Recently updated blogs

Through much of U.S. restaurant history, smells were a problem. Partly this was because of a lack of ventilation that caused the build up of odors of all kinds blended together in a miasma. Then there was also the ideal of the smell-free middle-class dining room where even delicious kitchen aromas were frowned upon. All this kept numbers of people out of restaurants. Eventually this began to change. Better ventilation …

The original form of radio broadcast was amplitude modulation (AM). With AM radio, the changes in the amplitude of the carrier wave carries the signal you want to broadcast. Frequency modulation (FM) came later. With FM radio, changes to the frequency of the carrier wave carry the signal. I go into the mathematical details of AM radio here and of FM radio here. Pinter [1] gives a clear explanation of …

Hono Natsuna’s Pupposites Attract volume 2 continues to be cute. (I reviewed volume 1 previously.) The new character this volume intrigues me. Chako dresses very hip and modern, but her job is very traditional. She has a Shiba Inu that wears a cute kimono-like wrap, and she calls him Aniki, which means “big brother” but can also mean, in a way, “mentor”. She listens to his guidance, too, which is …

In October 2014 I posted an item on this blog about a trip my wife Dianne, daughter Becca and I made to Capitol Park in Tuscaloosa, the site of Alabama's state government from 1826 until 1846. Naturally I included many photographs taken on that bright sunny day. In January 2023 my son Amos and I made a trip to T-town primarily to visit the Paul W. Bryant Museum. I'll be …

We walked through Brighton Pavilion Gardens today. I was trying to avoid it because I knew there was a pro-Palestine meeting happening there. Last time E and I intersected with one of those people were shouting “stop killing children!” and I was extremely moved by it but also unprepared for the questions E had. But C could hear a din and so we went in. The protest was wrapping up, …

There is currently a new Doctor Who Magazine special out, fresh onto the shelves, and I'm pleased to say that I was asked to contribute to it. It's a particularly nice one to be a part of, as it's a bit of a mammoth effort - the first complete episode guide to the show which DWM has done for a very long time. The idea is that with almost the …

Borogravia is a minor but bellicose country, with a long history of invading its neighbours under the pretext of religious commands given by the deity Nuggan. With Nuggan's commands becoming more unhinged (banning ginger hair, garlic, cats, jigsaw puzzles and the colour blue), the reasons for war become increasingly random as well. Its neighbours, finally fed up by its constant aggression, have joined with the regional superpower of Ankh-Morpork to …

♫ Dreams, Aurora

A bit of background, for those not steeped in the world of WordPress development: there exists a plugin called Advanced Custom Fields (ACF) which allows developers to create near-endless customization options for end clients in the standard page and post editor. It is hard to explain in a single paragraph — the WordPress.com guide is a good overview — but its utility is so singular as to be an essential …

This is a break from my usual topics to let you know that my friend Hannah Gersen recently published her second novel. I am about a third of the way in, and I can already tell you that you should read it. The story concerns the US military’s surprising interest in new age medicine. The narrator (like the author) shares my climate despair. Hannah has a straightforward and undemonstrative prose …

A little bit late, but four new projects have come to my attention and it didn't make sense waiting another month to give them a push. So please check them out, they're all worth taking a look. 1. Data Vampires (Limited podcast series) (Twitter) 2. Galaxy Burn, a 40k Podcast (YouTube channel) (Twitter) 3. Marx's Dream Journal (Substack) (Twitter) 4. Red Bird (Bulletin) (Twitter) If you know of any new(ish) …

“Is this a Minecraft clone? Is it like Minecraft Alpha?” If you’ve been a member of our community for some time, you are probably aware of how often these questions remind us of what people think of when they hear the name “Minetest”: a rip-off of a similar genre-defining game. Truth be told, that was celeron55’s initial plan. But things change, and Minetest evolved. Now, the time has come for …

Secrets only I believed Tracklist: 00:00 DreamScenes - Intro (Susanna) 00:43 Jon Hopkins & Ishq - Part 1 - AltarRitual, 2024, Domino Recording Co Ltd 03:59 Karen Willems, Romke Kleefstra, Jan Kleefstra - Dage Dei DizeIt Deel III, 2024, Moving Furniture Records 08:16 Simon Fisher Turner - I Can't Hear AnythingInstability Of The Signal, 2024, Mute 12:51 Seefeel - Lose The MinusEverything Squared, 2024, Warp Records 14:37 Başak Günak - …

Nitecore NU27 Specifications Introduction Torch in use Build quality LED, bezel, lens and reflector Size and comparison User interface Batteries and charging Performance Beamshots Conclusion Price Product page Specifications Brand/model Nitecore NU27 LED Dual-core MCT UHE LEDs (3000K, 4500K, 6500K), Red LEDs Maximum lumens 600 lm Maximum beam intensity 3,705 cd Maximum throw 123 m Battery Built-in 850mAh Li-ion Onboard charging Yes (USB-C) Material Polycarbonate Modes 5 Blinkies Neutral White …

Only one basketball session this week. While I didn't think it went as well as the session last week, I still made some shots. I've got no basketball for the next couple of weeks as school sports halls are set up for exams. I played lots of Horizon Forbidden West over the weekend. I progressed the story to unlock the vine cutter and then rather than doing any more quests, …