Recognizing that I'm doing "number 12 will shock you!", but since I think Petri deserves the click: the Maus bit is miraculously efficient. Stunning, gutting, multilayered, thought-provoking--and two and half lines long.

Slotted, Phillips, square (Robertson), star (Torx), internal hex (Allen), external hex.

Today: mid-40s drizzle. Monday: 87 and sunny, if predictions are to be trusted. I’m adjusting my confidence in my beliefs about weather sharply downward.

Inspired by this post, I wanted to mention some games of Osprey's which have really impressed me.

I’ve been thinking about what I would like in a bowl to hold fruit on the countertop, and I think it’s basically big, bowl-shaped crocs. Soft, but firm, with holes for airflow, and easily washable. Does this exist?

“Not for rinsing or washing,” they said. (Seen at Union Station.)

For my #Battletech and #Mechwarrior friends...

This Weeks Onion Magazine: You’re Not Wrong, Babies Are Getting Worse: Enshittification Comes For A Once-Beloved Classic

I think I might be … impressed? Is that the word?

Finally got a win in Unstoppable on the third try. The momentum-based nature of it feels so alien to me, in a fascinating way that just makes me want to really dive in. I’d been looking to try one of Clair’s card-crafters for years, and the upcoming Dungeon Crawler Carl game tipped me over.

@ryannorth.ca has a character, Angola Maldives (seen here: www.qwantz.com/index.php?co...), who is similar to but legally distinct from James Bond. Unfortunately, this origin is so distinctive that Maldives is a challenging vehicle for making points about originality and copyright. 1/2

We have a deal. theonion.com/at-long-last...

Thinking about favorite fictional robots, the ones that come to mind are Maximilian from The Black Hole and Mechagodzilla. Maximilian looked neat, and moved like Darth Vader, maintaining his silhouette and going for implacable menace rather than speed.

Biba Cat Suit, 1970s #BarbaraHulanicki #Caturday

A lens: politics generally pits shit oligarchs against mediocre others. But U.S. politics pits the world’s oligarchs against only the U.S.’s others. Seems to explain the GOP’s position on immigration and money in politics, the Dems’ ineffective opposition, and the general arc of things.

I was not overjoyed by the garage door counterweight spring breaking at 3am on my way to drop my kids off for a school trip flight. I WAS pretty satisfied, after returning from getting them there anyway, to have a spare with which I could fix it and be able to do so in 20 minutes.

Demonstrations of integrity in politics drive me bananas, because I know it could be faked and I would be fooled. But so few people in politics even bother to fake it. I don’t get that. I’m a rube! It takes like five minutes to craft a press release I’d think was awesome.

Did we all know that the second season of Deadloch drops this month??

I’d lay 50/50 odds that the rules about billing change so that people don’t see the full cost of AC this summer until mid-November in at least some places.

Apple should add a QR code generator to the share menu for websites.

One of the thoughts that struck me pretty hard recently is that most oligarchs have done something utterly morally repugnant which is one of their most treasured memories and motivates their current decision-making.

I don't quite understand why I write when I seem to find thinking & putting my thoughts into sentences extraordinarily difficult

More techs which excite me include vaccines, electric cars, house-level batteries, engineered wood strong enough for low-rise apartment buildings, uncrewed exploration (both sea and space), federated and/or distributed networks, magnetic induction stove burners, led light bulbs, and gender care.

It would be foolish for me ever to attempt to select favorite @ryannorth.ca quotes, but “February may not be a top ten month, sure, but it IS a top twelve month…” was an extraordinary reminder that it’s worth reading the captions on Dinosaur Comics.

MARKETS ARE OPEN!!! Space Warlord Baby Trading Simulator is live on Steam and ready for you to buy low, sell high, and SHORT! THAT! BABY! We're also announcing at least two months of free post-launch content starting... NEXT WEEK! store.steampowered.com/app/3642000/...

This... kind of makes me want to play Magic www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCQ5...

For me, acting as though this asymmetry exists even when it doesn’t is a useful hack to becoming gracious. Much of our cultural rot can be traced to the expectation that actions won’t have meaningful consequences.

I have confirmed that root beer in egg nog is very tasty. If you like the root beer left after the ice cream melts in a root beer float, it’s largely a shortcut to that.

Looking through the cast list for Nolan's Odyssey, I felt a lot of "yup, that's a great actor in a sensible role", but with a couple "fuck, yeah!"s for Charlize Theron (I don't expect to live to see a more perfect Circe), Elliot Page, and absolute legend Bill Irwin.

Replies to this post reminded me of the sociology book for kids I bought, couldn’t get them to read, but found fascinating. Having kids is a terrific opportunity to go learn stuff at a super-introductory level that you either missed, forgot, has changed, or just benefits from new context.

*walking in a winter wonderland* ME: where's bluebird? BIRD: gone ME: w... who are you? *bird looks around shiftily* BIRD: I'm new bird

Can you imagine the joy of knowing, when Mrs. Claus sees you come home, that the one trip out to leave a gift you remember making has resulted in every nice child on earth having a present? Must warm his database-nerd heart near to incineration.

Gather your gear ⚙️🔧 We've updated the character sheets for a whole bunch of our roleplaying games with form fillable versions! Find everything you need to get playing here: https://bit.ly/3yKLCpO 🎨 @tachyonart.bsky.social from Untamed Worlds

You will be visited by three spirits

Started rewatching A League of Their Own recently, and the talent in the cast just floors me.

For decades, I have proudly been myself in online spaces. I’ve long been uncomfortable with setting that standard, as I know others for whom it would be dangerous, but I thought it would better serve public trust for those for whom it was safe to be forthright. I no longer think so. 1/2

It’s interesting to think about what writing history or geography would be like in an age in which people mostly couldn’t check (that is, most of history). I’ve wondered how to explain how much harder research was before computers, but the vibes-all-the-way-down problem dwarfs it.

I just want to point out that, in everything I write, I am attempting to copy Dan’s way of writing, because my understanding of the essence of it is to contextualize everything within the broader concerns of living humanely. I sometimes degrade to “but what does this mean for Half-life 3?”.

This is why we need to normalize clothes with dinosaurs for adults. I may have the ulterior motive of wanting dinosaurs on my clothes.

I spent an embarrassingly long time deliberating on how best to fill out my order to take best advantage of the discounts before remembering that not all my holiday shopping for games is really for me.

Five animals I’ve seen in the wild: - mink - pika - moose - puffin - children

First, I need to choose Go Away, Monster. Incredible first game for preschoolers. It’s basically multi-modal shape matching, but when you end up with more than enough of something, you give it to someone else—and kids are HAPPY about it. ❤️ Plus, it introduces the idea of variable player boards.

Programming alert: new Ascension expansion (Legacy) just dropped on iOS, and likely Android as well?

Important, but expected news: if you take a Dark Chocolate Oreo and a Peanut Butter Sandwich Girl Scout cookie, and reassemble them as two half-and-half cookies, they’re delicious. Something to keep in mind when next you see a Girl Scout with an order form.

I played Blood Bowl in high school, and found it ponderous. Tried the video game versions—same thing. Blitz Bowl is where it’s at. I get that. But the third season edition they just announced has somewhat interesting humans facing off against Tomb Kings, and just look at these minis:

My local Barnes and Noble had both @3mbg.bsky.social’s book and Storyfold: Wildwoods. I love our independent, local book and game stores, but BN has gone from being a scary potential monopolist to a crucial bulwark against Amazonian dominance, which is a surprisingly groovy arc.

I once saw a meme which attributed swears to the Swedish Chef, and that stuck with me. From this I take the lesson that my longest-lasting impact on others might be something utterly goofy, therefore I am resolved not to stand in the way of my own goofiness.

“Well, well, well, not so easy … dammit.” —Bill DeBlasio in The Onion, I expect.

As someone with theater kids, this was a fascinating piece! The variety of considerations schools’ directors juggle produces a challenging puzzle (and I am reminded that school musicals are the best character education I’ve seen).