Michael Hanscom
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michaelhans.com
Michael Hanscom
@michaelhans.com
Enthusiastic ambivert. Geeky, liberal, friendly, curious, hopepunk; trying to be a good person. (he/him) 🖖

Primarily a Mastodon user (@djwudi@tenforward.social); semi-active here. Blogging since the '90s: https://michaelhans.com/
Pinned
Old policy: No #AltText = no boost.

New policy: No alt text OR bad alt text = no boost, except in rare instances when I find it worthwhile to write better alt text for you, in which case I will also mock you for your original poor or absent alt text.
Just finished updating the @norwescon.org historical archives with a new, high-quality scan of an original 1978 Norwescon 1 program book autographed by Theodore Sturgeon, Alan E. Nourse, Poul Anderson, J.F. Bone, Vonda N. McIntyre, H. Warner Munn, Sydney J. Van Scyoc, and John Varley!
Norwescon 1 Program Book · Norwescon History
Historical archives for Norwescon, the Pacific Northwest's premier fantasy and science-fiction convention.
history.norwescon.org
November 12, 2025 at 2:32 AM
Weekly Notes: November 3–9, 2025: A week in the life of…. Thoughts, photos, links, and miscellany from the past week.… michaelhans.com/eclecticism/...
michaelhans.com
November 11, 2025 at 1:11 AM
Reposted by Michael Hanscom
oh holy shit I need to never go there again
"Store employees are now required to smile if they are within 10 feet of a shopper.

They also must make eye contact with and wave to or greet the customer.

If they’re within four feet, the employee should ask how the customer’s day is going or if they need help."

🙄 Won't stop the boycott, y'all.
Target is now requiring its employees to smile more
As the holiday season fast approaches, Target is urging its employees to add a little more “jolly” to their work routine.
www.wilx.com
November 8, 2025 at 4:30 PM
Reposted by Michael Hanscom
November 7, 2025 at 5:00 PM
Reposted by Michael Hanscom
I LEARNED THE ANSWER TO THIS

Chris's Steakhouse was a New Orleans landmark

Chris Matulich periodically got bored, sold it, waited for the new owner to fail, and bought it back cheap

The sale conditions: Can't move it, can't change the name

He did this six times

Then he sold it to Ruth Fertel
November 7, 2025 at 5:33 PM
Affinity by Canva Accessible PDF Output Test: Canva/Affinity is making improvements, but Affinity in its current state is definitely _not_ ready to be a replacement for Adobe InDesign. But I'm happy to see the progress they've made, and really ho… michaelhans.com/eclecticism/...
Affinity by Canva Accessible PDF Output Test
Canva/Affinity is making improvements, but Affinity in its current state is definitely _not_ ready to be a replacement for Adobe InDesign. But I'm happy to see the progress they've made, and really hope...
michaelhans.com
November 7, 2025 at 1:11 AM
Reposted by Michael Hanscom
heads up to anyone who holds trans kids near: amy harmon from the nyt is searching for and having a hard time finding people to interview to find out exactly what trans kids are doing when their care is limited or cut off, and for purposes of community safety, please shut the fuck up around her.
November 5, 2025 at 8:54 PM
I'm guessing the last bisexual visibility day didn't result in enough visibility, so it's time to awaken a new crop? ;)

variety.com/2025/film/ne...
Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz Reuniting for Fourth ‘Mummy’ Movie
Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz are reuniting for a fourth "Mummy" movie.
variety.com
November 4, 2025 at 11:36 PM
Going back a couple weeks: Seattle's Anti-Fascist Marching Band playing #RageAgainstTheMachine's "Killing in the Name" during the #NoKings 2.0 protest. www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-oi...
No Kings: Killing in the Name
YouTube video by Michael Hanscom
www.youtube.com
November 4, 2025 at 2:30 AM
Summer 2024 Vacation Photos (Long-Delayed): This morning before work, I finally finished processing and uploading my photos from our summer 2024 vacation up to Victoria, B.C.… michaelhans.com/eclecticism/...
michaelhans.com
November 4, 2025 at 1:11 AM
A shot of my night DJing at #Worldcon in August went up on their official photo account recently: flic.kr/p/2rDb9MM Not the most people, but my (totally impartial and unbiased) wife tells me I played the best music!
8-13-2025 - Worldcon After Dark - John Jinneman-10
Photography by John Jinneman
flic.kr
November 4, 2025 at 1:02 AM
Weekly Notes: October 27–November 2, 2025: A week in the life of…. Thoughts, photos, links, and miscellany from the past week.… michaelhans.com/eclecticism/...
michaelhans.com
November 3, 2025 at 5:27 PM
Initial Thoughts on #Affinity by Canva: We'll see how things go over time, but all in all, if not cautiously optimistic, I'm at least cautiously hopeful about the just-announced changes to Affinity. Seeing more improvements in their PDF acc… michaelhans.com/eclecticism/...
Initial Thoughts on Affinity by Canva
We'll see how things go over time, but all in all, if not cautiously optimistic, I'm at least cautiously hopeful about the just-announced changes to Affinity. Seeing more improvements in their PDF accessibility...
michaelhans.com
November 1, 2025 at 12:11 AM
Reposted by Michael Hanscom
AI sitcom accidentally a Lynchian fever dream. The sort of general malaise that only the genius possess and insane lament.
October 29, 2025 at 9:47 PM
Finding that the new #TheTearGarden album _Astral Elevator_, along with the rest of their catalog, is making for _really_ good soundtrack for…everything right now. Dark, creepy, electronic (and occasionally very danceable) psychedelia.

brap.bandcamp.com/album/astral...

#EdwardKaSpel #cEvinKey
Astral Elevator, by The Tear Garden
15 track album
brap.bandcamp.com
October 28, 2025 at 10:34 PM
Pet peeve of the day: Clicking on "unsubscribe" from a marketing email and getting a "your address will be removed in 5–7 business days" response.
October 28, 2025 at 4:27 PM
Reposted by Michael Hanscom
Emma Thompson is a queen.
"I DON'T NEED YOU TO FUCKING REWRITE WHAT I'VE JUST WRITTEN!"
October 28, 2025 at 12:12 PM
Reposted by Michael Hanscom
"Women are not usually into science fiction"is legitimately one of the stupidest, most divorced from reality sentences I have ever read in my life
okay grandpa, let's get you to bed
October 25, 2025 at 10:46 PM
Weekly Notes: October 20–26, 2025: A week in the life of…. Thoughts, photos, links, and miscellany from the past week.… michaelhans.com/eclecticism/...
Weekly Notes: October 20–26, 2025
A week in the life of…. Thoughts, photos, links, and miscellany from the past week.
michaelhans.com
October 27, 2025 at 4:27 PM
Reposted by Michael Hanscom
There are 37 donors funding the $300 million build of the new White House ballroom.

Unsurprisingly, Amazon is on that list. But you know who isn’t? Independent bookstores.

And this is why it will *always* be bookstores over billionaires. ✊
October 27, 2025 at 2:38 PM
Reposted by Michael Hanscom
Apparently some folks are playing real dumb about skull symbols so let’s play a little game I like to call “Nazi skull or not a Nazi skull”

First up, the Jolly Roger. This is a pirate skull, not a Nazi skull. It means you might get robbed, but prolly not genocided.

With me so far? 1/x
October 22, 2025 at 5:23 AM
I'm not sure what this business is supposed to be selling with this ad, I'm just mystified by the AI-generated computer in the image they're using.
October 25, 2025 at 5:41 PM
Okay, yeah, I know that Trump is selling us off piecemeal as fast as he can, but on Temu seems a bit extreme….
October 25, 2025 at 2:27 AM
Reposted by Michael Hanscom
this dude knows how to spin a tale. I wanna have a voice like this in a short story.
How the crown jewels were stolen
YouTube video by Xevi
www.youtube.com
October 24, 2025 at 2:05 PM
Reposted by Michael Hanscom
This is good! Read it! Share it with your HS aged kids!
October 23, 2025 at 2:14 PM