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Mental Health Awareness Month 2020 highlights athletes' experiences, voices

ESPN highlights the stories of athletes, coaches and other sports figures managing their mental health and well-being.




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Home workouts 101: Creative ways these innovators are staying fit

As the coronavirus pandemic has forced us to break out of our normal sports and fitness routines, these innovators -- and professional athletes -- are making the most of their time at home with creative takes on the games and workouts we know and love.




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TV's 'Mountain' takes deadlift throne at 1,104 lbs.

Hafthor Bjornsson set a world record in the deadlift on Saturday, hoisting 1,104.52 pounds (501 kilograms).




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Froome fears large gatherings at Tour de France

Four-time Tour de France champion Chris Froome is unsure if the organisers can fully prevent large crowds from gathering at the race that was rescheduled due to the coronavirus pandemic.




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Sun Yang appeals to Swiss court over doping ban

Three-time Olympic champion Sun Yang has lodged an appeal an appeal to the Swiss federal court in an attempt to overturn his eight-year doping ban.




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Small is beautiful: India looks to local leagues as sport seeks restart

Most stakeholders agree that holding smaller competitions will be the best way forward post-lockdown.




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Unleash #1

Posted by: history79



HEAVY Trigger Warning for Rape

Read more... )



comments



  • trigger warning: rape
  • creator: el torres

ea

Unleash #2

Posted by: history79



HEAVY Trigger Warning for Rape

Read more... )



comments



  • trigger warning: rape
  • creator: el torres

ea

Unleash #3

Posted by: history79

NSFW

HEAVY Trigger Warning for Rape

Read more... )



comments



  • trigger warning: rape
  • nsfw
  • creator: el torres

ea

Jessica Jones has a heart to heart moment with her kidnapper daughter

Posted by: brerrabbit

Read more... )



comments



  • char: purple girl/kara killgrave
  • creator: filipe andrade
  • title: jessica jones
  • creator: kelly thompson
  • char: jewel/jessica jones

ea

To-read pile, 2020, April

Books on pre-order:

  • Network Effect by Martha Wells (5 May)
  • He's Come Undone: A Romance Anthology with stories by Emma Barry, Olivia Dade, Adriana Herrera, Ruby Lang & Cat Sebastian (12 May)
  • Two Rogues Make a Right (Seducing the Sedgwicks) by Cat Sebastian (23 Jun)
  • The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water by Zen Cho (23 Jun)
  • Rogue Myths (Gatekeeper 1) by Layla Lawlor (1 Jul)
  • The Relentless Moon by Mary Robinette Kowal (14 Jul) (ebook order cancelled by publisher, sob)
  • Ikenga by Nnedi Okorafor (18 Aug)
  • Better Than People by Roan Parrish (25 Aug)
  • Spoiler Alert by Olivia Dade (6 Oct)
  • How to Catch a Queen by Alyssa Cole (1 Dec - was 26 May)

Books acquired in April

  • and read:
    1. Above Rubies (Clorinda Cathcart's Circle 7) by L.A. Hall
    2. Torches: Acquaintance Old and New (Clorinda Cathcart's Circle 8) by L.A. Hall [1]
  • and unread:
    1. Vagabonds by Hao Jingfang [1]
    2. The Switch by Beth O'Leary [1]
    3. The Cloud Roads by Martha Wells [2]
    4. The Serpent Sea by Martha Wells [2]
    5. The Siren Sea by Martha Wells [2]
    6. FIYAH #9 (Winter 2019) edited by Troy L. Wiggins + DaVaun Sanders [5]
    7. FIYAH #10 - HAIR (Spring 2019) edited by Troy L. Wiggins + DaVaun Sanders [5]
    8. FIYAH #11 (Summer 2019) edited by Troy L. Wiggins + DaVaun Sanders [5]
    9. FIYAH #12 - CHAINS (Autumn 2019) edited by Troy L. Wiggins + DaVaun Sanders [5]
    10. Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet #38 (July 2018) edited by Gavin J. Grant & Kelly Link
    11. Uncanny Magazine Issue Thirty-Four(May/June 2020) edited by Lynne M. Thomas & Michael Damian Thomas, Chimedum Ohaegbu, and Elsa Sjunneson
    12. Uncanny Magazine Issue Thirty-Three (March/April 2020) edited by Lynne M. Thomas & Michael Damian Thomas, Chimedum Ohaegbu, and Elsa Sjunneson
    13. Uncanny Magazine Issue Thirty-One (November/December 2019) edited by Lynne M. Thomas & Michael Damian Thomas, Chimedum Ohaegbu, and Michi Trota [5]
    14. Uncanny Magazine Issue Thirty (September/October 2019): Disabled People Destroy Fantasy! edited by Nicolette Barischoff, Lisa M. Bradley, and Katharine Duckett [5]
    15. Uncanny Magazine Issue Twenty-Nine (July/August 2019) edited by Lynne M. Thomas & Michael Damian Thomas, and Michi Trota [5]
    16. Uncanny Magazine Issue Twenty-Eight (May/June 2019) edited by Lynne M. Thomas & Michael Damian Thomas, and Michi Trota [5]
    17. Uncanny Magazine Issue Twenty-Seven (March/April 2019) edited by Lynne M. Thomas & Michael Damian Thomas, and Michi Trota [5]
    18. Uncanny Magazine Issue Twenty-Six (January/February 2019) edited by Lynne M. Thomas & Michael Damian Thomas, and Michi Trota [5]
  • and previously read:
    1. Hammered by Elizabeth Bear
    2. Devil's Cub by Georgette Heyer
    3. Regency Buck by Georgette Heyer
    4. An Infamous Army by Georgette Heyer
    5. A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine
    6. Carpe Jugulum by Terry Pratchett

Technically, I was subscribed to and therefore paying for the issues of Uncanny Magazine all of last year, but it doesn't count as acquired until I actually download and put on the ereader. (totally a rational and thought-out argument and not at all because I don't want to faff with editing them into the relevant to-read pile posts ...)

[1] Pre-order
[2] Audiobook
[5] Hugo finalist



comments




ea

Orange Banana Breakfast Salad: Raw Food Recipe




Orange Banana Breakfast Salad
serves 2 ~ $2.25 per serving


This salad is so simple and is delicious and super healthy for breakfast. It's the very beginning of citrus season so oranges are exceptionally tasty right now as well. 


ingedients
salad
  • 1 head romaine, chopped ($1.70)
  • 1 orange, peeled and sectioned ($.50)
  • 1 banana, sliced ($.30)
  • 2 tablespoons sliced onion

dressing
  • 2 oranges, peeled and sectioned ($1.00)
  • 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar ($.20)
  • 2 tablespoons maple syrup (or two droppers stevia) ($.40)
  • 3 tablespoons tahini ($.40)
  • 1 teaspoon onion powder
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon pepper
  • crushed red pepper flakes for the top

directions
  1. Prepare the salad ingredients.
  2. Place all the dressing ingredients except the crushed red pepper flakes into a blender and puree until very smooth. 
  3. Assemble the salad ingredients on plates or in bowls. Add the orange sections, banana slices, and onion to the top.
  4. Pour salad dressing over and add a sprinkle of black pepper or crushed red pepper flakes. I added both.

nutritional information:       calories: 256      fat: 15 gr      carbs: 33 gr      protein: 6 gr

    Did you ever run across something and fall in love for no apparent reason (this could describe my past dating life ... but I digress). This is a new antique shop find! I love shopping in antique shops for dishes and kitchen gadgets, but this fishy guy won me over!






    xoxo




    ea

    Buckwheat Coco Puffs ~ Raw Food Breakfast Recipe


     
     
     
    4 servings ~ $.73 per serving

     
    I love soaked and dehydrated buckwheat groats. They get crisp and puffy and light, like the puffed rice  remember in chocolate Crunch bars. Maybe that's why I always associate them with chocolate! Anyway, this makes a great and fun breakfast that will give you energy and keep you full all morning.

    ingredients
    • 1 cup buckwheat groats, soaked ($.75)
    • 2 ripe bananas ($.30)
    • 3 tbsp coco or cacao powder ($.15)
    • 1/2 tsp vanilla ($.10)
    • 1/2 tsp salt1/2 cup almond milk ($.40)
     
     
     
     
     
     
    directions
    1. Rinse one cup buckwheat groats and then soak in about two cups water for 5-6 hours or overnight. Rinse the buckwheat groats well. There will be a gooey or gelatinous coating on the groats and and they will need to be rinsed several times. 
    2. Once rinsed, drain well and pat with a towel to remove most of the water.In a food processor with the S blade, add the banana, cocoa or cacao powder, vanilla and salt. 
    3. Process for a minute or two until very creamy. 
    4. Fold into the buckwheat groats. 
    5. Then spread the mixture in clusters about 1/4 inch thick on the teflex or plastic sheets in a dehydrator. Dehydrate for about 4 hours, then turn over and dehydrate for another 2-3 hours, until the clusters are dry but pliable. 
    6. They don't seem to get brittle dry, but stay a little bit pliable. 
    7. Break up into smaller clumps. These can then be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for 3-4 days. Serve with 1/2 cup almond milk. 





    nutritional information:      calories: 333       fat: 10 gr      carbs: 50 gr      protein: 7 gr
     
     




    ea

    Pineapple Green Smoothie ~ Raw Food Vegan Smoothie Recipe



    This raw and healthy pineapple party in your mouth is super simple and perfect for spring. Hawaiian pineapple season is April and May, even though they're available year round. Price and quality will be the best over the next few months so take advantage of this sweet abundance and enjoy this vegan treat for breakfast or an anytime snack.

    Oh, and to make this extra thick and frosty, cube and freeze pineapple and any subsequent pineapple juice in ice cube trays. Store frozen cubes in plastic bags for ultra easy prep.



       



    Pineapple Green Smoothie
    serves 2 ~ $1.75 per serving

    ingredients
    • 3 cups chopped romaine (or favorite green) ($1.00)
    • 1 cup cubed pineapple, frozen ($2.00)
    • 1 banana, sliced and frozen ($.20)
    • 2 tablespoons lemon juice (optional) ($.20)
    • 1 teaspoon vanilla ($.10)
    • 1 cup water
    • 10 ice cubes
    • stevia to taste (optional)
    directions
    • In a high powered blender, puree the greens until liquefied and very smooth. 
    • Add the rest of the ingredients and puree until smooth.

    nutritional information:      calories: 156      fat: 0 gr      carbs: 42 gr      protein: 3 gr



    Speaking of pineapple ...

    ... this really cool little building was one of my favorite local landmarks. While on a bike ride the other day (hello warm weather!) I noticed the other day that it's gone! I'll miss it!! Maybe they got tired of me taking so many photos of it ... hmm.









    ea

    Raw Zucchini Chips: Super Easy Raw Food Recipe


    Zucchini chips are an awesome/tasty alternative to convention chips, which have few nutrients and are laden with fat and salt. Not only that, but before I was raw, I always overlooked zucchini as a "buy and make it in bulk" vegetable. But, when zucchini is plentiful, this is the perfect recipe to use them up.

     

    Zucchini season is best in mid summer, because it's a warm weather plant. Even so, zucchini can be found at most groceries through most of the year. Look for firm and glossy fruit with no marks or soft spots.


    Simply wash the zucchini and then slice thinly. A mandolin would be the best choice of tool, but I did just fine with a chef's knife. If you want your zucchini chips to have lighter edges, then peel then first then slice.



    Put the sliced zucchini in a lidded container and add the marinade. Shake well to coat.




    Spread out in a single layer on lined dehydrator sheets. Dehydrate at around 145 degrees Fahrenheit for about an hour, then reduce the temperature to 120 and dehydrate for another 12 hours or so. Overnight is a good way to time it. They're done when all the moisture has been removed. They should be pretty crispy and only a little chewy. The full recipe is below.


    Raw Zucchini Chips
    one large batch ~ $7.10


    ingredients
    • 8 cups thinly sliced zucchini rounds ($5.00)
    • 1/2 cup agave ($1.00)
    • 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar ($.40)
    • 1/4 olive oil ($.40)
    • 2 tablespoons dried oregano ($.05)
    • 2 tablespoons dried basil ($.05)
    • 2 tablespoons dried parsley ($.05)
    • 1 tablespoon garlic powder ($.05)
    • 1 tablespoon onion powder ($.05)
    • 1 teaspoon salt (or more to taste)
    • 1 teaspoon black pepper
    • 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes ($.05) 
    directions
    • Slice the zucchini, pat dry if needed, and place in a large, lidded container. 
    • In a small bowl, whisk together the remaining ingredients.
    • Pour over the sliced zucchini, cover, and shake (or just stir) until zucchini is evenly coated. 
    • Spread the zucchini on lined dehydrator sheets and dry at 145 degrees for about an hour and then at 120 for about another 12 hours or overnight (dehydrating time can vary), until crispy. 
    • Store leftovers in an airtight container and pop into dehydrator for a few minutes to crisp them up again if necessary. 







    ea

    Anti-Inflammatory Orange Turmeric Tea plus 10 Healthy Benefits of Turmeric



    Tumeric is famously anti-inflammatory and can be enjoyed many different ways, including juiced raw. But today, I wanted to pass on this super easy tea (psst, it's not raw!).

    I've been drinking it almost every morning for a couple months now and it's still delicious to me, which is a good thing. Turmeric has so many beneficial qualities ... let us count the ways (scroll below for the tea how-to).

    1. Anti-inflammatory.
    Turmeric, the brightly colored spice that gives curry it's intense color, contains beneficial compounds that have positive health benefits. The main compounds are the curcuminoids and the most important of these is curcumin. One of the most beneficial things curcumin can do is lessen inflammation, which is implicated in most Western diseases.

    To be fair, inflammatory responses are a good thing. We wouldn't be able to wage a defense against bacteria and viruses, or injuries, for example, without a strong inflammatory response. However, too much of a good thing can cause problems. Chronic inflammation has been implicated in many diseases that plague us today, including heart disease, diabetes, Alzheimer's, and obesity. Curcumin can reduce inflammation as effectively as some anti-inflammatory medications, but without the side effects. One of the ways it does this is by inhibiting (NF)-kB.  
     
    2. Antioxidant
    Oxidation is a chemical reaction that produces free radicals. Free radicals have unpaired electrons. These lonely little fragments damage cells and wreak havoc and destruction wherever they go. Antioxidants, like curcumin, terminate the chain reactions that lead to unpaired electrons and, therefore, free radicals and the damage they cause. Seriously, it's the radicals, man.
     
    3. Heart Health
    Almost 50% of Americans will die prematurely from heart disease. Heart disease and chronic inflammation are so closely linked that inflammation is thought to be an atherogenic response (atherogenic means it causes atherosclerosis, aka, cardiovascular disease, heart disease, and is also peripheral artery disease). It's even thought possible that the slight benefit sometimes derived from statins could be due to their anti-inflammatory properties. Reducing inflammation is a vital key to reducing heart disease.Curcumin is a potent COX-2 inhibitor, that

    4. Cancer
    Curcumin is being investigated as prevention and treatment for cancers such as that of the colon and pancreas. Chronic inflammation and free radicals promote cancer. Reducing those conditions can be preventive and curcumin works well at both. 
      
    5. Arthritis
     Inflammation is an important mechanism in arthritis. Curcumin acts as a COX-2 inhibitor in the same way pharmaceutical drugs such as Celebrex do, but without the dangerous side effects. The tea below, as well as curcumin supplements can ease the pain of arthritis and rejuvenate mobility.

    7. Alzheimer's 
    India has a low incidence of Alzheimer's, possibly linked to higher intake of curcumin. Because inflammation plays such a big part in most disease, including Alzheimer's, it can be protective and preventative.

    8. Brain Function
    Alzheimer's is not the only thing that can go awry in brain function, and again, inflammation is implicated. In this case, it's known as neuroinflammation, or inflammation specifically in the brain and reducing that can help overall brain function. 
       
    9. Depression
    Depression and anxiety are often linked to brain inflammation (this is why going gluten free can help mood, as well). It seems to offer some improvement and relief to those who have depression.

    10. Gall Bladder Function 
    Curcumin causes the gall bladder to contract, which stimulates bile formation and gall bladder emptying and a freely flowing gallbladder is a happy, healthy one (unless you have a stone blocking the exit, which can cause a painful gallbladder attack).

    11. Pepper
    I can't talk about turmeric and curcumin without also mentioning black pepper. The Piperine in black pepper increases the absorption of curcumin by 2000% (that's 20x). So, add a little bit of black pepper to whatever you make with turmeric for the greatest benefit. It tastes good, too.

    *Do not use turmeric or curcumin if you are using blood thinners such as Warfarin or if you have existing gall bladder disease.




     This tea (and this salad dressing, too) are delicious ways to get a healthy dose of turmeric.


    Orange Turmeric Tea
    serves 3 ~ $.33 per serving


    ingredients
    • 1 orange, peeled and chopped ($.70)
    • 1 teaspoon powdered tumeric ($.10)
    • 1 teaspoon caraway seeds($10)
    • a few black peppercorns, or pinch of black pepper
    • stevia or sweetener, if desired ($.10)

    directions
    1. Place the orange, turmeric, and caraway seeds in a large saucepan with four cups water. 
    2. Bring to a boil over high heat and continue to boil for about five minutes. This will reduce any bitterness in the turmeric.
    3. Add the peppercorns or pinch of pepper and steep for a minute or two. 
    4. Strain through a fine mesh strainer into mugs and and the sweetener of your choice, if desired. 










      ea

      Beta readers?

      ETA: You guys are amazing. I was really not expecting to get so many volunteers! I have more than enough people for now. I'm happy to add any additional names to the list for future opportunities. I can't add any more volunteers for this course, otherwise it would end up being all my friends which isn't great for diversity.


      My awesome job involves creating free online courses about genomics. The first course I've been fully in charge of is about to go live, and it needs some final quality checks. It's quite exciting IMO: it's about using genomics to identify and avoid antibiotic resistance.

      We need people who can put in a couple of hours in the next week, and just play around with the course and see if there are any obvious problems, whether that's technical issues like display problems for your particular hardware and software, or conceptual problems like confusing instructions or something that doesn't make sense. We are definitely not expecting any one individual to go through the whole course in detail, and we're not looking for copy editing or proofreading. I mean, if you have the sort of brain that can't help spotting typos, we don't mind reports of those, but we're mainly looking for something more general than that.

      We want people from all backgrounds, so a mix of people who know something about microbiology and genomics, and people who have no idea. I will say that the course is fairly technical, though, so you probably don't want to volunteer if sciencey stuff is hateful or scary to you. We are especially happy to have beta readers who aren't completely fluent in English to be more representative of our target audience.

      Other than doing some good for the world, what you get out of it is a £25 Amazon voucher. So in order to get paid you need to be in a position to receive and spend an Amazon voucher. We might possibly be able to acquire vouchers for other countries' versions of Amazon, or else I can informally arrange to swap to something more locally useful. But it's not employment, it's a volunteer thing with a small token of appreciation.

      Feel free to ask questions in the comments, but if you actually want to sign up you need to interact with my work persona, so I'll ask you to PM me about arranging that. You're also welcome to pass the request on to anyone else who might be interested. The number of available slots is somewhat flexible, probably in the range of 3-5.

      comments




      ea

      Pleasure

      I am getting so angry about trying to deal with a viral pandemic by stopping people from enjoying themselves.

      I understand that people are scared and trying to claw back some control. I understand that some people are excluded from even infection-safe forms of fun, because of existing disabilities or because they have extra work at the moment rather than extra free time or because of poverty. But enjoying yourself isn't an infection risk and it isn't morally bad.

      If I choose to take my exercise by heading to an attractive area with nature and nice views, I'm not doing anyone any harm. There's no benefit to punishing myself by walking alongside a busy road through a suburban wasteland. If a family have fun together, have a kickabout or play fetch with their pets, that's at least as good and probably better than joylessly frogmarching the children and dog round the block.

      And even in normal times, I hate the assumption that exercise has to be grim and miserable to count as exercise. It's still exercise if you move your body in ways that bring you joy, if you play, if you take your exercise somewhere that uplifts you. I got annoyed with someone (who I basically quite like) on Twitter mocking people who never normally take exercise chafing at only being allowed to go out for exercise once a day. But plenty of people are deprived of movement by the pandemic even if they don't normally put on special clothes and gear and 'go for' a walk or run. Lots of us exercise by walking or cycling to do our errands or to see friends, or we exercise by dancing or climbing or whatever, and those things are still bloody exercise.

      If I go to the shop or make an online order for provisions, in order to be able to, you know, eat for the next however many weeks, I'm not doing any harm by buying treats as well as the most virtuously dull possible staples. Nobody's risk of illness is increased if I also buy something that curtain-twitching busybodies consider "exotic", or alcohol, or, shock horror, something containing ~sugar~.

      If I stop for a minute during my necessary excursions to admire the cherry blossom, I'm not doing any harm. I'm not increasing infection risk, I'm not suddenly invalidating the necessity of my trip. If I take a snack or a drink with me to enjoy outdoors instead of shut up in my home, so what?

      And even worse than people trying to police each other for having fun during a pandemic, is the actual literal police harassing or even arresting people for perfectly innocent, low risk activities that happen to be considered too enjoyable. legionseagle, a real life lawyer, says Everything currently coming back from the policing front has got me more scared than the virus itself, and I was pretty fucking terrified about the virus.. I'm scared that people are going to be intimidated and criminalized, and we all know who is preferentially targeted by the police, but I'm also scared that the police are a huge vector of infection. Which is worse: me taking a walk in a pleasant park while staying 2m away from everybody else, or the police, who regularly interact with all kinds of different people in the course of their jobs, getting into my social distancing space in order to reprimand me for being somewhere pretty rather than somewhere boring?

      Anyway, just let people harmlessly enjoy themselves, FFS.

      comments




      ea

      Things I learned in 4 months of full time employment

      Mornings go best when I’m ready to go before anyone else gets out of bed. I need to save my knees for my commute and cannot take the stairs at work. (Having discovered how much this helps, I am now reconsidering all the previous times in my life when my knee issue flared up.) I … Continue reading Things I learned in 4 months of full time employment




      ea

      Leap day!

      It's leap day, which gives me an extra day in the short month to write this boring blog post! Alas, I spent most of the month traveling for work and vacation, and didn't finish my main-series project(s). Is the monthly shaming even motivational for me? Yes, of course, though I am skilled at filling my life up with whatever is currently catching my fancy.

      For example, earlier this month I finally got working this fairly straightforward raspberry pi project, which I built to try to diagnose wtf is going on with my overcomplicated 4-zone hot water (hydronic) home heating system. It has a problem whereby my bedroom gets annoyingly hot under certain conditions, even though the thermostat is not being triggered. Just the "boiler room" looks like this:


      Boiler Room


      Of course I could pay someone money to tinker with it but the true satisfaction of problem solving is in suffering that problem for multiple years while you pick up the necessary skills and data to solve it yourself and work up the mental energy to apply the solution. In the above you can perhaps barely make out the diagnostic device hanging from the scary bundle of wires (not my fault) with some of its heat sensors zip-tied to pipes. The needlessly hand-built software can give me one of these:


      System Diagram


      (I was pretty happy with the cheap but fairly maintainable way I decided to do this, with a templated SVG file. Since they're text, I just left placeholders like [[alice]] (the name of temperature probe "A") and just string-replace it with the temperature string as I deliver the SVG over HTTP. Will use this trick again some day.) Here you can see Floor 2 source is hotter than the others even though its thermostat isn't even on. It also produces time-series graphs of course, which are decidedly more retro (but really is only visible at full size):


      Click for full 1080p pixel glory


      I have succeeded in catching it in the act and have some theories about what's happening (the heat appears to be convective but I don't yet understand why the boiler keeps putting out heat in this situation). But I haven't solved it yet, and certainly haven't fixed it.


      SIGBOVIK 2020 is in about a month, and so the deadline is coming up imminently. Consider submitting if you have anything to share! I have a few ideas partly done but it looks like the writing will be coming at the last minute, of course.

      Stay safe out there!




      ea

      It’s a gift for you, really

      I almost never do sponsored posts on this blog because I hate reading them on other people’s blogs so I only do it if it’s a product that I truly adore and think you’d love too.  I’ve written before about … Continue reading




      ea

      Eating like a Flintstone

      We began this year with a new food plan: paleo. ish. This is precipitated by the discovery that I am either gluten intolerant, allergic to wheat, or both. Said discovery was made when I gave up gluten for a week just to prove to my personal trainer that she was wrong when she said that […]




      ea

      SEA You Next Year: 2018




      ea

      Nicolas Hafner: Creative Block - May Kandria Update


      It's a new month, and that usually means I'm supposed to write a monthly update on the progress with Kandria. Thinking about that though made me feel very depressed because I realised that I hadn't really done anything at all for the game, all of April.

      I can blame however much I want of that on the quarantine and university stress, or whatever else, but it won't change the fact that there has not been much progress on any front. While I have been slacking a lot, it's not like I haven't been working at all - plenty of time has gone into Courier, after all.

      When I had this realisation yesterday, I tried my best to push myself to work on the game any way I could, but I failed to find anything that I could actually convince myself to do. That isn't to say that there aren't things to do; god forbid there's a tonne of things! Tuning combat, drawing animations, writing the UI, fixing dialogue, starting on enemy AI, optimising performance - just to name a few. And yet, despite the breadth and depth of things to do, there was absolutely nothing that looked appealing to me.

      This kind of feeling is nothing new to me. It's a creative block, and happens more often that I'd like to admit. It's also why I often don't like to start long running projects, because I'm afraid of a creative block that would ruin it. The worst part about the creative block is that there's no remedy for it. You just get stuck in a rut, and it sucks a whole lot for a completely unpredictable amount of time. Often what I end up doing, whether consciously so or not, is switching to another project and just working on that.

      So far that project has been Courier, but that's at its end and I'm also starting to feel burnt out on it, too. I don't have any other projects queued up that I'd like to tackle, or new ideas on what to do at the moment, so I'm just... stuck.

      I suppose the right thing to do in this situation is to take it easy and not fret too much over it, since that's often one of the many factors causing the block. I've never been good at actually doing that, though. Maybe I should try to take a break from programming in general? I don't know.

      You may be wondering why I'm writing this all to begin with. Well, partly I feel like I promised to do monthly and weekly updates, and I really hate to break that promise without notice. Another part is that I just feel like I owe you the discretion to tell you what's going on with me. I'm very thankful for the email replies and general responses I've gotten for Kandria so far, I really am! Because of that genuine interest, I feel all the more pressured not to disappoint. Since I have nothing to show though, I thought the only proper course of action is to just be open and direct about it. So I'll just say it again: aside from updating the public demo, no progress has been made at all.

      Maybe it would help me to have a more open discussion about this topic in general, instead of just it being me telling you that I'm in a bad place. So please, let me know: have you been in similar situations before? What helped you deal with them? Is there something in Kandria I could try to focus on that you, personally, would like to see?

      You can reach me at shinmera@tymoon.eu.




      ea

      Vsevolod Dyomkin: Dead-Tree Version of "Programming Algorithms"

      I have finally obtained the first batch of the printed "Programming Algorithms" books and will shortly be sending them to the 13 people who asked for a hardcopy.

      Here is a short video showing the book "in action":

      If you also want to get a copy, here's how you do it:

      1. Send the money to my PayPal account: $30 if you want normal shipping or $35 if you want a tracking number. (The details on shipping are below).
      2. Shoot me an email to vseloved@gmail.com with your postal address.
      3. Once I see the donation, I'll go to the post office and send you the book.
      4. Optionaly step: if you want it to be signed, please, indicate it in your letter.
      Shipping details: As I said originally, the price of the dead-tree version will be $20+shipping. I'll ship via the Ukrainian national post. You can do the fee calculation online here (book weight is 0.58 kg, size is 23 x 17 x 2 cm): https://calc.ukrposhta.ua/international-calculator. Alas, the interface is only in Ukrainian. According to the examples I've tried, the cost will be approximately $10-15. To make it easier, I've just settled on $10 shipping without a tracking number of $15 if you want a tracking number. Regardless of your country. I don't know how long it will take - probably depends on the location (I'll try to inquire when sending).

      The book was already downloaded more than 1170 times (I'm not putting the exact number here as it's constantly growing little by little). I wish I knew how many people have, actually, read it in full or in part. I've also received some error corrections (special thanks goes to Serge Kruk), several small reviews and letters of encouragement. Those were very valuable and I hope to see more :)

      Greetings from the far away city of Lima, Peru!
      I loved this part: "Only losers don't comment their code, and comments will be used extensively"
      Thank you so much for putting this comprehensive collection of highly important data structures, i'm already recommending this to two of my developers, which I hope i'll induce into my Lisp addiction.
      --Flavio Egoavil

      And here's another one:

      Massively impressive book you've written! I've been a Lisp programmer for a long time and truly appreciate the work put in here. Making Lisp accessible for more people in relation to practical algorithms is very hard to do. But you truly made it. You'll definitely end up in the gallery of great and modern Lisp contributions like "Land of Lisp" and "Let Over Lambda". Totally agree with your path to focus on practical algorithmic thinking with Lisp and not messing it up with macros, oop and other advanced concepts.
      --Lars Hård

      Thanks guys, it's really appreciated!

      If you feel the same or you've liked the book in some respect and have found it useful, please, continue to share news about it: that definitely helps attract more readers. And my main goal is to make it as widely read as possible...




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      Learning From Home

      I have to say, I think Anand is learning more at home being unschooled than he was in school, and is much happier. Which isn’t to say that he isn’t missing some things that could use more disciplined teaching, and I’m hoping Kevin and I will have more time to do that this summer after the semester’s … Continue reading "Learning From Home"




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      At Least a Decade, Maybe Two

      Heh. K Tempest Bradford happened across an old photo of me and Neil — I’m in a sari, so I’m guessing this was at the Hugos. We look very young, so at least a decade ago — maybe two. 




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      my year in cities and towns, 2019

      Really serious about staying out of airplanes now. Two airplane trips this year. A low key summer not feeling terrific. Lots of time doing more local stuff and not regretting it at all. Here is the short list of places. Four states. Stars indicate multiple visits to the exact same place. Past years: 2018, 2017, […]




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      Bushnell Wingman GPS Speaker



      • Audio & Speakers

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      South Kingstown Beach House


















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      SAN HOLO – THE FUTURE (FEAT. JAMES VINCENT MCMORROW)

      musicisart magazine SAN HOLO – THE FUTURE (FEAT. JAMES VINCENT MCMORROW)

      Producer San Holo, AKA Sander van Dijck, creates ballad like electronic music that brings a listener on a journey full of emotion. San Holo is most known for his hit single ‘Light‘, which reached over 151 thousand likes on Soundcloud. SAN HOLO – THE LIGHT || San Holo’s latest single ‘The Future‘ features the smooth Irish vocals of […]

      The post SAN HOLO – THE FUTURE (FEAT. JAMES VINCENT MCMORROW) appeared first on musicisart magazine.