Technical Reports and Papers from my work. Message boards: Muon1 Project Forum Software here General/Rubbish Discuss things. Miscellaneous: Black hole images Obtained from tracing photons through warped space, something I did during my relativity course at Oxford. |
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Browser Wars Connect-4 where your team is your browser Colunms Columnar challenge... Tubetris Tubular Tetrominoes. NCGi website An unfinished Asteroids game. | ||||||
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2026-Jan-26 23:51:21 There's a room that usually has the door shut, but I've realised it has more radiators per unit area than the rest of the house, so I've been creating a warm room and not using it. |
2026-Jan-26 19:32:33 Big pile of #snow outside the kitchen.
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2026-Jan-26 19:24:03 Cleared snow from the path and behind the car. Can move the car back and forth but won't go on the road until the proper plough has been down there. |
2026-Jan-24 20:54:15 BitLocker isn't really secure. Of course. You shouldn't have ever thought it was.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/thomasbrewster/2026/01/22/microsoft-gave-fbi-keys-to-unlock-bitlocker-encrypted-data/ |
2026-Jan-22 22:10:57 I threw a rotten apple into the garden and it disappeared. I was assuming a creature ate it but then realised my house is on a hill so it might just have rolled away. |
2026-Jan-22 19:45:25 Ocean Cleanup are intercepting an increasing amount of plastic, maybe 2-5% of the total flow by their estimate:
RT https://x.com/TheOceanCleanup/status/2014353390952686010 https://x.com/BoyanSlat/status/2014380838142529685 |
2026-Jan-22 00:47:36 Saw some silicon valley types freaking out about the "slow uptake of AI" but it's not at all surprising considering the mechanisation, computerisation and network...isation(?) revolutions are not at all complete. Manual processes everywhere, particularly in the physical world. |
2026-Jan-21 23:52:50 Fast spinning #asteroid discovered, 710 meters long and rotating every 1.88 minutes (19.8m/s surface speed). #space #astronomy
https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/news/asteroid-2025-mn45 |
2026-Jan-21 23:44:54 Proposal for laser submitted. |
2026-Jan-21 10:54:21 Mission to Moon could be delayed by the Sun.
Also - why three planets in the background of the SOHO animation? It's because Mercury, Venus and Mars are all very close to opposite us behind the Sun. #space #astronomy https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/news/solar-flare-18-january-2026 |
2026-Jan-20 23:06:47 Hilbert's cat (one dimensional)
https://chaos.social/@blinry/115927010136024303 |
2026-Jan-20 23:02:23 You should automatically dislike online-only installation.
In some cases you want ONE file, ONE version that installs exactly as-is, deterministically. No updates. And definitely no "remote server decided you aren't allowed to use software any more". |
2026-Jan-20 20:15:26 Cow using a broom as a back scratcher.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cj0n127y74go |
2026-Jan-19 18:22:33 Monus.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monus #maths |
2026-Jan-18 19:40:52 https://www3.nasa.gov/send-your-name-with-artemis/ |
2026-Jan-18 19:17:38 Hmm #KDE #Plasma seems pretty leaky with file and clipboard history data.
https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/797205/how-can-i-completely-disable-and-clear-kde-dolphin-history-features Pay particular attention to deleting ~/.local/share/klipper and the recent documents folder in ~/.local/share/ #Linux |
2026-Jan-17 21:56:57 Change of plan: went to the beach before it got dark. Was low tide and it had only snowed slightly.
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2026-Jan-17 20:08:40 Artemis II rocket being rolled out to the launch pad: [video] [live] #NASA #space
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrVnsO_rdew |
2026-Jan-16 19:57:25 Duucks
RT https://x.com/tsutsu111111/status/2011641999238320435 |
2026-Jan-15 18:07:49 Hubble images of protoplanetary disks. #space #astronomy
RT https://x.com/NASAHubble/status/2011829356243349732 |
2026-Jan-15 16:48:58 The Crew-11 capsule has splashed down from the ISS off California. [video]
RT https://x.com/NASASpaceflight/status/2011727067172520047 |
2026-Jan-14 23:52:16 There were a LOT of turkeys near the linear accelerator today. |
2026-Jan-14 16:02:28 Coastal erosion in Yorkshire of 2m per year reveals nuclear bunker constructed in 1959.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4g0dp65v77o |
2026-Jan-13 23:55:12 #NASA tweets today: Moon mission could be as early as Feb 6th; Dept of Energy will make a lunar #nuclear reactor by 2030. #space
https://x.com/NASA/status/2011156303930945683 https://x.com/NASA/status/2011194084191306137 |
2026-Jan-12 23:30:53 Betelgeuse is now believed to have a normal-sized star orbiting inside it. #astronomy #space
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betelgeuse#Possible_companion_star |
2026-Jan-12 22:58:00 Shrimp shedding its exoskeleton. [video]
RT https://x.com/aquaristEBICHAN/status/2010650234947510549 |
2026-Jan-12 19:44:30 Last week I looked inside Brookhaven National Laboratory's tandem Van de Graaff accelerator. The platform in the middle is called the terminal and can be raised to 15 million volts while surrounded by insulating SF6 gas (unusual to see an accelerator large enough to climb inside!) I wanted to see if there was room for an ultra-cold ion source, which could create nanometre-scale ion beams once accelerated by the Tandem. #physics #accelerators
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2026-Jan-12 00:44:22 Problem: Steam window keeps disappearing and reappearing repeatedly (Debian 13.2/KDE)
Go to Steam launch icon in KDE menu > right click > Edit Application... > Advanced tab > untick "Run using dedicated graphics card" |
2026-Jan-09 18:25:37 Basin-hopping optimisation of a particle beam transfer line with six different energies in it. #physics #accelerators Something like this might be required for the 22GeV CEBAF energy upgrade at Jefferson Lab, to join the arcs to the linac where all the beams are in the same pipe. |
2026-Jan-08 22:54:06 RT https://x.com/ULTRAKAERL/status/2008646981829488895 |
2026-Jan-08 22:52:58 The Space Force's planetarium show has some pretty nice computer graphics and use of 3D (you can pan the Youtube video with the mouse). #space
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ow3RlZGDk0w |
2026-Jan-08 16:24:08 Nice article on the amino acids and sugars found in the Bennu #asteroid sample. (Can't seem to find an English article that is this detailed, so you'll have to translate from Japanese with the browser) #space #astronomy
https://sorae.info/astronomy/20260107-bennu-sample-1.html |
2026-Jan-08 01:18:18 The oil majors:
🐚 🪺 🔛 ^ 🐝 🫛 |
2026-Jan-08 01:01:46 Cloud of >99.9% dark matter found 14 million light years away. #astronomy #physics
https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/news/cloud-9-hubble |
2026-Jan-08 00:46:22 https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/dells-ces-2026-chat-was-the-most-pleasingly-un-ai-briefing-ive-had-in-maybe-5-years/ |
2026-Jan-07 00:05:04 There seems to be a senile phase where companies can't make products good enough to sell to the public any more so they try to foist them on other companies via the "committee IQ is less than any of its members" effect. |
2026-Jan-06 01:25:24 If I go away for a week, the shower head becomes clogged, but then gets better after a few days if I keep using it. (One of the many things I don't understand) |
2026-Jan-06 01:25:16 Made the window longer than the screen award. |
2026-Jan-06 00:12:45 Planetesimal collision seen around Fomalhaut. #space #astronomy
https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/news/fomalhaut-cs1-cs2 |
2026-Jan-03 15:23:29 Saw this obelisk with heiroglyphics on it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philae_obelisk
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2026-Jan-02 16:59:53 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c75x6ew929po #politics #UK |
2026-Jan-02 16:45:36 #UK #electricity now produces 4x less CO2 per kWh than in 2012. #energy
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cz947djd3d3o |
2026-Jan-02 15:10:49 Lots of swans 🦢🦢🦢
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2026-Jan-02 14:21:23 Hatchet Pond, The New Forest.
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2026-Jan-01 19:14:19 #Starlink upper shells are being lowered so that satellites will de-orbit more quickly once inactive. #SpaceX #space
RT https://x.com/michaelnicollsx/status/2006790372681220530 |
2026-Jan-01 15:59:57 Went on a walk opposite the Isle of Wight and the needles. Also paddled 6" in the sea.
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2026-Jan-01 00:16:05 Happy New Year! 🎇 |
2025-Dec-31 19:43:36 I would post to give an interesting factorisation of 2026 but I think it's just 2*1013. "Have an even but otherwise unremarkable year". |
2025-Dec-31 16:35:00 Last #sunset of 2025.
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2025-Dec-31 15:55:19 1000°C #semiconductor oven operated in #space.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c62vx0pgyrgo |
2025-Dec-31 13:34:48 The bog area of the nature reserve was shut but we saw these logs.
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2025-Dec-30 22:25:16 "Thieves used a large drill to break into a safe at a high street bank branch in western Germany and steal an estimated €30m"
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4grzz60kp3o |
2025-Dec-30 21:58:52 Interesting video about the F-47 #aircraft
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VAB3xUA2aLc |
2025-Dec-28 22:03:23 The Cherenkov radiation blue and ionized air blue are different (but similar) colours, however both are probably bad news unless a device is behind lots of water. #physics
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticality_accident#Blue_glow |
2025-Dec-28 15:04:12 Here's the recent questions that have emerged about dark energy: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c17xe5kl78vo
#physics #cosmology |
2025-Dec-28 14:10:30 Saw an egret at the lake. #bird
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2025-Dec-28 14:04:27 Merry Christmas! (Sorry it's late, took me a while to find one with berries).
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2025-Dec-27 16:21:22 Some more pictures of Wimborne Minster. The small cylindrical tower has a spiral staircase inside. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wimborne_Minster_(church)
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2025-Dec-27 16:12:50
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2025-Dec-27 16:10:09 Full river in Wimborne. |
2025-Dec-27 16:03:09 B
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2025-Dec-26 16:28:24 It would be quite funny if the AI bubble was popped by the high cost of RAM they caused. |
2025-Dec-26 16:25:39 Ah! I finally found where to switch those damn "let Google save your password" popups off. Under privacy -> auto fill -> passwords. #android
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2025-Dec-24 21:18:15 The next #Starship booster is stacked. #SpaceX
RT https://x.com/SpaceX/status/2003871611733295480 |
2025-Dec-23 15:09:02 Some toadstools growing near the patio.
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2025-Dec-22 16:12:00 Walking in the forest near my parents' house.
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2025-Dec-20 16:06:14 This is for drowning witches.
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2025-Dec-20 16:03:40 The lighting in this swan picture seems overly dramatic for some reason.
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2025-Dec-20 15:54:24 The swans
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2025-Dec-19 16:49:57 Woman's shock as #goose smashes through front door.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ce3wpwg4e0qo |
2025-Dec-17 23:52:20 #SpaceX are going to be focussing on Falcon Heavy and Starship from launch complex 39A in 2026. "last single stick from 39A for some time" #space
RT https://x.com/TurkeyBeaver/status/2001424468141297900 |
2025-Dec-17 23:49:31 Driving around on #Mars
[video] #space RT https://x.com/NASAMars/status/2001401351117426927 |
2025-Dec-15 02:57:26 Really un-nerving thuds coming from the roof, I think chunks of snow are falling off the tall tree in the wind. I hope it's that, anyway. |
2025-Dec-15 02:53:35 Me 1 year ago: "Don't install Linux from a novelty USB stick that looks like a duck's head, it's very slow."
Me this year: installs Linux from USB that looks like a duck's head, takes 4 hours to write the disk image. |
2025-Dec-14 19:28:47 Some #snow fell last night. ❄️
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2025-Dec-13 01:40:50 Doorbell camera captures moment house explodes in Haywood, California
https://www.bbc.com/news/videos/c93ww718g2vo |
2025-Dec-12 18:40:45 Went for a walk in the pine forest yesterday.
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2025-Dec-11 20:30:44 Huge undersea wall dating from 5000 BC found in France
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/crk7lg1j146o |
2025-Dec-10 20:29:29 Fit test in the vacuum chamber seems to work and I can see the screens. #physics
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2025-Dec-10 02:28:26 Installed Steam and played The Talos Principle 2 on my new Debian system with no issues. #LinuxI say "no issues", the install process is not exactly one-click: sudo nano /etc/apt/sources.list add "contrib non-free" after the first two lines sudo dpkg --add-architecture i386 sudo apt update sudo apt install steam-installer Run the Steam installer from the applications menu |
2025-Dec-09 21:18:59 Doing a first assembly and fit test of ion trap's next configuration. This time, the electron beam is going through the trap and can be switched on and off rapidly via deflection electrodes and a small hole. The blue plastic is modelling the Micro-Channel Plate that is still in storage vacuum. #physics #accelerators
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2025-Dec-08 18:11:38 Simulation of a long bunch breaking up into solitons in the BNL booster synchrotron. #accelerators #physics This required setting focussing magnets to much weaker than normal and starting with a dense, high space-charge bunch. Doing this experiment in practice could be a precursor to crystalline beams, as when Coulomb crystals are put in place of the solitons here, they heat up by less than 1 Kelvin/second. |
2025-Dec-07 19:51:33 LOL this was why my lawnmower was vibrating a bit.
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2025-Dec-07 19:28:12 Added an extra extension lead so now the lights can go four times round the tree without any wasted going up to the top.
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2025-Dec-06 21:54:10 Put lights on the tree in the garden.
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2025-Dec-06 21:53:12 Nice winter #sunset on a walk just now.
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2025-Dec-05 21:24:33 Space charge solitons forming in a simulation of the BNL booster (with unusual magnet settings). #accelerators #physics I was trying to figure out if the stability of 3D crystalline bunches I'd found was because they were solitons and it appears to be the case.
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2025-Dec-05 03:12:54 The moonlight is very bright right now - being a full "super" #moon, clear night and near midnight and midwinter, making it higher in the sky. Jupiter, near Gemini is also impressively bright. It's cold though, -4C and falling. #astronomy |
2025-Dec-05 00:34:59 Another of my backup scripts ported to #Linux. This one searches for various source code files scattered across the disk, makes a 7z archive and ftps it to my website each night (hopefully, I'll have to check if the scheduled job works next). |
2025-Dec-04 19:56:32 Behold: some stuff.
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2025-Dec-04 03:12:14 Interesting free online book about constructing objects in Conway's Game of Life. #maths #computing
https://conwaylife.com/book/conway_life_book.pdf |
2025-Dec-04 02:15:58 Oh, Juk just crashed nevermind. |
2025-Dec-04 02:14:55 QMMP in skinned mode looks like a great WinAmp-like for #Linux, but the sound doesn't work, so that's a minus point. Juk it is. |
2025-Dec-04 01:49:37 You have to jump through some hoops to get a script in #KDE to pop up a console like Windows would do. I eventually made a desktop shell script
----- #!/bin/bash konsole -e /bin/bash -c "echo Testing; sleep 3" ----- ...and chmod +x on it. If you're running a program you can just do konsole --workdir /path/to -e /path/to/program #Linux |
2025-Dec-02 23:42:49 https://poki.com/en/g/level-devil |
2025-Dec-02 22:45:35 Glucose and ribose (RNA precursor) found in bits of #asteroid. #NASA #space
RT https://x.com/NASASolarSystem/status/1995896692462301235 https://www.nasa.gov/missions/osiris-rex/sugars-gum-stardust-found-in-nasas-asteroid-bennu-samples/?utm_source=TWITTER&utm_medium=NASASolarSystem&utm_campaign=NASASocial&linkId=884357106 |
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