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So, while I've always loved the idea of #chess, I've also always been spectacularly bad at it. Can anyone recommend any books or other resources that might help? I had an eBook (or was it a PDF?) on tactics once upon a time, but I don't know what happened to it.

I know that an important key is practice, but the problem is that when I lose, I don't know why I lost, so it's difficult to learn from the experience.

Sico Axial reshared this.

in reply to Wayne Myers

@conniptions I believe it’s lichess.org.

Building on this: learn to analyse your games using an engine. Only play 5-10 games per day, but analyse each one. At first, look through the game without the engine, try to observe the flow of the game. Try to see if you got outplayed positionally, or you missed a tactic, hung a piece, etc.

Then analyse with the engine. Don’t focus too much on absolute swings of the evaluation, but more on trends.

in reply to Sebastian Lauwers

@teotwaki Doh, of course yes, apologies, was v tired when I posted.

Agreed in re usefulness of using engine for analysis (and importance of analysing games) once there's a grasp of the basic value of material, basic tactics and so on.

Not yet mentioned - the usefulness of puzzles: simpler puzzles help you drill basic patterns and tactics - it's one thing to know what a fork is, but another thing to look at a position and quickly spot an available fork. Lichess puzzles v good for this.


Jonathan Lamothe reshared this.


Thoughts on Racism and book bans
One of the things I hear about in reference to book bans re: racism is making white kids feel uncomfortable.
I dunno, but... I'm supposed to be uncomfortable with racism. I don't ever want to be comfy with racism.
Being a decent person requires I'm not comfy with things like racism. If racism doesn't make me feel uncomfortable, something has gone wrong with my moral compass and serious self reflection and self improvement would be urgently necessary. 🤷‍♀️

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Jonathan Lamothe reshared this.


Tip for the non-ADHD folks who have friend-groups containing large numbers of ADHD folks:

If your feelings are hurt because you feel you've been talked over or ignored or something like that, you need to *tell us*.

There are often things we do unknowingly that can make a person feel unheard or disrespected. We wish it was different. We try to make it different (we're almost all trying to learn not to interrupt), but frequently we depend on being made aware that there is a problem.

in reply to Artemis Kevin Davy reshared this.

I think a general rule of thumb for maintaining positive relationships with ADHD people is that if you have a problem with something we do, you need to be direct because the chances that we are not aware that we're doing the thing or we are not aware that the thing is affecting you are pretty high.

We work really hard at being aware of ourselves and the people around us, but it is *work*. When we're just relaxing and having fun, we may especially be likely to not notice.

This entry was edited (4 days ago)

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in reply to Artemis Bernie Sadly Does It reshared this.

Not noticing and not caring are not the same thing, especially when your attention is an unruly little bastard that does what it wants.


rant about lies and masking

Some people's capacity to just straight-up lie to your face without skipping a beat astonishes me.

Take this conversation between Katy and an unnamed family member:

F: I need you to drive me to the clinic (because I've caught the cough that's been making the rounds in my household for weeks now).
K: Okay, but we can't afford to get sick.
F: It's okay, I'll wear a mask the whole time.
K: Okay.
F: Afterwards, we can go out to eat.
K: How are we going to eat while wearing masks?
F: It's okay, I'm not contagious.

(╯° □°) ╯︵ ┻━┻

Edit: typo

This entry was edited (3 days ago)
in reply to Jonathan Lamothe

rant about lies and masking

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in reply to Jonathan Lamothe

meta

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Darcy Casselman reshared this.


How much does the aurora borealis weigh?
It's pretty light.

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Jonathan Lamothe reshared this.


The reason so many firms push so hard to get you to use their phone apps rather than their websites is that the depth of invasive personal data they can gather via the apps is usually enormous in comparison.

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in reply to Lauren Weinstein

Ever had a restaurant deny you the discount they offer repeat customers because it's only available via their spyware app or via a dodgy QR code?

It's a good way to destroy your customer base.

Nicole Parsons reshared this.

in reply to Nicole Parsons

@Npars01
I don’t have apps for any of the places I frequently custom. It’s ridiculous. Show up this morning coffee shop so frequently I benefit from discounts just give me.


cult brainwashing (trigger warning)

I found some of my old notes from church. God, I really drank the Kool-Aid, didn't I?

Here's a sample:

When I negotiate my standards, I cheat myself of the blessings the Lord wants to give me.


🤮🤮🤮

"The blessings he wants to give me?" Isn't he supposed to be an omnipotent being? I had no idea I was so powerful that I could tie his hands like that.

#ExMormon #apostake #NotACult

in reply to Jonathan Lamothe

cult brainwashing (trigger warning)

I also love how I was able to take down an idea, and then immediately contradict myself with the next one, e.g.:

- Heavenly Father did not put me here to fail.
- A failure is nothing more than an opportunity to learn.


This is the definition of doublethink.


Jonathan Lamothe reshared this.


Finally. my bills are washed, laundry is paid, clothes are baking and dinner is in the dryer. i've got this!

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screwlisp reshared this.


Katy bought a bread slicer, so obviously I had to make a loaf of #sourdough #today to test it out.

Why does it have to take so long to cool?


Jonathan Lamothe reshared this.


get in, loser

we’re poisoning chatbots

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in reply to Lili Saintcrow Bonaventure Software reshared this.

My favorite minigame in which I tell an LLM it's wrong and feed it a fake "correct answer" - to which it says "thanks! I'll remember that for everyone else in the future." Totally secure, totally sound.


Trying out #Friendica's #Bluesky bridge. If you've been followed there by @jlamothe.bsky.social, that's me.

Let's see if this post actually shows up there.

Brian Pierce reshared this.

in reply to Jonathan Lamothe

For sure, I’d rather keep following you here. I just wanted to confirm your bridge is working but wasn’t sure if I was doing something wrong or your setup is somehow incomplete 🤷
in reply to ilyess

@ilyess It looks like there's a bit of lag in the bridge, but I guess that's to be expected.

in reply to Aziz

@Aziz @Jon's Blog Yeah, for me, it's about the auto-repeating tasks. I can't get that with pen and paper, otherwise I'd go that route too.

I'm trying to take the lowest tech route possible these days.

in reply to Jonathan Lamothe

@me
"I'm trying to take the lowest tech route possible these days."

Exactly.


Jonathan Lamothe reshared this.


Bluesky is the Microsoft Word of social media, which I mean in the derogatory sense, as the fediverse is the LaTeX of social media, which I also mean in the derogatory sense
in reply to Liam :fnord: Coffee (Team CW) reshared this.

I think this all aligns with the fact that Facebook remains the Facebook of social media.
in reply to Liam :fnord: Coffee (Team CW) reshared this.

@jenn I’m still searching for the troff of social media.
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Just had a monitor fail in the most bizarre way posible. I got some weird screen flicker/tearing. I assumed that it was my video card doing someting wonky, especially since it would happen sporadically when playing Minetest, and would often persist for a while after. A reboot cleared it the first time it happened.

This time it was really bad though. The weird thing is that when I disconnected the HDMI cable, the distortion persisted on the OSD. Also, there was still very distinct remnant of the image that had been on the screen. It wasn't your typical burn-in, as it wasn't static. It was just... weird.



It's been over a year now since my last blog post. #Today I started working on a new one about my adventures with #org-mode. As an experiment, I'm trying to compose the post itself in org-mode, and then export to HTML for the site.

Depending on how reasonable the resulting HTML ends up being, this might be my go-to method of composing blog posts going forward.


in reply to Jonathan Lamothe

Worse than back to square one. I can't access it through a browser either.
in reply to Jonathan Lamothe

Hopped over to another server and all's well again. We'll see for how long.

Jonathan Lamothe reshared this.


Friendly reminder to folks on Fedi: the engagement *you* see on a post might not be the engagement the *poster* sees.

Take my silly polls, for instance. I occasionally see comments saying "you'd have more responses if it said [variable]".

Those commenters probably can't see the responses, so they assume few are responding.

My last poll has over 1200 responses, but federation might not show *you* all of them. And that's OK! But don't assume what you see is what others see here.

in reply to Veronica Explains

I'm wondering if showing the number of replies, boosts and likes should be deprecated unless it is viewed on the original page. Right now I see the number of boosts at 3 and 0 likes for your post but if I see the post on linuxmom.net then it is over 200 and 300 respectively. When the numbers are that far apart what is even the point?

Penfount • Pen Community reshared this.


Just got my sample ink pack in the mail, and I've got to say Diamine Ruby Blues might be my new favourite ink. The photos online don't do it justice. The ink changes colour depending on the angle you look at it from. Is this a more common thing than I realize?
#FountainPens
in reply to Jonathan Lamothe

I really LOVE my Ruby Blues ink. The intense deep blue with unexpected subtle red flash in certain places. And that astounding bottle!
The color change in various angles and light is called 'sheening'/'sheen' and many sites that sell ink have the sheening inks sorted in a category or at least the ability to search for sheen in the description.
in reply to redbanjer 🪕

@redbanjer 🪕 My two suppliers of choice are Phidon (a local-ish brick and mortar store) and Goulet Pens. Though I've recently heard good things about Jet Pens (I think) but I've no experience with them.
in reply to Jonathan Lamothe

Yes I have bought a lot of stuff from Goulet Pens. Also from FPR (Fountain Pen Revolution)... I love their Ultra Flex nib pens.
in reply to Jonathan Lamothe

P.S. Sheening ink...--> Not to be confused with 'shimmer'/shimmering' inks which have actual microscopic bits of sparkle glitter in them (which may cause clogging issues in some pens, depending on who you ask).


mh
Hit negative spoon territory. Didn't know that was possible. Calling it a night. Hopefully I don't start tomorrow at a defecit.

Jonathan Lamothe reshared this.


Cybertruck sighting

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Jonathan Lamothe reshared this.


Penfount • Pen Community reshared this.


Just ordered an "inkvent" calendar because apparently they sell out fast. Now I just have to restrain myself from opening it until December. Fortunately I ordered a random sample pack as well, so we have something to keep us occupied in the meantime.
#FountainPens
in reply to Jonathan Lamothe

@penfount I really do not have the budget for the Colorverse and Diamine calendars this year and probably not for the foreseeable future. I’m gonna rely on you all to share your reviews and swatches.
in reply to Cynthia loves masks

@Cynthia loves masks It's my first time getting one. They are not cheap, but my partner and I needed something to be able to look forward to, and we were able to scrape the money together.

I'd be happy to share the results if that would also bring happiness to others. 🙂

in reply to Jonathan Lamothe

Welp, I had hoped this would arrive before the Canada Post strike. I guess not.

That's unfortunate.



in reply to Jonathan Lamothe

Use that time instead to connect w/ your affinity group(s). You will need them.

Jonathan Lamothe reshared this.


stop doomscrolling for a second and look at this cutie. he doesn’t even know what an election is.
in reply to Molly White

No, he knows! He just doesn't care. But I see your point ☺️


Jonathan Lamothe reshared this.


non-ADHD advice given to ADHD people is always like "here's one neat trick for doing the thing: just do the thing"

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in reply to Graham Sutherland / Polynomial Shannon Prickett reshared this.

"too much mental load? Simply reduce your mental load by writing a to do list"

It's like they don't know that writing a to do list exponentially increases mental load for someone with ADHD

in reply to schratze 💍

@schratze wait they do? I thought there was something wrong with me cause everyone keeps telling me to make lists specifically as a way to deal with my ADHD 💀

Even other people with ADHD have told me this

in reply to hazelnot :yell:

@hazelnot @schratze In the neurotypical way, yes, they absolutely do, they (among other things) create a loop of self-punishment for "not having done enough" which negatively affects executive function further, and can create an overwhelming sense of a never-ending list of stuff to do such that you can't even start on a single thing, to just name a couple of the ways in which (monolithic) todo lists (as often suggested) can make things worse for ADHD
in reply to Sven Slootweg

@hazelnot @schratze There are ways to use todo lists to your advantage but those work very differently from the widely-recommended "todo list" concept
in reply to Sven Slootweg Shannon Prickett reshared this.

@hazelnot @schratze I mentioned this in more detail in social.pixie.town/@joepie91/11… but the way I can make todo lists work for me is to reframe their purpose as one of "relieving me from chores" rather than "assigning me chores"

Jonathan Lamothe reshared this.


Every time papa cleans and re-inks his pens I must supervise. I don't know why he keeps trying to stop me.

Jonathan Lamothe reshared this.


screwlisp reshared this.


Broke my #LambdaMOO sushi bar by accidentally going over quota trying to add a requested item to the menu.

Don't have time to fix it at the moment, but I'll take care of it in the next couple days.

Sorry @screwlisp et. al.


Jonathan Lamothe reshared this.


"eniko why won't your studio support mac anymore"

well, this might have something to do with it: hackaday.com/2024/11/01/apple-…

"Now it would seem that to distribute MacOS software you need to have an Apple Developer Program membership, costing $99/year."

if anything apple should be paying *me* $99 a year to put up with their bullshit. i'm not locking myself into development-as-a-service where every year i have to dish out $99 to even be allowed to make programs for mac and then every 4 years also have to buy an entirely new overpriced piece of trash laptop because apple arbitrarily decided the latest version of macos won't run on older macbooks

in reply to Eniko | Kitsune Tails out now!

AND they force you to use the latest MacOS because XCode stops being updated on older OS for no reason


Typesetting question:

I've noticed that in many novels there will be a scene change within a chapter that is marked by a larger than normal gap between two paragraphs. Is there a way to represent this in a #LaTeX document?

in reply to Jonathan Lamothe

@mattskala It would be better to wrap that into a specific command. So you can adjust the amount later globally instead of locally having it hardcoded. To give an example:

\NewDocumentCommand{\chapterSep}{\par\vspace{1em}\AddToHookNext{para/begin}{\OmitIndent}}

The \OmitIndent thing would make it flexible so you also use it with documents where you have indentation of the first line instead of a parskip.

#TeXLaTeX

in reply to Marei

And a slightly off-topic hint: As hashtags sadly aren't case sensitive, we usually prefer #TeXLaTeX to avoid confusion. Maybe you want to add/switch to that one in the future.
in reply to Marei

@TeXhackse Are those LaTeX internal macros? I'm not familiar with \OmitIndent and would have been inclined to use \noindent (as well as, for instance, \newcommand) if not going all the way to using something like the memoir class which has relevant features already built in.
in reply to Matthew Skala

@mattskala not internal,, as they are user level commands. But yes, it's part of #TeLaTeX without any package

NewDocumentCommand is the modern replacement of newcommand. (see `texdoc usrguide`)

The hook with OmitIndent allows to set the \noindent for the following paragraph, while \noindent has to be called at the beginning of that paragraph.(`texdoc ltpara-doc¸`)

Online links of the documentation:
texdoc.org/serve/usrguide/0
texdoc.org/serve/ltpara-doc/0

in reply to Marei

@mattskala Oh and I of course I agree there are document class which support that by default. Just sometimes one may not use those or can't or whatever. So I wanted to provide a general option. Of course you should check the documentation of the document class first.

memoir's plainbreak is defined similar. But what I don't like about it, that it does not have a default value for the size. So I'd still define my own \chapterSep to be like \plainbreak{1} to be able to adjust that globally.



ph
Of course, just as I'm starting to get this cough back under control I had to go and choke on my water again...

Jonathan Lamothe reshared this.


If you're not Jewish, do you mind re-logging this to help a Jew out in reaching other Jews on Mastodon?
If you're a Jew - hi! I made lots of nature inspired Judaica jewelry for you. Some have not been uploaded yet but if you see something you like please don't hesitate to reach out!
And lots more are available here on my website: emmanuelleskaly.com/

At a time in which hate crimes against us are rising so extremely fast, it's never been more important to be proudly, unapologetically Jewish. Only wear those where you feel safe, but wear them proudly. We are here to stay. ❤️

#art #israel #handmade #arts #artists #jews #jewish #shopsmall #jewelry #mazeldon

This entry was edited (1 month ago)

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in reply to Emmanuelle Skaly

Not Jewish (or religious for that matter), but holy guacamole! These are gorgeous!! Absolutely smitten by the fourth one 😍
in reply to Farah

@farah
Thank you so much!! If you'd like - I'm able to adjust or remake it for you without the star of David ❤️
There are also lots of non Jewish pieces on my website emmanuelleskaly.com/

Coffee (Team CW) reshared this.


Just got a notification from F-Droid that my browser ( #Fennec ) has known #security issues. Looks like I'm in the market for a new browser on my mobile devices.

I know I'm gonna hate asking this, but what browser sucks the least on #Android these days?

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in reply to Jonathan Lamothe

I saw over on Mastodon that an update is coming soon, so I don't think you need to be in a rush to switch.
in reply to Russ O ❤ 🇺🇦

@Russ O ❤ 🇺🇦 Yeah, I mostly only use the browser on my phone with trustworthy-ish sites, so I'm not in a huge rush. If they fix it before I find an alternative, so much the better.

Shannon Prickett reshared this.


Does anyone know if #org-mode has a way to specify a repeating scheduled item in UTC time? I have a few of these, and don't want to have to adjust them all when the clock changes. #emacs

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in reply to Jonathan Lamothe

Maybe a answer : org-mode utc
in reply to lann

@lann This is close to what I'm looking for. Ideally, I'd like to be able to do something like set a property on a headline that says "treat everything in this subtree as UTC".
@lann


Jonathan Lamothe reshared this.


Newsletter: Independent writers are an important facet of the media ecosystem, but a recent legal threat helps to remind me that it’s not the path for everyone.

citationneeded.news/i-am-my-ow…

#newsletter #CitationNeeded #journalism #IndependentMedia

in reply to Molly White

One of the big benefits of being your own legal department is that you actually have your own interests at heart.

Anyone who thinks a corporate legal department or a corporate HR department is looking out for the interests of the employee is living in fantasy land.

HR and Legal are there solely to protect the corporation. Never think otherwise.

This entry was edited (3 weeks ago)
in reply to Molly White

Sorry you had to deal with this BS. I've had to do it too being an solo-preneur and a newsletter writer too.

Jonathan Lamothe reshared this.


Anyone who thinks they can vote their way out of fascism with their wallet has never seen a billionaire’s wallet.

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in reply to Aral Balkan

A few years ago, a Podcaster was wanting all their listeners to boycott Home Depot because the CEO hates Democrats. Guess who the same CEO endorsed this time? Kamala Harris!
A Democrat!

Every time I go to Home Depot to pick up some electrical wire, I can always depend on finding the podcaster's empty parking space, I chuckle to myself.



ph
Oh neat, I'm doing the cough-so-hard-I-almost-pass-out thing again. 🙃
in reply to Jonathan Lamothe

ph

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So, for the last few days, #Emacs has been glitching out on me. When I'd try to do certain things, it'd complain about an undefined variable and then just refuse to do the thing I asked it to do. Today, it started doing this when I tried to list the manuals.

I deleted the cache files and restarted it. Everything's fine now. I'm glad it's fixed, but... really?

in reply to Jonathan Lamothe

Do you use emacs.desktop files, eg with desktop-save? I've also had strange goings-ons where starting emacs gives errors and even C-x C-c doesn't work. Removing the .emacs.desktop file in use resolves it.
in reply to mocom

@mocom I think this is what broke it.


I think the problem started when I installed the org-mode package from M-x list-packages even though it was already installed via apt. I removed it again, but I think it broke things.

in reply to Jonathan Lamothe

org is a built in package :
  org                            9.5.5          built-in              Outline-based notes management and organizer

So no reason to install it

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