Karl McDonald
@karlusss.bsky.social
For if I triumph I must make men mad. Occasional columnist
Reposted by Karl McDonald
new favourite New York Times term for a British thing just dropped
November 26, 2025 at 10:05 AM
new favourite New York Times term for a British thing just dropped
Will any of the prediction markets currently in existence exist long enough for me to win a bet on Doireann Ní Ghríofa winning the Nobel Prize for Literature
November 26, 2025 at 12:35 AM
Will any of the prediction markets currently in existence exist long enough for me to win a bet on Doireann Ní Ghríofa winning the Nobel Prize for Literature
Yeah we can tell Terry cheers
November 25, 2025 at 8:43 PM
Yeah we can tell Terry cheers
Reposted by Karl McDonald
![R. H. Bing (October 20, 1914 – April 28, 1986)[1] was an American mathematician who worked mainly in the areas of geometric topology and continuum theory.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:cyyd366g3hrxp5rynixm2mm3/bafkreid62wy3dekb2kzbisjfdlimlb35j4rlgew5iof7vi32byfszmg26a@jpeg)
![Bing's father was named Rupert Henry, but Bing's mother thought that "Rupert Henry" was too British for Texas. Thus she compromised by abbreviating it to R. H.[5] Consequently, R. H. does not stand for a first or middle name.
When Bing was applying for a visa, he was requested not to use initials. He explained that his name was really "R-only H-only Bing", and ended up receiving a visa made out to "Ronly Honly Bing".](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:cyyd366g3hrxp5rynixm2mm3/bafkreigmfj53q4uy33spga2bxdkllqm3ag5sffovg5g7ddmu3vqzkb6k24@jpeg)
Enjoyable that the New Yorker has decided to leave in the incredibly Japanese space-then-question mark here. A publication that still writes "coöperate" showing some orthographic flexibility, who knew
www.newyorker.com/culture/the-...
www.newyorker.com/culture/the-...
I’m Donut ? and the Allure of the International Chain
The viral Japanese bakery, now with a location in Times Square, is one of the few imported brands that has broken through to become genuinely hot while maintaining considerable good will.
www.newyorker.com
November 23, 2025 at 7:53 PM
Enjoyable that the New Yorker has decided to leave in the incredibly Japanese space-then-question mark here. A publication that still writes "coöperate" showing some orthographic flexibility, who knew
www.newyorker.com/culture/the-...
www.newyorker.com/culture/the-...
Reposted by Karl McDonald
To whom it may concern,
Live results from the sharpener/parer/topper debate can be found here:
finaldraft.maps.arcgis.com/apps/dashboa...
What the feck is going on in Kerry?!
I want to credit the map-maker/survey owner, but alas they are an anonymous Redditor so I cannot.
#speirgorm ✏️✏️✏️
Live results from the sharpener/parer/topper debate can be found here:
finaldraft.maps.arcgis.com/apps/dashboa...
What the feck is going on in Kerry?!
I want to credit the map-maker/survey owner, but alas they are an anonymous Redditor so I cannot.
#speirgorm ✏️✏️✏️
ArcGIS Dashboards
ArcGIS Dashboards
finaldraft.maps.arcgis.com
November 23, 2025 at 3:10 PM
To whom it may concern,
Live results from the sharpener/parer/topper debate can be found here:
finaldraft.maps.arcgis.com/apps/dashboa...
What the feck is going on in Kerry?!
I want to credit the map-maker/survey owner, but alas they are an anonymous Redditor so I cannot.
#speirgorm ✏️✏️✏️
Live results from the sharpener/parer/topper debate can be found here:
finaldraft.maps.arcgis.com/apps/dashboa...
What the feck is going on in Kerry?!
I want to credit the map-maker/survey owner, but alas they are an anonymous Redditor so I cannot.
#speirgorm ✏️✏️✏️
Just kind of did it from age about 15 on. Didn't study it or anything, or even really form the idea "I would like to do that and work towards it" at any stage because by the time I was midway through college I was already doing it freelance and it was easier to continue than try do something else.
November 23, 2025 at 12:09 PM
Just kind of did it from age about 15 on. Didn't study it or anything, or even really form the idea "I would like to do that and work towards it" at any stage because by the time I was midway through college I was already doing it freelance and it was easier to continue than try do something else.
Funny that "velocipede", a word that sounds like a portmanteau of velociraptor and centipede, and therefore very scary, is in fact a word for a bicycle.
November 23, 2025 at 12:04 PM
Funny that "velocipede", a word that sounds like a portmanteau of velociraptor and centipede, and therefore very scary, is in fact a word for a bicycle.
Donna Tartt - The Secret History (Alfred A Knopf, 1992)
I really want to know what’s going on in the class that meets here before mine
November 21, 2025 at 5:42 PM
Donna Tartt - The Secret History (Alfred A Knopf, 1992)
An interesting consequence of the success of the EU that even France - home of gloire, home of élan, home of esprit de corps, formerly obsessed with their own army to a degree that makes some of their 19th century novels slightly incoherent today - cannot tolerate the idea of fighting and dying
france defense chief: "we do not have that dawg in us 😔"
all these french politicians: "that's right! no dawg!"
www.france24.com/en/france/20...
all these french politicians: "that's right! no dawg!"
www.france24.com/en/france/20...
France's top general under fire after saying country must be 'prepared to lose children'
Chief of the Defence Staff General Fabien Mandon has been roundly condemned in France for telling local mayors that the country needed to be prepared to accept the death of its children if it was goin...
www.france24.com
November 21, 2025 at 4:24 PM
An interesting consequence of the success of the EU that even France - home of gloire, home of élan, home of esprit de corps, formerly obsessed with their own army to a degree that makes some of their 19th century novels slightly incoherent today - cannot tolerate the idea of fighting and dying
MCENNEDY driving me mad.
Irish Kennedys are Ó Cinnéides, not Mac Cinnéides. Scottish Kennedys or McKennedys are Macs but have the K.
In fact I think by analogy you'd have McEnnedy probably pronounced "Mac En-ay-dy" and derived from something like Mac Con Aodha (?)...
If Germans hadn't made it up
Irish Kennedys are Ó Cinnéides, not Mac Cinnéides. Scottish Kennedys or McKennedys are Macs but have the K.
In fact I think by analogy you'd have McEnnedy probably pronounced "Mac En-ay-dy" and derived from something like Mac Con Aodha (?)...
If Germans hadn't made it up
This whole brand is all about "American-style" snacks. These are definitely my favourite, sort of like savoury Peanut Butter Puffs cereal, but in cheese-puff form factor.
November 21, 2025 at 2:52 PM
MCENNEDY driving me mad.
Irish Kennedys are Ó Cinnéides, not Mac Cinnéides. Scottish Kennedys or McKennedys are Macs but have the K.
In fact I think by analogy you'd have McEnnedy probably pronounced "Mac En-ay-dy" and derived from something like Mac Con Aodha (?)...
If Germans hadn't made it up
Irish Kennedys are Ó Cinnéides, not Mac Cinnéides. Scottish Kennedys or McKennedys are Macs but have the K.
In fact I think by analogy you'd have McEnnedy probably pronounced "Mac En-ay-dy" and derived from something like Mac Con Aodha (?)...
If Germans hadn't made it up
Been compulsively reading panicked tweets about the Bitcoin price for a few days now and I must say a large proportion of them do seem to believe there is some kind of organised institutional hostility to their revolutionary computer money for political/fiduciary reasons.
November 21, 2025 at 12:19 AM
Been compulsively reading panicked tweets about the Bitcoin price for a few days now and I must say a large proportion of them do seem to believe there is some kind of organised institutional hostility to their revolutionary computer money for political/fiduciary reasons.
Dead in the middle of Tolkien's Middle Earth, a 150m pile of illegally flytipped rubbish
www.bbc.com/news/article...
www.bbc.com/news/article...
River close to engulfing Oxfordshire waste mountain, MP warns
Waste from a 150m (490ft) long fly-tip is beginning to float towards the River Cherwell, an MP says.
www.bbc.com
November 19, 2025 at 6:29 PM
Dead in the middle of Tolkien's Middle Earth, a 150m pile of illegally flytipped rubbish
www.bbc.com/news/article...
www.bbc.com/news/article...
Saw someone use the term "monkery" to describe a place where monks congregate. Reopen the abbeys.
November 19, 2025 at 3:08 PM
Saw someone use the term "monkery" to describe a place where monks congregate. Reopen the abbeys.
One of the weirder quirks of history that a failed Magic the Gathering website holds so much Bitcoin that what it does with it could have not insignificant impact on markets.
✦ Mt. Gox's significant Bitcoin $BTC transfer of $953 million raises concerns in the market: Mt. Gox has executed its largest Bitcoin $BTC transfer in eight months, moving 10,608 $BTC valued at $953 million.
November 18, 2025 at 11:07 PM
One of the weirder quirks of history that a failed Magic the Gathering website holds so much Bitcoin that what it does with it could have not insignificant impact on markets.
Accidentally invented the best stew in the world. Onion carrot celery pepper garlic cooked down. Thyme, coriander. Tomato paste, harissa, white wine vinegar. Beef stock, simmer. Meanwhile sear fillet steak and cut it up. Add cabbage for 5 mins, add fillet steak, finish with Killeen and peanut rayu.
November 18, 2025 at 7:46 PM
Accidentally invented the best stew in the world. Onion carrot celery pepper garlic cooked down. Thyme, coriander. Tomato paste, harissa, white wine vinegar. Beef stock, simmer. Meanwhile sear fillet steak and cut it up. Add cabbage for 5 mins, add fillet steak, finish with Killeen and peanut rayu.
I think if I ever see Troy Parrott on the street for the rest of my life I will just start giving him all my possessions and babbling gratitude
Ireland winning goal and end of match with Irish commentary
November 16, 2025 at 9:38 PM
I think if I ever see Troy Parrott on the street for the rest of my life I will just start giving him all my possessions and babbling gratitude
Frankenstein stupid in almost exactly the same way as Nosferatu. Tolerable movies though.
November 16, 2025 at 9:06 PM
Frankenstein stupid in almost exactly the same way as Nosferatu. Tolerable movies though.
Atilla the Hun. Bela Lugosi. Laszlo Krasznahorkai. Zsa Zsa Gabor. Harry Houdini. Ferenc Puskas. YOUR BOYS
November 16, 2025 at 7:32 PM
Atilla the Hun. Bela Lugosi. Laszlo Krasznahorkai. Zsa Zsa Gabor. Harry Houdini. Ferenc Puskas. YOUR BOYS
Just staved off the feeling of loneliness by putting on RTÉ Radio 1. I wonder whether Ireland could tackle its burgeoning inverse loneliness curve, where the young are lonelier than the old, by distributing free physical radios with only one channel and no off-switch, as our ancestors had.
November 15, 2025 at 1:02 PM
Just staved off the feeling of loneliness by putting on RTÉ Radio 1. I wonder whether Ireland could tackle its burgeoning inverse loneliness curve, where the young are lonelier than the old, by distributing free physical radios with only one channel and no off-switch, as our ancestors had.
RTÉ News interviewing a teenager with a ronnie on what he thinks about Ireland beating Portugal, 24 hours on. Excellent television.
November 14, 2025 at 9:27 PM
RTÉ News interviewing a teenager with a ronnie on what he thinks about Ireland beating Portugal, 24 hours on. Excellent television.
I cannot see any constituency agreeing with this but: Ireland should build a new big impressive hall for ceremonies etc. St Patrick's Hall is inherited and is basically a secret society meeting room. Cathedrals not secular enough. The Convention Centre is a convention centre.
November 14, 2025 at 8:01 PM
I cannot see any constituency agreeing with this but: Ireland should build a new big impressive hall for ceremonies etc. St Patrick's Hall is inherited and is basically a secret society meeting room. Cathedrals not secular enough. The Convention Centre is a convention centre.
Venezuela is more than twice the size of Iraq, for the record.
November 14, 2025 at 12:30 PM
Venezuela is more than twice the size of Iraq, for the record.
She can't be stopped
November 14, 2025 at 12:51 AM
She can't be stopped
Missed the football because of chess but I will say winning at chess, finding out the rest of the team has won at chess, checking my phone to see it's 2-0, getting a push notification in real time that Ronaldo has been sent off, and all the WhatsApp groups screaming at once: pretty good 3 min period
November 13, 2025 at 11:02 PM
Missed the football because of chess but I will say winning at chess, finding out the rest of the team has won at chess, checking my phone to see it's 2-0, getting a push notification in real time that Ronaldo has been sent off, and all the WhatsApp groups screaming at once: pretty good 3 min period