: Universities and small business aren't working as intended A number of things seem not to be working in Britain today but these two separate articles on the …
: Paul Young chocolates, which are a bit of a Christmas tradition for us, ceased trading in August. A …
: Ukraine commentary from November Two interesting points from newsletters on Ukraine last week. The first is regarding security …
: Two elevated racecourses in #ForzaHorizon this week, both pretty good fun
: Siobhan and Tom’s marriage in #Succession is one of the most complex, sad and unedifying …
: I’m really enjoying the neon stylings of Horizon Midnights. The aerodrome in particular is …
: The Peripheral The themes of crisis and collapse along with a clever take on time travel makes it feel very …
: I think this is intentional but it feels disconcerting to realise that Fire Emblem: Three Houses is …
: Gave Cloud Gaming on the XBox a go this evening, so far it seems better than Stadia but I need to …
: I found the latest Extreme E Grand Prix in Forza Horizon 5 really hard. Even with a tune I mostly …
: I just wrapped up playing Carrion which was interesting gruesome and a Metrovania that was just on …
: It’s frustrating that the current UK government will do anything in its power to avoid putting …
: From Fathoms micro plastic pollution of the environment is now so pervasive that there is virtually …
: I started playing Backbone again this week, it’s pixel noir art style is unique and the …
: Started playing Forza Horizon 5 this weekend. Amongst the free cars I got on starting was a …
: Mighty Goose is the Metal Gear clone I didn’t know I needed. Conceptually nuts, often simply …
: Brexit and economic migration An interesting article about some of the rhetoric around UK shortages. The quote that stands out for …
: I’ve been watching the Marvel “What If…?” series. The animation approach is …
: Goshawk Summer I have been reading Goshawk Summer which manages to blend the nature diary with some of the queasy …
: I’m rewatching the Witcher Season One. I’d forgotten how high the production values are …
: Most of the commentary around why Britain isn’t trying to form some kind of coalition to …
: Loki Season 1 finale The new Loki series has been engagingly all over the shop. The retro-future look of the TVA was …
: I saw this poem near the start of the pandemic and loved it’s challenge to survivor bias and …
: I really felt the argument of this article Nothing matter to careless people. The worst thing about …
: Card-game design crossovers It’s interesting to see the crossover in card games between computer implementations and …
: It doesn’t take long in Ape Out before you’re brutally murdering people and revelling in …
: Book review: Ex Libris Ex Libris is a collection of reviews, recommendations and appreciations of books and authors. It …
: I get angry about the amount of effort that goes into holding Nicole Sturgeon to account for Alex …
: There’s something really distasteful in the way that Nicole Sturgeon is being made accountable …
: I suffer from the occasion bout of existentialist dread and I found this thread on Twitter …
: Vaccinating teachers The discussion going round about whether teachers should be vaccinated ahead of their age schedule …
: People are closing out the year talking about how the small numbers of people under 60 and without …
: It’s really interesting reading people’s diary entries from the Second World War in the …
: Book review: Orchard I recently finished reading Orchard a nature diary written about each month is an “old” …
: Slay the Spire on the Switch I have been searching for a new game that fits the drop-in and drop-out nature of the Switch after …
: I’m struggling with the UK Parliament’s vote to not provide school meals outside of term …
: The Audacity of Crows Today I took a break in a London park for a quick snack, pidgeons immediately clocked me and came …
: I have sympathy for those businesses that bet on commuter trade but why should they and commercial …
: I have sympathy for those businesses that bet on commuter trade but why should they and commercial …
: I have sympathy for those businesses that bet on commuter trade but why should they and commercial …
: Bring back modular examinations The recent exam marking fiasco(s) has shown what the problems might be with a system that relies …
: I was saddened to discover that Innes cheesemakers have failed to survive the consequences of …
: Whatever the merits of the UK’s grading strategy (and there feels like there are few) I …
: Offerring citizenship to those fleeing oppression in Hong Kong is the right thing to do. Combining …
: In the debates about schools reopening the language explicitly uses the language of childcare rather …
: Spend much of the afternoon catching up on my numerous back issues of Monstress. The art is …
: The latest nominations to the Lords are genuinely dreadful. The PM has put his own brother in before …
: I’m very concerned about the future of live music venues but also too worried to actually …
: I started playing Behold the Kickmen (interview with the developer) today. It’s a satire on …
: I started playing Pillars of Eternity 2 properly today. The core of the game is all very familiar …
: For the all the mess and disaster of the Dominic Cummings affair, one of the most telling things is …
: This article about mortality rates for looked after children is depressing, as is virtually all the …
: Although I am very late to the party (who knows why a shop is shuttered these days?) I am sad to …
: There is a persistant fantasy in the British mindset that the nation was united and of one mind …
: Mini Healer I played Mini Healer yesterday for the first time (you can play a free web-based iteration of the …
: I’m not sure what is sillier, playing Pandemic: Legacy in a pandemic or the April twist. I had …
: The art will be to avoid the rush to “normality”. To instead preserve what is good about …
: There are a lot of things I actually enjoy about the present moment. I enjoy the bird song, the …
: Today the government effectively nationalised bus transport and the morning talking point is …
: Homelessness solved overnight. Pollution and fuel use decreasing. It feels like many problems can be …
: Miltant tech voices (mostly in the US) are demanding people work at home now and that employers who …
: I read an interesting thought recently that what matters in Britain’s (post-) Brexit debate is …
: The Lost Farmer I had a strangely effecting piece of emergent storytelling in my latest play of Skyrim. I met a …
: If nothing else good comes of coronavirus at least the national discussion of good handwashing must …
: I thought that Witcher 3 on the Switch would be an awesome combination of form factor and game. …
: Death Stranding is full of subtle design elements that I now miss in other open world games. A …
: There is something satisfying on a primate level about Death Stranding being, at some level, a game …
: Cognitive automation This thread on cognitive automation articulates my deep concerns about the current “AI” …
: Who watches the Watchmen? We spent much of the Christmas break binge watching the new Watchman series from HBO. For the most …
: I think that Trump proves that authenticity is not a substitute for integrity.
: Death Stranding: first hours I started playing Death Stranding and I like the whole walking simulator feel to things. I still …
: Appropriate and president in the same sentence? Come on, why would we start making that judgment …
: I visited a pub gig night web page and every band listing was a Facebook page but every Facebook …
: Days Gone: Rescues gone bad Failed to understand the hostage icons and threw a pipebomb into an execution, killing everyone. …
: Days Gone: No nice guys (except when there are) I was kind of admiring Days Gone for having two equally unlikeable survivor camps. Initially I was …
: What are billionaires who threaten to leave a country on the election of one party trying to …
: I enjoyed this interview with Steve Bray (Mr. Stop Brexit). I think it’s interesting that …
: It feels as if culturally we might be over the idea of authenticity and swinging back to the idea …
: The mysteries of collaboration The first time I ever saw Marika Hackman live it was a joint show with the Big Moon ahead of the …
: Maraoke relaunch I went to Maraoke last Friday, my first time at the event. It’s public pub karaoke only with …
: I just read Batman: Curse of the White Knight and while I love the pencils the story seems a bit meh …
: I replaced the battery on my old OnePlus 3 and I wouldn’t say it is a different phone but it …
: Tiny House seems to be my ultimate lifestyle fetish book: cabins, mobile homes and sea shelters. …
: I finally understand enough how Dead Cells works enough to consistently run through the first level …
: Dead Cells: weapon combos I’m starting to learn some of the good combinations of weapons in Dead Cells. I finally beat …
: Skyrim: Stockholm Syndrome? I’ve started to play Skyrim again (this time on the Switch). I’ve played through the …
: Rage 2 versus Mad Max Rage 2 reminds a lot of the Mad Max game. The convoy takedowns while different due to the lack of a …
: A tale of two commutes I had a pretty bad cycling commute to work this morning. Pedestrians were walking in the road, some …
: There’s a small kink in the Days Gone storylines where your missions can both be expressing …
: Masculinity in God of War and Days Gone I was thinking about the two different takes on masculinity portrayed in God of War 4 and Days Gone. …
: What country is Good Omens set in? After watching the first episode of Good Omens it was hard to relate the vision of England that the …
: A country dithering between Ayn Rand and Leon Trotsky A very tart quote (paywall) from Martin Wolf.
: Today I learned that “Boris” Johnson is actually Al to his friends and
: I finally started playing Styx: Master of Shadows and it kind of throws you into the middle of an …
: At the start of Gris the protagonist walks slowly and with articulation of the weight on her. When …
: I just started play Gris which is phenomenally beautiful and just looks very different to most …
: I’ve been thinking a lot about this article about low-level friendships recently. This week I …
: Dead Cells is the first game that seems to really fit the Switch. It is perfect for short bursts of …
: Somehow the fact that Moby has posted a second installment of his Long Ambient series passed me by. …
: Days Gone: first impressions I started playing Days Gone today. The advance reviews have been poor but I’m a sucker for an …
: Just read Murder Falcon #7 which is playing around with Japanese monster movie tropes and clearly …
: Why Twitter threads? I’m going to have to guiltly admit that I have been following the Brexit soap opera on Twitter …
: I’m still struggling with Twitter’s small device web UI. Loads of their icon navigation …
: Admiration for the craft of web content creation I was reading this post about Richard Feynman’s relationship with his first wife, which is a …
: Loser's consent Today I learned about “loser’s consent” a concept that has been entirely missing …
: I gave Dependabot a go at work today. I really liked it. It splits up each dependency upgrade into …