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epidiah, 1 month ago to tisseksplayspace

Dreamt that I learned to play the harmonica so I could provide mood music for every #ttrpg I play in.

In case you were wondering what my nightmares are like.

blogdiva, 1 month ago to random

LMAO AND I WONDER WHY?!?!? 🤔

"U.S. Engagement Hits 11-Year Low"
https://www.gallup.com/workplace/643286/engagement-hits-11-year-low.aspx

i have side-eyed Gallup for some time with their "let's make capitalism awesomer" polls.

am not an expert statistician but i know 2 things:

(1) Gallup doesn't do polls for free; if someone isn't sponsoring, they're pulling the data from b2b services.

(2) always look for the questions & what's missing.

sure enough; here's the 12 (actually 13) questions:
https://www.gallup.com/q12/

see what's missing? 🧵

dangillmor, 2 months ago to random

Just in case you had any doubt whether Musk is a complete slimeball, read about a lawsuit deposition that he tried to suppress from public view:

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/elon-musk-didnt-want-his-latest-deposition-released-here-it-is_n_66133d2ce4b0d81853f9a766

Green_Footballs, 2 months ago to random

I’ll give Elon Musk credit for one thing he did all by himself: he’s destroyed the myth of the super-rich Tony Stark tech genius.

blaft, 2 months ago to random

The last few audiobooks I've listened to have all featured white (UK/USian) readers who at some point in the narration do an Indian or Chinese or African-American vernacular accent for a character's voice. This is always offensive, or at best very cringe, even when you can tell the reader is trying valiantly not to do a caricature.

I wish audiobook producers wouldn't do this. Get an Asian or Af-Am reader to read the whole thing, or just the character parts, or at least just read it neutral.

JoscelynTransient, 2 months ago to random

Random thought: When people started sharing artist's work without their permission on Napster, there was a freakout by corporations and wealthy artists, and it was criminalized. When corporations started sharing artist's work without their permission through "AI," laws were changed to make it easier and corporations forced it on everyone.

It's almost like whoever owns the means of production will bend the media and government to increase their profits without regard to a consistent ethos. And that whatever they do will be at odds with the interests of those that actually do the work to produce things. Hmmmm.... 🧐

Flash, 2 months ago to random

A street artist draws a work of art: "the invisibility of poverty". A masterpiece. The artist’s name is Kevin Lee.

Ninji, 2 months ago to random

my new burger restaurant concept is inspired by modern software. the options for mayo are "yes" and "maybe later", and if you pick maybe later, the chef stands at your table with a squeezy bottle, threatening to add mayo to your burger when you least expect it

zhang.dianli, 2 months ago to random

It's been an age and a half since I've bought enamel pins, but when I saw these I had to have them. Both colours each of both forms. (Yes, the indicator slides.)

Woe betide the person who talks to me if the heart/lightning bolt is at the far left red 😠 position!

#EnamelPins #MoodTracker #SocialBattery

zhang.dianli, 2 months ago to SoloRoleplaying

The topic of solo RP comes up quite often in my Mastodon feed, and when it does it's always in the context of "which (digital) tools do you use to facilitate your solo play?"

I hate computers. I hate them with the kind of passion people usually reserve for war criminals. (Of course the fact I consider most software to be a literal crime against humanity helps stoke that fury.) I like to keep computers out of my entertainment. Thus it is that my solo RP set is almost purely analogue.

When I solo RP this is my kit. A bamboo box. Within it the dice I need for the game being played, a (fountain) pen, a(n eternal) pencil and eraser. A fancy-schmancy notebook (that is Frankensteined together from various pieces), some little illustrations that I use for inspiration (taped/glued into the notebook when they're used), and a selection of fancy bookmarks.

I journal in a style I've used since middle school that some software kiddie reinvented and gave the name "Bullet Journal" to because that crowd has no sense of history. (Kind of like the "story game" crowd, in that regard.) And currently, in this C&S game I'm soloing (as you can see from the printed Solitude rules set), the only digital element is that the rules for the game are in my phone because I can't afford to buy the rules and have them shipped to China.

This changes this summer, however, as I have guests coming from Canada and I've asked them to pick up the rules. And that box is likely just the right size to hold those as well! Then my solo RP will be analogue only!

#SoloRoleplaying #SoloRP #AnalogueOnly

image/jpeg

zhang.dianli, 2 months ago to random

Internally-etched crystal balls (and other shapes) are everywhere here. You can find them in temple (Buddhist and Daoist both) souvenir shops, in souvenir shops in general for those not in ball form (for some reason crystal balls are used only in 风水(fēng shui)/religious contexts, less commonly as souvenir decorations) and they come in sizes ranging from 30cm+ (which are HORRENDOUSLY expensive!), down to 4cm or less.

I shared a pic recently of a 10cm crystal ball with Buddhist iconography in it, and here now are two 4cm crystal balls (again with Buddhist iconography).

Now here's a dirty little secret. Small crystal balls (10cm or less) are DIRT CHEAP. The 10cm ball I shared earlier can be purchased for about $6 and these two balls (not the stands, those I had from earlier) I picked up for about $0.50. Not each: total. Including shipping.

Which is why I laugh so hard when I see a supplier on Etsy selling 4cm crystal balls with identical etching for almost twenty bucks a pop. For $20 I can get a 20cm ball if I look carefully enough.

#CrystalBall #Buddhist #FengShui

Detail photo of one of the two 4cm crystal balls. The emblem seems to be the so-called "six syllable mantra" (om mani padme hum) if I'm seeing it correctly.
Detail photo of the other of the two 4cm crystal balls. This emblem is a very common decoration but I can't get a clear explanation of what it means. I do very much like it, however, which is why I also have a 10cm version of it.

april, 2 months ago to random

kudos to google for offering a free option to keep AI out of search results

obeto, 2 months ago to random

Shamefully true.

nafnlaus, 2 months ago to Tennessee Icelandic

#Tennessee Republicans, spurred on by #chemtrail advocates, pass a bill that, on the face of it, appears to unintentionally ban all #CO2 emissions ("injection, release, or dispersion of chemicals into the air affecting temperature, weather, or the intensity of the sunlight")

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-68716894

#ClimateChange #GlobalWarming

18+ Emmadrime, 2 months ago to random

World Central Kitchen - like Médecins Sans Frontières - is the best of humanity. Good people doing good things in the worst situations.

Resilience targeting is always an act of cruelty, murder is always an act of evil, but even in this particularly ugly "war" this was an especially vile act. Get fucked, Bibi.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/apr/03/pressure-grows-on-israel-over-gaza-tactics-after-foreign-aid-worker-deaths

verge, 2 months ago to random

President Biden is now posting into the fediverse https://www.theverge.com/2024/4/2/24119353/joe-biden-threads-mastodon-activitypub-fediverse

VeroniqueB99, 2 months ago to random

If you're sitting in public and a stranger takes the seat next to you, just stare straight ahead and say, "Did you bring the money?"

beep, 2 months ago to random

“Though it seemed completely automated, Just Walk Out relied on more than 1,000 people in India watching and labeling videos to ensure accurate checkouts. The cashiers were simply moved off-site, and they watched you as you shopped.” https://gizmodo.com/amazon-reportedly-ditches-just-walk-out-grocery-stores-1851381116

[removes glasses; pinches bridge of nose; sighs until the heat death of the universe]

cstross, 2 months ago to random

Looks at murder of aid workers in Gaza

Checks principles

"Axiom: Killing civilians is always wrong. (Doesn't matter why, or who: no exceptions, it's always wrong.)"

Fuck Netanyahu. (The end.)

focusedoninfinity, 2 months ago to random

godsouza, 2 months ago to random

World Food Kitchen discovered how UNRWA supplying the coordinates of their operations in Gaza to the IDF in advance, as required, results in accidental precision guided drone killings.

#FlourMassacre
#UNRWAFeedsRefugeesFromIsraeliGenocide
#2MillionStarvingForABidenChristmas

fribbledom, 2 months ago to random

"Cryptocurrencies are everything people don’t know about computers combined with everything they don’t understand about money."

rands, 2 months ago to random

I humbly ask every YouTuber ever to please get to the point.

swearyanthony, 2 months ago to random

Things I want from a kettle: make water hot.
Things I do not want from a kettle: an engaging interactive experience.