HiWire

Patrick Leonard - It All Comes Down to Mood

Abandoned Japanese island:

Ubuntu 25.10 was just released (October 9), too - probably worth upgrading the test system eventually (in my experience, new releases are very buggy for the first 4-6 months) - alternatively, Ubuntu 25.04 or the older 24.04 LTS will be more stable: https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2025/10/ubuntu-25-10-new-features And of course, Flatpak doesn't work out of the gate: https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2025/10/flatpak-broken-ubuntu-25-10-apparmor-bug For what it's worth, I am tech-scared too.

Installing Windows 11 without a Microsoft Account - they make it annoying as usual (Windows 11 Pro only):

Old DOS games on PC speaker, Ad Lib, and Roland MT-32 part 2 (skip the long preambles if you lived through the era - yes, we know Macs and Amigas had better sound):

RIP, Dame Jilly Cooper

Chase by Giogio Moroder from the Midnight Express (1978) soundtrack:

Happy Birthday, and I hope you're "back" in action soon.

Happy Birthday!

Valuing an antique violin and comparing it to a Stradivarius - Nora Ali for Dynamo: and pipe organs:

Happy Birthday!

The Ars Technica review of macOS 26 Tahoe - Liquid Glass looks redundant and obtrusive, nothing else seems to be a must-have yet, probably the last version to support Intel Macs: https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/09/macos-26-tahoe-the-ars-technica-review/

Peter Weller talks coffee: Also, he wrote his first book on a book on Italian painting from before 1435: https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/leon-battista-alberti-in-exile/CA506C81F7296D3DB63B1EDC7A136E9E

Nothing looked bad... the iPhone Air looks questionable, but I can foresee influencers showing them off in a few weeks. Apple has moved into making their own wireless network and modem chips, the N1 for Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, and Thread and the C1X for 5G cellular. I liked the sound of better battery life in the iPhone 17 and the AirPods Pro 3 will be hot sellers. I found the endless health surveillance and monitoring from the Apple Watches a bit dystopian. The iPhone 16e seems to be a sales success due to its low price, so they'll inevitably release an update to that in a while.

It's Not Just You: Music Streaming Is Broken Now

Tiny vinyl - 4" record format for Gen Z: https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/09/tiny-vinyl-is-a-new-pocketable-record-format-for-the-spotify-age/

Ninja vanish! 🥷 Body Talk by The Deele (1984) from Miami Vice:

Happy Birthday!

I think a lot of the iconic clothes of Miami Vice were from Armani, too. Truly a giant in his field and a style icon.

Dea Matrona at Royal Albert Hall:

The gear sets on gravel bikes tend to be a bit shorter than on road bikes - you can upgrade them if you are making the bike do dual duty (and swap the mud tires for road tires).

Perhaps this will prompt Panasonic to finally add SACD playback on a DP-UB9000PC successor... probably not.

How old DOS games actually sounded (if you had money):

My first thought was a Schiit Mimir. I haven't heard one, so I didn't feel qualified to comment. Still, the price looks right and it might be a sideways upgrade (it may be too wide for your arrangement). All I've got is a tiny Schiit Fulla 2... it still sounds great. There's been a lot of new entrants in the field and I'm way out of date on new equipment. I listened to a Chord Mojo 2 but it didn't sound any better than my portable CD player's headphone output. The Benchmark DAC3 B would be the logical thing to compare, but they look expensive and I'm not sure it would be that much of an improvement. I've been curious about the Chord Qutest but it may be out of your budget range. Perhaps it's worth a trip to the local stereo shops?

It might be a binder of Apple printed documentation for the Lisa.