Darren

When I was assessed for (and diagnosed with) ADHD when I was 39, 5 years ago, I asked the psych whether my obesity was perhaps linked to it. He replied that, “no, probably not. Most of the people I see are thin”.

This had the double whammy of making me doubt my diagnosis and consider that I’m just an irredeemable fat cunt.

Which was nice.

Born in 80, so a similar vintage to you; and yeah, we have connections and information now, but I feel like we should have stopped some time around 05, before smartphones really took hold.

I’m absolutely willing to accept that I’m wearing the highest grade rose tinted goggles, but not having to do everything online certainly felt better than whatever all this is. gestures broadly

I remember what it was like before I could stave off boredom at any time, but even then I don’t think the convenience outweighs the problems. Though in fairness it’s not really the phones, but the companies who make billions from us using them. But those companies had nowhere near the same amount of power, and I can’t help thinking that was a good thing.

“This is 99% Invisible, I’m Roman Mars”

Welcome to the Gulf of America. I love you.

If you use Android, then this app uses spotdl. It’s really handy.

I dunno whether it counts: but that science has effectively cured AIDS.

In 2004, 2.1m people died from it. Twenty years later that figure was a little over a quarter at 630k. The goal for 2025 is 250k. I think that’s absolutely remarkable.

As a child in the 80s I was terrified of AIDS. It made me low-key scared of gay men because the news made it sound like I could I could get it from any one of them. And here we now are, able to provide a medication that can almost completely ensure that you will never be infected by HIV.

Astonishing, really.

There’s a tiny part of me that’s willing to allow that the people voting for him in 2016 just wanted to make their protests heard. Even though he was very, very clear who he is and what he stands for, people were struggling and made themselves heard in the shittiest possible way.

But the people who voted him in again, knowing exactly how it’s going to shake out could all drop dead at once and I wouldn’t shed a tear. Fuck every one of those cunts.

And a bunch of ads where its balls would be.

I have a similar rant with Docker.

On macOS there’s a Docker app. You can use it to install stuff, see what it’s up to, restart it and whatnot. On Linux you have to remember what commands you have to use in Terminal.

Why?!

There are loads of us out here who would appreciate a more user friendly way to use FOSS, but we’re made to feel like fuckin noobs because we don’t want to spend ages typing in commands when we could just press a couple of fucking buttons.

Anyway, apart from that I’ve been enjoying my adventures in Linux.

DOCTOR SPACEMAAAAN

I went to a Sikh wedding once, and spent the day hanging about with a bunch of the guests, all of whom were British or Indian. I spent the whole time amazed that they’d seamlessly switch between English and Hindi, apparently without noticing.

I’ve just gone from an iPhone 13 mini to a Pixel 9, and two weeks in I’m still amazed at how damn big it is. I still have the 13 and get a bit spun out when I pick it up.

It’s kinda sad that there are hardly any small phones anymore. I chose the 13 mini because I wanted a small phone that I wasn’t going to spend all day doomscrolling on, and that broadly worked well for me. This time I wanted a phone that runs GrapheneOS, and don’t need the expense of any pro models, so the Pixel 9 was it. And it’s huge.

I have an iPod that I use for music and I love it. I could put Rockbox on it so I don’t need iTunes, but I do really love the stock firmware.

Anyway, point is, my 2nd gen iPod mini has 128gb of microSD storage and is the best portable DAP I’ve ever owned.

Yesterday I watched a lad repeatedly mis-spell the word “Safety” and wonder why he couldn’t log in to the safety training hub we use at work.

He wasn’t typing fast, he just can’t spell.

I am really fucking tired of soundbite politics, of people saying a thing to rally their voters without any nuance at all. I know why it happens and I know that it’s always happened, but I wish it wouldn’t.

Of course young people find a day’s work stressful. Entry level jobs are almost always shit. You go from the easy(ish) life of full time education, into a world where adults belittle you while giving you tasks that they don’t want to do. For this you’re paid a minimum wage that’s impossible to live on if you’re under 21, and damn near impossible if you’re over 21. You suddenly have to pay bills, and have to choose between having a social life and being functional.

While all of this is happening, you escape into social media where you see people your age apparently making bank just by fucking about online. So you spend your time daydreaming and resentful that you have to go to a place you don’t want to be at an hour you’re not used to.

And despite your efforts, condescending shitheads like Liz fucking Kendall are there to tell you that your feelings on the matter aren’t valid.

So yeah, I’d say it’s stressful.

Yes.