We’ve some surprise guests on this countryside break
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Ben Daubney 
@bendaubney@social.lol
mastodon 4.7.3+glitchOxfordshire, UK • Finds stories in data • Opinions my own, etc • He’s just this guy, you know?
279 Followers
160 Following
40 Posts
Joined January 30, 2024
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Here's my #BandcampFriday recommendation for this month:
https://theallergies.bandcamp.com/album/mpfree-collection
A free/pay-what-you-like best-of compilation from a very good and very sample-heavy funk/soul/remix duo.
They are FUN.
Hey! It's #bandcampFriday!
Why not try Slime City's fantastic album ‘National Record of Achievement’. Slime City describe themselves as “a band from Glasgow who play fast existentialist nerd rock for people who like sighing but also fighting." I describe them as very very good.
Also the album artwork is going to be a rush of nostalgia for UK fortysomethings.
https://slime-city.bandcamp.com/album/national-record-of-achievement
Replying to
@neatnik@social.lol I think adding a disclosure rule in the social.lol server rules makes sense, even if it doesn't end up in the omg.lol code of conduct. Not mandatory, but encouraged both by policy and gentle user persuasion.
(While we're thinking about the server rules, could something about image descriptions be added too? It feels like that's starting to slip a little.)
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@neatnik@social.lol Hiya! Given the increase, would you consider a per-month price? I appreciate that twelve monthly payment processing fees is a bigger pain than a single yearly one, but a $5-6 per month charge feels more doable than a $50 lump sum.
(It’s also trickier to move to that rolling monthly structure when we’ve been buying a cache of years in advance up to this point. Difficult engineering.)
🫨 Overcame the stupid cold I had well over a week ago but have a very annoying, very persistent, very tickly cough that refuses to budge.
🪚 Got to the point with an annoying Ikea build where I swore loudly, got out the jigsaw, and just started cutting crude holes that means this task will be over.
Flicked over to #Eurovision where a banner came up asking people to engage with the contest on Instagram, Facebook, Roblox (!), and Zoop.
…I’m now so out of the loop I’m learning of new social platforms from flipping Eurovision.
A short post about the 1997 HP virtual pet that caused my IT teacher to ban printer use at lunchtimes:
https://bendaubney.com/mopy-the-virtual-pet-that-was-an-environmental-disaster/
Me: *renames a folder on my desktop*
Windows 11: *crashes*
What a terrible OS it has become.
Updated my /now page:
A bit of an in-between week. Met nephew #3, walked a bit, met family. Mostly unremarkable, nephew aside.
In the extremely unlikely event that you're planning to go on a Virgin Voyages cruise AND you're trying to make sense of the bid-to-upgrade system... boy, do I have a blog post for you.
https://bendaubney.com/understanding-virgin-voyages-level-upgradebidding-system/
This is a summary of eighteen months of careful observation and deduction. Feels like useful knowledge to get out onto the web even if it's pretty niche.
🚨 The very cute, very silly, £5-a-go neon-or-white Ikea bluetooth speakers are now available in the UK 🚨
https://www.ikea.com/gb/en/p/kallsup-portable-bluetooth-speaker-pink-00604694/#content
If you're feeling saucy, 100 of them can be daisychained together. Tempting.
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@prime@mastodon.gamedev.place @jake4480@c.im My computing lecturer at university bemoaned the fact that his students had never soldered chips directly onto boards before.
I think it's just the pace of change.
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@neatnik@social.lol @wade@social.lol May I recommend https://teemill.com ? Super ethically made, good quality, love them.
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@HailsandAles@metalhead.club Jens Lekman’s ‘Life Will See You Now’ for me please.
It was a really good year. Alvvays, Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever, Thundercat, and Princess Nokia all put out great stuff.
https://bendaubney.com/2017-albums-of-the-year-the-not-quite-but-still-good-runners-up/
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@daveycraney@social.lol I saw Bodger and Badger in pantomime back in the day so this is certainly my era
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@alexandra@social.lol Oh no, definitely the opposite. There's a headline price which includes everything except alcohol and special events, and the quality of everything is superb. The P&O one I mention was the exact opposite - if you wanted more than water and pasta, everything was an upsell.
Virgin Voyages really is superb. Cannot recommend it enough.
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@hl@social.lol To be fair I think the customer-facing premise itself is easy - bid some money, get a better room - but how it actually works in the background is really complex.
And I want good stuff cheap so I'm willing to expend brainpower on figuring this out.
Replying to
Looks like they've re-pulled every screenshot from every episode too. Everything looks a lot more higher resolution.
Love Frinkiac so much. Fantastic service.
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@HailsandAles@metalhead.club There’s nothing which quite hits the high of ‘Black Cab’ but it is still A Very Good Album: https://bendaubney.com/2017-album-of-the-year/
(‘Your Arms Around Me’ was our first dance song)
Replying to
@robb https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GdhAu1Lqhco
Just finished a Link’s Awakening playthrough on mine. It’s such a great device. Mine’s a classic purple but I kinda crave the green metal one
TrimUI Brick Hammer Review: Same but Metal
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@martinfeld@social.lol Precisely right. Also a fantastic early example of gamification: HP got more people printing more often by awarding them literal virtual points.
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@robb@social.lol HP in 2026: look at our eco green environmental earth-loving credentials we've always been this way
HP in 1997: just dump that shit straight into landfill kids
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@rtfm@social.lol @HailsandAles@metalhead.club (And that's still my least favourite because it's so sad. I listen to it and I just want to give Jens a big hug.)
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@neatnik@social.lol Is there something in how the omg.lol userbase is posting content on the service that has made you consider this policy?
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@starshaped@labyrinth.social Thanks pal. I'm not used to this long tail to a cold. It's so annoying.
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@robb If you’re in no rush, hold fire on ordering until Aliexpress is doing a sale. Substantially reduces what you’ll pay. Non-metal TrimUI Bricks are £42-49 at that time.
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@neatnik@social.lol Ah mate, it sucks that this happened when it's a public holiday and you were getting some much earned rest. Now we're back up I hope you're getting some time for yourself.
(I genuinely feared that I was the cause with this toot: https://social.lol/@bendaubney/116854872517056976)