@cthos useful knowledge, thank you! I'm not afraid of bullding a laptop, I've built PCs and I've actually replaced a laptop wifi card before (which was EXTREMELY fiddly because the laptop was not built to make this simple task easy) (which is one reason why Framework appeals to me actually)

@aud Right?? E-waste is a serious fucking problem!! Laptops shouldn't be essentially disposable! Tablets are bad enough. Being able to just fix my own shit in a normal way like I would with my PC is appealing.

@aud Tempting. I've never built a laptop. I feel like I'd have to fistfight my partner for the privilege. Or at least come up with a distraction to stop them hovering over my shoulder excitedly the whole time...

Seriously though I'd forgotten about Framework. This is a good shout.

In less distressing news: my personal laptop is on its way out. (It's busted as hell, to be honest.)

So, nerds of the Fedi: what's good? I want a laptop to do writing and recreational coding. I don't hate myself enough for Windows but can install a Linux distro myself. Macs are also okay. Must be available in the UK. Prefer lightweight and sturdy over large and/or beefy. Preferably less than £1500 because that's what I've got in spare cash.

Boosts welcome.

@aud As a fellow scientist the notion of easy citations does appeal. Honestly it would be fun to be able to encourage scientists to blog semi-informally about their work and be able to cite each other and form their own networks.

@aud Okay, I am SUPER interested. This is very much the sort of thing I would like to a) support and b) make personal use of.

@aud I am far too exhausted to fully comprehend what you are doing here but I trust that it is valuable and good so I am boosting and hope I remember to look at it properly later!!

colleague just answered the question "are there any roadblocks on getting your paper written?" with "my own personal work ethic?"

the meeting then degenerated into increasingly ridiculous suggestions to stop people from ignoring the warning in our docs on the "expert users only!!" section (all caps, various emoji, skull and crossbones GIF, entry test, chess problem captcha)

it was then suggested that I am too stupid to enter the expert section of the docs for the code I wrote

I like this team

I remember reading a post somewhere on the internet about how if you look at most people's phone contacts, you can understand exactly where English surnames came from, as we seem to be recreating the process.

I just got a call from Dave Painter. A selection of my other phone contacts include: Martin Landlord, Joe Upstairs Arsehole, Big Mikey Plumber, Jerry Do Not Answer, Andy Telescopes, Bobby Hair, and Jessie Eyebrows.

(names changed to protect their privacy, obvs)

@aud that is legit impressive! and honestly I think the only thing stopping me from doing something similar is the lack of TRULY sour sweets in the UK.

@aud I actually asked her for another one after the initial shock wore off and my salivary glands started to work again. She sourced them from a colleague of hers who brought them from "abroad" so I'm trying to get her to get a brand name. Or even a country.

My mum is a grandmother, so she does normal grandmotherly things like carry sweeties in her handbag to give to people.

But she is also a bit of a gremlin, so she does this by handing you a mysteriously unlabelled sweet and saying "here, eat this" with a facial expression best described as "suspiciously innocent".

It was INCREDIBLY sour apple. My gums felt like they were peeling.

She pulled this on me, my nephew, and my partner in quick succession today. She was very pleased with herself.

We need to start the Millennial Throwback School of Web Design. I didn't learn HTML from Neopets to make a PROFESSIONAL website, thanks.

I have seen many websites in my time as a person on the internet, and the current trend for professional cookie-cutter sites from a template sickens me. Our internet ancestors would be appalled! Websites these days are capable of so much more than they and their Geocities personal homepages could have imagined, and what do we use those advances in web design for?? Soothing colours, stock photos, and artfully spaced text.

Disgusting.

I've been thinking of getting singing lessons (I cannot sing but I would very much like to be able to) and while looking about for local vocal trainers I found this absolute gem of a website. Very tempted to book in with Sandra. Anyone with a website this exuberant has to be a character worth meeting.

https://www.belfastsingingstudios.com/

@aud yeah let's go with that, that sounds good to me!

quick question, how much of an expert am I that it justifies forgetting the Galilean moons as a *solar system astronomer*

@aud NO IT'S OKAY I DESERVE TO EXPLODE INTO CHIPS

tbh I think I have had my official "space person" credentials stripped from me for getting that one wrong, I'm gonna show up to the office tomorrow and my keycard won't work

just got a question on the Galilean moons wrong while watching Mastermind, my partner threw a chip at me and I deserved it

@aud I'm so angry with these fuckers I want to storm their HQ with every other queer or otherwise marginalised high school dropout who pulled their shit together later in life DESPITE the indifference and outright hostility they faced at every corner and is therefore far more resilient and interesting and capable than any mayonnaise high-school high performer this question panders to... and kick every single one of their windows in.

we've all got big stompy boots, I assume.

@aud as a high school dropout with a fucking PhD I just yelled OH FUCK RIGHT OFF at my screen

FUCK this company, if I knew NOTHING else about them I would not be applying based on this bullshit ALONE