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    3. What have you been watching / reading this week? (Anime/Manga)

      ~anime Ask (survey)
      What have you been watching and reading this week? You don't need to give us a whole essay if you don't want to, but please write something! Feel free to talk about something you saw that was...

      What have you been watching and reading this week? You don't need to give us a whole essay if you don't want to, but please write something! Feel free to talk about something you saw that was cool, something that was bad, ask for recommendations, or anything else you can think of.

      If you want to, feel free to find the thing you're talking about and link to its pages on Anilist, MAL, or any other database you use!

      4 votes

    4. Weekly US politics news and updates thread - week of January 9

      ~news Text 73 words
      This thread is posted weekly - please try to post all relevant US political content in here, such as news, updates, opinion articles, etc. Extremely significant events may warrant a separate...

      This thread is posted weekly - please try to post all relevant US political content in here, such as news, updates, opinion articles, etc. Extremely significant events may warrant a separate topic, but almost all should be posted in here.

      This is an inherently political thread; please try to avoid antagonistic arguments and bickering matches. Comment threads that devolve into unproductive arguments may be removed so that the overall topic is able to continue.

      4 votes

    15. What have you been listening to this week?

      ~music Ask (survey)
      What have you been listening to this week? You don't need to do a 6000 word review if you don't want to, but please write something! If you've just picked up some music, please update on that as...

      What have you been listening to this week? You don't need to do a 6000 word review if you don't want to, but please write something! If you've just picked up some music, please update on that as well, we'd love to see your hauls :)

      Feel free to give recs or discuss anything about each others' listening habits.

      You can make a chart if you use last.fm:

      http://www.tapmusic.net/lastfm/

      Remember that linking directly to your image will update with your future listening, make sure to reupload to somewhere like imgur if you'd like it to remain what you have at the time of posting.

      5 votes

    23. These are my old PC spare parts. I wanna build a new PC. What's the best I can do with those? (details in the post)

      ~tech Ask (advice)
      So I disassembled my old PC, and there are a few spare parts that I believe are still good. According to the technician, the motherboard is fried. I have no way to test this, so I'm believing him...

      So I disassembled my old PC, and there are a few spare parts that I believe are still good. According to the technician, the motherboard is fried. I have no way to test this, so I'm believing him for now.

      I wish to use those parts on a new desktop PC, but I have no idea where to begin... what do I need to buy new? Of what kind/brand/specification/pricepoint?

      So here's what I got:

      • AMD Ryzen 5 2400G processor
        • with the AMD cooler that came with it
      • 1TB 7200RPM non-SSD hard-drive
      • 1 Ballistix by Micron 16GB 2400MHz RAM stick
      • 1 240GB WD Green Sata SSD M.2 2280

      I may have access to another 8GB RAM stick of unknown origins from my partner's old PC, but she's a bit protective of those things so I'll way for her to be home to open it in front of her :P

      There's a power source attached to the case, which reads ATX-600W. Image1, image2.

      The computer case itself is a little beat up but I don't care about looks at all. Its external dimensions are 34.5cm by 35cm, with a width of 16cm. Here's how it looks (Xbox controller for scale).

      I wanna build a new machine with the goals of:

      • video editing
        • so Adobe Premiere, Adobe After Effects, some audio work, and maybe streaming.
      • gaming
        • nothing super high-end, I'll probably get one or two 1080p 24" monitors because 4K reduces my options quite a bit. But here are some of the games I'm looking forward to playing (all MMOs): World of Warcraft Classic and Retail, FFXIV, Guild Wars 2, and the upcoming Ashes of Creation (which I believe is an Unreal 5 game).

      My budget (including the monitor or monitors) is roughly 1400 US dollars. I understand that is not a lot of money for the majority of Tildes users, but that is just my reality. My 1400 US dollars PC is very much a luxury around here.

      If needed for budget purposes I can get just one monitor now, and another down the road.

      So, what's the best I can do?

      Thanks! ;)

      10 votes

    25. Fitness Weekly Discussion

      ~health Ask (survey)
      What have you been doing lately for your own fitness? Try out any new programs or exercises? Have any questions for others about your training? Want to vent about poor behavior in the gym? Started...

      What have you been doing lately for your own fitness? Try out any new programs or exercises? Have any questions for others about your training? Want to vent about poor behavior in the gym? Started a new diet or have a new recipe you want to share? Anything else health and wellness related?

      11 votes

    28. 2023 BAFTA predictions

      ~movies Text 367 words
      BAFTA, aka the British Oscar’s recently released a longlist. In recent years BAFTA has moved onto a juried system. This was made in order to make the nominees more diverse (as BAFTA has often been...

      BAFTA, aka the British Oscar’s recently released a longlist. In recent years BAFTA has moved onto a juried system. This was made in order to make the nominees more diverse (as BAFTA has often been the worst offenders in keeping the nominees white). So if you see some weird nominations from movies you’ve never heard of that’s why.

      There are some categories that are not juried: Film and Screenplay being the above-the-line categories to not be juried at all. But the rest are partially juried, meaning the top 3 of normal vote getters get nominated, and the next 3 are juried. Here we go.

      Best Film

      1. The Banshees of Inisherin
      2. Everything Everywhere All At Once
      3. TÁR
      4. Top Gun: Maverick
      5. Triangle of Sadness

      Best Director

      1. The Banshees of Inisherin
      2. Everything Everywhere All At Once
      3. TÁR
      4. Aftersun
      5. Saint Omer
      6. Corsage

      Original Screenplay

      1. The Banshees of Inisherin
      2. Everything Everywhere All At Once
      3. TÁR
      4. The Fabelmans
      5. Triangle of Sadness

      Adapted Screenplay

      1. Living
      2. All Quiet on the Western Front
      3. Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
      4. Women Talking
      5. The Wonder

      Lead Actress

      1. Cate Blanchett - TÁR
      2. Michelle Yeoh - Everything Everywhere All At Once
      3. Michelle Williams - The Fabelmans
      4. Danielle Deadwyler - Till
      5. Lesley Manville - Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris
      6. Ana De Armas - Blonde

      Lead Actor

      1. Colin Farrell - The Banshees of Inisherin
      2. Austin Butler - Elvis
      3. Brendan Fraser - The Whale
      4. Bill Nighy - Living
      5. Paul Mescal - Aftersun
      6. Darryl McCormack - Good Luck To You, Leo Grande

      Supporting Actress

      1. Kerry Condon - The Banshees of Inisherin
      2. Jamie Lee Curtis - Everything Everywhere All At Once
      3. Dolly De Leon - Triangle of Sadness
      4. Aimee Lou Wood - Living
      5. Janelle Monae - Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
      6. Hong Chau - The Whale

      Supporting Actor

      1. Ke Huy Quan - Everything Everywhere All At Once
      2. Brendan Gleeson - The Banshees of Inisherin
      3. Brad Pitt - Babylon
      4. Barry Keoghan - The Banshees of Inisherin
      5. Albert Schuck - All Quiet on the Western Front
      6. Michael Ward - Empire of Light

      Casting

      1. Everything Everywhere All At Once
      2. The Banshees of Inisherin
      3. Triangle of Sadness
      4. Aftersun
      5. All Quiet on the Western Front

      Best British Film

      1. The Banshees of Inisherin
      2. Living
      3. Aftersun
      4. Good Luck To You, Leo Grande
      5. The Wonder
      6. Brian and Charles
      7. Mrs Harris Goes To Paris
      8. Lady Chatterley’s Lover
      9. Blue Jean
      10. Roald Dahl’s Matilda The Musical
      11. Emily
      4 votes

    39. What did you do this week (and weekend)?

      ~talk Ask (survey)
      As part of a weekly series, these topics are a place for users to casually discuss the things they did — or didn't do — during their week. Did you accomplish any goals? Suffer a failure? Do...

      As part of a weekly series, these topics are a place for users to casually discuss the things they did — or didn't do — during their week. Did you accomplish any goals? Suffer a failure? Do nothing at all? Tell us about it!

      4 votes

    49. What are your financial goals? What habits, practices, and strategies do you use to reach them?

      ~finance Ask (survey)
      How do you spend your money? How do you want to spend it? How do you save? I'm curious what strategies my fellow Tildenizens use to spend efficiently, build savings for retirement and other...

      How do you spend your money? How do you want to spend it? How do you save?

      I'm curious what strategies my fellow Tildenizens use to spend efficiently, build savings for retirement and other purchases, and otherwise maximize their financial lives. How do you use your money to maximize your happiness?

      Here's me: I'm young, single, thankfully debt-free, and my annual salary is about $70,000. I'm able to save approximately 35% of that by living relatively frugally:

      All My Stuff
      • I live in a big city, but not an expensive one. I pay rent, but it's pretty low for the amenities I have access to.
      • I live with a roommate to reduce expenses. We're on the same wavelength about minimizing spending.
      • I don't own a car and rely on public transit and carpooling to get places. I also work from home.
      • I go out of my way to shop at the cheapest grocery stores in the area to cut my weekly bill in half (or more).
      • I have three credit cards, but I always keep my utilization low and never miss a minimum payment.
      • I have a separate bank account (checking) for bills than for general spending. I set up my direct deposit to automatically put in all necessary funds for bills into the bill account. Then I set up autopay with all my providers so I don't miss payments. I have one month's buffer in this account in case there's some issue with my paycheck.
      • I contribute as much as I can to my employer-provided 401(k) savings account every month and invest in index funds. I can get to about 65% of the IRS max contribution limit with my income.
      • I contribute to a Roth Individual Retirement Account (IRA) every month to reach the IRS max contribution limit for the year, and invest in index funds.
      • I have a high-deductible healthcare plan (HDHP) which lets me use a Health Savings Account (HSA). My company pays a little into my HSA each month, and I contribute a similar amount to reach the IRS max contribution limit. Instead of using the HSA to pay for medical expenses, my strategy is to pay out of pocket for all expenses and simply invest the funds in my HSA in index funds to maximize their growth potential. Since this account is so tax-advantaged, investments here are more efficient (as far as I can tell) than in any other account I know of.
      • I have a taxable brokerage account that I contribute a small amount to each month. I know this isn't technically as efficient as putting more into my 401(k), but I figure I might want to use some of this money before I retire. I also kind of like betting on random stocks. Irresponsible, I know, but it's like $20 at a time. Gotta have fun?
      • I set up my TreasuryDirect.gov account to automatically buy I-Bonds while inflation is high, but only on the order of $100/mo. I don't know when I should stop exactly... we'll see what the interest rates are in May?

      I'm not really sure what I'm saving for here. I know you're not supposed to make financial decisions without a plan, but I honestly don't know what I want to do in the next 5 years, let alone 50. People tell me that I should buy a house to build equity instead of throwing away money in rent, but I'm enjoying not dealing with maintenance, and I don't know if I want to stay in this city for more than a few years. It's cute, and I have friends here, but city hall is full of goobers and there are too many highways nearby messing with the feng shui.

      Someone also suggested that I buy a small property and rent it out through a property management company, even if I'm still renting myself. Besides landlords being the scum of the earth and the moral quandaries that might present if I were to become one (even a tolerable one), that also feels like a lot of work. Possibly also financially unrealistic considering I'd need a 20% down payment on a house I don't intend to live in, and... I don't have that.

      I also might switch careers soon-ish, possibly to software engineering, which has a better earnings potential. I've avoided it in the past because I feel like I'm just not good enough at programming. I don't know how I would properly improve those skills now that I'm out of school.

      My pipe dream is that I want to build a really fricking big building. That's my goal. I want it to be really sick and have big Gothic spires and gargoyles and stained glass windows and cool stone carvings everywhere (but also be ADA accessible and not full of asbestos, because it's 2023). And people would come from miles around and say, "Wow, that's a cool building." All the non-racist secret societies could meet in its various hidden chambers and do whatever they do. I would hire whoever builds concert halls to design the acoustics so I could have some bomb choirs going in there, and make the floor sprung so they could do those crazy ballet dances too. Maybe at the same time. Also there would be a moat full of lava. And a robot dragon to guard it all just in case. I think this would cost upward of $500 million in total. Unfortunately that's slightly out of budget, even at my abnormal savings rate.

      But priorities change, right? I figure that if I can save enough to make myself think I might be able to build my big-ass building one day, when I eventually realize, "Wait a second, my kid needs to go to college," I'll accidentally have enough to make that happen.

      How does this compare to your life? What tips, tricks, and ideas would you like to share to help each other out? What are your financial dreams? I'm really interested in chatting with everyone about this.

      6 votes