Microsoft Office 2019 and 2021 for Mac will reportedly drop into "reduced functionality mode" on July 13, 2026, when a license-validation certificate expires, leaving perpetually licensed apps able to open files but not edit or save them. Slashdot reader joshuark shares a report from OSnews: "Microsoft Office 2019 and 2021 for Mac view-only conversion (2026) is a scheduled remote degradation of perpetually-licensed Microsoft Office software for macOS and iOS, set for July 13, 2026 when a license-validation certificate used by the Office apps expires," reports the Consumer Rights Wiki. "After Office 2019 for Mac reached end of support in October 2023, Microsoft assured customers their installed apps would 'continue to function.' The July 13, 2026 conversion instead drops the apps into a Microsoft-defined 'reduced functionality mode,' in which files can be opened and viewed but not edited or saved. By May 30, 2026, the original 2023 end-of-support page had been re-dated and rewritten on Microsoft's site; the 'continue to function' clause was removed."
Microsoft's advice to the users they're stealing from is to keep using the applications as mere viewers, switch to the free Office 365 web applications, pay for a 365 subscription, or buy a brand new regular copy of Office 2024. None of these make any sense, and clearly, all of this should be illegal, but it's not because the software industry is a clown show.
The Trump administration is moving to dismantle the National Science Foundation's $368 million Ocean Observatories Initiative, a network of more than 900 deep-sea instruments used to monitor ocean currents, marine ecosystems, carbon absorption, heat waves, fisheries, coastal flooding, and climate change. The NSF said it would send ships in June to begin the removal of the instruments anchored off Oregon, Washington, Alaska, North Carolina, and an area between Greenland and Iceland known as the Irminger Sea. The New York Times reports: The ocean observation system began operating in 2016 and was expected to continue for 25 years. Jim Edson, a marine meteorologist who led the Ocean Observatories Initiative, called it "the world's most advanced continuously operating ocean observing systems." When it was first proposed, the science foundation said it was important to have a long-term presence at scientifically important sites in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Removing the instruments could take 15 months. Seismic instruments positioned around an active underwater volcano off Oregon will continue operating until 2028.
Each observation station consists of several moorings that secure long arrays of devices connected to wires. The devices measure ocean currents as well as chemical and biological conditions from the water's surface down thousands of feet. The instruments were hardened to resist the pressure of the deep ocean, corrosive seawater as well as marine plants and animals that can foul electronics. Remotely controlled robotic vehicles and gliders around the moorings collect and transmit data to research laboratories.
It cost $48 million annually to operate the network. The Trump administration repeatedly tried to shutter it, proposing to cut its funding by 80 percent in both 2025 and again in 2026. Congress pushed back, restoring the money. To try to reduce costs, managers turned off some of the instruments and collected less data, according to a December 2025 presentation about the observatories at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union, a nonprofit organization of scientists. Still, the science foundation moved ahead to decommission the observatory network.
I spent over forty hours traveling to and from Hong Kong last week, and I found myself unable to sleep on the trip home. Overall, I did some academic work, read a good chunk of a history of the Qin and Han empires, and then finally gave up and looked at video screens. This is a post about what I watched.
I finally got around to seeing Shinichirō Watanabe’s most recent anime, Lazarus (2025), which is currently on Netflix (HBO Max). The show’s marketing, as well as its look and feel, lean very hard into the whole “new anime by the creator and director of Cowboy Beebop” thing. I don’t recall his intervening works having quite the same vibe, so I am sure there’s some kind of story behind this.
Lazarus pivots around a team of misfits assembled in search of a genius scientist. Per Wikipedia:
In the utopian year 2049, the world-renowned neuroscientist Dr. Skinner has discovered a miracle analgesic drug known as “Hapna” that completely relieves the user of any pain, shortly before disappearing off the face of the Earth. Three years later in October 2052, Skinner resurfaces to the public in an online video to announce the drug has a three-year half-life and that soon, everyone who took it will die. A task force of five agents, called “Lazarus”, is assembled to locate Skinner within 30 days and get him to divulge a vaccine before the first wave of Hapna users die
Lazarus was… fine. I enjoyed it, but the main plot really didn’t hold together very well, and one of its final “reveals” didn’t really add up. I am still unsure if the audience was supposed to spot Dr. Skinner fairly early on — thus putting us, in principle, into the domain of Hitchcockian suspense — in much the same way as I remain unclear as to whether the “drink switch” in Knives Out: Glass Onion was intended to be so obvious as to defy misdirection. But I won’t go into more details, since I think the statute of limitation on spoiler-free discussions doesn’t run out for another year or three.
By MAPPA, Sola Entertainment, The Cartoon Network, Inc. (Williams Street), Aniplex & Shinichirō Watanabe. Fair Use, i.e., criticism and analysisCover of Invincible Omnibus One, by Kirkman et al. and Image Comics. Fair use, i.e., criticism and analysis.
I also caught up on the seasons 2–4 of Invincible, which I thought was terrific. The storyline and characterizations involve a decent amount of meta-commentary on the superhero genre, but it mercifully avoids becoming yet another retread of the arguments Alan Moore made four decades ago in Watchmen. So it’s interesting that James Gunn genuflected toward Invincible in his recent Superman film. Indeed, like Gunn’s The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker, Invincible blends genuine humor with a bit too much gore — yes, even in the sanitized television adaptation.
Per my last comment, I just finished reading through the entire run of the core Invinciblecomic. My take is that the television show is the superior version. The show is a kind of revised edition. It recreates some scenes word-for-word, but it also rearranges plot elements for the better, uses superior models for some of its key characters, and mercifully addresses some of the more problematic ways in which comic handles sex and gender.
In the comic book, for example, Mark Grayson’s (aka Invincible) first girlfriend, Amber Bennett, has two character traits. She’s hot, and she wants to wait to have sex with Mark. Their early relationship mostly takes place “off panel” (so much so that I looked back over the early issues to see if I’d missed anything). In the cartoon, though, she’s a much more developed character and, more importantly, both exercises and cares deeply about her own agency. Regardless of what one thinks of the specifics of Amber’s retooling, the show at least tries to make its audience invested in Mark and Amber’s relationship. The comic book treats it as a throwaway — nothing more than a device to delay a coupling that readers have already figured out is inevitable.
These kinds of changes, while often subtle, are something of a leitmotif in the television adaptation. Allen the Alien’s girlfriend, Telia, is portrayed (mostly) as a scantily-clad sexpot in the comic book. In the show, she’s a general in the Coalition military. In the show, Telia actively participates in major storylines. In the comic book, she mostly seems to scold other characters in unpleasant ways. Simple gender swaps – such as making Shrinking Rae, Tech Jacket, and Green Ghost women — not only bring greater balance to the cast but also, in some cases, allows for better storytelling.
Anyway, I give Lazarus a generous B and Invincible an A-. If you have your own opinions, please share. Or just discuss anything you’ve been watching or reading in recent weeks. That’ll work, too.
This is your reminder that the LGM’s fundraiser is almost done.
Plex is adding new social features to the platform.
As of today, users can make and share "personalized lists on Plex of any movie, show or episode," the company said in an announcement. Later this year, users will be able to import lists from other streaming services and react to other people's lists.
This month, Plex will also launch a community forum that will allow people to "post and comment directly on any movie, show, season, or episode." Later this year, Plex will introduce "Match Scores" based on a viewer's history and past ratings to predict how much they'll like a show or movie, Plex said.
Plex already lets people rate content, and this year it will also allow them to react with emoji. Similarly, Plex will also enable people to respond to reviews and discussions with images. The goal, per Plex’s announcement, is to bring “a new layer of expression to every conversation.”
Finally, a "Follow Anything" feature coming this year will provide users with alerts around movies, shows, actors, and crew members that they follow.
Plex’s announcement claimed that its users have already “made over 100 million watching decisions a month and created more than 45 million watchlists,” making the new capabilities relevant to how people use Plex today.
“The addition of these features marks the next step in Plex's vision to unify entertainment discovery and help users navigate an increasingly fragmented streaming landscape,” Plex’s announcement said.
Plex is targeting a common challenge for streaming users: finding stuff worth watching across streaming services.
“We believe the future of entertainment discovery is social and trust-driven," Scott Olechowski, co-founder and chief product officer at Plex, said in a statement.
Plex's evolution
The new capabilities highlight Plex’s focus on features that go beyond its media server business.
In 2019, Plex started offering free ad-supported streaming television (FAST) channels. By 2024, Plex was selling movie rentals, a stark contrast to its original business, which focused on letting people share their own media with friends and family. The California-headquartered company has since added the ability for users to leave reviews on movies, as well as to comment on other users’ reviews.
Meanwhile, Plex's changes have raised concerns among some users about its commitment to self-hosting. For instance, Plex last year began removing users’ ability to remotely access a personal media server without paying a subscription fee. Plex also got rid of its Watch Together feature and redesigned its app to look more like a streaming service. And starting next month, the price for a lifetime subscription to Plex’s media server features will increase from $250 to $750. When launched in 2012, the Lifetime Plex Pass cost $75.
Plex’s evolution from its legacy business seems to be paying off. The company's marketing VP, Scott Hancock, said in 2023 that Plex has had more people using its online streaming service than its media server features since 2022. Ad-supported streaming has also been a top revenue driver for the company, which is key as it seeks profitability.
This all suggests that Plex’s expanding interest in streaming and rentals won't end anytime soon.
Giertz recently bet that there was enough demand to start a Kickstarter for it, and boy, was she right: Her Laundry Chair campaign has racked up $750,000 in the few days since it launched.
To refresh your memory, Giertz observed the need for a place to toss clothes that are not dirty enough to launder, but not clean enough to go back in the drawer. Reasoning that most people simply use a chair for the task, she resolved to design one better suited to the purpose.
Thankfully, Giertz has not cheaped out on the materials, even though the piece is headed for production. The frame is solid hardwood. The upholstery isn't synthetic, but 100% cotton corduroy. The swivel mechanism relies on ball bearings.
There are still a few $899 Early Bird pledge slots available. The chair is expected to ship (flatpack, of course) in November.
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