Christoffer's blog

Zines and scales

2026-02-21T00:00:00Z

(Alternative title: “Help! I’m caught in the metaverse with the rest of the world and I want out!“)

Robin Sloan writes in his latest zine (link available by request) about a solution for the dismal state of e-books In 2025. Main points being to find a balance between e-books being infinitely copyable without DRM and hopelessly restricted in transferability by DRM. While a physical book can be transferred by simply passing the physical object on to another person (even passively by simply leaving the book behind in the physical world), e-books are limited by DRM or the sorry state of e-book software (shoutout to Apple for Books.app on iOS natively reading .epub files without complaints. Simple links to HTTP download of .epub files suffice for freely distributable books on that platform at least.)

Robin Sloan’s zine includes a QR-code with a personalised link to an e-book that can be accessed exactly 100 times and with limitations on the geographical spread of access. This idea of limiting digital goods artificially (although Robin Sloan argues that the unlimited nature of digital media is also artificial in itself, nothing inherent about being able to infinitely copy files) fits into a bigger investigation into the effects of limiting scale. Kevin Kelly has written about 1,000 true fans in opposition to thinking that a million fans is required to be sustainable, Craig Mod has previously touched on limiting the size of his membership program, and Robin Sloan creatively experiments both with changing the limits of digital media as to fit into a human world.

This idea of scaling down digital media to a more human-scale seems like part of the solution. It’s a tantalising prospect to find a way out of the modern crisis of social media (we can call it that, right?) without having to abandon the internet fully. To me, the internet of my childhood — prior to mass social media, limited to forums the size of only tiny cities — seemed to work better. Was that only a feeling? Is this just a feeling of my own personal Eternal September, feeling sadness of the world that I grew up with has passed away? I do not know and in some respects I do not care. Something is not working and global scale might be one of the culprits.

Questions remain: If scale is limited, how do we discover new content? Are we back to distribution through blog rolls and sharing of bookmarks in group chats? Will that narrow down or broaden our perspectives on the world as a whole?

(Originally written October 2025; lightly amended February 2026)

Hotels in Copenhagen

2026-02-21T00:00:00Z

Being employed at a company with headquarters in Copenhagen means that I stay a few nights in the city each year. To keep my life exciting I have tried out nearly all Scandic hotels in Copenhagen and a variety of other places.

Opinions are my own, but the expenses associated with the stays are mostly not, so no mentions of prices.

Bear in mind that I last stayed at some of these hotels five years ago, so things might have changed. Do your own research and enjoy yourself.

Scandic Spectrum

Newly built around 2021 – 2022. Checking in is a bit slow. Breakfast buffet is weirdly laid out. Many tourists from all around the world. Rooms are nicely decorated in Scandinavian grey. Hotel is located close to central Copenhagen, but public transit oddly requires 10 minutes walk in any direction (unless you want to take the bus route 5C). Has good family rooms for 3 – 4 people if you are travelling with children or are comfortable with sleeping next to your friends.

Scandic Webers

Last renovated in early 2000s. Bit worn down. Many rooms are face a big road (Vesterbrogade) and have insufficient noise isolation. Standard Scandic breakfast. Prefer Scandic Copenhagen to this.

Scandic Copenhagen

A proper sleeping warehouse in 14 or 16 stories — it’s big. Rooms are spacious but dark. Breakfast is standard Scandic. Practical location in the centre of Copenhagen by Vesterport Station and in walking distance from København H.

Scandic Sydhavnen

Standard Scandic hotel in late 2000s style — bright wood, white paint, mildly colored interior. Not in the best condition. Located close to the Sydhavn S-tog station at a major road (not audible) in a not particularly nice neighborhood. Breakfast is standard Scandic.

Scandic Sluseholmen

Not built as a Scandic hotel and has a vibe of being something else. Breakfast is standard Scandic fare. Location is a bit subpar, but the price is lower than other hotels and the metro runs right outside the door with a 15 minutes trip to the city centre.

Scandic Kødbyen

Eh. If you like Kødbyen, I guess it’s nice. Hotel is furnished well, but what’s up with the meaty looking carpets in the conference part of the hotel? I know — Kødbyen — yeah, well, it still a bit weird, you know?

Scandic Falkoner

Co-located with Falkoner Centeret right on Frederiksberg. Practical if you do not intend in being in central Copenhagen or do not mind taking the metro for 10 minutes. Rooms are alright.

Scandic CPH Strandpark

Newly built (2020′s) Scandic hotel. Rooms are spacious. Good for staying the night before a flight if you have sworn allegiance to Scandic and abstain from using the two other hotels on the airport grounds. A solid 15 minute walk from the CPH Airport terminals with pavement all the way, but crossing motorways and going into the waterfront industrial area of Kastrup. Breakfast is top-tier Scandic.

Scandic Front

Centrally located on the waterfront just by Amalienborg, great for tourist trips. The breakfast room is located in the reception. Shower floor is weirdly made with rounded pointy stones — good if you like foot massage.

Ibsens Hotel

The friendliest staff among the hotels I have stayed at and it seems to be an honest friendliness. Breakfast has great variety of bread and fresh vegetables as well as the best hotel coffee I have tasted. Rooms are a bit worn down and could use a refresh, but if you are in town to be in other places than your room, it will be fine. One could say that the rooms contribute to the authentic Copenhagen experience. Location is central, right by Nørreport.

Kong Arthur

Same as Ibsens Hotel (located right next door, sharing breakfast buffet) but the room condition is better. Less urban, more neat.

25 hours (Indre By)

Such a quirky decoration style with lots of pastels and dark wine-like colors. The most central location, just besides Rundetårn. Breakfast is good.

AC Hotels Bella Sky

Weird location. Only go if you like taking taxis into town. Interesting architecture, but as with high-rise buildings in general, you might just get a room on the second floor, providing you with a nice view of the parking lot instead of Amager Fælled.

NH Collection

Proper luxury. This is where celebrities stay when they are in Copenhagen. The hotel staff are professional, wears uniforms and are highly trained in the old arts of service. Breakfast buffet has a great variety — fresh fruit, eggs made to order, etc. Decoration feels modern contemporary international. The beds are notoriously hard. One of the only hotels where I have seen an iron with a water tank.

Wakeup Copenhagen Bernstorffsgade

Budget hotel. Bathroom situation is very ensuite with the bathroom being a glass box inside the room. Breakfast buffet is minimal. It has croissants, hard-boiled eggs, yoghurt.

Copenhagen Island

Style is late-2000s contemporary when the hotel was built. Staircases built of glass and steel and elevators in glass shafts. Rooms are boring, breakfast is so-so. Try staying here if you enjoy corporate 2000s architecture and find Kalvebod Brygge to be the most exciting part of Copenhagen.

Copenhagen Strand

Located neatly on the waterfront. Most everything else about this hotel is boring. Breakfast is especially boring and feels touristy.

Finally, irons

For my fellow cotton shirt wearers: The Ironing Situation.

All Scandic hotels in Copenhagen have ironing boards and irons in the rooms. No steam, however, so be prepared to wet your shirts in the shower.
Ibsens Hotel has an ironing board in the hallway that you can steal into your room. No steam.
NH Collection has an ironing board in the room and the iron can steam!
Wakeup Copenhagen Borgergade’s ironing board is in the basement. That’s torture.

Photography, viscerally

2025-12-19T13:38:46Z

After spending two days of my Easter vacation on digitizing old photo negatives from my family’s collection of memories, I felt somewhat cured of the silliness of enjoying analog photography in 2025 (some of which is visible on my photo blog). I was done with futzing around with analog film to get a result that could as well be emulated by my mirrorless digital camera, but that doneness only lasted two days until picking up a strip of black and white negatives, looking at the matte emulsion layer and being able to hold a piece of physical reality in my hands.

I have tamed the hunger for analog photography a bit by having prints made of digital photographs. It satifies a bit of that same pull that looking at negatives has, but the prints are still made digitally whereas the negatives have been phyiscall imprinted by the light at the scene where the photo was taken — the negative was present; it saw the thing!

Fellow enjoyers of analog photography have mentioned that having an acetate negative will outlast digital storage; something that speaks greatly to my desires for archiving and cataloging pretty much everything. However, after seeing hundreds of negatives that have faded over the last 20 years over the last few days, I feel a little bit disenchanted. From what I have read, it seems to be that black and white negatives keep better than colour negatives as black and white chemistry is not based on chemical dyes, but silver hallides in the negatives themselves.

So, for now, I might keep a bit more to black and white photography in the analog realm and keep the colours in digital. In any case, I think that I would have a hard time giving up the very visceral feeling of looking at a photo negative and seeing not only a subject but also a memory. It just works well for me.