Neil Hewitt
@neilhewitt.bsky.social
I'm a fat, sarcastic Star Trek fan trying to be less fat and more sarcastic. I write code (mostly C#) and manage teams. All opinions are mine.
I'm having a go at vibe-coding a small app that I need using Claude 4.5 and I'm pretty shocked at how good it is. Things have come a long way in a short timeframe. It's still not something that a non-technical user could feasibly use without any coding experience IMHO.
November 8, 2025 at 10:48 AM
I'm having a go at vibe-coding a small app that I need using Claude 4.5 and I'm pretty shocked at how good it is. Things have come a long way in a short timeframe. It's still not something that a non-technical user could feasibly use without any coding experience IMHO.
So, AWS goes down hard recently because DNS, then Azure goes down hard today because DNS (apparently?). That seems awfully suspicious.
October 29, 2025 at 11:17 PM
So, AWS goes down hard recently because DNS, then Azure goes down hard today because DNS (apparently?). That seems awfully suspicious.
So this is how the world ends. Not with a bang, but drowned in AI slop.
October 27, 2025 at 3:59 PM
So this is how the world ends. Not with a bang, but drowned in AI slop.
I was supposed to be getting an extra hour's sleep last night. Woke up at 3am (AKA 4am the day before) and could not get back to sleep, other than a fitful half-hour nap at 5.30 which ended when I sneezed myself awake. Thanks, body.
October 26, 2025 at 7:53 AM
I was supposed to be getting an extra hour's sleep last night. Woke up at 3am (AKA 4am the day before) and could not get back to sleep, other than a fitful half-hour nap at 5.30 which ended when I sneezed myself awake. Thanks, body.
Just existing in the modern world is exhausting. If I live long enough to see the end of all this bullshit (unlikely, but a man can dream) then I shall be getting righteously drunk to celebrate the eventual unenshittification of the world. One day. I hope.
October 22, 2025 at 3:28 PM
Just existing in the modern world is exhausting. If I live long enough to see the end of all this bullshit (unlikely, but a man can dream) then I shall be getting righteously drunk to celebrate the eventual unenshittification of the world. One day. I hope.
I've got an HP Color LaserJet multi-function workgroup printer that I bought ten years ago. I justified it then by imagining that I was going to use it for my home cockpit project for printing panel surfaces. I didn't. So it's sat about for a decade and has printed < 200 pages in that time. 1/7
October 19, 2025 at 8:35 PM
I've got an HP Color LaserJet multi-function workgroup printer that I bought ten years ago. I justified it then by imagining that I was going to use it for my home cockpit project for printing panel surfaces. I didn't. So it's sat about for a decade and has printed < 200 pages in that time. 1/7
I enjoy many streaming series, but the fact that streamers have almost universally reverted to the weekly drip feed model of broadcast TV is fantastically irritating. I don’t want to be tied to a schedule. Give me everything at once so I can watch it when I want to.
October 5, 2025 at 9:56 PM
I enjoy many streaming series, but the fact that streamers have almost universally reverted to the weekly drip feed model of broadcast TV is fantastically irritating. I don’t want to be tied to a schedule. Give me everything at once so I can watch it when I want to.
So, on the one hand I'm glad there's a petition to stop Digital ID that will doubtless get several million signatures. On the other hand, you have (in theory) to give your name and details to sign it, and I don't trust the government to not put you on their enemies list as a result.
September 26, 2025 at 9:59 AM
So, on the one hand I'm glad there's a petition to stop Digital ID that will doubtless get several million signatures. On the other hand, you have (in theory) to give your name and details to sign it, and I don't trust the government to not put you on their enemies list as a result.
I swear Thameslink’s timetable is specifically designed to ensure I always *just* miss my connection at London Bridge.
September 25, 2025 at 7:49 PM
I swear Thameslink’s timetable is specifically designed to ensure I always *just* miss my connection at London Bridge.
If you think the correct way to verify the truth of a fact is to ask Grok (or any LLM) then I have a bridge to sell you. Real cheap.
September 25, 2025 at 7:39 PM
If you think the correct way to verify the truth of a fact is to ask Grok (or any LLM) then I have a bridge to sell you. Real cheap.
Given that my ongoing foot pain isn't being caused by gout, I'm moving on to a bunion (maybe with associated bursitis) as the suspect. I've ordered some bunion protector / correctors and I'll see if they help at all.
September 16, 2025 at 12:17 PM
Given that my ongoing foot pain isn't being caused by gout, I'm moving on to a bunion (maybe with associated bursitis) as the suspect. I've ordered some bunion protector / correctors and I'll see if they help at all.
Good lord. Will it ever stop raining? Worst. September. Ever.
September 14, 2025 at 6:37 PM
Good lord. Will it ever stop raining? Worst. September. Ever.
Discovered a wall in my office / back bedroom that I thought was a relatively recent stud-framed plasterboard wall is, in fact, plasterboard over the old laths on (maybe) the original frame. Never seen that before. But it's to my advantage. 1/3
September 14, 2025 at 10:44 AM
Discovered a wall in my office / back bedroom that I thought was a relatively recent stud-framed plasterboard wall is, in fact, plasterboard over the old laths on (maybe) the original frame. Never seen that before. But it's to my advantage. 1/3
Minor panic this morning when the folks who came to fit a new garden fence for me didn't think they could get the panels or posts into the garden via the kitchen due to lack of space, and they can't chuck them over the back fence like last time since what was a car park then is now a building site.
September 12, 2025 at 10:04 AM
Minor panic this morning when the folks who came to fit a new garden fence for me didn't think they could get the panels or posts into the garden via the kitchen due to lack of space, and they can't chuck them over the back fence like last time since what was a car park then is now a building site.
It’s reached that point in the year. My heating came on for the first time today. Farewell, summer and hello, autumn.
September 11, 2025 at 7:13 PM
It’s reached that point in the year. My heating came on for the first time today. Farewell, summer and hello, autumn.
The NHS may be creaking a bit, but this morning I called my GP surgery at 8am, was in an appointment by 10am, and am having the required blood test at 2.30pm. Yes, I had to phone and not use an app, which I am grumpy about; but I got what I needed when I needed it.
September 11, 2025 at 11:48 AM
The NHS may be creaking a bit, but this morning I called my GP surgery at 8am, was in an appointment by 10am, and am having the required blood test at 2.30pm. Yes, I had to phone and not use an app, which I am grumpy about; but I got what I needed when I needed it.
For the past two weeks, I've had what I suspected was gout. Classic symptoms - pain in big toe joint, swelling, redness. But it isn't going away. Today I tried exercises to mobilise the joint and it seems like it's improving. So not gout; maybe dislocation? Blood uric acid levels are normal.
September 6, 2025 at 9:14 AM
For the past two weeks, I've had what I suspected was gout. Classic symptoms - pain in big toe joint, swelling, redness. But it isn't going away. Today I tried exercises to mobilise the joint and it seems like it's improving. So not gout; maybe dislocation? Blood uric acid levels are normal.
What lovely weather.
September 3, 2025 at 8:03 AM
What lovely weather.
I made a tape and hanging-things-off rack for my office wall. Obviously I have more tape and things than that but I’m letting the glue dry for 24 hours before I load it up.
August 25, 2025 at 4:06 PM
I made a tape and hanging-things-off rack for my office wall. Obviously I have more tape and things than that but I’m letting the glue dry for 24 hours before I load it up.
When anyone attempts to back up their position by saying ‘I asked ChatGPT/Grok/Gemini/Copilot’ I die inside a little. People who believe that LLMs are authoritative are like people who wear masks below the nose and assume they’re still effective. You know… idiots.
August 23, 2025 at 12:16 PM
When anyone attempts to back up their position by saying ‘I asked ChatGPT/Grok/Gemini/Copilot’ I die inside a little. People who believe that LLMs are authoritative are like people who wear masks below the nose and assume they’re still effective. You know… idiots.
In 2013 I bought a CanoScan scanner, to digitise the large number of family photos I'd found in my parents house after the death of my mother. Just afterwards I moved house and in the ensuing life chaos, I postponed the scanning (it still isn't done). I never even opened the box or tried it out.
August 15, 2025 at 2:19 PM
In 2013 I bought a CanoScan scanner, to digitise the large number of family photos I'd found in my parents house after the death of my mother. Just afterwards I moved house and in the ensuing life chaos, I postponed the scanning (it still isn't done). I never even opened the box or tried it out.
One thing I've learned, as a person who makes things, is that you can never have enough storage space. You can, however, have too little. Which is my current and eternal problem. Short of adding a storage extension to my house (and TBH I've considered it) there's not a lot to do but go vertical.
August 12, 2025 at 7:02 PM
One thing I've learned, as a person who makes things, is that you can never have enough storage space. You can, however, have too little. Which is my current and eternal problem. Short of adding a storage extension to my house (and TBH I've considered it) there's not a lot to do but go vertical.
I've spent the first day of my 'holiday' deep-cleaning my bathroom. I can't clean the whole thing because it's half full of junk that's being collected next week (storage space is not a thing in this house, sadly) but the bits I can see are cleaner than they have been for a long time.
August 7, 2025 at 4:21 PM
I've spent the first day of my 'holiday' deep-cleaning my bathroom. I can't clean the whole thing because it's half full of junk that's being collected next week (storage space is not a thing in this house, sadly) but the bits I can see are cleaner than they have been for a long time.
Got myself a vacuum de-soldering gun. I don't often need to de-solder but I have ruined a couple of boards doing so with the manual solder sucker. I have a combo iron + sucker but it's manual (spring-loaded plunger) and not great.
August 3, 2025 at 8:41 PM
Got myself a vacuum de-soldering gun. I don't often need to de-solder but I have ruined a couple of boards doing so with the manual solder sucker. I have a combo iron + sucker but it's manual (spring-loaded plunger) and not great.
Just had lunch and I am absolutely stuffed. The Mounjaro is definitely doing its job.
July 31, 2025 at 1:36 PM
Just had lunch and I am absolutely stuffed. The Mounjaro is definitely doing its job.