Why does the pirate aesthetic have to go so hard like? I absolutely want to wear two coats and tall boots and a ton of fucking knives and a sword hello??? maybe not lose an eye but we all have to make sacrifices
Guess what! You don’t have to lose an eye to wear a patch. Most pirates had two eyes! The patches were worn so that, if they had to go below decks suddenly, they could simply swap the patch to the other eye and have a darkness-adjusted eye all ready to go.
Dear and sweet friends getting closer all time. Hurting is so much lighter when you’re near me, says Vulture Pony to Gut Baby, with not her words but her many little legs. Thank you thank you thank you
Hey guys! It’s the holiday season and I am seeing it pop up
in my various social media feeds that folks are asking for / receiving these
neat sealed ecosystems for shrimp.
I remember seeing these at the mall in a big city, in the 80’s,
before household internet was a thing, and being smitten! How AMAZING, these
glass containers, with a perfectly balanced ecosystem of shrimp and algae
inside! The only reason I never got one was the cost. We were not very well
off. So I would stare at them when we’d go to the city, once a year or so. So
cool!
They do seem very neat. There is some science there: the species of shrimp used
are Opae Ula (Halocaridina
rubra), a very unique and amazing species endemic to the Hawaiian
islands (I find it curious that the company that makes these does not specify
what species they use; are they worried people will find out more about them
and stop buying the product? I digress…). This brackish water species is
incredible, as it can tolerate truly abysmal conditions, especially if it is
slowly acclimated to them. Notice I said “tolerate” and not “thrive”. The
sealed tanks are “perfectly balanced” to grow algae and microscopic life, which
feeds the shrimp. The shrimp’s waste then feeds the algae and bacterial growth.
It really does sound legitimate, and the sealed tanks may well start out that
way (I’d have to bust one open and do some water testing to really know).
However, if we delve into the science a bit, and learn some chemistry, we
realize that this slowly becomes their death trap. Anyone that has cycled an
aquarium might know of the nitrogen cycle, and that in a sealed environment
with living organisms, things do not stay “in balance” indefinitely. Even with
bacteria and algae converting ammonia and nitrites, over time these accumulate
regardless in these sealed environments with no gas exchange. The Opae Ula are
extremely resilient; moreso than any other shrimp species commonly kept in
captivity, and so they do survive this for a while. But over a year or three,
they gradually starve and the toxins build up, and they perish. They don’t breed. The idea of a “zero
care” pet is attractive, but ultimately a bit misleading.
This is a shame. Though 2-3 years sounds
like a long time for a shrimp to live, this species has been known to live for anywhere
from 12-20 years (one anecdotal experience from a keeper was that a shrimp
purchased in a sealed sphere was “broken free” and lived an additional 16 years
after).
It’s especially a
shame since the sealed spheres are an expensive gimmick; one can easily set up
a small tank at home where the shrimps will not only live, but thrive and
breed, in a setup that costs less than
one of the small sealed units (and honestly they can look way cooler when you do it yourself). I have long loved shrimp and keep a few
freshwater species. I researched Opae Ula after a friend visited them in their
native habitats in Hawaii, and put together a setup for far less than one of
those sealed units. My shrimp are very active, healthy, and breeding like whoa. After
initial setup, their care requires less attention than a houseplant. I feed
them a tiny amount once to twice a
month, and top off their water when necessary with distilled water. They do not
require filtered water (actually the water movement can be harmful especially
in smaller tanks), and your room temperatures should be between 55-85°F. You
can easily keep them with no electricity, unlike other tanks. My houseplants take
more time and are more fussy than that!
I know some of you are thinking, “lawd, this person is so
worried about some dang water bugs! I eat shrimp for lunch with cocktail sauce!
How stupid! Who cares!” That’s fair. What you care about is up to you! But I
know many friends and acquaintances prefer not to buy into gimmicky and
potentially cruel products when much happier alternatives exist. I just wanted
to put this info out there because the sealed spheres DO seem REALLY COOL, and
exciting, especially to my fellow nerdy people. I just wanted to let folks know that it’s possible to be smitten
with these tiny amazing shrimp AND keep them in conditions that they will
thrive in!
If you are interested in learning more, please do some research into their
needs, and source responsibly! Mine are breeding so well that I will probably
need to find new homes for some in the spring when the temperatures increase.
It’s very possible to find captive bred shrimps, at least here in the USA.
According to researcher, Scott R. Santos, of the Department of Biological
Sciences and Cell & Molecular Biosciences Peak Program, at Auburn
University in Alabama, “Commercial harvesting, coupled with habitat destruction
as well as strong regional endemism, could lead to the depletion and/or
extinction of unique Halocaridina populations or genetic groups.” (source)
MORE INFO (I’m not affiliated
with any of these people just FYI):
So there you have it! Sealed shrimp tanks: you can do better, with only a tiny
bit more effort! Buy an Ecosphere… or not… the choice is yours. At least now
you know more about it!
My brother bought one of these a while back (yes, I warned him). Shockingly, they all died within days of hatching. Now its a super neat tank for my low-maintenence pets! ..moss balls
I’ve spoken about these before, a long time ago. Thank you for the well written post!
They require basically zero maintenance in a proper tank. Literally all you do is add some distilled water once a week to keep up with evaporation, make sure they’re near a light source, and that’s IT. You don’t need to feed them until they multiply into a large swarm, and even then, it’s once a week or so. No filter, no heater, not even a LIGHT if you keep them near a window. The easiest aquatic pets in the world, and cute as heck.
Looks like this pretty kitty is in pretty decent shape, too. It must be an especially crafty puma. Or it might actually be at an advantage, despite its camouflage- prey animals likely don’t see patches of white in the bushes as anything suspicious.
Please I just really need everyone to understand that an actual human person presumably looked at this screenshot of R2-D2 and C-3PO from a short-lived 1980s star wars cartoon and Thought They Were Having Sex
Online image moderation is a very poorly cobbled together system. It’s mostly done by folks in very poor countries. They have to look at many hundreds of images per day and quickly approve or disallow them in order to make a living, as it’s piece work. Pennies per X number of images. They may not have much access in their off time to the internet or foreign media to get the context they would need to make fine distinctions between softcore robot porn and a scene from an old cartoon.
One thing they surely know is that error checking is performed by sending the same image to multiple workers. If they all agree with you, things flow smoothly. But if you are too often the odd one out, approving porn or flagging sfw images while the others who looked at it voted the other way, then you’ll be laid off. This probably leads them to be conservative about all judgment calls, in the hope the others looking will do the same, so they can all agree most of the time and all keep their jobs.
I don’t say this to call you out or be a downer, just to let you all know this is how the sausage gets made. This is how we can use the internet for years and only rarely find something truly nasty in our feeds. It’s not thsnks to algorithms. It’s because other humans are looking at it for us. Given how this moderation system just barely works, we should not expect it to get much better any time soon.
Because people keep needing a screwdriver and I keep having a screwdriver in my purse.
Listen, if you’re not going around with a multitool, swiss army knife, pocket knife, multi-tip mini screwdriver, first aid kid, eyeglass repair and jewelry repair kit in your purse what else do you have in there?
Sometimes there is also a sewing kit and superglue.
@dimmedown said:
You are an absolute rolemodel. I strive to have this much practical stuff in my pack
To be fair it’s also got a lot of somewhat impractical stuff in it, like an emergency notebook, a bunch of pens and pencils and whatnot, fidget spinner, two tiny plastic dinosaurs, and sometimes a transformer. But I mean. You never know when a tiny Bumblebee is gonna be needed!
Sounds like my park backpack.
I hope that thing’s got a decently wide strap, gotta be heavy at this point.
People keep asking who would do all the menial jobs if they didn’t have the threat of starvation hanging over their heads, but in my experience there are plenty of people who would be overjoyed to spend all day running minor errands for folks if they were allowed to tell the rude ones to fuck off.
If money wasn’t a problem, I actually enjoy the physical labor of my job and the sense of fulfillment at having something concrete I can look at and accomplish—it’s the being treated like a vending machine/punching bag while also making barely liveable wages that make the whole thing suck, not the work itself
I really enjoyed the tetris like feel of bagging groceries and stocking shelves for years. What wore me down was the inconsistent hours, bad pay, poor treatment of workers overall (they treated the elderly employees especially horribly) and nasty customers who I couldn’t tell off.
For more pay, and more protection, I’d have happily stayed for a while longer.
I absolutely LOVE working early hours making coffee and tea and donuts and all that. I would fucking show up at 4am in the morning to work in a coffee shop that doesn’t have a manager constantly screaming at how long the line is and how many sales we need to make in an hour to reach our quota.
Like, I just really enjoy making food and mornings and people.
Yeah tbh I really like selling phones and helping people understand their technology, I love helping people in general, if malwart wasn’t such a hell hole it’d be perfect
“But who would do all the menial jobs if we didn’t threaten people with starvation?”
Have you considered making them not menial?
1.(of work) not requiring much skill and lacking prestige.“menial factory jobs"synonyms:unskilled, lowly, humble, low-status, inferior, degrading;
The degradation of these jobs and the workers who do them is artificial and deliberate, made to justify the low wages and help reinforce the system that keeps people doing them despite said degradation.
It is entirely possible to create workspaces where the people who do these jobs are treated well, valued, allowed comfort and boundaries. This is a thing we can do.
I loved being the front-desk receptionist for my company. I had lots of time to read and write. I wrote and published a novel a year as a receptionist; since leaving that job I’ve written three and published one in seven years. I enjoyed making sure everyone got the help they needed, and I even liked taking phone calls. I liked being in a union job. I was good at it and everyone in the company knew me and knew I could help them if they had a problem.
I just couldn’t live long-term on what they were paying me, especially since without the union-mandated cost of living raises I would never get a raise at all. If I earned then what I’m earning now, with the merit raises I now get, I never would have left it.
long story short bethesda accidentally doxxed people who complained
in case you missed it, the chain of events is roughly as follows:
1. fallout 76 launches. it is entirely online. there are a lot of bugs. a whole lot of bugs. people report countless bugs, many of which are game-breaking. bethesda’s communication leaves a lot to be desired. fallout 76 officially has a no refund policy, but due to the large number of people requesting refunds, many refunds are issued.
throughout the following events, they are largely vague in regards to patches, support, outreach, and the fallout community is split between defending or criticizing their actions.
2. people begin to realize that the $200 collector’s edition, which promised a canvas bag, came with a low-quality nylon bag. bethesda claims it was too expensive to make the canvas bags and that they cannot possibly honor their $200 bundle, despite promotional material listing the canvas bag as part of the bundle up until release and until shortly after.
3. bethesda offers 500 in-game atoms (game currency) to individuals who purchased the collector’s edition. to receive the atoms, players must submit a support ticket with personal information, images, and proof of purchase. it is worth noting that these 500 atoms are worth approximately $5 USD, and cannot even purchase an in-game canvas bag.
4. after significant backlash, bethesda begins producing the promised canvas bags. to get the bag, people have until january 31st to submit a support ticket proving they purchased the collector’s edition. again, this requires submitting a ticket with ample personal information.
5. at some point, everyone’s support tickets became viewable to people who submit their own support tickets. meaning, the full names, usernames, addresses, phone numbers, emails, proof of purchases, and partial credit card details of everyone who submit a support ticket for any bethesda product were viewable. it also allowed anyone to open or close anyone else’s support tickets. bethesda effectively doxxed the most hardcore of their fanbase – the ones who spent the most money and were most likely long time fans. the long time fans who may have been inclined to defend bethesda up until this point. following this leak, a huge chunk of even the most hardcore fans have stopped defending bethesda.
the status of the leaked data is currently unknown. it is also unknown how long the leaked information was visible. several people took screenshots, meaning that it was possible for all of the leaked personal information to have been collected, scraped, or otherwise saved with nefarious intent.
summarized by a screencap from the linked article:
Pornhub’s entire business model revolves around stealing content made by
sex workers without their consent and profiting off it with no
compensation to the workers who generate the content they steal.
Sex
workers are an incredibly vulnerable and stigmatised class of workers, mostly women,
mostly younger, mostly not rich, with little recourse, socially or legally, against a massive
corporation like Pornhub.
Pornhub relies on this, on how little you care about sex workers, to maintain a business
based on stealing their livelihoods.
Stop applauding a
corporation that literally exists to steal from marginalised workers just
because they have a competent PR department.
I have decided on a new constellation. I call it The Bees. If you look up at the night sky and see all those sparkly dots, congratulations. You see The Bees. I have just made astrology 10000x easier, you’re welcome.
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