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Mark Twain? Oscar Wilde? Thomas Love Peacock? Algernon Falconer? Richard Porson? An open book with three roses from Pixabay Question for Quote Investigator: The complexities of the German language inspired the following comical statement: Life is too short to learn German. This statement has been attributed to U.S. humorist Mark Twain, Irish playwright Oscar Wilde, English satirist Thomas Love Peacock, and English classical scholar Richard Porson. Would you please explore …

I found the answer to the annoying bureaucrats who ask what percentage of the work on a publication was done by each of its authors, in the writings of St Bernard. He said, Grace is necessary to salvation, free will equally so—but grace in order to give salvation, free will in order to receive it. Therefore we should not attribute part of the good work to grace and part to …

It's human nature to find a way to do a job, have some success, and then doggedly try to do things the same way; over and over again. Some of us seem to be highly resistant to change -- no matter what that intransigence costs us. I remember, during my 40 year career, the transition from shooting everything on 4x5 film to shooting almost everything on medium format film, and …

Some events can cast long shadows. The UK is still talking about the storm of 1987 (‘the worst night since the Blitz’), the winter of 1963, the storm floods of 1953, the London smog of 1952, the Great Storm of 26 November 1703. Other countries have their own stories. But one event in particular still…

the-lemonaut:ALTNew Solarpunk illustration, yay! The full thing was made for a thing, but also each half was also drawn for the Solarpunk (writing) Prompts podcast.This one features a maker/hackerspace. It’s a thing that has existed for a while but that few people seem to know about? I myself learned about the idea from a friend relatively recently. While I’ve never been to one myself, plenty of references were provided and …

A new print design: one part Riso, two parts screen printing. An experimental alternative version of the prints I shared recently. Normally this would be something I’d produce using a single process but I had a pile of red paper on hand and thought that might work if I printed one layer on the Riso (black) and screenprinted the other two (blue, white). I say this is experimental mostly because …

The sashiko pattern bishamonkikkō 毘沙門亀甲 means “Bishamonten tortoiseshell.”毘沙門 bishamon refers to the buddhist god of war, Bishamonten. He looks pretty scary, but is one of the seven gods of fortune and represents dignity. 亀甲 kikkō means “tortoiseshell.” Tortoiseshells are represented by hexagons in Japanese patterns. This moyōzashi pattern is based on triple-layered hexagons.

Hello. It’s cold and it snowed on Tuesday. Heating’s on. I remain incredibly busy, sort of stretched, like non-dairy spread that has been scraped over too much sourdough. Next week is Thanksgiving in the US which hopefully means it’ll be a slightly easier one. On Thursday I met Chris for beers near Old Street. The proper pubs were heaving so we hid away in an unloved sports bar instead. While …

I was up and about fairly early, out in the half light and had to scrape the windscreen for the first time this year. Then Monday morning A road hell, not one but two major hold ups saw me arrive at the river an hour later than planned, the morning mist had almost burned away and a bright day was in prospect. The stretch was still unfamiliar so I took …

How to write a progress indicator, pro-style: (It has been a few years, so tried out Kodi again. It is still trash.) Previously, previously, previously, previously, previously, previously, previously.

I got into a polite exchange of views a couple of days back over an otherwise unexceptional story about, of all things, expensive mince pies. Or, more specifically, over the language used by the good citizens of Orford, in Suffolk, where the Pump Street Bakery makes delicacies that are supposedly the priciest mince pies going. When one of the locals described them as “bespoke”, I was confused, because there had …

I’ve started a Bluesky list featuring some of the brilliant writers, designers, coders, editors, and others who’ve contributed to A List Apart “for people who make websites” from the magazine’s first dawning back in the 19(mumbles). Bluesky fans, grab the list here: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:pgjpl4opnmqxxpb74n4vuabv/lists/3lbozpqe2kq2t Why only *some* of the contributors? Simple. Several are, sadly, deceased. Many others are likely alive and well but not yet on Bluesky. We can’t unmake death, …

The Papermakers Arms, Hawley, Kent An inter-wars cottage-style pub in a village south of Dartford near the A2/M25 interchange. It closed in 2022, and a planning application has been submitted for a luxury car showroom on the site, which makes a change from yet more flats.

A ghost goes for a walk in the woods.

I was interviewed about my memoir, Data Baby: My Life in a Psychological Experiment, for NPR’s To the Best of Our Knowledge. The episode is “The Sum of Our Data,” and it includes interviews with The Right to Oblivion: Privacy and the Good Life author Lowry Pressly and The Afterlife of Data: What Happens to Your Information When You Die and Why You Should Care author Carl Öhman. You can …