I’ve been thinking (and that’s not good for anyone, and everyone should be holding their breath) about technology again. I can’t help myself; every time I think I’m out, they pull me back in. Mostly, I’m thinking about technology right now because I’m contemplating the ways that the US is a failed state, and thinking about the kinds of technology that we’re going to need to get through to whatever comes next. This is mostly a post about technology, but the next header is a justification of my claim that the US is a failed state. If that might be too much for you to read right now, skip it.

Joelanta is an annual toyshow with a long history where folks who like vintage action figures and especially, but not only GI Joe, get together and celebrate or toys. The 2025 show just ended, and I wanted to take a few minutes to talk about the good, the bad, and the ugly from this Joelanta, reminisce about previous Joelantas, and consider the future of the show. It’s a little bit Inside Baseball, and a little bit me trying to organize my own thoughts about the show and it’s future.

This is a post about running your own streaming media server, and why you might want to do that. I will discuss some surface-level strategies for how you might go about it, and how you might source media to fill it with, but this is not a step-by-step guide. It’s a “why to”, rather than a “how to” So hop in, and let’s talk about streaming media in 2025, and what you can do to take back control.

This post is a guide to using some independent streaming platforms. It’s part of a series I’m working on about leaving the control of massive corporations. I will follow it up in a few days with a post about running a personal Video on Demand platform, and a couple of ways you can set up personal IPTV stations, and why you might want to do that. Until then, this is an article about leaving HULU+DISNEY+HBO+MAX+DISCOVER+FLIX in the bin, and what you might find instead.

The wait is over. Expedition Sasquatch Episode 20, “Betrayed by Mothman,” is now available. This episode serves as the direct conclusion to the cliffhanger from Episode 19, “Bugs and Such.”