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    1. Help with ants in the shower!

      So after moving, my new bathroom has some issues. Most pressing of all: my shower has ants. It started with a couple, but it feels like it's gotten progressively worse. I researched this issue and...

      So after moving, my new bathroom has some issues. Most pressing of all: my shower has ants. It started with a couple, but it feels like it's gotten progressively worse.

      I researched this issue and have been spraying my shower with a vinegar/water mixture to kill and hopefully repel them, followed by my mom wiping them up to throw away because the scent of ant corpses will attract more ants. But so far, it hasn't really done anything but kept me from using that shower for a week because of the smell of vinegar.

      I sprayed the shower today, when it had possibly the most ants to date, and mom wiped them all up... And then a few hours later I checked and more ants showed up. Actually I just checked again and there are now like, at LEAST fifteen ants in there. At LEAST. So, the vinegar solution obviously isn't repelling them.

      We're at the end of our patience. Tomorrow we'll be sitting down to do some heavy-duty research together. The potential next step, based on the site where I got the vinegar solution, is to pour baking soda and vinegar into the drain to try to dislodge all the gunk, because I've washed ants down there and that can attract more ants. So, that might be why they won't freaking stay away.

      Relevant vent: why does every single site about killing ants include tons of photos of ants!? I'd closed the site I used and I tried to find it again to link here, but had to stop because the first two sites I checked were full of ant pictures. And I freaking hate bugs and can't stand even looking at photos of them. Or at least, not in this context. I don't want to see MORE ants congregating in strangers' showers, knowing they're in mine already make my skin crawl without having an image of what they might look like at this very moment!!

      So, yeah. Researching this has been very difficult for me, but I need those damn things out of my shower so we don't need to share my mom's. So, I'm open to any advice and solutions you all have!

      Some other relevant information:

      • Here's a photo of my bathroom and the shower. Warning: you might be able to see ants if you zoom in on the close-up of the shower, because they were mostly congregated in that area. Otherwise I would have gotten a better photo of the interior. I saw a lot of advice to touch up caulking, but with the type of shower this is, I'm not sure how relevant caulking really is? The shower is very smooth, almost like the rim of a bathtub.
      • There's a skylight above the shower, which was replaced before we moved in. At the very least, it doesn't leak with water when it rains. So help me, if that's somehow the source of the ants........
      • Related to above: there's no window I can open, and the room is quite small and narrow. So, humidity builds up FAST and I don't really have an effective way to vent it out or anything.
      • I've seen a couple in my sink. Key word: a couple. I think the most I've seen there at one time is two, while the shower can have upwards of... I don't even want to try to guess, honestly.
      • I've seen one or two ants crawling up the wall outside the shower, very low down around the moulding. So their nest may be outside the shower?
      • At this point the number has me half-convinced there's a nest somewhere in the bathroom. Or maybe there's an entrance on the top of the white shower walls/rim where it meets the drywall?? Except I've only ever seen one ant relatively high up one of those walls, they seem to stick near the floor... Either way, the number feels extreme to me given there shouldn't be any real points of entrance besides the door and skylight.
      • Given that articles love attaching revolting photos at multiple points, I'll just ask here if there's any chance they're climbing out of my shower head or the drain. One little fact that prematurely ended my first attempt to research solutions: apparently ants sometime come out of bath faucets. So, yeah.
      • At this point, killing ants is secondary to getting them OUT. We've dealt with ant infestations before, we know how to kill them. But that doesn't help when more of them will show up!! I don't want to deal with this problem forever, or even just seasonally!!l

      Please help, and thanks for taking time to read this!

      16 votes
    2. Looking for tips/advice for a hardware firewall/VPN for a small to medium size nonprofit

      Edit: Decided to go with the Ubiquiti Dream Machine Pro. Thank you for all the suggestions and advice! Hey Tildenauts, I'm planning to help a local nonprofit replace their aging hardware firewall...

      Edit: Decided to go with the Ubiquiti Dream Machine Pro. Thank you for all the suggestions and advice!

      Hey Tildenauts,

      I'm planning to help a local nonprofit replace their aging hardware firewall pro bono. I have a fair amount of experience with networking and security, especially where web servers are concerned, but I haven't setup a hardware firewall recently enough to know off the top of my head which are the best options here.

      The organization is fairly small but on its way to medium sized, around 30 employees at the moment but will likely expand to 50+ in coming years. So I'm looking for a solution that will comfortably scale up to 100 employees. There is remote work, accessing their local server via VPN, so something that comes bundled with a user friendly VPN client would be ideal. I haven't seen their physical setup yet but I know their server gets a lot of use. Not all employees use it remotely on a regular basis but many do.

      From past experience I know that Cisco, Sophos and SonicWall are potential options. Cisco seems to be pushing their Meraki platform pretty hard but I don't think this organization needs a subscription based solution.

      Anyone have recommendations for hardware firewalls I should consider? Any potential footguns I should know about?

      Thanks in advance!

      9 votes
    3. What are some great actual comedies made in the last twenty years?

      I'm a big fan of IMDB's Advanced TItle Search but it is kinda useless for finding movies that are primarily comedies. By which I mean films with a main focus on producing laughter or comedic...

      I'm a big fan of IMDB's Advanced TItle Search but it is kinda useless for finding movies that are primarily comedies. By which I mean films with a main focus on producing laughter or comedic amusement. The problem is that the genre/tag "comedy", while often present, rarely means that a movie is a comedy first and foremost. For example: technically Marvel movies are comedies, but they are really more like action with jokes. There are also many comedy dramas and "dramedies" and that is not what I am look for at all.

      It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia is maybe one of the few "almost pure" comedies on TV today.

      I miss watching movies that put comedy first even if they are a mix of different genres.

      Any suggestions?

      33 votes
    4. Disabilities: Changing bed sheets over multiple days

      I recently had an idea I wish I'd thought of a few years ago, but if you have severe difficulty* changing bed sheets, you can actually break the job up over a few days. This is what I've started...

      I recently had an idea I wish I'd thought of a few years ago, but if you have severe difficulty* changing bed sheets, you can actually break the job up over a few days. This is what I've started doing, divided up to have roughly equal energy demands:

      Day 1: Change duvet cover
      Day 2: Change pillow cases and bed sheet
      Day 3: Rest, if needed
      Day 4: Wash removed bedding in washing machine

      • if you have orthostatic intolerance, ME/CFS or long covid you might relate to this. It also helps mentally breaking down the tasks like this during periods of intense brain fog.
      23 votes
    5. What is the most insane, tedious, difficult, and/or noteworthy gaming achievement you have completed or given up on?

      The concept of achievements in games has existed for quite a while now. According to Wikipedia's article on video game achievements, they were first programmed into some games in the 90s, and...

      The concept of achievements in games has existed for quite a while now. According to Wikipedia's article on video game achievements, they were first programmed into some games in the 90s, and perhaps first made it big with the Xbox 360 in 2005. Steam achievements shortly followed in 2007.

      Some of them are very easy - "Complete the tutorial" is a comment achievement. Some of them are silly - "Pet all the dogs in the game" has become a bit of a meme. But some require an incredible amount of patience, luck, and/or skill.

      What are some achievements that you or others you know have put time into that felt significant? Or perhaps even ones that stand out for being a clever addition by the game developers.

      56 votes
    6. People who contribute to libre projects - how do you find time for this?

      First of all, I want to say very big THANK YOU for all who contribute to various libre, open source etc. projects. I'm so happy that people love sharing knowledge, skills and fruits of their work....

      First of all, I want to say very big THANK YOU for all who contribute to various libre, open source etc. projects. I'm so happy that people love sharing knowledge, skills and fruits of their work.

      But to the topic - how do you find time for it?
      Whenever I update my Debian or Axpos or any other libre software I see soooo many updates/changes made by (probably soooo many) people. And I always ask myself a question - when did they do that? Where have they found time for contributing? For me full time work makes me so tired that it's the last thing I think about after work hours. Especially in the office job, after x hours of sitting before my monitor I truly hate every next minute after work. I would love to contribute some code, I would realllly love to. Sometimes I find some bugs and try to report them and that's all I am able to do. What frustrates me the most is that I have abilities to code because it's my daily job, but I don't have energy to do that.

      So, could you tell me how do you find time and energy to contribute to libre projects?

      30 votes
    7. What creative projects have you been working on?

      This topic is part of a series. It is meant to be a place for users to discuss creative projects they have been working on. Projects can be personal, professional, physical, digital, or even just...

      This topic is part of a series. It is meant to be a place for users to discuss creative projects they have been working on.

      Projects can be personal, professional, physical, digital, or even just ideas.

      If you have any creative projects that you have been working on or want to eventually work on, this is a place for discussing those.

      6 votes
    8. 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?

      8 votes
    9. What is your silly or (kinda) useless talent?

      Everyone knows about the big stuff we're good at, which are sometimes linked to our personal projects and professional activities. That is not what this post is about. Here, I am asking about the...

      Everyone knows about the big stuff we're good at, which are sometimes linked to our personal projects and professional activities. That is not what this post is about.

      Here, I am asking about the little things that distinguish you. Your quirky superpower that impresses no one (or maybe just a few). Maybe this is something odd you never really made any effort to learn.

      Some people just have this ability to whistle really loudly, or make the largest bubble gum bubbles.

      What is your silly talent?

      44 votes
    10. Offbeat Fridays – The thread where offbeat headlines become front page news

      Tildes is a very serious site, where we discuss very serious matters like artificial intelligence, bubbles.ai and den store havfrue. Tags culled from the highest voted topics from the last seven...

      Tildes is a very serious site, where we discuss very serious matters like artificial intelligence, bubbles.ai and den store havfrue. Tags culled from the highest voted topics from the last seven days, if anyone was deep diving.

      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!

      10 votes