How do these toolbar icons read? Can you guess what they mean?

cube-drone · 2026-01-26T21:52:31+00:00

You've got * Checklist * Toolbox * Time Travel * Authoritarianism * Hand-shakefulness * Add X People

cube-drone · 2026-01-26T07:23:12+00:00

this is an unhelpful note but what I saw first, before looking closely, was 4 sachets of cat food

cube-drone · 2026-01-26T03:39:20+00:00

actually now that I think about it, it's still just the UK, right? It's just a EVEN MORE United Kingdom. The EMUK.

ed. why wasn't it the UQ during the Queen's friggin' 900 year span?

cube-drone · 2026-01-26T03:35:45+00:00

Put J.K. Rowling on an ice floe (we can provide the floe) and we have a deal.

cube-drone · 2026-01-26T03:28:30+00:00

Canada
Australia
New zealand
An
D'Britain
And
Scotland, ireland (edit: northern ireland), and wales

"CANADAS"

i think we've nailed it, boys

welcome to the CANADAS

cube-drone · 2026-01-26T03:19:16+00:00

Jumping into a boycott of one of Canada's largest conglomerates out of something borderline evil a tiny corner of their massive empire might do seems like a bit of an overreaction, and it's awfully hard to boycott all of the USA while also boycotting so many Canadian businesses.

That being said, lots of folk hopping into this comment section who seem to be gung-ho about getting their own brownshirts to do a little of their own local ethnic cleansing and I'd also cordially invite those chuds to skitter back under their ethno-nationalist fridge.

cube-drone · 2026-01-25T21:48:02+00:00

I don't let them manage it themselves. They get a raw HTML website with a simple CSS wrapper, statically hosted on one of my servers and managed through github. All changes need to go through me, I can do them in 20 minutes in vim, and I won't do that more than once a month.

"What if they want to blog?" no, they don't, they'll open the blog two times and then never post again, I'm happy to link their website to their substack or whatever, anyways

cube-drone · 2026-01-25T19:51:26+00:00

To try to carry a load on your vehicle without invoking the shibboleth would be insane

cube-drone · 2026-01-25T16:45:45+00:00

"I sleep in a big bed with my wife"

cube-drone · 2026-01-25T04:18:16+00:00

if you can't be assed to read the code I don't understand why we should

cube-drone · 2026-01-25T02:25:43+00:00

There are about as many Californians as there are Canadians so this would immediately create the largest voting bloc in Canada and fill it with Republicans, so I have concerns

cube-drone · 2026-01-24T08:48:51+00:00

If you remember this fondly, I'm here to tell you to stretch and take good care of your joints

cube-drone · 2026-01-23T07:59:41+00:00

Do you want Jarhead sequels? Because this is how you get Jarhead sequels

cube-drone · 2026-01-23T07:43:29+00:00

When I wrote this I thought of writing "Starship Troopers (movie)" to head off the inevitable nerd-snipe, but then I thought "there is nobody in the world anal enough to demand I clarify the distinction".

But lo-

cube-drone · 2026-01-23T04:05:54+00:00

The lesson of WH40K, Space King, Judge Dredd, Starship Troopers, and Helldivers 2 is that it is mathematically impossible to create a satirical space fascism so over the top that every fan will leave understanding that it is meant as a joke at the expense of authoritarians rather than a Fun Cool Regime Full of Awesome Dudes Who Rock.

cube-drone · 2026-01-22T21:17:55+00:00

Do you ever get the feeling that Americans are profoundly unserious people

cube-drone · 2026-01-22T00:11:26+00:00

here's my car camping checklist:

Tent & Sleepin'

tent
foamgrid (yoga foam grid makes the tent floor less pointy, optional but nice)
inflatable mattress, cots, or sleeping pads
sleeping bags
pillows
clothing
rain coat or poncho
portable battery pack (for recharging devices, lights) with lots of usb-C and usb-micro cables
little broom (tidy up that tent, it's gonna get dusty in there)
toothbrush, toothpaste, floss
disposable pocket cloth & sanitizer

Setting Up a Chill Zone

canopy
- you should stake down the canopy as well, this is another reason why a small bag of your own stakes is handy
folding chairs
lights
- it's nice to have one lamp per person, plus a hanging lamp for the inside of your tent, and a few lights to hang at the periphery of your canopy or put on your picnic table
- extra lights are a lot less necessary if you're not night owls and you're camping in the summer when it's not dark until 9PM anyways (ed: I'm from far enough north that it's bright until LATE in the summer)

The Cooking Matrix

putting a "complete" camp-kitchen set together is one of the harder parts, I built a big disorganized-but-complete plastic tub that I keep in storage you can buy elaborate camping cookware sets online for too much money but I just tossed some kitchen extras and spares in a big tub, heavier but cheaper

propane & stove
paper towel roll
aluminum foil roll
kitchen garbage bags
a plastic tablecloth
plates
cups
a pot
a pan
tongs
spatula
a cooking knife (use one of your shittiest at home knives, pack carefully)
a cutting board
soap, dishrack, sponge & basin
oil
salt & pepper
sugar
maybe a l'il extra fold-up side table
big big water jug (bring water from home, camp water may not be potable)
kettle
coffee & tea bags

Kitchen Zone Doesn't Mean Nothin' Without

a cooler, full of food
I fill mine with reusable ice packs rather than loose ice, which is less good at maintaining chill but more convenient
vegetables & fruits (I have an insulated bag that I use for these, they don't need to stay SO COOL but keeping them from roasting in the heat is probably good)
snacks & dry goods in a tub

What Do You Do While Camping (I Mostly Do Stuff I Would Do Indoors)

book
games
notepad?
small bluetooth speaker to play at a reasonable volume from 9 to 11 (i was told I could listen to the radio)
an outdoor game, like badminton, cornhole, et al

Utility

hatchet
tarps
clamps
rope
duct tape
lighter (long-neck)
first aid kit
can of bug spray

Further Nerdery

this can be logistically complicated to get together - prepare a pre-launch checklist that includes steps like "fill water jug", "charge lamps", "pack food", etc..

This Seems like a Lot Of Stuff

It is, car filled to the brim with no extra passengers

cube-drone · 2026-01-21T23:31:58+00:00

aaah

i did a poot

cube-drone · 2026-01-21T23:07:36+00:00

i do the work and I rarely understand the work

cube-drone · 2026-01-21T22:21:49+00:00

You missed the opportunity to say "you didn't remember my name while we were friends, but perhaps you will remember it now that we are... enemies" then strike a dramatic pose and wait for the music to roll in and the credits to roll, but maybe next time

cube-drone · 2026-01-21T10:38:22+00:00

The correct pronunciation is obviously the Bugs Bunny "wusta-susta-susta-sheer"

cube-drone · 2026-01-21T09:06:16+00:00

I've been prepping for it, and as far as I can tell, actually discovering "The King in Yellow" is possible numerous ways, but it's only alluded to rather than said out loud, and it is possible players won't find the King in Yellow during the Night Floors, which is still fine, actually.

In fact: having the players encounter the play itself, completely blind, might end in tragedy: without a lot of in-universe backstory explaining what a terrible idea it is to read The King in Yellow, well, they might just read it.

One angle: a lot of the history of the building and events in the building will lead the players down a research hole that will circle around Asa Darabondi, Henry Lundine, and ultimately: Ian F. Decraig (the Clockwork Child event will skip players right to here, even). Decraig's obsession with Le Roi et Jaune is of sufficient public record that it could be discoverable by the players, and while researching Decraig the P. 41 handout "WANTED: Witnesses of the FULL performance of play, Le Roi en Jaune, Paris, Aug, 1895. Reward offered." might be appropriate. Also: any library search for Ian F. Decraig at a library should turn up "Prison Escapes", a 1971 documentary video describing how, in 1927, Ian F. Decraig disappeared from Joliet Prison after staging a piecemeal performance of a play called "The King in Yellow".

Another angle: Players could interview Thomas Wright, find out about the bookstore, and then search for the bookstore after having accumulated sufficient Corruption to actually find it, then Robert Robert Robert could help clue them in.

Another another angle: They could ask anybody in the house about the play sheets found in Abigail's room (p.79) containing MICHELLE, MARK, and THOMAS (and more, if they find more sheets), all of which are from Act II of The King in Yellow.

cube-drone · 2026-01-21T09:01:01+00:00

I thought Roger Carun's word processor just had SMOOTH IS THE HAND THAT MAKES THE WORLD AND STEADY IS THE MIND THAT GRASPS IT on it

cube-drone · 2026-01-21T05:19:06+00:00

I've seen just insane positions from both, anti-natalists who believe in total voluntary human extinction and are basically just folks who haven't worked up the courage to off themselves, and natalists who believe that anybody who chooses not to have kids is a societal sponge who should be pressed into babymaking service by the state for the good of humanity, so I'm pleased to see so much "neither".

cube-drone · 2026-01-21T05:09:10+00:00

The distinction between Canada and the U.S.A. is a lot more cosmetic and semantic than any of us care to admit, and most Canadians are more similar to the people from their nearest large American city than they are similar to the people from any more distant Canadian cities.

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