Glibbooks 17 – The mailing, it is in.

by | Jun 11, 2023 | Canada | 208 comments

Here’s a little puzzle, Book topic – discovering new (to you) authors. Do you go by  friend’s recommendations, Snazzy covers, Authors that authors you already like name drop, all or none of the above? Have it out in the comments.

Music to solve Glibcrostics to

Online Version

Solution link

N should read ‘In terms of commenting value a firster’s this is negative’

Reminder: The last Sunday of each month is “What Are We Reading” Day so if you want to participate get your reports in to HeyBuddyStopDoingThat@protonmail.com by the second to last Sunday.

About The Author

The Hyperbole

The Hyperbole

The Hyperbole can beat any of you chumps at Earthshaker! the greatest pinball machine of all time.

208 Comments

  1. Dr. Fronkensteen

    Saw two women in a store. Both had masks on. Both had their nose exposed thereby wearing the mask incorrectly. Explain this one to me.

    • nw

      You’re mistaking a religious talisman for a medical device.

      • hayeksplosives

        This right here.

    • Gustave Lytton

      Halitosis. You should thank them.

    • R.J.

      Is the the answer to “A?”

    • Lackadaisical

      They’re butter faces with nice noses?

  2. UnCivilServant

    Well, my experiment is a failure. The mold leaked. Thankfully, I had set things up so that this did not get out of hand.

  3. hayeksplosives

    I’ve got one of those awesome frozen stuffed chicken thingies in the oven right now.

    Broccoli cheese rice stuffing. Nom.

    Used to get them at Sams Club Minnesota but they mysteriously disappeared. Now I find them at the Ralph’s/QFC chains in WA.

    Great tasty meal for a single lady.

    • UnCivilServant

      I keep getting cravings for some of the long gone freezer items that I used to get regularly. One was objectively not that great, but that doesn’t stop me from missing them. I really miss the bite-sized chicken cordon bleu Tyson used to sell.

    • creech

      Oh, a chicken thingies. Thought for a second you were talking about “a bun in the oven.”. Guess I’m still tasting this morning’s cinnamon bun.

      • Spudalicious

        I’m disturbed you put both of those things in the same comment.

    • R.J.

      Lovely. GrubHub on the way (BBQ), no cooking after the return home. Vodka martini, shaken, not stirred, is in hand.

  4. The Bearded Hobbit

    I get a lot of recommendations from you folks. Recently read 8824 HE*: The Year Civilization Collapsed. Lately I have re-reading authors that I read years before and finding new insights. An example, I just finished City by Clifford Simak and am looking at other 40’s – 50’s sci-fi authors.

    * I find historical books much easier to follow when I convert all of the Backward Calendar dates to HE.

    • UnCivilServant

      What arbitrary event is that calendar based on?

      And I would be completely lost doing something like that. The AD/BC system works for me.

      • The Bearded Hobbit

        The beginning of the Holocene, 12k years ago. Add 10k years to the Gregorian calendar and BC goes away.

        AD/BC is like starting the clock at 12 midnight and running the numbers backward to 0 at noon, then counting back to 12.

        “I’ve got a meeting at 5 but I will have to leave it at 4 to catch the next meeting at 3.”

      • UnCivilServant

        That’s too much work, I’ll stick with the system I’ve got.

      • SDF-7

        I just figured it was Hobbit Era and you were trying to tell us you’re an immortal.

      • Lackadaisical

        Not quite.

        I actually used to find BC very cumbersome, but now I’ve changed my mind. The nice thing is that it lets you continually go backwards, unlike using HE. And since any before/after system relies on an actual event, why not the most important (a) historical event in history (depending on your POV). Your clock example is totally wrong in that things never get reset, history isn’t cyclical.

  5. hayeksplosives

    Ok, I’ve got your brain candy stories.

    https://www.gutenberg.org/files/707/707-h/707-h.htm

    “Raffles” was the original and oft copied “gentlemen there” that eventually gave rise to the pink panther and (for “Psych” fans, Despereau, hilariously portrayed by Cary Elwaes).

    Raffles stories will fill you with nostalgia. Unless you hate the Brits . Or the West. In which case, fuck you and read some garbage.

    • hayeksplosives

      Gentleman THIEF.

      Autocorrect and I are going to do battle.

    • The Bearded Hobbit

      I had forgotten about Raffles, which also reminds me of P. G. Wodenhouse. Will see what is available on Kindle.

      • Gustave Lytton

        And his Japanese grandson.

      • Sensei

        The third!

    • Homple

      George Orwell on Raffles, from an essay comparing the Raffles stories to a later gruesome crime novel.

      “At this date, the charm of Raffles is partly in the period atmosphere and partly in the technical excellence of the stories. Hornung was a very conscientious and on his level a very able writer. Anyone who cares for sheer efficiency must admire his work. However, the truly dramatic thing, about Raffles, the thing that makes him a sort of byword even to this day (only a few weeks ago, in a burglary case, a magistrate referred to the prisoner as ‘a Raffles in real life’), is the fact that he is a gentleman. Raffles is presented to us and this is rubbed home in countless scraps of dialogue and casual remarks—not as an honest man who has gone astray, but as a public-school man who has gone astray. His remorse, when he feels any, is almost purely social; he has disgraced ‘the old school’, he has lost his right to enter ‘decent society’, he has forfeited his amateur status and become a cad.”

      https://orwell.ru/library/reviews/chase/english/e_bland

  6. Zwak , who will swing for the crime, in double time!

    All three. Recommends, author recs are both valid, as I like to know what I am getting into, and the best way to do that is from people I trust. I cannot read a book with poor cover art. I know that it makes me a snob, but if you don’t care enough to have good presentation, then you don’t care enough to have good writing.

    I picked up, on rec’s from everyone here, Wool, of the silo series. So far, so good.

    • R C Dean

      Could be referring to your current job. Ambiguity and prophecy go together like chocolate and peanut butter.

      • R C Dean

        Oh, FFS. Meant for Tres.

  7. Tres Cool

    As some of you know, I submitted my resignation and 2-weeks notice to my current employer, and accepted a project management position with an engineering consulting firm.
    Then I read this BS: Virgo: 2 of Cups reversed – A bargain or a partnership which is less of an advantage than expected, a breaking of trust.

    The stars better not fuck me over. YOU HEAR THAT YOU DAMN STARS!!

    • Tundra

      Congrats and relax! The stars ain’t shit.

    • R.J.

      All is well. I wish you success.

    • SDF-7

      AWFLs — Your Imaginary Sky God couldn’t possibly care about you out of the whole universe!

      also AWFLs — Celestial objects we’ve confirmed to be like the Sun lightyears away directly influence your every day activities!

      (and also also AWFLs, and this one is just mind blowingly stupid to me: You can manifest whatever you want! AKA, you are God and can reshape the Universe! See also: Pride as one of the Seven Deadlies and all…)

      Back on topic – good luck, Tres. Management is one of those things I know full well I should never do. (One of the two reasons I’ll take the classes when my employer demands it, but will never sit for an Agile Product Owner or Scrum Leader test/certification… those roles are just the way management gets engineers to do their jobs for them).

    • DEG

      Congratulations on the new job!

    • Chafed

      Congratulations on the new job Tres. Will you get to see the sun again or will you still be on third shift?

      • Tres Cool

        Ive turned my back on the “demimonde” and decided to be a part of you “normies” again.

      • Gender Traitor

        ::searches entire site for “normies,” finds none. Scratches head in confusion::

    • Gustave Lytton

      Congratulations. I supposed this means the end of tall cans at 7am?

      • Tres Cool

        Unless its a weekend, I suppose.

    • Mojeaux

      Grats!

  8. Tundra

    I read very few physical books so cover art isn’t a thing anymore. Otherwise all of the above. Twitter has been great in that regard. Finishing a book right now that I wouldn’t have found in a million years except I traded some dad jokes with the author on Twitter. Weird.

    I probably get the most book reccos from You People, though.

  9. Gender Traitor

    Unlike last week, I managed to solve the acrostic today! 😃

    As for finding new authors, I think I’m most influenced by recommendations from friends whose taste I trust and authors I like.

  10. SDF-7

    Re: recommendations — If an author I respect name drops, I’ll check it out. Checked out a few things based on you reprobates (Silo books.. I’ve gotten through two of ’em so far).. and once by a certain YouTube phenomenon pitching his own novel. (Nah… it’ll be fine.)

    Honestly these days I tend to just go and re-read brain candy. I’m not even much in the mood for history as much anymore… I think I’m just channeling the need for fun escapism that Current Year tv/movie writers deny us for the most part into going back to books I know are light, message free for the most part and comfortable. (Just started re-re-re^N-reading the JAG in Space! books… I don’t know why I like them, but I really do…. probably because the main character is an Ensign prone to screwing up like any kid right out of college… but has a good core sense of duty and right vs. wrong. Someone worth reading about.

    And actually got the puzzle with only a couple of web searches needed. (Hey, if you tell me you’re quoting a wiki — I call that fair game to go look it up! 😉 ) Thanks for the puzzle, Hype.

  11. DEG

    Do you go by friend’s recommendations, Snazzy covers, Authors that authors you already like name drop, all or none of the above?

    Mainly recommendations from friends. Sometimes book reviews from sources I trust (Liberty) or used to trust (The Economist).

    • Zwak , who will swing for the crime, in double time!

      #6

    • SDF-7

      They can’t fool me… #4 is Weird Al.

      I’m probably 3 most days, if I had to pick.

    • slumbrew

      As a unix nerd, I appreciate #4.

    • Urthona

      Brooding Heartthrob, obviously

    • DEG

      Volksturm

      • Ted S.

        The people’s tower, or a storming by the people?

      • DEG

        Leave it to Ted to fuck things up.

    • SDF-7

      Band name for an all girl speed metal group for sure.

      • Zwak , who will swing for the crime, in double time!

        And they can open for Screwdriver?

    • Chafed

      Maybe you can serialize that book for Friday nights, after we finish Mojo’s.

    • Lackadaisical

      Go on…

  12. Brochettaward

    You’re god darn right I’m First.

    • Yusef drives a Kia

      1st, 44th, close enough

      • hayeksplosives

        A LOLz

        Who’s counting?

        We’re all in this shit show together

    • MikeS

      It’s “gosh darn” or “god damn”. SMDH. You can’t do anything right.

      • UnCivilServant

        Gosh damn it to heck, I never thought it’d be minced oaths that I agreed with Chet on.

      • Brochettaward

        I am a solid state Firster and you are second. As a second you are a sticky little beast and everything you say bounces off me because I am rock solid and sticks to you.

  13. Gustave Lytton

    Strip roast is smoking. Strawberries are in season and shortcake has been had in advance of dinner.

    • Sean

  14. R.J.

    Home. 9 day roadtrip with multiple families.Travel gadget review coming, also Meow Wolf Santa Fe review.

  15. KK the Porcine Pearl-Eater

    Remember how I said the way my neighbor described his lady friend, that I was sure it was a scam?

    I just met her, y’all. In person.

    I have never been so pleased to be wrong (this being the first time ever I was wrong and all).

    • Urthona

      Retell the entire story now for those of us who only browse periodically

      • R.J.

        I shall do better. I shall be a decent chap and see you after Father’s Day. It has been too long.

      • Urthona

        Is that this weekend? I will be in Vienna and Budapest but back in two weeks.

      • KK the Porcine Pearl-Eater

        Not much more to it. The way my neighbor described his online relationship had all the earmarks of a scam. It’s evidently not.

      • R.J.

        Ah. Her story. My feelings aren’t hurt.

      • Zwak , who will swing for the crime, in double time!

        With a face like that RJ, you have no feelings!

    • Tres Cool

      Unless they’re working together and both are scamming you.
      Need to borrow some tin foil?

      • KK the Porcine Pearl-Eater

        If they’re scamming me, they’re doing an awful job of it

      • Zwak , who will swing for the crime, in double time!

        Long con. Watch for it!

    • Mojeaux

      Spill the tea, KK! You dragged us into this soap opera, so you need to drag us out again.

      • KK the Porcine Pearl-Eater

        He stuck his head out the window when I was walking my dog past his camper, and he said “come meet my lady friend”.

        Like, whaaaat? She’s a real person, American, age-appropriate. Not a young man from Nigeria.

  16. Gustave Lytton

    AP headline “How Trump’s classified records case differs from Clinton’s email mishandling”

    No need to read further. It plays out exactly as one would expect from the AP.

    • Raven Nation

      GL: did you see my reply to your question about history textbooks? If not, let me know and I’ll copy/paste.

      • Gustave Lytton

        I saw it late and thought I replied. Thank you very much! I’ll try both but I think the first is probably too much in the own the libs category from the description. I also see from Paul Johnson A History of the American People that looks interesting too. On behalf of the missus, really appreciate it!

      • Raven Nation

        I forgot to check last night.

        I will say on the first one, they do have some really good points, it’s just overall too dogmatic.

        Johnson’s American People is decent although a lot of the twentieth century stuff is pretty much cut-and-paste from Modern Times.

    • Sensei

      Gotta deal with the cognitive dissonance somehow.

      • Sensei

        Also appropriate that this is playing as I replied here given your love of 80s J Pop.

        Aoi Usagi

        Still not sure WTF the literary meaning of a “blue rabbit” is.

      • Gustave Lytton

        Ah, Miss Druggie. I do appreciate that her early albums were subtitled sequentially. Makes finding the order easy.

    • rhywun

      I am not a lawyer, but this guy is.

      But I still think none of this matters. We all know it’s a two-tier system & if they want you out, you’re out.

    • The Bearded Hobbit

      AP headline “How Trump’s classified records case differs from Clinton’s email mishandling”

      Summary of AP article:

      “Hillary really didn’t mean it.”

      “Trump is a poopy-head”

      No mention of Dopey Joe’s stash in the garage.

      • Lackadaisical

        At least they didn’t disappoint.

    • Zwak , who will swing for the crime, in double time!

      In other words, AP needs desperately to move the needle on public opinion.

  17. Ted S.

    B is an adjective, not a noun. (OK, technically it’s a past participle, but it declines and functions like an adjective.) In other words, it’s not a food but a way of preparing food

    • The Hyperbole

      I’m the first to own up when I make a mistake, and I make plenty of them. I’m just a carpenter, an extraordinarily skilled one sure, and You’re the linguist but I disagree. Maybe in the original language it works as you say but as we use it here in ‘murica it is a noun, like stew or dish.

      • Ted S.

        But whether it’s better or worse than jambalaya on the bayou or gumbo depends on what the base food is.

      • The Hyperbole

        I’m not sure how that matters.

      • Zwak , who will swing for the crime, in double time!

        And Teds just Hoovering up the clues.

      • MikeS

        Thats because he suck’s.

      • hayeksplosives

        Lolz.

    • The Hyperbole

      I heard that wall paper was comin back, I was hoping it was a bad dream.

      • Mojeaux

        Wait till you have to steam it off the ceiling.

      • The Hyperbole

        I don’t strip wallpaper, I’d rather spend the extra money and re-sheetrock the entire room. Although I hear they now use some releasing agent when they hang it so it comes off much easier, it may not be as bad as back in the day.

      • Zwak , who will swing for the crime, in double time!

        My old house still has it tucked under various things such as medicine cabinets. When I go to remove them, as they are usually painted flush, I find shitty 80s paper behind, giving me an extra job to do.

      • Lackadaisical

        Yup, did this in two houses. It sucked.

    • rhywun

      Most of that stuff is way too busy for my taste. I don’t really care for wallpaper at all, flat colors of paint are fine by me.

      And since I rent, that means white. Or off-white. Or if I’m lucky, white with off-white accents.

    • Scruffyy Nerfherder

      MY EYES!

      • Mojeaux

        Not sorry.

    • Ted S.

      And the decade of slideshow lists. :-p

  18. Gender Traitor

    Nothing spells fun on a summer Sunday evening like bugging out down to the basement with two cats – one of them in the Cone of Shame and freaking out in the cat carrier – because of a tornado warning.

    All’s well here, but the local weather gurus are still tracking some suspicious radar off to the NE and I don’t know if there was any damage nearby.

    • Tundra

      So weird here. Bad weather (rain, hail, pestilence) splits before it gets to me, east to Denver and up to Boulder.

      Hmmm.

      • Scruffyy Nerfherder

        That’s because God hates Denver and Boulder.

  19. UnCivilServant

    Something tells me they meant $450,000 instead of what they listed it for.

    • Scruffyy Nerfherder

      You laugh, but that’s going to be affordable in a year or two.

    • The Hyperbole

      To be fair It is on over 7 acres.

    • Sensei

      No low ball offers. I know what I have.

      • Sensei

        Some variation of that phrase is frequently added to Craigslist ads, particularly for vehicles.

      • UnCivilServant

        I know it only from economic shortage memes.

      • Gender Traitor

        🎶”…and up through the ground come a-bubblin’ cru-u-u-u-ude…”🎶

    • Brochettaward

      I think they don’t know how many zeroes equal hundreds of thousands versus millions. Because we are a fat, ignorant peoples.

    • juris imprudent

      That’s going to skew the hell out of next quarter’s inflation calculation.

    • Not Adahn

      This house is insulated with hay bales but has solid walls. The electric bill runs about $90/month. The well is rated at 2.5 gpm and has two 500 gallon storage tanks and even provides water to a tank. The bedroom, living room and kitchen are in one space.

      • Lackadaisical

        Sounds like paradise.

        Given that they last listed it at 600k they must think it’s really not that bad, but$90/mo electric for that small a house seems like a lot.

    • Scruffyy Nerfherder

      These dudes are complete and total assholes. I’d like to see the women get even.

      • JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

        Problem is that nobody carries pumps like that anymore. They use CO2 cartridges. They could try throwing those at him, but they throw like girls.

  20. Timeloose

    Hayek,

    You were asking a few months ago for music about a failing relationship. You are past that now from what I’ve read. Good for you. Here is a great new relationship album for you.

    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_XwOeJW_9HU

    • hayeksplosives

      👍

      I’m gonna be fine. Got my bro, my sis, my bestie and a number of others on my side.

      Thanks, all 🙏

  21. hayeksplosives

    I’m “outing” myself as a Julie (though I spell it differently) but this song makes my heart a little lighter.

    https://youtu.be/36qskAf7tqA

  22. Brochettaward

    Brittney Griner was asked gotcha questions by Alex Stein at an airport traveling to a game. Media and WNBA are painting this as some grave safety issue for WNBA players.

    • Brochettaward

      A number of articles refuse to mention him by name. That’ll show him!

    • Lackadaisical

      Did he ask if she had a little weed on her?

  23. LCDR_Fish

    After NOLA last week, I’m in SD/Pendleton this week – then CO to visit relatives next week. Lots of travel means lots of kindle reading – unless like me you validate the new titles were added to your library but forgot to dl them onto the actual phone….

    Recommended Rob “Basedcon” Kroese before- now I’m into his Mammon series – another solid collapse series with some good Ringo/Corcoran knowledge drops. Also enjoying Lucas Marcum’s Fae War series. These mil-sf titles work a lot better when they’re written by folks who can keep the details in place.

    Speaking of NH politics DEG, Travis Corcoran did have some good summaries on the lawmaking process in some threads from his Travis4NH Twitter account this week. Sounds like his election cost about $1000, $500 out of pocket.

    • DEG

      I poked around his twitter feed. Some good stuff in there.

      In NH you pay taxes to your town government, which uses a portion of that to fund a lobbyist group which pushes state government to give town govs more power

      I think this is the NH Municipal Association. The group was very pro-mask ordinance during the Lil Rona Panic. When a legislator I know wrote some legislation to change the law the municipalities relied on for their mask ordinances, this group very effectively targeted her and got the bill killed.

      $1000 is pretty good for a NH state house race. A former legislator I helped out with told me she spent, if I remember correctly, about $1500 on hers. I’ve heard of people spending a lot more, but most of the time I hear numbers in the low thousands.

  24. hayeksplosives

    I guess I’m in “mix tape” mode tonight.

    I love the band Fastball. Totally underrated.

    Their songs span the spectrum from cheerful to depressing and everything in between.

    I like this one, Not even my favorite of theirs but sometimes the lyrics are everything. https://youtu.be/RdxFN_yrc7E

    • rhywun

      Never heard of them – not bad.

      My library has lots of similar stuff but late 90s me went down other avenues.

      • CPRM

        Their big hit was The Way.

      • rhywun

        Yeah, vague memories of that. Probably from the dying embers of MTV before that went to shit.

    • CPRM

      That’s one of my theme songs. Saw them with…either Semisonic or Collective Soul, around 2000.

  25. Shpip

    Surprising that OMWC missed it this morning: OTD in 1986, Madonna decided to let it all hang out (NSFW unless you work for Q).

  26. LCDR_Fish

    Starting to go down the 40k rabbit hole on YouTube, etc. Some interesting lore concepts and fun art. Found some fun channels/podcasts like PoorHammer and others.

    Of course…I am not in any way ready to begin that kind of investment in any way….but that does provide me one more motivation to get my house organized and free up more space. Completely offhand though – assuming there are no actual issues playing with unpainted figures – or is that an actual game rules feature?

    • Chafed

      I think UCS is the expert on WarHammer.

    • UnCivilServant

      Whether you can play with bare plastic depends on who you’re playing against. You can’t join formal events with unpainted minis, but the current rules give painted armies 10 victory points. Your opponant may not enforce that, especially against a newbie.

      When I started out I played against so many unpainted armies. (I have refused to field anything unpainted, but that’s my personal standard, not a community one). The last time I was in a store I did see a game where one of the armies wasn’t painted, so you can get away with it even in branded storefronts and not just local games stores.

    • UnCivilServant

      If you do have any specific questions, you can shoot me an email at scribe at evcombine dot net and I’ll do my best to answer them.

      • LCDR_Fish

        Thanks. I’ve been enjoying the poorhammer 10th Ed breakdowns and budget army recommendations. Also saw an interesting narration video a few weeks back that put the entire 40k lore in chronological order starting from the big bang – so that put some things in context.

    • Not Adahn

      The painting thing is why I’ll never abandon Battletech for Warhammer.

      • UnCivilServant

        But the assembly and painting is the fun part of the hobby.

        Dragging it all out to deal with other people only to be betrayed by your dice is the slog.

  27. R.J.

    Baseball sized hail all around Dallas.

  28. hayeksplosives

    is there a zoomie happening?

  29. CPRM

    Finally got a compatible and large enough USB stick to connect to my car to have all my music with me without having to turn on a phone or other device. Just stays in the car waiting to pick up from where I left off and able to navigate to new albums without fiddling with a device.

    • The Hyperbole

      I’m so sorry this happened to you.

      • CPRM

        Bought the album this song is on to console myself.

  30. hayeksplosives

    Hanging out with penguin Ii the xoomiies.

    You know it’s bad when Pengie is the one ☝️ to
    talking you off the ledge.

    🤦‍♀️
    🤣🥲

  31. Gustave Lytton

    Reddit user slitting their own throats.

    • Gender Traitor

      Huh. I would have guessed it was the latest TikTok challenge.

  32. Festus

    Underrated bandhttps://youtu.be/d18UWu4dRv4?

      • Festus

        FML…

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        Aw, hugs, F.

    • Gender Traitor

      Good morning, Sean and U!

  33. UnCivilServant

    *bleep* *bleep* *bleep* *bleep*

    The batteries on my UPS have decided to fail. They cost 2/3 of the price of the darn thing to replace – assuming I’ve even ordered the correct battery pack.

    • Gender Traitor

      UPS?

      • UnCivilServant

        Uninterruptable Power Supply. It’s a surge protector and battery backup for the computer. Given that bad power killed several power supplies before I started using them, they’re less expensive in the long run. It’s just annoying to have another problem right now.

  34. Grosspatzer

    Mornin’, reprobates.

    Shocked to hear about your UPS issues, UCS. Good luck with the new batteries.

    • UnCivilServant

      I just hope the set I ordered are the correct replacements.

      I was going to respond to the punning, but couldn’t find the energy.

      • Grosspatzer

        Personally, I think puns are revolting.

      • Gender Traitor

        Wish I could think of something to add to this current pun thread.

      • UnCivilServant

        I have faith, you just need to get amped up.

      • Fourscore

        Stop resisting!

      • robodruid

        What is wrong with all of you.
        I’m tired very low on charge today.

      • Grosspatzer

        May I suggest a mantra?

        OHM. OHM. OHM.

      • whiz

        I don’t have the capacity to absorb this so early in the morning.

    • Gender Traitor

      Good morning, ‘patzie!

  35. Grosspatzer

    Fourscore, if/when you’re around I saw something interesting yesterday. What appeared to be honeybees, but slightly smaller and coloration similar to yellow jackets, feasting on sage nectar. Africanized bees? I hadn’t thought they had made it this far north. I guess the bees have embraced diversity.

    • Fourscore

      Morning all, my knowledge of the critters is limited (very). I know the ones that bite hard (yellow jackets, wasps, etc). There are a lot of specialized pollinators that aren’t ferocious so I pretty much ignore them.

      I think the Afro bees look like ordinary honey bees other than they seem to have much shorter tempers. OTOH stirring up honey bees will make most folks a believer.
      I have reassembled bear damaged hives without any gear but a few weeks ago I tried and was quickly routed. Fortunately I had sugar water with me and they quickly became docile but I had my veil and gloves on by that time.

  36. Not Adahn

    I really need to take some some in the next week and put a few hundred rounds on target weak-handed.

    • Fourscore

      Is there also a Gadsden flag icon? Inquiring minds and all.

      • UnCivilServant

        No, that would be wrongthinkful.

    • rhywun

      Mine is showing a basketball. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

      • UnCivilServant

        I haven’t downgraded to 11, so I’m not seeing any of this. But the widget bar sounds like something I’d disable or uninstall anyway.

      • Sensei

        Same. It would appear to rotate among whatever the “hot thing” of the day is.

        I only have Win 11 on my gaming machine and don’t use it for much else.

    • Sean

      I’m on 10.

      • MikeS

        A windows option that is easily disabled.

  37. Grosspatzer

    According to GeekerMag, Microsoft has recently incorporated a Pride flag into the widget board of its latest operating system, Windows 11, as some sort of gesture of support for the movement.

    Next up: Microsoft Bob returns, in drag.

    • UnCivilServant

      Step 1 in any OS install is “Prevent manufacturer-pushed updates” at this point. They screw around more than they do security patches these days.