Every indie dev at some point gets supermad about Steam reviews. However, 99 times out of 100, skimming the reviews on the game’s front page will tell you everything you need to know.

I think I get both sides of the matter. Some devs seem to be mad simply because the review is not under their control, and the player isn’t shy saying what’s wrong with the game. But some reviews are like, “2/10 Chinese restaurant, there were no burgers”.

Good catch on the minerals. Potatoes also have vitamin C, but I think chuño loses it (vitamin C is rather fragile, odds are it doesn’t survive the process). Protein-wise I just checked it; 3% in potatoes, 8~12% in wheat.

I suppose if I ever go back, I might try chicha again. Was really unimpressed the last couple times I tried it, heh.

It’s a lot like grain beer, in the sense taste varies wildly, depending on a thousand things. For example, I had a friend from the region sharing his homemade chicha with me once; it was quite sweet and sour, but barely any alcohol. But when I tried my hand at it, the result was way sharper, and way stronger than grain beer.

And now we got the Shitennou of weird Linux distros!

Plus the freezing — you need ice crystals to form so they rupture the cell walls, and let the water flow out. That’s why chuño was originally made around those times (June, July) and in high altitude fields, to increase the odds the taters would freeze through the night and thaw back in the morning.

Even better than bread and beer storage of grains, and potatoes are more nutritious than either, to boot.

Yup. At least in raw calories. I think potatoes have a lower protein content, but that (and fat) can be supplemented with some dried meat, legumes, fresh veggies and fruits.

That said they did have maize beer; called chicha de jora (Spanish) / aqa (Quechua). But it was more for the booze during festivals than as calorie storage.

While we’re at it, can someone resurrect Ubuntu Satanic Edition and Justin Bieber Linux?

You know, when people say the Nile is not the jewel of Egypt, but Egypt is the jewel of the Nile?

So. The Inca Empire did not create chuño; chuño created the Inca Empire. It was what allowed the relatively small kingdom of Cuzco to feed its troops for long-term war, and eventual conquest of neighbouring peoples, forming the Inca Empire.

The technique is probably way older than the chuño they found, from the 13th century or so.

Even after the fall of the Inca, chuño remained a staple food.

Even today. Here’s an example (chuño puthi, i.e. chuño with a peanut sauce). Interesting enough the folks in that region seem to treat it as an ingredient completely apart from potatoes, they aren’t interchangeable and some recipes call for both in specific amounts.

You’ll also see ground chuño being used in plenty soups as a thickener.

alongside other important Indigenous staples, such as dried meats.

Specially ch’arki. Originally made from llama meat and similar, but with the introduction of cows I bet it’s mostly bovine nowadays. Sun-dried and salted, it doesn’t get all the fancy processing as the above, but it was damn important regardless, you can’t live just off potatoes.

Small context on the Arzawa/Assuwa, that she glosses over. [Note: there are a lot of conjectures from my part here, so take it with a grain of salt.]

Arzawa started as a confederation of 22 cities in Western Anatolia. I believe the locals weren’t Hittite speakers, but a clusterfuck of speakers of other Anatolian languages (such as Luwian/Lydian) and plus Pre-Indo-European languages (i.e. languages that were already in Anatolia before Hittites and other Indo-Europeans started settling in it.)

What united them wasn’t culture, but politics: they ganged up to fight against the Hittite dominance over the region. But this likely failed and by 1300 BCE the confederation was already some sort of vassal of the Hittites.

Then as plague devastated the Hittites I think the vassal saw an opportunity to regain its independence. Or perhaps the inverse, if they indeed caused the plague. But as they were revolting against the East, the Achaeans in the West started attacking them and besieging their cities. One of them being Wilusa aka Troy VI.

Now, she doesn’t talk about this because it’s outside the scope of her video, but I really, really need to soapbox about this.

You know, the Etruscans in Italy? At least language-wise, I think they’re descendants of diaspora of the Trojan War from 1300 BCE, either from Troy itself or another Arzawan city. It’s why I mentioned I believe the confederation included pre-Indo-European peoples from Anatolia.

I’m saying this based on multiple pieces of info:

1. The existence of the Lemnian language, related to Etruscan, right in the sea between Greece and Arzawa. Given the general pattern of invasions and migrations in the region, it hints a common origin near Lemnos, not Etruria.

2. Etruscan, Lemnian and Rhaetic are clearly related to each other. But they’re also unrelated to the Indo-European languages (Hittite, Greek, Latin etc.) or the Vasconic languages (Basque) spoken further West. And the general distribution of Etruscan and Rhaetic hints invasion through the ports, as if the language was a latecomer to Italy invading through sea.

3. Herodotus mentions some people from Lydia emigrating to Central Italy, led by their king Tyrrhenus, as the origin story for the Etruscans (note Etruscan is called Τυρρηνικός / Tyrrhēnikós in Greek). Lydia was a kingdom in Western Anatolia, that rose in power after the fall of the Hittites, but the centre of its power was pretty much where Arzawa used to be.

In the meantime, Hellanicus of Lesbos claims the same Tyrrhenians/Etruscans were descendants of Pelasgians. “Pelasgian” is a catch-all Classical Greek word for “pre-Greek”, i.e. “native to the southern Balkans before the Greeks invaded it”.

Both narratives conflict with each other in time and place, but look at the common ground: both claim the Etruscans migrated from the East, into Central Italy.

4. The Aeneid. A Roman spin-off fanfic of the Iliad, published by Virgil in 19 BCE. It tells the story of the Trojan hero Aeneas, who’d flee the Trojan war and settle in Italy. Eventually becoming the ancestor of “those” Romulus and Remus who would found Rome.

We know the Aeneid is bullshit when it comes to Roman history; odds are the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages reached Italy through the Alps. And it was politically motivated bullshit, to justify Roman control over Greece. But where did Virgil get this story from?

Note how it makes a lot of sense, if Virgil “creatively borrowed” the story from some nearby people. Such as the Etruscans; the Romans loved to grab bits and bobs of the mythologies of conquered peoples, it’s just that this bit of Etruscan mythology would’ve been loosely based on RL events.

I am not deciding shit for anyone. I’m concluding your kid is most likely MtF, based on the info you provided — “in my simple brain he has a dick he’s a boy” + usage of the word “trans”.

And, even in the chance my conclusion is incorrect (the kid is actually genderfluid, or non-binary, et cetera), my point still stands, even if you pretend it doesn’t dammit. You highlighted you use “he/him” because the kid has a dick, regardless of the kid’s identity, that’s an arsehole move, doubly so coming from a parent. The right approach would be to use the ones the kid chose.

You’re the one assuming shit here

Not really.

I’m laughing […] I find that funny.

Said Egnatius the Celtiberian.

EDIT: I usually don’t bring shit from the modlog up, because it’s often a diversion tactic. However, in this case, it’s 100% relevant: the user above defends physical violence against children. In his own words, “I’m saying this with all the honesty. We need to start beating our kids again.”

It explains a lot, doesn’t it? If a person doesn’t get why physical abuse against kids is bad, the idea of respecting someone else’s choices is a bit too complex for that person.

Summer? See you guys in December… okay, sorry for the dumb joke. Here’s what I’m planning to pick up, roughly by order of how much I want to see it:

1. Mushoku Tensei III
2. Youjo Senki II
3. Otomege Sekai wa Mob […] 2
4. Black Torch
5. Ryoumin 0-Nin Start no Henkyou Ryoushu-sama
6. Tsuihou Sareta Tensei Juukishi wa Game […]
7. Koko wa Ore ni Makesete Saki […]
8. Hell Mode […] 2
9. Sekai Saikyou no Kouei
10. Reiwa no Dara-san
11. Suterare Seijo no Isekai Gohantabi
12. Rakudai Kenja no Gakuin Musou

I’ll also keep watching: Re:Zero, Iruma-kun, TenSura, Ascendance of a Bookworm. Then there’s the older stuff I’m only watching now, like Mahoutsukai no Yome and Highschool of the Dead.

So a total of 18 series, 12 being new ones. Two~three episodes per day.

She’s Ram’s palette swap from the Re:Zero fighting game. People bullshit she’s a maid in Roswaal’s mansion, but that is not true — there’s Ram and Frederica, no REM sleep or Rem sleeping or whatever.

…I’ll be honest.

You’re saying you’ll defend whatever she decides to be, but I don’t think you accept it yourself; that’s why you’re still treating your daughter as if she was a boy. It’s perfectly possible this actually hurts her, but she doesn’t complain because it’s complicated to do so with your parents before adulthood, like it or not you’re still a figure of authority.

EDIT: to be clear. I’m saying it’s preferable to treat a trans child by the gender they identify themself with, than by the gender assigned to them by birth. Doubly so if you’re in a position of power over them, like a parent is.

My trouble is always ending up with too much leftover whey.

Add some fruit juice to it, and sugar to taste. IMO it’s delicious. (Note: this works better with sour fruits. Lemon, orange, passion fruit, cashew, pineapple, this sort of stuff.)

I’ve never made paneer, but I have made a lot of ricotta (well, this type of ricotta, there’s also leftover whey ricotta, which I haven’t made). I had no clue paneer was basically just pressed ricotta.

It’s possible what you made is paneer.

At least traditionally, ricotta is the one made from leftover whey; that’s why it gets this name (ricotto = recooked). You make some low temp cheese like pecorino, re-heat the leftover whey to ~80°C, add some white vinegar (and probably salt), transfer the curds outside of the liquid and here you go.

Then I’ll admit to be a tentacular monster. And might as well share my “Levantine” spice mix for other monsters here:

• 5 parts smoked paprika
• 5 parts black pepper
• 5 parts cinnamon
• 4 parts coriander seeds
• 4 parts cumin
• 3 parts allspice
• 3 parts cloves
• 2 parts cardamom
• 2 parts star anise
• 2 parts chili pepper
• 1 part nutmeg

Just blend them all together and store in an airtight container. This stuff is amazing in meats, specially beef.

Even in those neighbourhoods they’re still going to inflate water and electricity prices and consumption.

Recently proposed data centers that faced pushback were canceled or suspended at more than five times the rate of data centers that didn’t (28.2% vs. 5.2%).

i.e. the data already takes into account that those data centres are more likely to be built in poorer neighbourhoods.

My hypotheses:

1. The rich tolerate data centres more because they get more value out of them.
2. “AGI soon!” misinformation hits both sides different ways: for one it means “we’re making you richer”, for another it’s “we’re making you obsolete filth”.

No idea if either/both/none is true.

While Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles has its own rich lore, it is made even more enticing by its connection to the series xxxHOLiC. Both series were developed by Clamp and are set in the same multiverse. Characters are shared between the two series, and the interdimensional witch Yūko Ichihara plays an important role in both stories.

This. So much this.

You can enjoy them individually, but once you enjoy them together, both become far richer. It isn’t just about the TRC gang visiting the witch, everything is connected.

Mushishi and Hellsing also have great worldbuilding, but TRC/xxxHolic is more like a fractal of worlds tied together.

Can’t say about the other series, as I didn’t watch them.

With that out of the way, for people who want an isekai series with good worldbuilding, I’d recommend Log Horizon. AFAIK it was one of the first “trapped in a game” isekai series, and it goes great lengths to explore how game logic interacts with reality. Such as food only having a taste when made by people with a cooking skill, or where the money from loot comes from, or what it means to “die” in the world, etc.

And if you don’t want isekai, there’s The Ancient Magus’ Bride. Sure, younger than things mentioned in the list (the first season is from 2013), but worldbuilding is top notch.

That Luminous vs. Kaplan case is a good example on how the popcorn crowd fuels fires. And, sure, some tankies are too combative*, but neither side here was one — it was mostly an anarchist and [I believe] a liberal.

From my PoV the whole thing went like this:

1. Deceptichum@qokkau gets banned by Kaplan@reddit.world, allegedly for “trolling”; in practice for criticising the Fedihost foundation. Bad admin behaviour from Kaplan, who’s clearly emotionally invested into his reddit.world foundation. Popcorn crowd goes like “Zionists! Zionists!”, even if the immediate matter is another.
2. Luminous@AN bans Kaplan from AN, allegedly for “zionism, genocide apologia". I do not know if this is accurate or an overreach; if it is an overreach, it’s bad admin behaviour from Luminous. Popcorn crowd still chanting “Zionists! Zionists!”.
3. Luminous was using a childish username, “murder all Zionists”. The underlying message (don’t tolerate Zionism) is sensible, if read in the right context and in good faith; problem is, people in bad faith will remove it from the context. And that’s exactly what Kaplan does, to justify defederating a whole instance (AN) without previously contacting neither other LW admins nor other AN admins. Now the popcorn crowd chants “Death threats! Death threats!” [Rimu goes here.]
4. Since AN is part of the flotilla with /0 and quokkau, the “pact” between all three instances is evoked, escalating things further. Popcorn crowd makes sure reddit.world sees the flotilla as “all terrorists” and the flotilla sees reddit.world as “all Zionists”.

All of that while the folks in the flotilla consistently ignore why reddit.world censors pro-Palestinian messages (pressure from the German government), but not pro-Zionism ones (no such pressure exists). While reddit.world “conveniently” keeps doing this immoral shit because “we just follow orders”. (And because banning the whole topic altogether wouldn’t sit right in an instance that sees itself as the spiritual successor of Reddit, and other instances as those inconvenient stones in its path.)

Without the popcorn crowds, the most you’d have are two admin teams solving their issues in private. But because of the popcorn crowds the whole thing blew out of proportion.

Worst part? I’m not even sure if I’m not part of one of the crowds now.

* or should I say too “screechy”? If they actually spent that energy fighting for the causes, it would be great. But they’re busier using it to screech at random people on the internet.

Thanks for the link! Relevant to note, one of the comments there linked this thread, where Nutomic (note for the onlookers: Nutomic is the Lemmy backend developer) criticises what Yogthos did. I’ll quote it here:

Responsible disclosure is still important because it takes the developer time to develop, validate and release a securit fix. Keep in mind that open source projects like Piefed, Lemmy and others are developed by volunteers in their free time. So it is irresponsible to publish security problems without any private warning. For all the infighting that is happening, we need to remember that our enemy is Reddit, and not anyone on the Fediverse.

And even then. I disagree with what Yogthos did, but what he said holds some merit (if a large model can find it, an attacker can do it too, so devs need to be proactive).

What I’m really disliking to see, though, in all this PieFed vs. Lemmy talk, is not even dev behaviour. From either side. It’s user behaviour; the “popcorn crowd”, throwing petrol into random fires, and burning the house down because it wants to see pretty flames go brrrrr. I’ve seen this in plenty other situations, but the threads both of us linked shows it really well.

Every one [platform] is incomplete to varying degrees

And as typical for software, none will be ever complete! Or should be.

And on a related note, Rimu is stepping backwards a bit from directly contributing so much to PieFed, as it is leading to burnt-out

That might explain why some of his recent takes have been a bit… over-simplistic, to say the least. Odds are he isn’t informed on the drama going on, and it’s easy to jump to conclusions.

At the same time the Lemmy devs are attacking PieFed, e.g. by running AI to identify vulnerabilities and then rather than offer even so much as 24 hrs notice go ahead and publicly disclose them (yes they “can” do so, but is it “friendly” to have chosen that route?).

I’m not informed on that. Do you have some link where I can read further about it?

Regarding the rest:

I feel like the problem regarding Lemmy features might be what you said about being difficult to work with, plus that there’s way less people who can contribute with Rust code than Python code. However: I’m no programmer, this is just hearsay, so take it with a grain of salt because it might be incorrect.

That said I like the concurrent existence of Lemmy and PieFed, and I’d really like if there was more “Fediverse forum” platforms. It might split efforts a bit, but every new platform brings new stuff into the table; Lemmy was there at the start, then Kbin trying to “tie” the forums with microblogging, and then Piefed with the improvements you mentioned. More importantly, that concurrence allows us to not need to have “faith” in any specific platform, since if the devs for some reason go MIA the rest of the “Fediverse forums” survives.

Ah, got it! It’s a sensible approach. Lemmy AFAIK doesn’t do anything similar; it should.