u/Nervous_Chemical_773

I use a lot of plastic film stencils on textiles. Big, simple images are fine and I'm happy I've got that down, but more complex images with thin, delicate parts, not so much :0( I've been trying temporary mounting sprays and they certainly work, but I end up with one side of a delicate stencil needing cleaning with a solvent - it usually takes decent pressure to get the glue off even then so it's easy to damage the stencil.

I just tried Cadence stencil spray, described as water-based and easily cleaned. I hoped the glue would dissolve in warm water, but it's pretty much the same as all the other products I've used.

I want to get the glue off the stencil so it's easily used on both sides and simply to make it easier to store and I want to get it off without rubbing (much). Has anyone come across a way of temporary gluing stencils that is easy to remove after use?

Poem written on seeing a familiar biscuit tin on the cinema screen

Wait, was that biscuit tin the same as the one I've got?

I think so.

If that actor would just move out of the way....

Yes, I'm sure of it, i recognise the man 

Playing the bagpipes on the lid.

Mine's in the garage full of used zip-ties, 

I wonder what's in that one.

Shortbread probably, or maybe they just use empty ones in films

For safety reasons.

But why would the murderer have shortbread in their house

When the detective said they were

Lactose intolerant? 

Maybe it was a gift and they threw the short bread away.

Maybe the tin contains the very evidence the detective needs!

Why doesn't he look in the tin

It obviously shouldn't be there!

Oh, now we're in a car chase

I've no idea what's going on.

Why are films so complicated these days?

Fergus 2026

I used to use something call Audiograbber on Windows - it was pretty good at detecting tracks on a recording of a whole album and creating individual files using wav files. Been looking for an alternative on Mint but can only seem to find stuff that runs via the terminal. Are there any such apps with a GUI?

I seem to tripping over a lot of stuff ATM :O( I desaturated to get a grey scale image, I've done what I needed to do but now I can't find how to 'resaturate' - every colour I choose just comes out grey. I've checked Image>Mode and it's already on RGB - tried switching to greyscale then back, but that didn't work. I can see there's a pallet function but that seems to be limited to 256 colours - there's no 'default' 16b pallet for instance. Where do I need to be looking to do this?

Tools I can see on GIMP 3 LINUX mint - got the ellipse selection tool...

New to gimp and sometimes the simplest task seems shrouded in mystery :O/ Just want to draw a circle. Many instruction pages say 'choose the ellipse tool', but I don;t seem to have one.
Others lead you to the ellipse selection tool which is fine for a filled circle (but more trouble than it should be). Is there a tool that just lets me click and drag to create a shape then define fills. colours etc.?
Many thanks

I've seen this group setting up activities for Green party members. It looks like you have to join the group with a subscription to get access to the videos and so on. I'm quite keen to join but it will mean giving them my details, including that I am a member of the Greens, so I'm asking if anyone knows their status in terms of the party. Are they an official organisation within it?

Got problems with both start-up and shut-down. On start-up I often end up with a blank screen and have to re-start using the power button on the desk-top (not the mains switch); second or third try usually does it. On shut-down often the screen closes but the fan is still running in the tower; I use the power button to shut down completely. In both cases, messages flash up on the screen during the process but they are not consistent and usually too quick to read in detail anyway.

The first thing I want to do is see if I can step through start-up and shut-down to see if I can find errors that might help me sort this out. So - how might I do that?

Normally I write whimsical little ditties about how loverly pussycats are so I'm not sure where this came from, but here it is.

Can't I just be angry?

When I see the brutal deaths of innocents,

Any and all innocents,

Can't I just be angry?

You make me jump through semantic hoops

You lay logic bombs at every turn

You sew my mouth up with your cherry picked history,

But trust me, it's monsters all the way down

You tie my tongue in knots 

And make mincemeat of each attempt 

To explain the fury in my soul 

You dissect my grief, 

Lay it out on a mortuary table

And poke and prod it's remains. 

All of you, from every side,

Looking for signs of my evil,

My wrongdoing

My 'lack of nuance'

How dare I feel that?

How dare I care for all people?

You demand i pick a side and hide behind your

Lies and half-truths, ready to destroy me

Whatever way I jump,

No matter how I twist and turn, bend my feelings round

Your instruments of tortured logic

You'll take my words and label them

anti-this or pro-that and demand

Not just an apology, but my removal

From society, thrown on the heap

With the rest of the monsters 

Why can't I just be

Mad at murderers

Whatever label they give themselves

Whatever label they put on their victims

However they justify their actions 

Why can't I just be

Sad for victims who just want a life to live

Without fear.

Why won't you let me be angry?

1/5/2026