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Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: August 15th, 2023

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  • Even with a free forum host, it’s difficult to keep things running for a long time.

    Awhile back I was unsatisfied with how quickly my (new) furniture was degrading, and found a furniture forum run by a guy in the biz. So much knowledge on there about different furniture and how to actually find quality stuff that will last decades.

    The owner retired this week, and he had been paying for an IT contract to do basic maintenance / upgrades on the forum (I think he started on a free host, but as it got bigger he eventually had to move it). He needed IT help basically to apply security patches and do upgrades. He’s stated that he no longer plans to pay for the maintenance contract. I’m guessing the forum will disappear soon.



  • Cleared DRS last week for the first time. I had kind of avoided it because I’d heard mixed things, and bozja / field op stuff never really caught my interest (I had ranked up to 22 but kind of didn’t enjoy the format). The past couple weeks I got back into it and something clicked and I realized it’s exactly the sort of content I’ve been wanting.

    Lost actions / essences, while still kind of annoying to farm (I ended up just buying some from MB), give you flexibility in builds that no other content does. Also the duel system that confused the hell out of me before has given me a challenge to look forward to while I’m farming in Zadnor. I think it helps that the instances aren’t too crowded anymore so it’s easier to get into duels to practice.

    So when I joined a couple of field op discords and noticed there are multiple DRS runs per week, I decided what the hell, I always wanted the mount. I spent a few hours reading guides & got my holster prepped, and joined a run. The first run was a blast, but ultimately we wiped on Queen’s Guard and didn’t re-instance that night. The second run I joined was 48/48 with a lot of vets and we tore through the bosses, but it was still definitely a challenge (my goal was to not die too terribly and embarrass myself), and I felt like I could contribute even being a newbie.

    I’ve done a lot of raiding in this game, but DRS was some of the most fun I remember having in grouped content. Definitely recommend it if you think it might tickle your fancy.


  • I’ve definitely had that feeling before. I was really into Chinese rock bands and bought a bunch of CDs. I’ve been slowly uploading them. I mean China is a big country with lots of people, so it’s not like these bands are completely unknown, but when I used to go to concerts in China some of the groups that I thought rocked the hardest didn’t tend to pull big crowds. And when you look on Chinese Internet for this stuff, you usually find crappy MP3s, not rips following proper procedures.

    I still think about the band where I showed up late because the train to Beijing was delayed and then the taxi driver couldn’t find the venue address, so I just barely caught their last song. Then afterwards I was hanging out chatting with people and they were like, since you only got to hear one song you deserve to meet the singer. And they were friends with the singer so they called her to come out. It seemed like she was blown away that any foreign fans at all are into her music, and when she found out I didn’t yet have a place to stay for the night and was planning to find a last minute hostel or hotel she said “no, you’re not doing that, you’re staying with my friends who have a spare room”.

    Whenever I rip & upload Chinese rock, I think about those people who were so friendly and gracious towards me. Like who tf invites some random stranger at a rock concert over like that. And none of those bands, even the ones that made it “big” really got the attention that I thought they deserved. They were pouring their heart and soul into their music.













  • Just going to address your first paragraph: I sincerely doubt that the devs are receiving money from a fascist government. I simply don’t think Lemmy is big enough yet to be on the radar of e.g., the Chinese government. Yes, maybe there are some Wumaos on here. My understanding is they get better training and autonomy these days, so it’s certainly possible. But most of the comments look more homegrown. I just doubt the Chinese government (or any similar government) would care to the point of trying to pay off devs, and it’s not their MO anyways.


  • The sad part is that this situation was entirely predictable a year ago.

    The Lemmy devs (who also run lemmy.ml) made no secret of who they are and what they believe. Especially dessalines.

    I do think they have made a very good piece of software. And I think we’re better off here than on Reddit. At least it is more difficult for one asshole to ruin everything. We have tools to block people and instances, so it doesn’t matter as much even if they’re in charge.

    I worry that if lemmy.ml continues to be run the way that it is, then it will bleed over into the software side, and we would be forced to fork Lemmy. So far though, despite running lemmy.ml like assholes, the actual development seems fine – not too different from any other open source project (I only remember that one issue where dessalines completely failed to understand why a user would want to block an instance).

    The irony is that, despite creating a tool with what seems like very socialist principles (it gives users & communities a lot of power, and doesn’t centralize that power with one person), those principles are often lost on the devs in favor of authoritarianism. Hence the term: “tankie”.


  • I feel that way. I haven’t felt the need to be pre-emptively aggressive when I post here because in most communities I post to people don’t tend to jump down your throat if you get 1 thing wrong or say 1 thing they don’t like.

    It has made me reflect on what kind of person I was when I was posting more on reddit. It’s also made me feel more ok getting on reddit with my one non-banned account occasionally and making a “fire and forget” comment where I’m not quite as obsessed with getting everything right from the get-go. I will try to wait at least a few days or a week before I check for replies. So if somebody happens to get really aggressive with me, it feels less urgent and like it matters less.

    I really like the vibe of Lemmy overall, and I hope we can keep it this way.



  • I still think the dragon fruit we get imported in the US can be pretty tasty. Not the same as when I had it in Taiwan, but still tasty.

    Like you’re talking about, it’s the same with other imported fruits like mangos. To be honest, even fruits like strawberries are pretty bland when you get them in the supermarket, compared to fresh picked. But sometimes you just want to nom a whole thing of strawberries. It’s how I feel about dragon fruit.