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“Shall we walk back the way we came?” There had been, as Constance reflected later, no possible argument against Xander’s suggestion — not that she felt disposed to argue with Xander. Lunch at the pub — a busy old place in the village next to the one in which they were staying — had been as long, cosy and convivial as either of the two might have wished. Under the …

An afternoon at Big Trees Dear Reader, I am happy to report that Calaveras Big Trees State Park sits a scant three miles past the town of Arnold, California and is home to two groves of Giant Sequoias. I am delighted to tell you that ample, affordable, highway-close parking makes them the most accessible in the Sierras. I am elated to let you know that being a state park translates …

Yes, I’m crazy about winter white coats. And if you’ve been around here long enough, you know that I already have one! Still there’s something about them that I can’t resist. I also have a fascination with the capote, a traditional handmade coat made from a Hudson Bay blanket. The candy striped ones are my favorites. I had actually put away a LL Bean knockoff blanket years ago, thinking that …

Retro Puzzle Maker is an amazing little free game engine. It’s a web-based tool that allows you to make Sokoban style games that output as playable NES ROM files. The engine is code-free and any beginner can use it, and while means that while you can’t change much in terms of the type of game … Continue reading "Retro Puzzle Maker: The easiest way to make an NES game!"

I have now had the opportunity to complete the Healthy Bees Academy modules created by Menter a Busnes to help … Completing the Healthy Bees Academy Modules Read More »

Eldiario.es, an independent online newspaper based in Madrid, has just published a remarkable data-driven story about how inequality perpetuates itself (perhaps we should say that it's inflicted upon people) in Spain.Notice the combination of different types of charts —dot maps, scatter plots, stacked bar graphs,— the effective annotations and highlights that emphasize the main points of the narrative, the use of color, and the addition of individual stories to exemplify …

In our programs we often have to deal with whitespaces, for example to sanitize input we received from users or other applications. With the release of Java 11, there have been some changes to the way whitespace is handled, and it’s important for developers to understand these changes in order to avoid potential pitfalls and write efficient, error-free code. In this blog post, we’ll take a closer look at whitespace …

Let be a non-empty finite set. If is a random variable taking values in , the Shannon entropy of is defined as There is a nice variational formula that lets one compute logs of sums of exponentials in terms of this entropy: Lemma 1 (Gibbs variational formula) Let be a function. Then Proof: Note that shifting by a constant affects both sides of (1) the same way, so we may …

I found myself wanting to host a private website that I could reliably update, but only serve it to users on my tailnet. I didn't find anything obvious that could do the job, but I did realize that between the existence of s3fs, tsnet, and the batteries that come with Go, I could probably bodge together something that does the job for me. This is it: offbyone/tailscale-s3-proxy. It's not complicated, …

By R.P. Davis Kabouter Games OSR Level 3? In a foggy valley high on the knees of The Spine, a ruined castle sleeps half-buried in rancid mud. A fabulous fortune awaits bold adventurers — if they can survive long enough to keep it! This 36 page adventure details a dungeon with six rooms in three pages. Of generic garbage. No real design. Abstracted descriptions and much hand waving. And, someone, …

To present a piece of creative work to the world is to throw away a piece of yourself. Once it has been seen, it no longer belongs to you, for you have granted the world license to rip it apart, chew it up and spit it out, before either dousing it in milk and honey to revel and devour, or in gasoline to set it alight. Because that piece of …

Want to become a more resilient, adaptable, effective leader? Nurture a growth mindset! Here are five tips to get you started.What makes a growth mindset so desirable in modern leaders?People with a growth mindset see every event as an opportunity to learn and grow, even when things don’t go as planned. They’re more resilient, more adaptable, more self-confident, and more effective at guiding others.Moving from Comfort Zone to Learning ZonePracticing …

The pandemic changed office culture irrevocably. With hybrid working now fully instilled, this has impacted not only companies’ organisational structures, but their physical infrastructure as well. (Photo by Monkey Business Images/Shutterstock) Building design now needs to accommodate ebbs and flows in capacity – according to research from the insurance broking firm Gallagher, 63% of UK business leaders are changing office space due to a shift in ways of working, with …

In 2017, We proudly announced that SS Robin was returning home but things did not quite work out that way because of various issues. However, we can bring the news that the move from the Royal Docks to Trinity Buoy Wharf will eventually bring SS Robin home to the Orchard Yard on the River Lea where she was built by Mackenzie, MacAlpine & Co in 1890. SS Robin is the …

The tick-tock of time trips on and here we are again, old friends. Said the Gramophone. Best songs. By now I hope you know the drill. This world needs some kindnesses--it wants more peace, liberation, and music shared between strangers. So here's a pistachio, a ripe pear. Here are my 100 favourite songs of the year 2023; songs I love much more than doomed submarines (or basketball). Earlier this year, …