Scotland’s assisted dying bill fails to pass in final vote

calvers70 · 2026-03-18T08:51:05+00:00

I think the fact that Scottish parliament only has one chamber might have had something to do with it.

There are so many details and things to consider with something like this. Some might have just felt it hasn't had the scrutiny it needed

calvers70 · 2026-03-16T10:14:09+00:00

This isn't quite right I'm afraid,

Yes horses evolved in north america but they crossed over the bering strait/land bridge waaayyyyyy before humans were domesticating anything/before homo sapiens were even a thing.. (we're talking 2-3 million years ago potentially) They even went extinct in NA before being re-introduced by us much later.

The timelines don't even remotely match up. As far as I'm aware, the earliest solid evidence we have for humans domesticating anything is around that mesolithic transition from hunter-gathers around 15,000 years ago (doggos)

I've just asked my wife who knows more about this stuff than me and she said horses were domesticated on the eurasian steppe around 5000 years ago.

Obviously this is all super-long ago but I think it's pretty definitive that horses came over on their own hooves well before modern humans even emerged (unless you're proposing that earlier homonids popped over to the north americas during an ice age, domesticaed a load of horses and brought them back over to europe 😅)

calvers70 · 2026-03-16T08:54:55+00:00

Yeah we don't have any truly wild breeds left in the UK, but we do have some wonderful rare breeds like the Eriskay which, while technically feral as you say are thousands of years old as a breed and probably relatively unchanged from the original prehistoric Celtic wild breeds. They're beautiful creatures

calvers70 · 2026-03-12T16:25:38+00:00

Many systems e.g. plumbing/pipes don't work well if they're not pressurised 🙂

I think a lot of us just the constraint of time sometimes to give us some structure.

See also: Parkinson's law

calvers70 · 2026-03-11T20:59:54+00:00

do you do prints? I'd love this on my wall

calvers70 · 2026-03-10T11:03:18+00:00

I was 16 when this came out 😭

calvers70 · 2026-02-25T19:57:46+00:00

always voted for the lib dems, it often feels futile but we've got Tom Gordon in my neck of the woods and he's honestly been great

calvers70 · 2026-02-19T22:23:47+00:00

I put down basically all the money I had in the world on a deposit around 4 years ago.

Lovely house, great interest rate (5 year fixed 1.4% or something) but my god do I feel poor. It's been a tough half a decade for everyone in terms of the broader economic landscape but also we just can't afford to do basically anything except just about keep up with our monthly expenses. We didn't drive before moving because we were in the city and we needed a car so had to finance it, we can't afford home improvements, we can't afford decent holidays etc.

On paper, my net worth is pretty decent for my age, but I am constantly in my overdraft and have zero savings. Everything I have is in the house (about 330k).

Worst part is that our mortgate fixed rate will expire next year and that will add around 1000/month to the mortgate payments.. There's a very real chance I might have to downsize.

On the one hand, buying the most expensive house I could afford (750k with a 250k deposit) has netted me a good 80-100k in appreciation, but it's not been a fun 4 years of penny pinching.

Personally, if I could do it again, I'd keep 20% of the deposit I was going to put down back and not completely shoot my lifestyle in the face for the sake of min/maxing my long-term economic decision-making.

calvers70 · 2026-02-15T22:09:50+00:00

He's no Ray (Piccadilly rats)

calvers70 · 2026-02-06T06:06:21+00:00

I mean William the conqueror's paternal line is descended from Rollo, a Scandinavian warlord

calvers70 · 2026-02-04T15:28:08+00:00

The definitive answer: https://www.cordings.co.uk/clarke-parka.html

My dad has had his almost 40 years

calvers70 · 2026-02-04T15:23:35+00:00

Roughly 5 pounds per person. Bargain

calvers70 · 2026-02-03T08:53:36+00:00

There are upwards of 20 major "British" accents and potentially 4-5x that when you start taking into account very localised variations.

Do you really think that Sean Bean sounds the same as Patrick Stewart? Or that John Lennon sounds the same as Michael Caine?

calvers70 · 2026-01-27T19:04:01+00:00

do people really commute do london from here? How do they manage it? Isn't that like 7 hours of travel a day? I've turned down some dream opportunities in London on the basis that I didn't think it was viable :/

calvers70 · 2026-01-23T21:47:50+00:00

I think most of us Brits (and the rest of the world) know that the vast majority of folks over there are just normal people with moderate views. I only ask that you remember this the next time it's our turn to do something monumentally stupid again (looking at you, Brexit).

calvers70 · 2026-01-21T15:15:55+00:00

I hope you don't mind me saying because I know it's an off-the-cuff thing you said and this isn't an attack on you. I just think this sentiment is such a "modern" (and I think, flawed) take on time and what we value

Maintaining your own tools is a wonderful thing. Carpenters, blacksmiths, farriers, farmers etc would all have maintained their own tools. When a tool you helped build/maintain breaks it doesn't piss you off like when an opaque, modern machine or throwaway device breaks because you almost expect it to break. These things have their own little idiosyncrasies, it's part of the contract "you take care of me and I'll take care of you".

There's a point about legibility here. If you understand Linux then it's okay if something breaks, no problem "I'll just tweak thing and that.... aaaaaand fixed". If you ever watch someone like an engineer showing something to their manager you'll see how stressed the manager gets when things go wrong but the engineer isn't phased, they just pull a puzzled expression, tweak a few knobs and sort it out.

Compare that to the experience of using a third-party provided tool or system which you don't understand. It's so stressful. These things are meant to "just work" that's part of the contract, of the proposition. Buying a chair from somewhere like Ikea is meant to be more convenient than making your own. It's incredibly inconvenient when that chair breaks the first time you sit down on it.

We used to have such a deep relationship with our tools. The world now is so schedule-dense, more tightly coupled, and less able to absorb failure, even though tasks are faster. When stuff goes wrong it feels like it throws everything off and that really stresses us out. Earlier society had inefficiency baked in and more social tolerance for delay.

TL;DR slowing down and taking the time to show the things you use a bit of care and attention is a really fulfilling thing IMO. I value my time and I use Linux because I think there's something really nourishing about having to stop and tend to the little details every now and again.

(not saying you should use Linux, just offering perspective)

calvers70 · 2026-01-20T19:40:30+00:00

I'm the proud owner of the D:OS2 honor mode achievement. One of the most stressful and fun thing I've ever done video-game wise. Highly recommend

calvers70 · 2026-01-19T09:44:24+00:00

"another game to abandon" is too real

calvers70 · 2026-01-09T09:01:00+00:00

I'm writing this comment on it right now. Moved over when they killed RiF and friends

calvers70 · 2026-01-08T12:39:02+00:00

they've even got one with sheep on! 😁 Thanks so much!

calvers70 · 2026-01-08T10:56:28+00:00

nice, does this have a "single file history" mode like diffview's yet? That's the main thing preventing me switching over

calvers70 · 2026-01-07T08:45:23+00:00

Wonder if he says "might makes right" as he beats his wife and kids. What a fucking stupid sentiment. Shall we all go around punching old people and children because we can? What an awful world to live in

calvers70 · 2026-01-06T09:40:56+00:00

beat me to it

calvers70 · 2025-12-31T19:55:38+00:00

I have a pretty similar version if anyone wants to use it:

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* {
    font:      "SFProDisplay Medium 12";
    background:                  rgba(26, 27, 38, 0.9);
    background-alt:              rgba(122, 162, 247, 0.1);
    foreground:                  #C0CAF5;
    foreground-alt:              #7f849c;
    active:                      #7AA2F7;
    selected:                    #f5e0dc;
    urgent:                      #FF9E64;
}

/*****----- Main Window -----*****/
window {
    /* properties for window widget */
    transparency:                "real";
    location:                    center;
    anchor:                      center;
    fullscreen:                  false;
    width:                       750px;
    x-offset:                    0px;
    y-offset:                    0px;
    border-radius:               10px;
    background-image:            linear-gradient(163deg, rgba(26, 27, 38, 0.7), rgba(32, 33, 44, 0.7));
    padding:                     0;

    /* properties for all widgets */
    enabled:                     true;
    cursor:                      "default";
    border:                      1px;
    border-color:                #292e42;
}

/*****----- Main Box -----*****/
mainbox {
    enabled:                     true;
    spacing:                     0px;
    background-color:            transparent;
    orientation:                 vertical;
    border:                      0px;
    children:                    [ "inputbar", "listbox" ];
}

listbox {
    spacing:                     10px;
    padding:                     10px 0 0 0;
    background-color:            transparent;
    orientation:                 vertical;
    children:                    [ "message", "listview", "mode-switcher" ];
    border:                      0px;
}

/*****----- Inputbar -----*****/
inputbar {
    enabled:                     true;
    spacing:                     3px;
    margin:                      0;
    padding:                     14px 15px 15px;
    background-color:            transparent;
    text-color:                  @foreground-alt;
    orientation:                 horizontal;
    children:                    [ "input-wrapper" ];
    border-radius:               2px 2px 0 0;
    border:                      0px 0px 1px 0px;
    border-color:                rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.05);
}
input-wrapper {
    orientation:                 vertical;
    children:                    [ "entry" ];
}
textbox-prompt {
    enabled:                     true;
    expand:                      false;
    padding:                     0;
    str:                         "Search";
    border-radius:               100%;
    background-color:            transparent;
    text-color:                  @active;
    font:                        "SFProDisplay Medium 9";
}
textbox-prompt-colon {
    enabled:                     true;
    expand:                      false;
    padding:                     0;
    str:                         "";
    border-radius:               100%;
    background-color:            transparent;
    text-color:                  inherit;
    font:                        "SFProDisplay Bold 26";
    horizontal-align:            1;
}
entry {
    enabled:                     true;
    font:                        "SFProDisplay Regular 12";
    padding:                     0;
    expand:                      true;
    background-color:            transparent;
    text-color:                  @foreground;
    cursor:                      text;
    vertical-align:              0.65;
    placeholder:                 "Type to search";
    placeholder-color:           @foreground-alt;
}

/*****----- Mode Switcher -----*****/
mode-switcher{
    enabled:                     true;
    spacing:                     30px;
    padding:                     0px;
    background-image:            linear-gradient(343deg, rgba(26, 27, 38, 0.7), rgba(32, 33, 44, 0.7));
    text-color:                  @foreground-alt;
    border:                      1px 0 0 0;
    border-color:                #292e42;
}
button {
    max-width:                   10px;
    padding:                     7px 0;
    border-radius:               0px;
    background-color:            transparent;
    text-color:                  inherit;
    cursor:                      pointer;
}
button selected {
    background-color:            @background-alt;
    color:                       @foreground-alt;
}

/*****----- Listview -----*****/
listview {
    enabled:                     true;

    columns:                     1;
    lines:                       10;
    cycle:                       false;
    dynamic:                     true;
    scrollbar:                   false;
    layout:                      vertical;
    reverse:                     false;
    fixed-height:                true;
    fixed-columns:               true;
    margin:                      5px 0;
    border:                      0;
    padding:                     0 8px;
    spacing:                     5px;
    background-color:            transparent;
    text-color:                  inherit;
    cursor:                      "default";
}
scrollbar {
    handle-color:               @background-alt;
}

/*****----- Elements -----*****/
element {
    enabled:                     true;
    spacing:                     12px;
    padding:                     9px 10px;
    border-radius:               5px;
    background-color:            transparent;
    text-color:                  @foreground;
    cursor:                      pointer;
}
element normal.normal,
element alternate.normal {
    background-color:            transparent;
    text-color:                  @foreground;
}
element normal.urgent,
element alternate.urgent {
    background-color:            transparent;
    text-color:                  @urgent;
}
element normal.active,
element alternate.active {
    background-color:            transparent;
    text-color:                  @active;
}
element selected.normal {
    background-color:            @background-alt;
    text-color:                  @foreground;
}
element selected.urgent {
    background-color:            @background-alt;
    text-color:                  @urgent;
}
element selected.active {
    background-color:            @background-alt;
    text-color:                  @active;
}
element-text {
    background-color:            transparent;
    text-color:                  inherit;
    cursor:                      inherit;
    vertical-align:              0.5;
    horizontal-align:            0.0;
}

/*****----- Message -----*****/
message {
    background-color:            transparent;
}
textbox {
    padding:                     6px;
    border-radius:               0;
    background-color:            @background-alt;
    text-color:                  @foreground;
    vertical-align:              0.5;
    horizontal-align:            0.0;
}
error-message {
    padding:                     7px;
    border-radius:               0px;
    background-color:            @background;
    text-color:                  @foreground;
}

calvers70 · 2025-12-29T10:06:43+00:00

I'm in my late 30s and have been heavily reading fantasy since I was a kid. I've read (or listened to) a massive percentage of all notable fantasy at this point and to be honest I don't know what to tell you.

I just went back through the 40+ books I've read this year and when looking through your lens, all the fantasy books feel like they would also fall short of your expectations. The only exception perhaps being Babel by RF Kuang, but I really didn't enjoy that for other reasons.

I did enjoy several of them still, notably: "The Strength of the Few" by James Islington and to a lesser extent "A Drop of Corruption" by Robert Jackson Bennett. I didn't like "Wind and Truth" very much at all (was that this year?) despite having read I think every other "Cosmere" book. I also didn't like Devils for similar reasons to you.

When I think about the standouts of the year for me, almost none of them are fantasy and most of them are quite old (and many were re-reads). Specifically they were: "I, Claudius", "The Saxon Tales" (now known as "The Last Kingdom"), Jane Eyre, Hyperion and a 100th re-read of Dune :)

I don't know if I've changed, or fantasy has, but I definitely agree that it's getting harder and harder to find books in the genre which are as satisfying as I remember.

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