** The Bulletin ** October 14, 2023
Good evening folks,
It’s time for another edition of The Bulletin—and this one’s the last big one for a while! A week from when I send this, I’ll be getting on a train and heading of somewhere I’ve never been before. The destination is still a secret—but perhaps you’ll find out more about it next week. (I’m not super confident I can get that Bulletin out on time, but I will try!)
This week was rather slow, even with the impending travel and related responsibilities looming over my head. Thank you to everyone who came out to the 2023 Harvest Fest hosted by the Better Bennington Corporation, despite the hiccups. My mom did well and all things considered, we had a blast!
Last night, I hung out with a few folks on Discord and we ended up playing Among Us. I got to experience playing it through Parallels Desktop (Windows 11) on an M2 MacBook Pro, and it was… fine. Parallels is a fairly new piece of software to me so there’s a lot I don’t know, and none of the settings are configured properly for games. It’ll be some trial and error to get things in a usable state.
I also made a minor update to my website—it now uses the same font that I use for my emails to all of you. It’s not a huge change, of course, but it does offer some consistency when going from one thing I create to the next. I’m planning a website redesign that will incorporate the look of the Bulletin, so stay tuned for that. I might even share a sneak peek of that soon, as it’s coming along quite nicely. I don’t think that will be “ready for primetime,” so-to-speak, until after the Thanksgiving holiday here in the States, though.
Oh, and in events news: My mom — the amazing person behind Theodessa Designs — will be at the Fall Quilt Show & Fundraiser (taking place at First Baptist Church, 80 Main Street in Hoosick Falls, NY) from 10am-2:30pm. This is a smaller show than the last few my mom has done, so keep this in mind. Also important to note is that this is the last show that my mom’s doing for the next month or so, so definitely go if you’ve never seen my mom’s work!
Unfortunately, due to my aforementioned upcoming travel—I will not be able to be present at this particular show, so you won’t see me there. But, I hope you’ll come on down and at least say hi to my mom!
With all of that out of the way—we have a full Bulletin to get through. So, let’s do this.
Android 14 update…
When I published my Journal entry last week, I promised an update to the folks here on the Bulletin mailing list. So, did Android 14 fix the issues with my Pixel 6? I have to unfortunately report the answer is “kind of.” While there were some noticeable improvements, some things were still very broken and the Android operating system clearly needs some TLC in order to improve the service.
It’s entirely possible that it’s related to Verizon, but the fact of the matter is that my iPhone 12 has no problems whatsoever on the Verizon network besides the lack of towers in my area. So, I’m stumped.
In the meantime, my bubbles are blue again, and all of my friends and loved ones with iPhones are celebrating. Yippee!! Blue!!
Read the original blog post here
Things I found across the net
Babe, wake up, the unhinged maniac is back with a bunch of random links.
My best friend found this and let me experience it—but an Australian journalist named her son Methamphetamine Rules for some odd reason. I feel bad for that kid. You’ll have to experience this for yourself to understand why I completely lost it.
Looks like iPhones on iOS 17.0.3 are randomly shutting off for a few hours every night. Apple hasn’t said anything, but it’s becoming reported en masse now—so I suspect a fix is likely incoming soon.
As reported by Liam at GamingOnLinux: Valve’s latest title, Counter-Strike 2, has dropped support for macOS altogether. The company is citing advancements in technology as the reason for focusing solely on Windows and Linux versions of its game. (Apple requires developers to use their proprietary Metal API, whereas most prefer to use DirectX or Vulkan instead.) This begs the question whether or not Steam will be next, as their storefront still isn’t native on Apple silicon. Only time will tell… and that could be a long time, considering it’s Valve we’re talking about.
WTEN channel 10 is celebrating its 70th year in operation here in the Capital District… Congrats to the whole News10 ABC team on this amazing milestone!
Microsoft has FINALLY closed its acquisition of Activision-Blizzard-King after 20 (give or take) months of fighting with the US’s FTC and UK’s CMA. And unfortunately, Bobby Kotick is still CEO despite the fact that he’s reportedly responsible for the toxic workplace environment at ABK, and also that he was in Epstein’s “little black book.” That probably won’t be a forever thing, though…
It’s clear that Elon Musk has ruined Twitter, but he has ruined it so bad that people are falling for scams involving various company’s “official” support accounts… In reality, they simply paid for Twitter Blue and it makes any account instantly believable… The latest example of a company to fall victim to a fake is JetBlue—but as included Eli Lilly and Nintendo of America in the past. What’s funny is that Elon Musk claims this service reduces scams, but that’s clearly not the case. (BTW: If I use the company’s new names for its services, I would get this newsletter unintentionally banned from the platform I use. Instead, I’d implore you to never use the new name because Elon Musk is a moron.)
Stephen and Mallory Georg (plus all of their friends) are raising money for their local hospital, McLeod’s Children’s Hospital, in Florence, South Carolina. It’s their 12th annual charity stream on Twitch, and I just wanted to pass it along in case anyone felt compelled to donate and help them get to their goal of $100,000 USD! There’s more info here. (In total, they’ve raised over $430,000 USD for the hospital, which is absolutely amazing!) If you do donate, be sure to pick a game from the North American GameCube, Wii, or Wii U libraries (personally, I’d love to see them play Barnyard!) or specify the Roulette which can cause a bit of chaos for them, too. This is always a lot of fun, and I’m looking forward too it.
Here’s Tom Scott dying after doing a non-nicotine vape for a bit in a video. I promise, this is an edit, and Tom is very much alive.
And finally—there was a solar eclipse today, and NASA did a 4K livestream on YouTube with absolutely stunning visual quality on the whole thing. Give it a watch! Such a cool experience. And don’t worry, East Coasters, there’s another one coming up in 2024!
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.
And that’s all from me in tonight’s Bulletin. Thanks as always for reading my ranty little emails, and I’ll see you next week with a Probably Late Release™. Unless by some miracle I’m actually able to write something beforehand. Who knows. Life be crazy.
Yours in tomfoolery,
Slade
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