Vasily "Vaz" Différence

https://mastodon.indie.host/@stragu

💚 I like the weird, the kind, the beautiful. Nature, the Commons, open research, citizen science, éducation populaire, RStats, maps, active transport, bushcare, guitar.

Awkward middle-aged teenager working in (open research) software training.

Living in Meanjin on stolen Turrbal / Jagera land.

BIPOC + trans lives matter.

🚫: fash, racists, terves, antivax, NFT / cryptocoins / "AI"-pushers, bootlickers.

(Alt texts: banner is sunset over Meanjin, profile pic is portrait of me by kid 1 ♥️.)

Pronouns: he / him / his
Teaching: https://uqlibrary.github.io/technology-training/
Blog: https://stragu.codeberg.page/
Music: https://soundcloud.com/jesuisgentil

Public Key

npub1zv4qea3nme53hprp3jjvvfmcu6nrr5jvkeh6dppcllwkc3l52ttqk9q5g8

NIP-05 Address

[email protected]

Profile Code

nprofile1qqspx2sv7ceau6gms3scefxxyauwdf336fxtvmaxssu0lhtvgl6994spp4mhxue69uhkummn9ekx7mqprpmhxue69uhhyetvv9ujumt0d4hhxarj9ecxjmntqy28wumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnyv9kh2uewd9hsz9nhwden5te0wfjkccte9ec8y6tdv9kzumn9wsq7tqvc

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Author Public Key

npub1zv4qea3nme53hprp3jjvvfmcu6nrr5jvkeh6dppcllwkc3l52ttqk9q5g8

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Last Notes

2026-07-21 15:51:11 CEST

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do you mean the lack of hanging indents? If that's the case, I had a fish around and learnt that it was dropped on purpose, to avoid issues when a file containing such mixed spaces-and-tabs indents is opened with different IDEs that have different indentation settings.
I'm starting to get used to a bit more vertical space used by going to a new line for the first argument.
(Apart from that, there are still some indentation bugs that need ironing out, yes.)

2026-07-13 16:43:32 CEST

Favourite #PeerTube channels to follow please? So I can progressively replace what drives me to YouTube for my regular video format fix.
I particularly enjoy political commentary that is on (leftist) point but makes me laugh too. Or stuff about plants and gardening and bush regeneration / bushcare / ecological restoration / urban biodiversity.

2026-07-01 09:16:14 CEST

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The Mary Turfah article the quote is from, for The New York Review, 2026-06-24
https://archive.is/20260624131604/https://www.nybooks.com/online/2026/06/24/safety-is-when-theres-no-one-dying-lebanon-children/

2026-06-07 03:09:23 CEST

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there's a high chance the area considered for construction has already been disturbed, and therefore has potential for rewilding with species that were historically present.

2026-06-06 13:11:39 CEST

What better way could there be to resist?
https://mastodon.indie.host/system/media_attachments/files/116/702/851/582/673/217/original/9ed69987414780f8.png

2026-06-05 05:25:47 CEST

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far out. I assume you're out of trouble by now?

2026-05-25 07:58:55 CEST

If you haven't seen it yet, here's the new Greens website "Tax the 1%":
https://www.taxthe1percent.com.au/
Please share around!
#inequality #costOfLiving #affordability #taxTheOnePercent

2026-05-15 12:58:01 CEST

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ah yes, Andrew Forrest, the "man" who destroyed around 250 Yindjibarndi cultural sites and, when confronted about it by the traditional owners, proceeded to spend millions a year to secretly organise and prop up a breakaway Yindjibarndi group and undermine the native title claim by sowing division.
Definitely someone to listen to and respect...
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-05-11/andrew-forrest-fortescue-yindjibarndi-compensation-decision/106640484

2026-05-12 05:18:04 CEST

I just can't believe that developers and users of "AI" meeting transcription tools think it's OK to have such plugins being launched into a meeting by one person without having prior approval from other participants or the organisers. And then put the responsibility on other attendees to opt out from it.
It's absolutely wild to me.
#privacy #AI #consent

2026-04-27 15:38:11 CEST

I started an iNaturalist project about #Barrambin / Victoria park:
https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/barrambin-victoria-park
Would be great to have others in #Meanjin / #Magandjin / #Brisbane get out to the park and record more of the biodiversity that can be found there!
#BNE

2026-04-08 07:28:33 CEST

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I'm livid. I didn't sign up for 32 degrees on the 8th of April, can I please get my money back.

2026-03-30 01:09:05 CEST

The default (up to date) Android photo editor manages to save the edited photo with a UTC timestamp that didn't properly convert from my timezone.
*slow clap*
Also, there's way too much nudging towards AI features.
Can anyone recommend me a photo editor from @npub1mtr…trt0 for basic photo fix-ups (luminosity / contrast, crop, tilting, basic filters... Maybe easy blurring of faces / sensitive stuff) that doesn't send my edited photos 10 hours into the past?
#android #floss #photography

2026-03-25 02:00:37 CET

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is the law already voted in? Can you link to some good write-ups about it?
We ride two ebikes in Meanjin, one cargo, the other single, both shop-bought as is, both pedal-assist to 27 K/h. Does that mean we'll have to get some kind of licence for them??

2026-01-18 13:14:20 CET

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you mean the dundicut pepper photo, right?
Thanks for fixing it!

2026-01-13 12:51:23 CET

Hey BNE.social people, has anyone attempted to host a local gumtree / marketplace / give nothing / freecycle alternative yet?
#Brisbane #Meanjin #Magandjin

2026-01-13 02:51:25 CET

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I was trying to listen to the episode on @npub1wma…5az9 but there seems to be something wrong. The video plays, and it stops halfway. Any chance you could check what kind of podcast RSS goes to Podverse (looks like there's at least two: https://podverse.fm/podcast/l9ldjLosC_ and https://podverse.fm/podcast/8krTUBa_Zs), if the metadata is correct, and maybe only send audio to it?

2025-12-17 05:54:09 CET

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final??

2025-12-06 00:50:56 CET

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hang on, it looks to me like the top is the original photo and the bottom is cleaned up by AI, given the mangled shapes in the bottom.
To be clear, I don't try to defend climate change deniers or people trying to paint the movement in bad light. I wouldn't be surprised by such practices from these ghouls. I just want to make sure we don't continue spreading misinformation.

2025-10-20 08:59:57 CEST

Some recommendations to get off Spotify, the company that would rather fund the military industrial complex than musicians:
- Bandcamp's app recently added shareable playlists
- @npub1ynz…en3h is cooperatively owned and recently got a funding boost from NGIZero for fediversification: https://mirlo.space/
- If you have your own collection of digital music, consider plonking it onto your own @npub1txr…50md server: https://www.funkwhale.audio/
(Yes I know they're not exactly the same, nothing is!)
#music

2025-08-30 17:59:11 CEST

@npub1erz…z7ey now integrates with @npub1txr…50md
https://github.com/metabrainz/listenbrainz-server/releases/tag/v-2025-08-27.0

2025-08-28 01:51:31 CEST

Treasurer Jim Chalmer's has the great idea to create a new electric vehicle tax... because their users don't pay a fuel tax.
Hey, here's another wonderful idea, Jimmy: make everyone pay the tobacco tax! It's so unfair that non-smoker don't pay their fair share!!
https://stories.uq.edu.au/contact-magazine/ev-tax/index.html
#EV #electricVehicle #climateChange #Australia

2025-08-01 04:08:19 CEST

Yesterday's sky in #meanjin / #magandjin / #Brisbane.
Spot the plane.
https://mastodon.indie.host/system/media_attachments/files/114/951/037/564/674/381/original/3953fd6d2313122d.jpg

2025-07-23 09:38:16 CEST

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yeah VS Code is already in the list, can't not mention it!

2025-07-23 08:22:20 CEST

Which open source IDEs should my university library absolutely list in its guide? They should be stable, actively maintained, well documented, cross-platform.

2025-07-18 14:58:34 CEST

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I had no idea they'd happily hang out this close to huge Eagles! Funny. Glad I could point out something new about your own work 😄

2025-07-17 23:23:03 CEST

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had you noticed that little bird at the bottom of the nest?

2025-07-11 04:45:59 CEST

Myths about electric vehicles are very widespread:
https://stories.uq.edu.au/uq-contact-ev-myths/index.html
(sidenote: I have a very negative outlook on genAI but the article gives an example of a specific use in which it was actually helpful - which of course doesn't mean it was better than other methods that don't have all the bad stuff associated with genAI)
#EV #genAI

2025-07-03 03:31:08 CEST

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not necessarily "from" but definitely "in"!

2025-07-02 07:17:13 CEST

Funding campaign deadline extended to 15th of July for improvements to 3D features in #QGIS
https://www.lutraconsulting.co.uk/crowdfunding/qgis-3d-for-open-source-digital-twins
It includes a lot of exciting improvements that everyone will benefit from.
#GIS #maps #FLOSS #geospatial #openResearch #3D #cartography

2025-06-13 09:35:13 CEST

Wildlife Queensland and Logan City Council are running a free webinar on creating a wildlife-friendly garden.
Friday 27th of June, 1:30 pm AEST
If you can't catch if, register and they'll send you the recording.
Register here: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_Kf2QeXSAQkKDvRz16C4PXg
#gardening #SEQ #Queensland #rewilding

2025-05-13 03:24:29 CEST

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hey does Vegeme still exist??

2025-04-22 07:31:51 CEST

Hadn't noticed 0 A.D. (@npub1wnu…z89u) got an update a couple of months ago. It's the last one labelled as "Alpha".
https://play0ad.com/new-release-0-a-d-alpha-27-agni/
They also completed their move from Subversion to Git last year, development is happening on their own @npub17s3…m2gl instance: https://gitea.wildfiregames.com/

2025-04-21 12:37:42 CEST

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I was very impressed by the uninterrupted thundering before it started pouring down

2025-03-06 04:11:53 CET

Anyone in or around #Annerley, let us know if you need a hand with anything, we might be able to help before / after #Alfred #cycloneAlfred.
Take care! 💚
#Meanjin #Magandjin #Brisbane

2025-02-03 19:33:53 CET

Hey Queenslanders, please sign this petition to defend access to healthcare for trans folks:
https://www.parliament.qld.gov.au/Work-of-the-Assembly/Petitions/Petition-Details?id=4202
Note this is a QLD Parliament petition, not the petition from trans.au that you might have already signed:
https://trans.au/campaigns/protect-trans-youth-health-in-queensland/
Share far and wide please.
#Queensland #QLD #Trans

2025-01-21 06:59:37 CET

#rstats folks, any idea why we have rep.int() with a dot but rep_len() with an underscore? Same thing with seq.int() and seq_len().
I know R is inconsistent in a few different ways, e.g. with capitalisation in function names, and that the reason for it is often back-compatibility, but I feel like this particular inconsistency is glaring in the corresponding help pages, and the dot in rep.int() is not a method thing for class "integer"...?

2025-01-02 02:06:18 CET

Barrambin / Victoria park was not long ago expanded for public use, but they are already talking about building a stadium on it for the Olympic Games.
Please write a submission to object to the project before the 10th of January. The "Save Victoria Park" collective makes it easy to gather talking points for your submission: https://www.savevictoriapark.com/100-day-review
Thank you.
#Brisbane #Meanjin #Barrambin

2024-12-20 03:30:00 CET

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oh I understood and I completely agree that this period of the year is an environmental disaster but I was following up on Ash's comment about the stinky truck :)

2024-12-20 03:15:36 CET

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you think it's exclusively adorned with discarded decorations?

2024-11-11 11:57:47 CET

NASA Funds Open-Source Software Underpinning Scientific Innovation
https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-funds-open-source-software-underpinning-scientific-innovation/
Some of the funded projects are #Python and #QGIS -related.
#OpenScience #OpenResearch

2024-10-17 02:29:54 CEST

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beautiful!

2024-09-05 03:58:25 CEST

hey @npub1scp…6zy8 and @npub1m0e…mqsy, I saw that bne.sosh is for personal accounts, but would creating an account for the grassroot, non-profit ResBazQLD conf be frowned upon? Just thought I'd check in case it's a rule more targeted at for-profit, corpo brands.

2024-09-01 02:03:31 CEST

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Cucumbers are getting stronger, hopefully i can guide them to cover some ground that I can't or don't want to actually plant (until fence is in a better state).
Fig is absolutely exploding with new leaves, which I hope are not too palatable to anything. Would love to see this one stating to produce some fruit this year!
Beheaded yucca now has new stems, phew.
#gardening
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https://mastodon.indie.host/system/media_attachments/files/113/059/352/634/446/321/original/191bfac6b737747b.jpg

2024-09-01 01:55:14 CEST

Garden update:
Tomatoes were getting wildly bushy and started getting fungus on their leaves, so we've been clearing it a lot the last few days so it doesn't spread, and so they can focus on fruit. Fertilised the soil too to hopefully help them in fighting it.
Weather has been way hotter than normal, yesterday above 35 degrees Celsius, supposedly the last day of "winter".
Cutting of neighbour's dragon fruit seems happy at foot of paw paw, new stems now poking out.
#gardening
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https://mastodon.indie.host/system/media_attachments/files/113/059/308/256/002/931/original/e230ce3ad9239e1f.jpg
https://mastodon.indie.host/system/media_attachments/files/113/059/325/233/415/980/original/22f0bc677becf008.jpg

2024-08-14 03:38:44 CEST

5yo's carrots have been transferred to garden bed. Let's see if the possums like them. Garden bed is quickly bulking up with recent family addition guinea pigs' wee and poo-soaked woodchips and hay, avoiding part where ginger is expected to pop up again. In the back, compost tomatoes keep growing. On the left, repurposed half of worm farm where we compost scraps while waiting for worm donation. Glad for rain but that's a lot, there's some pooling in parts of the half dead lawn. #gardening
https://mastodon.indie.host/system/media_attachments/files/112/957/784/510/871/310/original/947869839bdc56b8.jpg

2024-08-07 14:45:26 CEST

A question specifically for #library / #GLAM workers (please don't answer if that's not you!):
If you use / have used #LibreOffice at work, in what way is it useful or indispensable as part of your toolbox? Is there something it can do that other tools can't? What would you recommend it for to colleagues and the GLAM community at large?
Please boost!