MimicSquid's recent activity
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Comment on You can finally change the goofy Gmail address you chose years ago in ~tech
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Comment on Megathread: April Fools' Day 2026 on the internet in ~talk
MimicSquid Link ParentIt will very slowly load the image one line of pixels at a time in a way that's very nostalgic for anyone who started browsing the internet and wanted to look at images while modems were still a...It will very slowly load the image one line of pixels at a time in a way that's very nostalgic for anyone who started browsing the internet and wanted to look at images while modems were still a thing.
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Comment on Megathread: April Fools' Day 2026 on the internet in ~talk
MimicSquid Link ParentThe grayscale/greyscale mode got me good.The grayscale/greyscale mode got me good.
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Comment on Weekly US politics news and updates thread - week of March 30 in ~society
MimicSquid Link ParentHe can't. A law was passed by the Republicans that require the consent of the Senate to back out of NATO.He can't. A law was passed by the Republicans that require the consent of the Senate to back out of NATO.
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Comment on Pokémon Go players built a thirty-billion-photo map for AI in ~tech
MimicSquid Link ParentIt's voluntary, but highly incentivized, as the more locations close to you the more power there is for you to garner in game. It works well for everyone, though the player pay to play and also...It's voluntary, but highly incentivized, as the more locations close to you the more power there is for you to garner in game. It works well for everyone, though the player pay to play and also provide free labor. Not quite equitable.
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Comment on Disney reportedly keen on buying Fortnite developer Epic Games in ~games
MimicSquid LinkBecause Disney can no longer do anything but acquire other, more successful companies and attempt to extract every bit of nostalgia or goodwill anyone has towards that company and turn it into...Because Disney can no longer do anything but acquire other, more successful companies and attempt to extract every bit of nostalgia or goodwill anyone has towards that company and turn it into profit to allow it to continue to devour anything of interest.
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Comment on Can we talk about rice cookers? in ~food
MimicSquid LinkMy experience is that rice cookers that also do other things are not as good at cooking rice. I have an 8 quart Instant Pot that I use for stews, chili, and other slow-cooking and pressure cooking...My experience is that rice cookers that also do other things are not as good at cooking rice. I have an 8 quart Instant Pot that I use for stews, chili, and other slow-cooking and pressure cooking tasks, but it makes fairly mediocre rice, and so I have a dedicated Zojirushi rice cooker as well, which makes fantastic rice. It also means that I can have the main dish and the rice cooking simultaneously without any fuss.
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Comment on UK government blocks Chinese firm’s plans to build wind turbines in Scotland in ~enviro
MimicSquid LinkSo, I can understand national security concerns if you start to depend on a competitor nation's corporate interests for energy infrastructure, but it does seem like a failure in messaging to not...So, I can understand national security concerns if you start to depend on a competitor nation's corporate interests for energy infrastructure, but it does seem like a failure in messaging to not have an alternative lined up when you reject the big offer that seems so positive upfront.
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Comment on Scientists uncovered the nutrients bees were missing -- colonies surged fifteen-fold in ~science
MimicSquid Link ParentIt's cheaper to ship them than maintain them on site for the 11 months of the year they aren't needed for a given crop's pollination.It's cheaper to ship them than maintain them on site for the 11 months of the year they aren't needed for a given crop's pollination.
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Comment on AI software for smart glasses wins £1m prize for technology to help people with dementia in ~health.mental
MimicSquid Link[A scientist in dementia studies unconnected to this technology said] more carefully controlled studies or randomised trials were needed to test whether such devices delivered meaningful benefits in everyday life, while there were also ethical considerations over consent, given the technology will collect data from the wearer.
He also said a challenge for assistive technologies was whether people would really use them. In particular, he noted the battery life for the smart glasses was only one hour, meaning a portable power bank was required.
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Comment on Ottawa's big bet on world's largest cricket farm ran into a simple problem: the 'yuck factor' in ~food
MimicSquid (edited )LinkReally, what it reveals is that the business didn't prove that there was a market at the price they could provide, nor that they could make their system work at the scale they thought they could,...Really, what it reveals is that the business didn't prove that there was a market at the price they could provide, nor that they could make their system work at the scale they thought they could, but were able to convince people with money that they had the answers to a novel problem. If this wasn't cricket related, there would be no story here.
Back during the height of the cricket craze in 2013, I was doing initial review of financing proposals for small farming enterprises, and had a couple of different organizations ask for money to do smaller scale cricket farming enclosures for large scale farming. Every one of them was more thought out than "stick them in plastic bins." I don't know what techniques have developed in the last decade, but it does sound like Aspire Food Group wasn't using them. Pity.
I'm broadly enthusiastic about novel food sources, and think that crickets have a place in the array of things people would benefit from being open to eating. Personally, as someone with a mild shellfish intolerance (itchy mouth and digestional upset), I found that crickets triggered the same reactions. At least from my perspective, that makes them a poor candidate as a protein meal inclusion in other dishes, which is the commonly proposed way of hiding the fact that there's bugs in the food.
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Comment on I think Tildes moderators and admins may need to make a decision regarding how to handle Harry Potter related posts in ~tildes
MimicSquid Link ParentYou can label anyone's posts without engaging in any other way with the thread.You can label anyone's posts without engaging in any other way with the thread.
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Comment on Offbeat Fridays – The thread where offbeat headlines become front page news in ~news
MimicSquid Link ParentNo one would buy all of it, but you can resell food so easily. Any smaller store will buy a couple of cases without question, and it's likely that plenty of smaller wholesalers could buy a pallet...No one would buy all of it, but you can resell food so easily. Any smaller store will buy a couple of cases without question, and it's likely that plenty of smaller wholesalers could buy a pallet or two without it being noticeable unless their books were specifically audited.
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Comment on Interesting material types for fantasy resources/macguffins other than crystals or metals? in ~creative
MimicSquid Link ParentA little bit? spoilers answer What I've described is a synthesis of tiny fragments and clues spread across a 40 hour game. Some of the pilgrims express this odd helplessness, where they've got to...A little bit?
spoilers answer
What I've described is a synthesis of tiny fragments and clues spread across a 40 hour game. Some of the pilgrims express this odd helplessness, where they've got to climb without ever explaining why, and there are some notes that indicate that the Weavers regret having perpetrated the system, but they're all dead or fled. Hornet, the protagonist, is literally the granddaughter of the aptly named Grand Mother Silk, the daughter of one of the Weavers who fled. The different endings of the game offer her the choice of overthrowing GMS and perpetrating the system that led to such suffering, or casting GMS down and freeing the Kingdom from her sleeping tyranny without placing Hornet at the top of the pile. So the options do leave you with the ability to break the cycle, but it's very much in the subtext rather than discussed in detail. -
Comment on Interesting material types for fantasy resources/macguffins other than crystals or metals? in ~creative
MimicSquid Link ParentSo many Silksong spoilers: Within Silksong, the big bad is Grand Mother Silk, a spider-esque deity that wove Silken threads into creatures to force-evolve them, creating a generation of daughters...So many Silksong spoilers:
Within Silksong, the big bad is Grand Mother Silk, a spider-esque deity that wove Silken threads into creatures to force-evolve them, creating a generation of daughters to serve her as puppets. The Weavers, who wielded that silk on her behalf, eventually cocooned her therein and played beautiful songs to her to keep her asleep. To reinforce their song, those Weavers in turn threaded the silk further into all the other bugs of the Kingdom to serve, singing in the Chorus and building the Citadel around Grand Mother Silk's cocoon to maintain her torpor. The Weavers eventually died or fled, leaving the bugs to use the Silk they fail to completely understand to maintain the workings of the citadel and extend their lives. But even as the Citadel has fallen so far, the descendants of the bugs of the Citadel are still compelled by the silk remnants within their shells to make the pilgrimage to the Citadel to reinforce the bindings. They invariably die along the way, but the Silk they bring fuels the decaying remains of the Citadel.
So Silk is simultaneously a source of power and evolution, and a loss of control. It lets you live longer and do more, but the deeper it's wound into your shell, the closer you are to being a puppet.
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Comment on Pope Leo calls universal healthcare a 'moral imperative' in ~society
MimicSquid Link ParentPrivate health care companies already refuse care or otherwise kill people to save costs. Government "death panels" have been a played out talking point for twenty years at this point.Private health care companies already refuse care or otherwise kill people to save costs. Government "death panels" have been a played out talking point for twenty years at this point.
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Comment on US Army ups maximum enlistment age to 42, relaxes rules on marijuana in ~society
MimicSquid Link ParentEspecially if you're older and have a degree of some sort you aren't going to stay at a low rank very long. There's an officer candidate program that makes sure you hit the basic fitness...Especially if you're older and have a degree of some sort you aren't going to stay at a low rank very long. There's an officer candidate program that makes sure you hit the basic fitness requirements but sends you directly onto an officer track.
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Comment on US to pay TotalEnergies $1 billion to stop developing offshore wind in US in ~enviro
MimicSquid LinkSpending our money to make our prices higher. The cruelty is half the point, and the penury of the public is the other half.Spending our money to make our prices higher. The cruelty is half the point, and the penury of the public is the other half.
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Comment on The Candlemakers' Petition by Frédéric Bastiat (1845) in ~humanities.history
MimicSquid LinkIt makes perfect sense. The ultimate argument for free trade is the inherent bounty of the world.It makes perfect sense. The ultimate argument for free trade is the inherent bounty of the world.
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Comment on Zachtronics returns from retirement to release an add-on for Opus Magnum in ~games
MimicSquid Link ParentThis is something I really like from the incremental game genre. The whole point of the game is to get faster and faster, unlock new mechanics, and at some point develop something that trivializes...This is something I really like from the incremental game genre. The whole point of the game is to get faster and faster, unlock new mechanics, and at some point develop something that trivializes the earlier set of mechanics in favor of the new novelty. So you always have something that needs attending, but the old boring stuff is streamlined away.
As someone who ran their own business for a long time, preserve that separation between your work and professional emails. You've got to be able to put the work down at the end of the day, and having work email in your personal email box is a great way to never actually be not working.