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Wednesday, August 19th, 2026, 10:03 pm

Focusing on the Past, Not the Future

Only the past:

The past

IT is only a few days away from start of the league and almost all the latest videos are about Pep (mesmerised by past achievements) and Rodri as if the new guy is already worth forgetting after a humiliating defeat.

If Enzo does not win this first game, a home match, it’ll be trouble for him.

Wednesday, August 19th, 2026, 8:59 pm

Feeding the Wildlife

Pigeon on the Grass

I think we’ve now identified 3 different flocks of birds we can feed regularly and every Sunday we can go feed on the other side of Town (depending on the weather). At home, our “favourites” are Sleepy, Bot, and Bot’s Friend. They’re all well behaved now, Sleepy is still trying hard to improve her ‘table manners’ (I help her, I’m being patient) and it gives me great joy to see them flying away with a “full tummy”. If every person did the same, we’d have a lot more wildlife.

One day in the future people will miss wildlife. Let’s not take any of it for granted.

Wednesday, August 19th, 2026, 7:31 am

Taking Photographs of Animals Does Not Help These Animals, Feeding Them Helps

I‘ve just noticed that Puppy Breaker thinks merely taking a photograph of an animal can disprove his lack of empathy towards animals (he used to kill them to do his degree).

Years ago I asked him directly why he didn’t devote any money to animals’ charity. He had no compelling response to it. To him, animals are probably just a nuisance.

In his daytime job he creates climate change. It’s a company that makes the world’s most polluting computers to keep going (or running) a pyramid scheme (first fake-coins, now plagiarism-as-a-service).

Greedy people tend not to understand other living things. They lack sympathy and cannot relate to other human beings either (they want to put other humans inside cages).

Wednesday, August 19th, 2026, 7:22 am

Microsoft is in Serious Trouble, Even Microsoft Staff Knows It

This morning I wrote about “voluntary” (NOT!) layoffs at Microsoft.

I said: “They can’t catch a break, can they?”

I was using wordplay because it is summer’s break.

A friend asked, “why should shoddy, subpar, proprietary software be given any preferential treatment by groups which don’t have access to the backdoors / bugdoors built into the product(s)?”

He said that “can’t catch a break” looks too much like sympathising with Microsoft.

“It’s good news that the world is giving Microsoft,” the friend said, as well as “its products, and services the
heave ho. What remains, especially in Europe, is how to deal with the leftover microsofters which have displaced as good as all IT departments.”

“Even the idea of a team to support workers to use ICT to their advantage has become foreign due to the persistent pervasiveness of microsoftianism over the IT departments it has displaced.”

Another friend said “it will take a lot of time and effort to get rid of them and to properly train IT people on real technologies again you could talk about a lost generation or two. I’m just glad I started using GNU/Linux in 1997 and abandoned Microsoft in 2002, long before the current move towards GNU/Linux and free software…”

Tuesday, August 18th, 2026, 5:45 pm

A Happy Rainy Day

Castlefield, 2013:

Castlefield

I think we’ve had a healthy amount of rain today, if not to fill the reservoirs, then at least to replenish and water some local plants, including lawns.

Today a lot was getting done and I even had a one-hour afternoon nap, which is rare.

Today we test some new software and new changes made to the sites.

Tuesday, August 18th, 2026, 5:40 pm

For Microsoft, When It Rains It Pours

Crossposted from Techrights

10 hours ago:

China Removes Microsoft Windows at State Users Ahead of Plan

Last week: Clownflare Sees a Lot of GNU/Linux in China, Unlike statCounter

In the US, the home of Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon and Microsoft (GAFAM), GNU/Linux is said to have exceeded 10% “market share” on “the desktop” (desktops/laptops). Even Clownflare (US) sees that.

What about the world’s second-largest economy (by GDP)?

China said it would reduce its reliance on GAFAM several times over the years, but now there is a timeline and perhaps also a directive/order like in France.

It is hardly surprising that Windows is shedding off userbase all around the world and Microsoft has mass layoffs even during the summer break.

They can’t catch a break, can they?

In India, whose population is estimated to be bigger than China’s (based on the official figures at least; some authorities dispute these because of undocumented residents and distant/detached settlements, nonconfomist societies that reject any census), things are even worse for Microsoft and much better for GNU/Linux.

Tuesday, August 18th, 2026, 10:11 am

Shoemaking and Shoe Repair

Rianne Schestowitz

IT is turning out to be a hyper-productive day with lots of stuff done (offline stuff) and some good news online. Tomorrow we plan to go out, seeing that the ‘hired guns’ have not (yet) decided to bother us during this vacation.

This coming weekend I plan to mend many old shoes using superglue. It’s a long tedious task, but it does in fact repair or extend the life of shoes we’ve long had and still like.

Shoemaking is a lost art because of sweatshops and the local shoe repair shops seem to have (almost entirely) gone out of business. The equipment they have is irreplaceable and one common worry is that today’s shoes are made of shoddy material that is difficult to repair properly.

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