@gcvsa@mstdn.plus
@gcvsa@mstdn.plus avatar

gcvsa

@gcvsa@mstdn.plus

[UTC -5:00] GenX, FilAm NPO/NGO SJW she/her @gcvrsa http://paypal.me/gcvsa

#bass #guitar #ttrpg #danmemo #palia
#fountainpen #filofax #pedalboard

#FreePalestine #FreeUkraine #FreeTibet
#antifascist #anticommunist #antizionist #nobridge

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parismarx, (edited ) to tech
@parismarx@mastodon.online avatar

As Hyperloop One shuts down, we need to remember that the Hyperloop was never meant to be built.

Elon Musk’s goal was never to transform transportation for the masses, but to stop or delay high-speed rail from reaching North America. Sadly, he succeeded — and we all lost as a result. While the rest of the world moved forward, the US remains stuck in the past.

https://www.disconnect.blog/p/the-hyperloop-was-always-a-scam

gcvsa,
@gcvsa@mstdn.plus avatar

@cragsand @parismarx What is so sad about this is that so many people bought into it immediately, without considering even for a second the logistical realities of attempting to build an evacuated tunnel hundreds of miles long. It was obviously a boondoggle from the very beginning. Why are people so willing to believe in tech-wrapped delusional fantasy, and so unwilling to do the easy, non-technological things we should be doing to improve the world?

pixiecata, to random
@pixiecata@apobangpo.space avatar

deleted_by_author

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    gcvsa,
    @gcvsa@mstdn.plus avatar

    @pixiecata I bought my Christmas ham this week and my mincemeat pie last night, along with brandy and sherry to drink, but I haven't thought much past that about what else to make. There's just me to cook for. Maybe I'll make something with pumpkin, and green beans. Definitely gravy.

    pixiecata, to fountainpens
    @pixiecata@apobangpo.space avatar

    deleted_by_author

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    gcvsa,
    @gcvsa@mstdn.plus avatar

    @pixiecata Ah, those are the Nakabayashi inks. The Konjou I mentioned was from the “Blue Revolution” line, with the same packaging, but 50 mL bottes.

    gcvsa, to random
    @gcvsa@mstdn.plus avatar

    Speaking pf #fountainpeninks, I discovered last week while setting up my new TWSBI ECO-T Rosso that I do, indeed, still have a bottle of J. Herbin Violette Pensée, which was my daily writing ink from about 2005-2013, when I switched to the Mrs. Stewart's Concentrated Liquid Bluing (the aforementioned Prussian Blue pigment ink) I have used since.

    gcvsa, to random
    @gcvsa@mstdn.plus avatar

    I think of all the #blue #fountainpen inks I have seen, my favorite of all is the Nakabayashi Ukiyo-e Konjou 紺青 (made by Sailor, of course).

    However, the pigment used by Hokusai in the famous "Great Wave off Kanagawa" ukiyo-e is actually Prussian Blue, and 紺青 is the Japanese name of Prussian Blue. As much as I would love to find a bottle of this ink in the US or import one from Japan, I am already using a Prussian Blue pigment ink as my daily writing ink.

    https://youtu.be/-bnCvNVo_-0?si=vKNucfDcFTv_Ok9I

    gcvsa, to mtg
    @gcvsa@mstdn.plus avatar

    People need to stop worrying about what is doing to . , at its core, is a very simple thing: rules, dice, paper, pencils, people, time and space, and a lot of snacks and beverages.

    The genre transcends its progenitor. Your rules need to govern how to describe a character, how to describe the environment, how to resolve conflicts, and how to handle rewards/progression/improvement. All of it can be and in fact is made up.

    No one company or author controls .

    gcvsa,
    @gcvsa@mstdn.plus avatar

    was always going to be a very poor caretaker of . gaming is done best when it is done with the primary intention of making a good game, not with the primary intention of making a profit.

    Hasbro executives could give an owlbear's arse feathers about what makes a good game or even a good story. All they care about is pushing widgets.

    They will kill the golden goose to get at the eggs inside (if they haven't actually done so already). They were always going to.

    gcvsa,
    @gcvsa@mstdn.plus avatar

    What will decidedly NOT do is "kill" , not in any sense of the word. They will, eventually sell off the rights to the game, when it stops being profitable, because of their own stupidity.

    But, "D&D", in the cultural sense, is a 50 year old industry-defining pasttime. It can't be "killed", even by malicious actors. Its spirit lives on eternally in too many of us for that to happen.

    gcvsa,
    @gcvsa@mstdn.plus avatar

    I'm not going to harangue you to "try other games" because I'm mad at , or because I think "other games" are better than (most of them are not), except to say that it can be beneficial for your understanding and enjoyment of the hobby to expose yourself to different ideas about how the key, core features of work in the minds of other people, and to see and know that the things you need to play are really very simple and inexpensive.

    gcvsa,
    @gcvsa@mstdn.plus avatar

    were always meant from the very beginning of to be mostly , just like D&D itself started.

    And, for the love of Selune, Lliira, Eldath, and Mystra (insert your preferred $deity value), makes the Basic Rules available for free download. It contains the most important bits of the framework, enough that you need never spend a penny, provided you are willing to supplement that framework with an active imagination (which really, is the first requirement to play, after all!)

    gcvsa,
    @gcvsa@mstdn.plus avatar

    When my old friends from #d8magazine and I decided to get together over Zoom and Roll20 to play #DnD for the first time in years, I thought we were going to play 2E, but no, we somehow started playing 5E, instead. I didn't own the 5E books, but I downloaded the Basic Rules and studied them to see what had changed. I made myself a Fighter/Champion and a Light Domain Cleric. "Done and done!" (as Sharwyn the Bard would say, in Neverwinter Nights)

    Later, my DM sent me a 5E PHB and some new dice.

    gcvsa,
    @gcvsa@mstdn.plus avatar

    Now, you might argue that, having been playing #DnD for over 40 years, I am very comfortable making shit up, but new players don't have that background.

    Well, I'd counter that by saying new players don't need complexity, either, and the free #DnD5E Basic Rules are more than enough to get started and get a feel for the craft.

    I'll tell you want, if you know someone who is interested in playing, but they can't afford dice, I'll send them a set that I no longer use, I've got plenty.

    gcvsa, to climate
    @gcvsa@mstdn.plus avatar

    It really doesn’t matter how many times, how often, or how badly #Vermont #floods, people have proven they aren’t going to change their lives. #Vermonters are wedded to irrationally nostalgic sentimentalism, fossil fuels, and pastoral delusions. Only once these fantasies are completely destroyed by Mother Nature and they are forced out of their homes by #climate #disaster will the people of #VT begin to change, at which point, it will of course be far too late. We must make land common property.

    gcvsa, to RSS
    @gcvsa@mstdn.plus avatar

    I recently revived my Reeder 3 app on my iPad, only to discover that most of the #RSS feeds to which I had formerly been subscribed are defunct. Might pay to upgrade to the newest version.

    RSS promised to free us from the balkanization of media, but the billionaires have been trying to kill it ever since and force you into views their websites directly to generate more ad revenue.

    So, I thought I’d start making a list of sites I read that have RSS feeds that actually show up with previews. …

    gcvsa,
    @gcvsa@mstdn.plus avatar

    My Modern Met has a great #RSS feed, but there is strangely no link to it on their website that I can find. Nevertheless, this URL should work. #RSSfeeds #art #design

    https://mymodernmet.com/feed/

    gcvsa,
    @gcvsa@mstdn.plus avatar

    SoraNews24 is great for news about #Japan and #Japanese #culture, in English. #RSS #RSSfeeds

    https://soranews24.com/feed/

    gcvsa,
    @gcvsa@mstdn.plus avatar

    No Treble will be of interest if you play #bass or #bassguitar. #RSS #RSSfeeds

    https://www.notreble.com/feed

    gcvsa,
    @gcvsa@mstdn.plus avatar

    TED Blog also offers a hidden feed. #RSS #RSSfeeds #technology #education #design #tedtalks

    https://blog.ted.com/feed

    gcvsa,
    @gcvsa@mstdn.plus avatar

    I would welcome #suggestions of other high quality #RSSfeeds that actually show up with previews. #RSS

    I see a lot of posts asking for feeds, but not a lot of posts actually posting feed URLs.

    gcvsa, to random
    @gcvsa@mstdn.plus avatar

    I cannot think of any valid reason why a legitimate company would ever need to use the .io, .xyz, or any number of other newly-minted TLDs. From examining the logs of my pihole, it’s pretty obvious that the majority of the traffic to these TLDs is either invasive of privacy or outright malicious. I’ve added complete regex blocks for them, and others.

    cassidy, to random
    @cassidy@blaede.family avatar

    Pretty wild to me that the mobile platform that has majority market share in the US, doesn’t allow users to install apps from outside of their own tightly-controlled store, requires all purchases to be served through that store with a platform fee, doesn’t allow users to sideload their own apps, doesn’t allow entire categories of apps like browser engines and game streaming, and doesn’t even allow users to set their own preferred apps in many cases is not a monopoly… but Android somehow is??

    gcvsa,
    @gcvsa@mstdn.plus avatar

    @cassidy What’s “wild” about that? Apple controls only the devices made by Apple. Google controls the devices made by virtually everyone else. What about the word “monopoly” was incomprehensible?

    Android’s global marketshare of phones is over 70%. Do you not understand the meaning of the word “majority”?

    gcvsa, to random
    @gcvsa@mstdn.plus avatar

    It’s 2023, and we have “journalists” out here covering global politics writing for leading outlets who have no adult memories of Sept. 11, 2001. If you are 33 years old today, you were born in 1990, and were 11 years old on 2001-09-11. There’s no way you have the same understanding of world politics as someone in their 50s or 60s. If you are in your 20s or 30s, what is happening in Gaza right now is all new to you, but it is just a repeat of what has come before for those of us who are older.

    gcvsa, to Jewish
    @gcvsa@mstdn.plus avatar

    pancakes are not an inherently food. Like many foods regarded as traditionally , potato pancakes are common all across European cuisines, and it’s important to remember that are not native to Europe, and did not exist in Europe prior to their importation from the Americas in the 16th Century BCE.

    raph, to Israel
    @raph@social.coop avatar

    When Israel waged war on Gaza in 2021, I wrote that a just peace could not come from inside Israel. Since then, some have called my take arrogant and condescending toward the Israeli left.

    I want to explain, because I feel very connected to Israel's anti-occupation left:

    1/12

    #Israel #Palestine #Gaza

    gcvsa,
    @gcvsa@mstdn.plus avatar

    @Alon @raph ‘ whenever it is militarily stronger ‘

    A situation that has never existed and will never exist.

    gcvsa,
    @gcvsa@mstdn.plus avatar

    @Alon @raph Your attempts at false equivalence are telling.

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