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Joined
2 yr. ago

(Any/Comrade, Tankie for the unserious)

Marxist-Leninist with Meowist leanings (cat supremacy, but love all animals)

Labor organizer. USian.

Scientist, experience in vaccines/drug delivery/chemistry/analytics/biochemistry/protection of eggs dropped from tall structures

  • Deleted

    Jerkoff

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  • Maybe for those who wish to support bombing foreigners while funnelling the military industry into their state.

    Motherfucker parades around like he's antiwar because he voted "nay" on a single ballot initiative that was already a shoo-in and inconsequential for him to vote against. Literally a couple months later, he voted to further the funding for those military actions.

    Bernie has had blood on his hands for 30-40 years now and continues to try to wash it off with more blood.

    Someone who pretends to support the poor at home while simultaneously supporting bombing and invading the poor elsewhere sure is a role model, just not a good one.

  • I've seen those orange ones, but was never much of a fan. The demonstrators are beautiful though. There's nothing quite like seeing a beautiful ink sloshing around inside.

  • Sometimes it's much more fun when you just don't interact and they seeth from the lack of attention. Can't be you against the world when the world walks away.

  • I slept on the kaweco sport, but when I finally got one, it quickly became my everyday. I got a transparent body and fill the body directly with ink like an oil tanker ready to defile the ocean within my pocket, then lube the threads with petroleum jelly. Not a single leak.

    Iconic style, affordable, ink lasts forever, one of the most reliable, smoothest gold bibs came with it, and it's comfortable to write with. I love that pen and wish I had as many chances to use it these days as I did in the past. Unfortunately, my writing at work is almost entirely digital now.

  • What the fuck, that had to be a trip! Either watch order would suck: ruin your mood before Totoro or get blindsided by the second feature.

  • It happens constantly in the US too.

    They teach us about roundabouts in driver's education or at least the written tests to get a license. Most of us just shouldn't be allowed to drive without additional training at this point. Laws are suggestions and when the car can't go straight and fast without inhibition, it breaks our brains.

  • a huge fucking war next door, hybrid attacks and a noticeable uptick in espionage.

    Thanks, Democrats!

    And today we were reminded that it's actually happening - our most important ally is now led by a maniac.

    ...our most important ally is now has always been led by maniacs.

    We're trading one ghoul for another. Even if you think it will get worse and don't think the Dems will deserve credit for what happens alongside the Republicans, never forget that it was the Democrats who made this possible. They could stop these things, but they don't. They don't even throw themselves in front of it as a speed bump.

  • The real world is wild enough without fantasy.

  • I think the sigma lens is worth the price, but no, the more you spend the more the returns are diminishing. The photos won't be 5x better. The photos taken will depend a lot more on your skills than the equipment and may even be worse than a phone at first.

    Eventually, they will be much better than a phone! An improved lens will generally give better clarity and color over a lower quality lens.

  • I think both of those lenses are fine, but if the price isn't very different, I'd probably pick the one with IS so I have the option.

    If you are really worried about needing IS, I suggest reading this article from B&H. B&H is also a good online retailer. 99% of the time I shoot in low light, I use a tripod, so image stabilization isn't necessary and can be detrimental. Have I tried shooting at low shutter speeds with longer lenses in the dark? Yes, but I always bring a tripod in the evening or for indoor portraits now. It's not likely you'll be able to hold the camera anywhere near steady enough in those situations, so you'll either want to mount it or set it down and set a timer.

    Like I said, it's easy to get caught up in feeling the need to buy bigger and better equipment, but if you haven't touched it, you don't really know what you need. You need to get your hands on a camera and go shoot first. If you know someone you can borrow one from or if you can rent one for very cheap, it could be worth trying that first.

    End of the day, we are considering an entry-level camera for a budget of $600. There are always exceptions that will allow you to go outside that budget and get more/better features, but if you buy big and don't use it, that's just more money spent for no gain.

    My first camera was a Canon 70D at $1300. That's a high entry point, but I feel like it was a great purchase at the time. I made that decision after handling a DSLRs for 10 years because my dad always had them. One of those was a Canon 10D handed down to me that I shot on until buying the 70D, the other was a Canon 5D mark III. I was lucky to have access to those, but they were too much camera for me at first.

    Before you go spending a whole bunch, commit to a budget that you will not abandon no matter what shiny thing you see (there are infinite shiny things, I know) and get your hands on something you can shoot with. You're overthinking things at this stage.

    Canon R50 is good at $600. Canon R10 is better at $1000. Sony A6100 is good at $800. Sony A6400 is better at $1000. Fujifilm X-T30 II is good for $1000.

    You can find even better (though older) cameras (particularly DSLRs) for sale second-hand from people looking to upgrade. Don't expect lenses this route because people tend to keep them, but a friend of mine just sold a Canon 5D mark III body for only $300. That's a lot of camera for the price.

    Don't worry about lenses just yet, get your hands on a camera and shoot with the stock kit to see what you actually need. You may even be happy with the stock kit for now. Experts will push and push and push better equipment, but that's because they are working at a higher level and marginal gains or quality of life improvements are worth it when your work is photography. When you are starting as a hobbyist, as a beginner, those things are mostly distractions.

  • The only ones missing IS are the 50mm and 28mm prime lenses, right? You may be able to find a higher end version of each of those with IS, but I included them as budget alternatives to the 35mm, which does have IS. Those two are only for if you don't like the lens that comes on the camera and want something short other than the 35mm.

    Whether it's important to have IS really depends on the conditions you are shooting in and it's not usually a priority of short, prime lenses. I guess it's possible you could run into those, but it's more likely in low light scenarios with slow shutter speeds. If you are shooting in those conditions, you probably want a tripod, so you wouldn't need the image stabilization. It's usually more important on larger lenses.

    Good to be thinking about these things when you get to buying one though.

    Something I didn't mention before, you don't have to stick to canon lenses, you just may need an adapter. Sticking to canon made it easier for me to find lenses that would fit the R50.

  • I'd shoot with the stock lens for a bit before you decide (maybe a month? 5+ sessions of whatever you mainly feel like shooting). Get a feel for the camera and what you like shooting or things you want, but can't do. If they have a decent return policy, you may be able to swap out after trying it if you find you don't like that model. I doubt it, but that's just a guess.

    Take note of what you like or struggle with, then return to that original list of lenses I posted to see if any of those could fill a gap. There were some smaller lenses and a couple larger ones for ~$500-600 that are good choices. If the money is burning a hole in your pocket, look to set aside up to $1300 while you work with the base setup in anticipation. It's very easy to get trapped in spending money on equipment before you actually need it. Learning how to use the basics outside of auto settings, framing shots, and your style is more important at first than equipment.

    That said, it's probably worth it to get at least 1 extra battery or a power bank and an extra memory card within those first few shoots. Probably ~$100 total at most. See if you are running close to using all of the battery or filling the card in those sessions.

    Session 1, start out with using auto settings (flash off), try out A or AV (aperture priority, the marking varies by camera) and read around about the basics of photography to get a feel for what settings do. Aperture looks like f/#.# (f/4.8 or f 4.8). Larger numbers typically mean more things are going to be in focus and smaller typically means less things will be in focus. There's more to it than that, but it's a good place to start understanding the setting.

  • Unless you found a good deal on the R10, it's twice your budget ($1200-1300). While it improves upon the R50, those improvements don't justify the R10 over other options for the same price:

    • R50 + lens ($600 + $500)

    or

    • A full frame camera like a Canon 70D (mirror) with a two lens package ($1200-1300)

    I'm not familiar with Fujifilm cameras, but if you apply the logic in my first comment and look up various reviews, you'll get a sense for it. This also looks above the budget ($800 w/o lens).

    Remember: your money is better spent on good lenses than fancier bodies. If you are wanting to look at different bodies, you don't need to limit it to mirrorless. The main benefits of mirrorless that you see now is a smaller sized body. One limitation I hit without it is not getting to see what I'm shooting as easily while framing astrophotography (I see after the shot and adjust, but it has only been a limitation in that one instance).

  • Perhaps this is a case of the kettle calling the pot black? Have you even considered what I said could hold some truth? I can say I have considered yours and told you I thought there was merit to it.

    Does it make sense to go to the extra effort to learn a new language when they could just go to Instagram or lemon8 like many others have done? That is the path of least resistance for feeding an addiction, not overcoming a language barrier.

  • Editing is 100% optional. Like I said, you can even shoot in jpeg. Most editing I do is minimal fixes to lighting and cropping/straightening to what intended to shoot. Completely optional.

    If you want something smaller/simpler, there's nothing wrong with that. I also use a Ricoh GR II that I can carry in my pocket (these are an old model now). It's a point-and-shoot and many of the settings I talk about being on the Canon R50 are also on the smaller point and shoot cameras, including a Fuji. Some phone cameras have a professional mode that lets you play with these settings too.

    You can get into the artistic part of the hobby on any camera you want, the equipment only expands your options and elevates quality of the photos that you can take via better lenses, etc.

  • I agree with your assessment of why people get hooked on these social media apps and what would drive them from switching to TikTok to another app that fills the same role, but I don't think that's the only thing that is going on here.

    My original comment was framed the way it was because yours seemed to be implying addiction was the only thing driving people's behavior in this specific instance, but the article your comment was replying to is showing that while people are switching from TikTok to Rednote, there was also a corresponding increase in US users who are seeking resources to learn Mandarin. This implies that more is going on and is where your "people are only being driven by addiction" analysis falls apart.

    Sure, I can see people switching apps to continue chasing an addiction, however, the uptick in US interest in learning Mandarin implies that people are interested in communicating with people who speak mandarin. If you looked at how Rednote is currently functioning in English, you can see that it's not necessary to learn Mandarin to use the app the same way they did on TikTok. People are finding more than just a way to fill a social media addiction.

    The fact that they are seeking out ways to better communicate with other users on Rednote suggests they are looking to become closer with that subset of users, which is an action driven by a desire to build a community with them. You don't go learning a new language because of addiction.

  • Seconded. HelloChinese is so much better at teaching than Duolingo and it scratches the same game-like itch.

  • People searching for a means of connecting with a community is a negative thing since when? Better to look at the source of their feelings of alienation outside of the internet and point the finger at that instead of flippantly dismissing people using social media from a social media platform.

  • Helping her develop coping skills. These cannot come from you, but from her. You just help maintain and adjust home life to them. They can look like...problem: never being able to find what she is looking for. Solution: things get one place they are allowed to go and that is where it lives (eg: shoes by the door, pencil/pen in a drawer or bucket, keys on a keyring by the door, tools in a toolbox). Hell, I've found my keys in the fridge before. I can't tell you how much it drives me nuts not being able to find my tools and then my kids used them and left them in their rooms.

    Sometimes these coping mechanisms are socially-based. Sitting down at the same time in a designated spot everyday to do homework with someone else until it's done (enough for the day). That used to be me for my kids, now it's a friend who is also ADHD whom they worked out a method that works for both of them. Some of the things seem silly, but matter greatly, like the environment that something is done in being very important in helping guide that focus. Again, let her guide that, because it varies by person. She may want something on in the background like music or a show. Let that happen, but it shouldn't be a visual distraction or need any sort of constant maintenance to continue (eg: a playlist, not being able to see the screen, but can hear a familiar show playing, not one that she hasn't seen before). Ask her and let her guide it, but help ensure that the visual stimulus or the need to keep queuing up a new song isn't there.

    Elementary and maybe even middle school tends to be easier for ADHD kids, then they hit a wall in middle/high school when the class structure changes. Meet with the school counselor and (US specific) set up a 504 plan asap (accomodations outside school policy). This can be the ability to take breaks, listen to music in class, being able to take a test in a different environment (such as without other kids in a library or office), have more time for test-taking. This is something she will also need to decide.

    You may be hesitant about stimulants and other ADHD meds, but for many ADHD people, they are life-changing. It feels like getting your life back after it was taken away, so they are worth exploring. They aren't all limited to stimulants and can be safer for younger children such as guanfacine/intuniv. Even with stimulants such as methylphenidate derivatives, these meds can help regulate many things other than just "attention". They can help with maintaining sleep schedules and often are found to be more effective at regulating mood than typical depression meds like SSRIs.

    The struggles to fit into a world not built for ADHD people can be a major contributor to depression. It makes me think of myself and others as addicts searching for their next fix of dopamine at times. If you don't help regulate this, she WILL develop other methods to do this: alternative stimulants such as caffeine and nicotine or escape methods such as social media, video games, tv, fiction stories. When she hits middle school, you've lost the battle and she will have access to these things through other kids. It's part of why you see some ADHD people turn to cigarettes/vapes or drinking caffeine from the beginning of the day until they go to bed. These low levels of stimulants help them regulate everything going on in their head and function in a world not built to accommodate them. When we can't do that, many of us turn to methods to escape reality or get small rewards-based dopamine fixes. You will not be able to eliminate all of these alternatives that can become pitfalls and unhealthy, but you can help her get meds that fill the same need so those other things don't become actual problems and can be consumed in a healthy way.

    There is little you can probably say to help her besides just listening to her, maybe show her this post to start? There is a lot you can do to hurt her and her image of herself that will seem innocuous to you or might be said in frustration. I suggest reading through what others have said about what they are told. The most recent thing for me was having a boss say he believed ADHD was over diagnosed and overhyped these days when I was trying to let him know I was ADHD and how he could use that to the benefit of both of us. This was coming from someone with a child on the autism spectrum, so not something I expected. My mother unintentionally hurt me by trying to encourage me when I was young, saying that I could do and accomplish anything I wanted. This was kind, but when reality hits and I struggle to do seemingly simple things or live up to her great expectations that were not real and only built up in my mind through my youth, it leaves me with a deep sense of shame.

    The best thing you can do is listen to her and let her know you accept her for who she is and what she chooses to do with her life and that you will love her regardless of anything she does or does not accomplish in life. Let her know that your love is not tied to her worth as society (school, work, movies, fiction) defines it and that those societal expectations are not realistic to human existence. When she comes to you to show-off something she is proud of her work on, let her know you are proud of her for that work too.