Newsletter Leaf Journal CLXXI 〜 Waterproof newsletter 〜
The 171st Newsletter Leaf Journal features links to our new articles on washable keyboards, visual novel structures and reviews, and Google Chrome's "AI functionality," 21 links from around the web, and your usual assortment of news and notes related to our projects.
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
Nicholas A. Ferrell. January 20, 2024.
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
Nicholas A. Ferrell. January 23, 2024.
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
Nicholas A. Ferrell. January 24, 2024.
Introducing my long-advertised final ranking of the 31 al|together visual novels and...
al|together Visual Novel Ranking (31-21)
Nicholas A. Ferrell. January 25, 2024.
The first of my three al|together ranking articles, starting from the bottom and working our way up. The complete series will be published over the next few days.
On Google Chrome’s New AI Features
Nicholas A. Ferrell. January 26, 2024.
I thank Google for the unintentional tech comedy.
Leaves from around the web
Let's check in on the world wide web...
Upcoming holidays
The Alternative Groundhogs Vying for Punxsutawney Phil’s Weather Forecasting Job
Jennifer Byrne for Atlas Obscura. February 1, 2023.
"Big Al" the alligator is good.
When Groundhog Was on the Menu in Punxsutawney
Diana Hubbell for Atlas Obscura. February 1, 2022.
I have a policy against eating rodents.
So much for tradition
Japanese government’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry finally stops using floppy disks
Casey Baseel for SoraNews24. January 24, 2024.
Japan was once a country.
"Bicycle Chicken" Blues: Why Burkina Faso Is Losing Taste For Its Local Birds
Faïshal Ouédraogo for WorldCrunch. January 15, 2024.
Chicken tradition going out the window.
Shinto shrine naked festival ritual asks men to cover up for first time in three-century history
Casey Baseel for SoraNews24. January 22, 2024.
Change is sometimes the correct course.
The Marine Corps has trained its final 8 scout snipers
Irene Loewenson for Marine Corps Times. December 28, 2023.
End of an era.
Making things needlessly complicated
Building a USB SNES Controller
Dome. January 16, 2024.
While this is very impressive, I take this as an opportunity to tell my fellow less industrious video game players that the Nintendo Switch Online SNES controller works on Linux provided you have the kernel modules. If you go by "time is money," it is a more practical solution.
Why The iPad Doesn’t Have A Calculator
Maya Posch for Hackaday. January 14, 2024.
There are plenty of free open source Android calculators on F-Droid that look just fine on a tablet.
Lenovo Mechanical Energy Harvesting keyboard & mouse concept never needs to be plugged in
Brad Linder for Liliputing. January 8, 2024.
This is cool but I prefer wired mice and keyboards.
Exciting discoveries
Scandinavia’s oldest ship burial found in Norway
The History Blog. December 19, 2023.
There's a good story here.
Kenya strikes 'large deposits' of Coltan, mineral used in phones
George Munene for The Nation. January 25, 2024.
Looks like the Democratic Republic of the Congo has an upstart mining rival.
Something fishy here...
Asian Arowana: The most expensive pet fish
Zachary Crockett for The Hustle. January 23, 2021.
Maybe selling them all to Tom Nook in Animal Crossing was a mistake.
Lessons From Lake Tanganyika’s Scale Eating Fish
Jeffrey McKinnon for The MIT Press Reader. November 30, 2023.
Righties and lefties.
Fortunes change
China Enforces Ban on Mongolian Language in Schools, Books
Kasim Kashgar for Voice of America. September 13, 2023.
Sounds like the Chinese Communist Party is still a bit sour about the events of the 13th century.
Archaeological Skeletons From London Prove Some Romans Were Lead Poisoned
Kristina Killgrove for Forbes Magazine. November 29, 2019.
Only poisonous if you're not a true Roman.
Everything is about me
Guide: Best Sega 32X Games Of All Time
Damien McFerran for Time Extension. January 14, 2024.
I had Star Wars and Virtua Racing!
Persona 5 vocalist debunks beautiful story of how she was discovered
Hideaki Fujiwara for Automation West. December 22, 2023.
Video game rumors and urban legends lasted longer than a few days back in my day.
About those law enforcement policies
Oh Canada: Police Warn that Posting Images of Thieves May Violate Their Privacy Rights
Jonathan Turley. January 11, 2024.
The "bizarre" tag that Mr. Turley applied to this story is appropriate.
ERO Boston arrests Haitian citizen charged with rape, indecent assault
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. January 17, 2024.
"Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Boston apprehended an unlawfully present Haitian national Jan. 9 who was recently arrested by local police on charges of rape and indecent assault and battery on a developmentally disabled person in Dorchester. ERO Boston lodged an immigration detainer against the Haitian citizen, but the Dorchester District Court chose not to honor it and released him from jail after his arrest on the sexual assault-related charges."
1990s nostalgia
The NSA’s Furby Artificial Intelligence Scare: FOIA Documents Provide Insight
Maya Posch for Hackaday. January 25, 2024.
I thought Furbys were weird when they were a thing. Are they still a thing?
New Project Aims To Replicate N64 Stick "As Close As Possible"
Damien McFerran for Time Extension. January 13, 2024.
The Nintendo 64 had a great and unique joystick, as I noted in my article about the even better Sega Dreamcast joystick, but the original had some durability issues.
The Old Leaf Journal
Let's dig into our New Leaf Journal archives...
The best Nintendo controllers
N.A. Ferrell. May 19, 2023.
The best list if I say so myself.
A Miniature Article About a Miniature Stop Sign in Brooklyn
N.A. Ferrell. June 24, 2021.
To-the-point headline.
Existential Crisis of the Rotting Pumpkin
N.A. Ferrell. October 17, 2022.
The rotting pumpkin situation has not been bad this year.
The Little Stream Mushroom
Victor V. Gurbo. August 4, 2020.
Reflections on a mushroom floating down a stream.
Hair Color in the MYTH Visual Novel
N.A. Ferrell. March 9, 2022.
I have another article in my 2D people hair color series coming soon...
Cheap USB-C Hubs and Short-Lasting Tech
N.A. Ferrell. July 27, 2022.
Looks like USB-C hubs are less durable than my 10+ year-old waterproof keyboard.
Most-turned leaves of the newsletter week
I list our most-read articles from the previous newsletter week (Friday to Saturday) in each edition of The Newsletter Leaf Journal. These statistics come courtesy of Koko Analytics, our local, privacy friendly page-counting solution (see my review).
Below, you will find the five most-visited articles of 2024 newsletter week 4 (January 20-26) along with their 2024 statistics and all-time statistics, which go back to the first week of 2021.
Most-truned leaves for Jan 20-26
(#1) Heights in “The Dangers in My Heart” Anime
Details: Nicholas A. Ferrell. April 2, 2023.
2024: 3 appearances and 1 top placement.
All Time: 10 appearances and 1 top placement.
(#2) Cycling Doping Fallacies
Details: Nicholas A. Ferrell. January 5, 2024.
2024: 4 appearances and 3 top placements.
(#3) Hair Color in Raven of the Inner Palace
Details: Nicholas A. Ferrell. November 15, 2023.
2024: NEW
All Time: NEW
(#4) Installing Ubuntu Touch on a Google Nexus 7 (2013)
Details: Nicholas A. Ferrell. July 5, 2021.
2024: 2 appearances.
All Time: 79 appearances and 2 top placements.
(#5) Recommended F-Droid FOSS Apps For Android-Based Devices (2021)
Details: Nicholas A. Ferrell. November 28, 2021.
2024: 4 appearances.
All Time: 61 appearances and 8 top placements.
Analysis
Week four brings our first change in the top of the ranking in 2024. My 2023 leaflet on the height difference in the protagonists of The Dangers in My Heart secured its first top-finish after five runner-up placements in 2023. Its rise is likely driven by the fact that the second season of The Dangers in My Heart (you can expect a review at the end of the season) is currently airing. I would have preferred to see my full season one review here, but it is doing well enough that we could see it break into the top five on a good week. My Cycling Doping Fallacies piece is returning to Earth after multiple sharing events, but it would have been number one in most weeks with its total.
The surprise of the week (Dangers taking number one was not a huge surprise) was the appearance of my article on hair color in a 2022 anime series, Raven of the Inner Palace. I wrote this as a companion article to an article on hair color in The Apothecary Diaries back in November. I expected the Apothecary article to do better since that anime is currently airing. However, while Apothecary has done well (it has an outside chance at the month-end top 24), Raven had consistently attracted a few more visitors and had something of a break-out week. Why did it break out? I have no idea -- I did a quick search but did not come across any news about the series receiving a new anime adaptation or any notes about the underlying novels.
News leaf journal
I have some work-related projects to finish in the coming days. While that has on occasion meant New Leaf Journal publishing droughts, I have several drafts in the publishing pipeline, so you can expect a busy week ahead. Most notably, I have already drafted the second and third parts of my al|together visual novel ranking, so you will find those on The New Leaf Journal this week. I also have a humorous tech article and a 2023 anime "awards" follow-up piece slated for the next few days.
February should also get off to a good start -- I have a few projects in progress or just about ready to go and I have a few ideas for Valentine's articles (I mostly whiffed on Valentine's season after a strong 2021).
Notable leaf journal
I started using a Beelink mini PC as a TV computer last April. I meant to write an article about it for a while but never got around to it. I decided to replace my Beelink TV PC with a slightly more powerful Beelink a few days ago. Not only will I turn that story into an article in February, but I will also have an article on what I do with the now-former Beelink.
Exciting!
Taking leaf
This wraps up another edition of The Newsletter Leaf Journal. If you enjoyed the newsletter and are not already a regular reader, I invite you to sign up to our weekly Saturday email or add this newsletter's RSS feed to your favorite feed reader (see your options here).
January 2024 has been an exciting month at The New Leaf Journal both in terms of new articles and external article sharing events. I have a variety of projects in the works for February and March, so I hope you look forward to them.
Until February 3,
Cura ut valeas.