rosco's recent activity
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Comment on Has anyone tried making their own font? in ~design
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Has anyone tried making their own font?
I'm attempting to make a font for a little kids book I'm working on and realized I don't know anything about the "theory" of font making. I feel like the choices I'm making aren't adequately...
I'm attempting to make a font for a little kids book I'm working on and realized I don't know anything about the "theory" of font making. I feel like the choices I'm making aren't adequately reflecting the feeling I'm going for.
Has anyone attempted to make their own font? Are there any guides or materials you suggest looking at? If you're up for it I'd love if you could share it and talk about your process! Looking for a combination of guidance and inspiration!!
Cheers!
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Comment on We surveyed 6,000 Americans. Here is the winning message for Democrats - Opinion, Dustin Guastella and Erica Etelson in ~society
rosco Link ParentWith the level of regulatory capture we have in the US today, and of 15 years ago, calling the people out who are actively working against your interests is important. I'm quoting the article...they name a rigged system, call out the people rigging it, and promise to rebalance the economy in favor of those who work for a living.
With the level of regulatory capture we have in the US today, and of 15 years ago, calling the people out who are actively working against your interests is important. I'm quoting the article itself and it clearly lays "shout at X" as a part of the messaging.
I don't believe Bernie has ever said anything about us vs them. The othering and talk of "deplorables" or "garbage" has come from centrist, institutional democrats. The only us vs them in progressive politics is 1% vs 99%, and very few people fall under that banner.
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Comment on We surveyed 6,000 Americans. Here is the winning message for Democrats - Opinion, Dustin Guastella and Erica Etelson in ~society
rosco Link ParentI know Bernie talks about oligarchs a lot, but i think this was effectively his approach: And it has garnered so much support. I would love if stock standard democrats started moving that...I know Bernie talks about oligarchs a lot, but i think this was effectively his approach:
they name a rigged system, call out the people rigging it, and promise to rebalance the economy in favor of those who work for a living.
And it has garnered so much support. I would love if stock standard democrats started moving that direction. There was another thread recently that highlighted that the majority of people in the US support some pretty "progressive" beliefs: medicare for all, reducing aid to Israel, subsidized pre-K. If we could get those and other platforms like anti-trust action (with my girl Lina Khan), create solutions to the housing crisis (via a whole consortium approach like construction, progressive property taxes, and regulatory overhaul) as positional issues I think we could have a shoe in candidate in 2028.
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Comment on Are others finding themselves spending less and less time online? in ~tech
rosco Link ParentI definitely feel that about so many of the spaces online. The Nazi bar analogy seems to be in full swing. I also wonder how much it's an age thing. I just had a kid and it's been an adjustment as...happy people have all left and that's why the internet sucks.
I definitely feel that about so many of the spaces online. The Nazi bar analogy seems to be in full swing.
I also wonder how much it's an age thing. I just had a kid and it's been an adjustment as is, but it's been jarring just how unappealing being online has become.
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Comment on Are others finding themselves spending less and less time online? in ~tech
rosco Link ParentOooh, tantalizing! Could you share any other info? I live in a fairly small, sleepy town and while there is a ton to do in the daytime, it pretty much shuts it's doors around 7-8pm depending on...Oooh, tantalizing! Could you share any other info?
I live in a fairly small, sleepy town and while there is a ton to do in the daytime, it pretty much shuts it's doors around 7-8pm depending on the season. A 24/7 community would be sweet!
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Comment on New polls: Democrats demand 2028 presidential nominee back arms embargo and sanctions on Israel in ~society
rosco Link ParentI am so for some actual progressive politics and so I will... hide my gloom I have so little faith in the Democratic party and establishment actually backing these policies as their leadership...I am so for some actual progressive politics and so I will...
hide my gloom
I have so little faith in the Democratic party and establishment actually backing these policies as their leadership continues to be co-oped by octogenarians faithful to the Israel cause - regardless of Israel's policy or genocidal actions. They continue to pour unbelievable sums of money into seemingly insignificant campaigns where more progressive candidates and candidates critical of Israeli policy seem to primary well.
So here is me crossing all my fingers and toes, tapping my heels two times for luck, and sending all the good vibes I can muster that a large enough voting block holds the line in the upcoming election. And before the deluge of comments claiming "if they don't swallow their pride and vote blue we'll have more of Donald Trump et al.", you all did this to yourself. We have been holding our nose for the past decade and coming up with peanuts. We tried it the establishment way, we have now seen that rapid political action is possible by the current regime and are no longer willing to accept our representatives sitting on their hands and claiming that change is hard and cannot be done. If they choose to "looks for the centrist vote" they will only be entrencing the current administration harder. We need to get money out of politics and the old guard to retire!
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Are others finding themselves spending less and less time online?
Recently, I have found myself almost unable to find things online to engage with, Tildes being the rare exception. I feel like I used to be able to find my way down Youtube rabbit holes, scroll on...
Recently, I have found myself almost unable to find things online to engage with, Tildes being the rare exception. I feel like I used to be able to find my way down Youtube rabbit holes, scroll on Reddit endlessly, and for a period even get lost on Instagram reels. I still have the urges, but now when I indulge it doesn't feel like an effortless dopamine hit, I feel like I'm fighting the platforms for something, anything engaging.
The channels I enjoyed, even the small ones, seem to all be chasing monetization and the lowest common denominator. Even Beau Miles, one of my favorite people on earth, joined the absolute deluge of people focusing on renovating a crumbling "historic" building or just rehashing his old fun ideas. Gone are the days of the inspired videos like the Human Bean. The miniature painters all seem to be hocking their own inventions or models. It feels like capitalism has crept into every video. Reddit is even worse, where it always feels like there is an agenda or a link to a patreon or scrappy youtube channel and I just feel manipulated by the posts being made.
For lack of a better phrase, I'm just constantly feeling the "ick" being online. I'm actively trying to search out things to engage with, anything even remotely genuine or authentic, and running up against a wall. It just feels bizarre. Maybe I'm alone on this. Or maybe I'm reaching a different stage of life and no longer the target demographic. In any case I just feel myself reaching for my laptop less and less and less. For most folks I think that would be a good thing, but when it's dark out, and I'm too burnt out from work to make progress on whatever home or art project I'm doing it was a really nice way to turn off my brain.
Is anyone else having a similar experience? Are folks happy with this version of online content? Are we entering the dead internet? I'm trying to figure out if this is a real trend or just a personal experience.
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Comment on South of Spain / Northern Africa travel recs in ~travel
rosco Link ParentLol, that's fair! But sometimes unhinged trips make for the best trips :)Lol, that's fair! But sometimes unhinged trips make for the best trips :)
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Comment on South of Spain / Northern Africa travel recs in ~travel
rosco Link ParentRosco's hot take served with a big ol grain of salt. Countries that have experienced recent turbulence but have entered a peace period are my #1 suggested travel location. Locals will be happy to...Rosco's hot take served with a big ol grain of salt. Countries that have experienced recent turbulence but have entered a peace period are my #1 suggested travel location.
Locals will be happy to meet people interested in and excited about their country, the dollars you spend mean so much more, and there will be very little tourism to compete with. Sites that would normally be packed will be all yours. A tack on benefit to you is that travel will also be much cheaper, and I really do think of that as just a tack on if it's important.
Obviously this advice isn't for everyone, and there is a difference between Aleppo and Damascus once you in a post-conflict country, but if you're game I think it's well worth the risk/reward trade off.
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Comment on South of Spain / Northern Africa travel recs in ~travel
rosco LinkI just got back from Tamariu in eastern Spain and I cannot say enough good things about it. I am actively trying to get my wife to move there. I cannot get over the beauty, lifestyle, and vibe. We...I just got back from Tamariu in eastern Spain and I cannot say enough good things about it. I am actively trying to get my wife to move there. I cannot get over the beauty, lifestyle, and vibe. We have friends who are from there and have warned when it gets down to 100 people in the winter it can feel very empty, buuuut I'm still game. Anyway it's a wonderful vacation trip!
As to Morocco and Egypt, I went nearly 20 years ago and I will caution that both are on my absolute shit list. If you're looking for beautiful architecture with an Arabic flavor I would recommend Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon ahead of those two. I preferred Morocco over Egypt, as it is visually and culinarily incredible but it came with dealing with a lot of hassle and sexism. I went to Marrakesh, Fez, Tangiers, and Essuria and if I were to go back I think I'd just head back to Essuria. Fez is gorgeous but heavy on the hustle. I did Cairo and Abydos in Egypt and would honestly just skip it. The history is incredible but being in person is nothing how it is presented. I even got to check out an active excavation as I was visiting a friend doing his PhD there and even that didn't sway me.
On the flip side, Syria was absolutely incredible. Friendly people, amazing food, gorgeous architecture. It's my number 1 suggestion. Jordan and Lebanon are also very interesting, but with their tourism industry in full swing it can have a bit of the Morocco feel.
Wildcard suggestion for Pakistan as well. It's a beautiful country with so much variety. I'd suggest heading up north, just towards the east rather than the west. Islamabad is a great jumping off point, as is Lahore.
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Comment on Luigi Mangione pleads guilty to federal stalking charges in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO in ~news
rosco Link ParentAgreed, theres just lots to be furious about.Agreed, theres just lots to be furious about.
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Comment on Autistic/Neurodivergent/"just stubborn" members: how did you [happily] learn to do something you couldn't just instantly do? in ~life
rosco LinkI think it depends on what the thing is. If it's a work thing, particularly something I'm not excited to do, that takes one form. If it's a fun thing, that's a pleasure all it's own. For work I...I think it depends on what the thing is. If it's a work thing, particularly something I'm not excited to do, that takes one form. If it's a fun thing, that's a pleasure all it's own.
For work I create mental buckets. Right now I have 3 "initiatives" under my care and any task I have goes into one of those buckets. I'm really clear with everyone that "I have not had this thing in my professional remit before and will defer to their expertise but continue to push things forward." Usually this, plus being nice and non-combative with them, gives me a ton of lee way to fuck things up. And as long as I own them, reiterate that this is all new territory for me, and mostly fix it on the next go it's gone pretty well. I get to learn with the freedom to mess things up along the way.
For fun things, I find it much easier. I think of things in iterations or versions. I started taking pottery classes about two years ago. My first stuff was pretty basic but fun. The things I made were basic but I really loved them. So the next time I'd take the concept and expand on it: the 2D head became a 2D whole body, and then the 2D body became a 3D body in a very rigid pose, then 3D body in rigid pose with more interesting glazing, then the 3D body is an interesting pose, then 3D body in a difficult to balance 3D pose, the a 3D body in a weird position to pose with other features like crabs pinching their nose and fingers, then all of that colored with underglazes/glazes/glass additions.
I was excited about all of it at the time because it was the best thing I'd ever made - and when the next version didn't turn out it was fine because I was just learning for the next version of it. I realize this is a pattern for me in any new thing I try: linocut, wine making, mountain biking, swimming. If you just view it as a learning oppotunity to make it better or as one step on a pathway to the thing you really want to make it feels so much better. I messed up version or a crash isn't a failure, it's just a learning moment. I never think of it as "doing the more basic thing to get to a more complex place", more like as far as I'm comfortable pushing the boat out for now.
I will also say I'm very comfortable being worse at things than people who learned them being a child. I think there is a level you get to if you did an activity or a sport as a kid that is unachievable starting an activity as an adult. I have a friend who swims 2-6 miles a day, every single day, who inevitably gets smoked by our other out of shape friend who swims like 10 times a year but was a D1 swimmer.
Last last last thing. Sometimes I think it has to do with expectations and inner voice. My partner is very type A and succeeded at all the things you were supposed to growing up: played varsity soccer and track, went to Berkeley, etc. I on the other hand was a pot head with wild undiagnosed ADHD and got kicked out of college after freshman year. Today I'm very happy to be bad at things and fail, I'm very adept at it :). And my expectations for myself a very middling. On the other hand, my partner has a hard time with anything she isn't immediately gifted at and expects all of her outputs to be perfect. It makes for frustrating situations when I'm more adept at something quickly, she'll quit and take her ball home. I also grew up with a dad who would repeat "Bs are good" when report cards were coming out, where as my partners were disappointed at anything other than an A. I think her parents are now her internal voice and anything that isn't perfect is a shameful thing. Whereas for me, the Bs are good mentality gives me a really kind internal voice that is just kind of happy with how things went as long as I enjoyed it.
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Comment on Luigi Mangione pleads guilty to federal stalking charges in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO in ~news
rosco Link ParentYeah, I don't know anyone who read this as an AI thing. Everyone was frothing for change to our insurance system.Yeah, I don't know anyone who read this as an AI thing. Everyone was frothing for change to our insurance system.
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Comment on Luigi Mangione pleads guilty to federal stalking charges in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO in ~news
rosco Link ParentIt's called regulatory capture and it's funding from insurance companies that keeps our system this way. The majority of Americans now support medicare for all.Until the government gets off their ass, which they seem uninterested in doing, insurers are unfortunately a solution rather than a problem.
It's called regulatory capture and it's funding from insurance companies that keeps our system this way. The majority of Americans now support medicare for all.
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Comment on Luigi Mangione pleads guilty to federal stalking charges in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO in ~news
rosco Link ParentYou're right, I think it's an important note to call out that large healthcare providers like Sutter or Stanford also benefit from this system. We're in a predatory cycle of insurance and health...You're right, I think it's an important note to call out that large healthcare providers like Sutter or Stanford also benefit from this system. We're in a predatory cycle of insurance and health providers squeezing us on both ends.
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Comment on Is there any interest in building a Tildes successor? in ~tildes
rosco Link ParentI think widespread LLMs have made it pretty unappealing. Even on our local subreddit there are accounts bombarding it with very offensive, conservative talking points and when you click on the...I think widespread LLMs have made it pretty unappealing. Even on our local subreddit there are accounts bombarding it with very offensive, conservative talking points and when you click on the user it's clear it's a bot that is deployed on local subreddits across the US. Anywhere with that large of a userbase is a target of campaigns like that.
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Comment on Luigi Mangione pleads guilty to federal stalking charges in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO in ~news
rosco Link ParentI'm curious if you live the US, as that will likely really flavor your impression of the entire event. Since I was 24 I've had a number of really impactful insurance claim denials: 2014 - MRI...I'm curious if you live the US, as that will likely really flavor your impression of the entire event.
Since I was 24 I've had a number of really impactful insurance claim denials:
2014 - MRI denied for a torn medial meniscus, my out of pocket cost $6,500 (I was told it would be covered and then had a denied when it was billed)
2018 - Denial to see a specialist with a referral from an urgent care doctor. My torn achilles went misdiagnosed for a month while I was able to get an appointment to see an "approved" doctor. The recovery was delayed by 6-8 months.
2024 - dropped coverage of our hospital/OBGYN 3 weeks before my wife's delivery. An insane amount of work by ourselves and with paid advocated to get a continuation waiver.All of those happened while I was young, healthy, well supported financially, and with relatives who work in the healthcare industry and could help me navigate it. The first two happened with a United Healthcare plan. I'm going in as the low risk, low payout patient from an insurance perspective and still end up managing poor health coverage and outcomes. Imagine being in a high risk category.
I think Luigi ends up representing "street justice" in a system that otherwise prevents everyday people from getting any justice at all. I have no recourse over United Healthcare, I have very little power to even fight the denied claims. And there are very few parts of society that I very with so much contempt and rage than private insurance. They are literally the bean counters of death. So while I agree that murder is bad, it was a glimmering moment for many of us that hoped something might change. That the social contract was broken enough that people we resorting to vigilante justice. It was a signal to the bean counters that there would need to be a re-evaluation of the profit/outcomes equation.
But then we didn't get that. We saw the system double down in a way many of us have never seen. The man hunt, the terrorism charges, the unbelievable expenditure on this case. A quick blip of changes to procedure, but otherwise it was additional security of the top brass and a return to business as usual. So many people, me included, rooted for Luigi.
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Comment on What is your Mandela effect moment? in ~movies
rosco LinkMine have to do with vegetation. Every few years I'll see a new plant and then it'll be everywhere and when I ask about it people will have said it's been here forever. The first was Valeriana...Mine have to do with vegetation. Every few years I'll see a new plant and then it'll be everywhere and when I ask about it people will have said it's been here forever. The first was Valeriana rubra, which I first noticed in 2018 and was informed by my mom that we had it in our back yard for my entire childhood. The second was in 2022 Amaryllis belladonna. It looks like something that would pop up from a grave and is suuuuper obvious. Again, very off that I never noticed them before. They are prolific.
Anyway, my wife and I call these "patch upgrades" now. Like we got a new set of plants uploaded into our head.
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Comment on Antisemitism on campus is 'systemic' and going unaddressed, says new report in ~society
rosco Link ParentI have a hard time believing they wouldn't be fired for saying it with so many witnesses. Professors and leadership were fired for being supportive of Israel but not quite supportive enough very...I have a hard time believing they wouldn't be fired for saying it with so many witnesses. Professors and leadership were fired for being supportive of Israel but not quite supportive enough very recently. So... yeah I have a hard time believing it.
This is freaking awesome!!! I love crafsman, but I had no idea he had done this!