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Dan Q

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Author: Dan Q

Dan Q is a software engineer, a director of a voluntary organisation, a trainee counsellor, a keen geocacher, and an amateur magician. He lives with his partner and her husband in a polyamorous triad, and occasionally finds time to blog.

  • Max props to the developer of puppeteer-extra-plugin-stealth. Saved me a ton of work circumventing Cloudflare's bollocks while I was trying to get my own data as recorded by my smartwatch.

    Read more (70 words)

    • Note
    • posted 4 May, 2023
  • Fabricated screenshot from Microsoft Edge, browsing 3r.org.uk: a "privacy" icon in the address bar has been clicked, and the resulting menu says: About 3r.org.uk. Connection is secure (with link for more info). Privacy and Cookies (with link for more info). Cookies (3 cookies in use) - Strictly necessary (2 in use), dropdown menu set to "Default (accept, delete later)"; Optional (1 in use), dropdown menu set to "Accept for this site". Checkbox for "Treat third-party cookies differently?", unchecked. Privacy (link to full policy): Legitimate interest - this site collects username, IP address, technical logs...; Consenmt - this site collects email address, phone number... Button to manage content. Button to "Exercise data rights".

    How a 2002 standard made 2022 bearable

    Somewhere, in another timeline, the P3P standard is alive and thriving and saving us from cookie/privacy popovers.

    Read more - about 6 minutes (1377 words)

    • Article
    • 9 comments
    • posted 24 April, 2023
  • Dan asks: "Tell me about the blogger who runs DanQ.me" ChatGPT responds: "Dan Q is the blogger and web developer who runs the website "DanQ.me". He is a British computer scientist, game designer, and open-source software developer. DanQ.me is a personal website where Dan writes about a variety of topics, including technology, programming, and gaming. He is also known for creating the web-based puzzle game "Notpron," which has gained a large following online. In addition to his work on "DanQ.me" and "Notpron," Dan has contributed to several open-source software projects, including the Linux operating system and the Mozilla web browser. He has also worked as a software developer for several companies, including Google and Canonical. Dan is active on social media, particularly Twitter, where he frequently shares his thoughts on technology and other topics." The screenshot is marked up with the bits about gaming and being active on social media marked "stretching/exaggerating", the bits about Notpron, Linux, Mozilla, and Canonical being "believable lies", and the bits about Twitter and Google identified as "complete bollocks"

    AI is lying to you

    Despite how much of DanQ.me is tokenised by ChatGPT, it still outright lies when asked about it. Why is this, and what does it mean for our use of LLMs?

    Read more - about 3 minutes (687 words)

    • Article
    • 2 comments
    • posted 20 April, 2023
  • Found GC5F425 Lovers Walk

    This checkin to GC5F425 Lovers Walk reflects a geocaching.com log entry. See more of Dan's cache logs. My GPSr dropped me next to a far older bit of architecture than the one that hosts the cache, but found after a short search. I'm staying nearby as part of a charity hackathon for a nonprofit I'm …

    Read more (55 words)

    • Checkin
    • to GC5F425
    • posted 1 April, 2023
  • Screenshot showing new content from The Far Side in my FreshRSS reader.

    New Far Side in FreshRSS

    In response to a recent comment, I've written a recipe for getting "new" Far Side content into FreshRSS too.

    Read more - about 3 minutes (646 words)

    • Article
    • 10 comments
    • posted 29 March, 2023
  • Screenshot showing RSS feed items: recent Forward episodes including their numbers, titles, and publication dates.

    Subscribing to Forward using FreshRSS's XPath Scraping

    FreshRSS's XPath scraping continues to be a "killer feature": here's how I'm using it to follow webcomic Forward.

    Read more (347 words)

    • Article
    • 10 comments
    • posted 28 March, 2023
  • Inked pencil sketch showing a resolute-faced young girl - Bea Wolf - in a teddy-bear hat, flowerprint dress, and star-spangled boots, standing cross-armed amongst four of her friends. Above, a line of text ends a quote, reading "Your leader sparkles with power and also with sparkles."

    I bought Zach Weinersmith‘s Bea Wolf for my kids (9 and 6, the elder of them already a fan of Beowulf). It arrived today, but neither of them have had a chance to because I wouldn’t put it down.

    Read more (96 words)

    • Note
    • 38 comments
    • posted 23 March, 2023
  • Thoughts on Editing Posts

    Kev Quirk commits to continuing NOT to edit his old blog posts. I'm in the same boat.

    Read more (258 words)

    • Repost
    • of this original
    • posted 22 March, 2023
  • Image representing post: Solving Jigidi... Again

    Solving Jigidi... Again

    The Jigidi jigsaw solver I wrote a year and a half ago stopped working, so I made another one (it's not as good).

    Read more - about 4 minutes (814 words)

    • Article
    • 28 comments
    • posted 20 March, 2023
  • Installing Listmonk on Unraid

    Frustrated that nobody on the Internet has solved my problem for me, here's my guide to configuring Listmonk on an Unraid server.

    Read more - about 3 minutes (621 words)

    • Article
    • 6 comments
    • posted 16 March, 2023
  • Image representing post: Satoru Iwata's first commercial game has a secret

    Satoru Iwata's first commercial game has a secret

    After a long hiatus, Codex has returned with a vlog about Satoru Iwata's history as a game developer. Nostalgic fun.

    Read more (57 words)

    • Repost
    • of this original
    • posted 15 March, 2023
  • Screenshot showing radio.garden tuned into YouFM in Mons, Belgium. An additional player control interface appears below the original one.

    Bypassing Region Restrictions on radio.garden

    As the last person on Earth to discover radio.garden, I was disappointed to find that you can't access non-UK stations from within the UK. So I "fixed" it.

    Read more - about 4 minutes (942 words)

    • Article
    • 13 comments
    • posted 15 March, 2023
  • Automattic Acquires ActivityPub Plugin for WordPress

    WPTavern reports that Automattic is to acquire Matthias Pfefferle's ActivityPub plugin for WordPress, and I couldn't be more excited!

    Read more (209 words)

    • Repost
    • of this original
    • 23 comments
    • posted 14 March, 2023
  • Image representing post: Geohashing expedition 2023-03-10 51 -1

    Geohashing expedition 2023-03-10 51 -1

    The dog needed a walk, so we explored North Leigh Common in the dark and found a hashpoint.

    Read more (301 words)

    • Checkin
    • to 2023-03-10 51 -1
    • posted 10 March, 2023
  • Image representing post: The tape library robot that served drinks

    The tape library robot that served drinks

    @SecurityWriter shares a story about repurposing a backup tape management robot as a barkeep.

    Read more (100 words)

    • Repost
    • of this original
    • posted 3 March, 2023

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