Reading

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Fussing with old tech and freeware is my procra-I mean coping strategy

What I've been doing off and on the last few days rather than what I probably SHOULD have been doing:

Fussing with an old Nexus 7 tablet to see if I could turn it into a barebones library book and Kindle reader, and trying out free audio/video recorders for my computer.

Project 1: Lazarus - I forgot how much I liked the form factor of my old Nexus 7 tablet. Unfortunately, though I COULD install Kindle on it and use the web-based Libby app, which is all I really wanted access to, the device is likely just too old. It got slow often (like, 5 seconds to turn a page slow) after being on for a bit, just noped out and crashed/restarted several times, and even when it was working OK, the battery is drained every few hours, which is just too annoying to manage. To the recycler it goes. When it worked, though, I did like the way it felt. My new phone is thinner/taller than my older one, and I've struggled with finding a comfy way to hold/prop it for reading. I didn't have any of that issue with this 20+ year old tablet. :\
Project status: failure

Project 2: Rum - I saw someone on Tumblr suggest NCH Software for De-BigBusinessing purposes, and being a longtime fan of quality freeware (a dying breed nowadays, where so many "free" things are kind of skeevy and trying relentlessly to upsell you), I checked them out. I found Debut and WavePad to be genuinely nice freeware for easily recording screen video or audio from all the usual sources. I dunno, I had tried this before for a few different applications, and every time the program I was trying was just too fiddly or had other drawbacks. This seemed much simpler and more intuitive. A+
Project status: success (EDIT: qualified - evidently NCH has a trial use period and after that they ask to buy a license or restrict some functions. I'm willing to see what the restricted version still lets me do.... They do seem to make quality software for a reasonable price, tho, so long as you mind whether you're buying outright or an annual sub.)

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writing

On a lighter note, where "a lighter note" is military sci fi....

Terrible Writing Advice - Military Science Fiction (Youtube, 11minish)

Ok, I found this in looking for something else, and have to share. I love the satire here. My fave, "Let's see how close we can get to accidentally advocating fascism!" and (when discussing whether to flesh out the political situation around your military's actions) "...but when has war ever had anything to do with politics?"

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I wish that science was no longer political, buuuut....

I know I'm Getting Political every now and then, here. I don't feel like I can help it. I'm a science person. All of this has been PERSONALLY affecting me and my livelihood, and is likely to for a very long time. And I just...I don't want people to forget about what's happening here. I feel like once the shock value wears off and NIH is out of the headlines, people forget. And this whole thing seems like such madness if you give it half a thought...so that's why I liked this link about why this Administration is targeting NIH and academic funding. Why cut funding for cancer research and education? it doesn't make sense, right?

“WHY is this happening? Why would anyone want to blow up cancer research in the U.S.? When is cancer political?”

That’s probably the most common question asked about the recent devastation at NIH. Yes, Project 2025 talked about some of this, and Chris Rufo vowed to take over federal grantmaking. But before January 20th, there was no major public discussion of this level of attack on NIH, medical research, and cures for disease.

So why is this happening?

Sadly, it’s a natural evolution of the agenda of the American right.

I wish that this was not true. But this is where we are, now, and honestly, no one should be surprised. As this article points out, Karl Rove talked about this a long time ago, and it's been brewing for decades. This isn't conspiracy theory here, or hyperbole. Karl Rove, one of the most influential Republican strategists of the 20th century, flat out SAID that this was the plan.

Rove goes on:

”Bigger government strengthens the Democratic Party. It generates federal employees who will mostly vote Democratic, and government programs whose beneficiaries will have reason to feel grateful and protective toward a large central government.”

“Conversely, smaller government helps the Republicans. The more taxes are cut, the more programs are privatized, the fewer strictures put on economic activity, the more people feel that their security and well-being depend on markets and not government or unions, the more the fundamental rationale of the Democratic Party erodes.”

And here we are. This thinking does not care about actually caring for people, or making their lives better, or curing diseases. It cares about gathering votes. And the more precarious you make peoples' lives, the less they feel they can trust the government or that the government is looking out for them and their health, the more they go "well, why should I pay for that? Stop taking my taxes, if you're not going to help me!" The more they don't want to prepay for anything "just in case" (which is how the federal safety net and investment in scientific research works), because they're afraid of getting screwed. Thus, there is HUGE POLITICAL INCENTIVE to convince people that government agencies are inept, corrupt, and/or a waste of tax dollars.

I repeat, there is huge political incentive to convince people that government agencies are useless or broken or corrupt. Even if it's not true. Break confidence in those institutions to gain political capital (to sow doubt that the NIH is useful and helpful), then break the institutions (cut NIH funding and staff to the bone, now that the public is now doubtful of the NIH and won't immediately scream bloody murder), then point to the broken institutions and say, "look, they're broken, you shouldn't be paying for them!"

This is the plan. This has, sadly, always been the plan.