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CatButtes :verified_coffee:

@catbuttes.freeradical.zone.ap.brid.gy

1 followers 0 following 63 posts

Dad of 2 and exhausted poker/breaker of stuff. [bridged from freeradical.zone/@catbuttes on the fediverse by fed.brid.gy ]

Posts Replies Media

CatButtes :verified_coffee: @catbuttes.freeradical.zone.ap.brid.gy · 05/10/2026

I have been using a #fountainpen pretty exclusively for a couple of weeks now and one thing has jumped out at me. The last time I used a fountain pen was in school about 20 years ago and I still have the habits I built up back then. The big one that has surprised me is the angle I hold pens at […]

freeradical.zone

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Reposted by CatButtes :verified_coffee:

Daniel Lakeland @dlakelan.mastodon.sdf.org.ap.brid.gy · 01/10/2026

Fediverse, the social media system for 40+ year old people who built the world wide web and regret it.

Reposted by CatButtes :verified_coffee:

Terence Eden @edent.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 30/09/2026

🆕 blog! “Are you a smartwatch "power user"?” What do you use your smartwatch for? A few weeks ago, I overheard a conversation between someone on the Pixel Watch team and a woman I know. He was quizzing her at a party about her Pixel watch and what features she used. He'd ignored me when I said […]

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CatButtes :verified_coffee: @catbuttes.freeradical.zone.ap.brid.gy · 30/09/2026

At what age do children stop consuming their body weight in food every meal time? I’m not sure how much longer my wallet can take this! 😭 #parenting

CatButtes :verified_coffee: @catbuttes.freeradical.zone.ap.brid.gy · 29/09/2026

I swear Amazon drivers know when they have a delicate package. Our usual driver will dump *everything* on the doorstep and not even try to put it through the letterbox. Today's Amazon order included a bottle of ink, so naturally everything was forced through the letterbox using brute force. 🤦‍♂️

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CatButtes :verified_coffee: @catbuttes.freeradical.zone.ap.brid.gy · 29/09/2026

Intrusive thought of the day: A waxed cotton jacket made using the ear wax of its owner. The ultimate in personalised outerwear!

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CatButtes :verified_coffee: @catbuttes.freeradical.zone.ap.brid.gy · 27/09/2026

I am reliably informed that I am a cruel cruel man who is busy starving his cat.

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CatButtes :verified_coffee: @catbuttes.freeradical.zone.ap.brid.gy · 19/09/2026

Got a question for the #fountainpen folks out here. This is a relatively affordable rabbit hole I’m falling down right? I know some of the pens can get slightly pricy, but some of the inks look amazing and I can’t imagine you get through a bottle that quickly? (I’m telling myself that I’m more […]

freeradical.zone

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CatButtes :verified_coffee: @catbuttes.freeradical.zone.ap.brid.gy · 12/09/2026

I have decided to start making my own pocket #notebooks recently. I’m not great at it yet, and I’m still working out what works best, but here are 2 of tonight’s effort. I’m actually fairly happy with them. Just gotta see how they stand up to regular usage…

A pair of pocket sized notebooks. One is blue with brown tape reinforcing the spine, the other is pink with a pattern printed on it.

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CatButtes :verified_coffee: @catbuttes.freeradical.zone.ap.brid.gy · 04/09/2026

Watching the C4 Reform documentary and damn are they blatant about what is going on. I hope everybody involved gets the book thrown at them (and I hope the Electoral Commission are feeling petty and vindictive after some of the comments made about them in there). Well worth a watch if you are in […]

freeradical.zone

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CatButtes :verified_coffee: @catbuttes.freeradical.zone.ap.brid.gy · 19/08/2026

We have a cat. Our cat is black. We have no other cats. We have had to move our cat’s food from the kitchen to a little shelf on the stairs because the ginger cat who lives next door kept trying his luck. This morning I went upstairs to find this… #cats

A ginger cat eating out of a cat food bowl

CatButtes :verified_coffee: @catbuttes.freeradical.zone.ap.brid.gy · 17/08/2026

I think the sky is falling. Something is coming down, it’s kinda like being in a shower but outside. I don’t remember this happening before - if it has it was so long ago I forgot about it. It’s nice. #rain #weather

CatButtes :verified_coffee: @catbuttes.freeradical.zone.ap.brid.gy · 15/08/2026

There is an elderly ginger cat who lives next door. He seems to have decided he wants to be friends with our grumpy black cat. She is having none of this, so he now just sneaks into the house and sniffs at where she lays down looking slightly sad and confused. As soon as he realises he has been […]

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CatButtes :verified_coffee: @catbuttes.freeradical.zone.ap.brid.gy · 14/08/2026

People are criticising the government for the #EmergencyAlert but if it gets my neighbour to stop having a nightly fire pit, which they leave burning when they go to bed, then it has my support! Seriously, some people have zero common sense and need things hammering into them with an oversized […]

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CatButtes :verified_coffee: @catbuttes.freeradical.zone.ap.brid.gy · 14/08/2026

Scared the shit out of me, but I’m actually not mad. Hopefully they don’t abuse the ability to make my phone scream though! (This is definitely a good use of that ability) #uk #weather #wildfires

Severe alert from the UK government about wildfires. Text is

Severe Alert
Issued by the UK Government
1m ago
There is a very high risk of wildfires
nationally. Residents, landowners and
visitors should not undertake any activity
that could start a fire, including
disposable barbecues, firepits, garden
incinerators or fireworks. Even a small
flame can rapidly develop into a major
wildfire placing lives, homes, businesses
and emergency responders at risk.
Follow official updates and report signs of
fire immediately by calling 999. Search
gov.uk/alerts for more information.

CatButtes :verified_coffee: @catbuttes.freeradical.zone.ap.brid.gy · 14/08/2026

One thing this summer is teaching me is that it is *really* hard to tell how far away smoke is rising from when you are at or near ground level.

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CatButtes :verified_coffee: @catbuttes.freeradical.zone.ap.brid.gy · 14/08/2026

It's Friday! What questionable deployments to production do people have planned for today?

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CatButtes :verified_coffee: @catbuttes.freeradical.zone.ap.brid.gy · 04/08/2026

In the UK we sometimes see people with knitted hats on top of post boxes. You guys in the US don't have the right style of post box for those, but maybe flock cameras would be an acceptable substitute? Don't worry, it won't harm the camera. Be careful though, you don't want to block the camera […]

freeradical.zone

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CatButtes :verified_coffee: @catbuttes.freeradical.zone.ap.brid.gy · 31/07/2026

I just love that the volume sliders on BBC media players goes up to 11. It's such a small thing, but it makes me smile every time.

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CatButtes :verified_coffee: @catbuttes.freeradical.zone.ap.brid.gy · 22/07/2026

It's the first week of the summer holidays. I sit down at my desk to work and a small gremlin comes through. "Daddy, can I have some lettuce for breakfast?" Children are *weird*. Not going to stop him having his lettuce though! #parenting

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CatButtes :verified_coffee: @catbuttes.freeradical.zone.ap.brid.gy · 26/06/2026

The worst thing about the weather in the UK at the moment is that the toilet seat always feels as if somebody has just been sat pre-warming and sweating on it for you. Things would be a lot more tolerable if the toilet seat were cooler... #UK #weather

CatButtes :verified_coffee: @catbuttes.freeradical.zone.ap.brid.gy · 08/06/2026

I have been handed an integration project at work using what the vendor described as their “xml based API”. I was all prepared for it to be a crappy SOAP setup that has a million little picky edge cases that differentiate it from every other SOAP API out there. It isn’t. It appears to be XMPP […]

freeradical.zone

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CatButtes :verified_coffee: @catbuttes.freeradical.zone.ap.brid.gy · 06/06/2026

RE: mastodon.online/@mastodonmigration/… Well this makes perfect sense and is completely terrifying.

mastodon.online

CatButtes :verified_coffee: @catbuttes.freeradical.zone.ap.brid.gy · 05/06/2026

It seems like anime is cool at the gremlins school at the moment. Just heard some kids (about grade 4:5) talking at the gates about their favourite anime. Apparently one girls sister had recommended Madoka Magica as “a cooler version of Sailor Moon” and she was inviting her friend to come watch […]

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CatButtes :verified_coffee: @catbuttes.freeradical.zone.ap.brid.gy · 03/06/2026

Tiny gremlin: Daddy, what’s the little handy dryer thing called? Me: Hand dryer? TG: No, they are the ones the blow air. I mean the one we have in our house Me: …towel? TG: NO! The little one you dry your hands on after you wash them! Me: Hand towel? TG: That’s it. I will use that if my […]

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CatButtes :verified_coffee: @catbuttes.freeradical.zone.ap.brid.gy · 23/05/2026

I did not expect to start this bank holiday weekend by chasing a badger at 1am. In related news, I have identified what has been raiding our food waste bin…

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CatButtes :verified_coffee: @catbuttes.freeradical.zone.ap.brid.gy · 03/05/2026

Just seen the new Tesco advert where a boy steals a grape and gets chased out of the store by a wave of fruit and veg. The wave turns into a giant made of fruit and veg that catches the boy when his sibling doesn’t let him into the car, despite his terrified pleas. The giant then proceeds to […]

freeradical.zone

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CatButtes :verified_coffee: @catbuttes.freeradical.zone.ap.brid.gy · 18/04/2026

Postman knocks on door with parcel. I hear sudden footsteps from upstairs with an undertone chant of “booksbooksbooks”. My wife meets me on the stairs, stealing away her package and vanishes back upstairs, still muttering “booksbooksbooks” as she does. I think she bought books. #bookgoblin #books

CatButtes :verified_coffee: @catbuttes.freeradical.zone.ap.brid.gy · 16/04/2026

Ah it’s that time of the year when we can open our windows at night and enjoy the lovely barking of the local muntjac. This one sounds fairly nearby compared to usual! #wildlife

CatButtes :verified_coffee: @catbuttes.freeradical.zone.ap.brid.gy · 20/10/2025

It’s always DNS.

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CatButtes :verified_coffee: @catbuttes.freeradical.zone.ap.brid.gy · 12/10/2025

Am I misunderstanding AGENTS.md or is it a horror show from a security perspective? It sure looks as though it’s literally inviting somebody to include commands that then get run by the computer without human interaction… Pretty sure 5 years ago that would have been a CVE and packages pulled […]

freeradical.zone

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CatButtes :verified_coffee: @catbuttes.freeradical.zone.ap.brid.gy · 17/09/2025

This little guy passed away at the weekend. He was a little sod, but I do miss him. After 12 years of him being around and munching on whatever took his fancy, things seem too peaceful somehow. I keep expecting to see him in his run in the garden or hear him […] [Original post on freeradical.zone]

A black bunny sat on a sofa, glaring at the camera

CatButtes :verified_coffee: @catbuttes.freeradical.zone.ap.brid.gy · 06/09/2025

Me: Do not touch that, it’s very hot Large Gremlin: *immediately touches the hot thing* This is why they aren’t usually allowed in the kitchen when I’m cooking. #parenting

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CatButtes :verified_coffee: @catbuttes.freeradical.zone.ap.brid.gy · 18/08/2025

When evaluating companies/services to see how little I should trust them, a major plus point in their favour these days is a link to their "Imprint" or "impressum" and being a GmbH company. For some reason, German companies seem to be much more likely to be much more reasonable with PII then […]

freeradical.zone

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CatButtes :verified_coffee: @catbuttes.freeradical.zone.ap.brid.gy · 14/08/2025

When did GitHub make it so awkward to delete a repository? Last time I had a clean up, it was click delete, paste the repo name for confirmation and confirm. Now there are multiple pop-ups warning you that if you delete things, things will be deleted... No shit - that's what I expect to happen […]

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CatButtes :verified_coffee: @catbuttes.freeradical.zone.ap.brid.gy · 12/08/2025

I have a file containing around 13k SQL updates. Of those 13k, somewhere between 6 and 64 are bad. I don't know if these are an issue or not until I locate the bad ones and determine which is which. The SQL is run by 20+ year old Perl, which regenerates it each run. I can't rewrite it yet […]

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CatButtes :verified_coffee: @catbuttes.freeradical.zone.ap.brid.gy · 11/08/2025

For some godforsaken reason I had my ad-block turned off just now. I do a search for Yvette Cooper to check her history on some stuff and get this ad. Gotta love those "we sell anything you search for" bullshit ads! #advertisingFail #politics

An eBay advert stating Yvette Cooper for sale from the DuckDuckGo search results

Reposted by CatButtes :verified_coffee:

Prof. Sam Lawler @sundogplanets.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 08/08/2025

Tomorrow's prairie thunderstorm prairie threat is a giant bunny rabbit. Bewaaaaare!

CatButtes :verified_coffee: @catbuttes.freeradical.zone.ap.brid.gy · 02/08/2025

I'm seeing lots of posts about consent on the fediverse today. Who had the genius idea of scraping and ignoring privacy settings this time? #askFedi

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CatButtes :verified_coffee: @catbuttes.freeradical.zone.ap.brid.gy · 30/07/2025

Torys: *pass the online safety act* Labour: If you oppose this legislation you are an extreme porn loving pedo Reform: This is a bit shit isn’t it. We should repeal it Labour: *frantic pointing at farage* PEDO!!! Torys: This is a bit shit. Who thought this was a good idea? #ukPolitics […]

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CatButtes :verified_coffee: @catbuttes.freeradical.zone.ap.brid.gy · 25/07/2025

I have a question for the great UK legal minds of the Fediverse... Does Yammer count as a regulated user-to-user service under the Online Safety Act? The 'provider' of Yammer in my mind is Microsoft, which means it doesn't appear to be exempt as an 'internal service' under Schedule 1. Am I […]

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CatButtes :verified_coffee: @catbuttes.freeradical.zone.ap.brid.gy · 24/07/2025

After many years of saying telling folks around me "most people have no need for a VPN. Youtube ad reads are a good guide for what things you *don't* need", I'm now changing that opinion. If you are in the UK, you now have a solid reason to need a VPN. The Online Safety Act is poorly thought […]

freeradical.zone

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CatButtes :verified_coffee: @catbuttes.freeradical.zone.ap.brid.gy · 21/07/2025

Has WhatsApp web changed how it works recently? It used to require that your phone was on to relay messages, but mine is currently out of battery on my desk and I'm still using WhatsApp in my browser. I was under the impression that the phone had to be involved thanks to the E2E encryption - has […]

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CatButtes :verified_coffee: @catbuttes.freeradical.zone.ap.brid.gy · 21/07/2025

It's day one of the summer holidays and Smallest Gremlin is currently refusing to get dressed because she doesn't like any of the options in her drawers. Instead she is just sitting on the stairs in her pants and screaming at anybody who tries to help. This is going to be a fun summer […]

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CatButtes :verified_coffee: @catbuttes.freeradical.zone.ap.brid.gy · 12/07/2025

Just got back from seeing Superman, leaving the kids at home with their Aunt. More importantly, we left #cat behind as well. She is now explaining to us the error of our ways. I suspect the explaining will continue late into the night… Cat tax is from earlier in the day…

A black cat loafing on top of a pillow

CatButtes :verified_coffee: @catbuttes.freeradical.zone.ap.brid.gy · 11/07/2025

The whole vibe coding thing is terrifying. Not in the “AI is coming for my job” kind of way, but in the more mundane “these people will get something that *mostly* works and deploy it. Then I have to interact with it and possibly provide sensitive data to it” kind of way. I’m just hoping that […]

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CatButtes :verified_coffee: @catbuttes.freeradical.zone.ap.brid.gy · 03/05/2023

One thing to remember about computers - when you tell them to do something, they can do it very fast... If you made a mistake when telling them how to do a thing, they will do the wrong thing very fast... This will likely be so fast you won't have time to respond before it is done... And this […]

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