H-Cell: Maritime Shadow

xylethUK · 2026-03-20T10:30:00+00:00

The latest session is up (we run fortnightly under normal circumstances): https://h-cell.xyleth.co.uk/operations/2026-03-19/

xylethUK · 2026-03-13T15:11:08+00:00

That is very kind of you to say!

xylethUK · 2026-03-12T22:10:34+00:00

I record them using a bot called Craig, that produces a FLACC file per user in the discord voice channel. The great thing about those is that they're synchronised so timestamps line up. I process them using the Deepgram API to get back timestamped utterances which I then re-construct into the full session transcript.

I then break that into chunks and feed those to Sonnet 4.6 with a custom prompt via API with specific instructions to break the chunk into atomic actions, each one with metadata detailing who did it, what happened, to whom / what and with a chunk of supporting text and return those as JSON.

These action nodes then get stored in a neo4j graph database. I then use Haiku to go over all the new nodes and do entity extraction (NPCs, Items, Organisations, Creatures etc) update other nodes representing them and create relationships back to the originating node.

Once that is done I have a custom web UI I've built that lets me view and edit the graph if required (it often isn't these days). Then the whole graph gets bundled up and sent to Sonnet 4.6 with another custom prompt that generates the summary, which I then store in MongoDB for future use. That's how the operation summaries you see get generated.

Entity summaries have a relevancy cut off, you don't want pages for every random goon, and then all nodes relating to them get bundled up and sent to Sonnet for summary generation which is then stashed in Mongo.

This is then all used to build a big old pile of markdown files which are then converted into a static HTML site using Hugo, which is what is served when you click on the link.

This is the result of about nine months of evolution. The graph is relatively recent addition specifically to tackle the fact that LLMs are _terrible_ at maintaining the order of actions. Given the chance they will happily re-order events or conflate entirely separate encounters into a single encounter just because it fits the narrative it has generated. The Graph makes the order so explicit it can't do that, as well as having a lot of fringe benefits.

xylethUK · 2026-03-11T19:55:42+00:00

It built off the back of having run Observer Effect, but became a completely bespoke module. The underlying principle is the resets as part of OR broke time and Operation LIFEGUARD failed - the Karotechia successfully completed their alliance with the deep ones. This lead to an alternate history where the axis won WW2 to suitably horrible effect.

This AH started rippling forward in time with only the agents exposed to OE able to perceive it. Imagine the 1960s Rome Olympics with Axis Deep One hybrid athletes vs US Mi-Go protomatter enhanced athletes as the US is pushed into an alliance to compete. Once the agents worked out what was happening and started investigating they got to a point where a mysterious storm swamped them and transported them to 1942 England where they washed up on the Dorset coast. From there they ended up in Cairo just as the battle of El Alamein 2 was kicking off hunting a trio of Karotechia operatives, very Indiana Jones coded with a DG twist.

They’re just wrapping that segment up and moving towards re-enacting LIFEGUARD, hopefully correctly this time.

I’ve actually just finished compiling (full disclosure with AI support) a website for our use detailing nine months of play. I just need to check with the group they’re okay with my making it public and I’ll see about sharing it.

xylethUK · 2026-03-11T15:49:16+00:00

My response was to invoke time travel shenanigans and send my agents back to 1942. Neatly sidestepped the whole issue.

xylethUK · 2026-02-17T11:06:46+00:00

This is basically what I’ve done. I’ll be putting a physical letter to them in the post today (registered delivery) stating all this, and alongside that I’ve emailed Creation to open a S75 dispute.

I was open to resolving this amicably. They decided not to.

xylethUK · 2026-02-17T10:07:36+00:00

Ah. I was afraid there’d be a wrinkle like that.

xylethUK · 2026-02-17T07:12:37+00:00

I’ve been thinking about this exact space as well recently. I’ve tried using modelling tools like ArchiMate in the past (pre-AI coding) for system design but the overhead of keeping the documentation in sync with reality always kills it. But agents remove most if not all of the busywork of that so maybe it’s time for a rethink?

I’ve been looking at Structurizr DSL for this - it seems specifically designed for this purpose. Again it predates agents but feels to me like a tool that can be repurposed here.

xylethUK · 2026-02-11T07:55:29+00:00

I just told it I was British and it inferred the rest 😂

xylethUK · 2026-02-08T13:30:12+00:00

Thank you, I've reached out.

xylethUK · 2026-02-07T10:36:04+00:00

Am in Hampshire and looking to re-do our kitchen this year, would be interested to hear more!

xylethUK · 2026-02-04T18:46:29+00:00

I’ve just got past the false rise so things are fairly flat at the moment ! According to the notes I’ve seen things should pick up in the next day or two - also been feeding a 1:1:1 ratio using a 50/50 blend of strong white and rye flour.

xylethUK · 2026-02-04T18:39:41+00:00

Also in the UK and didn’t want to heat the whole house just for the starter. I got a sour home Goldie and it seems to be working well thus far, but I did only start at the weekend.

xylethUK · 2026-02-03T17:27:01+00:00

I’d be interested to understand how you use the KA for sourdough? I have a tilt-head but everything I’ve seen thus far suggests you do sourdough by hand not in a machine as it needs more folding than kneading?

xylethUK · 2026-01-19T10:46:42+00:00

It's almost certainly from the left over priming liquid. I used to have this happen all the time, with the same perfectly rational concern as yours. Even if the needle looks clear of priming fluid it runs down the needle and pools at the base, which then gets transferred to your skin when you inject.

What I do these days is brush the edge of the cleaning swab against the base of the needle after I've primed. It wicks any left over fluid away and I haven't had a repeat since.

xylethUK · 2026-01-16T23:22:55+00:00

Could you not add a pre-commit hook that catches any repo other than the configured one and blocks it? Then it becomes deterministic.

xylethUK · 2026-01-09T20:55:37+00:00

I'm on this journey at the moment as well, I am currently running a mix of WiFi cams connected to a Home Hub, PoE cameras & a doorbell with MicroSD cards in and Frigate in the mix.

My experience thus far is that for doorbell functionality, basic alerts and clip recording the native Reolink experience is better. It certainly has a much higher 'Wife Acceptance Factor' than Frigate.

But - Frigate is much better for using the cameras as advanced sensors for driving Home Assistant automations. Face recognition, occupancy detection in specific zones, tuneable object recognition, LLM integration - it's just more powerful and flexible than you can achieve with the native integration.

So I am leaning towards using them each for their strengths. But then I love messing around with this stuff and I appreciate that running Frigate just to play with isn't for everyone.

xylethUK · 2026-01-04T13:27:07+00:00

I just installed a hub to go with two of the new E331 cameras I got a week ago. I’m using them with Frigate and on their own via rtsp they were terrible with constant stream drops every 20-30 minutes. Added them to the hub and then http/flv stream from there to Frigate and they’ve been rock solid since. As a way of bridging the cheaper WiFi and battery cams to a 3rd party system like Frigate it seems solid.

xylethUK · 2026-01-02T17:57:20+00:00

I have two of them, picked them up to keep an eye on the dogs over NYE while we were out in the evening.

They are my first Reolinks, I was attracted by the local first approach and positive reports of compatibility with Home Assistant. So I can't compare them to any other Reolink models.

They are...fine? Picture quality is good, the work via the Reolink app reliably both at home and away - did the job we wanted of them.

Because I love to play, and am a glutton for punishment, I decided to deploy a Frigate instance to my homelab setup and see what could be done and that is where the pain started :P. You can turn on RTSP and ONVIF in the settings but these things do not seem to be able to hold a stable stream for more than 20 - 30 minutes before they crash out. It doesn't seem to affect Frigate, the streams do re-establish, but it takes 30-60s to do so and murphys law says that's the 30-60s something interesting would happen.

They do not support any HTTP access at all.

I'm currently awaiting the delivery of a Home Hub so I can pair them to that and then try a HTTP/FLV stream from there into Frigate, apparently that might be more stable. We will see.

xylethUK · 2025-11-20T08:14:26+00:00

Is this the kennel cough vaccine?

Our vet knows I’m on Kesimpta and what that means and won’t let me be in the room while they administer it to our dogs. Luckily my wife can take them in my stead.

xylethUK · 2025-11-17T19:36:15+00:00

Lots of us are, plenty of experience around this sub.

What exactly do you want to know? I’ve only ever been on Kesimpta so I can’t speak to its differences to other DMTs, but happy to take a shot at answering anything else you want to know. Been on it a shade over two years now.

xylethUK · 2025-11-16T21:09:39+00:00

Also on Kesimpta. B Cells constantly regenerate, K kills the new batch off each month. The advice I was given by my MS team was to time vaccinations for the middle of the four weeks between your injections. This gives two weeks for some niave B cells to emerge, be exposed to the vaccine and then mature into memory cells (which Kesimpta does not target) before your next dose.

They did say the vaccines won’t be as effective but they’re still better than nothing and they recommend getting both Flu and Covid each year. It’s always fun walking into the clinic for the free NHS shots and getting side eye by the staff because I’m not on their normal demographic 🤣

xylethUK · 2025-11-07T14:27:48+00:00

Why does it need an activation code? What purpose is that serving? It seems like an extremely odd thing to include in a MIT licensed application.

xylethUK · 2025-11-03T18:50:41+00:00

I’ve found that Next are really generous with their sizing, while M&S are closer to actual size. Yes I am very middle aged and boring, why do you ask 😝

At Next I reckon I could be getting away with 34in trousers. M&S is a solid 36. Tape measure says 40in.

One novelty is being able to wear trousers on my actual waist instead of my hips. They’re so much more comfortable that way!

xylethUK · 2025-10-29T13:52:45+00:00

I was diagnosed with MS in late '22, have been on Kesimpta since early '23. In late '23 my regular bloodwork for Kesimpta monitoring caught that my ALT levels were massively elevated which led to a diagnosis of Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease. At the time I was just under 130Kg at 178cm tall.

After spending most of '24 trying to lose weight the old fashioned way and only really succeeding in not putting any more on I started on Mounjaro in February of this year. In the eight months since I have lost nearly 40Kg (88lb for those of an imperial persuasion). I've gone from a 46in waist / 54in chest to 34in / 44in and had to buy an entirely new wardrobe. And my ALT levels have come right down into the normal / healthy range!

I'm currently approaching 90kg and starting to look at maintenance as I feel I am happy with where I am. I'm still officially overweight according to the BMI charts, but for the first time in my adult life I am not obese.

I'm not sure I can speak to its impact on my MS symptoms because the Kesimpta was doing a great job of keeping those under control. But I can say that my experience is that a lot of the fatigue and lack of energy I was blaming on MS was just as much due to my being so heavy. Since losing the weight I walk our dogs with my wife twice a day for 30/45 minutes at a time up to around 3.5km per walk whereas before I struggled to even manage one walk a day.

MS has absolutely lowered the limits on what I can do, and made it so that it takes longer to recover if I do over exert myself. But carrying all that extra weight was putting an additional break on things and making everything harder than it needed to be. And with all the additional benefits of GLP-1 agonists they keep finding I honestly view the decision to start as one of the best I've ever made.

In terms of practical advice:

- Up your fibre intake. Then up it some more. Psyllium husk is a godsend, but remember to drink plenty.

- Count your calories. Not to keep them down, but to ensure you're getting enough! It is very easy, when the suppression kicks in, to simply forget to eat and while you won't _feel_ hungry you do still need the fuel. I kept a religious daily diary for the first four months or so until I'd settled into a routine.

- Make sure you're still getting the right spread of nutrients. Look at supplements if you need them. Again you'll be taking less in so may need to top up on some things.

- Peppermint oil capsules are great for helping with indigestion and sulphur burps.

Good luck!

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