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Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: July 5th, 2023

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  • Great list of websites to never visit 👍

    I get enough hate-speech during on-line video games. By not using any of those apps, I successfully save myself from multitudes more, while also foregoing any potentially addictive status-seeking site-based-compulsions. I used to play Clash of Clans on my phone because it was a good way to waste a couple minutes while taking a shit. I quit when I began to play too much. I feel like Facebook, twitter, instagram, they’re all just sites to waste time on. Which begs the question, why waste time on them at all? Why waste time?

    I know not every moment can be spent fruitfully, but when something you do to waste a bit of time in between/during mundane tasks becomes something that now demands attention outside of that, then it’s time to stop wasting time on it.





  • jpreston2005@lemmy.worldtome_irl@lemmy.worldme_irl
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    28 days ago

    Man, I have such a hard time with this.

    Yesterday I had no work, so I planned on getting in a quick workout, then hitting up an open mic night (support your local comedy scene!) before going to a dance club in town I’ve been meaning to try out. I didn’t have any friends joining me, so it was going to be a very casual evening where I came and left each event as I pleased.

    But after my workout I was kind of cold since the weather has recently started it’s Downward Spiral, and I was dreading the idea of driving the 55 minutes to the open mic, then 30 minutes to the club, then another 40 minutes of driving to get home. The idea of commuting so much weighed heavily on me.

    I revisit the memory of going clubbing while vacationing in the Netherlands, and it was such fun. The main difference? The driving. When I was in Amsterdam, you just needed a bike and money for the train, and you could get anywhere. Don’t need to worry about driving, or trying to drive whilst intoxicated. I don’t drink, but I do enjoy a toke, and even being slightly elevated makes me super anxious about operating a 3000+ lb motor vehicle at highway speeds.

    I think about how much I hate driving, as I slip back into my comfy house clothes after my post-workout shower, resigning myself to a night inside, curled up on the couch, watching science fiction and eating too much.

    sigh. I should just move to the Netherlands already. It’s so much more free than here in the states.



  • It began in earnest in the early 1960s, when a group of scientists embarked on a mission to drill down from a floating barge, called Cuss I, to the border between the crust, the Earth’s outermost layer, and the mantle, the next and thickest layer. Project Mohole, as it was known, was recorded by the novelist and amateur oceanographer John Steinbeck in an article for Life magazine. “This is the opening move in a long-term plan of exploration of the unknown two-thirds of our planet that lies under the sea,” he wrote. “We know less about this area than we do about the moon.”

    A scientific endeavor started over 60 years ago, that has been producing real invaluable scientific data to model our changing climate, is being axed.

    The NSF attributed its decision to end its funding to rising costs and a lack of financial support from the International Ocean Discovery Program’s partners. But many see the expenditure for the ship as paltry compared with its benefits. To put it in perspective, the total NSF budget for 2023 was close to $10bn (£7.5bn); the $71m spent on the Joides is 0.7% of that.

    For the amount of discovery we’re getting from the Joides, the cost of running it seems paltry in comparison.

    A bill proposed to the House in July asked the NSF to use $60m to continue operating the vessel for at least three missions next year.

    Hopefully this passes!



  • Comedic musical numbers fit well within comedy movies, but doing a drama with musical numbers is antithetical. The singing breaks the fourth wall too much, completely interrupting your suspension of disbelief. It’s impossible to take dramatic things seriously when they’re singing and dancing to/about it. You can break the fourth wall in comedies with music, because nobody watching is taking it seriously enough to think that the movie with the boner jokes can’t have a bit of musical parody.


  • There are two reasons he believes the neocortex could be replaced, albeit only slowly. The first is evidence from rare cases of benign brain tumors, like a man described in the medical literature who developed a growth the size of an orange. Yet because it grew very slowly, the man’s brain was able to adjust, shifting memories elsewhere, and his behavior and speech never seemed to change—even when the tumor was removed.

    That’s proof, Hébert thinks, that replacing the neocortex little by little could be achieved “without losing the information encoded in it” such as a person’s self-identity.

    The second source of hope, he says, is experiments showing that fetal-stage cells can survive, and even function, when transplanted into the brains of adults. For instance, medical tests underway are showing that young neurons can integrate into the brains of people who have epilepsy and stop their seizures.

    “It was these two things together—the plastic nature of brains and the ability to add new tissue—that, to me, were like, ‘Ah, now there has got to be a way,’” says Hébert.

    Very interesting. I’ve also seen research suggesting that the application of stem cells to damaged neural tissue within the spinal cord could repair it, so the idea that you could use a similar approach to actual brain health isn’t such a big leap. But still, wow. I wonder how long it would take for the immature cells to develop into “adult mode” that’s fully integrated into the patients cortex. In order to replace the entire brain, you’d have to do it in like, 8 parts, with years of recovery time in between each surgery. Also there would exist the potential for the new cells to develop into like, a second, smaller brain, if the connections sour or if the new material isn’t stimulated the “right” way.


  • “The men came over to the car again and stood in front of it for a few minutes. Finally when they left, the car was still stalled but I clicked the ‘in car support’ on the screen and they seemed to be aware of the issue,” Amina said. “They asked if I was OK and the car began to drive towards my location. They asked if I needed police support and I said no.”

    When she was almost to her destination, Waymo support called her again to ask if she was ok, she said. “I assured him that I was fine and he told me I would be given a free ride after,” she said. “After many hours I was called one last time by their support team. They asked if I was OK and told me that they have 24/7 support available. They also said I would get the next ride or next two rides (uncertain) free.”

    While scary, I’m left kinda impressed by Waymo’s support.




  • I feel your pain, man. I once spent months planning a costume Halloween party. Spent over a grand in decorations alone, just spooky-ing up the house like crazy. Got special desserts made, sent out invitations through email and instagram, a freaking flyer with the info, did an online poll to make sure I was doing it on the right weekend so the most people could attend, texted my best friend at the time like, everyday for weeks making sure he at least came.

    Come the night of, almost every single person had cancelled, and my (former) best friend just didn’t want to make the 35 minute commute, so he didn’t even come.

    Sent out another instagram message to everyone with my original party flyer but with a big “Cancelled” written across it. Ended up slowly eating all the snacks party treats over the course of a week or so. Cleaned up the decorations, and realized that now that I’m divorced, people see me different, with less respect. It’s been a difficult transition, and I’m thinking about just packing up and moving to a whole new area, to make new friends, because that shit SUCKED.

    I know that the majority of them had good excuses, but the few that didn’t… man. Yeah it really hurt, and now 2 years later I rarely if ever make time for those “friends.” I’ve just spent more time on myself, growing and becoming more comfortable in my solitude. I’m at a place where, despite a lot of present difficulties, I like myself. I’m proud of who I am, and am slowly putting myself out there more (while also planning on getting the hell out of dodge lol)