@LaserMistress@mstdn.social
@LaserMistress@mstdn.social avatar

LaserMistress

@LaserMistress@mstdn.social

She/her. Creator ☆ Experience ☆ There U Glow founder ☆ LaserBloc mutual aid member ☆ LaserKick founder & designer ☆ AuDHD & CPTSD ☆ Recently worked https://hachyderm.io/@crowdsupply & https://mastodon.social/@oshwassociation

Multiskilled expert, including: open source hardware, LEDs, lasercutting, electronics, code, events, ⓕ𝑒ᵉ𝓛ings, people.

Currently hirable.

Alt text - Header: VSCode window w/code for the buttons on an Adafruit Neotrellis.

User: a woman against a rainbow background tipping down a big hat.

This profile is from a federated server and may be incomplete. Browse more on the original instance.

LaserMistress, to random
@LaserMistress@mstdn.social avatar

I've been working on some LED stuff for Portland Winter Lights, and have also started the (currently unsure) process of bringing my femme and queer-run electronics camp, There U Glow, to life this year for our third year.

I am also going through some wild personal shit.

So I wrote it all up on Patreon. Always free and open, always neurodivergently real.
✨
https://www.patreon.com/posts/harder-winter-u-97987512
✨
Or if you just want to look at some very pretty LED lights, here you go:

https://www.tiktok.com/@clairedaniellecassidy/video/7332524894019947822
✨

LaserMistress, to random
@LaserMistress@mstdn.social avatar

I wish women and marginalized folks of all kinds wouldn't immediately and horrifically consistently call themselves stupid when I offer them my free guide to learning addressable LEDs.

I understand it in my bones. We've nearly all been nonstop conditioned to know that we are not the smart one, the technical one, the one who owns the space of numbers and code and electronics. Each one of us uniquely "knows", from before memory, that we fundamentally don't belong to those things.

LaserMistress,
@LaserMistress@mstdn.social avatar

The few of us who slip through are reminded every single day that we don't really belong. If we quietly disappeared absolutely no one would really notice, because we were never expected.

The even fewer who get conditioned with confidence and a sense of belonging soon get slapped down in horrific ways, then pushed to never ever talk about it.

This isn't a monolith of a story, of course, but I engage socially about this with a wide range of people, and this is what I see over and over and over.

LaserMistress,
@LaserMistress@mstdn.social avatar

I'm not going to give a listacle of fixes. It wouldn't make a damn difference. Those already exist.

What I see it come down to, over and over, is that cis white men will ease their conscience by finding where they aren't the problem. And will also see no problem with entering any technical, genius, "smart" conversation, space, hobby, activity, forum, anywhere, with emotionless confidence and ownership.

Every lovely, sweet, smart ally of a cis white man I know also knows they belong to tech.

LaserMistress,
@LaserMistress@mstdn.social avatar

I don't think, to move through this (and we could), that women and marginalized folks need to move towards learning more and being more brilliant and understanding better.

That would have worked already.

Men, particularly cis white men, need to understand how to give up space. Fundamentally understand not being selfish, even unintentionally. Learn how to include people not as a guilty afterthought. Learn how to feel like tech doesn't even belong to them. Get other hobbies. Just try.

Imagine.

LaserMistress,
@LaserMistress@mstdn.social avatar

P.S.

Another note for techy guys who want to help.

NEVER pull that fucking knee-jerk thing where you call yourself an idiot and how it's "just code" or "just...anything technical". Don't take a skill that already makes most people feel incredibly lost and dumb and small, that you CLEARLY belong to, and call yourself stupid and that it's "nothing" and that "anyone can do it" and it's "not hard".

It's making it much worse. Own the gatekeeping. Acknowledge it's hard. Say they can do it too.

MLE_online, to random
@MLE_online@social.afront.org avatar

I would really like to dress better. I see people wearing stylish clothes, but when I go shopping, the clothes are all so boring and bland.

LaserMistress,
@LaserMistress@mstdn.social avatar

@MLE_online well...I have a deep respect for it because I've been dressing myself outrageously since I was 14 and I feel like I've only nailed my preferred "style" in the last few years. It really is a deep skill, an art, it takes a lot of practice and dedication.

I really like scrolling through shops online, that helps me a ton. I also know to only wear comfortable things, period, which limits my options to a nice sandbox. But knowing what's in and out of that took ages.

AliExpress is dope.

LaserMistress,
@LaserMistress@mstdn.social avatar

@MLE_online going to stylish events also helps a lot to see what does and doesn't work. I'm a party kid and worked comicons for a decade, that ability to see stuff without trying it all helps a lot. Maybe when you go out anywhere, try to notice what you like? Then try finding similar stuff online or at thrift stores. It's a doable learning curve.

LaserMistress,
@LaserMistress@mstdn.social avatar

@MLE_online Understood, apologies for the undesired direction of advice. I'm mostly pointing out how beating myself against the wall that you are pointing out (yes, this is cray hard) has brought me success. I have about a 75% success rate with stuff from China, specifically AliExpress.

Thrift stores are my jam. And I often google specific terms and find things I like in little pop-up boutiques online and Etsy.

I've also been increasingly using Poshmark and Mercari.

LaserMistress, to blahaj
@LaserMistress@mstdn.social avatar

MY ELEPHANTS. I HAVE DONE A THING.

I design and sell and give away lasercutting files and lasercut jewelry and after #CCCamp23 I was extremely excited and inspired to make lasercut #blahaj #ikea shark earrings and I fucking FINALLY listed them.

You can buy the files for a few bucks to make and even sell them yourself, or if you don't have funds but do have a laser please just DM me and I'll send you the file for free!

Weeeeee!!!

https://laserkick.etsy.com/listing/1661472173

#trans #ProtectTransFolks #transjoy

LaserMistress, to random
@LaserMistress@mstdn.social avatar

Lovely how people are crediting tradesme...sorry, tradespeople right now because yes, electricians and plumbers are super cool to have in a climate emergency.

Sure do wish that rampant and common toxic patriarchy (that's nearly completely accepted and ignored) didn't keep, oh, 75% of the population from becoming electricians and plumbers.

Would love to be out there helping. Can't get myself into a position to do so because I'm not willing to be miserably abused. The truth of trades.

LaserMistress, to random
@LaserMistress@mstdn.social avatar

I'm seeing an interesting trend between and . When called out on their disgracefully gross single tone white cis male speaker lineups, they each responded with "we tried reaching out to other types of people (let me guess, a few white women), and they refused us".

This seems to clear their conscience and resolve it for them.

ahem YOU HAVE NOT MADE AN ENVIRONMENT GOOD FOLKS WANT TO PARTICIPATE IN.

YOU CHOOSE EVERY DAY TO NOT CHANGE THAT.

YOU ABSOLUTELY COULD.

LaserMistress,
@LaserMistress@mstdn.social avatar

@hacks4pancakes ah, I really don't know much about that con, I'm just seeing a ton of posts go by from infosec folks. Should I hashtag something more specific? I'm trying to point at how this is a terrible trend across spaces, but I don't want to do harm or misinformation.

LaserMistress, to random
@LaserMistress@mstdn.social avatar

I haven't understood the edit notification aspect of mastodon very well.

It's fairly important to me to be able to edit my posts...many times. It's an important part of my process.

  1. Are my post edits pissing off everyone who's interacted with my post, for every edit? Really?

  2. What do other folks do to mitigate this?

#feditips

LaserMistress, to random
@LaserMistress@mstdn.social avatar

I bet ya'll can help me with this.

I run a lockpicking village, of sorts (more like a cozy lockpicking lounge), at a local event each year.

The whole purpose is to entice femmes, queers and generally people who have been encouraged to consider themselves "non-technical" to play around with this fun hacker hobby.

I do well, but it's very hard to find accessible, friendly lockpicking guides, infographics or information, especially ones that are not gratuitously patriarchal.

Halp? Links?

LaserMistress,
@LaserMistress@mstdn.social avatar

@mattblaze @Crispius

This is neat. If I'm not using it for commercial purposes, could I use the images and text? Thanks either way!

LaserMistress, to random
@LaserMistress@mstdn.social avatar

My contribution, as a CPTSD survivor and expert, to the delightful collective #JoinIn phenomenon:

A list, in no specific order, of some tools, tactics and concepts that have pulled me through times I didn't know how to get through, a 🧵 and massive resource:

LaserMistress,
@LaserMistress@mstdn.social avatar

(a 🧵)

  • did you know depressed brains don't take in positivity in the same way as non-depressed brains? It can even trigger your amygdala, your stress response, pretty badly. If you are sensing this is happening, try framing how you talk to yourself or the things in front of you in a ✨neutral✨ way. Not good, not bad. Not extreme.

Like this: instead of "fuck I have to shower I hate showering" try: "I'll get wet and I'll tolerate it and I will be out fairly quickly".

#JoinIn

LaserMistress,
@LaserMistress@mstdn.social avatar
  • When you just can't handle existing, focus on sensory stuff. Can you be drinking something warm or cold with flavor in it? Can you find comfy pants? A fluffy blanket? Can you change the lighting? Can you put headphones or noise cancelling earplugs in? Can you take control of the music in the room? Can you stretch your fingies slowly? Can you watch something good? Can you push all of this to occupy your thoughts and chase sensory comfort as an activity? Do it. Do it often. 💖

#Joinin

LaserMistress,
@LaserMistress@mstdn.social avatar

(a 🧵)

  • Search "tapping games" on your phone. Games that make you tap access the left and right side of your brain and helps them cross-connect. It's physically brain-soothing. If you really like tapping, there's an entire therapeutic modality called "the tapping solution" you can download too.

Similarly, if you are having an active meltdown, try good 'ol Tetris. It has interesting research showing that it helps with PTSD.

#JoinIn

LaserMistress,
@LaserMistress@mstdn.social avatar

(a 🧵)

  • And, finally, in 2020 I created this completely free, massive 15 page list of the best mental and emotional health resources that have helped me most in my long, often impossible feeling existence with CPTSD and the depression and anxiety that comes with it. I've been updating it over the years. It probably has something for ya, and it's got pretty pictures.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1CsWiFXAUCX4oNlzHFNRRWmenxZiQNjXSSrNxMM8OmnU

#JoinIn #mutualaid

LaserMistress, to random
@LaserMistress@mstdn.social avatar

"Role incredulity is a form of gender bias where women are mistakenly assumed to be in a support or stereotypically female role — secretary, administrative assistant, court reporter, nurse, wife, girlfriend — rather than a leadership or stereotypically male role, such as CEO, professor, lawyer, doctor, or engineer."

Ah yes, a term that describes my entire life.

https://hbr.org/2021/12/when-people-assume-youre-not-in-charge-because-youre-a-woman

LaserMistress, to random
@LaserMistress@mstdn.social avatar

Halfway through soldering some 1.5cm ws2812 pebbles to a combined barrel and JST connector for some party lighting and thought I might as well post a beauty shot. I'm quite proud of my delicate soldering skills.

Fun fact: I use a "hook" method of combining wires, where each wire makes a "U" shape and hooks together, then you pinch it all together nicely. I started this years ago, intuitively, because that's how I make fine jewelry. I later learned that this is apparently the way NASA does it 😊

LaserMistress, to lasercutting
@LaserMistress@mstdn.social avatar

Genuine question: Could I get a job where I primarily design lasercutting vectors? A good job, decent pay, stable, maybe remote, all that.

I'm wicked good at it with almost a decade experience. I just hadn't considered it as a primary vocation somehow. Probably because I don't have and didn't intentionally pursue a graphic design degree.

More context is I'm a hardware hacker and electronics PM.

How and where do I even look for this kinda gig?

#GetFediHired #jobhunting #lasercutting

LaserMistress, to random
@LaserMistress@mstdn.social avatar

Found in the wild: EU startup is apparently successfully harnessing body heat from ravers through geothermal heat pump tech and turning it into a useful (?) amount of energy. It gave off big vaporwave feels to me, but I tracked it down enough to know it is installed, running, and being called a success. So, tentatively, hell yeah 🎉

https://www.bodyheat.club/

https://www.fastcompany.com/90674380/this-nightclub-traps-dancers-body-heat-to-warm-and-cool-the-building

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