Peter

https://dotat.at/@/2025-06-01-bialetti.html

In hot weather I like to drink my coffee in an iced latte. To make it, I have a very large Bialetti Moka Express. Recently when I got it going again after a winter of disuse, it took me a couple of attempts to get the technique right again, so here are some notes as a reminder to my future self next year.

It's worth noting that I'm not fussy about my coffee: I usually drink pre-ground beans from the supermarket, with cream (in winter hot coffee) or milk and ice.

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https://dotat.at/@/2025-05-28-types.html

TIL (or this week-ish I learned) why big-sigma and big-pi turn up in the notation of dependent type theory.

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I've consumed two things from the 2025 Hugo Award shortlist recently. They're Quite Different.

The first was The Tainted Cup, by Robert Jackson Bennett. I loved this; it's a crime thriller set in a fantasy world, where The Empire exists to keep its people safe from Leviathans. It has a lot of what you'd expect from the crime genre; whilst a couple of times that meant that I spotted the plot twist or reveal coming, there was still plenty here to keep me guessing (and turning the pages). It also talks about power and money (and how those with both can often keep clear of the law), and perhaps something about how we treat those who aren't the same as ourselves. There are some quite gruesome bits. I have a suspicion that there may be a sequel or two, which I look forward to reading :)

Flow is an animated film without any dialogue. After some apocalypse that has removed all of humanity, a flood comes, and a little cat (our point-of-view character) is nearly swept away. Over time it meets and befriends some other animals, and they have adventures together. This is not a plot-driven film, and I think works better if thought of as a poem in cinematic form. There are moments of very authentical animal behaviour, and also some rather less plausible ones (like animals being able to operate a tiller). I would have liked to have seen this on a big screen, I think.