Brilliant, many thanks. With all the old phones in my cupboards I’d hoped this was the answer, but it’s good to get a second opinion.

This is very interesting. Have you considered studying social engineering? - I’ve found SE techniques quite understandable to help form a process to deal with people in a ‘useful’ way. Many years ago I was sent on a positive influencing course via work and discovered that most NTs can be quite easily manipulated with a few simple tricks. In the end I stopped using them as it felt unfair.

I have a similar one, probably a bit older though. I got it from an auction and had to clean it up a bit and replace the bellows leather. As clocks go it has no redeeming features at all, it’s a bit broken, the time is hard to read, it needs winding every day and has an ear splitting Cuckoo even though I also have four other chiming clocks nearby. Having said all that, it’s an integral part of the household and we love it.

It’s funny even though these are not ‘good clocks’ by any means they do a great job, especially if they bring back memories and connect us to the past.

Butt your enclosure right up against the lock body, then you reduce shearing forces trying to pull it off the door. Extend the pull bar through your enclosure so you still have a manual override.

While I’m not adverse to home automation, is this something you need in your life, or just want? I like my perimeter security too be simple and tight, extra complications make the security audit much harder.

Will your insurance stand up to home made remote control unlocking?

To answer your question, place the servo in a suitably large enclosure and practically any adhesive should work, e.g. 3mM command strips or even velcro or double sided sticky. When confident that this is what you want, use a screw.

Aconitum napellus?

I’ve avoided the conversation entirely. Ever since the pandemic I’ve done my own hair with clippers. Made a good enough job of it, even if I’ve sometimes needed to do a small adjustment the next day.

For a simple style it’s not that difficult if you take your time.

It’s a long time since I had one that age but we clearly noticed when the kids had an upgrade and behaviour changed. I’d put it down to him enjoying his new capabilities and being to excited to sleep. Don’t think it’s a problem, just roll with it, it’s not as if it’s a toy you can take away!

Have fun, it doesn’t get much easier, but it does get different.

Thought I did so well on my phone. It kept auto correcting code to coffee. Maybe it was telling me something.

Yes, plan for it!

All the other comments are great advice. As an ex chemist who does quite a bit of code I’ll add:

Do you want code that works, or code that works?! It’s reasonably easy to knock out ugly code that only works once, and that can be just what you need. It takes a little more effort however to make it robust. Think about how it can fail and trap the failures. If you’re sharing code with others, this is even more important a people do ‘interesting’ things.

There’s a lot of temporary code that’s had a very long life in production, this has technical debt… Is it documented? Is it stable? Is it secure? Ideally it should be

Code examples on the first page of Google tend to work ok, but are not generally secure, e.g doing SQL queries instead of using prepared statements. Doesn’t take much extra effort to do it properly and gives you peace of mind. We create sboms for our code now so we can easily check if a component has gained a vulnerability. Doesn’t mean our code is good, but it helps. You don’t really want to be the person who’s code helped let an attacker in.

Any code you write, especially stuff you share will give you a support and maintenance task long term. Pirate for it!

Code sometimes just stops working. - at least I’m my experience. Sacrifice something to the gods and all will be fine.

Finally, you probably know more than you think. You’ve plenty of experience. Most of the time I can do what I need without e.g. classes, but sometimes I’ll intentionally use a technique in a project just to learn it. I can’t learn stuff if I don’t have a use for it.

I’m still learning, so if I’ve got any part of the above wrong, please help me out.

Yes prime minister is the most accurate documentary about British politics of all time.

Do you on now anyone who uses disposable vapes? There may be a useful battery in one of those if you can’t find an alternative.

There’s a lot of Scotland, and don’t underestimate driving times. Argyll is good, but can be rather wet any time of the year. Going around now you should be safe from the midgies. Recommend getting onto some of the islands too, and boat rides are always nice. Kerrera is a lovely little island just by Oban. It has a very atmospheric castle, though the teashop isn’t as good as it was so pack a lunch. If you like a dram, make a tour of some distilleries, each has it’s own character. Argyll has lots of archeology & standing stones if that’s your thing. There are loads of lumpy bits of you like walking too. Pretty much anywhere is good, tourist hotspot are ok, but try to get off the beaten track once in a while.

If you’re driving, and going onto country roads, please please please learn to reverse.

If you’re lucky you may get to spot some wild haggis, but they’re quite rare now. The farmed ones are cute but have a nasty bite so be careful.

Also don’t neglect the borders, loads of history.

It may not sound your thing, but consider geocaching… It takes you to some interesting out of the way places.

I like a cheap watch, I made my two watches using Ali parts and Seiko movements. They look good enough to me and do their job perfectly. If anything goes wrong it won’t break the bank to fix. Imagine scratching a rolex!

Nice one. I love the 1100 series, always fun picks.

You will get stressed, maybe even angry. It’s ok. Take a deep breath and walk away for a moment.

There doesn’t seem to be much emotional support for men, but sometimes it’s needed. Talk to someone, anyone, even talking to random people on the internet can help.

Enjoy the ride, you’re in for a great adventure, and while it doesn’t feel like it at the time, they really do grow up quick.

3 day working week will more likely mean companies cutting staff by 50%. Can’t imagine most people being able to live when only working 3 days.

It’s in Dubai, right? Simple solution, turn off the Aircon half way through the meeting just to show them what excessive temperature is like.

Don’t let them out until a decision is reached!

Ok, it wouldn’t be constructive, but it’d be good to see all the fossil fuel lobbyists sweating, even if just for an hour.

Why wasn’t there security on the device? My works devices are password protected and it’s a disciplinary offence if I share passwords or give unauthorized access.

If he gave them the login creds, then he should be penalised .

If he logged in and gave the device to non parliamentary staff, he should also be penalised.

He got caught because it cost money, which is the lesser offence. Cyber security should be more robust for ministers than it is for most companies, but seemingly not.

Such a shame, only managed to go there once many years ago and never got to go back again. Hopefully they’ll fix the funding problem as it’s a wonderful place.

Fingers crossed for all those affected.