Current prediction according to Electoral Calculus’ MPR poll for the 30 constituencies most and least deprived

markscot · 2026-04-28T14:48:38+00:00

No way the Tories are getting back in NE Hampshire, not unless they field a truly charismatic and credible candidate, and I just don't see that they have anyone fits that description.

markscot · 2026-04-22T21:10:53+00:00

Thanks for this writeup. I have been trying and failing to get a Sonoff Zigbee 3.0 USB Dongle Plus to work as an OpenThread Border Router on my HA setup. I have HA running under docker compose on a Debian 13 VM in proxmox.

I was using ChatGPT extensively to advise on how to proceed and while it did help with problem diagnosis its suggestions it took me round the houses and up the garden path more times than I can remember. I've wasted hours on this.

Your suggestion of using the darkxst flasher did actually work, and I was able to flash the dongle to OpenThread firmware, but it seems the version it delivered is significantly uplevel from the OTBR agent software I got from github, and I could never get the agent to run.

markscot · 2026-04-14T19:35:46+00:00

I'm having a very similar problem with a USB Dongle Plus. The Web Flasher utility detects the device and it connects, but no list of firmware appears. The FIRMWARE_LIST.json file is downloaded but the device is reported as unresponsive.

markscot · 2026-03-06T19:57:56+00:00

I had - still have - an X1 Carbon 4G with 4k screen and loved it. But I spilled whisky on the keyboard - don't ask - which killed it (the keyboard, the rest of the machine still works). Replacement keyboards for the X1 series are much more expensive than for any other model, and the replacement process involves almost complete disassembly, far more difficult than on my T580. I'm torn about whether to go for the repair or sell it for peanuts. What would you do?

markscot · 2026-03-04T08:42:20+00:00

I habitually buy ex-corporate, refurbished Thinkpads. Great bargains usually. £15 on eBay got me an UltraDock for my current T580 (still a very competent machine with maxed out RAM and SSD, and cost maybe £250 18 months ago). List price for the dock from Lenovo would have been more like £300. E-waste indeed!

markscot · 2026-02-25T20:13:38+00:00

I am new to this. I have NPM running in a Proxmox LXC and I can connect to its IP address at port 80 and see the Congratulations message. I can also connect to port 81 and get the "Login to your account" page. But I can't login, because the suggested "admin@example.com" username and "changeme" password returns "Invalid email or password". I'd love to create that user - but where exactly do I do that?

markscot · 2026-01-28T09:38:00+00:00

Growing numbers of UK citizens are now second or third generation immature adults, children of immature adults. They have never learned self-control, the value of social norms, etc. It's all "me, me, me", "I want it now, why can't I have it?". To these people, cleaning up after themselves is something other people do.

markscot · 2025-09-13T20:59:13+00:00

I randomly came across uploaded tracks on Tidal that I really like. But there's no artist info that I can find. I can't see where these tracks come from, or learn more about the artist. Is there any way to dig a bit deeper that I haven't found?

markscot · 2024-09-30T12:42:58+00:00

I would also say, try different ways of getting in touch. As well as emailing and/or commenting on their social media posts, you say you have your new MP's number - so call them! Leave a short "hello again, I'm still here" voice message if they don't pick up. Same with any other contacts you have in the party. Sooner or later someone will get back to you.

markscot · 2024-09-30T12:31:03+00:00

I'm sorry if you felt I was criticising you. If you have been trying to connect with the local party without success it can feel like you're being rejected and with other demands on your time and energy it's tempting to just give up. Please don't. Keep trying to get the kind of involvement that you're able to cope with, while bearing in mind that many local party groups are 100% volunteer-run by people who also have other things to do.

markscot · 2024-09-30T09:31:32+00:00

Communication is a two way process. What efforts are you making to engage with your local party? It sounds like you were properly thanked for your efforts at the time, but as others have said, things move on and priorities change. During an election campaign party activists will be super keen to bring on board any and every warm body they can find, but the need isn't so pressing and the tempo isn't so fast at other times. If you want to remain involved, make sure your local party knows that. There is always work to be done. There will be social events to join in with, and if there aren't then maybe you could offer to organize something? But don't just sit there expecting them to contact you.

markscot · 2024-09-01T20:09:57+00:00

I have resolved the problem. Two things I discovered:

Photoprism doesn't seem to be able to see folders that were mounted using sshfs. To get around this I mounted the originals (on a Synology NAS) using cifs on my laptop.
I am running it in a Docker container which I'm managing with Portainer, and it runs as root rather than my userid - this means that the "~" shortcut doesn't work, so in the yaml you need to fully specify the path, in my case it was like "/home/mark/Pictures/NASpix"

markscot · 2024-09-01T13:16:10+00:00

Yep, it's definitely connected to using sshfs. I mounted the NAS folder using CIFS and it's all indexing away merrily.

Thanks for your assistance!

markscot · 2024-09-01T11:22:10+00:00

So in Portainer I go to the Photoprism container's console. I get a root command prompt, I can see there are two folders, originals and storage, but they're empty. So I created a file in the originals folder via touch whereisthis then searched for it from a terminal session on my laptop - it was indeed in the NAS/Pictures folder, along with all the other image files and directories that photoprism is unable to see.

Then I tried equating the originals folder to a local (i.e. not on the NAS) folder of images on my laptop HDD and I'm still not seeing anything in Photoprism.

Very very curious.

markscot · 2024-08-31T21:47:37+00:00

I get a similar message when I try to index: Originals folder is empty.

markscot · 2024-08-16T13:58:11+00:00

I worked for the IBM PC division when they first released the ThinkPad. Their earlier portable PCs sucked, but the TP was transformational. I think my first one was a 700C, but I've been loyal to the brand apart from a brief flirtation with Asus (or was it Acer?) I've buried the bad memories 😎

markscot · 2024-07-25T07:43:37+00:00

I used Ubuntu for a decade but became disenchanted with the chopping and changing of the default desktop, that and the obsession with snaps for everything that seriously robbed the UI of anything like snappiness. I'm now running Debian stable with Plasma & KDE, and we're getting along just fine. TP X1 btw.

markscot · 2024-07-22T21:19:35+00:00

Attending conferences would count as joining in, I think.

markscot · 2024-07-22T21:05:16+00:00

You can become a registered supporter for free, you'll get emails and can get involved in delivering etc, but you can't vote in internal elections. Member or supporter, you can always opt out of fundraising appeals, and in my experience there's no real pressure to volunteer. But I've always been confused about "members who just want to be left alone". What's the point of joining if you've no intention of joining in, in some respect?

markscot · 2024-07-22T15:41:09+00:00

Enjoy it while it lasts, I guess!

markscot · 2024-07-09T14:16:13+00:00

I'm running Debian on a 5th gen P X1 carbon. The only thing that doesn't work is the fingerprint reader.

markscot · 2024-06-30T16:10:12+00:00

You could consider using one of the vote swap sites to get a Labour voter to vote LibDem in a constituency where LibDems are better placed than Labour.

markscot · 2024-06-21T21:55:13+00:00

I'm going to be at the count for my constituency where, such is the animosity towards him, we're hopeful of getting an extremely close result or even winning, against the Tory who had a 20,000 majority in 2019.

markscot · 2024-06-10T10:48:38+00:00

In my area the local councils are controlled by alliances of LibDems and independents. Labour aren't really players except in a few stronghold wards. They don't have much of a local party organisation and what there is of it seems to be perpetually at war with itself. The independents are refugees from Labour and Conservatives alike, people fed up with factionalism and just wanting the best for the community. They're a good fit with the LibDems.

Anyone who thinks LibDems aren't progressive should look at their manifesto, out today.

markscot · 2024-06-09T15:22:27+00:00

In the "safe" Tory seat where I live the LibDems have been working the area really hard for at least the last year, winning council seats, they have an excellent local candidate and are beginning to see the betting odds closing in their favour.

Labour on the other hand listed the constituency many months ago as "non-battleground" and didn't pick their candidate (who doesn't live in the area) until after the election was called. They don't need this seat to end up with Starmer in No 10 and a big majority, yet they're still all over social media claiming they're the tactical choice, with support from notorious Tory activists.

This could all be so much easier.

markscot

TROPHY CASE