• A week of much-needed rest…

    ** The Bulletin ** – November 4, 2023

    Hey y’all!

    It’s me. I haven’t worked on anything at all this week—I decided to take the time to rest and recover from my trip, but mostly the last plane ride. I didn’t realize how much I needed not only the time with my friends, but all the R&R I got while I was on it and after, too—both physically and mentally. We talked about it briefly in the Bulletin last week, but I learned a lot about myself, and there’s a lot I need to do in order to keep getting better. Part of that includes focusing on my future, what I want to do, and where I want to be. So that’s what I really put my time into this week, and I will continue to do so over the coming months and 2024 as well.

    Well, everyone, this week’s Bulletin is rather… boring. But, like, not a bad boring. It’s a nice boring, as all it means is that I don’t need to think too hard trying to put this together! Makes life easier.


    The Bulletin is now on Substack

    You’ve probably noticed already, but The Bulletin has moved to my Substack account instead. If you’re getting this in your email inbox, you’re all set and don’t need to do anything — you’ve been added to the free tier and will continue to receive The Bulletin as you always have. However, you’ve also unlocked a new additional benefit: access to a handful of new stories, writing pieces, and more each month—on top of this weekly email. How cool is that?

    Paid subscriptions will come eventually, but I’m not rushing it. I’m happy where I’m at with this right now, so long as it gives me a space away from social media to just be. I’m not really into the whole idea of locking everything I make behind a paywall unless it has some sort of benefit (like my longer writing pieces I’ve never shared but am particularly proud of, for example!), so we’ll see what happens…


    • For the Soapbox this week, I got up and talked about how I misunderstood Pokémon Scarlet and Violet. It’s funny, my friend Kolin actually convinced me to give it another shot while I visiting in DC… so I did. Now I’m hooked on Pokémon again. Gotta caTCH ‘EM ALLLLLL…!!!


    This week’s soundtrack

    I’m kind of a Spotify addict, so I happen to listen to a lot of music. Here’s what I’m currently listening to—usually on repeat. Here’s what I’ve got for you, for the week of November 4, 2023

    If you have any suggestions for Christmas music I can add to my playlist, please let me know! My mom and I (ESPECIALLY my mom) love this time of year—so we’d love to have a good variety of stuff to listen to. You can email me at [email protected] or send me a Tweet or something! 🙂

    Thanks to Songlink for making all these streaming platform-agnostic!


    Things I found across the net

    “THIS JUST IN: An unhinged maniac from the middle of nowhere found a bunch of things on the Internet and is now going to subject you to all of them. Our apologies.”

    • People have wondered, what exactly can you connect to the iPhone with USB-C? Well, 9to5Mac’s Benjamin Lovejoy wrote up this lovely article that explores just that!

    • Via 9to5Google, Gboard is going to be getting a Live Text-like feature very soon. Here’s all the info on it!

    • Here’s everything Apple announced during its Halloween-themed ‘Scary Fast’ event, thanks to Juli Clover at MacRumors. (Most notable is a refreshed 24” iMac and the introduction of the M3 family of chips!)

      • Apple has officially discontinued the Touch Bar, leaving the 2022 13” MacBook Pro as the last computer to be released by Apple with one. Leave me alone—I’m sad and I really love my Touch Bar.

    • There’s a new 3D Sonic game coming out on Apple Arcade that I desperately want to play. The trailer for it looks awesome and is very well done. (I’ll admit that I’m a little sad it’s going to be Apple exclusive, though.)

    • In boo, you stink! news: HBO is taking away 4K from grandfathered subscriptions, which seems like it should be illegal? I’m not a lawyer, I don’t know. What I do know, however, is that it’s a really scummy move… Boo, HBO!

    • I am very thrilled to see that Toontown Rewritten is still chugging along after all these years. They didn’t sponsor this, but they’re easily the best fan recreation of the old Toontown Online game that Disney shut down all those years ago. If you fancy a bit of nostalgia, it’s more than worth your time! And it’s free! (I’m totally going to get back into it at some point…)

    • In I need to start playing Pikmin Bloom again news, the game has turned two years old, and there’s a celebration event going on RIGHT NOW until November 26th, 2023 (so, Thanksgiving, basically). Here are the details from Nintendo!

    • In a move sure to cause confusion, Russell T. Davies is rebranding the Fifteenth Doctor Ncuti Gatwa’s first season as “Season 1”why? Let’s not, Russell, this show is already confusing enough.

    • And finally, in really cool news, here’s the sign for the Nintendo Museum that is slated to open in Japan next year!


    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!]

    One day longer, one day stronger.


    In conclusion, it was a slow week—just the way I like it. I didn’t want crazy, and I didn’t get crazy. What a blessing!

    See you next week, everyone.

    Your local tortoise,
    Slade

  • I'm home, y'all! What a wonderful week away.

    ** The Bulletin **
    October 29, 2023

    Evenin’ everyone,

    I’m back home (in fact, my actual place of usual dwelling) from a wonderful week-long trip visiting my (now close) friends Max and Kolin in Washington, DC. This was my first time seeing them in-person—and I’d do it again in a heartbeat. Their kindness, love, and compassion are unmatched. They’re even better friends. It’s rare to find people like them in this world which is something I’m so grateful for. If you’re reading this, guys: thank you for this wonderful week—here’s to many more years of our friendship!

    And who knows… maybe I’ll be living a little closer to y’all sometime in the not-too-distant future! The tides are starting to turn on that!

    (for the rest of you, we’ll talk about that another time—when it’s right and things are a little clearer. It’s still very early days and I don’t want to talk about it in detail publicly quite yet. But that’s your little tease.)

    As of writing you this email, I’ve pretty much avoided posting pictures from vacation—primarily because the onslaught of Facebook notifications I would’ve received probably would have made me want to throw my phone out the window. I also wanted to actually enjoy the trip without blasting it on socials and show my parents a few shots from the trip first before saying anything.

    I’ve found comfort in mostly keeping this trip to myself, Max and Kolin, plus my family (of course). There’s something to be said about barely looking at Twitter for a week, not watching tons of arguments go down on Facebook, not getting overwhelmed by the amount of people my age expecting their first or second child whenever I open Instagram. I’m going to try and continue this practice in my every day life as well.

    Unlike Max, I’m not a big social media guy. Obviously I’m on social media (it’s how I met Max, actually, Kolin’s the only one I met in-person first) but I use it more for leisure and casually posting about random stuff. I’m not a serious user, although many years ago, I used to be. It’s not my style anymore, because I find it really easy to get addicted to, and it makes me feel horrible after a while.

    Anyways… I digress.

    I have an announcement regarding the Bulletin’s future. At some point in the near future, we will be migrating from MailChimp to Substack. Why? I’d like something I can share out easily with people who aren’t subscribed as these Bulletins come out. (There are a myriad of other reasons, but thanks to Max & Kolin for the inspiration.) It’s still early days, so I have nothing to announce, but Substack is waaaaaay more powerful in terms of what you can do with it (including starting paid subscriptions, etc.), so I’d prefer to move.

    Most importantly, no action is required on your part when the transition happens, you will simply start getting emails sent from me via Substack instead. The list will get migrated just fine. I’m going to try and move it this week, but I’m not going to make any fanfare about the move. These two paragraphs are the fanfare. After that, all new subscription links for this old Mailchimp list will redirect to Substack, no problem.

    Speaking of the Bulletin: we have a couple new sections! Which means… it’s time to dive into this week’s goodies. Let’s go!


    Introducing Buried Alive & Buried Alive (Blue Edition)

    I’m elated to announce Buried Alive and Buried Alive (Blue Edition) — this is the book I’ve been pouring my heart and soul into for a while now, but have been dreaming up for around 8 years now. Seeing it finally come to life is wild.

    The Standard Edition will be available from SladeWatkins.com starting June 7, 2024.

    The Blue Edition contains three additional bonus chapters primarily from the 5th and 6th grade years. It will be available from SladeWatkins.com starting June 7, 2024, and will leave sale on December 6, 2024.

    Learn more here


    This week’s soundtrack

    I’m kind of a Spotify addict, so I happen to listen to a lot of music. Here’s what I’m currently listening to—usually on repeat. (And no, I’m not sorry for the holiday music that’s starting to appear.)

    And thanks to Songlink for making all these streaming platform-agnostic!

    Check out stats.fm/sladewatkins!


    Things I found across the net

    It’s spooky season, but only a handful of these are spooky. Big oops on my part, huh? Maybe next year I’ll be back into the Halloween festivities with friends or something… I dunno. Only time will tell!

    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!]

    One day longer, one day stronger.


    That’s it from me for the week. That was a lot to put together on very little sleep (thanks, flights messing up my ears!) So… I’ll see you next weekend for something (hopefully) a little easier to put together.

    Exhausted, but so damn grateful for the amazing friends I have in my life:

    Slade

  • Buried Alive Book Cover and Release Date Reveal!

    I’m very excited to reveal the book cover of Buried Alive, a memoir (of sorts) detailing my life from Kindergarten through Grade 6. I say “of sorts” because it’s really just me sitting down and telling you stories from years long past.

    This book has been over a decade in the making, dreamed up in 7th & 8th grades, and soon, it will (at long last) be yours. I cover a lot of ground with this one, so buckle up, because it’s going to be quite the ride!

    Buried Alive (Standard Edition) will be available for download from SladeWatkins.com/book starting June 7, 2024.

    Also introducing… the Blue (Day One) Edition, which is the first of three colored editions. Buried Alive (Blue Edition) includes three chapters with additional stories primarily from 5th & 6th grades.

    Buried Alive (Blue Edition) will be available for a limited time from SladeWatkins.com/book from Friday, June 7, 2024 until Friday, December 6, 2024. (And yes, those dates are significant to me. There’s a reason I chose them! )

    We’re far from done with announcements, but I’ll save those for another time. For now, let me end with this: if you made it this far, thank you–it feels so good to be writing again, and I’m so looking forward to FINALLY getting all this off my chest. Let’s do this!

  • So, I got on a plane…

    ** 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

    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!]

    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

    Visit SladeWatkins.com

  • Elon Musk Basically Sentences Twitter to Death

    It was revealed yesterday that Elon Musk’s social media platform is “testing” a $1/year subscription in order to do literally anything on the website formerly known as Twitter. I don’t think I need to tell you that this is absolutely garbage, and ‘testing’ in Elon Musk terms quite literally means ‘rolling out slowly.’

    This is simply the latest in a series of cash grabs from Twitter’s new ownership, as they struggle to stay relevant and afloat amidst a series of bad decisions from the former CEO and current head of product Elon Musk. I mean, link embeds look terrible now, and that’s because of Musk (who can’t even correctly spell the word “aesthetic” in any tweet he makes.)

    As a reminder, Twitter’s premium subscription still has less than a million subscribers as of April 2023. So that being said, putting Twitter behind a paywall of any dollar amount will absolutely, without a doubt, kill it for good. And as another reminder, Linda Yaccarino didn’t even know this was going to happen when asked in an interview at Vox’s Code Conference last month.

    “Can you repeat?” Yaccarino asked.

    “Elon Musk announced you’re moving to an entirely subscription-based service,” Boorstin said. “Nothing free about using X.”

    “Did he say we were moving to it specifically or is thinking about it?” Yaccarino asked.

    “He said that’s the plan,” Boorstin said. “Did he consult you before he announced that?”

    “We talk about everything,” Yaccarino said. She never clarified X’s plans.

    [The Verge]

    And honestly? Maybe that’s for the best.

    I’ll see you on Threads, Mastodon, and Bluesky. Twitter’s going the way of the dodo—and it’s all thanks to Elon.

    The post Elon Musk Basically Sentences Twitter to Death appeared first on Slade Watkins.

  • That's… a name. Plus, a chaotic week ahead.

    ** 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!]

    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

    Visit SladeWatkins.com

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  • Sad news: Walter A. Wood Craft Show Cancelled

    ** Important Announcement **

    Hey everyone,

    Just wanted to send out a quick email separate from everything else to let you know about something unfortunate. Due to the weather, the Walter A. Wood Tractor & Agricultural Show has been postponed to next Saturday, the 14th of October, 2023. As such, my mom (and by extension, myself) will no longer be in attendance due to a conflict with another show—which you’ll be hearing about in tomorrow evening’s Bulletin. We hope to see you there instead.

    Thanks for understanding, and I’ll see you tomorrow for the regular Bulletin.

    Best,

    —Slade

    Visit SladeWatkins.com

    sladewatkins.comupdate your preferencesunsubscribe
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  • Will Android 14 fix my phone woes?

    Required Legal Disclosure: I am part of the invite-only Pixel Superfans program at Google. I may receive exclusive information or free products/services as part of my participation. This post is NOT sponsored by Google, however.

    [Ethics Statement]

    Android 14 is officially out following Google’s usual October event, and this is going to sound scary, but I’m cautiously optimistic. I’m actually hoping this fixes some of the issues I’ve had with Pixel 6 since I switched to the Verizon network (through US Mobile). I’ve been told through the grapevine (so to speak) that there has been some improvements to the subsystems that were causing me trouble–hence my cautious optimism. But I suppose only time will tell, huh?

    The Android 14 update screen.

    In addition to the fixes that I sincerely hope are there, there are also features I’m looking forward to having (at last), like Generative AI wallpapers and more detailed information about what an app is doing with the data I’m letting it access. Monochrome theming options are FINALLY a thing now, but let’s be honest, I’m going to go for something red. Red’s my favourite. (My mom might do it, though…)

    I plan to try and switch back to see what I can do in this department. I’d like to travel with this phone when I go out of town in a bit, since it has the better cameras and waaaaaaaaay more storage than my iPhone, but if it doesn’t work–then obviously I’m not going to take it with me.

    I’ll update you all on the email list on this, so get subscribed if you’d like to hear from me outside of social media or whatever. I only email once per week, normally on Saturday evenings/nights (Eastern Time), and I do not share your email with anyone.

    The post Will Android 14 fix my phone woes? appeared first on Slade Watkins.

  • What's on the horizon; plus, strike funds & interesting links!

    ** The Bulletin ** September 30, 2023

    Hello, it’s me,

    It has been a week. I got sick with a cold on Wednesday, since I can never escape some sort of illness around this time of year. (I can hear my best friend yelling “COME ON, AGAIN?!” from all the way over here since this is like the fourth time I’ve been sick this year. Sigh.) I’m starting to feel better, but I’ve still got some of that residual crap in my system—given the quick turnaround, I’m almost certain this is the common cold.

    Coming up on the horizon: a couple things, actually!

    Not too long from now, I’ll be packing my things and going on a little adventure completely by myself for the first time ever. Obviously, that’s a huge deal and is something I never could’ve imagined doing, but here we are! It’s happening! While I’m not going to be discussing where exactly I’m heading until the date comes, let’s say it’s very exciting, to say the least! Expect photos of the scenery and/or New York City (I have a bit of a layover there). I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t completely and utterly nervous, but it’s going to be a fun trip and I can’t wait.

    Also, just a quick note: my mom — the absolutely talented woman behind Theodessa Designs (please go follow her on Facebook, she makes really lovely things!!) — is going to be at the Apple Barn’s Autumnfest (they’re located at 604 US Route 7 S, Bennington, VT) with her crafts/jewelry from 11am-6pm tomorrow (Saturday, October 1st, 2023). If I’m feeling less icky, I will try and be there with her, but I don’t want to make any promises. I’ll also announce this particular thing on socials after I send this to folks so that more people know about it.

    Also, since I have a habit of (mostly) sending these out on Saturdays, I will also let you know that my mom has another show coming up next weekend as well — October 7th, 2023, my mom will be at the Walter A. Wood Tractor and Agricultural Show in Hoosick Falls, NY from 9am-4pm. In addition to the show, the annual Cow Plop will take place at the Athletic Field (just left off of Griffin Ave., near Castle Park; additional parking is available on Barton Ave., too, but it’s a bit of a walk across the field to the vendors). The tractor show itself primarily takes place on Main Street, but there are also some vendors up at the Athletic Field alongside the Cow Plop. You can get more information on the show’s Facebook Page.

    Now, without further ado… here’s the rest of the newsletter that you’ve come to expect from me!

    Things I found across the net

    As is tradition, here are some links to some interesting things I’ve found on the internet. They may or may not be interesting to you. I don’t know.

    Strike Funds

    SAG-AFTRA is still on strike—UAW just 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!]

    • GoFundMe for Sean Mason — ineligible for the Entertainment Community Fund due to affiliation with IATSE Local B-192 (which is classified as a “Theme Park” union); donations will help with rent, keeping a roof over his head for the holidays.

    • 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.

    Well… that’s about it for tonight’s edition. Thanks for reading all of this. I’m so excited for everything that’s coming up in the next few weeks! Enjoy the week ahead, folks! And I hope to see you at my mom’s craft shows. I should be at most of them, depending on my illness.

    All the best,

    —Slade

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  • a heart-to-heart, a new blog post, & interesting links

    ** The Bulletin ** September 23, 2023

    Hello again,

    Since it has been a moment, I figured we’d spend a little time this evening having a heart-to-heart.

    Happy to report that I’m the happiest I’ve been since COVID began. My entire well-being has changed. I’ve had a couple downs here and there, but it has mostly been ups. There’s a lot that I am thrilled about coming up in just a few weeks. I can’t talk about anything just yet, but I’m so looking forward to it. These last few months of 2023 are going to be a blast.

    On that front, I’ve changed a lot this year. I’m proud of the progress I’ve made as an individual. There’s a lot on the horizon, but as they say: great things take time.  This is no exception.

    It’s funny – the other night, my best friend sent me a text that included a simple Spotify link. The song? Kris Allen’s ever-popular cover of “Live Like We’re Dying”, originally written by the members of The Script. I’m not quite sure why, but it has really been resonating me since I listened to it again. I’ve had it on repeat this week, just taking it in ever since she sent it to me. Quite honestly, dear reader, I can feel the deepest parts of my inner child healing. It’s hard to explain, but it’s such a beautiful God damn thing!!

    You have to let yourself feel things. Be human. Allow yourself the grace and space to be you and heal from the past. Live now in the present. It’s so worth it.

    Also new in my world: I put 6.6 miles on my bike yesterday (Friday), and started day 1 of volunteering for a local organization: the Bennington Bike Hub. It was such a blast and I am looking forward to what the future has in store. October is set to be a very busy month, including a bit of traveling towards the end of it (sorry, can’t talk about it yet!), but I’m looking forward to it regardless. It’s not a stressful sort of busy!

    New from the Journal

    Things I found across the net

    It’s time for your regular episode of “what on Earth did Slade find on the internet THIS TIME?!?!” — let’s go.

    Aaaaaaaaand that’s all I wrote for tonight’s edition, folks!!! See you back here in the future for another inevitable edition. As always, if you have thoughts, shoot a reply my way!

    Thanks for being here,

    —Slade

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