#java update check

[coolskeleton3000]

Also good lord, shimejis are such a throwback to the past

I used to have these little guys around when I was, like, 14?

Not gonna install them ever again, there just becomes too much of them after a while. I prefer ghosts now because they're more stationary and they Don't Multiply. Also I love that they talk and do stuff for you

[epicfranb]

Minecraft is adding new capes

You can get them by watching streams of select Minecraft streamers on TikTok and Twitch. The Twitch one is available on May 15-31, the Tiktok one is said to become available "starting May 18". You get the Twicth cape by watching 15 minutes or more of a stream that is eligible. The glitch masks is obtained by subbing (or gifting) to the streamer (prime subs are excluded :[). You will be able to redeem them (if you got them) until June 18 for the TikTok one and June 30 for the Twitch ones.

These are only for Bedrock, but apparently will be available on Java on July 8th. Check your block guys on twitch to see if they have drops on (Seapeekay is streaming rn as of the time of writing this, and he has drops on!)

from what i understand, once you've fulfiled the requirements, you will get an email with a code that you have to redeem on the Minecraft website.

EDIT: it seems that you get the Twitch one right on the website. CPK also says it might take a long time to process if you've watched 15 minutes and deliver the drop.

I can't say more on the TikTok one since 1) im not on TikTok and 2) it's not out yet. But I will update once I find anything (i also want it and will be making a throwaway acc on an emulator ^^;)

[wiidotmom]

Minecraft LIVE - March 2025

A quick summary of what was announced at today's Minecraft LIVE :)

1.21.5 is called Spring to Life and will be releasing March 25th, check out the promo art!! The Spring to Life drop features new farm animal variants and more foliage throughout the world, as previously announced.

Vibrant Visuals is a new graphics mode for Minecraft, featuring directional lighting, specular highlights, pixelated shadows and new water visuals! It'll be coming to Bedrock Edition first in the next few months and then later to Java Edition.

The Dried Ghast is a new block coming in a future update that will generate near nether fossils. It can be taken to the Overworld and rehydrated into a Ghastling, which eventually grows up into a Happy Ghast (the growing process can be sped up by feeding the Ghastling some snowballs!).

By crafting a Harness (available in all wool colors) and placing it on a Happy Ghast, you and up to 3 other players can fly on it!

You can even dismount and stand on top of a harnessed Happy Ghast while in midair. The Happy Ghast won't move when someone is standing on it!

[bonefall]

Update + Reply Bundle

Heyo all, it's been a while with some radio static and I've got a bundle of bits to reply to here!

If you're wondering where I've been, it's actually that things got MEGA busy on my end. Between the new year, a small promotion at work, getting a license to operate an X-ray machine for extremities (i have no idea how this happened man i have an applied science degree in dead people), learning some Java, and making travel plans to visit my partner overseas, it's been hectic but good.

But I ain't gonna pay it no mind, because every 6 months in queensland a man is torn apart by a crocodile the Warrior Cats never stops. I have also been passively ruminating on the Family Tree and keeping up with checking the inbox. Before I get to ShadowClan and the Glitch Warriors, I'll tackle all the other things.

SO reply time;

Changing Skies Reactions (On Moonpaw's sister being stillborn, the ShellFern cheating situation, etc)

The Flipclaw/Myrtlebloom Family Tree Fix plumthrift is soooo back

Other Fun Stuff (Which character should be allowed to say fuck. Names I'd like to use in other Clans.)

(NOTE; not addressing anything submitted about BB!ASC just yet, I want to put all my plans together first)

CHANGING SKIES REACTIONS

My honest feeling is that they don't know what a chimera is, BUT, I'm actually glad about that.

I would 100% rather they go with having her be possessed by a dead stillborn rather than them making her rare, ultimately harmless genetic quirk "the reason" why she's haunted. The stillborn haunting is the sort of concept I've come to accept in the setting (though I do have my critiques and reservations about another Evil Voice plotline, especially given the shitshow that was Splashstar in the last book of ASC), but there are DEEP layers to how messed up the implication of "zygote souls" would be.

Others have been joining into the convo in the meanwhile, tho. In essence, I agree with @mothdapple's thoughts on the subject. I hope the voice isn't wholly evil, and I hope that the haunting doesn't stem from her chimerism.

I'm betting that she gets a weird shipping moment with one of her cousins tbh. Especially if she survives this arc and doesn't become a medcat. You just know they'll open up the next arc with her and Sunkit being mates with 400 babies if you ship her with a girl too hard lmaooo

@dawn-sunlight

MANNNNN. You CANNOT convince me that I'm not correct about this at this point. The first 4 times it might have been coincidence, but they seem to have pinpoint accuracy for sinking popular LGBT headcanons and hetconning straight romance into old material.

That's Riverstar, Blossomfall, Ivypool, Leopardstar, Onestar (they replaced a firestar scene man), and now Thriftear and Flipclaw in one fell swoop?

Not to mention how everyone was joking around about "Old Woman Yuri" with Tawnypelt and Leafstar and then BAM, Sudden Crowfeather.

Like idk. Watch Barley get a super edition called Barley's Boo where it's revealed he once fell in love with a beautiful BloodClan she-cat who he had to leave behind, until it's revealed she's in WarriorClan now, so he leaves the barn to get her pregnant before dying. And also she's his first cousin.

That's a joke but if Apollo hits me with the dodgeball I hope he kills me in 1 hit

THE FLIPCLAW/MYRTLEBLOOM FAMILY TREE FIX

thank god. This is actually an extremely easy fix for me, now. All the pre-emptive cleaning I've done for the BB!ThunderClan family tree has paid off.

I Don't Rewrite Arcs Until They're Done, BUT, I have discussed the previous options at length before and how I intend to fix it. If you're reading along but need to catch up on the convo and context, follow these links in order,

Summary and Intro: BB!ThunderClan and the Propositions (ShellFern, StormCherry, FlipBay, or PlumThrift)

Anon ShellFern argument

Anon StormCherry argument

Hypokit Moonpaw Designs for All Four Options

Phantom of the Opera FlipBay Moonpaw

StormCherry Voter who changed their mind for FlipBay or PlumThrift

All caught up? Nice.

PlumThrift is sooooo back. It's basically what they've shown in the first book of CS. Soccer moms and their weird ass kid who they're desperately pushing to be an overachiever LET'S GOO. The most likely thing that will happen is that Moonpaw is a PlumThrift kitten-- unless something big changes.

(Though I am a little bit saddened that I can't do the cool Phantom of the Opera mask thing which came from Bayshine... unless Moon was honor sired, of course. Or maybe adopted. Hmm...)

For Oakkit, Sunkit, and Hazelkit though, I'm leaning towards what anon mentioned. Their canon parents are Myrtlebloom/Flipclaw, so it would be very easy for me to change to FlipBay because of my pre-emptive fixes. It'll match canon, and I have also grown fond of the idea of the two silly dads.

(plus then it's extra easy to have Moonpaw come from the first surrogated litter which was for PlumThrift to raise, and the second litter is for FlipBay. Biologically full siblings, socially cousins.)

That said, there's still a small chance they get shuffled over to ShellFern. Or, more radically, I might end up sending them over to StormCherry. If that doesn't happen though, don't worry, I'm still keeping Honeyfur and Leafshade in my back pocket in case there's no other opportunities to give them kids.

I will say this for certain though-- PlumThrift BB!Moonpaw would never have full siblings. She will be the only child they ever raise. If the canon parents ever have another litter, they would immediately get shuffled to FlipBay or someone else.

Sunbeam's kittens are, of course, Finchlight's. im punting that other thing into RiverClan. GIT.

OTHER FUN STUFF

I do actually want more mushroom names broadly, because sapient cats would actually be REALLY interested in fungi. I'd even say they'd be more interested in them than flowers. A lot of edible fungi have a chemical compound that makes them smell and taste like meat, so imo, they should be kind of like natural snacks or treats you can find while out and about.

Kinda like how humans have fruit, a culture of cats would have mushrooms. I plan on researching and writing a VERY elaborate mushroom guide at some point explaining this all in-depth (which I will be going thru my little "rolladex" of artists to illustrate it, when it's time), so I don't want to dive into the details just yet.

But in terms of names...

Something I wish I'd been able to do more of is weird, hard-to-translate prefixes. Scents that humans overlook, more time-related names about seasons or crepuscular events, categories of birds and invertebrates, etc.

Petricorfur, Prey-scent-tail, Arionbelly (a particularly large slug for eating), Rascalheart (a particularly feisty bit of prey that gives you a good chase), Thermalhawk (a thermal is a rising wind that allows birds of prey to soar more easily) etc.

If I was going back and scrounging up Glitch Warriors for other Clans, or just generally shaking up the prefixes, I would add names with these "themes" into each Clan;

Thunder: Sweet things and more wood-related terms Nectar, Drupe, Sap, Pith, Grain, bark textures like Fissure, Scale, Tessel.

River: More aquatic animal terms, poetic imagery, and "beautiful" things Caddis, Cray, Salmon, Roe, Mussel, Pearl, Dazzle, Twirl, Dance, Sway, Mirror (for the state of water when it's absolutely calm).

Wind: Sounds, events around the time of birth Bellow, Hiss, Roar, Crackle, Swale (if born around the time of a muirburn), Journey (if born out of camp), Drowsy (for a long birth)

Shadow: Mushrooms, wetland terms, fermentation effects, names that might otherwise sound like insults to other Clans Cake, Candle, Jelly, Parasol, Elf, Sphagnum, Gas, Drake (male duck), Muck, Peat, Bog, Fizzle, Bubble, Rot, Blight, Gnat, etc.

Sky: Cars and Suburban Terms Truck, Bike, Cycle, Wheel, Asphalt, Lawn, Fence, Board, Shingle, etc.

I also really want to put Vetch in someplace. It's a pretty normal and common kind of flower, I just think the name is neat.

@angelinelitalady

Firestar's Quest Chapter 5: "ARE YOU TELLING ME SKYCLAN HAD TO LEAVE BECAUSE THERE WEREN'T ENOUGH FUCKING TREES????"

Canon? I will never not answer Bumble, you're going to have to give me two guns to ask this kind of question because there isn't a version of me in any nearby timelines that would say anyone except Bumble. It should be a rocket launcher, actually. We need to give her the nuclear codes. In BB I'd give it to Spotty. It would be REALLY funny. 25% of the story is preventing the rise of TigerClan and the other 75% of the story is taking the gun away from her.

HAPPY LUNAR NEW YEAR ALSO! IT'S SNAKE TIME BABEYYYY

@magewolf-the-artist

Do it! Go ahead! I can put it over in the Fan-Fanart post if you'd like. I should really make a section there for written art, too.

Everything about BB and everything WC-related I put on this blog is open source, from Clanmew, to plot threads, to Clan Culture, etc. PLEASE reference what you'd like if you're inspired by anything you see here!

The only thing I ask is that you keep that spirit of mutual collaboration alive. If you add onto Clanmew, allow others to reference it too. Talk about your thought processes. Encourage people to be inspired by what you did and make versions of their own. That's the beauty of fandom.

My end-game goal is for BB to result in a "skeleton" of chapter-by-chapter notes, the sort of thing you would hand to a ghost writer, so that it's essentially bones that anyone could take and write out themselves. This will take a looooong time because it's more about me having fun along the way, so if you want to write something, go ahead!

Never, never worry about "getting something wrong." You can change things, you can grow as a writer with time, wisdom, and practice. The worst piece of art is a piece that is never made.

[blurr-in-motion]

Lads. It's been done. Enjoy!

Quick note: Not all animations are supported, check the file's Read Me!.txt for more info.

Everything is free use, post this guy online if you wish. I also encourage people sharing pictures of him on your desktop cause that would be awesome.

Instructions on how to install under the cut!

[HOW TO GET THE LITTLE GUY ON YOUR COMPUTER]

[0.) ...If you don't have it already, you'll need to download Java. Google will help with this one.]

1.) Download the .zip file from this post's Google drive link. No I am not giving you a virus.

2.) Click the .zip file and then click "Extract."

3.) Put those files wherever.

4.) Open the now-unzipped folder.

5.) Double-click the Shimeji-ee.jar Java file.

6.) HE'S HERE.

--

The little dude should be on your computer now. I recommend making a desktop shortcut out of the .jar startup file but that's up to you.

This is a 1.0 release! I may update it with better/more animations in the future.

Thank you all for the support, and I hope y'all enjoy the little guy of all time!

💙 💙 💙

[dancethroughthethunder]

Bobby From High School Chapter Two: Two Coffees, One Giant Snickerdoodle, and… Hangman?

Pairing: Bob Floyd x Reader

Word Count: 3.4k

Previous Chapter: Chapter 1 Of All the Gin Joints

Summary: Before he knows it, it's Saturday and time for your coffee not-date. You and Bobby spend some time together at a local cafe, and even though you're unexpectedly interrupted by a familiar face, Bob can't help but smile at the thought of your morning together.

Author’s Note: I absolutely did not anticipate finishing chapter two tonight, but look where we are now! I've updated the chapter total on ao3 and am anticipating this will end up at 5 total chapters. This work can also be found here at my ao3. Thank you so so so much for the love on this, I can't believe how much you all like this already. I hope you enjoy! Divider by @/saradika

To the rest of the team’s surprise, Bob didn’t waste any time texting you and setting up time to meet for coffee at a cafe near base. (“Does Bob have game all of a sudden?” Rooster had asked Hangman, watching Bob smile at his phone one morning before work.)

The two of you spent the week texting back and forth, and spending the week looking forward to your Saturday morning plans. Even in high school, you were a big coffee drinker and had a big sweet tooth, so Bob decides that in addition to being convenient for you, Java’s is perfect with their decently priced, delicious coffees and incredible case of pastries. 

Bob can’t decide whether he’s nervous. On the one hand, he’s grabbing coffee with a beautiful, funny woman that he wants to spend more time with. On the other hand, he’s known you for ages and has always felt comfortable around you. As he pulls into the cafe’s parking lot, he realizes that this might be the first time you have ever hung out one-on-one. You talked every day in school, would hang out with a group of your friends, and sometimes you’d study one-on-one in the library but he can’t think of a time it was ever just the two of you, outside of school. With this revelation, he tips firmly into the ‘nervous’ category.

Bob knows he’s probably going to be a few minutes early, and doesn’t want you to feel like he’s waiting too long so instead of heading inside he decides to wait in his truck for a few more minutes. He pulls out his phone and replies to Phoenix’s text with a laugh. Despite his repeated insistence that this isn’t a date, Phoenix spent the morning blowing up his phone asking what he’s wearing, where he’s taking you, and for every detail he could possibly provide. 

Don’t get him wrong, Bob would love to take you on a date. He just thinks it might be too soon. Sure you’ve been texting all week and you’ve talked about work, and life since high school, but he has no idea if you’re looking for a relationship. He knows there wasn’t a ring on your finger at the Hard Deck, but there’s always the possibility that you’re seeing someone, or that you’re just not interested in dating. Even if you are, that doesn’t necessarily mean that you want to go out with him. No, Bob is happy to reconnect as friends right now. If he spends his time thinking about what it would be like to finally kiss you, and call you his, well nobody’s going to know. 

His phone vibrates with a text from you that you’ve just parked, so Bob checks his reflection to make sure that he looks alright, and gets out of his truck. It’s not that big of a parking lot so it doesn’t take long for Bob to find you. You’re looking the other way so he takes a second to check you out really look at you.

You’re wearing a pair of denim shorts, and Bob will deny it if he’s asked, but he stares at the way they hug your ass, just a little longer than is decent. You’re wearing a gray sweater with the sleeves rolled up and even though Bob would never think to pair a sweater with shorts, would worry that it looks like he couldn’t decide what the temperature is, it looks adorable on you. To top it all off, you have half of your hair tied up in a cute little ribbon that Bob nearly groans when he sees. Bob really is a gentleman, so he tries to quickly dismiss the voice in the back of his head that wants to unwrap you like a present.

Somehow the ribbon in your hair matches Bob’s shirt, and his heart skips a beat at the idea of the two of you matching. Maybe Phoenix is onto something and he will ask you on a date soon, just as soon as he determines for sure whether you’re single. 

Brushing those thoughts off to the side, Bob takes a few steps forward and calls out your name. You turn around and he watches a smile light up your face as you see him. Immediately, you look down at his shirt and excitedly turn around, pointing out your ribbon.

“Bobby, we match!”

“We sure do.” He chuckles. You turn back around to face him and he walks forward to catch up with you as together you walk into the coffee shop. 

Ever the gentleman, Bob waits with you while you look at the menu. Whether you’ve realized it or not, Bob is absolutely paying for your coffee and he’s already ready with multiple reasons why you should let him. As you two approach the counter, Bob gestures to let you go first while you order your iced coffee with a splash of vanilla. You go to pull out your wallet and Bob immediately places a hand on your wrist, gently lowering it. 

“It’s on me.” 

“Bobby, I’ve got this. You don’t have to.” Unsurprisingly, you give him a look like he’s the ridiculous one. As if there was any world in which Bob wouldn’t pay for your drink. His mama raised him better than that. 

“I know I don’t have to. I want to. Besides, you paid for my drink at the Hard Deck.” 

“Oh alright, but I’m buying next time.” You cave faster than expected as you two share a smile. Bob wonders whether you can tell how he’s filled with butterflies at the mention of a next time. While you’re busy looking around the cafe, Bob orders his coffee and decides to add one more item to your order. Bob pays and thanks the barista as she says that she’ll bring your order to the table. Together you go and sit down near the window.

Immediately you start telling him about your morning and about the Farmers Market you drove by on your way to meet him that you think you’d like to visit next weekend. 

After a few minutes, the barista brings over a tray with two coffees and a plate and before you can say anything, Bob thanks the barista again and passes you your drink.

“I thought maybe you’d like to split this.” He says as he slides a plate with what might be the largest snickerdoodle you’ve ever seen towards the middle of the table.

“You remembered!” The look on your face radiates sheer joy, and Bob relishes in the feeling of being the person to make you smile like that. 

“How could I not? I think you ate one with lunch every single day senior year.” Plus , he thinks, I don’t think I could ever forget anything about you . 

“Bobby, they were so good. They were delicious and had the perfect texture! The perfect level of softness, almost bordering on too soft. And they were moist! But not soggy. I really think they were magic.”

“I don’t think I ever saw anyone but you with one of them. The chocolate chip, sure, but only you loved those cafeteria snickerdoodles so much.”

“Excuse me, you liked them too!” You say with fake outrage, on behalf of your beloved cookies. 

“Yeah, I did.” Bob admits, thinking that what he liked the most was the smile on your face when you’d break off a piece to share with him. As if you can read his mind, you reach forward to break off a piece of cookie and stretch your hand out to him. Bob can’t help but give into the moment of deja vu of all the times you were in this position in high school, and he wonders whether you’re thinking about the same thing. 

Between sips of your coffees and bites of the gigantic coffee, you and Bob start to talk about a little of everything. 

“Okay, I have to admit,” you say a few minutes into the conversation. “I almost didn’t come over to talk to you at the bar.”

“No?” He asks, with a tilt of his head.

“No, I’m really not a ‘chatting up a stranger at a bar’ kind of girl, and in my defense, it’s been many years and you weren’t wearing your glasses. I actually don’t even know if, aside from a few seconds to clean them, I’ve ever really seen you without your glasses. You even wore them in gym class and at your games!” 

As a member of the softball team, it wasn’t uncommon for you to be at the baseball games when they didn’t conflict with your own but even all these years later, Bob can’t help but grin at the idea that you paid enough attention to remember that detail about his glasses. Similarly, he thinks he could tell you the way he remembers the deep purple color of your bat, and of watching your ponytail swing as you ran from base to base, whenever he and the guys could make one of your games. But maybe that’s not the point right now, maybe that’s a little bit too intense for your first time hanging out alone, so he focused back on the conversation.

“That makes sense. What made you come over?” 

“I kept looking at you, trying to put a name to your face. One of my friends threatened to come ask you herself if I didn’t, and I love her but she can be a lot.” You laugh and he nods knowingly, thinking that he might do the same if Phoenix or, God forbid, Hangman, were to go offer to talk to someone for him. 

“Well, I’m glad you did.” He says sincerely. 

You smile and take a sip of your coffee, and let out a groan when you realize it’s now empty.

“My only problem with iced coffee is I drink it too fast, it’s too delicious.” You joke. “My weakness. I’m going to grab another one and some water. What would you like?”

Bob likes the way that you phrase that, making it clear that you will be getting him something, without offering him the chance to politely refuse. He knows that if he did say no, you wouldn’t push it, but truth be told he does want another coffee. With his order in mind, you head towards the trash and dish return with your empty cup and plate before going to order your next drinks.

Taking a second to pull out his phone, Bob isn’t surprised at all to see another series of texts from Phoenix wishing him luck, asking him how it’s going, and telling him to tell you that she says hi. You’re still up at the register, so he takes a second to respond when he hears the twinkling of the bell above the front door. 

Bob looks up instinctively at the noise, and immediately wants to crawl under the table. What the fuck is Hangman, of all people, doing here? Bob angles himself a little bit away from the door, and ducks his head back down to look at his phone both so he can text Nat this newest development, and with the hope that it will be enough to stop Hangman from noticing him. 

Unfortunately, in his attempt to not be seen, he forgets to account for one thing: Hangman’s inability to resist or forget a pretty face. 

“Hi, there.” He hears Jake say, and he’s frozen in his seat wondering whether he should stay where he is or come join you.

“Oh, hi.” You say sweetly, and Bob decides that for now, he’ll stay where he is. Jake’s a pain but he’s not a threat that Bob has to defend you from. 

“We’ve met before, actually.” Hangman starts to say as you cut him off.

“Oh, you’re one of Bobby’s friends!” 

Jake chuckles as he tells you you’re right. With his back turned, Bob doesn’t see the way that you glance over to him as you say his name or the way that Jake turns to follow your eyes all the way to him. With a smile, you tell Jake it was nice to see him again and head back over to Bob while Jake goes to place his own order.

It’s really an accident that Jake’s here right now. He heard Bob and Phoenix mention the cafe at work the other day, and couldn’t get the idea of one of their lattes out of his mind. He wasn’t paying enough attention to know why they were talking about this place, but now that he’s here and so are you and Bob, he’s not going to pass up the chance to talk to someone as pretty as you, especially if he can also annoy Bob just a little by doing it.

As you approach, Bob slides his phone back into his pocket, trying not to laugh at Nat’s immediate response and annoyance with Hangman. 

“Alright, one hot coffee with milk ordered for you, and another iced coffee for me. I also grabbed you a water, I figured if I was getting one you might want one too.” You shrug. “By the way, I ran into one of your teammates. The tall blonde?” You nod in Jake’s direction and Bob makes a show of turning around and looking at Jake as if this is his first time noticing him.

“Yeah, Hangman. Jake.” He clarifies. 

“Oh, right. I was thinking Rooster, but I didn’t think that was right.” Bob can’t help but laugh. For a second, you looked worried that you’ve said something wrong or that he’s laughing at you until he gives you a very quick explanation of the almost frenemy nature of the rivalry between Rooster and Hangman.

The barista comes over with your drinks, once more, and this time you surprise Bob by offering him a sip of yours. 

“So sorry, I totally meant to do it last time and was distracted by that cookie. It might be a little too sweet for you but give it a shot. If you want!” 

Bob’s a simple coffee guy, he’s not usually one to branch out from a simple hot coffee but he figures there’s no harm in trying. Grabbing your coffee and pulling it over to him, he leans in and takes a sip.

“That’s actually really good.” He says, almost surprised. He shouldn’t be, he thinks, he trusts your taste. You smile proudly, glad that you’ve got his seal of approval on your drink. 

All of a sudden there’s a new addition to your table as Hangman sits down in the empty chair next to Bob. 

“Well, hey y’all. Fancy seeing you here.” Jake says with a very quick glance at Bob, and a much longer look at you.

“I’m so sorry - I don’t think I gave you my name!” You say sweetly, telling Jake your name. “And you’re Rooster, right?” 

If Bob didn’t know you the way he did, he’d think you were being sincere, even knowing that you two had just had the Rooster/Hangman talk. But Bob sees the slight glint in your eyes, recognizes the saccharine tone you used to use to talk your way out of a late penalty on homework, and has to bite back a laugh as you nudge your foot against his under the table.

It’s even sweeter because Jake doesn’t know you, he has no idea that you’re doing this on purpose and Bob sees his facade crumble for just a second, at the idea that you’ve conflated him and Bradshaw. Bob can’t wait to tell Nat about this, and if he wasn’t already head over heels for you, he knows this would do it.

“Hangman, actually, but you can call me Jake.”

To his credit, Hangman recovers fairly quickly, but he still seems a little off his game compared to the way Bob normally sees him chatting up women. Still, Bob is trying to come up with a way to get Hangman to leave, without being overly rude. Somehow you manage to do it for him, telling Hangman that you’ll stop by the Hard Deck again next Friday and even leaving him with the promise of letting him buy you a drink. During your back and forth with Hangman, you had mentioned that you were single, in response to Hangman’s needling about whether there’s anyone he’d be upsetting by buying you a drink. Bob’s not exactly thrilled that it’s Hangman that’s asking, but he decides to focus on the excitement of confirming that you’re single, instead.

Bob hears Jake’s phone right as he walks out of the cafe, and by the look on Jake’s face, he’s pretty sure he knows who is calling and why. Bob makes a mental note to grab one of Nat’s favorite pastries on the way out to bring her as a thank you.

“That was incredible. The wrong name, getting him to leave so quickly. Truly one of your best.” Bob tells you, and you look pleased as punch at the compliment. 

“Oh thank you, thank you.” You say, miming an extravagant bow. “He seems nice, if full of himself. But tell me more about your teammates. I’ve gotta know something more than their callsigns when I show up on Friday.” 

Bob does exactly that, arming you with enough basic information about names, personalities, and easy topics of conversation to last you an entire weekend, much less one single night at the bar. 

“Are you cool with me coming Friday? I don’t want to intrude just because Jake invited me. I don’t mean to pop back up in your life and suddenly show up everywhere.” You laugh, but Bob can hear the nerves underneath. 

“I’d love for you to come. Besides, I don’t think I’d mind if you showed up everywhere.” Bob surprises himself with the true, but unexpectedly serious, comment. Given the bright smile on your face, he’s ultimately glad he said it.

Eventually, Bob’s phone rings and he looks down, surprised, as he sees Phoenix’s name and picture pop up on the screen.

“I’m so sorry, I thought it was on silent.” He tells you, though you wave off his worries and tell him to answer. 

“Hey, Nat. I’m at the cafe. What’s up? Everything okay?” Bob’s phone is set to ring after three calls in Do Not Disturb, so he’s momentarily worried that something is wrong.

“Holy shit, are you still on your not-date? Bob, it's been three and a half hours. You have to tell me everything but we’ll talk later.” Nat practically screams when she learns you’re still there, and quickly hangs up on Bob.

As he looks down at his watch, Bob realizes she was right. Just like that first night at the Hard Deck, Bob has no idea where the time has gone while you two talk.

“So sorry, that was Nat. She didn’t realize I was still here.” He says, hoping it doesn’t sound like he’s trying to rush you out the door.

“No, no, I totally get it. Time really flies, huh? Besides, she seems great.” 

She is, and Bob tells you that, offering to introduce you better. You talk for another few minutes before looking down at your own watch.

“Shit, I’m sorry, I have to run soon. It’s my nephew’s birthday back home and I promised I’d facetime in during the party.” You say, standing and gathering your dishes to return. For the second time that day, Bob stops you with a hand on your wrist.

“Don’t worry about the dishes, I’ve got it. We can’t leave him hanging without a call from his favorite aunt.”

“You’re the best, thanks Bobby. I’ll see you Friday, oh and I’ll text you!” You yell over your shoulder as you rush out of the cafe.  Bob laughs as he heads up to the counter again, grabbing a treat for Nat before giving her a call to see if she wants to hear all about your not-date in person. With the exception of the unexpected Hangman visit, Bob considers it a good morning. He got to spend hours talking with you, getting to know more about what you’ve been up to since college, got confirmation that you’re single and that you want to text him more, and (unfortunately thanks to Hangman) he gets to see you again on Friday. Bob doesn’t need a mirror as he climbs back into his truck, armed with a snack for Nat, to know that you’ve put a big smile on his face. A few streets away, already on your way home, you’ve got the same look on your face. Neither of you knows that the other is thinking the same thing, I can’t wait for Friday.

[greenoakminecraft]

GreenOak Server Update!

Yesterday over on the GreenOak Minecraft server, we worked on adding a bunch of new and fun features to the server to hopefully make it better and more fun for everyone!

Firstly! We have added a bunch of new crops and decorations onto the server all of which are heavily inspired by Stardew Valley! There's tomatos, corn, peppers and so many others! We are still working on adding other crops and food to the server, but this is the first big batch!

Next up! We have added new fishing mechanics, rods, bait and fish! There are a handful of different rods that give you different buffs, there is areso different lures you can use to effect your fishing. There are also multiple kinds of fish that are again inspired by Stardew valley!

We also added SafariNet's! You can craft these spawn eggs to transport mobs around! You just right-click them, and they will pop into the egg! (All NBT Data will be saved of that mob) This should make transporting things like Villagers far easier!

Lastly! We have changed our Shop plugin for the last time! We already use Shopkeepers on the server for AdminShops and figured it made sense to use them for player shops as well! You can buy these saplings at /Warp ShoppingDistrict and you can use these to setup a shop! You can buy up to five of them!

If you would like to come play and try these features out for yourself among all the others we have!, join us on the server!

Java Ip: Mc.GreenOak.Life

Bedrock Port: 19132

[zadle]

How to replace Microsoft and support the BDS boycott

reach out to your tech friends about replacing windows with an alternative operating system, such as linux or a *BSD OS. if you decide to do this on your own, make sure to back up your hard drive first. windows profits off your usage data (even if you never paid for it) and can use it to train their AI, which is arming israel.

if your work or school requires you to acquire windows, look up massgrave (it's very simple to activate windows).

duckduckgo is just microsoft's bing in a trench coat. they have made a secret exception for microsoft's tracking services in the past. check out Searx instances, or try alternative indie web search engines such as Marginalia or Wiby.

if you're using microsoft's outlook for email, consider Tuta or Disroot (avoid proton; it's all privacy theatre that's only somewhat better than other email providers, and the CEO has voiced support for trump).

don't pay to watch the minecraft movie that's coming out. i've heard it's incredibly underwhelming anyway.

insist on playing minecraft but don't want to give microsoft money? avoid bedrock edition. check out UltimMC if you need a way to acquire java edition and you don't own it. if you're a server operator, you can set your server to offline mode in server.properties which allows people who acquire minecraft the cool way to connect, but this should be paired with a server-side authentication plugin/mod for safety reasons (in offline mode, anyone can log in with any username, including a whitelisted or operator username, and there are bots scanning for servers to grief). don't use realms. disable telemetry with mods if you can.

get a vpn (i recommend airvpn for p2p connections) and download qBittorrent. in case you're interested in media published by microsoft. or just in general. learn to torrent, and make sure all your torrent traffic goes through your vpn service.

if you're using microsoft edge, consider switching to an alternative browser such as LibreWolf (basically firefox with better privacy and security out of the box; mozilla is not the innocent robin hood figure they're made out to be) or Ungoogled-Chromium (chromium without the google spyware; unfortunately lacks auto-update in most cases).

if you're using microsoft's AI for anything, consider getting a library card instead.

[proud-leech-dad]

Comprehensive leech care guide: Updated as of 6/19/25

There's not a lot of public information on the domestic care of leeches outside of their medical uses and niche forums and facebook groups, so I wanted to create as comprehensive a guide as I can for proper leech care, referencing scientific papers whenever possible. This guide is open to corrections and input from other keepers and will be updated regularly as new information comes to light. If found in a reblog, always check to make sure you have the most updated version of this post. This guide pertains to the Hirudo verbana leech SPECIFICALLY but pulls from what information we know from Hirudo medicinalis due to their similar morphology and classification that only split in 2013. This guide will be operating under the assumption that bare minimums are not enough to thrive and has been written accordingly.

There are a lot of citations needed at the moment.

Tank specs

Size and Equipment Requirements

• For ideal leech care in display tanks, tanks should be at least 2 times the size of your leech tall, and have enough room to fit their body when stretched out at least 3 times length wise. This allows for swimming, the ability for leeches to escape each other, better water quality and the observation of various leech behaviors.

• 5-10 gallon fish tanks are great for a leech tank, with larger ones being good for groups. Bowls are suitable according to some keepers if your leech is solitary or small, but not recommended as studies have shown a tank without corners can stress fishes and aquatic life.

• Tanks should have dedicated land area in the form of exposed logs, cork bark, tank shelfs, etc. Preferably, these areas should have moss for leeches to deposit eggs. Tanks are able to be kept completely aquatic according to some keepers, but it is of my own personal opinion and is proven by researchers that this, and making your leeches breed late. can increase mortality in your leeches.

• Leeches thrive in low oxygen environments and typically produce very little waste, as such, tanks do not need a dedicated filter, especially if planted. If more oxygen is preferred, a bubbler on a low setting or high oxygen producing plants can be added. Large amounts of water movement should be avoided.

• Your tank must possess a tight lid of some kind as leeches will gladly squeeze through cracks to escape and explore. This lid can be a tight mesh, cheese cloth or some similarly breathable but secure fabric. This can be fastened with elastic to keep it secure over your tank or secured over a terrarium style snake lid.

Light Requirements

• Leeches should be kept out of direct sunlight and prefer dim or dark areas, though will still benefit from a regular light cycle.

Substrate

• Leeches require gravel/small rocks to dig through. Small lava rocks are highly recommended for their light weight and rough surface that encourages leech shed. In addition, lava rocks have shapes that provide large gaps for your leeches to hide in.

• Other substrates such as sand, soil, or clay balls may be added for planted tanks, and small clay balls work well to fill the bigger gaps between lava rocks if you don't want your leeches to burrow too far.

Plants and decor

• Plants are highly recommended for leeches, both as an area to breed, hide, and for general enrichment. Plants should be low light to match the light requirements of your leeches.

• An aquatic moss of some kind doesn't hurt for adding a little extra oxygen to the aquarium and acting as a hide. Prioritize mosses that have a lower temperature range, such as java moss, which is commonly cultivated, readily available, and is able to live in temperatures from 15-28⁰C.

• A land moss should be planted/attached to a surface above the water and maintained where your leeches can crawl onto it. This should be kept at varying levels of dampness for cocoon depositation. Please note that some mosses are illegally harvested, and you should do your best to get ones that have been cultivated instead. Sphagnum Moss is great for this purpose

• Anubias varieties of plants, good for their low light requirements and low maintenance needs, can add a visual interest to your tank.

• Leeches should have dedicated hides to provide a dark, safe place and reduce stress. Hides do not have to be large, and rough areas of the hides do not have the same concerns that exist with fish (ie. Fins getting caught), so are fine for your leeches. Thickly piled driftwood can provide great natural looking spaces for leeches to hide.

• Adding wood can be beneficial as it leeches helpful tanins into the water and can provide a land area for your leeches. If wood is collected from outside sources, it can be boiled for 1 hr to kill any outside bacteria or funguses. For wood gathered this way, it should be a hard, dry wood. Wood can be soaked in water for a few days before adding it to the tank to assist with sinking if desired.

• Cork bark makes a good floating platform, though it shouldn't be kept free floating to let the leeches get on easily. This cork bark can be used to hold mosses if properly supported.

• Plastic plants can be a welcome addition to provide places to hide or shed extra skin, but be cautious of sharp edges that may harm the soft bodies of your leeches. Plastic plants should be periodically taken out to clean to prevent algae build-up.

Water specs

• Leeches prefer colder waters and can survive in freezing temperatures. The survivable range of temperature to keep them at can range from 0-34⁰C (32-93⁰F) at the Absolute Extremes but ideally, your tank should be kept in the lower middle range of that 10-20°C (50-70°F) with only minimal or very gradual temperature changes. Leeches can survive being briefly frozen, but obviously, ideally will not be.

• Leeches should be in dechlorinated water, either through treating tap water, rain water, or spring water properly remineralized. Though pond water is suitable, the risk of adding parasites, unknown contaminates, or harmful bacteria means that it is not recommended.

• The total hardness of your water should be in the 50-100 ppm range to match freshwater sources. If your water has less, aquarium salts should be added to prevent the water from leeching minerals out of your leech.

• Distilled water should typically be avoided being used as-is as it's "dead" and all minerals have been removed. Distilled water can be made suitable by remineralization with appropriate leech salts.

Water changes

• Water changes should be performed roughly once a week, with the leech's low waste meaning that a planted, maintained tank may only need a water change monthly depending on water quality. You should be replacing about 20-30% of your water during water changes to remove dead skin and reduce the build-up of nitrates.

• Additional water changes should be done when leeches deficate after feeding, usually denoted by a brown or red tint to the water, and the water should be monitored for a few weeks after for ammonia spikes and changed as needed.

• During water changes, it can be helpful to take a moment to clean the glass of the tank, or to manually skim any excess protiens off the surface of the water if not in possession of a filter or skimmer. Snails can be added to your tank to reduce algae build up.

Number of leeches

• Leeches can be kept solitarily or in groups. As previously mentioned, a larger tank size is obviously recommended to show a full range of behaviors and allow for a more visually interesting experience.

• Though able to be kept solitary, leeches are best kept in groups of 3 or more, according to some keepers. Personal research to follow.

Leech behaviors and care:

Leech anatomy and lifespan

• Leeches are soft bodied worms, meaning their skin can be punctured by hard tools and caution should be used with damaging their bodies.

• Leeches possess 2 suckers, one posterior (Rear), and one anterior (mouth). These suckers are used to ambulate or latch onto surfaces.

• Leeches are hermaphroditic and possess both male and female sex organs that are only plainly visible during their mating season. Leeches can self fertilize.

• Leeches breathe through their skin like other worms, and this skin sheds off them periodically throughout the day by rubbing up against rough surfaces.

• Leeches possess small 'teeth' and separate jaws that leave a three pointed star mark behind when feeding.

• Leeches keep blood in their blood crop, where symbiotic bacteria keeps the blood fresh as they slowly digest.

• Hirudo Leeches have a lifespan of up to 8 years

Basics of leech behavior

• Leeches will remain at rest with their heads above the water, and will do so either folded in half or stretched out with both their suckers attached to the glass.

• Leeches love to hang out under the water when tank conditions are suitable, and will attach their posterior sucker to a surface, occasionally undulating to move water over their skin.

• Leeches will swim from one end of the tank to the other through anguilliform swimming similar to an eel but vertically.

• Sudden, dark shadows or changes in light can invoke a prey response in leeches and will cause them to hide until they feel safe.

•Leeches will often "sniff" the air or water around them.

• Leeches become overly active when hungry, showing an increased responsiveness to movement and shadow, and will swim to heat sources such as hands

• When feeding or reproducing, all of these normal behaviors halt in favor of the new ones, and leeches stop responding to stimulus at all, to the point that they could be cut in half and not stop their actions. (Though obviously, avoid actually cutting your leeches)

Reproduction

• Hirudo Leeches reach sexual maturity after about 1-2 years on average

• In the case of Hirudo leeches, mating season naturally takes place in summer, spanning June through August where your leeches female genitalia known as the clitellum will appear as a ring around the body, simalar to an earthworm.

• Breeding can be artifically induced by gradually warming up your tank, but is not reccomended so as not to stress your leech

• Mating takes place in the water, and while many keepers use a lack of land space as an effective form of egg deposition prevention, it should be noted that research shows that this is harmful and potentially deadly to your leech.

• Leeches will not show signs of pregnancy. Any lumps are sickness and you should refer to the proper section.

• Cocoons are commonly laid in damp land areas, either moss or soil in the wild, and take from 2 to 4 weeks to hatch as ~6 fully formed nymphs. (Conflicting information found. Citation TBA)

• Cocoons are soft when laid and proceed to harden over the next hour. Avoid puncturing or moving these cocoons while still soft.

• Termination of cocoons can be performed by freezing them and cutting them in half. Please note that freezing alone will not necessarily kill the eggs

• As previously mentioned, leeches can self fertilize, meaning you may have a cocoon even with one leech. Keepers should be prepared to terminate a cocoon in these cases.

• Unlike other leeches that die after mating, Hirudo leeches can reproduce for the duration of their lifespan.

Feeding

• Hirudo Verbana leeches feed once every 3-4 months with some suggesting more like 4-6. (Citation TBA) Feeding more often than this is likely to harm your leech by causing it to grow too quickly or cause it to vomit blood back up.

• The medically recommended way to feed your leeches is to get a sausage casing and fill it with animal blood (usually beef) warmed to body temp for your leeches to latch onto. This animal blood should be free of antibiotics and bloodthinners and can be collected from your local butcher.

• Please note that pig and raccoon blood should NOT be used, as they will kill your leech.

• Many leech owners will choose instead to feed off themselves for an easier, cheaper option. This comes with its own medical risks and care should be taken to avoid infection of the bite. You should ask your doctor before feeding your leeches off yourself. Once again, your blood should be free of antibiotics as they will kill your leeches.

⚠️ Note that sterile medical leeches kept in non-sterile environments like this will cease to be sterile

Now that I've legally covered my ass, assuming you are feeding off yourself, the following is important information to have.

◇ Materials: Antibacterial soap, isopropyl alcohol, sterile surgical pads (available cheaply at pharmacys), medical tape or masking tape if not available, liquid bandage (optional) and a pill bottle (optional)

◇ Skin should be cleaned before feeding to avoid risk of infection.

◇ Leeches should be fed on thinner skin, but avoid feeding directly over veins. Common bite locations for keepers are feet or the arm due to the thinner skin there.

◇ From personal experience, try to keep your leeches far enough away from each other that they can't touch the other's bite wound when they eventually fall off.

◇ To have your leech bite in a specific area, avoid veins, or encourage biting, your leech can be placed in an empty pill bottle and held to your desired bite location.

◇ Leeches will inject an anesthetic similar into the bloodstream, which may cause feelings of mild euphoria or lightheadedness, in addition to the injection of a powerful blood thinner. You should not self feed if you are on any combination of blood thinners. The bite will range from painless to feeling like a small prickling similar to a shot or gentle tattoo.

◇ Feeding takes up to an hour, and after feeding, your leeches will simply drop off of you. The blood thinners will mean that you will bleed constantly for up to ~10 hours afterwards.

◇ After your leech has fed, hold pressure to the location, move to the sink, and thoroughly clean your wound(s) with your antibacterial soap and alcohol before bandaging properly and applying pressure with a surgical pad and medical tape

◇ Liquid bandage on the wound will quickly stop the bleeding but has been reported by some to increase risk of infection. Risk of infection COULD possibly be lowered by letting yourself bleed to flush out bacteria from the wound for an hour or so, but this is a hypothesis and has not been proven.

◇ You should be prepared to bleed a LOT. Pads should be changed every 2 hours or when bled through to the point of being soaked.

• Baby leeches are often too small to penetrate skin and, in the wild, would bite through the thin skin of frogs. In captivity, baby leeches will feed off their parents or can be helped during self feeding by pricking with a sterile diabetic needle to help break the skin.

• NEVER try and pull a leech off your skin without first breaking suction. Doing so will cause the leech to possibly vomit up blood and bacteria into the wound, greatly increasing the risk of infection, or harm the leech itself.

•If your leech bites when you don't want it to and you Absolutely need to remove it, slide a nail under the anterior sucker to break suction. Note, though, that it's easy for this to harm hirudo leeches by damaging their skin and jaws. It should be avoided when possible.

⚠️Signs of Infection⚠️

If self-feeding, you must be EXTREMELY aware of what the signs of infection look like. These may include:

• Spreading Redness

• Swelling

• Excessive pain or itching sensation

• Wound feeling hot to the touch

• Discharge from wound such as puss

If you suspect at all that you may have an infection, IMMEDIATELY go to your closest urgent care to recieve medical care. If they ask you how you got it, specify that they are leech bites.

Handling of leeches

• Leeches should not be handled after feeding for at least 2 weeks as it can cause digestive issues.

• In order to not over stress your leech, keep handling to a minimum.

• Gloves recommended during handling to prevent accidental bites

On the care of sick leeches

• Leeches when sick will have a lumpy appearance to their body, often caused by an internal twisting of their blood crops. Inexperienced leech keepers will oftem mistake this for "pregnancy". This can sometimes be healed typically by adding extra tannins to the water via betta leaves or Adler pine cones. Your leech should NOT feed until all lumps are gone.

• It's possible if not given enough to rub against that your leech's shed may get stuck, giving them a pinched appearance. This can usually be solved by gently rubbing the leech between your fingers in the effective area until shed loosens.

• "Air taken in during a feed can be potentially life threatening. (C. Peters, pers. comm.) The leech should be held between finger and thumb, and both digits run along the length of the body, expressing as much air and blood meal from the animal as possible" (Spencer and Jones, 2007) Please note that this is outdated information and needs verification.

How to aquire leeches

⚠️Do not buy from leech.com!!!⚠️

We recommend you buy from reputable bio pharmas or leech breeders

Conservation

• Hirudo medicalis leech populations have declined in their natural habitat spanning across Europe and parts of Asia due to over harvesting of leeches for medical purposes in the 19th century, drainage of wetlands, and the reduction of horse use.

• Hirudo Medicalis leeches are currently considered near threatened in the wild and are protected from wild harvesting

• Most leeches for purchase will be Hirudo Verbana, a seperate species of medical leech from areas of the Mediterranean and turkey.

• Any leeches should be bought from a reputable breeder

• NEVER release your leeches into a non-native environment

Helpful Groups

(Please note that not all advice will align with the one given in this guide. I try to use the most recent scientific articles but this is still largely unstudied as a hobby)

r/Leeches on Reddit

Leech Gang on facebook

References

Spencer, W. & Jones, G. (2007): The captive breeding and educational display of the Medicinal Leech Hirudo medicinalis (Linnaeus 1758) at Bristol Zoo Gardens NOTE. OUTDADED AND NEEDS CORRECTION

TBA. So many TBA. Adding pics in the meantime until I cite the articles in mla

Search Engine Terms. Ignore if using guide

leech care leech care guide hirudo leeches hirudo leech care leech tank requirements leech tank needs leech tank setup hirudo verbana leeches Hirudo verbana care Hirudo verbana care guide pet leech care guide medical leech care guide

[vintage-tech]

useful information: How to get a USB Blu-Ray player to work on your computer

Not a post about vintage technology, just an explanation of what you think might be simple to do but isn't: There are Blu-Ray players that plug into your computer by USB, and you discover that just plugging it in doesn't make it work* in the same manner that CD-RWs or DVD-RWs are automatically recognised and function. You will see "BR Drive" in My Computer and the name of whatever movie you have inserted, but that's as far as you're able to go.

*There is software you can buy to make a Blu-Ray (internal or external) function, sure, and if an internal came with your computer it's likely already installed -- but if you're like me you don't have that software, you're cheap and won't pay for software, and you want to use what you have installed already or find free solutions.

Looking in the Blu-Ray drive's package, there's not a lot of info about what you're supposed to do. The above no-name Blu-Ray player cost $40 from a popular website; name-brand ones can set you back $120 or so. Looking around online for those instructions, I never saw the whole set of directions in one place, I had to cobble them together from 2 or 3 sites. And so here I share that list. To keep out of trouble, I'm not linking any files -- Google will help you.

Get VLC, the free video player available for pretty much any operating system. Thing is, it doesn't come with the internals to make it work with Blu-Ray even if when you go to the Play Media menu there is a radio button for selecting Blu-Ray.

Get MakeMKV, a decoder for reading Blu-Ray disks. This had been totally free during the beta testing period but it's come out and has a month or two trial period you can work in.

Get Java if you don't already have it. Reason for this is, the menu systems on Blu-Ray disks uses this... technically it's not required, however it does mean you don't have options such as special features, language and sound changes, or scene selection if you don't have Java installed; insert a disk, it can only play the movie.

Get the file libaacs.dll online so you have AACS decoding. I am told it hasn't been updated in awhile so there may be disks produced after 2013 that won't work right, but you won't know until you try.

There's a set of keys you will also want to have so that the player knows how to work with specific disks, and so do a search online for the "FindVUK Online Database". There will be a regularly-updated keydb.cfg archive file on that page to pick up.

Got those three programs installed and the other two files obtained? Okay, here are your instructions for assembly...

In VLC: go to Tools, Prefs, click "show all"… under the Input/Codecs heading is Access Modules then Blu-Ray: Select your region, A through C. You can change this if you need to for foreign disks. Next related action: go to My Computer and C:, click into Program Files and VLC, and this is where you copy the libaacs.dll file to.

In MakeMKV: click View, then Preferences, and under Integration - add VLC.

Confirm that Java is set up to work with VLC by going to the computer's Control Panel, going to System Properties, and into Environment Variables. Click System Variables, and click New to create this key if it doesn't already exist: … Name: Java … Value: [the location of the Java 'jre#.##' folder... use Browse to find it in C:\Program Files\Java]

Let's go back into My Computer and C:, this time go to Program Data, and then do a right-click in the window and select New and Folder. Rename this folder "aacs" (without the quotes), and then you click into it and copy the keydb.cfg file here.

REBOOT.

And now you should be able to recognise Blu-Ray disks in your player and play them. Three troubleshooting notes to offer in VLC:

"Disk corrupt" -- this means MakeMKV has not decoded and parsed the disk yet, or that you don't have the libaacs.dll in place so that it can decode the disk. ...After checking the VLC folder for the DLL to make sure, launch MakeMKV, then go to File, Play Disk, and select the Blu-Ray drive. Now it will grind a bit and figure out the disk's contents.

A note appears when a movie starts saying there will be no menus, but the movie plays fine -- Java isn't running. ...Invoke Java by going to the Java Settings in Start: Programs. You don't have to change anything here, so Exit, then eject the disk and put it back in to see if the movie's menu now appears.

Buffering between chapters, making the movie pause for a few seconds? There is a setting for this but I need to find that info page again for where that is. (If you find it, tell me where it is!)

I don't claim to know a lot but if you have any questions I might have some answers or suggestions. So far I've watched "Office Space" and Disney's "Coco" without any issues beside occasional buffering.

[finnhc]

GreenOak 1.21! Updated

This just in! GreenOak has officially updated to 1.21! And not just that we've also updated our server into a 2.0 State!

The map is the same as before, but we have polished a lot of our features and made sure things would be far better this time! We are even working towards making the custom music discs better! (Though those are a work in progress!)

We now have a custom world just for player built minigames and rides! Here you can make as many games or rides you want!

We also have a shopping district where you can build up to three different shops! using a brand new shop plugin! (There is a tutorial provided in the server info tab!)

Along with shops and a gaming district we have an amazing Event world! With building events and minigames such as spleef and trivia!

Now that we have covered all the exciting worlds we have, now to go over some new features!

Added the ability to climb chains

Killer bunnies now spawn randomly

Creepers have a chance to spawn in the Nether

You can now check how many bees are in a hive

Shulkers Respawn

You can Silk Touch Amethyst clusters now

Shulkermites if a endermite is left on a purpur block for long enough it will enter the block turning it into a shulker

Bats have a random chance of biting you one time

You can now mix stones for tools

You can now drop dirt into a couldron to make mud

Husks drop sand

More effective tools (i.e things that should break faster with a specific tool but didn't now does)

Glass always drops when broken

Thunderstorm you can start thunderstorms when you throw a channeling trident at build height upwards (Consumes 150 or 60% Durability)

Bedrock Ip: mc.greenoak.life Port: 19132

Java Ip: mc.greenoak.life

[once-was-poison-ivy]

After a while of contemplation, I've decided to archive my old account @where-is-my-sonic-screwdriver and this henceforth will be my official tumblr.

Hi! I'm Ajay! Pleasure meeting you!

If we're mutuals or you used to follow me on my old blog, please do not hesitate to follow/text me here!

Here's some stuff about me:

– my hobbies are watching shows/anime, reading books and sleeping

– I'm a mythology nerd, mostly Hindu mythology but yeah I know a little about most mythologies.

– I love music and I love poetry

Artists I listen to: Taylor Swift, Our last night, Eminem, Linkin' Park, Metallica, Imagine Dragons

– My favorite shows are gravity falls, Brooklyn 99, stranger things, doctor who (was my first too!), Moon Knight and a lot

– My favorite anime are Demon Slayer and Attack on Titan

– I'm in a lot of fandoms, too many to list

– I play Genshin Impact (Got an account both Asia and NA), Pokémon Ruby/Sapphire, Pokémon FireRed/LeafGreen and Minecraft (Both Java and Bedrock)

– if u got any show/book/music recs, please please dm me I absolutely do not mind. If you're not comfortable with DMs, you can send it to me in an ask as well!

– I'm diagnosed with ADHD, Peer reviewed to be Autistic, Obsessive Compulsive and slight chances of BPD (Am I collecting them like Pokémon?) (Either way I'm neurodivergent)

– I also love Rickrolling people sometimes

– If you wanna be mutuals sure! do let me know tho I might not sometimes check activity notifs. (the more the merrier - Fatui Cicin Mage, Genshin Impact)

– DNIs: TERFs, Racists, Homophobes, Pseudo-Feminists, Trump Supporters, LGBTQ+ haters, people who discriminate on any grounds, etc etc (this will be updated as required) 

– I also have a near perfect memory, no idea why. If you ever tell me something and I remember it like 4 years later, just remember that you have been warned beforehand

– Is there anything I didn't put on here? lots and lots

– Random thoughts of mine would be tagged #ajay's abstractions

Join this Discord server for Desi Queer people (other queers welcome too, so are supporters. Just don't join for trolling purposes. God works fast, but the mods work faster)

People, Problems and Pride (With the desi kids)

Join my server for mythology nerds! all mythos welcome!

Legendary Mythics

(this server is a little inactive now but yea you can get your friends in too!) My DMs are open for everyone except the DNIs! feel free!

[warningsine]

All right, since I bombarded a poor mutual yesterday...

Privacy is not security and security is not privacy. These terms are not interchangeable, but they are intrinsically linked.

While we're at this, anonymity =/= security either. For example, Tor provides the former, but not necessarily the latter, hence using Https is always essential.

It is impossible to have privacy without security, but you can have security without privacy.

A case in point is administrators being able to view any data they want due to their full-access rights to a system. That being said, there are ethics and policies that usually prevent such behavior.

Some general tips:

Operating System: Switch to Linux. Ubuntu and Linux Mint are widely used for a reason. Fedora too. And don't worry! You can keep your current operating system, apps and data. If you're on a Mac computer, you can easily partition your hard drive or SSD by using Disk Utility. If you're on Windows, you can follow this guide.

You want to go a step further? Go with Whonix or Tails. They're Linux distributions as well, but they're both aiming for security, not beauty so the interface might not be ideal for everyone. Many political activists and journalists use them.

You want anonymity? Then you need to familiarize yourself with Tor. Also, Tor and HTTPS and Tor’s weaknesses. When you're using it, don't log in to sites like Google, Facebook, Twitter etc. and make sure to stay away from Java and Javascript, because those things make you traceable.

Alternatives for dealing with censorship? i2p and Freenet.

Is ^ too much? Welp. All right. Let's see. The first step is to degoogle.

Switch to a user-friendly browser like Firefox (or better yet LibreWolf), Brave or Vivaldi. There are plenty of hardened browsers, but they can be overwhelming for a beginner.

Get an ad blocker like Ublock Origin.

Search Engine? StartPage or Duckduckgo. SearXNG too. Like I said degoogle.

Get a PGP encrypted e-mail. Check Protonmail out.

There's also Tutamail that doesn't cover PGP, but uses hybrid encryption that avoids some of the cons of PGP.

Skiff mail is also a decent option.

Use an e-mail aliasing service such as SimpleLogin or AnonAddy.

Check OpenPGP out. Claws Mail is a good e-mail client for Windows and Linux, Thunderbird for Mac OS.

Gpg4win is free and easy to use for anyone that wants to encrypt/decrypt e-mails.

Instead of Whatsapp, Facebook messenger, Telegram etc. use Signal for your encrypted insant messaging, voice and video calls.

Get a metadata cleaner.

Get a firewall like Opensnitch, Portmaster or Netguard which can block Internet for trackers.

Alternatively, go with a private DNS that blocks these trackers. NextDNS is a good paid service. Rethink a good free option.

Replace as many of your applications as you can with FOSS (free and open source) ones. Alternativeto can help you.

Always have automatic updates on. They are annoying af, I know, but they are necessary.

Keep your distance from outdated software.

Always have two-factor authentication (2FA) enabled.

Do not use your administrator account for casual stuff. If you're on Linux, you probably know you can be sudo, but not root.

On Linux distributions use AppArmor, but stay away from random antivirus scanners. Other distributions default to SELinux, which is less suited to a beginner.

Never repeat your passwords. If you can't remember them all, use a password manager like KeePass.

Encrypt your drive.

Honestly, VPNs have their uses and ProtonVPN, Mullvad and Windscribe are decent, but eh. If you don't trust your ISP, why would you trust the VPN provider that claims they don't log you when you can't verify such a thing?

[fuzzyfoe]

i love checking your neocities pet hotel every week it's always so fun to check and see what the little guys are doing!

I've actually been updating it twice every week, not just every week! It updates on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

Though I'll be honest, this is still feeling like more of a chore for me even though I dropped it down to two days a week from updating it every single day. This no longer feels as fun for me as when I first started doing it, and programming the Java game I'm making that's based off of the pet hotel actually feels a lot more fun and motivating for me than how updating the neocities pet hotel feels right now. Making daily creatures has never gotten to that point for me because I can always just put less effort into a drawing if I'm tired or choose something different to draw if it feels too boring.

I guess some things I could do to make the neocities pet hotel feel like less of a chore would be lowering the frequency of updates down to just once a week or to stop updating the pages for people who haven't done anything within the pet hotel for over a month, but for the latter I think other people are more invested in those people's pets than those people are in their own pets so people still like to watch them even though nothing ever changes about their environment, and I don't think people would like the former option very much either. I was planning to stop doing the neocities pet hotel once I had a version of the Java game ready that anyone could run on their own computer to see what their own little guys are doing at any time all the time, but developing a game takes a long time especially when I have a full time job outside of it.

I'm kind of in this predicament where I don't want to disappoint anyone I interact with online because I don't really have a social life outside of the internet, but I can't really draw those people online towards me by doing the other things that I actually wanna do instead because I won't be able to work on those kinds of things frequently enough to keep an audience because of my full time job.

[sadgrrly02]

Infdev to Modern, Post 1

So, this is something I’ve been meaning to do in some form since December or so of last year, and now it is finally happening! The concept is fairly straightforward in nature. I am going to play Minecraft (specifically Java Edition) from the earliest version that allows you to carry a world forward to the present day, and then do that! I intend to play from Java Edition Infdev 20100327 to whatever the current version of Minecraft is when I get there. (This concept is heavily, heavily derivative of bugmancx’s series Minecraft: The Journey. As such I highly recommend checking it out! It’s a nice watch! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmAF1bThqRw&list=PL0qwyBj5XSpZG35qFvy2Z9VbezZ1t4cGt )

So, Java Edition Infdev 20100327. After several versions of development to figure out infinite world generation, the game has finally metastasized back into a playable form. As of now, and it will be until quite a long time from now before this changes, the only game mode is survival. Despite being over a decade old, a large amount of the basic gameplay is already established. You chop down trees and mine minerals to create tools to allow you to mine and chop down more trees. 

The big additions and changes in this version of the game are as follows.

The level format has been changed from the indev level format to the alpha level format (This is what allows us to use this version as our starting point!).

The title screen and menu have been changed.

Testing and debug items from previous builds of infdev have been removed from the player’s starting inventory.

With the preamble sorted, let’s get to playing Minecraft!

Upon spawning in, I am greeted by two things. A quaint little valley, and some pretty nasty lighting errors!

The other end of the valley, featuring more lighting errors.

Well, those lighting errors will solve themselves at some point, so I decided not to worry about it, and get to working on more immediate concerns.

I get to work chopping down a tree, and then I remember to do something that I always need to get taken care of while playing older versions of the game

In the older versions of Minecraft, the inventory key is mapped to I. This makes some sense, but in the modern game, this is mapped to E, which is much more ergonomic.

As something worth noting, you’ll notice that in the above photo my skin hasn’t shown up, and the default is visible. I’m unsure of the exact cause of this particular issue, but it will be fixed by the end of infdev. While we’re here though…

A silly pic of the old walk cycle where the player character would flail their arms around wildly. Anyway, back to the game.

I scaled the sides of the valley, and chopped down a few more trees, eager to ensure I have enough wood to obtain the torches and tools I’ll need for my upcoming projects. I crafted the bare minimum of wooden tools, and then got to work on mining the coal out of the mountainside.

Eventually; however, night began to fall, so I dug myself into an alcove and started working on a shelter for myself.

You may notice I blocked myself off with a single block of dirt here. This isn’t just because dirt is more practical than a door at this state in the playthrough - doors hadn’t been added to the game yet! Once I was sure I’d securely sealed myself away, it got straight to my favorite activity: digging long stone hallways! Other than this, it was an uneventful night.

I haven’t noticed any monsters spawning, despite the game being on normal, so I think I'm going to update to the next version and see if that fixes that particular issue.

See y’all later!

-Ciel

[zoeythebee]

There is no universe where I would have predicted this.

https://hytale.com/news/2024/7/summer-2024-development-update

And not just any update, one where we get to see the new engine!

For reference the old engine looked like this:

At first look they seem mostly the same, but I urge you to check out the background. Checkout that render distance!

We all knew that this wasn't going to be much of a visual upgrade. But from the perspective of a programmer I think that making a new engine was fully worth it. Writing in Java is a complete nightmare. And the old engine was built by mainly hobbies. I'm sure the technical debt was through the roof.

I for one am still hyped for Hytale.

If they introduce a minecraft bedrock style marketplace for mods I will actually die.