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Joined 2 years ago
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Cake day: July 2nd, 2023

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  • I appreciate your viewpoint, your garden looks great, but that short grass is a barren wasteland for biodiversity. You have to work out what’s important for you, and all sides should respect that decision.

    It would be possible to maintain some of it as a native wildflower meadow instead, and keep the overall length managed without using weed killers and poisons and huge amounts of water like grass requires. There’s no such thing as a native weed, but you do have to remove some individuals for diversity and soil health if they grow too large. I do this with brambles and other large light blocking species, as I don’t have the space to support them, even though they’re great for wildlife, they end up having a short term negative biodiversity impact in a small space. Even a small corner or container of native wildflower would support native pollinators and vastly improve the health and biodiversity of your entire garden. Get a solitary bee hotel, if they exist in your country. Leave a pile of sticks/logs somewhere for insects. Get a pond if you can. You already compost so that’s good. Nature isn’t meant to be tidy, neat or uniform. But I understand that not everybody can appreciate the value that could be gained from millions of gardens improving thier biodiversity, and that conforming with others and past practices and traditions may be a stronger factor for some people to want to keep their gardens neat. You’re clearly a good gardener, but no wildlife conservationist, you can have both though. It’s not about being intentionally messy, it’s about creating conditions for wildlife to be invited in. Those fully overgrown gardens are probably great for nature, but you are right that they have to consider the size of the space and the proximity of neighbours before doing that, and not being considerate of that can make them a bit of an asshole.


  • So it’s an app on Linux which you can get from github, and then an app on the Quest store. And it works by loading up the app on the Quest and streaming it all to there. Just AVR on the store, made by the same people as the GitHub. There’s guides online and it might be a bit fiddly if you’re not good with Linux. It still seems like a work in progress and you’ll need strong WiFi.



  • It looks as though your cousin’s “injuries” are only to his pride—both “in the doghouse” and “throwing someone under the bus” are vivid idioms, not literal events. In everyday English they just mean (1) he’s in trouble or out of favor, and (2) you shifted the blame to him to save yourself. So unless there really was a wayward city-bus careening through a backyard kennel, his bones and fur are perfectly safe—only his feelings might be a bit flattened. Below is a quick crash-course on both expressions, plus a few tips for patching things up.

    1. “In the doghouse”

    Meaning

    To be in the doghouse is to be in disgrace or disfavor with someone whose approval you normally enjoy—most often a partner, family member or boss. It conjures the image of being banished outside with the dog until you earn forgiveness.

    Where it came from

    The first clearly figurative use shows up in U.S. slang dictionaries of the 1920s (“in dog house, in disfavor”) and gained traction through the 1930s press. Popular lore also credits Peter Pan (1911) for spreading the image of Mr Darling sleeping in the kennel after a parenting blunder, giving the phrase extra cultural punch.

    1. “Throw (or toss) someone under the bus”

    Meaning

    To throw someone under the bus is to sacrifice, blame or betray them for self-preservation or advantage, as though pushing them into traffic while you stay safe on the curb.

    Origin snapshot

    The earliest solid print example so far is from 1982 in The Times (London), with wider U.S. political use exploding by the 2008 election cycle. Its exact birthplace is still debated, but all roads lead to late-20th-century journalism and politics.

    1. What this means for your cousin

    2. Tips to get him out of the kennel-zone

    3. Own your part – Admit you “drove” the bus. A candid apology often shortens kennel time.

    4. Repair, don’t excuse – Help fix the original problem rather than focusing on who got blamed.

    5. Set future guardrails – Agree on how you’ll both handle mistakes next time so nobody ends up canine-camping again.

    6. Inject a little humor – Shared laughter about the idioms can defuse tension, reminding everyone the “injuries” were metaphorical.


    Key sources consulted

    Phrases.org.uk: first printed definition of “in the doghouse”

    Wikipedia entry on “Throw under the bus” for meaning & early citations

    English StackExchange & TheIdioms.com for origin discussions

    Paula Reed Nancarrow blog on Peter Pan link to the doghouse image

    Bottom line: your cousin’s ego may need a pat on the head, but his vitals are almost certainly intact. A well-timed apology (and maybe a chew-toy peace offering) should get him back on the porch in no time.




  • I think this is a classic case of “The complainers are way more vocal than the life enjoyers”, combined with modern technology being set up to promote controversial content. When someone’s enjoying this life and being chill, they also don’t usually care about spreading thier message. The complainers are either memetic or often political and seem to enjoy a much greater platform. Also more controversial content generates more negative engagement, and most social media promotes content that has high engagement, because it benefits them to have users engage and stay on the site longer.





  • In the UK you can get on a train without booking a ticket for that specific train, for example an open return or just a day pass. The train company has no idea how many seats will be taken or how many people will get on the train. So say it’s a 10 carriage train. Every seat is taken by someone, reserved or unreserved, and theres not a bit of standing room anywhere (this is very common). Which person sat on a reserved red light indicator seat should you kick out? And how do you know they didn’t reserve that seat specifically before you do that? Or do you kick someone out of a green lit non-reserved seat, with thier proof that the seat is not reserved and they are allowed to sit there, and your proof that you dont even have that seat reserved. It will also be the old people and small children sat down, and you won’t really be popular if you make them stand. Yeah you’re not sitting if you have this ticket. You’ll likely be stood by the entrance door for 3 hours instead. This seat reservation ticket may as well say, “sorry no seat today”, and it’s definitely infuriating to lean that you will be standing for your journey when you’ve payed full price for a seat, maybe £40 depending where.





  • Just because you said medieval ruins, I’m much more impressed with the medieval buildings that aren’t ruins. Definitely worth looking into some of these less well know places if you ever plan a trip, or just want to look up some cool pictures.

    For US people, the thing thats most impressive, is that all of these were built before Christopher Columbus even started his voyage to the americas in 1492.

    Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem, Nottingham - Established around 1189, makes it approximately 835 years old. The pub is partially built into the sandstone caves beneath Nottingham Castle. Still a great looking and fully functioning pub today, I want to go there.

    Anne Hathaways Cottage, Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire - Dates back to about 1463, which makes it around 560 years old. A very British medieval farmhouse and the childhood home of William Shakespeare’s wife.

    Stokesay Castle, Shropshire - Was built in the late 13th century, around 1291, which makes it over 730 years old. It’s one of the best preserved fortified manor houses in England.

    Monnow Bridge, Monmouth, Wales - Was built in the late 13th century, around 1272-1297, making it about 725 years old. It’s the only remaining fortified river bridge in Britain with its gate tower intact.

    St. Ives Bridge, Cambridgeshire - Built in the 1400s, making it around 600 years old. The bridge has a full chapel in the middle.


  • The GMO gene in Golden Rice is patented. It’s just licensed for use for free in developing countries on small hold farms. A monoculture of golden rice would be less diverse than the current wide range of heritage rice varieties, and there could be over reliance on it which could case issues if there was a blight. Theres some concern that spread of the genes could catch unaware farmers with legal issues, but it’s harder for rice genes to spread than most other crops, as they’re usually self-pollinating. The risks dont seem to outweigh the benefits in this case, but it is more complex than it appears on the surface level. Greenpeace doesn’t seem to be able to use scientific research to back its claims here, and is instead just staying true to it’s anti-GMO message.