Date: September 2011
An extract from Mark Kermode's new book. I purchased the Kindle version (my review is on Goodreads) but not without jumping through a few hoops. Listen here, Amazon: Ireland (for all intents and purposes) is part of the UK book market, so please fix your regional restriction nonsense. #link
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Hold the steak: Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s vegetable recipes
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Related to the previous entry. I'm convinced that when people are confronted with the real-time effects of their behaviour in an open setting (such as with dynamic speed displays, which are pretty common here) it does prompt a change for the better. #link
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Another epic post from Dan Hill, this time on the concept of the 'smart city', relaying real-time metrics of the city to its inhabitants through various means, as well as the problems inherent on a municipal level with that kind of big thinking. #link
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The artist's collected correspondence, with full text and annotations, and even images of the originals. This is pretty amazing. #link
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My view? There's nothing wrong with being a dilettante if you engage faithfully with the things you pick and choose. Also, the distinction must be made between things that people like because they're good, albeit an acquired taste, and things that everyone says they like but are really rubbish. But yeah, that thing about missing the last episode of Treme? I dropped off The Wire before the end of season 4, and I've just kept missing that train ever since. #link
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I'm pretty sure Bee doesn't use even half of these (the ones that aren't plain old English English, I mean). See also: more on South African English from the OED. #link
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The best of the web curated for children. If teachers aren't finding a way to use this in classrooms post-haste... #link
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Own-brand packaging design from the 1960s. Very fashion forward for its time -- hell, even for now. #link
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Chicken and asparagus risotto recipe
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"The idea that the internet is a place that’s separate from reality has faded. People generally have online identities that map to who they really are. Outside of a few legitimate edge cases and the occasional sci-fi fantasy, who we are online is simply who we are." True, true. Yet I still think there's a place for pseudonyms. I think most people forget that there are genuine reasons why some people don't want to be easily identified (describing them as 'edge cases' characterises them as being less common than I suspect they really are). And the case of Google+ is such an important one because of its integration with other services (e-mail, calendar, etc) that have little-to-nothing to do with identity as such. #link
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It really is. Also: Maciej's aside about 'frat bros' is a killer. #link
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I'm no fan of DFW, but anyone familiar with this blog will know I've got no problem with conversational writing. But, you know, everything in context. #link
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Comparing world cities by temperature, precipitation and wind speed. Yep, Dublin's pretty cold alright [c/o Kottke]. #link
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tep-by-step tutorials in programming basics. Looks inviting. #link
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I can't stand opera. But if I were ever to attend one, I'd do some reading here first. #link
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Great tips here. Terrible writing, though. #link
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A handy method for browser-targeted CSS switching. I thought the days of CSS hacks were gone, but... #link
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Dan Lepard’s sweet potato brownies recipe
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"Bootstrap is a toolkit from Twitter designed to kickstart development of webapps and sites." This looks great; thanks, Twitter. #link
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Co-signed. There's no reason why Apple has to be the only company making stuff that everyone wants. Why isn't the Android platform on a level pegging with iPhone apps? Just get it done already so the rest of us can buy cheap tablets and join in the future party. #link
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Weekly roundups of links about, well, everything. #link
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So it turns out it was pronounced as 'the' all along. #link
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I get out of practice for five years and now CSS can do all this? #link
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The best and worst aspects of design on one page [c/o MetaFilter]. #link
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Swole.me: The automatic diet generator
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Just because the things we do are being done in public -- websites, hacks, etc -- doesn't mean they're not hobbies. #link
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Big thinking about the future of objects, their production and our interaction with them. I'm excited about where all this is going. #link
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Critical Thinking sounds like an awesome subject. #link
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There is no debate: the answer is unequivocably YES. Don't make the sub's job harder than it is. #link
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PHP, Perl, Python, Ruby all covered. Saving this for the day when I might need it, in the distant future. #link
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I've just started using a No 16 (yellow grid) with a cover and pen loop and I love it already. It's so much lighter (and cheaper) than the Moleskine I was using, and the paper quality is more suited to my tastes, too (I use a Pilot G-2, which used to bleed and smear on the Moleskine but writes with a finer, drier line on the Rhodia). Plus when I'm finished, I just swap in a new pad -- no more worries about filling my pages with nonsense. #link
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'If you write anything criticising editing or proofreading, there will be a fault in what you have written.' Guilty. #link
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View how your site appears across various mobile and desktop browser widths (see also: 1140 CSS Grid). I'm gonna have to redesign now, aren't I? Hmm. If only there was some way I could re-order the content... #link
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Interesting thoughts from Tom Armitage. But to add my own: there's a fine line between "designing games to fit into the fabric of everyday lives", and having those games become a chore, making me feel guilty for not playing (I'm looking at you, Animal Crossing). #link
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This warms my heart, so it does. Feelgood story of the month. #link
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The commenters are right: you can't judge the whole continent based on the South Africa experience alone. But it's important to talk about these things, as there are obvious kernals of universal truth (there is loads of money in Africa, for instance, but it's being spent on weapons and backhanders, not food). #link
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It's proprietary for the moment, with separate declarations for Mozilla and Webkit-based browsers. But it works! #link
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We're at a stage right now where 'manageable' is as good as cured. But more expensive. #link
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"Kiruna has few natural resources beyond a rich vein of iron ore stretching more than a mile below the ground. It’s not a skiing destination, and there are few cultural attractions. There’s an ample supply of reindeer, but otherwise little charismatic wildlife. Yet the town has been gifted with something less tangible: a willingness to bet on seemingly crazy ideas -- and brilliant marketing." #link
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Stuck for something to have for dinner the other evening, and realising we had a tub of Greek yogurt and some leftover feta in the fridge that needed using, Bee and I improvised this quick bean salad which turned out to be very delicious indeed. It’s the gherkins that give it that special kick, I think.
We had it with steamed chicken and mangetout, but it would be equally good with fusilli as a pasta salad. Serves three or four, depending on how greedy you are.
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Get Fresh Fruit and Vegetables
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Filing this for future reference. #link
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So you never have to see any of the actual movies. NSFW, or for anyone of a nervous disposition (even though so many of these situations would simply not happen, being physically impossible). #link
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Basic HTML and CSS for non-web designers. Good for a brush-up if you're as rusty as I am. #link
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Inverting the usual pattern of discovering when visiting a new city. How many places could this work for? I can't imagine it would be too interesting walking to town from Dublin Airport, unless you like industrial estates. #link
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We should all be doing something like this, really. #link
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"To watch even a day of Fox News -- the anger, the bombast, the virulent paranoid streak, the unending appeals to white resentment, the reporting that is held to the same standard of evidence as a political campaign attack ad -- is to see a refraction of its founder, one of the most skilled and fearsome operatives in the history of the Republican party ... Ailes has used Fox News to pioneer a new form of political campaign -- one that enables the Republican party to bypass sceptical reporters and wage an around-the-clock, partisan assault on public opinion. The network, at its core, is a giant soundstage created to mimic the look and feel of a news operation, cleverly camouflaging political propaganda as independent journalism." The rest is even worse. What a scumbag. #link
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More on CSS grids, filed for future reference. #link
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Decades of infrastructural neglect are catching up with the people of Canada's second city. #link
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