HPR3594: Peely-wally in Edinburgh

Hacker Public Radio

Introduction

Hosts:

• MrX
• Dave Morriss

We recorded this on Sunday April 24^th 2022. This is effectively a continuation of the last show, since we found we had lots more to talk about!

Note on the title: again we spoke about the Scots language on the show, so it seemed like a good idea to include more of it in the notes and so on.

Topics discussed

• Dampers (in relation to coal fires), a topic we discussed last time:
  • MrX found a version of the Damper song on YouTube

• PC issues:
  • Dave’s home-built desktop PC had another disk problem
  • Running a SMART daemon (under SystemD) gives warnings of imminent disk problems
  • HP Proliant MicroServer - an AMD-based machine sold in the 2010’s (?) by HP with a substantial discount. (Prices cited in the audio are probably not reliable!)
  • Regarding the failed PSU mentioned last time, there was speculation about whether turning off at the mains every day is a good idea. MrX is inclined to think that it is not.

• Remote-controlled plugs:
  • Dave used a set of Brennenstuhl plugs for a while until several of them were destroyed!
  • Now has two Sonoff plugs which can be flashed with firmware and controlled with MQTT as part of a Smart Home

• Programming:
  • MrX has recently been writing a Bash script, and found it difficult to get back into it.
  • Dave had written in DEC Pascal on a VAXCluster for many years, but can’t remember any of it any more.
  • Discussion of Delphi, Borland C++
  • Neither MrX nor Dave has used C very much

• Difficulty of producing HPR shows:
  • Pandemic effects on motivation
  • Complications of working from home
  • Happily the rate of contributions to HPR has been increasing in the past few months
  • Adding pictures to shows still needs documentation

• Smart speakers:
  • MrX already had two Google Home devices and got a free Amazon Echo (with Alexa software) from his ISP.
  • The Echo didn’t prove to be very useful as a means of listening to BBC radio, and the sign-up was intrusive.
  • The Google Home devices are preferable; they give easier access to BBC Radio as well as services like Spotify.
  • Dave is avoiding all such devices!

• Old computing equipment:
  • Dave has an old 132-column Anadex matrix printer with a Centronics interface in his attic - found recently when clearing it out.
  • MrX remembered removable Diablo disks.
  • Dave reminisced about writing software in Coral66 on a CTL Modular 1 computer in the 1970s, which also had removable disks.

• Being back at work again:
  • MrX is now in the office twice a week
  • The Scotland mask mandate has ended but many people are still wearing them
  • People are catching SARS-CoV-2 at work, and particularly from children who are back at school, but vaccination means the effects tend to be milder.

• Hayfever (seasonal allergies):
  • MrX is taking a 30C remedy (a remedy labeled 30C has been serially diluted 1:100 thirty times, so is extremely dilute)
  • Dave still suffers from hayfever and takes Cetirizine through spring and summer
  • Dave thinks he developed hayfever in the hot summer and drought of 1976 on a field course in Gloucestershire. (BBC News story: Could the ladybird plague of 1976 happen again?)

• Medical issues:
  • Rheumatoid arthritis - auto-immune origins
  • Trigger finger (also known as stenosing tenosynovitis)

Scots vocabulary

swither

noun: A state of indecision or doubt, a pondering, hesitation, uncertainty.

verb: To be in a state of uncertainty of purpose, to be perplexed about what to do or choose, be in two minds, to doubt, hesitate, dither.

peely-wally (or peelie-wallie or peelie-wally)

adjective: pale, wan and off-colour; insipid and colourless.

Links

• Scots words:
  • Scots Language
  • The online Scots dictionary (English to Scots)

• Smart Speakers:
  • Wikipedia article on Smart Speakers

• Old computing equipment:
  • Wikipedia article on Centronics printers
  • Wikipedia article on Diabolo disks
  • Wikipedia article on Computer Technology Limited (CTL)

• Homeopathic dilutions:
  • Wikipedia article on Homeopathic dilutions

• Medical matters
  • Wikipedia article on Rheumatoid arthritis
  • Wikipedia article on Trigger finger