Garak's Apprentice
@garaksapprentice.bsky.social
Textile artist, writer, permaculturalist, medieval re-enactor, nerd. I write about fashion history and textile crafts at the intersections of permaculture, sustainability, equitable tech, & neurodivergence. They/them.
Locko, obviously. Shirley if you're taking the piss.
If Sherlock Holmes was Australian, would everyone call him 'Shirl' or 'Locky'? Or maybe 'Holmsey'?
November 10, 2025 at 8:58 AM
Locko, obviously. Shirley if you're taking the piss.
Halfway through The Starving Saints and I will definitely be joining the hordes of people yelling about how good it is if it manages to stick the landing.
(Please for the love of God check the content notes before you read, it's not kidding about the body horror/cannabilism. But, like, it's GOOD.)
(Please for the love of God check the content notes before you read, it's not kidding about the body horror/cannabilism. But, like, it's GOOD.)
October 27, 2025 at 1:13 PM
Halfway through The Starving Saints and I will definitely be joining the hordes of people yelling about how good it is if it manages to stick the landing.
(Please for the love of God check the content notes before you read, it's not kidding about the body horror/cannabilism. But, like, it's GOOD.)
(Please for the love of God check the content notes before you read, it's not kidding about the body horror/cannabilism. But, like, it's GOOD.)
Breaks and stretching are important, says I, a cat-less crafter currently dealing with a wicked case of self-inflicted RSI.
October 27, 2025 at 3:54 AM
Breaks and stretching are important, says I, a cat-less crafter currently dealing with a wicked case of self-inflicted RSI.
#science people, I would also like to know the answer to this. Any laser experts out there?
Search engines are leading me nowhere with this, so I'm just going to ask to anyone out there who knows their science. Can retroreflective clothing or clothing with glass nanosphere deflect lasers?
(Not the cutting kind, the motion detecting harmless kind).
(Not the cutting kind, the motion detecting harmless kind).
October 16, 2025 at 10:07 AM
#science people, I would also like to know the answer to this. Any laser experts out there?
Clearly the answers here are all "yes".
My students may not have been psychologically prepared to play the "Medieval Japanese Remedy or Modern (Influencer) Remedy?" game, but they did enjoy it. 😂
October 16, 2025 at 10:01 AM
Clearly the answers here are all "yes".
This right here is probably at least 85% of why that useless age-verification social media law got passed. The other 15% being to protect Murdoch's empire.
Mandatory age verification to "protect children" is not to protect children. It is to deanonymize every adult speaker and consumer of speech online so the government can retaliate against speakers and speech they don't approve of. For instance: apnews.com/article/trum...
US revokes visas for 6 foreigners over Charlie Kirk-related speech
The Trump administration has revoked the visas of six foreigners deemed by U.S. officials to have made derisive comments or made light of the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk last m...
apnews.com
October 15, 2025 at 7:41 AM
This right here is probably at least 85% of why that useless age-verification social media law got passed. The other 15% being to protect Murdoch's empire.
I am now "actively looking forward to seeing the physio" years old, and if it wasn't for how much better I know my arm will feel tomorrow, I would be annoyed by that.
Please treat this as your irregular reminder to stretch, change positions often, and avoid RSI by any means necessary.
Please treat this as your irregular reminder to stretch, change positions often, and avoid RSI by any means necessary.
October 15, 2025 at 12:58 AM
I am now "actively looking forward to seeing the physio" years old, and if it wasn't for how much better I know my arm will feel tomorrow, I would be annoyed by that.
Please treat this as your irregular reminder to stretch, change positions often, and avoid RSI by any means necessary.
Please treat this as your irregular reminder to stretch, change positions often, and avoid RSI by any means necessary.
YouTube doesn't even moderate its own "for kids" side of the platform. If THEY are saying this ban isn't going to work as intended, then it's way worse than you probably think.
YouTube warns Australia social media ban will not keep children safe
YouTube warns Australia social media ban will not keep children safe
SYDNEY: Australia's push to ban children from social media is "well intentioned" but will not make them safer online, video streaming giant YouTube warned on Monday (Oct 13).Prime Minister Anthony Albanese last year unveiled landmark laws that will
www.channelnewsasia.com
October 13, 2025 at 8:45 AM
YouTube doesn't even moderate its own "for kids" side of the platform. If THEY are saying this ban isn't going to work as intended, then it's way worse than you probably think.
Accurate. Coincidentally, I'm quite annoyed that Windows has finally reached my personal "this is intolerable garbage" threshold and I now have to find the Linux distro with the least amount of tweaking required to make Minecraft run with mods.
So the trick to being a Linux person is wanting a computer to satisfy the same niche in your life that other people fill with lovably neurotic pets.
October 13, 2025 at 5:30 AM
Accurate. Coincidentally, I'm quite annoyed that Windows has finally reached my personal "this is intolerable garbage" threshold and I now have to find the Linux distro with the least amount of tweaking required to make Minecraft run with mods.
It's finally back to school term which means we can finally go to the playground again without being overrun by school children out on leave, AND we're finally lurgy free, so October is finally looking like a month worth having.
If we contract more lurgy this year I'm moving into a bubble.
If we contract more lurgy this year I'm moving into a bubble.
October 13, 2025 at 12:40 AM
It's finally back to school term which means we can finally go to the playground again without being overrun by school children out on leave, AND we're finally lurgy free, so October is finally looking like a month worth having.
If we contract more lurgy this year I'm moving into a bubble.
If we contract more lurgy this year I'm moving into a bubble.
Really worth digging into the replies here, especially if you're fuzzy on the difference between machine learning and generative AI and how they're used (or not) to moderate large social media sites.
This is going around again and it is not true. Like every site on the internet, Bluesky uses machine learning to do a first-pass approximation of image classification to detect and label content. They have repeatedly confirmed outside services do not use Bluesky user data to train their models.
October 8, 2025 at 12:39 AM
Really worth digging into the replies here, especially if you're fuzzy on the difference between machine learning and generative AI and how they're used (or not) to moderate large social media sites.
The Singing Hills Cycle books are all excellent and you should totally read the new one, because I have to wait a month to read it myself and you deserve good things in your life.
Hey. Hey.
On sale TOMORROW is my standalone novella A Mouthful of Dust, #6 in the Singing Hills Cycle!
us.macmillan.com/books/978125...
The story-collecting Cleric Chih and Almost Brilliant are headed to Baolin, a town known for its incredible pork and a famine that occurred eighteen years ago.
On sale TOMORROW is my standalone novella A Mouthful of Dust, #6 in the Singing Hills Cycle!
us.macmillan.com/books/978125...
The story-collecting Cleric Chih and Almost Brilliant are headed to Baolin, a town known for its incredible pork and a famine that occurred eighteen years ago.
A Mouthful of Dust
Hunger makes monsters in this dark new tale in Nghi Vo's Hugo Award-winning Singing Hills Cycle."Nghi Vo is so good."―NPR on The Brides of High HillWanderi...
us.macmillan.com
October 7, 2025 at 7:19 AM
The Singing Hills Cycle books are all excellent and you should totally read the new one, because I have to wait a month to read it myself and you deserve good things in your life.
I don't remember who told me this, but the person who said that silk will happily take the cotton setting on the iron is the GOAT. Took me less than 30 min to iron an entire kimono (about 8m of 15" fabric, plus assorted collar pieces) and all it took was a bit of steam and a brisk press. #sewing
October 6, 2025 at 9:23 AM
I don't remember who told me this, but the person who said that silk will happily take the cotton setting on the iron is the GOAT. Took me less than 30 min to iron an entire kimono (about 8m of 15" fabric, plus assorted collar pieces) and all it took was a bit of steam and a brisk press. #sewing
Reposted by Garak's Apprentice
So some companies defrauded Centrepay users and now companies are sad that they can’t access Centrepay?
Business owners worry major changes to a buy now, pay later system used by about 500,000 social security recipients will cause a raft of issues when it begins next month.
Outback businesses fear 'trouble at the till' as Centrepay changes loom
Business owners worry major changes to a buy now, pay later system used by about 500,000 social security recipients will cause a raft of issues when it begins next month.
www.abc.net.au
October 5, 2025 at 11:10 PM
So some companies defrauded Centrepay users and now companies are sad that they can’t access Centrepay?
*fans self* Ooof. That is some peak tailoring skill right there. My own asymmetries are fairly mild and the clothes I like mean I don't have to fit around them a whole lot, but boy oh boy this kind of fitting is *hard* if you don't have the skills and experience for it.
Impressive example of what quality tailoring can do. A client came in with an asymmetrical pelvic tilt, a considerable spinal misalignment, a bent knee in one leg, and an overhanging tummy. But properly tailored trousers create a clean line. He now looks great.
IG dylanandson
IG dylanandson
October 5, 2025 at 11:59 AM
*fans self* Ooof. That is some peak tailoring skill right there. My own asymmetries are fairly mild and the clothes I like mean I don't have to fit around them a whole lot, but boy oh boy this kind of fitting is *hard* if you don't have the skills and experience for it.
Reposted by Garak's Apprentice
"You're making Robin Williams from Bicentennial Man sad, you heartless BEAST"
Few things funnier than pretending that it’s somehow racist/classist/transphobic to be against AI as every tech company rushes to turn their models into mechahitler while dumping toxic waste into communities of color
October 5, 2025 at 1:54 AM
"You're making Robin Williams from Bicentennial Man sad, you heartless BEAST"
We are now up to wash tub number five, and there is still dye in the water. My hopes of doing a kimono after the obi are dashed.
In case you're ever wondering "should I bother washing vintage silk kimono and obi before I turn them into other things", I just threw my latest acquisition (a dusky pink obi with gold brocade) in the wash tub and the water immediately turned yellow, so yeah. Be a good idea to clean em, huh?
October 5, 2025 at 4:37 AM
We are now up to wash tub number five, and there is still dye in the water. My hopes of doing a kimono after the obi are dashed.
Another day, another tribble's worth of hair combed off the moulting greyhound.
October 5, 2025 at 4:32 AM
Another day, another tribble's worth of hair combed off the moulting greyhound.
In case you're ever wondering "should I bother washing vintage silk kimono and obi before I turn them into other things", I just threw my latest acquisition (a dusky pink obi with gold brocade) in the wash tub and the water immediately turned yellow, so yeah. Be a good idea to clean em, huh?
October 5, 2025 at 1:31 AM
In case you're ever wondering "should I bother washing vintage silk kimono and obi before I turn them into other things", I just threw my latest acquisition (a dusky pink obi with gold brocade) in the wash tub and the water immediately turned yellow, so yeah. Be a good idea to clean em, huh?
Reposted by Garak's Apprentice
Portland doesn’t need the military. Portland has its own defenses.
September 27, 2025 at 7:57 PM
Portland doesn’t need the military. Portland has its own defenses.
Reposted by Garak's Apprentice
More science good news!! A temperature-stable, single injection rabies vaccine is in animal trials and they hope to move to human trials soon. This would be a fucking game changer for vaccination programs!
Happy (rainy) Tuesday, #Boulder. I've got a new story for you all about a new temperature-stable, single-injection rabies vaccine developed by @colorado.edu researcher Ted Randolph.
www.colorado.edu/today/2025/0...
www.colorado.edu/today/2025/0...
New single-dose, temperature-stable rabies vaccines could expand global access
CU Boulder engineers have developed a new method for making vaccines that combines multiple, timed-release doses into a single injection that doesn't require
www.colorado.edu
September 25, 2025 at 4:00 PM
More science good news!! A temperature-stable, single injection rabies vaccine is in animal trials and they hope to move to human trials soon. This would be a fucking game changer for vaccination programs!
Ruin a book with a car:
One Flew Over the Chevrolet's Shed
One Flew Over the Chevrolet's Shed
Ruin a book with a car:
Mr Popper's Pontiac
Mr Popper's Pontiac
Ruin a book with a car:
The Lion, The Witch and the Volkswagen.
The Lion, The Witch and the Volkswagen.
September 25, 2025 at 10:46 AM
Ruin a book with a car:
One Flew Over the Chevrolet's Shed
One Flew Over the Chevrolet's Shed
Reposted by Garak's Apprentice
I literally needed to know this exact thing, so thanks to this guy.
September 24, 2025 at 9:29 PM
I literally needed to know this exact thing, so thanks to this guy.
No human body should be able to make this much mucous.
September 24, 2025 at 12:41 AM
No human body should be able to make this much mucous.
Even trad publishing - which has made their contracts worse and worse for authors over the last couple decades - usually has more reasonable terms in their boilerplate than this. Like, even *work for hire* agreements, where you specifically turn all copyright etc over to the other guy, are better.
An update on that insane lease term where the landlord owns everything you create during the tenancy:
September 23, 2025 at 7:13 AM
Even trad publishing - which has made their contracts worse and worse for authors over the last couple decades - usually has more reasonable terms in their boilerplate than this. Like, even *work for hire* agreements, where you specifically turn all copyright etc over to the other guy, are better.