top tip from someone incompetent at sewing: if you're repairing something black, don't use black thread because you can't see a damn thing and it'll end up even more of a mess than usual. Use white thread and then take a permanent black marker to the thread afterwards.
I really need to get round to getting glasses. I spent a while thinking "I'm sure the platforms didn't use to go up to 48".
@jon I remember you saying about MEPs not taking trains; a friend who has worked in the office of an MEP says they do (on occasion) take trains - but they *never ever* book their own transport tickets.
I've been using the python library Beautiful Soup for like a decade or so and just realised that it's a Lewis Carroll référence, isn't it (and to a passage I know very well)
I don't think the uptake has much to fear from me.
linguistic false-friends: equestrian cosmetics edition.
RE: https://gruene.social/@jon/116263963543937347
The point where they pass half a dozen things labelled Tromso and still conclude they;re in Oslo?
I find that written "Getting Started" tutorials with "recipes" are great with code libraries or CLI, reasonable for some interactive text-based stuff, and somewhere between hopeless and alienating for GUIs.
like for blender, having something that guides you through, IDK, making a stick figure, with automatic advance when you've completed the last step properly.
Even for something like a spreadsheet or word processor, I think a lot of people would benefit from having something talk you through the dozen most important features (and nothing precludes having advanced tutorials).
The built-in element is key. RTFM is fine for obscure functionality, but let's be honest, doesn't yield a quick start.
Thing I'd like: you know the way that in games now, it's normal to have a "tutorial mission" where you do the basics "now click here to place a house". "turn the speed to 2x by pressing this button", "drag over this area to select all the people there"?
That, but for general non-game software. Esp things like Blender that have lots of controls. Watching heaps of third-party youtube videos and trying to switch back and forth and work out what they're doing is not user-friendly.
Well done WhatsApp. Two completely different uses of "Mute" right next to each other. Not gonna confuse anyone.
Polysemy in action, there.
yes, I know the icons are different. But thinking "bell crossed out = no sound" is pretty intuitive too. And relying on icons to disambiguate is not great design.
When you read the news, pick ONE site that you trust, read the homepage once a day, click through one article deep (i.e. not from those articles onwards via the sidebar).
You don't need a 24h drip-feed, you don't need to doomscroll, you don't need to read fifty different summaries of the same story. Unless that's your kink, in which case, you do you.
(2)
PSA: **There is not inherent virtue in exposing yourself to the news.**
If there's a subset of news you have a need to follow (perhaps you're an activist; perhaps professional), or if you enjoy reading it, go ahead.
But if you find news anxiogenic, it's OK to avoid news, limit exposure, or to only follow news for a particular domain (either geographically or thematically).
It is not your moral duty to make yourself sad and angry. *If* you're not going to take action, at least avoid pain.
(1)
@deviantollam Actually my crappy photo probably demonstrates quite well how usable this is to people with equally crappy vision.
I've outlined in red the buttons that actually specify the floors. The waves in the background are animated because of course they are. Everything's blue on blue.
There's a traditional emergency button with Braille, thank goodness. But if you actually want to use the lift rather than just escape it that's not so much good.
@deviantollam lift in Brussels with floor choice on (badly photographed, sorry!) touch screen.
No braille, animated screen, low contrast. Would this be legal in other countries? Is this in fact legal in Belgium?
Cherry on top, is this is a building that among other things does disability assessments.
*clears throat*
When you've very hairy legs
— Ta-ran-tu-la; Ta-ran-tu-la!
And you lay five hundred eggs
— Ta-ran-tu-la!
When you've several pairs of eyes
— Ta-ran-tu-la; Ta-ran-tu-la!
And you eat enormous flies
— Ta-ran-tu-la!
When you're living in Brazil
— Ta-ran-tu-la; Ta-ran-tu-la!
And your bite makes people ill
— Ta-ran-tu-la!
You could be a spider god
You're an apex arthropod,
You're an apex arthropod!
— Ta-ran-tu-la; Ta-ran-tu-la-la-la-la-la-la la! ect.
(after Gilbert & Sullivan)
What spices belong in pickled eggs?
Part II:
Per fess sable and or: a fillet, a pallet, a mullet on a billet, a billet on a mullet, a pullet with a mallet on a chief between two pellets charged with drooping ears of millet... all counterchanged.
Yes, the helm is a sallet.
(blazoning is the method of specifying the contents of a coat of arms in a short piece of jargon-heavy text. All the blazons above are — as far as I can ensure — accurate, though perhaps not *typical*…)
How blazoning works #heraldry #stuntblazons #donttrythisathome #yesvertrhymeswithshirt
Idea: Black Sabbath tribute band called Aussi Osbourne