BestOfLemmy

I believe we can do it https://lemmy.world/post/16111988

A really good explanation that I felt deserved to be highlighted.

!icon used on lemmygrad.ml

Originally a light-hearted post poking fun at and doing a survey to gather input, but it has turned into a thought-provoking deeper dive into what it really means to be someone that people would call a "tankie". Note that to some (die-hard conservatives), we all are "tankies" on the Fediverse, but is there a meaning beyond the pejorative of merely "holding a belief that I do not personally agree with"? Come and join the fun, or read about the community consensus even long into the future?

https://lemmy.world/post/16211417

Lemmy.ml, like lemmygrad.ml and hexbear.net, has consistently been accused of improper Federation practices and many instances have decided to ban one or both of the latter by default, with many individual users having already gone further to block the former as well. However, many individual users on lemmy.ml seem unaware of the accusations of the practices of their admins, and some people go so far as to see lemmy.ml as a sort of default instance on the Fediverse.

This discussion promotes wider knowledge of the situation and what might be done about it in the future, in order to e.g. not turn away new potential Federation members (Fedizens?:-) that could otherwise associate what happens on that instance as something relating to the Fediverse as a whole.

He's doing a great job.

Link to thread

Screenshot says:

Name scratched out

6 upvotes

Posted 1 hour ago

Another take on that is that he wasn't going to war for his school at all. That's ignoring the previous comments about it not being about the school at all (which is partly true), but recognizing the validity of that perspective. My point is that even if the war had been about the school itself, that wasn't what Harry was fighting for. He was fighting for his home.. Books or movies, Hogwarts was the one place that Harry felt was home. Not the Durselys', not even the Weasleys.

Hogwarts was Harry's first real home. So, even if he hadn't been the "chosen one", even if voldemort was attacking the school directly as a goal without any of the rest of the part about him and Harry, I think he still would have fought as hard as he could to defend it. You could make Harry a supporting character with his parents just having died of natural causes, and him being taken in by the Dursleys to eventually go to school at Hogwarts with nothing else involved, and that kid would still have fought for the one place he felt at home.

Hogwarts was like that for other students, but Harry had that abusive household and extremely limited freedom to make other social connections. That's an ideal setup for someone to attach to something as wonderful as Hogwarts was in comparison. I really think that Harry would have fought just as hard or harder for no other reason than that.

Source

Context, a thread on rising fast food costs and comparing local joints in terms of value: https://lemmy.world/comment/10015048

Link to the original comments: https://discuss.online/comment/8360152

Lemmyverse link: https://lemmyverse.link/discuss.online/comment/8360152

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So much wholesome advice!

Context:

• 'niedźwiedzie polarne' = 'polar bears'
• 'chochlik internetowy pospolity' = 'common internet imp'
• the English equivelant of the word 'dziabongi' is 'doodads'

>Well they already tried suing them when they began accepting girls and changed their name the first time to Scouts BSA, but that didn't work. But truthfully the two organizations have different missions and methods.

>Historically, a lot of girls who joined GSUSA thinking it was going to be Boy Scouts for girls were disappointed and would leave. GSUSA is more about empowering girls through community engagement and exploring careers. Yes there can also be camping, hiking, etc but these are more or less optional components, up to each troop to integrate. Rank advancement is based on age and grade level, while awards are based on merit.

>Boy Scouts is much more focused on outdoor skills and citizenship. These are integrated into the program in that advancement in rank is based solely on merit and demonstrating proficiency with these skills. You can spend six years in Boy Scouts and never make it past Tenderfoot.

>So for girls who want more emphasis on the outdoors built into their program, Scouting America would be the better option. For those that want more flexibility and are less outdoorsy, GSUSA is still an option. Both are good programs. I have kids in both. There are some things I like better about GSUSA and some I like more in Boy Scouts. I think Boy Scouts is a more challenging program overall, but GSUSA's Gold Award is way more challenging to achieve than an Eagle project. I definitely prefer GSUSA not having a religious requirement.

>Both programs will continue to adapt and change. Both have been experiencing declines in membership for decades anyway, so there's bigger problems that they're facing.

Link to post

From: https://lemmy.world/post/15026663

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/14776053

> Notes from a year of reading science fiction and fantasy [potentially minor spoilers] > > Below are books I've read over the last year, with notes about on what I thought of them. I started this list just to remind me what the books were about and if I thought they were worth reading. As the year went on, my notes became a little more substantial. The list was for me, but I thought I'd share in case it's useful to anyone. I recognize that it's very subjective. > > Project Hail Mary, Weir > Don't want to describe it even a little because spoilers would spoil; it's a book you should read without knowing anything. It's really good. > > Fall, Stephenson > Billionaire scanned into a digital world, and the people around him in the real world. Interesting and thought-provoking. > > The Ocean at the End of the Lane, Gaiman > Little boy stumbles upon old magic and an old evil. Really good. > > The Ultimate Earth, Williamson > Children on the moon are the latest in a long series of clones watching over the facility there, generations after the earth has all but forgotten them. A historian visits them. > > The first four Discworld books, Pratchett > Silly fun - disc-shaped world that sits atop four elephants that stand on a giant turtle riding through space. Each book is in the world, but separate stories with mostly separate characters. Lots of magic, lots of humor. > > Seven Views of Olduvai Gorge, Resnick > Long after humans are extinct, a group of alien archeologists uncover the origins and stories of mankind through the stories told by artifacts found in Olduvai gorge. Very unusual. > > A Memory Called Empire, Martine > Galactic empire space opera. Ambassador from a large space station to the central planet of the empire has an old copy of her predecessor implanted in her head - a technology user for generations by the station people but not known to the empire. She wants to solve the mystery of her predecessor's death. Character-driven discs opera. > > A Desolation Called Peace, Martine > Sequel to prior. Mahit Dzmare and Three Seagrass help the empire confront an alien that. Good. > > The first six Murderbot Diaries books, Wells > Security unit - sort of a cyborg combination of a robot and cloned human tissue - has hacked the part that forces it to comply. It mostly wants to watch soap operas, but finds itself rescuing humans. Surprisingly funny and heartwarming. Mostly novellas, so quick reads. > > The Kingston Cycle trilogy, Polk > Edwardian setting where magic is real but people are put in institutions for it if discovered. Each book from the vantage point of a different person, the first a psychologist who uses his powers to help his patients and seeks to discover why a witch was murdered. First is best, but all are good. > > Ancillary Justice, Ancillary Sword & Ancillary Mercy (imperial radch trilogy), Leckie > From the perspective of a warship AI dealing with a galactic empire. Feels like it could have been an inspiration for murderbot. Good. > > Annihilation, Vandermeer > A biologist is a member of a team trying to figure out what's happening in an area where investigative teams generally don't return from. Strangely paced, like a Lovecraft story. Wouldn't recommend to everyone. Very weird. > > Gideon the Ninth, Muir > Girl raised by necromancers sent to protect the head of her world as they try to unlock the secrets of an old world. Surprised by how much I liked it. > > The Spare Man, Kowal > The Thin Man in space - murder mystery on a space-going cruise ship. Not very deep, but enjoyable. > > Piranesi, Clark > Man Who lives in a world that is entirely a castle with endless halls and rooms, populated by just one other person, trying to understand his world. Interesting. > > All Clear, Willis > Sequel to Blackout - historians from Oxford in 2060 use time travel to see events surrounding WWII in person, but something is wrong. Not as light as some of her books, but very good. > > Blind Lake, Wilson > Reporters visiting a facility that uses incomprehensible AI-written systems to view life on a planet 50 light years away get caught in a lockdown that separates the people of the facility from the rest of the world. Very interesting. > > Nettle and Bone, Kingfisher > Fantasy - princess is sent to a convent, and eventually sets out to kill a powerful man who deserves it. Very enjoyable, and manages to be fun while also being dark. > > Harrow the Ninth > Sequel to Gideon the Ninth. First half is very confusing. Not an easy book to read, but well crafted and interesting. > > WWW: Wake, Sawyer > Blind teenage girl gets a computerized implant to restore her sight and ends up connected to a budding consciousness in webspace. Neat idea and an easy read but some parts felt unrealistic or cheesy. > > The Graveyard Book, Gaiman > Boy is raised in a graveyard by ghosts, protected by something else. Maybe written for teens, but wonderful regardless. > > The Three Body Problem, Liu > Strange things are happening in the scientific community in China. Interesting premise and an unusual book, but some things felt very unrealistic. > > Saturn’s Children, Stross > Humans built conscious robots to explore and develop the solar system, but they long outlast the now-extinct human race. Intrigue as one such robot gets in over her head. > > The Anomaly, Le Tellier > A plane from Paris to New York takes off in March and lands after severe turbulence. Then the same plane, with the same people, lands again in June. Thought provoking with well drawn characters. > > The Daughter of Dr. Moreau, Moreno-Garcia > Same/similar setting as The Island of, but focused on the daughter of the doctor as he conducts his experiments and his patron grows dissatisfied. Enjoyable. > > Leviathan Wakes, Corey > First book of The Expanse series. A war starting between people of earth, people who settled Mars, and people who settled the asteroid belt and stations. A missing person, and something strange happening. Really good. > > Caliban’s War, Corey > Second Expanse book. A protomolecule-based monster/soldier kills a bunch of other soldiers and everyone thinks some other government is responsible. Also very good. > > Halting State, Stross > A bank robbery inside an online game gets the attention of the cops - and a lot of other people. Written in 2007, set in 2017. Very interesting, even just for its take on technology. > > Glasshouse, Stross > In a distant future with ubiquitous wormhole technology, a man recovers from self-chosen radical memory deletion and joins a 30+ year experiment, but things aren't what they seem. > > System Collapse, Wells > 7th of the Murderbot Diaries. Starting basically where the 6th book ends, what to do with the colonists on the alien-infected planet, and what a rival company is trying to do. > > 2024 > > The Cloud Roads, Wells > Fantasy about a loaner who can shape shift into a sort of dragon and doesn't know that he is. Enjoyable. > > Passage, Willis > A psychologist studying people who have had near death experiences joins a research project where they're induced, trying to figure out what they're for, what they mean. Good, but like a lot of Connie Willis books, there are too many people missing each other and too many misunderstandings. Still, very touching. > > Gods of Risk, Corey > Book 2.7 of The Expanse (novella). Bobby's nephew gets caught up in making drugs. Very short. Good. > > Sundiver, Brin > Written in 1980, the first of the Uplift series. Set in a time when humans have found there are many other intelligent, space-fairing beings in the galaxy, but nearly all were “uplifted" by another race. Everyone debates whether humans were uplifted and then abandoned by some unknown race, or are a very rare case of natural evolution. All this is the backdrop, or the fabric, of a story about the discovery of life in the sun. > > Transition State, Leckie > Set in the same universe as the Imperial Radch trilogy, with a couple minor characters from that as minor characters here. A guy is found abandoned on a ship as a baby, raised by adoptive parents, but is always strange (including urges to dissect people that he never acts on). Who he actually is might shake the empire, including the treaty that keeps aliens from destroying humans. Really good. > > The Serpent Sea, Wells > Second book of the Raksura series. The tribe (blanking on the word used internally) relocate to their ancestry home, a special giant tree, but it's dying because its seed was stolen. They go looking for it and get into trouble. Good. > > Abaddon’s Gate, Corey > Book 3 of The Expanse series. Rocinante crew gets hired to take a documentary crew to the ring made by the Venus protomolecule. All the other governments are sending ships too. Julie's sister Clarissa plots revenge for her father. > > Hominids, Sawyer > In an alternate universe, a neanderthal quantum physicist doing an experiment ends up marooned in our universe. A weird little bit of religion in the middle, but pretty interesting overall and fun to read about the speculative modern neanderthal society. > > The Time Ships, Baxter > Authorized sequel to “The Time Machine," by H.G. Wells. It's strange, in a way, because I of course read Wells’ work in the modern era, though it was written in 1914. Part of the charm was reading his notions of time and his commentary on class divides from this time a hundred years later, when the author has no knowledge of what happened in the intervening century. Baxter’s sequel is written from this modern era, but from the perspective of the same protagonist. Many of the advances in the sciences are captured, but it feels oddly artificial to have them observed by our early 1900s hero. Still, it's a very ambitious book, with a very broad scope, and much more commentary on the nature of man. Well worth reading. > > Beggars in Spain, Kress > People gene modified to no longer require sleep basically become a separate race of people. Lots of commentary on socialism, community, charity, racism, individuality, and more. Very thought provoking. > > Humans, Sawyer > Sequel to Hominids. A love story and a commentary on our world as seen through the eyes of a different version. Also more on the neanderthal version of it. As an ex Catholic, having a main character be matter of factly Catholic feels weird. Enjoyable sequel though. > > Blindsight, Watts > Strange first contact story with an enigmatic alien and a spectrum of technology-modified humans. A lot of it is an exploration of what it means to have consciousness or intelligence, and of how we're affected by language and communication. Not sure I'd call it enjoyable, but very interesting. Not a fluff piece by any means. > > Startide Rising, Brin > Sequel to Sundiver, set a couple hundred years later. A ship crewed by humans and dolphins has found something that could have major ramifications for the galactic races, so they're all fighting each other to get the earthlings. Very good, has aged well. Side note: I'm certain I read it when it came out in paperback, but I didn't remember it at all. > > The Churn, Corey > Book 3.5 of the Expanse series, a novella. Back story of Amos in Baltimore. It would have been a very different experience reading if I hadn't seen the series version - it couldn't disguise a main character because you actually see them. Semi-avoiding spoilers. > > Leech, Ennes > A doctor, one of many that share a group mind due to a parasite, finds its predecessor killed by a different type of parasite. Very strange, pretty dark. Thought provoking. > > The Siren Depths, Wells > Third book of the Raksura series. Moon’s birth court wants him back, against his will, and there's a danger facing everyone. Just as good as the prior books. > > Starter Villain, Scalzi > Down on his luck young man inherits his uncle's villain business. Quick, fun read. Funny! > > The Host, Meyer > Alien possession told from the POV of the compassionate alien. It turns out that I'm a little bit of a book snob because, as I opened the book on my Kindle and saw the blurb about it being by the author of the Twilight series (sparkly vampires), I almost abandoned it. I decided to at least start it and… I didn't hate it. The SF aspects of the story are actually pretty interesting and thought provoking. Given my understanding that Meyer is basically a romance novelist, I was surprised that the part I connected with the least well was the romance part - it's described as way overly physical (this body loves that person or could never love that other person). > > Provenance, Leckie > In the Imperial Radch series. Daughter in a scheming family tries a scheme of her own and gets mixed up in issues that span worlds and races. Interesting. Feels like a side story, which I guess it is. > > Nona the Ninth, Muir > Third of the Locked Tomb series, following Harrow the Ninth. I loved the first book, didn't love the second (challenging, interesting, not sure it was enjoyable), and liked this one better. Ending needed to be reread a couple times - confusing - but overall an interesting book. > > Perdido Street Station, Meiville > Elements of SF and fantasy. Set in a Victorian world (future earth, or maybe an alternate one) populated by humans and many races of aliens, some more alien than others, a scientist is hired by a bird person to give him back fight after his wings were removed as a punishment by his people. While working the problem, the scientist releases something truly horrible. It's a really evocative world and story, well imagined and well told. It brings up a lot of sadness, horror, and pity for its characters that didn't really stop, so not exactly a fun read. Long, but good. > > The Watchmen, Moore > Graphic novel about masked heroes being popular, then outlawed, then being systematically eliminated. Gritty, odd. It deals a lot with what constitutes the greater good and what compromises are reasonable. > > How to live safely in a science fictional universe, Yu > A time machine repair technician, hiding from life, tries to find his father who disappeared ten years prior, after almost inventing time travel. Amusing, short, quick read. > > The City & The City, Mieville > A murder victim is found in a European city that shares geography with another city. The cities aren't separated by physical borders, they overlay and are separated by more of a psychic border, and crossing from one to the other that way, breaching, is a serious crime. The detective investigating the murder uncovers things that could shake the fabric of both cities, and he has to work with a detective in the sister city to solve the crime. Very unusual and imaginative premise. Very compelling story. > > The Sirens of Titan, Vonnegut > It's Vonnegut, so it's hard to know where to start. The richest man in the world tries to avoid a life that's predicted for him. It doesn't go the way he envisioned either way. Lots of commentary on morality, friendship, religion, love. Not flattering commentary on any of those things. > > Neptune's Brood, Stross > Set in the same universe as Saturn’s Children. A banker/historian chasing down old debts finds much more than she bargained for and gets many factions out for her blood, including her mother. Lots of good speculation on a galactic society without FTL travel, composed of people who are fabricated, not Born. > > The Scar, Meiville > Following Perdido Street Station, but not in the city and with different characters. A translator fleeing the city gets pulled into a series of unfolding conflicts while she tries to find a way home, or at least to save it. Lots of layers, and commentary on trust and manipulation. > > The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet, Chambers > A clerk running away from family on Mars signs onto a ship that builds wormholes, and gets a new family in the process. After recently reading books by Meiville, Vonnegut, and others, this was a more hopeful, loving story. The explanation for why all the aliens look like various earth species felt kind of thin, but it's a good story with strong relationships. > > Children of Time, Tchaikovsky > A project to uplift monkeys on a terraformed world, at the peak of human civilization, is sabotaged by people who don't think humans should play god. There follows a human civil war that nearly destroys civilization. A couple thousand years later, an ark ship of human remnants leaving an uninhabitable earth is heading towards that terraformed planet. This is a great book, with lots to say on intelligence, the nature of people, and both the fragility and heartiness of life. > > >

Source post: https://lemmy.world/comment/9634600

@[email protected]

https://lemmy.world/comment/9516084

I enjoyed the exchange of ideas here and the way things were described and debated. Made me happy to be on Lemmy.

cross-posted from: https://sh.itjust.works/post/16395960 > I do the daily wordle, but lately have been liking the murdle and the hexcodle. > > I've tried worldle, but I'm crap at geography. Probably a reason I should play more, but thems be the breaks. > > Any recommendations?

cross-posted from: https://dubvee.org/post/861635

> Not OC: Just found this on my old hard drive while grabbing some other stuff.

A promise he needs to keep.

Two words that rhyme with purple. Click to find out.

>The subgenre is called "bebop." Get some Charlie Parker albums. He recorded some great songs with Dizzy Gillespie. Jet is talking to Spike about talking to Charlie Parker in a dream in the casino episode, iirc. The style of music is fast tempo, quick key changes, novel chord progressions, and virtuoso performers making new music out of standards. It's analogous to the storytelling in the manga, and to the characters themselves. Each is supremely competent, acting on their own, but complementing and supporting the others to make something extraordinary. The whole soundtrack is a wide range of genres, and it was all written and performed by Yoko Kanno and the Seatbelts, which is especially impressive because of the sheer variety of styles. > >Tank! is more driving trumpets and melodic than classic bebop, so you might also check out some Wynton Marsalis. He played what is called "neo-bop" which was a popular revival of bebop in the 1980s. > >Jazz aficionados would probably classify Tank! as "hard-bop" of which there are many great albums and musicians. John Coltrane's A Love Supreme was one of my favorite albums growing up, but that was the tail end of his hard-bop phase. I would probably suggest Art Blakely and the Jazz Messengers album "Hard Bop" as the quintessential hard-bop album.

Honestly probably the best written post I've seen on Lemmy.

This meme gave me a laugh. Deserves a BestOf flag :-)

Hey everyone, as you all have noticed, I've slowed down on posting topics here.

My main problem is that my main search tool (search-lemmy.com) has seemingly disappeared, so I don't really know how to search Lemmy for good posts.

Lemmy's subscribed / all feeds leave much to be desired as well. So I don't think I've been finding as many posts deserving of a topic here from just the #1 votes or whatever.

Still, maybe we can discuss how we plan to find good posts and bring them to discussion here. Does anyone have good research methodologies they'd like to share with the peanut gallery?

@[email protected] >A friend of mine is a non-native English speaker. He teaches at an elementary school and works with 'English as a second language' students. He casually mentioned that he always tells his students to take a 'horse bath' in the bathroom sink after recess if needed. He was traumatized when I told him that he'd misheard that phrase for his entire adult life.

It feels a little wrong to link to my own post here, but it's the commenters that made this thread great - not me.

There are so many pictures. It made my morning scrolling through them all. Enjoy.

!lemmy.world/post/7971270

Clean as a whistle