Sven Slootweg (soft-deprecated) @joepie91@pixie.town

this is probably the most funky errata I have ever seen

Five juvenile ravens moved into town during a recent cold spell. They’re a little bit too boisterous to capture easily in groups but will pose for you occasionally. I have an unreasonable liking for the one with the autofocus mishap. And bonus starlings

Icelandic horses seem unconcerned by the frost

hey fedi, do you have the link to that funny warning sign generator?

Can’t believe we’re already in the time of year where @TechConnectify starts painting lightbulbs in festive colors

fedi pls recommend me some peppermint tea bags available in the US that don't come with each individual sodding bag wrapped in plastic, boosts OK

EDIT: Celestial Seasonings it is then, thanks everyone and sincerely screw you Aldi for giving me another job to do, mumble grumble bloody Bennings mutter plastic crap changed the packaging etc etc

My therapist: It's important not to use your bed for anything other than sleep.

Me: I'm pretty sure Goosey [my cat] doesn't follow this rule. I frequently see her sitting with her eyes open in several of her favorite sleeping spots.

My therapist: Goosey doesn't have insomnia.

#Cats #Insomnia

#PSA #Authors #Writers #ScamAlert

Bad press alert: #Dreamspinner is once again soliciting submissions, despite the fact that they have not paid royalties owed to some of their authors for over six years!

Here's @victoriastrauss of Writer Beware on them, back in 2019:

https://writerbeware.blog/2019/09/13/authors-concern-grows-over-late-royalty-payments-at-dreamspinner-press/

@eniko I've used a projector instead of a TV since I think 2019 and it's been Great.

Bloke on Craigslist sold me a conference room projector for like $300, it was great. Lady on local Buy Nothing group put up an Optoma that didn't work, it just had a knackered colour wheel, ten minute swap job, sold her the old conference room projector cheap, it's Great.

As with anything, used is best; if you spend €250 on a new one it'll be shit, if you spend €250 on one that cost a grand a few years ago you'll be smiling. Office types go through projectors like they go through computers, buy a whole new fleet every few years whether they need them or not so the middle managers look like they're doing something. The old ones show up eventually on Craigslist or eBay or liquidation sites. See what's available in your area and before buying, check prices for lamps (last a couple years) and colour wheels if it's a DLP (last longer, but they're a spinny mechanical part and do eventually wear out). Most importantly plug the model number into https://www.projectorcentral.com/projection-calculator-pro.cfm and that'll tell you how well the projector can fit into your physical space. Nearly every projector has vertical keystone adjustment to give you a bit of wiggle room, some have horizontal as well, some do it by moving physical parts (good), some do it in software (usually acceptable), it's best to not need it but it's there if you do.

You can project onto a screen or onto a blank bit of wall if your walls are light coloured. Screens also come up cheap on craigslist. Just like with thin TVs the sound will be shite, you'll want external speakers (fancy 5.1 home cinema systems are great but you can also use a free old BlackPlasticTat hifi system from the 90's outta the skip if it has a line-in and you get a HDMI audio splitter). You'll want to dim the room and the contrast will not be great but yaknowwhat, it's bloody hard to argue with a hundred-inch picture for less than half a grand.

This is another thing I need to make a blog post about on my blog that doesn't exist