“Absolutely not,” Roberts said in response to the M&A question during an investor call this morning. “This is the right move to… Read more →
“Absolutely not,” Roberts said in response to the M&A question during an investor call this morning. “This is the right move to put each company in the strongest position to create value, fully monetize its assets and aggressively pursue its own organic growth strategies.”
Source: Comcast Split Is “Absolutely Not” A Prelude To M&A Spree, Brian Roberts Insists
i’ve been at my desk for half an hour and i’m Still sweaty from the half a mile i had to walk… Read more →
i’ve been at my desk for half an hour and i’m Still sweaty from the half a mile i had to walk from my car to the office
Remember that WKNA site that DuckDuckGo was citing to claim that Trump had died from rabies? It appears to be a pink… Read more →
Remember that WKNA site that DuckDuckGo was citing to claim that Trump had died from rabies? It appears to be a pink slime publication masquerading as a real local outlet, filled with fake news content that itself strongly appears to be generated by AI — and it very much seems to be cribbing from the r/poisonai subreddit, weaving the false claims into a fantastical alternate reality that seems to be fooling mainstream AI chatbots, and perhaps even some particularly gullible humans.
“Rabies awareness and prevention highlighted following death of JD Vance,” reads another headline from WKNA.
Source: DuckDuckGo’s AI Feature Is Telling Users That Trump Died of Rabies Earlier This Month
I’m very excited for this thing I’m regularly mad about to come back. 🙂 Read more →
I’m very excited for this thing I’m regularly mad about to come back. 🙂
I’ve been 37 for all of one month, though this month alone has aged me a decade. A cluster of recurrent issues… Read more →
I’ve been 37 for all of one month, though this month alone has aged me a decade. A cluster of recurrent issues at work—ghosts of bad decisions past—have returned to haunt the codebase, and since I’m the last soul standing from that era, the blame has naturally settled on my shoulders like a heavy, unfair shroud. Even the promotion I finally secured felt less like a triumph and more like a long-overdue debt settled with interest. But, enough about the corporate grind. To keep from spiraling, I’ve been retreating into a media diet focused on permanence: building a physical library that doesn’t vanish when a subscription lapses or a server goes down.
Still subscribed to too many things, but hopefully, over time that will be less of a factor when I can just grab a movie, series, book, or album I love off the shelf. I’m enjoying the ritual of listening to vinyl as well, though, I’ll admit I’m less likely to give up my Apple Music subscription for discovery and listening on the go. Gaming is a bit of a sore subject, though.
The new record player has been a total joy to use, offering a warm and unique sound that digital formats just can’t replicate. I chose Sufjan Stevens’ “Illinois” and of Montreal’s “Skeletal Lamping” as my first acquisitions because they are both complex, layered albums that really benefit from the tactile listening experience and rich acoustics of vinyl.
Sufjan Stevens,
Illinois (2005)
★★★★☆
This album makes my cry like a little baby while questioning what we might all have in common with a killer clown.
of Montreal,
Skeletal Lamping (2008)
★★★★☆
Mr. Barnes is always a delight, and two albums deep into his deep lean into experimental funk he may be at his peak for me.
There is a deep sense of satisfaction in building a physical movie library. Selecting “Rope” for its masterful suspense and “Speed Racer” for its vibrant, overwhelming visuals felt like the perfect way to start this collection. Beyond the aesthetic, it’s increasingly important to me to have high-quality media available that doesn’t rely on the whims of internet connectivity or streaming licensing deals.
Rope (1948)
★★★★★
The way this film gets suspense to build to the point that you’re staring at a door in the background in fearful anticipation is magical.
Speed Racer (2008)
★★★☆☆
Worth owning for the visuals alone. Felt a bit like Austin Powers and/or Spice World meets Spy Kids. John Goodman and Susan Sarandon are, of course, great.
Previously, I had invested in a digital library of movies that I’d add to whenever a sale was on, but some de-listing issues around some recently-dead stores have scared me away from leaning too far in on that—besides, most UHD releases include a digital copy anyway, so you get the best of both worlds.
Next, I’m wanting to grab some series on blu-ray. Starting with some of my comfort shows if I can find them.
I really would prefer the ability to pop a disc into my Xbox or cartridge in my Switch 2 and just play, but modern games tend to treat physical media as more of a license tracker than anything else. This is why the game key cards don’t upset me, because of drive speeds almost all physical blu-ray games have to be installed and updated when you pop them in.
So, for that I’m stuck building libraries across the walled gardens of Xbox, Nintendo, and Steam.
Books, on the other hand… I do want to start buying more physical copies. Frankly, my Kindle is nice, but a physical reminder helps me remember to finish a book and not just leave it on 45% complete sitting on an e-reader.
Plus, I really want to pick up some of my favorite comic arcs in trade paperbacks so I can enjoy them whenever I want.
Are you turning to a move physical media collection? Why or why not? And, if so, any advice on the video games of it all?
I woke up late today because I accidentally gave myself food poisoning somehow last night. So that was fun. I saw a… Read more →
I woke up late today because I accidentally gave myself food poisoning somehow last night. So that was fun.
I saw a notification that my order from Best Buy was out for delivery. I’m gonna start studying for certifications at work so I can get paid more so I ordered an iPad because that was always by best study setup in college.
Nothing fancy. Truly just the base model without any hopes of some new semi-sentient Siri or whatever they’re about to announce from the Google partnership.
It is blue, though. 😀
So I’m writing about waiting on a package to distract me from waiting on a package. This anxiety is killing me. I’m not sure why. If I don’t get it today I’ll get it tomorrow. Probably.
I have had bad experiences with deliveries that never arrive before. Or get delivered to the wrong address. So maybe it isn’t all paranoia. But the anxiety is killing me.
Optional anxiety, surely.
I’m listening to Who? Weekly and half paying attention to them answering calls about pop culture.
They’re currently ranking the ingredients for Trader Joe’s everything but the bagel seasoning from ‘who’ to ‘them’.
I got some of those tabs that make the toilet water blue. The color doesn’t make it cleaner it just lets you know when to replace the bleach tablet. But in my Mind, it makes it cleaner.
I just peeked out the window because I heard a noise and thought it might be the FedEx truck. No. The grade school kids are home from school.
As a kid I would sometimes stay up all night on Christmas Eve watching the marathon of A Christmas Story dry heaving from anxiety in anticipation about what I might and might not be unwrapping the next morning.
There are so many bees around the windows.
Almost 4:00PM and still no package.
I could have gone in for a half day at work after I was feeling better at this point. The package wasn’t even Supposed to be here until tomorrow anyway. They updated it to today. Sorry for getting the blue one that wasn’t in the store.
My neighbor is moving in August. He won’t even be here this summer at all, really. He’s a law student and goes home to North Carolina on breaks.
Fair enough. He’s met enough people in his first year to go somewhere and split expenses in a location that sucks a lot less than here with a lot better accommodations. But now I’ll have anxiety about rolling the neighbor dice again.
I wonder why they always put the white guys next door to each other.
I know personal blogs are boring and I’ll write about media and culture here soon. It’s why I made this silly little website after all. A place to put stuff no one will read.
I’m permanently banned from Google ads because after paying me a hundred bucks they said my interviews with porn stars constituted porn. So I’m fine with just not making money off of it. But that means it gets to just morph into what I need it to be whenever I want.
And. Where the fuck is that FedEx driver?
I was lying before when I said it was nearly four. It was 3:45. But now it is actually four and I’m starting to think of all the things my FedEx driver Marcus might be doing.
I go to Google how late FedEx delivers packages and see that it’s in my search history.
Maybe I should take a nap. Then when I get up it might be on my doorstep. Or maybe someone will have stolen it. Or maybe it will get too hot. I simply cannot have that.
I think my neighbor is doing laundry.
It only matters because every time I hate him on the stairs I think it’s Marcus.
Marcus is probably just overloaded with packages today.
Or maybe he had a family emergency. His little cousin that he and his wife had to take in after her mother Stacey went to jail for check fraud has the flu. My head would be all over the place. That’s probably what’s happening. God, I hope little Lilly’s gonna be okay.
It’s also possible that he’s an old nemesis from grade school that I can’t remember. I did know a Marcus in middle school. He got married to a girl I had a bit of a crush on once upon a time. Maybe he saw my name and still holds a grudge for me liking his girl all those years ago. He’s gonna let my packages slip under the seat for a few days then make sure it gets good and banged up before I finally get a shredded remnant of blue aluminum in May.
By the way, don’t eat French fries that you accidentally let thaw out overnight. You might have to live next to your toilet for a few hours.
Listen. It’s a Long month so there’s almost an extra week than normal between my paychecks.
I’m gonna go refresh the tracking page.
Nothing. Maybe the war in Iran has made gas so expensive that Marcus is stranded on I-85 as the world slowly slips into chaos.
I wouldn’t know, I haven’t voluntarily watched the news in six months.
The world is on fire but I can’t stop binging some weird British tv show or another that I can never convince any of my friends to watch with me.
Shout out to my sister who is giving me a bunch of cat food so my cats won’t starve until payday. Google Photos auto generated this montage of us:
Holy shit it’s only been seven minutes?
Where fuck is Marcus?
They upped my anxiety meds. They’re clearly working gangbusters.
Is it too late to redirect him to the FedEx store? Walgreens?
I hear a hydraulic brake!
It’s fucking UPS 🙁
Do y’all strain ramen before adding in the some of seasoning sachet or do you let the noodles cook in it?
I do a little of each usually, I do strain them before eating, though. Ramen isn’t a soup in this household.
More deceiving brakes in the neighborhood. This time just a minivan that badly needs to be serviced.
I believe in you Marcus.
We can get through this together.
I peer out my window after going pee just in case. Nothing.
Talking about Mortal Kombat movies in the group chat with Jacob and Tate. I love the first one because of watching it as a kid.
My cousin Elizabeth had the soundtrack and I thought those electronic songs were so cool. We would ride to the pool for the apartment complex my family lived in while listening to it.
Jacob and I are now scheming an elaborate plan to track Marcus down and procure my package ourselves.
How come only some packages get GPS tracking the day of delivery some of the time and others never have it?
I guess to stop people from going to them and asking for the package early.
IDK. I just need Marcus to get his ass over her already. What’s taking you so much longer than usual.
I’ve had to rush home in my lunch break so no one would steal my new phone twice now.
Now I miss those days we had, Marcus.
I’m giving up and just assuming I’m gonna have to deal with some FedEx bullshit.
Time for a beer and some video games.
🙁
Come on Anthony
I believe in you!
Marcus meant NOTHING to me. It’s all about me and you, baby. Us against the world! 🙂
It has now been re-rescheduled to Monday. Apparently they left the apartment number off of my shipping address and this is why it’s been back and froth so many times. Hate it here.
Header Photo by Deane Bayas
