Located on Deck 6, Room 2054. Mass evacuation site for decks 5-10.

I’m someone’s favorite.

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  • 61 Comments
Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: November 19th, 2023

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  • Some people know just enough to be dangerous.

    For instance, an anecdote:

    A nearby local hardware store put up a sign in 2017 and now this year, in front of the welding equipment, that says “WELDING GOGGLES DO NOT PROTECT EYES AGAINST THE SUN”

    Now if they didn’t block uv from the sun, then they wouldn’t block uv from your welding arc.

    BUT I 100% stand by their choice to put the sign up.

    Because you need a certain shade or darker, and they sell a lot of different shades for different welding applications, including the safety tints people might want if they’re nearby and catch the occasional reflection.

    And some people know enough to know welding arc = UV, sun = uv, and don’t stop to think about intensity.

    In fact, in 2017, I knew someone who tried to use a #3 lense to look at the total eclipse, and as soon as the moon cleared moved enough for the sun to peek back, he deeply regretted not using a darker shade. Now has a weird spot in his vision that isn’t quite right.



  • It’s so weird how a lot of society went from “WOAH, government can’t use these things to track me, I have a right to privacy!” to “WOAH, you try not to be tracked by every single company on the planet and 16 major governments? What are you some kinda criminal?”

    I can tell you from experience you can use a garage worth of basic tools to make a gun, but not one that will be “print, assemble, fire” without extra parts.

    I’d say about 4/10 times I go flying my 240g drone in the local park someone comes over to tell me I’m breaking the law. Weirdly they can never name a specific one, and it’s always just “the law says you cant use that here”. Never had cops called yet. Mostly people want to ask me how much it was and how I like it. A few have asked if I’ve tried dropping “something the size of a baseball” from it.

    I have a buddy who works in a bank, says a ton of ag loans these days are for drones and renewable energy equipment. Even the owner of the field I live next to has one. I think it lives in his shed, it has 8 rotors. Looks like it could lift a skinny short person. I have exactly 0 concerns they will use it to spy on me or drop explosives on my house.

    I’d love to have a drone with thermal/night vision. We get a lot of animals around here and I’d like to be able to see them (and figure out what they all are) without spooking them.


  • Given how often it happens in other industries, it wouldnt surprise me to find out that someone, somewhere along the line has an agenda to push and are trying to lump certain things into the same category as a thing people aren’t supposed to like in order to get the thing that’s only kind of related banned.

    Heck, I personally know people who want 3d printing to be banned because “you can 3d print guns”. I can make a gun with a trip to the hardware store and a few hours. The extra hours are to make sure I can use it more than once. I’m just using this as an example, it’s not quite the same.

    I also know people who have seen the drone headlines for Ukraine and give me the side eye when I mention I have a drone and can build my own at home. One coworker has even asked why I “need” to build drones and that having a bunch of hardware to do stuff like that is “sketchy”. Drones are already being regulated into the ground over a few high profile incidents. And some try to lump rc devices into the same category. Sorry I can’t fly my 8oz foam plane here, it’s in the same class as 200lb agricultural drones with 12 rotors and I need special FAA authorization. You can build an ultralight aircraft in your garage and fly it across country without running it by anyone first, though.

    I rambled a bit but my point is every time you see things being lumped together and you’re scratching your head as to why, ask yourself “who wrote/published/shared this, who are they affiliated with, and do they have a reason to want one of these things or similar products regulated” and you’ll see a surprising amount of shady bs going on that’s all perfectly legal.


  • Ah, another service I don’t share but still hate their bullshit rules so will cancel the first time it wants me to verify passwords. I work about 50 miles from home so every time I go to watch something after a service has done this, the streaming service thinks I’m a different user and wants me to verify login stuff. So yeah. Get canceled, max.

    It will make a fine addition to my collection.

    I’ve been waiting for an excuse to break out the sea shanties playlist



  • Hi, I’m someone who works on bicycles for a living!

    Basic maintenance such as

    -checking tires for wear and cracks, keeping the bike dry and rinsing with clean water if it gets road salt on it,

    -keeping the chain and sprockets lubed and cleaning them of debris if it gets caked on,

    -cleaning the bearing races of debris and keeping them lubed (maybe go to a shop for this one if you aren’t sure about it)

    -and just generally not doing stupid things with it

    and you will have a bike that lasts a lifetime.

    Maybe less if it’s a cheap brand like Schwinn or mongoose. But those steps drastically improve the life of any bicycle.

    Worth noting: my main bicycle is a GT hybrid from 2014. It’s not much of a step above baseline (at the time, GT fell off in quality) but spending a little time doing some online “research” into the parts on the bike will go a long way. You’d be surprised what both cheap AND expensive brands put on their frames. Cheap brands using mid-tier gear (instead of cheapest) , and top brands using the cheapest tourney derailleur you can find in a clearance bin…

    I kind of got off topic a bit but yeah.

    BASIC PREVENTATIVE BICYCLE MAINTENANCE WILL KEEP CYCLING CHEAP AF