Deri Jones
@derijones.bsky.social
Engineer/surveyor and hillbilly. Designer of giant Airfix kits for boatbuilding and 3D laser scanner of everything from aircraft to theatres.
Same with technicians at Uni - they act as the hive mind of how to do things when academics move on/up the tree. They're the ones who know where the obscure bits of kit are, what it can actually do (not what the sales brochure says it can do!) and what good results actually look like.
December 10, 2025 at 9:09 AM
Same with technicians at Uni - they act as the hive mind of how to do things when academics move on/up the tree. They're the ones who know where the obscure bits of kit are, what it can actually do (not what the sales brochure says it can do!) and what good results actually look like.
Aliens (and Alien) for me - I watched it on a lousy black and white portable telly which completely freaked me out, I've never watched it again.
Visiting the Geiger museum in Gruyere was no problem, think it was just the claustrophobic effect of the B&W telly and a cracking film.
Visiting the Geiger museum in Gruyere was no problem, think it was just the claustrophobic effect of the B&W telly and a cracking film.
December 9, 2025 at 6:08 PM
Aliens (and Alien) for me - I watched it on a lousy black and white portable telly which completely freaked me out, I've never watched it again.
Visiting the Geiger museum in Gruyere was no problem, think it was just the claustrophobic effect of the B&W telly and a cracking film.
Visiting the Geiger museum in Gruyere was no problem, think it was just the claustrophobic effect of the B&W telly and a cracking film.
Probably happened on more than occasion ;)
December 9, 2025 at 5:22 PM
Probably happened on more than occasion ;)
If you want to follow a build, Parkol Marine (parkol.co.uk) in Whitby have great photos on their Facebook page (this is their Middlesborough site). They have the occasional open day where you can look round the Whitby yard.
UK Boat Builders ›› Parkol Marine Engineering, Whitby
At Parkol we cover all aspects of Boat Building, Repair & Maintenance with pride. Contact our specialists to discuss your next build.
parkol.co.uk
December 9, 2025 at 5:20 PM
If you want to follow a build, Parkol Marine (parkol.co.uk) in Whitby have great photos on their Facebook page (this is their Middlesborough site). They have the occasional open day where you can look round the Whitby yard.
If you've got large enough cranes (and skilled operators) then all sorts is possible - these boats are partly built upside down, partly the right way up and some are flipped if the fabrication/welding is easier. Idea is to do as much o the floor as possible, rather than traipsing up stairs.
December 9, 2025 at 5:20 PM
If you've got large enough cranes (and skilled operators) then all sorts is possible - these boats are partly built upside down, partly the right way up and some are flipped if the fabrication/welding is easier. Idea is to do as much o the floor as possible, rather than traipsing up stairs.
Anyway, like that you get to see more sexy steelwork (this may only apply to a very small community of lofting geeks...). Bring back curvy ships.
December 9, 2025 at 3:59 PM
Anyway, like that you get to see more sexy steelwork (this may only apply to a very small community of lofting geeks...). Bring back curvy ships.
Easily done! I now ask which way up my yards will be building, after a confusing few days with a Dutch client who claimed all the slots were upside down, building a trawler that a Cornish yard had no trouble with. Turned out they had a big crane, so could flip the whole thing and built off the deck.
December 9, 2025 at 3:55 PM
Easily done! I now ask which way up my yards will be building, after a confusing few days with a Dutch client who claimed all the slots were upside down, building a trawler that a Cornish yard had no trouble with. Turned out they had a big crane, so could flip the whole thing and built off the deck.
Fill up your water supply and take lots of snacks for the journey.... the hold music is still bouncing around my head. Hope you get as helpful a human on the other end as I had on Monday with the VAT app.
December 4, 2025 at 1:11 PM
Fill up your water supply and take lots of snacks for the journey.... the hold music is still bouncing around my head. Hope you get as helpful a human on the other end as I had on Monday with the VAT app.
www.peoplescollection.wales/items/38731 Dawns y glaw (Rain dance) by Anweledig, so good it's been added to the People's collection in Wales. If you've ever been to Blaenau Ffestiniog, one of the wettest places in Wales it gets funnier,
www.peoplescollection.wales
November 15, 2025 at 6:56 PM
www.peoplescollection.wales/items/38731 Dawns y glaw (Rain dance) by Anweledig, so good it's been added to the People's collection in Wales. If you've ever been to Blaenau Ffestiniog, one of the wettest places in Wales it gets funnier,
With the sleeper hit "Tidy!"
November 11, 2025 at 6:04 PM
With the sleeper hit "Tidy!"
Yup, amazingly, the giant green Victorinox carving knife that came with our woodfibre insulation didn't get swiped by the builders. Knife blades on a recirc saw make it soo much nicer than using a circular saw. Also better for cutting PIR than a hand saw - less granules.
November 9, 2025 at 4:38 PM
Yup, amazingly, the giant green Victorinox carving knife that came with our woodfibre insulation didn't get swiped by the builders. Knife blades on a recirc saw make it soo much nicer than using a circular saw. Also better for cutting PIR than a hand saw - less granules.
Top tip.. Don't crash your car on the way to your gran's funeral, stuff it in a gateway to deal with later, then realise that the entire funeral cortege will pass said car very slowly on the way to the crem... My poor mum.
November 7, 2025 at 9:56 PM
Top tip.. Don't crash your car on the way to your gran's funeral, stuff it in a gateway to deal with later, then realise that the entire funeral cortege will pass said car very slowly on the way to the crem... My poor mum.
I never got on with the refillable Rotring pen set I inherited from my great uncle (probably 60's/early 70's style) - they always seemed to clog up or splotch ink as they weren't used regularly enough, so that put me off Rotring, as well as them being 6x price of the Pentel!
October 20, 2025 at 6:08 AM
I never got on with the refillable Rotring pen set I inherited from my great uncle (probably 60's/early 70's style) - they always seemed to clog up or splotch ink as they weren't used regularly enough, so that put me off Rotring, as well as them being 6x price of the Pentel!
Nope, I'm using the same Pentel P209 I've had since I started University -35 years and quite a few packs of refill lead! I've got a 0.7 and 0.5 somewhere from when I used to do tech drawing, but the 0.9 just works for writing in my horrible block caps scrawl.
October 20, 2025 at 6:08 AM
Nope, I'm using the same Pentel P209 I've had since I started University -35 years and quite a few packs of refill lead! I've got a 0.7 and 0.5 somewhere from when I used to do tech drawing, but the 0.9 just works for writing in my horrible block caps scrawl.
Yup! I remember feeling very grown up going to Bennett's and the Golf for a single pint during the day, before a mate's wedding, don't think I'd ever ventured in to either before! It was a great place to live, having the Cameo across the road for wet Sundays and the Concorde for chips and sauce.
October 19, 2025 at 3:48 PM
Yup! I remember feeling very grown up going to Bennett's and the Golf for a single pint during the day, before a mate's wedding, don't think I'd ever ventured in to either before! It was a great place to live, having the Cameo across the road for wet Sundays and the Concorde for chips and sauce.
When was the engineering works demolished? Goldbergs had shut I think by the time I lived there in 91/92 and that bit was just a waste ground, I seem to remember. Glad to see Bentleys bar in red - a bit more our level than Bennets up the road.
October 19, 2025 at 1:32 PM
When was the engineering works demolished? Goldbergs had shut I think by the time I lived there in 91/92 and that bit was just a waste ground, I seem to remember. Glad to see Bentleys bar in red - a bit more our level than Bennets up the road.
Good game - my first guess was 5000km off, then 350km, then 700km, until you got the shoreline - there's a LOT of catholic, football playing, square mileage.
October 18, 2025 at 2:26 PM
Good game - my first guess was 5000km off, then 350km, then 700km, until you got the shoreline - there's a LOT of catholic, football playing, square mileage.
All voice UI people should be made to watch the Glaswegian lift sketch youtu.be/NMS2VnDveP8?...
Scottish Elevator - Voice Recognition - ELEVEN !
YouTube video by Noel N
youtu.be
October 16, 2025 at 2:15 PM
All voice UI people should be made to watch the Glaswegian lift sketch youtu.be/NMS2VnDveP8?...
There was a CAD package back in the early 00's with voice command input that you could disable the "are you sure" dialogue, which was a great selling point, until someone pointed out that going "select all, delete, close file..." would put a dent in the operators day.
October 16, 2025 at 2:12 PM
There was a CAD package back in the early 00's with voice command input that you could disable the "are you sure" dialogue, which was a great selling point, until someone pointed out that going "select all, delete, close file..." would put a dent in the operators day.
I can imagine an A3 sized, light, 4K resolution IPad and Apple pencil/ finger gestures and a pair of glasses that picked up on eye movement so you could select commands by glancing with you eyes and have both hands involved in the modelling/manipulation? Augmented input, but less tiring than mouse?
October 7, 2025 at 9:16 PM
I can imagine an A3 sized, light, 4K resolution IPad and Apple pencil/ finger gestures and a pair of glasses that picked up on eye movement so you could select commands by glancing with you eyes and have both hands involved in the modelling/manipulation? Augmented input, but less tiring than mouse?
There's a big difference between someone hobby modelling and doing 8hrs in front of Solidworks/Blender (me/you) where you need efficiency and good ergonomics. They'll be trying to sell voice commands again, next - all gravy until someone shouts "Select all, delete, close document" in the background.
October 7, 2025 at 9:16 PM
There's a big difference between someone hobby modelling and doing 8hrs in front of Solidworks/Blender (me/you) where you need efficiency and good ergonomics. They'll be trying to sell voice commands again, next - all gravy until someone shouts "Select all, delete, close document" in the background.
The guys in the lab next door to mine in Heriot Watt were doing "immersive 3D modelling" research for Boeing back in the mid 90's. It was motion sickness inducing after 5 min then and using a headset I find claustrophobic after about 1/2 hour. I can't imagine doing 8hrs a day in one.
October 7, 2025 at 9:16 PM
The guys in the lab next door to mine in Heriot Watt were doing "immersive 3D modelling" research for Boeing back in the mid 90's. It was motion sickness inducing after 5 min then and using a headset I find claustrophobic after about 1/2 hour. I can't imagine doing 8hrs a day in one.
The Hawthorn poem triggered a memory of walking back from Judo there to the top of Glyncoch as a kid - a wet Wednesday night at the start of December and Taff St being rammed because Tom Jones was doing the Christmas lights. I suspect you'd have taken the photo exactly how I see it in my mind...
October 7, 2025 at 4:59 PM
The Hawthorn poem triggered a memory of walking back from Judo there to the top of Glyncoch as a kid - a wet Wednesday night at the start of December and Taff St being rammed because Tom Jones was doing the Christmas lights. I suspect you'd have taken the photo exactly how I see it in my mind...