theTangentSpace

Weekly digest 28

It's been a few weeks since I posted one of these. I've been going through some personal growth lately, which if it gets talked about at all here will deserve its own post. Suffice to say I'm starting to break free of some ruts I've been in for a while.

• Had lots of lovely cards from my outgoing year 11s.
• Been dieting lately for a rather embarrassing reason... I'm attending my year 11s' prom and don't want to have to buy a new suit. It's the first time I've dieted. My strategy has been to merge breakfast and lunch into a light brunch, and then eat more-or-less normally in the evening. It has worked. It's been an interesting experience mainly because it has proved that I can do it.
• Had a poorly baby to look after, and the accompanying sleepless nights.
• I installed KOreader on my phone and Pocket Reform, and then installed Syncthing on my ereader (via this KOreader plugin). It's working really well; my books and reading progress are synchronised across all three devices (since my phone is always on, it acts like the server). It means I can swap reading from Kobo to phone and pick up exactly where I left off (I know this is already the case if you're using official Kobo and Kindle apps but this setup lets me do with free software and no DRM).
• Been playing Music League with friends. Yes, it uses Spotify which is evil as we know, but it's a fun thing to do with a group of friends. Essentially the league leader (one of your group) proposes a theme or brief, and then everyone picks a song for that theme. The app generates a Spotify playlist of your submissions, and then you vote for which song best fits the brief. Each round lasts a few days. It's been a pretty fun way to hear music I wouldn't normally listen to.

Links

Just a few.

• Iran: It's the same bullsh*t again. Owen Jones on that same bullsh*t, again.
• Why BBC editors must one day stand trial for colluding in Israel's genocide. Jonathan Cook reporting on Peter Oborne's questioning of BBC News Chief Richard Burgess.
• Generative AI and the Business Borg Aesthetic by Tracy Durnell.

Reading

I started Beloved but quickly found it was too difficult to read at work (where I have to read alongside the kids). I switched to Sally Rooney's Normal People. For the most part a compellng read, and some very quotable lines.

Fitness

I've kept up gym-going for a good few weeks, and am making a little progress.