Newsletter Leaf Journal CLXXVI 〜 News[] Remembrance
Welcome to the 176th 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. While the calendar denied us a special February 29, 2024 newsletter by just two days, I did publish a good slate of new articles to go along with our usual assortment of links around the web and other news and notes.
Leaves from around the web
I published five new articles since mailing Newsletter 175.
Introducing Pokémon Red Novel Project
N.A. Ferrell. February 27, 2024.
At the moment I have 3 of 8 badges so we are still a bit away from the beginning of my serialized novel.
True Remembrance (Insani) – Visual Novel Review
N.A. Ferrell. February 29, 2024.
I wanted to do something notable for our first February 29 article. I settled on a review of Insani's non-al|together doujin visual noivel localization of the excellent True Remembrance, which fits February and has been on my to-do list for about four years.
February 2024 at The New Leaf Journal
N.A. Ferrell. March 1, 2024.
While our monthly article ranking should not be a surprise to newsletter readers, I rate it as notable.
Shin Iryū’s Hair Color in A Sign of Affection
N.A. Ferrell. March 1, 2024.
A Sign of Affection is the anime hair color gift that will not stop giving me article topics.
I also published two short posts over at The Emu Café Social. First, I demonstrated how I fix an occasionally off-kiler computer case fan with a firm-but-gentle case punch. Second, I offered my mid-season anime impressions (I will probably be reviewing three of the eight in late March/early April).
Leaves from around the web
Let us see what is going on around the web...
All roads lead to Rome
Why Julius Caesar's Year of Confusion was the longest year in history
Martha Henriques for BBC. February 28, 2024.
The man made sure we weren't celebrating American Independence Day in February and everyone is still a critic.
Caracalla medallion found in child’s grave in Bulgaria
The History Blog. February 21, 2024.
Just a reminder that children once had respectable role models.
First Roman funerary bed found in London
The History Blog. February 6, 2024.
"Archaeologists have unearthed a vanishingly rare Roman wooden funerary bed in an excavation near the Holborn Viaduct in London. This is the first complete Roman funerary bed found in Britain, preserved in the muddy, waterlogged soil of the former Fleet River in excellent condition for almost 2,000 years."
Reptiles
70 coins removed from alligator's stomach at Nebraska zoo
Brad Matthews for The Washington Times. February 20, 2024.
Think of all the presidents.
It’s Official: There’s Another ‘World’s Largest Snake’
Olivia Young for Atlas Obscura. February 29, 2024.
It sounds like they are trying to set up an annual competition.
Food & drink history
The Humble Brilliance of Italy's Moka Coffee Pot
Dan Nosowitz for Atlas Obscura. December 7, 2018.
I use a Hario pour-over set-up for my coffee but the Moka Pot is a fine contraption (but do not combine the methods like the second-most-recent visual novel I reviewed).
For the Love of Leeks
Paola Gavin for Tablet Magazine. March 1, 2024.
I noted the unexpected quince cameo.
Hindsight 20/20
Not all TLDs are Created Equal
Matt Palmer at Brane Dump. February 13, 2024.
Stuff happens but if we are being honest one should have probably foreseen that using Afghanistan's .af TLD could go sideways at some point.
Tokyo capsule toy machine gives you real samurai-era antique coins, but are they worth anything?
Casey Baseel for SoraNews24. January 13, 2024.
If you have to ask...
The Spanish language
Borges on the two registers of English
Jordan Poss. June 7, 2023.
On Jorge Luis Borges' preference for English over Spanish.
Milei ends Argentine government use of 'inclusive language' promoted by gender ideology advocates
Julieta Villar for Catholic News Agency. February 28, 2024.
I'm trying to wrap my head around making up words with "@" in them.
In case you were wondering
How a Mexican General’s Exile in Staten Island Led to Modern Chewing Gum
Will Conant for Atlas Obscura. October 7, 2019.
A good history that is often not told correctly.
How World War I soldiers gave America the wristwatch
Jeff Schogol for Task & Purpose. December 28, 2023.
Wristwatches in the trenches.
Technology leads us to a bright future
Instagram is developing 'Friend Map' feature for real-time location sharing
Mauricio B. Holguin for AlternativeTo. February 26, 2024.
Not at all creepy.
The NSFW chatbot app hooking Gen Z on AI boyfriends
Reed Albergotti and Louise Matsakis for Semafor. September 20, 2023.
Almost as bad as TikTok.
Tearing up Brooklyn
Real shock the Borough President who encourages the plaza outside the magisterial Borough Hall to be used as a skate park and who has no issue with the area across the street being a filthy shed-covered abomination is actively unconcerned with the character of neighborhoods.
Proposed Brooklyn skate park partially backed by Tony Hawk divides community, politicians: ‘Shocking’
Reuven Fenton, Jared Downing, and Olivia Land. February 15, 2024.
This is indeed a stupid idea.
Is it better to try and fail than to never try at all?
Jihadi History: Al-Qaeda’s failed mobilization efforts in Central African Republic
Caleb Weiss for Long War Journal. February 20, 2024.
Al-Qaeda learns that just because a Central African militia is predominantly Muslim does not mean that it cares about Al-Qaeda's very particular historical and social fixations.
Warner, Fox, Disney to Launch Streaming Sports Joint Venture
Brian Steinberg for Variety. February 6, 2024.
It's not going to work.
Content ratings
PG-13: Some Material May Be Inappropriate
Betsy Golden Kellem for JSTOR Daily. February 21, 2024.
The only rating we need here is "FF" for "Family Friendly"
NSFW Easter Egg Discovered In Dreamcast Title Seaman
Damien McFerran for Time Extension. February 3, 2024.
I didn't get Seaman at the time and, to be sure, I still don't get it. With a quarter-century hindsight, however, it feels very much like a weird thing particular to the time it was released.
The Old Leaf Journal
Let's check in on our archives...
Video Game Visuals That Age Well
N.A. Ferrell. May 22, 2022.
Thoughts on how video game visuals can age well even as technology consistently improves.
“Mondrian” – Victor V. Gurbo on his Original Song
Victor V. Gurbo. February 25, 2021.
Victor shares his original song, Mondrian, along with a detailed essay on how he came to write it.
A Casio Graphing Calculator Web-Server and IRC Client
N.A. Ferrell. July 13, 2021.
I still haven't gotten around to moving The New Leaf Journal from our VPS server to a graphing calculator.
IndieWeb Standards, RSS, and Atom
N.A. Ferrell. October 25, 2022.
An RSS/ATOM partisan advocates for the decentralized standards to get along.
Margaret E. Sangster's 'A Little Gentleman'
N.A. Ferrell. April 4, 2022.
A charming moral poem.
An Optical Audio Cable Packaging Story
N.A. Ferrell. October 10, 2020.
While this article never really took off, one featuring the same optical audio cable continues to be a top post in 2024.
Speaking of top posts in 2024...
Most-turned leaves of newsletter week 9
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 9 (February 24-March 1) along with their 2024 statistics and all-time statistics, which go back to the first week of 2021.
(1) Itsuomi's Hair Color in A Sign of Affection
N.A. Ferrell. February 5, 2024.
2024: 3 appearances and 3 top placements.
(2) Yuki's Hair Color in A Sign of Affection
N.A. Ferrell. February 2, 2024.
2024: 4 appearances.
(3) An In-Depth Look at Norton Safe Search
N.A. Ferrell. October 18, 2022.
2024: 4 appearances.
Total: 16 appearances and 5 top placements.
(4) The Pokémon Special Split in Generation 2 - Statistics and Analysis
N.A. Ferrell. January 18, 2022.
2024: 4 appearances.
Total: 50 appearances and 4 top placements.
(5) Recommended F-Droid FOSS Apps For Android-Based Devices (2021)
2024: 8 appearances.
Total: 65 appearances and 8 top placements.
Analysis
2024 Newsletter Week 9 was almost identical to the previous week, with the only differences being positions two and three trading places and my Pokémon Special Split study replacing my quip on heights in The Dangers in My Heart at number four. The week did make some history with anime hair color articles taking the top two spots on the ranking. It is worth noting that the hair color posts have generally peaked early in the week (A Sign of Affection airs on Saturdays) and then flagged a bit in the latter part of the week. That, combined with the fact that A Sign of Affection only runs through March, suggests that their time at the top may be limited. But time will tell...
News leaf journal
I have no New Leaf Journal news to report other than I am working on new articles. I became mildly concerned when I saw that anime and games had a disproportionate post presence in February, so I am working on mixing things up a bit in terms of topics in March, although I do have a number of anime and game posts in the pipeline (especially for the turn of the month).
Notable leaf journal
I have a number of tech-related projects to do in real life -- some of which will make for good New Leaf Journal topics. I ought to sit down and lay out a schedule for these...
Taking leaf
Thank you as always for reading The Newsletter Leaf Journal. As always, I encourage you to sign up for our newsletter, add our RSS feed to your favorite news reader, or bookmark our newsletter archive page if you enjoy the newsletter and have not done so already (see options). February turned out to be a big month at The New Leaf Journal, and I am looking forward to building off what has been a solid beginning to 2024 with new articles in a variety of subject areas. I also look forward to sharing some of those new articles with you next week.
Until March 9 -- Cura ut valeas,
N.A. Ferrell