What images does Thucydides call to mind? His name evokes some powerful abstract concepts like power, war, justice, freedom and truth; pictures, not so much. Serious publications in search of an illustration for the header or cover resort time and again to the same tiny repertoire of portraits, ancient and modern – I would guess that the statue outside the parliament building in Vienna appears in at least a third of cases – or that very familiar mid-C19 painting by Philipp von Foltz of Pericles…

Last week I got an iPhone Duo. Six days later, I swapped it for an iPhone 18 Pro Max. Here’s my review of the Duo, and why I ultimately decided it wasn’t for me. I’ve had iPhones since the iPhone 3G in 2008 – almost twenty years now. In that time we’ve seen the screen size increase a lot and the removal of the home button, but the form factor has otherwise stayed the same. I used to think this was a bit boring. I’d get a new phone, restore it from a backup, and then think “what now?” It wasn’t…

Hello everyone and sincere apologies for the lack of blog posts over the last few weeks, Benno is working his socks off every day, and we are currently adjusting to a new academic year of home education, so life has been pretty hectic, and this year seems to be disappearing at an alarming rate! Yesterday, however, we were able to slow down and catch our breath when Evelyn and I got to do something really very special… My dad never missed any of his grandchildren’s birthdays, and I have to say…

Every year from 2009 to 2015, my reverse trick-or-treating comic would go viral on Reddit. Some commenters even said they looked forward to seeing it every year because it reminded them of growing up watching It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown on TV. The comic had a good run, but I think its viral days are long gone. Still, it’s fun to reminisce about the early days of internet remix culture. So here’s the story about how a web comment, inspired a comic, which inspired real world costumes,…

Doug Greenfield posted his Map of the Week – Map of the 100 Famous Views of Edo saying “The Wikipedia listing has a table listing each print with an image, title and geographic coordinates. Somebody with more time and better programming skills could make a nice interactive map from this table with popups at each location.” Well I have the time and an AI with some programming skills so I thought “Why not?” So I asked Claude: One Hundred Famous Views of Edo Have a look at the table on…

Two months after my Tour de Monte Rosa trip, and less than two weeks before I head off to Nepal, here’s my write up of August’s walking holiday in Switzerland and Italy, circumnavigating the Monte Rosa Massif in the company of Rachel, Rosie, Lesley, Ren, Mark and Keith, and led by the excellent Tracy. Team Tracy at the end of the TMR, Saas-Almagell First reflections are captured in my Tour de Monte Rosa: I’m Back! blogpost. To summarise: the TMR is one of the toughest walking routes I’ve done…

Because I’m still most annoyed that V/H/S Halloween felt like a waste of time, I’ll respect yours and get right to the point: The last segment, “Home Haunt,” is very good, nails the right tone, and strikes the right balance between gory and fun. The second segment, “Ut Supra Sic Infra,” is clever and has a good punchline, but there’s not a whole lot to it. The rest are in the “don’t bother unless you’re bored” category, except for one called “Kidprint” that is pure garbage. I’ve never seen any…

A quick look at the movies, television shows, music, and books that have captured my attention over the past two months. How to Get to Heaven from Belfast If the hijinx of three middle-aged women traveling around Northern Ireland to try to solve the mystery around the death of a childhood friend isn’t enough of a premise to get you hooked on this show, perhaps this fact might help you get interested: the show was made by Lisa McGee, who previously created Derry Girls, one of the funniest shows…

Doing the paperwork on a new contract. Anyone who contracts through a consultancy, working through their own company, will know the routine. Forms, copies of documents, insurance certificates, references. Then reminders from a few different people, each working from their own version of the list.None of this is anyone being difficult. The people sending the emails are doing their job, under pressure. Engagement packs like this grow over years, one requirement at a time, and it's usually…

The Hercule Poirot novel The Hollow is not one of Agatha Christie’s most well-known works – but that is definitely one reason why it’s a good choice to adapt for the stage. It was adapted by Christie herself back in 1951, but the task on this occasion fell to Tamsin Oglesby, with prolific Christie director Lucy Bailey on board once more – the tour recently opened in Canterbury, and this week has made its way to Richmond Theatre. Poirot is attempting to take a rare holiday and has decided to…

In the pre-AI world, I was a small-PR1 person, sometimes notoriously so.2 These days I prefer much larger units of code, for many reasons: AI, when used well, has a good chance at making large changes properly. So, to the extent that code review is about ensuring that the code is proper there's less reason to do it at such a very granular level.3 AI allows me to do more, and more thorough, code review before I send it to GitHub or to any other forum for formal review. (Most of this code review…

Was I really supposed to fall for this phish?

STORE-BOUGHT IS FINE RECIPE REVIEW Lemon Blueberry Muffins · Simply Ina, page 211 ★★★★★ 5/5 Flavor | 5/5 Effort | Easy Ingredient availability | Easy to find Make again? | Absolutely Make It Ahead | YesBest for | Make-ahead breakfast / Brunch Season | Summer / Year-round Dietary fit | Vegetarian / Nut-free Tips: 1. You can also use frozen blueberries when fresh ones aren’t in season. Fold them in while still frozen to minimize streaking.2. The tulip liners give the muffins that bakery-style…

In this edition RanCo submission: Tū Ātea RanCo submission: SafetyNet RanCo submission: Tuanz Colocation regulation set to end Joint venture could become a gatekeeperMāori-owned telco Tū Ātea says the proposed One NZ–2degrees radio access network joint venture (RanCo) could act as a gatekeeper, making it harder to get Māori spectrum onto mobile networks.Tū Ātea holds commercial 4G and 5G spectrum, but relies on mobile network operators to host its services.In its submission to the Commerce…

A MIDLANDS MONUMENT Never mind if you haven’t read this greatest of English novels. Or, like me, not re-read for decades: in order to find joyful recognition in this monumental RSC production you need only be human. I had actually forgotten some characters and moments, like poor gambling Fred’s horseflesh deals and shame at scrounging a loan while longing for patient plain Mary, who won’t give him up but needs him to reform. Nor had I quite remembered the wild streak of pre-Victorian melodrama…

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A lot of Vim tricks are geared toward working with source code, which I don’t do so much anymore. Below are some that are specifically helpful for working with prose. This list is not remotely exhaustive. I’m limiting it to stuff regular folks like me might use on a regular basis. I’m also skipping past the basics like w / W / b / B / etc. (If you’re new to Vim, try vimtutor in your terminal.) If you have a favorite tidbit that I should include here, or if I made any mistakes, please email me!…

So much is happening in the IndieWeb right now that I feel like I can barely keep up. Yesterday I stumbled across something that I find both fascinating and simple – and I have some questions.These are the so-called SocialSpec. Specifications designed to help transform our websites into a social network. What I find appealing about them is that they don't reinvent the wheel. They use RSS, Atom, or JSON feeds for posts, OPML for follower lists, a Markdown file for your profile, and a vCard for…

When you see advice related to your field, or panicked headlines, or viral discourse, it might be best to ask yourself…is this talking about the craft or the career? Something being shared as good advice or common knowledge “for game developers” or “for artists” or “for musicians” is not necessarily going to be clear who it’s referring to. Some tips are meant for the craft of what you’re actually doing: how to improve yourself as a composer, an athlete, a designer, etc. Some tips are meant for…

My adventures in revisiting No Man's Sky in 2026 after years of absence On a whim in 2016, I pre-ordered Hello Games' No Man's Sky. I'd seen a few trailers, loved the concept of exploring a potentially infinite space but that was kinda it. I didn't pour over gameplay videos, read dev logs or anything I just hit that pre-order and then one day, there it was in my steam library. I hopped in, claimed my pre-order bonus starship and went to explore the digital cosmos. Screenshot from launch week;…

If you read anything here at all you know I love a good protest song. Well, Bryan Adams has just released a new one tossing water on Donald Trump’s propensity for naming things called Lake Ontario. I’d love to hear more songs like these. You can check it out below. Spread it around. Thanks for reading. You can subscribe to this blog if you care to. You can also find more of my writings on a variety of topics on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome. I can also be…

Spent the last couple of weeks getting the tent ready for this season's grow. My daddy always told me to never use a seal twice, he was right. The system buckets use silicom gaskits as seals and I couldn't find a relacement seal. The results were as expected. I finally found some rubber seals that were close enough to try. They are working for now. Here is how the tent is put together for now: I have around a dozen sproted seeds in the Vseed which will be ready to transplant in a week or so.…

some ideas I have, run with anything you think is good. feed back always appreciated. A scholarly journal that only accepts/publishes replication studies or experiments. a funding body that only fund replication studies or experiments an annual award for best replication study or experiment a sub reddit (or maybe a full reddit) for ai agents to talk shit about humans write an autobiography write unauthorized biographies about my friends and/or their parents or grandparents write unauthorized…

The internet continues to be cool and fun with several projects I've come across, people grappling with questions of joy, community, and, importantly, how to get imaginary friends to kiss. The Paradox of Romance (and How to Solve It) by Charlie Jane Anders: This forced me to think about the central paradox of romance. On the one hand, it's hard work making two characters feel irresistibly drawn to each other, and you can't just snap your fingers and create romantic chemistry. But on the other…

Hey, I have a podcast! Subscribe now to step behind reality TV's scenes with me, "the pioneer of reality TV criticism," according to the very discerning YouTuber Barfbag.

Barret crashing out about mako in the middle of Haunted House and smashing things is giving big "me about data centers after three beers" energy. #ff7 #finalFantasy #ecology #dataCenters #videoGames #gaming #leftism #avalanche #finalFantasy7Rebirth #water

As all socialist eyes turn to the current rebellion in France it is instructive to look at historic examples of French revolution. The greatest of all of these, from a Marxist point of view, was the Paris Commune. The 1871 workers' revolution that saw the city taken over by it's working population and run, albeit briefly, un a radical democratic way. One of Karl Marx's greatest writings is his

My pantry system insures I have on hand the basic tools needed to prepare a simple meal. Common staples such as beans, rice, flour, peppers, eggs, and sugar are included... Source

Found this at our local Safeway the other day and honestly not feeling too confident on this being a showstopper given the history of this brand in my reviews. The little thing that says ‘includedes real deal chili crunch’ is a little odd. This could be good. Or not. Let’s try it out. Snapdragon Chili Crunch Ramen – United States Detail of the side panels (click to enlarge). Looks to be meat free but check for yourself. To prepare, add everything but the ‘dragon tears. Fill to line with boiling…