Tag: published on gemini
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Gratitude
Dan is grateful for a great many things, despite the current crisis.
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Subscribing to The Far Side (by RSS!)
The Far Side is back, and (for the first time) it has a website and daily comics. But no RSS feed? Let's fix that...
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Before You Turn On Two-Factor Authentication
Many online accounts allow you to supplement your password with a second form of identification, which can prevent some prevalent attacks. The second factors you can use to identify yourself include authenticator apps on your phone, which generate codes that change every 30 seconds, and security keys, small pieces of hardware similar in size β¦ -
Carry Fire
"My dad'd love this!" Dan thinks as he listens to Robert Plant's new album, in the first case of him momentarily-forgetting-his-dad's-death in almost a year. It's a pretty good album, regardless.
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Mx
Where organisations that have no reason to discriminate based on gender ask for Dan's title, he usually gives Mx. Or, if that's not an option, something even more unusual...
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Full Stop
Dan's father was killed this weekend in a tragic accident. [updated with funeral info and photo]
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I went to an REM concert
Dan makes a bad joke based on REM lyrics, but with a morsel of truth within.
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Roadworthy
This afternoon, I passed my driving test. This was my second attempt, and I pretty much kicked arse, scoring 2 minor faults (one for undue hesitiation as I pulled out from a roadworks stop on the way up Penglais Hill, and the second for insufficient use of mirrors at some point while moving out of β¦
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The Break-Up
Yesterday, Claire and I broke up.
We've had several rough months, and several even rougher weeks, and this seemed to be the best solution to a variety of difficulties we've faced recently. It's hard to answer the question as to whether the split could be described as mutual, but it can certainly be described as amicable, β¦ -
Your Experience May Differ
To: Daniel Hill <dlh9@....>
From: Dan Q <dan@....>
Subject: Aberystwyth University Is Awesome! Warning: Your Experience May Differ.
Dear Daniel,
There's an age-old tradition amongst Aberystwyth graduates, and in particular amongst Computer Science graduates. But to truly understand it, you first need to understand a little bit about Aberystwyth University. Also, to understand recursion, you must first understand β¦ -
A Great Driver, In Theory
Took and passed my driving theory test this lunchtime. 50/50 (pass mark 44) on the multiple choice bit, and 66/75 (pass mark, again, 44) on the silly little hazard perception video, which'll do.
Not one question about stopping distances, meaning that I've committed to memory that most useless of information (I mean, am I really going β¦ -
Sleepless? Priceless!
Time for this iteration of a software project: 4 months
Time left after the client changed their mind about the "must have" requirements: 2 months
Amount of sleep within the last 40+ hours: 4 hours
Number of JOIN clauses in an eleventh-hour SQL statement that suddenly fixes everything: 12 (LEFTies, RIGHTies, β¦ -
A "Never Mind The Buzzcocks" Moment
Remember Let Loose? They reached #2 in the singles chart back in 1994 with Crazy For You? (you'll remember it when you hear the chorus, I promise) Turns out that since disappearing off the face of the Earth, the guitarist has been running a fabulous little bed-and-breakfast in a tiny village in Essex.
He didn't look β¦ -
Q
A couple of deeds poll later, and Claire and I are half-way to having changed our surnames. Our new surname: Q. I hereby declare this blog post to be the official FAQ of the Dan/Claire name change. So there, Ms Q.
1. You've changed your names?
Yes, we've changed our names. I'm now β¦ -
Claireβs Birthday, and Preston
Well, Claire and I are in Preston. We travelled up here last night (after a few false starts, including getting to Mach before realising we'd left the Green Day tickets blu-tacked to the wall "so we don't forget them" in Aber and having to turn back). Claire's been made out to be a bookworm again, β¦




