@mattgemmell@mastodon.scot
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mattgemmell

@mattgemmell@mastodon.scot

Writer. Edinburgh, Scotland. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🇪🇺 CHANGER, TOLL, JINX, MIDDLESHADE ROAD, ONCE UPON A TIME. Husband of one, father of two.

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yatil, to random
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I finished JINX by @mattgemmell yesterday and what an interesting and thought-provoking story. I really, really enjoyed how different layers of the story came together in the end.

There is good disability representation (tho I have quibble with one very specific thing). There’s great tension throughout the book.

Five stars!

https://mattgemmell.scot/books/jinx/

mattgemmell,
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@yatil Thanks! I hope you’ll leave a star rating on the appropriate online store!

I privately always assumed the device auto-paired with whatever terminal she was using, to give a voiceover-like experience with her own profile, but I admit I only thought as far as the narrative requirements. In any case, if it’s the scene I’m thinking of, she had to use another person’s terminal by necessity there instead of her own — which would presumably be set up with additional assistive tech.

mattgemmell, to random
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New desk setup ahoy. This is what the previous one looked like. Maybe a little bit cramped, with the keys 🎹 not very comfortable to use — and only 25 of them! Also I had to sacrifice my own books to get some room around the input devices. The wifi thing (white cylinder with black top) took up far too much space.

mattgemmell,
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Keys are shown in stowed, just-the-keys, and full controller battlestation positions. My beloved e-ink tablet is right at hand, on the stand the iPad used to occupy. Basket on left side of desk holds miscellaneous things like my car keys etc. The external monitor works for both the iPad as a second screen, or a place to play the Nintendo Switch. (2/2)

mattgemmell,
@mattgemmell@mastodon.scot avatar

And the new one! Books are back, everything off the desk surface and on clamps, and of course the main thing is the new KeyLab: big brother of the MiniLb, with 61 keys this time. I built the slide-under drawer myself with some brackets I got online. Also shifted the wifi thing off to the side with a wooden shim screwed under the desk, and an acrylic holder. Much nicer feel, and more conducive to feeling like a creative person (while I sit here on social media). (1/2)

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mattgemmell, to random
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Talking a break after six Bosch books to read someone that a few people have recommended.

mattgemmell,
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@scottearle Not available in your Amazon account’s region?

mattgemmell,
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@scottearle Great, tight, insider type police proc. Be aware they’re set twenty-odd years earlier than the show, and they proceed rather differently. Each season of the show draws loosely from a couple of books at a time. Honestly the first is one of the best (Black Echo), so try it!

mattgemmell,
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@veronica Kindle needs a random unread feature.

mattgemmell,
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@veronica It’s ok to skip or quit books!

mattgemmell,
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@scottearle Did it arrive on the Kindle?

mattgemmell,
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@scottearle It’s not the iOS thing where you have to buy in Safari rather than the Amazon app?

mattgemmell, to random
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I’m pretty sure that Apple forgot to adapt their automatic app updates heuristics to accommodate the new “only charge to 80%” option in iOS 17. My apps never seem to update themselves now, and when I do it manually, there are a dozen or more needing updated.

mattgemmell, to random
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Child, protected by a Proper-Sized Dog.

mattgemmell,
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@SergKoren Better than that: it’s a sword with a fused item, from Tears of the Kingdom.

mattgemmell, to random
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The appliances and flooring and worktops and tiles and lighting and cabinetry are pretty and everything, but as a dad this is BY FAR my favourite part of the new kitchen.

mattgemmell,
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@tantramar The cutoffs used to be hidden behind a big American-style fridge freezer, and we didn’t even know about them. Now once this is filled and painted and has a plastic hatch cover installed, I can stop worrying about it.

mattgemmell,
@mattgemmell@mastodon.scot avatar

@tantramar Also had the boiler replaced with a combi last year, ripped out old hot water tank etc, so now it’s beautiful in that cupboard too. And this kitchen has a newly-built access hatch to the indoor main water cutoff. Master of my domain!

mattgemmell,
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@tantramar Rather you than me. Maybe in a few years if I can build my confidence.

mattgemmell,
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@tantramar Not sure I’ve ever felt a sense of inner peace quite like this, mate. It’s a lifetime top twenty, easily.

mattgemmell,
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@tantramar I’ve replaced sink bottle traps, plug holes and overflows. That’s the most I’ll dare to play with. I know that plumbers’ tape is my friend, and proper grips.

mattgemmell, to random
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Kitchen renovation is finally done, and this weekend we got to unpack all the boxes of kitchen things we’d been storing elsewhere — so I got my workshed back! This is very much my happy place.

My workbench, with assorted small tools on top.

mattgemmell,
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I love my Arturia minilab, but sometimes you want more octaves — especially when you’ve trained as a pianist — so I decided to add its 61-key big brother, the KeyLab mk3. 🤍🖤🤍

Me holding the keylab 61 mk3.

mattgemmell, to random
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Lots to dislike about Apple these days, but I continue to admire their constant readiness to re-evaluate user interfaces and context. Logic on the iPad is an incredible thing, not just from a performance and features perspective, but in the dozens of ways they’ve rethought how a DAW could/should work on a touch-screen device.

mattgemmell, to random
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It’s such a damned gift that we have so much educational info available to us, and a societal focus on multiculturalism and learning. This wee man knows so much more about the world at age three than I did at twenty-three.

video/mp4

mattgemmell, to random
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Dreich weather today, so the whole family were playing board games.

video/mp4

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