Happy Hungarian election day!

Our final poll tracker update gives Tisza, the centre-right opposition, a 6pt lead over Orban's Fidesz: www.economist.com/interactive/...

Brit. Lib., Add. MS. 34,736, fos.46r-50v, James West Treasury papers; P.R.O., Treasury Board Papers, T30 12, national accounts, 1750-5, bearing numerous marks of confusion. The twelve- rather than eleven-day discrepancy between the start of the old year (25 March) and that of the modern financial year (6 April) has caused puzzlement, with "deeply conservative tax accountants" and the leap year of 1752 ingeniously offered as explanations: Guardian, 3 Sept., 15 Oct. 1990. In fact, 25 March was first day of the year but the last day of the financial quarter, corresponding to 5 April; the difference was thus exactly eleven days.

I *think* that might be what the footnote on that passage deals with (but I know much less about that part of it!).

This scheme, however, ran against the provisions of the Act that financial transactions should run their full natural term, so the national accounts continued to be made up to end on the Old Style quarter-days of 5 January, 5 April, 5 July, and 10 October, creating the unique British financial year whose basis continues to defy general comprehension.

Happily, it is true! www.jstor.org/stable/651100

Basically, it was an unintended consequence of the way the act was written, which the exchequer tried to avoid but failed, and then stuck—even though the income tax itself didn't come in for another 47 years.

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This is so, so well-articulated.

I used AI. It worked. I hated it. I used Claude Code to build a tool I needed. It worked great, but I was miserable. I need to reckon with what it means.

As a research project, I built a needed tool with Claude Code. I though it would be a disaster, but It wasn't. I have some complicated feelings about it.

Answering Machine - The Replacements YouTube video by AliceinZeppelinJam

This is probably not the earliest, but at least might serve as a marker (from 1984) www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4QY...

The Revolutionary Guards are taking over Iran They now appear to run both the state and the war

This is a phenomenal piece of journalism by my colleagues at @economist.com - deep reported detail on how Iran is now being run that I haven't seen anywhere else: www.economist.com/middle-east-...

France in Algeria is surely one. Charles X wanted a military success to bolster his popularity. It not only didn’t make him popular, it meant that a big chunk of the French army was abroad the next month when the July Revolution that overthrew him.

Er… did something happen to 1Password? Or is it just the price hike?

Was it originally advanced by politicians? I always assumed this was meant to justify ever-higher tuition and fees.

“Well, sure it *seems* expensive, but you'll make it back in 12 years” beats “Become a well-rounded person! It just takes a lifetime of crippling debt”.

Weird! I have either never heard this or never distinguished it from "oops". Is it mostly outside the Detroit area?

Love this so much, especially the juxtaposition of English folklore paths with an Amazon spokesperson going out of their way to deny a person driving their branded vehicle is an employee.

“Inventing the Renaissance” is having another $3.99 ebook sale. I think this one is Uk/Canada/AU/NZ too! If bit, that sale is coming in a couple days.

"Moderna's CEO announced the company will no longer invest in new Phase 3 vaccine trials for infectious diseases: 'You cannot make a return on investment if you don't have access to the U.S. market. Vaccines for Epstein-Barr virus, herpes, and shingles have been shelved.” 9:12 AM Feb 12, 2026 604.8K Views

In terms of what cures are being lost:

- Epstein-Barr virus is perhaps the major trigger for multiple sclerosis
- herpes simplex virus causes cold sores, genital herpes, infections in babies, deadly meningitis
- shingles virus causes an intensely painful disease

Because we're talking about the New Fire ceremony tonight, they get to play with this site. It's a fantastic reconstruction of the city of Tenochtitlan. It'll really help the students visualize a place they're just freshly learning of and will maybe never get to see. tenochtitlan.thomaskole.nl

Why Tech (&) Media is complicated After I published my “velocity is the new authority” essay, a reader and dear friend emailed and asked if my framework explained the fraught relationship between media and the technology …

This is terrific from @om.co and I agree with every word.

om.co/2026/02/01/w...

Not the sort of letter committed to paper by a well man. "Considering your Country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize for having stopped 8 Wars PLUS, I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of Peace"

'We just couldn’t get out of the shop': Sea lion strolls into Dunedin fish and chip shop, trapping staff The sea lion wandered in from nearby St Kilda Beach at about 6pm.

mandated doomscroll pit stop

www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/dunedin-f...

Los Angeles after the flames A year after the city burned, the recovery has just begun

It’s been one year since Altadena, Pacific Palisades and parts of Malibu were obliterated. But the toll extended beyond the initial flames, and the recovery has only just begun

all this is both foolish and unnecessary

The Real Ramona qualifies too, obviously, but I prefer the wild energy of University. They’re both fantastic though.

post a perfect album from the 90s that isn’t nirvana, pearljam, soundgarden or alice in chains

The 2025 Headline of the Year Nominees

🧵

The quest to chart the sea This map reveals what scientists care about—and what armed forces don’t want to share

Why is it taking so long to map the oceans? Our interactive project explains the challenges

Sigh.

kottke.org/25/12/the-li...

Our new model captures the lottery of Britain’s electoral system Similar results, our data analysis shows, can yield strikingly different outcomes

Whizzy inside note featuring work of @rospearce.bsky.social @mariesegger.bsky.social @futuraprime.net @owenwntr.bsky.social and more

www.economist.com/interactive/...

A book from the 19th century that depicts the Rhine Valley by creating an impression of three-dimensionality and spatial distance.
@MasayukiTsuda2 #globalmuseum #books #travel #19thcentury

This is actually quite brilliant, up to and including the final sentence 🔥