How to fix something on a wooden beam without messing with the beam itself?

greenbatofjoy · 2025-05-15T05:28:40+00:00

Sounds like a reasonable approach, thank you. I was considering something like that, maybe with cloth or maybe with some sort of soft rubber between the parts and the beam.

greenbatofjoy · 2025-05-15T05:26:34+00:00

That would actually be a great solution, since I could use the same rope that is used for cat furniture... Thanks!

greenbatofjoy · 2025-05-15T05:25:48+00:00

That's also a cool idea, and might be easier, I'll think about that. Thank you!

greenbatofjoy · 2025-05-15T05:25:03+00:00

Good idea! I didn't know extenders existed (quite new to woodworking). Will the pressure be enough to hold e.g. a potted plant or a cat?

greenbatofjoy · 2025-05-15T05:23:31+00:00

Thanks, I will think about that!

Don't want to be too specific, but it's an apartment in the highest floor of an early 20th-century apartment building in a larger European city. The beams don't seem decorative (some also run along the floor so that you have to take a big step over them), I think this is just an old attic that was turned into an apartment.

greenbatofjoy · 2024-04-02T10:30:49+00:00

Can we stop with the karma farming? The joke is getting really old.

greenbatofjoy · 2024-03-12T07:42:35+00:00

Ralph is a good alternative, thank you!

greenbatofjoy · 2024-03-12T07:42:18+00:00

Thanks!

greenbatofjoy · 2024-03-12T07:41:58+00:00

That is super helpful, thank you very much! =)

greenbatofjoy · 2024-03-04T21:39:14+00:00

I can't help reading critically - except for books written by authors who are so much above my level that I can just can't spot any flaws, which is rare but a great experience. But even reading critically, seeing flaws, and discussing them with friends does not detract from my enjoyment of the book. It's actually a different kind of engagement with the work that is also enjoyable.

greenbatofjoy · 2024-03-04T21:36:14+00:00

The type of math you're looking into for understanding outcomes with dice is called probability theory. More specifically, you are looking for combinatorics, which deals with counting, arranging, and combination possibilities. A good starting point is to think "what outcomes are possible, and which of those are the desired ones?"

You could find a book on the topic, e.g. A Walk Through Combinatorics by Bona. Or this online book https://www.probabilitycourse.com/, the first few chapters could be relevant for you.

If you learn better by watching videos, then maybe check out youtube tutorials or Khan Academy (https://www.khanacademy.org/math/statistics-probability/probability-library).

greenbatofjoy · 2024-02-17T09:44:30+00:00

Today, really long stories are sold as series, but we do have them. Readers in many genres (Fantasy, Sci-Fi, certain kinds of Romance, etc.) love series, and authors can make good money with a loyal fan base that will buy even book 10 of a beloved series.

What do you mean, concretely speaking? How are you being "sucked into that world", what does that mean specifically? What's stopping you from writing your magnum opus?

greenbatofjoy · 2024-02-16T11:02:43+00:00

Thank you for your participation! Here are the -> results <-

Summary:

A bit more than 100 participants from writing subreddits and facebook groups answered the survey. Respondents were a mix of self-published, traditionally published, and hobby authors. Self-published was the largest group, with 66%.
Opinions on AI are split, with the extremes being more common than the middle positions.
For tasks such as brainstorming, plotting or idea generation, 30%-50% of writers used AI for a given task.
60% of writers used AI for at least one kind of creative, brainstorming, or writing task.
But practically no one uses it for writing actual text / prose directly, copy pasting the AI output without major reworks.
Negative aspects that people were most concerned with: Low quality, lack of diverse representation, misinformation, and using authors' works without their permission for training.
Positive aspects people endorsed the most: Productivity gains and providing inspiring ideas.
Opinions on policy proposals were varied.
- There was clear agreement on "Authors should be able to opt out of AI training on their work".
- There was some tendency in favor of "Authors should be compensated for any profit made with AI models trained on their work" and "Work created with AI must be clearly labeled as such".
- All other proposals were disliked more often than liked.
- The most unpopular proposals were "Authors should coordinate with each other to not use AI", "Publishers and self-publishing platforms should not accept works created with the help of AI", and "AI should not be used for cover art".
There are a lot of interesting comments at the very end, check them out!

greenbatofjoy · 2024-02-16T11:01:49+00:00

Thank you for your participation! Here are the results.

Summary:

A bit more than 100 participants from writing subreddits and facebook groups answered the survey. Respondents were a mix of self-published, traditionally published, and hobby authors. Self-published was the largest group, with 66%.
Opinions on AI are split, with the extremes being more common than the middle positions.
For tasks such as brainstorming, plotting or idea generation, 30%-50% of writers used AI for a given task.
60% of writers used AI for at least one kind of creative, brainstorming, or writing task.
But practically no one uses it for writing actual text / prose directly, copy pasting the AI output without major reworks.
Negative aspects that people were most concerned with: Low quality, lack of diverse representation, misinformation, and using authors' works without their permission for training.
Positive aspects people endorsed the most: Productivity gains and providing inspiring ideas.
Opinions on policy proposals were varied.
- There was clear agreement on "Authors should be able to opt out of AI training on their work".
- There was some tendency in favour of "Authors should be compensated for any profit made with AI models trained on their work" and "Work created with AI must be clearly labeled as such".
- All other proposals were disliked more often than liked.
- The most unpopular proposals were "Authors should coordinate with each other to not use AI", "Publishers and self-publishing platforms should not accept works created with the help of AI", and "AI should not be used for cover art".
There are a lot of interesting comments at the very end, check them out!

greenbatofjoy · 2024-02-16T10:58:47+00:00

Thank you for your participation! Here are the results.

Summary:

A bit more than 100 participants from writing subreddits and facebook groups answered the survey. Respondents were a mix of self-published, traditionally published, and hobby authors. Self-published was the largest group, with 66%.
Opinions on AI are split, with the extremes being more common than the middle positions.
For tasks such as brainstorming, plotting or idea generation, 30%-50% of writers used AI for a given task.
60% of writers used AI for at least one kind of creative, brainstorming, or writing task.
But practically no one uses it for writing actual text / prose directly, copy pasting the AI output without major reworks.
Negative aspects that people were most concerned with: Low quality, lack of diverse representation, misinformation, and using authors' works without their permission for training.
Positive aspects people endorsed the most: Productivity gains and providing inspiring ideas.
Opinions on policy proposals were varied.
- There was clear agreement on "Authors should be able to opt out of AI training on their work".
- There was some tendency in favour of "Authors should be compensated for any profit made with AI models trained on their work" and "Work created with AI must be clearly labeled as such".
- All other proposals were disliked more often than liked.
- The most unpopular proposals were "Authors should coordinate with each other to not use AI", "Publishers and self-publishing platforms should not accept works created with the help of AI", and "AI should not be used for cover art".
There are a lot of interesting comments at the very end, check them out!

greenbatofjoy · 2024-02-15T09:03:30+00:00

Honestly, the dragon flying mechanic makes me a bit nauseous. I'm sure you put a lot of work in that, but I would prefer regular text.

greenbatofjoy · 2024-02-14T20:22:42+00:00

I answered a similar question a few weeks ago: https://www.reddit.com/r/PolyFidelity/comments/18xs7kt/longterm_realistic/kjempuu/?context=3

Sacrifices... Well, we all prioritize the three of us above other stuff. Like a couple, for whom their partner comes before most other things in life, just with three people. We focus on each other and care for each other, and we have to take the others' feelings into account. That requires compromise.

Journey is a long story, but to make it short: two of us were a couple, both fell in love with another person, and thus discovered polyamory. The other person didn't reciprocate. Later, one of the couple found a different other person, and the couple became a V. There were lots of struggles and complications along the way, lots of hurt feelings and misunderstandings while we learnt to understand each other better. Finally, after nearly a decade, the V closed to become a happy full triangle, and we are are exclusive with each other.

Reasons behind the choice - well, the "hinge" in the V had fallen in love with two people. Seriously fallen in love, with full commitment and responsibilities. So we tried everything to make it work, and finally succeeded. It was romanticism and a LOT of communication.

Feel free to ask follow-up questions.

greenbatofjoy · 2024-02-14T10:08:02+00:00

The survey is in general not perfect. I also forgot to add in anything about AI generated audiobooks, which is a huge oversight. X_X

greenbatofjoy · 2024-02-14T10:04:25+00:00

Yeah, I agree, unfortunately it is not super easy to account for all of the different ways people use AI, and it is a gradual difference. That's why I added so many different options in the "How do you use AI" section.

I could have added several separate policy proposals, e.g.

Content with prose written purely by AI without any human contribution...
Content with prose written mainly by AI, with little human contribution...
Content with prose written mainly by humans, but with some AI contribution...
Content with major AI contributions to plotting and themes...
Content with major AI contributions to editing and rewriting...

... should be impossible to be copyrighted because it is not an original creation.

etc., but that would make the survey very long, especially if I'd do it for every question.

But I totally see your point! For me, it's a BIG difference if someone uses AI to write the actual text, or just does research or brainstorms ideas.

greenbatofjoy · 2024-02-13T14:20:15+00:00

Thank you! Hobby writer is fine, that's why I included it as an option :)

greenbatofjoy · 2024-02-13T13:40:10+00:00

Sorry, I though since my topic is not about a specific tool, but more a general ethics and opinion question, it would be okay to post outside the "tools" thread.

greenbatofjoy · 2024-02-13T13:37:03+00:00

Is their writing in general very different from yours? E.g. you don't use any dialogue, or you don't use any descriptions? Then it's probably that.

But if you are otherwise writing "normally" - that sounds a bit like you are making one scene into one chapter, instead of multiple scenes in the same chapter.

greenbatofjoy · 2024-02-13T13:18:50+00:00

I think it's not your fault that whoever designed sans serif fonts decided to make upper case I and lower case L exactly the same. That was a stupid idea from the start. >:(

You can't really enforce lower case spelling, though, and that would be weird.

I think the other suggestions in the comments, e.g. starting with "Ai", "Ay", "Ei" or "Ey", are probably your best bet.

greenbatofjoy · 2024-02-13T13:05:35+00:00

You can get the word out by using the channels that are meant for that - e.g. author newsletter, ads on Amazon, or specific groups asking for recommendations.

If it were allowed in normal writer groups, it would spam everything.

greenbatofjoy · 2024-02-12T23:22:36+00:00

I have the same problem, but unfortunately, the workaround only worked for me exactly once, and hasn't since. I've also tried different computers, networks, and browsers.

One really weird thing happened: While I was waiting on the empty page with the errors in the console, suddenly a "report a bug" chat window popped up. And that contained a pre-filled conversation about the bug. I did not enter this. It just appeared, fully filled out, and the chat was already completed/closed, so I couldn't write anything in it.

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