insulted the hell out of it (and because it is quite small, it was affordable to do with fancy wool insulation rather than rockwool, which helps the R-value), made sure all the windows and the door had good seals, then installed the smallest heat pump I could find, which was about £600 and provides 3KW of heat for about 600W input power, although because it's well over spec for the volume of office, it rarely runs at full power. It's also very efficient at heating the space, rather than the 2KW fan heater she had before, I think largely because it's mounted high on one wall and circulates air more effectively. I estimate the heat pump paid for itself in the first winter. Bonus, it can also be used for AC during the summer, at which point it's free to run because our solar array is kicking out plenty of power then.
The only issue I had was she kept leaving the office and forgetting to turn the heat pump off, which did get a bit pricey running overnight or worse, over an entire weekend. So I installed a wife detecting radar and a few Home Assistant rules and now it turns itself off fifteen minutes after she's left. This investment has already paid for itself too. (next, fit smart switches to the lights so they do the same, but the payback on turning off a few LEDs is rather longer!)
Oh, it is technically illegal to install your own heat pump. So you might prefer to get the commissioning done by an F-Gas certified engineer. Luckily my neighbour is one of those and he did it for a couple of beers. But it's an easy (and safe) enough job to do yourself, just don't tell anyone...
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Comment on Timasomo 2024: The Showcase in ~creative.timasomo
mat Link ParentUpdate: I slept in the bed last night! It is somehow more comfortable than the bed it replaced, despite having the same slats and same mattress. I don't usually use reading lights (my book has...Update: I slept in the bed last night!
It is somehow more comfortable than the bed it replaced, despite having the same slats and same mattress. I don't usually use reading lights (my book has it's own light) but the lights, despite being bright, are very comfortable to read under and are warm enough to not be too awakening. The frame enclosing the bed feels slightly comforting, I definitely need to find some time to work on the curtains because I think they'll really make a big difference on that front.
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Comment on I think it's time to give a "news detox" a try in ~talk
mat LinkI did this years ago. It's been a very positive experience. "News" is almost exclusively stuff which doesn't affect me in any more meaningful way than the weather. I can't change what even my...I did this years ago. It's been a very positive experience. "News" is almost exclusively stuff which doesn't affect me in any more meaningful way than the weather. I can't change what even my government are doing, let alone one in another country, any more than I can stop it raining. Although not actively seeking news doesn't mean I don't know what's going on, there's enough of it seeping in via osmosis from social media, group chats, actual in-person conversations and if nothing else, my preferred radio station will insist on 2 minutes of headlines every hour. Although I often turn that off.
"News" is pretty much the only think I use reddit for any more. Hyperlocal news. Because my local newspapers are terrible shouting hate rags, the local subreddits are a pretty good filter (and I've been slowly training them to post 12ft.io/etc "clean" links which means I have 0 chance of seeing the comment section) for finding out news that might impact my day to day life and I can occasionally have some tiny-but-real input on. Local government consultations particularly, which generally get responses counted in the hundreds or even tens - so my voice is much louder! Ditching all but those subs (and /r/UpliftingNews for some relief) means my main source of 'news' is much more controllable. But it's also fairly slow so I don't feel the need to check it constantly. Once a day is fine.
Occasionally people ask how I know who to vote for. Well, I get one vote every five years for central government and one every (offset) five years for local. It doesn't take much effort to get up to speed on what the politicos have been doing between elections if I want to. But, given I live in a FPTP system I have to vote tactically so it barely even matters. I can either vote for the party I know I like if it's safe, or vote for the least-bad-but-likely-to-win candidate otherwise.
Sometimes people ask do I feel like I should know what is going on in the world and to those people I say "Why?". What good can it do? Knowing what's happening everywhere is impossible anyway, and the selection of things promoted by the news industry as 'current affairs' is largely just awful stuff. And it's all shit I can't change. Am I sad that people in country X are being oppressed/slaughtered/etc? Of course I am. But me knowing that's happening doesn't save a single life. I can't afford to give more to charity than I do, and if I could, again like voting, it's not hard to get enough information to make an informed decision. I don't need a dripfeed of horrors and it doesn't help anyone if I do have one.
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Comment on Timasomo 2024: The Showcase in ~creative.timasomo
mat Link ParentPressing is definitely cheat mode for sewing in general, I often don't bother and just eyeball it because I'm lazy. The issue with this fabric is cutting it properly because it's so thin and......Pressing is definitely cheat mode for sewing in general, I often don't bother and just eyeball it because I'm lazy.
The issue with this fabric is cutting it properly because it's so thin and... wobbly? Not sure if there is a better word. It won't lie nicely, the weave is all over the place so marking and cutting straight is almost impossible. Even the selvedge won't lie straight. All this is unhelped by the curtain sections being 1.5m square which is bigger than my available table space.
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Comment on Timasomo 2024: The Showcase in ~creative.timasomo
mat Link ParentOooh, they look nice, thanks for the link. I mostly avoid using pins as much as possible, I hemmed the one curtain I've made so far by rolling the fabric as it went under the foot.. It's not the...Oooh, they look nice, thanks for the link. I mostly avoid using pins as much as possible, I hemmed the one curtain I've made so far by rolling the fabric as it went under the foot.. It's not the best hem I've sewed but that's more to do with this cheap fabric being horrible than my technique! Pinning probably would have only made things more fiddly and annoying, without improving the result.
It's a long watch and pretty tough going in places but I'd strongly recommend Contrapoints' video on the topic for both a definition and a view from someone who has experienced it.