|         |    |         
|---.,---.|    |    ,---.
|   ||---'|    |    |   |
`   '`---'`---'`---'`---'

This no-script text mode template is my work (Crystal's) and it's WIP. And below, posts about random things that come to my mind.

Font credits The font is from the Oldschool PC Font pack by Int10h.org, license CC BY-SA 4.0.
Detaching from the mainstream

I was thinking today, is it really good that I'm such an internet hermit. I mean, I don't keep up with shit on TikTok or Insta. And I don't judge people who do but I would not have the mental capacity to create anything if I always overloaded my brain with other peoples' thoughts. 

I've never been on social media except for a short Facebook phase and occasional activity on Mastodon. I rarely feel like I can post anything that's of value at the same time for many people. I prefer to write for people who visit my site when they are in the right headspace for it.

That being said, I used to keep up with the mainstream of culture and technology, mostly through YouTube. But recently I broke up with that too. Too much algorithm, slop, I think very few new things are not depressing. Like for a time I was so inspired by Linux and open source but now it's hard to see the community splitting along the lines of, you know, that shitty new tech and shitty old politics.

And for now it works out to be such a voluntary outcast, but years down the line I will find myself so out of touch, I worry about that. I'm not rich or anything I can't live the rest of my days in my castle in Scotland. 

So anyway, it would be good to be excited for some new big movement of technology or culture again. I feel like it's the 80s and it's all about survival and escapism. But good news, 90s is soon here.

 S T R I P   M U S I C 

Lately just super into 80s dance-pop - it's the movie stereotype of strip club music that's mostly loud trashcan synth drums, sparkly synth melody and an amazing pop diva voice. You might know such songs from Pose. So far I'm hooked on Jody Watley, Janet Jackson and Paula Abdul. I'm especially impressed with Jody's album You Wanna Dance With Me?, it's so dynamic and mixed in a way that still sounds fresh, including Some Kind of Lover that sounds like Sophie to me. And I absolutely don't get how Something New wasn't a gigantic hit, it's like the best thing ever!
H O W    T O    K E E P    E N J O Y I N G    M U S I C    
(not for audiophiles)
Fun fact This is a test entry for trying out the text mode styling features.

It's now been 5 years that I listen to music almost exclusively on MiniDisc. It was a rough start with faulty players and dirty, skipping discs but I managed to turn MD into a lifestyle. 

And in general I love that MD digital life with all the fancy jewel-like devices, the battery swapping and living between towers of discs, but it has a downside of over-listening some records. I have to be selective of what I take with me and some albums are just too easy to pick every time. They eventually become nauseating to listen to .

Time-to-time switching back to phone and streaming(-like mp3 player) doesn't fix this at all. It's immediately worse. Decision paralysis and attention deficit. Music becomes a filler. 
But I'm looking into other options
My current favorite MD replacements
Cassette Walkman, but strictly only listening to original tapes This forces me to into music I wouldn't normally take the time to explore. And also each cassette sounds unique depending on its level of degradation. Oh and it remembers where I left off (in a device-agnostic way! :-)
Downsides less pocketable and akward to switch tapes in public unless you really really own your hipsterdom.
Curating a playlist in a WinAmp clone Causes the least music fatigue (maybe cuz I don't always start albums from the beginning) and somehow I'm incentivized to add/remove music often! Downside: really not pocketable. Unless I find a way to sync it to something that fits in my pocket, it's only an option for home.
Other formats, candidates
MiniCD playerE.g. the Freecom Beatman II: Pretty good! Not much bigger than MiniDisc and 6-7 albums fit on a single disc. Downside: always having to burn CDs gets boring.
DiscMan I love it but terrible for OTG, very inconvenient to swap CDs in public!
iPod never tried
Sony mp3 walkman never tried
New mp3 players never tried
Vinyl never tried and obviously not an option OTG

TL;DR there's no perfect solution but MD and compact cassettes are queen for OTG. For home, I'm curating my Qmmp playlist!



{ } multi-dot


Tree structure
Folder 1
Subfolder
Folder 2

web hyperlink

text with info on hover





Info box There is some content inside this info box.
  • Popup dialogs
  • Progress bar
  • Input/Text field
  • Blinking text
  • Marquee
  • Strikethru text
  • Unsmooth'd scrolling