Category Archives: Culture

Geek culture

Embedding Mastodon posts in WordPress

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I’m someone who has made their escape from Twitter, mostly posting to a mix of Mastodon, Threads and Bluesky.

It was really easy to embed a Twitter post in WordPress: just paste the URL into the block editor and it’d do the hard work for you.

That doesn’t work for Mastodon, possibly because it’s so many different domains (servers) that WP can’t figure out when it’s a Mastodon post. Pasting the URL just displays… the URL.

Mastodon does have a function to get the embed code, which you can put into a WP Custom HTML block… but that didn’t work for me either. On my personal blog with its modified Twenty Twenty theme, the Mastodon post appeared hard against the left hand side of the browser window, out of whack with the rest of the post text.

With some experimentation and Googling, I discovered that tweaking the embed code slightly made it better.

Basically in the HTML, edit the blockquote style attribute margin and change it from 0 to auto. That made it appear in line with the rest of the post.

I’d love to show you it here, but it turns out the even older theme we’re using on geekrant.org.right now can’t handle them at all. Attempting to save a post with embedded Mastodon HTML results in a Save error. (And I don’t have time right now to get screen grabs.)

Hmm, might be time for a theme update.

Anyway, hope this helps someone else out there (and remind me of what I need to do next time).

Pitivi timeline end is in the wrong place. How to move the end of the timeline?

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Once again the Internet has failed me. I was using the Pitivi non-linear video editor, and discovered my three minute video had the end of the timeline (where the video ends) at over ten minutes. This would triple the render time: unacceptable, time is money.

You can reach the start/end of the timeline by pressing the Go To Start and Go To End buttons on the video player thing. I spent quite some time trying to find how to alter the timeline end.

Turns out there’s no way to move or adjust the end of the timeline. However if you close the project and reopen it, Pitivi correctly detects where the last clip ends and makes that the end of the video. Render time reduced.

Refreshing Facebook link previews

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Sometimes when posting a link, something goes wrong and the preview doesn’t come up properly.

I hit this issue yesterday when posting a link from my personal blog. At the FB probe went looking, it seemed to hit a database error, so that’s what it said. Not very helpful.

I tried the site itself, and it was up. Retrying from FB didn’t fix it – it was now in the cache. Thankfully there’s a way of refreshing it:

Go to https://developers.facebook.com/tools/debug/

Enter the URL and it’ll show you the current cached preview image, and any errors.

Click the Scrape Again button to refresh it.

Neato.

Why are streaming apps so dodgy?

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Why are commercial streaming apps so dodgy?

In the past few weeks I’ve seen two that I use develop major issues with Chromecast (I think it’s a 1st generation model) from iPad (iPadOS 15.7), which I’d have thought is a very common use case.

Britbox, at the moment, flat out doesn’t work for me. You try to start the stream apart from a big logo, nothing happens. And I’m not the only one:

Disney Plus works, but has more subtle problems.

  • Audio cuts in and out during the credits at the start and end of the program
  • The subtitles turn themselves on every single time I start watching something – they have to be repeatedly turned off.
  • Rating and content information only appears at the end of the program
  • The ”buffering” spinner keeps appearing during the stream, perhaps for half-a-second or so every few minutes – even though the internet connection is strong and fast. Thankfully the audio and video doesn’t drop out.

I’ve also tried on a newer Chromecast. Some of these problems don’t occur on a third generation model, but on the older unit, even switching Disney Plus to the low bandwidth option doesn’t help.

Playing streaming video is meant to be the core business of these companies.

All the others I’ve used recently (apps from all the Australian TV networks – ABC, SBS, 7, 9, 10, Amazon Prime Video, Netflix, Apple TV Plus*) are okay – how is it Britbox and Disney Plus are so bad?

And why did they work a few months ago, but now they’re broken?

*Apple TV Plus doesn’t work with Chromecast – I use it with an old Lightning to HDMI adapter that I’ve got.

Dear ABC: use English better

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It’s been several years, but now it’s time to complain about the use of certain phrases by ABC News journalists:
– “Quote Unquote” is meant to surround what you’re quoting, not preface it. If you’re just going to preface it and use a different tone of voice, just use “Quote.” If you want to clearly signal the end of a quote, say “Unquote” at that part.
– All crimes happened in the past, and are thus historic. There is no such thing as historic rape. It’s rape. Find another way to communicate “very old”. Vintage rape? Much classier.
– If a court order or law forbids naming someone, then you “mustn’t” name them, not “can’t”. You can, but you’re just unwilling to go to jail for contempt. “can’t be named for legal reasons” is also wrong, but less wrong than “can’t”. I hope you’re not trying to avoid sounding like characters in Harry Potter and “He who mustn’t be named”
– Vehicle crashes are not best described as accidents. As reporters you don’t generally know at the time of reporting the intent of drivers, so it could well not be an accident. Try crash, collision, or even the bland “incident”.

And on another matter, could your staff stop editorializing misfortune? “The driver reversed and tragically didn’t see the three year old, who sadly died as a result” ought to be reported as “The driver reversed and didn’t see the three year old, who died as a result”

Sonos memory capacity

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There’s an excellent chart on Reddit (and a slightly different one on Sonos’s forum) plotting the amount of memory each Sonos device has built into it. This has increased over the years.

I thought I’d do a table with this info, but also with the year of release, and the new crop of devices just released.

And I’ve also added a column noting if each device supports voice commands (which take more memory) and is compatible with the new Sonos operating system S2 (introduced August 2020), or whether users of these are stuck on S1.

(There are a few gaps which hopefully I’ll fill over time. And I’ve deliberately excluded non-playing accessories such as the Bridge and Controllers. For now I also haven’t included the Sub, which is not a standalone player.)

DeviceYears soldMemoryStorageVoice S1 or S2Supports SonosNetReplaced by
ZonePlayer 1002005-08??NoS1YZonePlayer 120
ZonePlayer 802006-08??NoS1YZonePlayer 90
ZonePlayer 120
aka Connect:AMP		2008-153232NoS1YConnect:AMP (gen 2)
ZonePlayer 90
aka Connect		2008-153232NoS1YConnect (gen 2)
Play:52009-153232NoS1YPlay:5 (gen 2)
Play:32011-186464NoS1 or S2Y–
Playbar2013-20128128NoS1 or S2YArc
Play:12013-1712864NoS1 or S2YOne
Play:5 (gen 2)2015-20256256NoS1 or S2YFive
Playbase2017-20256256NoS1 or S2YArc
Connect (gen 2)2015-19256256NoS1 or S2YPort
Connect:AMP (Gen 2)2015-19??NoS1 or S2YAmp
One2017-1910241024YesS1 or S2YOne (gen 2) / One SL
Beam2018-2110241024YesS1 or S2YBeam (gen 2)
Amp2019-10241024NoS1 or S2Y
One (gen 2)2019-202310241024YesS1 or S2YEra 100
Symfonisk Lamp2019-512256NoS1 or S2Y
Symfonisk Bookshelf2019-512256NoS1 or S2Y
Port2019-512512NoS1 or S2Y
Move2019-10241024YesS1 or S2N
One SL2019-512512NoS1 or S2Y
Arc2020-10244096YesS2Y
Five2020-512512NoS2Y
Roam2021-10244096YesS2N
Beam (gen2)2021-10244096YesS2Y
Roam SL2022-10244096NoS2Y
Ray2022-10244096NoS2Y
Era 1002023-10248192YesS2N
Era 3002023-81928192YesS2N

There’s certainly a pattern there.

Devices with at least 64Mb storage and 64Mb memory can support S2, but others can’t.

Voice command support appears to require at least 1024 Mb of storage and the same of memory.

S2 was the first big move in the 15 years since the first devices were released that they left behind some legacy devices on an older version. (Though in 2018 they did do an update which dropped support for their CR100 controller, sold from 2005-09, and long replaced for most users by iPads and smartphones.)

S1 will continue to get security and bug fixes – but not new features. And those users can get a 30% voucher for upgrades (and still use the older devices if they want – initially Sonos’s unwise idea was to brick them, but they changed that scheme).

S2 has only been out for a few weeks, so it’s unclear how quickly new features will be added. And from a software development perspective, under the hood there may have been a great culling of legacy code, which might be good for performance and stability (not that either have been a big issue in my use of Sonos).

Hopefully it’s another decade or more before they decide to exclude more older devices from the latest and greatest.

Updates: Updated with new models. Added SonosNet column, as some new models don’t support it.

Update 2024-11-13: As new products continue to come out, I probably won’t keep updating, but Wikipedia has a similar table.

Micro Men

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For those with nostalgia for the early 80s microcomputer scene, “Micro Men”, a dramatisation of the competitive environment around Cambridge between Acorn and Spectrum is terrific.

Turns out this was broadcast more than ten years ago now!

Sadly I don’t think it was ever broadcast outside the UK, and it never made it onto home video.

The Centre For Computing History marked this anniversary by getting some of the real people into a room to watch the program and comment on it:

You can also listen to a recent podcast with the screenwriter, Tony Saint – this was very enjoyable.

And another one with Steve Furber, who worked for Acorn at the time and was one of the designers of the BBC Micro. He talks about the project, with a fair bit of technical detail, and touches on the realism of the dramatisation.

Teletext still lives (just)

Teletext was developed in the 1970s in Britain as a way of sending information (text and basic colour graphics) in a PAL television signal.

The BBC implemented it as Ceefax (1974 to 2012), and numerous other broadcasters in PAL countries also used it. In Australia it was called Austext (1982 to 2009) and broadcast on Channel 7.

Apart from screens of information, the technology was also used to provide captions for TV programs (in Australia on page 801 on all networks).

In Australia, it ended in part because the original equipment was at end-of-life, no doubt combined with the rise of the Internet for getting that sort of information.

THE AUSTEXT SERVICE WILL CLOSE ON 30 SEPTEMBER 2009.

The Seven Network started providing test Teletext services in 1977, with live services commencing in 1982 in Brisbane and Sydney.

The Austext service today is still provided using the original 1970’s technology. This equipment has now reached the end of its lifespan.

Unfortunately,it is not possible to replace the existing Austext system with new equipment except at significant cost.

The BBC Micro and teletext

When the BBC Micro was introduced in 1981, this included a graphics mode (Mode 7) that natively supported teletext graphics. Given the computer only originally had 16-32 Kb of RAM, this mode using only 1 Kb was handy to have. It was mostly used by text-based programs, though there was the odd action game implemented in it — I remember a rendition of Space Invaders that used Mode 7.

In schools, BBC Micros could be networked together using the Econet system. A Teletext-like system was available that I think was called Eco-fax — we had that at my high school.

Less common, and only used in Britain, was a special Teletext adaptor, this could be used to download computer programs.

Teletext lives!

Teletext on broadcast television might be long gone, but there’s one place the technology is still used: in Australian racing.

Teletext displays in a TAB

Walk into any betting shop (this photo is from a TAB in Melbourne) and you’ll find these familiar text displays, with 8 colours, the capability of flashing and double-height text, and simple graphics, under the brand name “TabCorp Skytext”.

I have no idea how the signal is broadcast, but it’s definitely the same display technology. Nice to know it lives on, over 45 years since it was devised.

  • Ironically, this video from 2012 of highlights of 38 years of Ceefax isn’t playable on modern web browsers because it requires Flash

Cheap passport photos using The Gimp and 10c printing

Australian Passport requirements are specified by Border Force.  The step that’s most avoidably expensive is the generation of compliant photographic representation of the individual (at $17-$20 per person).

The fun part is that the published instructions talk about “face size” (the skin-visible bit of your head, so from your hairline down to your chin) needs to be between 32mm and 36mm; to allow for the vagueries of conversion we’re going to shoot for exactly 34mm.  The passport application form talks about “chin to crown measurement” being in this range, and the bit where you stick the photo on implies that the chin-to-hairtop has to fit in the image; which one will be enforced is up to the interviewing officer and may lead you to tears.  I ended up taking two scaled images and let the officer choose.  The top we’ll measure to I’ll call “head top”.

Take your appropriately posed and positioned photograph. Don’t crop too aggressively: there’s plenty of pixels in modern photographs, and you can’t add “more person” if you got the ratios wrong.

Load the photo into the Gimp.

Find out how many pixels there are from the chin to headtop by picking Tools | Measure and measuring as close to vertically as you can between these two features. I got 1573 on my image.

Whip out your calculator and divide this by 68% (34mm face height/50mm image height), getting you the number of pixels high your image needs to be to make 50mm – 2313 in my case. The width is 80% (40mm image width/50mm image height) of this number – I get 1850.  Photographs nowadays typically use square pixels.

Now for the image we’re going to paste into. Standard photographs are 6″x4″, or about 152mm x 101mm – let’s call it 150×100. So select File | New, with a size double the height of the cutout, and a width of triple the height of the cutout – mine was 4626 x 6939.

Now we’ll put some guidelines on to help us place accurately. Select Image | Print Size... and put in 6″x4″ (Once you put in the 6″, the 4 should magically fill itself in). Pick View | Show Grid and View | Snap to Grid. Select Image | Configure Grid... and set up a 5mm x 5mm grid. There should be a lot of 5mm boxes on your image now.

Switch to your photograph.

Now check Windows | Dockable Dialogs | Tools Options has got a dialog up, and pick Tools | Selection Tools | Rectangular Select. On the options dialog (which may need resizing so you can see all the options), check Fixed and pick Size from the accompanying drop-down. Enter the dimensions you’ve calculated.

Now select your face, and copy it. Switch to the new image, and paste you image. Position it, and paste in your face. You ought to fit three across, and two down. Six passport photos for 10c! Yay!

Suppose you’re doing two different faces on the one photograph (or more!). Once you’ve gotten as far as doing the calculations for the second image (what are the chances you’ll get the same framing of the face?) and then copying the face, stop. Instead of pasting it into the printable image, pick Edit | Paste As | New Image. Pick Image | Scale Image, ensure Width and Height are locked with a chain symbol, then enter the Height of your original face (2313 in my case). If everything is going hunky-dory, the calculated width will match the new width in the dialog. Press the Scale button, Select | All, copy the image and paste it into your printable image, then position appropriately.

Now, to print out you’ll need a JPEG. Select File | Export, type in a filename ending in .jpg and you’re set. Take to your local Officeworks/Harvey Norman, and 10c later you’ve got your Australian passport photos.

Streaming TV and Chromecast – Stan won’t support iPad HDMI

I was in contact with Stan (streaming TV) support over the weekend. The iPad wouldn’t play, whether connected via an HDMI cable or the Chromecast. It would play zero to a few frames, then freeze up.

They suggested doing a factory reset on the Chromecast and removing and re-installing the Stan app.

It sounded unlikely (it’s the real-life version of the IT Crowd’s “Have you tried turning it off then on again”), but to my surprise, it actually worked.

HDMI was still a problem though. They said it wasn’t supported.

So why doesn’t Stan support HDMI? An interesting answer came back:

“We are unlikely to support this method of streaming in the future due to DRM (Digital Rights Management) contractual agreements we have with the studios we licence our content off of. If anything changes, we will be sure to let you know.”

This is puzzling, given their main competitors Netflix and Presto seem to support it.

It’s worth noting that Stan (and I believe the others) don’t support my 2011-model Samsung smart TV either. Thank goodness for the Chromecast. It’s not as easy as being able to play directly just on the TV (with no other devices required), but at least it works — and navigating menus is far easier on a tablet than a TV remote control.

As one observer (I forget who) noted — there’s little point paying extra for a smart TV (over a dumb one) when an A$49 device like a Chromecast is less likely to become obsolete — or if it does, it can be cheaply and easily replaced.

Flickr’s new HTML code embedding – how to remove the header and footer

Flickr has altered its default embed HTML to include a header and footer, which includes Flickr branding and the title of the picture.

PT in the Sense8 titles 01

Sometimes I suppose this is okay, but sometimes I just want the picture.

Fortunately it seems to be relatively easy to get rid of. In the example above:

<a data-flickr-embed="true" data-header="true" data-footer="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/danielbowen/19038778583/in/dateposted/" title="PT in the Sense8 titles 01"><img src="https://farm1.staticflickr.com/313/19038778583_3149e7e01a.jpg" width="500" height="282" alt="PT in the Sense8 titles 01"></a><script async src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

…remove the data-flickr-embed, data-header, and data-footer attributes of the a href, and remove the script tags, like this:

<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/danielbowen/19038778583/in/dateposted/" title="PT in the Sense8 titles 01"><img src="https://farm1.staticflickr.com/313/19038778583_3149e7e01a.jpg" width="500" height="282" alt="PT in the Sense8 titles 01"></a>

The result should be just the photo, with the usual linking back to Flickr.

PT in the Sense8 titles 01

It’d be nice if they made this a built-in option when generating the HTML code.

Of course, it also makes me ponder if I should be finding another photo host.

Update 2015-07-20: They seem to have modified their default embedding code a bit so the branding and picture details now only appear over the photo when you mouse over it. Not so objectionable.

PT in the Sense8 titles 01

Flickr’s modified code now excludes data-header="true" data-footer="true" which presumably added the header and footer.