reserved area for reallocating pruned obsolete or irrelevant threads
weakwithwordsFeb 13, 2013 3:18 AM
Naysayers almost effortlessly make the possible seem impossible since they usually just parrot generalized, oversimplified, or uninspired arguments. However, the proper, but significantly more difficult way to refute an idea is to discredit all major and most minor cases. In contrast, a single convincing solution can prove feasibility though it isn't a trivial pursuit either.
Hey, nice to see you drop by. Go ahead and make yourself at home. ☾⁀‿⁀☽
Pet Projects Society is the place for unleashing sorrows and successes of fellow hobbyists. Cooking, art, programming, writing, and just about any craft is totally welcome so click the "join" link and become a part of our group. This little community is meant for the creative and you would make a wonderful addition to our humble club.
(Aeowina was here, but then Balk-teh-Slob weakwithwords happened.) ~,~'
So far this is like a ghost club. Help us bring new life and blood back in. Be part of the action and tell others about this little niche. Our goals: 10 stagnant members
20 active members
50 active members
75 active members
100 active members
bbcodes... We love them
Describe Yourself Anonymously
01-11-12, 12:49 PM -- weakwithwords
Instead of introducing yourself, something your "about me" section in your profile page should have done already, describe your personality while maintaining anonymity. If you can't, don't. If you can, feel free to do so.
IMPORTANT note: This thread is a "worm". Write your piece and just read the rest. Additional chit-chat and reactions such as "welcome to the club" should be posted on the comments section.
01-12-12, 11:44 AM -- Aeowina
Okay, I'll be the first to take up this challenge. I think my intro would work with the Anonymous theme:
"I am a girl who puts on many different masks. 'The Popular, The Friendly, The Mean, The Sweet One, The Forgiving, The Best, The Decent, The Worst, The Self-Basher-Because-It-Looks-Like-Modesty, The Child, The Truthful, The Advisor, The Pretender, The Alien, The Citizen, The Big-Sister, The Good Student, The Reliable, The Prankster, The Soul, The Talented...' and so forth. I am a girl who wrote these words, and they are being read by a stranger. I AM 'incognito' and I am the friend you haven't met yet."
Nice to meet y'all.
Grand Unified Messaging
01-11-12, 6:47 PM -- weakwithwords
A message involves at least one sender, at least one recipient (or possibly no specific recipient), a medium, and optional feedback.
Since this is MAL, let's use it as our (first) example. There are many ways to communicate with another user: private messaging, wall comments, and blog comments. There are many ways of publicly displaying content: wall comments, blog comments, forum posts, reviews, recommendations, and most importantly the anime/manga lists. (I excluded IRC since it seems and feels like and probably is a separate service altogether.)
As far as I can tell (within my limited experience here), PM is the only one with a working notification feature. However, it has a 75-message inbox limit, an unnecessary long history when replying, and it's basically broken. (What do you think the "fix inbox" and "fix sent" links are for if it isn't?) With the rest, good luck tracking all your correspondence manually.
Facebook almost had the right idea when it mixed the chat and PM, but instead it came up with an integrated mess. I think the use of blog tags or Google labels is the hint of a concept for unifying and simplifying all of these semi-redundant messaging schemes. It's still a vague idea so feel free to contribute to the birth of a possibility.
On another note, the core of MAL are the lists and yet they are partially segregated from the messaging systems. An idea: Wouldn't it be cool if discussions and reviews of anime/manga you haven't watched/read yet are auto-spoilered?
Okay, so what's the point? Well, maybe other hobbyists will also be inspired to work on small proof-of-concept projects based on this and future discussions. That's a dark unknown for now. It remains to be seen if all the rekindling will be for naught.
I created this club so I can taste the side of the maintainer, not just that of being a member. It probably never became apparent, but this group was meant to foster ideas and garner feedback.
I wanted to build a simple content management system, but my "inner idiot" wouldn't be satisfied with something conventional because 1) those are widely available as pre-built packages, both commercial and free, and 2) those mostly share the features that had me wanting to build an alternative in the first place.
I now question the wisdom of that choice. I should try building a conventional system first because by doing so I can compare my work with existing models and it would be a good learning experience anyhow even if it's not meant to be released to the public.
The earliest mobile phones, just like earlier landlines, didn't even have a contacts list. You would need to know someone's number or you would not be able to contact that person. When someone calls, you would only know who it is before answering if you had memorized that number. Landlines didn't even have that feature--you wouldn't know until you answered.
Fast forward to the present. We have spammers, trolls, and variations thereof. Countermeasures have been continuously redesigned, but those are built on top of social networking structures that are too complex for us to properly manage privacy settings. (Remember when facebook first released the ticker?)
A friend of a friend is usually just a stranger. If not, then that person would be a "friend", not "a friend of a friend". Despite that, the big social networks have been relying on the "mutual friends" scheme for finding and verifying acquaintances. ~,~'
Search for existing topics whenever trying to create a new one. Seems like a decent rule. Why then is "necro-bumping" even an issue? If a subject is not meant to be tackled anymore, then that thread should just be closed by a moderator (or automatically closed by the system for inactivity).
One idea I still haven't figured how to design is a free form forum where posts automatically get clustered together (or pushed away) according to their relevance to one another. The up-vote/down-vote system for comments to a topic is somewhat similar, but is localized to just that topic. I would like to see actual migration of messages (without the need for intervention of arbitrary human moderators).
In a nutshell, I'm still stuck, but one of these days, one of these days it might appear to me in a dream. ^o^
( ~60 min - 1926 s = ~28 min )
2012-04-01T12:43:04+08:00
Designs and Variations
Poll Results: Which would you find easier to complete?
20 designs x 10 variations : 2
10 designs x 20 variations : 1
more or less equally easy/difficult : 0
01-12-12, 2:00 AM -- weakwithwords
Which (intentionally vague generalization) would you find easier to complete: 20 designs with 10 variations each or 10 designs with 20 variations each?
You might wish to expound your answer after voting.
___
2012-0112T01:53:57+08:00
01-25-12, 6:57 AM -- packet
If I made 10 designs with 20 variations I'd have less work.
But it would be much harder for me to chose between so many [similar] variations.
That's why I'd go with 20 designs with 10 variations.
I'd see the differences more easily.
(Actually I could probably never think of so many design.)
( ~3 min - 134 s = ~1 min )
2012-04-05T11:13:53+08:00
06-09-12, 2:29 PM -- Antalk
This topic makes my head hurt. I have designed many things and I gotta say do it once and once only. If you have to do it more than once, your cost is going to increase. The phrase, do it right the first time... comes to mind. Sorry, that is the industrial mechanic in me coming out. But, since you asked, 20 designs with 10 variations
"What have you been doing and why are you doing it?"
01-14-12, 8:56 PM -- weakwithwords
You can share something that you've been working on that isn't part of your daily routine.
Since late last year, I've been reimagining and designing an experimental freeform forum. I'm currently implementing a crude messaging system that hopefully will serve as a stable backbone for later improvements. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't doing it out of frustration for currently established ways, but I'm also doing it for the lulz. I get to have a better feel for my limitations, allowing me to adapt. I get to laugh at my mistakes and learn from them. ^o^
___
2012-01-14T20:55:59+08:00
02-06-12, 5:51 AM -- Aeowina
Face-painting has been something new and out of the blue.
Ever since this summer, I've taken up face painting for any big event. When I visited Seattle, I bought some to use on my little cousins and did their cheeks and hands everyday. One day I did nearly all the children in the neighbor hood doing whatever their imaginative minds came up with. After I came home, I bought a new pack and started using it in picnics and sometimes at school, even at a birthday party.
I've done everything from angel hearts, demon hearts, flowers, snowflakes, fire-breathing dragons, snakes, rainbows, leaves, Linkin Park logos, tatoo designs, and even a Spiderman on a jittery little boy. I love how it makes all the children smile, and my friends laugh. My favorite: decorating my mother!
03-15-12, 1:21 PM -- Aeowina
I cosplayed for the first time last Wednesday. I was going through many options like Zelda, Pocahontas, Katara, Princess Peach, Mulan, Esmerelda, Hikari, Misaki, etc. before thinking of No Face from Spirited Away. This was great, because he is so simple to do. So on Tuesday, I immediately set to work making a costume.
The bottom was easy - a black robe and a black scarf on my head. Sadly, I forgot to wear my mother's black gloves. The top took around two hours to do, and another half in the morning. I used three layers of aluminum foil and pressed it against my face for a mold. The I layered it with duct tape and cut it to fit my face. I then took index cards, and made something resembling a lion's mane around the mask and then layered it with tape and smoothed it out. Once the front and back were nice and sturdy, I used heavy-duty scissors to cut out the proper shape and eyeholes, a mouth and a nose. I used up a few layers of white gesso, and many layers of white acrylic paint on top of the very troublesome duct tape. When it was thoroughly consistent and white, I would be able to paint the details. This process took ages because of the drying process in between layers. In the morning I painted in the black eyes and mouth, and then used a light purple for the markings. It dryed just in time.
Two things I would of changed: Make it a little less heavy which was a pain to wear, and not make a few painting mistakes that later made the paint start cracking.
The reception was great. I think it made the biggest impact out of the others - even more than my friend who actually was wearing a proper costume (ah, I am in love with that blue-pink hair!). Some people thought I was dressed up as The Scream. Some little kids got scared momentarily, and my friends thought it was either hilarious or weird. A group of boys mistook me as a guy (to which both me and the person behind me fixed). The worst was that an upperclassmen thought it was ugly. Despite this, I was able to tell a lot of people about Spirited Away, and an adult I've never exchanged a conversation with came up and started talking to me as if I was actually No Face - an obvious fan. When I walked into the building, the whole world turned to look and reacted to my pleasure. The painful bit was that I duct taped it to my face, and it hurt whenever I ripped it off. Ah well, it was totally worth it.
So yea, that is the story of my first cosplay. How fun ^_^
03-30-12, 1:51 PM -- weakwithwords
2012-03-30T13:40:13+08:00
"Chess, Kittens, and Chores"
I created an account in chess.com just last week. Their site also confirmed how bad my internet connection really is. They have this lag detection mechanism and my indicator is always on the red when I'm playing.
Chess, like bowling, really requires concentration. Whenever my mental stamina gives out, I just lose game after game after game (even if the opponent is supposedly weaker).
After consulting an old web magazine, I recently installed four chess programs: Brutal Chess, Dreamchess, eboard, and pouetChess. (The wonders of having a central app repository in Linux made this task very, very easy.) I have yet to test them though.
Five kittens were born on my birthday. They're quite small. Orange, their mother, is even more touchy and without a bloated stomach to restrict her movements, she's back to being cat-quick. Haha!
Chores should be part of my daily routine, but somehow during my formation years (because I was a troublesome teen), I didn't really form the proper habits.
...
@Aeowina, your costume wasn't actually slimy, was it? ^3^
( ~12 min - 167 s = ~9 min )
2012-03-30T13:51:40+08:00
04-01-12, 4:15 PM -- Aeowina
weakwithwords said:
Five kittens were born on my birthday. They're quite small.
...
@Aeowina, your costume wasn't actually slimy, was it? ^3^
First, may I say: Awwwwwwwww >~< and Omedeto! ^///^
Second, where did you get slimy from? =P The paint was dried, and the glue from the tape mostly came off with the mask. The little left on my face was easily removed and almost imperceptible. It's like the sensation of ripping off a bandage. Haha
Oh, btw... The name Orange reminded me of Jeremiah Gottfield because I just have finished Code Geass R2 :)
05-24-12, 4:39 PM -- Aeowina
Note: This is going to be a long entry, though it is not very eventful. I'm just bursting to talk after a long period of muteness.
Haha! I'm back from testing and have so far been having a very relaxing week. Why? I've been spending most of the day making jewelry, resting, reading Skip Beat! and watching anime.
The last week of school is basically a project week. All teachers had to decide an activity they would hold for 6 school days with the grades of their choice. A student lists three of the ones they want to join and will be accepted to one of them. The project week is mandatory but is graded on participation. I got accepted into a jewelry making class.
I never thought it was going to be as frustrating as it really is at the beginning. Now there are only minor sores to worry about from abused fingers wielding pliers. I've finally gotten the hang of it, and have successfully created four pieces and am working on the fifth and sixth. There are two necklaces, and two bracelets, and I have finished a pendant but am lacking a proper chain, and an unfinished pair of earrings.
The finished necklaces' pendants were created with old bracelets (the metal ones commonly found in India) and beads. When I was a child and my wrist's diameter was a little over an inch, I often got annoyed at imperfect bangles. Unable to form perfect circles, I bent the ruined ones into various shapes. The result were butterflies, hearts, eggs, etc. I left them on a shelf and made a resolution to use them in the future for some sort of craft. Two days ago I finally found a way to utilize them.
•A butterfly now has a bead (a green stone wrapped in wire) dangling in the middle of it, with a ligh blue bead and a gold flower-shaped crown bead underneath it. My family thinks it is the best piece I've fashioned so far, and although it sound simple it is very elegant. A heart has a dark-blue string wrapped around it (resembling a dream-catcher in some ways) with a heart bead and a flower securing it and resting above the threads. Both of the pendants are attached to golden necklaces.
•I've made two bracelets, and one of them took three days to finish. It is gold and silver themed, and six different chains were attached to the main one and different charms and beads were also dangled on it. When you wear it, it looks like there are many layered bracelets are being worn. The last one I made today used earth-colored stone and glass beads. It looks the most professionally made, but it took the least time.
•The pendant required a metal ornamental heart, a bead, and a silver jump ring. The heart was obtained a few years ago when my father got a fancy present for my mother and me. My one was a very elegant, red candle holder shaped like a lamp. The box was adored with a black ribbon with the metal heart. My mother took the ribbon and the heart and made me a little necklace. I took the heart out and played around with it with many beads before deciding the final pendant design. The bead I used is similar to the emerald one in the butterfly, except it is smaller and black in color. I used a jump ring to connect the bottom of the heart and the bead together. They look cute because the metal on both isn't shiny, but slightly dull. I couldn't complete it because now I need a black chain for it.
•Finally the earrings. Again it uses the bracelets, which are a pair of matching 'eggs'. I dangled a teardrop-shaped, clear jewel in the center. It looks to plain at the moment so I'm wondering how to jazz it up.
Unlike the other students, my pieces are 80% hand created or the pieces brought from home. The teacher opens a 'bead store' and granted us twenty fake dollars to use throughout the week to purchase them. In the middle of the third day, I had 18 dollars and 72 cents still left, while most of the class is down to around their 7s. Thus I have been dubbed 'the cheapest customer'. To use that money up, I spent three dollars after pushing myself. I am probably at 15 by now (still much to high compared to the rest). A downfall is the others' pieces look more beautiful and they can make a lot more in the same time. Now that I've done most of the things I was aiming for, I can focus on doing the same types as the others. I'm planning to make deals with the people running out of money by buying their pieces in a roundabout way; I buy the beads, they give me the finished product.
Hopefully I'll be able to include some pictures at some point. I'm just really excited because this is the first time I was able to experianced this form of art. And besides, the cute jewelry is more fun to wear when I've made them myself. So that's what I've been doing to relieve the stress from exam week. Yay
06-23-12, 1:58 PM -- Antalk
Unfortunatly, I haven't been watching a lot of anime lately with my wife being home due to surgery. What have I been doing. Gardening at home...corn is already up to my hips, tomato plants are huge but no fruit, yet. At work, this whole week was devoted to a partial rebuild of one of the casers in the plant...my knees, lower back, shoulders and arms are killing me. We completed the re-assembly and it ran fairly well during the shake down. We'll see on Monday how well it actually runs when production gets their hands on it. I get to do it all again in two weeks when I am part of a two man team to do a total rebuild of Line 5's caser, which is in much worser shape than the one we just completed.
06-28-12, 12:38 PM -- weakwithwords
2012-06-27T08:43:45+08:00 Antalk,
What's a "caser"? (confounded, but curious) I'm imagining it as a machine that creates cases or one that fits bottles into a case. >,<
Missing my arbitrary end-of-the-month deadline just means that the five things I want to do will still be the five things I want to accomplish. ^,^'
I'm just recovering from a flu so I hope you are well. =j
( ~5 min - 82 s = ~4 min )
2012-06-27T08:48:32+08:00
"words": 67
"Second place is the most painful spot."
01-20-12, 3:16 PM -- weakwithwords
I propose that the vice-presidency should automatically go to the second placer running for presidency. There's no guarantee that the P and VP candidates of the same party would both win anyway.
Generally, the fewer choices you have, the easier it is to decide.
On the other hand, if you want something more complicated (and serves as a supplement to my proposal), I suggest the "anti-vote" for marking those you DO NOT WANT to win.
___
2012-01-20T15:15:21+08:00
01-25-12, 7:06 AM -- packet
What does a vice president do anyway?
Does he/she simply spend years hoping the president will die?
01-26-12, 5:38 PM -- TheWorldIKnow
packet said: What does a vice president do anyway?
Does he/she simply spend years hoping the president will die?
I think so because all politicians are corrupt.
02-05-12, 5:44 PM -- Aeowina
Lol. I forgot who said this, but there was a quote that stated "Vice Presidency is not worth a bucket of spit." They can be very influential, and it's better to vote for someone with a good VP candidate just in case they do become the president. Otherwise, they just sit there acting as if their titles are worth something. Ah, irony.
06-09-12, 2:32 PM -- Antalk
Let's Joe Biden...Uh, I don't know...what an ass
Second place is the first loser
Let's ask all the bridesmaids what they think on being second
Does anyone remember who lost the World Series or SuperBowl?
Does neutrality have any aggregation value?
Poll: Is there any merit in tallying neutral voters?
yes : 0
no : 0
maybe // this is a recursive joke : 0
06-12-12, 11:23 AM -- weakwithwords
2012-06-12T11:11:31+08:00 Does neutrality have any aggregation value?
Counting likes is easily recognizable as a way for determining demand. (People with the same tastes tend to rave together.)
The number of dislikes can be used to ascertain the level of disgruntlement. This can lead to improving the product or service. (The mob can rage against the same "problem".)
Is there any merit in tallying neutral voters? (Will they even have any motivation for discussion?)
( ~9 min - 144 s = ~7 min )
2012-06-12T11:20:17+08:00
"words": 66
weakwithwordsFeb 6, 2013 6:59 AM
Naysayers almost effortlessly make the possible seem impossible since they usually just parrot generalized, oversimplified, or uninspired arguments. However, the proper, but significantly more difficult way to refute an idea is to discredit all major and most minor cases. In contrast, a single convincing solution can prove feasibility though it isn't a trivial pursuit either.
Let me know if you have any particular thread you wanted to continue from the previous incarnation of the club.
I should have posted several topical essays by now, but "real life" had been charming enough to keep me busy. ^^'
2013-03-26T01:19:57+08:00
Naysayers almost effortlessly make the possible seem impossible since they usually just parrot generalized, oversimplified, or uninspired arguments. However, the proper, but significantly more difficult way to refute an idea is to discredit all major and most minor cases. In contrast, a single convincing solution can prove feasibility though it isn't a trivial pursuit either.
