'have you read the Old Testament?'

Autocorrect has become our worst enema.

“Members of the Danish National Chamber Orchestra playing Tango Jalousie while eating the worlds hottest chili peppers” (ghost peppers, Carolina Reapers). This is what elite professionalism looks like. [youtube.com]

New favourite example of structural ambiguity

Nelson's Victory crew included a Brazilian and a Russian, 2 Indians, 2 Swiss, 2 Portuguese, 3 Danes and 3 Norwegian sailors. There were 3 Germans, 4 Italians, 6 Swedes, 7 Dutchmen, 9 West Indians and an African, as well as 21 Americans, 63 Irish, 64 Scots, 441 English.... oh, and 3 French men, too.

News from Finland. A 9-year-old lost an especially good stick he’d had since he was 2. He hung up 20 posters. A few days later it was returned. It had been found by a 2-year-old, who wanted to keep it for herself, but her mother made her return it. She got toys, flowers and candy as a reward.

Boredom is essential. Here’s why. “You need to be bored. You will have less meaning and you will be more depressed if you never are bored. I mean, it couldn’t be clearer.” [kottke.org]

This breaks my heart. Translating was the only dayjob work I've ever done that I actually enjoyed, but I had to stop because I couldn't make a living from it. Easily the most underappreciated and underpaid profession on earth.

lkab.com/en/events/th...

#booksky

Happy St George' Day!

It's one of the greatest things I have ever seen.

The Society of Authors @societyofauthors.bsky.social is staging a #demonstration outside #Meta's offices at Granary Square, King's Cross today at 1.30pm to protest against their #illegal #pirating of our work.
www.theguardian.com/books/2025/a...

Don’t mess with the vikings.

The Dartington Trust is making a massive, historic mistake here. Please sign the petition - www.change.org/p/stop-the-d... - to let it know what you think. www.theguardian.com/environment/...