MrsDoyle
@MrsDoyle@sh.itjust.works
- Comment on Why do I have this weird reversed-"FOMO" feeling when I watch TV shows or Movies about Pre-Information-Era time period, like not as in "I miss the past", but actually as in "Okay this era is weird"? 8 hours ago:
I grew up in New Zealand in the 50s-60s. We got most info on current events from the radio. Later on there was TV, but it was mainly radio. Our radio had long-wave and if atmospheric conditions were right you could pick up foreign broadcasts.
Other knowledge came from school, obviously, and from libraries. I absolutely haunted my local library, and read voraciously. I still have a fund of info in my head from back then that comes in handy in pub quizzes. When I wasn’t reading I was out with my friends on our bicycles. We rode for miles at a time - I don’t remember ever telling an adult where we were going.
(About libraries - I don’t know if you’re aware, but the tycoon Andrew Carnegie funded libraries around the world, including the one in the city near my home town.) en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnegie_library
Having said all that and making it sound idyllic, it wasn’t. Society back then was repressive in major ways and people’s viewpoints were generally narrow. History books weren’t always telling the truth. It wasn’t terrible compared with say apartheid South Africa, but not great. There was a counter-culture bubbling away - beatniks and then hippies - so it was possible to get an alternative view, just about.
I love the technology that gives me access to not just information, but the lived experience of people round the world. I love reading posts here about mad trivial stuff like what you all are having for breakfast. I love taking a Street View tour of places I’ll likely never visit. I’m reading a novel set in Iceland at the moment, and can “drive” along the route a character is taking. I can video chat with my sister, who lives 10,000 miles away. It’s a miracle!
- Comment on Why is it ok to replace -ed at the end of a word with -t in some cases? For example, why are "vexed" and "vext" both acceptable, but "thrilled" and "thrilt" aren't? 1 week ago:
I sleeped on it and I decided you’re wrong.
- Comment on Can I replace honey with maple syrup? 1 week ago:
I made some once with pure maple syrup and yes it was kind of under-clumped, but the flavour was off the wall delicious.
- Comment on Drivers to be able to pay for parking using just ONE app under new Government plans 2 weeks ago:
One RingGo to rule them all…
- Comment on Cloudflare CEO warns AI and zero-click internet are killing the web's business model 4 weeks ago:
I have a few books that came free with PC mags back in the day, full of links to mad crazy websites and interesting/useful stuff. So few pixels back then!!
- Comment on End of 10 - Windows ten is ending. Microsoft wants you to buy a new computer. But what if you could make your current one fast and secure again? 5 weeks ago:
Neil Stephenson’s “In the Beginning… Was the Command Line” (1999) touches on this. He compares Microsoft to a station wagon vs Linux as a free tank. People keep buying the station wagon because no-one wants to learn how to drive a tank, even if it’s free. (Apple is a luxury car in his analogy.)
My first computer ran on MS-DOS, and I’ve seen Windows hiding DOS deeper and deeper behind the GUI. And now AI… ugh. I’ve been tinkering with Linux on old laptops so I’m ready for the move, it’s just finding the time.
- Comment on End of 10 - Windows ten is ending. Microsoft wants you to buy a new computer. But what if you could make your current one fast and secure again? 5 weeks ago:
It’s true. A friend asked for help on his new laptop and after a confusing conversation I realised he was upset because the web browser had “lost” his “bookmarks”. No, those aren’t bookmarks, those are shortcuts to your most recent web pages. Looks like you don’t have any bookmarks. Let me show you how to make a bookmark…
He’s not dumb or even inexperienced with tech, he just has a different mindset.
- Comment on End of 10 - Windows ten is ending. Microsoft wants you to buy a new computer. But what if you could make your current one fast and secure again? 5 weeks ago:
Yeah yeah, I will get round to it, stop bloody nagging me.
- Comment on Liquid Trees 5 weeks ago:
The London plane tree is particularly suitable for urban areas, it’s resistant to air pollution.
- Comment on Liquid Trees 5 weeks ago:
I discovered when I joined a volunteer litter-picking group in my town that some people really hate trees. And I must emphasise HATE. They hate the shade they cast in summer, the way the leaves block the all-important View. They hate the fallen leaves in autumn. They hate the bare branches in winter. They hate the risk of branches falling in storms. They hate the racket the birds make. I was astonished - it never occurred to me that people would feel so strongly.
Turns out I’m a bloody tree-hugging extremist.
- Comment on Sycamore Gap tree destroyed in 'moronic mission', court told 5 weeks ago:
From an earlier report:
Wright said Carruthers sent Graham a Facebook post from a man called Kevin Hartness saying: “Some weak people that walk this earth … disgusting behaviour.”
Two minutes later Graham replied to Carruthers with a voice note saying: “That Kevin Hartness comment. Weak … fucking weak? Does he realise how heavy shit is?”
Carruthers replied with his own voice note saying: “I’d like to see Kevin Hartness launch an operation like we did last night … I don’t think he’s got the minerals.”
- Comment on [Opinion] Windows isn't an OS, it's a bad habit that wants to become an addiction 5 weeks ago:
Windows is doing its best to shake me off. It keeps reminding me that it’s ditching Win 10 and I’d better upgrade. Except I won’t, because my (perfectly good) computer isn’t up to spec for 11. So in effect it’s telling me that I’d better hurry up and decide on a Linux distro, tick tock.
- Comment on Why does it seem like everyone is so good looking and beautiful nowadays? 1 month ago:
You’re obviously not from round here… (Gesturing vaguely at shuffling hordes of very plain people in my town. Self included. I fit right in.)
Seriously though, comparing yourself with strangers is a terrible idea. That said, if you do want to smarten up a bit, I’d suggest going to a menswear store and asking an assistant to assist. Explain your dilemma, ask them to help you put together one outfit, “smart casual” would be a good start. Good luck!
- Comment on What is the best take your blood pressure to get the most accurate results? 1 month ago:
Extra info you didn’t ask for but might help: the doctor gave me a sheet to record my BP for a week. Two readings in the morning, a few minutes apart, two readings in the afternoon, a few minutes apart. Once I’d done that he added and divided the results to get the average. Too high, so now I’m on meds.
I was a bit blasé about it at first - pfft, I feel fine! But he explained that high BP can cause a stroke. You can recover just fine from a heart attack, but a stroke can be devastating, if you even survive it. You will feel absolutely fine until suddenly you’re on the floor, unable to move one side of your body or speak coherently. Scared me into taking it seriously!
- Comment on Should naming your children stupid names be illegal? 1 month ago:
For example Caoimhe, pronounced Keeva.
- Comment on Liz Truss to launch ‘uncensored’ social network to counter mainstream media 1 month ago:
Also:
- Comment on Do you use your blinker in a car? 1 month ago:
Always always signal your intention. I heard a woman complaining that her new car had lane control, which forced her to indicate when changing lanes. “It’s so annoying, I mean it’s obvious I’m overtaking, I don’t need to indicate!”
Also, as a frequent pedestrian I appreciate when drivers and cyclists indicate and judge heavily when they don’t. So frustrating to be waiting to cross the road and someone turns without indicating.
- Comment on The rise of ‘Frankenstein’ laptops in New Delhi’s repair markets 1 month ago:
Shout-out to the nice Indian gentleman whose YouTube video walked me through disassembling an ancient laptop so I could add a bit of RAM. I ended with a few leftover screws and a rattle, but it worked! Still chuntering away (slowly, it’s geriatric) on Linux. I was amazed to find a video of the exact model.
- Comment on Is this picture idea immature? 1 month ago:
The Guardian does an occasional feature called Flashback, where a celebrity recreates a childhood photo. It’s a bit of fun! You have my permission to go right ahead. A sense of humour is very attractive.
- Comment on 6* months away now. If you're on 10, do you plan to upgrade? Make the jump to Linux? 2 months ago:
My (perfectly good) PC isn’t Win 11 compatible, so I can’t upgrade from 10. I’ve got Linux running on an old laptop so I’m thinking of installing it on my PC. Buuut a few years back I moved from Google Drive to OneDrive and so now I’m looking at Proton Drive instead. It’s all a big time soak, sigh. But worth it? I guess… The timing isn’t great either - I’ve got an exam in October that I need to study hard for and do practical prep as well, plus I have travel plans. It’s all a bit much. I’m too old to be this busy!
- Comment on Husband needs proof news is censored 2 months ago:
Words to watch out for are things like “attacked”, “bashed” or “slammed” instead of “criticised”; “forced” instead of “chose”, eg “company forced to cut jobs”; “muzzled” or “gagged” instead of perhaps “censored”. The implied violence charges the story emotionally, it’s the most common form of news manipulation. They’re trying to make you feel - usually fear or anger - rather than think.
- Comment on Do animals think we're cute? 2 months ago:
I tripped and fell over one time and the racket I made woke my dog up. He looked across at me lying on the floor, yawned and went back to sleep. “Still alive? Jolly good. Wake me again at dinnertime.”
- Comment on Which is the cheapest way to manage my body after death ... 2 months ago:
I’ve signed up for donation for dissection. One slight caveat is that the institution - in my case a medical school - can decline to take your body if you’ve died of something infectious or if it’s been too damaged, eg in a crash. If all goes well, they collect the body, and when they’re finished with it they have it cremated. Family can have the ashes if they want. There’s a nice memorial garden with the names of donors. It’s all free… I mean, this is the medical school where Burke and Hare sold their murder victims, so they’re quite grateful to get your corpse for nothing.
- Comment on How do you feel about someone taking the coins people tossed into a fountain or other public waterworks display for "wishes?" 2 months ago:
A long, loooonng time ago I met a woman who was one of the people dressing up as reenactors in an early colonial American settlement. She cosplayed as a weaver in a house that had a pond outside. Every day before she started work she would hoik her skirt up under her armpits and wade into the pond to pick up coins with her feet (she had very articulate toes). Inevitably she turned round one day to find a family of visitors gawping at her non-colonial underwear. She said the coins added up to quite a haul over the week.
- Comment on Facebook Cybertruck Owners Group Copes With Relentless Mockery 2 months ago:
pleasant texture
I’d go with “rubbery”.
- Comment on Did people experience doom scrolling with newspapers and magazines? 2 months ago:
I once moved into a house that had been lived in by a very elderly person. In the kitchen there was a pincushion hanging on the wall that was covered in death notices clipped from the newspaper. Kind of like doom scrolling, just super personal. Watching everyone you knew die, until it was your turn.
I’ve made myself sad all over again. :(
- Comment on Can I still consider myself a “young woman” after I turn 24? I turn 24 in March (next month). 3 months ago:
I’m 72 and yes, you’re spot-on. You’re both young! Seriously, if I hear of someone dying at 62, I think oh how sad, so young! Perspective is everything.
- Comment on cilanto 🌿 3 months ago:
Oh yes, coriander. Yuck. I was so relieved to discover it was a genetic thing that I was scraping this disgusting weed off my food while everyone else was saying how delicious it was.
- Comment on Far to many people think that Jesus from the Bible was light skinned, even though he grew up in what we call the Middle East. 3 months ago:
I’m not really up on the Bible, but wasn’t it Joseph who was allegedly descended from David? Joseph, who definitely wasn’t the father of Jesus?
- Comment on why do people say annoying/rude stuff and then tell you “it was a joke!” 3 months ago:
Ugh, I have a friend whose humour often involves mean-spirited jibes and put-downs. I was in a low mood one day and told him I didn’t like the tone of his “jokes”, that they sometimes stung. He really dialled back after that.
