James Cridland

Passionate about audio · Editor of Podnews https://podnews.net · Host of the Podnews Weekly Review https://weekly.podnews.net · Personal/radio blog: https://james.cridland.net · These messages self-destruct

I also have a thing for craft beer, and did so before it was quite as trendy as today.

I live in Meanjin/Brisbane QLD Australia - in Bardon 4065 - on the land of the Turrbul and Jagera people. I'm British and moved here ten years ago.

My website: https://james.cridland.net
Podnews: https://podnews.net

Public Key

npub13cgvw8v4hy7yr7ehc0hs27m4csaly2t9x4w60pjzqe0cfhesvhfqf4ck4q

NIP-05 Address

james_at_bne.social@momostr.pink

Profile Code

nprofile1qqsguyx8rk2mj0zplvmu8mc90d6ugwlj99jn2hd8sepqvhuymucxt5spz3mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuerpd46hxtnfduqs6amnwvaz7tmwdaejumr0ds0hz5q9

Publishing to

relay.damus.io

nos.lol

Author Public Key

npub13cgvw8v4hy7yr7ehc0hs27m4csaly2t9x4w60pjzqe0cfhesvhfqf4ck4q

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Last Notes

2026-11-01 11:53:13 UTC

Playing with Omarchy (in a VM window on macOS). I really, really like the native mail client (called Omamail). It's text-only (mostly), keyboard-driven (mostly), and appears to work perfectly with ForwardEmail, my IMAP email provider. It's letting me power through my personal email, which is rather nice. I presume it's a fork of something else. But really very nice to have full keyboard support, and - if I've got this right - native IMAP searching.

2026-11-01 09:57:20 UTC

@npub1rcn…dw4h I made a couple of tiny documentation changes to the PI front page, and the datasets page - in the web-ui pull requests queue for your review.
@npub1gp8…c8ut @npub1hta…eg8a

2026-11-01 06:46:55 UTC

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Oh, and the way you link to a Sega account on the web, which isn’t actually required, involves a security code sent to your email address which is valid for THREE MINUTES. argh.

2026-11-01 06:42:58 UTC

Oh, my. Almost an hour working out how to transfer a Sega app’s game progress from daughter’s old Android phone to new iPhone. If there are any UX specialists in Sega, which I doubt, then I can only assume they’re all drunk. What a horrible experience.
(My favourite parts of the process: on the new device, the button you press is to transfer from another OS is marked “transfer to another OS”. And the “home” screen is not the same as the main screen, even if they both have two identically-named menu options. Seriously.)

2026-10-31 03:42:15 UTC

Imagining Australians watching this video and realising that nobody - nobody - is wearing a bike helmet.
“Jesus Christ Bruce how come none of these dumb cnts are wearing a fking helmet? Their brains will instantly splatter out of their fking head!”
I mentioned not wearing bike helmets once in the /r/Brisbane subreddit and it was as if I had summoned Satan.
https://youtu.be/oNP9pj9gHjs

2026-10-29 13:09:25 UTC

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PS - found your blog on the Kagi Small Web, in case you wondered!
https://kagi.com/smallweb/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fbarlow.dev%2Fposts%2Fthin-light%2F

2026-10-29 13:08:21 UTC

[@mpbarlow](https://mastodon.social/@mpbarlow ) I enjoyed your post on your iPods. I don’t know if this app would work for you, but it’s from [@stephenrobles](https://mastodon.social/@stephenrobles ) and looks as if it would get your iPods to work okay again.
https://beardfm.app/ipod-pro-max/

2026-10-29 11:54:30 UTC

The BBC's radio ratings numbers are now so comparatively low, they're reduced to releasing press releases claiming "the BBC remains the UK’s number one radio brand, with 31 million weekly listeners and an audience share of 42%."
My goodness, that's a weak line.

2026-10-29 09:11:55 UTC

Even after ten years, I haven’t got used to the concept of Aussie Christmas t-shirts.
https://assets.bne.social/media_attachments/files/117/523/422/367/147/739/original/cadc31711c7d09a5.jpeg
https://assets.bne.social/media_attachments/files/117/523/422/498/153/559/original/eb97d2d7d877fc49.jpeg

2026-10-29 04:06:28 UTC

Curious mind would like to know… how do they know this? I’ve been generating around 10kW for much of the day, but I’ve been using it myself: so all my electricity provider knows is that I’m not using anything. #electricity #solar
https://gts.cazzaserver.com/@nemrecords/statuses/01M62R3XRK7WRKVG2N28JZMWN2

2026-10-28 09:12:31 UTC

Heads-up: Podcorn closes on Nov 1. There are still 13,000 podcasts using the Podcorn analytics URL. Here's a full list, sorted by host, to help you remove them. (Data from the Podcast Index).
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1_N81UV0Ymv6f4VaxPlU6XIJ8LAcwQ-SCiGZxsRkanWQ/edit?gid=0#gid=0

2026-10-28 05:17:24 UTC

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In China, there are cameras everywhere and the state spies on your every move. Meanwhile in the USA… oh

2026-10-28 00:36:09 UTC

The BBC: "we need you to love us, we're under attack"
Also the BBC: "we're going to spend an inordinate amount of time editing out little pride pins from student lapels"
The BBC is really, really good at eating its own feet.
https://www.leicester.news/bbc-edits-out-pride-pins-on-university-challenge-in-orwellian-move/

2026-10-27 21:29:10 UTC

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I’ve done two flights on VH-OQA. It’s all fine.
Also, I got a bonus evening in LHR thanks to Qantas once. I left 12 hours later. Enjoyed a decent pub dinner, and a nice enough hotel, on Qantas’s dime.

2026-10-27 12:53:55 UTC

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Forwardemail also has a “hide my address” feature (which does similar). It has a number of random email domains you can use alongside your own domains. Until you leave…
If you send me an email with an embargoed press release, it will a) trigger a webhook reply that tells you about my policy on embargoed releases; b) put it into my proper IMAP account which I use day to day; and c) forward to a Gmail account so I have no worries about using the delete key heavily, since there will always be a copy.

2026-10-27 12:49:37 UTC

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I was quite proud of my gnarly SQL query to uncover them. I didn’t even mention that the Podcast Index is *already* spam filtered!

2026-10-27 12:46:19 UTC

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For email, I heartily recommend forwardemail.net - just $3 a month. Proper full email (webmail if you want it), plus email forwarding if you want that, plus webhooks as well. Unlimited domains. A bit of a steep learning curve, but very powerful. Secure and private.
Email is hosted in the US (boo!), DHH is/was a user of it (boo!) but otherwise it seems very good.
Disclosure: after finding a few bugs and things in their new webmail thing, I’m currently enjoying a free account for a year.

2026-10-27 12:39:38 UTC

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PS: requesting a refund of the credit in the account is just one button push in the app. Referral code if anyone else wants to join ($120 credit up for grabs for both of us): www.ovoenergy.com.au/refer/james14563

2026-10-27 12:37:14 UTC

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Currently with OVO. The thing that’s catching me out is the peak demand fee - we normally take virtually nothing from the grid (0.02kWh) per hour, but it just takes one failure of the solar system to properly discharge from the battery and that’s a $23 bill added to the month. (Which is exactly what happened last month).
Otherwise, I’m spending $24 on electricity each month. And then a $34 total from the daily charge. With $40 of refer-a-friend credit and $15 of solar exports, I’d be in credit every month if I didn’t have the annoying peak demand fee… sigh.
The three free hours essentially charges up the battery every day though (and the car!)

2026-10-27 11:44:12 UTC

I'm on McKnight Tonight tonight with Rob McKnight tonight. Chatting about time spent listening, and how the radio figures work.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11Qf-wLLl3M

2026-10-27 02:56:35 UTC

Podnews later today... oh. Spreaker? Say it's not so.
https://podnews.net/article/spreaker-copy-your-podcast

2026-10-26 02:06:23 UTC

I think #Brisbane City Council has forgotten about this clock. On the plus side, it is correct six times a day (as long as you are on the correct side). #Toowong
https://me.snapsendsolve.com/report/13g02my
https://assets.bne.social/media_attachments/files/117/504/762/331/697/094/original/ac2d01fe002a93f9.jpeg
https://assets.bne.social/media_attachments/files/117/504/762/345/074/178/original/f38b757db7203f49.jpeg
https://assets.bne.social/media_attachments/files/117/504/762/344/860/464/original/02d230afcb2fcfde.jpeg
https://assets.bne.social/media_attachments/files/117/504/762/326/526/025/original/b7476a415a5f3738.jpeg

2026-10-25 23:35:11 UTC

I am all for students deciding all election results. I have a feeling they’d do a better job than leaving it to the rest of us.
https://apnews.com/article/serbia-election-students-vucic-fdf5def8a20aebc8ae139fd719478775

2026-10-25 12:07:09 UTC

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Tools used for this video: Leveler (to make sure it's the right volume); and then Captioner (to add the captions).
Both free apps from [@stephenrobles](https://mastodon.social/@stephenrobles ) at https://beardfm.app/

2026-10-25 10:48:46 UTC

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This meant an update to the privacy policy. So I went to do that. I also rewrote my guide to what podcast apps etc know about you in terms of IP address and user-agent - removing the stuff about NPR's RAD while I went, since that's not a thing.
Podcast hosts learn so little, in fact - especially with the advent of IPv6 rotation and iCloud Private Relay. There are no cookies in podcast app land, so it's really a surprisingly private experience listening to a podcast. (That's why advertisers hate RSS.)
https://podnews.net/article/podcast-apps-privacy-gdpr

2026-10-25 10:43:22 UTC

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I'd be concerned at the validity of their electrical compliance certificate.
("Sort out the wiring" = "Put a 3 meter extension cable in, so the globe I put in the garage has enough flex")

2026-10-25 10:31:55 UTC

For a while, @npub1j34…e2z5 has had a page for a podcast, and then a separate page for an episode list. That didn't make an awful lot of sense, so now, they're both on the one page: https://podnews.net/podcast/i4ji5
Each episode links to @npub1lmh…5fx0, will show a (janky) transcript if one exists, or location information. Data for this section comes directly from the RSS feed, in your browser (if we can) or proxied by us (if we can't).
This should hopefully cut down on the amount of bot traffic we get (I've just lowered our number of pages by 50% after all!). The RSS proxy script that we're using a) doesn't deliver valid RSS, and b) has valid block tags even if you correct the feed back to being valid, so hopefully those won't appear anywhere.

2026-10-25 07:04:49 UTC

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Not sure he is a licensed electrician

2026-10-25 03:44:03 UTC

“I really should sort out the wiring in the garage”
“I really should not sort out the wiring in the garage”
#possum #australia #brisbane
https://assets.bne.social/media_attachments/files/117/499/484/015/937/592/original/67140a0ce562d855.jpeg

2026-10-25 01:43:17 UTC

I don’t know who needs to know this, but if you’re looking for a charming, well-produced podcast containing human stories from New York City (but that could just as easily be from anywhere) then you need this one in your life. Both episodes are just great - so well made, so worth your time.
https://podnews.net/podcast/i123zy

2026-10-24 11:53:29 UTC

Turns out that some code I changed last week stopped people from registering for new Podnews Accounts to post jobs or buy classified ads or anything. Turns out that I removed a few config keys that the accounts system depended on to send emails. D'oh.
Fixed, after a helpful bug report (confusingly from a Russian email address, where Podnews is blocked, but anyway, let's overlook that). Emailed affected new-but-unconfirmed accounts to apologise and to offer 50% discount on their first purchase of classified ads, just in case it was that they were signing up for.
(Since I've set it up now - that code is WHOOPS - if you fancy some even-cheaper-than-normal advertising in Podnews, then go for it.)
I know a lot of coders use unit tests, etc, but that's the sort of test that would be hard to replicate, I guess, unless the unit test machine can see into an email box... is that how these things work? I don't know.

2026-10-24 10:18:50 UTC

Fun fact - only 13% of the attempted searches on Podnews are from a human.
Only half of the attempted email signups on the front page are.
https://assets.bne.social/media_attachments/files/117/495/374/084/578/056/original/ffd2535949a5eab4.png

2026-10-24 09:28:56 UTC

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Thanks for this pointer. Just rewrote the image resizing tool to use Cloudflare under the hood - still caching on AWS though. Removed that box - saving $24/month. Will probably have to pay about that for Cloudflare, but let's see...

2026-10-24 07:10:45 UTC

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Of course, my next job is to innocently link to them in Podnews.

2026-10-24 05:59:41 UTC

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They're not bad! Jake's on guitar/vocals. Kind of REM feel to them.

2026-10-24 01:17:01 UTC

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Maybe. I’d still need a database lookup first, but it looks as if everything else is now available through that (it’s been a while since I looked). May have a play this afternoon.

2026-10-03 17:02:51 UTC

In the “non-EU queue” in Berlin airport. Watching the EU residents just click their way in without hindrance. A pox to the racist ignorants who voted for this bullshit. But at least we got blue passports, eh?
https://assets.bne.social/media_attachments/files/117/378/054/091/745/275/original/dba8b90776ccd138.jpeg