Mossy Feathers (They/Them)

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Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: July 20th, 2023

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  • I think a lot of millennials are “button-pushers” (aka enjoy pushing people’s buttons) and love that kinda stuff; and if Gen Z wants to continue to get along with us, they’re gonna have to learn how to not get mad when we intentionally press their buttons. Like, the 90s and 2000s were the best time to be a button-pusher because trolling at that time was an art form and form of internet comedy. Sure, trolls could be infuriating, but you knew they were fucking with you.

    Nowadays, the term has been appropriated and redefined to refer to someone who spreads propaganda. Pushing someone else’s buttons is now frowned on, not just irl but online as well. Sure, there are shitposts, but there’s sort of an expectation that you’re meant to ensure everyone is on the same page and not leaving people clueless. It’s not like trolling where you’re intentionally trying to mislead someone to fuck with them.



  • The picture of the “Chinese 50 lane road” was an internet hoax. It wasn’t a road. It is a toll gate, and it also only has 25 lanes.

    If you’re counting feeder roads, shouldn’t toll gates get counted too? Even so, while looking up the widest road in Brazil that you mention later, I came across an article that explained that OP is actually wrong and that the Katy freeway maxes out at 13 lanes. The only way you get close to 26 lanes is if you also count the feeder/access/frontage roads. So the Chinese highway is still wider even if you don’t count the toll gate (assuming you aren’t counting access roads, though it might still be wider even if you count access roads).

    The Katy freeway that OP posted has 26 lanes and is considered the “largest” road. The picture doesn’t really show it that well, and I’m also not sure if the feeder roads ought to count. It “only” has 6 ordinary lanes in both directions but a lot of entryways, exits and other designated lanes.

    I live in Texas and have been on the Katy freeway before. It’s honestly extremely wide and makes you feel like you’re surrounded by pavement.

    Personally, I think access roads shouldn’t be counted because iirc they’re required by law (Texas law supposedly states that anyone with land immediately next to a highway must be able to access said highway) and treated like normal streets.

    Like, on the one hand, Texas highways almost always have a road with at least one or two lanes running parallel on both sides that on/off-ramps connect to, so they should be counted as part of the highway, right?

    On the other hand, they’re treated as normal city streets, have a lower speed limit, can have traffic lights, have parking lot entrances/exits, and so forth; so they’re not really part of the highway. It’s not like you could bulldoze the access roads without potentially making a lot of homes and/or businesses completely inaccessible.

    I didn’t bring that up though, because I didn’t want to risk someone getting mad because I was “minimizing the fuck cars energy” or something.

    According to Guinness Book of Records, the widest road is in Brazil and is 250 meters wide. However this is also just a technicality, because it is also a 6 lane road with a really really wide median strip.

    That makes me wonder if we should be counting lanes, actual width, or a ratio between the two. Imo a 250m wide, 6 lane road is significantly worse than a 169m wide, 26 lane road (Google says the Katy freeway is 169m wide at its widest). Technically the 6 lane road is greener because there’s probably not as much vehicle pollution, but that’s a fuckton of wasted space.

    I feel like inefficiency should be the real target, but that doesn’t make for good headlines or thread titles. Imagine titling a thread, “the Katy freeway is the world’s least space efficient highway due to being X-wide with an A:B width:lane ratio” vs “the Katy freeway is the world’s widest highway with 26 lanes”. The latter is a lot easier to visualize than the former.





  • Thanks, I knew Japanese pay was bad compared to the US, but I figured it was probably in line with the cost of living in japan. I forget that the US’ draconian taxes restrict where someone can reasonably immigrate due to double-taxation though (and potentially 3x~4x or more if you’re a freelancer, since companies have to pay half your taxes from their own pockets in the US and you have to make up the difference as a freelancer).

    Edit: also the drug/ADHD thing. I’m ADHD and you’ve basically told me I’m illegal in Japan since I can’t function without my medication. Though it looks like my specific medication is legal, albeit with a bunch of hoops to jump through. Apparently Adderall is illegal though, which is strange because it’s been around a lot longer than my medication has.






  • Many animals, including most felids and canids, have a fifth toe (aka dew claw), which could potentially evolve into a thumb. You don’t normally see it on domestic dogs though, because if I’m not mistaken, it usually gets cut off when they’re a puppy due to it being weak and having a tendency to get caught on things.

    Alternatively, there is polydactylism in cats, which can give them extra toes that can help them grab things (I’ve seen a video of a polydactyl cat using it’s extra foretoe like a thumb, though I can’t find it). It seems possible that, overtime, an extra foretoe like that might eventually provide enough of a evolutionary benefit for it to become a standard feature.

    If cats evolved human-like intelligence, they’d absolutely have night clubs of some kind. That said, I’m not convinced that cats don’t already have human-like intelligence and aren’t just choosing to not use it, but that’s beside the point.

    Walking bipedally is something a lot of smaller mammals can do as well, it just isn’t their normal mode of locomotion because their bodies aren’t currently designed for it. Going the evolution route again, however, and it’s possible that a species might eventually decide to stand up like humans did. Edit: I forgot about birds, dinosaurs and semi-bipedal mammals like the pangolin. Birds and pre-historic theropods walked on two legs, and pangolins have heavy tails they can use to balance on their hind legs so their forelegs are free to dig at ant mounds. So humans aren’t the only animals that walk on two legs.

    The wing things are part of her clothing.


    You’re correct that being bothered by a chin alone is strange, but,

    A) people have weird things that bother them, sometimes illogically

    B) I kinda look at anthropomorphic animals as being evolved from their real world counterparts, so I tend to rationalize things in regards to how they might have evolved. It makes it more believable for me.

    C) iirc, in the context of the movie that specific character is from, thats actually someone’s VR avatar. As such, it makes sense to make human concessions like opposable thumbs, five fingers and toes (cats technically have five toes on each forepaw, four toes on each hind paw), walking plantigrade, etc. A chin seems like an odd concession to make. From the article, it doesn’t really give humans any really evolutionary advantage so it’s not like you’re gonna be unable to do something because you don’t have a chin; and based on what I’ve seen in the furry community, chins on anthros doesn’t really seem to have much of an aesthetic appeal either (otherwise nearly every fursona would have an obvious chin).

    D) It just looks weird. Idk man, it just looks weird to me.

    That said, I don’t tend to mind hybrids or mythical creatures like gryphons, dragons, dragon-cats, or whatever, so idk. It just looks weird to me and I guess the thing about humans being the only ones with chins is a explanation and justification for why I find it weird-looking.







  • One of the core skills would be the ability to pick out different sounds from a soundscape. I suspect you already have a knack for that given how much you seem to think about audio quality. Tied in with that would be an understanding of how digital audio works in terms of bitrate, dynamic range, what clipping sounds (and looks) like, etc. I’m sure there’s tons of info on all that online. Analog audio has a whole other set of skills associated with it, but I doubt it’s super accessible these days for a beginner. That’s outside of cassettes, at least. I’m sure old 4-track cassette recorders are super cheap. As much as I loved analog recording, you’re probably better off just going digitally and using processing to get an approximation of the “traditional” analog sound, though, if that’s your jsn. Or if you’re going for a black metal sound or something else intentionally grungy, go to town on a cassette deck.

    I can already do a lot of this, and while I’m a bit lacking on the analog aspect, I have an okay understanding of how electricity works, which would probably help with the analog side.

    From there I’d say the biggest skills would be understanding basic mic technique, the general physics of sound, and how to properly set your levels (basically the ratio of preamp vs amp). Next up would be figuring out basic processing - namely the different types of EQ and compression. Effects play into that too - especially reverb and delay - but EQ and compression (plus proper micing and levels) are generally going to be the foundation of a good mix.

    Don’t have as much of an understanding here, especially when it comes to calling out specific frequencies to be EQ’d. I don’t do enough of that to be able to “play it by ear” and know what frequencies I want to adjust without some experimentation. I’m also somewhat familiar with how compressors work, but I need a UI because I tend to forget what bit does what, so I need visual feedback to show me what I’m changing. Shouldn’t be too difficult to memorize the terminology and how certain frequencies sound, but it would take some effort. I do understand how decibels work though!

    That being said - this all entirely depends on what you’re going for. If you don’t do anything musical yourself and aren’t inclined to record other musicians, you can have tons of fun remixing other people’s work. I’m pretty sure there are sites out there where you can download raw audio tracks to mix yourself. Another viable option if you’re into electronic forms of music is to get a sequencer and experiment that way.

    It’s something I’d probably do as a career. The career I wanted to go into has turned out to be extremely toxic and heavily exploitive, so I’m kinda looking for alternatives. That said, most creative careers tend to be very exploitive so I might be looking in the wrong place.