NEVER click decline all. There are loopholes built in that still grant access to “legitimate interest” cookies, which are recognized differently from “consent cookies.” If you click reject all, it still allows collection of certain personal info through cookies labeled legitimate interest. Which is entirely up to advertisers to categorize.
As annoying as it is, always open up options and manually uncheck cookies.
Satisfaction is just a level of contentment for me. I’m in a good place, nothing’s wrong, I have all my needs met. I’m satisfied.
Whereas happiness is a higher emotional plane. I actually feel good, not just content. My emotions are elevated and it would take something drastic to negatively alter my mood.
Happiness is an elevated positive state of emotion, whereas satisfaction is more of a neutral positive.
My father, who convinced me (16 m) at the time to move in with him instead of my mother when they moved. All 3 of the other siblings stayed with my mother. He then kicked me out the week I turned 18, a week into my senior year. Since then he stays in touch only to speak with his grandchildren (now going on 4 kids). I have never...
There are already a lot of good answers/opinions/experiences/etc. here and I don’t want to rehash all of that, but I will mention this:
If you’ve heard the expression, “blood is thicker than water,” you should know that the original unedited expression was actually, “the blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb.” Basically meaning that the friendships (covenants) you make in life are stronger bonds than the family you just happened to be born into.
You can’t choose your biological family, but you can choose your friends and (non-bio) family. Don’t let people drag you down just because they’re related to you. Cut the dead weight out of your life, regardless of relation, and live your best life. If your dad doesn’t care about you, then why should you exhaust any energy caring about him? He hasn’t earned your attention, nor the attention of his grandkids.
My wife came from a poor trailer trash family and felt obligated, as the only person who made something of herself, to attempt to support her grandparents (who raised her), mother, and 3 siblings. But it only led to greed, gluttony, and dishonesty. Eventually, she had to cut ties with most of them because they started to feel entitled in sharing her “wealth.”
We had to draw the line when one of her pregnant sisters was about to have her baby taken away by the state. (I believe it was her 4th one the state had taken from her at this point; she had been deemed an unfit parent, but kept pumping out kids regardless.) My wife’s family tried to guilt us into adopting the kid, just to keep him in the family. She finally put her foot down. Taking in illegitimate children from her family was just trapping her with the burden of her siblings (who were already trying to pawn off their kids to their grandmother). My wife cut ties and now only speaks to her siblings (and mother) if they call. But she makes zero effort to stay in touch otherwise, and she won’t give them anything except functional Christmas gifts - the one time of year she indirectly contacts them.
My wife had deep-seated anxiety for years, worrying about supporting her deadbeat family. Now she’s low-contact and made a rule not to support them financially. She’s living stress-free now and is in a much better place for it. Their lives are their own and she refuses to feel responsible for the horrible choices they’ve made.
I have a buddy who would rage quit when he dies in games, then rant about how there’s no advantage for skilled players and, “this game is all luck!”
He was exceptionally good at strategy games. Back in the days of Warcraft II, he would spend days writing down exact second-by-second instructions for building the perfect base to dominate the map. (“Dedicate 4 seconds to starting this building, the next 9 seconds are needed to harvest this resource, then 13 seconds to start recruiting 4 infantry,” etc.).
By the time I had made maybe 3 buildings and a few peons harvesting resources, he was already invading my base with a massive army. He probably could’ve gone pro, if esports leagues were a thing in our youth.
But he was a terrible loser. If his strategy didn’t go to plan, he would throw a fit about the game cheating and being all about luck instead of skill.
My wife suffers from this. It’s called clinical anxiety and depression, with a heavy dose of ADHD. She needs medication to keep it in check, and some days, even that’s not enough. Trying to get her out of the house every few days is like pulling teeth.
On top of that, my wife is an introvert by nature, but you’d never know in a social setting, as she will talk everyone’s ear off all night long. I found out that’s her nervous tick; when she feels the social anxiety kicking in, she just lets the ADHD take charge and will run her mouth non-stop. When she gets home from any social event, even just a quiet evening hanging out with a close friend, she’ll collapse from exhaustion and sleep for half a day afterward.
For me, it’s jingle all the way. It’s got everything. A drunk reindeer. A terrorist mailman. Arnold punching a deer. Arnold punching Sinbad. Arnold punching Santa. Arnold in general....
I love tinkering with computers. Building, fixing, upgrading… software, hardware, networking, it’s all fun. I enjoy the troubleshooting process and the satisfaction that comes from solving a problem. I spent 20 years as an IT guy in the US Air Force and I enjoyed every minute of fixing computers while serving.
Now I’m recently retired and I could easily make 2-3x as much money working IT in the civilian sector, but… I just really enjoy doing it for fun. I don’t want to go back into a corporate environment and be told how and when and what to fix or upgrade.
My wife and I are planning to build our “forever home” (the last home we ever plan to live in) and we’re in the design phase right now. I can’t wait to wire the place for modern computer systems. I’d like to build my own server suite in a cold basement room and then network the whole house so I can automate tasks anywhere in the house. Open all my curtains from an app on my phone, answer the door, play music in any room (or all rooms) through an intercom system, stream movies/TV shows/video games to any TV in the house, etc. I’m definitely building a giant theater room in my basement, at least big enough to hold a dozen people, maybe more.
I’m excited for the possibilities that wiring my own house present. I also want to make it upgradeable over time, in case better standards for technology come out. Maybe run all cables through PVC pipes in the walls, so I can easily push new cables through without having to tear apart the walls.
Yeah, I’m really enjoying retirement as a former IT guy. I could make more money going back to work, but then I’ll have less time and freedom to engage in my hobbies. What’s the point in having more money if you don’t have the time to enjoy it? So I’m living off my govt pension now, which is more than adequate for me to live comfortably, and I’m just enjoying retired life.
Depends on what you want out of it. Are you looking for exercise, self-defense skills, how to disable someone with practically no effort, looking to impress someone with some “ninja moves,” etc.?
When I was stationed in Japan 20 years ago, I found a martial arts course taught at our base’s gym. Ninpo Budo Tai Jitsu. I had never heard of it before, but they were offering a free month before you had to start paying for classes, so I figured I’d check it out.
Turns out, it’s not a self-defense course like I thought. It’s an assassination art. They said the goal was to kill your opponent as quickly as possible, before they had a chance to kill you. They made a point to say that we weren’t allowed to practice our training on each other or spar with each other, in case we accidentally killed someone.
Suffice to say, I dropped the course after my free month and signed up at a nearby Karate dojo. That was much more my style. It’s probably the most basic of martial arts. Gives you good exercise, some self-defense skills, and mental focus.
Definitely research different art forms and decide for yourself which works best for you. I’ve sampled a bunch over the years, but I think Aikido spoke to me personally now than any other form.
I posted a homemade video to YouTube once. It was of a coworker chugging a bottle of soy sauce, then puking it back up. YouTube’s automod blocked it for nudity. It was literally just a few guys in the office, joking around while this guy chugged soy sauce. We were wearing military uniforms, so the automod probably misinterpreted the tan T-shirt as bare skin or something.
They gave me only one chance to contest the block, and when I submitted my response, it was almost immediately denied. I guarantee that was an automated response and not a real person who reviewed my case.
Nearly a decade later, I noticed it let me contest it again, so I submitted another request and got an actual human response this time, saying I was right, there was no nudity in the video. My video was restored. But I had several years with no access to the video because YouTube blocked it.
I also posted another homemade video with my own audio compilation of pop/rock music over it. It was up for a few years, until YouTube started scanning videos for copyrighted music. Now the video is muted and it’s been so long, I don’t think I have the original copy anymore. I can’t pull it from YouTube because it’s just mute. They won’t give me access to the audio of the video.
So that’s a home video I made that I just don’t have the full unedited version of anymore, thanks to YouTube. Definitely don’t use them as a backup service for your videos.
Yeah you should let your stuff cool before washing it… but how many of us do that?
I used to love putting hot pans in the sink with cool water. Loved the sizzle and steam it created, and it was faster than waiting for it to cool down.
Then I would complain about all my pans being cheap and warped. I couldn’t cook evenly because there was one bulge that got direct contact with the oven and the rest of the pan rocked back and forth and either burned or undercooked all my food.
Until one day, my wife pointed out that putting a hot pan in cool/cold water causes them to warp. She got mad at me because some of the ruined pans were actually expensive quality brands. I’ve learned my lesson; no more hot pans in the sink for me. Let them cool a bit before you wash them.
I don’t use shower gel. I’m so hairy, my shampoo is used all over my body. Does the job just fine.
For deodorant, I use Old Spice, the Fiji scented one. I brought my wife to the store and asked her to bring me a deodorant scent that she enjoyed, and this is the one she landed on.
I make sure to use just the deodorant type, not the deodorant/antiperspirant. The antiperspirant stuff sticks to my armpits and clothes, and takes a few days to fully scrub off. I don’t sweat enough to bother with it.
I hate that I always compare Lemmy to Reddit, but Reddit used to have (not sure if they still do) guidelines called “Reddiquette” that included guidelines about upvoting and downvoting. I don’t remember the specifics (and sending too much of my browser traffic to Reddit makes me feel dirty) but one of the guidelines was...
I tend to upvote if someone brings something unique to the discussion. If you’re just giving a quick generic response to OP or parroting the same opinion a dozen other people in the thread have already posted, then I’m gonna read your comment and keep going. But if you provide thoughtful content that promotes discussion, provides a unique perspective, or at least had a lot of thought put into it, I’m likely to upvote it. Same goes for the post itself.
I generally avoid downvoting, even if I disagree with the comment. But if someone is factually wrong, misleading, posting in bad faith, or just being a troll, I’ll downvote their comments in a thread and upvote anyone who attempts to be reasonable with them. If two people are just bickering back and forth, they both get downvotes. And as always, any comments that distract from the discussion or are off-topic will get a downvote.
As far as socializing, Lemmy is pretty much the big one nowadays.
Well, a little Facebook too, to stay in touch with friends and family, but I use F. B. Purity to remove ads and other features I don’t use on Facebook (gaming, marketplace, reels/stories, etc.), plus an extension in Firefox to block Facebook/Instagram from snooping on my other browser tabs. Don’t want them building a profile on my browsing habits to customize ads for me, or to sell to third parties.
I also use Discord with my wife and a few close friends, so we can arrange an online video gaming night once or twice a week, and stay in touch the rest of the time.
Before Lemmy, I used Reddit a ton. Before that, I was a moderator for a forum called CommGuys.net (formerly 3C0X1.net), which was a forum for Air Force service members in the IT career field. The former site URL was our Air Force specialty code that designated the generic IT career field, but it changed in 2009, splitting into several different codes for different specialties, so they changed the site to CommGuys; short for Communications Guys, which is what they used to call IT professionals in the Air Force. Nowadays, they call them Cyber Guys, because we’re more cyber/web focused and less communications specific. But when social media sites were officially unblocked from Air Force computer networks in 2010, military people ran over to Reddit and Facebook and our forums practically died out, so the site owner finally shut it down.
Oh, and to officially date myself, my first social media platform was MySpace, which I didn’t even get involved in until after I left home and joined the military. Social media was not a thing in my childhood, and most of my childhood was without Internet. It didn’t become popular/commonplace until my preteen years, and content was sparse for many years after that. I did use AOL Instant Messenger (AIM), MSN Messenger, ICQ, and a couple others in my teen years, but that was basically direct messaging with friends through the Internet before everyone had cell phones.
Even as a teen/young adult, IRC was more of an “old nerdy IT guy” hangout spot, so I rarely got involved with it, despite joining the IT profession in the military. I expected it to die out as more advanced web functionality approached, but I guess some people really like the classics, and it’s surprisingly still a thing today.
Oh, and 4chan was a great site back in its early days, but then too many young kids started joining it and taking the “free speech” jokes seriously, so now it’s become a breeding ground for fascist misogynistic alt-right extremists. We used to joke around about that stuff, testing the mods to see what our censor limits were, since 4chan liked to advertise itself as the only place on the Internet where you could speak your mind without being silenced or banned. And, well… some people really pushed those boundaries to the extreme and eventually turned the site into a cesspool.
Before LOLcats was Demotivational posters, which were just the generic motivational posters, but with a humorous twist. Motivational posters had a black border with text on the bottom, which made it easy to swap out in MS Paint with funny text back in the early Internet days. It was the first caption memes, which became even more popular when people started doing it with cute cat pics too.
I am relatively new to Star Trek. I have watched strange New Worlds, the Lower Decks and Discovery and want to watch some of the “older” memed shows from this sub. I could never really get into TOS because it’s just too old. What would you guys recommend to watch first to get really into it?
Star Trek: The Next Generation (TNG) is one of the most popular shows in the franchise (and definitely meme’d to death online). With a stellar cast, interesting development of characters, and fascinating action and psychological stories, it helped build a modern setting for the franchise to grow into.
Also, it’s one of the only series that received a modern sequel series (Star Trek: Picard). Sure, there are occasional crossover episodes between series, but TNG was so popular, they got most of the old cast back to reprise their roles decades later. So if you’re invested in the characters of TNG, you get to see what adventures they’re up to years after leaving Starfleet.
ALSO also… TOS and TNG are the only two series to get full-length feature films made alongside their respective TV shows. (Even the modern reboot films are set in the TOS timeline, following the characters from that show.) So if you’d like to see TV show characters on the big screen, TNG will give you those big budget productions along with your show.
The first TNG film (Star Trek: Generations) actually has Captain Picard running into Captain Kirk from TOS, who got stuck in some sort of time anomaly in space. It was awesome that they found a way to do a crossover between the two series, considering they take place almost 100 years apart from each other in the Star Trek timeline.
I don’t understand the point of these “Heathcliff without Heathcliff” comics. It just feels like a discount Garfield Minus Garfield.
Garfield Minus Garfield exposed the raw and damaged psyche of a lonely and depressed man (Jon Arbuckle), trying to cope with his existential existence. It was a brilliant exploration into the mind of a disturbed individual, and even earned high praise from Jim Davis, Garfield’s creator.
Heathcliff without Heathcliff is just… removing Heathcliff from comics, without regard to whether the strip still makes sense. I haven’t seen one of these that really promotes a new understanding or direction for the strip by removing Heathcliff. I just don’t think his comics work in this format.
I’ll give you credit for that. I was expecting Heathcliff without Heathcliff to expose some deeper quality to its comics by subtracting the titular character, but I see the objective here is actually pointing out the absurdity of the strip itself. That makes much more sense.
I’m very glad this sequel was made, as I’m a fan of the original (and the pseudo-connected Control), but I’m highly annoyed it’s releasing as an Epic Games exclusive on PC. I guess I won’t be able to play it for at least a year now.
I recently made it to my near-ideal situation in life. After 20 years in the US military, I retired last summer. I was grandfathered into the old pension program, so I get a paycheck in my bank account every month for the rest of my life, equal to a little under half my income while I was serving. Plus, I qualified for 100% disability through the VA. Which isn’t exactly ideal being disabled, but it comes with its own sizeable monthly paycheck that’s greater than my pension. So I’m actually making slightly more money in retirement than I was while I was serving. Plus, I get free medical and dental for life.
My wife, who also served, earned herself a 100% disability rating as well, so she has the same benefits. She did not retire, though, instead being medically separated from the military for physical health concerns.
On top of that, we moved back into my childhood home, where we’re taking care of my elderly father. He’s letting us live here rent-free. When he inevitably passes away one day, I’ll inherit his home, so I don’t need to worry about buying a house in this awful economy anytime soon.
At 39 years old, I’m (relatively) young, mostly healthy, save some mental and physical scars from military life, and active enough to truly enjoy retirement.
I worked in the IT field while serving in the military, and I know I could easily double or triple my income if I went back into an IT job, but I think I’m enjoying retired life too much. It would be nice to have the extra income, but I’d also be beholden to a job, giving up my youth to spend most of my waking hours working. I’d rather take my lesser income and have the freedom to plan my days than have more money but less time to enjoy it. Besides, my needs are more than met with my current passive income, so I don’t really need to work.
5 years from now, I hope to have at least started writing a memoir of some sort. I traveled the whole world in my 20 years served and I’ve always wanted to share my life experiences in webcomic form, but I’ll need to practice my art and develop a personal drawing style before I get there. I haven’t truly been invested in art since I was a child, so I need to re-learn the skills I once had. Plus, writing about my experiences might help my lingering PTSD in the long run.
I also have the freedom to partake in many hobbies now, so I’ll probably pick at a handful of them to experiment with over the coming years. I’ve always loved woodworking, ever since my Cub Scout/Boy Scout days of my youth, so I might try my hand at that. I’m living on 6 acres of land in the countryside, so I have space to invest in some big projects, without worrying about bothering the neighbors.
I definitely want to get some solar panels set up in the field behind my house and see about getting our electrical needs off the grid. Ideally, my wife and I want the ability to live completely off the grid, with enough supplies to survive at least a few months without having to leave the house. Considering we’re kind of remote out in the countryside, and we tend to have pretty heavy winters here, it’s always good to prepare to be snowed in for a while.
On that note, I’ve always wanted to try gardening. I have plenty of space, so I might try my hand at it one of these summers. If I can grow our own fresh fruits and vegetables, we can be that much closer to complete self-reliance.
I also, sadly, suspect I may have ownership of my current home within the next 5 years. My dad has Parkinson’s and is quickly declining. And it’s a degenerative disease, so once you lose motor ability, you never regain it again. He went from walking 2-4 miles a day last year to struggling just to walk 10 feet without getting dizzy and needing to rest. Plus he’s struggling just to talk now. My family watched as a friend in his 50s, diagnosed with Parkinson’s, refused to do any exercise. And within 6 months, they were dead. My dad is nearing 80 and is reaching a point where he can’t exercise much anymore, so it’s anyone’s guess how quickly his disease will consume him. Hopefully he’ll still be with us in 5 years, but that depends on how much effort he’s willing to put into staying active.
Long story short, I’m not really sure where I’ll be in 5 years because I’ve finally hit a very stable, near-unchanging situation in my life. I can literally coast through the rest of my life without changing a thing now. But that would be boring, so I’m gonna dabble in hobbies and interests and projects and hopefully ignite some new passions that I didn’t know I had before. Who knows where I’ll end up in 5 years?
Why is it that Americans refer to 24 hour time as military time? I understand that the military uses the 24hr format but I don’t understand why the general public would refer to it like that?...
I spent 20 years in the US military. I had to quickly learn “military time” in order to function, as we were taught 12-hr time growing up in school. I was surprised when I traveled the world and discovered that everyone else uses “military time” (read: international time) as well. I guess Americans just really wanna do their own thing.
I exclusively use military time nowadays. If someone doesn’t understand the time I stated, I’ll correct it to 12-hr time on the spot, as converting is super easy. Just count back 2 hours and drop the 10’s digit by one; e.g. 1600 = 4 PM. 2200 = 10 PM. Etc.
I use Sync for Lemmy to browse on my phone/tablet. I just browse the Everything category to get a sense of what subs are popular or posting regularly. If I see something I like, I go to that sub and subscribe.
Just be careful doing that in public. There are a bunch of porn subs that post regularly and you don’t want to scroll across one of those while you’re surrounded by people. I usually switch to my subscriptions-only feed when I’m browsing out in public, so no porn subs show up in my feed.
I think I got it. White represents 3 years and the black is a single-year decade marker. The first 3 white beads represent 9 years, and Death is moving over a black bead, which is the 10th year (one decade complete).
According to the beads, the kid just turned 10 and will live for 46 years.
I use Ziploc bags for food mostly (or toiletries when I’m traveling), so they’re typically a one-time use only thing for me. But anything non-perishable or anything that doesn’t go in my mouth/on my body can reuse the same bag until it breaks.
I was serving in the last couple years of my military career when the pandemic started. The military took it very seriously, because we still have a mission that needs to be accomplished. Anyone dropping out for a severe illness would compromise our capabilities.
So we went on full lockdown. No one was allowed to leave military bases unless you lived off-base, in which you were only authorized to go straight home and then back to work. It was highly recommended you order delivery services for groceries and stock up so you wouldn’t need to leave home. Going to the grocery store was the only exception to the lockdown, but it was considered an extreme risk and should be avoided if possible.
Our work shifts (in my unit, anyway) were split in half. Half the crew came in for the morning shift, then thoroughly disinfected the office, locked up, and went home. Then 30 minutes later, the second shift would come in and do the afternoon shift. The 30-minute break ensured no physical contact between shifts. The split-shift allowed a shift to take over full work days in case someone on the other shift got sick. Their whole shift would stay home for 2 weeks to ensure the contagious period passed before sending them back into the office to resume split shifts.
We would’ve moved to work-from-home (WFH), but unfortunately, I happened to be working in an Intelligence unit at the time and 90% of their job was on classified computer systems, which we couldn’t access from outside the office. I was an IT guy, fixing the Intel guys’ computers, so I did WFH for a few months, managing their unclassified computer accounts from a laptop. But eventually, I was needed in the office for their other systems.
We were also required to wear masks outside of our homes at all times. Anyone caught without a mask anywhere - even sitting in our car on the drive to or from work - could be punished for violating a direct order from our base commander. We used to make fun of conservatives who bitched about how uncomfortable the masks were and how they couldn’t breathe while wearing them. We had to wear them all day without breaks, from the moment we left home until the moment we got home. I empathize with emergency room workers; it was brutal, but it wasn’t impossible to do, and we got used to it eventually. After a while, I started to feel naked without my mask on.
In the last 2 years I served, we had a few people drop out with COVID-19 (their civilian families brought it home from their work/school), but the majority of us stayed COVID-free.
When I retired last summer, I moved in with my elderly hermit dad who lives out in the countryside. He avoided leaving his house for the whole pandemic, and even now rarely goes into town. He, my wife, and I are still COVID-free to this day.
My sister and her family caught it 3 times! But my sister married into an ultra-conservative religious family who thought the pandemic was a hoax and continued to hold religious parties and barbeques for the neighborhood all throughout the pandemic (They were anti-vaxxers too; something my sister fought with her husband about long before the pandemic occurred). There were a few scares when she came to care for our father and then got diagnosed with COVID-19 a day or two later. But somehow, my dad never tested positive for COVID antibodies. And despite my sister’s husband losing his sense of taste and smell (which is still not fully recovered to this day), her whole family has thankfully survived their run-in with COVID.
They should’ve stuck with Steam instead of going exclusive through Epic Games. Epic’s predatory practice of PC exclusives makes it hard to survive something like this. If they existed on a broader spectrum of services, this would be no big deal.
US here. I can’t remember the last time I had a bath. I’m very tall, so I don’t fit into tubs easily. My dream is to add a giant whirlpool tub to my home, so I can actually lounge and stretch out in the tub.
As far as showers go (which was OP’s original intent), I shower once a day, when I first wake up. My body produces natural oils faster than most people, so I need a daily shower to keep them at bay. I feel really gross if I skip a day.
My wife, on the other hand, showers once every other day. She says her skin and hair dry out when she showers daily, so she needs the break. She gets split ends in her hair easily.
We’re actually both retired at the moment, so we don’t have to get up and go anywhere first thing in the morning. So I need to remind my wife to shower every few days. If not, she’ll easily go 3-4 days without it, and then she becomes a “swamp monster.” (Her words, not mine)
The AAA gaming space can often lack innovation, so people usually turn to small indie studios for something fresh. Whether it’s for unique gameplay design, beautiful aesthetics or satisfying combat, these 15 overlooked indie games stood out to me. This is my top 15 list of underrated, hidden indie gems for PC that I enjoy more...
I joined the US military literally a month before 9/11 happened. The day I felt really old was the day we started getting new enlistees who weren’t even born during 9/11. One of them told me they didn’t understand why “ancient US history” was so important in our modern military climate.
This January, Biden officially declared an end to the “War on Terror” that Bush Jr. started, which was a response to 9/11. The way our military operates today is mostly thanks to America’s response to 9/11; we evolved so much in the past 2 decades to keep up with a dangerous new decentralized threat to our nation. It’s kind of a big deal.
As someone who served for 20 years, I’ll tell you that almost no one in my last unit was voting red. Republican politicians use “support our troops” to win votes, but they don’t give a shit about us. Behind the scenes, they’ve been pushing policies to take away our programs and benefits. Democrats are the sole reason we still have any benefits left.
I mentioned in another thread, when the govt shutdown happens, service members don’t get paid until the shutdown ends. But they’re still required to go to work and act like nothing’s happening. And who keeps forcing govt shutdowns as leverage to get their way? Republicans.
As a currently 100% disabled veteran who relies on my VA benefits to survive, I’ll never vote red again.
EDIT: My uncle retired from the US Air Force in the early '90s and they gave him free medical and dental for life as one of his retiree benefits. He applied for VA disability and barely qualified for 10%, which he doesn’t even use.
I retired last summer (July 2022) and I needed to qualify for 100% disability to get the same deal (which is very hard to acquire). Otherwise, they’d only cover whatever long-term ailments I could prove happened during my service and I’d need to pay medical insurance to cover any other medical issues. This was one of the main benefits that encouraged me to join, and Republicans have screwed most people out of it over the past few decades.
I had read somewhere that Middle Earth was inspired by features of J.R.R. Tolkien’s hometown; i.e. a giant smokestack on the factory at the end of the lane, constantly spouting black smoke, was his inspiration for Mordor.
As for his descriptions of topography, he could have very well based them on foreign lands outside of Europe.
They could have fitted the whole ring / tape / mouse assembly into a small paper bag Aragorn could have kept it in his jacket and fed it little bits of lembas on the way how lovely x
I dunno… he didn’t have it for very long in the films, then hesitated when Frodo asked for it back. He resisted the ring, but it still affected him a little bit.
This is why Apple just announced their new iPhone 15 with a USB-C charging port. They’re standardizing and getting rid of the lightning cables, because the EU forced their hand.
Now you can buy any USB-C cable for your iPhone, instead of the overpriced garbage cables they forced you to use previously.
As in, would the channel be losing out on money? Because I don't want to take away from small creators if there is a retention rate for viewership of that exact segment, but I would prefer to skip any of the "but first check out this shitty mobile game".
I watch several channels where people just mow lawns or do other landscaping work (it’s my version of ASMR; doing yard work was a nostalgic childhood memory of mine).
One of the guys I watch bragged about how amazing his riding mower was. He swore up and down he wasn’t a shill for the company, and he even painted over their logo so he wasn’t inadvertently advertising their brand on his channel. But he said it was the best mower he’s used in decades of work.
Ugh, don’t call word art memes “old school.” I still see those as new-ish Gen-Z memes. When those started popping up everywhere in the past decade, I had my first boomer moment: “What the hell is this garbage format? It doesn’t make any sense!” My millennial ass is getting too old for this shit.
I always felt I was “smarter than the average bear” (I think I just dated myself), but I had no solid evidence growing up, besides my mother insisting that I was very smart for my age. I almost skipped 2 grades in elementary school because I was reading adult books before I even started school, and I could write just as well. But my math knowledge was just average, so they didn’t want me to get behind if I missed a couple grades.
Despite this, I was a solidly C+/B- student for most of my schooling. I aced the tests placed in front of me, but I hated homework, so I just didn’t do it most of the time. I understood the material the first time it was presented to me; I didn’t understand why I needed to continually go over it in my free time. It felt like a waste of time. Plus, I had a hard time learning from the teachers. I did much better if I just read the textbook on my own, rather than sitting through a lecture.
In high school, I was failing a few classes. My mother thought I considered myself stupid and was afraid it was wrecking my confidence. Apparently, when she was a kid, she also thought she was stupid. She was failing a bunch of classes, while her eldest sister was getting straight-A’s. She got her IQ tested and found out she was actually the smartest of all her siblings - her eldest sister actually had the lowest IQ in their family!
So my mother made it her personal mission to prove I was smart. After all, you’re supposed to inherit your intellect from your mother, and my mom had a genius IQ. She hired a psychologist to give me an official IQ test, and to no one’s surprise, I tested in the genius range too. So I finally received validation that I was smart.
It didn’t fix my grades, though. It turns out, I was getting poor grades because A.) I refused to do homework, which lost me half my grade points alone, and B.) I was bored in class and didn’t really pay attention. I would find out 20 years later that I have ADHD, which is why I couldn’t pay attention in class. I have very poor auditory learning skills; when people talk to me, my brain shuts off. So lectures were the absolute death of me.
I joined the US Air Force right after high school, and unfortunately, the military requires you to blindly obey orders and not think too hard about things. Everything is dumbed down so the mission can be accomplished, even in the most stressful of scenarios. The Air Force has the strictest tests to qualify for service, and we tend to have the highest intelligent people in the armed services, but it was still a drag. I spent too many years trying to argue logic and reason with my stories and coworkers, which fell on deaf ears. So I eventually got complacent and started doing the bare minimum to accomplish the mission and get through my days. By the end of my 2 decades of service, I feel like my brain has been through the blender and I feel much dumber than I used to be. Could also be some added PTSD, too.
Now I’m retired at a young age and living a quiet, relaxing life out in the countryside. I’m not too concerned anymore about being smart or dumb, just as long as I can live in peace.
My pet peeve is the Finnish name “Yrjö”. It comes from the Greek name “Geôrgios”, which means farmer, but nowadays the word “yrjö” means vomit. ‘Unique spellings’ like some “Everleigh” also drive me crazy.
I was deployed to Iraq in 2007, at Kirkuk Regional Air Base. I served in the US Air Force and my job was essentially an IT technician, so I was maintaining our base’s computer servers.
Our base was half Air Force (Airmen) and half Army (Soldiers). About 90% of our ticket queue came from the Army side, because they didn’t respect equipment or security practices as much as we did, so they were always breaking our things.
One day, I got a ticket from a small Army supply depot. Someone’s computer wasn’t powering on. So I hopped in our truck and drove over to the Army side of base. The supply depot was literally a shack, maybe about 20x15 ft. I went inside and was greeted by 3 soldiers.
While troubleshooting the broken computer, I tipped it and sand poured out the back. This was common, as we had a lot of sand in Iraq. It collected like super-aggressive dust everywhere and we had to clean our offices at least weekly to keep it at bay. Soldiers rarely cleaned their offices, so there was always a layer of sand on everything. I told them I was going to grab a can of compressed air from my truck, so I could blow out all the sand and then see if there was anything else broken within the computer.
The shack was next to a larger building that had a parking lot in front of it. I had parked in the lot and was rummaging around in the bed of the truck for a can of compressed air…
…The next thing I know, I’m lying on my back on the pavement, staring at the blue sky. I’m thinking how beautiful and peaceful the sky looks, but I feel like something’s off. I’m trying to remember why I’m lying there, staring at the sky.
I tried to get up, but my whole body ached, like I had spent an entire day in the gym, beating up every muscle group. It was a struggle, but I eventually managed to sit up. My hearing suddenly came back to me and I heard a commotion going on in the direction of the shack. I struggled to stand up, using the tailgate of my truck, and I walked around the corner of the larger building to see what’s going on.
There was a small crater in the ground, next to the shack. One wall and its section of roof was almost completely blown off. A mortar had landed, just outside the shack. A bunch of people were scrambling around the wreckage.
I did a spot-check of myself and despite being full-body sore, I didn’t have any holes anywhere. No blood, I could move all my limbs and digits. Somehow, I seemed okay. I must have been hit by the shock wave from the impact while around the corner from the shack. Which was lucky, as this particular mortar seemed to have scattered little molten balls of metal everywhere when it exploded.
Emergency crews arrived and they started excavating the ruins of the shack. Two of the soldiers had died instantly; the third was rushed to the hospital with limbs barely attached. He died a few hours later on the operating table. If I had been responsible and brought all my tools inside; if I didn’t have to go back to my truck to grab supplies for the job, I would’ve been in that shack with those guys. That was the closest I ever came to dying.
Since I didn’t appear to be injured, I just went back to work. No sense in me being in the way of everyone else. But little did I know that I had suffered a mild concussion. I was kind of dazed for about a week, just staring blankly at my computer screen. I eventually snapped out of it and continued on with my life. Never went to the hospital about it because it never occured to me while I was dazed, and when I snapped out of it, I felt like I was all better anyway and there was no reason to be examined. I was young and dumb.
At the time of the incident, you could only earn a Purple Heart medal by being injured while in direct combat with OpFor (opposing forces; a.k.a the enemy). So I didn’t qualify, as they had just launched a random mortar at our base and I was unlucky enough to be in its vicinity when it blew up. I was a victim of circumstance, not in an actual battle.
A few years later, they expanded the award to cover any injury sustained indirectly from OpFor’s actions. Also, they included mental injuries. Used to be, only physical damage counted, but PTSD was starting to become more commonly recognized, so mental injuries became a qualifier for the Purple Heart. So I qualified for it, but when I applied, I realized I had no evidence of my injuries from OpFor specifically, because I never went to the hospital afterward. I went to get checked out, but the hospital said I had no residual trace of mental damage that they could see. Brain scans looked fine. So I never earned the Purple Heart, even though I technically qualified for it.
My dad has Parkinson’s Disease, so he has poor coordination in his hands and can’t plug in small cords like a charging cable.
My sister bought him magnetic USB connectors and it’s changed his life! There’s a small USB end that plugs into his smartphone port, and the cable connects to it via magnets. Takes my dad almost no effort; he just needs to get his phone near the end of the cable and it latches on.
There are regular charging cables and fast-charging cables. Depending on your device, make sure you know which one you’re buying. The regular cables take half a day to charge my phone.
The live-action One Piece is being praised for being one of the best adaptions of an anime/manga series of all time. I think part of that credit goes to the fact that Eiichiro Oda, the creator of One Piece, was directly involved in the live action show’s development. So it wasn’t just licenced to a studio who felt they could “appeal to a wider audience” with their own version; they actually wanted it to be faithful to its source material, which is already loved by global audiences.
The show made a few minor changes from the original source material that helped it flow better in a short 8-episode live action format, but overall, the show itself was very faithful and well done.
They’ve already gotten approval for a 2nd season (they claim the script is already done and they’re just waiting on the writer’s strike to end before filming) and they have at least a 12-season plan in the works.
Also, as someone who watches the anime in its original Japanese, I’m stoked to learn that the original anime cast was hired to do the Japanese dub of the live action show.
When you switch to any sort of tire that doesn’t have pressurized air in it, the dampening can only occur by deforming the tire in contact with the ground, and it’s not going to be anywhere near as good.
I mean, these new tires do deform with the ground. That’s the “revolutionary tech” they brag about; the rings are designed to compress a bit and deform to compensate for impact, but always bounce back to their original shape no matter how much force is exerted on them. So you get a simulated air pressure.
Do I de-age, or am I just moving to a previous point in my timeline as I am today? If I do de-age, do I at least keep all my knowledge and experience intact?
If so, I would love to go back to my pre-schooling childhood, power through the “child genius” phase at record speed, and get some good investments started early (Microsoft, Google, Apple, etc.) so I can speed-run my retirement and live better than I currently am. Heck, since my young spongy brain absorbs knowledge much easier than my current adult brain, I could work to earn a few doctorates in STEM fields while I’m young and then try to improve the world once I reach adulthood.
I retired last year at only 38 years old (military pension, plus disability pay), but it’s basically kept me in the same place I started out. I moved back into my childhood house and I have enough passive income to just relax and enjoy my life. So I’m essentially back to my childhood life, where I’m just doing whatever I want every day without worrying about monetary cost.
But it’d be nice to have the money to build my childhood dream home (Modern castle/fortress with hidden rooms and passages, completely self-sustaining and off the grid, on 100+ acres of private land). And I would like to pay off all debts of my closest friends and family. (REAL friends - the ones who were good to me before they knew I was wealthy)
I’d also like to be rich enough to be a philanthropist who can just throw millions at fixing major injustices in the world. Like, Elon Musk could literally end world hunger if he wanted and he’d hardly notice the impact to his finances. But he doesn’t give a shit, so the world continues to suffer under megalomaniacs like him.
On the seventh day of Trek-mas, (lemmy.world)
SUBMIT ENTRIES FOR DAY 8 HERE!...
For real tho (lemmy.world)
What is happiness for you and how would you differentiate it from satisfaction?
How do I cope with my father hating me?
My father, who convinced me (16 m) at the time to move in with him instead of my mother when they moved. All 3 of the other siblings stayed with my mother. He then kicked me out the week I turned 18, a week into my senior year. Since then he stays in touch only to speak with his grandchildren (now going on 4 kids). I have never...
Had to be one, can't be me (lemmy.world)
rule (64.media.tumblr.com)
You've been instantly teleported two feet to the left. How does this affect you?
What is that thing called where you like randomly start picking-up/doing something that you saw someone do and now its a shared "thing" about you cuz you both do it genuinely
Like when Charlie becomes/starts doing a Griecko thing or Michael Scott imitates Ryan’s ridiculous facial hair
What's your favorite Christmas movie, and why?
For me, it’s jingle all the way. It’s got everything. A drunk reindeer. A terrorist mailman. Arnold punching a deer. Arnold punching Sinbad. Arnold punching Santa. Arnold in general....
What is the skill/talent you have that you get praised for but you fiercely keep as an hobby/interest with no plans to expand on it?
[Steam] Half Life Free for Limited Time (store.steampowered.com)
store.steampowered.com/app/70/HalfLife/...
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What is a product that you won’t accept a generic alternative for?
For example, if you insist on buying Advil instead of store brand ibuprofen. I mean, you’d be wasting your money in that example, but you do you
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What are your criteria for upvoting/downvoting?
I hate that I always compare Lemmy to Reddit, but Reddit used to have (not sure if they still do) guidelines called “Reddiquette” that included guidelines about upvoting and downvoting. I don’t remember the specifics (and sending too much of my browser traffic to Reddit makes me feel dirty) but one of the guidelines was...
Where else on the web does everyone hang out?
I’m really curious where else everyone here hangs out on the internet besides Lemmy....
Which internet meme, if somehow erased from ever emerging, might have the biggest impact?
Is there a fundamental internet meme that has had such a major impact that it would have notable repercussions if it had somehow disappeared?
The joys of being alone all the time (lemmy.world)
I need some recommendations
I am relatively new to Star Trek. I have watched strange New Worlds, the Lower Decks and Discovery and want to watch some of the “older” memed shows from this sub. I could never really get into TOS because it’s just too old. What would you guys recommend to watch first to get really into it?
Heathcliff without Heathcliff 10/16/2023 (lemmy.world)
Alan Wake 2: How one of gaming's lost sequels finally got made (www.bbc.co.uk)
After 13 years, Alan Wake's creator finally gets to release the sequel many thought wouldn't happen.
18+ Filters off, where do you really see yourself in 5 years?
Military Time vs 24hr?
Why is it that Americans refer to 24 hour time as military time? I understand that the military uses the 24hr format but I don’t understand why the general public would refer to it like that?...
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Today’s My Birthday (i.imgur.com)
pbfcomics.com
Would/do you reuse a ziploc bag? If so, how many times?
I should buy a lottery ticket (startrek.website)
Report: Fall Guys dev Mediatonic "decimated" by Epic layoffs (www.gamedeveloper.com)
Is it possible to follow kbin magazines from lemmy?
Pretty much the title. It isn’t obvious how to follow magazines from here, if it’s possible at all.
How many showers do you take a day?
Curiosity only....
15 Underrated Indie Games (youtu.be)
The AAA gaming space can often lack innovation, so people usually turn to small indie studios for something fresh. Whether it’s for unique gameplay design, beautiful aesthetics or satisfying combat, these 15 overlooked indie games stood out to me. This is my top 15 list of underrated, hidden indie gems for PC that I enjoy more...
Don't ask me which ones tho, cuz I'm an old (lemmy.world)
No... it's not true... it's impossible... (lemmy.world)
Is Mordor Based on the Himalayas? (www.atlasobscura.com)
extract...
But first they would need to invent some tape (i.imgur.com)
They could have fitted the whole ring / tape / mouse assembly into a small paper bag Aragorn could have kept it in his jacket and fed it little bits of lembas on the way how lovely x
Anon is worried about EU legislation (i.imgur.com)
Whatever next
Does it matter if I skip sponsored ad segments in YouTube videos? (kbin.social)
As in, would the channel be losing out on money? Because I don't want to take away from small creators if there is a retention rate for viewership of that exact segment, but I would prefer to skip any of the "but first check out this shitty mobile game".
What the hell guys ..... (lemmy.ml)
Are you really smart? Are you really dumb? Are you average? How did you come to your conclusion?
What first name do you hate the most and why?
My pet peeve is the Finnish name “Yrjö”. It comes from the Greek name “Geôrgios”, which means farmer, but nowadays the word “yrjö” means vomit. ‘Unique spellings’ like some “Everleigh” also drive me crazy.
What's the closest you have ever been to actually dying?
How close was it?
What's something that's not common knowledge but you think everyone should know? (kbin.social)
Specifically thinking of stuff that make your life better in the long run but all kinds of answers are welcome!...
Is Netflix's One Piece good?
Just wondering what people who have watched Netflix’s new One Piece series think....
Bike tires made from NASA’s bizarre shape-shifting metal are now available to buy (www.theverge.com)
A person comes up to you and says, "I can reverse time for just $1 per day." Do you take their offer? How far back do you go?
i.e. pay $5 to go back 5 days....