Recommendations wanted:

Does anybody know of a Fediverse instance that supports long-form blogging with images, accepts new members, and is not limited in content to technology?

Boosts appreciated for visibility, thank you.

Hey FediFam. My timeline is thin. I’m looking for #recommendations for people who are into #ttrpg, #videogames, #technology or any cool geek stuff. Feel free to recommend yourself if you're a cool, fun person.

fiber arts friends - I have another friend who's interested in getting back into spinning. she's shopping for fiber, and I want to direct her to cool folks to get fiber from! she's currently using a drop spindle, and looking at kick spindles, so is also interested in second-hand / cheaper ones.

please send me links to pass along!

edit : preference for US-based sellers

Five Books: The Best Books On Everything

We ask experts to recommend the five best books in their subject and explain their selection in an interview.

This site has an archive of more than one thousand seven hundred interviews or eight thousand book recommendations. We publish at least two new interviews per week.

https://welchwrite.com/blog/2025/03/25/five-books-the-best-books-on-everything-shared/

I want to improve my #German skills at some point. TV shows and movies motivate me a lot. So does anyone have any #recommendations of decent shows, movies or YouTubers to watch?

I'm also open to more TV shows, movies and podcasts in #Spanish too since I'm at a stage where I don't have to look up as many words as I used to and it's really really enjoyable to be at the stage where I can just enjoy things.

( I'm open to all genres except for excessive or realistic gore. Cartoon-y gore is fine e.g. Invincible on Amazon Prime. )

So, our less-than-ten-year old defective-from-the-factory Samsung cooker has bitten the dust. I'd like to hear from the bakers and chefs what ovens you've had, whether or not you like them, and SPECIFICALLY WHAT you like or dislike about them.

My own priorities are utility and reliability (the Samsung failed on both accounts). We do a lot of bread baking, as hot as possible (290 -- 315C / 550-600F), other baking anywhere from 120--230C (250--450F), as well as broiling and roasting.

Bread baking likes a steamy oven. The oven need not have a steam feature but should be able to hold steam if added (e.g., a pan on the oven floor). The unit as a whole must handle bread-baking temps without melting or damage (another massive fail of the Samsung).

Other nice-to-haves: convection, and settings for bread proofing and fruit/meat drying.

The range hobs should support a Moka pot, which requires burner grates that support a small-diameter vessel (6--10cm / 3--4 in). Closed-cross designs work, open-cross does not. (This is a curiously common failing of many cookers.)

Griddle and wok rings would be nice, but not necessary.

Gas range preferred (I know), "dual fuel" electric oven works.

Boosts appreciated.

Anybody have recommendations for external hard drives + thunderbolt (i.e. Mac compatible) for backup these days?

Brands/drives that are known to be reliable, foremost, but secondly also good speed if possible.

Hey Mastonauts! I'm putting together a presentation on Mastodon and want to showcase some cool accounts. Could you drop your favorite follows below? Feel free to categorize them (e.g., tech, science, press) or just throw them my way! I'll compile a comprehensive list to share. Thanks in advance!
#Mastodon #Recommendations #Followers

Looks like we may be in the market for a new electric range. Looking for your opinions on brands, buying tips, or any other advice!

**Viking History: Book Recommendations!**

Michael Kist

#Video length: eleven minutes and three seconds.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9xg200wQvw

#History #Vikings #Nonfiction #Books #BookRecommendations #Recommendations #Bookstodon @bookstodon

Hey world, I'm trying to read the news less obsessively, and I'd like to look into options for staying up to date on a more weekly or monthly basis.

Wants:
Printed infinitely preferred, not digital: I'll have a baby in July and I want to be less screen-bound
Source critical and left-leaning
Bonus if it can focus on positive news over doom-based headlines

I know that's wishing for the moon on a stick, but I thought I'd ask. I'm in the UK for reference.

I'm looking for podcast recommendations on: research in areas like sustainability, circular economy, post-growth, resource use/depletion, and more generally for green transitions. If you know of anything, I would love to hear about it!
English/German

**Firefox Alternatives?**

Do you have any suggestions for desktop alternatives to the Firefox web browser? Any replies would be greatly appreciated.

Sad news of Mozilla. It's time, finally, to delete Firefox.
Now I want to replace Thunderbird. It's been a battle recently, slow or freezing, unable to connect to the usenet server.

Yes, I still use Usenet. Not for binaries, but for the discussion groups. They are somewhat deserted now, but perhaps some of those who followed the lures of money-making platforms will return.
#Recommendations, please, for access to #Usenet?

Well I just finished #knitting a shawl. I decided 2025 will be the year I knit anything except shawls! I want to improve my skills in knitting #vests #sweaters #socks #fingerlessmitts and #hats . Give me a shout if you have a favourite #knittingpattern in those categories. #knitting_inspiration #recommendations #handmade #handknit

I'm looking for #recommendations for #mp3 player apps for android, specifically for music.

I have multiple apps for playing audio, but they either won't play local files or it would be clunky to do so. Search engines give me sponsored listicles written by someone who hasn't even tried the app ("it has good reviews in the app store."). I'm not sure how we got to the worst timeline.

Small-ish faced people (who, like me, have to staple the bottom of the Boots FFP2 NRs), what's your fave N95/FFP3?
*Not* from Amazon, if possible.

Also don't really like the round the head straps, they're terrible for getting in and out of places quickly (which I'm doing a lot in London!) and having yknow, hair.

Need some more. Appreciate the recs.
#masks #recommendations #CovidIsNotOver #covid #flu #safety #antifascism #health #HealthEquity

Posted my second video of music recommendations. One more to go but I do think I may change the format to better utilize the platform.

All is still work in progress

https://www.whisperingyak.com/week-2-of-music-recommendations/

As always - critiques, feedback, music recommendations, etc - always welcome.

I've had a deep craving to smell like strawberries lately. Strawberries and vanilla would work too.

My strawberry ChapStick isn't enough.

Any recommendations for a perfume or body lotion that would fit that description?

Mechanical keyboard people, I am looking for some pointers.

I hope to improve my mechanical keyboard experience by changing keycaps profile. Starting simple, no plans for fully custom build (yet).
I do feel the current one is too tall, as I do have quite small hands and pressing top rows is a bit too hard to reach.

I do also feel that the general keyboard rise of the back (paired with keycaps profile) is not helping there.

Is there anything I could do to counter this too high rise?
I was looking into the cherry profile, not sure though if it's still not too tall.

Keyboard:
Razer BlackWidow Chroma v2
Green switches (clicky, tactile)
UK layout (sv qwerty) with non standard bottom row

Any recommendations on what profiles to look at and maybe also where? Would like to also add some flair to it ;)