calzephyr | Network

My first post this morning was not the one I expected to write. Here's what was in my mental queue:

I, and many other people, have a chronic problem with browser tabs. Something comes up; I mean to check into it, and open a browser tab as a reminder. Perhaps it's a long article I don't have time to read in depth. Perhaps it's a product I intend to evaluate for possible use. Perhaps it's a set of tabs opened as part of a minor project that got interrupted. Whatever the cause, I tend to ind up with enough browser windows and tabs open to closely approach the limit of what my hardware and software can support, and routinely instruct my browsers to reopen all tabs and windows when restarted.

Unfortunately, the number of tabs a given system can support continuously decreases. The web sites include more and more self-refreshes and other causes of load on cpu, memory, and network. The browsers and desktop managers often implement new features that make this worse, though sometimes they do go the other way. And everything gets more bloated on each update.

This has been an issue since well before I retired, and I still don't have a good solution. Every alternate method of tracking work in progress has been more heavyweight, less reliable, or otherwise a problem.

My first attempt involved using Safari's Reading List feature. I stopped this when I discovered that while Safari could export bookmarks, it couldn't (wouldn't) export its Reading List. I still have a plist from a Safari instance on a now deceased computer. Sadly, it includes a lot more than the Reading List, making retrieving the data painful. (I never did that work, and it's now long past when the contents would be relevant.)

( Read more... )

arlie

I received an email this morning from Google. They've instituted a new control over information sharing to partners. They didn't say, but presumably it defaults to "share everything", and controls things previously controlled by other settings which I'd already turned off. There was a link to the page containing the new control.

When I clicked the link on Firefox, I got an unspecified failure, and the suggestion I try again later. When I clicked the link on Safari, I got informed it had been blocked by a content blocker, and offered a chance to try again without content blockers.

The next thing I checked was whether the email notification was fraudulent, and where the link pointed. It checks out as coming from google, and leading to google.

So we have a dodgy web page that might be usable to control some more-than-dodgy setting, if I were willing to load it.

Sadly, Safari declines to identify the content blocker involved, or what it's designed to prevent, so I have no information helpful in deciding whether to risk it. I suppose it might simply be 90% advertisements, 10% actual settings.

I presume chrome would load it without complaint, but that's not the point. (I regard chrome itself as a dodgy web browser, because of being controlled by a business funded by ad revenue, and probably other privacy-violating customer-annoying technologies as well.) The point of course is what potentially harmful thing is being done by Google's privacy-setting control page(s).

xkcd_feed

https://xkcd.com/3237/

Borat came out twenty years ago this year--closer to the breakup of the Soviet Union than to today--but it honestly feels like it's been even longer, somehow.

https://xkcd.com/3237/

ravena_kade

The letter came from the med team. All it says is that Dad can't lift over 10 pounds until May 21 and that he will need to be allowed to go to Dr appointments. Very very generic. I am glad of that.

I will contact boss lady and ask if they have an email that they prefer to use for HR items. I know I won't hear back until Monday. I know better than to expect an answer on a Friday.

Fingers crossed that on the 21st they let him drive. It will be 90 days post op.

apod_feed

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260423.html

This is a map of the universe.

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260423.html

rmjwell

( You're about to view content that the journal owner has advised should be viewed with discretion. )

merriamwebster_feed

https://www.merriam-webster.com/word-of-the-day/arboreal-2026-04-24

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 24, 2026 is:

arboreal • \ahr-BOR-ee-ul\ • adjective

Arboreal is a formal and literary word used to describe something that relates to trees. It is also used in technical contexts to mean "living in or often found in trees," as in "arboreal primates."

// Despite weekly hikes on the same trail, she never ceases to be amazed by the arboreal beauty.

See the entry >

Examples:

"In the saplings' early years, slow growth is the key to arboreal longevity, so the matriarch keeps her offspring in the shade." — Mike Dilger, The Guardian (London), 21 Oct. 2025

Did you know?

Arboreal took root in English in the 17th century, at a time when language influencers were eager to see English take on words from Latin and Greek. Apparently unsatisfied with a now-obsolete adjective treen meaning (as recorded in our Unabridged dictionary) "of, relating to, or derived from trees," they plucked arboreal from the Latin arboreus, meaning "of a tree"; its ultimate root is arbor, meaning "tree." That root arborized—that is, branched freely (to use the term figuratively): English abounds with largely obscure words that trace back to arbor, meaning "tree." Generally synonymous with arboreal are arboraceous, arborary, arboreous, and arborous. Synonymous with arboreal specifically in the sense of "relating to or resembling a tree" are arborescent, arboresque, arborical, and arboriform. Arboricole is a synonym of arboreal in its "inhabiting trees" sense. (The influencers may have overdone it a bit.) Arboreal is far more common than any of these, but other arbor words also have a firm hold in the language: arborvitae refers to a shrub whose name translates as "tree of life"; arboretum refers to a place where trees are cultivated; and arboriculture is the cultivation of trees. And of course we can't forget Arbor Day, which since 1872 has named a day set aside for planting trees. You'd be forgiven for assuming that the English word arbor, in the sense meaning "a garden shelter of tree boughs or vines twined together," is rooted in the same source as arboreal, but in fact it comes from the Latin noun herba, meaning "herb" or "grass."

https://www.merriam-webster.com/word-of-the-day/arboreal-2026-04-24

ravena_kade

I spent today sad for my Dad..He doesn't know yet. I feel like someone has died. Not great because I have stuff I need to do.

The boss didn't call today either. I think that her sister in law is in the process of passing or a decision needs to be made to let her go. I know how terrible that is from last year with my Cousin, Aunt, and long time friend.

I did not hear back from the medical team today about a letter. I will follow up with the team tomorrow. At end of day I will follow up with boss lady to say I am still trying to get the letter.

DQ has offered to help me in a way that will allow me to take over 2 bills from Dad in the future. She says she wants to because of everything I did for Evie while she was in the hospital. I I just can't think... The situation is overwhelming me.

Dad is getting really bored and frustrated at home. He does not like being alone all day. He is trying to do things around the house that are pushing it. On Sunday I bought a new deck table and chair set as the old one was falling apart. I would not have bought it if the boss lady called earlier. Dad put together 2 of the flat pack chairs that weigh a lot. I can't fight with him anymore because he got the Lvad to live. Not sit in a chair and rock. He did a good job. Tomorrow he has 2 more (and it proves he can still cut thread and fix sewing machines). He also tried to take apart the old table on the deck so I can just throw it off the deck. He needs his wrench set and that is at work.

Tomorrow I work from home as the visiting nurse is coming for a blood draw. Then I have to figure out food shopping. I think I want to try one of the Chinese markets close to home. I do like Hmart, but that would take a bus rides and I dont need my weekly carless grocery run to be 3 hours.

conuly

Nature’s first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf’s a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.

************************************

Link

ranunculus

The results of yesterdays work on the water line were, um, disappointing. By this morning the tanks were just over 1/8th full and the water was just trickling in. So this afternoon, after mowing the parking and camping areas, and working on the bridge, it was time to look at the water system again.
The first project was to shorten pipe that brings water into the tank. ( Read more... )

flemmings

I spent large chunks of today cutting down garbage trees both front and back. I don't know what they are but I want them gone. The gardener was supposed to have removed them three years ago, but garbage trees are like cockroaches. One is never rid of them. A machete would have come in handy but the nameless tool with a serrated blade did well enough. I've cut the garage ones back to the root knot but have neither the strength nor the inclination to dig those out. I will try the effect of bleach instead. After which I was hacking away at the overgrown vines on the fence by the garage when SND's fiancé stopped me. He says there are birds nesting in the thicket, so I had to stop. Apparently by the end of May they'll have hatched and then he says he'll cut back the branches for me. He was out with my tree branch lopper, which he managed to assemble for me, cutting the cherry branches on the other side of his yard, the one belonging to Good Neighbour Chris.

I did manage to cut some of the dead and dried vines off the fence closer to the house, but my back was in conniptions by that point. Came inside and stretched, and shortly thereafter tackled the things growing in the front yard. This was much antsier because the footing in front is so uneven, what with the invasive species Eglish ivy. I begin to think boat shoes ie my New Balances, are maybe not the best footware for this, though I can't think what is. Something lighter and flatter that registers the ground underfoot better. But again, sawed down some quite thick stems leaving only the root knots, handy for tripping over should you be wading about my front lawn. Then took out some of the dead wood from the hedge, and finally sawed through the branches of the very dead pine in the corner of the planter. Sawing all this wood to an acceptable length for the garbage guys and tying it up as you're supposed to will be a pain, but sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

I expect to be crippled tomorrow and might try for a massage. Can only hope this counts as exercise and calorie burning.

lycomingst

Guys have been building a new fence around part of the mobile park. They finished at my place yesterday. It needed it, part of the old fence was hanging down leaving a gap. The blackberry vine that was clinging to the fence is just a small stump.

I really wanted to grow blackberries. They have some weird pattern of growing berries on the second year growth. I've tried to understand it by watching YT. Anyway, I cut a lot of it down previously and I think there were going to be flowers this year, then berries. Now nothing. But you can't kill blackberries, not without a nuclear option. So that plant will rise again. With its wicked, wicked thorns. You want berries, well berries cost. And right here is where you start paying…

bill_schubert

The GDs haven't landed yet in Boston. Their flight was delayed half an hour or so but they easily made it through a mostly empty security line and onto the plane. At Juliette's age I'd already spent a summer on my own at a summer job in South Carolina. The gig and living arrangements were all made by my father but executed by me without much assistance when I was still 16. In retrospect my parents prepared me much more than these two for living in the world. I did not, of course, appreciate what they did but I sure as hell was independent.

I think what surprises me the most is that neigher of the girls use computers or actually know how to use computers. Other than getting to their games and texting systems they don't much know how to use their phones. They neither one had downloaded the SouthWest Airlines app and their father checked them in and texted them their boarding pass before I had a chance to make them do it themselves.

Younger than Juliette and Lil by a few years, my two sons travelled from Boston to Texas to visit my wife (previous edition) and me. Their flight was diverted and as this was before cell phones we were unaware that their flight was landing in Houston about the time we got to DFW. We found out when we were paged over the intercom. My sons had found a public telephone and called DFW, had us paged, and told us they were in Houston and what the flight was for the Houston to DFT leg. I'm sure they had help from the stewardesses but I suspect they would have figured it out.

Some of it is the male/female divide but much of it was just making them solve problems on their own.

We had the girls for two days so that is not even long enough to learn who they are much less do anything about it. I did discover that at 17 Juliette has neither driver's license nor permit. I'd had my own car and drove from North Carolina to South Carolina by myself before that age. She says she is too scared to drive. I bought her a journal for what will soon be her 18th birthday "Do one thing each day that scares you" and will send it to her once I've got it wrapped.

They don't like AI and seem to think that saying that absolves them of dealing with the issue. This is mostly Juliette who has some artistic potential. She's interested in medical art science and feels like AI has taken her future job. My thought was get over it and don't be a victim at 17. It stunts your growth. But I didn't say anything. They are standing on the edge of the pool worried that the water might be wet.

That age group and mentality does not happen in a vacuum. I suspect that the group of high school seniors she hangs out with share that view of their future being stolen rather than the fact that they have a new future that is open to so many varied possibilities that no one alive can envision what or when. That was true for my generation but is even more so for theirs.

As I write this I'm thinking that I need to write a letter to her to put with the book.

Anyway, it was fun. On the way to the airport Juliette, the 17 year old, asked if there was a Buc-ees we could stop at on the way. I had to tell her that there was one an hour north of us and an hour south but nothing in the actual Austin area. Had we another day we would have gone to see the dinosaurs with a Buc-ees stop on the way. Alas, their time was too short. Neither did we have Mexican food.

So we started a list for next time.

reggiekray posting in

addme

Name: reggie/reg

Age: 36

I mostly post about: stranger things, billy hargrove, dacre montgomery, joe keery, joseph quinn, fred hechinger, anime/manga, video games.

My hobbies are: drawing, writing, movies, spellwork/tarot/witchcraft.

My fandoms are: stranger things, gladiator ii, fantastic four, x-men, venom, anime/manga, the kray twins.

Before adding me, you should know: i am very gay and very trans, and will not tolerate any form of homophobia and transphobia. i'm also very witchy/pagan, and work with spiritual energy. if that bothers you, i understand! feel free to follow and/or unfollow at your leisure.

rebeccmeister

1. Tuesday lab crayfish! So fun.

( clicky for that, and more... )

andrewducker

New behaviour from Gideon.

Every so often he'll see a small trinket he can spend some pocket money on. A waddle-dee or a Yoshi toy.

And he'll buy one, take it home, and carefully place it on Jane's bedside table, for her to enjoy.

anais_pf posting in

thefridayfive

These questions were written by

nondenomifan.

1. What decade did you attend/are you attending high school or college?

2. What clothing fashion from that time are you glad/do you wish went out of style?

3. Do you still listen to the music from your high school/college years on a regular basis?

4. What hairstyle/hair color did/do you wear during high school/college?

5. What was/is "the cool thing to do" while in high school/college?

Copy and paste to your own journal, then reply to this post with a link to your answers. If your journal is private or friends-only, you can post your full answers in the comments below.

If you'd like to suggest questions for a future Friday Five, then do so on DreamWidth or LiveJournal. Old sets that were used have been deleted, so we encourage you to suggest some more!

cosmolinguist

After my alarm went off this morning I was lying in bed for a few minutes, listening to the sounds come in through the open windows. I heard a truck on the nearby big road, a train zoom past on the railroad tracks, a plane overhead, sirens doppeling down the road.

Felt like I was living in Busytown for a second there!

A friend told me that Pauline Oliveros wrote some meditations for listening, apparently she called it Deep Listening. He said hearing things through a window like that is a great and grounded way to start the day.

fbhjr

Today is just dragging for me and I don’t know why.
I looked up at the clock hoping it was close to the time I head home and realize it isn’t even 10AM yet.
Sad.

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calzephyr

April 2026

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Page generated Apr. 24th, 2026 06:57 pm

Got to be birds flying higher

in a sky more blue

Network

On bookmarks, reading lists, browser tabs, etc. Also OneTab.

Name and shame: Google

Husband and Wife

(no subject)

Interesting Links for 24-04-2026

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Burlesque Picture of the Day, 2026-04-23: Mz. K!

arboreal

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Nothing Gold Can Stay by Robert Frost

Water Update

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(no subject)

Back to normal for a few days

re-doing this...

In lieu of words, how about just pictures? [status, cats, work, rowing, projects]

Life with two kids: For the love of the mother

The Friday Five for 24 April 2026

Transport sounds

Slow day

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April 2026

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