Troebia's Diary

[troebia]

SD, the Python script is called Scrapy but it is way too complicated to set up and configure. There are some ready-made scripts for phpBB (which this forum runs on) but Scrapy kept throwing me errors. Rolling my own script seemed like a massive rabbit hole to fall into.

I've been writing for my new, own blog but have been holding back from publishing for now. Things in my head are in flux and I'd like to decide first on the "feel" of the blog and what kind of works to display. It's not a good idea to simply upload everything I'm doing there diary-style because there would be no threads to follow, and no coherence. One section will probably be of life drawings and urban sketching, and another with doodles in mainly black ink. I'm trying to come up with a very simple "comics" character that could tie some series together, almost like short strips but without a story.

Having this little pet project seems to keep me on track and I do less aimless anaesthetic scrolling. Taking around 1mg Xanax daily but less alcohol and less porn. Some days are still shit but on the whole embracing the Dao.

Wishing you all well.

[manuel_moe_g]

Hi Troebia,

Yes, I am falling into the porn pit as well. I hate it

Because I wouldn’t be able to hide the charges, I can’t pay for ethical porn where I know the majority of the money goes to the performer and is based around a woman actively choosing to participate in sex work — it is just free porn where there are no transparency that performers are protected and not exploited

So it sucks

It is just frantic “scratching of the itch” and has nothing to do with my long term happiness and goals and values, and I know it is harmful to my mood and nervous-system

[troebia]

It is just frantic “scratching of the itch” and has nothing to do with my long term happiness and goals and values, and I know it is harmful to my mood and nervous-system

It's a matter of releasing pressure, and it's actually good for the "reptile" brain. Without access to porn, many men would explode and get into all kinds of trouble. I try not to mix any moral values into it and be quick and practical. Years ago I developed a special interest in one particular actress, bordering on worship — but after watching interviews and even a sort of pseudo-documentary about her, I discovered she was a total shit of a person. But of course it's a savage industry and I'd never put any money into it. Use an ad-blocker!

Imo the greatest harm one can do is to obsess like I did once, because it takes away time and energy from yourself.

[manuel_moe_g]

Howdy Troebia!

It's a matter of releasing pressure, and it's actually good for the "reptile" brain. Without access to porn, many men would explode and get into all kinds of trouble. I try not to mix any moral values into it and be quick and practical.

Good point

[snoringdog]

That's one thing annoying about the sex drive.
In one respect it's just a bothersome mechanical thing that needs to be addressed.
(Unless you're a practiced celibate and then the biological release of wet dreams takes over).

Other more positive aspects of course, but can be oh so difficult to navigate

[Mental Fairy]

I feel we are all in similar boats paddling up similar rivers in many different geographical locations!

[snoringdog]

Hello Troebia and Manny,

Getting back to the forum-is-quiet topic, the other day I visited a hobbyist forum on Laser Pointers, and someone asked the same question about that one.

Here are a few answers that were posted. Interesting..

I can't be the only one who noticed, but what happened to forums in general?
LPF, PL, and even other forums I've frequented intermittently over the past decade or so have just gone quiet.
I'm curious as to where all the traffic and engagement went on LPF?

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I do think though that a lot of the types of discussion we have on the forums are more suited to the Discord group and this has caused more activity there proportionally.
A lot of the "noob" type questions like " What laser should I get", "help, dropped my laser", "need help with a build" are very repetitive and better suited to the faster Discord type discussion as opposed to a new thread.

Where the forum is really better is mainly in posting reviews of lasers and the diode spec references. More of a reference area, while discord is for discussion.
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. Forum setups are a dying platform type. It’s a shame, as they are better at archiving and storing data than discord servers etc.
But when you can create a discord server for free and you haven’t got to worry about running costs, upkeep, userbase to keep going. It’s not hard to work out why they are dying.
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Another huge factor is the way the internet is changing. I know AI is being talked about a lot at the moment. But there are reasons for that.

The way we gather and utilise information is changing. Our browsing habits are being modified by social conditioning and new technology.
The time spent browsing websites is declining. Forums especially. Community is now solely through social media and chat platforms.
The days where people would browse sites for knowledge, gather alternative explanations/opinions, fact check etc are gone.

We are exposed to so much fake content and are becoming so exceptionally lazy, that we are quite comfortable with receiving and believing false information.
The number one reason why people join sites like this is for help. The second is community.

Help can be as simple as a question to an AI algorithm and most answers are now immediately available.
Community no longer requires a forum to participate in it.

I've tested several AI algorithms out including the new Google Gemini that Google eventually wants to replace the main search engine and the WWW with. I've found some enormous issues with this already, but won't go off topic.

The main point I am making is the answer is a question away, and the user knows no better if they've been educated correctly.
Nor are they truly likely to care. This definitely goes for the younger generation that are being bought up under this new era.

[manuel_moe_g]

My concern with Discord is that the terms-of-service can change on a dime and then be applied retroactively to the forum archives, and years of posts can be lost.

[manuel_moe_g]

But I also have to realize that the back-up for this forum was set up by the same guy who dropped all the years of MentalPod emails.

If I wasn’t in an overwhelmed & overloaded state due to ADHD & depression, I would work hard to take over the reigns of administrating the forum.

(The sticky issue is suicide and suicidal ideation. A big corporation will always get the balance wrong)

[troebia]

I was briefly a fan of Discord but found It's harder to keep a conversation going there, just like in Reddit or X. Everything seems to have become more modular and short lived, maybe because we're awash in alerts. Something new is always popping up.

For example, I follow the articles of a journalist at a certain news site and sometimes there are lively discussions in the comments section. But once they publish a new article the focal point is inevitably shifted.

So for an old fart like me, forums with a community like this one are still worth following. I don't care about the platform while there can be long conversations.