melchar | Reading

The background: last year MCR announced the second US leg of the Long Live the Black Parade tour, with the city/date closest to me being Oct. 24 in L.A.. The Stroppy One sighed at the inevitable, and cass404 braved the Ticketmaster queue to get us tickets. the Ticketmaster online queue to get us tickets. Then MCR announced the final two shows of the tour, both in L.A.: Oct. 30 & 31. Cue much wailing from me, because there was no way I could afford to stay in L.A. for a week.

Last weekend, the Stroppy One suggested I ask Cass if I could stay at her place for a week, and the we head back to L.A. for the concerts. I stared, asked if he was okay with me missing our anniversary to go see MCR. He pointed out that he wouldn’t have suggested it if he wasn’t, just see if tickets were available you silly head.

So! After conferring with Cass, I’m going to see if any tickets are available. Because spending time with Cass is something I desperately miss, and omg my precious cupcakes of bombast.

$mdlbear: blue fractal bear with text "since 2002" (Default)$

mdlbear

It's been a rather stressful week, and most of the time I've been very down on myself, mostly for procrastination. But I got through it. I think I'm supposed to count that as a win, even though it doesn't feel like it.

I did figure something out, though. I often (usually?) procrastinate things that may require a decision, because when I finally get around to them the decision often (usually?) turns out to be wrong. (The decision is sometimes to skip something with a time limit, and then regretting not going for it while I had the chance. Same thing.)

Now that Discord has started age-gating NSFW channels and servers, many people (including me) are looking for alternatives. Especially since it was revealed that their age verification vendor Persona left frontend exposed, researchers say. In particular, people are looking for open source alternatives, since those are less likely to be enshittified in the future. We have some time, because most fannish discord communities have few, if any, NSFW channels, and because moving a community is always an extremely lossy process (as those of us who left LJ for DW remember well) and not to be undertaken lightly.

It's concievable that matterbridge could help hold things togather. Not counting on it. I hate this timeline.

You should also replace links that use archive.today, which includes archive.ph et.al., which I have lots of links to. That's going to take a long time. See also Wikipedia blacklists Archive.today, starts removing 695,000 archive links.

Links: You can find Babylon 5 on YouTube HERE. OpenFactBook - Country Data & Statistics is the replacement for the CIA's recently-shut-down World Factbook.

( Notes & links, as usual )

Current Mood: okay? for the moment
Current Music: stupidly, no

andrewducker

Spent the afternoon at Hugh and Meredith's, where Hugh showed Sophia how his 3d printer works (and how he makes 3d dungeons out of foam). Very cool stuff, and they both enjoyed their souvenirs.
Original is here on Pixelfed.scot.

andrewducker

1. Matching sounds to shapes: Evidence of the bouba-kiki effect in naïve baby chicks: (tags:language chicken psychology )

cupcake_goth

- While I still love love love this dress from a Ukrainian designer, I went to another website to ogle an embroidered long linen jacket that I've also pined over, and now I can't decide which to buy in a few weeks. I'm now leaning toward the linen piece, because that would be more versatile.

- I spent some time idly searching for granny and/or "Victorian" boots across eBay, Poshmark, and Depop, and let me tell you, there is nothing out there with combination of a pointed or almond toe shape, lace-up, a side zipper, and a 2" block or walking heel. But then I had the possibly brilliant thought of taking a pair of my existing lace-up boots to a cobbler to have a side zip put in. I need to ponder this some more, but I sense a trip to the cobbler in my future.

- Remember that fabric with the Haunted Mansion wallpaper print on AliExpress? It arrived, and the print quality is good! The actual color isn't pink, but a bright wine, which also works for me. When the Stroppy One saw the fabric, he told me to order more, as he wants a waistcoat in it, and possibly a jacket.

---

I'm constantly tired, no matter how much sleep I get, and I'm having non-stop stress nightmares every night. Dear Brain, a nightmare of the Stroppy One presenting us with divorce papers because we got his coffee order wrong is ridiculous, as is the one where he abandons me at airport security and walks off with my passport and Clovis Devilbunny. RIDICULOUS, STOP IT.

mdlbear

Today I am thankful for...

Getting Scarlett-the-Carlet back (hopefully today, assuming I didn't misunderstand the phone call from the dealer). NO thanks for (folding scooter)Lizzy getting a flat tire.
Naproxen. NO thanks for my lower back.
The microscopic fungi that make bread, booze, and blue cheese. Also the mostly macroscopic ones that produce edible mushrooms and other delights.
Naomi's book finally getting a review. It's a start.

Current Mood: grateful
Current Music: Eurofilk tonight?

andrewducker

Three minutes ago Sophia asked me how to spell "pregnancy simulator", and now I'm getting the regular buzz of notifications as she installs apps on her phone.

thenicochan

( You're about to view content that the journal owner has marked as possibly inappropriate for anyone under the age of 18. )

andrewducker

1. U.K. government covered up dramatic spike in trans youth suicides: (tags:transgender suicide UK OhForFucksSake LGBT )
2. WD and Seagate confirm: Hard drives for 2026 sold out: (tags:manufacturing harddrive Technology doom )
3. Ancient bacteria found frozen in cave resistant to 10 types of antibiotics: (tags:antibiotics bacteria doom )
4. Fake law: Barrister suing Dan Neidle relied on cases from ChatGPT: (tags:ai law fail UK )
5. The association between academic pressure and adolescent depressive symptoms and self-harm: (tags:mentalhealth academia UK psychology )
6. Using Origami to Imagine Emergency Shelters That Are Sturdy, Cost-Efficient and Easy to Deploy: (tags:origami materials design architecture )
7. Amazon are cracking down on erotica: (tags:erotica publishing Amazon OhForFucksSake )
8. How "Remote Assistance" works with Waymo's autonomous taxis.: (tags:taxi driving automation )
9. Inside Horden, the County Durham town failed by politics (if you were wondering why people are turning to Reform): (tags:politics poverty uk )
10. New Silent Hill game inspired by tiny fishing village in Fife: (tags:horror games scotland )

arlie

It's been a somewhat rough week.

I made a list of potential spread sheet programs, and settled on LibreOffice Calc as already installed and very frequently used. So I might as well try it first.

I've now gained a trust level on the LibreOffice discussion forums, created an account on their Bugzilla, and posted my first bug report.

But I still don't have any of my spreadsheets converted to their native ods format and transferred to the Kubuntu system. I've now tried three different methods, each with its own warts, and have material to file a few more bugs if I care to.

Bottom line: I think it's a decent spreadsheet program, ill-served by incomplete and buggy data conversion components.

( Read more... )

andrewducker

1. The psychology of pricing luxury: (tags:luxury business psychology )
2. A brutally honest take on AI productivity: (tags:ai productivity coding software )
3. Happy 25th anniversary "All Your Base Are Belong To Us": (tags:history meme video )

melchar posting in

basfa

Minutes of Meeting #1848
Monday, February 16, 2026

Trey Haddad, President
Ken Patterson, Vice President
Dave Gallaher, Treasurer
Galen Tripp & Laser Pistol Packin’ Mama, Sergeants at Arms
Barbara Johnson-Haddad, Secretary
meeting held online AND meeting live at Parktown Pizza [at Meridian & Hillsdale in SJ]
https://www.parktownpizza.com

***************************
NEW ZOOM FOR 2026
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82190960810?pwd=k8qAIDt9sntTTLOI6FoerafmYvU2AR.1

Meeting ID: 821 9096 0810
Passcode: B4SF41D
---
One tap mobile
+16699009128,,82190960810#,,,,*5724576#
---
By Telephone
669-900-9128
Meeting ID: 821 9096 0810
Passcode: 5724576
Find your local number:https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kcSpSAHaD
***************************

Called to order at 8 pm
7live/4online beings attended the meeting

The minutes of meeting 1847 were accepted as 'coherant'

Proxy Treasurer's report = Regular: $15,805.32
Party: $230.58
Money can be sent to salve guilt via PayPal - sent to: dwgallaher@gmail.com
Though we have accrued $165.34 since the resumption of live meetings.

the VP reported 'Hi, how ya doing?' but otherwise had nothing fannish to report

the President had nothing fannish to report

There were no committee reports

no old or new business

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Ken announced that THX has ceased to function

Rick also announced Robert Duvall's death and gave a brief retrospective on Duvall's genre roles

Yochanan announced that 'Virtuous Con 2026 - the Art of Resistance' is Sat Feb 21st/Sun Feb 22 - all online
see = https://www.tickettailor.com/events/virtuousconllc/1949006

Lisa announced that filk convention Consonance, March 27-29 is coming up
see = https://consonance.org/

Reviews:

Yochanan reviewed a subtitled popular Hong Kong based movie 'Back to the Past' that does have time travel & a lot of action. He had fun, rates it a 'B+' and says it's worth matinee plus. There was some discussion on the genre, with Duncan recommending 'Back Alley Princess' from 1973
see = https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Back_to_the_Past_(film)
and see = https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/356784
Yochanan also reviewed his 'away mission' - a trip to San Francisco on Feb 12th for a Star Trek event that included loot-bags & ran through the 16th. He considered it to be a really successful idea and he had a lot of fun and took public transportation
see = https://www.paramountplus.com/sneak-peak/star-trek-starfleet-academy-san-francisco/
Yochanan also reviewed a movie streaming on Prime, 'Absolutely Anything', starring Simon Pegg - a 'light-hearted comedy about the fate of the planet'. He loved it & rates it as definitely worth full streaming price
see = https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absolutely_Anything

Rick reviewed 'A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms' & has seen most, but not all, of this season as 'boy is it pretty!' It's quite good, well-written & he is enjoying it a great deal
see = https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Knight_of_the_Seven_Kingdoms_(TV_series)

Ken reviewed this last week's episode of 'Starfleet Academy' as definitely worth the subscription to Paramount Plus. He enjoyed the episode & there was discussion. Rick mentioned it has a plot twist. Yochanan just loved it - although he noted that it felt a little long
see = https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Trek:_Starfleet_Academy_(TV_series)

we adjourned at = 8:33 pm

Rumor of the Week: 'They say the solidified wet stuff dripping from the sky is called 'rain'

there might have been auctions

seawasp

A discussion with a knowledgeable friend on this triggered the following post, which will cover a number of elements of both the technology and, perhaps more importantly, its uses and impacts.

( Read on... )

$mdlbear: blue fractal bear with text "since 2002" (Default)$

mdlbear

Well, happy cheap-filled-chocolates-in-heart-shaped-boxes day, for those in a position to take advantage of it. And I hope that any of you who celebrated yesterday had a good Valentine's day, and that the rest of us got through it okay. It isn't a good day for the bereft. The last few days haven't been all that good for my back, either -- no idea what I did to cause muscle spasms, but I wish I hadn't.

I did accomplish a few things last week: getting my legs wrapped in elastic ("Ace") bandages to reduce the swelling, setting up a trip to the US next month (in time to renew my driver's license), taking three walks (not all that good, but something at least), and one guitar practice session (also not all that good, but something).

For those folks affected, or soon to be affected, by Discord's new age checks, or worried about further enshittification over the next year or three, there are some lists of alternatives under the cut for your edification. Almost all on Friday, along with some more commentary. A couple on Tuesday. Tl;dr: there isn't an obvious drop-in replacement, but Stoat comes close and is under active development.

Also of note: A legendary golden fabric lost for 2,000 years has been brought back: it's made from pen shell byssus, which was previously discarded as waste. The color is non-fading because it's structural. Other good news, EU Parliament 🇪🇺 votes to accept a report, that calls for "the full recognition of trans women as women".

( Notes & links, as usual )