In my history in March 2025
Finally! The days are getting a little longer, the weather is milder... so I quite logically spent my month of March indoors, reading or playing Two Points Museum! So, I have quite a few links to share with you this month, happy reading!
Oh, and I updating my site: I changed the colors, upgraded my Kirby version from 3 to 4, and translated (almost) everything in english so I can offer both french and english versions of all my articles. It was soooooo long to do (I really need to write shorter articles 🥲), but I'm very happy with this new version. There's also a few more discrete changes like a better comment system, that will make my life better.
Also, I added a few lines about AI-generated content in my about page, because I feel strongly about it:
Artificial Intelligence
This website does not contain AI-generated content..
(or, more precisely, LLM-generated content, as Large Language Model are most often designated as « AI »)
Why not?
- This is a personnal website, why would I want to publish content generated from other people's ideas on it? I like to believe that what's interesting in my articles is my tone, my point of view, my opinions. And besides, beyond the question of quality, the whole point of a personal site is to have unique content.
- I refuse to use tools that are « trained » on stolen, be it texts, images, videos, whatever.
- I refuse to use an indecent amount of non-renewable resources and energy to make a machine generate what I can write by myself. The whole economy around generative AI presents a real ecological risk.
Let's start with my ‘top 10’, the gems you shouldn't miss if you don't have the time to read everything!
#1
Time capsule – Thanks to Pierre, I discovered the future library project. They planted 1,000 trees to print books on in 100 years. And every year, a writer is invited to write one of the books in the collection. The manuscripts are kept under lock and key, so the books won't be published until 2114. I think the idea is brilliant. I loved exploring the site and reading about the first manuscripts written for the project; and at the same time, it made me feel very uneasy. I'm having trouble wrapping my head around this project, and the fact that I won't ever see the end of it. It makes me feel very small and very mortal.#2
Book binding – Thanks to The Public Domain Review, we can admire a collection of book covers from 1820 to 1914, the very beginning of cover illustrations. I want almost all of these books!
#3
Reference – Are you getting tired of dating everything from the birth of Jesus?Improved Relative Time allows you to use any key date you could dream of, including the invention of harpoon, the domestication of the sheep, or the beginning of the Internet.
For instance, the pacemaker has been invented in 361 AR*
*After Revolver
#4
Font – A fascinating long read on a typeface that we see absolutely everywhere without knowing it: The hardest working font in Manhattan#5
Health –« Vaccines causes adults »
Slogan seen on a sign in a protest photo that I unfortunately forgot to save.
#6
Dance – A few days ago, I was lucky enough to see the Ballets Trockadero Monte Carlo on stage at the Radiant Bellevue in Caluire-et-Cuire.It's an American ballet company, founded in 1974, composed entirely of male dancers, who perform the entire academic repertoire in a humorous way. It's very well danced and very funny. I really like the idea of desacralizing ballet and mocking the codes, but with just the right amount of respect. Here, for example, is the famous pas de quatre from Swan Lake, as we're used to seeing it, and… danced less classically.
I enjoyed the show all the more because I have been a classical dancer for years, and I have danced to Swan Lake and in particular the pas de quatre (in a version adapted for 13-year-old ballerinas, of course); but I am convinced that the show can please everyone, without requiring any knowledge of ballet.
#7
Exhaustion – Are you tired?Excellent article, which I read while listening to music, monitoring my Dragoturkeys on Dofus, copying files in batches from my computer to my NAS, and monitoring that my food wasn't burning. 🫠
#8
Video games – Noclip is releasing a 4-parts documentary on the creation of Dwarf Fortress. The first episode is already available on YouTube, and you can watch the following ones in advance if you subscribe to their Patreon.#9
TPMP – I'd like to never see Cyril Hanouna's face again, and never hear his bullshit again, but let's be realistic: he's not about to stop dominating all the media outlets that will have him, and actively fighting to spread Bolloré's nauseating ideology. So, it's worth knowing what's going on:- Rhinocéros — Putsch : Hanouna dreams of being the French Trump
- The last 3 episodes of the series of articles The Empire, that Les jours writes on Bolloré : Baba lies again, Nobody puts Baba in a corner et Hanouna : a new « TPMP »
#10
Tourism – I have family near Rouen, I've been there many times, but I've never really visited the city. So I took advantage of a family celebration to come 2 days early and (finally) visit the "city of a hundred bell towers". Unsurprisingly, it was very pretty, and I even had a hailstorm and some drizzle to make for a more authentic visit :D
I also took the opportunity to visit the Rouen Museum of Fine Arts, and I did an almost guided tour, for a change!
- Climate – The Borana, inhabitants of southern Ethiopia, whose carbon footprint has always been almost non-existent, are direct victims of global warming. What are we waiting for?
- Gaming – Do you know the playstacean ? No? You're missing on something great!
- Mixtape – If you are using Nextcloud music and would like daily mixtape similar to those Spotify provides, FloZz Daily Mix is made for you!
- Glass – The difference between pyrex and PYREX (and why it matters)
- Ecology – ’Technofossils’: how humanity’s eternal testament will be plastic bags, cheap clothes and chicken bones
« This stuff is going to last millions of years, some releasing its toxins and chemicals into the natural world. Do you need that? Do you really need to buy more? »
- Generosity – James Harrison, an Australian man whose blood contained a rare antibody used to create a drug to protect babies from a rare blood disease, has died. The fact that his blood contained the antibody was purely a matter of luck, but to have donated plasma every two weeks for 60 years, without missing a single appointment, is truly admirable. There is real merit in helping consistently, without expecting anything in return, just because you can.
I'm far from donating blood or plasma as regularly, but I do so whenever I can, and I encourage you to do the same if you have the opportunity. Blood, plasma, and platelet supplies are dangerously low, and a single donation can help multiple patients.
- Pretty – Resketch Upcycles Misprints and Unwanted Paper into Reclaimed Notebooks.I already have way too many notebooks that I don't use, but it's tempting!
- TV show – Thanks to Bolchegeek's video, I — finally — watched The Boys, and it was really cool.
- Obsolescence – The tech vignette, a fun idea to show the longevity of our devices.
- Proselytizing – How far-right billionaire Stérin floods the web with reactionary Catholic influencers.
- Autism – I Was Diagnosed With Autism at 53. I Know Why Rates Are Rising.
« As a scientist with autism, I believe the rise in diagnoses is the result of greater awareness, better identification (especially among women and girls) and a broader definition that now includes a range of neurodevelopmental conditions under the umbrella of autism spectrum disorder. »
- Pixel art – Three years late, I discovered A Trail Tale, a fantastic hiking journal (2,200 miles over a period of four months) by Alex Moliski. It's original, it's beautiful, and if you're like me, you'll spend three hours on it!
- Nomnomnom – thanks to Nisha Vora, I know want to taste Muhammara, a roasted-pepper dip
- Legacy –
« Too many people spend their lives being dutiful descendants instead of good ancestors.
The responsibility of each generation is not to please their predecessors.
It’s to improve things for their offspring.
It’s more important to make your children proud than your parents proud. » - Agriculture – In Kenya, 60% of the land is cultivated by women, but they own only 3%. Yet, when women grow fruits, vegetables, and grains for their families and neighbors, they contribute to the country's food security, unlike large monoculture fields that deplete the soil and put farmers at the mercy of large buyers promising them higher profits. (via the really good newsletter "Chez les indés" international by Basta)
- Music – About 15 years late, I stumbled upon micromix.fr, which offers mixtapes on cassettes.
- Russia – Rhinocéros, always hitting the nail on the head:
- Boycott – Opposition movements always seem hopeless until they’re not.
- Nintendo – Some people created a framework CSS that looks like the NES 💚
- Trump – krkrkr
« An assistant to Donald Trump told him she had a fantastic dream last night. There was a huge parade down Pennsylvania Avenue celebrating Trump. Millions lined the parade route, cheering when the President went past. Bands where playing, children were throwing confetti in the air, there were balloons everywhere. It was absolutely the BIGGEST CELEBRATION WASHINGTON HAD EVER SEEN! Trump was very impressed and said "that’s really great! By the way, how did I look in your dream? Was my hair OK?". The assistant said "I couldn’t tell, the casket was closed". »
- DIY – Ville Morte collective offers a cool guide « How to organise a DIY concert? », for those who would like to get started.
- Video games – I spent dozens of hours on Two Point Museum the week it was released. For me, it is by far the best game in the series. As is very well explained in the Origami video about the game, the expedition system for collecting works to exhibit adds a lot of interest to the game. If you like management games, go for it, it's really a very good one!
- Antiscience – The Texas Measles Outbreak Is Even Scarier Than It Looks. The antivaxxers have done their job well: we're starting to die again from diseases that were eradicated decades ago, even though we have effective tools to fight them. People are fighting for the right to die from preventable diseases. We live in a wonderful time.
« Measles destroys immune cells. Even people who recover from the virus lose much of their immune memory, and therefore the protection they had acquired from prior infections or vaccines to all the other childhood illnesses. This leaves survivors more vulnerable to many other diseases for years afterward. »
In a similar vein, Trump canceled the annual meeting where the FDA selects flu strains for the next batch of vaccines, jeopardizing production for the winter of 2025/2026. I find it distressing that we're at a point where an editorial in Nature reminding us that vaccines save lives and that policymakers must encourage vaccination is necessary.
Still on the same subject, How to persuade the vaccine hesitant:
« She has found tremendous success by just letting the families know she will have to document the higher risk of specific, and often fatal illness, in the chart of their child. »
. - Uprising – A great video by Oui d’accord on the "Commune de Marseille" (thanks Pierre !)
- Cinema – Do biopics think we are stupid? As a former biopic watcher who has stopped watching to them for just about every reason listed here, I highly recommend this video.
- Posters – A field guide to wheatpasting, in other words, how to flood your city with antifa posters?
- Capitalism – CEO: why so much hatred?
- Monomaniac – When do we stop finding new music? (spoiler : at 31 years old)
- Health – "HIV: 40% of young people believe a vaccine already exists"
"42% of young people believe that HIV can be transmitted through kissing."
"20% of those surveyed believe that HIV only affects homosexuals."
36 million deaths and still no proper sex education. (via Sebsauvage) - Space – We used to believe that Saturn had 62 moons… We just discovered it has, in fact, 274 🤯
- Climate – More than 150 ‘unprecedented’ climate disasters struck world in 2024, says UN. And that is just the beginning.
- Treats – Via Shiki, How Nerikiri confections are made | Japanese mother & daughter artisans.
- Music – And I'll end this IMH with this song that makes your heart warm and makes you want to spend time with your friends ♥
Funny pics
