kengr | Network

settiai

In tonight's game, ( the rest under a cut for those who don't care. )

And that's where we left off.

Current Mood: accomplished

brokenallbroken

( You're about to view content that the journal owner has advised should be viewed with discretion. )

Current Mood: blah
Current Music: Dungeon Dudes - DM lessons from a 7-year D&D campaign

james_davis_nicoll

My character discovered that using his acting skills to look like a dangerous opponent kind of backfires if it gets the full attention of something that is a dangerous opponent.

mecurtin posting in

fandom_checkin

This is your check-in post for today. The poll will be open from midnight Universal or Zulu Time (8pm Eastern Time) on Sunday, November 2, to midnight on Monday, November 3 (8pm Eastern Time).

Poll #33793 Daily check-in poll

Open to: Access List, detailed results viewable to: Access List, participants: 14

How are you doing?

I am OK
8 (57.1%)

I am not OK, but don't need help right now
6 (42.9%)

I could use some help
0 (0.0%)

How many other humans live with you?

I am living single
5 (35.7%)

One other person
5 (35.7%)

More than one other person
4 (28.6%)

Please, talk about how things are going for you in the comments, ask for advice or help if you need it, or just discuss whatever you feel like.

dewline

I'd prefer Trudeau, Carney, Davies, Angus, May and Freeland as a team on the current polycrisis. However, I'm not going to get that. Yet, if ever.

So I'll have to put up with some things and complain as needed.

Current Mood: determined

frith

So I no longer have a job. I am no longer something, something defined by a career. How strange. Can I be a bum? A bum might be cool.

On the morning of my last day, before the break of dawn, I was surprised by an outstanding modification done to the golf cart my section uses to get around the grounds at work. It was decked out to look like a giant My Little Pony pegasus, specifically Rainbow Dash. Plus two tin-can chains dragging on the ground behind it, just in case anyone didn't notice a giant rainbow pony driving by. Despite the modifications, the cart did not go faster.

At break there was Oreo cookie cake, payback for all the cakes and desserts I've put out for people to eat on Fridays. I got my revenge: I'd also brought a dessert for this last day, a box of 48 hand-picked very fancy gourmet chocolates made by a local chocolate shop.

Otherwise, my last day at work was mostly normal, a day-long race to try and get everything fed, cleaned up after and medicated. People suggested I could "take it easy", go visit other areas at work. Well, no time, and anyway, no one has any animals I want to casually visit. I spent what time I could spare picking up the bits and pieces I'd squirreled away hither and yon. Like a big pile of CD's I'd spin in my main working area. People appreciated all the boom boxes I'd left everywhere, so those stayed, I don't need them at home, but I took home my calendars, coffee mugs, instant coffee and such the like. Many people stopped me to wish me a happy "retirement" and a handshake. And then the day was over.

There was a going away party, with cake, pies, potato chips, and more cake. A lot of food, the pastries were baked and decorated, in a My Little Pony theme, by my coworkers. Another gave me a tote bag made from dozens of heavy-duty bags the horse feed/treats/minerals come in, horses on one side of the tote bag, good will wishes printed out using cut out letters, like a ransom note, on the other side. Many of the letters were modified to make other letters, like two 'Y's became an 'X', seamlessly, like quilted Photoshop typography. Impressive.

There were pictures, chatting, compliments and a lot of people. So much cake. So very many people. I found some containers and took a good chunk of the food home. Most is now in the freezer as it is going to take ages to eat it all. Everyone is keen for me to come back to visit often.

elisem

The "rest like a potato!" protocol continues
and so do we.

metafilter_feed

Posted by subdee

https://www.metafilter.com/210900/New-Levels-of-Corruption-Feared-as-Trump-Family-Adds-Gambling-Business

The new "Truth Predict" betting market platform will be a partnership between the Trump Media and Technology Group and Crypto.com, a cryoptocurrency trading platform that in the past has donated millions to Trump causes. According to the Financial Times, the Trump family in recent months has become more intertwined with the online betting industry, as Donald Trump Jr. has taken on "advisory roles at the two industry-leading prediction market companies, Kalshi and Polymarket."

Links to reporting by Reuters, the Financial Times, the Wall Street Journal and Wired.

https://www.metafilter.com/210900/New-Levels-of-Corruption-Feared-as-Trump-Family-Adds-Gambling-Business

metafilter_feed

Posted by demi-octopus

https://www.metafilter.com/210899/Throwing-Windows-out-the-window-part-1-why

Now that Microsoft is ending support for Windows 10 (previously, also), they're pushing everyone to "upgrade" to Windows 11, which you may need to pay for and which your hardware might not even support. Why not consider an alternative in the form of Linux Mint, which is free and whose system requirements are comparable to Windows 10?

If you're a lifelong Windows user, the idea can be daunting. Since I went through this recently, I've collected pros and cons to take into account, things to check before you switch, ways to prepare, installation instructions and an overview of what to expect when you first start using Linux Mint. For convenience, I'll assume that 'you' are the one considering the switch, and address you accordingly. If you're someone who's trying to convince a friend or family member to start using Linux, I hope this will be useful to you as well and hope to see your additions in the comments! Because of the length, I'm splitting this into three parts, focusing on the why, how and now what, respectively. If you'd rather watch than read, this YouTube video (7:28) by Gary Explains gives a pretty good idea of what Linux Mint looks like. It also shows that much of the functionality you've learned to expect in Windows is offered in a very similar way by Linux Mint. about Linux Mint Linux Mint (official site) is an operating system for desktop computers and laptops, and therefore an alternative to Apple MacOS and Microsoft Windows. Unlike the latter two, Linux Mint is open source. Rather than being owned by a company, it is provided for free by a community of volunteers. Linux Mint has been available since 2006 and is used by millions of people. (source) benefits Open source software is free in more ways than one, sometimes described as "free as in beer" and "free as in speech". You're not paying any license fees but neither are you paying with your data or advertising eyeballs. Instead of employees working to satisfy shareholders, there are volunteers trying to help the community - including you. Feedback is welcomed and often acted upon. Because anyone can contribute new features and options, there are extensive customization options. Linux (including Mint) is generally considered more secure than Windows, in part because it's less of a target due to it's small market share. Using antivirus is generally considered unnecessary (official site , Reddit). That said, if security is a particular concern, other Linux distributions may be more suitable. One more benefit of switching: did you know that learning new skills is one way to reduce your risk of developing dementia? barriers Getting used to a new operating system is good exercise for your brain (as mentioned above) but it also takes time and mental energy. If routine is comforting to you, even having a different icon for the start menu can be one more thing to deal with. If you're short on time or under a lot of stress, don't "pull the plug" just yet. Instead, have a look at some of the "long-term preparations" described in part 2 (how?), which will make the switch smoother when you do go for it. The other two things to consider are the hardware you intend to use and any proprietary software that you need to use, both of which I'll discuss in more detail in part 2. If either of these apply to you, but not every day, you may be interested in a so-called "dual boot". This is a way to install two operating systems on the same computer. (Part 2 to follow soon.) Many thanks to jquinby, hoyland, Too-Ticky, xedrick, flabdablet, Snowishberlin, Pedantzilla, k3ninho, xusifem, number9dream and dutchrick for providing suggestions and encouragement for this post in my related ask!

https://www.metafilter.com/210899/Throwing-Windows-out-the-window-part-1-why

littlefics posting in

seasonsofdrabbles

Hi all, we have nine post-deadline pinch hits available! These are all due Friday, November 7, noon Eastern time (Countdown), though we can be flexible if needed.

If you would like to claim a pinch hit, please comment to this post with the name/number of the pinch hit you would like. Make sure to include your AO3 username! Comments are screened.

( PH 8 - Psychonauts (Video Games), Umineko no Naku Koro ni | When the Seagulls Cry, No Straight Roads (Video Game), Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types )

( PH 10 - The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across The 8th Dimension (1984), Crossing Jordan (TV 2001), NCIS: Los Angeles )

( CLAIMED - PH 15 - SK8 the Infinity (Anime), Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime), Wind Breaker - にいさとる | Nii Satoru (Manga), Naruto (Anime & Manga), 佐々木と宮野 | Sasaki to Miyano (Manga), 黄昏アウトフォーカス | Tasogare Out Focus (Manga) )

( CLAIMED - PH 16 - Star Trek: Voyager, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Enterprise, The Murderbot Diaries - Martha Wells )

( CLAIMED - PH 17 - Persona 5, Paranormasight: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo (Visual Novel), Doki Doki Literature Club! (Visual Novel), 大逆転裁判 | Dai Gyakuten Saiban | The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles (Video Games), Metaphor: ReFantazio (Video Game), OMORI (Video Game), 光が死んだ夏 | Hikaru ga Shinda Natsu | The Summer Hikaru Died (Anime), グノーシア | Gnosia (Visual Novel), Yuppie Psycho (Video Game), さらざんまい | Sarazanmai (Anime) )

( CLAIMED - PH 18 - Tortall - Tamora Pierce, Emelan - Tamora Pierce, Chronicles of Narnia - All Media Types, The Saint of Steel - T. Kingfisher, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy, Stargate SG-1, Twelfth Night - Shakespeare, Paper Mario Series (Video Games) )

( CLAIMED - PH 19 - The Angel of the Crows - Katherine Addison, The Fairyland Series - Catherynne M. Valente, Sherlock Holmes - Arthur Conan Doyle, The Court Jester (1955), Little Women (2019 Movie - Gerwig), The Twa Sisters - Anonymous (Song), Chess - Rice/Ulvaeus/Andersson, Sherlock Holmes (1984 TV), Star Trek: The Original Series, NoPixel (Web Series) )

( PH 20 - Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses, Limbus Company (Video Game), 機動戦士ガンダムサンダーボルト | Gundam Thunderbolt )

( CLAIMED - PH 21 - Final Fantasy XII, Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (Video Game), Ancient Greek Religion & Lore, Original Work, Creator's Choice of Fandom, Alex Stern - Leigh Bardugo, Children of Time Series - Adrian Tchaikovsky )

mtbc

Our lack of SARS-CoV-2 vaccination provision in the UK is said to stem from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation's rather limited consideration of the impact of COVID-19.

My impression of COVID-19 is that there is enough accumulated evidence of risk of life-changing long-term effects, ranging from cognitive to vascular, perhaps also immunological, and enough extra risk from reinfection, that I should be fairly concerned given that our lives don't allow us to live like hermits, and that SARS-CoV-2 infection seems to remain an ongoing issue as mutations continue.

Also, that JCVI's assessment considered rather little of the above and that's most of why they don't judge it worth handing out vaccinations rather more freely.

I wonder to what extent I am mistaken in the above. Or, if not, if there are any good summaries that lay the case out clearly and persuasively, to help me be yet another source of pressure on our elected representatives. Also, how susceptible JCVI might be to political pressure, or if a rather more limited assessment is somehow required by their remit.

And, if JCVI were to be more expansive in the evidence considered, if that would actually change the cost-benefit sufficiently.

Part of why I suspect that I may not just be catching hysteria from the swivel-eyed is that American health insurers seem to intend to continue covering such immunizations. One would expect them to excel in brutally realistic analysis of health statistics.

thanekos posting in

scans_daily

Issue #3'd ended on Birdie realizing that her friend Wilson was also in danger from the VR game Nightmare Cemetery.

Her brother Pik was in a coma, mentally taken into the game by the " King of Sleep ". The King'd shoved one of his claws through her friend Enid's left eye while she was helping look for Pik.

Wilson had also been helping her - they'd both taken sleeping pills to get around the hard time-limit on their Dreamwaves, expecting to be able to wake each other up.

But she wasn't able to wake him. She was grounded by her worried and frustrated dad, able only to watch videos about other victims of Nightmare Cemetery.

( She found someone else who'd lost a sibling. )

Current Music: Open Spaces - GammaFlow

sholio

trickortreatex and

fandomgiftbasket both revealed this weekend. I have gifts to coo over!

Trick or Treat:

Beware of Gurathin Bearing Gifts (Murderbot, gen, 580 wds)
Fun and playful with some nice little cultural details, and a tantalizing hint of a future mission to come.

Fandom Giftbasket:

Jala, Tujula, and Fraught Understanding by

pushkin666 (Babylon 5, Londo & G'Kar, 700 wds)
This is lovely, a possibly-late-in-series vignette with a little bit of cultural exchange (via food/drink) and a little hard-won wisdom/acceptance.

Keepsake by

opalmatrix (Murderbot, gen, 3200 wds)
A really enjoyable, very slightly AU slice-of-life on Port FreeCommerce in which Ratthi takes MB shopping for the first time. Great in-character interactions and a lovely ending!

Zayd & Marwan by

celli (Murderbot, gen, 750 wds)
Murderbot, Mensah's kids, and cats. Cute and fun!

james_davis_nicoll

In case the image does not load or someone cannot read it: it is a Bluesky post reading "I firmly believe the Jays would have won had Diefenbaker not cancelled the Avro Arrow."

There are 7 reposts, 2 quotes, and 48 likes.

metafilter_feed

Posted by Dawn Trask-Dontell

https://www.metafilter.com/210898/Siinging-for-Animals-compilation-

YouTuber Plumes has a cap and a pink guitar and a willingness to sing for various animals. And the vertical videos he posts show his audience to be curious and even sometime participating. This 10 minute compilation has well over a dozen animals and all manner of songs. It's charming and gaentle and is a nice balm for the soul in these troubled times.

https://www.metafilter.com/210898/Siinging-for-Animals-compilation-

languagelog_feed

Posted by Victor Mair

https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=71801&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=are-you-ok

https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=71801

Zhaofei Chen recently came across a Japanese bath bucket (湯桶 yuoke) with a big “あ” carved inside. She says that it’s literally called “あゆおけ (ayuoke),” which sounds just like “Are you OK?”, a perfect mix of Japanese and English.

Etymology

/juwoke/ → /juoke/

From Old Japanese. Compound of 湯 (yu, “warm or hot water”) +‎ 桶 (oke, “a bucket or pail; a tub”), itself a compound of 麻 (o, “flax, ramie”) + 笥 (ke, “a container, especially for foodstuffs or tableware”).

Pronunciation

- (Tokyo) ゆおけ [yùóké] (Heiban – [0])
- (Tokyo) ゆおけ [yùóꜜkè] (Nakadaka – [2])
- IPA^(key): [jɯ̟o̞ke̞]

(Wiktionary)

Ingenious!

Selected readings

"Top Tier Taobao Trick or Treat T-shirt" (10/31/25)
"Mysterious sign in Japanese and Russian" (3/27/16)
"Katratripulr" (5/6/22)
"New expressions for karaoke: the phoneticization of Chinese" (9/25/21)
"I don't feel OK" (12/27/18) — I feel not OK
"Justin Bieber OK infix" (2/13/18)
"O.K. is rude" (11/27/19)
"If they give me more is OK" (3/26/12)
"Sure, I'll take a stab at it" (9/28/10)
"Not OK." (2/20/11)
"Keep on -inging" (10/30/17)
" The MaxPlanckForschung Cover Fiasco: How It Happened" (1/3/09)

(VHM note: the last two items explain how "karaOK" works]

https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=71801&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=are-you-ok

https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=71801

thisbluespirit

First things first: the week wound up being unexpectedly tiring/ill-making but for good reasons if also stressful ones, so that made me erratic again. But at this point it would be erratic of me not to be erratic, I suppose.

Anyway, got a lovely

yuletide assignment, so fingers crossed, but I was very happy not to be an initial pinch hit! Not in itself, because that can be very cool and the only time I was a fairly early (I don't think it was initial) pinch hit I got 3 treats, BUT I went all out for 4 super-obscure requests and I nevertheless matched with someone! There was a visible offer for Enigma which also made me happy, but that means nothing, as bucket offers are invisible & visible ones may well be offering/not offering characters that would prevent matchability. BUT STILL. Someone not me also looked at it and went, yes, there should be fic! XD

I'm determined to catch up a bit with my watching posts, and we now enter the point that it really did become the summer of the cosy detectives, and this is still not all of them, and I didn't even bother including s3 of Beyond Paradise which I also watched in this same stretch, or started, anyway:

* The Drama channel finally came through with s2 & 3 of Miss Scarlet & the Duke! They showed s1 in 2023, which I loved, and I've had to wait all that time for more & I thought they'd lost the rights to it or something. It felt like at least three years! Unfortunately, I did accidentally manage to miss the first two episodes, but overall, again a thoroughly engaging run & I enjoyed it a lot. My favourite ep was where she and her rival detective guy (not the Duke) got snowed in a hotel in France or somewhere and had to work together and against each other to solve it. Top notch, full marks for trapped together and rivals forced to work together tropes done v well.

Not technically a cosy though. It is a lot of fun and isn't especially dark but nevertheless nothing with this banger of an opening credit sequence can be counted as cosy. Only downmarks being for William and Eliza clearly never going to be getting together, although, tbf, they do have good reason for it. Anyway, excellent, would totally be fannish if I was writing much and could get hold of it properly.

* Ch5 then chimed in with Murder Most Puzzling, which was only 4 episodes long and my DVR bailed on recording two of them (there were a lot of things all on TV at the same time, it was difficult for it), but this was daft yet surprisingly good in many ways and starred Phyllis Logan, finally freed from Downton Abbey and allowed to swear and also solve crime as the famous Puzzle Lady, with the complication of her not in fact creating her own puzzles - her brilliant introverted niece with relationship issues actually did that. Is a bit hard to rate exactly due to missing half of a very short series.

* Drama's original series Outrageous, about the Mitfords, which I mentioned several times while I was watching it, and does remain one of the best new TV series I've seen in a while - lively, engaging, able to navigate the more serious aspects pretty well too & a great cast.

* Finally gave up on Ghosts (US) about two or three eps into s4, though, because while it can be fun and sweet itself too, there's just so much painfully formulaic writing in so many of the episodes, the scales tipped from fun-if-flawed to just not worth it any longer and I remembered that I can just tap out if I want to, so I did. (I mean, it does make me appreciate how damn good UK Ghosts was, but I can do that by rewatching it).

Then there were some films I watched upstairs (whether by iPlayer on my tablet, or managed to get to on the dvd despite summer) which I will write about and some I watched downstairs which I cannot write about because I watched them. They were good. I was extremely tired (ill). It was summer. It is ridiculous with the ME/CFS to note that, at the same time, with the same level of brain and (lack of) energy, I took in significantly more of the things I watched upstairs on a bed whereas things I had to watch downstairs sitting up, I'm just *shrug* I watched it. (I listed all these in a post once before, so I mentioned them already). But, yeah. It's ridiculous. It's no wonder people always just wind up thinking we're making it all up. (Please don't open the window, all my energy will depart and I need to be lying down to watch films, sorry. By myself. Quarter of an hour at a time. Very slowly.)

metafilter_feed

Posted by chavenet

https://www.metafilter.com/210897/To-ensure-that-gaming-history-is-not-forgotten

As an 11-year-old, I was captivated by the idea of these «lost» games – what they were like, why they weren't finished, and whether any still survived. That curiosity soon led me to start searching for them myself: contacting people in the C64 scene, digging through old magazines, and tracking down unreleased and unfinished games that had leaked out. I quickly realised that the original article had only scratched the surface – there were far more games out there that never saw the light of day. from Frank Gasking on preserving «lost» games [Spillhistorie]

Games That Weren't (GTW) is a large archive dedicated to documenting and finding lost/unreleased games across many different platforms. Running online since 1999 (longer if you count offline) and recently celebrating our 25th Anniversary in 2024. We are a non-profit archive with no financial backing, producing content out of passion for game history preservation.

https://www.metafilter.com/210897/To-ensure-that-gaming-history-is-not-forgotten