link to this post This is an excellent online magazine, with loads of interesting articles. It’s actually run off a solar-powered server, and the website has a battery indicator to warn you if the server is about to run out of power! I bought a typewriter recently (blog article coming, perhaps), and found this particular article when I was searching around on Marginalia for blog posts about typewriters. It’s a very interesting read — evalulating the energy usage of paper-based offices and digital offices. Sometimes new problems actually just need old solutions.
link to this post A wonderful indie search engine that surfaces old fashioned personal webpages and other ‘small web’ sites. If you've ever appeneded ‘reddit’ to a Google search, then try searching for the same thing in Marginalia. The results will be the same vibe, but you'll get people's personal sites instead of a bunch of Reddit posts.
link to this post Absolutely f*cking fantastic. There's been so much disappointing theatre this year, so it was deeply refreshing to see a competantly executed production of Shakespeare's epic two-parter. Sir Ian McKellen (Falstaff) was sublime, flipping between comedic and tragic with the ease that begets a knighthood for acting. Toheeb Jimoh (Prince Hal) was similarly excellent, convincingly managing to blend the twin characters of Hal – the petty thief and reprobate – and Henry, Prince of Wales – the future warrior-king who would lead his troops to victory at Agincourt. The lighting, sound, and set design were similarly fantastic, and a particular shout-out must go to Henry Jenkinson's fantastic counter-tenor performance, providing a musical backdrop to all the goings-on.
link to this post Really interesting novel, set at the end of the 1st Millennium A.D. in the Caucasus, but very much written in the style of an American Western. Definitely worth reading.
link to this post This is the second time I've seen Hadestown – the first was during its 2018 off-West End run at the National Theatre. Then, I thought it was an excellent book-in-progress which needed some work to allow the relationships to breathe and the characters to really come out of their shells and develop. Unfortunately, six years and a 'finished' book later, I still think the same. To add insult to injury, the West End cast's performances leave a lot to be desired. Donal Finn (Orpheus) was not able to hit his high notes – notes which are absolutely fundamental to the plot – and had next to no chemistry with Miriam Nyarko (Eurydice). Though Patrick Page (NT Hades) is an impossible act to follow, Zachary James (Hades) did a decent job trying, but his performance was undercut by a consistent inability to play the part straight and with sincerety (though this may be more directorial than actorial). The real stand-out performances were from Gloria Onitiri (Persephone) and the Fates, who were simply stunning in a cappella.
link to this post Quite a complicated movie trying to simultaneously be a war film, a defence of journalism, and a coming-of-age film. Overall an enjoyable movie which manages its threads quite well, but on occasion muddles up tying them together.
link to this post Overall a great film. Really good for a directorial debut, especially as quite a complex action film. The politics were vaguely interesting but not sure who it was really targeting, not that it matters, really.
link to this post My Phd thesis (lol). Zeeman-Sisyphus deceleration is a method for slowing polar molecules while scattering only a small number of photons when compared with direct laser cooling. It has applications in ensuring that a wider range of molecules can be slowed and confined to within the acceptance of a magneto-optical trap.
link to this post "Sailing's always been something I've been interested in, and post-Covid-lockdown I finally got around to doing a lot more of it. Many things appeal to me about it: there is nothing quite like being in the middle of a large body of water gliding forward…"
link to this post Not actually the inspiration for this website (I didn't see it until after I'd made this), but the same general concept being applied: keep it simple, but still make it look nice.
link to this post Overall an excellent film that was let down by its inability to decide whether it wanted to be a straight retelling of the parable or a modern character-driven reinterpretation. Costuming, set, and cinematography were right up my street. Bonus points for actually giving King Arthur a Welsh accent.
link to this post "… The reality is that the US systematically failed to prepare the Afghan National Army (ANA) and the Afghan Air Force (AAF) for their departure. They forced the AAF to replace their Russian craft – for which spares and know-how are easily available – with American Black Hawks …"
link to this post Quite an interesting book, examining the morals of various human societies across time and how they change with technology. The arguments are occasionally a bit light on detail.
link to this post "The scattershot approach to investment the Review proposes does not work if funding is short. As it stands, the money proposed by the Government would possibly be enough to start research in several fields, but not enough to produce anything useful or have any technology leave the laboratory. This seems to be the story of UK science and technology…"
link to this post "Free trade is good for a market economy. However, it is free movement, that oft-neglected part of the neoliberal puzzle, which ensures that any economic fruits of free trade are properly distributed. This is clear when one considers the fact that free trade results in specialisation…"
link to this post "Delegating decision-making to machine learning models is all the rage today. From deciding where to deploy policing resources to sifting through CVs, the technology appears all over everyday life. However, faith in these methods is misguided and our increasing dependence on them in policymaking should trouble us…"
link to this post I made a fairly rubbish OS back in secondary school following this tutorial. It was somewhat fun, taught me a lot, and was very satisfying.
link to this post "The Affordable Art Fair is a showcase of all of the best new artwork available to be bought by your average Imperial-student-turned-banker that takes places twice a year in Battersea Park. Although its use of the word 'affordable' is about as apt as the word's application to the £400,000 studio flats which overlook the park…"
link to this post "The first thing one notices about Anna Burns' Milkman is the lack of names. The closest thing our protagonist gets to one is "middle sister", and the setting is only ever referred to obliquely, and its characters by sobriquet…"