PepperJackson's recent activity
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Comment on Science fiction or fantasy recommendations for children in ~books
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Comment on Science fiction or fantasy recommendations for children in ~books
PepperJackson LinkThere are some great recommendations in here. I'm trying to recall some of the books I really liked from that time in my life, but I can't promise they are perfect for a 9 year old. Maybe check...There are some great recommendations in here. I'm trying to recall some of the books I really liked from that time in my life, but I can't promise they are perfect for a 9 year old. Maybe check into it to see if they are a good fit before picking them up.
- Artemis Fowl
- Abhorsen trilogy (Liriel, Sabriel, Abhorsen)
- Inheritance (Eragon etc.)
- Bartimaeus series (Amulet of Samarkand, etc.)
- His Dark Materials (I think these are especially good because your daughter may read them again in 20 years and think "oh wow, I didn't quite get this the first go")
- Inkheart series
- Earthsea series
Edit: thinking of some more maybe more towards 9 years old
- Nancy Drew (this got me into mysteries which I still love to this day)
- Warriors
- Redwall (might be my favorite series at this age, I would go to the library and get a new Redwall book every time. If I had to recommend one series, it would be this one, with the other books tending more towards teens)
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Comment on I wet the bed late into my teens and I have no idea why in ~health
PepperJackson LinkA very common cause of wetting the bed in pediatrics is being constipated. If I ever refer patients from my clinic to Peds nephro/uro they always ask me to give the kid a thorough cleaning out...A very common cause of wetting the bed in pediatrics is being constipated. If I ever refer patients from my clinic to Peds nephro/uro they always ask me to give the kid a thorough cleaning out with a heavy course of miralax. Unlikely to be the case here unless you remember straining to use the bathroom all the time as a youngster.
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Comment on Students invent quieter leaf blower in ~engineering
PepperJackson LinkToo bad they aren't making the gas ones quieter. The electric ones are already so much better.Too bad they aren't making the gas ones quieter. The electric ones are already so much better.
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Comment on I gave up meat and gained so much more | A tale of one person's life, culture, and growing up in ~life
PepperJackson Link ParentTotally. I think it breaks down there myself, otherwise I wouldn't be eating meat at all. I lay out ant/cockroach traps in my house, so clearly I don't think all killing is wrong, and I agree...Totally. I think it breaks down there myself, otherwise I wouldn't be eating meat at all. I lay out ant/cockroach traps in my house, so clearly I don't think all killing is wrong, and I agree about the rare edge cases with people too.
I think eating animals has become acceptable to me because someone else is doing the slaughtering and I've been raised in a world where it's so prevalent. I tried to make the case in such a way where I didn't say that the plant growing wolves were evil for hunting, but their actions would be enough to give me pause. And essentially, that is the effect eating animals has on my life, where I think for a minute before buying chicken, but I don't patronize people for eating meat.
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Comment on I gave up meat and gained so much more | A tale of one person's life, culture, and growing up in ~life
PepperJackson Link ParentI'm also interested in your quote here. I doubt I bring up anything new or profound but I did want to add a comment. I think extending the thought experiment a little bit clarified this for me....I'm also interested in your quote here. I doubt I bring up anything new or profound but I did want to add a comment.
But I also simply am not convinced that it's inherently morally wrong to kill animals for the purpose of eating their meat or using their animal products -- not unless you hold humans to a standard that's utterly disconnected from the rest of the animal kingdom.
I think extending the thought experiment a little bit clarified this for me. (For the record I do occasionally eat meat, but I haven't bought meat to prepare at my home in many years.) Imagine an animal that eats meat. I'm going to pick a wolf. In the animal world, I think it's totally sensible and justifiable for wolves to eat meat. But imagine a group of wolves that had the capability to produce all of their food by planting crops, and that this diet did not have any negative effects on their health. If I observed these wolves going out and killing animals to eat, at the very least I would think "that's not very nice of them". If you add another layer to these wolves where they now think killing is wrong, it's hard to me to see them killing animals for food as not cruel, to some extent. If I asked them "Why do you do this is it is not necessary?", and they said something like "It tastes good." I would probably give them the side eye.
In the end, I guess I mean to say that I don't think it's inherently wrong to eat meat unless the following are true:
- You are capable of getting all of your nutrition from plants.
- The plant based food is accessible.
- You think killing is wrong.
Of course, nothing is this cut and dry. I will eat chicken if I go out to a restaurant. I'm the wolf who has the complete ability to fulfill all of my dietary needs with plants and still elects to eat meat every so often because it tastes good.
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Comment on Deciding whether to continue with chemotherapy and immunotherapy in ~health
PepperJackson (edited )LinkThis is an incredibly tough situation. As a doctor, I would recommend talking to your palliative care doctor about this as soon as you can. If they are a certified palliative care MD, your quality...This is an incredibly tough situation. As a doctor, I would recommend talking to your palliative care doctor about this as soon as you can. If they are a certified palliative care MD, your quality of life is their specialty. As far as I'm concerned (and this is quite a bit reductionist) oncologists seem to be so focused on the extending lifespan number they will throw on incredibly toxic therapies willy nilly. To be clear, I suspect your oncologist is a great doctor and doing the right things, but they simply aren't trained nearly as much as your palliative care doc is in quality of life.
I am coming around to accepting that option 3 is probably the best option most of the time for people with terminal disease. Maybe the medical community will naturally cycle between not treating, seeing many patients succumb to disease quickly, then back to aggressively treating people in your position.
I would send a message to your palliative care doc today. Don't wait, you have your whole life ahead of you and it would be best to have it be as comfortable as possible. The palliative care doctor's entire training revolves around how to convince the other doctors that your quality of life is the most important thing.
Edit: spelling errors (sorry, sent from my phone)
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Comment on Idaho needs doctors: But many don't want to come in ~health
PepperJackson Link ParentAnother aspect of the OBGYN perspective has to do with residency. My friends who are in their residencies would never have considered anywhere where there are abortion restrictions. Why would they...Another aspect of the OBGYN perspective has to do with residency. My friends who are in their residencies would never have considered anywhere where there are abortion restrictions. Why would they train somewhere where they are legally unable to train in a critical aspect of their profession. They would be crippling their future prospects for no reason. And without local residents, you will have less people who stay to attend to the wards afterwards.
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Comment on Tell US Congress: Stop the TikTok ban in ~tech
PepperJackson Link ParentOn one hand, I agree with you. On the other, I think an authoritarian president won't need this law in particular to create an American Firewall. If they want it to happen, they simply will. I...On one hand, I agree with you. On the other, I think an authoritarian president won't need this law in particular to create an American Firewall. If they want it to happen, they simply will. I don't think that possibility should preclude a well meaning president from preventing an avenue of social influence on our nation.
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Comment on What have you been eating, drinking, and cooking? in ~food
PepperJackson LinkI am on my honeymoon in Hawaii from the southern US, and I'm taking the opportunity to eat good seafood. This is actually a bit of a moral quandary for me: I generally think it's not ethical to...I am on my honeymoon in Hawaii from the southern US, and I'm taking the opportunity to eat good seafood. This is actually a bit of a moral quandary for me: I generally think it's not ethical to eat animals in excess (I eat chicken 1 day a week on average), but the seafood here is so plentiful and so dang good. I've had poke or sushi for lunch just about every day for the last 10 days. It's amazing. I have always loved seafood, but never ate it at home because I know it isn't fresh, or sustainably caught, (as well as the ethical reasons stated earlier), but now that I am somewhere with an abundance of ahi tuna I have been eating it at just about every opportunity. So I couldn't be happier, or more ethically confused. Which is good, I guess?
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Comment on In your opinion, what is the appropriate number of outfits to rotate through at work? in ~life.men
PepperJackson LinkIf you wear a suit, probably just one outfit. There was a news anchor who wore the same outfit every day for a year and no one said anything. But I generally agree with your idea of 6/7 shirts and...If you wear a suit, probably just one outfit. There was a news anchor who wore the same outfit every day for a year and no one said anything.
But I generally agree with your idea of 6/7 shirts and maybe 3 pairs of slacks would be more than plenty.
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Comment on What have you been eating, drinking, and cooking? in ~food
PepperJackson Link ParentOh yeah, it's totally not worth it for this single meal. I like the ability to make risotto with ease, but that's all I think this pressure cooker is good for nowadays. I got some good use out of...Oh yeah, it's totally not worth it for this single meal. I like the ability to make risotto with ease, but that's all I think this pressure cooker is good for nowadays. I got some good use out of this when I first got it because I lived in an apartment without a usable stove (I knew this going into it and wasn't there for long).
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Comment on What have you been eating, drinking, and cooking? in ~food
PepperJackson LinkDrink I live in a US state where you can only buy liquor at state run liquor stores, and was very pleased that they had apricot liquor in stock. So tonight I made myself a leapfrog from the PDT...Drink
I live in a US state where you can only buy liquor at state run liquor stores, and was very pleased that they had apricot liquor in stock.
So tonight I made myself a leapfrog from the PDT cocktail book.
amt. ingredient 2 oz. Gin .75 oz Lemon Juice .5 oz Rothman & Winter Orchard Apricot .25 oz Simple Syrup 2 dashes House Orange Bitters A few Mint Leaves It's a great drink. Pretty sweet, but well balanced. I would forgo the simple next time.
Food
Dinner was less exciting, but will still be great.
I'm a big fan of Serious Eats' pressure cooker mushroom risotto recipe. I find its the only thing that is actually faster in the Instant Pot I got years ago at the height of the craze. It basically just exists to make this.
While that was going I made rice in the rice cooker, cooked a couple eggs with some kimchi from Costco. The risotto will be for lunch and I'll figure out dinner tomorrow!
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Comment on The Xmas music playlist at my job is awful; give me your best non-traditional holiday songs! in ~music
PepperJackson LinkI love when December comes around because I finally get to whip out The Irish Rover's Christmas album. Okay, so there are a bunch of the classics, but I think I actually feel the Christmas joy...I love when December comes around because I finally get to whip out The Irish Rover's Christmas album.
Okay, so there are a bunch of the classics, but I think I actually feel the Christmas joy when I listen to
Miss Fogarty's Christmas Cake is so funny to me. It's a 3 and a half minute roast of someone's really shitty cake. But over a classic Christmas song caroling tune. It's so bizarre, every year it feels like a fever dream. Especially when she trips over Flanagan's brogans.
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Comment on Steaks grown from human cells spark interest and outrage [2020] in ~food
PepperJackson Link ParentI'm a molecular biologist, and I know that human cell lines harbor endogenous retroviruses that may differ from those that a given person has. There are pigs--for use as a source of organs for...I'm a molecular biologist, and I know that human cell lines harbor endogenous retroviruses that may differ from those that a given person has. There are pigs--for use as a source of organs for transplant--where they've removed a number of the retroviruses.
Also, last time I checked, all of the lab grown meats use FBS (fetal bovine serum) as a protein source, so we aren't any closer to "meatless" meat
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
PepperJackson LinkI've finally got into Slay the Spire. I played it for maybe 10 hours on release, when there were only 3 characters, but then life got busy and I forgot about the game. In the past month I've put...I've finally got into Slay the Spire.
I played it for maybe 10 hours on release, when there were only 3 characters, but then life got busy and I forgot about the game.
In the past month I've put in about 40 hours and have all of the characters but Watcher up to ascension 5. (The Watcher is still ascension 3-4, I'll get her there soon enough). No act 4 attempts yet, but maybe I will after getting Watcher up to Ascension 5. I'm not sure which character is my favorite, but Defect has some pretty unique interactions that I enjoy. But maybe I'm fond of them because they were my most recent Asc5 attained.
I suppose there's a reason why the deck -building roguelite genre for so popular, isn't there? What a great time it's been playing.
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Comment on Any offline bookmark managers (or similar software) you'd recommend? (simple and open source preferred!) in ~tech
PepperJackson LinkIt depends what you are looking for. A great place to start is the bookmarking section of awesome-selfhosted. If you want pure bookmark syncing, there's Xbookmarksync. I personally use Shiori...It depends what you are looking for. A great place to start is the bookmarking section of awesome-selfhosted.
If you want pure bookmark syncing, there's Xbookmarksync.
I personally use Shiori because I wanted something that would take snapshots but was a smaller application. I don't actually use it all that much so smaller size was beneficial for me.
If you want full text search you may want to check out Wallabag or Briefkasten.
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Comment on Max heat in Hades finally beaten in ~games
PepperJackson Link ParentThere have only been 2 people who have beat 64 heat, and those people did it only with mods to get the exact build they needed (until this video, of course, who was one of the 2 modded runs). So...There have only been 2 people who have beat 64 heat, and those people did it only with mods to get the exact build they needed (until this video, of course, who was one of the 2 modded runs). So is it strictly required to get 100% of the build? Probably not. But I think 5/6 of the boons/hammers are strictly required. At least an alternative viable build isn't apparent.
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Comment on What is your opinion of the ActivityPub protocol? in ~comp
PepperJackson Link ParentIs there any social media protocol that you feel is heading in the right direction?Is there any social media protocol that you feel is heading in the right direction?
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Comment on Keith eats everything at Jersey Mike's | Eat The Menu in ~food
PepperJackson Link ParentMy version of this in most TV is how shaky the camera is all the time. I swear I'll get a headache if I watch most shows! My girlfriend (who watches more TV than me) says she doesn't even notice,...My version of this in most TV is how shaky the camera is all the time. I swear I'll get a headache if I watch most shows! My girlfriend (who watches more TV than me) says she doesn't even notice, which is hard for me to believe.
Oh my gosh, I haven't thought about the Children of the Lamp books in a very long time. What a fun series of books.