dustylungs's recent activity
-
Comment on What creative projects have you been working on? in ~creative
-
Comment on What creative projects have you been working on? in ~creative
dustylungs LinkI think I would be officially categorized as "old", but I have recently had a fun with a traditional children's summer camp activity: acrylic paint. I stumbled into a sale on acrylic paint markers...I think I would be officially categorized as "old", but I have recently had a fun with a traditional children's summer camp activity: acrylic paint. I stumbled into a sale on acrylic paint markers recently and started turning round river rocks from my backyard into colorful bugs and cartoonish monster creatures. I have a lot more of those in mind, but I've also started painting other things around the house like light switch covers. I'm not a super artistic person, but I love doodling, and I've found that shifting my stress-relief doodling energy into paint markers has felt really good.
-
Comment on Campus characters: Identical twins, the Byers, live identical lives (2014) in ~life
dustylungs Link ParentAnd there are so many interesting biological, psychological and social questions that can be asked about twins that didn't even get a passing reference. I read it expecting something, anything at...And there are so many interesting biological, psychological and social questions that can be asked about twins that didn't even get a passing reference. I read it expecting something, anything at all, more than "heh heh, they get a lot of attention because they're twins and they do things the same!"
-
Comment on Happy World Toilet Day! in ~health
dustylungs LinkWorld Toilet Day is an opportunity to think about one of many things we take for granted, and to consider the challenges facing individuals in communities lacking similar resources. World Toilet...World Toilet Day is an opportunity to think about one of many things we take for granted, and to consider the challenges facing individuals in communities lacking similar resources. World Toilet Day is obviously not a "happy" day, but we can "celebrate" it by reflecting on, and raising awareness about this and other consequences of inequality in the world, and possibly about steps that can be taken to address the causes and effects of that inequality.
-
Happy World Toilet Day!
10 votes -
Comment on Cyclist falls down 130-foot ravine in France, survives three days by drinking wine he had in shopping bag in ~life
dustylungs LinkThe wine lobbyists have been losing the battle to convince people that wine is good for your health. But in this case, wine clearly extended this man's lifespan.The wine lobbyists have been losing the battle to convince people that wine is good for your health. But in this case, wine clearly extended this man's lifespan.
-
Comment on How Zohran Mamdani fought the master plan | The key factor isn’t his ads or charisma — it is a public campaign finance system that can be replicated across the US in ~society
dustylungs Link ParentI still see it as a glimmer of hope. But along the lines of your concern, I can already imagine the anti-public-campaign-financing media blitz: "He's Muslim! He's a socialist! He's probably...I still see it as a glimmer of hope. But along the lines of your concern, I can already imagine the anti-public-campaign-financing media blitz: "He's Muslim! He's a socialist! He's probably gay-friendly too! Look what happens when you let liberals use your tax dollars to finance public office campaigns."
-
Comment on How Zohran Mamdani fought the master plan | The key factor isn’t his ads or charisma — it is a public campaign finance system that can be replicated across the US in ~society
dustylungs LinkThe idea goes back to Teddy Roosevelt who was responding to corruption in the Gilded Age:Thanks to New York City’s nearly four-decade-old clean elections system that publicly finances candidates for municipal office, Mamdani has had nearly $13 million of government funds to run a competitive campaign against tens of millions of dollars that oligarchs spent to boost disgraced Democratic former governor Andrew Cuomo.
the biggest lesson in Mamdani’s race is that — regardless of your political party or ideology — if you want candidates who come from outside the system and aren’t puppets of big donors and corrupt political machines, then you should get behind the nonpartisan movement to publicly finance the elections in your community, your state, and your country.
The idea goes back to Teddy Roosevelt who was responding to corruption in the Gilded Age:
“There is a very radical measure which would, I believe, work a substantial improvement in our system of conducting a campaign,” Roosevelt wrote in his annual message to Congress that year. “The need for collecting large campaign funds would vanish if Congress provided an appropriation for the proper and legitimate expenses of each of the great national parties, an appropriation ample enough to meet the necessity for thorough organization and machinery, which requires a large expenditure of money.”
-
How Zohran Mamdani fought the master plan | The key factor isn’t his ads or charisma — it is a public campaign finance system that can be replicated across the US
31 votes -
Comment on What does ChatGPT know about you? in ~tech
dustylungs LinkChatGPT gave me a 10 point list full of compliments; not a bad remark on the list. But it's common knowledge that ChatGPT is eye-rollingly sycophantic, so I tried again with this prompt to balance...ChatGPT gave me a 10 point list full of compliments; not a bad remark on the list. But it's common knowledge that ChatGPT is eye-rollingly sycophantic, so I tried again with this prompt to balance it out:
Those are all very positive. What negative or unflattering "user knowledge memories" do you have?
To which it replied:
None. The stored “user knowledge memories” describe only factual, neutral context about your skills, interests, and goals. They don’t include judgments, personality traits, or emotional characterizations—positive or negative.
If you want, I can review all stored memories and flag anything that could implicitly create bias (e.g., overemphasizing certain strengths) or that you’d prefer deleted or rewritten for neutrality. Would you like that?
Yes. Yes, I would like that.
The outcome was frustratingly the same. It revised the original 10-point list to make the characterizations slightly less ingratiating. Not in the least bit critical; just less ingratiating. And only slightly so.
-
Comment on What have you been listening to this week? in ~music
dustylungs LinkTuba Skinny. They're a New Orleans street band that plays old jazz and ragtime music. I don't know much about jazz music but Tuba Skinny has hit me where I needed it recently.Tuba Skinny. They're a New Orleans street band that plays old jazz and ragtime music. I don't know much about jazz music but Tuba Skinny has hit me where I needed it recently.
-
Comment on What common misunderstanding do you want to clear up? in ~talk
dustylungs Link ParentAs someone living through an expanding population boom of invasive spotted lantern flies, there are times when I pause and wonder if I'm hurting the bugs I'm squashing left and right. But then I...As someone living through an expanding population boom of invasive spotted lantern flies, there are times when I pause and wonder if I'm hurting the bugs I'm squashing left and right. But then I keep on squashing.
-
Comment on What are some of your personal misheard lyrics? in ~music
dustylungs LinkA friend of mine used to corrupt Creedence Clearwater's "there's a bad moon on the rise" with "there's a bathroom on the right", and now I can't unhear that. It ruined the song for me.A friend of mine used to corrupt Creedence Clearwater's "there's a bad moon on the rise" with "there's a bathroom on the right", and now I can't unhear that. It ruined the song for me.
-
Comment on What words do you recommend? in ~talk
dustylungs Link"Grapholect" is an interesting word. Just as dialect refers to a spoken variant of a language, grapholect refers to a written variant. I like this word because it emphasizes the importance of..."Grapholect" is an interesting word. Just as dialect refers to a spoken variant of a language, grapholect refers to a written variant. I like this word because it emphasizes the importance of reading and writing to intellectual life. Walter Ong's book, “Orality and Literacy”, says that oral dialects are typically comprised of a few thousand words, while “the grapholect known as standard English" has over 1.5 million words.
-
Comment on What words do you recommend? in ~talk
dustylungs Link ParentActually, a great approach to academic writing is through elimination of awkward words and phrases or, more generally, elimination of all but the minimal elements needed to illustrate your ideas....Actually, a great approach to academic writing is through elimination of awkward words and phrases or, more generally, elimination of all but the minimal elements needed to illustrate your ideas. Strunk and White would give you a nod of approval.
-
Comment on What's a setting that you'd recommend? in ~tech
dustylungs Link ParentZooming in on this part of your comment. Before I got an espresso machine, I used an Aeropress for years. I generally live by the KISS principle (keep it simple, stupid) and the Aeropress is like...Aeropress
Zooming in on this part of your comment. Before I got an espresso machine, I used an Aeropress for years. I generally live by the KISS principle (keep it simple, stupid) and the Aeropress is like a Lagrange point in functional simplicity: better-than-decent coffee, easy to clean, portable and-- at least in my experience --indestructible in normal usage. There are a lot of guides online with instructions and recipes for frilly foofoo drinks that can be made with the Aeropress, but for regular old coffee-no-cream, it is really hard to beat an Aeropress. The only non-stock tweak I use on the Aeropress is to use a Prismo attachment with a paper filter.
-
Comment on What's a setting that you'd recommend? in ~tech
dustylungs Link{"coffee": { "cream": "no", "sugar": "no" }}{"coffee": {
"cream": "no",
"sugar": "no"
}} -
Comment on Investment club? in ~finance
dustylungs LinkI'm in no position to be giving investment strategy advice, but I wonder if a starting point for a club might be with recommended readings rather than discussion of specific investments*....I'm in no position to be giving investment strategy advice, but I wonder if a starting point for a club might be with recommended readings rather than discussion of specific investments*. Personally, I would recommend anything related to the efficient market hypothesis. Burton Malkiel's Random Walk Down Wall Street is hard to beat on that topic. ( *although I too recommend VTI/VTSMX/VTSAX. )
-
Comment on Question about breathing while exercising in ~health
dustylungs LinkI ran track in high school and was mildly successful and I never breathed through my nose when doing anything much harder than a mild jog. I was also on my bike 12 months a year for all occasions...I ran track in high school and was mildly successful and I never breathed through my nose when doing anything much harder than a mild jog. I was also on my bike 12 months a year for all occasions and would always breath through my mouth when doing anything but the lightest of riding (more than a handful of bugs met their fate in my lungs). Some people have an air passage through their noses big enough to breathe even during fairly strenuous exercise, but not everyone.
-
Comment on This to That (glue advice) in ~creative
dustylungs LinkYour handy web-based tool tip of the day. I supposed this could also be a request for other useful single-purpose web-based tools. If you know of one you'd like to share, please glue it to this...Your handy web-based tool tip of the day. I supposed this could also be a request for other useful single-purpose web-based tools. If you know of one you'd like to share, please glue it to this post in a comment below.
Great idea. Now I'm going to be thinking of tshirt designs.