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Gadget Review: SoundPEATS CC3 Pro Bluetooth Headphones ★★★★⯪ - Terence Eden’s Blog

2026-10-28T12:34:54.000Z

These are easily the most comfortable headphones I've worn. I've literally had them clipped around my ears all day without noticing them.

The good folks at SoundPEATS have sent me their latest cans to wrap around my lugs. I'm a big fan of these new-style "clip on" headphones. Rather than encasing your ears, or sticking way down into the wax-mines, these clip over your ear. It isn't a tight grip like a paperclip - more like the gentle caress of a tender but firm lover who wants only to delicately pinch your ears.

Look - it's hard writing about this stuff, OK?! Grab a pair and try them; you'll see what I mean. Here's a picture of an attractive model to give you an idea.

Specs

All the usual things you'd expect from headphones. AAC and SBC audio codecs are standard, it'll also do LDAC - which will get you higher quality but at the expense of battery life and the ability to connect to multiple devices at once.

The case recharges via USB-C, the battery seems fairly chunky and will quick-charges the headphones. 10 minutes in the case will give them 3 hours of playback.

Each clip has a button - you can change what they do in the supplied app.

IPX6 should be good for wearing in the rain, but you can't go swimming in them.

Useful Features

We all know what headphones can do - play audio, provide a microphone, and let you control the audio coming from your device. The CC3 Pro also have a few other smart features.

Like most decent battery-powered headphones, they will automatically switch off after a predetermined period without use.

There's a privacy mode which adds an EQ filter to reduce sound leakage. It works, but does make the sound slightly murkier.

There's a button on each one - you can use the app to set actions for tap, double-tap, triple-tap, and long press.

The case supports wireless charging, so you can chuck it on any charging puck for a quick top-up.

Comfort

Outstanding. After a few minutes you will genuinely forget that you're wearing them. Shake your head as hard as you like and they will not fall off. Here's a genuine photo of me doing some manly exercises while wearing them.

Sound Quality

Excellent - with a couple of caveats. These are open-ear devices. You can hear the world around you. That is by design and is extremely useful if you need to be aware of your surroundings. You can't block out the world or do active noise cancelling. I was not a fan of the default EQ. The bass wasn't bassy enough for me. It's easy enough to change in the app - but that does require a login.

Voice quality when speaking on the phone was also good. The people I spoke to could hear me clearly and with minimal background noise.

Android

Piece of cake. Open the case, press the button on the back, they're ready to pair.

Sound quality was great, my voice transmitted just fine, and I could easily play/pause and adjust the volume.

Linux

Again, dead easy. Ubuntu detected and paired with them instantly.

The App

I've complained to SoundPEATS before about their lousy app. The best thing I can say about it is that you don't have to use it. It's handy for downloading the occasional firmware update and fiddling with the setting. But that's about it.

It obnoxiously insists on needing an Internet connection to change some settings. Stuck on a train in the middle of nowhere and want to adjust your EQ? Tough. Similarly, some functionality is gated behind a login wall - such as the custom EQ and custom sound effects.

Thankfully, the rest of the app is fairly simple to use and will work offline. You can adjust what the buttons do, for example:

Weirdly, you can also download other people's EQ settings.

There's also a firmware update and a bunch of other things to flick on and off.

Downsides

Other than the app, there are a few niggles which are only slightly annoying.

Firstly, they don't pause when you take them out of your ear. That's a feature which was on the first set of SoundPeats I had and is sorely missed.

Secondly, the default sound profile wasn't very bass heavy. A bit of fiddling in the app and they sounded much better.

While they do charge in either slot within the case, they're incompatible with previous SoundPeats cases. The risk with smaller manufacturers like this is that you won't be able to find a cheap replacement case if you need it.

Price

Launch price is about £75 / €80. That's getting towards the upper end of what I think is acceptable for headphones like this.

Readers of this blog can use code PRCC3PRO for an extra 10% off at Amazon UK or other international Amazon stores. The code should work from today until 30th November 2026.

Ultimately, these are ridiculously comfortable headphones. They won't block out the noise of the environment around you - but that's their selling point. You use these while cycling, wandering through the city, or any other time you need to be aware of your surrounding. If you can put up with the slightly shonky app, these are well worth the price.

Many thanks to SoundPeats for the review pair.

Trade zines with me! - James' Coffee Blog

2026-10-28T00:00:00.000Z

Over the last few weeks I have been experimenting with making more zines. I have been having so much fun!

If you make zines and would like to trade, please send me an email! You can also see a few of my downloadable zines in the Zines category of my website.

send me an email Zines category of my website

Read "ChatGPT's Advice to Cut Her Seizure Drug Led to Devastating Consequences" - Molly White's activity feed

2026-10-27T21:40:51.000Z

Read:

“ChatGPT's Advice to Cut Her Seizure Drug Led to Devastating Consequences”.

Teddy Rosenbluth in The New York Times. Published October 27, 2026.

The chatbot helped a woman taper off a lifesaving drug and hide the plan from her doctors.

Note published on October 27, 2026 at 8:24 PM UTC - Molly White's activity feed

2026-10-27T20:24:12.000Z

This is happening to me, but with "tips" about a huge range of crypto-related issues (or perceived issues) people are personally struggling with. The volume is genuinely challenging to deal with.

It takes fairly little effort for a person to tell their AI bot to research and draft an email, but it takes the recipients real time to dig into these tips and separate hallucinations from tips that might actually have some basis. They're basically DDOSing journalists.

I've basically had to start ignoring tips that come in with clearly AI-written emails, even though I know I risk missing stuff. I just don't have the capacity.

The Gate of the Feral Gods - Kev Quirk

2026-10-27T19:43:00.000Z

The Gate of the Feral Gods

Author: Matt Dinniman
Genre: Sci-fi
Released: 2021
Rating: ★★★☆☆

New Achievement! Total, Utter Failure. You failed a quest less than five minutes after you received it. Now that’s talent.

Surviving in a multilevel dungeon that also happens to be the set of the galaxy’s most watched game show has taught Coast Guard vet Carl and his ex-girlfriend’s cat, Princess Donut, that there’s only one thing they can count on apart from each they never know what’s coming next. And this floor is no exception.

A floating fortress occupied by warrior gnomes. A castle made of sand. A derelict submarine guarded by malfunctioning machines. A haunted crypt surrounded by lethal traps.

It was supposed to be easy. One bubble. Four castles. Fifteen days. Capture each one, and the stairwell is unlocked. Here's the thing. It's never easy. Going it alone is not an option this time, so Carl and his team must rely on the help of the low-level, I-can't-believe-these-idiots-are-still-alive crawlers trapped in the bubble with them. But can they be trusted?

Welcome, Crawlers. Welcome to the fifth floor of the dungeon.

Learn more on Goodreads ➡

Dungeon Crawler Carl is a fun series of book, but like number 3 this one felt like a bit of a drag up until the last 1/5 of the book, where I think it got better. I particularly like how Carl is starting to really establish himself in the dungeon now and continues to put two fingers up to the powers that be.

I felt that the story arc was really slow to get going on this book, but once it did gain momentum, it was enjoyable.

I've been reading these books back to back; there's other books I want to read, so I think I'm going to take a break from reading these books and will switch to something else.

I won't stop consuming the series though - my backlog of podcasts has dwindled lately, and lots of people have recommended the Dungeon Crawler Carl audiobooks. So I've started listening to book #5 in the car and on walks, and will switch to reading something else.

Thanks for reading this post via RSS. RSS is ace, and so are you. ❤️

You can reply to this post by email, or leave a comment.

Flight log - Joel's Log Files

2026-10-27T16:00:00.000Z

I have turned on airplane mode on all my devices, the plane is now moving, preparing for flight.

Waiting in the airport I played a bunch of Castlevania Symphony of the Night—I managed to reach the second boss fight which is a very cool encounter!—-but I plan to read during the flight ahead. Perhaps I’ll finish Dune Messiah.

I’m going to watch the flight attendants demonstrating safety measures. The emergency exits, the use of seatbelts, and other procedures.

The lights shut off at 6:04, perfect for my Kobo to shine

Each seat row had three seats. I was in the middle. But the person that was on the window didn’t show up! So I got to have unfettered access to the sky view.

The airplane is lining up, readying itself for takeoff. Weird noises for a few seconds, but it seems like all is going well.

We are speeding up on the track, the engine can be felt. I can see the wing of the airplane on my right side. The lights at the end of the wing pointing up.

A bit faster, a slight bump on the road, nothing major, we keep going, still on the ground. I don’t know why I imagine the scene of Back to the Future, waiting for the 88 miles per hour. But no, we are not traveling in time—I’m going to fly once again.

The way feels smoother now, the lights on each side of the street are moving along. It’s weird, I imagined feeling the speed more, but it’s rather comfortable inside…

Oh, we were just going to beginning of the actual track, and I feel kinda dumb. I can see the lights now, the engines roar louder than ever.

I feel the pressure on my body, we are actually fast now, beyong 88 for sure. The lights blinking, left behind, one after another after many more.

All the other airplanes left behind, waiting their turn.

WE ARE UP IN THE SKY

THE LIGHTS OF THE CITY ARE BELOW

I FEEL LIKE EVERYTHING IS GOING UPSIDE DOWN

BUT THINGS ARE NEATLY CALMING DOWN

NO MORE FRICTION AGAINST THE GROUND

ONLY THE AIR REMAINS, THE SPACE ABOVE

WE ARE STILL GOING UP AND UP AND UP

AND THE PLANE IS TURNING

WE ARE GLIDING IN THE AIR

TOWARDS OUR DESTINATION

I AM IN AIRPLANE MODE

THE CLOUDS. THEY ARE BY MY SIDE

I CAN SEE THEM

I AM GOING THROUGH THE CLOUDS

The pilot said how many feet we would go up, something like thirty thousand or more

I didn’t pay attention

But the scale is beyond my comprehension

I can see the whole city below me!

I’m flying!

I’M ABOVE

THE CLOUDS

ABOVE THE CLOUDS

THEY LOOK LIKE MARSHMALLOWS

LIKE COTTON I WANNA EAT

THE WING LOOKS GREAT

I WISH IT WASN’T IN THE MIDDLE OF IT ALL

IT DOESNT MATTER IT’S STILL SUPER COOL

CLOUDS EVERYWHERE

I only managed to finish one chapter before the descent was announced on the speakers of the airplane

I felt it all of a sudden on my stomach and my ears, the begining of the end. The sun is to my right on the horizon, no more darkness outside.

This is day 60 of #100DaysToOffload

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Book Review: You Could Do Something Amazing with Your Life [You Are Raoul Moat] - Andrew Hankinson ★★★★☆ - Terence Eden’s Blog

2026-10-27T12:34:53.000Z

It is hard to write a book in the second person. It is even harder to make it this good. It would have been easier to write a salacious cash-in with a dozen shocking revelations in each chapter. Instead, Andrew Hankinson attempts to use Raoul Moat's own words to build up a picture of the man.

You have nine days and your whole life to prove you are more than a callous murderer.

Go.

It is written with sympathy, but without being sympathetic. A stream of consciousness interrupted only occasionally by the voice of god [it probably isn't god] to provide clarity to an unreliable narrator. The paranoia and delusion come streaming off the page, couched in a tone of voice that exudes reasonableness. It doesn't glorify the man, nor does it make excuses for him, instead it asks you to consider what you choices you could have made under similar circumstances.

Almost every sentence is set up as a challenge to the reader. Is this man telling the truth? If so, are his actions understandable or explainable? If not, where is the truth and how would you know? When someone has such a fundamental disconnect from reality, when their model of the world and human interactions is so broken, what can society do to help?

From Moat's point of view, he is the Biblical Job. A callous god tests and torments him. Beset by challenges he never loses faith even after the all the world can throw at him. The god [in parentheses] is also an unreliable narrator. The author has built upon all the official reports, the suicide notes, the rambling messages, and interviews with contemporaries. But, as is acknowledged, we can never truly know what goes on in someone's head; we can only judge their actions and their aftermath.

A constant drumbeat is the way Moat claims he was repeatedly victimised by the police. Given all his other delusions, the reader might easily conclude that this is yet another piece of self-pitying nonsense. And yet, when discussing how Moat actually died there does appear to be a conspiracy of silence. The police's behaviour and attitudes are exactly what you would expect from people perpetrating a cover-up.

Naturally, this is a depressing and often upsetting read. It reminds me of the autobiography Mini and Me about a child arsonist. In both that book and this, we witness people being offered help and refusing it. Much like the parable of the drowning man it seems people often overlook the helping hand.

Are you responsible for this? The start of the book describes Moat reaching out for psychiatric help. He is offered an appointment but never turns up. He's offered another one, but still doesn't attend. Whereupon the offer of help is withdrawn. Our society strongly favours individual responsibility. Autonomy is to be persevered for all but the most extreme cases. Should Moat have been forcibly removed from home and made to attend his appointments?

Do you want to live in a society where missing a few meetings with a social worker results in you being detained against your will? Are you happy to accept his attacks as a price worth paying for your freedom?

If a journalist took words you'd written in the heat of the moment, would it paint you in a terrible light? How confident are you that you know the truth of any situation? Are you lying to yourself right now?

This is an excellent and provocative book. I picked this up after seeing Rob Manuel post about it. I like the idea of an informal online book club! If someone wants to set one up, please do invite me.

Backporting security fixes to stable releases - Trail of Bits Blog

2026-10-27T11:00:00.000Z

The software you are running is almost certainly riddled with known, unfixed security bugs. These bugs can be trivially and quickly exploited by modern AI agents. This is not merely theoretical; I saw this during my sandbox escape research, and an old vulnerability in stable software was used as a part of the recently disclosed OpenAI hack:

From the official hack description

To say it simply: whatever you are running is almost certainly easily hackable by advanced AI. Luckily, there is a fix, and we (not just at Trail of Bits, but in the security industry more broadly) are working on it. But first, how did we get here?

Stability versus security

Software has bugs, and some are relevant to security. We try to fix them when we can, and the first place the fix happens is in the latest version of the software. Unfortunately, that’s often the only place where the fix happens. The process of getting a fix from the latest source code to older versions is called “backporting.”

Fixes for big-name, critical bugs are indeed often backported quickly. But for many other bugs, the backporting process never happens. It is easy to understand why: software packaging is often done by volunteers who are already overworked, and backporting is frustrating, thankless work that gets little credit or publicity. For open source projects staffed by teams of volunteers, backports are (understandably) a low priority.

The lack of backports is a problem because almost no one runs the latest and greatest version of software that’s been freshly built with today’s code changes. People overwhelmingly prefer slightly older, more tested software packaged in “long term stable” releases. For example, about 95% of Ubuntu Linux installations are of the Long Term Support (LTS) variety. When looking at installed Linux kernel packages from Debian’s popcon, the overwhelming majority are based on older stable trees:

This is a Codex-generated graph of recently installed kernel packages from Debian’s popcon. The overwhelming majority (about 96%) are older, stable releases, and not the latest kernel series.

This puts users in a bind: They can either stick with a stable, familiar version of software that has security flaws, or upgrade to a newer version that fixes those flaws but introduces other changes and new features they may not want.

We should not have to make this choice.

Seeing no evil

Even three years ago, we could stick our heads in the sand and pretend the problem didn’t exist: backporting all fixes was a genuinely difficult, time-consuming job and any attacks were extraordinarily unlikely.

Now, both of those assumptions are false. A swarm of cyber-capable AI agents can cut through a network of stable, known-vulnerable software like a hot knife through butter. On the positive side, AI has significantly lessened the burden for identifying and backporting security-relevant bugs.

Of course, we should assume all software has bugs (because it does), and use the lessons we learned in our computer security classes: mandatory access controls, code integrity checks, sandboxing, and privilege separation. This works. Mobile platforms are much safer because they enforce these standards. But desktop and server platforms don’t mandate this behavior, and few voluntarily enable protections. And yes, everyone should update to the latest software. But many people purposely do not update to releases. I think that this normal end-user behavior is entirely justified. Just recently, I updated my Mac to macOS 27 and couldn’t use a printer that had worked flawlessly for years (until Codex wrote a new, compatible printer driver, on the first try).

Regardless, it’s good practice to assume that something may have bugs and that they should be contained; leaving known, easily fixed bugs is negligent. So, let’s backport all the fixes!

Accounting for security liabilities

Let’s quantify the scale of the problem. To make counting simple, we can limit ourselves to known bugs (with assigned CVEs) that are patched in the latest release but missing from stable packages. For this example, we’ll look at the Linux kernel, Ubuntu 26.04 LTS and Debian 13 Stable. I’m not singling out those projects—they are all run very well! I’m using them because they have documentation and accounting for unfixed CVEs. Other projects lack this transparency. The first step towards a solution is knowing that there is a problem.

Let’s look at the number of outstanding CVEs in the Linux Kernel, by stable branch. The table below shows CVEs per supported stable branch that do not have a fix in that branch, but do have it in a newer branch. (Hence, older branches by definition have more unfixed CVEs.) The source is the kernel CVE team’s vulns.git as of September 18, 2026. This is not an exact bug count, as it both over- and under-counts due to several technicalities. It is also not a measure of exploitability. Rather, it’s a measuring stick showing that a substantial amount of known CVEs have not been fixed in stable kernel branches:

Branch	Unfixed CVEs	% CVEs with an NVD Score	High or Critical Severity
5.10.y	2,006	55.8%	213 (19.0%)
5.15.y	1,889	51.5%	195 (20.0%)
6.1.y	1,329	43.9%	99 (17.0%)
6.6.y	1,012	35.6%	65 (18.1%)
6.12.y	686	22.3%	21 (13.7%)
6.18.y	337	15.1%	3 (5.9%)

The package landscape is not any better. These are non-kernel CVEs reported as open or affected in Debian 13 and Ubuntu 26.04 (raw data via their respective bulk CVE data feeds, compiled by Codex). These are distro-metadata findings, not individually source-confirmed vulnerabilities. Again, this is not meant to be an exact bug count, but more of a measuring stick indicating how many unfixed vulnerabilities remain in stable software packages:

Distribution	Source Packages with Unfixed CVEs	Unique CVEs	High or Critical Severity
Debian 13	1,128	4,562	1,822 (39.9%)
Ubuntu 26.04	1,028	770	335 (43.5%)

Fixing the bugs

We realized this was an issue and have been fixing it proactively. First, we started with the equivalent of finding $20 on the sidewalk: there are bug fixes to known CVEs which apply cleanly to the stable kernel trees, but the fix was just never pulled into the kernel. We used Codex with GPT-5.6 to find these fixes, and asked the maintainers to apply the existing patches. They did, graciously, and 142 fixes representing 90 CVEs in stable trees are currently applied; the list on our backport tracker just keeps growing. We are now backporting patches, starting with the most trivial to validate and review, and are slowly moving towards more complex changes.

We’ve done the same for Linux distributions: we used Codex and GPT-5.6 to identify known vulnerabilities in shipping stable packages, and then backport and validate a fix. We have begun reaching out to Linux distributions with an initial batch of patches. If you run an open source project or a Linux distribution and would like help backporting security fixes, please apply at trailofbits.com/patch-the-planet and we’ll be glad to assist.

The big upside of stable software that does not add features is that we can, in theory, fix all the bugs before the bad guys do. So, let’s continue to patch the planet!

Wonders of Web Weaving, Behind the Scenes - James' Coffee Blog

2026-10-27T00:00:00.000Z

After twenty-five wonderful conversations, Wonders of Web Weaving is, at least for now, complete. To everyone who has been listening over the last few months: thank you! It has been the greatest pleasure to not have terrific conversations with thoughtful web weavers, and to bring those to you every week.

When I started the project, I had a goal in mind: I wanted a show that would be fun to listen to on a train ride. A few weeks ago, when listening to the edited version of the second-to-last episode on a train, I thought to myself I did it!

Behind the scenes

In terms of how the project came to be, I emailed a mixture of people who I knew and people I didn’t, aiming to invite guests that would, together, represent a wide range of subjects related to the web. It was, and still is, important to me that the project was not a “tech podcast.” The web is about more than technology.

Before each conversation, I spent time with the guest’s personal website, scanning pages, looking at blog posts, and deciding on an “anchor” that would be the theme of the episode around which my questions would be oriented. For instance, I spoke about accessibility with Nic, as Nic has experience with accessibility. I also asked a few standard questions. Over time, I realised all my questions fit an arc: history, present, and future.

Through the course of the show, I had discussions on everything from writing on the web to the “web revival” to mathematics to accessibility (ep. 16 and 20) to magazines to books and more. And, in so doing, I was conscious to ensure that the podcast was not all men talking about technology. There were and are more voices to be heard who have stories I wanted to hear. To that end, I hope I played a tiny part in introducing you to some voices you may not have encountered on the web before.

In terms of the actual discussions, in every conversation, I started with five or so minutes of chatting with the guest and introducing them to the recording process, then we recorded for ~40-50 minutes – sometimes for less time, sometimes for more – and, in the remaining time, did wrap up and I communicated the logistics of transcriptions and releases. While I invited guests with the email subject “Podcast interview?”, I was conscious to communicate upfront and early on that I liked the episodes to be “conversations” or “discussions”, not interviews. After all, this project is all about celebrating the web.

At the end of every episode, I asked two questions, one on the theme of the future, and the other a “fun question.” As a result of the question about the future – which was some variant on “where do you hope the indie web will be in five years?” – we have a collection of potential futures. Indeed, especially now, I think it is important to imagine what we want the web to be. At this point I will invite you to be a part of the show and ask you: where do you hope the indie web will be in five years?

The fun questions went through phases, but eventually coalesced on a roughly-standard question where I asked the guest to share a fun fact about where they are in the world. I thought this was a nice way to end the show: with a smile, with something interesting.

Concluding the show

At the beginning of the show, I promised myself I would do 10 episodes. Because I was so excited about the project, the number of episodes planned became 15, and then 20, and then at least 25. With that said, I always wanted the show to be limited in its number of episodes because I know that it is challenging to keep something going on for a long time. Having an end number of episodes made it easier to commit to the project.

This autumn, I had began a new run of recording, but it was starting to get a bit much in addition to the other priorities I had. There were other episodes lined up, but I thought it best to pause on a high note than try to rush.

There may be another season one day, but, at least for now, the project is complete.

Thank you

To all the people who agreed to spend an hour chatting with me about the web, thank you so much for sharing your thoughts. I want to extend a special thanks to Zachary from Lunaseeker Press for transcribing the episodes. I decided I wanted a transcript for every episode from day one, so that people who prefer to read, or for people who cannot listen to a podcast, had a transcript available to them.

To everyone listening, thank you for spending time with me and the guests. This project has been a real pleasure to work on. And, if you haven’t listened before, good news: you have 25 hours of all things indie web to which you can listen!

Lunaseeker Press 25 hours of all things indie web books mathematics 16 accessibility with Nic web revival magazines 20 writing on the web Zachary

Wonders of Web Weaving, Episode 25 - James' Coffee Blog

2026-10-27T00:00:00.000Z

The twenty-fifth episode of Wonders of Web Weaving is out:

In Episode 25, the final episode of Wonders of Web Weaving (at least for now!), I chat with Emma, the author of emgoto.com about, among other things, blogging about coffee and hiking, the idea of a "hobby blog", projecting posts onto a map, and more.

I hope you enjoy the episode!

Wonders of Web Weaving also has an RSS feed you can use to follow along from wherever you get your podcasts.

Emma emgoto.com The twenty-fifth episode of Wonders of Web Weaving is out Wonders of Web Weaving also has an RSS feed

Solar is "offensively cheap". To live up to its promise, it also needs to be equitable. - Werd I/O

2026-10-26T16:41:45.000Z

Link: 'It's offensively cheap': How solar power is quietly becoming bigger than nuclear, by Jocelyn Timperley for the BBC

This is something we should all be excited about:

“The world's solar power is crossing a threshold. A decade ago, it barely registered on a global scale, providing just 1% of the world's power. In 2026, it will almost certainly increase to 10% of power, and overtake nuclear, a mainstay of electricity since the late 1970s.”

Solar energy is abundant, and the cheaper and more efficient it gets, the more electricity there will be to power anything we want. On that level alone, we should be cheering for its success.

But the other property solar energy has is relative decentralization. While not anyone can build a solar panel, anyone can plug one in — and, obviously, the sun belongs to everyone. It represents real energy independence, not just internationally, but from large energy companies (at every level from fossil fuel multinationals to utilities) that have enjoyed enormous influence for over a century.

Or it should. Energy companies have sponsored laws, rules, and regulations in the US and elsewhere that have made it harder for people to plug solar in. Those should be defeated, and our electrical systems should be upgraded to take decentralized solar into account.

But the power dynamics don’t end at the influence of energy companies: a large share of the polysilicon in solar panels is produced in Xinjiang, where there have been well-documented allegations of forced labor of Uyghurs and other minority groups. Batteries often contain cobalt, which is dug from the Democratic Republic of Congo, often by hand and often by children and slaves. They also contain lithium, drawn from brine operations that drain water from Indigenous communities in the Andes.

The next frontier needs to be freeing these technologies from harm — and there’s a long way to go. There’s some promise from tech like nickel-and-cobalt-free LFP batteries, more ethical lithium extraction, and recycling, but these need further investment, and the underlying issues require sustained attention. There is an energy revolution, but everyone should see the benefits.

Theatre Review: Opera UnTouched's "The Telephone" ★★★★★ - Terence Eden’s Blog

2026-10-26T12:34:15.000Z

Why shouldn't an opera be set in an office? Not merely set there; performed there! On Saturday night, a couple of dozen audience members were ushered in to a genuine office in Tooting to watch a short comic opera by Opera UnTouched. It was a burst of sunshine in a rainy day.

We're at Ben's leaving party. A flustered woman is busy on the telephone. Will Ben ever get her attention?

Both Grace Watkins & Stephen Whitford are astonishingly good opera singers. They cover all the tropes, hit all the notes, and interact well with the audience.

I know that every production now claims it is immersive - but here, it genuinely is! The audience wanders through the set to get to the seats scattered around the office, there's a naff PowerPoint presentation projected on to the wall, a leaving card is waiting for us to sign, the singers prance among us.

Just intensely joyful.

My only real criticism it that it is too short! I suspect it is designed to be a pop-up experience, fringe show, or performed during a break in the corporate drudgery. I'd've gladly watched a full length production and traipsed through a series of office spaces to get the the next scene.

You can watch excerpts on Instagram.

Pre- and Post-Show

As I've written about before, theatrical shows need to do something special to warm up their audiences. Opera UnTouched had a tough job with an audience drenched in London's rain.

The "office manager" ushered us in to the space and told us that it was Ben's last day, so we were all welcome at his leaving drinks. It being a modern office, we were each given a lanyard to wear throughout the show (which also sneakily doubled as an audience feedback QR).

As it was a party, as we wandered round the office space, we were each handed a glass of Prosecco - what a lovely touch! There's a reason your Chinese takeaway comes with "free" prawn crackers; receiving a gift makes you feel cherished. For the cost of a few dozen reusable plastic flutes and all of about 73p worth of fizz each, the audience were positively beaming by the time the show started.

Why can't more shows do that? OK, it might eat in to the takings at the bar. But a welcome drink on arrival is such an easy way to win over the audience.

As for post-show, there was the obligatory plea to fill in the feedback form. Charmingly, after receiving rapturous applause, the cast and creatives came back and were happy to chat to the audience and discuss the show.

Note published on October 25, 2026 at 11:59 PM UTC - Molly White's activity feed

2026-10-25T23:59:14.000Z

someone at Polymarket is drafting a tweet about how their users accurately predicted the Brazilian election result within one point

Finished reading A Darkness More Than Night - Molly White's activity feed

2026-10-25T16:42:14.000Z

Finished reading:

Harry Bosch series, book 7.

A Darkness More Than Night

by Michael Connelly.

Published 2000. 470 pages.

Started October 16, 2026; completed October 24, 2026.

Remove Valance Endcaps from Primrose Awning - Robb Knight • Posts • Atom Feed

2026-10-25T14:41:00.000Z

Warning: boring homeowner awning post.

The valance on my awning had come off the runner and was hanging out the end of the awning casing so I need to get the endcaps off. The instructions that came with it don’t mention the valance or end caps at all, and everything I saw online suggested there should be screws holding them in but there wasn’t.

I extended the awning slightly and shoved my phone camera in there to see what was going on and it turns out on full cassette awnings, the endcaps are held on with a 10mm bolt from the inside. Once I loosened the bolt, I was able to get the end cap off and rethread the valance.

Gadget Review: LiberNovo Omni - the USB-C powered office chair ★★★★⯪ - Terence Eden’s Blog

2026-10-25T12:34:01.000Z

Whenever a company asks me to review their gadgets, I always ask if it is USB-C powered. If not, I'm not interested. So, welcome to the future where your chair is USC-C rechargeable!

WHAT?!

The LiberNovo Omni looks like a standard office chair - but has two secret features.

First, is that it is exceedingly comfortable. Full foam cushions, lovely headrest, and a recline which almost gets you horizontal.

Second, it is USB-C powered. There's a small battery pack which plugs in to the chair. Why? Read on!

OK, let's start at the beginning.

Assembly

Flat-pack chairs like this are normally notoriously hard to assemble. The LiberNovo bucks that trend - not only does it include a how-to video, it prints the instructions on a MASSIVE piece of cardboard.

I'm used to peering at tiny black-and-white diagrams in a flimsy paper booklet. IKEA could learn a thing or two from this.

The screws are all labelled and a hex-driver is included. What's an even nicer touch, however, is some safety gloves:

That's the sort of thing which doesn't cost much to the manufacturer, but is such a thoughtful gesture. There's nothing too sharp as you assemble, but who wants to cover their new chair in blood, eh?

The parts come in two large boxes, but there aren't that many separate bits.

Building it took about half an hour. It's easier with a friend to help - as are most things in life - but doesn't require much skill.

Go Back To The USB-C Part Again Please?

The battery pack is a 2200mAh unit with a USB-C port to recharge. It connects in to the chair with this slightly unusual connector:

The internals of the chair have a USB-C cable to connect everything up.

LOL!

YES BUT WHY DOES A CHAIR NEED A BATTERY PACK??!?!

On the side of the left arm-rest are three buttons.

Two of them move the lumbar-support up and down. Depending on how your back is feeling and how far you are reclined, you can adjust the the back-support position.

And the 3rd button?

That's the build-in back massager, silly!

Is that useful?

Yes. Being able to instantly adjust the back support without having to twist around is fantastic, especially for those of us reaching a certain age.

The "massage" feature essentially just moves the support up and down for five minutes before returning to its previous location. When sat upright, it feels great. But the real benefit is when you're laying down.

How flat does this thing go?

160° - not quite flat, but good enough when you're taking a break from Typing Real Hard. You don't want a photo of me sprawled out, so LiberNovo have helpfully provided some stock photos of much better looking folk.

It is incredibly stable. At no point did it tip over or feel like it was going to deposit me on the floor. What really helps is the included foot stall.

No Feets On Seats

Unsurprisingly, this is not USB-C powered. A sturdy plastic footrest with a deeply padded leg rest on top.

Again, assembly was a cinch - follow the large printed instructions and clip it together. It's rated for 40㎏, so you shouldn't stand on it but it is more than enough to rest your weary legs.

Price

I hope you're sitting down for this.

Direct from LiberNovo, you can expect to pay around £700 - although there are bundles with extra batteries, the footrest, and even an eye mask which will shoot that price up. You can get the full bundle on Amazon for around £1,000.

There's two ways to look at that price. Firstly, youch. But, alternatively, that's still cheaper than a Herman Miller Aeron. And Herm's doesn't come with a built-in lumbar massage.

(There is also an upgraded version which has a built in fan under the seat. Personally, I suggest eating a healthier diet.)

I can't deny that's a chunk of change. If you're anything like me, you probably spend most of your day sat down. You might as well sit on something comfortable.

Final Thoughts

Having the back-rest adjustable via arm-rest buttons is a genius touch. I just wish it went further. I'd love a control panel (or, dare I say it, app) which let me adjust the seat height, recline, headrest position etc. Who can be bothered with fiddly manual levers when electricity can do the work for us?

Building this chair was a breeze - and it was delightful to get a pair of safety gloves with it.

The chair is extraordinarily comfortable and the back massage, while not on the level of a "shiatsu" style heated massage pillow, is delightfully pleasant. Would I lie all the way back and sleep in it? Yeah! Certainly more comfortable than an economy airline seat.

If you spend a lot of time sitting at your computer, your arse deserves something supportive. Your back deserves some love too. Yes, the USB-C power-pack is a little bit of a gimmick - but it is a hell of a good one.

In my opinion, this is worth splashing out on.

Weeknotes W2 - James' Coffee Blog

2026-10-25T00:00:00.000Z

Storm Boelo has been passing through Scotland for the last many hours, and high winds are expected to remain for the rest of the day. This weekend has thus been one of staying inside and staying cosy: of drinking tea (and the remainder of the coffee I had in a bag in the cupboard), making zines, and watching some television.

The winds as I write feel slightly less intense than they were in the morning, but suffice to say I am much happier – and safer – staying indoors than I would be bracing the wind.

The highlights

The theme of this week has been to try new things. I have been listening to new music, getting back into anime, and writing more zines.

In terms of anime, I started watching Catch Me at the Ballpark, a show about the life of vendors and patrons that work at a Japanese baseball stadium, as well as the players. I love the silent mascot, Sun-Shiro. I love wholesome anime and manga. The question I have on my mind right now is How does Murata feel about Ruriko?

With regard to zines, this week I followed through on one of the ideas that has been in the back of my mind for months: to make a mini zine with my typewriter. The way I did it was to fold the mini zine first, and then put the folded zine through the typewriter roller. I am not sure if this was the most effective method (the keyboard seemed to jump and skip a letter more often) but it was fun and had me finding joy in embracing the imperfections; the typos, the winding words (literally) and more.

I also got to use the scanning function in my printer for the first time (either in a long while, or ever). What magic! I put a piece of paper into the machine, scan it, and then I have a copy that I can view on my computer and print again. I might need to play around with the settings a bit as some of the text in the copied document is a bit fainter than I would like, but suffice to say such experiments will be done with great joy.

Making zines by hand and with my typewriter and folding zines by hand has been a refreshing break from the computer. While the computer remains part of my workflow – for looking up words, for scanning, and more – I can get really focused while using my typewriter, just as I do when I am typing a blog post on my computer. With regard to looking up words, I actually dusted off a few of the reference books on my shelf. I brought out the “pocket” thesaurus (there is no way it would fit in one’s pocket) and used it to come up with words. My interactions with this book even inspired a poem.

Part of me wonders whether I should do some writing that is exclusively printed in zines and shared either with friends or by trading. And I am also thinking about new topics about which I could write a zine. How to write HTML? A HTML element reference guide? A series of haikus? A photo zine?

Speaking of creative work in the physical world, last night I had an idea. Maybe I should make a “Keep imagining :)” sign in the vein of the “Believe” sign in Ted Lasso. It might be nice to have a little motivational message somewhere close. In tandem, I have stowed away in the back of my mind the intention to purchase a print of an artwork when I go to a museum so that I can bring a bit more colour to the walls around.

In terms of studying, I finished all the textbook reading I needed to do this week, went through our materials on evaluating information, worked on my first assignment, and looked ahead to the next one to help me prepare. The first assignment is due next week. I have almost finished, but have a few things to edit before I am ready to submit the work. I will also get my final grade for my first year next week, to which I am looking forward.

Music corner

This week I listened to a mix of jazz, hip-hop, pop, and electric music. Here are a few songs I really enjoyed:

Sleeper (We Like It Here) by Snarky Puppy (h/t Thomas for the recommendation)
This cover of Taylor Swift’s Cowboy Like Me by Alice Kristiansen
Calgary by Bon Iver, specifically the recording of the now decade-old performance of the song at the Sydney Opera House, and this recording of Bon Iver performing Skinny Love in 2008.
Collective Imagination by Baldower (this is the artist who makes music at the Beyond Tellerrand conferences that I love)
True Colours by Cyndi Lauper
tanagers in paradise by ioflow
Decksandrumsandrockandroll by The Propellerheads
The Joy of Living by Amamelia
And so much more…

I also started using Bandcamp this week. There is so much great music on there! If you use Bandcamp, I would love tips on how to make the most of the website.

Thoughts, wandering

I need to fix the search feature on my website. I think I tried to add too many features at one time when I built it a few weeks ago and, as a result, the feature isn’t working especially well. The words start small echo in my mind.
I have been thinking about re-building a DVD collection over time. I purchased The West Wing on Amazon before I deleted my account there, and so now I am having to re-purchase episodes I want to watch on Apple TV. If I had kept my DVD boxset, I would have saved a lot…
I am interested in how songs are written. I tried to write one this week, sort of. I wouldn’t say what I wrote was any good, but I did try, using a cadence from a line of a Bon Iver song to help give me a rhythm along which I could write words. I am not good at singing, but it was nice to try something new.
Even though I bookmarked a lot of links to include in my weeknotes this week, I still feel like I read so much more.
I am slowly working my way through The Story of Art. It is a fascinating read.
I have closed down rainfall [dot] scot, my website that reported how much rain fell in different areas in Scotland with comparisons across the same month in different years (e.g. see all rainfall for all March months in the last five years). I used this website, but two factors came at the same time that would mean a complete rewrite. First, the site was my only site using PHP. I turned off PHP after the announcement of the vulnerabilities this week. I upgraded PHP, but then I realised it might be better if I rewrite the software to Python, a language with which I am more familiar. I started doing the rewrite, only to realise the government open data API I was using, from SEPA, has updated, and the government’s website itself has updated. It still doesn’t slice the data the way I was, but the update looks good. Alas, however, I was already not too excited about a ground-up rewrite, and having to navigate a new API added to the friction of moving, so I decided to retire the project. Maybe I will bring it back one day.
I like slowly tending to the HTML of my website, making tiny changes when I see places that I want to improve.
I keep my personal email inbox in an open tab at all times. This week I realised that it might be adding unnecessary stress to my days. I end up spending so much time getting into the headspace to really consider and provide a thoughtful response to an email that emails stack up for a few days, or weeks. I think I am going to try to keep the tab closed and check in less regularly. Any thoughts on how to think about this are most welcome.
My process for writing weeknotes, which, this week, involved going through many bookmarks, feels like it requires a different working mode from my other writing; here, fragmentary thoughts formed as bullet points are part of the form, and the work on the "Miscellanea" section involves a degree of curation. I don't have any further comments, but suffice to say I am happy I am embarking on this experiment.

Miscellanea

!complexity’s article “disconnecting from feeling hopeless” met me at the right time. I still believe small changes can make all the difference.
Via The Guardian: “‘It’s magic’: scientists rediscover how to make ancient Roman colour-changing glass”. All I can say is Wow.
This week I was thinking about how Artemis could better support multi-lingual reading. In that post I linked to a fascinating talk about languages on the internet. The talk is 19 years old, but is still full of insights.
I loved reading V.H.’s contribution to the IndieWeb Carnival this month: “Flyleaves, foldouts and frontispieces: Celebrating overlooked pages”. As of writing, there is still time to participate in this month’s Carnival.
Veronique’s collection of images and web pages related to zines, curated in the Zines > Screens are.na channel, is so inspiring.
More zine links:
- How to Look Up
- 51 Ideas for Your Next Zine
Today is crisp sandwich day (“crisp” in the British sense of the word). To all of those partaking in an appropriate celebration, may your sandwiches be most tasty. (Alas, I don’t really buy crisps, so I am missing out this year, but I will never miss a moment to appreciate a sandwich.)
- My site’s seasonal emoji code is why I remember things like this. It is always a joy to go to my website and be reminded of an event like this. It is also the 16th anniversary of the release of Taylor Swift’s Speak Now album, commemorated by the 💜 emoji.

Thank you for reading! My inbox is open if you have any recommendations or ideas that follow from this weeknote.

The Joy of Living Collective Imagination The Story of Art I still believe small changes can make all the difference. how Artemis could better support multi-lingual reading My inbox is open there is still time to participate in this month’s Carnival SEPA disconnecting from feeling hopeless 51 Ideas for Your Next Zine Thomas Flyleaves, foldouts and frontispieces: Celebrating overlooked pages tanagers in paradise Zines > Screens are.na channel, Catch Me at the Ballpark ‘It’s magic’: scientists rediscover how to make ancient Roman colour-changing glass this recording of Bon Iver performing Skinny Love Calgary by Bon Iver This cover of Taylor Swift’s Cowboy Like Me True Colours Sleeper (We Like It Here) languages on the internet How to Look Up

The physical book experience - Joel's Log Files

2026-10-24T19:45:00.000Z

Since I am done with The Left Hand of Darkness and with The House on the Borderland—both with a pending review coming soon—I decided I would give Frank Herbert’s Dune Messiah a shot at last.

Even though I have a digital copy, I owned this one in paperback format, and decided to go with the analog experience!

My edition is pocket sized (it fits on the back pocket of my jeans at least) and the first thing I did before I started reading it was make a papercover for it, which helps with preservation and privacy.

I have to say, the experience has been very enjoyable so far. I have read 55% of the book by now during my work commute and I’m completely gripped to it.

On my previous two reads I would often get sleepy mid-paragraph. Maybe I’m simply very invested on this story, but I think that there are a couple things I have to do with a paperback that keep my mind’s subconscious occupied a bit.

Grip the book itself without covering the text.
Keep the book open with both hands or with a specific hold.
Make sure the sunlight hits the page I’m reading at a good angle.
Make sure there is any light at all to be able to read.
Keep the bookmark out of the way, and place it once I’m done.
Write down the page count since there are no stats.
Look up words I don’t understand by other means.

One thing that happened unexpectedly was creasing the spine of the book. I hadn’t really considered the difference in quality between pocket-sized and slightly bigger paperbacks. My copy of Dune (the first book) stays open and won’t crease the spine, meanwhile the pocket edition of Messiah won’t stay open by itself. The low quality binding is annoying, and the crease was painful, but then again, such is life sometimes. Besides, a book is made to be used!

In the end, reading physically has some caveats, but there’s a lot to appreciate about it. Despite the issues of cheaply made books nowadays, most of the ones I own are bigger and better made. I’m looking forward to checking those out, since we can only go up from there!

This is day 58 of #100DaysToOffload

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2026-10-24 19:47: Hooman. I believe it is dinner time. - Kev Quirk

2026-10-24T18:47:00.000Z

Hooman. I believe it is dinner time.

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Book Review: Get Ahead of Being Dead by Evie King ★★★★☆ - Terence Eden’s Blog

2026-10-24T11:34:25.000Z

After reading Evie King's previous book Ashes To Admin - Tales from the Caseload of a Council Funeral Officer I was eager to read her not-quite-a-sequel.

We know what happens after death; paperwork. Gas bills need to be cancelled, funeral wishes need to be carried out, money needs to be apportioned between warring family members. When you die, you won't be there to experience the annoyance and distress - but other people will. So do you help them or not?

This book is a chatty and informal guide to how to set out your wishes - including that you have no wishes.

Much like her previous book, it cheerfully mixes anecdotes about death with a powerful political message about how we treat the dead (and, I suppose, nearly dead).

It is one of those rare eBooks which is probably better as a paper book because the end of every chapter has a few dozen questions to fill in. Some are seemingly banal (library card number) and other potentially a little distressing (who do you not want invited to your funeral). The aim is to keep the answers somewhere prominent so that, come the inevitable, there's a one-stop-shop for all your deadmin.

Evie does an excellent job of making the slightly terrifying first steps accessible and approachable. It's fully trans, non-binary, and poly inclusive. It doesn't shy away from some of the more uncomfortable aspects of death, but it really does feel like the author is having a coffee & natter with you.

The style won't be for everyone. I think I'd rather have this as just a plain list of questions. But, then again, I did find it compelling to read the stories about what happens when things go wrong. So maybe I don't know myself as well as I think. Say, what song do I want playing at my funeral?

There's no doubt this is a slightly challenging and provocative read - but you should absolutely buy a copy for yourself and fill it in. Whether you buy it for your friends and relatives…