tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-73544189572620582642024-03-05T06:06:09.753+00:00Brian O'Donovan (aka BOD)Brian O'Donovan (BOD)http://www.blogger.com/profile/10652457466416412942noreply@blogger.comBlogger431125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7354418957262058264.post-41676796989875264352024-03-04T09:10:00.000+00:002024-03-04T09:10:20.461+00:00Why I am planning to vote Yes/No<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEd5iX6EmvnVOt94oZkmr7l2KCFCRBQBt6mvruFtpbhAC91xefluGhKLsXuq-y0c3f2ttbUUxWaTE2cu_oBoW-5fxVuEERSRTz477Uhwb4N2BU2rABSwx0PSBOITCjOAFZbaI-YmcGc5xhjnN5bX20DYWzzXvCwNS6L0JaCKflU0lRWqKxXZzRSXCfoA/s254/vote2.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="199" data-original-width="254" height="199" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEd5iX6EmvnVOt94oZkmr7l2KCFCRBQBt6mvruFtpbhAC91xefluGhKLsXuq-y0c3f2ttbUUxWaTE2cu_oBoW-5fxVuEERSRTz477Uhwb4N2BU2rABSwx0PSBOITCjOAFZbaI-YmcGc5xhjnN5bX20DYWzzXvCwNS6L0JaCKflU0lRWqKxXZzRSXCfoA/s1600/vote2.jpeg" width="254" /></a></div><br />Ireland will have 2 referendums on next Friday 8th February 2024. Both referendums are related to family status, but they are separate. I am planning to vote Yes in the first and No in the second. My reasons are influenced by <a href="https://www.flac.ie/news/2024/02/19/flac-legal-and-human-rights-analysis-of-the-propos/">this article</a> and <a href="https://maeveorourke.medium.com/a-right-to-care-and-the-care-referendum-on-8-march-9d6bdc7834ba">this article</a>.<p></p><p></p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>The first referendum concerns a commitment in the current constitution to support "the family based on marriage". The proposal is to replace this with a commitment to support families whether based on marriage or a "durable relationship". I think this is a welcome change reflecting the fact that many modern families do not consist of a married couple and their children e.g. single parents.<br />Some people have complained that the new wording will effectively make people who have consciously chosen not to get married still have marriage type responsibilities. My take on this is to have no sympathy to people who have formed a family and are trying to evade the consequent responsibilities.</li><li>The second referendum is not quite as straight forward. The existing clause in the constitution says that the state shall value the caring done by women within the family. This clause has rightly been criticised for being sexist (when the constitution was drafted back in .the 1930s, nobody thought about house husbands). As the FLAC article states, it is unfortunate that we don't have the option to simply delete the offending clause. Instead the referendum proposes to replace the clause with a new one which values caring provided within the family. This might seem innocuous, but disability rights campaigners have said this wording will be used to force family members to do all of the caring. I am not as clear in my opinion on this referendum, but if in doubt I will vote no.</li></ol><p></p>Brian O'Donovan (BOD)http://www.blogger.com/profile/10652457466416412942noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7354418957262058264.post-29651048373728691822024-03-03T07:25:00.001+00:002024-03-03T07:25:26.431+00:00Which social media site to use<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xFpE2tvrSto/ZeL_IWRNt0I/AAAAAAAA95Y/HkTMY7LxyIcdHgGFwYB8L_DwdhtAFsMSACNcBGAsYHQ/s960/ppt.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="540" data-original-width="960" height="180" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xFpE2tvrSto/ZeL_IWRNt0I/AAAAAAAA95Y/HkTMY7LxyIcdHgGFwYB8L_DwdhtAFsMSACNcBGAsYHQ/s320/ppt.png" width="320" /></a></div>There are many different social networks in use at the moment. I thought I should write a quick summary of when each of the most popular ones is suitable to use:<ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Main sites</li><ul><li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facebook">Facebook</a> - is the default social network. It has almost 3 billion active users (out of 8 billion people on earth) so there is a good chance that whoever you want to interact with is using Facebook.</li><li><a href="https://www.instagram.com/">Instagram</a> - Has 1.4 billion active users so it is almost as popular as facebook. In particular it is popular with the younger generation. It's main appeal is that it comes with cool photo touch up tools so everyone can look their best. Interestingly younger users like the fact that the older generation don't use Instagram so they can interact with their peers without any interference from their parent's generatiom.</li><li><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/">LinkedIn</a> - Is a social network for professional use with an impressive 1 billion users. There is no need to feel embarrassed to be seen to be boasting on LinkedIn, because boasting about your achievements is more or less the point of the site. People post here to say things like:</li><ul><li>I passed an exam</li><li>I moved to a new company</li><li>I got promotion</li><li>etc.</li></ul><li><a href="https://twitter.com/">Twitter/X</a> - has only 500 million users. It is more of a broadcast site than a social network. Twitter users <i>follow</i> other users, but this is not comparable to a friendship relationship on FaceBook. Because posts can be seen by anyone, Twitter is not suitable for semi-private updates that you only want your friends to see. Instead Twitter is used by politicians, journalists and other public figures to share thoughts with the world.<br />Instead of having a fixed friend list, Twitter users congregate around hash tags. For example, if I was watching an international rugby match I might post my opinion of the referee's poor decision using the <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%236Nations">#6Nations</a> tag. This post might be seen and responded to by other active users also using the same hash tag, rather than by a fixed friend list.</li><li><a href="https://www.tiktok.com/">TikTok</a> - has 1 billion users, but only a small proportion of these post videos. The bulk of users mainly watch videos and/or share videos created by others. So it is not really a soocial network site as such.</li></ul><li>In addition to the major sites above, there are some interesting niche players such as:</li><ul><li><a href="https://www.strava.com/">Strava</a> - Is not a social networking site as such. It is a site for athletes (mainly runners and cyclists) to record their training. However, it has a number of social features where users can:</li><ul><li>post photos of their training spin.</li><li>give <i>kudos</i> to each other (similar to a FaceBook like) </li><li>leave comments on a training spin</li><li>Engage in competition with other athletes who are cycling/running the same sections of road even if they don't know each other </li></ul><li><a href="https://bereal.com/">BeReal</a> - aims to help you to find out what people are. really doing. People only post on a site like Instagram when they are doing something cool so users browsing their feed get the mistaken impression that everyone else is having fun. BeReal combats this by forcing users to post a status photo at a random time.</li></ul></ul><p></p>Brian O'Donovan (BOD)http://www.blogger.com/profile/10652457466416412942noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7354418957262058264.post-4235316344383979092024-02-26T07:13:00.000+00:002024-02-26T07:13:05.840+00:00Wahoo colour codes<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: small;">When my Wahoo is showing the route recorded, it uses a colour coding scheme to show how severe the climb is. I did some experiments today while cycling up and down Howth Hill and figured out what the colours mean.</span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoO4ESAC0Y9Jox0685wcBpWJVejLQ-eo4Pi5f75wqUO0sqJQrRbttBgLQTJKvdfSNWyv6pDwW9TcR1WyVB6FC06zvGjX8ihU1XKinYUHAMqfdWbGDQCOyZTJPsn4EZiXalQ0730bI5SgxodZsirs9eF-EKe7EG8G_7w8MYjKSvu_ABiC2IgjVjqOmLpg/s1591/IMG_20240225_142432.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1591" data-original-width="1590" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoO4ESAC0Y9Jox0685wcBpWJVejLQ-eo4Pi5f75wqUO0sqJQrRbttBgLQTJKvdfSNWyv6pDwW9TcR1WyVB6FC06zvGjX8ihU1XKinYUHAMqfdWbGDQCOyZTJPsn4EZiXalQ0730bI5SgxodZsirs9eF-EKe7EG8G_7w8MYjKSvu_ABiC2IgjVjqOmLpg/s320/IMG_20240225_142432.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><div dir="auto" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Downhill = Gray (no matter how steep the descent)</li><li>Grade 0-4% = Green</li><li>Grade 4-8% = Yellow</li><li>Grade above 8% = Red </li></ul><div>For example, the picture on the right shows my screen after climbing the steep side of Howth hill. As you can see the climb is mostly yellow (4-8%) with only a bit of red (after passing the church) and a little bit of green (near the top of the climb it levels out).</div></div>Brian O'Donovan (BOD)http://www.blogger.com/profile/10652457466416412942noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7354418957262058264.post-30512279759071977442024-02-23T15:04:00.000+00:002024-02-23T15:04:30.070+00:00Drone delivery comes to Dublin 15<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz6gPrkRe6sboX8OnHZ4nnBNR9vXqj8HajKAu9xZh7_x0xu9UC-gS7Vs9GMtkZdJzbNWjYTH9SdYxUGi8MaYmLOdUo0FiqsiaGFzdoDlxI5pik5x4R4-803g8ott6SihRd4uI5xrQmHJS-p_f26Gh3hiAF-bxN4i6Au8p6B8-bjg5yWRX5aNOxrqdo4w/s4000/first%20drone%20delivery.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4000" data-original-width="3000" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz6gPrkRe6sboX8OnHZ4nnBNR9vXqj8HajKAu9xZh7_x0xu9UC-gS7Vs9GMtkZdJzbNWjYTH9SdYxUGi8MaYmLOdUo0FiqsiaGFzdoDlxI5pik5x4R4-803g8ott6SihRd4uI5xrQmHJS-p_f26Gh3hiAF-bxN4i6Au8p6B8-bjg5yWRX5aNOxrqdo4w/s320/first%20drone%20delivery.jpeg" width="240" /></a></div><br /> I was recently notified that the <a href="https://www.manna.aero/" target="_blank">Manna drone delivery service</a> is coming to Dublin 15. This was a cause of great excitement. I know that drone delivery has been going on for some time in North Co. Dublin, but I personally never had the thrill of eating drone delivered food yet.<p></p><p style="text-align: left;">The first step is to <a href="https://www.manna.aero/download" target="_blank">install the phone app</a> which I did last week. This automatically detected that I was in the greater Blanchardstown area and so they told me the service was coming soon.</p><p style="text-align: left;">This morning (about 9:10 am) the app notified me that I could apply for a free trial of the service. I love free stuff so I instantly click on the necessary buttons to say I wanted it dropped in the back garden (there are cars parked out front). They told me that expected delivery was 10:03am, so I felt free to run a quick errand before it arrived. This was a mistake because the delivery arrived early around 9:45am and I missed seeing it.</p><p style="text-align: left;">Nevertheless I did get to consume the free goodies. The delivery was in a sturdy paper bag as you can see in the picture. A long thin string was used to attach the bag to the drone and this was dropped in the garden too.</p><p style="text-align: left;">I tried to order a real meal from the service, but they are not taking orders yet. Therefore I can't comment on whether it is good value for money.</p>Brian O'Donovan (BOD)http://www.blogger.com/profile/10652457466416412942noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7354418957262058264.post-41831477670728106092023-12-31T18:12:00.000+00:002023-12-31T18:12:17.876+00:00Improving your Wordle performance<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdQ_eAAKc4l-N0FBNu0iPfV0mFfrJXto977zc6XwJ8EXVg17OmKmqRptE-hHfHoNJ0UWOkJ8u4cUvHuv1_8zkL1J7K21eYaZGonyD0PlynBglRR21Kq81cY2XZ35HdJ4UMheQIUOD9H4VZc_RwD3OcFRj9xhfFqeN3DpcD1awzgoT9NzZGHqc8fk4GFw/s798/screen_shot.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="308" data-original-width="798" height="124" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdQ_eAAKc4l-N0FBNu0iPfV0mFfrJXto977zc6XwJ8EXVg17OmKmqRptE-hHfHoNJ0UWOkJ8u4cUvHuv1_8zkL1J7K21eYaZGonyD0PlynBglRR21Kq81cY2XZ35HdJ4UMheQIUOD9H4VZc_RwD3OcFRj9xhfFqeN3DpcD1awzgoT9NzZGHqc8fk4GFw/s320/screen_shot.png" width="320" /></a></div><br />The <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/games/wordle/index.html">wordle</a> game is deceptively simple. However, I find myself tempted to cheat by employing outside resources when completing a game. There are many useful tools available such as the <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/wordfinder">Merriam-Webster word finder</a> which help in some situation, but none are explicitly built to help with Wordle. So I decided to write a little python utility called <a href="https://github.com/bodonovan/wordle_cheat/" target="_blank">Wordle Cheat</a> which aims to help Wordle players by providing a list of dictionary words which meet the clues they have been given<p></p><p>Since I released the project under an open source licence, it also technically meets my retirement goal of contributing to an open source project. I hope it is useful and please let me know if you find any issues with it. Of course if anyone wants to add a new feature(s), I would be delighted.</p>Brian O'Donovan (BOD)http://www.blogger.com/profile/10652457466416412942noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7354418957262058264.post-44836395287495322023-12-19T09:05:00.000+00:002023-12-19T09:05:12.490+00:00Playing Wordle<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0w8XJJsXFBrXqsquKLjRwMYHk-TPNwXsMaANm2g7stxF-C0a4KvnAz7N-mFyKpGdOPyfNXm_VjSPQ5T29ADdyEksjEylKZKo5WZFJNUUxE2s3hyVvKjS524cJ-t6k56GGxeCMqJgLqrbFl1PXs3BlearwEejzLhyBzYhr3lb-yK5ggUQhKtVY0AUg3Q/s2400/wordle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2400" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0w8XJJsXFBrXqsquKLjRwMYHk-TPNwXsMaANm2g7stxF-C0a4KvnAz7N-mFyKpGdOPyfNXm_VjSPQ5T29ADdyEksjEylKZKo5WZFJNUUxE2s3hyVvKjS524cJ-t6k56GGxeCMqJgLqrbFl1PXs3BlearwEejzLhyBzYhr3lb-yK5ggUQhKtVY0AUg3Q/s320/wordle.jpg" width="144" /></a></div><br />Everyone seems to be obsessed with the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/games/wordle/index.html" target="_blank">Wordle</a> game so I decided to give it a go. The short summary is that I am not impressed.<p></p><p>The game rules are very simple. You have 6 attempts to guess a 5 letter word. Each time you guess, you are told if each letter in your guess is either a correct match, a correct letter in the wrong position or not in the word at all. However, this is tricky enough to play - this forces you to use your brain which is the general idea.</p><p>The good news is that it is an easy way to pass time. The bad news is the advertisements which are constantly popping up and they seem to be deliberately hard to dismiss.</p>Brian O'Donovan (BOD)http://www.blogger.com/profile/10652457466416412942noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7354418957262058264.post-26642963220427399012023-12-12T07:57:00.001+00:002023-12-12T07:57:00.146+00:00Paying with your mobile phone - How does it work?<p>It seems like magic to me that it is possible for me to pay for stuff using my mobile phone. I am not an expert in payment systems, but this blog post is my attempt to describe what happens behind the scenes to make this possible. Since I have an Android phone, I will describe how it works with <a href="https://pay.google.com/about/">Google Pay </a>- I assume that the same principles apply to using <a href="https://www.apple.com/ie/apple-pay/">Apple Pay</a> if you have an iPhone. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://hindubabynames.info/wp-content/themes/hbn_download/download/banking-and-finance/google-pay-logo.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="512" data-original-width="512" height="74" src="https://hindubabynames.info/wp-content/themes/hbn_download/download/banking-and-finance/google-pay-logo.png" width="74" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p></p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>The first step is to register all of your cards with Google Wallet. To make this easy Google Wallet allows you to simply take a picture of your credit/debit card(s) and it will save the card details without the need for you to type in the long card number manually. When you enter a card Google automatically communicates with your bank to ensure the card is valid and not reported stolen.</li><li>When you are buying some goods or services, the merchant will type in the amount on their point of sale device.</li><li>Assuming you are willing to pay the amount requested, you first need to pick which one of the stored cards you want to use for this transaction. With android, this is done by long pressing on the power on/off button and then swiping left and right to highlight the card you want. To make it easy for you, Google Wallet will display a small picture of what the original card looks like.</li><li>Having activated your chosen card you hold your phone within 4cm of the POS terminal so they can use near field communication (<a href="https://developer.android.com/develop/connectivity/nfc">NFC</a>) to exchange details of your card. NFC is deliberately limited to only work at such short range to avoid accidentally paying for someone else's purchases.</li><li>The POS terminal then checks with Visa/Mastercard who in turn contacts the banks which issued the card to verify that you are credit worthy.</li><li>Occasionally the bank decides that they want to double check the identity of the person making the payment. If this happens, you will be asked to unlock your phone using a PIN code, unlock pattern or fingerprint reader. After this happens you need to return to step 4 above.</li><li>When payment is successfully made, your phone will display a confirmation message with the last 4 digits of the card used (displaying the entire card number would be aa security weakness).</li></ol><div>As I said, I am not an expert in payment systems. So if I got something wrong please let me know.</div><p></p>Brian O'Donovan (BOD)http://www.blogger.com/profile/10652457466416412942noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7354418957262058264.post-17524824906682032292023-12-08T09:07:00.001+00:002023-12-08T09:07:00.133+00:00Retirement in practiceBefore I retired I published a<span style="text-align: left;"> </span><a href="https://www.brianodonovan.ie/2023/07/planning-for-my-retirement.html" style="text-align: left;">plan</a><span style="text-align: left;">for what I would do with my time. </span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><span style="text-align: left;">Now that I have been retired for roughly 4 months, I thought I should review what I actually did:</span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggHA-lKzUaqutD5V0zmyPay-cxENSKDCNzdg2iF5ljVSb-XbF7KESzkzNGPAvgldjfs5Ax0pwnj0sdDCBoIyI-PpgFJCdOI2-hGl0twi1Iv8GvAU8CmzYqjxskUp77Z5-2C_0aOdS2JtFSskgcJQBTg1TZi7w-VfQZpNfXV8QQ3Jb5JOPqRoMY57CaIA/s580/Pensions-Retirment-Plan.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="430" data-original-width="580" height="148" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggHA-lKzUaqutD5V0zmyPay-cxENSKDCNzdg2iF5ljVSb-XbF7KESzkzNGPAvgldjfs5Ax0pwnj0sdDCBoIyI-PpgFJCdOI2-hGl0twi1Iv8GvAU8CmzYqjxskUp77Z5-2C_0aOdS2JtFSskgcJQBTg1TZi7w-VfQZpNfXV8QQ3Jb5JOPqRoMY57CaIA/w200-h148/Pensions-Retirment-Plan.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p><p style="height: 0px; text-align: left;"></p><ol style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><b>Cycling:</b> I am still cycling most weekends, but I am surprised to find that I don't really have time to cycle mid-week. My Strava statistics show me doing more or less the same milage as before retirement.</li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><b>Lecturing: </b>This is working out very well. I find it very rewarding and I am planning to possibly increase my hours next semester.</li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><b>Night classes: </b>I attended all the planed classes, but I must admit I never practice guitar between classes - the usual excuse of being too busy.</li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><b>Age Action: </b>This is working out very well. The gap in age is very small between me and the 'older persons' that I am teaching, but it is still good to be doing 'give back'.</li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><b>Open source:</b> I haven't really gotten to spend time on this goal. I did identify a project that I might like to contribute to - a set of node-red nodes for iOT devices. However, I have not yet upskilled to the level that I might be able to make a contribution.</li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><b>Men's shed:</b> I did not join a mens shed as such, but I joined a 'mens club' in my local community center. This has worked out great for me - I am making new friends and keeping very busy</li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><b>Book club:</b> I found a book club in the local community center. Unfortunately I am the only male member of the club, but I don't let that interfere with my enjoying the club.</li></ol>In general, I think retirement is working out more or less as I hoped and I have no regrets<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br />Brian O'Donovan (BOD)http://www.blogger.com/profile/10652457466416412942noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7354418957262058264.post-38903347683174917882023-07-05T06:56:00.000+01:002023-07-05T06:56:08.164+01:00Planning for my retirement<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAd1DRiyMcHkQM3mfOPExFZN2mm2arS61BLp1sYHq8DAreQm1yCtkaC9d92LbGIfcJlkXkB8M3DeHL8Omew4KZW4wtEwOfUTvDWfB7H6TjtOWbQLkHLm4BxFY5AuaoDlIQcqXM0AM6pugjrikdiqt9GD-eTUYIlrNAckaLrtaUkM9uBdXLXdVHmKja2w/s280/images.jpeg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="180" data-original-width="280" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAd1DRiyMcHkQM3mfOPExFZN2mm2arS61BLp1sYHq8DAreQm1yCtkaC9d92LbGIfcJlkXkB8M3DeHL8Omew4KZW4wtEwOfUTvDWfB7H6TjtOWbQLkHLm4BxFY5AuaoDlIQcqXM0AM6pugjrikdiqt9GD-eTUYIlrNAckaLrtaUkM9uBdXLXdVHmKja2w/s1600/images.jpeg" width="280" /></a></div><br />I recently had a pension review meeting with a pension expert who advised me that I had enough money in my pension plan to retire now. Even more significantly he told me that my pension payout would only increase by a very small amount if I continue working until I am 65. As a result I have decided to retire in August on my 61st birthday.<div><br /></div><div>Deciding when to stop working is only part of what I need to plan. The more important part is to plan what I will do with my new free time. I have come up with the following ideas (more or less in descending order of priority):</div><ol style="text-align: left;"><li><b>
Cycling:</b> At the moment I cycle every weekend. Once I retire I will start cycling during the week as well.<b> </b></li><li><b>Lecturing: </b>A few years ago I used to lecture to night students in Trinity College. I found this to give me a large amount of personal satisfaction. As a result I signed up to lecture in <a href="https://independentcollege.ie/">Independent College </a> 2.5 hours per week. If this works out I will increase my hours.</li><li><b>Night classes: </b>My local school offers a <a href="https://castleknockcc.ie/adult-education/">wide range of night classes</a> and I intend taking some of these. Last year I took gardening, guitar and pilates. In the next academic year, I have signed up for follow on classes in badminton, guitar and pilates as well as a workshop entitled <i>ready for retirement</i>.</li><li><b>Age Action</b> run classes to teach basic computer literacy for older people. I intent to volunteer as a tutor. </li><li><b>Open source:</b> I have always wanted to see what it is like to be an active contributor to an open source project. I have not yet decided what project to pick - suggestions are more than welcome.</li><li><b>Men's shed:</b> There is an active <a href="https://www.facebook.com/people/Mulhuddart-Mens-Shed/100052529576825/">men's shed in Mulhuddart</a> which is not too far from me so I plan to try it out. </li><li><b>Book club:</b> I am a keen reader so I think I would enjoy being part of a book club. I am sure I will find one which is close by which suits me.</li></ol><div>I don't think I will be bored with all of these diverse activities.</div>Brian O'Donovan (BOD)http://www.blogger.com/profile/10652457466416412942noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7354418957262058264.post-32350523840505757562023-07-03T17:39:00.002+01:002023-07-03T17:39:00.139+01:00A new attitude to best before dates<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjBhnw8iNzu1s1khY8RVeMC6vAILzRwJCYoy0YYfm_ZjsBRrYIFtIY_I5lO6gG3b5UlcGEwKch0fhAil7f5aCbMEohDDfhLrYnInj1QEiP_Q1zweSxIVPedjuvTF897wCE3uoXgLZzuj5ymrEcI6GTSTp6-nitMBtBXlNnrfwBk0mv2Hzj8Fl_CcQ_EA/s4000/IMG_20230630_073522.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4000" data-original-width="3000" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjBhnw8iNzu1s1khY8RVeMC6vAILzRwJCYoy0YYfm_ZjsBRrYIFtIY_I5lO6gG3b5UlcGEwKch0fhAil7f5aCbMEohDDfhLrYnInj1QEiP_Q1zweSxIVPedjuvTF897wCE3uoXgLZzuj5ymrEcI6GTSTp6-nitMBtBXlNnrfwBk0mv2Hzj8Fl_CcQ_EA/s320/IMG_20230630_073522.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><p>When I was young I was thought to respect best before dates and never eat anything whose best before date has passed.</p><p>Now it seems that the advice has changed to be more of a suggestion. For example, look at the label on this carton of orange juice.</p><p></p><p></p>Brian O'Donovan (BOD)http://www.blogger.com/profile/10652457466416412942noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7354418957262058264.post-79672224786221461062023-03-10T19:10:00.002+00:002023-03-10T19:10:55.359+00:00Nobody cares why you follow an influencer<p><span style="text-align: left;">The rise in popularity. of social networking sites in recent years has led to a corresponding growth in the number of </span><a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=influencers+meaning" style="text-align: left;">influencers</a><span style="text-align: left;">.</span></p><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIbeEWc9ek0eyS2CSHi3Y2J1XBhnNQ-ThyyJZKqfmkS5W6Vp5Z_zW8MsQ4w2eJlXYZjd4bsZvC4G_68R7Dffi27GYxtSX4L2-x-SQMzw-TR3imDB5vgGFUpqzh6nyHw0upFirChzmYMbArt7HfpDZyiXoDlY-tNQVPwRDXNe14pFrDn5b7Xr0i3Eo/s1320/andrew_tate.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="880" data-original-width="1320" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIbeEWc9ek0eyS2CSHi3Y2J1XBhnNQ-ThyyJZKqfmkS5W6Vp5Z_zW8MsQ4w2eJlXYZjd4bsZvC4G_68R7Dffi27GYxtSX4L2-x-SQMzw-TR3imDB5vgGFUpqzh6nyHw0upFirChzmYMbArt7HfpDZyiXoDlY-tNQVPwRDXNe14pFrDn5b7Xr0i3Eo/s320/andrew_tate.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Some people follow influencers for positive reasons (e.g. they admire their fitness/beauty regime). In other cases people follow influencers that they dislike (e.g. people might follow <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Tate">Andrew Tate</a> so they can criticise his statements). However, the sponsors who pay the influencers don't care why you are following someone - they simply care that you read the influencer's posts.<p></p><p>You should be aware that if you read postings from someone like Andrew Tate, you are effectively paying his salary.</p><p></p>Brian O'Donovan (BOD)http://www.blogger.com/profile/10652457466416412942noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7354418957262058264.post-62297748652246417412023-01-16T09:30:00.002+00:002023-01-16T15:12:13.082+00:00Pressure prediction analysisPreviously, I analysed how accurate various weather prediction services predicted the temperature a number of days in advance. Today I will look at their predictions for wind speed.<br />
<br />
Here is the summary data<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsrDO-IXGXztT21sjPCcNWxGfUfbSau2yI95X342zmCgxE0N4W0m2QhAicfaRVhwzaIo6v4vqAb7kl8Ou2OWsi8VFQ6kKukrQKJdPLpUtneRxuLZEAF0i2ad0CdWAlI8QjgjIrMzzNPB8/s1600/pressure_accuracy_data.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="291" data-original-width="702" height="264" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsrDO-IXGXztT21sjPCcNWxGfUfbSau2yI95X342zmCgxE0N4W0m2QhAicfaRVhwzaIo6v4vqAb7kl8Ou2OWsi8VFQ6kKukrQKJdPLpUtneRxuLZEAF0i2ad0CdWAlI8QjgjIrMzzNPB8/s640/pressure_accuracy_data.png" width="500" /></a></div>
<br />
Here is a chart of the data for people who prefer visual:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiOU6-1MLquKqNB4r-h0U5dpHL-DTW8iSqDrk241pcniccKQrW_5aCuKvBXkUt3pdGTuzjk_eXnk2lBvjQ-ga_Ia2SOZNQ2V7aKwGgi1bVuxoDrc4oLlyDvg-xSmuHA5YmdFHIMxvLZUg/s1600/pressure_accuracy_chart.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="252" data-original-width="382" height="420" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiOU6-1MLquKqNB4r-h0U5dpHL-DTW8iSqDrk241pcniccKQrW_5aCuKvBXkUt3pdGTuzjk_eXnk2lBvjQ-ga_Ia2SOZNQ2V7aKwGgi1bVuxoDrc4oLlyDvg-xSmuHA5YmdFHIMxvLZUg/s640/pressure_accuracy_chart.png" width="500" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Points to note</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
</div>
<ul>
<li>Openweathermap seems to be the most accurate by far.</li>
<li>Yr.no has similar accuracy openweathermap for one day in advance, but when predicting further into the future both darksky and yr.no are similar.</li>
<li>The error from openweathermap seems to be much larger than other services. I checked and this error is genuine.</li>
</ul>
<br />
Like the last time, this analysis lumps all cities together for an average result. I might do some analysis later on performance per city.Brian O'Donovan (BOD)http://www.blogger.com/profile/10652457466416412942noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7354418957262058264.post-78812172374615324952022-11-16T18:38:00.001+00:002022-11-16T18:38:00.184+00:00Moving desk<br />The office space at the IBM campus in Damastown is very much under utilized since the return from COVID. As a result IBM decided to consolidate people into a smaller number of buildings. This should save costs in lighting and heating and also save on our emissions.<p></p><p>Some of my colleagues were worried that we would have less natural light in our new area, but I found it to be quite bright. In addition a big plus is that we can walk to services like the canteen, gym etc. without having to go outside.</p><p>The move went very smoothly because I used the move as an excuse to dump many old documents from my filing cabinet. I hand carried my belongings from building 6 to building 3 without the need for assistance from facilities. Below you can see my nice neat new desk.<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuFlpl9TPxFuGFFKBIbxAIdRkiqMiP1YjRcwAJlyPBSXrZ_hFb6DGvgXm264x3uJKl53sqsleHlkaKmzKoNydVS17ZI42c4WGHActYDWO-P4qTpv7HvH1vWWJ9M0DgeBmpnvzPAmUBHISJRKFbqn17G-QPop5YQCrqmjHCW5ACtwNkZX0tn2pHydo/s4000/desk.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="my new desk at work" border="0" data-original-height="3000" data-original-width="4000" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuFlpl9TPxFuGFFKBIbxAIdRkiqMiP1YjRcwAJlyPBSXrZ_hFb6DGvgXm264x3uJKl53sqsleHlkaKmzKoNydVS17ZI42c4WGHActYDWO-P4qTpv7HvH1vWWJ9M0DgeBmpnvzPAmUBHISJRKFbqn17G-QPop5YQCrqmjHCW5ACtwNkZX0tn2pHydo/w200-h150/desk.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>Brian O'Donovan (BOD)http://www.blogger.com/profile/10652457466416412942noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7354418957262058264.post-49316708341965627332021-10-27T19:21:00.013+01:002021-11-01T13:51:59.960+00:00First day back in the office feels strangeBack in April 2019 I switched from mainly working in the IBM office to working permanently from home. The switch from office to home working was sudden and felt strange. I was working from home one day (as I occasionally did back then) when I got an email from HR telling me that the IBM offices were closing with immediate effect and everyone was to start working from home until further notice. I didn't have a chance to say good bye to my familiar desk. In fairness there was a process whereby I could get my manager's approval to visit my desk and retrieve anything important, but I didn't feel the need to use this process.
<p>
</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwz6Fgu3K8XFfzb0tMdNY000aFqz8Yh1qyjvfqb_9US6d2UTrCagftmr0ECbq8ZQo5kNVY2kKsvo2cRt2cD3z6aWrUzRjfEGpPQtChzhyFQoaPVS8QTUJ4xl1ABsKmGenO4WZQMVid2l0/s2048/empty+office.jpg" style="clear: right; display: block; float: right; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwz6Fgu3K8XFfzb0tMdNY000aFqz8Yh1qyjvfqb_9US6d2UTrCagftmr0ECbq8ZQo5kNVY2kKsvo2cRt2cD3z6aWrUzRjfEGpPQtChzhyFQoaPVS8QTUJ4xl1ABsKmGenO4WZQMVid2l0/s200/empty+office.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>I have been getting along OK working from home for the last 18 months, but when I got another notification that the IBM offices were opening again I was excited to get back to my old familiar working environment. I had to book a desk via an online tool which was configured to only allow 15% occupancy, but I was lucky enough to be able to book <i>my desk</i>.
<p>
When I got there it was eerily quiet and I realised that hardly anyone is taking the chance to work in the office. None of my direct team is here and a quick walk about the building I work in told me that I could count on one hand the number of desks which are occupied. A lunchtime walk around the campus revealed that the only building with more than 10 cars parked outside it was the building occupied by our digital sales organisation. This is strange because this team spend their time working electronically with clients in different countries. Obviously they see the benefit of having an in-person link with their colleagues even if they are very proficient in using online collaboration tools to connect with client's.</p><p></p>Brian O'Donovan (BOD)http://www.blogger.com/profile/10652457466416412942noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7354418957262058264.post-80179591844456743332021-05-17T18:30:00.001+01:002021-05-17T18:30:00.193+01:00Meditation App<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLeVleUfoq9AyuaiOAgpTmGvpsheB0kVKUpoHRfxgbwYg3A6W7zk0ZP5N2MWhFp6T56z0_ZAn8uiEiGNVC8Yr2haUkn-xN1D9mzRB7pc8r9Slj1lWkJ5207vX3hHNL4QVK2T6urwDLuNU/s2400/meditation_streak.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; clear: right; float: right;"><img alt="" border="0" height="320" data-original-height="2400" data-original-width="1080" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLeVleUfoq9AyuaiOAgpTmGvpsheB0kVKUpoHRfxgbwYg3A6W7zk0ZP5N2MWhFp6T56z0_ZAn8uiEiGNVC8Yr2haUkn-xN1D9mzRB7pc8r9Slj1lWkJ5207vX3hHNL4QVK2T6urwDLuNU/s320/meditation_streak.jpg"/></a></div>I used to be a sceptic about the benefits of meditation, but now I practice it with the zeal of a convert. Recently, I have started to use the <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.domeditate" target="_blank">Do Meditate App</a> on my phone. This is a very simple but still powerful app to help my meditation practice.
<p>One of the features of the app is that it tracks the number of days without a break on which I have completed a meditation session. Recently I managed to get a streak of meditating for 60 days in a row. I strongly recommend that you try it out yourself.Brian O'Donovan (BOD)http://www.blogger.com/profile/10652457466416412942noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7354418957262058264.post-41970934749709354172019-11-10T11:39:00.000+00:002019-11-10T11:39:05.432+00:00Rainfall accuracy<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSrQpWy9wh8Po053hhLwKQhB3R5HljZ-4t8TB1iC7wxMtKkxP_xTT4XKnJCGNVrP1SfRsFWybLUcRpHNIqGJrf8O_ltmZBg484Gd2Z3yy3Q-AVi-koGnkGf-BNAUDCm_d_fIQ3YhPc7Yk/s1600/rainfall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="431" data-original-width="767" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSrQpWy9wh8Po053hhLwKQhB3R5HljZ-4t8TB1iC7wxMtKkxP_xTT4XKnJCGNVrP1SfRsFWybLUcRpHNIqGJrf8O_ltmZBg484Gd2Z3yy3Q-AVi-koGnkGf-BNAUDCm_d_fIQ3YhPc7Yk/s320/rainfall.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
In my previous <a href="https://www.brianodonovan.ie/search/label/analysis" target="_blank">analysis of forecast accuracy</a>, I didn't look at the prediction for rain. Part of the reason for this is the fact that some of the services don't provide their rainfall reports and/or predictions in an easy to analyse format e.g. it might say 'light drizzle', 'cloudy' or heavy rain.<br />
<br />
The one exception to this rule is the <a href="http://yr.no/">yr.no</a> forecast service which provides rainfall predictions and reports in mm/hour. I thought it would be too strict to expect the forecasted mm/hour to match so I instead translated into rain or dry values.<br />
<br />
This means that we can have 4 situations:<br />
<ol>
<li>pred_rain => we predicted rain and we got it</li>
<li>unpred_rain => we didn't predict rain but we got it anyway</li>
<li>pred_dry => we predicted dry weather and we got it</li>
<li>unpred_dry => we didn't predict dry conditions but we got it anyway</li>
</ol>
I analysed 1 day and 7 day predictions for a selection of cities and I noticed a few key facts:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Rain forecasts in Luxor are 100% accurate, but this is because it never rained at all in Luxor during our time to track. This is in stark contrast to the results from other cities I looked at.</li>
<li>In Dublin, forecasts are about 82% accurate for the next day and 66% accurate for one week in advance.</li>
<li>In Galway, forecasts are about 75% accurate for the next day and 60% accurate for one week in advance. This is only slightly better than random coin tossing which we would expect to provide 50% accuracy</li>
</ul>
<br />
<br />
Here is the raw output if you want to look closer:<br />
<br />
<pre><i>1 Days in advance for Dublin
Total 2316
pred_rain 240 10.36%
pred_dry 1662 71.76%
unpred_dry 216 9.33%
unpred_rain 198 8.55%
Correct 1902 82.12%
Incorrect 456 19.69%
7 Days in advance for Dublin
Total 2232
pred_rain 84 3.76%
pred_dry 1398 62.63%
unpred_dry 408 18.28%
unpred_rain 342 15.32%
Correct 1482 66.40%
Incorrect 492 22.04%
1 Days in advance for Galway
Total 2346
pred_rain 330 14.07%
pred_dry 1422 60.61%
unpred_dry 276 11.76%
unpred_rain 318 13.55%
Correct 1752 74.68%
Incorrect 606 25.83%
7 Days in advance for Galway
Total 2256
pred_rain 180 7.98%
pred_dry 1164 51.60%
unpred_dry 474 21.01%
unpred_rain 438 19.41%
Correct 1344 59.57%
Incorrect 654 28.99%
1 Days in advance for Luxor
Total 2346
pred_rain 0 0.00%
pred_dry 2346 100.00%
unpred_dry 0 0.00%
unpred_rain 0 0.00%
Correct 2346 100.00%
Incorrect 0 0.00%
7 Days in advance for Luxor
Total 2238
pred_rain 0 0.00%
pred_dry 2238 100.00%
unpred_dry 0 0.00%
unpred_rain 0 0.00%
Correct 2238 100.00%
Incorrect 0 0.00%
1 Days in advance for Coral Springs
Total 2364
pred_rain 708 29.95%
pred_dry 996 42.13%
unpred_dry 402 17.01%
unpred_rain 258 10.91%
Correct 1704 72.08%
Incorrect 1110 46.95%
7 Days in advance for Coral Springs
Total 2268
pred_rain 594 26.19%
pred_dry 846 37.30%
unpred_dry 498 21.96%
unpred_rain 330 14.55%
Correct 1440 63.49%
Incorrect 1092 48.15%
1 Days in advance for Perth
Total 2382
pred_rain 168 7.05%
pred_dry 1974 82.87%
unpred_dry 108 4.53%
unpred_rain 132 5.54%
Correct 2142 89.92%
Incorrect 276 11.59%
7 Days in advance for Perth
Total 2262
pred_rain 132 5.84%
pred_dry 1740 76.92%
unpred_dry 228 10.08%
unpred_rain 162 7.16%
Correct 1872 82.76%
Incorrect 360 15.92%</i></pre>
Brian O'Donovan (BOD)http://www.blogger.com/profile/10652457466416412942noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7354418957262058264.post-18755074663447260072019-10-25T20:43:00.003+01:002019-10-25T20:43:51.122+01:00Post Tricycles<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikckQTb0hrYiITSsv8_HRD_BoXGqFk6SmGqiy9vGQ2Vm-Hia_Aon21MfsFVJ5JdB6d8jg9eAYB0Vzn5GIeWdPRttwjuhveomY_XoPMcKiIiqo98ZjxPT5kfeS8oKLetz_1i50G8t96dpM/s1600/post-tricycle.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="558" data-original-width="814" height="217" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikckQTb0hrYiITSsv8_HRD_BoXGqFk6SmGqiy9vGQ2Vm-Hia_Aon21MfsFVJ5JdB6d8jg9eAYB0Vzn5GIeWdPRttwjuhveomY_XoPMcKiIiqo98ZjxPT5kfeS8oKLetz_1i50G8t96dpM/s320/post-tricycle.png" width="320" /></a></div>
While I was out running this morning, I happened to spot a man delivering the mail. This is not really worth mentioning except for the vehicle he was using to transport the letters and parcels. I have often seen mail delivery people use a bicycle, but the large sack of mail tends to make it hard to cycle safely. This guy was using a tricycle which had a huge box of mail being carried very efficiently.<br />
<br />Brian O'Donovan (BOD)http://www.blogger.com/profile/10652457466416412942noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7354418957262058264.post-8776958431487844672019-10-04T16:03:00.000+01:002019-10-04T16:03:05.378+01:00Accuracy of temperature predictionsUsing the weather data I collected previously, I wanted to figure out which of the forecasts services was making the most accurate forecasts.<br />
<br />
The way I calculated this was by comparing the temperature predicted in x days time with the actual temperature reported by the service. e.g. if the provider predicted on 1st/Aug that the temperature would be x degrees in 5 days time, then I compare this with their actual reported temperature on 6th/Aug, This absolute error is then averaged across all readings from all cities<br />
<br />
Here is the summary data<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijW229-5lbWxf-CO1wmtZhU8NHaCWELHx64AbYTLSfdm31S94cKKei4a5Ky6IGFQjKXjkkn5KChYJV5b6qqqNYbbX6UC2hBFQmBzD5J5wC4O13FpzqmOAN5RhLPEio33ARqRIAFkfOvlw/s1600/temp+accuracy+data.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="295" data-original-width="693" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijW229-5lbWxf-CO1wmtZhU8NHaCWELHx64AbYTLSfdm31S94cKKei4a5Ky6IGFQjKXjkkn5KChYJV5b6qqqNYbbX6UC2hBFQmBzD5J5wC4O13FpzqmOAN5RhLPEio33ARqRIAFkfOvlw/s640/temp+accuracy+data.png" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
Here is a chart of the data for people who prefer visual:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgumXxhxnca8O5Ezai43ZlLgYMaMvqNYOOmfptZ0xWMeNIF_rc64V4DY2Ac_GT0nSFzrpytLW0TRQWDSYjfXL_WkesWQNMgQTpKY5Vk4Z6CeTFwvnoujKpp_L6SG_AsfSbrtD8zA9wONVY/s1600/temp+accuracy+chart.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="259" data-original-width="392" height="422" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgumXxhxnca8O5Ezai43ZlLgYMaMvqNYOOmfptZ0xWMeNIF_rc64V4DY2Ac_GT0nSFzrpytLW0TRQWDSYjfXL_WkesWQNMgQTpKY5Vk4Z6CeTFwvnoujKpp_L6SG_AsfSbrtD8zA9wONVY/s640/temp+accuracy+chart.png" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Points to note</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
</div>
<ul>
<li>I eliminated one reading from weather underground 6 day forecasts because it would have re-scaled the chart (probably indicates a programming error on my behalf).</li>
<li>In general the forecast accuracy decreases as the number of days increases.</li>
<li>Yr.no is best for next day, but bluemix and darksky are equally good further out.</li>
<li>OpenWeatherMap and Weather underground are significantly worse.</li>
</ul>
<br />
This analysis lumps all cities together for an average result. I might do some analysis later on performance per city.Brian O'Donovan (BOD)http://www.blogger.com/profile/10652457466416412942noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7354418957262058264.post-45976380989523538932019-10-04T09:52:00.000+01:002019-10-04T09:52:08.250+01:00Weather forecast data<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipOj5epgAubDsZty-z85oW-DhPDc82q_NYPPeLyXHKh32cbiquq3bx-ewW3tzYqD2OEVrg8I5uJkKQcOgAfoRxqtVpoM21uq3hF3VN8-WmWWUYC1zHIuGHlZ-ayRCQlraoca9Jj6qQvDY/s1600/forecasts.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="285" data-original-width="390" height="145" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipOj5epgAubDsZty-z85oW-DhPDc82q_NYPPeLyXHKh32cbiquq3bx-ewW3tzYqD2OEVrg8I5uJkKQcOgAfoRxqtVpoM21uq3hF3VN8-WmWWUYC1zHIuGHlZ-ayRCQlraoca9Jj6qQvDY/s200/forecasts.png" width="200" /></a></div>
I have published several <a href="https://www.brianodonovan.ie/search/label/weather" target="_blank">posts about weather</a>. I also did articles with analysis of <a href="https://www.brianodonovan.ie/2016/12/how-accurate-are-temperature-forecasts.html" target="_blank">temperature </a>and <a href="https://www.brianodonovan.ie/2017/01/how-accurate-are-wind-forecasts-for.html" target="_blank">wind </a>forecast, but there is a lot more analysis which could be done. Therefore I decided to publish the raw data in case anyone wants to analyse it. I will also do some more charting/plotting myself.<br />
<br />
Click <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/vcrffkmup4xpqx9/weather_dump.csv?dl=0" target="_blank">here</a> to download the captured forecasts in CSV format. The file contains over 2 million records in total and the format is fairly self explanatory. It covers a period from June 2017 to December 2018, but some forecasts are missing due to a variety of factors. Most notably the Bluemix data only covers August 2017 to February 2018.<br />
<br />
I will later post additional analysis files in <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/sh/olu7reqgopl639d/AACrCxZe0482Cmgi3ZC0IvFha?dl=0" target="_blank">this folde</a>r with some derived data from this original data in the CSV.<br />
<br />
I recently found out about a <a href="https://www.forecastwatch.com/wp-content/uploads/Three_Region_Accuracy_Overview_2010-2017.pdf" target="_blank">professional analysis report</a> comparing the accuracy of several forecast providers. I think you should value their results above mine.<br />
<div>
<br />
<br /></div>
Brian O'Donovan (BOD)http://www.blogger.com/profile/10652457466416412942noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7354418957262058264.post-75163317346350617442019-09-29T09:57:00.001+01:002019-09-29T09:57:09.236+01:00Polite new icon<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYVOQyBtQr9XhKMsmPDN_6oeBi7uCkOPfoNsn8wZhaB7XBZMxIFWmGyXsioLRa_adXajzQPJpMH-v8Dz6B8CKbNafv73GozokAVj9DDEZJBgGcuykHvjeQX5_IUiY-QHEPt1dtf7qqOYs/s1600/Screenshot_20190928-120606__01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="698" data-original-width="676" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYVOQyBtQr9XhKMsmPDN_6oeBi7uCkOPfoNsn8wZhaB7XBZMxIFWmGyXsioLRa_adXajzQPJpMH-v8Dz6B8CKbNafv73GozokAVj9DDEZJBgGcuykHvjeQX5_IUiY-QHEPt1dtf7qqOYs/s200/Screenshot_20190928-120606__01.jpg" width="193" /></a></div>
I was calling someone recently and I watched the screen while waiting to see if they would pick up. After a few seconds passed I noticed this nice icon appearing on the screen asking for understanding if the person didn't pick up.<span id="goog_650319975"></span><span id="goog_650319976"></span><br />
<br />
I thought it was very cute and encouraged a polite response to someone not answering my call. Maybe it is not new, but it was my first time to notice it.Brian O'Donovan (BOD)http://www.blogger.com/profile/10652457466416412942noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7354418957262058264.post-35386662915970592122019-06-13T18:45:00.000+01:002019-06-13T18:45:01.973+01:00More challenges to navigating around dublin<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp58ZxQmmUM9D4CdL3HboO0xYabqL-qoE4FHszkJ2pWbGDpeEP_P2g3OJqohcyfC9cCu37qtD6c2OOMDpnwQB74WibtL9Lzg9LBh93aAaz5VtwQEoV8JZ0NzKdYEnae7qWCb4dJQvHndQ/s1600/dublin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="684" data-original-width="966" height="141" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp58ZxQmmUM9D4CdL3HboO0xYabqL-qoE4FHszkJ2pWbGDpeEP_P2g3OJqohcyfC9cCu37qtD6c2OOMDpnwQB74WibtL9Lzg9LBh93aAaz5VtwQEoV8JZ0NzKdYEnae7qWCb4dJQvHndQ/s200/dublin.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
Visitors (and even locals) often find it hard to navigate around Dublin. One of the problems the strange custom in Dublin of assigning totally different names to different sections of the same road. I <a href="https://www.brianodonovan.ie/2016/12/where-streets-have-too-many-names.html" target="_blank">blogged before</a> about some of the more confusing examples of this. Another problem is the fact that the council regularly decide to change the name of a street.<br />
<br />
Here are a few examples:<br />
<div dir="auto">
<ol>
<li>Amiens Street was The Strand </li>
<li>Ardee Street was Crooked Staff </li>
<li>Aughrim Street was part of Blackhorse Lane </li>
<li>Back Lane was Rochel Street </li>
<li>Balfe Lane was Pitt Street </li>
<li>Belmont Avenue was Coldblow Lane </li>
<li>Benburb Street was Barrack Street </li>
<li>Bishop Street was Great Boater Lane </li>
<li>Blackhall Place was The Gravel Walk </li>
<li>Bow Lane was Elbow Lane </li>
<li>Bow Street was Lough Buoy </li>
<li>Brabazon Street was Cuckold's Row </li>
<li>Bridgefoot Street was Dirty Lane </li>
<li>Brookefield Avenue was Watery Lane </li>
<li>Brookefield Road was Cutthroat Lane </li>
<li>Camden Street was St. Kevin's Port </li>
<li>Cathel Brugha Street was Gregg Lane </li>
<li>Cathedral Lane was Cabbage Garden Lane </li>
<li>Chancery Place was Mass Lane </li>
<li>Christchurch Place was Skinners' Row </li>
<li>Clonliffe Road was Fortick Road </li>
<li>Collage Green was Hoggen Green </li>
<li>Constitution Hill was Glasmunogue </li>
<li>Dame Street was Tengmoutli Street </li>
<li>Dean Street was Cross Poddle </li>
<li>Digges Lane was Goat Alley </li>
<li>Dorset Street was Drumcondra Lane </li>
<li>Engine Alley was Indian Alley </li>
<li>Essex Street was Orange Street and earlier it was Smock Alley </li>
<li>Exchange Street Lower was The Blind Quay </li>
<li>Exchequer Street was Chequer Street </li>
<li>Foley Street was Montgomery Street and earlier it was World's End Lane </li>
<li>Glover's Alley was Rapparee Alley </li>
<li>Green Street was Abbey Green </li>
<li>Haddington Road was Cottage Terrace </li>
<li>Hammond Lane was Hangman's Lane </li>
<li>Harrington Street was Whitworth Street </li>
<li>High Street was Main Street </li>
<li>Hill Street was Lower Temple Street </li>
<li>Infirmary Road was Aberdeen Street </li>
<li>Island Street was Dunghill Lane </li>
<li>Lansdowne Road was Watery Lane </li>
<li>Lincoln Lane was Pudding Lane </li>
<li>Lincoln Place was Park Street and earlier it was St. Patrick's Well Lane </li>
<li>Little Green Street was Bradogue Lane </li>
<li>Little Ship Street was Pole Mill Street </li>
<li>Lower Baggot Street was Gallows Road </li>
<li>Lower Gardiner Street was The Old Rope Walk </li>
<li>Mary's Lane was Broad Street </li>
<li>Mercer Street was French Street </li>
<li>Mespil Road was Gibbet Meadow </li>
<li>North Brunswick Street was Channel Row </li>
<li>North Lotts was Newfoundland </li>
<li>O'Connell Street was Sackville Street </li>
<li>Upper O'Connell Street was Drogheda Street </li>
<li>Old Kilmainham was Murdering Lane </li>
<li>Oliver Bond Street was Mullinahack </li>
<li>Parnell Square was Rutland Square </li>
<li>Parnell Street was Great Britain Street </li>
<li>Pearse Street was Great Brunswick Street </li>
<li>Pimlico was Donour Street </li>
<li>Prussia Street was Cabragh Lane </li>
<li>Railway Street was Upper Tyrone Street and earlier it was a Part of Mecklenburgh Street (see Waterford St.) </li>
<li>Sackville Place was Tucker's Row </li>
<li>Sean McDermott Street was Gloucster Street and earlier it was Great Martin's Lane </li>
<li>Shelbourne Road was Artichoke Road </li>
<li>St. Andrew's Street was Hog Hill & earlier it was Hoggen Hill </li>
<li>St. Michael's Lane was Macgillamocholmog's Street </li>
<li>St. Stephens's Green North was Beaux Walk</li>
<li>St. Stephen's Green South was Leeson's Walk </li>
<li>St. Stephen's Green East was Monk's Walk </li>
<li>St. Stephen's Green West was French Walk</li>
<li>Talbot Street was Cope Street North </li>
<li>Townsend Street was Lazy Hill and earlier it was Lazar's Hill </li>
<li>Usher's Lane was Dog And Duck Yard </li>
<li>Waterford Street was Lower Tyrone Street and earlier it was Part of Mecklenburg Street (see Railway Street) </li>
<li>Wellington Street was Paradise Row </li>
<li>Wolfe Tone Street was Stafford Street</li>
</ol>
<div>
This is not a complete list of street name changes, but just be careful if you have an older map.</div>
</div>
<br />
<style type="text/css">
p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px}
p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 9.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px}
p.p3 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 11.0px 'Lucida Grande'}
p.p4 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 11.0px 'Lucida Grande'; min-height: 13.0px}
p.p5 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 9.0px; font: 11.0px 'Lucida Grande'; min-height: 13.0px}
p.p6 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 10.0px 'Lucida Grande'; color: #e26200}
p.p7 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 10.0px 'Lucida Grande'; color: #e26200; min-height: 12.0px}
p.p8 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 3.6px; font: 10.0px 'Lucida Grande'; color: #8f8f8f}
p.p9 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 3.6px; font: 10.0px 'Lucida Grande'; color: #8f8f8f; min-height: 12.0px}
p.p10 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 3.6px; font: 10.0px 'Lucida Grande'}
p.p11 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 3.6px; font: 10.0px 'Lucida Grande'; min-height: 12.0px}
p.p12 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-align: right; font: 9.0px 'Lucida Grande'}
p.p13 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-align: right; font: 9.0px 'Lucida Grande'; min-height: 11.0px}
p.p14 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 10.0px 'Lucida Grande'; min-height: 12.0px}
table.t1 {border-collapse: collapse}
table.t2 {width: 250.0%; border-collapse: collapse}
td.td1 {width: 60.0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px; border-color: #bfbfbf #bfbfbf #bfbfbf #bfbfbf; padding: 0.0px 5.0px 0.0px 5.0px}
td.td2 {width: 345.7px; border-style: solid; border-width: 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px; border-color: #bfbfbf #bfbfbf #bfbfbf #bfbfbf; padding: 0.0px 5.0px 0.0px 5.0px}
td.td3 {width: 250.0%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px; border-color: #bfbfbf #bfbfbf #bfbfbf #bfbfbf; padding: 0.0px 5.0px 0.0px 5.0px}
td.td4 {border-style: solid; border-width: 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px; border-color: #bfbfbf #bfbfbf #bfbfbf #bfbfbf; padding: 0.0px 5.0px 0.0px 5.0px}
td.td5 {width: 110.2px; border-style: solid; border-width: 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px; border-color: #bfbfbf #bfbfbf #bfbfbf #bfbfbf; padding: 0.0px 5.0px 0.0px 5.0px}
td.td6 {width: 18.0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px; border-color: #bfbfbf #bfbfbf #bfbfbf #bfbfbf; padding: 0.0px 5.0px 0.0px 5.0px}
td.td7 {width: 102.9px; border-style: solid; border-width: 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px; border-color: #bfbfbf #bfbfbf #bfbfbf #bfbfbf; padding: 0.0px 5.0px 0.0px 5.0px}
td.td8 {width: 105.5px; border-style: solid; border-width: 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px; border-color: #bfbfbf #bfbfbf #bfbfbf #bfbfbf; padding: 0.0px 5.0px 0.0px 5.0px}
</style>Brian O'Donovan (BOD)http://www.blogger.com/profile/10652457466416412942noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7354418957262058264.post-82852189990193583992018-09-03T13:15:00.000+01:002018-09-03T13:15:23.725+01:00Call for Code Project<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb08sOM1cJ5uEAjRIYOSfotnmajDdyswzOrw7EiXrnQVomBtBRHr_IHvq5nLXbuQTvlm8zGnoewOSYu4OMG3ahylPNxqlQ2Vy0JntfgILqQy-wRgQvTtj212p-K0AuNoXEa7q13manZRw/s1600/Call-for-Code-Logo-1024x972.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="972" data-original-width="1024" height="189" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb08sOM1cJ5uEAjRIYOSfotnmajDdyswzOrw7EiXrnQVomBtBRHr_IHvq5nLXbuQTvlm8zGnoewOSYu4OMG3ahylPNxqlQ2Vy0JntfgILqQy-wRgQvTtj212p-K0AuNoXEa7q13manZRw/s200/Call-for-Code-Logo-1024x972.png" width="200" /></a></div>
As you may have heard, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ginni_Rometty">Ginni Rommety</a> the CEO of IBM recently launched a <a href="https://developer.ibm.com/callforcode/">Call-for-Code</a> challenge to build a solution using IBM technology which will help solve problems with responding to natural disasters<br />
<br />
We had a one day hackday in the Dublin lab to help form teams and kick-off projects. During this day I became part of a team named "Watson Dispatch Manager" which aimed to build a call screening agent for emergency services. This aims to solve the problem that when a major incident happens the emergency services get overwhelmed by multiple callers reporting the same incident, while callers trying to report a different (equally urgent problem) can't get through.<br />
<br />
After the hackday, the team continued working and build and actual working prototype.<br />
<br />
Here is a presentation about the project<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="485" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="//www.slideshare.net/slideshow/embed_code/key/8T3aC1R5qG35m5" style="border-width: 1px; border: 1px solid #ccc; margin-bottom: 5px; max-width: 100%;" width="595"> </iframe> <br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 5px;">
<strong> <a href="https://www.slideshare.net/bodonovan/watson-dispatch-manager" target="_blank" title="Watson Dispatch Manager">Watson Dispatch Manager</a> </strong> from <strong><a href="https://www.slideshare.net/bodonovan" target="_blank">Brian O'Donovan</a></strong> </div>
<br />
Here is a video about the project for people who prefer that format <br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/A3jQ_p-eoso" width="480"></iframe>
And here is an actual video of the prototype in operation.<br />
<iframe allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/HLRxhTIsW3E?rel=0" width="560"></iframe>Brian O'Donovan (BOD)http://www.blogger.com/profile/10652457466416412942noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7354418957262058264.post-32365547224323248732018-06-14T19:30:00.000+01:002018-06-14T19:30:01.913+01:00Keeping track of unread marks in Slack<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPlLKiD198S-P-wEsJrZx5qoAg27sI_UutjbyR8EhnAdMInHJKc1dNSr3ZeWHrki-TRZYcVv4yUZSUnEFyWnDOwLaPCNizCtCbwKYaGs4m9QvWXaJ64ELbqSqru431H9P7TJOvK0MMHng/s1600/SlackUnread.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="358" data-original-width="563" height="203" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPlLKiD198S-P-wEsJrZx5qoAg27sI_UutjbyR8EhnAdMInHJKc1dNSr3ZeWHrki-TRZYcVv4yUZSUnEFyWnDOwLaPCNizCtCbwKYaGs4m9QvWXaJ64ELbqSqru431H9P7TJOvK0MMHng/s320/SlackUnread.png" width="320" /></a></div>
In recent years IBM (and other companies) have become enthusiastic users of <a href="https://slack.com/" target="_blank">Slack</a> to communicate. I must admit that I am not so impressed with Slack (partly because I was involved in developing some alternatives that I consider better), but I am leaning to use it nevertheless.<br />
<br />
A confusing thing about Slack is how the concept of <a href="https://get.slack.help/hc/en-us/articles/212675257-Join-a-Slack-workspace" target="_blank">Workspaces</a> and <a href="https://get.slack.help/hc/en-us/articles/205239967-Browse-and-join-channels" target="_blank">Channels</a> intersect. On the far left of the Slack client you see a list of icons showing the <a href="https://get.slack.help/hc/en-us/articles/212675257-Join-a-Slack-workspace" target="_blank">Workspaces</a> that you have joined. When you click on a particular Workspace , you will see a list of Channels in the Workspace and when you click on a channel you see the associated message. This sounds very straightforward, but the confusing thing is that you can have lots of <a href="https://get.slack.help/hc/en-us/articles/115004151203" target="_blank">Shared Channels</a> and these will appear in multiple workspaces.<br />
<br />
Like most messaging systems, Slack allows you to keep track of the messages you have read. I frequently load up Slack and read unread messages in each of the workspaces. However, I notice that when I switch to a second workspace the messages in the shared channel which I marked as read in the first workspace are still showing up as unread.<br />
<br />
Eventually I figured out how to solve this problem. You need to either select the menu item "View\Refresh" or else type ctrl-R each time you switch workspaces. The Slack screen goes blank for about 30 seconds and then comes back with the unread marks correctly applied. It is annoying to have to do this, hopefully Slack with fix this bug soon.<br />
<br />Brian O'Donovan (BOD)http://www.blogger.com/profile/10652457466416412942noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7354418957262058264.post-53396742066812463342018-03-01T18:13:00.000+00:002018-03-01T18:13:16.326+00:00Un-shortening URLs<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT85GOWmtpOwKcd__G5D8V6H_ZV5EtYfBpcHGPxzc7EGhDsIQyikARQ_6MQCke0Pdnf2me7xG1aMRG4wro_18r69Hzc_JT7KvwFmt0TEdVIkOq3oY_SRhBr72APHNBO8rUG01jphko7Es/s1600/webdirect.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="370" data-original-width="448" height="165" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT85GOWmtpOwKcd__G5D8V6H_ZV5EtYfBpcHGPxzc7EGhDsIQyikARQ_6MQCke0Pdnf2me7xG1aMRG4wro_18r69Hzc_JT7KvwFmt0TEdVIkOq3oY_SRhBr72APHNBO8rUG01jphko7Es/s200/webdirect.png" width="200" /></a></div>
URL shortening services such as <a href="http://bit.ly/">bit.ly</a> are very popular, but sometimes they can be dangerous. This is why I am glad to see that a url un-shortening service <a href="http://www.websiteplanet.com/webtools/redirected/">http://www.websiteplanet.com/webtools/redirected/</a> is now available.<br />
<br />
The way url shorteners work is that I can set up <a href="http://bit.ly/2Ffns9i">http://bit.ly/2Ffns9i</a> as a short url for <a href="http://brianodonovan.ie/">http://brianodonovan.ie</a> and then you can save yourself some typing by typing <a href="http://bit.ly/2Ffns9i">http://bit.ly/2Ffns9i</a> into your address bar and be brought directly to <a href="http://brianodonovan.ie/">http://brianodonovan.ie</a> . In this case the number of keystrokes is hardly worth the effort, but in many cases URLs can be very long and hence difficult to type in correctly.<br />
<br />
The danger of short URLs is that you don't know where they are going to bring you to. For example you might be expecting to be brought to https://www.mybank.com/myaccount but instead find yourself brought to http://www.hackers.ru/defraud-me<br />
<br />
The way <a href="http://www.websiteplanet.com/webtools/redirected/">http://www.websiteplanet.com/webtools/redirected/</a> works is that you go there and type in your short URL and it tells you where you will be redirected to if you use that short URL (this might involve multiple redirects). You can then decide whether or not you feel safe to visit the site in question.Brian O'Donovan (BOD)http://www.blogger.com/profile/10652457466416412942noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7354418957262058264.post-77889660024628478862018-01-11T19:18:00.000+00:002018-01-11T19:18:00.244+00:00My new GlowOrb tells me when rain is imminent<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRm5TDulcJ59s06rpdMVpSxkxjWmMwJLxBLps8e7XDcf_bE3YDQhwuzdDhFxc4BhrTGDwKlY7RcAhpfnvMDw3dtSspSaRPwwRK2juSOdxuspBkDzln9v8CK4fDBcacnQcjn92wHw7auzQ/s1600/glow-orb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRm5TDulcJ59s06rpdMVpSxkxjWmMwJLxBLps8e7XDcf_bE3YDQhwuzdDhFxc4BhrTGDwKlY7RcAhpfnvMDw3dtSspSaRPwwRK2juSOdxuspBkDzln9v8CK4fDBcacnQcjn92wHw7auzQ/s200/glow-orb.jpg" width="150" /></a></div>
I recently acquired a new gadget called a GlowOrb. This is an orb the size of a ping-pong ball which is <a href="http://mqtt.org/" target="_blank">MQTT</a> enabled which means that it can be programmed to change colour to give an ambient indication of some metric you would like to be aware of. Previous owners have used their GlowOrbs for a wide variety of uses e.g. <a href="https://www.ibm.com/blogs/internet-of-things/creating-home-glow-orb/" target="_blank">alerting on air quality changes</a>. However, I am obsessed with rain (as are almost all Irish people) so I decided to configure my GlowOrb to alert me of the chances of rain in the immediate future.<br />
<br />
I followed the colour scheme from official weather warnings. So if my GlowOrb is<br />
<ul>
<li>Green (as in the picture) it means that there is < 20% chance that it will rain in the next 4 hours and I can cycle to work with confidence that I won't be like a drowned rat when I get there.</li>
<li>Yellow tells me that the chance of rain is between 20% and 40% so bringing a jacket might be a good precaution</li>
<li>Orange indicates that the probability has grown to 40% - 60%</li>
<li>Red implies that the chance of rain is over 60% so there is no point in putting out the washing.</li>
</ul>
The way it works is that each GlowOrb has a serial number (printed on the underside of the unit) and you send a MQTT message containing a colour code to a MQTT channel associate with the serial number to change the colour of your orb. Don't worry if you don't understand what this means, there is a web address like http://mqtt.org/GO/XXXX-YYYY/ printed on the base of the unit (where XXXX-YYYY is the serial number of your unit) and if you visit this web address you will be given detailed instructions on how to use the GlowOrb. It also gives you a piece of JSON that you can import into any <a href="https://nodered.org/" target="_blank">NodeRed</a> service to have a working control program for your GlowOrb.<br />
<br />
All I had to do to customise my GlowOrb was to write a simple NodeRed flow which accesses the <a href="https://console.bluemix.net/docs/services/Weather/index.html" target="_blank">BlueMix weather service</a> every 15 minutes to determine the likelihood of rain where I live and then change the colour of the GlowOrb to match.<br />
<br />
If you can imagine a use for your own GlowOrb, I encourage you to get one and experiment. They are quite cheap, but there is no formal ordering or pricing process for GlowOrbs. However, if you send a twitter message to <a href="http://twitter.com/andysc" target="_blank">@AndySc</a>, he will give you a price quote in bitcoin or pound sterling.Brian O'Donovan (BOD)http://www.blogger.com/profile/10652457466416412942noreply@blogger.com0