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The Sham That Is The British TV Licence

Wed, 15 Oct 2025 23:01:37 +0100

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland: a free, democratic country… in which you require a paid licence in order to be permitted to own a television set.

Amsterdam 2025

Wed, 20 Aug 2025 00:13:23 +0100

Yesterday, I got back from a two day trip to Amsterdam. Here are the reflections of a stubborn Englishman on a trip to a truly progressive city.

Parks and Recreation, Mockumentaries and Life

Thu, 31 Jul 2025 00:39:26 +0100

It’s summer 2009. Obama is in the White House, Minecraft is released to the public, and American audiences are cozying up once again to the idea of a mockumentary.

The Making of Join Castaway.tf

Sun, 15 Sep 2024 01:21:19 +0100

For some time now, I’ve been working on a video project which is sort of a mini-trailer for a TF2 server I play on quite regularly called castaway.tf. This is how it was made.

Blog Migration

Tue, 10 Sep 2024 13:58:17 +0100

Like all great, wild animals, the humble webblog must occasionally embark upon the mighty journey of a migration.

Hello World

Thu, 01 Aug 2024 04:21:56 +0100

Hello, world! This is my first testing post to see if this system will work. Nothing to see here!

The Actual Definition of Physics

Sun, 19 Nov 2023 00:00:00 +0000

I often hear a lot of very flowery definitions of Physics, such as “The Application of the Scientific Method to Natural Law” or “The Investigation of the Laws of the Universe”. However, much of this appears to make Physics seem much more all-encompassing than it truly is. For example, a Physicist does not concern himself with questions of purely abstract philosophy. What is beauty? Perhaps he may have an opinion, but an objective answer evidently eludes him. Arguably, such an answer could never come from within Physics itself purely due to the nature of the question. If we were to take any of the above answers from above, though, it should be logically true that we can build on the foundations which Physics has given us to find an answer. This is obvious nonsense.

Neither voltage nor current kill

Sun, 03 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Quite a common adage heard in HVAC schools or electrician training is that “Volts jolt, but current kills”. I would like to put forward my argument today that this is completely incorrect. Instead, I will argue that it is, in fact, the work done by a circuit element which causes the danger.

Myth Busters: TF2 Scout Hitbox

Mon, 30 May 2022 00:00:00 +0000

In TF2, there was a rumor around a while ago that the Scout could, if given enough increases to his base movement speed, outrun the hitbox used for hitscan and/or projectile collision detection. This is completely false, but the reasons are quite interesting, so I would like to explain why I believe it to be false.

GNU Options are Awesome

Sun, 22 May 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Generally speaking, when I write in C or some other language that uses command line flags or POSIX-style interfaces, I try to stay away from spec extensions. There are numerous reasons behind this, including but not limited to acceptance, portability and stability. However, there is one exception to this rule. I love GNU option parsing.

The Feeling of Physics

Wed, 04 May 2022 00:00:00 +0000

There is a certain fundamental feeling that comes alongside doing physics (particularly theoretical) which is unexpectedly heady and exhilarating - a feeling that you would never expect to experience when doing simple mathematical calculations.

Language Teaching is Fundamentally Broken

Wed, 16 Mar 2022 00:00:00 +0000

I have been in formal language education for a total of four years now, learning Spanish for Brittish GCSEs, and this has led me to the unfortunate conclusion that language teaching and learning has been fundamentally broken by the modern day. This links in to an overall theme that the Brittish GCSE system is fundamentally broken, but that is a topic for a later date. In this instance, I would like to focus specifically on the twisted mess that has become of the holy mantle of passing language through the generations.

Public Emails for Paranoid UNIX Users

Sun, 13 Mar 2022 00:00:00 +0000

I have been dealing with spam on my public email address for quite some time now, and it finally got to the peak of my patience with the the following email, sent to my email not so long ago:

Is software with zero errors possible?

Sat, 27 Nov 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Could it ever be possible to create sofware with zero errors? Software which is so perfect that it is not possible for it to ever do something unexpected, undefined or contain any errata of any kind? To answer this question, let’s take one of the most simple programs physically possible: hello world. For the moment, I will be writing in very generic pseudocode, for reasons which will become clear in due course. Here is an example of “hello, world” written in my flavour of pseudocode:

Why People Are Suspicious of Climate Activism

Sat, 06 Nov 2021 00:00:00 +0000

I should preface this with a half disclaimer: I actually do believe in climate change and think that it is a real problem which needs solving. From a purely engineering-based point of view, fossil fuels are a finite resource which is destined to run out at an increasingly exponential rate. As demand increases, the amount of these fuels we would have to burn would also increase, leading to their exhaustion at an increased rate, making it next to impossible for us to replenish them. Therefore, I do think that moving away from fossil fuels is important and will be required in the near future. However, I am much more optimistic than many climate activists. This will just be one other small blip of a problem on the journey of human progress that we will solve and that won’t set us back very far.

The Joy of Accidental Discoveries

Mon, 01 Nov 2021 00:00:00 +0000

When I was younger, I didn’t really communicate at all with the wider programming world. At the time, I was programming on an early 2010s iMac with a stock copy of Python 3 IDLE installed, trying to make games using Tkinter and PyGame. Most of the programs that I created at that time have now been lost. But, I recently did some digging back through many of my old hard drives, and discovered some fascinating things. It seems like the nine-year-old me had accidentally done some very interesting stuff, including some very interesting accidental discoveries. Here is a list of some of the highlights…

Top 10 Ways to Crash Your Linux System

Wed, 29 Sep 2021 00:00:00 +0000

I recently made my collection of personal tools public on GitHub under the name of EUtils. These are real tools that I do use in real life to do somewhat useful things. But, about midway through making one of them, I realised just how many of them can be used to crash a linux box…

An Appraisal of J. C Leyendecker

Sat, 25 Sep 2021 00:00:00 +0000

J. C Leyendecker’s art is what I like to call the “Art Style of the 1950s”. Leyendecker’s work is so stereotypically 50s in nature, in fact, that it is continually used by things, such as The Incredibles and Team Fortress 2, to imitate the dress sense and appearance of the era. But why? Why is it that Leyendecker’s work is so memorable and stereotypical to its era that it is continually returned to as a reference point? Well, my answer is that its simplicity and representation of the era is its genius.

Scott Joplin was a Genius

Wed, 22 Sep 2021 00:00:00 +0000

It is very rare in the world of music that you come across something which you believe to be totally perfect. A piece which is so wonderfully intricate and yet to perfectly easy to listen to that you daren’t change a single note, as that may upset the balance and ruin it. At least, for me, it was particularly rare until I re-discovered the undisputed king of ragtime: Scott Joplin.

The One Thing MLK Got Wrong

Sun, 19 Sep 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is a legend in the history of the United States civil rights movement. During the late 1950s and most of the 1960s (up to his assasination), MLK campaigned for official rights for racial equality under the law and in discrimination law to be incorperated by the US government. He placed a heavy focus on non violent protests and resistance, and he always condemned what he called a “vocal, numeric minority” of his group who thought that violence was the answer. His explanation of this growing voilent faction was that a “riot is the reaction of the unheard”.

A Bad Movie

Wed, 01 Sep 2021 00:00:00 +0000

There is something deeply saddening and disheartening about a bad movie. Perhaps it is the realisation that somebody infinitely more talented and with more resources than you will ever have has managed to use all of that to create this. Or, perhaps, it is the realisation that the entertainment gods are not actually as perfect as they seem, and that not everything they touch turns golden. Or perhaps it’s just the wasted ticket fare.

C vs Go: Opinionated Design in Programming Languages

Tue, 10 Aug 2021 00:00:00 +0000

The C programming language and the Go programming languages are my all-time favorite tools for programming. Full stop. These two languages are so versatile, so extensible and so incredibly useful that I have yet to come across a problem in which neither of the two is appropriate for use. And yet, these two languages are, evidently from even the slightest bit of use, radically different in their approaches to programming language design. Having sat down and had a serious think about the subject, I have finally come to a conclusion about what this fundamental difference is.

C++: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

Sun, 25 Jul 2021 00:00:00 +0000

C++ is not exactly known for its elegant syntax or concise expressiveness. It is a pretty common joke to hear in the programming world that “C++ is the only language where the error message may actually be longer than the program that caused it”. Now, be that as it may, I think its more accurate to say that “C++ is the only language where the symbol name will be longer than the program that uses it”. Take the following example:

The Golden Rule of C Programming

Sat, 26 Jun 2021 00:00:00 +0000

The C Programming Language is my all time favorite programming language. Not only do I write as much of it as possible, I have yet to come across any problem that C is incapable of solving - which is simply not the case for languages such as JavaScript or PHP. But, I would be an absolute lier if I were to claim that C is perfect. The high-level ease yet low-level control that C hands to the programmer is often criticised as not hiding enough details away from the user. Now, I like it this way, but it does have some unfortunate consiquences. For instance, in Python, to get user input, all you have to do is the following:

I do not want an autism pride day

Fri, 18 Jun 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Apparently, the day I am writing this on is “officially” designated as “Autism Pride Day”. According to Wikipedia, this day is “designated to celebrating autistic people and recognising the importance of pride for autistic people and its role in bringing about positive changes in the broader society”.

Your Handy "Far Right" Checklist

Mon, 07 Jun 2021 00:00:00 +0000

So, in the year 2021, it appears that the definition of the phrase “Far Right” has been morphed from a person who is on the extreme right wing of politics and who believes in non-mainstream, fringe ideas to anybody who disagrees with or who refuses to capitulate completely to something that they disagree with. So, for you to stay ahead of the times, I’ve taken the time to compile together a handy list of warning signs that may mean that you are far right in 2021.

"You have nothing to fear if you have nothing to hide"

Fri, 19 Feb 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Throughout the length of its existence, this arguments has been one of the most commonly repeated talking points (or, really, justifications) of authoritarianism and surveillance that I have ever heard. It is used so commonly, but without any push back, that I feel myself repeating the same responses to it over and over again. So, let’s set the record straight and put my response down for reference.

2020: The Year of Newspeak

Fri, 19 Feb 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Anybody vaguely familiar with Orwell’s famous novel “1984” will also be familiar to a similar degree with the term “Newspeak”.

"For all the 'All Lives Matter' Supporters" - A Response

Thu, 18 Feb 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Recently, I was made aware of the following cartoon comic strip created by a Twitter user:

Don't be like me with GPG

Sat, 19 Dec 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Ah, public key cryptography; where would we be without you? I mean, probably somewhere at least, but nowhere near where we are technically today.

Me and My Dad

Sat, 19 Dec 2020 00:00:00 +0000

It is a pretty special thing to be able to think back on your time with a person and to have no negative memories of them whatsoever come to mind. In fact, some would say that this is an impossible feat; something which cannot possibly be done by any functioning person.

Initial commit

Tue, 12 May 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Welcome to the new and remastered version of this site

I’ve decided to stray away from making programming tutorials, and instead make posts talking about my thoughts on the programming industry, programming in general and lots of computer-related stuff.

Top Tip 4!

Thu, 12 Jul 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Imagine you have developed a large app in Python that consists of over 1,000 lines of code. But wait! You have noticed a bug. But where is the offending code? All you see is a lake of confusing code.

Top Tip 3!

Sun, 03 Jun 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Hello guys! It’s been a long time since we posted a top tip, so let’s go in with a big one.

Rejoice, subscribers!

Fri, 01 Jun 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Rejoice all subscribers, readers and constant visitors!

Hello there, everyone! This is a celebratory post as today we are celebrating the fact that our site has just achieved 100 total hits!

We're back in business!

Sat, 26 May 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Dear faithful readers, subscribers and users,

We would just like to apologise for the lack of new content for a while. This was due to updates, framework contributions and maintenance.

Feedback

Wed, 16 May 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Feedback needed

Do you have a problem with this site?

Top tip 2!

Sun, 06 Dec 2015 00:00:00 +0000

Using parameters in a function is a good way to get values to use. For example:

Top tip!

Sat, 05 Dec 2015 00:00:00 +0000

A top tip for any program is build it in bits. In Python use classes and functions. For the online version of scratch you con create your own block by putting other blocks inside the DEFINE block in the corner.

Delays

Tue, 01 Dec 2015 00:00:00 +0000

Sorry for the delays on updates, updates will continue promptly.

A great book to get

Tue, 18 Aug 2015 00:00:00 +0000

If you want to learn to code in your own time then there is a great book called Computer Coding For Kids by Carol Vorderman. You can get it cheaply on Amazon.

Hello, World!

Wed, 05 Aug 2015 00:00:00 +0000

Hello, world and welcome to ethanjmarshall.co.uk! This website is going to be about programming and the development of the future. It will have links to good websites, quick lessons, and mini tips you can follow to become a boss at programming.

Tutorials explained

Wed, 05 Aug 2015 00:00:00 +0000

Every week I will release another step in learning each programming language. If you happen to miss a weeks DON’T PANIC the posts will be available any time any place(provided you have internet). First, I will post about getting the software, then about the basics and then we will move on to more advanced stuff like making windows appear and drawing shapes. I recommend that you start on the Scratch corse then Python then Swift. Please do note than all these languages are very different!

"Teaching C My Way" Archived Video IDs