AnarchistArtificer

@AnarchistArtificer@slrpnk.net

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨They just couldn't say the word⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago⁩:

  I love it when I stumble across incredibly human moments like this in textbooks in the wild. It really brightens my day because it reminds me that a person (or more usually, people) wrote this hefty tome.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨same as it ever was⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago⁩:

  I’m not on Bluesky, so I’m not going to follow this person. However, I really appreciate how considerate it is to leave this link for people who would like to. Thank you; this is the kind of action that communities are built on.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨The old ways are best⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago⁩:

  I really like the world exploration. The world is pretty big, and it’s common to come across an obstacle that you can’t get past. I like the feeling of spending a few minutes trying to assess whether there’s a way past, and then going off adventuring elsewhere, eventually finding something that makes you go “ooooh, that’s how I’m meant to get past that earlier place”. I like that it really rewards exploration. There’s a lot of hidden stuff, but it’s not overly opaque — there are usually lots of clues that help you to find secrets.

  The open world also makes bosses easier. I’m not great at bosses, so quite often I will get bored of trying against a difficult boss and go elsewhere. There’s nearly always more places to explore, and possibly find things that will make things easier.

  I also love how well tutorialized the game is. When you get a new ability, the level design in the section after that helps you to learn first hand how that ability works, so even though the literal tutorial bit is little more than "Press [button] to [use ability], you come away with a good understanding of what that new ability will allow you to do.

  I’m also typically not keen on platformers, but this game scratches a different itch for me

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨[deleted]⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago⁩:

  I feel like “canonically” is a weird word for the person in the OP to use here. My view is that there was a pretty strong trans reading of Gwen, but I think that when people say “[character] is [trait]”, it negates discussions due to things becoming a debate about facts rather than a discussion of themes and coding.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Alternative to github pages?⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago⁩:

  I recently used Jekyll (jekyllrb.com) as a static site generator. I found it easy to use. I personally used Gitlab pages, because I didn’t feel confident hosting on my home internet (didn’t want to inadvertently cause issues for my housemates when I’m still learning this stuff).

  The nice thing about static sites is that it’s pretty easy to find free or extremely cheap hosting for them.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨YSK that hand sewing is a stupid cheap hobby to get into and reduces your impact on the environment⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  Very cool.

  Got any plans for this coming Halloween?

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨YSK that hand sewing is a stupid cheap hobby to get into and reduces your impact on the environment⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  “Some people say 100% cotton thread breaks easier than blend or polyester. So far I haven’t had any bad experience with cotton threats though.”

  Cotton thread is just objectively weaker than polyester thread, but I’ve never had that be an issue while sewing.

  And in terms of the thread tearing when it’s sewn into a seam, sometimes that’s a feature, not a bug: sometimes it’s better to have the seam blow out and need to be resewn than for expensive or delicate fabric to tear. The right thread for the situation is always relative

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨YSK that hand sewing is a stupid cheap hobby to get into and reduces your impact on the environment⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  Seconding someone’s advice that kits are a bit rubbish. The only things you need are needle and thread. Start with a multi pack of needles, and observe how they’re different. Different needles may differ by: the thickness of the needle; whether the tip is sharp or blunt; how large the eye of the needle is; how long the needle is. Different needles will have different roles, but it’s so easy to get bogged down in complexity, so just get an assortment and discover as you go. Part of learning is building tacit knowledge around what the right tool for the job is, so just give it a try and feel free to try other needles to see how they feel. Personal preference matters…

  My main advice on hand sewing needles is to invest in high quality ones, because they’re much nicer to use and last longer. For perspective on what counts as “high quality”, my current ones that are my favourite cost me £4.20 for a pack of 6. That’s expensive compared to a supermarket multi pack, but not excessively so. These ones were particularly fancy, by my standards (Clover Black Gold), but they’re a useful benchmark as being about as fancy as you can really get. John James is another good brand. If these aren’t readily available where you are, don’t sweat it — just use this as a benchmark to see what the rough equivalent is where you are.

  A pin cushion is useful for storing needles temporarily, but you don’t need to buy this. You can make one as an early project with some small swatches of fabric and some scrap paper stuffing.

  I strongly recommend a thimble for anyone who is going to do significant amounts of hand sewing, because it makes it much easier to build a rhythm and sew neat and fast. It feels clunky at first, but once you practice, it makes things far quicker and easier. Unfortunately, most people’s experience of thimbles is of ill-fitting ones that probably came in some kit. You need one that fits comfortably on your middle finger without falling off or squeezing too right. A simple metal thimble will do, and they’re cheap, but it can be a faff to find the right size. The sizing is sort of standardized, and usually printed/engraved/debossed on the thimble, so you can use that to ballpark if you have some ill-fitting thimbles around. Otherwise, it’s best to go to a craft store and try poking your finger in some thimbles to find one that fits.

  I don’t have good recommendations about thread. I got started using generic machine sewing thread, which you’re not meant to do, because it’s worse and harder to use. I find it hard to tell though, because by the time that I got specific hand sewing thread, I had enough skill that I had my own snobbish preferences and specific projects requirements. You don’t need a multipack of thread though, because that’ll be more likely to be crappy. Pick a colour that matches most of the stuff you wear/will be repairing (for me, it’s black). Also get some thread in a contrasting colour, because sometimes that’s useful (such as for temporary lines of stitching). You probably want some cotton thread, and also some polyester thread. In general, repair like with like: so polyester thread for synthetics, and cotton thread for cotton or other naturals. Beeswax can be nice for reducing the friction of the thread, but that’s not super necessary.

  I worry that my advice may overcomplicate things, when that’s the opposite of what I want to convey. If there’s any recommendation I could give you, it’s to just get something and start. Hell, if you feel overwhelmed by how granular this is and are at risk of not diving in, then go for a kit if it helps — just don’t spend too much and know that the lesser quality will give you a worse experience. However, the most important thing is to just get started. You can upgrade your stuff or buy specifics as and when you need them, or you feel you’ve outgrown your existing tools.

  You will botch repairs and need to redo them. Sometimes you will make it worse than what you started with, but that’s part of learning. However, the sooner that you start to tackle the simpler repairs, the sooner you’ll have the proficiency to be making all sorts of repairs and alterations. I give you this advice as someone who accidentally became proficient in sewing: I dove in and spent a long time being mediocre, and I still feel mediocre at it, but people regard me as being quite skilled. There’s no cheat code, but to take at crack at it.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨YouTube is now flagging accounts on Premium family plans that aren't in the same household⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  I keep trying to convert my friends to using Firefox mobile for this reason. I generally try not to evangelise too much, but I have so many friends who keep complaining about ads when browsing the internet on mobile, and this would literally solve their problem. One friend complained about ads so frequently that they ended up getting irked at me telling them the problem was solvable. Our unhappy compromise was that I would stop telling them to use Firefox and uBO if they stopped complaining about this so much in front of me.

  I respect their choices, but by God, I’m baffled by them. I get that inertia makes it hard to make switches like this, but when you’re spending so much time complaining about how much effort it takes to use the internet on your mobile, why would you not just solve the problem?

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨YouTube is now flagging accounts on Premium family plans that aren't in the same household⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  I had that error a couple of times, and it inexplicably resolved itself. Try having the person join again (which may require a new invite). I think only 1 out of 4 members of my family were able to join without that initial error message. This was back when Steam had just switched how they handled family sharing, so I assumed it was just an implementation bug of some sort. One of my friends took three attempts before they could join, but it worked ¯_(ツ)_/¯

  Though I will note that steam family sharing no longer works if the person is located in another country for the purposes of Steam billing region (so my Norwegian friend could not join my UK family)

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Fishnet stockings⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  Those are more like whalenet tights. Fishnets have smaller holes

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨What strategy would you use to estimate the number of hazelnuts⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  I got it laughably wrong

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Tesla said it didn’t have key data in a fatal crash. Then a hacker found it.⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  I think they use the same thing that web crawlers use. If Google’s crawler couldn’t access the content of the page (or could only access a limited amount of content), it would likely rank far lower in search results

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Microsoft fires two more employees for participating in Palestine protests on campus⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  Good for the fired employees. It sucks that they were fired, but by resisting, they escaped the wrong side of history. Symbolic gestures like this matter

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨4chan and Kiwi Farms Sue the UK Over its Age Verification Law⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  He’s the philosopher of choice for people like Peter Thiel and JD Vance. He advocates for moving to a neofeudalist system, arguing that democracy is a failed project. Beyond this, he holds some truly repugnant views that are woven throughout his ideology

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Messenger signals that cue plants to ‘eat’ and ‘breathe’ revealed for first time⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  Very cool research. I was one of the few who seemed to like studying the plant module at university, so I’m having fun learning about this new development.

  Unrelated to that, I gotta give props to one of the researchers quoted heavily in the linked article, Sarah Assmann, for how well she’s playing the grant game:

  "We identified hundreds of metabolites in apoplastic fluid, which no one had analyzed to this extent before,” Assmann said. “That, on its own, is an important contribution to the field, independent of the research question that we specifically were addressing, because it gives a lot of leads on other potential signaling molecules for processes throughout the plant.”

  Like, that is an expertly crafted statement in terms of bigging up the significance of your research in a manner that is honest, but strategic in terms of future grant money. I feel like I’m surrounded by researchers who are either doing awesome research that they’re terrible at pitching, or people whose projects are meh, but they turn the bullshit up to 11. These guys are playing the game well though

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨I went to the UK last week. Nothing about my trip was legal.⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  Even beyond the recent proscription of Palestine Action, UK anti-terrorism laws are concerningly vague. For example, anti-capitalist views are described as extremist views

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨🎶 picture this we we're both butt naked banging on the bathroom door 🎶⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  I miss having a long term partner because I fucking loved having someone to give my back a proper scrub. I felt like a snake shedding my skin. I have a loofah on a stick now, but it’s not the same.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Why aren't you creating more workers??⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  I directly know multiple people who had to get what were effectively late term abortions due to pregnancy complications that would’ve put their lives at risk otherwise. We don’t live in the US, so they were fortunate to be able to get the medical care they needed, but it underscores the scariness of the situation in the US; these risks mean that becoming pregnant in the wrong place could literally be a life or death matter. If treatment is received, even people who experience severe complications may be able to have a successful pregnancy in future. Not having access to these things risks breaking the biological clock anyway, so waiting is not unreasonable.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Let's hear it, little lemmings.⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  In order to properly comment, I think I’d need to learn more about the differences between socialism and communism as understood when Einstein wrote his essay. I have a good sense of how we understand and use those terms nowadays, but a lot has changed since then in terms of the development of political theories, but also the wider cultural context.

  What is clear though is that the essay was a ballsy move, even if Socialism was regarded as less dangerous than communism

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Prove your humanity.⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  Yeast infections of the vulva/vagina spring to mind as an example of resident flora getting out of control

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Let's hear it, little lemmings.⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  I mean, Socialism and Communism are different things. Regardless of one’s own personal perspective on the matter, it’s certainly plausible that someone could be in favour of socialism, but not communism (I can’t speak to Einstein’s views on communism specifically, given that much of what I know of his political views in this vein comes from his essay “Why Socialism?”. He may well have been a raging commie, but chose Socialism because he was aiming his piece at a particular audience.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Let's hear it, little lemmings.⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  Seeing your answer made me go "oh damn, yeah, I can’t believe I didn’t say Turing in my answer (I chose Einstein), because he would definitely be my choice. I must’ve missed that he was on there. After going back up to check the image, I conclude that you cheated, because Turing wasn’t an option :P

  I’ll allow it though, because it’s a good answer

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Let's hear it, little lemmings.⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  Probably Einstein, because he seems like an interesting dude beyond his physics. He liked philosophy, for example, and is one of the examples that I invoke when I argue that university level science education should involve more philosophy — Einstein wasn’t an anomaly in this respect, but a good symbol for discussing how the practice of scientists doing philosophy seems to have waned over the 20th century.

  He was also pro-socialism, and had sensible takes about how science isn’t a universal solution to stuff, but a specialised tool that is good for some problems but not for others.

  Related: those who enjoy long video essays may enjoy this one from an awesome ex-astrophysicist: Einstein Was a Socialist; Should We Care? (1h16m)

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨The internet kind of sucks right now⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  See, this is why I love being here — random, delightful stuff like this makes me feel more connected to strangers who I will never meet, which genuinely helps to fuel my overall sense of purpose in fighting for a better world (and in many cases, in just fighting to continue existing throughout grimness). Thanks for the recommendation

  Another person who comes to mind in this vein is the wonderful person who posts lots of cool owl content on the superbowl community (their username starts with anon, I think. Someone who knows how to tag users on Lemmy, feel free to tag them if you know who I mean)

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨human geography⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  A friend of mine had a similar problem when he, a Brit, was studying in the States. He was in the smoking area of a gay bar, when he asked a friend “shall I chuck this cigarette in the bin, or what?” (I.e. “are you going to come over here to take a drag of this cigarette before it’s over, or should I throw it away?”). Unfortunately, a common British slang word for cigarette is also a slur for gay people (it is a slur in the UK too, but the cigarette slang word is common enough that if someone hears the F word, they are far less likely to assume it’s in a slur context)

  On the bright side, apparently my friend hooked up with the guy who punched him, after my friend admonished him for being so rude as to punch a person in a country without free healthcare. Apparently Southern English accent gets you far in the States

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨human geography⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  Mischief Night

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨I smell fresh blood.⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  Gosh, that’s so misguided and tragic. The North American continent has so many beautiful landscapes and cool wildlife that doesn’t exist in most of Europe — and this was even more the case back in 1871. It obviously makes sense that they thought this way, given that the USA is borne of a colonial mindset, but damn, it’s sad that this made them so ignorant to what is cool and unique about their home

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Coding students whose jobs were taken by AI forced to find work at Chipotle⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  The ladder that starts at Chipotle is not one that leads to work in the field you studied for. College graduates who are struggling to find jobs would relish the opportunity to work up the ladder in their field, but there are insufficient entry level jobs.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Parents in England skipping meals to afford school uniforms, survey finds⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  My school did that, but it didn’t make much difference to the affordability if we’re looking at the impact on the kinds of families who regularly have to skip meals