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This island in Thailand had everything I wanted in a tropical beach break. Ko Lipe is a Thai island in the Andaman Sea in Satun Province. It’s the most southerly island you can stay at before crossing the maritime border of Malaysia. Ko Lipe is about 3 km in length and 1.8 km at the widest part. There is no port here, let alone an airport. It takes 90 minutes …

PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR.Choose among the candidates we have and create momentum against the high-polling candidate you least want. Would I prefer a younger, more liberal candidate than Biden? Yes. Is Trump’s coalition a serious threat to democracy, marginalized groups, bodily rights for women, progress against climate change, and on and on? Yes. I’m throwing my vote onto the Biden side of the scale; sometimes …

WowHaus 1960s Malcolm Macdonald midcentury modern house in Lymington, Hampshire 1960s Malcolm Macdonald midcentury modern house in Lymington, Hampshire (image credit: Caldwells) One I covered previously, but this 1960s Malcolm Macdonald midcentury modern house in Lymington, Hampshire, looks much better now. (image credit: Caldwells) Annoyingly, for my own reference, as much as anything, this was back in 2014 – a time when I didn’t use a lot of images in …

In Taiwan, sometimes the government mandates certain Saturdays or Sundays as “make up workdays.” If you get off Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday for Lunar New Year, for example, you may have to come in next Sunday, because five days of straight vacation for the working class causes physical illness to the Taiwanese billionaires forced to witness it. Though the government advises which of these days should be “make up workdays” …

It’s time for Mozilla to recognize it is a better non-profit than it is a business—for the sake of the Web as a platform.

Black Crystal by @baumraum_treehouses located in the Catskill Mountains. Photographs by @mo More photos on @cabinporn.

Learning life lessons is why I am here on this planet… like a rider on the storm. In the turbulence, I remember that I’ve seen it before and lived. Yes, I have seen this before and …….. lived.… 🐞 Read more about it ➞ ➞ ➞

*Heart cockles, via the Natural History Museum, London.* Sam Gilliam, "Blue Edge," 1971, acrylic on canvas, The Baltimore Museum of Art via David Kordansky Gallery.*A Rudolph Steiner interior in Dornoch, Switzerland. Photo by Deidi von Schaewen, via Commune.*Victorain shell cameo, ca. 1850, via Sian Harlow Antiques.*An 1817 "cobweb" valentine, featured in "Victorian Romance: The Art of Cobweb Valentines." The recipient would gently pull the string in the center to reveal …

In 1993, in my early 20s, I was working in a giant chain bookstore known as BookStar in Cary, NC. It wasn't a bad place to work, basically a Barnes and Noble (who eventually bought and then closed down the store), although the guys had to wear ties and dress pants, like it was fucking church. Several of my coworkers were horror fiction fans, both of the modern and classic …

About a year ago Mats Danielson from Stockholm Sweden contacted the CPU Shack about an interesting project, documenting the history of Philips Data Systems, a former powerhouse of European computing. Previously we wrote about the SPC16 micro used in some of these, but Mats has done a complete history. His book is available for free at Research Gate: The Rise and Fall of Philips Data Systems. It includes the SPC16 …

If I’m going to point to something about string theory and say the same things as always about it, seems best to first start with the opposite, an item about something really worth reading. This spring I’ve been teaching a graduate course aimed at getting to an explanation of the Standard Model aimed at mathematicians. The first few weeks have been about quantization and quantum mechanics, today I’m starting on …

“Oh! Now what?” “Sir, see the lit sign up there? You cannot turn right.” “But did you not see the car right in front of me turning right?” “Sir, if a person jumped off a bridge, would you follow?” “Yes.” “You must be very smart then.” “And selective enforcement of the laws leads to distrust of the police.” “Sir—” “Oh look! The ‘No Right Turn’ sign is off now! Gotta …

As Okja unfolded I kept thinking of the comics I read in my youth. American comics were always bigger than superheroes with plenty of crime, autobiography and horror out there to please genre fans. This reminded me of manga. That’s not a perfect analogy as there are all kinds of comics from Japan in an infinite number of styles. But there are sensibilities that tend come from particulars parts of …

(The second part of a series reconsidering Dave Sim’s Cerebus The Aardvark on the occasion of me actually finishing it. As before, I’m not worrying too much about spoilers or trying to draw attention to particular moments or bits of art: this is just me writing about it.) Previously: Dave Sim’s Cerebus, a planned 300-issue comics series, launches with a series of Conan The Barbarian pastiches, which rapidly spin out …

It’s been a wet winter so far. Some 177mm has fallen in Wanstead – already 122 per cent more what falls in an average winter. But the amount pales into comparison with the Lake District. Since December 1st 1360mm has fallen at Honister, a station close to Seathwaite which proudly proclaims itself as ‘England’s wettest place’. Over a calendar year the area usually sees 5.6 times the amount of rainfall …