This is a bigger change, but I switched to Bandcamp and listen to music I own. I like the process of finding music I like and saving it to my wishlist, and I mass-purchase whenever Bandcamp Friday comes around so the artist gets the whole paycheck.

It depends how much music you listen to though, and how much variety you need day to day. Realise it’s a bit more involved than algorithm based streaming but I also feel a lot more like I’ve built a library just for me.

This brings tears to my eyes, what a horrific and willful destruction of life. Seeing those poor creatures trying and inevitably failing to escape the net is just awful.

I need to do a lot of number entry for my work, and the southpaw TKC CandyBar saved my life. I liked it so much I immediately bought a second one just in case something happened.

Then I got a Prime_E. I think people over estimate how hard it is to adjust typing habits to accommodate layers and toggles!

Tested. Verified*. Obviously it depends on the quality of the output but we’re already past the point where the best models, with appropriate fine tuning, are noticeably AI on first glance.

*I work in market research, this is a sample of 3 creative tests.

Not an airport, no need to announce departures. You’re free to leave at any time.

A scream test implies you’re interested in keeping the things that work, which I’m not so confident is the strategy of the government any more…

I would love an MX master that’s half the weight. Or really just any ergo productivity centric mouse with ultralight mouse design philosophy. I’m too accustomed to a 70g mouse now.

Edit: after making this comment I decided to actually look into it, it does exist as the Keychron M6. I think I found my next mouse!

Others have offered fantastic advice, I’m not going to add anything from personal experience. I will share this link: https://fs.blog/david-foster-wallace-this-is-water/

Reading this isn’t going to change your life, but I find it very helpful to reframe how you think about life. It deals more with the long term impact of having a full time job, outside of work in a way that worked for my brain. Hopefully you find it helpful but it’s not a single solution.

Babies have to learn to be self sufficient as early as 12 weeks so that they can enter the workforce and learn to be oppressed sooner.

I’m not doing this to try and call you out, but I am curious - what link are you making here if it isn’t “sexual preference embarrassing”?

Seeing the public reaction to some of the military adjacent cases over the past few years has been incredibly disheartening (e.g. McBride)

Proud to say I accomplished that! My dad trained a fair bit. I did like 1 10km walk the week before we started, and I finished the 800kms with no real dramas, except the first day which was a massive climb. After 5-6 days my body was totally accustomed to the task at hand.

(Super irrelevant to the post but it was an awesome experience and I would advocate anyone to undertake it, regardless of your thoughts on religion. I am not religious but did find it spiritual in a way. I did it about 6 years ago and still think about it every week.)

When my Sliger SM550 proves too small for my next graphic card purchase (probably a while, on a 3080), I will probably look to Fractal Design unless there’s better cottage maker.

Something about the way the cases look is appealing, but there’s always been something small about them that hasn’t worked for my builds.

As in the route I took?

I do listen to music for several hours every day, and tend to buy an album about once every 3-4 weeks. But my pool of music now is very deep with albums, probably not as wide as most algorithm/streaming services could provide. Its a slow build though, I’ve been accumulating albums at about $10-20/month since COVID (and had a bunch of pirated stuff before then). On Bandcamp that amount can get you 1 or 30 albums depending on the artist.

As a a critic though you definitely are under different circumstances and I understand why streaming is probably hard to escape from. I still prefer when artists have their own websites but that comes with its own set of challenges! Luckily my national radio (Triple J, Australia) has it’s own artist platform for up and comers (Unearthed).

Thanks!

Yeah motocamping is a next level way to see a place. I’ve always been into camping, only riding for the last three years, but travelling off your bike and rolling into a campsite knowing that the only thing you have to do tomorrow is pack up and ride somewhere is so liberating.

Yeah that’s fair. I suppose I haven’t really considered that because I treat Bandcamp as a storefront only, and download + maintain my library locally. So if the servers died tomorrow the only thing I’d lose is the ability to purchase. In some ways the great fracturing of online platforms is bound to be a net positive for most communities.

It is, but if you only purchase on Bandcamp Friday then the platform doesn’t take a cut of the sales.

I know many people feel entrapped by streaming services, but I switched to Bandcamp like 10 years ago and have never been happier with my music habits. I buy music I like on Bandcamp Friday and store it locally on my PC/phone. Load up and take away as needed.

Sure, it’s a bit more effort to purposefully seek new music, but I love that process. Makes it a very deliberate listening experience.

I’m interested in the inevitable double whammy for those of us who grew up in both plastic and PFAS filled environments.

I can really see a future in my lifetime where plastic and PFAS exposure is identified as causing severe damage to humans and animals. I just feel utterly immersed in them whether I like it or not.