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Joined 3 years ago
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Cake day: June 17th, 2023

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  • The free masons originally grew as a support and trust network.

    It used to be that traveling was FAR less common. Consequently, travellers were seen as suspect. One of the major exceptions was masons. They would have to relocate to big projects e.g. a castle. They would stay long enough that the lack of trust was a problem, but not long enough to properly overcome it.

    End result, they started vouching for each other. A local groups would vouch for the newcomers. They would introduce them and stop them getting ripped off.

    Furthermore, stonemasonry was a dangerous trade. It was easy for a mason to be killed far from home. They clubbed together to support the families of members, as well as the disabled.

    Wrap this up in Christianity based traditions and you have the masonic free masons. An early cooperative support and social networking group.




  • I have an internal mindscape. It’s closer to a layered interactive data stream than anything else.

    One of the ‘nodes’ on that is my speech center. Unless I block it, it tries to turn the data stream into a word stream. They then loops into the auditory ‘node’. That then tries to process it the same as someone else talking to me. It lets me use all the filters and processing tools I built up as a child. It is excellent at finding holes in my ideas, the same way I would mentally pull apart what I was being told by someone else. It also lets me crystallise ideas into a form that can be passed to someone else.

    I can suppress my inner monologue (unless I actively require it, e.g. for writing this message) but generally I don’t. It’s useful when I need to deep dive a problem. My brain can outrun my word stream, and dropping it can let me attack problems without the limitations of language caging me.



  • Vertical solar panels are looking to be quite economical. While there power per panel surface is lower, the timing of peak outputs is an excellent complement to standard solar. It has maximum output in the morning and evenings, when people want to run home appliances etc, rather than at midday when they are all at work.

    It also uses less land. Rather than giving up 100% of a field to solar, A farmer can give up 20%, leaving the rest for crops or livestock. Apparently sheep do particularly well in this setup. The panels provide shade, and more diversity in plant types to eat. They actually do better than those in an empty field of the same size.


  • I’ve found an ebike was a good investment. I personally use it to keep up with my over energetic minion.

    The key advantage is that you can tailor your exercise easily. No running into a mental wall, and still having 2 miles uphill to get home. The power assist means you can back off to a comfortable level whenever you want.

    It also gets you outside and moving, which helps with mental health a lot, independently.

    I personally found these guys remarkably good for the price.

    Aairsk

    It’s definitely a cheap bike, but does all the basics fine.


  • I’m in 2 minds on this. It reads (and looks) like the police were dealing with deliberate civil disobedience, against a legal event. (Yes I feel dirty describing it like that, but it’s true).

    Looking at the video, it looks like a twitch response that they reigned in immediately. The police officer had protestors all around him and was likely feeling defensive. It shouldn’t have happened, but it was a quick human/training failure.

    As for the police stopping them at all. The best we can hope for now, is for the police being neutral. I would hope that the police would step in, if it was a bunch of right wingers trying to invade a gay pride event. It’s hard to argue the reverse, when the shoe is on the other foot.

    And just to clarify, I’m well on the side of the protestors here. It’s just one of the things you need to accept if you’re pushing the law. I’ve played run-around with the police at protests myself before (years back now, unfortunately). I knew the police had to oppose us, and accepted that fact.





  • While I’m not on Adderall, I am on a stimulant.

    The fuzzy, buzzy sensation is a sign you’re in overload. At least for me, the drugs are most effective when I can’t notice them, in the moment. When I look back on a day, however, I can easily see the effects.

    Also, my partner can tell if I’ve missed my meds or not, before I can.