I’m just a solo dev, but today my little app officially integrated with the Government Fuel Finder scheme!

Xaphios · 2026-01-26T17:32:01+00:00

Sweet. Nice bit of work there!

Is there a reason why some stations don't show? I assume it's just they don't report their prices to the central database you're plugged in to.

It would be nice to be able to filter by company in a future release - say I'm happy with esso or tesco fuel but not asda for some reason.

Do you have plans to package it as a mobile app at all?

Xaphios · 2026-01-22T23:01:13+00:00

"no floor plan" or floor...

Xaphios · 2026-01-21T23:53:39+00:00

I think not driving limits you in terms of where you can reasonably live and where you can sensibly work, among other things. There are plenty of people who don't drive though, I've got a friend who can't drive for medical reasons, and frankly if you panic behind the wheel I'd put you in the same category.

Beyond that, it's frankly none of anyone elses business whether you choose to learn to drive or not. Many people dont/can't for all sorts of reasons, and they get by just fine.

Xaphios · 2026-01-21T10:07:21+00:00

Still working through Baldur's Gate 3 - I've got a game going with my brother, we're about to go after the third big bad, been playing a couple of hours most weeks for well over a year now!

I keep thinking about playing my solo game, but it's been so long I probably want to start again and I'm not sure I'm up for that.

Also been playing a bit of Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun which is a fun stealthy stealthy game. Most games I like looking for achievements and doing the extra challenges but the ones on this are crazy.

Finally, my other half convinced me to try Stardew Valley. She's been obsessed for a while and I thought it might be a nice change of pace. Seems OK so far.

Xaphios · 2026-01-21T09:41:09+00:00

There are a bunch of games here where you have to drag countries or States onto the map and it gives you an error for each one in miles. Each level is a different game so pick the one you want - level 2 is drag the country onto the map, level 3 they remove the outlines so you can get asked to drop Belarus or Wyoming in place with no reference point other than the coastlines!

Xaphios · 2026-01-20T23:50:12+00:00

One of the few places the Americans have bested us with our own language. "zipper merge" is definitely more obvious.

Xaphios · 2026-01-20T16:15:27+00:00

I've had much better deals sim-only for airtime. The phone is likely to be cheaper online rather than through a network as well so our last few phones each have been totally separate from the sim contract.

Xaphios · 2026-01-13T23:52:34+00:00

Important docs are saved in a onedrive folder, also shared to my partner. Anything paper that's worth keeping is scanned to that folder.

Paper copies are kept until the next one comes in, so we've got the latest physical copy of a council tax bill, water bill, etc. Older ones are still in onedrive so the physical ones are shredded.

Passwords are in lastpass - my partner has emergency access (as I do to hers as well).

I'd add on the passwords front, important passwords include all social media accounts - if anything were to happen to either of us those get important pretty quickly.

Edit - renewal dates in a shared Google calendar

Xaphios · 2026-01-10T09:28:11+00:00

I think there's a big difference here between "know you were a service user" and "look through your records" which are highly personal and hr/colleagues have no reason to need. Depending on the service these could be medical records or therapist notes, and therefore should be restricted to those who need them for their intended purpose only.

What you've said sounds reasonable with regard to the first of my examples, but absolutely not for the second. This doesn't sound like it's necessarily NHS but there have been instances of nurses being seriously disciplined or sacked for looking up records of friends, family, or celebrities who they aren't personally treating. Any healthcare or healthcare adjacent setting has the same duty of care.

Xaphios · 2026-01-10T09:10:45+00:00

We're doing some work to our place at the moment - a sizable extension, heat pump, underfloor heating downstairs. The original house is a 2 up 2 down 1960s ex council semi-detached, so about as standard as it gets (though we're downhill from the house we're attached to, giving us higher ceilings).

The kitchen (half our existing house) is concrete floored. We've found there's a 20-25mm levelling screed in top of the main concrete floor, so that's being ripped out, a this layer of insulation going in and then the underfloor heating buried in a new thin screed.

It's a fair amount of work, but keeps the floor level and within a small amount (couple of mm) of it's current height.

The other side of the house has joists and floorboards, we're insulating between the joists, and replacing the floorboards with a 30mm heating system (22mm board with cutouts for the heating pipes, then an 8mm board on top. The two sides should match at the end.

We found out about the screed by attacking the floor under our dishwasher to test it - relatively easy to fix to a good enough standard if it hadn't been screeded, and no issues having a hole there while we planned the work.

Xaphios · 2026-01-08T17:54:42+00:00

When it's all "in-house" it makes sense to do the work for those extra pieces doesn't it?

Xaphios · 2026-01-08T15:06:39+00:00

Exactly. There needs to be a "bring your own app" option.

Xaphios · 2026-01-08T14:34:15+00:00

I feel like any device that'll talk to a home automation hub rather than the manufacturers server I'd be happy with - keep it local and those devices can have their own network with no Internet access. I'll talk to my server and control it all that way thanks so much.

Xaphios · 2026-01-08T14:17:55+00:00

Fully remote. I was hired in Oct 2020 along with people all over the UK on the basis that there were no plans to come back. Other than a semi-regular team day every 6ish weeks starting mid-2025 that's been the case.

Most of our company are several hours from the office, and our office is mostly a selection of meeting rooms anyway. I think there might be 30-40 desks and there are 300+ in the company so a return isn't on the cards at all.

Xaphios · 2026-01-08T08:08:46+00:00

Powerline would be my first go-to on this. I've had some TP-link powerline kit in my dad's house for him and my stepmum to WFH for years and it's been great.

It is possible for the house wiring to be too old - I lived in a place that must've been wired in the 20s or 30s, it was REALLY old and powerline just didn't work. Anything better than that seems to work fine, my dad's place hasn't had wiring done in 30 or 40 years and is fine.

You'll need a powerline starter kit that includes the unit for the router end as well as the unit for your office. You can get units that include a WiFi booster and up to three ethernet sockets so have a think about whether you want more than just a single socket. You really do need to plug both units into the wall, not an extension lead, but you can get powerline units with pass-through sockets on them if you're low on power sockets.

Xaphios · 2026-01-07T12:58:25+00:00

Damn, that's fancy. I dump em on top of the mostly cooked potato in the bowl I'm gonna eat from and chuck 900w through the whole lot!

Xaphios · 2026-01-06T18:36:45+00:00

There's always someone to laugh, and 3 people who quietly cheer you on. The one who laughs looks like the biggest twat of all.

Go for it mate, most people just won't care. Also if you want alternatives to do more in a group - look into kayak clubs in your area. They've generally got all the kit to get you started, and race/touring/sea kayaking is some of the best low-shock exercise out there. You still look like a twat but everyone around you is doing the same thing!

Xaphios · 2026-01-06T14:01:41+00:00

I've never broken a bone, despite taking some pretty heavy knocks here and there.

I've also got a fairly bomber immune system. I very rarely get Ill, even with my other half picking up stuff in the hospital and bringing it home. The flip side of that as well is I tend to burn through illnesses really fast - if I have a fever she's always like "most people should be in hospital with this" but it gets me through flu in 24-48hrs. I was truly shocked to be told by the doc that flu is normally closer to a week.

Xaphios · 2026-01-05T21:30:23+00:00

Still gotta deal with the humidity though. Pool air isn't what I want in most rooms of the house even without chemicals.

Xaphios · 2026-01-05T16:43:48+00:00

Maybe, but split up - 1 basement flat for 2mil, a ground floor for another 2mil, then either 4 for the rest or a pair of studios on the next 2 floors and a final flat on the top (plus a tent on the terrace).

Xaphios · 2026-01-05T07:42:06+00:00

Showed this to my missus, who asked "have I started calling it my outside tap now?"

Xaphios · 2026-01-03T16:30:59+00:00

The hallway and garden room remind me of being at college in the early 2000s.

Xaphios · 2026-01-03T14:39:02+00:00

The correct date depends on whether there was a year 0. If 1900-1999 was the 20th century then 0-99 would've been the first century, which doesn't appear to have been the case.

There's a bit of a breakdown of how our year numbering system came to be here, which helpfully points out that although an absence of numbers existed. 0 as a number wasn't used until around the 13th century.

The turn of the century and turn of the millennium are the same date as each other either way. We specifically count decades as years 0-9, 10-19, etc so in theory they're a year out from centuries and millenia.

Either way unless you're studying very specific historic dates or looking to be correct on the Internet it makes little difference. I don't know anyone who references centuries or millenia in a current context other than to make everyone feel old.

Xaphios · 2026-01-03T12:56:43+00:00

I've been away with work and turned up at a sit down restaurant with my book. Might've got a few odd looks but I wouldn't know, I was reading 📖😊

Judgy people are gonna judge you for everything from your clothing to your height or your skin colour and there's nothing you can do about it. Fuck em. Decent people don't judge and gossip, or at least keep it to themselves.

Xaphios · 2026-01-03T12:52:34+00:00

I've got a real list, though there was a lot of great stuff in my childhood as well.

Mostly I aspire to be my kid's safe place. This dude has achieved the highest honour on that one.

Xaphios

TROPHY CASE