Café

is anyone else exploring the wider fediverse?

I know of a few users who were originally from kbin/mastodon, I've heard some mentions of peertube, and I'm currently posting this from calckey.

@cafe@monyet.cc #redditmigration

I just realised I am eligible for Ptptn first class loan waiver but one of the requirements stated that the application must be submitted within 12 months from the convocation date. I got straight up rejected by the system. It is now 16 months from the convocation date. Damnnnnn, this waiver could mean so much to me.

Any advice on what could be done?

I’ve made the full transition to ebooks maybe 10 years ago and have barely bought physical books ever since. I’m a prolific reader, I read maybe at least 1 book a week, and I guess one of the advantages of ebooks is that I can quickly jump to the next book once I’ve finished the one I’m reading.

Recently my wife and I were at Pavillion Bukit Jalil and were thinking of checking out that famous bookshop there, and I realised I no longer have the excitement to visit a bookstore. I recall I’d visit Borders so often back when I younger and we always on the lookout for my next book, or for newly released books by my favourite authors, and was so excited when the next book I. The series’s was available. Nowadays, though, most of them are already in my preorder list on Google Play Books, so the thrill of the hunt is no longer there.

A few months ago I dug out some of my old physical books to read downstairs so that my toddler can see me reading an actual book instead of staring at my iPad or phone (reading, but it looks like I’m just staring at a screen) because I want to encourage her to get into reading too. I’ve found, though, somehow it was a lot harder to continue. I’d keep wanting to switch to the ebook version so that I can read in bed when the lights are dimmer.

How about you guys? What are your thoughts or experiences about the switch to ebooks? Do you still read physical books? Do you miss it?

Use this thread to share with us what you're having, from breakfast to second breakfast, brunch, lunch, tea time, dinner, supper! Don't be shy, all food are welcome!

I do Grab Food delivery and noticed that some shops purposely put different name on their Grab profile and actual signboard name. At first I thought it was just laziness or simply some people fucked up, an annoyance to us riders having to play hide and seek, but now I begin to feel like this is a deliberate ploy.

These are so called virtual kitchens. They don't actually exist, but just a front for some other companies/operations. Nothing wrong with that, even Nestle don't sell everything under the Nestle brand.

Where it gets insidious is when a single shop use multi terminals, spamming the marketplace. Customer don't realise that the vast choice they see on the platform are actually them getting more of the same, and platform owners don't mind because it makes their platform look thriving. This is just hearsay but it seems like the platform marketing people are also encouraging/facilitating this behind the scene.

For customers, virtual kitchens by brick and mortar restaurants is not a big problem actually, other than feeling spoffed, since this are still run by people with actual experience in food business industry.

Dedicated virtual kitchens? Those can be really sketchy. They don't accept dine ins, so there is zero customer monitoring of their cleanliness etc. Even for us riders we can only go up until the hole in the wall pickup counter. Can't see anything inside.

British media did a coverage on this in the UK, aka ghost kitchens

And since they are not an eatery there is also a question on whether they are subjected to inspection by the authorities. I don't recall seeing any of those Gred Kebersihan stickers in these premises.

So yeah, guys, tech doesn't always make life better. It can be a source of issues that we have no idea how to navigate at all.

Caveat emptor. (Buyer beware)

What are you guys currently reading?

I just finished Sebastian De Castell's The Malevolent Seven and damn it was good, although in the first quarter I wondered if I really wanted to be reading it. Wish the next was already out, but thankfully the author is quite prolific.

About to start Andy Weir's Project Hail Mary based on a blind recommendation. Never read The Martian, I'm not so much into scifi usually, mostly into fantasy and historical fiction but there are exceptions so I'm gonna give it a go.

According to Chai, a fateful drive down a windy highway that year brought him to the idea. While driving, he had passed the corpse of a stray dog laying along the road. It wasn’t the first stray he saw that year, but the conditions of that stray’s death struck him with overwhelming clarity.

“Somehow, relating to the stray dog ignited a sense of identity in me. I, too, had to fend for myself and learn never to rely on others,” – Kenji Chai, Creator of Chaigo

Being from a turbulent family, Chai felt he never truly belonged anywhere, just like a stray. Unlike the stray however, he believed he could decide the course of his life through hard work. Inspired by the life of strays, the Chaigo alias was finally given life.

Me: look at this big beautiful leaf on my pokok level kayangan!

My wife: looks like can wrap nasi lemak already!

OMAIGODOMAIGODOMAIGODOMAIGODOMAIGODOMAIGODOMAIGODOMAIGODOMAIGODOMAIGODOMAIGODOMAIGODOMAIGODOMAIGODOMAIGODOMAIGOD

Who wants to go?

It's as long as a scroll.

Imperial harems existed since ancient times and bore witness to the waxing and waning of dynasties. Life in imperial harems was imagined to be one of luxury and comfort. But what did really go on behind closed doors and beneath the glittery façade of the royal titles? Why do the lives of empresses and concubines in the imperial harems remain ever so intriguing to modern audiences? What are some of the tragic tales that most people have not even heard of? From Imperial Consort Yang in the Tang Dynasty (618–906) to Consort Zhen in the Qing Dynasty (1644–1912), we delve into the less-than-glamorous lives of women in China’s imperial harems.