IJBMer Updates

fourteenwings

I always use semi-adhesive tags to mark things, and even though they tend to lose their color after a while (I've been using the exact same pack of about 50 for a couple of years) it doesn't bleed onto the page or anything. I'm glad for that.

I accidentally rip a bit of a page.

A few of the books I'm using right now don't have any reinforcement in the covers. They're just a light glossy card, so I've had a few incidents when I've accidentally set a book down for the night with the back pages bent at a weird angle that's probably left more than a few ironed in lines.

of the subreddits I visited had a meltdown

Nerds tend to get into fights super easily, and a lack of good mediation can lead to lots and lots of people abandoning stuff.

...

Completely unrelated; I feel bad about what happened with Kilgore earlier this year from time to time, but I can't really think of any other way I could have handled that without being dishonest.

I might be trying to quit twitter, but I'm not sure. I mostly just follow accounts, but it still makes me feel complicit in... something.

Stormtroper

Completely unrelated;

But that's completely related to nerds getting into fights easily tho

Anyhows, this is perhaps a good time to confess that at some point during early 2014 (i.e. protests) I promised myself that I wouldn't let go praise for socialism/socialists go by around me without me at least disparaging it/them. It's gotten me into a bunch of slapfights, including that one, but...

On somewhat related news, we can no longer connect to the 'net at home and I'm worried that it might be because of cable thieves again, though I can't tell for sure (all posts nearby were already visibly damaged even when they worked fine, so I can't just look at them and tell). On one hand the phone has no tone, the modem's DSL light is off and there's a post with some loose cables I don't remember were there. On the other hand, it stopped working at midday and (edit: cable) thieves typically don't work during the day, and I remember that it often tended to stop working temporarily on weekends.

glennmagusharvey

It's all fun and games until people start discussing political ideology~

Stormtroper

It's a dirty job, but someone has to do it. Maybe.

Anyhows, on the subject apparently the net's working fine now. I think I'm going to install some alarm that goes off when it loses connection to the internet so I can go and check if there's cable robbery going on or something. Still no phone though.

fourteenwings

All of this sounds really concerning but I hope it works out~

It's all fun and games until people start discussing political ideology~

I read an article a few days ago about how it used to be impolite to discuss politics unless you were at a political event. Even though it was probably mostly accurate, it sounded less like "this was possibly the case at least 5-10 years after I was born" and more like "what is this alternate Earth you speak of?"

I'm done with schoolwork, for now, yet I still can't get out of that "Wake up, study, what are you doing you're not studying!" mindset.

Recently, FedEx shipping to here went up by like... 40%, and I've just reactivated my CR subscription and gotten a Netflix one. In the same vein, I've been playing JP iTunes-fu and a lot of SACRA Music's artists (LiSA, Aoi Eir, Sako Tomohisa) have their music available on English Amazon. iTunes also has all of avex's artists including the DIVE II anison ones.

Really, all that's missing is Lantis.

I hate to say this, but the Digital Revolution has gotten me and I can't ignore it any more. At this point I'll probably go from like 10 BDs and [too many] CDs a year to like... one order of things every quarter with 1 BD and 2 CDs.

Naas_Human

Thi is the first story I've found about a Shadowrun LARP.

Stormtroper

This is disheartening, I haven't had household internet connection since the wee hours of Tuesday morning. When I lost my connection I went out and didn't see anything unusual, the connection had been unstable and in the evening (no earlier or later) the DSL light was blinking so I figured the problem weren't the cables, but today (well, the day that ended two hours ago) the technician came and informed us that the cables had been stolen again (although only one part). Either the thieves did the job quickly and I didn't see them, or I lost my connection for unrelated reasons and then the cables were stolen. Sometimes it surprises the skill/effort people put into wrongdoing.

Regardless, the technician did some repairs (free of charge) but it's still not working for unknown reasons. If this keeps happening I don't think the technician will want to keep working for free.

There are a thousand reasons this is a bad idea, but it's tempting to figure out how to repair these things oneself.

I'm done with schoolwork, for now, yet I still can't get out of that "Wake up, study, what are you doing you're not studying!" mindset.

Usually I ended up too tired after classes to study on my own, but even when I did study during breaks, I'd end up forgetting most of it during the first few weeks of classes, or it turns out it wasn't very relevant to the coursework or things like that.

fourteenwings

This type of thing makes me wonder how characters on shows set in college can be like "oh we have study group later but right now let's do something unrelated to studying".

I mean I had like a bunch of books to literally stick in my head this semester but the law students are always slugging around piles so large you actually feel bad for complaining about how much studying you're doing.

I always try to keep up with stuff but the way economics is structured the insane things that you don't think are relevant always turn out to be the main principles to go on.

glennmagusharvey

https://www.hardworkingtrucks.com/florida-engineer-creates-prius-truck/

Stormtroper

Landline internet is back. They had stolen the cables again (i.e. for the third time in ~2 weeks, not counting the failed attempt when the cables were already gone, or at least damaged). The technician charged nothing, but like I said, I shouldn't abuse his services. If the thieves are pragmatic they'll leave those cables alone for a while if only so I have a reason to have them restored so they can keep stealing them, but I doubt they'll pass the power trip involved in taking what they want when they want it in spite of others, so I'll have to keep watch again.

Either way, the internet is now super slow.

glennmagusharvey

is it possible to make the cables look broken so the thieves don't steal them?

Stormtroper

They already look broken, they have hanging, exposed wires all over the place.

The standard solutions are to have them underground (if there's space underground from pipelines or stuff) or to get satellite 'net, both of which have a large upfront cost.

fourteenwings

Man, that sucks.

Hope stuff works out.

At first I thought millennials were people who were like 18-20 right now but when I read about it on business sites it's always like 20-40 which feels like either I didn't really pay attention to the definition or the people writing these articles really, really want to feel like they're still young.

Like, I wouldn't consider myself a millennial but then again I literally only have a twitter account to follow anime, seiyuu and idols so I'm very removed from popular culture.

lrdgck

Clearly it refers to the 2000's, but whether it's about being born or growing up in that time eludes me.

Stormtroper

It can't be about being born in the 2000's, they'd be too young to be the bane of society.

I wonder if I'd be counted as one. It doesn't help that it's a concept used in opposition to a generation far older whose reason for categorization is not applicable to much of the world.

fourteenwings

The main thing about millenials is that they're supposed to be young and dumb and free, but even early twenties seems like too old for the whole 'these people don't have responsibilities!' vibe.

I brought this up because LVMH, the brand supergroup that owns fashion brands like Louis Vuitton bought a hotel chain and the justification was that millennials prefer 'experiences' over buying stuff.

This is a thing I keep hearing over and over but then one of the main hallmarks of our modern internet era is online 'influencers' who brands pay to shill stuff to you on social media.

In fact, the experiences market seems to be over. The main brand behind experience gifting (and I use 'main' in a 'market leader' and not 'anybody knows this exists' way) is Red Letter Days and one of their best selling products is just a 'box' full of nothing where you force whoever you got the gift for to decide on their own gift.

I just learned that Showmax (my main VOD service) has been running in Poland for like, a year. It's shutting down to focus on it's African operations now.

lrdgck

Can't say much about Showmax tbh.

fourteenwings

Probably why it's shutting down.

Yesterday a YouTube video I wanted to watch popped up but it was like 20m long and I didn't have the time, so I decided to download one for the first time in forever.

Today I went back to look for the video online and it was gone, which made me remember how GMH is always archiving YouTube videos. I guess it can come in handy at times.

glennmagusharvey

https://www.citylab.com/transportation/2018/05/seattle-the-city-that-respects-the-power-of-the-bus/559697/

fourteenwings

Sometimes I wonder exactly what sort of effort-to-enjoyment rate I should consider when making a decision on whether to continue doing something or not.

It's not like, exactly quantifiable, but even going by feel there are definitely some queues you can make decisions on.

Meanwhile, that black power activist friend I mentioned the other day said she would never call out racism directed at any Chinese community because 'they' haven't shown solidarity with black communities. Then they brought up that this to back up their argument.

This feels like one of those times where I should have said something to the contrary or, at the very least, I should avoid this person somewhat.

glennmagusharvey

1. An eye for an eye makes everyone blind.

2. There are literally over a billion Chinese people and not all of them have the same opinions. Particularly if they have been exposed to more multicultural settings.

fourteenwings

I mean, even if somebody has hurt you in the past it's ridiculous to not help them because it undermines what equality is all about.

And judging a whole community by what some people have said or done is an uncomfortable space between pigeonholing and outright racism.

But I still didn't say anything, I kind of just ignored it. It wasn't a one on one conversation or anything but I still saw it and did nothing.

How to know it's the Holiday Season: When the base level for Passive-Aggresive Activity among family members, close or extended, reaches so high you have to get a bigger chart.

So high that somehow you are now playing phone tag between two relatives even though when you called both of them it was for reasons completely unrelated to their feud disagreement.

Stormtroper

I'm going to presume that the Chinese communities in question aren't in China nor have anything to do with that ad.

Anyhows, I just learned that there's a sad story behind one of Pannenkoek's videos (the guy behind the crazy technical Mario 64 videos I've occasionally posted), involving the not-so-nice side of internet notoriety and stuff.

lrdgck

I'll chime in to say that if you really believe The Man is out to get you, you probably shouldn't provide him with opportunities to pit various oppressed groups against each other, as he is likely already doing that and you don't want to make his job any easier.

fourteenwings

Good point.

I'm going to presume that the Chinese communities in question aren't in China nor have anything to do with that ad.

Pretty much.

I just learned that there's a sad story behind one of Pannenkoek's videos

It seems YouTube is really good at breaking content creators. It's quite concerning.

Stormtroper

Merry X-Mas, IJBMers!

fourteenwings

Merry Xmas Guys~

glennmagusharvey

Marry Christmas? y/n

Stormtroper

y

glennmagusharvey

You and Christmas enjoy a beautiful wedding ceremony, tying the knot on your partnership.