Since we're seeing a lot of very public descent into hate groups, I want to take a moment to remind people that you are never obliged to forgive; any who today join the fascists are owed no forgiveness ever after, and their repentance will be a lifelong act of atonement with no expectation of the reward of pardon.
Dwell not on the grudge, but you may refuse to forgive any who hurt you.
Progressive folks like myself mostly avoid mainstream news outlets, and tune into a handful of independent shows online.
And we're not just more informed - we're more *engaged*.
I think avoiding the mainstream bombardment and only engaging with the news in a controlled space gives us a clearer separation and allows us to better stay abreast of what is happening.
By consuming less news, we better process it and engage with it more healthily.
Being an independent researcher of sorts is frustrating. You really learn just how much information *isn't* on the internet, and requires you to visit libraries in other countries to rifle through 63-year-old newspapers.
Which, I mean, obviously I can't do... I can barely leave my bed.
Welcome to the public domain, THE SKELETON DANCE (1929). 🎞️ 🎶👻 Walt Disney Studios' first Silly Symphony cartoon is a wordless masterpiece of synchronized animation & music featuring dancing skeletons in a graveyard.
Learn more about the creative works from 1929 & sound recordings from 1924 that have moved into the public domain in the US in 2025: https://blog.archive.org/2025/01/01/welcome-to-the-public-domain-in-2025/
Subscriptions are far too prevalent these days. I just about get it for things that you rely on and use every day, but for an app that you might use once in a while and go weeks or months between needing it? You're still paying per month even if you're not using it!
More and more I baulk at subs these days. If there is a proper "buy outright" option it wouldn't be so much of an issue, but when there isn't it feels disturbingly like they'll hope you'll subscribe-and-forget, and that irks me.
I'd go so far as to state that subscriptions may be appropriate for things that rely on somebody running a server somewhere that needs paid for, but subscriptions for standalone, infrequently updated apps with no server requirement, and without the option to buy outright, are fundamentally scammy in nature, and only used in the hope that users will subscribe-and-forget.
I may actually like your app but that kind of thing is going to put me right off it.
Some may say "but the app is being continuously developed, you're paying for that!" Well, let me buy version 1 as it is now, and charge me an upgrade fee for version 2 if I want to pay for the new stuff. And so on.
That's the honest way to do it. 🐂
It's made me grumpy. I'm tired of living in a world where everyone is constantly out to trick, wheedle and dark-pattern stuff out of you on the sly.
Just charge a fair price for good work for smeg's sake. Piss off with the trickery, fucks sake. 🦬
internetarchive
a stinky ox 🐂