smithsonian's recent activity
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Comment on Favorite quick play tabletop game recommendations in ~games.tabletop
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Comment on Favorite quick play tabletop game recommendations in ~games.tabletop
smithsonian LinkSushi Go is one of my wife's favorites. One Night Werewolf is also pretty fun, but it requires someone playing game master (or using an app). Forbidden Desert/Forbidden Island are also fun and...Sushi Go is one of my wife's favorites. One Night Werewolf is also pretty fun, but it requires someone playing game master (or using an app). Forbidden Desert/Forbidden Island are also fun and take about 30 minutes. Blokus is another good entry level kind of game.
Carcassonne is probably my personal favorite out of these, and there are a ton of expansions you can buy that add new mechanics to keep things interesting.
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Comment on Any experience with abdominal aortic aneurysm surgery? in ~health
smithsonian LinkMy father in law (78 years old) just had an emergency surgery for this about 6 weeks ago. The aneurysm was the size of a grapefruit and they flew him to another hospital about 30 miles away where...My father in law (78 years old) just had an emergency surgery for this about 6 weeks ago. The aneurysm was the size of a grapefruit and they flew him to another hospital about 30 miles away where there was a surgeon on call who could perform the surgery.
The surgery itself went well, but I don't think he is a good person for comparison: he's never taken good care of himself (this was his fifth emergency surgery, with the previous ones also cardiac and stint related), smoked cigarettes (and rips off the filters) for almost all of his life, and has kidney issues he hasn't been addressing, which has been complicating his recovery.
I think he was in the hospital for about a week, but they kept him there longer because they couldn't do it via endoscopy and because his limited kidney function was slowing down his recovery. Now he's on palliative care.
I think the good news is that something like 80-90% of abdominal aortic aneurysms aren't discovered until they rupture when it's already too late, so the fact that they've been and to schedule this surgery is great news.
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Comment on How Star Trek: Picard ruins Star Trek in ~tv
smithsonian Link ParentTNG/DS9/VOY are my comfort food TV shows. For the last 10 years, I've watched an episode (or two) every night at bedtime to unwind and relax. SNW is solid and I'd really recommend giving it a...TNG/DS9/VOY are my comfort food TV shows. For the last 10 years, I've watched an episode (or two) every night at bedtime to unwind and relax.
SNW is solid and I'd really recommend giving it a watch. There are plenty of things to like about SNW. But, if you want to hate something, you'll always find plenty of things to hate.
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Comment on Factorio: Space Age releases on October 21st 2024 in ~games
smithsonian Link ParentThey've rebalanced the tech tree and progression for the expansion, so "launching a rocket" occurs much, much earlier in the game (and is much easier to do). I believe they said they expect the...I feel like the initial base earth game is going to be the longest “intro” ever. Unless you start in space?
They've rebalanced the tech tree and progression for the expansion, so "launching a rocket" occurs much, much earlier in the game (and is much easier to do).
I believe they said they expect the overall expansion game length to be roughly the same as the base game.
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Comment on Soil compositions for succulents? in ~hobbies
smithsonian LinkWith bonsai, it's common to pot trees in 0% organic potting substrate, so organic definitely isn't a requirement. One inexpensive inorganic substrate common in bonsai is using sifted oil-dry...With bonsai, it's common to pot trees in 0% organic potting substrate, so organic definitely isn't a requirement.
One inexpensive inorganic substrate common in bonsai is using sifted oil-dry diamataeous earth (the kind you can find in automotive part shops that they throw down to help absorb spilled oil on concrete). You'll want to sift out the smallest parts and rinse the dust before mixing it into your soil, though.
But I really don't think your issue is the soil...
"Root rot" is a misnomer; the roots rot because they die, and they die because they don't get enough oxygen, which is most often due to waterlogged soil. Typically, when the water is absorbed by the roots, it draws in oxygen (hydroponics use aerated water); so, if you're having root rot, it's probably because you're simply watering too much. So, probably an obvious question, but how are you gauging when it's time to water?
What kind of pots do you use? Terracotta pots will allow far better oxygen exchange than plastic ones.
Do you make sure you're emptying the drip tray after watering? Anything that runs through the potting soil should be dumped for succulents.
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Comment on I'm at a loss on what to do about my backyard grass situation in ~life.home_improvement
smithsonian Link ParentUsually for a couple of months. But the pre-em has pretty much killed the seeds you put down, so you'll have to put down new seed when it comes time. I'd recommend waiting until fall before trying...Usually for a couple of months. But the pre-em has pretty much killed the seeds you put down, so you'll have to put down new seed when it comes time.
I'd recommend waiting until fall before trying again. If you tried right now, your grass is going to have a lot less time to get established before the hot, dry months arrive; you'd either have a lot of that new grass die out, or you'd need to keep watering it through the summer to keep it alive.
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Comment on I'm at a loss on what to do about my backyard grass situation in ~life.home_improvement
smithsonian LinkThe pre-emergent doesn't just affect weed seeds, but it affects all seeds, including the Bermuda seeds. Unfortunately, your best bet, at this point, is to try again in the fall (without the...So, I did some pre-emergent, scalped the winter rye, raked up most of the detritus, got the ground really wet and muddy, and laid down some bermuda seed + fertilizer
The pre-emergent doesn't just affect weed seeds, but it affects all seeds, including the Bermuda seeds.
Unfortunately, your best bet, at this point, is to try again in the fall (without the pre-emergent).
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Comment on What do I do if I don't have any clothes? in ~life.style
smithsonian Link ParentIt's been probably 6 years since I used it, but yeah. The nice thing about it is that you have real humans picking out clothes for you instead of an algorithm... but the downside of that is that...It's been probably 6 years since I used it, but yeah. The nice thing about it is that you have real humans picking out clothes for you instead of an algorithm... but the downside of that is that some stylists aren't as good (for you) as others are. You pay a bit of a premium on the clothes but you also get a pretty good discount if you keep all of the items.
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Comment on What do I do if I don't have any clothes? in ~life.style
smithsonian LinkI'd suggest trying something like Stitch Fix. It really ticks a lot of the issues you mentioned: Not a financial issue: so you are probably okay spending a little more than you could otherwise if...I'd suggest trying something like Stitch Fix. It really ticks a lot of the issues you mentioned:
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Not a financial issue: so you are probably okay spending a little more than you could otherwise if you knew specifically what you want.
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No idea where to start: When you sign up, you get a big catalog of different clothes and styles, and you just go through and say what you like and what you don't.
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Anxiety about clothes shopping: Every month (or at whatever interval you choose), a stylist will pick out some clothing options and ship them to you. You can try them on and decide what you like and want to keep and send the rest back. As long as you keep at least one item, you pretty much only pay for what you keep; if you keep nothing, you'll pay a pretty reasonable styling/shipping fee. When you "check out," you can give your stylist feedback on what you like, what you didn't, and why, and then they'll factor that feedback back in for your next order.
All in all, it seems like it may be a good fit for you to at least get started on figuring out what kind of stuff you like (and what you don't) with limited risk and anxiety.
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Comment on Parenthood venting thread in ~talk
smithsonian Link ParentYeah, I think that's the point where the parenting journey starts to become so much more rewarding. I also thought of the first year or so as basically being like boot camp with the baby as the...I just know in my heart I'm going to enjoy 12-24 months more than this phase.
Yeah, I think that's the point where the parenting journey starts to become so much more rewarding. I also thought of the first year or so as basically being like boot camp with the baby as the drill instructor: overworking you with constant (often nonsensical and contradictory) orders, only letting you get the minimum amount of sleep (or slightly less), and essentially breaking your spirit so they can rebuild you.
After that point, though, it gets a lot more rewarding as you start to see them figuring things out, start making sense of the world, and begin to explore it more.
After finally getting more data points from other parents, my wife and I know for sure now that our son has been a particularly bad sleeper and fussier than a lot of other kids his age.
The chronic sleep deprivation of the first year is really the worst part. Once you both start getting some solid nights of sleep, everything becomes infinitely more manageable.
Some sleep tips we found through trial and error during our torturous stint:
Swaddles and white noise (or, more specifically, pink noise) were our life savers.
As he got older (6-12mo), we also started to find that our son needed to be swaddled to fall asleep, but loosening up the swaddle after he fell asleep led to him sleeping better/longer (which made manually swaddling with muslin blankets much better than the zipper/velcro sleep sacks we started using).
I felt like pink noise was more effective than white nose, but maybe it was just slightly more pleasing for me. But you may need to play the noise louder than think; being immersed in a fluid-filled sac inside another living being is actually pretty loud.
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Comment on Parenthood venting thread in ~talk
smithsonian LinkMan, the 6-month through ~12-month age period really and truly almost broke us, and that time is a big part of what cemented us as being one-and-done. Most of that period was spent trying to get a...Man, the 6-month through ~12-month age period really and truly almost broke us, and that time is a big part of what cemented us as being one-and-done.
Most of that period was spent trying to get a handle on colic (which I'm not certain we ever truly did)... experimenting with different treatments (OTC anti-gas drops, probiotics, prescription antacid), different diet restrictions for my partner, different types of formula, etc., but the only thing that seemed to make any difference was my partner cutting out dairy from her diet.
Which was all well and good, until she got prescribed an antibiotic treatment and learned she is allergic to that kind of antibiotic and had to spend a few nights in the hospital to make sure she didn't spontaneously bleed out due to low platelets, and was put on a steroid treatment that seriously impeded her breast milk production (that had already been struggling to keep up).
Some types of formula were definitely better than others (I learned so much about formula and breast milk during this time!) but our son was always much more colicky on any formula.
My theory about colic treatments
I'm about 75% certain that all of the things they recommend trying for colic are for just two things: placebo for the parents (so they don't feel like they aren't doing anything while their children are obviously distressed) and ways to "run out the clock" until the child matures enough that it naturally resolves.
And, of course, during that time we also had the pleasure of the constant stream of illnesses brought home from daycare and shared with us.
Our son is five, now. I won't say "things will get easier," because I don't really think they definitely do. I will say "things will get different," though: as they get older, certain things stop being a problem and new, exciting, different things become problems! This usually happens right around the time you start getting into a groove and thinking "hey, maybe we actually got this figured out!"
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Comment on Three Cheers for Tildes: App updates and feedback (April 2024) — Version 1.0 is out for Android! in ~tildes
smithsonian LinkI think I figured out the cause of a small cosmetic bug: the text of comments that have a horizontal line are a slightly different (darker) shade in dark mode. An easy way to find examples of this...I think I figured out the cause of a small cosmetic bug: the text of comments that have a horizontal line are a slightly different (darker) shade in dark mode.
An easy way to find examples of this would be to look at many of @nacho's comments. It's hard to notice the difference in their own, but the difference is more clear when seen in a chain of comments.
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Comment on Three Cheers for Tildes: App updates and feedback (March 2024) in ~tildes
smithsonian Link ParentCongrats on the 1.0 release! Happy to see a donation option, as well!Congrats on the 1.0 release!
Happy to see a donation option, as well!
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Comment on Anyone know what these LEDs in the center of my ceiling track lights are? in ~life.home_improvement
smithsonian LinkThey appear to just be LED bulbs. https://www.homedepot.com/p/Hampton-Bay-3-Light-Brushed-Nickel-Semi-Flush-Mount-Directional-Light-Fixture-EC554SBA/202051195 There are a couple of Q&A that...They appear to just be LED bulbs.
There are a couple of Q&A that mention the blue LEDs in the center, so they appear to be part of the design.
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Comment on Is a NAS for me? in ~tech
smithsonian LinkI started out by getting a Synology DiskStation DS220+ about 2.5 years ago to primarily serve as storage for my Plex library and act as my Plex server. (Note: the DS220+ has been replaced by the...I started out by getting a Synology DiskStation DS220+ about 2.5 years ago to primarily serve as storage for my Plex library and act as my Plex server. (Note: the DS220+ has been replaced by the DS223+, which is essentially the same thing but with a better CPU).
The buy-in cost was $300, plus another $250 for two 6 TB Seagate IronWolf NAS drives, and $100 for a 4 GB RAM upgrade (so I could run more Docker containers).
(I recently just upgraded to the DS423+ so I could take advantage of using M.2 SSD for a cache pool, the upgraded CPU, and two extra drive bays.)
You can absolutely achieve the same functionality for cheaper, but truly the Synology is quite easy to use, extremely versatile, and can do a lot. And Synology support is also top tier: I had some RAM sectors go bad about 3 months after my 2 year warranty expired but they still RMA'd my device and replaced it with a new one.
I can't really say what the NAS can do that the Pi cannot, but a lot of the NAS features are quite easy to set up and use with the Synology, and being and to easily set up and run Docker containers means you have a lot of options for anything that isn't already built-in.
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Comment on How do you keep your home smelling nice? in ~life.home_improvement
smithsonian Link ParentTo add on this: my Nest thermostat has the option to have the furnace fan run [15|30|45] minutes every hour, which not only helps to circulate air through all of the rooms, but also runs more air...You have to think about how air circulates in your home
To add on this: my Nest thermostat has the option to have the furnace fan run
[15|30|45] minutes every hour, which not only helps to circulate air through all of the rooms, but also runs more air through the furnace filter to remove dust and other particulate. -
Comment on Rimworld - Anomaly expansion and update 1.5 announced in ~games
smithsonian Link ParentThey often do, but the problem is that most things in games cannot simply be easily multithreaded. The Factorio devs have written a ton about their efforts to improve performance, and address the...Why don't programmers multithread?
They often do, but the problem is that most things in games cannot simply be easily multithreaded.
The Factorio devs have written a ton about their efforts to improve performance, and address the question about multithreading really well. The biggest problem is that stuff that's deterministic generally can't be multithreaded because it all relies on other computations being completed.
And, not to burst your bubble, but they've only multithreaded certain types of drawing, so I doubt you're going to see major improvements in late game colonies with a couple dozen pawns. I really doubt that's where the main bottleneck is in late game colonies.
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Comment on Are Swedish dishcloths more environment-friendly than paper towels? We investigate. in ~enviro
smithsonian Link ParentThere are a small subset of compostable bags that can easily break down in a normal home compost. You want to look for the TUV Home compositing certification. I've used them before and can confirm...There are a small subset of compostable bags that can easily break down in a normal home compost. You want to look for the TUV Home compositing certification.
I've used them before and can confirm they break down readily in my tumbler in a few months, while ones that weren't home composting certified remained for much longer.
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Comment on <deleted topic> in ~tv
smithsonian Link ParentStrange New Worlds, hands down. It really captures the things that made the original shows great. The Lower Decks is great, but I think it's much easier to appreciate it if you're more versed in...Strange New Worlds, hands down. It really captures the things that made the original shows great.
The Lower Decks is great, but I think it's much easier to appreciate it if you're more versed in the Trek universe already.
Prodigy (which is now on Netflix) is also really great, and an excellent gateway drug. It was marketed more towards kids, but it isn't a kids show. The second half of the first season really hits.
It's actually been a long time since when played Sushi Go (having a kid really put a damper on our gaming!) so I am having a hard time remembering the specifics. However, there's an episode of Tabletop (which is where I first saw the game and ended up buying it) featuring Sushi Go. It starts at the 18:45 point: https://youtu.be/Xu9RB-N4T3g
And other episodes of Tabletop are also a great rabbit hole you can go down. It's tough to really get a sense of games (and whether you'd personally enjoy them) just from reviews and text, but it's quite different watching a group of people playing a game (especially when it's the first time playing it for most of them).