If you happen to be developing websites using the polyfill.io javascript library, drop everything and DELETE IT NOW! The domain was purchased by what's said to be a Chinese malware organization, which is using the library to redirect users to sport betting websites. More at

@ solarbird | if you use polyfill dot io, stop RIGHT NOW and read this @ Renaud Chaput: "polyfill.io malware injection" - Oisaur @ Remove Polyfill.io code from your website immediately • The Register @Polyfill.io JavaScript supply chain attack impacts over 100K sites

... and a tip of the hat to solarbird, who put me on to this.

If you develop websites using a framework or javascript library but you're not sure what a polyfill is, search your codebase for the string "polyfill.io". Then look it up and either eliminate it as a dependency, or find a different place to fetch it from.

This, BTW, is one more reason to like Chris Ferdinandi's's Daily Developer Tips | Go Make Things.

Not a bad week. Got a few things done. Not enough, though. It's never enough, and I seem to have an aversion to finishing things. WTF, brain? Health-wise I've sometimes been feeling vaguely "off", especially in the evening; don't know what's up with that.

I'm back to a qualified "okay" for mood, because of persistant worries. But I had a good hour or so with both cats in bed this morning, and a lot of good cat cuddle other times this week, and I'm not complaining. And I went for a walk five days this week. (Not nearly so good about my normal morning exercises. Bronx has a little to do with that — I always used to do the standing exercises in the bathroom, but Bronx + bathroom = havoc.)

I had a good talk with Jonathan, my oncology social worker, on Wednesday, mostly about music and emotions. Apparently even though I'm not very good at verbalizing my emotions when asked (cf. alexithymia), they sometimes come out in songs. Maybe that's because in songs I don't have to actually name them. Also maybe because I don't write songs very often. The songs in question deserve a full-on post — I'd planned on posting an s4s but got sidetracked. Maybe next week, although as I have often mentioned, I have the memory of a mayfly on crack. So maybe not.

According to LJ I've been writing this blog for 22 years as of Saturday. Of course all the posts, and the posting, have moved over here to DW, and LJ broke cross-posting. That's their problem.

And, Public Service Announcement: don’t install any version of Windows 11 that can run copilot/recall (via @solarbird; more links under Tuesday). Don't believe Microsoft when they say they've fixed it, or that it won't run on your down-rev PC. There's never been a better excuse to switch to Linux.

( Notes & links, as usual )

Signal boost for siderea | Move [US, pols, Patreon]. (Also noted by @catsittingstill.)

I don't know who in the US needs to hear this: it's time.

If you have a uterus, or love someone who does. If you're trans, or love someone who is – especially if they're a child. If you were married to someone of the same sex. If you are otherwise LGBQ, or your child is. If you are someone who provides medical care that is or is about to become criminalized.

Definitely, if you live in Florida. Probably, if you live in Texas. There's a whole bunch of other states that aren't looking too good either.

If you're one of those people living in one of those places in the US...

It's time to think about moving.

There's more -- go read the whole post. I'll wait.

My extended family includes people in all of the categories at risk. I have already advised my kids, including my trans son, to get their damned passports renewed. Washington (state) is still safe for the moment; all bets are off after 2024, and the US Supreme (kangaroo) Court is already makings things difficult. That will only get worse.

In addition to Florida and Texas, dangerous states include Idaho, Indiana, Arkansas, and Tennessee (all mentioned in comments on Siderea's post); there are others.

Note that the Nazis went after queers first. They didn't stop there. Good luck.

If you're anywhere east of Seattle in the US it looks as though there's some bad weather headed your way: This is the first time I've encountered the term "bomb cyclone". According to the Washington Post, "The Weather Service office serving Buffalo is calling it a “once in a generation” storm system." (Which probably means that we'll see one every couple of years, given climate change.)

Here's WaPo's advice about how to get ready: How to prepare yourself, your home and your vehicle for extreme cold; 20 smartphone tips for weathering natural disasters. To which I will add: if you want to use an electric vehicle as a temporary power source, I found out that -- at least in the Chevy Bolt -- auxiliary power isn't coming from the main battery. There's an ordinary lead-acid battery that powers the car's electronics, and when it's totally discharged, nothing will work regardless of what's in the main battery. So if you're planning on spending an hour or two working on your laptop and charging your phones, hit the "start" button.

And if you don't have any plastic "space blankets" in your house and in your car, get some.

Be careful out there.

The latest post in GoingSideways.blog is Frankly, It’s a Sick Truck.

Frank the Truck [which ... um... who?? you might remember from last week] is unwell.

The conclusions from the inspection were mixed, but worrisome. On the one hand, his body is in good shape, without any of the rust that ruled out one truck for us, and most of his systems seem to be fine as well. On the other hand, he’s getting engine issue codes that could mean anything from a cam shaft or timing chain problem to the need for an entire new engine. And right now, we don’t know which we’re dealing with, since the mechanic who did the inspection can’t diagnose him with more specificity than that. We need to take him to a Ford dealer, they told us.

This threatens to put a definite kink in everybody's plans for the next month or so. Look for an update next week.

I was pointed at a couple of fascinating health-related articles (which I should have posted about Tuesday, but procrastinated):

First, Drinking Coffee Daily May Stave Off Early Death, Study Suggests. Which I was already assuming from prior reading, but this is good confirmation. What was new to me was that a teaspoon of sugar actually enhances the effect -- I don't use it, but generally eat something fruit-like with it, which presumably counts. Good to know, given my liter/day habit.

(Supported by this research article: Association of Sugar-Sweetened, Artificially Sweetened, and Unsweetened Coffee Consumption With All-Cause and Cause-Specific Mortality: A Large Prospective Cohort Study: Annals of Internal Medicine.)

Second, On Your Back? Side? Face-Down? Mice Show How We Sleep May Trigger Or Protect Our Brain From Diseases Like ALS | IFLScience tl;dr: side. Lately I've found that I can't get to sleep lying on my back (I used to; darned if I know what changed), so it's good to know that side-sleeping is healthier as well.

(Supported by The Effect of Body Posture on Brain Glymphatic Transport - PubMed The Glymphatic System – A Beginner's Guide - PMC.) The glymphatic system was apparently discovered in 2013; this set of articles was the first I'd heard of it.

Sleeping on one's left side, in particular, is better for other reasons, including reducing heartburn. (See "Side Sleeping: Benefits and Which Side to Sleep On | Sleep Foundation" and "6 Hidden Health Benefits of Sleeping On Your Left Side That You've NEVER Heard About" -- although I'd already heard about several of those.) The benefits for sleep apnea and back pain appear to be less side-dependent, and there seem to be arguments in favor of both directions, e.g. Right vs. Left Side Sleeping: What's the Best for Your Health? - Sleep Junkie.

Edited to correct paste error in the coffee study link text.

The latest post in GoingSideways.blog is Putting It Together -- planning continues for both the Italy trip and the Colorado trip.

The latest post in GoingSideways.blog is Lime Soda.

Am I frustrated at all of the obstacles? Yes and no. This kind of adjustment and adaptation is really the essence of my Going Sideways method of travel.

[...]

Travel plans are like battle plans: they never survive contact with reality. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

What does that have to do with lime soda? You'll just have to read it to find out.

[...]

Meanwhile, here's a bonus signal boost: Fiction: Mushroom Chat by dialecticdreamer, written in response to my prompt on her latest Magpie Monday.

The latest post in GoingSideways.blog is Catching Up to Now - getting caught up with the recent past, and plans for the near future.

The latest post in GoingSideways.blog is Shipping Out -- Naomi's visit to the National Maritime Museum in Amsterdam.