#i have also learned. some more basic html :3

[keeps-ache]

i have learned Linkage :3

[burning-academia-if]

Hey, this isn’t related to the story but I was curious how you got started with twine? Your story inspired me and I want to learn the program so I can make my own. I wanted to see if you had any advice or reference points. Perfectly fine if not, much love regardless!

I've messed with Twine on and off for a while now, so I'm not sure when I actually got into it? It was probably when I originally got into IFs back in like 2015 lol

I use Twine Sugarcube specifically, and I pretty much just watched/read through these:

Twine or Treat: a youtube playlist where a guy shows you how to make a game. Focuses more on making an exploration/puzzle game in Twine, but still has some useful/relevant info

Introduction to Twine: another video playlist, although again, I really only watched what I needed

The Twine Grimoire: there's 3, with each one going through more complicated concepts each volume, includes Harlowe as well as Sugarcube

Sugarcube (and Harlowe) also have their own documentation, but it's so Long and Daunting that I honestly just ignored it when I first started LOL. It's obviously useful to have and reference, but I always need to watch people doing the thing first. I really struggle with just reading through things personally. I'm comfortable enough with Twine now that it isn't overwhelming though lol

Also I'd argue you really only need to learn how to set variables to get started with IFs. Once you know how passages work and how variables work, you're almost set to make an IF.

I'd also recommend learning the very basics HTML and CSS just in case. There's plenty of Twine templates available for free on itch.io, but if you want to adjust them in any way, it's helpful to know CSS/HTML. Also just have fun and mess around! From visual novels to this IF, my learning process has honestly just been 'fuck around and find out' and it's been useful so far! I also think it helps with the inherent anxiety of trying something new too

But yeah, hopefully some of this is helpful/useful to you!

[orbitposting]

System Intro

Hello! We're the Orbit System! While I mentioned a bit of background in my first post that covered a lot that I have had on my mind for a while, it's not the same as an introduction.

I am currently undiagnosed, but rather in a weird limbo between between being clinically recognized for my symptoms and also working with clinicians who do not feel comfortable assigning the DID label to me. I have a few system friends who basically co-sign my systemhood, too. As you can tell by my clinical terms, I am a traumagenic system. However, I generally don't care about system origin as long as you are decent and don't disperse large amounts of misinformation.

We do use Discord, but generally it is more personal than it is for the system community (it is also the same handle as our private Instagram). We are active in system communities, but our Discord handle may be given out sparingly, unless we decide to make a server! Other boundaries may be delineated as needed. Asks should be open, including anonymous asks.

The body is 22 years old, and as of this moment we are unemployed and living with our parents, but we've been busting our asses trying to get a bank teller position at a local credit union. Our final interview was today, and it went great. We will hear back in a week!

We're pretty solidly in our healing era at the moment. We were fortunate enough to go to a residential program to improve our mental health recently, and we had a great therapist. We are also now properly medicated AND medication-adherent, an accomplishment we thought we'd NEVER achieve.

Some other background, while this blog is new, we have PLENTY of experience using Tumblr. We only left because the communities we were a part of at the time have become more active elsewhere. My best friend in middle school actually learned HTML and CSS to make her own Tumblr themes. I also used her email to make my first Tumblr when I was 12. I'll probably dabble in some Sailor Moon and K-Pop posting while I'm here.

So, onto individual introductions!

Currently our main fronters are Bella, Amelia, and Owen.

Amelia/Ami (she/her)

Co-host

"The productive one"

Pretty sure my name came from the book "Amelia Bedelia", but we have nothing else in common. If anything, I'm the opposite. We loved that book, though!

My favorite Sailor Scout is Sailor Mercury (Hence "Ami")

I was also in charge from sophomore to senior years of high school

We got an F in German 1 for never doing the homework, but I got an A on the exam, and we passed

Disappeared during COVID lol

Deviated from our usual boba order yesterday and regretted it

Plays the Sims 4 to have no children, gay marry, then be immortal and do every possible aspiration

Bella (she/they)

Co-host

Uses body's name

Lesbian incarnate

Loves to sing

Will die for Reneé Rapp

Occasionally disappears and takes the singing skill with her

Comic relief (Will make jokes about pretty much anything)

Loves Criminal Minds but hates seeing people suffer (rip)

Has a borderline shameful amount of progress in Stardew Valley (81% of achievements)

Too socially anxious to do theater (but kinda wants to)

Stan LOONA

Owen (he/they)

Not around as much now but ran the show when we were at college

Bro was literally secretary of our House Government at college and we can't remember

Almost made us medically transition (Oops)

Our parents still call us Owen because we thought we were just trans and not a system

Is a solid protector but started to hate hosting (Our life sucked at that point to be fair)

Dated our two exes. No other system member understands what he saw in them.

Uses name that we would have been named if we were born AMAB

Loves beanies and suit jackets (not combined)

Bought most of our Steam library

Would probably front again if we played a Jackbox game

That was just a rundown and this was also fairly enlightening for us. If you know us irl, no you don't <3

[cs-med-world-insights]

How to get into Coding!

Coding is very important now and in the future. Technology relies on coding and in the future you will need to know how to code to get a high-paying job. Many people consider having Computer Science field-related jobs, especially in AI. What if you are interested it in general or as a hobby? What if you don't know what you want to do yet for college?

Pick a language you want to learn: Personally, I started out with HTML and CSS. I recommend if you want to do web design HTML and CSS are good languages to start with. Otherwise, start with JavaScript or Python.

2. Find Resources: Basically you want to look at videos on YouTube, and take classes that have coding like AP CSP, AP CS A (harder class), Digital Information Technology, etc. You can also attend classes outside in the summer like CodeNinjas and use websites like code.org, freeCodeCamp, and Codecademy. Also, ask your friends for help too! You can find communities on Reddit and Discord as well.

3. Start Practicing: Practice slowly by doing small projects like making games for websites and apps. You can work with friends if you are still a beginner or need help. There's also open-source coding you can do!

4. Continue coding: If you don't continue, you will lose your skills. Be sure to always look up news on coding and different coding languages.

5. Certifications: If you are advanced in coding or want to learn more about technology, you can do certifications. This can cost a lot of money depending on what certification you are doing. Some school districts pay for your certification test. But if you take the test and pass, you can put it on your resume, and job recruiters/interviewers will be impressed! This can help with college applications and show initiative if you want a computer science degree. This shows you are a "master" of the language.

[wojenka]

Hnnnghh I was informed by tatp that u know about about coding wdgvbb any tips or whatever I’m trying to make a neocitys website or smthg

Since it's neocities website all you need is: HTML, CSS and maybe some graphics. As I said before I'm shit at explaining stuff but I will try my best. So here's "I want to make my own website" the basics!

HTML - markup language, the base of your websiteCSS - style of your website, can change color of html elements, size, font etc. I linked w3schools website since it's pretty easy to understand.Do you need to learn all of this before coding? No. I think it's the best to just check things that you need for your website. If you need to change background color of your website just find a w3schools tutorial on it or simply search for "how to change background color in css". You just should know html tags and basic attributes: id and class and how to link your css in html file so your style actually works! Neocities has it's own tutorials on html and css so you could check them out too! Neocities also has it's own code editor. You can edit everything in browser. I personally like to code in Visual Studio Code then just paste the code into Neocities editor. VS Code has a lot of addons (some of them are there by default) that make coding way easier for example: autocorrection of syntax errors and giving you suggestions!

Example: If you type html in vs code html file you will get 3 suggestions:

choose the html:5 one:

TAADAAAM!! VS Code just wrote the whole website structure for you! You can install more extensions here under extension section! There is this extension called vscode-pets it won't help you with coding but its really cute:

some yt tutorials: CINNIMANI (specifically for neocities), web coding playlist (this one is good for all websites in general); https://sadgrl.online if you were on neocities you probably saw her website. She has a lot of useful resources including image resources and also she made her own WEBSITE BUILDER or acutally layout builder! It's pretty simple website builder but still. If you are looking for premade layouts you can just search them on google or get sum from the website I linked ^__^ Uploading your website to neocities is really easy since all you need to do is to put all the files on there! I guess that's all for now. If you have any problems or questions just ask. I'm here to help ^^ websites with free to edit code: https://codepen.io, https://github.com

[flower-yi]

omg ur tumblr website is so ??!?!?!??!?!!!!?!?! like how to do you that im sobbing its so beautiful T-T

hi anonnie!! thank you for the compliment, i'll let you know it's very easy!!!

for reference, this is my tumblr page/website thingy:

to find themes like these, i personally go to @/theme-hunter and search for a code i like. the theme i'm using is by @/xuethms, and this is the post to it.

using a theme is actually pretty easy!!! i don't recommend doing it on mobile, since it is difficult to edit desktop themes there. however, use whatever device you have on hand!

now, you go to blog settings and enable custom themes. select edit theme and tumblr will take you to this page:

you go to the text next to the blue box on the left side on your screen that says Edit HTML. there you'll get a bunch of code that you can then select Ctrl + A and delete. don't worry!!!! your tumblr is still there, you just need to copy and paste the HTML code of the theme you've chosen. from then on you can go and scroll down on the left side of the screen to edit your theme!!! if need be, you can get the hex from images you use for your theme here.

there are theme codes you might need to pay for. it's best to support creators!! however, if you are unable to, you can always go off and reblog the creator's post <3

to add, i'd say you need basic HTML code knowledge when editing your desktop theme. when you do pages and stuff (which is this) you'll need some of it and you can find posts like these to get started.

w3schools is a good website to dive into if you want more basic knowledge of HTML. you might need to allocate some time to learn it in all seriousness because most of the time, you're staring at a string of letters and numbers LOL.

you can obtain images from pinterest, but i recommend getting yours from these links in this post here.

also: some themes might be outdated to due tumblr changing their code on the website (or something along the lines)... all i know is that themes with javascript are unable to be used, so make sure to double check!!!

once again anon thanks for the compliment <3

[drawloverlala]

May Status Update

It’s May! well basically like an hour into it lol 😆, anyways I wanted to write an entry about stuff and the progress on my current commission batch! 

Commission batch work in progress:

🌸 Commissions without background: 11 in total

1 still not started

3 still on sketch phase

1 is on base colors

5 are finished! 

🌸 Commissions with background: 4 in total

still not started: 2

sketch in progress: 3

from last time I got 2 commissions more, that before I was waiting on which listing they were supposed to belong to, it was basically 1 and 1 from each one! 

and yeah, I’m hoping to keep making progress on these this new month! and I’m looking forward to try some other stuff as well!

some more ramblings under the line here

-----------------------------------------------

I recently finished some notebooks I was working on since the beginning of this year, and I’m hoping to be able to sell them on Facebook maybe? I don’t intend to make too much with them since, they’re still far from very professional looking notebooks 😅, but I’m also wanting to invest on more supplies, and I’m taking notes as well to keep learning how to make these better!

I certainly learned a lot during the process of making these XD, I made a lot of mistakes as well lol 

Also, here you can see the 2 designs I did, I did another one but the printer ran out of ink and I couldn’t use it lol, (another thing I gotta invest in the future is inks or maybe a new printer lol) and you can see here my Cinch machine! 

honestly I’m super tired, I finished these today and I had to store all materials and such again... and ugh... I seriously NEED a shelf to put all these machines and supplies, every time I’m going to use them I gotta take them all out of boxes and they are all under more boxes...gotta put them on boxes again and put everything again in order next to my bed..it also doesn’t look all too nice in there, so I’m going to start seriously looking for shelves next month 😆 

Other thing I wanted to ramble about, I recently got into Inkblot!  it’s a new art site, it has like around 1 year I think?, it’s still in development but so far it’s been pretty alright, Here’s my site so far:

I’ve been wanting to use it to put all my commission art, I’ve finally catch up to last year’s work, so I can start posting this year work! I also want to put my other works here, kinda using it as a general gallery like the one I had with Deviant art.

There’s still so much I haven’t put here, but slowly filling with art! still doesn’t feel as my old DA’s gallery and sometimes the site loads pretty slowly, but I want to give it a chance since it’s still pretty new, I look forward to see how it evolves. the community part at least seems pretty chill so far! 

also has this very cool feature, where you can make comparisons!! it has a sort of thing that you move it and you can see the difference between both pictures. 

I���ll definitely still be using Tumblr for art gallery as well, I already have posted a lot of art here anyways lol, I’ve managed to organize a lot of my art with the tags as well, although I think I’ll also be separating commission art without background and with backgrounds, that way they are all not too mixed up! 

Oh also, I’ve learned about Neocities! recently people were talking about it on Twitter, and seems like a cool option for a personalized website! although may first have to learn more about html coding 😆

Neocities is an open source site, you can own a site here and customize it however you want, but you gotta do it from scratch! it’s honestly pretty cool, I think customization of Tumblr themes is pretty close to this,

but even so, if you check the sites from here just for fun, THEY ARE FANTASTIC! it’s like taking a look at internet in 2008, the customization value is so cool!

I personally find very fun the customization options like this, I may want to give this a try some day 😄

Well I think that’s all, this ramble became a bit too long lol but well, thanks if you read this far! 

Hope you have a great first week of May! 

[izicodes]

Hi! Could you please explain (inspire) your night classes routine? Thank you 😊

Hiya! I'll be happy to answer your question!

So, basically, I enrolled on a coding night class that the UK Government gave away for free (I know, shocking). I thought "Why not try it out?" so I submitted my application and I got accepted! If you are in the UK and a UK citizen, you should totally try it out! It's called "Trilogy’s Skills Bootcamp in Front-End Web Development" - it says BootCamp but it's really just classes. The instructors themselves nickname the BootCamp as being "night classes" so that is why everyone calls it night classes as well.

🌙 Basic Info on the Night Class

The website for more information - LINK

Part-time - 16 weeks long

4 days a week - Tuesday to Friday

3 hours long per class day - 2 hours on Friday

Over Zoom meetings

Very interactive so you get to know your classmates a lot - made 2 friends from there!

🌙 What do you learn in the classes?

HTML, CSS, Advanced CSS, Bootstrap 4 & 5, JavaScript, Web APIs and React.js - then towards the end you build 2 big projects in groups to complete the class and get the certificate.

🌙 What do you learn in the classes?

Above is my Google Calendar that shows my class set - this is next week's classes btw. You get to choose during your application either the day classes (2pm-5pm) or the night classes (6pm-9pm) and so obviously I am at work and doing my apprenticeship during the day, I chose the night classes.

I give myself an hour before each class as a study time for the classes so I catch up on any homework from the previous day or week I haven't done and to even study ahead of time on what the next week's topic is about. Each week is different e.g. week 1 was all HTML, week 2 was CSS3, week 3 Advanced CSS3 and so on. Therefore, it's good to study ahead if you're falling behind a bit, like some of my classmates are. But I also add another 1 hour after class to go over my notes from that day's class.

On Fridays (really after Thursday's class) we are given our week's challenge (weekly mini-projects really) to complete by next week's class which is on a Tuesday. Friday's classes are really going over the challenge's requirements, going over some demos and even starting the challenge during class and we have the instructors to help us, which I really appreciate. During class, it is flexible as they do give us 15 mins breaks to go do stuff

So my night-time routine really looks like this:

5 pm: Study last week's classes' work or study ahead for this week

6 pm: In class

7 pm: In class

8 pm: In class

9 pm: Go over class notes / maybe start the challenge

10 pm: Break

10:30 pm: Work on apprenticeship work or actual work's projects

On my Instagram, which I have abandoned oops but I'll go back to posting, I shared about the earlier weeks' experience in the night class so you can check that out to see what it's like! But I hope this post answered your question! If not, leave more questions - that goes to anyone reading as well!

Thank you for reading, have a nice day/night and happy coding! 🙌🏾💗🌷

[zhongrin]

hiiii, i really love your works! my favorites have to be the ones you coded and stuffs. if it isn't a problem, can i ask how you do those? like what sort of tutorials or studying did you take shsgsgahaga because i am very inspired by you. this just a curiosity of some sort so it's okay if you didn't give the full details, i will be very happy with an advice owo

hskfjskdj aaaa thank you??? that's such a nice thing to say... for me i learned coding in uni and i'm a full-time software developer! but i'm so happy that you're interested in finding out how to get started in coding, because you definitely don't need to take a computer science course to be able to code! you can learn programming by yourself and there are a lot of (free) websites & learning materials out there that can help you!!! plus, i'd say that the things i made for genshin are mainly pretty simple so far; all client-based apps with no backends nor frameworks at all! i know you said i don't have to provide full details but this got so long shskdjsl i'm sorry-

ok so i have three types of things i've created for genshinblr: voicelines, chatroom, and otome game.

in terms of coding, this might come as a surprise but the simplest one is actually the otome game (mainly because the game engine did most of the heavy lifting)!! that, followed by the voicelines and then the chatroom respectively, is in order from "simplest coding" -> "more complicated (but still pretty simple) stuff".

genshin otome

game engine: renpy

language: python

if you wanna do something like genshin otome, you really don't need advanced python knowledge. even with a normal visual novel style (with chatbox and stuff), it's pretty simple to code! renpy takes care of the more complicated stuff here, so you can focus on the more important (+ time-consuming) things like assets gathering and scripting your dialogs/narrations. they have tutorials for that and the community is very helpful if you bump into any difficulties!

but if you want to have something like the p5 visual novel i created, now that's a different story........ *war flashbacks*

voicelines [ɪ] [ɪɪ]

language: html, css, javascript

first off, don't be scared just because there are three languages being used in this haha html is a super easy language to learn and is used by all web pages you see today. css is basically a language to style and make stuff look pretty. and lastly, javascript is the one that drives the logic of the application! these are all very basic languages for web programming and it's good to familiarize yourself with them before moving on to frameworks and stuff!

concept wise it's really simple. i used videos of the characters' idle animations in the character screen as the background. i also have an variable to store the character information + their voicelines, and used buttons to display the voiceline titles. upon clicking these buttons, the app will append the voiceline content accordingly to the section on the right side. the most difficult part here is the styling.

chatroom [ɪ] [ɪɪ]

language: html, css, javascript

just like the voicelines, this project used 3 languages. the only thing that makes it complicated is the logic that's driving the 'conversation'...

to offer a high-level explanation, the logic goes something like this: when you click on a character from the left panel's listing, it'll get an array of objects which contains information about what's gonna happen in the chat for that person. then, based on the specified intervals, it'll loop through the items, and based on the type of the object it'll do different things, e.g. showing timestamps, showing chat bubbles, showing emotes, asking user to pick a choice, showing said choice as a chat bubble, etc....

of course, things aren't that straightforward in the actual implementation. for example, when the app is showing a selection of choice to the user, it needs to stop looping through the array and resume said loop the moment you picked a choice. and say you selected a choice, there has to be some logic to pick which item in the list should be shown and which should be skipped based on your selection, because there are branching paths and such, etc.

so, where can you learn all this stuff? to kickstart, i'd say you can use things like codecademy to get yourself familiarized with the most basic concepts of the languages. there are also tutorialspoint and w3schools and a ton of other websites out there.

after the basics, i'd suggest with start practicing hands-on with actual projects! it doesn't have to be anything complicated and you can always take inspiration from your surroundings! maybe build a weather app. or try to copy twitter's layout to practice your CSS. perhaps code your own to-do list app. practice, practice, practice!

oh and if you need help with any questions or issues, stackoverflow is usually where you would go. but don't be afraid to google stuff. google will be your best friend and you don't need to feel ashamed about it!!

i hope that helped and i wish you luck in your learning journey if you do decide to embark on it!! <3

[simply-sithel]

Always fond of meditating on the nature and purpose and being of a book, and in this instance the project pulled in additional concepts of family and history. Crafted in a slight panic due to a tight deadline, I grappled with the idea of a beautiful hypothetical result and the realities of what I'm capable of.

I've never repaired a book before, nor do I hold much interest in the art despite the fact it's a close craft cousin to book making. That didn't stop me, however, from trying my hand at re-assembling the much loved and completely trashed copy of Better Homes and Gardens Story Book my mother was raised with and in turn shared with my sisters and I in our youth.

The end result is... something. Functional at least. More thoughts and photos under the cut--

To start with-- the book was from the 1950s and has degraded in my family's possession over the years to the point of being unusable. I tell myself it was either this or the dump- I don't believe we were sentimental enough to pay for a real repair job. Obviously someone skilled in the art could have done much better work, but there's something to be said for 'free' and a personal touch. But mostly the 'free' part.

The work was rushed due to many reasons, the most important one being one of my sisters & her kids live abroad and my mother was flying out to visit them. The kids are at that perfect young age of learning both their native tongue and wrangling the English my sister continues to speak at home. Such a simple children's book would be a helpful, well timed learning aid -- in addition to being hand delivered by Oma & having her around to read the stories just as my sisters and I heard them.

My sisters and I still reference The Goops and when I came across Over in the Meadow I almost started crying- could not have conjured the memory alone but seeing it brought back the tune and feeling with great clarity.

Another constraint on the project's timeline was that I didn't want to start it till I'd met with @fanboundbooks at the Renegade retreat. The repair workshop there was one of several, perhaps a touch briefer than I'd like (needed), but it definitely helped set me on the correct path to tackle the project (or at least gave me the unfounded confidence to dive in).

There were so many tears to the pages, many of which had been repaired with now brittle & useless scotch tape. Nearly a third of the pages had fallen out and been taped in, and I had to print 3 missing pages (blessed be the Internet Archive and the fact that I can pick apart HTML to get at image assets otherwise not exposed for export)

I wound up using basic 28lb paper strips to mend the folios, something I've been curious about trying. I was told a long fibered paper would be best to repair the tears and (much to my amusement) I wound up using fragments of the kozo paper I made in class a couple years ago. The off-white color actually complemented the aged pages well, though it definitely looked a bit creepy.

In my efforts to preserve as much of the existing cover as I could, I went with a crude sort of 3 piece bradle setup I think? (naming processes is hard) and rather than use a near-matching tan leather as I'd initially intended (and then accidentally lost at the retreat) I went with a perfect dark blue that complimented the title text & color palette. I used some of the marbled paper gifted to me at the retreat by one of the other attendees as partial endpaper - needed something to cover the joining but didn't want to obscure the original end papers nor the identification on the front cover marking it as belonging to my grandmother.

The book is usable again and that's what's important. Much of the original character and that which it developed over the decades is also still there, which I'm happy about.

I don't regret that much-- something done is better than nothing-- but the hideousness of the top and bottom still bother me. I ran out of time for headbands but given how brittle those pages were I could believe sewing one in place could have distressed them further. The real "oh god, my eyes are burning from the mistake" is the fact that I failed to properly bone down the marbled end pages over the ridge of my quasi bradle binding. You can see a non trivial gap there, under the paper where they should have hugged the board. Ugh. Hurts to look at.

[hayacode]

hi! I would like to know if you could help me with what things I have to learn BEFORE starting to do some type of coding... I am very interested in learning it but I don't want to start with a specific one when I don't know anything about programming,do you have a book or something to read before? thank you for reading my question!

Hello there ✨

The first step to ask yourself “why do you want to learn programming?” And depending on that answer choose the language

This picture will give you general idea (but i also suggested you search youtube to get more ideas about how to start and understand the process more)

A lot of people suggested i start with python language and ca50 course.

I did that and even tho I didn’t finish them yet (on hold for now) i learned a lot from them and it made my journey with html css easier.

Because now i know the basics of many things!

Like how to make input and why the colors are 3 numbers and stuff like that

As you can see from the picture above, python is the perfect choice if you are struggling with what to choose and didn’t even know why you want to start programming, and it’s totally ok. You will figure it out along the way.

[straightlightyagami]

Math ask game: 1 5 37 51 59 73

What math classes have you taken?

calc 1-3, abstract algebra, statistics, introductory discrete math, some number theory, taking real analysis rn. lowkey it is kind of a mess though so I may have to retake classes for the credits (which is mostly frustrating because of wasting time, but ik if I was in the US it would also be a huge waste of money so it could be worse. ig I will remember stuff better at least).

5. Are there areas of math that you enjoy? What are they?

I like algebra and combinatorics, but not really strong preferences as in my opinion I have not studied enough math yet to decide.

37. Have you ever used math in a novel or entertaining way?

To me any math is creative/entertaining (and occasionally deeply frustrating). I guess like I am autistic so I sort of play around with patterns and math stuff in my head a lot. If that counts.

51. Favorite casual math book?

Oh man I have not read many casual math books… Other than some math history books (that I cannot remember) the only one I can think of is Math With Bad Drawings by Ben Orlin. I quite liked it, explains stuff in a way where someone who does not know math could understand and find enjoyable. Tried to convince my little sister (who is more the target demographic) to read it to no avail.

59. Can you recommend any online resources for math?

AoPS site for LaTeX guide (nice to have most common symbols in one place) and olympiad problems and some theorems

obvious one but math stackexchange. not going to say the other one because anyone who has any use for it already knows

youtube can be good for finding explanations of proofs/concepts, at least for most basic stuff

probably will make a poast with other resources later so I can find them easier.

73. Can you program? What languages do you know?

I know Python and Java. If markup languages count, LaTeX (idk fancy graphics or formatting though, just like basic stuff). Also learned HTML and CSS but not much.

Thank you for the ask! :)

[yayroos]

I posted 2,052 times in 2022

That's 792 more posts than 2021!

112 posts created (5%)

1,940 posts reblogged (95%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@participlepotato

@an-absolute-nightmare

@jellyfishdirigible

@theyhoolikeowls

@captainswan618

I tagged 244 of my posts in 2022

#bird site burning - 11 posts

#unreality - 8 posts

#test it out with this tag - 2 posts

#mum i miss you - 2 posts

#fair wealth transformation <- so the socialist revolution then?? jk unless - 1 post

#but the bros on the outer edge can be right at the edge - 1 post

#universe like a big huge giant spirograph on a scale we can't even begin to comprehend - 1 post

#it's friday lmao - 1 post

#next: my chemical romance - 1 post

#last: yungblud - 1 post

Longest Tag: 140 characters

#and it was really really good for me to live with someone where we spoke the same kind of language in terms of slang and interests and stuff

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

sorry for reblogging that thing three times in a row but the behaviour of the tags is very interesting to me.

also the fact that the HTML encoded quote shows as a quote on the dash but as the encoded version in the notes view means they're not rendered the same way which is weird if you ask me.

8 notes - Posted July 31, 2022

#4

there's something at the back of my mind that feels more than a little bit wrong when populations are classified as being 'voters' by the government or people speaking from the perspective of the government. I can't help but feel like it feeds into this thing where 'democracy' happens once every few years when you go vote, and winning over voters for that one day is more important than actually improving things I'm the country they're running.

I vote, I am a voter, but I don't want to be thought of in terms of my vote any more than I want to be seen in terms of my monetary contribution (i have a similar issue with 'taxpayers') or anything else. I am a person. Therefore I have value and governments should be working in my (generalised) best interests as a human being under their care. Categorising people as 'voters' lets politicians off the hook when it comes to kids, people convicted of crimes (in countries where that disqualifies you from voting), non citizen residents (undocumented people, international students, permanent residents, and many others in various legal categories around the world), and other disenfranchised groups (which vary from nation to nation). Similarly talking about 'taxpayers' lets governments ignore stay at home parents, pensioners, people on disability benefits, kids, carers, unemployed people, low income people etc.

Call them people. Call everyone people. Stop framing peoples contributions as the reason their interests should be taken into account.

8 notes - Posted August 9, 2022

#3

i would like very much to be a very small lizard 🦎 sunning myself on a rock in a messy garden but instead i have tasks.

10 notes - Posted October 14, 2022

#2

i love you glow in the dark stars i love you fairy lights i love you lava lamps i love you unashamedly making your space soft and inviting i love you finally getting the chance to make your space exactly how you like it i love you plushies i love you pile of cushions

15 notes - Posted July 12, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

technology education is CRUCIAL. if you're a parent and your kid is starting to use a phone/ipad/chromebook, give them some time to play around on a real computer as well, show them how to work files and folders and keyboard shortcuts and shit.

And if you're already a teen or in your twenties or older and you've missed out on learning that stuff, please get your hands on a real computer and figure out at least the basics. If you're unsure, ask someone (my messages are open, 0 judgement, and i know others will be willing to help too) or just try stuff and see what happens.

The best way to learn how to use a computer is to take one, set it up from factory, and then just click all the buttons and see what happens. If you haven't put any important information on it yet then there's nothing lost if you accidentally delete something. Get the office programs, open them up, and click all the buttons you can find in there. Then go looking at the things you've created in other places. Open in notepad (hint: right click > open with > notepad) and see if you can find any patterns! export it with a different file type and open that in notepad and see what's different! See how much of different kinds of data you need to get to a gigabyte!

166 notes - Posted August 14, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[anosrepasi]

3, 13, and 15 for Kint?

oh!! I cannot describe how much time I've spent just pouring through Kint again after receiving this ask, especially to answer the first number and like, now I’ve had to be like, oh no this is actually pretty good and holds up a lot better than i remembered oh no. (oh no) 3. What's your favorite line of narration? This is a difficult question!!! This is an insanely difficult question and I've been rereading Kint trying to see if anything jumped out at me but this also made me realize that I really did not do some of the really big "go big or go home" lines of narration like I've done recently in Lingua Franca. I think my favorite one-off choice has to be the use of very basic file management/html functions littered into chapters with Nick POV, especially the use of (C:\functions\automated\non-essential\stimuli responses\scanned\inhale.exe) in chap 3. in terms of very purposeful narration choices, I adore chapter 8. Specifically, I adore chapter 8 because it combines a lot of ideas on how horror reflects the anxieties of a person's time and along that line how people in the commonwealth would probably find comparisons to machines/synths really discomforting because of the synth panic. So in this chapter you get two characters sizing up the other for threats/danger and both use totally different language/metaphors to describe the perceived danger. Shep would use pretty standard descriptions of comparing Hancock to that of an apex predator, which is a pretty common analogy in books i feel. Meanwhile, Hancock's like, this chick has machine vibes. I remember putting a lot of thought into the craft of that chapter and god i still love it to pieces.

13. What music did you listen to, if any, to get in the mood for writing this story? Or if you didn’t listen to anything, what do you think readers should listen to to accompany us while reading?

I have playlists for each character or for a fic overall usually! For Kint I had character specific playlists and for anyone who uses spotify you can listen to them here:

Shep

Nick

Hancock

For each playlist I kinda like to have a “core“ of songs/genres to build my tone for the character. For Shep its a lot of songs about being a loner and also just fem singers talking about committing crimes? My theme song for her is The Mission “M is for Milla Mix” by Puscifer Nick is a lot of songs on the themes of past lives, ghosts, dissociation/numbness, and songs that give off a certain film nior feel. My theme song for him is Cardiac Arrest by The Bad Suns or Flashed Junk Mind by Milky Chance For Hancock is Viva la Revolutionary vibes and general uh “my life is a dumpster fire/here for a good time not a long time” vibes. Lots of twenty one pilots and Panic! at the disco for this guy. My theme song for him would probably be Angel of Small Death & The Codeine Scene by Hozier or Arrows by Fences and like... Macklamore lmao.

15. What did you learn from writing this fic?

The biggest take away from Kint so far has been Space. Out. Your. Fics.

If i can find my notes, i think i have uh. 80? chapters of Kint outlined. I theoretically could divide that into 5 main stories but the way ive set it up it works best as one giant fic. thats insane. ive ready 60+ chap fics before, i dont think i want to really write one lmao. I guess I’m going to in order to write this story out all the way?? I have the epilogue written lmao. In comparison, fics i’ve written since Kint have been much more planned out to have natural ending points if its a long story so it could be broken into multiple fics. I think a lot of this was from the fact that in 2016? when i started Kint i was reading a lot more long fics that had 100+ chapters and that was kind of the trend with a lot of fandoms back then? and recently I’ve read many more fantastic series that utilize multiple fics to tell a really complex story (the first two that jump to mind are Wind_Ryder’s Methuselah's Children for The Old Guard and StudioRat’s Branches and Fate for Legend of Zelda. The second take away, on a positive balancing note, is have fun with the actual craft/physical aspect of writing! Use pseudocode for a robot character, play with how you write character voice and narration! there are no real rules on what you can do with the craft of writing and this fic was my gateway to realizing that, quickly followed by reading Mark Z. Danielewski’s House of Leaves. Final thoughts- Thanks for the ask. I’ve already messaged you on this but uh. this may have awakened something in me. I might write for Kint again? I guess? Especially now that I’ve reread it and am listening to the baller playlists i made for the characters? If you want to talk more and exponentially increase chances of future writing feel free to message or like ask more questions or just talk about FO4?

[katenepveu]

This is so amazing that, through the miracle of Google Lens (and, okay, a fair amount of boggling at the limitations of Tumblr's lack of support for basic HTML), I present:

An accessible text-only version of the slides, with image descriptions!

(edit: Tumblr has decided to eat the indents on the bulleted lists! I have added → to indicate that certain bullets are meant to be indented from others! WTF Tumblr!?!?! I'm very sorry to screen reader users who now may have to listen to multiple "right arrow right arrow" in some spots (and if there's something better I can do, please let me know). However since the formatting was fucked anyway I've added a readmore, at least.)

Unfortunately, Tumblr's formatting is so fragile * that I cannot insert a readmore without everything going to heck. I'm very sorry if you don't have "collapse long posts" enabled.

(* If you saw me post this before, no you didn't.)

Start of description:

Slide 1

how to make small talk with patients (and maybe other people too)

or like methods that i've developed and work well for me on average, but ultimately there are no universals in human relations, but i do think these are useful if you don't know where to start

Slide 2

also some of this powerpoint is about conversation in general, some is more specifically about nursing stuff

Slide 3

Most people also want this interaction to go well.

Slide 4

General Principles for Prolonged Small Talk with a Stranger

offer multiple conversational branches

follow patient's lead

ask open-ended questions

proportional conversation contributions

→ 1:3 ratio of talking to listening for customer service

→ personal: equal time speaking or opportunities to speak for all participants

learn to read the room

get personal but not intimate

have anecdotes and phrases ready to go

practice difficult conversations in advance

give it three shots then stop

know your exit strategies

Slide 5

important!! care about the conversation

I'm presenting a bunch of formulas here, but I want to make clear: my interactions are genuine. This is a way of thinking about conversations. All dialogue written here is the gist of what I'm saying. You still (and must!) engage sincerely, in your own voice, and with interest in the other person's thoughts. This is scaffolding you can build a conversation on.

If conversation is a dance, this presentation is explaining the steps of a waltz. You practice those foot diagram movements so you can use them in action. The dance is all in doing the dance.

Slide 6

Small Talk as Nursing Tool

Conversation as Assessment Tool

How are they talking? Slurring, raspy, very very softly, etc.

Do the words form coherent sentences?

Is what they're saying logical? Relevant?

How well can the patient describe their situation: illness, treatment, effects?

What can the patient reliably self-report?

→ capacity: what can patient perceive?

→ expression: what will the patient tell you?

Getting a feel for this patient's way of talking early on helps you detect trends or changes, especially neuro

Conversation to Build Rapport

Forming a good working relationship at the beginning of shift sets good tone.

It is easier deescalate a behavioral situation if you have already established familiarity.

Demonstrating that you're available and responsive to a patient shows they don't have to act out in order to get your attention.

Patients that are comfortable with you are more likely to tell you about subtle changes they might otherwise disregard.

Helps manage patients who talk a LOT

→ This bullet point got really long, so now it has its own slide later

Slide 7

The goal of making conversation as an assessment tool is to gather information about how the patient is experiencing their illness. You can learn about any progress, what the patient views as the most important parts of their hospitalization, and identify needs to address to customize your care plan to this patient's current condition.

Image:

Branching diagram in which

How are you feeling today?

leads to two paths

"I'm feeling [positive emotion]"

(response) "That's great! What happened?"

"I'm feeling [negative emotion]"

(response) "I'm sorry to hear that. What happened?"

text at bottom:

in both cases, you are soliciting further information with an open ended question

Slide 8

What do I talk about when I don't know what questions to ask someone?

the goal is to introduce a topic that both of you have are equally qualified to talk about, typically with the same level of investment, then in the course of talking about the general topic, you find something more specific to follow up on

basic general small talk: weather, traffic, view out of the window, what's on TV (DON'T DO THIS YET WITH THE NEWS), something innocuous happening right now, hospital beds and other amenities, animals and pets, sports

→ pursue whatever provokes enthusiasm

take the general down to the specific

→ weather happens → you talk about this weather → you talk about how it compares to other weather → you talk about how weather has affected your [wedding, sports game, air conditionless bedroom, commute to work, etc--identify your go-to anecdote.]

patient describes symptom → ask how it has been affecting their life

→ they mention a hobby it interferes with → ask about that hobby

patient mentions aspect of their life (job, birthplace, hobby, etc) → say something related to that

→ patient mentions being in the military → you: oh my mom was a military brat, did you have to move a lot?

→ patient mentions the field they work in → you: what's that? [you will learn about the wildest jobs this way]

→ patient mentions interest they have → you: wow that sounds really cool, what do you like best about that?

Slide 9

Aim for Personal, not Intimate

While you both are trying to figure out where the conversation goes, you're aiming for a controlled level of vulnerability: more than a completely "just the facts" professional exchange, less than "I've NEVER told anyone this before."

Reminder: Talking to another person involves vulnerability and risk. (That's why good conversations feel so fun!) Even with generic and uncontroversial topics, someone might accidentally go deeper than they meant, maybe even accidentally hurt someone. Don't linger anywhere you don't want to stay. It's okay to make it obvious you are changing the topic.

Personal

I went to school at [place]. It was not a great time and honestly I do not miss it. Where'd you go?

Intimate

I had a complete mental breakdown in college. At one point, all I did was lie around, smoke weed, and think about dying. It's amazing to me that I made it out at all.

Personal

How are you feeling about retirement?

Intimate

Do you worry that you wasted your life?

Reminder: just because you're comfortable sharing something intimate doesn't mean that the other person is comfortable being on the other side of that. Especially when you are providing care for them and you say something that makes them feel like they need to be responsible for your feelings. Assume intimacy is earned very slowly.

Slide 10

Levels of conversational intimacy

This slide is a flowchart, which begins by stating:

by talking about something personal and superfluous about yourself, you signal that you are open to conversation

Example:

I always wanted cats but I couldn't get until I moved out here a few years back.

Potential responses:

Pets: "oh how many"/ "what breed" / "here's my cat" Pet havers love pets.

Location: they ask "oh, where from?"

If "Pets":

Their pets

→ How are they doing while you're in the hospital? (note: natural way to learn more about their hospitalization)

→ What breed/how old/how big/wow what's it like having a snake

Your pets

If "Location":

Moving here from away

→ Where they/you lived

→ Why they/you moved here

Living here now

→ Ask about place's history

→ Ask for location recommendations

Flowchart notes:

Gradual increase in specificity. More specific = more personal

fun fact! you don't have to have a pet to talk about pets. You can talk about pets you once had, pets you'd like to have, other people's pets in your life, and/or why you don't have a pet (work too much, just don't want one, whatever). Then ask about theirs!

Slide 11

CAVEAT: SOMETIMES YOU'RE GONNA ACCIDENTALLY ASK ABOUT PETS WHO IT TURNS OUT ARE DEAD.

if you don't want to go further on this topic, acknowledge and pivot topics

→ acknowledge example: "I'm so sorry, losing a pet is hard"

→ pivot example: "Did you always have dogs?"

→ good bridge from acknowledging to pivot can pointing out you are changing the topic

→ → "I can't even talk about losing a pet, it bums me out so much."

→ → "I'm so sorry, we can talk about something else."

to see if they want to talk about it, gently probe (this signals you're open to this topic.)

→ "oh no, I'm sorry. how old were they/how long ago was that?"

→ "That's so hard. I remember when I lost [pet], I was so sad I said I'd never get [another pet] again."

if they continue the topic, they usually want to talk about their dead pet

→ Ask neutral to positive general questions

→ → "What were they like?"

→ → "How did you get them?"

→ → "That's a cute name. How'd you pick that?"

→ Talk about the pet's death ONLY IF they mention multiple times that their pet died.

→ → This looks like them discussing the grieving process, the actual event, going into details about what the death and dying process was like.

→ → → Rule of thumb:

→ → → → Multi-sentence answer = probably okay to continue this line of conversation

→ → → → One word answer = bail. new topic.

again, none of this is universal, this is my experience, everyone expresses grief differently, but I've found this to be a good approach for talking about the topic with someone you don't know well.

this also works for talking about dead human people. maybe don't ask about their breed.

Slide 12

You can draw attention to different parts of the same info to steer conversation. Pick your focus.

Example: You broke up with your partner last month, you're doing better but don't want to talk about it, and to distract yourself while heartbroken, you picked up a hobby. Someone you haven't seen in a while asks what's going on in your life:

"I just broke up with my boyfriend."

→ there's no alternate option offered except the boyfriend and the break up

"I'm thinking about starting to date again, but god, it's such a hassle."/ "Been redecorating the apartment. I've never lived alone before, it's a little nerve wracking."

→ your personal life is up for discussion but with a focus on the future, not the past

"I've gotten hardcore into knitting this month. Look at this terrible scarf." / "Nothing interesting. What about you?

→ what if we talked about anything else

Example: Patient with a Gl bleed wants the bed alarm * off.

(* I've actually got a lot of feelings about the lack of actual evidence that bed alarms prevent falls & the way they contribute to our patients' immobility but that's a different ppt & i'm trying to stay on topic A LITTLE.)

"Even if you feel steady now, there's a decent chance you could keep losing blood. You get up, get woozy, and fall without bracing yourself at all, and you've got a Gl bleed and a broken jaw."

→ provides medical reason & its effect on patient

"You'll get cleared to be independent when your condition stabilizes. Right now, if you get up on your own and fall, I guarantee you that bed alarm is NEVER going to be discontinued."

→ addresses a consequence pt might value most

"I know it's super annoying, but it's hospital policy for the first day. My nurse manager will kill me if I turn that off now."

→ I actually hate "hospital policy" as a primary reason, but there are patients out there who 1) really respect rules and/or 2) understand how managers work.

Slide 13

People are not Actually Very Good at Articulating Stuff

Some patients are more direct about their needs than others. For example, these ones don't say, "I'm in pain and would like my medication." Instead: "What is this bed made of, my ass is killing me," or "oh I can't complain I guess," or "fuck you fuck you fuck you, get the hell out of my room."

Things to consider:

IMPORTANT: people can express genuine needs in frightening, annoying, confusing, exhausting ways. Don't deny something someone needs because of the way they showed that they needed it.

Shame

→ people can feel embarrassed/ashamed of being sick or needing help

→ → the loss of autonomy and privacy

→ → especially stigmatized diseases or diseases that patients "did to themselves" (diabetes II, drug use, liver problems related to excessive drinking, complications of suicide attempts, etc)

→ → might lash out at people who provoke that shame

→ → some patients won't endorse pain but will endorse "discomfort."

Recent events

→ a patient who had a security incident today because their mom brought them meth

→ a patient who got a diagnosis today that's one of those life-defining ones

→ a patient with 10/10 pain who has waited ten minutes for someone to answer the call light

Slide 14

More Unspoken Factors

Physical condition

→ how much has the patient slept? when was the last time they ate? what is their pain level? etc

→ how difficult is it for them to eat, go to the bathroom, and turn in bed?

→ → some patients won't ask for help with something because doing it is so uncomfortable

→ → → ex. patient at risk for bed sores refuses repositioning. Why? Pain? Wakes them up? Don't understand why we do this? People do it too fast? Ask!

Time in Hospital

→ what is the relationship between the patient and the floor/careteam they have?

→ → is the patient generally liked?

→ → → if the answer is no, why does staff not like this patient?

→ → → what are possible explanations for those actions?

→ → → how does it affect their patient care?

→ → → has security ever been called? for what?

→ → is the patient part of a marginalized group?

→ → acting like you expect someone to behave badly automatically creates a hostile tone

→ → do they have visitors? are they bored? what entertainment options do they have?

→ → is their room nice to be in? (clean, not smelly, no annoying alarms, stuff in reach)

→ → the bed sucks. how much does it suck?

Slide 15

Expecting a fight can get you a fight.

you don't match their energy, you engage with the energy you want this conversation to have

you can be prepared to deal with unacceptable behavior without expecting that behavior

people get sooooooooo thrown off when you don't get mad back

allow people the opportunity to surprise you

consider your goal in this conversation: is the most important thing for you to be right?

Image: the following three sentences arranged in a circle of arrows that each lead to the next:

You think someone's an asshole so now every intervention with them is a conversation with an asshole.

Other person gets mad at being talked to like they're irrational or stupid or inherently violent so now they act like an asshole

Both of you now believe the other person is an asshole

Slide 16

useful starting points and what I do with them

people can often tell they are being treated different, even if they don't know how. acknowledging behavior is better than ignoring (and resenting) it

→ "So it sounds like from report that today didn't go great. What happened?"

→ "When you yell like that or throw something, I have to leave until you've calmed down."

→ "You shouldn't have been treated like that, and I'm sorry you were."

→ → don't automatically take the side of the hospital--trust me, staff provokes or exacerbates situations ALL THE TIME

sometimes people don't know the rules and expectations, even ones you find obvious

→ do they know they're being too loud? do they know what to hit their call light for? do they know how their meds work and when they get them? do they know when to expect vital signs? do they know why there's a bed alarm?

people generally like it when you acknowledge that things suck and when you try to do something about that

→ "That's rough, buddy." (sincere)

→ I had a patient once who was in 10/10 pain all night long, and through hard work and a lot of tries, I managed to do absolutely nothing to bring that pain down. When I went to say goodbye to her at end of shift, I said, "I'm sorry that tonight was so hard. I've documented everything we did and how it didn't work. Day shift's been told everything and will work with your doctors."

→ → and she said, "I felt better seeing how much you did and knowing that you cared."

→ → and it made me cry! and then incorporate what she said into my nursing philosophy.

Slide 17

MOST CONVERSATIONS ARE THE SAME

I've had public facing jobs my entire working career. For any given position, like 90% of what people ask and talk about are going to be the basically the same, just in different fonts.

learn the most common interactions at your job

→ what always needs to be explained?

→ what always needs to be responded to?

→ what always needs to be said?

identify the best ways you've responded to these questions

→ see what other people do, steal what works

→ identify what works best

→ → what education explanation is the clearest?

→ → what topics prompt the best conversations?

→ → what questions get you good answers?

→ → what work-appropriate anecdotes get the best response?

→ → what makes you and your conversation partner feel productive and comfortable?

→ make templates for yourself for standard conversations

→ practice new responses to see what works best for you

Slide 18

Difficult Conversations (variations on saying, "no, that's not gonna happen")

Do you even need to have this conversation?

→ patients have the right to refuse care, and the right to be involved and aware of their care.

→ Do you have any rationale beyond policy, convenience, or your personal discomfort? kill the cop in your head

→ → examine what you find uncomfortable versus unsafe

When you do have to have these conversations:

→ don't attack, don't defend. state facts, not interpretations.

→ make sure patient knows why this matters TO THEM and what happens TO THEM if nothing changes

→ make sure it is a conversation--ask the patient why this is happening and what would help.

→ listen to the patient. don't argue.

→ → make sure you understand what they're saying

→ → there's a real power in letting people rant

→ respect their decisions, protect their autonomy, believe that they think and act as complexly as you do

example: unhoused patients often deal with food insecurity. They may hoard food in their room or request a lot of snacks and meals they may not eat.

let them! who cares?

if there's dietary restrictions ordered for health reasons, explain to them why and, if possible, seek alternatives.

→ "the reason you can't eat or drink before surgery because sometimes people throw up under anesthesia and choke on whatever was in their stomach. so if you eat, they will cancel the surgery, and you'll have to keep waiting."

if they are requesting enough food that it impacts other patients, try to let them know before they hit that point.

→ "Head's up, we're running low on pudding so you can only get one more cup tonight. You wanna hold off or have it now?"

if the food has gone bad, offer replacements

→ "I'll swap that milk out for a fresh one."

→ "i'm worried that by this point, this food has been sitting out so long, it will make you sick. what else can i get you for you to have at your bedside?"

Slide 19

SOME PHRASES I HAVE ON LOCK

Sometimes someone will say something to you that, for whatever reason, you are utterly unprepared to answer. Practice some generally applicable statements to say in these moments avoid saying something you don't mean out of on the spot panic. (Don't worry about creativity. Sometimes, you simply must embrace cliche.) This can be especially useful if you don't typically have patients in psychosis or with delusions.

Wow, that sounds really [adjective] to deal with.

→ this is the best and easiest catch all. you're acknowledging what they just said without endorsing it, denying it, really expressing any opinion except that something has impacted the patient telling you this. And it's true. That situation IS really [adjective] to deal with.

I don't think we agree on this topic.

→ good for politics

I find what you said hard to believe based on the evidence I have.

→ if patient with delusion really presses you for your opinion on whatever the delusion is

→ always allow for the possibility that they're right

I want to make sure I'm giving you the right answer, so let me go doublecheck before I answer.

→ good when the patient asks a question about care and you're like "HUH. UHHHΗΗΗΗΗ."

I'm sorry. I know this isn't what you wanted to happen.

Slide 20

Help, This Old Man Will Not Stop Telling Me About His Entire Fifty Year Career: Dealing with Talkers

Definition of "talkers":

→ you're told first thing in report that they talk a lot

→ they resist all signals that you'd like to leave now

→ your participation in the conversation is optional: they will just monologue at you

→ often frequently hitting the call light for small requests that they will not cluster together

→ → i.e. getting them their sleep meds, a cup of tea, and a warm blanket will be three separate calls five minutes apart, despite the patient assuring you every time that they can't think of anything else they could need.

Seek conversation with these patients purposefully

→ You are not going to avoid conversation with this patient. It simply won't happen.

→ Staff starts dodging interactions with this patient, leading to the patient calling more and wanting to talk even longer when someone does come

→ → you MUST break this cycle

Invest a specific amount of time to be genuinely engaged in talking with them

→ I will schedule conversation w very high need patients like it is wound care or another procedure.

→ Patients like talking to someone who is not running out the door. Getting undivided attention often calms the desperation to talk.

→ Can make easier to get out of the room faster in the future. They know you'd stay and talk if you could. (And you feel less guilty about dipping.)

Slide 21

HOW TO EXIT A CONVERSATION THAT WON'T END

There's always going to be someone that's like "oh just leave." If I was confident enough to just leave, I wouldn't be making a powerpoint presentation about how to talk. Here are some tricks to derail the monologue and remind everyone of the world outside this room:

Make clear when you arrive how long you can stay. That makes it easier to look at the clock and go, "oh shoot, I gotta run."

→ variation: set a timer on your phone to go off loudly. When it does, say, "I've gotta go check on something."

Have a buddy. Tell them if you don't come out of room 314 in ten minutes to come knock on the door and tell you a doctor is on the phone.

If you have a vocera or other communication device, you might be able to schedule a voice reminder. Patients understand you have to go when your pager equivalent dings.

Say you have to give pain or nausea meds to someone else. Now you sound like a bad nurse if you don't leave.

When all else fails, you just have to go, "Well, I'm gonna leave now, see you in an hour," as you are actively walking out the door.

Slide 22

FIGURING OUT WHEN IT'D ACTUALLY BE REALLY ANNOYING FOR YOU TO TALK

Sometimes patients hold you hostage in endless conversation. Sometimes you're trapping them, and they have much less of an ability to just leave. A lot of patients want peace and quiet; a lot of patients really jump at the chance to talk to someone if given an opportunity. Try three times and see the response.

(1) Overture -- couple sentences in first part of the shift that contains details that are that not essential for practicality and allow for follow up questions.

Overture: "Do you want me to adjust the lights? I love that there's a dimmer switch in this room. This is the only floor I float to that has so many lighting options. Well, this one and maternity."

Every other time I'd ask this question: "Lights on, off, whadya want?"

(2) Question -- ask a question about them that is related to care but not purely medical.

"How have you been sleeping?"/"How have you been eating?"

"Was that your family in here earlier?"

"Oh hey, you transferred here from [x]? That's a long way, how'd they bring you here?"

"Is there anything else I can get you? Do you do word searches or sudoku, anything I can print out for you?"

(3) Follow up once do one more of the two things listed above.

This is for the people that need a little warm up.

If they don't respond meaningfully to any of these three attempts, stick to the strictly professional.

Slide 23

ONE LAST DISCLAIMER BEFORE WE GO

this is stuff that generally works for me, someone who made a powerpoint on minmaxing chit chat. so, yknow. interpret that as you will.

these "rules" are more conservative and rigid than they have to be

→ there's a lot of flexibility and grace in actual conversation. But if you feel like you don't have an ear for the rhythm and content of small talk, it's nice to have structure while you practice.

again: NONE of this means I don't care about a conversation or everything is a formula. everything here is something that's helped me be less anxious about conversations, to improve the conversations I have, and to reduce my mental load so I can enjoy conversations. It's fun to talk to people!

→ I cannot tell you the amount of staggeringly intimate conversations patients have had with me in the middle of the night because I make it clear that I'll listen nonjudgmentally. It is my favorite part of the job and some of the most important care I can provide.

Slide 24

BONUS SECTION: EMPATHY

I have no idea what's obvious to people or not. Here's how I approximate what someone else might be feeling in in situations I've never experienced.

Slide 25

EMPATHY EQUATION because sometimes people don't tell you what they feel or they don't know themselves or they don't know what to ask for in this situation so you have to make a guess.

Break down the situation to its core.

Identify a similar experience I've had.

Identify what I wanted in my similar experience.

Break down I would have wanted down its core.

Adjust for magnitude of the situation.

Apply context specific variables.

See if I can find a way in current circumstances to express the core of what I would have wanted.

Slide 26

Example: Patient who habitually uses fentanyl and meth is admitted for an infected leg wound and grows angry they aren't getting more opioids.

(1) Break down the situation to its core.

patient is in distress

patient perceives that the thing that would relieve that distress is being denied to him by people who could provide it

(2) Identify similar experiences I've had.

miserably enduring earaches as a child

being unable to get my adderall filled and feeling angry that I had to chase down my meds

(3) Identify specifically what I wanted in my similar experience.

my earache to stop

to just get sleep so I didn't have to deal with this

to get my adderall so I didn't feel so concerned with rationing the remaining pills

for people to not treat my problem as meaningless or even an annoyance to them

(4) Break down those wants to their core

pain relief

rest and recovery of my body

reliable access to my medication

respect and compassion

Slide 27

Empathy Example, continued

(5) Adjust for magnitude of the situation.

infected leg wound is much more painful than an earache

(6) Apply context specific variables.

people who use drugs are often shamed for it

patient at baseline tolerates and is used to a very high level of opioids

people don't tend to abuse fentanyl when their life is going well

patient has a new pain on top of chronic condition managed by habitual drug use

(7) See if I can find a way in current circumstances to express the core of what I would have wanted.

pursue multimodal methods of pain relief (tylenol, ice, muscle relaxers, elevation, ice packs, distraction, meds for other symptoms)

prioritize protecting sleep (limit awakenings, cluster care, prioritize your interventions and assessments, etc) and promoting comfort (more pillows, warm blanket, hot chocolate, hospital mocktail, making the room smell better, turning off lights shining directly in patient's eyes)

reach out to doctor about pain management plan, advocate for more opioids if that is indicated (in this example, almost certainly is). sometimes more opioids up front to decrease pain means less opioids overall bc now you're in maintenance mode, not crisis mode. get patient as consistent a pain med schedule as I can so they know when they can expect medication and what it will be. develop plan with patient about when they want to be woken up for meds.

tell the patient what you're doing and what you'll do next if that doesn't work. tell them that you're sorry they are in so much pain and you are trying to improve the situation. proactively round on them to assess progress of your interventions. it is distressing and hurtful to be in pain and feel that no one even cares enough to give you better treatment than you'd get leaving AMA and self-medicating.

No Deep Conversations When Someone Is Still Yelling

Later when things are calmer and you have a better relationship, you can debrief with the patient about what happened. Ask the patient what they were feeling and what would help in the future, while being realistic about what you can and can't promise. While in crisis, keep sentences short, calm, and practical. Focus on taking actions that address the core needs.

End of description.

One of the stranger things about training brand new nurses is explaining how to min max small talk. It feels very weird to coach people on how to chat.

[jcmarchi]

State of CSS 2024 Results

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State of CSS 2024 Results

They’re out! Like many of you, I look forward to these coming out each year. I don’t put much stock in surveys but they can be insightful and give a snapshot of the CSS zeitgeist. There are a few little nuggets in this year’s results that I find interesting. But before I get there, you’ll want to also check out what others have already written about it.

Oh, I guess that’s it — at least it’s the most formal write-up I’ve seen. There’s a little summary by Ahmad Shadeed at the end of the survey that generally rounds things up. I’ll drop in more links as I find ’em.

In no particular order…

Demographics

Josh has way more poignant thoughts on this than I do. He rightfully calls out discrepancies in gender pay and regional pay, where men are way more compensated than women (a nonsensical and frustratingly never-ending trend) and the United States boasts more $100,000 salaries than anywhere else. The countries with the highest salaries were also the most represented in survey responses, so perhaps the results are no surprise. We’re essentially looking at a snapshot of what it’s like to be a rich, white male developer in the West.

Besides pay, my eye caught the Age Group demographics. As an aging front-ender, I often wonder what we all do when we finally get to retirement age. I officially dropped from the most represented age group (30-39, 42%) a few years ago into the third most represented tier (40-49, 21%). Long gone are my days being with the cool kids (20-29, 27%).

And if the distribution is true to life, I’m riding fast into my sunset years and will be only slightly more represented than those getting into the profession. I don’t know if anyone else feels similarly anxious about aging in this industry — but if you’re one of the 484 folks who identify with the 50+ age group, I’d love to talk with you.

Before we plow ahead, I think it’s worth calling out how relatively “new” most people are to front-end development.

Wow! Forty-freaking-four percent of respondents have less than 10 years of experience. Yes, 10 years is a high threshold, but we’re still talking about a profession that popped up in recent memory.

For perspective, someone developing for 10 years came to the field around 2014. That’s just when we were getting Flexbox, and several years after the big bang of CSS 3 and HTML 5. That’s just under half of developers who never had to deal with the headaches of table layouts, clearfix hacks, image sprites, spacer images, and rasterized rounded corners. Ethan Marcotte’s seminal article on “Responsive Web Design” predates these folks by a whopping four years!

That’s just wild. And exciting. I’m a firm believer in the next generation of front-enders but always hope that they learn from our past mistakes and become masters at the basics.

Features

I’m not entirely sure what to make of this section. When there are so many CSS features, how do you determine which are most widely used? How do you pare it down to just 50 features? Like, are filter effects really the most widely used CSS feature? So many questions, but the results are always interesting nonetheless.

What I find most interesting are the underused features. For example, hanging-punctuation comes in dead last in usage (1.57%) but is the feature that most developers (52%) have on their reading list. (If you need some reading material on it, Chris initially published the Almanac entry for hanging-punctuation back in 2013.)

I also see Anchor Positioning at the end of the long tail with reported usage at 4.8%. That’ll go up for sure now that we have at least one supporting browser engine (Chromium) but also given all of the tutorials that have sprung up in the past few months. Yes, we’ve contributed to that noise… but it’s good noise! I think Juan published what might be the most thorough and thoughtful guide on the topic yet.

I’m excited to see Cascade Layers falling smack dab in the middle of the pack at a fairly robust 18.7%. Cascade Layers are super approachable and elegantly designed that I have trouble believing anybody these days when they say that the CSS Cascade is difficult to manage. And even though @scope is currently low on the list (4.8%, same as Anchor Positioning), I’d bet the crumpled gum wrapper in my pocket that the overall sentiment of working with the Cascade will improve dramatically. We’ll still see “CSS is Awesome” memes galore, but they’ll be more like old familiar dad jokes in good time.

(Aside: Did you see the proposed designs for a new CSS logo? You can vote on them as of yesterday, but earlier versions played off the “CSS is Awesome” mean quite beautifully.)

Interestingly enough, viewport units come in at Number 11 with 44.2% usage… which lands them at Number 2 for most experience that developers have with CSS layout. Does that suggest that layout features are less widely used than CSS filters? Again, so many questions.

Frameworks

How many of you were surprised that Tailwind blew past Bootstrap as Top Dog framework in CSS Land? Nobody, right?

More interesting to me is that “No CSS framework” clocks in at Number 13 out of 21 list frameworks. Sure, its 46 votes are dwarfed by the 138 for Material UI at Number 10… but the fact that we’re seeing “no framework” as a ranking option at all would have been unimaginable just three years ago.

The same goes for CSS pre/post-processing. Sass (67%) and PostCSS (38%) are the power players, but “None” comes in third at 19%, ahead of Less, Stylus, and Lightning CSS.

It’s a real testament to the great work the CSSWG is doing to make CSS better every day. We don’t thank the CSSWG enough — thank you, team! Y’all are heroes around these parts.

CSS Usage

Josh already has a good take on the fact that only 67% of folks say they test their work on mobile phones. It should be at least tied with the 99% who test on desktops, right? Right?! Who knows, maybe some responses consider things like “Responsive Design Mode” desktop features to be the equivalent of testing on real mobile devices. I find it hard to believe that only 67% of us test mobile.

Oh, and The Great Divide is still alive and well if the results are true and 53% write more JavsScript than CSS in their day-to-day.

Missing CSS Features

This is always a fun topic to ponder. Some of the most-wanted CSS features have been lurking around 10+ years. But let’s look at the top three form this year’s survey:

Mixins

Conditional Logic

Masonry

We’re in luck team! There’s movement on all three of those fronts:

Resources

This is where I get to toot our own horn a bit because CSS-Tricks continues to place first among y’all when it comes to the blogs you follow for CSS happenings.

I’m also stoked to see Smashing Magazine right there as well. It was fifth in 2023 and I’d like to think that rise is due to me joining the team last year. Correlation implies causation, amirite?

But look at Kevin Powell and Josh in the Top 10. That’s just awesome. It speaks volumes about their teaching talents and the hard work they put into “helping people fall in love with CSS” as Kevin might say it. I was able to help Kevin with a couple of his videos last year (here’s one) and can tell you the guy cares a heckuva lot about making CSS approachable and fun.

Honestly, the rankings are not what we live for. Now that I’ve been given a second wind to work on CSS-Tricks, all I want is to publish things that are valuable to your everyday work as front-enders. That’s traditionally happened as a stream of daily articles but is shifting to more tutorials and resources, whether it’s guides (we’ve published four new ones this year), taking notes on interesting developments, spotlighting good work with links, or expanding the ol’ Almanac to account for things like functions, at-rules, and pseudos (we have lots of work to do).

My 2024 Pick

No one asked my opinion but I’ll say it anyway: Personal blogging. I’m seeing more of us in the front-end community getting back behind the keyboards of their personal websites and I’ve never been subscribed to more RSS feeds than I am today. Some started blogging as a “worry stone” during the 2020 lockdown. Some abandoned socials when Twitter X imploded. Some got way into the IndieWeb. Webrings and guestbooks are even gaining new life. Sure, it can be tough keeping up, but what a good problem to have! Let’s make RSS king once and for all.

That’s a wrap!

Seriously, a huge thanks to Sacha Greif and the entire Devographics team for the commitment to putting this survey together every year. It’s always fun. And the visualizations are always to die for.