If you’ve ever tried to draw a perspective grid by hand, you know that it totally sucks butts. Here’s a quick and easy way that I use that lets me establish the basic perspective of my drawing in less than 30 seconds. This is the first 3 pages of the tutorial, and the rest of it is available on my Patreon!
Idk how many people will benefit from this, and I guess some of my tips will help neurotypicals as well, but its 1 am and I camt sleep so here we go. (In no particular order)
Don’t take the hotel soaps with you. In America, this is perfectly fine. They have to throw them away after each person. But in Japan (at least in the hotels I’ve stayed in), they reuse the shampoos and such. You might notice that its a normal size bottle, and has some missing. That’s because they sanitize the outside of the container and leave it for the next guest until it gets used up. There are a few things like toothbrushes, hair ties, and small packages of shaving cream that are more one use that you can take with you, especially if you’ve opened them. Those they have to throw away.
Japanese thermostats are in Celcius, so if you’re American like me they can be tricky to figure out what temperature it is inside. Google can be very helpful here and has an online converter. Some thermostats have a button to change from Celcius to Fahrenheit as well.
To board the airplane early (if you have an invisible disability and have problems with boarding like me), line up with the wheelchairs and people with small children. In America you can explain in more detail and the Tsa will ptobably ask, but in Japan (and Taiwan for that matter, I had a layover flight there), just say “Special needs” and they let you go right ahead.
Speaking of tsa, their website has a customizeable card you can print out and show at security that tells them what your disability is so they can help you get through security smoothly. Mine says I’m autistic, and my dad has one that says he has an artificial hip replacement.
Weighted blankets have to go through additional screening if they are carried in your carryon. For me this meant that it was removed from my bag and the tsa worker felt each of the pockets to make sure there’s nothing hiding in them. The worker was very respectful and did it in front of me, explaining what he was doing as he went along. He let me fold it and put it back in my bag. I’m not sure how Japan does this, since I transferred it to my checked bag after the overnight flight. Ill update when I go home and go through security again.
If you take prescription medication, check a few months in advance if youre allowed to bring it into the country. Some medications are required to be sent to Japan two months in advance for screening (like prescription painkillers). I take Zoloft and it was not required to go through this process, or be declared at customs. Just make sure you keep it on your body during the entire airplane process. Don’t ever put your meds in your checked bag, in case it gets lost.
Google translate app is you best friend. You can take a picture of anything and it will translate it for you, and if you’re having trouble communicating then you can talk or type into the app and it will translate to Japanese and vice versa. Its very fast and easy, and I used it at the angelic pretty store to ask where the changing room was. The employee spoke into the app and it translated for me, so the language barrier was nearly invisible.
Hotel water is mostly drinkable. Sometimes there is a sign, if theres only one sink. But if there is multiple sinks drink from the one that has the tea making supplies next to it. Thats the kitchen sink and potable.
Walk on the left side of the sidewalk and staircases. In Japan they drive on the left side of the road, and walk on the left side of the path as well.
Dont jaywalk. Ever. Only cross the street at marked crosswalks or pedestrian bridges.
If you’re having trouble finding your way, ask a bus driver. They know the city very well and speak English relatively fluently. Don’t stop random people to ask for directions, that’s weird and rude and they might not speak English.
If you have personal space issues, I would recommend getting a taxi or uber as opposed to riding train and busses. Depending on where youre going and the time of day, the latter can be packed like sardines. Taxi/uber are more expensive, but if this is a serious problem for you then definately make room in your budget for this.
Speaking of crowds, if you’re overwhelmed and need to get out of a crowd quickly shout “sumimasen” repeatedly while walking to your destination (I recommend a bathroom). That word means excuse me, and people will understand that you need to get somewhere quickly.
All Japanese coins are marked with the value except for the little bronze one with a hole in the center. Its worth 5 yen.
If you use a mobility aid, you might feel daunted by the amount of stairs everywhere. However, for every staircase there is an elevator, and sometimes an escalator as well. They are typically marked on the walls, but if you can’t find one ask someone who works at the place you’re at. Some crosswalks are the kind that go up and over traffic, but there is a traffic guard underneath who will stop cars and help you cross. I havent tried this for myself, but for my dad who had his hip replaced and has problems on stairs still.
When in doubt, find and information desk.
7-11 has the best atm machines. This might feel really weird, but 7-11 in Japan is much better then America. Its more like a tiny Wal-Mart.
Spaghetti in Japan doesn’t take like spaghetti. It tastes more like offbrand kraft macaroni and cheese with a slight hint of tomato. Its good, but not what spaghetti is expected to taste like.
French fries are often lightly or unsalted. You might want to ask for salt.
The trains are color coded. If you can’t find your line check on a map in the station what color it is and then follow that color.
If there is a raised step in a room, take off your shoes before going through. Slippers are often provided as well so you’re not barefoot or in your socks.
If you go to a cat cafe and talk about your own cat, you might be asked to show pictures to the staff.
Lots of shops have a ban on taking pictures. If you are unsure, ask an employee. “Camera ok?” Is understood and they will answer yes or no. If you can’t find anyone to ask, just don’t take the picture. Its not worth the risk of getting thrown out.
English swear words are common. So is sexual themes. I passed a condom vending machine walking down a main street. If this bothers you, try to ignore it. Honestly theres no avoiding it.
Most plaves have free wifi, but.renting a pocket Wi-Fi is cheap and then you always have a secure connection.
If you’re having trouble ordering food, a lot of places have the menu on the counter with pictures. Point at what you want. This isn’t rude like it would be in America.
Lots of restaurants have fake food in cases outside. I can nearly guarantee you that what you will be served looks exactly like the representation. I’m surprised every time, having grown up with the American standard of “it looks like its been sat on and ran through a washing machine”.
If a store has multiple levels, a good rule of thumb is to pay at each level.
Most stores have a sign that says “Japan tax free”. To get this, you have to show your passport when you check out. Keep your receipt because tsa might ask for it.
A lot of stores only allow tax free on purchases over 5400 yen, or about $54.
Japan tax is 8%
Wall outlets dont have the classic pig nose input. They only have the two vertical lines. Make sure your charger will work with them, or bring an adaptor.
A lot of places have usb chargers built into the wall next to the outlet.
When paying for something, put the money in the little tray on the counter. Never hand it directly to the employee. They might put you change in the same tray or hand it back to you on your receipt, it varies by shop.
100 yen is about equal to $1. It fluctuates but this is a good rule of thumb.
Dont litter. Its a huge fine and possible jail time. Hold on to your trash until you find a trash can. Most convenience stores and vending machines have one.
Thats all I can think of at the moment, feel free to send asks If you have questions. This is by no means a complete guide, just the ramblings of a very sleepy tourist.
Guide to Figuring out the Age of an Undated World Map.
No but take the time to actually read it because I lost like 15 minutes.
I have a friend who is really good at this type of thing. He once found an old globe at a garage sale and he was able to pin the date of it’s making down to like a 6 month window, because it only would’ve been correct during a specific point in WWII.
I was mad impressed, because I have no mind for geography. I can barely remember my own state’s capitol.
THIS IS GOLD 😂😂😂
This is amazing. Take the time to actually read it.
Holy shit the super specific things towards the end
Oh wow!
I didn’t know anything about the giant lake in California being created by accident?!
I love how it differentiates the maps of Narnia based on which book you’re looking at
Yeah, I know, you’ve all sat through the talks at school telling you never to tell strangers your credit card details or whatever. But it has come to my attention that there are a worrying number of people who don’t know the actual practical things you can do to stay safe and secure while on the web. These tips cover invasions of privacy from anybody including big companies and hackers. It’s probably worthwhile to give ‘em a go.
Personal Safety
Password Safety – Use a different password for every website. I’m not kidding. If you think you’ll struggle to remember that many, you have two options. Firstly, you can use a password manager such as OnePassword, which is probably the safest option. If you’re like me and can’t quite bring yourself to trust one (there’s no reason not to, it just doesn’t sit right with me) you can use variations on a password for unimportant sites, and then come up with secure ones for sites you share more personal info with.
Have I Been Pwned? – This is a website which tells you if your email has been involved in a data breach. Don’t worry if you have been pwned – you have different passwords for everything, remember! Just be aware of what data has been leaked, and change a password or two if necessary. Sign up for their email notifications to stay on top of recent breaches.
ProtonVPN – A VPN, if you don’t know, stands for virtual private network. Picture all the different connections between devices in a network, linked through WiFi or cables, as highways. VPNs section off a lane for your own private use, so nobody can see what you’re sending or receiving. It’s unlikely that anyone will be looking on your home network, but on public WiFi networks it’s important to prevent anyone seeing anything they shouldn’t – it’s not hard to packet sniff! You can also use them to bypass school and workplace website blocking, and access sites blocked in your country. Obviously ProtonVPN isn’t the only one, but I’d recommend em as they encrypt everything and have some pretty beefy systems in place to prevent tracking. It’s available on all devices for free.
ProtonMail – Yes, yes, more ProtonStuff, but this is a really good one. I’ll get onto why Google tracking you is a bad thing later, but if you want to break out of Google’s ecosystem, ProtonMail is a good alternative to GMail. It encrypts all your emails, which means nobody intercepting the email will know what it says. That means it’s great for private matters that you want to keep secret or avoid Google telling people about, like banking and stuff. It’s also a bit more customisable than GMail.
Social Media Checkup – Do you know exactly how much someone can find out about you, just by looking at your social media? Facebook is a special offender for that one (I don’t even have an account there anymore – and dear lord was deleting it a struggle) but Insta, Snapchat, Twitter and yes, even Tumblr, might provide a creep more info than you bargained for. Think about how much you want to make public, or how much the app has on you at all. There are plenty of tutorials on how to adjust your settings.
HTTPS Everywhere – A very handy extension that forces websites to encrypt all your data as you send it back and forth.
Avoiding Tracking
Why? – I know it might seem weird that a large company, or even the government, might want to keep track of little old you. Sure, they can target you with relevant ads, but whatever, you use an ad-blocker anyway. That is, until you realise that behind the scenes, on almost every website you visit, data-brokers are collecting info on you and what you do online, and building a profile of you. It’s not anonymous. And it can be used for anything from determining your creditworthiness and insurance premiums to detailed surveillance. Yeah. With all the protests going on lately, it would make sense to keep these people from learning about you for your own safety and your future.
DuckDuckGo – Start by using this search engine instead of Google, and installing the Privacy Essentials extension. It’s a good search engine, for one thing. For another, it prevents tracking and lets you know whose schemes you’ve foiled, you meddling kid. It gives each site you visit a privacy rating, and lets you know how much it’s increased that by. For example, Tumblr usually receives a D, but DuckDuckGo has blocked some trackers and improved it to a B. It has also informed me that trackers have been found and dealt with on over 50% of the websites I visit. Google is unsurprisingly the main culprit.
Alternative Browsers – There are lots of things you can use instead of Chrome, and many of them work really well! I recommend Firefox, since it’s almost exactly like Chrome but open-source, and it also protects you from trackers and has lots of fun extensions. There are some other good PC ones too like Opera and Vivaldi, but I haven’t used them before so I wouldn’t know how good they are. DuckDuckGo has its own mobile browser which is currently my main one.
Adblockers – You can’t get targeted ads if you don’t get ads! You can choose who to show ads for too, so if you want to support a certain site you can whitelist them. Try UBlock Origin, or Adblock Plus. Install ‘em as extensions for whatever browser you’re using.
Privacy Checkup – Go through your Google account with a fine-toothed comb and check what is being tracked about you. Pause your YouTube history, your Maps history, your Google Assistant history. Clear what you can. Check Amazon too. Also, never ever use Cortana or Siri or Alexa or anything like that. Ever. No matter how cool having a robot assistant is.
And that should be that! I’ll try to keep updating this post with new tips as I find them, but this is everything I do for the minute to ensure I’m protected online.
The post I made about the search function on this site being so garbage has a ton of notes and is way too long for me to want to add on, so I’ll just leave a good clear example on how to find any post on this site as long as its still on someone’s blog
the first part is there to force google to look for the individual post page, rather than just the blog it’s on. if you’ve ever looked up a post and clicked a link only to find a blog that doesn’t have the post on it, it’s because google indexed that blog when that post was on the first page.
second part tells google that the results must have whatever words you put in quotes. they can be in any order, and if you want it to search for words in a specific order you.would.separate.them.like.this.
Also the “avoid refurbished computers” tip is dead wrong.
‘Refurbished’ means it’s been in a technician’s hands recently and can’t be sold as new. That’s it. That’s all. In the US the FTC makes it illegal to sell something new if it’s been sold to an end user, so by definition a lot of perfect, ready-to-go hardware must be ‘refurbished’ in order to sell it again, no matter the circumstances.
Reasons a machine might be a refurb:
– Customer bought the item, decided they didn’t like the color, and returned it
– Customer bought the item, couldn’t figure out how to turn it on, and returned it
– Retailer opened the box for some reason and lost some of what gets shipped inside (manuals, cables, charger) and returned it
– Company bought 100 computers but went out of business before they could be installed or used
– Customer got a replacement for a damaged computer under warranty, and the manufacturer fixed what was wrong with the old machine and is now selling it as a refurb
I HAVE PERSONALLY WITNESSED ALL OF THESE SCENARIOS
Bottom line: ‘refurbished’ hardware has been repaired, tested, cleaned, and renewed back to original specifications by a trained technician. If anything, it’s probably MORE reliable now that it’s been doubly-tested.
All responsibly refurbished equipment comes with a factory warranty… the only refurbs I would avoid are items sold ‘as-is’ without warranty. That’s dangerous unless you know what you’re doing, like buying stuff for parts.
A lot of my most reliable hardware – servers, laptops, tablets – were bought as refurbished goods at huge savings. When I go shopping for a new thing I always look at the refurbished options first.
I know this is a haha funny post, but for anyone who needs it, here’s a quick-and-dirty of what you’re most likely going to see while shopping for a computer/laptop (w/Examples)!
Cores/Intel Cores (Ex. i3, i5, i9)= Processing Speed= how fast your internet and other programs run. More cores is better.
Hard [Disk] Drive(HDD)/Solid State Drive(SSD) (Ex. 250GB, 480GB, 2TB)= How much you can store on your computer (files and apps and programs). A Terabyte(TB) is 1,000 Gigabytes.
*HDD is cheaper and more storage while SSD is faster, more durable, and uses less energy.
Memory/RAM(Random Access Memory) (Ex. 4GB, 8GB, 16GB) = How many different things your computer can do At The Same Time.
Ex. A computer with 4GB of RAM will probably shit itself if you try to play a game with with the internet open.
Shopping for laptops fucking sucks ‘cause I don’t know shit about computers. I’ve never had a computer with a functional webcam or microphone or the ability to play computer games made later than 2005 or a speaker that could play anything loud enough to hear from more than a foot away. How the hell should I know what I want?!
wow that would be such useful advice if only desktop PCs were small and portable and did not require desk tops on which to place them and I could take them with me when I traveled
Video/Graphics Cards (Ex. NVIDIA, Intel HD Graphics, AMD) = How much visual complexity your computer can handle without throwing a tantrum. Only important if you play video games, do digital art, or watch a lot of movies on your computer. (When you’re watching a video and it pixelates and lags when the action stuff happens, that’s a bad/small graphics card)
i found this documentary on youtube about africa’s great civilizations throughout history and it’s really good and chock full of info dispelling harmful myths and preconceptions about african societies, the first part is 2 ½ hrs long and the second part is another 2 ½ hours so there’s a solid 5 hours of content here completely for free and most of the scholars in the documentary are black african scholars and academics speaking about their own people’s history
ifesbob 