This isn't just about crimes like the identity of Jack the Ripper, DB Cooper, the fate of the two English princes locked in the Tower of London, or what happened to Jimmy Hoffa. There are so many mysteries throughout history that are unlikely to ever be fully solved or explained, that we can only theorize about.

What is the Voynich Manuscript? Who was the Man in the Iron Mask? Why was the Mary Celeste abandoned? What's up with the Dyatlov Pass Incident? What's the real story behind the Pied Piper of Hamelin? What did Anne Boelyn really look like?

There's an infinite wealth of mysteries throughout history, so which ones do you find the most intriguing? Bonus points if they're more obscure, or a smaller local one!

Sorry if this is a dumb question, I've done some browsing and haven't found an obvious answer. Subscribing to the a tildes rss feed works great, except that link topics open the link itself, not the Tildes thread. I'd ideally want it to open the thread in the first instance, not the link directly. Is this something that's possible that I just haven't been able to figure out?

Have had a bicycle for most of my life and was a particularly avid biker as a teen - taking out my Sekine 10 speed and doing 40 miles just for the heck of it was a regular weekend ritual.

And then middle age and family intruded. Still had a bike but it got pretty dusty in the garage.

But last year I saw a classic recumbent in the local ads. I've tried a recumbent trike and absolutely loved it, but where I live, riding a trike with your head only a couple of feet above the road is a sure fire way to get run over by a lifted truck that didnt see you. So I bought the bike, a RANS Stratus XL for a mere $300. With an aluminum frame, its surprisingly light for a long bike.

The only real con is that this bike is a bit unstable at really slow speeds, but once you get rolling its very comfortable and stable. The frame absorbs some of the worst road bumps so its smooth and the long wheelbase is great for my tall frame, I can really stretch out.

But the best part is that Im laying back in a sweet lounge chair, as God intended, instead of bent forward with a kinked neck, sitting on a tiny seat that is certified torture device after an hour of riding.

Its still early in the year and Im still outta shape but riding a recumbent has brought back the joy of biking. And I havent even been run over once.

A little over a week ago I picked up a 3x3 Rubik's cube after seeing a coworker mess with one. I love fidgety things either as a stimming activity or as a puzzle. Do any of you have other fidgety puzzles to recommend?

I was thinking about this during my run today. I have a playlist where I put songs that I consider to be the "most iconic" and I want help filling it out a bit. I'd also like help determining if some of these aren't iconic enough, but the main ones I'm asking about are literal theme songs, so that may give them some extra points.

Now, this is of course at least semi-subjective, but I have tried to not put songs that are just really great or that everybody knows or that nobody will be singing next summer.

There are certainly multiple ways to define "iconic." I'm really trying to stick to the songs where you don't have to explain how or why it's iconic. It just is, and "everybody" knows it. The way I see it, this could actually exclude some of the biggest songs of all time because yeah, they're popular, but they aren't an icon.

So, before I use any more awful, self-justifying logic, let's get into my list so far!

In the Air Tonight
Born in the USA
Roundball Rock
CBS March Madness Theme
Monday Night Football Theme
Bridge Over Troubled Waters
Hallelujah by Jeff Buckley
Hey Jude
American Pie

Some songs from Grease because I'm sure at least one qualifies, but I grew up hating it because my sister loved it so I don't know which one(s) to include (or exclude, rather)

I can obviously think of a lot of other obviously extremely iconic songs but I've only added songs when I happened to listen to them. So what are Tildes' thoughts?

I've always been a big fan of going to a second hand book store/thrift store and searching around for some cheap books to add to my bookshelf. When I was younger, it helped me get more bang for my buck, and growing up in the greater Portland Oregon area, I had access to Powell's Books which was an amazing place to go and see how many books I could get for $10-20 when my parents would take me.

I don't get to shop for books often as I made a foolish (joking) agreement with my wife that I would read all of the books I own before buying new ones, but when I do, I love that sense of going into a used book store/thrift shop and seeing what I might find.

I tend to try and complete series that I'm missing books in or that I know are on my to read list and will often pull out my phone to check. But when I was last browsing through the used book stores near the market my family goes to, it got me wondering how other people search go thrifting for books and I thought up a few questions below

Do you:

• judge books by their cover?
• have a list of books you search for?
• set a spending limit and see what you can get?
• go with family or friends, or is it a solo venture?
• frequent the same shops or try to cast a wide net?
• use online sites to purchase your second hand books?
• have any fun stories you'd want to share?

If you have other thoughts on buying books second hand, feel free to share them!

Tildes is a very serious site, where we discuss very serious matters like seismology, minimalism.digital and charles dickens. Tags culled from the highest voted topics from the last seven days, if anyone was nerding out.

But one of my favourite tags happens to be offbeat! Taking its original inspiration from Sir Nils Olav III, this thread is looking for any far-fetched offbeat stories lurking in the newspapers. It may not deserve its own post, but it deserves a wider audience!

With round two wrapping up we're seeing some pretty great basketball this year. The Nuggets are my local team and this OKC-Denver series has been brutal; finals caliber ball. Watching these teams play with grit and determination every other night really is what I like about sports.

Excited for game 7, OKC at home are definitely the favorites, but would love to see the Nuggets advance. I am a bit apprehensive about taking a clearly exhausted team into a series against a rested Timberwolves.

What are some storylines you're following, what do you think about the state of the playoffs?

Have you watched any movies recently you want to discuss? Any films you want to recommend or are hyped about? Feel free to discuss anything here.

Please just try to provide fair warning of spoilers if you can.

Right now in the US Joann is going out of business and Ditto pattern projectors are ultra-cheap. That being said I don’t have much hobby money these days so I can’t just impulse buy. I have done some research and they have some very mixed reviews since it’s a very closed ecosystem. So I was hoping to get some opinions and see if it’s worth it at ~$75. Right now I want it primarily from FOMO because of tariffs on Chinese goods.

Honestly half of me wants to buy it just because it comes with a cutting wheel and board.

Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix
Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari
May 16-18, 2025

Qualification:
Saturday, May 17, 2025 - 14:00 UTC / 10:00a US EDT

Grand Prix:
Sunday, May 18, 2025 - 13:00 UTC / 9:00a US EDT

See your local time here

Next race:

Monaco Grand Prix
Circuit de Monaco
Sunday, May 25, 2025