FiddlerClamp

It reminds me strongly of absinthe. Wasn't that popular in Europe during that period as well?

Also useful for AR/video glasses.

Location: Toronto, Canada Remote: Only Willing to relocate: Not at this time Technologies: Technical writer, editor, business writer Resume/CV: https://www.linkedin.com/in/torontowriter Email: jonathan a cohen@gmail.com

I'm surprised there's only a single mention of RCA's Select-A-Vision. Basically a video record encased in a hard plastic sleeve that used a needle to read the analog data.

Clever concept, but doomed to failure by digital formats.

Location: Toronto, Canada Remote: Only Willing to relocate: No Technologies: Writing, editing (if you want someone who doesn't sound like or use ChatGPT) Resume/CV: https://www.linkedin.com/in/torontowriter Email: jonathanacohen@gmail.com

You sacrifice things - video games, TV, doomscrolling. There just isn't enough time to do all that and write. That's what most would-be writers are unwilling to give up.

I use Blogtrottr to get RSS clips for feeds by email. It's great for sites that are updated very infrequently, and you can choose the frequency of emails for a feed, from a daily digest to as-it-happens. Yes, there are ads in the free plan.

I agree that one shouldn't base one's self-worth on others, but often enough we rely on others for things that we want or need.

A job, friends, dating, a relationship - all of these are contingent on 'approval' from others in a sense. So being concerned about how employers, potential friends or partners view you is a natural thing. Unless you plan to live entirely separate from society, somehow.

If you find yourself an outlier to what others typically seek out, then it becomes a matter of whether you can find people and situations that accept your own offbeat, unique nature.

BoingBoing frequently has sponsored offers for lifetime subscriptions to products. At this point I won't even click through and check out the periodic subscription cost. Any company offering a lifetime subscription ought to know by now the chances of such a thing lasting is small.

One of the reasons I get immediately turned off as soon as I see a service (VPNs, etc.) being offered with a "one-time lifetime subscription cost." Nope. Not going to happen. Either they'll change the terms down the line, shut down, or be acquired by someone else who'll change the terms.

With a monthly or yearly subscription, at least you can calculate how much you're spending per unit of time. For a 'lifetime' you have no idea how long that single purchase will be spread across.

This could really use a bookmarklet, FYI.

It's got no dialog, no characters, no real scenes. It's a summary of a plot, not a story.

ASCII art (in slightly different form) was around before the 1990s.

Starting in the mid-70s there were photo booths in malls where you could get a photo taken and it would be converted into a very crude image dithered in digits, then printed onto a T-shirt. (1)

When I was learning typing on a manual typewriter in the very early 80s, there were books with rows of instructions like 'type 30 X's, then 10 spaces, then 20 Xs' which would result in primitive ASCII-like art of cats, owls and the like. I don't know how old they were.

(1) https://petapixel.com/2012/07/20/atari-compugraph-foto-an-as...

C1 wasn't Windows compatible at first, and this one doesn't come with desktop Windows software (only Mac software), if you read the fine print. Something to note.

I have happy memories of Dad driving me home from Hebrew school Sundays and hearing those beeps on CBC radio...then the pregnant pause, then the longer beep and the news. Definitely a weekly ritual.

It's very vaguely reminiscent of the wonderfully swoopy eMate 3000 from 1997.

Harvard Graphics was more charting software. A bunch of office suites in the early/mid-80s had the 'required' charting module.

Harvard Graphics truly was horrible to work with. Very unintuitive. PowerPoint felt like a revelation in comparison.

MechVibes - https://www.mechvibes.com

What's the best way for a sighted adult to pick up Braille?

I worked as a secretary in a brokerage firm in 1987. They had electronic typewriters with name/address storage and mail merge functionality. I'm sure PCs must've come in only a few years later, but it was definitely possible before then.

I use a reusable flexible plastic bowl and popcorn from a jar I pour into it - inside the microwave. Wonder if that's just as harmful.

Tech news: https://www.techmeme.com/river (mostly US) Political news: https://www.memeorandum.com/river

After seeing Biosphere 2 we went to see Arcosanti, about 3 hours away: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arcosanti

Arcosanti is/was a planned experimental town with a similar 'out of this world' vibe, but a very different approach.

And don't bother with the remake!

For the past 20 years, I've been using the 'zap' and 'zap images' bookmarklets from this web site:

https://www.squarefree.com/bookmarklets/zap.html

They don't work on every site, but they're a good start. 'Reader mode' bookmarklets like https://github.com/lordastley/readable can often be configured for simple white on black text too.

Deglycyrrhizinated licorice (DGL) does not have the same cardiac effects, and has been used as a herbal remedy for ulcerative colitis and similar issues. It's available as a supplement - of course, not making any medical recommendations here and YMMV.

Windows users can set any (or all!) of these as actual screensavers using this little utility I found: https://github.com/cwc/web-page-screensaver/releases

I remember playing Skiing on my TRS-80 Color Computer in 1980 and being pretty impressed by the (crude) 3D graphics: https://youtu.be/ex1QblMz_nU?t=404

You can 'sideload' DRM-free MP3s into Spotify on iOS, Android, and desktop: https://support.spotify.com/us/article/local-files/

I wish they would provide a meat substitute in Canada with a no-sodium-added version. I understand our diet is heavily salted and sugared, but it would be great for those of us on special diets (or caring those who are).