Try to think of something for which you are grateful every day. I have a reminder on all my devices for this daily and I think of three things.

Automattic, the company behind web content management system WordPress, told HKFP on October 7 2024 that it had received a take-down demand from Hong Kong authorities relating to the website of Flow HK. The company said it had not complied with the order and had notified the site owner.

Maybe their lunatic ceo will travel there and get arrested and end his bs battle against WP Engine. Sorry, the nerd in me latched onto this bit.

It’s really cool how countries (including China, plus my own, USA) meddle with people outside their borders. /s

Hooray for Charlotte!

Holy shit, I had to stop reading part way through the pedo section cause it just kept going and going. Roblox is fucked up.

Somebody’s got a tiny widdle nose!

Linode, Digital Ocean. I’ve worked with both in the past, but that was years ago so I don’t know how things are now.

I just tried it out using the same search string that I’d, just prior, run on the goog:

how many permutations of 9 digit number

Results were not encouraging.

I meant general computer backups, I just had trouble phrasing it correctly. As in, you and I probably didn’t backup our computers properly until we lost something. That’s how most of us get into backups. Similar here.

Agreed. You fucked up and now hopefully you learned from it. The reason any of us have (typical local) backups is because we lost data, whether a little or a lot. This is no different.

Many. There wasn’t fluoride in the water where I grew up for the first decade of my life. Tips:

Bring earbuds and clear it with the dentist that they’ll tap your arm if they need to talk to you. Have a playlist ready. If you can afford it / have the right insurance, ask for gas to help you zone out. If you feel pain, they didn’t give you enough novocaine. My dentist informed me that people with red hair are less sensitive to the drug and need more of it (she noticed my beard comes in kinda reddish when she told me about that). Don’t be afraid to let them know of discomfort; they want you to be ok during the procedure so not to make you avoid getting treatment right away in the future, thus making whatever problem worse.

You can maybe ask for a single pill script for a downer like zanex if you don’t drive to the appt.

Get a barebones mini-PC (no OS so you aren’t paying for a wasted license) to install Linux. Bring questions to the community (after doing your due diligence to show that you put in some effort on your own by asking questions that show that you’re trying). People are generally pretty willing to help out. Start with figuring out which distro is the right fit for you. Check out r/homelab and other homelab resources.

If all this is too overwhelming, take other advice from someone who makes a better pitch than I did. Good luck and welcome to the hobby that is known to take over your free time and money in a deeply enjoyable way. Cheers!

Time to plug one of my favorite podcasts: Stuff the British Stole

Eats crunchy foods (celery, carrots, etc) in shared office every day for lunch. Loudly.

It’s not the healthiest idea, but I find that I can fall back asleep after a snack and changing my location. If I wake up at 3am, I might eat a bit of cheesecake (or hopefully something not so fattening, but heavy foods work best, for me) and relocate to the sofa. I put on a podcast that I don’t care too much about (comedy or something that isn’t super cerebral) and I’m usually out again.

Get treatment. Depression is solvable. Therapy and (sometimes) medication can work. They both may require multiple attempts before you get a solution. Creds: bi-polar and frequent depression victim. Currently living a happy (mostly) life.

404media is one of the best independent journalistic sites available. They started one year ago, so they aren’t especially well know, but they are a four person org that came from places like Vice.com and wanted to get out of the corporate bullshit. You should check out their non-paywalled articles.

I’m willing to give up masturbation and porn in solidarity.

Edit: during the strike!

“Matt’s war against WP Engine has been polarizing and upsetting for everyone in WordPress, but most of the WP community has been relatively insulated from any real effects. Putting a loyalty test in the form of a checkmark on the WordPress.org login page has brought the conflict directly to every community member and contributor. Matt is not just forcing everyone to take sides, he is actively telling people to consult attorneys to determine whether or not they should check the box,” the anonymous contributor I spoke to told me. “It is also more than just whether or not you agree to a legally dubious statement to log in. A growing number of active, dedicated community members, many who have no connection with WP Engine, have had their WordPress.org accounts completely disabled with no notice or explanation as to why. No one knows who will be banned next or for what… Whatever Matt’s end goal is, his ‘tactics,’ especially this legally and ethically ambiguous checkbox, are causing a lot of confusion and mental anguish to people around the world.”

This is the sort of behavior that causes irreparable damage to a brand. Psycho.

Knowledge can be proven, like how a beautiful sunrise proves the existence of god. /s

There’s no god. As soon as we get that point across, we can start meaningfully improving things.

Schneier is one of the two security experts I have in my RSS feeds, the other being Brian Krebs. Bruce Schneier is a smart guy.

Parks. Not every state / city has good ones. We have awesome parks where I live. Not so much when we went to visit my family last month.