he ‘video sharing’ [sic] site YouTube is getting more aggressive over time and it tries to block people from accessing videos in a way that suits them.

Similarly, x.com now blocks and sends threats to Nitter instances.

Any time we access or link to such sites (x.com and YouTube) we reward such behaviour and signal to them that acting this way is acceptable or tolerated.

HIS year I heard the term “emotional vulture” many times and wrongly assumed it might be similar to “crocodile tears” (a fake emotion(al) crocodile that cries for the people or animals it devours). As it turns out, emotional vulture is one who preys on the emotionally vulnerable – i.e. it is something different altogether. It’s said to refer to a manipulative dating trend that targets people going through a breakup (or similar ordeal). I remember a Norwegian girl showing interest in me when her Danish boyfriend was not treating her well; I wasn’t preying on her, it felt like she was using me to try to get him (the boyfriend) jealous or not to take her for granted.

Anyway, today I saw a Crocodile or Rhino shedding off tears. It was some angry lawyer who operates under the false impression that while labouring as a hired gun with death threats, threats to decapitate sites, and threats to put a family in prison he is somehow a poor victim. Are these people as drunk as their clients?

Seriously, how can such pathetic and aggressive people seriously portray themselves as the victims? Someone who explains their behaviour is doing a public service, nothing else.

he decision made a year ago to curb binges of salty and sweet foods ended our weekly ‘ritual’, but we have since then found alternatives, which are healthier and more productive use of time. Improving diet is a desirable thing and governments should recommend healthy diets.

So we try to stock good foods and consume them in moderation.

Today, for instance, I spent 2-3 hours organising and tidying up the house. It’s neater and it makes easier to find things. For instance, I categorised the bottles and sorted things by dates, then I arranged all the detergents and agents in the laundry room. In the past, when I worked nights (overnight) we mostly neglected some of those things and over time some closets became highly disorganised. We lacked the time to deal with it.

Worse yet, sleep was not consistent and diet was not ideal; even eating times were quite stochastic.

I’m glad we made the changes needed and, in hindsight, regulation against consumption of unhealthy foods is the push we needed. Less chances of diabetes, too.

Facing Old Trafford (MUFC)

he other day we visited MediaCityUK, where some building projects appear to be a failure (probably not enough apartment units sold).

It was a bright, sunny day and we stayed there to feed birds, eat snacks, and soak in some sunlight. Not much has changed in the place since 10 years ago.

Sometimes I still get spammed by estate companies trying to sell “properties” in MediaCityUK. The place has not developed much (further) in recent years and the Therme Manchester water resort is built near the Trafford Centre, not Old Trafford. Many shops in the Lowry are ‘boarded up’ and shut. It looks like a failed mall.

12 years ago we looked around at homes (advertised around MediaCityUK). We’re glad we chose not to go ahead with that.

Some place in Manchester develop and thrive, whereas others lose momentum.

HE other day I was contacted by Christine from FOSS Force. I thought the matter was worth documenting in public and I carefully checked that no personal information would be divulged in the process, not something embarrassing anyway (if told otherwise, I’d modify accordingly). Regarding FOSS Force ownership, she told me, “I notice that you identify articles on FOSS Force as being on Unicorn Media, which is an identity that hasn’t existed in about 10 years down.”

It wasn’t until then that I realised she ran another site, which I took a look at. It turns out to be a very old site.

“It ceased to exist after we shut down The Unicorn Shoppe,” she told me, “a neopagan-focused retail store that we started in 2001 (ten years before FOSS Force existed). The store was an offshoot of AlternativeApproaches.com, a new age website I started in the late nineties that at one time had about 10,000 articles. A much smaller version of that site is still online, although we’re not not doing much of anything with it.”

That site is still active, it looks a bit similar to FOSS Force, and some of the articles are quite decent.

Christine made a polite request: “I would prefer that you reference FOSS Force as “FOSS Force.” If you insist on wanting to reference us by our legal, banking name, that would be AlternativeApproaches. Thanks.”

“Thanks for illuminating this,” I said, “I’ll pass on to the TR person who put “Unicorn” in the Perl module.”

This has since then been corrected, if “correction” or “correction” is the right term rather than rectified or updated or whatever.

The team said: “Thanks. (Though their site does still say Unicorn Media at the bottom of the main page.)”

It has since then been updated.

“I am grateful for the update directly from Christine,” said the team. “And I am doubly glad that Foss Force is still up and running and doing great work.”

It is indeed.

It’s nice to be able to have such exchanges with peer sites, which act amicably. They’re not competition but allies.

hese days I use two media players to play my CDs (mostly 1990s albums and collections). One is KDE’s Dragon Player (because it’s based on Qt), the other is VLC. The latter has a lot more functionality but higher RAM footprint. In the past I used even leaner applications to achieve the same functionality. Those are no longer compatible with this setup (a lot changes in 20+ years in this sector).

I might write a detailed analysis about this some time in the future in a more Linux-centric site, but I need a unique and useful angle. I don’t have that at the moment.

he music of the past is better and more complex. A year before I was born Lisa Jane Stansfield (from Manchester) won Search for a Star and I still listen to her music in 2026.

Why is it that nobody in today’s “music industry” (the term industry seems misplaced, it’s meant to be an art form, not manufacturing) can still replicate what was accomplished when vocals could also play 2-3 instruments? Have the standards been lowered?

Similarly, computer programs used not to ship until they were well tested, solid, reliable. There was no “patching along the way”.

We’re settling on worse quality for the sake of “profit maximisation”.