Published

Regarding single speed bicycle assembly

I need a bike that I’m comfortable with for getting around London. My Claud Butler steel mixte frame is in good condition and I’ve always wanted to learn more about bikes, so I’ve started to replace the heaviest and most problematic bits myself. Over time, the project evolved in to a single speed conversion. The notes below are an overview of the work and research I’ve done thus far. Expect misused terminology ahead, bumps in the road, etc.

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Published

The Peter Principle in management theory

I had a spectacularly inarticulate moment recently trying to recall a management concept I read about a while back. By chance, I came across it today, so note to self: the Peter Principle is the theory you’re looking for. “Managers rise to the level of their incompetence”, or “anything that works will be used in progressively more challenging applications until it fails”.

Published

Snippet for LazyLoad + Spin.js

/**
 * Identify images by class. For each image, add 
 * [Spin.js](http://fgnass.github.io/spin.js/) to parent, [LazyLoad](http://verlok.github.io/lazyload/) image, stop spinner 
 * when image is loaded.
 */

var imgClass = "lazy";

var spinOpts = {
  // [Spin.js options](http://fgnass.github.io/spin.js/#usage)
};

var spinners = [];
var elems = document.getElementsByClassName( imgClass );
for ( var i = 0; i < elems.length; i++ ) {
  var pId = "lazy-" + ( i + 1 );
  var parent = elems[i].parentElement;
  parent.id = pId;
  spinners[pId] = new Spinner( spinOpts ).spin( parent );
}

var lazyLoad = new LazyLoad( {
  elements_selector: "." + imgClass,
  callback_load: function( element ) {
    var spinner = spinners[element.parentElement.id];
    if ( spinner ) {
      spinner.stop();
    }
  }
} );

For use with LazyLoad by Andrea Verlicchi and Spin.js by Felix Gnass. SB and I have both checked out a few different lazyloading plugins, we’re pleased with how this one works with srcset.

Since the default positioning of Spin.js centres the spinner in the element, it’s best for the image to be the only child of the parent element. The code above assumes that this is the case. If I didn’t have control over the markup or needed to individually wrap each image for any other reason, would probably implement something similar to the above w/ jQuery (see the Spin.js jQuery plugin).

Published

Archival boxes from Conservation By Design

With the recent move from Leeds back down to London, we’ve really had to take stock of our work storage situation. It’s been a bit sub-par, consisting of an assortment of A-sized folders, cardboard poster-tubes, and some sturdy but very light-penetrable boxes.

Saw some very nice grey storage boxes by Conservation By Design at a degree show last year, might have been Premier Duo PM Metal-Edge boxes. A few of these would be a step in the right direction. Next up: sort out comprehensive digital storage once and for all…

Published

Semi-recent frequency illusion: Hannah Arendt

Hannah Arendt has been the subject of a months-long frequency illusion.

  1. A new friend described her research on biopolitics w/ a focus on Hannah Arendt’s work, was surprised when she realised I haven’t heard of The Human Condition and said I should check it out. Wanted to, but of course it slipped to the back of my mind.
  2. Months later, started reading essays and books by Joan Didion. Was reminded to read Arendt while reading Didion’s Miami where she dissects the language used by U.S. politicians and media during the Cuban Revolution.

    When someone speaks of Orlando Letelier as “murdered by his own masters,” […] that person is not arguing a case, but counting instead on the willingness of the listener to enter what Hannah Arendt called, in a discussion of propaganda, “the gruesome quiet of an entirely imaginary world.”

    Managed to at least purchase The Human Condition, got sidetracked again.

  3. Started reading Walter Benjamin’s Illuminations after coming across Carol Bove’s contribution to AKADEMIE X. The introduction to my edition is excellent. Lo and behold, it’s written by Arendt.
  4. Sam came across the origin of Life of the Mind as a name earlier this week, then this morning he mentioned a ditigized Arendt collection amassed by Bard College and currently making the rounds online.

Time to devote some time to her work.