Random updates

Mon 22 September 2025

Ironically, this isn't intended to be a "filler" post, but more of a fill-you-in post, as I've actually decided to stop trying to do "100 Days to Offload" this year.

I still technically have enough time left in the year to do it, but then I'd just be slamming the pipeline with content, and that's not really good for either of us. I've had enough major life events this year to make trying to fulfil an arbitrary number kind of meaningless, but I will try to pursue something meaningful for this year's WritingMonth, instead. I'm trying to decide between writing some short stories, or just journaling on paper.

Some minor interesting things that have happened in the last month:

  • I bought The Good Place on Bluray, which turned out to be a fantastic decision, because it frees me up from buying into yet another streaming service (netflix), and the Bluray (1080p) content is both higher quality than the streaming options, and has more content (the episodes are actually a little longer).
  • I wiped (factory-resetted) my Roku TV. I had logged into a family member's roku account (ironically to start watching The Good Place again), but all of the streaming platforms slowly blocked my device, as I wasn't in the same location as them. So, the streaming services all cut me off, except for the couple that I already had logged into my own name. So for now, my Roku TV is just a "dumb" TV. Glorious.
  • I got my old Wii set up again. I'm beyond disappointed in Nintendo, but I won't waste time here kvetching about it. I'm hoping to spot some good deals for Wii and maybe GameCube games here and there and enjoy those platforms, rather than spending an arm and a leg on the new stuff. No sense in rewarding profiteering gigacorporations.
  • I canceled my Amazon Prime Video ad-free subscription. It was only 2.99 USD per month, but I no longer watch anything on there, and I'm kind of done with streaming services.
  • I said goodbye to Star Wars and Disney altogether. It's obvious to me that Disney is incompatible with a free world, and I will no longer be giving them money to further their fascistic goals. It will be sad to not be able to watch Rebels, Ahsoka, or upcoming Mandalorian episodes, but these are a small price to pay for the integrity of our democracy and our world. I'll keep an eye out for used blurays, though. ;)

More updates to come... organically. ;)

Category: Entertainment
Tags: 100DaysToOffload   Entertainment   Ethics   Hobbies   Life   Loss   Non-religious post   Non-technical post   Productivity   WritingMonth  


Laptops: A Romance

Sat 30 November 2024

As I wrote in yesterday's article, I have a soft spot in my heart for laptops. They exist in this incredibly sweet spot where convenience and agency/freedom converge in the very best way, possible. I bought my first laptop in 1995 with my very hard-earned money, but let's start …

Category: Tech
Tags: ADHD   Computing   FOSS (Free and Open Source Software)   Hobbies   Life   Linux   Non-religious post   Productivity   Retrocomputing   UNIX   WritingMonth  

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I Miss Palette Rotation

Tue 26 November 2024

A hand-animated "Growing Heart Emoji" in the style of 16-bit-era palette animation (3 frames)

Background

In the halcyon days of 16-bit microcomputers, there was a computer graphics technique used by many demos and some games known as Palette Rotation, Palette Shifting, Palette Animation, or Color Cycling.

Computers weren't fast enough to change the entire contents of screen memory in graphics mode (even relatively low …

Category: Tech
Tags: Amiga   Beauty   Computing   Entertainment   Gaming   Non-religious post   Retrocomputing   Video   WritingMonth  

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My Odd Relationship with Minecraft

Mon 25 November 2024

Unlike most young people, and not unlike many of my GenX peers, I haven't played much Minecraft.

I got into it a little bit with my cousin's kids when they were young around 2010, and I even played it a little bit on my own at the time, but the …

Category: Entertainment
Tags: ADHD   Computing   Entertainment   FOSS (Free and Open Source Software)   Gaming   Hobbies   Life   Non-religious post   Non-technical post   WritingMonth  

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My Every Day Carry, Part V: What's on My Phone?

Sun 24 November 2024

In Part IV, I discussed wristwatches. In this article, I'm jumping back into my pocket, so to speak, with a look at what's on my phone itself.

This was a rather exhausting article to write, because I have a lot of apps on my phone. I have even been ridiculed …

Category: Tech
Tags: Computing   Ethics   Federated Services   FOSS (Free and Open Source Software)   Non-religious post   PeerTube   Podcasts   Productivity   Translation   WritingMonth  

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What is FOSS?

Sun 24 November 2024
Note: This article was originally written last December, and was sidelined because I didn't feel it was finished. Reading through it this morning, I realized reason that I never "finished" it is because the next step would've been to write a 1280-word chapter, which is no small feat. But honestly …

Category: Tech
Tags: BSD   Computing   Content Warning   Ethics   FOSS (Free and Open Source Software)   FreeBSD   Linux   Non-religious post   Philosophy   UNIX   WritingMonth  

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