Beautiful build, glad you’re still with us AND still riding, fellow Cascadian.

What is that crankset? How challenging is it to get chainrings?

Adding onto that, there are only something like 7 general plot lines and 12 character archetypes. Don’t quote me on those numbers; I might have them backward or off-by-one. Read enough books (or watch enough movies) and before long, you’ve seen it all.

And to extend the above comment to music, there is a finite number of acoustically “acceptable” chord progressions. There are even fewer pleasing chord progressions. Basically, there’s no such thing as “new” Western music. The most popular chord progression goes by a bunch of names, but I learned it as the “Heart and Soul chords,” I-vi-IV-V. There is a comedy music act that I can’t recall who demonstrates this beautifully and humorously.

Edit: Found it! Axis of Awesome, “4 Chords” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOlDewpCfZQ

The Reuben at Greenburg’s Deli in NYNY is always on my must-have list. Pretty much anything at Block 16, China Poblano (Mexican-Chinese cuisine), and Momofuku in The Cosmopolitan. If you like tasting menus, Partage is excellent. And if you like tiki bars, Frankie’s (classic, divey) and Golden Tiki (next to Partage) are both great experiences.

This is an enormous topic that cannot be discussed in any meaningful detail in this format. So, very briefly…

We can’t possibly beat oligarchical power on their playing field. But that is where principles of asymmetric warfare apply; Afghanistan managed to beat the shit out of two superpowers, both of whom just quietly backed away. Asymmetric techniques, and hopefully with a lot less physical violence* than what happened in Afghanistan. There is no silver bullet and definitely nothing that is one-size-fits-all. There is a very large array of resistances from which to choose; it’s up to you to find what works best for you.

*The economic and ecological violence are already being perpetrated on us.

There is the obvious form of resistance: unionization. It is a very effective hedge against power when deployed in significant enough numbers. I also threw out some examples in my comment to which you replied. [Extremely broad generalization warning] effective resistances are not going to happen from our keyboards; memes and quips on social media are not going to win over any hearts and minds to our cause.

I don’t know where you are in your resistance journey, so I can only make very general, abstract suggestions. I apologize in advance if any of these are obvious or already in your quiver. Resistance could be anything that stems the tide (off the top of my head and in no particular order or priority):

• contribute to open source software
• contribute to the FULU knowledgebase
• setup a local mesh network
• repair, reuse, donate directly (e.g. Freecycle)
• learn to repair and tailor your clothes, then do it for others or teach them
• tutor or mentor in your field(s) of expertise
• join your local or regional timebank
• start a tool library if your area lacks one; take a volunteer shift if it already exists
• get physically out and about in your community and actually talk to people
• go for a walk and clean up all the trash you see on your walk (bring a bucket and picker-grabber)
• bicycle
• drive less or not at all
• attend city council meetings and make sure your concerns are being addressed
• volunteer at your local foodbank
• start a food garden, bucket garden, hydroponics, or window planter
• have your neighbors over for dinner
• organize work parties - bike moves, barn raising, beach cleanup, etc.; many hands make short work plus connections get forged
• learn about the history of resistances

Some of these may seem meaningless, and to be sure, they do not all apply to every person’s context. But anything that shores up and strengthens the connections within your community, gets you out into the community, shows your neighbors that you’re making stone soup… is a net win. Small things add up and pretty soon make big piles. Basically, light a candle rather than just curse the darkness.

Gee, I wonder how everything got so fucked up.

The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is right now. A journey of a million miles begins with a step… blah blah blah taco.

But in order to effect any change, we have to start working towards that change. We have the numbers. The Conservative/fash overthrow didn’t happen overnight or even in a couple decades. It was a widespread, manifold effort on multiple fronts. But now that pretty much everyone has seen its effects, people are broadly growing sick of their policies. We can and are building something better. More than that, the systems we can build are resistant to infiltration and interference by entrenched oligarchical powers.

Timebanks, Truly Free Markets (bring your extras, take what you need), clothing repair/tailoring, and fix-it clinics are some of the ways my partner and I invest our time in our community. It amounts to about two hours per week spread over the year. I mentor and tutor in writing, math, and engineering, and write software for community projects. One of my close friends coordinates gardening efforts and free food exchanges in his impoverished community. He builds window boxes, indoor hydroponic systems, automated systems for those without yards/garden area. **There are myriad ways to build and everyone has worthwhile skills to contribute. **

Oh, and if you go with sectional build, definitely have a friend help with assembly. While it can be singlehanded, the frustration level is much lower with an extra set of hands.

We actually got one in December at the local Habitat for Humanity store. We love it. We both have hobbyist-level skills in furniture building, and one of my partner’s hobby-jobs is professional soft goods, upholstery, and reupholstery. So we tend to have high standards when it comes to furniture construction and finish.

While ours was purchased used, it is functionally brand new. The fabric is decently wearing and almost on par with what we would select for a domestic setting. The cushion foam is firm enough, but way lower quality than what we would choose if building from scratch. We estimate about two years of regular, almost daily use before the foam starts to demonstrate visible wear and permanent compression. But foam is “easily” replaceable with a little bit of skill, instructional videos, and diligence.

For reference, I am a muscular 200 pounds and she is a muscular 175 pounds. Some additional throw pillows or back cushions improve the ergonomics and prevent slouching.

For anyone unfamiliar, I’d say that Tacos El Gordo alone is worth making the trip to Las Vegas. Everything is amazing. My faves are al pastor on sopes, but you seriously can’t go wrong with anything on the menu. Don’t panic if the line is around the corner; it moves quickly. Absolutely get a michelada while in line and the michelada woman is selling.

Huh, a TIL within a TIL! :D I came across this systematic review (https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4622344/). Looks like for cortisone <6mg is the sweet spot.

RA… oof. That shit is a curse*, a giant FU from the universe. I hope you get the relief/management you need. Tangential: does the prednisone get you all hyper?

*My aunt had it. In my pre-teens, my mother sent me to live with and care for her in final years (it wasn’t the RA that got her), so I deeply empathize with your health struggles.

Bruddah/sistah/non-binaryah, I know your pain intimately. I got my first shot in the knee 3 months ago. “And to think… I hesitated.” Sending warm recovery thoughts your way. What kind of physical therapy regimen does the sawbones have you on?

Season has… begun? Are you implying that grilling season ever ends?

As we pick up speed, the wind noise quickly becomes very loud,

For those of you who bothered by wind noise, check out Cat Ears (https://www.cat-ears.com/). They break up laminar airflow over the ears. For me, long rides are way less mentally fatiguing, and I get to hear more of everything. Also, as @hemko@lemmy.dbzer0.com suggested, a mirror of some kind gives you that rearview awareness. There are tons of designs to choose; it’s just a matter of finding what works for you.

Fully agreed. We’ve all had those colleagues, and their lack of deep understanding of memory management propagates up the stack. </bad pun> Can a developer know only managed frameworks and still be good at their job? Absolutely, but in my experience they are the rarity. I think it is tricky to truly understand, say, garbage collection, reference/dereference, etc without understanding direct memory management.

Extending the driver aid metaphor, features such as ABS, traction control, and lane assist allow good drivers to use their finite attention on quality, rapid decisions. But those good drivers know how to handle the edge cases where the machine fails or is unable to handle the current situation. Managed frameworks are a bucket of super sweet driver aids. There are good reasons why .NET added pointers, because sometimes we need to disable the traction control. Weird COM Interops leap to mind. Sometimes you just need to grab control of that array and be able to do so in memory-safe ways.

And to throw myself under this bus, could I whiteboard a doubly-linked list in C++ with needed methods? Gawd, no, not in the time allotted to a tech interview. But I could spot the bugs in one in seconds.

If you’re looking to network within software development communities, a user group is a good starting point. For example, I am a .NET software engineer, and the Portland Area .NET User Group was instrumental in building out my PacNW professional network. Plus their meetups are generally a fun time.

Look for API meetups in your area, it doesn’t matter what kind of APIs. Even if you have no interest in API development, API meetups are usually run by Developer Relations (DevRel) engineers. It is the job of DevRels to help software engineers become better and to connect people to resources. Source: used to be a DevRel.

And even if you live in a small or low-density region, there is probably some kind of computer users, web development, and IT group. Again, even if you’re not exactly interested in those aspects, these people tend to know senior or principal software engineers who can either connect you to resources or directly take you on for mentoring.

All that said, I frequently say “we are not meant to engineer alone,” however self-motivation is a prerequisite to programming and software engineering. Go to the library and immerse yourself in some books on software development; off the top of my head: “Modern C++ Programming with Test-Driven Development,” Refactoring, Design Patterns, “The Pragmatic Programmer,” “Code Complete,” “The Missing Readme,” “Object Oriented Analysis and Design with Applications.” A lot of these are going to go over your head at first, but just take a look at them.

Some people will take issue that I suggest learning C++ first, but I’ve been at this a while (34 years). I liken it to learning to drive a manual transmission car with no synchromesh. The difference between a software engineer who understands memory pointers and one who learned only managed languages is always immediately apparent.

Good luck out there.

• BilSabab - prolific retro content poster
• Kolonaki (sp?) - so often lands just the right comment
• haha_oh_wow@sh.itjust.works - mod and prolific poster on the micromobility comm

Short, quippy, and categorically wrong. You’re underscoring my points about how we’re getting divided and subsequently conquered. But keep on being divisive and see how that works for you. I’ll be over here trying to unite my fellow leftists.

Want to demolish a regime? It’s gonna take a lot more than a vote. But waiting for a perfect candidate is a sure way to lose. The worldwide fash uprising didn’t happen within a single voting cycle; this was a concerted, multi-front effort on the part of Conservatives and oligarchs (see: “Evil Geniuses,” by Kurt Andersen). In the United States, that movement probably started in earnest with the Powell Memorandum, but can trace its roots much further to psy-ops like the Red Scare and covert ops like COINTELPRO. Coincidentally, note the dates of when COINTELPRO was revealed and when the Powell Memorandum (“an excess of democracy”) was written/disclosed.

Get out from behind the keyboard (yep, I’m calling myself out on that one, too), get out and about in your community, talk to people, organize, unionize, seek out common ground with people, build a bigger table instead of bigger fences. We didn’t get into this shit overnight; we’re not getting out of it without decades of work and probably bloodshed. The faster we want the change, the more of our own individual blood we need to be willing to invest, while being careful to avoid the exact mistakes that always happen when people demolish regimes. And count on more COINTELPRO-like opposition at every turn. The oligarchy have lots of motivation and money to invest in keeping us divided.

Right? Shit like this almost feels like… a psy-op to keep the left divided against itself. And then we ape-brains conveniently spread such content to soothe our egos via complex purity tests.

Seriously folks, I get we all want to hold the absolute moral high ground, but we’re all losing the war because of letting psy-ops divide us. “Oh, I wouldn’t fall for any of that.” Bull. Fucking. Shit.

Pay attention to when Be wary of messaging that pits you against people with whom you actually have more in common than in opposition. When we wait for perfectly aligned allies, we die alone. And when we propagate and perpetuate divisive content, we’re just doing the fash’s job for them.