I can’t tell if you’re trolling. But if you aren’t, here’s something cool you might enjoy.

If an object has two sides, you can colour each side a different colour. Think of a dinner plate. That has two sides and an edge that goes all the way around. You could use a marker to colour the front side red, stopping anywhere you hit an edge. Then you could use another marker to colour the back side blue, because the backside wouldn’t be coloured yet.

It sounds like I’m explaining this in a dumb, very obvious way. I am. Not because I think anyone reading this is dumb. But because the shape in the photo does something that is not obvious.

Look at the shape above and imagine it without all the keys sticking out. Imagine it is smooth enough to draw on with a marker. It’s pretty easy to see where any edges are. Imagine colouring one side of the shape red, avoiding where the edge is. If you keep colouring as much as you can, without crossing an edge, once you’re done you’ll find that there’s no place left to colour with the blue marker. You’ll have coloured the whole shape. It only has one side and that one side snakes and twists around to be its own backside as well.

If you’re looking to learn more, the shape is called a Möbius strip.

I used to have this stance as well.

But my opinion on the situation changed when I noticed the ways that one class is waging war on the other classes in my country. There is real damage being done, real violence being perpetrated. Wage theft, poisoning the environment, suppressing voting and certain kinds of speech. Limited access to healthcare, limited access to education, limited access to the jobs that confer greater respect or mobility. Some people are living in a kind of hell and dying earlier because of it.

And those doing the violence are usually protected from the consequences of their actions by others in society saying just what you’ve said. “It’s okay to protest, but don’t inconvenience anyone while doing it”. “It’s theft to deny me the use of the road that you’re blocking with the protest or the building that you’re protesting in front of”.

I used to think that protests where everyone remained polite were the only ones I could respect. Other kinds of protests, where people were being disruptive were just hooligans acting out. I used to say those things.

Maybe this way of thinking helps to preserve in some small way the politeness of society. I doubt it’s effective at doing that in a meaningful way. And if there is a class of people who are oppressing another class, ending that oppression would be the most effective way of increasing the politeness of society as a whole, even if certain kinds of disruption was needed to get there.

One thing that I do know is true is that saying these things does help the bully class to continue doing what they are doing. They aren’t going to stop just because someone asked nicely. They are being protected by words like this. And that’s not okay.

I found a technique that worked well for me. I want to share with you and others, but I don’t want to come across as judging you in anyway. It’s hard to find great candidates of any sort. And I wouldn’t necessarily recommend my technique to every company, because it’s just not reasonable in all cases.

I’ve found that the best way to get a good mix of people hired onto the team is to do more than hope that it happens.

I had to get out to workshops, conferences, and meetups. Local universities had groups that I got in touch with. I had to make connections with the communities that I was looking to hire from. It was a lot of hard work.

But once you’ve developed those connections, candidates roll in with surprising regularity for a long time. After two years I had a team of 10 great devs with a 50/50 split between genders and a huge range of background and cultures. It was the most fun team to work with and we made awesome stuff.

I’ll totally agree that the author did not do a great job of stating their thesis plainly. However, I think that the article isn’t incoherent. The author is writing about why they are surprised and disappointed that France and the Olympics gave Tom Cruise a global spotlight. They claim he’s too much in bed with Scientology to make supporting him possible without supporting them. And they claim that France and french media should know better than to support Scientology.

I think it’s a reasonable objection and I’m glad someone is objecting. Although, again, I agree that the article could have benefited from having that thesis clearly written from the start.

Gonna piggy back on your comment to agree with OP. I get such joy from reading Becky Chambers!

Right?! So excited for season Two and so excited that we’ll get to see a proper (planned) ending to the series instead of a slow fading away before cancellation.

Thank you for this! Lots of people online have pushed forward the idea that Google search results are not as useful as before. This was the first article that I’ve read that did a good job of quantifying what that actually means and providing context as to why it is happening.

Damn. I had forgotten what actual journalism looks like. There was actual work done here to investigate and acquire facts. I’ve been reading “articles” that are just paraphrased PR statements for so long. This was a breath of fresh air.

I’ve been enjoying my Fairphone 4 a lot since getting it last year. This camera update really improved the experience of taking photos.

I don’t think the author was trying to say that these spices are harvested in the fall and enjoyed in the winter. In fact, I think they are clearly saying the opposite.

Just as cranberries’ fall harvest makes them a natural choice for Thanksgiving, I thought that perhaps the seasonality of spice harvest had something to do with their use during the winter months. However, this doesn’t appear to be the case.

And

Take ginger…The plants can be harvested at any time of year if they are mature and haven’t been exposed to cold or wind.

Or, if they are trying to make that point, they are doing so in a way that includes contradictory details.

Thanks! It’s a really interesting topic and I was excited to learn more. But I’m not sure the writer offered much to support their explanation for why these tropical spices are so closely associated with winter time in the north.

For example, I was underwhelmed by the “cinnamon is an antidiabetic, so it’ll help process all those sugary treats you’re eating over the holidays” fact. Does that really explain why cinnamon is associated with this season from a historical perspective? I can’t say for sure that past generations weren’t adding cinnamon to holiday foods because they knew it was an antidiabetic. But I’m going to continue doubting it until I see something persuasive.

Gonna jump in to agree that Moon+ Reader seems to be the most commonly used. And for good reason: it’s very customizable and it does a great job presenting text in an easy to consume way.

OP, I’m sure you’ve already tried it, but consider giving it another go. You can make it do nearly all the things on your list.

Yeah, I’m with you on this. My phone has been my primary reading device for years now. It’s the major driver when I make decisions on what phone to buy. I love reading on it and I’ve never had any problems falling asleep.

I learned a few years back that the Hugo Award that you see on the cover of some books is actually a very different kind of award than most.

Works are nominated and voted on by people like you and me. In fact, right now you can go become a voting member of the Hugo Awards and have a say on who wins each category this year. I’ve really enjoyed reading the nominated works and casting my vote for the past several years.

It’s a great way to discover novels and shorter form stories that you may not have otherwise known about.

Special shout out to Catherynne M. Valente for writing something I love almost every year!

That was a fascinating read. The plasticity of the brain constantly amazes me. It’s incredible the way some parts of the brain will just handle tasks that are seemingly totally unrelated.

Wow. Now I wish I knew more about him. I’ve used vim nearly every day of my career.

I have long enjoyed a series called The Truth. The vast majority of episodes are one-off stories. The actors tend to be very good. The stories run the gamut from fantasy and sci-fi, to speculative fiction and horror. Most stories contain some fantastical element, but not all. I tend to finish episodes wanting desperately to share that story with a friend. They asked for listeners to vote last year on which story they liked best. Here are the stories with the most votes:

The Dark End of the Mall

Tape Delay

Possible Side Effects

Rideshare

Fish Girl

You’re Not Alone