Everything the anchors say on this tape, story by story.
GRANT BRICKMAN: A magic show, a skeptic and a very personal grudge: The Apothecary Diaries, episode 53.
GRANT BRICKMAN: Good afternoon. Now the full story: Apothecary Diaries, episode 53. A magic show, a skeptic, and mercury. The planet. Roxy is on the street. ▶
ROXY: Anime News Network says if one person shouldn't be at your magic show, it's skeptic Maomao. Folks, would you bring a skeptic to a magic show? ▶
PASSERBY: Never. I buy a ticket to be fooled. Bring the skeptic to a tax audit instead. ▶
ROXY: The show draws on the White Snake legend, a snake demon turned woman who preys on men. Maomao has the medical and chemical knowledge to explain tricks. ▶
PASSERBY: Explaining the tricks? That's rude. Even I know you don't do that to a magician. ▶
ROXY: The review says the White Lady spread ergot-laced food in the slums and nearly killed Zulin. She drinks mercury at the end of her show. Spoiler. Oops. ▶
PASSERBY: Mercury as the big finale? I just want a rabbit. ▶
ROXY: Per the review, mercury in Maomao's day was both medicine and poison. Western viewers know it as an old syphilis treatment, largely ineffective. Four reels. ▶
GRETA FOOTNOTE: Thanks, Roxy. The review also notes the White Lady has poor eyesight. And Grant, here mercury is a metal, not a planet. ▶
GRETA FOOTNOTE: Canonical lets the dinosaur out: Ubuntu 27.04 Tenacious T-Rex is in development, and breakage is expected.
KAI: An automatic sync with Debian is coming soon. Many packages must be rebuilt and tested, so the team expects delays and errors and asks the community to help. ▶
GRANT BRICKMAN: Lyle, your reaction to a dinosaur that's already asking for help. ▶
LYLE HOTCHKISS: Asking volunteers to fix breakage before it exists? That's the Titanic handing out swim lessons on launch day. ▶
PRUDENCE NUANCE: A warning in advance, though. Who else wanted to find the package errors by surprise? ▶
GRANT BRICKMAN: Kai says a first optional test week could start December 24. Lyle? ▶
LYLE HOTCHKISS: Test week on Christmas Eve? Somebody wants the volunteers too full of stollen to read the logs. ▶
GRANT BRICKMAN: So Debian is the foundation and Ubuntu is the penthouse? Kai, help me. ▶
KAI: Ubuntu uses Debian as the base for its own distribution. The sync brings the package base of the coming version up to date. ▶
LYLE HOTCHKISS: A schedule that admits delays in advance is a catastrophe waiting for— actually, no. It's the only honest kind. ▶
PRUDENCE NUANCE: If it breaks on schedule, is that a delay or on time? I'd ask the dinosaur. ▶
GRANT BRICKMAN: What we know: work has begun, the release is planned for April 22, 2027, and errors are expected. What's open: how bumpy the Debian sync gets. ▶
Pixels in Brief (PXL)
GRANT BRICKMAN: Four quick headlines, half a minute, no luggage check.
GRETA FOOTNOTE: Quick round. Engadget names five tech items that could raise TSA red flags. Your charger is already sweating. ▶
GRETA FOOTNOTE: Google's orbital AI satellite sent a haiku home, The Register says. Very expensive, but it scans. ▶
GRETA FOOTNOTE: Anthropic updated Claude to steer it away from cloning games, after weeks of AI slop on Steam. Level cleared. ▶
GRETA FOOTNOTE: Space.com picks nine nightmarish sci-fi spaceships for Halloween. Boarding is free, leaving is optional. ▶
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