MechanicalMagpie's recent activity
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Comment on Duty to Warn's John Gartner breaks down Donald Trump's cognitive decline in ~health.mental
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Comment on Best "dad" jokes and puns! in ~talk
MechanicalMagpie LinkOne day, a man came home from work, and as he was walking up to his door, he heard this weird "thump, thump" noise behind him. When he turned around to look, he saw a huge coffin behind him....One day, a man came home from work, and as he was walking up to his door, he heard this weird "thump, thump" noise behind him. When he turned around to look, he saw a huge coffin behind him. Naturally, that rattled him, so he ran into the house and slammed the door. He figured he was safe, but then the door bursts open and sure enough, it's the coffin. At this point he's panicking, so he runs upstairs and into the bathroom, and he hears the coffin going "thump, thump, thump" all the way up the stairs, and then suddenly, it appears in the bathroom doorway. it keeps getting closer and closer, and finally he flings open his medicine cabinet, grabs a bottle of cough syrup, and yeets it at the coffin.
And the coughin' stops.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
MechanicalMagpie LinkI recently picked up Diablo 3 again, because i enjoy mindlessly mowing down hordes of skeletons and whatever. I decided to branch out and try a barbarian instead of an necromancer for once and...I recently picked up Diablo 3 again, because i enjoy mindlessly mowing down hordes of skeletons and whatever. I decided to branch out and try a barbarian instead of an necromancer for once and uh...
Anyway i started another necromancer on a higher difficulty bc, have i mentioned? i really like mindlessly mowing down hordes of enemies whilst also gaining experience ridiculously fast :pI've also started back in on my collection of Zachtronics games. I strongly prefer the "make shapes with things" family of games (SpaceChem, Opus Magnum, and Molek Syntez), and of those, Opus Magnum is by far my favorite. You are an alchemist, and you have to use the alchemy engine to automate making shapes with things. I'm not very far along, only in chapter two (of 5? i think?) and i'll be honest, i'm already struggling lmao. Then again, i also tried picking back up TIS-100, Shenzen IO, and Exapunks and.....i did like half a puzzle each and gave up so 🤷♂. If you ever wanted to feel like you're prgramming in assembly language, those are good games. For a mere mortal such as myself? i don't enjoy pain that much lol.
I also gave last call BBS a go, but tbh i didn't especially enjoy any of the games. I don't like games that seem to be stupid hard for no reason, and all of the BBS games felt that way. Like...In the shapes with things games, they're hard but like. It always feels like there's a solution. The BBS games just feel unfairly punishing for no good reason. Anyway, i highly recommend Opus Magnum if you like shapes with things, and Exapunks if you want to use assembly language. They feel like nicer versions of SpaceChem and TIS-100 respectively, (although, i'm pretty sure there's some vauge plot that i'm missing by jumping around like i do? idk. I'm not sure i care all that much, these games are basically digital rubik's cubes for me, in that i pick em up, fiddle around to kill time, put em down, let em collect dust for a while, pick em up, fiddle around to kill time, etc.) -
Comment on Favorite hobby / subculture YouTube channels? in ~hobbies
MechanicalMagpie LinkIn no particular order: suckerpinch - A computer scientist who does ridiculously over-complicated rube goldberg computer things, with the occasional funny irl rube goldberg machine for funsies....In no particular order:
suckerpinch - A computer scientist who does ridiculously over-complicated rube goldberg computer things, with the occasional funny irl rube goldberg machine for funsies.
Steve1989MREInfo - taste-tests and reviews MREs. Including old ones. I think the oldest MRE reviewed on the channel is from the american civil war, followed by one from the second boer war
Sean Munger - video essays of varying length, by an actual historian. The amway video was super interesting, it's actually pretty wild how Amyway like directly influenced the modern MLM/pyramid scheme/commercial cult sphere (and it's still around which????? absurd), and how intricately it intertwined with the fundamentalist evangelical xtian sphere.
emma in the moment - Crafting drama. Like an internet drama channel, but with a lot more yarn. Turns out, "stitch and bitch" doesn't just refer to getting together with your friends to work on projects and complain about your life.
EphiTV - Reviews/makes weird mods for random games. Videos are usually short, but i find them incredibly interesting. I think the first video from this channel i saw was about an iron lung mod, which was technically less of a mod and more of "hacking the actual game engine to do the thing"
Honorable mention, because it's not really a hobby/subculture?? but Flaw Peacock - Longform video essays that feel like a cross between excited infodumping and sitting in a class with your favorite teacher. I've watched (for predictable background noise) the Faith videos an embarassing number of times, especially considering i have never and will never play that game lol.
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Comment on Has anyone here received any benefit as a consumer from algorithmic ad targeting? in ~tech
MechanicalMagpie Link Parentah, a fellow "now i won't buy your thing out of sheer spite" enjoyer. I too have ad blockers everywhere, but if something slips through, even if it's something i'm genuinely interested in, it's...ah, a fellow "now i won't buy your thing out of sheer spite" enjoyer. I too have ad blockers everywhere, but if something slips through, even if it's something i'm genuinely interested in, it's forever blacklisted bc i'm so mad about being advertised at.
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Comment on What are your values? in ~life
MechanicalMagpie Link Parenthey, fellow homeschooler! I also relate really strongly to wanting to learn how to better communicate with and understand people. Psychology and mental health have been a huge special interest for...hey, fellow homeschooler! I also relate really strongly to wanting to learn how to better communicate with and understand people. Psychology and mental health have been a huge special interest for years. It's still a massive work in progress for me, and definitely doesn't feel natural, but that might be the 'tism, not the homeschooling lol.
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Comment on What are your values? in ~life
MechanicalMagpie LinkI guess if i had to summarize my values, i'd say i value equity and compassion, and i try to extend those things to other people as much as i can. I don't always succeed, actually, i fuck up a...I guess if i had to summarize my values, i'd say i value equity and compassion, and i try to extend those things to other people as much as i can. I don't always succeed, actually, i fuck up a lot, but i can always try to be better the next day, yknow? I think that people deserve second and maybe even third chances in most situations, and that everyone is capable of changing for the better. I try to give people the benefit of the doubt, and not assume malice or ill intent. i think that the needs of the many do indeed outweigh the needs of the few, even when i'm the few and am being inconvenienced.
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Comment on US President Joe Biden's 2024 State of the Union address in ~news
MechanicalMagpie Link ParentOof. Yeah, watching the video of the senator yote me sraight back to childhood. The author of the article you linked really hit the nail on the head. It's like the feminine version of the Youth...Oof. Yeah, watching the video of the senator yote me sraight back to childhood. The author of the article you linked really hit the nail on the head. It's like the feminine version of the Youth Pastor/Preacher voice. yikes.
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Comment on Children to no longer be prescribed puberty blockers, NHS England confirms in ~lgbt
MechanicalMagpie Link ParentI've also found that a lot of people who think this way also feel that trans people are fundamentally broken and damaged and degenerate, and that not only are they saving cis people, they're also...For opponents of trans care, they operate on the philosophy: "It is better for a hundred trans people to suffer and be denied treatment than for one cisgender individual to mistakenly transition and later regret it."
I've also found that a lot of people who think this way also feel that trans people are fundamentally broken and damaged and degenerate, and that not only are they saving cis people, they're also like.....swooping in and saving the trans people from themselves, because, to them, someone mentally healthy couldn't possibly want HRT or surgery or whatever, and obviously (heavy sarcasm here), bodily autonomy doesn't extend to things that they think are gross.
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Comment on An opinion on current technological trends in ~tech
MechanicalMagpie LinkBig agree. I can appreciate that there are people who just want to turn their internet machine on and go to facebook or whatever, and i think that's fine. good for them. But i also want there to......products that go this route currently universally include loss of control of the user including things I would not have believed would be accepted just a decade or so ago. Forced telemetry(aka spying on user habits), forced updates(aka forcefully changing functionality without consent of the user), loss of information - simplification of error messages to absolute uselessness, loss of customization options or their removal to parts that are impossible to find unless you know about them already, nagware and bloatware and ads forcefully included in base os install.
Big agree. I can appreciate that there are people who just want to turn their internet machine on and go to facebook or whatever, and i think that's fine. good for them. But i also want there to be a toggle that says "i want to control my device myself, and if i fuck it up, i'll unfuck it myself" (kinda like what MS tried to do with S mode, i guess? Like the device was in S mode by default, but you could turn it off. I want that, but for everything. Telemetry, updates, features, etc, like you said)
My issue is less that technology is being simplified, and more that it's being simplified and we are not given a choice about it. I completely understand that my work computer might need to run in the hypothetical idot-proof mode, because that would make my colleages' jobs easier. but at home? on my personal device? on my own internet connection? i should be able to do what i want to that device and not have literally everything break (see, if i want to play minecraft on windows, i'm forced to have telemetry enabled, windows update enabled, and a bunch of other little things that i really don't want enabled, because minecraft now talks to all the same ip addresses as microsoft's spyware addresses.)
And sure, i can (and have) gone over to linux for a lot of stuff. I can play minetest instead. But the fact remains that that's not going to fix the overarching problem of "companies are treating me and my data as the product and i get no say in it whatsoever if i want to participate in modern standard internet/technological/online social life." None of my friends are technical. I can't tell them to play minetest with me, or set up an xmpp server and have them chat with me there instead of Discord. Tildes is great and i really love it but it's also small and doesn't really replace a lot of the subs i used to frequent on Reddit which were for niche interests and upbringings. you know? So my and other people's option is, in my opinion, be the product and interact with my friends/be able to exist on mainstram social spaces, or don't be the product and be cut off from the mainstream.
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Comment on The more I use Linux, the more I hate every distro in ~tech
MechanicalMagpie Link Parentyou know, this explains a lot. I drive a stick by choice (and had to hunt it down, manual transmissions are surprisingly hard to find!) and i'm using linux for pretty much everything except gaming...Sorry for the mixed metaphor, but I like comparing cars and computers. Some are daily drivers, some are showpieces. Some are tools, and some are our babies. It works.
you know, this explains a lot. I drive a stick by choice (and had to hunt it down, manual transmissions are surprisingly hard to find!) and i'm using linux for pretty much everything except gaming since i haven't been able to figure out the right proton version to use for some of my games yet. I think it comes down to familiarity. I've been both driving stick and using some kind of linux since i was a teenager so now that i'm an adult, i don't find either of those things onerous, it's just How The Thing Works (if that makes sense).
Good analogy!
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Comment on Would a fairy or a walrus surprise you more if you found it on your doorstep? in ~talk
MechanicalMagpie LinkA walrus. I'd be concerned if i found one of the fair folk on my doorstep, I'd be a little bit worried because while they may not lie, they do not play fair. And i do not especially want to be...A walrus.
I'd be concerned if i found one of the fair folk on my doorstep, I'd be a little bit worried because while they may not lie, they do not play fair. And i do not especially want to be Noticed. Being Noticed never leads good places.
A walrus though? A terrifying death machine that could crush me without a second thought? Who lives nowhere near me? I would be incredibly surprised as walruses lack the opposable thumbs necessary to idk. Drive to my residence, as it's not especially close to a waterway large enough to support a walrus.
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Comment on What have you been eating, drinking, and cooking? in ~food
MechanicalMagpie LinkI've been eating a lot of beans (and sometimes rice) in various combinations. My go-to is black beans and salsa, just chucked in a bowl and eaten over the sink like a gremlin, but if I'm feeling...I've been eating a lot of beans (and sometimes rice) in various combinations.
My go-to is black beans and salsa, just chucked in a bowl and eaten over the sink like a gremlin, but if I'm feeling fancy, I'll make some rice to go with it, warm everything up, and shove it into a tortilla along with some cheese.
I also tried fake-marinading some dark red kidney beans in some nandos sauce that I picked up from Costco. It was actually really good, the beans soaked up the flavor, and when I chucked some rice in it, the rice soaked up the rest of the sauce. Not as good when on a tortilla, but not terrible either.
Another good one I did recently was chick peas with harissa, garlic, lemon juice, feta, rosemary, and kalamata olives. The original recipie I found involved actual cooking, but I'm lazy so I just chucked everything in a bowl and winged the measurements till it tasted good 😂
Over the weekend, I made veggie broth with the scraps I'd been keeping in my freezer (and a few dried mushrooms for added flavor), and then once that was done, I made Italian wedding soup with the broth, a can of chickpeas, some pasta, a can of spinach, and some chopped up pre-cooked meatballs. Oh and some thyme, rosemary, and pepper and probably some other spices. It's not as good as my mom would make but I couldn't be bothered to go find a recipe lol. (hmm. that seems to be a theme when I cook..... ) I added Parmesan when I reheated it, and it added just enough saltiness to bring out the rest of the flavors.
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Comment on Tell me about your weird religious beliefs in ~humanities
MechanicalMagpie Link ParentDragon age, specifically the elvhen pantheon. My personal faves are Dirthamen and Sylaise (and Fen'Harel, but he's definitely a problematic fave lol) And, I come at it from the in-universe Dalish...Dragon age, specifically the elvhen pantheon. My personal faves are Dirthamen and Sylaise (and Fen'Harel, but he's definitely a problematic fave lol) And, I come at it from the in-universe Dalish perspective, not the uh. Actual in-universe "real historical explanation" perspective. "Historically" none of them were actually gods and they were all generally terrible horrible no good very bad people. (I include this explanation, because if you're unfamiliar and just look up say, the fan wiki page about any of them, it'll give very different vibes than if you read the Dalish page 😂)
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Comment on Does anyone else have posting anxiety? in ~tech
MechanicalMagpie Linkyes, big time. Not so much because I'm worried about the aforementioned axe murdering tibia-exploder though. I grew up in the era of "lie about everything personal online" so I tend to not mention...yes, big time. Not so much because I'm worried about the aforementioned axe murdering tibia-exploder though. I grew up in the era of "lie about everything personal online" so I tend to not mention biographical information or anything that might be used as a security question online (although, that kind of depends on the community, too. if it's wide open to the whole internet, I'm gonna talk less in general, but if it's more private, I'll post pretty much anything).
But in general, yes, and in part for the same reason I dont talk IRL - i feel like other people will say anything I could say, but better, so my input isn't wanted or needed. I'm actively debating posting this, because I feel like someone else will come along and say all of this but more coherently, or more humorously, (humerus-ly.....) or whatever.
It's hard to turn thoughts into words, and most of the time it doesn't feel worth it, especially because the internet is forever, and I'm dumb. Say something stupid in meatspace, give it a week and everyone will forget. Say something stupid online and it could be reposted all over social media and get YouTube videos made about it and end up on some gossip site somewhere, y'know?
Idk. Obviously, if you're reading this, I do manage to post sometimes, but it does feel kind of like the internet is now less of a town square to chat in and more of a microscope slide I've been shoved onto, and that kind of makes me less inclined to engage in a lot of spaces. The places I do tend to post in are either completely anonymous and hopefully not scraping much (if any) of my data, or they're niche forums where there's a bar for entry beyond just "press the sign up button", so that's about the only panacea I've found for it.
I hope you find something that works for you, and helps you engage more when you want to!
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Comment on Tell me about your weird religious beliefs in ~humanities
MechanicalMagpie LinkFunctionally, in my day to day life, I align pretty closely with TSTs seven tenets, though I don't necessarily agree with the organization or satanism in general (something something satanism is...Functionally, in my day to day life, I align pretty closely with TSTs seven tenets, though I don't necessarily agree with the organization or satanism in general (something something satanism is pretty closely linked to Christianity bc what is Satan without god in the Christian mythos) and frankly I don't want anything to do with Christianity, even oppositionally. I was raised fundamentalist evangelical so I'm not much for Christianity these days. I've semi-seriously studied both Islam and Judaism, but ultimately decided not to convert to either.
I don't feel like any religion is really mine. I left the one I was born to, and joining another would feel an awful lot like being adopted and to be frank, that sucks. So, in practice, I try to be a decent person, and a pray to a made up pantheon of gods from one of my favorite video game series. They feel about as real as any other god that humans have come up with, and they have the added benefit of not having any real world....anything, so I don't feel like I'm horning in on someone else's religious practices.
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Comment on Most bingeable book series? in ~books
MechanicalMagpie (edited )LinkAny of Tamora Pierce's series, with the caveat that there's some Less Than Stellar tropes in the older ones given they were written in the 80s. (She's actually spoken about it and changed things...Any of Tamora Pierce's series, with the caveat that there's some Less Than Stellar tropes in the older ones given they were written in the 80s. (She's actually spoken about it and changed things in her later books, which is awesome!)
Song of the Lioness Quartet,
Wild MagicImmortals Quartet, and Protector of the Small Quartet live in my head rent free and fundamentally shaped me as a person. I've probably read them a half dozen times each since I first picked them up as a teenager (which for me is a lot, I dislike re-reading books as a general rule)Her Circle of Magic and a Circle Opens series are also stellar. All of her books are loosely set in the same universe, the Circle books are set in a different country than the Lioness, wild magic, and Protector books.
I'd call them all medieval fantasy, and while they are YA books, they touch on a lot of things that still feel relevant even as an adult.
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Comment on What have you been watching / reading this week? (Anime/Manga) in ~anime
MechanicalMagpie LinkI've been rewatching og trigun for like the 5th time lol. I just found out there's a remake that came out in 2023, so I plan to give that a watch here pretty soon. I've heard it's closer to the...I've been rewatching og trigun for like the 5th time lol. I just found out there's a remake that came out in 2023, so I plan to give that a watch here pretty soon. I've heard it's closer to the manga, which I've never actually read, so that should be interesting.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
MechanicalMagpie LinkLike a few others, I picked up Palworld over the weekend. I really like it so far, it seems like a fun blend of automation and survival, and while I like automation games, I'm not good at them,...Like a few others, I picked up Palworld over the weekend. I really like it so far, it seems like a fun blend of automation and survival, and while I like automation games, I'm not good at them, and I tend to not like survival games that have to much to focus on, so this seems like a nice compromise.
Aside from that I've been playing Endless Sky, because you can run it on a potato and I'm a huge fan of being a space trucker. The only downside is I like to play with mods, and it's annoying to try and remember what mods I have installed on which device, so I have like 4 pilots at any given time.
damn, that's honestly kinda sad. Don't get me wrong, in my opinion trump is a horrible person and shouldn't be in a position of power anywhere, public, private, or presidential, but like.
Damn. Losing your ability to communicate? losing whole chunks of your memory? and all that while you're constantly in the public eye? yikes. My understanding is that dementia can be frightening for the person suffering it, and I imagine thats only compounded by things like travelling or public speaking.
this is literally just rambling
Someone on the sub stack commented something to the effect that they're pretty sure trump is just a figurehead at this point for the Republican party and that once he's in office they'll just prop him up with pillows and give him a hamburger to keep him happy while someone else runs the show and...idk. there's something incredibly sad about that. that for all his shitty behavior that kept him at the top of the heap, for all his fuck around and find out money, at the end of the day, his own mind would turn against him and the people he's surrounded himself with would just shuffle him off to the side and placate him with food like he's a dog.I watched my grandma suffer from dementia, and my foster mom died of a brain tumor that, at the end, gave her very dementia-like symptoms, so I'm probably projecting. but for all that he's a shitty person, he's still a person and I still feel bad that he probably has some kind of dementia. in my experience with more right wing/fundie circles, disease and illness is treated more like a personal and moral failure rather than something that deserves empathy and kindness. obviously I don't know what his personal relationships are like but. idk. I can't imagine him being surrounded by loving family as he declines, y'know? idk.