Researcher. Important? Kind-of, I work in a supposedly very important biomedical research area but my position itself is not that important due to a variety of reasons…

Am I proud? Hell no. I’m only staying because I get paid enough (especially since I lived on near-poverty income for 5 years and below-average for another…). I’d disappear the moment I have a better opportunity, or if my paycheck is gone. This is position-specific though, I don’t mind working the same job as long as a few small things change

Yes and I have done it a good bit back in the US. Striking up a conversation with a total stranger is a bit frowned upon in the part of Europe where I live now… so I won’t

This is comparing two pretty extreme scenarios… which are both pretty strange but for different reasons

A lot of performing arts (music, sports) and related industries have a “winner takes all” model, where the most famous performer makes exponentially more than the average one. OF is a bit similar. So if you are a top OF model who won the genetic lottery, you could make millions… which hides the fact that the average OF model doesn’t make remotely as much (as others have pointed out)

Open source is more like a normal business, but with the problem that it doesn’t really generate profits given that many FOSS software are free as in free beer… If there is no revenue then of course there wouldn’t be a good salary either…

I do think there is a rather similar but interesting counter example: academic scientists. Many scientists do make rather comfortable wages; where I live now, postdocs/professors actually get paid above the national average. However, this is because science is very important to society… so the money we make come from governments/taxpayers. Governments generally agree to fund science at the taxpayers’ expense, because it will pay off in the long run. If governments don’t fund science then most scientists (barring some engineers) would make peanuts as well… So yeah, if governments believe FOSS has societal benefits and fund FOSS developers, that might be a way for them to make a lot more

Late 20s. If you count lurking, just when the Reddit 3rd party API thing happened; if not, a bit over a year ago

I’ve been using Mastodon for a few months and even transitioned to selfhosting a -key instance for a while back then. So when the Reddit fiasco happened it was pretty natural for me to be drawn to Lemmy lol. I’ve only been a lurker even on Reddit though, so it took me some time to actually participate. Fun fact, but I first became aware of Lemmy a few months before the API thing, when the top posts only had a bit over 100 upvotes and almost every other person knew it for the devs’ questionable political ideologies… I’m still a bit positively surprised that Lemmy has become as self-sustaining as it is today

I think I’d fall more into the latter camp but both descriptions somewhat apply to me TBH. I’ve daily driven Gentoo for a year and a half for good measures (don’t do that anymore out of practicality), and I generally have a distaste for anything too mainstream so

Video games. Very, very challenging video games that don’t require co-op… I’m currently mostly maining rhythm games, but had several years where I hyperfixated on roguelikes as well

For mornings, 75 g light-roast coffee / 1250 g water made with a French press using the Hoffmann method, divided equally for 4 days per brew (so roughly 250-300 ml liquid each day). Not sure about caffeine content

And then I have some random tea bought from the local Asian supermarket that I brew casually with hot water & drink throughout the day without any care as to how I make it, no idea how much caffeine is in this either

I usually don’t take in any other caffeine beyond my daily routine

Community is too small

I think most of the things I find annoying about the fediverse (echo-chamber, lack of interactions overall, no real place for discussing extremely niche interests) stem from the fact that it is not big enough so…

I don’t think it is a terrible thing per-se though, small communities have lots of upsides too

I really want to be able to go clubbing

Okay! If that’s what you want… I have never gone clubbing in China or Japan, but I was being told that nightlife absolutely exists & is quite nice in both countries. Major cities of course; rural area in East Asia aren’t as easily accessible as those in the wealthier European countries so

Have you considered going to multiple places? Japan isn’t that far away from China all things considered. And if you are going to China… most people stick to Southern China (fewer things to do in the North unfortunately), which if you do, Shenzhen is right next to Hong Kong/Macao, and Taiwan isn’t that far away either

Mayyybe dinner, but only by a little bit

I used to cook the same meal for breakfast/dinner and skip lunch for several years… These days I simplified my breakfast routine and still don’t each lunch most of the days, so dinner is by definition the most important, although breakfast is my most consistent one (I sometimes go for a big lunch and skip dinner instead)

… I almost never travel not solo, so apologies if I don’t know what the other side of the coin is like

I think the biggest advantage is the absolutely ridiculous amount of freedom, because you can cater to 100% of your own needs, and your own needs alone. Want trip to be cheap? Youth hostels and 10-hour Flix/Blablacar buses exist. Want to do nerdy things only you are interested in? No need to care for travel companions for “wasting” 10-hours in a modern arts museum or anything like that

I did hear that some people find traveling alone a bit lonely though… so maybe it is not for everyone. Oh and maybe booking restaurants can get a tad awkward depending on the place I travel to

• Slay the Spire. I have played quite a few roguelikes before StS but I never played much card-based games at all, due to me never playing boardgames or TCGs… so this was obviously a new experience for me. Almost 1000 hours on record now with the game, cleared A20H with every base game character (and did A20H on almost every Packmaster pack)… which should speak for itself
• Dancerush Stardom, that funny shuffle game. This is Konami’s attempt at making a beginner- and normie-friendly rhythm game… which never quite caught on (aside from random YouTube recordings having several million views). I wasn’t particularly fit & never knew about this game before at all, so it was a pleasant surprise to me that I liked it so much. I have 5-star cleared many of the hardest songs in this game so

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Extremely niche, but https://iidx.org/

This is a single guide that teaches you everything you need to know about how to play Beatmania IIDX, a fun but brutally difficult arcade game. Guide covers everything from setting up a new player profile to clearing the hardest skill challenge in the game, and even includes some music theory

I can’t think of anything more helpful than this in terms of relative scale…

I don’t remember, I wasn’t very into cars at that moment… I just know it was a pretty common car brand among taxis in an economically backwards part of China, so most likely a budget Chinese or Korean brand. Also it was a stick shift

In STEM specifically? STEM field in particular is somewhat known for fostering Imposter Syndromes… Most people are smart enough, I wouldn’t sweat it too much

The best thing… depending on how I ask I guess. Either the day trip I made to two nearby towns (one of which is a rather well-known tourist spot) on Sunday despite the rainy weather, or the fact that weather rose to 20 C yesterday & was sunny so I made a nice stroll in the city

Not very well traveled yet but at the moment… either Prague/Praha in Czechia or Ljubljana in Slovenia probably

Both are pleasant places with beautiful architecture, all kinds of natural scenery as someone who has only lived in flat cities (mountains AND rivers in my city??). Bonus point that Prague has dirt-cheap beer that even comes in alcohol-free variety, Ljulbljana has a ridiculous amount of hiking trails and is within day-trip distance to some of the most beautiful scenery in Europe

China. Much, much better, but it’s a bit unfair to compare someone who grew up in a typical modern society to someone who grew up in time of extreme poverty, subsistence farming, and famine…

Although, my parents did go to better universities & got better careers right off the bat due to a lack of educated ppl back in their days

Not a party, but my parents took me around to meet and dine with a few of their friends (mostly somewhat accomplished folks) as a farewell of sorts. I got sent to the US for college 2 months later and basically never had a chance to go back home in 10 years so

I… never learned how to cook properly. Parents did cook all meals at home but only knew how to cook things about as delicious as your average Northern Europe staple, so the only thing I was taught was how to cook rice… but I do not like rice 💀

Out of convenience I ended up just throwing everything in a pot and make sure they are well-cooked, do meal-prep, and eat the same food over and over again; personally don’t mind so it works for me. If it is not enough taste, just throw in some olive oil and spice, if not good enough more spice, if still not good enough add MORE spice, usually works out quite well & is quite healthy