Alex Willmer
@alex.moreati.org.uk
Python and Ansible developer. Recovering Sherlock. Armchair energy pundit. Pun usually intended. He/they.
🐘 @[email protected] https://social.moreati.org.uk/@alex
🐘 @[email protected] https://social.moreati.org.uk/@alex
For some reason the python shipped by Apple's dev tools (16.4) sets sys.dont_write_bytecode=True when started with the CLI flag -I. Other Pythons don't
$ /usr/bin/python3 -c "import sys; print(sys.dont_write_bytecode)"
False
$ /usr/bin/python3 -I -c "import sys; print(sys.dont_write_bytecode)"
True
$ /usr/bin/python3 -c "import sys; print(sys.dont_write_bytecode)"
False
$ /usr/bin/python3 -I -c "import sys; print(sys.dont_write_bytecode)"
True
December 15, 2025 at 7:47 PM
For some reason the python shipped by Apple's dev tools (16.4) sets sys.dont_write_bytecode=True when started with the CLI flag -I. Other Pythons don't
$ /usr/bin/python3 -c "import sys; print(sys.dont_write_bytecode)"
False
$ /usr/bin/python3 -I -c "import sys; print(sys.dont_write_bytecode)"
True
$ /usr/bin/python3 -c "import sys; print(sys.dont_write_bytecode)"
False
$ /usr/bin/python3 -I -c "import sys; print(sys.dont_write_bytecode)"
True
I'm at @bsideslondon.bsky.social tomorrow. See you there #BSidesLDN2025
December 12, 2025 at 6:19 PM
I'm at @bsideslondon.bsky.social tomorrow. See you there #BSidesLDN2025
The small (green) dot below the favicon of a pinned Firefox tab is triggered by the page title changing (e.g. unread messages count in GMail). #TIL
December 12, 2025 at 1:19 PM
The small (green) dot below the favicon of a pinned Firefox tab is triggered by the page title changing (e.g. unread messages count in GMail). #TIL
Pining down how different Python versions behave when reading a non-blocking file; and again wishing there was a /dev/busy counterpart to /dev/null, dev/zero, /dev/full, etc.
December 7, 2025 at 1:48 PM
Pining down how different Python versions behave when reading a non-blocking file; and again wishing there was a /dev/busy counterpart to /dev/null, dev/zero, /dev/full, etc.
To be clear, they donated money www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Caversham United goalkeeper thanks donors after teeth replacement
Goalkeeper Holly Robinson suffered the injury when she came to collect the ball during a match.
www.bbc.co.uk
December 5, 2025 at 7:49 PM
To be clear, they donated money www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Reposted by Alex Willmer
Did you know you can do
int(my_string, 0)
and Python will parse the string as if it's a literal? Super handy, and I only learned about it five minutes ago!
int(my_string, 0)
and Python will parse the string as if it's a literal? Super handy, and I only learned about it five minutes ago!
December 5, 2025 at 1:41 AM
Did you know you can do
int(my_string, 0)
and Python will parse the string as if it's a literal? Super handy, and I only learned about it five minutes ago!
int(my_string, 0)
and Python will parse the string as if it's a literal? Super handy, and I only learned about it five minutes ago!
Gold is about £100 / gram today. A Crucial Classic 64 GB DDR5-5600 UDIMM is about £560. At 15 grams (without heatsink) that's £37 / gram. So desktop RAM is still cheaper than gold, for now.
November 24, 2025 at 9:37 PM
Gold is about £100 / gram today. A Crucial Classic 64 GB DDR5-5600 UDIMM is about £560. At 15 grams (without heatsink) that's £37 / gram. So desktop RAM is still cheaper than gold, for now.
Dear builders, please don't clip the telephone cables to the brickwork behind plasterboard. Some of us would like to use it to pull our shiny new CAT6 cables.
November 22, 2025 at 8:14 PM
Dear builders, please don't clip the telephone cables to the brickwork behind plasterboard. Some of us would like to use it to pull our shiny new CAT6 cables.
Reposted by Alex Willmer
Mitogen 0.3.33 is out with support for Ansible 13
🐍 https://pypi.org/project/mitogen/0.3.33/
🗒️ https://mitogen.networkgenomics.com/changelog.html
#ansible
🐍 https://pypi.org/project/mitogen/0.3.33/
🗒️ https://mitogen.networkgenomics.com/changelog.html
#ansible
Client Challenge
pypi.org
November 22, 2025 at 9:38 AM
Mitogen 0.3.33 is out with support for Ansible 13
🐍 https://pypi.org/project/mitogen/0.3.33/
🗒️ https://mitogen.networkgenomics.com/changelog.html
#ansible
🐍 https://pypi.org/project/mitogen/0.3.33/
🗒️ https://mitogen.networkgenomics.com/changelog.html
#ansible
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...