Interesting Links for 07-12-2020

[andrewducker]

The 1,700 year old skyscraper city that's being destroyed by the weather

(tags:weather history yemen architecture viaDanielDWilliam )

How the Brothers Grimm went hunting for fairytales, accidentally changed the course of historical linguistics, and kickstarted a new field of scholarship in folklore.

(tags:history Germany language stories fairytale )

Excel formulas become Turing complete

(tags:programming spreadsheet Microsoft )

If you are giving the Guardian money then you are supporting bigoted lies that kill children

(tags:guardian bigotry LGBT transgender OhForFucksSake )

Forget London, Brexit fight is about Paris and Berlin

(tags:Germany France Europe UK trade )

Why a "soft Brexit" was never on the table - by an MP who tried to prevent a hard one

(tags:UK politics Europe history )

Charlie Stross on how the next month or so are likely to look (Bad. Very bad)

(tags:UK Europe Doom charlesstross )

Zalando boss to quit so his wife can focus on her career while he looks after the kids

(tags:work women family )

The 'virtual nannies' looking after kids via Zoom

(tags:childcare children remote )

Kids can eat free in Asda cafes throughout December

(tags:children food supermarkets UK )

What might travel, holidays, and commuting look like over the next ten years?

(tags:thefuture travel work holidays )

Comments

[danieldwilliam]

As we discussed, I'm not actually sure how old the actual buildings are in Shibam are. Rather than the general scheme or layout or architectural motif. I'm thinking Edinburgh Old Town here, where the pattern of streets is medieval but the actual buildings are mostly late Victorian.

What I'm thinking on is that the buildings are made of mud bricks and need to be maintained regularly and I get the impression every so often just get rebuilt from scratch as a matter of course.

So whilst the layout and design date from 300 AD and the city was renewed in the erly 16th Century I wonder if the actual building might be, say, 100 years old. Which given the war in Yemen will have restricted repairs work maybe means that the buildings have had more of their design life without proper maintenance than you might at first think looking at a city age of 1,700 years.

Still, it's a damn shame, not least because it looks like people are still actually living there.

[andrewducker]

Agreed on all counts.

[cmcmck]

You are forced to the conclusion that 'they' would really rather we didn't exist.

So child abuse is a reasonable tactic to achieve that end.

Sorry guys- I'm here and I'm not going away! I'm not going away even though I was subjected to this very same abuse as a fifteen year old in the seventies.

You made me wait until I was eighteen putting me though puberty twice.

You cost me thousands in body and facial electrolysis as a result with all the physical and mental pain that involved.

Then you made me wait until I was twenty one for GC surgery, meaning I had to attend uni in deep stealth and to undergo more anguish

Had I been cis, I would not have been put through any of this...........

But still I stand!

[naath]

Being cis, noone questioned my gender, or suggested I should delay puberty to give myself enough time to decide... we HAVE THE TECHNOLOGY we just refuse to use it :( :(

[cmcmck]

And no one suggested that they knew your body better than you do. :o(

Most trans kids don't need time because they're trans- I knew when I was five for goodness' sake, but for those who do, blockers are no more than a temporary expedient with no lasting effects if they're stopped.

I still recall the utter relief when 'they' finally let me take oestrogen and testosterone blockers when I hit eighteen. It was like removing an internal balaclava if that makes any sense?

[naath]

It's just transphobia, horrible people :(

Excel formulas become Turing complete

[claudeb]

Cue jokes about ancient spreadsheets built upon for a quarter century, until they finally acquire sentience. :P

Holiday Travel

[birguslatro]

Hopefully climate-friendly trains will replace planes where possible. And as for crossing oceans, I'd like to see them come up with fast, climate-friendly ships instead of planes. So tourists would get a sea voyage as part of their holiday, even if it takes four or more times as long as going by plane.

Excel formulas become Turing complete

[jducoeur]

The geeky part of me goes, "Cool!"

The security-architect part of me goes, "Well, that surely isn't going to end in massive disaster and new-and-different virii..."