Encrypted Pigeons

Whatever caught my interest this week

Encrypted Pigeons

Author: James Michael Page 1 of 3

Just me, writing about what I found interesting this week.

Finding interesting stuff about the world, and writing them with my own research, my own style, and my own opinions

🗞️ The most famous thing Disraeli never said

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On 7 November 2026

In Facts, Opinions

Two posts within 24 hours? Incredible. But whilst this post and the last one aren’t directly related, I’ve been thinking about both of them at the same time, so some ideas may cross-over. Consider this a happy coincidence.

Benjamin Disraeli was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in 1868, and again in 1874–1880. He was a member of the Conservative Party, gave Queen Victoria the official title “Empress of India”, reformed trade unions and education, and championed ‘One Nation Conservatism’ at home, which would influence the Conservative party for decades to come.

Beyond politics, Disraeli was also a popular novelist, writing over a dozen books in his career. As a result of all of this, he’s often a person that things are attributed to, whether he was actually involved with them or not. One of the more prevalent fields this occurs in is quotes supposedly “said by Disraeli”. I can’t think of a nicher subject to talk about currently, so naturally I thought I’d write an article on it.

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🤖 People really complain about water a lot

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On 6 November 2026

In Facts, Opinions

The biggest critique I’ve heard about AI — and it’s a reasonable one, let’s be fair — is the environmental concerns, and particularly with regards to water usage. In my case though, I’ve noticed people around me use it almost as a buzz phrase to reject AI without considering the possibility that the two aren’t mutually exclusive. So that’s what I’m doing — proving my friends wrong and writing an interesting article in the meantime.

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🔧 My issue with self-hosting

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On 30 October 2026

In Facts

A lot of the services that I use daily, I host myself on my own hardware. It’s perfect for me, because I get better privacy over my data, whilst also being able to tinker around with computers a lot.

However, there is one issue that is a constant burden for me, and I don’t think there’s a way to resolve it. The trouble with the internet is that there are lots of people (and increasingly lots of AIs) that would love nothing more than to have access to my server and my services, for data leaks, or even to execute some kind of attack. And what’s the safest way to stop the internet accessing your stuff? Don’t have it accessible to the internet in the first place!

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This is going to be hard…

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On 29 October 2026

In Opinions

First the facts: On Wednesday 28th October, following a battle with Alzheimer’s Disease and Lewy Body Dementia, actor Sir Patrick Stewart died in his home in Los Angeles. He was 86.

His career spanned over 60 years, and was remarkably widespread, with Shakespeare, Star Trek, and X-Men being just some of the many roles he effortlessly fit into. He was awarded two Olivier Awards and one Grammy Award, along with countless nominations for other awards. And in 2010, he was knighted for services to drama by Queen Elizabeth II.

And now he’s dead, and I can’t quite get my head around that. You can find biographies and descriptions of his life elsewhere online, but that’s not what I want to talk about. So here are my thoughts on Sir Patrick Stewart, may he rest in peace.

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🥸 Operation Mincemeat puts a hilarious spin on a thrilling wartime story

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On 28 October 2026

In Reviews

Let’s get straight into it, because this is possibly one of the best musicals I’ve seen in a long time.

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❓ Should I start using Google apps again?

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On 25 October 2026

In Opinions

I know, I know, it’s a borderline blasphemous statement to say, but it’s something I’ve been considering for a little while, and today is one of those days when I remember I have a site dedicated to my thoughts. Who knew.

Over the last six months or so, I have comprehensively stripped Google and other Big Tech products out of my life as much as I could — photos, email, search, messaging, note-taking and storage, navigation, DNS, passwords, and more besides. As I went through, a pattern became visible, which was that I would delete a Google service, and then realise I needed to replicate their services. So I looked for other, more privacy-conscious providers. If I couldn’t find a suitable one that combined security and convenience adequately, I’d end up hosting the solution myself on my own server. Now, I’m at the stage where a lot of the apps on my phone or computer are entirely interchangeable; they all just read the protocols coming from my server. Which leads me now to this question: do I start using Google apps again, but this time with me in control, not the Googleplex.

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🖊️ I’m quite particular about the Oxford Comma

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On 11 October 2026

In Opinions

So I’m a bit of a pedant if you couldn’t already tell, and that extends to grammatical snobbery as well as technical and literary.

Part of that is my appreciation for grammar and language in general, as it is a living record of our history. But also it’s fun to tell other people about it. Anyone who knows the difference between ‘who’ and ‘whom’ well enough to correct someone when they use the wrong one knows the exact feeling I’m talking about. We are such awful people. 😂

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🕳️ My review of 12 Kilometers

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On 4 October 2026

In Reviews

So I am a very sad person who has the Wikipedia mobile app downloaded on their phone. 😂

And it was whilst browsing Wikipedia that I came across the article for the Kola Superdeep Borehole. I found it quite interesting, so continued researching the concept of digging deep into the Earth. That was when I came across 12 Kilometers.

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🔒My favourite Proton feature

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On 25 September 2026

In Opinions

So for the avoidance of doubt, and for anyone who might not know, Proton AG is a Swiss tech company trying to create an internet where privacy is the default option, directly opposing big tech giants like Google or Apple. They are my go-to for Mail and Password/Auth security, as well as more general advice on the current state of the internet.

I could say many things about Proton’s feature-list, some of them excellent, some less so. But one thing stands out in my everyday usage of Proton, and it relates to the calendar.

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🚀 Shards of Earth: a masterpiece of science fiction

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On 22 September 2026

In Reviews

Most science fiction takes one of two stances: a positive one of exploration and discovery (à la Star Trek), or a dystopia where humanity is being brutally oppressed or even is the one doing the oppressing.

Adrian Tchaikovsky takes a slightly different path from either, but does tend to lean towards the negative. His books contain a brilliant impression of interstellar travel by humanity into the far future, with a refreshing sense of pessimism. 😂

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