Recently updated blogs

I’m not sure if I’m misremembering but my brain says there was a time when blog posts did not have “post titles” by default. Coming up with a post title is one of my least favorite exercises when writing a blog post. Often how these things change on the internet is a bit hard to unearth (particularly in the early 2000s) but it could have been as innocent as some …

Thanks to the ongoing efforts of labels that specialize in soundtracks — and the fans who purchase their products, thereby maintaining the pipeline — quite a few scores have received enhanced treatment since my two books came out in April 2020.Taking them in the order of release... Music Box Records released an expanded version of Philippe Sarde’s score for 1977’s Mort d’un Pourri (Death of a Corrupt Man) in June …

Back in May 2022 — let the record show, 20 months ago — I analysed the cost of the ingredients of an excellent home-made pizza. Based on the costs of bread flour, salt, yeast, tinned tomatoes and extra mature cheddar, I found that the per-pizza cost of ingredients was an satisfyingly low 53p (plus another 15p for the electricity to bake them, amortised over four pizzas for a total of …

All set for replacement windscreens. Work is ready to start with the Accurscale class 37 reviewed earlier this year – it’ll become 37037 as it was in the summer of 1992. The first job will be the windscreens – the plan is to full Shawplan arrangement with the backplate and separate windscreen etch. The aim being to maintain consistency in appearance across the class 37 fleet. More updates soon!

An article I wrote for the Conversation explaining what antitrust laws are and how the big four tech companies are breaching them. Read article here Permalink

Cover of first edition of Repent in Haste. There was a time when John P. Marquand was considered the best novelist of manners in America, even — according to a Chicago Sun review quoted on the dust jacket of Repent in Haste, “the best novelist in the country.” He never made such claims for himself, and regretted Little, Brown’s decision to use the Chicago Sun quote, since it only encouraged …

There was a time, before the screens took over, when people read these things called "books". Remarkably efficient things. Always-on display. Could survive dropping from a great height. Somewhat fragile but who cares when you could mass produce thousands of the things for hundreds of dollars.

Steamboat Willie (1928) was one of the earliest cartoons with synchronized sound. That is, it had post-production sound effects; this was something new and exciting. Now that the cartoon has recently entered the public domain[bbc24] we can safely delve into its famous soundtrack. See, there's something interesting about how it sounds... If you listen closely to the soundtrack on Youtube it sounds somehow distorted. You might be tempted to point …

I’m delighted to announce that I have brought on Stephen Hackett to help me with my apps. He will be working on customer communication, marketing and generally creating space for me to focus on the programming oriented parts of my work. Something that’s been rattling around my mind recently is the phrase “Independent as in Freedom, not Independent as in Alone”. For so long I think I have been conflating …

Michael Kerr joins me on the podcast to chat about the transformation of travel media from storytelling to a more utilitarian approach driven by the internet and market forces, the current trends in travel books — particularly the rise of narratives addressing social and environmental issues and how they have revitalized the genre —, and Stanford's Travel Book of the Year awards. Michael is the creator of Deskbound Traveller, a …

I assume that most of you have already listened—at least in part—to the latest episode of Upgrade, the 40th Anniversary of the Mac Draft. Any podcast with both John Gruber and John Siracusa is going be longer than your average Upgrade; I’m impressed they brought it in at 2½ hours. The whole show is good, but the Hall of Shame section is just hilarious. I don’t have the sort of …

The other day my partner said, “Thank you. You’re the best.” I thought: Yeah, I’m the best for a lot of people these days. My kids, work, you. When do I get to be my best? And then I remembered: people are people through other people. Meaning comes from between us, not within us. Connection makes us whole. Right! what could be more fulfilling than being The Best for the …

How to celebrate the 30th anniversary of a personal web site? I considered this morning as I fashioned a three-legged stool over my morning ritual oracular vapors. I thought it would be good to have a petting zoo here. Basically, I thought, I'll declare links.net a virtual single human petting zoo mostly in text. I've already set myself up as an exhibit, so I don't have to do very much …

*Sighs in Shakespeare* I think I may have officially given up hope of my Shakespeare page ever being completed. Last week the RSC announced a ridiculous amount of productions (covering most, if not all, of 2024) without The Two Gentlemen of Verona in sight, and today The Globe have done the same; I know I’m being incredibly self-centred on this front, but over the course of seven years it should …

With most of the construction on the e-mando now complete, it’s time to concentrate on the tailpiece and bridge and getting the mandolin set-up. And that’s exactly what I look at in this video!And just in case you’ve been wondering……..here’s the latest Standard. It’s rosewood body has been fully bound in cocobolo and the next step is fit the neck.