The Petard Pinch exhibition at Bletchley Park tells the incredible story of the capture of crucial Enigma codebooks which enabled Codebreakers to break back into the German naval Enigma network, saving countless lives. This video contains two versions; subtitled first followed by a British Sign Language version at 4:20.
The article outlines how Gutenberg copied the ideas of movable type printing from Asia. I think he was successful because he made the bible widely available and ultimately led to mass production and scale.
There was widespread opposition to printing presses on the basis that uneducated people would be damaged by reading or accessing knowledge. Because the ideas behind the printing press spread quickly and were easily copied, it wasn’t possible for the elites to prevent new presses from manufacture as they did in Asian countries.
In effect, the book publishing revolution is an accidental innovation that succeeded by its profit motive. Publish books, make money > that preventing spreading of knowledge.
There is great personal freedom from having universal healthcare. You can't plan time to have medical problems and access to at least a basic health service as a national good has given me enormous personal and career freedoms.
Whats not so obvious is that community insurance delivers better results overall. This video digs into the data and presents the argument for nationalised healthcare.
One thing I Noted : Although the US spends more on healthcare than other countries, its not evenly distributed. People with insurance are over-serviced and excessively treated while people without cover get very little.
Indulging a whimsy while drinking coffee in the sunshine this morning.
The random music playlist started playing Telegraph Road from Dire Straits today and my mind latched onto this section
And the dirty old track was the telegraph road Then came the mines - then came the ore Then there was the hard times then there was a war Telegraph sang a song about the world outside Telegraph road got so deep and so wide Like a rolling river. ..
Just for a moment, the metaphor that the telegraph brought the burdens of civilisation with it became linked to internet :
And the slow modem track became the internet road Then came the pictures - and so much more Then there was the boom times then there was a war Internet sang a song about the world outside Internet road got so deep and so wide Like a rolling river. ..
This is just amazing work and recommended watching. Movie length, high grade video set in the Warhammer universe.
I do enjoy some Warhammer from time to time although the relentless darkness does become tedious. This is an excellent, self-made movie done by a professional on their own time. Parts 1-10 are contained in the Movie Vol 1. And Parts 11-13 complete the story. I haven’t read the original book
I found that the first ~45 mins was lower quality but improved as the story progresses. In particular, parts 11-13 are much improved in quality and finish the story perfectly.
These look good to me. I use Sonos today for music playback with Spotify and these look well suited to for the bedroom because:
there are no voice assistants built in. There is no privacy on voice assistant.
I expect an Ikea price to be reasonable (current Sonos pricing is excessive)
They look nice enough.
Can use my own smart light bulb
Sonos has collaborated with IKEA on SYMFONISK, a range of speakers designed to democratise the home sound system. Combining our expertise in sound and technology with IKEA’s knowledge of home furnishing, SYMFONISK seamlessly fits into the home to enhance everyday life and integrates with the Sonos system.
Dido has a new album and its perfect for working on a Sunday morning. Atmospheric and haunting. Also, I little bit comforting because it reminds me of the days when I first heard her music.
Its been a long time since I listened to a new album on repeat.
I started using Instagram as space to share personal photos of what I am doing. When I started, the app was fun, delightful even and I kind of sharing images and photos of a personal nature but not on twitter.
The last few months my dissatisfaction has been growing. I found the story function to be really intrusive, the number of ads has been increasing and become intrusive. My use of Instagram has been declining for a couple of months because its an unpleasant thing.
Following latest information when UK government published emails seized from a company suing Facebook I was reminded that how much corporate surveillance is happening. And how Facebook execs are depending on Instagram to replace the revenue lost on the facebook site with increased advertising on instagram.
I don't need that hassle. I've got twitter and this blog. Its all I need.
Loved this article about coffee in the 17th century being blamed for male impotence (but most likely because coffee houses were fronts for brothels)
The ‘Maiden’s Complaint’ claims the “Devil first invented this liquor, on purpose to plague our Sex”, while the Ale-Wives call coffee an “insipid, filthy, nauseous, rot gut liquor” that leaves men with neither “honey nor money”. The petitions are more than frothy spoofs mocking winkies on the blink. They are attempts to smear the revolutionary coffeehouse culture as effeminate and unmanly.
Some photos of my time so far in Lisbon, Portugal. No particular theme or message - mostly its about learning photography.
This street view is dramatic.
I'm staying in a central part of Lisbon but the harbour is close by.
Out walking at night, first time taking photos at night turned out somewhat poorly.
Walking along the waterfront and this sculpture area seems to be maintained. This man was moving amongst the stones, some of them are painted, some may be a work in progress.
Many people I meet do not understand that the Australian continent is roughly the same physical size as a mainland USA.
The Mapfrappe website uses Google Maps to show exactly this:
FWIW, my home town (Brisbane, Queensland) is roughly the size of South Carolina and I've been on properties (what some people call 'farms' or 'ranches') that are larger than entire US states.
A typical jet flight takes 6.5 hours to fly from Brisbane to Perth, the two state capital on west and east coasts.
I do enjoy the Ukelele Orchestra after seeing them at Glastonbury a decade or so ago. These people are very serious musicians who did this as a side hustle buts it become a serious business.