Alex S-V

@[email protected]
61 Followers
186 Following
1.4K Posts

Data Protection and Privacy specialist. Spends a lot of time with my head in my hands and you may know me from my past smash hit, "that's an interesting idea but you cant do that because it's illegal".

Wide range of interests so my follow list is, um, eclectic but largely full of nice, or at least interesting, people.

Posts may or may not be fully thought through...... probably not. Likes and reposts doesnt always mean I agree...

LocationUK
Alex S-VFeb 11
Victoria SongFeb 11

We're about two weeks into the fundraising window and at roughly 56% of our goal.

It's a tough time for journalists right now and anything we can do to help our laid-off colleagues land a little more softly is deeply appreciated.

RE: https://www.threads.com/@voxmediaunion/post/DUTNb2GEd40

Vox Media Union (@voxmediaunion) on Threads

Vox Media workers are facing tough times after recent layoffs. Many are now vulnerable in a challenging job market, and their contributions are more important than ever. If you’re able to donate and/or share this campaign to help support our laid-off colleagues, it’d be greatly appreciated. Thanks y’all!! https://gofund.me/cf03c6e21

Threads
Alex S-VFeb 11
Show threadVictoria SongFeb 11
We recognize that there are many laid-off journalists asking for financial help right now, and that it's impossible for everyone to donate to every single one of these. Anything you can do to signal boost this across your networks so this reaches more people is so appreciated. <3
Alex S-VJan 8
mhoyeJan 8

Daughter just came home to tell me the teachers at school tried to confiscate her vape but they couldn't because it's actually a kazoo.

"I made a kazoo noise at them and I could see them dying on the inside so I made a sad kazoo noise instead. I don't think it helped."

The grin on her face.

Alex S-VDec 23
BruceDec 22
Tesco, good, occasionally busy later. Sainsbury’s, moderate to good, rough in toilet roll aisle.
Asda, light to moderate, heavy crowds by evening.
M&S and Co-Op, fair.
Waitrose, fair to moderate.
Lidl, rough at first, easing later.
And that’s the end of the Shopping Forecast.
Alex S-VDec 23
Jules she/herDec 22

Today in "infrastructure isn't meant to do that" news from Normal Island, a canal has fallen down a hole.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c2lvq0yk9dko

Major incident declared over giant hole at Shropshire canal

Two boats have been left at the bottom of the cavity, where water has drained away.

BBC News
Alex S-VAug 13, 2025
PepijnAug 13, 2025

I'm on the server floor of a "highly secure data center with 24/7/365 surveillance, direct access control and robust perimeter security".

An actual duck just walked by. 🦆

The panic is absolutely glorious. I think this just became one of the highlights of my life.

Alex S-VJun 15, 2025
Paul Bassett DaviesJun 15, 2025
It’s exciting to receive a Valentine’s card and not know who it’s from. A Father’s Day card, not so much.
Alex S-VJun 11, 2025
Ellavescent ✨Jun 11, 2025
Three (UK) broke WiFi calling for iPhone and it needs an update to fix it, so if you suddenly can’t make calls anymore check in Settings - General - About. “Network Provider Three 64.1” is broken, 64.2 works again.
Alex S-VMay 11, 2025
Velocirooster adminensis May 11, 2025

THIS IS A TEST!

This is a test of the polling system. Please vote, especially if you are outside of beige.party. I'm trying to prove a theory that since v4.3.4 polls with more than 4 options only record votes from the local instance.

Who's your #1 muse?

Edit: Adding this here for visibility. This was not a bug in the Mastodon code, but rather the result of me increasing the max poll options on the web server but not on the server running the sidekiq processes.

More details here: https://github.com/mastodon/mastodon/issues/34662

Calliope
16.8%
Clio
6%
Polyhymnia
7.1%
Euterpe
4.3%
Terpsichore
12.5%
Erato
12.5%
Melpomene
9.2%
Thalia
18.5%
Urania
13%
Poll ended at .
Polls with more than four options only report votes from the local instance · Issue #34662 · mastodon/mastodon

Steps to reproduce the problem Increase the max number of poll options by modifying MAX_OPTIONS in app/validators/poll_options_validator.rb Post a poll with more than 4 options Wait for users from ...

GitHub
Alex S-VMay 11, 2025
Velocirooster adminensis May 11, 2025

THIS IS A TEST!

This is a test of the polling system. Please vote, especially if you are outside of beige.party. I'm trying to prove a theory that since v4.3.4 polls with more than 4 options only record votes from the local instance. This poll is the control.

What's your favorite temper?

Edit: Adding this here for visibility. This was not a bug in the Mastodon code, but rather the result of me increasing the max poll options on the web server but not on the server running the sidekiq processes.

More details here: https://github.com/mastodon/mastodon/issues/34662

Woe
9.6%
Frolic
49.9%
Dread
21.6%
Malice
18.9%
Poll ended at .
Polls with more than four options only report votes from the local instance · Issue #34662 · mastodon/mastodon

Steps to reproduce the problem Increase the max number of poll options by modifying MAX_OPTIONS in app/validators/poll_options_validator.rb Post a poll with more than 4 options Wait for users from ...

GitHub