** The Bulletin ** October 23, 2023
Hi everyone,
Originally, I had planned to get on a train and head down towards my destination—but Mother Nature had other plans. A landslide kind of… er, derailed everything. So, instead of doing something I was at least somewhat comfortable with, I quickly shifted my plans to become a plane ride. That was something I had never done before. I was so frigging nervous, but I needed to get to where I was going one way or another, and I wasn’t about to let my anxiety stop me.
Going through TSA kind of sucked as a first timer, but the folks at Albany International explained everything to me and it went just fine. From Albany to Detroit to DC, I was able to navigate the airports by myself fairly easily (somehow) and even ran into some folks who had to book a flight from Albany to DC because of the same landslide!! Isn’t that wild? Small world.
As everyone on this email list knows: I’ve been very secretive about where I planned to travel (when talking about it publicly), because quite frankly, I don’t like to talk about those sorts of things until they happen. It’s more of a privacy thing—and I’m also not the kind of guy to spam feeds with vacation updates. I dunno, it feels weird to me.
Now that I’m where I intended to go… I’m excited to announce (for the second time) that my destination was Washington, D.C.! Why am I here of all places? Well, I’m actually here visiting my friends Max and his partner Kolin! We’re going to be spending our free time together over the next few days, and it’s going to be a blast! This is the first trip I’ve ever done by myself, so I arrived anxious and overwhelmed — but all in all, the sudden shift to the plane went well, and now that it’s Monday I’m finally getting adjusted to everything. Today’s the first day where I woke up and wasn’t anxious about where I was or anything. Progress!
It took around six and a half hours or so, not including layovers, (which is shorter than I expected) and I arrived exhausted mentally and physically. Good news is, I didn’t literally pass out on the floor like I did when we got to North Carolina, though granted, that was an overnight trip where I didn’t sleep at all… This one was so much tamer. (I don’t think I’ll do an overnight car ride again unless I can take sleeping pills or something. That was bad.)
Okay, now that I’ve rewritten basically this entire email, and had a few days to recuperate… let’s chat. I’ve included a bunch of fun links and stuff for you in the interesting links section AND there’s a new Journal segment that just got its first entry!
New from The Journal
In a new segment I’m calling “Quick Reads” — I talk about Elon Musk sentencing his own platform to death. It’s going the way of the dodo, folks, at least in my eyes!
Things I found across the net
Anyone up for a mountain of links? No…? Too bad!
The company Analogue has announced that they’re releasing what is essentially a Nintendo 64 capable of putting its video out in 4K! And this just in: I want it. It’s launching next year and they’re promising 100% compatibility with the system’s library. I’m excited!
Microsoft has a problem — well, we know that, but I’m referring to this particular big one. It’s going to make a billion PCs, with no upgrade path to Windows 11, vulnerable when Windows 10 reaches “end of life” in October 2025. This includes but isn’t limited to PCs in schools, healthcare institutions, and more, some of which only released just a couple years ago. The company needs to reverse course, otherwise it’s going to cause an environmental disaster. (And don’t let them fool you, they can absolutely afford it.)
Also in sad news (for Microsoft), leaked data suggests Windows 11’s adoption is terrible. It sucks, and has system requirements that are astronomically (and unreasonably) high, so this isn’t that much of a shocker!
You ever wonder where the puppets from the classic stop-motion Rudolph Christmas special went off to? YouTube creator LSuperSonicQ tells the fascinating story in this video. It’s a great video, so definitely give it a watch!
The folks behind the Minecraft Wiki recently announced they’ve moved from Fandom to minecraft.wiki. Please update your bookmarks and muscle memory to use that address instead!
For the three people that use WinRAR instead of 7-Zip… it has a nasty security vulnerability. Update it ASAP.
In news from the Disney empire, the company is allegedly going forward with live action remakes of its popular releases such as Frozen, Tangled, and The Princess and The Frog. I’m not so sure I’d personally watch them, being a bigger fan of the company’s animated efforts (Elemental made me SOB!), but I see the vision and some will absolutely enjoy the adaptations.
And finally, here’s the roundup of everything announced at Minecraft Live 2023, courtesy of Liam from GamingOnLinux!
Strike Funds
SAG-AFTRA is still on strike—UAW recently went on strike—which means a lot of people are out of work. Instead of scabbing or crossing a picket line, please give to people in need if you are able! I’ve compiled a list below of funds I’ve independently verified are legitimate. Thank you!
[Also, if you know of a fund that I should add to this list, please send me an email!]
SAG-AFTRA Foundation — Helps SAG-AFTRA members urgently in need of financial and other assistance.
Entertainment Community Fund — the fund previously mentioned, which helps folks in the broader entertainment sector stay afloat while work stops.
UNITE Here Local 11 Strike Mutual Aid Fund — For members in Los Angeles who need assistance as the union works out deals with their hotels.
One day longer, one day stronger.
Alright, that about does it for this week’s Bulletin, thanks as always for reading. My mom doesn’t have any additional events going on until November, so it feels weird signing off a newsletter without mentioning it. As for me… well, I’m not going to be responding to many emails, and instead I’ll be spending the next few days with Max and Kolin! I’ve been looking forward to this for months—I’m excited to keep exploring a new area, and hang out with some really kind, and outright amazing, people!
I hope y’all have a wonderful week! My word of advice for everyone this week is to maybe not almost fall standing up nor take a header on the bathroom counter at like 3 in the morning.
Yours in anxious adventuring and not knowing how his legs and feet work,
Slade