PhobosAnomaly
@PhobosAnomaly@feddit.uk
- Comment on snack 4 days ago:
Is this still a thing?
I remember when drinks were topped off with liquid nitrogen to give off the smoky look and people were getting hospitalised with burns, but that when I had the time/money/interest/available friends to go out… so a good twenty years ago.
- Comment on UK phone retailers lock shop doors while trading to tackle rising thefts 1 week ago:
I can’t quite see whether they’re addressing the outright theft of handsets; or the increasing amount of thefts of the infinitely more valuable staff handheld terminals.
It’s a shame either way. I suppose an answer would be to stun or disable all phones until they are activated at a point of sale, rather than the opposite way round.
It still doesn’t mitigate the attack vector of a corrupt employee though.
- Comment on XC Running: Does anyone else's parents do this? 1 week ago:
There’s two (or more) sides to every story and the truth is often in the middle. I’m only reading your view on a situation here and I’m wary that I don’t have the full picture while writing this comment.
Your parents remind me of the meme “you’re not wrong, you’re just an asshole”.
There’s ways to frame feedback - if you’re not achieving a standard set by a teammate who already isn’t qualifying for upper levels of competition, then it’s not a reason to knock the dream on the head, but a part of a training roadmap. If you’re banging in 29min 5ks or 5000m events (I’m making the assumption that’s the distance in mind here), then the plan would be to adjust training and diet to tag each of the minute barriers until you can clear 22min and top your team’s timesheets.
After that, you can look at what generally gets you a qualifying time for state or national competitions, and train for that. Once you’ve achieved that then you’re probably beyond what your parents or coach can help with and you’ll probably need elite or semi-pro level of coaching after that.
Negativity from your parents isn’t helpful though, and no not everyone does it. I don’t know whether it comes from a place of personal failure in your mother’s youth or whether she’s scared that you’re running into the unknown, but it isn’t helpful.
As for your dad though, I thought that it was kinda cool that he wanted to let your HS coach about how you’re getting on now. Everyone’s first crack at a distance event is awful, that’s how you develop - so it’s cool to be able to say to your old coach “hey that first 5k wasn’t spectacular, but check these times out now!”.
Either way, you’re running for yourself. If you train well, your times will come down, and you will start turning heads - whether your parents are supportive or not. One of the most important lessons I learned (and I’m nowhere near club level running let alone elite level) is to run your own race. It’s good for the mind, good for the soul, and helps you sleep at night.
Good luck, well done on what you’ve achieved so far, and hopefully the stopwatch will start giving you much better feedback than your parents.
- Comment on 2 weeks ago:
Johnny Jam to his mates, or J-Traffz to his record label.
- Comment on 2 weeks ago:
Yeah, it’s frustrating.
I’m not entirely sure what the rubberneckers want to see either. “Oh look, someone critically injured next to someone who is likely deceased”, because that isn’t a day ruiner at the best of times.
Odd.
- Comment on 2 weeks ago:
Good shout.
I live fairly rurally and the roads/drivers don’t really lend themselves to new riders.
I think if I lived in a big town or city though, I’d absolutely pick up a chicken chaser and rattle about short distances on one, they seem to be perfect for that sort of use case.
Plus, not that I’m a huge fan of tobacco advertising, bikes in the Rothmans livery look absolutely stunning to me.
- Comment on 2 weeks ago:
Funnily enough, I’m planning on getting my licence at some point.
I’ve no interest in motorbikes, I would just love to learn how to ride one safely.
- Comment on 2 weeks ago:
A few years ago, I was bitching and moaning about a jam, and my pal just said “you’re not in traffic, you are traffic”.
I know it’s nothing more than a cheeky soundbite but just reframing it like that and knowing I’m part of the problem rather than the exception has made me a lot calmer on slow moving roads.
Plus it has encouraged me to either use public transport more, or just drive to a park-and-ride a mile or three out, and run the rest - facilities permitting of course.
- Comment on Anon discovers hygiene 2 weeks ago:
I became as straight as this story the last time I wiped and accidentally pushed my digit through the substandard 2-play shit ticket.
later virgins
- Comment on Bubsy 4D - Official Announcement Trailer 3 weeks ago:
I do quite like the self-awareness of Bubsy 3D being absolute donkey tonk. The redrawn sprites in 3D looks cool, let’s see if they learn the lessons from thirty-ish years ago.
- Comment on Tooney lunes 3 weeks ago:
meep meep
- Comment on Can't believe I made this without ChatGPT 3 weeks ago:
no, because line needs to go up
Seriously though, I agree with you. It’s just so wasteful. It’s really disheartening to try and do my eco friendly bit to reduce waste (particularly of power) and then data centres just piss away the ground we’ve collectively made.
- Comment on Anon puts himself out there 3 weeks ago:
It’s been a while since I played, I only get involved in the live events these days.
I don’t think there are classes in Battle Royale, but Save the World had different “classes” in the loosest sense.
- Comment on Anon puts himself out there 4 weeks ago:
I got a load of grief for playing Fortnite as Penny, mainly from a family friend who kept banging on about “oh look, that’s his type there!”
I’m like motherfucker she’s British and she’s an engineer so I’m choosing to play as her, not because what’s between the legs you fucking buffoon
If she’s starting popping off about just playing Fortnite I’d have been “yeah fair enough mate, maybe I am a shithead” but the whole implied “you’re a guy so you must fancy her if you’re using a girl model” just really got on my tits… to use a poorly timed expression.
- Comment on THIS is true wisdom 4 weeks ago:
I used to share an office with a contractor in the UK.
Their sickie policy was that you didn’t get paid at all for the first four days of sickness, but for periods of five days or longer you got paid the statutory sick pay rate.
It was to disincentivise the “one day wonder” sickies after a night in the piss or when you couldn’t be arsed going to work - but predictably, all it did was guarantee that people would be off for at least five days so they got something out of it.
Absolutely backwards.
- Comment on Anon goes home 4 weeks ago:
Beautifully put.
I love my home town. It’s lovely, quaint, and consistently ranks somewhere on the “best places to live in” surveys. I was really fortunate to grow up there, even if I didn’t realise it at the time.
I flew the nest, found my own path, and moved around a bit. I’ve settled six hundred miles away - and with the numbers of folk in my family slowly starting to dwindle, I’m finding fewer and fewer reasons to go back home.
I miss my formative years, but rather than grieve for them, I’m thankful for growing up somewhere that gave me a lot of joy and good memories. I may not have grown up where I am now, but it’s where my other half and my kids are, and that’s home now.
- Comment on It sounds a little Fr*nch to me 1 month ago:
It*lians in shambles
- Comment on I explained economics to my nine year old 1 month ago:
This is like one of those two-line horror stories.
The economy is coming from inside the building!
- Comment on Off topic 1 month ago:
😂 we’re in agreement on the subs!
- Comment on Remembering Descent, the once-popular, fully 3D 6DOF shooter 1 month ago:
Brilliant game.
Worth playing with the PS1 Descent soundtrack too for a different experience (or Descent Maximum as it was across the pond), it got me in to Type O-Negative too.
- Comment on Off topic 1 month ago:
I mean, she does suck but isn’t that the norm?
I can’t eat popcorn anywhere without needing to hoover up around me afterwards, and I ain’t untidy by any means!
- Comment on missing 1 month ago:
Unpopular opinion: burgers without cheese are fuckin’ awesome.
Specifically the McDonalds rubbery type cheese. Big Macs, Arch Burgers, whatever - all much tastier without the cheese.
Hell, even asking for a “triple cheeseburger with no cheese” sounds like it defeats the point but awwww yeeeaaahhh it’s just a triple decker beef sandwich.
If you like cheese then crack on, go wild. But it’s worth trying something without cheese for a different experience.
- Comment on peak 1 month ago:
You crack me up, little buddy.
- Comment on Please help 1 month ago:
The Fairphone XL.
Not that I’m ragging on the Fairphone, I love the concept.
- Comment on Summer Games Done Quick 2025 started a few hours ago 2 months ago:
There’s been a pivot away from “classic” speedruns games over the last few years - I get that Doom or Sonic 2 or Goldeneye or other 90s games aren’t guaranteed a place every year, but it seems like the games that kicked off the speedrun scene are often overlooked these days.
That said, there is Quake, and there is SMB3 where I dont know who the runner is but that couch is a banger.
I was looking forward to seeing Still Wakes The Deep runs, but I find them really… unexciting, I think is the sentiment. Like the 2016 Doom onwards, the runs are technically outstanding, but there’s a lot of walking on invisible geometry with collision detection, or random tricks like railboosting in Doom that seems to break a game. I get that that is an entirely subjective opinion though, maybe I’m more suited to No Major Glitches runs!
- Comment on Call Before You Dig 2 months ago:
I don’t know, can you??
…and other great 90s teacher questions!
- Comment on Fun in the Sun 2 months ago:
Go on, I’m here to ask dense questions and learn dense answers.
I can see that the central graph is x^3, but what equation repeats it twice along the X axis, and am I missing a pun?
- Comment on A great meal 2 months ago:
- Comment on A great meal 2 months ago:
was this cropped by David Blunkett?
- Comment on Finally paid off my Costco hotdog 🙏 2 months ago:
“why can’t we get a mortgage?”
“Well I bought a hot dog on a payment plan for a laugh, and I defaulted on a 38 cent payment”
“oh no”
