Best products from r/nerdfighters

> I guess the situations I'm more speaking of come when allies or whomever maybe want to ask a question or disagree with something, but they are attacked for doing so, and I think that this might be harmful to the movement as a whole. Not because it makes people want to leave or anything, but more because it forces one narrative upon everyone.

Fair point. I guess I would say that, if you have questions or concerns, it might be better to do some homework on the side before going to said friend. Even simple questions carry a cost in intellectual and emotional labor, and when you're on the raggedy edge and just trying to survive, it can be a lot.

>Something that really opened my eyes to this problem was when a new friend of mine was telling me how tired he is that Black writers are always looked at in light of their race. He is an aspiring writer (who is Black) and he worries that his work will always be seen as "a Black writer's work." This one narrative that race absolutely always plays an integral role in a person's identity is something that has actually come to haunt him.

I mean, yeah, I get that. I'm a freelance writer and journalists, and when I get some steady work or I land a break there's always that part of me that's like, "did I get this because my work is good? or because I'm trans?" I'm proud of my queer identity but I also want to be known for more than just that, and I don't want to be anyone's token. At the same time, I realize that representation matters and I've got to make space for others to come after me.

Having said all that, you can't necessarily separate the work from the author. You can't read Junot Diaz and ignore his race. If you ignore the elements of Islamic culture in Throne Of The Crescent Moon, not only are you disrespecting Saladin Ahmed, you're disrespecting the work. I typically think most criticism of postmodernism is overblown, but I would give anything to get people to not take Barthes' Death Of The Author so dang seriously. Authors give too much of themselves to their work that there can never be a clear break.

And anyway, when it comes to literature (or any kind of creative field) PoC folks are typically erased and their identities are folded into a default whiteness. And I really think that justice and progress are best served by not erasing differences. Your writer friend's work may not be, and should not be, boiled down exclusively to his blackness. But his black identity isn't nothing, either.

One thing that I kept coming back to while I was reading the accusations was the idea of enthusiastic consent.

We need to be clear that saying "I'm not interested" for an hour and then finally saying "okay" is not consent, it's manipulation. When you say "no" or "I'm tired" it is not okay for your partner to interpret that as "you really mean yes." As an individual, you need to sit down and think about your boundaries and set clear limits. Don't be afraid to enforce those boundaries if you feel safe enough to do so. Recognize that if someone crosses your line of comfort and safety that they are in the wrong, not you. You get to decide what you are comfortable with and they have to respect it. Situations like the ones involved in Alex Day's incidents are not okay because he crossed personal boundaries. He only cared about his needs and desires and not those of his partners. Good partners don't do that.

I also think we need to think about the effect that we have on our friends and acquaintances around us. We need to stand up against this type of behavior before it escalates into serious crimes. Here is a great resource for scripts you can use when someone you know does something uncomfortable. This is a great resource if you are worried about being a creeper. Finally, an example or two of why we shouldn't just sweep accusations like this under rug for the sake of harmony.

I am a Nerdfighter and will not tolerate any member of our community who uses their power and influence against other members. Those people forgot to be awesome, but we don't have to.

*Edited to add more resources.

Program you can bring up with your school

Fun comic!

A book with some really great information

OK - let me make an analogy that I stole from Northernlion. Having good A/V quality is like brushing your teeth. Nobody's going to compliment you on it, but people are going to complain if you don't do it. You're not going to get a date just because you put on deodorant this morning, but you probably won't if you don't.

Passable equipment is surprisingly cheap. Get a decent, 1080p camera (I have no advice there), and also buy this. It's the best cost:quality ratio out there. It might not work if you're doing vlogs from places other than your bedroom, but unless that's the case, get that C01U.

I have a lot more advice when it comes to audio quality that's really easy to implement. First off, make sure to always always always run your audio through Audacity. I personally run noise removal, then normalize, but at least do noise removal. Removing the background hiss of your mic goes a long way towards making you sound professional. Also, record your audio mono. Stereo audio is really weird for this kind of thing (John uses stereo audio frequently in his videos, and it bugs the SHIT out of me). Since you're not terrible, and you're going to be recording your audio in Audacity as a separate file from the video, you can sync the audio and video really easily by starting the audio recording, counting down from three, then on 1 (or go) hitting the record button on your camera. Then, just cut out the count in after you're done.

You can do a lot more with audio by messing with EQ and gain for individual parts of the video, but I find that that's mostly not necessary, and will often make things worse if you don't know how to do it properly.

Wow. You're super insecure about this, aren't you? I can't think of any other reason you would be so condescending when someone disagrees with you.

Of course there are many different types of bread, but to say that bread usually has dairy in it is just factually incorrect. Bread cooked with just flour, water, salt and yeast is absolutely delicious. It is the epitome of European bread (or, as we in the west self-centredly call it, bread). Maybe you enjoy it more with extra ingredients, and I'm not going to say you're wrong for doing so. I'm not going to call your bread "taste-less".

What you're doing is pretending that the culinary history of bread doesn't exist, because you're trying to prove someone wrong. Acting as if the bread you learned to cook is the only way that professionals cook is, frankly, astonishing.

Here's a book written by a professional: Flour, Water, Salt, Yeast. I'm sure you can guess why it's called that.

Here's a book by the French Culinary Institute: The Fundamental Techniques of Classic Bread Baking. Here's one of the reviews that they list under praise:

> "To make a perfect loaf of bread, the baker needs just five essential ingredients: flour, water, salt, yeast—and this indispensable book!”

>—Iacopo Falai, Owner of Falai, Caffe Falai, and Falai Panetteria"

Of course, these people must be amateurs compared to your experience of:

> hundreds of loaves of bread

Reading two books at the moment, one audio and one aloud.

How to Save a Life by Sara Zarr is the book my wife is reading to me. The main characters are odd and hard to like, and it alternates between them each chapter, but it makes for a compelling story.

The Raven Boys by Maggie Steifvater is what we are listening to together as an audiobook, and woooo boy. It's very gothic and creepy, and I'm loving it. All of the characters have been enjoyable so far, it's almost as if Poe or Shelley decided to write YA. I'm hooked, and my wife is enjoying the fact that she just finished The Raven King, so she knows what I have in store for me.

Game theory is something I think should be taught in public schools. I understand it on only a basic level--pretty much what the Great Wiki has on the header of its list of noteworthy games in game theory. Click around some of the games, too--they're thought experiments that illustrate some really seminal points. The prisoner's dilemma, the ultimatum game, and the dollar auction are some foundational games.

But since we're nerds. Can I recommend a video game that goes in to some great detail about some fundamental game theory experiments?

Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward uses the iterated prisoner's dilemma as its central dramatic conceit. If you like puzzle games and anime art styles, it's a great way to have some game theory explained in a cool way.

Edit: I accidentally a word.

The authros are bnot in an specific order, but the books under each one are in suggested reading order for leisure maximization:

Douglas Adams

• The Hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy (I recommend The ultimate edition which contains the 5 books plus the short story)
  
  Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels
  
  
• The Colour of Magic
  
• The Light Fantastic (sequel of the above)
  
• Mort
  
• Try to follow the advice from this image about reading order
  
  Aldous Huxley
  
  
• Brave New World
  
  I would also add to deltatag's choir about George Orwell's 1984.

I have 2 suggestions for knitting supplies that have changed my life.

The first is a set of circular needles that have interchangeable needles. Kind of like this it has every size and 4 different lengths for the connectors. Buying that means I never have to buy a circular needle for any project.

The second is called the Knit Kit This thing is my favorite. I picked it up on a whim at a knitting store and I never knit without it now. It has every tool you could need while knitting something and it’s pretty compact. Probably one of the best purchases I’ve ever made.

I'm pretty sure John Green is the guy whose brother is an author. If I understand it correctly, Hank's brother spends most of his time trying to tear down walls in his basement.

Great Find! I also saw this one in the "Customers Who Viewed This Item Also Viewed" section: http://www.amazon.com/Womens-Ribbon-Accent-Cloche-Bucket/dp/B00845CC7W/ref=pd_sim_sbs_a_3

http://www.amazon.com/Last-Words-Notable-People-Noteworthy/dp/0976532581/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1395937670&sr=8-4&keywords=famous+last+words


Still one of the best books on the subject.

Agreed. You definitely need to read it, then pick up The Te of Piglet.

I would like to suggest the excellent book Fool Moon https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fool-Moon-Dresden-Files-Book/dp/0356500284/ref=pd_bxgy_14_img_2?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=J7FJCH72ZMB80D764CVT

There's actually several comic books credited to him: http://www.amazon.com/Wonderful-World-Horses-Coloring-Nature/dp/0486444651/ref=sr_1_7?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1395472451&sr=1-7

I got mine off of amazon but I know it's also available at Barns & Noble, Target,Walmart,
Indiebound, Books-A-Million, and the scholastic website. Amazon is cheapest if you order online, particularly if you have prime.

I recently finished "Name of the wind" and "The Wise Man's Fear" both by Patrick Rothfuss. I don't think I am in any way over hyping these to by saying they are the greatest novel's I've ever read. Fair warning, this is a trilogy and the third book is no where in sight.

On the nonfiction side, I am working my way through "Waking the Dead" by John Eldredge. This has been a really difficult read for me, as I have to stop every few paragraphs to recollect my emotions.