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maidenjedi) wrote2025-12-29 03:01 pmyuletide rec
Ever Dared to Dream Before - Daisy Jones and the Six, a Billy/Daisy story that reimagines their end-of-canon reunion. I really loved this story. The author let Billy deal with all his issues and Daisy be the settled, real version of herself that kept getting buried under drugs and wild youth. Every bit of this was what I wanted after seeing the series and reading the novel. This was my Yuletide gift and it is perfect!
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plants_animals_feed) wrote2025-12-29 03:50 pmSuspected shark attack at California occurred in time and place where large sharks come to feed
liminal_space) wrote2025-12-29 02:18 pmbut i'm not a grinch
there are things about this place i don't like. the upstairs bathroom is attached to the kitchen; something i SWORE i would never have. the bathtub/shower combo is like a horrible tardis that needs to be replaced -- not because it doesn't work, but because it is so ugly. SO UGLY.
i miss the 20 ft. ceilings we had in our CA house, the wide open floor plan, and the view of the valley from our H U G E windows in the living room. this house is roughly the same size sq ft wise, but half of the sq feet are up and half are down, making it feel less spacious.
what more than makes up for that is the studio we have attached to the garage which is huge and really versatile.
all of this to say that i want to take the christmas tree down today....even though our tradition has been to take it down on the 31st.
*
today we made a tray of tasty treats for the chickens (click for image -- still trying to figure out how to upload a photo without it being directly hosted).
apples, cottage cheese, and smooshed blueberries. not pictured is the pot of oatmeal and bananas i made for them. poor girls out there in the cold and mister husband not wanting to let them live in the house with us.
;)
*
i'm not sure what the rest of the day has in store, but i DO know i need to get some planning done for 2026. i LOVE the freshness of a new year. ;)
twocents_feed) wrote2025-12-29 08:00 pmSo, I Tried an AI Shopping Cart
The first supermarket, the Piggly Wiggly in Memphis, opened its doors in 1916. It was the first time people could wander around a store and pick their items from a shelf instead of handing a list to a clerk who would gather everything for them—typically without any choice of brand or style. Grocery shopping remains a daily or weekly ritual for most people, and it can be a real chore—especially if you’re shopping for a large family. My own grocery lists aren’t all that long, but I still find myself juggling my phone and a scrap of paper as I walk around the store, checking for digital coupons and trying to do quick math. So when I read that one of the local grocery stores (a ShopRite) was rolling out Smart Shopping Carts powered by artificial intelligence (AI), I was intrigued.
I’m naturally dubious about a lot of AI tools, but grocery shopping seemed like a place where a little digital help might come in handy. So I headed out to see whether these fancy new carts would offer real benefits or just a lot of targeted advertisements.
What are caper carts?
The carts in question are Caper Carts, which is owned by Instacart. They’re pretty large and tank-like, and kind of heavy to push.
You need to have an account with ShopRite in order to use these carts, as they use your phone number to track your purchases; you can choose to store a credit card or other form of payment in there for convenience, but it’s not required. When you walk in the store, the Caper Carts are right there in the entrance area. When you pull one out, the screen lets you enter your phone number, then offers you a (mercifully brief) tutorial.
The carts have barcode scanners mounted on both sides of the back of the cart, and the cart itself is a scale, which is both how it ensures you’ve scanned everything in the cart and how it calculates the cost of loose produce. If you’ve ever used a self-checkout in a grocery store, it’s kind of similar: You hold items up to the scanners and then drop them into your cart. For produce, you look up what you’re buying and then drop it into the cart, where it’s weighed and added to the total. Along the way, the cart will look for potential coupons or deals you might be interested in. The carts can import your shopping lists from the store’s app, if you want, and will keep track of your loyalty points and rewards as well.
How to use a Caper Cart
The first Caper Cart I selected didn’t work; nothing would scan no matter how I held things up to the scanners. This wasn’t a big deal—I let the store folks know, logged out of the cart, and grabbed another. The second cart worked perfectly.
These carts are pretty heavy, and the second cart I used had a loose wheel which made it rumble loudly as I walked the aisles—you aren’t going to be racing these carts and jumping on for a quick glide. When I dropped an item in the cart without scanning it, the cart politely showed me a video of me placing the item (creepy) and asked if I wanted to fess up to adding something to the cart. It did, however, give me the option to declare a “personal item,” which is a solid feature.
I forgot to put my shopping bags in the cart, because I am frequently dumb. You’re supposed to bag as you go, which saves you time; I had to bag after checkout, which did not save me time. On the other hand, I don’t always shop in bagging order, so bagging as I go might result in some of my items getting crushed under heavier groceries, or me having to re-arrange everything in the middle of the shopping experience. I kind of like bagging at the end, when I can make decisions about how to arrange everything optimally.
If you change your mind about an item, you just remove it from the cart. The Caper system will notice and remove the item from your bill.
When you’re done, you just tap “Checkout” and head to the Checkout Area.
This will be different depending on the specific store you’re in—some stores don’t have checkout lanes for the Caper Carts, but this ShopRite did. There was only one lane for Caper Carts, and I had to wait behind someone as they checked themselves out. Then I scanned a barcode on my screen with a gun and tapped my card to pay while a security guard loomed nearby, presumably to discourage folks from making a run for it.
The pros and cons of AI shopping carts
Overall, the AI shopping cart experience was a slight upgrade from typical grocery shopping. Bagging as you go is convenient, and checkout is a little easier because you scan a single barcode instead of two dozen. I didn’t receive many personalized coupons or recipe suggestions because this was my first time using the system, but I can see how that could become very useful if the cart is able to dig up coupons or offers that I missed.
A few specific notes:
The cart can accidentally scan a barcode if you get close to a shelf, which can cause confusion, though the cart will quickly delete it if the weight doesn’t change.
As noted above, the carts are pretty heavy. If you’re going to be buying a lot of groceries all at once, this could become a real workout.
Adding produce can be a little complicated: You have to locate the “price look up” (PLU) code for the specific produce you’re adding, then scan or type it into the screen before dropping it into the cart. That means sometimes hunting for those little stickers and tapping a bunch of numbers into your cart over and over again.
Seeing your total spend add up in real time is useful, especially if you’re tracking costs. If an item costs more than expected, you see it immediately, and if the overall cost is more than anticipated you have time to adjust your selections before you hit the checkout.
Because you have to go through a checkout lane as usual (and there was only one dedicated lane for Caper Carts), during busy times you might wind up waiting a long time to get out of the store, which kind of cancels out the convenience factor. Of course, as more people use these carts, ShopRite might add more dedicated Caper lanes.
Depending on how you shop for groceries, these AI shopping carts might be worth a try—but don’t expect a revolutionary experience.
twocents_feed) wrote2025-12-29 08:00 pmThis Bose SoundLink Flex Is Currently Its Lowest Price Ever
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Bose makes speakers that have dominated their space, and when it comes to portable mid-size rugged speakers, the Bose SoundLink Flex has been one of the best since its release in 2021. The second-generation Bose SoundLink Flex came out last year, and it improves certain aspects to keep the speaker competitive. Currently, you can get it for $119 (originally $149), the lowest price it has been, according to price-tracking tools.
The second-generation Bose SoundLink Flex is the middle sibling between the oldest (but smallest) Bose SoundLink Micro, and the youngest (but largest) Bose SoundLink Max. The Flex also strikes a good middle ground between them in terms of portability and sound, making it the best portable speaker for most people.
The Flex has an IP67 rating, which means you get complete protection against water and dust. The speaker even floats in the water, so you can bring it with you into the pool. While it doesn't offer full EQ customization in its companion app (it only has a three-band EQ), the sound has rich bass depth and clear highs out of the box. It also features a speakerphone, allowing you to take calls and speak with it, thanks to its built-in microphone. It now comes with a USB-C charger too, allowing for faster charging. At 3.6 by 7.9 by 2.1 inches (HWD) and 1.3 pounds, it's light and portable, and the Bluetooth 5.3 supports multipoint connectivity and SBC, AAC, and aptX codecs.
The SoundLink Flex is ideal for those who want to take their speaker with them anywhere, thanks to its compact size and light weight. And for the price, it offers some of the best audio available.
twocents_feed) wrote2025-12-29 07:55 pmLifehacker Deals Live Blog: The Best Tech Sales, All in One Place
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With this live blog, you can keep up with the best deals the Lifehacker team finds every day—all in one place. Bookmark this page to keep an eye on what we're finding. As always, we use price-tracking tools to suss out the deals that are actually worth paying attention to, not just hype designed to instill a false sense of urgency.
plants_animals_feed) wrote2025-12-29 03:10 pmFungus disarms bark beetle chemical shields by converting their plant-derived toxins
plants_animals_feed) wrote2025-12-29 03:09 pmGenetic study reveals two killer whale ecotypes near Hokkaido waters
thisbluespirit) wrote2025-12-29 08:17 pmYuletide Recs (Part 1)
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yuletide fic here and there suited my current state, and I've had a lot of fun with it so far, I actually have a whole batch of recs ready to go for once. (I still need to go back and pick up some fandoms, especially in the first half of the alphabet, and I've barely touched Madness).( 22 recs in As You Like It, British Airways, Cabin Pressure, Cadfael, Dogsbody, Enigma, Flower Fairies, The Good Place, Georgette Heyer, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme, Ludwig, The Prisoner, Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead, Shakespeare & Hathaway, Time Master, Welcome to Our Village Please Invade Carefully & Yes Minister )
laurajv) wrote2025-12-29 03:00 pmFIC: (the time was neither wrong nor right)
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Star Trek: The Original Series
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: James T. Kirk/Spock, James T. Kirk & Spock
Characters: James T. Kirk, Spock (Star Trek)
Additional Tags: Post-Episode: s03e12 Plato's Stepchildren (Star Trek: The Original Series), T'hy'la (Star Trek), Kolinahr (Star Trek)
Summary:
Four years and two hundred seventy-six days into the five-year mission, Spock initiates a conversation.
umadoshi) wrote2025-12-29 03:47 pm
Post-Christmas mishmash | Recent media
I guess at this point we're well into the liminal last bit of the year. (I said to
scruloose earlier that I still try to hold "Christmas is twelve days, dammit" in my heart, but it's hard, especially when our observance of the the holiday at all is so low-key.) We had masked visits with both sets of parents (mine on Christmas Eve and scruloose's on Boxing Day), and in between, Christmas Day was just the two of us and the cats and the Netflix fireplaces. My mom sent us home with Christmas stockings and some gifts (also very low-key; we still keep nudging for just not doing presents at all), and the latter included a hard copy of the most recent edition of Garner's Modern English Usage, which was a delightful surprise.We actually had a white Christmas, which has never been a sure thing and is getting rarer and rarer at terrible speeds, but now ice and rain are arriving, to be followed by a cold snap, so I'm really glad we don't need to leave the house anytime soon. (See also: will we lose power? Very possibly! >.< But we're pretty well-equipped to deal with it.)
I'm feeling like I should be looking ahead or setting small goals or trying to find specific things I want to focus on, but so far I'm not really scrounging the brain for it. Anyone want to tell me about how you're approaching it?
(I do think I'll sign up for a GYWO wordcount goal again, despite having written almost literally zero words this year, but at this point I have the grim suspicion that the words may stay gone until a new full-on fannish obsession hits me, and that's so infrequent for me. ;_; I have so many Guardian WIPs and fragments. [And while I'm enjoying seeing all the fannish glee over Heated Rivalry, I don't currently feel fannish about it myself {which, honestly, I'm okay with}.])
Recent media, mostly books: All Is Bright, Llinos Cathryn Thomas' "read over Advent" novella, which was lovely; The Dark is Rising (book), which I'm glad to have finally read; I don't know if/when I might read the books that follow it; Snake-Eater by T. Kingfisher; Widdershins by Jordan L. Hawk; KJ Charles' Masters in this Hall (which I should've checked the series info about first, as it's the third Lilywhite Boys book and I haven't read the second. Oops); and Brigid Kemmerer's A Curse So Dark and Lonely.
scruloose and I finished listening to System Collapse, so we're out of Murderbot books. Yesterday (?) we listened to the four-minute audiobook sample of The Thief, which I might be able to work with? But wow, the voice sounds so much older than Gen to me. (Also, Kobo, four minutes is a reasonable sample length, but it literally cuts off mid-word.)I watched the season finale of Heated Rivalry pretty promptly on Friday morning, for fear of being spoiled, which meant
scruloose, who hadn't seen any of the show previously, pretty much watched it too while feeding the cats and having their own breakfast. (I did give them some background info first.) As noted above: not feeling fannish, but I thought that was really well done overall, and the actors seem like an absolute delight.And we've watched two movies since starting vacation (Wake Up Dead Man and Sinners), which brings me up to a whopping four [4] movies this year.
james_davis_nicoll) wrote2025-12-29 02:08 pmBundle of Holding: The Burning Wheel
An all-new Burning Wheel Bundle presenting The Burning Wheel, the medieval-themed tabletop fantasy roleplaying game about vibrant, dynamic characters whose beliefs propel the story.
Bundle of Holding: The Burning Wheel
conuly) wrote2025-12-29 02:07 pmWould my dog or cat really eat me if I died alone?
People talk about this like it's so shocking, or like it means your pet obviously doesn't really love you, but c'mon. I love my cat, but I'd eat her in a heartbeat if she was already dead and there was nothing else left. She's my cat, she's not my baby. It's not like I've gone full on Donner Party - and let's be clear, if that was all that was left on the table, and they were already dead, I'd do that too. At least, I'd think about doing it. I suppose I might not be able to bring myself to go that far, but I wouldn't find it shocking if another person did!
twocents_feed) wrote2025-12-29 06:30 pm'GhostPairing' Attacks Are Taking Over WhatsApp Accounts
If you use WhatsApp, you may be targeted by scammers looking to take over your account by pairing their browser to your number. This scheme, dubbed GhostPairing by researchers, uses WhatsApp's device linking process to allow fraudsters to access all of your messages, impersonate you in chats, and perpetuate the scam to your contacts. Here's how threat actors are hijacking WhatsApp accounts—and how to defend yours.
GhostPairing manipulates WhatsApp device linking
WhatsApp allows users to link their desktop or browser to their account without needing to enter login credentials in one of two ways: scanning a QR code and approving the session or confirming a numeric pairing code in the mobile app. While the GhostPairing scam could theoretically manipulate users in either approach, researchers found that the latter is much more common.
The fraud begins with a short message sent from a contact with a link that purportedly goes to a Facebook photo or some type of Facebook content. If you click through, you'll be directed to a spoofed Facebook login page to enter your phone number—a familiar confirmation flow for Meta platforms. The next screen will likely show a numeric code with instructions to enter said code into WhatsApp to confirm the login (again, this may feel like a familiar two-step verification). If you're not paying attention, you may not realize that this didn't do anything on your end but instead registered the attacker's browser as a linked device to your account.
The danger in this scam is that everything will seem normal on your device and in your account, as attackers haven't hijacked your credentials to lock you out. However, they can do anything and everything in WhatsApp that you can, such as reading chats, receiving messages, viewing and downloading media, collecting information from your contacts, and forwarding the same phishing link. As they learn more about you and the people you know, they can potentially use that for ongoing scams.
How to protect your WhatsApp account
As always, be wary of links received via messaging platforms, even if they seem harmless or you think you know and can trust the sender. Threat actors frequently use social media and direct messaging to spread phishing lures. If you do click a link in WhatsApp (or any other communication), read all prompts carefully before providing or verifying any information to identify scams.
To protect your WhatsApp account specifically, you can set up two-step verification, which will also prevent attackers from adding or changing a connected email address. Go to Settings > Account > Two-step verification > Turn on or Set up PIN and add an email address when prompted. You can also check to see if there are any suspicious devices paired with your account under Settings > Linked devices and remove any you don't recognize or regularly use.
Finally, if you have been targeted by this scam, let your WhatsApp contacts know, as threat actors may spread the malicious link by making it look like it came from you.
Yuletide recs (part 2)
Possibly in Michigan
The Secret History
The Raven Tower
Impromptu/19th Century RPF
The Dispossessed
The Long Walk -Stephen King
Waking the Moon
Rope
snickfic) wrote2025-12-29 10:36 amYuletide recs, part II
Two, Seven, Eight, Possibly in Michigan, 1.8k. The Beachwood Place Mall is not a great work environment. The canon is a bizarre 1983 short film about weird men in masks following women in shopping malls, possibly with the intention of eating them, which you can watch here; this fic is a series of incident reports and answering machine messages to and from a concerned perfume counter employee. IDK if it's possible to fully capture the fever dream quality of the film, but this takes a good stab.
an island made from fate, The Secret History, Camilla & Charles, 1.6k. Early on at Hampden, Camilla escapes a tedious house party and finds Charles. This is a great, elegantly written little character study of Camilla, who never got quite enough time in the book IMO, and really shows the fault lines of her relationship with Charles. Great stuff.
k2, p2, yo, k2tog, The Raven Tower, The Strength and Patience of the Hill and The Myriad, 1.2k. The Strength and Patience tells a story about a sheep, and The Myriad has quibbles. The story about the sheep is fun and feels very in keeping with the universe of the novel, and the reveal about why the Strength and Patience has chosen to tell this particular story is delightful.
la femme comme il (en) faut, Impromptu (1991), George Sand, 3.2k. George gets invited to a salon and attends despite her better instincts. I'm not familiar with the movie and found this via the historical RPF tag, but I really enjoyed this vivid portrait of the Parisian artistic community at this time period, and the last scene really elevates it, IMO, and ties the whole thing together. I love the subtle emotional arc of this, and now I kind of want to go find the George Sand biography the author mentionds in the notes.
More A Comment Than A Question, The Dispossessed, Laia Asieo Odo & Sadik, 2.3k. Every so often, Laia goes a little mad and hears a voice claiming to be from the future. It's been a long time since I read about these characters, but I enjoyed this so much. The device of visiting Laia at these various points in her life was very cool, and there's something so peaceful about this whole fic, too, the same sense of peace and simplicity I got from reading the novel years ago.
There's No Discharge in the War, The Long Walk - Stephen King, Stebbins, 12k. Stebbins walks, dies, walks again. Stebbins has always been a sneaky favorite of mine, and I love seeing him get a fic all his own here that fleshes him out and gives him his own unique horrific trauma! The author uses the time loop device to fantastic and creative effect, and it all adds up to a conclusion that I like more and more the longer I think about it. Absolutely spectacular work. One of my favorites this year.
Hyacinth Girl, Waking the Moon, Oliver Crawford, 7.6k. Oliver, before the Divine. The author tags this as "Tragic Backstory" and they are correct!! I read this book last year and yet feel as though I'm missing things in this fic; I can't quite tell how many of these elements were present in the novel and which the author invents here, but the result is gorgeous and heartbreaking. You've got fairy tale stuff, dysfunctional family, the Benandanti always menacing in the background, more literay quotes than you can shake a stick at, absolutely gorgeous imagery.
Knife, Rope (1948), Brandon/Phillip, 4.9k. Brandon and Phillip's class go on a camping trip, and Brandon discovers that Phillip is not just more wallpaper. This is obviously backstory to the movie but feels like a beautiful, self-contained little psychopathic romance on its own. Two weirdos falling in love via discussing murder scenarios!! I was compelled from start to finish.
twocents_feed) wrote2025-12-29 06:00 pmMy Favorite Amazon Deal of the Day: The Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones
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When it comes to buying the best headphones at the best price, the Bose QuietComfort Ultra is at the top of the list for active noise-cancelling (ANC) right now, while also excelling in other important categories. Right now, the Bose QuietComfort Ultras (in the "deep plum" color) are $269.99 (originally $429), a record-low price according to price-tracking tools. The other colors are also discounted but not quite as steeply—for example, you can get "white smoke" for $299 or "Lunar Blue" for $349.
Few other brands can compete with Bose's QuietComfort Ultra lineup when it comes to ANC. Apart from the headphone model, they also make some of the best ANC earbuds, both using the same tech. PCMag's "outstanding" review goes into detail on how the headphones do the best job at dialing back low-frequency rumbles, as well as lows and mids.
Despite those plaudits, they're not perfect: Some high-frequency sounds still make it through the ANC technology (that's the case for all ANC headphones, though). But these headphones performed better at ANC than their other two main competitors at the time of their respective release, Apple AirPods Max and the Sony WH-1000XM5. Of course, the new Sony WH-1000XM6 has new ANC technology that outshines the QuietComfort Ultra, but you'd be paying a premium for those.
The Bose QuietComfort Ultra headphones launched in the fall of 2023 with many reviewers praising their overall quality, but earning complaints for their pricing, at almost half a grand. At their current discounted price, there is no better value for your money if you value top-tier ANC. Another great feature of the headphones is their transparency mode, meant to be used to allow you to better hear your surroundings (cars, bikes, or people around you) while wearing them.
You can expect about 24 hours of juice with a full charge, or about 18 hours if you're using ANC. The accompanying app has a well-designed, customizable EQ.