montgomery_r

My father taught me times tables, each one written on the back of a fag packet, in 1972. And we used matches for addition and multiplication before that.

WesterDOS.

Totally agreed! And I loved Snow Leopard. (And I still love Mac OS - just making the point, there have always been things to complain about :-) )

I think the criticisms of the current software stack are well founded. There is friction there, stuff doesnt work that should. OP even neglected to mention the glaring Finder column view bugs or the Taboe corner radius window selection issues. But as a user since System 6.x, including A/UX and MacOS X since public beta - it was ever thus. Macintosh pre OSX was well known as an acronym for Most Applications Crash, If Not, The Operating System Hangs. After OSX, Snow Leopard was needed to clear cruft.

The hardware is in sparkling form. Perhaps the software is closer to average. Where would you pick the next leader from - the hw side or the sw side?!

There’s a lot of commentary to the effect that the Mac hardware is good, but the software is somehow terrible. Speaking as someone who first used a Mac Plus, graduated to an SE/30, and is now on a Mac mini m4 pro… I can remember when Macintosh was widely held to be an acronym for Most Applications Crash, If Not, The Operating System Hangs. The software has always been terrible, until you try the other guys’ stuff. The hardware has often been good, and is in a purple period right now. Enjoy it while it lasts! (It won’t).

That /rara avis/, an academic paper that is not only readable but witty. I do think the logics are real progress and could have wider application.

The radar measure was surprising - it told me my play falls of a cliff when i’m in a worse position- I would have guessed i’m quite good at battling on, so that was an eye opener. To be clear, I am sure the analysis is better than my gut feeling.

Aha! That worked. Brilliant idea, really useful - I’ve often thought ‘ i wonder what my better move is in this oft-repeated opening’ and this tells me. Thankyou!

This is a fantastic idea and I would love to try it. Am I missing something? I don't have a google account and I’m on chess.com not lichess - how do I make an account?

English pedant and RP speaker here. Jabs is a colloquialism in British English, but the BBC website is riddled with grammatical and vocabulary errors daily and rarely rises above a secondary (high school) reading level.

Just finished ‘On the law of speaking freely’ Adam Tomkins - an excellent survey covering the US, UK and EU. In the middle of: Adventurers, David Howarth, an account of the beginnings of the East India Company, and Witch Wood, a delightful historical novel by John Buchan set in c16th Scotland. Just started: The House of War, the struggle between Christendom and the Caliphate, Simon Mayall. All good so far!

Ploughing isn’t quite mowing, of course, but the great Rabbie Burns tilled the same furrow in To A Mouse: On Turning Her Up in Her Nest with the Plough, November, 1785

Wee, sleekit, cowrin, tim’rous beastie, O, what a panic’s in thy breastie! Thou need na start awa sae hasty, Wi’ bickering brattle! I wad be laith to rin an’ chase thee, Wi’ murdering pattle!

I’m truly sorry Man’s dominion Has broken Nature’s social union, An’ justifies that ill opinion Which makes thee startle At me, thy poor, earth-born companion An’ fellow-mortal!

I doubt na, whyles, but thou may thieve; What then? poor beastie, thou maun live! A daimen-icker in a thrave ‘S a sma’ requet; I’ll get a blessin wi’ the lave, An’ never miss’t!

Thy wee-bit housie, too, in ruin! Its silly wa’s the win’s are strewin! An’ naething, now, to big a new ane, O’ foggage green! An’ bleak December’s win’s ensuing, Baith snell an’ keen!

Thou saw the fields laid bare an’ waste, An’ weary Winter comin fast, An’ cozie here, beneath the blast, Thou thought to dwell, Till crash! the cruel coulter past Out thro’ thy cell.

That wee bit heap o’ leaves and stibble, Has cost thee monie a weary nibble! Now thou’s turned out, for a’ thy trouble, But house or hald, To thole the Winter’s sleety dribble, An’ cranreuch cauld!

But Mousie, thou art no thy lane, In proving foresight may be vain: The best-laid schemes o’ Mice an’ Men Gang aft agley, An’ lea’e us nought but grief an’ pain, For promis’d joy!

Still thou are blest, compared wi’ me! The present only toucheth thee: But Och! I backward cast my e’e, On prospects drear! An’ forward, tho’ I cannot see, I guess an’ fear

Ruby