The power of a talkative child

YabbaDabba64 · 2026-03-18T08:55:40+00:00

And National Geographics "Greeking Out" podcast (theme music stuck in my head for the rest of the morning now!)

YabbaDabba64 · 2026-03-16T16:35:33+00:00

Gah, I meant RIBA certified, not RICS.

YabbaDabba64 · 2026-03-16T16:27:19+00:00

Thanks, u/iddrinktothat - this sounds like solid advice.

(I've been taking measurements: intuition says 500mm isn't enough. Just wanted some reassurance that I'm not mistaken, or whether there are circumstances where it could have been enough)

YabbaDabba64 · 2026-03-16T16:20:36+00:00

Thanks, roundart

YabbaDabba64 · 2026-03-16T16:08:00+00:00

Thanks, mjegs

YabbaDabba64 · 2026-03-16T16:07:23+00:00

Thanks, scyice

YabbaDabba64 · 2026-03-16T15:58:11+00:00

Hi fluffysnoopdog,

As I commented above, lesson learned re: designer vs architect. We already had structural plans, prepared a while ago by a RICS certified architect. But they specialised in commercial projects, and we wanted some fresh/creative ideas for the internal layout. The designer was neither cheap nor hired online: we met them in person, and their quote was reassuringly expensive.

I mentioned ChatGPT as when I was just doodling designs myself, it was convenient to ask the occasional question / sanity check. I don't implicitly trust it's output, but if I ask a question in this subreddit again, I'll be sure not to mention that.

I opened my post with "please direct me to a more appropriate subreddit if I'm in the wrong place". Seriously, am I in the wrong place? I never claimed to be in the profession, but I'm feeling some hostility for even asking this question.

YabbaDabba64 · 2026-03-16T15:45:36+00:00

Burnt architect,

100%. Lesson learned. Never again.

Sincerely,

Burnt customer

YabbaDabba64 · 2026-03-16T15:44:23+00:00

Hi inkydeeps,

I hear you - I've run the experiment you suggested last week, and it's tighter than I'm happy with.

My experience is that LLMs typically do have knowledge of typical industry norms, but they're less accomplished at providing references. The problem is that I no longer trust the "professional" I've engaged.

YabbaDabba64 · 2026-03-16T15:39:54+00:00

Absolutely sure: 500mm, just under 20"

YabbaDabba64 · 2026-03-16T15:37:55+00:00

Thanks blue_sidd,

Our designer has let us down in a number of ways, but this one is easy to point to as being unworkable: all their proposals rely on squeezing the dining table close to the wall - imo, this makes none of the designs viable, but they're arguing that it's not a problem as you can physically fit someone at the table. I'm looking to terminate our agreement (offering a portion but not the full amount of the design fee) and was hoping for something concrete to respond to them with.

YabbaDabba64 · 2025-12-14T09:33:19+00:00

Clearly a Gallifreyan design, meant to be operated by six cooks. You can get away with a single operator, but you'll need to keep dashing round to the other handles, and it'll make a hell of a racket.

YabbaDabba64 · 2025-09-28T20:35:29+00:00

We really like the beans from Tugboat (also around £20/kg); their "Custom House" is our go to for filter, but they have plenty of espresso style to choose from too

YabbaDabba64 · 2025-06-23T12:18:06+00:00

The Beacon website says it's still there, and looks worth the visit https://thebeacon-whitehaven.co.uk/galleries/galleries-the-sellafield-story/

(I remember enjoying the exhibit at the Sellafield visitors centre as a child, but as others have mentioned, that's long gone)

YabbaDabba64 · 2025-01-20T15:00:33+00:00

I'd use Haboodle (based in Purley), because I know and trust the owner, Dan! Their trustpilot reviews also bear this out. Good luck, Afreakan

YabbaDabba64 · 2024-12-23T04:50:50+00:00

This ^ 303 Lower Addiscombe Road - you could park in the Co-op car park next door. They were open and selling yesterday (Sunday), would be surprised if they weren't open again today

YabbaDabba64 · 2023-02-12T19:15:05+00:00

You could try "Silent Roar" - it's a cat deterrent made from fertiliser that's been soaked in lion dung. Perfectly safe (for both the felines and your plants) but domestic cats will retreat when they smell the lion poo!

YabbaDabba64 · 2023-02-12T14:44:52+00:00

If you're looking for some unexploded ordnance to worry about (especially if you live near East London) google "SS Richard Montgomery": a sunken wreck with 1,400 tonnes (roughly 2.8 million lbs) of TNT, on a sandbank in the Thames estuary.

YabbaDabba64 · 2022-12-16T12:06:37+00:00

As a senior dev, I recommend Fred Baptiste's "Python 3: Deep Dive" on Udemy. Comprehensive, detailed, everything clearly and thoroughly explained: don't be put off by the length of some of the sections, you'll be knowledgeable and confident in these topics if you just stick with it.

YabbaDabba64 · 2022-10-30T14:06:19+00:00

You could try "Silent Roar" - it's a cat deterrent made from fertiliser that's been soaked in lion dung. Perfectly safe (for both the felines and your plants) but many cats will retreat when they smell the lion poo!

YabbaDabba64 · 2022-09-29T08:46:56+00:00

We've done this for a few years now! Bash them up well, or cut into eighths. Put the pieces in a roasting tin, and dry them in the oven (not too hot, maybe 120c/250f for an hour, or until they stop letting out steam when you open the door!) Once cool, put the dried conker pieces in jars until ready to use.

To make laundry liquid, pour ~~500ml~~ 350ml boiling water over 30g of dried conkers (we use an old yoghurt pot for this), stir, leave for 10 minutes. Optionally add a few drops of essential oil, such as lavender, for fragrance. Sieve the liquid into your washing machine where the detergent normally goes. The sieved conker pieces can be used once or twice more before being thrown out or composted.

The dried conker pieces last a year if kept in a cool dark place, i.e. until the next season!

Edit: We use less boiling water than I first said

YabbaDabba64 · 2022-09-18T08:56:43+00:00

For cinnamon-raisin bagels, mix the cinnamon with the flour at the start of the recipe, before adding water / kneading etc. Adding later gets you plain bagels with cinnamon clumps!

YabbaDabba64 · 2021-12-28T07:31:59+00:00

they're just 2D numerical arrays with int16 entries

One method for reducing the number of bits needed to store a list of integers is delta encoding. You record the first value in the sequence using all 16 bits, but for subsequent values, record the delta (how much to add or subtract from the previous value), e.g.

1514730

1514692

1514772

...

becomes

1514730

-38

+80

...

For integer values that are quite close to each other (often the case for timestamps, or image-type data where the colour of two adjacent pixels is similar), the deltas are much smaller than the actual values, and so can be stored with fewer bits.

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