What’s something you love, and love describing or explaining to people who are new to that interest, hobby, or activity?
Programming! It’s currently a hobby of mine (and has been for over 10 years) that I hope to make into a career of mine. I do some minor scripting and whatnot at work (and thankfully, I get paid at a much higher rate for the time that I’m doing that), but its not the “main” thing I do.
I live in a world of many unanswered questions, full of illogical conclusions and actions. But with programming, it is all about logic - the computer does exactly what you tell it to do, and I find a ton of beauty in that logic and how that logic makes sense to me. It doesn’t always make sense at the first pass, but at the end of the day, its always something that I (or someone above me) told the computer to do incorrectly. There’s always an answer!
Whereas the rest of my life, I hardly ever have the power to get my own answers, and others surely often don’t have an answer for me either.
I love to talk about programming! especially about optimizations, and you can come up with so many analogies and stuff.
glad it’s my career, good luck for you!
Basically any interest of mine, doesn’t matter what it is, I’ll easily end up rambling on and on about it if the conversation goes there. I tend to end up rambling to people I know about geckos a lot, with varying degrees of interest on their part.
I love making hash! Will very easily go down the rabbit hole and have to pump the brakes so that I don’t overwhelm somebody 😂
Hash as the food? If yes, any ideas? Most of my hashes have been rather boring: [potato|boiled yucca], carrots, bell peppers, [meat|eggs and cheese].
Hahaha hash as in solventless hash rosin - but a good breakfast hash is nice too hahaha
Ah, got it. Sorry!
No worries! I wish you the best of luck on spicing you your hashes though!
I love map-making. Usually, fantasy maps. ill often spend hours a night working on a project, I don’t sell them or put them on social media or have some kind of fantasy world I’m making them for, I just think they’re neat.
Native plant/ecosystem restoration and gardening especially where it intersects edible plants. Also especially around the 45th parallel in N. America.
Btw, I use Arch.
It’s not necessarily something that I ‘love explaining to others’. However, academic biblical scholarship has been an interest and endeavor of mine for about thirty years. Luckily and thankfully, I’ve found my self in the center of this unique niche of interested parties with /r/AcademicBiblical and /r/AskBibleScholars.
Think about this for a moment. The biblical texts have had the most influence on western society, and arguably all other societies, for hundreds of years.
Wouldn’t you want to know what these texts are saying?
They aren’t saying what you think they are saying.
If you’ve had no experience with these texts, then you have many years of reading ahead of you.
It is incredibly daunting to know how little most people do not know about this subject. And, at the same time, shape our world based on misinterpretations and/or misunderstandings of this vast library of literature.
Wouldn’t you want to know what these texts are saying?
They aren’t saying what you think they are saying.
Can you give an example? This sounds intriguing.
Over the years we’ve collected our FAQ and our Hall of Fame. Many examples in those.
It’s kind of wild how much more Dante and Milton seem to have influenced the sort of now fairly standard apocryphal interpretations of the general shape of Abrahamic cosmology than the actual canon. Or like, maybe even Islam, honestly, or like Zorastrianism. The hellfire and brimstone stuff really seems to come from somewhere else.
Also I’d like to give Christians who gripe about plural they a lesson on the etymology of Elohim.
The hellfire and brimstone stuff really seems to come from somewhere else.
Out of someone’s ass is my guess.
Yeah maybe, but whose ass? Zoroaster’s? Hinduism’s? Ideas that match hell and an evil opponent for a good god are all over the place.
I’m inclined to lean in the direction of some sort of proto-Hindu-Zoroastrian cosmology in the long run. Ahura Mazda looks a lot like the kind of fighty version of YHVH that modern Christians seem to like, with a nice clear villain and a power struggle in place of a confusing omnipotent being with a combative frenemy pushing its boundaries.
But like, maybe by way of some mostly suppressed gnostic tradition that leaks out through late medieval writings? It’s not hard to see the lower emanations in the 2nd and 3rd century gnostic stuff turning into the more kind of blunt angels and devils motif we associate with Christianity. Especially in the context of traditions like Mancheanism popping up around the same time and drawing parallels.
But like really who in America who votes based on the one particular line in Leviticus that they latch onto knows any of that? I’m guessing basically nobody.
but whose ass?
Someone (or some group) who wanted control over people. All religious literature is rife with politics.
I’ve read everything else that you’ve stated, and I’m aware of these theories, but in the end I lean toward the simpler explanation above.
Just look at the world today. Same type of shit. Most billionaires make their fortunes off the backs of the populace. And they use all of the well-known tactics to do so. Coming up with stories (propaganda) to influence minds across the board.
However, when you take the effort to drill down into the subject matter at hand you’ll find a ‘small still voice’ which points at the ineffable.
The ineffable is what I embrace.
I agree! There’s some potentially useful stuff in some aspects of various religions, but for me the value is in looking at the moon rather than the finger that points at it. The rest are just tools to bring me where I’m trying to get, which is just basically to chill out and be at peace with where I am.
But I definitely do find that the parts that helped point that out were more in tune with zen than the more ritualistic and mythological approach. Also psychedelics, in a sort of roundabout way.
I do have a big soft spot for some of the Greek pantheon, though.
A Catholic friend of mine studied classics at uni, so learned Greek and Latin, and they’ve been jazzed at how much nuance or alternative interpretations they’ve found when reading the Bible in Koine Greek.
Are you a Christian? I’m guessing probably yeah, but like you say, the biblical texts have had a huge influence on Western society, so understanding them is useful context for anyone. What got you started on this kind of biblical study - most people I know who do this kind of study are in training for an eventual position within their church
Are you a Christian?
My parents tried to raise me to become one, but that failed. No, I am not a Christian.
What got you started on this kind of biblical study(?)
Many years of spiritual abuse and indoctrination.
cars. give me the slightest chance and I will dump everything I know on you. I just love explaining how specific systems work
can you tell me something cool about my 2012 Nissan Rogue AWD. I’ve had it for a few years and I think it’s really lame so something cool to use to flex against other people would be awesome
haha no. rogues are some of the worst cars to ever roll off a production line. the cvt transmission in them is so bad that it rarely makes it past 60k
Oh that’s fun to know. Mines at 46k right now.
haha we lucked out actually. my moms rogue started going out at 110k, and my dads altima (also CVT) made it to 220 before we sold it. so, hopefully yours makes it :)
Hmmm…
Can you confirm your model year has the V8 engine? Wikipedia says it went from a V4 to V8 in 2012, with a top speed of 265km/h (164mp/h) or 282km/h (175mp/h) in sport mode, which seems crazyy for a crossover.
The later generation Rogue was merged into the Nissan X-Trail, making it consistent with internationally sold vehicles and it does NOT have a V8 engine of any kind.
Lately I’ve found myself info dumping on people about some tangentially related subjects that I’ve been reading about over the last decade:
- Loss of the ‘third place’
- Privatisation of public space.
- Decimation of the high street & how removing, not increasing parking spaces will be instrumental in reviving it
- How out of town retail shopping parks contributed to the obesity epidemic.
- Why the UK has seemingly unique weather compared to it’s neighbours
Modular synthesis, archiving, lost media, and most of all, rhythm game lore.
- Plants, particularly perennial ones
- Plant propagation
- Compost
- Biochar
- Garden design
- Dog training
EVs and 3D printing right now. There is always a cycle, but those are the two I enjoy talking about the most.
- Programming
- Retro handhelds
- Leftist politics
- Cognitive science
- Philosophy
Retro handhelds
What’s your opinion on the best platform for playing GBA games?
OG GBA has no backlight; backlight mod it? The GBA SP is tiny. The DS Lite has the GBA slot and better screens. The DSi XL can’t do all the games, but has a great screen/controls. The 3DS & variants? Steam Deck? A recent handheld emulation system?
tl;dr: Miyoo Mini Plus
Performance-wise, pretty much anything is gonna have you covered when it comes to GBA, so it really depends what else you want out of the experience.
You mentioned the slot, so if physical carts are important to you, then…
- If you want an authentic feel with modern features, then an OG GBA mod is probably the “platonic ideal” if you have the stomach for it. WULFF has a good video about his experience: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhW6TkzmxuM
- Analogue Pocket is also an option, but honestly I think they’re ugly and overpriced.
Worth noting for the platform-specific perks:
- A hacked 3DS is a great option. It’s super easy to do, and it’s really the only hardware that comfortably plays 3DS titles to this day.
- OLED PS Vita is also a great option. Beautiful screen, great controls, and again it’s the best hardware for its own first-party titles.
More modern stuff:
- If you also want Moonlight streaming and/or Android apps, Retroids are great. I have a 3+, but I wish I’d waited for the 2S (the numbering in this hobby is ridiculous) because I would’ve preferred the 4:3 screen ratio and retro aesthetic.
- Anbernic is hit or miss – but when they hit, they hit. The RG35XX H is reportedly a very good horizontal option, and I’ve had my eye on a 405 M as well because of the thumbstick positioning.
But here’s the thing: At the end of the day, the best handheld is the one you have on you.
If you’re not going to bring it with you when you go out, then what’s the point?
Portability is the key feature of this kind of device, and we all tend to have at least 2 if not 3 pockets already spoken-for. And you might think “Ah, I always have my backpack on me.” But do you bring your backpack to the bathroom with you at work? Do you wear it around the house? So pocketability is the #1 factor, IMO.
And with that in mind, here are my pocket-friendly picks:
- Anbernic RG280V is the epitome of the “just enough” device. Just enough screen, finger space, and performance to play just enough systems to keep you happy.
- Anbernic RG Nano is an extreme take on pocketability, being small enough to put a keychain. I include it here just because that may be a relevant category for some people.
But my number one pick, specifically because it nails the form factor while being supremely pocketable…
The Miyoo Mini Plus!
It’s just a stellar device. It’s just big enough to be comfy, but small enough that I don’t hesitate to put it in my pocket even for trivial outings.
Onion OS is a great custom firmware (oh yeah, for a lot of these you should look into custom firmware options), but the stock firmware isn’t bad either. It’s easy to use, everything “just works”, and it’s plenty powerful for everything that I care about playing on the go. The screen is beautiful, the gray version looks cool as hell (be aware that there is light bleed around the power LED with the translucent cases), and the stock buttons are delightful.
And it’s a good price, to boot.
I bought one for my sister-in-law because she was drooling over mine. She’s not a super nerd, has zero interest in tinkering, but hasn’t gone a day without playing it since Christmas.
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Some good channels for in-depth reviews:
I appreciate the detailed response! The Miyoo Mini Plus sounds great.
I think DS Lite is the best one (apparently it can only run GBA games natively tho, which is a shame imo)
We installed an IPS screen in one of our GBCs and now I want to mod my GBA SP soon. The shell looks awful and its display is one of those that’s completely washed out. It will need a substantial investment so I am delaying it.
- Anarchism
- Self-hosting software and servers
- Guns and shooting
Ooh, can you explain how guns/shooting becomes a hobby? I can imagine how you might buy one for self defense or hunting, does that maks it a hobby or does it go deeper?
There are many different ways.
There are the guns themselves, which you can approach from a mechanical hobbyist standpoint, like either making them or modifying them. Or you can approach it from a design standpoint, like people who do cerakoting or rattle-canning (spray painting), or of course with different styled components.
There is ammunition, which you can load yourself in order to e.g. get different flight profiles for the same caliber rounds, by changing the weight (grain) of the projectile or by changing the powder load. You can also do this very manually (handloading), or you can use progressive presses to set up essentially a miniature (semi)automated production line, and that is a whole endeavor all on its own. Most of the top long-range competition shooters handload their rounds to best match their rifles.
Then there is the shooting itself, which also has many different totally separate areas of specialization:
Hunting, bench-rest shooting, PRS (precision rifle series/shooting, i.e. long-range), action shooting, cowboy action (like shooting a target course with revolvers or lever-action, sometimes even while you ride a horse), 3-gun (rifle, pistol, shotgun), trap/skeet shotgun shooting (the thing in shows where they shout “pull!”, and launch a clay pigeon)… There’s probably even more I’m forgetting, but each of them are very different, and basically their own whole hobbies.
Locksport.
