My Pothos got a bit long and dropped leaves in the middle of its stem. I didn’t want to cut it directly since in my experience it would drop more leaves on the newly cut piece, so I wanted to try air layering. I’ve never done air layering before and didn’t want to use sphagnum moss, so I gave it a try with coco coir....
I wanted to avoid water propping it because of the tough transition back to soil (and because it would be quite a long cutting, I was worried it might drop leaves). That’s why I wanted to try air layering :)
To make the space above our massive heater a bit more useful, I hacked together this little shelf from some second hand wood that I bought from somebody in our area. It’s made entirely with hand tools and held together by screws and prayers due to the funky shape of the back side of the heater....
Nothing too fancy and not super precise, basically cut a strip of wood to size with a hand saw and made notches for the pieces to fit together using the same hand saw and a chisel. :)
It’s great, seriously. We have been dealing with a chaotic drawer for a year, I bought the wooden strip a year ago too but never had the time and energy to actually make this 🙈
Being able to make it perfectly fit our cutlery and drawer is just the cherry on top. 😌
No glue or screws, I just made cuts about halfway down on each piece where they intersect so that they slot into each other. Since the cuts were imprecise, I used a chisel to take off material until it fit nicely.
There are the 5 pieces going vertically, slotting into the one horizontal one each at the top and bottom. It’s easiest if you clamp all the identical pieces together when you make the cuts and fine adjustments, that way you don’t have to cut every piece individually. :)
I came across the idea of creating a social network whose purpose it is to connect you with people in your area/neighbourhood. Such a network would also be managed by someone in your neighbourhood and would be aimed at creating in-person connections, making people meet and come together....
What was your experience with it? Is there something that could have remedied the problems you had? It would be good to learn from things that didn’t work.
I can see that it would be an issue if your neighbours are toxic people, unfortunately technology can’t solve that. Is there something that could have remedied this or do you see this as a matter of luck?
Banned by who? How was moderation done on Nextdoor? I am curious if a non-centralized network could do better in terms of building communities that uphold different values. Of course nothing would stop a group of extreme conservatives from coming together and making an instance for being horrible, that’s a more broad problem though in my eyes.
Thanks a lot for sharing your thoughts and experience!
I can see the problem with getting people to use something different too, my hope is that providing a sufficiently good alternative and making it very local could help - once the platform is mature enough, I would advertise it by physically throwing a letter in the mailbox of every person on my street. That’s when I would find out whether anybody cares or not - getting everyone on at once seems to be the best chance for starting a community from nothing since there would be initial exploratory activity by people who are interested.
I think making it as easy and useful as possible is especially critical here or there will simply be no interest. It has to be better at what it’s doing than established platforms, which is not an easy task.
On the broader topic of positive and negative experiences, as well as toxic behaviour, I share your thoughts and experiences. I think a federated or at minimum self-hosted community has better chances of avoiding the fate of big sites like Nextdoor - I reckon that people who are into self-hosting and community/sharing largely do not hold ultraconservative values. There is the “abuse is free speech” crowd in the fediverse too, but at least anyone could create a different community in the same area.
Effective and transparent moderation tools should be high on the list of priorities though, just as high as other ways to avoid abuse.
I see, so a community with asshole leaders would still suffer the same problem in my vision, but they wouldn’t be able to hold other members hostage as in your case since it’s self-hostable - people who do not feel represented or who are not happy with the moderation can start their own community in the same neighbourhood
On some level yes, but ultimately the worst cases of poorly invested time make me learn to spend my time better, so it wasn’t entirely wasted - I like to think of it as a learning experience.
What I am more concerned about is subtle time wasting, sprinkled all throughout daily life in the form of various technologies and media mainly. It’s so hard to get a feeling for how much time you are really spending there and it’s even harder to escape it.
Have to agree, it’s a funny story but charging someone a stupidity rate for nonexistent work isn’t justified by that person being stupid and a pain in your ass. Unless your circumstances force you, you can always just refuse work from customers like this. So many people downvoting this is disappointing.
Unearth the #Cairo Toe! 🦶 Dating back to 950-710 BCE, this wooden prosthetic toe from ancient #Egypt, now in the British Museum, reflects remarkable innovation. More than art, it’s functional, enhancing mobility. A testament to resilience through the ages....
The termite “puppet” may help the beetle evade detection—though termites are blind, they sense one another through touch. The beetle may also absorb unique chemicals called cuticular hydrocarbons from the termites or produce similar compounds in order to enhance the perception that it is a termite as well.
Laziness Does Not Exist (drdevonprice.substack.com)
My first attempt at air layering Pothos with coco coir is successful! (mander.xyz)
My Pothos got a bit long and dropped leaves in the middle of its stem. I didn’t want to cut it directly since in my experience it would drop more leaves on the newly cut piece, so I wanted to try air layering. I’ve never done air layering before and didn’t want to use sphagnum moss, so I gave it a try with coco coir....
A little shelf for our growing plant collection 🌿 (mander.xyz)
To make the space above our massive heater a bit more useful, I hacked together this little shelf from some second hand wood that I bought from somebody in our area. It’s made entirely with hand tools and held together by screws and prayers due to the funky shape of the back side of the heater....
I made a cutlery divider! 🍴🥄 (mander.xyz)
Nothing too fancy and not super precise, basically cut a strip of wood to size with a hand saw and made notches for the pieces to fit together using the same hand saw and a chisel. :)
Local social networks - looking for ideas
I came across the idea of creating a social network whose purpose it is to connect you with people in your area/neighbourhood. Such a network would also be managed by someone in your neighbourhood and would be aimed at creating in-person connections, making people meet and come together....
Have you ever devoted a significant amount of time to something only to later feel it was pointless?
Has this ever happened to you? (lemmy.world)
today's bake (midwest.social)
65% hydration: 700 grams bread flour, 200 grams starter, and 420 grams water. Baked in lodge combo cooker. They’re cooling now, can’t wait to cut into them!
The Cairo Toe (mander.xyz)
Unearth the #Cairo Toe! 🦶 Dating back to 950-710 BCE, this wooden prosthetic toe from ancient #Egypt, now in the British Museum, reflects remarkable innovation. More than art, it’s functional, enhancing mobility. A testament to resilience through the ages....
"a witch hat pond" by poqu (smallfry) (64.media.tumblr.com)
Source: smallfry artist — a witch hat pond...
Beetle grows ‘termite’ on back to steal food (www.science.org)