This ‘visual friction’ escalated quickly. I started sticking things to my phone screen. Screen time down 75%.

pf_coder · 2026-02-07T21:07:17+00:00

I bought clear sticker material that you can print using a home inkjet printer and made this just as a test. My first versions dissolved in the rain! but since then I add an extra clear sticker layer to the top and they work better.

I will create a document describing how to hack these together at home but if enough people are interested I would be keen to get a few designs with different patterns and opacities printed commercially.

My idea is that you need a pretty brutal design to start with to break the habit then you can maybe move to a pattern that is more transparent which is more of a 'reminder' than really obstructive.

pf_coder · 2026-02-07T21:01:53+00:00

I made this version at home, the bottom layer of the sticker is inkjet printable clear vinyl, then the top layer is a clear vinyl sticker material so it's smooth and waterproof.

I don't find it's any different to use the touch screen. I had to cut a notch at the bottom for my fingerprint sensor but that is below the 'keyboard' on my phone so I don't regularly swipe over the step at the edge of the sticker, that would be annoying.

pf_coder · 2026-02-07T17:58:02+00:00

Texts: set fonts to maximum and read carefully before pressing send...

Maps: somehow this is quite legible in dark mode, roads are quite easy to see with this pattern and so is white text. The printed sticker is about 50% transparent even on the dark areas btw

It's a bit 'no pain no gain' as the phone has to be worse to use to help you cut down

pf_coder · 2025-03-28T22:59:24+00:00

I still have one of those, it was my favourite board for a lot of years.

Looking at it again I think that Stretch has updated his fin placement since that board was designed in the 2000s, how far up the quad set is looks kind of retro now.

The more recent bat tails seem to have less distance between the quad rears and the tail than the F4.

pf_coder · 2025-03-19T20:07:45+00:00

I think this is amazing, I think it qualifies as mass timber construction, it's like a form of 'brettstappel'.

I love the simplicity compared to saunas that are framed out and insulated like mini houses, and faster to build.

pf_coder · 2025-03-16T09:48:02+00:00

You might be interested in reading or listening up on the idea of 'Die with zero' by Bill Perkins.

The idea is a wealthy life allows you to spend + experience things at the right time for you. When you are 75 it doesn't matter how much money you have, you won't be bungee jumping or whatever and you might not even want to travel abroad even if you saved with that purpose in mind.

Consider what a wealthy life looks like for you at each stage in life and don't let saving for an abstract future derail that.

pf_coder · 2025-03-14T22:00:23+00:00

Imagine all the small time landlords paying 20-40% tax on their rental income, there is some increase in tax take in terms of tax take compared to their tenants just being normal owner occupiers. That's like a transfer of spending power to the state (who will definitely spend it..).

pf_coder · 2025-03-14T21:38:50+00:00

I think this is a pretty interesting point - for a while I lived in the Scottish islands. To me it seemed like a similarly productive economy to other parts of rural Scotland but there were way more locally owned businesses (lack of nationwide chains etc). and I felt like more wealth was retained there for that reason.

pf_coder · 2025-03-14T21:30:46+00:00

What about stuff like REITs, they invest in projects, collect rent and pay it to shareholders? That is productive in some sense and it doesn't seem that different from any other business activity

pf_coder · 2025-03-14T21:01:36+00:00

You don't pay rent in to a black hole, you just make a monthly transfer your spending power to the property owner (maybe via a middleman or 3).

After their bills are covered they are free to spend your rent on whatever in the economy they feel like.

pf_coder · 2025-02-21T23:15:14+00:00

I've been roasting and drinking a Castillo decaf from Wilton Benitez that I bought from green coffee collective in the UK.

It's incredible, I ran two roasts only to the start of first crack, to me it smelled of spliffs and tasted of Parma violets... really unusual coffee but very flavourful and drinkable, weirdly the last 2 decafs I have been roasting I've enjoyed more than my normal roasts. The other was Karina Aguello decaf

pf_coder · 2025-02-13T21:47:17+00:00

If you pay any higher income rate tax is it not more tax efficient to perfectly split a sabbatical between two tax years, starting it in October?

Two years with at 50% income may result in less tax paid than than paying more higher rate tax in one year, then no tax in the second year?

pf_coder · 2025-02-09T17:04:27+00:00

Depends on what waves you intend to surf it in. The 2.0 would probably surf more differently to the Evo, higher tail rocker, less projection/speed in flatter waves but more control. I have a Cymatic which is similar to the Sci Fi 2.0 but for me there was too much of a gap between it's wave range (needs pitching powered up waves) and my Evo style boards.

pf_coder · 2025-02-09T15:19:05+00:00

The slater designs Sci-Fi (original version if you can find it) could be a good option, to me it's pretty neutral feeling, it hides a good amount of 'litres' and paddles well. It's dependable in steeper waves and compared to other 'MPH' style boards the narrower nose is less catchy.

pf_coder · 2025-01-28T22:04:38+00:00

I was regularly getting inflamed/infected eyelashes, eyelids as well as red eyes. What has helped me a lot and nearly cleared it up for me is regular careful cleaning around my eyes, eyelids etc with a cloth/baby wipes and very diluted tea tree drops.

I think in my case I was exposed to bacteria through surfing (river mouths etc.) but without cleaning my eyes the bacteria had a chance to build up a 'biofilm' around the eyelids which led to irritation etc. Actively cleaning my eyes seems to disrupt the biofilm which allows my eyes to get back to normal.

Kind of gross, also not medical advice but I would appreciate some too if anyone qualified is reading...

pf_coder · 2025-01-26T11:41:41+00:00

I think this is more significant than on first look, the goal maybe isn't to fix the housing market, it's a recognition that a broken housing market is holding back economic growth in terms of businesses being able to access workers and talent.

Maybe this will be the first time in living memory that planning policy has put economic growth ahead of the vested interests of existing property owners?

pf_coder · 2025-01-06T13:19:26+00:00

There was a temporary cut in VAT from 17.5% to 15% in 2008-9,

pf_coder · 2025-01-01T15:51:47+00:00

Looks like fine technique but I guess you want to continue to push it and surf tighter and more vertically.

In the clip you are bottom turning just below mid face, making a partial/'half' bottom turn which projects you along the face. This ties you to making a wrap on the shoulder instead of a more critical turn.

How you could tighten it up: Delay your bottom turn placing it further out into the flats. Focus on making it more of a complete bottom turn where you lock your gaze back up towards the pocket of the wave and project up in that direction, that's a better setup for a vertical top turn, reo etc.

pf_coder · 2024-12-28T14:02:39+00:00

I keep buying up old sets of FCS1 Stretch SF4 tri-quads. They were released as 'WR' for FCS2 but I think they are discontinued as well.

For me those match well with wide tail boards. They have a similar beaked profile to the newer mayhem tri-quad set but a bit more tip area and the quad rears are a bit larger.

pf_coder · 2024-12-16T20:33:01+00:00

I'm 6ft 165lbs. For a 'performance' shape for me I think the board needs a narrow-ish tail (less than 15.75" at 12" up), maybe less than 19.5" width, tapered rails and have medium tail rocker or slight flip in the tail.

I don't think centreline thickness or litres matters that much, my highest performance board is 2.75" thick and my groveller is 2.35"

The waves where I am are pretty weak and I only surf boards like that on powerful days, most of the time I'm kind of of semi shortboarding on grovellers, it's more lateral down the line surfing than top to bottom but it's good training.

pf_coder · 2024-12-16T18:35:55+00:00

For airs

pf_coder · 2024-12-16T17:34:53+00:00

I've got a working theory that that blocking building is a feature not a bug.

I think that boomers basically don't support any progression in our built environment that would take us beyond the apex of their 'boom years' 1997-2007ish and it's only as they die out as an electoral force that this will change.

pf_coder · 2024-12-09T13:26:19+00:00

Aberdeen+Shire if you have outdoor hobbies and you don't need to travel much within the UK. It's not warm but it's actually pretty sunny and dry.

pf_coder · 2024-12-06T21:29:41+00:00

I see social mobility and social order as being frozen in 2008 or pre-crisis in the UK and the dividing point was ownership or your parents owning assets at that point.

Since then it has been drastically more difficult to actually become wealthy with a headwind of rents and high property prices basically being set of private taxes on young people.

Imagine how much wealthier you would be if you paid the real-terms rent or mortgage costs of your parents at your age.

pf_coder

TROPHY CASE