#generalists

[computerbrxin]

horses of course

[j-august]

It is wise to have decisions of great moment monitored by generalists. Experts and specialists lead you quickly into chaos. They are a source of useless nitpicking, the ferocious quibble over a comma.

Frank Herbert, Children of Dune

[realityfragments]

Expanding Our Prisons.

Offhandedly, regarding something related to recommendations, I wrote, ‘there are always echo chambers’ in the context of social media and recommendations. It’s an unfortunate truth about we humans and our perspectives, and I thought to expand on it here. We recursively play our roles in the Allegory of the Cave, where some of us ‘leave’ the cave and go explore outside of it. It was originally…

[uncharismatic-fauna]

How About Those Humans?

Humans, also known as human beings or people (Homo sapiens) are a species of primate found around the world. Originally from eastern Africa, the species has spread to every continent due to their remarkable adaptability to a wide variety of climates and habitats.

The primary advantage for humans comes from their complex social groups. These groups are created, and reinforced, primarily through the use of spoken and written word. Humans are the only animal known to use symbols in communication. In every part of their range, H. sapiens will form communities with other individuals- these communities are often but not always based on familial kinship; bonds can also be formed based on age, proximity, and membership to other social organizations like religion or sports. Humans have also been known to form mutualistic relationships with other such as dogs, cats, ungulates, birds, and some snakes and lizards.

People are known as one of the few species to use tools, and they do so in a highly complex manor. By use of tools, humans have been able to modify their surroundings via agriculture, architecture, and clothing; this has allowed them to expand their range well beyond the limits that their thermal tolerance and high water needs would allow. In addition, people have used their ability to manipulate tools to enhance their social relationships through the creation of ritual, music, art, craft, and sport, as well as enhancing the scale and violence of inter-group conflicts.

The appearance of humans can vary widely depending on their genetics, distribution, nutritional status, and socio-cultural group. Unlike other primates, H. sapiens are primarily bipedal, walking on their hind legs and leaving their hands free for manipulating tools. The body hair of humans is quite fine, and the skin underneath can range widely from black to white, largely as an adaptation to UV radiation. However, the hair on the top of the head can be fairly thick, and likewise varies in color and texture; it is common in many social groups to arrange and decorate the hair for aesthetic value or social status. Males and females are fairly similar in physique; males average 171 cm (5 ft 7 in) in height and 77 kg (170 lb) in weight, while females average (5 ft 3 in) and 59 kg (130 lb) respectively. Females also have more pronounced mammary glands than males.

People are omnivorous, capable of consuming many different plants and animals collected by a combination of agriculture and hunting and gathering. Depending on their region, the diet of humans may consist of different combinations of ruminants, pig, horse, dog poultry, fish, insects, milk, eggs, leafy greens, roots, fruits, berries, nuts, honey, and tree bark. Humans have no natural predators, although there are some large carnivores such as polar bears and tigers that may opportunistically hunt them.

Like other primates, humans are capable of breeding through out the year. People may form monogamous or polyandrous pairings based on socio-cultural group and individual selection. Pairings are most often heterosexual, but homosexuality is not uncommon and there is a great variety in both gender and sexual orientation, the display of which is dictated by an individual's socio-cultural group. In many cultures, courtship is initiated by the male; he may attempt to woo the female through gifts and elaborate mating displays of dance and sport. The input of immediate kin and important members of a social group can also have strong influence over the process. Selection of a suitable mate usually takes time, and a pair may court for several years before rejection. Following mating, the female carries her pregnancy for 9 months before giving birth, usually to one baby but in rare cases as many as nine.

Infants are completely dependent on external care; this is usually provided by one or both of the parents, and often extends to the entire familial or social group. Babies are typically weaned around their first birthday, at which time their diet transitions completely to solid foods. From an early age, young are incorporated into the social group via ritual, play, and teaching of skills which may come from elders in the social group or designated individuals. Though biologically H. sapiens may reach maturity as young as 13, young are typically not considered adults in their social group until the age of 18. Lifespan may vary widely based on genetic and nutritional factors, but humans are frequently known to live to be over 100.

Conservation status: Due to their wide range and large population, humans are considered stable. They have not been evaluated by the IUCN.

Happy April Fools everyone!

Photos

A Khoisan woman in Namibia by Eric Lafforgue

A Nepalese woman and child by Michal Knitl

An Armenian family and priest by Eugene Lee

A Mexican dancer by Cheryl Schweizer

[hellenhighwater]

I mess around with a lot of random art supplies. I have zero training other than, like, primary school and some random one off classes or short series of classes. I follow a lot of different creators in different mediums on social media. I have never been taught to draw or paint or anything and so I don't really know how I'm supposed to learn. And so a lot of what I do is watch someone do something and then play around with it on my own, or decide I want to draw something and trace it or find a basic "how to draw [x]" and I guess my question is, am I violating some sort of "learn to [art skill]" etiquette or is this a reasonable, if somewhat scattershot, way to approach making stuff?

I guess I worry that, idk, someone is going to feel like I stole their thing? I don't sell anything, and I post from one account (not on Tumblr) just because I like to keep a record of experimenting.

If you're not selling replica work in competition with an original creator, then no, no problems with doing this.

It's funny because I was just talking to a studiomate about this--SO much of learning art is repetition and replication. We stand on the shoulders of the great masters who came before us--from cave paintings to cathedrals, artists have been looking to and imitating the work of other artists. So do tutorials, and trace, and try to copy, and do whatever interests you. Yes, it's possible that some random individual may take offense, but frankly that is never not a possibility, and in the grand continuum of artists, what you're doing is a long and storied tradition of learning. If you go looking, you will find centuries of artists copying and mimicking other artists to learn and develop their skills. And if you're not trying to become a really particular kind of professional artist, then there's really no right or wrong way to teach yourself art, so long as you're having fun.

For a good chunk of the "copy" stage of learning art, you're just not going to have the technique to be a viable competitor to most of the artists you're probably copying from, and by the time you do have the technique to really mimic talented artists, you're probably going to have your own ideas you're more interested in making anyway.

As a personal policy, if I feel I'm coming too close to someone else's original idea, I just don't sell that work. I may keep it or gift it, but I don't try to make any kind of profit off someone else's idea, even if it was my work. If you're posting and want to feel like you're giving credit where it's due; go ahead and post reference links for whatever you're working off. It's not required but it's nice to show respect to the work in that way, if you're able to.

[finalgirlsamwinchester]

realised. dean is the perfect viewer avatar for a horror show. he gets to be both the action hero and the quippy, self-aware wiseguy who knows he's in a horror show. he provides a safe point; a comfortable power fantasy for you to experience a story through. he's ash in the evil dead. he's a gunslinging tough guy, and you get to see those moments where heroism sits on his shoulders like an ill-fitting leather jacket. and even when he gets his turn at being captured and victimised by the narrative, it's filtered through this mythic lens first. he's the tormented hero; tortured by villains, tortured by the constraints of his role. yeah he gets bruised, beaten bloody to a pulp, torn to shreds and killed, but his perception of reality never gets thrown into serious doubt (unless it's played out as a gag). the narrative valorises his sense of right and wrong, because that's what heroic stories do. their heroes provide moral center, regardless of how we might judge them. the lines dividing hero, anti-hero, and villian are paper thin, and dean isn't truly ever allowed to be ambiguous. and the hero always wins in the end, even when he dies.

meanwhile sam is the abject object of the horror show, a character who gets trussed up, chased, tied up, ripped apart, cut into, possessed, exploited, manipulated and psychologically hounded. he's carrie covered in pig's blood. he's the marginal person people are cheering on either to die - or to live past it all. he gets his turn at playing both movie monster and victim, always occupying the liminal space between both. abject horror lives within him. he's violated with demon blood, he consumes demon blood. he hates halloween because he vomited his guts up in front of a room of normal children. he will never get to be normal, he's designated the freak on multiple levels, but most significantly, by the way his narrative frames him. he's living inside a world that is at its core, fundamentally frightening and horrifying - full control over himself and his surroundings is always slipping away, just beyond his reach. his grip on reality and the world around him gets thrown into question by the story consistently. what's right? what's wrong? what's real? what isnt? the narrative punishes him - because that's what happens to you when you're living in a horror. he can never run away from his nightmare reality, it catches up to him like a curse nipping at his heels. the only way out for him is through the punishing fire. in order to survive, he's required to be pushed to the absolute brink of instability; emotionally, physically and mentally. he emerges out the other end, barely holding it together but somehow alive - like the bloody final girl, changed irrevocably by what she's experienced.

[cyallate]

[[[ Animation/animatic spoilerrr ]]]

Music is chosen, the storyboard is done and in sync with the song, and now is the hard part of animating everything. Just 900+ frames to go lol. (and backgrounds aaaaaaaaa)

[generic-sonic-fan]

It seems that Eggman has finally had enough of the troublesome E 123 Omega and now seeks to destroy him, permanently. The bot for the job? Metal Sonic. Who do you think would win , with no outside influence?

Or would they be too evenly matched and their fate is mutually assured destruction.

Mutually assured destruction, if a little delayed.

Omega has Shadow and Rouge to avenge him, after all. Metal Sonic does not possess such a privilege.

[askagamedev]

Hello, I'm an aspiring game developer generalist but I honestly have no clue where to start, and my lack of attention span does not make it any better, do you have any advice on how to start learning to become a generalist?

It really depends on what you want to do. If you want to be a hobbyist, then I suggest reading my guide on the [minimum competence needed] to be able to contribute to a game development team. Then, start doing each of these things - write code, create art assets, build a level, make something playable. As you learn to do these tasks and level up, you'll become a generalist that's able to make a lot of contributions to a dev team.

If you want to be a professional generalist, the requirements are much more stringent. Generalists in the game industry really only exist at the upper mid-senior level, there really aren't any junior generalists because the juniors really lack the experience shipping and finishing games. A junior might enter without a specific specialty, but they have a lot of learning to do. It's much easier to learn one major thing at a time than it is to learn many things all at once, especially when the goal is delivering shippable quality results.

The minimum bar for competence for professional generalists is much higher. A professional generalist isn't someone who knows a little of everything and can get something started, it's someone who can finish a wide variety of tasks. A professional generalist can operate and produce work of shippable quality in multiple areas. I've personally worked on cameras, economy, combat, monetization, characters, AI, progression, animation, cinematics, localization, and lots of other game systems in my career.

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[interactiveglobe]

“typical of a flesh magician” like harrow didn’t sew her entire jaw shut

[through-rosey-glasses]

I think it says so much about the announcers when new fans and old fans appreciate them. Sure I understand having preferences and everything, but when a majority of fans from a range of experience say these announcers are pretty good, it means something.

[proper-enrichment]

I wanna know what ecological niche I fill

It's kind of a dire need, actually

[gaymingintrovert]

I need to find easy recipes with rosemary because I want to get into cooking and I have a huge rosemary bush that has survived the 100+ degree Fahrenheit days and below freezing winter weeks and is now a full fledged bush

[anyajkramer]

I'm spreading the centipede gospel. Hmu. please god ask me about centipedes. fuck fuck fuck oh my god. fuck they are so cool. some of them are k-selected!!!! they love their babies.! im like. im fucking crying theyre so awesome. their legs get longer along their bodies. theyre so much better than millipedes. what who said that. fuck oh my god.

[shirecorn]

You think the Vonder unicorn females are like, somehow non existent? Like the males can somehow reproduce on their own

I think there's so much we don't yet understand.

Unfortunately the leading field researcher was killed and eaten, and the notes of her dissertation found miles downstream and ruined beyond legibility.

It was a great loss to the scientific community, but such is the way of biology. She was a great scientist, and I had worked with her in the past to write a brief overview on unicorn-affected areas. I was hoping to write an entire chapter using her most recent research, but now I cannot. Perhaps I will dedicate the book to her, and to the wild that claims all of us in the end.

I too prefer to do my studies alone, with just myself and the wilderness around me. But even I know you shouldn't venture into a unicorn thicket without backup. Forest guarded by unicorns are home to the most exquisite - and dangerous - flora and fauna