Bozicus

That’s definitely a case where absolute numbers matter, yeah. I miss the shared-experience subs most, too, though there’s a surprising amount of stuff here already. You might try posting about narcolepsy in some of the broader health [or whatever category you’d put it in] communities, and see who’s there. That’s the kind of thing people might not expect to find at all at this point.

But I think a lot of people are talking about hobby communities, which can be made active by either a large number of people who post rarely, or a smaller number who post frequently, without having to change the overall content very much (I think a lot of people who share any projects could share more projects than they do). The number of people required for “critical mass “ in a forum is a lot lower than people think, and also, a lot more affected by who the people are, and the climate of the community. It’s something I (and I’m sure many others) remember from before massive platforms existed, but apparently it is not obvious to people who didn’t see it. Different experiences, different internet, but I think the essential desire for community is the same, and small communities can flourish in the same way.

I love those! I wear them open over a black T-shirt (for camouflage) most of the summer, partly for silhouette, partly because I like having my torso covered in giant flowers etc (my signature everyday style is best summarized as “dad jokes,” lol). And it definitely helps, but I find I sometimes get “ma’am”ed by people who only see me from the side in those, because I just have too much of a balcony going on for a shirt to drape on.

I think the most useful reconception is not to take “insertion” out of fields where it’s a useful, literal description, and instead, take it out of the realm of gender and sexuality, where it limits imagination. It’s 2023, and no one has to do things exactly like their parents did [at least once]. Unless they want to, in which case, great, but human bodies are extremely versatile.

…semi-relatedly, the issue with the kind of equipment I’m talking about is only partly terminology. It’s a category of similar items made by a variety of companies in different sizes and configurations, so standard terminology would not create standardization unless a lot of companies agreed to do it. It’s something where measurements often help, but there are also some more… innovative… designs where measurement is not applicable in the same way, and would be confusing.

Yep! I think it’s also a great example of how well a simple message can propagate. The whole emotional force of about six weeks of emotional drama has boiled down into eight letters, repeated by… what would you say, thousands?… of individuals.

Yeah, I am not sure if this is actually news. I got the impression from what Android Authority dug up that this new thing was going to be regular USD. It looks like they're going to be asking for bank account information and tax forms for anyone who wants to become eligible for payouts, and I don't know if they would be doing that for crypto...?

Haha, I've been there: "This project has suddenly become way slower and more difficult than expected. Should I stop and try something else? ...never! Full speed ahead!"

There's a difference between "incapable of understanding" and "doesn't have enough background information to understand." Are there people who can't understand certain tech concepts? Absolutely. But there are a lot more people who just miss the first rung on the ladder, and can't make it to the top. They can understand when they get the explanation from the ground up, but until then, they're stuck.

I see it happen a lot when tech people try to explain something that is brand new to the listener, because when you are already able to understand something at a high level, you forget to mention the first several rungs. It's usually a great explanation, it's just not an explanation the person on the ground can use.

...also, I don't think it's failure to understand login when every instance asks for a separate login if you don't navigate there through your own instance. It's a misunderstanding that results from experiencing the fediverse without understanding how it works, not a failure to grasp an abstract concept.

That's not strictly true, now. I found a good fountain pen community, and a few for knitting and embroidery, among other analog interests. Not everything is here, but the non-tech stuff is starting to trickle in.

I hope it works out! I'm always happy to talk stitching.

And yeah, I guess 15 would be pretty big. I think the endgame for big projects is a frame that has a chair in front of it, like a loom or a small desk, so you're not juggling the hoop in one hand, and the needle in the other. I don't have the level of commitment to a single piece for anything that size, so I don't even have to worry about how I can't afford it, lol.

...is it bad that as a trans man who knows nothing about electrical connectors, I still find this rant relatable? You'd think there would be some kind of terminology for getting your equipment to play with your other equipment, but no, and don't even get me started on what happens when it has to interface with organic systems...

You'd want to try it on something you don't care about to be sure, but I think it is something people do. I've done it on practice pieces before, but since I didn't care about the outcome, I don't remember how well it went. Probably if it was terrible I would remember, but that's not very helpful, lol.

It would depend on exactly what kind of stitches you were clamping, though. Something flat done in a relatively fine gauge is going to do a lot better than something with surface action, like French knots, and I wouldn't do it at all on beadwork. You'll also want to be careful how tight you pull the area, and how tight you make it, but I'm sure you don't need me to tell you that, lol.

Personally, I would use your situation as an opportunity to buy a bigger hoop or frame, but if that's not an option, I would try clamping on existing work. I mean, I have, so...

Welcome aboard!