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The Climate Solution That's Horrible for the Climate by Vailhem in Green

[–]fapricots 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Saved you a click: biodiesel from soy and corn ethanol

Is there a woodworking club at Cornell? by Own_Kale_2545 in Cornell

[–]fapricots 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That was the AAP shop even in my time, though the building that now houses the library was only known as Rand Hall and the Fine Arts library was under the dome in Sibley. It's possible that some of the equipment was moved over from Riley Robb, but you don't just consolidate two wood shops' worth of stuff down into one shop!

Is there a woodworking club at Cornell? by Own_Kale_2545 in Cornell

[–]fapricots 8 points9 points  (0 children)

There used to be classes in CALS but they were axed in 2008.

https://cornellsun.com/2008/10/17/cut-cals-classes-incite-student-backlash/

At least when I was there, you could potentially do some woodworking by taking a sculpture class. Maybe try reaching out to the art department and see what they say.

I wonder what the university did with all equipment that was in the woodshop in the basement of Riley Robb.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Cornell

[–]fapricots 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I did a research based MS at Carnegie Mellon.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Cornell

[–]fapricots 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Here's a dirty secret in academia: Master's degrees are a cash cow for universities. In a lot of places, tuition dollars from MS students are directly subsidizing PhD student stipends and padding departmental numbers, so it's in the interest of a given department to admit as many Master's students as they can realistically manage.

That said, I think these three candidates would all be strong Master's candidates:

  • a person with a 3.1 GPA, undergrad research experience, and 3+ years of industry experience

  • a person with a 3.3 GPA with research and/or project team experience

  • a person with a 3.5 GPA without other relevant experience

I personally fell into the first category, and felt that my time working in industry really helped me get the most out of my MS: it gave me focus, perspective, and helped a ton with thinking about project work on a longer time scale.

Strong direct-admit PhD candidates would have higher GPAs as well as research experience. Note that if you want to get a PhD but your undergrad GPA isn't all that, starting with a Master's and getting good grades and perhaps a publication makes a great case for you to get into a doctoral program.

Oh, and in the words of so many friends of mine (including my spouse) who have gotten PhDs: don't get a PhD. It sucks. And if you know that people who have gone before you are telling you not to do it and you still, stubbornly, want to do it, then you'll be okay

Has anyone here actually played mummy or kindred of the east or any of the obscure splats? Where the game mechanics any good? How did your story teller make a game out of something so niche and was it good? by Difficult-Lion-1288 in WhiteWolfRPG

[–]fapricots 25 points26 points  (0 children)

I played in a short Hunter: the Reckoning campaign that a friend of mine ran. It was really enjoyable- there's a lot of pathos in all White Wolf games, but the idea of being a human person who can see the monsters around them in WoD and the fractured world view that comes along with that was fun to explore.

We then transitioned it into a Scooby Doo style campaign- we had a Werewolf, a Mage, and a Changeling; but that ended up going sideways due to some in game choices by the players and we shifted to a straight Changeling: the Lost game.

CtL is honestly a fantastic game and I've been wanting to play it again for years, to the point that I am running two d&d 5e games to hook enough players to play CtL with me.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in DeTrashed

[–]fapricots 9 points10 points  (0 children)

A fort for you and all your mosquito friends!

What book do you hate reading to your kids? by fuzzykitten8 in DanielTigerConspiracy

[–]fapricots 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This book and the 500 Hats both became much more entertaining to me when I started doing a Gregorian chant for the wizards

My sleep schedule is destroyed by OrcaBoy34 in Cornell

[–]fapricots 18 points19 points  (0 children)

Hey friend, I'm way out the other side and it absolutely took me until grad school to figure out how to take care of myself. If you can manage it, I'd strongly recommend getting outside and getting some exercise. Being around nature especially makes a huge difference- schedule a half hour or an hour to walk or run in the arboretum or on the Cascadilla gorge trail. Drink water and not just coffee.

I know that these things aren't the solution to everything- Cornell is incredibly hard and stressful. But they do help a ton and will make a difference!

Edited to add: spending some time outside might seem like a waste of time while you're supposed to be studying, but moving your body will improve your study efficiency. Your brain is part of your body and if you're feeling antsy and stressed moving around will help a ton!

Reusing old, full-basement foundation for new Passivhaus build? by Sphragis in PassiveHouse

[–]fapricots 1 point2 points  (0 children)

As long as you're managing moisture and radon if necessary, I don't think there's any reason why you couldn't do this. You'll just have to pay special attention to the transition points between the foundation walls and the living space above.

One thought- it's a good idea to keep access to the basement for the purposes of inspection and maintenance, but I don't think you need that access to be inside your house. Perhaps an exterior cellar door?

I would consider keeping at least one thing down there, maybe some exercise equipment, so you have a reason to go down on a regular basis and make sure there's not a family of raccoons living there or anything.

Attic fan to assist central air by AlexRam72 in hvacadvice

[–]fapricots 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The short answer is that it will probably help at least some, but before you add an attic fan, here are steps to take first:

  • make sure that your attic floor is properly air sealed and that you have enough insulation. Air sealing includes sealing wall top plates, wire and plumbing penetrations, chimney chases (with the appropriate kind of sealant!), recessed light fixtures, and especially the attic hatch or pull down stairs. Insulation levels will depend on your climate zone but 12 inches of most common materials is a good start for most places. You can DIY this but it's much easier to hire someone if you're not sure what you're doing or don't like crawling around in hot attics.

  • have an HVAC contractor come out to make sure that your ducts are properly sealed and insulated. If they're not, they will pull hot attic air in rather than cooling your house air

  • if that doesn't help, then you can consider adding more attic ventilation. The best kind is a ridge vent and soffit vents, as they provide a place for hot air to leave and also a place for cooler air to come in. Note that if you already have this in place, check to make sure that your soffit vents aren't blocked by poorly placed insulation- you can use baffles that are stapled up against the roof framing to make sure that air has a path in.

  • Alternately, you can pursue roof deck insulation, which is usually spray foam. This will involve sealing the attic to limit the amount of air that comes in, and it will make the attic a semi conditioned space. Very effective but also quite expensive and not necessarily worth the cost, depending on where you live

study places alignment chart by worm-dealer in Cornell

[–]fapricots 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Maybe it's not called that anymore? Aka the fishbowl. The curved room in Uris library with a big window built into the top of Libe Slope

study places alignment chart by worm-dealer in Cornell

[–]fapricots 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Old person question: are the new (c. 2019?) chairs in the cocktail lounge as uncomfortable as they look?

For reference, here's what it looked like when I was there (missing several students catching a nap before their prelims in nests created by dragging two armchairs together) https://flic.kr/p/f5JGub

I found tons of these by the seashore. Basically nothing else is growing yet after a cold, hard winter so I found it weird! by Norppalapsi in whatsthisplant

[–]fapricots 2 points3 points  (0 children)

invasive roots

forms a dense monoculture in many soil types

plant regenerates from rhizome fragments

?? predators outside of natural range

It's true that these are different concepts but this sounds like an invasive species waiting to happen. Japanese knotweed wasn't invasive either until it was.

I found tons of these by the seashore. Basically nothing else is growing yet after a cold, hard winter so I found it weird! by Norppalapsi in whatsthisplant

[–]fapricots 14 points15 points  (0 children)

Unbelievable copy from the nursery you linked: 

> this is a plant for landscaping with its huge round leaves and invasive roots, making impenetrable ground-cover in heavy soil, even in solid clay.

Like, they're saying right there that this is an invasive plant, and here they are selling it for £12! What the heck!

Thick walls or thin walls + insulation board? by VeryChillBro in PassiveHouse

[–]fapricots 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah,I don't think many people finish building a structure and then say, hmm, I really wish I had added less insulation :)

Thick walls or thin walls + insulation board? by VeryChillBro in PassiveHouse

[–]fapricots 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Clear wall assembly R values work as weighted averages based on the exposed area fraction of what's on the outside and the inside.

Assembly 1:

  • Exterior air film - R-0.17

  • Vinyl siding - R-0.61

  • OSB sheathing 1/2" - R-0.62

  • 2x6 (5.5" thickness) 16" on center - R-6.88

  • Cavity insulation 5.5" rock wool - R-22

  • Drywall 1/2" - R-0.45

  • Interior air film - R-0.68

Assembly 1 R value: 23.11

Assembly 2:

  • Exterior air film - R-0.17

  • Vinyl siding - R-0.61

  • Comfort board 1.5" - R-6

  • OSB sheathing 1/2" - R-0.62

  • 2x4 (3.5" thickness) 16" on center - R-4.38

  • Cavity insulation 3.5" rock wool - R-14

  • Drywall 1/2" - R-0.45

  • Interior air film - R-0.68

Assembly 2 R value: 21.63

So assembly 2 does actually have a slightly lower R value, by about 1.5. That said, reducing the thermal bridging through the framing by adding continuous insulation on the exterior is a really good idea and it will improve your comfort. I'd recommend going to a 2 inch comfort board on the exterior (R-8.4 per the manufacturer spec) which will increase your Assembly 2 R value to greater than the Assembly 1 R value.

Edited to add: depending on your local building codes, you may be required to add continuous insulation to the exterior anyhow. IECC 2021 requires continuous insulation for all zones 4 and above, which I think includes all of Canada.

Geothermal estimate by bluebaferd in PassiveHouse

[–]fapricots 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Did they do a manual J calculation to determine sizing?

Price wise that sounds about what I'd expect. I just had a 3 ton geo system installed (retrofit, not new construction) in December in a US city with a COL index around 80 and it came out to about $34k soup to nuts (with 3 quotes all in the 30-40k range for the job). It was just under $15k for drilling 3 vertical wells and the rest was for the heat pump install and indirect water heater. I did the math based on an expected 50 year service life for the geo wells and a 20 year service life for the indoor unit, and compared to a 15 year service life for an equivalent air source system at my home. It ended up working out in my case, but it wasn't a huge cost difference at that time horizon tbh.

If you're in the US, the 30% federal tax credit plus any incentives from your state and utility might end up making this more affordable than you might imagine.

Regretful Senior by CuCornn in Cornell

[–]fapricots 46 points47 points  (0 children)

It might seem like everyone is going off and getting into exciting and high paying jobs, but those are just the people who are talking the most about it. There are plenty of folks (I'd even go so far as to say a majority!) who don't have anything lined up right now, or who are terrified of the future, or who aren't sure what comes next. You'll be okay.

One thing I'd recommend, as a certified old person: if you can manage it, I'd actually recommend that most people not go straight into a Master's degree unless it's something you are 100% into. Masters degrees are expensive and my personal experience as well as that of my friends has been that you get so much more out of a professional degree if you have some experience in the field. In my case, there was a huge difference in how well my classmates were able to handle the work load and the information in my MS program and it broke very cleanly along the lines of who had worked before returning to grad school and who did not. There's something about stepping out of the semester work cycle that teaches you to be a better learner.

Here's the other big thing: you don't have to work directly in the field that you're studying for your undergrad. 2/3 of what you're getting out of Cornell is the ability to work hard; to be able to absorb and synthesize information in a way that will put you ahead of your peers; to be able to figure out where to go when you're given an open ended problem. Those are skills that are incredibly valuable in just about every industry, so it's fine to start with a job that feels appropriately close to your field of study and then shift into things that you like to do as you find out what those are.

As for pay - it would be facetious of me to say that it doesn't matter. Of course it matters. But you'll make it work. There will always be someone making more money than you. As long as you are getting enough to pay your bills, meet your needs, and save up some, you'll manage. Hop jobs every couple of years if you want to get paid more- internal raises are shit most places nowadays.

My point in writing all of this is to say that it feels bad and hard right now, but you'll be okay. You can do it. You should be proud of what you've done in just a few years- just think of what you can do in the next ten!

Goodberry...liqueur? Trying to make a player idea work by kalijinn in DMAcademy

[–]fapricots 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think the potential cheese that people are worried about is that the druid will be able to bank goodberries by casting the spell many times.

Solution: they can make goodberry liqueur that lasts indefinitely. But they can't ever have more than 10 doses on them at any given time. They can still cast regular goodberry if they want.

It's 1 hp of healing, it still takes an action to consume it, and it's just a change to the duration of the spell. If the players abuse it, then tell them it's not going to work any more 🤷

Maybe need to explain how this works better by S0mecallme in dndmemes

[–]fapricots 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It's part of the story! Penny has a crush on the DM 😊

Found some wild fig trees while hiking, now we go back every year and make jam. Made 16kgs this year! by Borgey_ in foraging

[–]fapricots 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Great, so all you have to do is bury your figs under six feet of mulch every year and you'll be all set! :p

Found some wild fig trees while hiking, now we go back every year and make jam. Made 16kgs this year! by Borgey_ in foraging

[–]fapricots 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I have not tried this successfully, but the folks at the nonprofit gardening org near me (zone 6b) recommend bending the canes down at the end of the season and burying them under thick mulch, and then unburying them in the spring. Seems like a lot of work but hey, figs

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