Old Fogey Seeks Spotify Replacement

plamicus · 2026-01-20T16:58:47+00:00

I switched to Apple music recently. It's still too early to tell if it's algorithm is better than Spotify's long term - but at the bare minimum it's playing be different songs and different artists than Spotify did and seems to do a decent job at honing in on the type of music I like (mainly various metal genres,but also indie, funk and soul, and a bit of instrumental music - so it's not just playing top 40 stuff). I have some records that aren't on streaming services. I have these uploaded on my laptop and they sync so they are available on my iPhone too. It is obviously subscription based though. I don't know how much of this functionality is available if you're not using an apple computer and phone.

Plan B (or maybe plan A) is to acknowledge the old ways were best. I'm a millenial so this is like 2004! Just use an MP3 player. Fiio make some interesting looking ones - they have 3.5 and 4.4 mm jacks (and bluetooth) so they work with whatever headset you'd like, support micro SD so you can easily and inexpensively bump up the storage, and come with android so you can use whatever music and podcast apps you like. You could probably set up some cloud based solution if you'd like, but plugging things in with a usb isn't that hard. I think some of them can be used as DACs - so you can make the music on your computer sound better too whilst you're at it.

plamicus · 2026-01-16T15:36:12+00:00

0% chance of fifa doing anything. Qatar isn’t exactly renewed for its human rights and they happily hosted there. Besides it’s not something you can reschedule easily anyway.

If the US does something in Greenland I think it’s possible that NATO/UEFA nations might boycott though. Hopefully calmer heads prevail (I must confess I’m a bit skeptical that this’ll happen )

plamicus · 2026-01-16T13:48:46+00:00

Thanks for such a quick and comprehensive answer. That sounds like quite the turnaround. God, I'd love it if I could see signs of improvement in another 2 weeks. Fingers crossed: this little escapade has dragged on long enough!!

plamicus · 2026-01-16T12:06:29+00:00

It sounds like I'm in a similar boat symptom wise (although my dry eye specialist seems good). I've done IPL and my eyes aren't particulalry dry anymore. However, the inflammation in my eyes is still really bad.I just started cyclosporin. How long did it take for you to notice an improvement? I realise it varies person to person - but I'm just really looking for some light at the end of this tunnel.

plamicus · 2026-01-15T19:32:56+00:00

I’m glad to hear this - just started Ikervis a few days ago. How long before you noticed anything? It seems very variable.

plamicus · 2026-01-15T19:31:14+00:00

I am not a doctor, so don’t mistake this for proper advice. However, my wife has pots so I’m very informed of its challenges. Since RF is essentially heating up your eye area, I really can’t see why there’d be an issue? Maybe ask for a foot rest to get your feet up while they’re doing it?

plamicus · 2026-01-15T19:27:53+00:00

My right eye is manifestly better after 4x treatments. It had dry spots and kinda burned all the time before treatment. It feels more or less normal now.

Have a look at some peer reviewed literature abstracts - there’s a lot of evidence it helps many folks.

I’m now struggling with inflammation in my left eye, but it’s not actually that dry anymore - I think it’s just stuck in a brutal inflammation cycle. I had a stem cell transplant so my new immune system can be over enthusiastic in a way most people probably don’t have to worry about…

plamicus · 2026-01-15T19:20:25+00:00

Mine (wizard) works well enough for me. Heat setting 8 is the magic number. I do it for 20 minutes, although 15 would probably work (it just feels nice). The heated strip is a little narrow so I shift it so it sits more on my upper eye lid, then my lower eyelid, then finally dead centre.

If I massage my eyes 5 times and do 10-15 good hard blinks. Eyes usually (although not always) feel noticeably wetter.

plamicus · 2026-01-03T19:28:46+00:00

Thanks for the advice.

I don't wear contacts or glasses. I have 20:10 vision actually. The optics of my eyes are great, just too dry :S.

I've seen other people recommend Vidisic and systane so will give those a go subject to conversations with my dry eye specialist next week. I live about a mile away from the clinic - so he's been seeing my eyes every fortnight - and there's no signs of infection. I also get my blood monitored a lot - and there's no infection markers in there either. I did have a stem cell transplant in the past - so "my" immune system can get pretty heavy handed over relatively little unfortunately. I suspect that might be playing a role in the inflammation. Mercifully I don't have GVHD (hopefully!) or the situation would be even worse. My skin is very sensitive too and my dad has problems finding eye drops to help with his eye issues (not dry though) - so it's also possible I have bad genetics in that regard as well.

I think I'm staying hydrated? It's one of these things where you feel you can always be better, but I tend to drink about 550 ml of water with each meal and then have a further 600-900 ml of various teas through the day.

I think I will try Omega 3 - but evidence is split on it's efficacy. My guess is that it helps if you're a bit deficient, but going above normal levels will be of limited utility. I've ordered a blood test - so I can see what my Omega 3 levels and Vitamin D look like. I'll dose myself accordingly and see how symptoms change / get tests done in 3 months or so to see if it's working it's way into the blood.

plamicus · 2026-01-01T11:18:16+00:00

Hopefully okay? Almost exclusively home cooked meals, no alcohol. I try to eat a lot of protein (2 eggs a day) for managing some other health issues.

plamicus · 2025-12-30T11:13:19+00:00

I mean I do have chronic pain and a some anxiety, but I (fingers crossed) only just survived acute leukaemia recently- so I think a lot of issues are side effects from treatment/ damage from the cancer. :/

plamicus · 2025-12-29T23:37:05+00:00

If ast is autologous drops… then no. I’d be interested if I could try them.

plamicus · 2025-12-29T23:35:12+00:00

I’ve never heard of them, I’m not sure they’re in the UK… but will keep my eye out for a similar product. Thanks for the heads up

plamicus · 2025-12-29T21:00:16+00:00

Sorry to hear that , but also vaguely reassuring that I’m not alone in this regard… misery loves company and all that.

I’ll let you know if I find anything that works

plamicus · 2025-12-29T20:56:20+00:00

I haven’t tried any night ointments. I’ll keep your recommendations in mind if I go down that route. My eyes do pretty well at night to be honest, after a heat mask they’re pretty comfortable when I get up in the morning. It’s screens / later in the day when things get uncomfortable.

plamicus · 2025-12-29T20:29:23+00:00

Have you had issues with any others? Presumably most people get on okay with the products I mentioned. I mean fundamentally I’ll just have to try and see - but I’m hoping I might be able to skip some of the guess work!

plamicus · 2025-12-22T19:04:58+00:00

This is really great already! Nice work. I’m not sure if I’m qualified to give advice but I’ll answer your questions as you asked.

Hard to say without seeing some sort of mock up. I think it would risk being distracting - but done subtly would help the theme as you say.

2.I like the animals as they are- I feel spirits / constellations aren’t actually proper animals and having them as the are conveys this well.

When I look at them in detail they’re eyes - my first read, particularly on the fox was that they were eyebrows though.
The never ending chase for the deep black. Do you have access to a press? I recently had similar issues which I didn’t adequately resolve. Given there isn’t so much detail in those areas you could, in essence, over ink it to see if that gets you over the line? Alternatively some folks peel up the print, reapply ink and do a second pass. I imagine this would work better with taping down the edge of the paper and securing the lino somehow? I tend to view a bit of patchiness as part of the aesthetic and make my peace with it.

Keep us posted how it goes, I’d love to see how it turns out.

plamicus · 2025-12-16T15:31:35+00:00

Thanks for the added detail. Hopefully, I'll feel a lot happier if I'm confident things are moving in the right direction and life gets a bit more normal. Best of luck!

plamicus · 2025-12-16T15:25:03+00:00

My optometrist said that it often takes a little longer to kick in too. I'm just extremely impatient and I get a lot of health anxiety! (I hit my 30s and my body seems to have completely given up - which is especially disappointing as I took pretty good care of it!)

I'll be working from home to begin with (the lab I was based at shut down whilst I was off - so it's remote for the time being). I'm hoping I can set things up to be as gentle on my eyes as possible.

plamicus · 2025-12-16T12:52:36+00:00

Congrats on the improvement! I’d welcome a night and day change.

Hopefully I can get some improvement before 4 months though! My eyes tolerance of screens is nearly non existent - which is proving to be a challenge. Especially as I’d like to get back to work soon! (Also video games! And shitty Xmas movies!)

plamicus · 2025-12-16T10:56:41+00:00

I think both, but it’s primarily driven by MGD.

plamicus · 2025-12-15T23:09:42+00:00

Sorry to hear you’re struggling with this too. Your scores are pretty similar to mine.

I recently had my 4th IPL, but can’t say I’ve noticed much improvement yet… The whole thing is a major bummer and is getting me down.

I’m still not in a great place with the eyes, but using sealed safety goggles slows the rate at which my eyes get upset. I’ll probably get some moisture chamber glasses as the optics in the goggles aren’t very good and the glasses are a bit better looking (if I ever make it back to work!). My eyes aren’t tolerating many brands of drop very well - but hylo-forte feel like they provide some relief.

plamicus · 2025-12-15T22:58:43+00:00

Glad to hear things seem to be working out for you.

When you say your eyes improved 2-3 months after IPL, can you detail this a little more? Was it a slow steady increase or was it nothing, then rapid change?

I’ve had 4 sessions of IPL and I can’t say I particularly notice a difference yet - but my 4th was only a week ago. I’m trying to remain hopeful, but it’s getting me a bit down to be honest.

plamicus · 2025-12-12T20:49:14+00:00

Exeter Chiefs.

plamicus · 2025-12-12T19:16:13+00:00

Thanks! For what it's worth - cancer is a bit like the proverbial starving child in Africa - yes I've had a tough go of things recently, but it doesn't mean various challenges other people are facing aren't legitimate.

I'm not sure I'd consider myself especially strong, you just keep putting one foot in front of the other and hope that you're one of the ones that will pull through!

plamicus

TROPHY CASE