Author | Lightnews

James Read

@jamesread.bsky.social

440 followers 54 following 130 posts

A "full stack" Open Source enthusiast, creating http://OliveTin.app and other no-nonsense open source software. Dad, hobbiest developer & Red Hatter. Find by blog, GitHub and contact details at jread.com.

OliveTin.app

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James Read @jamesread.bsky.social · 2d

New blog post: #ai #vibecoding blog.jread.com/posts/vibe-c...

Vibe Coding Does Not Solve GIGO

I fondly remember this quote when I first heard it - and it made me chuckle. However this is such a good reminder of “GIGO” (Garbage In, Garbage Out) that is so relevant in today’s world of AI and esp...

blog.jread.com

James Read @jamesread.bsky.social · 6d

The #selfhosted survey finishes today; https://selfh.st/survey/2025-open/ I really enjoyed completing it, talking about all the stuff I self host!

James Read @jamesread.bsky.social · 9d

I'm having to repair my Wife's #Windows 10 PC, after the boot configuration data is apparently unreadable. I don't use Windows anymore, and I can see why; apparently I cannot just download a simple Windows 10 ISO recovery disk with a SHA-sum?

James Read @jamesread.bsky.social · 12d

Ah, now I see the issue! - you were using AI, instead of your brain!

James Read @jamesread.bsky.social · 15d

www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Tkg...

Stacey Dooley & Ben Zand Discuss Prince Andrew’s Rent, AI and Israeli Football Team Ban | Untangled

YouTube video by Channel 4 Documentaries

www.youtube.com

James Read @jamesread.bsky.social · 15d

Very interesting 1st podcast episode for topical events in the UK right now - easy to listen to, subscribed. :-) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TkgbHGoOx4

James Read @jamesread.bsky.social · 18d

There is something to be said that many apps eventually will grow enough features to probably invent their own DSL, and become Turing complete themselves!

James Read @jamesread.bsky.social · 19d

I've just started working with #Cursor on remote projects over SSH - and I have to say the experience is very good. It feels very weird when I've got 20 years of muscle memory running [n]vim remotely!

James Read @jamesread.bsky.social · 20d

Really enjoyed this story approach to talking about Tor - educating government about privacy etc: https://youtu.be/djM70O0SnsY?si=1aWwJD2nBn-Ud6Nb 2025-10-18 07:03:38

James Read @jamesread.bsky.social · 20d

Wooo! BlueSky support working in Japella! :-D Yay!

James Read @jamesread.bsky.social · 20d

test

James Read @jamesread.bsky.social · 23d

Delighted to announce that the #OliveTin helm chart is now marked as "official" on ArtifactHub! artifacthub.io/packages/hel... #automation #linux

olivetin 3.0.5 · olivetin/olivetin

A OliveTin Helm chart for Kubernetes

artifacthub.io

James Read @jamesread.bsky.social · Aug 22

I'm proud to release the first version of: StencilBox - a tool for generating static websites from YAML data, eg: homepage of links, sidebars of links, status pages, etc. #selfhosted #homelab #opensource #docker github.com/jamesread/St... .

GitHub - jamesread/StencilBox: Generate super speedy simple static sites, from sleek templates.

Generate super speedy simple static sites, from sleek templates. - jamesread/StencilBox

github.com

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James Read @jamesread.bsky.social · Aug 13

I'm frantically trying to copy some TV and Films to the kid's tablets via SD card, just before we go away on holiday. You forget just how slow SD cards are... I think it's only a Class 10 - so 10MB/s - need to pick up some UHS-II cards for situations like this!

James Read @jamesread.bsky.social · Jul 15

When looking at Currys (highstreet electrical retailer in the UK) for a **DisplayPort 1.4** cable that I need today, this was suggested at checkout... Not used one of those in 15, 20 years?!

James Read @jamesread.bsky.social · Jul 12

Today I learned that JSON doesn't technically support ints and floats, only "numbers"... so it's up to the parser to determine how to parse it (Golang hence uses float64). Also, the "standard" is 16 pages of mostly whitespace, and is unironically ECMA standard number 404...

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James Read @jamesread.bsky.social · Jul 9

Another totally innocent Amazon order that is likely to confuse the Amazon warehouse packer person... Huel because I'm fed up with cooking, Funnels for cold brew coffee, and new rigger gloves because I tore up a pair at the weekend pulling weeds out of the garden.

James Read @jamesread.bsky.social · Jun 30

Fascinating interview with Karen Hao; on politician AI understanding, as well as ethical and environmental concerns of the "scale up" approach. Just grabbed her "Empire of AI: inside the reckless race for total domination" audiobook. youtu.be/8enXRDlWguU?...

Silicon Valley Insider EXPOSES Cult Like AI Companies | Aaron Bastani Meets Karen Hao

YouTube video by Novara Media

youtu.be

James Read @jamesread.bsky.social · Jun 28

Been looking through the Bluesky OAuth2 requirements - it's wild. rfc7591 dynamic client registration, PAR, DPoP, Client metadata JWK- quite different from lots of other OAuth services I've worked with! Only familiar with PKCE. Excited to get it working though!

James Read @jamesread.bsky.social · Jun 26

Still having lots of fun building Japella. It's still incredibly rough, but got a lot of the core systems implemented. It's free open source software.

James Read @jamesread.bsky.social · Jun 25

My cooling fan needs a firmware update...

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James Read @jamesread.bsky.social · Jun 19

Having lots of fun hacking on #Japella, added API keys support, multiple language support, logins etc. Permissions, Settings Editor and Bluesky coming next! #coding #selfhosted

James Read @jamesread.bsky.social · Jun 17

Quite a bit of progress on Japella over the last 24 hours :-) Added language support and rebuilt the nav. OAuth2 working fine for Mastodon and Twitter, but working on user accounts now. Still sandbox quality, but moving fast. #opensource #coding #selfhosted

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James Read @jamesread.bsky.social · Jun 11

Day 3 in a series of fixing #homelab hardware things I've been putting off for far too long: the new array from yesterday is built, properly cable routed, and all the old disks have been retired. Didn't have to use backups, yay!

James Read @jamesread.bsky.social · Jun 10

Day 2 in a series of fixing #homelab hardware things I've been putting off for far too long. A 5 drive raid6 of 2Tb disks...11 years old... that is down to 3 drives. I bought replacement 16tb drives weeks ago. I have backups, but I don't *want* to use them. Will it last the night?! #raidisnotabackup