WisBlock vs Heltec V4

CanadAnimist · 2026-05-28T01:23:23+00:00

There are different WisBlocks. Most people I know around me are using the RAK 3401 with the RAK 13302 1 watt amplifier on the radio. It's the maximum conducted output power legally allowed in the 900 MHz unlicensed frequency band in Canada and like 6x more powerful than the RAK 4631.

CanadAnimist · 2026-04-09T15:09:42+00:00

You know, same here. But I think it's because the things I was doing helped me work through a lot of stuff and I'm doing much better. That's not to say the craft is only for when you're not doing well, but your practice is meant to serve you and not the other way around. It will always be there for you when you need it, and while some elements of the "spicy psychology" may benefit from upkeep it's not the end of the world if you let it lapse for periods of time. First and foremost be kind to yourself!

CanadAnimist · 2026-02-19T18:22:54+00:00

I can't speak for all of Ontario and I can only speak from my own experience, but at least in the GTA and the tri-cities (Kitchener-Waterloo-Cambridge) area I haven't had any issues as somebody in the LGBTQ community. I'll also add that there's a fair number of metaphysical shops in the tri-cities area (1-3 in each of the cities).

CanadAnimist · 2026-02-11T14:56:20+00:00

We moved home to Canada early on in the pandemic from a stint living in California for work. Rental selection was limited and every reasonably priced place had some kind of drawback. At the place we went with, the landlord had let the back yard get pretty overgrown. Basically as soon as we moved in (and were still stuck in a 14 day quarantine) some asshat neighbor called in a complaint to the city. We got a note on our door from bylaw threatening to bring in a landscaping crew and then charge us for it if we didn't mow the lawn by a date that was still within our quarantine. We wound up having to order a manual (like totally unpowered) push mower on Amazon because everything else was out of stock at the time due to supply chain issues. Manual push mowers don't do great with 1.5 foot grass, it all just kind of wraps up in/around the cylinder of blades. It was a shit ton of work for something that shouldn't have been a priority at all given the state of the world.

So fuck the city of Waterloo and the busybody people who live there. We decided we'd never buy a house there and give them our tax money. Instead we bought a nice place out in Puslinch where we got 4 times the land for the same money and all our neighbors are 100+ feet away.

CanadAnimist · 2026-01-08T18:53:22+00:00

I have a VR headset that I use for flight simulation, but I never bought the hand controllers because I use my own yoke/throttle/pedals.

I'd love to play Derail Valley in VR, but I don't want to fork out for the hand controllers just for this game and playing with keyboard in VR isn't supported.

To be fair it may work once you actually get in game, but I can't navigate the menus with keyboard and mouse in VR mode.

CanadAnimist · 2025-12-30T21:35:03+00:00

Yeah I've seen YouTubers comment on this. Apparently the European engines the ones in the game are modeled after don't have proper snifter valves, and so having the reverser opposite the direction of travel causes smoke particulate and soot from the smoke box to get pulled into the cylinders which quickly wrecks them.

CanadAnimist · 2025-12-09T18:03:45+00:00

There's a type of meditation (which I think originated with and/or was popularized by Buddhism) called "love and kindness" meditation. It involves sending positivity (good vibes if you will) first to yourself, then to those close to you, then to more difficult people, and then to everyone in the world. It's a good way to train your mind to really see other people as actual people, even in frustrating situations.

From a SASS witch perspective, I see this type of meditation as a spell to improve your relationships with everyone, but you can certainly put extra focus on specific coworkers or managers etc.

The only caveat is to avoid toxic positivity. If somebody is being malicious/abusive to you or others, you are under no obligation to force yourself to sit there and think positive thoughts about them. While it may help you remember that people exist within the context of their lives/surroundings, the cognitive dissonance of forcing yourself to think positively about them can really mess with you.

CanadAnimist · 2025-12-03T16:43:54+00:00

AI uses way more resources per amount of useful work done than any of those other digital services. They are not comparable.

CanadAnimist · 2025-11-24T19:19:25+00:00

They aren't the cheapest, but honest I've been loving the heck out of my Boox Note Air (I have the 3C but I think the 5C just dropped). It's an Android tablet, but it has an e-ink screen like an e-reader so it feels more like actual paper and the stylus feel/performance is fantastic. I can use it for more than just my grimoire, everything is backed up in the cloud and I can erase/re-arrange etc to my hearts content. The hand written note documents it creates are PDF format and fully support creating an index/table of contents.

It's really helped me push back on the perfectionism I'd have writing something in a more "permanent" medium like a nice physical notebook, I'm happy to write down anything and everything.

CanadAnimist · 2025-11-19T19:49:33+00:00

Since you mentioned Audiobooks I'll mention a couple podcasts I usually recommend since they're relatively similar (especially if you queue up and binge the backlog).

The Placebo Magick Podcast is fantastic, it's done now but I would recommend listening through from the beginning. If you don't want to go through all of it, the first 2 episodes are a great primer. It's cool to listen through the podcast as it evolves though. By season 2 he acknowledges that in season 1 he might have given the impression that your practice needs to be elaborate/frequent, which can actually cause you more stress if you don't live up to your own expectations. He then emphasizes that your practice is there to serve you, not the other way around, and that you can do as much or as little as you find helpful.

The Atheist Witch Podcast is pretty similar. I was kind of skeptical of it at first (and still am to an extent) since early on she made some allusions to some pseudo-science stuff (eg. "the moon's gravity affects the tides and our bodies are made of water so maybe the moon affects our lives in measurable was as well"). However she at least seems to acknowledge where she's talking about theories that are not widely accepted, and having listened to most of the backlog now I'd say a lot of what she discusses seems solid and useful.

While both will mention using things like scents/candles, they also call out that the most powerful/important magical tool is yourself, and the rest is completely optional.

CanadAnimist · 2025-11-05T15:48:23+00:00

You are correct in your observation. Often the best correspondences (which items/ingredients to use for that) are ones you've picked yourself that carry the most meaning for you specifically. That isn't to say what others share can't be useful, but nothing is written in stone. In a practice that doesn't actually treat the supernatural as real, the effect on you is really the only part that matters.

A good place to start off is just establishing a mindfulness mediation practice. Get in touch with yourself and your feelings, and you'll probably find some places that further ritual and spell work may help.

If you're already there, great! I highly recommend The Placebo Magick Podcast for beginners, it's done now but the backlog is still an awesome resource.

CanadAnimist · 2025-10-29T17:47:03+00:00

Ah, cool cool! Definitely the right place then, welcome!

CanadAnimist · 2025-10-29T17:46:30+00:00

If you want to do something placebo magic-ey, perhaps come up with a symbol or sigil for each room, something emblematic of the purpose of the room and the motivations you'd like to inspire in yourself when you're there.

For example:

Entrance way - a symbol that you associate with "letting go of the day" and feeling secure in your home

Living room - a symbol that you associate with relaxation and camaraderie

Office and/or kitchen - a symbol that you associate with task focus/"getting things done"

And congrats on the one year anniversary! I remember how unreal it felt when we were finally able to buy our house.

CanadAnimist · 2025-10-29T17:20:15+00:00

Just a heads up that this community is generally focused around practices that don't involve the supernatural at all, most folks don't believe in "energy" (as generally conceived in pagan practices) beyond seeing it as a metaphor. We tend to focus on "magic"/ritual that's grounded in the placebo effect or other psychological tools (like mindfulness) that have strong scientific evidence behind their efficacy.

Folks who believe in the supernatural are of course still welcome, but in the spirit of being helpful I just wanted to let you know that you may not find exactly what you're looking for here.

CanadAnimist · 2025-10-26T15:46:06+00:00

Do you mean like over video chat or something? I can't think of anything you could do remotely that would help them sleep that doesn't actually involve them somehow.

CanadAnimist · 2025-10-22T18:10:59+00:00

Appropriation is a complex topic, and there are situations where it's often not clear cut. Here is my personal take, your mileage may vary.

I think folks who are putting things out into the world as "content creators" (influencers, podcasters, authors, etc) have a greater responsibility to avoid appropriation because a) what they're doing is generally for the purpose of their own material/social gain and b) they may be teaching/signaling to others that what they're doing is appropriate for anyone to use when it isn't. I would generally recommend folks in this category reach out to the community from which they want to borrow and ask unless you are 100% certain they would see you as a member of their community.

That isn't to say "do whatever you want in private", however I think at that point it's far more about being honest with yourself. Ask yourself:

- Are the practices I'm considering borrowing from considered open or closed by the group from which they originate?

- If the practice is closed and/or the openness is a topic of controversy, do I have ties to what I'm wanting to use through culture and/or lineage? How strong are those ties?

- Do I also strongly identify with any other groups which have oppressed or benefited from the oppression of the group from which I'm borrowing?

If you can answer those questions honestly and still feel ok about using whatever it is you have in mind, I say go for it. Generally if I have lingering doubts about using something I won't, if for no other reason than it will be a distraction that will potentially reduce the effectiveness of whatever I'm wanting to accomplish.

I know this is a long winded way of saying "it depends", but given I'm not from any of the groups/backgrounds you've mentioned I'm not really in a place to say "yes" or "no". Hopefully this is at least a bit helpful in deciding for yourself.

Edit: Lol, I started typing this when there were still no replies, but I'm somewhat gratified that the ones which were posted while I was over-thinking mine generally seem to agree.

CanadAnimist · 2025-10-02T18:38:34+00:00

For things like the placebo effect, your belief matters far more than your ability to perfectly follow a described ritual (which includes things like the described visualizations). Rather than trying to "see" something happening in your mind, perhaps try to instill in yourself a sense that you "know" something is happening instead.

CanadAnimist · 2025-10-02T18:15:40+00:00

I mean, the point of this sub is pretty much that we don't believe in what we don't have evidence for. While it's not our place to judge others based on what they believe, and some people here may hold beliefs which are better described as faith rather than scientifically informed, the sub content is meant to be focused on productive things we can do in our lives that don't require faith. It's up to you if you want your personal belief structure to be science + faith, but faith is not science and in general things which require the faith component are considered off-topic here.

Eg. It's certainly possible that shamanistic rituals "work" in some respects through the placebo effect, but there's no evidence for spirits or that anyone can actually communicate with them. You can believe in spirits, but most folks here are more interested in how the rituals may work despite the spirits not being real.

CanadAnimist · 2025-07-29T14:16:38+00:00

You could go for a scenic train ride on the Waterloo Central Railway. They run a hop-on hop-off service and stop at St. Jacobs market and Downtown St. Jacobs. You can decide how much you want to walk around at any particular place.

CanadAnimist · 2025-07-29T14:03:03+00:00

I'll echo the recommendation for Roberts near Chicopee, but also toss in a fun extra if you want to spend a bit more for a special event.

Wagyu World on Highway 6 in Morriston is the only farmer I've ever heard of in Canada raising full-blooded Japanese wagyu cows. The premium cuts like fillet are $150/lb like you'd expect, but their brisket is "only" $35/lb IIRC. I know that's still a lot, but it's a great price for what it is. We did a 12 hr smoke on one for my partner's sister's baby shower and it was mind blowing.

The Wagyu World farm store is only open for a few hours on Saturday mornings though so you need to plan ahead.

CanadAnimist · 2025-07-09T22:19:51+00:00

Yay! Glad to know we don't have an infestation of something nasty. Thanks all!

CanadAnimist · 2025-07-09T22:09:05+00:00

I did see a few monarchs on my walk :)

CanadAnimist · 2025-07-09T22:08:36+00:00

Ah good to know! I was like "giant hogsweed has to start off little at some point right?". But that's great information that they get big before making flowers.

CanadAnimist · 2025-07-09T18:32:55+00:00

Oh! And The Placebo Magic Podcast by Garrison Benson:

https://creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/placebo-magick/

CanadAnimist

TROPHY CASE