EarlyWords's recent activity
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Comment on What have you been eating, drinking, and cooking? in ~food
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Comment on D&D session report, 24-11-09 in ~games.tabletop
EarlyWords LinkThanks for sharing your fun. Are you the DM? I can’t imagine keeping track of all those henchmen and soldiers. What does your combat look like? Does everyone get their own turn or are you rolling...Thanks for sharing your fun. Are you the DM? I can’t imagine keeping track of all those henchmen and soldiers. What does your combat look like? Does everyone get their own turn or are you rolling attacks in groups?
Sounds pretty epic. I haven’t played first edition in decades but aren’t elves immune to sleep?
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Comment on Looking for eclectic and little-known websites that bring joy in ~health.mental
EarlyWords LinkI’ve posted this here before, but back in 2022 I looked ahead and realized in 2024 I would need an escape from what was coming. So I spent over a year writing the four volumes of Lisica, my...I’ve posted this here before, but back in 2022 I looked ahead and realized in 2024 I would need an escape from what was coming.
So I spent over a year writing the four volumes of Lisica, my escapist Scientist Soap Opera. Love and mystery on a fictional island in the North Pacific. Today I’m waking up to record chapter 46 of 60.
It’s freely available without ads or subscription on my website https://dwdraff.in
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Comment on Golden State Warriors pull out overtime win in Houston in ~sports.basketball
EarlyWords LinkHappy someone is posting Warriors content. I’m not always in agreement with the analysis of Alch. He can get too overwrought for me and caught up in the narratives. But he’s thoughtful and...Happy someone is posting Warriors content. I’m not always in agreement with the analysis of Alch. He can get too overwrought for me and caught up in the narratives. But he’s thoughtful and well-researched, which is a damn sight better than most commentators.
I nearly had to turn this game off by the end of the fourth. Too much drama for my poor old heart. I loved that Podz scored so well in the fourth and that Kuminga brought us home. Great growth from young players finding a way to score at the end of games.
After so many bad years of Warriors ball my expectations are much lower than most, especially after our dynasty. Just play our brand of hoops, which is to me the most entertaining and engaging style in the world. As long as we do that the wins and losses will take care of themselves.
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Comment on Explain one play: Steph Curry - JaVale McGee relay lob play by Brandin Podziemski and Trayce Jackson-Davis settles Golden State Warriors vs New Orleans Pelicans in ~sports.basketball
EarlyWords LinkI’m with you. I didn’t even mind the Clippers game. Kris Dunn was out of his mind on defense. That guy is such a good guard but he never found a home until they put him beside Harden. I’ve been a...I’m with you. I didn’t even mind the Clippers game. Kris Dunn was out of his mind on defense. That guy is such a good guard but he never found a home until they put him beside Harden.
I’ve been a Warriors fan since the first championship—and by that I mean 1975 when I was six years old. What the fan base is currently putting Kuminga through is what the worst fans do to every player. But he’s SO young. Him and Moody and Podz. Not even the age Steph was as a rookie. The impatience for them to be stars is just so immature.
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Comment on Lost Mayan city found in Mexico jungle in ~humanities.history
EarlyWords LinkJust a couple weeks ago I posted my latest ancient history video called Lost Cities of the Classical Mayans. I wanted to discuss how much the scholarship has changed about the ancient Mayans due...Just a couple weeks ago I posted my latest ancient history video called Lost Cities of the Classical Mayans. I wanted to discuss how much the scholarship has changed about the ancient Mayans due to significant discoveries in just the last couple years.
And what do you know… Yet another major discovery. If I had known of this one last month I would have given it a fair amount of focus. Oh well. One can never stay up-to-date on such things.
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Comment on Announcing Tildes' Make Something Month (Timasomo) for 2024! in ~tildes
EarlyWords LinkAny other voice actors here? I have an idea for an "actual play" RPG podcast that I'd like to get off the ground. I'd need 3-4 others with quality microphone setups and RPG experience who can...Any other voice actors here? I have an idea for an "actual play" RPG podcast that I'd like to get off the ground.
I'd need 3-4 others with quality microphone setups and RPG experience who can perform multiple voices and are hopefully entertaining/charming/funny. The main action every episode is between two characters. They are the lowest-ranked guards of the Sewer Gate in a large city, something like the Samarkhand of old--a giant walled center of commerce set on an analogue of the Silk Road, with travelers arriving from every corner of the world.
The entirety of the show is the two guards on duty, deciding who gets to enter and leave the city from this gate that is so filthy and unwholesome that only the poorest and most desperate try. The two guards are inseparable. It's a buddy story more than anything. They hear stories, meet people, get embroiled in all kinds of plots, survive riots and wars and sieges, and get dragged into the petty politics of their sergeants and the commanders of the towers.
There are several other core characters, like in a sitcom, as well as a slew of one-off and cameo roles that need a whole spectrum of voices. I'm a character actor and game master of many decades. With a few skilled individuals we can bring the entire city to life. My goal would be to get ten episodes in the can and posted for free without ads online. I can handle game design and audio production. I've been producing weekly/monthly content for years now. So I've already figured out how to do the hard parts. Now let's just have some fun and try to make each other laugh.
Who's with me?
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Comment on How do you design a dungeon with a lot of backtracking for the purposes of puzzle solving? in ~games.tabletop
EarlyWords LinkAre the player characters the humanoid beavers or are those NPCs? Either way, you can’t skip past that element so blithely. Beavers, above any and all creatures of the animal kingdom, make changes...Are the player characters the humanoid beavers or are those NPCs? Either way, you can’t skip past that element so blithely. Beavers, above any and all creatures of the animal kingdom, make changes to their environments. Have beaver-type traps and puzzles, with trees that must be felled and areas that get flooded. Alarms of beaver tails smacking the water.
To speak to the recursive puzzle idea, if this is less a linear dungeon and more an ecological setting modified by the beavers then you can address the puzzle as an ecosystem out of balance, an area of wilderness that needs to be reconstituted or rehabilitated. Beavers are nature’s own forest managers and a puzzle to them would be a setting that needs to be put back in balance.
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Comment on Pinch, punch! First day of the month. in ~talk
EarlyWords LinkNot sure the origin but my wife writes out a note to our daughter on the first day of each month for her to find when she wakes that reads: “Rabbit! Rabbit! Rabbit” Now that she’s in college it’s...Not sure the origin but my wife writes out a note to our daughter on the first day of each month for her to find when she wakes that reads:
“Rabbit!
Rabbit!
Rabbit”Now that she’s in college it’s a text message and I expect to see it the moment my wife wakes up this morning.
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Comment on NASA decides to bring Starliner spacecraft back to Earth without crew | Crew to return on SpaceX Dragon Feb 2025 in ~space
EarlyWords LinkThis is like a 80s science fiction novel actually came to life. Evil X corporation strands astronauts in space because of greed and immunity from prosecution thanks to politicians in their pocket....This is like a 80s science fiction novel actually came to life. Evil X corporation strands astronauts in space because of greed and immunity from prosecution thanks to politicians in their pocket. Even more evil billionaire comes to the rescue to consolidate his grip on humanity like some Bond villain. But in the meantime our heroes are stuck up in space, doing science sure, but all free agency removed from them.
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Comment on Buy burned land in ~enviro
EarlyWords Link ParentThanks for the excellent reply. This whole thread has been great. I'll check out those resources. I've worked with animals my whole life and I have a secondary dream of providing habitat for...Thanks for the excellent reply. This whole thread has been great. I'll check out those resources.
I've worked with animals my whole life and I have a secondary dream of providing habitat for rescued beavers, then relocating them to work their magic across the region. They are the ultimate forest managers and they don't need to be trained or paid or anything but left alone in suitable habitat.
I guess if I was pressed to choose I'd want to stay near the coast. The losses around Butano State Park and Big Basin are so extensive, and we have family history in Pescadero that goes way back. Big Sur has been ravaged lately too, although a lot of that is on public land in Ventana. I won't be able to get serious about this for another couple years and it's depressing to think about how many other sites will be available by then.
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Buy burned land
Tis fire season again here in North America and Europe. From my house in coastal California I grieve every year as more of my favorite forests burn, from British Columbia to California. There is...
Tis fire season again here in North America and Europe. From my house in coastal California I grieve every year as more of my favorite forests burn, from British Columbia to California.
There is no end in sight for this transition. So what can we do to at least mitigate the worst of its effects? I think the time to play defense over pure "wilderness" is long gone. The forests that haven't burned are still beautiful, but they're riddled with disease and so overgrown the ecosystems are permanently distorted.
Every year there is less pristine forest and more burned land. I'm a fourth generation Californian and the Portuguese side of the family still owns a ranch in the foothills from 1893. But I own nothing and the prospect of being able to afford land in California has forever been beyond my reach. Burned land needs to be rehabilitated in a thoughtful manner. I'm hoping once my daughter finishes college and our life starts a new chapter, that I can find a few acres where I can make the best environmental impact, such as a headwaters, then invite experts onto the land to teach me how to best heal it.
Every year I have this idea, and every year more areas become available (in the worst sense). I don't need to live on this land. I don't expect it to be much more than grasses and saplings for 20 years. I'd get out to it one or two weekends a month, rent some equipment and hire some folks as I could. I also understand that my original thought that this would be immune from future fire seasons is wrong. But at least the land can be designed to be as fire resistant as possible, with a clear understory and single large trees. And that is another part of the allure. This acreage would come with its own challenges for sure, but in some sense it is a blank slate. The permaculture people could show us how to remediate and reconstruct the land from the bones up.
I know this project would be an aggravating money sink, and even perhaps an unrealistic and irresponsible fantasy by someone untrained in forestry management. But there is so much burned land now. Every year another giant 4% stripe of California goes up in smoke. Yet this idea just doesn't catch on. It entails a lot of patience and work. I know it's not what most people want to hear. They want their idyllic cabin in Tahoe or nothing. But that time is quickly coming to an end and learning how to revive the forests that have been devastated is our only real choice.
Whenever I've tried to get serious about this, though, I learn that there is no market in burned land because there is hardly any profit to be made. No real estate agent that I can find is specializing in this because their clients are having to sell ruined land and burned buildings for pennies on the dollar. I've been advised that the best way is to find a specific spot, do my research, and approach the owner directly. But, again, there is so much burned land now I hardly know where to start. The Santa Cruz Mountains? The Sierra adjacent to Yosemite? Crater Lake in Oregon?
Any thoughts or ideas or resources would be appreciated.
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Comment on LISICA - The Scientist Soap Opera - Celebrating my 30th episode! in ~books
EarlyWords LinkI originally posted on Tildes about Lisica when I first started 30 weeks ago. Now we are halfway through the epic tale and still going strong! Please join us for this free story without ads as I...I originally posted on Tildes about Lisica when I first started 30 weeks ago. Now we are halfway through the epic tale and still going strong! Please join us for this free story without ads as I finish recording the narration for the final 30 episodes.
Welcome to LISICA! Join 11 researchers on this secret Northern Pacific island as they work to discover its mysterious past. Published online for free without ads, this is science fiction for actual scientists, a series of four novels that charts their eight weeks alone on the beach and in the woods. Their Principal Investigator, Alonso, is a data scientist trying to build a new framework called Plexity that re-orders the understanding of life itself. He has recruited his wife Miriam, a world-class geologist; his best friend Amy, a field biologist, and a whole team including Esquibel the medical doctor, Mandy the atmospheric scientist, Mahjabeen the marine scientist, Triquet the archaeologist, Flavia the theoretical mathematician, Katrina the polymath, and the biologist grad students Pradeep and Jay.
Sponsored by the US Air Force, they have eight weeks here, cut off from the rest of the planet for unspoken security reasons. Their work forms the core of the story, as does their struggle for survival on a wild island in the middle of the ocean. But it is also very much a story of love, and how these brilliant and driven people discover themselves and each other. More than anything, this story is pure feel-good escapism--a refuge from the increasingly anxiety-inducing real world of 2024. I call it a scientist soap opera.
Each of the four novels covers two weeks on the island. All the writing has been completed and each narrated chapter is being released for free without ads on my website every Monday. Today I posted Chapter 30, which marks the end of book two. We are halfway done!
Please join us on this journey and be reminded of the promise of a scientific life well-lived!
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LISICA - The Scientist Soap Opera - Celebrating my 30th episode!
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Comment on What have you been eating, drinking, and cooking? in ~food
EarlyWords LinkLion’s mane! A few weeks ago at a farmers market I bought an inoculated block for $25. With very low expectations, because every attempt I make to garden ends in lots of green things dying, I was...Lion’s mane!
A few weeks ago at a farmers market I bought an inoculated block for $25. With very low expectations, because every attempt I make to garden ends in lots of green things dying, I was shocked when this thing grew to the size of my head.
Yesterday I harvested it and carved a couple servings off it. Sautéed in butter with asparagus and carrot then served with pasta and fish. Yum! So tasty!
The block should provide another fruiting, then it gets buried in my backyard where, with luck, I’ll have lion’s mane mushrooms in perpetuity.
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Comment on What creative projects have you been working on? in ~creative
EarlyWords Link ParentI’ll be an alpha reader if you like. Do you have a timeframe for responses?I’ll be an alpha reader if you like. Do you have a timeframe for responses?
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Comment on How are you dealing with AI generated results in your searches? in ~tech
EarlyWords Link ParentThanks for taking a look! And I very much agree with you. The community that our channel’s founder established is what makes the entire thing work, regardless of the quality of the content. I’m...Thanks for taking a look! And I very much agree with you. The community that our channel’s founder established is what makes the entire thing work, regardless of the quality of the content.
I’m kind of in a unique situation since he died and left very clear guidance of what kind of channel he wanted. I have no need to go against his deathbed wishes so the channel will continue as it always had and I will keep giving most of the profits to his widow and young daughters. This very human story makes it far more meaningful to many of the subscribers.
But I agree in a wider sense. I can learn discrete facts from a non-human source quite easily but in terms of larger works and artistic projects, I just don’t see the point in consuming synthetic media.
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Comment on How are you dealing with AI generated results in your searches? in ~tech
EarlyWords Link ParentThat’s a good question. I’m basically training myself as an art historian, although I’m sure a real art historian would roll their eyes at such a claim. But what I mean is there’s a whole host of...That’s a good question. I’m basically training myself as an art historian, although I’m sure a real art historian would roll their eyes at such a claim.
But what I mean is there’s a whole host of cultural context clues with which to judge any piece. Not only the style of the art (and this is currently the biggest giveaway with AI art is that one overly airbrushed digital style), or the inaccurate hands and faces, but there are a bunch of other clues too.
For example, in my latest video on Charlemagne, there are a host of recognizable artistic masterpieces from throughout the ages illustrating his reign. I try to stick with what is known instead of new works.
Perhaps I could do a video on my channel that would be a “making of an ancient history video” episode that showed the current AI examples and what makes for a valuable image for educational and entertainment purposes.
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Comment on How are you dealing with AI generated results in your searches? in ~tech
EarlyWords LinkWhere I’m having a problem is finding appropriate imagery and artwork to use in my ancient history videos. Now that so many of the results are swamped with AI generated visuals, I have to be extra...Where I’m having a problem is finding appropriate imagery and artwork to use in my ancient history videos. Now that so many of the results are swamped with AI generated visuals, I have to be extra careful.
I am extremely tempted to someday use AI artwork. These subjects are so esoteric and literally no imagery exists of, say, Hittite city life or reasonable estimates of how Yamnaya children looked.
But our channel is more focused on academic accuracy and scholarly consensus than most and the technology isn’t quite there yet.…
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Comment on The most mispronounced brand from every country in ~humanities.languages
EarlyWords Link ParentAs a narrator of ancient history videos, are you saying that the proper way to pronounce the people “the Dacians” should also be pronounced this way? I’ve been using Day-see-uns but would welcome...As a narrator of ancient history videos, are you saying that the proper way to pronounce the people “the Dacians” should also be pronounced this way? I’ve been using Day-see-uns but would welcome the correction.
I would like to take this opportunity to honor the humble walnut, which I am cracking and eating as I watch the local sports team before bed.
I never understood why my grandfather would spend so much time shelling walnuts each night. Such a calm, methodical process. Now in my 50s, I find that my digestion can’t handle large amounts of raw nuts in a short amount of time. Instead, I wrestle with stubbornly-strong shells and get to liberate and consume a single nut each minute.
Much better for me.