Kathryn
@shermarama.bsky.social
Design engineer, drummer, general maker of stuff. Keen on finding good solutions to complex problems. She/her. Hamiltron 🇳🇿innit.
I use their camping flooring mats, for both camping and knitting blocking. Handy!
December 13, 2025 at 9:31 AM
I use their camping flooring mats, for both camping and knitting blocking. Handy!
I'd be worried if they *weren't* making up and latching onto silly stuff - for play's sake, but as relief against the straitjacket of expectations.
December 11, 2025 at 4:36 AM
I'd be worried if they *weren't* making up and latching onto silly stuff - for play's sake, but as relief against the straitjacket of expectations.
I also think I pronounce them 'as written' :D Wondering what other vowel sounds could be in 'door', though - it can't be like 'boot'? It's kind of like 'do-er' in the accent I grew up with, but that wasn't rhotic.
December 9, 2025 at 9:23 AM
I also think I pronounce them 'as written' :D Wondering what other vowel sounds could be in 'door', though - it can't be like 'boot'? It's kind of like 'do-er' in the accent I grew up with, but that wasn't rhotic.
Am I a young person, by these standards? I don't remember these at all, and this stuff was in the wheelhouse of our family business when I was a kid.
December 8, 2025 at 9:56 PM
Am I a young person, by these standards? I don't remember these at all, and this stuff was in the wheelhouse of our family business when I was a kid.
Slice in New Zealand too - as someone who moved here from the UK, it took me a while to think of it as a format or category rather than a quantity.
December 8, 2025 at 3:39 AM
Slice in New Zealand too - as someone who moved here from the UK, it took me a while to think of it as a format or category rather than a quantity.
Is the difference just the r, or does it do something else to the vowels? (Now mentally also trying this out in some of the British dialects that are still rhotic...)
December 7, 2025 at 9:20 AM
Is the difference just the r, or does it do something else to the vowels? (Now mentally also trying this out in some of the British dialects that are still rhotic...)
That's because they do 😄
(I'm now trying to think how to make them not. Which one sounds like the British one to you, or are they both different?)
(I'm now trying to think how to make them not. Which one sounds like the British one to you, or are they both different?)
December 7, 2025 at 7:35 AM
That's because they do 😄
(I'm now trying to think how to make them not. Which one sounds like the British one to you, or are they both different?)
(I'm now trying to think how to make them not. Which one sounds like the British one to you, or are they both different?)
I think he's just pleased to be being talked about, and doesn't really care whether or not it's talking about how ridiculous he is. Viewing figures are up = win.
December 5, 2025 at 9:54 PM
I think he's just pleased to be being talked about, and doesn't really care whether or not it's talking about how ridiculous he is. Viewing figures are up = win.
I moved to Pocket Casts a while ago after PlayerFM started to really suck - it seems fine, and as far as I can tell, there isn't an obvious better one around. (Also different apps for music and podcasts seems to make sense to me, anyway.)
December 5, 2025 at 8:23 AM
I moved to Pocket Casts a while ago after PlayerFM started to really suck - it seems fine, and as far as I can tell, there isn't an obvious better one around. (Also different apps for music and podcasts seems to make sense to me, anyway.)
Aaaaah I think that was it! But I didn't entirely know who Kojak was.
December 1, 2025 at 9:37 PM
Aaaaah I think that was it! But I didn't entirely know who Kojak was.
I cannot remember the third line of that at all (though I don't think it involved knickers) but the last line was definitely 'on the M6 motorway' for us... But I'm from near the M6 motorway :D
December 1, 2025 at 8:45 PM
I cannot remember the third line of that at all (though I don't think it involved knickers) but the last line was definitely 'on the M6 motorway' for us... But I'm from near the M6 motorway :D
'One on a tricycle sucking an icicle' was an optional scooter variant, for me :D
December 1, 2025 at 8:43 PM
'One on a tricycle sucking an icicle' was an optional scooter variant, for me :D
I don't mean ML classifiers, I mean existing automation of various sorts, that already gets used where people care about things like classifying emails...
December 1, 2025 at 5:47 PM
I don't mean ML classifiers, I mean existing automation of various sorts, that already gets used where people care about things like classifying emails...
I heard the principal on RNZ earlier - she was so polite, so careful to credit the good actions of individuals representing Compass, but so very clear that this was Not On, with impacts on resources and trust. I feel like they've got a real champion there, at least.
December 1, 2025 at 11:04 AM
I heard the principal on RNZ earlier - she was so polite, so careful to credit the good actions of individuals representing Compass, but so very clear that this was Not On, with impacts on resources and trust. I feel like they've got a real champion there, at least.
Any reason to use an LLM for this, though, rather than the existing automation tools that have more repeatable / testable behaviour?
December 1, 2025 at 7:17 AM
Any reason to use an LLM for this, though, rather than the existing automation tools that have more repeatable / testable behaviour?
Ooof, at least that makes some sort of sense of how they got there... But that's truly Not A Feature.
November 30, 2025 at 11:29 PM
Ooof, at least that makes some sort of sense of how they got there... But that's truly Not A Feature.
Oh, yeah, it'll be working, and installed area can totally override this, but still... Calculations for 'high-latitude' solar panels usually go on the sun being 20° to 30° above the horizon, but Glasgow won't see 20° again until February. Freaked me out a bit when I learned this :D
November 30, 2025 at 10:37 PM
Oh, yeah, it'll be working, and installed area can totally override this, but still... Calculations for 'high-latitude' solar panels usually go on the sun being 20° to 30° above the horizon, but Glasgow won't see 20° again until February. Freaked me out a bit when I learned this :D
I didn't really realise how far north the UK is until I started doing things with solar-driven chemistry, and realised how few hours of direct sun we got in winter, and how weak they were due to air mass... I moved to New Zealand and the difference is dramatic, but not apparent to many :D
November 30, 2025 at 9:04 PM
I didn't really realise how far north the UK is until I started doing things with solar-driven chemistry, and realised how few hours of direct sun we got in winter, and how weak they were due to air mass... I moved to New Zealand and the difference is dramatic, but not apparent to many :D
Pointless is soothingly formulaic, and I suspect part of the formula is over-simplifying the job descriptions. (But lots of people in the UK do have bullshit service-economy jobs, whether or not they want them.)
November 30, 2025 at 9:41 AM
Pointless is soothingly formulaic, and I suspect part of the formula is over-simplifying the job descriptions. (But lots of people in the UK do have bullshit service-economy jobs, whether or not they want them.)