shinigami's recent activity

  1. Comment on Titanfall is still EA's most innovative shooter ten years later in ~games

    shinigami
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    Good reminder to go finish Titanfall 2. I never played it when it first came out, and I got the $5 deal for it. Love the game, but I got distracted, as seems to always happen. I would love to see...

    Good reminder to go finish Titanfall 2. I never played it when it first came out, and I got the $5 deal for it. Love the game, but I got distracted, as seems to always happen.

    I would love to see more Mecha or Mecha adjacent games. But I'm a mecha-slut that way.

    11 votes

  2. Comment on Getting tired of Firefox in ~tech

    shinigami
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    I use Firefox as my main browser, and have it synced across all my devices. 2 PC instances, and a mobile one. I've almost never have issues with my extensions not working after updates. Only...

    I use Firefox as my main browser, and have it synced across all my devices. 2 PC instances, and a mobile one. I've almost never have issues with my extensions not working after updates. Only recently I've had some trouble with DarkReader on sites that have a darkmode already.

    For reference I run the following

    uBlock Origin
    SponsorBlock
    DarkReader
    BitWarden
    BetterTTV
    WolframAlpha Search

    I also have Firefox clear it's history and cache whenever I close the browser. There's no reason for me to save login info in Firefox since I already use BitWarden for password management.

    6 votes

  3. Comment on What are some significant numbers or juxtapositions of numbers and quantities you often notices? in ~talk

    shinigami
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    My phone number (excluding the area code) can be said as a series of prime numbers. I love prime numbers, so I always found it fitting.

    My phone number (excluding the area code) can be said as a series of prime numbers. I love prime numbers, so I always found it fitting.

    3 votes

  4. Comment on What's a "house rule" that has made a game more fun for you? in ~games

    shinigami
    Link
    Most of the people I play with tend to play by the book, but we do have some house rules. The first, and typical house rule for DnD 5e. Drinking a potion is a bonus action. Administering one to...

    Most of the people I play with tend to play by the book, but we do have some house rules. The first, and typical house rule for DnD 5e. Drinking a potion is a bonus action. Administering one to another character is an action. It removes the rogue's "fast hands" ability, but we typically patch that up a different way if it comes up.

    My Magic Commander group doesn't have extra banned cards or "sorcery speed scooping only" but we do require follow through. If player A says, "I can kill Player B by attacking" and Player B starts scooping up cards, player A still has to make the attack, because they get exposed to potential counterattacks by other players.

    4 votes

  5. Comment on What do you all think of taking Swords out of white commander decks in ~games.tabletop

    shinigami
    Link
    I'm firmly in the camp of never cutting removal. Especially when that removal is best in class. While I agree you generally lose to some giant alpha-strike that StP isn't going to save you from,...

    I'm firmly in the camp of never cutting removal. Especially when that removal is best in class.

    While I agree you generally lose to some giant alpha-strike that StP isn't going to save you from, but that's not the point. The point of having StP in a deck is so you can remove a problematic creature engine, The Tatyovas, the Midnight Reapers. The cards that actually win opponents the game. While many of those problematic engines just in the Command Zone, the extra 2 mana on the cost is not trivial.

    Are there more versatile answers? Yes! Anguished Unmaking, vindicate are two examples off the top. But 3 Mana is a lot, good luck double spelling in the mid-game with it. Sorcery on Vindicate is a massive hamper because you might not get an untap.

    7 votes

  6. Comment on Hurt my lower back by bending over, any tips for healing and comfort? in ~health

    shinigami
    Link Parent
    Not a stupid question at all! Unless people are informed, most people don't consider how they walk ever in their lives. It's just something they do. The queues for walking with proper posture, at...

    Not a stupid question at all! Unless people are informed, most people don't consider how they walk ever in their lives. It's just something they do.

    The queues for walking with proper posture, at least for me are

    1. toes pointed forward, not outward. When your toes point outward, you're not engaging your glutes, and instead rely on your back and hamstring muscles to support yourself. If you don't use the right muscles to walk, it's easier to pull or strain the muscles that are already being overworked (like your back).

    2. Tip your pelvis backwards/upward, not downward/forward. This is fixing something referred to as Anterior Pelvic Tilt, and while it's normal to have some of this naturally, a drastic tilt also puts the muscle work for walking from your glutes and core to your back and hamstrings. It's why, even though I'm reasonably athletic, I have no ass to look at and my jeans fall off.

    3. Actively engage your core and glutes as you walk. You don't need to walk around stiff as a board at 100% tension, but your ab muscles help pull your pelvis into a neutral spine, and your glutes help balance that tension from the other side. The other benefit of this is it helps you look skinnier because you aren't sticking your belly out due to the pelvic tilt mentioned in 2.

    Related to 2, If you learned to walk early as a baby, it's possible you learned this posture as your bipedal balancing method because as a baby you didn't have the muscle strength to hold yourself up. Instead you compensated by shifting your center of mass to balance better. I noticed it in my own baby pictures, and also with my daughters.

    4 votes

  7. Comment on Hurt my lower back by bending over, any tips for healing and comfort? in ~health

    shinigami
    (edited )
    Link
    I'm going to echo a lot of the other comments that have already been posted because those things also worked for me treat it like a sprain. That is, if the pain is sharp, start with ice. Once the...

    I'm going to echo a lot of the other comments that have already been posted because those things also worked for me

    1. treat it like a sprain. That is, if the pain is sharp, start with ice. Once the pain is more of a dull ache, a warm compress will help circulation.

    2. once the pain is a dull ache, and not a sharp pain, start gently stretching it. You want the stretch to be uncomfortable, but not painful as you hold it.

    3. something people don't realize is that the muscles in your lower back are part of your functional core. Any amount of isometric holds that use your core, will help strengthen your muscles and help prevent it in the future.

    Something that I didn't see mentioned elsewhere yet, if your lower back posture in your normal posture isn't the best, when you stretch like you did, it may cause pain. Fixing your lower body posture isn't easy, because you've been walking for 29 years, but walking correctly has done wonders for my lower back (no pain) and my core/stomach (I have less of a belly, but I haven't lost weight).

    10 votes

  8. Comment on The war on ‘woke capital’ is backfiring in ~finance

    shinigami
    Link Parent
    I don't have anything super helpful to add, but I enjoyed the dig at Musk.

    I don't have anything super helpful to add, but I enjoyed the dig at Musk.

    1 vote

  9. Comment on <deleted topic> in ~science

    shinigami
    Link
    I went to school for Chemical Engineering, this is my time to shine! You got it in the bullet point. A closed system (your container) wants to reach thermal equilibrium. This is done by the warmer...

    I went to school for Chemical Engineering, this is my time to shine!

    You got it in the bullet point. A closed system (your container) wants to reach thermal equilibrium. This is done by the warmer item (room temperature water) transferring heat to a place with lower energy (your ice), until thermal equilibrium is achieved.

    The thing that actually keeps you container cold isn't the vacuum seal, or at least not entirely. The walls of the container are made of a very good thermal insulator. An insulator prevents your cold water from going through the same thermal equilibrium process with the air temperature, which keeps it cold. It will also work with hot items for the same reason.

    The thorough vacuum seal helps prevent heat entry/escape through the seal, but that's not a driving factor.

    34 votes

  10. Comment on Has anyone else noticed a difference in their winters? in ~enviro

    shinigami
    Link Parent
    Huh, I didn't know that about the weather, but anecdotally I see it. The few sunny days we had we had last week were the coldest we've had all winter. Since begining of Dec. I started taking a...

    Huh, I didn't know that about the weather, but anecdotally I see it. The few sunny days we had we had last week were the coldest we've had all winter.

    Since begining of Dec. I started taking a Vitamin D supplement for exactly that reason. I noticed my mood got a bit better after a couple weeks than it was late Nov. I'm would say I'm feeling medium minus when my non-winter mood I generally describe as medium plus.

    5 votes

  11. Comment on Has anyone else noticed a difference in their winters? in ~enviro

    shinigami
    Link
    I had this conversation with my wife recently. I'm relatively sure that in recent years, I've developed Seasonal Affective Disorder because winters have gotten milder. It seems backwards, but when...

    I had this conversation with my wife recently. I'm relatively sure that in recent years, I've developed Seasonal Affective Disorder because winters have gotten milder. It seems backwards, but when it was truly cold, and we had snow mid.-Dec. -Feb. I would enjoy the snow. I did alpine sports, I built snow forts with my kids, had snowball fights. All those things helped fight off that seasonal depression.

    Now it just hangs around freezing point, plus/minus a couple degrees, instead of consistently below. Precipitation is rain or sleet and It leaves everything wet and muddy, or worse, icy. After it passes it's eerie and foggy.

    I'm not really a cozy-up by the fire and watch a movie type person. The inattentive part of ADD runs wild. I gravitate toward video games, but even those eventually lose their luster after a while, even if I switch games, play different genres, etc.

    12 votes

  12. Comment on Streaming wars are over and Netflix won in ~tv

    shinigami
    Link Parent
    I was going to say a VPN subscription with a promo code is around that.

    I was going to say a VPN subscription with a promo code is around that.

    6 votes

  13. Comment on What have you been watching / reading this week? (Anime/Manga) in ~anime

    shinigami
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    I've been working my way through the Jujutsu Kaisen manga. So far I've been enjoying it a lot, but the power scale, and resulting power creep is a bit frustrating, and I'm only 150 or so chapters in.

    I've been working my way through the Jujutsu Kaisen manga. So far I've been enjoying it a lot, but the power scale, and resulting power creep is a bit frustrating, and I'm only 150 or so chapters in.

    2 votes

  14. Comment on What have you been watching / reading this week? (Anime/Manga) in ~anime

    shinigami
    Link Parent
    God that's such an adequate description of Gurren Lagann. I originally saw the cover art on Netflix, and went, "Nice! Mecha anime!" I distinctly remember ugly-crying when Spoiler for Important...

    God that's such an adequate description of Gurren Lagann. I originally saw the cover art on Netflix, and went, "Nice! Mecha anime!" I distinctly remember ugly-crying when

    Spoiler for Important plot moment Kamiya dies.

    The show just somehow inspires motivation, regardless of how silly it seems. I use "You don't believe in yourself? Fine! Believe in the me that believes in you!" with my kids all the time.

    3 votes

  15. Comment on US Ninth Circuit Court panel unanimously orders FBI to destroy records it created during searches of US Private Vaults boxes in ~misc

    shinigami
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    Can't wait for more, "We're being stopped from upholding the law, so we won't do it at all" rhetoric to come from the police mob.

    Can't wait for more, "We're being stopped from upholding the law, so we won't do it at all" rhetoric to come from the police frat mob.

    8 votes

  16. Comment on United States Justice Department report finds ‘cascading failures’ and ‘no urgency’ during Uvalde, Texas, shooting in ~news

    shinigami
    Link
    A friend of mine linked this video and I think it really drives the point home. When it's put this way, the only law enforcement I would ever trust to truly lay their lives on the line for the...

    A friend of mine linked this video and I think it really drives the point home.

    When it's put this way, the only law enforcement I would ever trust to truly lay their lives on the line for the greater good would be military veterans, or people trained for military-style escalation (SWAT). The average traffic cop with a firearm, with 2 months of training, is a big threat to the community because they will freeze, and they will make the wrong decisions and cost lives because they have never really had to act under pressure.

    In the immortal words of The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, "I'm not a coward, I've just never been tested. If I was, I would like to think I would pass"

    3 votes

  17. Comment on Roughly halfway through the NHL's 2023-2024 season: what are your thoughts on the season so far? How is your team doing? Any surprises? in ~sports.hockey

    shinigami
    Link Parent
    The entire wildcard race is just a massive scrum. I think the best bet for the Wings isn't to scrap over a wildcard spot, but actually get third. Avoid the top 2 teams in the first round is good...

    The entire wildcard race is just a massive scrum. I think the best bet for the Wings isn't to scrap over a wildcard spot, but actually get third. Avoid the top 2 teams in the first round is good incentive IMO.

    I think the Wings can end up anywhere from 3 in division to missing the playoffs again. Last year, the Wings were trending for a playoff spot about this time too, and around February, the wheels came off. Player injuries, scoring slumps. If we can avoid that fate this year, I think a first round playoff exit is in our future, and I say that positively.

    1 vote

  18. Comment on Roughly halfway through the NHL's 2023-2024 season: what are your thoughts on the season so far? How is your team doing? Any surprises? in ~sports.hockey

    shinigami
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    As a Red Wings fan, I am on the edge of my seat every game. The highs are HIGH and the lows are LOW and I love that. Currently have a wildcard spot and you're gonna have to pry it from our cold...

    As a Red Wings fan, I am on the edge of my seat every game. The highs are HIGH and the lows are LOW and I love that.

    Currently have a wildcard spot and you're gonna have to pry it from our cold dead octopus tentacles if you want it. LGRW!

    7 votes

  19. Comment on Weekly thread for casual chat and photos of pets in ~life.pets

    shinigami
    Link
    My wife snapped a great picture of my two pets yesterday. Thing 1 and 2 While at the vet's office I discovered they took in some kittens. Getting a picture was hard cause they had the roomies as...

    My wife snapped a great picture of my two pets yesterday. Thing 1 and 2

    While at the vet's office I discovered they took in some kittens. Getting a picture was hard cause they had the roomies as all kittens do. Kept trying to escape and wander the office.

    5 votes

  20. Comment on Easy mode is actually for adults in ~games

    shinigami
    Link Parent
    Much like you, I have a family and responsibilities meaning my game time is short. I took a hiatus that was almost a decade long, but getting to go back and play triple A titles for cheap has been...

    Much like you, I have a family and responsibilities meaning my game time is short. I took a hiatus that was almost a decade long, but getting to go back and play triple A titles for cheap has been fun.

    I got Titanfall 2 for $5 on sale. I started playing on "Hard" and realized I wasn't having fun. I was experiencing exactly what you describe. I lowered the difficulty begrudgingly to "normal" and I'm having fun. Sometimes I still die, but it's because it's self-inflicted and it's much less frustrating, than the game bring arbitrarily harder to get a "challenge"

    12 votes