Category Archives: Thoughts

Hire Car 4

23 Apr 2020 By in Cars, Thoughts Tags: , , , , , , ,

So, it was finally confirmed. My car is written off after being assessed by the insurance engineers. Interestingly, they were also on lockdown so had to make the assessment using the photos I had taken from the accident.

They have valued my car at £3000. Which isn’t too bad I guess. It’s better than nothing.

The car next to me that was also involved was also written off, to the value of £2200. So that’s £5200 being claimed against the insurance of the other driver. The two cars other cars affected in the accident will probably claim the cost of their repairs, which I’m not sure how much that will be. Probably in the 1-2K region, so that’s at least £6200 in total.

Then there’s the driver’s own car’s damage. Assuming it’s not written off, the damage is probably another K at least. So £7200 of cost on the driver’s own insurance.

That drink he had is proving to be rather expensive…..

My car is going to be towed to disposal on Monday, with the other written off car to be towed tomorrow (Friday)

I’ve already started making enquiries to different dealerships in my area looking for hybrids with a size about the same as my Fabia, or possibly the size of an Octavia. Contacted Hyundai, Toyota and Skoda.

So far, only Toyota have come back and they’ve suggested the Corolla. But I’ll have to wait until they open up again so I can take a look at it closer.

No news yet from Hyundai or Skoda.

Two Generals

13 Aug 2019 By in Programming, Thoughts, YouTube Tags: , , , , , ,

It’s been a long while since I posted anything of interest other than fitness and running, so here’s something I found that isn’t fitness related.

Tom Scott (Twitter: @tomscott) posted this video about the Two Generals problem. Basically it centres around two generals and asks how they can synchronise communication to ensure they two something at the same time.

In multithreading computing, including back when I was learning Java, we had a synchronized keyword which ensure only one thread went through a block of text. But here, you want two threads to proceed at the same time. How do you ensure that? Turns out there’s no guaranteed way.

Even TCP requires a 3-way handshake aka the SYN, SYN-ACK, ACK (https://www.inetdaemon.com/tutorials/internet/tcp/3-way_handshake.shtml), but if any of those messages drops, the connection never establishes.

Of course you could just use the UDP method of “fire-and-forget” and say “Hey, General B, we’re going to attack at 8pm, catch up if you have to”, and have dropped packets (or casualties in the two generals problem)

This is an interesting thought experiment and one I hadn’t considered during my time learning parallel and threaded programming.

Oh well, you learn something new every day, I guess.

Early Birthday

28 Jan 2019 By in Food, Thoughts Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

So, today is my birthday, not too bothered about celebrating and presents and stuff, grown out of those childish traditions really. Today is just (unfortunately) yet another day at the office…. :(

Nonetheless, I did get treated to some lobster noodles with the family on Saturday

Then a visit to a Buddhist Thai temple

General Updates

19 Nov 2018 By in Fitness & Health, Kubernetes, Linux, Technology, Thoughts, Training Tags: , , , , , , ,

So I haven’t been posting here much recently so here are some updates.

Been slowing trying to get back into running, have been slacking off WAAAAY too much lately. Tried using Aaptiv (@aaptiv) which is a training fitness app that has trainers talking you through the stuff, there are a few problems with it.

  1. When you use a stretch/strength training routine or yoga routine, you’re reliant on them telling you what to do, there’s no video guide to show you the correct form, and that’s bad. Other apps like FitBit Coach has videos where you can copy the coach to make sure you have the right form.
  2. On Treadmill/Running routines, they talk in mph, but treadmills here in the UK go in km/h, which requires conversion (1.0 mph = 1.6 kph)

On a separate note, I have bought another attempt at the CKA exam, but this time bought the bundle with the Kubernetes Fundamentals Training from Linux Foundation. Let’s see how different that is to Linux Academy’s training….

 

A Dilemma…

21 Sep 2018 By in Thoughts Tags:

A random thought popped into my head today, and something I don’t know the answer to.

Assume someone publishes a research paper. For sake of argument, let’s say it’s a Doctor who claims s/he can clone from cloned cells an infinite number of times without genetic instability or degradation.

The paper is published in journals like @thelancet and passes a few verification checks for content and accuracy.

Other doctors extend on, and/or reference the findings in this paper when creating their own.

Now, a few years down the line (or maybe decades), it’s found out that the findings of the original paper were derived using objectionable means. Perhaps the doctor experiments on corpses during the creation of the paper, or kidnapped children to perform said experiments or to extract cells or organs.

This doctor’s paper is subsequently severely discredited.

So what happens to the other doctors’ papers who used or referenced this now-discredited paper? Do their papers get discredited in the same way, even though the authors weren’t aware of the original doctors’ behaviour regarding the original paper? What about the doctors who wrote those newer papers that referenced the (previously good) paper?

Random Thought…

12 Apr 2018 By in Technology, Thoughts Tags: ,

There’s a thought experiment known as Theseus’s paradox (and a couple of variants) and it goes something like this.

If you have a raft and replace the oars and planks due to them rotting or being old, or similar, to such a level that the entire raft is eventually replaced, is it still the same ship?

If you inherited an axe from your uncle and you replace the axe head because it’s blunt, and then the wooden handle because it broke — is that axe still the same one you inherited? Can you still call it your uncle’s axe?

Similarly, if all parts of a computer program are replaced by patches/hotfixes (not as full releases), is it still the same program? Can you, for example, call Microsoft Excel V1 a V1 if every part of it has been replaced with new code through patches and hotfixes? Can you even call it Microsoft Excel?

Post-Christmas Day holidays

27 Dec 2017 By in Public Holidays, Public Transport, Thoughts Tags: , , ,

Well, it’s the day after Boxing Day. The day where the majority of people who haven’t taken the interim days off on holiday, go back to work.

There was definitely a run-down feeling on the train ride into work and the trains were running a reduced (probably a Sunday service), so I ended up running for the earlier train since my normal one wasn’t there today.

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