mishalak | Reading

denise posting in

It's only been... okay, I don't want to think how long.

We are preparing to take the beta update page and the beta inbox out of beta with the next code release. We don't have an exact date yet, but this is your last chance to tell us about problems!

To enable the beta versions: go to Beta Features and enable the "new Create Entries" beta test for the new update page and the "New Inbox Page" for the, well, new inbox page.

If this is your first time using the beta update page: nearly everything on it can be adjusted, moved, or removed to some degree. The upper right side of the update form has a " ⚙️ Rearrange Panels" link.

Not every panel is enabled by default! If you don't see something you're used to finding, look in the disabled panels. While in Rearrange mode, you can enable or disable panels, drag them to whatever position you want, and generally customize it to your heart's content.

Once we push the button and switch to the new update and inbox pages for everyone, we cannot keep the old ones available. We are so close to finishing the decade-long "get rid of the undocumented custom templating language from 1996 that no one else uses" modernization project that's been sapping our collective will to live that we can taste it, and we can't convert the old update page and the updated inbox page is the converted version. This is your last chance to alert us of problems. If you let us know after the switch goes live, we'll still fix it, but we can't guarantee how fast. Prevent future problems and test drive them now!

mark posting in

dw_maintenance

Hi all,

I had to push some code live today to fix something, and that brought with it a couple of new things like if you have two-factor authentication (2FA/MFA) enabled, you got automatically logged out and it is now required to log in. If you don't, you can set it up if you want (you don't have to.)

This also means that if you have 2FA enabled, you will not be able to use 3P clients using your username and password anymore. You should be able to use API keys in most cases, but there's some nuance to that (and tbh, I just am not precisely sure what clients anybody even uses.)

Please do comment if you're seeing anything weird, as per usual, and we'll work on it. Thank you!

kaffy_r

Syllable by Syllable

This was the second day I got up early enough to spend 30 minutes writing and another 10 minutes listening to people talk about writing. I'm really pleased that I did it. As of now I have almost 800 words done on that critical scene that's causing me so much difficulty, and even if I end up ditching some of those words, I'm still writing.

The only problem is my glacially slow pace. There are folks out there who could push out that 800-word total in 30 minutes. I'm not one of them. I'm still wondering how many days it's going to take to bring this scene into reality. Every word is like pulling hen's teeth.

Well, that's not the only problem. I'm almost ready to pitch all 800 words and try again. I rarely feel that way, and it's not something that I do. One of the reasons I work so slowly is that I edit, re-edit, and re-re-edit as I go. First drafts? Second drafts? Nope, that's not how I write, and at my age, I don't think I'm about to change. So when things actually make it from my brain onto the page and undergo my as-I-go editing, I'm loath to throw out anything.

Tomorrow, I'm going to try to get up early and take a look at what I've written so far and seriously decide whether to keep it or pitch it and try again.

At least it'll take my mind off my colonoscopy prep. Heh.

Current Mood: frustrated
Current Location: the home office
Current Music: BTS "Go Go"

kaffy_r

1st Day of Low Residue Diet, Plus Other Stuff

It hasn't been too bad. I went out and got some of the whitest food available - white bread, plain bagels, plain English muffins, yogurt with a little bit of honey, apple juice. I should be fine for the next 2.5 days.

Also, I managed to choke down a cup of black coffee. I had to add some water to weaken it down, and it took me about three quarters of an hour, possibly more, to finish it. I only managed to finish one. We'll see how I do tomorrow. As I think I've mentioned, I do not understand how I managed to drink the stuff so regularly and so much when I was younger. Ah, well.

I got 11 more of my "Please vote" postcards done this afternoon. I'm up to 36, and I only have 64 more to do. I'll get them done by the 14th of October, when I have to mail them out. It's one of the material ways I can work on behalf of democracy. I can't deal with making phone bank calls; I simply can't, not after a career where much of my time was spent calling people who generally were either not expecting a call from me, or who didn't want to hear from me - no more. And of course I can't vote yet, but writing postcards works beautifully for me.

I'm going to try to get up tomorrow in time to join the online writing group I used to spend 40 minutes every morning with. I haven't been taking part for at least a couple of months now, probably more, and I think maybe being with other people may help me. I've gotten some writing done over the past week, week and a half, but there's a difficult part of the plot about to happen, and I've been avoiding tackling that particular bit. I need to force myself to do it.

Right now, I think I'm going to make myself a cup of chamomile tea, or possibly some green tea.

Current Mood: calm
Current Location: the home office
Current Music: RM "Bicycle"

julesjones

43 years of extra life so far thanks to Stanislav Petrov.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1983_Soviet_nuclear_false_alarm_incident

Climate change is real, and already killing thousands of people. But for the younglings saying "you old people don't know what it's like to grow up in a world where we're all going to fry" - actually, we do. I was a teenager when Petrov looked at a computer report and decided that it was a false alarm. I've sung Tom Lehrer's "We will all go together when we go" more than once in those 43 years. I'm glad there's no thunder forecast for tonight, because it still occasionally wakes me from a nightmare.

kaffy_r

Unclench My Jaw

Bob often looks at me when I'm irritable about something, or worried about it, or both, and very gently says "Relax your jaw." It's good advice. I mean, I don't really clench my jaw, at least not noticeably. Mentally, however, my jaw is often so tightly clenched that I'm amazed my head doesn't break apart in little shards and pieces. So I try to keep his advice in mind.

Huh. I just realized that my physical jaw is actually quite tightly clenched. Bad Kathy - unclench your damn jaw!

Seriously, I am dour, pessimistic, and prone to rage. While the latter has diminished noticeably thanks to a very effective prescription, I don't expect that I'll ever be blessed with Buddha-like calm.

Still, if I can remember to unclench my jaw on a daily basis, I might be able to save my molars and my mental health. Heh.

Current Mood: amused
Current Location: the home office
Current Music: HwaSa "Twit"

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Reading Up

LAST CALL for beta update and inbox page

Code pushed -- FYI

Dept. of Writing

Dept. of Pending Not Really Doom

Happy Stanislav Petrov day

Dept. of Friday

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June 2020

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