Home For Fiction – Blog

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Home For Fiction – The End

November 24, 2024

Home For Fiction

home for fiction, society

Yes, that’s exactly what it sounds like: It’s the end for Home for Fiction. I’m giving up. I feel I have nothing of value left to say.

More still, I’m at a place right now that I feel as if I’d never had anything of value to share. In other words, the entirety of all my posts, novels, music, apps, drawings, and anything else, feels entirely pointless.

It’s then more honest – to me, first and foremost – to simply stop here; sort of pretend none of this ever happened.

In more practical terms, I’ll leave the site online, at least for a while. The domain and hosting are already paid for some time into 2025, so we’ll see what happens next. If I’m still around, I might renew it…

«Η επιτυχία της αποτυχίας μ’ έχει τρελάνει» – Λεξ

the end. image of cat.

5 Tools to Be Safe on the Internet

November 4, 2024

Programming, Society

computer, ignorance, programming, society, technology

It’s not just that technology is changing at a fast pace; it’s changing at an accelerating pace. Heck, even the pace of acceleration is accelerating, too. Put simply, it’s really hard to stay ahead of the curve when it comes to computers, the internet, and IT security. Sadly, IT security is not considered a crucial skill, though it is. Just imagine how much of our daily life revolves around computers. So here are 5 tools to help you be safe on the internet.

These are all things I use myself on a daily basis. I can’t imagine using a computer (especially online) without them. I’m paranoid when it comes to IT security – read my post on Home for Fiction changes to see why – so I want to absolutely minimize the risk.

To be 100% clear, in case it’s not immediately apparent: This post isn’t sponsored; none of these tools’ authors paid me to do this. I’m only doing this because I genuinely think these tools are useful to the average user. Nay, these tools are critical for a safe internet and computing experience.

tools for safe internet. Image of a screen showing computer code
The internet and computers come across as so complicated to most people that a stock image such as this (depicting some simple code) connotes ideas of a hacker penetrating a secret database or something…
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“It Smells like Cock Here”: Warmongering, Masculinity, and Repeating History

October 7, 2024

Society

masculinity, psychology, society

The title probably sounds entirely ridiculous and out of place, yet there is a connection with the subtitle. Indeed, when it comes to warmongering and masculinity, historical examples abound.

Inspiration behind this post came after I read the excellent nonfiction book The Sleepwalkers: How Europe Went to War in 1914, by Christopher Clark. Among the many intriguing details, a chapter aptly titled “A Crisis of Masculinity?” proved eye-opening.

So let’s dive deeper into the connection between warmongering and masculinity (here clearly meant as toxic), and see how dangerous it can become to ignore the lessons of history. But first, let’s begin with a hilarious anecdote – which gave the title its name…

Warmongering masculinity. Image of
This car (Museum of Military History, Vienna) is associated with the events that precipitated the Great War. It’s the car where “a bloke called Archie Duke shot an ostrich ’cause he was hungry”. For the more official version, see here
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