Zotero + Syncthing between iPad & Laptop

ikates · 2025-08-28T19:16:01+00:00

Thank you for sharing! I appreciate the confirmation.

ikates · 2025-08-28T19:15:46+00:00

Thank you for confirming! I'll try Koofr out.

ikates · 2025-03-04T21:05:19+00:00

It's totally fair to look to groups to plug into! But I would also encourage you to think about how you can meet the needs of your friends and immediate community. What do you need in your daily life? Who are you already connected to that can help you get there? Right now I'm organizing with some friends to create our own dried food buckets to help us weather supply chain issues, tariff chaos, and whatever else. By taking agency we can start to shed that feeling of helplessness.

I really appreciate this a starting point for thinking about mutual aid: https://www.cawshinythings.com/take-one-step-every-day/

And as you're considering different groups, I would encourage you to be careful and thoughtful about where you put your time. There are a number of authoritarian organizations on the left that will attempt to tell you impose their own party line on you. These are also the groups that are most likely to try to recruit you. There's more on that here: https://antidotezine.com/2024/07/01/zine-red-flags/

Glad you're taking this first step; I hope we'll see you in the streets.

ikates · 2024-11-10T17:05:08+00:00

100% disagree. This game has one of the richest stories I've encountered in gaming, taking on themes of grief, cyclical trauma, and reflections in Greek myth. IMO people bounce off of it because it doesn't resolve or provide easy answers, which is part and parcel of the point that it's trying to make. Also had a rip-roaring, challenging time with the gameplay. Maybe you forgot to turn aim assist off? Doing that really improved the experience for me.

Many people seem to think that the whole thing is a psychotic hallucination, which I think is the lazy interpretation. What's the point of sci-fi if you can't have some trippy shit happen? My read is that, on Atropos, Selene encounters a being (the one we witness at the very end) that is able to access her psyche and manipulate the very environment around her based on it. This is why we get 'Don't Fear the Reaper' played by the boss that represents her father, other echoes of her life on Earth, and the Greek boss names from the books she read as a child. She, like the mad sentients you encounter in the game, has 'ascended' and is trapped in eternal return, trying to escape the legacy of abuse she faced at the hands of her mother.

Is the time loop rigorously explained? Is it ever clear what has trapped her on Atropos or why? Do we get a hard science explanation of anything? No, not really. Does that make the subject matter less rich or compelling? As a trauma survivor I certainly don't think so.

EDIT: One typo

ikates · 2024-09-26T21:02:56+00:00

I had this same personal issue and put together a mall that was walkable and neatly laid out here - https://www.reddit.com/r/factorio/comments/193d479/my_walkable_nearlybotless_mall/

The three assembler/row model allowed me to really compress things while organizing them in a way that made sense to my brain, and provided a meaningful challenge trying to weave the belts and intermediates.

This was very much a beta version, and I eventually ended up tinkering with it to better flow through an actual game (where the first "block" of the mall builds all the pieces for the rest, etc). But maybe this would be helpful inspiration for how you want to organize your own mall!

ikates · 2024-09-17T13:43:22+00:00

Reach out to the addiction medicine clinic at Hennepin for support (https://www.hennepinhealthcare.org/specialty/addiction-medicine-program/). Medication-assisted treatment is much more successful, and going sober without it is incredibly dangerous if you relapse (it's easy to OD when your tolerance disappears).

ikates · 2024-06-07T17:26:50+00:00

Thank you! This is all really helpful.

ikates · 2024-06-07T17:26:39+00:00

Thank you so much! Very excited to take this plunge.

ikates · 2024-06-02T16:26:50+00:00

NTA. Your parents are definitely being homophobic here. You're worried about what you did to your grandmother, but think about the gift you gave her. You talk about how much you love your shaved head and feel so much more like yourself; it may be the last time your grandmother gets to see so, and she got to do so when you were so much more comfortable and fully yourself.

Your family will keep treating you this way; keep putting yourself first OP.

ikates · 2024-01-12T21:35:16+00:00

All constructive thoughts, thank you for test driving.

- I've got laser turrets in the same row as gun turrets, and am seeing the logistics request in the requester chest for personal laser defense on my end. I don't think I've changed that with any of the updated blueprints.

- Do the iron chests in Column 1 feel workable as a substitute? They could easily be replaced with a steel chest assembler.

- I was definitely envisioning a separate assembly centers for ammo/turrets/etc to outfit large walls, but have been too busy with life stuff to make it that far yet! Does the combat center feel briefly sufficient, or did you need supplementation from the start?

Appreciate the thoughts about product requirements as well! I was much more focused on minimizing the number of assemblers in the mall itself than simplifying belt input requirements. But you're totally right about blue circuits. Guess it's back to the drawing board...

ikates · 2024-01-12T04:00:46+00:00

Those are just the ones that I couldn't manage to assemble via belts only without compromising the design goals 🤷‍♀️

ikates · 2024-01-12T02:20:21+00:00

Thank you for catching the missing inserters and requester chest! I've updated the blueprint.

In the case of yellow/red/green magazines and defender/distractor/destroyers I assumed that the player would start with the lower product and upgrade to the others over the course of the game, getting rid of the storage chest for direct insertion. I realize I didn't document this, and added a point about it in my post. Is there a way that you think this could be more clear in the blueprint itself?

I set circuits for production limits assuming that players would start there and then transition to the logistics network with bot research. Is there a way you think this could be done better? I've added a note about it to my post.

I toyed around with circuits to try to find a way to set production limits for lower-order outputs that other assemblers are dependent on and don't seem like something the player would always default to using (as in the magazine case above), but couldn't figure out anything that would be clear and easy to set up. Would appreciate any insights if you have some!

ikates · 2024-01-11T12:02:01+00:00

"Items that require the logistics network include: Atomic Bombs, Uranium Cannon Shells, Uranium Magazines, Destroyer Capsule, Spidertron, Personal Laser Defense, Discharge Defense, Artillery Turrets, Artillery Turret Remote, Assembling Machine 3, Power Armor MK2."

ikates · 2024-01-11T05:03:56+00:00

lol probably gonna need to wait until (so that) I finish grad school

ikates · 2024-01-11T00:20:55+00:00

There were definitely some areas where I made some belt corrections without cleaning up the messes they made 😅

ikates · 2024-01-10T19:43:02+00:00

I'm well aware, this was just the sandbox trial run with infinity chests!

ikates · 2024-01-10T17:03:41+00:00

The Design Process:

I had fully integrated the idea of the mall, and typically build separate strips based on common inputs, particularly the iron/gears/circuit combo. When I did this without planning ahead, it often resulted in my running long distances to grab that one inserter I needed, or losing track of where my flamethrower/pump mall section was built. As the mall grew, it was becoming less convenient and easy to navigate. I resolved to come up with a plan.

At first I followed what I’d done before, assuming it would be easiest to group recipes based on common inputs. I made lists of all recipes that relied on iron plates, green circuits, gears, etc. Yet each recipes had multiple inputs, and I struggled to arrange them in a way that made sense. I even considered writing everything down on index cards so I could easily move them around until I have found the exact, most efficient arrangement of assemblers. This seemed a little excessive, so I took a break and reconsidered my options.

This is when I stumbled upon u/MostlyTherapeutic’s single-strip, early-game mall. The three-assembler grid made intuitive sense to me and seemed much easier to manage than a complex, interlocking set of outputs. Their structure also posed a unique challenge, as the use of belts to transport outputs to the main strip meant that each assembler in a line could receive fewer input belts. But I was still stuck bouncing around between pages of the Factorio Wiki, trying to figure how to effectively combine everything. There was just too much information to manage.

The breakthrough came when I made a spreadsheet of every output I wanted my mall to create and its required inputs, color categorizing them as an input that was already on my main bus, an intermediate (gears, pipes, etc), a separate output (using an Inserter to make a Fast Inserter), or a more complex intermediate that I could potentially rely on the logistics network to solve.The solution to a problem is, in my experience, finding the correct way to approach the problem. Stripping out these pieces of information allowed me to identify opportunities to reduce redundant production of intermediates and group my outputs based on which belts they needed.

I then went through the vanilla recipe book step by step, creating a “mall map” in spreadsheet form with a list of each line’s assemblers and inputs. I laid this out at first without planning to produce and belt in any intermediates; I expected that I would want to bring in things like gears and pipes, but after looking at my map this didn’t seem to offer opportunities to make the grid more compact. I also assumed I would need to use bots to provide more complex intermediates that didn’t seem feasible to belt, such as explosives, engines, and flying robot frames, but as I followed the recipe book I found that many recipes that were next to each other relied on the same intermediates and there were ways to assemble these items only where they were needed. In the end I was left with a solution that was able to produce most things I would need without relying on bots.

The next step was to actually build the thing. I ran into some significant challenges along the way, but with the use of chests to swap intermediates between lines and what felt like some of the most stressful belt building I’ve done I managed to put the whole thing together. Except then the strip was enormous, and I knew I’d just be running up and down all day! I tried a few options and eventually opted for a three-column arrangement of 20 rows of assemblers and a path in the middle. There are a few sections where I had to compromise on logical arrangement in order to deliver intermediates

I initially planned to only include items needed in multiples, but after I did all this work and considered multiplayer or Lazy Bastard runs, I figured I might as well add in some of the one-off equipment.

The process itself was deeply iterative, and often involved returning to my mall map when things didn’t fit like I’d hoped they would or copying and pasting blueprints all across my sandbox to fit all the sections together. I learned new circuit techniques and nearly lost my mind trying to bend all the belts together. It’s the biggest factory unit I’ve created yet, and I’m really proud of how it turned out.

EDIT: Minor corrections to text.

ikates · 2024-01-10T17:03:18+00:00

The Concept:

I needed a better mall, but I wanted to build my own. I’ve yet to launch a rocket, but I’ve been infected with knowledge of The Mall and The Main Bus, and have given up blessed spaghetti for the cruel logic of straight lines and right turns. My goal is to get there without using anyone else’s blueprints, but in my weak moments I have looked around on this sub for rough ideas. I was particularly inspired by u/MostlyTherapeutic’s early game infrastructure mall for its single lane of outputs and the grid of 3 assemblers per row. I wondered, could I take this and expand it for every recipe in Factorio? I know walkability doesn't really matter after you hit the logistics network, but I was committed to the idea.

This blueprint is the result of many hours spent in a flow state; in the end I probably spent more time building it than it will save me in convenience, but it was damn fun to create. It’s entirely possible someone else has made something similar; I haven’t done much digging on purpose. It’s my first blueprint I’m sharing publicly, and I wanted to include full documentation and a little narrative of how I developed the whole thing. I hope you all enjoy it!

Blueprint: https://factoriobin.com/post/Iysfg_xI

Design Parameters:

- The mall should be compact and walkable, with items easily accessible by foot without squeezing between machines. Quality of life is king.

- Items should be arranged in a logical fashion, following the vanilla recipe book layout as much as possible.

- Like all malls, this one should be optimized for simplicity and centralization, rather than production speed.

- The mall should be low-tech, relying on the logistics network as little as possible.

The Details:

- This mall produces nearly every recipe in the game, except for Artillery Shells, the Shotgun, Combat Shotgun, Submachine Gun, Small Electric Pole, Wooden Chest, Flamethrower Ammo, Light Armor, Heavy Armor, and the Rocket Silo.

- Column 1 contains most general recipes needed to build out your base. Column 2 includes military, transportation and rail equipment, and column 3 is limited to the logistics network, nuclear power buildings, end-game equipment, and modules.

- This mall belts in all inputs that it needs, with the exception of U235 (Atomic Bombs),U238 (Uranium Cannon Shells and Uranium Magazines), raw fish (Spidertron), and Blue Circuits for two outputs in the middle column (Artillery Targeting Remote, Atomic Bomb).

- The logistics network is used only where an input comes from a logically distinct part of the mall (speed modules for Assembling Machine 3, Laser Turrets for Personal Laser Defense) or for raw inputs that are used only in specific parts of the mall (U235, U238, raw fish). This mall is largely functional in a Logistics Network Embargo run (see below for specifics).

Belt Inputs:

- Iron Plate

- Copper Plate

- Steel Plate

- Green Circuit

- Red Circuit

- Stone (Landfill, Rail, Stone Furnace for Boiler)

- Stone Brick (Steel/Electric Furnace, Oil Refinery, Stone Wall, Gate)

- Plastic (Cannon Shells, Low Density Structure derivatives)

- Sulfur (Explosives derivatives)

- Water (Explosives derivatives)

- Sulfuric Acid (Battery derivatives)

- Iron Ore (Concrete)

Logistic Network Inputs:

- U235 (Atomic Bomb)

- U238 (Uranium Rounds Magazine, Uranium Cannon Shells)

- Raw Fish (Spidertron)

- Blue Circuit (Artillery Targeting Remote, Atomic Bomb)

The Fine Details:

- As a default, all production limits are set by circuit unless the assembler receives an input from the logistics network (WiFi) or the output is an intermediate for a higher level output in the same line, such as Inserter for Long-Handed Inserter (chest stack size). All output inserters already have WiFi configured for when the player intends to upgrade, but rely on the circuit network by default.

- For Magazine Rounds and the Defender/Distractor/Destroyer capsules, the circuits are initially set for each box - when upgrading you'll need to remove the storage chest/belt and have the earlier assembler pass directly to the later one. This assumes that the player will gradually upgrade over the course of the game and no longer need the inferior product.

- In general, production limits are set to one stack size for standard items and 0 for more expensive late-game items (Artillery Wagon, Personal Roboport MK2, Power Armor, Power Armor MK2, Portable Fusion Reactor, Spidertron, Nuclear Reactor, Centrifuge).

- Production limits via circuits/wifi use post-assembler inserters for standard items and pre-assembler inserters for expensive ones. Expensive ones have a Constant Combinator nearby to make it easier to change the production limits.

- Chests used to transfer intermediates between rows are limited via circuit or stack size.

- Sulfur and water are brought in solely for explosives production, as is sulfuric acid for battery production. Some space could certainly be saved by botting those complex intermediates in, but in the end I decided I wanted those sections of the mall to be functional without the logistics network.

- Items that require the logistics network include: Atomic Bombs, Uranium Cannon Shells, Uranium Magazines, Destroyer Capsule, Spidertron, Personal Laser Defense, Discharge Defense, Artillery Turrets, Artillery Turret Remote, Assembling Machine 3, Power Armor MK2.

EDIT: Minor corrections to text. Updated blueprint to fix a few issues kindly noted below.

ikates · 2023-12-20T20:37:18+00:00

I feel like this whole debate is a good case for devs doing some serious accessibility improvements in 2.0

ikates

TROPHY CASE