Ask Lemmy

Well, about the typical things. I write software. I play TTRPGs and video games and watch Star Trek and Star Wars. (Hell. I've been watching Red Dwarf lately and it's amazing. There's a niche thing for you.)

But aside from the more stereotypical nerd things, I've been really studying the fuck out of U.S. (because that's where I live) intellectual property and contract law lately. I've been watching law school study aids kind of content and reading this book that's mostly just the text of tons of legal rulings from the U.S. Supreme Court and federal circuit courts on the subject of intellectual property.

The most interesting things to me in that space at the moment are:

• The history of the duration of copyright in the U.S., the 1998 "Sonny Bono" Copyright Term Extension Act and the case "Eldred v. Ashcroft" which (unsuccessfully 🙁) challendged its constitutionality.
• The case "Software Freedom Conservancy v. Vizio, Inc." and how the courts are agreeing to interpret the GNU GPL not just as a copyright license but also as a contract and the strategic benefits that could offer for GPL-enforcement cases moving forward.

Cryptography. It just fascinates me and I constantly want to know more about it.

I know that it is not very original around 'ere but linux

I'm definitely the stereotypical nerd in a lot of ways. I'm hugely into Star Trek, D&D (and TTRPGs in general), Pokemon, and sci-fi/fantasy novels, especially Brandon Sanderson and Becky Chambers. I'm running a Pokemon TTRPG campaign.

I'm probably equally nerdy about alcohol though, which is fun, and can augment all the other hobbies. I like to make specialty cocktails for premiers, and events in general, as well as thematic drinks for TTRPG sessions. We don't have a dining room at my house, we have a bar.

Music and especially everything audiophile related. I got so many CDs at home, all ripped to .flac, and all of it is on my android Sony Walkman that I carry with me 24/7. Nothing beats listening to your favorite album through a pair of 1000$ earbuds while laying in bed, working or taking the bus.

Absolutely random, useless trivia.

Startrek

I think I'm a general shop nerd. I like making things for myself from scratch. You'll find me in the kitchen, you'll find me in the wood shop. I own and operate a 3D printer I built. I suppose it fits a shut-in like myself.

Eurovision

Currently:

• LBA/EIA Mediterranean history
• Early Christianity history, especially around heresies and apocrypha
• Large language model alignment and abstractions
• Simulation theory
• Tech futurism

In the past:

• Psychology
• Prestidigitation
• Photonics
• Politics
• Programming
• Computer security
• Cognitive science
• Film studies
• Marketing & Advertising

Though for as long as I can remember my biggest interest has always been video games. It's just fairly common, especially on Lemmy.

Isn't this post a bit backwards, most of us on Lemmy are nerds, and probably in multiple ways, this post should be the opposite, where the nerds highlight all of the ways that they're "cool" or whatever.

Computer Science, hacking, physics, economics, geopolitics, jazz music... Im a generalist mostly

Science in general, plus points if it's something related to microbiology or something in the human body going wrong.

Linux, custom vape mods, water cooling

Phase 1 MCU, but specifically Civil War. I have and will write essays about my feelings on that whole deal and I still have resentment toward Tony stans who spent literal years cluttering up Ao3 with their dumb fics about how he never did anything wrong in his life. I think it mostly just got to me so much because what they were fundamentally defending is the existence of human registries for anyone meeting certain criteria, regardless of their actions (right as we had conservatives supporting Muslim registries in real life) and stuff like secret prisons with no trial (like an even worse Guantanamo), and it was really fucking concerning.

Oh, see, I'm doing it again.

Warhammer 40k

I do astrophotography as a hobby. It's frustrating, expensive, incredibly taxing since you're up all night. And then there's always pictures from things like the JWST people will compare your comparatively crappy images to. But I like doing it and will talk the ear off of anyone that asks.

By nerd, do you mean expert or enthusiast?

Tadpole shrimp! I just think they're neat :)

I'm a bit of a nerd about longboarding and also building Commander decks in Magic the Gathering.

I wouldn't say I'm an expert in either case, but I'm really interested in trying different setups and also seeing people discuss their own experiences and builds.

Mate, love a bit of Russian lore and all that. If you want to have a bit of an eye opener, give The First Circle by Alexander Solzhenitsyn a read. It's funny but you'll feel guilty laughing.

I've always been a huge nerd for geography and traveling. Every other interest I tend to hyperfixate on then fall out of, but those 2 seem to be eternal. I love learning the history and geography of new places and going to see them.