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Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: June 13th, 2023

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  • Yeah, this article really feels so damn one sided, like the only thing that matters are the genes. Some of it is the genetics, but some of it is environmental. The same plant can produce different tasting beans if there are significant environmental changes year over year. Hell, if I take a plant from Colombia, transplant it to Ethiopia, it will produce different tasting beans from its identical fellow identical plants in Colombia. That it would not taste the same as the plants already present in Ethiopia is where the genetic differences come in.

    It honestly feels like it’s trying to make me excited for some really esoteric things. Don’t get me wrong, this research should absolutely continue, but it isn’t something the lay person is going to ooh and aah over. Even moreso for me because I do homesteading, I’ve done craploads of research on plants. I’ve grown different breeds/strains of the same plant to get different sized, shaped, colored, and flavored vegetables and fruit.

    I’m also less impressed because this sort of research is what usually precedes GMO shenanigans. Given the money in coffee growing, etc, it was a no brainer that this research is going to be used to do some Monsanto level bullshit. I have nothing against GMO, but what has happened so far with it has not been good.









  • If they find your coded diary, they are just going to torture you until you reveal how to decipher it if they have even a remote reason to suspect you. Everyone thinks they’re a tough guy until they’re waterboarded or they have their fingernails or teeth pulled out with a pair of channel locks. Everyone breaks under torture. The idea that someone can last until they’re killed is a Hollywood fantasy for action films.

    The idea that governments are going to expend valuable resources like learned individuals or AI to crack some individual’s code is just Hollywood thinking. If you’re a suspect, the government will monitor you. If you do anything to make them up their suspicion, they will bring you in. They aren’t going to spend untold amounts of money deciphering every suspect’s diaries or writings. They’ll just torture it out of you, either physically(fastest) or mentally.

    And let’s just put this out there - if some desperate person fingered you for being whatever, having anything written in code is as good as being guilty to them. You will not return to your previous life. At best you’ll be released and monitored till the government tires of you or it falls. The latter is no guarantee it will end. Just because the government might be replaced doesn’t mean that those taking over will view any more favorably. After all, if you were deemed to be a security threat before, what makes you think they won’t take that to heart. Once deemed a security threat you will always be a security threat, even to those who you may identify with.



  • One of the advantages of plastic is it’s really low thermal conductivity compared to even glass. You’re right about glass vs ceramic. Ceramic is about 100x more thermally conductive than glass. Ranked by least thermally conductive to most it’s plastic, glass, stainless steel, and ceramic. Each is roughly an order of magnitude greater than the previous.

    Of course you can overcome this with anything by warming it before use.


  • Let me preface this with my experience - I worked for nearly a decade in small business loans in the backroom processing SBA loans. I saw a lot of people succeed with their small business. I saw far, far more fail.

    Get yourself a plan and consult with someone. Go to a bank, talk to a small business loan advisor. Even if you don’t intend to take a loan out, talk to them about what they think you’d need to survive your first year. Small business loan advisors want to see their people succeed so are usually pretty solid sources of information, especially for the area you are in. Just be up front with them - tell them you might not be taking out a loan, but wanted advice. Smart advisors will jump at this because if you succeed, they’ll be in a better spot for you to come to them for financial assistance in the future. Check with any other small business groups in your area. Your local government may even have a department or office to help local small businesses succeed.

    Can you wing it and succeed? Sure, it happens, but not nearly as often as people who have a solid first year plan and set themselves up to succeed. I’ve personally met people who made AMAZING food, better than any restaurant I’d been to in the area, but their restaurant failed miserably because they didn’t have a plan and tried to wing it.

    As for your plan to use a manual espresso machine - you’re going to hate yourself after the first busy lunch break. And if you start to succeed, you’re going to live a life of misery. Can you consistently pull good shots up to 10-20 times in a row? Then 15-30 minutes later pull another 10-20? You think you’re going to be slow, but what if you’re not? You need to plan for being overwhelmed not underwhelmed, because I guarantee the first time potential customers stop by and then leave in disgust because it is taking so long and go to Starbucks instead, you’ll be going out of business in the next 90 days. It is better to be prepared to handle a rush at someplace like Starbucks than think you won’t be that busy.

    Save up and buy a used commercial machine. You can always sell it later if things don’t go as planned, but you’ll hate not having it when you need it if you don’t. Check with local restaurant supply houses to see what they have and see if they have leases, loans, or payment plans.


  • I’m going to say, for saving money, Ozark Trail from Walmart cannot be beat. I’ve even seen videos and articles putting them head to head against Yeti and coming out the same or better, never worse. Yeti is overpriced as there is nothing whatsoever special about them other than the name and maybe some fancy design work. A double walled vacuum container is the same regardless of whose name is on it.

    I’ve used their mugs for years and have never once been disappointed. I’ve had drinks where half or more of the mug was ice and still came back to being ice cold with some ice left the next day. The lids are cheap so if you lose or break one or too much oil gets built up, replacing it will not break the bank. Some of the name brands sell the exact same lid for more than an entire Ozark Trail mug goes for. Don’t fall for their shenanigans.




  • Gee, maybe, just maybe, you could understand that people will default to using what they know and what is common to them, instead of thinking it’s some attack on the rest of the world. I’m an American and I certainly wouldn’t hold it against anyone from the rest of the world coming in and using metric because I realize other places use other measurements. I’m also quite capable of converting between other measurements. Hell, you used more energy to bitch about it than it would have taken to google it.