Recently updated blogs

This is a rough transcript based on my notes for the sharing session I presented at the online Groove meetup in June. I've shared the slides before, but I think it's worth putting the content in writing. The full slide deck is accessible on GitHub. css-doodle is a project I started many years ago. Initially, it was used to draw some simple graphic patterns, but over time, it evolved into …

A couple of weeks back I had the afternoon off and jumped on a train to Norwich to give a talk at the Norwich Cycling Campaign's AGM called "Not Invented Here". At some point, I will produce a video of me talking through the slides, but until I do, you can download them from my business website, City Infinity*. The title of the talk came from discussions with Peter at …

The examples used here are from the weekly challenge problem statement and demonstrate the working solution. Part 1: Contiguous Array You are given an array of binary numbers, @binary. Write a script to return the maximum length of a contiguous subarray with an equal number of 0 and 1. Let’s not concern ourselves with any particular efficiencies and just analyze all the subsets of the given numbers! The main loop …

In past seasons, I've written holiday gift guides focused on what you might buy other people. These are always tricky; you should usually not buy other people clothes, since you probably don't know what fits them or their style as well as they do. I also listed out some good black friday sales, generally, but you might want more specific guidance. But Jake Woolf inspired me. He showed me the …

I got myself a coffee advent calendar and I have to admit it was more aspirational than anything. I don’t drink enough coffee. But the packaging is nice. Web developers around the world have for years given a nod to Saturnalia solstice Isaac Newton’s birthday Yule wassailing mummering end of Gregorian calendar year Christmas with advent calendars covering web-related topics. As a result, you may (should) recognize some of the …

In our 86th episode, we talk timepieces (again), and then we somehow segue to bees. Brace for it. Enjoy it now, or download for later. Here’s a handy feed or subscribe via Overcast or iTunes. https://traffic.libsyn.com/rands/theimportantthing0086.mp3

Thanks to the excellent Why Don’t YouTube, over on Bluesky, I was made aware of another short-lived Noel Edmonds curio. Noel Edmonds' first new series after The Late Late Breakfast Show's enforced cancellation was Whatever Next?, as seen today in 1987, a single series light oddity in which two pairs are challenged to predict the outcomes of street dares, queries and stunts.— Why Don't YouTube? (@whydontyoutube.bsky.social) 2024-11-30T19:00:02.086Z Coming so soon …

The city is a map of stories, and in them we are both the inhabitants and the explorers. Zadie Smith (from NW) At Psychogeographic Review I write about the books, poems, maps, photographs, paintings, films and music that help us to construct a living map of the places where humans live. The following is my personal and very subjective list of some of the books that have informed this discussion …

(⏱️ ~10 min read) Another month, another collection of shiny objects (stuff I found in the the past month that were valuable/inspiring). See also, previous Signal Boosts for Oct/Sep, Aug/July, June, May 🩸 Kurzgesagt gets to the bottom of a science myth ↪ 😭 Paper: AI poems are now "more human than human" ↪ 🇺🇸 U.S. Election-related analysis ↪ 👄 The Substance ↪ 🩸 Kurzgesagt gets to the bottom of …

I’ve played 186 games of Forest Shuffle this year. I like it a lot. Here are some new games I’ve played during the past few months. Fishing. Friedemann Friese’s latest curious trick-taking game is a lot of fun. This is an evolving game with a lovely ebb and flow to it. The game starts simple. You play a normal game of trick-taking and score a point for every card you …

. Winter brings longer nights and the desire to read by the fireside. Welcome, dear reader, to 19th-century Paris’ vibrant literary world! Let’s explore the various styles and flamboyant authors who penned their way into world-wide fame. Romanticism (from 1790s to 1850s) Romanticism was a literary movement focused on emotion, imagination, and the natural world. It was a time of heightened creativity and experimentation. Writers during this period explored themes …

I’m trying not to borrow grief from the future, as the saying advises, but the terms are so damn attractive.

I thought I should share more pictures from my trip to Venice, some months ago. I recently listened to this podcast from the BBC and I learnt a lot more about the history of such amazing place. I totally recommend it. As always, let me know if you would like a print of any of these pictures ;). Source

The American worker divide: Those who sit, and those who stand