fireweed
@fireweed@lemmy.world
- Comment on Spikey bois 1 week ago:
Hedgehogs of the sea. Their babies even look the same!
- Comment on rollin' coal 1 week ago:
Fukisima
- Comment on Forams 2 weeks ago:
“Hoshi-zuna no Hama” (星砂の浜) literally means “Star-sand Beach”
- Comment on epidemiology 2 weeks ago:
Oh shit, is that why nobody attended the 2009 Time Travelers party? No one wanted to be the person who killed the great Steven Hawking
- Comment on 'They don’t have enough’ – schools in England are running food banks for families as millions struggle to feed their children, researcher says 4 weeks ago:
The peak of the cost-of-living crisis may have passed
Has it?
- Comment on It's not enough to touch grass 1 month ago:
There are native grasses that can be kept as maintained lawns, such as blue grama (although the recommendation is to cut it a little taller, 3-4"). It’s not going to be emerald green like Kentucky blue, however if you live in a dry area with watering restrictions your lawn will be the greenest on the block for sure!
- Comment on It's not enough to touch grass 1 month ago:
“I’m not a bigot; I used to be a liberal but then some strangers said mean things to me on the Internet so now I’m conservative”
This is what you sound like.
- Comment on It's not enough to touch grass 1 month ago:
Except most grass, especially border areas like front lawns and street medians as well as corporate-owned lawns like around a drive-thru or suburban offices, gets zero use. It’s one thing to have a dedicated play area in a yard or park that’s cut grass; it’s another thing to have the entire property as cut grass.
Everyone in my neighborhood has large cut grass lawns. There’s mostly retired folks here are very few children. I spend a lot of time outside yet can literally count on one hand the number of times I have seen people out in those yards for a purpose other than cutting the grass. If you’re not going to use it at least let the dandelions grow so the bees have something to eat!
- Comment on The end of landlords: the surprisingly simple solution to the UK housing crisis 1 month ago:
You’re correct, I’ve amended my comment accordingly (I had mixed up demographic trends in California with national tends). However given that the article spends a lot of time comparing now and the 1970s, when there was a statistically significant difference in household size in the US, I feel that my point still stands, that we should know if there has also been a similar decrease in household size in the UK over the last half-century.
- Comment on The end of landlords: the surprisingly simple solution to the UK housing crisis 1 month ago:
One giant oversight by the article: changes in household size.
In the United States one reason why supply-demand is all fucky right now is that household sizes are smaller than ever. Singles, couples, and empty nesters comprise more of the population than ever before, and they’re frequently living in housing that previously would have accommodated a family of four or more. So even if the housing supply and population stay constant, if fewer people are living in each housing unit you’ll get a shortage. Yet nowhere in the article’s numerical analysis is there mention of this phenomenon. Given the demographic similarities between the US and UK I’m assuming household sizes are shrinking there too.
This is not to say that landlords aren’t a problem, but the entire premise of the article is that based on population and housing supply trends the supply “crisis” does not exist, which without incorporating changes in household size into their calculations is simply not a conclusion you can make.
- Comment on [deleted] 2 months ago:
Holy crap that’s complex. And for what? We know that the more complicated a system is the more prone it is to loopholes and abuse. If you’re a single parent working three jobs, or a foster kid who just aged out of the system and are newly on your own, or mentally disabled, or undereducated, or simply trying to keep your shit together while trying to deal with something like addiction or mental illness or recent homelessness or what have you, you’re undoubtedly going to be leaving a shitload of money on the table by not having the time/energy/wherewithal to fully take advantage of this convoluted system, even though you’re part of the exact population that needs the most assistance. UBI experiments (and similar examples from the charity world) have been pretty clear: just give people the fucking cash, no strings, no fine print, no hoops, and that will have the best result for the recipients, and the least overhead for the givers.
- Comment on Smile :) 2 months ago:
🌻 Fuck grass, plant native wildflowers 🌻
- Comment on Plant Natives 2 months ago:
That’s a great resource! I know some places put together “native wildflower seed packs,” but I’ve heard mixed reviews. Some plants in the pack inevitably outcompete others (leaving you with minimal variety), and I’ve seen packs that contain species that aren’t actually native to the region. Your group’s version sounds like more work on their part, but likely with better end results.
- Comment on Plant Natives 2 months ago:
It’s a mixed bag. Some natives grow easily, as they are naturally adapted to the climate, but some can be tricky little bastards as they are only adapted to very specific conditions that may or may not exist in your home yard (or they would do well once established, but getting to that point is difficult). Introduced species can be easier to grow, because they’re overadapted to the climate (that’s what makes invasive species so, well, invasive!).
Your example of growing catmint is a bit of luck on your part: mint is often considered a weed for growing so vigorously, so it’s a great choice for novice or “brown-thumb” gardeners. These are the types of plants we should be specifically promoting, so new gardeners don’t have to rely on luckily stumbling upon easy-to-grow natives.
On that note, might I advertise my namesake plant, “fireweed” (Chamaenerion angustifolium)? Beautiful flowers, easy to establish, self-sufficient once established (it’s called fireweed for a reason!), and beloved by bees. Native to much of Canada and the United States (and maybe northern Europe/Asia?). www.fs.usda.gov/…/chamerion_angustifolium.shtml
- Comment on Plastic tea bags 2 months ago:
I have been really disappointed by the times I’ve ordered from a shop online (even one that came highly recommended on forums) that I hadn’t previously visited in person. So now I default to a shop that I stopped by on a trip to Chicago once: www.coffeeandtea.com. They have a good supply of the basics (eg English breakfast tea) that are decent quality and very well priced, perfect for everyday tea. For special occasion teas, I was very impressed by a place in Portland, OR I visited: thejasminepearl.com. A lot more expensive but quality to match.
Nowadays I try to make a habit of stopping by tea shops when visiting new cities, and taking note of which specialty teas each has, their price points, etc. I’ve about five or so that I rotate ordering from at this point.
- Comment on What would be a good glue to repair this spatula with that wont he toxic or come undone in a dishwasher? 2 months ago:
You shouldn’t really use metal on stainless steel; stick with wood or silicone.
- Comment on What would be a good glue to repair this spatula with that wont he toxic or come undone in a dishwasher? 2 months ago:
At least upgrade to silicone. I’m baffled that cooking utensils even come in nylon. Options should only be metal, wood, silicone if intended to use near heat.
- Comment on Here as well 4 months ago:
This little bit of news has been hitting the media circuit this week: [www.msn.com/en-us/health/nutrition/…/ar-AA1lGv3y](Americans are eating a meal’s worth of calories in snack foods every day)
…the average American had between 400 and 500 calories worth of snacks a day, which is typically more than what they ate at breakfast. Even worse, the snacks usually carried little to no nutritional value
All food has gotten expensive due to inflation/greedflation, but (at least in my area) snacks, desserts, and some sugary drinks got hit especially hard. Except maybe for people living in food deserts, snacks are way more of a luxury good than “whole” foods are nowadays.
- Comment on The Downfall of Amazon: Dangerous Products, Fake Reviews & Vanishing Brands - Louis Rossman 4 months ago:
“Everyday” products have always been expensive on Amazon. Things like food, pharmacy items, “junk drawer” items, basically anything you can expect to find at your local grocery store. A few years ago I was shocked that that didn’t have a pair of scissors for less than $12 (at the time they were probably half that at Target). I don’t know if this is because the logistics of these items is more expensive to do online, or if they’re price gouging under the assumption that if you’re buying a gluestick online it’s because you live in a super remote area or are too unable/lazy to go to a store in-person. It’s like Staples in reverse: Staples figured out that if you’re buying electronics in a store it’s probably because you need it right fucking now and can’t afford to wait to order it online (or you’re not tech savvy enough to shop/price compare online) so they can get away with making you pay through the nose.
- Comment on The Downfall of Amazon: Dangerous Products, Fake Reviews & Vanishing Brands - Louis Rossman 4 months ago:
Once upon a time I had Prime and their two-day delivery was extremely reliable. Then it started slipping and became “probably two-day delivery.” At a certain point it became “sometime in the next week delivery,” so combined with the nightmare changes they made to what used to be the best search GUI ever, I decided to cancel Prime for good. This was a few years ago; has the delivery situation improved? Because I know the search situation is still utter garbage.
- Comment on What were some ways old community sites grew before stuff like search engine optimization became prevalent? 5 months ago:
[It seems I accidentally deleted the original comment when I went to edit it, so here’s the repost]
There were literally classes at the public library where people would get together and share websites. Also, because the web wasn’t monetized, similar sites would link to each other because they didn’t see other sites as competition for views and ad dollars. The Anime Turnpike, for example, was basically a yellow pages of any and all English-language websites related to anime. There were also “circles”* (even well after search engines entered the picture) of sites sharing a theme (eg a TV show fandom) and you could click through them like flipping through a Rolodex. But yeah, in the very early days (as in, before most folks even had email) word of mouth was quite prevalent; one of my mom’s favorite sites she heard about from a taxi driver.
*EDIT: Sorry, I think I got my languages mixed up; as others have said they were called webrings in English
- Comment on What were some ways old community sites grew before stuff like search engine optimization became prevalent? 5 months ago:
I remember a pre-search engine era, but that didn’t last too long. First there was Yahoo!, then Altavista, then Google came on the scene and changed everything. God those early Google days were amazing; it felt like if it existed on the web, Google could find it for you with the right search input.
- Comment on You know who you are 5 months ago:
Meanwhile I’m over here amazed that if you replaced the ¢ with $, the menu would be instantly updated to current restaurant prices.
- Comment on At SpaceX, worker injuries soar in Elon Musk’s rush to Mars 6 months ago:
The lax safety culture, more than a dozen current and former employees said, stems in part from Musk’s disdain for perceived bureaucracy and a belief inside SpaceX that it’s leading an urgent quest to create a refuge in space from a dying Earth.
“Elon’s concept that SpaceX is on this mission to go to Mars as fast as possible and save humanity permeates every part of the company,” said Tom Moline, a former SpaceX senior avionics engineer who was among a group of employees fired after raising workplace complaints. “The company justifies casting aside anything that could stand in the way of accomplishing that goal, including worker safety.”>
It would be so much easier, so much cheaper, and help so many more people and other living creatures to fix the problems on Earth rather than attempt to flee to Mars. Elon is a literal comic book villain, cliche factor dialed to eleven.