#TodayILearned that:
Initialisms are made from the first letter (or letters) of a string of words, but canβt be pronounced as words themselves (e.g. FBI, CIA). Acronyms are made from the first letter (or letters) of a string of words but are pronounced as if they were words themselves (e.g. NASA, hazmat). What I Learned: The Phoenix Project Audiobook - IT Revolution
Personally, I’m not sure that this is a very useful distinction, but it’s interesting
I guess ‘SQL’ is an initialism to those who pronounce it ‘S.Q.L’ and and acronym for those who say ‘sequel’.
How to set default parameters for other people's Powershell cmdlets
Not exactly #TodayILearned because I vaguely remember learning that you can do this, but had never got around to doing so.
This is how you can set a default parameter in Powershell. As far as I know, it works with any cmdlet. I’m using it here to set the default for Pester to show me all the results of all the tests….because I love seeing that sea of green :)
$PSDefaultParameterValues += @{ 'Invoke-Pester:Output' = 'Detailed' }
#Powershell
As an ex-resident, I love this, from Sara Pascoe:
“i live in Lewisham, which is brilliant. If you haven’t been there just go south-east from here [Hammersmith] until you start getting scared”
Tbf, some of the intervening places have probably come up in the world since I lived there ποΈ
Midnight Meets With Colin Murray - Sara Pascoe
#TodayILearned that a ‘wolf tone’ is “an undesirable phenomenon that occurs in some bowed-string instruments…. It happens when the pitch of the played note is close to a particularly strong natural resonant frequency of the body of the musical instrument.”
I’ve listened to them for about 30 years….but I never realised that the name of the band had two meanings
To save you looking…..I’m not a member :)
“Garrick Clubβs men-only members list reveals roll-call of British establishment” https://www.theguardian.com/society/2024/mar/18/garrick-club-men-only-members-list-roll-call-british-establishment?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other
I was sure Jeremy Clarkson knew the answer to the last question on Who Wants to be Millionaire and I’m pretty sure he raised his eyebrows when the contestant said she thought it was one of the wrong answers
If I’m ever on it I shall watch Jeremy’s eyebrows πΊ
Really enjoyed the Bath Half today. Bath is as lovely place…not as good as Salisbury though, obviously
Huge thanks to organizers and volunteers
And Seamus, was pleased with a new medal on Saint Patricks Day π
#TodayILearned that the lyric is
“You don’t have to say you love me Just be close at hand”
…not
βYou don’t have to say you love me Just because of him"
Mark Steel’s impersonation of George Galloway is worth this year’s license fee on its own ποΈ
One of the odd things about being a year behind in my podcasts is listening to people and knowing what happened in their lives over the next 12 months ποΈ
This one is a case in point
Nick Robinson talks to the director general of the Confederation of British Industry, Tony Danker
Four men discussing a threat against a woman MP but not letting her speak is not great
R.I.P. Freddie. Two years gone. So very sad
BBC News - Freddie Fontete-Jones' mother backs anti-violence campaign
Saw this on Facebook…..I’m not a huge fan of Fleetwood Mac, but this happened about a 15 minutes walk from where I live, and I really wish I’d been there π΅
I found this recording of a thing I was at just 43 years ago - Killing Joke playing in Trafalgar Square. Very atmospheric . The band were very off-message π΅
KILLING JOKE - CND Rally, Trafalgar Square, London 26/10/80 (Full Set)
#TodayILearned that Charlie, Ronnie and Reggie Kray got Β£255,000 from the 1990 film πΊπ½οΈποΈ
The selling of the Krays: how two mediocre criminals created their own legend β podcast
I need to decide whether I’m going to use $SplatParams or $SplatParameters….and then get that tattoo-ed on the inside of my eyelids or something
#Powershell
Watching a Word in Your Attic video which features a vaguely disappointing David Bowie Monopoly set
I was thinking you could make a good, slightly bleak Pogues monopoly set - Euston Tavern, the Hammersmith Broadway, the metal doors of Vine Street etc
Other acts might work too π΅ποΈ
Being an Elvis nerd of many years standing, in the normal run of the things I don’t often come across any new Presley trivia….but #TodayILearned that Colonel Tom was born on Boxing Day. π΅
I got an email about HIMSS24. It stands for ' Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society 2024'….and I’m sure it’s marvellous, but being a sad, techie sort of geek I thought ‘HIMSS24’ looked like a datetime format gone wrong.
I really enjoyed G’Wed
Like a mixture of Inbetweeners, Derry Girls and Grange Hill, but ruder, and Scousier
Worth putting up with the ITVx player for…which is high praise, actually πΊ
Setting up a file-specific (not filetype-specific) colorscheme in vim
Setting up a file-specific (not filetype-specific) colorscheme in vim is a two step process.
First, you need a ‘modeline’[^1] in the file like this: [^1] a ‘modeline’ is a comment with vim instructions in it. My actual modeline for this file is ‘# vim: ft=readme syntax=markdown tabstop=2 shiftwidth=2 softtabstop=2 expandtab’. There’s some explanation of modelines here: https://vim.fandom.com/wiki/Modeline_magic
# vim: ft=readme
‘ft’ here is, somewhat confusingly given my post’s title, short for filetype. The name of the filetype is kind-of arbitrary. It’s probably best to be descriptive, and better if it doesn’t correspond to an actual filetype like .md or ‘markdown’ or ‘txt’
Second, you need like this in your vimrc
autocmd FileType readme colorscheme peachpuff
Why would I do such a thing
I have a couple of ‘big old text files’ open most of the time.
One is for general notes, and a record of what’s happened during the week. The other is when I’m doing a chunky-ish bit of coding which records decisions, todo’s, worries and web-clippings which are specific to that code
Having a separate colour scheme just makes it handier to find either of the files I want when I’m alt-tabbing through my 103 open windows
#TodayILearned that the word ‘cockamamie’ is possibly related to ‘decalcomania’ which has to do with ‘decals’ - stick on decorations, or tattoos.
I’m putting together a chronology of stuff thats happened and stuff i’ve done, or been to..and i enjoyed memories of the Elephant Fayre
https://www.ukrockfestivals.com/elephant_fayre_1981-86.html
