#waste utilization in concrete

[nnctales]

Replacing Aggregates in Concrete with Waste Materials: A Sustainable Approach for a Greener Future

Introduction Concrete, a ubiquitous material in the construction industry, has been the cornerstone of modern infrastructure. It is composed of cement, aggregates, water, and admixtures, where aggregates play a crucial role in providing strength and stability to the concrete mix. Traditionally, natural aggregates like sand and gravel have been the primary choice, but the increasing demand for…

[lightasthesun]

Comprehensive Lexicon Guide for First-Time SW Fic Readers:

Flimsi/Flimsiplast = Paper

Flimsiwork/Datawork = Paperwork

Stylus = Pen

Datapad = Tablet

Comlink/Comm = Communication Device/Phone

Binders = Handcuffs

Chronometer = Clock

Spectacles = Eyeglasses

Chrono = Watch

Conservator = Refrigerator

Caf = Coffee

Nerfburger = Hamburger

Blue milk = Milk (literally blue)

Hubba chips = French Fries

Sweet roll = Doughnut

Flatcakes = Pancakes

Tabac = Tobacco

HoloNet = World Wide Web

Holovision/HoloTV = Television

Holodrama/Holovids = Movie/Videos

Holocamera/Holocam = Camera

Holomap = three-dimensional map

Holojournal = Newspaper

Holocube = Picture frame

Holotable = Projector

Holoscanner = X-ray machine

Holojournalist = Reporter

Flatholo/Holograph = Photograph

Sonic Damper = Active Noise Cancellation

Refresher/Fresher= Bathroom

Sonic Bath = Bath

Sanisteam/Sonic shower = Waterless Shower

Hydrospanner = Wrench

Hydro Flask = Water Bottle

Power Cell/Energy Cell = Batteries

Authorization Chip = Decryption key

Datatape = Disk

Datastick = Flash drive

(Personal) Com Code = Phone number

Datachip = SD Card

Synthflesh = Synthetic skin

Glowrod = Flashlight

Sparkstick = Match

Slugthrower = Gun

Slug = Bullet

Vibroblade = a blade that can vibrate at high frequencies, increasing its cutting power and penetrating ability (tactical knife)

Rangefinder = Rifle scope

Turbolaser = Cannon

Ion pike/Vibropike = Spear

Electro Staff = Stun baton

Blaster = Pistol/Rifle

Stun Blaster = similar to a Taser

Landspeeder/Airspeeder/Speeder = Car

Turbolift = Elevator

Slideramp = Escalator

Starfighter = Fighter jet

Rotorcraft = Helicopter

Hoverpack/Jetpack= Jet pack

Speeder Bike = Motorcycle

Skylane = Traffic lane

Railspeeder/Hovertrain = Train

Power Chair/Hoverchair= Wheelchair

Windscreen = Windshield

Podracing = Car racing

Dejarik = Chess

Sabacc = Poker and Blackjack combined

Galactic Rebels = Combat simulator

B'shingh = Dungeons and dragons

Jizz = Jazz music

Wailer = Singer (ie. Jizz Wailer)

Cantina = Bar or Pup

Para Sailing = Paragliding

Aurebesh = Alphabet

Credits = Money

Sleeping Pallet = Bedroll

Naming Day = Birthday

Youngling = Child

Galactic Basic Standard/ Basic = English

Medkit/Medpac = First aid kit

Hypo = Syringe

Medic/Healer = Doctor

Medcenter = Hospital

Bactapatch = Bandaid

Nanoweave = Fabric

Transparisteel = Glass

Plastifoam = Packing material

Durasteel = Steel

Plasteel = Plastic

Duracrete = Concrete

Slicer = Hacker (slicing = hacking)

Identikit = Passport

Minder = Therapist

Synthleather = Vinyl

Viewport = Window

Cooling Unit = Air-conditioning

Honeydarter = Bee

Slythmonger = Drugdealer

Spice = Drugs

Stimpill = Caffeine pill

Power Socket = Plug

Cutters = Scissors

Cycle = Day

Standard Cycle = 24h

Standard Week = 5 days

Standard Month = 35 standard days

Standard Year = approx. ten months

Tenday = literally ten days

Cigarras/Smokes = Cigarettes

Click = Kilometer or 'a moment'

Parsec = a unit of distance

Tweezers/Clanker/tin head/tinnie = Droid

Separatist = Seppie

Promise Ring = Wedding Ring

Body Glove = Jumpsuit

Slicksuit = Wet suit

Civvies = Civilian clothing

Carbonite = a metal alloy used to freeze a person in a state of hibernation

Hyperdrive = device that allows a starship to travel faster than lightspeed

Moisture vaporator = device that can extract water from the air, commonly used on tatooine

Glareshades = Sunglasses

Gasser = Gas Oven

Repulsorlift = technology that can create an anti-gravity field and is used for levitating heavy objects

Heating unit = Heater

Utility Droid = Roomba

Sunbonnet = a Clone trooper helmet

Bad Batcher = a defective Clone Trooper

Banthabrain = birdbrain/ a stupid person

Bantha fodder = waste of space/nonsense

Blast! = word of exclamation

Blasted! = s.o in anger or annoyance

Blaster-brained = dimwitted

Blaster fodder = cannon fodder

Blast off = Piss off

Brainless = Stupid

Bug/Bugger = used to refer to Geonosians

Forceforsaken = godforsaken

Full of Poodoo = full of shit

Poodoo = Shit

Kriff = Fuck

Jedi scum = derogatory term for jedi

Kark = derogatory expletive

Larty = LAAT/i gunship

Laserbrain = insult

Meat droid = derogatory term for Clone Troopers

Redrobes = Palpatines guard

Rookie/Shinie = newly recruited Trooper

Scum = insult to refer to bounty hunters/rebels

Sharpie = Sharp-witted

Sithspawn/Sithspit/Hellspawn! = expletive

Sleemo = Slimeball

Son of a bantha = insult

Wizard! = Cool

Spaced = dead

Hutt-spawn = Bastard

Karabast = exclamation of dismay

Stang = Crap

Buckethead/Bucketbrain = derogatory term for Stormtroopers

Bucket = Helmet

Nat-born = Natural Born

Roger Roger = affirmative/copy that

Droid poppers = EMP grenade

Sitrep = short for situation report

Backwater Planet = any planet that isn't part of the core system

Holocron = device that can project a three-dimensional image of a person/object and is used for communication or entertainment.

Kessel Run = a risky Operation. Commonly used as a metaphor in impossible situations.

Thermal Detonator= device that can create a powerful explosion like a grenade or bomb

Ray Shield/Energy Shield = creates a (protective) barrier

Rebreather = device that allows a person to breathe underwater or in toxic environments

Phrases:

Wild goose chase = wild bantha chase

That's bantha shit = that's bullshit

As slippery as a greased Dug = untrustworthy

Credit for your thoughts = penny for your thoughts

Cut the poodoo = cut the crap

to get your gills in a twist = get upset about something

Holy mother of meteors = holy mother of god

Oh my skies/ Oh my stars = exclamation of surprise

Stars' end! = exclamation of disbelief

What in the blue blazes = exclamation

When Geonosis freezes over/When it snows on tatooine = extremely unlikely

Who pissed in your power supply = who pissed you off

Blast it = damn it

By the maker = exclamation of surprise

Great karking Dragon = expression of disbelief

Lothcat got your tongue = equivalent of 'cat got your tongue?'

Sod it = expression of frustration

[reasonsforhope]

"In China, a landscape architect is reimagining cities across the vast country by working with nature to combat flooding through the ‘sponge city’ concept.

Through his architecture firm Turenscape, Yu has created hundreds of projects in dozens of cities using native plants, dirt, and clever planning to absorb excess rainwater and channel it away from densely populated areas.

Flooding, especially in the two Chinese heartlands of the commercial south and the agricultural north, is becoming increasingly common, but Yu says that concrete and pipe solutions can only go so far. They’re inflexible, expensive, and require constant maintenance. According to a 2021 World Bank report, 641 of China’s 654 largest cities face regular flooding.

“There’s a misconception that if we can build a flood wall higher and higher, or if we build the dams higher and stronger, we can protect a city from flooding,” Yu told CNN in a video call. “(We think) we can control the water… that is a mistake.”

Pictured: The Benjakitti Forest Park in Bangkok

Yu has been called the “Chinese Olmstead” referring to Frederick Law Olmstead, the designer of NYC’s Central Park. He grew up in a little farming village of 500 people in Zhejiang Province, where 36 weirs channel the waters of a creek across terraced rice paddies.

Once a year, carp would migrate upstream and Yu always looked forward to seeing them leap over the weirs.

This synthesis of man and nature is something that Turenscape projects encapsulate. These include The Nanchang Fish Tail Park, in China’s Jiangxi province, Red Ribbon Park in Qinghuandao, Hebei province, the Sanya Mangrove Park in China’s island province of Hainan, and almost a thousand others. In all cases, Yu utilizes native plants that don’t need any care to develop extremely spongey ground that absorbs excess rainfall.

Pictured: The Dong’an Wetland Park, another Turescape project in Sanya.

He often builds sponge projects on top of polluted or abandoned areas, giving his work an aspect of reclamation. The Nanchang Fish Tail Park for example was built across a 124-acre polluted former fish farm and coal ash dump site. Small islands with dawn redwoods and two types of cypress attract local wildlife to the metropolis of 6 million people.

Sanya Mangrove Park was built over an old concrete sea wall, a barren fish farm, and a nearby brownfield site to create a ‘living’ sea wall.

One hectare (2.47 acres) of Turenscape sponge land can naturally clean 800 tons of polluted water to the point that it is safe enough to swim in, and as a result, many of the sponge projects have become extremely popular with locals.

One of the reasons Yu likes these ideas over grand infrastructure projects is that they are flexible and can be deployed as needed to specific areas, creating a web of rain sponges. If a large drainage, dam, seawall, or canal is built in the wrong place, it represents a huge waste of time and money.

Pictured: A walkway leads visitors through the Nanchang Fish Tail Park.

The sponge city projects in Wuhan created by Turenscape and others cost in total around half a billion dollars less than proposed concrete ideas. Now there are over 300 sponge projects in Wuhan, including urban gardens, parks, and green spaces, all of which divert water into artificial lakes and ponds or capture it in soil which is then released more slowly into the sewer system.

Last year, The Cultural Landscape Foundation awarded Yu the $100,000 Oberlander Prize for elevating the role of design in the process of creating nature-based solutions for the public’s enjoyment and benefit."

-via Good News Network, August 15, 2024

[zyafics]

DEAD MAN WALKING | Rafe Cameron

MASTERLIST (Series)

Pairing —Mafia Boss x Doctor!Female Reader .ᐟ

Summary — When Rafe gets injured in a shootout, he can't make it home in time to save his life. However, it's just his luck to find a medical student walking out of her shift from the hospital. When he threatens you to save him, you do, but when he returns to uncover that the wound is more deadly than it seems—time is ticking for you to find a cure or die.

Content — 18+, explicit (to be determined).

It's late.

A consequence of staying overtime. Most medical students from your program left after their shift ended, but not you. You wanted more—to shadow surgeries behind spectator glass, to listen to pagers' on-calls, to follow the path of grunt work—because you believe in learning from the bottom up. It wasn't until one of the residents forcefully removed you from a debrief and mandated you to go home and rest that you finally left.

Exiting the hospital, a cool wind breezes over your exposed arms, causing goosebumps to rise. The night is dusky and grim; thick clouds envelop the dark sky, amplifying the fainted glow of lights streaming through the open windows of apartment buildings. Very few cars are passing through the main road, despite your place of work being in the center of the metropolitan area. It's empty. Quiet. Odd.

The parking lot is mostly vacated, except for a few residents' vehicles that have to stay for their hours. You don't own a car, utilizing the city's local public transportation system instead, and thankfully, there's a bus stop across from the hospital.

Your footsteps click against the concrete, each step bringing you closer to your destination, but something in your stomach churns with nausea. Something feels off. The stillness of the night isn't a common occurrence in a lively city bursting with mayhem. But before you can calm your mind—a distinct click is heard, followed by the cold press of a metal handle against the back of your skull.

Your breath hitches.

A gruff, masculine voice orders. "Don't scream."

You want to. Desperately. But you've lived in the city long enough to know it'll do nothing. It might cause your death instead. Defying the very instinct to call for help, the bubble waiting to pop from your throat, you nod once, letting your handler know you abide by his command.

"Turn around."

Your heart pounds against your ribcage, threatening to spill. With measured breaths and cautious steps, you turn.

The sight surprises you. The man holding you in captivity is tall—and devilishly handsome. But that's not your main source of concern. It's the way he's slightly hunched over, his left hand clutching a wound that punctures his abdomen. He's bleeding. Everywhere. Staining the front of his sodden shirt, it drips onto the concrete between the cracks of his fingers.

"You a doctor?" His voice is gravel and strained as if he's holding onto his last string of life. His face is a ghastly shade of pale, uneven breaths escaping in chokes, and sweat collects on the hairline of his forehead.

"I'm–I'm a student." You answer, tripping over your own voice as he tightens his grip around his gun, his fingers trembling. For a brief moment, you consider if you should disarm him. Half of you want to help—to save a man on the brink of death, as you're training to do—but the other half remembers you're being held at gunpoint. If you try, you wonder if he's in enough pain that you can remove the weapon.

But something in his hardened gaze tells you to stay put. That his trigger finger is swifter than you'll ever be and he won't hesitate to waste a bullet.

Scoffing, as if the criteria of your resume isn't enough, he raises his arm where the barrel of the gun stares you down. Your heart skips several beats, palms growing sweaty at the implication that your lack of experience can be your end.

"I can help."

He doesn't answer, eyeing you with contempt. You're still wearing your blue scrubs, the clip of the badge hanging on your waist. You look official; a formal member of the medical faculty team. But, at the end of the day, you're still a student.

You refuse to let that be your downfall.

"I can save you," you argue, the timbre of your voice is sharp, passionate, and decisive. "Let me help."

The man says nothing. Silence stretches for the next few seconds, but it feels like decades before he makes a decision. He grabs your arm roughly, pulling you in front of him with the strength he shouldn't possess. With the gun pressed against your backside, right on your spine, he warns, "One word, one fucking scream, and I'll shoot you in the middle of the floor. Do you understand?"

You nod, swallowing the bile in your throat as you reenter the hospital, maneuvering through the floor with virtually little-to-no interactions. A blessing and a curse, the man finds an empty room and shoves you inside.

It's not a surgical suite, just a backroom with a bed and a couple of tools on a cart. You try to convince him to go to one of the rooms in the operation wing, but he refuses. When you continue to advocate, his hand grips the gun with a click—reminding you who has the power in the situation.

"Just fucking do it here," he snaps.

That's how you ended up operating on your first patient. He lays flat against the stiff hospital bed while you tear through his blood-soaked shirt, cleaning his marred skin, finding the source of the wound—a gunshot. It sits right on his ribcage, but the point of entry doesn't look like it slices through any important organs or arteries.

Despite his form, he continues to point the gun at you. His hands are steadier, but his eyes waver with each probe and poke of your tools. Your breathing is scarce, and uneven as you try to focus on the task at hand—but you can't, given the constant reminder that one wrong touch, one wrong move, can yield a tinge of pain that leaves him clamping down on the trigger.

"You can drop your gun now." You say offhandedly, trying to keep your composure and wits as you operate. "I'm not going to do anything."

He huffs, suspicion creasing his brows. "Not a chance."

"I'm saying it'll be better for you." You instruct, voicing your reason from a place of logic rather than a plight of fear. "You need to relax."

"I'll relax once you get this bullet out of me," he rasps, gripping the weapon tighter, as a child with a stuffed animal would after a hellish nightmare. Your eyes glance down at the gun, how it's aimed directly at your heart, before dropping back to his chest.

"You're not going to kill me."

He doesn't answer immediately. A pinch of fear surges through your veins before he says, "How can you be so sure?"

"Because I'm trying to save your life." You keep your voice steady, despite the low tremor rattling your chest. False confidence is the only thing keeping you going. "And I won't cause you harm. If I wanted to, I would've already."

Silence persists, and you take it as a chance to solidify your argument, from a humane perspective. "And I can't focus if you keep pointing that gun at me. I'll be more sloppy, and I don't want to take any chances when I barely have the right equipment as it is."

It sounds solid. At least, to your ears it does. But the man's grip on his gun doesn't waver under your advisement. You're almost certain he'll reject the idea, but when his hand slowly descends to the metal cart sitting beside him—the clank of metal-on-metal allows you to finally take a deep breath.

But before you can proceed, his now-free hand grabs your wrist. A yelp almost leaves you, but his bloodied nails dig into your skin. A warning gleams behind his gaze. "Just because I'm unarmed doesn't mean I can't kill you through other means."

You don't doubt it.

Nodding, you begin your operation. Heart thumping against your chest, you dig the forceps into the open wound, the squishing of flesh and blood fills the stillness of the room, and you navigate blindly through the gap till you graze a hard metal.

You inhale sharply, reminding yourself of your countless virtual practices, your shadowing of operations, your lucky days of standing beside certified surgeons as you hand them tools and witness the precise cut of their blade. All that training comes down to this very moment—to save yours and his life.

With a steady grip, you slowly exit, centimeter-by-centimeter, inch-by-inch, until the familiar glint of a metal gleans under the harsh operating light.

You drop the bullet, smeared with blood and a greenish hue, onto the plate next to the gun. Exhaling, you mechanically move to the next stage.

While you thread the needle through his delicate skin, closing the wound, your eyes glance down to his hands resting by his side. His knuckles are swollen and red, dried with dark blood. You can't stop yourself from asking, "What happened?"

His jaw tightens. "Why do you want to know?"

The words are sharp and harsh, a valiant attempt at shutting down any form of communication. But you persist. "I thought, since you're out of danger, you can at least explain—"

"I don't owe you shit," he barks, but this time, a hiss punctuates the end of his sentence, sending his head flying back against the bed as he grimaces through the pain and lack of anesthesia. His adrenaline must be wearing off.

Your jaw tenses, but not from his response but rather because of his reaction to his pain. Your sense of empathy has always been your weakness, especially since you're providing it to someone who held you at gunpoint and against your own will.

Deciding to redirect your focus, you're finishing the last thread of his stitching before he confesses, "Fight."

"Fight?" You echo wearily, refusing to lift your head and meet his gaze. You can already feel the heat of his stare. "Who won?"

He scoffs, but it comes out as a wheeze. "Don't be cute."

"I'm not trying to be—"

Your words are cut short by a sudden alarm blaring from the hallway. You jerk back, creating distance as you turn toward the small slanted window on the door, where flashes of men in uniforms run past.

Fear crashes into you as waves, and you turn back to the man as he turns to you—his dark blue eyes are hostile and cynical, and he regards you with the utmost suspicion.

"Who the fuck did you call?" He accuses.

Your eyes widen, "I didn't call anyone!"

"Liar."

With your erratic heartbeat in your ears, both of you glance down at the gun sitting idle on the cart. Before he even gets the chance to react, you snatch the weapon from the table, his nails grazing your hand a millisecond too late.

You push back against the opposite side of the room but because of the limited space, it does nothing to soothe the overwhelming adrenaline pulsing through your veins. Holding the gun with two hands, you direct it straight at his face.

Suspicion and doubt from both sides are at an all-time high.

He scoffs, unphased by your brave act. The gun between your hands is shaky, and your palms sweat against the heavy, smooth grip. The acknowledgment of holding something lethal between your fingertips. In his earnest attempt at getting you to give up the weapon, he mocks, "Can you even use that thing?"

You disengage the safety. "Try again."

His eyes widen, just a fraction, almost undetectable had you not been eyeing him carefully. His lips pressed together in a firm line, but almost as if you're imagining it—there's a look of intrigue.

The man pulls himself upright, shifting cautiously under the threat of your deadly aim, while his hand clutches the stitched wound. You didn't even get the chance to bandage him. It's a shame that your hard work could go to waste.

"Fucking liar."

"I didn't lie," you insist.

"The gun staring at me is making you look guilty."

"It isn't nice being on the receiving end, is it?"

His hardened features sharpen into a look of disdain, any imagination of curiosity disappears within seconds. Yet, you read into it. His eyes narrow, scrutinizing you as if you're prey to his predator, trying to gauge a formal assessment of your character. It isn't until he forces himself to look away, onto the door, that he contemplates his next plan of action.

It doesn't take a genius to decipher that the man is someone dangerous. Not just to you, but to the law. You regard his rigid posture, suggesting his uneasiness about the guards posted outside, barking orders to secure the grounds. He assumed you called the authorities, but that's far from the truth.

You didn't even have time to consider it.

Now, you're weighing all your options. If he disarms you, you'll be forced to submit to his will. That's not favorable. If he leaves without your help—which is unlikely—he'll be trotting through the halls, trying to build a cover and dodge the heightened security. That won't work either. And, if he escapes—there's no doubt he'll come back for vengeance. You can't have that either.

"The hospital is going into lockdown," you explain, keeping your gaze on his. "No one can come in and out that's not part of the staff."

He locks his jaw. One of your hands descends from the handle, moving to the pocket of your scrubs. "They're going to require a scan at each exit point, so you'll need a badge."

You remove the badge from your body, unraveling the clipper from the fabric. His darkened gaze follows while you slowly extend the tag—a peace offering of some sort.

His hand clenches by his side before his other hand reaches forward and snatches the badge from your grip. He takes his time examining the small plastic and the card inside, then lifts his head to meet your gaze with an unreadable expression. "Why?"

"I told you, I didn't call anyone," you say. "But I can tell you need to leave. I can get you out because I don't want any problems."

His breathing is ragged, chest rising and falling in unsteady beats. He doesn't say anything for the longest time, chipping away at the escape, before he drops from the bed and stands to his fullest height.

"I can't go out looking like this."

He's right. You practically shredded his shirt as you were trying to save his life. If he walks out, half-naked, barely stitched together with a bandage, regardless of the classified badge, they're going to question him.

Glancing around the room, you find a lab coat on a hook and throw it at him. He slips his arms through the long, white sleeves and covers himself up—looking presentable. Almost. If not for the light bruising on the side of his face, the swelling on his bottom lip, the swollenness of his knuckles, and the dried blood staining his fingertips.

But they won't look closely.

You think.

You back up as he steps forward, closer to the door. Peeking outside the hallway, when the coast is clear, he departs, clutching the badge in one hand and his wounded chest in the other.

It takes a few moments for it to pass, for you to truly grasp the gravity of your situation. When you finally do, you lower your aching arms, drop the gun back onto the metal cart, and exhale the largest sigh of relief.

—

It's been a week since the hospital incident.

You received a new badge, under the false pretense that you misplaced the last one, and you've been returning to a routine. You refuse to do overtime without a familiar acquaintance tagging along, and you've been catching rides from your peers from the hospital.

Afterward, the news disclosed a shootout that happened on the streets a couple blocks down from your workplace. Three people died, and the police are investigating the matter. It didn't take long for you to connect the dots of who shot who, and who walked out alive.

You've been busying yourself with life. From attending classes to producing research, to working late-night shifts at the hospital. It's been a ruthless cycle, that you've barely had time to breathe.

Walking home from one of the nearby cafes, where you're studying for your upcoming exams, you take a short stroll to your apartment. It's getting late; most of the street parking is taken, few people linger on the sidewalk, and the street lamps cast a soft glow against the brownstone of the apartment complexes.

This is a safer neighborhood, much more than your place of work. The crime rate is relatively lower, but that doesn't stop you from being on edge. Especially with your recent incident. You're cautious of your surroundings, checking every little shadow, and listening out for heavy footfalls. Your paranoia reaches its all-time high.

But nothing happens. Not today, not yesterday, and certainly not tomorrow. You turn the corner to your building, the familiar shade of your apartment allows you to catch a breath of fresh air.

Until you hear the familiar click, followed by the hard kiss of metal pressing against the base of your skull.

All the hair stands up. Your nerves are humming with fear. And you pray it's different, it's new, but your wishes are shattered the moment the gruff, harsh voice greets you, his mouth against your ear.

"Miss me?"

IMPORTANT INFO ABOUT TAGLIST AND UPDATES: if you want to be notified about all my fics and updates, follow @zyafics-library and turn on notifications! however, if you want to be added to this specific taglist, let me know (but to remain tagged, you must interact with the posts).

[headspace-hotel]

Thinking of your post on the problems of veganism as a movement vs veganism as a lifestyle choice/one technique amongst many, that also applys super well to my issues with degrowth (And anticonsumerism as well) as a movement vs degrowth as one technique amongst many for dealing with the hydra-crisis of overproduction/resource overuse/destroying people and places for resources.

Like, in particular as an autistic person the continual recurring insistence that we need to just "change our desires" creeps me out. As someone who's difficulties were dismissed as just "having a bad attitude" and who's interests were so often dismissed as a waste of time instead of preparing for a job in the "real world" IDK if they truly understand the full horrifying implications of that line of thought.

So here's the thing with the concept of "overconsumption"

I had to do this whole project on overconsumption in my Anthropology class where I compared my consumption habits to those of someone 2 generations older, the prof clearly had in mind that we would discover a particular result that I did not end up finding.

I had to watch this documentary called "Affluenza" which was all about how Americans consume too much and they shop and buy things for fun and it's killing the planet, and it kept making these statements like "The average american does X..." and "X" would be something insane that I've never dreamed of doing.

Now I technically grew up below the poverty line, we were always financially insecure and struggling to pay bills and there was never any extra money lying around.

But my upbringing felt average, even privileged. We had a house instead of a trailer on cinder blocks, we had food and clothes. Compared to the upbringing of my mom and virtually everyone she knew growing up, we lived in fabulous luxury.

And the "overconsumption" lesson was bizarre to me because it brought up things like "going shopping for fun once a week" and "owning 20+ pairs of shoes" as if they were normal. I wear my clothes until they're unwearable and shop for clothes like once a year, and my mom has half as many clothes as I do. She feels guilty buying anything for herself and HATES shopping.

It feels like the dominant resources on living an eco friendly lifestyle presume that we have far more agency in what we buy and use than we actually do, instead of being stuck with the cheapest or closest available thing, and that our lives are full of extraneous, non-essential "consumption."

That class brought up the idea of "conspicuous consumption" a lot, or buying things to obtain social status instead of for their concrete utility. The way "conspicuous consumption" was addressed in the class was not very immediately relatable to me—I never had the option of buying clothes just to appear "with it" socially. My parents couldn't buy an extra car to fit the aesthetic of the American dream—we had enough trouble keeping the one we had running. The "conspicuous consumption" that class addressed was just not available to me.

However, I don't think conspicuous consumption is endemic to stable members of a certain socioeconomic status, because consumption is partially driven by the trauma of poverty. People who grew up poor will buy you more Christmas gifts than you can store or use, because they want to spare you the shame they experienced. Their brains are molded around the trauma of not having enough, and giving you enough is their way of keeping you safe.

Conspicuous consumption as a habit is pushed on you if your ancestors were shaped by this trauma. It is a misrepresentation to think of it as driven by pride, because your ability to perform the behaviors and mimic the appearances of a higher socioeconomic status has a concrete effect on how people treat you.

I know J.D. Vance is a nutjob now and Hillbilly Elegy was...not great (I'm more appalachian than you bitch, and I'm not even appalachian!) but the one thing that book got incredibly right was the idea of "social capital" and the way access to financial security and wealth gives you social capital. This is the main thing the current understanding of "conspicuous consumption" gets wrong—the need to escape the appearance and behaviors of poverty is seen as vain and self-indulgent, when it's a survival mechanism and it's something you're expected to engage in to gain opportunities and respect.

Poverty is humiliating. People with money never think about the fact that they have money. They think of themselves as average, if they think of themselves in terms of socioeconomic status at all. Being poor ends up embedded in the grooves and folds of your brain.

I remember when I was about 12, I gave my friend an informal tour of our house the first time she came over, showing her every room. I realized later that this wasn't exactly a normal behavior—I had done it because my mom did the same thing when she brought her friend over, and my mom had done it because it was a way of saying look, I survived. Look, I have a place to live to call my own, isn't this nice?

At its worst, anti-consumerism just reinforces the myth that your consumption is purely a matter of personal choice. And unfortunately when the conversation is ruled by the privileged, this idea will appear substantiated—because rich people can choose the aesthetics of poverty without concretely affecting the way the world treats them. A rich person can choose to live in a "tiny house" but they will never be "trailer trash."

Anti-consumerism revolves around ideas that are almost irreparably tainted by the mythology of an unequal society. Rich people possess and control the aesthetic of restraint and frugality, allowing them to playact living a Simple Life where they live in a tiny minimalist cottage and eat Healthy Vegan Oat Gruel, while McDonalds is the emblem of American excess. It is poor people's behaviors and habits that exemplify excess and greed.

Anti-consumerism isn't going to change anything until it openly confronts the fact that poverty is traumatic and consumption patterns often arise from poverty survival mechanisms.

[utilitycaster]

could you elucidate on why coffeelocks are bad actually? my friend is a bit obsessed with them right now and i’ve never liked the specific build but i’d love to have concrete reasons that aren’t just opinions!

YES. Somewhere in my archives I think I actually did the math on like, how many short rests you have to take for this to pay any dividends, and it was a LOT, but that was during full lockdown iirc and you do not have to do this much work.

The basic gist of coffeelock for those wondering is that warlocks recharge spell slots on a short rest, and sorcerers can convert sorcery points into spell slots and vice versa. The idea is that if you take Pact of the Tome and then Aspect of the Moon as an eldritch invocation, you never have to long rest again and can just farm sorcery points/spell slots for 8 hours each night.

Now: the most obvious issue is that any reasonable DM who hears about this will look at you and say "I don't care if it's technically legal, I think it's annoying and I'm not going to let you do it." But let's assume your DM does not shut it down.

You have infinite spell slots at level 5. You are warlock 3 sorcerer 2. You know 7 spells total, which is what you'd know had you leveled to level 5 in either of these classes, except you also know 6 level 1 spells and 1 level 2 spell, max. Someone who leveled normally would have fireball, or dispel magic, or counterspell, and if they were divine soul they might even have revivify, but not you! This will eventually get slightly better at higher levels but if you're the party's main arcane caster this sucks and if you're in a party with fewer than like, five people, or perhaps a really caster heavy party, you're putting a lot of burden on other people to do the utility early on so that your dumb ass can cast magic missile 20 times a day or whatever.

I don't actually care for sorlock just generally, in the absence of coffeelock bullshit. Yes, it depends on the same main stat, but a bard or paladin combo will actually significantly broaden your repertoire. Sorcerer and Warlock have a LOT of spell overlap, and metamagic is one of those things that is like, super clutch 0.1% of the time and the rest of the time it's like oh ok (though I guess as a coffeelock you're not even really using metamagic! total waste of being a sorcerer, which is the weakest caster already! great job.). Meanwhile, two of the big strengths of warlock are 1. eldritch blast, a cantrip you can already cast infinite times without spell slots, and 2. eldritch invocations, which you have to level in warlock to get. Dipping into sorcerer means fewer invocations. Basically, all multiclassing is a trade off and I feel like this is at most the sum of its parts, certainly not more. I also think it's very tricky to play this in a way that is narratively interesting and makes sense for your character while also abiding by the specific leveling requirements of coffeelock. This isn't an issue in a one-shot but also in a one-shot you simply might not even take a long rest which renders the entire thing useless.

You have to take Pact of the Tome, which means you are spending all this time and effort and build for infinite spell slots but also you have, without any racial bonuses, literally 9 cantrips (ie, at-will spells) at level 5. And none of them are dispel magic, because that is too high for you for at least another 2 levels and that's only if you choose to continue in warlock. Also, actually, until you reach L9 in specifically divine soul sorcerer, you don't have greater restoration as discussed, so yeah your DM can just be like "oh you don't have to sleep but you do still gain exhaustion."

I lied and I did some math. So: you are a L5 coffeelock. let's say you have exhausted all your resources on day 1. You sit down for your little bullshit 8 short rests. You can never have more than two sorcery points, because the PHB page 101 says that you can't exceed the number of sorcery points shown on the table for your level. So every hour you convert one L2 spell slot (recharging) into a L1 spell slot (non-recharging), and repeat this (you can't convert both at once! because then you exceed two sorcery points!) and you end the night with 14 L1 spells and your two L2 warlock spell slots. If you are lucky, you might get like, one short rest if there is a monk or wizard or fighter in the party and they don't hate you so much that they're willing to go without ki points/second winds/arcane recovery, and they might. I guess you just stockpile low level spells indefinitely until you have to sleep finally? if you have a week of downtime do you just. walk around with hundreds of first level spell slots and not think this is the dumbest shit of all time? ooooh look at me i can cast fucking...detect magic for 24 hours straight. can't dispel any of it though!

Leveling up is a bitch too if I recall. You need to level up in sorcerer to get more points so you can eventually convert to higher level spells, and the exchange rate is not generous (like, if you're not sleeping, it's ok, but it's not in your favor as shown with the L2 to L1 conversion) and imo warlock is the superior class, and you're probably not really taking advantage of metamagic anyway so you're barely reaping the benefits of being a sorcerer except for flexible casting. Do you feel good about this? Is this fun for you? Your entire table is watching you count out your spell slots each night and hoping fervently you get audited by the IRS in real life but man you sure showed them by being able to cast chromatic orb a lot!

Also you can't use items that recharge on a long rest, only ones that recharge at dawn. Sucker.

This is all very long because I think coffeelock is an annoying build for people who think they are smart and really aren't, but the gist is that you trade away a great deal of your utility, ability to help the party, and ability to do anything except cast rather low-level spells in comparison to what everyone who made better decisions is doing. Also it's LAUGHABLY easy for the DM to fuck this over for you within the bounds of the rules even if they allowed it. Your patron gets annoyed that you're only leveling in sorcerer. Levels of exhaustion. Your patron, who communicates through dreams, straight up abandons you because you're not picking up their calls. You keep being put in positions where your 75 first level spells won't do shit and a single third level spell would. They taunt you with items that recharge on a long rest.

It's just...well, quantity over quality. Shein haul ass character build.

[wishing-stones]

Baggs (B)

B. Under cover of darkness.

Sneaking about in the shadows seemed... unnatural to him. He was bright, conspicuous, meant to be the center of attention and to command it all...

Not to skulk around in the darkness like a churl.

He rarely saw deployment, but today was one of those rare times that he left the sanctity of Nightmare's Hold, venturing out with Dust and Cross.

Dust melded into the shadows so well that Baggs himself lost track of the hooded skeleton a handful of times. Cross, despite being clad mostly in white, also managed to hide well.

Subterfuge he could handle, but stealthy he was not. Still... He stuck closer to Dust as they combed through city streets and back alleys, unseen but for the occasional pair of worldweary, tired eyes that might not believe what they were seeing in the first place.

Such was the nature of a negative-leaning world, he supposed, but it upset him to see humanity so callous about their own-- left to rot on cold, wet concrete and waste away on pitiful scraps.

Monsters would never. Monster could never.

The altruistic part of his soul wanted to help the few people that he swept silently past, shivering beneath threadbare blankets, but...

It wasn't what he was here to do, and in the long run, it wouldn't help anything. He continued on, simply shaking his head and sighing a slow sigh through his nasal cavity.

Dust glanced sideways at him, straightening a little from his almost predatory stalk.

"almost think you'd be better off keepin' you and yours underground."

Uncannily observant, Dust was. Baggs couldn't fault him.

"Sometimes, I think much the same. At least there I can ensure they're safe and taken care of." He returned softly, "I don't think I could live with myself if I brought us to the surface to face such terrible conditions. We may be monsters, but humans are the ones who are truly monstrous."

Dust grunted in agreement, nodding along.

"and sometimes you gotta take care of the trash who treat other people like trash."

"I am afraid not, my friend." Baggs' smile was wan, "I don't think I'll ever be given to such violent impulses... but far be it from me to prevent you yours in appropriate circumstances."

"cool, means you won't try to stop me." He rolled his shoulders back with a faint, eerie chuckle, "which is great, because i might be spillin' blood tonight."

"So long as I'm not in the splash zone, I'll not stop you." Baggs waved him off with a small gesture of his hand, banking with his current mission partner and entering a far more dimly lit alleyway to regroup with Cross.

"you find our mark?"

"Yeah. Might need some assistance getting his personal guard out of the picture. No need to make it messier than just him."

Baggs sighed heavily, rolling his shoulders back.

"Hold them with blue magic and I'll ensure they remember nothing."

...

Some time later, as he watched the mindless guard slump against opposite walls in a hallway, dead asleep, he found himself thinking that... perhaps utilizing the shadows suited him... a little more than he initially banked on.

Commanding attention was fantastic and powerful in its own right...

But sneaking behind someone to whisper them into compliance made him feel powerful in an entirely different way. He felt ephemeral, as fickle and fleeting as the shadows themselves, and then, truly then... he felt as at home on this mission as both of his compatriots did.

[apoapsis]

@dimensionalspades

                         With his newest friend’s assistance, SIGMA is finally able to taste freedom at last. 

He’s quick to wander without supervision– mostly careful to stay well away from dense civilization, but flourishing under the evening sky, the ability to look up and see what he’d only ever been able to construct in his mind…  Initially his latest friendship with the hacker had seemed superficial at best, but over time, over many evening lamentations of proximity restriction and 24/7 surveillance, she had taken sympathy upon him, practically handing him the keys to his own cage– with the assurance that he would be back within twenty-four hours. Any longer, and his absence would undoubtedly be noted. But Sombra would take care of the rest, handling the security and ensuring his entries and exits were to go unnoticed. 

                        It isn’t his first night of gallivanting– but tonight he is feeling bolder, intent on exploring what could be done with the ANOMALY out here, in the open world, with virtually every element at his disposal. The things that could be detected on the surface, outside of the cold, entombing concrete of the facility’s sublevels, was innumerable.  That, in particular, is what makes him fairly easy to detect, however; strange constructs are always left in SIGMA’S wake– from grand spires of crystalline ice that could not melt, to geometrics and fractals within natural materials like stone and wood. Aberrations of nature; taking the natural world and creating unnatural, bizarre shapes according to his design. 

It was nice to be able to utilize his abilities so freely– without TALON rating his performances, or demanding to know what the purpose of any of it was. All SIGMA had wanted to do since his incarceration was to simply be allowed to explore these strange powers, and it seemed that no one had any interest in allowing him to discover what potential lay within his ANOMALY. A run-down farmhouse finds itself to be the centerstage for SIGMA’S eccentric design, and he wastes no time in promptly beginning to populate the dilapidated field with his wonderfully imperfect figurines, of his approximations of animals. Some of them resemble their desired subject– but many do not, with necks, bodies, and limbs bent at peculiar angles in SIGMA’S attempts to capture some semblance of realism. He didn’t remember what many of these things looked like– he creates it all from imagination.

                         The notion that he was being observed– that he could even be observed out here– appears to have slipped his mind entirely; he’s simply too preoccupied with the pulling and warping of metal, sediment, greenery, and more… far too preoccupied to pay too much concern towards his environment. As far as he was concerned, this was the middle of nowhere– why would anyone have come out this far…? 

There is a perturbation in the air, but it was incapable of being placed in his distraction, and as a result, the sudden flash of splinters, of sparks, of heat, appears to shower him from seemingly nowhere. SIGMA’S construction is left in pieces and tatters when his vision fully clears, having shielded his face from the blast, completely destroyed by whatever had been intended for him. Bewilderment leaves him freezing up, damaged retinas scanning the hilltops for whatever had attacked him. Who would be out here…?

[orangedoorhingeinstorage]

Rambly post about RW Qualia and mostly Five Pebbles

Old thing I wrote on a Padlet board of mine that I'm semi proud of, warning: rambly asf, also only took the base game as a basis. Enjoy!

The Ancient civilization and their descendants held their memories as something valuable, using pearls to archive them, those type being memory construct pearls. The concept of memories is closely tied to qualia: A personal experience, something that can’t be comprehended by another person completely other than the individual itself. They are sensations that are hard to convey through written language.

Five Pebble’s Pearl dialogue:

It's qualia, or a moment - a very short one. Someone is holding a black stone and twisting it slightly as they drag their finger across the rough surface. The entire sequence is shorter than a heartbeat, but the resolution is extraordinary.

A memory... but not really visual, or even concrete, in its character. It reminds of the feeling of a warm wind, but not the physical feeling but the... inner feeling. I don't think it has much utility unless you are doing some very fringe Regeneraist research.

With the advancement of bioengineering, they would take a step further and preserve raw memories and qualia of an individual in cabinet beasts at the memory crypts.

Shaded Citadel pearl:

“The assorted memories and qualia include:

Watching dust suspended in a ray of sun (Old age). Eating a very tasty meal (Young child). Defeating an opponent in a debate contest and being applauded by fellow team members (Late childhood/Early adulthood).”

Survivor and Monk’s campaign begin with memories of their time reunited with their family. Memories can also be seen in their dreams. And their journey consist of moving on from the past and those memories that hold them in the carnal plane and to enter into the spiritual one, as the many others who left their memories to be cherished by the carnal plane did, drawn to the void again and again, an endless drip drip drip

In Rain World, the previous civilization studied thoroughly the nature of the void, but for a time that was just restricted to only theory, and they only could understand the nature of transcendence after experiencing it themselves. To grasp the boundless infinite of the cosmic void.

Qualia also heavily influenced the naming convention of the descendants of the ancients and the iterators. With the benefactors names being more "ornate and lavish" due to their ego, great ambition and various titles. That being true to most of public figures.

As seen in 5P pearl dialogue, the iterators themselves share the concept of qualia, with Moon commenting on the Garbage Wastes pearl being hard to translate to you due to it being his personal experience.

Garbage Wastes pearl:“It’s written in internal language, or thoughts, so it is hard for me to translate so you would understand. It's a methodology for global ascension of course - quite good, although the Peripherists or the Slab Mongers certainly wouldn't agree!”.

It’s also seen in one Five Pebbles pearls that he tries to “experience” what is it being like a lower creature, to research the solution of the Great Problem, ascending the world. But even as an Iterator, he struggles to do so as he is godlike comparison, with his experience being different from the average creature. The Iterators know a lot, but they’re restrained due the taboo and their somewhat limited worldview.

Five Pebbles pearl dialogue: “It is the impression of being a small creature, like a wall climbing lizard, and looking up into the branches of a big tree. The last third is partly overwritten with a number series I vaguely recognize, but without my memory…”

Moon Survivor/Monk dialogue:“He's sick, you know. Being corrupted from the inside by his own experiments. Maybe they all are by now, who knows. We weren't designed to transcend, and it drives us mad.”

Moon receiving her first neuron:

We were supposed to help everyone, you know. Everything. That was our purpose: a great gift to the lesser beings of the world. When facing our inability to do so, we all reacted differently. Many with madness.

Outskirts Pearl:

This is true for all living things, but some actually break the cycle. That doesn't apply to you or me though, you are too entangled in your animal struggles, and for me not breaking that cycle is an integral part of the design. Our mantras keep repeating.

The best Five Pebbles can do is granting you the gift of communication, the mark of enligthment and lead you to the old path, as a definitive solution hasn't been found, and it is uncertain if SOS actually ever found one.

The bad news is that no definitive solution has been found. And every moment the equipment erodes to a new state of decay. I can't help you collectively, or individually. I can't even help myself.

Everyone had a theory. Some said that she did have a solution, but that the solution itself was somehow dangerous. These later became known as the Triangulators, who think that a solution should be inferred without being directly discovered. Some said she never had a solution, she just died. And when the systems broke down an erroneous signal was sent. One camp claimed that dying was the solution.

And that frustration of trying to comprehend the individual experience of everything in the World and solve the puzzle of The Great Problem leads him into trying to find a way out himself, not caring about others around him. Posing risk into himself and others.

FP: I'm tired of trying and trying. And angry that they left us here. The anger makes me even less inclined to solve their puzzle for them. Why do we do this?

EP: It is not a new idea, but it needs to be vented occasionally. What if there is no universal solution? What if perception is in fact existence, and when Sliver of Straw sent the triple positive it was not a mistake? What if crossing oneself out, or even just death, is the way? We need to consider the possibility.

[blakecooley]

How to sabotage your work without losing your job (probably)

Hi! Lifelong contrarian and well-known pain in the ass here. I’ve noticed a recent trend following the unsurprisingly quiet death of the conversation around “quiet quitting” and well, I’m hardly seeing anybody talking much anymore about passive resistance at work. Sure, there's always the under the radar talk of big, showy ways of sabotaging your job. That’s great for some. Heck, might even make you feel like a real hero throwing a literal wrench into that conveyor belt. And to those willing to take the risk, cheers! We’re eternally grateful for your contribution in the fight against capitalism! But most of us teeter in a cosmically cruel paradox whereby we recognize that the systems that dictate our lives and extract our very livelihoods in order to fuel itself have likewise arranged themselves to be our sole means of survival in an attempt to guarantee eternal subservience and supply. (We need our jobs. Ew, bummer.)

Look, we all hate them. We all know and understand exactly how wildly unnatural, inhumane and exploitative they are. But goddamn wouldn’t you know it, the local utility just absolutely refuses to barter. And until they do we have to keep going to our stupid, pointless jobs that we know are slowly killing us but(!) don’t give up hope! Just because you can’t afford to lose your job doesn’t mean you can’t make things generally difficult for your employer, slow work down a few ticks and ultimately waste company resources! Today I’m going to offer you a few tried and true tips that I’ve collected along my twenty years as a member of the american workforce on how to quietly and mostly passively sabotage your work. Welcome to the resistance! Time to not get to work!

First up is a hard one that I feel might be met with some criticism. Which, I honestly understand as it seems counterproductive to the overall goal but, you have to be good at your job. I would never ask that anyone care about their job or devote a second more than is contractually required to even thinking about it but everything else is going to be a lot easier to accomplish if you’re not a problem employee. You don’t need to be stellar or outstanding at your job, in fact that would be aggressively productive for the company and ultimately counterproductive to your efforts towards counterproductivity and frankly is a lot of work. But be good enough at it that no one gives you much of a thought. This means avoiding write-ups, being generally present and on time, not being noticeably hungover or stoned at work and most importantly being consistent. Bosses love that shit. People that they can rely on without thinking about them make their lives easier and can often get a little more leeway with the rules. You need this to succeed at failing.

With that out of the way, onward! To impishness and the foiling of toiling!

Slow down. This seems obvious and I won’t spend much time on it but, slow down. Be deliberate, be mindful, be consistent. (There’s that word again!) Be slow. You don’t have to be sluggish or make your motions theatrically drawn out but just move a little more slowly than anyone else. While some are more concretely quantifiable than others, we all have expected productivity rates at our crummy jobs. How many orders have you served? How many phone calls have you taken? How many parcels did you pick, stack, toss or deliver? How many emails did you respond to? Fuck ‘em. Don’t meet these often arbitrary, almost always aggressively enforced, micro-deadlines. Hover. Float along just below quota. Not enough to get in trouble but just enough that other people have to wait on you, consistently. Measure every portion before plating. Run that dishwasher twice. Leave that detailed voicemail to confirm receipt of the email you just sent (I don’t know how office jobs work. Ask your friend who loves Gilmore Girls, they’ll know what not to do and ultimately may be the key to understanding the best ways to get nothing accomplished). Take the stairs, insist on walking, go to the office of someone you could reach by phone or radio and meet face to face, count everything twice, be obnoxiously thorough, do whatever you can however you can do it, just do it slowly. Make yourself a well-meaning but undeniable pain in the ass. Waste company time. 

You might be asking now, “Blake, I thought you said you weren’t gonna spend much time on that tip? Sure seems like either this is the beginning of an arduous and lengthy trend or you’re a fucking liar. Perhaps both. Would you like the opportunity to speak to that?” 

To which I would say, “Welcome to tip #3! It looks like you might’ve already got this one pretty figured out. Good work, champ. (sly wink (definitely not in a sexual way, unless you're into it in which case, hello there (winks both eyes, slyly)) But that’s right: Asking unnecessary, unanswerable, open-ended and otherwise asinine questions is a great way to waste company time! It’s great to really understand every single, miniscule, esoteric and inscrutable detail of the operation of every facet of your job, of your employer and of the majesty of life all around us. Will you ever realistically need this information? No. Are you ever going to be asked to demonstrate any of this knowledge to maintain your employment? No. Should you still turn that 15 minute meeting into a half hour marathon of interrogation? Abso-fucking-lutely! Should you really ask your elderly, probably q-anon addled, foxmaxxed coworker about that winding and vaguely related to whatever someone else was just talking about, personal story that requires more context to understand than the story conveys? Get fucking real, you beautiful asshole! Learn her whole family history! Learn to love her estranged children more closely than your own! Should you ask your boss about exploring the idea of setting up a meeting with your district manager so that you, and really the whole team, can get a chance to benefit from a more in-depth education about the new product, menu item, system rollout, policy change, or safety guideline update? FUCK YES! YOU GORGEOUS AND BRILLIANT FUCK GOD!  Fuck everyone’s day up. Make every single person you interact with late to their next thing. Ask so many inane questions so consistently (fuck yes!!) that your neuroticism has to be soft scheduled into itineraries. Herald yourself among Socrates, Lao Tzu, Al-Khwarizmi, alongside all the great minds of history in your place at the pantheon of curiosity. Leave no one’s schedule, routine or plan intact. Make yourself a well-meaning, curious but undeniable pain in the ass. Waste company time.”

You, out of breath from cumming so hard from thinking about wasting company time after you stopped listening to me three words in, “What?”

This next one’s pretty simple but if executed improperly can backfire in some pretty “Either go see a doctor and find out what’s going on or stop wasting everybody’s time,” kind of ways but: Stay very hydrated. A well hydrated saboteur is a healthy saboteur. A well hydrated saboteur is a saboteur who has to go use the restroom, “Seriously, like every thirty minutes all day. Are you sure you’re okay? You can call it a day if you need to go home or whatever.” You don’t have to live in the bathroom but you should definitely be a regular. And really this is a tactic that you probably can’t employ every day without raising some questions and maybe drawing some medical concern from your employer but if and when it’s appropriate, go nuts! (I feel like if I were responsible or anything near the proximity of a medical professional I would say here that you should drink a lot of water instead of like soda or coffee or energy drinks or whatever cause too much of those sorts of things will probably kill you or something. But also don’t drink too much water cause I heard this story on the radio once about people dying from that too. It mostly seemed like it was accidental deaths during like frat hazing which I mean still sucks but seems pretty unlikely to happen in most daily scenarios so, I don’t know just be careful, okay? You're important, you're loved, we need you and I absolutely refuse to even think about living in a world without you). Remember, it’s not about creating urgency it’s about not getting work done so don’t try to be a hero and hold it in longer than you need to. Drink plenty of water, keep your body comfortable and rest easy knowing that as a pleasant side-effect of your hydration and abundant urination, you are absolutely fucking glowing! Being a saboteur never looked so good! Your skin is clear and radiant and you are wasting company time. Keep it up you stunning fucking fox!

#5(?) As a means of sort of rounding things to a close, my last tip is meant to be taken as broad advice. It’s really more about a general attitude that encapsulates a deliberate indifference instead of being a direct tactic. In all things related to work, be a devout incrementalist. Let  your tactics develop slowly, gradually and naturally over time. Develop yourself as a character (maybe with a sexy mustache? Vroom vroom, let's ride!) that performs increasingly elaborate eccentricities which ultimately cost the company whatever unnecessarily expended resources you can scrape out of their coffers. But don't be afraid to let your coworkers be part of that development. Oddities and quirks are often off-putting and can make you unlikeable when meeting new people. People don't like things that they have to think about and anything new or different is challenging. (Don't flatten yourself for the sake of passive resistance though. You are a beautiful, unique and loveable flower. Shining like a star is part of who you are so you better not hide that light you magical fucking goddess! But, maybe remove the shade slowly. Sensually even. Pull the cover down nice and easy and let little rays of light peek through for a while cause you don't wanna blind anyone, you glowing Adonis!) Part of this, and part of class solidarity at large, is being liked by your coworkers. (I know, applying praxis with people who might not explicitly agree with everything you believe. Ew, bummer.) Let them in early, be friendly and do your best to be approachable. Maybe you could try revealing your tactics as mildly embarrassing habits on par with being particular about how you tie your shoes? Or maybe you could be more matter of fact and quietly keep at it, offering a chat about it to whoever asks? There's no wrong approach and with some experimentation you can find what works best for you. Small, gentle reveals will be much easier for everyone to accept with enough time, dedication and consistency. (Hey?! It's fun right? Getting blasted with the same thought over and over again. Almost seems like a good tactic to employ. Just saying.)

When using any of these tactics, those you’ve learned from others or any of your own that you’ve developed it's a good idea to be careful and pay attention. If any of this is done carefully you can always fall back on some degree of plausible deniability (legal gaslighting) but it's best to just be careful and avoid direct confrontation from the get-go. You don't want to lose your job. And unless your coworker can absolutely be trusted (blood bonds are probably too extreme here but definitely not off the table, use your best judgement), or if you can make it sound so ludicrous that even if were they to tattle to management that you were actively sabotaging your own workplace that no one would believe it, probably don't tell anyone what you're doing. This might take something of a more creative approach depending on how you feel about committing to some light deception but coming up with a cool explanation for why you do __________ (insert tediously slow, annoying, persistently disruptive behavior/activity here) can also be a real blast. Heck, maybe you and your tabletop buddies can get together some weekend and design a whole character? (I don't know how tabletop games work. I've had sex lots of times with lots of different people. Sorry nerds.) The possibilities are endless. You don't have to lie but it is fun and I guarantee your boss has almost certainly lied to you. So, fuck 'em. (Your employer, as a corporate entity, business or whatever, despite being legally recognized as a person thanks to the 2009 Citizens United vs. FEC ruling, is physically incapable of experiencing or understanding your puny, outdated and puritanical feelings of guilt. Abandon morality! Reject theological and cultural authority! Be your own god! Become death and destroy what destroys you! Arise, arise! Fell deeds awake: fire and slaughter! Spear shall be shaken, shield be splintered, a sword-day, a red day, ere the sun rises! Ride!)

Above everything else remember, you control the means of production. Your employer profits off of your labor by refusing to compensate you fairly. If you were being paid what you're really owed there'd be no profit to collect. By making your company as inefficient as possible you're simply doing your part to flex the power that comes with those realizations. You have the power to refuse being overworked. You have the power to tilt the balance and let your productivity reflect your wages. You can perform your own tiny little strike every day! Be creative! Have fun! Create the world you want to live in! Fuck work!  

[everydayplumber]

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[patrice-bergerons]

One thing that has made an immense improvement to my life is to evaluate potential choices based on a probability distribution of outcomes and take the actions that, based on best info available, are more likely than not to bring utility, whilst accepting upfront that you might end up in a "bad state" of the world and that in itself does not mean that you made the wrong choice because there is no way you can know the future with perfect precision and in order to achieve rewards you must take some risks, so as long as they are calculated, intentional risks why beat yourself up if they come to pass?

As a concrete example, yesterday I was considering whether to go to that queer clubbing night on my own. It was something I'd never done before though and based on what I know about myself and my past experience, I thought there was a ~20% chance I'd hate it, the night would go to waste, and I'd feel terrible about myself. But I also had a sense that I was more likely to enjoy it - and more so, that it could then add a new fun activity to my life going forward. So I went not because I thought there was no way it would go wrong but that on balance of probability it likely wouldn't. I ended up loving it, but had I hated it, perhaps I'd have felt stupid in the moment but then realised that I still made the right decision in going and now I know one more thing about what I don't enjoy which is valuable info and that I can use to inform future decisions.

You'd be amazed how much guilt and regret this framework takes out from your life.

[phlve]

Sociotype Profiles — LSE

Ego

Leading Te

LSEs are highly practical and busy individuals who direct their energies to solving mechanical and procedural issues in the here and now. Possessing a keen ability for applying new information to real problems, LSEs are adept at researching a range of useful subjects and utilising what they learn to aid their daily lives, sharpening their mind into a useful and adaptable tool for their benefit and those of others. Trying to be as capable and self-sufficient as possible, LSEs try to act in a way that everything they do serves some real, concrete use and they will endeavour to lend their energies to any matter around them that needs addressing, working to fix the problem so that everything runs smoothly and effectively. This can keep them continually on their feet moving from one task to the next in order to keep things working to a high quality. Frequently, the workings and processes of the immediate surroundings are taken on by the LSE as a personal responsibility and they will proactively attempt to improve this environment, not only fixing particular issues and keeping things working, but measuring and quantifying the results of their efforts, looking to see if there is anything to be learned for further improvements. LSEs need to feel that everything to be done to optimise their environment has been done, and will try to offer advice to others so that they can similarly function more effectively. As such, LSEs often make capable teachers of daily tasks to others, explaining step-by-step how best to go about doing something in a way that works well. Similarly they may put themselves to use sharing their knowledge and informing others of things they find interesting and relevant to a situation, allowing others to learn from such experiences and help themselves. In this way, LSEs earnestly try to be of the greatest assistance they can be to their environment and those that inhabit it.

Creative Si

Most frequently, the processes worked at and improved on by LSEs exist in the real, physical world, with the increases to efficiency being specifically in terms of increasing visible, measurable output with minimum waste of energy and resources. As such, quality of utility is prioritised in anything LSEs are working on. This leads to clean, fluid procedures in harmony with the surroundings, reducing clutter, mess and noise in a way that feels organic and natural. Such methods result in LSEs relying much on their hands to physically work on things, being able to interact directly with objects and move them around into the way that best aligns for a particular result. LSEs have a capable grasp of the details to the matters they work with, making them efficient managers in being able to account for minutiae that others may miss. LSEs feel unease around inefficient, clunky processes and have difficulty not stepping in to fix something causing a jam or unpleasant grinding of the gears. Similarly, LSEs try to avoid waste of resources available to them, trying to put each and every part to frugal, sustainable use. LSEs tend to be particular about how they are doing things in the day to day, often insisting upon doing things to an appropriate level of quality and refusing to perform shoddy work for other ends. Furthermore, LSEs are aware of the value of their own body as a tool in the workings around them, and pay much attention to its needs and upkeep. LSEs may be very capable of working hard, but they are unlikely to overwork themselves or forget to take time out for recuperation. Instead, they leave adequate time for leisure, putting together relaxing events for themselves and those close to them, or simply taking out a quality evening on their own. As such, LSEs are able to maintain themselves mentally and physically for continued productive efforts.

Super-Ego

Vulnerable Ni

LSEs are most driven to optimise tasks in the day-to-day and assessing their productivity in terms of immediate, visible results. Relying on what their senses tell them empirically, they are unable and largely unwilling to grasp the unseen effects of their actions in the long term and are uninterested in thinking far beyond the daily application and use of ideas and tools. They may reject the notion of placing much faith on hunches or beliefs in outcomes without considerable concrete proof. The main drive of LSEs is to work hard and well with the situation immediately before them, and this may significantly lessen the efficacy of their efforts when something seems like a prudent option but fails to lead anywhere or accomplish anything in the long run. Although capable organisers, LSEs prefer to handle things in the moment, or arrange loose plans for activities on a particular date. They will be far less likely to prepare for or give much thought to things happening that have no clear tie to present happenings. LSEs need flexibility to find the most efficacious plan in the moment and have difficulty lining these up with a singular, predicted outcome. Rather than limit their activities and improvements to those that best bring about a long-term result, LSEs prefer to be of continuous use throughout the day in as many areas as possible, and are likely to reject the notion that unseen higher goals or needs must be achieved at the expense of immediate practicality. For this reason, LSEs may take on projects, regardless of whether they can see its end within their means or not. However, such an approach is not always going to lead to beneficial results further down the line, with LSEs becoming so caught up in attending to the mundane processes that they can miss the big picture and things only achievable from commitment and dedication to a particular end. This need to fix any issue as and when it comes up can cause LSEs to easily and inadvertently wander off track with their plans and cause their daily helpfulness to not amount to very much on a larger scale. While being capable of working with speed, LSEs often lack appropriate haste, not knowing when no action is going to better help a situation than acting immediately. As such, they may hustle and bustle about from one task to the next, wasting their time for only superficial utility.

Role Fe

Although naturally dry and businesslike in their approach to the world, LSEs understand the need to make themselves appealing to others and for the sake of ease in conversation, will endeavour to be friendly and appealing in public, breaking the ice and keeping people happy in a socially engaging manner. In doing so, LSEs are better able to persuade people to allow themselves to be helped, as well as keeping those who might interfere or disrupt their efforts from wanting to do so. In these attempts, LSEs tend to be very polite and gracious, trying not to offend and coming across as a respectable, likeable person or even a role model for correct behaviour. However, LSEs tend to dislike the insincerity and superficiality of these attempts and much prefer finding people who they can interact with on closer, more accepting terms. In these more intimate relationships, LSEs feel they are better able to cut loose and simply be themselves, without having to play up to a crowd. The external charm of LSEs is a mask that can quickly wear thin when faced with people who are unresponsive to their attempts to help or inform, and in such situations, the LSE may quickly grow frustrated at others' stubbornness and wilful ignorance. In this way, the gregarious role that LSEs play is ineffective in more challenging situations, where people do not merely need to be kept happy, but won over entirely.

Super-Id

Mobilizing Ne

Although the restless energy of LSEs can make them already highly busy in the moment, a substantial amount of attention is given to the many possible things they can do next. LSEs tend to be highly intellectually curious and creatively open to expanding their horizons. As such, they are often looking for new perspectives and ways with which they can improve themselves, trying to think outside the box to find an unexpected or unlikely solution to a problem. They tend to dislike the idea that they may be limited in some way, taking the view that they can achieve anything they want if they simply work hard at something and will try to maximise their capability in many possible avenues. Similarly, they may attempt to come up with new, unexplored ideas to apply to their activities, offering their insights to others and taking pride in themselves should they be accepted and lead to beneficial results. However, the capability of LSEs to think of multiple unexplored scenarios can be adversely affected by their blindness to eventualities too far ahead of what their immediate observations can tell them. Although pragmatic and resourceful, LSEs are disinclined to give their ideas much careful forethought or consideration when they could instead be putting things into practice. LSEs may frequently be willing to try out a new idea, only for things to not turn out as they had hoped. When faced with inevitable failure, LSEs tend to instead conclude they simply have not worked hard enough and will up their efforts, often in vain. LSEs want to be be people of insightful creativity, who come up with good ideas, and may be very resistant to hyperbole of people saying their ideas will not work, demanding proof rather than abandoning their efforts to another's fatalistic hunch.

Suggestive Fi

Naturally pragmatic and business-minded, LSEs are best at making objective, effective decisions in the here and now, relying on the facts to inform them how best to proceed. However, LSEs are less able to consider more subjective sources for decision-making. Although deeply desiring a meaningful relationships with certain special people, LSEs have a hard time relying on their personal sentiments to make personal judgements on the internal qualities of others, whether they like the person or not. Usually, they will try to rely instead on factual information, what someone has done and whether their record is that of someone who is beneficial. However, LSEs desire assistance in being able to follow their heart when deciding how they feel about a person. Although wanting to see the best in others, LSEs tend to be unsure how to justify the correctness of such a feeling, greatly appreciating those who are able to validate their feelings and point out their potential as worthwhile relations. Furthermore, the busy tendency of LSEs to work hard at improving their surroundings can lead them to unintentionally neglect their long-term relationships with those close to them. As such, they desire patient, understanding people who are able to make time for them and allow them to unwind and simply be themselves in their spare moments. By doing this, LSEs can begin to form close, special bonds with their best friends and partners. More than anything, LSEs desire for someone else to look within them and see the goodness of their soul, treasuring those who can bring to attention that they are not merely useful, helpful people to others, but also fundamentally good and beneficial in nature.

Id

Ignoring Ti

LSEs are most disposed to acting in a manner that is practical and convenient, relying on their knowledge and common sense in order to do things effectively. As such, they tend to be averse to precise rules and guidelines, structuring their day and limiting their ability to think for themselves. Suffice to say, LSEs prefer to work at companies that give them breathing room and promote their self-sufficiency. Often motivated to explain how things work to others, LSEs are likely to do away with complex terminologies and precise definitions, preferring instead a looser, albeit drier, sequence of facts and helpful commentary that a person may use to help themselves. For LSEs, there is little true improvement to be had with simply devising a framework or model, as it simply makes people reliant on a set order and does not teach people to apply their own minds to solve problems situationally. LSEs are aware that in different circumstances, set systems and laws can be limiting, rather than enabling, and as such, are prone to avoiding using them unless absolutely necessary. Instead, LSEs prefer to give general guidelines and pieces of advice for how a person can may live more sufficiently and prudently, helping people by teaching them how to best apply their own common sense.

Demonstrative Se

Frequently, LSEs are highly restless, busy individuals who seem to be everywhere at once, acting on a desire to improve everything they lay their eyes on. This tirelessness makes them highly productive when they need to be, getting things done at a pace few others can sustain. Expertly able to respond in the moment, they are capable of quick, successful decisions. Despite this hyperactivity, LSEs tend to shun ferocity and competition with others for the sake of winning. Although very decisive and capable of assuming leadership of a situation, LSEs prefer not to see themselves as an authority of power, so much as an authority of wisdom, and will endeavour to assist others with what they know, rather than lead or control others into doing what they want. That being said, LSEs can be frightening in the rare situations that they lose their temper. However, LSEs are individualist and self-sufficient at heart, not seeing any justification in being the boss of others. Although often being successful in life due to hard work on their own initiative, LSEs simply aspire to be their own masters and perform tasks capably without interference of pushiness from others. Despite being unwilling to push others to do things, LSEs are very able to push themselves when necessary in order to get things done, often protecting the weaknesses and failings of multiple others in doing so. Such workhorse tendencies are sustainable by their hardy nature, although LSEs are not pain-embracing, and will be aware of the point where they begin to feel tired, being able to take an appropriately long rest after such bursts of activity.

Source: Wikisocion

[blogger-1111]

Why Digital Marketing is Important in 2023???

Let’s start by understanding what digital marketing is all about before we dive into why it’s so important. In the rapidly evolving landscape of business and technology, one thing stands out as a true game-changer – digital marketing. In 2020, we stepped into the digital age with full force, pushed by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. This shift has led businesses to adapt to digital methods for their survival. Every business wants more clients and customers, right? Well, that’s where Digital Marketing comes in handy. It’s like the key to attracting people and creating leads. 

Digital marketing means promoting your brand, service, or product using the internet and digital gadgets like phones, computers, and tablets. It’s made up of different parts, including content marketing, search engine marketing, search engine optimization, social media marketing, influencer marketing, and more. 

Now that we’re clear on what digital marketing is, let’s talk about the importance of digital marketing in 2023. 

Reach a Larger Audience 

Cost-Effective 

Targeted Marketing 

Measurable Results 

Provide Flexibility 

Increased Engagement 

Increased Brand Awareness 

Competitive Advantage 

Improved Customer Experience 

 Reliable Lead Generation 

1. Reach a Larger Audience 

When you advertise on TV or in a magazine, it’s hard to control who sees your ad. You might have some idea about the people who usually read that magazine or live in a certain area, but it’s mostly just guessing. However, with digital marketing, you can discover and target a very specific group of people who are likely to be interested. For instance, you can use social media to display ads to a particular group based on factors like their age, location, interests, connections, or activities. Alternatively, you could utilize methods like PPC or SEO to display ads to individuals who have searched for certain words related to what you’re selling. 

2. Cost-Effective 

Digital marketing is more affordable than traditional marketing, which is ideal for businesses that have limited funds and resources. With digital marketing, your small business can start the process immediately. You have complete control over how you spend your money, targeting certain marketing streams depending on your needs. The reason behind its easy affordability is the low investment techniques such as SEO, Content Marketing, etc. Some techniques, usually at the beginner level, come at no cost. Other techniques are paid, but the charges are lower than any traditional marketing technique like SEM (Search Engine Marketing). SEO is cheaper than SEM and focuses on organic traffic. So having a good Content Marketing strategy can help you in all aspects of Digital Marketing. Digital marketing helps you track day-to-day campaign performance, so you know what channels are performing well and which aren’t, helping you optimize your campaign budgets for high ROI. You only need to conduct some studies and then try any of the types of digital marketing mentioned above. 

3. Targeted Marketing 

Digital marketing allows you to pinpoint your audience with precision. This means you’re not wasting your resources on people who might not be interested in your product or service. Instead, you’re focusing on those who are most likely to engage and convert. This kind of targeting leads to higher efficiency and better results. Whether it’s showing ads to specific demographics on social media or using keywords to appear in search results for people looking for exactly what you offer, digital marketing lets you be where your potential customers are. 

4. Measurable Results 

One of the biggest advantages of digital marketing is that it’s like having a dashboard that shows you exactly how your efforts are working. Unlike traditional methods where you’re left wondering if your ad in a magazine brought in any customers, digital marketing gives you concrete numbers. You can see how many people clicked on your ads, how many liked your posts, how long they stayed on your website, and much more. This data helps you understand what’s effective and what needs improvement, allowing you to adjust your strategies for better outcomes. 

5. Provide Flexibility 

Digital marketing isn’t set in stone. It’s flexible and adaptable. If something’s not working as expected, you can change it quickly. Let’s say you’re running an ad campaign on social media and you notice it’s not getting the response you hoped for. With a few clicks, you can adjust the targeting, and the content, or even pause the campaign altogether. This flexibility helps you stay quick and adaptable in a business world that is changing quickly. 

6. Increased Engagement 

Digital marketing isn’t just about sending messages to your audience; it’s about engaging with them. Whether it’s through interactive social media posts, engaging videos, or informative blog articles, digital marketing methods encourage your audience to participate. They can like, comment, share, and even contribute their own content. This two-way communication builds a stronger connection between your brand and your customers. 

7. Increased Brand Awareness 

Being seen and recognized is crucial for any business. In the vast online world, digital marketing helps your brand stand out. With consistent and creative messaging, your brand becomes familiar to your audience. They start recognizing your logo, colors, and style, even if they haven’t made a purchase yet. This familiarity can turn into trust and loyalty over time.

Read More....... 

[msbarrows]

After finishing the Blight expedition and going back to my current main play save, I decided I it was time to move on from Euclid. Went with the “dead” galaxy option, so I’ve been transported to the Budullangr galaxy. Created a small first planetfall base near where I landed, then decided I wanted to create a bigger base somewhere to place local copies of things like all the exocraft bases and employee workstations. There was only one planet in the system that had water, and I lucked out in it having a very mild climate and being reasonably pretty for a bleak ecosystem. Hunted down one of the eternal twilight areas, spotted a small floating rock mass above a largish lake there, and decided to build on it.

I’ve named the place Laputa Base (of course after the flying city in Castle In The Sky) and spent several hours last night and this evening working on it (yes, after cheating my save to have access to all the legacy building sets).

There’s been a lot of experimentation, and stripping out and rebuilding things using different sets. I still have a bunch of building to do, and then I’ll dress out the place. I’m kind of loving how iridescent the old metal building set looks when hit by eternal sunrise/sunset lighting. I’m more meh on the concrete set, in some places it works really well and in others I find it too plain (need to knock down and rebuild those two towers to either side of the courtyard again, for the third time - neither metal nor concrete looks quite right).

Probably going to substantially remodel the area at the front of the island (looking out over the larger area of the lake); it’s currently cluttered up with solar panels, batteries, and the starship landing pad, which is wasting what would otherwise be a nice view. Will probably move the landing pad further right and back, sharing the walkway that leads to the modular base part where the employee workstations are. There’s some walled in areas underneath the main building that I can section off part of as a basement utility room to stick things like the batteries and electrical line hider in, and then move the solar panels to less obvious areas. Then enlarge that small front patio and make it look more like an entertainment area with an outdoor bar, seating, potted plants, etc.

[steelbuildingss]

Structural Steel Buildings: A Durable and Versatile Solution

Structural steel buildings have emerged as a popular choice for various construction projects due to their exceptional strength, durability, and versatility. Steel, known for its remarkable properties, offers numerous advantages over other building materials, making it an ideal choice for a wide range of applications, from commercial and industrial buildings to residential structures. In this article, we will explore the benefits and applications of structural steel buildings.

Strength and Durability: One of the most prominent advantages of structural steel is its unparalleled strength and durability. Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon, which provides it with exceptional load-bearing capacity. Steel structures can withstand extreme weather conditions, including strong winds, earthquakes, and heavy snow loads, making them highly resistant to damage. Moreover, steel does not warp, rot, or corrode like wood or concrete, ensuring the longevity of the building.

Versatility in Design: Structural steel offers immense flexibility in design, allowing architects and engineers to create innovative and aesthetically pleasing structures. The high strength-to-weight ratio of steel enables the construction of long-span structures with large open floor areas, eliminating the need for interior columns and enhancing the usable space. Additionally, steel can be easily modified, expanded, or adapted to accommodate future changes or expansions in the building.

Sustainable and Eco-Friendly: In an era where sustainability is paramount, structural steel buildings are an environmentally friendly choice. Steel is a recyclable material, and most steel used in construction today contains a significant percentage of recycled content. At the end of its life cycle, steel can be recycled indefinitely without losing its properties, reducing the demand for new steel production and minimizing waste. Furthermore, steel buildings can be designed to optimize energy efficiency, using advanced insulation systems and incorporating renewable energy sources.

Cost-Effective: While the initial cost of constructing a steel building may be slightly higher compared to traditional materials, the long-term cost savings outweigh the initial investment. Steel structures require minimal maintenance and have a longer lifespan than other building materials, reducing repair and replacement costs over time. Moreover, steel construction is faster and more efficient, saving on labor costs and minimizing construction delays.

Applications: Structural steel buildings find extensive applications in various sectors. In the commercial sector, steel structures are commonly used for office buildings, shopping malls, and warehouses due to their large spans and versatile design options. In the industrial sector, steel buildings are utilized for manufacturing plants, power plants, and storage facilities, providing the necessary strength and durability for heavy machinery and equipment. Steel is also a popular choice for residential construction, offering modern, open-plan living spaces and customizable designs.

In conclusion, structural steel buildings have revolutionized the construction industry with their exceptional strength, durability, and versatility. From their ability to withstand adverse weather conditions to their design flexibility and sustainability, steel structures offer numerous advantages over traditional building materials. Whether for commercial, industrial, or residential purposes, structural steel buildings provide a cost-effective and reliable solution that meets the demands of modern construction.