Jason Cosper

Blog

  • Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables, 04.15.20

    This content was imported from gomi no sensei, a project I briefly did during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead of maintaining yet another WordPress install, I’ve decided to shove this content into the everything bucket that is my long running personal blog. 🥴

    It’s 82° F and clear in Bakersfield today. The sort of day that, TBH, we don’t see all that much. Late spring through early fall is, usually, oppressively hot, and late fall through early spring tends to be right above freezing. So days like today are a treat.

    I probably ought to cut out of work ~30 minutes early — before the sun gets too low — go sit on a lounge chair by the pool, and tell myself “If this isn’t nice, I don’t know what is.“

    Other Music

    An amazing looking documentary on iconic NYC record store Other Music. They’re doing a virtual screening April 17–20th in partnership with a bunch of indie record stores, including my local fave. (thx)

    We’re on the Brink of Cyberpunk

    While Blade Runner’s once-distant future of November 2019 feels resonant in so many ways—vast corporate power, persistent surveillance, life in a time of constant crisis—it misses the actual 2019’s most salient feature: an inescapable, painful awareness of politics and of the presence or deliberate absence of government in daily life.

    Our dystopia is already here — it’s just not evenly distributed. 🦾

    Flipper Zero

    Speaking of cyberpunk, this portable “tamagotchi for hackers” meets hacker multitool looks like a blast. RFID, Infrared, GPIO out, rubber ducky emulation, iButton support… 🤯 (via)

    PowerWash Simulator

    One of my favorite things to do after a stressful day is throw on a pressure washing video and just sort of zone out.

    Okay, so now that you know that, you’d better believe that I was thrilled af to discover this game — which just dropped as an early beta. I was less thrilled to see that it’s (currently) Windows only, but I’m hopeful that it’ll be easy to port elsewhere because Unity.

    I don’t know about you, but I’m good with calling it a day at four links. 🤷🏻‍♂️

    Guess I should go grab a tallboy out of the fridge and pull up a lounge chair before the sun up and calls it a day.

  • Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables, 04.14.20

    This content was imported from gomi no sensei, a project I briefly did during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead of maintaining yet another WordPress install, I’ve decided to shove this content into the everything bucket that is my long running personal blog. 🥴

    It’s been one of those “lowkey overdo it on CBD, listen to white noise for five hours, and try to get work done” sort of days. Y’all have those too, right? 😬

    Zooooom.us

    A macOS screensaver that simulates an increasingly absurd Zoom call.

    I’ll stick with Brooklyn — lest I give myself an anxiety attack over thinking that I forgot about a meeting — but I’ll keep this in my back pocket for future pranking purposes. (via)

    Airbreak

    What we have done is to “jailbreak” the the AirSense 10 CPAP machine, a common, low-cost sleep therapy device intended to treat sleep apnea, so that it is possible to run additional tasks on the device. These new tasks add the features and adjust the range of parameters that make it possible to use the device as a temporary ventilator.

    This is incredibly clever. My only hope is that it doesn’t drive up the cost of the AirSense 10 and its supplies on the CPAP grey market as people start to panic buy them up.

    ArduBee

    I’m not really a drone guy, but I do like the concept of this small, hackable, open source powered, mini drone kit (allegedly) coming soon to Kickstarter.

    Arcade Game Typography

    Vintage video games and deep dives into typography: two great tastes that taste great together. (via)

    Okay, that’ll do for today. How about a nap? 💤

  • Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables, 04.13.20

    This content was imported from gomi no sensei, a project I briefly did during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead of maintaining yet another WordPress install, I’ve decided to shove this content into the everything bucket that is my long running personal blog. 🥴

    Alright, International Brotherhood of Indoor Kids! How about we get back at it?!

    Ugh. Do we really have to though? Mondays were already tough, but Mondays in these times are like peddling a heavy mountain bike up the steepest hill you can think of from childhood in first gear. 😞

    Guess I should stop pedaling so hard and just walk the damn thing up the hill, huh?

    Twelve Hours of Satellite of Love Ambient Noise

    crysknife007’s YouTube channel is a veritable treasure trove of nerd friendly white noise, but I’ve got a soft spot for the low, rumbling background noise used on MST3K.

    Don’t forget to turn down your lights (where applicable). 😉

    Bar None

    I’ve had a Touch Bar MBP for ~3 years now, so I’ve grown to used to having a virtual function row on my machine. Hell, I’d even go so far as to say that I like my Touch Bar.

    Still, I love this tool by Shaun Inman that disables the Touch Bar unless you’re holding down the fn key. (via)

    House Industries Lettering Manual

    New book alert!

    One of my all-time favorite type foundries is publishing a gorgeous looking book — based on their wildly popular lettering workshops — that drops tomorrow.

    Totally snuck up on me, but I’m glad Mike tipped me off to it.

    TIC-80

    An open source fantasy computer for game development, with an inexpensive — and totally optional, but still useful — Pro version.

    🤔 Wonder if I can manage to get this running on my old PocketCHIP… (via)

    Pro Chefs Make 13 Kinds of Pantry Pasta

    I’m really glad that the Bon Appétit Test Kitchen crew are still making videos from home. Here, a whole bunch of them improvise a ton of different pantry pasta dishes.

    Social Distancing and the Resurgence of Drive-In Theaters

    I’m a great believer that mental stability is as important as physical stability. If people don’t have a certain amount of normalcy in their life, it’s going to affect them.

    John Watzke, Owner, Ocala Drive-In Theater

    I’ve got a lot of fond memories of going to the drive-in with my parents in the eighties. Double features… Sneaking in giant Tupperware bowls full of air popped popcorn and way too much butter… Bulk bags of M&Ms and Whoppers…

    If we get a mini drive-in boom over the next few months, definitely I wouldn’t be mad about it. 😃

    Okay. Bike’s up the proverbial hill. Time to coast now. See y’all again soon!

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  • Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables, 04.10.20

    This content was imported from gomi no sensei, a project I briefly did during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead of maintaining yet another WordPress install, I’ve decided to shove this content into the everything bucket that is my long running personal blog. 🥴

    I know today is technically Friday, but the past few weeks have turned into sort of an indefinable gelatinous cube of time.

    It’s almost feels like I’ve managed to become unstuck in time. Completely incapable of escaping the world’s longest, mass hallucinated Wednesday.

    Songs for Pierre Chuvin

    The Mountain Goats’ first all-boombox album since All Hail West Texas, which is one of my all-time favorite albums, period. This one’s inspired by Chuvin’s A Chronicle of the Last Pagans.

    Keep Distance Ruler

    Artist Keisuke Terashima has created an incredibly useful script for these times that you can run on your iPhone.

    The script drops a six foot circle around you in AR — which you can then use to make sure you’re safely distancing yourself while venturing out in the world.

    The better thing is to not, you know, go out in public. At least until after we get the all clear. But this is still here, should anyone happen to need it.

    In Depth: The Game Boy Printer

    A delightfully wonky deep dive of one man’s attempt at emulating the Game Boy Printer in his open source emulator.

    GB Studio

    Speaking of the Game Boy, my buddy Rich pointed me at this rad, cross-platform, drag and drop game creation tool that’ll export your game as a playable ROM!

    I mean, why not spend some of our collective downtime making your very own Zelda-like?

    If You Can’t Smash It, Set It On Fire

    Big mood. Huge.

    I’ve already got the sticker version of this on my laptop, but I really love the colors on the patch.

    Bread Scheduler

    Unlike the rest of the International Brotherhood of Indoor Kids, I haven’t managed to get a sourdough starter going yet.

    This site looks like it’ll be handy for when I get around to it though. I mean, c’mon… Gantt charts!

    How to Take a Decent Photo of Your Own Shoes

    Matt Haughey coming through with the 🔥 sneakerhead protip.

    Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a weekend of moderate drinking and meal prep to get to.

    P.S. If this is a thing that you’ve found yourself enjoying, these posts are also available as a newsletter. Subscribe now and you’ll never have to visit my site again! 😂😭

  • Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables, 04.09.20

    This content was imported from gomi no sensei, a project I briefly did during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead of maintaining yet another WordPress install, I’ve decided to shove this content into the everything bucket that is my long running personal blog. 🥴

    Feelin’ fine.

    Well, not really. Honestly, I’m starting to get really tired of being stuck inside all the time. Guess I’m not suited for long distance space travel, huh?

    Oh well. The mission to Mars will have to go on without me, I guess…

    Anyway, how about a few links?

    Punk Haircuts

    I have a few friends who, knowing they’re not going to see their barbers for a few months, have gone full Ripley during quarantine. That’s a pretty bold move if you ask me.

    Sure, slapping a number two on the Wahl clippers rusting out under your guest bathroom sink is a classic punk haircut — don’t think I haven’t considered it — but there’s also the chance that you’ll look like a giant-sized Bobby Hill. 😬

    But hey, it’s not like you have any place to be rn, right?

    Rollerblade Office Chair Wheels

    After seeing Matt Haughey mention how much of an upgrade these were for his home office chair, I bought a set for my Sayl.

    I’d had the wheels swapped out in under three minutes, and my chair rolls along the rug that’s under my desk so much smoother now.

    Highly recommended upgrade, y’all!

    Pocket Developer

    A D20 full of developer cliches — like “Works for me”, and “Try it now” — ready to deploy at a moment’s notice. (via)

    The 501 Developer Manifesto

    We are software developers who take pride in our work but choose not to be wholly defined by it.

    As someone who has spent the last few years trying to get the whole work/life balance thing right, I am really fucking feeling this.

    OpenRCT2

    Looking to waste some time? Sure, we all are.

    Here’s an open-source re-implementation of RollerCoaster Tycoon 2 that runs on Mac, Linux, and Windows.

    You’ll need to get your hands on the object files from a copy of RCT2, but that’s not too hard to to do. 😉

    How to Look Good on Camera

    Now this is the sort of journalism I pay The New York Times $14 a month for… 🤣

    Maureen Dowd talked with fashion designer and filmmaker Tom Ford about how to look your best on all of the video calls you’re no doubt getting pulled into.

    I’ve been working from home for ~8 years, so I went feral and stopped caring ages ago — but maybe you’ll find it useful, dear reader.

    A Flock of 30 Zines

    My pal Austin Kleon — author of the extremely inspiring Keep Going — has been spending his “indoor kid” time making zines, and I am deeply into his aesthetic.

    He’s got links to all of them in the post. And, if you’re feeling inspired, he’s provided instructions on how you can make your own out of a single sheet of paper.

    US Out of California

    Since I’m talking about stuff my friends have made — and since Gavin Newsom went on MSNBC and declared California a “nation-state” — I might as well give Mike Monteiro‘s classic Cotton Bureau design a shout out. 🤷🏻‍♂️

    Well, I’ve gotta go figure out what to do about a very full swimming pool — so if you’ll excuse me, I’ll just see myself out.

  • Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables, 04.08.20

    This content was imported from gomi no sensei, a project I briefly did during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead of maintaining yet another WordPress install, I’ve decided to shove this content into the everything bucket that is my long running personal blog. 🥴

    How about a quick one (while he’s stuck inside)?

    The Cool Quarantine

    Henry Rollins’ new four hour long — 😳 — online radio show in conjunction with KCRW.

    It’s got everything: Cramps bootlegs recorded by Ian MacKaye, early Joy Division album pressings, Black Flag stories, no FCC constraints…

    Brooklyn

    Apple’s default screensavers are pretty boring, TBH. To the point where I would put my display to sleep instead of dropping into one when I wander away from my desk.

    This loving recreation of animated Apple logos — taken from their Brooklyn Academy of Music event in 2018 — by Pedro Carrasco has got me using my screensaver hot corner again though. ❤️

    Is This a Sandwich?

    Classify some foods, get a personal, D&D style alignment chart.

    I got Lawful Good. Usually, in other alignment tests, I’m a Lawful Neutral — but I won’t deny that I can be a bit of a sandwich purist.

    And that, dear readers, is all he wrote.

  • Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables, 04.07.20

    This content was imported from gomi no sensei, a project I briefly did during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead of maintaining yet another WordPress install, I’ve decided to shove this content into the everything bucket that is my long running personal blog. 🥴

    Aw shit, here we go again…

    Another day being an involuntary member of the International Brotherhood of Indoor Kids, another collection of links.

    Fat Gold

    Small batch olive oil from Kathryn Tomajan and author Robin Sloan. It’s usually only available as a yearly subscription — but they’ve just started selling individual tins, and I’m pretty excited to try it.

    Best Quarantine Lofi 2020 💫

    Loading up a YouTube video of an anime girl studying while some lofi plays, is cool. But you know what’s cooler? A lofi playlist from the best follow on Spotify.

    Art Theft Intelligence Unit

    This great patch from Hello Void is reminiscent of those wild DEA patches.

    I can’t wait to slap one of them on my M-65 jacket!

    Universal Bypass

    A useful Firefox and Chrome extension that helps you avoid link shortener tracking as well as linkvertising 🤢 intermediates.

    Outdoor Cannabis Grower’s Calendar

    How to Grow Marijuana Outdoors

    Just leaving these last two here for, uh, personal reasons… 😁

    That’ll do for today, I reckon.

    I dunno, I guess I could keep going. But I’d much rather make some dinner and read a book.

  • Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables, 04.06.20

    This content was imported from gomi no sensei, a project I briefly did during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead of maintaining yet another WordPress install, I’ve decided to shove this content into the everything bucket that is my long running personal blog. 🥴

    Back at it again at Krispy Kreme…

    A browser based, live coding, video synthesis system, hosted on Glitch. There’s a ton of resources in the inline documentation if you feel like playing around with it.

    Or, if live coding isn’t your thing, just light a joint, put something chill on the stereo, and zone out for a while.

    I’ve been writing the presentations that I give at WordCamps in Markdown for ages. Now, with a tool like Video Puppet, I can turn my slides into videos — with automated narration! — without much effort.

    Ever since I saw that Brandon Boyer Vine of Qrion dancing around to this track during a DJ set a few years ago, it has been a perennial favorite around these parts.

    Listening to it always puts me in a good mood. Hopefully it’ll put you in a good mood too.

    I’m a sucker for a good stencil typeface and this punky one from Shiva Nallaperumal is of my favorites from the past few years.

    Probably ought to find a project to use this in then, huh?

    I dunno… I’m just, like, really into late 60s, leftist, Parisian protest posters lately.

    You could waste a nice chunk of your afternoon browsing through Gallica’s collection. I highly recommend it.

    (I really feel like I ought to make a t-shirt out of this one.)

    :takes long drag off of vape: Yeah, man… I remember FOAF.

    I am 90% sure that I had a FOAF-a-matic generated RDF file on this site circa 2004, but I’ll be damned if I can find it in any of my backups.

    Speaking of early aughts throwbacks, apparently Soulseek is still a thing?! Gotta get my ass back on that and find me a copy of Phish covering Gin and Juice…

    A great collection of notebooks that look like books and magazines featured on The Simpsons.

    From here on out, I’m taking all of my notes in a Gigantic Asses notebook.

    Alright… I’m running a marathon and not a sprint here — so eight is probably enough for today, yeah?

  • Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables, 04.03.20

    This content was imported from gomi no sensei, a project I briefly did during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead of maintaining yet another WordPress install, I’ve decided to shove this content into the everything bucket that is my long running personal blog. 🥴

    Welcome to the maiden flight of the passing fancy! Inspired by my old friend Cory — and our current global pandemic — I’ve decided to blow the proverbial cobwebs out of the corners and try something new.

    Well, sort of new. When I was running this site on Blogger back in the early 2000’s, I kept a linkblog in the sidebar. This is my attempt at doing one again. So let’s get into it…

    Bill Withers is one of my all time favorite artists, and this is one of my very favorite performances. I come back to it when I’m feeling overwhelmed or burnt out, so I’ve listened to it kind of a lot lately.

    While I’m incredibly sad that Bill passed away today, this has, again, been the perfect balm to help sooth my broken heart.

    n.eko

    A bunch of my friends have been loving Netflix Party, but I’ve never been able to get it to work reliably. After doing some digging around, I stumbled onto n.eko and got a server running for some friends in under an hour.

    It’s a little bit wonky — and runs best under Chrome — but I’ve had a lot of fun with it over the past couple weeks.

    Failed Imagineer – Banned

    Even though I used to be a t-shirt blogger, I don’t own more than three tees with printing on them. Weird, right?

    Not really, TBH. I’m 42, not 24.

    With that being said, I really want to buy this totally fucking stellar Disneyfied riff on the cover art for Bad Brains’ debut album.

    The Internet Archive’s VHS Vault

    So 👏🏻 much 👏🏻 good 👏🏻 stuff!

    Fraidycat

    Back in the day, I would read hundreds of RSS feeds. After the death of Google Reader, I switched to Feedly and got rid of all but 20% of my original list.

    At that point though, it was mostly WordPress stuff. Then that started to feel like homework — because it was — so I stopped opening up Reeder altogether.

    Now, I’m using Fraidycat to follow a whopping twelve sites. There’s no badges or notifications. Just links to ten of the most recent articles from each site that I subscribe to, presented cleanly. It’s so fucking refreshing.

    Okay, five links is a good start, right?

  • Too Much Power

    By late next year, Bitcoin could be consuming more electricity than all the world’s solar panels currently produce — about 1.8 percent of global electricity, according to a simple extrapolation of the study’s predictions. That would effectively erase decades of progress on renewable energy.

    Bitcoin’s energy use got studied, and you libertarian nerds look even worse than usual

    After reading a story on Bitcoin’s energy consumption late last year, I decided to stop being a part of the problem by getting rid of all of my (very meager) cryptocurrency holdings.

    Unstable as shit? That, I can handle. But unstable and bad for the environment? Fuck that noise. I’m out.

    In case anyone needs me, I’ll be over here marinating in my own self righteousness…