Just released a small little nicotine+ (soulseek) plugin that turns all your uploaded files into a playlist - was mostly just something I wanted as a more bespoke "shuffle" option. tangled.org/flankstaek.m... (or gh mirror: github.com/flankstaek/u...)

I sometimes keep the public chat messages on nicotine+ scrolling while I'm seeding. I think it's worth it for gems like these:

Is it crazy that I'm planning to fly all the way across the the country to see the Hotelier Goodness 10 year show?

Do climate deniers think people who believe in climate change are a doomsday cult?

This is an excellent summary of the US War on Iran current situation. I’m an existentialist and borderline absurdist and even I struggle with the current moment. This summary is just fantastic.

writings.hongminhee.org/2026/03/craf... Thought this article was very interesting and well written. I think it misses some additional comparisons but a prescient comment overall.

Can't stop thinking about a person using ChatGPT for dirty talk. "And not only am I going to make you moan, but also cum!"

idk how to rebuild society for this but i don't think people should be allowed to talk like this without it going very poorly for them

Spanberger is a moderate Democrat who used to work for the C.I.-fucking-A. It should put the actions of Schumer and Jeffries into perspective for everyone. Are they Republicans? Because they sure act like it. They need to get the fuck out.

I read thousands of pages of Epstein files this weekend trying to understand what he wanted out of his meeting with 4chan's Christopher Poole. Here's everything we know about Epstein's plans to dismantle the internet and, eventually, democracy. www.garbageday.email/p/here-s-how...

The resistance happening in Minnesota makes me proud, but it still feels so hard to have any belief that institutional change can happen.

Saw a cute cat taking a nap under a tree today, enjoying the pleasant warm weather before the snow and ice coming to Richmond this weekend.

Posted my yearly review & reflection for 2025: flankstaek.me/blog/2025-12...

First Christmas holiday evening with some Carne Asada on the new charcoal grill. Turned out great!

Got tired of having a static html site that was separate from my blog so I rebuilt my personal site in hugo to have both hosted from the same build. Hopefully inspires me to write more flankstaek.me

I don't begrudge anyone for streaming, but as someone that doesn't use Spotify I gotta say, I hate wrapped season. Nobody ever has interesting music taste.

Anti-fascistic software is made possible by pro-labor licensing. I've been trying to write this piece for years. Every time I get started I'm just overwhelmed with paralyzing visions of the FOSS commentariat accusing me of WrongThink. But I'm tired and we urgently need to get our shit together.

The news of senators caving to the the shutdown is yet another reason we should abolish the Senate. www.dsausa.org/blog/abolish...

Anybody who has watched the Times pull this shit for ages knows this game. Good piece.

Very excited to see these election results and I'm hopeful that we can carry this momentum into building something that actually resembles a left party in the US. Less hopeful the Democratic party will be that.

Sometimes I like to entertain the fantasy that maybe Trump is actually secretly intelligent but it's hard to believe it considering how stupid he is.

Stayin up all night watching Hotelier live sets

Trump reading the Epstein list out loud to the tune of The Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny

Happy Labor Day, enjoy Theo galloping into the water and swimming away from last month

This week at Fingers, I interviewed @resnikoff.bsky.social on the perverse relationship between parking minimums and drunk-driving, and why it's imperative to integrate bars and restaurants into broader conversation about housing density, zoning, etc.

Nothing is more disappointing to me than bands that only have their music accessible via streaming

Every recipe that leads with its macronutrients or "high protein" completely and utterly worthless to me.

Why does every clip of a show I see on dropout give such big theatre kid energy?

Anyone got any tips for dealing with the dissonance of having the world be on fire but everything just continuing normally?

Seeing first hand erosion of extremely intelligent people's critical thinking skills as they choose to rely on AI to think for them is disappointing.

Feeling vindicated in having gotten into an argument with a redditor about why Cobra Burger is better than Steak n Shake.

God I love the Richmond airport. Not even 5 minutes from curb to gate.

Are the next 4 years really going to be logging on everyday to sentences like "a 19 year old doge intern called Big Balls has your social security number" because I'm already at capacity for this sort of thing

Honestly just what I needed to read today: www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Beautiful and prescient piece by RVAMAG. Articulated a lot of the lingering nebulous worries present since the election with clear calls to action.

More post-mortem on the RVA water crisis from Sarah Volgelsong and Graham Moomaw at @richmonder.bsky.social Side note: This is also kinda why we need a strong EPA, which issued a 2022 report (i.e. warnings) about the water plant.

Happiness Hours by The Sidekicks is genuinely one of the best songs ever written and I'm tired of pretending it's not.

if we are all going to be forced to relive 2016, they should at the very least let us see mad max fury road in theaters again

I find it absolutely insane that whole the capital of your state is completely without water for over 24 hours now, with a brand new mayor struggling to deal with an unprecedented situation he had no preparation for, our vacant governor has not said or done a god damn thing.

Cannot wait until the day my coworkers stop telling me how they spent 30 minutes manipulating their AI text box to do what works have taken a competent engineer 5.

Continued my yearly tradition of reflecting on the year in music and books. blog.flankstaek.me/2025/01/01/2...

Why is every boomer just constantly sick?

I worship every Say Anything album. Weatherbox is the most underappreciated band of all time. Los Campesinos should be in the rock and roll hall of fame. And The Menzingers are the band Bruce Springsteen wishes he was.

finally finished downloading my limewire wrapped after 20 years

Four favorite albums from the 90’s, 00’s, 10’s and 20’s so far.

WSL is actually magic for developing software on Windows. As a dirty gamer that's unwilling to not have a windows PC it makes project development seamless without having to go back to dual booting.

I don't know what this is but the thumbnail is cracking me up