Newsletter Leaf Journal CXCII 〜 Flash newsletter
We return after a one week hiatus with new articles that cover everything from pigeon nests to 19-year old Adobe Flash Japanese visual novels. You will also find 21 links from around the web and other news and notes.
Welcome to the 192nd 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 from the administrator and editor of The New Leaf Journal, Nicholas A. Ferrell. I skipped last week's newsletter because I did not have any new articles (felt under the weather), so this edition will cover the two weeks since I mailed Newsletter 191 on July 13. You will also find our usual assortment of links from around the web and other news and notes from the week[s] that w[ere].
Leaves from the weeks that were
I have three new articles to share...
- Pigeon Nest-Building in Forest Hills: I stopped to photograph a pretty pigeon in Forest Hills, Queens. Only after I took the first of three photos did I realize that the pigeon was busy.
- Adobe Flash Version of Gogatsu no Sora.: I reviewed a visual novel localization called May Sky as part of my al|together project. May Sky is based on the installable NScripter version of a freeware Japanese visual novel called Gogatsu no Sora. The first version of Gogatsu no Sora was an Adobe Flash game. In this article, I find and demonstrate how to play the original Flash version.
- Fixing Refresh Rate Issue on 4K TV Monitor: Context is overrated, but the context here is using my TCL Roku TV as a monitor for a mini PC with the KDE Plasma desktop environment.
Leaves from around the web
My three articles in two weeks will probably not occupy your entire weekend. But fear not, for there are many links from around the world wide web.
Not sure about the headlines here...
Kyoto Tower mascot termination reveals dark side behind cute Japanese characters
Oona McGee for SoraNews24. July 22, 2024.
The headline makes this sound like it will be a similar story to the freaks dressed as Elmo in Times Square. However, it turns out this is a story about not paying the people who make the cute mascot characters enough money.
A Hot Goalie Isn’t a Better Goalie
Neil Paine for FiveThirtyEight. April 16, 2014.
Must be running quite a fever to be that hot while sitting on ice.
The wonders of AI
Roku Personalization Patent Highlights AI’s Growing Role in Entertainment
Nat Rubio-Light for The Daily Upside. July 15, 2024.
As tempting as this sounds, I will stick with keeping my Roku TV away from the internet and using it as a monitor for my Linux-powered PC.
Another Reason to Return to Blogging- Meta AI
Wearing History Blog. June 17, 2024
All fair points for people who rely on proprietary social media.
Parenting is hard
Rescued walrus calf 'sassy' and alert after seemingly being left by her herd in Alaska
Becky Boherer for the Associated Press (via The Washington Times). July 26, 2024.
Next comes the rebellious phase.
I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream: The Terror of Tamagotchi
Emma Kostopolus for Unwinnable. May 31, 2024.
I never thought of Tomagotchi as having such deep meaning.
Donkey Kong: Then & then
Donkey Kong: A Record of Struggle
Shumplations. December 1, 2023.
Interesting insights from the making of the original arcade Donkey Kong.
Donkey Kong (1994) – Developer Interview
Shumplations. March 21, 2024.
Translating and reprinting a very interesting developer interview on the creation of Donkey Kong for Game Boy.
The wide world of sports
Ten Surprising Public Figures Who Dreamed of Olympic Gold
Rosemary Counter for Smithsonian Magazine. July 22, 2024.
Patton may have medaled if only he were a better shot.
Tennis Has a Coaching Problem
Michael Hendricks. July 19, 2024.
Professional tennis players pleading with their coaches for advice during professional tennis matches is somewhat subpar.
Is Bronny James underrated? Inside the phenomenon of the NBA bloodline
Tom Haberstroh for Yahoo! Sports. June 21, 2024.
Looking at evidence that sons of NBA players have actually been underrated -- nepotism jokes aside.
U.S. Olympic athlete reveals he runs with Yi-Gi-Oh! cards tucked into his uniform
Casey Baseel for SoraNews24. June 25, 2024.
Should run with a copy of the Game Boy Color Pokémon Trading Card Game instead,
Pedantic
Legendary Post columnist Cindy Adams finally receives her high school diploma — just ‘800 years too late’
Nick Gostin for the New York Post. July 16, 2024.
Technically 66 but who's counting?
Tiny bronze Caligula rediscovered after 200 years
The History Blog. June 24, 2024.
That's GAIVS CAESAR AVGVSTVS GERMANICVS to you.
When Is a Site Considered a Blog?
Wouter Groeneveld at Brain Baking. July 23, 2024.
In my case never. It is an online writing magazine (perennially virid, of course).
What could go wrong? Headline & headline
Tokyo government creating its own official dating app, slated to launch this summer
Casey Baseel for SoraNews24. June 11, 2024.
I'm not sure this is going to work.
The Japanese government made a metaverse to combat loneliness and it went horribly wrong
Amber V for Automation West. May 28, 2024.
I would normally stop reading at "metaverse" but this is a case where the failure is complete enough to keep reading.
Is that a threat?
Poisonous blowfish instant ramen on the way from Cup Noodle’s Nissin
Casey Baseel for SoraNews24. June 16, 2024.
Japan keeps the dangerous instant noodle flavors for itself.
Danganronpa creators are “risking their lives” for their new game, which has put them in debt
Amber V for Automation West. June 19, 2024.
Buy our game or we'll starve.
Unanswered questions
University student who yelled ‘Free Palestine’ reportedly deported as UAE weighs Israel-Hamas war
Mark Harb for the Associated Press (via The Washington Times). July 10, 2024.
I wonder where they sent him.
Giant flying Joro spiders spreading up the East Coast
The Washington Times. June 5, 2024.
Did anyone tell them about the gold in California?
Most-turned leaves of the newsletter week(s)
I use a privacy-friendly and entirely local tool called Koko Analytics to track page hits. In each issue of the newsletter, I list our five most-visited articles, according to Koko Analytics, for the one-week period beginning with Saturday and ending with Friday. Because I did not write a newsletter last week, we have to cover the 29th and 30th newsletter weeks of 2024. Below, you will find the rankings beginning with week 29 (July 13-19) and concluding with week 30 (July 20-26). I will include 2024 and historical statistics with each article in the ranking. The historical statistics go back to the first week of 2021.
(Note: I wrote all of the articles present in the top-fives so I skipped the bylines this week.)
Newsletter Week 29
(1) Planning and Angel Next Door Season 2 (November 5, 2023). 11 appearances and 6 top placements in 2024 and overall.
(2) Traditional Search vs GenAI (July 10, 2024). First appearance.
(3) Recommended F-Droid FOSS Apps For Android-Based Devices (2021) (November 28, 2021). 22 appearances and 1 top placement in 2024. 79 appearances and 9 top placements overall.
(4) The Last Nintendo Wii Games (August 1, 2023). 4 appearances and 1 top placement in 2024 and overall.
(5) Yuki's Hair Color in A Sign of Affection (February 5, 2024). 15 appearances and 6 top placements in 2024 and overall.
Newsletter Week 30
(1) Planning and Angel Next Door Season 2 (November 5, 2023). 12 appearances and 7 top placements in 2024 and overall.
(2) The Mystery of Sōseki and Tsuki ga Kirei (May 14, 2021). 9 appearances and 4 top placements in 2024. 141 appearances and 73 top placements overall.
(3) Pokémon: Pathways to Adventure (1999) Review (April 21, 2022). First appearance overall.
(4) Recommended F-Droid FOSS Apps For Android-Based Devices (2021) (November 28, 2021). 23 appearances and 1 top placement in 2024. 80 appearances and 9 top placements overall.
(5) Installing GrapheneOS on a Google Pixel 6a (May 15, 2023). 4 appearances in 2024. 12 appearances overall.
Analysis
My specious article about writing a review of a 2023 anime called The Angel Next Door Spoils Me Rotten continues to dominate our weekly ranking in what has been something of a down period since April. It took the top spot in weeks 29 and 30 and has held the top spot for seven out of the last eight weeks.
Both weeks 29 and 30 saw one article make its debut. In week 29, my new article about generative AI and traditional search came in second after being shared on Hacker News (it did not do much on Hacker News, but enough to make a weekly top-five). In week 30, my two-year old review of a 1999 Pokémon novel/strategy guide, which inspired an ongoing project of my own, popped in at third place for its first weekly top-five. There were no other significant surprises -- the rest of the articles all rank among our top 12 for July as we approach the end of the month.
News leaf journal
The main reason I sat down and figured out how to configure a 60 Hz refresh rate for my TV as a monitor for my mini PC at 4K was, as I suggested in the article, so I could play Pokémon on it. I announced in February that I would turn a Pokémon Red play-through into a novel/strategy guide, inspired by the 1999 guide I reviewed back in 2022 (that review timely popped into our week 30 top-five, as reported above). I started and abandoned a couple of play-throughs in part because I was trying to think of an angle to approach it that would make it interesting. I think I have one, and it is now running perfectly on my mini PC with a TV display and I am recording my sessions with OBS (note: I am only recording the game-play). I hope to be able to begin writing articles and sharing recordings of my play-through by the end of August.
Taking leaf
Thank you as always for reading and following our (usually...) weekly newsletter. If you are not already a regular reader, you can sign up for our (usually...) weekly email, add our newsletter's RSS feed to your favorite feed reader, or check in on our newsletter archive page whenever you are in the mood. See our options here.
I am no longer feeling under the weather (save for ragweed allergies) and as I have reported in previous newsletters, I have a number of projects in progress that I hope to publish in the near future. I will be a little bit busy with non-New Leaf Journal work early this upcoming week, but I expect to be able to publish a few articles so we will have something to discuss in the next newsletter.
Until August 3,
Cura ut valeas -- Nicholas A. Ferrell.