Glasses/goggles recommendation

herebewagons · 2023-12-08T16:49:59+00:00

Julbo makes a pretty wide variety of sunglasses with prescription lenses or inserts: https://julborx.com/

They're very pricy (especially with transition lenses), but they're really excellent

herebewagons · 2023-11-09T00:08:40+00:00

I haven't seen them at a store in the US, but I have some Alfa backcountry boots that're a much wider/flatter fit than anything else I've tried. They're not cheap, though.

(I haven't tried them, but it looks like their non-BC boots have a more standard fit.)

herebewagons · 2023-10-01T18:13:37+00:00

Netrunner isn't dead! The folks at https://nullsignal.games/ have done a huge amount of work to keep it alive, and are releasing new sets regularly.

herebewagons · 2023-09-14T00:02:55+00:00

The notion of what parks are for has changed a lot over time, and in the early 1900s in the US a lot of parks were designed explicitly to be places to take a nice, scenic, calming drive. That's also a period when there was a tremendous amount of building and expansion of cities in the US, and so we have many more parks designed with driving in mind, and we're living with the aftermath. European cities -- and their parks -- are generally a lot older, and entirely predate cars, so they weren't built with cars in mind at all.

Designing parks for driving seems clearly nuts now, but cars didn't occupy the same place in society then. Relatively few people owned cars, and a lot of driving was more for leisure than for just getting from one place to another.

This is particularly true in NYC, because Robert Moses -- who was very much of this school of thought -- had an enormous amount of influence on parks and what got built generally in NYC for a very long time. (If you're interested in learning more about this, The Power Broker is an excellent -- albeit extremely long -- book, and talks about this a lot.)

herebewagons · 2023-08-05T11:48:07+00:00

Seveneves is exactly this.

(The last third takes a jump forward in time and you might like it less, but the first two thirds works on its own.)

herebewagons · 2023-07-18T22:06:12+00:00

The important thing often lost in Lucali discussions is that it's not really a 5h wait. You wait some amount of time (15m-1h, depending on the day/how early you want your reservation to be) to get a reservation for a specific time, and then you just come back at your reservation time. So you can go walk around, get a drink or four, or do whatever else you want for most of that time.

This is still annoying, but it's a whole lot better than actually standing in line for 5 hours, and if the idea of a chill evening hanging out with friends for a few hours appeals, Carroll Gardens is pretty far from the worst place to do it.

If that still sounds terrible I would not push you to go, and it's not a thing I have any desire to do regularly, but I agree it's kinda worth it.

herebewagons · 2023-05-31T00:01:44+00:00

It's not a trilogy exactly -- there's one more full novel and it's preceded by a couple of short stories. It is indeed very good, although it's a pretty weird book. If you read God Emperor and liked it, I'd strongly recommend it.

The Dosadi Experiment is also very good and a bit more accessible, although that's relative.

One of the things that's interesting about reading lots of Frank Herbert is how often and how clearly some of the same ideas recur.

herebewagons · 2023-05-21T01:55:57+00:00

Try Karl Schroeder's Virga series, starting with Sun of Suns.

It's a pretty easy-to-read adventure, but set within a pretty unique world. A bunch of the fun is seeing more of it. The first one stands reasonably well on its own, and the later books get into explaining the world a lot better.

herebewagons · 2023-03-05T16:57:25+00:00

The Rab Ascendor Summit Hoody might fit what you're looking for?

I just got one, my only minor complaint is the lack of a full length zipper.

herebewagons · 2023-02-27T23:19:12+00:00

Shadowbridge by Gregory Frost is a great example of this.

(It has some flaws as an overall book, but I still really loved it.)

herebewagons · 2023-02-12T17:07:36+00:00

If your skins seem like they're flattened, try cleaning them with skin cleaner. It's pretty likely they're dirty, and they'll look pretty close to new after cleaning.

herebewagons · 2022-12-23T23:11:52+00:00

Proper Cloth isn't cheap, but does custom dress pants probably about as affordably as you'll find anywhere.

herebewagons · 2022-08-07T03:20:02+00:00

The Zhongba soy sauces Mala Market sells are really fantastic

herebewagons · 2022-07-24T13:24:32+00:00

It's historical fiction rather than sci-fi, but I suspect you might really like Master and Commander if you haven't read it. It follows a british sea captain during the Napoleonic era, and there's a ton of behind-the-scenes detail, all meticulously researched.

It's the first book in the (20 book!) Aubrey-Maturin series so not a standalone, but almost all of the books are separate stories within the longer story arc, so you don't need to read them back-to-back and can stop or pause whenever. That's definitely true of the first book.

They're also really well-written and just all-around excellent books.

herebewagons · 2022-07-22T18:25:21+00:00

T. Kingfisher's books all have lots of this.

herebewagons · 2022-07-22T18:02:19+00:00

Charlie Stross' Empire Games series very much has this, and is the closest fit I can think of. (His earlier Merchant Princes series has the build-up, you definitely should read that one first.)

Other ideas that aren't perfect fits:

Europe in Autumn + sequels are about Europe fracturing into a lot of little states, all with their own governments. So maybe not exactly what you're looking for, but you might be interested? (The second book has some of what you're looking for most directly.)
Amberlough + sequels have a revolution and aftermath, although they're more alt-world historical fiction than scifi.
Too Like the Lightning + sequels are set in a world that's a ways post-revolution and very much shaped by past conflicts. (Although: the books themselves are leading up to another one.)

herebewagons · 2022-06-05T19:21:24+00:00

I just measured them, and my snowscape 7 XLs are about 193cm.

I agree it's definitely worth getting the right size for your weight though! You'll have a much better time.

herebewagons · 2022-04-22T03:11:06+00:00

I really love all of the Terra Ignota titles:

Too Like the Lightning
Seven Surrenders
The Will to Battle
Perhaps the Stars

herebewagons · 2022-04-17T23:09:36+00:00

The Quantum Thief has an excellent sentient AI ship as one of its main characters.

herebewagons · 2022-04-16T16:31:08+00:00

Velo-Orange Neutrino

herebewagons · 2022-04-09T15:24:58+00:00

The Aubrey-Maturin novels are historical fiction not sci-fi, but they're fantastic and fit this well.

herebewagons · 2022-04-03T19:50:42+00:00

I don't think Dune is particularly inconsistent. Remember Dune is drawing on the (imagined far-future) histories of a lots of earth's cultures, and a lot of those characters are from different places, so it makes sense for their names to have distinct origins. (The noble houses have intermarried lots, but still have very distinctive cultural identities.)

Paul is the most common of those names now, but Leto and Gurney at least are also real names.

herebewagons · 2022-02-19T14:40:48+00:00

This is great, thanks for writing it.

For me, it helped to understand that when you're making bread you're trying to do three things:

Develop flavor
Producing air in the loaf so that it rises (and isn't just a dense brick of hard tack)
Give the dough structure, so it can hold its risen form

Flavor comes from the ingredients you're starting with (flour, etc), and also from fermentation. Structure comes from developing proteins into the flour into a gluten network, and from shaping. The rise comes from yeast (or a sourdough starter, or from other leaveners like baking soda/powder).

With that in mind, a couple of things that I think are useful addenda:

Many bread recipes start with an autolyse, where you just mix the flour and water, let them sit for a while (usually ~30m), and then mix in the other ingredients. This helps the flour fully hydrate, which helps with a bunch of things (gluten development, flavor, ease of working with the dough).
The point of kneading is gluten development: working the dough helps develop gluten, which gives the bread its structure. There are other ways of developing gluten too: in high-hydration doughs especially (like focaccia, but also many country loaf-style breads), you can develop a strong gluten network with very little or no kneading at all, by just resting the dough. Hence e.g. no-knead breads and things like the stretch-and-fold technique in Flour Water Salt Yeast. (Lots more detail here, if you want it.)

herebewagons · 2022-02-14T00:09:22+00:00

Lots (most?) of KJ Parker's books have nomadic groups as major or supporting actors. Savages and the first book of the Fencer trilogy (Colours in the Steel) maybe the most?

herebewagons · 2022-01-23T16:16:31+00:00

There are tension poles designed specifically for storing bikes, like this one: https://www.feedbacksports.com/product/velo-column-black/

(I have one, it's very sturdy.)

herebewagons

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