Bookmarks for May 27, 2025

  • Best-Selling Whiskies: The Worlds Top 20
    There's not a lot in here I'd actively seek out – not a criticism, just that mass-market whiskies are what they are – but plenty in here is perfectly drinkable.

    That said it's interesting how the global market has changed – there are whiskies in here I've never heard of, simple because they're not marketed in the UK. And in passing, I'd note that the couple of (non mass-market) Indian whiskies I've had have been quite good, so I might try and get a bottle of one of those just to try at some point.

    Tags: whisky
  • How to like everything more – by Sasha Chapin
    I tend to agree with the author – it's worth making an effort to actively like things. Not every meal is a banquet, not every work of art is Citizen Kane or the the Mona Lisa, but most things have something that makes them enjoyable and worth spending a bit of time with. It's worth looking for that and appreciating that, rather than focusing on what you don't like about it.

Bookmarks for May 20, 2025

  • EU reset deal puts Britain back on the world stage, says Keir Starmer | Brexit | The Guardian
    As a pal put it – in the last couple of months Labour have: coped as well as could be asked with Trump's tariff madness, secured a trade deal with India, and now, made genuine progress on rectifying (some of) the damage of Brexit.

    This does absolutely nothing to offset the damage of the transphobic shit going on, the anti-migrant rhetoric, and all the other things they're doing that I loathe, and I still don't know if I can vote for them at the next election, but I just wanted to take a moment to feel something that isn't total despair about my governement.

    Tags: politics, uk
  • An Instagram Reel of 'Chad the Bird' talking about Star Wars fonts
    A sweary bird puppet talks about the typography of Star Wars. Either that sounds like fun to you, or you may be dead inside.
  • I'm a nanny on £150k – parents don't treat me like a human being
    Interesting/terrifying (tiny, carefully chosen for sensationalism) glimpse into the world of the ultra-weathly. There's a line from a Gibson's Count Zero that it reminds me of "And, for an instant, she stared directly into those soft blue eyes and knew, with an instinctive mammalian certainty, that the exceedingly rich were no longer even remotely human."

    I just cannot fathom raising one's kids like that. I can understand having a nanny to take the pressure off, and to enable the work-oriented lifestyle that made the family rich. But surely the point is then to also have the kids raised *right*?

    Tags: children, wealth

Bookmarks for May 13, 2025

Bookmarks for May 12, 2025

  • “And Breathe Normally”: Impacts of low emission zones on sick leave and mental well-being – ScienceDirect
    It's a very dry paper, but here's the highlight: "The improvements in air quality induced by these policies have translated in wider productivity impacts as we demonstrate that [U]LEZ has reduced the probability of taking sick leave by 18.5%."

    As someone with a modertately iffy respiratory system (my asthma isn't generally serious, but a cold will reliably do a number on my lungs), the combination of working from home full time post-pandemic (yes, I know, not over) and ULEZ has done more than anything to reduce my sick days. Earlier in my career, I'd be sick like clockwork 2-3 times a year, needing on average 2-3 days recovery time. Since 2020, I think I have taken 2.5 sick days total.

    Broadly: more of this. All over the world, please.

    Tags: london, health

Bookmarks for May 1, 2025

Bookmarks for April 30, 2025

Bookmarks for April 25, 2025

  • logiscape/mcp-sdk-php: Model Context Protocol SDK for PHP
    A way to use PHP to extend an LLM and give more context, this could be very useful at work
    Tags: php, llm
  • Netflix Codes: find hidden categories on Netflix
    I'm mostly just interested in the way this feels both madly granualar and weirdly arbitrary. What's a "Christmas children & family films for ages 5 to 7", and where's the line between that and "Goofy christmas children & family films". And what if a christmas film is both British *and* Goofy? And are there really so many "hijacking movies" that they need their own subcategory? Apparently so…
    Tags: data, netflix