Prattle

Why IT People Rarely Unionise

Oct 31, 2023 · 3 min read · Prattle Politics

I've seen this question come up a few times, so here's my collection of reasons which makes sense to me: It's new Film has been around for a century, so those people have had plenty of time to unionise. Linux has only existed for 20 years, so 'Linux sysadmins' have only had 20 years of experience, and that's an example …

The Zen of i3-gaps

Oct 12, 2023 · 2 min read · Prattle Linux

I feel that the i3-gaps window manager perfectly encapsulates the spirit of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. If you haven't read it, I won't repeat it, but perhaps this will make sense anyway. For a perfectly Romantic desktop environment, we have the classic Mac (and please picture every stereotype you think …

Distasteful Preaching

Aug 31, 2023 · 4 min read · Prattle Philosophy

I feel an unstated agreement among disparate civil society that one shouldn't preach. Breaching the preaching rule quickly looks like hypocrisy, because everyone has more work to do on themselves. Easier Said than Done Someone - usually young - preaching about veganism, trans-rights, the effects of aeroplanes on …

A List of Missions to Venus

Aug 24, 2023 · 2 min read · Prattle

My favourite wikipedia article is called List of Missions to Venus. Nowadays we're all amazed that astronomers can send a rocket out, and expect it to fly around the planet three times, nip round the moon, change trajectory while passing Jupiter, and land on some asteroid like a cautious butterfly, so it can send …

Sci-Fi

May 21, 2023 · 2 min read · Prattle

Deep Space 9, Season 6, Episode 9 - 'Statistical Probabilities' This episode introduces the ridiculous notion that clever people can predict the future with clever Maths, and it's very special. Most sci-fi relies on now-but-later ideas of how the world works, and fancy special effects, to entertain. This episode didn't …

Critical Thinking: An Introduction

May 7, 2023 · 3 min read · Prattle Philosophy

Fallacies and critical thinking are all the rage in some circles, but I hear a lot about (and occasionally experience) people making 'logic-noises' who clearly haven't studied the subject. In fact, they seem unaware one can take a University course in the subject, as they've missed the first lesson every student of …

University Degrees are Weird

Apr 26, 2023 · 1 min read · Prattle Learning

I imagine the conversation between a University and potential student going like this: 1 I'd like to get qualified in a subject. Four years. 1 Woah there, I haven't told you what I want to learn yet. Doesn't matter. Everything takes four years to learn. 1 Really? Everything? Art and medicine? Computing and Sociology? …

Neutral News

Apr 15, 2023 · 3 min read · Prattle Politics

"News sources are biased", and "everyone lives in a bubble", we all hear constantly (or perhaps that's just my bubble). But what would a non-biased news source look like? Taking a strict middle-ground gives immediately ridiculous conclusions. Perhaps the UK's food banks suggest some problem, but not much of a problem? …

Pens Must Die

Mar 30, 2023 · 2 min read · Prattle Prognostication

I'll miss pens when they go. I like how they feel. I like that handwriting is almost impossible to fake. I like that when I receive a letter, I can tell who sent it just from how they write the address. But it all has to go. Pens have some advantages over computers. One can generally access a pen-record faster - just …

The Inescapable Algorithm

Mar 27, 2023 · 2 min read · Prattle FOSS

I wake, and enter my algorithm-free RSS feed. It is perfect and pure. I see a list (in the order I select) of everyone I want to follow. YouTube channels show up just like everything else, and I see only the name. With a quick shortcut-key, I tell the computer I want to watch the video later. Onto the next feed, I find …