There is one thing worse than sitting an exam and that is setting an exam. There is one thing worse than setting an exam and that is marking an exam. There is one thing worse than marking an exam and that is moderating exam. What is worse than moderating an exam?

RE: https://biologists.social/@steveroyle/115926656835670274 EPSRC is pausing its large programme grant calls, but at least investigator led standard (responsive) mode calls remain open … for now.

How to grow the Herd #fosdem2026

Great news from @Mastodon at #fosdem: they're going to change the default server recommendation away from mastodon.social, to a geographically and linguistically appropriate instance for all new users. It'll be opt-in for server admins, too, which is great. ❤️

I *think* that I’m finally happy with the backup / fallback regime for my #selfhosted #email server. - Primary server running @stalwartlabs with an SQLite database (🇫🇮) and S3 blob object storage (🇫🇮) - Continuous database replication using Litestream (https://github.com/benbjohnson/litestream […]

RE: https://colquitt.xyz/@daniel/115957611555731957 Looks like we’re back up and running … 🎉 Well done @hetzner

PSA: Any #mastoadmin’s hosting instances with @hetzner, fsn1 object storage is having issues (again): https://status.hetzner.com/incident/2b5c5f67-36f6-4734-b826-b1e45317c795 :mastodon_oops:

Be warned: The latest death video from Minneapolis is graphic enough to weigh heavily on you, but not detailed enough to really help you understand much about what happened beyond what’s been widely reported.

RE: https://sfba.social/@johnlogic/115944482093628657 Or a genius design...?

RE: https://fosstodon.org/@RMerlin/115940597006728344 It’s days like these that I am glad that I run my own #email infrastructure. Most days, however, I question my sanity. https://status.cloud.microsoft/m365/referrer=serviceStatusRedirect

Unsettling development: I’ve been making a daily to-do list and then… completing it. If anyone needs me, I’ll be waiting for the inevitable consequences.

UTAS is hiring a senior lecturer in Physical Oceanography. Fixed term until Agust 2028, potential for visa sponsorship. #fedijobs #getfedihired #academicchatter https://careers.utas.edu.au/en/job/502141/senior-lecturer-in-physical-oceanography

RE: https://cyberplace.social/@GossiTheDog/115929393014353710 Well … this seems … sub-optimal.

RE: https://infosec.exchange/@patrickcmiller/115918039973702110 Question: Why are they wearing helmets?

The West Wing remains one of the best series ever made—because it’s written like it believes words matter. #thewestwing

Well… the simple central heating pump replacement escalated rapidly to a pump replacement, a wiring centre replacement, and three valve replacements. Despite the frustration and time-sink of it all, I’m quite pleased that I managed to do it myself. 🛠️

🎓 Together with colleagues from University of Liverpool, I am advertising three fully-funded #phd #studentships, commencing in October 2026. More details below. 📆 Deadlines: 31st January 2026, 15th February 2026, & 2nd March 2026 🚀 Boosts would be appreciated.

RE: https://c.im/@ojs/115878622074130369 It’s turtles all the way down… 🐢

Perhaps of interest to those who #selfhost #email: I’ve created a milter for checking IP addresses and HELO and MAILFROM domains against @spamhaus DNSBLs during the relevant SMTP transaction stages. Connections from listed IPs/domains are rejected […]

If you have seen this strange hashtag #forkiverse it’s a bunch of people joining a server run by some big podcasts. It seems to have gotten a lot of activity because they just featured it in a podcast episode. Here’s the link to the episode. https://overcast.fm/+ABBVQRG2SL0

I was looking forward to a lazy Saturday afternoon after my first week back at work. Unfortunately, my youngest had other ideas and has given me a DIY project. #fatherofdaughers

RE: https://flipboard.com/@bbcnews/business-h8ss70mez/-/a-1MtghImiSA2mY0tsV-jKxg%3Aa%3A3199692-%2F0 Excel is very good at what it was designed to do and LLMs are very bad at doing what excel was designed to do.

RE: https://tapbots.social/@ivory/115849434866292703 How @ivory now fetches replies from other instances is a /huge/ improvement! (More so for someone like me, on a single user server?) Well done!

RE: https://tapbots.social/@ivory/115849434866292703 Does this work?

Setting up streaming replication was more of an adventure than I anticipated. Not only did it involve the expected database shenanigans, but it also required - Battling with not standard chroots and internal-sftp - Fiddling with the MTU on both ends of my link - Applying a patch to litestream - […]

On to the final instalment … the Last Battle commences! ⚔️🛡️ https://app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/74142320-f94d-48df-abff-06adaa8e8ae9

Proper snow ❄️ ⛄️

Today's task is migrating my email server database. Wish me luck ...

Many thanks to everyone who helped out. The #fediverse really is a fantastic place. https://colquitt.xyz/@daniel/115793170384501735

Talks coming up in 2026, online, London and Liverpool https://tomstafford.github.io/talks.html

Troll research station via https://www.npolar.no/en/troll/webcam/ #southpole #antarctica #view #webcam

Just to check my sanity: there is no danger to running `tootctl accounts cull`, right? #mastoadmin

Here's another funny generational divide: students no longer understand public_html directories and /~user/ URLs because apparently nowadays shared fileserver access is no longer a thing. Smh, fist, yells at cloud.

Testing out @letsencrypt's short-lived certificates on my web server. Wish me luck! 🤞

Galactus devours another planet… https://mastodon.social/@arstechnica/115657367920761155

Whoop 🙌 My Cherry Shrimp arrived today! It’s my first time buying from an independent breeder rather than Local Fish Store, so I was a little nervous, but the shrimp seem good. All arrived alive and seem to have survived the transition from bag to tank. Let’s see if they survive their first […]

I am delighted that this news is finally public and thrilled that Pure Maths at the University of Liverpool is part of this programme. This generous funding will enable us to build sustainable, high-impact research teams, pursue more ambitious projects, and nurture the next generation of UK […]

It seems that hanging the outdoor Christmas lights has, once again, broken me.

Why can't you focus at work? Can Duruk models it with math for his blog, Just Off By One. https://flip.it/WXgdqo #work #worklife #focus #math #mathematics

This also reminds me of my favourite (?) Tommy Cooper joke about finding an oil painting and a violin in the attic. The antique dealer says, "there's good news and bad news. The good news is: what you've got there is a Rembrandt and a Stradivarius. The bad news is, Stradivarius couldn't paint […]

Centralised platforms shape the conversation to serve their interests. Mastodon returns power to you. Here connections are authentic, communities set their own rules, and your voice isn’t for sale. Help to power the servers, tools, and communities making […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

Our Founder, @Gargron is stepping down from his position as CEO. He shared a reflection on his time building and growing Mastodon on our blog. We want to take a moment to express the Mastodon team’s deep gratitude and admiration for Eugen, and for the technology and community he has built here […]

Apparently, I am at the stage in life when the simple act of standing up is debilitating. Sciatica is not fun.

RE: https://colquitt.xyz/@daniel/115553386383938165 I had my money on Sendmail too, but it turned out to be a permissions issue :mastodon_oops:

my husband made it so the home assistant voice assistant can use full-on ollama to interpret instructions. then he told it to turn the lights on. it's been explaining its thought process for over five minutes now and the lights are still off.