Apple is selling the recently announced HomeView, an iPad mini glued to a speaker that serves as a hub for the home, with a chaotic commercial in which a family runs over for breakfast. I can’t remember any other company commercial that causes anxiety and contempt for the product.

Slightly heavy eyes sitting hunched over a box-table with soft and classic rock music playing in the background. I have a Duvel beer to my left and a turtle swiming towards me on my right. The turtle is in a large tank. I’m not sure why he’s swiming towards me. I’m the only person in the hostel common room save for the manager. I just walked away from the table to the other end of the room and when I approached the turtle was swimming towards my new direction. Is it trying to communicate? Is it…

I’M MORE WORRIED THAN I WANT TO BE, THAT’S FOR SURE: [James Cook and ball security: How worried should Buffalo Bills be? Buffalo Rumblings:](https://www.buffalorumblings.com/buffalo-bills-analysis/142770/james-cook-and-ball-security-how-worried-should-buffalo-bills-be) Picture this, Buffalo Bills fans: the team has an elite running back. That player averages over 5.5 yards per touch. He’s become one of the main focal points of the offense. He’s a threat to score a touchdown every time he…

A long-rumored Apple HomeView is finally revealed and I’m a bit disappointed. Image © AppleFirst, and foremost, it won’t be available in the EU until Apple and the European Commission clarify AI-related policies. So, even if I wanted, I couldn’t buy it. But I’m sure soon or later, this will be resolved. Would I buy it then? For $299 it should offer something, that a cheap Android tablet running Home Assistant dashboard can’t. And honestly, I don’t know what it could be for me. (Given that my…

This is somewhat belated, but: on October 2, the American Mathematical Society released a report based on a recent workshop it organized on the topic of graduate education in the mathematical sciences. (If there have been other such reports that have appeared recently that were not already mentioned on the blog, please feel free to drop links to them in the comments.)

Inspired by Dave's I wish you the best in the Offline and the associated Hacker News submission. Where are the people announcing their recent arrival to or increased adoption of "social media, AI usage, or in more extreme cases the Internet entirely"? Who among those people not only thrive in the Offline, but could coexist well with me both online and offline? If you haven't found them yet, who could those people be for you, and how could you find them sooner than later? Why would I want to…

A while back, my sister and I did a collab zine devoted to the infamous Slenderman stabbing in Wisconsin, featuring my writing and her art.You can read the whole shebang here:https://heyzine.com/flip-book/479b33390e.html#page/1

How do you move around the world knowing such horrors exist? Knowing that an over encompassing warmth exists beyond what those horrors could even hold. Strangely, I do believe that forces exists around us that help us shape reality into what we deem it should be. Maybe love is one of those, and the same with fear, hope, gratitude, rage. TBH this resurfaced after going thru the Lanterns series. It kinda makes perfect sense if we indeed are being farmed by extradimensional alien beings for our…

“Again,” Jason commanded.Our team of four lined up and prepared to breach the center entry room. Outside the door, Matt, the number one, stood poised. Marty, in the number two position, gave Matt’s shoulder a squeeze, signaling action. Matt pushed into the room, moving to the closest corner, sweeping around, rifle trained in front, and clearing the two right corners. Marty moved in behind Matt and swept the opposite corners. Fighting to control my breath, I entered, focused on the center of the…

I’ve just signed The Planner’s Pledge, a statement assembled by a team of leading US urban designers including my friend Jeff Speck, author of the Walkable City books. It’s an attempt to create a clear statement of principles, from the planning professions, about the past harms done by the profession and the things that must be done differently. It’s preamble is unsparing: As practitioners of a discipline that has advocated for what it believed to be best practices while inevitably advancing…

Like the little engine from Dumbo chugging up the hill, 'I think I can...' What? Stop. Stop doing 'morning pages/daily journaling'. I've done it for over 35 years pretty much every day over coffee. But today I didn't. Day 1. Often it's taken an hour or two and most of the content is drivel or some kind of navel gazing or attempt to get some philosophical thought down clearly... I don't dismiss the upsides. A poetical regularly arises in the process. Sometimes - less of late - it kick-starts…

All I can say is, this was quite a refreshing surprise to me, where everything is going tinier and more glued and sealed up today. True, I’ve not yet had to ever replace a battery on one of my Kindles, and they’ve been running for years. What has appeared to be a dead battery sometimes, just required a trick to kickstart it and get it charging again. But a battery is often what gives in first, so just knowing could be easier to open up and replace, does give some peace of mind. See…

US PEACE PUNKS D.O.V.E. set off on a mini-tour of the UK next month (November) with support from Icons of Filth, Omega Tribe and others, in various combinations on each of the dates. The tour is organised and supported by the Grow Your Own Records label, who released D.O.V.E.’s self-titled album in 2023 (in vinyl, CD and streaming formats). The tour kicks off in London (6 November), followed by dates in Hastings (GYOF, 7 Nov), Rockaway Park, Bristol (8 Nov), Glasgow (13 Nov) and Bradford (15…

Tuesdays are my busiest teaching days this Semester, but today I’ve also been preparing for tomorrow’s strike. This has largely revolved around figuring out arrangements for the picket lines. It seems that we have good numbers for tomorrow’s action, with crews assigned to all the main entrances to Maynooth Uninversity campus. I’m involved as a member of the Irish Federation of University Teachers (IFUT) but there will also be pickets from other campus trade unions, Unite and SIPTU. As it…

New to the ongoing blog series called STQK "Would you like to know more?" Disclaimer: Episodes 11-15 will be using an oracle system I am developing for solo players; you can see it in action here. Once I am happy with the way the oracle plays it will be available for the community. Hello there, We continue with the next episode in the STQK series and with the introduction to the Dragon Quest SPI Campaign. My apologies for the late submission, life got in the way. (Content Warning: Traumatic…

It’s been five months now since my biological recording training with the Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust, and today was the first time I’ve managed to get out with the group to record. Pete invited us to a tree walk along the canal by the ocean, where we’d learn some tree ID techniques and record some of what we saw into iRecord. It didn’t look promising at all this morning weather-wise, but by the time we met at 10am, the sky had cleared blue and it was a glorious warm autumn day. We started…

This was not entirely pre-planned, but: it turns out I’m publishing a typewriter interview with a cartoonist every week of October, and I just now realized they’re all contributors to The New Yorker. The first two are Roz Chast and Paul Noth! (Can you guess the other two?)

New WonkyFolk is out (Well not really, here’s a link to a sneak preview of the episode coming later this week). Jed and I talked with College Board president Jeremy Singer about the future of college assessments like the SAT, and AP, his work helping overhaul the FAFSA after the botched rollout, and a host of other things, including his time in post-Soviet Russia. Listen to the end (and subscribe) if you want the part where he gives away the secret to getting your kid a 1600 on the SAT. ICYMI I…

NetFoundry’s VP Product Marketing Jack Poller has been writing a series of posts on the NetFoundry blog about microsegementation, and I’ve been doing supplementary “back of the envelope” to illustrate what he’s talking about. Jack’s latest piece is on network segmentation vs. cryptographic segmentation, and it made for a perfect four-panel comic, pictured above. Here’s the article. Network segmentation decides trust based on where a connection comes from (that is, its IP address). The problem…

I am usually chill. The world moves through me without much trouble.That said, in my head, I notice about a hundred subtly "incorrect" or subtly broken things in the world. I am secretly the biggest nitpicker, and this is a view into that part of my mind.The liftMy apartment's lift has capacitive buttons. Capacitive buttons don't have a tactile feel, but the implications are beyond the dissatisfaction of calling the lift. Old people struggle to figure out how hard to press, and the feedback is…

It’s that time of year again: time to start thinking about next year with a little help from Bettie Page and Olivia De Bearadinis (and others). That’s right, another year, another crowdfunded calendar. For some reason, I got two this year. I don’t remember that being my order. Maybe it was a stretch goal? Along with the calendar(s), I also got the usual assortment of goodies, like a signed sketchbook… With bonus fingertip. …signed prints… …postcards… …stickers… …and an iron-on patch (I think?)…

Here are 12 problems that it would be fun to have an answer forHow to solve human coordination at scale?How to reduce human suffering?How to make the realisation of non-duality easily accessible, for myself and then everyone else?How to solve the public health crisis in India?How to make the world kinder?How to get enough protein?How to stop people on the roads from honking incessantly?How to reduce trash on the road?How to wield power effectively?How to learn better?I want to joyfully…

There was a running event here at the weekend. My sister ran the 10k and did really well! We had people strategically placed around the course to cheer her on. The atmosphere at these events is always great. Everyone takes their responsibility as supporters very seriously by cheering everyone along. Someone was limping and everyone roared. No one was giving up on our watch. It's lovely when you see other people spot their friends. The crowd appreciates a good costume. "Go on, Cookie Monster!"…

After the masterpiece that is Outer Wilds, I wanted to chill for a moment, and what a better way to do so than by going through a detective story! Famicom Detective Club is a pretty niche series by Nintendo, with only a couple games that were only on the NES—though recently remade for Nintendo Switch. Emio The Smiling Man came out in 2024, and it brings the formula to current times! I first heard of this game a couple of years ago in an episode of Into The Aether, brought up by Brendon Bigley,…

Recently John Gruber, whom I’ve followed for decades, published X Once Again Marks the Spot. It’s short and I’m not going to try to summarize it so go read it if you haven’t already. But here are two key quotes: “I see more interesting posts on X than I do on Threads, Bluesky, and Mastodon combined. I wish that weren’t so but it is.” and “The culture on X today is remarkably friendly and inclusive. It is a cheerful place.” Reaction on Bluesky and the Fediverse has been pretty fierce. I think…

Roterfaden TGS_25 Covers are back in stock. Yes, we will have them available this weekend. We’re looking forward to seeing many of you this weekend at our On The Paper Live in Nashville event! We are also kicking off two weeks of the Kaweco DIY Sport on Thursday, and celebrating a full restock of the Roterfaden TGS_25 A5 Slim as well as many other different sizes and models. With respect to the two events this week, please see below for the relevant details. All the small details are getting…

“South Africans who have been scammed, hacked, extorted or harassed online now have a free place to turn for help. The Cyber Helpline, a UK charity, has launched a 12-month pilot in South Africa with local social impact organisation MiDO Academy, funded by Amazon Web Services. The service covers a wide range of incidents, including investment and employment scams, phishing, hacked accounts, fake social media profiles, sextortion, identity theft and ransomware. It is confidential and open to…

Reviewed by Chris Arnsby“It’s Top of the Pops. Everyone’s live and firing as interaction. From Brighton, DJ Carl Cox, I Want You Forever.” [24] DJ CARL COX: I Want You (Forever). I know I have cloth ears. I cannot work out what Tony Dortie says in the opening voice over. What’s written above is my best attempt at transcribing what is said. Carl Cox has brought along a couple of friends, one of whom is Kelly Overett and in November 2024 she posted this on Facebook: “The very first time I…

Beatrice Florea on cover Barbara Hall - Big Man (Tuska).mp3Beatrice Florea - Hey Baby (Yt).mp3Dot Anderson - Jealous Hearted Woman (D.j.).mp3Irene Belle - Battle Of The Blues (Stadium).mp3Kathi Mcdonald - Somethin' Else (Capitol).mp3Katie Pritchard - Blue Suede Shoes (Yt).mp3Linda Scott - I've Told Every Little Star (Canadian-American).mp3Nadine Renaye - Little Lee (Delpris).mp3Ruth Durand - I'm Wise (Post).mp3Sandra Grimms- Hallelujah Rock And Roll (Samson).mp3Sandy And The Wild Wombats - The…