EncipheringMind's recent activity
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Comment on Realized my screen is 144, not 60 hz in ~tech
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Comment on Tildes Game Giveaway: Holiday 2023 in ~games
EncipheringMind Link ParentThank you! And it's slim pickings as far as good channels are concerned - MusicaMedievale is great - quality uploads, variety and continually updated.Thank you! And it's slim pickings as far as good channels are concerned - MusicaMedievale is great - quality uploads, variety and continually updated.
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Comment on Tildes Game Giveaway: Holiday 2023 in ~games
EncipheringMind Link ParentOooh dear I missed that bit! Thanks for putting them on hold. Thing I'm grateful for: Having the support of a small group to help me stay on track with my goals. One new thing I've tried:...Oooh dear I missed that bit! Thanks for putting them on hold.
Thing I'm grateful for: Having the support of a small group to help me stay on track with my goals.
One new thing I've tried: Developing a passion for medieval era European music, particularly Eastern Europe.
Thing I'm looking forward to: Picking up my keyboard and getting back into music making. -
Comment on Tildes Game Giveaway: Holiday 2023 in ~games
EncipheringMind Link ParentA little late to the party, perhaps, but my first choice Reese Pawn is still calling to me! I would be delighted to make their acquaintance - and I'll be bumping Mississippi by Blockhead featuring...A little late to the party, perhaps, but my first choice Reese Pawn is still calling to me! I would be delighted to make their acquaintance - and I'll be bumping Mississippi by Blockhead featuring Aesop Rock.
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Comment on Tildes Game Giveaway: Holiday 2023 in ~games
EncipheringMind Link ParentKeen for Hellpoint and As Far As The Eye, if they are still unclaimed! Highly appreciated & merry christmas to you.Keen for Hellpoint and As Far As The Eye, if they are still unclaimed!
Highly appreciated & merry christmas to you.
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Comment on Studies note higher risk of death, impaired health up to two years after COVID infection in ~health
EncipheringMind Link'Long Covid' person checking in. It's life changing. I could list a large number of symptoms, but I find it's insufficient to convey just how unwell I feel: there is something malfunctioning at...'Long Covid' person checking in. It's life changing. I could list a large number of symptoms, but I find it's insufficient to convey just how unwell I feel: there is something malfunctioning at the most basic level, with collateral consequences for every bodily system, affecting them in different ways and in themselves generating new illness and dysfunction. The energy required for moving in an ordinary way cannot be delivered without sending me back to bed for at least a month. I'm back at work now, I can amble around. I can walk up stairs very slowly, taking rests along the way. But if I move in the ordinary way for thirty seconds, the game is up. Last time this happened I was out of the Office for three months.
How am I coping? After having rested to a point where I wasn't getting symptoms all of the time (around 8 months in), I found my intensity window, and have been training myself to do everything in slow motion to avoid crippling symptoms. I've adjusted, but the hardest part is to ingrain the practice against the more autonomous impulses. Dinner burning in the oven? Learned the hard way to let it burn. Freezing my ass off or being caught in a thunderstorm? Don't increase pace. Getting in the way of people? Be more aware so you can sideline yourself before blocking them. I scream internally for exercise every day, I just want to move. I even have dreams where I either obey my movement limitations or knowingly break free of them and sprint with joy in some imaginary place.
The other way I am coping is by not going on Long Covid internet forums, but checking them very occasionally in case anyone's found any affordable and accessible treatments - and I've found some leads I am trying. Also, digging deeper into post viral syndrome and chronic fatigue syndrome research (of which Long Covid may just be a manifestation). Gentle exercise, such as stretching, breathing exercises, or yoga for the elderly or hospitalised patients, is still satisfying. I am also experimenting with diets and fasting, and working on my attitude towards my illness. These things are helping, but progress is glacial...it's frustrating as I feel that the longer that I am stuck within this, the greater the risk of some other disease which is worse than my current predicament.
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Comment on Researchers, how do you take notes on the papers which you read? in ~life
EncipheringMind Link ParentSame. Physical reading notes have always been the superior form for me, as less efficient as it may be. I have my own codes I use for things (like shortcuts I take when explaining things, and...Same. Physical reading notes have always been the superior form for me, as less efficient as it may be. I have my own codes I use for things (like shortcuts I take when explaining things, and segmentation of my own thought responses against the texts) and I index everything so that I can find it easily later. I also use Obsidian as a mind map so that I can orient subjects and ideas swiftly.
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Comment on <deleted topic> in ~health
EncipheringMind Link ParentI don't doubt that also - I look for ME/CFS materials when looking for treatments, and some of the treatments I have tried have a basis in pre-Covid experiences of post-viral fatigue syndrome....I don't doubt that also - I look for ME/CFS materials when looking for treatments, and some of the treatments I have tried have a basis in pre-Covid experiences of post-viral fatigue syndrome. Also, my symptoms now a pretty much textbook ME/CFS!
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Comment on <deleted topic> in ~health
EncipheringMind Link ParentMy impression also - fair point. I'm doing the same but in a long-Covid context.My impression also - fair point. I'm doing the same but in a long-Covid context.
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Comment on <deleted topic> in ~health
EncipheringMind Link ParentAnything you'd recommend?Anything you'd recommend?
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Comment on <deleted topic> in ~life.pets
EncipheringMind Linktreats If you buy treats, give them to your cats for rewards only, or on a purely ad hoc and very occasional basis. I've lived with a cat where I wasn't responsible for it, and the person who was...treats
If you buy treats, give them to your cats for rewards only, or on a purely ad hoc and very occasional basis. I've lived with a cat where I wasn't responsible for it, and the person who was started to feed it treats every morning because the cat loved them so much. These are highly processed dry treats, and I told them it was like feeding the cat fast food every day, but they didn't care. Sadly, the cat's mood and behavior changed significantly - it started to whine a lot and badger everyone, and would wake up every day in anticipation of the treats, and as soon as the person opened their door it would sprint through the house to await them. It also rejected a lot of its 'normal' food and would only eat treats in the morning. The cat became fully dependent on those treats for its wellbeing, and you don't want that!
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Comment on <deleted topic> in ~life.pets
EncipheringMind Link ParentSecond the flea medication, but don't forget worming (you can buy 2 in 1). In my experience, you can forgo being super strict about the re-application times (they want you to keep buying more...Second the flea medication, but don't forget worming (you can buy 2 in 1). In my experience, you can forgo being super strict about the re-application times (they want you to keep buying more product after all), but don't neglect it. Fleas are really difficult to get rid of once they infest the house.
Bear in mind that cats can be allergic to flea medication or just really dislike certain products. Some also claim to be effective but stick on the fur for long periods and smell awful and my cat hated it! Find one that works where your cat doesn't appear to pay any attention to it and it fully absorbs within a few days.
Also shop around for prices and don't be sucked in by customer loyalty discounts. I've found that pet shops and vets are the worst by far. I get mine from the supermarket for 1/3 of the price I would pay anywhere else, and it works the best. I know someone who orders them from aliexpress, for much cheaper, but I'm not sure if I want to trust the product. EDIT: Also check if there are any funded charity programmes in your area! When this used to exist in my area and I was a student, it was a lifesaver as I could get everything for a couple of dollars.
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Comment on <deleted topic> in ~life.pets
EncipheringMind Link ParentIt took a couple of years for my cat to help himself to my drinking water. After this happened, I stationed a pint glass of water in the area where he usually spend the most time. It's slightly...It took a couple of years for my cat to help himself to my drinking water. After this happened, I stationed a pint glass of water in the area where he usually spend the most time. It's slightly above ground level at the base of a rack where it can't easily be knocked over. Cats are creatures of habit, so he defaults to drinking out of this cup first, and drinks about 1/4 the pint per day. Once he gets down to nearly 1/2 on the second day, he either doesn't want to dip his head in further or wants the water to be fresh, so he will then go scout for my water. So long as I keep refreshing his own water when it's nearing the 1/2 way point, he doesn't bother with mine.
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Comment on How to use ChatGPT to ruin your legal career in ~tech
EncipheringMind LinkI've never used ChatGPT for my workflow, for the following reasons aside from those mentioned above: I could see it being useful for generating a quick summary of something where the topic has...I've never used ChatGPT for my workflow, for the following reasons aside from those mentioned above:
- I could see it being useful for generating a quick summary of something where the topic has already been well rehearsed in publicly available materials (e.g. an online encyclopedia), but I could just as easily consult human-authored texts for this.
- A lot of legal resources in my jurisdiction (primary and secondary texts) are gated behind hefty subscription passes or pay-per-document access. I've noticed the trend in this century of publicly significant decisions being open-access (which is great), but I'd be very skeptical for older cases, especially historical materials, which is a red flag if ChatGPT is trying to make statements on the basis of precedent.
- Even if in an imaginary world that ChatGPT had access to the majority of case law, I'd still be suspicious. Could it adequately compare judicial opinions where a judge has not expressly applied a law? Can I trust if it has made a correct statement about the weighting of an argument? Can it convey legal topics which are highly contested, in less than simplistic ways? Can it even distinguish cases where other people have not done so? I don't know, but I have my doubts.
The only thing I have been impressed by so far is when I asked it to write me a rap song based on the text of the Treaty I was studying. It was cliche, but it was good fun.
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Comment on Tildes Game Giveaway Thread: July 2023 in ~games
EncipheringMind Link ParentRaffle entry: 16, RPG bundle Hope Game: Baulder's Gate II, Enhanced Edition. My PC just bricked itself and it's not looking good. It may be some time before I can get new parts and rebuild it. In...Raffle entry: 16, RPG bundle
Hope Game: Baulder's Gate II, Enhanced Edition. My PC just bricked itself and it's not looking good. It may be some time before I can get new parts and rebuild it. In the meantime, I'm using an old laptop and have an itch to play an old-school CRPG. I really enjoyed the Pillars of Eternity series and some of the later 2000s era Bioware games so am very curious to delve into this classic title. I am especially interested in the world-building and writing, soundtrack and am curious whether it also has the lack of hand-holding that features in other old-school RPGs (for example, requiring pen and paper notes).
Hype Game: None, sadly, because I have not played a single game from any of these bundles!
Best of luck all, and many thanks of course thanks to kfwyre.
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Comment on Advice for learning a language? in ~hobbies
EncipheringMind LinkSome superb replies and quality responses here. Anyone got any tips and tricks for learning French?Some superb replies and quality responses here. Anyone got any tips and tricks for learning French?
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Comment on What is beautiful to you? in ~talk
EncipheringMind Link ParentThank you for posting this. This is a poet I'll certainly have to look into.Thank you for posting this. This is a poet I'll certainly have to look into.
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Comment on Hello Tildestians. What are you working on to change in your life? in ~talk
EncipheringMind Link ParentIndeed. It really has to do with the dreariness that is time management. And yes, without wider government/structural interventions, particularly on the producer side of things, our little humble...Indeed. It really has to do with the dreariness that is time management. And yes, without wider government/structural interventions, particularly on the producer side of things, our little humble practices are all that we can do (aside from trying to mobilise with communities for change). I have a flatmate who argues that what I am doing amounts to nothing - I just say I would rather be doing something as opposed to caring in a purely theoretical sense.
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Comment on What is beautiful to you? in ~talk
EncipheringMind Link“Beauty is truth, truth beauty,” – that is all Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know. (John Keats, Ode on a Grecian Urn) Music and sublime experiences of natural events are definitely...“Beauty is truth, truth beauty,” – that is all
Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.(John Keats, Ode on a Grecian Urn)
Music and sublime experiences of natural events are definitely involved, however poetry for me, often as the inter-permeation of those things, is in a league of its own. For me, the pinnacle standpoint is modernism (T.S. Eliot is probably the most well known of these, although for myself I am thinking of Hart Crane, Wallace Stevens, and Marianne Moore as well as poets writing today and more recently who are inspired by that tradition (e.g. John Peck, Thomas Kinsella) , as well as poets who inspired the modernists (e.g. Emily Dickinson, W.B. Yeats, Arthur Rimbaud & the French surrealists).
Here is an extract from Part VIII, also the closer of Wallace Stevens' poem, Sunday Morning:
We live in an old chaos of the sun,
Or old dependency of day and night,
Or island solitude, unsponsored, free,
Of that wide water, inescapable.
Deer walk upon our mountains, and the quail
Whistle about us their spontaneous cries;
Sweet berries ripen in the wilderness;
And, in the isolation of the sky,
At evening, casual flocks of pigeons make
Ambiguous undulations as they sink,
Downward to darkness, on extended wings. -
Comment on Hello Tildestians. What are you working on to change in your life? in ~talk
EncipheringMind Link ParentHere are some of the things I'm presently working on, and I take a similar anti-consumerist stance: Learning about recyclables - specifically about what your local/national providers can process....Here are some of the things I'm presently working on, and I take a similar anti-consumerist stance:
- Learning about recyclables - specifically about what your local/national providers can process. With the recent change to China's intake policy most of the plastic in my area is going straight to landfill, until they find somewhere to outsource it. Thinking about where the product will end up is now a serious purchase consideration.
- Trying to make my own replacements for plastic products, e.g. pesto, hummus, mayonnaise, icecream, yoghurt, nut milk, liquid stock. Often works out cheaper (and tastier).
- Longer term goal: get chickens, they'll eat my food scraps.
- Reducing use of products that are imported - thinking about the energy needed to transport them (this is especially the case with organic items in my case).
- Buying veges at the local farmers market.
- 98% of my clothes are second hand. However, I try not to buy anything with synthetic fibers (especially polyester) that wash out microplastics. The exception is for things that can be spot-cleaned, i.e. jackets.
- Making my own washing powder, multi-purpose cleaner, shampoo, conditioner, etc.
I can probably think of more. I'm quite impressed with how substantially these changes have affected how it 'feels' to witness careless consumption. I used to be able to take my reusable shopping bags and be oblivious to everyone else but now I get a lump in my throat when I see others hauling their groceries around in single use plastic bags...
Sidenote, anyone happen to have any monitor recommendations for a 4k 144 hz monitor, 27 or 32 inch?