jmac

Nervous, courageous Nelly A new mascot, improved regional-flight forecasts, and fewer accidental visits to New Jersey.

The latest newsletter about BumpySkies.com, my free resource for nervous fliers. It covers the site's new mascot (drawn by @icelevelartzone.bsky.social), better regional-flight handling, and other stuff: buttondown.com/bumpyskies/a...

Forecasts and foundations Bringing longer-range and more accurate turbulence forecasts to BumpySkies, thanks to tireless government data sources.

New BumpySkies newsletter: buttondown.com/bumpyskies/a...

me (bursting open my apartment window like ebenezer scrooge): you there, boy! did it happen?

boy (gloomily): no sir

Air Force One turning around last night

“For of all sad words of tongue or pen, The saddest are these: 'It might have been!'” -John Greenleaf Whittier

I even heard the chant in its original form: “No kings! Fuck you!”

A very proudly New York chant, of course, but I supported its simplification for general export.

While this observation is true as written, I also want to note that we New Yorkers didn’t just ignore the threat. The spontaneous march that responded to him was the first of several times last year I took to the streets with fellow New Yorkers, and my first encounter with the “No kings!” chant.

Applications are now open for the Spring 2026 Wondercab Residency! Have you ever wanted to see your game in the arcade? Consider applying! Deadline is January 31st at 11:59pm

wonderville.nyc/wondercab-ap...

The Acid Communism course! Video with info

Next month, I'm teaching a course on Mark Fisher and acid communism thru the Acid Horizon Research Commons. It's online & open to all, but enrollment is capped.

Here are the details:

elftheory.substack.com/p/the-acid-c...

boosts appreciated!

#markfisher #philosophy #psychedelics

Stuff I produced or guested on in 2025 A link-strewn summary of all the places you might have seen, heard, or read me during 2025.

And here's my 2025 wrap-up post of what I shipped in 2025 (besides BumpySkies). fogknife.com/2025-12-22-m... (Preview image feat. the @shortgame.fm gang)

I first published BumpySkies nine years ago this month, where it mostly ran on autopilot. Since October I've been making lots of bug fixes and improvements, and hope to significantly expand its features in 2026. More in the newsletter: buttondown.com/bumpyskies/a...

BumpySkies - Flight turbulence forecasts Check the turbulence forecast for any US flight. Free and always up to date.

Hi, friends. A couple of months ago I resumed active development of BumpySkies.com, a free turbulence forecaster for nervous fliers like myself. If you or someone you know could use a friendly tool that makes flight a little less mysterious and scary, I invite you to visit and share.

No kings Amy and I plan to march in New York City’s instance of this coming weekend’s No Kings protest. It will be my third march of the year.

Marching in the #NYC iteration of the #NoKings protest on Saturday. If you live in the U.S. and you're able to join, then I hope that you will.

I prepare for marches by making sure I'm ready to walk attentively for a couple of hours. That's about it. I just show up.

fogknife.com/2025-10-15-n...

12 - The family name An investigation into the origins of 'Halstrick', my relatively recent nom-de-jeu.

Please enjoy episode 12 of VENTHUFFER, telling the story of “Halstrick”, the name I've been using for gaming in recent years.

This is the result of one the most profound and personal investigations I've ever performed, and I'd love it if you listened along.

venthuffer.com/2025-05-26-1...

11 - Neon Appreciating the beautiful, unlikely, ongoing work of Jeff Minter and Llamasoft.

Please enjoy issue 11 of my video game audio zine Venthuffer, which is the inevitable Jeff Minter episode, on the occasion of Llamasoft's new remake of "I, Robot”: venthuffer.com/2025-05-12-1...

Asking in legitimate curiosity: Do people on Bluesky generally not use hashtags at all?

It's only recently occurred to me that I very rarely see them, and I've started to edit them out of cross-posts that I'd originally posted on tag-happy Mastodon.

Dear NYC: Do you have any coworking recommendations for solo freelancers?

Currently using my local NYPL branch, and you can’t beat it on price. But I do have a a bit of budget and I’m interested in seeing other options.

10 - Resolution “Good enough for your eyes and mine.” Applying Depression-era thinking to modern hardware upgrade cycles.

In the latest episode of VENTHUFFER i hold forth for twelve minutes about the resolution of the Steam Deck, which is a number I've already forgotten since recording it, and about my ever-evolving attitudes towards console upgrade cycles. venthuffer.com/2025-04-28-1...

9: Extermination Recalling the time when House Flipper forced me to take a hard look at a real-life household crisis brewing behind the refrigerator.

This week on #Venthuffer: That time I played House Flipper during a home-alone week a couple of years ago, and how it forced me to face a really gnarly problem burbling behind the iRL fridge.

venthuffer.com/2025-04-14-9...

(Audio CW for frank talk of creepy-crawlies.)

8: Suspension The Steam Deck has a one-button suspension feature that lets you safely set the console down and immediately turn your full attention to something else, at any time, even in the middle of a game. Even...

Please enjoy a new episode of Venthuffer, my audio zine about the Steam Deck and things adjacent.

This one's about the Deck's one-button suspension feature, why it's one of the best things about the system, and the trouble it got me into. #SteamDeck

venthuffer.com/2025-03-31-8...

7: Cruise On Balatro, and my diminishing personal susceptibility to videogame addiction—even when I invite it in.

After a winter break, I've resumed Venthuffer, my "audio zine" podcast about the #SteamDeck and topics adjacent.

This new episode is about #Balatro, and a cruise ship, and 36 hours until landfall in Victoria. venthuffer.com/2025-03-17-7...

Shout-out to all bar staff this weekend who are gritting their teeth, staring the customer right in the eye, and saying "we call that a boilermaker here, and so will you if you want one"

And shout-out to all who just show the customer the door, by pointing or scruffing

The episode cover art, featuring a photograph of dockside sign in Juneau, Alaska. It is decorated with painted salmon, rendered in the formline style associated with indigenous Pacific Northwest artwork. The titles read 'Venthuffer: A dream of the Steam Deck by Halstrick'.

Episode 7 goes up tomorrow. #SteamDeck

My governors The governors of my respective home and adoptive states show how to stand up to a gangster president.

Wrote something about how the two governors of my respective home and adoptive states are setting an example of standing up to a gangster government. fogknife.com/2025-03-12-m... #Maine #NYC #NewYork #USpol

Season two begins on March 17 Coming in just under the wire of the spring-equinox deadline I set for myself last time, I’m happy to say that Venthuffer season two launches this coming Monday, March 17. Find the first episode that ...

New episodes of Venthuffer, my monologue audio zine about the Steam Deck and topics adjacent, coming this Monday. venthuffer.com/2025-03-12-s...

Jason McIntosh · List of professional writing A list of published work by Jason McIntosh.

Need a deeply experienced writer with a background in both journalism and engineering to document something, cover a technology beat, or engagingly explain complex topics to a wider audience? Talk to me. jmac.org/writing/

I'm still experimenting with my social-media weight, including more experiments with POSSE-style syndication across several websites—Bluesky included.

But for the time being, if my contributions here feel a bit write-only, that's why.

I'm otherwise feeling pretty Bluesky-shy right now. This place is absolutely "Twitter 2", which is fine! Twitter didn't deserve what happened to it, and I'm glad to see a viable successor here.

But also this place is poisonous for my mental health, exactly as Twitter would have been during Trump 2.

Hi Bluesky friends,

I've set up @jmac.masto.nyc.ap.brid.gy, which is a bridged version of my Mastodon account. If you're interested in my day-to-day posts and links and such, then give it a follow!

What’s this? I spent last night reviving my old “notes blog”, intended for posts that feel too light for my main blog, but don’t feel quite appropriate for writing directly on social media, either. I started it as...

What’s this? · 'Twas this: jmac.org/notes/2025-0...