We're hoping to publish some more in-depth posts - but had to start somewhere! We've been deep in ffmpeg for a while, especially around building our in-browser editor + record tools - excited to share more about what we've learned soon.
I've set my Slack notifications to the "Hummus" sound instead because it's a lot less stressful and funny. Yes it's on your Slack too. Join me in chickpea silliness.
Oh no, my recent obsession has made its way to HN... oh, no....
If you're into reading/watching fiction about the Age of Sail (more so late 18th/early 19th century, so later than this video), I can't recommend Master and Commander (also known as the Aubrey/Maturin Series) enough. It's a lot of fun, witty, and full of all the jargon you just watched.
Of course you can also learn to sail - if you're lucky like we are here in Boston, there's affordable options for this that also do great things for the community, such as a sliding scale membership for adults + kids, accessible races, and more: https://www.community-boating.org/
Just in case you weren’t aware, these guys have been doing deep dives on the series with a chapter by chapter breakdown, digging into every single reference and historical mention in the books. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-lubbers-hole-a-pat...
After reading Aubrey-Maturin 5 times through I didn’t think I could appreciate it even more but this podcast revealed a whole new depth of awe for the author. Like Steve Jobs insisting the inside of the Apple II looked beautiful even if no one would see it level of craftsmanship.
Can I also recommend getting hold of a copy of "seamanship in the age of sail". I've always had a latent fascination for just how they managed to manoeuvre relatively massive ships around well before the steam engine came of age. It's the only source I've ever came across which really goes into enough information to explain it to the limit of my curiosity. The page showing how a sailing ship was worked up and down a tidal river using various methods blew my mind.
And a copy of "The Young Sea Officer's Sheet Anchor: Or a Key to the Leading of Rigging and to Practical Seamanship" (Dover has a cheap paperback reprint). This is fun because it, having been originally published in 1808, is a textbook actually used in the Age of Sail.
There was a line from the philosophy book “Zorba” that went something like “happy is the man who before dying sails the Aegean sea”.
When I first read it I was like - yeah right, another exasperation l. But a few years later I happened to go to a sailing coarse in Greece (Thessaloniki) and OMG was the author right. There are a lot of seas / oceans about, but very few places with so many small islands to scoot about. And honestly going on a boat as a tourist does not really prepare you for the experience of sailing yourself. When the wind powers the boat there is no noise, you’re just gliding through with the power of your wit and ages of engineering.
Dolphins swim around you, cause its fun for them and no smelly propellers, and the camaraderie you form with your fellow sailers is intense, cause you depend on each other for survival.
And at the end of the day you anchor in some cosy beach, swim around and go to the local taverna for cheap drinks and amazing food.
Sailing the aegean sea is definitely something you should do at least once before you die.
I also recommend people check out the Horatio Hornblower books, which not only inspired the Aubrey/Maturin books but also the Sharpe books, Hemingway, and even Star Trek.
They are a little less contemplative than the O'Brien's works but no less excellent.
They also inspired the Honor Harrington series by David Weber, which is basically Hornblower in space. I enjoyed the first few, though the author inserting his monarchist politics was mildly annoying. I got bored with the later books because it felt like he wrote himself into a corner with a character that had to keep coming up with increasingly implausible dramatic victories. Kind of the Mary Sue thing.
Look up the Swedish ship Gotheborg. It sailed from Sweden to China and back. They take volunteer sailors (who know nothing) for sailing legs of varying degree. Best adventure of my life so far. Hopefully it will sail again.
Just wanted to flag that there are areas in the US that co-operative enterprises do flourish and have knock-on effects. This is biased by my food co-operative experience but just to show that there is an alternative to unfettered capitalism where businesses help each other thrive.
- The Minneapolis/St. Paul region has so many food co-ops that there's a co-operative warehouse dedicated to serving them (and other businesses too) https://www.cpw.coop/
- New England has a multitude of 30-40 year old food co-ops (along with startups like mine) and has its own association of food co-ops to help advocate for better state policy/governance http://nfca.coop/
- National Co-op Grocers is a US-wide group that helps co-ops buy food at cheaper rates and provides a ton of great branding food co-ops who are members get to use https://www.grocery.coop/
I'd love to see more tech co-operatives sprout up someday... there is an alternative to VC that keeps ownership equal, and it's been all around us this whole time!
I also have a background in food co-ops (member owned), I was in the bakery of one for 7 years, then served on its board. Food co-ops are really interesting orgs because food is one of the things people can control in their lives so their feelings, neuroses, fears etc. come out.
When we expanded about 17 years ago we managed to drive a new Whole Foods that had sprouted across town out of business within a year. Haven't heard of that happening elsewhere. They had a terrible location which didn't help but I think it was more due to the loyalty of our customers who had buy-in (literally).
Buffalo native here (where the Erie Canal ends) - the Canal is very much in use still today. No horses pulling barges though anymore!
Big news in Buffalo this week was a new pedestrian bridge just pulled into town via the Canal after spending a few weeks winding its way across the state:
I don't live anywhere near the Erie Canal (but in the NL), and when she was still around my grandmother once told me of a journey by horse drawn barge. I suddenly understood how much change she had seen in her life!
Also a Buffalo native! I'm interested if this experience was universal, but in elementary school, it felt like we had a history unit about the Erie Canal every year. I must've had three field trips over the years to see the Lockport locks.
Just wrapped up an ~1100mi roadtrip with my RAV4 Prime and it got ~45mpg. Charged it whenever possible too, so got maybe ~150mi off on pure EV, and plenty of recharge over the many hills of upstate/western NY. Love this car!
Not to steal your thunder, but I got the same fuel economy from a rented Hyundai Elantra on a ~7500 mile roadtrip seven years ago. I couldn't believe my eyes. Otherwise a meh vehicle, though.
