Jackie's Fridge

I also have to use it for work. I don’t know if it’s Adobe, or Windows 11, or a toxic combination of both, but not a single day goes by where I can just create without things randomly breaking. Illustrator stops letting me drag with the direct selection tool. Premiere switches to hotkeys as I’m typing text. InDesign…actually InDesign has been behaving.

But literally all the other Adobe apps will break AS I’M USING THEM - like, an action I’ve literally just done suddenly doesn’t work or glitches out. A couple weeks ago Premiere and Photoshop would literally crash on open. The day before they were both fine.

I have Gimp, Inkscape, and KdenLive installed just in case.

I use a Kaweco Sport as my daily driver.

Bonus: Nobody ever “borrows” it at work because it confuses and terrifies them.

Seriously. USA is like the generic video game starter character before anyone’s had a chance to customise it and level up. At all. And I say that as someone who lives here.

She vaguely thinks there may be something out there but it has zero bearing on her life. I think that makes her functionally an agnostic atheist.

Another vote for the T480. I have a T480s running Mint and it’s been lovely. No driver issues and for office/light media creation/consumption it seems to work without a hitch.

A Mary Sue can fail, but those failures don’t usually have a massive impact and are easily reversed without the feeling that the MS had to struggle to earn the reversal.

The more flaws a character has, the more they have to work to balance them out. Readers are more likely on the side of a character that has to work and make sacrifices to make it through the difficulties the plot throws at them.

Random Example: Diana Rowland’s “My Life as a White Trash Zombie”. Protagonist Angel has a criminal record, drug addiction, abusive home life, and generally makes very bad decisions. Because of her life course, she has very few resources (she can’t go to the cops, nobody she knows has money or connections, etc) but she can think quickly and has a sort of desperate resourcefulness. Because everything is working against her, she has to fight for any positive forward movement, and one misstep can be a serious threat - and those happen frequently, undoing any success and forcing her to burn her resources to try a new path. IIRC in one of the books the B-story is her trying just to earn her GED as the main plot around her is utter pandemonium. Just that struggle to graduate high school is a herculean task given the deck stacked against her. Readers aren’t thinking “how will she win”, they’re thinking “well what’s going to go wrong this time?”

TL;DR: If every time your protagonist has a setback the readers shout “can’t she ever catch a break?” instead of “ah she’ll just breeze through this” you should be doing okay.

YOU WOULDN’T DOWNLOAD A MOUSE

Little Kitty Big City. It’s cute & charming, a little glitchy here and there, and makes me smile. I’m not trying to speed run the thing, just collecting hats and trying to hit all the goals.

Same, but I always read it in Nandor’s voice from What We Do in the Shadows

It’s a short series (six episodes so far) but with two more in production: The Devil’s Hour.

Go in blind, don’t spoil it for yourself.

If you like a series that gives you all the clues but none of them fall together until the last episode, this one is dark, brain-bendy supernatural mystery with an excellent cast.

Yeah he tried getting into business but when that didn’t work out he started yelling at clouds.

The Former Guy. He was in Home Alone, starred in some reality show and sold steaks for a while.

Listening to other people, especially to women, is a skill. Don’t spend silent time in a conversation waiting for your chance to speak or be smart or witty, stay quiet and really process what you’re hearing. Imagine yourself in their situation. Accept that what they say is exactly how they feel.

The less time you spend talking, the more your conversational partner will tell you, and the more you will start to understand them, their lives, their goals, and their anxieties.

Knowing and understanding other peoples’ experiences will help you not only make better decisions in your own life, but understand why other people act and think the way they do. You’ll be less likely to snap-judge or make assumptions about others. And knowing more about your loved ones, co-workers, and neighbours will allow you to help them effectively if they need it.

And travel abroad as much as possible - listen to people from other countries and cultures. The human experience is wildly varied and endlessly fascinating.

If you like twitchy reflex killers, two oldies-but-goodies from Terry Cavanaugh: Super Hexagon and VVVVVV.

Fun chiptune soundtracks, minimal graphics, and so much “I died already? Okay just ONE MORE try and then I really need to get some work done. ARGH - okay maybe ONE MORE try…” And when you finally succeed the dopamine is second to none.

The Room series are great games.

It’ll be fun while it lasts.

The Moondrops are solid, and considering the price, they’re excellent. Not flat sounding by any means (they’re what Kids These Days call ‘fun’) but good quality and cheap enough that if they break I won’t feel bad.

The new Mini firmware sounds pretty solid. If you like the LSDJ style of tracking give the M8 a try. The next wave of Model 2s should start shipping toward the end of the month, so you might start seeing Model 1s for better prices on the local used market. Barring that, you could try M8 Headless for the price of a Teensy 4.1 board. That was how I started!

Appreciate the inclusive first sentence! My keyring has keys, a Leatherman Squirt, flat-folding nail trimmer, AAA Maglite, and a leather invincible star charm from Mario. I also keep with me a bandanna (with a glasses cloth folded inside), a leather wallet similar to this design, and a Leatherman Juice Pro.

Phone is a beat up Note 8.

In my bag I tend to have a little sewing kit in a mint tin, small bandages, Ibuprofen, tin of petroleum jelly (way better than Chapstick) and a Dirtywave M8 hardware tracker for when I’m bored.

Of course in the M8’s dedicated case there is an OM System LM-P5 field recorder, aux cable, USB-C cable, Moondrop Chu2 IEMs, various headphone adapters, a microSD card reader & adapters, and a TRS midi A-to-B adapter. And the M8 itself.

It’s like a nesting doll of comfort devices. I won’t survive the apocalypse but I’ll be able to distract myself while mutants eat my flesh.

Yup, that Open Args deep dive into chevron deference was an eye opener and called this one years ago. Sucks AT turned out to be That Guy.

You’re right, of course. Patent illustrations traditionally show the item only from behind.