TheFireTheft's recent activity

  1. Comment on What's your favorite music album to get high to? in ~music

    TheFireTheft
    Link
    Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to the Heavens

    Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to the Heavens

    8 votes

  2. Comment on Music makers: what's the best way to create song drafts? in ~music

    TheFireTheft
    Link Parent
    Amazing, thank you. What I think would be perfect would be simply Garageband, but with the ability to plug in guitar tabs a la Guitar Pro. I could then simply record a separate track with the...

    Amazing, thank you.

    What I think would be perfect would be simply Garageband, but with the ability to plug in guitar tabs a la Guitar Pro. I could then simply record a separate track with the actual instruments at a later time.

    1 vote

  3. Comment on A slow guide to confronting doom in ~health.mental

    TheFireTheft
    Link Parent
    It's the book that I buy for everyone I care about. Reading it is the best medicine when we're confronted with tragedy.

    It's the book that I buy for everyone I care about. Reading it is the best medicine when we're confronted with tragedy.

    2 votes

  4. Music makers: what's the best way to create song drafts?

    ~music Ask (recommendations)
    "Song drafts" -- I'm not even sure if that's a thing but let's go with it. I have an outline for a whole album and some bits and pieces written. Rather than sitting down and starting to record...

    "Song drafts" -- I'm not even sure if that's a thing but let's go with it.

    I have an outline for a whole album and some bits and pieces written. Rather than sitting down and starting to record immediately, I'd like to start drafting out everything with MIDI or something to where I can play around with the sounds and also make notes of lyrics, chord shapes, etc. Bonus points if I can use something like Garage Band's drummer features so I don't have to worry so much about the percussion.

    What's the best software or website to do something like this? I'm imagining something like Fruity Loops or Guitar Pro, where I can plug in some guitar, bass, etc. tabs and include drums and other instruments. I would prioritize ease of use and speed of composition, since these are just going to be temporary sketches.

    Then, when I get the songs in a shape I am comfortable with, I will jump into the DAW and do the actual recordings.

    9 votes

  5. Comment on American cities that want to attract business might want to focus less on financial incentives and more on making people feel safe in ~society

    TheFireTheft
    Link
    I was just in El Paso last weekend and was amazed at how safe I felt throughout the city. I didn't see a huge police presence, but I did notice a lot of security guard types throughout downtown....

    I was just in El Paso last weekend and was amazed at how safe I felt throughout the city. I didn't see a huge police presence, but I did notice a lot of security guard types throughout downtown. What's the story here? Why did ELP feel so safe, and why was everyone so friendly compared to literally everywhere else I've been in the recent past?

    2 votes

  6. Comment on The Tiny Soapbox: a platform for small, low-stakes rants in ~talk

    TheFireTheft
    Link
    We have entered an era of GIF-as-a-replacement-for-conversation. At least with my circle of chatters, GIFs make up a large majority of responses for what would have been simple answers such as...

    We have entered an era of GIF-as-a-replacement-for-conversation. At least with my circle of chatters, GIFs make up a large majority of responses for what would have been simple answers such as "LOL" or "Wow!"

    There are several problems with this:

    1. In a chat format such as Slack or Google Chat, a large, vertical GIF immediately pushes the initial conversation above the fold, making it hard to find and easy to ignore
    2. Using GIFs takes the personality out of your messaging, since it's not coming from you; it's coming from Paul Rudd or Adam Sandler
    3. The worst offenders are incredibly lazy, and you can easily verify how they searched for "amazing" in the GIF search and chose the very first option

    I'm not calling for the end of all GIF usage. I'm just suggesting we tone it down a bit. Every once in a while, someone picks a very thoughtful, funny, well-placed GIF -- those are great. But in every other case, just type what you're thinking or don't say anything at all!

    17 votes

  7. Comment on What have you been listening to this week? in ~music

    TheFireTheft
    Link Parent
    Man, thank you for this recommendation. It's right up there with Mr. Morale now. I will say this, after constantly listening to both of those and GKMC for the past month. The music and themes are...

    Man, thank you for this recommendation. It's right up there with Mr. Morale now.

    I will say this, after constantly listening to both of those and GKMC for the past month. The music and themes are very dark and heavy, and I find myself needing a break because they're so emotionally draining.

  8. Comment on Help me understand how half of USA is on board with the idea of creating "short term pain" in ~society

    TheFireTheft
    Link
    I just wanted to drop in again and express how impressed I am with the discourse on this tiny little forum. I’ve learned a lot from this thread, including many different perspectives. Now if we...

    I just wanted to drop in again and express how impressed I am with the discourse on this tiny little forum. I’ve learned a lot from this thread, including many different perspectives.

    Now if we could only converse like this in real life…

    4 votes

  9. Comment on Help me understand how half of USA is on board with the idea of creating "short term pain" in ~society

    TheFireTheft
    Link Parent
    This is a great perspective. Just to clarify on my suffering position a bit: what I’m pushing back against is unnecessary additional suffering. Even though we have more creature comforts now than...

    This is a great perspective. Just to clarify on my suffering position a bit: what I’m pushing back against is unnecessary additional suffering. Even though we have more creature comforts now than ever before, everyone still experiences suffering and hardship on an individual and communal level. That will never change as long as people kill, rape, cheat, or die in freak accidents.

    2 votes

  10. Comment on Help me understand how half of USA is on board with the idea of creating "short term pain" in ~society

    TheFireTheft
    Link Parent
    I guess my quick and simple mobile response would be: why do we HAVE to go through that kind of suffering? We still have (had) the hegemony, resources, innovation, and so forth. Why ruin a good...

    I guess my quick and simple mobile response would be: why do we HAVE to go through that kind of suffering? We still have (had) the hegemony, resources, innovation, and so forth. Why ruin a good thing? (Of course good is relative and people down on their luck are shaking their fists at me right now)

    2 votes

  11. Comment on Help me understand how half of USA is on board with the idea of creating "short term pain" in ~society

    TheFireTheft
    Link Parent
    I'm not asking how Trump won the election. I'm asking how to have a conversation about this very specific talking point that keeps coming up in conversation and does not make any logical sense to me.

    I'm not asking how Trump won the election. I'm asking how to have a conversation about this very specific talking point that keeps coming up in conversation and does not make any logical sense to me.

    2 votes

  12. Help me understand how half of USA is on board with the idea of creating "short term pain"

    ~society Ask
    I recently had a (mostly) civilized discussion with an older gentleman who mentioned reading a book about how newer generations have not learned how to suffer, and that is the root cause of many...

    I recently had a (mostly) civilized discussion with an older gentleman who mentioned reading a book about how newer generations have not learned how to suffer, and that is the root cause of many evils in the world today. He then expressed a sort of excitement at the thought of self-induced suffering through our supreme leader's terrible economic and geopolitical decisions. It would "make us stronger on the other side."

    To which my question was, and is still: "You're a top 2% earner in the most powerful country in the world. You have everything you could ever want or dream of. Why do YOU want to suffer?"

    My second question/point was: "What you're describing as people being too comfortable, I'd counter that it's just the advancement of technology and industry -- most of us don't HAVE to suffer by breaking our backs working the fields from sun up to sun down because we have equipment to do that for us. Instead, we can work our desk jobs and play games on our phones."

    And my final question/point was: "Why would anyone ever wish suffering upon anyone else? That doesn't seem very biblical."

    I'm really struggling to understand the line of thinking that I am hearing from the very top levels of the government all the way down to the working class. The thinking that "we deserve to suffer." In a sense, I feel that it's a sort of disguised retribution or malice, i.e. "I don't want to suffer, but there are a bunch of people I disagree with that do need to suffer."

    Please help me understand so I can be better prepared to debate the next person who tries to make this point to me. I'm looking at you, Dad.

    48 votes

  13. Comment on What if we made advertising illegal? in ~tech

    TheFireTheft
    Link
    My small business, which uses very tasteful but necessary advertising (small niche publishing), would go under in an instant. That said, I understand the plight. It would be so easy for us to just...

    My small business, which uses very tasteful but necessary advertising (small niche publishing), would go under in an instant.

    That said, I understand the plight. It would be so easy for us to just plaster our website and publication with ads, but we have to fight temptations.

    18 votes

  14. Comment on Post something from your notes app in ~talk

    TheFireTheft
    Link
    A journal entry dated 2025-01-03: I just received a call from Jacob, learning that grandma has passed away. It was a good run! She just turned 90 years old a few days ago. I haven't spoken with...

    A journal entry dated 2025-01-03:

    I just received a call from Jacob, learning that grandma has passed away. It was a good run! She just turned 90 years old a few days ago.

    I haven't spoken with grandpa yet since his house is full of people right now and he probably needs some space anyway.

    As the annals of this journal will show, I've had various opinions of grandma throughout my life. But in recent years, I've grown quite fond of grandma. She was a pleasant person and wanted what was best for her family.

    1 vote

  15. Comment on Looking for mobile puzzle-ish games with a heavy emphasis on stats in ~games

  16. Comment on Looking for mobile puzzle-ish games with a heavy emphasis on stats in ~games

    TheFireTheft
    Link Parent
    Never heard of a Playdate until just now but I'm interested! Do you think one of these would be appropriate for a 4-5 year old (in small bursts of course)?

    Never heard of a Playdate until just now but I'm interested!

    Do you think one of these would be appropriate for a 4-5 year old (in small bursts of course)?

    1 vote

  17. Looking for mobile puzzle-ish games with a heavy emphasis on stats

    ~games Ask (recommendations)
    I really love being able to see all sorts of stats -- number of games played, wins/losses, leaderboard rankings, even obscure stats. I also love word, card, and puzzle games. Games like solitaire,...

    I really love being able to see all sorts of stats -- number of games played, wins/losses, leaderboard rankings, even obscure stats.

    I also love word, card, and puzzle games. Games like solitaire, for example, would be PERFECT candidates to lean heavily into the stats, but I just haven't been able to find a good one yet.

    What are your favorite games in these categories? Bonus points if they have an emphasis on keeping records and stats.

    28 votes

  18. Comment on What have you been listening to this week? in ~music

    TheFireTheft
    Link
    I just discovered Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers by Kendrick Lamar. I've been listening to it non-stop for the past few weeks. Hip hop is probably #3 or 4 on my list of most active genres, but I...

    I just discovered Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers by Kendrick Lamar. I've been listening to it non-stop for the past few weeks.

    Hip hop is probably #3 or 4 on my list of most active genres, but I gotta say, DAMN. This album is a rollercoaster ride.

    In fact, the song Mother I Sober actually had me sobbing. It's the only time in my entire life that a song has brought me to tears.

    3 votes

  19. Comment on US President Donald Trump prepares order dismantling the Education Department in ~society

    TheFireTheft
    Link
    Can someone explain to me the immediate and long-term implications of this, given I have a child just about to start going to a public elementary school?

    Can someone explain to me the immediate and long-term implications of this, given I have a child just about to start going to a public elementary school?

    6 votes

  20. Comment on Restaurants recommendations near Times Square in ~travel

    TheFireTheft
    Link
    There's John's Pizzeria in an old church a few blocks away. It's not as good as John's on Bleeker but it's still phenomenal pizza by most standards.

    There's John's Pizzeria in an old church a few blocks away. It's not as good as John's on Bleeker but it's still phenomenal pizza by most standards.

    1 vote