It's another Sunday y'all, and on this one I figure I'll post some.

I've got some more links to share here, most of them courtesy of Tom Scott's newsletter, pretty much the only newsletter I read these days. It's my only real source of new and interesting things on the net too... except for the random videos I stumble upon on YT. Or NG.

Anyway did you know the McDonald’s corporation headquarters used to have a Suede waterbed think tank? Do you know a large part of New York is still heated via steam? And that some Magpies and Crows are using anti-bird spikes to make their nests now? I think that's pretty cool... they've got the same rebellious attitude I've got! Props.

And did you know they tested nuclear bombs in space back in the day?! Starfish Prime was the largest nuclear test conducted in outer space - not the only one! I got that tidbit from a JRE podcast this week.

Also this was pretty cool (and probably the first TikTok video I've ever linked to here - I do so with certain resistance - cause it's TikTok).

Finally this might be the most introspective company cost breakdown and review I've ever seen, and I appreciate that! If you're starting a business, and you need some tips on what to save in on; what potential pitfalls you can avoid with management and hosting: it's a good read.

IRL I've noticed that with old shampoo bottles - at least the one I'm currently using, it seems like you actually get more fragrance when you start to reach the bottom of the bottle! It seems like over time that's where all the scent-related particulates accumulate.

So if you think your shampoo's getting less and less interesting... just you wait! You'll grow to appreciate that shampoo again soon enough.

I've also glued my shoes this week - the soles keep loosening, we're getting fiber drawn into our house in November - since they're forcefully removing all traditional landlines here, and I tried some Gilt-head bream earlier this week (it was good), but that's a bit less interesting innit?

We just switched to summertime today - which means we just moved our clocks up one hour - which means I need to get up one hour earlier for work tomorrow - which means I've gotta get to bed in time... it's always nicer to go from summer to wintertime than it is this way around...

No matter though! Life moves on. And don't miss that recent idgames archive post. If you're not fully satisfied with the official archives, or want a less regularly updated one. Or just like DOOM. Or mirrors?

Actually never mind. Feel free to miss it. Happy Sunday though!

...and Good Night.

ATM withdrawals in Albania are NOT free. They take a flat-fee on each withdrawal, unless you have a local account, and some card that makes you exempt from this rule. At least I assume locals are exempt from this rule. Troublesome if not...

During our recent Albania trip we checked all ATMs we stumbled upon for the cheapest one - but none were cheap, so we ended up just not making any withdrawals. We got by on card and EUR instead - most places accept payment via card, but for example the Dajti Express does not, nor does the local bus. The Dajti Express does accept EUR.

Not all places accept EUR. If you need some spare change in local currency you might want to head to the Dajti Express first with some big bills to swap for change and tickets - assuming you plan on seeing the mountains while you're there. I recommend it. The view's incredible.

For anyone interested in the ATMs though, here are their current (3/2025) withdrawal fees, from cheapest to most expensive:

• 500 LEK: OTP/ABI
• 600 LEK: Credins
• 650 LEK: Union Bank
• 700 LEK: Tirana Bank/BKT/Sanpaolo/UBA
• 800 LEK: Raiffeisen/Fibank/MoneyGet

They really have a surprising variety of banks in Albania, and I'm sure we missed a few. But they all seem to be making pretty good money, cashing in, as banks do.

That is all. Actual travel post soon...

Ain't that something too? Hell yeah it is! :)

We're actually up at 2,500 movie reviews already, but I forgot to post about this milestone, so here it is.

Here's to the next 500! 🎉

I recently got my hands on some cheap storage space that allows for file archives, so I figured I'd do my part in sharing some of the most notable DOOM-related contributions throughout the years, best showcased via the infamous idgames archive.

So here it is! My unofficial mirror of ditto. 54 GB of pure DOOM - from 1994 up till now! New mods and levels are streaming in still today.

I plan on updating this mirror at highly irregular intervals until I get some scheduled; automatic mirror magic going on, which is apparently possible via rsync, which I haven't used before. When I have some time to spare I shall learn how to, and so this archive should start to manage itself.

If you want to access this archive via FTP... well forget that!

I had planned to set this up as an FTP server - just like the one I'm mirroring (though the original's available via HTTP too), but I am not sure anonymous logins are fully supported with my host. I can't seem to get them to work right. Beyond that security on a public FTP server is a hassle, I don't know the half of it, so y'all will have make do with HTTP for now.

Any requests in regard to mirror functionality? If so leave a comment.

Better directory styling's an update for another day.

Onward! Up up and away.

I was up at 6 AM today. 6 AM, ya dig?

That may not mean much to you if you're a normal dude, who goes to a normal job, who works a fulltime gig, who abides by the times that it is conventional to wake up in the world today - though a Polish friend did recently say 'what are you crazy? No normal person gets up that early' when I wondered if he got up at 6-7, so maybe it's not as totally accepted a cultural norm to be an early bird as I assume it is after all?

At least not in Poland. And at least not in a variety of other countries, I'd imagine. Like how early would you assume people generally get up in South America, or on small tropical isles and tax paradises, or on Hawaii...

What do I know though, maybe they greet the sun over there. Maybe they worship it even more than I do, and view it with wonder and warmth when it rises through the vast blue expanse of ocean that greets them every day when they look out the window like Jocko Willink at 4 AM!

Sometimes I feel like I should too...

To what though? To get up at 4 AM? To live in Hawaii?

When I occasionally spontaneously wake up way earlier than I wished to wake - like today, I question at least the first of these crazy resolutions... the latter seems better. Hawaii seems more a paradise than maybe even the Philippines does - though people seem equally kind in both places.

But getting up early is tiresome y'all.

I've been up for four hours and then some at this point, and I don't feel like my time has been particularly well-spent thus far.

Though I am doing things. And I assume the reason I woke up in the first place may have something to do with how I simply feel there is much to do, and subconsciously feel like I don't have time to sleep right now, and thus - although it is not truly in my best interest, my mind wakes my body, and forces me to go about my day even with inadequate amounts of rest.

I've been typing away in a daze so far.

But I am doing things. I am getting somewhere...

At night I've finally been reading through the books I bought on a gift card from work a couple of years ago too.

The gift cards are a Christmas thing there. Every year we get a different one, and that particular year it was for Adlibris, which is a local book site with a breadth of literature in all possible genres.

I chose three books at random, and then some (I mean I think there was money left for something more - I'm pretty sure I bought something more - don't recall what though), and those books have been lying on a shelf in my room untouched... until now.

I read through The Invocations first - on a couple nights and flights (review TBA), and I've just started on Wish of the Wicked now.

Neither are really the type of book I was expecting from the title - I didn't actually bother reading a synopsis of either - I like a surprise, but the first was great, and so far this one's captivating too, though a little girly. I have the magnum opus Weaponized in line as soon as I'm done with this one.

At least I hope that one's the opus magnum.

It seems more like the kind of book I'd normally read. A bit more action. A bit more superficial a story too, probably...

Superficial or no though it feels good to read.

It not just instantly enhances my vocabulary and richness of imagination, but also really is a good way to wind down at night before you go to sleep. I'm getting better habits thanks to these books, slowly but surely, though not so surely I ought be getting up at 6 AM...

Anyway, on with the day. Felt like writing. Back to doing.

In a daze albeit, this day'll be great.

I did buy a waffle iron years ago, and if there ever was a day to use it it'd be today - on our International Waffle Day, but I can't find it!!! So here, have an AI generated waffle instead.

Courtesy of Firefly.

Some others.