"Umberto Eco on Macintosh vs. DOS

The fact is that the world is divided between users of the
Macintosh computer and users of MS-DOS compatible computers. I am firmly
of the opinion that the Macintosh is Catholic and that DOS is
Protestant. Indeed, the Macintosh is counterreformist and has been
influenced by the "ratio studiorum" of the Jesuits. It is cheerful,
friendly, conciliatory, it tells the faithful how they must proceed step
by step to reach - if not the Kingdom of Heaven - the moment in which
their document is printed. It is catechistic: the essence of revelation
is dealt with via simple formulae and sumptuous icons. Everyone has a
right to salvation.

DOS is Protestant, or even Calvinistic. It allows free
interpretation of scripture, demands difficult personal decisions,
imposes a subtle hermeneutics upon the user, and takes for granted the
idea that not all can reach salvation. To make the system work you need
to interpret the program yourself: a long way from the baroque community
of revelers, the user is closed within the loneliness of his own inner
torment.

"I used to work for a startup software company back when
a package sold for $100,000 and the customers had this silly
expectation that it would work flawlessly. This was before Bill Gates
wrote a "start" button that you clicked to shut down."

Arnhold

Word(s) of the day: "spring tide" - tide occurring around the time of a full or new moon, when there is the greatest difference between high & low tide due to the combined gravitational pull of sun & moon; also known as a "king tide" (Old English springan, to surge, rise, flow). pic.twitter.com/IckufVsiU3

— Robert Macfarlane (@RobGMacfarlane) May 30, 2018

Officials say almost two-fifths (38%) of particulate matter comes from
domestic wood burners and open fires, which just 7.5% of homes have.

[https://news.sky.com/story/pollution-proposals-aim-to-curb-emissions-from-wood-burning-stoves-11381351 ]

Interesting statistic!

"How you burn wood is important. In London, 69% of people who burn wood
are doing so in open fires, a practice banned in the capital by the
Clean Air Acts of 1956 and 1968. New stoves pollute far less than open
fires, but a recent report found that the limits for Ecodesign wood
burners allow six times more particle pollution than the exhaust of a modern heavy goods vehicle, equivalent to 18 new diesel cars."

via https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/oct/08/pollutionwatch-log-f...

Consultation document - https://consult.defra.gov.uk/environmental-quality/clean-air-strategy-co...

Beech Noyau

A noyau is typically a cordial made from brandy, gin, cognac etc.
However, this is a classic British version made using young beech
leaves.

Ingredients:

1 bottle of gin (700ml), 225g white sugar, 200ml brandy, 400ml young beech leaves.

Method:

Using only very young beech leaves, freshly stripped from the stem. Add
these to a bottle or glass jar (with a secure lid) until the vessel is
half full. Add the bottle of gin then stopper the jar and store for 3
weeks before straining the alcohol off. Meanwhile add the sugar and
300ml water to a pan and bring to a boil. Take off the heat and allow to
cool before mixing with the flavoured gin and the brandy. Pour into
bottles and store.

For anyone interested but not knowing how to pronounce it, here it is.
(And of course various Hebridean dialects could pronounce it slightly differently ??) pic.twitter.com/GFYJKxWjQe

— Calum Maclean (@caldamac) March 6, 2018

3rd March is the feast of Saint Winwallus, aka Winwaloe, abbot, the third person in the weather-rhyme:

Word(s) of the day: “scréachóg reilige” - ‘screecher of the cemetery’; Irish name for the barn owl. Also “cailleach-oidhche gheal” (white old woman of the night, Gaelic) & “Schleiereule” (veil-owl, German).
To mark publication, today, of Owl Sense by @MimDarling pic.twitter.com/iDQjZVmVXl

— Robert Macfarlane (@RobGMacfarlane) February 8, 2018

Word of the day: "clinkerbell" - icicle (Somerset; archaic). Other regional names for icicles include "aquabob" (Kent), "ickle" (Yorkshire), "tankle" (Durham), "shuckle" (Cumbria) & "conkerbill" (Newfoundland).

Cornish language: 

English Words

kleghi

Word of the day: “Eisvogel” - German for kingfisher, literally
“ice-bird”; in Russian Зимородок, lit. “winter-born”. Names possibly
given because kingfishers appear in new territories when their
established fishing grounds freeze in winter.
Robert Macfarlane