piratepants's recent activity

  1. Comment on <deleted topic> in ~food

    piratepants
    Link Parent
    I do something similar except I use hot sauce and mayo. You end up with a creamy buffalo sauce and it's easier to ramp up the spice if you like. I find using CFA buffalo kind of limits the max...

    I do something similar except I use hot sauce and mayo. You end up with a creamy buffalo sauce and it's easier to ramp up the spice if you like. I find using CFA buffalo kind of limits the max spice you can achieve.

    2 votes

  2. Comment on Facebook is being eclipsed by its youthful rival Snapchat in ~tech

    piratepants
    Link Parent
    Yes, I'm in the US. I just think it would be interesting to see if there are diverging preferences in platforms based on region, age, sex, or what have you.

    Yes, I'm in the US. I just think it would be interesting to see if there are diverging preferences in platforms based on region, age, sex, or what have you.

    1 vote

  3. Comment on Facebook is being eclipsed by its youthful rival Snapchat in ~tech

    piratepants
    Link
    I'd love to see this broken down more by age, gender, and region. I know at my kid's school, Instagram is king and Snapchat is a distant second in popularity.

    I'd love to see this broken down more by age, gender, and region. I know at my kid's school, Instagram is king and Snapchat is a distant second in popularity.

    3 votes

  4. Comment on Anyone into whisky/ey? in ~hobbies

    piratepants
    Link
    I love bourbon and whisky/ey. I'd say my favorite right now is Willett Pot Still Reserve. It's smooth, yet has the faintest sweetness and vanilla on the backend. As it opens up, the oak and spice...

    I love bourbon and whisky/ey.

    I'd say my favorite right now is Willett Pot Still Reserve. It's smooth, yet has the faintest sweetness and vanilla on the backend. As it opens up, the oak and spice starts to appear, and the flavors will subtly change on you. An excellent beverage to sip on all evening and just relax.

    If I'm going cheaper, I'll usually go for Woodford Reserve or Four Roses. Both are solid, but a little rougher around the edges than the Willett. If I'm making a mixed drink like a Julep or Old Fashioned, this is what I reach for. Also good for baking/cooking applications.

    If I'm going rye, I really like WhistlePig. Really high on the peppery / spice profile, but somehow not harsh. I'd love to try the WhistlePig Farmhouse release someday, but that's a lot of $.

    I've adored every Japanese whisky/ey I've been able to try, but hell if I know what I was drinking. All the labels were in kanji with no English to be found. If you're ever offered any, definitely give it a go. I wouldn't think Japan and whisky/ey, but they really seem to have some great distillers over there. If there are any suggestions as to what to look for (and maybe pics to help me ID the bottle), that would be appreciated.

    I would like to try any small, craft distillers people here might like. I find it hard to get any information on the small guys, so I never really know what to look for.

    2 votes

  5. Comment on Alrighty, show of hands, how many audiophiles do we have here? in ~hobbies

    piratepants
    Link Parent
    Oh it's not quite as fancy as a 275. It's just an old MC series. It's at least 20 years old now. Still sounds great though.

    Oh it's not quite as fancy as a 275. It's just an old MC series. It's at least 20 years old now. Still sounds great though.

  6. Comment on Alrighty, show of hands, how many audiophiles do we have here? in ~hobbies

    piratepants
    Link
    I could say I am. I normally use a pair of AKG 240 semi-open studio headphones along with a hand built headphone amp for personal listening and some hand built speakers (2.1) and an old McIntosh...

    I could say I am. I normally use a pair of AKG 240 semi-open studio headphones along with a hand built headphone amp for personal listening and some hand built speakers (2.1) and an old McIntosh amp to drive them. Forget the model number there.

    I also have a Aperion Audio 5.1 system up for sale now after hitting some health issue that landed me in the hospital. Bills need to be paid, so unfortunately they have to go. If you or another audiophile wants a screaming deal on some speaker, drop me a line.

  7. Comment on <deleted topic> in ~talk

    piratepants
    Link
    Is moving an option? It sounds like your neighborhood isn't the best and it's not going to get better anytime soon. If addicts are that much of a problem, I'd be worried less about them stealing...

    Is moving an option? It sounds like your neighborhood isn't the best and it's not going to get better anytime soon. If addicts are that much of a problem, I'd be worried less about them stealing your bike and more about them hurting you in an attempt to steal something from you. I know money might be tight, but if there's any way to get out, do it. It's not worth your personal safety.

    5 votes

  8. Comment on Vetting new users in ~tildes

    piratepants
    Link Parent
    This isn't really a valid method. For instance, if you looked at my profile on Reddit (not this screen name), you'd see a 10 year old account, with 24k karma, and 3 posts. Why? Because Reddit is...

    This isn't really a valid method. For instance, if you looked at my profile on Reddit (not this screen name), you'd see a 10 year old account, with 24k karma, and 3 posts. Why? Because Reddit is mining your posts for ad information and I don't like that. So, I use Power Delete Suite to go back and overwrite my comments that are more than about a week old, then delete them. With the amount of ad bots, doxxers, and general creepers out there, I'm not sure why anyone leaves their comment history up.

    13 votes

  9. Comment on A layperson's introduction to Homebrewing in ~hobbies

    piratepants
    Link Parent
    Well, if you or your husband have any questions, I'm sure ducks and I could help. Just shoot one or both of us a line!

    Well, if you or your husband have any questions, I'm sure ducks and I could help. Just shoot one or both of us a line!

    1 vote

  10. Comment on What milestone did your children hit that you weren't ready for? in ~life

    piratepants
    Link
    My daughter got her first period and first bra within a couple weeks of one another. She went from being a little girl to a tiny woman. It's not something that I was prepared for because it really...

    My daughter got her first period and first bra within a couple weeks of one another. She went from being a little girl to a tiny woman. It's not something that I was prepared for because it really does change everything. The stereotypes of hormones kicking in for teenage girls are no joke. Your former sweet little buddy goes from fine, to crying hysterically, to screeching hellsbeast, back to fine all in the space of 15 minutes. Worse is they act like nothing out of the ordinary happened. Leaves you feeling like you've taken crazy pills. Then as they get older and develop a little more you'll start to notice other people notice her. This is where the real shift happens. It's not so bad when people in her peer group notice her and try to flirt or whatnot, but you will immediately have every interaction you've ever had or will have with a woman change once you see someone in your peer group check out your daughter and try to flirt with her. It's made all the worse because at this point, she's still a little girl in her own mind and just thinks that people are being nice to her or is completely oblivious to what's going on. I would like to invent a new word to describe the rage, sadness, sickness, and fear this will invoke in you, but I haven't found it yet.

    So, yeah. If a tooth shook you, perhaps you need to find a comfy chair and a sizable amount of beer because you're in for a rough ride.

    21 votes

  11. Comment on A layperson's introduction to Homebrewing in ~hobbies

    piratepants
    Link Parent
    I have been known to post on r/homebrewing. I just chose a new name when I came over here. Oh yes, you can start quite cheaply. No disagreement there. I was more referring to the fact that...

    You seem to know your stuff!

    I have been known to post on r/homebrewing. I just chose a new name when I came over here.

    I disagree on that. If you want fancy equipment or no shortcuts then sure. But a beginner pack could be this. All prices are from today.

    Oh yes, you can start quite cheaply. No disagreement there. I was more referring to the fact that homebrewers rarely stop at the bare necessities and there's always some new item or upgrade they want for their brewery. You should homebrew because you find it interesting or like making your own beer. If your reason for homebrewing is "I can make it cheaper than I can buy it in the store", that rarely works out once you factor in equipment and labor costs.

    Since you mention equipment prices in NOK, I do hope you read Larsblog (http://www.garshol.priv.no/blog/), right? He's one of my favorite reads.

    2 votes

  12. Comment on A layperson's introduction to Homebrewing in ~hobbies

    piratepants
    Link
    Haha. The single biggest lie every homebrewer tells themselves and their significant other. I think the biggest issue with this write up is that you don't really tell the reader what brewing is....

    It's (relatively) cheap.

    Haha. The single biggest lie every homebrewer tells themselves and their significant other.

    I think the biggest issue with this write up is that you don't really tell the reader what brewing is. You talk through the steps, but miss the big picture. Brewing, at it's heart, is nudging a natural decomposition process to an end product we like. Beer is made with grain. To get that grain to start decomposing, we have to trick it. We make the grain think it's found a good place to sprout and get it to start growing. Once it's started to grow just a little, we kill it and dry it out. This process is called malting. There are several other steps that can be done during malting to alter the end product which might alter the flavor or other properties, but as a homebrewer, you don't have to worry too much about them. You will most likely buy your grain pre-malted and never malt anything in your life. The important part to know is that we have now taken a living thing and killed it. Like all dead things, it's going to decompose, and it's our job to steer that to what we want. I think it's important to make this point because the longer malt sits around, the more it will (slowly) decompose on it's own and it won't necessarily be what you want. Old malt doesn't make as good a beer and fresh malt.

    So now onto the next step, which ducks labels as brewing, but is properly known as mashing. Your malt has a big store house of starch. This starch was supposed to be the initial food source for the new plant until it could establish itself and start making it's own food. Instead, we want to use it's own natural processes to break down this starch into sugar. Mashing is the crushing of malt, mixing it with water, and leaving it at a certain temperature so the enzymes present in the malt will break down this starch. It's much like making a porridge or oatmeal. Given enough time and the right temperature, you will see this thick, sticky mess go thin and become sweet. That's the first level of decomposition.

    Now you have something sweet with a bunch solid leftover material you don't really need. Most of the time, you want to separate the liquid part from the solid part. This process is called lautering. There are all kinds of ways to filter out the solids, but in homebrewing it usually involves a mesh bag, a finely braided metal sleeve, or finely perforated plate. Once you have separated your solids from the liquids, we call the liquid wort and the solids garbage ;-)

    Like small children, everything in nature loves sugar. It's a easily consumed source of energy. So, as soon as your wort is made bacteria, yeast, and other microbes that were on the malt, in your house, and even floating in the air will want to start eating this sugar and starting the next phase of decomposition. We don't want this. We want to control this next phase of decomposition as well. So we will boil the wort to sanitize it and kill off any microbes present. Boiling also has the great advantage of vaporizing things that might make our beer less tasty (think husky, hay like flavor) and gives us a chance to add more flavor to the party. Typically, this means adding hops, but could also mean adding other herbs and spices. Hops are added not only for flavor, but to balance the sweetness of the wort with bitterness, and also to act as a natural antiseptic against all those microbes we don't want in our beer. We boil the wort with our hops for a prescribed amount of time based on the kind of beer we want to make, but typically it's an hour. Once done, we chill the wort (or allow it to cool naturally) to approximately room temperature so that we can start the next phase of decomposition.

    Now that we have our chilled wort in a carefully sanitized vessel for the next phase of its voyage, we are going to do the one thing we've been trying to avoid up until now; introduce a micro-organism to the sugar. It's not just any micro-organism though, it's typically saccharomyces cerevisiae or brewer's yeast. Why do we want this micro-organism compared to all the rest? It will primarily spit out the two things we really want, alcohol and carbon dioxide, without a lot of things we don't want it to do. All you need to do is add the yeast to your wort (called pitching the yeast in brewing terms), keep other organisms from messing things up, and wait. Keeping the other organisms out is easy, you seal your vessel with an airlock. Like Tom Petty said, the waiting is the hardest part. Be patient, rushing things now does your beer no favors. The yeast will eat up the sugars at the rate they want to work at. The only thing you need to concern yourself with is keeping an eye on the process and understanding when it's done or almost done. When it's almost done, you want to transfer your liquid, which is officially called beer at this point, to a sealed vessel. That usually means a bottle, but it could also be a can, cask, or keg. The carbon dioxide given off by the yeast will be trapped and go into solution in the beer carbonating it. If your yeast had already eaten all the sugars in the wort, you can always add a bit of sugar to get the process started again to get the CO2 you need.

    Now, why did I emphasize this the way I did as opposed to how ducks wrote it up? Two reasons:

    • If you understand the process of fermentation, you can make all kinds of things, not just beer. You can make wine, hard cider, mead, kombucha, sauerkraut, kim chi, pickles, sausages ... the world is your (fermented) oyster!

    • This is a natural decomposition process and therefore it's really hard to screw up. Even with you doing little to nothing at all, fermentation wants to happen. So don't be scared of screwing up. Sure, something might go wrong and you end up with something that isn't exactly as you planned. If you're making beer, it'll still have alcohol, you'll be able to drink it, and probably won't get you sick. Don't stress too hard and give it a try!

    9 votes

  13. Comment on On Reddit moderation - it's a matter of scale. in ~talk

    piratepants
    Link Parent
    Ha! I had no idea that's how it was set to work. I just got my invite the other day and I'm still pretty new. I know you said it's not all worked out, but is there a post or something where I can...

    Ha! I had no idea that's how it was set to work. I just got my invite the other day and I'm still pretty new. I know you said it's not all worked out, but is there a post or something where I can read more about it? How would you handle merging existing tildes? For example, let's say we had ~thing1 and ~thing2 but later on it was decided that it really makes more sense to have a ~things and make ~things.thing1 and ~things.thing2 out of the old communities.

    2 votes

  14. Comment on On Reddit moderation - it's a matter of scale. in ~talk

    piratepants
    Link Parent
    Wow, that's getting very makeup specific. That is a sentence I never thought I'd type. I guess I think of it more like single cell organisms; they maintain, they grow and split, or they wither and...

    Wow, that's getting very makeup specific. That is a sentence I never thought I'd type. I guess I think of it more like single cell organisms; they maintain, they grow and split, or they wither and die.

    To try and generalize the point you're making ... how to highlight something specific to the greater meta-community? Would you say that's a good summary? If so, I'd think if it was a really good post, the subcommunity would vote it up. That would get it greater exposure to the meta-community, where people subbed to the meta-community (but not the specific original subcommunity) could continue to upvote it based on the merit of the post.

    2 votes

  15. Comment on On Reddit moderation - it's a matter of scale. in ~talk

    piratepants
    Link
    First, let me say this is well written and spot on with things I've seen at reddit as well. At first I thought "how do you fix that?" but then I actually had an idea based on the introduction in...

    First, let me say this is well written and spot on with things I've seen at reddit as well. At first I thought "how do you fix that?" but then I actually had an idea based on the introduction in your post. You mention that you modded /r/makeupaddictioncanada and I kind of chuckled and thought that was oddly specific. Like, is makeup really that different in Canada that Canadians needed their own subreddit? But then I thought, maybe that's exactly the answer. As a community grows, it's forced to split into more specific groupings each with it's own moderation team to keep things small and personal. Let's say tomorrow they start ~makeupaddiction. That's well and fine for a while, but at a certain point, too many people have a makeup addiction on Tildes and the community becomes unmanageable as you outlined. Through a community vote, it's decided that the most logical split is to parse it into ~makeupaddictionUS, ~makeupaddictionCanada, and ~makeupaddictionAsia. Each new community gets it's own set of mods and the old ~makeupaddiction becomes a meta-community of the three. You can't actually post to ~makeupaddiction anymore since it doesn't exist, but if you were subscribed to it, you'd see stores from all it's affiliated subcommunities. If applied in a sane manner, it could possibly maintain that goldilocks zone of active users for each subcommunity. I say active users because that's really what I think matters. If you have 1M subbed to your community, but only 1000 active posters while everyone else just lurks, those 1000 people will set the tone for the community.

    Now, rules on how to split, changing affiliations in subcommunities, etc. would all have to be worked out and probably would require some experimentation, but I think it's an interesting idea.

    4 votes