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    1. What programming/technical projects have you been working on?

      This is a recurring post to discuss programming or other technical projects that we've been working on. Tell us about one of your recent projects, either at work or personal projects. What's...

      This is a recurring post to discuss programming or other technical projects that we've been working on. Tell us about one of your recent projects, either at work or personal projects. What's interesting about it? Are you having trouble with anything?

      17 votes
    2. What silly complaints would your pets try to report?

      Inspired by a conversation with my mom about how our poor dog didn't get fed until 5:08 instead of 5:00, poor thing seemed convinced we forgot she needed food. Mom joked that Zoey would call the...

      Inspired by a conversation with my mom about how our poor dog didn't get fed until 5:08 instead of 5:00, poor thing seemed convinced we forgot she needed food. Mom joked that Zoey would call the ASPCA to report animal abuse for starving her. And I realized it's really good animals can't call because the lines would be flooded with reports of their humans closing bedroom doors or daring to stop playing after 45 minutes outside on a snowy day.

      So, what silly complaints would your pets make?

      46 votes
    3. TV Tuesdays Free Talk

      Warning: this post may contain spoilers

      Have you watched any TV shows recently you want to discuss? Any shows 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.

      7 votes
    4. My recent experience with helping someone out of context

      Recently I was approached by someone who begged me to financially help them for a personal problem I could sympathize with. I was just approached on the street. There were several reasons why I...

      Recently I was approached by someone who begged me to financially help them for a personal problem I could sympathize with. I was just approached on the street. There were several reasons why I did eventually give them part of what they asked for. Partly since they seemed sincere and partly because they have shown me some papers and an id card. Also since they turned down a smaller sum and offered to repay it which I refused. Some people can well damn seem as what they want to seem, papers can be printed and reused and id can be fake or they can just count on relatively small sums and lack of evidence to dissuade legal action and honestly I don't even know if it would count as crime justice system would pursue.

      For context what I gave them was about third to half of a cheap month's rent so not truly substantial but also not trivial.

      If they did something constructive with it then that is well. If they did something not so good then now I unknowingly funded that and if they just tallied it as good day's work then what I did is simply stupid. I would like to live in a society where this was just not a thing as in anyone not actually malicious would not be in a position to need to do anything like that but where we live it is statistically likely that I am just an idiot.

      In retrospect the halfway I went about it also strikes me. If I believed them and they were genuine I could have given them what they wanted as it would not be all that much more financially impactful. If I didn't and they weren't I should have just walked away as all the other people did and in not doing so I enabled someone at something.

      What is truly stupid of me regardless of anything else is at the end when I just didn't know I effectively flipped a coin, as in looked whether the time on my phone was odd or even to decide, though I did flip it a few times.

      17 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.

      9 votes
    6. Shouldn't somebody *stop* "Meta Superintelligence Labs"?

      Noted smoked meats enthusiast Mark Zuckerberg has recently been running around collecting ML experts for a project involving an organization called Meta Superintelligence Labs, which is set to...

      Noted smoked meats enthusiast Mark Zuckerberg has recently been running around collecting ML experts for a project involving an organization called Meta Superintelligence Labs, which is set to feature compute clusters with names like "Prometheus" and "Hyperion", and which will attempt to "deliver" superintelligence.

      Isn't this sort of behavior on the list of things people are absolutely not to be allowed to do? Or has something changed and we now feel it's safe for Mark Zuckerberg to be allowed control of a piece of equipment that can outsmart all his enemies and also Mark Zuckerberg? Are we all safely convinced he will fail?

      If it cannot be permitted, who is responsible for not permitting it?

      26 votes
    7. What’s something that’s more complicated than most people realize?

      Yes, I realize the answer is “everything.” I intend the question to be less about simply naming answers and more about surfacing their associated complexity. Walk us through something you know...

      Yes, I realize the answer is “everything.”

      I intend the question to be less about simply naming answers and more about surfacing their associated complexity.

      Walk us through something you know well so that we can appreciate how not simple it actually is!

      79 votes
    8. When/Why/How did Cloudflare become such a critical/integral part of the Internet?

      Presumably, my understanding of Cloudflare is too simple, too rudimentary, or even entirely lacking in some aspects. As far as I understand it, the main feature is just faster and more reliable...

      Presumably, my understanding of Cloudflare is too simple, too rudimentary, or even entirely lacking in some aspects.

      As far as I understand it, the main feature is just faster and more reliable access to sites, right?

      If I host a website on a server in New York, and someone tries to look at it in Tokyo ... that's a long distance and a lot of potential hops to retrieve the file(s) directly from the NY machine. Cloudflare provides closer-location mirrors of websites so there is less lag time, plus having multiple copies makes my website more readily/reliably available.

      That's good, I get that, especially for big, professional business-critical-type sites/services.

      But it's not actually essential, is it? Anyone, anywhere on Earth could still visit my NY website w/o the existence of Cloudflare.

      Is there more to Cloudflare than this? I realize they are getting into a variety of 2ndary "value-added"-type features, like their own "are you a robot" tests and probably a bunch of other stuff I don't know about ... but fundamentally, are they actually necessary for the Internet?

      Why is Cloudflare such a big deal?

      38 votes
    9. Midweek Movie Free Talk

      Warning: this post may contain spoilers

      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.

      6 votes
    10. How did you ruin a game for yourself?

      Warning: this post may contain spoilers

      Maybe you spoiled the story.

      Maybe you min-maxed the fun out of it.

      Maybe you played it SO much that eventually its tiny little flaws were all you could see.

      Maybe you spent so much time excitedly modding it that, when it came time to finally play it, the fire was out.

      Whatever the reason: what was the game, and how did you ruin it for yourself?

      39 votes
    11. SpaceNews goes hard-core paywall

      As of July 1st, all articles are behind a paywall. This includes all historical articles (going back decades, apparently), including any and all InternetArchive copies -- so RIP every Wikipedia...

      As of July 1st, all articles are behind a paywall. This includes all historical articles (going back decades, apparently), including any and all InternetArchive copies -- so RIP every Wikipedia link that has ever referenced them as a source. A free-registration option gets you access to 3 articles per month. A proper subscription is $230/year.

      A freelance journalist who has been published with them in the past had this to say about it, which I thought was enlightening and, well, thoughtful.

      On SpaceNews going paywalled, and the broader disregard for archiving in journalism.

      I reviewed his stuff a bit, and I like his writing, so I added his RSS link to my feed (while simultaneously deleting my SpaceNews link), and on a whim--because he has his email right there on his "About" page, I emailed him to tell him that I liked his article and I just replaced SpaceNews with him.

      Like, an hour later, I received a response from him, reminding me that he focuses primarily on the Moon, and that he loves RSS and is happy to hear people still use it.

      And it was so refreshing to connect--almost directly--with an actual human being writing news.

      Just thought I'd share.

      Oh, I also want to comment on that price ... $230/year is--IMHO--wildly overpriced. But almost immediately, it also occurred to me that they probably lost more readership going from $0/year to $1/year, than going from $1 to $230 so, you know, business-wise, I suppose it's not exactly a horrible decision.

      But I'd like to hear other people's opinions on that price, too.

      19 votes
    12. Tildes Book Club discussion - March 2025 - Hyperion by Dan Simmons

      Warning: this post may contain spoilers

      This is the twelfth of an ongoing series of book discussions here on Tildes. We are discussing Hyperion by Dan Simmons. Our next book will be Elder Race by Adrian Tchaikovsky at the end of April.

      I don't have a particular format in mind for this discussion, but I will post some prompts and questions as comments to get things started. You're not obligated to respond to them or vote on them though. So feel free to make your own top-level comment for whatever you wish to discuss, questions you have of others, or even just to post a review of the book you have written yourself. Also, this month will be slightly different. I have been exceptionally busy and didn't finish the book this time. I am hoping that you all who did read it will come up with interesting questions in addition to your comments/ reviews.

      For latecomers, don't worry if you didn't read the book in time for this Discussion topic. You can always join in once you finish it. Tildes Activity sort, and "Collapse old comments" feature should keep the topic going for as long as people are still replying.
      And for anyone uninterested in this topic please use the Ignore Topic feature on this so it doesn't keep popping up in your Activity sort, since it's likely to keep doing that while I set this discussion up, and once people start joining in.

      22 votes
    13. Paying for AI: Have you found it to be worth it?

      I'm starting to use AI increasingly, and am getting some value out of it. I'm curious if paying for paid tiers of the big players (in particular, ChatGPT and Claude) provides significantly better...

      I'm starting to use AI increasingly, and am getting some value out of it. I'm curious if paying for paid tiers of the big players (in particular, ChatGPT and Claude) provides significantly better responses.

      I'm aware that the paid tiers offer more features and benefits than just higher response quality. For me, those are just nice-to-haves, and not my primary concern.

      My main uses of AI are software development and foreign language learning. So far, I've used the free versions of ChatGPT and Claude, as well as "proxies," including Github Copilot and Duck.ai. For both my use cases, I've found the responses usually good and helpful. I just maintain a healthy skepticism about the correctness of the answers, and challenge, test, and double check where needed (especially testing suggested code when developing software).

      Have you found response quality to be noticeably and significantly better with paid tiers? I was just randomly thinking, and it occurred to me that the cost of an AI subscription is in the same ballpark as a subscription to a language learning service like Duolingo. So, if I can get value from AI that approaches what I'd get from a dedicated language learning service (even if it doesn't quite match or exceed it), then also getting the value of general AI in the same subscription should make things quite valuable and worth it. Not to mention possibly getting better software development assistance in the same package.

      32 votes
    14. What do you think about Medium nowadays?

      They aren't a startup anymore, but it seems the current CEO, Tony Stubblebine, got it right, according to his latest (long) blogpost. Although Medium is in a healthy path now, they burnt goodwill...

      They aren't a startup anymore, but it seems the current CEO, Tony Stubblebine, got it right, according to his latest (long) blogpost.

      Although Medium is in a healthy path now, they burnt goodwill so many times in the past that my trust on the business is absent. I wonder how other people perceive them…

      24 votes
    15. Working on a ~2008 dream gaming computer running Vista (in an old server)

      Any clever ways to connect to the Internet safely to update drivers, security, etc? I'd only want to connect to Intel, AMD, Microsoft, etc, and then would physically disconnect the lan card. I...

      Any clever ways to connect to the Internet safely to update drivers, security, etc? I'd only want to connect to Intel, AMD, Microsoft, etc, and then would physically disconnect the lan card. I know, dangerous, but I'm trying a piecemeal approach with a flash drive and getting mixed results. I tried to update to Service Pack 2, and it bricked the computer on restart, back to flashing Vista.

      15 votes
    16. Is a career change towards cybersecurity viable for someone with an accountancy background?

      Sorry if this isn't the best place to ask. IT and cybersecurity-focused communities over on Reddit aren't exactly the most welcoming places for such questions, and reading the r/ITCareerQuestions...

      Sorry if this isn't the best place to ask. IT and cybersecurity-focused communities over on Reddit aren't exactly the most welcoming places for such questions, and reading the r/ITCareerQuestions wiki has made me seriously question if I'm being sold false promises of working in a sector that actually has a low demand for workers. Then again, that wiki page seems more geared towards the US job market.

      Two weeks ago, I responded to an Instagram ad advertising cybersecurity courses, because the job market is horrible here in the UK right now, and after some setbacks with my ACCA studies, I am seriously considering just giving up on trying to get into chartered accountancy because that path is closing many more doors for me. A course advisor rang me asking about the reasons I showed interest in the ad, then we had a long discussion about any questions I had, what the sector is apparently like, etc.

      Some of the claims seem too good to be true, i.e. that it's an industry where you can afford to be picky, jobs outnumber people by almost 3 to 1, most jobs are remote, the provider boasts a 90%+ employment rate, I don't need programming experience, the most complex thing I'd be doing is running command prompt/powershell commands and scripts.

      The firm itself seems legitimate. They offer CompTIA, Microsoft, Cisco, AWS and EC-Council certifications, have good review scores on Trustpilot, are a registered training provider and limited company in the UK, and are supposedly an assured service provider with the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC.) The courses they mentioned to me in their syllabus supposedly come to £4k and would take about six months.

      1. Am I right to be wary about what this training provider are offering?
      2. Do you require extensive programming knowledge or a computer science background to work in cybersecurity in any capacity? A friend with an IT background has told me that Python is useful in his field.
      3. Is the reality of IT and cybersecurity jobs in the UK (or in the West) far different from what has been painted to me?
      24 votes
    17. I teach a student with Reactive Attachment Disorder and I need help

      Special Ed. Teacher here. This year I've been assigned a tough caseload. But my most challenging student is easily the student with Reactive Attachment Disorder and possibly autism. I'll call him...

      Special Ed. Teacher here.

      This year I've been assigned a tough caseload. But my most challenging student is easily the student with Reactive Attachment Disorder and possibly autism. I'll call him Jake.

      Edit: He's in middle school, btw.

      To protect his privacy and my own, I can't give many specifics. This student is chronically online and I wouldn't put it past him to Google situations he's caused in my class.

      Some vague descriptions of the things he's done this year:

      -Repeatedly jokes about pedophilia and teachers who have been arrested for it. It makes me uncomfortable that he does this, obviously. The only saving grace here is that he has thrown it around so many times, including calling multiple teachers pedophiles last year, that everyone knows he is just being rude and it's not a serious accusation. Thoroughly documented and I'm not really concerned about actually being accused. Fyi, I have informed his adoptive parents and they have informed his counselor. They are taking it seriously and have started investigating whether or not this is just shocking humor or a more serious part of the Jake's history before adoption.

      -Waits for the perfect time to drop rude or shocking comments to inflict maximum damage. When he wants to say something awful to me or in general, he will hold off until he has an audience and the room is relatively quiet.

      -Constantly mocks and shit talks certain students. We have dealt with it. He isn't just getting away with it. But even after consequences, separation from the students, and punishments at home, he doesn't stop. He's hung up on hating a couple of kids in particular but will generally be rude to whoever if he wants to. One of these kids is a scrappy kid from a rough school and I could totally see it ending in punches if we don't manage this.

      -Absolutely refuses to share any serious thoughts. Even when asked what kind of support he needs, what kind of rewards would motivate him, or what's bothering him, he just gives ridiculous answers in a high-pitched voice or walks away. This kid wants no part in coming up with solutions and won't even engage in a conversation about his behavior or even the behavior of others.

      -Speaking of his high pitched voice, this is the voice he always uses to say rude things. He has his normal speaking voice and then he uses this higher pitched voice when he says things that are rude or shocking. Like he has two different brains and one wants to be mean.

      -Last year, he kept a list of times he felt students and teachers had broken the code of conduct.

      -absolutely hates special Ed. Hates me for being a special ed. teacher. Reminds the other kids in my class that they're "special" constantly.

      For the record, all of these things have been addressed many times. The school has been supportive, the parents have been supportive, and everyone knows that this behavior, if continued for much longer, will likely result in a change of programming for this student. He would be placed in a more restrictive setting.

      This is kind of my last ditch effort to see if anyone has ideas, because this student is on the verge of leaving my classroom. If there is anything I can do to make it work with this kid, I would do it immediately. He's smart, witty, and unfortunately very funny in a South Park kind of a way. But he's raising hell every day and he's the first student I've had where it feels like I can't connect with him at all. And not for lack of trying.

      42 votes
    18. Midweek Movie Free Talk

      Warning: this post may contain spoilers

      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.

      9 votes
    19. Piano key dimensions are a math puzzle

      Piano keys are familiar and easy enough to draw if you're not trying to be exact, but if you want label the dimensions with their exact measurements (like in a CAD drawing), it turns into a math...

      Piano keys are familiar and easy enough to draw if you're not trying to be exact, but if you want label the dimensions with their exact measurements (like in a CAD drawing), it turns into a math puzzle. The problem comes from the groups of two and three black keys.

      This article explains it like this:

      If you've ever looked closely at a piano keyboard you may have
      noticed that the widths of the white keys are not all the same
      at the back ends (where they pass between the black keys). Of
      course, if you think about it for a minute, it's clear they
      couldn't possibly all be the same width, assuming the black keys
      are all identical (with non-zero width) and the white keys all
      have equal widths at the front ends, because the only simultaneous
      solution of 3W=3w+2b and 4W=4w+3b is with b=0.

      To unpack that a bit: in that equation, 'W' is the width of each white key at the front (which should all be the same), 'w' is the width of a white key at the back, and 'b' is the width of a black key.) The first equation is for the group of two black keys (separating C, D, and E) and the second equation is for the three black keys separating F through B.

      Since it's mathematically impossible, a constraint needs to be relaxed. The article describes ways to make the white keys have slightly different widths at the back.

      If we set c=e=(W-5B/8) and a=b=d=f=g=(W-3B/4) we have a maximum
      discrepancy of only B/8, and quite a few actual pianos use this
      pattern as well. However, the absolute optimum arrangement is to
      set c=d=e=(W-2B/3) and f=g=a=b=(W-3B/4), which gives a maximum
      discrepancy of just B/12. This pattern is used on many keyboards,
      e.g. the Roland PC-100.

      When actually building a musical instrument (instead of just drawing the keyboard), there is a further constraint, described in this article:

      The black keys on a piano keyboard, instead of always being centered on the dividing line between the two white keys they lie between, are spaced so that the twelve keys which make up an octave are spaced equally as they enter the internal mechanism of the instrument.

      But this means that the "key caps" for the white keys should be slightly off-center compared to whatever rod or lever they're attached to. The author speculates about how to divide this up using various units.

      (They seem quite annoying to 3D print.)

      19 votes
    20. Tildes Video Thread

      Find yourself watching tons of great videos on [insert chosen video sharing platform], but also find yourself reluctant to flood the Tildes front page with them? Then this thread is for you. It...

      Find yourself watching tons of great videos on [insert chosen video sharing platform], but also find yourself reluctant to flood the Tildes front page with them? Then this thread is for you.

      It could be one quirky video that you feel deserves some eyeballs on it, or perhaps you've got a curated list of videos that you'd love to talk us through...

      Share some of the best video content you've watched this past week/fortnight with us!

      8 votes
    21. D&D - Involving the Gods; Boons and Banes

      I'm in the planning stages of a custom setting for a new campaign I'm aiming to start next year with my current table. We're doing PF2's Kingmaker and AD&D's Temple of Elemental Evil in the...

      I'm in the planning stages of a custom setting for a new campaign I'm aiming to start next year with my current table. We're doing PF2's Kingmaker and AD&D's Temple of Elemental Evil in the meantime.

      The game is to be Viking themed, in that the starting locale and civilization will be structured in similar ways to the coastal Scandinavian settlements and there will be an on/off season. During the on season, they will board boats and sail many hundreds of miles across water to distant lands to find dungeons and ruins to loot, with a clock they have to keep an eye on; the expedition can only afford to be out for so long, and they need to ultimately make a profit. During the off season, they will be home and can spend time locally engaging in low-tier politics, explore the untamed parts of the continent, or both.

      I'm intending for gods to play a more concrete and available part in this game and have been chewing on how best to represent that mechanically. I discovered that one of D&D 5e's supplements for a Magic: The Gathering setting, Mythic Odysseys of Theros, does something similar and has mechanics for tracking Piety with a given deity, which comes with boons at specific breakpoints. I liked the idea, though I'd be making my own boons for my pantheon rather than use these as-is, especially since I wouldn't be running this game in 5e, but rather in AD&D 1e.

      I have a group chat with a few of my players that I can trust for this kind of thing to bounce ideas off of for various things, so I put this forth to them and got their thoughts. They universally thought the example boons from 5e were too personal and individual for the kind of stuff Norse gods would get up to, and there wasn't really a way to track a given deity's disdain of you in a similar manner. They also didn't like that you could track the Piety with a discrete score and could reliably measure when your next boon would be.

      What we settled on doing is utilizing my custom tarot effects we're already doing in my regular AD&D campaign, but having it apply in certain regions or during certain stretches of adventure. This would allow for randomly coming across an avatar of a god and earning a minor boon or bane for assisting or denying them.

      11 votes
    22. What programming/technical projects have you been working on?

      This is a recurring post to discuss programming or other technical projects that we've been working on. Tell us about one of your recent projects, either at work or personal projects. What's...

      This is a recurring post to discuss programming or other technical projects that we've been working on. Tell us about one of your recent projects, either at work or personal projects. What's interesting about it? Are you having trouble with anything?

      13 votes
    23. Offbeat Fridays – The thread where offbeat headlines become front page news

      Tildes is a very serious site, where we discuss very serious matters like forums, stardew valley and whatever. Tags culled from the highest voted topics from the last seven days, if anyone was...

      Tildes is a very serious site, where we discuss very serious matters like forums, stardew valley and whatever. Tags culled from the highest voted topics from the last seven days, if anyone was boggled of the mind.

      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!

      16 votes
    24. What have you been watching / reading this week? (Anime/Manga)

      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!

      16 votes
    25. The Digg beta has just gone live. What are people's thoughts and experiences so far with the reboot?

      I don't have a lot to say myself, yet. I signed up for the beta mostly because people talk so positively of what Digg was like in the past. I never experienced that, as Digg was already on it's...

      I don't have a lot to say myself, yet. I signed up for the beta mostly because people talk so positively of what Digg was like in the past. I never experienced that, as Digg was already on it's way out when I discovered it.

      I'd love to hear from those who remember the golden age of Digg, as well as those just curious about the reboot themselves... What are you thoughts, expectations, hopes and concerns?

      36 votes
    26. TV Tuesdays Free Talk

      Warning: this post may contain spoilers

      Have you watched any TV shows recently you want to discuss? Any shows 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.

      8 votes
    27. What did you do this week (and weekend)?

      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!

      6 votes
    28. 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?

      5 votes
    29. What dashcam do you use?

      My last dashcam was a total dud and wasn't even operational for 6 hours. I'm hoping to get some community recommendations on reliable units with good image quality. If you would also share the...

      My last dashcam was a total dud and wasn't even operational for 6 hours. I'm hoping to get some community recommendations on reliable units with good image quality. If you would also share the approx. length of time you've had/used it that would be a huge help as well. Thanks in advance!

      26 votes
    30. Where should I shop for a tuxedo?

      My best friend is getting married soon and it’s a black tie event. I’m in a privileged position, I want to spend a little extra to dress well (some friendly fashion competition between the men,...

      My best friend is getting married soon and it’s a black tie event. I’m in a privileged position, I want to spend a little extra to dress well (some friendly fashion competition between the men, and my own vanity).

      What I know: I want a tuxedo that will fit & look nicer than a rental from Men’s Wearhouse. I really like a tailored suit I bought from Suit Supply, but I’d rather not buy a tuxedo I’ll likely only wear once.

      What I don’t know: Anything about businesses other than Men’s Wearhouse that do tuxedo rentals.

      Does anyone have suggestions for businesses they’ve personally rented tuxedos from?

      Some of the tuxedos at Suit Supply sell for around $750 USD. How much do non-Men’s Wearhouse tuxedo rentals cost?

      Does a tailored tuxedo look that much better than a rental to justify buying instead of renting?

      15 votes
    31. What are some cross-media adaptations/tie-ins that you'd recommend?

      It could be a novelization of a movie, game, television show, etc. Or any of the other combinations (e.g. a movie based on a game, television show, novel, etc.). It doesn't solely have to be an...

      It could be a novelization of a movie, game, television show, etc. Or any of the other combinations (e.g. a movie based on a game, television show, novel, etc.).

      It doesn't solely have to be an adaptation either. Tie-ins are often universe extensions, such as when books are written in a pre-existing movie/show/game universe.

      Often, media tie-ins are seen as soulless marketing cash-ins (which is sometimes accurate), but others are legitimately great in their own right.

      What are the ones that you like and would recommend? What makes them noteworthy?


      Meta note: Feel free to interpret this criteria as broadly as possible. This isn't about splitting hairs about what "counts" as a tie-in, but more about exploring things that have done a good job at jumping between media types. If you've got a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles watch that you love, that counts! Same for that Death Stranding fanfic you can't get enough of.

      18 votes
    32. How many strings must you string from string cheese in order for it to be considered string cheese and not just eating a stick of mozzarella?

      Friendly debate. String cheese is meant to be strung. Eating it without stringing it is just plain wrong and there are many ways to eat it incorrectly. 1 2 3 But what is the correct minimum number...

      Friendly debate.

      String cheese is meant to be strung.
      Eating it without stringing it is just plain wrong and there are many ways to eat it incorrectly. 1 2 3
      But what is the correct minimum number of strings that string cheese must be strung into in order for it to be string cheese?
      Is splitting it into two mostly even pieces enough?
      Or is three a minimum?
      Perhaps you have high strung opinions on the number of strings a string cheese must be strung for it to qualify as more than a mere stick of mozzarella and require say nine as a minimum.

      45 votes
    33. The International MSI League of Legends 2025 tournament check in!

      Hi everyone - we're closing in on the end of the tournament with only 4 games left. Questions for discussion: Did you make a bracket with Riot's Pick'Em? If you did, how's your bracket looking?...

      Hi everyone - we're closing in on the end of the tournament with only 4 games left. Questions for discussion:

      • Did you make a bracket with Riot's Pick'Em?
        • If you did, how's your bracket looking?
      • What games have you watched?
        • Which games have surprised you most?
      • Are you enjoying the Fearless Drafts? (For those curious, Riot updated how teams draft during each Best of 5. After a champ has been played, it's banned for the remaining Bo5.)
      • What team(s) are you cheering for?

      Tonight is

      Spoiler: Teams playing tonight, July 9. T1 vs Gen.G

      If you haven't been keeping up, now is the perfect time to jump in if you enjoy watching pro-play League of Legends. The vods from previous games are available on Youtube (and I assume Twitch but I haven't checked). I don't really play much league, but watching is very fun with friends and we've been having nightly hang-outs on Discord to watch together.

      Spoiler: Results from last night's series, July 8, FlyQuest vs BiliBili Gaming. 3-2 in favor of BLG. Game 2 was particularly heartbreaking for Fly especially when they were so close to winning. I think the entire series showed that they have lots of potential for growth. They had two rookies and they still took a team that came close to winning both MSI and Worlds 2024 to game 5! I hope they feel very proud of themselves and the games they played.

      Other random thoughts: The "Kalista Curse" has yet to be broken and I wish that Fly hadn't tempted fate by drafting it. One of my friends remarked that she [Kalista] must be performing really well in scrims for these teams to keep picking her even though it keeps failing :') Honestly, I really hope we don't see it again in the remaining games because it's such an instant "Oh no..." feeling.

      This tournament has also made me realize that I miss the hyper-carry ADC/enchanter support meta A LOT. Don't get me wrong, pro play is exciting just because of the high skill ceiling but the drafts have been a little boring especially in bot lane. I want to see Zeri, Aphelios, maybe even Samira! I am keeping my fingers crossed that the upcoming patches will let them shine in Worlds.

      10 votes
    34. Low-end Linux tablet recommendations

      I love reading but lately I've found myself having to sit in front of my 2k monitor to read PDFs because they're technical documents and render poorly on my Kindle, even with using various tools...

      I love reading but lately I've found myself having to sit in front of my 2k monitor to read PDFs because they're technical documents and render poorly on my Kindle, even with using various tools to optimize.

      I've been considering getting a tablet primarily for this purpose. My main requirement is that I really don't want Android or iOS devices, leaving me with either purpose built Linux tablets or Windows tablets that I can replace with Linux. I really don't need much -

      • Fast enough that there's no significant lag between page turns/scrolls
      • 8"+ screen size
      • Video watching isn't necessary but a nice bonus
      • Wifi isn't absolutely necessary as long as there is an easy way of getting files on the device (USB transfer, SD card, external adapter, etc)
      • SD card storage would be nice but I can also make due with just internal flash
      • Keyboard is also optional - I wouldn't mind being able to run an IDE and connect to my gitlab instance for some simple coding on the fly or SSH into my homelab
      • Cameras are largely unnecessary
      • Decent battery life or the ability to upgrade down the road
      • Looking for something around 500$ CAD (362-ish USD, 312€, 269£)

      I've been eyeing the PineTab2 as it meets most of the requirements but reviews seem to be mixed on its usability. So I thought I would ask here if anybody has had similar requirements and found something that works for them. Or if the PineTab2 software has significantly improved - this reddit post seems to indicate that it is in a decent state now.

      If nothing like this exists, I suppose I could settle for an Android device provided it can easily take a custom ROM and be de-googled. I would just prefer Linux as I know it quite well and I much prefer the freedom of it. I've also used a touch screen monitor with Plasma on my Arch laptop and been pleasantly surprised at the experience - the hardware is just a bit too clunky to reliably read with.

      24 votes
    35. What programming/technical projects have you been working on?

      This is a recurring post to discuss programming or other technical projects that we've been working on. Tell us about one of your recent projects, either at work or personal projects. What's...

      This is a recurring post to discuss programming or other technical projects that we've been working on. Tell us about one of your recent projects, either at work or personal projects. What's interesting about it? Are you having trouble with anything?

      14 votes
    36. Proper iOS homescreen link

      A fancier way is here — but either is great. —- For those using iOS with a bookmark on their homescreen, you may have been plagued like me with Tildes opening in a private window instead of the...

      A fancier way is here — but either is great.

      —-

      For those using iOS with a bookmark on their homescreen, you may have been plagued like me with Tildes opening in a private window instead of the session where you’re logged in.

      I don’t know why I didn’t think about this sooner, but it’s so easy

      Shortcuts > New > Create New Tab > Open URL (remove the variable and put in https://tildes.net) > context menu next to the title of the shortcut > Add to Homescreen > Photo (left image option) > select your tildes logo that i forgot to tell you to save

      … done. Now Tildes will always open Safari in an authenticated session. ezpz.

      17 votes
    37. What's a new skill that you've picked up recently?

      What's the skill? How did you pick it up? Did you intend to learn it, or was it more of a product of circumstance? How did you go about learning it? The skills can be anything, and they don't have...

      What's the skill?

      How did you pick it up?

      Did you intend to learn it, or was it more of a product of circumstance?

      How did you go about learning it?

      The skills can be anything, and they don't have to be life skills! Maybe you just learned how to, say, rocket jump in Quake? Tell us about it!

      32 votes
    38. Tildes Book Club discussion - June 2025 - A House with Good Bones by T Kingfisher

      Warning: this post may contain spoilers

      This is the fifteenth of an ongoing series of book discussions here on Tildes. We are discussing A House with Good Bones by T Kingfisher. Our next book will be the Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride at the end of July.

      I don't have a particular format in mind for this discussion, but I will post some prompts and questions as comments to get things started. You're not obligated to respond to them or vote on them though. So feel free to make your own top-level comment for whatever you wish to discuss, questions you have of others, or even just to post a review of the book you have written yourself.

      For latecomers, don't worry if you didn't read the book in time for this Discussion topic. You can always join in once you finish it. Tildes Activity sort, and "Collapse old comments" feature should keep the topic going for as long as people are still replying.
      And for anyone uninterested in this topic please use the Ignore Topic feature on this so it doesn't keep popping up in your Activity sort, since it's likely to keep doing that while I set this discussion up, and once people start joining in.

      16 votes
    39. [SOLVED] Anyone know of a site that tracks if a series is "done"?

      Done in quotes because sometimes shows get cancelled or otherwise abandoned and other times it has a final season or only had one season and was properly finished. Either way, same result. I don't...

      Done in quotes because sometimes shows get cancelled or otherwise abandoned and other times it has a final season or only had one season and was properly finished. Either way, same result.

      I don't have the patience or time to keep track of what series is having what new season come out at what point. I prefer to just wait for it all to be done and then watch in my own time. Even if it is one of the very few series I watch that isn't "done" I still don't do the weekly episode thing. I just wait for it all to come out and then watch as I please.

      That said, I have a backlog of series that are on my to-watch list, either suggested by friends or I saw a trailer that looked good, but they sit there at present because there's so much utter shit SEO spam websites that you can't get a clear answer if a new season is coming or a series is done or not.

      11 votes
    40. Favorite mobile games for short play sessions?

      Do you have any go-to mobile games for those moments where you just need to kill 10-20 minutes of time, without pausing a session to resume later? I'm on iOS but I'd imagine many are available on...

      Do you have any go-to mobile games for those moments where you just need to kill 10-20 minutes of time, without pausing a session to resume later? I'm on iOS but I'd imagine many are available on both iOS and Android.

      Preferably without ads or in app purchases. (I'll consider a one-time payment if it seems to be a great fit.)

      I discovered Rogue Words from someone here and I absolutely love it and am so happy to see it gaining popularity. But it fits into a different category of mobile game for me since I fall asleep too quickly! And I love Balatro and others that I consider full games (that have a PC version as well). But they're also too long for this use case!

      39 votes
    41. Formula 1 British Grand Prix 2025 - Race Weekend Discussion

      Warning: this post may contain spoilers

      British Grand Prix
      Red Bull Ring
      July 4-6, 2025


      Grand Prix:
      Sunday, July 6, 2025 - 14:00 UTC / 10:00a US EDT

      See your local times here


      Grand Prix Qualifying Results -- SPOILER
      POS. NO. DRIVER TEAM Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
      1 1 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing 1:25.886 1:25.316 1:24.892 18
      2 81 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:25.963 1:25.316 1:24.995 21
      3 4 Lando Norris McLaren 1:26.123 1:25.231 1:25.010 20
      4 63 George Russell Mercedes 1:26.236 1:25.637 1:25.029 19
      5 44 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:26.296 1:25.084 1:25.095 19
      6 16 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:26.186 1:25.133 1:25.121 21
      7 12 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:26.265 1:25.620 1:25.374 18
      8 87 Oliver Bearman Haas 1:26.005 1:25.534 1:25.471 18
      9 14 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 1:26.108 1:25.593 1:25.621 15
      10 10 Pierre Gasly Alpine 1:26.328 1:25.711 1:25.785 21
      11 55 Carlos Sainz Williams 1:26.175 1:25.746 12
      12 22 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull Racing 1:26.275 1:25.826 13
      13 6 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls 1:26.177 1:25.864 12
      14 23 Alexander Albon Williams 1:26.093 1:25.889 13
      15 31 Esteban Ocon Haas 1:26.136 1:25.950 12
      16 30 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls 1:26.440 6
      17 5 Gabriel Bortoleto Kick Sauber 1:26.446 9
      18 18 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 1:26.504 9
      19 27 Nico Hulkenberg Kick Sauber 1:26.574 9
      20 43 Franco Colapinto Alpine 1:27.060 6

      Source: F1.com

      Grand Prix Results -- SPOILER
      POS. NO. DRIVER TEAM LAPS TIME / RETIRED PTS.
      1 4 Lando Norris McLaren 52 1:37:15.735 25
      2 81 Oscar Piastri McLaren 52 +6.812s 18
      3 27 Nico Hulkenberg Kick Sauber 52 +34.742s 15
      4 44 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 52 +39.812s 12
      5 1 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing 52 +56.781s 10
      6 10 Pierre Gasly Alpine 52 +59.857s 8
      7 18 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 52 +60.603s 6
      8 23 Alexander Albon Williams 52 +64.135s 4
      9 14 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 52 +65.858s 2
      10 63 George Russell Mercedes 52 +70.674s 1
      11 87 Oliver Bearman Haas 52 +72.095s 0
      12 55 Carlos Sainz Williams 52 +76.592s 0
      13 31 Esteban Ocon Haas 52 +77.301s 0
      14 16 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 52 +84.477s 0
      15 22 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull Racing 51 +1 lap 0
      NC 12 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 23 DNF 0
      NC 6 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls 17 DNF 0
      NC 5 Gabriel Bortoleto Kick Sauber 3 DNF 0
      NC 30 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls 0 DNF 0
      NC 43 Franco Colapinto Alpine 0 DNS 0

      Fastest Lap: Oscar Piastri // 1:29.337 on lap 51
      DOTD: NICO HULKENBERG!!

      Source: F1.com


      Next race:

      Belgian Grand Prix
      Silverstone Circuit
      July 25-27, 2025

      10 votes