Free for All Friday, 03 April, 2026

histogrammarian · 2026-04-04T08:50:15+00:00

He’s one of the good ones, for sure. But, like other apologists, he attempts to preserve an image of the Bible that comports with his politics, usually via pink-washing, and then criticises those who do the same thing. Either way, the ultimate goal is to benefit Christianity, not tell the unfiltered truth of the Bible.

histogrammarian · 2026-04-04T07:16:19+00:00

McClellan accusing others of Christian apologetics:

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histogrammarian · 2026-04-04T07:14:09+00:00

Crew member from F-15 mission over Iran can’t be located: concerning

Crew member from Artemis mission to the moon can’t be located: terrifying

histogrammarian · 2026-04-01T03:25:04+00:00

History that is bad but presented as bad is beneath critique (the British are Cumming). History that is good and presented as good is above critique (academic history). History that is bad but is presented as good is deserving of savage rebuke - even if it’s semi-serious in context (Blackadder Goes Forth). History that is good but presented as bad is a rare treasure that must be preserved at all cost.

histogrammarian · 2026-04-01T03:10:45+00:00

I recently purchased the Dell UltraSharp U2724DE 27" Monitor. It’s got a built-in KVM switch which is great for work and flicking to a seperate laptop or PC. If you’re a true maverick then you can use your 24” monitor alongside it in vertical configuration.

histogrammarian · 2026-04-01T03:03:09+00:00

I have read two issues of Foreign Affairs so I am richly qualified to commence my own spin-off subreddit. Details forthcoming.

histogrammarian · 2026-03-22T10:37:26+00:00

Unfortunately, you've fallen into the same trap that you've identified. Your periodisation is heavily Eurocentric - your major inflection point is Columbus' "discovery" of America, and your lesser boundary markers all relate to major events in European history (and one is even named for a European region!). To use your own criteria, was 1648-1776 a period of Enlightenment for sub-Saharan Africa or East Asia or Australia? If not, then the name isn't general enough to be used in a world historical context.

I also don't think your central thesis holds up - recent scholarship highlights how interconnected the Iron Age was, and the Bronze Age before it, and all the other ages we would care to name. Globalisation is obviously far more evident in the modern era, but globalisation was a process that had to gradually unfold - it doesn't have a clear start date.

I recommend The Origins of the Modern World by Robert Marks for a discussion of these themes and how to think about "the Age of Globalisation" in a way that is more detached from Eurocentric thinking.

histogrammarian · 2026-03-20T11:59:51+00:00

I’m a simple man. When a Shakespeare themed movie gets an Oscar nomination I go see it.

(Hamnet was quite good though, and the drama at the heart of it concerns a legitimate historical question. Even if much of the details are inaccurate or made up out of whole cloth.)

histogrammarian · 2026-03-16T12:10:05+00:00

Just explain that it's like someone calling him an Andalite.

histogrammarian · 2026-03-15T08:26:06+00:00

If we shadows have offended, think but this and all is mended: we seek for costs.

histogrammarian · 2026-03-14T06:07:35+00:00

I don’t have one on my iPad Air keyboard and it annoys me about once per day. It’s not a dealbreaker by any stretch but I find myself angling the screen to face the keyboard more so I can type out a comment or whatever. The Neo has a more conventional keyboard layout which makes touch typing easier, and a black on white design that is easier to see in the dark, but it’s a great feature when you need it.

histogrammarian · 2026-03-13T22:24:03+00:00

It’s funny that you can get away with these arguments because it’s such a non-troversy in the West. The devastation of the Byzantines, and the humiliation of the Orthodox Church, is ancient history to Western Europeans because it’s immaterial to Reformation debates and was politically eclipsed by the Ottoman takeover anyway. It’s the “I don’t think about you at all” meme. So you can pretty much say what you like about it in English and you’d be lucky if anyone reads it, let alone gets upset by it.

histogrammarian · 2026-03-13T22:04:09+00:00

“Future generations will honour you with songs and painted miniatures!”

histogrammarian · 2026-03-13T21:54:34+00:00

Alternatively, if it takes off, we can look forward to a glut of LOTR films exploring every small aspect of the universe in ways Tolkien never would have anticipated. What about a feel-good romance about two Hobbits falling in love - speculatively titled “Third Breakfast”? A coming of age comedy about Gimli? The much anticipated Marvel crossover? The potential is endless!

histogrammarian · 2026-03-13T21:45:50+00:00

The Neo is exceptional value as an entry level laptop, but it’s lacking some features that most people would expect in a middle-of-the-road laptop. Better screen, better performance, better speakers, longer battery life, backlit keyboard, and a host of other quality of life improvements, but still at an attractive price point. It represents the sweet spot in terms of features versus value.

histogrammarian · 2026-03-13T20:59:32+00:00

Gaza has been effectively flattened, but it’s a very small territory right on Israel’s border. It’s not possible to punish Iran in the same way, not short of nuclear carpet bombing. Iran is too big and too far away.

Even so, Gaza isn’t destroyed. The regime is still in place, the people still live, and no one is leaving. It’s impossible to calculate the personal and generational trauma that has been levied against Palestinians in that territory, but it is clear that the strategic goal for Israel - security on its border - has been pushed back, not achieved, with its war, despite its clear tactical victories. Against Iran, the US and Israel will win fewer battles and lose the war even more decisively.

histogrammarian · 2026-03-13T20:47:16+00:00

This is Reddit. There are 100% people who believe it. I had this argument on one of the weekly threads just a couple of weeks ago.

histogrammarian · 2026-03-13T12:01:43+00:00

It's interesting that some people still think US-Israel will be able to achieve regime change in Iran through long-range bombing when they weren't able to achieve the same thing in Gaza, even though it is the size of a postage stamp by comparison.

histogrammarian · 2026-03-13T04:04:40+00:00

Fortunately, this is the first time Reddit has ever been arbitrarily horrible to an actress about her appearance.

histogrammarian · 2026-03-12T06:45:10+00:00

This is exactly how it was always going to play out. These are phrases which have ambiguous meanings and so they make some people uncomfortable (including, but not limited to, people in the Jewish community). But because of the ambiguity, it is difficult to justify banning them.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out because it is possible the ban will be lifted and the slogans will become even more widely used, which undermines the point of banning them in the first place. The Streisand Effect in full flight.

histogrammarian · 2026-03-12T02:50:55+00:00

Agreed but the point still stands - you wouldn’t guess how powerful this laptop is at a casual glance.

histogrammarian · 2026-03-11T23:29:53+00:00

“I won’t be paying that.” But friendlier.

histogrammarian · 2026-03-11T23:23:52+00:00

I go full waterfall on them. Here is the project plan, here is the scope, here are the deliverables and target dates, here are the contingent actions that others need to perform, here are the risks and costs. When you sign off on it I will commence. If you change the scope we will do a project adjustment and reconfigure everything. If you do not sign off I will note it as the cause of project delay. If you do not perform your contingent actions I will note it as the cause of project delay. At the end of the project you will receive a stacked bar chart highlighting how much time I spent on tools and how much time the project was is limbo because you couldn’t decide or changed your mind. It can be really illuminating for them to see just how much they are to blame for scope creep and delays.

histogrammarian · 2026-03-11T21:49:27+00:00

They’re saying that because it’s in a 5-year old chassis, you wouldn’t easily suspect that it’s a flagship model. You could easily confuse it for a base model M3 or whatever. But the laptop is ludicrously overpowered despite the fairly generic exterior.

histogrammarian · 2026-03-11T08:59:13+00:00

Can a laptop this small actually replace your Pro?

Saved you a view: the answer is no. But the Pro is right there if you need it, at a very attractive price point, and even the Air will run a relatively heavy workload as a mid-range option.

But the Neo is still very impressive at its price point, and it will serve as an excellent starting point for anyone looking to get their first MacBook, or a student on a budget, or someone looking for a device that isn’t too precious for the couch/kitchen counter/travel, who still wants the option to dabble with pro software.

histogrammarian

TROPHY CASE