<article>
<h2 id="introduction">Introduction</h2>
<p>Hosts:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://hackerpublicradio.org/correspondents/0201.html">MrX</a></li>
<li><a href="https://hackerpublicradio.org/correspondents/0225.html">Dave Morriss</a></li>
</ul>
<p>We recorded this on Sunday April 24<sup>th</sup> 2022. This is effectively a continuation of the last show, since we found we had lots more to talk about!</p>
<p><small>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.</small></p>
<h2 id="topics-discussed">Topics discussed</h2>
<ul>
<li>Dampers (in relation to coal fires), a topic we discussed last time:
<ul>
<li>MrX found a version of the <a href="https://youtu.be/KbauWEfiCMo">Damper song</a> on YouTube</li>
</ul></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>PC issues:
<ul>
<li>Dave’s home-built desktop PC had another disk problem</li>
<li>Running a SMART daemon (under SystemD) gives warnings of imminent disk problems</li>
<li>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!)</li>
<li>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.</li>
</ul></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Remote-controlled plugs:
<ul>
<li>Dave used a set of <em>Brennenstuhl</em> plugs for a while until several of them were destroyed!</li>
<li>Now has two <em>Sonoff</em> plugs which can be flashed with firmware and controlled with MQTT as part of a Smart Home</li>
</ul></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Programming:
<ul>
<li>MrX has recently been writing a Bash script, and found it difficult to get back into it.</li>
<li>Dave had written in DEC Pascal on a VAXCluster for many years, but can’t remember any of it any more.</li>
<li>Discussion of Delphi, Borland C++</li>
<li>Neither MrX nor Dave has used C very much</li>
</ul></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Difficulty of producing HPR shows:
<ul>
<li>Pandemic effects on motivation</li>
<li>Complications of working from home</li>
<li>Happily the rate of contributions to HPR has been increasing in the past few months</li>
<li>Adding pictures to shows still needs documentation</li>
</ul></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Smart speakers:
<ul>
<li>MrX already had two Google Home devices and got a free Amazon Echo (with Alexa software) from his ISP.</li>
<li>The Echo didn’t prove to be very useful as a means of listening to BBC radio, and the sign-up was intrusive.</li>
<li>The Google Home devices are preferable; they give easier access to BBC Radio as well as services like Spotify.</li>
<li>Dave is avoiding all such devices!</li>
</ul></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Old computing equipment:
<ul>
<li>Dave has an old 132-column Anadex matrix printer with a Centronics interface in his attic - found recently when clearing it out.</li>
<li>MrX remembered removable Diablo disks.</li>
<li>Dave reminisced about writing software in Coral66 on a CTL Modular 1 computer in the 1970s, which also had removable disks.</li>
</ul></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Being back at work again:
<ul>
<li>MrX is now in the office twice a week</li>
<li>The Scotland mask mandate has ended but many people are still wearing them</li>
<li>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.</li>
</ul></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Hayfever (seasonal allergies):
<ul>
<li>MrX is taking a <em>30C</em> remedy (a remedy labeled 30C has been serially diluted 1:100 thirty times, so is <em>extremely</em> dilute)</li>
<li>Dave still suffers from hayfever and takes Cetirizine through spring and summer</li>
<li>Dave thinks he developed hayfever in the hot summer and drought of 1976 on a field course in Gloucestershire. (BBC News story: <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-35603972.amp">Could the ladybird plague of 1976 happen again?</a>)</li>
</ul></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Medical issues:
<ul>
<li>Rheumatoid arthritis - auto-immune origins</li>
<li>Trigger finger (also known as <em>stenosing tenosynovitis</em>)</li>
</ul></li>
</ul>
<h2 id="scots-vocabulary">Scots vocabulary</h2>
<dl>
<dt><b>swither</b></dt>
<dd><em>noun</em>: A state of indecision or doubt, a pondering, hesitation, uncertainty.
</dd>
<dd><em>verb</em>: 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.
</dd>
<dd><br/>
</dd>
<dt><b>peely-wally</b> (or <b>peelie-wallie</b> or <b>peelie-wally</b>)</dt>
<dd><em>adjective</em>: pale, wan and off-colour; insipid and colourless.
</dd>
</dl>
<h2 id="links">Links</h2>
<ul>
<li>Scots words:
<ul>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scots_language">Scots Language</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.scots-online.org/dictionary/english_scots.php">The online Scots dictionary (English to Scots)</a></li>
</ul></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Smart Speakers:
<ul>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smart_speaker">Wikipedia article on Smart Speakers</a></li>
</ul></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Old computing equipment:
<ul>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centronics">Wikipedia article on Centronics printers</a></li>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diablo_Data_Systems">Wikipedia article on Diabolo disks</a></li>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_Technology_Limited">Wikipedia article on Computer Technology Limited (CTL)</a></li>
</ul></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Homeopathic dilutions:
<ul>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homeopathic_dilutions">Wikipedia article on Homeopathic dilutions</a></li>
</ul></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Medical matters
<ul>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rheumatoid_arthritis">Wikipedia article on Rheumatoid arthritis</a></li>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trigger_finger">Wikipedia article on Trigger finger</a></li>
</ul></li>
</ul>
</article>
