Recently updated blogs

When I set out to make Zinc I had a few goals in mind. A large portion of those goals were around engine ergonomics and “making happy developers,” but one very specific technical goal was “make it work on the web”. I didn’t know how to do this. I didn’t even really know how to approach the problem at the time, or even really understand how web builds would (or …

Everyone seems to have one of these – hope mine is useful to someone – I visited in November 2024. If you have backups running on your phone and a non-Japan plan, disable roaming before you get there or it’ll cost you. We got an eSim (I used Sakura) for £35 for 2 weeks for unlimited data. Internet works in tunnels and on the underground lines. Wheeee! If you have …

For years now I have had a boilerplate rejection notice for review requests from Elsevier journals. (See the Cost of Knowledge pledge for why.) I include it here, feel free to remix and reuse: As a publicly funded scholar, I prioritize reviewing for open access and not-for-profit initiatives. I cannot in good conscience devote my efforts to corporate behemoths like Elsevier, whose profit margins have exceeded those of Big Tech …

I mentioned in a previous post that doing exact UNORM or SNORM conversions to float in hardware was not particularly expensive, but didn’t go into detail how. Let’s rectify that! (If you haven’t read that post yet, please start there if you need an explanation of what the UNORM and SNORM formats are, as well as the basic idea.) Previously, I explained how for n ≥ 1, using the specific …

My mom died last month. Going through some of the personal items she left for me, I found this book. The Jews of America was the textbook that virtually all of my sisters and I used in religious school, or Sunday School as it was called in Reform synagogues of the time, as we made our way toward our bar and bat mitzvahs. It’s how we learned about Jewish history …

Michael Gene Sullivan’s version of Charles Dickens’ traditional “A Christmas Carol” is not about Scrooge, the miser who hates the holiday. Sullivan’s “A Red Carol” is “about everyone else,” a world unrepentant for its cruelties, said the 64-year-old resident director of the San Francisco Mime Troupe, appearing at San Francisco’s Z Space Theater through December ... The post The play’s the thing as Michael Sullivan and the San Francisco Mime …

The Exodus (Part 2)

The fine folks of the airline industry work extra hard this time of year so that the rest of us can enjoy the holidays. As if that weren’t enough, some of them volunteer to help share seasonal spirit with people in need. As one example, United operates “Fantasy Flights” that bring children experiencing significant medical issues or other hardships to visit Santa at the North Pole. We were able to …

Sara Reish Desmond’s debut collection, What We Might Become (out now from Cornerstone Press), has been hailed as both “vivid” and “haunting.” Filled with complex and riveting characters, her stories will stay with you for a good while after you have turned the last page. Bloom sat down with Sara to talk about her journey and her process. Shabana Kayum: First, congratulations on your debut collection! Often, agents and others …

Who are you, and what do you do? I'm Kathy Reid, I'm currently finishing a PhD at ANU's School of Cybernetics, where I've investigated voice dataset documentation - like metadata and datasheets, from various angles, as a way to help create speech technology that works better for more people. I do a lot of reading and annotation of PDF files - most academic papers, and do a lot of writing …

Merry Xmas everyone, or Happy Holidays if you prefer. As I said to a few people in our Facebook Group The post Combat Patrol Contents Issues 21-40 Revealed appeared first on FauxHammer.

2024 was the year in which Bristol Old Vic continued to make new writing the heart of its programming, Welsh National Opera dazzled yet lost its South West berth, the Tobacco Factory slowly started to produce again after a difficult period and the Theatre Royal Bath kept producing classical revival after classical revival with big names and a commercial model that is the envy of all regional spaces. These were …

"Sabin Bălașa was a contemporary Romanian painter, writer and director of animation films. His works are described by himself as belonging to Cosmic Romanticism."Among Bălaşa’s most notable works are several large-scale fresco paintings, such as those decorating the inside of the Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iași, Romania. These 19 murals depict the history and mythology of the Romanian people, expressed through archetypal figures immersed in a romantic and cosmic …

I find myself in a bit of a dichotomy. On one hand, I feel as though I need a break from my own historical costuming, dressing for events, and making clothes in general. I’ve even envisioned selling off a good portion of fabric/materials stash. (This thought is in conflict with knowing the cost of replacing […]

. What. A. Year. Thank you to all of the amazing thinkers who generously shared their writing with us during rough waters worldwide. During those times when our work feels like we’re screaming underwater, it’s especially important that we’re still out here making waves. A special shout out in gratitude to our readers, who are listening even harder during our 15th year, and rocking the boat along with us into …