Introduction

Hosts:

We recorded this on Sunday April 24^th 2022. This is effectively a continuation of the last show, since we found we had lots more to talk about!

Note on the title: again we spoke about the Scots language on the show, so it seemed like a good idea to include more of it in the notes and so on.

Topics discussed

Dampers (in relation to coal fires), a topic we discussed last time:
- MrX found a version of the Damper song on YouTube

PC issues:
- Dave’s home-built desktop PC had another disk problem
- Running a SMART daemon (under SystemD) gives warnings of imminent disk problems
- HP Proliant MicroServer - an AMD-based machine sold in the 2010’s (?) by HP with a substantial discount. (Prices cited in the audio are probably not reliable!)
- Regarding the failed PSU mentioned last time, there was speculation about whether turning off at the mains every day is a good idea. MrX is inclined to think that it is not.

Remote-controlled plugs:
- Dave used a set of Brennenstuhl plugs for a while until several of them were destroyed!
- Now has two Sonoff plugs which can be flashed with firmware and controlled with MQTT as part of a Smart Home

Programming:
- MrX has recently been writing a Bash script, and found it difficult to get back into it.
- Dave had written in DEC Pascal on a VAXCluster for many years, but can’t remember any of it any more.
- Discussion of Delphi, Borland C++
- Neither MrX nor Dave has used C very much

Difficulty of producing HPR shows:
- Pandemic effects on motivation
- Complications of working from home
- Happily the rate of contributions to HPR has been increasing in the past few months
- Adding pictures to shows still needs documentation

Smart speakers:
- MrX already had two Google Home devices and got a free Amazon Echo (with Alexa software) from his ISP.
- The Echo didn’t prove to be very useful as a means of listening to BBC radio, and the sign-up was intrusive.
- The Google Home devices are preferable; they give easier access to BBC Radio as well as services like Spotify.
- Dave is avoiding all such devices!

Old computing equipment:
- Dave has an old 132-column Anadex matrix printer with a Centronics interface in his attic - found recently when clearing it out.
- MrX remembered removable Diablo disks.
- Dave reminisced about writing software in Coral66 on a CTL Modular 1 computer in the 1970s, which also had removable disks.

Being back at work again:
- MrX is now in the office twice a week
- The Scotland mask mandate has ended but many people are still wearing them
- People are catching SARS-CoV-2 at work, and particularly from children who are back at school, but vaccination means the effects tend to be milder.

Hayfever (seasonal allergies):
- MrX is taking a 30C remedy (a remedy labeled 30C has been serially diluted 1:100 thirty times, so is extremely dilute)
- Dave still suffers from hayfever and takes Cetirizine through spring and summer
- Dave thinks he developed hayfever in the hot summer and drought of 1976 on a field course in Gloucestershire. (BBC News story: Could the ladybird plague of 1976 happen again?)

Medical issues:
- Rheumatoid arthritis - auto-immune origins
- Trigger finger (also known as stenosing tenosynovitis)

swither: noun: A state of indecision or doubt, a pondering, hesitation, uncertainty.; verb: To be in a state of uncertainty of purpose, to be perplexed about what to do or choose, be in two minds, to doubt, hesitate, dither.
peely-wally (or peelie-wallie or peelie-wally): adjective: pale, wan and off-colour; insipid and colourless.