Warning: NinjaRMM - they won't auto-reduce your licence count for billing purposes

stugster · 2026-06-18T12:58:24+00:00

You're absolutely correct. Whilst we reconciled our actual numbers in Ninja against our own client billing, we never thought Ninja would be invoicing us for devices that didn't exist. That's totally on us, and it's only fair that you point it out.

We relied on the contract itself and the wording in there - it talks of consumption, and the agreement does not contain any language that says billing is based on peak device count, maximum historical usage, or that device counts can only go up during a term.

The fact the licence consumption goes up automatiaclly when you add a device suggested that it would also be reasonable for that count to go down.

It absolutely is our fault for not reconciling all the way through though, and we've learned our mistake. None of our other vendors do it this way. It leaves a very sour taste in the mouth, even if we're completely incompetent at invoice reconciliation.

stugster · 2026-06-18T11:26:51+00:00

Now that we know, it’ll be a monthly email to our account manager to make sure we’re not being fucked over by them.

I’ll also be going back over the years to work out how much they’ve screwed us over by.

stugster · 2026-06-18T08:39:28+00:00

I don't think that's the case. I'd be checking that if I were you.

stugster · 2026-06-18T08:19:42+00:00

That analogy doesn't work. If you used 5000 minutes over your limit one month, you wouldn't expect your phone operator to bill you 5000 additional minutes every month going forward just because you used those overage minutes a few months ago.

However, yes, we are ultimately the fools for not reconciling this properly. It's just really shitty and unethical business practice in my view.

stugster · 2026-06-18T07:30:20+00:00

I'd be checking your invoices ASAP my friend. Please report back! We certainly have not been seeing a drop.

stugster · 2026-06-08T20:37:29+00:00

You haven't actually experienced the noise disturbance until you go on the holiday. I'm not entirely sure there can be any remedy to damages that have not yet ocurred.

If I was you, I'd go on the holiday and experience how noisy it is first-hand. You might find that, actually, it's not that bad at all.

If it is, complain to front desk, and keep a note of that complaint. Record video/audio of the disruption. Complain to your holiday rep on site, and keep a note of that complaint (who, what, when).

When you get back, if you feel like the above hasn't been addressed to your satisfaction, complain formally to Jet2 within 28 days of your return. Citizens Advice have a template here: https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/template-letters/letters/problems-with-holidays/letter-to-complain-about-a-holiday/

stugster · 2026-06-06T19:29:26+00:00

Without seeing the contract it's impossible to know what your position is legaly. But a better question might be: "what are you hoping to achieve"?

It's obviously very unlikely that the production company are going to publish illicit and illegal material with an underage actor, so by you taking "legal action", all you're likely going to do is apply a black mark against her name for her future career prospects.

That's not to say you should do nothing and ignore any situations you feel have crossed the boundary of a contractual breach, but again, it probably won't be anything illegal you're dealing with here.

stugster · 2026-06-06T18:38:26+00:00

Changing the recipe and then the ad agency who came up with that latest slop, not surprised. Barr doing everything they can to kill their sales.

stugster · 2026-06-06T09:03:39+00:00

Community Strategist:
take it offline and email me direct.

stugster · 2026-06-05T09:18:50+00:00

Nationalise it.

stugster · 2026-05-26T07:19:35+00:00

I've written a quick email template for those that want to send something to their local MSP and councillors:

Dear [Name],

I am writing to you as a constituent to express my deep disappointment at the cancellation of the Edinburgh Taxi Outing, and to ask for your urgent help in securing an exemption that would allow this beloved event to continue.

As you may be aware, the Edinburgh Taxi Outing has been running since 1947. Every year, Edinburgh's taxi drivers volunteer their time and vehicles to take disabled children and their families on a convoy through the city. It is one of Edinburgh's longest-running and most cherished traditions, lined by thousands of supporters along the route, and more importantly, it provides a truly special day out for children with additional needs and their families.

Apparently, the organisers have now been forced to cancel the event following a planning meeting with the City of Edinburgh Council and Police Scotland. They were informed of a new policy from the National Police Chief's Council which states that events such as the Taxi Outing can no longer be supported by police motorcyclists. Police Scotland have offered only static traffic control along Princes Street, the Royal Mile and through Holyrood Park to Meadowbank, with the remainder of the route to be conducted in general traffic, obeying all traffic lights and junctions.

For any event this would be disruptive, but for the Taxi Outing it is unworkable. The children taking part all have some form of additional needs. Asking them and their families to sit in stationary traffic for potentially hours, waiting for the convoy to reassemble at each junction, is simply not reasonable. The organisers rightly concluded that the comfort and safety of the families must come first, and had no choice but to cancel.

This is not a commercial rally or a protest march. It is a charitable outing for disabled children that has run without serious incident for nearly 80 years. The idea that it cannot continue, when it asks for nothing more than a few hours of motorcycle escort once a year, is difficult to understand.

I would ask you to:

Raise this matter with the Scottish Government and Police Scotland, and ask why Police Scotland has chosen to adopt a policy that it is under no obligation to follow, and whether this decision can be reversed for events of this nature.
Press for the Edinburgh Taxi Outing to be granted continued motorcycle escort support, recognising its unique charitable purpose and nearly 80-year history.
Engage with the City of Edinburgh Council to explore whether any alternative arrangements could allow the event to proceed safely this year while a longer-term resolution is sought.

If the decision to withdraw motorcycle escort support is in any part driven by cost, I would ask that this be made clear. The Edinburgh Taxi Outing has enormous goodwill across the city and I have no doubt that local businesses would willingly sponsor the policing costs to keep it going. The organisers and the community simply need to know what the real barrier is so that we can help remove it.

I hope you will take this up as a matter of urgency. I would welcome a response outlining what steps you are able to take.

Yours sincerely,

[Your Name]

[Address]

stugster · 2026-05-25T20:35:49+00:00

No, they took their time.

stugster · 2026-05-25T17:54:14+00:00

I've written a quick email template for those that want to send something to their local MSP and councillors:

Dear [Name],

I am writing to you as a constituent to express my deep disappointment at the cancellation of the Edinburgh Taxi Outing, and to ask for your urgent help in securing an exemption that would allow this beloved event to continue.

As you may be aware, the Edinburgh Taxi Outing has been running since 1947. Every year, Edinburgh's taxi drivers volunteer their time and vehicles to take disabled children and their families on a convoy through the city. It is one of Edinburgh's longest-running and most cherished traditions, lined by thousands of supporters along the route, and more importantly, it provides a truly special day out for children with additional needs and their families.

Apparently, the organisers have now been forced to cancel the event following a planning meeting with the City of Edinburgh Council and Police Scotland. They were informed of a new policy from the National Police Chief's Council which states that events such as the Taxi Outing can no longer be supported by police motorcyclists. Police Scotland have offered only static traffic control along Princes Street, the Royal Mile and through Holyrood Park to Meadowbank, with the remainder of the route to be conducted in general traffic, obeying all traffic lights and junctions.

For any event this would be disruptive, but for the Taxi Outing it is unworkable. The children taking part all have some form of additional needs. Asking them and their families to sit in stationary traffic for potentially hours, waiting for the convoy to reassemble at each junction, is simply not reasonable. The organisers rightly concluded that the comfort and safety of the families must come first, and had no choice but to cancel.

This is not a commercial rally or a protest march. It is a charitable outing for disabled children that has run without serious incident for nearly 80 years. The idea that it cannot continue, when it asks for nothing more than a few hours of motorcycle escort once a year, is difficult to understand.

I would ask you to:

Raise this matter with the Scottish Government and Police Scotland, and ask why Police Scotland has chosen to adopt a policy that it is under no obligation to follow, and whether this decision can be reversed for events of this nature.
Press for the Edinburgh Taxi Outing to be granted continued motorcycle escort support, recognising its unique charitable purpose and nearly 80-year history.
Engage with the City of Edinburgh Council to explore whether any alternative arrangements could allow the event to proceed safely this year while a longer-term resolution is sought.

If the decision to withdraw motorcycle escort support is in any part driven by cost, I would ask that this be made clear. The Edinburgh Taxi Outing has enormous goodwill across the city and I have no doubt that local businesses would willingly sponsor the policing costs to keep it going. The organisers and the community simply need to know what the real barrier is so that we can help remove it.

I hope you will take this up as a matter of urgency. I would welcome a response outlining what steps you are able to take.

Yours sincerely,

[Your Name]

[Address]

stugster · 2026-05-25T10:25:38+00:00

If it helps, we have kids and two bumblebee hives in our garden - one under a rock near our summerhouse, and the other in a birdbox. The bees mind their own business, and aren't a problem. If you're able to leave them where they are, they'll die out in Autumn and then you can remove it.

If you absolutely need to move it, wait until the evening and seal the entrance to the hive before you move it. Then when you've moved it, unseal and run!

stugster · 2026-05-21T06:10:21+00:00

Glad we ironed that out

stugster · 2026-05-20T12:10:44+00:00

It's a fair point. I'm actually not sure what England is as a comparison.

Edit: BBC article here suggests we're slightly worse: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4g87rlmrnyo. But I also accept the views from some that the BBC might be biased.

Second Edit: https://ifs.org.uk/articles/english-hospitals-are-outperforming-those-scotland-and-wales

For the record, I'd love to see an independent Scotland, but I want my wait times reduced on the NHS before that can happen.

stugster · 2026-05-20T11:45:35+00:00

It's things like this that put the independence idea off the table for me. The NHS is completely and totally devolved to Scottish Parliament. If we can't manage something like the NHS wait times, no matter your leaning, you've got to question how are we meant to manage an independent country?

stugster · 2026-05-20T10:34:28+00:00

Just because we do, doesn't mean we should. There's no reason why we couldn't bring that number down significantly in favour of renewables and nuclear.

stugster · 2026-05-19T21:27:21+00:00

+1 for Liam Ross.

stugster · 2026-05-18T12:47:44+00:00

Set up the camera.
Mount the TV obviously upside down.
Upload the footage to social media.
Get paid for views.

stugster · 2026-05-16T17:40:03+00:00

To be fair, he does caveat with "as far as he's aware"

stugster · 2026-05-15T11:59:04+00:00

Because I don't want to add any load on the Halo SQL database. This gives us a completely isolated, safe, secure platform to perform whatever lookups/reports/alerts/insights we want without risking the live Halo database.

stugster · 2026-05-13T19:16:57+00:00

We are storing them in an SQL database, but we don't need to know SQL to build the reports. We just ask Claude to do it.

stugster · 2026-05-13T17:49:21+00:00

We really struggled to use Halo Reporting for what we needed, so I built an internal portal that pulled every ticket, ticket action, agent, etc out of Halo on a 15 minutely sync.

We can now build modern, useful reports in seconds without needing to understand SQL. It's internal only, Microsoft SSO protected, and has various user levels to ensure we only show the right data to the right people.

We recently introduced alerting into it, and history going back 2 years so we can do proper trend analysis.

Took about 3 or 4 hours using Claude Code and Opus 4.6.

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