Categories
Stuff

Random notes on GOAJ, fatigue, and downsizing

What some of you will care about most: It’s likely that there will not be a Gold/Diamond Open Access study next year. It’s essentially certain that I won’t be doing such a study.

Until early this month, that was largely because (a) the sponsoring agency wasn’t sure they wanted to keep doing it and (b) I was feeling my age (81, if you want to know0 and thinking I wasn’t really up to it. [Yes, my annual wellness exam–including the short version of the dementia-screening that the Orange Menace seems to “think” is some sort of genius test–came out fine. But I’m still 81 and slowing down,]

What changed this month to make it even less likely…

For a while now we’ve been thinking of downsizing, but weren’t sure how to do it, especially since my wife cooks her own food and wants a full-size kitchen and we both insist on a single story.

Last month, we figured out how we might be able to do it; an adjacent city has two 55-and-over age-restrictied manufactured-home communities in a great location. (You can think of them as mobile home parks if you like, although very few of these doublewide structures are in any real sense mobile.. )

This month, we found one that suited us. We’re now in contract, with all contingencies removed. Some time in early December, we should start the ‘fun’ of really downsizing and moving. There is no way that I’ll have the energy or time to do the study, even if I was so inclined.

So, in a few months, we should be doing our part in generational shifts by making a lovely home suitable for a family (with kids, given how our neighborhood’s been changing) available for purchase. And we’ll be a few miles away, meeting new people only one generation younger than us–or even less.

Part of downsizing has already happen; discarding most of my absurdly large print history. A couple of years ago, I tore my columns and articles out of several hundred journal/magazine articles and recycled the journals/articles. In the last couple of weeks, I’ve recycled the stack of torn-out articles, the paperback editions of my own books that appeared in hard and paper versions, any duplicate copies, and proceedings that included something by me. I knew I’d never look at them again anyway, and it’s pretty clear that my “archives” won’t have a home. (Yes, I also discarded all the ITAL Newsletter and ISQ issues I edited.) The new place won’t have as many bookcases. The clubhouse does have a modest recreational library…and the city we’re moving to has an excellent public library, which I intend to use heavily as long as I’m able to read and appreciate the books, which I’m hoping will be a few more years.

So that’s the news.

Categories
Books and publishing

More memories discarded

A few weeks ago, as part of our planned downsizing, I recycled paperback copies of my books that also had hardcover versions. A couple years back, I discarded a fee hundred professional magazine.journal issues after tearing out my articles and columns,

Today, I discarded (added to recycling bin) the articles I’d torn out–and impressive (and heavy) stack of around 600 articles and columns–that I’m 99.99% certain I’ll never read.

That frees up some space. {Since I never attended library school, I never even considered the possibility of donating to “my archive”–I wrote a LOT, and I’d like to think people found my writing useful–but I didn’t write For The Ages in any case.]

Categories
Books and publishing

A Few Words about Terry Pratchett and Discworld

If you’ve never read any Discworld books, try one or two. Maybe that’s all I need to say, but…

Sir Terry Pratchett is dead now. His works will live on for a very long time, I suspect. Chief among his works: the 42 (I believe) Discworld books, including–VERY MUCH including–the half-dozen Tiffany Aching adventures.

I’ve read (and own) all 42, twice I believe, and a few of his other works. Later this fall, I’ll start another read–and, given that I only read one Pratchett for every 6-8 library books I read, this is likely to be the last pass. I like the books quite a bit–ever since I first encountered them, decades ago, in the shipboard library on a cruise. I’m pretty sure I began with the first, which I’ll always think of as The Colour of Magic (even though the American publisher later dropped the “u”). I’ve seen discussions of the series that say NOT to start with that book, but I think it’s as good a place as any–and after a few books, you’ll appreciate having the background.

Pratchett is funny, insightful. a great satirist, and…well, a really good writer. Discworld (it’s flat, resting on several very large elephants which in turn stand on an enormous turtle floating through space–and while there a half dozen or so auxiliary coauthored volumes exploring the science of Discworld, I’ve only read one and don’t think they’re at all needed to enjoy the series).

You may not like Discworld or Pratchett’s style. Tastes differ. But if you’ve never tried one, I recommend them.

A few side notes:

  • The one Pratchett novel I’d suggest skipping is the first (NOT a Discworld book), The Carpet People, written when he was 12 years old and revised later. I believe I read it once. On a second try, I bogged down less than a third of the way through and am not likely to continue.
  • On the other hand, the standalone novels Nation, Strata, and–especially–Dodger are all IMHO well worth reading.
  • Other than The Last Hero, I haven’t really read the illustrated and coauthored Discworld novels or the various other ancillary works. I suspect they’re all good,
  • As for the series The Long…, all coauthored with Stephen Baxter, to my eye they start out strong (The Long Earth) and fade away over time. You might love them.

Nothing more to say. If, a decade or so from now, I’m still around and still able to read and comprehend these, I might make a fourth pass–but that’s a lot of Ifs. Meanwhile, I’m looking forward to starting the series again later this Fall.

Categories
open access

Gold/Diamond OA usage: 10/3/26 report

OK, it’s been a while…

Here’s what I see to date:

Gold OA 2026: 1,086 PDF, no print (other than my copy)

Diamond OA 2026: 160 PDF, no print

GOA26 dataset: 177 downloads

Gold OA 10 (2025): 2,677 PDF, one print.

Diamond OA 2025: 4,636 PDF, one print

GOA25 dataset: 495 downloads.

Gold OA 9 (2024): 3,827 PDF, one print

Diamond OA 2024: 4,636 PDF, one print

GOA25 dataset: 701 downloads.

The Future

It’s not at all clear that this project will continue, either for me or for others. Right now, I’d say probably not. (Given the apparent stalling of diamond OA, maybe that’s OK.)

Categories
Media

A closing note on “The Absolute Bose”

I would have sworn I wrote about this a while back–but either it was a LONG while back or it was a Mastodon post.

The gist was that, after several years, I was getting ready to give up on an audiophile magazine I called “The Absolute Bose” (not quite its real name) for various reasons.

I finally did. And only five months after not renewing and three months after explicitly telling them I wasn’t going to, they stopped sending the issues.

Briefly, I stopped because I no longer found their general attitudes amusing–and, in fact, was finding the editor’s attitudes so grating that I came close to throwing the mag across the room most months. (I am neither violent nor especially demonstrative, as anyone who knows me can attest.) Specifically, assertions such as there being no point of diminishing returns in absurdly expensive audio upgrades and my increasing sense that (a) writers were looking for their preferred set of distortions and (b) writers were hearing differences that could largely be explained by the fact that hearing is NOT entirely based on sound waves at the ear: what the brain does may be more important and (c) every seemingly-audible improvement was a world-shattering improvement. Oh, and the recognition that my 80-year-old hearing-aid using ears aren’t the batlike organs that seem so to be universal among TAB writers.

And, to be sure, the general sense that vinyl is always better than digital…and that *real* music lovers mostly listen to jazz (or maybe classical).

So I’m left with one audio magazine. And I’m increasingly thinking that, in a couple of years when that one’s up for renewal, I might drop that one. Maybe I’m just too old for this stuff. (The other magazine’s many columns seem almost all to be vinyl- and turntable/cartridge-centric, and I still don’t regret having sold all of my 1,200-plus LPs shortly after CDs emerged.) Frankly, reading a favorable review of a cartridge that uses (I AM NOT MAKING THIS UP!) Mammoth tusks for cartridge bodies is…well, I don’t have words. I guess that Mammoth breeding program is going well?

Categories
Stuff

One mile or 61 miles–what’s the difference?

We have five grocery stores & supermarkets nearby (within about two miles)–maybe more, depending on how loosely you define them. One, a Nob Hill (Raley’s, that is), offers occasional fabulous deals if you “clip” them in the online address–e.g., a free sixpack of triple-length Viva towels, which are around $20-$25, or maybe a free gallon of vinegar. Not every day, but often enough to check once a week. (The store is also the only nearby place to get the protein bars I can both eat–no rolled oats–and like, and has the best price on the Endangered Species dark chocolate I like and the best selection of Bob’s Red Mill stuff, so it’s all good.)

What’s amusing is that when I log in, it always brings up the nearest store. And says that the store is a mere 61.4 miles away. Which is only off by about 60 miles.

I love automation.

Categories
Stuff

We’re back

Walt at Random will continue limping along. The tech support at Hosting (formerly A2), and specifically Orbi, continues to be excellent and fast. I was about ready to give up–because of problems caused by WP’s lack of full backward-compatibility–but Orbi wouldn’t give up until it was fixed.

The new template isn’t quite as fancy, but it’s cleaner and nicely suits the future usage of Walt at Random. I don’t expect ever to add 2,500 more posts (the blog’s been around for 21 years), but I’m happy not to lose it.

Categories
Stuff

Testing

Visible or not?

Categories
C&I Books open access

Diamond OA 2026 published

Diamond OA 2026: The World of No-Fee Open Access Journals is now published and available as an $8.50 (or so) trade paperback or a free PDF. As usual, links are available at https://waltcrawford.name/goaj.html

Also, prices for earlier editions of Gold Open Access and Diamond OA have been adjusted to cover Lulu pricing changes–usually involving an increase of around $0.25-$0.50. (If anybody purchased a print copy during late June, Lulu would have charged the minimum price; I round up to the nearest quarter-dollar, quarter-Euro, or quarter-pound).

Now after a little break, to see if I can make changes to this here blog so that current PHP is supported… (In that process, the appearance and features may change…)

Categories
Stuff

Unclear future

If you want to keep up with my Gold Open Access work and other stuff, you should maybe follow me on Mastodon.
WordPress’s backward compatibility only goes so far, and–after 21 (GOOD GRIEF TWENTYONE) years, it’s possible that I’m reaching the limit. I may spend a tiny amount of effort or money to patch things up, but, well… if Walt at Random disappears or has no more new posts from a tired 80-year-old cancer survivor who’s slowing down and maybe irrelevant, will anybody care?

We shall see.