Welcome to the (syndicated) 144th edition of The Newsletter Leaf Journal, the official newsletter of the perennially virid online writing magazine, The New Leaf Journal, with content too amazing for Bing and DuckDuckGo. I originally mailed this newsletter on July 15, 2023. Below, you will find the newsletter as it originally appeared.
Leaves from the week that was
I published five normal articles.
- Installing Non-Listed Programs in PlayOnLinux: A step-by-step guide to running Windows programs with the help of PlayOnLinux (the guide is probably applicable to PlayOnMac as well)
- The Girl I Like Forgot Her Glasses Ep1 Animation: I dive into an unexpectedly contentious debate about the animation style employed in episode 1 of a summer 2023 anime series.
- Barbie & Oppenheimer without context: I only learned this was a meme after I began working on the article.
- RSS for keeping up with MikroTik updates: Keeping my router’s operating system up to date with the help of an RSS feed.
- Japanese Language Env in Steam (Linux): I follow up last year’s guide on configuring Japanese language environments in PlayOnLinux, Lutris, and Bottles with a guide to doing the same in Steam.
I also published a single Leaf Bud post on Google continuing to support Stadia controllers for Linux users.
Leaves from around the web
Let’s check in on the world wide web…
- Sea Cucumber Crime Is a Thing, and This Is Where It’s Happening
Frank Jacobs for Big Think (via Atlas Obscura). July 7, 2023.
Long-time readers of this newsletter who subscribed back in July 2021 will already be well-informed about sea cucumber crime. See my around the web link in Newsletter XLII about Yakuza-sea cucumber malfeasance.
- Indian police retain carrier pigeons as backstop against disasters
Sunil Kataria for Reuters. June 20, 2023.
If anything happens to one of their carrier pigeons, The New Leaf Journal is ready to help.
- The Enduring Appeal of Architect Geoffrey Bawa
Noor Anand Chawla for JSTOR Daily. June 18, 2023.
I saw the demand for more Sri Lankan architecture links.
- Bad News Beepers
Ernie Smith at Tedium. June 7, 2023.
I am old enough to remember when beepers were popular but not old enough to have gone to school with people smuggling beepers into the classroom.
I wonder what the AP style guide says about “Florida Man” headlines.
- The Mystery of the Headless Millipedes
William Von Herff for Atlas Obscura. May 26, 2023.
Rejected Sherlock Holmes novel ideas.
- AliExpress sets new standard for “creepy cute” with Pikacentipede plushie
Ingrid Tsai for SoraNews24. January 4, 2021.
The knockoff Pokémon merchandise market is much stranger than it was in the late 90s.
- Large bear lumbers into Connecticut bakery, feasts on 60 cupcakes
David Propper for the New York Post. May 25, 2023.
Did the bear pay?
- Retro Review: Tru-Tone Crayons
Ana for The Well Apportioned Desk. May 22, 2023.
Reviewing classic crayons (still readily available on Ebay, apparently).
- On China’s Enemies Within
Taneer Greer at The Scholar’s Stage. January 27, 2023.
“But Cao’s message was different. She was about to disappear. One by one her fellow vigil-organizers had gone dark. Where they were taken, and on what charges, she did not know. She knew only this: she was next.”
- My long goodbye to Windows XP
Anders L at Wood From Eden. November 1, 2022.
Far be it from me to give authoritative computer security advice, but I would not recommend running a Windows XP system with internet access before upgrading to Windows 7. But don’t let me stop you from living your best life.
- 129-Year-Old Vessel Still Tethered to Lifeboat Found on Floor of Lake Huron
Christopher Parker for Smithsonian Magazine. March 3, 2023.
A haunting discovery.
Most-turned leaves of the newsletter week
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 28.
- Height differences in anime romances (NAF, 3.22.23)
2023 Appearances: 3. Top Placements: 2 - The Mystery of Sōseki and Tsuki ga Kirei (NAF, 3.14.21)
2023 Appearances: 28 Top Placements: 9 - The Enigmatic Life and Death of Emperor Otho (NAF, 4.16.21)
2023 Appearances: 3 - Abraham Lincoln’s 1851 Letters on Work to John D. Johnston (NAF, 11.4.21)
2023 Appearances: NEW - The Pokémon Special Split in Generation 2 – Statistics and Analysis (NAF, 1.18.22)
2023 Appearances: 19
Newsletter Week 28 produced a more ordinary ranking than Week 27. My long essay on anime heights in romances easily topped the ranking for the second consecutive week, but its views came back down to Earth and I would be somewhat surprised to see it top the ranking next week. My tsuki ga kirei post had a down-week in making its 116th consecutive top five, but it was enough to edge out our longest article for second place on the ranking. We also saw the 2023 debut of my article on an 1851 Abraham Lincoln letter, which has generally been a non-entity in the rankings in 2023 after notching four weekly appearances and one first-place finish in 2022.
News leaf journal
There is no new news on The New Leaf Journal site front this week. I spent all of my limited New Leaf Journal time writing articles instead of fiddling with the site.
Still no update from Bing regarding the now three-week old (alleged) review of our Bing ban.
Notable leaf journal
I am preparing to undertake a handheld gaming experiment. If it is successful, you can expect to read about it in The New Leaf Journal. If it is unsuccessful, you may never hear about it again.
Taking leaf
Thank you as always for reading and following The Newsletter Leaf Journal. This edition of the newsletter was on the short side, but I did leave you with a solid article word count between my own posts and recommended links to hold you over. I look forward to having even more to share next week.
Until July 22,
Cura ut valeas