em-dash's recent activity
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Comment on Timasomo 2025: The Showcase in ~creative.timasomo
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Comment on What are some of your favorite stews/soups? in ~food
em-dash LinkRecently, I've made chili, and a Lebanese lentil soup called shorbet adas. I should start writing down recipes. I cook mostly based on vibes, so when I tried to provide recipes here, most of my...Recently, I've made chili, and a Lebanese lentil soup called shorbet adas.
I should start writing down recipes. I cook mostly based on vibes, so when I tried to provide recipes here, most of my measurements were incredibly precise numbers like "idk, some cumin I guess".
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Comment on Timasomo 2025: The Showcase in ~creative.timasomo
em-dash Link ParentSkirts are comfy as fuck and should not be arbitrarily limited to ~ half the population. I'm glad you're doing something that makes you happy. <3Skirts are comfy as fuck and should not be arbitrarily limited to ~ half the population. I'm glad you're doing something that makes you happy. <3
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Comment on Timasomo 2025: The Showcase in ~creative.timasomo
em-dash LinkI made some progress on workshop setup. Not 100% done, but not nothing. It's in a three-room building, with one big room in the middle (which we think used to be a garage, used for some sort of...I made some progress on workshop setup. Not 100% done, but not nothing.
It's in a three-room building, with one big room in the middle (which we think used to be a garage, used for some sort of shady car repair business) and two smaller rooms on either side. I'm using one of the smaller rooms as my office, and "the workshop" is the remainder of the building.
The big room is our main workspace for my electronics stuff and my partner's sewing stuff. I hung French cleats and power strips everywhere, poured a bunch of self-leveling concrete (badly), installed carpet, and built a long workbench on one wall for electronics work (my partner wants a bunch of movable tables instead). My main 3D printer is now enclosed under my electronics workbench, to the relief of all my friends who have been yelling at me for years to stop breathing ABS fumes.
My woodworking tools have been moved into the other small room. It's separated by a curtain in the doorway (there's no door installed there and I decided it wasn't worth the effort to add one) and has dust collection stuff set up. I've started building the rest of our shop furniture there. I also painted that room's floor with a paint made for garage floors, which I've already scratched off in several places, but still looks better than the heavily stained concrete under it.
This does mean the main workshop is filled with boxes again, because that was also the storage room for all the stuff we haven't unpacked yet since moving (mostly workshop stuff, since we've had nowhere to put it). So we haven't been able to do much in there yet. Soon, though.
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Comment on Supermarket rewards card- yes or no? in ~finance
em-dash (edited )Link ParentOkay, so first of all, oh gods I'm old now apparently. But I remember using phones in the mid to late 1990s: Area codes and long distance calling definitely existed by the time the song came out...Okay, so first of all, oh gods I'm old now apparently. But I remember using phones in the mid to late 1990s:
Area codes and long distance calling definitely existed by the time the song came out (1981). But you could (maybe still can?) omit the area code when dialing, if it's the same as your own. Since this was before mobile phones were common, approximately everyone's phone number matched the area they lived in, because that's how landlines work. Most phone calls are placed to people in the same area, so this means you'd almost always omit it in practice, so when giving your phone number to local people (or, for example, writing a local person's phone number on a bathroom wall) you'd also omit it.
edit: that other reply was definitely not there when I wrote this. Please enjoy some additional weird 1990s US phone stuff:
- Long-distance calling used to be expensive. There were TV ads for discount long-distance calling services. A lot of them.
- Internet service wasn't universal yet. Need to look up someone's phone number and don't have a physical phone book? Just call the phone company and ask them. (411 is still a thing, but I cannot remember anyone using it this century.)
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Comment on Timasomo 2025: Week 3 Updates in ~creative.timasomo
em-dash LinkMy project for Tildes Make The Prerequisites For Making Something Month (TiMaThPrFoMaSoMo) continues. I haven't heard anything from the people I accidentally mailed a bunch of carpet tiles to. The...My project for Tildes Make The Prerequisites For Making Something Month (TiMaThPrFoMaSoMo) continues.
I haven't heard anything from the people I accidentally mailed a bunch of carpet tiles to. The seller was insistent that I should just go to my old house and pick them up, apparently unaware that 2400 miles is a lot of miles. But I did get them to give me a partial refund, and ordered more (obsessively checking the shipping address this time). They arrived today and my partner and I spent the evening installing most of them.
I also caulked up the remaining seams along the bottom of the walls because spiders love it there more than I am comfortable with, bringing me to a total of twelve tubes of silicone I've put into this building. I'll finish the flooring up tomorrow after that's cured, and then this cursed phase of the project will finally be behind me.
Besides that, I built a 3D printer enclosure, and made another batch of French cleats to put on my partner's side of the workshop.
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Comment on Timasomo 2025: Week 2 Updates in ~creative.timasomo
em-dash Link ParentUpdate: they were delivered... to my old house in Ohio, 2400 miles away. If any of you happen to have bought a house in Ohio earlier this year, and come home today to an unexpected stack of boxes...carpet tiles: ordered (should be here tomorrow)
Update: they were delivered... to my old house in Ohio, 2400 miles away.
If any of you happen to have bought a house in Ohio earlier this year, and come home today to an unexpected stack of boxes dropped in the middle of your patio, please accept my apologies.
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Comment on Timasomo 2025: Week 2 Updates in ~creative.timasomo
em-dash LinkWorkshop progress: concrete: finished (as finished as it's going to get; I realized I could keep messing with it for an arbitrarily long time fixing imperfections that you'll never be able to feel...Workshop progress:
- concrete: finished (as finished as it's going to get; I realized I could keep messing with it for an arbitrarily long time fixing imperfections that you'll never be able to feel through the carpet anyway)
- carpet tiles: ordered (should be here tomorrow)
- big machine tools: longingly stared at (one day I'll have a lathe and mill again)
- other half of the ceiling: painted
- sketchy light wiring: fixed
- electronics workbench: changed from medium-low desk to comfortable standing height (with plans to get a tall stool for when I don't feel like standing)
I'm starting to burn out on it, honestly. It feels like all I've done for the past several months is work and home improvement projects. But this is a prerequisite for most of my other hobbies, so here we are.
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Comment on Timasomo 2025: Week 1 Updates in ~creative.timasomo
em-dash Link ParentHonestly that screw layout makes me a bit nervous, because that side contains some RAM slots and the power connector, both of which require some force to insert. But it's probably fine in...Honestly that screw layout makes me a bit nervous, because that side contains some RAM slots and the power connector, both of which require some force to insert.
But it's probably fine in practice, since it would also be unsupported in a normal case?
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Comment on Timasomo 2025: Week 1 Updates in ~creative.timasomo
em-dash LinkI've made less progress on my workshop than I hoped because last weekend was hijacked by Surprise Other Project, but progress is happening! I bought a single bag of concrete to practice with, and...I've made less progress on my workshop than I hoped because last weekend was hijacked by Surprise Other Project, but progress is happening!
I bought a single bag of concrete to practice with, and validate that it would work fcr what I'm doing. Then I mixed half of it, and proceeded to make an ugly mess. I expected that, though, which is why I didn't pour to full depth on my first try, so I could cover up my mistakes. Assuming this remains reasonably flat tomorrow after it finishes curing, I feel good enough about this now to go buy the other eleven bags I need.
I also installed the remaining lights on the ceiling, getting entirely too far into it before realizing I was out of conduit corner pieces, which is why I have bare wires stapled to the ceiling for now. I'll pick up what I need to fix this when I go to get the rest of the concrete, but at least I have full lighting now.
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Comment on Timasomo 2025: Roll Call in ~creative.timasomo
em-dash LinkI will be getting my workshop into a usable state so I can do real projects again. I've been doing some basic woodworking for other house projects in the space already, so first task is to clean...I will be getting my workshop into a usable state so I can do real projects again.
I've been doing some basic woodworking for other house projects in the space already, so first task is to clean up the massive mess I've made there over the past couple of months. That (and the requisite yak shaving for it) is what I've been up to the past couple of nights. I might get to start on flooring this weekend?
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Comment on Timasomo 2025: Roll Call in ~creative.timasomo
em-dash Link ParentI love this, and as an electronics nerd I'm happy to provide whatever help I can, should you need it. The world needs more unashamedly made-for-a-specific-kind-of-person tools. (After a recent...I love this, and as an electronics nerd I'm happy to provide whatever help I can, should you need it. The world needs more unashamedly made-for-a-specific-kind-of-person tools.
(After a recent incident where I had to install four different calculator apps on my phone to find something that could calculate
atan(10°), I picked up my first Real Calculator since school this week, a used HP Prime G2. I've only ever used a TI-8x, but it's been long enough to forget how to use those too. I'm unreasonably excited about having a physical calculator again.) -
Comment on OpenAI enables shopping directly from ChatGPT in ~tech
em-dash Link ParentSo like most nice things, this is a USian complaining we can't have nice things because she doesn't realize everyone else already has the nice things. (We do have shopping.google.com, which has...I'm aware of such platforms in the Netherlands, Czechia, Poland, Germany, Belgium, and Greece, with some of them even having solid usage across multiple EU countries.
So like most nice things, this is a USian complaining we can't have nice things because she doesn't realize everyone else already has the nice things.
(We do have shopping.google.com, which has all the frustration of Google's main search engine in 2025 but with even more of a financial incentive to screw with the results)
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Comment on OpenAI enables shopping directly from ChatGPT in ~tech
em-dash Link ParentI would legitimately love to have this outside the context of AI. It would enable replacing bad retailer sites with a better frontend over them. I'm sure in practice it'll be something OpenAI gets...Looking at the documentation for the "Agentic Commerce Protocol", the seller provides a product feed describing the product catalog, prices, and availability.
I would legitimately love to have this outside the context of AI. It would enable replacing bad retailer sites with a better frontend over them.
I'm sure in practice it'll be something OpenAI gets access to and the public doesn't.
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Comment on Announcing the seventh annual Tildes' Make Something Month (Timasomo)! in ~tildes
em-dash Link ParentI have decided to categorize my workshop as clandestine for no particular reason.I have decided to categorize my workshop as clandestine for no particular reason.
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Comment on Announcing the seventh annual Tildes' Make Something Month (Timasomo)! in ~tildes
em-dash LinkI will once again say I'm going to participate and then maybe actually post an update or two. I've moved across the country and now I have a workshop, but it needs some work before I can actually...I will once again say I'm going to participate and then maybe actually post an update or two.
I've moved across the country and now I have a workshop, but it needs some work before I can actually do normal workshop things in it. My goal this time is to finish doing workshop setup so I can make things again without extensive "do I have the space/have I unpacked the tools I need for this yet" pre-pondering: flooring, storage, organization, replacements for a few tools I sold before moving, that sort of thing.
Flooring is probably the biggest priority right now. We have plans for a bunch of rolling tables, modular-workbench style, but the floor as it currently exists isn't a uniform height, so I've been researching self-leveling concrete.
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Comment on Subvert - The collectively owned music marketplace in ~music
em-dash LinkI would like to read more about this, but all the concrete information is locked away in a zine, for which you have to sign up for a mailing list. (I was curious enough to try; it doesn't...I would like to read more about this, but all the concrete information is locked away in a zine, for which you have to sign up for a mailing list. (I was curious enough to try; it doesn't immediately send you anything, which is why I'm complaining about it on the internet right now instead of reading.)
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Comment on What is a business/org that is great and ethical in so many aspects that everyone should consider using? in ~life
em-dash Link ParentThat's more sensical than my version, but... ugh, I hate it, in a way I don't hate "we don't take credit cards at all". It feels some sort of anticompetitive-adjacent.It's all just bargaining for a better rate via exclusivity.
That's more sensical than my version, but... ugh, I hate it, in a way I don't hate "we don't take credit cards at all". It feels some sort of anticompetitive-adjacent.
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Comment on What is a business/org that is great and ethical in so many aspects that everyone should consider using? in ~life
em-dash Link ParentCostco seems alright as big businesses go, but I cannot shop there because they have inexplicably decided to only take Visa cards and I don't have any of those. (Yes, I could go to an ATM first...Costco seems alright as big businesses go, but I cannot shop there because they have inexplicably decided to only take Visa cards and I don't have any of those. (Yes, I could go to an ATM first and pay in cash, but that is too much friction for my taste.)
I assume there are entirely sensical reasons for this, but I choose to believe the MasterCard and Costco CEOs are lifelong archrivals.
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Comment on Why do you like your job? in ~life
em-dash LinkI get paid entirely too much. Silicon Valley company salaries are wild. But also, the company I work at is fully remote and heavily asynchronous, which means I can do things like sleeping until...I get paid entirely too much. Silicon Valley company salaries are wild.
But also, the company I work at is fully remote and heavily asynchronous, which means I can do things like sleeping until after noon, or wandering off to appointments without having to schedule them around meetings, or if I get frustrated with work I can just go do something else for a while instead.
So far the curtain seems to be doing fine as it is. I have also installed magnets along the edges of the doorway for extra assurance, but I have not yet attached matching metal bits to the curtain because gestures at the stack of boxes of my partner's sewing stuff.