iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

tjhowse @tj.howse.social.ap.brid.gy · 10h

I have discovered a second good Bobby McFerrin song: "Freedom is a voice". Give it a listen! I've found a lot of his other music to be a bit too... free-form.

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tjhowse @tj.howse.social.ap.brid.gy · 16h

This feels like the first good rain we've had in ages. #brisbaneweather

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tjhowse @tj.howse.social.ap.brid.gy · 03/10/2026

Has anyone got any first-hand experience with rechargeable 1.5v AA form-factor liion batteries? Are they any good? Are they better than traditional rechargeable AA batteries?

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tjhowse @tj.howse.social.ap.brid.gy · 02/10/2026

Awww yeah I just realised it's a long weekend. Woooooo.

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tjhowse @tj.howse.social.ap.brid.gy · 01/10/2026

5.5 weeks of (nearly) daily practice and I'm half-way through learning to copy Morse code at 20 WPM character speed. I am really enjoying it! Learning is fun! I have an M32 Pocket for practising sending. It's got some fun games on it that require you to […] [Original post on howse.social]

A daily activity square plot showing five and a half columns of green squares of various greenness throughout september and a bit of august.

A plot of accuracy vs lesson, and a table of the same data below. Accuracy is bumping around 60-100%, with a red moving average mostly above 90%.

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tjhowse @tj.howse.social.ap.brid.gy · 30/09/2026

Y'honour this is why I have a set of scales that go down to 10mg: Avoiding arguments about who got more nerds.

A photo of two plastic bowls containing some pink and purple nerds lollies. One of the bowls is sitting on a small scale with 10.27g on the display.

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tjhowse @tj.howse.social.ap.brid.gy · 30/09/2026

Jacaranda season is upon #brisbane, heralding exam season and my birthday!

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tjhowse @tj.howse.social.ap.brid.gy · 28/09/2026

I am stuck working while my kids are home on school holidays playing valheim. They've tamed a boar and named it Boris. The kids are alright.

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tjhowse @tj.howse.social.ap.brid.gy · 26/09/2026

Ugh I'm half-interested in watching the AFL grand final but I'm sure I'd have to fuck about with TV apps or something, and endure ads. Not worth the hassle.

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tjhowse @tj.howse.social.ap.brid.gy · 26/09/2026

`docker-compose up -d valheim-server` Let's get this rolling.

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tjhowse @tj.howse.social.ap.brid.gy · 24/09/2026

We got our first invoice with our new energy retailer, Covau. It was $29 in the black, so I emailed them asking about the process to cash out the credit, as we've done in the past with Amber and Localvolts. Their response: > Upon reviewing your account, we can confirm that the credit balance […]

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tjhowse @tj.howse.social.ap.brid.gy · 23/09/2026

Do you wanna improve the world a little bit using your thumbs? Get the FOSS StreetComplete app and start adding details about your part of the world. The app prompts you for details on footpaths, bike lanes, crossings, public toilets, handrails on stairs, etc, etc. The data feeds into Open […]

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tjhowse @tj.howse.social.ap.brid.gy · 22/09/2026

When setting up CI/CD always assume the next person to work on the project will be an idiot in a hurry. Especially for personal projects.

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tjhowse @tj.howse.social.ap.brid.gy · 22/09/2026

It has been a month since I've been able to do any decent #weightlifting due to back pain. Heat packs, extra stretches, NSAIDS, the works. It sucks very much. I've been making up for it with extra #running, which I also love, so it's not too bad. Swings and roundabouts. #fitness

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tjhowse @tj.howse.social.ap.brid.gy · 21/09/2026

I am waiting on delivery of a cursed object: A AA-sized (14500) li-ion battery. It will be installed under a screw cover, never to re-emerge.

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tjhowse @tj.howse.social.ap.brid.gy · 20/09/2026

Had almost all our immediate family over for dinner tonight. Cheese, fruit, BBQ, beers and fresh sticky date pud for dessert. Had a spectacular time. Slightly too much food. Good times.

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tjhowse @tj.howse.social.ap.brid.gy · 17/09/2026

Has anyone seen that 3.5mm to 6.35mm audio adaptor I've had sitting in a random box from 2005?

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tjhowse @tj.howse.social.ap.brid.gy · 16/09/2026

Quick macos question: If screenshot directory, why screenshot go to desktop by default? Unserious.

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tjhowse @tj.howse.social.ap.brid.gy · 15/09/2026

Somehow I appear to have removed safari from my work mac. I don't know how. It's not in the app search thing. I rebooted and it came back??? Unserious OS.

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tjhowse @tj.howse.social.ap.brid.gy · 15/09/2026

Um. Is it normal for the Home/End keys on an external keyboard plugged into a macbook to do nothing at all? Apparently to make them work you need to add custom keyboard remapping config? For HOME AND END KEYS? Unserious operating system. Jesus christ.

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tjhowse @tj.howse.social.ap.brid.gy · 14/09/2026

I am learning morse code. My wife is *disgusted* I'm not using a traditional straight key for sending. She says I'm doing it wrong.

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tjhowse @tj.howse.social.ap.brid.gy · 13/09/2026

Other professions should have distinctive hats. Chefs get all the glory.

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Reposted by tjhowse

Zach Weinersmith @zachweinersmith.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

What he doesn't realize is if the yuri writers get replaced, their backup plan is to finish their papers on probabilistic approaches to nonlinear dynamics. So, it should all even out.

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tjhowse @tj.howse.social.ap.brid.gy · 10/09/2026

Hahaha c'mon really? I'm gonna bank transfer a dollar, so their accountants have to deal with an extra 13 cents on their balance sheets.

Dear Travis,

Your old account balance is $0.00. This amount includes your past bills and payments.

Please find attached your bill for September 2026.

Your new account balance is $0.87. This amount includes the old account balance and the current bill.

Payment is requested.

We thank you for your custom, and wish you all the best for the future.

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tjhowse @tj.howse.social.ap.brid.gy · 10/09/2026

I am generally opposed to Americanisation of language, but "y'all" is versatile and succinct. The Australian variant is "you lot", which has a slightly aggro tone to my ear.

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tjhowse @tj.howse.social.ap.brid.gy · 09/09/2026

"Huh, this youtube video of mine is doing better than usual. Maybe I should look at the analytics to see how people are landing on it?" "Oh a good chunk of traffic is from post-video recommendations? I wonder which videos these appear after?" "Oh no."

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tjhowse @tj.howse.social.ap.brid.gy · 09/09/2026

I just updated my jellyfin install to v12. During the upgrade I got an error: jellyfin | [04:15:07] [ERR] [17] Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Kestrel: Connection id "0HNOE53KV1DHN", Request id "0HNOE53KV1DHN:00000001": An unhandled exception was thrown by the application. I haven't worked out […]

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tjhowse @tj.howse.social.ap.brid.gy · 09/09/2026

Ooer! Valheim 1.0! I might update my server and my boys and I can start a fresh world. In the past there was some wonk involved in world migration between major versions. Not sure if that's fixed. #valheim

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tjhowse @tj.howse.social.ap.brid.gy · 08/09/2026

PSA: According to the service manual, your delonghi coffee machine counts the number of descale cycles over its lifespan. You cannot bullshit the repair tech. I bet dentists wish they had this for flossing.

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tjhowse @tj.howse.social.ap.brid.gy · 08/09/2026

I just made the etymological link between "specific" and "species". Mind blown.

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tjhowse @tj.howse.social.ap.brid.gy · 08/09/2026

Work laptop: Returned! Authorized_keys: purged, Github tokens and ssh keys: baleeted Long-term-valid-PATs for various other things: Probably forgotten about.

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tjhowse @tj.howse.social.ap.brid.gy · 07/09/2026

THE CURLEWS ARE BACK. WOOO. Curlew watch 2026 begins.

A photo of two well-camoflaged bush stone-curlews in front of a wire fence under a casuarina tree. One is sitting, one is standing.

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tjhowse @tj.howse.social.ap.brid.gy · 07/09/2026

Here's a progress report after two weeks of learning #Morse code using the #Koch method. Making steady progress with about 10-20 minutes of practice a day. I'm about to start lesson 13/40, where the first punctuation is introduced. Sleep is excellent for […] [Original post on howse.social]

A plot of accuracy vs session count. It's bumping around between 75 and 100%. When each new lesson starts the accuracy dips down, then recovers back up to 98%.

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tjhowse @tj.howse.social.ap.brid.gy · 06/09/2026

Good christ I forgot how great #Kdenlive is. I cut my teeth on adobe premier, then hopped between various junk, landed on davinci resolve for a few years. Now I've switched entirely to Kdenlive and it is awesome. It's got some rough edges, but it does the thing with minimal fuss. Love it […]

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tjhowse @tj.howse.social.ap.brid.gy · 06/09/2026

Here, you vertical dogs. Is this what you want? youtube.com/shorts/zCY1K8DXKTc

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tjhowse @tj.howse.social.ap.brid.gy · 06/09/2026

I just spent ages learning how to do a lock-on motion tracking effect in kdenlive, then decided I hated the effect and deleted it. At least I learned a new skill!

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tjhowse @tj.howse.social.ap.brid.gy · 06/09/2026

I am grudgingly editing together my first youtube short. Waste of good pixels, if you ask me.

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tjhowse @tj.howse.social.ap.brid.gy · 05/09/2026

Here's a video about the new widget I made to make it easier, safer and faster to make the stainless steel rings I use to make welded chainmail. youtu.be/xvI0ZJVj6hY

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tjhowse @tj.howse.social.ap.brid.gy · 05/09/2026

A major point of friction with android and linux USB interop is copying large video files. It often gets fails, or appears to fail and eventually succeeds. Pain in the bum.

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tjhowse @tj.howse.social.ap.brid.gy · 04/09/2026

I invented this little widget today. It makes winding stainless wire into a coil very easy. Previously I had to guide the wire onto the mandrel with a gloved hand, which was dangerous, painful and error-prone. This guide makes the spirals come out perfect every […] [Original post on howse.social]

A photo of a small cylindrical piece of steel clamped in a bench vice. There is a slot cut in the side of one end, and a stepped internal diameter.

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tjhowse @tj.howse.social.ap.brid.gy · 04/09/2026

Do I seriously not have a 10mm drill bit?

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tjhowse @tj.howse.social.ap.brid.gy · 03/09/2026

New coffee machine part arrived today! Installed it, got sprayed in the face, removed it and moved the hose o-rings over from the old one (pictured), reinstalled it, got a coffee with crema on top for the first time in ages. I hope this is the end of this saga […] [Original post on howse.social]

A photo of a coffee machine part sitting in a cardboard box on a messy workbench. The part has a rectangular base with a cylindrical protrusion. The cylinder is a translucent yellow with a black end.

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tjhowse @tj.howse.social.ap.brid.gy · 02/09/2026

I'm up to lesson 8 in the Koch method for learning Morse code, and I've found I'm sometimes not associating the tones with the letter, but with the position of the key on the keyboard. As an experiment I switched to writing out the letters while listening to […] [Original post on howse.social]

A photo of my notebook covered in rows of meaningless letters, like kkkmmk mmkmk kkmmk mkkmm mkkkkk kmmmmm mkkmm, etc.

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tjhowse @tj.howse.social.ap.brid.gy · 02/09/2026

Currently trying to cross as many Ts and dot as many lower case Is before I end my 8+ year tenure at my current job. Pretty strong anxiety. All the muscle memory for passwords, URLs, file paths, etc are going to become instantly redundant. All my knowledge of the codebases and products: useless […]

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tjhowse @tj.howse.social.ap.brid.gy · 01/09/2026

Hmm. A taste test indicates the habanero I added to this chilli con carne mayyyy be slightly over-spec for the rest of the family. We have rice, cheese and sour cream. We should be ok... Maybe it will mellow out with some simmering...

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tjhowse @tj.howse.social.ap.brid.gy · 31/08/2026

I am slowly progressing through learning Morse code using the Koch method. The accuracy I've managed since starting lesson 6 was 96/98%. After a sleep I hit 100% for the first time. It's been interesting to see how my brain works with a very strictly structured […] [Original post on howse.social]

A screenshot of lwco.net showing a 100% pass on lesson 6 at 20WPM character speed.

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tjhowse @tj.howse.social.ap.brid.gy · 31/08/2026

This setup has strong "mistake" vibes, but nothing concrete. Yet. I'll definitely be on the other side of a stout barrier the first time I power this up.

A photo of a toothed HSS cutting disk on an angle grinder. The angle grinder is bolted to a length of pine.

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tjhowse @tj.howse.social.ap.brid.gy · 31/08/2026

Woo! Found a cheap source of the same stainless wire I've used for the rest of the chainmail. It's not enough to finish off the piece, but it was 40% the price of Bunnings.

A photo of a cardboard box with 12 spools of 15m of 1.6mm stainless steel wire.

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