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Kyushu basho 2026 - Day 5 in c/sumo@lemmy.world
Oh I'm there in c/witchymemes@lemmy.world
Starting a PhD soon, do you have any recommendations for books? in c/asklemmy@lemmy.world
[–] 1 point 14 hours ago* (last edited 14 hours ago)

When I was thinking about getting a PhD I looked thru a couple different books about the subject. "Getting what you came for" by Robert L Peters was the best overall book of practical advice at the time. (edit: Feibelman's "A PhD Is not enough! A guide to survival in science" was pretty good too.)

Years later I found the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy's entry on the Scientific Method to be very interesting: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/scientific-method/ especially if you're a scientist or engineer. But don't let it distract you too much - you typically don't have to think about things at this level, it just answered a bunch of meta / "why are things this way?" questions I had.

I have a bit of a background in the humanities, and I found Stephen Ramsay's "Reading Machines: Toward an Algorithmic Criticism" to be a very insightful take on the role of humanities in our technological / information-oriented world.

When I first got involved in research as a programmer, and later towards the end of my PhD, I read "Middlemarch" and I still look over parts of in now and then. It has a strong set of themes on intellectual/artistic/political yearnings for achievement and paths towards failure. And it's just beautifully written.

Good luck! Let me know if you need any more advice!

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    SUMO: November 2026 tourney in Japan has just started! (see this post for how to follow it) in c/sumo@lemmy.world
    [–] [S] 2 points 15 hours ago (1 child)

    I think that's the mascot of "Akakabe Pharmacy": https://www.facebook.com/akakabe.ltd/ and the mascot's name might be "Kabecchi". So I guess it's kind of an ad, but I suppose it might be closer to a sponsorship, kind of like athletes in other sports have on their jackets or jerseys?

    Funny thing about ads is they don't really bother me as much when they're from foreign countries, and especially if they're from brands I'll likely never patronize. But yeah, if it bugs you, luckily there are plenty of other options these days.

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    • Updated state names for the new, blue America in c/lemmyshitpost@lemmy.world
    [–] 6 points 15 hours ago
    • Alabama -> AlaBLM
    • Maryland -> MutualAidLand
    • Texas -> Taxes
    • Connecticut -> Communism
    • Oregon -> YoreGunsAreGone
    • Ohio -> Occupy-o
    • Minnesota -> MinneSocialism
    • New York -> New Woke (note: NYC, a.k.a. AOC, is a gerrymandered "virtual state" to improve electoral college representation)
    • (Los Angeles and San Francisco are also gerrymandered "virtual states" to improve electoral college representation)
    • New Mexico -> (ceded to Mexico to create new immigration routes)
    • Washington, D.C. (District of Columbia) -> Clitoris, D.K. (Das Kapital)
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    BREAKING: The incoming Democratic legislature has released a map of updated state names, "to better reflect our country's new, blue identity" in c/politicalmemes@lemmy.world
    Updated state names for the new, blue America in c/lemmyshitpost@lemmy.world
    [–] 4 points 18 hours ago

    When I was a kid in Latin America there was a map of the US painted on the school wall with the state names on it. It was a running battle between the students who would chalk a "P" before "Utah" and the teachers who would erase it. As far as I know, the battle is ongoing to this day. (not that we had anything against Utah, it was just too easy a juvenile pun.)

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    Does this still run true today? in c/memes@lemmy.world
    [–] 14 points 18 hours ago (1 child)

    Wow, I remember hearing some version of this when I was a lil kid back in the 1980s, and it was ancient then. This might even be a joke from the pre-WW2-era.

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    Kyushu basho 2026 - Day 5 in c/sumo@lemmy.world
    [–] 3 points 20 hours ago

    Shishi is from Toontown-- Nah, I shouldn't joke. Fact is, he's just not as astonishingly skilled as the rest of Makuuchi. I suspect he's not getting as much support from his stable as he could. (Maybe because his Japanese isn't so good?). And I'm guessing there's something wrong with him physically, he usually does better than this.

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    • Oh I'm there in c/witchymemes@lemmy.world
    What is this filth? in c/comicstrips@lemmy.world
    What is this filth? in c/comicstrips@lemmy.world
    17
    MaryDeath - Remedy [comic, fan edit] (media.piefed.social)
     

    MaryDeath is a comic about life, death, and everything in between. The story follows a young girl named Mary who happens to have befriended Death. Why Death has chosen to take interest in Mary remains a mystery, but despite his ever dark presence Mary finds comfort in his companionship.

    https://www.marydeathcomics.com/archives/comic/

    MaryDeath Comics was created in the 2010s by Gwen Tarpley, though Cats Cafe Comic is her main effort now. The artist transitioned recently, and when I contacted her to ask about doing the Fan Edits, she encouraged me to remove her deadname from the strips. The main reason I wanted to do the edits is bc in a couple earlier strips Mary has a goth look but eventually she gave it up after a couple episodes. But I wanted a strip in which she retained her goth look. Finally, I wanted the three-strip stories to have a vertical orientation better suited to cell-phones.

    22
    SUMO: November 2026 tourney in Japan has just started! (see this post for how to follow it) (media.piefed.social)
     

    Day 3 of the November sumo tournament in Japan finished a couple of hours ago! The tourney lasts for 15 days, so this is a great time to start watching!

    Video Clips:

    click here for instructions to see the NHK Japanese videos

    They are re-doing their Japanese website. I THINK that to see the latest videos on the NHK site in Japanese, you look here: https://www.nhk.jp/g/ts/Z8WRRJ9K96/blog/bl/pm1VNbJpWQ/bp/pExrRxao2y/ and click on the topmost link that says "NHK ONE", it should look like this:

    Click "I understand" to acknowledge that you're not in Japan (lel) and then scroll down til you see this button:

    it might look like this:

    click on that and you should see all the videos?!

    For the listings in Japanese, try automated translations if there's a lot of text. Alternately, look for something like: 9月14日 which in this case refers to the 9th month and the 14th day (September 14th). Automated translation doesn't work that well on sumotori names, but this is a great opportunity to learn them by sight! (The JSA web site has pictures of them all.)

    Additional fan youtube channels (I haven’t checked them out too thoroughly)

    Live / Replay:

    • try searching on twitch, there are usually at least 3 different streamers providing live video feeds with English commentary, and it's fun to have a community to chat with in real time. The top Makuuchi matches start around 3am US Eastern Time though. At least one of the streamers does replays all day, usually of the entire day (including lower ranks).

    Text Info in English:

    Intro to Sumo

    "You're gonna watch sumo... RIGHT?"

    27
    there's two kinds of people in the world [meme] Culture (media.piefed.social)
     

    Explanation: https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2026-11/pope-leo-receives-bob-dylan-at-the-vatican.html

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_wave_music

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_wave

    I saw this picture and thought about the meme that was posted earlier: https://lemmy.world/post/51314012 so I made a version of it

    a picture of the pope in white with the word "new wave" over him, and bob dylan in black with the word "darkwave" over him
    7
    Goth (stereo)Type 27 - The White Goth (2013) [comic / meme] Culture (media.piefed.social)
     

    Click here for the Image Text
    The notion of a Goth that's an opposite of a traditional Goth - wearing all white instead of black - is surprisingly common. Which one might expect from a subculture that likes subversion.

    You can see examples of White Goths all over the place, from film (Switch in The Matrix, for example) to bands (Tones on Tail, Cocteau Twins and Lacuna Coil to name but a few). And really, it's not all that strange - white is the colour of many things Goth like (ghosts, bones, cobwebs etc.) and it symbolises death in a number of cultures.

    White versions of all other Goth Types are possible, but the look is perhaps most prevalent among Romantic Goths (for that Dracula's bride look), Medieval/Faerie Goths (for that ethereal fae look), and Cyber Goths (for that iLook(tm)).

    A final reason for wearing white rather than black is that it looks amazing under UV light, which is common at Goth Clubs. But White Goths should take great care not to wear black underwear - you never know when it might rain...

    Source / more: https://www.deviantart.com/trellia/gallery/25271332/goth-stereo-types Reposted with permission. The oldest ones are from 2005, and some of the opinions are dated and/or debateable, but they're still a good basis for discussion.

    Goth (stereo)Type 27 - The White Goth The notion of a Goth that's an opposite of a traditional Goth - wearing all white instead of black - is surprisingly common. Which one might expect from a subculture that likes subversion. You can see examples of White Goths all over the place, from film (Switch in The Matrix, for example) to bands (Tones on Tail, Cocteau Twins and Lacuna Coil to name but a few). And really, it's not all that strange - white is the colour of many things Goth like (ghosts, bones, cobwebs etc.) and it symbolises death in a number of cultures. White versions of all other Goth Types are possible, but the look is perhaps most prevalent among Romantic Goths (for that Dracula's bride look), Medieval/Faerie Goths (for that ethereal fae look), and Cyber Goths (for that iLook(tm)). A final reason for wearing white rather than black is that it looks amazing under UV light, which is common at Goth Clubs. But White Goths should take great care not to wear black underwear - you never know when it might rain...
    33
    Wizards of the Lost Kingdom (1985) - Mastodon watch party this Sunday evening! (media.piefed.social)
     

    In the peaceful kingdom of Axeholme lives the teenage boy Simon, son of Wulfrik, the king's court wizard. The evil sorcerer Shurka starts a coup d'état, aided by the King's wife, killing the king, and imprisoning the princess, Aura. Before he is slain by Shurka, Wulfrik teleports Simon and his friend Gulfax to safety and gifts him his powerful magic ring. However, unbeknownst to all, Simon loses the ring during his escape.

    ...

    The film re-used a large amount of stock footage from Sorceress (1982) and Deathstalker (1983). Ed Naha, who wrote the script, later recalled:

    I don't think this movie was so much shot as it was beaten to death. When they whittled it down to what was useful from the footage, it only ran 58 minutes. Now [producer] Roger [Corman] had done a lot of sword-and-sorcery films, and so he told a couple of the editors to pull all they could from them and edit that footage in. So now the finished movie has a 15 or 20-minute prologue that has nothing to do with rest of the film!

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wizards_of_the_Lost_Kingdom

    3.0 out of 10 on imdb! 21% on rottentomatoes! And yet, Wizards of the Lost Kingdom (1985) is the movie for this Sunday's "monsterdon" watch party over on Mastodon, our fediverse sibling!

    • Just start watching that movie this Sunday, November 8 at 9pm ET / 8pm CT / 6pm PT which is 1am Monday UTC
    • and follow #monsterdon over on mastodon for live text commentary. For example, you can follow that hashtag here: https://mastodon.social/tags/monsterdon
    • I usually open two web browser windows side-by-side on a computer. But you could follow the mastodon commentary on a phone app while watching the movie on TV or something.

    How to watch the movie:

    A movie poster of Wizards of the Lost Kingdom
    19
    MaryDeath - Poke! [comic, fan edit] (media.piefed.social)
     

    MaryDeath is a comic about life, death, and everything in between. The story follows a young girl named Mary who happens to have befriended Death. Why Death has chosen to take interest in Mary remains a mystery, but despite his ever dark presence Mary finds comfort in his companionship.

    https://www.marydeathcomics.com/archives/comic/

    MaryDeath Comics was created in the 2010s by Gwen Tarpley, though Cats Cafe Comic is her main effort now. The artist transitioned recently, and when I contacted her to ask about doing the Fan Edits, she encouraged me to remove her deadname from the strips. The main reason I wanted to do the edits is bc in a couple earlier strips Mary has a goth look but eventually she gave it up after a couple episodes. But I wanted a strip in which she retained her goth look. Finally, I wanted the three-strip stories to have a vertical orientation better suited to cell-phones.

    31
    Please Help [meme] (media.piefed.social)
     

    Explanation: in the US, they used to have ads showing animals in cages as part of an appeal to help save abandoned and abused animals. example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iu_JqNdp2As (tw: abused animals)

    The image above is of Peter Murphy while performing "Bela Lugosi's Dead" in "The Hunger"

    I made the meme above, which is a variation of the following meme:

    QG6XamAyvUVqZxZ.jpg

    A lot of goths out there need saving, y'all. (A lot of animals too. Support your local shelter!)

    24
    The Stuff (1985 1080p) (links in post) [Halloween-a-thon] (media.piefed.social)
     

    Another Monsterdon watch party movie from a couple months ago!!?! This is the kind of movie that's not really "good" but is still pretty entertaining!!!

    The film follows the discovery of a mysterious, sweet, and addictive substance becoming a popular dessert in the United States but soon begins attacking people and turning them into zombies.

    ...

    Colin Greenland reviewed The Stuff for White Dwarf #77 and stated that "A brilliant performance by Cohen stalwart Michael Moriarty as an industrial spy after the truth holds the straggling plot together."[29] It received positive reviews from critics: on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a 68% rating, based on 19 reviews.[30] According to Bruce Kawin and Tony Williams, The Stuff satirizes American consumerism, mass media, and health foods.[31][32] Roger Crow of On: Yorkshire Magazine called the film a "schlock horror satire", praised Moriarty's performance, and said the film paid homage to "The Blob and Invasion of the Body Snatchers [and] went on to inspire cosmetics horror satire The Substance."[33] He said the quality of the special effects and picture quality ranged from good to bad. He praised the performance, direction, script, and rewatchability of the film.[33] Ian Berriman of SFX praised Moriarty for his ability to improvise in the film, calling him "delightfully idiosyncratic".[8] Berriman also wrote that although many special effects did not look believable, they contributed to the appeal of the film.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Stuff

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