Recently updated blogs

A year ago today I was in Seville at the end of a fantastic trip with my eldest son. These are some of the notes I put down on the hoof in my pocket notebook. (video at the end of this post) 23rd November 2023The smell of jasmine draped over an old sandstone wall near the cathedral, cascading into a narrow street. The beautiful garlands with the giant fig tree, …

A guide for Debian and Ubuntu on how to install PHP 8.4 on a new server or how to upgrade an existing PHP setup to PHP 8.4.

Why would you want to unitize your portfolio? I mean life is short – and there’s a lot of good stuff on Netflix. Well… maybe you’re a stock picker who wonders whether you’re beating the market? Or perhaps you’re a passive investor keen to see how the returns from your DIY ETF portfolio compares to Vanguard’s LifeStrategy fund? Whatever the motivation, you’ll need to track your performance versus active and …

Today's links Bossware is unfair (in the legal sense, too): Neotaylorists wielding digital calipers, breaking the law. Hey look at this: Delights to delectate. This day in history: 2009, 2014, 2019, 2023 Upcoming appearances: Where to find me. Recent appearances: Where I've been. Latest books: You keep readin' em, I'll keep writin' 'em. Upcoming books: Like I said, I'll keep writin' 'em. Colophon: All the rest. Bossware is unfair (in …

After playing Kebab Chefs! for a few days, I can honestly say this game is a mix of pure chaos and unexpected fun. It’s a co-op cooking and restaurant management game where up to four players can team up, design their own restaurant, and try to run the biggest kebab place in town. But don’t be fooled—it’s not as simple as flipping meat and serving happy customers. This game throws …

In this instalment of my monthly listening tips, I’d like to share a few podcasts and radio programmes on the subject of Norse mythology. If you don’t know much about it, some of them will serve as a good introduction to the topic, while others go deeper into very specific aspects of the Norse culture.

What do you do when your other half never wears an expensive niche perfume bought extravagantly as an extra birthday present ? Spray it on his sheets. That way you get to reap the benefits, in this case a fresh, nutmeg aldehydic, very clear frankincense fragrance (with some admittedly niche-ish trope-ish citric and coniferous facets that presumably put him off – someone was also coughing next to him in a …

This book is the second book in the Karen Pirie series. Detective Inspector Karen Pirie is in charge of the Cold Case department in Fife, Scotland; she works primarily with Detective Sergeant Phil Parhatka. A woman reports that her father has been missing for over 20 years, from the time of the Miner’s Strike of 1984. At the time they thought he had deserted the family and gone to Nottingham …

Reading this week: The Adventures of Ibn Battuta by Ross E. Dunn The Travels of Ibn Battutah, abridged, annotated, and with a forward by Tim Mackintosh-Smith Sierra Leonean Heroes A little bit ago I once again found myself in Kinshasa, and this time the big adventure was going to Lola ya Bonobo! It was a lot of fun. Lola ya Bonobo is a sanctuary for orphaned bonobos. The name in …

Here are our hand-selected favorites from eBay for this week, plus a heads-up on recommended sales. If you’re a member of the Inside Track, log in with your CrateJoy username and password. If you’re not a member, you can join now for just $5 a month. You’ll get access to one of these members-only lists every week, and your membership supports Put This On! The post Inside Track: November 24th …

In praise of all this and more. Read here.

It’s easy and lazy to bash the press; that’s why President-elect Trump does it. He also has plenty to hide, from his prior business dealings to his predatory sexual behavior. It’s also lazy to talk about the mainstream media and assert they are all the same; they are not. Over the last two decades, we’ve seen local newspapers decimated. While many still exist, they are no longer able to staff …

Amerie album The name Amerie first appeared in the U.S. baby name data in 2002: 2006: 110 baby girls named Amerie 2005: 162 baby girls named Amerie 2004: 67 baby girls named Amerie 2003: 111 baby girls named Amerie 2002: 51 baby girls named Amerie [debut] 2001: unlisted 2000: unlisted It was one of the highest-debuting names of the year, in fact. Where did it come from? Mononymous R&B singer …

Arkham House was founded in 1939 by August Derleth and Donald Wandrei to publish a memorial volume of the writings of H.P. Lovecraft. Soon afterwards Wandrei's participation diminished, and Arkham House was ruled by Derleth until his death in 1971. Afterwards, others stepped in, and the publisher morphed a number of times. After Derleth's daughter, April Derleth, died in 2011, the firm published