{"version":"https:\/\/jsonfeed.org\/version\/1","title":"sg77.org","description":"The RSS feed for sg77.org - the personal blog of Scott Graham","home_page_url":"https:\/\/sg77.org\/feeds\/main","feed_url":"https:\/\/sg77.org\/feeds\/json","favicon":"https:\/\/sg77.org\/sites\/default\/files\/favicon.ico","author":{"name":"Scott Graham","url":"https:\/\/sg77.org"},"items":[{"id":"\/2023\/07\/vanmoof-declares-bankruptcy","url":"https:\/\/sg77.org\/2023\/07\/vanmoof-declares-bankruptcy","external_url":"https:\/\/sg77.org\/","title":"VanMoof declares bankruptcy","content_html":"\u003Cp\u003EFrom \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/2023\/7\/18\/23798584\/vanmoof-e-bikes-is-bankrupt\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EThe Verge\u003C\/a\u003E:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cblockquote\u003E\u003Cp\u003EVanMoof \u2014 the independent e-bike maker that once bragged about being the \u201cmost funded e-bike company in the world\u201d \u2014 has been declared bankrupt in the Netherlands.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis is disappointing but, to me, not surprising. In February 2017 I spent \u00a32863 on a VanMoof Electrified S. It was (and is) a significant amount of money to spend on a bicycle, even an electric one. I bought it because it looks great and \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/2017\/6\/23\/15860492\/vanmoof-electrified-s-2017-preview\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Ereviews\u003C\/a\u003E were calling it \u0027the best pedal-assisted electric bike available\u0027. I had recently moved a new house in a considerably hillier area and had found I wasn\u0027t riding my trusty \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.genesisbikes.co.uk\/genesis-croix-de-fer-10-vargn21140\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EGenesis Croix De Fer 10\u003C\/a\u003E as much.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EYes, it was expensive, but I was eagerly looking forward to the arrival of my new electric assisted bicycle. However within a month I had sent it back to VanMoof.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThere were a number of problems. Firstly, the bike used a hub motor in the front wheel. But when you ride a bike, the majority of your weight is over the back wheel making traction a bit of an issue. Especially in Scotland where weather isn\u0027t always perfect.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESecondly the software controlling the bike crashed numerous times. There were a number of different software bugs I experienced. The bike had a lock which was managed from an app on a smartphone. To use the bike, you had to unlock the bike and then turn on the motor. At times, the app wouldn\u0027t connect to the remote servers meaning I couldn\u0027t unlock the bike or turn it on. At other times bugs just turned the bike off and wouldn\u0027t let it turn on again. All bugs were resolved by plugging it into power and resetting it, but that\u0027s not ideal if you\u0027re out on a ride and far from home.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EI was promised over the air updates were coming which would solve my problems.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHowever before the software fix arrived, the software crashed again, this time killing all power to the hub motor. And unfortunately I was cycling at a reasonable speed on the road when this happened. When you\u0027re on a bicycle with a hub motor which is assisting you and then that assistance is immediately cut off, it feels like someone has stuck a stick in the spokes of your front wheel. Or, at least, that\u0027s what it felt like to me.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EI was, none too gracefully, ejected from the bicycle landing pretty badly on the road. Thankfully there was no traffic behind me at the time. I know I picked the bike up and walked it the remaining half mile to work, but I have no recollection of that. Visiting the hospital later I found out that I had a pretty bad concussion, broken my shoulder in two places and had multiple scrapes and bruises. The doctor looking at my head scan was pretty sure that without my helmet, I would have had serious head injuries or worse.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EI reported the incident to VanMoof and then immediately arranged collection of the bike and a full refund.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EI\u0027m sure than in the five years since then, their bikes and software improved (\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/electrek.co\/2020\/07\/09\/vanmoof-s3-commuter-smart-ebike-technical-marvel-but-not-for-everyone\/\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Ebut maybe not\u003C\/a\u003E). In general, reviews continued to be extremely positive and other than my own incident didn\u0027t hear much in the way of negative stories.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBut it ensured I would never buy a hub powered electric assist bike again, nor a bike which relied on connectivity with a third party server to use. On that note, if you have a VanMoof bike, please \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/bikey-app.cowboy.com\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Edownload the Bikey App from Cowboy\u003C\/a\u003E to ensure you can continue to use your bike after the VanMoof servers are turned off.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EToday I am riding an electric assist bike. But it\u0027s not \u0027smart\u0027, has a step through frame (because I\u0027m getting old and was struggling swinging my leg over a crossbar) and doesn\u0027t use a hub motor, instead using a mid-drive motor from Bosch. And so far, it\u0027s not tried to kill me.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u00a0\u00a0\u003C\/p\u003E","content_text":"From The Verge:VanMoof \u2014 the independent e-bike maker that once bragged about being the \u201cmost funded e-bike company in the world\u201d \u2014 has been declared bankrupt in the Netherlands.This is disappointing but, to me, not surprising. In February 2017 I spent \u00a32863 on a VanMoof Electrified S. It was (and is) a significant amount of money to spend on a bicycle, even an electric one. I bought it because it looks great and reviews were calling it \u0027the best pedal-assisted electric bike available\u0027. I had recently moved a new house in a considerably hillier area and had found I wasn\u0027t riding my trusty Genesis Croix De Fer 10 as much.Yes, it was expensive, but I was eagerly looking forward to the arrival of my new electric assisted bicycle. However within a month I had sent it back to VanMoof.There were a number of problems. Firstly, the bike used a hub motor in the front wheel. But when you ride a bike, the majority of your weight is over the back wheel making traction a bit of an issue. Especially in Scotland where weather isn\u0027t always perfect.Secondly the software controlling the bike crashed numerous times. There were a number of different software bugs I experienced. The bike had a lock which was managed from an app on a smartphone. To use the bike, you had to unlock the bike and then turn on the motor. At times, the app wouldn\u0027t connect to the remote servers meaning I couldn\u0027t unlock the bike or turn it on. At other times bugs just turned the bike off and wouldn\u0027t let it turn on again. All bugs were resolved by plugging it into power and resetting it, but that\u0027s not ideal if you\u0027re out on a ride and far from home.I was promised over the air updates were coming which would solve my problems.However before the software fix arrived, the software crashed again, this time killing all power to the hub motor. And unfortunately I was cycling at a reasonable speed on the road when this happened. When you\u0027re on a bicycle with a hub motor which is assisting you and then that assistance is immediately cut off, it feels like someone has stuck a stick in the spokes of your front wheel. Or, at least, that\u0027s what it felt like to me.I was, none too gracefully, ejected from the bicycle landing pretty badly on the road. Thankfully there was no traffic behind me at the time. I know I picked the bike up and walked it the remaining half mile to work, but I have no recollection of that. Visiting the hospital later I found out that I had a pretty bad concussion, broken my shoulder in two places and had multiple scrapes and bruises. The doctor looking at my head scan was pretty sure that without my helmet, I would have had serious head injuries or worse.I reported the incident to VanMoof and then immediately arranged collection of the bike and a full refund.I\u0027m sure than in the five years since then, their bikes and software improved (but maybe not). In general, reviews continued to be extremely positive and other than my own incident didn\u0027t hear much in the way of negative stories.But it ensured I would never buy a hub powered electric assist bike again, nor a bike which relied on connectivity with a third party server to use. On that note, if you have a VanMoof bike, please download the Bikey App from Cowboy to ensure you can continue to use your bike after the VanMoof servers are turned off.Today I am riding an electric assist bike. But it\u0027s not \u0027smart\u0027, has a step through frame (because I\u0027m getting old and was struggling swinging my leg over a crossbar) and doesn\u0027t use a hub motor, instead using a mid-drive motor from Bosch. And so far, it\u0027s not tried to kill me.\u00a0\u00a0","summary":"From The Verge:VanMoof \u2014 the independent e-bike maker that once bragged about being the \u201cmost funded e-bike company in the world\u201d \u2014 has been declared bankrupt in the Netherlands.","image":"https:\/\/sg77.org\/","banner_image":"https:\/\/sg77.org\/","date_published":"2023-07-18T09:07:49+0100\n","author":{"name":"Scott Graham"},"tags":[""]},{"id":"\/linked\/2023\/06\/28\/touching-moment-chimp-sees-outdoors-first-time","url":"https:\/\/sg77.org\/linked\/2023\/06\/28\/touching-moment-chimp-sees-outdoors-first-time","external_url":"https:\/\/sg77.org\/","title":"Touching moment chimp sees outdoors for the first time","content_html":"\u003Cp\u003EThis made my morning.\u00a0\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cblockquote\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EVanilla, a 28-year-old chimpanzee, had never been outside of a cage or enclosure. She is one of the surviving chimps from the New York-based Laboratory for Experimental Medicine \u0026amp; Surgery in Primates (LEMSIP). Vanilla and her sister, Shake, have a new island home at Save the Chimps in Fort Pierce, Florida.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ciframe style=\u0022max-width:100%;\u0022 width=\u0022400\u0022 height=\u0022500\u0022 frameborder=\u00220\u0022 src=\u0022https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/av-embeds\/66037455\u0022\u003E\u003C\/iframe\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","content_text":"This made my morning.\u00a0Vanilla, a 28-year-old chimpanzee, had never been outside of a cage or enclosure. She is one of the surviving chimps from the New York-based Laboratory for Experimental Medicine \u0026amp; Surgery in Primates (LEMSIP). Vanilla and her sister, Shake, have a new island home at Save the Chimps in Fort Pierce, Florida.","summary":"This made my morning.\u00a0Vanilla, a 28-year-old chimpanzee, had never been outside of a cage or enclosure. She is one of the surviving chimps from the New York-based Laboratory for Experimental Medicine \u0026amp; Surgery in Primates (LEMSIP). Vanilla and her sister, Shake, have a new island home at Save the Chimps in Fort Pierce, Florida.","image":"https:\/\/sg77.org\/","banner_image":"https:\/\/sg77.org\/","date_published":"2023-06-28T08:10:59+0100\n","author":{"name":"Scott Graham"},"tags":[""]},{"id":"\/linked\/2023\/06\/26\/dpreview-purchased-gear-patrol","url":"https:\/\/sg77.org\/linked\/2023\/06\/26\/dpreview-purchased-gear-patrol","external_url":"https:\/\/sg77.org\/","title":"DPReview purchased by Gear Patrol","content_html":"\u003Cp\u003EA quick follow up to \u003Ca href=\u0022\/linked\/2023\/03\/22\/dpreview-close\u0022\u003Emy post from the end of March\u003C\/a\u003E, which lamented the shuttering of photography website DPReview. Scott Everett, the General Manager of DPReview has posted that DPReview has been acquired by \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.gearpatrol.com\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EGear Patrol\u003C\/a\u003E. And the important bit\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cblockquote\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The site will continue to operate as it was before, with all editorial coverage and site features remaining the same, and all historical content accessible.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGreat news.\u003C\/p\u003E","content_text":"A quick follow up to my post from the end of March, which lamented the shuttering of photography website DPReview. Scott Everett, the General Manager of DPReview has posted that DPReview has been acquired by Gear Patrol. And the important bit\u0022The site will continue to operate as it was before, with all editorial coverage and site features remaining the same, and all historical content accessible.\u0022Great news.","summary":"A quick follow up to my post from the end of March, which lamented the shuttering of photography website DPReview. Scott Everett, the General Manager of DPReview has posted that DPReview has been acquired by Gear Patrol. And the important bit\u0022The site will continue to operate as it was before, with all editorial coverage and site features remaining the same, and all historical content accessible.\u0022Great news.","image":"https:\/\/sg77.org\/","banner_image":"https:\/\/sg77.org\/","date_published":"2023-06-26T08:09:19+0100\n","author":{"name":"Scott Graham"},"tags":[""]},{"id":"\/linked\/2023\/06\/09\/reddit-going-twitter-route","url":"https:\/\/sg77.org\/linked\/2023\/06\/09\/reddit-going-twitter-route","external_url":"https:\/\/sg77.org\/","title":"Reddit going the Twitter route","content_html":"\u003Cp style=\u0022line-height:1.38;margin-bottom:12pt;margin-top:12pt;\u0022 dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022background-color:transparent;color:rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:Arial;font-size:11pt;font-style:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-position:normal;font-weight:400;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;\u0022\u003EChristian Selig (developer of Apollo App for browsing Reddit) has said:\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cblockquote\u003E\u003Cp style=\u0022line-height:1.38;margin-bottom:12pt;margin-top:12pt;\u0022 dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022background-color:transparent;color:rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:Arial;font-size:11pt;font-style:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-position:normal;font-weight:400;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;\u0022\u003EJune 30th will be Apollo\u2019s last day. I\u2019ve talked to a lot of people, and come to terms with this over the last weeks as talks with Reddit have deteriorated to an ugly point.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Cp style=\u0022line-height:1.38;margin-bottom:12pt;margin-top:12pt;\u0022 dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022background-color:transparent;color:rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:Arial;font-size:11pt;font-style:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-position:normal;font-weight:400;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;\u0022\u003EThe problem isn\u0027t (and has never been) that companies running APIs want to be compensated. That\u2019s perfectly fair and as someone who manages servers and creates software, it\u2019s understandable that both the costs of the equipment and engineering time for the software needs to be covered.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp style=\u0022line-height:1.38;margin-bottom:12pt;margin-top:12pt;\u0022 dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022background-color:transparent;color:rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:Arial;font-size:11pt;font-style:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-position:normal;font-weight:400;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;\u0022\u003EThe problem is two-fold.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Col\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cp style=\u0022line-height:1.38;margin-bottom:12pt;margin-top:12pt;\u0022 dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022background-color:transparent;color:rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:Arial;font-size:11pt;font-style:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-position:normal;font-weight:400;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;\u0022\u003EAnnouncing an unrealistic pricing structure without adequate time for a developer to properly adapt and essentially bankrupting them - \u00a0\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);caret-color:rgb(0, 0, 0);color:rgb(0, 0, 0);display:inline !important;float:none;font-family:\u0026quot;Open Sans\u0026quot;, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:auto;text-align:start;text-decoration:none;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:auto;word-spacing:0px;\u0022\u003ESelig says he\u2019ll lose $250,000 in the shutdown.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cp style=\u0022line-height:1.38;margin-bottom:12pt;margin-top:12pt;\u0022 dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022background-color:transparent;color:rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:Arial;font-size:11pt;font-style:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-position:normal;font-weight:400;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;\u0022\u003ELying about their reasons. Thankfully \u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);caret-color:rgb(0, 0, 0);color:rgb(0, 0, 0);display:inline !important;float:none;font-family:\u0026quot;Open Sans\u0026quot;, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:15px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:auto;text-align:start;text-decoration:none;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:auto;word-spacing:0px;\u0022\u003ESelig\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022background-color:transparent;color:rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:Arial;font-size:11pt;font-style:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-position:normal;font-weight:400;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;\u0022\u003E has recordings and can hopefully get some damages from them.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ol\u003E\u003Cp style=\u0022line-height:1.38;margin-bottom:12pt;margin-top:12pt;\u0022 dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022background-color:transparent;color:rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:Arial;font-size:11pt;font-style:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-position:normal;font-weight:400;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;\u0022\u003ESo, June 30th will be my last day as a registered Reddit user. I\u2019ll be deleting my account, just as I did with Facebook and Twitter. Doubtless I\u2019ll still end up on the site from Google searches and links, but I won\u2019t be logged in.\u00a0\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u00a0\u003C\/p\u003E","content_text":"Christian Selig (developer of Apollo App for browsing Reddit) has said:June 30th will be Apollo\u2019s last day. I\u2019ve talked to a lot of people, and come to terms with this over the last weeks as talks with Reddit have deteriorated to an ugly point.The problem isn\u0027t (and has never been) that companies running APIs want to be compensated. That\u2019s perfectly fair and as someone who manages servers and creates software, it\u2019s understandable that both the costs of the equipment and engineering time for the software needs to be covered.The problem is two-fold.Announcing an unrealistic pricing structure without adequate time for a developer to properly adapt and essentially bankrupting them - \u00a0Selig says he\u2019ll lose $250,000 in the shutdown.Lying about their reasons. Thankfully Selig has recordings and can hopefully get some damages from them.So, June 30th will be my last day as a registered Reddit user. I\u2019ll be deleting my account, just as I did with Facebook and Twitter. Doubtless I\u2019ll still end up on the site from Google searches and links, but I won\u2019t be logged in.\u00a0\u00a0","summary":"Christian Selig (developer of Apollo App for browsing Reddit) has said:","image":"https:\/\/sg77.org\/","banner_image":"https:\/\/sg77.org\/","date_published":"2023-06-09T15:48:19+0100\n","author":{"name":"Scott Graham"},"tags":[""]},{"id":"\/2023\/04\/spoiler-alert-daily-mail-awful","url":"https:\/\/sg77.org\/2023\/04\/spoiler-alert-daily-mail-awful","external_url":"https:\/\/sg77.org\/","title":"Spoiler Alert: The Daily Mail is awful","content_html":"\u003Cp\u003EThere are TV shows that I watch on my own. There are TV shows my partner watches without me. But there are some TV shows we watch together. One of those shows is \u003Cem\u003ESuccession\u003C\/em\u003E. \u003Cem\u003ESuccession\u003C\/em\u003E, for the uninitiated, follows Logan Roy (not so subtly based on Rupert Murdoch) and his family as they battle for control of Roy\u0027s media empire and fortune. Every character is awful, they have no redeeming qualities and the whole thing is ridiculous and incredibly entertaining.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn the UK, I believe \u003Cem\u003ESuccession\u003C\/em\u003E airs on a Monday evening. I say believe because I\u0027m not 100% sure. We never see it as it\u0027s broadcast, instead watching it on catch up, later in the week at a point which suits us both - it\u0027s normally on a Wednesday or Thursday evening. And apparently that gap is long enough to allow a major plot point to be spoiled by a national \u0027newspaper\u0027.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThe Daily Mail\u003C\/em\u003E - a right wing, sensationalist newspaper which is so corrupt it\u0027s been \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/arstechnica.com\/information-technology\/2017\/02\/wikipedia-bans-daily-mail\/\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Ebanned as a source on Wikipedia\u003C\/a\u003E - decided that a spoiler for that week\u0027s episode should be posted on the upper third of the front page of Wednesday\u0027s copy. Had it been on the inside pages, I\u0027d never have known and wouldn\u0027t care. But because it\u0027s on the front page, it\u0027s kind of hard to avoid if you watch the round up of the following day\u0027s front pages on the news, glance through the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/blogs\/the_papers\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EBBC papers section\u003C\/a\u003E or just walk into a shop selling newspapers.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThere are certain things I watch which I \u003Cstrong\u003Eknow\u003C\/strong\u003E will be spoiled by websites. I tend to ignore my RSS reader, and the geekier side of the web until I\u0027m caught up on \u003Cem\u003EThe Mandalorian\u003C\/em\u003E, \u003Cem\u003EAndor\u003C\/em\u003E or whichever Marvel series is currently running. But I didn\u0027t expect to have to ignore the BBC News website or not walk into any shops which sell newspapers.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn the grand scheme of things, this is nothing. I understand that. In fact, the main story on that day\u0027s copy is worth far more condemnation than the spoiling of a TV show. But it\u0027s the malicious deliberateness of this which is angering me. It isn\u0027t news. It\u0027s not going to sell more copies of the newspaper. It\u0027s just there to ruin something which people enjoy.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAnd that just about sums up that \u0022newspaper\u0022 entirely. If you want to see why I\u0027m annoyed, you can \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/sg77.org\/sites\/default\/files\/2023-04\/IMG_2622.JPG\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Eclick here to view an image of the front page\u003C\/a\u003E. But please, be warned, it will spoil the episode of Succession which aired around the 9th \/ 10th \/ 11th April depending where in the world you are.\u00a0\u003C\/p\u003E","content_text":"There are TV shows that I watch on my own. There are TV shows my partner watches without me. But there are some TV shows we watch together. One of those shows is Succession. Succession, for the uninitiated, follows Logan Roy (not so subtly based on Rupert Murdoch) and his family as they battle for control of Roy\u0027s media empire and fortune. Every character is awful, they have no redeeming qualities and the whole thing is ridiculous and incredibly entertaining.In the UK, I believe Succession airs on a Monday evening. I say believe because I\u0027m not 100% sure. We never see it as it\u0027s broadcast, instead watching it on catch up, later in the week at a point which suits us both - it\u0027s normally on a Wednesday or Thursday evening. And apparently that gap is long enough to allow a major plot point to be spoiled by a national \u0027newspaper\u0027.The Daily Mail - a right wing, sensationalist newspaper which is so corrupt it\u0027s been banned as a source on Wikipedia - decided that a spoiler for that week\u0027s episode should be posted on the upper third of the front page of Wednesday\u0027s copy. Had it been on the inside pages, I\u0027d never have known and wouldn\u0027t care. But because it\u0027s on the front page, it\u0027s kind of hard to avoid if you watch the round up of the following day\u0027s front pages on the news, glance through the BBC papers section or just walk into a shop selling newspapers.There are certain things I watch which I know will be spoiled by websites. I tend to ignore my RSS reader, and the geekier side of the web until I\u0027m caught up on The Mandalorian, Andor or whichever Marvel series is currently running. But I didn\u0027t expect to have to ignore the BBC News website or not walk into any shops which sell newspapers.In the grand scheme of things, this is nothing. I understand that. In fact, the main story on that day\u0027s copy is worth far more condemnation than the spoiling of a TV show. But it\u0027s the malicious deliberateness of this which is angering me. It isn\u0027t news. It\u0027s not going to sell more copies of the newspaper. It\u0027s just there to ruin something which people enjoy.And that just about sums up that \u0022newspaper\u0022 entirely. If you want to see why I\u0027m annoyed, you can click here to view an image of the front page. But please, be warned, it will spoil the episode of Succession which aired around the 9th \/ 10th \/ 11th April depending where in the world you are.\u00a0","summary":"There are TV shows that I watch on my own. There are TV shows my partner watches without me. But there are some TV shows we watch together. One of those shows is Succession. Succession, for the uninitiated, follows Logan Roy (not so subtly based on Rupert Murdoch) and his family as they battle for control of Roy\u0027s media empire and fortune. Every character is awful, they have no redeeming qualities and the whole thing is ridiculous and incredibly entertaining.","image":"https:\/\/sg77.org\/","banner_image":"https:\/\/sg77.org\/","date_published":"2023-04-14T07:38:48+0100\n","author":{"name":"Scott Graham"},"tags":[""]},{"id":"\/linked\/2023\/04\/12\/steve-jobs-make-something-wonderful","url":"https:\/\/sg77.org\/linked\/2023\/04\/12\/steve-jobs-make-something-wonderful","external_url":"https:\/\/sg77.org\/","title":"Make Something Wonderful","content_html":"\u003Cp\u003EThe Steve Jobs Archive has released \u003Cem\u003EMake Something Wonderful\u003C\/em\u003E. A collection of Steve\u2019s speeches, interviews, and emails. It\u0027s available to read \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/book.stevejobsarchive.com\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Eon the web\u003C\/a\u003E, through \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/apple.co\/sja\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EApple Books\u003C\/a\u003E, or as an \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/stevejobsarchive.com\/book\/download\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Eepub download\u003C\/a\u003E for e-readers. All options are free.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis piece stood out to me from a Q\u0026amp;A at the International Design Conference in Aspen on June 15, 1983, five months after Apple introduced the Lisa computer.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cblockquote\u003E\u003Cp\u003ENow, Apple\u2019s strategy is really simple. What we want to do is put an incredibly great computer in a book that you carry around with you, that you can learn how to use in twenty minutes. That\u2019s what we want to do. And we want to do it this decade. And we really want to do it with a radio link in it so you don\u2019t have to hook up to anything\u2014you\u2019re in communication with all these larger databases and other computers. We don\u2019t know how to do that now. It\u2019s impossible technically.\u00a0\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESteve was describing smartphones and the web years before they were possible. It took until the mid-90s before the web was ubiquitous, the early 2000\u0027s until Wi-Fi really took off, and it was 2007 before he \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=MnrJzXM7a6o\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Eintroduced the iPhone\u003C\/a\u003E. Apple didn\u0027t manage it in that decade, but they laid out the roadmap back in 1983.\u003C\/p\u003E","content_text":"The Steve Jobs Archive has released Make Something Wonderful. A collection of Steve\u2019s speeches, interviews, and emails. It\u0027s available to read on the web, through Apple Books, or as an epub download for e-readers. All options are free.This piece stood out to me from a Q\u0026amp;A at the International Design Conference in Aspen on June 15, 1983, five months after Apple introduced the Lisa computer.Now, Apple\u2019s strategy is really simple. What we want to do is put an incredibly great computer in a book that you carry around with you, that you can learn how to use in twenty minutes. That\u2019s what we want to do. And we want to do it this decade. And we really want to do it with a radio link in it so you don\u2019t have to hook up to anything\u2014you\u2019re in communication with all these larger databases and other computers. We don\u2019t know how to do that now. It\u2019s impossible technically.\u00a0Steve was describing smartphones and the web years before they were possible. It took until the mid-90s before the web was ubiquitous, the early 2000\u0027s until Wi-Fi really took off, and it was 2007 before he introduced the iPhone. Apple didn\u0027t manage it in that decade, but they laid out the roadmap back in 1983.","summary":"The Steve Jobs Archive has released Make Something Wonderful. A collection of Steve\u2019s speeches, interviews, and emails. It\u0027s available to read on the web, through Apple Books, or as an epub download for e-readers. All options are free.","image":"https:\/\/sg77.org\/","banner_image":"https:\/\/sg77.org\/","date_published":"2023-04-12T09:36:31+0100\n","author":{"name":"Scott Graham"},"tags":[""]},{"id":"\/linked\/2023\/03\/22\/dpreview-close","url":"https:\/\/sg77.org\/linked\/2023\/03\/22\/dpreview-close","external_url":"https:\/\/sg77.org\/","title":"DPReview to close","content_html":"\u003Cp\u003EFrom DPReview:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cblockquote\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAfter nearly 25 years of operation, DPReview will be closing in the near future. This difficult decision is part of the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.aboutamazon.com\/news\/company-news\/update-from-ceo-andy-jassy-on-role-eliminations\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Eannual operating plan\u003C\/a\u003E review that our parent company shared earlier this year.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis is sad news. There was a period of my life where I was on that site at least a couple of times a day, absorbing reviews of everything from camera bodies and lenses to accessories.\u00a0\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWhilst it\u2019s been a while since I was deeply in that world, I would still check in once a week to take a look at what was going on and see the gear that I would covet.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EI\u2019ll miss it.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cblockquote\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe site will be available in read-only mode for a limited period afterwards.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Cp\u003EI understand that there\u2019s a considerable amount of content and it probably gets a significant amount of traffic, but there\u2019s no reason a site which is no longer updated can\u2019t be permanently maintained by the company which owns \u0022\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/aws.amazon.com\/what-is-aws\/\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Ethe world\u2019s most comprehensive and broadly adopted cloud platform\u003C\/a\u003E\u0022.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOne bit of good news - Chris Niccolls and Jordan Drake are \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/petapixel.com\/2023\/03\/21\/chris-niccolls-and-jordan-drake-join-petapixel-to-lead-its-youtube-channel\/\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Emoving to PetaPixel\u003C\/a\u003E to lead their YouTube channel.\u003C\/p\u003E","content_text":"From DPReview:After nearly 25 years of operation, DPReview will be closing in the near future. This difficult decision is part of the annual operating plan review that our parent company shared earlier this year.This is sad news. There was a period of my life where I was on that site at least a couple of times a day, absorbing reviews of everything from camera bodies and lenses to accessories.\u00a0Whilst it\u2019s been a while since I was deeply in that world, I would still check in once a week to take a look at what was going on and see the gear that I would covet.I\u2019ll miss it.The site will be available in read-only mode for a limited period afterwards.I understand that there\u2019s a considerable amount of content and it probably gets a significant amount of traffic, but there\u2019s no reason a site which is no longer updated can\u2019t be permanently maintained by the company which owns \u0022the world\u2019s most comprehensive and broadly adopted cloud platform\u0022.One bit of good news - Chris Niccolls and Jordan Drake are moving to PetaPixel to lead their YouTube channel.","summary":"From DPReview:After nearly 25 years of operation, DPReview will be closing in the near future. This difficult decision is part of the annual operating plan review that our parent company shared earlier this year.This is sad news. There was a period of my life where I was on that site at least a couple of times a day, absorbing reviews of everything from camera bodies and lenses to accessories.\u00a0","image":"https:\/\/sg77.org\/","banner_image":"https:\/\/sg77.org\/","date_published":"2023-03-22T08:17:42+0000\n","author":{"name":"Scott Graham"},"tags":[""]},{"id":"\/2023\/03\/time-ditch-bbc-and-tv-licence","url":"https:\/\/sg77.org\/2023\/03\/time-ditch-bbc-and-tv-licence","external_url":"https:\/\/sg77.org\/","title":"Time to ditch the BBC and TV Licence?","content_html":"\u003Cp\u003EIt\u0027s fair to say the BBC has had a bad day. In a little over 24 hours they\u00a0\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cul\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.skysports.com\/football\/news\/11095\/12830486\/gary-lineker-bbc-presenter-steps-back-from-duties-as-match-of-the-day-host\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EWithdrew Gary Lineker from Match of the Day\u003C\/a\u003E for criticising a right wing Conservative policy. A move which the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/news\/uk\/home-news\/gary-lineker-motd-greg-dyke-b2298639.html\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Eformer Chairman has said was a mistake\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EAnnounced \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/media\/2023\/mar\/10\/david-attenborough-bbc-wild-isles-episode-rightwing-backlash-fears\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Ethey will not show a David Attenborough documentary\u003C\/a\u003E which looks at the destruction of nature in the UK for fear of upsetting the right.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/news\/uk\/fiona-bruce-bbc-boris-johnson-yasmin-alibhaibrown-tom-bower-b2298440.html\u0022\u003ETrivialised the documented spousal abuse of former right wing Conservative prime minister Boris Johnson\u0027s father\u003C\/a\u003E (the same person the former PM is alleged to have \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/news.sky.com\/story\/boris-johnson-nominates-father-for-a-knighthood-report-12827101\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Enominated for a knighthood\u003C\/a\u003E and the same person who immediately \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/politics\/2022\/may\/20\/pms-father-stanley-johnson-secures-french-citizenship\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Etook French citizenship\u003C\/a\u003E after campaigning for Brexit).\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EDidn\u0027t \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/politics\/2023\/mar\/10\/bbc-apologises-failure-scrutinise-nadine-dorries-claims-sue-gray\u0022\u003Escrutinise or call out claims by former right wing Conservative culture secretary Nadine Dorries\u003C\/a\u003E about Sue Gray.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIt seems that far from being impartial, as they claim, the BBC are now running scared of the right wing of UK politics and I don\u0027t like that.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EEvery month I pay \u00a313.25 for my \u0027TV Licence\u0027. I\u0027m now thinking seriously about cancelling that. I have no live TV in my home. I don\u0027t listen to BBC radio. From time to time I use iPlayer - although far less than I used to - and I use the BBC website. I don\u0027t stream live TV from any other provider.\u00a0\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn the past year, I\u0027ve only used the BBC iPlayer to watch Doctor Who and Top Gear. These days, losing Top Gear isn\u0027t a big deal and I can buy a \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/itunes.apple.com\/gb\/tv-season\/doctor-who-season-13-flux\/id1590022923\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Eseason pass to Doctor Who on Apple iTunes\u003C\/a\u003E for the rough cost of one month of my TV Licence.\u00a0\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAccording to the rules, \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.tvlicensing.co.uk\/check-if-you-need-one\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EI don\u0027t need a TV Licence\u003C\/a\u003E and so I don\u0027t see any need to keep financing a corporation which is more worried about pleasing a right wing government than telling the truth.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EUpdate: Love to see the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/uk-64918162\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Ecommentators\u003C\/a\u003E, \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/talksport.com\/football\/1358379\/alan-shearer-gary-lineker-ian-wright-motd\/\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Epundits\u003C\/a\u003E and \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/media\/live\/2023\/mar\/11\/bbc-gary-lineker-match-of-the-day-alex-scott-latest-reaction-news\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Epresenters\u003C\/a\u003E refusing to cover games in support of Lineker.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u00a0\u003C\/p\u003E","content_text":"It\u0027s fair to say the BBC has had a bad day. In a little over 24 hours they\u00a0Withdrew Gary Lineker from Match of the Day for criticising a right wing Conservative policy. A move which the former Chairman has said was a mistake.Announced they will not show a David Attenborough documentary which looks at the destruction of nature in the UK for fear of upsetting the right.Trivialised the documented spousal abuse of former right wing Conservative prime minister Boris Johnson\u0027s father (the same person the former PM is alleged to have nominated for a knighthood and the same person who immediately took French citizenship after campaigning for Brexit).Didn\u0027t scrutinise or call out claims by former right wing Conservative culture secretary Nadine Dorries about Sue Gray.It seems that far from being impartial, as they claim, the BBC are now running scared of the right wing of UK politics and I don\u0027t like that.Every month I pay \u00a313.25 for my \u0027TV Licence\u0027. I\u0027m now thinking seriously about cancelling that. I have no live TV in my home. I don\u0027t listen to BBC radio. From time to time I use iPlayer - although far less than I used to - and I use the BBC website. I don\u0027t stream live TV from any other provider.\u00a0In the past year, I\u0027ve only used the BBC iPlayer to watch Doctor Who and Top Gear. These days, losing Top Gear isn\u0027t a big deal and I can buy a season pass to Doctor Who on Apple iTunes for the rough cost of one month of my TV Licence.\u00a0According to the rules, I don\u0027t need a TV Licence and so I don\u0027t see any need to keep financing a corporation which is more worried about pleasing a right wing government than telling the truth.Update: Love to see the commentators, pundits and presenters refusing to cover games in support of Lineker.\u00a0","summary":"It\u0027s fair to say the BBC has had a bad day. In a little over 24 hours they\u00a0","image":"https:\/\/sg77.org\/","banner_image":"https:\/\/sg77.org\/","date_published":"2023-03-11T10:20:36+0000\n","author":{"name":"Scott Graham"},"tags":[""]},{"id":"\/linked\/2023\/02\/17\/push-notifications-web-apps-ios-and-ipados","url":"https:\/\/sg77.org\/linked\/2023\/02\/17\/push-notifications-web-apps-ios-and-ipados","external_url":"https:\/\/sg77.org\/","title":"Push notifications for Web Apps on iOS and iPadOS","content_html":"\u003Cp\u003EJen Simmons and Brady Eidson on webkit.org\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cblockquote\u003E\u003Cp\u003ENow with iOS and iPadOS 16.4 beta 1, we are adding support for Web Push to Home Screen web apps. Web Push makes it possible for web developers to send push notifications to their users through the use of \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/developer.mozilla.org\/en-US\/docs\/Web\/API\/Push_API\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EPush API\u003C\/a\u003E, \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/developer.mozilla.org\/en-US\/docs\/Web\/API\/Notifications_API\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003ENotifications API\u003C\/a\u003E, and \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/developer.mozilla.org\/en-US\/docs\/Web\/API\/Service_Worker_API\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EService Workers\u003C\/a\u003E all working together.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIt\u0027s been 16 years since the release of the iPhone, but with the release of iOS 16.4 Safari (in beta), we\u0027re getting closer to Steve Jobs\u0027 \u0027\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=vKKISOnOCaw\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Esweet solution\u003C\/a\u003E\u0027.\u003C\/p\u003E","content_text":"Jen Simmons and Brady Eidson on webkit.orgNow with iOS and iPadOS 16.4 beta 1, we are adding support for Web Push to Home Screen web apps. Web Push makes it possible for web developers to send push notifications to their users through the use of Push API, Notifications API, and Service Workers all working together.It\u0027s been 16 years since the release of the iPhone, but with the release of iOS 16.4 Safari (in beta), we\u0027re getting closer to Steve Jobs\u0027 \u0027sweet solution\u0027.","summary":"Jen Simmons and Brady Eidson on webkit.org","image":"https:\/\/sg77.org\/","banner_image":"https:\/\/sg77.org\/","date_published":"2023-02-17T08:16:24+0000\n","author":{"name":"Scott Graham"},"tags":[""]},{"id":"\/linked\/2023\/02\/10\/elon-musk-fires-top-twitter-engineer-over-his-declining-view-count","url":"https:\/\/sg77.org\/linked\/2023\/02\/10\/elon-musk-fires-top-twitter-engineer-over-his-declining-view-count","external_url":"https:\/\/sg77.org\/","title":"Elon Musk fires a top Twitter engineer over his declining view count","content_html":"\u003Cp\u003EFrom Zo\u00eb Schiffer and Casey Newton at the always wonderful \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.platformer.news\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EPlatformer\u003C\/a\u003E:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cblockquote\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAlmost two months later, though, view counts have had the opposite effect, emphasizing how little engagement most posts get relative to their audience size. At the same time, Twitter usage in the United States has declined almost 9 percent since Musk\u2019s takeover, \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.buzzfeednews.com\/article\/katienotopoulos\/twitter-users-down-democrats-elon-musk\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Eaccording to one recent study\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Cp\u003EI don\u0027t have data to prove it, but my guess is that whilst usage may have declined by 9%, engagement and interaction has declined by considerably more. Musk\u0027s actions have chased off the users who engaged frequently on Twitter. Far from being the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/twitter.com\/elonmusk\/status\/1507777261654605828\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003ETown Square\u003C\/a\u003E, Twitter is now a broadcast network, being little more than another one-way outlet for brands and journalists to shout into the ether.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMusk, it seems, continues to fail to understand what made Twitter great. It was the people, the conversations, the dialogue. It was finding your tribe. It was finding people with different experiences, in different locations who loved the same things you do. Twitter\u0027s users and the content they produce \u003Cem\u003Eis\u003C\/em\u003E the product. And his actions have destroyed it.\u003C\/p\u003E","content_text":"From Zo\u00eb Schiffer and Casey Newton at the always wonderful Platformer:Almost two months later, though, view counts have had the opposite effect, emphasizing how little engagement most posts get relative to their audience size. At the same time, Twitter usage in the United States has declined almost 9 percent since Musk\u2019s takeover, according to one recent study.I don\u0027t have data to prove it, but my guess is that whilst usage may have declined by 9%, engagement and interaction has declined by considerably more. Musk\u0027s actions have chased off the users who engaged frequently on Twitter. Far from being the Town Square, Twitter is now a broadcast network, being little more than another one-way outlet for brands and journalists to shout into the ether.Musk, it seems, continues to fail to understand what made Twitter great. It was the people, the conversations, the dialogue. It was finding your tribe. It was finding people with different experiences, in different locations who loved the same things you do. Twitter\u0027s users and the content they produce is the product. And his actions have destroyed it.","summary":"From Zo\u00eb Schiffer and Casey Newton at the always wonderful Platformer:Almost two months later, though, view counts have had the opposite effect, emphasizing how little engagement most posts get relative to their audience size. At the same time, Twitter usage in the United States has declined almost 9 percent since Musk\u2019s takeover, according to one recent study.","image":"https:\/\/sg77.org\/","banner_image":"https:\/\/sg77.org\/","date_published":"2023-02-10T09:04:39+0000\n","author":{"name":"Scott Graham"},"tags":[""]},{"id":"\/linked\/2023\/02\/03\/sir-jony-ive-back","url":"https:\/\/sg77.org\/linked\/2023\/02\/03\/sir-jony-ive-back","external_url":"https:\/\/sg77.org\/","title":"Sir Jony Ive is back*","content_html":"\u003Cblockquote\u003E\u003Cp\u003EApple\u2019s former chief design officer Sir Jony Ive has redesigned Comic Relief\u2019s famous Red Nose, seeking to make it more sustainable than its predecessor.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAs you\u0027d expect from the man behind some of the most well known and respected designs of the last two decades, he\u0027s added some over-the-top design magic to the iconic red nose.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022footnote\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022footnote\u0022\u003E* Yes, I know about \u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.lovefrom.com\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022footnote\u0022\u003ELoveFrom\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022footnote\u0022\u003E and the \u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/tldr\/2016\/11\/21\/13700512\/jony-ive-marc-newson-christmas-tree-claridges\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022footnote\u0022\u003EChristmas Tree\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022footnote\u0022\u003E, but this is his most publicly available (and affordable) product in years.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","content_text":"Apple\u2019s former chief design officer Sir Jony Ive has redesigned Comic Relief\u2019s famous Red Nose, seeking to make it more sustainable than its predecessor.As you\u0027d expect from the man behind some of the most well known and respected designs of the last two decades, he\u0027s added some over-the-top design magic to the iconic red nose.* Yes, I know about LoveFrom and the Christmas Tree, but this is his most publicly available (and affordable) product in years.","summary":"Apple\u2019s former chief design officer Sir Jony Ive has redesigned Comic Relief\u2019s famous Red Nose, seeking to make it more sustainable than its predecessor.As you\u0027d expect from the man behind some of the most well known and respected designs of the last two decades, he\u0027s added some over-the-top design magic to the iconic red nose.","image":"https:\/\/sg77.org\/","banner_image":"https:\/\/sg77.org\/","date_published":"2023-02-03T16:17:23+0000\n","author":{"name":"Scott Graham"},"tags":[""]},{"id":"\/linked\/2023\/02\/03\/mastodon-darling-weather-apps-remain-ui-playground","url":"https:\/\/sg77.org\/linked\/2023\/02\/03\/mastodon-darling-weather-apps-remain-ui-playground","external_url":"https:\/\/sg77.org\/","title":"Mastodon is the darling, but weather apps remain a UI playground.","content_html":"\u003Cp\u003ELove this.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ciframe class=\u0022mastodon-embed\u0022 src=\u0022https:\/\/mastodon.social\/@nixCraft\/109797146360973415\/embed\u0022 width=\u0022400\u0022 allowfullscreen=\u0022allowfullscreen\u0022\u003E\u003C\/iframe\u003E\u003Cscript src=\u0022https:\/\/static-cdn.mastodon.social\/embed.js\u0022 async=\u0022async\u0022\u003E\u003C\/script\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EI tried this with \u0027gla\u0027 (for Glasgow) and it worked flawlessly. Amazing what people can do with an open API and some ingenuity.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\u0022align-center\u0022\u003E\n  \n  \n                      \u003Ca href=\u0022\/sites\/default\/files\/2023-02\/wttrin-screenshot.png\u0022\u003E\u003Cimg loading=\u0022lazy\u0022 src=\u0022\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/article\/public\/2023-02\/wttrin-screenshot.png?itok=nyGhVG6l\u0022 width=\u0022630\u0022 height=\u0022461\u0022 alt=\u0022weather forecast shown in the terminal. white text on black background.\u0022 class=\u0022image-style-article\u0022 \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\n\n            \n\u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ETurns out there are a \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/github.com\/chubin\/awesome-console-services\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Ewhole bunch of console services\u003C\/a\u003E I was unaware of.\u003C\/p\u003E","content_text":"Love this.I tried this with \u0027gla\u0027 (for Glasgow) and it worked flawlessly. Amazing what people can do with an open API and some ingenuity.\n  \n  \n                      \n\n            \n\nTurns out there are a whole bunch of console services I was unaware of.","summary":"Love this.I tried this with \u0027gla\u0027 (for Glasgow) and it worked flawlessly. Amazing what people can do with an open API and some ingenuity.","image":"https:\/\/sg77.org\/","banner_image":"https:\/\/sg77.org\/","date_published":"2023-02-03T09:48:37+0000\n","author":{"name":"Scott Graham"},"tags":[""]},{"id":"\/2023\/02\/thoughts-profit-comparisons","url":"https:\/\/sg77.org\/2023\/02\/thoughts-profit-comparisons","external_url":"https:\/\/sg77.org\/","title":"Thoughts on profit comparisons","content_html":"\u003Cp\u003ELast night \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/sixcolors.com\/post\/2023\/02\/apple-results-and-charts-117-2b-quarter-is-still-a-step-back\/\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EApple announced quarterly profits of $30bn\u003C\/a\u003E. I was thinking about how I feel about that number compared to Shell\u0027s record profits and why \u003Ca href=\u0022\/linked\/2023\/02\/02\/shell-reports-highest-profits-115-years\u0022\u003EI\u0027m angry at one\u003C\/a\u003E, but not the other.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EI think there are a few differences.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Col\u003E\u003Cli\u003EHome energy is a public utility, not a luxury item. It literally keeps people alive and \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.walesonline.co.uk\/news\/cost-of-living\/hypothermia-temperature-outside-treatment-winter-25772914\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Ebeing unable to afford to put the heating on is killing people\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u0022\u003C\/em\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/fullfact.org\/environment\/scotland-renewable-energy\/\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003EScotland produced 32,063 gigawatt hours (GWh) of renewable electricity\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cem\u003E, equivalent to around 97% of its entire electricity consumption.\u0022\u003C\/em\u003E Even allowing for export of 50% of that to the rest of the UK, there\u0027s no reason we should be beholden to the wholesale prices of gas and electricity set by events triggered by the actions of Russia. Our bills should be subsided - at least for low income households and the elderly. Going further, I would say energy should be characterised by universal access and managed by a \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Statutory_corporation\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Estatutory corporation\u003C\/a\u003E, treated the same as \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Water_supply_and_sanitation_in_Scotland\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Ewater in Scotland\u003C\/a\u003E.\u00a0\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EApple aren\u0027t \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/business\/british-gas-debt-collectors-energy-meters-b2274510.html\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Ebreaking into people\u0027s houses\u003C\/a\u003E to force them to pre-pay at an even higher rate than the already inflated energy prices.\u00a0\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EIf you choose not to purchase an iPhone, MacBook or whatever there are other less expensive items roughly comparible which will allow you to get your work done. They \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/daringfireball.net\/2023\/02\/making_our_hearts_sing\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Emay not have the user experience\u003C\/a\u003E I prefer, but they have basic feature parity. There is no choice with energy. Every company is charging the same - essentially they\u0027re price fixing.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ol\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIt\u0027s time to put the needs of the people above the wants of shareholders.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EI\u0027m definitely looking at this from the privileged position of someone in the West. I daresay if I was a worker in a factory used by Apple in China, I\u0027d have a \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/employees-at-apple-iphone-factory-beaten-china\/\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Edifferent point of view\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E","content_text":"Last night Apple announced quarterly profits of $30bn. I was thinking about how I feel about that number compared to Shell\u0027s record profits and why I\u0027m angry at one, but not the other.I think there are a few differences.Home energy is a public utility, not a luxury item. It literally keeps people alive and being unable to afford to put the heating on is killing people.\u0022Scotland produced 32,063 gigawatt hours (GWh) of renewable electricity, equivalent to around 97% of its entire electricity consumption.\u0022 Even allowing for export of 50% of that to the rest of the UK, there\u0027s no reason we should be beholden to the wholesale prices of gas and electricity set by events triggered by the actions of Russia. Our bills should be subsided - at least for low income households and the elderly. Going further, I would say energy should be characterised by universal access and managed by a statutory corporation, treated the same as water in Scotland.\u00a0Apple aren\u0027t breaking into people\u0027s houses to force them to pre-pay at an even higher rate than the already inflated energy prices.\u00a0If you choose not to purchase an iPhone, MacBook or whatever there are other less expensive items roughly comparible which will allow you to get your work done. They may not have the user experience I prefer, but they have basic feature parity. There is no choice with energy. Every company is charging the same - essentially they\u0027re price fixing.It\u0027s time to put the needs of the people above the wants of shareholders.I\u0027m definitely looking at this from the privileged position of someone in the West. I daresay if I was a worker in a factory used by Apple in China, I\u0027d have a different point of view.","summary":"Last night Apple announced quarterly profits of $30bn. I was thinking about how I feel about that number compared to Shell\u0027s record profits and why I\u0027m angry at one, but not the other.I think there are a few differences.","image":"https:\/\/sg77.org\/","banner_image":"https:\/\/sg77.org\/","date_published":"2023-02-03T08:35:11+0000\n","author":{"name":"Scott Graham"},"tags":[""]},{"id":"\/linked\/2023\/02\/02\/shell-reports-highest-profits-115-years","url":"https:\/\/sg77.org\/linked\/2023\/02\/02\/shell-reports-highest-profits-115-years","external_url":"https:\/\/sg77.org\/","title":"Shell reports highest profits in 115 years","content_html":"\u003Cblockquote\u003E\u003Cp\u003EShell had said it did not expect to pay any UK tax this year as it is allowed to offset decommissioning costs and investments in UK projects against any UK profits.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn 2015 when I moved in to my house I was paying \u00a390 per month for electricity and gas, with the heating on for three or four hours in the morning and around five hours in the evening at 21\u00b0C from October until March.\u00a0\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ERecently I have been paying Shell \u00a3370 per month. My electrical use is down by about 40% from 2015 and the heating on at 16\u00b0C for two hours total each day.\u00a0\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThey tell me it\u0027s because of the wholesale cost of electricity and gas due to the events in Ukraine. Yet they\u0027re announcing \u00a332.2bn in profits, double last year and their highest in 115 years and not paying tax on that.\u003C\/p\u003E","content_text":"Shell had said it did not expect to pay any UK tax this year as it is allowed to offset decommissioning costs and investments in UK projects against any UK profits.In 2015 when I moved in to my house I was paying \u00a390 per month for electricity and gas, with the heating on for three or four hours in the morning and around five hours in the evening at 21\u00b0C from October until March.\u00a0Recently I have been paying Shell \u00a3370 per month. My electrical use is down by about 40% from 2015 and the heating on at 16\u00b0C for two hours total each day.\u00a0They tell me it\u0027s because of the wholesale cost of electricity and gas due to the events in Ukraine. Yet they\u0027re announcing \u00a332.2bn in profits, double last year and their highest in 115 years and not paying tax on that.","summary":"Shell had said it did not expect to pay any UK tax this year as it is allowed to offset decommissioning costs and investments in UK projects against any UK profits.In 2015 when I moved in to my house I was paying \u00a390 per month for electricity and gas, with the heating on for three or four hours in the morning and around five hours in the evening at 21\u00b0C from October until March.\u00a0Recently I have been paying Shell \u00a3370 per month. My electrical use is down by about 40% from 2015 and the heating on at 16\u00b0C for two hours total each day.\u00a0","image":"https:\/\/sg77.org\/","banner_image":"https:\/\/sg77.org\/","date_published":"2023-02-02T08:30:02+0000\n","author":{"name":"Scott Graham"},"tags":[""]},{"id":"\/2023\/02\/why-blog","url":"https:\/\/sg77.org\/2023\/02\/why-blog","external_url":"https:\/\/sg77.org\/","title":"Why a blog?","content_html":"\u003Cp\u003ESince 1995, I\u0027ve had a web presence in some way, shape or form. They started with personal homepages from services like \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Yahoo!_GeoCities\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EGeocities\u003C\/a\u003E or the \u0027free\u0027 webspace included in the cost of whichever \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Internet_service_provider\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EISP\u003C\/a\u003E I was using at the time. Like many others I eventually migrated my online presence to \u0022Social Networks\u0022, trying most of them along the way.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOver time I\u0027ve become more disgruntled at the leadership and privacy policies of social network and have either closed my accounts completely, or deleted all of my posts whilst maintaining an inactive account, \u003Cem\u003Ejust in case\u003C\/em\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBut this left me with a dilema. Where to post my thoughts and share the links I enjoy? The answer seemed obvious. I\u0027m a web developer. I have domains. I have server capacity. Why not host and write my own link blog?\u00a0\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis isn\u0027t new - I\u0027m following the format popularised by sites like \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/kottke.org\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Ekottke.org\u003C\/a\u003E and \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/daringfireball.net\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EDaring Fireball\u003C\/a\u003E. And as time goes I\u0027ll hopefully give it my own twist. And for the first time in 28 years being online, I own my own thoughts.\u00a0\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EI don\u0027t know how often I\u0027ll be posting here. Perhaps frequently. Perhaps infrequently. Or most likely, it will be feast and famine. I expect the audience for this to be no one other than me, but who knows.\u00a0\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E---\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003E(If you care, I maintain accounts on \u003C\/em\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/mastodon.social\/@sagraham\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003EMastodon\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cem\u003E, \u003C\/em\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/twitter.com\/sagraham\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003ETwitter\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cem\u003E and \u003C\/em\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/sagraham77\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003EInstagram\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cem\u003E but rarely - if ever - post).\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","content_text":"Since 1995, I\u0027ve had a web presence in some way, shape or form. They started with personal homepages from services like Geocities or the \u0027free\u0027 webspace included in the cost of whichever ISP I was using at the time. Like many others I eventually migrated my online presence to \u0022Social Networks\u0022, trying most of them along the way.Over time I\u0027ve become more disgruntled at the leadership and privacy policies of social network and have either closed my accounts completely, or deleted all of my posts whilst maintaining an inactive account, just in case.But this left me with a dilema. Where to post my thoughts and share the links I enjoy? The answer seemed obvious. I\u0027m a web developer. I have domains. I have server capacity. Why not host and write my own link blog?\u00a0This isn\u0027t new - I\u0027m following the format popularised by sites like kottke.org and Daring Fireball. And as time goes I\u0027ll hopefully give it my own twist. And for the first time in 28 years being online, I own my own thoughts.\u00a0I don\u0027t know how often I\u0027ll be posting here. Perhaps frequently. Perhaps infrequently. Or most likely, it will be feast and famine. I expect the audience for this to be no one other than me, but who knows.\u00a0---(If you care, I maintain accounts on Mastodon, Twitter and Instagram but rarely - if ever - post).","summary":"Since 1995, I\u0027ve had a web presence in some way, shape or form. They started with personal homepages from services like Geocities or the \u0027free\u0027 webspace included in the cost of whichever ISP I was using at the time. Like many others I eventually migrated my online presence to \u0022Social Networks\u0022, trying most of them along the way.","image":"https:\/\/sg77.org\/","banner_image":"https:\/\/sg77.org\/","date_published":"2023-02-01T08:25:47+0000\n","author":{"name":"Scott Graham"},"tags":[""]}],"expired":false}