Being a good parent is exhausting sometimes. Particularly when ep 1 of Murderbot drops and you’ve promised your daughter you’ll watch it together when her A levels are done. Almost a month from now.

Alongside the other billion and one reasons why my daughter is fabulous is telling me about this screensaver. That I’ve never noticed it before is mortifying. But as a 35-year Mac veteran, all the way back to System 6, this is Clarus-level joy for me. #hiChicago

New life rule. If I buy something from you and you ship it to me via #Evri (and don't give me an alternative), I won't buy from you again. Twice in two weeks an Evri delivery has been left somewhere utterly stupid. The first time, it was stolen. The second, thankfully not. Never again.

Nothing I’ve ever done screams “nerd” quite as loudly as the fact I’ve just read this inordinately long piece about a font from top to bottom. Still recommend it, though. It’s lovely. The font AND the piece. (Thanks to the wonderful statusq.org for the link.) aresluna.org/the-hardest-...

am I a bad person for being onboard (sorry) with this? www.thelocal.fr/20250206/fre...

Interesting work from @danneidle.bsky.social and taxpolicy.org.uk on Companies House failings has prompted thoughts on broader strict liability "control offences" - and a spot of personal history to boot. www.jcsj.uk/2025ii4-tues...

This resonates. Loud and clear. A key question, always. open.substack.com/pub/richardb...

Wow.

Jason Kottke (that global treasure) took me to the astonishing Questlove mix of SNL music (kottke.org/25/01/questl...). And that led me here... a beloved, multi-handed work of genius which for 35 years has taken me to a place where the soul flies free. A blessing. www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJXb...

I've still got my Pebble somewhere. Don't really use it. But it was an absolute masterpiece when it came out more than a decade ago. Just wonderful. So, yes. Of COURSE I've signed up to express interest in buying a new one... repebble.com

Two people I care about are to be KCs. Amid my huge delight for them, a few musings on progression - and personal relationships. www.jcsj.uk/2025i26-sund...

After 35 years of Mac use, there’s always something new to learn. An inadvertent keypress showed me that ctrl-Enter pops up a context menu (at least in Word, Notes, Bear and other text entry situations). For lovers of keyboard shortcuts, very useful. (Apologies to those who’ve known it for years!)

This whole thread. And especially this.

I always loved this pic. My beloved gave me a poster of it long ago and it stayed on our wall for years. And this story - www.nytimes.com/interactive/... (shared by the great managingeditor.substack.com/about) - sung its soul good and loud. Blessings.

This, from a piece by Tim Goodman about why professionals don’t vote Tory, is hilarious. Unrecognisable in its lack of connection with reality. A picture-perfect example of someone seeing their own biases and mistaking them for the outside world.

One of my most firmly-held beliefs is the critical importance of finding beauty in the small things. The view south-east from the platform at Milton Keynes Central just now. This alone makes the morning a thing to treasure.

Yes, a thousand times yes. “Around” in this usage makes me seethe, too. www.ft.com/content/b589...

This post ends: “Experimental History is a RUNK in progress.” It is. It absolutely is. (That’s a compliment, btw.) For those (like me) who didn’t know what a RUNK is - and you’ll want to, it’s a thing with buckets of *positive* explanatory power - read on. open.substack.com/pub/experime...

Finally (!) finishing ST: #Discovery. (Penultimate ep.) And musing, once more, on the wonder that is Doug Jones’s Saru. Amid the Forehead Aliens, a five-seasons-long note-perfect portrayal of someone genuinely alien (right down to the body language) yet hugely approachable. Glorious. Just glorious.

A friend, a stalwart of my found family (in capoeira and much else), and a woman I greatly esteem, has (re)found herself. She declares: “I’m an artist.” Which she is. Rightly. Unquestionably. And it makes my heart sing to see her say so. She tells the story here: open.substack.com/pub/sharpeni...

Spend day in police appeals tribunal. Note with delight venue is close to fabulous Korean takeaway. Gleefully buy food for wife, daughter and self (all of whom love the place). Run from venue to station to get home in time for everyone to eat. And then leave the food on the effing train. Sigh.

I'm in Aldeburgh for a few days next week. The map tells me it's just down the coast from both Dunwich and Walberswick. And my old #CallofCthulhu muscles started twitching. Fond (perhaps not quite the word) memories of a White Dwarf scenario set in the latter... and another one set in the former.

Dear legal bluesky - can we get a whatever you call a retweet please? trying to help people to find us in this place and could do with your assistance! TYIA

TFW: 1. You nostalgically browse the bit about ST:TRPG in @stuhorvath.bsky.social’s magnum opus. 2. You yarn with 17yo daughter about it, and the Zahn Trilogy, and how they kept the #starwars flame alive. 3. She goes to ComicCon… and buys you Heir to the Empire. Could any parent be more blessed?

The problem with this - from the FCA's CEO, in www.ft.com/content/8774... - is that it runs directly contrary to the FCA's previous stated estimate: that two thirds of its recently-opened investigations would be subject to the naming provisions. I don't think both statements can be true.

The depressing thing is how obvious it is, in retrospect that - if it came out - this would be unhelpful and damaging. And always assume it's going to come out. So yes. Get the Commission up and running, commit to accepting its rulings, and make it someone else's problem.

We lost a colleague last month. It hit hard; he was young, with a young family. A scholar and a gentleman. Yesterday something I heard triggered a need to write - about him, about endings, about how we survive them. So here we go. www.jcsj.uk/2024ix19-thu...

This feels horrifically cheeky. But these are good, generous people trying to build and maintain something beautiful, in a place that needs beauty and fellowship. If you feel like helping, and you can, I can’t tell you what it would mean. www.gofundme.com/f/believe-in...

Not every day when you have a whole new sensation, and it's one you hope never to repeat. To wit: the combined feeling of horror and relief when you discover (1) that you left the car keys in the ignition two hours ago, but (2) that the car's still there for you to find that out.

No, the government isn't planning to introduce ID cards (FREE TO READ!) takes.jamesomalley.co.uk/p/trust-but-...

One refreshing thing about this non-hellsite world: one particular annoying person hasn't joined yet. They dislike some work I did. And (pseudonymously) keep tagging me in tweeted whinges. Despite knowing that (owing to privilege and privacy issues) I can't respond. Very brave of 'em.

A terrifyingly common and harmful error, across so many fields. Although the way things are going @dsquareddigest.bsky.social would probably have something to say re #POSIWID. (If he’s not fed to the back teeth of people saying this already. Lovely book though.)

In the highly unlikely event that anyone reading this is (a) in Essex and (b) interested in #capoeira, we’re doing a display in Basildon on Saturday. Noon in Northlands Park.

I’d love to crack some smart gag about my cat helping me work. But as anyone owned by cats knows, that’s bollocks. Rather, it’s: “bored and lazy. Need comfort and company. You’ll do. At least till I decide otherwise.” In the utter (and justified) confidence that spineless human will comply.

This - via John Naughton - is magical. Something truly lovely about a shared, simple academic thrill of discovery. youtu.be/LUxFzh8r384?...