Welcome to the syndicated version of Newsletter Leaf Journal 141 (see original, sent June 24, 2023). Below, you will find the newsletter as it originally appeared. If you want to receive the newsletter when it first comes out, see our options for email sign up or following via RSS (see sign-up options and info).

Leaves from the week that was

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I published three new articles and several short posts since mailing Newsletter 140.

Regular articles

The world to reverse is a 2006 visual novel with two stories in one. Both made for interesting (and dark) reads.

Some people seem to miss the potential issues.

After reviewing the English translation of the 2007 NScripter version of Tegami last week (see review), I tested the original 2005 Japanese release, which is powered by Yuuki!Novel, on Linux on top of WINE.

Leaflets and Leaf Buds

Leaves from around the web

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Let’s check in on what is happening around the world wide web…

A genuinely impressive series of political manuevers yielded an outcome that was perhaps not entirely aligned with the spirit of the first sentence of Article II, Section 1 of the United States Constitution.

A sad (unfortunately probable) farewell to a charming little bird.

The truth is considerably cooler than the hot takes.

“Then the two women, who had by now become quite close, had a creative epiphany: perhaps they hadn’t visited the actual events of August 10th, 1792, but the mindscape of Marie Antoinette on that day.”

Contrary to the wording of the article, it is not at all clear to me that Mr. Amuso is the former boss of the Luchese crime family…

I saw a line at this place a few weeks ago and wondered what the deal was. Then I read this article and learned what the deal was.

Having walked within earshot of said party, will opine that putting very loud marching bands in the middle of residential neighborhoods is bad.

Missing from this bizarre opinion piece is any recognition that in some cases, kids may have justifiable grievances against their divorced parents, either for the divorce itself or for how their parents have handled their affairs.

Thanks to me, this made page one of Hacker News. While I did not join the discussion I started, I will note for the record that Ms. Craig is directionally correct.

  • Sudan Again
    Alberto M. Fernandez for The American Mind. May 1, 2023.

A learned look at the current discord in Sudan and past discord in Sudan.

An interesting post on the value of digital goods.

Was it hiding or were you just bad at looking?

The Old Leaf Journal

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Let’s rake some older leaves…

Coming soon on June 24, 2004.

This post was in my mind for last week’s ATM article.

Interesting portrait…

I have no primary to vote in this year. That means much less mail.

Perhaps our most negative game review.

Here’s hoping…

Most-turned leaves of the newsletter week

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I list our most-read articles from the previous newsletter week (Friday to Saturday) in each edition of The Newsletter Leaf Journal. These statistics come courtesy of Koko Analytics, our local, privacy friendly page-counting solution (see my review). Below, I present the 5 most-visited articles for 2023 newsletter week 25.

  1. The Mystery of Sōseki and Tsuki ga Kirei (NAF, 3.14.21)
    2023 Appearances: 25
    Top Placements: 8
  2. Heights in “The Dangers in My Heart” Anime (NAF, 4.2.23 )
    2023 Appearances: 4
  3. Peekier Search Engine Review (NAF, 2.26.22)
    2023 Appearances: 18
    Top Placements: 3
  4. Tiki paralogue trick in Fire Emblem Engage (NAF, 2.3.23)
    2023 Appearances: 20
    Top Placements: 11
  5. The Pokémon Special Split in Generation 2 – Statistics and Analysis (NAF, 1.18.22)
    2023 Appearances: 17

My newsletter-creating job is much easier when the top five articles from one week return in the exact same order in the next. We had a strange week which included our second-best day of June and our worst day since June 2021 in Koko Analytics stats. The end result in total views and article configuration that is similar to the previous week, with the notable difference being that the top two separated themselves more from the rest of the pack. My tsuki ga kirei post secured its third straight top finish with a slightly better week than the previous two while my Dangers in the Heart leaflet finished second for the third week in a row with almost the same view total as the previous two weeks. The only near surprise of the week was a solid sixth place finish by our longest article, the history of the Roman Emperor Otho.

News leaf journal

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We may be making some progress on our Bing ban situation. There is a real person assigned to our case now. I am still waiting for an update on the results of the assessment. Being restored to Bing, and by extension Bing-derivatives such as DuckDuckGo, would certainly make us much less reliant on the ups and downs of Google clicks (which have become a bit more erratic in recent weeks than they were earlier in 2023). Fingers crossed.

Notable leaf journal

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I tested Textractor, an open source tool for translating visual novels (using Google Translate) while I was putting together my Yuuki!Novel article. It is Windows-only, but I figured out how to set it up well on Linux using Bottles. Consider this a future guide topic and perhaps a tool that will allow me to look at some Japanese visual novels that were never translated into English (albeit, Google Translate has limitations that would prevent me from reviewing them in the same way I review novels with human English translations).

Taking leaf

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Thank you as always for reading The Newsletter Leaf Journal (and, I hope, The New Leaf Journal). If you want to follow the newsletter and are not doing so already, we offer email and RSS options (see options). I also syndicate the newsletter to The New Leaf Journal on Mondays (usually on Mondays…).

I hope everyone in the northern hemisphere is enjoying the beginning of summer (we have a ways to go until summer’s end). I look forward to reporting on July 1, 2023, with what promises to be a very patriotic newsletter.

Until then,

Cura ut valeas.