I have an HP omnibook 300. It runs Windows 3.1 from ROM. It’s about the coolest computer that was ever made: Almost exactly the size of a notebook (8.5x11.2x1.5” or so), instant on, no moving parts, stiff but reasonably satisfying keyboard (rubber domes, but decent ones), a non-backlit, sunlight readable, reflective TFT LCD and it runs for weeks of daily use on 4 rechargable AA batteries. I could talk about the computer for a while, but I’d rather talk about how I have been using it and how I want to use it in the future. (Tools are, after all, only as interesting as what we use them for.)

It’s January 1st, and for the second time in recent memory, it’s public domain day in the US. That means that dozens of works from 1924 have now entered the public domain. Let’s run through a few things that were released in 1924, and talk about what you can do with them now.

A few weeks ago, I wrote about all the Public Domain movies I watched on my home media server in 2019, with links to where you could watch them all yourself. Today I’m finishing that list off with the rest of the Public Domain movies I watched in 2019 (which means, mostly, the stuff I watched on my phone, or on a plane, or in a car, or just didn’t download for whatever reason.) This list is a little less complete, because I had to do it from memory, but there’s some good stuff in here and I think it’ll be useful. Let’s get to it.

It’s saturday night, and I’m not sleeping! Instead I’m wathing an old silent film again. This time, 1920’s The Mark of Zorro. This is a fun one, and I hope you’ll enjoy it.

Last night I watched Vampyr, a kind of Ambient horror film from 1932. I’m still processing it, and there’s a lot to unpack. Read some of my thoughts, and watch it for yourself here.