5 November 2025
Final Fantasy VII Story recap in prep for Part 3 Remake
I'm not ready for the end ðŸ˜
1997 | Event | Remake, Rebirth, Reunion |
Disc One | Midgar: Sector 1 Reactor, Guard Scorpion Seventh Heaven Sector 6 Reactor, Air Buster Sector 7 collapse Shinra building (Remake) Jenova Dreamweaver Highway escape | Remake |
Disc One | Kalm C1 Nibelheim flashback Chocobo Farm C2 Midgar Zolom Mythril Mine C3 Junon C4 Jenova BIRTH (Emergent) C5 Costa Del Sol C6 Yuffie Corel C7 Dyne Gold Saucer C8 Cait Sith Dyne Corel Prison Gongaga C9 Cosmo Canyon C10 Cave of the Gi, Seto flashback, Gi Nattak Nibelheim, Materia Keeper C11 Lost Number boss Vincent Valentine Rocket Town (absent) Cid Tiny Bronco (appears earlier: Gongaga) Palmer fight Wutai (absent) Keystone C12 Date at Gold Saucer Temple of the Ancients, Red Dragon, Demon Gate C13 Bone Village (absent) City of the Ancients C14 Jenova LIFE (Lifeclinger) Aeirth’s death | Rebirth |
Disc Two | Icicle Inn Gast & Ifalna backstory Snowboarding - Great Glacier Northern Crater Whirlwind Maze Zack flashback Cloud levitates Jenova DEATH Black Materia summons Meteor WEAPONs unleashed Avalanche captured Tifa remembers Sister Ray destroys Sapphire WEAPON Tifa slaps Scarlet Highwind acquired Mideel Overhear Shinra discussing Huge Materia Hijack the Corel train, acquire Huge Materia Fort Condor - baby Condor born, Huge Materia acquired Ultimate WEAPON attacks Mideel Cloud’s subconscious in the Lifestream | Reunion |
Disc Three | Nibelheim flashback of Cloud’s survival Underwater reactor Submarine chase Rocket launches Huge Materia Bugenhagen describes Holy Diamond WEAPON destroyed by Sister Ray Northern Crater barrier destroyed by Sister Ray Proud Clod boss Hojo reveals Sephiroth origin Emerald WEAPON Ruby WEAPON — Northern Crater Bizarro Sephiroth (Rebirth) Jenova SYNTHESIS One Winged Angel / Safer Sephiroth Sephiroth Meteor arrives and destroys Midgar Epilogue | Reunion |
28 September 2025
Digital ID cards pros and cons
Pros
Reduce extensive paperwork, Universal Credit is a beaurocratic nightmare
3-13% GDP gain from less fraud (especially with online scammers and ID theft), streamlined banking, productivity
Consolidate and replace many other forms of ID, like Government Gateway, NHS number, National Insurance number, library card, driving licence, blue badges
Helps bring more government services online, rather than phoning someone between 10am and 4pm or posting letters
Remove the need to pay for ID in the form of driving licence, passport, or Citizen ID card
Should help get a bank account and a job for those without one, and without a fixed address or other forms of ID, which makes it easier to vote, open a business, and access justice
Make it easier to access adult content without sharing your data with third parties, rent and buy houses, pay bills, and cars and phone
Streamline applications for migrants and refugees
Many countries already have it and it's considered normal, in Estonia it can also be used to vote
Reduces fraud in benefits such as undeclared income, savings or partners
Cons
Higher priorities for spending money like addressing poverty such as food banks. A good system will cost billions, but weigh that against lost productivity from existing beaurocracy from multiple forms of ID
Risk of single point of failure, stopping or excluding people accessing any service
We already have National Insurance Number, this is just adding to more things we need - it would likely replace it
Not everyone has a smartphone, computer or internet, forcing poor people to pay for one. There would have to be a solid alternative (e.g. physical card, or free phone)
High security and fraud risk, though paper documents are already highly forged
Risk of surveillance by tracking your activities, which could lead to denying public access by creating checkpoints and social credit scores
Errors could cripple someone's livelihood or access with no appeals process
In summary, making them mandatory, and without a solid alternative non-mobile plan, will create barriers for poor people, or just unlucky people.
However, a good, secure, Estonia-like ID system with civilian oversight so it is not misused for surveillance, accessible to everyone regardless of finances, with an easy way to fix errors, would help everyone.
3 September 2025
Sandwich
| https://cuberule.com/ |
"Sandwich" to me is a very narrow definition.
- When you go to the sandwich isle of Tesco for a meal deal, you expect things like BLT, tuna mayo, cheese triple. You don't expect there to be a roll, a burger, a taco, a baguette, or a hot dog. Those will be in their own section.
- When you go to Split airport in Croatia, and they close the majority of shops at night time with only one stall left open, all they advertise they are selling is "sandwiches". And they only 2 options: chicken, or cheese.
- When there's an announcement on a GWR train saying the cart is coming through selling "sandwiches, crisps, soft drinks, tea and coffee", I'm not expecting them to have a hot dog.
- When I look at a local indie artisan coffee shop brunch menu, and look under the section for sandwiches, hot dog isn't under there, hot dog is in its own section, if at all.
- If you go on Family Fortunes, and you're asked to name sandwiches from a survey of 100 people, the top result is probably BLT.
- If you look for emojis of sandwiches, none of them are hot dogs.
- Chip butty, despite having the structure of a sandwich, has its own name, and does not fall into the category of predictable sandwiches.
- Ice cream sandwich throws a spanner to this: it's not a predictable sandwich, so it's not a type of sandwich, but, it does borrow the sandwich only by name and structure.
- A sub, wrap, or burrito might appear in a certain subsection of the Tesco meal deal area next to sandwiches, but because they have a different structure and their own name, they aren't sandwiches - even if they have predictable fillings.
2 September 2025
2 March 2025
Mobile phone operator history and phones I used
- 2002: BT (Vodafone) (Philips Cellnet)
- 2009: Tesco Mobile (O2) (Nokia 1110, Sony Ericsson W300i, LG Cookie, Sony Ericsson W850i)
- 2010: Three (HTC Wildfire)
- 2012: Giffgaff (O2) (LG Optimus 2X, Google Nexus 4, 5, 5X)
- 2017: Vodafone (Google Pixel 1, 2, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10)
- 2022 (6 months free): Lebara (Vodafone)
7 February 2025
How to use an airport
Pre-req:
- Passport (not expiring within 6 months)
- Booked tickets and boarding pass loaded to phone
- Booked hotels
- Travel insurance
- Online check-in completed as early as possible, not at the last minute
- If driving, book parking
- Data roaming planned
- Check for required vaccinations on government travel advice
- Arrive 2 hours before the departure time
- Power adapter
- Generally, no liquids over 100ml or pressured cans
- Cabin luggage (backpack, small suitcase etc)
- Checked in luggage (suitcases and large items)
- In-flight entertainment (game, book, movie)
Steps:
- Regularly check the gate and departure time on display boards for cancellations
- Go to Checked in luggage to drop off suitcase
- Go to Departures
- Go through Security. In most cases, remove shoes, belt, jackets, hats, and sometimes electronics, liquids in their own bag, empty your pockets. Check all pockets for water you might still have etc.
- Go through the shopping labyrinth to the gate waiting lounge
- Wait until your gate is announced then go to gate. Buy snacks or drink for the plane.
- Scan boarding pass and board the plane (may involve a bus, corridors, waiting rooms, walking outside)
- Find seat, ignore anyone who asks to swap a seat with you
- Follow instructions. Get up at least once an hour or two either for toilet or water or chat, it really helps with anxiety.
- Leave plane, double check you have everything e.g. headphones, passport, overhead bags
- Arrivals - Passport stamp, customs bags checks if required
- Collect luggage from the right conveyor for your flight
- Exit / Transport. Book Uber or get train, etc, using maps app to your hotel
4 January 2025
Introduction to programming and web development Part 1
Install the following