What (healthy, vegetarian) snacks do toddlers love? Suggestions, please!

Our kid just turned one year old, and we need quick food to placate her while preparing a real meal, and snacks while traveling to the next meal.

She does not love cheerios. Banana spears and apple slices are sometimes popular, and sometimes thrown some distance. Bread (whole grain) has been the biggest hit, sometimes with almond butter but often she'll chew on it indefinitely even when plain.

#snacks #toddlers #BabyFood

USians, how much money would you need in the bank to feel secure against the possibility that medical insurance won't pay your medical bills?

#HealthInsurance

You somehow find extra money, and space to put stuff. What do you splurge on?

This is really a question about what I should do with spare cash and storage, but I don't feel like explaining my full context, so answer from your perspective.

I don't know if I can afford any of these; I definitely can't afford all 4 in the near future. I may already have too many of each thing, but I need a daydream to motivate me to clean house and earn income.

Do you know anyone I could pay to transcribe songs for guitar or piano?

There are songs I would love to cover but I haven't found good tabs or sheet music for them. They don't sound too difficult for me to play, but I'm not sure I could figure them out myself, and if I could it would take long enough that it's impractical now that I have a child.

Some are indie bands where I could theoretically ask the band, but I worry they wouldn't take it well.

Others like James Taylor are inaccessible.

@skinnylatte it seems you've used both Polaroid and Instax, how are you feeling about these film formats at the moment?

I want a fully analog instant camera (no digital cameras with printers), but I don't like film packs with disposable batteries because I don't want unnecessary e-waste, which rules out many (unmodified) vintage Polaroids.

It seems my choice for film is between Polaroid i-type, and Instax, which comes in Mini, Square, and Wide formats.

What are the pros & cons of these film formats? Is one generally superior? Or does it really depend on the camera?

#InstantFilm #itypefilm #Polaroid #Instax

Are there any #COVID conscious children's books? We're especially interested in board books because of our baby's age and destructiveness, but I'll take anything.

What I hear from other parents is that there are a few from the early pandemic with outdated info like standing 6 feet apart and cloth masks, but nothing really relevant today.

Alternately, if you want your child to care about public health, what books might help?

#CovidIsNotOver #COVIDisAirborne #KidsBooks #BoardBooks #PublicHealth

Also, in response to me wondering if me criticizing their Mastodon account would interfere with getting tech support, one of GrapheneOS's 14(!) PMs asked me to delete my posts, then said:

> If you're making public posts calling us unhinged and directing hate towards us with misleading claims then we prefer not to communicate.

So it sounds like tech support from GrapheneOS might be contingent on not publicly criticizing their social media accounts.

UPDATE: GrapheneOS likes LLMs. In addition to responses to this thread, both public and private, we also have an official response on GitHub:

https://github.com/GrapheneOS/os-issue-tracker/issues/8677

https://infosec.exchange/@other8026/117226054538362428

So I also have to consider GrapheneOS's support for planet-cooking slop machines. It might still be better than Google Android, but I'm less enthusiastic all of a sudden.

I dropped my phone and broke it again. It jumped out of my pocket while I was running for the train, and bounced off the platform onto the rocks on the tracks, shattering the screen.

How do y'all carry these enormous modern smartphones? I have huge cargo pants pockets but my latest phone is too big to fit securely even in those pockets. It's too big to fit in regular pockets comfortably.

I guess ladies carry them in purses? Maybe I need a man purse.

#smartphones #phablets #pockets

With that out of the way, I have faith in GrapheneOS in terms of security, and I ran it on my backup phone for a while, so I'm confident it works well enough to be a plausible daily driver. The question is, is their social media behavior enough of a red flag that I should avoid their OS? Like, am I going to have trouble getting support because I said negative things about their Mastodon account?

Also has GrapheneOS taken any stance on LLMs? I would hope that security experts would avoid slop...

I can't tell if GrapheneOS is having a normal one because it seems they blocked me over pretty mild criticism of their social media presence: https://jawns.club/@skyfaller/115904946894724115

This seems to be one of the posts I was replying to, but the thread is broken, maybe GrapheneOS deleted their posts? https://ioc.exchange/@Lu_Tze/115904786973458776

I don't remember what GrapheneOS was saying, but it was likely a weird overreaction to mild criticism.

So warning: they will probably block you if you criticize them in this thread too.

In my efforts to escape Google, I'm considering signing up with Cape, "America's privacy-first mobile carrier", and buying a phone with GrapheneOS pre-installed from them. https://www.cape.co/blog/cape-supports-grapheneos

Has anyone done this? How is it going? Thanks to @Bender for mentioning Cape.

Cape supports the EFF and GrapheneOS, which seems good, but they also plug Proton, which is less good. It seems you can ignore the Proton promotion, though: https://www.cape.co/cape-and-proton

#Cape #carriers #smartphones #MVNO

I told Maggie sawfly larva are eating our red-osier dogwood, and she said "that doesn't sound promising", but:

1. I'm gardening for wildlife
2. Baby birds rely on #sawflies & caterpillars for nutrition
3. Predators like birds will show up to eat them, and keep them under control

I was not prepared for how violent predation could be. A paper wasp simply tore pieces off the living larva?! My photos are so graphic I hesitate to post them to iNaturalist, it feels like they need CWs.

#insects

Second, A. O. Smith's Voltex X:
https://cleantechnica.com/2026/08/10/a-o-smith-partners-with-panasonic-to-bring-a-co2-split-hpwh-to-market/
https://www.hotwater.com/products/split-system-outdoor-heat-pump-voltex-x/hpaco-45-100/100397647.html

It's a split heat pump water heater, with the compressor outdoors. It uses #CO2 #refrigerant and therefore has a GWP of exactly 1.

Pros:
* Can use less indoor space, house is small
* Does not cool house in winter
* No need for resistance heat

Cons:
* Uses outdoor space, yard is also small
* More expensive, outdoor unit needs 240v
* Outdoor water lines could freeze

#HeatPumps #WaterHeaters #AOSmith #VoltexX

🧵

First, #GE’s #Geospring:
https://cleantechnica.com/2025/07/10/ges-new-heat-pump-water-heater-takes-the-technology-to-new-heights/
https://www.geappliances.com/appliance/GE-Profile-GEOSPRING-Smart-Hybrid-Heat-Pump-Water-Heater-80-gallon-120V-FlexCapacity-PF80S10FPY

This is a unitary water heater, using HFO-1234yf #refrigerant, which has a GWP of <1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2%2C3%2C3%2C3-Tetrafluoropropene

I haven't been able to find a local source, but it seems I can order it online and have it shipped for a plumber to install: https://www.wayfair.com/home-improvement/pdp/ge-profile-geospring-smart-hybrid-heat-pump-water-heater-80-gallon-120v-flexcapacity-ghro1041.html

Pros:
* Can run on 120V, can avoid electrician
* Cools basement in summer

Cons:
* Cools basement in winter
* Resistance heat backup

🧵

#WaterHeaters #HeatPumps

I want to replace my methane gas water heater with a heat pump water heater. I also want to avoid refrigerants with a high Global Warming Potential: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_warming_potential

This greatly limits my appliance options, although I was able to find a ventless heat pump dryer that meets my specifications, a Blomberg DHP24404W which uses R290 (refrigerant grade propane) with #GWP 3. It works great and that gave me confidence that with enough effort and patience I could succeed.

I found two options: 🧵

I want to learn more about the general assemblies used by the Occupy Movement to make decisions through consensus in a crowd: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_assembly_%28Occupy_movement%29

Could you recommend primary sources? Did you ever attend one?

I'm interested in how it felt to participate in one, and in details of exactly how it functioned (or didn't function).

Has anyone used similar tactics since #Occupy burned out? Wikipedia mentions historical precedents but not anything afterwards.

#GeneralAssemblies #OccupyWallStreet

Let's add a poll for funsies (so annoying that you can't have a photo and a poll in the same post).

When can my child safely use this microscope (with adult supervision)?

When can I let my child use this microscope?

The box says: "Only for use by children ages 8 and up. Keep out of reach of animals and small children under 3 years of age." So children between three and eight years old can have it in their reach, but it's still not safe for them to use it, even with adult supervision? I'm not sure I understand the distinction. What danger could they experience by using it that they don't have just from touching it?

#microscopes #ChildSafety #children