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    1. Physical keyboard for android phone?

      I have a quandary. Even with a decent android keyboard (Typewise offline keyboard), I still find myself hampered by gettingnanstringnofnwordsnwhereni miss the space bar. Sometimes I miss n "A"...

      I have a quandary. Even with a decent android keyboard (Typewise offline keyboard), I still find myself hampered by gettingnanstringnofnwordsnwhereni miss the space bar. Sometimes I miss n "A" key. I am very out put by my likelihood of getting "out" when I meant "put" and vice versa.

      I am becoming a part time worker / primary parent while my wife goes back to a full time job, which means I do a lot of waiting in places where I'm typing extended sections of text (like this one) in places where its not really practical or appropriate to pull out a laptop.

      What I really want is a physical keyboard for my phone. It seems like there are a lot of folding and non-folding options that are meant to work on a table with the phone as a screen. But if I could do that, I could pull out my laptop.

      If I had a wish that could get me anything, I'd like a split thumb keyboard where the two halves sandwich (and grip) the phone the way the joycons go on a Nintendo switch.

      The best thing I have found so far is this keyboard puck. I have bought a similar device for HTPC, and it is surprisingly easy to use. This still has the downside of requiring the use of with hands and not having a way to hold the phone. Maybe I could 3D print some kind of mount, but something with a built-in mount would be much better.

      I'm wondering how others have solved this problem? I'm open to almost anything that makes me a faster /more accurate typist on the go.

      20 votes
    2. What is your preferred VPN?

      For a few years now, I've been using ExpressVPN, and have enjoyed it immensely. However, with the price going up (I know, everything else is too), I'm looking to see what other VPN services are...

      For a few years now, I've been using ExpressVPN, and have enjoyed it immensely. However, with the price going up (I know, everything else is too), I'm looking to see what other VPN services are good.

      And just to give so.e detail, for the most part I use VPN for two reasons: Being (slightly) safer when torrenting, and also to access websites that are not available where I live (in Japan these days).

      NordVPN jumps to the top when searching, but something seems fishy about it. So, what are your suggestions?

      55 votes
    3. Request - Suggestions of a laptop brand or style for someone who is clumsy

      I don't want to pay an extra thousand dollars for 'rugged' design suitable for military deployment, but the user in this case is not well coordinated at all and it should be able to survive being...

      I don't want to pay an extra thousand dollars for 'rugged' design suitable for military deployment, but the user in this case is not well coordinated at all and it should be able to survive being dropped.

      I otherwise need sufficient memory and speed to boot reasonably quickly and to run standard text, spreadsheet and database programs without annoying lag.

      9 votes
    4. Fitness Weekly Discussion

      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
    5. What have you been listening to this week?

      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.

      12 votes
    6. Songs or albums to push headphones or speakers to their limit

      This was a challenge to summarise in a title, but what I am after is a discussion of songs or albums with sound detail and design with high complexity that is also enjoyable to listen to....

      This was a challenge to summarise in a title, but what I am after is a discussion of songs or albums with sound detail and design with high complexity that is also enjoyable to listen to. Listening to songs that really push the speakers to their limit in terms of detail is a joy, one could argue that all music does this, but from my perspective some recordings really shine through when you listen to them with proper high-quality high fidelity speakers or headphones. Most classical music fall within this genres but there are plenty of other genres which are interesting.

      Some examples:
      CLARITY - Jacob Collier
      Hand Covers Bruise - Trent Razor and Atticus Ross
      Dream of Arrakis - Hans Zimmer
      Eyjafjallajökull - Nordlight

      I hope I managed to make myself understood, if not I will try again! Anyways, what are your favourite complex pieces of music?

      27 votes
    7. Weekly US politics news and updates thread - week of October 2

      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.

      11 votes
    8. Looking for Magsafe wallet recommendations

      I've recently purchased a cover for my android phone, which supports Magsafe (dBrand Ghost for anyone looking for the product). I'm trying to find Magsafe compatible wallets, with the following...

      I've recently purchased a cover for my android phone, which supports Magsafe (dBrand Ghost for anyone looking for the product). I'm trying to find Magsafe compatible wallets, with the following requirements:

      1. Hold about 4 cards
      2. Have sufficient space for cash (essential), and a pouch for coins (preferable)
      3. Would be great if it could act as a stand for the phone in portrait or landscape mode. (preferrable)
      14 votes
    9. Formula 1 Qatar SPRINT RACE 2023 - Results

      Warning: this post may contain spoilers

      Since it's a weekend with a Sprint Race, thought I'd do a separate post for the Sprint.

      The big news is that... [SPOILER]

      Max Verstappen is the 2023 World Drivers Champion!

      With 407 points, there aren't enough points left for anyone else, mainly Sergio Perez, to knock him off P1. This is Max's 3rd WDC in a row.

      Redbull Honda wraps up the season with both the World Constructors Championship (in Japan) and now the WDC. I say "wraps up," yet there are 6 Grands Prix and 2 Sprint Races to go.

      And on to the Sprint Race Results:

      Results -- SPOILER
      POS NO DRIVER CAR LAPS TIME/RETIRED PTS
      1 81 Oscar Piastri MCLAREN MERCEDES 19 35:01.297 8
      2 1 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT 19 +1.871s 7
      3 4 Lando Norris MCLAREN MERCEDES 19 +8.497s 6
      4 63 George Russell MERCEDES 19 +11.036s 5
      5 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 19 +17.314s 4
      6 55 Carlos Sainz FERRARI 19 +18.806s 3
      7 16 Charles Leclerc FERRARI 19 +19.860s 2
      8 23 Alexander Albon WILLIAMS MERCEDES 19 +19.864s 1
      9 14 Fernando Alonso ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES 19 +21.180s 0
      10 10 Pierre Gasly ALPINE RENAULT 19 +21.742s 0
      11 77 Valtteri Bottas ALFA ROMEO FERRARI 19 +22.208s 0
      12 22 Yuki Tsunoda ALPHATAURI HONDA RBPT 19 +22.863s 0
      13 18 Lance Stroll ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES 19 +24.523s 0
      14 20 Kevin Magnussen HAAS FERRARI 19 +24.970s 0
      15 24 Zhou Guanyu ALFA ROMEO FERRARI 19 +26.868s 0
      NC 27 Nico Hulkenberg HAAS FERRARI 11 DNF 0
      NC 31 Esteban Ocon ALPINE RENAULT 10 DNF 0
      NC 11 Sergio Perez RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT 10 DNF 0
      NC 2 Logan Sargeant WILLIAMS MERCEDES 2 DNF 0
      NC 40 Liam Lawson ALPHATAURI HONDA RBPT 0 DNF 0

      Source: F1.com

      On to the actual Grand Prix, tomorrow!

      7 votes
    10. Fitness Weekly Discussion

      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
    11. Which board games have you been playing? (to 25th September)

      Tildetablers, What board games, card games and whatnot have you been playing this week? Don't be shy, share those sessions! For me it was a single game of Western Legends with expansions. I've...

      Tildetablers,

      What board games, card games and whatnot have you been playing this week? Don't be shy, share those sessions!

      For me it was a single game of Western Legends with expansions. I've played this game, sans expansions, a couple of times and have never really been blown way, but the expansion certainly helped and I enjoyed it a whole lot more.

      The game sets you as a character in the wild west. It's a bit of a sandbox game: there are a bunch of things you can do and you have freedom moving around and doing them. You can hustle cattle, play poker, buy upgrades, prospect for gold, fight, steal, &c. You basically earn points by doing each of these things and working your way up various tracks to earn legendary points which are victory points.

      The expansions added a whole frontier area to explore and added story cards, which are basically thematic events that give you goals to claim. I feel like extra board and story cards really improved the experience and immersion and it was much more enjoyable this time around. We also played two characters each, which may also have helped, as this made it possible to explore different strategies at the same time.

      I'm still not massively impressed with the game, but I don't think I'll disappointed if it's suggested now. If I were forced to rate it I'd probably give it a 1.8/π.

      So, everyone, what have you played this week? What did you think? What are you hoping to play next?

      5 votes