FFS, can humans not just keep creating plastic crap that'll ruin the planet. Make your own wooden spoon and you have a beautiful object created with your own hands.
Apparently an unpopular comment but I commend it for having the ability to step back and think "wtf are we doing", which far too many people seem to lack.
You've gotta admit that a spoon which adds salt flavour is an oddly superficial use of technology... is it really a good solution to a real problem?
I don't even get how we came to this point. Anyone uttering this question should reconsider their entire life choices...
Is the end game of humanity shitty chat bots, half assed autonomous cars and salt simulating spoons? Is this what people dream about these days? We're pathetic
Pretty sure yours is the more common take, rather than the opposite. Or at least a view that is very well represented by just about any news outlet. There's also a popular comedy movie about it.
So, you're not exactly going against the grain here.
How much of this huge percent are people with bad eating habits and who over used salt for decades in the first place?
We should stop half assing solutions for symptoms when all we have to do is eat properly in the first place, diet coke doesn't solve diabetes, magic salt simulating spoons don't solve decades of bad choices.
Being fat is uncomfortable, lowers your life-expectancy and is something many people feel embarrased about. In movies and popular culture fat people are overwhelmingly shown in a negative light (stupid, greedy, impulsive).
All of which is to say: there are many many negative incentives for people to "eat properly" and obesity is still very common. Telling people to just get more disciplined is obviously not working.
(Also, obesity and addiction more generally has a large genetic component, so try to have some empathy)
> Telling people to just get more disciplined is obviously not working.
Ok so the solution is to give them a plastic spoon that simulates salt, which solves nothing, gotcha...
> there are many many negative incentives for people to "eat properly" and obesity is still very common.
And there are infinitely more incentives for food companies to make you fat and addicted at all cost, and many incentives for the pharmaceutical industry to have fat and unhealthy people they can sell "cures" to.
> industrialized agriculture to support a population orders of magnitude larger than otherwise possible
Which destroyed our soils and allowed us to grow so out of proportion that in 200 years of industrial revolution we're slowly coming to the conclusion that we might have destroyed our home planet...
All the examples you used are from about a human lifespan before our time. Not really anything people alive now have any connection or conscious appreciation of.
Great article! I'm a dev turned blacksmith, currently getting back into bladesmithing. Working on my perfect kitchen knife. Here's my first attempt (San mai, mild steel with recycled spring steel edge) : https://www.reddit.com/r/ukblade_blacksmiths/comments/1g5v6s...
Same! (but more side gig for me) It was pandemic hobby. Started out just making a chefy with a custom handle for my wife from a premade blank. Did the next one by hand with a file and a little home made forge, then went all in on a belt grinder, evenheat kiln etc.
The material science side of the blade is a blast - but one of my favorite bits is actually all the variety in handle materials. https://gcarta.bigcartel.com/products has some amazing patterns.
Awesome! It's much easier to get into than people think. It's well worth learning how to make decent tongs, it's one of my favourite things to make, especially if you learn to punch the holes and rivet by hand.
I'm learning how to use a power hammer in work. It can save a lot of time but I love hand forging.
I haven't done much experimentation with handles. I've been rescuing bits from my firewood for handles so far :-) I also like curving the tang round to make a handle, which people call a "blacksmith knife".
I tried being self employed for 3 years but didn't make enough money to live on. Now I'm full time employed. I don't forge that much, lots more time doing cutting, welding, grinding. I love it.
Same. I tried woodworking for a year. Made 100+ sales on Etsy and made a living but it was barely paycheck to paycheck and went back to full time. It was so much work for so little money but I loved every minute of that year.
Sorry, I've got a long way to go before they're sellable! I'm just setting up a forge at a friend's farm to do more forging at weekends. There are a few people who want to learn and I've got a list of techniques from Forged In Fire that I want to try out.
From the description: "Two dummies are impaled on poles. You have slap the hips and smack the bum in time to the music. Its probably the worlds first mannequin based guitar hero game and possibly the last (are you watching Japan). Do say: "how novel, funny and interesting". "
I'm throwing this out there but maybe it'll catch someone's attention.
I'm not your usual coder. I've been programming since the age of 10. I'm 52. I've also worked in forestry, farming, construction and I'm a trained blacksmith. Currently I'm programming CNC and converting vans into campers.
I'm curious if there's interesting dev work out there that I might be suited for.
Thanks for your time.
Location: Dorset, UK
Remote: only
Willing to relocate: no
Technologies: C#/Unity right now, also Java, Go, JS, SQL, etc etc, right back to 6502 assembler
Résumé/CV: on request
Email: My name is james (all lowercase) and I can be contacted at rootdev.com
Hmmm, interesting. Not sure if it would be much use for balloons but if you could make vacuum sections for walls then you could make super insulated walls.
Drop stuff that doesn't work. I started programming as a kid. 40 years ago. I wrote a game with a friend while we were at school. It made us a tiny amount of money for 3 years work. I dropped out of programming (several times now). I travelled, close to home, and working in return for food and accomadation (with a scheme called WWOOF). I've done farm work, forestry, woodworking, butchery, construction, blacksmithing. At the moment I'm trying to make a living turning wool from friend's sheep into yarn and hats. Honestly. I accidentally came up with a game and put it online last week cos I thought the idea was funny and interesting, like Randall Monroe's "What If?" (which I was listening to on audiobook before I got the idea). Chances are I just blew a hundred pounds on hosting and domains but maybe, just maybe, it'll bring some money in somehow. otherwise I'll just keep on crocheting. Or some other thing. Don't be one thing. Do shit that you love. Last year I tried making and selling homemade excavator toys (here's an early prototype: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5gQZs8edzs&ab_channel=James...). Fuck about. Just don't sit at a desk trying to build the next big thing cos there are thousands of others doing the same. Find what's unique and special about you, even if it's something small. And run with it. Are you boring? What's the craziest story you can tell about yourself?
Yesterday, I went across the Florida Straits overnight and was headed directly for an electrical storm near West Palm. This beauty was shooting bolts into the water and spidering across the sky. We diverted to Ft Lauderdale to avoid going right for it.
When you go to sea, you’re all in. I always was, but sometimes I forget and the sea helps me remember.
That, man, right there. Those are the moments you remember. I had jobs where I sat at a desk for a year and nothing remarkable stands out. Then there are small memories which are just epic. For me it's moments like that which make my life feel complete.
First things first: the following is not in any way intended to demean/attack/"throw shade" at you or anyone else in the slightest. Not whatsoever! So please forgive me if it comes across in that way despite my best attempts to the contrary.
That said...
The above, while fantastic for the person who lived that way, "smells" (for lack of a better word) like it comes from someone who hasn't been forced into a rough life. Bouncing around like that is easy when you don't have to worry about whether or not you'll be homeless in the next week because you were illegally fired from your job and the government doesn't care because it's not an easy open-and-shut case where they can automate litigation six years from now (because their caseload is literally that high).
You can't really do that kind of stuff when you have one - or both - parents dying from cancer and they both need full time, in-home care that, being unemployed, you can't afford to provide them. Especially when for whatever reason, they have no retirement savings, pension, 401k, absolutely nothing, and no health insurance either.
So please understand that while I'm honestly happy you've been able to do that, a lot of people just flat aren't for many reasons, the above being mere examples. You might think they're made-up, fictional or convoluted, but they're not: they're my life experience from 2017-2021. I lived those things, and worse, all at the same time.
> A brief note for context: you mentioned "pounds" so I'm assuming you're in the UK, which has a famously fantastic healthcare system. I'm in the US, where ours is...well, we all know what shit smells like, don't we? And herein lies a real life example of how government investment in people - aka "socialism" to some degree - is not a threat to an economy or capital investment, but in fact enables economic growth. /rant
Point is, for some people, that grind is the only thing keeping us alive. There is no safety net. There is no plan b. You either go nose-to-the-grindstone, or you go live under a bridge and eat scraps out out of the dumpster. There's no in between for some of us.
Again, not in any way intended to "throw shade" at you whatsoever. I'm just raising awareness that for some people, this advice, while technically valid and something I really wish was actionable for everyone, is in many cases just flat out impossible. You try it, you wind up homeless, a pariah, and unable to re-enter the industry because who's going to hire somebody without any relevant work experience in the last 3 years? Next!
That said...
> I've done farm work, [...] blacksmithing [...]
I've always wanted to try some kind of blacksmithing! I'M SO JEALOUS!
Great feedback. Not offended at all. And you write wonderfully, with compassion and passion.
Yes, you're right. Life throws some terrible things but a lot of those things will occur regardless of whether you're at a desk or out on adventures. I have had some hard times.
I'm a recovering alcoholic. I burned out big style at about 29 and quit drinking about a year later. There've been some rough times. I don't have a super rich family but they are supportive. I've relied on friends for couches. I've lived in tents and hammocks in the woods. Never exactly homeless but just lacking a home. The scheme, WWOOF, I worked on meant I could live for very little money.
Your healthcare point is excellent. I've lived in the UK and Canada, both of which have similar healthcare systems. The US system is just unbelievable (literally) to Europeans.
I ran out of money (down to my last 300 quid) and returned to IT about 8 years ago. I started right back at the bottom and worked my way up. I lasted 5 years and burnt out again.
I guess I went too far in the "go crazy and run off live in the woods!!!" direction. I guess my main point (if I had one after rambling this much) is don't let your soul die at a desk.
> I've always wanted to try some kind of blacksmithing! I'M SO JEALOUS!
Do it. If you have a backyard then you can throw together a simple charcoal forge with an air blower. My youtube channel has an ancient video of making tongs. One of the best things to learn, making your own tools. Just remember: "Got it hot and hit it". That's all the advice you need. And PPE. Eye and ear protection. Always.
Otherwise find a local blacksmith and do a weekend. You will not regret it.
