Jeffool

While I'm reluctant to call anyone a magnum opus... You're bang on about the difference between those two and SWFG.

That's what led me to this. I quit Audible a few months back, planning to just buy more media outright. But they offered me a "come back and pay $0.99 for the first three months!" and I'm not really saying "no" to basically giving them Amazon's money. (Though for the holidays they've apparently upped the offer to that plus a $20 credit.) So I thought this would be a good general question as I look for more ways to support creators directly, after taking their money runs out.

Good mention of Libby, too. A coworker recommended that to me, so I've got it now as well. Sadly my local selection isn't great for audiobooks. But it does make me want to get an ereader more.

Bandcamp looks to be a good way to buy music though, as someone mentioned. But I can't find any good way to buy digital copies of movies/TV. It's all pretty platform locked, it seems.

I love the question! I rarely listen to songs or playlists, and almost never algorithm based streams. Instead I put on albums I like. Even in my 10m-15m drive to work, and do that until I'm tired on an album. So, love the question.

Aesop Rock's Integrated Tech Solutions. Being a long time fan I thought The Impossible Kid was fantastic. TIK was as creative and ponderous as anything he'd done, but often felt more accessible and personally inviting. While accessibility is not something you generally look for with Aesop, that feeling of being personal really made it pay off. Spirit World Field Guide was good and was interesting, but didn't work for me as much. Maybe it was a case of enjoying TIK so much, and comparison being the thief of joy? But ITS absolutely feels top notch again. Love it.

Also worth mentioning is Powerman 5000. A year or so ago (while on a kick to my youth) I found out they were still making music and had released an album (The Noble Rot) in 2020. Shortly after I discovered that, they released one in 2024 (Abandon Ship.) They're not great songs, but they're all great vibes. The songs feel like they 3/4s to being great to me. Like they kept the dial at a 7 or 8 instead of turning it up to 11. And even when they did turn it up, it was only at the very end. Maybe he's going for something different, or maybe I've changed, but the strength feels off. But damn the vibes are still there.

And all the actors who act in yhe prime shows? They get signed into bluesky exclusive interaction contracts. Where they only interact with fans on bluesky.

I'm honestly surprised they haven't tried something like this via partnering with some platform. I think the unions would kill them... But I'm still surprised they haven't tried it. Sports teams/leagues too.

I do wonder if they'd garner enough attention to pay for the licenses to add them to Game Pass. I loved the MUA games.

Even if they do repeat 3 (and I kinda feel they will,) it'll have a cliffhanger too. And I'm okay with that.

Good point. Does anyone know an animator? I'll write some promotional material.

I will give respect where due: I like the sweep button. It's handy for me personally, as someone who is on several email lists that are public-facing. That's about it.

Every attempt to help me automatically is a pain. Like most things in this vein it never learns what you're trying to do, only what they would do in a given scenario that's vaguely like ours.

Every little bit counts. And finding ten people (especially out of ten) who agree on anything is pretty impressive. Congratulations. I hope this does well for you.

I remember reading columns saying soon, when multiple cores become common, compilers will thread your program for you...

Y'know GPS didn't even enter my mind. Hell, depending on GPS 3 accuracy (isn't it supposed to be in the centimeters?) my talk of signals is completely moot. That measured against a map of roads on a server somewhere would probably let you download an entire map of nodes toward your destination. Along the way the car just measures against its current location and does the math for obstacles. Great point. This is why I ponder shit out loud. Thanks.

I'd love to make the move, but there's a one-two punch of: I play Warzone with family. I think anti-cheat there is only going to get worse. Second? I already get caught with the fiddly bits of errors on Windows sometimes and spend too long searching for answers. Any time I see that on Linux it looks like I'd need years more of active learning new problem solving to reach my current level of comfort.

I'm at that "is it worth planting the apple tree now that I didn't plant 20 years ago?" thinking.