ali's recent activity

  1. Comment on Fitness Weekly Discussion in ~health

    ali
    Link Parent
    I've also been doing Muay Thai recently. And I have been running for a few years. Funny story: yesterday I was sparring with a woman who was probably similar in height to you. (I am an average...

    I've also been doing Muay Thai recently. And I have been running for a few years.
    Funny story: yesterday I was sparring with a woman who was probably similar in height to you. (I am an average height male 5 ft 8 or so?)
    And this woman I sparred with was shocking me with her skills. Like I didn't even notice her kicking and I got hit, and whenever I did a hit, she was incredibly fast in blocking and hitting me back.

    What really helped me enjoy running was listening to audiobooks. Specifically Born to Run was what I started with. And I got so hooked. I was genuinely wondering if I'll ever break a 30 min 5k when I started running. A year later I ran a 5k in 22:03

    3 votes
  2. Comment on Why Namibia exceeded all our expectations | First days driving across Africa’s emptiest country in ~hobbies

    ali
    Link Parent
    Yeah it definitely required some planning. We had protein shakes, tofu, soy milk as staples, that made it kind of doable. We basically had meals out only in: Solitaire (a pizza), Swakopmund and...

    Yeah it definitely required some planning. We had protein shakes, tofu, soy milk as staples, that made it kind of doable.

    We basically had meals out only in:
    Solitaire (a pizza), Swakopmund and Windhoek

    1 vote
  3. Comment on Why Namibia exceeded all our expectations | First days driving across Africa’s emptiest country in ~hobbies

    ali
    Link Parent
    Yeah I think it’s a big tradition there. I know it’s super common in South Africa too. Marola and I are vegan, which is also why we had to cook a lot ourselves. I think in one of the first videos...

    Yeah I think it’s a big tradition there. I know it’s super common in South Africa too.

    Marola and I are vegan, which is also why we had to cook a lot ourselves. I think in one of the first videos we’ve shown that we had like 15 blocks of tofu :D and those huel ready meals were super handy for this trip

    1 vote
  4. Comment on Why Namibia exceeded all our expectations | First days driving across Africa’s emptiest country in ~hobbies

    ali
    Link Parent
    Yes coming face to face with elephants was really mind blowing :D thank you for sharing again. Fun fact: this is the last video where I will have my cap. I lost that there and also forgot my...

    Yes coming face to face with elephants was really mind blowing :D thank you for sharing again.

    Fun fact: this is the last video where I will have my cap. I lost that there and also forgot my binoculars.

    I did get the binoculars back a few days later though.

    What I loved in Namibia was also how much space the campsites offered. And grilling some food for dinner was always great :D good memories.

    1 vote
  5. Comment on What creative projects have you been working on? in ~creative

    ali
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    My girlfriend wanted to turn her handwriting into a font, so she can use it for subtitles and other forms of content without always needing to handwrite it. There are a few tools, but I figured...

    My girlfriend wanted to turn her handwriting into a font, so she can use it for subtitles and other forms of content without always needing to handwrite it.
    There are a few tools, but I figured I'd just build my own again, cause why not.
    I am quite happy with it. It's free, but I might at some point add a small one time payment, but except for me, my girlfriend and whoever looks at it from here, no one actually uses it. So if you like to try making your own font:

    https://font.watermelonson.com

    2 votes
  6. Comment on Fitness Weekly Discussion in ~health

    ali
    Link
    3 weeks of holiday done. in the last full week, I've averaged 2h sports a week. In these 3 weeks, I have done: Wingfoiling, Gym sessions, a 5k race, running, snorkeling, Muay Thai, Slacklining and...

    3 weeks of holiday done.
    in the last full week, I've averaged 2h sports a week. In these 3 weeks, I have done:

    Wingfoiling, Gym sessions, a 5k race, running, snorkeling, Muay Thai, Slacklining and Calisthenics Skill days.

    Wow. I can tell amazing progress, and I feel so much better.
    Yesterday I hit one of my short term goals - a bodyweight benchpress -75kg

    Now I am sore. Wanted to do muay thai tomorrow, and either I'll do that, or a rest day and then muay thai.

    I think my main issue is resting. There's nothing I enjoy more than doing sports first thing in the morning

    1 vote
  7. Comment on German males under 45 may need military approval for long stays abroad in ~society

    ali
    Link Parent
    It’s pretty scary that this change has been made at the beginning of they year and news only come out now (when basically everyone who was gone missed the deadline)

    It’s pretty scary that this change has been made at the beginning of they year and news only come out now (when basically everyone who was gone missed the deadline)

    6 votes
  8. Comment on German males under 45 may need military approval for long stays abroad in ~society

    ali
    Link Parent
    I don’t know. This is big news in Germany right now, because this is a huge cut into our freedom of movement. The German passport is one of the strongest in the world, and everywhere you go you’ll...

    I don’t know. This is big news in Germany right now, because this is a huge cut into our freedom of movement. The German passport is one of the strongest in the world, and everywhere you go you’ll see Germans. Tons of us take gap years abroad or take longer vacations (we have 6 weeks of holiday a year)
    I personally am impacted and know tons of Germans spending much more than 3 months a year abroad.
    Apparently this used to be a rule during time of crisis, such as wartime, or in nato defense situations. But now it just applies all the time

    17 votes
  9. Comment on German males under 45 may need military approval for long stays abroad in ~society

    ali
    Link
    A stealth change being reported now. It’s been in effect since January 1. That’s an absurd amount of bureaucracy. No one really knows how the process is supposed to look. Germans notably love to...

    A stealth change being reported now. It’s been in effect since January 1.

    German males aged between 17 and 45 may need to seek approval for lengthy stays abroad, under changes introduced as part of a new law which introduced voluntary military service.

    That’s an absurd amount of bureaucracy. No one really knows how the process is supposed to look. Germans notably love to travel and for longer periods of time too. I have been abroad since mid October. I don’t know how this will affect me, but since I travel most of the time anyways I should be fine, even though I do not have a permanent residency elsewhere. Might mean I have to set that up after all. So far I’ve just been registered in Germany…

    23 votes
  10. Comment on Megathread: April Fools' Day 2026 on the internet in ~talk

    ali
    Link Parent
    I’m happy you like it. I am also looking if there’s any way I can add some info about Artemis into the tool. One of my favorite things is just looking at the atmosphere of different planets. And...

    I’m happy you like it. I am also looking if there’s any way I can add some info about Artemis into the tool.

    One of my favorite things is just looking at the atmosphere of different planets. And also: look at Jupiter from io.

    2 votes
  11. Comment on Megathread: April Fools' Day 2026 on the internet in ~talk

    ali
    Link Parent
    I had that initially but I figured unless people zoom in on earth they wouldn’t even notice it. And the flat sun looks so funnily stupid. I’ve even thought about adding more absurd flat earth...

    I had that initially but I figured unless people zoom in on earth they wouldn’t even notice it.

    And the flat sun looks so funnily stupid.

    I’ve even thought about adding more absurd flat earth physics, like hard coding the sun to rotate the earth, but it was such a mess, getting the absurd theories right lol.

    Maybe next year

    6 votes
  12. Comment on Megathread: April Fools' Day 2026 on the internet in ~talk

    ali
    (edited )
    Link
    Luna- my space sim Been looking forward to today :D I had the idea for some April's fools jokes already. You have to select "fun" at the start, since I didn't want to change the experience for...

    Luna- my space sim

    Been looking forward to today :D I had the idea for some April's fools jokes already.
    You have to select "fun" at the start, since I didn't want to change the experience for people that want to use the tool to learn something

    I did change the easter... egg... away from a flat world to a more eggy world, since I realized some people didn't get the joke and thought I was being serious with all the flat objects lol

    39 votes
  13. Comment on That one study that proves developers using AI are deluded in ~tech

    ali
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    I am part of the camp that uses agentic coding, but I keep an eye on it and give it very granular tasks, as if talking to a junior dev, and checking how things are being done before just writing...

    I am part of the camp that uses agentic coding, but I keep an eye on it and give it very granular tasks, as if talking to a junior dev, and checking how things are being done before just writing the code.

    Actually writing the code is often the easiest part, but depending on your level of laziness, it might take a while to get started once you've solved a problem already. I don't trust the agents to write tests and validate stuff (other's do) It's way too eager to say that stuff is working, even when it's not.

    That's why I don't think we're anywhere near "developers are not needed anymore" territory.

    4 votes
  14. Comment on I made a word association game - Noun Sense in ~games

    ali
    Link
    I’m rank 2 for today (ok the puzzle only released 20 minutes ago) It’s fun. I did see that US vs UK spelling could have the same answer appear twice. And also: the share button should include a...

    I’m rank 2 for today (ok the puzzle only released 20 minutes ago)

    It’s fun. I did see that US vs UK spelling could have the same answer appear twice.

    And also: the share button should include a link and not just a photo. Other games always have the answers in text, allowing people you shared it to (me and a friend play other daily games often) to play together.
    Just an idea.
    Fun game!

    5 votes
  15. Comment on Fitness Weekly Discussion in ~health

    ali
    (edited )
    Link
    Yesterday was my first day of holidays (now I have almost 3 weeks off) and I am in Thailand. I already went to the gym or on a run almost every day before, but I want to now also explore other...

    Yesterday was my first day of holidays (now I have almost 3 weeks off) and I am in Thailand.
    I already went to the gym or on a run almost every day before, but I want to now also explore other sports.
    I went Kite Foiling yesterday which was tons of fun. I also want to do muay thai while I am here, as well as freedive.

    As for the gym, I notice a ton of improvement in my fitness. I started taking it more seriously about 6 weeks ago, and I can almost bench press my bodyweight now. (I haven't tried a 1RM)

    I want to move away from all the weights and do more calisthenics, so I have been training L sits after some sessions and I also am looking to train my balance using a slackline

    As for the wing foiling: it's so much fun. I am shocked by how sore I am. I have done 4h in total now, and I managed to go upwind quite bit, too!

    3 votes
  16. Comment on Factory farming is a blight in ~enviro

    ali
    Link Parent
    I see, I must’ve misread some stuff then. This distinction between what is vegan or not is a big topic in general. And a huge problem for the vegan movement - I used to think it’s basically only...

    I see, I must’ve misread some stuff then.

    This distinction between what is vegan or not is a big topic in general. And a huge problem for the vegan movement - I used to think it’s basically only crazy people. Until I really looked into it and it seemed quite logical.

    But then you have spiritual vegans, raw vegans, fruitarians, which technically follow a vegan diet but as far as i know don’t really come from a moral/ethical perspective but often just a pseudoscientific angle- which for me is something that would rather push me away from a topic

    1 vote
  17. Comment on Factory farming is a blight in ~enviro

    ali
    Link Parent
    I mean in the end, that’s what it is? Don’t call yourself vegan if you’re not vegan. I have been vegan for 2 years and plant based for a few months before that. If you only think about your food-...

    This has also been my understanding, to the extent of seeing vegans tell other folks that those folks are plant based not vegan due to it being not a moral stance or full lifestyle shift

    I mean in the end, that’s what it is? Don’t call yourself vegan if you’re not vegan.
    I have been vegan for 2 years and plant based for a few months before that. If you only think about your food- you’re plant based. It’s good, but you’re not vegan.

    Veganism is not a diet, it’s about choosing to not see animals as a resource to be exploited.

    It’s also kind of shifting the discussion away from the actual topic of veganism, when people call themselves vegan even though their reasons for not eating animal products are not based on ethics.

  18. Comment on Eighty million galaxies: gigantic astronomical catalog viewable online in ~space

    ali
    (edited )
    Link Parent
    Thank you for the kind words! I think it’s a caching issue. I have to fix that. If you do a hard refresh it should be better Actually I think it’s a bug. Checking it out when I’m home Edit: fixed...

    Thank you for the kind words!
    I think it’s a caching issue. I have to fix that. If you do a hard refresh it should be better

    Actually I think it’s a bug. Checking it out when I’m home

    Edit: fixed the bug. thanks for the report

    1 vote
  19. Comment on Fitness Weekly Discussion in ~health

    ali
    Link
    Getting back into lifting after mostly just running. Hit 70kg for 3 reps on the bench, which is close to my body weight (73kg) Every day without sports feels weird nowadays. Really enjoying my...

    Getting back into lifting after mostly just running. Hit 70kg for 3 reps on the bench, which is close to my body weight (73kg)

    Every day without sports feels weird nowadays.

    Really enjoying my progress, and feeling much better mentally and physically

    6 votes