first-must-burn's recent activity

  1. Comment on Disney+, Hulu, Max bundle now available in ~tv

    first-must-burn
    Link Parent
    This is why I'm ready to switch to piracy. I will pay for no ads, but it has to be no ads.

    This is why I'm ready to switch to piracy. I will pay for no ads, but it has to be no ads.

    13 votes

  2. Comment on Non-parents give crappy parenting advice in ~life

    first-must-burn
    Link Parent
    I read this and laughed out loud. I want to go back and give 18mo-3.5 year you a hug. Sometimes it's so hard. But you did it anyway, and that's what counts.

    18 months -> 3.5 year: A hellscape of fostering independence but a lack of language and temperament skills to express that desire resulting in many, many, many tantrums. Playtime is frustrating because they crave more complex play but again, lack the language skills to execute.

    I read this and laughed out loud. I want to go back and give 18mo-3.5 year you a hug. Sometimes it's so hard. But you did it anyway, and that's what counts.

    2 votes

  3. Comment on Non-parents give crappy parenting advice in ~life

    first-must-burn
    Link Parent
    FWIW, I was a fan of Your Parenting Mojo back in the day. Podcasts are a pretty accessible format for new parents, and it was all research-based stuff.

    And everyone's got studies lying around to back up their claims, but what parent has the time to dive into the dry read of a scientific study to make their parenting decisions?

    FWIW, I was a fan of Your Parenting Mojo back in the day. Podcasts are a pretty accessible format for new parents, and it was all research-based stuff.

    2 votes

  4. Comment on Non-parents give crappy parenting advice in ~life

    first-must-burn
    Link Parent
    I'm almost the same age, and my mom often tells me, "It's amazing the resources you have at your disposal as parents. We had Dr. Spock and that was it. But you have social media and all the online...

    I'm almost the same age, and my mom often tells me, "It's amazing the resources you have at your disposal as parents. We had Dr. Spock and that was it. But you have social media and all the online stuff to deal with in parenting, so I think you have it harder."

    25 votes

  5. Comment on Movie of the Week #39 - Barbie in ~movies

    first-must-burn
    Link Parent
    Thanks for this. I don't think I ever really think as deeply about movies as this, but it makes me want to go watch it again and pay more attention.

    Thanks for this. I don't think I ever really think as deeply about movies as this, but it makes me want to go watch it again and pay more attention.

    2 votes

  6. Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games

    first-must-burn
    Link Parent
    Oh man, I have this in my "when life slows down". The way you described it is everything I loved about the first one. So looking forward to it.

    Oh man, I have this in my "when life slows down". The way you described it is everything I loved about the first one. So looking forward to it.

    1 vote

  7. Comment on Movie of the Week #39 - Barbie in ~movies

    first-must-burn
    Link Parent
    I admit I did not watch it very closely, so maybe this is misplaced, but what I thought was interesting was the default mode for patriarchy was chaos and control, where the default mode for...

    I admit I did not watch it very closely, so maybe this is misplaced, but what I thought was interesting was the default mode for patriarchy was chaos and control, where the default mode for matriarchy was ... indifference?

    Set it against something like The Power (the book, I have not seen the TV adaptation), where the overarching theme seems to be that power corrupts no matter who wields it.

    I'm for better female and feminist representations in movies, so in that sense, I'm glad it wasn't just objectifying nonsense, which it easily could have been in different hands. Given the historical baggage of Barbie and the need to keep Mattel happy, I think it did okay. But I think a less idealized matriarchy vs patriarchy exploration would have been more interesting.

    7 votes

  8. Comment on Jessica Valenti (Abortion, Every Day) summarizing Kamala Harris' position on abortion rights in ~misc

    first-must-burn
    Link Parent
    FWIW, I had forgotten there was a megathread. I normally browse by activity with "last 24 hours", but with that setting, it doesn't show up for me, even though the last comment on it was 8 hours...

    FWIW, I had forgotten there was a megathread. I normally browse by activity with "last 24 hours", but with that setting, it doesn't show up for me, even though the last comment on it was 8 hours ago. I do see the new one that was posted today. Maybe that is a bug, or maybe I my understanding of the settings is wrong. I think this is the default or almost the default setting, so if it's similar for many people, that might account for the behavior.

    I personally don't find the megathreads that useful, though I'm not refusing to use it if that's policy (see above). I'd rather see things posted as topics and use the tag or category groupings for people that want to browse them all at once (I don't, I just browse the feed). It would be much easier to filter by other tags (for example, if you want to see things about politics but not abortion) this way than if everything is a post in a single topic. Maybe this argues for a ~politics, but when people ask about it, I think the usual answer is, "use the tags, that's what they are there for".

    6 votes

  9. Comment on Jessica Valenti (Abortion, Every Day) summarizing Kamala Harris' position on abortion rights in ~misc

    first-must-burn
    Link Parent
    I'm glad people are still paying attention to it. To be clear about my position, I don't want it to be "old news", just that I fear it is. I hope Harris (or whoever) drives hard with it to make it...

    I'm glad people are still paying attention to it.

    To be clear about my position, I don't want it to be "old news", just that I fear it is. I hope Harris (or whoever) drives hard with it to make it a (the?) central issue of the election.

    I don't know if this could happen, but it would be amazing if they pushed a federal bill (maybe it needs to be an amendment?) legalizing abortion out and forced the republicans to take it on right before the election.

    5 votes

  10. Comment on Jessica Valenti (Abortion, Every Day) summarizing Kamala Harris' position on abortion rights in ~misc

    first-must-burn
    Link
    Some key points: There's also some analysis of the possibility of Harris using abortion to attack Trump's campaign. We've seen this be successful in the past few elections, though it feels like...

    Some key points:

    “We have to be a nation that trusts women,” Harris said.

    Harris "visiting a Minnesota abortion clinic in March—a historic first"

    There's also some analysis of the possibility of Harris using abortion to attack Trump's campaign. We've seen this be successful in the past few elections, though it feels like "old news", I'm hoping that it provides some silver lining to this situation if Harris ends up being the candidate.

    20 votes

  12. Comment on What creative projects have you been working on? in ~creative

    first-must-burn
    Link Parent
    We should buy some canes and take them to a tech con and shake them at people!

    We should buy some canes and take them to a tech con and shake them at people!

    1 vote

  13. Comment on A summer Covid-19 wave in ~health

    first-must-burn
    Link Parent
    This is a good point, but unfortunately I don't have a group like that, and I think most of the survivalist types (at least in my area) will skew right wing. Maybe I can start a lefty survivalists...

    This is a good point, but unfortunately I don't have a group like that, and I think most of the survivalist types (at least in my area) will skew right wing. Maybe I can start a lefty survivalists group on meetup and see what happens.

    1 vote

  14. Comment on Let's build a playlist! in ~music

    first-must-burn
    Link
    Here's some favs from my "liked music". Picking just five was harder than I thought, so there is no real rationale to this list. Waste of Confetti by Meg Myers Death by Diamonds and Pearls by Band...

    Here's some favs from my "liked music". Picking just five was harder than I thought, so there is no real rationale to this list.

    • Waste of Confetti by Meg Myers
    • Death by Diamonds and Pearls by Band of Skulls (the whole album is fantastic)
    • Chaise Longue by Wet Leg – is your mother worried? Would you like us to assign someone to worry your mother
    • Sky Full of Song by Florence + The Machine
    • Weatherman by Dead Sara
    4 votes

  15. Comment on What creative projects have you been working on? in ~creative

    first-must-burn
    Link Parent
    Thanks for the pointer. I just watched some tutorial videos. It seems really cool. It reminds me a lot of PovRay (yeah, I'm old) but with an excellent UI, althought the underlying SDF seems to be...

    Thanks for the pointer. I just watched some tutorial videos. It seems really cool. It reminds me a lot of PovRay (yeah, I'm old) but with an excellent UI, althought the underlying SDF seems to be different from Ray tracing.

    I'm not sure I would use it for printable models because anything I can construct with CSG I can more precisely construct in a parametric tool. But maybe i am just set in my ways. And it's amazing for a free tool. Maybe I could get my daughter into it.

    2 votes

  16. Comment on A summer Covid-19 wave in ~health

    first-must-burn
    Link Parent
    One of my problems is I don't know where I would move to. Canada has this problem. Europe has this problem. Where I am now, Pittsburgh and Philly are blue, but rural Pennsylvania is as red as East...

    One of my problems is I don't know where I would move to. Canada has this problem. Europe has this problem.

    Where I am now, Pittsburgh and Philly are blue, but rural Pennsylvania is as red as East Texas (where I grew up). Right now I live in a suburb that's just about where the yard signs start changing from Biden to Trump. So it's probably the best case scenario for staying in the US, and far enough north that warming is not going to cripple us locally.

    Sometimes I think about buying some land and building a fortified compound, but 1) we don't really have the money to provision it in a way that would make us truly independent, 2) I'm not really interested in the violence that defending it would require and 3) the solitude would be terrible for my daughter.

    7 votes

  17. Comment on Now available: AI indulgences in ~tech

    first-must-burn
    Link
    I know this is supposed to be a joke, but I wonder how much money he'd make if it was priced at $10 and increasing 1% per week

    I know this is supposed to be a joke, but I wonder how much money he'd make if it was priced at $10 and increasing 1% per week

    7 votes

  18. Comment on What creative projects have you been working on? in ~creative

    first-must-burn
    Link
    A friend is a big fan of cuddly bats. She is getting married and wanted them for her cake topper, but there are no figurine versions available. With permission from the artist, she asked me if I...

    A friend is a big fan of cuddly bats. She is getting married and wanted them for her cake topper, but there are no figurine versions available. With permission from the artist, she asked me if I could 3D print some.

    3D sculpting is not really my thing(I usually do functional parts in Solidworks), but I decided to give it a try. I am pretty happy with the way they came out.

    Even though it was a new tool to me, I managed to make them during the two week free trial for Zbrush. Fortunately there are a ton of tutorials online including a great one for making bat wings. Then I printed them on my mk4 and painted them with regular acrylics.

    I have to say, it was pretty fun to do. I feel like I just scratched the surface with Zbrush. It's pretty affordable (for being so powerful), so maybe I will pick up a license if I find an opportunity for some more modeling work.

    10 votes

  19. Comment on Trouble with time boxing in ~health.mental

    first-must-burn
    Link
    One thing that I do that might help is to start winding yourself to a stopping place before the end of the block. Sometime before the block ends, start thinking what you need to do to leave things...

    One thing that I do that might help is to start winding yourself to a stopping place before the end of the block. Sometime before the block ends, start thinking what you need to do to leave things in a ready state for starting back up. For me this is things like:

    • picking a stopping place in the code or document that I can reach before the block ends
    • saving/committing/pushing my work
    • making notes to myself about what the first two or three tasks I will do the next time I start the task
    • sending out any emails about blockers that other people can be making progress on before the next start, or a status update to stakeholders if needed

    I think the part about making yourself notes for next time could be especially helpful with letting you feel like you've "closed the task".

    If you have trouble stopping, it might help to set an alarm for 30 minutes before, pick your stopping point, then snooze the alarm in ten minute intervals so you can keep track of whether you're winding down to the end. It may take some practice.

    To be clear, this is my method when I have a "hard stop" because of a meeting, having to leave work to pick my kid up, etc. When I have time to get to a natural stopping place, I prefer that, but even then I still do most of those tasks to prepare for a transition.

    2 votes

  20. Comment on You don’t need a pickup truck, you need a cowboy costume in ~transport

    first-must-burn
    Link
    I grew up in East Texas so driving a truck is definitely part of my identity. Weirdly, having been away from Texas for almost 20 years has changed many of my views, but not that one. I have a 2006...

    I grew up in East Texas so driving a truck is definitely part of my identity. Weirdly, having been away from Texas for almost 20 years has changed many of my views, but not that one.

    I have a 2006 Honda Ridgeline (basically a Pilot with a bed), and I often tell people it's "just the right amount of truck for a software engineer". Before that, I drove a 2002 Ranger, which was the same length but a foot narrower than the Ridgeline.

    The Ridgeline is our "Family car" when my wife, daughter and I travel together and for car trips (her impreza is too small to be comfortable for me, and too small to bring what we would bring for trips of any length). It's been a great car, and we've been able to put 100k miles on it over the last 15 years without any worries about reliability, or much maintenance cost to speak of.

    Whatever it is that makes people want to buy another truck is at work on me too. I've thought about getting a tonneau cover for the next one (basically makes the bed a giant trunk), but never thought about not getting one. I'm not sure if I would buy a fully electric one. The Lightning is too big anyway, and I wouldn't buy a Rivian until they've been around longer. I'm hoping we see some hybrid trucks with AWD.

    6 votes