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ranunculus

This morning's view out the bedroom doors.

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billroper

I went upstairs to do some light cleaning and putting things away. Part of this was making a box of dead electronics to go to recycling. As I was tossing things into that box, I found my old laptop that I had given to K and that she had given back to me well before she left for college. The power brick was with it, so I figured I'd plug it in and see what shape it was in.

Happily, it powered up and took a charge, so that was a good start. But it turns out this laptop is just a wee bit too old to be upgraded to Windows 11 and with only 8 GB of RAM and no further expansion capabilities, probably not worth fighting to upgrade. It is, however, a perfectly fine machine for certain purposes.

So I have installed Linux Mint on it, which is my first time doing this. (I have Zorin OS on a much older laptop that I mostly haven't touched in years. I looked at Zorin first and decided that Mint would be a better choice.)

The install was easy, although I had to use a different tool than the one they had suggested to make the bootable USB stick for the install. Happily, Rufus works for this.

And now, everything is up and running and I'm able to access the Internet and even post updates.

Like this one. :)

lsanderson

‘Eating Indigenously’: award-winning chef celebrates Native American cuisine in new cookbook
James Beard-winning chef Sean Sherman’s cookbook Turtle Island pushes readers to view food systems through an Indigenous lens
Melissa Hellmann
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/nov/23/sean-sherman-turtle-island-cookbook-indigenous-food

French winemakers ‘battle for survival’ as minister prepares for crisis talks
Vineyard owners say sales slump, Trump tariffs and worst harvest in 70 years have put producers in danger of closure
Kim Willsher
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/nov/23/french-winemakers-sales-slump-crisis-talks

Bird flu: first ever death from rare H5N5 strain is recorded in US
Washington state resident’s backyard flock of domestic poultry had been exposed to wild birds, health officials said
Associated Press
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/nov/22/bird-flu-first-death-h5n5-strain-us

Rocky Horror creator Richard O’Brien: ‘The Spice Girls couldn’t sing. But lovely girls’
The actor, writer and musician on growing up on a sheep farm in New Zealand, being in Spice World and a lovely afternoon with Aretha Franklin
Rich Pelley
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/nov/22/rocky-horror-show-creator-richard-obrien-interview-spice-girls-aretha-franklin-new-zealand

Analysis
China has brought millions out of poverty. The US has not – by choice
Eduardo Porter
Despite the US’s economic success, income inequality remains breathtaking. But this is no glitch – it’s the system
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/nov/23/china-us-poverty-income-inequality

Maga is in meltdown over a preppy pink sweater for men. So, what exactly is the problem?
Ellie Violet Bramley
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/nov/23/maga-meltdown-pink-sweater-men-masculinity-fragile

'We've never seen this before': The spectacular stereo images of giant galaxies
Stephen Dowling
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20251121-sir-brian-mays-stereo-vision-of-galaxies

james_davis_nicoll

Mother's Benefits become the means by which British governments provide British women with the same benevolent management Britain once provided to India, Ireland, and Africa.

Benefits by Zoë Fairbairns

ranunculus

Cut out almost all the work I did three days ago and replaced it. Am REALLY hoping that nothing leaks.
Also went to Farmer's Market for lettuce, bread and beef.
Got ground up coconut coir to bed the dahlias down in for the winter. Next spring it will be a nice addition to the vegetable beds.
There are fava beans soaking. Tomorrow we have to plant them. Will be my first winter cover crop.

billroper

I am scheduled to go see the podiatrist on Wednesday for a follow-up visit for the new orthotics that I got last month. That is good, because these things are killing me and today is especially bad.

The problem is that I'm simply not getting enough support. Now I think he thought there was a good chance that these were going to be insufficiently supportive, but he didn't want to err in the opposite direction.

He has not. They are "sort of" ok, but today everything is hurting from the hips on down, because I've been out walking around and that actually requires, well, support.

After the follow-up, I may hand these orthotics back to him and switch to the standard supports that come with these shoes that I can install. They normally work pretty well for two or three months and then I've just caved in the shoes and it's time to start with a new pair.

But I suspect that things will hurt less.

lsanderson

‘The French people want to save us’: help pours in for glassmaker Duralex
The brand, which evokes nostalgia and pride, hit its €5m fundraising target within hours and orders have soared
By Kim Willsher in La Chapelle-Saint-Mesmin
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/nov/22/french-people-want-to-save-us-help-pours-glassmaker-duralex

We know ultra-processed foods are bad for you – but can you spot them? Take our quiz
Test your knowledge in eight questions to prove you know your onions from your emulsifiers
Natasha May
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/nov/21/ultra-processed-foods-quiz

Review
Children and teens roundup – the best new picture books and novels
The return of Charlie and Lola; the second lives of trees; the dangers of time travel; a YA Bluebeard retelling and more
Imogen Russell Williams
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2025/nov/21/children-and-teens-roundup-the-best-new-picture-books-and-novels

At least 41 dead as relentless rains flood Vietnam
Kelly Ng
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ceq0q3e2j17o

james_davis_nicoll

Three books new to me. All are fantasies, two are series.

Books Received, November 15 to November 21, 2025

Poll #33866 Books Received, November 15 to November 21, 2025

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 42

View Respondents

Which of these upcoming books look interesting?

View Answers

Mother of Death and Dawn by Carissa Broadbent (March 2026)
4 (9.5%)

Tides of Fortune by Lauryn Hamilton Murray (June 2026)
1 (2.4%)

Everybody’s Perfect by Jo Walton (June 2026)
31 (73.8%)

Some other option (see comments)
0 (0.0%)

Cats!
31 (73.8%)

james_davis_nicoll

I would definitely found an SF magazine.

Most mags struggle with handling submissions but I had a moment of insight: all I need to do is tell writers to send me _good_ stories. Their crap, they can submit elsewhere. Bang! Workload down by 99%.

bruce_schneier_feed

Posted by Bruce Schneier

https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2025/11/friday-squid-blogging-new-squid-sneaker.html

https://www.schneier.com/?p=71208

I did not know Adidas sold a sneaker called “Squid.”

As usual, you can also use this squid post to talk about the security stories in the news that I haven’t covered.

Blog moderation policy.

https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2025/11/friday-squid-blogging-new-squid-sneaker.html

https://www.schneier.com/?p=71208

billroper

This song has been rolling around my head since before Windycon with various bits and pieces scrawled on a sheet of paper and bits of tune coming out of the guitar. The problem was getting the bits to fit together, which they were stubbornly refusing to do. I finally bashed the tune over the head and figured out how to shift the melody and tempo back to what I'd originally been thinking of. After that, things started coming together and I finally finished it up today.

The protagonist is having a distinctly unpleasant night.

But not you. Sleep well. :)
( Lyrics inside... )

ranunculus

A couple of years ago I realized there was a BIG leak in the water system at the Red Barn. With great effort the leak in front of the barn got fixed. But there was still a leak, this one out in the fields. With great effort we narrowed it down to a small section of the system, only 5 faucets on it, and maybe 300 feet of pipe. I isolated it with a valve. Then nothing happened for a long time. It was before my hand surgery, and I couldn't use a shovel.
A couple of days ago I found that leak.

( Pics )

bruce_schneier_feed

Posted by Bruce Schneier

https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2025/11/71226.html

https://www.schneier.com/?p=71226

It’s been a month since Rewiring Democracy: How AI Will Transform Our Politics, Government, and Citizenship was published. From what we know, sales are good.

Some of the book’s forty-three chapters are available online: chapters 2, 12, 28, 34, 38, and 41.

We need more reviews—six on Amazon is not enough, and no one has yet posted a viral TikTok review. One review was published in Nature and another on the RSA Conference website, but more would be better. If you’ve read the book, please leave a review somewhere.

My coauthor and I have been doing all sort of book events, both online and in person. This book event, with Danielle Allen at the Harvard Kennedy School Ash Center, is particularly good. We also have been doing a ton of podcasts, both separately and together. They’re all on the book’s homepage.

There are two live book events in December. If you’re in Boston, come see us at the MIT Museum on 12/1. If you’re in Toronto, you can see me at the Munk School at the University of Toronto on 12/2.

I’m also doing a live AMA on the book on the RSA Conference website on 12/16. Register here.

https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2025/11/71226.html

https://www.schneier.com/?p=71226

lsanderson

Event commemorates folk-blues icon Lead Belly’s 1948 Minneapolis house concert
Twin Cities musicians will showcase the famous recording in a concert Friday at the Cedar Cultural Center.
by Britt Robson
https://www.minnpost.com/arts-culture/music/2025/11/event-commemorates-folk-blues-icon-lead-bellys-1948-minneapolis-house-concert/

‘We’ve got to release the dead hand of the past’: how Ireland created the world’s best alternative music scene
Irish indie acts used to be ignored, even on Irish radio. But songs confronting the Troubles, poverty and oppression are now going global – and changing how Ireland sees itself
Anna Cafolla
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2025/nov/21/ireland-worlds-best-alternative-music-scene

The FBI spied on a Signal group chat of immigration activists, records reveal
Exclusive: Agency accessed private conversations of New York ‘courtwatch’ group that was observing public hearings
Sam Levin
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/nov/21/fbi-signal-group-chat-immigration

‘Toxic’: California ex-police chief tells of colleagues’ racist harassment campaign
Shawny Williams, who tried to reform Vallejo police department, says threats to his safety led him to resign
Roque Planas
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/nov/21/california-vallejo-police-department

US men indicted for alleged coup plot to kill and rape people on Haitian island
Texans planned to utilize unhoused US people to take over Gonâve and fulfill ‘rape fantasies’, justice department says
Jeremy Barr
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/nov/21/texas-haiti-rape-indictment

Up, up and away: Superman comic found in attic sells for $9.12m to become most expensive ever sold
The pristine copy of Superman No 1, the character’s first solo title from 1939, was discovered in an attic in California last year
Sian Cain
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2025/nov/21/superman-no1-becomes-most-expensive-comic-ever-sold

Experience: I found an old Rembrandt in a drawer
I guessed it would be worth a couple of hundred pounds at most, but it was a preparatory print for his famous 1639 etching The Goldweigher
Edward Barlow
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2025/nov/21/experience-i-found-an-old-rembrandt-in-a-drawer

Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer: Why this mysterious Klimt painting sold for $236m
Kelly Grovier
https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20251118-why-klimts-portrait-of-elisabeth-lederer-painting-sold-for-150-million-dollars

Interview
‘I think my mum’s going to like it’: Alexander Skarsgård on his gay biker ‘dom-com’ Pillion
Ryan Gilbey
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/nov/21/i-think-my-mums-going-to-like-it-alexander-skarsgard-on-his-gay-biker-dom-com-pillion

Three-metre giant oarfish, ‘palace messenger’ of doom, washes up on Tasmanian beach
The enormous, serpentine fish, regarded in Japanese folklore as a herald of disaster, usually live deep below the surface and are only sighted when sick or dying
Petra Stock
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/nov/21/giant-oarfish-washes-up-on-tasmanian-beach

Colombian scientists recover first treasures from ‘holy grail of shipwrecks’
Cannon, three coins and a cup taken from San José, a 1708 wreckage that could hold items worth billions of dollars
Guardian staff and agencies in Bogotá
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/nov/21/san-jose-shipwreck-billions-treasure-artifacts-colombia

Eleven injured after grizzly bear attacks schoolchildren and teachers in Canada
Two critically hurt after attack on walking trail in British Columbia as police and conservation officers search for bear
Associated Press
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/nov/21/grizzly-bear-attacks-children-teachers-canada-british-columbia

We just passed the city inspection of the solar installation. Next is the power company inspection.

james_davis_nicoll

A young scholar and his diverse companions are dispatched on an intelligence-gathering mission deep into enemy territory.

The Door on the Sea (The Raven and the Eagle, volume 1) by Caskey Russell

bruce_schneier_feed

Posted by Bruce Schneier

https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2025/11/ai-as-cyberattacker.html

https://www.schneier.com/?p=71202

From Anthropic:

In mid-September 2025, we detected suspicious activity that later investigation determined to be a highly sophisticated espionage campaign. The attackers used AI’s “agentic” capabilities to an unprecedented degree—using AI not just as an advisor, but to execute the cyberattacks themselves.

The threat actor—whom we assess with high confidence was a Chinese state-sponsored group—manipulated our Claude Code tool into attempting infiltration into roughly thirty global targets and succeeded in a small number of cases. The operation targeted large tech companies, financial institutions, chemical manufacturing companies, and government agencies. We believe this is the first documented case of a large-scale cyberattack executed without substantial human intervention.

[…]

The attack relied on several features of AI models that did not exist, or were in much more nascent form, just a year ago:

Intelligence. Models’ general levels of capability have increased to the point that they can follow complex instructions and understand context in ways that make very sophisticated tasks possible. Not only that, but several of their well-developed specific skills—in particular, software coding—lend themselves to being used in cyberattacks.
Agency. Models can act as agents—that is, they can run in loops where they take autonomous actions, chain together tasks, and make decisions with only minimal, occasional human input.
Tools. Models have access to a wide array of software tools (often via the open standard Model Context Protocol). They can now search the web, retrieve data, and perform many other actions that were previously the sole domain of human operators. In the case of cyberattacks, the tools might include password crackers, network scanners, and other security-related software.

https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2025/11/ai-as-cyberattacker.html

https://www.schneier.com/?p=71202

billroper

Among all of the assorted upgrades that I'm doing, I finally managed to get Luna Pro loaded on my machine. It's an interesting looking system, but the learning curve is looking steep.

I may mess around with it from time to time, but I think I'm going to concentrate on Cubase. :)

lsanderson

There’s finally hope for new life at the former home of St. Paul’s Hamm’s Brewery
If all goes as planned, local developer JB Vang could break ground on a residential project at the Hamm’s site next year.
by Bill Lindeke
https://www.minnpost.com/cityscape/2025/11/theres-finally-hope-for-new-life-at-the-former-home-of-st-pauls-hamms-brewery/

From the mundane to the out-there, wonks on Minneapolis’ tax board have ideas for reining in your property taxes
Setting property tax rates is only one part of the job – and not the most fun part.
by Brian Martucci
https://www.minnpost.com/metro/2025/11/from-the-mundane-to-the-out-there-wonks-on-minneapolis-tax-board-have-ideas-for-reining-in-your-property-taxes/

Hospitals and clinics are shutting down due to Trump’s healthcare cuts. Here’s where
From Georgia to Oregon, clinics and wards are closing as Trump’s health law triggers steep Medicaid cuts and rising costs
Carter Sherman
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/nov/20/hospitals-shutdown-trump-healthcare-cuts

‘The English person with a Chinese stomach’: how Fuchsia Dunlop became a Sichuan food hero
The author has been explaining Sichuan cuisine to westerners for decades. But ‘Fu Xia’, as she’s known, has had a profound effect on food lovers in China, too
By Leslie T Chang
https://www.theguardian.com/food/2025/nov/20/how-fuchsia-dunlop-became-a-sichuan-food-hero

Telling a reporter ‘quiet, piggy’ was shocking – even for Trump
Margaret Sullivan
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/nov/20/trump-quiet-piggy-reporter

Digitised official records of Nuremberg trials made available online
Launch on 80th anniversary of groundbreaking legal effort comes after 25-year project by Harvard law school library
Kate Connolly in Berlin
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/nov/20/digitised-official-records-of-nuremberg-trials-made-available-online

Nasa releases close-up pictures of comet flying by from another star system
The interstellar visitor, known as 3I/Atlas, will be seen just in this instance, never to come back again
Associated Press
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2025/nov/19/nasa-interstellar-comet-pictures

Review
Turner: The Secret Sketchbooks review – the sheer number of pornographic drawings is a big shock
JMW Turner left behind some 37,000 sketches when he died, many of which have rarely been seen. Do they – including a huge collection of explicit sketches – reveal truths about the elusive man?
Jack Seale
https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2025/nov/19/turner-the-secret-sketchbooks-review-bbc-two-iplayer

‘I never wanted to sing into a vacuum’: Scottish folk pioneer Dick Gaughan’s fight for his lost music
A skilled interpreter and social justice champion, Gaughan is a hero to the likes of Richard Hawley and Billy Bragg. Yet much of his work has been stuck in limbo for decades – until a determined fan stepped in
Jude Rogers
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2025/nov/19/i-never-wanted-to-sing-into-a-vacuum-scottish-folk-pioneer-dick-gaughans-fight-for-his-lost-music

‘We love a plastic chopstick to stir’: 10 cocktail-making tips from Australian bartender Michael Madrusan
You don’t need fancy equipment to make a martini, the founder of Melbourne’s The Everleigh says – but you do need to measure precisely
Michael Madrusan
https://www.theguardian.com/food/2025/nov/19/cocktail-making-tips-australian-bartender-michael-madrusan-everleigh

Bronze Age to Elphaba: The centuries-old origins of the witch's hat
Scarlett Harris
https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20251119-the-5000-year-old-origins-of-the-witchs-hat

The words you can't say on the internet
Thomas Germain
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20251118-the-words-you-cant-say-on-the-internet

Pluribus: Carol Sturka is the flawed lesbian hero America needs
Opinion: The creator of Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul is back with a lesbian-led new show that just might save (or destroy!) the world.
By Mey Rude
https://www.out.com/voices/pluribus-lesbian-hero-carol

james_davis_nicoll

A park guide's life is upended by a pandemic and her charming, idiot son.

The Animals in That Country by Laura Jean McKay

bruce_schneier_feed

Posted by Bruce Schneier

https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2025/11/scam-usps-and-e-z-pass-texts-and-websites.html

https://www.schneier.com/?p=71200

Google has filed a complaint in court that details the scam:

In a complaint filed Wednesday, the tech giant accused “a cybercriminal group in China” of selling “phishing for dummies” kits. The kits help unsavvy fraudsters easily “execute a large-scale phishing campaign,” tricking hordes of unsuspecting people into “disclosing sensitive information like passwords, credit card numbers, or banking information, often by impersonating well-known brands, government agencies, or even people the victim knows.”

These branded “Lighthouse” kits offer two versions of software, depending on whether bad actors want to launch SMS and e-commerce scams. “Members may subscribe to weekly, monthly, seasonal, annual, or permanent licenses,” Google alleged. Kits include “hundreds of templates for fake websites, domain set-up tools for those fake websites, and other features designed to dupe victims into believing they are entering sensitive information on a legitimate website.”

Google’s filing said the scams often begin with a text claiming that a toll fee is overdue or a small fee must be paid to redeliver a package. Other times they appear as ads—sometimes even Google ads, until Google detected and suspended accounts—luring victims by mimicking popular brands. Anyone who clicks will be redirected to a website to input sensitive information; the sites often claim to accept payments from trusted wallets like Google Pay.

https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2025/11/scam-usps-and-e-z-pass-texts-and-websites.html

https://www.schneier.com/?p=71200

Ever Changing, Yet Always Me

Reading

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Plumbing, Fava Beans

Newly Minted

2025.11.23

Benefits by Zoë Fairbairns

Another attempt at plumbing.

Lack of Support

2025.11.22

Books Received, November 15 to November 21, 2025

If I ever found myself in possession of a vast fortune

Friday Squid Blogging: New “Squid” Sneaker

Insomniac Mood

Plumbing

More on Rewiring Democracy

2025.11.21

The Door on the Sea (The Raven and the Eagle, volume 1) by Caskey Russell

AI as Cyberattacker

Messing Around

2025.11.20

The Animals in That Country by Laura Jean McKay

Scam USPS and E-Z Pass Texts and Websites

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February 2025

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