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Articles by Jolly GoodThemes
So Reddit has decided that plain HTML is unsafe
If you don’t know Reddit, it basically is the host of many popular forums. And like any company which encourages you to “come for the cats [and] stay for the empathy,” Reddit seems to be in the business of extracting as much value as it can from said forums without completely destroying them. After all, simply fostering community is not a noble enough goal for the New Tech, and fortunately for Reddit, genuinely human-generated data is now gold in the LLM Age.
Apple is about to make Hide My Email useless
Yesterday, June 15, 2026, a small and unimportant announcement appeared in Apple developer news: New domain for Sign in with Apple and iCloud+ Hide My Email. Long story short: now both Sign in with Apple and Hide My Email aliases are going to be issued on the @private.icloud.com subdomain. This makes it much easier to ban all aliases without affecting non-relay mailboxes on iCloud mail.
Don't waste your back pressure
Back pressure for agents You might notice a pattern in the most successful applications of agents over the last year. Projects that are able to setup structure around the agent itself, to provide it with automated feedback on quality and correctness, have been able to push them to work on longer horizon tasks. This back pressure helps the agent identify mistakes as it progresses and models are now good enough that this feedback can keep them aligned to a task for much longer.
Squeezing a sokoban game into 10 lines of code
If you’re only interested in seeing or playing the game, you can find it on my GitHub. The Haskell Tiny Game Jam is a game jam which challenges participants to write a video game in Haskell using 10 lines of 80 characters. I happen to love Haskell and code golf (abusing a programming language to produce disgustingly short code for fun) so I decided to enter the Feb ‘23 jam. My game is called Call-by-push-block.
Yandex Services Source Code Leak
Just a few hours ago I found mention on Twitter that proprietary source code of Russian giant Yandex been leaked on online community called BreachForums. In this post I’ll share results of my friend digging into said archives. Important details about torrent: It just content of repository without anything else. All files are dated back to 24 February 2022.
How To Make The Fediverse Your Own
Welcome to the fediverse! The fediverse is a network of social spaces that we the users can govern for ourselves. This is a guide to help you do that—because the technology won't do it for you. This is a love letter from your friends at Social.coop, which has been running (and enjoying!) a democratically governed social media space with Mastodon since 2017. As many people are coming to the fediverse from birdsite (that's what we call Twitter), it's important that we be intentional.
rtoot: Collecting and Analyzing Mastodon Data
It has been a wild view days on Twitter after Elon Musk took over. The future of the platform is unclear and many users are looking for alternatives, a popular one being mastodon. I also decided to give it a try and signed up. I quite quickly became interested in its API and realized that there is only a seemingly unmaintained R package on github. So I decided to write a new one. Fast forward a week(!!!!) and the package rtoot was accepted by CRAN.
Vol. 2, Episode 14: Never go to anybodys house
Link to the show: Young Adult Movie Ministry Vol. 2, Episode 14 on Substack Release date: February 11, 2022 Movie of the Week The Tragedy of Macbeth (2021), directed by Joel Coen [On AppleTV+ ] Special Guest Helen Shaw is the theatre critic for New York magazine. Who the Hosts Are This Week Sam is reporter-at-large, editor of Forever Wars, film critic for hire, and Thane. Alissa is the film critic at Vox, author of the upcoming book Salty, and a bubbling cauldron.
Back to EU
Cronofy is a truly global company. Whilst we’re headquartered in the UK, our revenue is split 55% US, 25% EU, 9% UK. EU GDPR legislation has not harmed our US business and in many cases has been an advantage. Having to confront data privacy requirements from the founding of the business puts us at a distinct advantage as US companies wake up to having to protect people’s information.
Business Reports with R Markdown
A talk about theming of reports to fit with graphical guidelines
Extend the functionality of your R Markdown document
Blog Talks About
Raspberry Pi as home network log forwarder to Azure Sentinel
This is not a scenario that any real organisation or enterprise would be likely to face, but I wanted to find a way to use a Raspberry Pi as a log forwarder for Azure Sentinel. This will help me collect logs from the home network, especially from my Ubiquiti EdgeRouter firewall. Since neither of the usual suspects for syslog forwarding - Logstash and Log Analytics Gateway - support the Pi or any ARM based Linux, I needed to find something new for this case.
Episode 35: Release the Schraeder Cut
Link to the show: Young Adult Movie Ministry Episode 35 on Substack Release date: March 26, 2021 Movie of the Week The Last Temptation of Christ, directed by Martin Scorsese [Streaming free (with ads) on Peacock; via subscription on Hulu | Sling] Who the Hosts Are This Week Sam is… incel? Alissa is Fake Aslan. Special Guest Isaac Butler is a theater director and author of The World Only Spins Forward.
Hunting Down A New Laptop
My most “recent” laptop history looks a bit like this: Toshiba T1910cs (~1994) Toshiba T2100cs (~1995) Sony Vaio PCG-C1 (~1998) Dell Inspiron XPS Gen 2 (~2005) Toshiba Portege M400 (~2007) Apple MacBook Pro (~2010) ThinkPad X220 i7 (~2012) ThinkPad T450 i7 (~2016) There have been other, non-primary computer devices over the years like the Intel Classmate, ASUS Transformer, Asus EEE 701 & 900, EEE 1000HA, Dell Latitudes, Toshiba AC100, Pinebook, Pinebook Pro, an Entroware Athena and, briefly a...
Mastodon Instances, Everywhere
Mastodon is interesting. It’s “free and open-source software for running self-hosted social networking services.”. To any normal personal that’s “Open Source Twitter”, largely. Anyone can grab the code and spin up their own Mastodon instance. I put one up a year or so ago, but unfortunately I didn’t have the time or resources to maintain it, so I shut it down. Maybe it will return.
Chromium on Linux
Rumours are swirling in Linux circles that some prominent distributions are preparing to remove the Open Source Chromium web browser from their archives. This appears to have come about because of a change being made by Google, which reduces functionality in third party chromium-based browsers. Chromium (perhaps unsurprisingly) falls into this category. While the proprietary Google Chrome is built on the same technology as the open source Chromium browser, they’re not the same.
Trying 'Proper' Coffee
I’m not a fussy eater, I’ll eat pretty much whatever is put in front of me. I used to quip that the only thing I wouldn’t eat is celery, but even that now features on my plate now and then. It’s an especially good vehicle for getting melted cheese into my gob. Being an unfussy eater means I’m also a pretty unfussy drinker. “I fancy a coffee!” at home usually results in a spoon of instant coffee granules, sugar or sweetener, milk and hot water being mixed in a cup and guzzled shortly after.
Pitchforks set to Stun
It’s just a month into the new year and we have our first controversy in the Linux community of 2021. In a recent update to Raspberry Pi OS, the official operating system for the diminuative computers, a new repository was added to the default install. This change means new and existing Raspberry Pi devices, running the officially maintained and blessed Operating System will check in with an additional software repository when updated, which will offer more software to the consumer.
Reboot Aversion
I am not a fan of rebooting my computers.
Let's Go Snapping
Last year ( 😄 ) I wrote an article called Snap Along With Me in which I detailed how I approached snapping a rust application called t-rec. Well, I’m back with another “Snap Along”, this time we’re snapping an application written in Golang. During a meeting to on-board a new member of the team at work today, I went through a similar process as my last blog post. This time I chose a different application, so I thought I’d write it up here.
Book Review: UnPresidented
I recenlty finished reading listening to Jon Sopel’s book, “UnPresidented: Politics, Pandemics and the Race That Trumped All Others” (affiliate link). I have enjoyed Jon’s reporting over the years for the BBC, but this is the first of his books I’ve picked up. I grabbed it as an audio book because I’m a terrible reader. It was narrated by the author, which made it all the more appealing for me as I find Jon pleasing to listen to.
Defederation Of Instances
This are instances that have been muted or suspended alongside the justification and level of decision. The Standing Jury can mute instances; however CWG decisions take precedence and can overrule the Standing Jury. socnet.supes.com on 1/31/2021 for users posting lots of slurs. kiwifarms.cc on 7/15/2019 for being the fediverse instance of a forum explicitly devoted to online stalking and harassment. gab.com for full on Nazis harassing our users.
Late Night Linux Extra: 14 - Transcription
I was recently interviewed by Joe Ressington for Late Night Linux Extra episode 14. Here’s a transcription I typed up, which may be useful. I used an automated tool to create the transcription, then tidied it up myself. If you spot anything which doesn’t match the audio, and is materially important, do feel free to propose an edit on GitHub (link at the top of the page).
TikTok for Breakfast
TikTok - the popular social video platform - is my new recipe discovery engine of choice. When bored or idle I might browse through my “For You” page until I stumble upon a recipe. I’ll then like (â�¤ï¸�) or bookmark (🔖) and come back to it later. Yes, that’s right boomer, I’m explaining TikTok to you in a blog, like from 2004. See, the thing is, I really love TikTok, despite being outside their likely target demographic.
Let's Call The Whole Thing Off
I’ve mentioned before that I ‘suffer’ from xkcd 386. I’m trying to improve, and maybe writing this post will help me. If it helps you, that’s awesome too. Let’s work on this together. ğŸ¤� There’s a strong prevalence among some in the Linux community for people correcting others. Specifically correcting pronunciation. I have been guilty of this in the past, but I’m trying to be the change I want to be. It’s a struggle! Some pronounce ‘Linux’ (the kernel) as ‘Lie-nucks’ and others say ‘Li-nucks’.
UK Borrowed Foreign Currency from the IMF in 1976
The 1976 IMF debacle in the UK was a defining moment when the promotion of full employment ended. Fundamentally though it was a political mistake by people who didn’t understand that floating the UK pound fundamentally changed how it behaved. The government was terrified about a ‘run on the pound’ and wanted to keep an exchange rate of $2 to the £. The panic set in with it got to $1.80. Of course since then the £ has been down to near parity with the dollar at one point and the world didn’t end.
The Best Toaster
If you know me well in person, or online, you’ll almost certainly have heard me evangelise about the best toaster you can buy. If so, you are excused from reading any further. However, I may test you on this text at some point. So skip reading it at your peril! There are no affiliate links in this post. I do not seek to financially benefit from your enjoyment of deliciously toasted bread. The satisfaction that you might do so though, is reward enough. In 1997 I bought a toaster.
Raspberry Pi: Boot to BASIC
10 REM TL;DR My Raspberry Pi 400 boots from this: To this. BBC BASIC! This blog post is what parts I smashed together to make this work and why. 20 PRINT “HELLO” 40 years ago this Christmas, I got my first “personal computer”. It was a Sinclair ZX81 with 1KiB of RAM and a tape deck for storage. Every time I powered it on, like all ‘81 owners, I was greeted with this. A couple of taps later, and I had written some code! Ok, not a super auspicious creation, but it’s a start.
The Black Oblong of Monospace Mystery
I originally titled this post “Don’t be afraid of the command line”, but decided “Black Oblong of Monospace Mystery” was more fun. Is the command line really scary? It doesn’t feel like that to me, but I grew up with an interface which looks like this on first boot. Not exactly friendly, but I was 9 at the time, and this was normal. Typing things using the keyboard was pretty much a daily activity. I used books like this one, to learn how to program and understand the computer better.
Xiaomi Redmi AirDots S Review
This is a somewhat belated review, as I’ve had these headphones for over 6 months now, but I use them often enough for a long term review I think. Also, I’m no MKBHD, so this isn’t a deep dive into the audio response of these things. Set expectations accordingly. This is more of a ramble than a review. I’m no audiophile. I tend to listen to music while working on whatever headphones are nearby.
Embarrassing Bugs
Well, this is embarrassing! I recently filed a bug against an open source project because I genuinely thought it was broken. It was (almost, probably, entirely) my fault. I thought I’d fess up and explain what happened. It might be useful for others. As I mentioned yesterday, I recently upgraded my Ubuntu machines, including my main desktop. It’s a funky Skull Canyon NUC with a weird hybrid Intel / AMD GPU setup and an external nVidia card in an enclosure.
13th Twitter-versary
I woke up this morning to a notification injected into my timeline in the Twitter app. Apparently it’s my “Twitter anniversary” which I can “celebrate” by tweeting out a pre-made picture of the number 13. That’s too easy. Instead I recently downloaded my Twitter data. Let me be self-indulgent and take a look and see what happened over those 13 years. For those who haven’t tried downloading their Twitter data, what you get is a browseable archive with a summary front page.
Distrowatch is Not a Measure of Popularity
Here’s a fun blog post where I get possibly irrationally annoyed by people who use a web page incorrectly. Let me get this off my chest and then move on to better topics tomorrow. Distrowatch is a popular website among Linux enthusiasts. The main page consists of reverse-chronological news articles of interest to Linux users. Often this consists of new stable and development release announcements, reviews and weekly roundups.
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I quite like to break things. While I’m not a QA or security professional, I have developed a knack for doing “stupid” things with software which causes it to malfunction. Some developer friends of mine have lamented that they didn’t show me software before they released it. Because I sometimes find annoying bugs immediately after they release. Here’s some fun examples of pushing the boundaries of software, sometimes by doing things a little “out there”, beyond what the developer expected or tested.
Digital Hoarding: Ubuntu Mirror
I have a bunch of Ubuntu machines on my local network at home. They all periodically need to check for updates then download & install them. Rather than have them all reach out to the official mirrors externally to my network, I decided to run my own mirror internally. This post is just a set of notes for anyone else who might be looking to do something similar.
Digital Hoarding: Gaming Edition
Another in a series of “I have identified a problem here!”. I appear have quite a few video games. More than I can probably play in my time left on Earth. Let’s set aside all the retro games I have for a moment, and consider only the ones that run on my primary computer, a PC. To be clear, I’m only talking about ‘native’ games. Aside: I hate the word ‘native’ in this context, because what’s native? A ZX Spectrum game running under an emulator isn’t native to the PC, is it?
My Crowdfunding Stats
While writing my Ouya post the other day, I was reminded of the various projects I’ve backed on crowdfunding sites over the years. Between May 2012 and August 2019 I helped fund 68 separate projects. Most for “beer money” (around a tenner) through “toy money” (up to fifty quid) up to “need to have a think about this money” (a hundred quid or so). The vast majority have been successful, and I’ve received my backer reward in a timely fashion.
Two Displays & Two Computers
In my messy office I have a main desk I work at. I have two portait displays on a hefty, but inexpensive BONTEC Dual Monitor Stand (affiliate link), clamped to the back, to lift the monitors up off the desk. The monitors are 3-year-old, low-end 24” ASUS VS248HR (affiliate link) “Gaming Monitor’s” 🤣. I recently bought a Raspberry Pi 400 which also sits on my desk for quick-release arm64-action! The problem I have had with other Pi’s is the spiders web of cables needed, and additional keyboard.
Hush Keyboards with Hushboard
Yesterday while surfing the ASCII highways of IRC (yes, IRC) a URL linking to a MacOS application scrolled by my screen. Unclack is a small MacOS utility which silences the microphone of the user when they’re typing. The purpose is to prevent the noise of typing being passed through to other participants when on a Zoom / Skype / Jitsi call. Neat.
My GNOME Tweaks
One of the neat things about GNOME Shell is that it’s pretty tweakable - to some degree - to customise it to a user’s preferences. I know some people use GNOME Shell stock experience. I don’t. I have previously written about some of my must-have extensions and add-ons. This supplements that with what I do to further tweak my (currently) Ubuntu 20.10 system to my liking. Note: These are the settings I configure on my computer that I use all day every day.
Ouya was a Success
On 11th July 2012, the Ouya burst onto the scene via popular crowdfunding site - Kickstarter. It was billed as “A New Kind of Video Game Console” which sold for $99/£99 at launch. It was essentially an Nvidia Tegra 3 based ARM System on Chip crammed into a tiny box which sat under / near your TV and was operated with supplied bluetooth game controllers. They far exceeded the target of $950,000, reaching $8,596,474, setting some high expectations among the backers and interested onlookers.
Downloading Twitter Data or Not
Bit of a rant, sorry. I’m trying to download my data from Twitter. I login via the web page, find the place to do this, note its says I’ll get an “archive of your data we think is most important to you”. Uh-huh, you think. Then click the button. It takes a day to build that archive, and you’re not allowed to ask for it again for 30 days. Next day I get a notification so I can download it. So I dutifully go to the Twitter website and again navigate to this special place to download my archive.
Check for Outdated Snaps
I don’t consider myself a ‘Developer’ but I maintain a bunch of snaps in the Snap Store, and threw together a shell script which I’m sharing here in case it’s useful to other publishers. The goal of the script is to go through each snap and check to see if there’s a newer version of it upstream than currently published in the store. As such it’s not meant for end-users, but for people like me who publish multiple snaps from different places, and want to keep on top of them.
The Best Portable Spectrum
The Sinclair ZX Spectrum was the second computer I ever owned, a natrual upgrade from the Sinclair ZX81. I still own a small collection of Spectrums which work perfectly after to a bit of light refurbishment thanks to Mutant Caterpillar. They’re not often setup to play with, due to the space needed. Some Many of the Spectrum games are absolute classics, and still remain fun to play now though. There’s plenty of ways to play under emulation on desktops and laptops.
Snap Along With Me
Every so often I find myself with an idle hour and decide to use that time to package some new software for Linux. A common activity among nerds, I’m sure ;). This blog post is a write up of what I did, and why, which may be useful to others with time on their hands. I keep meaning to live stream when I do, but on this occasion I had a bad hair day was also listening to and engaging with a podcast, so it wasn’t practical.
Contributing without Code
In the mid-90s I was an avid user of online conferencing system called CIX (Compulink Information eXchange). CIX was built using the CoSy Conferencing system from the University of Guelph, which has since been open sourced. Think of it like a dial-up or telnet-accessed forum or message board with a nerd-heavy userbase. Each day I’d dial-up to download messages, then read & respond offline. Later in the day I’d re-connect to send my responses and download more messages.
Notifications on Task Completion
Like many in development-oriented roles, I’m frequently running long-executing tasks on my workstation, while I get on with a sword fight, or making a cup of coffee. More seriously, I do often leave a software build, or packaging script running, while I context-switch to answer support requests, proof-read a blog post, or prepare for a meeting.
Double Your Network Speed with This One Trick
The trick: Read the manual. I pay for 100Mb/s downstream Internet connection at home. For months I’ve been getting around 50Mb/s at my desk, and 100Mb/s over wifi on my phone, under optimal conditions. Here’s how I ‘fixed’ the ‘slow’ Internet (essentially LAN speed) connection at my desk. I use a bunch of TP-LINK “Powerline” adapters around the house to get wired networking to each room.
Keyboards, Old and New
Over on r/mk you’ll find a community of mechanical keyboard enthusiasts. People who enjoy collecting, building and showing off their primary computer input device. Like any collector community, it’s a fascinating glimpse into the world of people passionate about something we all likely have used, but don’t feel especially invested in.
Snap Tips
As you may or may not be aware, I work for Canonical on Snapcraft and Ubuntu. I use Ubuntu as my daily driver, and spend a lot of time maintaining snap packages, and listening to developers and users talk about software packaging, publishing, delivery and use. Over time I’ve collected a bunch of virtual notes in my head. Much of it has been turned into documentation, but often the information is rather spread out.
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