Extra Future

Hi, I’m Phil Nelson, a writer, developer, and audio-visual maker of stuff. I have been making stuff online for over 25 years. I run RetroStrange and Set Side B. Good to see you.

Blog Archives

Month: January 2025

  • Phil’s Newsletter: “Twenty Twenty Fuck”

    Originally published on my Substack newsletter.

    Hey there. How’s it going? What are you looking forward to this year? I mean it, click over and post in the comments when you read this. I wanna see something.

    Checking In

    Some housekeeping to start: I’m trying to move this newsletter off of Substack for various reasons, primarily that many of the people they platform are harmful shitheads. Here’s a reminder: You don’t have to take everyone’s money.

    As a result I’ve spent quite a bit of time looking at other software like Ghost, and the WordPress Newsletter plugin. One of the big goals for 2025 in my wizard tower is to self-host as much as I can, and get off the big platforms as much as I can. Currently this means I’m using Debian a lot more than I used to. This is overall a good thing. 

    I’ll give you some notice before we change, but believe me when I say it is in the works.

    Work Work Work

    Things are going pretty well at OpenCV. Our YouTube channel @OpenCVOfficial just passed 100,000 subscribers and 150 episodes and I get a fancy award to hang on my wall. You bet your ass I had them put my name on it. Photo shoot coming soon. We recently also just launched a new competition. This one involves robot arms and as such is awesome. I made a little trailer to introduce the concept and the prizes:

    I’m working on a DIY “cyberdeck” using a low-cost, low-power single-board computer as a side project lately. I’m going to use Armbian, it’s a work in progress with a custom 3D printable case. Photos soon, promise.

    Phil Nelson’s Newsletter is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

    RetroStrange

    RetroStrange has quietly expanded a bit— In addition to RetroStrange TV we now have a 24/7 Halloween Channel, taking over from the not very popular RetroStrange Select. It plays Halloween-y stuff all day every day. 

    We also now have RetroStrange Radio2, a 24/7 audio stream which plays the (now public domain) hits of the 1920s.

    Our next RetroStrange Movie Night is on my birthday, February 1st! If you want to buy me something, here’s my Amazon wishlist.

    Phil’s Good Links return next week…

    Thanks for reading,

    Phil Nelson

    Wizard Tower, SoMA, Earth

    2025.01.15 +8UTC

    Follow me around:

    Phil Nelson’s Newsletter is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

  • Twenty Twenty Fuck

    Hey there. How’s it going? What are you looking forward to this year? I mean it, click over and post in the comments when you read this. I wanna see something.

    Checking In

    Some housekeeping to start: I’m trying to move this newsletter off of Substack for various reasons, primarily that many of the people they platform are harmful shitheads. Here’s a reminder: You don’t have to take everyone’s money.

    As a result I’ve spent quite a bit of time looking at other software like Ghost, and the WordPress Newsletter plugin. One of the big goals for 2025 in my wizard tower is to self-host as much as I can, and get off the big platforms as much as I can. Currently this means I’m using Debian a lot more than I used to. This is overall a good thing. 

    I’ll give you some notice before we change, but believe me when I say it is in the works.

    Work Work Work

    Things are going pretty well at OpenCV. Our YouTube channel @OpenCVOfficial just passed 100,000 subscribers and 150 episodes and I get a fancy award to hang on my wall. You bet your ass I had them put my name on it. Photo shoot coming soon. We recently also just launched a new competition. This one involves robot arms and as such is awesome. I made a little trailer to introduce the concept and the prizes:

    I’m working on a DIY “cyberdeck” using a low-cost, low-power single-board computer as a side project lately. I’m going to use Armbian, it’s a work in progress with a custom 3D printable case. Photos soon, promise.

    Phil Nelson’s Newsletter is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

    RetroStrange

    RetroStrange has quietly expanded a bit— In addition to RetroStrange TV we now have a 24/7 Halloween Channel, taking over from the not very popular RetroStrange Select. It plays Halloween-y stuff all day every day. 

    We also now have RetroStrange Radio2, a 24/7 audio stream which plays the (now public domain) hits of the 1920s.

    Our next RetroStrange Movie Night is on my birthday, February 1st! If you want to buy me something, here’s my Amazon wishlist.

    Phil’s Good Links return next week…

    Thanks for reading,

    Phil Nelson

    Wizard Tower, SoMA, Earth

    2025.01.15 +8UTC

    Follow me around:

    Phil Nelson’s Newsletter is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.