AnimalsDream

So, going from Mealie’s instructions, having to learn how to work with Docker, whatever underlying server you’re working with, and a database system is easy 2-5 minutes?

Such as?

A large part of it is the obnoxious monetization and general enshittification and privacy violations, but that’s not all. There are a number of usability annoyances. If I’ve been away from Discord for a little while and try to continue where I left off in a thread on a server, it never properly preserves where I last stopped reading. There are often times when I get notifications but it won’t actually take me to the relevant message, and that can even result in situations where the ping just gets lost entirely.

Then there’s things inherent in Discord’s design and how people use it. It’s become a tool that people have decided is a convenient replacement for chats, wikis, and forums - but it’s a shittier version of all of those things. Pinned messages are such a tucked away and half-baked feature. The fact that people are using Discord both to organize and discuss projects - as well as using that same space to host documentation or other critical knowledge-bases has made information significantly less accessible. I don’t want to join someone’s niche club just to “learn more.” If I want to read something I would rather just go to a wiki on the actual open web.

Discord is hot garbage ultimately for the same reasons as Facebook. It’s trying to be everything to everyone, and dropping a black box on the open web by doing so. It’s just another example of people trading convenience for actually using the appropriate tools for the kind of job they’re trying to do.

How so?

Isn’t everything a pain to selfhost?

Sometimes, but my point is you don’t have to start from scratch. It’s free software. You are allowed to make extensions or even fork it.

Sure, go for it. Though XMPP has so many features at this point, it might already have Matrix, irc, Discord, and email for all we know. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

We really need to stop abandoning existing foss projects and thinking a whole new thing needs to be invented. Free and open-source software is not a product, it doesn’t abide by the same rules and relationships that proprietary tech does.

It’s more organic. It’s also a commons that we can continue to draw on, and reshape. If I recall correctly, there were something like three different vector graphic editors from the same codebase before Inkscape managed to be the one that gained traction.

Matrix isn’t perfect, but abandoning it just to reinvent it all over again just because some people really need a thing that works like Discord, even though Discord is absolute hot garbage; is just going to re-create all the same problems. Matrix today is better than it was two years ago. And Matrix in a year will be better from now.

I dunno, hearing him talk makes me feel like I’m being cursed.

Almost. Kind of more like:

w̴̝̉A̷̘͋t̸̨̊E̴͖̔ŗ̸͝ ̴̞͗l̵͉̍E̷͉͝f̵͙̄T̸̜̅ ̷̰̀i̷͙̿N̷͙̒ ̸̪͠a̸̪̐ ̵̪̑G̷̥̾l̷̜̑A̶̩͠s̵̟̿S̸̡̍ ̵̠̕o̷̙̓Ṽ̶̬e̴̲̕R̸͈̐ṇ̷͠I̸̝̾g̶̹̐H̶̛̪t̷̞̓ ̴͙̍T̶̜̊a̵̳͌S̵̩̈́t̵͊͜E̸͚̐ś̴̤ ̴̡̆B̸͎̌â̷̞D̶̳͐ ̵͕̌b̴̭͗Ë̵̟́c̵̮̆Ä̷́ͅu̵̹̾S̶̝͛e̷͚̓ ̷̠̆I̸̛̯ť̵̙ ̸͙͗G̶͎͐e̵̞̿T̷̬̕s̵̟̍ ̵̱͌H̸̡̉a̴̟͝Ǘ̸̞n̸̖̅Ṭ̷̎ḙ̴̽D̴̡̓

That peak oil never stopped looming just because we pretend it doesn’t exist. Finite resources are finite.

Date sugar kind of dissolves, but it’s also high fiber, so it has a thickening effect. Unfortunately when it comes to sweeteners, the only ways to really keep them healthy is to make sure they’re combined with a source of fiber and antioxidants, to blunt blood sugar spikes and prevent inflammation. Natural low calorie sweeteners like Stevia might be an option, but it’s not clear what their health impacts may or may not be either.

I’ve never seen a chocolate bar that can truly be called healthy. See this comment for details on why. While it is possible to make a healthy chocolate-flavored treat, It’s not possible to make a healthy true chocolate bar.

I think you’re right, it’s not possible without modifying the product so much that it can no longer be considered a true chocolate bar. I was going to post another comment in this thread about how I would make a chocolate bar. The sugar isn’t even the hard part - the thing that makes sugar harmful is when it’s 1) refined away from a whole-food source, 2) consumed in excess, and 3) part of a diet that is high in both sugar and fat, and low in other nutrients like fiber and phytonutrients. The first issue can be solved by using date sugar as the sweetener, which is just whole pulverized dates. Molasses (in small amounts) could also play a role.

The bigger problem is the cocoa butter itself. That stuff is really high in saturated fats, and chocolate cannot be considered chocolate without it’s inclusion. If I were to prioritize health over adhering to a standard, I would use either some kind of nut butter as a replacement (ideally one high in omega 3, like walnut butter), or a healthier oil like canola oil. Hmm, maybe avocado could be a good choice.

At this point I think it starts to run into stability issues, so an emulsifier of some sort would be desirable. I wouldn’t want to use industrial products like lecithins, so maybe something like chickpea flower. But then at this point we’re gone so far from chocolate bar that we’re probably talking about something that would be closer to a brownie texture.

Another thing I found in looking into this is that there are two main forms of cocoa powder/solids. The one used in chocolate bars uses a so-called “Dutch process” which leads to a product that is lower in flavanoid/polyphenol content. The other kind of cocoa, usually sold as “natural cocoa powder” has higher acidity, so a more sour taste. It requires either more sugar to taste good, is generally preferred more in baked goods, or in some cases will include an alkaline ingredient to neutralize the acidity.

So in pursuing health I end up removing literally every ingredient that makes a chocolate bar what it is. I guess I’m just finding out that I don’t like chocolate bars after all. XD

It’d be interesting to experiment with these lines of thought and see what comes out…

What a stupid opinion to block someone over

I dunno, I’ve yet to see a chocolate bar product that actually gets everything right. I think that it’s entirely possible to make a chocolate bar that is not only every bit as much candy as any other, but is completely health-promoting as well. The bar here is really just the status quo.

Milk chocolate is ruined chocolate.

Edit: I’ll elaborate. The primary health benefit of chocolate is the high antioxidant levels. So if a chocolate producer wants their product to lean on the health-promoting side, the last thing they want to do is include an ingredient that eliminates the primary benefit that a thing is known for. Dairy literally acts as an antinutrient in this sense, blocking the absorption of antioxidants in chocolate. It’s been shown to do this to coffee, tea, and berries as well.

Soy milk would be a relatively better choice, but then again, like dairy, soy is one of the most common allergens. So I would argue oat milk would be the best choice for “milk” chocolate.

This. There are defined criteria as to what a real cult is, and once you have any familiarity with that, you realize that 99% of what people call “cultlike” is really just culture.

Yikes, ice cream is one of the worst things you could be eating, super high calorie density and extremely high fat content. Here is a far better ice cream alternative that can be made at home.

Processed or not, sugar is only turned to fat in the body if it is 1) fructose, or 2) more than what you need. Every cell in our bodies can store sugar in the form of glycogen. If our glycogen stores are low, any consumed sources of sugar will be enzymatically broken down, the fructose converted in our liver, and the glucose converted to glycogen and circulated in our blood to replenish the rest of our stores. Then after this process the excess will be converted to fat.

As for fatty acids themselves, they generally go to our muscles first if needed, and then the rest fills our fat cells.