#web development niches

[harmonymurphy]

After days of poking, prodding and scowling, I'm done with my first very basic art-reference custom-mythical-creature Blender sculpture. That probably sounds cool, but it's not. It's definitely not "look what I made!" quality, but I need to slowly work my way up to sharing my art again.

Putting under the cut because I'm going to ramble a little about my future comic and what I'm going to use it for. Also he's a Ken-doll but still technically nakey and not everyone wants to stumble across that.

Censored just in case, because the tail does look rather... strange in front view. I've heard Tumblr auto-censors can get overzealous over the wrong things.

This is why I learned Blender. I heard you could make custom models in Blender and import them into Clip Studio Paint and make them poseable. I wanted a digitigrade bipedal humanoid eight heads high, with the thighs vertical and the ball of the foot under the femur, the tibia longer than the femur, and an excessively long tail like I always draw on my animals. I also wanted them to be able to move their inner toes to brace and help with stability, since that's one of the disadvantages of the digitigrade state. And I needed the muscles to be easy for me to see for composition purposes. I knew I wouldn't find what I wanted online, so I had to make my own.

I have at least five species that will use this body plan, so this is just a generic model. They'll each have different tail and ear shapes, and two of them will likely have more reptilian/avian feet. I guess I'll finally admit that the kitsune and nekomata will be two fantasy creatures featured prominently in my comic, along with dragons. Eastern dragons were said to be able to shape-shift and crossbreed with humans, as well as having a sort of half-dragon/half-human form, so I took that idea and ran with it. Technically there are six remaining dragon varieties based on Easterns, Westerns, wyverns and a couple of cryptids, but I'm counting them as one.

As for the other two, I'm not quite ready to talk about them yet. I feel like I should have artwork of them ready before I reveal them. They are based on real mythical creatures, two of the coolest creature designs I've come across. I always wonder why they're so poorly-represented in the media (I've come across a couple but they really should be more common). But I've made enough little changes to them that part of me feels like they're mine now and I'm not ready to share them. And my interpretations of them are actually composites of multiple fantasy creatures from different regions, based on my research and my comparative-mythology approach, so... Why am I telling you this? I'll share them when I'm ready and I'll explain myself then.

Anyway, um, the model. Yeah, that's what I was supposed to talk about. So I think he's still too lumpy but he looks okay considering this is only my third sculpting project, and the first one I've worked on since my vision got really bad around November. Those hands just about killed me but I've never sculpted hands before and they came out better than my hand drawings. I'm not happy with all of his contours but he doesn't have to be perfect. He's adequate for what I'm going to use him for.

I'm going to rig him and do some animations to help me visualize how my characters move. I need to see if the leg proportions will work. I know it would make more biomechanical sense for them to keep their ankles locked while bearing their weight, but it's more fun to draw flexed ankles, so I need to see how this might impact their gait. (It will be addressed in the comic that there are some things about them that they can't explain, they just work, like their less-than-ideal leg structures. I have one that's even more illogical, but be patient, that's the next model I'll be working on, maybe you can see it next month.) I need to see if it would look better for them to hold their tails still or wave them in resonance with their gait. And I've always imagined them running quadrupedally in a specific way that wouldn't make their butts stick up in the air. I need to animate it and see if I could get it to work with their leg proportions, and if so, would they have a normal run cycle or should I have them bound like a mule deer.

Have I ever mentioned how I over-think everything? Because I over-think everything.

But first, I must retopologize him. He ended up with 950,000 vertices and my computer will go on strike if I try to render anything like that. And since I can't afford any of the instant-retopology tools this month, it has to be done manually, which is going to take me hours.

[hello-kuni]

i think i’ve finally decided on a bachelors program

[catboykilljoy97]

the most important part of learning programming btw is finding at least one very niche hill to die on and defending it with your last. Mine is that it makes no sense for PHP to stand for "PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor" that's ridiculous, you can't put an acronym back it its own acronym, it makes no sense. PHP stands for "Personal Home Page", suck it up and accept your history

[thememakker]

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[kafus]

beginner’s guide to the indie web

“i miss the old internet” “we’ll never have websites like the ones from the 90s and early 2000s ever again” “i’m tired of social media but there’s nowhere to go”

HOLD ON!

personal websites and indie web development still very much exist! it may be out of the way to access and may not be the default internet experience anymore, but if you want to look and read through someone’s personally crafted site, or even make your own, you can still do it! here’s how:

use NEOCITIES! neocities has a built in search and browse tools to let you discover websites, and most importantly, lets you build your own website from scratch for free! (there are other ways to host websites for free, but neocities is a really good hub for beginners!)

need help getting started with coding your website? sadgrl online has a section on her website dedicated to providing resources for newbie webmasters!

HTML (HyperText Markup Language) and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) are the core of what all websites are built on. many websites also use JS (JavaScript) to add interactive elements to their pages. w3schools is a useful directory of quick reference for pretty much every HTML/CSS/JS topic you can think of.

there is also this well written and lengthy guide on dragonfly cave that will put you step by step through the basics of HTML/CSS (what webpages are made from), if that’s your sort of thing!

stack overflow is every programmer’s hub for asking questions and getting help, so if you’re struggling with getting something to look how you want or can’t fix a bug, you may be able to get your answer here! you can even ask if no one’s asked the same question before.

websites like codepen and jsfiddle let you test HTML/CSS/JS in your browser as you tinker with small edits and bugfixing.

want to find indie websites outside the scope of neocities? use the search engine marginalia to find results you actually want that google won’t show you!

you can also use directory sites like yesterweb’s link section to find websites in all sorts of places.

if you are going to browse the indie web or make your own website, i also have some more personal tips as a webmaster myself (i am not an expert and i am just a small hobbyist, so take me with a grain of salt!)

if you are making your own site:

get expressive! truly make whatever you want! customize your corner of the internet to your heart’s content! you have left the constrains of social media where every page looks the same. you have no character limit, image limit, or design limit. want to make an entire page or even a whole website dedicated to your one niche interest that no one seems to be into but you? go for it! want to keep a public journal where you can express your thoughts without worry? do it! want to keep an art gallery that looks exactly how you want? heck yeah! you are free now! you will enjoy the indie web so much more if you actually use it for the things you can’t do on websites like twitter, instead of just using it as a carrd bio alternative or a place to dump nostalgic geocities gifs.

don’t overwhelm yourself! if you’ve never worked with HTML/CSS or JS before, it may look really intimidating. start slow, use some guides, and don’t bite off more than you can chew. even if your site doesn’t look how you want quite yet, be proud of your work! you’re learning a skill that most people don’t have or care to have, and that’s pretty cool.

keep a personal copy of your website downloaded to your computer and don’t just edit it on neocities (or your host of choice) and call it a day. if for some reason your host were to ever go down, you would lose all your hard work! and besides, by editing locally and offline, you can use editors like vscode (very robust) or notepad++ (on the simpler side), which have more features and is more intuitive than editing a site in-browser.

you can use ctrl+shift+i on most browsers to inspect the HTML/CSS and other components of the website you’re currently viewing. it’ll even notify you of errors! this is useful for bugfixing your own site if you have a problem, as well as looking at the code of sites you like and learning from it. don’t use this to steal other people’s code! it would be like art theft to just copy/paste an entire website layout. learn, don’t steal.

don’t hotlink images from other sites, unless the resource you’re taking from says it’s okay! it’s common courtesy to download images and host them on your own site instead of linking to someone else’s site to display them. by hotlinking, every time someone views your site, you’re taking up someone else’s bandwidth.

if you want to make your website easily editable in the future (or even for it to have multiple themes), you will find it useful to not use inline CSS (putting CSS in your HTML document, which holds your website’s content) and instead put it in a separate CSS file. this way, you can also use the same theme for multiple pages on your site by simply linking the CSS file to it. if this sounds overwhelming or foreign to you, don’t sweat it, but if you are interested in the difference between inline CSS and using separate stylesheets, w3schools has a useful, quick guide on the subject.

visit other people’s sites sometimes! you may gain new ideas or find links to more cool websites or resources just by browsing.

if you are browsing sites:

if the page you’re viewing has a guestbook or cbox and you enjoyed looking at the site, leave a comment! there is nothing better as a webmaster than for someone to take the time to even just say “love your site” in their guestbook.

that being said, if there’s something on a website you don’t like, simply move on to something else and don’t leave hate comments. this should be self explanatory, but it is really not the norm to start discourse in indie web spaces, and you will likely not even be responded to. it’s not worth it when you could be spending your time on stuff you love somewhere else.

take your time! indie web doesn’t prioritize fast content consumption the way social media does. you’ll get a lot more out of indie websites if you really read what’s in front of you, or take a little while to notice the details in someone’s art gallery instead of just moving on to the next thing. the person who put labor into presenting this information to you would also love to know that someone is truly looking and listening.

explore! by clicking links on a website, it’s easy to go down rabbitholes of more and more websites that you can get lost in for hours.

seeking out fansites or pages for the stuff you love is great and fulfilling, but reading someone’s site about a topic you’ve never even heard of before can be fun, too. i encourage you to branch out and really look for all the indie web has to offer.

i hope this post helps you get started with using and browsing the indie web! feel free to shoot me an ask if you have any questions or want any advice. <3

[0sbrain]

here's a list of mozilla add-ons for all of you tumblrinas out there to have a better internet experience

also, if you like my post, please reblog it. Tumblr hates links but i had to put them so you adhd bitches actually download them <3 i know because i am also adhd bitches

BASIC STUFF:

AdGuard AdBlocker / uBlock Origin : adguard is a basic adblock and with origin you can also block any other element you want. for example i got rid of the shop menu on tumblr

Privacy Badger : this add on will block trackers. if an element contains a tracker it will give you the option to use it or not

Shinigami Eyes: this will highlight transphobic and trans friendly users and sites using different colors by using a moderated database. perfect to avoid terfs on any social media. i will explain how to use this and other add-ons on android as well under the read more cut

THINGS YOU TUMBLINAS WANT:

Xkit: the best tumblr related add on. with many customizable options, xkit not only enhances your experience from a visual standpoint, but provides some much needed accessibility tools

bonus: if you are into tf2 and wanna be a cool cat, you can also get the old version to add cool reblog icons

AO3 enhancer: some basic enhancements including reading time and the ability to block authors and tags

YOUTUBE

Return of the YouTube Dislike : pretty self explanatory

Youtube non-stop: gets rid of the annoying "Video paused. Continue watching?" popup when you have a video in the background

SponsorBlock: gives you options to skip either automatically or manually sponsors, videoclip non music sectors and discloses other type of sponsorships/paid partnerships

Enhancer for YouTube: adds some useful options such as custom play speed, let's you play videos in a window and most important of all, it allows you to make the youtube interface as ugly as your heart desires. I can't show a full image of what it looks like because i've been told its eye strainy and i want this post to be accessible but look at this <3

PocketTube: allows you to organize your subscriptions into groups

YouTube Comment Search: what it says

FINDING STUFF

WayBack Machine: you probably know about this site and definitely should get the add on. this allows you to save pages and access older versions with the click of a button. while you can search wayback using web archives, please get this one as well as it allows you to easily save pages and contribute to the archive.

Web Archives: it allows you to search through multiple archives and search engines including WayBack Machine, Google, Yandex and more.

Search by Image: allows you to reverse image search using multiple search engines (in my experience yandex tends to yield the best results)

Image Search Options: similar to the last one

this next section is pretty niche but... STEAM AND STEAM TRADING

SteamDB: adds some interesting and useful statistics

Augmented Steam: useful info specially for browsing and buying games

TF2 Trade Helper: an absolute godsend, lets you add items in bundles, keeps track of your keys and metal and your recent trades, displays links to the backpack tf page next to users profiles and more. look it tells me how much moneys i have and adds metal to trades without clicking one by one oh may god

IN CONCLUSION: oooooh you want to change to firefox so badly, you want to delete chrome and all the chrome clones that are actually just spyware and use firefox

HOW TO USE MOZILLA ADD-ONS ON YOUR PHONE

if you already use firefox on android, you'll know there are certain add-ons compatible with the app, some of them even being made just for the mobile version such as Video Background Play FIx. while most of them are pretty useful, some more specific ones aren't available on this version of the browser, but there's a way of getting some of them to work

you need to download the firefox nightly app, which is basically the same as the regular firefox browser but with the ability of activating developer mode. you can find how to do that here. once you've enabled it, you need to create a collection with all the add ons you want. i wouldn't recommend adding extensions if the creators haven't talked about phone compatibility, but XKit and Shinigami Eyes should work

also, don't tell the government this secret skater move, but you can try using both the regular firefox browser and nightly so you can have youtube videos in a floating box while you browse social media.

see? i can block this terf while Rick Rolling the people following this tutorial. isn't that tubular?

[emeryleewho]

I'm just gonna say this:

If you don't want to use the word "queer", you don't have to.

When I say "the queer community", I don't mean you.

When I say "queer media", I don't mean you.

When I say "queer history", I don't mean you.

If you don't want to be part of the vibrant cultural, historical, and political community that queer people have developed, you don't have to be. You aren't queer. We are. All of the LGBTIA+ people who identify with the word are part of our own web of brilliant community, and y'all can be in your own little niche community with all the other people who don't want anything to do with us.

And I'll still keep talking about the queer community because that's *my* community, and if it overlaps a little with your LGB community, that's not my problem. No one is calling you anything you don't want to be called because we are not talking about you. You are not *welcome* with us, the queers, because we are not using the terms you want to be identified with so when we say queer, we don't mean you. Enjoy your exclusion. Discourse over. 

[tribbetherium]

Lepidopterans, the insect clade including butterflies and moths, were among the invertebrate species seeded onto the planet's biome, in order to act as pollinators that allowed the numerous introduced plants to survive. While most of them adhered to this lifestyle and ecological niche, as ravenous leaf-eaters that metamorphosed into flying pollinators, a few began to experiment with more unconventional lifestyles.

Some of the stranger kinds included the caterpedes: a group of neotenic species that matured simply as larger larvae and skip metamorphosis altogether: filling niches as forest floor detritivores, folivores or occasionally even predators of other insects. And perhaps more unusual are the clade known as the Hemimetamorpha, or "half-changed", which do pupate and emerge as adults with proboscises: yet retain their silk glands ejecting silk through a spinneret located directly below the proboscis and between the labial palps, allowing them to construct nests or wrap their eggs in silk sacs for protection.

Many of the Hemimetamorpha do not develop wings, and instead, thanks to their piercing and sucking mouthparts, fill the niches of true bugs on Earth: as sap-suckers akin to aphids, leafhoppers or cicadas, predators of small arthropods, or even as as flea-like parasites on larger animals. And in the case of one clade, the spooders, they use their retained silk glands to spin webs to catch their prey, in a manner akin to their arachnid namesake.

The red-spotted skeeter (Arachnopapilo rubrum) is one widespread Middle Temperocene species, ranging well across the tropics and temperate zones of Gestaltia and Arcuterra. Despite appearances, it sports two ocelli, one next to each compound eye, large feathery antennae possessing olfactory receptors, and a proboscis, albeit a short, sharp one rather than the long, coiled ones of nectar-feeders, all of which mark its lepidopteran ancestry despite the otherwise lack of resemblance to them.

Female red-spotted skeeters spin webs among grasses and branches, waiting to ensnare flying insects that they then immobilize with digestive enzymes in their saliva, while males are smaller and nomadic, instead hunting by pouncing on their prey and traveling across larger areas of territory compared to the more sedentary females who prefer to stay in their webs. They are also more brightly colored, in order to entice a mate, as the larger female is not above preying upon a suitor she does not like, though occasionally, a male may resort to restraining a female with his own silk, immobilizing her long enough to successfully mate and fleeing before she escapes.

Once mated, the female wraps her eggs into a silk pouch, searches out a safe place with plenty of food, and leaves the egg sac there to develop with no further intervention. The young hatch out as fairly typical caterpillars, yet are carnivores like the adults, tracking down and ambushing other small insects, in particular ants due to their foraging trails being a reliable source of food that comes to them as they lie in wait, as well as their toxic compounds being sequestered by the larva for its own defense. With a nutritious protein-rich diet, the larva matures faster than a leaf-eating caterpillar, and is ready to pupate within a week or two, producing a camouflaged chrysalis that is attached to branches and stems and further disguised by bands of silk. After another 5-7 days it emerges as an adult, and is immediately ready to hunt for a meal within minutes, being wingless and thus bypassing the long vulnerable phase of waiting of their wings to unfold. Within the span of a month, another generation is fully-fledged and ready to breed: a rapid turnover vital for a species with high mortality rates and many enemies-- including members of its own species in both their larval and adult forms.

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

[luxudus]

Dragons in a Trail of Cryptids

I don't care if this technically was posted in march i uploaded it to deviant art in time this is a february art post lmfao. This was meant to be a birthday gift for @jennywolfgal and her other project Trail of Cryptids. Enjoy!!!

   The world of Trail of Cryptids explores an evolutionary history for life on earth. One in which the beasts of our folklore are more fact than fiction. Cryptids and mythological creatures exist and evolved naturally through both expected and unexpected origins. 

One such group of organisms are the legendary dragons of countless tales of our world. Here they only recently diversified, but their ancestry dates all the way back to the beginning of the triassic.

    Their earliest ancestor was a third offshoot of the Avemetatarslians, the same group of archosaurs that gave rise to the dinosaurs and pterosaurs. Ancient Silesaur-like Paradrakoans lived under their brothers’ shadows for the entire mesozoic period. Only scraping by through the smallest niches and farthest corners of the world like the equally unfortunate mammals.

    Once the asteroid hit the earth 66 million years ago and wiped out the dinosaurs and pterosaurs. Only 2 representatives of this once great clade remained. Birds, and a single paradrakoan. A small burrower classified as Fodermasaurus superstes, cheekily named by paleontologists as the spug. 

     It took a long time for the Drakoans to grow their wings and spread it. At first climbing trees and making burrows, then gliding to ease the falls from the canopy. Then longer webbing on the hands to change direction. And finally learned to flap them to gain height. Countless now dead lineages, finally producing the first Drakoan over 40 million years ago during earth’s late eocene.

    Nowadays the Drakoans are a fairly small group. They only consist of roughly 1,116 species. A far cry from their far more successful avian cousins. But nonetheless a monumental achievement relative to their entire evolutionary history.

    Some common traits that distinguish the Drakoans from other vertebrates are developed egg-teeth that some species retain well into adulthood. Large auricles or external ears, Keratin horns. And most notably powered flight, evolving independently from their avian cousins. 

    We’ll start out with the order Avidrakoa. An order of Drakoans unique for possessing fully developed beaks derived from their egg teeth. And a unique wing structure made more out of fur bristles than a tough skin membrane. The Avidrakoans first split the moment the class as a whole first evolved powered flight. Allowing their wings to be this derived

    They are not too common, numbering in 148 species in total. Most of which are split between basal bipeds such as thunderbirds and the more derived quadrupeds which include griffins.

    The species here is an actual griffin. Gryphon tropicus to be exact. They are apex predators of the rainforests of indonesia. Their deep warm coloration and disruptive stripe conceal them in the forest scenery to ambush prey. And their powered flight lets them hop across islands, making them not only a formidable predator, but a widespread one too.

    The most famous members of the Drakoan class are the Eudrakoans, the true dragons. They are characterized by their strong parenting mentalities and a natural ability to breathe fire. Through 4 orifices in the corners of their mouth they spew out a liquid biofuel into the path of a similarly regurgitated and highly reactive gas, igniting the fuel into a stream of flaming liquid. 

    They are the most widespread group of dragons, totalling at 447 different species. Most species are either small sprawling quadrupeds such as the European forest dragon to erect striding quadrupeds like the legendary Eurasian mountain Tsar

    The species representing the True Dragons. Megaloros thereusicthys is a close relative to the Eurasian mountain Tsar. Although unlike their apex cousin this species is a wading piscivore. Using their stilted legs to practically hover over the water and their flexible necks to pluck fish out of the rivers they tread through.

    Next up is the order Wyverna, a group of Drakoans distinguished by the development of poison laced quills found in certain places along the body. All interconnected to a set of poison glands in the upper mandible. These glands oddly enough share the same ancestry as the biofuel tanks in the Eudrakoans. And a stiffer wing structure making them obligate bipeds

    They are the second most common order of dragons. Numbering at 335 documented species. Including the cockatrice surprising many.

    The species pictured here is Ouranodyno chrysokephale. A generalist omnivore with a generalist range across Mexico with a rather extravagant hunting method. They dive-bomb towards their prey and catch them with their mouths. More as showmanship for mates than an actual means to survive. They also have extravagant coloration to warn would-be attackers of their poisonous tail quill that could kill a bison in under a minute

    There is the order Wurmiza, the most derived group of dragons recorded. They are distinguished by a near complete lack of hind legs. Fully internalized ears, a streamlined annelid-from body plan, and aquatic to semi-aquatic lifestyle. They are the 2nd rarest order of dragons. Consisting of only 124 documented species. Consisting of the smaller seafaring Ladons and the larger Oceanic sea Serpents.The species used to represent the Wyrms, Pachaktevenator horribilis. Is a medium sized sea serpent found in the Indian ocean. They are notable for their extreme aggression and their mating season being spent on the beach. Draconian elephant seals if you will.

Lastly, despite only being a family. This last group of dragons is peculiar enough to warrant it's own highlight in this introduction. The Neosaurs are in a way a twisted mirror of the beasts of the past. They are notable for a complete lack of wings, reduced horns and aurica. But are most recognizable for the Theropod-like body plan most Neosaurs display. Which is speculated to be a consequence for their ancestors having stiff wings like their Wyvern cousins.

    They are a very rare order, there are only about 62 species documented. Most of them are found across africa as smaller generalists. But a few can get big enough to recapture what the original dinosaurs had lost

    Representing the Neosaurians, the Kasaii asymneter is a south african desert dwelling relative to the legendary Kasaii rex of the southern congo rainforest. They are both pursuit hunters and act relatively similar. The main difference is the prey selection and differenc coloration.

[essential-randomness]

Enter the FujoVerse™

Starting 2024's content creation journey with a bang, it's time to outline the principles behind the FujoVerse™: an ambitious (but realistic) plan to turn the web back into a place of fun, joy, and connection, where people build and nurture their own communities and software. (You can also read the article on my blog)

The Journey

As those who follow my journey with @bobaboard or read my quarterly newsletter (linked in the article) know, the used-to-be-called BobaVerse™ is a collection of projects I've been working on since 2020 while pondering an important question: how do we "fix" the modern social web?

Obviously the joyless landscape that is the web of today is not something a single person can fix. Still, I loved and owed the internet too much to see it wither.

After countless hours of work, I found 3 pillars to work on: community, software ownership and technical education.

Jump in after the cut to learn more about how it all comes together!

Community

Community is where I started from, with good reason! While social networks might trick us into thinking of them as communities, they lack the characteristics that researchers identify as the necessary base for "true community": group identity, shared norms, and mutual concern.

Today, I'm even more convinced community is a fundamental piece of reclaiming the web as a place of joy. It's alienating, disempowering, and incredibly lonely to be surrounded by countless people without feeling true connection with most of them (or worse, feeling real danger).

Software Ownership and Collaboration

As I worked with niche communities "software ownership" also became increasingly important to me: if we cannot expect mainstream tech companies to cater to communities at the margins, it follows that these communities must be able to build and shape their own software themselves.

Plenty of people have already discussed how this challenge goes beyond the tech. Among many, "collaboration" is another sticking point for me: effective collaboration requires trust and psychological safety, both of which are in short supply these days (community helps here too, but it's still hard).

Education (Technical and Beyond)

As I worked more and more with volunteers and other collaborators, however, another important piece of the puzzle showed itself: the dire state of educational material for non-professional web developers. How can people change the web if they cannot learn how to *build* the web?

(And yes, learning HTML and CSS is absolutely important and REAL web development. But to collaborate on modern software you need so much more. Even further, people *yearn* for more, and struggle to find it. They want that power, and we should give it to them.)

Once again, technical aspects aren't the only ones that matter. Any large-scale effort needs many skills that society doesn't equip us with. If we want to change how the web looks, we must teach, teach, TEACH! If you've seen me put so much effort into streaming, this is why :)

And obviously, while I don't go into them in this article, open source software and decentralized protocols are core to "this whole thing".

The Future

All of this said, while I've been working on this for a few years, I've struggled to find the support I need to continue this work. To this end, this year I'm doing something I'm not used to: producing content, gaining visibility, and putting my work in front of the eyes of people that want to fight for the future of the web.

This has been a hard choice: producing content is hard and takes energy and focus away from all I've been doing. Still, I'm committed to doing what it takes, and (luckily) content and teaching go hand in hand. But the more each single person helps, the less I need to push for wide reach.

If you want to help (and read the behind the scenes of all I've been working on before everyone else), you can subscribe to my Patreon or to my self-hosted attempt at an alternative.

I deeply believe that in the long term all that we're building will result in self-sustaining projects that will carry this mission forward. After all, I'm building them together with people who understand the needs of the web in a way that no mainstream company can replicate.

Until we get there, every little bit of help (be it monetary support, boosting posts, pitching us to your friends, or kind words of encouragement and support) truly matters.

In exchange, I look forward to sharing more of the knowledge and insights I've accrued with you all :)

And once again, to read or share this post from the original blog, you can find it here.

[izicodes]

Hello! Do you have any advice on getting into freelance coding or remote jobs in the field? I'm having trouble with my current endeavors of applications and my current customer service job isn't doing me well enough to want to stay, so I'm hoping for progress sooner rather than later. Anything helps, thank you!!

Hiya 🖤

Thanks for reaching out with your question about getting into freelance coding or remote jobs. Making a transition can be challenging, but with dedication and strategic steps, you can definitely progress in your career.

Firstly, consider specializing in a specific field of computer science rather than trying to learn everything. This will help you become an expert in a niche, making you more attractive to potential clients or employers.

The big thing to look at is (1) what specific job do you want? Don't know yet? That's the first thing you need to find out. (2) Found the job you want? Go to this website "roadmap.sh" and click the job title you want and look at the roadmap to become it. (3) Have an idea of what you need to learn? Now study :)

Here are some extra key pieces of advice:

Public Code Repositories

Showcase your coding skills by contributing to public repositories on platforms like GitHub, GitLab, or others. This allows potential employers to see your projects and assess your coding abilities.

Online Certifications

Earn certifications from reputable online courses like Freecodecamp, Codecademy, or SheCodes (if you're a woman). Displaying these certifications on your LinkedIn profile adds credibility for remote work or even freelance work because then clients will trust your skills more if it's back up with evidence (projects and/or certificates).

Links: "Massive List of Thousands of Free Certificates" / "The Udemy courses I use" / "FreeCodeCamp" / "Codecedemy" / "SheCodes" / "Udacity" / "Coursera" / "Google"

LinkedIn Profile

Revamp your LinkedIn profile to reflect your job title. Use a title that aligns with your dream job, and highlight your skills, certifications, and projects. You don't even need work experience OR do what a lot of my developer mates do have no work experience and set your "job" as a self-employed freelance developer... little cheat there~!

Links: "LinkedIn Career Explorer" / "Tips for speaking to/reaching out to Recruiter" / "Tips for Landing Your First Entry-Level Developer Job" / "Career Services for Web Development" / "The Talent Cloud Community: Careers Workshop"

Volunteering

Help someone out with a project for their business or whatever. For example, I helped a guy I met in a programming discord server build his portfolio page for free, but I care more about the experience. Search online for volunteer jobs with your dream job title e.g. Volunteer App Develope, but in your country would be better. The experience you can you can add to your LinkedIn. the project you work on you can add to your resume/experience.

Link: "SkilledUp Life"

Networking

Connect with professionals in your field on LinkedIn, even if you don't know them personally. Growing your network can open up opportunities and expose you to valuable insights. Events in person or online, servers (I found volunteer opportunities here), forums, Twitter (I found some mates on there), Instagram (another place I found developer friends). Networking can even help with building group projects~!

Link: "Tips for speaking to/reaching out to Recruiter"

Project Building

Work on both small and big projects to demonstrate your capabilities. Highlight these projects on your resume and portfolio.

Links: "Building projects after learning a new concept advice" / "Tips from learning using multiple resources" / "Tips on learning programming with ChatGPT" / "Harvard University Free IT Courses" / "The Udemy courses I use" / "Free Programming Books" / "Coding Advice for beginners" / "800 free Computer Science classes"

Online Presence

Share your learning progress and projects on various platforms like Tumblr, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, or YouTube. Employers often appreciate candidates who actively showcase their work and commitment to learning. I made a post for Tumblr coding blogs:

Link: "Codeblr Blog Advice: 8 Blog Coding Post Ideas"

Good luck!!

[kiwi-smug-silvalina]

vincent van gogh ("trees and undergrowth") // Otherside (MInecraft OST) // david levithan // @endrinstone // Sappho, from If Not, Winter: Fragments of Sappho; tr. by Anne Carson // nikolay dybowski and alexandra goludeva // Virginia Woolf, from a diary entry written c. November 1935 featured in Selected Diaries // // voyager golden records // Vladimir Mayakovsky, from a letter featured in "Love in the Heart of Everything; The Correspondence between Vladimir Mayakovsky & Lili Brik, 1915-1930," // Purple Steel // Nadezhda Mandelstam, from "Hope against Hope: A Memoir," originally published in 1970 // Arthur Rimbaud, from The Complete Works of Arthur Rimbaud; "A Season In Hell," // @zeteri-art // — clarice lispector, the stream of life // Miguel Hernández, tr. by Robert Bly, from The Selected Poems; "Letter," // Miguel Hernández, tr. by Robert Bly, from The Selected Poems; "I Have Plenty of Heart,"

(Part 1/2) (2/2)

kantje, Showtime SMP, on growth, sacrifice, development and the choices we made with the consequences we suffer

Part 1 of my very first web weaving which is also a present for @zeteri-art (i hope you dont mind that i used one of your art pieces for it, there just arent many pieces of art of kantje that were not made by you (i respect the grind o7)) for @mcyt-valentines

I have had no idea who kantje was before I got you as my secret valentine and since i wanted to make something special, and this is a rather niche character from a smaller smp, I wanted to make something for this! I went around the internet, trying to find lore summaries and other stuff to no avail, until I stumbled upon @endrinstone who was literally my beacon in the dark and gave me such a vast explanation of the lore, moments that were important and also some screenshots that I could use for the web weaving! Like so many kudoes to you bestie, I wouldve literally probably given up on it and did something else instead if it werent for ya.

But! I really hope that, as an outsider from this smp who hasnt even known of the characters existence until like, five days ago, I captured their lore at least a little bit! I really hope you enjoy and I will post this and the second part immediately afterwards, which I will also @ you in!

[theambitiouswoman]

Hey lovely,

Hope you had a good Christmas!

Do you have any advice on careers that I could potentially turn into a freelance business?

I was looking into being a contractor for businesses or business manager where I’ll be able to one day choose my own working hours and still make a lot of money.

Happy New Year angel,

There are tons. With focus on business owners, the key is to choose a niche that makes their life easier. I don't know what specific skill set you may have, if you don't you might want to spend a few weeks/months become great at something and once you do you can launch your own agency.

Some ideas for you..

Social media management

Social media content creation

Email marketing

FB/TIKTOK Ads manager

Graphic designer

Web development

CRO manager

CS manager

Brand/person photographer ( I have seen people start agencies that offer creating AI images for brands)

Product photography

Copy writing

Video production

Video editing

Marketing strategist/consultant

SEO manager

Google Ads manager

UGC (independent or contracting creators under you)

Influencer marketing

Public Relations

Affiliate Manager

These are all essentially service businesses, there are a million non customer related things you can do as well to make money on your own time.

Remember when you have a business, you work for your customers, so you don't necessarily work "whenever you want" but you can set hard boundaries and decide what dates/hours you are available.

[hprofational9]

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[pfctipper]

1, 10, and 12 for the violence ask!!

ahh ty for asking!

1 the character everyone gets wrong

i am picky about characterisation and do often find myself being like 'he would not say that' (although that is often bc it's easy for dialogue to end up super anachronistic. people just talked differently in the 1940s) but generally i like seeing different interpretations!

however anytime people draw leckie and web parallels i'm a bit like. hmm

also i think nix can veer off really quickly into a bit of a caricature. i really like @lewis-winters' meta on his drinking. it's not remotely comparable to the military but i went to an insanely high-pressure uni that was 50% private school kids and being alcohol-dependent was just. Normal. it wasn't even interesting enough to be joked about (the other less fun option was to develop an eating disorder)

to me there's something significant in that we only really see him through dick's eyes - he didn't speak to ambrose and doesn't feature much in any of the other men's books, and in the show he almost never interacts with people independently of dick (except the scenes with the german widow) so we don't necessarily get much of a sense of how he behaved around others. so i'm not convinced i quite pinned him down in uprooted and i think the show probably got him a bit 'wrong' too

10 worst part of fanon

oh this one is hard! i don't think there's too much fanon floating around? unless you count stuff the show invented, like web/lieb haha

i have Thoughts on how stanhope nixon gets portrayed in fics (bc he's only in his forties during wwii and also the product of the same environment as nix) but even for me that is seriously niche. blanche and ann sometimes seem to get pigeonholed as the 'sassy female sidekick' too

12 the unpopular character that you actually like and why more people should like them

lt peacock! mostly bc i just feel awful for him. we all know what web thought of him but he was trying his best and the scene where all the men are saying goodbye to him and he thinks they're being sincere breaks my heart. tab described him as a 'sincere and by the book officer but not a soldier' and i think it's a really stark reminder that at any other time in history he would probably just have gone and practiced law and not had to try to be a soldier

also the actor that played him has a great jawline

[tribbetherium]

The Early Rodentocene: 5 million years post-establishment

Evasive Maneuvers: Defenses of the Cricetomurids

For many eons, in the Early Rodentocene, the hamsters of HP-02017 lived a blissful existence free of much worry or threat. While there were now indeed factors such as diseases, parasites, competition and changing patterns of food availability that had now served to keep their populations from exploding into disastrous levels as they once had in the first few centuries of the Early Rodentocene, they, nonetheless had no enemies to fear--except each other.

Over the generations, however, as the hamsters specialized and began to diverge from one another into different species, some hamsters had evolved to fill in a then-open and vacant niche to exploit a new, plantiful and uncontested food source: other hamsters. And thus would come the huntsters: the first predators of the Rodentocene that would become agents of a new round of adaptive radiation as an evolutionary arms race began between them and their prey.

The gouties grew larger, the jermas grew faster and more agile, the peachpitters sought refuge in the trees and the shrewbils burrowed ever deeper in their tunnels. Yet some of the more mundane cricetomurids, relatives of the banded dawndusk, experimented on some rather novel new means to protect themselves from their enemies.

The spiny bristleback (Echinocricetus spinus) developed coarse, stiff guard hairs on its back that made for some irritating bristles should it be grabbed from behind. These hairs, rigid and brittle, possessed barbed ends that easily broke off when it embedded into a predator. They were, at least for now, still too fine and fragile to cause serious harm, but they were a very unpleasant sensation for any unlucky huntster that got them in its vulnerable and sensitive eyes, nose and forepaws. Over time, some bristlebacks even developed a resistance to the toxins of certain plants, chewing them to a pulp and rubbing against its juices to make themselves even more unpalatable to predators.

The river puffpaddle (Hydrocricetus bullibucca), on the other hand, prefers to flee than fight: making use of a most unexpected part of its anatomy. Frequenting the banks of rivers and streams to forage on plants, mosses, seeds and small invertebrates, it spent much of its time near the water and even dug their burrows nearby, just barely out of reach of the water's highest point.

When attacked, the puffpaddle leaps into the stream and deploys its built-in life rafts: its own expandable cheek pouches, once useful for storing food, now fill up with air and keep the small creature afloat as it paddles to the other bank, using broad feet with partially-webbed digits. Huntsters, being far poorer swimmers, often refuse to risk drowning over a meal, and often give up the chase, allowing the puffpaddle to swim off another day.

Over time, as the eons passed, these simple tactics would have far more important consequences into the distant future. The spiny bristleback would give rise to the heckhogs, a clade of prickly, omnivorous duskmice whose bristles have progressed to full-on quills: ones sufficient to make them inedible to the vast majority of carnivores that would come to be in the Glaciocene and the Temperocene. But the puffpaddle, perhaps, would go down a far more unexpected route. In the Middle Rodentocene, some of its descendants would specialize not only to escape into the water, but actually live and forage in it. They would thus become the beaver-like pondrats, who in the Therocene come to colonize the seas as the marine bayvers, some of which, unburdened by gravity, commit to the water as the giant, fully marine cricetaceans, reaching titanic proportions in the cold, productive seas of the Glaciocene.

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