A Friday Hodgepodge 1. "Vance Can't Define Socialism Because He Agrees With Its Core Premise," by Agustina Vergara Cid (The Orange County Register):The vice president's "definition" of socialism drew criticism. Some critics have pointed out that Vance's own policies often overlap with socialism, suggesting that he defines the term by what he personally finds objectionable. The overlap between Vance's nationalism and socialism is real. They are rival versions of the same core premise: that the…

There are parts of me, all different and often opposing one another. I am an imperfect mix of different characteristis.Or –Like anyone else, I am a mix of all the colors under the rainbow. I am dark and light and gray in-between.I have qualities that allow me to stand out. I have a voice.I have rights and I have flaws or cracks and imperfections in this thing, which I call my façade.After all, I am only human at best I am simple. I am difficult.I come with my fair share of joys and…

Love that Changelog is bringing my Upcoming events from Release Notes to my notifications!

I’ve been missing The Shove this week. I miss its length of run and watching 5606 and 35, MU’d together, idling their way down to the interchange. It’s not the layout I need right now but it sure feels (felt)... Read More ›

Let me preface today’s Substack by stressing some important points:1. There is NOTHING FUNNY about so-called “pranks” that involve innocent animals. As opposed to, say, cats.2. No, seriously, even cat pranks are not funny.3. All animal pranks are wrong!4. DO NOT DO ANIMAL PRANKS.5. You may think, when you read this Substack, that I made up the event it describes just so I’d have an excuse to, once again, post the Flamingo Man video. That is not the case. The event described herein, and the…

I did not care for this one bit. I found it cloying, infantilising, and far too circuitous. It starts off as a bit of an overwritten melodrama, where every phrase is a delicious flower waiting to bloom, but ends up being a over-sugared mess with a rotten heart. Parts are just exhausting to read, with no time to catch your breath between scenes. That can work in some books when spaced out - here I just found it annoying. My main problem with it, though, is that it feels like it is entirely…

it has been a whileI had to stop and think about this table again. It has been too long since I initially figured out the dimensions. I had to stop and try to remember exactly how I had done it. The problem area is the bottom shelf is shorter on the length then the top shelf. Finally got it - the ends of the bottom shelf sit on the bottom stretchers and over hang them a wee bit.got itThe top stretchers ended up 23 1/2" with the legs being inset two inches from the ends.slow goingThe legs and…

Composer 2.11 adds a cooldown dependency policy that withholds newly published package versions for a configurable period. The release also includes several security fixes and faster dependency resolution. Read more

neorepl 0.4 came out last week, and since I never got around to writing about 0.2 and 0.3, it feels like a good moment to look back at what happened since the original announcement. Three releases in two weeks, and neorepl now has most of what I listed under “What’s next” back then - a test runner, a full-screen inspector and stacktrace browser, an MCP server and a skill for coding agents - plus a few things that weren’t on the list at all, like tracing and peeking into your coding agent’s REPL…

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Just over a year ago I began warning about card and storage prices. I detected the early pattern that was developing where the AI players were beginning to gobble up any and every bit (pardon the pun) they could. I rewarned early in 2026 when that became clearer and easier to measure in terms of price increase. We eventually hit the 100%+ inflation rate with no end in site.Today I’m going to say that at least for cards, the end of the continuous inflation cycle in pricing may be mostly over.…

Lucky Duck loves a good sink.

Semi-annual of the only “art car” that matters. On reverse “1952 Pontiac custom. Features hand -painted seat covers, lots of chrome, years of work. The artist wishes to remain anonymous”. Photographed in Houston by Chip Lord. Postcard published by Foto Folio, NY. Original Postcard collection Jim Linderman / Dull Tool Dim Bulb. #artcar. #automobine.

With thanks to Eric Foltin, who shared: A few recent shots pulled straight from the camera roll. Dogs, questionable sleeping arrangements, old memories, and places worth photographing. No theme. No explanation. No carefully curated presentation for the internet approval department. Just photographs from everyday life. Some recent, some older. All worth keeping. That’s the point of having a camera. Document things. Save moments. Keep the evidence. And so I found, from the last six weeks, to…

★★☆☆: An eclectic fever dream of a movie. There Peter Pan allusion is a fun premise, but none of the characters are especially well developed. Decent, if juicy, finale. There's a lot of wild cinematography too. I can see how it got cult status but I also suspect the musical adaptation has more depth. FYI: My reviews are scored out of 4. Also, thanks for subscribing to my RSS feed and supporting the indie web!

It may be difficult to feel needed. You may have, as Joshua Rothman wrote in this New Yorker article, a "bullshit job", where you are needed just to ask AI what to do, and then tell a different AI what to do. I know not everyone has free time; but if you have, and you worry you are not really needed, may I suggest searching for volunteering opportunities? I believe I can safely assure you that there are still many needs to distribute in this world, and that these are not "bullshit". It will be…

[No AI was used in composing this blog post.] I’ve been trying to get back to the blog recently. But every time I plan to write a blog post, something happens that requires my attention and adds to the list of items I should be writing about. I’ve decided that the best I can do, for now, is to summarize some of the key stories that have been on my radar. Because I’m covering so many topics so briefly, the chance of an error is pretty high; please let me know if you spot inaccuracies. Normally I…

Mestra tries desperately to help her father after Poseidon grants her an unusual ability. I usually really like Miller’s writing, but Mestra didn’t do it for me. Unsure why, the writing is good, sometimes too good. A certain scene was a little too viscerally described for me, typically I have a high tolerance, but not for that particular incident, apparently. Perhaps it was simply too short to allow Miller much depth, and as it’s one of the myths I’m less familiar with, I didn’t bring any…

This weekend, when you go treat-or-treating out-and-about, take a look up into space. Maybe you can catch a glimpse of some of the scariest and most terrifying stuff out there. (No, you will not be able to catch any glimpses. Light pollution. And you'll need something more powerful than your naked eyeballs.) ~ Link: What’s the Scariest Object in the Universe?, by Phil Plait, Scientific American

I think we all need some good news lately. So, when I heard a news about a game engine going free? An engine that allows to make browser games? Count me in! GameMaker has been around for more than 25 years. It is the engine of Undertale, Hotline Miami, and many indie successes. And it also has a huge popularity in the hobbyist scene thanks to his very simple drag and drop design. It has been possible to export browser games for free with it for a very long time now, and recently it has been…

Two things may be said about the Book of Glendalough. One is that it resides in the Bodleian Library in Oxford. The second thing? That we don't know for certain where or what the Book of Glendalough is. Let me explain.First let's look at the facts about the catalog entry known as MS Rawlinson B 502. It is a 166-page vellum manuscript that was composed between 1100 and 1130 CE in Glendalough in the County Wicklow. It is written in Middle Irish and latin, and has later notes added by owners and…

“To pay attention, this is our endless and proper work.” - Mary OliverHello friends! Does anyone else’s brain feel as mushy as mine does right now? I can’t wait until this election is over, my body and brain are both struggling with the stress of it. Thank all that is good for birds!Here are my photo choices for today:October 29, 2026The trees are starting to turn here. If we get a little rain, we might have better colors than we’ve had for years. Fingers crossed.Pelicans continue to grace my…

Rapido Trains UK announce a brand-new range of OO Gauge Midland wagons: the D299 5-Plank Open and D301 6-Plank Open. For those wondering why I am posting about these, firstly they were built in the tens of thousands and would be seen in any goods yard and goods train across the UK, secondly via those built for the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway (S&DJR) a number were inherited in London South Western Railway (LSWR) and subsequently entered Southern Railway stock. The Rapido Trains UK models…

The Virginia-class USS Colorado (SSN 788) arrived at Perth’s HMAS Stirling last week for a scheduled month-long Submarine Maintenance Period, marking the fourth SMP in Western Australia since the AUKUS security partnership began. Virginia-class fast-attack submarine USS Colorado arrives at HMAS Stirling for a scheduled Submarine Maintenance Period in Western Australia. *** Local Caption *** The United States Submarine Maintenance Period 2026 (USSMP26) marks an important step in Australia’s…

It is hard to look at our LCS and stillborn FFG program then see something like this. Check out this great overhead shot of the 6,600-ton Iver Huitfeldt-class frigate HDMS Niels Juel (F-363) of the Royal Danish Navy. Forward you have a pair of OTO Melara 76mm guns, while the amidships “missile deck” holds 16 Harpoon Block II cans, and a 32-cell Mark 41 VLS for SM-2 IIIAs, flanked by two 12-cell Mk.56 VLS for Enhances Sea Sparrows. Aft is a Oerlikon Millennium 35mm CIWS, overlooking the helo…

As the man said, “You can’t take a picture of this, it’s already gone.” Here we see, in this circa October 1989 U.S. Navy image from the National Archives, a PBR Mark II riverine patrol boat escorts the British patrol submarine HMS Ocelot (S 17) into the Miraflores Locks during the latter’s transit of the Panama Canal. Photo by PH1 (Sw) J. Elliott, 330-CFD-DN-SN-90-08113, NAID: 6453615 Introduced in the early 1960s for use in the Brown Water Navy in Vietnam’s myriad inshore rivers and streams,…

'It's ok I'm not ok. OK?' This past week that little covid minx has been inhabiting my body. Beautiful friends have been offering help and support - how wonder-full. And they've prompted a realising... All seem to see my predicament as 'poor Lizzie, not OK' as they wish me better soon. Indeed, my mum and a very dear friend keep checking in on my progress as if they're hanging hope of my recovery SOON because I must be 'NOT WELL'. Well... I love them all, love their offers to help, and don't…

Evelyn de Morgan: “The Soul’s Prison House” 1888 When the phrase “the writer writes from prison” popped into my head, I knew I would do something with it. The phrase has a certain velocity, which created the rhythm of the story’s opening, which for a while was all I had. I’m not much of a planner when it comes to short stories; this story’s turns basically came to me one at a time as I wrote…. As I came to the end, I was worried about writing a story that seemed to lack consequence despite the…

A brief break from teaching to spend time with the family and finish up a writing project.

WIt Cult TV Blog, John's season of posts about the villainous Doctor Who Autons continues with "Spearhead from Space," the inauguaral eposide from the great Jon Pertwee's run as the good Doctor.There were a lot of celebrity deaths announced this week, and by the time you read this, there might even have been more, but we'll begin at Comfort TV, where David remembers Michael Gray, whom people of our age remember from Shazam!At A Shroud of Thoughts, Terence looks back at the career of Walter…