iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Andrew Braybrook @uridiumauthor.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

Had a productive meeting with my pension financial advisor. More importantly, we tested the new limited edition Jaffa Cake Digestives, and the new mango Jaffa Cakes, all taken with tea and Jo-Nuts. Decided how much to pay myself, since I already bought my birthday and Christmas presents to me.

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Andrew Braybrook @uridiumauthor.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

The Draco isn`t available yet anyway. There will doubtless be more developments in the next few years. I wondered whether it wouldn`t be easier to have a pretend box that you tell it what you want to photograph and it downloads a picture it prepared earlier from Hubble! We`d never notice.

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Andrew Braybrook @uridiumauthor.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Excellent, I`m envious. I am considering that a smart scope is the right way for astrophotography, except for planets, where biggest is best! Having borrowed a Dwarflabs Dwarf 2, I see how easy it is for it to find targets. Did you see the video comparing the new DL Draco to the S50 Pro?

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Andrew Braybrook @uridiumauthor.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Modern science and industry can do better!

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Andrew Braybrook @uridiumauthor.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Same principle. Mostly it's destructive to getting a sharp image. What gear do you have?

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Andrew Braybrook @uridiumauthor.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Partly condensation, or dew, which can be dealt with by heaters or a dew-shield tube on the front of the 'scope. The other part is avoiding warm air swirling around inside the 'scope. Letting everything cool to the ambient outside temperature makes for clearer viewing.

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Andrew Braybrook @uridiumauthor.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

The 'scope is out in the garden cooling off again. Hoping for clear skies to the east for Saturn. I have a 5mm eyepiece I need to try out for even more magnification, about the most this beasty can do, 320X. Set the legs a bit shorter today as I was on tippy-toes for most of Friday's observations.

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Andrew Braybrook @uridiumauthor.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Finderscope X-hairs need illumination for astronomy. Black lines on a black background are no use. As always, I left the illuminator on last time, so the batteries were spent. A time-out auto-off would be a good feature. Fortunately I have 3 devices, identical threads, 3 different battery types.

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Andrew Braybrook @uridiumauthor.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Got the 8" 'scope out in the garden to see Saturn, since it is coming into opposition any day now. Not seen it that clearly before, very nice. 7mm eyepiece, no Barlow, that made it twice as big but three times fuzzier. Dew shield needs more encouragement to be round, not egg-shaped.

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Andrew Braybrook @uridiumauthor.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Interesting that AI convinced me that there was insufficient RAM in my DAC to perform the upgrade, and today it tells me there`s plenty of room in there. So seemingly it should be possible so I need to buy yet another micro SD card to experiment with since it currently is dependent on the last one.

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Andrew Braybrook @uridiumauthor.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

It's not the shiny result I wanted. Hoping that the retailer gets a message from the manufacturer that it should be possible to update the firmware inside, and here's the micro SD card you need, just swap it in and run it, then send it back.

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Andrew Braybrook @uridiumauthor.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

This DAC streamer upgrade process is such madness making a Windows PC create a Unix micro DS card layout, and then when you pop it in the DAC and fire it up, it should blank out the display and we wait for 10 minutes and turn it off and on, fingers crossed. That`s it: no messages, no progress bar.

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Andrew Braybrook @uridiumauthor.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

At some point they may fix gapless and tell me how to get the firmware in the box updated properly. On the plus side, I found out the iPad mconnect app can make my amplifier do the streaming and DACcing as well, in surround sound if I want, so there was a new light in the darkness of disappointment.

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Andrew Braybrook @uridiumauthor.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Gapless playback doesn`t work on it either, so I decided to wire my old streamer to the new DAC so they each have half the job. The streamer is familiar, and does gapless playback, then it sends the digitals to the new DAC, and that sends the XLR analogues to the amp. Sounds lovely and detailed.

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Andrew Braybrook @uridiumauthor.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

New DAC Streamer was bricked this morning. It would not talk to the ethernet since the the update failed. AI persuaded me to try a different configuration of the update, which mercifully worked. However, the OS is now on my micro SD card in the back forever. Not the update I wanted.

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Andrew Braybrook @uridiumauthor.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Magnetar is the same team from Oppo, after they dropped Blu-ray players, so they have the same mechanisms, I am led to believe. Nice to know there is continuity.

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Andrew Braybrook @uridiumauthor.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

I have the first 6 Marillion Blu-rays and play them. Haven`t get got into ripping Blu-ray audio and it`s overtaken us by going Dolby Atmos anyway. Using FLAC files, and my Yamaha amp can make a fair go of expanding stereo to surround. Streamer plays stereo, Oppo BD can play 5.1 FLACs.

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Andrew Braybrook @uridiumauthor.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Another result of a new streamer is that I now have to get used to a new interface on the iPad, namely mconnect, to select songs to play. With the v1 firmware it didn`t take long to crash the streamer. Oh, and I now have a seventh remote control. Now where`s that gaffer tape to make one BIG remote?

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Andrew Braybrook @uridiumauthor.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Got a new streamer to try out. Little bit clearer on the good stuff but songs from the metal loudness wars are worse. Also need to do a firmware update, but the first update from v1 needs a micro SD card and I don`t have a spare until Saturday. Still, I can play the good stuff and burn in.

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Andrew Braybrook @uridiumauthor.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

I looked at song froms many of Magnum CDs. Earlier albums have plenty of headroom, no clipping. Remasters and the after hiatus albums especially are over-cooked. I never liked the sound quality of the new albums, the clipping causes distortion. Hoping for remasters, please. See Rush - Vapor Trails.

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Andrew Braybrook @uridiumauthor.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Having a little play with Audacity, as AI suggested, to calm down some CD tracks that have clearly been pushed too loud, the waveform is just a big block. The Clip Fix scales down most values but tries to put the peaks back. Trying to make something out of nothing, but I now hear some percussion.

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Andrew Braybrook @uridiumauthor.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Just read an article that "proves" time travel. A 160 year old painting that depicts someone walking and holding something. The suggestion is that it`s a mobile phone or tablet. Now I`m no expert, but a painting isn`t proof of anything, just like in the AI age, even a photo is not proof of anything.

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Andrew Braybrook @uridiumauthor.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

I was disappointed by AI telling me that my Terminator 2, Chatmed, and Memoirs of a Geisha film posters that have real-looking autographs are most likely faked by getting a machine to do the signatures. They only advertised about 3 of each, so they could have been genuine. Still, nice posters.

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Andrew Braybrook @uridiumauthor.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Cheers! We were all learning back then, and already using all the "easy" RAM and starting to think of ways to use the "hidden" RAM, given that we only had a single tape load, and of course a single tape save. Amazing to think that these days there is on-the-fly diskette loading on the C64.

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Andrew Braybrook @uridiumauthor.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

It is not I, but I like where it is going!

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Andrew Braybrook @uridiumauthor.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Since Mr. Rignall's lovely book has a whole page of my Paradroid artwork, I should sign it.

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Andrew Braybrook @uridiumauthor.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

In my case, I just need help with understanding the graphics tools that are now available. All the programming outside of SFML is me. I have already had some artistic assistance. We can't wait for me to do all the graphics as well as the design and programming, it'll take forever.

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Andrew Braybrook @uridiumauthor.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

I'm not at a stage where I want to get AI to do any "creative" work. It's behaving as a colleague who knows how to do everything and is telling me how, not what, to do. So it's being useful and encouraging, which is what I need. Incidentally, I don't think it believes that I wrote Uridium.

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Andrew Braybrook @uridiumauthor.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

Had a chat with AI about how I need to create graphics for this new piece. I told it what I've got so far, and said it looked too fast now. We agreed my calculations were correct, but 60fps needs a bit more care and attention. I saved 14 pages of chat and recommendations. Lots of work there.

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Andrew Braybrook @uridiumauthor.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

Unexpected minor tax rebate received, must have overpaid last year. I should be doing the maths on this, I suppose. Pays for some new isolation pucks I just ordered. AI told me to Blu-tak a £2 coin to the top of my Blu-ray player in the meantime. And yes, that helps! Though I used 3 2p coins.

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Andrew Braybrook @uridiumauthor.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

In the DIY world, there's no-one to check it, which sounds bad. My consumer unit and RCD are 45 years old and standards have changed, plus we are putting ever-more strain on electricity. Likely your gear is OK as solar cells had been around for a while. Have a chat with AI.

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Andrew Braybrook @uridiumauthor.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

MY RCD is an 80A 100mA job, but for a car charger it would be better to go 100A, and the big no-no is that these days they are limited to 30mA trip as 100mA could take a person out. The modern consumer units also have isolated neutrals (somehow). Would have prevented my 1986 shocks in the office.

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Andrew Braybrook @uridiumauthor.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

Had a discussion with AI about getting one of these plug-in solar panels, since I don`t have a south-facing roof. Turns out that my main RCD switch is not good enough. Adding a car charger option also revealed that my consumer unit is unsuitable. Some modern upgrades needed.

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Andrew Braybrook @uridiumauthor.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

The really nice clean recordings do, of course, come across best. There are still vast differences in the recording volumes so adjustments need to be made from song to song. Since letting the streamer set the volume caused all manner of trouble, I await the firmware fix.

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Andrew Braybrook @uridiumauthor.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

Had more discussions with AI about optimising my hi-fi. After it insulted my lovely Yamaha RX-A8A, it recommended using the analogue input and Pure Direct Mode to get the sound cleanly to the Bryston power amp. Also had me move the NAS and the ethernet switch away from the streamer. Does sound nice!

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Andrew Braybrook @uridiumauthor.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

That was done in a mighty hurry. You'd think they'd have a backup and redo it. Seemingly that's exactly what happened to Vapor Trails and eventually they released it cleaner. Hope they didn't have to remix it from scratch.

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Andrew Braybrook @uridiumauthor.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

Yes, the suits found a way to intercept musicians' pay-cheques.

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Andrew Braybrook @uridiumauthor.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

I believe they're on the case. I'm not sure it applies the volume wrongly, it just stops playing for half a second. It's something to do with my basic DLNA, making it get the tag a different way, which sometimes interrupts the currently playing track. How it works is invisible to me.

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Andrew Braybrook @uridiumauthor.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

Sounds like faulty compression to me. What has streaming ever done for music?

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Andrew Braybrook @uridiumauthor.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

Another good point. That doesn't work since radio went digital, as they resample all the music data to again level the volume and potentially save some bytes on their music server disks. Also means they can broadcast less bytes on DAB.

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Andrew Braybrook @uridiumauthor.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

We're probably all dyslexic by now, as the print size shrinks!

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Andrew Braybrook @uridiumauthor.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

Totally agree. Today's modern streaming madness isn't good for the artists, and not for us when versions disappear or get "upgraded" in a downwards direction. Stay independent. Keep those discs spinning. I just missed 8-track. Was it all just about less rewinding?

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Andrew Braybrook @uridiumauthor.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

Not quite, AAA makes vinyl, not a CD, sorry. The letters were for recorded, mixed, and mastered. The same podcast said the third letter on CDs was always D because CDs just are digital, wasting ink. The early all-digital mixes were (only) using 20-bit maths, so not enough for today's 24-bit HD.

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Andrew Braybrook @uridiumauthor.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

They always knew that packing the data in a lossy way would lose a bit of detail. Packing it less, loses less. With good gear, you will start to notice the difference between MP3 and FLAC files made from the CDs, which packs the data losslessly and is restored to pristine for playback.

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Andrew Braybrook @uridiumauthor.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

Turning up the volume should be up to us, right? With our equipment controls. There were plenty of remasters where there had been spare unused high bits, going louder allowed better accuracy in the low bits. Brought it home to me when Rush's Vapor Trails had to be reissued as it was so over-cooked.

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Andrew Braybrook @uridiumauthor.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

I watched a podcast where they examined new remasters and new albums and noted the dynamics are less in new stuff because they push the volume high, which reduces detail and can add distortion. The old version of the CD might be able to breathe better and have more contrast. Louder isn't better.

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Andrew Braybrook @uridiumauthor.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

To the issue of music volume normalisation, then. All albums are set up so the tracks are similar volumes. Compilation albums have each track normalised too. Only recently have I noticed how different some albums are, likely the producer volume wars where they do new stuff loud and clip the data.

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Andrew Braybrook @uridiumauthor.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

Yes, it would be a pain for the player to scan a 20-minute song every time for the loudest part. Logical to do it when creating the file once. Still, the tag is at the end of the file, not the best place for a quick read. There was a DSP effect to normalise at rip time, I never used that.

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Andrew Braybrook @uridiumauthor.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

I had to clear my streaming playlist, where data might be lurking, turn on levelling to quiet and any other setting, play a song, turn off levelling and the other setting so it saves all the settings. Switch off for 5 minutes, then back on, and so far it's OK. Well done AI Sherlock. Relief!

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Andrew Braybrook @uridiumauthor.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

Worse, it wasn't off when I switched it off. Then I told AI which software I used to make the FLAC data and it said: "Aha, that is putting volume tags in your data by default." Since Tuesday, when I tried out volume levelling, it has been reading the tags and caching info, and it trips itself up.

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