A language, a metal detector, and the final newsletter.
20th July 2026
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Hello! Welcome to the final weekly newsletter. It's been a great five-years-and-change: thank you so much for reading, for clicking links, and for being so kind to the people and videos that I've listed!
So, for the final time: what stuff have I put on the internet this week? First, over on Nebula, it's off to the Chained Library, where I get excited
about an ampersand.
And in the county next door, over on YouTube, I have a weird conspiracy theory about this bridge. There's red string and a corkboard and
everything.
It's the last Technical Difficulties of the season! It's been an absolute delight, as I have reason to doubt a presidential parrot fact, because for the final time in
this run, One Of These People Is Lying.
And, of course, Lateral continues: Rosalie Minnitt, Verity Babbs and Bob Hagh face questions about hip hairstyles, tiled tunnels and mobile mending.
And, of course, Lateral continues: Rosalie Minnitt, Verity Babbs and Bob Hagh face questions about hip hairstyles, tiled tunnels and mobile mending.
Now, what about stuff from the rest of the internet? One last time:
- It feels right, in this last newsletter, that I'm linking to a
very small and new channel. I will miss being able to highlight projects like this! So, as a last hurrah: thanks to reader Emma, whose YouTube algorithm turned up this wonderful video from Herbie about a tiny California town with its own secret language. For Herbie's first YouTube video, it's great: a little rough around the edges, as
you'd expect, but it's a heck of a lot better than my first video was. It's got a field trip, a well-edited interview, and some interesting linguistics, and I'd recommend it.
- Flying the world's largest metal detector: travel along
with an Australian bush pilot in Newfoundland, as he takes a job dragging an enormous geological survey system behind his helicopter. Worth your time.
- From the joyful category of "well-edited interview with interesting person": meet
the British guy who became Okinawa's "cheese guy". (Thanks Robin-Yann for the suggestion!)
- A small bonus video, because I'm using the "and finally" slot for a goodbye this week: three World Cups ago, after England got knocked out, I tweeted that someone should do a sad, minor-key piano version of "Three Lions". Shortly after, Alastair Reid replied with "the Saddest of the Lions". After the World Cup semi-final, it feels appropriate to bring that back this week.
And then, articles from the rest of the web:
- Thanks to Rich for suggesting this official history of Lego's building instructions. You know, I don't think I've ever actually followed the building instructions once.
- Years ago, I made a video about the unlikely, but theoretically possible, explosion of the SS Montgomery in the Thames Estuary. An update to that, thanks to Michael for sending it over: the masts are being removed!
- Locals and Tourists seemed like an old-school web project: and it is, uploaded to Flickr in 2010! These are maps of world cities with publicly-geotagged photos marked on them: tourists in red, locals in blue. I'm not entirely sure what this says about the cities or their inhabitants, but it's a lovely bit of visualization. (Thanks Ryan for sending this over!)
And finally: goodbye. Thank you for being part of this newsletter, whether it's been for a week or for five years. It's been fun!
All the best,
— Tom
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