Karstan

Karstan, 5 months ago to solar

Oh neat! Not only does Enlighten solar kind of suck (it requires an internet connection to work so they can steal/sell your info), they literally just sold my email address. (Well, that or they were hacked.) I use SimpleLogin for email aliases and the one I used for Enlighten is starting to get spam. 😡

#solar

Karstan, 5 months ago to random

One of my sister's friends, a doctor, just told a roomful of people "long COVID is just poor coping skills" 🤦

Karstan, 5 months ago to random

My sister, whom I'm visiting, is having her birthday party this evening. She has 9ish people over. I just went down to participate and try to avoid being antisocial. I lasted 2 minutes before I turned around and came back upstairs 😬. Currently laying down in the guest room.

Karstan, 6 months ago to random

Not enough is said about the impact of an entire society of people repeatedly exposed to a virus that literally causes brain damage. Perhaps it's just confirmation bias, but I can't help but feel like all my coworkers are getting dumber by the day. This is not snark. I'm noticing a significant decline in the cognitive abilities in a group of people who honestly couldn't afford to lose even a little (okay maybe a little snark).

#covid

Karstan, 6 months ago to fantasy

I cannot recommend the Daevabad Trilogy by Shannon Chakraborty enough. It's a wonderful fantasy series set in the Muslim world. Instead of elves and faeries that predominate so much of this genre, it's full of djinns and marid. It's also light enough that I'm comfortable recommending it for younger teen readers as well. Chakraborty does an excellent job of addressing issues of colonization, generational trauma, and cycles of violence. 9/10.

#Fantasy #Books #Booktodon #SpeculativeFiction

Karstan, 6 months ago to random

I dunno who needs to hear this, but we've only got 34 days until we're over the hump and daylight starts to increase again in the northern hemisphere.

Karstan, 6 months ago to random

Your semi-regular reminder that the "technicality" part of "got off on a technicality" is usually a Constitutional right that was infringed upon by the State.

Karstan, 7 months ago to pdx

"The City That Works" indeed 🙄

#pdx #PortlandOR

https://bikeportland.org/2023/10/31/source-pbot-plans-to-remove-new-bike-lanes-on-ne-33rd-381341

Karstan, 7 months ago to cycling

Fell down a rabbit hole of Mike Burrows interviews and articles. For those who don't know him, he was a quirky bicycle designer. One of the world's most influential and innovative designers in the last 50+ years. (He sadly passed away from cancer last year.)

This article has some fantastic quotes. https://theradavist.com/britains-fastest-self-powered-human-mike-burrows/

#BikeTooter

Edit: repetitive wording

Karstan, 7 months ago to random

My dog doesn't know how to use a dog bed.

Karstan, 7 months ago to ADHD

An #ADHD cooking show where in every episode the chef forgot to buy at least 1 key ingredient and has to make a substitution at the last minute. Every third episode, they wander off camera to "go check something real quick" and only come frantically running back when they smell something burning.

ETA: also the kitchen is an absolute mess at then end of every show (and often at the beginning).

Karstan, 8 months ago to random

Alright, I'm beginning to actively resent Linux or maybe it's just the distro I'm on? Nothing works. It does work briefly then will randomly stop working. I then spend hours troubleshooting to get nowhere finally giving up in frustration.

I just want a simple OS that works and doesn't constantly break. I want my touch screen to function and I want my bluetooth speaker to connect. I don't want to spend hours learning terminal commands.

Karstan, 8 months ago to ebikes

Riddle me this, Batman: I have rear wheel hub motor from the original Swytch bike indigogo campaign. 36v,22a controller. It was on a 700c wheel and I could regularly get up to 26-28mph on max PAS on a flat. I had the motor re-laced into a 20" wheel and can barely get above 16-17mph. After looking closely at the motor, it seems likes it's a Shengyi DGW22, which is nearly identical to the sx2 from GRIN, standard wind. 1/2

#ebikes #BikeTooter

Karstan, 8 months ago to random

It'll never stop being weird to me that frozen produce is often cheaper than the fresh versions of the same thing. For example: brussels sprouts at $1.50/lb frozen vs. $3.50/lb fresh.

Karstan, 8 months ago to music

So, what's everybody's favorite source for sheet music these days? I've recently started playing an instrument again and I'm running short on material. Arban's is great but I'm getting bored.

#musician #music #brass

Karstan, 8 months ago to random

This is bad science at best. At worst it's bullshit gaslighting to people suffering depression. The causation is just as likely to flow the opposite direction as implied in this article. 🤦
https://press.coop/@NPR/111090999940141610

Karstan, 9 months ago to cycling

This CL listing price seems... aspirational

#bikes #BikeTooter

Karstan, 9 months ago to StarTrek

I generally prefer #StarTrek over #StarWars 9 times out of 10. HOWEVER, one thing that the Star Wars franchise has done DRASTICALLY better at: refraining from retconning the entire look, feel, and defining characteristics of technology or species every time some fucking mediocre, white dudebro is put in charge and decides they need to "refresh" the franchise.

Karstan, 9 months ago to gardening

Well shit. After weeks of on-again/off-again building and wrestling with my new drip irrigation system, my repurposed 12v RV pump is starting to burn out. 😭

Any suggestions for durable and affordable continuous-duty water pump?
#gardening

Karstan, 9 months ago to cycling

The English language does not contains words sufficent to describe the depths of my loathing for the Shimano 105 5500 front derailleur.😡 I feel like the Shimano engineers asked themselves "How unpleasant can we make installing and adjusting a derailleur" and thus the 105 5500 was born. #BikeTooter

Karstan, 10 months ago to random

If you will forgive me for being earnest for a moment: I am increasingly convinced that the world desperately needs more radical empathy and kindness.

I had a post drafted about gritty anti-heros and snarky main characters in media. But as I edited it, I realized I maybe meant something else.

Everything in our society encourages us to yell, lash out, be sarcastic, etc. Those are certainly understandable reactions to the escalating crises of the 21st Century. But maybe not the solutions?

Karstan, 11 months ago to cycling

What would be your ideal all-purpose apocalypse #bicycle? Zombie hordes, supervolcano, nuclear holocaust, earthquake, etc.

I'm thinking definitely rigid steel frame/fork for strength, durability, low maintenance, and ease of repair. Probably accoustic because charging/replacing ebike batteries is a hurdle. After that though, my brain fizzles. Internally geared hub? Belt drive? 90s MTB frame or 80s touring for speed and versatility? Cargo bike for hauling? 🤔

#BikeTooter

Karstan, 11 months ago to random

TFW you build your first successful .dll plugin :blobDance:

Woohoo!

Karstan, 11 months ago to random

A team of my users consistently struggle with the software I support. Drastically more than any of my other users.

Today I discovered a significant contributor to their struggles. They've been operating with instructions that are over TWO YEARS out of date. The instructions have been updated (and notices sent out) multiple times in that time frame. But fir some reason they've stuck with the copy they saved to their desktop in 2020. 😱😭☠️

Karstan, 1 year ago to opensource

Any suggestions for a #foss map/navigation app alternative to #osmand? Far too often I enter an address that it can't/won't find and I'm kind of over it.