Alex Willmer
@alex.moreati.org.uk
Python and Ansible developer. Recovering Sherlock. Armchair energy pundit. Pun usually intended. He/they.
🐘 @alex@moreati.org.uk https://social.moreati.org.uk/@alex
🐘 @alex@moreati.org.uk https://social.moreati.org.uk/@alex
I finally found the other end of my mystery phone phone cable. It was dangling free, in the back box of the aerial socket, on the opposite wall. Moral: take the faceplates off other sockets, before any cutting holes in the plasterboard. #DIY
November 18, 2025 at 5:15 PM
I finally found the other end of my mystery phone phone cable. It was dangling free, in the back box of the aerial socket, on the opposite wall. Moral: take the faceplates off other sockets, before any cutting holes in the plasterboard. #DIY
Mixed success this weekend. I finally solved what the mystery switch of 9 years does: nothing. It was installed for an electric fireplace that doesn't exist. On the other hand I discovered a mystery phone cable that goes ... somewhere.
November 9, 2025 at 4:55 PM
Mixed success this weekend. I finally solved what the mystery switch of 9 years does: nothing. It was installed for an electric fireplace that doesn't exist. On the other hand I discovered a mystery phone cable that goes ... somewhere.
The National Flashers Association seeks talented designers and programmers for 2026 internships. The positions are unpaid but successful applicants will gain lots of exposure.
November 7, 2025 at 9:40 PM
The National Flashers Association seeks talented designers and programmers for 2026 internships. The positions are unpaid but successful applicants will gain lots of exposure.
Reposted by Alex Willmer
Ganymede may have three separate underground oceans sandwiched between layers of increasingly weird ice.
#space #art by "Aidan's Art"
www.artstation.com/artwork/Wml8GN
#space #art by "Aidan's Art"
www.artstation.com/artwork/Wml8GN
November 5, 2025 at 6:44 PM
Ganymede may have three separate underground oceans sandwiched between layers of increasingly weird ice.
#space #art by "Aidan's Art"
www.artstation.com/artwork/Wml8GN
#space #art by "Aidan's Art"
www.artstation.com/artwork/Wml8GN
Have you seen Python REPL rendering multiple history items on a single line in VS Code's terminal? It's annoying me and so far my web searches haven't uncovered anything. It affects multiple Python versions from xcode-select and from uv. The same Python REPLs are fine in macOS Terminal and Ghostty.
October 26, 2025 at 10:02 AM
Have you seen Python REPL rendering multiple history items on a single line in VS Code's terminal? It's annoying me and so far my web searches haven't uncovered anything. It affects multiple Python versions from xcode-select and from uv. The same Python REPLs are fine in macOS Terminal and Ghostty.
16 kilowatt, watercooled, 3D printed, world record quadcopter www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Iu6...
World's Fastest Drone | Design & Aerodynamics
YouTube video by Mike Bell
www.youtube.com
October 22, 2025 at 10:24 PM
16 kilowatt, watercooled, 3D printed, world record quadcopter www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Iu6...
Reposted by Alex Willmer
The latest news: Heavy street protests in beleaguered North American state
October 19, 2025 at 8:34 AM
The latest news: Heavy street protests in beleaguered North American state
"The format of a file that results from using ar has never been standardized" -- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ar_(Unix)
"Ar, the code is more what you call "guidelines" than actual rules." -- Captain Barbossa, The Black Pearl
"Ar, the code is more what you call "guidelines" than actual rules." -- Captain Barbossa, The Black Pearl
ar (Unix) - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
October 16, 2025 at 5:06 PM
"The format of a file that results from using ar has never been standardized" -- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ar_(Unix)
"Ar, the code is more what you call "guidelines" than actual rules." -- Captain Barbossa, The Black Pearl
"Ar, the code is more what you call "guidelines" than actual rules." -- Captain Barbossa, The Black Pearl
Reposted by Alex Willmer
A photonic laser thruster demonstration at the 1.1 mN level:
youtu.be/QICCrlmBjvY
A laser beam is recycled between a lightsail and precisely aligned mirrors to produce far more thrust per watt than you'd expect from a single reflection. Can it work over long distances?
youtu.be/QICCrlmBjvY
A laser beam is recycled between a lightsail and precisely aligned mirrors to produce far more thrust per watt than you'd expect from a single reflection. Can it work over long distances?
October 16, 2025 at 9:52 AM
A photonic laser thruster demonstration at the 1.1 mN level:
youtu.be/QICCrlmBjvY
A laser beam is recycled between a lightsail and precisely aligned mirrors to produce far more thrust per watt than you'd expect from a single reflection. Can it work over long distances?
youtu.be/QICCrlmBjvY
A laser beam is recycled between a lightsail and precisely aligned mirrors to produce far more thrust per watt than you'd expect from a single reflection. Can it work over long distances?
lzma-cf 0.0.4 is out with wheels for Linux, macOS, and now Windows pypi.org/project/lzma...; lzma-cf supports multithreaded compression and decompression of .xz files and other LZMA based formats. #Python
Client Challenge
pypi.org
October 16, 2025 at 9:06 AM
lzma-cf 0.0.4 is out with wheels for Linux, macOS, and now Windows pypi.org/project/lzma...; lzma-cf supports multithreaded compression and decompression of .xz files and other LZMA based formats. #Python
Got Windows wheel of lzma-cf working today. Tomorrow I'll try replicating that in Github Actions.
October 14, 2025 at 6:21 PM
Got Windows wheel of lzma-cf working today. Tomorrow I'll try replicating that in Github Actions.
A very literal replay attack: record the server's modem noises to a casette tape, dial the server from a phone, play the casette into the handset adventofcomputing.libsyn.com/episode-167-...
Advent of Computing: Episode 167 - The Tape That Unwound Itself
Have you ever had a computer do something you can't explain? Have you ever thought a machine had a mind of its own? In 1971 Met Life was faced with this exact conundrum. Their tape drives, for some re...
adventofcomputing.libsyn.com
October 14, 2025 at 1:30 PM
A very literal replay attack: record the server's modem noises to a casette tape, dial the server from a phone, play the casette into the handset adventofcomputing.libsyn.com/episode-167-...
Tonight I've been poking SFP modules with RJ45 for copper ethernet, that have EEPROMs claiming they're for fibre optic forum.openwrt.org/t/go-fiberea... I don't think I'll buy SFP modules from AliExpress again.
Go-Fibereasy SFP module i2c/eeprom investgation (on Bpi-R4)
This thread is intended more as a work log than a request for help. Scenario: I have a Banana Pi BPi-R4, and 3 SFP (possibly SFP+) to RJ45 modules from seller Go-Fibereasy on Aliexpress, with various...
forum.openwrt.org
October 13, 2025 at 10:41 PM
Tonight I've been poking SFP modules with RJ45 for copper ethernet, that have EEPROMs claiming they're for fibre optic forum.openwrt.org/t/go-fiberea... I don't think I'll buy SFP modules from AliExpress again.
"the horses got lost. They were at a place called Wilson Crescent. They came around the crescent the wrong way and exited on the east side. Had they exited on the north side they'd have gone back to Hyde Park" -- Lt Col Matt Woodward, www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
TIL horses play Mornington Crescent
TIL horses play Mornington Crescent
Injured runaway horse retires from military service
Quaker, 15, was one of five Household Cavalry horses spooked while on an exercise in Belgravia.
www.bbc.co.uk
October 11, 2025 at 9:50 AM
"the horses got lost. They were at a place called Wilson Crescent. They came around the crescent the wrong way and exited on the east side. Had they exited on the north side they'd have gone back to Hyde Park" -- Lt Col Matt Woodward, www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
TIL horses play Mornington Crescent
TIL horses play Mornington Crescent
Announcing lzma-cf 0.0.3 pypi.org/project/lzma... Now with 1000% more pre-compiled wheels on Linux and macOS pypi.org/project/lzma...
Client Challenge
pypi.org
October 9, 2025 at 8:38 AM
Announcing lzma-cf 0.0.3 pypi.org/project/lzma... Now with 1000% more pre-compiled wheels on Linux and macOS pypi.org/project/lzma...
Reposted by Alex Willmer
The S1500 is the largest floating wind turbine ever launched.
It's 60m long, 40m in diameter and houses 12 turbine-generators in its annular duct, generating potentially 1.2 MWe travelling down a high voltage tether to the ground.
Belongs to Beijing SAWES Energy Technology Co.
It's 60m long, 40m in diameter and houses 12 turbine-generators in its annular duct, generating potentially 1.2 MWe travelling down a high voltage tether to the ground.
Belongs to Beijing SAWES Energy Technology Co.
October 5, 2025 at 9:04 PM
The S1500 is the largest floating wind turbine ever launched.
It's 60m long, 40m in diameter and houses 12 turbine-generators in its annular duct, generating potentially 1.2 MWe travelling down a high voltage tether to the ground.
Belongs to Beijing SAWES Energy Technology Co.
It's 60m long, 40m in diameter and houses 12 turbine-generators in its annular duct, generating potentially 1.2 MWe travelling down a high voltage tether to the ground.
Belongs to Beijing SAWES Energy Technology Co.
Announcing lzma-cf: multithreaded LZMA for .xz files in Python; through the power of CFFI and standing on the shoulders of PyPy pypi.org/project/lzma... #Python
October 3, 2025 at 4:24 PM
Announcing lzma-cf: multithreaded LZMA for .xz files in Python; through the power of CFFI and standing on the shoulders of PyPy pypi.org/project/lzma... #Python
Can an 8 x NVIDIA Blackwell Ultra SXM HGX B300 run Crysis? Or less flippantly: if/when the arse falls out of the AI market, could I buy a liquidated AI accelerator to use as a GPU? Or are they too specialised to be repurposed? Could another branch of computing snap them up, e.g. fluid dynamics?
September 29, 2025 at 2:59 PM
Can an 8 x NVIDIA Blackwell Ultra SXM HGX B300 run Crysis? Or less flippantly: if/when the arse falls out of the AI market, could I buy a liquidated AI accelerator to use as a GPU? Or are they too specialised to be repurposed? Could another branch of computing snap them up, e.g. fluid dynamics?
Reposted by Alex Willmer
Talk Of Fascism Dangerous, Warns Ministry Of Compliance
September 26, 2025 at 4:00 PM
Talk Of Fascism Dangerous, Warns Ministry Of Compliance
Reposted by Alex Willmer
This is huge: “A drug that provides near-perfect protection against H.I.V. with shots just twice a year will be made available at $40 per patient annually in low- and middle-income countries, offering new hope… making lenacapavir a realistic choice in countries with constrained resources.”
Philanthropies Strike a Promising Deal to Turn Back H.I.V.
www.nytimes.com
September 24, 2025 at 12:27 PM
This is huge: “A drug that provides near-perfect protection against H.I.V. with shots just twice a year will be made available at $40 per patient annually in low- and middle-income countries, offering new hope… making lenacapavir a realistic choice in countries with constrained resources.”
PyCon UK fixed my toilet.
If your fill valve is topping up your cistern every couple of hours, try turning off the water and visiting a Python conference for a few days. When you get home note the empty cistern and turn the water back on. The problem may have resolved itself. #PyConUK
If your fill valve is topping up your cistern every couple of hours, try turning off the water and visiting a Python conference for a few days. When you get home note the empty cistern and turn the water back on. The problem may have resolved itself. #PyConUK
September 23, 2025 at 8:52 AM
PyCon UK fixed my toilet.
If your fill valve is topping up your cistern every couple of hours, try turning off the water and visiting a Python conference for a few days. When you get home note the empty cistern and turn the water back on. The problem may have resolved itself. #PyConUK
If your fill valve is topping up your cistern every couple of hours, try turning off the water and visiting a Python conference for a few days. When you get home note the empty cistern and turn the water back on. The problem may have resolved itself. #PyConUK
When is a digit simultaneously a number and not a number? When you try to internationalise an English centric programming language www.youtube.com/watch?v=ri3W... #PyConUK
PYCON UK 2025: Localization and translation of programming languages, Felienne Hermans
YouTube video by PyCon UK
www.youtube.com
September 21, 2025 at 6:58 AM
When is a digit simultaneously a number and not a number? When you try to internationalise an English centric programming language www.youtube.com/watch?v=ri3W... #PyConUK
Reposted by Alex Willmer
Mitogen 0.3.29 is out with support for Python 3.14
🐍 https://pypi.org/project/mitogen/0.3.29/
🗒️ https://mitogen.networkgenomics.com/changelog.html
🐍 https://pypi.org/project/mitogen/0.3.29/
🗒️ https://mitogen.networkgenomics.com/changelog.html
Client Challenge
pypi.org
September 18, 2025 at 10:50 PM
Mitogen 0.3.29 is out with support for Python 3.14
🐍 https://pypi.org/project/mitogen/0.3.29/
🗒️ https://mitogen.networkgenomics.com/changelog.html
🐍 https://pypi.org/project/mitogen/0.3.29/
🗒️ https://mitogen.networkgenomics.com/changelog.html
Reposted by Alex Willmer
1999: Global solar power exceeds 1000 MW.
2012: Global solar power exceeds 100,000 MW.
2022: Global solar power exceeds 1,000,000 MW.
2024: Global solar power exceeds 2,000,000 MW.
2012: Global solar power exceeds 100,000 MW.
2022: Global solar power exceeds 1,000,000 MW.
2024: Global solar power exceeds 2,000,000 MW.
September 18, 2025 at 9:34 PM
1999: Global solar power exceeds 1000 MW.
2012: Global solar power exceeds 100,000 MW.
2022: Global solar power exceeds 1,000,000 MW.
2024: Global solar power exceeds 2,000,000 MW.
2012: Global solar power exceeds 100,000 MW.
2022: Global solar power exceeds 1,000,000 MW.
2024: Global solar power exceeds 2,000,000 MW.
> To reduce waste, we encourage you to bring your own lanyard
Slap me and call me a one hoopy frood, I've remembered to pack my lanyard (and my towel) #PyConUK
Slap me and call me a one hoopy frood, I've remembered to pack my lanyard (and my towel) #PyConUK
September 18, 2025 at 5:41 PM
> To reduce waste, we encourage you to bring your own lanyard
Slap me and call me a one hoopy frood, I've remembered to pack my lanyard (and my towel) #PyConUK
Slap me and call me a one hoopy frood, I've remembered to pack my lanyard (and my towel) #PyConUK