Languages, writing & other useful things

Resources and useful things. Mostly writing and studying languages. Me: Finnish native, fluent in English. I study Japanese. Interested in German, Spanish, Hindi, Karelian, Korean, and Tibetan. Dropped and no interest in: Swedish and French.

[unfuckyourhabitat]

Emergency cleaning: Unfuck your whole house in the shortest time possible

So, your landlord/parents/home inspector/favorite movie star is dropping by, and your place is a disaster. You don’t have much time to clean it up. You’re in emergency mode. Let’s get started.

Don’t panic. Panic leads to fear, fear leads to procrastination, procrastination leads to the dark side. You can do this, but you have to stay calm.

Unlike maintenance cleaning, we’re not looking to completely unfuck one space at a time. Instead, we want to decrease the overall mess in stages, spread evenly across the whole area that we’re concerned about. If you think your home is at Level 10 filth, we want to bring the whole thing down to a Level 9, and then down from there. One really clean spot in an otherwise messy home is not going to be helpful here.

Get prepared. You’ll want to shut the computer down (or turn the modem off if you need your computer to play music). Trust me. Get your music going. Gather up trash bags, your vacuum and mop, some rags or paper towel, sponges, and other cleaning supplies. Use what you have on hand. Don’t get distracted running to the store and spending an hour browsing cleaning supplies. A multi-purpose cleaning concentrate or a jug of vinegar will be just fine.

Breaks are very important. Depending on your time constraints, work in 20/10s (20 minutes working, 10-minute break) or 45/15s. But take breaks because otherwise you’re marathoning, and marathon cleaning is no one’s friend. Keep hydrated, don’t forget to eat, and check in with yourself frequently to make sure you’re physically doing OK.

Make your bed. This will be your home base if you get overwhelmed or need somewhere clear to take a break.

Start with the garbage. Going from room to room, throw out anything that is obvious trash. Once you fill a bag, take it out. Repeat as many times as necessary.

Move on to dishes. Gather the dishes from all over your house and bring them to the kitchen. If you can, start them soaking in a sink of hot, soapy water or start loading the dishwasher. After the dishes are all in one place, spend one 20/10 getting started getting them under control.

Now it’s time for your flat surfaces. Countertops, tables, dresser tops, etc. Clear them off and wipe them down. Don’t get distracted in too much sorting and organizing. We’re in crisis mode here. There will be time to get in-depth once this is all done. The same applies to cabinets and closets. Unless you have reason to believe people will be opening closed doors, leave these alone for now.

Attack the floordrobe and shoe pile. Get your clothes either put away or in the hamper. Start a load of laundry if you need to, but keep in mind that laundry and dishes have three steps: wash, dry, and put it away, goddammit!

Get random stuff up off the floors. If something is trash-worthy, throw it away now rather than just move it around a bunch of times. Otherwise, put stuff where it belongs.

Take another 20/10 or 45/15 to catch up on more dishes, if needed.

Head into the bathroom. Pour some cleaner in the toilet bowl, fill the sink with hot water and cleaner, and either spray the tub and shower with cleaner, or fill the tub up with some hot water and add cleaner and let it soak. Put everything away that’s out and shouldn’t be, clean the mirror, counters, and toilet seat. Sweep or dry mop the floor. Wipe down the sink and tub/shower, and give the toilet bowl a scrub. Mop the floor.

Sweep and mop the kitchen floor.

Vacuum everything you can, and sweep everything you can’t.

Walk outside of your house (don’t lock yourself out, please). Walk back in and see what catches your eye first. Go and deal with that.

If you’re being inspected or your landlord is coming in for repairs, spend time on whatever area they’ll be focusing on.

Give the whole place one more once-over and pay attention to anything you’ve missed so far.

It’s an old trick, but if your place is a little funky-smelling, put a pan of water on the stove on low heat and add some citrus or cinnamon or vanilla. Don’t leave it unattended or forget about it.

Take a shower, put on something clean, and eat something.

You can do this. It’s overwhelming, yes, but it is not impossible. You just need to do it. You have a list. You have directions. You have a whole bunch of Internet strangers who have been there before and who are cheering you on. You can do this, but you need to get started.

Why are you still here? GO. START. NOW.

[river-b]

the number of times in my past that I desperately wanted/needed someone to sit me down and tell me this stuff. I will never get back the hours and hours lost to headless-chicken mode, but it’s nice to know that in the last year I’ve learned so many coping mechanisms :D

[meowbrown]

目を開けた vs. 目を開いた vs. 目を覚ます

And another one that is related is 眼を覚ます, which means to wake up.

目を覚ましたけど、まだ目を開けたくなかった。 I woke up, but I didn’t want to open my eyes yet.

[licenseddoctor]

Hey kid you want a job?

Great get online and go to a job board. Indeed, Linkedin whatever. Now you're gonna search for a role that's in your city, fits your qualifications, and doesn't seem like a bad time.

See that easy apply button? Don't hit it they just throw those in the trash. Now you're gonna want to go to the company's website and check their careers page.

Oh? That job doesn't exist anymore. Cool go back to the job board and find another one.

Great you found another job, you're on the company's career page and the job exists!! So you're going to need to make an account on the career page website. They're using Workday, the same site as the last job you applied for? Who cares? You need to make another account for THIS job's workday page.

Now you're going to upload your resume. That'll autopopulate about 15 boxes with everything on your resume, except formatted wrong and with tons of errors. So just go through and painstakingly check the dates on all of that and rewrite everything you already laid out in an aesthetically pleasing format on your resume.

Ok time for the cover letter, explain why this specific job and company are deeply important to you. You love their mission statement and wouldn't even laugh if their ceo was gunned down in the street. You'll really want to reiterate the things you just spent the last 20 minutes filling out on the resume section

(Remember to include language from the job description, people who work in HR are lower than dogs and they need patterns or they get confused.) Write about a page, but hey don't sound too desperate or robotic this is where they judge your character!

Maybe add your portfolio site at the end here, who knows if that helps no one has ever clicked mine haha.

Anywayyy time to hit apply! Congrats! You'll see that confirmation email come in and you should be getting the rejection letter in about 2 weeks. Unfortunately your resume didn't have the right buzzwords and the AI auto rejected you :(

Time to start again and try not to kill yourself!

[your-werewolf-boyfriend]

Listen to me

Listen very closely

The above is exactly why half of my friends come to me, and cry they're suffering, and I get to bestow my job hunting knowledge on them. I love this shit, it's a game.

For credentials my fastest job hunting time has been 1 week. I searched for 1 week, got an interview, and was hired within a week. My slowest was 1 month, while out of work, while telling ALL my interviewers that I quit my work without notice (I was testing my interviewers to see how shocked they'd get when I'd tell them why, anyone who wasn't shocked I would tell them at the end that I will keep them in mind (not)). My entire average is 2-3 weeks.

Firstly, what you're gunna do is pick a job sector. You're gunna pick a few of these by the end, but for now pick one. Maybe you wanna do bookkeeping, maybe you wanna do something in doggy daycare. Maybe you're a sous chef. Idk! Figure out what abouts you want first. Do not apply to anything yet. You're gunna look at the job description, I've picked out a few for bookkeepers below.

Now what you're gunna do is you're gunna look for "buzz words", or rather words that are gunna appear commonly and indicate the tone for that job. I've highlighted some, but not all in my examples below

Just look at that snout at how similar those descriptions are!

Now that you've got your buzzwords, you're gunna slap those babies into your resume! You see, since your resume is usually read by a computer first, you're gunna trick the computer into giving it to a person. Really what the computer is scanning for is how similar your resume is to the job description. Remember your bullet points, and to keep it short, try to only have 3 to 5 bullet points per job:

- Processed over 500 invoices a day in an efficient and accurate manner

- Curated reports for management review by utilizing available data

- Monitored and recorded over 100 submissions each day increasing accuracy by 50%

These are some great, made up examples I pulled from those buzz words. You might notice I added some numbers into there. That's something you'll wanna try and note for yourself, how much of something you can do, how accurate, how much efficiency you increased, these look GREAT when your resume gets past the computer and is moved in front of a real person.

Now you have your sector-based resume with lots of buzzwords. This is great! Now for the easy part. You're gunna channel your inner "IDGAF" And you're gunna send that to every listing you like on indeed. Filter for "Apply on Indeed" and spam that shit. Sometimes you gotta answer a few extra questions, but if they give me more than 5 quick questions I trash the submission and move on.

Don't waste your time jumping through hoops, streamline it for yourself and use the same methods companies are using. Push MASSIVE amounts of average quality resumes out. The more opportunities taken = the greater the chance of success. For every opportunity taken you've now pitched a chance of success, for every resume you cannot submit because you're piddling around on their stupid website or answering 50 interview questions online, you send out a 0% chance of success.

So go, try this, and see how it works for you.

Some additional things to consider:

- Add random shit in your resume, I added my "Board Game Club" (BDSM group) into my resume for hobbies and discussed how I got my start using sparklines there

- Never underestimate the flair of a little Clipart fleur-de-lis or something on your resume. Never put colored Clipart, but a little floral or swirl design located somewhere nice makes it stand out

- if you don't have a degree that doesn't mean they won't pick you, twice now I've come to a job without a bachelors and being honest that I was only getting an associates before I think of my next steps

- Embellish, do not lie. Jargoning your job description to make it sound cool and professional is GREAT. Do not give me a resume saying you can use CNC machinery when you've only used a 3D printer. Just tell me you know how to program and manage a 3d printer and want to learn CNC machinery.

- Keep. Your. Resume. To. Two. Or. Less. Pages. You don't need EVERY job, only the relevant ones, if your interviewer asks about the gap, tell them what job you had during that time (or if you wanna lie say you were taking college courses and were on a break, you dont need a degree to say you took courses) and that you only wanted to showcase the most relevant ones

- I'm serious on that last one I'll eat your fucking resume

[sweaterkittensahoy]

HERE'S HOW TO WRITE A COVER LETTER FROM SOMEONE WHO HAS DONE IT PROFESSIONALY:

Look at the job description.

Identify what they want examples of like "ability to multitask" or "can work across teams to achieve success" or "can work on a budget".

Pick three.

Write this:

IF YOU CAN FIND THE NAME OF A HIRING PERSON: Dear [Name]

IF YOU CAN'T FIND THE NAME OF A HIRING PERSON: Fuck the usual salutation and just roll directly into "I was very excited when I saw this job application. I feel I am a great fit for this role."

Now, look at the three things you chose from their list of what they want. Write a paragraph like this.

I am an adept multitakser who routinely handles several projects/deadlines/needs (whatever). In my current position I [multitask example]. In my previous work, I [second example].

SECOND PARAGRAPH SAME AS THE FIRST DIFFERENT THING THEY WANT BUT NOT ANY WORSE:

In my current position, I work with multiple teams daily, including [name any team you have waved hello to in the hall] and through my work we have [list an accomplishment that required multiple teams].

THIRD PARAGRAPH HERE WE GO AGAIN:

Staying in budget is something I am very familiar with. When I worked on [team], my contributions [list] not only brought the project in on time but under budget by [number]. I have also brought in other projects under budget [examples].

AND NOW THE FINALE:

Thank you for your time in reviewing my cover letter and resume. I look forward to discussing my qualifications and interest in the role with you at length. I can reached at [phone number] and [email].

Sincerely,

[NAME]

And remember, any question that is looking for a negative story ("Tell me about a time you had a conflict with a co-worker") should ALWAYS be presented by you as "I do have a story for that, and I'm pleased with how I handled it." and then you focus on the all the positives in that situation. So, state what the problem was, and then how you fixed it, and then how fixing it improved your working experience. For example:

"Well, I worked with a man named Bob, and he never answered any emails he got after 3:00 PM, so if I had a question after 3, I'd start a draft email and just add to it if i had further questions. And then I'd schedule it to send at the top of his workday. He started earlier than me, and I'd usually come in to a reply from him with the answers I needed when I first sat down for the day. I actually had another co-worker who was having trouble getting Bob to answer questions, and I said, "Oh, are you sending them after 3?" and when she said yes, I shared my own process so it was easier for her to get information, too."

You see how you acknowledge there was an issue but put most of the focus in your answer on the fix? That's the sort of answer they're looking for. The "tell us about something bad at work" questions are about weeding out people who will take any moment to go into a full-on complaint about anything. Any questions that SOUND negative are about wanting to hear your POSTIVIE ability to manage conflict and difficulties.

[daily-hyosatsu]

Today, a very common surname! 酒井 belongs to about 235,000 people. It is almost always read Sakai, as it is here, and very rarely Sakei.

酒 means alcohol or sake. It's read さけ, さか, or シュ.

井 means well (as in a well water) or town/community. It’s read い, セイ, or ショウ.

As a note, the sake/alcohol distinction can cause some confusion! English speakers think of "sake" as meaning rice wine, but in Japanese, 酒 is more likely to just mean alcohol. Rice wine is more often referred to as 日本酒 [にほんしゅ].

BUT, while 日本酒 is literally written "Japanese + alcohol," it only refers to brewed rice wine. It does not refer to other alcoholic beverages made in Japan, traditional or modern. (I often see this tag on reblogs of chuhai posts from my food blog, and I take 3 HP damage every time.)

So if a Japanese speaker asks if you like (お)酒, they're probably not asking about rice wine, but whether you drink (/can metabolize) alcohol at all. Also, if anyone has ever asked you "Do you like Japanese sake?" and you've answered while wondering What other kind IS there?, well, that's why! They're translating 日本酒 word for word, because that's a more common way to say rice wine than "sake."

[nihongoseito]

incidentally, a similar (but opposite?) thing happens with お茶, which we usually learn from textbooks as just "tea". but when japanese speakers say お茶, they're usually referring to green tea as the sort of greatest common denominator of all teas (although to be super specific, you can also say 緑茶). in my experience, if you want to talk about teas in general, you might have to say that's what you mean!

[daily-hyosatsu]

Ooh, good point! The default "tea" here is green tea, and if you want black tea, you have to specify otherwise.

Gonna go ahead and add some vocab:

緑茶 [りょくちゃ] green + tea = green tea

抹茶 [まっちゃ] rub + tea = matcha

紅茶 [こうちゃ] crimson + tea = black tea

黒茶 [こくちゃ or くろちゃ] black + tea = fermented tea

First, the character they all have in common: 茶, or tea. It's read チャ or サ. Remember it with the honorific: always お茶 [おちゃ].

Then, 緑 means green. It's read みどり, リョク, or ロク. The left radicals is 糸 silk/thread, which is not uncommon in colors; makes sense with fabric and dyeing.

You'll have noticed that green tea and matcha are distinct. The "default" tea on offer is green tea, which, like black tea, is brewed from leaves. Matcha comes from a powder, and it's named for the whisking motion used to make it:

It's also generally pretty bitter, unlike matcha-flavored drinks in the US (I assume?). You can find sweetened matcha in latte-type drinks, or when it's the flavor of an ice cream or confectionery or something.

Anyway, the kanji 抹 is only read マツ. It means to rub, erase, or paint. The radicals are 扌 hand, which hints at the meaning, and 末 end/tip, which provides the reading.

You'll also have noticed that black tea, in Japanese, is not considered black; it's crimson! Maybe due to comparison with their default hot beverage being greenish? Personally, I will probably always consider it brown, but then again, my default hot beverage is black coffee. Also:

You gotta admit it; that tea is red. [x]

The kanji 紅 means crimson or deep red. It's read べに (as in 紅ショウガ the pickled red ginger on your yakisoba), くれない, あか.い, コウ, or ク. The radicals are 糸 again, and 工, which provides the コウ reading.

Also, I know this is confusing and I'm sorry: the main word for red that you learn in Japanese 101 is also read あか.い, but this is not that. Regular, non-crimson red is written 赤い.

Finally, I was going to say that I can't really talk about "black tea" in the Japanese sense because I've never had the privilege of trying a fermented tea, but it turns out that pu'er tea, which is maybe my favorite tea, is actually fermented!!! That's what gives it its distinct flavor. Also:

Yeah, that tea is good and black for sure. [x] The actual word 黒茶 comes up *much* less often than the others listed here (because it refers to a process rather than a type of tea), so you don't have to memorize it; just remember that black tea is not what you think it is!

So, finally, the kanji 黒 means black. It's read くろ (e.g. くろ.い, くろ.ずむ) or コク. The radicals are 里 village and 灬, which we've mostly covered as pawprints, but it does also means fire. That makes things a little dark. But....... maybe it helps the mnemonic?

Hmm. Anyway. Tea vocabulary for your Monday!

[easy-japan]

do you have any suggestions on the best workbooks that can help in learning, writing, and talking in Japanese? more the one book is fine, thank you :)

Books & Links to guide your journey in learning Japanese language!

Note: Each set of books is for specific purpose.As a tip, it’s better to focus on one skill at a time. It’s recommended to work on grammar before focusing on learning kanji. With that in mind, here we go!:

…………………………………………

Basic stuff!• Easily learn Hiragana • Easily learn Katakana • Introduction about kanji before you start to learn them

…………………………………………

Book set to master basic Japanese (recommended)• TRY! N5 grammar with CD • TRY! N4 grammar with CD• 500 Questions for N5-N4 Practice + grammar review• Dictionary for Basic Japanese Grammar

If you’re unsure of which book to buy, this set is all you need. The amount of time require to finish this set would be around 4 - 8 months. The dictionary is complimentary but so worth to have!

One step further:• TRY! N3 grammar with CD • 500 Questions for N3 Practice + grammar review>> Check out the details of this book set

…………………………………………

Hone Kanji reading skills• Books to learn & practice kanji >> How to use the book

Indepth Kanji study• Book to guide you to remember kanji easily with mnemonics (for beginners)• Kanji dictionary learners (to guide you on each kanji usage)

…………………………………………

Japanese Conversation/Speaking skill• Basic survival conversation & situation–> this book teach basic survival grammar!• Learn Japanese with conversation (shadowing technique)>> Learn more about both books here

…………………………………………

Reading practice material• Ghibli’s Story book - [Full post]• Easy to read Japanese Manga  - [Full post]• Bilingual Doraemon manga  - [Full post]>> More books & review here

…………………………………………

Another set to master basic Japanese grammar:

Note: It’s not effective to have a different set of similar book, just pick the set you like the most. If you like Genki better, get a genki set and so on~

If you ask our opinion, Genki is easier with a more detailed English explanation but explained from English point of view.

While minna no nihongo is a very immersive study book but will confuse and discourage some people.

Our recommendation Try set above is somewhere in the middle. It’s immersive but not to confusing and each grammar is explained from Japanese point of view~

Minna no nihongo

• Minna no Nihongo Beginners Part 1 book (N5-N4)• Minna no Nihongo Beginners Part 2 book (N5-N4)• Minna no Nihongo set review & links

Genki • Genki 1• Genki workbook 1• Genki 2• Genki workbook 2• Answer key for workbook 1&2

…………………………………………

Hope this helps! Happy learning ｡ﾟ✶ฺ.ヽ(*´∀`*)ﾉ.✶ฺﾟ｡

[boromirswife]

How I Make Gifs ~ For Anon ❤️

An anon asked me if I would ever consider doing a tutorial for how I make gifs! It's very flattering that you like my gifs enough to want to know exactly how I make them, so here is a little tutorial using my favourite character from my favourite movie ❤️

I might also make a separate tutorial for giffing dark scenes later 😌

Here's a download of my gif in PSD form if you'd like to get a better look at the settings I used.

Programs used: PotPlayer, Photoshop.

First, you need to get your screencaps. I would suggest using a high quality recording of whatever movie/TV show/video you want to make gifs of. My recording of Fellowship is in 1080p, and the quality looks incredible!

I use PotPlayer to get my screencaps. To do this, open the video file in the program and find the moment you want to gif. It's probably best to go back to just before that particular moment, and then press Ctrl + G. This will bring up the consecutive image capturer window. Below are the settings I use to get my screencaps:

Then, press start and wait for your moment to be captured! Once you've got everything you need, press stop and navigate to the folder that you indicated under storage. Here you will find all of your screencaps! You probably ended up with way more than you need (I know I certainly did 😅). Now, delete all of the screencaps that you don't want in your gif.

For the actual gif making, I use a cracked version of Photoshop. I don't exactly remember where I found it unfortunately, but I'm sure that there's people out there who might have some links handy if you look around! Once you've got PS open, navigate to File > Scripts > Load Files Into Stack... and click on it! That will open the Load Layers window.

Now, change Use to Folder. Then, click browse and navigate to the folder that contains your screencaps. Click select folder, and after a few moments of loading your window should look more like this.

Then, press OK, and wait for your layers to load. Depending on how many caps you have, it could take longer. Once it's finished loading, you need to decide on your gif dimensions! For this, I decided on 268px x 225px. Once you've chosen your size, use the crop tool to get your gif to that size. Now, you should have a smaller image, like this:

The next step I do is to use this Photoshop action by @maziekeen. They have a little tutorial on how to use this action there, so I'll just say that once you've loaded it into your program, use part 1 / load into stack. Press the play button, and then the OK button on the two windows that pop up. Now, your gif will be nice and sharpened, and you'll be able to see it move for the first time! Here's what mine currently looks like, without any other edits:

Now, it's time to start on colouring. Every gif (or scene, sometimes you can reuse the same colouring if you're giffing an entire scene) is different, so it will have different needs. However, I tend to always use the same layers in the same order for all of my gifs — it's just the settings that change. I think the colouring of this particular scene is lovely, so I don't want to change it drastically, I just want to enhance it.

First, I create a Curves layer. At this point, I also like to make a group to hold all of my adjustment layers. This makes it easier for you to switch your adjustment layers on and off if you want to compare with the original colouring!

Going back to your curves layer, pick the little white eyedropper tool in the Properties tab. You want to find and click on the whitest area in the gif and make it a bit brighter! I picked the white in one of Boromir's eyes.

This is what my gif looks like now with the Curves layer:

Next, I use Levels. It's a very subtle change, but you can notice a slight darkening of the blacks in the image. Here's my settings for this layer:

And here's the gif with this step applied. Like I said, it's a very subtle change:

Up next is Brightness & Contrast. This layer is just a case of messing around with the settings until it looks right for you. You don't want to make it look too bright or too contrasted, though, because it will make the colouring look weird.

A bit more of a change this time! We're getting there:

Next, I like to do Colour Balance. Sometimes I wait and do the Selective Colour layer first (it'll still be above Colour Balance though), but with this gif, I decided to do it first. I want Boromir in the foreground to contrast more with the watery background, so I upped the Red in the Midtones. I think Midtones is the most important part of Colour Balance, so the Highlights and Shadows are more minor adjustments here.

Here's the gif with the Colour Balance layer!

Now, we have Selective Colour. Like I said before, I sometimes like to do this layer and then go back to the Colour Balance to make minor adjustments. For this gif I mainly focused on slightly reducing the cyan in the reds and yellows to add a little more colour to Boromir's tunic and hair.

I'm a big fan of bright, vibrant gifs, so I like to use the Vibrance layer copiously.

I upped the vibrance to max, but it's left Boromir's face looking a bit too red and his neck is a little pink, so I went back and did some minor adjustments to the Colour Balance and Selective Colour layers to fix that. Then, voila!

Now that we're done with colouring, go back to the beginning of the timeline at the bottom the screen. Then, go back to Actions and scroll down to the bottom, and look for the action called part 2 / finishing. Just like with the first action, press the Play button and it will work its magic!

Press Ctrl + Shift + Alt + C, and try playing your gif from there. Sometimes, the gif will be too fast and you'll need to slow it down, and you can't always tell until you play it in the 'Save for Web' window. I ended up slowing mine down from 0.05 to 0.07.

Once your gif is looking just right, press Ctrl + Shift + Alt + C again. These are the settings I use to save my gifs, and I think it makes them look really nice! Then click Save, and save your gif wherever you want.

Now, once you've saved your gif, you can post it to Tumblr (if that's what you're wanting to do) or simply keep it to yourself! But I'm sure that others would love to see your creations :D

***

A little extra info - this gif doesn't have text because there's no dialogue, but these are the settings I use for gifs with text (the text size depends on the dimensions of the gif):

Sometimes I use white text, sometimes I use yellow. And if there's more than one person talking I use both!

I hope that this tutorial was helpful, and if you have any more questions, feel free to ask!

[azspot]

“Because the truth is, tech doesn’t have an image problem. It doesn’t have a message problem. It has an intention problem. What’s wrong with the axe murderer who broke into my house is not that he hasn’t successfully persuaded me to buy into his narrative. What’s wrong is that he’s trying to kill me with an axe. Similarly, when you launch a product that’s designed to put millions of people out of work, block access to sources of verifiable truth, replace human creativity with slop, and lower the barriers to every sort of atrocity, the problem isn’t that you haven’t told the public a good story about those things. The problem is that you are trying to do them.”

— The 40 Most Rage-Inducing Problems in Tech

[santhipoma]

[glasshomewrecker]

Everyone should be aware of nitter.net

for any address to twitter you can replace the “x.com” with “nitter.net” and you will be able to browse as if you have an account. Lifesaver.

Similarly, imginn.com works for most Instagram addresses. I still haven’t found one for Facebook.

[databend]

libredirect is also quite good for navigating around reddit, youtube, and various other social media sites (incl tumblr). automatically redirects you when you load up the page, saves time and hassle. you can add twitter to it and tweak what platforms you want to use alt frontends for

[nihongo-ni-hon-yaku]

What’s 1-900-MIXALOT in Japanese? (Goroawase)

I’ve just randomly thought up a goated localization for one line in Baby Got Back

Dial 1-900-MIXALOT

0530-393-610に電話して

In the Anglosphere, the most common way to make phone numbers memorable is to spell out words using the T9 keypad letters as a mnemonic. That is, “A”, “B”, and “C” stand for “2”, and “W”, “X”, and “Y” stand for “9”. “Q” and “Z” tend to be avoided, because some keypads have them moved to “1” or “0”, while most of them tolerate having four letters on “7: PQRS” and “9: WXYZ”. If you were to dial “1-900-MIXALOT”, you would end up calling 1-900-649-2568.

(Don’t actually call that number. I think Sir Mix-a-Lot has better things to do than to park a 1-900 number for one hit song. Plus, you have to pay to call a 1-900 number.)

The Japanese equivalent is called goroawase (語呂合わせ), and is based on the many Japanese words for these numbers: on-yomi (Chinese-derived readings), kun-yomi (native Japanese readings), and English loanwords. For example, in goroawase, the digit “1” could be read “ichi”, “it-”, “i”, “hito”, “hi”, and “wan”, or even grouped as “10” and read as “juu”, “ju”, “to”, or “ten”. This is also how students in Japan memorize historical dates (e.g. the year 794 for the founding of Heian-Kyō, the capital in Kyoto, and the year 1192 for [one date for] the founding of the Kamakura Shogunate) or mathematical constants (e.g. √2 = 1.41421356..., √3 = 1.7320508...).

The same digit need not have the same reading in the same goroawase. In this example,

“3”: mi (shortened kun-yomi “mitsu”)

“9”: ku (on-yomi)

“3”: sa (shortened on-yomi “san”)

“6”: rot- (shortened kun-yomi “roku”)

“10”: to (shortened kun-yomi “tou”)

So the number “393-610” can be read out as mikusarotto (ミクサロット), which is the Japanese transcription of “Mix-a-Lot”. If Sir Mix-a-Lot were Japanese and wanted to buy a Japanese phone number, he would probably choose 393-610.

“0120” is a toll-free prefix and the Japanese equivalent of “1-800”, called “Free Dial” (フリーダイアル). The emoji “➿” is the logo for Free Dial. And I didn’t know this before this post, but “0530” is a premium-rate prefix and the Japanese equivalent of “1-900”, called “Navi Dial” (ナビダイヤル).

[mariacallous]

Cold Cucumber Soup Recipe | The Nosher

The best cold cucumber soup recipe, perfect for a light summer dinner. This quick and easy soup recipe comes together in 25 minutes.

This cucumber soup is an updated version of cold borscht soup, originally brought to the United States by Eastern European Jewish immigrants. The dish became so synonymous with Jews that the customary vacation area of New York Jewry — the Catskills — became known as the Borscht Belt. The traditional cold borscht soup is most frequently made with beets. Yet the dish can also be made of a yeasty drink called kvass, with yogurt and tomatoes, or with cabbage. Incredibly easy to make, this soup is perfect for a quick summer dinner or to start off a Shabbat lunch. Using a homemade fresh salsa as a garnish will add a spark of color and contrasting texture.

Note: This recipe requires a bit of cooking. Use olive oil instead of butter and eliminate the sour cream or yogurt if you want a non-dairy soup.

[hustler4life]

[digitalkiddo]

If you're writing anything involving cons, scams, heists, or morally questionable characters who are very good at lying, here are some free resources I've been using for research. Saving you the "why is this in my search history" anxiety.

1. The FBI's Famous Cases & Criminals archive (fbi.gov/history/famous-cases) has detailed breakdowns of real fraud cases, Ponzi schemes, and confidence operations. The language they use is clinical and precise, which is perfect for getting the procedural details right.

2. The FTC Consumer Sentinel Network publishes annual reports on the most common fraud tactics in the US. Great for understanding how modern scams actually work and what makes people fall for them.

3. The Smithsonian's American Art Museum has a free digital collection of forgery case studies. If your character forges documents or art, this is gold.

4. Court Listener (courtlistener.com) is a free legal database where you can read actual court transcripts from fraud trials. Want to know how a real con artist talks under oath? This is where you find out.

5. The Internet Archive's collection of old newspaper crime sections. Search for "confidence man" or "swindle" in papers from the 1920s through 1960s and you'll find incredible real stories that would feel too dramatic for fiction.

Bonus: The Psychology of Fraud section on the Association for Psychological Science website has accessible articles about why people trust, how deception works cognitively, and what makes someone a convincing liar. Essential reading if you want your con artist characters to feel psychologically real.

Reblog to save for later. Your WIP will thank you.

[mariacallous]

Easy Moroccan Carrot Salad Recipe | The Nosher

If you have ever spent time facing all the choices at the breakfast buffet in most Israeli hotels, one salad ...

If you have ever spent time facing all the choices at the breakfast buffet in most Israeli hotels, one salad always stands out: the Moroccan carrot salad. It’s not a surprise that this popular salad has become iconic. It’s bright! It’s full of flavor! It makes you feel healthy eating it any time of day!

What makes this salad pack a flavor punch is the chermoula (aka charmoula), a North African sauce/marinade made with lemon, olive oil, garlic, parsley and/or cilantro, warm spices like cumin and coriander, and chili. Feel free to make it your own with more or less of any ingredient, and as much heat as you like. 

Trust me, you’re going to want to make extra chermoula (all the ingredients except the carrots) to have at the ready in your refrigerator. This versatile green sauce makes a fine marinade or dressing for cooked and raw vegetables, fish and chicken. Try drizzling some in your soup, or mixing with yogurt for a quick dip.

Most versions of Moroccan carrot salad use round disks of cooked carrots — and they’re delicious! But making the salad with raw, shredded carrots pumps up the flavor and crunch while cutting the prep time. The most time-consuming part of this recipe is grating the carrots, if you choose to do it by hand on a box grater (and even that isn’t so bad), but you can also use a food processor and be done in minutes. 

If all this didn’t already make this the perfect salad to prepare for a crowd, like a Shabbat meal or Passover seder, it’s best when prepared an hour or more in advance, even the day before, so the flavors have a chance to develop and blend. Hopefully you’ll have leftovers to enjoy for a few days, either on its own or over a bed of arugula or lettuce, perhaps topped with some crumbled feta.

Note: The salad will keep well for several days in the refrigerator.

[gentlier]

What is your eye color?

A 10, 17, 40, or 50

A 20, 30, or 60

C 20, 30, or 40

D 10, 30, 37, or 50

D 20, 34, 40, or 60

T 7, 10, 15, or 17

T 20, 30, 40, or 50

BOTH of my eyes are two different colors.

ONE of my eyes is two different colors.

I don’t have eyes.

Voting ended onJun 10

[boybeetles]

You know technology literacy is dying because I saw this meme with 76k likes

F11 the full screen button? You’re scared of the full screen button? F10?? It opens the menu bar???

[boybeetles]

Computers are so scary what if I accidentally hit F12 in a steam game and it takes a screenshot. What if I press shift + F12 while in word and accidentally save my document 😖

[yetanothergreyjedi]

[shower-thoughts-last-responder]

If you had to learn what the F keys on your computer do through me reblogging this post, then I'm glad you did. Computer literacy is not a skill that gets taught anymore, and it is absolutely one that needs to be taught in order to be learned. Don't ever feel bad for not knowing something, but ☝️ don't ever stop learning learning about your environment, the tools you use, and especially the people around you

[aqua-support]

Source

[silentspireshrine]

How to Build a Strong Gym Body Step by Step

Building a strong gym body isn’t about doing extreme workouts or copying someone else’s routine. It’s about doing the right things consistently and giving your body time to improve.

Step 1: Start with a Simple Plan

Don’t jump into complicated routines. Begin with basic gym workouts that cover your full body. A simple gym workout plan with exercises like squats, push-ups, and basic weight training is enough to get started.

Step 2: Focus on Strength, Not Just Sweat

A lot of beginners think sweating more means better results. Instead, focus on proper gym exercises that build strength. Lifting gradually heavier weights over time is what actually helps in building muscle.

Step 3: Don’t Skip Food

You can’t build a strong body without proper nutrition. Follow a balanced gym diet plan or even a simple diet plan for weight loss if fat loss is your goal. Your body needs fuel to grow and recover.

Step 4: Stay Consistent

This is where most people fail. Doing gym workouts for a week and then stopping won’t help. Even a basic routine done regularly gives better results than random intense sessions.

Step 5: Take Guidance if Needed

If you’re confused, getting help from gym trainers or trying personal training can make a big difference. They can guide your form, routine, and progress.

Step 6: Be Patient

Building a strong gym body takes time. There are no shortcuts. Focus on small improvements every week, and results will follow.

Final Thought

The secret is simple: stay regular, follow a basic plan, and don’t rush the process. That’s how real transformation happens.

If you want a beginner-friendly approach, you can explore more at Fithub Gym: https://protodiet.odoo.com/

[ros3ybabes]

🎀 Workout Youtubers

I currently do exclusively pilates and yoga workouts from youtube. However, I've done other body weight workouts with various youtube videos and seen results in the past. Here is my list of workout youtubers that you could check out! I will put a * next to my personal favorites! I will include a short list of my current at home workout equipment at the end as well as some items I plan on buying soon!

With any workout program or routine, always be safe, check with your doctor if necessary, and if something doesn't feel good or right, don't do it! No matter what your goals are, it's always important to be safe and stay healthy. Please always take care of yourselves and know how beautiful, worthy and valuable you are no matter what! I love you all <333

🩷 Pilates

Move with Nicole * (also posts occasionally barre and yoga videos as well! I love her videos so so much)

Madeleine Abeid

IsaWelly

Pilatesbodyraven

Lidia Mera

Lottie Murphy

Amanda Blauer

Margaret Elizabeth

Jessica Valant Pilates

Bailey Brown

Dansique Fitness

Flow with Mira

Sivi (she's began posting some pilates inspired workouts and to my knowledge is currently getting certified as an instructor)

🩷 Yoga

Yoga with Adriene *

Yoga with Bird

Boho Beuatiful Yoga

🩷 Bodyweight Fitness/Strength/HIIT

Chloe Ting * (I don't like the click bait, but I like the workouts)

Blogilates

Pamela Reif *

Madfit *

Lilly Sabri * (Some of her videos are titled with pilates, but the older ones I used to do were not pilates, so I categorized her here)

Emi Wong

Shirlyn Kim

Vivian Yuan

April Han

growingannanas

growwithjo * (I love her walking workouts)

Hinafit

Mish Choi

Sami Clarke

Elenifit

Coach Kel (she posts what looks like more barre, ballet, pilates inspored/fusion workouts it seems)

Caroline Girvan

TRAIN WITH GAINSBYBRAINS

Daisy Keech

🎀 Current At Home Workout Equipment I Own

Thick Yoga Mat - since I do mainly yoga and pilates my thick yoga may (amazon brand) has served me well. Even tho I am a heavier woman at the moment, I've never had pain or any issues with this mat, and it came with a carry strap which I love! A good, thick workout mat is definitely necessary for working out at home for comfort, safety, etc. Make sure to disinfect it on occasion, especially if you sweat on it a lot!

Resistance Bands - I have about 3 or 4 at different resistance strengths, and they're incredibly useful for a variety of movements, especially lower body ones. They add some extra resistance and make the workouts a bit more challenging when you need something more advanced. I also got mine from Amazon/Walmart a while back. I prefer fabric over rubber because I like to wear workout shorts instead of workout leggings.

Pilates Ball - not a necessity, but useful with some pilates workouts and movements. I have seen sole videos using this, but am not advanced enough to try it on my own yet. Will use for sure once I'm more advanced.

3lb dumbbells - I thought these would be useful for the pilates workouts that had some upper body focus, and as someone who wants to develop a lean and toned upper body, they are perfect for low weight high rep, controlled movements. Again, not advanced enough to use as I want to master my form, but they're gonna come in handy for sure!

Foam Roller - so so good for stretching and muscle recovery on rest days. I love mine but want one that has the bump things on it to help my muscles more. I can imagine how good it'll feel on my legs during a recovery day when I begin wieght lifting again.

Massage Gun - my holy grail for the days I am sore and needing some recovery. my body feels like jelly after using this, and it's just so nice for the days my muscles feel extra tight and super sore.

🎀 Equipment I Want To Buy

Yoga Blocks - these will help me get deeper into the yoga poses once I get more advanced in my practice

Pilates Ring - this honestly looks so fun and challenging to use, I'd love to add it to my collection of useful workout equipment!

Jump Rope - I used to love this as a form of cardio and as long as I don't move into an upstairs apartment, I'm definitely buying one

Pilates Bar - still iffy on this one, it's supposed to mimic a reformer but I want to get better at mat pilates and see if I even end up ever needing or seriously wanting to buy it, its on my list tho

Ankle/Wrist weights - these are gonna be so useful for workouts where hand held dumbbells aren't useful. Want to buy some low weight ones just to help with resistance and extra strength during pilates workouts

Kettlebell weight - I think this would be useful for a workout at home type situation if and when I switch to not doing just pilates and yoga. I know these are useful in their own right, but not needed in my current fitness stage of life.

Core Sliders - these look fun and interesting. They're on my lost for sure, but not sure about the practicality of their use in my life just yet.

That's all that's currently on my at home workout equipment list! As someone who primarily works out at home, the things I currently own are most useful and most of what's on this list is for fun or extra challenge. Just not necessary yet.

hope you enjoyed this list! if you have any questions about my favorite youtuber workout instructors or favorite videos, please feel free to ask, I've tried so many and can give some guidance from my own experience and research.

til next time lovelies 🩷