---
title: "Notes on 2026W06"
slug: weeknotes-2026w06
date: 2026-02-08
categories: weeknotes
tags:
  - Weeknotes
  - Tech
  - Axolotls
  - Immigration
  - Canada
  - Fonts
  - Programming
  - Make
  - Privacy
---

Sir Ian McKellan was on Colbert this week. His soliloquy from Shakespeare's Sir
Thomas More (a role he debuted in the 60s; it had never been peformed publicly)
is incredible and highly relevant to today, despite being 400 years old. Skip
ahead to 20:15 or so to see just the soliloquy.

{{< youtube id=2l2RqzVG4ag start=1214 loading=lazy >}}

[Bye Canada, I'm Going Back Where I Came From][bye-ca] about the difficult state
many immigrants to Canada find themselves in.


---

I spent a little time fiddling with Makefiles over the last few weeks. I wrote a
BSD Makefile to [set up my dotfiles][df-make]. I've written
[before][make-patterns] about Makefiles and the differences between GNU and BSD
`make`.

[C Isn't a Programming Language Anymore][c] explaining the mess that is ABI
compatibility and why every programming language eventually boils down to C.

---

[Maple Mono](https://font.subf.dev/en/) is a friendly, rounded, monospace font.
Thanks to [James](https://social.axiixc.com/@axiixc/116025991390604051) for
pointing it out.

---

California has a [new website][drop-ktla] called [DROP][drop] to help residents
remove their personal data from data brokers.

---

[How Axolotls Took Over the World][axo] in the Guardian.

Incidentally, the word "axolotl" is from Nahuatl and its pronunciation is closer
to "[ah-sho-LOT-l](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d79EBJYJbuA)" than how we
tend to say it in English. I've been practicing saying it that way.


[df-make]: https://source.erynwells.me/eryn/dotfiles/commit/c1fb9721bf2f00f8a2ede05b43c2a755eb66c667
[axo]: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/jan/21/how-axolotls-took-over-the-world
[bye-ca]: https://shado-mag.com/articles/opinion/bye-canada-im-going-back-to-where-i-came-from/
[c]: https://gankra.github.io/blah/c-isnt-a-language
[drop]: https://consumer.drop.privacy.ca.gov
[drop-ktla]: https://ktla.com/news/california/californias-drop-website-helps-residents-delete-personal-data-online/
[make-patterns]: {{< ref "blog/2024/make-pattern-rules" >}}