Newsletter Leaf Journal CCXI 〜 Not over-sharing
Issue 211 of The Newsletter Leaf Journal features links to 3 new NLJ articles and several posts on The Emu Café Social, covering everything from current events to donut delivery. You will also fund a punny around the web selection and other news and notes from the week that was.
Welcome to the 211th 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 Filco Majestitouch V3 keyboard of the administrator and editor of The New Leaf Journal and its sister publication, The Emu Café Social, Nicholas A. Ferrell. The good news is that I wrote a decent number of articles in the past week. The bad news is that I only published three of them because I was busy with my day job. But returning to good news, we have some things to write about in this newsletter and more to look forward to in the next.
Leaves from the tree of the week that was
I published three new articles since mailing Newsletter 210.
The first of my three new articles was a recap of November. Even if you read my November articles, I think it is worth reading for the snazzy cover photo.
Next, I wrote TMI in Landlord-Tenant Relationships. This article was inspired by an account that Luigi Mangione, who has been charged with murdering a man by shooting him multiple times in the back, shared too much information with his former landlord several months ago. This story caused me to question everything I thought I knew about landlord-tenant relationships.
Finally, I published a short investigation into a festive flourish added to the free and open source mpv Media Player application
I published four short-form posts on The Emu Café Social. I offered some New Leaf Journal news in Resuming My Pokémon Red Novel Project. I noted an unusual New Leaf Journal referral in The Emu Café Social. Next, we have my brief thoughts in an interesting omission from an article on the race to be the next chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee. Finally, I expressed my surprise at learning that people order delivery from Krispy Kreme.
I also had a few Activity Stream posts on The Emu Café Social. See one and two on improving our social presence. I posted one anecdote which will (very) soon be an article and two more which could become articles in due time.
Leaves from around the web
My published word count last week left a bit to be desired. I hope you desire articles from around the web to make up for it.
Credit where it isn't due
Khamenei blames US, Israel for Assad's fall in first public remarks
Iran International. December 11, 2024.
Turkey has to be annoyed that Iran refuses to give it proper credit for dumping Iran's most important proxy in less than a week.
Erdogan family’s jihadist foundation portrays him as 'conqueror of Syria' - Nordic Monitor
Nordic Monitor. December 11, 2024.
See what I just did here?
Reminding you that our around the web sees the future
Assad’s Fall Is a Major Blow to Russia
Andrew Latham for RealClear World. December 12, 2024.
I guess I was over the target two newsletters ago (search for "Did something change while I wasn't looking?") when I asked whether Russia was too preoccupied with something or other to intervene on behalf of its interests in Syria.
New wing man! Adorable baby puffin now starring at Central Park Zoo
Natalie O'Neill for the New York Post. December 6, 2024.
Not our first encounter with pufflings.
The unusual suspects
Something to Remember Us By: Device Confiscated by Russian Authorities Returned with Monokle-Type Spyware Installed
Cooper Quintin, Rebekah Brown, and John Scott-Railton for Munk School. December 5, 2024.
Russia gives out free apps, no questions asked (or answered), and everyone is a critic.
Polygamous leader with 20 'wives' faces sentencing for criminal sex acts with children
Jacques Billeaud for Associated Press (via The Washington Times). December 9, 2024.
It's always who you least suspect.
Enslaved on OnlyFans: Women describe lives of isolation and torture
Linda So, Andrew R.C. Marshall, Luiza Ilie, and Jason Szep for Reuters. November 22, 2024.
Wait... All those articles in the tabloids featuring "OnlyFans stars" bragging about their new mansions weren't telling the full story of online pornography?
I don't know but sounds cool
Firewire refuses to die, but needs help — as hardware becomes rarer, maintainer seeks volunteers for device testing
Mark Tyson for Tom's Hardware. September 22, 2024.
I never heard of it but score one for Linux.
Steam games will need to disclose kernel-level anti-cheat on store pages
Liam Dave for GamingOnLinux. October 30, 2024.
It does not affect me personally but good policy.
World War II veterans
One of the last Navajo Code Talkers from World War II dies at 107
Associated Press (via The Washington Times). October 20, 2024.
A life well-lived.
100-year-old Pearl Harbor survivor recalls confusion and chaos during Japanese bombing 83 years ago
Aubrey McAvoy for Associated Press (via The Washington Times). December 7, 2024.
"'I’m not a hero. I’m just nothing but an ammunition passer,' he told The Associated Press in a phone interview..."
Punchy puns
Hackers find hole in Krispy Kreme Doughnuts' cyber-security Tom Gerkin for BBC. December 12, 2024.
I respect the pun in the headline.
Artisan cheese seller in a pickle after thieves made off with massive cheddar haul
Associated Press (via The Washington Times). October 26, 2024.
All jokes aside this is more than a grating problem.
The ultra-cheap airline is going bankrupt
Molly Libergall for Morning Brew. November 19, 2024.
The important thing is that it is not bankrupt in spirit.
String theory is not dead
Tom Siegfried for Knowable Magazine. November 21, 2024.
But is it hanging by a thread?
Fun with feeds
Forum Games
Yukinu. December 6, 2024.
The forum games through RSS section at the bottom looks fun but I'd have to start a webring or something to make it work on my site(s).
Deep dive into finding RSS feeds
Lighthouse. December 5, 2024.
Good thing I make it easy for you by maintaining a feed hub and explaining what feeds are.
Checking in on free speech and free expression
Stabbed by an Islamist, now silenced by the state
Sabine Beppler-Spahl for Spiked. December 4, 2024.
We can at least be grateful that the German court slightly reduced the sentence taking into account that the German perpetrator was nearly murdered for articulating positions with which a recently arrived native and citizen of Afghanistan disagreed.
Teens sue after school bans 'Save Girls' Sports' shirts, compares them to swastikas
Valerie Richardson for The Washington Times. November 26, 2024.
I thought of the Everyone I Don't Like Is Hitler meme.
Unexpected migrations
Gus, the Young Emperor Penguin Who Made a Surprise Appearance in Australia, Is Now Heading Home
Sarah Kuta for Smithsonian Magazine. November 22, 2024.
Talk about inhospitable immigration laws.
A desert oasis outside of Dubai draws a new caravan: A family of rodents from Argentina
Jon Gambrell for the Associated Press (via The Washington Times). November 25, 2024.
No one knows how the Patagonian mara got to the United Arab Emirates, but everyone has the general idea.
Most-turned leaves of the newsletter week
I use a privacy-friendly and entirely local tool called Koko Analytics (see my 2022 review) 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. Below, I present the five most-visited articles of Newsletter Week 50 (Dec 7-13) with 2024 and historic (going back to 2021) ranking information for each of the five articles.
(1) Fixing Refresh Rate Issue on 4K TV Monitor
N.A. Ferrell. July 26, 2024.
3 appearances and 1 top placement.
(2) Examining Whether Defense Wins NBA Championships
N.A. Ferrell. July 9, 2024.
4 appearances and 1 top placement.
(3) Dragonair Safari in Pokémon Yellow
N.A. Ferrell. October 5, 2023.
2 appearances in 2024 and overall.
(4) An In-Depth Look at Norton Safe Search
N.A. Ferrell. October 18, 2022.
32 appearances and 12 top placements in 2024; 44 and 17 overall.
(5) The Mystery of Sōseki and Tsuki ga Kirei
N.A. Ferrell. March 14, 2021.
19 appearances and 6 top placements in 2024; 151 and 75 overall.
Analysis
We have a debut number-one article for the second week in a row, this time my non-descript article about changing the settings for the HDMI-1 slot on my 2019 TCL TV. Sometimes it is difficult to find why random articles take the top spot in the ranking. On this occasion it is not -- I discovered (pun intended) that this article has a few Google Discover referrals. We have now matched our record of 14 distinct weekly first-place articles in a single year (we set the mark last year) and have two weeks remaining in 2024 to break the record.
The rest of the top-five is not too surprising given recent events. My story about catching a Dragonair in the Pokémon Yellow Safari Zone continues its late ranking success in 2024 while my Norton Safe Search review follows its 2023 pattern of peaking in November and declining somewhat in December. However, decline aside, Norton has now secured the crown for most weekly top-five appearances in 2024, leading Recommended F-Droid Android Apps (2021) by four with two Newsletter weeks to go. It will also certainly claim the title for most first-place finishes, but that is still technically in play since it is holding on to a one-first-place-finish lead over Planning and Angel Next Door Season 2. This will be the first year in the last three in which my tsuki ga kirei view is not the leader in both of those categories (tsuki had the most first-place finishes in 2021 but not the most appearances overall), but our long-time weekly ranking king narrowly held off a late charge from FrogFind Search Engine Review for the final spot in the Week 50 ranking and looks to at least cross the 20-appearance threshold in what has been a down year by its lofty standards.
Taking leaf
I take leaf of you here so I can actually mail the newsletter and get to work on turning my many final drafts into articles. While I do not like making promise, I think I am in good position to publish some fun and substantive articles in the second half of December so we head into 2025 with some good posting momentum.
Until what will surely be a December 22 newsletter full of Christmas cheer,
Cura ut valeas -- Nicholas A. Ferrell.