December 24, 2022

Newsletter Leaf Journal CXV 〜 A quince for Christmas Eve

Our special Christmas Eve edition of The Newsletter Leaf Journal features two quince articles, three visual novel reviews, Christmas photos, and 10 exciting links from around the web.

Welcome to the 115th edition of The Newsletter Leaf Journal, the official newsletter of The New Leaf Journal. This newsletter comes to you as always from the waterproof keyboard of Nicholas A. Ferrell, editor and administrator of The New Leaf Journal.

I begin our penultimate newsletter of 2022 by wishing all of our readers a merry Christmas Eve and Christmas (I needn’t send New Years wishes yet since I will be mailing a newsletter on New Years Eve). This special holiday newsletter promises to be one of the most packed editions of The Newsletter Leaf Journal to date. We have eight new full articles, three leaflets, your usual assortment of links from around the web, and other news and notes.

Table of contents

1. Leaves from the week that was
2. Leaves from around the web
3. The Old Leaf Journal
4. Most-turned leaves of the newsletter week
5. News leaf journal
6. Notable leaf journal
7. Taking leaf

1. Leaves from the week that was

I published eight new articles and three new Leaflets during the last week. We begin with the full articles.

• At Summer’s End - Visual Novel Review
  Nicholas A. Ferrell. December 17, 2022.

  While we are far removed from summer’s end here in New York, I reviewed At Summer’s End, the official English-language translation of a freeware Japanese visual novel called Natsu no Owari ni. The translation was released on December 17, 2003, nineteen years to the day of my review of its English version. At Summer’s End, like all of the al|together visual novels I am reviewing for a project, is free and remains available cross-platform. It stands out for its… interesting art style, but my overall impression erred on the positive side.

• FOSS Inflation Calculator for Android
  Nicholas A. Ferrell. December 19, 2022.

  My review of a free and open source Android app for calculating inflation rates in the United States, United Kingdom, and France.

• Evergreen Carroll Gardens Christmas Tree
  Nicholas A. Ferrell. December 20, 2022.

  I have not seen too many exciting Christmas decorations this year, but this giant tree in a Carroll Gardens lawn surely makes up for whatever deficiencies we have had in the arena of 2022 Christmas decoration content.

• Balancing Bear Topiary in Carroll Gardens
  Nicholas A. Ferrell. December 21, 2022.

  This seasonal decoration was up in 2020 and 2021 as well. I wonder why it took me so long to photograph it for The New Leaf Journal…

• The Quince Shortage - Justin and Justina
  Nicholas A. Ferrell. December 21, 2022.

  I was told to write articles about quinces. Because I do not know much about quinces, I turned to Justin and Justina to offer their thoughts.

• Quince recipes from Mary Eales’s receipts
  Nicholas A. Ferrell. December 21, 2022.

  While I was working on the Justin and Justina piece, I came across six quince recipes in the 1733 edition of Mary Eales’s receipts. You will find all six re-printed in their entirety.

• Plain Song - Visual Novel Review
  Nicholas A. Ferrell. December 23, 2022.

  My 14th al|together visual novel review was Plain Song. While technically simple, it was one of the better written visual novels of the project, featuring two of the strongest characters. Plain Song has nothing to do with Christmas, however. Why did I publish it now…?

• Plain Song Christmas Special - VN Review
  Nicholas A. Ferrell. December 23, 2022.

  Plain Song Christmas Special is an alternate version of Plain Song set in the Christmas season. While Plain Song was a serious and well-written piece, Christmas Special pokes fun at Plain Song and many visual novel conventions. Of Eno Yamomoto Ten’s three works (the other two are Plain Song and The Poor Little Bird), it is certainly the oddest. If you read all of my posts, I recommend reading the Plain Song review before the Christmas Special review.

• Corrupt politician book advances
  Nicholas A. Ferrell. December 17, 2022.

  My thoughts on issues involving elected officials receiving substantial advances for “writing” books that no one will actually read.

• On crypto investment advice from Tom Brady
  Nicholas A. Ferrell. December 20, 2022.

  I sprinkle in some anecdotes while stating the obvious on the subject described in the title.

• Valve, Linux, and open source
  Nicholas A. Ferrell. December 21, 2022.

  Updated thoughts on Valve’s contributions to the Linux desktop.

2. Leaves from around the web

Let’s see what’s happening around the world wide web…

• American Christmas 1776: “Victory or Death”
  Christopher Flannery for The American Mind. December 23, 2022.

  “As they spoke, Rush noticed Washington scribbling with his quill pen on small pieces of paper. One of the pieces of paper slipped to the floor and Rush “was struck with the inscription upon it.” It read, ‘Victory or Death.’“

• Poem 070: Sentimental Moment or Why Did the Baguette Cross the Road?
  Poem by Robert Hershon, originally published in 2000 (selected by the Poet Laureate of the United States).

  They grow up so fast.

• We try a Le Lectier, the highest-quality European pear available in Japan
  Dale Roll for SoraNews24. December 18, 2022.

  The article goes into the background of the pear – which did indeed come from Europe, but is now grown only in Japan.

• Kuwait: Member of Parliament Sentenced to Two Years in Prison for Participating in Tribal Primary Elections
  Global Legal Monitor. December 15, 2022.

  The Newsletter Leaf Journal is what you subscribe to to get your updates on Kuwaiti election issues.

• OpenIndiana Hipster 2022.10 Released With Updates For This OpenSolaris-Derived OS
  Michael Larabel at Phoronix. December 5, 2022.

  If I happen across something to run it on… I may be inclined to write an OpenIndiana review down the line…

• Will Messi keep his promise to the Virgin Mary after winning the World Cup?
  Catholic News Agency. December 19, 2022.

  “In [a 2018] interview in Moscow with the Argentine journalist Martín Arévalo, Messi was challenged by the reporter to walk ‘to Luján or to San Nicolás,’ two of the most important shrines in Argentina, if the team won the World Cup.” (Mr. Messi said he would and shook hands with the interviewer to cement the agreement – so we shall see.)

• Reports of late payments to creators spread – and one publisher responds
  The Beat. December 13, 2022.

  “Over the last few months, a number of comics creators have taken to social media to discuss late or non-payments. And retailers are increasingly talking about a glut of product – particularly periodical comics.”

• A Roomba recorded a woman on the toilet. How did screenshots end up on Facebook
  Eileen Guo for Technology Review. December 20, 2022.

  A very good article that raises broad questions about “smart” appliances. (While I do like robot vacuums, I’d settle for an inferior model that does not stream video from my home.)

• Saving lives with platypus milk
  Ali Green for CSIRO. March 15, 2018.

  “Due to its unique features - duck-billed, egg-laying, beaver-tailed and venomous- the platypus has long exerted a powerful appeal to scientists, making it an important subject in the study of evolutionary biology. ”

• Fortnite Video Game Maker Epic Games to Pay More Than Half a Billion Dollars over FTC Allegations of Privacy Violations and Unwanted Charges
  U.S. Federal Trade Commission press release. December 19, 2022.

  My criticisms of microtransactions in a past article come to life in this FTC news release…

3. The Old Leaf Journal

Let’s dig into our archive…

• The Poor Little Bird - Visual Novel Review
  Nicholas A. Ferrell. May 5, 2021.

  Three of Mr. Eno Yamamoto Ten’s freeware Japanese visual novels were translated (with his permission) into Enlish for the al|together 2005 festival. I reviewed two – Plain Song and Plain Song Christmas Special – last week. I had previously reviewed Eno’s third and final visual novel, The Poor Little Bird, in May 2021.

• On Nintendo’s Pro-User Cartridge-First Strategy
  Nicholas A. Ferrell. March 21, 2022.

  I thought of this article with the news of Epic’s huge fine related to Fortnite.

• Christmas Quarantine Session: Arthur McBride
  Victor V. Gurbo. December 24, 2021.

  Victor V. Gurbo welcomed Christmas Eve last year with his rendition (along with fellow Brooklyn musician Mark Caserta) of a traditional Irish resistance song.

• Santa Claus’s Delivery Van Seen in Brooklyn
  Nicholas A. Ferrell. December 24, 2021.

  Given the weather in Brooklyn at the moment, I hope Santa is using the van again this year.

4. Most-turned leaves of the newsletter week

I list our most-visited articles of the previous week in each newsletter. In keeping with our newsletter schedule, these “Newsletter Weeks” begin with Saturday and end on Friday. The statistics come courtesy of our local and privacy-friendly analytics solution, Koko Analytics – which I reviewed on The New Leaf Journal. The week of December 17 to 23 was the 51st Newsletter Week of 2022.

#	Article Title	By	Pub	22Top5
1	Cross-posting from Mastodon to Twitter	NAF	4.18.22	9 (6)
2	An Early Review of Pixelfed - Instagram Alternative	NAF	11.13.20	9
3	The Mystery of Sōseki and Tsuki ga Kirei	NAF	3.14.21	51 (29)
4	The Pokémon Special Split in Generation 2 - Statistics and Analysis	NAF	1.18.22	6
5	Peekier Search Engine Review	NAF	2.26.22	5

We had a strange week in the ranking in that we had one of the weakest finishes for the first place article and the weakest performance of often-number-one tsuki ga kirei, but one of the stronger weeks for the fifth place article. Our solid week overall was driven by depth rather than a big performance at the top.

Despite the fact that the main instance of the Mastodon Twitter Crossposter no longer works (for practical intents and purposes), my April Leaflet returned to the number one spot for the fifth time in seven weeks. Meanwhile, my 2020 Pixelfed review edged out my tsuki ga kirei post for its highest placing (albeit not its best week in numerical terms) of 2022. For its part, my tsuki ga kirei article came the closest it has to missing the top five (in numerical terms) in its 87-week streak. The top five was rounded out by my early generation Pokémon stat analysis (second consecutive appearance) and my Peekier search engine review (fifth appearance overall, first since June).

5. News leaf journal

My planner sets a brisk publishing pace for the end of 2022. For the last week of the year, you can expect to see three new visual novel reviews (one al|together, one by Victor V. Gurbo, and a follow-up to my ACE Academy review), an interesting history article featuring Abraham Lincoln, my anime of the year article (much better timing than when I published my 2021 review in April 2022…), and our December month-in-review, which will also feature our most-read articles of the second half of 2022. Then, on New Years Day, you can expect to see my annual year-in-review article, wherein I will, with the help of Justin and Justina, reveal our most-read articles of 2022 as we look ahead to 2023.

6. Notable leaf journal

I come bearing a web blog for today’s Notable Leaf Journal. While checking what was new on Pixelfed after posting my Christmas Tree photo, I came across a cat photo. I checked the account and saw that the photo came from a website called Stray Cats Observer. The site features nothing but photos of stray cats that the author, Mr. Victor Kravchenko, happens across in Saint Petersburg, Russia. All of the photos are very high quality and the site is well-designed with no ads or apparent trackers. I added its RSS feed to my feed reader, so I will receive new cat photos as Mr. Kravchenko publishes them. His site links to various social media presences. You can follow him on Instagram, Pixelfed (note that you can follow Pixelfed with a Mastodon or other ActivityPub-based account), or Telegram. This is quality content. The website’s tagline is “Be kind to cats!”

7. Taking leaf

Thank you as always for joining us for another addition of The Newsletter Leaf Journal. I again wish all of our readers a merry Christmas, and I wish our Jewish readers the best for Hanukkah. We have another busy week ahead of us at The New Leaf Journal, and I look forward to sending our next newsletter on New Years Eve. If you want to make sure you receive that newsletter as soon as it is released, you can join our email list or add our newsletter’s RSS feed to your favorite feed reader (see options). You can also check our archive where links to the newsletter appear shortly after they are published.

Until next week,

Cura ut valeas, Merry Christmas!