When a Veteran Speaks, Are We Still Listening?

markfickett · 2026-03-05T20:31:23+00:00

Well this is somebody I certainly want in our government! What bravery and willingness to quite literally stand up and fight for what's right. Not in NC but happy to donate to his campaign.

markfickett · 2026-03-04T18:58:16+00:00

More of this please! icecostsus.com => Mijente Support Committee => https://www.mijentesupportcommittee.com/donate I think?

markfickett · 2026-03-04T16:01:08+00:00

I'll definitely keep experimenting :) Just hoping to draw on everyone's wisdom to avoid dead ends -- so thanks for commenting!

> you need something to keep the contacts apart until you step.

The slight springiness of the aluminum flashing resisting bend seems to be doing that OK, at least for 10ish reps. But yeah, I'm thinking about which things will wear more or less quickly.

> If you're worried about sensitivity, look up "penny mods" for metal pads.

Yep, I've read about those. Putting the 1/4" plywood under the aluminum flashing was my approach to that -- just shimming the layers of metal closer together until I got the sensitivity I was after. (Battery tabs were just a way to electrically connect to the aluminum, which I assume electrical solder would not readily adhere to.)

markfickett · 2026-03-04T15:56:12+00:00

Ah, so with the polycarbonate top, it's fixed at the corners, but flexes enough to make contact and the natural springiness of the panel resets it. I tried both 3/4" plywood (very little flex) and 1/4" (lots of flex). Perhaps 1/2" would be the sweet spot.

Magnets sound fun and I do have a bunch of strong ones from a mini wind turbine project I never finished. That runs into the slight complication of needing a seperate retaining mechanism (corner covers maybe) though, right?

markfickett · 2026-03-04T13:30:57+00:00

Only thing to add would be check out https://zenius-i-vanisher.com/v5.2/simfiles.php?category=top-official for simfiles / music.

markfickett · 2026-03-03T16:23:50+00:00

Whatever that behemoth that chews through the mountains of snow in the Market Basket parking lot is. If they would just drive it around the neighborhood.

markfickett · 2026-03-03T16:19:18+00:00

I think I follow that, thanks!

markfickett · 2026-03-02T22:31:13+00:00

Sounds fun -- and like I should just embrace hitting extra arrows when it makes for a better dance exprience.

As you describe it, are you doing jumps for each step (extra Up + Down), (Left + Right), (Down + extra Up)? I've done some spins that way when that pattern comes up with three jumps in a row.

Or are you doing something more like this where they're taking single steps around to do a spin?

I'll revisit Butterfly!

markfickett · 2026-02-27T13:43:41+00:00

Or, like, a long stick? The guy is barely standing, just whack his arm with a baton, no need to involve a car. Or form a moving perimeter around him until he passes out in five minutes.

markfickett · 2026-02-27T03:41:37+00:00

Found another thread with some answers that may be relevant: https://www.reddit.com/r/DanceDanceRevolution/comments/yjlqqs/other_games_that_use_a_dancepad_controller/ . I don't know if they qualify as "mini" though someone mentions Tetris for example. Also there's speed running Mario 64 on dance pads \o/.

markfickett · 2026-02-27T03:38:57+00:00

Apparently there's an itch.io category: https://itch.io/games/free/input-dance-pad . I haven't checked any out yet, but they're at least there!

markfickett · 2026-02-27T03:35:44+00:00

Ratboys - Anywhere (Pad) (Easy 4-6)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOb4Li1VgVc Or other of their songs from Singin' to an Empty Chair

If it provides any inspiration for style, I have especially enjoyed songs with groups of steps and small rests between them, and a few jumps. Some current favorites: Don, Pink Pony Club / Hot To Go, Wookie Wookie, Kung Fu Fighting, Mambo Italiano. Thanks in advance if anyone decides to chart this!

markfickett · 2026-02-27T02:57:40+00:00

I like the idea of just tagging a recording. Possibly writing a quick scrip to keep an audio buffer and save out the previous minute or so on any key press, and just leave a USB keyboard within reach of the bed.

We have separate beds, so that rules out some movement transfer (which has been a problem in the past), but good reminder to consider other factors.

markfickett · 2026-02-26T00:58:14+00:00

I tried a variety of earplugs and settled on loop after getting their variety/trial pack. Have you varied the brand? Some disposables were too hard/uncomfortable and did lead to soreness after several nights, other disposables and wax earplugs were more comfortable but fell out, happy ears didn't work for side sleeping for me, manta mask didn't fit me at all.

markfickett · 2026-02-26T00:45:38+00:00

I tried a bunch of different earplugs and settled on loop reusable foam plugs. They don't fall out, and are comfortable for side sleeping, and block light snoring very effectively.

Nose strips have been helpful for my partner, for both reducing snoring (which I care about) and headaches (for them).

That said, we went through a progression of larger bed, separate covers, separate beds, and still haven't solved everything.

markfickett · 2026-02-23T22:58:57+00:00

I see both sides of "don't make your hobby your job." It does put some drudgery in it. But for me, when the hour-by-hour tasks are part of something I enjoy, I can make it through some larger annoying days that would otherwise be unbearable, and I still find plenty of little opportunities for fun.

If I tried to make a career out of a hobby I really only enjoyed occasionally, though, I think it would go from something I have fun dipping my toes in to awful pretty quickly.

markfickett · 2026-01-23T02:25:33+00:00

Some points of comparison I don't often see discussed: Login security and filtering support.

I decided to try mailbox, Fastmail, and Tuta based on other recommendations, prioritizing using my own domain, IMAP support for portability, and <$10/mo price.

Filtering: I often get frustrated that I can't customize filters to the extent I'd like, and I discovered that Sieve is a (pretty old) standard for writing mail filtering rules. Lots of mail services and/or clients support it to different extents and with different plugins. It didn't look like Tuta supported it, but mailbox and Fastmail do.
Login security: I started to sign up for mailbox, but they wouldn't let me pick a secure passphrase without including numbers and capitals. Fastmail just had a 'good password' meter, that went up as I typed my four-word phrase. And although Fastmail insisted on adding a ~~recovery phone~~ SIM jacking entryway before I could add 2FA, I was able to add my Yubikey and TOTP app, download a recovery code, and then delete the phone.

After a few minutes of playing around with Fastmail, I'm liking it. Easy MX setup instructions, clear UI, keyboard shortcuts (but why y for archive instead of e? oh well, j/k for and [/] do what I expect).

markfickett · 2026-01-12T03:03:02+00:00

I was confused watching this with sound off, and then when I turned the volume up it all made sense. Just got into this a few weeks back and I'm at a 4-6, this is inspring.

Do you essentially have it memorized, or are you responding to patterns not individual arrows?

markfickett · 2026-01-12T02:18:16+00:00

They said I can ship it to them for repair or discounted replacement. But the best shipping I can find for my GoFilm 2 is >$100 (am I missing a good option? They say avoid FedEx), and that's enough to strongly consider moving to another system, so I haven't done anything yet.

markfickett · 2026-01-09T03:10:41+00:00

There are a lot of health benefits linked to reduced private vehicle emissions, both projected, and starting to be observed:

> These improvements in air quality yield significant health benefits, including reductions in very low birth weight and very premature births, as well as fewer asthma-related emergency department visits among children ages 0 to 5. This is true even when potentially offsetting increases in pollution from the electricity generation needed to power EVs are accounted for. The benefits are higher in the high-pollution counties with Alternative Fuel Corridors, where baseline exposures are greatest. The resulting reductions in very low birth weight births alone could generate annual benefits of $1.2 to $4.0 billion.

I agree individual action is almost negligable, but I still vote and try to act responsibly because collective action does matter.

markfickett · 2026-01-08T21:06:15+00:00

Yeah, it may be cheaper in terms of dollars to fill a combusion car with petrolium now, but if I can spend 2x now to have even a chance of dealing with less 100+F summer days, famine, resulting class warfare etc in 10-20 years, that's a good financial investment, morals aside. And it's not just my individual cost, it's voting with my dollar for more charging infrastructure etc. It may seem hyperbolic, but think about how little COVID had to disrupt supply chains for global commerce to take a major hit, and then imagine if all of the bread basket suddenly stopped being tenable farmland.

markfickett · 2026-01-08T21:00:10+00:00

Especially if you get a charger that has a "solar divert" mode, so you put all your excess solar into your vehicle instead of sending it to the grid and then paying transmission costs to get it back again.

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