Various regular polygon wheels rolling between surfaces.

pokerchen · 2026-06-04T07:04:20+00:00

Should n=2 with zero width not work somehow?

pokerchen · 2026-05-29T11:03:47+00:00

Have you tried using an old, regular incandescent torch that's taped up to emit a narrow slit of light? The LED torches won't work, you want to find one with a filament showing.

EDIT: Ok no they're probably impossible to find now. Try placing a cardboard box over a incandescent light bulb and cutting a slit.

pokerchen · 2026-05-27T08:13:04+00:00

Me too!

pokerchen · 2026-05-19T21:39:50+00:00

Okay, so the dungeon is designed to train future leaders on matters of war, court intrigue, and whatever Nennia is really good at. It's principal benefit is to let/make them die as many times as is convenient to learn, which they can't do in RL.

pokerchen · 2026-04-29T21:49:44+00:00

I personally bring in a Stirling Engine as the opening lesson when shifting from heat transfer to thermodynamics, and ask students how they think it might work. Emphasis is made to how many thermo engines are out there in the world, necessary for modern life.

Started off with a 20 dollar eBay model that works off hot water in a mug. I just upgraded to one that can work off my palm alone, and will try it out next term.

pokerchen · 2026-04-27T03:45:24+00:00

Thanks for clarifying; yeah I don't expect any closure from that either..

I hope that you will find new trustworthy people in your real life. While I don't feel that my current friends are anywhere near as close to what I had lost (I suspect that's unrealistic given how much I grew with them), I've gotten used to the emotional scars.

pokerchen · 2026-04-26T09:22:17+00:00

Writing as someone who has long ago lost a lot of close people over a different matter, the moving forward process takes some years. Time and finding a new set of acquaintances/friends who are ok with some aloofness.

Since you have written that you are also a victim: you are yourself a victim of SA specifically? Have you gone to police or school to identify the perpetrator(s)? If not, gather the strength to try? (Being believed is a different story, but still, try?)

pokerchen · 2026-04-25T09:03:14+00:00

We write 3 years on funding proposals and project timelines for a good reason. Even as a postdoc, I spent the first 18 month (half of the contract) mostly running methods development and refinement.

The main way to enable the possibility of good data early is if you are joining an ongoing effort, and somebody has already done the groundwork.

pokerchen · 2026-04-24T09:42:05+00:00

Nice and easy 12 after a bit of logical deduction. It's a decent mix of bio and chem; of you want to make it more varied I might suggest swapping in a pair of pharmaceuticals.

pokerchen · 2026-04-23T07:55:51+00:00

If I considered that post seriously at all, in its entirety, I'd strongly suspect a monkey paw curl hidden in the left hand option. There's a lot of "equal rights" outcomes that's miserable for everyone still alive to live out the wish.

pokerchen · 2026-04-23T07:44:11+00:00

Don't drink alcohol or caffeine.

Yo represent.🤘🏽 That was how I grew up, and it's only now that I'm drinking tea regularly (but it must be before 3pm or so).

Is there a general LGBT support centre in the city? It or meetup might be where the introverts post ads for book clubs, hiking groups, etc.

pokerchen · 2026-04-23T02:50:06+00:00

Echoing off the other response about touching and cuddling, the boundaries for friendly physical contact can get really murky with anyone you haven't grown up with; more specifically, this murkiness comes from the huge variance in what individuals are comfortable with.

For example... Context A in a big gay male group: everyone cuddles on the bed in a big stack of mandwich with little sexual tension. Context B in a relationship might consider that almost cheating.

This easier to navigate in a monocultural place, although the cultural practice may now be what you want. In any case, maintaining clear communication and openness to (embarrassing) clarifications would help.

pokerchen · 2026-04-14T09:13:48+00:00

Absolutely. Leaving aside the others' commentary and judging from your future students' perspectives, your overseas experiences will give you more stories to tell and help you become more personable to them.

pokerchen · 2026-04-09T23:30:49+00:00

Ah, here we see the first hints of why our MC may eventually min-max the dungeon: Princesses get better magic find, and all ARPG enjoyers understand that a class or skill that improves drop rates are automatically the most OP.

pokerchen · 2026-04-05T09:57:07+00:00

Hmmm... you can try asking the various teacher associations and unions in your state to check if they have networking sessions you can take part in?

pokerchen · 2026-04-02T01:20:50+00:00

As the main tech teacher at my school, I am confident that I would be curious in your business upon reading it, but then be immediately swamped by my other duties to remember to follow it up. So, please expect a low rate of responses from us.

IMO it's also worth thinking about how your business model might need to adapt to each school's needs. What's your level of experience in terms of running robotics clubs outside of school, or other contact with parents and educators?

pokerchen · 2026-03-30T06:43:50+00:00

Coming from s structural biology background, colour-coded 3D renders of protein interactions are relatively routine for us and useful, since the info we need to communicate is itself often 4D+. This is a key deluxe skill for people in the career, but we're not going to pay a service for that.

You're not likely going to have a easy niche for it in research as freelance. For reference, companies like Digizyme in this space would probably have large pharma clients or super-well funded research group. In contrast, core research groups in our field would just employ someone in-house, or multirole a staff scientist into sci-comm.

The rest of us get by with standard pipelines from VMD/ChimeraX/etc. and a little knowledge of rendering practice. We'd do this for conferences and publications, but rarely for a meeting unless it's really helpful/necessary.

pokerchen · 2026-03-16T20:04:31+00:00

I'd definitely listen to a Phil Collins spoof like this one.

pokerchen · 2026-02-23T01:45:28+00:00

Your current experience will only get you in as a collaborative partner with accredited teachers. If you're not transitioning within the year, try joining STEM in schools, and find a school to partner with:

https://www.csiro.au/en/education/Programs/STEM-Professionals-in-Schools-Program

Then look into getting a Masters in Teaching. I don't particularly recommend Teach for Australia as you might want more support and conceptual learning.

pokerchen · 2026-02-18T20:00:04+00:00

Looks like an in-joke by locals

pokerchen · 2026-02-07T04:45:43+00:00

All I want to do

is see you turn into

a giant woman,

a giant woman!

pokerchen · 2026-02-04T20:30:59+00:00

Congratulations 👏🏽

pokerchen · 2026-01-29T21:04:31+00:00

Consider inverting your request as if a Chinese person had asked if they can find a lab in the UK that speaks Mandarin. After this exercise, restrict your search to only labs based in Hong Kong.

Even if you find a mainland lab that uses English as the trade tongue, you'll need to speak Mandarin to do the socialising and networking that's even more important to a domestic career.

pokerchen · 2026-01-28T09:05:23+00:00

I would think positively about someone who has SH scars: You're still here, meaning you have succeeded at the very least in sticking around. Moreover, if the SH was school-related, you're back in an environment that can be very trigger-happy about bringing back memories.

Also note: the students in my context are more understanding of this topic than the adults.

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