The Wiert Corner – irregular stream of stuff

Jeroen W. Pluimers on .NET, C#, Delphi, databases, and personal interests

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Archive for 2026

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Is Fortran better than Python for teaching the basics of numerical linear algebra? – Dr. Jean-Christophe Loiseau

Posted by jpluimers on 2026/01/13

The summary of [Wayback/Archive] Is Fortran better than Python for teaching the basics of numerical linear algebra? – Dr. Jean-Christophe Loiseau is:

  1. 1-based indexing prevents off-by-1 errors
  2. structure is key, especially these foundations:
    • clear begin/end constructs instead of visual clues
    • strong typing
  3. verbose programming languages are easier to learn than non-verbose ones

Modern Fortran helps a lot here and shows that after the initial 13 year gaps between FORTRAN 77 and Fortran 90, and between Fortran 90 and Fortran 2003 (the ANSI Standard Fortran and Fortran 95 in between versions were just minor updates), Modern Fortran has come a very long way and now as a thriving community and an extensive list of Fortran software and tools.

Other typed languages and tool sets like C# and Delphi come to mind here as well though you need libraries with 1-based data structures to solve the first point.

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Posted in Development, Fortran, Learning/Teaching, LifeHacker, Power User, Python, Scripting, Software Development | Leave a Comment »

Does Odido (the old T-Mobile Netherlands) which took over Tweak Internet (they supported IPv6) already support IPv6?

Posted by jpluimers on 2026/01/12

I am writing this early 2025, shortly after Odido introduced “Klik & Klaar” for EUR 25/month: yet another of their internet products, this time over 5G, and yet again: no IPv6 support, just like their DSL and fiber products.

This post is a reminder to check if by now Odido has started supporting IPv6.

I know that at the time of writing, of the large Dutch mobile providers, only KPN supported IPv6, but both Vodafone and Odido didn’t. However, for Vodafone it is not a technical limitation: their bean counters need an upgrade to their billing system. The Odido back-haul technically isn’t ready for IPv6 at all.

Regrettably, The Netherlands has been behind on IPv6 adoption, which is a shame for a knowledge worker country. UK, Belgium, Germany, France, Greece, Hungary and even Russia are doing far better on IPv6 adoption:

Hopefully that has changed by now.

Edit 20261214: no, that has not changed, see a reaction at [WaybackFailed/ArchiveFailed] Odido verhoogt prijs van Klik&Klaar met 1 euro naar 26 euro per maand – Tweakers (which regrettably can neither be archived in the Wayback Machine nor Archive.is):

En Odido heeft ook nog eens geen IPv6. Anno 2026 loop je dan echt enorm achter.

Translated:

And Odido still does not support IPv6. Anno 2026, they are far behind.

Related / background information:

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Posted in FreedomInternet, Internet, ISP, KPN, Odido (ex Dutch T-Mobile), Power User, Tele2, xs4all, Ziggo/UPC/A2000 | 1 Comment »

WireGuard site-to-site VPN between GL.iNET and pfSense

Posted by jpluimers on 2026/01/12

Some links and notes that might help me getting WireGuard site-to-site VPN working between GL.iNET and pfSense.

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Posted in GL.iNet, GL.iNET GL-SFT1200, Hardware, Network-and-equipment, Power User, VPN, Wireguard | Leave a Comment »

Shrishailya Chavan on X: “@jatinkrmalik Speculation is fine until the entire supply chain starts optimizing for a world that only exists on pitch decks. At some point, physics, cash flow, and grid capacity pull everything back to reality.”

Posted by jpluimers on 2026/01/12

The reason why RAM has become four times more expensive is that a huge amount of RAM that has not yet been produced was purchased with non-existent money to be installed in GPUs that also have not yet been produced, in order to place them in data centers that have not yet been built, powered by infrastructure that may never appear, to satisfy demand that does not actually exist and to obtain profit that is mathematically impossible.

https://x.com/jatinkrmalik/status/2009689523513618887

https://x.com/Shrishailya_5/status/2009879354315288862

https://x.com/Shrishailya_5/status/2009908756830957891

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

Empirical units, π, 𝑒 and 𝜙 (pi, e, and phi)

Posted by jpluimers on 2026/01/09

Being a non-native English speaker and having monaural hearing¹, the first time visiting the USA I thought they mentioned Empirical Units² when they tried to explain miles, feet and other measurement units they use on their island.

Then I learned they are in fact United States customary units but in the USA, they actually name those Imperial Units, implying that the UK still has a very strong influence on the USA. In reality, there are differences³ between Imperial Units and United States customary units to keep things in the USA practical (or lazy if you want), so I will keep calling their system Empirical Units as it is more fit for purpose (can’t name them Freedom Units any more given their Project 2025 regime).

Anyway, quite a while ago there was this cool XKCD “The Maritime Approximation” (image on the right) including only Imperial Units holding for Empirical Units as well: π mph ≈ 𝑒 kn (let’s use ISO unit symbols here, shall we) which is correct to < 0.5%.

Recently, I learned that with the same accuracy, there is a golden ratio between metric and Imperial/Empirical Units: 𝜙 km = 1 mi, also correct to < 0.5%.

Kevlin Henney wrote two great blog posts on these explaining way more background information:

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Posted in LifeHacker, Power User | Leave a Comment »

Fontendo (@Fontendou) / Twitter: Identifying & documenting fonts, obscure and otherwise from video games and other media.

Posted by jpluimers on 2026/01/09

Interesting as I know very little about fonts in Japan and the evolution:

[Wayback/Archive] Fontendo (@Fontendou) / Twitter

Identifying & documenting fonts, obscure and otherwise from video games and other media.

It is by [Wayback/Archive] Kaihatsu (@KaihatsuYT) / Twitter

Creativity through culture, & cultural literacy through games. Type designer in Japan.

Via: [Wayback/Archive] What’s the deal with this font? – YouTube

–jeroen

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Posted in Font, Power User | Leave a Comment »

What was before JPEG? #pcx #shorts – YouTube

Posted by jpluimers on 2026/01/08

I feel old, because I vividly remember the PCX (1985) graphics file format: it was the defacto standard under DOS.

TIFF (1986) was slightly younger, and came from the scanner background resulting in very large files though unlike PCX (which had lossless compression), TIFF supported both lossless and lossy compression.

On Windows and OS/2, you had BMP (1985, lossless initially only black and white).

All three suffered from the same problems: different implementations causing all sorts of compatibility problems

Those were the reason for the implementation of newer file formats for graphics like JPG (1992, lossy) and PNG (1996, lossless).

[Wayback/Archive] What was before JPEG? #pcx #shorts – YouTube – @Vitaskhr

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Posted in Development, History, Software Development | Tagged: , | Leave a Comment »

Triink – low power BLE E-Paper Clock | Hackaday.io

Posted by jpluimers on 2026/01/08

Cool: [Wayback/Archive] Triink – low power BLE E-Paper Clock | Hackaday.io

Video: [Wayback/Archive] Triink Assembly – Hackaday.io Project – YouTube

Via: [Wayback/Archive] atc1441 on Twitter: “Released my project for the @hackaday 2023 Low Power Challenge 2023 to @hackadayio The Triink BLE E-Paper Clock”

–jeroen

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Posted in Arduino, Development, Electronics Development, Hardware Development | Leave a Comment »

A Friendly Introduction to SVG • Josh W. Comeau

Posted by jpluimers on 2026/01/07

SVG can be beautifully crafted XML representing vector graphics with full support for CSS while also supporting raster graphics. [Wayback/Archive] A Friendly Introduction to SVG • Josh W. Comeau explains how you can do that.

Note that in practice most tools generate horrible SVG and CSS.

Via [Wayback/Archive] I finally get how SVGs work – YouTube

--jeroen

[Wayback/Archive] I finally get how SVGs work – YouTube

Posted in Development, Software Development, SVG, Web Development, XML, XML/XSD | Leave a Comment »

How to Do a UDP Ping in Linux

Posted by jpluimers on 2026/01/07

Often connections are TCP based, but sometimes UDP is all you have to test with, so I was quite surprised that testing that was quite forward. The solutions by [Wayback/Archive] How to Do a UDP Ping in Linux works on any platform where you can have nmap or netcat on installed (which by now is almost all platforms including Windows):

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Posted in *nix, *nix-tools, Apple, BSD, Mac OS X / OS X / MacOS, netcat, nmap, Power User, Windows | Leave a Comment »

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