MechanicalMagpie's recent activity
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Comment on Victories and challenges: An A[u]DHD community and support fortnightly thread #2 in ~health.mental
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Comment on LukHash - Bootloader (2025) in ~music
MechanicalMagpie Linknew lukhash album? oh hell yeahnew lukhash album? oh hell yeah
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Comment on How many languages do you speak? in ~humanities.languages
MechanicalMagpie Linki can speak/read/write english (for a given value of all of those considering i am american 😂) im barely conversational in ASL (i sign poorly and if my conversational partner goes too fast i get...-
i can speak/read/write english (for a given value of all of those considering i am american 😂)
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im barely conversational in ASL (i sign poorly and if my conversational partner goes too fast i get completely lost lol but if were both slow im.....okayish)
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i can read cyrillic, but i dont actually speak enough russian (the reason i learned cyrillic) to know what im reading (so ig it'd be more accurate to say i can decode it?? idk the actual terminology for "i can look at the letters and know what sounds they make, more or less correctly, but idk what the word i just
saidmangled means" -
i can puzzle my way through reading german, spanish, and french provided i have a translation app for words that arent related enough to english or latin for me to recognise
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i know the bare bones of latin. i more or less understand how conjugation works and i can recognise a decent number of words, but i cant actually read anything more complicated than a prayer or a song (and even that might be pushing it) lmao
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im teaching myself mandarin, i cant really sight read much other than simple, common internet phrases, but im also not actually learning with any regularity due to who i am as a person
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oh and i can pick out a few letters of arabic, i could probably brush up on hebrew enough to be able to "read" hebrew again the same way i can "read" russian (except i know a few more words in hebrew - primarily liturgical tho) and i kinda remember how to read korean, enough to shop at the korean market near me lol.
so basically, my only language is english. i dabbled in enough other languages that im really good at mimicking the sounds, and that i sometimes fuck up my english grammar in odd ways when im speaking, but i cant actually converse in any other language with any degree of reliability
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Comment on How did you learn to read? in ~humanities.languages
MechanicalMagpie Linki learned phonics at age 3, though i suspect my mom actually started me sooner than that bc she got tired of me constantly asking her to read me things. i think i was reading early readers by 4 or...i learned phonics at age 3, though i suspect my mom actually started me sooner than that bc she got tired of me constantly asking her to read me things. i think i was reading early readers by 4 or so and after that i just kinda....ran with it? i dont think anyone ever taght me to read in the sense that I was supposed to read the words on the page in a specific order to maximise my retention.
That said, i am an excellent speed-reader, and a terrible comprehension reader. I read fast af but i only retain like ~50% of it. its not really a problem in the day to day, i can skim through work-related reading material like nobodys business, and since most of that stuff just requires me to follow directions, skimming for the general concept is actually way more helpful than reading for complete comprehension.
it does mean though, that if im reading for fun, ill enjoy the heck out of a book, but i wont be able to tell you a thing about it other than "this was a cool book, i liked it a lot, you should check it out" which for some reason has never really sold anyone on anything ¯\_ (ツ)_/¯ (like for example, i read Iron Widow semi-recently. There were mechs, it was kinda like darling in the franxx except less....uhhh...Weird (iykyk), the main character was a complete badass, and i 10000% support womens wrongs in her case specifically. Also the love triangle was solved with poly(!! yes!! fantastic!!). Anyway thats pretty much the entirety of what i remember about it. Excellent book, 10/10 i recommend it!)
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Comment on What's an atypical thing you do that you'd recommend to others? in ~talk
MechanicalMagpie Link ParentIm not the person you asked, but i am non-binary so i figured id chime in. The wikipedia article is pretty good and very thorough. If you want a lighter intro, this article from the national...Im not the person you asked, but i am non-binary so i figured id chime in. The wikipedia article is pretty good and very thorough. If you want a lighter intro, this article from the national center for transgender equality is good.
You could also check out Stone Butch Blues by Leslie Feinberg. This book was pretty instrumental to me personally when it came to figuring myself out. 10/10 do recommend, along with anything else written by hir that catches your interest.
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Comment on Post something from your notes app in ~talk
MechanicalMagpie Link ParentThe sentence is "the quick brown fox jumps over a lazy dog" because im boring and couldnt remember the cool sentence that uses all the letters. Here is the key. im still not entirely decided on...The sentence is "the quick brown fox jumps over a lazy dog" because im boring and couldnt remember the cool sentence that uses all the letters. Here is the key. im still not entirely decided on how i want to combine and shape letters/words so I'll probably end up changing some things for using it for english. im gonna toss it at a conlang though, and see how that shapes up.....once i find the notebook i put the conlang in 😅
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Comment on Post something from your notes app in ~talk
MechanicalMagpie Link Parentthis is super cool, and has inspired me to make my own version! thank you for posting itthis is super cool, and has inspired me to make my own version! thank you for posting it
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Comment on Post something from your notes app in ~talk
MechanicalMagpie Link Parentanswers 1. no idea strawberry?? ???? kimchi! (though evidently it originated in china before korea put their own spin on it. According to ppl on rednote anyway.) comrade ngl i have no clue what a...answers
1. no idea-
strawberry??
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????
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kimchi! (though evidently it originated in china before korea put their own spin on it. According to ppl on rednote anyway.)
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comrade ngl i have no clue what a hyperbolic paraboloid is but it sounds like math and im allergic
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chicken eggs! my mom told me for years that we didnt get flu shots bc she had an allergic reaction and she thought i might too (neither of us are, or ever have been (afaik) allergic to eggs.)
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avocados, im assuming.
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is this the giant bean?
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banh mi
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chick peas/garbanzo beans
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Comment on <deleted topic> in ~life
MechanicalMagpie Linkmy high school diploma is on a bookshelf somewhere, bc its small enough to fit there. My college diplomas are in the envelope they came in and that envelope is...uh. Well. Its probably in my...my high school diploma is on a bookshelf somewhere, bc its small enough to fit there. My college diplomas are in the envelope they came in and that envelope is...uh. Well. Its probably in my apartment somewhere? Most likely in a box that is in my apartment, along with some professional certificates, some old MRIs of my knees, and other assorted detritus. i probably didnt throw it away but i couldnt say what box any of that is actually in lol.
But, i dont think i actually need any of it? I've never had a job ask for a physical diploma, just official transcripts, and my degrees are basically worthless anyway so ¯\_ (ツ)_/¯ -
Comment on Confess your food crimes in ~food
MechanicalMagpie Linksometimes ill make a ton of rice and then instead of making a real meal ill just put some rice in a bowl, add about a quarter cup of minced garlic (the jar kind (costco's is really good)), an...sometimes ill make a ton of rice and then instead of making a real meal ill just put some rice in a bowl, add about a quarter cup of minced garlic (the jar kind (costco's is really good)), an inadvisable amount of lao gan ma, and some fish sauce or soy sauce.
and then i eat it with a spoon like its cereali usually make enough rice that i can just rinse/repeat until the rice is gone (usually over the course of the whole day)
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Comment on No Man's Sky: Worlds Part II in ~games
MechanicalMagpie Linkme reading this: "ooh, all that sounds cool, new biomes are super exciting, love the autophage, purple stars sound excellent -- record scratch INVENTORY SORTING?!?!?!?! 😍😍😍 i have yearned for this...me reading this: "ooh, all that sounds cool, new biomes are super exciting, love the autophage, purple stars sound excellent --
record scratch
INVENTORY SORTING?!?!?!?! 😍😍😍
i have yearned for thisfor centuriessince 2018
finally thegodsdevs have answered my prayers -
Comment on <deleted topic> in ~talk
MechanicalMagpie LinkThedas. Like, yeah, the world is constantly ending, theres a terrible deadly plague that regularly ravages the world and yeah its a feudal monarchy but like......Magic. Id also take Pokemon, Star...Thedas. Like, yeah, the world is constantly ending, theres a terrible deadly plague that regularly ravages the world and yeah its a feudal monarchy but like......Magic.
Id also take Pokemon, Star Trek TOS, or Naruto. lmao. Basically i just want the ability to do some kind of magic, ride or die friends, and the ability to save the world with the aforementioned friends; im not super picky about the where or how lol (inb4 "star trek doesnt have magic" comrade have you seen vulcans and betazoids? that's magic and i will die on that hill 😂 also, pokemon are close enough to magic. i too would like to talk to my cat and have them understand me)
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Comment on <deleted topic> in ~health
MechanicalMagpie Linkholy shit. What a horrifying article. only vaugely relevant anecdote when i was three, the family dog pushed me off some stairs, and i fell ~6 feet down to a concrete floor and landed on my head....holy shit. What a horrifying article.
only vaugely relevant anecdote
when i was three, the family dog pushed me off some stairs, and i fell ~6 feet down to a concrete floor and landed on my head. my parents didn't take me to the doctor. In retrospect, this was probably due to a combination of this sort of absolute bullshit, and also the hslda recommendations that people keep their homeschooled kids away from cps/cops/whatever at all costs lest they imprison the parents for exercising their pArEntAL riGhTs of educational neglect. -
Comment on How do you decide when to buy a book? in ~books
MechanicalMagpie Linkif its a book i really love or that shaped me as a person, i buy it in physical format. Otherwise, i just go with digital.if its a book i really love or that shaped me as a person, i buy it in physical format. Otherwise, i just go with digital.
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Comment on Steam Replay 2024: Discussion topic in ~games
MechanicalMagpie Linkevidently, nearly a quarter of my playtime (22%) was No Man's Sky, which also tracks with the "space" category in the spider graph lol. After that, my top five games were enshrouded, coral island,...evidently, nearly a quarter of my playtime (22%) was No Man's Sky, which also tracks with the "space" category in the spider graph lol.
After that, my top five games were enshrouded, coral island, stardew valley, opus magnum, and immortal life (filling out the other side of the spider graph with "farming sim lmao")
honorable spider graph mentions are "programming" and "cats" from the zachtronics and devcats games respectively
what im saying is that my spider graph is a trapezoid and i clearly have a type when it comes to video games lol
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Comment on Your partner asks for your phone, you refuse over privacy, they tell you they don't trust you. How do you respond? in ~talk
MechanicalMagpie LinkMy response would probably be "Damn, comrade, well it was nice while it lasted 🖖" I'm not a child, and if my partner feels it necessary to look through my phone like I am one, I'm out, full stop....My response would probably be "Damn, comrade, well it was nice while it lasted 🖖"
I'm not a child, and if my partner feels it necessary to look through my phone like I am one, I'm out, full stop. Tbh if someone I'm dating gets to that point, then things were broken way beforehand and this is just the last straw.
I also wouldn't hand my partner my whole physical journal or pieces of paper that I wrote down my social media logins on either, so it seems a bit weird to think of doing all that in one fell swoop by handing over my phone.
And, in the spirit of fairness, I can't think of a reason I'd ask for my partner's phone either. If I thought they were cheating or doing something harmful, I'd either talk to them about it or get my shit and go, depending on the severity of whatever was going on.
Edit: punctuation
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Comment on Longevity of tech equipment in ~tech
MechanicalMagpie Linki have a lenovo t450s thats basically my media center, and by "media center" i mean i threw fedora on there and i basically use it as a youtube/nebula/personal cloud storage media machine with the...i have a lenovo t450s thats basically my media center, and by "media center" i mean i threw fedora on there and i basically use it as a youtube/nebula/personal cloud storage media machine with the occasional foray to the high seas.
The lenovo's predecessor was a samsung laptop from 2010-ish? It had no screen, no backplate, the battery was held in place with electrical tape, and and the only reason i had to get rid of it last year was because it drowned during a water heater incident and sadly didnt turn back on even after i dried it out.
i also have an old kindle 2 somewhere, the kind with a physical keyboard. I got it secondhand off of woot back in like 2012, and its been happily chugging away ever since. Presumably it still turns on lol
Edit: Saw someone else mention their 3DS - That too! it doesn't hold a charge very well but other than that it works just fine.
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Comment on Why do you live? in ~humanities
MechanicalMagpie LinkWhen i was a kid, it was because i wanted to see if things would get better, and because i thought death might be boring, and for spite. Now, I'd say probably inertia? Like, im not particularly...When i was a kid, it was because i wanted to see if things would get better, and because i thought death might be boring, and for spite.
Now, I'd say probably inertia? Like, im not particularly depressed, or miserable. My life is fine, i like my friends, my job is fine, i enjoy my hobbies. But I guess it just kind of feels like i achieved my goal, right? i got to see what was on the other side of hitting 18 and getting out and living a life and tbh its kinda mid lol. But its not bad so like ¯\_ (ツ)_/¯
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Comment on How do people get over enshittification? in ~life
MechanicalMagpie LinkFor me personally, for clothes i just try not to buy too much new or online, and if i do buy new or online, i assume its gonna be dogshit quality regardless of the reviews. I'm fairly decent at...For me personally, for clothes i just try not to buy too much new or online, and if i do buy new or online, i assume its gonna be dogshit quality regardless of the reviews.
I'm fairly decent at mending, so if something pops a seam or wears a hole, i can repair it (or repurpose it, if it's too damaged to be worth the repair). i also wash on cold and dry low/short, which, even if the fabric is trash, means its getting less wear-and-tear. Heat is the enemy of synthetics (and even natural fibers like cotton and linen, tbh, but they can tolerate it a bit better ime as long as the clothing article doesnt shrink so much that youre testing the seams whenever you wear the thing....which I've definitely done lol)
Would i love to have sturdy non plastic clothing? absolutely, but that basically means either making it myself or spending a ton of money that i dont have, and while I do like making my own clothes, i also have a full time job and making clothes is A Lot Of Work.
I guess, overall, my advice would be to either get into mending/making clothes, or find friends who are/are willing and trade them something in your domain of expertise. mending/making can definitely give you a feeling of....accomplishment? i guess? when you can look at something and go "i fixed that" or "i made that" or "my friend fixed/made that for me" and it really does counteract some of the misery about how shit-tier things are.
(apologies if this comes off as preachy, im going for neutral to excited bc i really do enjoy sewing and mending and costuming and all that lol)
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Comment on Make it ephemeral: Software should decay and lose data in ~tech
MechanicalMagpie LinkI'm pretty sure they're saying that "the trash bin pretty much only exists in email clients and operating systems, for the purpose of cleaning up old emails and files, respectively" but i read it...Yes, the trash bin was created as an appoximation of this, but the bin seemingly did not make it farther than file or email management software.
I'm pretty sure they're saying that "the trash bin pretty much only exists in email clients and operating systems, for the purpose of cleaning up old emails and files, respectively" but i read it very differently bc the number of people I've encountered who store things in the recycle bin/deleted items folder and then get upset when those things are deleted is greater than zero and endlessly frustrating. if you wouldnt use your physical trash can as a file cabinet, dont use the digital trash can as a file cabinet either.
All that aside, i dont really agree with their premise. Maybe i just dont use my technology the same way as them, but i cant think of a single piece of software that i would want to (or trust to?) auto-delete my stuff without my input. would i like my software to give me the option to easily set up rules/tasks to delete old files? i mean, maybe. but i feel like if i truly wanted something to be ephemeral, id just???? use paper???? like paper still exists. Something something use the right tool for the job or whatever.
not necessarily autism or adhd specific but TheLatestKate might be worth a look.