Catfood WebCamSaver 3.28 is available for download. More webcams!
Timelapse: stars over Casini Ranch, Bangalore Sunsets, and time lapses of the week #6 and #7.
Instructions and code for building a long term Arduino powered timelapse camera.
I really don't like BBC My Sounds.
Previously:
Save America’s Patent System
Good problem to solve, wrong solution. Examine patents on use rather than before issuing.
I just want to listen to Friday Night Comedy on Radio 4.
It used to be the case that this was safely subscribed in my podcast app (I use Podkicker Pro) and so each new episode would download to my feed when released.
The BBC has decided to fix the problem of me getting the program I want to listen to automatically and conveniently. If I want my comedy I have to install My Sounds. When Spotify tried this with Science Vs I just stopped listening. I have plenty of other science podcasts but The Now Show and the News Quiz are irreplaceable. So maybe I could cope with one walled garden.
My Sounds says it will notify you when new episodes are available. It does not.
My Sounds has a My Sounds tab which lists Latest programs. I'm writing this on April 2 and the most recent episode of Friday Night Comedy is from March 25.
Only if I go into Subscribed, and then the program page for Friday Night Comedy does it finally admit that there is an episode from April 1.
So I'm forced to install an app that not only fails to notify me of new episodes of subscribed programs but actively hides them in the basement behind a beware of the leopard sign. BBC, maybe get the app working before forcing me into it? I would rather pay to subscribe to an RSS feed than deal with My Sounds.
I'd take the time to leave a one star review, but in its infinite wisdom Google doesn't allow paying customers to leave app reviews.
Updated 2022-05-06 11:32:
Having been forced into the excreable BBC My Sounds at least it supports downloading an episode to listen to on the plane right?
Updated 2022-05-06 11:33:
Does it fuck. BBC, please fix this and then try asking nicely?
Exclusive transcript of the speech that Biden should have delivered: Build Back Betterer.
What is the San Francisco Rent Board Fee?
Catfood WebCamSaver 3.27 is out. This has a big increase in the list of working webcams and so definitely worth upgrading (or trying for the first time).
Code: I fix a pet peeve with Todoist so the Alexa Integration sets a due date. Also, here's how to use the new Google Search Console API to monitor the index status of your pages. Both in Google Apps Script.
Timelapse: San Francisco Shoreline. Sunsets 8 (Nice Pacific view from my roof) and 9 (the March 27 storm in San Francisco). Both sides of the Golden Gate.
Hikes: I don't recommend the perimeter of Treasure Island (at least not trying the whole of it). I absolutely do endorse Mount Davidson. And San Bruno Mountain.
Previously:
The New York Times: Twitter Permanently Suspends Marjorie Taylor Greene’s Account
Do they mean revoked?
Some Catfood updates - WebCamSaver has been migrated to .NET 4.8 and has a code signing certificate (less nagging from Windows during install) and updated notifications. The list of webcams has also been updated. Catfood Earth for Android now supports Material You. This was so painful that there is a companion 'making of' post so I can whine about it.
With all the news about San Francisco's crime tsunami I decided to look at the data. Here's an animation of all the crime from 2003 to 2021. Spoiler alert, the only really interesting trend is that there is less of it, and 2020 was a massive dip which makes all of the year on year increase statistics being paraded around at the moment a little less interesting. There is a good contrarian take in The Atlantic as well: The Great Shoplifting Freak-Out.
A few hikes in southern California: Sawmill Flats (in Mount San Jacinto State Park), Ladder Canyon and Painted Canyon (amazing) and Barker Dam and Wall Street Mill (in Joshua Tree NP). One in Sonoma: Creekside Trail to Big Leaf Trail Loop.
Windows 11... it's great except for the bits you need to use.
Also a Barn Owl.
Previously:
Mimica, which automates RPA, raises $6M Series A funding led by Khosla Ventures
I'm holding out for the company that automates robotic process automation automation.
I'm lucky enough to have the right sort of TPM so Windows 11 installed smoothly on my laptop through Windows Update. It's got some nice fit and finish improvements and round corners and generally seems well put together. Except for anything I actually use and care about on a regular basis.
It is still impossible to get rid of notifications with one click. This has actually regressed from Windows 10 as we're back to a little x to dismiss which actually sends the notification off to the action center for when you have some spare time to dismiss it a second time. Microsoft, spend less time on focus assist and more time on this!
The taskbar wants your icons in the center. If I wanted a Mac I would have bought one. Luckily there is a setting to move them back to the left. But one thing you can't do is have small taskbar icons. There is a registry hack, but it breaks the system icons so until that's fixed the main impact of Windows 11 for me is missing out on about one row of a spreadsheet. I would like those pixels back!
Maybe the start menu is better, but I stopped using that with Windows 10 and now just pin apps or search for them so I'd never know.
(Previously: I just want to get rid of Windows 10 Notifications with one click)
Updated 2021-12-04 10:35:
A few weeks into my Windows 11 adventure and I think they handed this one off to the designers and forgot the adult supervision.
Alt-Tab you have one job and it's switching between applications. Why then is the selection now indicated by a hair thin black border? It's pretty, but I now have to squint to figure out where I'm going.
Worse still you can no longer drag and drop to the taskbar. I don't do this every day, but it's a big time saver when I need it. Now I have to go through a re-org of windows to drag things between them.
Continuing my Catfood Software refresh I have added a detailed WebCamSaver Guide as a companion to the Catfood Earth post. I also released Catfood Earth 4.20. This is a minor feature release (with the 2021d time zone database) but has a lot of upgrades behind the scenes. I've migrated to .net 4.8 and renewed my code signing certificate both of which make it much easier to install on Windows 10 (and 11). Upgrade notifications died when I moved Catfood Software to ITHCWY, with this release there is a new web service so Earth can tell you when thee is a new version available. Similar changes will come to WebCamSaver soon.
Are US schools too obsessed with sports?
Some fun with crystals and Adobe super resolution - I don't think they trained the AI on crystals.
Hikes: Adobe Creek, remnants in the sunset, Twin Peaks and Sugarloaf Ridge State Park.
I might buy more of your podcasts if you stop making them too long.
A milky way timelapse from Sugarloaf Ridge State Park.
Fleet week came back to San Francisco. Photos and timelapse.
Previously: