Notices by Minoru Saba (minorusaba@toad.social), page 12

For some reason whilst watching news clips re political manoeuvring to decide Japan's next PM, I remembered watching on a black-and-white CRT TV an intriguing, guitar-playing character (who turned out to be a vampire) in one episode of Gegege no Kitarō (ゲゲゲの鬼太郎). Pattern recognition, perhaps?
https://gegegenokitaro.fandom.com/wiki/Vampire_Elite

Software update bricks some Jeep 4xe hybrids over the weekend
Jeep has pulled the update; owners are advised to ignore it if it already downloaded.
https://arstechnica.com/cars/2025/10/software-update-bricks-some-jeep-4xe-hybrids-over-the-weekend/?utm_brand=arstechnica&utm_social-type=owned&utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social

@brezelradar @Noortjevee @itsfoss
I Linux Mint-ed my two Win 10 laptops a couple of months ago so all moot to me. Plus I have a chromebook.

Windows 10 users... it’s time. The penguin is calling! 🐧

#windows #linux

Windows 10 users... it’s time. The penguin is calling! 🐧

#windows #linux

Found the GIMP manual.
https://docs.gimp.org/3.0/en/index.html

Still a chore, but now have more of a handle on how to change the paintbrush settings and how the "clone" and "heal" functions work, thus dealing with pin-point blemishes after the rough photo-bomb erase with the GIMP Resynthesizer Plugin.
https://github.com/bootchk/resynthesizer/blob/master/README.md

Fortunately original image was postcard-size resolution, so newbie edit attempt isn't too glaringly obvious.
It will do.🙂

Needed to erase part of the background of a photograph, so installed editing software purchased online eons ago; but the photo-bomb removal button kept opening a link for monthly subscriptions to gain access to the function. No sale.😡
Promptly uninstalled software and replaced it with Gimp.
Was warned about the steep learning curve, but found enough info on the web to get the job done, albeit with much gnashing of teeth and time expended.
#Gimp

Infection status
Released Oct 10, 2025.
- As of period from Sep 29 - Oct 5, 2025 -

No. of patients per medical facility (nationwide) 4.82
Change from prev. week -1.05
[Source: Health-Labor-Welfare Ministry weekly report]
https://www.mhlw.go.jp/content/001576994.pdf
🔸Week 16 of 13th wave
Saga at 5.71, Tokyo at 3.282, Akita at 5.08, Hokkaido at 3.62, Okinawa at 3.93, #Oita at 8.38

#Influenza (nationwide) at 1.56
Change from prev. week +0.52
#Okinawa at 12.18
https://www.mhlw.go.jp/content/001576812.pdf
#CovidIsNotOver #Japan

I'm with Mark on this being stupid because (a) launch costs (coming down fast but still ridiculously high), (b) energy (PV cells, yes, but you need to put them in orbit first), and (c) waste heat, which is THE killer problem for data centres on Earth, where we have these heat sinks called "rivers" and "the atmosphere". Vacuum's a thermal insulator!

(No need to get into the weeds and talk about latency. Whole idea's stupid.)
https://eigenmagic.net/@NewtonMark/115332884441287733

@1a1nC Oceanic ones make more sense: much cheaper to get to for repair/maintenance, and it's a great heat sink.

Phone company texted yesterday to say they're raising the price of the minimum plan by about 11% but will chuck in an extra 1GB monthly data use (which I don't need) begging understanding re rising costs, price of fish, etc.
Only got a mobile for emergencies as phone boxes were being culled, but with the increasing noise of spam & scams, wondering whether it's well nigh to ditch the mobile and track down the remaining public phones🤔
#UnnecessaryInflation

@ai6yr
It feels that we've been hearing about bear attacks in Japan like twice or even 3 times a week this summer.

"On YouTube... slick "explainers"... outshine legacy media professionals. On X... opinions far outpace any fact-checking"
"[This] has implications for... traditional journalism [and] Japanese #democracy"

"What breeds distrust in #Japan's legacy #media most [is that] it often does not correct #misinformation it has disseminated" says manga artist Mayumi Kurata who "sees a worrying trend in which people want to grasp only key points rather than the entire discussion"
https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20251007/p2g/00m/0na/054000c

Blue Skies · Ella Fitzgerald
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAa4teWb0rU

"Blue skies smiling at me
Nothing but blue skies do I see

Blue birds singing a song
Nothing but blue skies from now on..."
https://genius.com/Irving-berlin-blue-skies-lyrics
#BlueSkies #EllaFitzgerald

@HollyCo26588808 Arriving in Tonoshō a couple of years ago by ferry on a trip to Shodoshima, an island in the Seto Inland Sea, we noticed a pervasive aroma of sesame oil as the ferry prepared to dock as Kadoya Seiyu's factory was just across the way.
It smelt appetizing, but wouldn't want it to mask the flavour of coffee.

@glitzersachen @arstechnica
Where are they gonna go?
To Ernst&Young of Wirecard fame and also https://www.internationalaccountingbulletin.com/news/ey-1bn-tech-strategy/ ?
PwC (https://www.pwc.be/en/news-publications/2024/hello-chatpwc.html)?
KPMG (https://kpmg.com/us/en/ai.html)?

@DrEvanGowan Japan's parliament is expected to vote for a new PM on Oct 15, but LDP + Komeito are in the minority and Komeito may be reluctant to be pulled further right to vote for Takaichi; thus Komeito's leader, an opposition party leader or a compromise candidate (perhaps not a cat) might end up as PM before the Halloween pumpkin jets in from USA around Oct 20🎃

Reminiscent of Jim Hacker in "Yes, Prime Minister":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zI9Ip0GLUJ0&t=892s

Brilliant point well made by David Osland.

We're told pensions are 'unsustainable’, the Post Office is ‘unsustainable’ and now that the NHS is 'unsustainable'. They were all entirely sustainable before the private sector starting looting the public sector.

@xeroxerox

Social insects like bees and ants are excellent mascots for public health because due to their densely populated nests insects invented some of the fundamentals of "public health" long before humans even existed.

Ants famously have grave yards. It's fun to imagine this is because they are sad about their fallen sisters and wish to remember them, but the real reason is much more simple: dead ants can be vectors of ant pathogens, so it's important to isolate the dead bodies.

"...if history’s any guide, Japan’s democracy is about to get the kind of cosmetic surgery that leaves the patient unrecognizable and the doctor whistling all the way to the bank"
https://tokyopaladin.substack.com/p/the-rise-of-japans-female-trump-why
🔸Never understood Japan's fascination for Margaret Thatcher. Perhaps distance filters out the gory bits.
#Japan