ShroudedScribe's recent activity

  1. Comment on What are some “sore thumb” lyrics for you? in ~music

    ShroudedScribe
    Link Parent
    If you're playing it around friends who know your stance on the subject well, they would hopefully know that listening to this one song doesn't demonstrate your views. Obviously, as you said,...

    I always have to be mindful of audience when I go to put it on so I don't unintentionally harm or upset anyone

    If you're playing it around friends who know your stance on the subject well, they would hopefully know that listening to this one song doesn't demonstrate your views. Obviously, as you said, audience matters.

    Something that makes me feel similar is the movie Idiocracy. While everyone continually jokes about how it is unfolding in real life, those who have not watched it recently may forget how many times the characters throw around the word "retarded." It was tolerated much more when the movie came out, but now it has climbed up the yikes scale. Perhaps the best justification for it is that the characters have been dumbed down enough that this is their primary insult and the best they can come up with. But if you recommend it to someone who hasn't seen it, it's worth telling them about this to let them know that specific word isn't the funniest part of the movie.

  2. Comment on What are some “sore thumb” lyrics for you? in ~music

    ShroudedScribe
    Link Parent
    I agree with the other commenters and like this line a lot too. This song falls in the "alternative rock" genre, and a lot of alt music (especially as it has progressed through the early 2000s to...

    I agree with the other commenters and like this line a lot too.

    This song falls in the "alternative rock" genre, and a lot of alt music (especially as it has progressed through the early 2000s to now) is tied to getting emotions out. Inside Out is almost a series of stammering words one would write in a journal if they didn't overthink it and wrote down a flow of consciousness. But of course, this is has been transformed into the clever and somewhat cliche lyrics I know and love Eve 6 for.

    Another Eve 6 song from their next album, Enemy, reinforces this stream of consciousness idea - he talks through part of his day in excessive detail and then admits to where his current emotional state is:

    I am fine just a little broken up
    Ok my nerves have never been so shot

    Can't get this shit off my mind
    I just want to be alright
    So just tell me nothings wrong

    2 votes

  3. Comment on What are some “sore thumb” lyrics for you? in ~music

    ShroudedScribe
    Link Parent
    Maybe that one line speaks to it - they "tried out comedy" and that's the result.

    Maybe that one line speaks to it - they "tried out comedy" and that's the result.

    2 votes

  4. Comment on How Honeycrisp apples went from marvel to mediocre in ~food

    ShroudedScribe
    Link Parent
    Cosmic crisp is only a 2.5/5 in sweetness? Admittedly I haven't taste tested every apple, but I find it pretty damn sweet. And (no offense to those who are) I'm not one of those people who find...

    Cosmic crisp is only a 2.5/5 in sweetness? Admittedly I haven't taste tested every apple, but I find it pretty damn sweet.

    And (no offense to those who are) I'm not one of those people who find Starbucks drinks, cookies, ice cream, etc to be "too sweet."

    Edit: whoever is posting these reviews has had way too much fun with this. The "Crimson Gold Apple" is a 4/5 sweetness but hated enough to get a 31/100.

    These little shits are glorified crabapples masquerading as edible fruit and should not be tolerated outside of cider production and pretentious baking applications. Each minuscule bite of these filthy monkey cheeks explode with an intense yet somehow dry flavor combination that will make you want to spontaneously vomit. Do not be fooled by this repackaged trash, Crimson Gold is just a misleading name slapped on a swollen testicle.

    5 votes

  5. Comment on What are some “sore thumb” lyrics for you? in ~music

    ShroudedScribe
    Link Parent
    At least it's not rhyming "things" with "things" like Kid Rock in the not even trying to be clever rip off song that is "All Summer Long." (I know this isn't the point of the thread but I couldn't...

    At least it's not rhyming "things" with "things" like Kid Rock in the not even trying to be clever rip off song that is "All Summer Long."

    (I know this isn't the point of the thread but I couldn't help myself.)

    7 votes

  6. Comment on My guess and opinion on the common blockers to Linux adoption in ~tech

    ShroudedScribe
    Link Parent
    As @donn said, maybe. Another option is to run a container with a VNC server and connect to that. I have a Firefox container that works that way running on my home server.

    As @donn said, maybe. Another option is to run a container with a VNC server and connect to that. I have a Firefox container that works that way running on my home server.

    2 votes

  7. Comment on My guess and opinion on the common blockers to Linux adoption in ~tech

    ShroudedScribe
    Link Parent
    I think a lot of people who aren't IT-minded don't look at it this way. They're buying a Windows laptop or desktop, MacBook, or perhaps Chromebook, and don't separate the hardware from the OS. If...

    I suppose that is what stopping people from Linux too - they don't have problem paying for Windows or Apple tax

    I think a lot of people who aren't IT-minded don't look at it this way. They're buying a Windows laptop or desktop, MacBook, or perhaps Chromebook, and don't separate the hardware from the OS. If you haven't built your own PC or worked in IT in an enterprise that has to manage licensing, you're probably unaware of what a Windows license even costs.

    6 votes

  8. Comment on My guess and opinion on the common blockers to Linux adoption in ~tech

    ShroudedScribe
    Link Parent
    Docker Desktop changed up licensing semi-recently, and I highly recommend Podman Desktop. While I haven't used it for everything, I've been able to get a VSCode dev container running in it pretty...

    you could run Linux in a container using Docker. (There are competing alternatives for doing that I should look into more.)

    Docker Desktop changed up licensing semi-recently, and I highly recommend Podman Desktop. While I haven't used it for everything, I've been able to get a VSCode dev container running in it pretty easily.

    6 votes

  9. Comment on US health insurance premiums poised to spike over drug costs, tariff threats in ~health

    ShroudedScribe
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    Just for some extra clarity/context, GLP-1 coverage (at therapeutic levels for weight loss) under ACA plans isn't a thing, afaik. At least in my region, I evaluated every potential plan and none...
    • Exemplary

    Just for some extra clarity/context, GLP-1 coverage (at therapeutic levels for weight loss) under ACA plans isn't a thing, afaik. At least in my region, I evaluated every potential plan and none of them will cover it. And by not covering it, I explicitly mean that they will not let it go towards your deductible either. So you're forced to go the manufacturer coupon route. $500/mo for Zepbound or WeGovy are the two "cheapest" options currently. So if any insurance company claims ACA coverage of GLP-1s is adding to their costs, they're most likely spouting off bullshit.

    ACA offerings have always been bad, and continue to get worse. Providing subsidies on premiums is very good and likely the only way a big subset of people can get coverage. But costs go far beyond premiums.

    If someone qualified for the max subsidy and needs to use that for a $0 premium, they will mostly likely end up with a "catastrophic" coverage plan. These are high deductible plans ($12k-$18 annual for a family) that cover almost nothing before you hit that deductible. If you're fortunate enough to be healthy, stay healthy, and have zero health issues, that would work. But sprinkle anything else into the mix and you're quickly getting hefty bills.

    Even the plans with more "traditional" coverage are not great. I'm currently paying almost $700/mo in premiums for myself and my partner. Our specialist copay is still $80/visit, we have to pay a large portion of the cost ("coinsurance") for labs, and you better pray to whatever deity you want that you don't need any procedures or advanced labs, as many will be somewhere between $600 to $2500. Prescription coverage is also bad beyond common "preferred generics." There was one occasion where a preferred generic was re-classified as a "non-preferred generic" part way through the plan year, bringing the cost from ~$25 to ~$80. The drug coverage lists are different for ACA plans vs other (employer sponsored) plans.

    To contrast, my partner worked for a government agency briefly and qualified for coverage through them. Their premium was $0, adding me was less than $100. Copays were near zero. Labs and procedures had copays instead of co-insurance and nothing was more than $80 (on the extreme high end). Prescription coverage was great, I don't think we ever paid more than $60, even for a "non-preferred brand."

    And even though none of the choices of coverage from the healthcare marketplace are "good", number of options continues to dwindle. Our current plan marks the third time we've had an insurance provider drop out of the marketplace. While the first two of these were smaller, and perhaps more regional, our current one is a massive nationwide insurance company, potentially the largest.

    So if you're on an ACA plan and receiving subsidies, that means you're poor enough that getting substantial medical treatment will bankrupt you. Removing these subsidies makes it even worse. This leads to more people avoiding medical treatment. The American healthcare system is currently configured, and perhaps even designed, to kill off poor people.

    11 votes

  10. Comment on Throwback Thursday: Let's talk old flash and memes! in ~talk

    ShroudedScribe
    Link Parent
    Heh, the Game Grumps just played this. Two days ago I think. Dan made it much further than I ever did.

    Heh, the Game Grumps just played this. Two days ago I think. Dan made it much further than I ever did.

    2 votes

  11. Comment on Sliding scale payment systems in ~talk

    ShroudedScribe
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    I've been helping someone with running a small digital services business, and while we're both learning as we go, there's a few tips I can share. Note that this business operates out of the US,...

    I've been helping someone with running a small digital services business, and while we're both learning as we go, there's a few tips I can share. Note that this business operates out of the US, with mostly US-based clients, so some things may vary regionally.

    I would like to organize payment around various checkpoints & deliverables.

    100%, I highly recommend doing things this way, or at the very least structuring invoices this way. This sets expectations at the beginning, as it spells out what work will be done (at a summary level), and how much it should cost.

    You should look at this breakdown as you start to assess pricing. It is not just your time that is valuable, but your expertise. If you are able to whip up some JavaScript for an animation in an hour, that does not mean you should only charge for one hour. As you suggested, aligning costs with deliverables is a better way to go.

    Additionally, if any invoice line items are too vague, prepare documents that will go into more detail. As an example, a line item could be "Create a contact form," but you need to provide more information about how this will be accomplished, in a way the customer will understand. Again, you want to establish expectations, so think in customer terms ("Match color palette with existing branding materials") instead of developer terms ("Create CSS for styling"). In some cases, you may even want to provide mockups or wireframes before starting the full work.

    And if we're talking about a lot of mockups or requirements documents, you don't have to offer this for free. One option is to take a leap of faith and provide it before sending a request for payment, and then wrap it into the cost of the final invoice. The other option is be upfront and state that it will be a significant time (and/or skill) investment to create these detailed requirements, and that you would like a consulting fee upfront to do so.

    Come up with a contract that clearly outlines a rework policy. Lay out clear guidelines on number of revisions or similar to reduce scope creep. You can use a different contract per client, or even per engagement, but this is something that can turn what should be 10 hours of work into 40 hours of work.

    I also recommend coming up with a base price that you do not need to disclose to the customer. Hypothetically, let's say that one of your many service offerings is updating branding on a web page, and you would generally charge $20 per page. If someone comes to you and wants only this service, and only on one web page, it does not make sense to only charge $20.

    You are spending additional time beyond the actual work - communicating with the customer, sending a contract, handing off the deliverable, potentially providing additional support, etc. You are also taking on other passive business costs - electricity, wear and tear on your equipment (even though computer equipment generally has a long life span), perhaps even software licenses depending on what you're doing.

    Create a base rate that is your minimum to account for all of these things, and then roll it into the line items on an invoice. If there is only one line item, adding an additional $100 does seem like a lot, but you may discover that more customers are agreeable to this pricing than you would expect. It's easier if you were to spread that out across 4 line items, as each one would just have an additional $25. But do not let fear of pricing yourself out of reach prevent you from pricing yourself at what you are worth.

    Also, do not list any sort of pricing publicly. The most you should share is the proposition of your reduced rate if it applies to certain customer types. As an example, you could say "I offer a discounted rate for registered non-profit organizations." This would be a scenario where you could have a separate base rate as well. I would never outright offer free services, unless it something that would provide another benefit, such as advertising/publicity. It's kind to others to be charitable. It's unkind to yourself to work for free if you have bills to pay and other time-intensive commitments in life.

    And don't be afraid to charge more for customers you suspect may be more painful to work with. You also have the option of rejecting work when you are working for yourself, and you should do so when needed.

    Hope this helps.

    4 votes

  12. Comment on Samification of the current Web in ~design

    ShroudedScribe
    Link Parent
    Do you have any links or other resources, or even just an example for this? It's always good to get more insight into readability, especially because I know it goes beyond accessibility.

    the only thing I wish people would remember is that for long form context there are some good practices for line width, font types and readability in general. It's a shame to come across a well written blog and struggle to read it comfortably.

    Do you have any links or other resources, or even just an example for this? It's always good to get more insight into readability, especially because I know it goes beyond accessibility.

    4 votes

  13. Comment on Samification of the current Web in ~design

    ShroudedScribe
    Link Parent
    While not necessarily "new," I would put apple's product pages in this category as well. For the iPhone Air product page, as an example, you'll see many different animations and such as you...

    There are also new-style sites that still do something to try and "stand out"

    While not necessarily "new," I would put apple's product pages in this category as well. For the iPhone Air product page, as an example, you'll see many different animations and such as you scroll. Perhaps the most "Apple" one to me is having the phone image rotate as you scroll past it.

    1 vote

  14. Comment on This to That (glue advice) in ~creative

    ShroudedScribe
    Link Parent
    Wow, what an incredible amount of detail! It actually makes me feel a bit better that it's not my fault it didn't stick (stiffly) with the E6000. One of these days I will learn to solder. A...

    Wow, what an incredible amount of detail! It actually makes me feel a bit better that it's not my fault it didn't stick (stiffly) with the E6000.

    One of these days I will learn to solder. A mechanical keyboard will certainly not be my first project. But every so often an opportunity like this presents itself, so maybe I'll get into it sooner rather than later.

    1 vote

  15. Comment on Bluesky will comply with age verification laws in South Dakota and Wyoming after exiting Mississippi in ~tech

    ShroudedScribe
    Link Parent
    Yeah, I recall using a prepaid card (those Visa, etc gift cards you can buy in physical stores) in some cases. I think a lot of verification systems now will reject using those in some cases, such...

    Us well-behaved kiddos were using paysafecards instead

    Yeah, I recall using a prepaid card (those Visa, etc gift cards you can buy in physical stores) in some cases. I think a lot of verification systems now will reject using those in some cases, such as a subscription service.

    2 votes

  16. Comment on Bluesky will comply with age verification laws in South Dakota and Wyoming after exiting Mississippi in ~tech

    ShroudedScribe
    Link Parent
    This part sounds good in theory: But I'm not sure I want to trust Epic Games with this. (More so I don't want to trust Tencent.) And I also don't understand how a payment card number is sufficient...

    This part sounds good in theory:

    KWS never stores the personal information used to verify adult status (e.g. payment card number, ID document, face scan, etc.). KWS only retains a user’s hashed email and certain metadata, such as timestamp and method used, to re-use their verified status across services (learn more about the ‘verified status’ information here). Users have the option to delete their record stored in the AgeGraph at any time.

    But I'm not sure I want to trust Epic Games with this. (More so I don't want to trust Tencent.)

    And I also don't understand how a payment card number is sufficient age verification. Obviously all of these methods have potential to be spoofed, but haven't kids been using parents' credit cards for ages now?

    7 votes

  17. Comment on This to That (glue advice) in ~creative

    ShroudedScribe
    Link Parent
    The keyboard is a Steelseries Apex Pro (first model/edition). The site doesn't really say what type of plastic is used, and it might be unique due to the adjustable actuation.

    The keyboard is a Steelseries Apex Pro (first model/edition).

    The site doesn't really say what type of plastic is used, and it might be unique due to the adjustable actuation.

    1 vote

  18. Comment on Is the concept of debate completely useless? in ~talk

    ShroudedScribe
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    I would debate you on this but it's completely useless. :D

    I would debate you on this but it's completely useless. :D

    2 votes

  19. Comment on What's your go-to hot sauce? in ~food

    ShroudedScribe
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    What do you all put hot sauce on? What does "everything" mean in your world? I'm fairly new to spicy foods and absolutely love the "hot" level in curries at a chain Thai restaurant (which probably...

    What do you all put hot sauce on? What does "everything" mean in your world?

    I'm fairly new to spicy foods and absolutely love the "hot" level in curries at a chain Thai restaurant (which probably only clocks in at a 3 or 4 at an authentic Thai restaurant). I purchased some chili oil (which is more of a paste) from a local Pho place that is fantastic, but it's intense and I can only do like... 1/8 teaspoon in an entire serving of something.

    But I don't really know what else to add spice to. Adding this chili oil to Asian cuisine makes sense, but we don't do a lot of homemade Asian food.

    I don't really eat eggs. Mexican food also makes sense but it's not something I eat daily.

    I'm just genuinely curious what foods you add hot sauce to. Maybe I'm too closed minded.

    3 votes

  20. Comment on This to That (glue advice) in ~creative

    ShroudedScribe
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    Huh, interesting. I semi-recently broke part of one of the switches off of my mechanical keyboard. The "cross" part you normally use when swapping keys almost cleanly came off, stuck in the Esc...

    Huh, interesting. I semi-recently broke part of one of the switches off of my mechanical keyboard. The "cross" part you normally use when swapping keys almost cleanly came off, stuck in the Esc key.

    I used E6000 to adhere it again. That worked pretty well in general for a month or so. But now it seems flimsy - the key cap kind of wobbles around, though still adhered.

    Would you all recommend trying epoxy since this is plastic to plastic?

    1 vote