It’s been a long time since I asked for any help in the open source community and I am thrilled(!) to discover very little has changed.

The first response I had was from someone with clearly good intentions but zero expertise.

The second response was somebody asking why I want to do it anyway.

I haven’t officially had the third response but I know that will be: the dev in charge of this element of the project has unilaterally decided not to maintain this functionality because basically said dev doesn’t need that functionality and/or has no way to test it. However, there is no public record or explanation for that decision so literally the only person that can even confirm that is the dev.

But the dev is only human and only has so much time they contribute to the project because, after all, they are a volunteer. So the chance of me actually getting a response from the dev are very low anyway and even lower when the answer is some version of “I can’t/won’t”, which no-one really likes to say.

However, with the benefit of knowledge from experience on my side, I have completely given up already, so I won’t be wasting any of my time, at least.

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Wow. Apparently I have been using Mastodon for 3 years! Who knew?!

Anyway, my one top tip for new desktop/web browser users:

If you want to share a post you saw on Mastodon offsite (e.g. via WhatsApp or something), don’t just visit the toot and copy the URL from your web browser (which might look like this https://mastodon.social/@GossiTheDog@cyberplace.social/115457182787979481). That’s not really where the post is located. Instead you want to go the ellipsis menu (…) and click “Copy link to post” (which looks like this https://cyberplace.social/@GossiTheDog/115457182776398187).

The latter will play much nicer with “rich previews” generated by other services. I feel like this is more an issue with the “other services” but what’s important is that whoever you share the link with sees what you intended, right?

Watched Spectral (2016) by an author from letterboxd.com
A special-ops team is dispatched to fight supernatural beings that have taken over a European city.

It’s not the overall plot or the dialogue but how it’s assembled. Reminds me of all those great TV shows that floundered when the writers went on strike…

Maybe all the money went on costume and props, which are amazing.

★★½

My review

Watched Tremors (1990) by an author from letterboxd.com
Val McKee and Earl Bassett are in a fight for their lives when they discover that their desolate town has been infested with gigantic, man-eating creatures that live below the ground.

Watched on Friday October 31, 2025.

★★★★

My review

Watched A House of Dynamite (2025) by an author from letterboxd.com
When a single, unattributed missile is launched at the United States, a race begins to determine who is responsible and how to respond.

I must admit, that I skipped to the end after “Inclination Is Flattening” to confirm my suspicions and then went back and watched the rest. Based on that, to get the best out of this, you probably stop watching at the end of “Inclination Is Flattening”.

To the spoilers…

It’s tightly made but the idea that they couldn’t wait two minutes to confirm that it wasn’t an errant delivery from a rocket pizza start-up, before pressing the president to decide on a “retaliatory” nuclear strike option, was asking a little too much from the audience.

★★★½

My review

Watched Ghostbusters (2016) by an author from letterboxd.com
Following a ghost invasion of Manhattan, paranormal enthusiasts Erin Gilbert and Abby Yates, nuclear engineer Jillian Holtzmann, and subway worker Patty Tolan band together to stop the otherworldly threat.

On first viewing, I didn’t know if this was a sequel, spin-off or a reboot. Turns out it was none of those.

Instead, it’s a retelling of the original film with the lead characters gender swapped. And if it existed in a vacuum, the worst thing I’d have to say about it is it’s too long. Some good laughs, though.

Andy Garcia is particularly funny.

★★★

My review

Watched Meg 2: The Trench (2023) by an author from letterboxd.com
An exploratory dive into the deepest depths of the ocean of a daring research team spirals into chaos when a malevolent mining operation threatens their mission and forces them into a high-stakes battle for survival.

Pure popcorn entertainment and a lot more fun than most Jurassic Park movies and equally nonsensical. Not just in plot but also in terms of character motivation and their sense of self-preservation!

★★★

My review

Watched 24 Hour Party People (2002) by an author from letterboxd.com
Manchester, 1976. Tony Wilson is an ambitious but frustrated local TV news reporter looking for a way to make his mark. After witnessing a life-changing concert by a band known as the Sex Pistols, he persuades his station to televise one of their performances, and soon Manchester's punk groups are clamoring for him to manage them. Riding the wave of a musical revolution, Wilson and his friends create the legendary Factory Records label and The Hacienda club.

Turns out this is like a stealth Alan Partridge film because Coogan (allegedly) based Partridge on Tony Wilson. So, if you like Alan Partridge and ever asked yourself: “what would it look like if Alan started a record label and bought a club to promote his bands?” Here’s your answer.

It’s also a biopic of the Manchester music scene of the late 1980s and early 1990s (before I was even in my ‘tweens), that apparently reshaped “club life” itself. As with any biopic, I dunno how much of that is strictly true, but it’s a good story well told.

Features a boatload of British acting talent (including Moaning Myrtle getting uprighted in a toilet cubicle) and, obviously, some banging tunes.

★★★½

My review