Author: Jules Bristow

Public vs private luxury: why are we so willing to accept that we can’t have nice things?

~ Jules Bristow ~ 1 Comment

I woke up this morning to the depressing news that CoBikes, Exeter's bike and electric car hire scheme, had gone into administration and would be ceasing operations. Sadly I can't say I'm entirely surprised. CoBikes were an absolute lifesaver for me during the pandemic when, thanks a hasty decision to prioritise bringing my plants home … Continue reading Public vs private luxury: why are we so willing to accept that we can’t have nice things?

The future is federated: my first week (back) on Mastodon

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Mastodon is a federated social network - unlike Twitter or Facebook say, which is run by one company, it's easiest to think of Mastodon as a tool like email. There are a number of different servers or "instances" where your data (your account details, the contents of your posts, the timestamps of your activity, the cute picture you took of your cat fighting your slippers) are stored, there are a number of different apps or clients you can use to access these data the same way you could access the same email account through Apple mail on your iPhone or Outlook on your work PC or Gmail on an Android phone, and Mastodon is the set of instructions that allows them all to talk to one another.

Spare the squash: tips for a sustainable spooky season

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Who wants to hear a scary Halloween story? According to Hubbub 39.9 million pumpkins are bought in UK at Halloween, and 22.2 million of these, worth £32.6 million, end up thrown away uneaten. Apparently an astonishing 41% of the population don't even know that they're edible, although that's at least a slight improvement on 2014's … Continue reading Spare the squash: tips for a sustainable spooky season

Economy gastronomy? Hay boxes, Wonderbags and insulation cookery

~ Jules Bristow ~ 3 Comments

Several years I met a rather wonderful hippie elder, who told me that she used to make yoghurt in bed in the seventies; if you heated the milk in the morning and put it under the duvet it would stay warm and fermenting all day and by evening you would not only have homemade yoghurt … Continue reading Economy gastronomy? Hay boxes, Wonderbags and insulation cookery

Schrödinger’s covid: my experiences with covid testing in the UK

~ Jules Bristow ~ 2 Comments

I've had a rather bewildering week, having tested positive for covid but still having no idea whether I've actually had it or not. I'm feeling absolutely fine physically, but the whole experience has taken rather a toll on my mental health and taken me on something of an emotional whistle-stop tour of despair, guilt and … Continue reading Schrödinger’s covid: my experiences with covid testing in the UK