Posts by mattgemmell@mastodon.scot
(DIR) Post #AXYuQkVsYZHpkqXci8 by mattgemmell@mastodon.scot
2023-07-10T20:14:29Z
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@grammargirl Are you learning any languages at the moment, besides the nooks and crannies of English etymology, if I may ask?
(DIR) Post #AZyBKbepgaK8kk50XA by mattgemmell@mastodon.scot
2023-09-20T20:35:51Z
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@grammargirl Must they actually be named? I assume the purpose of the name is to allow you to quickly find or recognise a given image file according to its content, which doesn’t really require a name, but rather a searching/indexing tool which understands images. If you’re on Apple devices, the standard Photos app already does a decent job of that, for both images and videos. Other platforms will have similar tools!
(DIR) Post #AZyBq16T84IseGz4QC by mattgemmell@mastodon.scot
2023-09-20T20:41:29Z
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@grammargirl @SergKoren 😁
(DIR) Post #AbAI6kLneJIwtGcPsO by mattgemmell@mastodon.scot
2023-10-26T13:50:35Z
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I switched my iPad Pro to greyscale and Increase Contrast, and it’s very pleasant to write and sketch on. Reminiscent of both e-paper and my mono-screen laptops way back in the day, but of course on an incredibly high-resolution display.(In fact, it’s a Shortcuts automation when starting my Work focus: wi-fi off, greyscale and Increase Contrast on, and start a 2-minute timer.)
(DIR) Post #AbAI6lL7yIMRxTJOT2 by mattgemmell@mastodon.scot
2023-10-26T14:40:00Z
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Tell me that’s not a goddamned delightful little writing station.
(DIR) Post #AcelvHNuScPAULQP7g by mattgemmell@mastodon.scot
2023-12-09T21:50:31Z
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Watershed parenting moments this weekend. Son, 3, has lately been watching a kids’ entertainer on youtube whose schtick is pretty much scenarios that use what I know to be videogame mechanics. My dad brain thinks, aha, I can use this to get him into games! So I casually mention I have a game where he can also see lava, and things freezing with ice, and monsters, and so on — and I put Tears of the Kingdom on.
(DIR) Post #AcelvIE1Ks5Z5xo1Lc by mattgemmell@mastodon.scot
2023-12-09T21:52:38Z
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Son is RAPT. Points things out, asks to go and see them, enquires about characters and scenarios. Seems amazed that the game mechanics he’s already seen are replicated here in interactive form. He’s on the couch beside me, cuddled in, for two hours. Never asks to press the buttons, just constantly agog. So we’re exploring Hyrule and, entirely unplanned by me, we happen upon a balloon canopy component.
(DIR) Post #AcelvJHbP2Y2NMUOZM by mattgemmell@mastodon.scot
2023-12-09T21:54:23Z
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Son says “that looks like a hot air balloon!”, just as an observation, and I can’t properly express how excited I was, because this is Tears of the Kingdom and it has the physics model and the construction mechanics, and there’s a balloon basket assembly near by. So I go WELL, maybe we can build a hot air balloon. So we do that. Then I ask, how could we make it fly? And he’s already learned from youtube: “Fire can make it go!” So I put a flame emitter on there, and we FLY.
(DIR) Post #AcelvKE5tZKtIlr6jw by mattgemmell@mastodon.scot
2023-12-09T21:56:32Z
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We did the same down at Lurelin on the south coast, where he saw a stationary boat and asked if we could make it go, and I said well maybe we could build a boat ourselves (having seen a big board lying on the beach nearby). We do that, and cruise the southern sea. I can see THE EMPOWERMENT OF KNOWLEDGE written upon his wee face. Neurons starting to high-five each other and form a dim view of the idea of underlying principles that make the gears of the world turn.
(DIR) Post #AcelvL72bHHw3BYzNw by mattgemmell@mastodon.scot
2023-12-09T21:58:16Z
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Just tooling around in Zelda not really accomplishing anything in-game, but lads it was maybe the most important and rewarding thing I’ve ever done? His first words the next morning (today) to his mother were “I want to see Link and go and see a castle and some goblins, and a dragon, and the red yuck that makes you sick.”
(DIR) Post #AcelvMuLvQKLcPdssy by mattgemmell@mastodon.scot
2023-12-09T22:00:48Z
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Just that coincidence of him knowing what a hot air balloon was, that heat makes it rise, recognising the design in the game, and the game offering the actual mechanic to build it and make it fly, was an incredible moment for a dad. Caught him at exactly the right age and developmental stage. I (mostly accidentally) did something super incredible for my kid, thanks in large part to Zelda TOTK’s game design.
(DIR) Post #AhpZQINRPfJy7VRRK4 by mattgemmell@mastodon.scot
2024-05-06T06:21:38Z
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My 174th free weekly mini-story is out, and you can read it here: https://mattgemmell.scot/books/once-upon-a-time/stories/three-at-most/(Why not subscribe to get these in your inbox too?)#amwriting #fiction #shortstory
(DIR) Post #Aus86uCk35MAU2WDj6 by mattgemmell@mastodon.scot
2025-05-30T16:00:53Z
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More of the small web, please. More charming weirdos doing their own thing and proudly sharing it, regardless of the metrics.
(DIR) Post #Aus872OjaNhdtYBuWu by mattgemmell@mastodon.scot
2025-05-30T16:22:40Z
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Not projecting _at all_ there, of course.
(DIR) Post #AvM6nZqUdtYKRlqzbc by mattgemmell@mastodon.scot
2025-03-22T09:07:11Z
1 likes, 2 repeats
This is the most helpfully packaged box of screws I've ever seen, by a large margin. I just wanted to take a moment to appreciate whomever was responsible for such a triumph of utility and empathy.
(DIR) Post #AvM6nh6LfLOWwyKFn6 by mattgemmell@mastodon.scot
2025-03-23T20:11:20Z
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I’ll say this once here to save replying multiple times: it’s the Fixings and Fasteners sub-brand of ForgeFix, in the UK. https://www.forgefix.co.uk/Fixings_and_FastenersI’m aware that the German translation of single-thread is wrong. I’ve relayed that info to the company! I’ve also conveyed my appreciation for the design. 😄
(DIR) Post #AvM6nh6he1g6y4UXLM by mattgemmell@mastodon.scot
2025-03-23T08:52:22Z
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I’m very glad to have found 1,200+ of my fellow enthusiasts of both fasteners and humane design. My wife is very amused that this is my most successful mastodon post by far.
(DIR) Post #AvM6nouacwk5AosyZc by mattgemmell@mastodon.scot
2025-03-23T09:15:25Z
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Also, hey, did you know I write novels? 😅 https://mattgemmell.scot/books
(DIR) Post #AvM6nwRSd8CAWnJpHU by mattgemmell@mastodon.scot
2025-03-23T12:54:58Z
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I suppose I should also link to my less-active but more fastener-related YouTube channel, the Tiniest Workshed in Scotland! https://youtube.com/@tiniestworkshed
(DIR) Post #AxviP4uFIxQJ0U5Lc0 by mattgemmell@mastodon.scot
2025-09-06T12:41:53Z
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Regarding all this AI garbage for programmers, I keep thinking about it this way: your company interviews people before hiring them, to ensure they meet the bar. AI is trained on stuff made by arbitrary others, many/most of whom presumably wouldn’t meet your hiring bar. But you’re going to use code that’s seeded with their work anyway, and treat it as basically ok to start with, just because a vastly overhyped technology spat it out?