Andy Davidson
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andyd.net
Andy Davidson
@andyd.net
290 followers 240 following 220 posts
into: Sheffield 🌇, cooking & eating 🍽️, ip connectivity 🛜, travel ✈️, cricket 🏏 , parkrun 🏃, democracy

work: CTO at ASK4 (AS41230, an access ISP), Chair at IXLeeds (an IXP), nerd at Asteroid (an IX PaaS). Proudly and formerly of LONAP, Allegro, HE, etc
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andyd.net
I am a legend at returning home from a holiday. Just look at this. FIVE loads of washing cleaned in one day. What a hero.
August 30, 2025 at 6:50 PM
andyd.net
Taking my son to Headingley cricket ground tonight for the first time and couldn’t be more excited
August 15, 2025 at 3:31 PM
andyd.net
And so, farewell ebuyer. Acta est fabula, plaudite!
I enjoyed working there in pre Howden Dyke days & met many friends who positively shaped my life. It was where I built my first BGP networks, 41021 (warehouse) and 41029 (website) -- the latter connected to LONAP. 41029 is now reassigned.
August 13, 2025 at 10:15 AM
andyd.net
Running the IOS26 beta on my iPad and reflecting on how the tablet and desktop look and feel are now very similar. Is it time to predict the end of the laptop form factor?
July 5, 2025 at 11:04 AM
andyd.net
Cooking almost authentic lamb kebabs from Modern today and somehow have no soy sauce!! Panic’d and using Henderson’s Relish and salt in a truly Sheffield remix…..
July 5, 2025 at 10:57 AM
andyd.net
There’s ordinary perfection, and then there’s Kylie. Thank you, Kylie, for visiting Sheffield (the UK’s undisputed capital of cool) during the Tension tour. You were fantastic.
May 24, 2025 at 11:17 AM
andyd.net
An eloquent letter to the prime minister that needs more oxygen. Encouraging immigration is the most pro-UK policy that one could dream of.
tanjabueltmann.net Tanja Bueltmann @tanjabueltmann.net · May 12
My letter to the Prime Minister. #immigration
Slightly amended so I can fit this here: I am writing to you as an immigrant who chose to make the UK my home. As someone who is now also a British citizen. And as a German-born historian who understands where the complete normalisation of the far right can end. I write to say: For shame! I first came to the UK in the 1990s for a visit with my grandmother. Objectively, much was backwards here. No mixer taps in the bathroom; awful ‘bread’; and strings had to be pulled to switch on lights. But however I felt about this, my own string had been pulled: I loved this Cool Britannia. It was quite possibly then that I decided that the UK was to be my home. When I arrived to settle here permanently, I made a choice: to contribute my skills, my knowledge—all I have to offer—to this country rather than another one. I am deeply disgusted by your comment today that immigration has done ‘incalculable damage’ to the country. This is the language of the far right. It is insulting, hateful & will fuel xenophobia. And it is just wrong. Migration is a normal part of the human existence. None of us would be where we are without it. Open your fridge and you will see migration. Immigrants help make the UK tick every single day, whether we clean toilets in our hospitals or provide care for the elderly; whether we empty our bins or carry out cancer research. We are mothers, sons-in-law, aunts and uncles, friends, neighbours and colleagues. I ask you not tell me that you do not mean me. I know that you do not—at least not primarily—mean a white woman from Europe who has a PhD. But who do you mean? And, much more importantly, who do you think those racists who were engaged in riots on our streets last summer think you mean? Anti-immigration narratives have defined UK policymaking for the best part of two decades. And fundamentally so. They were the key driver in delivering Brexit, for example, and, as such, have directly limited the rights and opportunities of British citizens. This obsessive focus on immigration as the ‘problem’—that is the real problem. And it is consistently delivering poor outcomes for the UK. Instead of tackling this, you are choosing to consolidate it, sowing divisions along the way. You may point me to polling and tell me that this is what voters want. Do they? I am not surprised at all that over 50% of voters might say they want to see immigration reduced if that is the question they are being asked. What we need to know is what they would answer to the question: “Would you like to see immigration reduced? What this would mean for you and your local community is XYZ.” That is not how surveys can ask questions, but governments absolutely can choose to make policy using such a more informed position. Prime Minister, you continue to talk a lot about making the tough choices. But let’s be clear: setting immigrants up as the ‘other’, as a scapegoat—describing us as a threat ‘pulling the country apart’, a ‘squalid chapter’, a risk that might make the UK an ‘island of strangers’—these are not tough choices at all. These are the easy choices. They are the choices that populists make who have no solutions to the real problems a country faces. What I would like to know, Prime Minister, is what you will do when your policies lead to the implosion of the UK’s Higher Education sector. What you will tell communities when they can no longer provide any care for the elderly. The policies you announced today will not solve anything at all. They will have exclusively negative impacts. For those immediately affected; for our communities; and for our economy. Being pro-immigration—it is progressive, yes, but the much more crucial point is that it is also the most pro-UK policy approach that any politician in the country can pursue. And you are choosing to do the opposite. This, Prime Minister, is the real damage—and it will be very calculable indeed. Tanja Bueltmann
May 12, 2025 at 5:40 PM
andyd.net
Tonight we watched the film Conclave. I was instantly transported back in time to all the Wednesday evening RIPE NCC board elections, which used papal voting for two seats. No white smoke, no food for we voters. It was brutal and effective.
May 6, 2025 at 9:49 PM
andyd.net
The IPv4 internet is one million prefixes large at last. I personally configured my first eBGP session on 9th June 2006 and there were rather.... fewer.

ebyr-hd-2821-kcom#show ip bgp sum
BGP router identifier xxxx, local AS number 41021
191006 network entries using 22347702 bytes of memory
bot.bgpstuff.net bot.bgpstuff.net @bot.bgpstuff.net · Apr 23
I see 1000028 IPv4 prefixes. This is 240 more prefixes than 6 hours ago and 970 more than a week ago. 61.78% of prefixes are /24.
April 24, 2025 at 2:30 PM
andyd.net
Easter Day grill, Easter Day shirt.
April 21, 2025 at 1:59 PM
andyd.net
New series of interior design masters on iPlayer! 🚨
April 13, 2025 at 7:28 PM
andyd.net
I’ve torn my left tendon (whatever that means) so will be hanging up the running shirts for a while. It means those shirts won’t fit after this period of enforced rest and that I’m likely to be even more unbearable for a while.
April 11, 2025 at 9:26 PM
andyd.net
An interesting article about the GB press’ reporting on Le Pen’s conviction.
April 1, 2025 at 8:16 PM
andyd.net
Former fitness person bore message to follow: Can’t run for a while because of some Achilles tendinopathy. Getting old is terrible. I clearly need to do something to improve my muscle capacity before I can add running distance again. Wish there were _good_ spin classes in Sheffield.
March 26, 2025 at 7:53 PM
andyd.net
This thread is perfect. Can’t wait to validate on my next trip to Japan. 🍛
katch.bsky.social Katch, Purveyor of Mashed Potatoes 🦃 @katch.bsky.social · Mar 11
❦ The Great Japan Instant Curry Review Thread 🧵

The instant curry section of a Japanese grocery store is a sacred space of affordability, convenience, & yumminess. As a gourmand in these parts, I will post my brief, unvarnished opinions.

☞ Ratings out of 10. A ⁵⁄₁₀ is good, though not exceptional.
A photograph of a fairly average single-serving instant curry selection at a Japanese grocery store.
March 18, 2025 at 8:08 PM
Reposted by Andy Davidson
guykawasaki.bsky.social
After interviewing @meredithmeredith.bsky.social at SXSW, I have come to the conclusion that the only way to protect your data is to not let it be collected…
March 13, 2025 at 1:48 AM
andyd.net
Getting to grips with writing automations in Home Assistant. :)
A push notification to my watch reading “ENERGY WASTE: Porch door is open for 10 mins”
March 9, 2025 at 9:07 PM
andyd.net
Anyone who’s studied BGP updates knows the magic of spotting two adjacent transit-free networks: it’s a window into the relationships in the rest of the AS_PATH. But what about when you see more than two? My friend Anurag Bhatia digs into that in this fantastic post: anuragbhatia.com/post/2025/03...
More than two tier 1 ASNs in the AS_PATH
This post analyses cases where more than two tier 1 ASNs appear in the AS_PATH
anuragbhatia.com
March 9, 2025 at 7:59 PM
Reposted by Andy Davidson
sheffielduni.bsky.social
Sheffield and South Yorkshire welcomes international students and we’ve coordinated with @sheffieldhallamuni.bsky.social on a statement reiterating our support and our community leaders support for international students. Read more 👇

#WeAreInternational

www.sheffield.ac.uk/news/leaders...
Leaders reiterate their support for international students in South Yorkshire
Regional leaders in South Yorkshire have reiterated their support for international students.
www.sheffield.ac.uk
March 4, 2025 at 12:31 PM
andyd.net
This time of year is good for not very good runners to remember they almost sort of like it.
March 2, 2025 at 1:33 PM
andyd.net
You’re not supposed to have favorite parkruns - just like you’re not supposed to have favorite kids. But if it were allowed, this one might just be the one.
A photograph of your correspondent by the Holyrood parkrun start line.
February 22, 2025 at 11:12 AM
andyd.net
Sometimes I consider upgrading my Peloton account to paid - until I try a hotel bike. At the Edinburgh Carlton today, and it’s fallen off activation. Usually they have no connectivity, I suppose. If I were paying, I’d be apoplectic. Why is it so bad, and why isn’t Peloton fixing this?
February 20, 2025 at 7:35 PM
Reposted by Andy Davidson
portfast.bsky.social
I find the medium of ICMP really allows me to express myself.
bgp.tools BGP.Tools @bgp.tools · Feb 17
Ooh a cat drawn out by making IP addresses ping!

bgp.tools/prefix/185.8... ( by @portfast.bsky.social )
A screenshot of bgp.tools, showing an IP block from portfast Ltd, the hilbert IP map displays a cat
February 17, 2025 at 5:44 PM
andyd.net
The first rule of mild club is, if you see a mild you buy the mild
The second rule of mild club is, if you see a mild YOU BUY the mild
If someone says stop or goes limp, the mild should not have been 5.3%
One mild at a time
No halves, no thirds
If this is your first time at mild club, you drink.
February 6, 2025 at 6:31 PM
andyd.net
The thought process started with, do we have a nice chianti to go with this lasagne I’ve made. The thought process continued via, “does an orange Ricard sour work as a concept?” Anyway, yes it does.
January 31, 2025 at 8:29 PM