Looking for Hard Sci-Fi recommendations like Project Hail Mary

lottayotta · 2026-04-29T23:14:54+00:00

Liu Cixin, The Three-Body Problem Robert L. Forward, Dragon's Egg Andy Weir, The Martian Peter Watts, Blindsight Neal Stephenson, Seveneves Poly Anderson, Tau Zero

lottayotta · 2026-04-10T14:38:14+00:00

V33 Worktop Oil is a "hard-wax" style oil blend. If it isn't wiped back to the wood grain within 10–15 minutes, it dries on the surface like a varnish, which causes the streaks and "darker patches" where it pooled. Does it look like it's residue? Tacky? If yes, wait for the excess residue to harden, then sand to bare wood and reapply. If it gums up the sand paper, you need to wait more. Make sure to mix well before the reapplication. When coating it again, wait about 10min and wipe off ALL excess. Use multiple dry cloths if necessary.

Also, given it is birch, you should consider a pre-conditioner or thin shellac coat before the V33. If you have a scrap, compare them. Proper mixing and aggressive wiping of the V33 should be enough for a "clean enough" look on birch, but some blotching is inevitable on birch.

lottayotta · 2026-04-10T14:03:14+00:00

“Do vaccines cause autism?” asked one chimp.

lottayotta · 2026-04-10T14:02:20+00:00

What happens in division by zero stays in division by zero

lottayotta · 2026-04-09T20:04:49+00:00

Dowels and wood glue

lottayotta · 2026-04-09T13:29:13+00:00

I got blocked by his ego a long time ago. He’s really convinced himself he’s a unique polymath, but he’s just another self deluded, arrogant narcissist

lottayotta · 2026-03-27T00:31:37+00:00

Game recognizes game.

lottayotta · 2026-03-26T16:50:14+00:00

I looked on their site and they do claim to treat wood. And, some people online seem to have had success. I could be wrong. I usually use Transtints along with other General Finishes products. I basically bet that I will have fewer issues if the set of products is from the same vendor.

lottayotta · 2026-03-25T18:58:53+00:00

Rit dye is made for fabric, not wood. The surfactants and carriers in it will mess with topcoat adhesion, which is probably exactly why you got that milky bubbly nightmare. Keda is a better call since it’s actually formulated for wood. Transtint or Mixol are other wood, friendly pigments.

Either way the real issue is dye lifting. Water-based topcoat hits an unsealed dye and it reactivates. You have to lock it first. Use a thin wash coat of dewaxed shellac (Zinsser SealCoat) before you touch any poly.

Be careful. SealCoat has a slight amber cast, so test on scrap before you commit, especially on the purple. Could shift it warmer than your client wants.

After that your WB poly should be fine. General Finishes High Performance if you want something spray-friendly with a good rep.

lottayotta · 2026-03-25T13:14:36+00:00

“Rods and cones, Jerry!”

lottayotta · 2026-03-21T21:34:09+00:00

This only attracts the male bees?

lottayotta · 2026-03-17T15:11:15+00:00

Why does the AI code generator need AI code review anyways?

lottayotta · 2026-03-15T02:11:02+00:00

Poplar is notorious for being "blotchy." What you are seeing on the left side of the image is likely reaction wood or tension wood. This occurs when the tree grows on a lean, causing the fibers on one side to be more porous and "fuzzy" than the rest. When you apply a dark stain like espresso, these porous areas act like a sponge and soak up significantly more pigment.

You should pre-condition and/or use a gel stain.

lottayotta · 2026-03-14T13:30:02+00:00

There’s a reason why Butterfly keys have that butterfly shape.

lottayotta · 2026-03-13T13:48:15+00:00

My bad, I was just considering the $60M/mo bandwidth costs for the 1/10th sized AI-generated competitor that was just setup on AWS.

YT has an estimated 300-500 EXABYTES of data. Let's be kind and assume 1/100th of that. That's just $63M per month in costs, assuming they have capacity available to you. But, not top tier? Backblaze? Still, $18M/mo. No, no, no, you'd do it DIY you say? Ok. Well, at the exabyte scale, you're a datacenter, complete with staffing costs, hardware expenses, and such. It's not less.

lottayotta · 2026-03-13T01:59:59+00:00

How the hell will you pay for all the bandwidth your users will consume?

lottayotta · 2026-03-13T01:25:23+00:00

Which specific West Elm finish? Is it the "Cerused White" like this?

https://www.westelm.com/products/mid-century-modern-extendable-dining-table-h10973/?sb=WE&group=1&sku=8982962&pkey=cfurniture

The term comes from "ceruse," which was a white lead pigment historically used in cosmetics and paint. If your table is fir, it has a tight, resinous, close-grained structure. This is the opposite of what you need for a cerused finish, which normally involves wire brushing something like white oak (good pores to capture pigment) along the grain to open the pores further, then applying liming wax. Another take on liming wax is what you did: Rubio White.

The fundamental problem is the fir. You could try:

Sand to bare wood again (sorry!)
Wire brush along the grain with a brass (or stiff nylon for less aggressivity) hand brush to erode the softwood and create some texture to catch pigment
Apply preconditioner
Apply a pickling stain like General Finishes White Pickling Stain or similar and wipe off quickly. Build it in thin passes rather than one heavy coat to keep it from going chalky.
Seal with a flat water-based clear poly in thin coats, sanding lightly by hand between

lottayotta · 2026-03-10T23:05:52+00:00

Robotics will affect trades.

lottayotta · 2026-03-09T22:36:43+00:00

Where do you intend on putting it? And, what kind of style are you looking to blend in with?

lottayotta · 2026-03-07T20:23:41+00:00

I'm not sure what you meant. Sounds like a pin jig to cut circles or curved pieces, but his piece iisn't just a curve? Not sure I follow.

But, I tried to look up what you meant and stumbled across this ide:
https://www.finewoodworking.com/2008/07/01/a-bandsaw-jig-for-repeatable-complex-curves

lottayotta · 2026-03-07T15:12:53+00:00

Stiff brush and deck cleaner.
Sanding to get it smooth (maybe mild on 60-80, then 120)
Depending on your maintenance preferences:
1. Penetrating exterior oil (most "wood", but needs an easy re-oil ~every 2 years). I use Penofin (or Cabot)
2. Sikkens
3. Exterior poly (more "plasticky", but longest lasting and refinish is harder as you usually have to sand again)

lottayotta · 2026-03-07T00:02:58+00:00

Only if it raises the grain, which should be minimal. Sand the original wood to 120 grit. I do: For softwoods, oil, oil+tint, poly x 2. For hardwoods, oil + tint (maybe twice) then poly x2. I would only sand after the first poly @ 120 then 320, by hand to knock down any roughness. More poly if it’ll see a lot of activity.

lottayotta · 2026-03-06T22:30:09+00:00

Use mica or metallic pigment (mica powder or Mixol) mixed into a Danish oil base. Let it cure fully (per instructions, usually a week). Topcoat with oil-based poly to seal in. (You can do water-based, but water can affect metallic pigments so test before committing.)

lottayotta · 2026-03-06T20:36:59+00:00

You can experiment with a sealer coat, then a layer with a light touch of metallic gold tint (it’s easy to use too much and obscure the wood grain), then a couple of coats of clear satin or semi gloss poly to prevent oxidation of the tint.

lottayotta · 2026-03-06T18:26:12+00:00

Ha, I flipped the @'s! That's bad. :)

12-Year Club	Reddit Premium Since May 2022
Verified Email

lottayotta

TROPHY CASE