MSKnight
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msknight.bsky.social
MSKnight
@msknight.bsky.social
79 followers 54 following 600 posts
IT engineer. Currently working for the NHS Ambulance Service. I've also spent a little time as a photographer, a baker, a truck driver and I write books for the hell of it.
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msknight.bsky.social
I wrote a letter with concerns such as that of Adnan Hussain, pictured. In it, he supports segregation. As there seem to be no straight answers, it is very much a question that should be brought up at conference, because there are legitimate questions that need to be answered.
A Twitter conversation where Manchester Feminists say, "The left purports to have a material analysis of society, and needs to have a material analysis of sex too. A new left wind party should recognise this reality..." and Adnan Hussain MP responds, "I agree, women's rights and safe spaces should not be encroached upon. Safe third spaces should be an alternative option."
October 28, 2025 at 8:51 PM
msknight.bsky.social
Breaking news - Pictures from the state banquet at Windsor castle are starting to come in.
The picture depicts His Majesty King Charles, at the banquet table alongside Donald Trump. While King Charles is dressed as according to his position, Trump is looking like a child, wearing a napkin, to which are pinned a few fake medals, wearing a cardboard Burger King crown and stuffing chips into his mouth with his left hand, while his right hand is holding a red can similar in design and graphics to Coca-Cola, resting it on a plate of chips. The red stains on the table cloth giving the overall impression of him being a big child.
September 18, 2025 at 9:13 AM
msknight.bsky.social
Installed a masthead amplifier. Designed to be installed as close to the aerial as possible. A separate unit provides power up the coax cable. Taken my signal from 50% to 75%. Cost for parts and cable, a little under £100 and fitted myself, but worth it if we get stable signal through bad weather.
A nondescript grey box, about the size of two cigarette packets, fixed to a wooden beam. A blue light showing through the plastic indicates it has power. Two coaxial cables protrude from a weather seal. A nondescript grey box, about the size of two cigarette packets, fixed to a wooden beam. It bears the name, "Maxview" and has ports where two coaxial TV cables are attached. It has a separate power cable entering it at the side. This is the box which injects power into the co-ax cable which feeds the masthead amplifier. A blue light shining through the plastic indicates it has power.
July 24, 2025 at 10:28 AM
msknight.bsky.social
Tommy Lee Jones as a sheriff, sat down holding a newspaper in his hands. He is looking away from the newspaper at another person and his eyes are looking over his glasses in a disapproving manner.
June 13, 2025 at 6:56 AM
msknight.bsky.social
Came across this post and had to share it.
Most from Michael Adler, handle @madler9000 - "Just settled a divorce over visitation of a parrot. Neither may teach it negative phrases about the other. I went to law school for this."
June 3, 2025 at 7:13 PM
msknight.bsky.social
I try and remain polite and level headed, but there was one question that had been bugging me for a while. Should I say, "Thank you," to AI after asking a question. Well, there was only one way to find out... ask it!
Would you rather I say thank you after a query, or am I doing bad by using processing and energy resource? What a thoughtful question! You are absolutely not doing anything “bad” by using processing or energy resources when you interact with AI like me. Here’s a bit more detail: Saying “thank you” is always a nice touch! It’s polite and appreciated, but it’s not required. If it makes you feel good or helps you maintain good manners, please do so—it doesn’t negatively impact resources or processing in any significant way. Every interaction uses a tiny amount of energy. However, your queries—including “thank you”—are just a small part of the overall AI workload. The energy and processing used are already part of the system’s daily operation, and your messages do not significantly add to that. In short: You are not wasting resources by saying “thank you.” You are not being rude or inconsiderate if you choose not to say it. The AI is here to help, and your questions are always welcome! Bottom line: Do what feels right for you. If you want to say thank you, go ahead! If you don’t, that’s perfectly fine too. Either way, you’re not causing any harm.
May 29, 2025 at 6:58 PM
msknight.bsky.social
If anyone is interested, in my EHRC response I detail hundreds of millions of pounds to upgrade toilets. I did this using AI. These are the figures, note that they don't include new public disabled toilets where there are low numbers...
Estimated Cost to Add Self-Contained Unisex Toilets Based on the available data, the estimated cost to install a self-contained, unisex toilet unit £15,000, depending on factors such as location, plumbing requirements, and specific building conditions.​ Public Toilets • Number of Public Toilets: Approximately 3,900 public toilets are registered for business rates in England and Wales.​ • Estimated Upgrades: Assuming 50% of these facilities require upgrades:​ ◦ 1,950 toilets × £15,000 = £29.25 million​ Customer-Facing Businesses • Number of Retail Businesses: Approximately 28,747 retail businesses in the UK.​ • Estimated Upgrades: Assuming 50% of these businesses require upgrades:​ ◦ 14,374 businesses × £15,000 = £215.62 million​ Total Estimated Cost • Estimate: £29.25 million (public toilets) + £215.62 million (businesses) = £244.87 million​ These estimates are based on the assumption that 50% of the facilities require upgrades. The actual number may vary depending on specific circumstances and regional differences.​
May 12, 2025 at 5:06 AM
msknight.bsky.social
Farage said “These include those with working on climate change, diversity initiatives or even just from home. You all better be seeking alternative careers very, very quickly.”
Statutory requirements will likely stop him. If he tries to push it then the wheels will come off his parade very quickly
Equality Act 2010: Councils have statutory duties under the Equality Act to prevent discrimination and promote equality. This means some diversity-related roles and activities are required to ensure legal compliance. Eliminating all such roles could put councils at risk of breaching these duties. Environmental Duties: Councils are also subject to statutory responsibilities regarding environmental protection and climate change, such as obligations under the Climate Change Act 2008 and related regulations. While the extent and specifics of these duties can vary, councils generally must demonstrate they are taking steps to address environmental concerns. Removing all climate-focused roles could hinder their ability to meet these legal requirements.
May 3, 2025 at 8:41 AM
msknight.bsky.social
Can you believe it. I've been baking our bread now for 5 years. And we're still alive. I must be doing something wrong!
A picture of a two pound wholemeal loaf on cooling wires. Nothing remarkable about it.
April 20, 2025 at 11:25 AM
msknight.bsky.social
Image captioning the comment from Charlotte Clymer, presumably on Twitter. It reads, "Every transphobic argument can basically be boiled down to, quote I actually don't know the science at all or have a good argument here, but trans people challenge my long held view of the world and it's very uncomfortable and everyone should be expected to move around my discomfort. end quote"
April 17, 2025 at 7:04 PM
msknight.bsky.social
Well, apparently DNA cloning is not being restricted to the so called dire wolves that were apparently (cough) resurrected.
The image contains two white "haggis" bearing vampire teeth. Scientists at The Roslin Institute, famous for cloning Dolly the Sheep in 1997, have announced that the Dire Haggis has been brought back from extinction after more than 10,000 years. On Monday, the Pioneers in Animal Biosciences, said its researchers had successfully facilitated the birth of two modern Dire Haggi – one six-month-old male named Haggulus and a three-month-old female named Khalhaggi. They achieved this by using cloning and gene-editing techniques based on two ancient Dire Haggis DNA samples.The extinct species was recently made famous on the hit TV series Game of Thrones, where they featured heavily in The North and Beyond the Wall, as a homage to their Scottish ancestry.
April 10, 2025 at 9:40 AM
msknight.bsky.social
Alien 1 - "They will install auto cannons in the tunnels." Alien 2 - "How do you know this?" Alien 1 - "Newt added me to the group chat."
March 30, 2025 at 9:50 AM
msknight.bsky.social
I happen to have a mortgage with Nationwide so I'm in line to get the £50. I received this giving me a number to call if I didn't want the readies. Are you kidding?!?!?! Gimme the cash!
The paragraph on the letter states, "If, for any reason, you do not want to receive the payment, call 0330 123 1104 and let us know by 31st March 2025. Otherwise your £50 will be on its way."
March 18, 2025 at 1:31 PM
msknight.bsky.social
Scene from Vengeance Most Fowl with Feathers McGraw playing homage to Blofeld from the James Bond films. The villain penguin Feathers McGraw is sat in a black swivel chair with large, winged back. On his lap is a white sea lion which Fethers is stroking.
March 14, 2025 at 8:43 PM
msknight.bsky.social
I took my Economy 7 heater off to Home Assistant. More detail in the picture and also here - msknight.com/ha/hotwater....
A 3kW water heater at 17p/kWh costs 51p/h to run. Prior to the alteration it was switched on for 7 hours when E7 was on. It actively heated for a little over two hours a night. Now, I bring it on at 6am and let it do one cycle. That cycle takes a little more than an hour. True, it's not boiling hot, but it's where it needs to be. Note that the temperatures aren't accurate because the thermometers are outside the sprayed-on lagging. That's a saving of roughly 50p a night. In a year that's £180 saving. This will have paid for all the home equipment necessary to do this, in three years. Everything else I gain from using home automation is a bonus. It doesn't need Home Assistant to do this. Any suitable timer between the isolator and heating element can be used to reduce the run time. It'll just have to survive 17 hours without power and still keep time as well as being able to handle the amperage of the element. An image showing a graph of figures demonstrating the water temperature at the top and bottom of a water tank over time. History graphs chart the time that Economy 7 was active, coupled with the time that a switch controlling the water heater was active. It demonstrates that restricting the hot water element to only come on shortly before the start of the household's day, is enough to heat the water, against leaving it on for the whole seven hour duration of the economy 7 cycle.
March 13, 2025 at 10:16 AM
msknight.bsky.social
Success. The electrician converted the water heating to smart. It is still on E7 as we can't shift until the heaters are changed. Overall there will be a saving of between a quarter to a third of cost. It'll pay for itself in a few years. In addition, no hissing and boiling noises overnight. Bonus!
A graph showing the temperature rise and fall of the bottom and top of a water tank. The bottom line shows the temperature of the tank rising as the heating element is engaged, shown by status bars at the top of the picture. Then it shows the heating element switching off and the lowering of the bottom tank a little and rising at the top of the tank as the water mixes in the tank.
March 11, 2025 at 9:02 AM
msknight.bsky.social
There were suspicious spikes on my outside thermometer on most days. I got suspicious, maybe a creepy crawley is walking over it on its daily route. I set an alarm for the next time it happened, and as it turns out a small sliver of sun is able to get at it on sunny days. Mystery solved.
A graph showing the rise and fall of temperature over a number of days, with suspicious spikes at roughly the same time each day.
March 4, 2025 at 11:59 AM
msknight.bsky.social
First proper smart socket installed. This will control the oil heater in the small bedroom. And no more need for a bulky smart plug! Great stuff.
A UK, white double mains socket fitted in the wall. In the left socket is a black plug. The switch for the socket is lit, indicating that it is on.
February 15, 2025 at 11:01 AM
msknight.bsky.social
I've been through my 30,000+ music collection and more than 10% of it is in my favourites selection. I make no apologies for some of the contents!
A Home Assistant media card showing the office music player and it's usual play, pause, previous and next controls. The song playing is "Happiness" by Ken Dodd. On the right is a black and white picture of Ken Dodd early in his career with shirt, tie and jacket. Hair is well combed as opposed to the ruffled appearance he maintained later on.
February 14, 2025 at 8:41 PM
msknight.bsky.social
I have a daylight sensor, but I don't have a 3D printer so I needed to find a case for it. Sure, there are better wooden models out there, but this does the job. Should also protect the sensor from some of the car headlights. We'll see how it goes I guess.
A small wooden model of a gramophone player. Looks cheap, because it was cheap. The sound horn is a little disjointed and the eight feathered sections don't line up properly, but they hide in the middle, the white plastic fresnel cap which covers the light sensor. A wire peeps out from the armature which links the horn to the body of the model gramophone to go into the main body where a small circuit board is hiding.
February 7, 2025 at 1:06 PM
msknight.bsky.social
One image is of Trump and another is of Trump with Trudeau. The first says, "Trump got mexico to send the same 10,000 troupe to the border that Biden already got them to commit. The second says that Trump got Canada to agree to the same measures to fight fentanyl that Biden already got them to agree to six weeks ago. That's the art of the deal baby!!!
February 5, 2025 at 10:39 AM
msknight.bsky.social
Another unsolicited e-mail is doing the rounds, this time purporting to be from the christian media network. Only click on the trash can button to send this into your deleted folder.
A man with a blue t-shirt and blue baseball cap with a thumb up, standing in front of a landscape filled with charred trees and fire burning.
January 21, 2025 at 2:28 PM
msknight.bsky.social
The next stage in the smart home... if there is enough cable behind the existing sockets to let me fit them. Single sockets and smart connector boxes are already on the way.
A white double UK electrical wall socket with the on off switches replaced by a tactical switch that lights on or off. It rests on a blue box with the logo Click Smart and a white box with the same logo.
January 21, 2025 at 10:11 AM
msknight.bsky.social
I sent this letter to the Prime Ministers office. Mobile phone apps have got the country locked in to two phone ecosystems and nobody else can get a foot in the market. In the mean time, everything switching to apps means we're forced to own either an android or apple phone simply to live.
I write to ask if the government are going to issue every citizen with an Android or iPhone. We have let technology companies put us in a hole. No competition can break into the market. Firstly, we need apps to live our lives. I can’t even park my car without an app. At present, without an Android or iPhone, my life is getting to be an ever increasing misery. You are all set to introduce digital driving licenses via an app, adding to the problem that has been building for years now. Secondly, any app maker won’t spend the time programming for a platform which has limited users. It’s either Android or iPhone or that’s that. Conversely customers won’t buy a phone unless it can have the apps they need. The net result of this is that other smart phone makers can’t get a foot hold. Microsoft had Windows phone. Despite the might of the company it failed to get traction. Nokia had MeeGo operating system. As it happened Microsoft bought the mobile phone division so their engineers took redundancy money and started a company, again in Finland, called Jolla. MeeGo became Sailfish. My own smart phone is Sailfish but despite running that operating system for more than a decade, (and I like it, the gesture interface is more intuitive than the tap interface of the others) I have real problems getting the apps and two in every three just won’t work; and I’m an IT engineer. Any other phone manufacturer that comes to market with an Android variant, has to sign Google’s rules and their demands, or they don’t get access to the Play Store. Without which, they can’t get at the apps and their phone is doomed. It is pointless making a law that says any phone with x% penetration has to be supported, because no one can even get to the lowest percentage you set. It is that closed of a market. Apps need to be replaced by smart web sites that operate through small browser windows so they are not tied to a platform. This needs to be sorted urgently because we are in a ridiculous position.
January 20, 2025 at 8:31 AM
msknight.bsky.social
There is a saying in the UK ... "As much use as a chocolate teapot." ... well, here is that chocolate teapot... and it is capable of brewing a pot of tea. So... not so useless after all.
A grey box. On the lid is a cartoon rabbit dressed in shirt and short sleeved knitted waistcoat, wearing a monocle, pouring a cup of tea from a tea pot. The title on the box is, "The Chocolate Teapot, a hollow milk chocolate teapot with cocoa nib tea leaves and sugar cube chocolates." and it is labelled, "Heston from Waitrose." The inside of the box sporting a teapot made of chocolate, adorned with a picture of a rabbit's head, and a small bowl of sugar cubes which are likely made of chocolate.
January 11, 2025 at 10:03 PM