I like French, comics, books, podcasts, (board and roleplaying) games, biking, and trains. I try to stay organized and in good (physical and mental) shape.
Moi, j'aime le français, les BD, les livres, les podcasts, les jeux (de plateau et de rôle), le cyclisme, et les trains. Je fais de mon mieux de rester organisé et en forme (physiquement et mentalement).
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booking tickets for American high-speed(?) rail
Whenever I book travel for work, I pull up the Amtrak website to see if it would be in any way practical to add a rail component to the trip to replace flying (or driving, but it’s rare that I drive for work travel). Given the state of American rail, this is most often an exercise in disappointment. My only success story in four years at this job was when I attended a conference in Bordeaux; I flew into Paris and then took a low-cost OuiGo TGV for my trips between Paris and Bordeaux.
some Hypothesis (and other) updates for the blog
Shortly after last week’s mostly-successful experiment with Hypothesis, I noticed Chris Aldrich posting to Micro.blog about the software and started up a conversation. I’d followed Chris a few weeks before in trying to get more into Micro.blog (perhaps my favorite indie social media platform out there, though I’m also enjoying getting into Mastodon) by following academia and academia-adjacent folks, and was pleased to see an area of common interest.
It wasn’t until a separate conversation on Mastodon this morning that I remembered that my Hypothesis setup was dependent on my manually checking annotations on my website.
automation, agency, and « Au service de la France »
A few months ago, during a weekend where my family was out of town, I binge watched both seasons of « Au service de la France », a hilarious spy comedy available on Netflix. One of the running gags of the series is the (fictional) French secret service’s obsession with bureaucracy. So, for example, when the service suspects a mole in its midst, one of the responses is to make sure that every piece of paperwork is signed multiple times before being stamped twice.
embedding Hypothesis as a commenting system on Hugo static sites
As I’ve been working on updating this website and revamping my web presence over the course of the summer, one of the items on my to-do list has been to add a commenting feature to the website. I love Hugo, but the absence of any in-built commenting feature is definitely a downside. I’ve looked over various Hugo-compatible commenting systems, but I honestly don’t know how much commenting activity I’ll see, and I’ve been hesitant to pay a third-party platform to do all of this for me.
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'This PC orchestra, built from 512 floppy disk drives, is wondrous to hear and behold - The Verge'
I remember the first Floppotron, and 3.0 continues to be delightful. I may have to show this in class next year.
link to ‘This PC orchestra, built from 512 floppy disk drives, is wondrous to hear and behold - The Verge’
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Ms. Marvel review: Kamala Khan’s new series feels like the MCU’s future - The Verge'
Very excited for this show. I hadn’t been all that concerned about the changing of Kamala’s powers, but this article brought up some good points about how that changes some of the messaging behind the character.
link to ‘Ms. Marvel review: Kamala Khan’s new series feels like the MCU’s future - The Verge’
émission sur le LEB
Ce weekend, j’ai regardé une émission sur la ligne ferroviaire Lausanne-Échallens-Bercher qui m’a beaucoup plu:
Quand j’ai vécu à Renens pendant quelques mois, c’était toujours un plaisir de voir passer une rame du LEB en me promenant sur l’Avenue d’Échallens. Je n’ai jamais eu l’occasion de voyager sur cette ligne, mais j’ai fort envie de retourner dans le Vaud pour l’essayer. Regarder des vidéos comme celle-ci (ou bien des vidéos « en cabine » qui montre les gares différentes ainsi que le paysage vaudois) me donne une nostalgie profonde pour le temps que j’ai passé tout près du LEB.
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'Ted Lasso season 3 might be the show’s final one - The Verge'
I hope it will be the last. End it while it’s still good.
link to ‘Ted Lasso season 3 might be the show’s final one - The Verge’
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'You’ll soon be able to use an iPhone as a Mac webcam - The Verge'
Just this weekend, I was trying to figure out if I could do this to improve some video quality. Neat!
link to ‘You’ll soon be able to use an iPhone as a Mac webcam - The Verge’
to anyone subscribed to this blog by RSS
I don’t know how many folks are subscribed to this blog via RSS, but if you are, chances are that you subscribed out of an interest in my professional writing. I’m making some big changes to the blog in part to give me the freedom to start writing on some other topics as well. You’ve probably seen some of these posts already, but I want to make it clear that it’s going to continue.
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on '‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’ Is a Mashup of the Things That Make Up Star Wars'
I’m interested in this argument about Star Wars feeling like a TTRPG campaign setting. Throughout much of middle and high school, I played the Wizards of the Coast Star Wars TTRPG, and that made even the prequel movies beloved because they became a setting to explore rather than movies to be unsatisfied with.
link to ‘‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’ Is a Mashup of the Things That Make Up Star Wars’
XIII comic reference in Slow Horses series?
Since April, I’ve gotten sucked into the Slow Horses British spy series after really enjoying the Apple TV+ adaptation. I’ve been powering through all the full-length novels and am now reading 2021’s Slough House, which features a character who’s survived a bullet wound to the head. Her description stood out to me for one particular detail, though:
Her hair was different. Maybe that’s what death does to you. I twas still mostly red but now punkishly short, with a white stripe across her left temple where the bullet had passed…
small radio delights, everday cultural artifacts, and other thoughts on audio media
I’ve been a big fan of audio-only media for a big chunk of my life. I grew up listening to NPR radio shows like Car Talk and Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me on Saturdays while my dad drove us around to do errands. TV wasn’t allowed in my family on Sundays, but the NPR Sunday Puzzle was—depending on what time church was that year, we’d listen to it on our way to Sunday meetings.
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on 'For All Mankind sets its alternate timeline sights on Mars in S3 trailer | Ars Technica'
So excited! This has been a great show, and this season seems topical.
link to ‘For All Mankind sets its alternate timeline sights on Mars in S3 trailer | Ars Technica’
🔗 linkblog: my thoughts on '30,000 New Users Signed Up for Mastodon After Elon Musk Bought Twitter'
Is this just mastodon.social? Seems like it, but that’s not the only instance getting a bump, and sloppy reporting to ignore how federated instances work—that’s one of the reasons we’re all moving there.
link to ‘30,000 New Users Signed Up for Mastodon After Elon Musk Bought Twitter’