I went to a friend's house and they had a perfectly sized frying pan for a mega pancake. It's really improved by the edges being cooked properly by the pancake being fit to the pan!
grinding and chilling
Hi all. It's been a hot minute since I've posted a proper update of how I'm doing. The answer is that I am very well! But, what have I been up to?
Well, my internship has been going pretty well. It's good experience and I am enjoying learning R. My CV is looking more ravishing than ever! I have the day off tomorrow and I'm very much looking forward to just getting some time to myself, though.
Outside of that it has mostly just been the usual. I have started a new D&D game with my friends from home which has been going great. I've been playing a tiefling warlock which has been very fun because it's been ages since I last played warlock. I love customisability and that comes in spades here!
In other tabletop game news, I'm working on an artifacts decklist for MTG right now which is fun. I had the epiphany that I sort of only really play creature strategies most of the time (reanimator, flicker, control with a beater as a win-con, etc.) so it's awesome getting to change things up. Also, on Saturday, I went to London with my friends which was great fun. I got lots of tabletop gaming loot that I'm really excited to use!
Today was the Kirby Air Riders Direct also, and now I'm super duper hyped for that game. I'm such a huge fan of the original and I am pleased by every change and new thing! I really wasn't expecting a main theme with vocals but it's so very good! I have ripped the mini-soundtrack they put on Nintendo Music and put it on my iPod and am thoroughly enjoying listening to it. I can't wait to hear more about the game! And I also am really excited for Pokemon Legends ZA... So many cool things coming out! Now I just need Fire Emblem news... T-T
So yes, everything's going pretty well, really! The grind isn't bad, and I've still got lots of time to chill, so I'm doing just great. If I get up to anything more cool over summer, I'll be sure to post again. Until then!
I found a way to filter my music on MPD to make it sound like it's coming out of an old radio. This is one of the features I really loved on the 3DS sound application that made me actually sometimes use it to listen to music. It's DIY lo-fi! Very glad to have this working.
Resources for Dodging the Anti-Gooner Act
If you are in the UK you are no doubt aware of the reecently passed act dubbed by many as the "Anti-Gooner Act" which restricts the people's usage of the internet in the name of "protecting children". Anyone that knows me will know that I am not a fan of this and don't think it's very good.
I have had a few friends come to me asking for the best ways to circumvent this, because you should not have to relinquish your ID to various internet services simply to use them . So, I thought it would be best to make a post with all of the resources I think may be useful for people.
VPNs
You can use a VPN to hide the fact that you are in the UK, which should allow you to use most blocked sites without verification.
- Tor is a free VPN run by a community of volunteers whose computers act as "relays" which will make your internet requests in your place, so it's very good for privacy because it makes you damn near untraceable, to the extent that this is what most people use to access the "dark web" safely. Though, despite that, Tor is perfectly good for regular use and I can very much recommend it.
- Tor has its own dedicated browser, the Tor browser, which is the primary method of using it. Tor is also accessible from the Brave browser.
- While you can manually install Tor and then use it with your browser of choice, using Tor browser will help protect you from other forms of identification through browser fingerprinting. Consider using it!
- You can download Tor for your phone using the "Orbot" app. I know this is available on the Google Play Store (and F-Droid if you're into that) but I don't know about on iPhones. If it is available, let me know and I'll update this.
- If you need to spoof a site into thinking you're in a specific location, you can do that, it's just a bit of a faff. See this WikiHow tutorial here.
- Because of how Tor works, your request gets passed between lots of countries. The last country it visits is the one websites think you are in!
- Mullvad VPN is one of the best paid VPNs and is excellent for privacy. It asks for absolutely no personal information for you to sign up, you simply use a randomly generated account number for all transactions.
- Mullvad has its own browser which makes it very easy to use when surfing the web. Of course, you can also download the actual VPN application, and this will hide all your activities.
- You can pay for your subscription using mail in cash to remain entirely anonymous!
If you use anything else, please do research beforehand to make sure it is trustworthy! The VPN you use will have access to your entire internet usage while it is active, so it is very important that you trust it before you use it.
Misc. Advice
- If the content you seek is a movie or some sort of popular media, consider using peer to peer filesharing (e.g. Soulseek) or something of the sort to find a copy rather than websites.
- Some services use facial scanning to determine whether you are an adult. Some of these can be tricked by using OBS virtual webcam and a picture of a character from a game or something and wiggle it around a bit to make it seem like you are real.
This is all I have for now, but if you have something you think would be good to add to the list, please send me an email (my email is on the home page) and I'll add it to the list. Thank you!
working, sort of
Salutations, all. It has been a bit so I thought I might nip in with a small update. Life has been going pretty alright. I've moved home from university for the summer and it's nice to be back. I've also started my internship for the summer! ...Sort of. The IT department is being really slow to install the necessary software onto my laptop, so I've not actually been able to do my job yet, really. So, I've been paid to do not very much for a week. Huzzah to that, I say!
Using my pay from work I'm currently intending to invest in a Nintendo Switch 2. I want to play Mario Kart World so badly, it looks so fun! Though, really, the thing that I'm most excited for is Kirby Air Riders. I might've mentioned this in the post after it was announced, but Kirby Air Ride is one of my favourite games because I think it's just so well designed, so I am so happy to be getting not a remake but a full sequel! Speaking of more details though, how has there not been a Nintendo Direct yet? Surely they'll have one at some point before Donkey Kong Banaza releases, since beyond that there's not that many titles in store. Maybe they'll finally announce the Fire Emblem Genealogy of the Holy War remake... (This is coppium.)
I have been very much enjoying the spoiler season for the new MTG expansion, Edge of Eternities. I currently have a commander deck centred around Ragost, Deft Gastronaut brewing in my mind. I've wanted to build a food deck for ages so I'm quite excited. I'll likely end up doing some shenanigans by reanimating baubles using Salvaging Station. I'm also considering making all my permanents have activated abilities so I can run Zirda, the Dawnwaker as a companion (that's the Boros one that makes all your activated abilities cheaper) since that will make eating a food every turn cheaper and easier.
I've also been playing a lot of MTG Arena lately (shoutouts to Plaao, Boggy and Slurp) and it has got me really enjoying Standard in particular. The metagame reshaping after the gutting of Esper self-bounce in the recent B&R announcement has been itneresting. I myself have been running a sort of variant of that list but only in Dimir and with various skeletons. It has been quite fun playing MTG in a different environment from commander.
Last, but not least: my latest bake is a batch of delicious cheese scones. I fell out of my baking mojo after being traumatised by exam season, but I'm trying to get back into it. I partook in a whimsical picnic with my university friends before I left, which was the perfect excuse to make a batch of scones. As always, you can find the recipe on the recipe book page.
That's all for now at least. I'll try my best to check in more over the summer while I have the time. So, see you soon.
enjoying true freedom
Salutations, all. I am pleased to report I am free! Yesterday was the day of my last exam. I had it in the morning, then I went home, had a nap, ate pizza, played Deltarune, and watched Summer Game Fest with my housemates. A most exquisite array of activities!
So, how have I been? Pretty alright, actually! Revision was actually surprisingly tolerable. Since I am in third year all of my modules are actually interesting, so I rather enjoyed reviewing them. Though, I am now incredibly burnt out from working too much... I need a couple of days to rest before I can get back to work. This time, working on fun projects!
Though, as aforementioned, in my downtime I have been playing Deltarune, and, oh my goodness is it splendid. I really forget the caliber to which I love this game. Deltarune just has so much character to it and is such a good time. I don't really want to speak too much, but Chapter 3 is so whimsical and fun, and Chapter 4 is, well, quite the ride. I had so much fun playing it! It was absolutely worth every penny. I intend to replay the game soon to beat all of the secret bosses. And, I invested in the soundtrack from Bandcamp and have been thoroughly enjoying listening to it!
That's all I really have to say for now though. When I'm operational again, I intend to start working on the site again, and perhaps a few other things. We shall have to see. Until then!