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<title type="text">Terence Eden’s Blog</title>
<subtitle type="text">Regular nonsense about tech and its effects 🙃</subtitle>
<updated>2026-01-27T20:53:12Z</updated>
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<entry>
<author>
<name>@edent</name>
<uri>https://edent.tel/</uri>
</author>
<title type="html"><![CDATA[Book Review: Doppelganger - A Trip Into the Mirror World by Naomi Klein ★★★★☆]]></title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/book-review-doppelganger-a-trip-into-the-mirror-world-by-naomi-klein/"/>
<id>https://shkspr.mobi/blog/?p=66374</id>
<updated>2026-01-15T11:33:15Z</updated>
<published>2026-01-27T12:34:06Z</published>
<category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="/etc/"/>
<category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="Book Review"/>
<category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="politics"/>
<summary type="html"><![CDATA[This book is excellent at describing the symptoms of madness which have beset the world. It expertly diagnoses the causes which have led so many people into a mirror-realm of fantasy. Sadly it falls short of prescribing a cure. I doubt anyone who has fallen into the conspiracy mindset will read this book - but I hope if you read it you will become inoculated against the brain-worms. Let's…]]></summary>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/book-review-doppelganger-a-trip-into-the-mirror-world-by-naomi-klein/"><![CDATA[<img src="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/9781802061963-jacket-large.webp" alt="Book cover with the world Doppelganger getting progressively more distressed and distorted." width="326" height="500" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-66376">
<p>This book is excellent at describing the symptoms of madness which have beset the world. It expertly diagnoses the causes which have led so many people into a mirror-realm of fantasy. Sadly it falls short of prescribing a cure. I doubt anyone who has fallen into the conspiracy mindset will read this book - but I hope if you read it you will become inoculated against the brain-worms.</p>
<p>Let's start at the beginning.</p>
<blockquote><p>If the Naomi be Klein<br>you’re doing just fine<br>If the Naomi be Wolf<br>Oh, buddy. Ooooof.</p></blockquote>
<p>How did Naomi's titular doppelganger move from feminism to fanaticism? How do well-meaning people square the circle of aligning themselves to people who spread hate?</p>
<p>At the same time, how do people like Naomi Klein justify spending hours obsessively listening to hate preachers? Can you stare into the abyss without it staring back into you? I'm not entirely sure that it is possible to binge on madness and stay objective. It reminds me <a href="https://xcancel.com/aedison/status/1840770070449893420">of this classic</a>:</p>
<blockquote><p>“don’t use q-tips to clean your ears, you’ll just push the wax in further!!” well, yeah, sure, except for my special technique. if I use my special technique then it’s fine.</p></blockquote>
<p>There's a deep well of sadness running through the book. So many people with an unending stream of pain clutching on to anything which might give them purchase in a confusing an uncertain world. Is it any wonder some of them latch on to weird racists with their simple solutions to complex problems?</p>
<p>The depressing thing is that sometimes the conspiracy-theorists are right. They can see that there are global conspiracies - but attribute them to [ethnic minorities|Marxists|the gays] rather than rapacious capitalists. Similarly, there are bitter lessons for the intellectual left who have comprehensively failed to advance progressive arguments and values. Many of us are more concerned with the purity of theory rather than implementation. You can't shame the public into understanding.</p>
<p>There's a slightly weak section on algorithmic amplification of abuse. Depressingly, Klein points out the perils of oligarch-owned social media yet she is still on Twitter and hasn't joined more equitable platforms.</p>
<p>The book also straddles an uneasy line between reportage and public therapy. Large parts feel like self-flagellation mixed with Freudian self-analysis. It demonstrates exactly how the grift works, why it is so effective, and what the surge of irrationality is doing to the world.</p>
<p>Perhaps I can fix it if I just read one more book. Just one more paragraph will make it all make sense. I'll grab on to the classics in the intellectual library to stop me sliding down the path to oblivion. Just one more book.</p>
]]></content>
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</entry>
<entry>
<author>
<name>@edent</name>
<uri>https://edent.tel/</uri>
</author>
<title type="html"><![CDATA[Do savings accounts really lose money to inflation?]]></title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/do-savings-accounts-really-lose-money-to-inflation/"/>
<id>https://shkspr.mobi/blog/?p=62585</id>
<updated>2026-01-27T20:53:12Z</updated>
<published>2026-01-26T12:34:05Z</published>
<category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="/etc/"/>
<category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="economics"/>
<summary type="html"><![CDATA[I'm absolutely addicted to the Reddit's UK Personal Finance forum - where people mutually support each other through the difficult world of managing one's personal finances. It's a great community and full of people eager to help others. In amongst the confusion around pensions, tips for budgeting, and complaining about debt-collectors is a persistent drumbeat encouraging people to save money.…]]></summary>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/do-savings-accounts-really-lose-money-to-inflation/"><![CDATA[<p>I'm absolutely addicted to the <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/UKPersonalFinance/">Reddit's UK Personal Finance forum</a> - where people mutually support each other through the difficult world of managing one's personal finances. It's a great community and full of people eager to help others.</p>
<p>In amongst the confusion around pensions, tips for budgeting, and complaining about debt-collectors is a persistent drumbeat encouraging people to save money. Good! More people should save more money. But the advice is always undercut with the message "sticking money in a savings account will see it eaten away by inflation".</p>
<p>Is that true?</p>
<p>Firstly, what is inflation? Simply put - prices rise and fall. The price of bread goes up by 50% and a loaf now costs £1.50. The price of a 42 inch flat screen TV drop by 50% and now costs £150. The average person buys 50 loaves of bread per year and a new TV every 5 years - add up the average of what people buy and you have a rough idea of what inflation is<sup id="fnref:simp"><a href="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/do-savings-accounts-really-lose-money-to-inflation/#fn:simp" class="footnote-ref" title="This is a vast over-simplification. It doesn't take into account a person's personal circumstances nor their preferences. But averages dehumanise everyone." role="doc-noteref">0</a></sup>.</p>
<p>Secondly, what is interest? Simply put - a bank or building society will pay you money to save with them. If you put £100 in a savings account paying 5% interest then leave it a year, you'll be given a fiver<sup id="fnref:savings"><a href="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/do-savings-accounts-really-lose-money-to-inflation/#fn:savings" class="footnote-ref" title="Some savings accounts are tax free - so you don't pay anything on what you make." role="doc-noteref">1</a></sup>.</p>
<p>If the rate of inflation is higher than the rate of interest, your savings will be eroded; your money will be worth less.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/monetary-policy/the-interest-rate-bank-rate">Bank of England's current interest rate and inflation</a> rate shows this:</p>
<img src="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/inflation.webp" alt="
Current Bank Rate 3.75% Next due: 5 February 2026 Current inflation rate 3.2% Target: 2%" width="1410" height="311" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-67060">
<p>On average, if something cost £100 a year ago, today it will cost £103.20. If you had saved £100, it would be worth £103.75</p>
<p>So, based on this, savings <em>exceed</em> inflation right?</p>
<p>Well, as ever, it is a little more complicated than that!</p>
<p>For starters, the inflation rate is for the <em>last</em> year and the interest rate is the <em>current</em> rate.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/inflationandpriceindices">UK publishes a number of different inflation statistics</a>. Depending on which one you prefer, the inflation rate over the last 12 months is between 3.2% and 4.4%.</p>
<p>Different savings accounts will attract different interest rates. Some will offer tasty bonuses to new savers and will drop to nothing once that promotion expires.</p>
<p>This stuff is hard to accurately model.</p>
<p>But let's ignore all that and YOLO it!</p>
<p>Here's two resources:</p>
<ul>
<li>The <a href="https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/monetary-policy/inflation/inflation-calculator">Bank of England inflation calculator</a> tells you want a historic price is in today's money (up to 2025).</li>
<li>The website <a href="https://HistoricalSavingsCalculator.com">HistoricalSavingsCalculator.com</a> provides the annual average historical interest rate from the Bank of England (up to 2023).</li>
</ul>
<p>As a quick check. £1,000 in 1975 is equivalent to about £7,300 in 2023.</p>
<p>The same amount <em>saved</em> in 1975 with average interest compounded, would be worth about £18,000 in 2023.</p>
<p>Amazing! Compound interest beats inflation!</p>
<p>But let's take another perspective. £1000 in 2008 is equivalent to £1,540 in 2023</p>
<p>£1,000 saved in 2008 would be worth about £1,180 in 2023.</p>
<p>A loss of over £300.</p>
<p>Let's stick annual UK inflation and interest rates into a graph:</p>
<img src="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/interest-vs-inflation.webp" alt="Graph plotting inflation vs interest. Interest beats inflation until about 2008." width="1024" height="540" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-62591">
<p>Ah! Over the last 17 years, inflation has been higher than interest - a position which is slowly reverting. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_financial_crisis">Fucking 2008</a>, eh?</p>
<p>It looks like we <em>might</em> be entering a period where interest will be higher than inflation. Does the average person optimally pick their savings accounts? Probably not. Is inflation a 100% reliable way of tracking the worth of money? Also probably not.</p>
<p>While cash savings are unlikely to exceed the rate of return from <a href="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2024/08/is-dollar-cost-averaging-a-bad-idea/">"Dollar Cost Averaging"</a>, it is possible that savings accounts will once again offer some protection against inflation.</p>
<div id="footnotes" role="doc-endnotes">
<hr>
<ol start="0">
<li id="fn:simp">
<p>This is a <em>vast</em> over-simplification. It doesn't take into account a person's personal circumstances nor their preferences. But averages dehumanise everyone. <a href="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/do-savings-accounts-really-lose-money-to-inflation/#fnref:simp" class="footnote-backref" role="doc-backlink">↩︎</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:savings">
<p>Some savings accounts are tax free - so you don't pay anything on what you make. <a href="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/do-savings-accounts-really-lose-money-to-inflation/#fnref:savings" class="footnote-backref" role="doc-backlink">↩︎</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>
]]></content>
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</entry>
<entry>
<author>
<name>@edent</name>
<uri>https://edent.tel/</uri>
</author>
<title type="html"><![CDATA[Book Review: Human Rites by Juno Dawson ★★★☆☆]]></title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/book-review-human-rites-by-juno-dawson/"/>
<id>https://shkspr.mobi/blog/?p=66251</id>
<updated>2026-01-15T11:33:14Z</updated>
<published>2026-01-25T12:34:53Z</published>
<category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="/etc/"/>
<category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="Book Review"/>
<summary type="html"><![CDATA[After the pretty good Her Majesty's Royal Coven, the excellent Shadow Cabinet, the law of reverting to the mean hits the conclusion of Juno Dawson's Witches of Hebden Bridge trilogy. By now you know the tropes - Bitchy-Witches, 90s pop-culture references, and wry chapter titles. It's all done well enough, the plot is a little twisty, the story entertaining, and the repeated mentions of Buffy…]]></summary>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/book-review-human-rites-by-juno-dawson/"><![CDATA[<img src="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/humanrites.jpg" alt="Book cover featuring a woman with a horned goat's head." width="200" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-66252">
<p>After the pretty good <a href="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2023/01/book-review-her-majestys-royal-coven-juno-dawson/">Her Majesty's Royal Coven</a>, the excellent <a href="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2024/09/book-review-the-shadow-cabinet-by-juno-dawson-her-majestys-royal-coven-book-2/">Shadow Cabinet</a>, the law of reverting to the mean hits the conclusion of Juno Dawson's Witches of Hebden Bridge trilogy.</p>
<p>By now you know the tropes - Bitchy-Witches, 90s pop-culture references, and wry chapter titles. It's all done well enough, the plot is a little twisty, the story entertaining, and the repeated mentions of Buffy are only a <em>little</em> too self-referential. The continual pop-culture references are a bit blunt and, in all honesty, feel like the book is trying too hard to anchor itself to other media.</p>
<p>If you enjoyed the other two books (and <a href="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2025/01/book-review-queen-b-by-juno-dawson/">the Queen B prequel</a>) then this is more of the same.</p>
<p>The ending is powerful and, thankfully, closes off the world. This doesn't feel like something which is going to be turned into a never-ending series of stories.</p>
<p>A good beach read but lacking some of the rage and inventiveness from the rest of the series.</p>
]]></content>
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</entry>
<entry>
<author>
<name>@edent</name>
<uri>https://edent.tel/</uri>
</author>
<title type="html"><![CDATA[Installing and Updating Filezilla from a Zip File on Pop_OS / Ubuntu]]></title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/installing-and-updating-filezilla-from-a-zip-file-on-pop_os-ubuntu/"/>
<id>https://shkspr.mobi/blog/?p=65041</id>
<updated>2026-01-15T11:33:08Z</updated>
<published>2026-01-24T12:34:21Z</published>
<category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="/etc/"/>
<category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="linux"/>
<category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="pop_os"/>
<category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="ubuntu"/>
<summary type="html"><![CDATA[Notes to myself because I keep forgetting. tl;dr Unzip it into the /opt/ directory. I want to install Filezilla - so I can SFTP files around. Sadly, the Flatpak version is unmaintained and the version in apt is out of date. Luckily, you can download the zipped version. Their Wiki helpfully says: If you have special needs, don't have sufficient rights to install programs or don't like…]]></summary>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/installing-and-updating-filezilla-from-a-zip-file-on-pop_os-ubuntu/"><![CDATA[<p>Notes to myself because I keep forgetting.</p>
<p><abbr title="To Long; Didn't Read">tl;dr</abbr> Unzip it into the <code>/opt/</code> directory.</p>
<p>I want to install Filezilla - so I can SFTP files around. Sadly, the <a href="https://github.com/flathub/org.filezillaproject.Filezilla/issues/103">Flatpak version is unmaintained</a> and the version in apt is out of date. Luckily, you can <a href="https://filezilla-project.org/download.php">download the zipped version</a>.</p>
<p>Their Wiki <a href="https://wiki.filezilla-project.org/Client_Installation#Zip_version">helpfully says</a>:</p>
<blockquote><p>If you have special needs, don't have sufficient rights to install programs or don't like installers, the zip version is there for you. A zip-file is a file that contains files inside of it. They are packed into one file and you need to unpack (unzip) them to use them.</p></blockquote>
<p>But it doesn't say where!</p>
<p>The answer is <a href="https://refspecs.linuxfoundation.org/FHS_3.0/fhs/ch03s13.html">the <code>/opt/</code> directory</a>.</p>
<p>Run this command:</p>
<p><code>sudo tar -xJf FileZilla_*_x86_64-linux-gnu.tar.xz -C /opt</code></p>
<p>The first time <a href="https://cyanogenmods.org/install-filezilla-in-ubuntu/">you may need to adjust the directory permissions</a>:</p>
<p><code>cd /opt/</code><br>
<code>sudo chown -R root:root FileZilla*</code></p>
<p>After installing, FileZilla will periodically check for updates. It will download them to the <code>~/Downloads/</code> directory. Run the above command to install the new version.</p>
<p>If you want to be able to launch Filezilla from your dashboard, or to pin it to your dock, you'll need to create:</p>
<p><code>/usr/share/applications/Filezilla.desktop</code></p>
<p>Place this text in it:</p>
<pre><code class="language-_">[Desktop Entry]
Name=Filezilla
Comment=FTP
Exec=/opt/FileZilla3/bin/filezilla
Icon=/opt/FileZilla3/share/icons/hicolor/scalable/apps/filezilla.svg
Type=Application
StartupWMClass=filezilla
Categories=Game;
</code></pre>
<p>What a faff!</p>
]]></content>
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</entry>
<entry>
<author>
<name>@edent</name>
<uri>https://edent.tel/</uri>
</author>
<title type="html"><![CDATA[Book Review: Surely You Can't Be Serious - The True Story of Airplane! ★★⯪☆☆]]></title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/book-review-surely-you-cant-be-serious-the-true-story-of-airplane/"/>
<id>https://shkspr.mobi/blog/?p=66080</id>
<updated>2026-01-15T11:33:09Z</updated>
<published>2026-01-23T12:34:30Z</published>
<category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="/etc/"/>
<category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="Book Review"/>
<category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="comedy"/>
<summary type="html"><![CDATA[This is a hugely extended version of Will Harris' "An oral history of Airplane". It goes through the pre-history of the project, how it eventually got made, and the aftermath. In many ways, it is like an old-fashioned DVD extra. The whole book consists of snippets of interviews with the cast, crew, and various talking heads. Like all DVD special features, it is fairly sycophantic. Yes, there…]]></summary>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/book-review-surely-you-cant-be-serious-the-true-story-of-airplane/"><![CDATA[<img src="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/9781250289322.avif" alt="Book cover for Airplane. A sticker says "At last a book you can judge by its cover!"" width="200" height="258" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-66081">
<p>This is a hugely extended version of <a href="https://www.avclub.com/surely-you-can-t-be-serious-an-oral-history-of-airplan-1798279218">Will Harris' "An oral history of Airplane"</a>. It goes through the pre-history of the project, how it eventually got made, and the aftermath. In many ways, it is like an old-fashioned DVD extra. The whole book consists of snippets of interviews with the cast, crew, and various talking heads.</p>
<p>Like all DVD special features, it is <em>fairly</em> sycophantic. Yes, there are some good-natured swipes at the people who passed on the script, but it is a bit of a Hollywood love-in. The self-deprecating humour is there to make people look classy - for example:</p>
<blockquote><p>Eisner’s also the one who once said, “If I had green-lit every movie I’ve passed on and passed on every movie I green-lit, my track record would probably be about the same.”</p></blockquote>
<p>About the only time it gets into anything other than "gooly-gee how lucky are we" is a small section talking about the star of one of their other films - the notorious murderer OJ Simpson:</p>
<blockquote><p><strong>David</strong>: I directed him in the Naked Gun movies. Although he actually improved with each film, his acting remained a lot like his murdering — he got away with it, but no one really believed him.</p></blockquote>
<p>Some of the commentary is a bit perfunctory. Do we really need to know that Quentin Tarantino liked the movie? It's nice, I guess. Tim Allen bemoaning the state of comedy today lands like a turd in a punchbowl.</p>
<p>The photos throughout are good - especially those showing how the framing of certain shots were lovingly ripped off from Zero Hour.</p>
<p>It is a fun and uncomplicated book. For students of film, it is always fascinating to see how the sausage gets made. Occasionally it veers into "IMDb trivia" and you do get the sense that most of the anecdotes have been retold a thousand times. Still, it is entertaining.</p>
<p>There is a bit of a glum streak running through it though:</p>
<blockquote><p><strong>JEFFREY KATZENBERG</strong>: Airplane! was not like anything else. And Michael Eisner, I think, felt that in his bones. Like, “Wow, this is really, really unique, and as such, is the kind of thing we should be doing!”</p></blockquote>
<p>Where did it all go wrong in Hollywood? Why are the people who made their name with weird films now content to pump out mediocrity?</p>
<p>There's a tantalising moment talking about alternative takes and an original cut which was some 20 minutes longer. But, alas:</p>
<blockquote><p>Sadly, Paramount threw out all the dailies; every studio did at that time. All those reels took physical space that they needed on the lot, so they threw them out, including Airplane! Although I’m pretty sure they kept the outtakes from The Godfather.</p></blockquote>
<p>Certainly worth flicking through if you're a fan of the film, but hardly revelatory.</p>
]]></content>
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<thr:total>0</thr:total>
</entry>
<entry>
<author>
<name>@edent</name>
<uri>https://edent.tel/</uri>
</author>
<title type="html"><![CDATA[Removing "/Subtype /Watermark" images from a PDF using Linux]]></title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/removing-subtype-watermark-images-from-a-pdf-using-linux/"/>
<id>https://shkspr.mobi/blog/?p=63035</id>
<updated>2026-01-15T11:33:03Z</updated>
<published>2026-01-22T12:34:02Z</published>
<category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="/etc/"/>
<category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="LLM"/>
<category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="pdf"/>
<category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="python"/>
<summary type="html"><![CDATA[Problem: I've received a PDF which has a large "watermark" obscuring every page. Investigating: Opening the PDF in LibreOffice Draw allowed me to see that the watermark was a separate image floating above the others. Manual Solution: Hit page down, select image, delete, repeat 500 times. BORING! Further Investigating: Using pdftk, it's possible to decompress a PDF. That makes it easier to look …]]></summary>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/removing-subtype-watermark-images-from-a-pdf-using-linux/"><![CDATA[<p><strong>Problem:</strong> I've received a PDF which has a large "watermark" obscuring every page.</p>
<p><strong>Investigating:</strong> Opening the PDF in LibreOffice Draw allowed me to see that the watermark was a separate image floating above the others.</p>
<p><strong>Manual Solution:</strong> Hit page down, select image, delete, repeat 500 times. BORING!</p>
<p><strong>Further Investigating:</strong> Using <a href="https://linux.die.net/man/1/pdftk">pdftk</a>, it's possible to decompress a PDF. That makes it easier to look through manually.</p>
<p><code>pdftk input.pdf output output.pdf uncompress</code></p>
<p>Hey presto! A PDF you can open in a text editor! Deep joy!</p>
<p><strong>Searching:</strong> On a hunch, I searched for "watermark" and found several lines like this:</p>
<pre><code class="language-_"><<
/Length 548
>>
stream
/Figure <</MCID 0 >>BDC q 0 0 477 733.464 re W n q /GS0 gs 479.2799893 0 0 735.5999836 -1.0800002 -1.0559941 cm /Im0 Do Q EMC
/Figure <</MCID 1 >>BDC Q q 28.333 300.661 420.334 126.141 re W n q /GS0 gs 420.3339603 0 0 126.1418879 28.3330078 300.6610601 cm /Im1 Do Q EMC
/Figure <</MCID 2 >>BDC Q q 16.106 0 444.787 215.464 re W n q /GS0 gs 444.7874274 0 0 216.5921386 16.1062775 -1.1281493 cm /Im2 Do Q EMC
/Artifact <</Subtype /Watermark /Type /Pagination >>BDC Q q 0.7361145 0 0 0.7361145 113.3616638 240.8575745 cm /GS1 gs /Fm0 Do Q EMC
endstream
endobj
</code></pre>
<p>Those are <a href="https://opensource.adobe.com/dc-acrobat-sdk-docs/library/pdfmark/pdfmark_Logical.html">Marked Content Blocks</a>. In <em>theory</em> you can just chop out the line with <code>/Subtype /Watermark</code> but each block has a <code>/length</code> variable - so you'd also need to adjust that to account for what you've changed - otherwise the layout goes all screwy.</p>
<p>That led me to <a href="https://github.com/pymupdf/PyMuPDF/discussions/1855">PyMuPDF which claimed to solve the problem</a>. But running that code only removed <em>some</em> of the watermarks. It got stuck on an infinite loop on certain pages.</p>
<p>So, now that I had more detailed knowledge, I managed to get an LLM to construct something which <em>mostly</em> seems to work.</p>
<p>Does it work with every PDF? I don't know. Does it contain subtle implementation bugs? Probably. Is there an easier way to do this? Not that I can find.</p>
<pre><code class="language-python">import re
import pymupdf
# Open the PDF
doc = pymupdf.open("output.pdf")
# Regex of the watermarks
pattern = re.compile(
rb"/Artifact\s*<<[^>]*?/Subtype\s*/Watermark[^>]*?>>BDC.*?EMC",
re.DOTALL
)
# Loop through the PDF's pages
for page_num, page in enumerate(doc, start=1):
print(f"Processing page {page_num}")
xrefs = page.get_contents()
for xref in xrefs:
cont = doc.xref_stream(xref)
new_cont, n = pattern.subn(b"", cont)
if n > 0:
print(f" Removed {n} watermark block(s)")
doc.update_stream(xref, new_cont)
doc.save("no-watermarks.pdf")
</code></pre>
<p>One of the (many) problems with Vibe Coding is that trying to get a LLM to spit out something useful depends <em>massively</em> on how well you know the subject area. I'm proud to say I know vanishingly little about the <a href="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2015/11/a-polite-way-to-say-ridiculously-complicated/">baroque</a> PDF specification - which meant that most of my attempts to use various "AI" tools consisted of me saying "No, that doesn't work" and the accurs'd machine saying back "Golly-gee! You're right! Let me fix that!" and then breaking something else.</p>
<p>I'm not sure this is the future we wanted, but it looks like the future we've got.</p>
]]></content>
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<thr:total>3</thr:total>
</entry>
<entry>
<author>
<name>@edent</name>
<uri>https://edent.tel/</uri>
</author>
<title type="html"><![CDATA[Book Review: Exterminate/Regenerate - The Story of Doctor Who by John Higgs ★★★★☆]]></title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/book-review-exterminate-regenerate-the-story-of-doctor-who-by-john-higgs/"/>
<id>https://shkspr.mobi/blog/?p=65799</id>
<updated>2026-01-21T11:07:42Z</updated>
<published>2026-01-21T12:34:26Z</published>
<category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="/etc/"/>
<category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="Book Review"/>
<category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="Doctor Who"/>
<summary type="html"><![CDATA[The problem with fans is that we want to know everything. What did Lennon eat for breakfast the day he recorded Imagine? Which colour pencil did the script editor use on our favourite episode of Doctor Who? Did the costume designer on Buffy secretly sneak in Masonic references in that extra's shirt?!?! There's no trivia so obscure that it won't be referenced somewhere, debated endlessly, and…]]></summary>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/book-review-exterminate-regenerate-the-story-of-doctor-who-by-john-higgs/"><![CDATA[<img src="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Exterminate_new-colours-copy-scaled-1.webp" alt="Book cover showing a Dalek in a time vortex." width="333" height="512" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-65805">
<p>The problem with fans is that we want to know <em>everything</em>. What did Lennon eat for breakfast the day he recorded Imagine? Which colour pencil did the script editor use on our favourite episode of Doctor Who? Did the costume designer on Buffy secretly sneak in Masonic references in that extra's shirt?!?!</p>
<p>There's no trivia so obscure that it won't be referenced somewhere, debated endlessly, and eventually schism'd.</p>
<p>The problem with Doctor Who histories is that the <em>real</em> fans know all there is to know, and the filthy casuals have very little interest in the obscure trivia about how the BBC Electrician's strike was a major turning point in the show.</p>
<p>John Higgs has a difficult job. How can you possibly summarise over a half-a-century of Who and make the history interesting and relevant? The answer is simple - philosophy.</p>
<p>This isn't "Everything I Learned About Kantian Ethics I Learned for Doctor Who" - but a rather more subtle musing about the nature of television, how stories drive their tellers insane, and how the viewing public are complicit in the eventual disintegration of our favourite shows.</p>
<p>This goes from the pre-history (why did Doctor Who the TV show exist) all the way up to the end of Ncuti Gatwa's first series. It covers some well-trodden ground that will be familiar to the people who turn on the DVD trivia tracks - but it adds a bit of bite. This isn't a sycophantic piece of corporate biography; there are some rather distressing and shocking truths about the people who brought such magic into our lives.</p>
<p>There are some odd gaps. While we probably don't need the ins-and-outs of every casting decision, but it is a bit odd to relegate the 1960s' movies to a few sentences. As ever, with books like this, a few photos and illustrations wouldn't have gone amiss - but I suspect rights issues would have scuppered that.</p>
<p>The book really gets going when it leaves the history behind and reflects on the <em>nature</em> of the show.</p>
<blockquote><p>The question of whether Doctor Who should grow up with its audience or target a new generation of children was one that the programme makers would struggle with many times over the following decades.</p></blockquote>
<p>It skewers some of the myths which are uncritically repeated by fans who have only a surface-level understanding of what the show is about and why it succeeds.</p>
<blockquote><p>Just as the Doctor is a trickster who dons the disguise of a hero, Doctor Who is a show that claims to champion science and logic to disguise its innate mysticism.</p></blockquote>
<p>As it dives in and out of the history, there are some wild revelations and some absolutely WTF moments of both synchronicity and sycophancy. For a book which deals with fans and fandom, it is remarkably brutal in its honesty. No one comes out of Doctor Who unscathed - and the fans are often (self-inflicted) casualties.</p>
<blockquote><p>[T]he Valeyard [could] be seen as the representation of the darker side of British fandom</p></blockquote>
<p>Is that true? It is certainly a plausible reading of how the toxic culture of fandom helped sow the seeds of the show's eventual downfall (and, to be fair, resurrection). It is, <em>perhaps</em>, a little portentous and overwrought at times - for example, when talking about Sylvester McCoy's Doctor's regeneration in the 1996 movie:</p>
<blockquote><p>Seeing him struggling to avoid being anaesthetised and then killed in an expensive, state-of-the-art American medical centre, it was hard not to see the cheap and cheerful British version of the show being held down and put to sleep by the glossy new production team, who didn’t fully understand what they had or why they were about to unintentionally kill it.</p></blockquote>
<p>Is that a reach? It is certainly a valid if perhaps unintentional reading of the scene.</p>
<p>The book veers between the gossip of the production and the critical appraisal of the object. It never quite settles on whether it is a history, philosophy, or psychological profile of the show. This sums it up best:</p>
<blockquote><p>The drama backstage leaked into, and ultimately overwhelmed, the drama on screen.</p></blockquote>
<p>If you're interested in Doctor Who - and don't mind some of your sacred cows being slaughtered - this is a compelling read.</p>
]]></content>
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<thr:total>1</thr:total>
</entry>
<entry>
<author>
<name>@edent</name>
<uri>https://edent.tel/</uri>
</author>
<title type="html"><![CDATA[Discovering My Talk]]></title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/discovering-my-talk/"/>
<id>https://shkspr.mobi/blog/?p=63533</id>
<updated>2026-01-17T09:40:31Z</updated>
<published>2026-01-20T12:34:26Z</published>
<category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="/etc/"/>
<category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="EuroBSDCon"/>
<category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="public speaking"/>
<summary type="html"><![CDATA[My mother, the actress Carrie Cohen, once had a blazing argument with Anthony Hopkins. He was saying that he preferred appearing in Hollywood blockbusters compared to appearing on the stage because nothing was more boring than playing Hamlet for the 100th time. My mother's contention was that he was talking rubbish. The joy of repeated performance is finding new and interesting ways to bring the …]]></summary>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/discovering-my-talk/"><![CDATA[<p>My mother, <a href="https://carriecohen.co.uk/">the actress Carrie Cohen</a>, once had a blazing argument with Anthony Hopkins<sup id="fnref:TV"><a href="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/discovering-my-talk/#fn:TV" class="footnote-ref" title="Well, she shouted at the TV while he was on a chat show. It remains unknown if he heard her." role="doc-noteref">0</a></sup>. He was saying that he preferred appearing in Hollywood blockbusters compared to appearing on the stage because nothing was more boring than playing Hamlet for the 100th time.</p>
<p>My mother's contention was that he was talking rubbish. The joy of repeated performance is finding new and interesting ways to bring the character to life. Even after a hundred performances, you will still be able to discover exciting and subtle nuances.</p>
<p>My mother, of course, was right<sup id="fnref:sorry"><a href="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/discovering-my-talk/#fn:sorry" class="footnote-ref" title="Tony has yet to apologise." role="doc-noteref">1</a></sup>.</p>
<p>I was at EuroBSDCon a few months ago giving a talk I'd given several times before. As I was rehearsing it, I felt the comforting familiarity of an old friend. I knew when to pause, where to place the emphasis, how to build to a crescendo. This was going to be delightfully boring for me.</p>
<p>And then I got on stage.</p>
<p>I know my script. True, I occasionally glance at the speaker notes, but I don't rely on it. This frees me. My mind can wander just a little bit and explore what I'm saying.</p>
<p>My brain makes connections that were previously hidden from me. Exciting new ways to express myself spring forth from my mouth. I'm not consciously aware of the joke that I make until the laughter has subsided. I gradually discover a new turn of phrase. The awkward segue suddenly resolves itself. The talk that I'm giving is <em>not</em> the same as the one I planned; it is better. You can rehearse a thousand times, but there's something about having an audience which helps you discover what it is you want to say.</p>
<p>There is nothing like live performance to help you discover yourself.</p>
<div id="footnotes" role="doc-endnotes">
<hr>
<ol start="0">
<li id="fn:TV">
<p>Well, she shouted at the TV while he was on a chat show. It remains unknown if he heard her. <a href="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/discovering-my-talk/#fnref:TV" class="footnote-backref" role="doc-backlink">↩︎</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:sorry">
<p>Tony has yet to apologise. <a href="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/discovering-my-talk/#fnref:sorry" class="footnote-backref" role="doc-backlink">↩︎</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>
]]></content>
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<thr:total>4</thr:total>
</entry>
<entry>
<author>
<name>@edent</name>
<uri>https://edent.tel/</uri>
</author>
<title type="html"><![CDATA[Book Review: Sky Daddy by Kate Folk ★★★⯪☆]]></title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/book-review-sky-daddy-by-kate-folk/"/>
<id>https://shkspr.mobi/blog/?p=66394</id>
<updated>2026-01-15T11:33:00Z</updated>
<published>2026-01-19T12:34:35Z</published>
<category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="/etc/"/>
<category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="Book Review"/>
<summary type="html"><![CDATA[What - and I cannot stress this enough - the actual ever-loving fuck!? OK, perhaps it was a mistake to start reading this while on an international flight. The book concerns Linda, a content moderator at an endlessly sub-contracted tech company, who is in love with planes. No, strike that, she is excessively sexually attracted to the idea of dying in a plane crash. Yeah. The story goes…]]></summary>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/book-review-sky-daddy-by-kate-folk/"><![CDATA[<img src="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/sky-daddy.webp" alt="Book cover featuring a phallic plane." width="200" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-66396">
<p>What - and I cannot stress this enough - the <em>actual</em> ever-loving fuck!?<sup id="fnref:wtf"><a href="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/book-review-sky-daddy-by-kate-folk/#fn:wtf" class="footnote-ref" title="Every other paragraph made me scribble WTF in the margin." role="doc-noteref">0</a></sup></p>
<p>OK, perhaps it was a mistake to start reading this while on an international flight. The book concerns Linda, a content moderator at an endlessly sub-contracted tech company, who is in love with planes. No, strike that, she is excessively sexually attracted to the idea of dying in a plane crash.</p>
<p>Yeah.</p>
<p>The story goes though all her attempts to, effectively, manifest an in-air disaster through the power of wishful thinking and frantic masturbation.</p>
<p>This isn't exactly erotica<sup id="fnref:eros"><a href="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/book-review-sky-daddy-by-kate-folk/#fn:eros" class="footnote-ref" title="Not that there's anything wrong with that!" role="doc-noteref">1</a></sup>, it contains a rich stream of satire about the modern tech industry and how it chews up and spits out the people working at the sticky end of keeping platforms safe.</p>
<p>This is one of the most creative novels I've read in some time. The protagonist is a creepy blank-slate whose unhealthy obsession drips off the page<sup id="fnref:aut"><a href="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/book-review-sky-daddy-by-kate-folk/#fn:aut" class="footnote-ref" title="Look, you probably shouldn't do an armchair diagnosis of fictional characters but this is possibly the most autistic-coded character I've read since In Search of Lost Time." role="doc-noteref">2</a></sup>. Her morose existence is - to mix fantasies - a car crash. I can honestly say that I haven't read anything like this before and I've no idea if I'm the intended audience.</p>
<p>I wouldn't necessarily describe the book as fun and enjoyable, nor is is particularly sexy<sup id="fnref:sexy"><a href="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/book-review-sky-daddy-by-kate-folk/#fn:sexy" class="footnote-ref" title="Unless, I guess, you're in to that sort of thing. YKINMKBYKIOK!" role="doc-noteref">3</a></sup>. It is intriguing, entertaining, and constantly baffling. How wonderful to step inside the mind of an utter deviant and soak up their bizarre existence.</p>
<div id="footnotes" role="doc-endnotes">
<hr>
<ol start="0">
<li id="fn:wtf">
<p>Every other paragraph made me scribble WTF in the margin. <a href="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/book-review-sky-daddy-by-kate-folk/#fnref:wtf" class="footnote-backref" role="doc-backlink">↩︎</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:eros">
<p>Not that there's anything wrong with that! <a href="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/book-review-sky-daddy-by-kate-folk/#fnref:eros" class="footnote-backref" role="doc-backlink">↩︎</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:aut">
<p>Look, you probably shouldn't do an armchair diagnosis of fictional characters but this is possibly the most autistic-coded character I've read since <a href="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2025/02/book-review-in-search-of-lost-time-marcel-proust/">In Search of Lost Time</a>. <a href="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/book-review-sky-daddy-by-kate-folk/#fnref:aut" class="footnote-backref" role="doc-backlink">↩︎</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:sexy">
<p>Unless, I guess, you're in to that sort of thing. <a href="https://fanlore.org/wiki/Your_Kink_Is_Not_My_Kink">YKINMKBYKIOK</a>! <a href="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/book-review-sky-daddy-by-kate-folk/#fnref:sexy" class="footnote-backref" role="doc-backlink">↩︎</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>
]]></content>
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<thr:total>2</thr:total>
</entry>
<entry>
<author>
<name>@edent</name>
<uri>https://edent.tel/</uri>
</author>
<title type="html"><![CDATA[Book Review: Sublimation by Isabel J. Kim ★★★★★]]></title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/book-review-sublimation-by-isabel-j-kim/"/>
<id>https://shkspr.mobi/blog/?p=67177</id>
<updated>2026-01-17T10:25:06Z</updated>
<published>2026-01-18T12:34:45Z</published>
<category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="/etc/"/>
<category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="Book Review"/>
<category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="NetGalley"/>
<category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="Sci Fi"/>
<summary type="html"><![CDATA[This is an astounding bit of high-concept sci-fi. Imagine a world where crossing a border literally split your body in two. A young woman emigrates from South Korea - one version of her stays in Seoul, another version goes off to live in New York. This is the way humanity has always existed. People bifurcating and dealing with the consequences. It is heady stuff. The book spans life, love,…]]></summary>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/book-review-sublimation-by-isabel-j-kim/"><![CDATA[<img src="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/sublimation-12.jpg" alt="Book cover featuring repeated images of a young Korean woman." width="200" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-67180">
<p>This is an astounding bit of high-concept sci-fi. Imagine a world where crossing a border literally split your body in two. A young woman emigrates from South Korea - one version of her stays in Seoul, another version goes off to live in New York. This is the way humanity has always existed. People bifurcating and dealing with the consequences.</p>
<p>It is heady stuff. The book spans life, love, politics, religion, and folklore. It layers on narrative and meta-narrative. Like any debut novel, there are too many ideas to be contained and the plot seems to spill beyond its pages. What would the fascist ICE do with immigrants who were mere clones of the people they left behind?</p>
<p>The dizzying implications of the story are matched only by the gorgeously intricate plot. Does the tale need to occasionally be told in the second-person? You don't think so, but you also can't think of a better way to illustrate how strange it is to argue with your other-self. You enjoy all the literary and scholarly references and find they add poetic texture to balance out the increasing tension.</p>
<p>Unlike other hard sci-fi, it doesn't spend <em>too</em> much time on exposition; it gets drip fed to the reader. But it is happy to dive into the <em>practicalities</em> of a world where refugees might leave behind more than just memories. There's a small but necessary amount of technobabble, and a large but necessary amount of moral philosophising. <a href="https://www.polygon.com/22586158/tuvix-star-trek-memes-voyager-janeway-debate/">Tuvix</a> did not die in vain.</p>
<p>Sublimation lives up to the hype. It is dramatic, powerful, intriguing, and - above all - fun.</p>
<p>Many thanks to NetGalley for the review copy. Sublimation is available to pre-order now for delivery in July. I recommend reading it twice.</p>
]]></content>
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<thr:total>0</thr:total>
</entry>
<entry>
<author>
<name>@edent</name>
<uri>https://edent.tel/</uri>
</author>
<title type="html"><![CDATA[Review: Lander 23 by Punchdrunk ★★★⯪☆]]></title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/review-lander-23/"/>
<id>https://shkspr.mobi/blog/?p=67165</id>
<updated>2026-01-17T08:56:21Z</updated>
<published>2026-01-17T12:34:30Z</published>
<category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="/etc/"/>
<category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="game"/>
<category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="london"/>
<category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="review"/>
<summary type="html"><![CDATA[Lander 23 had a few pre-launch glitches, but is now up and running in Woolwich. It is a fun enough experience, but could be a whole lot more with some tweaks. In a team of four, you are split into two groups. One group operates a baffling array of switches and has to direct the other group around a ruined city because of [under developed plot point]. Only by working together can you… well, it i…]]></summary>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/review-lander-23/"><![CDATA[<img src="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Punchdrunk-Lander-23-t.webp" alt="Poster featuring two people running through a smoke filled sci-fi corridor." width="300" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-67167">
<p>Lander 23 had a few pre-launch glitches, but is now up and running in Woolwich. It is a fun enough experience, but could be a whole lot more with some tweaks. In a team of four, you are split into two groups. One group operates a baffling array of switches and has to direct the other group around a ruined city because of [under developed plot point]. Only by working together can you… well, it is unclear. Something to do with energy?</p>
<p>Think of it a bit like a longer game of "The Crystal Maze". Over a radio commlink, you try telling your team mates to go left down a corridor and then explain you meant the <em>other</em> left. The explorers have to creep around the set, avoiding baddies (and sometimes other players) while listening to your half-baked instructions.</p>
<p>Then you swap positions and suddenly understand some of the seemingly bizarre decisions your friends made.</p>
<p>It is hard to know how to categorise this. Punchdrunk are known for immersive theatre - but this is billed as a live action video game. It isn't a LARP in the traditional sense; you won't be driving the story. It also isn't an escape room although the teamwork aspect is similar. There aren't any puzzles, and the story is paper-thin. But it is rather a good laugh. Sort of like an adult Laser Quest without guns.</p>
<p>The pre-show is pretty good. There's a well dressed set to wander around with lots of interesting (but irrelevant) scenery and props. The instructions are reasonably clear and the "Lander" set looks a bit like the Nostromo from Alien. The interactive consoles are brilliantly designed. The various industrial knobs and buttons feel delightful to play with and react well. It is rather a shame that they're so under utilised. The driver team is given a baffling arrays of inputs to manage - but only a small subsection do anything useful.</p>
<p>The city set (supposedly an alien planet) is recycled from the previous "Burnt City" production. It looks lush but doesn't make any sense in context of the (slightly flimsy) story. It is exciting to wander through while being pursued by guards (what guards? Isn't this an alien planet?) but there isn't much time to admire the extensive set dressing.</p>
<p>While you're running around (or telling people to run around) there's some nonsense about collecting energy. Oh and you might lose a life if caught. And you have to flick the switches at the right time. Don't forget to duck behind the scenery to hide when told. There's a <em>lot</em> going on. It is exhilarating but you only get about 15-20 minutes of play time each.</p>
<p>There's a briefing about how to find cassettes and stamps. Across our two goes, we found one of them and got one stamp. What does that do? Nothing as far as I can tell. There might also be artefacts to collect, but we didn't find any, nor were we sure that they'd net us extra points.</p>
<p>Let's talk about the points aspect. At the end, our team, were delighted to have come second!</p>
<img src="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Leaderboard.webp" alt="Digital display board showing team numbers and points." width="1557" height="1168" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-67169">
<p>What did that mean? <strong>Nothing</strong>.</p>
<p>If you play Laser Quest, you get to see your <em>name</em> up on the big screen - Lander 23 just displays your team number. I sort of expected to be handed a certificate. Or money off our next trip. Or a commemorative tchotchke. Or even a video thanking us for saving the universe. We just took off our tactical vests and handed them back. Which was slightly underwhelming.</p>
<p>I <em>think</em> the leader-board is there to encourage replayability. But as your scores aren't recorded, there isn't much incentive to come back for another go. I expected a follow-up email thanking us for playing or asking for feedback but, again, nothing. After that much adrenaline, I was expecting just a <em>little</em> aftercare.</p>
<p>There's a photo-booth once you've completed the mission, but you have to ask other players to take your photo. It would have been so easy for Punchdrunk to have a staff member there to take snaps and email them. Again, that's what most escape rooms do. Instead, we headed to the bar to enjoy a few cocktails while we debriefed ourselves.</p>
<p>All four of us agreed at that it had been a pretty good experience. We laughed a lot describing what we'd got up to. Our hearts were racing, we were sweating from the tension, and felt like it had been a decent afternoon out.</p>
<p>Ultimately, Lander 23 feels like it has been designed by someone who has <em>heard of</em> games like Laser Quest / Escape Rooms / The Crystal Maze but, crucially, hasn't ever played them.</p>
<p>For all that, it is a lot of fun. Running around corridors with a friend is <em>very</em> Doctor Who. Flicking lots of switches and pressing buttons is an enjoyable tactile experience.</p>
<p>It is absolutely worth finding a cheaper mid-week slot and giving it a go. If you're willing to get into the spirit of things, and are happy to put up with some odd game-design decisions, you'll have fun.</p>
]]></content>
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<thr:total>2</thr:total>
</entry>
<entry>
<author>
<name>@edent</name>
<uri>https://edent.tel/</uri>
</author>
<title type="html"><![CDATA[Should HTML's code blocks be translated?]]></title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/should-htmls-blocks-be-translated/"/>
<id>https://shkspr.mobi/blog/?p=63046</id>
<updated>2026-01-09T08:47:38Z</updated>
<published>2026-01-16T12:34:53Z</published>
<category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="/etc/"/>
<category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="code"/>
<category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="HTML"/>
<category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="languages"/>
<summary type="html"><![CDATA[I was recently prompted to test my blog's layout when rendered in right-to-left text. Running a website through an automatic translator into a language like Arabic or Hebrew will show you any weird little layout glitches which might occur. But mechanical translation is a bit of an unthinking brute. In this example, I had a code snippet which contained the word "link". Should that word be…]]></summary>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/should-htmls-blocks-be-translated/"><![CDATA[<p>I was recently prompted to <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/vale.rocks/post/3lxgvpipy4k2q">test my blog's layout when rendered in right-to-left text</a>. Running a website through an automatic translator into a language like Arabic or Hebrew will show you any weird little layout glitches which might occur.</p>
<p>But mechanical translation is a bit of an unthinking brute. In this example, I had a code snippet which contained the word "link".</p>
<img src="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/translate.webp" alt="HTML code block, one of the element names is rendered in Arabic." width="1008" height="567" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-63048">
<p>Should that word be translated? Obviously not! The code isn't valid unless the element name is in English - and it probably doesn't make sense to reverse the text direction.</p>
<p>Luckily, the HTML specification allows authors to mark specific bits of their page as unsuitable for automatic translations. <a href="https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTML/Reference/Global_attributes/translate">The <code>translate</code> global attribute</a> can be applied to your markup like this:</p>
<pre><code class="language-html"><code translate="no">
&amp;lt;link … &amp;gt;
&amp;lt;meta … &amp;gt;
&amp;lt;strong&amp;gt;Hello&amp;lt;/strong&amp;gt;
</code>
</code></pre>
<p>Nothing inside that code block will be translated. Hurrah!</p>
<p>But there are some problems with this approach.</p>
<p>Consider this pseudo-code:</p>
<pre><code class="language-_">// Reverse the polarity of the neutron flow.
$neutron = $atom.flow( direction="backwards" );
</code></pre>
<p>Fairly obviously, the code itself shouldn't be translated. It simply won't run unless the syntax is precisely as written. But what about the comment at the top? It would probably be useful to have that translated, right?</p>
<p>It is possible to mark up different parts of a document to be translatable even if their parent isn't:</p>
<pre><code class="language-html"><code translate="no">
<span translate="yes">// Reverse the polarity of the neutron flow.</span>
$neutron = $atom.flow( direction="backwards" );
</code>
</code></pre>
<p>At least, that's my understanding of <a href="https://html.spec.whatwg.org/multipage/dom.html#attr-translate">the specification</a>.</p>
<p>This brings us on to another complex problem. Consider this code block which might be embedded in a page as an example:</p>
<pre><code class="language-js">// Ensure the age is calculated from the user's birthday
var age = today.date - user.birthday;
</code></pre>
<p>If translated into Chinese, the comment might say:</p>
<pre><code class="language-js">// 确保年龄是根据用户的生日计算的
var age = today.date - user.birthday;
</code></pre>
<p>But is it useful to have variable names be different between comments and the code?</p>
<p>In some contexts yes, in others no!</p>
<p>And that's where we hit the limits of the current crop of machine-translation algorithms. Without a holistic view of the entire page, and a semantic understanding of how previous words relate to subsequent words, there will always be glitches and gotchas like this.</p>
<p>For now, I'm marking my code blocks as non-translatable but letting comments be fully translated. If you have strong opinions about this - please leave a comment!</p>
]]></content>
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<thr:total>2</thr:total>
</entry>
<entry>
<author>
<name>@edent</name>
<uri>https://edent.tel/</uri>
</author>
<title type="html"><![CDATA[Book Review: Rabbit Test and Other Stories by Samantha Mills ★★★★☆]]></title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/book-review-rabbit-test-and-other-stories-by-samantha-mills/"/>
<id>https://shkspr.mobi/blog/?p=65215</id>
<updated>2026-01-09T08:47:39Z</updated>
<published>2026-01-15T12:34:41Z</published>
<category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="/etc/"/>
<category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="Book Review"/>
<category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="NetGalley"/>
<category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="Sci Fi"/>
<summary type="html"><![CDATA[This is an an interesting and varied set of sci-fi/fantasy stories. Some barely a couple of pages, others cutting short at just the right time. They are all on a similar theme - the strife between parents and children. Whether it is a twisted take on classic fairy tales, or a dive into the far future - there's always something interesting going on. Samantha Mills has a excellent eye for…]]></summary>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/book-review-rabbit-test-and-other-stories-by-samantha-mills/"><![CDATA[<img src="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/RabbitTestCollection_Website.webp" alt="Book cover." width="200" height="619" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-65216">
<p>This is an an interesting and varied set of sci-fi/fantasy stories. Some barely a couple of pages, others cutting short at <em>just</em> the right time. They are all on a similar theme - the strife between parents and children. Whether it is a twisted take on classic fairy tales, or a dive into the far future - there's always something interesting going on.</p>
<p>Samantha Mills has a excellent eye for neologisms and isn't afraid to deploy humour with sometimes devastating effect.</p>
<p>The titular "Rabbit Test" is excellent but - like most of the others - it is a riff on some genre classics. That's not a bad thing; it's always fun to explore tropes from a different angle. Each story is entertaining, but most left me thinking "now where have I heard that before?"</p>
<p>One of the lovely things is the story notes at the end. Like a little behind-the-scenes feature on a DVD extra. More books should give the reader a glimpse behind the writing process.</p>
<p>Many thanks to NetGalley for the review copy. Rabbit Test is available to pre-order now.</p>
]]></content>
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<thr:total>0</thr:total>
</entry>
<entry>
<author>
<name>@edent</name>
<uri>https://edent.tel/</uri>
</author>
<title type="html"><![CDATA[Responsible Disclosure: Chimoney Android App and KYCaid]]></title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/responsible-disclosure-chimoney-android-app-and-kycaid/"/>
<id>https://shkspr.mobi/blog/?p=64849</id>
<updated>2026-01-09T08:47:33Z</updated>
<published>2026-01-14T12:34:52Z</published>
<category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="/etc/"/>
<category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="android"/>
<category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="CyberSecurity"/>
<category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="Responsible Disclosure"/>
<category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="security"/>
<category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="WebMonetization"/>
<summary type="html"><![CDATA[Chimoney is a new "multi-currency wallet" provider. Based out of Canada, it allows users to send money to and from a variety of currencies. It also supports the new Interledger protocol for WebMonetization. It is, as far as I can tell, unregulated by any financial institution. Nevertheless, it performs a "Know Your Customer" (KYC) check on all new account in order to prevent fraud. To do this,…]]></summary>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/responsible-disclosure-chimoney-android-app-and-kycaid/"><![CDATA[<p><a href="https://chimoney.app/">Chimoney</a> is a new "multi-currency wallet" provider. Based out of Canada, it allows users to send money to and from a variety of currencies. It also supports the new Interledger protocol for <a href="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2025/08/security-flaws-in-the-webmonetization-site/">WebMonetization</a>.</p>
<p>It is, as far as I can tell, unregulated by any financial institution. Nevertheless, it performs a "Know Your Customer" (KYC) check on all new account in order to prevent fraud. To do this, it uses the Ukranian <a href="https://kycaid.com/">KYCaid</a> platform.</p>
<p>So far, so standard. But there's a small problem with how they both integrate.</p>
<p>I installed Chimoney's Android app and attempted to go through KYCaid's verification process. For some reason it hit me with this error message.</p>
<img src="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/error.webp" alt="Screenshot. An error occurred and an email address." width="504" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-64856">
<p>Well, I'd better click that email and report the problem.</p>
<img src="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/email-protected.webp" alt="Screenshot. The email is protected, but clickable." width="504" height="240" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-64855">
<p>Oh, that's odd. What happens if I click the protected link?</p>
<img src="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Cloudflare.webp" alt="Screenshot. Cloudflare's email protection screen." width="504" height="625" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-64854">
<p>Huh! I guess I've been taken to Cloudflare's website. What happens if I click on the links on their page?</p>
<img src="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/discord.webp" alt="Screenshot. Invitation to join Cloudflare's Discord." width="504" height="606" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-64853">
<p>Looks like I can now visit any site on the web. If Cloudflare has a link to it, I can go there. For example, GitHub.</p>
<img src="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/github.webp" alt="Screenshot. GitHub page still within the Chimoney app." width="504" height="499" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-64852">
<h2 id="why-is-this-a-problem"><a href="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/responsible-disclosure-chimoney-android-app-and-kycaid/#why-is-this-a-problem">Why is this a problem?</a></h2>
<blockquote><p><a href="https://mas.owasp.org/MASTG/knowledge/android/MASVS-PLATFORM/MASTG-KNOW-0018/">MASTG-KNOW-0018: WebViews</a></p>
<p>One of the most important things to do when testing WebViews is to make sure that only trusted content can be loaded in it. Any newly loaded page could be potentially malicious, try to exploit any WebView bindings or try to phish the user. <strong>Unless you're developing a browser app, usually you'd like to restrict the pages being loaded to the domain of your app.</strong> A good practice is to prevent the user from even having the chance to input any URLs inside WebViews (which is the default on Android) nor navigate outside the trusted domains. Even when navigating on trusted domains there's still the risk that the user might encounter and click on other links to untrustworthy content</p>
<p><small>Emphasis added</small></p></blockquote>
<p>A company's app is its sacred space. It shouldn't let anyone penetrate its inner sanctum because it has no control over what that 3rd party shows its customers.</p>
<p>There's nothing stopping an external service displaying a message like "To continue, please transfer 0.1 Bitcon to …"</p>
<p>(Of course, if your KYC provider - or their CDN - decides to turn evil then you probably have bigger problems!)</p>
<p>There are some other problems. It has long been known that <a href="https://discussions.apple.com/thread/7918307?sortBy=rank">people can use in-app browsers to circumvent restrictions</a>. Some in-app browsers have <a href="https://medium.com/%40youssefhussein212103168/exploiting-insecure-android-webview-with-setallowuniversalaccessfromfileurls-c7f4f7a8db9c">insecure configurations which can be used for exploits</a>. These sorts of "accidentally open" browsers <a href="https://matan-h.com/google-has-a-secret-browser-hidden-inside-the-settings/">are often considered to be a security vulnerability</a>.</p>
<h2 id="the-fix"><a href="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/responsible-disclosure-chimoney-android-app-and-kycaid/#the-fix">The Fix</a></h2>
<p>Ideally, an Android app like this wouldn't use a web view. It should use a KYC provider's API rather than giving them wholesale control of the user experience.</p>
<p>But, suppose you do need a webview. What's the recommendation?</p>
<p>Boring old <a href="https://blog.oversecured.com/Android-security-checklist-webview/#insufficient-url-validation">URl validation</a> using <a href="https://developer.android.com/reference/android/webkit/WebViewClient#shouldOverrideUrlLoading(android.webkit.WebView,%20android.webkit.WebResourceRequest)">Android's <code>shouldOverrideUrlLoading()</code> method</a>.</p>
<p>Essentially, your app restricts what can be seen in the webview and rejects anything else.</p>
<h2 id="risk"><a href="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/responsible-disclosure-chimoney-android-app-and-kycaid/#risk">Risk</a></h2>
<p>Look, this is pretty low risk. A user would have to take several deliberate steps to find themselves in a place of danger.</p>
<p>Ultimately, it is "<a href="https://wiki.c2.com/?CodeSmell">Code Smell</a>" - part of the app is giving off a noxious whiff. That's something you cannot afford to have on a money transfer app. If this simple security fix wasn't implemented, what other horrors are lurking in the source code?</p>
<h2 id="contacting-the-company"><a href="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/responsible-disclosure-chimoney-android-app-and-kycaid/#contacting-the-company">Contacting the company</a></h2>
<p>There was no <a href="https://securitytxt.org/">security.txt</a> contact - nor anything on their website about reporting security bugs. I reached out to the CEO by email, but didn't hear back.</p>
<p>In desperation, I went on to Discord and asked in their support channel for help.</p>
<img src="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/send-an-email.webp" alt="Screenshot. Someone advising me on who to email." width="504" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-64857">
<p>Unfortunately, that email address didn't exist.</p>
<img src="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/email-chimoney.webp" alt="Bounce message." width="504" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-64851">
<p>I also tried contacting KYCaid, but they seemed unable or unwilling to help - and redirected me back to Chimoney.</p>
<p>As it has been over two month since I sent them video of this bug, I'm performing a responsible disclosure to make people aware of the problem.</p>
]]></content>
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<thr:total>0</thr:total>
</entry>
<entry>
<author>
<name>@edent</name>
<uri>https://edent.tel/</uri>
</author>
<title type="html"><![CDATA[Book Review: Under the Eye of the Big Bird - Hiromi Kawakami ★★★★☆]]></title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/book-review-under-the-eye-of-the-big-bird-hiromi-kawakami/"/>
<id>https://shkspr.mobi/blog/?p=65619</id>
<updated>2026-01-09T08:47:34Z</updated>
<published>2026-01-13T12:34:49Z</published>
<category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="/etc/"/>
<category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="Book Review"/>
<category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="Sci Fi"/>
<summary type="html"><![CDATA[This is an intriguing and mostly satisfying sci-fi tale. It has shades of Oryx Crake mixed in with A Canticle for Leibowitz - we are mere observers of the tattered remains of humanity. Watchers guide scattered settlements as they strive to evolve and understand their place on a corrupted Earth. The writing is dreamy and hazy - reminiscent of Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go. It isn't…]]></summary>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/book-review-under-the-eye-of-the-big-bird-hiromi-kawakami/"><![CDATA[<img src="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/under-the-eye-of-the-big-bird-1.jpg" alt="Book cover of a stylised bird." width="200" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-65621">
<p>This is an intriguing and <em>mostly</em> satisfying sci-fi tale. It has shades of Oryx Crake mixed in with A Canticle for Leibowitz - we are mere observers of the tattered remains of humanity. Watchers guide scattered settlements as they strive to evolve and understand their place on a corrupted Earth.</p>
<p>The writing is dreamy and hazy - reminiscent of Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go. It isn't immediately clear what's happening; the story is drip-fed to us. Unfortunately it is rather undone by the penultimate chapter which is a great-big data-dump of exposition.</p>
<p>If you've ever seen the show <a href="https://dhmis.tv/">Don't Hug Me I'm Scared</a> you'll be well at home with the surreal and oblique nature of the storytelling presented here. The language is obtuse and confusing, reflecting the confusion these new humans feel.</p>
<p>I think part of the story is a rejection of the hierarchy and artificial inter-personal structures often seen in societies like Japan. Everyone is simultaneously desperate to escape their confines while rigidly enforcing the status quo - with predictably disastrous results.</p>
<p>It is a meandering tale, spanning eons, which ultimately feels a bit depressing.</p>
]]></content>
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<thr:total>2</thr:total>
</entry>
<entry>
<author>
<name>@edent</name>
<uri>https://edent.tel/</uri>
</author>
<title type="html"><![CDATA[Maximally Semantic Structure for a Blog Post]]></title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/maximally-semantic-structure-for-a-blog-post/"/>
<id>https://shkspr.mobi/blog/?p=63440</id>
<updated>2026-01-12T10:46:32Z</updated>
<published>2026-01-12T12:34:53Z</published>
<category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="/etc/"/>
<category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="blogging"/>
<category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="HTML"/>
<category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="schema.org"/>
<category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="semantic web"/>
<summary type="html"><![CDATA[Yes, I know the cliché that bloggers are always blogging about blogging! I like semantics. It tickles that part of my delicious meaty brain that longs for structure. Semantics are good for computers and humans. Computers can easily understand the structure of the data, humans can use tools like screen-readers to extract the data they're interested in. In HTML, there are three main ways to …]]></summary>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/maximally-semantic-structure-for-a-blog-post/"><![CDATA[<p>Yes, I know the cliché that bloggers are always blogging about blogging!</p>
<p>I like semantics. It tickles that part of my delicious meaty brain that longs for structure. Semantics are good for computers and humans. Computers can easily understand the structure of the data, humans can use tools like screen-readers to extract the data they're interested in.</p>
<p>In HTML, there are three main ways to impose semantics - elements, attributes, and hierarchical microdata.</p>
<p>Elements are easy to understand. Rather than using a generic element like <code><div></code> you can use something like <code><nav></code> to show an element's contents are for navigation. Or <code><address></code> to show that the contents are an address. Or <code><article><section></code> to show that the section is part of a parent article.</p>
<p>Attributes are also common. You can use <a href="https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTML/Reference/Attributes/rel">relational attributes</a> to show how a link relates to the page it is on. For example <code><a rel=author href=https://example.com></code> shows that the link is to the author of the current page. Or, to see that a link goes to the previous page in a series <code><a rel=prev href=/page5></code>.</p>
<p>Finally, we enter the complex and frightening world of <em>microdata</em>.</p>
<p>Using the <a href="https://schema.org/">Schema.org vocabulary</a> it's possible to add semantic metadata <em>within</em> an HTML element. For example, <code><body itemtype=https://schema.org/Blog itemscope></code> says that the body of this page is a Blog. Or, to say how many words a piece has, <code><span itemprop=wordCount content=1100>1,100 words</span></code>.</p>
<p>There are <em>many</em> properties you can use. Here's the outline structure of a single blog post with a code sample, a footnote, and a comment. You can <a href="https://validator.schema.org/">check its structured data</a> and verify that it is <a href="https://validator.w3.org/">conformant HTML</a>.</p>
<p>Feel free to reuse.</p>
<pre><code class="language-html"><!doctype html>
<html lang=en-gb>
<head><title>My Blog</title></head>
<body itemtype=https://schema.org/Blog itemscope>
<header itemprop=headline>
<a rel=home href=https://example.com>My Blog</a>
</header>
<main itemtype=https://schema.org/BlogPosting itemprop=blogPost itemscope>
<article>
<header>
<time itemprop=https://schema.org/datePublished datetime=2025-12-01T12:34:39+01:00>
1st January, 2025
</time>
<h1 itemprop=headline>
<a rel=bookmark href=https://example.com/page>Post Title</a>
</h1>
<span itemtype=https://schema.org/Person itemprop=author itemscope>
<a itemprop=url href=https://example.org/>
By <span itemprop=name>Author Name</span>
</a>
<img itemprop=image src=/photo.jpg alt>
</span>
<p>
<a itemprop=keywords content=HTML rel=tag href=/tag/html/>HTML</a>
<a itemprop=keywords content=semantics rel=tag href=/tag/semantics/>semantics</a>
<a itemprop=commentCount content=6 href=#comments>6 comments</a>
<span itemprop=wordCount content=1100>1,100 words</span>
<span itemtype=https://schema.org/InteractionCounter itemprop=interactionStatistic itemscope>
<meta content=https://schema.org/ReadAction itemprop=interactionType>
<span itemprop=userInteractionCount content=5150>
Viewed ~5,150 times
</span>
</span>
</p>
</header>
<div itemprop=articleBody>
<img itemprop=image src=/hero.png alt>
<p>Text of the post.</p>
<p>Text with a footnote<sup id=fnref><a role=doc-noteref href=#fn>0</a></sup>.</p>
<pre itemtype=https://schema.org/SoftwareSourceCode itemscope translate=no>
<span itemprop=programmingLanguage>PHP</span>
<code itemprop=text>&amp;lt;?php echo $postID ?&amp;gt;</code>
</pre>
<section role=doc-endnotes>
<h2>Footnotes</h2>
<ol>
<li id=fn>
<p>Footnote text. <a role=doc-backlink href=#fnref>↩︎</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</section>
</div>
</article>
<section id=comments>
<h2>Comments</h2>
<article itemtype=https://schema.org/Comment itemscope id="comment-123465">
<time itemprop=dateCreated datetime=2025-09-11T13:24:54+01:00>
<a itemprop=url href=#comment-123465>2025-09-11 13:24</a>
</time>
<div itemtype=https://schema.org/Person itemprop=author itemscope>
<img itemprop=image src="/avatar.jpg" alt>
<h3>
<span itemprop=name>Alice</span> says:
</h3>
</div>
<div itemprop=text>
<p>Comment text</p>
</div>
</article>
</section>
</main>
</body>
</html>
</code></pre>
<p>This blog post is entitled "maximally" but, of course, <a href="https://schema.org/BlogPosting">there is <em>lots</em> more that you can add</a> if you really want to.</p>
<p>Remember, none of this is <em>necessary</em>. Computers and humans are pretty good at extracting meaning from unstructured text. But making things easier for others is always time well spent.</p>
]]></content>
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</entry>
<entry>
<author>
<name>@edent</name>
<uri>https://edent.tel/</uri>
</author>
<title type="html"><![CDATA[Book Review: The Real Shakespeare - Emilia Bassano Willoughby by Irene Coslet ★⯪☆☆☆]]></title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/book-review-the-real-shakespeare-emilia-bassano-willoughby-by-irene-coslet/"/>
<id>https://shkspr.mobi/blog/?p=66676</id>
<updated>2026-01-12T22:16:09Z</updated>
<published>2026-01-11T12:34:44Z</published>
<category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="/etc/"/>
<category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="Book Review"/>
<category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="NetGalley"/>
<category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="ShakeRace"/>
<category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="shakespeare"/>
<summary type="html"><![CDATA[Given my blog's domain name, I don't write nearly enough about Shakespeare. Luckily, the good folks at NetGalley have sent me Irene Coslet's provocative new book to review. Who was the real Shakespeare? It's the sort of low-stakes conspiracy theory which is driven by classism ("a low-born man couldn't write such poetry!"), plagiarism ("he stole from other writers!") and, according to this…]]></summary>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/book-review-the-real-shakespeare-emilia-bassano-willoughby-by-irene-coslet/"><![CDATA[<img src="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/53507.webp" alt="Book cover featuring a portrait of an Elizabethan lady." width="202" height="301" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-66678">
<p>Given my blog's domain name, I don't write nearly enough about Shakespeare. Luckily, the good folks at NetGalley have sent me Irene Coslet's provocative new book to review.</p>
<p>Who was the <em>real</em> Shakespeare? It's the sort of low-stakes conspiracy theory which is driven by classism ("a low-born man couldn't write such poetry!"), plagiarism ("he stole from other writers!") and, according to this book, sexism and racism.</p>
<p>From the blurb:</p>
<blockquote><p>Now, in this intriguing and well-documented book, Irene Coslet conclusively demonstrates that Shakespeare was a not a man, but a woman: a dark-skinned lady, of Jewish origin, born into a family of Court musicians from Venice, and the mother of the English-speaking world. Her name was Emilia Bassano.</p></blockquote>
<p>Yes! In your face, Bacon! Get stuffed, Marlowe! Edward de <em>Who</em>?!</p>
<p>The life of Emilia Bassano is genuinely fascinating. The book offers some excellent insights into the lives of women, Moors, and Jews during the time period. The analysis of the sexual politics - both in the plays and real life - are both interesting and well researched. For that reason, I have to give it <em>some</em> stars.</p>
<p>The book starts with Kuhn and his ideas about paradigm shifts - the more tweaks we have to bolt on to a model, the more likely it is the model will eventual collapse and a new model will emerge. I'm 100% behind that - given the deficiencies in Shakespeare's biography, people keep adding more and more fantastical explanations to it. But the counterpoint is that extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.</p>
<p>So, what evidence is there that Emilia Bassano was the writer of Shakespeare?</p>
<ul>
<li>Shakespeare's name is an anagram of "A-She-Speaker".</li>
<li>Beatrice from <em>Much Ado</em> shares the same Myers-Briggs type as Emilia Bassano.</li>
<li>The names "Emilia" and "Bassano" pop up in several plays.</li>
<li>If you fold the portrait of Shakespeare in a certain way, it looks like a portrait of Emilia.</li>
</ul>
<p>And so it goes on. Sadly, the evidence presented rarely rises to the level of circumstantial, let alone extraordinary. Some of it is of the sort found in the <a href="https://www.math.utoronto.ca/drorbn/Codes/StatSci.pdf">discredited Bible Code</a>. If you selectively squish the data, you can make it say anything:</p>
<blockquote><p>Here, the author exploits the similarity in Hebrew between the word Portia (PRT) and the word lead (YPRT). Portia (PRT) is nested within the lead (YPRT), embedding one one term inside the other to create multiple layers of meaning. Only a person who is fluent in Hebrew [...] would be able to make such a pun.</p></blockquote>
<p>This book is a monument to what happens if you start with a conclusion and then selectively pick only the clues which support your case. There's no testing of the evidence against other candidates - for example, the author describes folding the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Droeshout_portrait">Droeshout portrait</a> in a specific way until it looks a bit like one of the portraits which <em>might</em> be of Emilia Bassano. It's a bit "Mad Magazine Fold In" - but can the image be folded different ways? Are there other people that it looks like? Sadly, the folded image isn't included on (dubious) copyright grounds.</p>
<p>There's also no mechanism suggested. Let's suppose that Emilia Bassano did write all these plays and poems. What was the method whereby "The Man From Stratford" took them and passed them off as his own? Was there payment? Why did she keep writing if they were being stolen? Wouldn't someone have noticed her slipping in all these "clues" about the true authorship and then removed them?</p>
<p>I'm generally sympathetic to the idea of trying new ways to look at old problems and I genuinely found some of the analysis interesting. I tried to keep an open mind and to <a href="https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/steelman">steelman</a> the arguments. Nevertheless, I found most of it unconvincing.</p>
<p>Here are some of the arguments I have trouble with.</p>
<blockquote><p>Scholars agree that the plays are ‘feminist’ but have not been able to explain why the author was interested in gender issues.</p></blockquote>
<p>To which a suitable response might be "Hath not a man eyes? hath not a man hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions?" It also ignores all the decidedly <em>un</em>feminist tropes and characters in Shakespeare.</p>
<blockquote><p>Emilia Bassano tells about this portion of her life in Cymbeline through the character of Posthumus Leonatus. Posthumus is the son of Sicilius, a reference to the Sicilian origin of the family. Sicilius has two other sons, who both die prematurely, an allusion to Lewis and Philip, Baptista and Margaret’s sons who died in infancy.</p></blockquote>
<p>You could pick any random character out of any play and find someone in history who it <em>could</em> be an allegory for.</p>
<p>But, again, there are some reasonable arguments that Shakespeare may not be who we think. Emelia Bassano certainly had <em>some</em> of the background necessary:</p>
<blockquote><p>The playwright had direct knowledge of the Veneto region. The playwright is familiar with the Commedia dell’Arte. [...] In 1582, Emilia Bassano travelled to Denmark, and that journey, according to Hudson, provided the material for Hamlet. [...] They all stayed at the Castle of Elsinore – which is renowned today as the setting of the play Hamlet. The delegation met two prominent Danish noblemen: Georgius Rosencrantz and Petrius Guildenstern</p></blockquote>
<p>Most of these arguments seem to be taken from John Hudson's 2014 book "<a href="https://amzn.to/4jptaWy">Shakespeare's Dark Lady: Amelia Bassano Lanier The woman behind Shakespeare's plays?</a>" with very little in the way of original research.</p>
<p>The author does prove that there are a few positive connections between Emilia Bassano and Shakespeare. For example, she was the paramour of Henry Carey - founder of the Lord Chamberlain's Men. Could that have taken her into the orbit of Shakespeare's theatre company?</p>
<blockquote><p>Yet, in 1594, Henry Carey was a sixty-eight military General (he died in 1596): it is hard to believe that the creation of a theatre company was his initiative. It is more likely that it was Emilia Bassano’s idea, who was twenty-five and a playwright at the peak of her creativity.</p></blockquote>
<p>That's just pure speculation! When you go looking for evidence, and squint your eyes, it's possible to make anything seem like a connection:</p>
<blockquote><p>Ophelia – whose name rhymes with ‘Emilia’ – has a relationship with the Lord Hamlet and gets pregnant. Ophelia is the daughter of the Lord Chamberlain – a reference to the Lord Chamberlain, Henry Carey, who was her fiancé in real life.</p></blockquote>
<p>The book veers between cold-reading and the <a href="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2023/02/how-much-of-ais-recent-success-is-due-to-the-forer-effect/">Forer effect</a>. For example, the author asserts that one of Shakespeare's characters is based on a friend of Emilia Bassano. How can that be proven?</p>
<blockquote><p>Shakespeare had the uncanny ability to give an accurate impression of the characters without describing them in detail. There is a painting by Thomas Francis Dicksee entitled Anne Paige (circa 1862). Although Dicksee was not aware that the character of Anne Paige is based on Lady Anne Clifford, his impression of Anne Paige looks strikingly similar to the portrait of Lady Anne Clifford by William Larking (1618): brown-haired, big-eyed and with a rounded face. It appears that the way the audience imagines Anne Paige when reading the play – and the way Dicksee represented her – is exactly how Anne Clifford looked. Same goes with Falstaff: Shakespeare gives such an accurate impression of Falstaff, without describing him in detail, that now we have an idea of how Alfonso Lanyer looked in real life.</p></blockquote>
<p>I don't know how to fully respond to that. Two paintings looking slightly similar is <em>not</em> evidence! Where are all the other paintings of Anne Paige? Do they all look similar? There's cherry-picking, and then there's this!</p>
<p>Anyway, I give you <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Anne_Page_(Dicksee,_1862).jpg">Dicksee's portait</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_Anne_Clifford#/media/File:William_Larkin_Anne_Clifford,_Countess_of_Dorset.jpg">Larkin's</a> so you may compare their similarity.</p>
<img src="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/portraits.webp" alt="Painting of two women who don't look anything alike." width="900" height="600" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-66836">
<p>Similarly, some of the discussion is of the sort you might have after imbibing a few bottles of wine:</p>
<blockquote><p>It is fascinating how two very different cultures and religions used the same sounds, Shekinah and Shakti, to indicate the divine feminine presence, and how these sounds can also be found in the name Shakespeare: Shekinah, Shakti, Shakespeare.</p></blockquote>
<p>Emilia Bassano is the acknowledged author of the poem "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salve_Deus_Rex_Judaeorum">Salve Deus Rex Judaeorum</a>". Surely a textual analysis of her work and that of Shakespeare's would throw up some similarities? Alas, all we get are:</p>
<blockquote><p>Prospero asks Miranda: ‘Cants thou remember / A time before we came unto this cell?’. In Salve Deus Rex Judaeorum Emilia Bassano says that she lives in a cell: ‘I that live clos’up in Sorrowes Cell’</p></blockquote>
<p>And</p>
<blockquote><p>there are many rhetorical similarities between the Passion in Salve Deus and Shakespeare’s The Rape of Lucrece. For example, Jesus is associated with the colours white and red, like Lucrece. In Salve Deus we read: ‘The purest colours both of White and Red’ (1828). In the Rape of Lucrece: ‘To praise the clear unmatchèd red and white’</p></blockquote>
<p>Frankly, that's less than nothing!</p>
<p>The book concludes with this:</p>
<blockquote><p>From the viewpoint of white men and businessmen, the story of the Stratford man is inspiring. It is the story of a white boy, a merchant, with little education, who resorted to writing and miraculously became a genius. Society likes the narrative of the genius, because when we say ‘genius’ we think of a miracle and it does not require much explanation. It is all about magical thinking.</p></blockquote>
<p>I agree that there's a lot to be said about <a href="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/tag/shakerace/">Shakespeare and race</a>. There may well be arguments about the true authorship of the plays and sonnets - and it is certainly interesting to approach them from a new perspective. The book does a reasonable job of contextualising some of the gender politics surrounding Shakespeare's propaganda for Queen Elizabeth and, similarly, the historical context in which the plays were written. But most of the evidence presented is somewhere between magical thinking and <a href="https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/source-i-made-it-up#it-was-revealed-to-me-in-a-dream">divine inspiration</a>.</p>
<p>Emilia Bassano was undoubtedly a fascinating woman - poet, teacher, entrepreneur, confidant of the Queen - she deserves better than this scattershot ramble through her life.</p>
]]></content>
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</entry>
<entry>
<author>
<name>@edent</name>
<uri>https://edent.tel/</uri>
</author>
<title type="html"><![CDATA[Why my NFC passport didn't work at Heathrow's eGates]]></title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/why-my-nfc-passport-didnt-work-at-heathrows-egates/"/>
<id>https://shkspr.mobi/blog/?p=66898</id>
<updated>2026-01-09T09:18:34Z</updated>
<published>2026-01-10T12:34:42Z</published>
<category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="/etc/"/>
<category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="nfc"/>
<category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="travel"/>
<summary type="html"><![CDATA[I travel a fair bit. My passport is usually quickly scanned and I can enter or leave a country without delay. But every time I use the eGates at Heathrow Airport to get back in to the UK, my passport is rejected and I'm told to seek assistance from Border Force. Today, I think I discovered why! The border guards are usually polite and tell me there's nothing wrong with my passport (not that they …]]></summary>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/why-my-nfc-passport-didnt-work-at-heathrows-egates/"><![CDATA[<p>I travel a fair bit. My passport is usually quickly scanned and I can enter or leave a country without delay. But every time I use the eGates at Heathrow Airport to get back in to the UK, my passport is rejected and I'm told to seek assistance from Border Force. Today, I think I discovered why!</p>
<p>The border guards are usually polite and tell me there's nothing wrong with my passport (not that they would tell me if I were on a watchlist). This only happens at Heathrow, all other machines read my passport fine. I can even <a href="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2025/06/reading-nfc-passport-chips-in-linux/">read my passport's NFC chip on Linux</a>.</p>
<p>I was following the instructions to use the gates - specifically <em>this</em> one:</p>
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V00e8l--hso"><img src="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/egate.webp" alt="Hold the photo page of your passport firmly on the reader for a few seconds and keep it in the same position." width="1024" height="576" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-66899"></a></p>
<p>After 3 failed attempts, it told me to seek assistance. As there were lots of free gates, I decided to test a theory.</p>
<p>I went to a different gate, inserted my passport, and held it down with my <em>left</em> hand. The gate successfully read my passport and let me through.</p>
<p>What's the difference between my left and right hand? On my left, I wear my <a href="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2008/08/selling-out/">wedding ring</a>, on my right, I wear an <a href="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2024/02/giving-the-finger-to-mfa-a-review-of-the-z1-encrypter-ring-from-cybernetic/">NFC ring</a>!</p>
<p>As far as I can tell, the ePassport Gate is only expecting <em>one</em> NFC response to its query. That's pretty reasonable. I suspect it prevents people holding two different passports in the reader. Most other eGates that I've used don't require the passport to be held down; they pull it in.</p>
<p>So, there you have it. If you wear an NFC ring, or have an NFC implant, be aware that it can cause "<a href="https://tfl.gov.uk/fares/refunds-and-replacements/card-clash">card clash</a>" which could confuse passport readers.</p>
]]></content>
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<thr:total>17</thr:total>
</entry>
<entry>
<author>
<name>@edent</name>
<uri>https://edent.tel/</uri>
</author>
<title type="html"><![CDATA[Book Review: Room 706 by Ellie Levenson ★★★★★]]></title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/book-review-room-706-by-ellie-levenson/"/>
<id>https://shkspr.mobi/blog/?p=66839</id>
<updated>2026-01-09T09:22:00Z</updated>
<published>2026-01-09T12:34:16Z</published>
<category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="/etc/"/>
<category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="Book Review"/>
<category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="NetGalley"/>
<summary type="html"><![CDATA[I cracked open my review copy of Room 706 and settled in for an early night in my hotel room. I was up until way past midnight tearing through the book - my heart pounding. Given that the book centres around a woman trapped by terrorists in her hotel room, it was perhaps not the best choice to read on holiday! If you were held hostage - what message would you want to send to your family? Would …]]></summary>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/book-review-room-706-by-ellie-levenson/"><![CDATA[<img src="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/room-706.jpg" alt="Book cover." width="200" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-66840">
<p>I cracked open my review copy of Room 706 and settled in for an early night in my hotel room. I was up until way past midnight tearing through the book - my heart pounding. Given that the book centres around a woman trapped by terrorists in her hotel room, it was perhaps not the <em>best</em> choice to read on holiday!</p>
<p>If you were held hostage - what message would you want to send to your family? Would they know that you loved them? Would they need the password for your grocery app? Would they ask why you were having an affair in that hotel?</p>
<p>Ah.</p>
<p>And there's the plot. In many ways, this is a stage-play or - in TV terms - a bottle episode. Our protagonist and her lover cannot escape from a little box of misery. What was once heavy with lust is now brimming over with fear, irritation, and pain. Ellie Levenson beautifully observes all the little moments which go into a day, building up the characters' lives only to tear them down again. I can't work out whether she is a cruel god torturing her creations or a loving creator who allows them to make their own mistakes.</p>
<p>It helps that she's created a protagonist who is just the right side of obnoxious. Their self-justified self-delusion leap off the page. Every minor irritation they experience explodes into bitterness and, just for a moment, you almost believe the lies she tells herself. There are some painfully witty observations about how men and women might react differently to the terror of a siege. It is, perhaps, a little bit heartbreaking to realise your own reactions to the situation would be laughably inadequate and barely more than a cliché.</p>
<p>Perhaps that's the point; we're all trapped in a room of our own making. We fall into the same patterns as everyone else and react with shock when we discover how we've trapped ourselves.</p>
<p>I was desperate for there to be a twist. Some last-minute <i lang="la">deus ex</i>. Or even a moment of catharsis. Instead, Room 706 wrings every drop of stress out of you up until the final page. There is no let-up in the tension.</p>
<p>An exhausting and frantic read. Highly recommended.</p>
<p>Many thanks to NetGalley for the review copy. Room 706 is released on the 15th of January and is available to pre-order now.</p>
<hr>
<p>Long-term readers will recognise Ellie from my review of her <a href="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2009/08/book-review-the-noughtie-girls-guide-to-feminism/">Noughtie Girl's Guide to Feminism</a> from 17 years ago. Let's hope we don't have to wait until 2043 for her next book!</p>
]]></content>
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<entry>
<author>
<name>@edent</name>
<uri>https://edent.tel/</uri>
</author>
<title type="html"><![CDATA[Restaurant Review: The Smokaccia Laboratory - Phuket ★★★★★]]></title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/restaurant-review-the-smokaccia-laboratory-phuket/"/>
<id>https://shkspr.mobi/blog/?p=66853</id>
<updated>2026-01-07T11:37:17Z</updated>
<published>2026-01-07T12:34:36Z</published>
<category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="/etc/"/>
<category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="restaurant"/>
<category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="Restaurant Review"/>
<category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="vegan"/>
<category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="vegetarian"/>
<summary type="html"><![CDATA[You can't put a price on pure delight. In Thailand you can get a perfectly decent Pad Thai and beer for a few hundred Baht. You can have an good pizza or freshly cooked burger for next to nothing. Food, in general, is cheap and cheerful. After a week of spring rolls and Tiger beer, we decided to treat ourselves to a fine-dining experience in the Michelin recognised Smokaccia Laboratory. We…]]></summary>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/restaurant-review-the-smokaccia-laboratory-phuket/"><![CDATA[<p>You can't put a price on pure delight.</p>
<p>In Thailand you can get a perfectly decent Pad Thai and beer for a few hundred Baht. You can have an good pizza or freshly cooked burger for next to nothing. Food, in general, is cheap and cheerful. After a week of spring rolls and Tiger beer, we decided to treat ourselves to a fine-dining experience in the <a href="https://guide.michelin.com/us/en/phuket-region/phuket/restaurant/the-smokaccia-laboratory">Michelin recognised</a> Smokaccia Laboratory.</p>
<p>We opted for the nine-course(!) tasting menu - one regular and one vegan - with a pairing of both alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks.</p>
<p>Let's get the cost out the way first - we paid around ฿16,000 (£380) and it was easily the best meal we've had anywhere in the world. The quality of the food even exceeded <a href="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2023/02/restaurant-review-gauthier-soho/">Gauthier Soho</a> and the service was beyond that offered by the <a href="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2023/08/restaurant-review-chefs-table-at-the-savoy/">Chef's Table at The Savoy</a>.</p>
<p>I'd like to walk you through the experience, so you can get a feel for <em>why</em> you should spend a ridiculous sum of money on several tiny portions.</p>
<p>As we entered the restaurant for our 18:00 reservation, we were greeted by name. It's a small thing, but it immediately made us feel warmly welcomed. There's was no awkward pause as a <i lang="fr">maître d'</i> looked us up in a list, just a confirmation of our booking and dietary requirements, then an invitation to sit in the lounge.</p>
<p>Would we like a glass of Prosecco or sparkling non-alcoholic cocktail while we waited? But of course!</p>
<img src="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Terry-and-Liz-at-Smokaccia.webp" alt="Terry and Liz drinking cockatils at Smokaccia." width="300" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-66856">
<p>We were then presented with a cigar box each. As we opened them, smoke gently wafted out filling our noses with a delightful scent. Nestled inside was a small amuse-bouche - a perfect cracker topped with caviar. My vegan alternative had veggie-friendly caviar and was exquisite.</p>
<p>The waiters and sommelier all introduced themselves to us as they explained the food and how the evening would proceed. We were given flannels which were freshly sprayed with a signature scent to accompany the next course - and then we were ushered to meet the chef.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.instagram.com/chef_lucamascolo/">Luca Mascolo</a> is a warm, funny, and gregarious host. He was eager to explain the concept of the restaurant and why each dish was created. He was passionate about ensuring that we had an amazing time and that the vegan food was equal in quality to the meat and fish dishes. Our first experience with his culinary madness was the "Campari bomb" - it <em>literally</em> exploded in my mouth and sent flavours dancing around my tongue. It is the first food that has actually made me giggle with childish delight.</p>
<p>This was swiftly followed by a tasting of the chef's tomato reduction. A perfect liquid appetiser.</p>
<p>We were guided to our table - we opted for the kitchen counter. There are several regular tables, but it was much more fun to be sat watching the magic of creation. Open-plan dining is nothing new, but the staff were so calm and synchronised that it felt like a meditative exercise watching them work in perfect unison.</p>
<p>The Smokaccia is the chef's signature focaccia. A fist-sized ball of bread, hard on the outside and impossibly pillowy on the inside. A sourdough creation of genius and perfect for soaking up the various oils and sauces served with the dishes.</p>
<p>What can be said about "An unusual event with Bertha"? I don't want to spoil the surprise so I'll just say this - I've never had a meal which made me laugh so much. Every moment - even reading the description - was pure joy. Why bother serving food in bowls when a ceramic egg-shell is much more fun! Almost as fun was watching it being served to other tables and seeing their reactions.</p>
<p>The truffle crunch was a little bite of ecstasy. This wasn't drenched in 2,4-dithiapentane - it was a perfect shaving of real truffle. To complement, I had the zero-waste potato dish. What kind of a chef thinks up potato ice-cream with red onion caramel? Again, either the chef or waiter came over to personally explain the order in which the dishes should be eaten and all the ingredients which went in to its construction.</p>
<p>Nearly all the food comes from Thailand - with the exception of the balsamic vinegar and wine (both from Italy) - so the food-miles are negligible. The basil and eggplant honestly tasted like they'd been plucked fresh from the dirt not five-minutes previously.</p>
<p>The vegan "foie gras" was next. Traditional foie gras is neither ethical nor sustainable, so this is made with local vegetables in an attempt to recreate the flavour and texture. It is described as containing a "blood explosion" and, as my spoon pierced the pineapple-glass, a pop of bright red "blood" spurted out! Again, a incredible moment of both food science, whimsy, and surprise.</p>
<p>It isn't <em>just</em> that every mouthful is delicious; the dining experience is pure theatre and filled with moments that make you gasp with delight. Such as the "fois gras" being served on a misty "lake" filled with pebbles and flowers, and then being presented with a "fortune cookie" from the goose.</p>
<p>There was a choice of "main" course although - as with any fine dining experience - it was barely more than a few bites. But <em>what</em> a few bites! Writing this, it seems silly to be so in love with a carrot but I don't care! I loved every nibble of that carrot mixed with kombucha and wasabi leaf. I grinned like a lunatic when the kombu/soy caviar pearls burst on my tongue.</p>
<p>A morsel of the most intense melon sorbet topped with bunt radicchio was the perfect end to the meal. A simple and fun palate cleanser. Of course there were further surprises in store!</p>
<p>There was a choice of desserts and both were vegan! Liz and I decided to get one each. I'm <em>fairly</em> sure that the impossible pistachio ice-cream was my favourite, but the dark chocolate and hazelnut was so precisely targetted to my taste-buds that I'd have to try them both again to make sure.</p>
<p>I wish I could remember all the tea options. Liz had the Tom Kah and I went for the ginger and honey. A little moment of calm in an over-exciting evening. We watched the chefs prepare dishes for the now-bustling restaurant.</p>
<p>It is amazing how full you can feel after eating just a few bites over two-and-a-half hours. I suspect the 18 course menu would have been overwhelming. How we found room for the petit fours I can't possibly imagine.</p>
<p>I do know how I found room for the liquid nitrogen "cooked" coconut though - humans have a separate ice-cream stomach. That's just science. Also, I've never had fermented watermelon rind before and I can't understand how my life has been complete without it.</p>
<p>Chef Mascolo kept making sure that we were satisfied, he was happy to chat about the processes behind the food and why he is so keen to bring a high-quality dining experience to Phuket. His home-brewed limoncello was far removed from the thick and sickly syrup which is usually proffered at the end of an Italian meal. This was a thin, light, and highly spiced twist on the classic. A perfect end to a perfect meal.</p>
<p>Of course, the restaurant still had some surprises for us - including a rather touching "thank you" and a cute little gift-bag to send us on our way. We were exhausted from smiling and laughing so much. Every single bite made us incredibly happy. Fine dining can be a serious and solemn experience - this felt like being in the playground of a mad professor who just wants to have fun with your taste-buds and your heart.</p>
<p>I'm not saying that you should stop what you're doing right now, fly to Phuket, and have the best meal of your life. I'm merely saying that if you value inventive food, prepared by a team of experts with an obsessive eye for detail, presided over by a man who obviously values creating an inclusive and joyful experience - then you should reserve a table now.</p>
<p>The Smokaccia isn't merely a food laboratory - it is a happiness laboratory.</p>
]]></content>
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<title type="text">Terence Eden’s Blog</title>
<subtitle type="text">Regular nonsense about tech and its effects 🙃</subtitle>
<updated>2026-01-27T20:53:12Z</updated>
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<entry>
<author>
<name>@edent</name>
<uri>https://edent.tel/</uri>
</author>
<title type="html"><![CDATA[Book Review: Doppelganger - A Trip Into the Mirror World by Naomi Klein ★★★★☆]]></title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/book-review-doppelganger-a-trip-into-the-mirror-world-by-naomi-klein/" />
<id>https://shkspr.mobi/blog/?p=66374</id>
<updated>2026-01-15T11:33:15Z</updated>
<published>2026-01-27T12:34:06Z</published>
<category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="/etc/" /><category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="Book Review" /><category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="politics" />
<summary type="html"><![CDATA[This book is excellent at describing the symptoms of madness which have beset the world. It expertly diagnoses the causes which have led so many people into a mirror-realm of fantasy. Sadly it falls short of prescribing a cure. I doubt anyone who has fallen into the conspiracy mindset will read this book - but I hope if you read it you will become inoculated against the brain-worms. Let's…]]></summary>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/book-review-doppelganger-a-trip-into-the-mirror-world-by-naomi-klein/"><![CDATA[<img src="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/9781802061963-jacket-large.webp" alt="Book cover with the world Doppelganger getting progressively more distressed and distorted." width="326" height="500" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-66376">
<p>This book is excellent at describing the symptoms of madness which have beset the world. It expertly diagnoses the causes which have led so many people into a mirror-realm of fantasy. Sadly it falls short of prescribing a cure. I doubt anyone who has fallen into the conspiracy mindset will read this book - but I hope if you read it you will become inoculated against the brain-worms.</p>
<p>Let's start at the beginning.</p>
<blockquote><p>If the Naomi be Klein<br>you’re doing just fine<br>If the Naomi be Wolf<br>Oh, buddy. Ooooof.</p></blockquote>
<p>How did Naomi's titular doppelganger move from feminism to fanaticism? How do well-meaning people square the circle of aligning themselves to people who spread hate?</p>
<p>At the same time, how do people like Naomi Klein justify spending hours obsessively listening to hate preachers? Can you stare into the abyss without it staring back into you? I'm not entirely sure that it is possible to binge on madness and stay objective. It reminds me <a href="https://xcancel.com/aedison/status/1840770070449893420">of this classic</a>:</p>
<blockquote><p>“don’t use q-tips to clean your ears, you’ll just push the wax in further!!” well, yeah, sure, except for my special technique. if I use my special technique then it’s fine.</p></blockquote>
<p>There's a deep well of sadness running through the book. So many people with an unending stream of pain clutching on to anything which might give them purchase in a confusing an uncertain world. Is it any wonder some of them latch on to weird racists with their simple solutions to complex problems?</p>
<p>The depressing thing is that sometimes the conspiracy-theorists are right. They can see that there are global conspiracies - but attribute them to [ethnic minorities|Marxists|the gays] rather than rapacious capitalists. Similarly, there are bitter lessons for the intellectual left who have comprehensively failed to advance progressive arguments and values. Many of us are more concerned with the purity of theory rather than implementation. You can't shame the public into understanding.</p>
<p>There's a slightly weak section on algorithmic amplification of abuse. Depressingly, Klein points out the perils of oligarch-owned social media yet she is still on Twitter and hasn't joined more equitable platforms.</p>
<p>The book also straddles an uneasy line between reportage and public therapy. Large parts feel like self-flagellation mixed with Freudian self-analysis. It demonstrates exactly how the grift works, why it is so effective, and what the surge of irrationality is doing to the world.</p>
<p>Perhaps I can fix it if I just read one more book. Just one more paragraph will make it all make sense. I'll grab on to the classics in the intellectual library to stop me sliding down the path to oblivion. Just one more book.</p>
]]></content>
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</entry>
<entry>
<author>
<name>@edent</name>
<uri>https://edent.tel/</uri>
</author>
<title type="html"><![CDATA[Do savings accounts really lose money to inflation?]]></title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/do-savings-accounts-really-lose-money-to-inflation/" />
<id>https://shkspr.mobi/blog/?p=62585</id>
<updated>2026-01-27T20:53:12Z</updated>
<published>2026-01-26T12:34:05Z</published>
<category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="/etc/" /><category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="economics" />
<summary type="html"><![CDATA[I'm absolutely addicted to the Reddit's UK Personal Finance forum - where people mutually support each other through the difficult world of managing one's personal finances. It's a great community and full of people eager to help others. In amongst the confusion around pensions, tips for budgeting, and complaining about debt-collectors is a persistent drumbeat encouraging people to save money.…]]></summary>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/do-savings-accounts-really-lose-money-to-inflation/"><![CDATA[<p>I'm absolutely addicted to the <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/UKPersonalFinance/">Reddit's UK Personal Finance forum</a> - where people mutually support each other through the difficult world of managing one's personal finances. It's a great community and full of people eager to help others.</p>
<p>In amongst the confusion around pensions, tips for budgeting, and complaining about debt-collectors is a persistent drumbeat encouraging people to save money. Good! More people should save more money. But the advice is always undercut with the message "sticking money in a savings account will see it eaten away by inflation".</p>
<p>Is that true?</p>
<p>Firstly, what is inflation? Simply put - prices rise and fall. The price of bread goes up by 50% and a loaf now costs £1.50. The price of a 42 inch flat screen TV drop by 50% and now costs £150. The average person buys 50 loaves of bread per year and a new TV every 5 years - add up the average of what people buy and you have a rough idea of what inflation is<sup id="fnref:simp"><a href="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/do-savings-accounts-really-lose-money-to-inflation/#fn:simp" class="footnote-ref" title="This is a vast over-simplification. It doesn't take into account a person's personal circumstances nor their preferences. But averages dehumanise everyone." role="doc-noteref">0</a></sup>.</p>
<p>Secondly, what is interest? Simply put - a bank or building society will pay you money to save with them. If you put £100 in a savings account paying 5% interest then leave it a year, you'll be given a fiver<sup id="fnref:savings"><a href="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/do-savings-accounts-really-lose-money-to-inflation/#fn:savings" class="footnote-ref" title="Some savings accounts are tax free - so you don't pay anything on what you make." role="doc-noteref">1</a></sup>.</p>
<p>If the rate of inflation is higher than the rate of interest, your savings will be eroded; your money will be worth less.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/monetary-policy/the-interest-rate-bank-rate">Bank of England's current interest rate and inflation</a> rate shows this:</p>
<img src="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/inflation.webp" alt="
Current Bank Rate 3.75% Next due: 5 February 2026 Current inflation rate 3.2% Target: 2%" width="1410" height="311" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-67060">
<p>On average, if something cost £100 a year ago, today it will cost £103.20. If you had saved £100, it would be worth £103.75</p>
<p>So, based on this, savings <em>exceed</em> inflation right?</p>
<p>Well, as ever, it is a little more complicated than that!</p>
<p>For starters, the inflation rate is for the <em>last</em> year and the interest rate is the <em>current</em> rate.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/inflationandpriceindices">UK publishes a number of different inflation statistics</a>. Depending on which one you prefer, the inflation rate over the last 12 months is between 3.2% and 4.4%.</p>
<p>Different savings accounts will attract different interest rates. Some will offer tasty bonuses to new savers and will drop to nothing once that promotion expires.</p>
<p>This stuff is hard to accurately model.</p>
<p>But let's ignore all that and YOLO it!</p>
<p>Here's two resources:</p>
<ul>
<li>The <a href="https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/monetary-policy/inflation/inflation-calculator">Bank of England inflation calculator</a> tells you want a historic price is in today's money (up to 2025).</li>
<li>The website <a href="https://HistoricalSavingsCalculator.com">HistoricalSavingsCalculator.com</a> provides the annual average historical interest rate from the Bank of England (up to 2023).</li>
</ul>
<p>As a quick check. £1,000 in 1975 is equivalent to about £7,300 in 2023.</p>
<p>The same amount <em>saved</em> in 1975 with average interest compounded, would be worth about £18,000 in 2023.</p>
<p>Amazing! Compound interest beats inflation!</p>
<p>But let's take another perspective. £1000 in 2008 is equivalent to £1,540 in 2023</p>
<p>£1,000 saved in 2008 would be worth about £1,180 in 2023.</p>
<p>A loss of over £300.</p>
<p>Let's stick annual UK inflation and interest rates into a graph:</p>
<img src="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/interest-vs-inflation.webp" alt="Graph plotting inflation vs interest. Interest beats inflation until about 2008." width="1024" height="540" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-62591">
<p>Ah! Over the last 17 years, inflation has been higher than interest - a position which is slowly reverting. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_financial_crisis">Fucking 2008</a>, eh?</p>
<p>It looks like we <em>might</em> be entering a period where interest will be higher than inflation. Does the average person optimally pick their savings accounts? Probably not. Is inflation a 100% reliable way of tracking the worth of money? Also probably not.</p>
<p>While cash savings are unlikely to exceed the rate of return from <a href="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2024/08/is-dollar-cost-averaging-a-bad-idea/">"Dollar Cost Averaging"</a>, it is possible that savings accounts will once again offer some protection against inflation.</p>
<div id="footnotes" role="doc-endnotes">
<hr>
<ol start="0">
<li id="fn:simp">
<p>This is a <em>vast</em> over-simplification. It doesn't take into account a person's personal circumstances nor their preferences. But averages dehumanise everyone. <a href="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/do-savings-accounts-really-lose-money-to-inflation/#fnref:simp" class="footnote-backref" role="doc-backlink">↩︎</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:savings">
<p>Some savings accounts are tax free - so you don't pay anything on what you make. <a href="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/do-savings-accounts-really-lose-money-to-inflation/#fnref:savings" class="footnote-backref" role="doc-backlink">↩︎</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>
]]></content>
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</entry>
<entry>
<author>
<name>@edent</name>
<uri>https://edent.tel/</uri>
</author>
<title type="html"><![CDATA[Book Review: Human Rites by Juno Dawson ★★★☆☆]]></title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/book-review-human-rites-by-juno-dawson/" />
<id>https://shkspr.mobi/blog/?p=66251</id>
<updated>2026-01-15T11:33:14Z</updated>
<published>2026-01-25T12:34:53Z</published>
<category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="/etc/" /><category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="Book Review" />
<summary type="html"><![CDATA[After the pretty good Her Majesty's Royal Coven, the excellent Shadow Cabinet, the law of reverting to the mean hits the conclusion of Juno Dawson's Witches of Hebden Bridge trilogy. By now you know the tropes - Bitchy-Witches, 90s pop-culture references, and wry chapter titles. It's all done well enough, the plot is a little twisty, the story entertaining, and the repeated mentions of Buffy…]]></summary>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/book-review-human-rites-by-juno-dawson/"><![CDATA[<img src="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/humanrites.jpg" alt="Book cover featuring a woman with a horned goat's head." width="200" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-66252">
<p>After the pretty good <a href="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2023/01/book-review-her-majestys-royal-coven-juno-dawson/">Her Majesty's Royal Coven</a>, the excellent <a href="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2024/09/book-review-the-shadow-cabinet-by-juno-dawson-her-majestys-royal-coven-book-2/">Shadow Cabinet</a>, the law of reverting to the mean hits the conclusion of Juno Dawson's Witches of Hebden Bridge trilogy.</p>
<p>By now you know the tropes - Bitchy-Witches, 90s pop-culture references, and wry chapter titles. It's all done well enough, the plot is a little twisty, the story entertaining, and the repeated mentions of Buffy are only a <em>little</em> too self-referential. The continual pop-culture references are a bit blunt and, in all honesty, feel like the book is trying too hard to anchor itself to other media.</p>
<p>If you enjoyed the other two books (and <a href="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2025/01/book-review-queen-b-by-juno-dawson/">the Queen B prequel</a>) then this is more of the same.</p>
<p>The ending is powerful and, thankfully, closes off the world. This doesn't feel like something which is going to be turned into a never-ending series of stories.</p>
<p>A good beach read but lacking some of the rage and inventiveness from the rest of the series.</p>
]]></content>
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</entry>
<entry>
<author>
<name>@edent</name>
<uri>https://edent.tel/</uri>
</author>
<title type="html"><![CDATA[Installing and Updating Filezilla from a Zip File on Pop_OS / Ubuntu]]></title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/installing-and-updating-filezilla-from-a-zip-file-on-pop_os-ubuntu/" />
<id>https://shkspr.mobi/blog/?p=65041</id>
<updated>2026-01-15T11:33:08Z</updated>
<published>2026-01-24T12:34:21Z</published>
<category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="/etc/" /><category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="linux" /><category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="pop_os" /><category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="ubuntu" />
<summary type="html"><![CDATA[Notes to myself because I keep forgetting. tl;dr Unzip it into the /opt/ directory. I want to install Filezilla - so I can SFTP files around. Sadly, the Flatpak version is unmaintained and the version in apt is out of date. Luckily, you can download the zipped version. Their Wiki helpfully says: If you have special needs, don't have sufficient rights to install programs or don't like…]]></summary>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/installing-and-updating-filezilla-from-a-zip-file-on-pop_os-ubuntu/"><![CDATA[<p>Notes to myself because I keep forgetting.</p>
<p><abbr title="To Long; Didn't Read">tl;dr</abbr> Unzip it into the <code>/opt/</code> directory.</p>
<p>I want to install Filezilla - so I can SFTP files around. Sadly, the <a href="https://github.com/flathub/org.filezillaproject.Filezilla/issues/103">Flatpak version is unmaintained</a> and the version in apt is out of date. Luckily, you can <a href="https://filezilla-project.org/download.php">download the zipped version</a>.</p>
<p>Their Wiki <a href="https://wiki.filezilla-project.org/Client_Installation#Zip_version">helpfully says</a>:</p>
<blockquote><p>If you have special needs, don't have sufficient rights to install programs or don't like installers, the zip version is there for you. A zip-file is a file that contains files inside of it. They are packed into one file and you need to unpack (unzip) them to use them.</p></blockquote>
<p>But it doesn't say where!</p>
<p>The answer is <a href="https://refspecs.linuxfoundation.org/FHS_3.0/fhs/ch03s13.html">the <code>/opt/</code> directory</a>.</p>
<p>Run this command:</p>
<p><code>sudo tar -xJf FileZilla_*_x86_64-linux-gnu.tar.xz -C /opt</code></p>
<p>The first time <a href="https://cyanogenmods.org/install-filezilla-in-ubuntu/">you may need to adjust the directory permissions</a>:</p>
<p><code>cd /opt/</code><br>
<code>sudo chown -R root:root FileZilla*</code></p>
<p>After installing, FileZilla will periodically check for updates. It will download them to the <code>~/Downloads/</code> directory. Run the above command to install the new version.</p>
<p>If you want to be able to launch Filezilla from your dashboard, or to pin it to your dock, you'll need to create:</p>
<p><code>/usr/share/applications/Filezilla.desktop</code></p>
<p>Place this text in it:</p>
<pre><code class="language-_">[Desktop Entry]
Name=Filezilla
Comment=FTP
Exec=/opt/FileZilla3/bin/filezilla
Icon=/opt/FileZilla3/share/icons/hicolor/scalable/apps/filezilla.svg
Type=Application
StartupWMClass=filezilla
Categories=Game;
</code></pre>
<p>What a faff!</p>
]]></content>
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<thr:total>1</thr:total>
</entry>
<entry>
<author>
<name>@edent</name>
<uri>https://edent.tel/</uri>
</author>
<title type="html"><![CDATA[Book Review: Surely You Can't Be Serious - The True Story of Airplane! ★★⯪☆☆]]></title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/book-review-surely-you-cant-be-serious-the-true-story-of-airplane/" />
<id>https://shkspr.mobi/blog/?p=66080</id>
<updated>2026-01-15T11:33:09Z</updated>
<published>2026-01-23T12:34:30Z</published>
<category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="/etc/" /><category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="Book Review" /><category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="comedy" />
<summary type="html"><![CDATA[This is a hugely extended version of Will Harris' "An oral history of Airplane". It goes through the pre-history of the project, how it eventually got made, and the aftermath. In many ways, it is like an old-fashioned DVD extra. The whole book consists of snippets of interviews with the cast, crew, and various talking heads. Like all DVD special features, it is fairly sycophantic. Yes, there…]]></summary>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/book-review-surely-you-cant-be-serious-the-true-story-of-airplane/"><![CDATA[<img src="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/9781250289322.avif" alt="Book cover for Airplane. A sticker says "At last a book you can judge by its cover!"" width="200" height="258" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-66081">
<p>This is a hugely extended version of <a href="https://www.avclub.com/surely-you-can-t-be-serious-an-oral-history-of-airplan-1798279218">Will Harris' "An oral history of Airplane"</a>. It goes through the pre-history of the project, how it eventually got made, and the aftermath. In many ways, it is like an old-fashioned DVD extra. The whole book consists of snippets of interviews with the cast, crew, and various talking heads.</p>
<p>Like all DVD special features, it is <em>fairly</em> sycophantic. Yes, there are some good-natured swipes at the people who passed on the script, but it is a bit of a Hollywood love-in. The self-deprecating humour is there to make people look classy - for example:</p>
<blockquote><p>Eisner’s also the one who once said, “If I had green-lit every movie I’ve passed on and passed on every movie I green-lit, my track record would probably be about the same.”</p></blockquote>
<p>About the only time it gets into anything other than "gooly-gee how lucky are we" is a small section talking about the star of one of their other films - the notorious murderer OJ Simpson:</p>
<blockquote><p><strong>David</strong>: I directed him in the Naked Gun movies. Although he actually improved with each film, his acting remained a lot like his murdering — he got away with it, but no one really believed him.</p></blockquote>
<p>Some of the commentary is a bit perfunctory. Do we really need to know that Quentin Tarantino liked the movie? It's nice, I guess. Tim Allen bemoaning the state of comedy today lands like a turd in a punchbowl.</p>
<p>The photos throughout are good - especially those showing how the framing of certain shots were lovingly ripped off from Zero Hour.</p>
<p>It is a fun and uncomplicated book. For students of film, it is always fascinating to see how the sausage gets made. Occasionally it veers into "IMDb trivia" and you do get the sense that most of the anecdotes have been retold a thousand times. Still, it is entertaining.</p>
<p>There is a bit of a glum streak running through it though:</p>
<blockquote><p><strong>JEFFREY KATZENBERG</strong>: Airplane! was not like anything else. And Michael Eisner, I think, felt that in his bones. Like, “Wow, this is really, really unique, and as such, is the kind of thing we should be doing!”</p></blockquote>
<p>Where did it all go wrong in Hollywood? Why are the people who made their name with weird films now content to pump out mediocrity?</p>
<p>There's a tantalising moment talking about alternative takes and an original cut which was some 20 minutes longer. But, alas:</p>
<blockquote><p>Sadly, Paramount threw out all the dailies; every studio did at that time. All those reels took physical space that they needed on the lot, so they threw them out, including Airplane! Although I’m pretty sure they kept the outtakes from The Godfather.</p></blockquote>
<p>Certainly worth flicking through if you're a fan of the film, but hardly revelatory.</p>
]]></content>
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<thr:total>0</thr:total>
</entry>
<entry>
<author>
<name>@edent</name>
<uri>https://edent.tel/</uri>
</author>
<title type="html"><![CDATA[Removing "/Subtype /Watermark" images from a PDF using Linux]]></title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/removing-subtype-watermark-images-from-a-pdf-using-linux/" />
<id>https://shkspr.mobi/blog/?p=63035</id>
<updated>2026-01-15T11:33:03Z</updated>
<published>2026-01-22T12:34:02Z</published>
<category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="/etc/" /><category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="LLM" /><category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="pdf" /><category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="python" />
<summary type="html"><![CDATA[Problem: I've received a PDF which has a large "watermark" obscuring every page. Investigating: Opening the PDF in LibreOffice Draw allowed me to see that the watermark was a separate image floating above the others. Manual Solution: Hit page down, select image, delete, repeat 500 times. BORING! Further Investigating: Using pdftk, it's possible to decompress a PDF. That makes it easier to look …]]></summary>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/removing-subtype-watermark-images-from-a-pdf-using-linux/"><![CDATA[<p><strong>Problem:</strong> I've received a PDF which has a large "watermark" obscuring every page.</p>
<p><strong>Investigating:</strong> Opening the PDF in LibreOffice Draw allowed me to see that the watermark was a separate image floating above the others.</p>
<p><strong>Manual Solution:</strong> Hit page down, select image, delete, repeat 500 times. BORING!</p>
<p><strong>Further Investigating:</strong> Using <a href="https://linux.die.net/man/1/pdftk">pdftk</a>, it's possible to decompress a PDF. That makes it easier to look through manually.</p>
<p><code>pdftk input.pdf output output.pdf uncompress</code></p>
<p>Hey presto! A PDF you can open in a text editor! Deep joy!</p>
<p><strong>Searching:</strong> On a hunch, I searched for "watermark" and found several lines like this:</p>
<pre><code class="language-_"><<
/Length 548
>>
stream
/Figure <</MCID 0 >>BDC q 0 0 477 733.464 re W n q /GS0 gs 479.2799893 0 0 735.5999836 -1.0800002 -1.0559941 cm /Im0 Do Q EMC
/Figure <</MCID 1 >>BDC Q q 28.333 300.661 420.334 126.141 re W n q /GS0 gs 420.3339603 0 0 126.1418879 28.3330078 300.6610601 cm /Im1 Do Q EMC
/Figure <</MCID 2 >>BDC Q q 16.106 0 444.787 215.464 re W n q /GS0 gs 444.7874274 0 0 216.5921386 16.1062775 -1.1281493 cm /Im2 Do Q EMC
/Artifact <</Subtype /Watermark /Type /Pagination >>BDC Q q 0.7361145 0 0 0.7361145 113.3616638 240.8575745 cm /GS1 gs /Fm0 Do Q EMC
endstream
endobj
</code></pre>
<p>Those are <a href="https://opensource.adobe.com/dc-acrobat-sdk-docs/library/pdfmark/pdfmark_Logical.html">Marked Content Blocks</a>. In <em>theory</em> you can just chop out the line with <code>/Subtype /Watermark</code> but each block has a <code>/length</code> variable - so you'd also need to adjust that to account for what you've changed - otherwise the layout goes all screwy.</p>
<p>That led me to <a href="https://github.com/pymupdf/PyMuPDF/discussions/1855">PyMuPDF which claimed to solve the problem</a>. But running that code only removed <em>some</em> of the watermarks. It got stuck on an infinite loop on certain pages.</p>
<p>So, now that I had more detailed knowledge, I managed to get an LLM to construct something which <em>mostly</em> seems to work.</p>
<p>Does it work with every PDF? I don't know. Does it contain subtle implementation bugs? Probably. Is there an easier way to do this? Not that I can find.</p>
<pre><code class="language-python">import re
import pymupdf
# Open the PDF
doc = pymupdf.open("output.pdf")
# Regex of the watermarks
pattern = re.compile(
rb"/Artifact\s*<<[^>]*?/Subtype\s*/Watermark[^>]*?>>BDC.*?EMC",
re.DOTALL
)
# Loop through the PDF's pages
for page_num, page in enumerate(doc, start=1):
print(f"Processing page {page_num}")
xrefs = page.get_contents()
for xref in xrefs:
cont = doc.xref_stream(xref)
new_cont, n = pattern.subn(b"", cont)
if n > 0:
print(f" Removed {n} watermark block(s)")
doc.update_stream(xref, new_cont)
doc.save("no-watermarks.pdf")
</code></pre>
<p>One of the (many) problems with Vibe Coding is that trying to get a LLM to spit out something useful depends <em>massively</em> on how well you know the subject area. I'm proud to say I know vanishingly little about the <a href="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2015/11/a-polite-way-to-say-ridiculously-complicated/">baroque</a> PDF specification - which meant that most of my attempts to use various "AI" tools consisted of me saying "No, that doesn't work" and the accurs'd machine saying back "Golly-gee! You're right! Let me fix that!" and then breaking something else.</p>
<p>I'm not sure this is the future we wanted, but it looks like the future we've got.</p>
]]></content>
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<thr:total>3</thr:total>
</entry>
<entry>
<author>
<name>@edent</name>
<uri>https://edent.tel/</uri>
</author>
<title type="html"><![CDATA[Book Review: Exterminate/Regenerate - The Story of Doctor Who by John Higgs ★★★★☆]]></title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/book-review-exterminate-regenerate-the-story-of-doctor-who-by-john-higgs/" />
<id>https://shkspr.mobi/blog/?p=65799</id>
<updated>2026-01-21T11:07:42Z</updated>
<published>2026-01-21T12:34:26Z</published>
<category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="/etc/" /><category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="Book Review" /><category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="Doctor Who" />
<summary type="html"><![CDATA[The problem with fans is that we want to know everything. What did Lennon eat for breakfast the day he recorded Imagine? Which colour pencil did the script editor use on our favourite episode of Doctor Who? Did the costume designer on Buffy secretly sneak in Masonic references in that extra's shirt?!?! There's no trivia so obscure that it won't be referenced somewhere, debated endlessly, and…]]></summary>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/book-review-exterminate-regenerate-the-story-of-doctor-who-by-john-higgs/"><![CDATA[<img src="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Exterminate_new-colours-copy-scaled-1.webp" alt="Book cover showing a Dalek in a time vortex." width="333" height="512" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-65805">
<p>The problem with fans is that we want to know <em>everything</em>. What did Lennon eat for breakfast the day he recorded Imagine? Which colour pencil did the script editor use on our favourite episode of Doctor Who? Did the costume designer on Buffy secretly sneak in Masonic references in that extra's shirt?!?!</p>
<p>There's no trivia so obscure that it won't be referenced somewhere, debated endlessly, and eventually schism'd.</p>
<p>The problem with Doctor Who histories is that the <em>real</em> fans know all there is to know, and the filthy casuals have very little interest in the obscure trivia about how the BBC Electrician's strike was a major turning point in the show.</p>
<p>John Higgs has a difficult job. How can you possibly summarise over a half-a-century of Who and make the history interesting and relevant? The answer is simple - philosophy.</p>
<p>This isn't "Everything I Learned About Kantian Ethics I Learned for Doctor Who" - but a rather more subtle musing about the nature of television, how stories drive their tellers insane, and how the viewing public are complicit in the eventual disintegration of our favourite shows.</p>
<p>This goes from the pre-history (why did Doctor Who the TV show exist) all the way up to the end of Ncuti Gatwa's first series. It covers some well-trodden ground that will be familiar to the people who turn on the DVD trivia tracks - but it adds a bit of bite. This isn't a sycophantic piece of corporate biography; there are some rather distressing and shocking truths about the people who brought such magic into our lives.</p>
<p>There are some odd gaps. While we probably don't need the ins-and-outs of every casting decision, but it is a bit odd to relegate the 1960s' movies to a few sentences. As ever, with books like this, a few photos and illustrations wouldn't have gone amiss - but I suspect rights issues would have scuppered that.</p>
<p>The book really gets going when it leaves the history behind and reflects on the <em>nature</em> of the show.</p>
<blockquote><p>The question of whether Doctor Who should grow up with its audience or target a new generation of children was one that the programme makers would struggle with many times over the following decades.</p></blockquote>
<p>It skewers some of the myths which are uncritically repeated by fans who have only a surface-level understanding of what the show is about and why it succeeds.</p>
<blockquote><p>Just as the Doctor is a trickster who dons the disguise of a hero, Doctor Who is a show that claims to champion science and logic to disguise its innate mysticism.</p></blockquote>
<p>As it dives in and out of the history, there are some wild revelations and some absolutely WTF moments of both synchronicity and sycophancy. For a book which deals with fans and fandom, it is remarkably brutal in its honesty. No one comes out of Doctor Who unscathed - and the fans are often (self-inflicted) casualties.</p>
<blockquote><p>[T]he Valeyard [could] be seen as the representation of the darker side of British fandom</p></blockquote>
<p>Is that true? It is certainly a plausible reading of how the toxic culture of fandom helped sow the seeds of the show's eventual downfall (and, to be fair, resurrection). It is, <em>perhaps</em>, a little portentous and overwrought at times - for example, when talking about Sylvester McCoy's Doctor's regeneration in the 1996 movie:</p>
<blockquote><p>Seeing him struggling to avoid being anaesthetised and then killed in an expensive, state-of-the-art American medical centre, it was hard not to see the cheap and cheerful British version of the show being held down and put to sleep by the glossy new production team, who didn’t fully understand what they had or why they were about to unintentionally kill it.</p></blockquote>
<p>Is that a reach? It is certainly a valid if perhaps unintentional reading of the scene.</p>
<p>The book veers between the gossip of the production and the critical appraisal of the object. It never quite settles on whether it is a history, philosophy, or psychological profile of the show. This sums it up best:</p>
<blockquote><p>The drama backstage leaked into, and ultimately overwhelmed, the drama on screen.</p></blockquote>
<p>If you're interested in Doctor Who - and don't mind some of your sacred cows being slaughtered - this is a compelling read.</p>
]]></content>
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<thr:total>1</thr:total>
</entry>
<entry>
<author>
<name>@edent</name>
<uri>https://edent.tel/</uri>
</author>
<title type="html"><![CDATA[Discovering My Talk]]></title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/discovering-my-talk/" />
<id>https://shkspr.mobi/blog/?p=63533</id>
<updated>2026-01-17T09:40:31Z</updated>
<published>2026-01-20T12:34:26Z</published>
<category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="/etc/" /><category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="EuroBSDCon" /><category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="public speaking" />
<summary type="html"><![CDATA[My mother, the actress Carrie Cohen, once had a blazing argument with Anthony Hopkins. He was saying that he preferred appearing in Hollywood blockbusters compared to appearing on the stage because nothing was more boring than playing Hamlet for the 100th time. My mother's contention was that he was talking rubbish. The joy of repeated performance is finding new and interesting ways to bring the …]]></summary>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/discovering-my-talk/"><![CDATA[<p>My mother, <a href="https://carriecohen.co.uk/">the actress Carrie Cohen</a>, once had a blazing argument with Anthony Hopkins<sup id="fnref:TV"><a href="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/discovering-my-talk/#fn:TV" class="footnote-ref" title="Well, she shouted at the TV while he was on a chat show. It remains unknown if he heard her." role="doc-noteref">0</a></sup>. He was saying that he preferred appearing in Hollywood blockbusters compared to appearing on the stage because nothing was more boring than playing Hamlet for the 100th time.</p>
<p>My mother's contention was that he was talking rubbish. The joy of repeated performance is finding new and interesting ways to bring the character to life. Even after a hundred performances, you will still be able to discover exciting and subtle nuances.</p>
<p>My mother, of course, was right<sup id="fnref:sorry"><a href="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/discovering-my-talk/#fn:sorry" class="footnote-ref" title="Tony has yet to apologise." role="doc-noteref">1</a></sup>.</p>
<p>I was at EuroBSDCon a few months ago giving a talk I'd given several times before. As I was rehearsing it, I felt the comforting familiarity of an old friend. I knew when to pause, where to place the emphasis, how to build to a crescendo. This was going to be delightfully boring for me.</p>
<p>And then I got on stage.</p>
<p>I know my script. True, I occasionally glance at the speaker notes, but I don't rely on it. This frees me. My mind can wander just a little bit and explore what I'm saying.</p>
<p>My brain makes connections that were previously hidden from me. Exciting new ways to express myself spring forth from my mouth. I'm not consciously aware of the joke that I make until the laughter has subsided. I gradually discover a new turn of phrase. The awkward segue suddenly resolves itself. The talk that I'm giving is <em>not</em> the same as the one I planned; it is better. You can rehearse a thousand times, but there's something about having an audience which helps you discover what it is you want to say.</p>
<p>There is nothing like live performance to help you discover yourself.</p>
<div id="footnotes" role="doc-endnotes">
<hr>
<ol start="0">
<li id="fn:TV">
<p>Well, she shouted at the TV while he was on a chat show. It remains unknown if he heard her. <a href="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/discovering-my-talk/#fnref:TV" class="footnote-backref" role="doc-backlink">↩︎</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:sorry">
<p>Tony has yet to apologise. <a href="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/discovering-my-talk/#fnref:sorry" class="footnote-backref" role="doc-backlink">↩︎</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>
]]></content>
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<thr:total>4</thr:total>
</entry>
<entry>
<author>
<name>@edent</name>
<uri>https://edent.tel/</uri>
</author>
<title type="html"><![CDATA[Book Review: Sky Daddy by Kate Folk ★★★⯪☆]]></title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/book-review-sky-daddy-by-kate-folk/" />
<id>https://shkspr.mobi/blog/?p=66394</id>
<updated>2026-01-15T11:33:00Z</updated>
<published>2026-01-19T12:34:35Z</published>
<category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="/etc/" /><category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="Book Review" />
<summary type="html"><![CDATA[What - and I cannot stress this enough - the actual ever-loving fuck!? OK, perhaps it was a mistake to start reading this while on an international flight. The book concerns Linda, a content moderator at an endlessly sub-contracted tech company, who is in love with planes. No, strike that, she is excessively sexually attracted to the idea of dying in a plane crash. Yeah. The story goes…]]></summary>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/book-review-sky-daddy-by-kate-folk/"><![CDATA[<img src="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/sky-daddy.webp" alt="Book cover featuring a phallic plane." width="200" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-66396">
<p>What - and I cannot stress this enough - the <em>actual</em> ever-loving fuck!?<sup id="fnref:wtf"><a href="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/book-review-sky-daddy-by-kate-folk/#fn:wtf" class="footnote-ref" title="Every other paragraph made me scribble WTF in the margin." role="doc-noteref">0</a></sup></p>
<p>OK, perhaps it was a mistake to start reading this while on an international flight. The book concerns Linda, a content moderator at an endlessly sub-contracted tech company, who is in love with planes. No, strike that, she is excessively sexually attracted to the idea of dying in a plane crash.</p>
<p>Yeah.</p>
<p>The story goes though all her attempts to, effectively, manifest an in-air disaster through the power of wishful thinking and frantic masturbation.</p>
<p>This isn't exactly erotica<sup id="fnref:eros"><a href="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/book-review-sky-daddy-by-kate-folk/#fn:eros" class="footnote-ref" title="Not that there's anything wrong with that!" role="doc-noteref">1</a></sup>, it contains a rich stream of satire about the modern tech industry and how it chews up and spits out the people working at the sticky end of keeping platforms safe.</p>
<p>This is one of the most creative novels I've read in some time. The protagonist is a creepy blank-slate whose unhealthy obsession drips off the page<sup id="fnref:aut"><a href="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/book-review-sky-daddy-by-kate-folk/#fn:aut" class="footnote-ref" title="Look, you probably shouldn't do an armchair diagnosis of fictional characters but this is possibly the most autistic-coded character I've read since In Search of Lost Time." role="doc-noteref">2</a></sup>. Her morose existence is - to mix fantasies - a car crash. I can honestly say that I haven't read anything like this before and I've no idea if I'm the intended audience.</p>
<p>I wouldn't necessarily describe the book as fun and enjoyable, nor is is particularly sexy<sup id="fnref:sexy"><a href="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/book-review-sky-daddy-by-kate-folk/#fn:sexy" class="footnote-ref" title="Unless, I guess, you're in to that sort of thing. YKINMKBYKIOK!" role="doc-noteref">3</a></sup>. It is intriguing, entertaining, and constantly baffling. How wonderful to step inside the mind of an utter deviant and soak up their bizarre existence.</p>
<div id="footnotes" role="doc-endnotes">
<hr>
<ol start="0">
<li id="fn:wtf">
<p>Every other paragraph made me scribble WTF in the margin. <a href="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/book-review-sky-daddy-by-kate-folk/#fnref:wtf" class="footnote-backref" role="doc-backlink">↩︎</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:eros">
<p>Not that there's anything wrong with that! <a href="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/book-review-sky-daddy-by-kate-folk/#fnref:eros" class="footnote-backref" role="doc-backlink">↩︎</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:aut">
<p>Look, you probably shouldn't do an armchair diagnosis of fictional characters but this is possibly the most autistic-coded character I've read since <a href="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2025/02/book-review-in-search-of-lost-time-marcel-proust/">In Search of Lost Time</a>. <a href="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/book-review-sky-daddy-by-kate-folk/#fnref:aut" class="footnote-backref" role="doc-backlink">↩︎</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:sexy">
<p>Unless, I guess, you're in to that sort of thing. <a href="https://fanlore.org/wiki/Your_Kink_Is_Not_My_Kink">YKINMKBYKIOK</a>! <a href="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/book-review-sky-daddy-by-kate-folk/#fnref:sexy" class="footnote-backref" role="doc-backlink">↩︎</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>
]]></content>
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</entry>
<entry>
<author>
<name>@edent</name>
<uri>https://edent.tel/</uri>
</author>
<title type="html"><![CDATA[Book Review: Sublimation by Isabel J. Kim ★★★★★]]></title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/book-review-sublimation-by-isabel-j-kim/" />
<id>https://shkspr.mobi/blog/?p=67177</id>
<updated>2026-01-17T10:25:06Z</updated>
<published>2026-01-18T12:34:45Z</published>
<category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="/etc/" /><category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="Book Review" /><category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="NetGalley" /><category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="Sci Fi" />
<summary type="html"><![CDATA[This is an astounding bit of high-concept sci-fi. Imagine a world where crossing a border literally split your body in two. A young woman emigrates from South Korea - one version of her stays in Seoul, another version goes off to live in New York. This is the way humanity has always existed. People bifurcating and dealing with the consequences. It is heady stuff. The book spans life, love,…]]></summary>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/book-review-sublimation-by-isabel-j-kim/"><![CDATA[<img src="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/sublimation-12.jpg" alt="Book cover featuring repeated images of a young Korean woman." width="200" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-67180">
<p>This is an astounding bit of high-concept sci-fi. Imagine a world where crossing a border literally split your body in two. A young woman emigrates from South Korea - one version of her stays in Seoul, another version goes off to live in New York. This is the way humanity has always existed. People bifurcating and dealing with the consequences.</p>
<p>It is heady stuff. The book spans life, love, politics, religion, and folklore. It layers on narrative and meta-narrative. Like any debut novel, there are too many ideas to be contained and the plot seems to spill beyond its pages. What would the fascist ICE do with immigrants who were mere clones of the people they left behind?</p>
<p>The dizzying implications of the story are matched only by the gorgeously intricate plot. Does the tale need to occasionally be told in the second-person? You don't think so, but you also can't think of a better way to illustrate how strange it is to argue with your other-self. You enjoy all the literary and scholarly references and find they add poetic texture to balance out the increasing tension.</p>
<p>Unlike other hard sci-fi, it doesn't spend <em>too</em> much time on exposition; it gets drip fed to the reader. But it is happy to dive into the <em>practicalities</em> of a world where refugees might leave behind more than just memories. There's a small but necessary amount of technobabble, and a large but necessary amount of moral philosophising. <a href="https://www.polygon.com/22586158/tuvix-star-trek-memes-voyager-janeway-debate/">Tuvix</a> did not die in vain.</p>
<p>Sublimation lives up to the hype. It is dramatic, powerful, intriguing, and - above all - fun.</p>
<p>Many thanks to NetGalley for the review copy. Sublimation is available to pre-order now for delivery in July. I recommend reading it twice.</p>
]]></content>
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</entry>
<entry>
<author>
<name>@edent</name>
<uri>https://edent.tel/</uri>
</author>
<title type="html"><![CDATA[Review: Lander 23 by Punchdrunk ★★★⯪☆]]></title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/review-lander-23/" />
<id>https://shkspr.mobi/blog/?p=67165</id>
<updated>2026-01-17T08:56:21Z</updated>
<published>2026-01-17T12:34:30Z</published>
<category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="/etc/" /><category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="game" /><category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="london" /><category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="review" />
<summary type="html"><![CDATA[Lander 23 had a few pre-launch glitches, but is now up and running in Woolwich. It is a fun enough experience, but could be a whole lot more with some tweaks. In a team of four, you are split into two groups. One group operates a baffling array of switches and has to direct the other group around a ruined city because of [under developed plot point]. Only by working together can you… well, it i…]]></summary>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/review-lander-23/"><![CDATA[<img src="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Punchdrunk-Lander-23-t.webp" alt="Poster featuring two people running through a smoke filled sci-fi corridor." width="300" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-67167">
<p>Lander 23 had a few pre-launch glitches, but is now up and running in Woolwich. It is a fun enough experience, but could be a whole lot more with some tweaks. In a team of four, you are split into two groups. One group operates a baffling array of switches and has to direct the other group around a ruined city because of [under developed plot point]. Only by working together can you… well, it is unclear. Something to do with energy?</p>
<p>Think of it a bit like a longer game of "The Crystal Maze". Over a radio commlink, you try telling your team mates to go left down a corridor and then explain you meant the <em>other</em> left. The explorers have to creep around the set, avoiding baddies (and sometimes other players) while listening to your half-baked instructions.</p>
<p>Then you swap positions and suddenly understand some of the seemingly bizarre decisions your friends made.</p>
<p>It is hard to know how to categorise this. Punchdrunk are known for immersive theatre - but this is billed as a live action video game. It isn't a LARP in the traditional sense; you won't be driving the story. It also isn't an escape room although the teamwork aspect is similar. There aren't any puzzles, and the story is paper-thin. But it is rather a good laugh. Sort of like an adult Laser Quest without guns.</p>
<p>The pre-show is pretty good. There's a well dressed set to wander around with lots of interesting (but irrelevant) scenery and props. The instructions are reasonably clear and the "Lander" set looks a bit like the Nostromo from Alien. The interactive consoles are brilliantly designed. The various industrial knobs and buttons feel delightful to play with and react well. It is rather a shame that they're so under utilised. The driver team is given a baffling arrays of inputs to manage - but only a small subsection do anything useful.</p>
<p>The city set (supposedly an alien planet) is recycled from the previous "Burnt City" production. It looks lush but doesn't make any sense in context of the (slightly flimsy) story. It is exciting to wander through while being pursued by guards (what guards? Isn't this an alien planet?) but there isn't much time to admire the extensive set dressing.</p>
<p>While you're running around (or telling people to run around) there's some nonsense about collecting energy. Oh and you might lose a life if caught. And you have to flick the switches at the right time. Don't forget to duck behind the scenery to hide when told. There's a <em>lot</em> going on. It is exhilarating but you only get about 15-20 minutes of play time each.</p>
<p>There's a briefing about how to find cassettes and stamps. Across our two goes, we found one of them and got one stamp. What does that do? Nothing as far as I can tell. There might also be artefacts to collect, but we didn't find any, nor were we sure that they'd net us extra points.</p>
<p>Let's talk about the points aspect. At the end, our team, were delighted to have come second!</p>
<img src="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Leaderboard.webp" alt="Digital display board showing team numbers and points." width="1557" height="1168" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-67169">
<p>What did that mean? <strong>Nothing</strong>.</p>
<p>If you play Laser Quest, you get to see your <em>name</em> up on the big screen - Lander 23 just displays your team number. I sort of expected to be handed a certificate. Or money off our next trip. Or a commemorative tchotchke. Or even a video thanking us for saving the universe. We just took off our tactical vests and handed them back. Which was slightly underwhelming.</p>
<p>I <em>think</em> the leader-board is there to encourage replayability. But as your scores aren't recorded, there isn't much incentive to come back for another go. I expected a follow-up email thanking us for playing or asking for feedback but, again, nothing. After that much adrenaline, I was expecting just a <em>little</em> aftercare.</p>
<p>There's a photo-booth once you've completed the mission, but you have to ask other players to take your photo. It would have been so easy for Punchdrunk to have a staff member there to take snaps and email them. Again, that's what most escape rooms do. Instead, we headed to the bar to enjoy a few cocktails while we debriefed ourselves.</p>
<p>All four of us agreed at that it had been a pretty good experience. We laughed a lot describing what we'd got up to. Our hearts were racing, we were sweating from the tension, and felt like it had been a decent afternoon out.</p>
<p>Ultimately, Lander 23 feels like it has been designed by someone who has <em>heard of</em> games like Laser Quest / Escape Rooms / The Crystal Maze but, crucially, hasn't ever played them.</p>
<p>For all that, it is a lot of fun. Running around corridors with a friend is <em>very</em> Doctor Who. Flicking lots of switches and pressing buttons is an enjoyable tactile experience.</p>
<p>It is absolutely worth finding a cheaper mid-week slot and giving it a go. If you're willing to get into the spirit of things, and are happy to put up with some odd game-design decisions, you'll have fun.</p>
]]></content>
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</entry>
<entry>
<author>
<name>@edent</name>
<uri>https://edent.tel/</uri>
</author>
<title type="html"><![CDATA[Should HTML's code blocks be translated?]]></title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/should-htmls-blocks-be-translated/" />
<id>https://shkspr.mobi/blog/?p=63046</id>
<updated>2026-01-09T08:47:38Z</updated>
<published>2026-01-16T12:34:53Z</published>
<category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="/etc/" /><category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="code" /><category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="HTML" /><category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="languages" />
<summary type="html"><![CDATA[I was recently prompted to test my blog's layout when rendered in right-to-left text. Running a website through an automatic translator into a language like Arabic or Hebrew will show you any weird little layout glitches which might occur. But mechanical translation is a bit of an unthinking brute. In this example, I had a code snippet which contained the word "link". Should that word be…]]></summary>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/should-htmls-blocks-be-translated/"><![CDATA[<p>I was recently prompted to <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/vale.rocks/post/3lxgvpipy4k2q">test my blog's layout when rendered in right-to-left text</a>. Running a website through an automatic translator into a language like Arabic or Hebrew will show you any weird little layout glitches which might occur.</p>
<p>But mechanical translation is a bit of an unthinking brute. In this example, I had a code snippet which contained the word "link".</p>
<img src="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/translate.webp" alt="HTML code block, one of the element names is rendered in Arabic." width="1008" height="567" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-63048">
<p>Should that word be translated? Obviously not! The code isn't valid unless the element name is in English - and it probably doesn't make sense to reverse the text direction.</p>
<p>Luckily, the HTML specification allows authors to mark specific bits of their page as unsuitable for automatic translations. <a href="https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTML/Reference/Global_attributes/translate">The <code>translate</code> global attribute</a> can be applied to your markup like this:</p>
<pre><code class="language-html"><code translate="no">
&amp;lt;link … &amp;gt;
&amp;lt;meta … &amp;gt;
&amp;lt;strong&amp;gt;Hello&amp;lt;/strong&amp;gt;
</code>
</code></pre>
<p>Nothing inside that code block will be translated. Hurrah!</p>
<p>But there are some problems with this approach.</p>
<p>Consider this pseudo-code:</p>
<pre><code class="language-_">// Reverse the polarity of the neutron flow.
$neutron = $atom.flow( direction="backwards" );
</code></pre>
<p>Fairly obviously, the code itself shouldn't be translated. It simply won't run unless the syntax is precisely as written. But what about the comment at the top? It would probably be useful to have that translated, right?</p>
<p>It is possible to mark up different parts of a document to be translatable even if their parent isn't:</p>
<pre><code class="language-html"><code translate="no">
<span translate="yes">// Reverse the polarity of the neutron flow.</span>
$neutron = $atom.flow( direction="backwards" );
</code>
</code></pre>
<p>At least, that's my understanding of <a href="https://html.spec.whatwg.org/multipage/dom.html#attr-translate">the specification</a>.</p>
<p>This brings us on to another complex problem. Consider this code block which might be embedded in a page as an example:</p>
<pre><code class="language-js">// Ensure the age is calculated from the user's birthday
var age = today.date - user.birthday;
</code></pre>
<p>If translated into Chinese, the comment might say:</p>
<pre><code class="language-js">// 确保年龄是根据用户的生日计算的
var age = today.date - user.birthday;
</code></pre>
<p>But is it useful to have variable names be different between comments and the code?</p>
<p>In some contexts yes, in others no!</p>
<p>And that's where we hit the limits of the current crop of machine-translation algorithms. Without a holistic view of the entire page, and a semantic understanding of how previous words relate to subsequent words, there will always be glitches and gotchas like this.</p>
<p>For now, I'm marking my code blocks as non-translatable but letting comments be fully translated. If you have strong opinions about this - please leave a comment!</p>
]]></content>
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</entry>
<entry>
<author>
<name>@edent</name>
<uri>https://edent.tel/</uri>
</author>
<title type="html"><![CDATA[Book Review: Rabbit Test and Other Stories by Samantha Mills ★★★★☆]]></title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/book-review-rabbit-test-and-other-stories-by-samantha-mills/" />
<id>https://shkspr.mobi/blog/?p=65215</id>
<updated>2026-01-09T08:47:39Z</updated>
<published>2026-01-15T12:34:41Z</published>
<category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="/etc/" /><category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="Book Review" /><category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="NetGalley" /><category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="Sci Fi" />
<summary type="html"><![CDATA[This is an an interesting and varied set of sci-fi/fantasy stories. Some barely a couple of pages, others cutting short at just the right time. They are all on a similar theme - the strife between parents and children. Whether it is a twisted take on classic fairy tales, or a dive into the far future - there's always something interesting going on. Samantha Mills has a excellent eye for…]]></summary>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/book-review-rabbit-test-and-other-stories-by-samantha-mills/"><![CDATA[<img src="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/RabbitTestCollection_Website.webp" alt="Book cover." width="200" height="619" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-65216">
<p>This is an an interesting and varied set of sci-fi/fantasy stories. Some barely a couple of pages, others cutting short at <em>just</em> the right time. They are all on a similar theme - the strife between parents and children. Whether it is a twisted take on classic fairy tales, or a dive into the far future - there's always something interesting going on.</p>
<p>Samantha Mills has a excellent eye for neologisms and isn't afraid to deploy humour with sometimes devastating effect.</p>
<p>The titular "Rabbit Test" is excellent but - like most of the others - it is a riff on some genre classics. That's not a bad thing; it's always fun to explore tropes from a different angle. Each story is entertaining, but most left me thinking "now where have I heard that before?"</p>
<p>One of the lovely things is the story notes at the end. Like a little behind-the-scenes feature on a DVD extra. More books should give the reader a glimpse behind the writing process.</p>
<p>Many thanks to NetGalley for the review copy. Rabbit Test is available to pre-order now.</p>
]]></content>
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<thr:total>0</thr:total>
</entry>
<entry>
<author>
<name>@edent</name>
<uri>https://edent.tel/</uri>
</author>
<title type="html"><![CDATA[Responsible Disclosure: Chimoney Android App and KYCaid]]></title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/responsible-disclosure-chimoney-android-app-and-kycaid/" />
<id>https://shkspr.mobi/blog/?p=64849</id>
<updated>2026-01-09T08:47:33Z</updated>
<published>2026-01-14T12:34:52Z</published>
<category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="/etc/" /><category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="android" /><category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="CyberSecurity" /><category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="Responsible Disclosure" /><category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="security" /><category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="WebMonetization" />
<summary type="html"><![CDATA[Chimoney is a new "multi-currency wallet" provider. Based out of Canada, it allows users to send money to and from a variety of currencies. It also supports the new Interledger protocol for WebMonetization. It is, as far as I can tell, unregulated by any financial institution. Nevertheless, it performs a "Know Your Customer" (KYC) check on all new account in order to prevent fraud. To do this,…]]></summary>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/responsible-disclosure-chimoney-android-app-and-kycaid/"><![CDATA[<p><a href="https://chimoney.app/">Chimoney</a> is a new "multi-currency wallet" provider. Based out of Canada, it allows users to send money to and from a variety of currencies. It also supports the new Interledger protocol for <a href="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2025/08/security-flaws-in-the-webmonetization-site/">WebMonetization</a>.</p>
<p>It is, as far as I can tell, unregulated by any financial institution. Nevertheless, it performs a "Know Your Customer" (KYC) check on all new account in order to prevent fraud. To do this, it uses the Ukranian <a href="https://kycaid.com/">KYCaid</a> platform.</p>
<p>So far, so standard. But there's a small problem with how they both integrate.</p>
<p>I installed Chimoney's Android app and attempted to go through KYCaid's verification process. For some reason it hit me with this error message.</p>
<img src="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/error.webp" alt="Screenshot. An error occurred and an email address." width="504" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-64856">
<p>Well, I'd better click that email and report the problem.</p>
<img src="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/email-protected.webp" alt="Screenshot. The email is protected, but clickable." width="504" height="240" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-64855">
<p>Oh, that's odd. What happens if I click the protected link?</p>
<img src="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Cloudflare.webp" alt="Screenshot. Cloudflare's email protection screen." width="504" height="625" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-64854">
<p>Huh! I guess I've been taken to Cloudflare's website. What happens if I click on the links on their page?</p>
<img src="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/discord.webp" alt="Screenshot. Invitation to join Cloudflare's Discord." width="504" height="606" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-64853">
<p>Looks like I can now visit any site on the web. If Cloudflare has a link to it, I can go there. For example, GitHub.</p>
<img src="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/github.webp" alt="Screenshot. GitHub page still within the Chimoney app." width="504" height="499" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-64852">
<h2 id="why-is-this-a-problem"><a href="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/responsible-disclosure-chimoney-android-app-and-kycaid/#why-is-this-a-problem">Why is this a problem?</a></h2>
<blockquote><p><a href="https://mas.owasp.org/MASTG/knowledge/android/MASVS-PLATFORM/MASTG-KNOW-0018/">MASTG-KNOW-0018: WebViews</a></p>
<p>One of the most important things to do when testing WebViews is to make sure that only trusted content can be loaded in it. Any newly loaded page could be potentially malicious, try to exploit any WebView bindings or try to phish the user. <strong>Unless you're developing a browser app, usually you'd like to restrict the pages being loaded to the domain of your app.</strong> A good practice is to prevent the user from even having the chance to input any URLs inside WebViews (which is the default on Android) nor navigate outside the trusted domains. Even when navigating on trusted domains there's still the risk that the user might encounter and click on other links to untrustworthy content</p>
<p><small>Emphasis added</small></p></blockquote>
<p>A company's app is its sacred space. It shouldn't let anyone penetrate its inner sanctum because it has no control over what that 3rd party shows its customers.</p>
<p>There's nothing stopping an external service displaying a message like "To continue, please transfer 0.1 Bitcon to …"</p>
<p>(Of course, if your KYC provider - or their CDN - decides to turn evil then you probably have bigger problems!)</p>
<p>There are some other problems. It has long been known that <a href="https://discussions.apple.com/thread/7918307?sortBy=rank">people can use in-app browsers to circumvent restrictions</a>. Some in-app browsers have <a href="https://medium.com/%40youssefhussein212103168/exploiting-insecure-android-webview-with-setallowuniversalaccessfromfileurls-c7f4f7a8db9c">insecure configurations which can be used for exploits</a>. These sorts of "accidentally open" browsers <a href="https://matan-h.com/google-has-a-secret-browser-hidden-inside-the-settings/">are often considered to be a security vulnerability</a>.</p>
<h2 id="the-fix"><a href="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/responsible-disclosure-chimoney-android-app-and-kycaid/#the-fix">The Fix</a></h2>
<p>Ideally, an Android app like this wouldn't use a web view. It should use a KYC provider's API rather than giving them wholesale control of the user experience.</p>
<p>But, suppose you do need a webview. What's the recommendation?</p>
<p>Boring old <a href="https://blog.oversecured.com/Android-security-checklist-webview/#insufficient-url-validation">URl validation</a> using <a href="https://developer.android.com/reference/android/webkit/WebViewClient#shouldOverrideUrlLoading(android.webkit.WebView,%20android.webkit.WebResourceRequest)">Android's <code>shouldOverrideUrlLoading()</code> method</a>.</p>
<p>Essentially, your app restricts what can be seen in the webview and rejects anything else.</p>
<h2 id="risk"><a href="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/responsible-disclosure-chimoney-android-app-and-kycaid/#risk">Risk</a></h2>
<p>Look, this is pretty low risk. A user would have to take several deliberate steps to find themselves in a place of danger.</p>
<p>Ultimately, it is "<a href="https://wiki.c2.com/?CodeSmell">Code Smell</a>" - part of the app is giving off a noxious whiff. That's something you cannot afford to have on a money transfer app. If this simple security fix wasn't implemented, what other horrors are lurking in the source code?</p>
<h2 id="contacting-the-company"><a href="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/responsible-disclosure-chimoney-android-app-and-kycaid/#contacting-the-company">Contacting the company</a></h2>
<p>There was no <a href="https://securitytxt.org/">security.txt</a> contact - nor anything on their website about reporting security bugs. I reached out to the CEO by email, but didn't hear back.</p>
<p>In desperation, I went on to Discord and asked in their support channel for help.</p>
<img src="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/send-an-email.webp" alt="Screenshot. Someone advising me on who to email." width="504" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-64857">
<p>Unfortunately, that email address didn't exist.</p>
<img src="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/email-chimoney.webp" alt="Bounce message." width="504" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-64851">
<p>I also tried contacting KYCaid, but they seemed unable or unwilling to help - and redirected me back to Chimoney.</p>
<p>As it has been over two month since I sent them video of this bug, I'm performing a responsible disclosure to make people aware of the problem.</p>
]]></content>
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</entry>
<entry>
<author>
<name>@edent</name>
<uri>https://edent.tel/</uri>
</author>
<title type="html"><![CDATA[Book Review: Under the Eye of the Big Bird - Hiromi Kawakami ★★★★☆]]></title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/book-review-under-the-eye-of-the-big-bird-hiromi-kawakami/" />
<id>https://shkspr.mobi/blog/?p=65619</id>
<updated>2026-01-09T08:47:34Z</updated>
<published>2026-01-13T12:34:49Z</published>
<category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="/etc/" /><category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="Book Review" /><category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="Sci Fi" />
<summary type="html"><![CDATA[This is an intriguing and mostly satisfying sci-fi tale. It has shades of Oryx Crake mixed in with A Canticle for Leibowitz - we are mere observers of the tattered remains of humanity. Watchers guide scattered settlements as they strive to evolve and understand their place on a corrupted Earth. The writing is dreamy and hazy - reminiscent of Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go. It isn't…]]></summary>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/book-review-under-the-eye-of-the-big-bird-hiromi-kawakami/"><![CDATA[<img src="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/under-the-eye-of-the-big-bird-1.jpg" alt="Book cover of a stylised bird." width="200" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-65621">
<p>This is an intriguing and <em>mostly</em> satisfying sci-fi tale. It has shades of Oryx Crake mixed in with A Canticle for Leibowitz - we are mere observers of the tattered remains of humanity. Watchers guide scattered settlements as they strive to evolve and understand their place on a corrupted Earth.</p>
<p>The writing is dreamy and hazy - reminiscent of Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go. It isn't immediately clear what's happening; the story is drip-fed to us. Unfortunately it is rather undone by the penultimate chapter which is a great-big data-dump of exposition.</p>
<p>If you've ever seen the show <a href="https://dhmis.tv/">Don't Hug Me I'm Scared</a> you'll be well at home with the surreal and oblique nature of the storytelling presented here. The language is obtuse and confusing, reflecting the confusion these new humans feel.</p>
<p>I think part of the story is a rejection of the hierarchy and artificial inter-personal structures often seen in societies like Japan. Everyone is simultaneously desperate to escape their confines while rigidly enforcing the status quo - with predictably disastrous results.</p>
<p>It is a meandering tale, spanning eons, which ultimately feels a bit depressing.</p>
]]></content>
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</entry>
<entry>
<author>
<name>@edent</name>
<uri>https://edent.tel/</uri>
</author>
<title type="html"><![CDATA[Maximally Semantic Structure for a Blog Post]]></title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/maximally-semantic-structure-for-a-blog-post/" />
<id>https://shkspr.mobi/blog/?p=63440</id>
<updated>2026-01-12T10:46:32Z</updated>
<published>2026-01-12T12:34:53Z</published>
<category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="/etc/" /><category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="blogging" /><category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="HTML" /><category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="schema.org" /><category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="semantic web" />
<summary type="html"><![CDATA[Yes, I know the cliché that bloggers are always blogging about blogging! I like semantics. It tickles that part of my delicious meaty brain that longs for structure. Semantics are good for computers and humans. Computers can easily understand the structure of the data, humans can use tools like screen-readers to extract the data they're interested in. In HTML, there are three main ways to …]]></summary>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/maximally-semantic-structure-for-a-blog-post/"><![CDATA[<p>Yes, I know the cliché that bloggers are always blogging about blogging!</p>
<p>I like semantics. It tickles that part of my delicious meaty brain that longs for structure. Semantics are good for computers and humans. Computers can easily understand the structure of the data, humans can use tools like screen-readers to extract the data they're interested in.</p>
<p>In HTML, there are three main ways to impose semantics - elements, attributes, and hierarchical microdata.</p>
<p>Elements are easy to understand. Rather than using a generic element like <code><div></code> you can use something like <code><nav></code> to show an element's contents are for navigation. Or <code><address></code> to show that the contents are an address. Or <code><article><section></code> to show that the section is part of a parent article.</p>
<p>Attributes are also common. You can use <a href="https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTML/Reference/Attributes/rel">relational attributes</a> to show how a link relates to the page it is on. For example <code><a rel=author href=https://example.com></code> shows that the link is to the author of the current page. Or, to see that a link goes to the previous page in a series <code><a rel=prev href=/page5></code>.</p>
<p>Finally, we enter the complex and frightening world of <em>microdata</em>.</p>
<p>Using the <a href="https://schema.org/">Schema.org vocabulary</a> it's possible to add semantic metadata <em>within</em> an HTML element. For example, <code><body itemtype=https://schema.org/Blog itemscope></code> says that the body of this page is a Blog. Or, to say how many words a piece has, <code><span itemprop=wordCount content=1100>1,100 words</span></code>.</p>
<p>There are <em>many</em> properties you can use. Here's the outline structure of a single blog post with a code sample, a footnote, and a comment. You can <a href="https://validator.schema.org/">check its structured data</a> and verify that it is <a href="https://validator.w3.org/">conformant HTML</a>.</p>
<p>Feel free to reuse.</p>
<pre><code class="language-html"><!doctype html>
<html lang=en-gb>
<head><title>My Blog</title></head>
<body itemtype=https://schema.org/Blog itemscope>
<header itemprop=headline>
<a rel=home href=https://example.com>My Blog</a>
</header>
<main itemtype=https://schema.org/BlogPosting itemprop=blogPost itemscope>
<article>
<header>
<time itemprop=https://schema.org/datePublished datetime=2025-12-01T12:34:39+01:00>
1st January, 2025
</time>
<h1 itemprop=headline>
<a rel=bookmark href=https://example.com/page>Post Title</a>
</h1>
<span itemtype=https://schema.org/Person itemprop=author itemscope>
<a itemprop=url href=https://example.org/>
By <span itemprop=name>Author Name</span>
</a>
<img itemprop=image src=/photo.jpg alt>
</span>
<p>
<a itemprop=keywords content=HTML rel=tag href=/tag/html/>HTML</a>
<a itemprop=keywords content=semantics rel=tag href=/tag/semantics/>semantics</a>
<a itemprop=commentCount content=6 href=#comments>6 comments</a>
<span itemprop=wordCount content=1100>1,100 words</span>
<span itemtype=https://schema.org/InteractionCounter itemprop=interactionStatistic itemscope>
<meta content=https://schema.org/ReadAction itemprop=interactionType>
<span itemprop=userInteractionCount content=5150>
Viewed ~5,150 times
</span>
</span>
</p>
</header>
<div itemprop=articleBody>
<img itemprop=image src=/hero.png alt>
<p>Text of the post.</p>
<p>Text with a footnote<sup id=fnref><a role=doc-noteref href=#fn>0</a></sup>.</p>
<pre itemtype=https://schema.org/SoftwareSourceCode itemscope translate=no>
<span itemprop=programmingLanguage>PHP</span>
<code itemprop=text>&amp;lt;?php echo $postID ?&amp;gt;</code>
</pre>
<section role=doc-endnotes>
<h2>Footnotes</h2>
<ol>
<li id=fn>
<p>Footnote text. <a role=doc-backlink href=#fnref>↩︎</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</section>
</div>
</article>
<section id=comments>
<h2>Comments</h2>
<article itemtype=https://schema.org/Comment itemscope id="comment-123465">
<time itemprop=dateCreated datetime=2025-09-11T13:24:54+01:00>
<a itemprop=url href=#comment-123465>2025-09-11 13:24</a>
</time>
<div itemtype=https://schema.org/Person itemprop=author itemscope>
<img itemprop=image src="/avatar.jpg" alt>
<h3>
<span itemprop=name>Alice</span> says:
</h3>
</div>
<div itemprop=text>
<p>Comment text</p>
</div>
</article>
</section>
</main>
</body>
</html>
</code></pre>
<p>This blog post is entitled "maximally" but, of course, <a href="https://schema.org/BlogPosting">there is <em>lots</em> more that you can add</a> if you really want to.</p>
<p>Remember, none of this is <em>necessary</em>. Computers and humans are pretty good at extracting meaning from unstructured text. But making things easier for others is always time well spent.</p>
]]></content>
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</entry>
<entry>
<author>
<name>@edent</name>
<uri>https://edent.tel/</uri>
</author>
<title type="html"><![CDATA[Book Review: The Real Shakespeare - Emilia Bassano Willoughby by Irene Coslet ★⯪☆☆☆]]></title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/book-review-the-real-shakespeare-emilia-bassano-willoughby-by-irene-coslet/" />
<id>https://shkspr.mobi/blog/?p=66676</id>
<updated>2026-01-12T22:16:09Z</updated>
<published>2026-01-11T12:34:44Z</published>
<category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="/etc/" /><category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="Book Review" /><category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="NetGalley" /><category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="ShakeRace" /><category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="shakespeare" />
<summary type="html"><![CDATA[Given my blog's domain name, I don't write nearly enough about Shakespeare. Luckily, the good folks at NetGalley have sent me Irene Coslet's provocative new book to review. Who was the real Shakespeare? It's the sort of low-stakes conspiracy theory which is driven by classism ("a low-born man couldn't write such poetry!"), plagiarism ("he stole from other writers!") and, according to this…]]></summary>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/book-review-the-real-shakespeare-emilia-bassano-willoughby-by-irene-coslet/"><![CDATA[<img src="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/53507.webp" alt="Book cover featuring a portrait of an Elizabethan lady." width="202" height="301" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-66678">
<p>Given my blog's domain name, I don't write nearly enough about Shakespeare. Luckily, the good folks at NetGalley have sent me Irene Coslet's provocative new book to review.</p>
<p>Who was the <em>real</em> Shakespeare? It's the sort of low-stakes conspiracy theory which is driven by classism ("a low-born man couldn't write such poetry!"), plagiarism ("he stole from other writers!") and, according to this book, sexism and racism.</p>
<p>From the blurb:</p>
<blockquote><p>Now, in this intriguing and well-documented book, Irene Coslet conclusively demonstrates that Shakespeare was a not a man, but a woman: a dark-skinned lady, of Jewish origin, born into a family of Court musicians from Venice, and the mother of the English-speaking world. Her name was Emilia Bassano.</p></blockquote>
<p>Yes! In your face, Bacon! Get stuffed, Marlowe! Edward de <em>Who</em>?!</p>
<p>The life of Emilia Bassano is genuinely fascinating. The book offers some excellent insights into the lives of women, Moors, and Jews during the time period. The analysis of the sexual politics - both in the plays and real life - are both interesting and well researched. For that reason, I have to give it <em>some</em> stars.</p>
<p>The book starts with Kuhn and his ideas about paradigm shifts - the more tweaks we have to bolt on to a model, the more likely it is the model will eventual collapse and a new model will emerge. I'm 100% behind that - given the deficiencies in Shakespeare's biography, people keep adding more and more fantastical explanations to it. But the counterpoint is that extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.</p>
<p>So, what evidence is there that Emilia Bassano was the writer of Shakespeare?</p>
<ul>
<li>Shakespeare's name is an anagram of "A-She-Speaker".</li>
<li>Beatrice from <em>Much Ado</em> shares the same Myers-Briggs type as Emilia Bassano.</li>
<li>The names "Emilia" and "Bassano" pop up in several plays.</li>
<li>If you fold the portrait of Shakespeare in a certain way, it looks like a portrait of Emilia.</li>
</ul>
<p>And so it goes on. Sadly, the evidence presented rarely rises to the level of circumstantial, let alone extraordinary. Some of it is of the sort found in the <a href="https://www.math.utoronto.ca/drorbn/Codes/StatSci.pdf">discredited Bible Code</a>. If you selectively squish the data, you can make it say anything:</p>
<blockquote><p>Here, the author exploits the similarity in Hebrew between the word Portia (PRT) and the word lead (YPRT). Portia (PRT) is nested within the lead (YPRT), embedding one one term inside the other to create multiple layers of meaning. Only a person who is fluent in Hebrew [...] would be able to make such a pun.</p></blockquote>
<p>This book is a monument to what happens if you start with a conclusion and then selectively pick only the clues which support your case. There's no testing of the evidence against other candidates - for example, the author describes folding the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Droeshout_portrait">Droeshout portrait</a> in a specific way until it looks a bit like one of the portraits which <em>might</em> be of Emilia Bassano. It's a bit "Mad Magazine Fold In" - but can the image be folded different ways? Are there other people that it looks like? Sadly, the folded image isn't included on (dubious) copyright grounds.</p>
<p>There's also no mechanism suggested. Let's suppose that Emilia Bassano did write all these plays and poems. What was the method whereby "The Man From Stratford" took them and passed them off as his own? Was there payment? Why did she keep writing if they were being stolen? Wouldn't someone have noticed her slipping in all these "clues" about the true authorship and then removed them?</p>
<p>I'm generally sympathetic to the idea of trying new ways to look at old problems and I genuinely found some of the analysis interesting. I tried to keep an open mind and to <a href="https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/steelman">steelman</a> the arguments. Nevertheless, I found most of it unconvincing.</p>
<p>Here are some of the arguments I have trouble with.</p>
<blockquote><p>Scholars agree that the plays are ‘feminist’ but have not been able to explain why the author was interested in gender issues.</p></blockquote>
<p>To which a suitable response might be "Hath not a man eyes? hath not a man hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions?" It also ignores all the decidedly <em>un</em>feminist tropes and characters in Shakespeare.</p>
<blockquote><p>Emilia Bassano tells about this portion of her life in Cymbeline through the character of Posthumus Leonatus. Posthumus is the son of Sicilius, a reference to the Sicilian origin of the family. Sicilius has two other sons, who both die prematurely, an allusion to Lewis and Philip, Baptista and Margaret’s sons who died in infancy.</p></blockquote>
<p>You could pick any random character out of any play and find someone in history who it <em>could</em> be an allegory for.</p>
<p>But, again, there are some reasonable arguments that Shakespeare may not be who we think. Emelia Bassano certainly had <em>some</em> of the background necessary:</p>
<blockquote><p>The playwright had direct knowledge of the Veneto region. The playwright is familiar with the Commedia dell’Arte. [...] In 1582, Emilia Bassano travelled to Denmark, and that journey, according to Hudson, provided the material for Hamlet. [...] They all stayed at the Castle of Elsinore – which is renowned today as the setting of the play Hamlet. The delegation met two prominent Danish noblemen: Georgius Rosencrantz and Petrius Guildenstern</p></blockquote>
<p>Most of these arguments seem to be taken from John Hudson's 2014 book "<a href="https://amzn.to/4jptaWy">Shakespeare's Dark Lady: Amelia Bassano Lanier The woman behind Shakespeare's plays?</a>" with very little in the way of original research.</p>
<p>The author does prove that there are a few positive connections between Emilia Bassano and Shakespeare. For example, she was the paramour of Henry Carey - founder of the Lord Chamberlain's Men. Could that have taken her into the orbit of Shakespeare's theatre company?</p>
<blockquote><p>Yet, in 1594, Henry Carey was a sixty-eight military General (he died in 1596): it is hard to believe that the creation of a theatre company was his initiative. It is more likely that it was Emilia Bassano’s idea, who was twenty-five and a playwright at the peak of her creativity.</p></blockquote>
<p>That's just pure speculation! When you go looking for evidence, and squint your eyes, it's possible to make anything seem like a connection:</p>
<blockquote><p>Ophelia – whose name rhymes with ‘Emilia’ – has a relationship with the Lord Hamlet and gets pregnant. Ophelia is the daughter of the Lord Chamberlain – a reference to the Lord Chamberlain, Henry Carey, who was her fiancé in real life.</p></blockquote>
<p>The book veers between cold-reading and the <a href="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2023/02/how-much-of-ais-recent-success-is-due-to-the-forer-effect/">Forer effect</a>. For example, the author asserts that one of Shakespeare's characters is based on a friend of Emilia Bassano. How can that be proven?</p>
<blockquote><p>Shakespeare had the uncanny ability to give an accurate impression of the characters without describing them in detail. There is a painting by Thomas Francis Dicksee entitled Anne Paige (circa 1862). Although Dicksee was not aware that the character of Anne Paige is based on Lady Anne Clifford, his impression of Anne Paige looks strikingly similar to the portrait of Lady Anne Clifford by William Larking (1618): brown-haired, big-eyed and with a rounded face. It appears that the way the audience imagines Anne Paige when reading the play – and the way Dicksee represented her – is exactly how Anne Clifford looked. Same goes with Falstaff: Shakespeare gives such an accurate impression of Falstaff, without describing him in detail, that now we have an idea of how Alfonso Lanyer looked in real life.</p></blockquote>
<p>I don't know how to fully respond to that. Two paintings looking slightly similar is <em>not</em> evidence! Where are all the other paintings of Anne Paige? Do they all look similar? There's cherry-picking, and then there's this!</p>
<p>Anyway, I give you <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Anne_Page_(Dicksee,_1862).jpg">Dicksee's portait</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_Anne_Clifford#/media/File:William_Larkin_Anne_Clifford,_Countess_of_Dorset.jpg">Larkin's</a> so you may compare their similarity.</p>
<img src="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/portraits.webp" alt="Painting of two women who don't look anything alike." width="900" height="600" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-66836">
<p>Similarly, some of the discussion is of the sort you might have after imbibing a few bottles of wine:</p>
<blockquote><p>It is fascinating how two very different cultures and religions used the same sounds, Shekinah and Shakti, to indicate the divine feminine presence, and how these sounds can also be found in the name Shakespeare: Shekinah, Shakti, Shakespeare.</p></blockquote>
<p>Emilia Bassano is the acknowledged author of the poem "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salve_Deus_Rex_Judaeorum">Salve Deus Rex Judaeorum</a>". Surely a textual analysis of her work and that of Shakespeare's would throw up some similarities? Alas, all we get are:</p>
<blockquote><p>Prospero asks Miranda: ‘Cants thou remember / A time before we came unto this cell?’. In Salve Deus Rex Judaeorum Emilia Bassano says that she lives in a cell: ‘I that live clos’up in Sorrowes Cell’</p></blockquote>
<p>And</p>
<blockquote><p>there are many rhetorical similarities between the Passion in Salve Deus and Shakespeare’s The Rape of Lucrece. For example, Jesus is associated with the colours white and red, like Lucrece. In Salve Deus we read: ‘The purest colours both of White and Red’ (1828). In the Rape of Lucrece: ‘To praise the clear unmatchèd red and white’</p></blockquote>
<p>Frankly, that's less than nothing!</p>
<p>The book concludes with this:</p>
<blockquote><p>From the viewpoint of white men and businessmen, the story of the Stratford man is inspiring. It is the story of a white boy, a merchant, with little education, who resorted to writing and miraculously became a genius. Society likes the narrative of the genius, because when we say ‘genius’ we think of a miracle and it does not require much explanation. It is all about magical thinking.</p></blockquote>
<p>I agree that there's a lot to be said about <a href="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/tag/shakerace/">Shakespeare and race</a>. There may well be arguments about the true authorship of the plays and sonnets - and it is certainly interesting to approach them from a new perspective. The book does a reasonable job of contextualising some of the gender politics surrounding Shakespeare's propaganda for Queen Elizabeth and, similarly, the historical context in which the plays were written. But most of the evidence presented is somewhere between magical thinking and <a href="https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/source-i-made-it-up#it-was-revealed-to-me-in-a-dream">divine inspiration</a>.</p>
<p>Emilia Bassano was undoubtedly a fascinating woman - poet, teacher, entrepreneur, confidant of the Queen - she deserves better than this scattershot ramble through her life.</p>
]]></content>
<link rel="replies" type="text/html" href="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/book-review-the-real-shakespeare-emilia-bassano-willoughby-by-irene-coslet/#comments" thr:count="6" />
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</entry>
<entry>
<author>
<name>@edent</name>
<uri>https://edent.tel/</uri>
</author>
<title type="html"><![CDATA[Why my NFC passport didn't work at Heathrow's eGates]]></title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/why-my-nfc-passport-didnt-work-at-heathrows-egates/" />
<id>https://shkspr.mobi/blog/?p=66898</id>
<updated>2026-01-09T09:18:34Z</updated>
<published>2026-01-10T12:34:42Z</published>
<category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="/etc/" /><category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="nfc" /><category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="travel" />
<summary type="html"><![CDATA[I travel a fair bit. My passport is usually quickly scanned and I can enter or leave a country without delay. But every time I use the eGates at Heathrow Airport to get back in to the UK, my passport is rejected and I'm told to seek assistance from Border Force. Today, I think I discovered why! The border guards are usually polite and tell me there's nothing wrong with my passport (not that they …]]></summary>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/why-my-nfc-passport-didnt-work-at-heathrows-egates/"><![CDATA[<p>I travel a fair bit. My passport is usually quickly scanned and I can enter or leave a country without delay. But every time I use the eGates at Heathrow Airport to get back in to the UK, my passport is rejected and I'm told to seek assistance from Border Force. Today, I think I discovered why!</p>
<p>The border guards are usually polite and tell me there's nothing wrong with my passport (not that they would tell me if I were on a watchlist). This only happens at Heathrow, all other machines read my passport fine. I can even <a href="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2025/06/reading-nfc-passport-chips-in-linux/">read my passport's NFC chip on Linux</a>.</p>
<p>I was following the instructions to use the gates - specifically <em>this</em> one:</p>
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V00e8l--hso"><img src="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/egate.webp" alt="Hold the photo page of your passport firmly on the reader for a few seconds and keep it in the same position." width="1024" height="576" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-66899"></a></p>
<p>After 3 failed attempts, it told me to seek assistance. As there were lots of free gates, I decided to test a theory.</p>
<p>I went to a different gate, inserted my passport, and held it down with my <em>left</em> hand. The gate successfully read my passport and let me through.</p>
<p>What's the difference between my left and right hand? On my left, I wear my <a href="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2008/08/selling-out/">wedding ring</a>, on my right, I wear an <a href="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2024/02/giving-the-finger-to-mfa-a-review-of-the-z1-encrypter-ring-from-cybernetic/">NFC ring</a>!</p>
<p>As far as I can tell, the ePassport Gate is only expecting <em>one</em> NFC response to its query. That's pretty reasonable. I suspect it prevents people holding two different passports in the reader. Most other eGates that I've used don't require the passport to be held down; they pull it in.</p>
<p>So, there you have it. If you wear an NFC ring, or have an NFC implant, be aware that it can cause "<a href="https://tfl.gov.uk/fares/refunds-and-replacements/card-clash">card clash</a>" which could confuse passport readers.</p>
]]></content>
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<thr:total>17</thr:total>
</entry>
<entry>
<author>
<name>@edent</name>
<uri>https://edent.tel/</uri>
</author>
<title type="html"><![CDATA[Book Review: Room 706 by Ellie Levenson ★★★★★]]></title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/book-review-room-706-by-ellie-levenson/" />
<id>https://shkspr.mobi/blog/?p=66839</id>
<updated>2026-01-09T09:22:00Z</updated>
<published>2026-01-09T12:34:16Z</published>
<category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="/etc/" /><category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="Book Review" /><category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="NetGalley" />
<summary type="html"><![CDATA[I cracked open my review copy of Room 706 and settled in for an early night in my hotel room. I was up until way past midnight tearing through the book - my heart pounding. Given that the book centres around a woman trapped by terrorists in her hotel room, it was perhaps not the best choice to read on holiday! If you were held hostage - what message would you want to send to your family? Would …]]></summary>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/book-review-room-706-by-ellie-levenson/"><![CDATA[<img src="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/room-706.jpg" alt="Book cover." width="200" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-66840">
<p>I cracked open my review copy of Room 706 and settled in for an early night in my hotel room. I was up until way past midnight tearing through the book - my heart pounding. Given that the book centres around a woman trapped by terrorists in her hotel room, it was perhaps not the <em>best</em> choice to read on holiday!</p>
<p>If you were held hostage - what message would you want to send to your family? Would they know that you loved them? Would they need the password for your grocery app? Would they ask why you were having an affair in that hotel?</p>
<p>Ah.</p>
<p>And there's the plot. In many ways, this is a stage-play or - in TV terms - a bottle episode. Our protagonist and her lover cannot escape from a little box of misery. What was once heavy with lust is now brimming over with fear, irritation, and pain. Ellie Levenson beautifully observes all the little moments which go into a day, building up the characters' lives only to tear them down again. I can't work out whether she is a cruel god torturing her creations or a loving creator who allows them to make their own mistakes.</p>
<p>It helps that she's created a protagonist who is just the right side of obnoxious. Their self-justified self-delusion leap off the page. Every minor irritation they experience explodes into bitterness and, just for a moment, you almost believe the lies she tells herself. There are some painfully witty observations about how men and women might react differently to the terror of a siege. It is, perhaps, a little bit heartbreaking to realise your own reactions to the situation would be laughably inadequate and barely more than a cliché.</p>
<p>Perhaps that's the point; we're all trapped in a room of our own making. We fall into the same patterns as everyone else and react with shock when we discover how we've trapped ourselves.</p>
<p>I was desperate for there to be a twist. Some last-minute <i lang="la">deus ex</i>. Or even a moment of catharsis. Instead, Room 706 wrings every drop of stress out of you up until the final page. There is no let-up in the tension.</p>
<p>An exhausting and frantic read. Highly recommended.</p>
<p>Many thanks to NetGalley for the review copy. Room 706 is released on the 15th of January and is available to pre-order now.</p>
<hr>
<p>Long-term readers will recognise Ellie from my review of her <a href="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2009/08/book-review-the-noughtie-girls-guide-to-feminism/">Noughtie Girl's Guide to Feminism</a> from 17 years ago. Let's hope we don't have to wait until 2043 for her next book!</p>
]]></content>
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<entry>
<author>
<name>@edent</name>
<uri>https://edent.tel/</uri>
</author>
<title type="html"><![CDATA[Restaurant Review: The Smokaccia Laboratory - Phuket ★★★★★]]></title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/restaurant-review-the-smokaccia-laboratory-phuket/" />
<id>https://shkspr.mobi/blog/?p=66853</id>
<updated>2026-01-07T11:37:17Z</updated>
<published>2026-01-07T12:34:36Z</published>
<category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="/etc/" /><category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="restaurant" /><category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="Restaurant Review" /><category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="vegan" /><category scheme="https://shkspr.mobi/blog" term="vegetarian" />
<summary type="html"><![CDATA[You can't put a price on pure delight. In Thailand you can get a perfectly decent Pad Thai and beer for a few hundred Baht. You can have an good pizza or freshly cooked burger for next to nothing. Food, in general, is cheap and cheerful. After a week of spring rolls and Tiger beer, we decided to treat ourselves to a fine-dining experience in the Michelin recognised Smokaccia Laboratory. We…]]></summary>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/restaurant-review-the-smokaccia-laboratory-phuket/"><![CDATA[<p>You can't put a price on pure delight.</p>
<p>In Thailand you can get a perfectly decent Pad Thai and beer for a few hundred Baht. You can have an good pizza or freshly cooked burger for next to nothing. Food, in general, is cheap and cheerful. After a week of spring rolls and Tiger beer, we decided to treat ourselves to a fine-dining experience in the <a href="https://guide.michelin.com/us/en/phuket-region/phuket/restaurant/the-smokaccia-laboratory">Michelin recognised</a> Smokaccia Laboratory.</p>
<p>We opted for the nine-course(!) tasting menu - one regular and one vegan - with a pairing of both alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks.</p>
<p>Let's get the cost out the way first - we paid around ฿16,000 (£380) and it was easily the best meal we've had anywhere in the world. The quality of the food even exceeded <a href="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2023/02/restaurant-review-gauthier-soho/">Gauthier Soho</a> and the service was beyond that offered by the <a href="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2023/08/restaurant-review-chefs-table-at-the-savoy/">Chef's Table at The Savoy</a>.</p>
<p>I'd like to walk you through the experience, so you can get a feel for <em>why</em> you should spend a ridiculous sum of money on several tiny portions.</p>
<p>As we entered the restaurant for our 18:00 reservation, we were greeted by name. It's a small thing, but it immediately made us feel warmly welcomed. There's was no awkward pause as a <i lang="fr">maître d'</i> looked us up in a list, just a confirmation of our booking and dietary requirements, then an invitation to sit in the lounge.</p>
<p>Would we like a glass of Prosecco or sparkling non-alcoholic cocktail while we waited? But of course!</p>
<img src="https://shkspr.mobi/blog/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Terry-and-Liz-at-Smokaccia.webp" alt="Terry and Liz drinking cockatils at Smokaccia." width="300" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-66856">
<p>We were then presented with a cigar box each. As we opened them, smoke gently wafted out filling our noses with a delightful scent. Nestled inside was a small amuse-bouche - a perfect cracker topped with caviar. My vegan alternative had veggie-friendly caviar and was exquisite.</p>
<p>The waiters and sommelier all introduced themselves to us as they explained the food and how the evening would proceed. We were given flannels which were freshly sprayed with a signature scent to accompany the next course - and then we were ushered to meet the chef.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.instagram.com/chef_lucamascolo/">Luca Mascolo</a> is a warm, funny, and gregarious host. He was eager to explain the concept of the restaurant and why each dish was created. He was passionate about ensuring that we had an amazing time and that the vegan food was equal in quality to the meat and fish dishes. Our first experience with his culinary madness was the "Campari bomb" - it <em>literally</em> exploded in my mouth and sent flavours dancing around my tongue. It is the first food that has actually made me giggle with childish delight.</p>
<p>This was swiftly followed by a tasting of the chef's tomato reduction. A perfect liquid appetiser.</p>
<p>We were guided to our table - we opted for the kitchen counter. There are several regular tables, but it was much more fun to be sat watching the magic of creation. Open-plan dining is nothing new, but the staff were so calm and synchronised that it felt like a meditative exercise watching them work in perfect unison.</p>
<p>The Smokaccia is the chef's signature focaccia. A fist-sized ball of bread, hard on the outside and impossibly pillowy on the inside. A sourdough creation of genius and perfect for soaking up the various oils and sauces served with the dishes.</p>
<p>What can be said about "An unusual event with Bertha"? I don't want to spoil the surprise so I'll just say this - I've never had a meal which made me laugh so much. Every moment - even reading the description - was pure joy. Why bother serving food in bowls when a ceramic egg-shell is much more fun! Almost as fun was watching it being served to other tables and seeing their reactions.</p>
<p>The truffle crunch was a little bite of ecstasy. This wasn't drenched in 2,4-dithiapentane - it was a perfect shaving of real truffle. To complement, I had the zero-waste potato dish. What kind of a chef thinks up potato ice-cream with red onion caramel? Again, either the chef or waiter came over to personally explain the order in which the dishes should be eaten and all the ingredients which went in to its construction.</p>
<p>Nearly all the food comes from Thailand - with the exception of the balsamic vinegar and wine (both from Italy) - so the food-miles are negligible. The basil and eggplant honestly tasted like they'd been plucked fresh from the dirt not five-minutes previously.</p>
<p>The vegan "foie gras" was next. Traditional foie gras is neither ethical nor sustainable, so this is made with local vegetables in an attempt to recreate the flavour and texture. It is described as containing a "blood explosion" and, as my spoon pierced the pineapple-glass, a pop of bright red "blood" spurted out! Again, a incredible moment of both food science, whimsy, and surprise.</p>
<p>It isn't <em>just</em> that every mouthful is delicious; the dining experience is pure theatre and filled with moments that make you gasp with delight. Such as the "fois gras" being served on a misty "lake" filled with pebbles and flowers, and then being presented with a "fortune cookie" from the goose.</p>
<p>There was a choice of "main" course although - as with any fine dining experience - it was barely more than a few bites. But <em>what</em> a few bites! Writing this, it seems silly to be so in love with a carrot but I don't care! I loved every nibble of that carrot mixed with kombucha and wasabi leaf. I grinned like a lunatic when the kombu/soy caviar pearls burst on my tongue.</p>
<p>A morsel of the most intense melon sorbet topped with bunt radicchio was the perfect end to the meal. A simple and fun palate cleanser. Of course there were further surprises in store!</p>
<p>There was a choice of desserts and both were vegan! Liz and I decided to get one each. I'm <em>fairly</em> sure that the impossible pistachio ice-cream was my favourite, but the dark chocolate and hazelnut was so precisely targetted to my taste-buds that I'd have to try them both again to make sure.</p>
<p>I wish I could remember all the tea options. Liz had the Tom Kah and I went for the ginger and honey. A little moment of calm in an over-exciting evening. We watched the chefs prepare dishes for the now-bustling restaurant.</p>
<p>It is amazing how full you can feel after eating just a few bites over two-and-a-half hours. I suspect the 18 course menu would have been overwhelming. How we found room for the petit fours I can't possibly imagine.</p>
<p>I do know how I found room for the liquid nitrogen "cooked" coconut though - humans have a separate ice-cream stomach. That's just science. Also, I've never had fermented watermelon rind before and I can't understand how my life has been complete without it.</p>
<p>Chef Mascolo kept making sure that we were satisfied, he was happy to chat about the processes behind the food and why he is so keen to bring a high-quality dining experience to Phuket. His home-brewed limoncello was far removed from the thick and sickly syrup which is usually proffered at the end of an Italian meal. This was a thin, light, and highly spiced twist on the classic. A perfect end to a perfect meal.</p>
<p>Of course, the restaurant still had some surprises for us - including a rather touching "thank you" and a cute little gift-bag to send us on our way. We were exhausted from smiling and laughing so much. Every single bite made us incredibly happy. Fine dining can be a serious and solemn experience - this felt like being in the playground of a mad professor who just wants to have fun with your taste-buds and your heart.</p>
<p>I'm not saying that you should stop what you're doing right now, fly to Phuket, and have the best meal of your life. I'm merely saying that if you value inventive food, prepared by a team of experts with an obsessive eye for detail, presided over by a man who obviously values creating an inclusive and joyful experience - then you should reserve a table now.</p>
<p>The Smokaccia isn't merely a food laboratory - it is a happiness laboratory.</p>
]]></content>
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"id": "https://shkspr.mobi/blog/?p=66374",
"title": "Book Review: Doppelganger - A Trip Into the Mirror World by Naomi Klein ★★★★☆",
"description": "This book is excellent at describing the symptoms of madness which have beset the world. It expertly diagnoses the causes which have led so many people into a mirror-realm of fantasy. Sadly it falls short of prescribing a cure. I doubt anyone who has fallen into the conspiracy mindset will read this book - but I hope if you read it you will become inoculated against the brain-worms. Let's…",
"url": "https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/book-review-doppelganger-a-trip-into-the-mirror-world-by-naomi-klein/",
"published": "2026-01-27T12:34:06.000Z",
"updated": "2026-01-15T11:33:15.000Z",
"content": "<img src=\"https://shkspr.mobi/blog/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/9781802061963-jacket-large.webp\" alt=\"Book cover with the world Doppelganger getting progressively more distressed and distorted.\" width=\"326\" height=\"500\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-66376\">\n\n<p>This book is excellent at describing the symptoms of madness which have beset the world. It expertly diagnoses the causes which have led so many people into a mirror-realm of fantasy. Sadly it falls short of prescribing a cure. I doubt anyone who has fallen into the conspiracy mindset will read this book - but I hope if you read it you will become inoculated against the brain-worms.</p>\n\n<p>Let's start at the beginning.</p>\n\n<blockquote><p>If the Naomi be Klein<br>you’re doing just fine<br>If the Naomi be Wolf<br>Oh, buddy. Ooooof.</p></blockquote>\n\n<p>How did Naomi's titular doppelganger move from feminism to fanaticism? How do well-meaning people square the circle of aligning themselves to people who spread hate?</p>\n\n<p>At the same time, how do people like Naomi Klein justify spending hours obsessively listening to hate preachers? Can you stare into the abyss without it staring back into you? I'm not entirely sure that it is possible to binge on madness and stay objective. It reminds me <a href=\"https://xcancel.com/aedison/status/1840770070449893420\">of this classic</a>:</p>\n\n<blockquote><p>“don’t use q-tips to clean your ears, you’ll just push the wax in further!!” well, yeah, sure, except for my special technique. if I use my special technique then it’s fine.</p></blockquote>\n\n<p>There's a deep well of sadness running through the book. So many people with an unending stream of pain clutching on to anything which might give them purchase in a confusing an uncertain world. Is it any wonder some of them latch on to weird racists with their simple solutions to complex problems?</p>\n\n<p>The depressing thing is that sometimes the conspiracy-theorists are right. They can see that there are global conspiracies - but attribute them to [ethnic minorities|Marxists|the gays] rather than rapacious capitalists. Similarly, there are bitter lessons for the intellectual left who have comprehensively failed to advance progressive arguments and values. Many of us are more concerned with the purity of theory rather than implementation. You can't shame the public into understanding.</p>\n\n<p>There's a slightly weak section on algorithmic amplification of abuse. Depressingly, Klein points out the perils of oligarch-owned social media yet she is still on Twitter and hasn't joined more equitable platforms.</p>\n\n<p>The book also straddles an uneasy line between reportage and public therapy. Large parts feel like self-flagellation mixed with Freudian self-analysis. It demonstrates exactly how the grift works, why it is so effective, and what the surge of irrationality is doing to the world.</p>\n\n<p>Perhaps I can fix it if I just read one more book. Just one more paragraph will make it all make sense. I'll grab on to the classics in the intellectual library to stop me sliding down the path to oblivion. Just one more book.</p>",
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"id": "https://shkspr.mobi/blog/?p=62585",
"title": "Do savings accounts really lose money to inflation?",
"description": "I'm absolutely addicted to the Reddit's UK Personal Finance forum - where people mutually support each other through the difficult world of managing one's personal finances. It's a great community and full of people eager to help others. In amongst the confusion around pensions, tips for budgeting, and complaining about debt-collectors is a persistent drumbeat encouraging people to save money.…",
"url": "https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/do-savings-accounts-really-lose-money-to-inflation/",
"published": "2026-01-26T12:34:05.000Z",
"updated": "2026-01-27T20:53:12.000Z",
"content": "<p>I'm absolutely addicted to the <a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/UKPersonalFinance/\">Reddit's UK Personal Finance forum</a> - where people mutually support each other through the difficult world of managing one's personal finances. It's a great community and full of people eager to help others.</p>\n\n<p>In amongst the confusion around pensions, tips for budgeting, and complaining about debt-collectors is a persistent drumbeat encouraging people to save money. Good! More people should save more money. But the advice is always undercut with the message \"sticking money in a savings account will see it eaten away by inflation\".</p>\n\n<p>Is that true?</p>\n\n<p>Firstly, what is inflation? Simply put - prices rise and fall. The price of bread goes up by 50% and a loaf now costs £1.50. The price of a 42 inch flat screen TV drop by 50% and now costs £150. The average person buys 50 loaves of bread per year and a new TV every 5 years - add up the average of what people buy and you have a rough idea of what inflation is<sup id=\"fnref:simp\"><a href=\"https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/do-savings-accounts-really-lose-money-to-inflation/#fn:simp\" class=\"footnote-ref\" title=\"This is a vast over-simplification. It doesn't take into account a person's personal circumstances nor their preferences. But averages dehumanise everyone.\" role=\"doc-noteref\">0</a></sup>.</p>\n\n<p>Secondly, what is interest? Simply put - a bank or building society will pay you money to save with them. If you put £100 in a savings account paying 5% interest then leave it a year, you'll be given a fiver<sup id=\"fnref:savings\"><a href=\"https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/do-savings-accounts-really-lose-money-to-inflation/#fn:savings\" class=\"footnote-ref\" title=\"Some savings accounts are tax free - so you don't pay anything on what you make.\" role=\"doc-noteref\">1</a></sup>.</p>\n\n<p>If the rate of inflation is higher than the rate of interest, your savings will be eroded; your money will be worth less.</p>\n\n<p>The <a href=\"https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/monetary-policy/the-interest-rate-bank-rate\">Bank of England's current interest rate and inflation</a> rate shows this:</p>\n\n<img src=\"https://shkspr.mobi/blog/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/inflation.webp\" alt=\"\nCurrent Bank Rate 3.75% Next due: 5 February 2026 Current inflation rate 3.2% Target: 2%\" width=\"1410\" height=\"311\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-67060\">\n\n<p>On average, if something cost £100 a year ago, today it will cost £103.20. If you had saved £100, it would be worth £103.75</p>\n\n<p>So, based on this, savings <em>exceed</em> inflation right?</p>\n\n<p>Well, as ever, it is a little more complicated than that!</p>\n\n<p>For starters, the inflation rate is for the <em>last</em> year and the interest rate is the <em>current</em> rate.</p>\n\n<p>The <a href=\"https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/inflationandpriceindices\">UK publishes a number of different inflation statistics</a>. Depending on which one you prefer, the inflation rate over the last 12 months is between 3.2% and 4.4%.</p>\n\n<p>Different savings accounts will attract different interest rates. Some will offer tasty bonuses to new savers and will drop to nothing once that promotion expires.</p>\n\n<p>This stuff is hard to accurately model.</p>\n\n<p>But let's ignore all that and YOLO it!</p>\n\n<p>Here's two resources:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>The <a href=\"https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/monetary-policy/inflation/inflation-calculator\">Bank of England inflation calculator</a> tells you want a historic price is in today's money (up to 2025).</li>\n<li>The website <a href=\"https://HistoricalSavingsCalculator.com\">HistoricalSavingsCalculator.com</a> provides the annual average historical interest rate from the Bank of England (up to 2023).</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>As a quick check. £1,000 in 1975 is equivalent to about £7,300 in 2023.</p>\n\n<p>The same amount <em>saved</em> in 1975 with average interest compounded, would be worth about £18,000 in 2023.</p>\n\n<p>Amazing! Compound interest beats inflation!</p>\n\n<p>But let's take another perspective. £1000 in 2008 is equivalent to £1,540 in 2023</p>\n\n<p>£1,000 saved in 2008 would be worth about £1,180 in 2023.</p>\n\n<p>A loss of over £300.</p>\n\n<p>Let's stick annual UK inflation and interest rates into a graph:</p>\n\n<img src=\"https://shkspr.mobi/blog/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/interest-vs-inflation.webp\" alt=\"Graph plotting inflation vs interest. Interest beats inflation until about 2008.\" width=\"1024\" height=\"540\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-62591\">\n\n<p>Ah! Over the last 17 years, inflation has been higher than interest - a position which is slowly reverting. <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_financial_crisis\">Fucking 2008</a>, eh?</p>\n\n<p>It looks like we <em>might</em> be entering a period where interest will be higher than inflation. Does the average person optimally pick their savings accounts? Probably not. Is inflation a 100% reliable way of tracking the worth of money? Also probably not.</p>\n\n<p>While cash savings are unlikely to exceed the rate of return from <a href=\"https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2024/08/is-dollar-cost-averaging-a-bad-idea/\">\"Dollar Cost Averaging\"</a>, it is possible that savings accounts will once again offer some protection against inflation.</p>\n\n<div id=\"footnotes\" role=\"doc-endnotes\">\n<hr>\n<ol start=\"0\">\n\n<li id=\"fn:simp\">\n<p>This is a <em>vast</em> over-simplification. It doesn't take into account a person's personal circumstances nor their preferences. But averages dehumanise everyone. <a href=\"https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/do-savings-accounts-really-lose-money-to-inflation/#fnref:simp\" class=\"footnote-backref\" role=\"doc-backlink\">↩︎</a></p>\n</li>\n\n<li id=\"fn:savings\">\n<p>Some savings accounts are tax free - so you don't pay anything on what you make. <a href=\"https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/do-savings-accounts-really-lose-money-to-inflation/#fnref:savings\" class=\"footnote-backref\" role=\"doc-backlink\">↩︎</a></p>\n</li>\n\n</ol>\n</div>",
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{
"label": "/etc/",
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"label": "economics",
"term": "economics",
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{
"id": "https://shkspr.mobi/blog/?p=66251",
"title": "Book Review: Human Rites by Juno Dawson ★★★☆☆",
"description": "After the pretty good Her Majesty's Royal Coven, the excellent Shadow Cabinet, the law of reverting to the mean hits the conclusion of Juno Dawson's Witches of Hebden Bridge trilogy. By now you know the tropes - Bitchy-Witches, 90s pop-culture references, and wry chapter titles. It's all done well enough, the plot is a little twisty, the story entertaining, and the repeated mentions of Buffy…",
"url": "https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/book-review-human-rites-by-juno-dawson/",
"published": "2026-01-25T12:34:53.000Z",
"updated": "2026-01-15T11:33:14.000Z",
"content": "<img src=\"https://shkspr.mobi/blog/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/humanrites.jpg\" alt=\"Book cover featuring a woman with a horned goat's head.\" width=\"200\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-66252\">\n\n<p>After the pretty good <a href=\"https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2023/01/book-review-her-majestys-royal-coven-juno-dawson/\">Her Majesty's Royal Coven</a>, the excellent <a href=\"https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2024/09/book-review-the-shadow-cabinet-by-juno-dawson-her-majestys-royal-coven-book-2/\">Shadow Cabinet</a>, the law of reverting to the mean hits the conclusion of Juno Dawson's Witches of Hebden Bridge trilogy.</p>\n\n<p>By now you know the tropes - Bitchy-Witches, 90s pop-culture references, and wry chapter titles. It's all done well enough, the plot is a little twisty, the story entertaining, and the repeated mentions of Buffy are only a <em>little</em> too self-referential. The continual pop-culture references are a bit blunt and, in all honesty, feel like the book is trying too hard to anchor itself to other media.</p>\n\n<p>If you enjoyed the other two books (and <a href=\"https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2025/01/book-review-queen-b-by-juno-dawson/\">the Queen B prequel</a>) then this is more of the same.</p>\n\n<p>The ending is powerful and, thankfully, closes off the world. This doesn't feel like something which is going to be turned into a never-ending series of stories.</p>\n\n<p>A good beach read but lacking some of the rage and inventiveness from the rest of the series.</p>",
"image": null,
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"categories": [
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"label": "/etc/",
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"url": "https://shkspr.mobi/blog"
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"label": "Book Review",
"term": "Book Review",
"url": "https://shkspr.mobi/blog"
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},
{
"id": "https://shkspr.mobi/blog/?p=65041",
"title": "Installing and Updating Filezilla from a Zip File on Pop_OS / Ubuntu",
"description": "Notes to myself because I keep forgetting. tl;dr Unzip it into the /opt/ directory. I want to install Filezilla - so I can SFTP files around. Sadly, the Flatpak version is unmaintained and the version in apt is out of date. Luckily, you can download the zipped version. Their Wiki helpfully says: If you have special needs, don't have sufficient rights to install programs or don't like…",
"url": "https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/installing-and-updating-filezilla-from-a-zip-file-on-pop_os-ubuntu/",
"published": "2026-01-24T12:34:21.000Z",
"updated": "2026-01-15T11:33:08.000Z",
"content": "<p>Notes to myself because I keep forgetting.</p>\n\n<p><abbr title=\"To Long; Didn't Read\">tl;dr</abbr> Unzip it into the <code>/opt/</code> directory.</p>\n\n<p>I want to install Filezilla - so I can SFTP files around. Sadly, the <a href=\"https://github.com/flathub/org.filezillaproject.Filezilla/issues/103\">Flatpak version is unmaintained</a> and the version in apt is out of date. Luckily, you can <a href=\"https://filezilla-project.org/download.php\">download the zipped version</a>.</p>\n\n<p>Their Wiki <a href=\"https://wiki.filezilla-project.org/Client_Installation#Zip_version\">helpfully says</a>:</p>\n\n<blockquote><p>If you have special needs, don't have sufficient rights to install programs or don't like installers, the zip version is there for you. A zip-file is a file that contains files inside of it. They are packed into one file and you need to unpack (unzip) them to use them.</p></blockquote>\n\n<p>But it doesn't say where!</p>\n\n<p>The answer is <a href=\"https://refspecs.linuxfoundation.org/FHS_3.0/fhs/ch03s13.html\">the <code>/opt/</code> directory</a>.</p>\n\n<p>Run this command:</p>\n\n<p><code>sudo tar -xJf FileZilla_*_x86_64-linux-gnu.tar.xz -C /opt</code></p>\n\n<p>The first time <a href=\"https://cyanogenmods.org/install-filezilla-in-ubuntu/\">you may need to adjust the directory permissions</a>:</p>\n\n<p><code>cd /opt/</code><br>\n<code>sudo chown -R root:root FileZilla*</code></p>\n\n<p>After installing, FileZilla will periodically check for updates. It will download them to the <code>~/Downloads/</code> directory. Run the above command to install the new version.</p>\n\n<p>If you want to be able to launch Filezilla from your dashboard, or to pin it to your dock, you'll need to create:</p>\n\n<p><code>/usr/share/applications/Filezilla.desktop</code></p>\n\n<p>Place this text in it:</p>\n\n<pre><code class=\"language-_\">[Desktop Entry]\nName=Filezilla\nComment=FTP\nExec=/opt/FileZilla3/bin/filezilla\nIcon=/opt/FileZilla3/share/icons/hicolor/scalable/apps/filezilla.svg\nType=Application\nStartupWMClass=filezilla\nCategories=Game;\n</code></pre>\n\n<p>What a faff!</p>",
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"name": "@edent",
"email": null,
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"label": "/etc/",
"term": "/etc/",
"url": "https://shkspr.mobi/blog"
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"label": "linux",
"term": "linux",
"url": "https://shkspr.mobi/blog"
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{
"label": "pop_os",
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"url": "https://shkspr.mobi/blog"
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{
"label": "ubuntu",
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{
"id": "https://shkspr.mobi/blog/?p=66080",
"title": "Book Review: Surely You Can't Be Serious - The True Story of Airplane! ★★⯪☆☆",
"description": "This is a hugely extended version of Will Harris' \"An oral history of Airplane\". It goes through the pre-history of the project, how it eventually got made, and the aftermath. In many ways, it is like an old-fashioned DVD extra. The whole book consists of snippets of interviews with the cast, crew, and various talking heads. Like all DVD special features, it is fairly sycophantic. Yes, there…",
"url": "https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/book-review-surely-you-cant-be-serious-the-true-story-of-airplane/",
"published": "2026-01-23T12:34:30.000Z",
"updated": "2026-01-15T11:33:09.000Z",
"content": "<img src=\"https://shkspr.mobi/blog/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/9781250289322.avif\" alt=\"Book cover for Airplane. A sticker says \"At last a book you can judge by its cover!\"\" width=\"200\" height=\"258\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-66081\">\n\n<p>This is a hugely extended version of <a href=\"https://www.avclub.com/surely-you-can-t-be-serious-an-oral-history-of-airplan-1798279218\">Will Harris' \"An oral history of Airplane\"</a>. It goes through the pre-history of the project, how it eventually got made, and the aftermath. In many ways, it is like an old-fashioned DVD extra. The whole book consists of snippets of interviews with the cast, crew, and various talking heads.</p>\n\n<p>Like all DVD special features, it is <em>fairly</em> sycophantic. Yes, there are some good-natured swipes at the people who passed on the script, but it is a bit of a Hollywood love-in. The self-deprecating humour is there to make people look classy - for example:</p>\n\n<blockquote><p>Eisner’s also the one who once said, “If I had green-lit every movie I’ve passed on and passed on every movie I green-lit, my track record would probably be about the same.”</p></blockquote>\n\n<p>About the only time it gets into anything other than \"gooly-gee how lucky are we\" is a small section talking about the star of one of their other films - the notorious murderer OJ Simpson:</p>\n\n<blockquote><p><strong>David</strong>: I directed him in the Naked Gun movies. Although he actually improved with each film, his acting remained a lot like his murdering — he got away with it, but no one really believed him.</p></blockquote>\n\n<p>Some of the commentary is a bit perfunctory. Do we really need to know that Quentin Tarantino liked the movie? It's nice, I guess. Tim Allen bemoaning the state of comedy today lands like a turd in a punchbowl.</p>\n\n<p>The photos throughout are good - especially those showing how the framing of certain shots were lovingly ripped off from Zero Hour.</p>\n\n<p>It is a fun and uncomplicated book. For students of film, it is always fascinating to see how the sausage gets made. Occasionally it veers into \"IMDb trivia\" and you do get the sense that most of the anecdotes have been retold a thousand times. Still, it is entertaining.</p>\n\n<p>There is a bit of a glum streak running through it though:</p>\n\n<blockquote><p><strong>JEFFREY KATZENBERG</strong>: Airplane! was not like anything else. And Michael Eisner, I think, felt that in his bones. Like, “Wow, this is really, really unique, and as such, is the kind of thing we should be doing!”</p></blockquote>\n\n<p>Where did it all go wrong in Hollywood? Why are the people who made their name with weird films now content to pump out mediocrity?</p>\n\n<p>There's a tantalising moment talking about alternative takes and an original cut which was some 20 minutes longer. But, alas:</p>\n\n<blockquote><p>Sadly, Paramount threw out all the dailies; every studio did at that time. All those reels took physical space that they needed on the lot, so they threw them out, including Airplane! Although I’m pretty sure they kept the outtakes from The Godfather.</p></blockquote>\n\n<p>Certainly worth flicking through if you're a fan of the film, but hardly revelatory.</p>",
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"term": "Book Review",
"url": "https://shkspr.mobi/blog"
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{
"label": "comedy",
"term": "comedy",
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{
"id": "https://shkspr.mobi/blog/?p=63035",
"title": "Removing \"/Subtype /Watermark\" images from a PDF using Linux",
"description": "Problem: I've received a PDF which has a large \"watermark\" obscuring every page. Investigating: Opening the PDF in LibreOffice Draw allowed me to see that the watermark was a separate image floating above the others. Manual Solution: Hit page down, select image, delete, repeat 500 times. BORING! Further Investigating: Using pdftk, it's possible to decompress a PDF. That makes it easier to look …",
"url": "https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/removing-subtype-watermark-images-from-a-pdf-using-linux/",
"published": "2026-01-22T12:34:02.000Z",
"updated": "2026-01-15T11:33:03.000Z",
"content": "<p><strong>Problem:</strong> I've received a PDF which has a large \"watermark\" obscuring every page.</p>\n\n<p><strong>Investigating:</strong> Opening the PDF in LibreOffice Draw allowed me to see that the watermark was a separate image floating above the others.</p>\n\n<p><strong>Manual Solution:</strong> Hit page down, select image, delete, repeat 500 times. BORING!</p>\n\n<p><strong>Further Investigating:</strong> Using <a href=\"https://linux.die.net/man/1/pdftk\">pdftk</a>, it's possible to decompress a PDF. That makes it easier to look through manually.</p>\n\n<p><code>pdftk input.pdf output output.pdf uncompress</code></p>\n\n<p>Hey presto! A PDF you can open in a text editor! Deep joy!</p>\n\n<p><strong>Searching:</strong> On a hunch, I searched for \"watermark\" and found several lines like this:</p>\n\n<pre><code class=\"language-_\"><<\n/Length 548\n>>\nstream\n/Figure <</MCID 0 >>BDC q 0 0 477 733.464 re W n q /GS0 gs 479.2799893 0 0 735.5999836 -1.0800002 -1.0559941 cm /Im0 Do Q EMC \n/Figure <</MCID 1 >>BDC Q q 28.333 300.661 420.334 126.141 re W n q /GS0 gs 420.3339603 0 0 126.1418879 28.3330078 300.6610601 cm /Im1 Do Q EMC\n/Figure <</MCID 2 >>BDC Q q 16.106 0 444.787 215.464 re W n q /GS0 gs 444.7874274 0 0 216.5921386 16.1062775 -1.1281493 cm /Im2 Do Q EMC\n/Artifact <</Subtype /Watermark /Type /Pagination >>BDC Q q 0.7361145 0 0 0.7361145 113.3616638 240.8575745 cm /GS1 gs /Fm0 Do Q EMC\nendstream\nendobj\n</code></pre>\n\n<p>Those are <a href=\"https://opensource.adobe.com/dc-acrobat-sdk-docs/library/pdfmark/pdfmark_Logical.html\">Marked Content Blocks</a>. In <em>theory</em> you can just chop out the line with <code>/Subtype /Watermark</code> but each block has a <code>/length</code> variable - so you'd also need to adjust that to account for what you've changed - otherwise the layout goes all screwy.</p>\n\n<p>That led me to <a href=\"https://github.com/pymupdf/PyMuPDF/discussions/1855\">PyMuPDF which claimed to solve the problem</a>. But running that code only removed <em>some</em> of the watermarks. It got stuck on an infinite loop on certain pages.</p>\n\n<p>So, now that I had more detailed knowledge, I managed to get an LLM to construct something which <em>mostly</em> seems to work.</p>\n\n<p>Does it work with every PDF? I don't know. Does it contain subtle implementation bugs? Probably. Is there an easier way to do this? Not that I can find.</p>\n\n<pre><code class=\"language-python\">import re\nimport pymupdf\n\n# Open the PDF\ndoc = pymupdf.open(\"output.pdf\")\n\n# Regex of the watermarks\npattern = re.compile(\n rb\"/Artifact\\s*<<[^>]*?/Subtype\\s*/Watermark[^>]*?>>BDC.*?EMC\",\n re.DOTALL\n)\n\n# Loop through the PDF's pages\nfor page_num, page in enumerate(doc, start=1):\n print(f\"Processing page {page_num}\")\n xrefs = page.get_contents()\n for xref in xrefs:\n cont = doc.xref_stream(xref)\n new_cont, n = pattern.subn(b\"\", cont)\n if n > 0:\n print(f\" Removed {n} watermark block(s)\")\n doc.update_stream(xref, new_cont)\n\ndoc.save(\"no-watermarks.pdf\")\n</code></pre>\n\n<p>One of the (many) problems with Vibe Coding is that trying to get a LLM to spit out something useful depends <em>massively</em> on how well you know the subject area. I'm proud to say I know vanishingly little about the <a href=\"https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2015/11/a-polite-way-to-say-ridiculously-complicated/\">baroque</a> PDF specification - which meant that most of my attempts to use various \"AI\" tools consisted of me saying \"No, that doesn't work\" and the accurs'd machine saying back \"Golly-gee! You're right! Let me fix that!\" and then breaking something else.</p>\n\n<p>I'm not sure this is the future we wanted, but it looks like the future we've got.</p>",
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{
"id": "https://shkspr.mobi/blog/?p=65799",
"title": "Book Review: Exterminate/Regenerate - The Story of Doctor Who by John Higgs ★★★★☆",
"description": "The problem with fans is that we want to know everything. What did Lennon eat for breakfast the day he recorded Imagine? Which colour pencil did the script editor use on our favourite episode of Doctor Who? Did the costume designer on Buffy secretly sneak in Masonic references in that extra's shirt?!?! There's no trivia so obscure that it won't be referenced somewhere, debated endlessly, and…",
"url": "https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/book-review-exterminate-regenerate-the-story-of-doctor-who-by-john-higgs/",
"published": "2026-01-21T12:34:26.000Z",
"updated": "2026-01-21T11:07:42.000Z",
"content": "<img src=\"https://shkspr.mobi/blog/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Exterminate_new-colours-copy-scaled-1.webp\" alt=\"Book cover showing a Dalek in a time vortex.\" width=\"333\" height=\"512\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-65805\">\n\n<p>The problem with fans is that we want to know <em>everything</em>. What did Lennon eat for breakfast the day he recorded Imagine? Which colour pencil did the script editor use on our favourite episode of Doctor Who? Did the costume designer on Buffy secretly sneak in Masonic references in that extra's shirt?!?!</p>\n\n<p>There's no trivia so obscure that it won't be referenced somewhere, debated endlessly, and eventually schism'd.</p>\n\n<p>The problem with Doctor Who histories is that the <em>real</em> fans know all there is to know, and the filthy casuals have very little interest in the obscure trivia about how the BBC Electrician's strike was a major turning point in the show.</p>\n\n<p>John Higgs has a difficult job. How can you possibly summarise over a half-a-century of Who and make the history interesting and relevant? The answer is simple - philosophy.</p>\n\n<p>This isn't \"Everything I Learned About Kantian Ethics I Learned for Doctor Who\" - but a rather more subtle musing about the nature of television, how stories drive their tellers insane, and how the viewing public are complicit in the eventual disintegration of our favourite shows.</p>\n\n<p>This goes from the pre-history (why did Doctor Who the TV show exist) all the way up to the end of Ncuti Gatwa's first series. It covers some well-trodden ground that will be familiar to the people who turn on the DVD trivia tracks - but it adds a bit of bite. This isn't a sycophantic piece of corporate biography; there are some rather distressing and shocking truths about the people who brought such magic into our lives.</p>\n\n<p>There are some odd gaps. While we probably don't need the ins-and-outs of every casting decision, but it is a bit odd to relegate the 1960s' movies to a few sentences. As ever, with books like this, a few photos and illustrations wouldn't have gone amiss - but I suspect rights issues would have scuppered that.</p>\n\n<p>The book really gets going when it leaves the history behind and reflects on the <em>nature</em> of the show.</p>\n\n<blockquote><p>The question of whether Doctor Who should grow up with its audience or target a new generation of children was one that the programme makers would struggle with many times over the following decades.</p></blockquote>\n\n<p>It skewers some of the myths which are uncritically repeated by fans who have only a surface-level understanding of what the show is about and why it succeeds.</p>\n\n<blockquote><p>Just as the Doctor is a trickster who dons the disguise of a hero, Doctor Who is a show that claims to champion science and logic to disguise its innate mysticism.</p></blockquote>\n\n<p>As it dives in and out of the history, there are some wild revelations and some absolutely WTF moments of both synchronicity and sycophancy. For a book which deals with fans and fandom, it is remarkably brutal in its honesty. No one comes out of Doctor Who unscathed - and the fans are often (self-inflicted) casualties.</p>\n\n<blockquote><p>[T]he Valeyard [could] be seen as the representation of the darker side of British fandom</p></blockquote>\n\n<p>Is that true? It is certainly a plausible reading of how the toxic culture of fandom helped sow the seeds of the show's eventual downfall (and, to be fair, resurrection). It is, <em>perhaps</em>, a little portentous and overwrought at times - for example, when talking about Sylvester McCoy's Doctor's regeneration in the 1996 movie:</p>\n\n<blockquote><p>Seeing him struggling to avoid being anaesthetised and then killed in an expensive, state-of-the-art American medical centre, it was hard not to see the cheap and cheerful British version of the show being held down and put to sleep by the glossy new production team, who didn’t fully understand what they had or why they were about to unintentionally kill it.</p></blockquote>\n\n<p>Is that a reach? It is certainly a valid if perhaps unintentional reading of the scene.</p>\n\n<p>The book veers between the gossip of the production and the critical appraisal of the object. It never quite settles on whether it is a history, philosophy, or psychological profile of the show. This sums it up best:</p>\n\n<blockquote><p>The drama backstage leaked into, and ultimately overwhelmed, the drama on screen.</p></blockquote>\n\n<p>If you're interested in Doctor Who - and don't mind some of your sacred cows being slaughtered - this is a compelling read.</p>",
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{
"id": "https://shkspr.mobi/blog/?p=63533",
"title": "Discovering My Talk",
"description": "My mother, the actress Carrie Cohen, once had a blazing argument with Anthony Hopkins. He was saying that he preferred appearing in Hollywood blockbusters compared to appearing on the stage because nothing was more boring than playing Hamlet for the 100th time. My mother's contention was that he was talking rubbish. The joy of repeated performance is finding new and interesting ways to bring the …",
"url": "https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/discovering-my-talk/",
"published": "2026-01-20T12:34:26.000Z",
"updated": "2026-01-17T09:40:31.000Z",
"content": "<p>My mother, <a href=\"https://carriecohen.co.uk/\">the actress Carrie Cohen</a>, once had a blazing argument with Anthony Hopkins<sup id=\"fnref:TV\"><a href=\"https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/discovering-my-talk/#fn:TV\" class=\"footnote-ref\" title=\"Well, she shouted at the TV while he was on a chat show. It remains unknown if he heard her.\" role=\"doc-noteref\">0</a></sup>. He was saying that he preferred appearing in Hollywood blockbusters compared to appearing on the stage because nothing was more boring than playing Hamlet for the 100th time.</p>\n\n<p>My mother's contention was that he was talking rubbish. The joy of repeated performance is finding new and interesting ways to bring the character to life. Even after a hundred performances, you will still be able to discover exciting and subtle nuances.</p>\n\n<p>My mother, of course, was right<sup id=\"fnref:sorry\"><a href=\"https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/discovering-my-talk/#fn:sorry\" class=\"footnote-ref\" title=\"Tony has yet to apologise.\" role=\"doc-noteref\">1</a></sup>.</p>\n\n<p>I was at EuroBSDCon a few months ago giving a talk I'd given several times before. As I was rehearsing it, I felt the comforting familiarity of an old friend. I knew when to pause, where to place the emphasis, how to build to a crescendo. This was going to be delightfully boring for me.</p>\n\n<p>And then I got on stage.</p>\n\n<p>I know my script. True, I occasionally glance at the speaker notes, but I don't rely on it. This frees me. My mind can wander just a little bit and explore what I'm saying.</p>\n\n<p>My brain makes connections that were previously hidden from me. Exciting new ways to express myself spring forth from my mouth. I'm not consciously aware of the joke that I make until the laughter has subsided. I gradually discover a new turn of phrase. The awkward segue suddenly resolves itself. The talk that I'm giving is <em>not</em> the same as the one I planned; it is better. You can rehearse a thousand times, but there's something about having an audience which helps you discover what it is you want to say.</p>\n\n<p>There is nothing like live performance to help you discover yourself.</p>\n\n<div id=\"footnotes\" role=\"doc-endnotes\">\n<hr>\n<ol start=\"0\">\n\n<li id=\"fn:TV\">\n<p>Well, she shouted at the TV while he was on a chat show. It remains unknown if he heard her. <a href=\"https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/discovering-my-talk/#fnref:TV\" class=\"footnote-backref\" role=\"doc-backlink\">↩︎</a></p>\n</li>\n\n<li id=\"fn:sorry\">\n<p>Tony has yet to apologise. <a href=\"https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/discovering-my-talk/#fnref:sorry\" class=\"footnote-backref\" role=\"doc-backlink\">↩︎</a></p>\n</li>\n\n</ol>\n</div>",
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"name": "@edent",
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{
"id": "https://shkspr.mobi/blog/?p=66394",
"title": "Book Review: Sky Daddy by Kate Folk ★★★⯪☆",
"description": "What - and I cannot stress this enough - the actual ever-loving fuck!? OK, perhaps it was a mistake to start reading this while on an international flight. The book concerns Linda, a content moderator at an endlessly sub-contracted tech company, who is in love with planes. No, strike that, she is excessively sexually attracted to the idea of dying in a plane crash. Yeah. The story goes…",
"url": "https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/book-review-sky-daddy-by-kate-folk/",
"published": "2026-01-19T12:34:35.000Z",
"updated": "2026-01-15T11:33:00.000Z",
"content": "<img src=\"https://shkspr.mobi/blog/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/sky-daddy.webp\" alt=\"Book cover featuring a phallic plane.\" width=\"200\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-66396\">\n\n<p>What - and I cannot stress this enough - the <em>actual</em> ever-loving fuck!?<sup id=\"fnref:wtf\"><a href=\"https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/book-review-sky-daddy-by-kate-folk/#fn:wtf\" class=\"footnote-ref\" title=\"Every other paragraph made me scribble WTF in the margin.\" role=\"doc-noteref\">0</a></sup></p>\n\n<p>OK, perhaps it was a mistake to start reading this while on an international flight. The book concerns Linda, a content moderator at an endlessly sub-contracted tech company, who is in love with planes. No, strike that, she is excessively sexually attracted to the idea of dying in a plane crash.</p>\n\n<p>Yeah.</p>\n\n<p>The story goes though all her attempts to, effectively, manifest an in-air disaster through the power of wishful thinking and frantic masturbation.</p>\n\n<p>This isn't exactly erotica<sup id=\"fnref:eros\"><a href=\"https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/book-review-sky-daddy-by-kate-folk/#fn:eros\" class=\"footnote-ref\" title=\"Not that there's anything wrong with that!\" role=\"doc-noteref\">1</a></sup>, it contains a rich stream of satire about the modern tech industry and how it chews up and spits out the people working at the sticky end of keeping platforms safe.</p>\n\n<p>This is one of the most creative novels I've read in some time. The protagonist is a creepy blank-slate whose unhealthy obsession drips off the page<sup id=\"fnref:aut\"><a href=\"https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/book-review-sky-daddy-by-kate-folk/#fn:aut\" class=\"footnote-ref\" title=\"Look, you probably shouldn't do an armchair diagnosis of fictional characters but this is possibly the most autistic-coded character I've read since In Search of Lost Time.\" role=\"doc-noteref\">2</a></sup>. Her morose existence is - to mix fantasies - a car crash. I can honestly say that I haven't read anything like this before and I've no idea if I'm the intended audience.</p>\n\n<p>I wouldn't necessarily describe the book as fun and enjoyable, nor is is particularly sexy<sup id=\"fnref:sexy\"><a href=\"https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/book-review-sky-daddy-by-kate-folk/#fn:sexy\" class=\"footnote-ref\" title=\"Unless, I guess, you're in to that sort of thing. YKINMKBYKIOK!\" role=\"doc-noteref\">3</a></sup>. It is intriguing, entertaining, and constantly baffling. How wonderful to step inside the mind of an utter deviant and soak up their bizarre existence.</p>\n\n<div id=\"footnotes\" role=\"doc-endnotes\">\n<hr>\n<ol start=\"0\">\n\n<li id=\"fn:wtf\">\n<p>Every other paragraph made me scribble WTF in the margin. <a href=\"https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/book-review-sky-daddy-by-kate-folk/#fnref:wtf\" class=\"footnote-backref\" role=\"doc-backlink\">↩︎</a></p>\n</li>\n\n<li id=\"fn:eros\">\n<p>Not that there's anything wrong with that! <a href=\"https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/book-review-sky-daddy-by-kate-folk/#fnref:eros\" class=\"footnote-backref\" role=\"doc-backlink\">↩︎</a></p>\n</li>\n\n<li id=\"fn:aut\">\n<p>Look, you probably shouldn't do an armchair diagnosis of fictional characters but this is possibly the most autistic-coded character I've read since <a href=\"https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2025/02/book-review-in-search-of-lost-time-marcel-proust/\">In Search of Lost Time</a>. <a href=\"https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/book-review-sky-daddy-by-kate-folk/#fnref:aut\" class=\"footnote-backref\" role=\"doc-backlink\">↩︎</a></p>\n</li>\n\n<li id=\"fn:sexy\">\n<p>Unless, I guess, you're in to that sort of thing. <a href=\"https://fanlore.org/wiki/Your_Kink_Is_Not_My_Kink\">YKINMKBYKIOK</a>! <a href=\"https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/book-review-sky-daddy-by-kate-folk/#fnref:sexy\" class=\"footnote-backref\" role=\"doc-backlink\">↩︎</a></p>\n</li>\n\n</ol>\n</div>",
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{
"id": "https://shkspr.mobi/blog/?p=67177",
"title": "Book Review: Sublimation by Isabel J. Kim ★★★★★",
"description": "This is an astounding bit of high-concept sci-fi. Imagine a world where crossing a border literally split your body in two. A young woman emigrates from South Korea - one version of her stays in Seoul, another version goes off to live in New York. This is the way humanity has always existed. People bifurcating and dealing with the consequences. It is heady stuff. The book spans life, love,…",
"url": "https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/book-review-sublimation-by-isabel-j-kim/",
"published": "2026-01-18T12:34:45.000Z",
"updated": "2026-01-17T10:25:06.000Z",
"content": "<img src=\"https://shkspr.mobi/blog/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/sublimation-12.jpg\" alt=\"Book cover featuring repeated images of a young Korean woman.\" width=\"200\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-67180\">\n\n<p>This is an astounding bit of high-concept sci-fi. Imagine a world where crossing a border literally split your body in two. A young woman emigrates from South Korea - one version of her stays in Seoul, another version goes off to live in New York. This is the way humanity has always existed. People bifurcating and dealing with the consequences.</p>\n\n<p>It is heady stuff. The book spans life, love, politics, religion, and folklore. It layers on narrative and meta-narrative. Like any debut novel, there are too many ideas to be contained and the plot seems to spill beyond its pages. What would the fascist ICE do with immigrants who were mere clones of the people they left behind?</p>\n\n<p>The dizzying implications of the story are matched only by the gorgeously intricate plot. Does the tale need to occasionally be told in the second-person? You don't think so, but you also can't think of a better way to illustrate how strange it is to argue with your other-self. You enjoy all the literary and scholarly references and find they add poetic texture to balance out the increasing tension.</p>\n\n<p>Unlike other hard sci-fi, it doesn't spend <em>too</em> much time on exposition; it gets drip fed to the reader. But it is happy to dive into the <em>practicalities</em> of a world where refugees might leave behind more than just memories. There's a small but necessary amount of technobabble, and a large but necessary amount of moral philosophising. <a href=\"https://www.polygon.com/22586158/tuvix-star-trek-memes-voyager-janeway-debate/\">Tuvix</a> did not die in vain.</p>\n\n<p>Sublimation lives up to the hype. It is dramatic, powerful, intriguing, and - above all - fun.</p>\n\n<p>Many thanks to NetGalley for the review copy. Sublimation is available to pre-order now for delivery in July. I recommend reading it twice.</p>",
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{
"id": "https://shkspr.mobi/blog/?p=67165",
"title": "Review: Lander 23 by Punchdrunk ★★★⯪☆",
"description": "Lander 23 had a few pre-launch glitches, but is now up and running in Woolwich. It is a fun enough experience, but could be a whole lot more with some tweaks. In a team of four, you are split into two groups. One group operates a baffling array of switches and has to direct the other group around a ruined city because of [under developed plot point]. Only by working together can you… well, it i…",
"url": "https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/review-lander-23/",
"published": "2026-01-17T12:34:30.000Z",
"updated": "2026-01-17T08:56:21.000Z",
"content": "<img src=\"https://shkspr.mobi/blog/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Punchdrunk-Lander-23-t.webp\" alt=\"Poster featuring two people running through a smoke filled sci-fi corridor.\" width=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-67167\">\n\n<p>Lander 23 had a few pre-launch glitches, but is now up and running in Woolwich. It is a fun enough experience, but could be a whole lot more with some tweaks. In a team of four, you are split into two groups. One group operates a baffling array of switches and has to direct the other group around a ruined city because of [under developed plot point]. Only by working together can you… well, it is unclear. Something to do with energy?</p>\n\n<p>Think of it a bit like a longer game of \"The Crystal Maze\". Over a radio commlink, you try telling your team mates to go left down a corridor and then explain you meant the <em>other</em> left. The explorers have to creep around the set, avoiding baddies (and sometimes other players) while listening to your half-baked instructions.</p>\n\n<p>Then you swap positions and suddenly understand some of the seemingly bizarre decisions your friends made.</p>\n\n<p>It is hard to know how to categorise this. Punchdrunk are known for immersive theatre - but this is billed as a live action video game. It isn't a LARP in the traditional sense; you won't be driving the story. It also isn't an escape room although the teamwork aspect is similar. There aren't any puzzles, and the story is paper-thin. But it is rather a good laugh. Sort of like an adult Laser Quest without guns.</p>\n\n<p>The pre-show is pretty good. There's a well dressed set to wander around with lots of interesting (but irrelevant) scenery and props. The instructions are reasonably clear and the \"Lander\" set looks a bit like the Nostromo from Alien. The interactive consoles are brilliantly designed. The various industrial knobs and buttons feel delightful to play with and react well. It is rather a shame that they're so under utilised. The driver team is given a baffling arrays of inputs to manage - but only a small subsection do anything useful.</p>\n\n<p>The city set (supposedly an alien planet) is recycled from the previous \"Burnt City\" production. It looks lush but doesn't make any sense in context of the (slightly flimsy) story. It is exciting to wander through while being pursued by guards (what guards? Isn't this an alien planet?) but there isn't much time to admire the extensive set dressing.</p>\n\n<p>While you're running around (or telling people to run around) there's some nonsense about collecting energy. Oh and you might lose a life if caught. And you have to flick the switches at the right time. Don't forget to duck behind the scenery to hide when told. There's a <em>lot</em> going on. It is exhilarating but you only get about 15-20 minutes of play time each.</p>\n\n<p>There's a briefing about how to find cassettes and stamps. Across our two goes, we found one of them and got one stamp. What does that do? Nothing as far as I can tell. There might also be artefacts to collect, but we didn't find any, nor were we sure that they'd net us extra points.</p>\n\n<p>Let's talk about the points aspect. At the end, our team, were delighted to have come second!</p>\n\n<img src=\"https://shkspr.mobi/blog/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Leaderboard.webp\" alt=\"Digital display board showing team numbers and points.\" width=\"1557\" height=\"1168\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-67169\">\n\n<p>What did that mean? <strong>Nothing</strong>.</p>\n\n<p>If you play Laser Quest, you get to see your <em>name</em> up on the big screen - Lander 23 just displays your team number. I sort of expected to be handed a certificate. Or money off our next trip. Or a commemorative tchotchke. Or even a video thanking us for saving the universe. We just took off our tactical vests and handed them back. Which was slightly underwhelming.</p>\n\n<p>I <em>think</em> the leader-board is there to encourage replayability. But as your scores aren't recorded, there isn't much incentive to come back for another go. I expected a follow-up email thanking us for playing or asking for feedback but, again, nothing. After that much adrenaline, I was expecting just a <em>little</em> aftercare.</p>\n\n<p>There's a photo-booth once you've completed the mission, but you have to ask other players to take your photo. It would have been so easy for Punchdrunk to have a staff member there to take snaps and email them. Again, that's what most escape rooms do. Instead, we headed to the bar to enjoy a few cocktails while we debriefed ourselves.</p>\n\n<p>All four of us agreed at that it had been a pretty good experience. We laughed a lot describing what we'd got up to. Our hearts were racing, we were sweating from the tension, and felt like it had been a decent afternoon out.</p>\n\n<p>Ultimately, Lander 23 feels like it has been designed by someone who has <em>heard of</em> games like Laser Quest / Escape Rooms / The Crystal Maze but, crucially, hasn't ever played them.</p>\n\n<p>For all that, it is a lot of fun. Running around corridors with a friend is <em>very</em> Doctor Who. Flicking lots of switches and pressing buttons is an enjoyable tactile experience.</p>\n\n<p>It is absolutely worth finding a cheaper mid-week slot and giving it a go. If you're willing to get into the spirit of things, and are happy to put up with some odd game-design decisions, you'll have fun.</p>",
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{
"id": "https://shkspr.mobi/blog/?p=63046",
"title": "Should HTML's code blocks be translated?",
"description": "I was recently prompted to test my blog's layout when rendered in right-to-left text. Running a website through an automatic translator into a language like Arabic or Hebrew will show you any weird little layout glitches which might occur. But mechanical translation is a bit of an unthinking brute. In this example, I had a code snippet which contained the word \"link\". Should that word be…",
"url": "https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/should-htmls-blocks-be-translated/",
"published": "2026-01-16T12:34:53.000Z",
"updated": "2026-01-09T08:47:38.000Z",
"content": "<p>I was recently prompted to <a href=\"https://bsky.app/profile/vale.rocks/post/3lxgvpipy4k2q\">test my blog's layout when rendered in right-to-left text</a>. Running a website through an automatic translator into a language like Arabic or Hebrew will show you any weird little layout glitches which might occur.</p>\n\n<p>But mechanical translation is a bit of an unthinking brute. In this example, I had a code snippet which contained the word \"link\".</p>\n\n<img src=\"https://shkspr.mobi/blog/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/translate.webp\" alt=\"HTML code block, one of the element names is rendered in Arabic.\" width=\"1008\" height=\"567\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-63048\">\n\n<p>Should that word be translated? Obviously not! The code isn't valid unless the element name is in English - and it probably doesn't make sense to reverse the text direction.</p>\n\n<p>Luckily, the HTML specification allows authors to mark specific bits of their page as unsuitable for automatic translations. <a href=\"https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTML/Reference/Global_attributes/translate\">The <code>translate</code> global attribute</a> can be applied to your markup like this:</p>\n\n<pre><code class=\"language-html\"><code translate=\"no\">\n &lt;link … &gt;\n &lt;meta … &gt;\n &lt;strong&gt;Hello&lt;/strong&gt;\n</code>\n</code></pre>\n\n<p>Nothing inside that code block will be translated. Hurrah!</p>\n\n<p>But there are some problems with this approach.</p>\n\n<p>Consider this pseudo-code:</p>\n\n<pre><code class=\"language-_\">// Reverse the polarity of the neutron flow.\n$neutron = $atom.flow( direction=\"backwards\" );\n</code></pre>\n\n<p>Fairly obviously, the code itself shouldn't be translated. It simply won't run unless the syntax is precisely as written. But what about the comment at the top? It would probably be useful to have that translated, right?</p>\n\n<p>It is possible to mark up different parts of a document to be translatable even if their parent isn't:</p>\n\n<pre><code class=\"language-html\"><code translate=\"no\">\n <span translate=\"yes\">// Reverse the polarity of the neutron flow.</span>\n $neutron = $atom.flow( direction=\"backwards\" );\n</code>\n</code></pre>\n\n<p>At least, that's my understanding of <a href=\"https://html.spec.whatwg.org/multipage/dom.html#attr-translate\">the specification</a>.</p>\n\n<p>This brings us on to another complex problem. Consider this code block which might be embedded in a page as an example:</p>\n\n<pre><code class=\"language-js\">// Ensure the age is calculated from the user's birthday\nvar age = today.date - user.birthday;\n</code></pre>\n\n<p>If translated into Chinese, the comment might say:</p>\n\n<pre><code class=\"language-js\">// 确保年龄是根据用户的生日计算的\nvar age = today.date - user.birthday;\n</code></pre>\n\n<p>But is it useful to have variable names be different between comments and the code?</p>\n\n<p>In some contexts yes, in others no!</p>\n\n<p>And that's where we hit the limits of the current crop of machine-translation algorithms. Without a holistic view of the entire page, and a semantic understanding of how previous words relate to subsequent words, there will always be glitches and gotchas like this.</p>\n\n<p>For now, I'm marking my code blocks as non-translatable but letting comments be fully translated. If you have strong opinions about this - please leave a comment!</p>",
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{
"id": "https://shkspr.mobi/blog/?p=65215",
"title": "Book Review: Rabbit Test and Other Stories by Samantha Mills ★★★★☆",
"description": "This is an an interesting and varied set of sci-fi/fantasy stories. Some barely a couple of pages, others cutting short at just the right time. They are all on a similar theme - the strife between parents and children. Whether it is a twisted take on classic fairy tales, or a dive into the far future - there's always something interesting going on. Samantha Mills has a excellent eye for…",
"url": "https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/book-review-rabbit-test-and-other-stories-by-samantha-mills/",
"published": "2026-01-15T12:34:41.000Z",
"updated": "2026-01-09T08:47:39.000Z",
"content": "<img src=\"https://shkspr.mobi/blog/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/RabbitTestCollection_Website.webp\" alt=\"Book cover.\" width=\"200\" height=\"619\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-65216\">\n\n<p>This is an an interesting and varied set of sci-fi/fantasy stories. Some barely a couple of pages, others cutting short at <em>just</em> the right time. They are all on a similar theme - the strife between parents and children. Whether it is a twisted take on classic fairy tales, or a dive into the far future - there's always something interesting going on.</p>\n\n<p>Samantha Mills has a excellent eye for neologisms and isn't afraid to deploy humour with sometimes devastating effect.</p>\n\n<p>The titular \"Rabbit Test\" is excellent but - like most of the others - it is a riff on some genre classics. That's not a bad thing; it's always fun to explore tropes from a different angle. Each story is entertaining, but most left me thinking \"now where have I heard that before?\"</p>\n\n<p>One of the lovely things is the story notes at the end. Like a little behind-the-scenes feature on a DVD extra. More books should give the reader a glimpse behind the writing process.</p>\n\n<p>Many thanks to NetGalley for the review copy. Rabbit Test is available to pre-order now.</p>",
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"url": "https://shkspr.mobi/blog"
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"term": "NetGalley",
"url": "https://shkspr.mobi/blog"
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"term": "Sci Fi",
"url": "https://shkspr.mobi/blog"
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{
"id": "https://shkspr.mobi/blog/?p=64849",
"title": "Responsible Disclosure: Chimoney Android App and KYCaid",
"description": "Chimoney is a new \"multi-currency wallet\" provider. Based out of Canada, it allows users to send money to and from a variety of currencies. It also supports the new Interledger protocol for WebMonetization. It is, as far as I can tell, unregulated by any financial institution. Nevertheless, it performs a \"Know Your Customer\" (KYC) check on all new account in order to prevent fraud. To do this,…",
"url": "https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/responsible-disclosure-chimoney-android-app-and-kycaid/",
"published": "2026-01-14T12:34:52.000Z",
"updated": "2026-01-09T08:47:33.000Z",
"content": "<p><a href=\"https://chimoney.app/\">Chimoney</a> is a new \"multi-currency wallet\" provider. Based out of Canada, it allows users to send money to and from a variety of currencies. It also supports the new Interledger protocol for <a href=\"https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2025/08/security-flaws-in-the-webmonetization-site/\">WebMonetization</a>.</p>\n\n<p>It is, as far as I can tell, unregulated by any financial institution. Nevertheless, it performs a \"Know Your Customer\" (KYC) check on all new account in order to prevent fraud. To do this, it uses the Ukranian <a href=\"https://kycaid.com/\">KYCaid</a> platform.</p>\n\n<p>So far, so standard. But there's a small problem with how they both integrate.</p>\n\n<p>I installed Chimoney's Android app and attempted to go through KYCaid's verification process. For some reason it hit me with this error message.</p>\n\n<img src=\"https://shkspr.mobi/blog/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/error.webp\" alt=\"Screenshot. An error occurred and an email address.\" width=\"504\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-64856\">\n\n<p>Well, I'd better click that email and report the problem.</p>\n\n<img src=\"https://shkspr.mobi/blog/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/email-protected.webp\" alt=\"Screenshot. The email is protected, but clickable.\" width=\"504\" height=\"240\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-64855\">\n\n<p>Oh, that's odd. What happens if I click the protected link?</p>\n\n<img src=\"https://shkspr.mobi/blog/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Cloudflare.webp\" alt=\"Screenshot. Cloudflare's email protection screen.\" width=\"504\" height=\"625\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-64854\">\n\n<p>Huh! I guess I've been taken to Cloudflare's website. What happens if I click on the links on their page?</p>\n\n<img src=\"https://shkspr.mobi/blog/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/discord.webp\" alt=\"Screenshot. Invitation to join Cloudflare's Discord.\" width=\"504\" height=\"606\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-64853\">\n\n<p>Looks like I can now visit any site on the web. If Cloudflare has a link to it, I can go there. For example, GitHub.</p>\n\n<img src=\"https://shkspr.mobi/blog/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/github.webp\" alt=\"Screenshot. GitHub page still within the Chimoney app.\" width=\"504\" height=\"499\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-64852\">\n\n<h2 id=\"why-is-this-a-problem\"><a href=\"https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/responsible-disclosure-chimoney-android-app-and-kycaid/#why-is-this-a-problem\">Why is this a problem?</a></h2>\n\n<blockquote><p><a href=\"https://mas.owasp.org/MASTG/knowledge/android/MASVS-PLATFORM/MASTG-KNOW-0018/\">MASTG-KNOW-0018: WebViews</a></p>\n\n<p>One of the most important things to do when testing WebViews is to make sure that only trusted content can be loaded in it. Any newly loaded page could be potentially malicious, try to exploit any WebView bindings or try to phish the user. <strong>Unless you're developing a browser app, usually you'd like to restrict the pages being loaded to the domain of your app.</strong> A good practice is to prevent the user from even having the chance to input any URLs inside WebViews (which is the default on Android) nor navigate outside the trusted domains. Even when navigating on trusted domains there's still the risk that the user might encounter and click on other links to untrustworthy content</p>\n\n<p><small>Emphasis added</small></p></blockquote>\n\n<p>A company's app is its sacred space. It shouldn't let anyone penetrate its inner sanctum because it has no control over what that 3rd party shows its customers.</p>\n\n<p>There's nothing stopping an external service displaying a message like \"To continue, please transfer 0.1 Bitcon to …\"</p>\n\n<p>(Of course, if your KYC provider - or their CDN - decides to turn evil then you probably have bigger problems!)</p>\n\n<p>There are some other problems. It has long been known that <a href=\"https://discussions.apple.com/thread/7918307?sortBy=rank\">people can use in-app browsers to circumvent restrictions</a>. Some in-app browsers have <a href=\"https://medium.com/%40youssefhussein212103168/exploiting-insecure-android-webview-with-setallowuniversalaccessfromfileurls-c7f4f7a8db9c\">insecure configurations which can be used for exploits</a>. These sorts of \"accidentally open\" browsers <a href=\"https://matan-h.com/google-has-a-secret-browser-hidden-inside-the-settings/\">are often considered to be a security vulnerability</a>.</p>\n\n<h2 id=\"the-fix\"><a href=\"https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/responsible-disclosure-chimoney-android-app-and-kycaid/#the-fix\">The Fix</a></h2>\n\n<p>Ideally, an Android app like this wouldn't use a web view. It should use a KYC provider's API rather than giving them wholesale control of the user experience.</p>\n\n<p>But, suppose you do need a webview. What's the recommendation?</p>\n\n<p>Boring old <a href=\"https://blog.oversecured.com/Android-security-checklist-webview/#insufficient-url-validation\">URl validation</a> using <a href=\"https://developer.android.com/reference/android/webkit/WebViewClient#shouldOverrideUrlLoading(android.webkit.WebView,%20android.webkit.WebResourceRequest)\">Android's <code>shouldOverrideUrlLoading()</code> method</a>.</p>\n\n<p>Essentially, your app restricts what can be seen in the webview and rejects anything else.</p>\n\n<h2 id=\"risk\"><a href=\"https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/responsible-disclosure-chimoney-android-app-and-kycaid/#risk\">Risk</a></h2>\n\n<p>Look, this is pretty low risk. A user would have to take several deliberate steps to find themselves in a place of danger.</p>\n\n<p>Ultimately, it is \"<a href=\"https://wiki.c2.com/?CodeSmell\">Code Smell</a>\" - part of the app is giving off a noxious whiff. That's something you cannot afford to have on a money transfer app. If this simple security fix wasn't implemented, what other horrors are lurking in the source code?</p>\n\n<h2 id=\"contacting-the-company\"><a href=\"https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/responsible-disclosure-chimoney-android-app-and-kycaid/#contacting-the-company\">Contacting the company</a></h2>\n\n<p>There was no <a href=\"https://securitytxt.org/\">security.txt</a> contact - nor anything on their website about reporting security bugs. I reached out to the CEO by email, but didn't hear back.</p>\n\n<p>In desperation, I went on to Discord and asked in their support channel for help.</p>\n\n<img src=\"https://shkspr.mobi/blog/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/send-an-email.webp\" alt=\"Screenshot. Someone advising me on who to email.\" width=\"504\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-64857\">\n\n<p>Unfortunately, that email address didn't exist.</p>\n\n<img src=\"https://shkspr.mobi/blog/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/email-chimoney.webp\" alt=\"Bounce message.\" width=\"504\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-64851\">\n\n<p>I also tried contacting KYCaid, but they seemed unable or unwilling to help - and redirected me back to Chimoney.</p>\n\n<p>As it has been over two month since I sent them video of this bug, I'm performing a responsible disclosure to make people aware of the problem.</p>",
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"url": "https://shkspr.mobi/blog"
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{
"id": "https://shkspr.mobi/blog/?p=65619",
"title": "Book Review: Under the Eye of the Big Bird - Hiromi Kawakami ★★★★☆",
"description": "This is an intriguing and mostly satisfying sci-fi tale. It has shades of Oryx Crake mixed in with A Canticle for Leibowitz - we are mere observers of the tattered remains of humanity. Watchers guide scattered settlements as they strive to evolve and understand their place on a corrupted Earth. The writing is dreamy and hazy - reminiscent of Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go. It isn't…",
"url": "https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/book-review-under-the-eye-of-the-big-bird-hiromi-kawakami/",
"published": "2026-01-13T12:34:49.000Z",
"updated": "2026-01-09T08:47:34.000Z",
"content": "<img src=\"https://shkspr.mobi/blog/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/under-the-eye-of-the-big-bird-1.jpg\" alt=\"Book cover of a stylised bird.\" width=\"200\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-65621\">\n\n<p>This is an intriguing and <em>mostly</em> satisfying sci-fi tale. It has shades of Oryx Crake mixed in with A Canticle for Leibowitz - we are mere observers of the tattered remains of humanity. Watchers guide scattered settlements as they strive to evolve and understand their place on a corrupted Earth.</p>\n\n<p>The writing is dreamy and hazy - reminiscent of Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go. It isn't immediately clear what's happening; the story is drip-fed to us. Unfortunately it is rather undone by the penultimate chapter which is a great-big data-dump of exposition.</p>\n\n<p>If you've ever seen the show <a href=\"https://dhmis.tv/\">Don't Hug Me I'm Scared</a> you'll be well at home with the surreal and oblique nature of the storytelling presented here. The language is obtuse and confusing, reflecting the confusion these new humans feel.</p>\n\n<p>I think part of the story is a rejection of the hierarchy and artificial inter-personal structures often seen in societies like Japan. Everyone is simultaneously desperate to escape their confines while rigidly enforcing the status quo - with predictably disastrous results.</p>\n\n<p>It is a meandering tale, spanning eons, which ultimately feels a bit depressing.</p>",
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"url": "https://shkspr.mobi/blog"
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{
"id": "https://shkspr.mobi/blog/?p=63440",
"title": "Maximally Semantic Structure for a Blog Post",
"description": "Yes, I know the cliché that bloggers are always blogging about blogging! I like semantics. It tickles that part of my delicious meaty brain that longs for structure. Semantics are good for computers and humans. Computers can easily understand the structure of the data, humans can use tools like screen-readers to extract the data they're interested in. In HTML, there are three main ways to …",
"url": "https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/maximally-semantic-structure-for-a-blog-post/",
"published": "2026-01-12T12:34:53.000Z",
"updated": "2026-01-12T10:46:32.000Z",
"content": "<p>Yes, I know the cliché that bloggers are always blogging about blogging!</p>\n\n<p>I like semantics. It tickles that part of my delicious meaty brain that longs for structure. Semantics are good for computers and humans. Computers can easily understand the structure of the data, humans can use tools like screen-readers to extract the data they're interested in.</p>\n\n<p>In HTML, there are three main ways to impose semantics - elements, attributes, and hierarchical microdata.</p>\n\n<p>Elements are easy to understand. Rather than using a generic element like <code><div></code> you can use something like <code><nav></code> to show an element's contents are for navigation. Or <code><address></code> to show that the contents are an address. Or <code><article><section></code> to show that the section is part of a parent article.</p>\n\n<p>Attributes are also common. You can use <a href=\"https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTML/Reference/Attributes/rel\">relational attributes</a> to show how a link relates to the page it is on. For example <code><a rel=author href=https://example.com></code> shows that the link is to the author of the current page. Or, to see that a link goes to the previous page in a series <code><a rel=prev href=/page5></code>.</p>\n\n<p>Finally, we enter the complex and frightening world of <em>microdata</em>.</p>\n\n<p>Using the <a href=\"https://schema.org/\">Schema.org vocabulary</a> it's possible to add semantic metadata <em>within</em> an HTML element. For example, <code><body itemtype=https://schema.org/Blog itemscope></code> says that the body of this page is a Blog. Or, to say how many words a piece has, <code><span itemprop=wordCount content=1100>1,100 words</span></code>.</p>\n\n<p>There are <em>many</em> properties you can use. Here's the outline structure of a single blog post with a code sample, a footnote, and a comment. You can <a href=\"https://validator.schema.org/\">check its structured data</a> and verify that it is <a href=\"https://validator.w3.org/\">conformant HTML</a>.</p>\n\n<p>Feel free to reuse.</p>\n\n<pre><code class=\"language-html\"><!doctype html>\n<html lang=en-gb>\n<head><title>My Blog</title></head>\n<body itemtype=https://schema.org/Blog itemscope>\n\n <header itemprop=headline>\n <a rel=home href=https://example.com>My Blog</a>\n </header>\n\n <main itemtype=https://schema.org/BlogPosting itemprop=blogPost itemscope>\n <article>\n <header>\n <time itemprop=https://schema.org/datePublished datetime=2025-12-01T12:34:39+01:00>\n 1st January, 2025\n </time>\n <h1 itemprop=headline>\n <a rel=bookmark href=https://example.com/page>Post Title</a>\n </h1>\n <span itemtype=https://schema.org/Person itemprop=author itemscope>\n <a itemprop=url href=https://example.org/>\n By <span itemprop=name>Author Name</span>\n </a>\n <img itemprop=image src=/photo.jpg alt>\n </span>\n <p>\n <a itemprop=keywords content=HTML rel=tag href=/tag/html/>HTML</a> \n <a itemprop=keywords content=semantics rel=tag href=/tag/semantics/>semantics</a> \n <a itemprop=commentCount content=6 href=#comments>6 comments</a>\n <span itemprop=wordCount content=1100>1,100 words</span>\n <span itemtype=https://schema.org/InteractionCounter itemprop=interactionStatistic itemscope>\n <meta content=https://schema.org/ReadAction itemprop=interactionType>\n <span itemprop=userInteractionCount content=5150>\n Viewed ~5,150 times\n </span>\n </span>\n </p>\n </header>\n\n <div itemprop=articleBody>\n <img itemprop=image src=/hero.png alt>\n <p>Text of the post.</p>\n <p>Text with a footnote<sup id=fnref><a role=doc-noteref href=#fn>0</a></sup>.</p>\n\n <pre itemtype=https://schema.org/SoftwareSourceCode itemscope translate=no>\n <span itemprop=programmingLanguage>PHP</span>\n <code itemprop=text>&lt;?php echo $postID ?&gt;</code>\n </pre>\n\n <section role=doc-endnotes>\n <h2>Footnotes</h2>\n <ol>\n <li id=fn>\n <p>Footnote text. <a role=doc-backlink href=#fnref>↩︎</a></p>\n </li>\n </ol>\n </section>\n </div>\n </article>\n\n <section id=comments>\n <h2>Comments</h2>\n <article itemtype=https://schema.org/Comment itemscope id=\"comment-123465\">\n <time itemprop=dateCreated datetime=2025-09-11T13:24:54+01:00>\n <a itemprop=url href=#comment-123465>2025-09-11 13:24</a>\n </time>\n <div itemtype=https://schema.org/Person itemprop=author itemscope>\n <img itemprop=image src=\"/avatar.jpg\" alt>\n <h3>\n <span itemprop=name>Alice</span> says:\n </h3>\n </div>\n <div itemprop=text>\n <p>Comment text</p>\n </div>\n </article>\n </section>\n </main>\n</body>\n</html>\n</code></pre>\n\n<p>This blog post is entitled \"maximally\" but, of course, <a href=\"https://schema.org/BlogPosting\">there is <em>lots</em> more that you can add</a> if you really want to.</p>\n\n<p>Remember, none of this is <em>necessary</em>. Computers and humans are pretty good at extracting meaning from unstructured text. But making things easier for others is always time well spent.</p>",
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"label": "blogging",
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"url": "https://shkspr.mobi/blog"
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"url": "https://shkspr.mobi/blog"
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{
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"term": "semantic web",
"url": "https://shkspr.mobi/blog"
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{
"id": "https://shkspr.mobi/blog/?p=66676",
"title": "Book Review: The Real Shakespeare - Emilia Bassano Willoughby by Irene Coslet ★⯪☆☆☆",
"description": "Given my blog's domain name, I don't write nearly enough about Shakespeare. Luckily, the good folks at NetGalley have sent me Irene Coslet's provocative new book to review. Who was the real Shakespeare? It's the sort of low-stakes conspiracy theory which is driven by classism (\"a low-born man couldn't write such poetry!\"), plagiarism (\"he stole from other writers!\") and, according to this…",
"url": "https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/book-review-the-real-shakespeare-emilia-bassano-willoughby-by-irene-coslet/",
"published": "2026-01-11T12:34:44.000Z",
"updated": "2026-01-12T22:16:09.000Z",
"content": "<img src=\"https://shkspr.mobi/blog/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/53507.webp\" alt=\"Book cover featuring a portrait of an Elizabethan lady.\" width=\"202\" height=\"301\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-66678\">\n\n<p>Given my blog's domain name, I don't write nearly enough about Shakespeare. Luckily, the good folks at NetGalley have sent me Irene Coslet's provocative new book to review.</p>\n\n<p>Who was the <em>real</em> Shakespeare? It's the sort of low-stakes conspiracy theory which is driven by classism (\"a low-born man couldn't write such poetry!\"), plagiarism (\"he stole from other writers!\") and, according to this book, sexism and racism.</p>\n\n<p>From the blurb:</p>\n\n<blockquote><p>Now, in this intriguing and well-documented book, Irene Coslet conclusively demonstrates that Shakespeare was a not a man, but a woman: a dark-skinned lady, of Jewish origin, born into a family of Court musicians from Venice, and the mother of the English-speaking world. Her name was Emilia Bassano.</p></blockquote>\n\n<p>Yes! In your face, Bacon! Get stuffed, Marlowe! Edward de <em>Who</em>?!</p>\n\n<p>The life of Emilia Bassano is genuinely fascinating. The book offers some excellent insights into the lives of women, Moors, and Jews during the time period. The analysis of the sexual politics - both in the plays and real life - are both interesting and well researched. For that reason, I have to give it <em>some</em> stars.</p>\n\n<p>The book starts with Kuhn and his ideas about paradigm shifts - the more tweaks we have to bolt on to a model, the more likely it is the model will eventual collapse and a new model will emerge. I'm 100% behind that - given the deficiencies in Shakespeare's biography, people keep adding more and more fantastical explanations to it. But the counterpoint is that extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.</p>\n\n<p>So, what evidence is there that Emilia Bassano was the writer of Shakespeare?</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Shakespeare's name is an anagram of \"A-She-Speaker\".</li>\n<li>Beatrice from <em>Much Ado</em> shares the same Myers-Briggs type as Emilia Bassano.</li>\n<li>The names \"Emilia\" and \"Bassano\" pop up in several plays.</li>\n<li>If you fold the portrait of Shakespeare in a certain way, it looks like a portrait of Emilia.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>And so it goes on. Sadly, the evidence presented rarely rises to the level of circumstantial, let alone extraordinary. Some of it is of the sort found in the <a href=\"https://www.math.utoronto.ca/drorbn/Codes/StatSci.pdf\">discredited Bible Code</a>. If you selectively squish the data, you can make it say anything:</p>\n\n<blockquote><p>Here, the author exploits the similarity in Hebrew between the word Portia (PRT) and the word lead (YPRT). Portia (PRT) is nested within the lead (YPRT), embedding one one term inside the other to create multiple layers of meaning. Only a person who is fluent in Hebrew [...] would be able to make such a pun.</p></blockquote>\n\n<p>This book is a monument to what happens if you start with a conclusion and then selectively pick only the clues which support your case. There's no testing of the evidence against other candidates - for example, the author describes folding the <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Droeshout_portrait\">Droeshout portrait</a> in a specific way until it looks a bit like one of the portraits which <em>might</em> be of Emilia Bassano. It's a bit \"Mad Magazine Fold In\" - but can the image be folded different ways? Are there other people that it looks like? Sadly, the folded image isn't included on (dubious) copyright grounds.</p>\n\n<p>There's also no mechanism suggested. Let's suppose that Emilia Bassano did write all these plays and poems. What was the method whereby \"The Man From Stratford\" took them and passed them off as his own? Was there payment? Why did she keep writing if they were being stolen? Wouldn't someone have noticed her slipping in all these \"clues\" about the true authorship and then removed them?</p>\n\n<p>I'm generally sympathetic to the idea of trying new ways to look at old problems and I genuinely found some of the analysis interesting. I tried to keep an open mind and to <a href=\"https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/steelman\">steelman</a> the arguments. Nevertheless, I found most of it unconvincing.</p>\n\n<p>Here are some of the arguments I have trouble with.</p>\n\n<blockquote><p>Scholars agree that the plays are ‘feminist’ but have not been able to explain why the author was interested in gender issues.</p></blockquote>\n\n<p>To which a suitable response might be \"Hath not a man eyes? hath not a man hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions?\" It also ignores all the decidedly <em>un</em>feminist tropes and characters in Shakespeare.</p>\n\n<blockquote><p>Emilia Bassano tells about this portion of her life in Cymbeline through the character of Posthumus Leonatus. Posthumus is the son of Sicilius, a reference to the Sicilian origin of the family. Sicilius has two other sons, who both die prematurely, an allusion to Lewis and Philip, Baptista and Margaret’s sons who died in infancy.</p></blockquote>\n\n<p>You could pick any random character out of any play and find someone in history who it <em>could</em> be an allegory for.</p>\n\n<p>But, again, there are some reasonable arguments that Shakespeare may not be who we think. Emelia Bassano certainly had <em>some</em> of the background necessary:</p>\n\n<blockquote><p>The playwright had direct knowledge of the Veneto region. The playwright is familiar with the Commedia dell’Arte. [...] In 1582, Emilia Bassano travelled to Denmark, and that journey, according to Hudson, provided the material for Hamlet. [...] They all stayed at the Castle of Elsinore – which is renowned today as the setting of the play Hamlet. The delegation met two prominent Danish noblemen: Georgius Rosencrantz and Petrius Guildenstern</p></blockquote>\n\n<p>Most of these arguments seem to be taken from John Hudson's 2014 book \"<a href=\"https://amzn.to/4jptaWy\">Shakespeare's Dark Lady: Amelia Bassano Lanier The woman behind Shakespeare's plays?</a>\" with very little in the way of original research.</p>\n\n<p>The author does prove that there are a few positive connections between Emilia Bassano and Shakespeare. For example, she was the paramour of Henry Carey - founder of the Lord Chamberlain's Men. Could that have taken her into the orbit of Shakespeare's theatre company?</p>\n\n<blockquote><p>Yet, in 1594, Henry Carey was a sixty-eight military General (he died in 1596): it is hard to believe that the creation of a theatre company was his initiative. It is more likely that it was Emilia Bassano’s idea, who was twenty-five and a playwright at the peak of her creativity.</p></blockquote>\n\n<p>That's just pure speculation! When you go looking for evidence, and squint your eyes, it's possible to make anything seem like a connection:</p>\n\n<blockquote><p>Ophelia – whose name rhymes with ‘Emilia’ – has a relationship with the Lord Hamlet and gets pregnant. Ophelia is the daughter of the Lord Chamberlain – a reference to the Lord Chamberlain, Henry Carey, who was her fiancé in real life.</p></blockquote>\n\n<p>The book veers between cold-reading and the <a href=\"https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2023/02/how-much-of-ais-recent-success-is-due-to-the-forer-effect/\">Forer effect</a>. For example, the author asserts that one of Shakespeare's characters is based on a friend of Emilia Bassano. How can that be proven?</p>\n\n<blockquote><p>Shakespeare had the uncanny ability to give an accurate impression of the characters without describing them in detail. There is a painting by Thomas Francis Dicksee entitled Anne Paige (circa 1862). Although Dicksee was not aware that the character of Anne Paige is based on Lady Anne Clifford, his impression of Anne Paige looks strikingly similar to the portrait of Lady Anne Clifford by William Larking (1618): brown-haired, big-eyed and with a rounded face. It appears that the way the audience imagines Anne Paige when reading the play – and the way Dicksee represented her – is exactly how Anne Clifford looked. Same goes with Falstaff: Shakespeare gives such an accurate impression of Falstaff, without describing him in detail, that now we have an idea of how Alfonso Lanyer looked in real life.</p></blockquote>\n\n<p>I don't know how to fully respond to that. Two paintings looking slightly similar is <em>not</em> evidence! Where are all the other paintings of Anne Paige? Do they all look similar? There's cherry-picking, and then there's this!</p>\n\n<p>Anyway, I give you <a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Anne_Page_(Dicksee,_1862).jpg\">Dicksee's portait</a> and <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_Anne_Clifford#/media/File:William_Larkin_Anne_Clifford,_Countess_of_Dorset.jpg\">Larkin's</a> so you may compare their similarity.</p>\n\n<img src=\"https://shkspr.mobi/blog/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/portraits.webp\" alt=\"Painting of two women who don't look anything alike.\" width=\"900\" height=\"600\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-66836\">\n\n<p>Similarly, some of the discussion is of the sort you might have after imbibing a few bottles of wine:</p>\n\n<blockquote><p>It is fascinating how two very different cultures and religions used the same sounds, Shekinah and Shakti, to indicate the divine feminine presence, and how these sounds can also be found in the name Shakespeare: Shekinah, Shakti, Shakespeare.</p></blockquote>\n\n<p>Emilia Bassano is the acknowledged author of the poem \"<a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salve_Deus_Rex_Judaeorum\">Salve Deus Rex Judaeorum</a>\". Surely a textual analysis of her work and that of Shakespeare's would throw up some similarities? Alas, all we get are:</p>\n\n<blockquote><p>Prospero asks Miranda: ‘Cants thou remember / A time before we came unto this cell?’. In Salve Deus Rex Judaeorum Emilia Bassano says that she lives in a cell: ‘I that live clos’up in Sorrowes Cell’</p></blockquote>\n\n<p>And</p>\n\n<blockquote><p>there are many rhetorical similarities between the Passion in Salve Deus and Shakespeare’s The Rape of Lucrece. For example, Jesus is associated with the colours white and red, like Lucrece. In Salve Deus we read: ‘The purest colours both of White and Red’ (1828). In the Rape of Lucrece: ‘To praise the clear unmatchèd red and white’</p></blockquote>\n\n<p>Frankly, that's less than nothing!</p>\n\n<p>The book concludes with this:</p>\n\n<blockquote><p>From the viewpoint of white men and businessmen, the story of the Stratford man is inspiring. It is the story of a white boy, a merchant, with little education, who resorted to writing and miraculously became a genius. Society likes the narrative of the genius, because when we say ‘genius’ we think of a miracle and it does not require much explanation. It is all about magical thinking.</p></blockquote>\n\n<p>I agree that there's a lot to be said about <a href=\"https://shkspr.mobi/blog/tag/shakerace/\">Shakespeare and race</a>. There may well be arguments about the true authorship of the plays and sonnets - and it is certainly interesting to approach them from a new perspective. The book does a reasonable job of contextualising some of the gender politics surrounding Shakespeare's propaganda for Queen Elizabeth and, similarly, the historical context in which the plays were written. But most of the evidence presented is somewhere between magical thinking and <a href=\"https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/source-i-made-it-up#it-was-revealed-to-me-in-a-dream\">divine inspiration</a>.</p>\n\n<p>Emilia Bassano was undoubtedly a fascinating woman - poet, teacher, entrepreneur, confidant of the Queen - she deserves better than this scattershot ramble through her life.</p>",
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"id": "https://shkspr.mobi/blog/?p=66898",
"title": "Why my NFC passport didn't work at Heathrow's eGates",
"description": "I travel a fair bit. My passport is usually quickly scanned and I can enter or leave a country without delay. But every time I use the eGates at Heathrow Airport to get back in to the UK, my passport is rejected and I'm told to seek assistance from Border Force. Today, I think I discovered why! The border guards are usually polite and tell me there's nothing wrong with my passport (not that they …",
"url": "https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/why-my-nfc-passport-didnt-work-at-heathrows-egates/",
"published": "2026-01-10T12:34:42.000Z",
"updated": "2026-01-09T09:18:34.000Z",
"content": "<p>I travel a fair bit. My passport is usually quickly scanned and I can enter or leave a country without delay. But every time I use the eGates at Heathrow Airport to get back in to the UK, my passport is rejected and I'm told to seek assistance from Border Force. Today, I think I discovered why!</p>\n\n<p>The border guards are usually polite and tell me there's nothing wrong with my passport (not that they would tell me if I were on a watchlist). This only happens at Heathrow, all other machines read my passport fine. I can even <a href=\"https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2025/06/reading-nfc-passport-chips-in-linux/\">read my passport's NFC chip on Linux</a>.</p>\n\n<p>I was following the instructions to use the gates - specifically <em>this</em> one:</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V00e8l--hso\"><img src=\"https://shkspr.mobi/blog/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/egate.webp\" alt=\"Hold the photo page of your passport firmly on the reader for a few seconds and keep it in the same position.\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-66899\"></a></p>\n\n<p>After 3 failed attempts, it told me to seek assistance. As there were lots of free gates, I decided to test a theory.</p>\n\n<p>I went to a different gate, inserted my passport, and held it down with my <em>left</em> hand. The gate successfully read my passport and let me through.</p>\n\n<p>What's the difference between my left and right hand? On my left, I wear my <a href=\"https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2008/08/selling-out/\">wedding ring</a>, on my right, I wear an <a href=\"https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2024/02/giving-the-finger-to-mfa-a-review-of-the-z1-encrypter-ring-from-cybernetic/\">NFC ring</a>!</p>\n\n<p>As far as I can tell, the ePassport Gate is only expecting <em>one</em> NFC response to its query. That's pretty reasonable. I suspect it prevents people holding two different passports in the reader. Most other eGates that I've used don't require the passport to be held down; they pull it in.</p>\n\n<p>So, there you have it. If you wear an NFC ring, or have an NFC implant, be aware that it can cause \"<a href=\"https://tfl.gov.uk/fares/refunds-and-replacements/card-clash\">card clash</a>\" which could confuse passport readers.</p>",
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"id": "https://shkspr.mobi/blog/?p=66839",
"title": "Book Review: Room 706 by Ellie Levenson ★★★★★",
"description": "I cracked open my review copy of Room 706 and settled in for an early night in my hotel room. I was up until way past midnight tearing through the book - my heart pounding. Given that the book centres around a woman trapped by terrorists in her hotel room, it was perhaps not the best choice to read on holiday! If you were held hostage - what message would you want to send to your family? Would …",
"url": "https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/book-review-room-706-by-ellie-levenson/",
"published": "2026-01-09T12:34:16.000Z",
"updated": "2026-01-09T09:22:00.000Z",
"content": "<img src=\"https://shkspr.mobi/blog/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/room-706.jpg\" alt=\"Book cover.\" width=\"200\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-66840\">\n\n<p>I cracked open my review copy of Room 706 and settled in for an early night in my hotel room. I was up until way past midnight tearing through the book - my heart pounding. Given that the book centres around a woman trapped by terrorists in her hotel room, it was perhaps not the <em>best</em> choice to read on holiday!</p>\n\n<p>If you were held hostage - what message would you want to send to your family? Would they know that you loved them? Would they need the password for your grocery app? Would they ask why you were having an affair in that hotel?</p>\n\n<p>Ah.</p>\n\n<p>And there's the plot. In many ways, this is a stage-play or - in TV terms - a bottle episode. Our protagonist and her lover cannot escape from a little box of misery. What was once heavy with lust is now brimming over with fear, irritation, and pain. Ellie Levenson beautifully observes all the little moments which go into a day, building up the characters' lives only to tear them down again. I can't work out whether she is a cruel god torturing her creations or a loving creator who allows them to make their own mistakes.</p>\n\n<p>It helps that she's created a protagonist who is just the right side of obnoxious. Their self-justified self-delusion leap off the page. Every minor irritation they experience explodes into bitterness and, just for a moment, you almost believe the lies she tells herself. There are some painfully witty observations about how men and women might react differently to the terror of a siege. It is, perhaps, a little bit heartbreaking to realise your own reactions to the situation would be laughably inadequate and barely more than a cliché.</p>\n\n<p>Perhaps that's the point; we're all trapped in a room of our own making. We fall into the same patterns as everyone else and react with shock when we discover how we've trapped ourselves.</p>\n\n<p>I was desperate for there to be a twist. Some last-minute <i lang=\"la\">deus ex</i>. Or even a moment of catharsis. Instead, Room 706 wrings every drop of stress out of you up until the final page. There is no let-up in the tension.</p>\n\n<p>An exhausting and frantic read. Highly recommended.</p>\n\n<p>Many thanks to NetGalley for the review copy. Room 706 is released on the 15th of January and is available to pre-order now.</p>\n\n<hr>\n\n<p>Long-term readers will recognise Ellie from my review of her <a href=\"https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2009/08/book-review-the-noughtie-girls-guide-to-feminism/\">Noughtie Girl's Guide to Feminism</a> from 17 years ago. Let's hope we don't have to wait until 2043 for her next book!</p>",
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"id": "https://shkspr.mobi/blog/?p=66853",
"title": "Restaurant Review: The Smokaccia Laboratory - Phuket ★★★★★",
"description": "You can't put a price on pure delight. In Thailand you can get a perfectly decent Pad Thai and beer for a few hundred Baht. You can have an good pizza or freshly cooked burger for next to nothing. Food, in general, is cheap and cheerful. After a week of spring rolls and Tiger beer, we decided to treat ourselves to a fine-dining experience in the Michelin recognised Smokaccia Laboratory. We…",
"url": "https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/01/restaurant-review-the-smokaccia-laboratory-phuket/",
"published": "2026-01-07T12:34:36.000Z",
"updated": "2026-01-07T11:37:17.000Z",
"content": "<p>You can't put a price on pure delight.</p>\n\n<p>In Thailand you can get a perfectly decent Pad Thai and beer for a few hundred Baht. You can have an good pizza or freshly cooked burger for next to nothing. Food, in general, is cheap and cheerful. After a week of spring rolls and Tiger beer, we decided to treat ourselves to a fine-dining experience in the <a href=\"https://guide.michelin.com/us/en/phuket-region/phuket/restaurant/the-smokaccia-laboratory\">Michelin recognised</a> Smokaccia Laboratory.</p>\n\n<p>We opted for the nine-course(!) tasting menu - one regular and one vegan - with a pairing of both alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks.</p>\n\n<p>Let's get the cost out the way first - we paid around ฿16,000 (£380) and it was easily the best meal we've had anywhere in the world. The quality of the food even exceeded <a href=\"https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2023/02/restaurant-review-gauthier-soho/\">Gauthier Soho</a> and the service was beyond that offered by the <a href=\"https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2023/08/restaurant-review-chefs-table-at-the-savoy/\">Chef's Table at The Savoy</a>.</p>\n\n<p>I'd like to walk you through the experience, so you can get a feel for <em>why</em> you should spend a ridiculous sum of money on several tiny portions.</p>\n\n<p>As we entered the restaurant for our 18:00 reservation, we were greeted by name. It's a small thing, but it immediately made us feel warmly welcomed. There's was no awkward pause as a <i lang=\"fr\">maître d'</i> looked us up in a list, just a confirmation of our booking and dietary requirements, then an invitation to sit in the lounge.</p>\n\n<p>Would we like a glass of Prosecco or sparkling non-alcoholic cocktail while we waited? But of course!</p>\n\n<img src=\"https://shkspr.mobi/blog/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Terry-and-Liz-at-Smokaccia.webp\" alt=\"Terry and Liz drinking cockatils at Smokaccia.\" width=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-66856\">\n\n<p>We were then presented with a cigar box each. As we opened them, smoke gently wafted out filling our noses with a delightful scent. Nestled inside was a small amuse-bouche - a perfect cracker topped with caviar. My vegan alternative had veggie-friendly caviar and was exquisite.</p>\n\n<p>The waiters and sommelier all introduced themselves to us as they explained the food and how the evening would proceed. We were given flannels which were freshly sprayed with a signature scent to accompany the next course - and then we were ushered to meet the chef.</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/chef_lucamascolo/\">Luca Mascolo</a> is a warm, funny, and gregarious host. He was eager to explain the concept of the restaurant and why each dish was created. He was passionate about ensuring that we had an amazing time and that the vegan food was equal in quality to the meat and fish dishes. Our first experience with his culinary madness was the \"Campari bomb\" - it <em>literally</em> exploded in my mouth and sent flavours dancing around my tongue. It is the first food that has actually made me giggle with childish delight.</p>\n\n<p>This was swiftly followed by a tasting of the chef's tomato reduction. A perfect liquid appetiser.</p>\n\n<p>We were guided to our table - we opted for the kitchen counter. There are several regular tables, but it was much more fun to be sat watching the magic of creation. Open-plan dining is nothing new, but the staff were so calm and synchronised that it felt like a meditative exercise watching them work in perfect unison.</p>\n\n<p>The Smokaccia is the chef's signature focaccia. A fist-sized ball of bread, hard on the outside and impossibly pillowy on the inside. A sourdough creation of genius and perfect for soaking up the various oils and sauces served with the dishes.</p>\n\n<p>What can be said about \"An unusual event with Bertha\"? I don't want to spoil the surprise so I'll just say this - I've never had a meal which made me laugh so much. Every moment - even reading the description - was pure joy. Why bother serving food in bowls when a ceramic egg-shell is much more fun! Almost as fun was watching it being served to other tables and seeing their reactions.</p>\n\n<p>The truffle crunch was a little bite of ecstasy. This wasn't drenched in 2,4-dithiapentane - it was a perfect shaving of real truffle. To complement, I had the zero-waste potato dish. What kind of a chef thinks up potato ice-cream with red onion caramel? Again, either the chef or waiter came over to personally explain the order in which the dishes should be eaten and all the ingredients which went in to its construction.</p>\n\n<p>Nearly all the food comes from Thailand - with the exception of the balsamic vinegar and wine (both from Italy) - so the food-miles are negligible. The basil and eggplant honestly tasted like they'd been plucked fresh from the dirt not five-minutes previously.</p>\n\n<p>The vegan \"foie gras\" was next. Traditional foie gras is neither ethical nor sustainable, so this is made with local vegetables in an attempt to recreate the flavour and texture. It is described as containing a \"blood explosion\" and, as my spoon pierced the pineapple-glass, a pop of bright red \"blood\" spurted out! Again, a incredible moment of both food science, whimsy, and surprise.</p>\n\n<p>It isn't <em>just</em> that every mouthful is delicious; the dining experience is pure theatre and filled with moments that make you gasp with delight. Such as the \"fois gras\" being served on a misty \"lake\" filled with pebbles and flowers, and then being presented with a \"fortune cookie\" from the goose.</p>\n\n<p>There was a choice of \"main\" course although - as with any fine dining experience - it was barely more than a few bites. But <em>what</em> a few bites! Writing this, it seems silly to be so in love with a carrot but I don't care! I loved every nibble of that carrot mixed with kombucha and wasabi leaf. I grinned like a lunatic when the kombu/soy caviar pearls burst on my tongue.</p>\n\n<p>A morsel of the most intense melon sorbet topped with bunt radicchio was the perfect end to the meal. A simple and fun palate cleanser. Of course there were further surprises in store!</p>\n\n<p>There was a choice of desserts and both were vegan! Liz and I decided to get one each. I'm <em>fairly</em> sure that the impossible pistachio ice-cream was my favourite, but the dark chocolate and hazelnut was so precisely targetted to my taste-buds that I'd have to try them both again to make sure.</p>\n\n<p>I wish I could remember all the tea options. Liz had the Tom Kah and I went for the ginger and honey. A little moment of calm in an over-exciting evening. We watched the chefs prepare dishes for the now-bustling restaurant.</p>\n\n<p>It is amazing how full you can feel after eating just a few bites over two-and-a-half hours. I suspect the 18 course menu would have been overwhelming. How we found room for the petit fours I can't possibly imagine.</p>\n\n<p>I do know how I found room for the liquid nitrogen \"cooked\" coconut though - humans have a separate ice-cream stomach. That's just science. Also, I've never had fermented watermelon rind before and I can't understand how my life has been complete without it.</p>\n\n<p>Chef Mascolo kept making sure that we were satisfied, he was happy to chat about the processes behind the food and why he is so keen to bring a high-quality dining experience to Phuket. His home-brewed limoncello was far removed from the thick and sickly syrup which is usually proffered at the end of an Italian meal. This was a thin, light, and highly spiced twist on the classic. A perfect end to a perfect meal.</p>\n\n<p>Of course, the restaurant still had some surprises for us - including a rather touching \"thank you\" and a cute little gift-bag to send us on our way. We were exhausted from smiling and laughing so much. Every single bite made us incredibly happy. Fine dining can be a serious and solemn experience - this felt like being in the playground of a mad professor who just wants to have fun with your taste-buds and your heart.</p>\n\n<p>I'm not saying that you should stop what you're doing right now, fly to Phuket, and have the best meal of your life. I'm merely saying that if you value inventive food, prepared by a team of experts with an obsessive eye for detail, presided over by a man who obviously values creating an inclusive and joyful experience - then you should reserve a table now.</p>\n\n<p>The Smokaccia isn't merely a food laboratory - it is a happiness laboratory.</p>",
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