June 1st - June 7th 2026

Movies

• Mārama | Taratoa Stappard | 2025 - Yikes, this was a complicated watch. I cannot express how excited I was to have two of my favorite things - gothic horror and Pacific culture - thrust into one! It also is the perfect setup given that gothic horror typically takes place in England, and Aotearoa is occupied by the English. I will keep this short because I don’t think it does anyone good to be overly negative to a piece of media that made it through the Hollywood process in which so much Pacific language, in this case te reo, is present. Also, directed by Maori people. Overall, I think it fell short on the gothic horror tropes. I also think that it is misdirected in where the horror of colonialism lies. If your heart isn’t the Pacific or you aren’t a gothic horror purist, I think it’s a fine movie to watch. I am extra sensitive with Pacific media, so I was overly critical. Overall, I think it’s an amazing sign a film like this was created and made it to theatres!

YouTube

• How to Make a Soundproof Box | JSK-labo - I won’t make the myriad jokes I could make, but this is just a cool woodworking video I found in my hunt to de-noise-ify my server! I ended up going with an ikea 12in x 12in cube that I lined with acoustic foam, but if I have access to a wood shop, this is the platonic ideal!
• Your Remote Desktop SUCKS!! Try this instead (FREE + Open Source) | NetworkChuck - Idk this guy gives me weird Mormon vibes, but damn does he make quality and so so so many videos. RustDesk is a sickass tool for easy screensharing FO FREE. I’m using it to run a Mac Mini and old laptop headless in a networked server dealio. Or, you could use it to help grandma not get pwned in a ransomware attack. Knock on wood.