Robin iswriting, travelling, seeing, coding and walking the 🐕🦺2024-03-02T21:18:27Zhttps://www.robin.is/robindotisadmin@robin.isSpectrum Vocal Band2024-03-02T21:18:27Zhttps://www.robin.is/posts/2024/spectrum/<p>A fun evening watching the Bulgarian a cappella group <a href="https://www.youtube.com/spectrumvocalband">Spectrum</a> in Luxembourg, gratefully organised by <a href="https://www.facebook.com/clubgaida/">Club Gaida</a>.</p>
<p>I particularly liked their interpretation of California Dreaming.</p>
<p><img src="https://www.robin.is/assets/images/2024/spectrum-1.webp" alt="" /></p>
<p><img src="https://www.robin.is/assets/images/2024/spectrum-2.webp" alt="" /></p>
Apple and the Digital Markets Act2024-02-28T11:18:27Zhttps://www.robin.is/posts/2024/apple-dma/<p>On the 6th March those companies that have been designated as "gatekeepers" under the European Commission's <a href="https://digital-markets-act.ec.europa.eu/index_en">Digital Market Act</a> (DMA), need to finally comply with it.</p>
<p>The DMA has two intersting effects for web, both affecting Apple. Firstly, it forces Apple to allow alternate application stores to the one owned by Apple. Secondly, it also forces Apple to allow browser engines other than its own WebKit to be installed on iOS devices. Apple, as any cooperation worth its salt does, has taken these rules and interpreted them in the most mean spirited manner possible beyond simply not implementing the new rules at all.</p>
<p>A lot has already noted about Apples implementation of the first effect allowing alternate application stores. This has been largely covered in more business orientated publications due the Core Technology Fee it will charge to all installations not done through Apple's AppStore.</p>
<p>For those of us interested in an open web, one where mobile apps are not needed in order to offer relatively basic functionality, of far more significance is Apple's approach to the second requirement: allow third party browser engines to run on iOS. Apple's implementation in dealing with this is to basically break Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) for those who are in the EU. As much as Apple fears alternative application stores, it fears an open web even more. One in which they have no control over which applications can be run on an iOS device and by control I mean profit from.</p>
<p>Advocating for an open web, means I have signed this <a href="https://letter.open-web-advocacy.org/">open letter to Apple</a>. I encourage you to do the same. For more information on this issue, read <a href="https://open-web-advocacy.org/apple-attempts-killing-webapps/">this article from Open Web Advocacy</a> as well as <a href="https://infrequently.org/2024/02/home-screen-advantage/">this one from Alex Russell</a>. Note that Alex works for Microsoft, so whilst his points are still valid, they might not be fully impartial.</p>
<p>The Commmission's decision is eagerly awaited in March.</p>
PageSpeed Insights2024-02-23T14:18:27Zhttps://www.robin.is/posts/2024/page-speed/<p>More for fun than any other reason, I like to keep my site as close to possible to 100 on <a href="https://developer.chrome.com/docs/lighthouse/overview/">Lighthouse</a> and <a href="https://pagespeed.web.dev/">PageSpeed Insights</a>. For most of the metrics I am in the green, at or close to 100%.</p>
<p>On some pages, normally those with many images, I struggle with "Largest Contentful Paint" (LCP). I am not sure there is much I can do about this as I am dependent on GitHub for how long it takes to load the images. I could try optimising the images further, but they are already resized to 800px and saved in WEBP format. Probably they could be smaller when viewed on mobiles, but I really can't be bothered at the moment with managing different sized versions of the same image. 🤷♂️</p>
<p>However, I then noticed that my site was nearly always failing on "Cumulative Layout Shift" (CLP), including pages without images. This I found strange because <a href="https://www.robin.is/about/">my site uses next to no JavaScript</a> or other trickery, so why should there be a layout shift on pages which are pure text? It turns out the problem is my use of web fonts. Whilst the browser loads the font file, it displays the page in the system's default font. When it then applies the web font a short time later, this will affect the layout of the text, which then shifts. The <a href="https://simonhearne.com/2021/layout-shifts-webfonts/">solution to this problem</a> is to use <code>font-display: optional</code> instead of <code>font-display: swap</code>. This avoids the font swap if the web fonts are not loaded fast enough. It means on the first view, the user might not view the site in my intended font. But by the second view, the font file will have been cached and the web font will kick in.</p>
<p>My CLP went from a quarter of a second to a few hundreds of a second. Magic! 🧙♂️</p>
Shattered Nation2024-02-19T18:00:33Zhttps://www.robin.is/posts/2024/shattered-nation/<h2>by Danny Dorling</h2>
<p>Interesting read about the very inequality of the UK - the highest in Europe except for Bulgaria. Quite depressing.</p>
<p>The Beveridge report which lead to the creation of the NHS wanted to get rid of the five evils:</p>
<ul>
<li>want – an adequate income for all</li>
<li>disease – access to health care</li>
<li>ignorance – a good education</li>
<li>squalor – adequate housing</li>
<li>idleness – gainful employment</li>
</ul>
<p>By the 1970s this had been achieved to quite astonishing degree. Policies since then, from all political parties, have brough them back in a different form:</p>
<ul>
<li>hunger</li>
<li>precarity</li>
<li>waste</li>
<li>exploitation</li>
<li>fear</li>
</ul>
<p>Some very good points made about the ruling classes being completely out of touch with rest of the population. eg something 80% of economics students (the ones creating policies to alleviate things like hunger) are from privileged background. Only veterinary science has a higher percentage.</p>
<p>Or this paragraph:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The price mechanism works quite well for goods such as clothes because there are few monopoly supplies and people become quite expert at buying clothes as they do it often. People rarely become expert at buying a university education or a heart operation.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Also interesting point made in chapter 5 on waste about how more and more people are working in services that are essentially supporting the wealthy manage and increase their wealth. Outside of remuneration this sort of work creates no real value to the person doign it, nor to society as a whole. These people's significant skills are not be put to work on anything truly meaningful, like helping others, creating joy and happines or even simply making things.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>By judging a jobs worth only through it's financial value we devalue what is truly meaningful and what actually adds to the greater good</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Started 19/02/2024</p>
<p><img src="https://www.robin.is/assets/images/2024/shattered-nation.webp" alt="" /></p>
Burning Chrome2024-02-19T18:00:33Zhttps://www.robin.is/posts/2024/burning-chrome/<h2>by William Gibson</h2>
<p>A collection of short stories by William Gibson. Some based around the Neuromancer world, others unrelated. I found a few quite abstract and unclear, making it hard to understand the story. Others were great.</p>
<h3>Johnny Mnemonic</h3>
<p>A great read - they made a film of this one, starring Keanu Reeves. It's about a person who can securely store other's private data in his brain so that only they can access it. This one is based in the same universe as the Neuromancer triology.</p>
<h3>The Gernsback Continuum</h3>
<p>An odd one. Somewhat tricky to follow.</p>
<h3>Fragments of a Hologram rose</h3>
<p>A very short story, again rather abstract.</p>
<h3>The Belonging Kid</h3>
<p>About aliens mingling amongst humans on earth. An interesting read.</p>
<h3>Hinterlands</h3>
<p>A really interesting story about a sort of tunnel to another galaxy or universe. One of my favourites in this collection.</p>
<h3>Red Star, Winter Orbit</h3>
<p>Another fascinating story about a Russian space station inhabited by civilians called Kosmograd. One of them, the first person to walk on Mars, has been in space for 20 years and can't return. Then Russia decides to pull the plug.</p>
<h3>New Rose Hotel</h3>
<p>Back in the Neuromancer cyberpunk world, dealing with gloabl corporations figthing for scientists at the very "edge" of research into bio technology. Two spies help these scientists in dealing with these corporations. It deals with the exact same topic of the Neuromancer trilogoy and was released at the same time. It seems like he was testing the water with this one.</p>
<h3>The Winter Market</h3>
<p>This story deals with making recordings of people's thoughts and then selling them as entertainment.</p>
<h3>Dogfight</h3>
<p>About a loner with a criminal past wanting to make his next million by beating the top dog at a computer game that is played through being jacked into a headset type thing.</p>
<h3>Burning Chrome</h3>
<p>The story that started it all, where the term "cyperspace" was first coined. It only uses the term once, in the second sentence of the first paragraph. It does so almost in passing and it is otherwise unremarkable in the context of the story. But there it is: "cyberspace".</p>
<p>The story itself is an interesting one, setting the scene for Neuromancer and it's two follow up stories. It deals with two guys essentially doing a bank heist. One to impress a girl, the other to get the money. The clue is that term coined by William Gibson. The heist happens in cyberspace!</p>
<p>Started 13/02/2024. Finished 19/02/2024.</p>
<p><img src="https://www.robin.is/assets/images/2024/burning-chrome.webp" alt="" /></p>
Madrid2024-02-18T08:18:27Zhttps://www.robin.is/posts/2024/madrid/<p>After a nice few days in <a href="https://www.robin.is/posts/2024/barcelona/">Barcelona</a>, we took a high speed iryo train to Madrid. Travelling at up to 300km/h we covered the over 600km journey in about two hours and 45 minutes, including a brief stop in Zaragoza.</p>
<p>We arrived at the central station, Puerta de Atocha, around 15:30. We then took a <a href="https://www.renfe.com/es/es/cercanias">Cercanias</a> local train, which was included in our ticket from Barcelona, to get to the airport terminal T4 and then took the 827 bus to Barajas. We walked the remaining five minutes to our hotel, Hotel Clement, arriving around 18:00.</p>
<p>Having checked in, we went out to get some food, settling on a Nepalese place, as everything else was booked out due to it being valentines day. The food was good.</p>
<p>The next day we headed into town with a friend who gave us a good walking tour around Madrid. We started off at Place d'Espanya with a statue of Cervantes in the middle and surrounded by rather grandiose and imposing buildings.</p>
<p><img src="https://www.robin.is/assets/images/2024/madrid-1.webp" alt="" /></p>
<p>Next we headed up the Gran Via to Plaza del Callao and on to Puerta del Sol. This is the starting point in Madrid for all distances to other towns, kilometre zero.</p>
<p><img src="https://www.robin.is/assets/images/2024/madrid-3.webp" alt="" /><br />
<img src="https://www.robin.is/assets/images/2024/madrid-2.webp" alt="" /></p>
<p>We carried on to Plaza Mayor. The name is similar to Brussels' Grande Place, but the looks are quite different.</p>
<p><img src="https://www.robin.is/assets/images/2024/madrid-4.webp" alt="" /><br />
<img src="https://www.robin.is/assets/images/2024/madrid-5.webp" alt="" /></p>
<p>We then headed onto Mercado de San Miguel...</p>
<p><img src="https://www.robin.is/assets/images/2024/madrid-6.webp" alt="" /></p>
<p>...before reaching the Royal Palace.</p>
<p><img src="https://www.robin.is/assets/images/2024/madrid-7.webp" alt="" /></p>
<p>These are statues of the previous spanish kings.</p>
<p><img src="https://www.robin.is/assets/images/2024/madrid-8.webp" alt="" /></p>
<p>It was time for a late lunch, before continuing in the direction of the Prado and a quick look at Place de Colon.</p>
<p><img src="https://www.robin.is/assets/images/2024/madrid-9.webp" alt="" /></p>
<p>Finally we reached the Prado, which has free entry after 6pm. You need more than the two hours this affords you to cover the whole museum. But I looked at some of the Cervantes paintings, as well as the famous Dos de Mayo and Tres de Mayo paintings. I also spotted the painting of a lady squirting breast milk into a priest's mouth, one which I had noticed over 20 years ago on my <a href="https://www.robin.is/posts/2001/spain/">last visit to Madrid</a>. But did not spot the painting by Bosch that I noted at the time. Maybe it was on loan to somewhere else. Or maybe it was not actually by Bosch.</p>
<p>The following day I was ill so I didn't do a lot, whilst the other went out. The next morning we flew back to Luxembourg. Not without a minor panic though. For whatever reason my younger daughter's wallet, including ID card, was with my older daughter. Only problem was that we were flying from different terminals at opposite ends of the airport! We realised this at check-in. Thankfully a) the airport has an efficient transfer bus between the two terminals every five minutes and b) my older daughter's flight was an hour later. On the other hand she had already gone through security. Still she found her way out of the Terminal, to the transfer bus, brought us the wallet and saved the day. No one missed their flight! 🙂</p>
<p>One interesting thing in Spain seem to be that you are charged extra (a three Euro supplement per person) to take the metro to the airport. It means for a family of four this 12 Euros on top of the actual metro ticket. So you are easily looking at 20 Euro. An Uber is not much more to some locations from the airport. This makes no sense, I thought policy was to encourage taking public transport. This seems to discourage it.</p>
Barcelona2024-02-14T08:18:27Zhttps://www.robin.is/posts/2024/barcelona/<p>Having enjoyed our <a href="https://www.robin.is/posts/2022/barcelona/">last visit to Barcelona</a> a couple of years ago, we decided to visit again.</p>
<p>We arrived around 3pm at our appartment, a few blocks north of the Sagrada Familia near the restored Sant Pau hospital. The appartment was nice, and we even had a view, just, of the Sagrada Familia from our Balcony.</p>
<p><img src="https://www.robin.is/assets/images/2024/barcelona-1.webp" alt="" /></p>
<p>Having checked in, we walked around town for a few hours, before having dinner and returning to the appartment. They haven't yet completed the Sagrada Familia, but I like to think they progressed since our last visit, given all the scaffolding around parts of the church.</p>
<p><img src="https://www.robin.is/assets/images/2024/barcelona-2.webp" alt="" /></p>
<p>The next day we strolled around town a little more. We visited the Joan Miro park...</p>
<p><img src="https://www.robin.is/assets/images/2024/barcelona-3.webp" alt="" /></p>
<p>...followed by the Barcelona Arena shopping centre which has a viewing platform all the way around its roof. From there we got a good view of the Place d'Espanya and the National Palace on the Montjiuc hill.</p>
<p><img src="https://www.robin.is/assets/images/2024/barcelona-4.webp" alt="" /></p>
<p>On the third day we visited the wonderfully restored hospital at Sant Pau, which is now a museum. They don't build hospitals like that anymore!</p>
<p><img src="https://www.robin.is/assets/images/2024/barcelona-5.webp" alt="" /><br />
<img src="https://www.robin.is/assets/images/2024/barcelona-6.webp" alt="" /></p>
<p>We finished the day watching a piano concert by <a href="https://www.khatiabuniatishvili.com/">Khatia Buniatishvili</a> at the <a href="https://www.palaumusica.cat/en/khatia-buniatishvili-piano_1004121">Palau de la Musica</a></p>
<p><img src="https://www.robin.is/assets/images/2024/barcelona-7.webp" alt="" /></p>
<p>On our final full day we intended to visit Tibidabo castle, so headed for the funicular. Unforuntately it was out of order, so we spent the rest of the day ambling around the area, having a lovely lunch at <a href="https://www.latagliatella.es/">La Tegliatlla</a> restaurant. Then we enjoyed some lovely views of the city from Park del Turo del Putxet a bit further along.</p>
<p><img src="https://www.robin.is/assets/images/2024/barcelona-8.webp" alt="" /><br />
<img src="https://www.robin.is/assets/images/2024/barcelona-9.webp" alt="" /></p>
<p>The next day <a href="https://www.robin.is/posts/2024/madrid/">we were off to Madrid</a> on a high speed train.</p>
Mona Lisa Overdrive2024-02-13T18:00:33Zhttps://www.robin.is/posts/2024/mona-lisa-overdrive/<h2>by William Gibson</h2>
<p>The final part of his trilogy, that starts with <a href="https://www.robin.is/posts/2023/neuromancer/">Neuromancer</a> and continues with <a href="https://www.robin.is/posts/2023/count-zero/">Count Zero</a>.</p>
<p>Finishing it in under a week made it easier to follow and keep track of what was going on. A very enjoyable read with an interesting ending.</p>
<p>I particularly like the way this trilogoy has done quite well at predicting the future. Not in terms of the cyberpunk background, but in the way it has made information and not technology itself the centre of the story.</p>
<p>Started 07/02/2024. Finished 13/02/2024.</p>
<p><img src="https://www.robin.is/assets/images/2023/mona-lisa-overdrive.webp" alt="" /></p>
Weekend in London2024-01-29T19:18:27Zhttps://www.robin.is/posts/2024/london-weekend/<p>A lovely short weekend in London.</p>
<p>On the Saturday we walked around the Bloomsbury area, having a great late lunch in <a href="https://www.gigsfishandchips.com/">Gigs</a> near Goodge Street.</p>
<p>In the late afternoon, we walked around the last day of the winter lights exhibition at Canary Wharf, before watching Les Miserables at the Sondheim Theatre.</p>
<p><img src="https://www.robin.is/assets/images/2024/london-weekend-1.webp" alt="Looking up at the HSBC building from within the winter lights exhibition" /></p>
<p><img src="https://www.robin.is/assets/images/2024/london-weekend-2.webp" alt="Yellow lights moving a curved and looped line" /></p>
<p><img src="https://www.robin.is/assets/images/2024/london-weekend-3.webp" alt="Line drawn figures projected on a large screen provided by a building in construction with a neutron exhibit in the foreground" /></p>
<p><img src="https://www.robin.is/assets/images/2024/london-weekend-4.webp" alt="Small lights hanging from ropes arranged in a square viewed from outside" /></p>
<p><img src="https://www.robin.is/assets/images/2024/london-weekend-5.webp" alt="Now seen from within, giving the impression of being submerged" /></p>
<p><img src="https://www.robin.is/assets/images/2024/london-weekend-6.webp" alt="Interval scene of Les Miserables with lady dressed in white waving large red revolutionary flag in front clouds lit up by sunset" /></p>
Boliartsi2024-01-02T19:18:27Zhttps://www.robin.is/posts/2024/boliartsi/<p>The original pale green and yellow vertically striped walls in Boliartsi.</p>
<p><img src="https://www.robin.is/assets/images/2024/boliartsi.webp" alt="" /></p>