http://pxtl.ca/rss.xmlPxtl.cahttp://pxtl.ca/2026/03/02/hamilton-hack-anniversary-letter-to-council/http://pxtl.ca/2026/03/02/hamilton-hack-anniversary-letter-to-council/pxtl@hotmail.comHamOnt<p>Another letter to politicians, this time about the HSRNow web application. For background, HSRNow was a live map of all City of Hamilton buses and bus-routes on the city website. In February of 2024, the City IT infrastructure was hit by a bad ransomware attack and a tremendous amount of digital infrastructure was lost, including HSRNow.</p> Mon, 02 Mar 2026 00:00:00 Z2026-03-02T00:00:00Z<p>Another letter to politicians, this time about the HSRNow web application. For background, HSRNow was a live map of all City of Hamilton buses and bus-routes on the city website. In February of 2024, the City IT infrastructure was hit by a bad ransomware attack and a tremendous amount of digital infrastructure was lost, including HSRNow.</p> <!--excerpt--> <blockquote> <p>Hi folks,</p> <p>I just noticed that last week marked the 2 year anniversary of the city's hacking incident. While most of the digital infrastructure appears back up and running, the HSRNow webapp is still missing.</p> <p>Two summers ago my son bemoaned the lack of the HSRNow webapp when he was working in Dundas on the weekend. I told him I was sure it would be back soon. He disagreed. I'm sad to see his pessimism was justified.</p> <p>The bus stop posts still advertise the HSRNow webapp. There's still no lightweight way to view the bus routes - only the clumsy full-system map PDF file, or the small black-and-white print maps and schedules that are tricky to read. I've heard that the City recommends Google Maps, but Google Maps is a very rough interface because it only helps with route planning, not showing actual non-rail routes or live position data to help the user actually figure out the system. It's basically a map without a map.</p> <p>I assume the city spent substantial money and effort installing the HSRNow product in the first place - I remember how long it spent in a "pilot" phase as "busweb". It seems very wasteful to discard that just to avoid the effort or relaunching the existing system. I know it's budget season and this seems like something that can be left out, but it's hard to see transit usability be treated as bottom-priority. Especially now that cell data-plans are finally affordable-enough that basically <em>everybody</em> has one (notice how the SoBis have been able to switch to QR codes instead of keypads).</p> <p>I hope a plan can be made to bring it back.</p> <p>Thanks for your time,<br /> Martin Zarate<br /> Ward 1 resident </p> </blockquote> http://pxtl.ca/2024/11/20/bill-212/http://pxtl.ca/2024/11/20/bill-212/pxtl@hotmail.comPolitics<p>So in a fit of pettiness, the Government of Ontario is set to wrap up bike-lanes in a 50-foot-ball of red tape to prevent their construction. I asked on Bluesky what was the best way to complain - if there was a petition I should sign or something. Craig Burley recommended I send a <em>fax</em> of all things. It's got a good chance of being physical media in their space, and won't just be in a slushpile of emails they ignore, or forgettable names on a petition. So I wrote up the letters for the Premier and the Minister of Transportation at lunch on Tuesday and faxed them from my local UPS store. Also emailed them for good measure.</p> <p>They're not my best writing but I was kind of in a rush.</p> <p>The bodies of the letters are attached below.</p> Wed, 20 Nov 2024 00:00:00 Z2024-11-20T00:00:00Z<p>So in a fit of pettiness, the Government of Ontario is set to wrap up bike-lanes in a 50-foot-ball of red tape to prevent their construction. I asked on Bluesky what was the best way to complain - if there was a petition I should sign or something. Craig Burley recommended I send a <em>fax</em> of all things. It's got a good chance of being physical media in their space, and won't just be in a slushpile of emails they ignore, or forgettable names on a petition. So I wrote up the letters for the Premier and the Minister of Transportation at lunch on Tuesday and faxed them from my local UPS store. Also emailed them for good measure.</p> <p>They're not my best writing but I was kind of in a rush.</p> <p>The bodies of the letters are attached below.</p> <!--excerpt--> <h2>First, to Premier Ford</h2> <blockquote> <p>The Honourable Premier of Ontario Doug Ford<br /> Legislative Building<br /> Queen's Park<br /> Toronto ON M7A 1A1 </p> <p>Dear Premier,</p> <p>I am a father of three who lives in Hamilton. I am a regular cycling commuter (yes, even in winter), from a family of cyclists, and have taught and equipped my children to use their bikes for travel as well. When my kids were younger, a bike-trailer is how I got them to school and to their daycare. I hope this conveys that this is not about recreation - this is me living my life. My interest is about protecting my children and being able to care for them.</p> <p>The bike-lanes that enable this were carved out of existing roadways, and so they would be covered under Bill 212. The new Keddy Access Trail lane (named for a kindergarten teacher and cyclist killed in a hit-and-run) allows me to get up the escarpment to my doctor’s office instead of having to take a taxi. Each of these lanes were a battle in Hamilton’s city council to obtain - adding new red tape to this process will likely push such improvements out of reach, which harms the safety and freedom of myself and my children.</p> <p>And speaking of red tape, I’m not one who opposes this change on democratic grounds - I truly believe the province should overrule the municipal governments on some matters, as is your right. But when I worry about my kids, it’s not whether they’ll be able to travel fast-enough in their cars, but whether they’ll be able to have homes of their own. Their own views reflect this - they are worried about ever being able to move out in our broken housing market, but getting my oldest to show any interest in obtaining his driver’s license has been like pulling teeth.</p> <p>The Housing Affordability Task Force emphatically told the province what to do to fix the housing crisis, explaining which municipal rules and processes need to be overridden top-down to get homes built… and yet instead of that critical cost-of-living crisis, you’re focusing on bike lanes of all things? The tiny handful of HATF recommendations that were embraced have been scaled back to almost nothing, and the remaining lion’s share are completely unapplied. Where are the as-of-right intensification rules? Where is shutting down the ability of busybodies to block the construction of critically needed homes? Are there not enough people living in tents already?</p> <p>To be blunt: Why do we see this power and enthusiasm spent on removing a nuisance from your commute, instead of fixing life-ruining problems?</p> <p>Thanks for your time,</p> <p>Martin Zarate</p> </blockquote> <h2>Second, to Transportation Minister Sarkaria</h2> <blockquote> <p>The Honourable Minister of Transportation Prabmeet Singh Sarkaria</p> <p>Ministry of Transportation</p> <p>5th Floor</p> <p>777 Bay St.</p> <p>Toronto, ON M7A 1Z8</p> <p>Dear Minister,</p> <p>I am a father of three who lives in Hamilton. I am a regular cycling commuter (yes, even in winter), from a family of cyclists, and have taught and equipped my children to use their bikes for travel as well. When my kids were younger, a bike-trailer is how I got them to school and to their daycare. My kids used these bike lanes to get to summer day-camp programs.I hope this conveys that this is not about recreation - this is my family living our lives. My interest is about protecting my children and being able to care for them.</p> <p>The bike-lanes that enable this life were carved out of existing roadways, and so they would be covered under Bill 212. The new Keddy Access Trail lane (named for a kindergarten teacher and cyclist killed in a hit-and-run) allows me to get up the escarpment to my doctor’s office instead of having to take a taxi. Each of these lanes were a battle in Hamilton’s city council to obtain - adding new red tape to this process will likely push such improvements out of reach, which harms the safety and freedom of myself and my children.</p> <p>And speaking of red tape, I’m not one who opposes this change on democratic grounds - I truly believe the province should overrule the municipal governments on some matters, as is your right. But when I worry about my kids, it’s not whether they’ll be able to travel fast-enough in their cars, but whether they’ll be able to have homes of their own. Their own views reflect this - they are worried about ever being able to move out in our broken housing market, but getting my oldest to show any interest in obtaining his driver’s licence has been like pulling teeth.</p> <p>Surely the Ministry could be focusing on other things? All over Ontario we’ve watched critical public transit projects get bogged down in over a dozen years of delays. Why does an LRT line take a decade when destroying active transit apparently takes a few days? Where is this excitement and motivation on those matters? To me, this sounds like a problem of priorities in the Ministry of Transportation.</p> <p>The Ministry of Transportation could be making Ontario healthier, greener, safer, and easier to get around. Instead, bill 212 proposes to do the exact opposite. I hope you’ll reconsider this plan, it is literally a matter of life-and-death for my family.</p> <p>Thanks for your time,</p> <p>Martin Zarate</p> </blockquote> http://pxtl.ca/2024/04/28/barton-bike-lanes/http://pxtl.ca/2024/04/28/barton-bike-lanes/pxtl@hotmail.comHamOnt<p>So the other day I sent in an e-mail to the cycling office at the City of Hamilton (as well as the relevant councilors) to request a cycling accommodation in my area. I figured I may as well include the text of the letter here as well.</p> <p><img src="http://pxtl.ca/images/2024-04-28-Barton-bike-lanes/barton-at-the-general.png" alt="Barton between Wellington and Victoria" /></p> Sun, 28 Apr 2024 00:00:00 Z2024-04-28T00:00:00Z<p>So the other day I sent in an e-mail to the cycling office at the City of Hamilton (as well as the relevant councilors) to request a cycling accommodation in my area. I figured I may as well include the text of the letter here as well.</p> <p><img src="http://pxtl.ca/images/2024-04-28-Barton-bike-lanes/barton-at-the-general.png" alt="Barton between Wellington and Victoria" /></p> <!--excerpt--> <p>Hi. I'm a mostly-daily bike commuter to the Hamilton General Hospital from Westdale. While the Cannon track and Ferguson lanes (please re-paint these they're often invisible) get me to the General's bike lockup on Copeland pretty well, getting around the area can be a challenge. The Victoria lanes are a nice addition, but I can see a quick-win, paint-only opportunity for an enhancement on Barton itself.</p> <p>West of the General, most of Barton is 5 lanes with no street-side parking, allowing confident cyclists to take the rightmost lanes without obstructing traffic (they can move to the left to get around).</p> <p>The only place that <em>really</em> falls apart, and is a huge opportunity is Barton between Wellington and Victoria.</p> <h1>Barton between Wellington and Victoria</h1> <p><a href="http://pxtl.ca/images/2024-04-28-Barton-bike-lanes/barton-at-the-general.png"><img src="http://pxtl.ca/images/2024-04-28-Barton-bike-lanes/barton-at-the-general.png" alt="Barton between Wellington and Victoria" /></a></p> <p><a href="https://www.google.com/maps/@43.2611841,-79.8547088,237a,35y,18.19h,1.9t/data=!3m1!1e3?entry=ttu">google maps view</a></p> <p>There, Barton is 5 lanes wide with parked cars on both sides, and most of the middle is a blocked-out unused space, since it's a left-turn lane with no driveways to turn into. In this area, the cyclist must merge into the sole travel-lane and slow down traffic. I'm sure you can appreciate this is less than ideal.</p> <p>The fix should be obvious, I think:</p> <h1>Proposal to add bike lanes without losing any travel lanes and minimal impact on</h1> <p>parking on Barton between Wellington and Victoria</p> <p>by collapsing the unused centre turning-lane, bike lanes can be added without impacting automotive traffic flow at all.</p> <p><a href="http://pxtl.ca/images/2024-04-28-Barton-bike-lanes/barton-at-the-general-bikelanes.jpg"><img src="http://pxtl.ca/images/2024-04-28-Barton-bike-lanes/barton-at-the-general-bikelanes.jpg" alt="Barton between Wellington and Victoria with Bike Lanes" /></a></p> <h2>The Downside</h2> <p>Unfortunately two parking spots would need to be lost (marked in red X's in the above image) , and I think the one in front of the Pharmacy &amp; the Orthotics centre near Victoria looks important. I think that's the one egg that would have to get broken for this omelette, or else an impractically-short left-turning-lane at Victoria could be implemented.</p> <p><a href="https://www.google.com/maps/@43.261108,-79.8538117,3a,75y,173.12h,71.11t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sFmFDOm3ipQTiJLkpQzPfjQ!2e0!7i16384!8i8192?entry=ttu">Street-view of that parking spot</a></p> <h2>The main reason I want this: The SoBi rack</h2> <p>The HGH SoBi rack at Barton and Victoria is very handy. On days when the weather is bad in only the morning or evening commute, I can use that SoBi rack for the part of the commute that has good weather. Not only for commuting, I can take it to local shops and lunch-spots to the west along Barton. I'm a regular at Bonanza Bakery (on Murray near Mary), for example.</p> <p>There are alternatives I could be using, of course. I could take the SoBi up Victoria to Copeland, then cut through the Ron Joyce Children's Centre parking lot (thanks for the road markings on Wellington and Copeland, by the way, it's nice to have that clarity). But that's quite a detour, and the left-turn from Victoria's wrong-side-cycle-track onto Copeland <em>stinks</em> because it has no way to trigger the push-button crossing light and left-hooking across traffic is weird and tricky.</p> <h1>Alternate Approach that does not eliminate parking at the Pharmacy + Ortho</h1> <p>By moving the centre-line further North at Victoria, the parking can be preserved!</p> <p><a href="http://pxtl.ca/images/2024-04-28-Barton-bike-lanes/barton-at-the-general-bikelanes-2.jpg"><img src="http://pxtl.ca/images/2024-04-28-Barton-bike-lanes/barton-at-the-general-bikelanes-2.jpg" alt="Barton between Wellington and Victoria with Bike Lanes (alternate layout)" /></a></p> <p>So here we can have our cake and eat it too.</p> <h2>However, there are some downsides to this Alternative Approach</h2> <ul> <li><p>The westbound bus stop now blocks westbound traffic (and there's enough left-turning traffic on Barton that squeezing past the bus into oncoming traffic isn't really an option).</p></li> <li><p>The travel lanes no longer fully align on the far side of the intersection.</p></li> </ul> <h1>Extending Further</h1> <p>This design (in either form) could be continued east for one more block eastward, from Victoria to East Avenue, in which the layout is basically the same as here. After East Avenue, the streetscaping makes this impossible. Also, as I said before - sharrows from Wellington to Ferguson would be nice. I mean sharrows are useless for safety but still are nice for showing that cyclists are supposed to be here and allowed.</p> <h1>Conclusion</h1> <p>I hope you'll agree, these seem like pretty quick wins - at the cost of 1 or 2 parking spots and some paint, a nice little cycling connection to the hospital's front entrance and SoBi rack and adjacent bike-track could be added to Barton. No loss of automotive travel lanes at all.</p> <p>Thanks for your time.</p> <p>Martin Zarate, Ward 1 resident, HHS employee</p> http://pxtl.ca/2023/12/13/bluesky-api/http://pxtl.ca/2023/12/13/bluesky-api/pxtl@hotmail.comSoftware<p>Personally in the post-Muskening twitter world, I'm pulling for <a href="https://mastodon.social/@pxtl">Mastodon</a>, but <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/pxtl.ca">Bluesky</a> is a somewhat interesting platform too. One feature of Bluesky that stands out is that you can set your name to be based on a domain-name you own. I own Pxtl.ca, so I thought I'd take a crack at leveraging that feature.</p> <p>What follows is a guide on how to do this in Powershell, which is a programming language you <em>already have installed</em> if you use Windows.</p> Wed, 13 Dec 2023 00:00:00 Z2023-12-13T00:00:00Z<p>Personally in the post-Muskening twitter world, I'm pulling for <a href="https://mastodon.social/@pxtl">Mastodon</a>, but <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/pxtl.ca">Bluesky</a> is a somewhat interesting platform too. One feature of Bluesky that stands out is that you can set your name to be based on a domain-name you own. I own Pxtl.ca, so I thought I'd take a crack at leveraging that feature.</p> <p>What follows is a guide on how to do this in Powershell, which is a programming language you <em>already have installed</em> if you use Windows.</p> <!--excerpt--> <h1>Preamble</h1> <h2>What you need</h2> <p>I'm going to be doing this in Powershell 5.1, which is what's built into Windows. If you're not on Windows or you're a pro-star, you can install Powershell 7 on any operating system.</p> <p>Second, you need your own domain. Those cost money annually, but that's how you can have your own snazzy site like "Pxtl.ca". Personally I use Google Domains, but sadly this is a sunsetting product so going forwards I'm going to need a new service to run my domain-name subscription.</p> <h2>Intro to Powershell</h2> <p>First up, we open up our Powershell console. You can type <code>⊞ Win</code> + <code>R</code> to launch the <strong>run</strong> menu to access it, and then type "powershell" to use it. If this is your first time running powershell you may need to do some fiddling to enable it properly. This will give you a console to run powershell commands.</p> <p>Now, if you're following along and copying and pasting Powershell code from this article into your Powershell window, a warning: Copying and pasting code from a stranger into your console and running it is very dangerous because a computer does what it's told and this stranger may have told your computer to do something very bad. In this situation, I am basically a stranger with candy.</p> <p>So, don't ever copy/paste code from an article without fully understanding what it does. So, I'll be explaining everything I do.</p> <h1>Logging In to the API</h1> <p>We're going to be sending HTTP commands (like your web browser does, but through the Powershell console) using a powershell command called <code>Invoke-RestMethod</code>. "Rest" is just a programmer-jargon for "HTTP that uses data structures instead of websites".</p> <p>So first, we have to create a session in our console that we can use to do stuff. Bluesky/Atproto (their programmer-interface protocol) makes you first "login" before you can do stuff.</p> <p>So we run the following:</p> <pre><code>$sessionResponse = Invoke-RestMethod -Method POST -Uri https://bsky.social/xrpc/com.atproto.server.createSession ` -body (@{identifier = 'email@example.com'; password ='PASSWORDGOESHERE'} | ConvertTo-Json) ` -ContentType 'application/json' </code></pre> <p>Where "email@example.com" should be replaced with your own email address associated with your Bluesky account (we don't use your username, just the email) and PASSWORDGOESHERE is, obviously, your Bluesky password. If your password contains a ' char, you'll have to escape it.</p> <p>So, what this does: We're using Invoke-RestMethod to send a POST action (like submitting a form on a website) to the url <a href="https://bsky.social/xrpc/com.atproto.server.createSession">https://bsky.social/xrpc/com.atproto.server.createSession</a>. We know that the target is trustworthy with your Bluesky password because it's in the <code>bsky.social</code> domain -- that is, we're sending your password to Bluesky, not to some stranger.</p> <p>The little backtick at the end of the line is just the simplest way to do multi-line commands in Powershell. The backtick-line-continuation is considered bad form by Powershell people but Powershell is a bad language so imho turnabout is fair play.</p> <p>The <code>-body</code> parameter is the body of data we're sending to Bluesky. <code>@{identifier = 'email@example.com'; password ='PASSWORDGOESHERE'}</code> is a Powershell object we're building with the login and password, and then we're piping it into <code>| ConvertTo-Json</code> to turn it into the JSON text format so it can be sent over the wire to Bluesky.</p> <p>Finally we let Bluesky know we're sending it as JSON with the parameter <code>-ContentType 'application/json'</code>.</p> <p>And we store the result of this command into <code>$sessionResponse</code>.</p> <h2>Inspecting the Result</h2> <p>You can inspect <code>$sessionResponse</code> by just running <code>$sessionResponse</code> in your Powershell console. You'll see an object with several members like <code>did</code> and <code>handle</code> and <code>email</code> and <code>accessJwt</code>. The important bits of data we need going forwards are <code>did</code>, which is your true user-account-ID in Bluesky, and <code>accessJwt</code>, which is the temporary super-long secret code we use going forwards to do other commands.</p> <p>Now, the <code>accessJwt</code> code is short-lived (a few minutes) before the Bluesky server decides it doesn't like it anymore, so going forwards you might have to re-run the <code>createSession</code> command above to get a new one if commands start failing and complaining about security.</p> <h1>Creating the Domain Record</h1> <p>Okay, so we've proven to Bluesky that we are who we say we are, but how do we prove to Bluesky that we own the domain? I mean, I could say I'm google.com or whatever if they don't check. But they check.</p> <p>So, let's say you own <code>mydomain.com</code>. You'll have to go into your domain registrar's website and create a new TXT record on <code>mydomain.com</code> that proves to Bluesky you own it. So get the <code>did</code> value from <code>$sessionResponse</code> by typing <code>$sessionResponse.did</code>. For example, my <code>did</code> value is <code>did:plc:otu6mg5xkk47y3ghqpq2w3oo</code> (this isn't a secret it's fine that you know that).</p> <p>Create a new TXT record on <code>mydomain.com</code> called <code>_atproto</code>, and give it a value of <code>did=YOURDIDGOESHERE</code>. So for me, I created <code>_atproto</code> as a TXT record with the value <code>did=did:plc:otu6mg5xkk47y3ghqpq2w3oo</code>. Yes it's weirdly double-barreled with the did=did part. This is fine.</p> <p>If you want your name to be some subdomain of your domain, you can even make <code>_atproto.somesubdomain</code>. I tried this out by making <code>_atproto.martin</code> so I could be "@martin.pxtl.ca". This is great if you're running an organization and you've got many users on that domain - you can create one TXT record per-user, each with their own subdomain, so like if my son got his own Bluesky account (it would have a different <code>did</code>) I could give him <code>_atproto.gooseguy</code> so he'd be "@gooseguy.pxtl.ca".</p> <h2>Testing the Domain Record</h2> <p>Once the domain record has been created, you can test that it exists with the Powershell command <code>Resolve-DnsName</code></p> <p>So, to test it, mash together the TXT record's host name and your domain name, and call it as follows:</p> <pre><code>Resolve-DnsName _atproto.mydomain.ca </code></pre> <p>So for example for my "@martin.pxtl.ca" name, it would be, </p> <pre><code>Resolve-DnsName _atproto.martin.pxtl.ca </code></pre> <p>If you get a result talking about the domain and servers and authorities? It worked. If you get ugly red error messages, it didn't. That might mean you screwed up, or it just hasn't propagated yet (DNS/domain updates can be slow, give it a few more minutes).</p> <h1>Updating your Username</h1> <p>Finally, now that we can log into Bluesky and we've created proof for Bluesky that we own the domain, we can tell Bluesky to change our name to match our domain.</p> <pre><code>Invoke-RestMethod ` -Method POST ` -Uri https://bsky.social/xrpc/com.atproto.identity.updateHandle ` -Headers @{Authorization = "Bearer $($sessionResponse.accessJwt)"} ` -Body (@{handle ='mydomain.ca'} | ConvertTo-Json) ` -ContentType 'application/json' </code></pre> <p>So again, we're doing an HTTP POST to <code>bsky.social</code>, but this time we're calling <code>updateHandle</code> instead of <code>createSession</code>. Since we've already <em>got</em> the session, we need to reference a token (that short-lived secret I mentioned before) to let them know "yes, I'm still the person you were talking to earlier". So we use the parameter <code>-Headers @{Authorization = "Bearer $($sessionResponse.accessJwt)"}</code> which adds the <code>accessJwt</code> token to this request as an <code>Authorization</code> header entry.</p> <p>Again, we're doing a JSON body, but this time the body is just a single entry in the object <code>handle</code>. That should match the @ handle you're trying to get, the same one you created a TXT entry for - like, since I did both <code>_atproto.martin.pxtl.ca</code> and <code>_atproto.pxtl.ca</code>, I can do either <code>handle='pxtl.ca'</code> or <code>handle=martin.pxtl.ca</code>.</p> <p>This action won't send any result if it works. It will only give you feedback if it fails.</p> <p>So, check your Bluesky account. There will be errors for a minute or so, but your user handle should be updated to match your domain.</p> <h1>TL;DR</h1> <p>In short, in Powershell:</p> <p>Run</p> <pre><code>$sessionResponse = Invoke-RestMethod -Method POST -Uri https://bsky.social/xrpc/com.atproto.server.createSession ` -body (@{identifier = 'email@example.com'; password ='PASSWORDGOESHERE'} | ConvertTo-Json) ` -ContentType 'application/json' </code></pre> <p>with your bluesky email and password.</p> <p>Get <code>$sessionResponse.did</code> and use that when you create a new TXT record on <code>yourdomain.com</code> called <code>_atproto</code>, and give it a value of <code>did=YOURDIDGOESHERE</code>. If you want to use a subdomain of <code>yourdomain.com</code> because you feel like it or you've got friends who want to use the same domain, you can make <code>_atproto.mysubmodmain</code> to get that.</p> <p>Now, let Bluesky know about it by calling</p> <pre><code>Invoke-RestMethod ` -Method POST ` -Uri https://bsky.social/xrpc/com.atproto.identity.updateHandle ` -Headers @{Authorization = "Bearer $($sessionResponse.accessJwt)"} ` -Body (@{handle ='yourdomain.com'} | ConvertTo-Json) ` -ContentType 'application/json' </code></pre> <p>or whatever your domain (or subdomain or whatever) is.</p> <p>Questions? Scroll up to the detailed part. Don't @ me.</p> http://pxtl.ca/2023/11/17/github-ci/http://pxtl.ca/2023/11/17/github-ci/pxtl@hotmail.comProgramming<p>Well, it took longer than I would've liked but I got Github CI working with this blog! Finally learned how to use Github workflows.</p> <p><a href="https://github.com/Pxtl/Sandra.Snow/tree/master/.github/workflows">Workflow files are here</a></p> Fri, 17 Nov 2023 00:00:00 Z2023-11-17T00:00:00Z<p>Well, it took longer than I would've liked but I got Github CI working with this blog! Finally learned how to use Github workflows.</p> <p><a href="https://github.com/Pxtl/Sandra.Snow/tree/master/.github/workflows">Workflow files are here</a></p> <!--excerpt--> <p>You can now see my posts automatically go from my source-control here in Sandra.snow into the Pxtl.Github.io repo. Particularly interesting is that because the Sandra.Snow project I'm using for the blog is .NET Framework 4, the runner is actually running <em>windows</em>. I didn't know that was possible for GitHub.</p> <p><a href="https://github.com/Pxtl/Sandra.Snow/actions/runs/6909229230/job/18800147451#logs">For example, here's a log of a publish action</a></p> <p>The only thing that annoys me is that I had to set it up using PATs, which have a 90 day expiry. So every 90 days I'll have to refresh the token that allows the Sandra.Snow repo to write to the Pxtl repo? That seems labourious.</p> <p>Probably I should reverse it around - have the Action running in my Pxtl repo so it's <em>pulling</em> from the Sandra.Snow repo. But for now, this works.</p> <p>This post is my first attempt to run it for a new post. Fingers crossed!</p> <p>Edit: it works!</p> <p>Edit2: and now it doesn't flood the log with complaints about line-endings.</p> http://pxtl.ca/2023/10/24/dryer-repair/http://pxtl.ca/2023/10/24/dryer-repair/pxtl@hotmail.comBlog<p>Once again, everything is made of garbage.</p> <p><img src="http://pxtl.ca/images/2023-10-24-dryer-repair/failed-coil.jpg" alt="failed heating coil in dryer" /></p> Tue, 24 Oct 2023 00:00:00 Z2023-10-24T00:00:00Z<p>Once again, everything is made of garbage.</p> <p><img src="http://pxtl.ca/images/2023-10-24-dryer-repair/failed-coil.jpg" alt="failed heating coil in dryer" /></p> <!--excerpt--> <h2>Day 1</h2> <p>Our dryer failed. I feel like I have a moral responsibility to attempt to repair anything before making it waste. So I’m trying my hand at the dryer.</p> <p>Disassembly was harder than it needed to be. I kept thinking it would be like a '90s computer where you do the screws and then it opens, but it turns out the dryer is the opposite - while everything internal is mounted with screws, the case is opened with pry-bars and brute force. So I undid all the screws at the back, realized I'd unmounted some kind of plate, and then carefully lined it back up reaching through and screwed it back together. </p> <p>I watched a bunch of videos about how to pull the thing apart and check it - found a working voltmeter and tested all 3 thermal switches that I found. The only real problem was testing the coil - the plate where the coil was mounted had a nice open hole where the coil's port should have been, but instead the coil's port was far out of reach. I assume it's a safety thing - there's 3000+ watts coursing through that port, I assume they didn't want it easily touched when you can pry the lid off with a blade screwdriver.</p> <p>So then I gave in and pulled it apart properly. It's especially difficult since the last HVAC guys who did our house moved the furnace closer to the dryer and so it's miserably cramped, it was very hard to get the drum out.</p> <p>Sadly I didn't realize that the whole tub joint pops upwards so I detached the tub from the join and then found the join comes off pretty easy anyways.</p> <p><img src="http://pxtl.ca/images/2023-10-24-dryer-repair/failed-coil-context.jpg" alt="failed coil in context of disassembled dryer" /></p> <p>Ironically, the "some kind of plate" that I'd painstakingly removed and re-added? That was the thing the coil was mounted on, so I had to remove it again.</p> <p>Anyhow, the broken coil was plainly visible, so I ordered in new parts. I also <a href="https://lemmy.ca/post/7887807">asked on Lemmy</a> if there were any thoughts about what to do while I was in there and got the advice to replace the belt and re-lube the ball-axle while the drum was out.</p> <h2>Day 2</h2> <p>Well, the dryer has been disassembled and vacuumed, the dead coil removed, the new coil swapped in, ready to reassemble as soon as the new belt arrives. I was surprised how much of the brown schmutz in the heater was just ash from the coils - it dusted off quite shiny after I replaced the coil.</p> <p><img src="http://pxtl.ca/images/2023-10-24-dryer-repair/clean-coil.jpg" alt="clean and repaired coil plate" /></p> <p>I’m a little worried about the visibly duller part of the heater assembly, hopefully that won’t absorb too much heat - I tried to cluster the coils a bit looser there to compensate.</p> <p>It’s even visible on the reverse side.</p> <p><img src="http://pxtl.ca/images/2023-10-24-dryer-repair/burn-through.jpg" alt="burn-through mark" /></p> <p>Either way, I’m reassembling tomorrow when the new belt arrives.</p> <h2>Day 3</h2> <p>Well, the belt arrived and I went to Rona and picked up some (too expensive) axle grease and aluminum tape. The tape was to repair the exhaust hose and to replace the disintegrated rubber strap that was sealing the internal exhaust tube on.</p> <p><img src="http://pxtl.ca/images/2023-10-24-dryer-repair/taped-internal-exhaust.jpg" alt="taped internal exhaust detail" /></p> <p>Of course, also the wiring diagram tore when I pulled it out, so I photocopied that and figured I should keep it and... well, when all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.</p> <p><img src="http://pxtl.ca/images/2023-10-24-dryer-repair/taped-wiring-copy.jpg" alt="taped wiring diagram copy" /></p> <p>And then we got into reassembling it. Brought in a helper and we re-lubed the axle, put everything back in place, and screwed it all back together.</p> <p><img src="http://pxtl.ca/images/2023-10-24-dryer-repair/reassembly-helper.jpg" alt="reassembly with helper" /></p> <p>Only one screw went missing!</p> <p><img src="http://pxtl.ca/images/2023-10-24-dryer-repair/reassembled.jpg" alt="reassembled dryer" /></p> <p>Had my kid sit with it for a full cycle armed with the fire extinguisher (just in case) while I went and picked up my other kid (late) from climbing gym. It all worked!</p> http://pxtl.ca/2023/10/03/a-tale-of-two-pharmacies/http://pxtl.ca/2023/10/03/a-tale-of-two-pharmacies/pxtl@hotmail.comBlog<p>What follows is the story of why I no longer go to my old pharmacy. This is recounted from memory, and some of the details may be inaccurate, but the gist is there.</p> <hr /> <p><em>drops in at local pharmacy</em></p> <p>"I'm running out of my meds, can you refill them?"</p> <p>"Sorry, you have to come closer to refill-day, so come back Saturday."</p> <p>"Okay, I'll come back then."</p> <p>...</p> <p>"Okay, it's Saturday, here to refill my meds."</p> <p>"... yeah, you're out of refills. We'll have to talk to your doctor."</p> <p>"... but it's the weekend?"</p> <p>"Oh, we'll sort it out on Monday."</p> <p>...</p> Tue, 03 Oct 2023 00:00:00 Z2023-10-03T00:00:00Z<p>What follows is the story of why I no longer go to my old pharmacy. This is recounted from memory, and some of the details may be inaccurate, but the gist is there.</p> <hr /> <p><em>drops in at local pharmacy</em></p> <p>"I'm running out of my meds, can you refill them?"</p> <p>"Sorry, you have to come closer to refill-day, so come back Saturday."</p> <p>"Okay, I'll come back then."</p> <p>...</p> <p>"Okay, it's Saturday, here to refill my meds."</p> <p>"... yeah, you're out of refills. We'll have to talk to your doctor."</p> <p>"... but it's the weekend?"</p> <p>"Oh, we'll sort it out on Monday."</p> <p>...</p> <!--excerpt--> <p>"Okay, it's Monday, can you get in touch with my doc?"</p> <p>"Sure! We'll fax that. Come back tomorrow and we'll have it sorted out."</p> <p>"No, I'm on my last pill, it has to be refilled today."</p> <p>"You know you're supposed to give us 48 hours notice, right?"</p> <p>ಠ_ಠ</p> <p>"Yes, I know. I tried."</p> <p>"Okay, we'll fax them now. Come back this evening."</p> <p>"Okay."</p> <p><em>calls towards the end of the work day</em></p> <p>"Hi, are my meds in yet?"</p> <p>"What? We don't have any meds for you on file."</p> <p>"No, my doctor faxed something?" </p> <p>"No they didn't."</p> <p><em>calls doctor</em></p> <p>"We definitely faxed them. We'll fax them again."</p> <p><em>phones pharmacy back</em></p> <p>"Hi, are my meds in yet?"</p> <p>"What? We don't have any meds for you on file."</p> <p>"Can you check if you got faxed anything about my meds?"</p> <p>"Oh, yes, we see that now, we got a fax. Can you come in Wednesday to pick them up?"</p> <p>"No, I'm on my last pill."</p> <p><strong>sigh on phone</strong></p> <p>"You know you're supposed to give us 48 hours notice, right?"</p> <p>"I tried."</p> <p>"Okay, we'll get that ready for you, please hold."</p> <p>...</p> <p>"Sorry, we're all out of those. They've been all out for a while. It's on back-order, everybody's out."</p> <p><em>stifles why-am-I-just-hearing-about-this-now-screaming-rage</em></p> <p>"Uh, what do I do? I'm on my last pill."</p> <p>"Okay, we've got a one week supply to give you. Can you come tomorrow?"</p> <p>"I can come now."</p> <p>"But we're closing in 15 minutes."</p> <p>"I'm out walking the dog. I'm literally at your door."</p> <p>".... Okay."</p> <p><em>gets my one week supply</em></p> <p>"Thanks. What do I do for next week? Will there be more then?"</p> <p>"Oh no, it's <em>really</em> out-of-stock. But the half-dose pills aren't. We've got those, so you can just double-them. Call your doc and we'll get that sorted."</p> <p>"Great."</p> <p>...</p> <p><em>frustrated and needing to get back to my life, I give it a few days. Bad mistake.</em></p> <p>...</p> <p><em>calling dr office</em></p> <p>"Hi, they're out of my meds everywhere, can I get prescribed the halfsies instead?"</p> <p>"Uh, your doctor has been prescribing those to a lot of people and nobody's complained yet."</p> <p>"Well the pharmacy disagrees."</p> <p>"The pharmacy is allowed to give you the halfsies sans scrip if they're out of the regular dose."</p> <p>"I did not know that. Do they know that?"</p> <p>"Whatever. They obviously don't want to without a scrip. Doc will be in tomorrow, we'll sort it out."</p> <p>...</p> <p><em>Calls pharmacy next day afternoon.</em></p> <p>"So d'you have my meds?"</p> <p>"What? We don't have any meds for you on file."</p> <p>"No, I mean my doctor said they'd fax today."</p> <p>"Yeah, they didn't. For what?"</p> <p>"The halfsies. They also said you can do the substitution yourself when you're out-of-stock on something."</p> <p>"Yeah, we can't do that, they're wrong."</p> <p>"Fine. Okay, I'll call my doctor again about sending the fax."</p> <p><em>calls doctor</em></p> <p>"Did you send them that fax?"</p> <p>"We sent them the fax again. We'll send it again again."</p> <p>"Great, thanks."</p> <p><em>at this point life intervenes, and I still have one pill for tomorrow morning - so wait until next day to call</em></p> <p>"Hi, do you have my halfsies?"</p> <p>"We can have them for you day after tomorrow."</p> <p>"Day after tomorrow!? ... Sorry for raising my voice but I'm on my last pill, what happened?"</p> <p>"Well, they're not in stock."</p> <p>"What."</p> <p>"But you can get them from other pharmacies."</p> <p>"I was told they were in stock here."</p> <p>"They're not."</p> <p>"Fine. I'll call around."</p> <p><em>thinks angrily about the last time this happened and scrip was lost in limbo between two pharmacies and had to get re-prescribed</em></p> <p><em>Calls Other Pharmacy. On hold for 15 minutes.</em></p> <p>"Hi, do you have these meds?"</p> <p>"What? No, nobody has them."</p> <p>"I mean the halfsies."</p> <p>"Oh! Let me check."</p> <p><em>on hold even longer</em></p> <p>"Yep, we've got them. We'll call your pharmacy and get the scrip transferred."</p> <p>"Great!"</p> <p><em>gives this an hour to work out, calls my pharmacy</em></p> <p>"Hi! Are my drugs transferred to Other Pharmacy?"</p> <p>"We're just putting the scrip on hold and doing the paperwork, we'll get it sent to them in five, then call them."</p> <p>"Great! I'll give them 20."</p> <p><em>15 minutes later, call Other Pharmacy anticipating being stuck on hold for a long time.</em></p> <p><em>phone picks up quickly! Yay!</em></p> <p>"Hi! Have they transferred my scrip?"</p> <p>"Let me check."</p> <p>...</p> <p>...</p> <p>"Nope, they haven't. I'll give them a call right away. Can you call back in half an hour?"</p> <p>"Okay."</p> <p>(；￣д￣)</p> <p><em>calls Other Pharmacy half hour later</em></p> <p><em>On hold. Every few minutes get redirected back to main menu. Go back on hold</em></p> <p><em>run out of minutes on phone (I'm cheap, okay?), buy more minutes. Call again. Go back on holdm</em></p> <p><em>Give up, drive out to Other Pharmacy, arrive and find pharmacist juggling phone in one hand and serving a mob of customers</em></p> <p>"Uh..."</p> <p>"Yeah, they still haven't faxed me yet, I'll call them now."</p> <p>"Okay."</p> <p><em>more waiting</em></p> <p>"Any luck?"</p> <p>"They said they'd fax again."</p> <p><em>more waiting</em></p> <p><em>even more waiting</em></p> <p>"Uh, are my meds-"</p> <p>"I'll call them again."</p> <p><em>even more waiting</em></p> <p>...</p> <p><em>aimlessly wander the tiny drugstore playing on my phone</em></p> <p>...</p> <p>"Martin?"</p> <p><em>perk up</em></p> <p>"Yes?"</p> <p>"They were faxing your prescription to the wrong number. They didn't figure it out until they got a confused call from Alberta. Gimme a minute to do the paperwork and we'll have you on your way."</p> <p>And that's how I got my meds.</p> http://pxtl.ca/2023/09/24/overwatch2-4v4/http://pxtl.ca/2023/09/24/overwatch2-4v4/pxtl@hotmail.comGames<p>Okay I’ve been playing the Overwatch 2 anniversary events and considering how many of them are small-group team-vs-team things (Catch the Patchmari, Starwatch). I slept on these the first time through and playing them now I’m surprised at how much I’m enjoying them, particularly StarWatch despite some of its dumber ideas (like the AI-controlled Doomfist). This has cemented my previous opinion:</p> <p>OW2 should’ve been 4v4 (2 DPS, 1 tank, 1 healer) with some kind of fast-respawning mechanic for the healer, and a standard double-team mode (8v8) either in quickplay or the arcade or something</p> <p>Then the number of heroes and the popularity of the roles reflects the number in play - there are twice as many DPS heroes to choose from, twice as many DPS players, and twice as many on the team.</p> Sun, 24 Sep 2023 00:00:00 Z2023-09-24T00:00:00Z<p>Okay I’ve been playing the Overwatch 2 anniversary events and considering how many of them are small-group team-vs-team things (Catch the Patchmari, Starwatch). I slept on these the first time through and playing them now I’m surprised at how much I’m enjoying them, particularly StarWatch despite some of its dumber ideas (like the AI-controlled Doomfist). This has cemented my previous opinion:</p> <p>OW2 should’ve been 4v4 (2 DPS, 1 tank, 1 healer) with some kind of fast-respawning mechanic for the healer, and a standard double-team mode (8v8) either in quickplay or the arcade or something</p> <p>Then the number of heroes and the popularity of the roles reflects the number in play - there are twice as many DPS heroes to choose from, twice as many DPS players, and twice as many on the team.</p> <!--excerpt--> <p>Obviously they would’ve needed to rework some of the healers to be able to solo-carry the healing, and probably add more Soldier/Sombra-style off-healing abilities for DPS characters (eg: give Reaper a way to share his vampirism), but still: While the 5v5 gameplay is generally unpopular, a lot of competitive players celebrate how every play feels much more impactful at those smaller counts. In 4v4 or 3v3 games like StarWatch or Elimination, it’s even moreso - solo-healing is intense, but at the same time in StarWatch when the healer goes down it’s not as huge of a loss as losing both healers in regular games because of the respawn-in-place mechanic.</p> <p>Anybody who played Team Fortress 2 knows the huge distinction between intense, competitive small-team 6v6 matches and the low-stress farting-around feel of the huge 12v12 lolgames in pubs that were vastly more popular, because the diffuse responsibility meant you weren’t letting down your whole team if you were breaking in a new character or a new strategy. Transferring that to OW2, it would only make sense to break away from the forced “every game must have the same playercount” thing and embrace offering 8v8 modes for more casual play, and 4v4 modes for more competitive.</p> <p>To my mind, this was the missed opportunity of the composition rejiggering of OW2.</p> <p>...</p> <p>Fundamentally, I think OW copied some things from TF2 without understanding how they interact with lower player-counts. They copied TF2’s long rollouts and respawn timers, but didn’t realize that this makes death way too costly in a small-team game. In 5v5 at a good level, a single kill can basically end the team-fight. If they want to drop player-count, they need to find a way to fix that. Imho that’s why so many of their “Arcade” modes play with alternate respawning mechanics, like freeze-tag.</p> <p>Also they wanted big flashy ults without thinking how that interacts with the rest of the game. There’s a reason that most competitive twitch-FPS games don’t have nukes on the serious maps.</p> <p>If it were up to me? Nerf the ults in general. Either slower build or just lower-power. Although if you go slower-build, you need to come up with a sane way to have the charge carry between rounds, which would be tricky to get right.</p> <p>...</p> <p>Also they should make No Limits and Mystery Heroes 6v6 for old time’s sake.</p> <p>...</p> <p>Finally, on the subject of the story-mode: they keep trying to make PvE happen, when fundamentally Overwatch is designed as a PvP game. Imho, the correct approach is to embrace that - accept the ludonarrative disconnect and make PvP missions that tell the story. Regularly release a short film and a companion PvP mission.</p> <p>Did the wrong team win for the story? Who cares. Does nobody want to play a character who's critical to the story? Have them appear for a quick scripted scene at the beginning and end.</p> http://pxtl.ca/2023/09/19/fzero99/http://pxtl.ca/2023/09/19/fzero99/pxtl@hotmail.comGames<p>i got a little carried away with this nostalgia game. I loved the old F-Zero and this remake lets you play the classic against 98 other players at once.</p> <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/LPtVwbNEmvE?si=zVh2fj70O3vx2cBs" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe> Tue, 19 Sep 2023 00:00:00 Z2023-09-19T00:00:00Z<p>i got a little carried away with this nostalgia game. I loved the old F-Zero and this remake lets you play the classic against 98 other players at once.</p> <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/LPtVwbNEmvE?si=zVh2fj70O3vx2cBs" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe> <!--excerpt--> <p>Overall, the game is fun but too repetitive.</p> <p>The game is excellent in some ways - the old Mode7 graphics look goddamned beautiful on a big modern HD screen, and they’ve done a brilliant job adapting the classic assets into new ways, like the new spin-attack. The game has a simple and clean design that adds only a little to the classic game - it handles like the original (which is similar to MarioKart without weapons), but now boost burns health and collisions drop coins that you can use to “superboost” which is a short-term access to an elevated faster track.</p> <p>It feels very random, but in a fun way - like, if Fall Guys was too chaotic for you don’t pick this up. Getting into top ranks in a race seems to depend on a lucky melee kill (which gets you enough health to abuse the booster), or pummeling a fortunately-placed Gold Bumper or two (which quickly give you enough coins for the superboost). Both of those are available on a pretty random basis. The occasional lag-spike adds even more to the randomness of play. But still, I’m enjoying it.</p> <p>The big flaw imho is lack of variety.</p> <p>I’m so sick of Mute City and Big Blue, after only a few days playing. The main game currently only has a 4 track rotation with 2 voting options, and voters always take the easier option. It’s a problem that the original SNES F-Zero only had 15 tracks, and they’re trying to keep it to Knight (Easy) League for now except for the “expert tracks” mode which is just Port Town 2 and White Land 1. They’re obviously going to bring in the other leagues over time, but that’s still only 15 tracks and some of those are hard-mode-remakes of older ones.</p> <p>There’s also only 4 cars to choose from - there’s the speedy one, the brawler (important in these crowded courses), the fast-recharger (remember that health is boost) and the all-arounder. So good options to match your playstyle, but still: only 4.</p> <p>F-Zero was a SNES launch-title that smashed it out of the park with music and gameplay and graphics and style, but it was obviously made under a deadline and so it doesn’t have an amazing amount of content, and you really feel that playing F-Zero 99.</p> <p>It’s just too repetitive. I loved the OG, but I’d sacrifice nostalgia for some new, unfamiliar courses.</p> <p>But yeah, if you’ve got access to Nintendo Switch Online, I’d definitely give it a try. You can’t beat the price: Free is my favourite flavour. It’s easy to pick up, the tutorial is pretty quick, and it’s fun. And it’s a Nintendo “99” nostalgia game, which means it’s certainly going to be time-limited. Play it while you can.</p> http://pxtl.ca/2023/09/12/more-rigid/http://pxtl.ca/2023/09/12/more-rigid/pxtl@hotmail.comBlog<p>If you watch "Well There's Your Problem" podcast (about engineering disasters), Alice has an iconoclastic opinion on things like expansion plates and swivel joints and the general flexibility of good engineering: "No, make it more rigid!" I have taken that to heart with some recent home improvement projects.</p> Tue, 12 Sep 2023 00:00:00 Z2023-09-12T00:00:00Z<p>If you watch "Well There's Your Problem" podcast (about engineering disasters), Alice has an iconoclastic opinion on things like expansion plates and swivel joints and the general flexibility of good engineering: "No, make it more rigid!" I have taken that to heart with some recent home improvement projects.</p> <!--excerpt--> <p><img src="http://pxtl.ca/images/2023-09-12-more-rigid/fencepost.jpg" alt="fencepost" /> <img src="http://pxtl.ca/images/2023-09-12-more-rigid/swing-chair-binding.jpg" alt="swing-chair-binding" /> <img src="http://pxtl.ca/images/2023-09-12-more-rigid/swing-chair.jpg" alt="swing-chair" /></p>