epitten's recent activity

  1. Comment on After quitting antidepressants, some people suffer surprising, lingering symptoms in ~health.mental

    epitten
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    Clearly very late to the party here. I found the brain zaps very unpleasant but fortunately they only lasted a few weeks. The ramp-down was unpleasant enough that I'm unlikely to try it again. I...

    Clearly very late to the party here. I found the brain zaps very unpleasant but fortunately they only lasted a few weeks. The ramp-down was unpleasant enough that I'm unlikely to try it again.

    I will say that for me, it was helpful in preventing panic attacks, which was my main driver for seeking medication in the first place. That being said, I felt pretty emotionally numb while taking it - almost like the level of any emotion I could experience (positive or negative) was capped or dulled in some way. It helped me get to a point where I could seek out further help on my own, which was good. But it was unpleasant enough that it'd take a lot for me to come back for it. (Also, maybe other alternatives would have been better for me, but escitalopram is the only thing I've tried.)

    2 votes

  2. Comment on High pollen count: The last straw effect on suicide risk in ~health.mental

    epitten
    Link Parent
    Been doing allergy shots for 3 years now. Turns out I'm strongly allergic to a pretty wide range of pollen, to the point where if I was outside for 10 minutes my throat would itch for the rest of...

    Been doing allergy shots for 3 years now. Turns out I'm strongly allergic to a pretty wide range of pollen, to the point where if I was outside for 10 minutes my throat would itch for the rest of the day.

    The shots changed my life. Now with those and antihistamines during pollen season, I can have a more or less normal life, with the exception of mowing the lawn.

    If you're starting now, I'm hoping there will at least be a big difference for you by the time the pollen really starts to come out next spring (assuming you're in the Northern Hemisphere). For me, it did take some trial and error with the formulation and dosage of the shots, so don't be afraid to ask your doctor for alternatives if things aren't improving.

    Also, while building up the dosage, I found that at times my reactions to the shots were so severe that they were causing physical pain from the swelling, and hydrocortisone wasn't cutting it. They ended up prescribing me steroid cream (mometasone), which helped a lot. If you find yourself hitting that point, it might help to ask, as cold compresses didn't really do much to help for me.

    Hope it all goes well for you!

    3 votes

  3. Comment on What useful licenses or certifications are surprisingly cheap and easy to get? in ~talk

    epitten
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    I think "useful" is a tricky term here, as it can depend on a whole lot of other factors. For example, where I live, an EPA 608 license would let me do things like buy refrigerant but not install...

    I think "useful" is a tricky term here, as it can depend on a whole lot of other factors. For example, where I live, an EPA 608 license would let me do things like buy refrigerant but not install a new system - for that, I'd also need a state license (with occupational training requirements), and a permit from the city for a plan that's certified by a plumber and (in most cases) an electrician.

    For me, in the places I've lived, a permit to serve alcohol has been pretty easy to get and has let me do things like help out occasionally at a local bar and/or food festivals with alcohol. While it isn't crazy useful, it has opened up some nice options (like bartending for my friend's wedding).

    7 votes

  4. Comment on How to build greener, affordable AC for high humidity and hotter summers in ~engineering

    epitten
    Link Parent
    Thanks for all the info! Does this advice also apply to mini splits? As in, should we keep all of our mini splits on all the time in the summer, turning the set temperature up (but not off) during...

    Thanks for all the info! Does this advice also apply to mini splits? As in, should we keep all of our mini splits on all the time in the summer, turning the set temperature up (but not off) during the day? We live in an area that probably gets upwards of 95 F and high 60s RH.

    2 votes

  5. Comment on How bad are Nvidia GPUs for Linux really? in ~comp

    epitten
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    My experience with a desktop was generally fine in this setup. With a laptop, it was a lot of work that never quite got to where I wanted it. In my case, the external display ports were wired...

    My experience with a desktop was generally fine in this setup. With a laptop, it was a lot of work that never quite got to where I wanted it.

    In my case, the external display ports were wired through the GPU, so to get both the laptop display and external displays working properly (with screen scaling), I had to make the Nvidia GPU my primary and sacrifice my battery life. The alternative was to have no screen scaling, as if the Intel GPU was the primary and I scaled the Nvidia displays, the Nvidia GPU would have a disconnect between where it drew my mouse cursor and where the cursor actually was.

    So if you're considering this on a laptop, my advice would be to set aside a good amount of time to figure this kind of setup out and tweak things.

    1 vote

  6. Comment on Retailers hate that you buy big things on your laptop in ~finance

    epitten
    Link Parent
    The Ctrl-V block can often be sidestepped with an extension (at least for Chrome and Firefox) called Don't Fuck with Paste - that's been a huge lifesaver for me.

    The Ctrl-V block can often be sidestepped with an extension (at least for Chrome and Firefox) called Don't Fuck with Paste - that's been a huge lifesaver for me.

    10 votes

  7. Comment on What Is A Secure Note-Taking App? in ~comp

    epitten
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    It'd help to know what other features besides encryption you're looking for. I would not recommend Evernote, as the quality to price ratio has been declining for a while now. I've heard good...

    It'd help to know what other features besides encryption you're looking for. I would not recommend Evernote, as the quality to price ratio has been declining for a while now.

    I've heard good things about Obsidian, but if you're okay with a smaller feature set, Joplin is a nice free and open-source alternative that can sync to Drive, Dropbox, etc. and also has encryption. I personally sync it to my local file system and let my own file sync service sort it out.

    Notion is also fine too, but I found that to me it wasn't worth the price. Many others I know are perfectly happy with it, though.

    2 votes

  8. Comment on Why did you select your username for Tildes? in ~tildes

    epitten
    Link Parent
    Out of curiosity, how often are you typing your username? (As a username - if that's your real name typing it often makes sense.)

    Out of curiosity, how often are you typing your username? (As a username - if that's your real name typing it often makes sense.)

  9. Comment on Why did you select your username for Tildes? in ~tildes

    epitten
    Link Parent
    I love learning about ISO standards for things, and I love that you liked it so much you made it your username. But "internationally agreed correct way" isn't quite accurate. From the Wikipedia...

    I love learning about ISO standards for things, and I love that you liked it so much you made it your username.

    But "internationally agreed correct way" isn't quite accurate. From the Wikipedia article:

    This standard is not meant to define the proper method for brewing tea intended for general consumption, but rather to document a tea brewing procedure where meaningful sensory comparisons can be made.

    And obligatory Tom Scott video on trying ISO 3103 tea: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nAsrsMPftOI

    1 vote

  10. Comment on Complaints about Tildes and comparisons to other sites in ~tech

    epitten
    Link Parent
    I love this framing of it - thanks for putting words to what I was thinking and feeling. I do think the focus on quality content and discussion is an important element of the site to keep, but I...

    engage with the raison de etre

    I love this framing of it - thanks for putting words to what I was thinking and feeling.

    I do think the focus on quality content and discussion is an important element of the site to keep, but I agree that telling people to assimilate or leave isn't warranted. I think the way to do this is for us to be clear to newer users about what we are and what we value here.

    The culture and vibe of the community will almost certainly change over time, and new users can and should contribute to that change. As long as they do that by engaging with what we are now, i.e. understanding where we are now and why, that's likely to be a healthy process.

    To draw another analogy, if you move into my place, you absolutely get to talk about what you'd like the place to look like and help make it a place that's more comfortable for you to live in. But the onus is on both of us to make sure you understand why this place is the way it is, and start the discussion from there.

    9 votes

  11. Comment on Has anyone here cleaned their coffee grinder? What did you use and how did it go? in ~food

    epitten
    Link Parent
    A very low-tech way to prevent the buildup of oily residue is to wipe the metal immediately after grinding with a dry paper towel or similar - it won't get everything, but it keeps the buildup...

    A very low-tech way to prevent the buildup of oily residue is to wipe the metal immediately after grinding with a dry paper towel or similar - it won't get everything, but it keeps the buildup from affecting the functionality of the machine.

  12. Comment on Has anyone here cleaned their coffee grinder? What did you use and how did it go? in ~food

    epitten
    Link Parent
    This grinding method is fascinating. How coarse and how consistent does the grind end up? Having tried to grind a variety of things in my grinder (for science), I've found that rice and such...

    This grinding method is fascinating. How coarse and how consistent does the grind end up?

    Having tried to grind a variety of things in my grinder (for science), I've found that rice and such usually works. But if your beans are oily, the rice dust will stick to the burr, and then you have to clean it with a brush, possibly some chemicals, and a lot of patience.

    1 vote

  13. Comment on Without saying where you live, where do you live? in ~talk

    epitten
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    Sorry to be the grumpy old person here, but I feel like this thread invites a lot of replies that don't really engage with each other and are on the low-effort side.

    Sorry to be the grumpy old person here, but I feel like this thread invites a lot of replies that don't really engage with each other and are on the low-effort side.

    31 votes

  14. Comment on Any cocktail enthusiasts/mixologists here? Feel free to share or workshop some good cocktail recipes! in ~food

    epitten
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    I keep a handwritten notebook of recipes I've tried and liked. They're from all over the place, so for many of them I don't have the source anymore. However, two I regularly make and still have...

    I keep a handwritten notebook of recipes I've tried and liked. They're from all over the place, so for many of them I don't have the source anymore. However, two I regularly make and still have the source recipes are:

    For finding new recipes, my go-to site is Difford's Guide (cocktail search page here: https://www.diffordsguide.com/cocktails/search). Being able to search by ingredient has been really helpful in expanding what I can do with my bottles. I usually find that I don't like their recipes as is, but they give me a good place to start tweaking.

    4 votes

  15. Comment on The documentation system in ~comp

    epitten
    Link Parent
    As I understand it, the https://diataxis.fr link is the original, so it probably makes more sense to link there. The GitHub repo that's the source for the page you posted even says it's forked...

    As I understand it, the https://diataxis.fr link is the original, so it probably makes more sense to link there.

    The GitHub repo that's the source for the page you posted even says it's forked from the original GitHub repo. As far as I can tell, it doesn't contain substantively different content than the original - or am I missing something?

    In any case, this seems to be a promising framework, and I'm going to try it with a few projects I'm working on this summer.

    3 votes

  16. Comment on <deleted topic> in ~lgbt

    epitten
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    Welcome, and thanks for the thoughtful post! I'm wondering if you could explain how you view the difference between vetrois and agender. When I was taught about definitions of gender, they were in...

    Welcome, and thanks for the thoughtful post!

    I'm wondering if you could explain how you view the difference between vetrois and agender. When I was taught about definitions of gender, they were in terms of societally-learned behaviors, roles, and expectations. Neither vetrois or agender fit into the historical male/female set of behaviors, roles, or expectations, but how do they differ from each other in your view?

    5 votes

  17. Comment on <deleted topic> in ~society

    epitten
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    Relevant excerpt of the 14th Amendment: Setting aside the things that have clearly changed since the time this amendment came into force (e.g., males aged 21 or older), there is certainly an...

    Relevant excerpt of the 14th Amendment:

    Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed. But when the right to vote at any election for the choice of electors for President and Vice President of the United States, Representatives in Congress, the Executive and Judicial officers of a State, or the members of the Legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such State, being twenty-one years of age, and citizens of the United States, or in any way abridged, except for participation in rebellion, or other crime, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in such State.

    Setting aside the things that have clearly changed since the time this amendment came into force (e.g., males aged 21 or older), there is certainly an interesting legal question of what it means to participate in "other crime", which seems likely to be the focal point of any arguments.

    While I'm lacking some historical context (i.e., other than what the article provides), this seems to severely limit the viability of the claim that "states that infringe the vote must lose representation in Congress". It's almost disingenuous/clickbaity to frame the article this way. But it's definitely a good starting point for thinking about how to actually bring this to the judicial system.

    5 votes

  18. Comment on 9 top subreddits for tech sustainability enthusiasts in ~enviro

  19. Comment on For a healthier planet, eat these fifty foods, campaign urges in ~enviro

    epitten
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    Here are the foods, in case you don't want to comb through the PDF that has the actual list: Laver seaweed (nori) Wakame seaweed Adzuki beans (red beans) Black turtle beans Broad beans (fava...

    Here are the foods, in case you don't want to comb through the PDF that has the actual list:

    1. Laver seaweed (nori)
    2. Wakame seaweed
    3. Adzuki beans (red beans)
    4. Black turtle beans
    5. Broad beans (fava beans)
    6. Bambara groundnuts/beans
    7. Cowpeas
    8. Lentils
    9. Marama beans
    10. Mung beans
    11. Soy beans
    12. Nopales (prickly pear)
    13. Amaranth
    14. Buckwheat
    15. Finger millet
    16. Fonio
    17. Khorasan wheat
    18. Quinoa
    19. Spelt
    20. Teff
    21. Wild rice
    22. Pumpkin flowers
    23. Okra
    24. Orange tomatoes
    25. Beet greens
    26. Broccoli rabe
    27. Kale
    28. Moringa
    29. Bok choy
    30. Pumpkin leaves
    31. Red cabbage
    32. Spinach
    33. Watercress
    34. Enoki mushrooms
    35. Maitake mushrooms
    36. Saffron milk cap mushrooms
    37. Flax seeds
    38. Hemp seeds
    39. Sesame seeds
    40. Walnuts
    41. Black salsify
    42. Parsley root
    43. White icicle radish (winter radish)
    44. Alfalfa sprouts
    45. Sprouted kidney beans
    46. Sprouted chickpeas
    47. Lotus root
    48. Ube (purple yam)
    49. Yam bean root (jicama)
    50. Red Indonesian (Cilembu) sweet potatoes
    4 votes

  20. Comment on What would you think of completely supressing user invites? in ~tildes

    epitten
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    I don't think that suppressing invites outright is going to help improve the community. What we likely need is a way to ensure that people are judicious in handing out invites. This would probably...

    I don't think that suppressing invites outright is going to help improve the community. What we likely need is a way to ensure that people are judicious in handing out invites. This would probably take the form of keeping track of invites in some way (like @dubteedub suggested) and using that to react accordingly both to users who are detrimental to the community and to users who invite such users.

    But what does it mean to be detrimental to the community? Is it someone who joins, views, and even votes on posts but never comments? Or is it only a user who actively detracts from the community (by trolling or stirring up controversy)? Is someone who makes many claims but rarely posts sources to back up those claims detrimental to the community?

    I'm personally only in favor of imposing sanctions for users that actively harm the community, but would be in support of a system that assigns "levels" of features for users depending on how much they have contributed, either by thoughtful posts or by inviting users that contribute positively to the community. For example, maybe each user gets one invite at first, and then the new user is vetted for some time before the original user gets another invite. This would take a significant amount of effort, but would hopefully ensure a quality community.

    2 votes