<summary type="html"><![CDATA[I am watching an ongoing shoujo romance anime called A Sign of Affection. After I watched the fourth episode, I published […]]]></summary>
<summary type="html"><![CDATA[I came across an interesting blog post by Evan Sheeran noting that it is easy for to become overwhelmed by new feed articles using an RSS/ATOM Feed Reader. He stated that “[t]he more feeds to which you subscribe, or the more prolific some of the authors are, the more of a commitment opening your feed […]]]></summary>
<summary type="html"><![CDATA[I use side tabs with my Firefox set up. I briefly switched from Tree Style Tab to Sidebery when Tree Style Tab had an update issue. I was impressed with Sidebery and it comes with more power features than Tree Style Tab out of the box (It also does a better job of clearly showing […]]]></summary>
<summary type="html"><![CDATA[I inadvertently discovered that WordPress interprets something immediately followed by a “#” in a post as a new tag. Who knew? I learned this when I was indicating numbered rankings in a new article. I decided to forego the “#”.]]></summary>
<author>
<name>Nicholas A. Ferrell</name>
</author>
</entry>
<entry>
<title type="html"><![CDATA[Putting a # before a number (or probably anything) inside a post in WordPress creates a new tag.]]></title>
<summary type="html"><![CDATA[I compare my al|together visual novel rankings with the Visual Novel Database average user scores for all 31 pieces.]]></summary>
<summary type="html"><![CDATA[Welcome to the 172nd edition of The Newsletter Leaf Journal, the official newsletter of the perennially virid online writing magazine, The New Leaf Journal. This newsletter comes to you as always from the waterproof Logitech K310 keyboard of the administrator and editor of The New Leaf Journal, Nicholas A. Ferrell. Last week saw the publication of several big ticket articles that have been in the works for a while, so let's get to our weekly review and other news and notes, including 21 links from around the web.
Leaves from the week that was
Let's review our new articles...
al|together Visual Novel Ranking (20-11)
Following up my (subjective) ranking of the bottom-11 al|together novels...
Missing Temu Ads Through Good Internet Usage
I decided that my ignorance of an internet advertising…]]></summary>
<author>
<name>The Newsletter Leaf Journal</name>
</author>
</entry>
<entry>
<title type="html"><![CDATA[Minds Hashtags and Mastodon]]></title>
<summary type="html"><![CDATA[I wrote a post a few days ago about how my Minds posts are now visible from my Mastodon instance. I noted one issue, however. Minds has a praiseworthy set up where users can add hashtags separate from the post. I noted that I liked the set up last year on The New Leaf Journal, […]]]></summary>
<summary type="html"><![CDATA[I came across a good post with links to bloggers who share links on Jeremy Keith’s website, adactio.com. I added the adactio links feed along with a few of the link feeds noted in the post to the Links category of my personal feed collection. I may start sharing a few links each day here […]]]></summary>
<summary type="html"><![CDATA[I use Xfce as the desktop environment on my workstation. I have read some complaints that Xfce is dated compared to GNOME, KDE Plasma, and other newer and shinier desktop environments, but I disagree. Xfce looks slick with a good theme (the Linux distribution I use, EndeavourOS, comes with a nice Xfce spin out of […]]]></summary>
<author>
<name>Nicholas A. Ferrell</name>
</author>
</entry>
<entry>
<title type="html"><![CDATA[Changing Hair Color in “A Sign of Affection”]]></title>
<summary type="html"><![CDATA[Examining overwhelming circumstantial evidence of Yuki Itose's use of hair dye in the first two episodes of the A Sign of Affection anime adaptation.
Possibly related posts...
Hair Color in Japanese Anime, Manga, and Games
Understanding Hair Color in the Kimi ni Todoke Anime Series
Height differences in anime romances
The Girl I Like Forgot Her Glasses hair dye
Hair Color in A Dream of Summer
The Best of Anime in 2022: Year in Review
Most-Visited NLJ Articles of 1H 2023
2023 Anime Year in Review
Anime Recommendations of the Decade (2011-20)]]></summary>
<author>
<name>Nicholas A. Ferrell</name>
</author>
</entry>
<entry>
<title type="html"><![CDATA["Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki 2nd STAGE" NOTES (Ep 1-5)]]></title>
<summary type="html"><![CDATA["Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki 2nd STAGE" NOTES (Ep 1-5)
I will review Tomozaki S2 at the end of the season. These are a few notes on the first five episodes for future reference.
Animation quality in episodes 1 and 5 was solid. Weaker in episodes 2-4 with some instances of off-model characters that we saw in the weaker points of S1.
Episode 1 was much like the first season with Hinami giving Tomozaki a light-hearted social task to carry out. This opening arc did a good job of showing Tomozaki's growth with respect to Hinami (setting limits on how far he would go in accomplishing his task) and in having friends he could rely on to help him achieve his objectives.
Opening arc segued into a "bullying arc" wherein Erika Konno, who came off as unpleasant in her small role in season 1 and he…]]></summary>
<summary type="html"><![CDATA[I have a social media account on Minds. Minds added ActivityPub support not too long ago. I had been able to follow my Minds account from Mastodon and follow my Mastodon account from Minds. However, posts were not showing up in either case. Today, I was surprised to discover my most recent Minds post in […]]]></summary>
<summary type="html"><![CDATA[I recently read that Pokémon Fire Red and Leaf Green turned 20. Sadly, I have no article to commemorate the occasion (although I should play them again), but I covered the 20th anniversary of Pokémon Gold and Sliver's (North American) release in 2020, including my memories of getting Pokémon Gold right when it came out.
<summary type="html"><![CDATA[I have been following myself on Minds from Mastodon and Mastodon from Minds for a while now, but posts were not federating. For that reason, I was surprised to see my new Minds post pop up in my timeline. Looks like everything is integrated now...]]></summary>
<author>
<name>N.A. Ferrell</name>
</author>
</entry>
<entry>
<title type="html"><![CDATA[Organizing RSS and ATOM Feed Sources]]></title>
<summary type="html"><![CDATA[January was highlighted by a surprise newsletter share and Hacker News page 1 appearance early in the month, but we also published 17 new articles on many interesting topics.
Possibly related posts...
The New Leaf Journal Celebrates Its First Birthday
The Newsletter Leaf Journal at 100
The al|together and Insani Visual Novel Translations
Justin & Justina: Most-Read NLJ Content of 2020
A 2021 List of Alternative Search Engines and Search…
Justin and Justina review 2022 at the NLJ
The Newsletter Leaf Journal LXIX 〜 The Move(d) Leaf Journal
History of New York's Evacuation Day
Oldest Golfers to Contend for Majors Between the…]]></summary>
<summary type="html"><![CDATA[Yomu at the Umai Yomu Anime Blog asked readers to answer the following question: What anime did you start the new year with? The first anime I watched in 2024 was actually a 2023 series: BanG Dream! It’s MyGo!!!!! Two factors came together to make that 2023 musical melodrama my first anime of the new […]]]></summary>
<summary type="html"><![CDATA[I never had a pet millipede and I do not plan to acquire one. But that did not stop me from writing an article about how to keep YOUR pet millipede from drowning in its own water dish.
<summary type="html"><![CDATA[I had been using Tree Style Tab for side-tabs on Firefox along with a userChrome.css file to remove the top bar. I was surprised to find when I opened Firefox this morning that Tree Style Tabs was not working. Instead of checking its GitHub repository, where I would have found the issue, I tried to […]]]></summary>
<summary type="html"><![CDATA[I use YOGA Image Optimizer -- an open source GUI tool for optimizing images -- to handle the small images I use on my sites. I decided after using it for more than a year that a review was warranted.
<summary type="html"><![CDATA[I rank the top 10 visual novel translations to emerge from the 31 pieces translated for the 2005, 2006, and 2008 al|together festivals.
Possibly related posts...
al|together Visual Novel Rank Intro
al|together Visual Novel Ranking (20-11)
al|together Visual Novel Ranking (31-21)
The al|together and Insani Visual Novel Translations
Red Shift Visual Novel Review
Flood of Tears - Visual Novel Review
May Sky - Visual Novel Review
Version history of Aru Fuyu no Monogatari
ACE Academy - Visual Novel Review]]></summary>
<author>
<name>Nicholas A. Ferrell</name>
</author>
</entry>
<entry>
<title type="html"><![CDATA[Google vs HN at the NLJ (2)]]></title>
<summary type="html"><![CDATA[I have been busy with New Leaf Journal and law work as of late, but I return to The Emu Café Social with a fun New Leaf Journal update. As of the afternoon of January 29, 2023, we have more Google referrals at The New Leaf Journal than Hacker News referrals despite our fairly high […]]]></summary>
<author>
<name>Nicholas A. Ferrell</name>
</author>
</entry>
<entry>
<title type="html"><![CDATA[Missing Temu Ads Through Good Internet Usage]]></title>
<summary type="html"><![CDATA[I recently learned about some shopping app called Temu. I contemplated my obliviousness and determined that I owe my lack of knowledge to good internet usage.
Possibly related posts...
An In-Depth Look at Norton Safe Search
A 2021 List of Alternative Search Engines and Search…
Comparing DuckDuckGo Lite and Qwant Lite
2023 Anime Year in Review
Should the Pistons have drafted Carmelo?
On Google Chrome's New AI Features
Substack Notes' Twitter clone war
Recommended F-Droid FOSS Apps For Android-Based…
I, Too, Saw Dreams Through Air - VN Review]]></summary>
<summary type="html"><![CDATA[Welcome to the 171st edition of The Newsletter Leaf Journal, the official newsletter of the perennially virid online writing magazine, The New Leaf Journal. This newsletter comes to you as always from the waterproof keyboard of the editor of The New Leaf Journal, Nicholas A. Ferrell. Speaking of my keyboard...
Leaves from the week that was
My Logitech Washable Wired Keyboard K310
After noting my waterproof keyboard in every newsletter for more than three years, it finally received a full New Leaf Journal article.
"Survive and Advance" Visual Novel Choices
I have used the term "survive and advance" to describe certain visual novel choice structures. In this article, I define my pet visual novel description.
al|together Visual Novel Rank Intro
Introducing my long-advertised final ranking…]]></summary>
<author>
<name>The Newsletter Leaf Journal</name>
</author>
</entry>
<entry>
<title type="html"><![CDATA[A photograph of the Carroll Gardens branch of the Brooklyn Public Library in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn. The library was closed for improvements in July 21, 2023 and will remain closed for 18-24 months from that date. I took this photo on August 19, 2023.
<summary type="html"><![CDATA[A photograph of the Carroll Gardens branch of the Brooklyn Public Library in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn. The library was closed for improvements in July 21, 2023 and will remain closed for 18-24 months from that date. I took this photo on August 19, 2023.<br />
<summary type="html"><![CDATA[I have been using a Logitech K310 keyboard since April 2013. The K310's standout feature is that it is washable. Sadly, Logitech discontinued it several years ago -- but mine lives on.
<summary type="html"><![CDATA[I offer my opinion on whether Google's promoting new AI tools with Chrome for drafting forum posts and reviews will contribute to making the internet a better place.
Possibly related posts...
Query for Bing on blacklisting and ChatGPT
Amazon Black Hat Seller Scenario
The New Leaf Journal Celebrates Its First Birthday
The al|together and Insani Visual Novel Translations
A 2021 List of Alternative Search Engines and Search…
<summary type="html"><![CDATA[I apply the term "survive and advance" from March Madness to describe a common visual novel choice structure where multiple choices have at least one game over option.
Possibly related posts...
Flood of Tears - Visual Novel Review
The al|together and Insani Visual Novel Translations
Collage - Visual Novel Review
Night of the Forget-Me-Nots: VN Review
Should the Pistons have drafted Carmelo?
ACE Academy - Visual Novel Review
Visual Novel Review: Bad End
Red Shift Visual Novel Review
The Enigmatic Life and Death of Emperor Otho]]></summary>
<title type="html"><![CDATA[My Logitech K310 keyboard after a good washing and scrubbing in my kitchen sink. I have been using this as my main desktop keyboard since April 2013 and it is still going strong after countless keystrokes, many cleanings, and one coffee incident. Sadly, Logitech discontinued it several years ago.
<summary type="html"><![CDATA[My Logitech K310 keyboard after a good washing and scrubbing in my kitchen sink. I have been using this as my main desktop keyboard since April 2013 and it is still going strong after countless keystrokes, many cleanings, and one coffee incident. Sadly, Logitech discontinued it several years ago.<br />
<summary type="html"><![CDATA[Welcome to the 170th edition of The Newsletter Leaf Journal, the official newsletter of the perennially virid online writing magazine, The New Leaf Journal. This newsletter comes to you as always from the waterproof keyboard of the editor of The New Leaf Journal,Nicholas A. Ferrell. It is highly likely that there will be a live New Leaf Journal article about said keyboard when you read this newsletter, but that is technically an article for next newsletter week. Below, we cover the events of January 13-19 in our typical Newsletter Leaf Journal manner.
Leaves from the week that was
I published three new articles since mailing Newsletter 169.
Shopping on AI (Sp)Amazon
Justin and Justina discuss some interesting AI-generated product descriptions seen on Amazon (or Spamazon).
<summary type="html"><![CDATA[I published a new version of my New Leaf Journal feed directory. It includes links to our RSS/ATOM/JSON feeds with directions for subscribing to narrower subsets of articles and it also includes our less-used feeds (e.g., mf2, TWTXT), static feed aggregator site, and off-site newsletter RSS feed. For those who do not know much about feeds, I also linked to my introduction and several essays on the benefits of feeds.
<summary type="html"><![CDATA[I review YOGA Image Optimizer, a free and open source GUI image optimization tool, from the context of someone using it to reduce the size of small images for a minimal WordPress blog.
Possibly related posts...
The Enigmatic Life and Death of Emperor Otho
Flood of Tears - Visual Novel Review
2023 Anime Year in Review
ACE Academy - Visual Novel Review
Installing Non-Listed Programs in PlayOnLinux
A Midsummer Day's Resonance - VN Review
May Sky - Visual Novel Review
Four May Issues of The Nursery Magazine (1873-81)
The al|together and Insani Visual Novel Translations]]></summary>
<summary type="html"><![CDATA[Over at The New Leaf Journal, my January 5, 2024 article, which was about drug-enhanced professional cycling results, became the sixth New Leaf Journal article (going back to February 2021) to appear on Hacker News page 1 (only after a stop in The Browser newsletter). It reached as high as 11th on HN and was […]]]></summary>
<summary type="html"><![CDATA[While I am very much in the pro-video game ownership side of things, I had to call foul on a headline taking a seemingly anti-ownership quote by a Ubisoft executive out of its original context.
Possibly related posts...
History of the Mario Party Gloves
Searching for the "Libertarian Moment"
Leaving the Phrase "Reach Out" in the 90s
Recording a Test New Leaf Journal Pokémon Sword and…
The Last Nintendo Wii Games
The Aborted Nintendo-Minnesota Lottery Scheme
Ambiguous Killer Hallucinogenic Weed Headline
Two Independence Day-Themed Pokémon Battles: Ferrell…
On Nintendo's Pro-User Cartridge-First Strategy]]></summary>
<summary type="html"><![CDATA[Pro-Hamas protesters spent January 15, 2024 loudly protesting outside of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in Manhattan, yelling that the cancer hospital is complicit in the so-called “genocide” in Gaza, or even “supporting” it. Far be it from me to offer any sort of advice to supporters of a foreign terrorist organization, but in light […]]]></summary>
<summary type="html"><![CDATA[I did not get around to publishing a review of episode 2 of season 2 of Bottom-tier Character Tomozaki-kun after publishing a brief review of the first episode. The second episode had a dramatic tonal shift — segueing from the social game shenanigans that began in the first episode to bullying. I had some issues […]]]></summary>
<summary type="html"><![CDATA[A 2022 post featuring my photographs of the Freedom Tower, shrouded in fog, from a morning walk across the Brooklyn Bridge.
<summary type="html"><![CDATA[Justin comes across FOPEAS's "I'm sorry but I cannot fulfill this request it goes against OpenAI use policy. My purpose is to provide helpful and respectful information to users-Brown" on Amazon and asks Justina for her take on the product.
Possibly related posts...
The Enigmatic Life and Death of Emperor Otho
Anime Recommendations of the Decade (2011-20)
ACE Academy - Visual Novel Review
The Best of Anime in 2022: Year in Review
2023 Anime Year in Review
The al|together and Insani Visual Novel Translations
The Angel Next Door Spoils Me Rotten - Anime Review
Justin and Justina review 2022 at the NLJ
Four May Issues of The Nursery Magazine (1873-81)]]></summary>
<author>
<name>Nicholas A. Ferrell</name>
</author>
</entry>
<entry>
<title type="html"><![CDATA[Let's check in on how Amazon and brand FOPEAS are doing...
Fictional dialogue inspired by the "product": https://thenewleafjournal.com/shopping-on-ai-spamazon/
Internet Archive: https://web.archive.org/web/20240112170316/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2Ffulfill-request-respectful-information-users-Brown%2Fdp%2FB0CM82FJL2
<summary type="html"><![CDATA[WordPress founder Matt Mullenweg published an interesting “birthday post” asking people to create blogs for his birthday. The idea is that […]
Possibly related posts...
Matt Damon's Brooklyn Heights Crane Game
Around the Web 〜 Alternative Software and Services Resources
The New Leaf Journal Celebrates Its First Birthday
Justin and Justina review 2022 at the NLJ
New Leaf Journal Year-In-Review: 2023
The al|together and Insani Visual Novel Translations
Justin & Justina: The Most-Read New Leaf Journal…
100 Articles and Counting at The New Leaf Journal
Searching for the "Libertarian Moment"]]></summary>
<summary type="html"><![CDATA[I came across a blog post titled Just Blog by Frank Meeuwsen. This post alerted me to an interesting “birthday” project by WordPress founder Matt Mullenweg. Mr. Mulenwig asked for people to blog for his birthday and link to his post. Ideally, the links should show up as pingbacks on his article. His post said […]]]></summary>
<summary type="html"><![CDATA[Welcome to the 169th edition of The Newsletter Leaf Journal, the official newsletter of the perennially virid online writing magazine, The New Leaf Journal. This newsletter comes to you as always from the waterproof keyboard of the editor of The New Leaf Journal, Nicholas A. Ferrell. I am running a bit behind schedule today, so let us cut straight to your regularly scheduled newsletter content.
Leaves from the week that was
I published three new articles since mailing Newsletter 168.
2023 Anime Year in Review
My third annual New Leaf Journal review of the year that was about anime, and it features my ranking of the top six series of 2024, notes on additional series, and category-specific awards. You can either use my article to find something to watch or as a prompt to become angry bec…]]></summary>
<summary type="html"><![CDATA[The story of then-President Abraham Lincoln's decision to pardon Frank Judd, the son of Lincoln's Minister to Prussia, sparing him from what would have been execution for desertion.
<summary type="html"><![CDATA[This will come as a shock to all of our readers, but I (N.A. Ferrell) do not approve of requiring Instagram usage for school assignments.
Possibly related posts...
The dangers of adapting school to tech
The Enigmatic Life and Death of Emperor Otho
Anime Case Against Japan's Population Loss
History of the Mario Party Gloves
The New Leaf Journal Celebrates Its First Birthday
Searching for the Figure Behind the Blob Dylan Tags…
New Leaf Journal Third Birthday Reader
An Early Review of Pixelfed - Instagram Alternative
April Fools, Sonic and Tails in SSB Melee]]></summary>
<summary type="html"><![CDATA[I published my third annual review that was of the year in anime. In the article, I ranked what I think were the six best series of 2023, included notes on 12 additional series, and gave out five category-specific awards. I made sure to get it done close to New Years because I know the whole industry was waiting for this.
<summary type="html"><![CDATA[A 2021 post about my 2020 photo of a pigeon on a limb looking for a snack... and a reminder that pigeons are heavier than sparrows.
<summary type="html"><![CDATA[I published an article on The New Leaf Journal about doping in cycling during (and before) the Armstrong era. I noted in my Saturday newsletter that it unexpectedly blew up (by our standards) within hours of its publication. I was not immediately able to identify the source, but I figured out from our referrals that […]]]></summary>
<author>
<name>Nicholas A. Ferrell</name>
</author>
</entry>
<entry>
<title type="html"><![CDATA[Search, Means, and Ends]]></title>
<summary type="html"><![CDATA[I starred this very insightful comment by Hacker News user marcinzm about search engines. The commenter noted the obvious, that big tech search shows ads because its purpose is to generate revenue through ads. But I appreciated the commenters putting it in terms of means and ends. Ideally, the user wants a search engine to […]]]></summary>
