Emilia
@lazerwalker.com
Experimental games, interactive art, OSS tools. Was games advocacy lead at MS/Xbox, currently a full-time Very Sick Person. Organizer, Roguelike Celebration (and formerly !!con). Disabled (ME/CFS), queer, neurodivergent.
https://lazerwalker.com
she/her
https://lazerwalker.com
she/her
I use two (unrelated) meditation apps, that both play a bell sound. Both of them have the same bug, where sometimes (not every time!) a second bell will chime ~2s after a first bell, and echo for 3-4x as long.
I feel like I’m losing my mind trying to figure out if/how this could be an OS-level bug.
I feel like I’m losing my mind trying to figure out if/how this could be an OS-level bug.
November 29, 2025 at 8:21 PM
I use two (unrelated) meditation apps, that both play a bell sound. Both of them have the same bug, where sometimes (not every time!) a second bell will chime ~2s after a first bell, and echo for 3-4x as long.
I feel like I’m losing my mind trying to figure out if/how this could be an OS-level bug.
I feel like I’m losing my mind trying to figure out if/how this could be an OS-level bug.
Reposted by Emilia
last week i remembered that macOS lets you set your own icons and that *I* have the power to delegitimize the professionalism of the software that runs on my machine, so here's a thread of the 16 new icons i've made so far
i really forgot how fun it was to just sit down and make art for myself :')
i really forgot how fun it was to just sit down and make art for myself :')
November 29, 2025 at 1:48 AM
last week i remembered that macOS lets you set your own icons and that *I* have the power to delegitimize the professionalism of the software that runs on my machine, so here's a thread of the 16 new icons i've made so far
i really forgot how fun it was to just sit down and make art for myself :')
i really forgot how fun it was to just sit down and make art for myself :')
I’m listening to a podcast about the films of Dario Argenti, and every single time I hear his name I momentarily think “wait, the Anthropic guy?”
November 29, 2025 at 3:21 AM
I’m listening to a podcast about the films of Dario Argenti, and every single time I hear his name I momentarily think “wait, the Anthropic guy?”
To get slightly sappy on a complicated holiday, I’m grateful for the inner peace I’ve found the last few months.
I think I’ve finally found a (slow, nonlinear) path to physical recovery, but also, that feels less important. I’ve figured out how to savor the joy I do have in my very small world.
I think I’ve finally found a (slow, nonlinear) path to physical recovery, but also, that feels less important. I’ve figured out how to savor the joy I do have in my very small world.
November 27, 2025 at 6:57 PM
To get slightly sappy on a complicated holiday, I’m grateful for the inner peace I’ve found the last few months.
I think I’ve finally found a (slow, nonlinear) path to physical recovery, but also, that feels less important. I’ve figured out how to savor the joy I do have in my very small world.
I think I’ve finally found a (slow, nonlinear) path to physical recovery, but also, that feels less important. I’ve figured out how to savor the joy I do have in my very small world.
I removed the single em dash from this Reddit comment I wrote by hand, and then it allowed me to post it.
We live in hell.
We live in hell.
November 27, 2025 at 6:53 AM
I removed the single em dash from this Reddit comment I wrote by hand, and then it allowed me to post it.
We live in hell.
We live in hell.
Reposted by Emilia
"Assume everyone I interact with online is struggling with their mental health" has only become a more important guiding principle in the past couple years
My personal guidelines for dealing with people on social media:
Assume everyone is a friend you haven't yet gotten to know.
Assume everyone is struggling with their mental health
Don't promise any emotional labor you might not be able to provide
If someone seems like a hater, disengage right away
Assume everyone is a friend you haven't yet gotten to know.
Assume everyone is struggling with their mental health
Don't promise any emotional labor you might not be able to provide
If someone seems like a hater, disengage right away
November 26, 2025 at 7:47 PM
"Assume everyone I interact with online is struggling with their mental health" has only become a more important guiding principle in the past couple years
Reposted by Emilia
I once asked a bookseller at a large indie store how many people would have to buy a book for it to get the attention of the store buyer and cause an additional order and they said: Three.
I see some book piracy discourse, and, to make a positive argument in favor of buying books, your marginal ability to influence what books get published and support the careers of writers you like is massive compared to most other forms of media.
November 25, 2025 at 11:07 PM
I once asked a bookseller at a large indie store how many people would have to buy a book for it to get the attention of the store buyer and cause an additional order and they said: Three.
Reposted by Emilia
One of the producers on Guilty Gear Strive said it was basically impossible to source player feedback on balance changes online because nobody had original opinions and would just parrot what the most popular content creators said and so they had to rely on data and I think about that every day.
November 23, 2025 at 4:08 AM
One of the producers on Guilty Gear Strive said it was basically impossible to source player feedback on balance changes online because nobody had original opinions and would just parrot what the most popular content creators said and so they had to rely on data and I think about that every day.
Reposted by Emilia
Did you know that Yarn Spinner tests and deploys all our software on some old PCs a friend found in a dumpster? 🗑️🔥
We entered a competition to win $5000 to buy better gear, so we can test and deploy to more storefronts and platforms. Now we need YOUR VOTE 🫵 Help us out? 💚 woobox.com/fw8p3z/galle...
We entered a competition to win $5000 to buy better gear, so we can test and deploy to more storefronts and platforms. Now we need YOUR VOTE 🫵 Help us out? 💚 woobox.com/fw8p3z/galle...
November 26, 2025 at 12:54 AM
Did you know that Yarn Spinner tests and deploys all our software on some old PCs a friend found in a dumpster? 🗑️🔥
We entered a competition to win $5000 to buy better gear, so we can test and deploy to more storefronts and platforms. Now we need YOUR VOTE 🫵 Help us out? 💚 woobox.com/fw8p3z/galle...
We entered a competition to win $5000 to buy better gear, so we can test and deploy to more storefronts and platforms. Now we need YOUR VOTE 🫵 Help us out? 💚 woobox.com/fw8p3z/galle...
This is a great intro to pelvic floor issues.
I increasingly view this as inextricably linked with the intersection of queerness, neurodivergence, and trauma. If your nervous system is atypical in any of those ways, get these muscles and fascia checked.
www.wired.com/story/the-pe...
I increasingly view this as inextricably linked with the intersection of queerness, neurodivergence, and trauma. If your nervous system is atypical in any of those ways, get these muscles and fascia checked.
www.wired.com/story/the-pe...
The Pelvic Floor Is a Problem
Everyone’s suddenly obsessed with the pelvic floor—physical therapists, MAHA influencers, me. Could this deeply misunderstood body part really be the seat of so much modern dysfunction?
www.wired.com
November 25, 2025 at 10:38 PM
This is a great intro to pelvic floor issues.
I increasingly view this as inextricably linked with the intersection of queerness, neurodivergence, and trauma. If your nervous system is atypical in any of those ways, get these muscles and fascia checked.
www.wired.com/story/the-pe...
I increasingly view this as inextricably linked with the intersection of queerness, neurodivergence, and trauma. If your nervous system is atypical in any of those ways, get these muscles and fascia checked.
www.wired.com/story/the-pe...
Reposted by Emilia
Go up
> you cannot enter Nirvana with Desires in your inventory
>drop Desires
you now have 2 Desires
> you cannot enter Nirvana with Desires in your inventory
>drop Desires
you now have 2 Desires
March 23, 2024 at 2:08 PM
Go up
> you cannot enter Nirvana with Desires in your inventory
>drop Desires
you now have 2 Desires
> you cannot enter Nirvana with Desires in your inventory
>drop Desires
you now have 2 Desires
Paper about fetal autopsy after maternal COVID infection.
“Our observations reveal that SARS-CoV-2 can be widely distributed in fetal organs through vertical transmission… Further, proteomic profiling reveals DNA damage and immune imbalance in infected organs.”
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
“Our observations reveal that SARS-CoV-2 can be widely distributed in fetal organs through vertical transmission… Further, proteomic profiling reveals DNA damage and immune imbalance in infected organs.”
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Presence of SARS-CoV-2 in fetal organs via intraamniotic infection - Nature Communications
Infection with SARS-CoV-2 during pregnancy may result in maternal and fetal complications. Here, the authors analyze 18 fetuses following maternal SARS-CoV-2 infection and identify distribution in fet...
www.nature.com
November 24, 2025 at 11:39 PM
Paper about fetal autopsy after maternal COVID infection.
“Our observations reveal that SARS-CoV-2 can be widely distributed in fetal organs through vertical transmission… Further, proteomic profiling reveals DNA damage and immune imbalance in infected organs.”
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
“Our observations reveal that SARS-CoV-2 can be widely distributed in fetal organs through vertical transmission… Further, proteomic profiling reveals DNA damage and immune imbalance in infected organs.”
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
You can argue that western-style beds are the wrong tools, or that the American mattress industry is fucked (it is), but I think there are few better places to spend your money than “how you spend literally 1/3 of your life”
November 24, 2025 at 5:48 PM
You can argue that western-style beds are the wrong tools, or that the American mattress industry is fucked (it is), but I think there are few better places to spend your money than “how you spend literally 1/3 of your life”
I have plenty of critiques of Pluribus, but I just keep thinking about how much it rocks that The Big Prestige Show Everyone's Talking About is at its core a character study of a middle-aged lesbian.
(A white cis lesbian, sure, but I'll take that in the current political environment)
(A white cis lesbian, sure, but I'll take that in the current political environment)
November 22, 2025 at 10:53 PM
I have plenty of critiques of Pluribus, but I just keep thinking about how much it rocks that The Big Prestige Show Everyone's Talking About is at its core a character study of a middle-aged lesbian.
(A white cis lesbian, sure, but I'll take that in the current political environment)
(A white cis lesbian, sure, but I'll take that in the current political environment)
Hey, Bernie has the right take on AI. It's impossible to have a reasonable discussion about what tools are transformative in what ways (or not) if the big picture is "these are tools aimed at the goal of widening instead of shrinking the inequality gap"
www.youtube.com/watch?v=h30N...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=h30N...
The Billionaires’ plan for AI | Sen. Bernie Sanders
YouTube video by Senator Bernie Sanders
www.youtube.com
November 22, 2025 at 8:31 PM
Hey, Bernie has the right take on AI. It's impossible to have a reasonable discussion about what tools are transformative in what ways (or not) if the big picture is "these are tools aimed at the goal of widening instead of shrinking the inequality gap"
www.youtube.com/watch?v=h30N...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=h30N...
I’ve learned my body tolerates rice better or worse at (consistent) different times of day, presumably because different microbes in my microbiome are active at different times.
I’m fascinated by this, and also wish this science experiment had a feedback loop other than “causing me physical pain”.
I’m fascinated by this, and also wish this science experiment had a feedback loop other than “causing me physical pain”.
I'm currently reintroducing white rice into my diet at the speed my poor body can handle, which means I started by eating literally 1-2 grains a day and now weeks later I'm up to a whole teaspoon.
It's hard to convey how miserable this is, especially if food is (was) a source of joy for you.
It's hard to convey how miserable this is, especially if food is (was) a source of joy for you.
I'm lucky in that while I was once down to literally only 3 safe foods (white rice, chicken, kale)--which took me 3 weeks and 15 lost lbs subsisting on multivitamins and broth to even figure out--I'm now up to "just" a strict low histamine diet.
But this is why we tell you to protect yourself--
But this is why we tell you to protect yourself--
November 22, 2025 at 5:59 PM
I’ve learned my body tolerates rice better or worse at (consistent) different times of day, presumably because different microbes in my microbiome are active at different times.
I’m fascinated by this, and also wish this science experiment had a feedback loop other than “causing me physical pain”.
I’m fascinated by this, and also wish this science experiment had a feedback loop other than “causing me physical pain”.
A lot of people are going to say “they killed off Morpheus in The Matrix Online”, but the important bit is they killed him off *in a live event with paid human GMs live-roleplaying*
After "film trilogy that dropped a critical plot point exclusively via timed Fortnite event" and "video game series whose story only makes sense if you're aware of the events of a canon pachinko machine", I feel like there are whole frontiers of user-hostile narrative design waiting to be explored.
November 22, 2025 at 6:38 AM
A lot of people are going to say “they killed off Morpheus in The Matrix Online”, but the important bit is they killed him off *in a live event with paid human GMs live-roleplaying*
Reposted by Emilia
Sektori is the most Finland coded game I've ever played. It feels like you got Isekei'd into a demoscene demo. This is the kind of game they'd invent in a YA novel in 1995 where dying in the game means they blow up the earth.
November 22, 2025 at 5:09 AM
Sektori is the most Finland coded game I've ever played. It feels like you got Isekei'd into a demoscene demo. This is the kind of game they'd invent in a YA novel in 1995 where dying in the game means they blow up the earth.
Okay I have been extremely nerd-sniped by linguistics olympiad problem sets, and you can too if "solve paper puzzles about real languages you don't speak" sounds appealing
ioling.org/problems/sam...
ioling.org/problems/sam...
Samples
International Linguistics Olympiad official website
ioling.org
November 22, 2025 at 4:33 AM
Okay I have been extremely nerd-sniped by linguistics olympiad problem sets, and you can too if "solve paper puzzles about real languages you don't speak" sounds appealing
ioling.org/problems/sam...
ioling.org/problems/sam...
A few years ago I had a project that involved extracting the art assets from a copy of MS Bob, and you may be either delighted or horrified to know that the entire thing is a series of Access database files with bitmaps embedded directly in the DB
November 21, 2025 at 7:29 PM
A few years ago I had a project that involved extracting the art assets from a copy of MS Bob, and you may be either delighted or horrified to know that the entire thing is a series of Access database files with bitmaps embedded directly in the DB
Reposted by Emilia
Hey, I bet you didn't hear that Zork 1, 2, and 3 were open-sourced today!
…Oh, you have heard. Yeah. Way ahead of me. :)
Here's my comments, and some details that you might not have seen.
blog.zarfhome.com/2025/11/zork...
…Oh, you have heard. Yeah. Way ahead of me. :)
Here's my comments, and some details that you might not have seen.
blog.zarfhome.com/2025/11/zork...
Zork is now open source
Two years ago, I wrote: Microsoft-the-company does not care about Infocom. But a lot of people in Microsoft must care. Microsoft is heavily populated by greying GenX nerds just like me. Folks who grew...
blog.zarfhome.com
November 21, 2025 at 3:19 AM
Hey, I bet you didn't hear that Zork 1, 2, and 3 were open-sourced today!
…Oh, you have heard. Yeah. Way ahead of me. :)
Here's my comments, and some details that you might not have seen.
blog.zarfhome.com/2025/11/zork...
…Oh, you have heard. Yeah. Way ahead of me. :)
Here's my comments, and some details that you might not have seen.
blog.zarfhome.com/2025/11/zork...
Welcome to Springfield - Fortnite | The Simpsons
YouTube video by Fortnite
www.youtube.com
November 21, 2025 at 4:18 AM
Reposted by Emilia
Reposted by Emilia
literally nobody else in the entire retro computing community I've seen so far has done this, and this is a VERY conservative group. fuck John Carmack.
I just learned that John Carmack misgendered and deadnamed Rebecca Heineman in his "tribute" over on Twitter. He probably thinks it's okay when talking pre-transition days, but FYI, most trans people hate that. Worse, he never calls her "she," switching to "they" for recent memories. Fuck that guy.
November 20, 2025 at 4:41 PM
literally nobody else in the entire retro computing community I've seen so far has done this, and this is a VERY conservative group. fuck John Carmack.
Been thinking about the tension between "transition is a thing you complete" and "transition is a lifelong journey".
For most there's a sense of "after a few years, the mechanics of hormones etc fade away".
But I don't think you can separate the larger project of psyche unification from gender.
For most there's a sense of "after a few years, the mechanics of hormones etc fade away".
But I don't think you can separate the larger project of psyche unification from gender.
November 20, 2025 at 7:05 PM
Been thinking about the tension between "transition is a thing you complete" and "transition is a lifelong journey".
For most there's a sense of "after a few years, the mechanics of hormones etc fade away".
But I don't think you can separate the larger project of psyche unification from gender.
For most there's a sense of "after a few years, the mechanics of hormones etc fade away".
But I don't think you can separate the larger project of psyche unification from gender.