@packetcat@tenforward.social

packetcat @packetcat@tenforward.social · Aug 07, 2026

it's #BandcampFriday today and Bandcamp is having a bad time, it's slow as molasses guess I'll check back later in the day

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packetcat @packetcat@tenforward.social · Jul 13, 2026

I was just thinking that if Dr. Pepper didn't have caffeine it I would drink it more often but now that i think about it, why do so many sodas have caffeine in them anyways? what is it for?

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packetcat @packetcat@tenforward.social · Jun 30, 2026

https://www.404media.co/how-i-bought-a-private-jet-by-selling-10-subscriptions-to-404-media/ lmfao

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packetcat @packetcat@tenforward.social · May 13, 2026

Replying to @Shrigglepuss@godforsaken.website

@Shrigglepuss@godforsaken.website jesus fucking christ

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packetcat @packetcat@tenforward.social · May 11, 2026

https://www.404media.co/your-ai-use-is-breaking-my-brain/

Is the phenomenon Jason describing here a form of hypervigilance? I know that term from mental health professionals using it but I don't know if it describes this situation.

[ I have a bunch of other thoughts about this essay but I need to think about them some more before I post them anywhere. ]

404 Media

Your AI Use Is Breaking My Brain

AI writing is impossible to avoid, is making everything sound the same, and is driving us crazy.

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packetcat @packetcat@tenforward.social · May 11, 2026

https://www.404media.co/ucf-ai-commencement-speaker-booed/

yes, good, more of this

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packetcat @packetcat@tenforward.social · May 11, 2026

once again finding out that a really buzzy/popular new book out right now is only available *physically* as a paperback in Canada 🙃

dude I'm so tired of this, publishers please

[ its Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke ]

#books #bookstodon

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packetcat @packetcat@tenforward.social · May 06, 2026

Replying to @gnomon@mastodon.social

@gnomon@mastodon.social ty *sighs*

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packetcat @packetcat@tenforward.social · May 06, 2026

Replying to @gnomon@mastodon.social

@gnomon@mastodon.social wtf, this is the first I'm hearing about this, do you have a news article or other link about this?

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packetcat @packetcat@tenforward.social · May 05, 2026

Replying to @rysiek@mstdn.social

@rysiek its causing a cascading failure onto de.net as well since de.net uses nic.de for nameservers.

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packetcat @packetcat@tenforward.social · May 05, 2026

Review: The Last Contract of Isako by Fonda Lee

> The Last Contract of Isako delivered the goods. It was another remarkable demonstration of Fonda Lee’s ability to build well thought out worlds with the right blend of political intrigue and deadly action; the combat scenes in this book wouldn’t be out of place in a cyberpunk show. I haven’t read a lot of science fiction this year and it has been fairly hit and miss as a genre. This is by far the best science fiction I’ve read this year and nothing else comes close.

https://nullrouted.space/2026/05/05/review-the-last-contract-of-isako-by-fonda-lee/

If you enjoyed reading this book review, please boost this post and perhaps consider buying me a book.

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#books #bookstodon

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packetcat @packetcat@tenforward.social · May 04, 2026

Replying to @packetcat@tenforward.social

this post brought to you by this news: https://variety.com/2026/music/news/kid-cudi-fires-m-i-a-tour-republican-rant-1236736864/

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packetcat @packetcat@tenforward.social · May 04, 2026

Replying to @dona@mastodon.art

@dona@mastodon.art whoa this is gorgeous, love the colours! 😍

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packetcat @packetcat@tenforward.social · May 04, 2026

its really sad that M.I.A went all the way into the right-wing pipeline - antivaxxer, born-again Christian, US Republican voter

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packetcat @packetcat@tenforward.social · May 04, 2026

Replying to @packetcat@tenforward.social

I'm not reading this in the same way I am probably never reading House of Leaves lol

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packetcat @packetcat@tenforward.social · May 04, 2026

Replying to @packetcat@tenforward.social

to clarify, that is not really meant to be a dig at Sally Rooney's writing, its just very much not a style that works for me - I don't think it is inherently bad that she writes like that (and clearly a lot of people like her writing considering her books sell a gazillion copies)

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packetcat @packetcat@tenforward.social · May 04, 2026

Replying to @packetcat@tenforward.social

I imagine this is partially why it won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction lmao, tbh its somewhat impressive to write experimental fiction using a single run-on sentence like this and have the story be coherent but also I'm not reading this, I would hate reading something like, I already don't like when writers write overly long paragraphs with a lot of interiority and stream of consciousness (*cough* Sally Rooney *cough*) so this is my personal nightmare

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packetcat @packetcat@tenforward.social · May 04, 2026

Replying to @deliberately_me@blackqueer.life

@deliberately_me@blackqueer.life yes, on purpose, its supposed to be some experimental WW1 fiction

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packetcat @packetcat@tenforward.social · May 04, 2026

Replying to @packetcat@tenforward.social

look I'm not going to be overly prescriptive about long/run-on sentences but 300 pages of run-on sentence is a bit much methinks

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packetcat @packetcat@tenforward.social · May 04, 2026

Replying to @packetcat@tenforward.social

oh wtf from reviews of this book I am finding out that the entirety of this 300 page book is one run-on sentence hell nawwwww

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packetcat @packetcat@tenforward.social · May 04, 2026

Replying to @packetcat@tenforward.social

What they find amid the ruined battlefield, however, is not a man in need of mercy but a fallen angel, seemingly struck down by artillery fire.

[ from the description of Angel Down by Daniel Kraus ]

I am sorry but this is an incredibly stupid premise for this story if that's indeed what happened, wdym an angel got struck down by artillery fire?

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packetcat @packetcat@tenforward.social · May 04, 2026

Replying to @packetcat@tenforward.social

I really only care about the fiction winner tbh and it doesn't look like anything I want to read

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packetcat @packetcat@tenforward.social · May 04, 2026

bookshop.org sent an email about this year's Pulitzer Prize winning books

and here they are:

Fiction - Angel Down by Daniel Kraus

Memoir - Things in Nature Merely Grow by Yiyun Li

General Nonfiction - There Is No Place for Us: Working and Homeless in America by Brian Goldstone

History - We the People: A History of the U.S. Constitution by Jill Lepore

Biography - Pride and Pleasure: The Schuyler Sisters in an Age of Revolution by Amanda Vaill

Poetry - Ars Poeticas by Juliana Spahr

#books #bookstodon

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packetcat @packetcat@tenforward.social · May 03, 2026

Replying to @Monzz@elekk.xyz

@Monzz@elekk.xyz hey! I'm good, what have you been up to? nice to see you around these parts!

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packetcat @packetcat@tenforward.social · May 03, 2026

Review: Upward Bound by Woody Brown

> Ultimately I ended up feeling disappointed after I finished Upward Bound. I thought there was some interesting character work done from a perspective we very rarely get in media and some of the themes it tackled were handled with nuance and care. However, the book’s ending and its casual use of a certain slur meant that my negative feelings about the book overshadow any positives.

https://nullrouted.space/2026/05/02/review-upward-bound-by-woody-brown/

If you enjoyed reading this book review, please boost this post and perhaps consider buying me a book.

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#books #bookstodon

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packetcat @packetcat@tenforward.social · Apr 29, 2026

Review: Perfect Victims and the Politics of Appeal by Mohammed El-Kurd

> Perfect Victims and the Politics of Appeal is in equal measure poetic & precise, and on occasion laugh out loud funny. I was not expecting the humour to be part of this book, it was a pleasant surprise and Mohammed El-Kurd wields sarcasm & satire with as much effectiveness as he does poetic prose.

https://nullrouted.space/2026/04/29/review-perfect-victims-and-the-politics-of-appeal-by-mohammed-el-kurd/

If you enjoyed reading this book review, please boost this post and perhaps consider buying me a book.

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#books #bookstodon

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packetcat @packetcat@tenforward.social · Apr 28, 2026

Replying to @rwg@aoir.social

@rwg@aoir.social FYI, the presentation link is giving me a 404.

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packetcat @packetcat@tenforward.social · Apr 22, 2026

Review: Agnes Aubert’s Mystical Cat Shelter by Heather Fawcett

> Agnes Aubert’s Mystical Cat Shelter was fine. It was a very light and easy read and it was exactly the kind of palate cleanser I needed after my last book. I ended up finishing it in one day. I loved most of the characters, especially Agnes and her cats and the setting. However the romance subplot felt very much undercooked and I had rather the book spend more time exploring the very interesting magic system it presented.

https://nullrouted.space/2026/04/22/review-agnes-auberts-mystical-cat-shelter-by-heather-fawcett/

If you enjoyed reading this book review, please boost this post and perhaps consider buying me a book.

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#books #bookstodon

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packetcat @packetcat@tenforward.social · Apr 18, 2026

Review: The Book of Fallen Leaves by A. S. Tamaki

> The Book of Fallen Leaves was a disappointment. I really wanted to like this book, the premise and the setting was very much up my alley but the execution left much to be desired.

https://nullrouted.space/2026/04/18/review-the-book-of-fallen-leaves-by-a-s-tamaki/

If you enjoyed reading this book review, please boost this post and perhaps consider buying me a book.

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#books #bookstodon

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packetcat @packetcat@tenforward.social · Apr 17, 2026

Replying to @so_treu@blackqueer.life

@so_treu happy birthday!! 🎉

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packetcat @packetcat@tenforward.social · Apr 14, 2026

Review: The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa

"The Memory Police was technically fine. It did a more than adequate job of portraying a bleak dystopian world with its plot and character interactions. However, its use of unnamed characters and occasionally sterile prose left me feeling disconnected from the overarching narrative and at the end of it I didn’t come away feeling particular strongly about any of it."

https://nullrouted.space/2026/04/14/review-the-memory-police-by-yoko-ogawa/

If you enjoyed reading this book review, please boost this post and perhaps consider buying me a book.

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#books #bookstodon

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packetcat @packetcat@tenforward.social · Apr 11, 2026

Review: Seasons of Glass and Iron by Amal El-Mohtar

"Seasons of Glass and Iron was a lovely read. Not only was it a more than adequate as a palate cleanser, it also delivered more of Amal El-Mohtar's beautiful writing in the form of poignant short stories and poetry. This book was short, sweet and packed an emotional punch."

https://nullrouted.space/2026/04/11/review-seasons-of-glass-and-iron-by-amal-el-mohtar/

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packetcat @packetcat@tenforward.social · Apr 10, 2026

Replying to @researchfairy@scholar.social

@researchfairy@scholar.social Ivory is what I use and recommend with the caveat that it requires a paid subscription.

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packetcat @packetcat@tenforward.social · Apr 10, 2026

Replying to @forestjohnson@social.pixie.town

@forestjohnson@social.pixie.town lol, you are the second person to mention this nulling of Adobe's license validation servers for CS apps I have also done this in the past because I wanted to have CS apps installed for funsies (never actually made any real use of them)

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packetcat @packetcat@tenforward.social · Apr 08, 2026

Replying to @kyle@mastodon.kylemacquarrie.co.uk

@kyle@mastodon.kylemacquarrie.co.uk lmao, I actually had the same thought, there used to be a time when I had cracked CS apps on my computer and I remember modifying my hosts file to null their domains

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packetcat @packetcat@tenforward.social · Apr 08, 2026

Replying to @packetcat@tenforward.social

While I'm here, I recently found that Discord is using a newish telemetry domain in their desktop application. It doesn't seem to be used in the mobile application (at least not on iOS). As far as I can tell, the telemetry call only happens at application start. The domain is dc-telemetry.net. I don't know what kind of telemetry this is being used for.

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packetcat @packetcat@tenforward.social · Apr 08, 2026

Replying to @nivex@tenforward.social

@nivex@tenforward.social I think somebody had that Talk and some of it is in latest Firefox stable https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/firefox-ai-controls but IIRC, these "AI" features are opt-out by default so its not perfect

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packetcat @packetcat@tenforward.social · Apr 08, 2026

Replying to @wohali@timeloop.cafe

@wohali@timeloop.cafe AFAIK, Firefox no longer checks for OCSP responses. Any settings for it in Preferences are gone and I don't see OCSP related DNS requests from Firefox anymore.

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packetcat @packetcat@tenforward.social · Apr 08, 2026

Replying to @wohali@timeloop.cafe

@wohali@timeloop.cafe oh yeah, I forgot about the Steam Hardware Survey!

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packetcat @packetcat@tenforward.social · Apr 08, 2026

Replying to @packetcat@tenforward.social

As far as I know the only major software developer that does software telemetry consent right is Mozilla and the way they do telemetry in Firefox.

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packetcat @packetcat@tenforward.social · Apr 08, 2026

Replying to @packetcat@tenforward.social

my thoughts on software telemetry have remained unchanged since 2023 since I wrote this: https://nullrouted.space/2023/02/16/on-telemetry-in-software/

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packetcat @packetcat@tenforward.social · Apr 08, 2026

Replying to @packetcat@tenforward.social

I don't use any Adobe applications myself but somebody else on my home network does and I can tell you, Adobe app telemetry is very noisy. Adobe telemetry domains like the following are amongst the top blocked by my local pi-hole installation which is using the OISD big list: adobecorp.data.adobedc.net aepxlg.adobe.com hbrt.adobe.com So this kind of behaviour is to be expected from Adobe but modifying the local hosts file is a new low, even for them.

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packetcat @packetcat@tenforward.social · Apr 08, 2026

Replying to @packetcat@tenforward.social

This is malware behaviour and I don't think calling it that is an exaggeration.

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packetcat @packetcat@tenforward.social · Apr 08, 2026

https://mjtsai.com/blog/2026/04/08/adobe-modifies-your-hosts-file-for-their-analytics/

what the fuck?

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packetcat @packetcat@tenforward.social · Apr 07, 2026

Review: The Red Winter by Cameron Sullivan

"The Red Winter was an incredibly good read. A well written story about power, monstrosity, and love that once it had gripped me in its talons, I didn’t want it to let go. I enjoyed everything about this book, the narrative, the characters, the fantasy world, and most of all the tragic love story. This is one of those books where I felt a bit sad after I finished it because I wanted to live in the world it had created for just a bit longer."

https://nullrouted.space/2026/04/07/review-the-red-winter-by-cameron-sullivan/

If you enjoyed reading this book review, please boost this post and perhaps consider buying me a book.

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#books #bookstodon

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