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That's beautiful. Thanks for posting it.

@wtg Oh dear, I figured it out... I wasn't logged in!

... exits sheepishly...

@wtg A question regarding Brave. I'm giving it a spin. It's fast. However, visited links are not greyed out as they should be. Example: coming to this site, all the topics are the same color--nothing I've already read is greyed out, so it's hard to know if there are new posts anywhere.

Is this the same for you? Did you have to do something to fix it?

@ShiroKuro said in Windows 11:

Also, in MS Word, I feel like MS's grammar checker comes up with incorrect suggestions more than it used to. I ignore them, but I notice the inaccuracy more. I type fast and sloppy, so in the past the grammar checker + spell check were pretty helpful but much less so now.

I noticed the incorrect grammar suggestions when I was using Chrome. It was very annoying.

Finally, not everyone is thrilled with Windows 11 being turned into an AI-agentic operating system. Despite all the AI hype, some people don't want AI second-guessing their every move or reporting on their work to Microsoft.

No kidding.

It's been over a month since I switched to Linux Mint with the Cinnamon UI. Since most of my time on the computer is now spent in a browser, there is little difference in look and feel. The only difference is I'm using Firefox instead of Chrome or Edge. Almost every software is going to have a few annoyances. Firefox is no different, but the adblock extension works well with it, and that (besides security) is my highest priority.

I am very happy I switched over to Linux. For decades all the programs I wrote at work were meant to run on Linux, so although I was not the systems person, I knew enough to get around. That helps. It's not entirely foreign to me. Plus, I was always comfortable with the command line because I started programming pre-Windows. (Command line knowledge is not entirely necessary to run a Linux UI, but it's helpful.)

Mint has been taking little longer to boot than my Windows OS did so I'm looking into that. I ran all the pending updates and switched to a local mirror, but it still takes a little longer. I may try one of the other distributions at some point, for comparison. But for now, I'm pleased with Mint/Cinnamon.

eta: Mint comes with a great photo editor for free: Gimp. But unlike Photoscape, that I used on Windows, it is sophisticated enough to sport something of a learning curve. I'm still learning.

Full on decorating mood here. I find it a great way to brighten up the shorter and shorter days. We should have more big festivals.

Both trees are up and now decorated (living room and dining room). I decided not to put up the silver tree in the kitchen this year. After 5 or 6 years in the kitchen for the season it has picked up a greased dusty look. So I put a 3' holiday topiary on the kitchen work table. The village is displayed in the book shelf again as I really enojoyed it last year. The santa collection sit atop one of the antique sewing machines. A swag over my desk. And a few bits and bobs here and there. Pics to come.

Happy Birthday, Mary Anna! Many happy returns of the day!

Been snowing al day but accumulating slowly. So far only 3-4". Very pretty.

Outdoors

Indoors (part of new wall visible)

I think that when it comes to AI, there are no adults in the halls of congress. No regulation, no oversight, no plans, no discussion.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/dec/02/artificial-intelligence-threats-congress

Again, already! Time to deck the halls, be jolly and merry.

Siloe never ceases to blow me away...

@Steve-Miller I buy my wood dried and split, and this year's delivery will sit out in a pile until next summer, when I'll stack it under cover for use next year. Really dry is key to good fires. Buying dried wood is more expensive than green, but still cheaper than oil. I only had to buy 3 cords this year because of left over from last year.

More beautiful than La Cornue, imo, and an affordable price! And it's in NH. If I were younger, maybe... https://nh.craigslist.org/atq/d/hancock-majestic-cookstove/7890849350.html

@wtg said in Conflicted:

The father told Pioneer Press he supports Trump “in many ways,” but he doesn’t support the massive sweep of people based on their ethnicity.

As a Trump supporter, he's had to overlook a magnitude of egregious behavior that calls into question his judgement, and dare I say, morals.

How do these people turn a blind eye to the despicable things the painted one has said and done is beyond me.

@AdagioM Oh, how horrible. I know other real life stories. It's a real thing. My hair dresser back in NYC had a client who lost 2 cockatoos when he accidentally left the heat on under a non-stick fry pan. Many years ago, when I had parakeets, I lost half a dozen one evening due to a hot air popcorn popper, which I had just purchased that afternoon. Who would have thought it? There I was, on a kick to eat healthier snacks, and it never crossed my mind that PTFEs would be part of the heating cup? It didn't even register as a potential hazard--it was a freakin' popcorn maker. Oh what a horrible night that was. An hour or so after I'd made the popcorn, I heard a plop from the kitchen, where they were. Then another. And another. Agony. I was thankful to have a bottle of brandy in the house and I soused the pain heavily that night.

@wtg Yes, I read the overview earlier this evening, but the ratings are all behind the paywall.

@wtg Yeah. They're gorgeous!

@wtg Well, cool! They do exist.

I gotta say, though, I'm not convinced by the article as to why one shouldn't use them. The safety issue is not an issue for me, I've been cooking with an open flame my whole life (and electric stoves will burn too). Apart from that, the author makes a few obvious and nebulous statements. "Could impact performance", well yes, to be expected. "Potential to impact the electronics", that's so vague as to question the validity of his claim. More specifics are needed. "Aren't designed to be used with discs". Again, sounds like it was written by marketing. So what if they weren't designed that way. I would like to know the real negative impacts. I suspect if there were some real negative impacts, he would have written them.

What I would do--hypothetically, and probably--is get a new set of induction specific cookware and a disk so I could use the few vintage, special pieces that I don't want to let go of. They aren't used everyday.

@AndyD After just having seen a La Cornue for $17K, that price is a little less shocking. But still out of my budget.

I have had good luck with LG. The refrigerator I bought many years ago still works a charm (knock on wood).