JohnnyEnzyme
@JohnnyEnzyme@piefed.social
- Comment on ELI5 why I logically understand McDonald's food is low quality and bad for me but I crave it like crack? 4 days ago:
Don’t forget loads of salt!
Like– every step of the way, fast food places have an opportunity to aim for ‘healthier’ or ‘more delicious’ choices, overwhelmingly with profit-making in mind. That’s the main thing to keep in mind.
IIRC, McD’s and various other chains even design venting and such to get the smell of the cooking food (chemically enhanced) in to the surrounding area. You know, so that more people can pay a fortune to get a food rush that doubles as a health disaster.
- Comment on People are completely used to autotune in music now, and the same will happen with ai usage 6 days ago:
Obviously S&G had nothing of the sort, it didnt exist at the time.
Of course it did. Just as I referred to as “manual-tune” in my original comment. George Martin was FAMOUS for that stuff, but I tend to think he wasn’t the first.
Me, I like people who can make brave, interesting points in life, but I also don’t value much people who have no idea WTF they’re talking about, literally without a shred of evidence to back up their nonsense.
- Comment on The Fediverse and Content Creation: Monetization 6 days ago:
I mean, you’re kind of lifting my point in to a broader area that I wasn’t speaking to at the time.
Of course I agree with all that you said. But I was talking strictly in the context of OP’s framework.
- Comment on People are completely used to autotune in music now, and the same will happen with ai usage 6 days ago:
You’ve made no real case that it’s used in any significant way upon any significant music I know of.
Used on modern pop? Of course it is. All over the place. Which is like saying that fast food and cold cuts contain a bunch of artificial stuff that enhances shelf life, flavor. We all know that, and most people know that fast food and cold cuts are the very bottom tier of food, despite the brief rush.
You can bet your bippy that Simon & Garfunkel never needed no auto-tune gimmicks to perform “The Sound of Silence.” Altho extra orchestration indeed helped.
- Comment on People are completely used to autotune in music now, and the same will happen with ai usage 1 week ago:
You haven’t heard a song NOT using it since at least 1998.
I have a very hard time believing that, unless of course sound engineers have been doing “manual-tune” for ages and ages (see below). Regardless, loads of singers who perform in front of others clearly have the ability to sing a song in a variety of ways depending on mood, venue, audience, occasion, etc. In short– good singers REALLY ARE that talented, generally with excellent pitch, and don’t need assistance in something as basic as singing notes close enough to pitch-perfect without the need to be absolutely perfect.
Just look at how improv singers can do so well, or people performing in front of judges, or opera and opera-style singers performing in concert halls, like Charlotte Church.
I would guess the one argument of yours that holds some water is with flawed singers who are otherwise good, but have chronic problems hitting close-enough pitch, or really good singers trying to perform songs slightly outside of their range. Stuff like that…
- Comment on The Fediverse and Content Creation: Monetization 1 week ago:
One seemingly enormous difference is that YT is a for-profit platform owned by a huge business (Google), not a decentralised network run by many small volunteers. FWIW.
- Comment on The Fediverse and Content Creation: Monetization 1 week ago:
I don’t have strong feelings either way, but money does touch everything, overtly or not, when it comes to civilisation. Time spent volunteering on Fediverse projects is effectively money spent (at least to some degree), and instances cost time & fees to maintain.
But I guess to argue against myself– you have to think that without some kind of ongoing responsible oversight, then the worst aspects of capitalism might predictably find a way to screw it all up if left to its own devices. Then again, maybe the scale involved makes that less likely. *shrug*
- Comment on Sherwood for the Commodore 64 - Great new 2025 C64 release. 1 week ago:
Defender of the Crown music blasting in my ears from some memory source…
- Comment on The AYN Thor is looking like the perfect way to emulate dual-screen games 1 week ago:
Well then, CONGRATS, MATEY!
- Comment on The AYN Thor is looking like the perfect way to emulate dual-screen games 1 week ago:
I mean… we all prefer our own styles in terms of the way we game, and our particular setups.
Sorry, I was a bit rude there…
- Comment on We live in alien zoo 1 week ago:
I’d say keep the Filmation logo. It seems to suit you.
- Comment on The AYN Thor is looking like the perfect way to emulate dual-screen games 1 week ago:
Yes, that’s also my understanding.
For example, I have a DSXL myself, and find nothing ‘special’ about it having dual screens. Transferring those two screens to my phone / tablet using emulator of choice has been a superior experience, for the most part.
- Comment on We live in alien zoo 1 week ago:
Eh, I’m not sure it was DECISIVELY DISPROVEN. Because in science, we start with the idea that “we just don’t know,” then proceed carefully from there.
- Comment on We live in alien zoo 1 week ago:
Always on the brink of self destruction
I’m not really sure about that part. No doubt we’ve been self-warring for ages, but as long as there was new territory to expand in to, with new resources to be plundered and used, I doubt there was any real risk of a species self-destruction.
Really, I think it’s more like a problem of: 1) spreading across almost any place inhabitable across the planet, 2) laying claim to and using up all available resources in such demesne, polluting willy-nilly, and most especially 3) thinking that “the industrial age” (combined with capitalism) was some kind of genius formula for making sapiens ‘better than ever.’ Creating a global sapiens powder keg, if you will.
OTOH, when you look at a continent like N. America– if the natives hadn’t been fucked with over & over again by Euro colonists, I would guess they could have gone on for many tens of thousands of years just like they did, living perfectly authentic, interesting, meaningful lives without all the ‘advancement of technology’ shizzle.
Cue Jon Belushi exclamation…..
- Comment on We live in alien zoo 1 week ago:
IMO this is generally true, but not always. You look at the States, roughly mid-30’s to mid-70’s, and it really was a period of greatness for most folks, from top to bottom. (altho not so much for various minorities, which is a real mark of shame for the first modern democracy)
Anyway yeah, the “aliens” in question are simply us, doing all this to ourselves and the very home that birthed us dangerous, naked apes.
Just because I’m currently reading “Sapiens,” consider that we sprang up out of E. Africa ~70K yrs ago, and ~20K yrs later shared the planet with FIVE other human species. A mere ~20K yrs later, we and whatever other natural forces had eradicated all the others (including our closest relatives, Neanderthals). In terms of a ‘murder mystery,’ it doesn’t look all that great of a case for our innocence, haha. 😑
- Comment on Did the Buldak spicy ramen get less spicy? 1 week ago:
I’m guessing you’re thinking of Helicobacter pylori, but even with a diagnosis, treatment can still be elusive. For one thing because a heavy dose of multiple antibiotics can be a lot for the body to deal with, and personally I’m guessing that with mounting resistance to such, sometimes they flat-out won’t work, anyway.
Meanwhile, cutting down on gut acidity and building a good biome seem to be best for the long haul.
In any case, IME spicy and acidic foods can absolutely exacerbate the situation.
- Comment on The AYN Thor is looking like the perfect way to emulate dual-screen games 1 week ago:
You can do the same thing with any standard phone and good emulator, TBC. Might want to use a small tablet with controller attached for a better gaming experience, but my point is– this seems to be a specialty device that’s not all that necessary for the budget-conscious or person who prefers devices having multiple flexibility.
- Comment on Did the Buldak spicy ramen get less spicy? 1 week ago:
Just someone else jumping in to comment here, but I’ve had stomach ulcers since my late 20’s in direct response to mildly acidic food. Got even worse when I went abroad and caught a severe stomach virus, due to which I now have to take stomach meds on the regular.
Funnily enough, all the while I’ve been able to chomp away on hot chiles without the slightest inconvenience. I guess different guts = different microflora / fauna mixes.
- Comment on If you think sneezing is rough, just imagine if you had anal hiccups.. 3 weeks ago:
That is in fact what it was like for me when I started using a lot of garlic powder in my cooking. For some reason I could take it fresh or baked, but not dessicated / powdered. OTOH, being a fan of Blazing Saddles…
- Comment on 5 weeks ago:
In case it’s needed:
https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Skin_Of_Evil_(episode) - Submitted 5 weeks ago to startrek@startrek.website | 2 comments
- Comment on We never stop being kids. Our playground just gets bigger. 5 weeks ago:
There’s also practical application and real-world effect to consider. Giving kids the vote wouldn’t help the situation, and in fact wouldn’t happen anyway, even if the last remaining legit party was in charge, here.
Now in theory, if you wanted to set up some kind of voting application test to see how well the potential voter was familiar with real facts & reality, allowing them to vote if they passed, then that might indeed be an argument for lowering the voting age. In fact, it almost would have saved democracy in the 2016 election, as I alluded to above.
- Comment on YSK tricks for one of the cheapest meals: beans and rice 5 weeks ago:
It works great any time you might think of having rice, either as a side or in a meal.
I would say this, tho– it can get a bit slimy (like oatmeal), so you might want to rinse it after cooking.
- Comment on YSK tricks for one of the cheapest meals: beans and rice 5 weeks ago:
Well… once I switched to SCO, I stopped eating rice and never looked back. It’s all-around healthier than any type of rice, last I checked. Plus, I greatly prefer the flavor, no offense intended.
Basmati does have quite a pleasant aroma, in any case!
- Comment on YSK tricks for one of the cheapest meals: beans and rice 5 weeks ago:
Nowhere. It’s always been fairly pricey, at least for me.
So to summarise– that was just me stating my personal pref, not recommending them to anyone as ‘cheap meal food.’ That said, it’s possible that rolled oats are a better, cheap alt to rice. They tend to turn out too mushy for me, but may indeed retain much of their fibre and nutrients…
- Comment on YSK tricks for one of the cheapest meals: beans and rice 5 weeks ago:
Brown rice, barley, or other whole grains have much more protein than white rice
White rice is pretty much pre-diabetic junk food that’s been stripped of its fibre and nutrients. I’d recommend always replacing with something like the above, or my favorite, steel-cut oats.
If you get dried beans, make sure you follow the directions to pre-soak them.
When cooking from dried, some baking soda can greatly speed up the process. The use of a potato masher here and there can also speed up the softening of the beans, and makes it easier to tell how far along they are.
Get some bulk garlic powder, paprika, cumin, crushed red pepper, black pepper, etc. Season and salt the pot to taste.
Don’t forget MSG, which boosts up the savory / umami taste. It’s cheap, you don’t need a lot, and there is no such thing as an MSG allergy. (altho very occasionally people can have sensitivity)
- Comment on We never stop being kids. Our playground just gets bigger. 1 month ago:
We already have an enormous problem of completely unqualified voters being able to vote, so let’s not make it even worse. (in the States, anyway)
- Comment on We never stop being kids. Our playground just gets bigger. 1 month ago:
We never stop being kids.
And we never fully become adults, in a sense. For there’s always room to grow, people & situations to understand, things and perspectives to learn about, and further maturity to be reached.
- Comment on Scientists Say We May Have Been Wrong About the Origin of Life 1 month ago:
The whole process is based on realizing that our past assumptions were wrong.
Well… or simply improving the understanding. AFAIK good science doesn’t actually assert “rightness” or “wrongness;” rather, it proposes ‘this theory seems the best working fit,’ with the understanding and open-endedness that it can always be improved, tweaked, or even completely replaced by a better theory.
- Comment on What went wrong with Pizza Hut? 1 month ago:
Could also very well be a standard case of capitalist-driven enshittification, either in-house or via private equity buyout.
