Alasdair – Page 35 – Alasdair Watson

Links for Friday December 6th 2013

iPad cases, covers & iPhone leather sleeves by BUKcase
NTS: for when I want (another) book-like case for my Apple products, this will avoid having to faff about with international shipping.

Anatomy of a failed rendition | booktwo.org
Interesting study of the data trails left by the Home Office's failed attempt to deport Ifa Muaza.

Curious Algorithms
A few examples of how automated processes interact with and change (and abuse) existing systems.

How to Get Good at Chess, Fast
I'm shit at chess, and while it's never been a huge ambition of mine to be better, I liked the insights this article provides into *how* one gets good.

Installing Ghost on a Raspberry Pi – Exploring Data Science …
I spent a couple of fruitless hours on this the other day, when really, I just should have googled for it. (The problem I didn't crack was getting a recent enough version of node/npm onto the Pi.)

Discover the joy of cooking | HelloFresh
This looks like a pretty interesting idea – get exact ingredients you need for 3-5 reasonably healthy-looking meals delivered, along with recipes. Might have to give this a go…

Your Tweets Can Predict When You’ll Get the Flu | Surprising Science
Interesting stuff on a practical application for aggregate twitter data. This is what they should be bloody monetising, *not* selling eyeballs to advertisers. (Well, except that I guess I'd kinda object to them saying "we'll only help with public health tracking if we're paid to…)
This year, I will wear a poppy for the last time | Harry Leslie Smith
A 91 year old war veteran on the fact the "remembrance" has become political theatre. I can't help but agree. For a few years now, it's been my policy to donate to the poppy appeal but not wear the poppy, because I don't like the political overtones it's been acquiring.

Paper Bits : You don’t fall in love like you fall in a hole….
I really don't have anything I can add to this link. I guess it's probably worth bearing in mind it was written in response to child's question, as It's somewhere between lovely and schmaltzy, depending on your view of things.

Someone please arrange for me to get one for Christmas. Or sooner.

Disenchanted Comic
"Welcome to Vermintown: a vast and vile city of a million inch-tall malcontents. Sprawling through an abandoned subway station deep beneath London, here myth has given way to sleaze, drugs, gangland violence and interracial hatred. Vermintown is where magic went to die." Mr Simon Spurrier's new free-to-air webcomic. Recommended.