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Tafaner66

@tafaner.bsky.social
462 followers 275 following 4.5K posts

Recovering cyberutopian. LIKES: MUSIC (I play flutes, 7-string nylon guitar, and sing dreadfully); also LANGUAGES (En, Fr, Cat, Es) and the Great Outdoors - as long as it's not raining. DISLIKES: Mud

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Tafaner66 @tafaner.bsky.social · 22h
Vinícius is an extraordinarily gifted player - but the pleasure and pride in that is evidently not enough for him. He constantly cheats, often diving in the box - and in this case pulling an opponent's hair. That's well worth a red card. And maybe even a Chinese burn🤔
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Tafaner66 @tafaner.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
Aliexpress have started this annoying system of "bundle deals". To get the one thing you want, you have to buy 2 other unrelated things - and probably end up throwing them away. Here's a doll's house Amazon parcel that cost me EUR 1.29. I'm sure it will come in useful 🤔
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Tafaner66 @tafaner.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
I did try cardans, but couldn't get them working well. You're supposed to pair them with matching angles, but in my situation I couldn't do that. Beyond about 30° they struggle anyway, and I'm more like 45°.
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Tafaner66 @tafaner.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
Oh dear. I need to control a potentiometer from a distance, at a funny angle. My efforts using universal joints and flexible drives are not working - but I've just discovered "Lego Technic". It looks like a really deep rabbit hole. And I fear it's for children only. Or adults under supervision 🤔
youtube.com
Lego Technic Constant Velocity Joints #1 (CV Joints) - Lego Technic Mastery
YouTube video by Lego Technic Mastery
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Tafaner66 @tafaner.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Some say Don Quijote was where the original Blackadder idea came from. Don't know if that's actually true - but I'd love to have seen them give it a try!
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Tafaner66 @tafaner.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
I do wonder whether America's reputation as a democracy will ever recover from stuff like this? It's not just the casual cruelty; it's the official normalising of procedures so macabre (2 year olds unrepresented in court) that Franz Kafka would have been shocked. Yet its apparently now routine🤔
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Tafaner66 @tafaner.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
It's hard to write neutrally about Spain - but to me, this is all a bit españolazo. Nothing about the show trial condemned by observers, and the political pardon that it took to correct it. Spain has a rotten judiciary. I'm no fan of Puigdemont, but depicting him as a dinosaur is very one-sided.
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Tafaner66 @tafaner.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Missed one!
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Tafaner66 @tafaner.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Student unrest in France seems to have taken authorities by surprise. It doesn't yet look like 1968, but the complaints (underfunding, class sizes of 40+ etc) seem real, not just "we are unhappy". At a personal level, it's nice to see the daughter of one of my Catalan teachers in the thick of it!
radioarrels.cat
Raquel, estudiant de Ceret: “Veníem enfadats amb el sistema educatiu i sortim enfadats amb el nostre propi institut”
Centenars d’alumnes de liceu de Catalunya Nord han sortit al carrer aquest dijous i divendres per reclamar canvis al sistema educatiu. Aquestes protestes formen part d’unes mobilitzacions que s’han es...
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Tafaner66 @tafaner.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Looks OK, doesn't it? But the grip isn't strong enough - it could fall out if turned upside down. I need thicker walls or more wrap around. These things are never right first time!
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Tafaner66 @tafaner.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
It's coming together as we speak. I hope to do a full thread on it in a couple of weeks.
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Tafaner66 @tafaner.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
It's a home crafted accordion type instrument. I needed something small, loud and low latency for live playing. There don't seem to be many! Those that are small enough usually have a lot of DSP - and long latency times (esp over Bluetooth). This is a rare WIRED one, with just 2ms of latency.
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Tafaner66 @tafaner.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Another bit of shameless 3D geekery. It's a cradle to mount a Minirig speaker unit on rubber feet so the vibrations don't blow everything to bits. Amazing what you can do with just a few lines of #OpenSCAD. Then FILE ... PRINT and you have the object in front of you. A miracle I'm still not used to.
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Tafaner66 @tafaner.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
50% Interrail off is truly exceptional, so last night, just before the sale ended, I took the plunge. I have a vague idea of what to use it for: my version of the ORIENT EXPRESS. Start in Lisbon Oriente, then to Leyton Orient to see the "O's" play, then to Istanbul and Galatasary. Obvious really🤔
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Tafaner66 @tafaner.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
OK, Lamine Yamal wasn't offside, but isn't it past his bedtime? 🤔
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Tafaner66 @tafaner.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Another 3D modelling and printing request. This is for a model of the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway - and I want to stress that it's absolutely NOTHING TO DO WITH ME. It's for a friend. No, really! (I don't think the DHR is on Interrail, is it?🤔)
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Tafaner66 @tafaner.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
But life isn't like that! (Or maybe it is - just a little bit🤔)
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Tafaner66 @tafaner.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Well you wouldn't know that was 3D printed now the owner has lovingly sanded and painted it in gold. Real Norton motorbike gold!
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Tafaner66 @tafaner.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
"Fuck off" en anglais est traditionnellement suivi par un "excuse my French". Sauf exceptions.
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Tafaner66 @tafaner.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
For me, that's all the worst for being coldly calibrated. Just enough to spread doubt without saying things too clearly.
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Tafaner66 @tafaner.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Boy/girl duets in popular music tend to drown you in schmaltz. Think Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers. But it doesn't have to be that way. And I guess it helps when the instrumentalists are literally the finest on the planet: Yamandú Costa on 7-string guitar and Hamilton de H on 10-string Bandolim!
youtube.com
Preciso me encontrar - Zeca Pagodinho, Marisa Monte, Yamandú Costa e Hamilton de Holanda
YouTube video by Elson de Paula
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Tafaner66 @tafaner.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
These INTERRAIL offers are quite something! The 50% off the 1-MONTH CONTINUOUS pass basically brings it down to the 7 day price - worth it even of you don't travel every day. Buy now, and you have 11 months before you need to travel. Coverage is basically Europe plus Turkey. Tempted!
interrail.com
Interrail Global Pass for Europe
The Interrail Global Pass is the fun and cheap way to see more of Europe. Travel to up to 33 countries with one train Pass!
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Tafaner66 @tafaner.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Audio engineers continue to defy the laws of physics. This beast outputs full range sound at 50W, but is barely the size of a tin of Ambrosia. Unusually it's Bluetooth but also Wired - and is then zero latency (audio slang for "not very much latency"). I hope to fit it in my electronic accordion 🤔
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Tafaner66 @tafaner.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Well obviously! Wallabies are even furry! But wallabee statues rather less so. Thanks for the label tip off. I couldn't find it so I guess it was somebody tweaking an algorithm. Frankly, I'm not a fan of labelling. Arguably just "Institutionalised ratio-ing".
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Tafaner66 @tafaner.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
This prompted me to check up on the Wallabies of Derbyshire. There was once a colony there (honestly!) but they now appear to have died out - and been replaced by statues (and not very convincing ones, either)
bbc.com
Wallaby sculpture trail honours escape mob in Staffordshire Moorlands
Ten wallaby sculptures are located around the Staffordshire Moorlands until September.
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Tafaner66 @tafaner.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Why on earth is Burnham even doing this? Trump is a crazy old man with not much longer to live, and a growing likelihood of impeachment after the midterms. What is there to gain? Isn't there an American saying involving skunks?
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Tafaner66 @tafaner.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Is it me, or is there a weird "Trojan Horse" vibe about this? It's almost as though they planned it as a Trojan, but then forgot that it needs to be kept secret. And it needs wheels 🤔
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Tafaner66 @tafaner.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
London is quite a green City, so of course there are foxes everywhere. Here's one in its adopted natural environment - the roof of a black Honda Civic, soaking up the Autumn sun. Totally untroubled by my presence.
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Tafaner66 @tafaner.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
That's just wrong! It's a 'document' with no material value! But not the fault of the postie as it's not their decision. This cuts both ways. I order a lot of small engineering stuff from China and hardly ever get done for duty, even when over the threshold. I treat it as a random micro-tax🤔
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Tafaner66 @tafaner.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
It's convoluted, but very likable 🙂
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Tafaner66 @tafaner.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Never seen it! But who knows - with the current Canada/EU rapprochement, maybe that will become a thing in Europe? (but I'm still not sure about the carrot🤔)
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Tafaner66 @tafaner.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
UK Conservatives' rail privatisation was a disaster foretold: no one else had successfully done it and there were no pilot trials. Pure ideology and Keystone Cops levels of managerial incompetence. Billions were lost to private asset strippers - and decades on, we are still recovering. Never forget!
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Tafaner66 @tafaner.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
L'Escala (Costa Brava) seem to be on a mission! That's at least the 3rd significant public artwork in this small town (population ~10k).
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Tafaner66 @tafaner.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
I'd be up for it 🙂
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Tafaner66 @tafaner.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Our local Tube (Overground) station just sprouted a new entrance, and it's 50m closer to the house! 50m less trudging back at night! I don't think it was for our benefit, though. The trains previously didn't fit the platforms and there were no lifts. So they fixed both things at once.
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Tafaner66 @tafaner.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
(I didn't even notice the icing. I was too worried about the poor, innocent flower petals 🙁)
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Tafaner66 @tafaner.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
I'm still a bit suspicious of carrot cake. Carrot is a vegetable. It doesn't belong in cake. Trust me. But now there's a new challenge. My carrot cake has wildflower petals on top. How can that be right? Who's in charge of this stuff? 🤔
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Tafaner66 @tafaner.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
We're only in London a few times a year. And every time, I have the impression that a few more tower blocks have popped up around Canary Wharf, London's "downtown". I'm even wondering if some of them are literally "pop-ups" - that sink back into the ground at night 🤔
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Tafaner66 @tafaner.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
If you're going to have railings around your back garden, maybe avoid the Tump-style fake gold ornamentation? Otherwise, passing kids will try and steal the gold bits - and you end up having to install secondhand railings, as here 🤔
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Tafaner66 @tafaner.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Tempted to ask if it's relevant that this is Portsmouth, aka "Pompey". Navy/army bases, even former ones, have a reputation for wildness - young men 'of fighting age' brawling in the pubs on a Saturday night. OTOH, naval guys might have some respect for lifesavers at sea. So perhaps I'm wrong?🤔
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Tafaner66 @tafaner.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
You can forget your Ed Sheerans, Silvio Rodríguez is for me one of the very best! Decent singing and guitar playing and lyrics up there with George Brassens (but in Cuban Spanish). I didn't even know he was still gigging - but he is apparently on in Valencia! Here's one of his early songs.
m.youtube.com
Silvio Rodríguez - Oleo De Una Mujer Con Sombrero [HD]
YouTube video by Música Para Compartir
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Tafaner66 @tafaner.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
In fairness, "bestiality" has multiple meanings, only one of which involves sodomy with quadrupeds. And "¡bestial!" in modern Spanish just means "great/fantastic". So I'm sure there's nothing unusual going on here 🤔
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Tafaner66 @tafaner.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
I guess we have to accept that this is mostly mood music - and there won't be much of substance behind it. But I still love it ! Especially the bit about "shared democratic values" 🙂
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Tafaner66 @tafaner.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
It's been a pleasure watching Anthony Gordon's first few matches at Barça. I say that not because he's a Brit - but because he is adapting so quickly. He plays like he grew up in La Masia - completely at home with the method, quick thinking, quick feet, tight spaces. A natural!
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Tafaner66 @tafaner.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Interesting to compare this with costings of nuclear power, where vast sums were spent by governments in the name of defence - and the industry basically got all that for free. Likewise, they got away with ignoring future decommissioning costs - so it looks cheap. I hope AI doesn't go the same way.
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Tafaner66 @tafaner.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Maybe they should make the edible, rather than compostable? They could even come in flavours. Sage and onion, hmm, tasty 🤔
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Tafaner66 @tafaner.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
(Didn't know about the long vowel thing! That explains "contrôle" and "flûte" and probably many others. I think I just joined the circumflex fan club🤔)
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Tafaner66 @tafaner.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Yeah, yeah. Next you'll get to tell me it replaces an "S". ? As in "contrôle" 🙂
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Tafaner66 @tafaner.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Reforms of this sort can make things harder for students: eg in 1990, Portuguese outlawed the trema, so cinqüenta became cinquenta. Simpler, you might think, but there's now now clear rule for pronouncing 'que' and 'qui'. Either can be hard or soft !
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Tafaner66 @tafaner.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Quite! In 2016, the Académie Française relaxed the rules on the circumflex, allowing either 'aout' or 'août' - which sounds sensible, but it triggered a solidarity campaign, "je suis circonflexe"! So now you see both versions everywhere. Added to which, some pronounce the "t" while others don't ...
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