Pete Ashton

Notes for 9 October: https://notes.peteashton.com/2025/10/09/notes-for-october.html

@afewbugs Oh dear… That doesn’t happen with rabbits (although a few decades ago I guess it might have).

@afewbugs Ever since we got rabbits a decade+ ago we’ve been inundated with rabbit-related gifts because we’re the rabbit people now. (Probably doesn’t hurt that we’re happy to receive them…)

A photo of a grey pumpkin-shaped squash on a table outdoors with greenery and blue sky in the background.

It’s gourd season, and occasionally nice afternoon light season. Quite pleased with this photo. https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/its-decorative-gourd-season-motherfuckers

@jezhiggins Yeah, sheep be like that.

Early social media, for example, was quite lucrative for folks like me, at least until the straights figured it out and weaponised it for marketing. But that's another story.

People who struggle with dealing with people will often get good at studying how social interactions work, mapping them out and developing strategies to survive (and occasionally thrive) in them. I've definitely done this, and have occasionally been paid cashmoney to point out the bleeding […]

If Books Could Kill on Dale Carnegie.

One of my go-to podcasts for entertaining insomnia brain food, they tackle exploitative easy-answer self-help books and this episode is the ur-text that started it all - How To Win Friends and Influence People. What struck me was how Carnegie comes over as […]

@jezhiggins “Hullo Jez”

I shouldn't need to say this, but I guess it's how social media works: just because someone doesn't post about something doesn't mean they don't care about it. If I posted to express my sadness at every atrocity, racist incident, horrific murder or terrorist attack that happened in the world I'd […]

@theaardvark @pikesley Lindsay Ellis is godlike. I can’t believe it’s only been 7 years since this came out.

Screenshot of the results of a game of Stackdown. All words were found in a few seconds except one which took me 15m 26s.

I’m the fucking best at Stackdown until suddenly I’m really not. (Yesterday’s results - no spoilers) https://puzzlist.com/stackdown/

@hellomiakoda Daily Tism is fab! Thanks!

Notable new music: Branwen and Gouge Away: https://notes.peteashton.com/2025/09/22/notable-new-music-branwen-and.html

@Monocat I like how the chap on the bench is checking out the giant mushrooms.

Was convinced for a short while that Addicted to Love was a ZZ Top song, but I think it’s excusable. Sharp Dressed Man could totally be by Robert Palmer.

ZZ Top have been on my mind as I’ve spent days wondering if they’re a novelty act or not. #music

@theaardvark @jezhiggins How? And also, you lucky boy.

@jezhiggins Gotcha. Carbon contamination makes sense.

@jezhiggins Genuine Q - if a rock has survived burning through the atmosphere, what possible damage could handling it do? Surely any skin oils will wash off?

@afewbugs Oh golly, proper context-collapse time. Good luck!

@theaardvark I know they’re not reviews, but the fact that after all that they end with you saying you’ll do the review later just kills me.

Spotted the token jazz album in the Mercury shortlist by Emma-Jean Thackray is a) about living with AuDHD, b) called Weirdo, and c) about reclaiming the term. Clearly it can’t live up to that (it’s a bit too smooooth for me) but definitely going into my “things that are explicitly ‘weird’” […]

Chatting with my 20 year old niece and realising that she sees the 2010 internet (we were talking about lolcats) in the same way I, as a 90s kid, think of early 80s squat/dole culture (nicely articulated here) - with warm jealousy for a time of possibilities that has vanished by the time we grew […]

@theaardvark Happy to help.

@theaardvark Could you not buy multiple jars of a good variety so you have backups that don’t need filming?

TriGlide Cruiser The TriGlide Cruiser takes the luxury mobility scooter and adds edge, style and performance. Comfort and reliability? A given. You’ve finally found the scooter to help you reclaim the roads, offering a perfect blend of performance and comfort, a top speed of 8mph and enough in the tank for 35 miles of travel.

(If money were no object I’d go for this beastie! https://www.careco.co.uk/triglide-cruiser/ )

I need to purchase a very basic pavement mobility scooter so I can get back into the world with chronic fatigue #cfs and of course this is something I have absolutely no idea about. Just need to go a mile or so to the shops. Anyone want to shout “no! stop!" before I hit buy on this wee beastie? […]

Did you know your MacBook has a sensor that knows the exact angle of the screen hinge?

It’s not exposed as a public API, but I figured out a way to read it and make it sound like an old wooden door.

Source code and a downloadable app to try it yourself […]

[Original post on hachyderm.io]

RIP Maru, the OG cat who liked boxes. https://www.youtube.com/post/UgkxzuNkLoPL5e4nSTqR1zIdfP5pX2nV6NGT

This news caused me to revisit this banger from (checks watch) 15 years ago. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zi8VTeDHjcM