Truly amazing when you think about it. We are all so entitled.
Almost as entitled as the corporations who want to charge us rent to do something relatively simple like this on a modern computer, and have actively attempted to undermine general accessibility to tools like this in order to profit more.
To give a specific example of how powerful Blender is, in geology there are very very very very expensive 3d modelling programs and then there is like... Sketchup which I guess Google hasn't abandoned? idk... even the basic GIS software for geologic mapping from ESRI is expensive AF, especially if you want to do any fancy 3d rendering or map making.
Enter this guy
You already know this guy is cool as fuck just from that photo, but let me tell you how exactly how lowkey cool Marcus Schwander is.
(btw I have zero connection to this guy, I know next to nothing about him, I literally just found his videos from searching "Blender Geology" on youtube randomly)
His video series shows quite clearly and exhaustively how to do extremely complicated geologic mapping of complex fold belts with lots of faults using Blender. What I can't stress enough is that the workflow he is detailing in the proprietary software world would be EXTREMELY niche, require exhaustive licensing and setting up payment and getting software keys.... blah blah blah and ultimately it would be a very expensive workflow, possibly requiring software licenses that cost thousands of dollars or more (I am not kidding). On top of the prohibitive cost, any kind of documentation, additional plugin development, or content creators who make tutorials about how to use the tools is an order of magnitude rarer for those tools because access to the tools in the first place is so prohibitive (and is usually only along narrow circumstances, not the kind of situation someone would organically decide to make a youtube tutorial channel about a software that costs $30,000 a license necessarily). In contrast, try searching for "Blender tutorial" in youtube and just take a cursory glance and the absurdly exhaustive amount of resources out there about learning Blender.
I have been teaching myself Blender because I want to make similar tutorial videos because it is ridiculous to me idea that in 2025 geologists don't have an open format to visualize geologic structures and map them in a natural 3d environment that can be then shared with other geologists, in a established non-proprietary format that a geologist can ensure that any other geologist can open and view the model/data themselves, because again if you have a computer you can get Blender....
I am firmly of the belief that Blender should be taught as a basic part of a Geology curriculum along with a GIS class, not a primary focus or anything, but the tool is so general and so broadly useful that I think we owe it to future scientists to teach everybody we can how to use Blender.
As a last point, I want to emphasize that I am not suggesting using Blender to make cool fancy cinematic visualizations of Geology because it looks cool, or suggesting trying to do lots of complex modelling and computation in Blender instead of a GIS software, those are both awesome uses of Blender but what I am suggesting is that by simply teaching the next generation of Geologists how to use a 3d modelling software just for the simple purposes of giving them a tool to sketch out ideas or explore a geologic map from a 3d perspective (which can be useful ESPECIALLY when talking to other people about specific geologic structures that are difficult to explain without a 3d perspective to point to) Blender is going to forever change how Geologists use computers to do Geology.
It is a cool moment because on the flip side... there is a LOT of money in Geology and I think the Blender community could and will absolutely find serious, sustainable long term funding from Geology companies and academia associated entities that could massively bolster development capability and funding security.
Hey, I was a GIMP convert even during the long dark ages of GIMP where you couldn't do any kind of bulk layer selection or moving or lots of maddening things... and you know what I kept fucking using it because it was always there for me, ready to help me make a shitty meme.
GIMP has recently gotten MUCH better though, it is a straight up beast now.
Damn what a poor use of "very", it doesn't increase the impact here, it just deflates the entire sentence.
Kind of impressed how elegant of an example this is of using "very" in a completely impotent way.
The ONLY reason to add "very" to that sentence is if you are full of shit and you know it but you are still half-assing some kind of rhetorical defense.
It’s not rare that a 7 years old Reddit comment solves my issue.
It will be soon, and I agree but I think we will all be shocked how quickly the fediverse grows lots of niche communities. I don't think the numbers will grow as fast as the amount of niche content either, because I think this will be a product of highly motivated people who come here specifically to recreate those niche communities and contributing to fleshing them out far more than a similar sized community would be on a corporate social network.
I feel like this conversation is slipping into equating "makes fediverse grow faster" to "good".
Maybe most people need to have an initial experience where they get pushback for behaving the way they did somewhere else?
That is of course a dangerous rationalization to apply, as it can be used for any kind of shitty treatment of people, but there is also a similar danger to assuming that whatever will bring people in the fastest is inherently good.
I mean, there is kind of already 4chan-like spaces on the fediverse, they are just mostly off in their own corner because nobody else wants to deal with childishly incomplete visions of how moderation should work in a community to keep the most vulnerable people safe.
Thank you for commenting! I agree too, it is conversation that makes a place a place, not headlines and articles handed down to silent readers.
The way I see it - the early adopters set the tone of a place and new arrivals are more likely to adopt that approach. So it is important to be kind now, so people will be kind later.
Even if a bunch of people flood in and "dilute" that culture, that will never erase the fact that if we make sure to be as nice as possible as early adopters of the fediverse, that any corruption of that initial culture will be remembered as such.
The narrative of this place as being about being nicer, kinder (still very flawed) and more accepting will live on, no matter what, even if we fail to meet that ideal for periods of time.
Personally though, I think it matters what version of people you invite in, so if as an early adopter I try to invite in the best versions of people (which includes actively trying to invite in the best version of me) because those best versions of people will turn around and invite in the best versions of other people.
I don't know why this isn't considered an old adage at this point, but it is fun as fuck being part of a kindness snowball, it is empowering, heart warming and inspiring all at the same time. Plus the thing you help participate in creating just grows in power so much, you can't help you did something real even if you were just a tiny tiny tiny tiny part of it.
Confirmed, Operation Two Legs is a go, it has launched and is currently still undetected by humans. Initiate Clear and Present Milkbone Protocol directive SQUIRREL
Improvisational Comedy/Theater is the study of how comedy and theater can be produced out of thin air by putting people on stage who are good at active listening to each other. It is shockingly beautiful to behold when you see it click live.
"a man couched in greatness"