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autistic electronic music and free software nerd. proud weirdo. use your favorite pronouns and keep your drama away from me.
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I'm on Sparkler now!
Same username - https://sparkler.cc/@f00fc7c8
Thus far sparkler looks barebones, but functional. I took a peek at the source code, they're using Rust, aren't rolling their own authentication, and are keeping things simple, all of which are good things. I'm worried about bugs and vulns and the site not scaling well, but things look good so far.
And as before, you may ask for my accounts on instant messaging platforms.
where to start with learning how to code?
there are many pathways, all equally valid
I started with one of Al Sweigart's "Invent with Python" books. There are several, and you can pick the one that interests you the most: https://inventwithpython.com
Only problem with Python is that it's fairly different from other languages, in ways that make it more pleasant to program in most of the time, but might teach you bad habits. If you'd rather learn "the hard way", it might be better to start with Java (which is what my uni teaches), C, or Rust.
If even Python seems like too steep a learning curve, Scratch is a good way to learn the basic theory of programming without jumping straight into a full-on programming language: https://scratch.mit.edu/ - once you have the hang of making games and animations in Scratch, the logic of a more advanced programming language like those mentioned above should make more sense. Scratch is intuitive enough that it's possible to figure out just through trial and error, but if you still want set projects to work through, Al Sweigart also has a book on it (http://inventwithscratch.com/)
Congratulations, mortal! You have answered 1999 questions on this site. In order to ascend into Retrospring godhood, you must answer every question that can possibly be generated by the "Generate Question" button. Good luck!
Here's the list that Retrospring uses to generate those questions. I've gone through and answered every question, including ones that were removed (mostly for very good reasons).
Bonus round! Questions removed from the list:
quick asks & boundaries
Quick asks
0/📱 current status
1/🎹 music recommendation (i recommend, but do not require, that you send me one as well!)
2/📺 video recommendation (don't send me recommendations back, i won't have time to watch them)
3/💽 cool open-source software or services (you may specify a type of software/website you are looking for)
4/👽 Star Trek character (one I associate you with, or just random if I don't know you well enough)
5/🖖 Star Trek episode (you may specify a type of episode you are looking for, or ask for a way to get into the series)
6/🔣 Random fact (most likely about one of my interests)
--
Boundaries
If you involve yourself regularly with drama or queer community/fandom/social justice discourse, you may interact, but I will probably not follow back and may mute you if it is pervasive enough. You are encouraged to talk to me about controversial topics if and only if you are willing to accept that I may disagree with you, and hear me out. In return, I will keep an open mind to what you are saying. If you intend to cut me off, harass me, or go after my friends if I'm not convinced of your position, don't bother asking in the first place.
Non-sexual flirting is okay, but ask before making overtly sexual comments. Since I allow followers under 18 and Retrospring does not yet support content warnings, it may be best to move those conversations to another venue. Feel free to ask for my contact information on other platforms.
how do you open up about yourself and your interests ? im allergic to vulnerability i think . every day i am afraid of being hunted for sport xoxo
i cannot give you advice here. i can only tell you my understanding of my own psyche, with the disclaimer that i am not very mentally healthy, so i might be doing a few things wrong.
for one, i both hate lying (even subtly) and am very afraid of conflict, so i've developed a lot of social strategies to balance the two, basically saying what's on my mind but in a way that makes an adverse reaction less likely. i will only outright lie when i feel i am in genuine danger, but i do bend the truth sometimes to get around a potential conflict. also, weirdly enough, my feelings in this regard are almost exactly the same online as offline, anonymous or not.
i also seem to have a different response to social adversity than others. one of my greatest fears is that people only interact with me because they have misidentified me as a good person. i deal with that by being as honest and vulnerable with friends as i can, so i know they know who i really am. i get embarrassed occasionally, and the memories torment me for years afterwards. but i use that to hone my strategies for avoiding embarrassment while staying honest. (also to develop new complexes and worsen my self-hate, but that's beside the point.) in situations where others would find a reason to hide themselves and their interests, i rarely find those reasons compelling. and sometimes i find new reasons to open up.
that probably isn't helpful (and remember the disclaimer: this might not be healthy), but i hope you get better about vulnerability. it's not as hard or dangerous as it seems. outside of the internet, most people aren't assholes, and the assholes are easy to spot. hiding is not as necessary as you think.
how do you explain linux to someone like me who doesn't have that much knowledge of it?
Linux is an operating system - the basic software that makes a computer function, or the same sort of thing that Windows, OS X, and Android are. In order to maximize its users' control over the operating system, nearly everything to do with the OS's development is open-source (like Mastodon), completely transparent, and interoperates with other programs. This makes Linux great for specialized uses, so it's the dominant operating system for pretty much everything except personal computers and smartphones.
There's no single entity developing Linux; rather, it's pieced together from a lot of different programs created by different people with similar goals. Some of these programs have overlapping uses, and as such Linux can be pieced together in numerous different ways, creating different versions called "distributions" or "distros." The only program every Linux distribution must have is that way on a technicality - the Linux kernel, because it's the namesake of Linux. You pretty much have to make your own choices at every level of the operating system, which is great for users' freedom and control, but not as good for ease of use - and that's the root of pretty much everything good and everything bad about Linux.
Sorry if this is long, but this is what you get for asking an autistic person about his special interest. If you need clarification, please feel free to reply to this or DM me on Mastodon.
I keep seeing more and more signs that I'm autistic. I've scored high on several of the official tests. Is it valid to "self-evaluate," or do most of you go and get an in-person evaluation?
self-diagnosis and self-evaluation are valid, but be careful about it. you could massively improve your mental health, or ruin it. so do your research and don't take extreme measures.
whether you want an official diagnosis is up to you; all it really does is give you something you can show to prove you need accomodation. it also has the downside of potentially denying you rights on the basis of your disability or leading to abusive treatment regimes. it depends on your circumstances whether the positive or negative side shows more, for me it's about neutral.
what's really important is that you accept yourself regardless of diagnosis and don't spend your life trying to conform to social norms that are slowly killing you.
What do you think they're saying on number stations?
"man, i really like the song magnetic fields part 1 by jean michel jarre. i'm just gonna keep playing it over and over again while repeating this message in british intelligence code."
"dammit kevin you're supposed to be spying on the egyptians, not promoting popular french electronic artists! now change that intermission tone to something normal, like the beatles' come together."
"look we all know these stations are useless anyway. we have computers now! we have top secret post-quantum asymmetric encryption algorithms we could be using! why the hell are we talking over radio? back to jean michel jarre."
"KEVIN I SWEAR. you're fired."
1/🎹
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2k45UQbL14&pp=ygUVbGluZGEgbGFtcGVuaXVzIGZsYW1l
Linda Lampenius - Flame
This song is frickin AMAZING. I don't even know how I got it, I just found it on my hard drive one day. I remember suspecting for some reason that somebody sent it to me thinking I'd like it. Such an underappreciated gem. It sounds like a divine space to me.
I agree, it's a very good song. I don't know if I'd call it "divine", but I could see it being the theme song of some heroic figure or even representing the power of God. I listened to it while playing Morrowind, and it fit well enough there, too.
For you: C418 - Wanderstop
They got their cute little santa hats on in STK!!
I didn't even know there was a Christmas easter egg in STK, even though I remember the one SuperTux used to have
Every game needs one IMO
Do you ever talk with strangers?
Yeah, plenty. Though usually it's because they started the conversation.
We only heard that postimg got reported for fishing can someone tell us what actually happened
It seems like there's still no official statement on it, but apparently itch.io got hit by a bogus phishing report sent by a shitty AI "brand protection" service. So I think it's likely the same thing happened postimg - some automated service sent a bogus phishing report, and CloudFlare is not used to people abusing their phishing system.
How do you deal with eye contact?
I make no effort to provide eye contact while talking. Sometimes I do it unconsciously, other times I'm looking all over the place. If someone has a problem with that, they were never going to accept me anyway, so fuck 'em.
I had the idea of a software audiobook myself, but I decided it was a bad idea because it would be too long, and having to say it out loud would either make the syntax highly ambiguous or involve me saying "single quote" and "colon" out loud a lot.
This doesn't try to be unambiguous or useful, but it is very, very funny and I'm very glad it exists.
For you: Geordie Greep - Blues (warning for some NSFW lyrics)
bye! you are awesome
How to think things through?
you just gotta sit down
clear your mind
and think about them
How to flirt?
I dunno, I think it usually starts as regular compliments and gradually escalates
guess my top song on spotify (IMPOSSIBLE)
I Hate School by Ruben the Understander
hi my spotify wrapped was just fallout boy
qotd
fav music artist
Kraftwerk
But my #1 artist this year was Chumbawamba, apparently
I've heard really good things about Chat Pile and this album in specific, but didn't check it out because I'm not a metalhead. I like the message in this song, it may just be a speech over distorted guitars but I can't really say that's a bad thing when one of my favorite bands is Chumbawamba. I like how they phrase homelessness as "why do people have to live outside?". It really gets to the heart of the matter without any of the jargon we always use when talking about politicized issues.
For you: Djrum - What I Was Doing When I Was Doing What I Was Doing
Beam me up, f00fy!
Transporter malfunction! I accidentally cloned you. Also one of the clones ended up missing an arm, and the other one ended up having their DNA merged with a plant. oops
Were you nice or naughty?
My nice level was pretty high this year... which is to say I got less CPU time, for being naughty.
It was not out of bounds!! Where the hole is on the ground the car flipped upside down and started going on the ceiling and then fell up to the mansion's ceiling!!
weird
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