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#100daystooffload — Public Fediverse posts

Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #100daystooffload, aggregated by home.social.

  1. I have been using way too much, and even paying for Premium, but it's not good for me, so I need a break from it.

    This is day 30 of

    joelchrono.xyz/blog/deleted-yo

  2. Well, here it is, my review for , one of the most fantastic and unique videogames ever.

    As spoiler-free as I could make it, and even then, please don't read it and just go play it.

    This is day 27 of

    joelchrono.xyz/blog/outer-wilds

  3. A selective Helix cursor walks into a bar. The bartender says: "What you want?". "old water" replied the cursor to the void it had just created.

    I'm losing my marbles with learning the editor `helix`, but it is quite nice so far. It's flexible enough to not force you to install 100 million extensions. post number 15

    joelvonrotz.ch/writing/ltex-pl

  4. A great way to get me to NOT use your product is to require your users to create an account for firmware updates. NOPE.

    Hello and Goodbye Clicks Power Keyboard

    dallincrump.com/hello-and-good

    #tech #clicks #BlackBerry #blog #100DaysToOffload

  5. A few weeks ago I checked out the Hidden Swing Trail, which runs along the hillside on the west side of the Palos Verdes Peninsula. Nice views of the ocean and Bluff Cove, shade along the upper part of the trail, and yes, a hidden swing. I made the mistake of starting at the top and hiking down, which meant I had to hike back up after I was already tired (with the steepest part near the top!)

    The Hidden Swing Trail

    #hiking #nature #trees #trail #PalosVerdesPeninsula #California #coast #photo #100daysToOffload

  6. Naty S @eclecticpassions ·

    032 is out!

    2026: Week 25/52 (Jun 15 – Jun 21)

    ➡️ burgeonlab.com/weeknotes/2026/

    This is super late. 🙃 It's the usual and my experience attending , a trading card event last weekend, and investigating my collection of Pokémon cards.

    This is post 61 of
    📈 burgeonlab.com/tags/100daystoo

  7. The Road That Broke the Peninsula

    I stumbled on an old map to Marineland from 1962, which showed Crenshaw Blvd as a route to the coast...through the Palos Verdes landslide zone. *Did* Crenshaw ever connect? If so, *how*? Did the landslide take it out, and if so when? I went digging for answers.

    journal.kvibber.com/2026/06/ro

  8. #film review

    I Love Boosters (Boots Riley, 2026)

    Psychedelic sci-fi treatise on class, labor, fashion. Superb cast having fun with serious politics.

    Full Larry's 100 review: write.as/larrys100/i-love-boos

    #film #BootsRiley #PoliticalCinema #SciFi #DemiMoore #Larrys100 #100DaysToOffload #moviereview #ILoveBoosters

  9. #music review

    Kacey Musgraves - Middle of Nowhere (Lost Highway, 2026)

    No mainstream artist has captured my heart like Spacey Kacey over eight years. Classic country → disco → cottage core → electro-pop. I ride with it.

    Full review: write.as/larrys100/kacey-musgr

    #music #KaceyMusgraves #CountryMusic #AlbumReview #Larrys100 #100DaysToOffload

  10. #music review

    Kurt Vile - "Chance to Bleed" (Verve Records, 2026)

    Song of the Summer? Breezy melody, chantable chorus, and a great vocal hook:

    "Old time, lo-fi, DIY, Rock & Roll…Nights!"

    Full Larry's 100 Review: write.as/larrys100/kurt-vile-c

    #music #KurtVile #IndieRock #SongOfTheSummer #Larrys100 #100DaysToOffload

  11. Naty S @eclecticpassions ·

    My blog relies on Git and Builds. They’ve been down and at first I couldn’t deploy my site to my static host, .

    This triggered me to create a local script that runs all the fetch/build steps as an alternative pathway to upload...

    View full note: burgeonlab.com/notes/2026/0408

    Syndicated via getindiekit.com

    This is post 27 of

  12. A novella-in-flash about Hawai'ian gods navigating late-stage capitalism.

    Through keen observations of modern life and immortality, Brownlee uses the characters to reflect on the beauty and sadness of existence.

    Full #Larrys100 Review: write.as/larrys100/kahi-and-lu

    #Books #BookReview #Bookstodon #FlashFiction #NovelaInFlash #MythologyFiction #100WordReviews #Drabble #ReadingCommunity #100daysToOffload

  13. #tv

    Drop someone cold into Shoresy Season 5 and watch them cycle through profanity, laughter, tears, and "are we drinkin' beers?"

    I'm reviewing every episode this season.

    Full 100-word review: write.as/larrys100/shoresy-sea

    #Shoresy #Letterkenny #Hockey #CanadianTV #Hulu #TVReview #100WordReviews #Drabble #100DaysToOffload #HeatedRivalry #Television #TVSeries, #Streaming, #BingeWatch, and #NowWatching

  14. #tv review

    A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms (HBO, 2026) - Episodes 1-3

    Chemistry between Ser Duncan the Tall and squire Egg powers this funny, bawdy, medieval buddy sitcom based on G.R.R. Martin's Dunk & Egg novellas.

    Full review: write.as/larrys100/a-knight-of

    #tv #television #PrestigeTV #GameOfThrones #HBO #KnightOfTheSevenKingdoms #FantasyTV #GRRMartin #Larrys100 #100DaysToOffload

  15. Sentimental Value (Joachim Trier, 2025)

    Norwegian award season juggernaut. Stellan Skarsgård as the prodigal patriarch - a sensitive and selfish filmmaker returning home after his daughter's mother dies.

    Full review: write.as/larrys100/sentimental

    #film #movies #Oscars2026 #NorwegianCinema #cinema #JoachimTrier #BestInternationalFilm #StellanSkarsgard #FilmReview #Larrys100 #100DaysToOffload

  16. Larry's 100 Faves: The year in books

    26 books consumed. Fell short of my 35-book goal. Maybe reading goals are dumb?

    Best: Death of the Author (Okorafor), Playground (Powers)
    Best Debut: Brooklyn Motto (Johnson)
    Best Memoir: The Harder I Fight (Neko Case)

    The rest? Read my #Larrys2025FavesBooks list: write.as/larrys100/larrys-fave

    #books #reading #2025BestOf #BookReviews #BestOfBooks #BookRecommendations #AmReading #Larrys100 #100DaysToOffload

  17. Larry's 100 Faves: 2025 Movies

    Bad year for movies. Or bad year for me seeing movies. Ten films I saw, ranked with microreviews.

    #1) One Battle After Another: Brilliant, has a tragic flaw.

    #2) Sinners: Juke Joint Cinema.

    Award season cramming about to begin

    The rest? Read my #Larrys2025FavesFilm list: write.as/larrys100/larrys-fave

    #movies #film #2025BestOf #FilmReviews #BestOfFilm #Cinema #MovieReviews #Larrys100 #100DaysToOffload

  18. Larry's 100 Faves: 2025 Television

    Thirty scripted shows ranked. Stone-cold classics (Andor, Black Mirror) meet mind-bending genre work (Pluribus, The Eternaut).

    Comedies returned to balance reality's darkness.

    Top 3: Pluribus, Andor, The Rehearsal.

    The rest? Read my #Larrys2025FavesTV list: write.as/larrys100/larrys-fave

    #tv #television #2025BestOf #TVReviews #BestOfTV #Streaming #Larrys100 #100DaysToOffload

  19. Pluribus Episode 8: Charm Offensive AppleTV 2025

    Carol and Zosia's slow-burning love story. Sexual tension until the collective consciousness deduced that Carol needed to get laid.

    The rest? Read my #Larrys100 review: write.as/4p88jk6t4i3zwab7.md

    #tv #Pluribus #SciFi #VinceGilligan # #100WordReview #Television #100DaysToOffload

  20. Oh. What. Fun. (Amazon, 2025)

    Holiday party eggnog left out to curdle. 1970s gender stereotypes, check-collecting stars, and meanness as 'satire' blended together.

    The rest? Read my #100HotChocolates review:
    write.as/larrys100/oh

    #movies #ChristmasMovies #AmazonPrime #100WordReview #RomCom #HolidayMovies #ChristmasReview #Larrys100 #100DaysToOffload

  21. Pluribus Episode 7: The Gap (Apple TV+, 2025)

    Meditative and harrowing. Carol is drowning in loneliness, Manousos is on a glass-huffing vision quest. Both nearly break.

    The rest? Read my #Larrys100 review:
    write.as/larrys100/pluribus-ep

    #tv #Pluribus #SciFi #VinceGilligan #AppleTV #100WordReview #Television #100DaysToOffload

  22. Merry Christmas, Ted Cooper (Hallmark, 2025)

    The season's first banger. Atypical male lead, Anchorman-style comedy, and Christmas Ale buzz romance.

    Supporting cast matters: fruitcake of an ensemble.

    The rest? Read my #100HotChocolates review: write.as/larrys100/merry-chris

    #movies #ChristmasMovies #HallmarkMovies #100WordReview #RomCom #HolidayMovies #ChristmasReview #Larrys100 #100DaysToOffload

  23. I finally decided to break out of Bambu’s increasingly-closed walled garden.

    I’ve had the Bambu X1C for a couple of years already, and it is a really, really great 3D printer. There’s no question whatsoever that Bambu has transformed the 3D printing space for consumers, and has done so while also creating some very high-quality premium hardware.

    I’ve been meaning to write about the various mods I’ve made over time, but at this point it’s a bit far down the line to go into each one in detail 😁

    • riser with LED strip, remote controlled via a Raspberry Pi Pico with a simple MicroPython HTTP-to-RF API that can dim the strip
    • IKEA SKADIS mounted on the side with tools
    • boxes to hold desiccant beads in the AMS, and a hygrometer
    • after-market high flow nozzle (obviously)
    • Garolite plate
    • third party nozzle wiper
    • etc etc

    The printer has been very reliable, and straightforward to maintain as well.

    So why hack it? Well… I own it, I think it can be made better, and… because.

    When the X1Plus Expander launched on Crowd Supply I went ahead and backed the project, as I was interested in ways I could potentially add extra sensors and a better camera; as well as finally being able to connect over a LAN socket rather than having to be on wifi (the studio network can be a bit flaky from time to time).

    The X1Plus Expander depends on third-party firmware (X1Plus), which requires the printer itself to be jailbroken / rooted.

    Long story short, I’ve finally done that.

    I was extremely impressed with how smooth and clear the project contributors have made the process. I went through the official process with Bambu to switch my printer into the unsupported third party program, downgraded to a rootable version of the firmware, rooted it, then ran through the remote install process (via wifi from my Framework) to install the firmware. I’d already printed the case for the X1Plus Expander. Then it was simply a case of following the exciting and dramatic installation video.

    I now have VNC access to drive the controls on the printer’s touchscreen remotely; SSH access; the ability to network mount storage; etc etc. Lots of options to explore here. I was even able to upgrade the firmware of components like the AMS from within the third party X1Plus firmware.

    You’ll also spot the OpenSpool sitting off to the side in the image above. That’s another third-party addon that I’ve barely started to use, but it extends the ability for the printer to recognise RFID-tagged spools from Bambu themselves, to having it recognise “any” spool that I happen to tag and configure.

    All of this is background tinkering and admin… apart from the case for the X1Plus Expander, I’ve not been using the printer itself quite so much lately, due to travels.

    Open source (and open source hardware!) FTW!

    https://andypiper.co.uk/2025/07/01/opening-up-the-bambu/

    #100DaysToOffload #3dPrinting #Bambu #crowdSupply #electronics #hardware #Linux #openSource #openSourceHardware #openspool #Technology

  24. A new year and a better commitment toward achieving 100 days of blogging, consecutively, hopefully.

    Over the past few days I set up SecurityOnion in a VLAN dedicated toward security applications. It joins Greenbone for performing credentialed scans via openvas and an all-purpose Kali VM for anything/everything.

    While it wasn’t difficult to install SecurityOnion, I did have to do some […]

    https://aronwarren.com/2025/01/02/restarting-100daystooffload-with-securityonion/

  25. I’ve given some talks in the past 6 months about the history of computer art, and in particular art created with pen plotters and drawing machines. As I got into building plotters last year, I didn’t initially think too much about the background to what I was doing; but, being an historian, I then started to dig into it, looking back to the emergence of computer art of the 1950s and 1960s.

    My personal favourite piece, Schotter (“Gravel”) by Georg Nees, was made using an algorithm.

    At a high level, it’s a simple and very effective rule – draw a square; repeat, adding a small but increasing amount of rotation (noise) with each column and row. Such a basic piece of code produces a wonderful and pleasing – to my eyes – “disintegration” effect. My description is a very simplistic way of understanding the code – more recently, Zellyn Hunter has done a fabulous two part deep dive on the program, going as far as recovering the random seed used to create the specific piece of work that is part of the collection at the V&A Museum in London1. Until about a month ago I had an alternate / approximated version2 hanging just inside the door of the studio, and thanks to Zellyn I now have a precise recreation generated from Python, plotted using my own machine, on fine black paper using gold ink.

    Schotter, in the V&A Museum, LondonRecreation of Schotter, Forge & Craft studio, London

    In my talks, I’ve joked that we can think of these in-their-time “magical” programs as being like AI, but in old school terms, they are just algorithms.

    To say that today’s AI is “just algorithms” would be ridiculously reductive – that form of AI involves not just algorithms, but vast Large Language Models that inform the outcomes of the generated art or text or code; but ultimately it is just super-powered autocorrect and applied statistics3, which derives superpowers from the corpus of data that it has been trained on. I completely understand the concerns around how that data is being acquired and (mis)used, and the skepticism and trepidation and other reasons folks have to disdain “AI”.4

    One of the common things we get asked when showing our plotter art is, literally: "where is the art in this?" (thus the title and inspiration for my talk); or "so, the computer did it / it's all done with AI then?" (the implication being that we didn’t really make any creative effort of our own).

    In our (Forge & Craft case), the work tends to divide between two types and styles (not exclusively, but mostly):

    • things I generated using code, mostly experimenting in different languages and frameworks as I learn – this is usually referred to as “generative art”;
    • images taken as photographs by one of us, transformed into plottable line art using algorithms (we use DrawingBotV3 for this, it has an amazing range of path finding modules, excellent support, and solid knowledge of a range of different plotters including output to Inkscape SVG for AxiDraw, or to HPGL for my vintage plotter).

    Is that “AI”? No – we’re not using what is known as generative AI in those cases. I have, of course, experimented with tools like Midjourney and so forth for some limited image generation, and for some coding assistance – I’m a curious technologist, and I like to explore new tools – but, in terms of putting down the lines in the plots, we’re using algorithms to derive the pen paths.

    We also work with analogue materials i.e. the pens and inks and papers are themselves an artistic set of choices. Take a couple of my other pieces, 1984, and Cellular.

    The piece on the left is a Cistercian numeral or cipher. I used Python code to generate the glyph here; I used DrawingBotV3 to process the SVG into a plottable format (a close look would reveal it is a dense squiggly line fill); this was plotted using sepia fineliner onto cotton rag paper. The piece on the right was made using an online generation tool, and plotted using bronze Uniball onto the same cotton rag paper.

    In both cases I’m showing the dichotomy of ostensibly old formats (handmade paper, Cistercian numerals) and modernity (the notion of “1984” be it the Orwellian, or the Apple ad; the bronze metallic ink); and doing that via the physicality of analogue output. Oh, as a side note, this cotton rag paper is pretty challenging to plot onto – it undulates so the pen can easily drag unexpectedly, and I found that some “babysitting” of the machine was required. No AI there.

    In relation to the analog element, I love these words from Freya Marshall in the recent book Tracing the Line:

    … to see an image take shape, line by line, is […] hypnotic. In the age of social media, where hour-long plots can be condensed into 20-second videos that are instantly attention-grabbing, it is not difficult to see how the pen plotter has risen in popularity […]

    Freya Marshall, Tracing the Line

    Another author, Carl Lostritto, writes beautifully about this in Computational Drawing:

    … when drawing with ink, time and material are consequential.

    Even though the volume of ink is almost never enough to provide measurable depth, the behavior of the material ink as it interacts with the material paper participates in cuing and undermining depth. Ink affects paper and paper affects ink. […]

    Ironically, pen-plotters, machines that move a physical pen in two axes across paper, were marketed as output devices for architectural and engineering technical drawings. Now, almost all have been re-appropriated by artists, designers, and architects who cherish them for the very qualities that made them obsolete.

    Carl Lostritto, Computational Drawing

    My blog post today was prompted by being asked whether the generative art stickers I wrote about, created by my friend bleeptrack, use AI. Well, first of all, it’s not my art so I’m not going to go deep into explaining or defending the work itself (there is an explainer and video on the website, and both mention the generative and algorithmic nature of the pieces). Secondly I coincidentally also saw today, an excellent piece by Monokai that seeks to separate algorithmic art from generative art and from AI, for many of the same reasons I’ve done above – it also mentions a number of the original algorithmic artists from the 1960s. I also prefer to specify that I’m talking about computer art in my historical coverage, rather than digital art or net art or demo party art (or or or…), which are distinct genres. By the way, folks like Rev Dan Catt are doing some incredible work with AI: creating a personalised assistant, Kitty; and applying the technology tools and his amazing brain to creating ever more impressive artwork – see his Artist Statement.

    I’m not here to bash on “AI”, but I do want to draw some distinctions around how and when and where tools are used, and assumptions are made. I’m no apologist for OpenAI, Anthropic, Perplexity and others; I’m an informed skeptic. A kneejerk reaction of “AI = bad” does not take account of how the term “AI” is being misused everywhere to justify investments and valuations – a lot of stuff we previously labelled “algorithmic” is suddenly a flashy new “AI feature”, when it remains simply a complex set of advanced computing techniques and mathematics; equally, separating out an assumption that all “AI” is the result of misappropriated data in a large language model, is important.

    Finally, I don’t have videos from the talks I’ve given (at QCon, and at EMF) available to link to at the moment, but I made a small webpage with more information and links to my sources, if you would like to do more reading around the topics of the history of computer art, pen plotters, and how to get involved. I hope you find that interesting and useful!

    1. I visited the V&A earlier this year and asked to spend time examining this piece, and several other early computer art pieces, in the reading room – part of my research for the “Where Is The Art?” talk. ↩︎
    2. I generated a version using the Whiskers library in Rust, which comes with a handy interactive demo GUI for playing with the same style of piece. ↩︎
    3. It is also not Intelligent, just backed by a lot of data that makes it sound clever. ↩︎
    4. I am particularly angered by the underhand approaches that various organisations are taking, intentionally subverting and ignoring long-held internet norms and contracts like robots.txt, but that’s a different blog post, for another day. ↩︎

    Like it? Share it -

    https://andypiper.co.uk/2024/07/30/art-and-algorithms-vs-ai/

    #100DaysToOffload #art #Books #computerArt #digitalArt #generativeAi #generativeArt #penPlotter #plotterArt #presentations #Reading #schotter