Alistair McMillan

@alistairmcmillan

I build stuff, but mostly I fix stuff. When I’m not breaking stuff.

258 Siguiendo284 Seguidores89 Publicaciones

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Matt Jefferies (1921-2003) designer of the starship Enterprise from the original #StarTrek, and many of its icon ships, props and sets, was born 105 yrs ago yesterday. Spent some time improving his #Wikitree profile and expanding his tree from 251 connections to 522. www.wikitree.com/wiki/Jefferi...

Alistair McMillan@alistairmcmillan· Jul 24

Whenever I visit the Science Museum I look for this NeXT Computer. They have it as Tim Berners-Lee used one to create the Web. But it's also notable for NeXTSTEP that Apple bought, and evolved into Mac OS X & iPhone OS. No NeXTSTEP, no iPhone. No iPhone, no reason for Google to acquire Android.

The distinctive black cube NeXT Computer, with attached monitor, keyboard and mouse, on display in London's Science Museum.

Alistair McMillan@alistairmcmillan· Jun 10

I'm not a fan of all this LLM AI nonsense. But I do use it now and again to see what happens. Almost every time they make some weird mistake, or use 100 lines of code to do something that could be just 10 lines. At least when you point it out they confirm it.

GitHub Copilot using Claude Haiku 4.5 acknowledging their less than optimal solution: "You're absolutely right! That's much cleaner. Here's the better approach:"

Alistair McMillan@alistairmcmillan· May 23

Star Trek: The Next Generation title card for a hypothetical episode called "A Fragment Of Underdone Potato".

Star Trek: The Next Generation title card for a hypothetical episode called "Mankind Was My Business".

Star Trek: The Next Generation title card for a hypothetical episode called "Chain of Command, Part III: The Chain I Forged In Life".

Star Trek: The Next Generation title card for a hypothetical episode called "You There, Boy! What Day Is It?".

Alistair McMillan@alistairmcmillan· May 23

Star Trek: The Next Generation title card for a hypothetical episode called "For a Few Datas More".

Star Trek: The Next Generation title card for a hypothetical episode called "The Good, the Borg and the Ferengi".

Alistair McMillan@alistairmcmillan· Apr 26

Had to look up the quote. Can’t argue with any of what Craig Mazin says here. ew.com/tv/2019/06/0...

I think what we're struggling with now is something worse. The planet is heating, the climate is changing. We know this. We have not just one scientist or two, but thousands screaming this at us at the top of their lungs.
And we have a government full of disinterested, stubborn people who are going to cling to their denial and their nonsense. And that's where we are. Like I said, we are in the control room right now, and there is time, but it's running out. If there's something that people take away from this, I hope it's not "blah, communism is bad" Yes, communism is bad, correct. The Soviet system is terrible, correct. That ended in 1991, here is what is going on right now in our country and every country. This is what we should be demanding of our politicians: a willingness to just deal with the truth and let their narratives go. Easier said than done, it would seem. So I'm forever hopeful, I can't stop being hopeful - but l am forever concerned.

Alistair McMillan@alistairmcmillan· Feb 24

Some people meditate to relax. Some do yoga. Some attend gong baths. Others crack open #Blender and recreate the sets from their favourite TV show. 🤷‍♂️ #startrekthenextgeneration #ussenterprise #ussenterprised #ncc1701d

Alistair McMillan@alistairmcmillan· Feb 10

Clearest photo I've found is from MarvelPhx's photos of the six foot model. Never defined in the show, but definitely looks like something more than just positional lights. myenterprised.com/the-six-foot...

Alistair McMillan@alistairmcmillan· Feb 10

Not in an episode, but Okuda & Sternbach did explain it in the Voyager Technical Guide, page 12. And I have vague (possibly wrong) memories of it being mentioned during on-screen and magazine interviews at the time.

Screen capture from v1.0 of the Voyager Technical Guide: "Variable Geometry Warp Nacelles: Because Voyager employs a new folding wing-and-nacelle configuration, warp fields may no longer have a negative impact on habitable worlds, as established in TNG."

Alistair McMillan@alistairmcmillan· Jan 2

My new favourite place to stay when we’re visiting Glasgow. View ain’t bad from up here. #tolbooth #tolboothsteeple #merchantcity #merchantcityglasgow #glasgow #scotland

Alistair McMillan@alistairmcmillan· Dec 4

Didn't realise what I was building for today's puzzle until I'd built it, but this is cool. #AdventOfCode adventofcode.com/2025/day/4

Alistair McMillan@alistairmcmillan· Aug 9

Staircase up from Thames foreshore with complete set of steps, probably cause they’re stone rather than wood.

The shard and Tower Bridge in the distance from the Thames foreshore.

Alistair McMillan@alistairmcmillan· Aug 9

Another staircase down to the Thames foreshore that is missing most steps.

Another staircase down to the Thames foreshore that is missing about half of the steps.

Step ladder mounted on wall leading up from Thames foreshore.

Looking up at “Oliver’s Wharf” warehouse from the Thames foreshore.

Alistair McMillan@alistairmcmillan· Aug 9

Love that you can walk along the Thames foreshore at low tide. PS I’m doing a walking challenge. step.diabetes.org.uk/fundraising/... #london #thames #diabetes #walking #challenge

Staircase down to Thames foreshore missing most steps

Mix of cables and chains and foliage linking two boats on the Thames that seem to have been there for a while.

Old warehouse on the Thames north shore with an old rusty crane mounted on the side of the building.

Alistair McMillan@alistairmcmillan· Jun 20

Human artist? Use one piece to convince people to follow you.

3D animation, built and rendered in Blender, of a paddle wheel from the last seagoing paddle-steamer Waverley, showing the eight wooden paddles and the offset Jenny Nettles mechanism that angles the paddles so that they enter the water at a, more efficient, near vertical angle.

Alistair McMillan@alistairmcmillan· Mar 17

Went for a wander down Brick Lane at lunchtime. #streetart #streetartist #art #graffiti #graffitiart #londongraffiti

Alistair McMillan@alistairmcmillan· Mar 17

Never noticed this mentioned anywhere but did the entire MSD unit get replaced between season 2 and 3 of #StarTrekTNG? In the first two seasons it has a flat top and no bezel. From the third the top is slanted down toward the room, a large bezel and vertical separators. Captures from @trekcore.com.

Geordi La Forge (Levar Burton) and Sonya Gomez (Lycia Naff) in front of the Engineering master systems display in the Star Trek The Next Generation second season episode Q Who.

Roga Danar (Jeff McCarthy) and an unconscious crewmember in front of the Engineering master systems display in the Star Trek The Next Generation third season episode The Hunted.

Alistair McMillan@alistairmcmillan· Jan 1

Started the New Year by completing the Portfolio Piece iOS dev course by @seanallen.bsky.social. Fun learning SwiftUI basics in a structured guided way rather than randomly prodding at Apple docs. Now to go back and add blood glucose charts… seanallen.teachable.com

Screenshot of Sean Allen’s Portfolio Piece course sitting at 100% complete.

Alistair McMillan@alistairmcmillan· Dec 26

From Ancestry: "The facts in this collection were found using #artificialintelligence technology and may contain errors." 1) My gran wasn't a "Mr" 2) Her name didn't start with the letter J 3) She wasn't officiating sport events at the age of 1 But aside from that super useful hint, thanks. #fail

Hint from Ancestry, produced by artificial intelligence, suggesting that my gran Elizabeth Hunter Hamilton (nee Jack) born in 1911 might be the "Mr J Hunter Hamilton" who officiated at a football game in 1912.

Alistair McMillan@alistairmcmillan· Dec 14

She does have a console. Can’t remember how often we saw Troi using it, but I’m sure we did see her using it now and again.

Image of Picard, Riker and Troi on the bridge from the pilot Encounter at Farpoint.

Alistair McMillan@alistairmcmillan· Dec 12

It's not in the final film, but in one draft of the script there was a little explanation. Starfleet tradition and regulations.

Screenshot of Wrath of Khan script. Kirk: "In accordance with the traditions of Starfleet and of Article 184 Starfleet Regulations, we are assembled here today to pay final respects to our honored dead."

Alistair McMillan@alistairmcmillan· Dec 3

@monzo.com At higher text sizes on iOS some fields become unreadable. This is just 110%. “Some accounts need a reference for th…” #accessibility

Screenshot of Monzo app on iOS with text sizes set to 110%. Subtitle is cut off.

Alistair McMillan@alistairmcmillan· Dec 3

But now Meta have announced they are getting rid of the Spark platform on 14th January 2025. So if you'd like to give this filter a try before it disappears scan the QR code in the image below. 3/3

QR code that loads the Glasgow Traffic Cone Instagram filter.

Alistair McMillan@alistairmcmillan· Dec 3

Never really did anything to publicise this aside from a single Instagram post. And then basically forgot about it. Since then this silly filter has been used to create 4.9k captures, which were shared 1.4k times. It was even used 536 times during Facebook video calls. 2/3

Statistics for Glasgow Traffic Cone instagram filter. 30.3K opens, 4.9K captures, 907 saves, 1.4K shares, 536 video call uses, 40.5K impressions, 7s average time open.

Alistair McMillan@alistairmcmillan· Dec 3

Way back in 2020, inspired by a Corridor Digital video, I had a go at creating an Instagram filter using the Spark platform. And what says #Glasgow more than wearing a traffic cone on your head like our very own Duke of Wellington statue. 1/3