ConalFisher's recent activity
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Comment on Maybe Bluesky has "won" in ~tech
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Comment on What creative projects have you been working on? in ~creative
ConalFisher LinkComposing music mostly. Currently in the "procrastinating via planning and reading up on theory stuff" stage of the process, which is always a fun place to pretend to feel productive in. I've also...Composing music mostly. Currently in the "procrastinating via planning and reading up on theory stuff" stage of the process, which is always a fun place to pretend to feel productive in.
I've also been learning to code for a good while now. Decided to start in C because it looked fun and is super helpful to know, and it's been going well. But damn is there a lot of stuff to learn, I've been learning for a few months now and I still feel like I'm just doing glorified math problems rather than actually making anything resembling a piece of software. Hopefully it'll click one day and I'll understand how to go from dumb code to a thing that does stuff, probably after I inevitably abandon C for a more handholdy language that doesn't require a compsci degree and 600 lines of code to open a blank window.
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Comment on Hi, how are you? Mental health support and discussion thread (November 2024) in ~health.mental
ConalFisher LinkI really hate how much of mental health solutions these days revolve around "just don't think about those things", because of how powerless it makes me feel while also being rather objectively the...I really hate how much of mental health solutions these days revolve around "just don't think about those things", because of how powerless it makes me feel while also being rather objectively the best solution (besides just fixing the issues). I think I do a pretty good job at steering clear of the 24-hour news cycle but all the same I really struggle to think of anything on the global scale that's going well, it really seems like with the rise of fascism around the world and the ever-present certainty of climate change ruining everything forever, there's just no hope outside of a few miracles. And the only advice that seems to go around is "vote and don't think about it". And I hate that. I feel perpetually anxious about this stuff (amid many other things closer to home), it seems that there really isn't a realistic solution for any of it, and the not-thinking-about-it strategy only gives very temporary relief when I'm able to successfully distract myself with something.
I wonder a lot these days about what constitutes mental illness when it comes to this stuff. I experience a lot of feelings of anxiety and depression (nothing at dangerous levels fortunately, though I do worry about the downward trends I notice in my psyche), but I don't feel like any of it is irrational. I worry about real events at about the level that should be expected by a human faced with existential threats, and the feelings I feel as a result are proportional to that. It's just that everything... Kinda fucking sucks these days. And I hate the notion that a doctor could look at that and go "looks like you're sad about everything being fucked, here's some pills that'll make you stop worrying about it" as if that's anything other than just burying my head in the sand. I'm no radical, I'm attuned to the fact that 90% of all politics and everything bad is forgotten and irrelevant in a century, but I just wish there was anything out there that could give hope.
I'm just gonna re-read The Lord of the Rings every few months until that happens.
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Comment on Takashi Yoshimatsu - And Birds Are Still… (1998) - If you like Studio Ghibli's soundtracks I'd strongly recommend checking this guy's music out! in ~music
ConalFisher Link ParentI absolutely love his Piano Concerto! I figured I'd post this shorter one as it's more accessible, but I'm a huge fan of his works as a whole. Personally I think he's at his best when he's working...I absolutely love his Piano Concerto! I figured I'd post this shorter one as it's more accessible, but I'm a huge fan of his works as a whole. Personally I think he's at his best when he's working with orchestral colours, my singular gripe with his music is that his harmonic language can be a bit stale for my tastes (keeping in mind that I've had my sensibilities melted by a composition degree). But his orchestration skill is stellar, and he's maybe one of the best melodicists in recent memory too.
There is a distinctive "neo-romantic" school of contemporary tonal music in Japan, influenced a lot by Debussy, Takemitsu, Messiaen, and that I think is the source of a lot of the similarities in the music of Hisaishi, Kondo, Yoshimatsu, and a lot of Japanese film/game music in general. Yoshimatsu isn't really a well-known composer in the West for some strange reason, despite being one of the leading Japanese contemporary composers for some 30 years, but I'm glad to see he's getting picked up by ensembles more and more. Still waiting to hear something of his live though!
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Takashi Yoshimatsu - And Birds Are Still… (1998) - If you like Studio Ghibli's soundtracks I'd strongly recommend checking this guy's music out!
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Comment on Cooking with black plastic is particularly crucial to avoid in ~health
ConalFisher Link ParentA lot of people recommend cast iron and for good reason, but if the maintenance is too much of a hassle for you I'd recommend looking into carbon steel cookware. Extremely common in woks but you...A lot of people recommend cast iron and for good reason, but if the maintenance is too much of a hassle for you I'd recommend looking into carbon steel cookware. Extremely common in woks but you can find skillets made with it also; it's basically halfway between a cast iron and a stainless steel pan, being reasonably light and durable, and much less of a hassle to cook with then cast iron (though honestly I have never bothered babying my cast iron, I just cook with it and dry it well afterwards and call it a day). There is a seasoning process but it's much less involved than with cast iron: The first time using it you just heat it up a ton and then rub oil into it with a paper towel until the whole thing's changed colour, takes 10 minutes. After that just be sure to preheat it until smoking, rub a really small amount of oil on it before throwing your food in, and it'll be fine. Dry it well to prevent rust.
As for cooking utensils I almost exclusively use wooden utensils and have never had issues. I really don't get the hype around metal utensils being better or having more control, if you can't scrape off fond with a wooden spoon then you've already screwed up. I have a silicon spatula for anything more delicate, and that's basically it.
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Comment on What are you reading these days? in ~books
ConalFisher LinkEvery day when walking to work I pass by my local second-hand book store, and I have a terrible habit of just buying cool books knowing damn well I'll never read them. But, yknow, I got the Iliad...Every day when walking to work I pass by my local second-hand book store, and I have a terrible habit of just buying cool books knowing damn well I'll never read them. But, yknow, I got the Iliad for £2, so at least I have it now, there are worse vices to have for sure. I'm not brave enough to venture into the realm of obscure authors I've never heard of so 90% of what I've read is popular/genre-defining.
I've really been enjoying H.P. Lovecraft's stories, they're my favourite kind of horror. Similar is Mark Danielewski's House of Leaves: Honestly I didn't finish it because Christ it's long and my attention span is garbage, but it's incredibly compelling. Outside of that genre I've been intermittently going through the Tao Te Ching in my quest to fill what Dennis Reynolds called "his God-hole": It's interesting for sure, though I'm not sure how I feel about its emphasis on essentially promoting societal ignorance in the name of a simple life, it feels a bit authoritarian. Still a cool read though, worth checking out if you know nothing about Taoism.
Honestly though I'm a complete Tolkien stan, I've never been able to find anything that has ensnared my as much as his writing does. People give him flak sometimes for how he'll spend 2 paragraphs describing a tree but god damnit I'd read an entire book of that. Currently I'm reading Unfinished Tales, am about halfway through Of Tuor and his Coming to Gondolin and I'm in love with how descriptive it is, the way it describes the sparse landscapes and the feeling of solitude as Tuor travels west toward the the Great Sea. Then the whole interaction with Ulmo is just incredibly powerful. Absolutely worth a read if you've never ventured past Rings and The Hobbit.
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Comment on Timasomo 2023: Week 2 Updates in ~creative.timasomo
ConalFisher LinkWriting a short orchestral piece. Life has resulted in me making zero progress. Darn. Goals this week are to mostly structure the piece, and write a full section or two. Perhaps not full...Writing a short orchestral piece.
Life has resulted in me making zero progress. Darn.
Goals this week are to mostly structure the piece, and write a full section or two. Perhaps not full orchestration just yet but we'll see,
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Comment on What have you been listening to this week? in ~music
ConalFisher LinkRavel - Introduction et allegro pour harpe, flûte, clarinette et quatuor à cordes (1905) Bonus piece if you've never heard of this guy before -
Comment on Timasomo 2023: Week 1 Updates in ~creative.timasomo
ConalFisher LinkWriting a short orchestral piece. What I've done this week: Conceptualised & loosely structured the work That's about it. The beginning steps of a composition tend to be a bit boring in my...Writing a short orchestral piece.
What I've done this week:
- Conceptualised & loosely structured the work
That's about it. The beginning steps of a composition tend to be a bit boring in my workflow, but eventually I'll put a note down, then another one, then that'll continue until there's a finished piece.
What I'm going to do next week:
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More structuring: Motivic material, broad formal layout, etc.
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Write a few small sections and showcase them here.
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Get a feel for where the piece is going and further hone in on what I want it to be like. No idea is set in stone in these early formative stages; maybe I'll end up going a completely different direction than what I'm thinking right now.
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Comment on Timasomo 2023: Roll Call in ~creative.timasomo
ConalFisher LinkNever participated before but this sounds fun! I'm going to write a short (~5m) orchestral piece, based on an 'image'. Something to do with snow and mountains, I'll work out the details as I go...Never participated before but this sounds fun!
I'm going to write a short (~5m) orchestral piece, based on an 'image'. Something to do with snow and mountains, I'll work out the details as I go along. Maybe one day I'll make it into a multi-movement suite, but right now I'll limit myself to one good bit of music. 5 minutes of orchestral writing from scratch in a month will be a challenge, but I always work best with deadlines, so I'm confident I'll get it done in time.
Bonus: I might also arrange it for 2 pianos, for no other reason than it's next to impossible to get orchestral music performed without having an 'example version' to show people first.
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Comment on What is your preferred VPN? in ~comp
ConalFisher LinkI've been using the free version of Windscribe for years now. 15gb monthly cap is more than enough for me (basically just use it for torrenting every now and then). I can't really afford a paid...I've been using the free version of Windscribe for years now. 15gb monthly cap is more than enough for me (basically just use it for torrenting every now and then). I can't really afford a paid VPN these days but when I could I used Mullvad and it was great, I'd recommend it.
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Comment on Video game voice actors are ready to strike over AI in ~games
ConalFisher Link ParentThey could probably ban it, but would it actually change anything? If governments in the 18th century had banned industrial textile mills for the purposes of keeping workers' jobs, would all our...They could probably ban it, but would it actually change anything? If governments in the 18th century had banned industrial textile mills for the purposes of keeping workers' jobs, would all our clothes be handmade today, and 10 times the price?
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Comment on Video game voice actors are ready to strike over AI in ~games
ConalFisher Link ParentI compose classical music for a living. At the moment the field of music is relatively safe from AI, but anyone thinking it's impervious from its effects are deluding themselves; one day, there...I compose classical music for a living. At the moment the field of music is relatively safe from AI, but anyone thinking it's impervious from its effects are deluding themselves; one day, there will be AI that can write music as convincing as modern day composers. And I often ask myself, if I lived in that world, would I still write music? And if I did, would anyone actually listen to it? Is there even a point in having AI write music, or would we just be stripping another aspect of humanity away from ourselves for the purposes of scientific progress?
Ultimately it becomes a question of balancing the rational march of technology against the irrational human experience - Maybe in a post-scarcity world, there would be things that we could automate, but shouldn't, solely for the purposes of letting people have some semblance of a purpose. More broadly, in a post-scarcity society, would most people even work, or would machines just do everything? Punching above my philosophical paygrade here, but I think people would want to have jobs for the purpose of having meaning, even it it's objectively 'suboptimal' for society.
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Comment on Video game voice actors are ready to strike over AI in ~games
ConalFisher LinkReading these neverending 'AI is taking jobs and workers are pushing back' posts always makes me uneasy; I simply don't see any resistance working in the long term. No amount of legislature and...Reading these neverending 'AI is taking jobs and workers are pushing back' posts always makes me uneasy; I simply don't see any resistance working in the long term. No amount of legislature and ethics are going to dampen the blow that AI will inevitably do to all of these fields, because it's simply easier and cheaper, and for as long as we're a society that values profit over human experiences the cheaper option for the same product will always win.
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Comment on What whisky/whiskey have you been enjoying, and what's your opinion on them? in ~food
ConalFisher LinkI'm an Irishman and that's where my tastes lie. My goto is simply Jamesons because it's cheap and I don't often care particularly for the taste, but if I'm going fancy then Redbreast 12 or Powers...I'm an Irishman and that's where my tastes lie. My goto is simply Jamesons because it's cheap and I don't often care particularly for the taste, but if I'm going fancy then Redbreast 12 or Powers are my favourites.
Oddly enough, I found that Jamesons Black Barrel is actually a really nice sipping whiskey, despite being, yknow, Jamesons. Cheaper than Redbreast too. I just feel like I'm letting my country down at every sip.
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Comment on World's biggest machine capturing carbon from air turned on in Iceland – operators say the Orca plant can suck 4,000 tonnes of CO2 out of the air every year in ~enviro
ConalFisher Link ParentThe problem is, we don't have the time for gradual change. It would be great if we had the freedom to slowly phase these things out, but that time has long since passed. We need to curb emissions...The problem is, we don't have the time for gradual change. It would be great if we had the freedom to slowly phase these things out, but that time has long since passed. We need to curb emissions now, and then start picking up the pieces that have already been thrown out of place. Whether that's realistic through democratic action or not is irrelevant, it has to be done, and I think that if politicians won't do it, then radical action of some kind is needed, whether the majority are willing or not. But I'm getting off track here. I get what you mean about this being a gradual thing from "this technology is useless" to "this technology is amazing", I just don't think it's worth celebrating this as if anything's been fixed while it's still in the "basically useless" phase.
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Comment on El Salvador’s new bitcoin wallets could cost Western Union $400 million a year in ~finance
ConalFisher LinkOh no, a massive company losing a small proportion of its revenue, how terrible!!!!!!Oh no, a massive company losing a small proportion of its revenue, how terrible!!!!!!
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Comment on World's biggest machine capturing carbon from air turned on in Iceland – operators say the Orca plant can suck 4,000 tonnes of CO2 out of the air every year in ~enviro
ConalFisher LinkI wish I could get excited over this, but that's nothing, it's an absolutely tiny amount of CO2 for such a large amount of engineering, it's a completely worthless contraption that only serves to...I wish I could get excited over this, but that's nothing, it's an absolutely tiny amount of CO2 for such a large amount of engineering, it's a completely worthless contraption that only serves to distract people from the actual causes of these problems. "Greenwashing" is the term, I believe. I think this technology should be researched for the future, but we already have the solutions to the climate crisis in front of us: Less cars, no more fossil fuel power plants, carbon tax the shit out of companies, plant more trees, plants, and other biological carbon sequesters. We're all banking on finding a miracle technology that'll solve everything with no change to our lives. We need to accept that as it is right now, our society is a bubble, and it simply can't go on like this.
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Comment on YouTube Vanced: A privacy-friendly YouTube app for Android with ads and telemetry stripped out in ~tech
ConalFisher LinkI see Vanced posted a ton on the web (I've used it myself for years), but I always have to wonder, surely it's gotta be breaking youtube TOS or something? I'd have thought an app like this would...I see Vanced posted a ton on the web (I've used it myself for years), but I always have to wonder, surely it's gotta be breaking youtube TOS or something? I'd have thought an app like this would have to go relatively under the radar, else face a C&D or two.
Anything is better than Twitter now, but I feel like as it is currently Bluesky is just... A bit of a left wing echo chamber, though it tries to claim otherwise. I hope it'll evolve as more people sign up but the early adopters have undoubtably been mostly politically-oriented American left wingers and the content on the site reflects that. Posts mostly fall into two categories: "Common interest" posts with very broad appeal (nature photos, relatable anecdotes, very safe jokes, etc), or American politics. I've got nothing against left wing politics to be clear, I just don't find the site particulary interesting at the moment over it.
Ultimately I just worry that it's a lot of artificial hype in this initial stage, and once it dies down people will be left with little of substance. I find that it's quite common in left wing spaces (speaking as someone who's been involved in an unfortunate amount of Reddit moderating) for enormous hype trains to form over something with everyone patting themselves on the back over how great it is and how everyone is on board while shutting out any and all dissent, only for the hype to slow, the dissenters to realise how numerous they are, and the whole thing flips on its head with the dissenters getting to be smug over how stupid the whole thing obviously was (from their perspective at least). Then your average person without a stake in the thing decides to steer clear entirely to avoid being lumped in with the weird ones whom everyone is laughing at.