2025-11-09 05:06:45
I read Matt Weber's reply to Kev Quirk's response to Chris Coyier's post. I love the IndieWeb 🥰 Here's my two-penn'orth!
Two years ago (almost exactly!) I was talking about this in response to Rodrigo's “Delete as default” strategy. I haven't managed to go all in with the philosophy but I'm getting there.
For my email I have a system of tags, snoozing, archive, and delete that treats emails as ephemera. Most of my emails are temporary in nature; purchase receipts, delivery notifications, requests for feedback. I don't need to keep any of these beyond receipt of the goods.
If I do need to keep it for some reason; perhaps proof of a warranty or something, I will tag it accordingly and archive it.
Otherwise, once I have confirmed the product has arrived satisfactorily the entire batch gets deleted.
If I receive something for a later date, again it's tagged and snoozed until that date.
If I receive something that I don't want, I'll mark it as SPAM, phishing, or just Unsubscribe.
My inbox is usually empty and, when there are things in it, they tend to be important.
It's not a complex system but it works for me; essentially approach email with a "does this deserve to not be deleted" mindset.
2025-11-09 04:57:22
When attempting to correct unwanted behaviour in a dog, often the dog will often double down on the behaviour.
This is known as an "extinction burst" — a temporary increase in undesirable behaviour as it is unlearned.
As a dog learns she will not get attention from barking, said barking intensifies as a last ditch attempt to force attention, before eventually getting the message.
This is, apparently, perfectly normal and is a natural reaction to the change in your behaviour. The barking used to work but it doesn't now — maybe just try harder?
This pattern can even be seen in humans; toddlers throwing tantrums, furious impotent jabbing at lift buttons.
2025-11-08 02:55:00
Over on the Socials, Laura shared the above image and pointed out that Russia is big.
Now, I've seen maps and Russia does look bloody massive but also Mercator distortion (where landmasses close to the poles are exaggerated in size) is a thing.
So, is Russia actually big?
It turns out, yes. It fucken massive.
Laura's map shows a 10,000km road trip cross-country. LA to London is a little over 8700km. There's room inside Russia for the whole of the USA and most of Europe.
It big. 17 million km² big. That's Canada plus Australia big! Seventy United Kingdoms big!
2025-11-07 19:15:17
I very much wanted to like "From the Pyre" as I think The Last Dinner Party showcased something really special on their debut. I remain, at time of writing, on the fence. "This Is The Killer Speaking" is a stand-out track; no surprises it was a single.
"Death and Glitz" kicks off with the sleaziest riff full of disconcerting bends. From 2025's, "Don't Go In The Forest", this track is classic Avatar — groovy, bluesy, tongue-in-cheek. Metal is usually such a serious genre with some notable "comedy" bands so it's refreshing to find a band that aren't "novelty" but have that lightness and sense of humour.
Dave Mustaine from Megadeth dropped his old bandmates from Metallica in it this week when he claimed the riff for Enter Sandman had been nicked from Excel's 1989 "hit", "Tapping into the Emtional Void" and, having given it a listen, I think Mustaine has a point!
Not to be confused with the carpet shop, "A Floorshow in Hull" by Yorkshire definitely-not-Goth darlings, Sisters of Mercy, is a live show from Dingwalls in Hull from 1983 that hit YouTube Music this week. A handful of banging classics from the Gary Marx era received, in venue at least, to a smattering of lethargic applause befitting of nihilistic 80s Goths. "We are here but we will not enjoy ourselves." Eldritch's echoey vocals on personal favourite "Alice" are chef's kiss exemplary of the genre. Bloody love Sisters of Mercy!
"Strong Feelings" by Dry Cleaning came on in the background of The Listeners and I really liked it. I made a note to listen to more the following day so imagine my surprise when I saw that exact song was in my previous history! I listened to it once in 2023 (thanks, last.fm!). It's a down-tempo indie gem that reminds me of Pulp, Half Man Half Biscuit, and Yard Act. Rolling along on a lovely bass line, minimal guitar, and scittery drums the track is a minimalist frame for a near-spoken-word poem of odd observations.
Spent £17 on mushrooms for you 'cause I'm silly
"Soak" is the latest album from Brighton four-piece, Black Honey. Short n sweet sleazy indie rock with saccharine vocals sugar-coating acidic content.
Florence + The Machine are back with a bang! "Everybody Scream" is an orchestral bombastic pop masterpiece. It feels like what I wished "From the Pyre" was going to be. It's dark, hopeful, exciting. For a sixth album, this is cohesive but fresh.
2025-11-07 05:01:47
If you've lived in Manchester, you've probably walked past the Cenotaph in St Peter's Square.
Situated just outside Central Library, it is an enormous white stone monument to those who lost their lives in service of the country.
Completed in time for the Allied Victory Parade in 1919 and designed by Edwin Lutyens, who also designed many other monuments around the country, the tower is build of Portland stone and is beautifully geometric — until you look right at the very top where there appears to be some carved fabric.
Today I leaned this is a carving of an Unknown Soldier draped in his own greatcoat. A poignant reminder of the horrors of war.
2025-11-05 21:24:58
A friend of the family shared the wonderful news they have a new baby today. The news was accompanied, as many of these notifications are, with a photograph of said newborn wrapped in the loving embrace of their parent.
In the bottom left hand corner, in small but brilliant white letters, it said "Galaxy A16".
And that's how I learned that Samsung feel it's OK to slap their branding on even the most intimate moments of a human's life. I shouldn't be surprised.
Removing watermarks from photographs and other images is generally seen as a bad thing — a practice actively harming the creative industry and, sadly, something that is getting easier to do with the power of Generative AI. But it seems like I've found an edge case where watermark removal is perfectly valid!
Samsung have a toggle in the settings to remove watermarks or customised them but turning them on by default to promote your own branding? Seems pretty wrong to me. Especially as it seems they can't be removed from images that already have them; proving they believe they have more claim to your images than you do.
🎶 Wow, capitalism! 🎵