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Andrew Hodgson

@andrew@social.hodgson.io

mastodon 4.6.5

Just your average guy interested in all things IT, bell ringing, beer, music and books. All round geek! Did I mention the beer?

181 Followers

244 Following

40 Posts

Joined November 15, 2022

Website:

https://www.hodgson.io

Posts

Andrew Hodgson @andrew@social.hodgson.io · 6d ago

Replying to @kibcol1049@mstdn.social

@kibcol1049@mstdn.social Modern phones also have a feature to stop charging at 80% and trickle charge to 100% overnight. I don't know what is better, leaving the defaults which have this behaviour or changing to charge to 80%. On my laptops which I have plugged in all the time I have set max charge to 80% so they're not running at a constant 100%.

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Andrew Hodgson @andrew@social.hodgson.io · Jul 29, 2026

Replying to @fastfinge@fed.interfree.ca

@fastfinge@fed.interfree.ca W3W does have its issues though, like having a single company owning the database and similar/confusing words being used.

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Andrew Hodgson @andrew@social.hodgson.io · Jun 29, 2026

Replying to @abucci@buc.ci

@abucci @robparsons@mastodon.social @davidgerard@circumstances.run @trantion@masto.ai @fasterandworse@hci.social The statement "uploading of this content to the internet." is vague. All the systems I know of require uploading the content to the Internet, whether that is to allow a person on the other end to see it, or to allow an AI system to analyse the content. There is little to no processing power in the glasses themselves.

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Andrew Hodgson @andrew@social.hodgson.io · Jun 29, 2026

Replying to @abucci@buc.ci

@abucci @robparsons@mastodon.social @davidgerard@circumstances.run @trantion@masto.ai @fasterandworse@hci.social I agree that we need to make these glasses safe for everyone to use, I as a blind person don't want to be targetted for choosing to use smart glasses in a particular situation.

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Andrew Hodgson @andrew@social.hodgson.io · Jun 29, 2026

Replying to @abucci@buc.ci

@abucci @robparsons@mastodon.social @davidgerard@circumstances.run @trantion@masto.ai @fasterandworse@hci.social The petition does specificly state though to ban "all smart glasses with video recording capability" which includes all the smart glasses specificly designed for blind people as well as mainstream offerings.

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Andrew Hodgson @andrew@social.hodgson.io · Jun 29, 2026

Replying to @rokabe@mastodon.social

@rokabe@mastodon.social @davidgerard@circumstances.run So for the use case of getting live assistance via Whatsap or Aira we do need video capture capabilities in the glasses. I should also add its not just Meta creating these types of glasses, blind people have several models to choose from, all of which provide the same video capture capabilities for this use case.

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Andrew Hodgson @andrew@social.hodgson.io · Jun 29, 2026

Replying to @abucci@buc.ci

@abucci @davidgerard@circumstances.run @trantion@masto.ai @fasterandworse@hci.social I am a low vision user who is using these glasses on a regular basis while out and about to read bus stop signs, restaurant menus, and if I am lost then I use WhatsAp or Aira to get some assistance. I completely agree about the fact that the design purpose of these glasses wasn't to help blind people, but I can't support and outright ban because they are helping me in my daily living to be independant.

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Andrew Hodgson @andrew@social.hodgson.io · Jun 29, 2026

Replying to @davidgerard@circumstances.run

@davidgerard@circumstances.run @trantion@masto.ai @fasterandworse@hci.social Isn't there a camera active light on the glasses themselves when its taking pictures or filming?

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Andrew Hodgson @andrew@social.hodgson.io · Jun 29, 2026

Replying to @davidgerard@circumstances.run

@davidgerard@circumstances.run I can't sign this petition as there are a lot of blind people using these to help them with navigation and reading while out and about.

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Andrew Hodgson @andrew@social.hodgson.io · Jun 03, 2026

Replying to @vga256@mastodon.tomodori.net

@alexchapman@vee.seedy.cc @vga256@mastodon.tomodori.net I remember years ago I got hold of a copy of Microsoft Musical Instruments. I think that used a different content management system as if I remember correctly all the text was in BMP images. I think that was one of the first Microsoft Multimedia releases.

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Andrew Hodgson @andrew@social.hodgson.io · May 15, 2026

Replying to @fastfinge@fed.interfree.ca

@fastfinge@fed.interfree.ca @jscholes@dragonscave.space I was going to buy new keys but decided I only use them very occasionally so I'm actually trying to live without them for the time being. I never used them for SSH keys.

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Andrew Hodgson @andrew@social.hodgson.io · May 15, 2026

Replying to @fastfinge@fed.interfree.ca

@fastfinge@fed.interfree.ca @jscholes@dragonscave.space I've just used them for authentication into Windows accounts and websites like Bitwarden etc. The ones I have here are old as they don't support NFC.

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Andrew Hodgson @andrew@social.hodgson.io · May 13, 2026

Replying to @fastfinge@fed.interfree.ca

@fastfinge@fed.interfree.ca I've had a few of these over the years and have never actually ever used the management tools from them. I've typically used the built-in Windows or web browser support for them.

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Andrew Hodgson @andrew@social.hodgson.io · May 08, 2026

Replying to @sodiboo@gaysex.cloud

@sodiboo@gaysex.cloud Do you know how you got there in the first place? I've been running a single user instance on an 80GB disk for over 3 years and its never got anywhere near full.

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Andrew Hodgson @andrew@social.hodgson.io · May 07, 2026

Went to vote today. Shame they didn't have the new equipment that makes it easier for blind people to vote independantly. I knew that wouldn't be available here before I went to vote but still.

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Andrew Hodgson @andrew@social.hodgson.io · Apr 28, 2026

Replying to @jalefkowit@vmst.io

@fanf @jalefkowit Another example of GoDaddy pulling this stunt happened in 2014. https://medium.com/@N/how-i-lost-my-50-000-twitter-username-24eb09e026dd

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Andrew Hodgson @andrew@social.hodgson.io · Apr 27, 2026

Replying to @hartgenconsult@tweesecake.social

@jaybird110127@dragonscave.space @hartgenconsult@tweesecake.social Interesting you went with 1Password for this course. What eventually made you switch from Bitwarden?

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Andrew Hodgson @andrew@social.hodgson.io · Apr 27, 2026

Replying to @menelion@dragonscave.space

@menelion @jcsteh @tailscale It lets you access servers/devices on different networks using a private encrypted link. So for example if you had Tailscale running on your laptop and on a NAS on your home network, you could interact with files on your NAS from a coffee shop network over a managed encrypted connection. You can do more with it obviously but that is my simple intro.

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Andrew Hodgson @andrew@social.hodgson.io · Apr 27, 2026

Replying to @hacknorris@mstdn.social

@hacknorris @mahryekuh I'm doing a few developer experience projects at the moment and they centre around improving the CI/CD processes but mostly its about what happens on the developer's machine. These clients are hugely locked down and in one case the starting point is a portable copy of Notepad++ and an old version of the Python executables with some packages Pipped in, that's all they have. I could write a lot more obviously but that is where my head is at now.

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Andrew Hodgson @andrew@social.hodgson.io · Apr 13, 2026

Replying to @beasts@social.mythic-beasts.com

@beasts I really need to move my domains from Gandi, may make this a project in the coming weeks.

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Andrew Hodgson @andrew@social.hodgson.io · Apr 13, 2026

Replying to @BorrisInABox@fwoof.space

@BorrisInABox I'm still very curious about the pausing at each word thing. Initially I thought it was because they recorded each word in the dictionary to ROM, but based on that demo, which I never knew about back in the day BTW, I now think its because they are sending each word to the Keynote one at a time so they can keep the screen highlighting in place.

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Andrew Hodgson @andrew@social.hodgson.io · Apr 06, 2026

Replying to @yatil@yatil.social

@FreakyFwoof @yatil Once I was requesting use of JFW in a company and they didn't understand why I needed it as I wasn't a web developer. This actually did happen. Won't name and shame.

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Andrew Hodgson @andrew@social.hodgson.io · Apr 06, 2026

Replying to @mattmay@mstdn.social

@mattmay@mstdn.social Yeah I was probably going to get them the latest LTSC version from one of those cheap license websites. Ideally we will try and get the files exported to PDF.

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Andrew Hodgson @andrew@social.hodgson.io · Apr 05, 2026

Replying to @mattmay@mstdn.social

@mattmay@mstdn.social My parents still use it so we need to work out next steps for mass converting or finding something open source that at least reads the Pub files. They used Impression Publisher on an Archimedes, and when they switched to the PC Publisher allowed them to continue the same workflow. They do a lot of work for church such as service sheets and flyers etc.

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Andrew Hodgson @andrew@social.hodgson.io · Apr 05, 2026

Replying to @FreakyFwoof@universeodon.com

@FreakyFwoof@universeodon.com @liseo@kuupiaq.social @ner@fwoof.space @MoonCat@universeodon.com Honestly at this point I would probably go to a more established cat adoption agency. They will have proper processes in place to ensure the cats are homed correctly and that will take care of people with disabilities. I know loads of blind people who adopt kittens. Most places I have seen require you visit the animal more than once as well so they can see how you are with them.

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Andrew Hodgson @andrew@social.hodgson.io · Apr 04, 2026

Replying to @FreakyFwoof@universeodon.com

@FreakyFwoof @cordova5029 @KaraLG84 I used to go for very spicy but recently have kicked back (see what I did there?) as its not given me the best reaction afterwards. I did recently try eating some pickled chillies but just couldn't hack it like I used to.

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Andrew Hodgson @andrew@social.hodgson.io · Apr 03, 2026

Replying to @mcourcel@allovertheplace.ca

@mcourcel @alecmuffett Its a one-time only thing at the moment. Once you gone through the process you don't need to do it again.

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Andrew Hodgson @andrew@social.hodgson.io · Mar 31, 2026

Replying to @KaraLG84@dragonscave.space

@KaraLG84 On another tack sorry for not engaging with you in a while. I wondered what had happened to you and saw you in a mention the other week. Seemed our Mastodon accounts were in a weird follow state which I have had with a few accounts. I had to reset the follow request at my end and re-follow you. Not sure why that happens sometimes.

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Andrew Hodgson @andrew@social.hodgson.io · Mar 31, 2026

Replying to @KaraLG84@dragonscave.space

@KaraLG84 You may already know this, but if you hear a rumbling noise at the start of a comercial cassette its actually a very slow beep noise which cignifies to the duplication machine to cut the tape at that point.

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Andrew Hodgson @andrew@social.hodgson.io · Mar 30, 2026

Replying to @bigpawedbear@masto.nu

@bigpawedbear @FreakyFwoof On the Master machines the break key was near the up cursor. I did that a few times. If you were using a master computer there is a chance that you may have loaded Wordwise into sideways RAM from one disk then loaded the screen reader from another.

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Andrew Hodgson @andrew@social.hodgson.io · Mar 30, 2026

Replying to @bigpawedbear@masto.nu

@bigpawedbear @FreakyFwoof You needed a disk to get the screen reader up and running, however Wordwise was distributed as a ROM so no disks needed there.

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Andrew Hodgson @andrew@social.hodgson.io · Mar 25, 2026

Replying to @rootwyrm@weird.autos

@rootwyrm @SteveBellovin @astrashe @fsinn Yeah this isn't about protecting the consumers or doing the right thing in terms of long-term router support/firmware updates is it.

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Andrew Hodgson @andrew@social.hodgson.io · Mar 18, 2026

Replying to @RolloTreadway@beige.party

@vfrmedia @RolloTreadway I was looking at doing this for myself but then my GP moved me onto giving me a 3 month supply of medication. I don't know how common that is or if they can only do that with some medications but it works out cheaper now than buying this certificate.

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Andrew Hodgson @andrew@social.hodgson.io · Mar 05, 2026

I'm very please to be giving a career talk with TAVIP in the UK on Wednesday 18th March at 19:30 GMT via Zoom. I will be discussing various aspects of my career as a blind person in the IT industry, including my positions with various companies over the years. If you are interested please PM me and I can share you the TAVIP Zoom link.

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Andrew Hodgson @andrew@social.hodgson.io · Mar 04, 2026

Only found this out recently that my issues with FastSM was because I was rocking a clean install of Win11 that had Smart App Control enabled and it was blocking me. After disabling Smart App Control its all running fine, but this is a one-way operation which requires a reinstall of the OS to get it back should you want to.

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Andrew Hodgson @andrew@social.hodgson.io · Mar 04, 2026

That one makes me want to use Win11 Pro on my personal devices with EntraID authentication. Not sure if I would need to upgrade the EntraID plan as I'm on free at the moment, lets see if they can bring this to the personal ecosystem as well. At work we've just all been issued Ubikeys for a similar purpose.

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Andrew Hodgson @andrew@social.hodgson.io · Mar 04, 2026

Replying to @Prc320@mastodon.social

@Prc320@mastodon.social @soundshadow87@mstdn.social Yes I am at the moment but just trying to see how long I can go without switching as the classic Outlook will eventually go away.

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Andrew Hodgson @andrew@social.hodgson.io · Mar 04, 2026

Replying to @Prc320@mastodon.social

@soundshadow87@mstdn.social @Prc320@mastodon.social I've been making myself use this over the past week but will have to go back to the older Outlook its hugely inefficient for screen reader users.

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Andrew Hodgson @andrew@social.hodgson.io · Mar 03, 2026

We live in a mad world. Was scrolling through videos on Facebook as you do, and came across some AI clickbait video. Nothing unusual in that, but this one was voiced by Timothy Bentinck. Bet he didn't sanction that one.

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Andrew Hodgson @andrew@social.hodgson.io · Jul 27, 2023

Replying to @adrian@discuss.systems

@adrian@discuss.systems That gave me a laugh.

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