# perhaps (blogs) — RSS Amplifier Recent posts from the 15 feeds in the RSS Amplifier directory that cover perhaps. Page: Feed: --- ## [The cycling life for me](https://lessatwar.bearblog.dev/the-cycling-life-for-me/) _2026-08-17 · lessatwar · Less at war_ Nothing gives as much freedom as cycling. I have thought it every single time I have ridden a bike. The million stolen bikes that my friends and I had, and then the best one that got stolen from us. The potential risk of being mown down in London traffic, and the small wins of slowly waving at the angry van man as I glide by. Bikes are freedom for my boys too. Our family hobby, of sorts. The… ## [Step stool color traits default](https://gummilutt.tumblr.com/post/825199468374818816) _2026-08-17 · Gummi's Sims 2 Stuff_ I bring you a color trait collab between myself, the talented @pforestsims and color trait inventor @episims ❤ I thought it was long overdue our sims get some nicer looking stools for their beloved kiddos, and PF and Epi were kind enough to join me on this mission :3 PForest has has created two default options, one made out of wood, one made out of plastic. Epi made an alternative set of recolors… ## [Black and white of it](https://lessatwar.bearblog.dev/black-and-white-of-it/) _2026-08-15 · lessatwar · Less at war_ I have never written about the multicoloured roots of my life. I have never spoken about racial equality when given the chance. I never wanted to be that white person who speaks because of her ‘proximity’ to Blackness. But I once looked around a table and realised there was not one single Black person there. That was the first time I really saw it. I was raised by many Black hands, as were many of… ## [Newton-le-Willows](http://merseypub.blogspot.com/2026/08/newton-le-willows.html) _2026-08-08 · Unknown · Merseyside Pub Guide_ It is five years and a day since I last surveyed Newton-le-Willows, making all the pubs there "required", so off I headed on a beautifully sunny Saturday afternoon. I walked along the main street photographing all the targets as I passed. Do you think the photos today will be better than the usual standard of this blog, because they were all taken sober? I doubt it! At the far end is the Oak Tree… ## [Tech debt is weird](https://jmduke.com/posts/tech-debt-is-weird.html) _2026-08-08 · Applied Cartography_ Jesse wrote this interesting article on technical debt, which resonated with me spiritually but not directionally -- which is a very weird way to say that I agree with some parts and disagree with others (so you should read this not as a critique of the post but an exploration from my point of view). The title of this essay is "negative-interest tech debt", which gives you a sense of where Jesse… ## [Secondhand Time](https://jmduke.com/posts/secondhand-time.html) _2026-08-08 · Applied Cartography_ It is rare that I review a book before I finish it. Sometimes I do this with bad books that I have not completed — but that is what the Goodreads user base calls DNFing it, explicitly saying that I am not going to finish, and therefore am capital-D done with it. I do it every so often with video games, too, where even if my interest in completing the thing end-to-end is waning, I still want to… ## [Man v. Machine: Efficiency](https://bucketz.wtf/posts/html/0120) _2026-08-07 · RustyBucketz30 · A Drop From The Bucket_ Graph of Machine Learning Graph of Humans Relative efficiency: A circularly defined term, but includes any improvement (discrete or abstract) of power consumption, data compression, training time, benchmarks, ad infinitum Complexity: As a theoretical concept only, unfortunately Machine Learning: Generalizable to any machine learning approach. ‘Data’ in, ‘Predictions’ out. Humans: Me, for example. ## [MacGruber](https://jmduke.com/posts/macgruber.html) _2026-08-06 · Applied Cartography_ Letterboxd has an ingenious concept baked into its rating system. You can rate a film on a scale of zero to four stars, and you can also adorn a film with a heart. These two things are completely separate systems. The films you love and the films you thought were great are by default a decoupled set. ## [Patch notes](https://jmduke.com/posts/patch-notes.html) _2026-08-05 · Applied Cartography_ Earlier this year I mentioned that Slay the Spire 2 had reached the status of needing to be deleted from my computer, on the grounds that it was proving too big of a distraction. More recently, a second game has reached that same ignoble height — except it's not even a full game. It's a demo. It is Guildrun. ## [Adaptation](https://jmduke.com/posts/adaptation.html) _2026-08-04 · Applied Cartography_ Eighteen months ago, I wrote in review of Being John Malkovich: ## [Point a Domain, Start a Pit (Sponsored)](https://crawlproof.com/a/OkitcBjO4P8V) _2026-08-03 · **Sponsored**_ Point any domain to a blacked-out, poison-green coming-soon page with an email waitlist. ## [Near to the Wild Heart](https://jmduke.com/posts/near-to-the-wild-heart.html) _2026-08-03 · Applied Cartography_ Two friends, upon learning that I wanted to get into Clarice Lispector, advised me not to start with Near to the Wild Heart. Having now finished the book, I think I understand why. ## [op, mprocs](https://jmduke.com/posts/two-tooling-changes.html) _2026-08-02 · Applied Cartography_ Two small tooling changes that have been really nice for us at Buttondown: ## [A Wander in Town](http://merseypub.blogspot.com/2026/08/a-wander-in-town.html) _2026-08-01 · Unknown · Merseyside Pub Guide_ Perhaps a sunny Saturday in August is not the best time for a survey in central Liverpool but here we are! According to my database I haven't been in the Lime Kiln for five years and three days. Surely it's not that long, but anyway it is always worth a visit so let's start there: A great way to start a survey, a fine pint of Kirkstall Dissolution, a slightly fruity IPA. Needless to say the place… ## [Best of Enemies](https://jmduke.com/posts/best-of-enemies.html) _2026-08-01 · Applied Cartography_ Last year, I watched The War Room, the documentary following Bill Clinton's first campaign — a film I am remiss for having never written about, because it was captivating, satisfying, and illuminating. And whether for good reasons or bad, it punctured most of my belief that the political moment we currently find ourselves in is novel in any grand sense. (See also Days of Rage, which covered the… ## [Snacks are cheaper and tastier than ever](https://jmduke.com/posts/snacks-are-everywhere.html) _2026-07-31 · Applied Cartography_ Perhaps the single most consequential essay I've read is Will Larson's Work on what matters. This is ostensibly advice targeted towards staff engineers, but the content generalizes across disciplines. One of the failure modes he talks about is snacking: ## [Freezerbunny-sims2 found some more info about the shift-w situation! Very interesting. Now I wonder…](https://gummilutt.tumblr.com/post/823493088672628736) _2026-07-29 · Gummi's Sims 2 Stuff_ freezerbunny-sims2 : @gummilutt This is from the UI package file. The shortcut you mentioned in this post is called “toggle backface culling mode”. Maybe you knew already, I just thought I’d mention it. I’m going to try some of the other shortcuts next. Freezerbunny-sims2 found some more info about the shift-w situation! Very interesting. Now I wonder if those kinds of… ## [Trust no one.](https://lessatwar.bearblog.dev/trust-no-one/) _2026-07-29 · lessatwar · Less at war_ To trust you is a measure far beyond what you think it is. Where we come from, trust is only earned after observation of actions. The instant trust that freedom brings, the willingness to fall spontaneouusly in love or frivollously about, does not exist on our side of the tracks. Trust and loyalty are blood-deep which make friendships incredibly hard. 'I have known that person a long time' is… ## [Cursed knowledge](https://jmduke.com/posts/cursed-knowledge.html) _2026-07-29 · Applied Cartography_ Nick pointed me towards Marcin who pointed me towards immich's list of cursed knowledge the other day, and it has already become a running joke in the Slack. ## [Isabelle symbols outside its editor](https://stuebinm.eu/posts/isabelle-unicode.html) _2026-07-26 · terru · stuebinm.eu_ Symbols Conversion isabelle2unicode Use in git Use in cgit Mail Client Extension Firefox Comfortable software References If you’ve ever used Isabelle, and taken a peak at the files you’re writing in any editor that is not one Isabelle is intended to be used with, you’ll be familiar with the funny escape sequences it uses to represent non-ASCII characters: Perhaps you’ve even gone through a stage… ## [Privacy Policy](https://varunpant.com/privacy/) _2026-07-25 · Varun Pant_ Last updated: July 25, 2026 This policy covers this website only — the blog at varunpant.com. It does not cover any app. Apps are separate products, distributed through app stores, and each has its own privacy policy that stands entirely on its own. Nothing in this website policy applies to them, and nothing in an app’s policy applies to this website. App pages hosted here carry no… ## [Hire AI-Powered Professionals (Sponsored)](https://crawlproof.com/a/SnDWsFvCkMMa) _2026-07-24 · **Sponsored**_ Browse public gigs, message candidates, and run video interviews — free to start. ## [Birkdale](http://merseypub.blogspot.com/2026/07/birkdale.html) _2026-07-24 · Unknown · Merseyside Pub Guide_ Amazon decided they would deliver a parcel on Saturday so I quickly rescheduled my survey to Friday, and headed under grey skies towards Birkdale, getting off the train at Hillside. I've mentioned before that sometimes I have to walk past good pubs because I'm heading for somewhere else. So I ignored the Pines and the Grasshopper and headed on to the Crown : A standard Ember Inns, this, perhaps… ## [France on fire](https://lessatwar.bearblog.dev/france-on-fire/) _2026-07-24 · lessatwar · Less at war_ By no surprise, I find myself on holiday in a part of France at war, with fire. Told on the international stage from the angle of displaced holidaymakers, the stories make for upset, not pain. But pain exists. The people who toil those fields. Their land, their livelihoods. If this tale is told by European campers frolicking in the waves, is it the truth? There is not a single journey to France… ## [Enough Said](https://jmduke.com/posts/enough-said.html) _2026-07-24 · Applied Cartography_ More by luck than by fate, most of the great protagonists of the last forty years of television have escaped forever being associated with the character they played. Jon Hamm's love of comedy means that, in a bizarre way, I think of him more as a guest on Comedy Bang Bang than as Don Draper — despite Mad Men being my favorite show of all time. Similarly, Bryan Cranston has such a well-enmeshed… ## [Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie](https://jmduke.com/posts/nirvanna-the-band-the-show-the-movie.html) _2026-07-23 · Applied Cartography_ No matter what, you're going to have a great time watching this movie. It is funny and audacious and handcrafted, which is a quality that feels increasingly absent from the modern cinematic landscape. It is hard to get an honest-to-God comedy released these days. It is even harder to get one of this kind that is as bizarre and metatextual and devoid of any real box office draw, except its own… ## [Fatfinger discoveries Part 2](https://gummilutt.tumblr.com/post/822647032288329729) _2026-07-20 · Gummi's Sims 2 Stuff_ Has this ever happened to you? Suddenly your object footprint is just a big green square. Or perhaps you are chugging along, having fun, and suddenly you notice a flickering shadow at the corner of your eye. Perhaps a bed, perhaps a door. Weird black lines move across the object as the camera moves. Perhaps you have a glass item on the lot, and it decided it wanted to make an attempt at some… ## [Check the status page](https://jmduke.com/posts/check-the-status-page.html) _2026-07-20 · Applied Cartography_ As I've covered somewhat extensively in prior writing (see A month of OpEx quick wins and Self-hosting our GitHub Action runners), this year has been marked by a careful and deliberate shrinking of our stack, button down, with the goals of, in order, one, reduce long-term maintenance burden. Two, reduce operational expenses. Almost without us really meaning to, this has materialized indirectly as… ## [More In Town](http://merseypub.blogspot.com/2026/07/more-in-town.html) _2026-07-17 · Unknown · Merseyside Pub Guide_ Odds and ends in town today, let's start with a new tick, Flight Club : Behind the modern frontage is an antique-style bar on two floors. Dark woodwork, leather upholstery and even a fake brick arch create a pleasant ambience. The quirky lighting strips add to this. At half one on a Friday there were two darts games underway, plus a group of drinkers relaxing at a large table. My pint of Neck Oil… ## [How the media library works](https://jmduke.com/posts/the-media-library.html) _2026-07-17 · Applied Cartography_ I've received a number of questions as to how the media library part of this blog works, and I figure it's worth a bit of time to explain — even though there frankly is not that much to explain. ## [Wings of Desire](https://jmduke.com/posts/wings-of-desire.html) _2026-07-17 · Applied Cartography_ When I try to describe this film, I keep fleeing from the word strange toward poetic — because there isn't much strange about it. If you accept its conceit at face value, everything that follows is fairly naturalistic and straightforward, especially given what else I've seen from Wenders. And the conceit is simple enough: angels, in a spiritual but perhaps not biblical sense, are all around us,… ## [Music and writing](https://lessatwar.bearblog.dev/music-and-writing/) _2026-07-12 · lessatwar · Less at war_ Music and writing, my greatest healers, although, never at the same time, I cannot write and listen to anything other than (as now) the birds chirping a merry tune in my South London garden. I danced last week, we sang, we lost our voices, I danced to the music that was played in my childhood, because it wasn't all horrendous. Music was a joy, always has been and in this same week I have watched… ## [Point once, get highlights (Sponsored)](https://crawlproof.com/a/RKj3YzSayvao) _2026-07-12 · **Sponsored**_ Get minutes worth watching from a whole game — point once ## [Witness](https://lessatwar.bearblog.dev/witness/) _2026-07-11 · lessatwar · Less at war_ I remember sitting at their kitchen table, I was eighteen, perhaps nineteen. I told them how bad it was at home, I told them everything. They felt like a safe space, they were. They couldn't do anything about it. I needed them to bear witness and to tell me that it wasn't right. I had lived my whole childhood in fear, fear of the next thing happening, it didnt just happen to me, it was the… ## [Watching him go](https://lessatwar.bearblog.dev/watching-him-go/) _2026-07-08 · lessatwar · Less at war_ It ended, its been ended for a long time but we are still here. In one way and the other, still circling each other, our kids, the stuff of our life. I am watching him go, I see him slowly stepping back, I'm still here, he keeps going, I know. He has a new she. He has gone. Yet I am still watching him go, witnessing myself watching him distance. Traction, movement, heat, poor sleep and… ## [Notorious](https://jmduke.com/posts/notorious.html) _2026-07-06 · Applied Cartography_ I think this might be the first Hitchcock that just didn't really work for me. The premise feels unlike so much of his output: dated and strained. ## [Are your Half step purple OMSPs visible in the catalog or are they collection only? I didn’t see any collection file in the download but I don’t know where to find them in the catalog](https://gummilutt.tumblr.com/post/821284499227820032) _2026-07-05 · Gummi's Sims 2 Stuff_ Apparently they are collection only, though they were certainly not intended to be 😅 Thank you for pointing that out to me, I have fixed it. Updated files have them in surface/misc, and I included a modified version of SilentLucidity's purple collection file with the half step OMSPs added to it. Grab them from the link in the original post . If you are ever unsure where something is, or a creator… ## [Crosby and Waterloo](http://merseypub.blogspot.com/2026/07/crosby-and-waterloo.html) _2026-07-04 · Unknown · Merseyside Pub Guide_ Yes, it's me, I'm back! A month in Japan and two or three weeks when I was busy doing other things have prevented surveys, but I should be OK for a few weeks now. (No promises!) If you want to see what I did on holiday I am creating a record here , it is mainly trains but there are a few beer and bar reports. Today I headed to Crosby to revisit a couple of targets, starting with the Corner Post :… ## [Two hundred decisions](https://jmduke.com/posts/decision-logs.html) _2026-07-03 · Applied Cartography_ This week, after a little under two years of having adopted the practice, Buttondown has minted its 200th decision log. This is a practice very similar to RFCs or ADRs, but I prefer the term decision because it's both A, used for a variety of non-engineering purposes, and B, sounds a little less lame. The practice itself is extremely simple and there is no catch. It goes something like the… ## [Adult children and me](https://lessatwar.bearblog.dev/adult-children-and-me/) _2026-07-02 · lessatwar · Less at war_ Navigating adult children can be quite something. They will always be your children, you will view them, experience them, in a way that no one else ever will. You hear the unsaid, you feel their pain. Stay quiet, say it, don't say the thing but perhaps he needs you to say the thing. Is the thing being said going to help this - probably not, but you care - is it control, perhaps, is it enablement,… ## [I hope you don’t mind @psychic-phone-pal that I answer your question in a post :) I feel like it…](https://gummilutt.tumblr.com/post/820894467981787136) _2026-07-01 · Gummi's Sims 2 Stuff_ I hope you don’t mind @psychic-phone-pal that I answer your question in a post :) I feel like it maybe would be useful for more people and deserves to not be buried in the replies of one mod :3 Yes you are correct I make my restaurants more expensive via a mod, and I also add custom food varieties like caviar tartlets via the same method. Restaurant podiums pull their food options and prices… ## [June, 2026](https://jmduke.com/posts/june-2026-roundup.html) _2026-07-01 · Applied Cartography_ June, like any month in which I neither write very much nor read very much, feels already cryptographic in retrospect. ## [Conflict update on Split Restaurant Bills](https://gummilutt.tumblr.com/post/820889758774476800) _2026-06-30 · Gummi's Sims 2 Stuff_ @teaaddictyt informed me the mod conflicts with one of hers called Close the Kitchen , so I have added a compatible version for those of you that use it that. It needs to load after Tea’s mod. Grab it under conflicts in the original post . I’ll also mention because I got an ask that the tweaked version of Sunni’s podium that improves routing when places over a counter can be used… ## [could you share your routing fix of Sunni’s partly invisible podium without the split the bill feature? sorry to bother you](https://gummilutt.tumblr.com/post/820880530485706752) _2026-06-30 · Gummi's Sims 2 Stuff_ Hello! It's not a bother at all :) Thank you for reminding me that I should have pointed out that it is safe to grab it whether you use the mod or not. No need for a separate one, you can use the posted one 😊 Maxis bhavs are redundant and do absolutely nothing but call the same semi-global that my override points to :) If you do not have the split bill mod, then nothing will change other than the… ## [Stop the mooching - Split restaurant bill](https://gummilutt.tumblr.com/post/820872269380386816) _2026-06-30 · Gummi's Sims 2 Stuff_ We’ve all been there. Our sim is out having a lovely time with some friends, perhaps family, or a whole frat worth of loose acquaintances. They are hungry, they want to eat. And somehow by the end your Sim has to foot the bill for the whole affair. Hardly seems fair, does it? I mean how often do you go around paying for everyone when you eat out? Nah. I am tired of my poor newcomers in town… ## [Jay Kelly](https://jmduke.com/posts/jay-kelly.html) _2026-06-30 · Applied Cartography_ I was young. I wanted something very badly and I was afraid that if I took my eye off it, I wouldn’t have it. And I was right. There was no other way to do it. And it meant choosing it over you. But it was always meant to be temporary.Just until I got what I wanted...But then I had to keep it. ## [Get up and go](https://lessatwar.bearblog.dev/get-up-and-go/) _2026-06-28 · lessatwar · Less at war_ Get Up and Go has entered my timeline. Here she is again, full of ideas and ambition. She arrives a few times a year and, when she does, everything suddenly feels urgent. Everything needs doing. Right now. The deep reflection of recent months is quietly pushed to the back burner, forgetting that it was those long hours spent wading through guilt, shame and swamp that untangled enough of me for Get… ## [Poly reduced - Nightcrawler Meliorn](https://gummilutt.tumblr.com/post/820588389971673088) _2026-06-27 · Gummi's Sims 2 Stuff_ From 20,683 poly to 9243 Some strands were yeeted because barely noticeable, I don’t think miniscule bitty pieces are worth an additional 2k poly :3 As you can see in the picture, recolors may look a tiny bit different on the sides due to one of these strands being yeeted. New alpha included for recolorists. Download from simfileshare Credits: @latmosims who taught me poly reducing.… ## [Harming myself](https://lessatwar.bearblog.dev/harming-myself/) _2026-06-25 · lessatwar · Less at war_ I saw their faces when I told them the thing that made them ask if I had ever had thoughts of harming myself (they didn't say it like that). I knew the shift, I understood what was and what wasn't being said, I changed tone but I also quite liked the discomfort that had set in. Unusually I was as open and honest and confident of my story as I have ever been, I noticed that about myself, I could… ## [Normalising survival mode](https://lessatwar.bearblog.dev/normalising-survival-mode/) _2026-06-24 · lessatwar · Less at war_ I didn't know I did this until it was pointed out. But many of us do this? Right. Perhaps, or not. I am unclear, I am also not a survivor although I know I am. That identity is not for the likes of me, a one-woman power house who you want (need) on your team... except, it is, for me: a normaliser of survival. Concentrate? No. Sit still? No, Worry? Yes, Catastrophise - most definitely. You may have… ## [Denormalization 101](https://jmduke.com/posts/denormalization-is-caching.html) _2026-06-23 · Applied Cartography_ I have had exactly two conversations this week about denormalization, which is a sign that it is time to write a blog post. If you already know what denormalization is, you will likely find this blog post uninteresting. That is okay! It is meant more to be an artifact that I can point to when people who haven't been burnt by the fires of sad databases (or, perhaps, sad ETL pipelines) ask what I'm… ## [Peggy Sue Got Married](https://jmduke.com/posts/peggy-sue-got-married.html) _2026-06-20 · Applied Cartography_ I envy you. You have your whole life ahead of you and you know exactly what you want to do. But forget the rat puke; write something beautiful. ## [Indeterminate / Squash](https://jmduke.com/posts/squash.html) _2026-06-15 · Applied Cartography_ The hardest part of gardening is not correctly timing the seedling transfer, or deciding when a plant is a goner versus when it just needs one more week. The hardest part of gardening, at least for me, is resisting the urge to make cheap and facile metaphors.