Random geekery from the Low Countries
The UK s political commentariat is getting all excited at the prospect of yet another prime minister being ousted. This time around it s the turn of Keir Starmer and Andy Burnham, who isn t currently an MP, ie being lined up to replace him. Matt Carr Makes a point that clarifies my own feeling as to why Continue reading That Burnham Vibe
This is a new one for me, but back in 2013 Scott Alexander coined the term `Lizardman’s Constant `__ to suggest that for all surveys there is a baseline level of insincere answers. Some people will respond yes to every question to get the survey over with, or to mess with the data, or to Continue reading The Lizardman Constant
Steven Saus makes A Very Specific Point About Those Who Claim To Make Artwork With AI: You did not create that artwork. The closest analogy is that you just commissioned it. You asked for it, perhaps even “paid” for it, but you did not create it any more than Pope Sixtus IV painted the ceiling Continue reading AI and art
[Aaron] Swartz’s fight was not simply about access, but about whether knowledge should be governed by openness or corporate capture, and who that knowledge is ultimately for. He understood that access to knowledge is a prerequisite for democracy. A society cannot meaningfully debate policy, science or justice if information is locked away behind paywalls or Continue reading Quote of the Day: Who…
Mozilla has announced that they are shutting down Pocket, a read-it-later app that, until now, has proved to be very convenient due to its integration with Firefox. This has been quite a blow for for me because, since getting a Kobo, I have found its integration with pocket to be incredibly handy. I have developed Continue reading Wallabag and the end of Pocket
I am still looking to reduce my (much reduced) exposure to Big American Tech and I recently realised that I still default to using Google Maps far too often. This is a ridiculous state of affairs because I know that OpenStreetMap exists. So I started looking around for an phone app that that gets its Continue reading Organic Maps
Many years ago I started using GitHub to host my (very minor) software development activities and for a long time I have been quite happy with it. That was until Microsoft bought the site in 2018 and started doing what Microsoft does introducing helpful productivity features that are both unhelpful and counterproductive. This reached Continue reading Moving to Codeberg
It s been a while, hasn t it? I haven t forgotten about this blog (honest!) but we have been quite busy of late and things have been more than a little hectic at times. Things are starting to settle down now, so I should have a bit more time for various personal projects including keeping this Continue reading Changes
It s been 20 years since zom-rom-com Shaun of the Dead was released, and 20 years since I last saw the film. And it still feels as funny and original as it did two decades ago. The film stars Simon Pegg as Shaun, a directionless twenty-something dividing his time between a dead-end job and evenings in Continue reading Shaun of the Dead
Today marks 56 orbits of the Sun for me, and we have already celebrated. Since today is a Monday, with all of the usual chaos that entails, we went out on Sunday for dinner. This being my birthday, we went out for Steppegras sort of. Steppegras is a speciality of the part of Belgium Continue reading 56 times around the sun