Calum Mackervoy

"The purpose of a system is what it does" — Stafford Beer

There is "no point in claiming that the purpose of a system is to do what it constantly fails to do"

So far I'm finding #Netbeans to be a comfortable environment for learning with. Far moreso than #eclipse and #idea just keeps crashing - I suspect my fault, I need to look into that.

I've started to learn #Java over the past few days. Not the first time I've looked at it, but now my #Python is more advanced I'm finding Java makes more sense to me. Perhaps I'll reach the point of becoming vaguely useful in a while!

As far as IDEs are concerned, #Jetbrains is the obvious one, not just because I use #PyCharm Pro, though familiarity certainly helps. But I've decided to try out #eclipse properly (used in the past with #PyDev which I did not get on with) and also #Netbeans.

I have responded to a user on the KDE forums who wasn't receiving useful assistance for a NetBeans scaling issue and have provided information in a GitHub issue (where the OP didn't reply with requested information) to help diagnose a NetBeans scaling issue.

I feel all warm and squishy inside.

This feeling will remain until I realise I have been unhelpful in both situations.

#kde #gnome #netbeans #java #github

SystemTray systemTray = SystemTray.getSystemTray();

... for when you just haven't typed SystemTray enough to satisfy your systemTray needs.

#Java #awt #MakeItStop

Vega (male, left) happily shredding kitchen towel beside Lyra (female, right) who is barely awake.

#budgerigar #budgies #cage #tired

To FreeBSD, or not to FreeBSD, that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous ports build times,
Or to take arms against a sea of GNU/Linux users,
And by opposing end them: to die, to shutdown,
But not to sleep on a laptop; and by a sleep,
To say we end the running of wifi, and the thousand
Natural processes that silicon is Heir to?

#gnu #linux #bsd #freebsd #shakespeare #hamlet #bored

That's a Toyo 10x8" double dark slide on the way.

Now all I need to do is find space to setup my darkroom tent and I can do 10x8" paper negatives with one of my pinhole cameras and then contact print them for very short run limited edition prints.

#photo #photography #toyo #8x10 #10x8 #largeformat #pinhole #papernegatives #contactprinting #darkroom

I've just loaded #Diamine Red Dragon #ink into a #Lamy #Al-Star in 2026 limited edition Pine green #fountainpen

I am such a rebel.

That's now both of my mother's fountain pens (the #Waterman #Hemisphere I bought for her for Xmas 2007 and the #Lamy #Studio I bought for her last Spring) cleaned, serviced, loaded up with her preferences of ink (Diamine's Mediterranean Blue and Aurora Borealis respectively) and a Morris & Co writing set ready and waiting that I'd intended for Mother's Day this year.

She's been out of hospital for a few days and wants to write a thank you note to the teams that helped her over those 3 weeks.

So, that #Waterman fountain pen I bought for my mother shortly before Xmas 2007 that never worked properly...

...I managed to find it a week ago and I've just spent a couple of hours cleaning it very carefully. It must have had some dried ink from factory testing blocking the flow, because it now works perfectly!

And I've been able to identify it as being part of their #Hemisphere range. They still make the range, but not in this lovely dark, rich, metallic red.

#fountainpen #diamine #ink

I am trying to force myself to become a photographer again. I don't know how long a person can go without handling a camera and still be considered a photographer, but I suspect I have exceeded the time limit. For now, here a few images from one of my long running projects, tiny red petals. These are from around 2006/7.

#photography #flowers #tinyredpetals #trp

If you had the choice between a Fujifilm X-T5 or a GFX 100S II, which would you choose?

#photography #fujifilm #camera #drool

New camera has just been delivered.

Now I just need the paper to arrive and order the sheet film holders for it.

#photo #photography #8x10" #pinhole

Saturday, early afternoon, sitting in front of the computer working on a sign-up flow for a #Django system with #PyCharm while waiting for a new #sopranino #recorder to be delivered.

It's a #Mollenhauer after #Denner, should anyone be interested.

The sopranino recorder, that is, not the sign-up flow. That wouldn't make too much sense now, would it?

I wonder if anything other than the Django and PyCharm hashtag were worthwhile.

Please vote and share for a representative sample. I ask the questions others are too afraid to.

Which form do you favour when replying to someone wishing you a Merry Christmas?

#christmas #humbug #santa #banana

Bizarre oddness.

#poetry gives a bus error when installing certain things, while #pip & #pipenv just get on with it.

I've never experienced this until the past week or so.

It's been so long since I've used #pipenv that I'm actually having to read documentation on it 😔

Duologue is the new monologue.

#amiright

I'm drinking cognac and migrating a server. What could go wrong?

Actually, given the number of errors I've had to correct while typing this, perhaps this is a good point to stop for the night and complete the migration after sleep 🙃

#linux #server #migration #cognac #hic