Treading a fine line between "cool" and "wanker".

Copy pasted from thewayne, as he sums it up nicely and I have nothing further to add, beyond that it is well worth a flick through the list of games they are giving away...lots of "indie" stuff.

The bundle contains NINE HUNDRED AND NINETY-EIGHT GAMES, they run in Windows, Mac, Linux, and in browsers. The bundle includes physical games (print and play), computer games, game assets (graphics, tiles, etc.), soundtracks, tools, comics, and books.

In other words, LOTS of stuff!

The original goal was to raise (cue Dr. Evil voice) ONE MILLION DOLLARS!

The current goal is now at SIX MILLION DOLLARS, and they've raised 5.355 MILLION as of this post!

The campaign ends in three days as of me writing this.

Obviously I can't go into any real detail about what all is in the campaign, there's just too much in it. A minimum donation of $10 gets you everything. The average contribution has been $14, the biggest has been $9,000!

https://itch.io/b/1316/bundle-for-ukraine

So I've been trying to make an effort for the environment. Such as, where possible avoiding plastic, bags, packaging, pointless landfill plastic items, and synthetic fibres. Where possible.

Because OBVIOUSLY no one can be perfect in this, and I have my disgusting vices. But I am creeped out by microfibers entering the water table, drinking water and the food chain. It turns out that clothes with synthetic fibres shed a fuck of a lot of plastic into the water table every time we wash them.
Now, I often use a washing bag to protect certain items of clothing from being ripped or damaged, or to protect my washing machine from damage.

So why not use a bag that also helps keep these microfibers out of the water table? I'm using a bag anyway, often enough. It's no big effort and my clothes and washing machine will last longer.

Thus I have bought these... Guppyfriend washing bags. There are loads of washing bags for sale on Amazon, but as far as I know, only these filter out the microplastic.



And they seem pretty roomy.



Of course, I still need to work out how best to dispose of the collected fluff (fill a plastic bottle and put that bottle in the recycling?) But posted here... in the hope that others will consider using these bags. Every little helps right? Better than nothing right?

And for anyone wanting to say "what about..." I refer you to this.



If you are in Norway, you can get them here.

Useful info thread... you can re use "disposable" masks. I have been doing so, but I am now going to really reuse them and rotate, as the environmental aspect of throwing them away had been bugging me.

I have used washable cloth masks a heck of a lot, but with omicron and a lot of high risk situations (such as flying or the occasional gig in Norway) I use ffp3s.

Full thread here. Check it out!

Extinction Rebellion will be using this video in their latest publicity... as a warning of what to expect if we don't take climate change seriously.



Filmed on location in California, get into the mood with The Fragrant Dolk's dulcet tones. Norwegian is the most musical of languages. Enjoy!

At age 95, David Attenborough is still doing nature narration, but when he does retire, we have a replacement.

Just putting this here for ref. Link to Podcast.

Dementia and bilingualism.

"Struggling to find words might be one of the first things we notice when someone develops dementia, while more advanced speech loss can make it really challenging to communicate with loved ones. And understanding what’s behind these changes may help us overcome communication barriers when caring for someone living with the condition.

When Ebrahim developed Alzheimer’s Disease, for example, he’d been living in the UK for many years. Gradually his fluent English faded and he reverted to his mother tongue, Farsi - which made things tricky for his English-speaking family who were caring for him. Two decades on, his son, the journalist and author David Shariatmadari, seeks answers to his father’s experience of language loss. What can neuroscience reveal about dementia, ageing, and language changes? Why are some aspects of language more vulnerable than others - and, importantly, what are the best approaches to communicating with someone living with dementia?

David reflects on archive recordings of his dad, and speaks to a family in a similar situation to theirs, to compare the ways they tried to keep communication alive. And he discovers there are actually clear benefits to bilingualism when it comes to dementia: juggling two or more languages can delay the onset of symptoms by around four years. So while losing one of his languages posed practical difficulties for Ebrahim, it’s possible that by speaking two languages in the first place, he was able to spend more valuable lucid years with his family."

Today while I was out collecting my post, the neighbour's builder approached me and told me his friend was too busy to help me with mine. I was able to reassure him that I'd found another chap to sort it out for me.

TRUE FAX!!!

Made by the same studio that made Ghost in the Shell, before anyone starts screaming "cultural appropriation!"