Ian
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chard.org
Ian
@chard.org
100 followers 360 following 140 posts
Musician, IT maestro, and law nerd. Tech manager at a bit of the University of Edinburgh. Opinions are my own; boosts/favourites != endorsement. Occasionally GM7OMZ.

Obligitory hashtags: #Edinburgh #Scotland #UK #LiveMusic #Percussion #Law #HamRadio
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chard.org
Not the best place for an animal sanctuary. #catskill #cats
Board Member at Catskill Animal Sanctuary Northampton, Massachusetts, United States
December 18, 2025 at 12:45 PM
chard.org
I know there is a good reason for this but it just halted my sleep-deprived brain. #python
>>> print(bool('False')) True
December 16, 2025 at 8:44 AM
chard.org
Minimum viable product #christmas
A whiteboard with ‘#include <decorations.h>’ written at the top in black market.
December 12, 2025 at 10:50 PM
chard.org
My hotel room overlooks a busy shipping lane, so of course I’m listening to #Portsmouth VTS and staring out the window. It’s nerd heaven. #shipping #marine
A view out of my hotel window onto the Solent, over the roof of the bleak Southsea Pier complex. In my hand is a cheap radio tuned to marine channels 11 and 14.
December 10, 2025 at 7:40 AM
chard.org
Any suggestions for an #ssh client for #ios that doesn’t include this utter bollocks?

Whoever thought this was a good idea has never… done anything.
A dark-themed text input interface displaying a prompt to ask AI for command generation, with keyboard shortcuts (esc, tab, ctrl, alt) and navigation arrows visible below.
October 26, 2025 at 10:28 PM
chard.org
Measure twice, cut once… only works if you can read the drawing correctly.
October 17, 2025 at 6:09 PM
chard.org
End of an era! These are two of the first Unix commands I ever learned. #debian #debian13 #trixie #unix #retrocomputing
The mesg(1) and write(1) programs are no longer provided. It is believed chatting between users is nowadays done using more secure facilities.
August 11, 2025 at 11:02 AM
chard.org
Some lovely person has parked this thing in the quad outside our university offices. What is the message here? #edinburgh #nazis #israel
The front of a rusty motorbike, on which someone has drawn swastikas, and also written 'ISRAEL' on the headlight.
August 5, 2025 at 10:56 AM
chard.org
Well I guess that’s the end of #wemo. I was just about to replace the relay in my smart plug but I guess I’ll not bother now. Any recommendations for an alternative?

#smarthome #smartplug #belkin
An email from Belkin announcing Wemo EOL at the end of January 2026.
July 10, 2025 at 6:40 PM
chard.org
'Are girls not as good as boys at computing?' Here's how a 1984 booklet answered that question: girls were 13 times less likely to 'take up computers'. I wonder if things are better now?

For lovers of all things #vintage, I uploaded the full booklet to archive.org/details/what...

#women #equality
'Are girls not as good as boys at computing? What a question! Admittedly, according to one set of statistics, girls are thirteen times less likely to take up computers than boys, but that's only one survey. If you're female, go out and prove the statistics wrong!'
May 20, 2025 at 11:35 AM
chard.org
Excellent wifi name, no notes. #wifi #ssid #edinburgh #funny
An interface displaying the Wi-Fi network name "Tell My Wifi Lover," with a lock icon indicating it's secured, and signal strength indicators.
April 23, 2025 at 7:29 AM
chard.org
My Dad loves wordplay, and this year my birthday coincides with #Passover, so he sent me this lovely message which he’s clearly been working on for months. #jewdiverse #Pesach
Message reads: We can't pass over the fact that this day is different than any other day so we are sending you all our love and best wishes for a very happy birthday.Have a great day and a healthy and happy year Mum and Dad xxxx
April 14, 2025 at 5:25 PM
chard.org
Clearing out the store cupboard at work and found these gems! #calculator #addingmachine #magiclantern #retrotech
An antique machine with a metallic body and a cylindrical brass attachment in the front, likely a historical camera or projector. The device is located on a cluttered surface with various items in the background. An old adding machine is positioned on a shelf next to a gray carrying case. The typewriter is beige with yellow keys, showing signs of wear and age. The shelf has a few empty spaces, and the floor is visible beneath.
April 8, 2025 at 3:51 PM
chard.org
Let’s goooooooo! #livemusic #edinburgh
Two keyboards ready to gig, with a crowd under colourful lighting below
March 1, 2025 at 9:28 PM
chard.org
Why do standby lights have to be so bright? Every hotel room I stay in ends up looking like this.
A wall-mounted television, with a blue fleece draped over one side to cover the standby light.
February 19, 2025 at 8:10 AM
chard.org
I mean… it’s probably still a spool of copper wire.
‘Then and now: combine your memory with a recent photo’. Left: a spool of copper wire, pic dated 30 Jan 2017 Right: a blank card with a plus sign that says ‘Now’
January 31, 2025 at 9:31 PM
chard.org
I haven’t decided exactly what this will do, but I probably shouldn’t take it through airport security. #electronics #project #NotABomb
A black box on a wooden table with five switches, ten knobs, and four coloured lights.
January 2, 2025 at 7:09 PM
chard.org
My absolute favourite place to make music. #brewhemia #edinburgh #livemusic
A nightclub, mainly lit in pink, with lots of people dancing. In the foreground, two keyboards (a Nord and a Roland keytar).
December 21, 2024 at 11:30 PM
chard.org
Red sky at dawn, everything’s ok. #edinburgh #photography
A dramatic morning sky with bright red clouds over a silhouetted cityscape.
December 12, 2024 at 1:11 PM
chard.org
Looked up how to do multiple primary keys in #Django and found that the issue was first opened 19 years ago, and was accepted for check-in yesterday! code.djangoproject.com/ticket/373 #webdev #python
Screenshot from code.djangoproject.com issue #373: Opened 19 years ago Last modified 21 hours ago
November 28, 2024 at 10:36 AM
chard.org
#Starling are stopping interest on current accounts from Feb. I guess challenger banks are getting squeezed now that they’re not really challenging anything. #finance #banking
Starling Bank We're messaging you to let you know that we're making some changes to our terms and conditions. One of these changes is that from 10 February 2025, we'll no longer pay interest on personal and joint current accounts.
November 18, 2024 at 5:40 PM