samizdis

unwalled: https://unwall.app/www.nytimes.com/2026/10/26/arts/televisio...

I don't know of any worthy documentary, but I have read the book "Bad Blood" [0], which I thought was thorough, well written and, to me, an excellent read.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bad_Blood:_Secrets_and_Lies_in...

TBF, you can access the full (text) content of The Atlantic by merely disabling javascript. It's a quality publication, with quality writing. I'm inclined to think that its tech team are also quality people ... and I'd love to think that they are happy to allow free and open access to them that have the nous to enable or disable scripts.

The secret is to bang the rocks together, guys! :-)

Not sure whether this will "keep the brain working", but it definitely tied some knots in mine: The Space Trilogy [1], by C.S. Lewis, blends sci-fi with spirituality and classic mythology. The books should probably be read in sequence, as they follow the adventures of the same main character, but Lewis's almost fractal writing style in wildly trippy sections in the first two (which bear hallmarks from the New Testament's Revelations), exhausted me. The last book in the trilogy is worth reading in isolation; it deals with problematic uses of science (eugenics etc), government capture, media manipulation/propaganda, and also human psychology/power relationships etc. It also has its mystic/mythological stuff (Merlin of Arthurian legend is a character in the book), but what gave me cold chills was the creeping dystopian takeover of societal norms that certainly finds echoes in our modern world.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Trilogy

Link yields a "Page not found".

Thanks for that. It works really well for me ATM; long may it thrive.

It's not paywalled - it's the BBC. But maybe try CNN's version: https://www.cnn.com/2026/09/15/us/us-space-force-weapons-cap...

> ... the least bad patch.

That was Churchill's view, as he said during a speech in the House of Commons in 1947:

"Many forms of Gov­ern­ment have been tried, and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pre­tends that democ­ra­cy is per­fect or all-wise. Indeed it has been said that democ­ra­cy is the worst form of Gov­ern­ment except for all those oth­er forms that have been tried from time to time . . ."

What a great round-up; comprehensive but concise. Nice that quotes from a Cory Doctorow video, embedded in the piece, have been quoted with the relevant timestamps.

> “If I am inventing God, or stopping people from inventing God, then I am very important.”

Priceless.

How about municipal councils looking around at any remaining "mainstream media" local outlets and committing to post relevant notices/updates on their websites?

This is something I wanted to push while working on newsroom CMS projects: giving direct input access to the CMS from external bodies - police, fire, ambulance etc. Posts could be vetted/edited by newsrooms, as with any externally filed copy, but turnaround would be a matter of half-a-minute or so. Either that or enable direct publishing permissions to said authorities.

> The moniker gives them an air of scientific, knowledgeable, tranquil, pro-social, pro bono work.

The Atlantic argued this (rather well, IMO) a week or so ago - "There’s No Such Thing as an AI ‘Lab’" - https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/2026/09/stop-calling-...

Or you use a strawberry huller. These used to be common kitchen implements, but I've not seen one in a while.

Given this week's alarmist assertions by Antropic's Evan Hubinger, seconded by other high-ups in the AI industry, I am with Gary Marcus in calling for a boycott of OpenAI and Anthropic until they sort their acts out.

Towards the end of his piece yesterday, "The Case for Boycotting Generative AI" [0], Marcus also backs calls for co-operation with China, rather than antagonism and bickering. After all, tackling a claimed existential threat should take precedence over any other considerations. This seems reasonable to me.

[0] https://garymarcus.substack.com/p/the-case-for-boycotting-ge...

For quite a few years, and because I don't have a globe, I've turned to MapFight [0] to get a good idea of size/area comparisons for countries, significant geographic features and for historical lands/empires.

[0] https://www.mapfight.xyz/

Online version of the book:

https://www.ratical.org/ratville/CAH/warisaracket.html

Going back a decade or so, I bought a Yotaphone 2, which had a full-sized e-ink display on the rear. Fantastic for any text reading/writing in bright sunlight (I was based in Sydney at the time). Yotaphone is now dead, but I really don't understand why the idea hasn't been taken up by other makers.

Review (overly lengthy) from 2014: https://www.expertreviews.co.uk/technology/phones/yotaphone-...

And thank you for the "gag me with a spoon" reference. Frank (and Moon) Zappa really hit the nail on the head in Valley Girl (1982). Terrific parody of teen culture/language.

Hmmmnnnn. I remember getting excited reading a Wired article "Let a thousand reactors bloom" [0] - but that was back in 2004. I'm still waiting for a "pizza-safe" pebble-bed reactor.

[0] https://www.wired.com/2004/09/china-5/

It's heartening to see tributes and obits in publications worldwide. All respectful, and genuinely bereft. One obit, though, stood out to me from the dozen or so I've read so far. It's this one [0] in the FT, which I think deserves a wider audience [1].

[0] https://www.ft.com/content/c57569fb-c1ee-476a-aa31-d402e2f3b...

[1] https://archive.is/9nHs1

I clicked on the HN link and, when I saw "short story", almost closed the tab ... but I started to read anyway. I found it compelling and disturbing from start to finish. Much as my opinions about writing count for nothing, I truly hope that you poat any future works here. A great read.

The Atlantic has just posted a piece about this [0] in which it argues many points echoed in comments here. Chief among them:

> The Trump administration has one big idea about Canada: The U.S. is larger, stronger, and richer than Canada, so Canada must sooner or later surrender to Trump’s demands. That one big idea is wrong.

> Yes, Trump can hurt Canada more than Canada can hurt Trump. That part of Trump’s thinking is true. But wars are not decided only by the question Who can inflict more pain? Wars are also decided by the question Who can endure more pain? Trump’s failure to accept this truth is why he lost the Iran war—and why he is losing his trade wars.

[0] https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/08/why-us-canada-trad...

Cory Doctorow wrote a piece about DMCA wrt Canada and US tariffs in January [0], "A winning trade war strategy for Canada", which chimes with your position. I admire his work, and thought that you might like to read it, if you've not already done so.

[0] https://pluralistic.net/2026/01/12/disenshittification-natio...

That has been the case for a long while. I used to travel a lot for work - Serbia, Czech Republic, Germany, Portugal, Australia, NZ, Qatar, Kuwait, Moldova - but the only unpleasantness I received at a border/intl airport was on landing in the US, twice; NY both times. Talk about rude and aggressive, for no reason at all. I'm from the UK, by the way.

My fondest border experience was many years ago when entering France; this was before the UK had joined the EU. (Our later exit was dumb, IMO.)

Anyhow, a youngish officer - probably mid-20s or so - examined my passport while asking questions, in perfect English. His voice was even and his demeanour calm and professional. Then he took a step back, closed my passport and put it in his pocket. A few seconds later, he started laughing and said: "The look on your face. Priceless. Welcome to Paris."

He really had me and I saluted him for that.