RoyalHenOil's recent activity
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Comment on I love bioparks in ~travel
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Comment on The powerhouse of American citrus is suffering a brutal, unrelenting decline in ~food
RoyalHenOil Link ParentI am an orange fiend (my very favorite thing to eat — although, oddly, I have no tolerance for orange juice because it tastes foul and bitter, nothing at all like a fresh orange), and all the best...I am an orange fiend (my very favorite thing to eat — although, oddly, I have no tolerance for orange juice because it tastes foul and bitter, nothing at all like a fresh orange), and all the best oranges I've ever eaten in the US were grown in Florida.
The very best oranges I've ever eaten, full stop, were grown in Costa Rica, though. All from random backyard trees in the jungle while I was doing study abroad there for my Ecology degree.
I live in Australia now, and the oranges here all taste exactly like California oranges. They're fine. I still eat them. But they're nothing like a good Florida orange (much less a good Costa Rica orange), and I'm sad that's something I might never get to taste again.
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Comment on Do I need dating apps? (same-sex, a bit of ace) in ~life
RoyalHenOil Link ParentThis is the approach my partner and I both took when we were on OKCupid, and I think it's the key thing that helped us find each other. Some flaws are deal breakers for one person, but no problem...This is the approach my partner and I both took when we were on OKCupid, and I think it's the key thing that helped us find each other.
Some flaws are deal breakers for one person, but no problem at all (maybe even desirable) for someone else — and if you get into a relationship, your flaws will come out eventually, no matter how well you hid them early on.
My thinking was that I'd much rather get filtered out of someone's dating pool before I care what they think, rather than six months into falling in love. My goal was to find a life partner, not waste 10+ years of my life jumping between short-term relationships that were going nowhere. So I basically compiled my exes' complaints about me and made sure the most salient ones were mentioned somewhere in my dating profile.
And what do you know, turns out quite few people find that kind of honesty and vulnerability deeply intriguing.
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Comment on An insight into looksmaxxxing/blackpill "ideology" in ~life
RoyalHenOil Link ParentI used OKCupid back in the day (I'm a woman, and the male-to-female ratio was extremely high), and I found I got much better results when I removed my photos and otherwise stopped emphasizing my...I used OKCupid back in the day (I'm a woman, and the male-to-female ratio was extremely high), and I found I got much better results when I removed my photos and otherwise stopped emphasizing my 'best' assets like I was advertising myself, and focused instead on the features of my personality that someone's likely to find either highly attractive or highly unattractive (e.g., the fact that I'm an extreme introvert).
I got way, way, way fewer messages, but the messages I did get were far higher quality and with people I was actually interested in meeting. I had several successful dates, and I met the man I've been with now for almost 15 years. (Turns out he was following a similar strategy. He has a number of features that sell extremely well on dating profiles, so he could have gotten a lot more bites if he'd chosen to. But he opted to obscure those and emphasize his weird personality, since personality compatibility is what actually makes or breaks a relationship.)
I don't know if the modern dating apps let you leave off details like height, but if he's serious about finding a long-term partner, I'd recommend he not include that information.
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Comment on An insight into looksmaxxxing/blackpill "ideology" in ~life
RoyalHenOil Link ParentSame with me and my partner! He was my highest match on the whole site (before they changed the algorithm to make high matches exceedingly common), but we lived on opposite sides of the world, so...Same with me and my partner!
He was my highest match on the whole site (before they changed the algorithm to make high matches exceedingly common), but we lived on opposite sides of the world, so we just became platonic online penpals instead for several years until we couldn't stand it anymore and decided to meet.
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Comment on Half-baked idea for metered inline image allowances in ~tildes
RoyalHenOil LinkI would be in favor of allowing online images (unmetered) just in specific threads or topics. In particular, I would like to see images in certain hobby-related threads, like those related to...I would be in favor of allowing online images (unmetered) just in specific threads or topics.
In particular, I would like to see images in certain hobby-related threads, like those related to gardening and the like, where sharing images can greatly enhance the discussion. I would likely use Tildes a lot more if it had more features to support sharing hobbies and creative projects.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
RoyalHenOil LinkI've been on a bit of a horror kick lately, so I've played Scarlet Hollow through several times. It's a heavily-branching visual novel that's being released in episodes (currently on the 5th...I've been on a bit of a horror kick lately, so I've played Scarlet Hollow through several times.
It's a heavily-branching visual novel that's being released in episodes (currently on the 5th episode out of 7), and it's been a lot of fun playing alongside my partner and my sister to try to piece together the mystery and guess where things are going next. The 5th episode is where a lot of the decisions we've made so far really come back to bite us, so our poor characters are having a great time.
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Comment on Boomer hate in ~society
RoyalHenOil Link ParentTo be fair, Gen X is a relatively small generation and doesn't have as much influence as the two larger generations straddling it.To be fair, Gen X is a relatively small generation and doesn't have as much influence as the two larger generations straddling it.
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Comment on How to tolerate annoying things in ~health.mental
RoyalHenOil LinkIn my personal experience, if a mild annoyance like spilling a drink or stubbing a toe has put me in a bad mood, there's something else going on. Sometimes it's because I'm actually stressed about...In my personal experience, if a mild annoyance like spilling a drink or stubbing a toe has put me in a bad mood, there's something else going on.
Sometimes it's because I'm actually stressed about something much more serious, and it's coming out in these moments.
But if I find myself getting annoyed by little things and I don't know why, it almost always turns out that I'm underslept, dehydrated, or coming down with a cold or something. Irritability is one of the earliest signs that I'm neglecting my health and need to take things easy until spilling drinks goes back to being funny.
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Comment on Can we talk about rice cookers? in ~food
RoyalHenOil Link ParentI use a Cuckoo, and I like it a lot. It's a Korean brand, so it makes a more Korean-style rice than a Zojirushi — although the differences are subtle, and it's easy to adjust the water level to...I use a Cuckoo, and I like it a lot. It's a Korean brand, so it makes a more Korean-style rice than a Zojirushi — although the differences are subtle, and it's easy to adjust the water level to meet your personal tastes.
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Comment on Can we talk about rice cookers? in ~food
RoyalHenOil Link ParentWhere I live, I need to soak and rinse brown rice due to the risk of arsenic contamination.Where I live, I need to soak and rinse brown rice due to the risk of arsenic contamination.
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Comment on Commonly misspelled words quiz in ~humanities.languages
RoyalHenOil Link ParentVisual. I was going by the general shape of the word and what felt familiar to me. I'm more of a visual thinker than an auditory thinker (I don't have an internal monologue, for example), so...Visual. I was going by the general shape of the word and what felt familiar to me.
I'm more of a visual thinker than an auditory thinker (I don't have an internal monologue, for example), so that's probably why.
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Comment on Does anyone have experience exchanging actual letters with a pen pal? in ~talk
RoyalHenOil Link ParentApart from that, my sister and I have been thinking about getting into sending each other physical letters. There are some writing-prompt games where you play as fictional characters and write...Apart from that, my sister and I have been thinking about getting into sending each other physical letters. There are some writing-prompt games where you play as fictional characters and write each other letters, and we were thinking that could be fun.
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Comment on Does anyone have experience exchanging actual letters with a pen pal? in ~talk
RoyalHenOil LinkMy partner (Australian) and I (American) were online friends for years before we met in person for the first time. We sent each other physical letters on occasion, but mostly to send each other...My partner (Australian) and I (American) were online friends for years before we met in person for the first time. We sent each other physical letters on occasion, but mostly to send each other physical things (though we also always included a long letter) since we mostly communicated by email.
I like to collect coins, so we mailed each other all the coins in our respective currencies. I think I sent him some Mexican and Canadian coins, too, and he sent me some New Zealand coins.
I'm kind of a geometry nerd, so he also made me a little dodecahedron out of wood.
We ended up falling in love while we still only knew each other online, so meeting for the first time after being penpals for so long was a pretty surreal experience.
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Comment on Commonly misspelled words quiz in ~humanities.languages
RoyalHenOil LinkWow, I got correct answers even on words I genuinely don't know how to spell, like hors d'oeuvre (which I had to look up just to spell it correctly in this comment). On the words I didn't know, I...Wow, I got correct answers even on words I genuinely don't know how to spell, like hors d'oeuvre (which I had to look up just to spell it correctly in this comment). On the words I didn't know, I just ignored the spelling altogether, squinted my eyes, and picked the option that looked the most familiar.
I'm a speed reader, so I wonder if that has something to do with it. When I was a kid, my mother (also a speed reader) taught me a spelling trick after I kept getting wrong answers on spelling tests: instead of trying to remember how words are spelled, imagine what the word looks like and then read off the letters. After she gave me this advice, I immediately started getting perfect scores on tests I'd previously struggled to pass. The brain is weird.
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Comment on The spread of solar panels in rural areas has become a divisive issue among Danish voters in ~enviro
RoyalHenOil (edited )Link ParentI recommend not moving to a rural area in that case. Part of rural living includes being around rural industry. There will be pylons, phone towers, wind turbines, center-pivot sprinklers,...But I absolutely wouldn't want to be the family in that house that's boxed in by panels on every side, either.
I recommend not moving to a rural area in that case. Part of rural living includes being around rural industry. There will be pylons, phone towers, wind turbines, center-pivot sprinklers, junkyards, tree farm clearcutting, ugly fences, ugly sheds, ugly monoculture fields, farm animal noises, farm animal smells, tractors shining extremely bright lights at night, tractors in the road slowing down traffic, etc. Solar panels are pretty benign in the scheme of things. If this household managed to get the solar farm closed, it would likely be replaced by something much more unpleasant; the landowner needs to make a living doing something, and most of the other options are noisy, smelly, and/or much harder to hide than solar panels.
To me, it comes across like someone moving into an urban environment and complaining when a bar opens nearby. If you don't like seeing commercial or industrial activity, stick to dedicated residential areas.
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Comment on I hope you don't use generative AI - an essay about my experience offering an open-source tool in ~tech
RoyalHenOil (edited )Link ParentI'm not the OP, but I am a multimedia developer who doesn't like using AI (specifically genAI) in my art. Personally, I'm not opposed to it on a philosophical level; it's just another tool in the...I'm curious why you're against using AI in art, however, if it's acceptable in your mind to be used as part of a process?
I'm not the OP, but I am a multimedia developer who doesn't like using AI (specifically genAI) in my art.
Personally, I'm not opposed to it on a philosophical level; it's just another tool in the toolset, as far as I'm concerned. I've been using some of Photoshop's (non-genAI) AI tools for years, for example. However, I have so far not found current genAI tools very useful for my purposes. I suspect this is because genAI is largely developed by... well, developers. Not artists. So coding tools have gotten a huge amount of polish and testing, but art tools far less so.
I can think of a dozen ways I'd love to be using genAI in art, at least for work, but the workflows are kind of wonky and the results are usually pretty bad — not that they look bad necessarily, but that they don't fit into what you're trying to create, and (depending on the type of asset) they often have fundamental flaws that make them too hard to edit and reuse. Particularly for things like photo editing, vector editing, and video editing, I find it's almost always faster — not to mention cheaper and better quality — to just do things manually.
Mind you, in my field (multimedia development in tech education), technical accuracy is extremely important. If AI alterations are not 100% true to life, I can't use the asset at all. If you're just generating images without a specific goal (e.g., brainstorming for a mood board or making temporary assets for testing), then genAI is decent, but this is such a small part of most artists' workflow. It's not a part of my workflow at all.
The big exception, in my experience, is using genAI to develop scripts and add-ons. LLMs are genuinely super helpful with that, and the tools they've helped my team build have saved us all a lot of time and frustration.
As for making art in my personal life, I just have no interest in using AI at all (not even the aforementioned oldschool Photoshop features). That kind of defeats the purpose of a hobby, you know? I want total creative control.
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Comment on I before she — on the shift in narrative perspective in romance novels in ~books
RoyalHenOil Link ParentJuxtapositions can be written in first person, and very effectively since first person is closer to the character's narrow viewpoint and thought processes — but it's definitely trickier to pull...Juxtapositions can be written in first person, and very effectively since first person is closer to the character's narrow viewpoint and thought processes — but it's definitely trickier to pull off, and from what I've seen, it can be a harder sell to readers. Most people seem to prefer third person from what I've seen (e.g., first-person stories attract fewer readers on AO3 than third-person limited).
But if you want to see it done well, I recommend The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver. She switches between very different perspectives in a clever way.
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Comment on Gamblers trying to win a bet on Polymarket are vowing to kill me if I don't rewrite an Iran missile story in ~society
RoyalHenOil Link ParentI think the fear is that the insider trading might get a little too inside and turn into more direct manipulation — for example, someone from the defense market actively promoting or undermining...I think the fear is that the insider trading might get a little too inside and turn into more direct manipulation — for example, someone from the defense market actively promoting or undermining bombing efforts in Iran to win a bigger payout. Preventing conflicts of interest like these is one reason jurisdictions often make insider trading illegal.
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Comment on I before she — on the shift in narrative perspective in romance novels in ~books
RoyalHenOil Link ParentThat's very true. Websites like AO3 also offer an opportunity for new (often very young) writers to get some practice and share their work. When I was a kid, everything I wrote just went into a...That's very true. Websites like AO3 also offer an opportunity for new (often very young) writers to get some practice and share their work. When I was a kid, everything I wrote just went into a notebook and nobody ever saw it except maybe my parents and a couple friends — which means I also didn't get a lot of objective feedback.
Now, new writers can see what readers actually responds to, and they'll probably be much better writers for it in the long run.
If you ever make your way to Australia, one of my favorites is the Children's Garden, attached to the Royal Botanic Gardens in Melbourne. It was designed as a playground, except that the plants themselves serve as the playground equipment. Although it's for kids, it's still really interesting for adults because everything is planted around the idea of exploring freely and getting lost in a surreal environment. The rest of the botanical garden is great, too, but the Children's Garden is my favorite.
It's been such a success that it's inspired a lot of other places in Australia to incorporate plants more heavily in their playgrounds. For example, a small town near me designed a densely forested public playground and waterpark, designed around winding trails and 'rooms' to discover. Even though it's very popular (with both kids and adults), it still feels really private and wild due to the dense planting.
My very favorite garden I've ever visited is the botanical garden in San Francisco, though.