Well, as always, it depends on who’s telling the story.

Generally, one’s “true name” is the same thing as they were named at birth, if you’re a real human in our world. There are exceptions though! And yes, one of those exceptions is trans people. However, in real world terms, if a person has never internalized their birth name for any reason, then their true name would be up for grabs, in that they could choose or otherwise a true name of their own.

Now, that is largely based on real world occult practices. But real world occult practices differ, sometimes significantly. There’s some branches of ceremonial magic that hold the birth name you be the true name. Others that it’s a chosen magical name that is never told to anyone, and a third “public” magical name is used for rites and rituals. So it isn’t like there’s only one way of thinking about this stuff in those belief systems.

But what about the fey/sidhe/fairies or other supernatural entities in fiction (and yes, there’s a difference between literary fiction, mythology, and religious or spiritual beliefs in the real world. IDGAF if any given person wants to partake in those beliefs or not, they are different from fiction in several important ways that are off topic beyond saying that).

Well, that’s when it comes down to the author/writer.

A lot of writers of things set in our world, even when it’s a fictionalized version that works in a different way, tend to base their choices off of whatever mythology they’ve run across, then adapt that to their writing. So you run into a couple of different answers.

Mostly, they go with the birth name being the true name. There’s exceptions, but it’s the dominant trope. In some cases, the birth name isn’t enough, it’s the exact way a person says and thinks their name that makes it true. Iirc, that’s part of the Dresden series if you want a specific example.

That idea is where words carry more than just definitions, and names are more than just some random phonemes. The process of how we (or the characters) take our name and etch it into ourself through thought and speech is what makes it a true name. It’s a really neat idea tbh. Have you ever noticed that sometimes a mom or dad will say their kid’s name slightly different? Minor changes in inflection or emphasis.

Plus, everyone sometimes says a name different. Your mom using your full name with stress in her voice hits harder than your friend introducing you to someone. And that’s different from the DMV (or equivalent) person calling your name as next. The words are the same, but the energy is different.

So, the way we think of our name, inside, is ours in a way that nobody else can ever be exactly right unless we teach it to them. The way we speak it is different as well, but a supernatural entity in a story can overhear that part easy enough.

Which all means that there’s no single answer to your question, but it’s still a damn fun one :)

There’s no set limit, not in days. Weeks, yeah. Generally, you’ll start noticing it tastes off after about five to ten days. It won’t necessarily be spoiled, but once opened, everything starts losing freshness fast, relatively. Safely wise, a week is what most people say is the cautious limit. But the truth is that if your fridge is stable, the jar didn’t have anything dipped into it, and it isn’t being opened frequently, it could potentially last a month or more without being dangerous to health.

However, it could also grow shit overnight that would make your toilet very unhappy.

So there’s a good bit of sense in not risking going past a week.

The nose is a decent enough detector for most things, but in this case, the bacteria that are problematic can grow well before anything that will smell bad. Botulism ain’t stank, and that’s the one you have to worry about the most. Mind you, the risk is low. A lot of sauces are acidic enough that botulism isn’t going to grow well. I’d even say most. The other two risks are usually going to be less likely, because they have to get in by cross contamination of some kind, where botulinum can come in over the air (not likely, just possible).

Me? I’d chuck it out after a week unless I had a specific plan to use it soon after. I hate wasting food, but the truth is that pizza sauce is cheap and common. Nobody is losing out if a half a jar gets trashed. But that’s me, I don’t make pizza often. If you’re using it regularly, and only pouring out into a bowl or onto dough without dipping things in, you’ll use it up before it could hurt you, even if it’s a few weeks.

No bullshit, commercial canning is very good at killing nasties off. It’s only when we stick things into the container that risks start climbing to “oh shit” territory in a fridge.

I’m a music fiend. If there’s nothing preventing it, I would have music going 24/7. There’s times I do, though not as much as I used to.

Oh fuck.

In my main cabinet, each drawer holds… Ahhhhhhh, I wanna say just under a hundred? That’s times six drawers. Of CDs. I have fifty here in my room, plus another hundred-ish boxed up.

Vinyl, I haven’t counted since I put them in storage when our last record player bit the dust. But it was around 140? Ish? There’s a dozen or so cassettes shoved in a closet of local bands I can’t replace, so they got digitized.

Digital purchases, I stopped counting once it got hard to scroll through. I was an early adopter of burning discs, so I wasn’t worried about shelling out for digital goods back then. I just made plenty of backups. But it had to be maybe 200 back when I got disabled and couldn’t spend on such things often.

I’ve only bought a double handful since then tbh. I’m fucking poor, so I only spend on small artists. I pirate the rest.

Soooo, that’s what? A little over a thousand? Right around there anyway.

If you count pirated stuff, and I don’t call that owning in the same way, there’s two terabytes currently on my main drive of just music, though it isn’t all albums. Maybe 20% of that is singles or a few tracks.

I actually end up listening to most of it over time. My phone and music players tend to only have maybe a few hundred gigabytes on them what with sd cards in the tb range being expensive for my budget, and only my newest devices support that big anyway.

But when I’m really in the mood, I crank up my old gaming PC and just hit play. Since musicbee is set up for it, alli have to do is remember where one the alphabet I was, and start from where I left off.

I reckon I end up cycling through it all maybe once a year to every other year or so.

Reduce it? Fuck that. I could get rid of stuff I pirated for other people, but we’re talking about maybe a dozen or so gigs. Why bother?

Some of the vinyl was my parents’, so I wouldn’t actually play them at this point. Which means I could get rid of the stuff I have in digital format. But, again, fuck that. Vinyl is much cooler to handle. I like having them, despite not needing them. Besides, only a few were worth any money back when I stored them.

Restaurant waste, which is what your post body starts with, can’t be recycled like that. It’s an unsafe practice due to the contamination gained at the table combined with time out of the temperature safe zone. Even if you killed an the pathogens there, the risk of the toxins left by those pathogens is problematic. That and it would ruin the food trying to kill them to a reasonable degree.

Now, back in the kitchen, you could do what some restaurants do and donate the prepared but unserved food to local distribution centers (often focused on homeless charities or government outlets). But it wouldn’t make sense to turn it into some kind of “nutrition loaf”. Seriously, look up that term and be prepared to hate the prison system more than you do currently.

And that is why even if the process could be perfectly safe, it would still suck. Nobody should have to eat the horrible crap that it would turn into. If would be cheaper, safer, and more humane to just make sure everyone has good food to eat in the first place.

The only application for the kind of bricks you’d get from the process is feeding people that don’t have access to good, healthy food in the first place.

No bullshit, I’ve yet to run into jank. My bank is a credit union that isn’t a bunch of assholes, so their app works fine.

I don’t need any authentication apps, so no worries there. Ifi ever do, there’s some known to work with graphene.

I’m happier with graphene than I have been in years with android overall. Last time I was really happy with android, we were still in single digits. The ever increasing limitations Google was applying broke my joy of it s an enthusiast.

But graphene at least returns me being able to use my device without the layers of Google bullshit unless I just want to.

So no frustrations at all just easy to use handled computing.

I’ve had this phone since early last year. I think? Might have been june? Damned if I can remember without digging up old messages lol.

Whe I got it, my plan was to use the pixel for my second line in case I couldn’t make the transition. I switched sims out two days later and haven’t looked back since. If I could put graphene on my second phone, I would.

Stock? Nah.

I have something like a dozen tablets and phones stacked on my desk. I get new ones, but the old ones have enough life in them that I don’t just count them as ewaste and wash my hands of them. Only two of those have current lineage available, and I can’t be arsed to update what amounts to a picture frame that isn’t connected to Wi-Fi. The rest get used as security cameras for very short term use.

Most of them still have the os they came with as, again, I can’t be arsed to fiddle with the ones that I could dig up a rom for, or they couldn’t be unlocked to do it in the first place. But none of them were ever stock Android. Since when I got them, I favored Samsung and LG tablets, the ui was highly altered from regular AOSP.

Now, my main phone? My absolutely amazing friend gifted me a pixel with graphene ready to go as soon s it reached me. But I do still use some play store apps on it, when I can’t find something good enough that isn’t (nothing touches poweramp, and I haven’t had the budget to put towards a licence for it from the dev, yet. Higher priorities).

Never touched a pi unless it was a pie being shoved down my throat.

Ngl though, if I wasn’t lazy as fuck, I’d likely swap to lineage on my older oneplus that’s my backup phone. Just don’t feel like dealing with the time it would take. So it’s as stock as it was when I got it a few years ago. I doubt I’ll ever do it unless I get a newer graphene device and it gets retired to the desk for infrequent uses. That’s how I end up with a still working Galaxytab 2 lol. Barely still working tbh.

Ignoring private schools, it really depends on locale. Most schools are run by a combination of local and state guidelines. So each state has its own minimum standards, which are then implemented on a district level.

However, in some districts, the budget isn’t equal between all schools.

So you can have varying quality within the same school system, and even more between different systems.

The good thing about school meals is that they aren’t usually super expensive, don’t require packing only foods that won’t spoil or be gross by lunch time, and there’s usually some kind of budget for free reduced cost lunches (sometimes breakfast too) for those in need. It makes sense that most students will choke down even the bad options instead.

Some schools do damn well though. The bulk is usually going to be supplied by one of the industrial food distributors, but most of that is similar to or the same as what you’d get in terms of ingredient quality as chain restaurants.

So the staff of the cafeteria can make a huge difference in quality right there. Knowing how to turn fairly meh ingredients into something tasty is a great thing.

When schools supplement with fresh produce, it can be damn good food. Local farmers out in rural areas often contribute. Some high schools have agriculture programs where they grow stuff that gets used in their own school, and may be distributed to others. Our closest high school supplements their own cafeteria, plus the elementary schools, and part of the jr high schools (some of those have their own gardens, so they tend to handle their own). My kid was very happy with the high school’s food, unlike the food at their jr high in another state that they hated.

I ate at the high school a couple of times. Waaaaaay better than when I was a student there, and the agriculture program was starting up back then. Mind you, the lady that ran the cafeteria was doing a great job with what she had. The supplies were just crap back then. All canned shit for veggies if it wasn’t grown local, mandated recipes on a schedule set by the county, so you could only do so much to improve things. She ran a damn good kitchen though, so even when the food was bad, we knew the cooks were doing their best.

And that’s pretty much the problem with school food. It just isn’t a nationwide priority.

I’d hold off another few years. There’s just enough published info pointing towards risks being higher under the mid twenties. The brain never stops developing, but that first twenty years in particular is easier to disturb since the development is more significant.

At 18, you’re still putting the polish on some key centers, so fucking with that for a little hedonism seems unwise until there’s more and better research available.

Me? I think I’d hold off until at least 21-23. Honestly, I’d do the same with any mind altering stuff. It’s not long to wait, and going at it too early can have long term consequences. There’s plenty of time to experiment and enjoy all sorts of recreational pharmaceuticals.

Iirc, I had my first (of three lol) drunk at 17, and while it did no harm as a one-off (not much will tbh), I also didn’t really sink into the experience the same as later experiments with mind altering. Mind you, I’ve never liked being drunk, and avoided any of the high addiction potential stuff, but the difference in my second drunk compared to my first was massive just by dint of being 21, just a few years of added perspective on what I wanted out of it, and how I approached it.

Weed, that’s another one that my initial exposure in my late teens (18 or 19) was just not as good as years later (late twenties).

But, I can say that trying it once is worth it. If you end up not liking it, no big deal. I’d just wait a little longer. Weed, be it smoked, edible, or otherwise, is a very powerful experience when used infrequently. Steady use weakens the benefits of it for fun imo, but a few times a year? It’s nice. It enhances joy and good feelings.

Just be easy with edibles. They hit slow, but hard. You can always have more if you don’t get the degree of euphoria you want after a half hour, but you can’t take it away if you get too stoned, which is absolutely possible.

For humor, strokin’ by Clarence Carter. I’ve been known to say “ima put on some mood music”, then start that track and do a bump n grind to it. Surprisingly, it works often enough that I keep doing it.

More seriously, I favor Barry White for background music for sex. The combination of solid rhythms and that sweet baritone get the job done when a partner doesn’t have their own preference, but wants music.

That being said, Prince, during his symbol era, put out a song called 7. It’s not even a sexy song, per se. But the rolling rhythm and vaguely romantic lyrics work for me, and tend to work well for others, so it’s high on my list of songs for sex. As a single favorite, it takes the spot. https://youtu.be/9V-vcXOpG9g

Depressing though? I am not depressed by music, even sad music. Sad music may make me somber, but not sad.

However, if I need a good cry, the Dixie Chicks version of Travelin Soldier will do it damn near every time. Don’t even know why really, but I think it’s the voice tone and arrangement that push it into tear jerking rather than the lyrics, even though the lyrics are sad. That’s because there’s other versions, including by the original songwriter, that don’t make me cry at all. No other song comes close to the reliability of tears that one does.

Eh, in all reality, only English.

I have a small amount of Spanish vocabulary, but that’s not the same as speaking it.

I am almost fluent in medicalese, so I can sometimes kinda fumble my way through limited ranges of Latin.

I used to be able to do a little ASL, but never reached fluency, and I’ve lost damn near all of it.

Tbh, the thing about stills is only a big deal inside, unless you’re the one running the still and are close to it.

Outside? An explosion really isn’t going to fuck anything up. You get a big bang, some burning fuel, and that’s about it unless there’s a drought on. Inside, you can have more fumes built up, and the fire is likely going to spread to the building. So it’s more dangerous.

But meth production? Like previous comments said, that shit just keeps on giving well after whatever starts the process going wrong.

There’s really a massive gap in both danger and duration of the two kinds of fires.

I’m not sure if you’re mildly irritated at the compilations themselves, or that the “franchises” involved went way too long.

I’m a f an of compilations tbh. It’s a solid way to snag the whole schmear cheap (usually). I can just choose to ignore the ones I don’t like, same as I did when a given series started going to shit.

Spider-Man though, that’s a different kettle of fish. Comics run for decades, lifetimes in some cases. Movies about the same characters are going to be as likely to have extended production, with as many ups and downs as the comics do (and there are some horrible runs of even the best comic titles).

I’m with you on the laziness and risk aversion that makes 9 American pie movies happen. Or most franchises that start in a similar way. The first was a great movie, but it really didn’t need a sequel, much less multiplies that not only abandoned the characters and what little storyline there was, but stopped putting in effort to good writing.

Not that a successful one-off can’t spawn a decent franchise, it’s just that studios don’t put in the investment to make it happen.

Look at the Bond series. While there have been plenty of stinkers, it was approached as a long term thing early on and has also managed to have some great movies even as it aged. No high art or anything, but still some solid escapist action.

Bad body lol.

Between arthritis, a deteriorating back, and the extra clean-up and work involved in maintaining bread making (be it sourdough or with commercial yeast), it was just too many spoons.

I keep hoping my household will settle down enough that I have the inner and physical resources to get back to it though! There’s so much peace in the process.

Damn, I miss making bread. Just seeing the title makes me want to restart my sourdough culture

Well, there’s actually been research into it.

Since that shit is dry as hell, and there’s available articles about it, https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/fulfillment-any-age/202202/why-it-feels-so-good-confess

This one gives a nice overview.

So, I’d say it’s pretty realistic to say that “confession” has mental health benefits.

That being said, true anonymity is going to be vital if you’re going to try to build something online. Not just for the people that might want to use it, but for you too. You really don’t want the legal issues if someone were to confess on your service and it became part of trial evidence. You may be thinking it’s not a big deal, that it’ll never happen, but it does happen already with social media.

The less you’ll be able to provide, the less hassle you’ll have. So keep that in mind. Reddit, Facebook, VPNs, they all deal with legal requests regularly, but they have legal departments to handle those to keep a barrier between the people running things and the consequences of users’ actions/words.

Me? No fucking way I’d even confess to jaywalking online, period. And I have never done that (that’s actually true, I’ve never been in a situation where it was useful. Small towns and infrequent visits to cities ftw?). I’d also advise anyone else to never do so.

Also, if you’re a priest/minister and your religion has a confessional seal, you have pretty robust legal protection about not having to break it, in many places. Therapists also have a degree of confidentiality that they’re legally required to maintain. Your online service has neither. So you’ll also have responsibilities above and beyond what therapists or ministers have. Well, you may, since local laws vary, and I’ve never heard of a lot of legal precedent around mandatory reporting for online services. But even if you aren’t currently required to report a range of things, not doing so might open you up to lawsuits and/or eager prosecutors looking to set a precedent.

I guess what it comes down to is: yeah, it could help people. But better you than me

Gotcha :)

Yeah, I think it comes down to what I said. No good reason to try and compete when they could scrape all the data that they would have wanted without having to build their own.

It isn’t like any of the big social media companies wanted competition anyway. They wanted to dominate their niche. Twitter for short messages publicly transmitted. Instagram for image based posting. Facebook for mixed media sharing, etc. You find a niche, dominate it, then leverage that dominance into cash flow, usually via ads.

If you go into the niche someone else already dominates, it’s an uphill struggle. You’re better off just waiting and either buying out the other companies, or otherwise gaining access to what they have that’s valuable.

Hell, that’s meta’s playbook for sure, that’s what they keep doing.

Google did try to kinda horn in on the Facebook style social media, can’t remember what it was called, but it flopped and they killed it. You’d think their greed for data for ad targeting might have made it attractive to at least try, but the fact that they eventually just paid reddit for access after a bit of a stink shows they had previously been hoovering it for free. Why invest millions or even billions when it’s already available without the investment?

I think that part of it was also that reddit didn’t start as a forum. It was digg mark2. A link aggregator. It kept expanding its scope and turned into a forum. It was a big deal when comments were added to reddit, a major shift in how it worked. A lot of people hated it.

That’s my take anyway.

I think the other comments assume you mean a big tech focused forum.

But did you actually mean a big tech forum, as in something like a meta owned and operated version of reddit?

If so, I suspect that it comes down to timing and relative benefit. By the time anyone realized reddit was going to be what it became, trying to edge into that kind of threaded ecosystem just wasn’t useful to them.

Google, meta, whatever, all they had to do to get the benefits that reddit could have given them was to scrape reddit. Trying to create a competitor would have been pointless.

Why are they saying it’s stupid?

The idea is solid, if not exactly new territory in terms of the rich young superhero thing.

So, if that’s what they’re griping about, screw 'em.

If they’re saying that trying to create a comic at all is stupid, they’re stupid. Nothing wrong with a creative endeavour, though if you aren’t realistically planning ahead on how to make it happen, that would be pretty stupid. Anyone can do their own thing if they have the talent to actually crank out the art and writing (most people struggle with one or the other tbh). But getting it published is a very difficult proposition. Indie artists struggle like hell, even if they do their own site and distribution.

So, if you haven’t planned that far ahead, they might be right that your plan is stupid.

However, if you’ve actually gotten some pages done, and they’ve read it and think it’s stupid, it comes down to how much you value their opinion about comics. Being real, some people’s opinions are shit on a given subject, so if theirs are known to be bad, then fuck 'em. But if they tend to have reliable quality takes on comics (or the craft that goes into them), maybe they’re right, no way for us to know.

But nah man, there’s nothing stupid about this kind of project in and of itself. Nor is the basic concept stupid.

For anyone coming along and starting to get riled up…

Go for it! Lemme get some popcorn!