Jo-ho-ho
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jobrodie.bsky.social
Jo-ho-ho
@jobrodie.bsky.social
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 :-)
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
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/
December 14, 2025 at 10:41 AM
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.
December 12, 2025 at 3:24 PM
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
December 12, 2025 at 9:44 AM
@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!).
December 11, 2025 at 4:18 PM
"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!
December 11, 2025 at 12:59 PM
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.
December 10, 2025 at 10:07 PM
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.
December 10, 2025 at 5:02 PM
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
December 10, 2025 at 12:04 PM
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.
December 9, 2025 at 1:51 PM
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.
December 9, 2025 at 1:21 PM
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
December 9, 2025 at 10:19 AM
A blast from the past - the pop up that appears when you click on the Share link on Jiscmail.
December 8, 2025 at 9:49 AM
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
December 8, 2025 at 9:20 AM
I invite others to share their Festively Repackaged Items Which Have Nothing To Do With Christmas.
It's super durable *and* long lasting.
#FestiveScrub
December 6, 2025 at 6:55 PM
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.
December 6, 2025 at 5:58 PM
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.
December 6, 2025 at 10:39 AM
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...
December 6, 2025 at 9:26 AM
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
December 5, 2025 at 1:18 PM
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).
December 4, 2025 at 10:09 AM
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).
December 2, 2025 at 9:36 AM
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.
December 1, 2025 at 1:41 PM
@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 🐅
:-)
November 30, 2025 at 10:41 AM
An intriguing set of empty red boxes in an emailed newsletter!
November 28, 2025 at 11:24 AM
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)
November 27, 2025 at 8:50 AM