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novalis honked 04 Aug 2025 14:29 +0000

How long after the disappearance of Metrocards will the Metrocard-swiping gesture, meaning "please swipe me in", persist?

novalis honked 31 Jul 2025 14:46 +0000

Consider the following sentence:
"Use another sorbet flavor, such as a citrus-adjacent blood orange or grapefruit or a fruity raspberry or strawberry."

Some editor at the New York Times let this cursed sentence through. Imagine describing blood orange as "citrus-adjacent" (yes, it's adjacent to the original lemon, but you just can't use words that way). Imagine having to add the adjective "fruity" in front of "raspberry", as though to distinguish from a meaty raspberry. Why?

novalis honked back 30 Jul 2025 19:10 +0000
in reply to: https://mathstodon.xyz/users/mjd/statuses/114943207530766595

@mjd I sometimes just end a file to CraftCloud and get a model in the mail in a few weeks, if I need nicer finishes than my (probably poorly-calibrated; I got it for free) printer.

If you don't like the surface feel and don't want to spend 100 years with sandpaper, I recommend a two-part epoxy called XTC-3D.

novalis honked 22 Jul 2025 16:15 +0000

Half a loaf is better than none, but half a phone is e-waste. But the last three fifths of a phone is a whole.

novalis bonked 05 Jul 2025 00:56 +0000
original: mhoye@mastodon.social

"America has been vaccinating people for fifty years. If vaccines caused autism, America would have trains, okay? We would have so many trains." - Jon Allen

novalis honked back 26 Jun 2025 15:51 +0000
in reply to: https://minidisc.tokyo/notes/a9h0h6mm89

@SuperDicq I heard it, myself, from the person to whom it happened. I have to admit that I forget who I heard it from, but I remember where it was (a book release party for a fantasy novel, in NYC, in either 2006 or 2007). I was either working for, or had recently quit working for, the FSF.

novalis bonked 25 Jun 2025 14:31 +0000
original: igb@mastodon.hccp.org

@nedbat

External Attachment: A photoshop job by @igb that has taken the weird taxonomy of Google Docs classification system and added Borgesian categories like "Those belonging to the emperor", "Those that from afar look like flies", and "Embalmed ones" to the usual "Owned by anyone" and "Not owned by me" buckets. The docs displayed in the view behind the modified drop-down are all Borges texts or references: "The 3 Versions of Judas", "The Garden of Forking Paths", and "The Celestial Emporium of Benevolent Knowledge".

novalis honked back 18 Jun 2025 14:16 +0000
in reply to: https://honk.tedunangst.com/u/tedu/h/RRN2c1M2K7BPfY7h36

@tedu Actually, honk query for you: Imagine that I'm following person A, and person B, whom I am not following, replies to person A. I can follow the link to A's instance and see B's reply, but how do I reply to B's reply without following B? Ideally, I would like a "load replies" button on the convoy, but maybe there's a better way?

novalis honked 12 Jun 2025 23:11 +0000

I don't think this will help me prepare for a database exam. Good thing I don't have a database exam coming up.

novalis honked 23 May 2025 19:12 +0000

Some loud military type planes flew by as we were walking, startling us. Later, I realized it was because it was Fleet Week.

I wish that when the Navy offered to hold Fleet Week here, we had said, "No thanks, our city doesn't need an enema."

novalis honked 20 May 2025 17:36 +0000

I realize that McMaster Carr is a very silly place to buy a roof turbine, but weirdly, Lowe's doesn't sell the size I need, and the McMaster one is not made in China.

Also, since last time I checked, McMaster started telling you shipping costs before you order, which means that their web site is now perfect in every way (I am serious -- if you haven't tried it, go right now and find a 1/8 long in brass set screw on Amazon. Then try to find the same thing on McMaster Carr.)

novalis honked 12 May 2025 17:10 +0000

One thing I like about the Slow Horses novels is how mannered they are. Nobody talks like any of these characters, but it doesn't matter, because they are so much fun to listen to.

Also, I love Jackson Lamb as the perfect example of Stage 3 ethics.

And in terms of his role in most of the novels, he's a lot like Gandalf, except, you know, an asshole.

novalis bonked 09 May 2025 15:39 +0000
original: futzle@old.mermaid.town

Happy Multiply By Today's Date to Convert Your Temperature To The Other Scale day to those who celebrate.

(Please ignore the 32 offset.)

novalis honked 09 May 2025 01:55 +0000

The new VNV Nation album, Construct, is now available on Bandcamp (at least). This is supposed to be the positive one of two paired albums, but it's got (another) "please don't kill yourself" song and also one about an apocalypse, so I can't wait to see what Destruct brings.

novalis honked back 08 May 2025 16:18 +0000
in reply to: https://mastodon.social/users/CStamp/statuses/114468193128832510

@CStamp It's fruit juice, as opposed to whole fruit. It's there as a sweetener, but there's no need for a sweetener. (Even the concept of baby food is pretty suspect -- babies can do a surprisingly good job on many ordinary foods despite their lack of teeth. You haven't lived until you've seen a one-year-old go to town on a chicken leg.)

novalis honked 05 May 2025 16:27 +0000

What do you call an awful bipolar Cape Cod cop?

A detestable unstable Barnstable constable!