just-plain-life – Cubicgarden.com…

Someone has to say something about the dog… owners!

Many people know I’m not a fan of dogs, I have been chased and bitten a few times. In pandemic times, a lot of people bought them to manage their wellbeing. However now we are endemic times, a lot of those dog owners went back to work and the dogs became an after thought?

I say the above, having experiencing some irresponsible owners over the last few years. In the Channel4 piece which contained a deeply distressing video of a dog attacking people, something I really didn’t want to see.

They question someone who would like to see a breed of dog banned in the UK. As the dog charity says, banning American Bully XL dogs won’t do much. Its the owners, the irresponsible owners.

The owners who don’t control their dogs, the owners who assume their dog can do no harm, the owners who take their young puppies to restaurants and happily let it climb on other eaters, the owners who don’t clean up after their dog, the owners who are transfixed on their phone rather than their dog tripping people up on the street, the owners who allow their dog on the cafe furniture and even the table in coffee shops, the owners who don’t use a lead in public spaces, owners who can’t imagine why anyone wouldn’t love to see their dog, the owners who don’t take owning a dog seriously at all.

I can tell you as someone who has been bitten on a public road a long time, that owner was completely distraught and cursing themself for leaving the gate open, when the police took their dog away. Even a few years ago when my ex was bitten in a hotel, the owner didn’t give a toss, its completely unfair on the customers and even the dog.

In recent times quite a few people have come to me and share their absolute contempt for the dog owners who bring their dogs everywhere (even some dog lovers and owners). They say how great they can share their thoughts. Because they are so worried about what others would say. Dogs are every where online, but as someone said to me…

“its not about the Instagram picture, its about the love, care, support – parenting of the dog. That huge responsibility is not for everyone – unfortunately too many are not cut out for it… and that can turn a good dog into something else”

I’m sure I’ll get some grief for this post but honestly, I don’t want to see dogs hurt by irresponsible owners

Motorcycling tech I seen recently

When I heard about the BMW motorcycle glasses, I was finally thinking yes at last a heads up display (HUD) to solve the google maps navigation problem I have had for ages. Its way too expensive but a interesting development.

Originally I thought why isn’t this built into the helmet but then I watched F9’s video. Shoei’s in-build HUD system is looks pretty awful but alas its development from sticking a phone to the phone or mapping it to the inbuilt display.

Recently I have been looking at what I would do if my Honda Silverwing Scooter needed to be scrapped due to a change to the planned ultra low emission zone (ULEZ) in Manchester (My silvewing is ok as things stand), started falling apart, etc. I finally found the Honda Forza 750 while in Lisbon. Decided to look into a test ride and was super impressed.

However I did find the keyless entry something worrisome after watching whats happened with some cars. Don’t mind if this was an option but as the only option?! Following the car like route, I was interested in the pairing of the smartphone to the onboard display, which could be useful for the Google maps problem, maybe…?

Of course I keep thinking, where is the electric maxi-scooters, and when will I get my test ride BMW?

Seems like a bad move to buy another petrol maxi-scooter right now?

Not so easyjet

I have just spent 15 days in the Netherlands, on the whole it was great but after 5 hotels and a generous friend it was hard work. A bunch of things happened which are hard to explain without a lot of detail, which I can’t go into. However…

There was a bunch of problems with my flights which had a knock on effect.

Sunday 18th June, I was booked, packed and had my boarding pass ready to get on my evening Easyjet flight to Amsterdam from Manchester. I just got back from the Northern Quarter after having brunch with a friend. Funny enough she asked me when my flight is and I joked it was 90mins from that moment.

On the walk back from brunch, I received a text message fr0m Easyjet.

We’re really sorry that your easyJet flight 2167 from MAN to AMS on 18-06-2023 has been cancelled due to poor weather. We understand that this will be disappointing news and we want to make it as easy as possible for you to make new plans.

What the hell I thought then when I got home I saw the email. 3 options were available.

Switch to a new flight for free.
Choose a voucher for the full value of your ticket
Request a refund

I picked option 1 but there were no flights available to Amsterdam till late the next day. Meaning I would miss a lot of the first day of Mozilla House. With some authorisation and time running short, I triple checked KLM were still flying and booked that one for about a hour or so later than the original Easyjet one. I can’t even explain how stressful this was because I couldn’t leave till I had the boarding pass on my phone & gdrive. With a small amount of time I could only get a Uber to the airport check in with my cabin luggage (I can’t do 2 weeks with a small amount of luggage), get through security and board the plane.

When I finally got to Amsterdam, the hotel was completely automated by email, which I never answered due to the change of flights. Luckily one of the team saw my signal messages after midnight and let me in so I could actually check in.

2 hotels later and a great Mozilla House event in Amsterdam (more on this in another blog post). My plan to visit a friend in Rotterdam was thrown into chaos with Rotterdam upgrading its railways. This meant booking another hotel very last minute but I did end up going to Walibi Holland still.

Goliath x8 (not steel dragon 2000, but similar in construction)
Untamed x10 (first time I been on a RMC steel converted woodie and it was brutal)
Speed of sound x3
Loss of gravity x15 (not the smiler, but same maker and track style, not enough inversions)
Xpress platform 13 – x1

As I wasn’t spending 4 hours getting back to Rotterdam, I got to do a bunch of other stuff including watching the Flash with Dutch subtitles.

Anyway back to flights and travel. On my return to Manchester on Easyjet, I got to the Airport with plenty of time. My partner had joined me after the Publicspaces conference in hotel number 5 and we had booked flights a long time ago just incase. I spent a long time (30+ mins with the messaging system) cancelling my part of that flight and then moving my new flight seat next to my partner on the return. Worth noting Easyjet wouldn’t cancel my extra luggage, although I wouldn’t be on that booking any-more.

I get to the Amsterdam airport and try to check in to find my boarding pass isn’t valid. We try different ways to check if I’m on the flight but none of them work. I call Easyjet and the company who booked the flight. Its a long story but by the time I understand what happened, my options to leave were fading away to zero. I even considered the Eurostar and almost booked one of the last business class seats on KLM but they couldn’t guarantee I would make it to the plane in time.

Luckily my good friend Si had offered following me a room after having to book a hotel due to Rotterdam.

Finally after 15 days, 5 different hotels and 2 conferences; I was back in Manchester again.

The thing I learned is Easyjet cancels both flights even if you request to cancel only the outgoing flight.I gather this isn’t true for every airline but I don’t think they are the only one. Easyjet insists they sent emails to me but as I wasn’t the booker, it didn’t get to me. Although they did have my mobile number and email address. Right now we are going through this all to see what went wrong.

Dont get me wrong I had a amazing time in Amsterdam, worked really hard throughout but got the right blend of work and pleasure. However my credit card looks pretty damaged although I will get back the flights, some hotels are on me.

Islington wharf glass change… at last

The difference in the new and old glass — The difference in the new (right) and old glass (left)

I had most of my windows done in my apartment this week. There is a long story involving one of my glass panels being smashed in the middle of the night (from memory of when I heard one hell of a crack)

When I woke up in the morning, I walked into the living room and shouted something pretty rude and got on the phone to our residents liaison (that is a whole different story). Didn’t get through so sent emails but the builders were already ripping out the shatter glass. I talked with them through my restricted window. Long story short, they were able to get the panel of glass to installed the next day (Thursday 6th). In actual fact they put in the panel next to it too. Nice present for my birthday weekend, but friends couldn’t believe the pictures when I showed them in the party.

I was asked if I could allow access to my whole flat for a complete glass refit on Tuesday 11th. I agreed as I was going to be away and after coming back from a spa weekend. After coming back on Tuesday evening I found the new windows except in the second bedroom. I expect that will take another 5-6 weeks.

There is a lot more to this all including moving everything away from the windows, the endless back and forth getting a date and being let down. Will it make a difference to the heat? Its hard to tell because the original designs have changed and the windows are clearly less able to open as wide. There was always plans for two open windows to provide a in and out draft but in the Living room there is one. Plus its actually smaller than the original one and can’t open so wide.

One thing I do have is the temperature sensors in the living room and bedroom which I’m planning to map alongside the historical temperature over the last year (which I also have), to really understand the difference the new windows are making.

I guess the Covid pandemic is over then?

Of course the Covid pandemic isn’t over for many people…

Cash still rules everything around me

Cascais in Feb

Every once in a while I’m reminded I should carry some cash.

Recently I was in Lisbon, and as usually used my card for everything. However we decided to head to the beach of Cascais, as it was going to be warm (20c in Feb isn’t bad).

Of course after a while on the beach with the Diabolo and my partner, a toilet break is needed. So going for a walk around Cascais to spot a toilet in a shop, I saw a nice restaurant called Pistachio Bar. I knew I was missing a good Portuguese coffee, so I thought I’d buy a swifty espresso and make the excuse to use the toilet at the same time.

They started to make the espresso and I went to pay for the espresso with my card. But they didn’t accept card payments under 5 euros. The manager came over and they talked about the payment, I thought about other things I could do including turning it into a Americano/long black, etc all while needing the toilet still. In the end the manager turned to me and said just take it for free.

This would be great, although I couldn’t do it, especially since I still needed the toilet. There was no way I could take the espresso and then use the toilet for free. So I looked around and noticed a full bar, and offered to buy two shots for the manager and staff member. Manager said no way because they are working, however I thought some shots for me and my partner could work nicely.

I forgot shots in Lisbon is equivalent to about 2.5 shots in the UK. After finally paying and finally going to the toilet, I walked back to the beach with a espresso and two more espresso sized take out cups filled with dark rum. But happy with the positive story and a reminder I should have some cash!

On the way back I had a similar story after getting on the train back to Lisbon and realising there was no toilets on the trains. There was time to go in the station but once again there was no option for cards, so I did that turnstile hack. A angry Portuguese woman came into the male toilets and shouted at me over and over again. I tried to explain but I was kind of busy. Afterwards I offered an explanation and showed I had a legit travel card but it wasn’t enough. Conscious I needed to get the train and my partner was waiting for me, I just had to apologise again and again as I ran to the gate for my train.

As I did, I was reminded of the Wu-Tang-Clan’s Cream. Cash rules everything around me…

Slinky obsessed? How about Diabolo obsessed?

Watching this, and the Yoyo one I keep thinking. There needs to be a Obsessed for the diaboloing!

Digital legacy the home made version

For a long while since my brush with death, I have been thinking about my digital legacy as most of my stuff is digital. I know its not something most people think about but in the same way most people don’t think about their will till something major happens or its too late.

Digital legacy is in that place right now where there are companies which will do it for you but the trust model seems broken to me. Also they tend to need everything to be in one place/platform rather than the real way people use digital technology today and into the trustless/diy/open future.

With this in mind, I checked out a few different options and the one which came up consistently was Hereditas.

Hereditas, which means inheritance in Latin, is a static website generator that builds fully-trustless digital legacy boxes, where you can store information for your relatives to access in case of your sudden death or disappearance.

For example, you could use this to pass information such as passwords, cryptographic keys, cryptocurrency wallets, sensitive documents, etc.

Herditas is neat and the code is open source allowing anyone to investigate it. But as its alpha software I always felt a bit uneasy about using it for my digital legacy because it felt a bit too barebones (although I did sign up for Auth0).

I looked for alternatives such which also used the method of trustless, zero-knowledge and verification, but found little. So decided to try setting something up myself based on what I already have and use.

It was about the same time the lastpass security breach happened and although I’m not using a online password manager started thinking if there was a way to combine the both in a safe way.

So what did I do?

First I bought these secure USB drives and of course changed the passcode to something long and unique.

Then made a copy of my keepass database (my password manager) on to the USB drive along with my Letter of wishes, a readme file and other bits and bobs. The database is locked up with a very long and difficult master password. That password is stored inside another online password manager, bitwarden which includes the feature of emergency access. I have already set up family members and close friends using this feature. Meaning only a few selected people can access it once I don’t reject their access request.

Once someone gets access to the bitwarden account, they would still need access to the database file, which is on the secure keys. Then to top that, keepass has the option of a key file which can look like almost any file including ones on the secure USB stick. Its not elegant but I can’t see many flaws and it works in a simple way which was explained to my family.

I’m still experimenting with this all but been thinking a better option is to use another encrypted filesystem or Certs for the keepass 2nd authentication. Of course that file doesn’t have to even sit on the secure USB drive at all, as I’m considering buying and using more FIDO2 keys and using that instead.

Looking Herditas again, I quite like the idea of a static website on the secure website which could make a better solution that a readme file. It would be great if Herditas could actually run on/offline

Thoughts and comments are welcomed…

Is there a major flaw which I’m missing or is something which could work?

Update Tuesday 24th Jan

There has been some discussion on the fediverse about my post and I wanted to add some more details. Some people have asked why bother and I wanted to address some of them.

The scenario of death is a lot clearer and the death certificate will unlock a lot of things, however its worth noting some EULAs from the likes of dropbox need explicit consent before they will provide access. I’m also using the likes of Google, Facebook, etc’s legacy contact support.

The scenario I alluded to, was when I was in in ICU for 3-4 weeks and my family and friends needed to sort out my life when I was buying a new flat. I was lucky but I could have lost the flat. Yes its unique but a lot can happen when you are temporarily or even permanently out of action. Permanent disability is possible and providing access in a safe way, can make a lot of difference. I also think my thoughts still works in this case too.

Being a digital nomad not as a freelancer? What happens with Taxes?

Following my new years resolution around being a digital nomad in Lisbon.

I really need to understand the tax side of a digital nomad from the business point of view as an employee of a large company not a freelancer. With this knowledge I can build the solid business case for being a digital nomad for a year.
The problem currently is most of the digital nomad community are freelancers, where everything is clearer. If anyone can help with this I need to find them and part of that is really getting deep into the nomad

I have joined a few different digital nomad communities asking questions. The main one is this…

From my understanding of the digital nomad visas, I will pay taxes and national insurance on my salary as usual. This would be done in UK as usual. Then I pay any taxes in Portugal on things I buy or consume. For the company I work for there is no extra charges or costs? As far as they are concerned nothing changes?

Everyone I have asked this question of, has said yes but they are not sure because they are freelancers. Digital nomad visas are not exclusively freelancers but because its so new, I’m not finding anyone who on a similar journey who works for a company in the UK.

If you can help with this question… please get in touch!

RIP: Maxi Jazz

Everytime I hear Insomnia (Monster mix), I’m brought to near tears at how amazing and beautiful the tune is. I was deeply sadden to hear Maxi Jazz had died aged 66.

Rest in peace

I also saw this video which is Faithless Dance Group Leader Maxi Jazz’s Final Message 24 Hours Before He Died.

My new years resolutions for 2023

What a year, although I’m a little less positive about 2023 in the UK.

Following my review of last year… here’s my New Years Resolutions for 2023 which follows on from 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008 ones.

Combining a number of the previous digital nomad things
I really need to understand the tax side of a digital nomad from the business point of view as an employee of a large company not a freelancer. With this knowledge I can build the solid business case for being a digital nomad for a year.
The problem currently is most of the digital nomad community are freelancers, where everything is clearer. If anyone can help with this I need to find them and part of that is really getting deep into the nomad communities..
Finish my dating book
The book is being worked on and some are suggest I’m a lot closer than I think . The book has structure, being edited, I have illustrations and even decided to use mid-journey for the cover. After reaching out to many agents and publishers with not much success I decided self-publishing is the way to go. I’m setting myself 2023 as the year to finally do this.
Head even further a field with the scooter
2022 I didn’t go as far as 2021 but, I am up for driving on the scooter either up through Scotland or finally Netherlands and Belgium. 2023 has to be the year.
Learn to drive a car
Its also time, I’m not ever going to buy a car but being able to rent one for trips to IKEA and for longer journeys when the weather isn’t great makes sense. Its super clear the weather is going to get more extreme and being able to rent a car is more sensible. The other side of this is I can actually drive a car and passed my theory test with flying colours a long time ago (of course I need to do it again)..
Listen to a Audiobook at least once a month.
This worked out so well last year and to be fair I want to keep it going. Especially if I start using the gym too, although I’m thinking music is better for repetitive exercises. I also think I should write a some short reviews for them as some are excellent.
Go to a new country
I missed this over the last few years and really like to get back into the flow of this. South Korea is certainly of interest along with a few of the European countries I have missed like Norway and the Czech republic.
Go to a new Rollercoaster park
This is a repeat of last year but I really want to go to some of the European parks which I hear a lot about but never actually been. There are so many including Europapark in Germany, Efteling & Walibi in the Netherlands and Energylandia, Poland. Heck I have overlooked Flamingo Land in Yorkshire, forever!
Take the Diabolo skills up another level
I started undoing the bad habits but its time for the endless suicide and some vertex genocides. Really need to find some groups again, as learn so much quicker when I can see it in front of me.
Start a new type of meetup
Manchester Futurists stopped a while ago and of course London geekdinners ended for me since 2008. Recently I have been thinking about the public service internet a lot and how there is a real lack of support for public entities (dare I mention the strikes in the UK in the public services). So I’m thinking in typical form, find the others. Bring together people around different aspects of public service, looking towards the future.
On top of this, I realised there is so much scope here and theres some great public spaces which could host the meetups. I’d really like to do something which is easily hybrid too.
Do more self-hosting
The selfhost train has really been moving over the last few years and I’m finding managing it a lot less stressful than it use to be. Yunohost has been a real joy and auto-update is great. Ideally a multiple domains would be really useful but cubicgarden.info is my playground.
Be more selective about the subscriptions (podcasts, blogs, feeds, followers, etc).
I am pretty good about this but I noticed there is quite a lot of legacy stuff which I should have removed a while back.
Even better wellbeing
I’m not doing too bad but there is room of improvement, for example my sleep has taken a drop and I’m less active when not playing volleyball or summer. I need remind myself my spa also includes a gym which I should take advantage of more. Wellbeing also includes my digital wellbeing with not enough blogging and my gratitude diary has gone to pot. Next year I got to do something about this too.

There is the 12 for 2023. Covid19 is still going to have a effect on most of them but who knows.

Have a good new year all!

A review of my 2022 resolutions

Ian and Alison together in the sun — Me and my partner at EMF Camp

2022 has been another interesting year. The notion of a United Kingdom has become a total joke to me after the 3rd prime-minister in a year. UK Politics right now is on a knife edge with so many strikes due to the government and the cost of living crisis effecting too many people.

Finally getting Covid for the first time after 2 years was quite something. Not just Covid but Covid-Toe! That was bloody painful!

From a Quantified Self data point of view 2022 looked like this.

My average sleep duration has dropped from 7hours 50mins to 7hours 30mins. Deep sleep dropped from 3.30hrs to 2.40hrs. Not great!
Tasks wise I switched from todolist.txt to todolist and have 148 open tasks and completed 1,919 over the year
Been to a few places in 2022 but no new countries. Manchester, Brussels, Lisbon, Cardiff, London, Bristol, Bath, Weston, Tetbury, Amsterdam, York, Ledbury, Birmingham, Lancaster, Durham, Bournemouth, and Paignton this year.
According to Trakt (which had a database problem recently), my most played show is Last week tonight with Jon Oliver. Film wise it was Everything everywhere all at once, which is also my most highest rated with 9/10. Black Panther 2 and the woman king were both 8/10. For the first time the most watched actors and actresses are Viola David and Idris Eiba (both black). Likewise the most watched director was Erin Lee Carr. Most listened to podcast is podnews.
I watched 151 movie and 288 hours of TV. I also read 647 articles via Wallabag.

Coffee and Dilemmas in Manchester in April

A review of my 2021 resolutions

And the thoughts a year later…

Live in another country for a short while
This hasn’t happened and looks to be on this list for quite some time. The biggest blocker is understanding the cost (if any) for the company I work for. From my understanding and what I have read, there is no additional costs as taxes & insurance are paid as usual in the country (in this case the UK) with additional taxes paid on goods and services in the other country (Portugal).
If anyone has any experience of a digital nomad as a full time member of staff in another country? Do get in touch!
Spend more time getting to know the tech community in Portugal
I did spend a week in Lisbon getting to know the city as a non-tourist, looking around coffee shops, co-working spaces, etc. I also gatecrashed a Web3/crypto party along side the block crypto house.
Finish my dating book
I am some way off this but I have made some progress, hiring illustrators and possibility another editor. I also considered my paths and decided Amazon self publishing is the way. I really want to get this finished by next year.

Mountain ride — The Honda Silverwing 600

Head even further a field with the scooter
Not much happened this year but partly due to meeting wonderful woman who drives, meaning some of the journeys I had planned were done via car not scooter.
Send a email out to friends and family once or twice a year
Another thing which didn’t happen, its still something I think about.
Find an alternative to the pebble watch
This did happen, as blogged about here and here. Although I am managing with the Amazefit GTR4, I certainly would like to see something closer to the pebble’s interface.

MyPDS and Perceptive Raido — Perceptive radio in the Museum of science and industry for the BBC 100’s anniversary

Listen to a Audiobook every month.
This is one I completely blew through the 12 books for the year, with 17 finished, a few started and potentially one more will be finished before the end of the year. The Bluetooth mp3 player with waterproof headphones was a great investment for the spa and gym.
Host more film nights and dinner parties
From pretty much zero to 2 or 3 in a year isn’t bad but I can do much better.
Go to a new Rollercoaster park
Never happened but thought about it a lot. Got a feeling next year Walibi, Efteling and Europa park are calling me.

Take the Diabolo skills up a level
My diabolo skills has gotten really good, I undid some of the bad habits but the later part of the year not really had the chance to practice as much. This showed when I entered a contest at work and dropped the diabolo way too many times.
Put some attention into dating and love
So while seeking more compatible women, I met Alison and we have been going out for 10 months now and is been a joy.
Seek out a better regular spa
I looked and looked but decided having a pretty good spa within a short walk was big advantage compared to getting public transport or scooting to the spa each time. Plus now I’m mainly listening to audiobooks, I’m not listening to some of the awful conversations which happen around the spa.

Do you chew your chocolate?

The guardian recently had a piece about Chocolate (anything to take our minds off the political climate right now and Chocolate is a good one)

I won’t go through the whole list but I originally laughed out loud when I read this…

Anyway, it appears that we haven’t yet covered chocolate. And a good thing too, because it turns out we’ve been eating it wrong the whole time.

Have we? We have, if you believe the food scientist Natalie Alibrandi, who has been analysing the results of a new 2,000-person study of the nation’s chocolate habits, commissioned by Galaxy.

Commissioned by Galaxy, because they are well known for their high quality/sustainable chocolate? Anyway its all the usual stuff but I found one part quite telling.

When do you usually eat it – at night?

No, usually about 11am. Right, OK, again that’s supposedly the correct time to eat it. Chocolate contains sugar and caffeine, which, according to Alibrandi, helps to give you the perfect pre-lunch boost. Also, your palate is fresher earlier in the day, so you’ll get the full hit of chocolate as it was intended to be eaten.

I’m not so convinced about this one, but I guess if you are eating milky/sugar filled Galaxy then it makes sense?

Nothing better than some 85% with some black smokey tea at night.

Would you travel to Hong Kong?

I just seen a post on Time Out.

The Hong Kong tourist board plans to give away half a million free plane tickets to encourage tourism in 2023.

The Hong Kong Tourism Board has already bought the tickets – it purchased them in 2020 from carriers including Hong Kong Airlines, Hong Kong Express and Cathay Pacific as part of the government support package for the aviation sector.

I have always wanted to go to Hong Kong but since the whole Hong Kong/ China mainline conflict. I thought its likely a bad idea to go.

However this is very tempting…

Would you go?

How was summer in my flat?

Most of you know I’m a quantified self person, and been meaning to measure the awful heat in my flat. Especially with glass changes to Islington wharf..

A few years ago I bought switch-bot temperature monitors, but it was only recently I decided to setup the sync feature. Till then I kind of thought it would save all the data but it turns out, it only saves a month at a time.

Living room

In the living room the peak was 33.7c, while the lowest was 21.7c which is better. I suspect with the 20 inch gym fan running and the one window off its restrictions, that might have brought the temperature down. I do have timings for the temperatures but I’m not going to work that out now.

Bedroom

In my bedroom the temperature started at 28.2c (yes the lowest!) and 29.7c was the highest. Imagine trying to sleep all the time between those ranges. Now you can see why I have to sleep with no sheets. The temperature will be higher, because I can’t sleep with the window wide open without the blinds down. This traps the heat inside even with the doors open.