adam w.k. @sabbatical@qoto.org

just reflecting on how when i was starting out in visual design, you either had to pay big bucks for software like photoshop or be OK with pirating (and know how/where to get it.)

the fact that today anyone can just use figma for free is such a win for reducing barriers. and this pattern seems to be repeating across domains:
dreamweaver → vs code
maya → blender
excel → sheets
and many more... i'm sure i'm missing some of the best examples. sure, there was some free-to-use software back in the day (props to GIMP et al), but it was generally sub-par or very niche.

not something to take for granted!

was looking up whether it's "mascarpone" or "marscapone" and there were at least TWO AI-generated articles on the first page of google trying to convince me those are actually two often confused but separate types of soft italian cheese!

my sister recommended me a book on cptsd, and was just able to read a good chunk of it on open library. forgot how cool their system is! (good book so far too: https://openlibrary.org/books/OL27167959M/Complex_PTSD)

it hurts so much

variations on a theme

please sir, couldnt you include alt text?

please sir, do you have any old memes or tweets saved you could spare? [dickensian puppy dog eyes]

home depot parking lot. two 4x4 pickups with the same bed size. which way western man?

TBT to when the very idea of ONLY A SINGLE MAPLE LEAF on the canadian flag was a front page shocker. (found this newspaper from 1964 stuffed in our old chimney flue)

ooo, roli is bringing back the seaboard block in july! tempted to finally lay out the bucks for one.

a selection of books i just added to my library:

shocked how wide a selection of audiobooks were just added as included with spotify premium. some i’ve been waiting for on libby for months!

but boy, the listening experience is no different than for music. no bookmarking whatsoever!

happy to report that since qoto.org's big instance software updates, elk.zone finally works! finally back using my favourite mastodon web client. still as nice as i remember from back when i was still on ye olde .social

thanks again for your work getting those updates done, @freemo! had a feeling it was some deprecation issue

winni’s been on my lap most of the day — irritatingly, i get up to move around every hour or so, but then she’s back!

blown away by the first neuralink patient's gushing praise of how their tech is changing his life. had no idea they were this far along! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79VvxBStbWY&list=TLPQMDkwNDIwMjSl8mylRqL5jQ&index=8

i'm a multi-millionaire!
(zimbabwean)

love that AI can take over all these tasks for me! annoying tasks like creating illustrations, making music, writing code, poetry and blog articles! really frees me up for the important stuff, like gruelling, repetitive paperwork