Two older men are riding penny-farthing bicycles—vintage-style bikes with large front wheels and small rear wheels—along a paved park path surrounded by green grass and autumn trees. The man on the left wears a black cap and suit and is pulling a small trailer carrying a small brown dog sitting in a basket with a wire dome cover. The man on the right wears a dark jacket and flat cap.
Life goal
08.11.2025 11:28 — 👍 312 🔁 41 💬 9 📌 7
The carbon flow of BECCS. When BECCS systems are employed, a negative carbon flow from the atmosphere into storage is created.
From: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0961953422000678
We can find suitable land with sunlight, water, and nutrients to grow plants, wait years to harvest the biomass and burn it for energy, hope to capture the CO₂ with carbon capture and storage technology, and find a suitable spot to bury the CO₂ permanently.
OR we can use solar panels.
29.10.2025 12:50 — 👍 306 🔁 85 💬 17 📌 6
The Week #276
* 🧚 The tooth fairy made another visit to our house. Finally. This last tooth has been hanging on by a thread for (what feels like) weeks. With 4 front teeth missing, now is the time to make sure I get extra photos of that smile.
* 🌽 Japan has a unique scheme called "hometown tax". Most people in Japan, regardless of where they're born, end up in one of the big cities because that's where the jobs are. This shift in population is making it difficult for rural municipalities to function without a tax base. Hometown tax lets you redirect a portion of your resident tax to any municipality in the country and the receiving municipality sends you a "thank you gift" in return. There's entire shopping sites setup for this – even Amazon runs one.
For years I've meant to do it, but find myself on December 31st in analysis paralysis and miss the deadline. Finally, this week I took part. By supporting a few different towns around the country I am getting in return a year's supply of tissue, toilet paper, and a monthly delivery of seasonal veg.
* 💩 I started reading Enshitification and am finding myself nodding along. It really does explain the shift in computing from being useful utilities to always seeming to get worse. I looked at buying it on my Kindle, but besides being locked in to the platform (especially with the title of the book), it was a 1 dollar cheaper to purchase it directly from the author. While I won't need a new PC any time soon, it has started the "Ugh, I kinda don't like what macOS is becoming" and and desktop linux threads in my head.... One day....
The Week #276 (https://jamesvandyne.com/60af94b3-3490-4a1e-9020-c8477da8675f)
13.10.2025 20:32 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
A reminder.
13.10.2025 07:00 — 👍 613 🔁 286 💬 5 📌 5
China ≠ just coal plants and solar exports. The deeper shift: electrifying everything it can. Strategic, because China relies on imported fossil fuels. Coal is still king in the power mix—for now. But the balance is changing year by year.
10.10.2025 06:07 — 👍 672 🔁 163 💬 42 📌 22
Opinion | This Is Why Your Energy Bills Are Going Up
"Energy prices are likely to rise the most in states that have not prioritized clean energy". Glad to see NYT making the point I've been making for a decade+. Cheap energy is clean energy. And it's the economic issues that threaten incumbents, not the cleanliness. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/09/o...
09.10.2025 15:38 — 👍 215 🔁 58 💬 8 📌 1
Fossil fuels are really dangerous: A Gas explosion causes the partial collapse of a high-rise apartment building in NYC.
abc7.com/post/gas-exp...
02.10.2025 00:51 — 👍 150 🔁 39 💬 9 📌 2
Renewables are a masterclass in learning-by-doing. Each doubling of deployment cuts costs via experience curves: better manufacturing, finance & supply chains.
Result:
Solar now cheapest new power in many regions
Falling battery costs enable flexibility
Electrification gets more attractive
30.09.2025 08:44 — 👍 746 🔁 214 💬 25 📌 16
The Week #273
* 🇬🇧 I'm back in the UK, this time for a week for work. It's the first time I've made any trip back-to-back so close to another and it's a bit odd – wasn't I just here?! The weather is fantastic as per usual (not being cheeky).
* ✈️ I rode with ANA this time around and the flight was the best kind, uneventful. Although rather than my usual aisle seat, I had in a window seat. While I enjoyed being able to look out the window when we were taking off / landing, not being able to get up when I want was a bummer. The entire flight I got up 1 time, which can't be good.
While the plane ride was smooth sailing the trains were classic UK trains. Midway to Paddington on the Elizebeth line, we're about to depart the station and the train lost overhead power. We were stuck for 30 minutes while they sorted it out. Thankfully it has a battery on it so it was able to keep the lights on and open the doors.
* 🗿 I finally did a proper visit to the British museum and it was fantastic. I'm not sure what my favorite relic in the museum was, but I did quite enjoy the Japan exhibit. Maybe it was because I live there and I could relate to it more. You get so used to these things just being around (on TV, books etc..) that it sort of becomes like the air, but seeing an explicit collection after seeing collections from other parts of the world/eras, if gives you a greater appreciation for the culture.
The Week #273 (https://jamesvandyne.com/2515942c-8032-4d99-9699-14fcaff7ef09)
23.09.2025 05:53 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Fun time lapse from my landing at LHR earlier.
18.09.2025 17:23 — 👍 2 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
The Week #271
* 🦷 Leo's front teeth have been loose for a while and this week they decided it was time. I need to get lots of photos of him while he's in this toothless state.
* 🏊♂️ We went swimming at the YMCA. It's been about a year or more since we went swimming together and I am impressed with his ability. He could do backstroke the crawl from the middle of the pool. I think he might be part fish.
* 🙇♂️ The prime minister of Japan has announced that he's resigning (🎁 nytimes). I feel like there's been about 4 pms in the last 5 years. I feel like the constant churn of leadership makes it difficult for a country to build rapport amongst the top, though perhaps that's what the bureaucracies are for.
* 🏡 I am continuing to look around and exploring different potential futures. Most of them excite me, except the potential of commuting across Yokohama everyday. Not even across Yokohama, but more of a V into the center and back out is the pain.
The thing is, as much as I moan about our location, our _house_ is comfortable enough. Moving to a smaller place in an area we're not familiar with is a bit daunting. We'd probably have people on all sides of us again. Moving into a smaller place automatically means going through the things we have and deciding what to get rid of (which is a good thing, imo). But actually getting rid of stuff, arranging movers, _selling_ the house. So much administrative work.
It's a bit like betting the farm on something you're not 100% sure is going to work out. However, when you consider the alternatives (no change, commuting both ways once or twice a day (depending on pattern)), it's the only thing that makes sense. I'm sure we'll know the right move when the time is right.
The Week #271 (https://jamesvandyne.com/bde1c2d7-0159-418b-8c40-a5def0614e7e)
08.09.2025 21:26 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
White House Orders Agencies to Escalate Fight Against Offshore Wind
The White House instructed multiple agencies to draft plans to destroy the offshore wind industry, including unrelated ones like the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Defense.
It would make sense for health and defense to target fossil fuels instead.
04.09.2025 12:24 — 👍 260 🔁 103 💬 16 📌 10
The Week #269
* 🕹️ An hour a day and we've almost beat Mario Odyssey. It's turning out to be a much easier game than Mario 64, Sunshine, or Galaxy. Maybe it's because we can play 2 players (with me as Cappy (Mario's hat)) and that extra bit of help makes the bosses a bit easier? Or maybe the game is a bit easier than the others?
* 🫛 It hit #1 on the AppStore, so this isn't a hidden gem of an app, but Focus Friend is faantastic. It's a timer to help you focus by having a little bean that knits socks while you focus. If you use your phone while he's knitting he loses all of his work and looks really sad. But if you let him finish, you get socks, which you can exchange for decorations for his room. It's free and there are not any ads in the app. I will probably subscribe to it to support it so that it doesn't get ads.
* 🏠 It feels like a new season (of life, not weather – summer isn't going anywhere 😩) is rapidly approaching. I'm starting to think that next time this year, we might not be in Izumi. As a physical structure, our house is fine and it has been great for these early years of Leo's life, but I'm not certain it matches _me_. I'm not a handy person nor am I interested in becoming one. I'd much rather pay a fee and let someone else think about and manage these things.
More than the structure, I think it's just the location. Our focus when we bought this place was, we want a bit more space, being close to a primary school, and not being too far away from the in-laws so they could help while Leo was little. We nailed all of those, but it was the wrong optimization. Or at least it feels it now. Being somewhere closer to things, somewhere I could at least walk to a coffee shop when I need to get out of the house. Or be able to take out the trash whenever. A bit of _actual_ convenience.
They say (at least in the US) people typically own a home for 8 years, and we're on 6.
The Week #269 (https://jamesvandyne.com/30fb2857-20c3-4b17-9189-d8ef1c7913f9)
25.08.2025 21:22 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
I use a Supernote and create new for each subject / meetings with folks. Writing with a “pen” keeps it in my head.
18.08.2025 09:47 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis): This North American bird is found in southern Canada, eastern USA and Mexico. The 23cm (9.1in) bird is mainly granivorous but also feeds on insects and fruit. Remarkable shot taken by Lanny Thompson in Arkansas, USA.
15.08.2025 19:17 — 👍 2201 🔁 232 💬 61 📌 36
We have to be purposeful about ending the use of fossil fuels because they’re not going to end themselves anytime soon. While wind and solar are cheaper, they are not as profitable. Therein lies the problem.
13.08.2025 04:25 — 👍 1253 🔁 309 💬 39 📌 36
The Week #267
* ☔️ It rained for the first time in at least a month and with that the temperatures dropped for a few days. It was actually pleasant outside around 6am. Unfortunately it seems like the heat is back on schedule for the coming weeks.
* 💨 The air conditioner in my office decided to go kaput mid-workday. Thankfully it was on a Friday, but still not ideal. I think it failed because I (purposely) left it on to help regulate the temp in my office (where my home server and storage live) while we were in London. Nothing extreme either, keep the temp at 28c. I think just being on for that length of time is what did it in.
Costs to repair ranged from "That makes sense" to "May as well just buy a new one", so rather than pay for someone to come out just to say "actually, I'm just going to replace it" (sunk cost fallacy perhaps?), I went to the local big-box electronics store and bought a new one. This time I went with Daikin a) they're the best, b) a buddy works there, c) it cost, after installation, what I was expecting. As the temp as dropped, I haven't really been able to test it out test it out yet, but the app to control it remotely is super responsive (and in English! A rarity for domestic appliances).
* 💰 Interactive Brokers started offering NISA (retirement) accounts where as a US-person it looks like I'd be able to save in a tax advantaged way for retirement, rather than my paying taxes as I go route... (at least in the growth part, tsumitate remains off limits because mutual funds are PFIC). I am probably unreasonably excited about this.
👆 This prompted me to start thinking about budgeting and conscious spending plans and it's been quite cathartic (_especially_ after having a major appliance fail immediately after a trip to one of the most expensive cities in the world (💸💸)). Re-thinking where money flows each month, how it could serve me and my current priorities better and how I can re-deploy existing capital to better prepare for the future is really helpful. I should do these reviews more than once every 5 years 😬.
* 📺 I watched most of Ramit Sethi's How to get Rich (Rich in the sense of living a rich life, not in the sense of money, though financial stability is often core to that). Having read his book years ago the general advise (automate monthly savings (so it happens consistently) into tax-advantaged accounts at a low-cost provider like Vanguard and buy index funds and forget about it) is old hat to me, it's good reminders and it's fun to follow along as people sort their financial house to help them reach their goals. You can't help but root for them.
The Week #267 (https://jamesvandyne.com/5fb039a6-2683-479c-984e-efbfb350981c)
11.08.2025 20:23 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Japan broke it's All-time NATIONAL heat record for the 2nd time in... checks notes... less than a week!
It's not coincidence. It's climate change.
Japan is surrounded by the most anomalously hot water on the planet right now. The city of Isesaki hit 107 - it's in a valley NW of Tokyo. 1/
06.08.2025 01:41 — 👍 2572 🔁 766 💬 111 📌 49
The Week #266
* 🦁 We went and saw The Lion King show at Lyceum theatre. It was fantastic. The opening where they sing the Circle of Life was just...wow. Well worth the price of admission.
* 🍻 I can't visit the UK without a visit to the pub. This time was no different, except it was a day-time visit with the family for a meal. We had the usual pub-fare fish & chips, pies and mash, and some draft cider / beer. Leo had a burger and fries. I had a brief moment of dread when I saw his bun had poppy and sesame seeds on it, but he didn't have a meltdown or even say anything and just ate it. A first. He also dipped his chips in mayo – another first.
* 🌳 Everyday this week we went to a different park for Leo to play for an hour. The quality of the parks and the playground equipment is super impressive. Yes, it is probably the best of the best as it's central London, but I feel like playgrounds in Japan don't compete. Compacted dirt, few trees, and perhaps a swings/slide vs Shade trees, bark/proper beachy sand/other soft materials, and various kinds of things to climb and play on.
* 🛬 The flight back was smooth as could be and I quite enjoyed flying with British Airways. Although we arrived 2-hours before our flight, family checkin was delayed so we had to rush to the gate. I was hoping for 15 - 20 minutes to check out duty-free or perhaps enjoy a coffee, but alas.
Our flight path back to Japan
I managed to watch a couple of films, both of which I enjoyed / recommend (A Man called Otto with Tom Hanks and BeatleJuice BeatleJuice (2024)).
* 🏁 A few finishing remarks on the trip. Not having a strict schedule so we just could go and enjoy parks was definitely the right decision. Leo's listening and speaking improved. I'd ask him to listen for the station where we were heading to tell us when to get off and he did it. On the flight out he was so shy when he asked for apple juice the cabin attendant couldn't hear him, but on the way back, he ordered without hesitation. All in all, a successful trip and I'm ready to get back into the swing of things.
The Week #266 (https://jamesvandyne.com/88866afd-cd9d-4141-b9f7-7417699251db)
04.08.2025 22:32 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Every Scientific Empire Comes to an End
America’s run as the premier techno-superpower may be over.
Thanks everyone, it’s been fun being a scientist in the US. 👋
02.08.2025 20:56 — 👍 451 🔁 124 💬 12 📌 5
Climate scientist; ocean carbon cycle and climate solutions. Professor, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa; Visiting Faculty, Arizona State University. https://linktr.ee/david_ho
It’s a web browser. It’s Powerful. It’s Personal. It’s Private.
🔗 https://vivaldi.com
🔗 https://forum.vivaldi.net (for support)
Dad, husband, President, citizen. barackobama.com
Mother, scholar, voter. Unsinkable. Expertise in World lit, Japanese lit, children’s lit, translation studies, and general saltiness. Contributor to @roganslist.bsky.social
Deinfluencer Former New Yorker
living in rural Japan raising my son
Permanent resident of Japan. Neuro-affirming parent. 日本語N1. Urban wildlife street photography of flowers. That lady obsessed with Tokyo Skytree. Train otaku by proxy. Sober 18 years. Survivor. Shitamachi supremacist.
Profile: @nakimushiart.bsky.social
14 years in 🇯🇵. Former English teacher turned programmer. Love to travel, garden, and help new devs in my free time. Married.
Quantum Computing systems, Quantum Internet, quantum education.
Caltech, USC, Keio.
West Virginia, LA, Kamakura.
夫 | パパ | 旅行の写真家
🍭 Lisbon, Portugal
Toddler Wrangler
🏷 https://maique.omg.lol
💬 https://maique.eu
📷 https://maiquemadeira.com
📬 https://letterbird.co/maique
(Mostly over at https://social.lol/@maique)
Y2K Survivor and Software Engineer. Loves Apple (Swift, Obj-C), Gadgets, Videogames and Japan. Born in Germany, reborn in Aizu.
Software Engineer at Kraken Technologies (http://kraken.tech). Currently living in Paris. Born and raised in Vitoria-Gasteiz (Spain).
https://jgasteiz.com/
Data scientist at @Zurich Insurance @ZurichJapan #R #Python #DataViz #TokyoR #RStats #WSET Lv 3→?
https://ytknzw.github.io/
Engineer from 🇺🇸, PR of 🇯🇵. Personal account. I post about programming and Japan. Self-verified.
Prev Google Cloud, slsa.dev, gvisor.dev. Created connpass.com.
https://www.ianlewis.org/
hachyderm.io/web/@ianlewis
ian@ianlewis.org
Go, Python and Google Cloud / PyCon JP Vice Chair(2022, 2023, 2025)
Loves classical music (both listening and playing). Bartok is my favorite.
Other things: skiing, cameras, beer and whiskey.
Climber, Vimmer, Pythonista
blog(Japanese) https://blog.nakagami.org/
エキスパートPythonプログラミング改訂4版／独学コンピューターサイエンティスト／Sphinxをはじめよう第3版／自走プログラマー／独学プログラマー。
https://about.me/shimizukawa
I once quite wanted to be a duck. Maybe I will again.
🌐 inqk.net ・ 🗺️ Tokyo, Japan
