Kat’s Kable #346

Hello there, reader, and welcome back. Welcome back to another issue of your favourite internet newsletter - Kat’s Kable. Firstly, I have taken a break. Secondly, well, I took a break. A common refrain in life for me in the past couple of months is “it’s been relentless. “ It has, truly. Between work and travel and a long-overdue vacation, life has been full and busy and I haven’t had it in me to write an issue of the Kable and then promptly skip the next two weekends. I am back home now, and expecting to be home for the next few… counts on fingers.. six weeks! At the very minimum. I am very glad, and I am powering up my flywheel of hobbies again.

In the meantime, Pocket is shutting down.. and that’s sad. I use Pocket a lot, both to read in general and to power the newsletter. Of course, I plan to continue using Instapaper, but I’m also using this opportunity to think about what other tools I can use in the curation of the Kable? What do you use? Raindrop? Readwise? Matter? I love being able to send articles from Pocket and Instapaper to my Kindle, and I’m yet to find something else that can do that.

Anyhow, that’s enough from me. Enjoy this week’s list! And I will be back next week. And the next.

1. The science and magic of cheesemaking - The Guardian

I’m not sure how I stumbled upon this 2010 article by Andy Connelly about cheesemaking in the French Pyrenees - he’s a cookery writer and researcher who’s both culinarily and scientifically interested in cheese. He talks about the process of making cheese, while also bringing out the cultural and geographical context. I don’t even eat cheese, but I’m fascinated by the way cheese is a key cultural icon across the world, and that’s why I liked this essay.

We would retire from work for the day to watch the sun set over the mountains with a glass of warm, fruity red wine and a slab of perfectly mature cheese on a piece of crisp French bread. All around would be the smell of spring, the sound of the cow bells as the animals came in for the night, and the gentle background rumble of the waterfalls that raced though the farm and gave it its name, La Ferme des Cascades.

2. Reinventing The Rosogolla - Forbes India

Another old article, this time a bit more recent (from 2018) about cheese again, of a sort. Rosogolla is an iconic sweet made from chhena, an acid-set cheese (read the previous article to learn more!) - and it’s undergoing a bit of a renaissance as Bengali sweetmakers aim to stay relevant and innovative.

3. Advanced magnet manufacturing begins in the United States - IEEE Spectrum

Anddd we’re back to more contemporary programming. One of the ways China maintains its hegemony over the manufacturing of green energy technologies is in rare earth magnets. These magnets are heavily used in electric motors, and as we’re trying to electrify… everything, these motors and magnets are obviously quite important. The US is finally putting up a serious effort to reshore this industry, but there are many challenges.

4. Greener - Fifty Two

“A new wave of Indian start-ups are thinking up innovative ways to deal with the climate crisis. Their tools are artificial intelligence and a whole lot of resolve.”
Another fun and more optimistic read about climate-tech startups, this time in India. Fifty Two Magazine is profiling three Indian startups - Fasal (AI + digitization of agriculture), FluxGen (smart water monitoring for industries) and Praan (air quality management and purification).

5. The teeming life of dead trees - Knowable Magazine

While we know (kinda) that dead and rotting trees play an important part in ecosystems, we don’t know exactly how that works. There’s a lot of interesting research going on right now about it - I didn’t know, for example, how competitive wood-eating fungi are and the ways they compete to maintain and defend their territory! Lots of nice pictures in this one too.

6. Bar Tips - The Truth About Tuscany

I was in Italy last month (oh! actually in April) with my wife, and while there, she sent me this very fun piece about ordering coffee in a Tuscan cafe. It’s actually called a “bar” and not a “cafe”, and the aim is to get in and out with your espresso hit as soon as you can.

A large, older man with wavy, white hair and the air of a padrone said from behind the counter, “Bentornata, cara,” to her, “Summer’s over, eh?” She didn’t answer, or even smile but ordered her chocolate éclair— “Un beignet al cioccolato”—and took it back to the table, leaving me to wait for my coffee, and like so many mothers raising children in a country not their own, marvel that she (half German, half American, raised in Siena) had so fully absorbed the Tuscan nonchalance, the self-possession and reserve that both earn and come to signify respect and affection here.

7. Visualizing Data Is An Art - We Should Treat It Like One - Per Thirty Six

“Visualizing data lets us use our incredible human powers of pattern recognition to try to see some ground truth that exists in the world. But it’s only a lens, and each layer of abstraction we add to it, like going from a real-world event to a number, or a number to a chart, or a chart to a story, adds a layer of interpretation and potential for error or misuse. It also adds a layer of deeper understanding, empathy, delight, and meaning. That’s a lot of responsibility and worth some thoughtfulness.”
Fun piece that has some nice instructive interactive visualizations. It doesn’t really get deep into technicalities, which is kinda nice I guess - but it does paint the picture of what the author wants to convey - take care when you decide how to present your data.

8. The prophet of parking - Works in Progress

I learned about Prof. Donald Shoup through this long essay about urban parking in the US. Shoup passed away earlier this year, and his student Nolan Gray writes about Shoup’s work and influence - very nice!

Indeed, Shoup worked hard to make his ideas palatable across the political spectrum. Are you a conservative? People should pay for the services they consume. Are you a progressive? All this unnecessary driving can’t be good for the environment. Are you a libertarian? Clearly, the solution to scarcity is prices and markets. Are you a socialist? Let’s stop privatizing the public realm by turning it into a free parking lot. As a result, the typical shoupista gathering is an oasis of peaceful coexistence.

9. Designing my own watch - Willem Middelkoop’s blog

Custom-made watch! Designed by Middelkoop exactly they way he wanted it, and then built for him by ochs and junior, a small watch company in Switzerland. This story of the watch is an aesthetic delight.

10. Vacheron Constantin Breaks The World Record for Most Complicated Wristwatch - Hodinkee

Not longform by any means, but a fun sequel to the previous one. A watch with 41 complications! Crazy.

Kat's Kable #346