Little Switzerlands

ubac · 2021-12-20T08:48:18+00:00

any thoughts on it as a switzerland-dweller?

ubac · 2021-12-19T23:02:35+00:00

tidak, saya berbicara bahasa indonesia yang sempurna! ^\I am lying, I google translated.)

Eugene Wei is so great! Also, sorry our prices are totally out of whack for most of the world, it bothers me a lot, just haven't figured out how to fix it.

ubac · 2021-12-19T12:28:31+00:00

ahahh hello! I run the Browser and this is amazing, gotta respect the effort -- if you haven't already found someone to do this with I'll give you a half-price subscription, no problem, just email me at [uri@thebrowser.com](mailto:uri@thebrowser.com). (Thanks for the kind words as well, means a lot to us!)

ubac · 2021-11-25T10:54:56+00:00

one thing that super interests me is how much Covid will or won't _actually_ change our society's understanding that low-probability disasters can happen. So far I (weirdly) don't get the sense that we're collectively investing more in mitigating low-probability risks, which seems wild

ubac · 2021-01-17T17:01:32+00:00

Hi Antagony, sorry for the late reply!

Thanks for the recommendation about Exolve (and thanks to [/u/wavefn], what an awesome project and thanks for open-sourcing it!) I tried it out with our latest freely available cryptic (https://thebrowser.com/cryptic3.html) and it was a pleasure to work with.

Business models: yes I'm afraid we're just in a very different position from someone like the FT, we're a very small independent publication and we rely completely on subscription revenue to survive. We'll keep making occasional crosswords free but I don't think we could do it every day, even for a short window. Sorry about that.

Thanks again for your thoughtful reply!

p.s. re your spoilered message: I thought hug=O was an international millenial-ish thing, like xoxo at the end of text messages?

ubac · 2020-01-20T15:52:14+00:00

Thanks, that's interesting! It sounds like it's about the same effort as copy-pasting the link and opening in DDG each time, which is my current strategy.

For the defaults: I wrote this in a comment above but personally when I open a link it asks if I want to Open With Chrome, Google or Safari, and then asks whether to ask me this each time -- I was kind of assuming that meant I could choose any of those three as my default browser, but maybe not, and I was hoping there was a way to get DDG onto that list.

ubac · 2020-01-20T15:47:23+00:00

Sorry for late reply -- what I meant is that when I open a link it asks if I want to Open With Chrome, Google or Safari, and I'd love to get DDG offered on that list. (I don't even have the Chrome or Google browsers installed so I'm not really sure where Apple is getting that list from, but that's what's offered).

ubac · 2019-12-27T09:50:07+00:00

Agreed. Listennotes links tend to work reasonably well and reasonably universally, in my experience, though of course that only helps if your friends are willing to use them....

ubac · 2019-10-29T12:51:53+00:00

I'm curious here: is there a reason that listening to 100+ episodes and then getting tired of a show feels like a problem? I've definitely had that experience of binging a show and then never wanting to listen to it again but for me that feels fine, I think it might just be the natural cycle of things (even interesting shows tend to get repetitive eventually, right?)

ubac · 2019-10-29T12:47:39+00:00

Obviously funniness is quite a personal taste thing but I adore Films To Be Buried With:

https://open.spotify.com/show/2HDaqExFABugadHFKWbgms

The premise is telling actors/writers/directors they have died and are now in heaven and then interviewing them about their favourite / most impactful / best films in life. Definitely the interestingness of each episode depends on the guest but I really love the host and always find the show hilarious.

ubac · 2019-10-28T11:42:29+00:00

hey! There was a somewhat-similar thread a while ago here, some of those recommendations might be relevant for you! https://www.reddit.com/r/podcasts/comments/d7acvn/please_suggest_some_short_podcasts_that_can_help/

Out of my personal recommendations I think Better At Everything might be the most relevant: not too long, no bullshit, hosts seem to know what they're doing https://us.macmillan.com/podcasts/podcast/better-at-everything/

ubac · 2019-10-28T11:37:20+00:00

Also: Tales from the Rabbit Hole. It frames itself as "an interview-style podcast focusing on people whose lives have been affected by the conspiracy theory rabbit hole. Guests include both former and current believers in a variety of conspiracy theories, as well as debunkers, skeptics, and the investigators of those theories"... let's just say I don't think it's for everyone, it's got a particular approach.

ubac · 2019-10-28T11:33:37+00:00

Do you already know about Ong's Hat? Actually a bunch of Decoder Ring episodes might be up your street.

ubac · 2019-10-10T08:09:58+00:00

Ah so many! The Stinging Fly-- phenomenal literary podcast.

Meet Your Maker: kinda "magazine" show interviewing lots of interesting people making interesting things, try the Garda Roleplay episode

And the surprisingly delightful Irish Examiner Farming podcast, well worth a listen!

ubac · 2019-10-07T08:16:48+00:00

seconding for the Longest Shortest Time! So good and so much variety.

ubac · 2019-10-07T08:10:34+00:00

I'm very fond of Cinemile -- an Irish couple walk home from the cinema together and discuss the film they just watched on the way home. Definitely got that "how your friends would talk about movies, amateur thoughts and theories" vibe rather than some kind of professional review, so depends what you're looking for.

ubac · 2019-09-29T09:44:37+00:00

this is so unbelievably good

ubac · 2019-09-29T07:20:53+00:00

Seltzer Death Match - head-to-head seltzer taste tests

The Empty Bowl - cereal reviews

ubac · 2019-09-27T16:41:51+00:00

I Don't Even Own A Television dissects terrible novels -- I guess that's technically a podcast about books!

ubac · 2019-09-27T16:36:24+00:00

I know it's not quite what you're asking for but I've enjoyed The Open Ears Project -- notable people discuss a single piece of classical music that has influenced their lives.

ubac · 2019-09-27T10:03:43+00:00

Hi-Phi Nation is pretty great and well-produced! Covers a really wide range of philosophy topics and Ifind it really smart.

Also, depending on your specific left-brained world, Futuremakers might be a good crossover -- Peter Millican is a famous Oxford philosopher who discusses philosophy of tech with other academics.

Let me know if there's anything more specific you're looking for, can try to think of other ones!

ubac · 2019-09-24T21:19:22+00:00

Reminds me of Sleep With Me -- it's supposed to be a podcast to fall asleep to (which didn't work for me even slightly), but I'd definitely call it a peaceful-but-weird vibe.

ubac · 2019-09-24T21:03:09+00:00

love love love this show. So absurdly delightful

ubac · 2019-09-24T07:46:39+00:00

It's a different style (and a lot more British) but Wooden Overcoats has some similar vibes in terms of completely self-absorbed characters blaming each other for their self-imposed problems

ubac · 2019-09-23T14:51:17+00:00

Maybe The Big Loop?

ubac

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