Downtown Khazan: Ice Cold Utopia

[Len Ikari145]

[Vakanai]

Holy crap something is actually being done with Gamera?

[Iron_Twister]

Not bad Vak, got engaged to my fiancee and had a very nice trip in Vietnam.

...But flu season sycks.

[Sharkerbob]

Yahello Shark! Hanging in there is better than the alternative for sure. How're you?

Been a rough few years, but I'm not dead or homeless yet, so, you know, could be worse.

I've taken up drawing again, though it's still fairly sporadic.

[Vakanai]

Not bad Vak, got engaged to my fiancee and had a very nice trip in Vietnam.

...But flu season sycks.

Mazel tov!

Been a rough few years, but I'm not dead or homeless yet, so, you know, could be worse.

I've taken up drawing again, though it's still fairly sporadic.

Sorry to hear it's been rough, glad you're drawing.

[Beadle]

So sometimes, certain companies prove themselves to not be the typical corporate, self-interested, soulless organisations, even if it doesn’t actually cost them a huge amount.

There’s a chain of homeware, furnishings etc. in the UK called Dunelm (I’m naming them because this is very cool) who have started an initiative to help those who have nobody at Christmas. Children in care homes, the homeless, older people in care who don’t have families, etc.

So Dunelm have reached out to these people in the community, to ask what they’d like for Christmas. Then they take that information and put it on gift tags hanging from trees in their stores for customers to (completely voluntarily - they don’t even have their staff mention it to customers, so nobody feels pressured) pick up a tag, buy presents that are either all/some of the stuff on the tag or at least related to it, bring them back to the store in a gift bag anonymously and leave it under the tree, and then Dunelm will distribute accordingly before Christmas.

They don’t expect it to be stuff you buy from Dunelm themselves - you just get the presents anywhere you can. And the presents vary, but they aren’t much. It’s really humbling. The tag just gives generic information about the person and what they want, so the example we read about in the online news article that mentioned the initiative was “Boy. 12. Colouring book and pack of biscuits.” (i.e. cookies - when you hear about kids for whom just having a pack of biscuits would make their Christmas, it’s a real punch in the gut).

So my wife and I went in this weekend, and ended up buying art supplies and a shawl for a lady.

This kind of thing needs supporting. ❤️

[Nik Hasta]

So sometimes, certain companies prove themselves to not be the typical corporate, self-interested, soulless organisations, even if it doesn’t actually cost them a huge amount.

There’s a chain of homeware, furnishings etc. in the UK called Dunelm (I’m naming them because this is very cool) who have started an initiative to help those who have nobody at Christmas. Children in care homes, the homeless, older people in care who don’t have families, etc.

So Dunelm have reached out to these people in the community, to ask what they’d like for Christmas. Then they take that information and put it on gift tags hanging from trees in their stores for customers to (completely voluntarily - they don’t even have their staff mention it to customers, so nobody feels pressured) pick up a tag, buy presents that are either all/some of the stuff on the tag or at least related to it, bring them back to the store in a gift bag anonymously and leave it under the tree, and then Dunelm will distribute accordingly before Christmas.

They don’t expect it to be stuff you buy from Dunelm themselves - you just get the presents anywhere you can. And the presents vary, but they aren’t much. It’s really humbling. The tag just gives generic information about the person and what they want, so the example we read about in the online news article that mentioned the initiative was “Boy. 12. Colouring book and pack of biscuits.” (i.e. cookies - when you hear about kids for whom just having a pack of biscuits would make their Christmas, it’s a real punch in the gut).

So my wife and I went in this weekend, and ended up buying art supplies and a shawl for a lady.

This kind of thing needs supporting. ❤️

Well that's a very good thing to hear about.

There's a branch of them not far from where I live, I'll see if they are running the initiative there as well.

[Sharpandpointies]

Good to see you Sharp.

^_^

Probably just going to take time to get used to and numbed to the whole dysphoric thoughts and feelings since discovering that part of myself. But I've stuffed my feelings down most of my life and adapted until the depression faded away before, so I'll get through this too eventually. Just takes time to get to that point.
(I know from the outside that sounds sad and unhealthy, but I don't see self acceptance in my future so kind of all I got.)

Ooof. Sorry. I'm hopeful that you reach some kind of place that's tolerable, at the least.

Be careful you don't get in trouble sneaking blades to work Sharp, don't want to see you all over the news for a misunderstanding.

There's that.

As long as I keep the knowledge out of security's hands, I'm okay. Worst case, they find out, I get in a bit of trouble, end. But it's pretty much an open secret around here that I practice in one of our big open areas at lunchtime; a few people have walked in on me, and pre-Covid, I got voted 'Most likely to survive a Zombie apocalypse' at a Christmas party.

I'm pretty safe.

So sometimes, certain companies prove themselves to not be the typical corporate, self-interested, soulless organisations, even if it doesn’t actually cost them a huge amount.

There’s a chain of homeware, furnishings etc. in the UK called Dunelm (I’m naming them because this is very cool) who have started an initiative to help those who have nobody at Christmas. Children in care homes, the homeless, older people in care who don’t have families, etc.

So Dunelm have reached out to these people in the community, to ask what they’d like for Christmas. Then they take that information and put it on gift tags hanging from trees in their stores for customers to (completely voluntarily - they don’t even have their staff mention it to customers, so nobody feels pressured) pick up a tag, buy presents that are either all/some of the stuff on the tag or at least related to it, bring them back to the store in a gift bag anonymously and leave it under the tree, and then Dunelm will distribute accordingly before Christmas.

They don’t expect it to be stuff you buy from Dunelm themselves - you just get the presents anywhere you can. And the presents vary, but they aren’t much. It’s really humbling. The tag just gives generic information about the person and what they want, so the example we read about in the online news article that mentioned the initiative was “Boy. 12. Colouring book and pack of biscuits.” (i.e. cookies - when you hear about kids for whom just having a pack of biscuits would make their Christmas, it’s a real punch in the gut).

So my wife and I went in this weekend, and ended up buying art supplies and a shawl for a lady.

This kind of thing needs supporting. ❤️

That's a painful read, and good on the company for doing that. Yeah, that's not just some PR thing from where I'm standing.

[Sharpandpointies]

*reads the latest XKCD*

I love how the hellsite only gets one checkmark. ^_^ I imagine I'll check Tumblr later tonight and get hit with a dozen posts proudly pointing to XKCD.

[Tami]

So, I am rather pleased with myself.

My thesis defense for my Masters was today.

While I can't decide if it merely went well, or very well, I successfully defended it nonetheless.

Naturally, I have decided to pat myself on the back in the public sphere, because...

I mean, it's what I do?

That is no small feat and deserves a Hulk-sized pat on the back, Congrats.

[Vakanai]

^_^



Ooof. Sorry. I'm hopeful that you reach some kind of place that's tolerable, at the least.

Eh...meh. Time has a way of scabbing over old scars, I'll normalize this too at some point.
And it's not like it's a constant thing. Just an everyday little hiccup that occurs here and there. Like the shudder I get when I scratch my chin and feel stubble.

There's that.

As long as I keep the knowledge out of security's hands, I'm okay. Worst case, they find out, I get in a bit of trouble, end. But it's pretty much an open secret around here that I practice in one of our big open areas at lunchtime; a few people have walked in on me, and pre-Covid, I got voted 'Most likely to survive a Zombie apocalypse' at a Christmas party.

I'm pretty safe.

Good to hear!

I once had an idea for a zombie apocalypse story. I wanted to invent a more realistic, albeit still science fiction, origin for the zombies, since there's no way for a virus to create the kind of walking cannibal corpses Hollywood loves so much. So instead of a virus I have self replicating nanobots in the "near" future of 20-30 years be the cause. The nanobots spread throughout the body, forming structures at the ligaments and tendons to perform movement of the host zombie, with a controlling mass of bots taking residence in the eyes and head. Excess nanobots collect in the saliva to spread via the traditional bite.
Again sci-fi, but unlike with viral infection there's fewer reasons why that couldn't happen when we get sufficiently advanced enough.

Anyways just a random tangent since you said zombie apocalypse.

[Sharkerbob]

So sometimes, certain companies prove themselves to not be the typical corporate, self-interested, soulless organisations, even if it doesn’t actually cost them a huge amount.

There’s a chain of homeware, furnishings etc. in the UK called Dunelm (I’m naming them because this is very cool) who have started an initiative to help those who have nobody at Christmas. Children in care homes, the homeless, older people in care who don’t have families, etc.

So Dunelm have reached out to these people in the community, to ask what they’d like for Christmas. Then they take that information and put it on gift tags hanging from trees in their stores for customers to (completely voluntarily - they don’t even have their staff mention it to customers, so nobody feels pressured) pick up a tag, buy presents that are either all/some of the stuff on the tag or at least related to it, bring them back to the store in a gift bag anonymously and leave it under the tree, and then Dunelm will distribute accordingly before Christmas.

They don’t expect it to be stuff you buy from Dunelm themselves - you just get the presents anywhere you can. And the presents vary, but they aren’t much. It’s really humbling. The tag just gives generic information about the person and what they want, so the example we read about in the online news article that mentioned the initiative was “Boy. 12. Colouring book and pack of biscuits.” (i.e. cookies - when you hear about kids for whom just having a pack of biscuits would make their Christmas, it’s a real punch in the gut).

So my wife and I went in this weekend, and ended up buying art supplies and a shawl for a lady.

This kind of thing needs supporting. ❤️

Sounds wholesome!

So, I am rather pleased with myself.

My thesis defense for my Masters was today.

While I can't decide if it merely went well, or very well, I successfully defended it nonetheless.

Naturally, I have decided to pat myself on the back in the public sphere, because...

I mean, it's what I do?

Good job!

[Sharkerbob]

I once had an idea for a zombie apocalypse story. I wanted to invent a more realistic, albeit still science fiction, origin for the zombies, since there's no way for a virus to create the kind of walking cannibal corpses Hollywood loves so much. So instead of a virus I have self replicating nanobots in the "near" future of 20-30 years be the cause. The nanobots spread throughout the body, forming structures at the ligaments and tendons to perform movement of the host zombie, with a controlling mass of bots taking residence in the eyes and head. Excess nanobots collect in the saliva to spread via the traditional bite.
Again sci-fi, but unlike with viral infection there's fewer reasons why that couldn't happen when we get sufficiently advanced enough.

Anyways just a random tangent since you said zombie apocalypse.

Reminds me of an old idea for a zombie apocalypse I had wherein the zombie virus spread through the air, and everybody got zombied, but they actually keep their intelligence. Now you have a bunch of ageless corpses walking around, technically now liberated from needing the vast amount of resources (no food, air, water, or rest is needed anymore, people don't really feel pain or temperature like they used to). Sounds not the worst on paper (bearing in mind other complications like no more reproduction or direct aging).

The "apocalypse" part comes from the fact that their bodies, while not undergoing decay due to micro-organisms rejecting the virus-tainted cells, are subject to the same wear-and-tear damage over time that now never heals. Humanity is now literally falling apart, and it's up to the worlds engineers and scientists to find way to keep their bodies protected and functioning. Even just daily activity will eventually break down joints, so people start having basic surgeries where they implant small pully and cable and support rod systems into the body. They're working overtime to figure out how to create fully realized cyborg bodies to implant their brains into (now much more viable an option, since the brains seem by far the most resilient to break down with how to virus creates it's own unique neural networks).

I never ended up writing it, because I wasn't really sure how to present it. I imagine it would be a mostly a Twilight Zone-esque, slow-burn, kinda depressing fight-against-time drama that I wasn't even sure how it would end other than a vague "we're making strides, at least, but we're not there yet, boy I really hope we figure the robot suit thing out in the next decade".

Ah, old ideas. Nostalgic!

There's that.

As long as I keep the knowledge out of security's hands, I'm okay. Worst case, they find out, I get in a bit of trouble, end. But it's pretty much an open secret around here that I practice in one of our big open areas at lunchtime; a few people have walked in on me, and pre-Covid, I got voted 'Most likely to survive a Zombie apocalypse' at a Christmas party.

I'm pretty safe.

This reminds me of the time I was walking around my college town with a hidden sword and used it to scare off some drunks that were about to come beat me up. Thank god they actually ran, because if I'd actually tried to fight them with it, I'd have maybe gotten one shallow cut if I was lucky, then they'd have knocked it out of my hand and kicked the shit out of me, and then I'd've gotten arrested for carrying a weapon in public. :V

[Dark Soul # 7]

I haven't played Sonic Frontiers and I probably won't but I have seen a lot of cut scenes from and I'm really glad that spoilers:

Eggman was able to save his new cyber-daughter. Hopefully Sonic team will remember to keep her around in future projects.

end of spoilers

[Sharpandpointies]

Eh...meh. Time has a way of scabbing over old scars, I'll normalize this too at some point.
And it's not like it's a constant thing. Just an everyday little hiccup that occurs here and there. Like the shudder I get when I scratch my chin and feel stubble.

Ugh. I'm sorry. It's hard for me to imagine, but I can try, and at least I can imagine that it must be extremely unpleasant and soul-crushing when it occurs.

I once had an idea for a zombie apocalypse story. I wanted to invent a more realistic, albeit still science fiction, origin for the zombies, since there's no way for a virus to create the kind of walking cannibal corpses Hollywood loves so much. So instead of a virus I have self replicating nanobots in the "near" future of 20-30 years be the cause. The nanobots spread throughout the body, forming structures at the ligaments and tendons to perform movement of the host zombie, with a controlling mass of bots taking residence in the eyes and head. Excess nanobots collect in the saliva to spread via the traditional bite.
Again sci-fi, but unlike with viral infection there's fewer reasons why that couldn't happen when we get sufficiently advanced enough.

Anyways just a random tangent since you said zombie apocalypse.

A good idea - I like it, myself.

Reminds me of an old idea for a zombie apocalypse I had wherein the zombie virus spread through the air, and everybody got zombied, but they actually keep their intelligence. Now you have a bunch of ageless corpses walking around, technically now liberated from needing the vast amount of resources (no food, air, water, or rest is needed anymore, people don't really feel pain or temperature like they used to). Sounds not the worst on paper (bearing in mind other complications like no more reproduction or direct aging).

The "apocalypse" part comes from the fact that their bodies, while not undergoing decay due to micro-organisms rejecting the virus-tainted cells, are subject to the same wear-and-tear damage over time that now never heals. Humanity is now literally falling apart, and it's up to the worlds engineers and scientists to find way to keep their bodies protected and functioning. Even just daily activity will eventually break down joints, so people start having basic surgeries where they implant small pully and cable and support rod systems into the body. They're working overtime to figure out how to create fully realized cyborg bodies to implant their brains into (now much more viable an option, since the brains seem by far the most resilient to break down with how to virus creates it's own unique neural networks).

I never ended up writing it, because I wasn't really sure how to present it. I imagine it would be a mostly a Twilight Zone-esque, slow-burn, kinda depressing fight-against-time drama that I wasn't even sure how it would end other than a vague "we're making strides, at least, but we're not there yet, boy I really hope we figure the robot suit thing out in the next decade".

Ah, old ideas. Nostalgic!

I also like this idea. Seems very old-time Sci-Fi, rather than the current crop of space fantasy. ^_^

This reminds me of the time I was walking around my college town with a hidden sword and used it to scare off some drunks that were about to come beat me up. Thank god they actually ran, because if I'd actually tried to fight them with it, I'd have maybe gotten one shallow cut if I was lucky, then they'd have knocked it out of my hand and kicked the shit out of me, and then I'd've gotten arrested for carrying a weapon in public. :V

Completely understand wanting to scare off the drunks, and glad it didn't come to anything worse.

Always best to have training before using a weapon, but...if push comes to shove, it beats nothing. Who knows? Had you been forced to defend yourself, you might have gotten 'lucky' with the first attempt and hurt one of them severely enough the others would have reconsidered.