In pictures: Valentino's life and work - and the stars who shared his journey
Jan. 19th, 2026 11:21 pm![[syndicated profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/feed.png){kind=small}
bbc_feedHis creations have featured at countless red carpets and award ceremonies around the world.
bbc_feedSaved by 'special talent' - but did penalty award wrong Brighton?
Jan. 19th, 2026 11:15 pmbbc_feedCharalampos Kostoulas earned Brighton a point with a stunning overhead kick but were the Seagulls right to be angry over an earlier penalty award?
Safety
Jan. 19th, 2026 05:23 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmithScientists trace fertilizer microplastics from fields to beaches
Tiny plastic coatings from farm fertilizers are quietly reshaping the mystery of “missing plastics” in the ocean.
Plastic-coated fertilizers used on farms are emerging as a major but hidden source of ocean microplastics. A new study found that only a tiny fraction reaches beaches through rivers, while direct drainage from fields to the sea sends far more plastic back onto shore. Once there, waves and tides briefly trap the particles on beaches before many vanish again. This helps explain why so much plastic pollution seems to disappear after reaching the ocean.
That sounds like another problem that could be reduced with a ban on using plastic to make microbeads.
Tiny plastic coatings from farm fertilizers are quietly reshaping the mystery of “missing plastics” in the ocean.
Plastic-coated fertilizers used on farms are emerging as a major but hidden source of ocean microplastics. A new study found that only a tiny fraction reaches beaches through rivers, while direct drainage from fields to the sea sends far more plastic back onto shore. Once there, waves and tides briefly trap the particles on beaches before many vanish again. This helps explain why so much plastic pollution seems to disappear after reaching the ocean.
That sounds like another problem that could be reduced with a ban on using plastic to make microbeads.
I do not want to reconcile with my family, says Brooklyn Peltz Beckham
Jan. 19th, 2026 11:01 pmbbc_feedSpeculation has been circulating in the press for months over a rift in the Beckham family.
Stunning late goal earns Brighton draw against Bournemouth
Jan. 19th, 2026 10:46 pmbbc_feedTeenager Charalampos Kostoulas scores a stunning overhead kick to deny Bournemouth a rare away victory in the Premier League.
Water companies to face regular MOT-style checks in industry shake-up
Jan. 19th, 2026 10:30 pmbbc_feedThe government says the industry will have nowhere to hide, but campaigners say the reforms do not go far enough.
Watchdog investigates West Midlands Police over Israeli fan ban
Jan. 19th, 2026 06:35 pmbbc_feedIndependent Office for Police Conduct opens an inquiry into the conduct of the West Midlands force.
(no subject)
Jan. 19th, 2026 10:40 pmbeccaelizabethToday I learned:
There is a unit of weight, grains, that goes into troy and imperial weights as a nice neat whole number
so you don't have to fiddle around with grams with approximations after a decimal
to try and
honestly
figure out what one Pathfinder gold piece is worth in today's gold market
(it is A Lot)(probably passed £1000)(that is so much more than it was five ten twenty years ago)
there will of course be a lot of fiddly decimals in the middle of your calculation
but
whole numbers of grains.
I feel like I learned a Key for old units
because my mum said there was a nice whole numbers one
we just didn't use it any more.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grain_(unit)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troy_weight
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avoirdupois
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_the_imperial_and_US_customary_measurement_systems#Weight_and_mass
There is a unit of weight, grains, that goes into troy and imperial weights as a nice neat whole number
so you don't have to fiddle around with grams with approximations after a decimal
to try and
honestly
figure out what one Pathfinder gold piece is worth in today's gold market
(it is A Lot)(probably passed £1000)(that is so much more than it was five ten twenty years ago)
there will of course be a lot of fiddly decimals in the middle of your calculation
but
whole numbers of grains.
I feel like I learned a Key for old units
because my mum said there was a nice whole numbers one
we just didn't use it any more.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grain_(unit)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troy_weight
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avoirdupois
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_the_imperial_and_US_customary_measurement_systems#Weight_and_mass
OggCamp
Jan. 19th, 2026 10:45 pmdiffrentcoloursOggCamp is a long-standing Manchester-based geek "unconference". This basically means that you don't know who's going to talk about what until the start of the day, which is why I've never bothered going before. However, given my dead ends trying to get geek spaces to be serious about Covid safety at FOSDEM and EMF, I wondered if it would be worth a go trying to get OggCamp on board with basic ventilation. I have sent them the following email:
I'm interested in attending OggCamp and also volunteering to help. I'd like to help make OggCamp a safer place with the ongoing pandemic. Geeks are knowledge workers and the impact of Long Covid on memory and "brain fog" are truly horrifying.
I am pleased that the website mentions the pandemic at https://www.oggcamp.org/code-of-conduct/#health--safety but the advice there seems a little out of date - particularly around "rules and guidelines" which haven't been imposed since the UK government decided to "let it rip" through the population.
I'd like to volunteer to help with the listed Covid mitigations - handing out FFP2 masks and lateral flow tests. I'd also like to try and work with the venue in the run-up around the ventilation point. Ideally I'd like to see if Pendulum can achieve 5 or 6 "air changes per hour" (ACPH) in each room through their existing ventilation system, which is the standard recommended by WHO and CDC. If not, I'd like to look at air filtration mechanisms such as Corsi-Rosenthal boxes which could make up the difference. I'm happy to work with other volunteers on this, and to try and bring in other volunteers from organisations like Breathe Easy to help with this and other aspects of OggCamp.
Can I suggest that OggCamp considers offering refunds to people who can't attend due to Covid or other contagious illness? I expect most people wouldn't claim the refund, but it might make the difference to a contagious person staying home.
It might not get anywhere but it's worth continuing trying to chip away improving at pandemic safety in geek spaces. One victory would be a huge difference from the indifference or hostility I've encountered so far.
UK to consult on social media ban for under 16s
Jan. 19th, 2026 10:30 pmbbc_feedThe government said it expected schools to be "phone-free by default" as a result of the announcement.
Trade war in no-one's interest, says Starmer
Jan. 19th, 2026 10:23 pmbbc_feedSir Keir Starmer said the situation was "very serious" and that right approach was through "calm discussion".
[ SECRET POST #6954 ]
Jan. 19th, 2026 05:27 pmcase posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
fandomsecrets⌈ Secret Post #6954 ⌋
Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.
01.
( More! )
Notes:
Secrets Left to Post: 01 pages, 23 secrets from Secret Submission Post #993.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.
Snowflake Challenge: day 9
Jan. 19th, 2026 07:34 pmshewhostaples
Talk about your favourite tropes in media or transformative works. (Feel free to substitute in theme/motif/cliche if "trope" doesn't resonate with you.)
Where to start? Let's start with swashbuckling. That's a nice easy one. Really, I think my fannish id was formed by The Prisoner of Zenda at an early age (I am still very fond of The Prisoner of Zenda).
See also: Ruritania. I love a good fictional society, and the deeper we go into the government departments and the transport infrastructure, the happier I am.
And love and duty. I don't necessarily mind which triumphs, so long as both are taken seriously. I also love it when one of the arts - or sports, or whatever - is the third party in a relationship, particularly when the partners are both very enthusiastic about that. Not to mention the creator. (This was why I enjoyed Yuri!!! on Ice so much: it was very much about the skating.)
I like relationships between women, romantic or otherwise. And friendships between men and women where it's never going to become romantic.
And then I always enjoy a good description:
Food. Chalet School breakfasts. The Marseille chapter in Madam Will You Talk.
Clothes. Annoyingly, I can't think of a good example at this moment. Probably Eva Ibbotson.
Landscape. A John Buchan evening. Can't beat an apple-green twilight.
Finally, something that I write more often than I read is the situation where you will never be able either to clean up Dodge or to get out of Dodge, you have to live in Dodge, but nevertheless you can find a way to carve out a happy and/or meaningful life there. And maybe you find you've made it slightly less grubby.
bbc_feedKaja Kallas, the EU's foreign policy chief, said the bloc has "no interest to pick a fight, but we will hold our ground".
Spanish PM vows to find cause of deadly high-speed train crash
Jan. 19th, 2026 09:30 pmbbc_feedPedro Sanchez announces three days of mourning after at least 40 people died in Sunday's collision in southern Spain.
Man Utd's complicated relationship with Class of 92
Jan. 19th, 2026 09:27 pmbbc_feedManchester United and the class of 92 have a complicated relationship. But is it a problem?
Trump ties issue to Nobel Prize in message to Norway's leader
Jan. 19th, 2026 07:25 pmbbc_feedThe US president insists Norway controls who gets the coveted prize, while the Norwegian government says it has nothing to do with the decision.
Monday Media Musings: 01/19/26
Jan. 19th, 2026 01:54 pmowlmooseThe Scavenger Door by Suzanne Palmer : The third book in The Finder Chronicles; as much fun as its predecessors, and the end had me immediately turning around to start book four. ( Spoilery thoughts. )
Non-spoilery thought: Suzanne Palmer sure knows what it's like to live with a cat.Um Actually live show: I don't subscribe to Dropout, so I'm sadly unfamiliar with most of their shows, but during high pandemic, they dropped a bunch of Um Actually episodes on YouTube, and T and I spent a lot of time watching them. So when we learned that there would a live show at this year's SF Sketchfest, we immediately decided to get tickets. The panel, which was not announced in advance, was Janet Varney, Marc Evan Jackson, and Tawny Newsome; they were an awesome group who played well off the hosts and each other, and we had a great time.
I do not want to reconcile with my family, says Brooklyn Peltz Beckham
Jan. 19th, 2026 09:26 pmbbc_feedSpeculation has been circulating in the press for months over a rift in the Beckham family.