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jobrodie.bsky.social
Jo-ho-ho
@jobrodie.bsky.social
1.8K followers 2.2K following 1.7K posts
London, scicomm, pylons, aircraft, techy stuff (digital enthusiast), blogging, sound, bunting, QMUL, trees, big ships, science talks, film music, the designs of Iznik pottery and William De Morgan. Recently re-watched #Seinfeld :-)
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jobrodie.bsky.social
Would help if I included the screen recording showing the annoyance ;) Little up arrow on the right doesn't dismiss it.
December 15, 2025 at 9:34 AM
jobrodie.bsky.social
It's tinsel on the @cs4fn.bsky.social Christmas Computing Advent Calendar's door today so the accompanying post is about broadband speeds (cables!) & a little bit about bunting (did you know Gov UK's website puts tinsel on its Bank Holidays page on Christmas Day?). Plus a puzzle cs4fn.blog/advent/
Possibly the worst attempt I have ever made at drawing a piece of tinsel but it's still fairly obvious what it is. This one has two baubles hanging from it, in red and green.
December 14, 2025 at 10:41 AM
jobrodie.bsky.social
How likely is it that I could have seen a weather balloon (they're about 20-40ft diam so tiny, but can be reflective). Whatever this was it looked shiny & metallic before cloud covered it. Hard to see shape of aircraft at 35k feet and they're also shiny & metallic (and bigger) so... not sure.
Roughtly in the centre of this image is a small pale disc that, when there was a break in the cloud, was a glinting metallic-lookig thing. It didn't seem to be moving fast so I thought it might be a weather balloon or satellite.
December 12, 2025 at 3:24 PM
jobrodie.bsky.social
IFTTT (IF This, Then That) launched bidirectional* Bluesky integration yesterday, so things like RSS-to-Bluesky should now be easier to automate (I've not tested it yet)
ifttt.com/bluesky

*Bluesky feed ⟹ somewhere else
Somewhere else (e.g. RSS) ⟹ Bluesky
Automate your Bluesky integrations: Instantly cross-post content and automate your decentralized social media presence by connecting Bluesky to your essential apps and tools. Bluesky is a new social network built on the decentralized AT Protocol, designed to give users more control over their data and content feeds. Connect Bluesky to IFTTT to auto-publish photos from Instagram, cross-post to and from X (Twitter) or Threads, or save important skeets to a spreadsheet for tracking. Streamline your multi-platform strategy with AT Protocol automation and ensure your content reaches every audience.
December 12, 2025 at 9:44 AM
jobrodie.bsky.social
@easternblot.bsky.social Hmm just spotted that it's definitely set to GMT so not sure why it didn't autostart. Or maybe they never autostart and I'd always have to press the button.

Anyway, was fun (but a bit quiet!).
The set up for a scheduled Reddit AMA shows that the time zone is already set for UK GMT.
December 11, 2025 at 4:18 PM
jobrodie.bsky.social
"The proof of the pudding is in the eating" so today's @cs4fn.bsky.social Christmas Computing Advent Calendar post, suggested by the Christmas pudding on the window, is about mathematical proofs and using images* to support that, plus a maths-themed puzzle cs4fn.blog/advent/

*not the pudding tho!
A cartoon Christmas pudding with icing and a sprig of holly to decorate.
December 11, 2025 at 12:59 PM
jobrodie.bsky.social
Me when Deliveroo reports that one of my items has sold out (but it wasn't that essential).

Sign on wall: Vitadale Health Farm
Caption: "Thank God it's the lemons"
Thelwell.
A snowed-in rural scene with a group of people running into the thickly snow covered garden from a large building (the Vitadale Health Farm') to greet a departing helicopter which has just dropped a parachuted package. The caption says "Thank God! It's the lemons."
December 10, 2025 at 10:07 PM
jobrodie.bsky.social
I've not checked the accuracy of this "Days until Trump is out of office" counter but in any case it will only get more reassuring as time goes on.
Days until Trump is out of office - currently one thousand one hundred and thirty six days, twenty three hours, fifty nine minutes and counting.
December 10, 2025 at 5:02 PM
jobrodie.bsky.social
Day 10 of the CS4FN advent calendar cs4fn.blog/advent/.
Today's post looks at AI chatbots (remember Holly from Red Dwarf?!) and how students often struggle with the concept of file management (Ivy!*) if they don't understand the basics of user-facing computing architecture.
@cs4fn.bsky.social
A cartoon drawing of a piece of holly.
December 10, 2025 at 12:04 PM
jobrodie.bsky.social
Also Royal Exchange Christmas tree has massive balls, from Fortnum & Mason. I like the architecture round there, very nice buildings and fiddly bits. Inside pattern reminded me of Victor Vasarely's Planetary Folklore period.
Large tree outside Royal Exchange, with large baubles in gold and teal. Also little hampers with F and M on them. Close up of the tree showing the hampers and enormous baubles. Super close-up of one of the unfeasibly large gold baubles. Inside the Royal Exchange, looking up at the restaurant with a Christmas tree and slightly blueish purple lighting. The pattern on the underside of the balcony reminds me of the shapes within squares deployed by Vasarely's Planetary Folklore series.
December 9, 2025 at 1:51 PM
jobrodie.bsky.social
Popped into Royal Exchange while waiting for the bus to work that I am now on (25) and was rewarded with 2 sets (one shown) of new to me gas lamps :-) Massive Grosvenor style lanterns by Sugg, gas by British Gas.
A set of 3 gas lamps on one post, lit by actual gas. Behind is a leafy green tree and a beautiful old Royal Exchange building. A wider shot of the three gas lamps next to a road sign for Royal Exchange Buildings. In the foreground are several small green awnings, part of a covered set of tables for outdoor snacks.
December 9, 2025 at 1:21 PM
jobrodie.bsky.social
A more food-themed Christmas-Computing post today for Day 9, suggested by the gingerbread biscuit on the CS4FN advent calendar door. The obvious one is 'cookies' but we've included 'spam' too (and a melting snowman puzzle) cs4fn.blog/advent/
cc @cs4fn.bsky.social
Banner for the advent calendar with additional cartoon gingerbread men.
December 9, 2025 at 10:19 AM
jobrodie.bsky.social
A blast from the past - the pop up that appears when you click on the Share link on Jiscmail.
A list of 30 social platforms, some of which no longer exist, where you could once share a link to the homepage of your Jiscmail mailing list. Bebo and delicious are there, also Friend Feed and Stumble Upon.
December 8, 2025 at 9:49 AM
jobrodie.bsky.social
Day 8 and it's a wrapped Christmas present on the advent calendar window. The post inside contains a bit of computer science history (a gift 'for everyone'), sustainability (unhiding something hidden to make devices easier to repair) & a maths-based kriss kross cs4fn.blog/advent/
@cs4fn.bsky.social
A cartoon of a Christmas tree on the left with two wrapped presents beneath it and on the right a banner announcing that this is the CS4FN Christmas Computing Advent Calendar.
December 8, 2025 at 9:20 AM
jobrodie.bsky.social
I invite others to share their Festively Repackaged Items Which Have Nothing To Do With Christmas.
It's super durable *and* long lasting.
#FestiveScrub
Festive Scrub - the fun Christmas tree design from Multy which is soft in warm water, firm in cool water. Also non-scratch and flexible, odour free and super durable and long lasting. Wonder if they know what durable means.
December 6, 2025 at 6:55 PM
jobrodie.bsky.social
Nice to see Woolwich Works doing so well these days. Big queue for an event, busy busy. I think the signposting from Elizabeth Line station is feeble, particularly at night. More on that anon. Meanwhile spot the Elizabeth Line station in Woolwich.
Woolwich Elizabeth Line station is next to qn M&S and largely hidden from view by the colonnade pillars. lt is quite purple, so prominently visible when you are upon it, but not exactly waving you in. I think there are some signs pointing to it but they're not lit so not very obvious at night. That said everyone seems to have found it, though I have been asked by lost people on several occasions.
December 6, 2025 at 5:58 PM
jobrodie.bsky.social
Wondering if I should remake this for Donald Trump. Inspired by Natalie Dee's "Hey peas" cartoon I made this medal for my nephew (when small) after he reluctantly braved some peas. Trump is pretty much a vanquisher of everyone's peace (I have no info about his dealings with peas) so it kinda works.
A small (two inch diameter) unfired ceramic disc painted with cartoon peas and a couple of celebratory stars with the text saying "Sam, vanquisher of peas". I awarded this to my nephew after he overcame his dislike of peas and ate some. The peas are modelled on Natalie Dee's "Hey peas" cartoon. Tweet from 30 December 2012 saying "We went pottery painting yesterday in which I recorded five year old nephew's battle with a plate of peas with a commemorative medal."
December 6, 2025 at 10:39 AM
jobrodie.bsky.social
It was fun thinking up ways to link Christmas icons to computer science-related things. This bauble made me think of printed circuit boards so today's @cs4fn.bsky.social Advent post is about circuits, and there's even a circuit-themed puzzle cs4fn.blog/2023/12/06/c...
A hand-drawn cartoon Christms bauble with swirling patterns on, made in Inkscape and coloured in very bright pink. With a gold bit at the top to put thread through so it could be hung from a tree.
December 6, 2025 at 9:26 AM
jobrodie.bsky.social
Day 5 of the CS4FN Christmas Computing Advent Calender and the window shows a snowman. You might think there's no link with computing but you'd be wrong!
a) you can make a water-based computer and
b) compacted snow made me think of data compression ;)
cs4fn.blog/advent/
cc @cs4fn.bsky.social
A grid of five Christmas themed cartoon images, one for each day from the first to the fifth of December. Four are coloured in and today's on the fifth of December is a snowman. The images and the text below them are clickable, each taking the reader to a post whose theme is suggested by the image. Monday's was a woolly jumper and the post was about the links between coding and knitting. Tuesday's was a pair of mittens so the post was about digital twins, paired programming and gestural gloves. Wednesdays was a snowflake picture and the post was about the six sided hexaflexagon that has even more faces within its folded paper - it's actually a hexa-hexa-flexagon. Yesterday's was a red skate which took you to a post about ice-cold detection of neutrinos and computer modelling of ice skaters' spins. Today's is about water computers and digital compression (the snowman is made of water in the form of compressed ice!).
December 5, 2025 at 1:18 PM
jobrodie.bsky.social
cs4fn.blog/advent/
There's an ice-skate on today's @cs4fn.bsky.social Advent window so the post inside is a chilly look at neutrino detection, digitally modelling a skater's spins and finding some computer science in the film 'Frozen' (and a kriss kross puzzle).
Cover for the CS4FN Christmas Computing Advent Calendar with a cartoon Christmas tree and lights and tinsel. Inexpertly drawn ice skate coloured in red with a white cuff. Below it the text says 'Skating on ice'. Both image and text are linked to the post so clicking either will take visitors to the article.
December 4, 2025 at 10:09 AM
jobrodie.bsky.social
Just started: Science & Tech Committee is finding out about Quantum Tech shortly, and hopefully so will I.
www.parliamentlive.tv/Event/Index/...

(First is the Innovation Showcase which has something to do with virtual reality (delirium training) in the NHS in Stafford).
Science, Innovation and Technology Committee. Tuesday second of December 2025 at nine thirty a.m. Today's agenda Subject: Innovation showcase Witness(es): Dr Rebecca Chubb, Deputy Clinical Director, North Staffordshire Combined Healthcare Trust; Joe McCrea, Associate Director of Communications, North Staffordshire Combined Healthcare Trust Subject: Science diplomacy Witness(es): Dr Manjari Chandran-Ramesh, Partner, Amadeus Capital Partners; Jessica Wade, Associate Professor, Imperial College London Witnesses: Jonathan Legh-Smith, Executive Director, UKQuantum; Duncan Jones, General Manager, Quantinuum Dr Rebecca Chubb, Deputy Clinical Director, North Staffordshire Combined Healthcare Trust Joe McCrea, Associate Director of Communications, North Staffordshire Combined Healthcare Trust Kyle Holloway, Digital Content Lead, North Staffordshire Combined Healthcare Trust
December 2, 2025 at 9:36 AM
jobrodie.bsky.social
Pinch Punch(cards) - the @cs4fn.bsky.social Christmas Computing Advent Calendar is back cs4fn.blog/cs4fn-christ...

Click on the coloured image on each 'window' (new each day) then marvel at how I've managed to link it thematically with computer science!
Today: woolly jumpers = knitting & coding.
A cartoon Christmas tree next to a panel announcing the C. S. Four F. N. Christmas Computing Advent Calendar. C. S. Four F. N. means Computer Science For Fun.
December 1, 2025 at 1:41 PM
jobrodie.bsky.social
@michaelrosenyes.bsky.social @davidarnold.bsky.social
Today Channel 4 is showing - -
We're Going on a Bear Hunt at 1.30pm 🐻
The Tiger Who Came to Tea at 2.40pm 🐅
:-)
TV listings for Channel 4 showing "We're Going on a Bear Hunt" at 1.30pm. TV listings for Channel 4 showing "The Tiger Who Came to Tea" at 2.40pm.
November 30, 2025 at 10:41 AM
jobrodie.bsky.social
An intriguing set of empty red boxes in an emailed newsletter!
A series of nested red-edged squares - there seem to be at least 40 of them. Ordinarily these are boxed areas within which is text or imagery but there are a whole bunch of spares at the end of the email with nothing in. The gaps between them starts off larger and then gets apparently exponentially smaller. The effect is like looking into a box whose far side is rapidly receding and stretching away from you.
November 28, 2025 at 11:24 AM
jobrodie.bsky.social
I've made some snowflakes in Inkscape, aren't they pretty! YouTube is awash with instructional videos on how to do this and Inkscape is free, so let's see your snowflakes :)

Suggested videos here docs.google.com/document/d/1... (this assumes familiarity w Inkscape. Might do one for Abs Beginners)
A shape with sharply defined eges made only from a swirl of blue snowflakes of different sizes on a black background. The snowflakes were made individually in Inkscape and then I used the spray tool to spray over a shape I'd drawn (and set it to spray only over my shape and not the background). Deleted the shape leaving the spray of snowflakes. I think it's rather pretty.
November 27, 2025 at 8:50 AM