@www.bentasker.co.uk@rss-parrot.net
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The website of Ben Tasker, IT Manager, Linux Specialist and software developer. I'm based in Suffolk in the UK but work with customers worldwide
Site URL: www.bentasker.co.uk/
Feed URL: www.bentasker.co.uk/rss.xml
Posts: 11
Followers: 1
Looking At Changes In The UKs Solar Capacity
Published: July 14, 2025 07:00
Yesterday, I read an interesting article about this spring's UK solar output being 42% higher than in the same period last year. The article notes that, although the sun shone a lot more, increased sunlight wasn't the only driver of this increase in…
Configuring Split Horizon DNS with Pi-Hole and Tailscale
Published: July 5, 2025 16:05
I've long had some form of VPN for my devices to use when I'm out and about. Although I used to run OpenVPN, I moved to Tailscale a little while back. Tailscale builds a mesh network using Wireguard protocol and so is able to connect and run quite a bit…
Syndicating Content Into A Telegram Channel With Python
Published: June 24, 2025 07:25
A couple of years ago, as part of adopting a POSSE (Publish On Own Site, Syndicate Elsewhere) approach, I started to automate syndication of my content into other networks. In the time that's passed since, I've added and removed automation for various…
Containerising Calibre-Server To Read And Annotate Ebooks Via Web Browser
Published: June 23, 2025 07:20
I'm going to an in-person event later this year and, in preparation, attendees have been asked to read (and make notes on) a specific book. For me, this presents something of a challenge: although I used to be an avid reader, nowadays I really struggle to…
Dealing With Nuisance Abuse Complaints
Published: June 7, 2025 14:20
This week, I've been wrong about (at least) two things, believing that: I was done with the Copytrack stuff: I sent them proof of license and subsequently audited my image use to ensure they'd never have any excuse to darken my virtual doorway again. I…
Replacing the Valve In a Stuck or Dripping Tap
Published: June 5, 2025 20:01
I hate plumbing and, as a result, tend to try and put off any job where a mistake could lead to an inexorable drip-drip that might only become apparent when a ceiling comes down - admittedly, not too likely when repairing a stuck tap. A stuck tap is also…
Deploying Anubis to protect against AI scrapers
Published: June 2, 2025 22:04
Much like others on the net, I've seen a marked increase in traffic to my sites. The new requests sport browser-like user-agents and originate from a range of IPs. Between them, though, they browse much more rapidly and systematically than human users…
Two years of solar
https://www.bentasker.co.uk/posts/blog/house-stuff/second-year-of-solar.html?utm_source=rss
Published: May 27, 2025 19:10
We've now had a solar install for 2 years (give or take a couple of days). Although last year's summer wasn't as sunny as the previous year, May 2025 has got this year off to a good start (at least, if you ignore the fact that it's raining as I write…
Automating an audit of my image use
Published: May 26, 2025 19:15
Earlier this month, I ended up with a known copyright troll in my inbox. As a result of not doing much (if any) due diligence, Copytrack seem to have acquired a customer base who (if reports are to be believed) like to upload other peoples stock images…
Examining A Copyright Claim From Copytrack
Published: May 10, 2025 20:55
This morning, I awoke to find an email from Copytrack in my inbox. If that name sounds vaguely familiar, it's because they made a bit of a name for themselves as a copyright troll in the early 2020's (including by trying to enforce "rights" on a photo of…
Doggy Boot Build
Published: April 18, 2025 13:53
The Mini is now gone: It failed one time too many, so we sent it to the great scrapyard in the sky (via, uhhh, the smaller and very definitely land based, local scrapyard). The replacement is a Vauxhall Zafira, chosen, in no small part, because the size of…