Blog of the Hedge Witch

The fact that Microsoft Word has to be a subscription is upsetting. I already paid for it why do I have to pay again

Yes please be mad about it, genuinely- You used to be able to purchase a single disk to install it and use it forever after that initial purchase of one key. It sickens me to see all this stuff which used to be a one time purchase be shunted under a subscription now.

THIS

"Why is pirating going back up?!"

This. This is why. People don't mind paying a high price for software if it's only the once, or every 4-5 years.

But having to pay a high price regularly? Especially in the cases where you lose access to your own work if you don't?

That's why people are pirating software.

It’s possible to buy a non-subscription version of Word; Microsoft just intentionally makes it very difficult to find (and also expensive).

However, I know a guy who knows a guy website: MS Office Pro for $50. If the link starts going to a Page Not Found, just search the site; they usually have some form of this sale available. 

Worth noting: while $50 is still more money than $yo-ho-ho, that money is a great way to make VERY clear to Microsoft that we DO want one-time-purchase products, not subscriptions.

My laptop just died. If it can't be fixed and I need to replace it, this post is gonna be a real life saver, because my family has been sharing an old version of Word that came with a limited number of lifetime licenses, and we're fresh out.

https://www.libreoffice.org/download/download-libreoffice/

Get LibreOffice. It's fully compatible with MS Office, but it's free and open source. You're welcome. :-)

No, but that’s exactly something that should be put in a museum.

Imagine seeing this two, three, eight hundred years after the fact. Imagine this little girl through centuries of time holding up her hand to show you her most precious rock. It’s potent enough now, this intimate knowledge of a complete stranger, this tiny insight into what was explained to her and what she thought was important and who listened to her long enough to let you see it, but imagine centuries in the future. Imagine this little bit of rock that looks like every other bit of rock, with no context and no explanation to it. And then imagine finding/seeing this little sign, and realising that it was Bethan’s rock. That it was a rock that a little girl loved the look of , and picked up, and carried around with her, and when it was explained to her that museums were places where precious things were shown so that other people could see and enjoy them, the precious thing she wanted them to show, that she wanted to show you, was this rock.

This is what material history is. These windows through time into a person’s life and beliefs and mundane treasures, these bridges across centuries where a child a hundred, a thousand, ten thousand years ago can show you her favourite rock.

That is, in so many ways, what museums are for. And well done them for following through.

If you ever need us, we'll be there.

george lucas naming anakin: he'll be named after the greek goddess of inevitability, ananke, who ruled over fate, circumetance, compulsion, to symbolically indicate that luke's fate is bound inexorably in who his father was

george lucas naming obi-wan: belt

Don't forget the second half.

help me, belt-woof kenobi, you're my only hope

help me, belt-woof swordbelt, you're my only hope

The worst part is, my whole first year of obikin obsession I assumed this was a coincidence and that can't have possibly been Lucas' actual thought process. What a sweet summer child type thought in this fucking franchise.

Here’s a big art mystery: Can anyone identify this poster? The only clue is that it was hanging on a bedroom wall in the mid-80s in NSW, Australia.

This is my poster. I am the one who owned it, and I am the one who contacted @70sscifiart to get an ID of it. The only other clue I have is that in the bottom left hand corner, which has been cropped out of this photo, is the initials “Jf” with the bar of the F aligning to the top of the J. I’ve been trying to find the origin of it, and to get another copy, for 3 decades now.

I found it!

It’s called “The Fourth Dimension,” and it’s by Marius Van Boordt. The poster was printed in the Netherlands by John Faber Production, which is what the “JF” initials were for. I found it on this Etsy listing.

I love finding long-lost art like this! Subscribe to my sci-fi art newsletter for the full story… I’m going to make the next issue about this and other Van Boordt artworks.

wassup

Unmute !

@todaysbird

new states just dropped and white supremacist sharks live there

having a child has taught me that every toddler is completely justified in their frustrations and tantrums because learning how to do something you have literally never encountered or heard of before is insane. and being expected to be completely calm in the face of this constant barrage of overwhelming information is doubly insane.

i got charlie a sticker activity book and it occurred to me i have to TEACH someone how to unpeel stickers. it's SKILL that requires DEXTERITY and FINE MOTOR ABILITY. i thought it was obvious that you have to curl the page a little bit to create a break in the cut so the sticker comes up.

obviously a fucking BABY wouldn't know that because they have no background experience to inform their thought process. OBVIOUSLY. and OBVIOUSLY the LITERAL BABY wouldn't get it right the first few times. it would OBVIOUSLY take practice. lots of it.

i hate this feeling. it's so obvious. why are children treated so badly when they're learning everything for the first fucking time. why do people treat children so horribly and expect so much. they're brand new. why didn't i get the same grace i give to my child? why did no one have patience for me? why, when it's this easy?

it's so easy. it's so fucking easy.

Korra (korrasami)

AUDIO ON IM NOT KIDDING

Double chocolate banana bread (moist for 4 days !)

unsung benefit i think a lot of ppl are sleeping on with using the public library is that i think its a great replacement for the dopamine hit some ppl get from online shopping. it kind of fills that niche of reserving something that you then get to anticipate the arrival of and enjoy when it arrives, but without like, the waste and the money.

bonus it ALSO fills that dopamine hit of in-person shopping. “oh I didn’t go in looking for this but hmm, I’m tempted… I can’t resist… oh ho ho I have made some irresponsible decisions at the library today [carrying my stack of ten random books]” and then it doesn’t even matter if you don’t like them because a) free b) you’re gonna give them back anyway

right now i'm obsessed with collecting library cards in my libby app like fucking infinity stones

This could be a fun children's book