Banazir's recent activity

  1. Comment on Timasomo 2026: Roll Call in ~creative.timasomo

    Banazir
    Link Parent
    How big is the finished product from the kit supposed to be? I assume you won't be able to cut the pieces down as easily since they're all so intricate.

    How big is the finished product from the kit supposed to be? I assume you won't be able to cut the pieces down as easily since they're all so intricate.

    2 votes
  2. Comment on Timasomo 2026: Roll Call in ~creative.timasomo

    Banazir
    Link
    I'm going to dabble in a bit of ring making. My wedding band is wood and bronze wire with a cyanoacrylate (CA) protective layer - basically fancy superglue. When I got it, I knew it was unlikely...

    I'm going to dabble in a bit of ring making. I will give 9 to kings of men, 5 to dwarves...

    My wedding band is wood and bronze wire with a cyanoacrylate (CA) protective layer - basically fancy superglue. When I got it, I knew it was unlikely to last for my lifetime, so I was expecting to replace it around the 5 year mark as a milestone item. Unfortunately, the finish has chipped significantly over time and the wood is beginning to take minor damage as a result.

    Since my 2 year wedding anniversary is near the end of this month, my plan is to make a new wedding band that will ideally last until the 10 year mark. I've been partially inspired by Alec Steele, brands like Midnight's Honor, and a puzzle ring I picked up at the renfest recently, but I will ideally not be taking any particular designs in their entirety. I've acquired some 12-gauge stainless steel wire for prototyping and some cold work, if one of those ideas catches me then I'll buy an appropriate length of silver wire instead. If a forged design ends up working better, then I'll acquire some basic stainless steel (I've mostly worked with basic carbon steels) that I can use to replicate the design.

    I have plenty of ideas, but none actually written down so far. Since most of it is iterating on ideas, I didn't want to get too much done before Timasomo started!

    5 votes
  3. Comment on Cornell won't, we will in ~news

    Banazir
    Link Parent
    There's far fewer than ten thousand active participants here. There's plenty of names here I recognize from previous conversations, and you'll build up your own social reputation too. Not because...

    There's far fewer than ten thousand active participants here. There's plenty of names here I recognize from previous conversations, and you'll build up your own social reputation too. Not because of points or anything, but because you'll also become recognized over time.

    16 votes
  4. Comment on Announcing the eighth annual Tildes' Make Something Month (Timasomo)! in ~tildes

    Banazir
    Link
    I've been waiting for this announcement!

    I've been waiting for this announcement!

    1 vote
  5. Comment on What do you listen to while you’re reading? in ~books

    Banazir
    Link
    When I read I get really into the book and end up tuning out most of what I'm listening to anyway, so most of the time nothing. If I do play music, it's likely something lyricless like modern...

    When I read I get really into the book and end up tuning out most of what I'm listening to anyway, so most of the time nothing. If I do play music, it's likely something lyricless like modern classical (TSFH, E.S. Posthumus, Audiomachine, etc) or instrumental prog rock. The best part about reading epic fantasy alongside epic classical is that sometimes they line up and you get cool music playing during a tense moment.

    4 votes
  6. Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games

    Banazir
    Link Parent
    For what it's worth, I've been running a Valheim server for the past week on a VM with 2 cores and 4 GB of memory and it has handled everything like a champ. I think peak memory usage was 1.7 GB...

    For what it's worth, I've been running a Valheim server for the past week on a VM with 2 cores and 4 GB of memory and it has handled everything like a champ. I think peak memory usage was 1.7 GB and CPU usage has never gone past 40%.

    1 vote
  7. Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games

    Banazir
    Link
    Since 1.0 came out last week, I've been playing Valheim on a private server with friends. I'm so happy that this game has been doing well, I first heard about it all the way back in 2019 when I...

    Since 1.0 came out last week, I've been playing Valheim on a private server with friends. I'm so happy that this game has been doing well, I first heard about it all the way back in 2019 when I was excited to hear about an upcoming Linux-compatible survival game. I've been following it loosely since, but the only other time I've actually put this many hours into it was in 2021 when the early access version first launched.

    First off, the game feels super familiar but there's obviously some polish. There's an intro cinematic that plays every time the game opens (it's skippable, but worth watching the first time or two), and the menu has a list of cinematics to re-watch, most of which I haven't seen. Building is easier with new snapping settings, but mechanics such as stability and smoke points are for the player to figure out on their own. There's a few new creatures in early areas that add a frightening level of danger that we were woefully underprepared for, and overcoming those adds a nice mid-level step between bosses in the early game. I can't speak for anything past the second boss, as I never got past the swamps 5 years ago (lost my stuff, then lost my second-best stuff trying to get it back, then lost my third-best stuff trying to get that back, then quit) and I haven't done much in the swamps yet.

    Playing with friends is far superior to playing solo, in my opinion. We had a server back in 2021 but didn't cooperate nearly as much as we did now, so it was basically single-player with resource competition. Now we're able to pool resources, such as multiple people using a single advanced crafting station, and everyone is able to specialize a little. Two friends have been out exploring the map, one by water and one by land, which gives us a direction to push toward. Others are focused on building, and I'm settled somewhere in the middle with both combat and resource gathering (I spent 2.5 hours last night basically just mining copper and tin). We have a small portal hub set up so advanced resources are within reach for everyone, including those who aren't pushing story progression, but nobody is forced to engage in content they don't want to. We have the server set up with the playerprogression flag, so upgraded raids only hit the people who have beaten the specific boss needed for each raid.

    There's still small issues, mostly QoL pain points, and many of those have mod fixes that are extremely tempting to use. Our "village" area has a crack into the void beneath the map in the ground, luckily it's positioned so nobody can fall into it. The only bug we found was solvable with a server restart, and other than that server performance has been fine even on a VM with 2 cores and 4 GB of memory (I could probably drop a core and not notice). Overall, the game still has a very indie feel where the limitations are noticeable but not problematic, and there's plenty of fun to be had solo or in groups. If you're a fan of open-world survival/crafting games, come try this one out too! It's actually worth the hype.

    1 vote
  8. Comment on Valheim | 1.0 release date reveal trailer – 9th September 2026 in ~games

    Banazir
    Link Parent
    Last time we solved that by building separate bases with a portal hub. Not sure how much activity we'll get this time but I like the idea of building together.

    too many cooks" can be an issue with base building decisions and goals

    Last time we solved that by building separate bases with a portal hub. Not sure how much activity we'll get this time but I like the idea of building together.

    3 votes
  9. Comment on Valheim | 1.0 release date reveal trailer – 9th September 2026 in ~games

    Banazir
    Link Parent
    I basically quit entirely after losing my best gear on the other side of a sea I needed to cross to reach the next boss. I tried to retrieve it twice and died both times, never got a portal set up...

    I basically quit entirely after losing my best gear on the other side of a sea I needed to cross to reach the next boss. I tried to retrieve it twice and died both times, never got a portal set up either so I had to brave the sea serpents. It was enough of a setback to set me off that save, and the server was dwindling anyway.

    6 votes
  10. Comment on Valheim | 1.0 release date reveal trailer – 9th September 2026 in ~games

    Banazir
    Link Parent
    Yeah, my friends have asked me to spin up a server again. We last played together almost 5 years ago, and I don't think any of us have played it much since. It's going to be glorious chaos again!

    Yeah, my friends have asked me to spin up a server again. We last played together almost 5 years ago, and I don't think any of us have played it much since. It's going to be glorious chaos again!

    4 votes
  11. Comment on The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (Switch 2) | Zelda 40th anniversary Direct trailer in ~games

    Banazir
    Link Parent
    I fully expect that we'll see a slew of videos where people play a variety of instruments to play the songs in-game. Releasing the ocarina now and showing the microphone interaction is brilliant...

    I fully expect that we'll see a slew of videos where people play a variety of instruments to play the songs in-game. Releasing the ocarina now and showing the microphone interaction is brilliant marketing, and if I didn't have several unplayed instruments I'd pick up an ocarina too.

    2 votes
  12. Comment on Small talk, ice breakers, lines in ~talk

    Banazir
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    I like "What do you do?". When they inevitably respond with their job, I respond with "No, what do you do?". It makes people start thinking of themselves as more than just a job, and I can usually...

    I like "What do you do?". When they inevitably respond with their job, I respond with "No, what do you do?". It makes people start thinking of themselves as more than just a job, and I can usually get more fun answers.

    12 votes
  13. Comment on What made that wedding that you attended particularly memorable? in ~life

    Banazir
    Link Parent
    Yeah, we're part of the WELS denomination, it's unfortunately more conservative than I would like. There's some solid community roots here that my wife and her family have built over several...

    Yeah, we're part of the WELS denomination, it's unfortunately more conservative than I would like. There's some solid community roots here that my wife and her family have built over several decades though, so uprooting us isn't a likely option without moving out of the area entirely (which would be even harder to do). Something like ELCA or even LCMS would be better since I have disagreements with how certain items are presented.

    We did try having our pastor start our wedding with that Princess Bride line, but since it was literally his first wedding (he was a young guy who had to step into the lead pastor's shoes earlier than expected), he wanted to keep things more formal.

    1 vote
  14. Comment on 1Password wades into a right-wing mess after funding a Linux project in ~tech

    Banazir
    Link Parent
    The "questionable leadership" is a single tweet the CEO made, but donations and activity show a more leftward lean. Basically Proton got hit with yet another smear campaign and this one is...

    The "questionable leadership" is a single tweet the CEO made, but donations and activity show a more leftward lean. Basically Proton got hit with yet another smear campaign and this one is sticking. They're not 100% perfect, but they are (at the moment) the best general option that I'm aware of.

    13 votes
  15. Comment on 1Password wades into a right-wing mess after funding a Linux project in ~tech

    Banazir
    Link Parent
    Care to define the "questionable leadership"? Because the only thing anybody ever points to is a single tweet from Andy Yen, while there is a lot more evidence for him leaning left.

    Proton Pass, well, Proton also has questionable leadership.

    Care to define the "questionable leadership"? Because the only thing anybody ever points to is a single tweet from Andy Yen, while there is a lot more evidence for him leaning left.

    9 votes
  16. Comment on Industry Standard Tools in ~life.home_improvement

    Banazir
    Link Parent
    Admittedly, all of my personal experience and most of my instruction - both in-person and via video - has been through the lens of a one-man shop. Black Bear Forge and Nils Ogren are the only...

    Admittedly, all of my personal experience and most of my instruction - both in-person and via video - has been through the lens of a one-man shop. Black Bear Forge and Nils Ogren are the only professionals I watch regularly that I'm aware of (I'm not sure if Torbjorn Ahman is a full-time blacksmith), and I don't think either of their setups are what I would consider "industrial". At this point I still dream of just a small shop like Nils recently moved out of, my setup is still small and portable by necessity.

    As an aside, I dug back to old conversations to see who else was mentioned as a blacksmith here... it was you. So yeah, pretty small group.

    1 vote
  17. Comment on Industry Standard Tools in ~life.home_improvement

    Banazir
    Link Parent
    You're not the only one here, I'm an amateur but very much a blacksmith. I know there's been a couple others mentioned here as well but can't find the old comments with names. The problem I have...

    You're not the only one here, I'm an amateur but very much a blacksmith. I know there's been a couple others mentioned here as well but can't find the old comments with names.

    The problem I have with the blacksmithing section is that there isn't really a blacksmithing industry in the same way that there used to be. Industrially forged parts are going to be drop-forged or done using forges and power hammers at a scale that no consumer can afford to set up. I just don't see how the section could be both accurate for industry and useful at a consumer level. What we got instead is "options if you want to pick up the hobby", in which case it's mostly serviceable.

    That said, I mostly agree with your critique. I'd say Centaur Forge is fine to have there, Ken's Custom Iron makes great tong kits (don't buy your tongs, make them!), and the inclusion of a propane forge is fine even though I don't think there's even a hobbyist standard.

    1 vote
  18. Comment on What made that wedding that you attended particularly memorable? in ~life

    Banazir
    Link Parent
    You did kind of catch one of the core parts of Christianity though. Christians believe that when believers die, they are reunited with God in heaven where they will live eternally. This is the...

    You did kind of catch one of the core parts of Christianity though. Christians believe that when believers die, they are reunited with God in heaven where they will live eternally. This is the "live again after we die" that you mentioned. What happens to non-believers is less clear - the book of Revelations, which describes the end times, claims their souls will be cast into a lake of fire alongside Satan. What happens after that isn't really mentioned. The idea of Hell as a place of punishment that is ruled by the devil is a pop culture fabrication, however.

    4 votes
  19. Comment on What made that wedding that you attended particularly memorable? in ~life

    Banazir
    Link Parent
    Christianity is broken into many denominations, all of which believe the same core tenets but differ in the details. Lutheran is one of those denominations, named after its founder Martin Luther....

    Christianity is broken into many denominations, all of which believe the same core tenets but differ in the details. Lutheran is one of those denominations, named after its founder Martin Luther.

    For a very long time the Catholic Church was the most dominant Christian belief system, and they had significant political power. There was also the Eastern Orthodox Church but that's a different story. In the early 1500's, a big schism formed due to disagreements with some church practices and the church fractured. Catholicism remained as a major denomination but many other protestant denominations, including Lutheran, Calvinist, Methodist, Protestant (a specific denomination), and Anglican all formed as a result.

    If you want more info, I recommend looking into the Reformation as a general starting point. I can also answer more specific questions that you have.

    2 votes
  20. Comment on What are your "how on earth did I not learn this sooner" tech moments? in ~tech

    Banazir
    Link
    Some additional helpful comands: man man - learn about types of man pages and documentation. The C stdlib and Perl libraries have their documentation baked into manpages. apropos - this will...

    Some additional helpful comands:

    • man man - learn about types of man pages and documentation. The C stdlib and Perl libraries have their documentation baked into manpages.
    • apropos - this will search man pages to find commands similar to your search term.
    • which - if you want to know the path to the executable you're calling, especially if you have multiple versions, then this will find it. Use ls -l $(which <command>) to see if it's a symlink. The use alternatives to check if it's naively managed or if you have to use another tool to change the link.
    12 votes