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Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: August 4th, 2023

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  • That sounds a bit like “The Prince in Waiting” by John Christopher (more famous for “The Tripods”), it’s a trilogy also set in the distant future after a nuclear war, where all machines have been outlawed and humans exist alongside dwarfs and mutants. Over the course of the trilogy, the protagonists (living in fairly alright areas) venture deeper into more and more radiated areas and encounter grotesque stuff.




  • There’s an app called Cheq, which is a means for foreigners to buy stuff in India using their QR payment system, that’s normally restricted for citizens only.

    Follow the link on https://cheq.money to the correct version for your phone, there are a bunch of other apps and service providers piggybacking off of the name.

    They’ll charge you a sign-on fee of 999 Rupees (about 10 bucks), I’d suggest you use a virtual credit card from wise.com or something for that. I inherently distrust random online shops in third world countries. Once you’ve done that, they ask for your location to perform an in-person ID verification to make sure you actually live in India.

    That’s the point where you choose a random location out in the sticks. Say Lemru town in Chhattisgarh State or something - you might try a few until you find something where they show you a local account manager but no physical shop to perform the activation. That part is key.

    Contact the account manager via whatsapp (can be registered with your regular phone number, the service is aimed at tourists and foreign residents alike). Normally they are supposed to come visit you, but they can’t be bothered to drive 3h to see you, especially if you press it a bit and call it urgent. Eventually they’ll just ask to send a passport copy directly to them, and they’ll activate it remotely.

    You can then use a VPN to set your play store (should work for Apple store as well) country to India, enter a random address there, select “UPI” as payment method, and open the Cheq app when prompted. After a couple hours you’ll get an email that your play store country has been changed, and from then on you can use Cheq to buy stuff for cheap. Top up the balance with virtual cards whenever needed, you can’t use non-indian credit cards directly in google play. You can however buy gift cards on amazon.in with them, have the code send to yourself and redeem it, that works without problems.





  • I doubt that’s the real reason. There are enough smart people on top who could set up and run a self-hosted solution.

    It’s easy to attribute nazis with a lack of intelligence due to their stupid and narrow minded beliefs, but we should never underestimate them.

    I’d wager that the average fascist is just as much a “follower” as the average antifa sympathizer.

    On top of that: Setting up and hosting a platform exposes the system to a single point of failure, whereas using existing third party infrastructure means that they have a “legit” operation as well, so the risk of a total shutdown is probably lower. Plus, there is a higher chance external security researchers/auditors will investigate the platform and point out vulnerabilities.



  • I’m assuming you’re vegan?

    If what you’re looking for is a quick vegan dish, here’s something I learnt in Japan - baked avocado.

    Open a ripe avocado lengthwise and remove the seed. Take a sharp knife and cut a grid-like pattern into the avocado, going as deep as possible (careful not to puncture the skin!).

    Now, pour some soy sauce of your liking (ideally not a thickened one, and with a moderate saltiness level) into the cavity. You don’t want to fill it completely, that would be overpowering. Maybe about 1/3 of the depth, just enough to allow it to seep into every crevice when baking.

    For the baking process itself, crumble up some tinfoil to make a stand for the avocado halves, you want them to remain as level as possible. Bake them on 350F / 175C for about 20-25 min, you want them to be soft but not burned.

    Once done, decorate with sesame seeds and either spoon them out directly (that’s the Japanese way) or spread on a toasted sourdough bread, sprinkle some smoked paprika and chopped chives & coriander over it, and enjoy.

    Vegetarian option: Crack an egg into the cavity (on top of the soy sauce) 5 min into the bake. You want about 15 min left for solid eggwhites with a still semi-runny yolk. Mix it up and spread on bread.

    Omnivore option: Fry some bacon beyond crispy, crumble it up completely, and drizzle the bacon bits on top.