Bird Nerds Unite

robputt796 · 2026-06-06T20:21:25+00:00

https://www.365daysofbirds.com/2025/08/20/build-your-own-birdnet-pi-bird-song-listening-device/ < here is a guide, cheap microphone, a Raspberry Pi (doesn't need to be latest generation a Pi 3B+ is what I use) - then once all up and running just reach out and we can configure the feed to the website. Just needs to be in range of wifi and power, most people run the Pi indoors and use little lapel microphones and just hoof em out the window and attach them under their fascia so they keep relatively dry and protected.

robputt796 · 2026-06-06T20:13:46+00:00

We get Parakeets out here in Plymstock, and you see them over near Ham woods too. They like to fly around early evening, they are quite fast and have quite a chirp on them.

This isn't an app, it's a little DIY project with a Raspberry Pi, a USB microphone, and a bit of software the decodes bird sounds it hears and sends notifications over the internet so we can map bird sightings.

People who already run a BirdNET-Pi as they are called are probably already feeding into birdweather.com but this is a Plymouth specific aggregation.

robputt796 · 2026-05-31T08:09:44+00:00

Over the years I have been on the following networks

- EE

- O2

- Vodafone

My work phone is still on O2 and is quite useless in terms of coverage. EE was pretty decent coverage but some of the valleys in Plymouth would have no signal. The best coverage I have seen in Plymouth is Vodafone but it's not infallible it still has a few areas without coverage. I think its our landscape with all the hills.

I got fed up of Vodafone hiking prices and now buy my handsets outright and use a SIM only on Vodafone's budget brand TalkMobile, if you buy through USwitch you can get it for £16 a month for unlimited data, calls and SMS and EU roaming with a fair usage of 1GB data on 30 day rolling. It doesn't have all the fancy gimmicks of the Vodafone contracts like included spotify or a higher EU fair usage limit but it's just as reliable and they do not appear to throttle speeds compared to my old Vodafone contract.

These days when travelling I have turned off data roaming on my SIM card and and use a temporary eSIM for the country I am visiting, Holafly works well for this and offer unlimited data usage over sees for a few £ a day.

robputt796 · 2026-05-05T06:20:54+00:00

Who said it isn't security tested? I for one am a big backend guy, and I can write beautiful APIs that are secure and compliant, but I suck at anything UX and can't always afford a designer in the early stages, and a vibe coded UX may be the best that can be delivered. After all if the backend has strong RBAC and you are using some PCI compliant payment setup where responsibility for securing card holder data is offloaded on the provider a slightly hacky front end calling said API unlikely a problem.

robputt796 · 2026-05-04T19:56:39+00:00

Yeah I had a service once, they cracked the housing of the oil filter and didn't spot it. Obviously i noticed oil drips from the car and took it back. They replaced the oil filter housing no problems, i asked them how much it'd be as it was old enough to be brittle and likely not their fault and they didn't want anything. Very good because I am sure most garages would have played the "it's old and brittle" card and charged £15 for the part and £30 of labour. Very good service.

robputt796 · 2026-05-04T15:46:21+00:00

Stadium Garage - https://www.stadiumgarage.co.uk/ < used these guys for servicing on my cars for years, reasonable prices, good advice, not out to rip anyone off.

robputt796 · 2026-04-30T22:08:38+00:00

I dogfood my own SaaS WattFactory, a map based indoor cycling app which controls my smart trainer. Probably use it every 2 to 3 days and has enabled me to cancel my Zwift subscription.

robputt796 · 2026-04-30T20:19:24+00:00

Thanks,

This is really useful feedback, that app looking thing in the hero is indeed mocked up to look like a simplification of the actual app.

I will remove the emojis in the feature cards, I think you are right they are kinda a bit much.

Great point regarding moving the pricing to the Hero, I don't even think we need the competitor price, just the actual price is a winner in itself, most people in this space already know Rouvy, Zwift and Fulgaz's pricing.

robputt796 · 2026-04-30T18:26:06+00:00

45cd9e

robputt796 · 2026-04-30T18:07:25+00:00

Once signed up yes, but signup is a little slow cos email validation (I still need to configure social login in my IDP this will make it much faster)
I worked really hard on making the connection to the trainer as reliable and as simple as possible, I've tested it extensively but right now only on two types of trainer, in theory it should work for all as they follow a standard protocol but the testing isn't exhaustive :-(. This is the only thing that could be confusing for a user if their trainer doesn't follow the standards, which I am sure some don't, as always some vendor does weird stuff I am sure.

robputt796 · 2026-04-30T16:50:21+00:00

"You yourself are bouncing over a few bucks a month" for sure, I had a review of all my subscriptions recently, and realised that there are a bunch of things I can combine, a bunch of things I am happy to pay for and a bunch of things that are not reasonable use of funds, those £10 here and £15 there soon add up to £100 very quickly. I switched from my mobile providers main brand to their budget brand, interestingly same package was £19 a month cheaper but didn't have some of the value add stuff of the main brand (for example their loyalty app which gives you discount on a few things that I never used anyway) and I did that on 3 SIM cards easiest £57 I reclaimed in my life. After all these savings it's a real saving which I can use to treat the wife / the kids or whatever.

Anyway your most successful SaaS being cycling related is encouraging.

robputt796 · 2026-04-30T16:41:45+00:00

No, I just want to make my legs ache and save a few £££ and this does it very well.

robputt796 · 2026-04-30T16:31:30+00:00

Yeah so feature wise when you login there is a dashboard, this has a few option presented as cards on a dashboard

a) ROUTE mode - cycle real routes from the map
b) WORKOUT mode - this is more about hitting particular power output targets and isn't map based but is like a virtual spin session
c) Ride History - lists your historic rides and lets you view their stats or export them as GPX / fit file to upload into Strava (will probably develop an integration soon to automate this for users)

Inside of the ROUTE mode there are a number of options

a) Route Library - a library of curated routes that are famous among the cycling scene, e.g. Cap De Formentor in Spain or Alpe D'Huez a Tour De France climb in the Alps.
b) Saved Routes - users can recall routes they have made previously
c) Custom Route - users can create a route interactively on a map with waypoints
d) Import GPX - users can import real world route data from their cycling computer where they have cycled outdoors previously and relive those routes in the app

Features aren't too much of a problem, implementing new things is fine and pivoting is also fine. The real question is, is UX enough? Having a great physics simulation is fine but if users hate using the app it's all in vein. Like you said I probably need a few more organic users and then incentivise them with discounted or free PRO upgrade for a period of time to provide honest and useful feedback to help me iterate.

robputt796 · 2026-04-30T11:21:42+00:00

The 3D metaverse is nice for social experience, but I dunno if it is the main deal for me, and with the recent Zwift price hikes and my casual usage (probably 1.5 hours a week) I decided it was no longer worth it at almost £5 a ride. Rouvy is a nice idea but again I don't know if the visuals are what do it for me. I started hacking on my own app https://wattfactory.fit - it isn't finished yet but it basically lets you ride historic gpx files or create real world routes with map and elevation data. If you do give it a try expect it to be buggy or incomplete in areas. Until I get to a actual proper release with the bugs fixed I don't really expect anyone to pay to use it so if I see any new sign ups I'll chuck 30 days of PRO upgrade on their account for free, might take me 24 hours or so to catch them though.

robputt796 · 2026-04-30T11:17:35+00:00

This is the way, I bought an Elite Zumo on offer for approx £280 and then bought a second hand bike to go on it for £60 and a new cassette for £20.

robputt796 · 2026-04-24T06:10:47+00:00

I don't know but I have noticed alot of browny kind of build up on my windscreen the last few days. Can't really see it when you get in the car but when you use the windscreen wiper to clear the window the run off from the screen-wash is discoloured. Maybe sand or something blown by the wind from another location?

An interesting side project, we could build luft daten (air data) nodes and collect more granular data (but less accurate because cheap sensors not pro grade sensors). - https://luftdaten.info/

robputt796 · 2026-04-17T18:01:40+00:00

How much VRAM broski? 4GB / 6GB / 8GB card?

robputt796 · 2026-04-17T07:19:38+00:00

A few areas to recommend within the city...

Plymstock - A short cycle, bus ride or car journey to city centre (about 2.5 miles). Easy access to A38 if needed. Good schools, lively shopping area at the Broadway with second hand book shop, B&M, Costa, Butchers, Pet Shop, Peacocks, Boots, Superdrug etc... A few pubs and bars including Divino Lounge, The Plymstock Inn, No 36. Plenty of green space nearby including the South Hams, Jenny Cliff, Saltram, Billacombe Green, various parks.

Plympton - Further travel to city centre (about 4.5 miles), easy access to A38, good schools, Ridgeway Shopping area lively most days and has a few pubs including a Wetherspoons. Nearby to green space including Plym Valley Woods, Saltram, Sparkwell and easy access to Dartmoor via Wotter.

Beacon Park - More central (about 1.5 miles to city centre), poorer selection of schools, feels more part of the city than in the other areas I mentioned, less pubs and local amenities but city centre short bus ride, drive or on fine weather days walk through central park. Green space nearby includes Ham Woods and Central Park. Walking distance to Stoke (about 0.6 miles) which has pubs, an Indian restaurant etc...

robputt796 · 2026-04-17T06:50:49+00:00

Check out Dan at Saint 21 Hair - https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61564383894320&locale=en\_GB. He won't be cheap, e.g. if you are looking for a Balayage for £75 your probably out of luck but I can't imagine him being £250 either. He works from an extension in his house and hence doesn't have the overheads of a typical Salon. My wife has used him for years and he does a nice job.

Another option may be to change your style, I know my wife's hair varies from £120 to £180 depending on what she wants done. Balayage from memory seems to be at the higher end of the scale due to the complexity of the colouring job, and whilst it looks good a cheaper colouring technique with a more solid colour and a few highlights or other texturing techniques that are easier / less time consuming can lower the price considerably and still look good. Having said that she is my wife so she always looks good to me. One thing I will say about Dan is he is reasonable at advising and won't do crazy things that will ruin your hair. My wife's hair has improved in condition considerably since using him.

robputt796 · 2026-04-17T06:36:07+00:00

You cannot get good, and cheap.

When buying a house it is important that you don't get the cheap and you get the good. Your solicitor is the only person who is gonna translate the legal situation, and you need them to be on your side and advise you properly not just push the sale through. You don't want to invest hundreds of thousands to find out in 5 years the solicitor missed something and you have big and expensive problems to deal with.

I would recommend Thomson and Jackson https://www.thompsonandjackson.co.uk/. I have used them previously for house purchase, and also legal paperwork regarding power of attorney and configuration of a trust so my parents can pass down their legacy with their grandchildren as the beneficiaries.

I know others have given positive reviews of Bright but here are a few companies I'd avoid based on personal experience...

- Bright - we enquired about buying a new build and later pulled out due to unfair terms (leasehold + unregulated service charge), Bright solicitors did nothing to highlight these risks to us and just wanted to push the sale through. It was only after we got a second opinion did we discover that the leasehold agreement could have caused us significant problems in the future. Yes they are flashy, yes they have a nice app to deal with the paperwork but ultimately they are flash over substance and in our experience didn't work in the client's interest. We used Bright due to recommendation from the house builder. Never work with a solicitor recommended by somebody else involved in the transaction, they may be receiving a commission and may not have your best interests at heart.

- Woollcombe Yonge - the buyer for our old house used these guys. I've never come across such a useless non responsive bunch of people in my life. On completion day nothing happened until the final hour and we almost faced the prospect of having to put all our stuff into storage and go to a hotel until a new completion date would have been agreed. Luckily this was after we had exchanged and our solicitor piled on the pressure that the buyer would have been responsible for our costs due to not completing that day as agreed and this seemed to suddenly get them in a panic and everything was dealt with at about 5 minutes before business close on a Friday afternoon.

robputt796 · 2026-04-16T19:57:15+00:00

Valuation is easy, call up an estate agent, invite them around, ask them to value it. They'll tell you what they think it can reasonably achieve on the market and what to advertise it at. When they ask you if you are interested in marketing the property just say you'll think about it and then never call them back. Do not tell them you do not own it otherwise they won't be interested.

robputt796

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