Cicadas calling
Hit and Miss #411
We brought some sheets in from the line yesterday; on going to fold them this morning, T found a large cicada nestled in one of them. Now, I’ve been hearing them all afternoon, the slow drone accompanying slow summer days.
I suppose, then, that we’ve officially arrived at the dog days of summer, a term that Wikipedia tells me derives originally from the rising of Sirius, also called the Dog Star. Oh, the places curiosity (and a good trail of blue links) will take you!
Life reading and listening:
- Two from Paul Wells! First, “The Summer Reading Episode”, a roundtable with a great format: one book you’re reading this summer, and one that sticks with you from summers past. Second, a Q&A with singer Dan Mangan on becoming known in the age of social media, and Side Door, a business he started with a friend to make it easy to host and play at independent venues (like living rooms, backyards, coffeeshops, and more).
- Collated by Maria Popova at The Marginalian, some quotations by Springsteen on his attempts at a mindful approach to depression (a persistent struggle in his life), to name and sit with the feeling.
- An awesome film line-up of “Compelling Speculations on Human Survival” curated by adrienne maree brown. (Not just awesome because it includes Star Trek IV, “The One with the Whales”, which I was tempted to rewatch this weekend, but also tempted by all the others, but also tempted by The Bicycle Thieves because Bytowne was showing it but neither showtime worked for us.)
Historical perspectives on multi-member constituencies:
- Philip Salmon at The History of Parliament on the unexpected consternation the secret ballot caused in multi-member constituencies.
- Canada also used to have multi-member constituencies! Or, for much more depth, see James Bowden on the historical origins of Canada’s electoral system, with details on multi-member constituencies at section 3(a), PDF page 6.
Computer stuff:
- Rachel Kroll with an excellent description of many of the possible intervention points for “I need to make a change to my website”.
- After weeks of wrestling with some medium-sized data without any proper analytical tools (and bashing my head against Excel’s various misleadingly-named “Power” features), I wholeheartedly agree that “We’ve got to stop sending files to each other. … Data shouldn’t live in a file on a laptop. It shouldn’t be a single file on a network share. Data is a living beast. Data needs to live in a database - not an Excel file.” (via Simon Willison)
State of things:
- Word on the concerning fate of saplings in UK woodlands—fewer and fewer are making it past five years of age.
- A contemporary account of the specialization of industrial manufacturing in China, through the eyes of Matt Webb’s journey manufacturing the Poem/1 clock.
All the best for the week ahead!
Lucas