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    1. 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.

      8 votes
    2. Question for those who played both the original and remake of Final Fantasy VII

      I’ve never played the original and am playing through the first game in the remakes and was curious if: you generally like the remake series so far? the characters had the same personality you...

      I’ve never played the original and am playing through the first game in the remakes and was curious if:

      • you generally like the remake series so far?
      • the characters had the same personality you imagined now that they’re fully voiced?
      • the overall atmosphere/vibe is the same/similar?
      • Anything else you’d like to mention as being surprising or disappointing when comparing the two.
      18 votes
    3. Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix 2026 - Race Weekend Discussion

      Warning: this post may contain spoilers

      Belgian Grand Prix
      Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps
      July 17-19, 2026


      Qualifying Results -- SPOILER
      Pos. No. Driver Team Q1 Q2 Q3 Laps
      1 12 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:46.304 1:45.142 1:44.361 15
      2 3 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing 1:45.930 1:45.589 1:44.678 12
      3 1 Lando Norris McLaren 1:45.865 1:45.454 1:44.801 11
      4 63 George Russell Mercedes 1:46.185 1:45.689 1:44.869 18
      5 16 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:46.278 1:45.397 1:44.893 18
      6 44 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:46.124 1:45.543 1:44.895 15
      7 81 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:46.433 1:45.671 1:45.016 17
      8 41 Arvid Lindblad Racing Bulls 1:46.191 1:45.629 1:45.143 18
      9 5 Gabriel Bortoleto Audi 1:46.609 1:46.082 1:45.628 18
      10 6 Isack Hadjar Red Bull Racing 1:46.062 1:45.823 DNF 13
      11 30 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls 1:46.501 1:46.120 12
      12 10 Pierre Gasly Alpine 1:46.679 1:46.331 12
      13 43 Franco Colapinto Alpine 1:46.795 1:46.392 12
      14 27 Nico Hulkenberg Audi 1:46.893 1:46.671 12
      15 55 Carlos Sainz Williams 1:47.080 1:46.777 12
      16 87 Oliver Bearman Haas F1 Team 1:47.113 1:46.779 12
      17 23 Alexander Albon Williams 1:47.120 6
      18 31 Esteban Ocon Haas F1 Team 1:47.801 6
      19 77 Valtteri Bottas Cadillac 1:47.823 8
      20 11 Sergio Perez Cadillac 1:47.971 8
      21 14 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 1:50.002 6
      22 18 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 1:50.177 8

      Source: F1.com

      Grand Prix Results -- SPOILER
      Pos. No. Driver Team Laps Time / Retired Pts.
      1 12 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 44 1:24:42.479 25
      2 16 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 44 +1.952s 18
      3 3 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing 44 +11.586s 15
      4 44 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 44 +17.245s 12
      5 81 Oscar Piastri McLaren 44 +18.988s 10
      6 6 Isack Hadjar Red Bull Racing 44 +23.307s 8
      7 1 Lando Norris McLaren 44 +24.014s 6
      8 5 Gabriel Bortoleto Audi 44 +49.140s 4
      9 41 Arvid Lindblad Racing Bulls 44 +50.406s 2
      10 43 Franco Colapinto Alpine 44 +76.037s 1
      11 10 Pierre Gasly Alpine 44 +76.991s 0
      12 30 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls 44 +77.523s 0
      13 27 Nico Hulkenberg Audi 44 +78.348s 0
      14 87 Oliver Bearman Haas F1 Team 44 +94.465s 0
      15 23 Alexander Albon Williams 44 +104.684s 0
      16 55 Carlos Sainz Williams 44 +105.856s 0
      17 31 Esteban Ocon Haas F1 Team 44 +110.925s 0
      18 77 Valtteri Bottas Cadillac 43 +1 lap 0
      19 14 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 42 +2 laps 0
      NC 18 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 25 DNF 0
      NC 11 Sergio Perez Cadillac 13 DNF 0
      NC 63 George Russell Mercedes 0 DNF 0

      Fastest Lap: Lando Norris // 1:48.890 on lap 44
      DOTD: Charles Leclerc

      Source: F1.com

      Next race:
      Hungarian Grand Prix
      Hungaroring
      July 24-26, 2026

      13 votes
    4. 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!

      12 votes
    5. Tell me about your favourite web-based logic puzzles!

      I was never a wordle fanatic, but I am hooked on this Alphable game now https://geoffpevlin.com/games/alphable/. I also play https://cluesbysam.com/. Do people know of other web-based (hopefully...

      I was never a wordle fanatic, but I am hooked on this Alphable game now https://geoffpevlin.com/games/alphable/. I also play https://cluesbysam.com/.

      Do people know of other web-based (hopefully free) logic puzzles like these? I like the daily format, but wouldn't limit myself to that if there are others that are also interesting.

      I've done all of the https://www.rustylake.com/ games too, which I quite enjoyed, but these types of puzzles require a little bit more time investment that I don't really have right now. (I also hated that some of the "logic" in those games did not seem to make sense to me, and I'd have to google the answer to continue with the game.)

      I also like https://timeguessr.com/ but don't return to that one as frequently because I can't play it on my phone.

      I really like in-person escape games but they are expensive and vary drastically in quality, so was very happy to find these types of games scratch that same itch.

      44 votes
    6. Help me choose a HiDPI monitor for work

      It looks like we’re finally getting some real options in the space, so I’m interested in people’s thoughts and experiences! I’ve been running a pair of LG 27MD5KL monitors forever, and they’ve...

      It looks like we’re finally getting some real options in the space, so I’m interested in people’s thoughts and experiences!

      I’ve been running a pair of LG 27MD5KL monitors forever, and they’ve been largely great - but they’re really showing their age at this point, and I’m being forced to upgrade either way because my new job requires using a Windows laptop (likely a Dell Pro 14, but TBC), and those old LGs use an esoteric dual link DP variant that only Apple supports. I’ll also be keeping my personal MacBook Pro, so smooth compatibility with both is a must. Use will largely be software work: lots of documentation, lots of terminal windows, lots of dark mode, but some design review work as well where decent colour accuracy helps.

      Options I’m seeing at the moment are:

      • Asus ProArt PA27JCV
      • Asus ROG Strix XG27JCG
      • LG 27GM950B
      • BenQ MA270S
      • Apple Studio Display
      • Apple Studio Display XDR

      I get the impression that Apple’s the better option where possible, but I’m concerned about compatibility, especially when I don’t directly control the choice of laptop. If anyone has real world experience on that one I’d be interested, especially the difference between “technically works on non-Apple laptops” vs “is an equivalently good experience on non-Apple laptops”.

      I’m guessing just using separate inputs for each laptop will be fine on whatever I go for, but I’m open to getting a KVM if needed (L1Techs? I haven’t actually checked how hard it is to find one that supports 2x 5K yet…). Couldn’t immediately see anything that’ll take Thunderbolt input from the Mac and HDMI input from the Windows laptop and push both to Thunderbolt output, which might otherwise have been a way to bridge the Apple display question.

      Probably going for 27” 5K rather than 32” 6K, unless there’s a compelling argument for the latter. I briefly tried a Dell 32” 6K a few years back and other than horrible backlight bleed, sitting that close to a 32” display ended up feeling like I was craning my neck rather than moving my eyes to see edge to edge.

      So, what do people think would be best here?

      Sending up a bat signal for @gary and @ButteredToast - you guys both know your stuff on this one!

      11 votes
    7. Gift ideas for niece who’s into sewing?

      Hey there, I’m an uncle to a soon to be 15 year old niece who recently got into sewing and has a starter sewing machine. (Hope it’s ok that I post here!) I want to get her something for her...

      Hey there, I’m an uncle to a soon to be 15 year old niece who recently got into sewing and has a starter sewing machine. (Hope it’s ok that I post here!)

      I want to get her something for her birthday next weekend that has to do with sewing or similar since that’s what she’s expressed interest in. She’s never really had hobbies before but seems genuinely interested in modifying clothes and up-cycling (I think that’s the term) thrift finds.

      Can someone help me with ideas on what I could get her? She is relatively new to things and she lives in Texas (US).

      I’m ok spending up to $150. Could go higher as I’ll just split costs with her dad or grandparents if the gift is excellent.

      Update: thank you all for the thoughtful suggestions! tildes always comes through with advices/tips/ideas for me! i ended up buying Gingher 8” Fabric Scissors, Kai seam snips (detail scissors?), Clover seam ripper, 3-pack of pink Singer tape measures, and a grumpy cat tote bag. i think i’m going to take her out to the thrift store to grab some clothes she can work on too. next year if shes still into it i think me and her dad will go in on a nice sewing machine someone mentioned in the comments. thanks again everyone!

      27 votes
    8. How long can I go with an obsolete phone?

      Right now, I have a Samsung Galaxy A12 phone, which has done everything I need for quite some time. It was bottom of the barrel in the Samsung lineup, and it quit receiving updates of any kind...

      Right now, I have a Samsung Galaxy A12 phone, which has done everything I need for quite some time. It was bottom of the barrel in the Samsung lineup, and it quit receiving updates of any kind back in November of 2024. For a cheap phone, I've been pleased with it.

      My use case is unusual. I rarely use my phone to go online, but on occasion, I am forced to do so. Most of the time I use it to make calls, or send and receive texts. SMS is fine for me. I don't play games on it, though I do use the camera now and again.

      One slightly unusual task is tethering. When my internet goes down on my computers at home, the mobile network is often still available, so I tether my desktop to the phone connection. Visible will slow the connection speed tremendously, so I use an app that disguises the tether connection, and I get full speeds. So I need this app to work when the main internet connection goes wonky.

      One year and eight months without security updates makes me a little more cautious about using the phone for anything online. I don't use it for bank accounts or credit cards, no instant payments of any kind, and there are no passwords saved within it. Even if I still got updates, I wouldn't use it for any type of financial transactions. I don't even check email with it.

      In reality, a dumb phone would probably work for me, but Visible is notoriously picky about Android phones they will accept. And I don't use Apple for anything. No plans to change that.

      I have been more and more interested in ditching Google software. I was recently forced to switch to Google Messages, since Samsung is turning their messaging app out to pasture. A Pixel 10a with GrapheneOS is something I'm considering. Visible will accept any modern Pixel phone, so they aren't a problem.

      The question is, is any change necessary with how little I use the phone online? Perhaps I should just wait till the battery dies, but that doesn't help me in my efforts to de-Googlize.

      35 votes
    9. I need to make a wooden box to ship something delicate. Could I please get some pointers?

      Hi Tilderinos, I've got to ship some wrought iron to a blacksmith in another country to be reforged and properly heat treated. I've worked with them before and they're far better than anything...

      Hi Tilderinos,

      I've got to ship some wrought iron to a blacksmith in another country to be reforged and properly heat treated. I've worked with them before and they're far better than anything that is available in my country.

      They've asked me to ship the pieces in a wooden box, that is not real wood (I don't know the English term for it). It must be processed wood, the names in our hardware stores are multiplex and plywood underlayment etc. This is to avoid customs issues with untreated wood.

      I have been advised to make the sides of the box multiplex, with underlayment for the top and the bottom. I have my dimensions, but I have never done a woodworking project before and I am nervous the men in the hardware store will laugh at me for my inexperience.

      I have some basic questions like:

      • Is it okay to go to the hardware place and ask them to cut my pieces to size?

      • The box must hold together fine, but it doesn't need to be beautiful or lasting. I am thinking of putting the top and bottom on like the back of an IKEA wardrobe, with tacks, but my wife says hiring a staple gun might save a lot of time. Would a staple gun be too aggressive and potentially wreck the rather soft treated wood?

      • Lastly... Could someone just reassure me this will be fine? I associate woodworking as a very masculine 'father' skill and I did not have one of those. I have very poor spatial awareness and my wife is the furniture assembler in the house, so she will be helping me, but this is my first time trying this craft that I find very intimidating.

      Thank you for any input anyone is able to provide!

      20 votes
    10. I wonder if years from now hand written code will be antique

      Talking about software code, already a lot of it is written by ai and has a particular style. Reminds me of when circuit boards used to be manufactured by human hands, they all had a unique style...

      Talking about software code, already a lot of it is written by ai and has a particular style.

      Reminds me of when circuit boards used to be manufactured by human hands, they all had a unique style thats really fun to look at.

      I wonder if in a few years my old software code will be like that, someone will look at it and go “oh, wow, this was written by hand”

      34 votes
    11. 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?

      16 votes
    12. eBook management for Kobo

      I have an older kobo (Kobo Libra H20) and have been using Calibre, and basically manually plugging it in and syncing books over to it. I'm wondering if anyone knows of any good ways of doing...

      I have an older kobo (Kobo Libra H20) and have been using Calibre, and basically manually plugging it in and syncing books over to it.

      I'm wondering if anyone knows of any good ways of doing wireless sync?

      I've looked into KoReader but not sure exactly how involved that would be to set up. I am comfortable setting up something "SelfHosted" as long as I can easily spin it up and spin it down, I don't currently have any computer I leave on 100% of the time.

      I've seen previous topics here, and Booklore looked interesting, but when I went to track it down it looks like the website is down (the GitHub is still there though), and apparently lots of controversy surrounding it in some reddit posts...it looks like there is maybe a fork of it (Grimmory), but I'm wondering if anyone here has experience with it or anything similar.

      I'd prefer something without a lot of AI/LLM use, but not sure how realistic that is.

      I only read eBooks, not manga/visual novels, and I don't listen to audiobooks so I don't necessarily need anything with support for any of those.

      I would also be fine paying for something, but preferably only a one-time fee not a subscription.

      I primarily read books on my Kobo, but it would be a "nice to have" if I could somehow sync to my iPhone (or Apple books) and iPad, but not required (and I don't need it to sync progress between devices, as I'd pretty much only be reading on one at a time).

      Additional "nice to have" would be the ability to add books from any device.

      Any suggestions? Just use Calibre content server? Or is there something "better"?

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

      Tildes is a very serious site, where we discuss very serious matters like flooding.flash, sam neill and lindsey graham. Tags culled from the highest voted topics from the last seven days, if...

      Tildes is a very serious site, where we discuss very serious matters like flooding.flash, sam neill and lindsey graham. Tags culled from the highest voted topics from the last seven days, if anyone was clued in.

      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!

      6 votes
    14. Tildes Survey #1: How old are you? (Results)

      Original post Submit your response here! Direct link: https://survey.tildes.community/form/how-old-are-you-1 This survey closes on April 26, 2026 at 10:00 UTC (also Tildes' birthday :D) The...
      Original post

      Submit your response here!

      • Direct link: https://survey.tildes.community/form/how-old-are-you-1
      • This survey closes on April 26, 2026 at 10:00 UTC (also Tildes' birthday :D)
      • The results will be published on April 26 shortly after the survey has closed. I'll edit this topic and post a comment about it!

      The current plans for questions that will be asked in the coming weeks are as follows:

      Question Survey opens Survey closes
      How old are you? 2026-04-19 18:00 UTC 2026-04-26 10:00 UTC
      What country do you live in? 2026-04-26 18:00 UTC 2026-05-03 10:00 UTC
      What country were you born in? 2026-05-03 18:00 UTC 2026-05-10 10:00 UTC
      What languages can you speak? 2026-05-10 18:00 UTC 2026-05-17 10:00 UTC

      Please submit your ideas for questions here! Even if they've been submitted already by someone else. All input is valuable! You can view all submitted questions on this dashboard.


      Thank you all for participating!

      The survey has been closed and the results are in!

      Thank you to all the 324 people that responded! It was honestly a bigger number than I was expecting so I'm really happy with how it turned out. :D Here are some stats that I can put in Markdown:

      • 34 years old is the median age
      • We have lived a combined 11615 years
      • And the generational breakdown with:
        • Millennials at 59.0%
        • Gen Z at 26.9%
        • Gen X at 12.3%
        • Baby Boomer at 1.5%
        • Greatest Generation at 0.3% not sure if this one is legit ;)

      View the full results here

      Let me know your thoughts about the survey, what you liked, what you didn't like, if you'd like something different about them, you name it!

      Thank you all again for participating! I hope to see you in the next survey. :)

      74 votes
    15. Geo-tech? What kind of professional do I call for evaluating safety of a home?

      So I know that house inspectors only look at surface things. In the UK it seems like structural stuff are checked by professionals before a house sale. In Canada what are they called? In buying...

      So I know that house inspectors only look at surface things. In the UK it seems like structural stuff are checked by professionals before a house sale. In Canada what are they called?

      In buying older houses, I would want to evaluate how much I will expect to spend on things like well, septic, roof. But I also want evaluation on if this is a money pit with foundation, structural, or water issues that can't be fixed.

      Like @Captcha_Code, I've tried calling structural engineering firms that seemed confused or give $5000 just to take a look estimates. What are they called in Canada and if possible can you provide examples of a firm in any Canadian area so I know what to look for in Atlantic Canada? Searching for geotechnical professionals bring up major infrastructure type of firms.

      16 votes
    16. 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!

      9 votes
    17. 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?

      4 votes
    18. Share your fav environmentally-friendly building tech!

      We've all heard about solar PV panels, but that's not the be-all and end-all of technologies which could make buildings more efficient and less harmful to their environments. May I ask what else...

      We've all heard about solar PV panels, but that's not the be-all and end-all of technologies which could make buildings more efficient and less harmful to their environments. May I ask what else have folks got up their sleeves?

      Dimensions of environmental friendliness

      All good technical discussions start with a host of term definitions and context statements, so I'll attempt to start this one off on strong footing! I figure that anything which checks one or more of these checkboxes (reasoning included) works, but please feel free to colour outside of the lines -- this is just a kicking off point. Note that anti-ticking a checkbox is fine; everything has trade-offs, and sometimes paired solutions can negate each others' downsides. Magnitude is always a factor, too, since this field is rarely black and white.

      (no need to bring receipts, mind; I'm sure we can keep this light hearted so as to avoid digging into comparative EPD critiques :3)

      • Low embodied carbon (the kgCO2e emitted per a cradle-to-grave analysis (EPD, often) of a product),
      • Low operational resource consumption (anything which works as well as an inefficient equivalent, but uses less energy/consumables -- LED vs. incandescent bulbs, heat pumps vs. nat gas furnaces, insulation vs. no insulation, etc.),
        • Includes water conservation, too!
      • Durability over design life (per the Canadian Wood Council (they're ... a little biased), the median service life of buildings is <90 years, so adjust amortization periods accordingly),
      • Sustainability (if we can't do it for more than a century, let alone a few decades, it's probably not worth the sunk costs),
      • Low environmental toxicity (no point trying to save the environment if it's all a toxic swamp afterwards),
      • Supportive of local ecology (built environments tend to be biodiversity deserts -- cobblestone boulevards, brick walk ups, and tin roofs are hostile everything but pigeons and rats. Think native planting, green retaining walls, planted pavers, etc.).

      (full disclosure: I'm probably going to borrow several of these at some point, so this is a half-discussion, half-I'm-outsourcing-my-research post 😅 hopefully that's acceptable ...)

      27 votes
    19. Boycotting palm oil in general is actually bad for the environment

      This was something I was surprised to learn on a recent trip to the zoo. While the palm oil industry is absolutely wrecking a lot of our rainforests, and, most notedly, orangutans, boycotting all...

      This was something I was surprised to learn on a recent trip to the zoo. While the palm oil industry is absolutely wrecking a lot of our rainforests, and, most notedly, orangutans, boycotting all palm oil is actually worse for the environment because palm oil is the most land-efficient vegetable oil crop. It supplies 40% of global vegetable oil but only uses 6% of the land dedicated to oil production.

      It's also extremely versatile because "it is semi-solid at room temperature so can keep spreads spreadable; it is resistant to oxidation so can give products a longer shelf-life; it’s stable at high temperatures so helps to give fried products a crispy and crunchy texture; and it’s also odourless and colourless so doesn’t alter the look or smell of food products."

      The issue is who produces it and how, so it's only certain products that should be boycotted.

      I'm sure the solution isn't as simple as "download this app," but the zoo I went to recommended using the PalmOil Scan app (produced under the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA) and led by Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, Chester Zoo, Auckland Zoo, Zoos SA and Mandai Wildlife Group). It's essentially only available in the Anglosphere (Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Singapore, United Kingdom, United States), but it tells you if the entire company meets their standards (but not individual products so users don't just boycott all palm oil).

      We acknowledge that all companies that receive a rating are in different places on their journey to use 100% certified sustainable palm oil. We want to recognise those companies that are doing well and encourage those companies that need improvement. We hope that by creating this rating system we will accomplish this task and assist consumers with making the most educated shopping choices in regards to sustainable palm oil.

      Companies are scored on a point structure and can earn a rating of Excellent, Good, Fair, Poor, or No Commitment.

      I'm sure a lot of Tilderianeses are conscious of this, so I wanted to share the information (and presumably get more info from someone who knows more).

      36 votes
    20. 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.

      7 votes
    21. What are some of the weirdest events and moments in comic books?

      And by weird, I mean the kind of insanity that would drive normal people to their breaking point as they question reality. The kind where you question what drugs the writers were on to come up...

      And by weird, I mean the kind of insanity that would drive normal people to their breaking point as they question reality. The kind where you question what drugs the writers were on to come up with that, or worry for their mental health.

      Things like the Peter Parker Clone Saga. Or the scene where he is turned into a spider, somehow gets pregnant, then dies and then basically gives birth to himself by bursting from the body. Or the time Jason Todd gained the power to turn into a tentacle monster and ate a guy. Or just... Most of Supergirl's history apparently. (I have only brushed the surface, but DC's edict make Superman the last Kryptonian led to some convoluted explanations to continue using legacy Kryptonian characters. Also, her horse had a raging crush on her and is technically an ex thanks to human-transformation shenanigans.)

      Mainly thinking of DC and Marvel, but I'm open to other long-running comic book universes. Because with enough time, writers have to get creative to fill in issues, and stuff gets WEIRD.

      10 votes
    22. 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
    23. Does anyone use DaVinci Resolve Fusion for motion graphics?

      Hey there Tildes -- just checking in to see if any of y'all use Fusion for work or for hobby projects? I've been using Resolve for a while with personal projects and have used Premiere for work...

      Hey there Tildes -- just checking in to see if any of y'all use Fusion for work or for hobby projects?

      I've been using Resolve for a while with personal projects and have used Premiere for work for years. I have basic understanding of After Effects as I've had to use it off and on for work for many years (though, it's been a while since I've had Creative Cloud subscription) and now I'm just moving everything to Final Cut for simple stuffs and Resolve for work or big projects. Hoping to move to exclusively use Resolve since I got a new M5 iPad and their iPad app seems nearly complete (feature-parity with Desktop).

      If anyone has good understanding of Fusion, how did you learn? Could you point me to specific sites/creators/etc.?

      Thanks!

      10 votes
    24. Is it possible to not want to be happy?

      This is sort of a philosophical, logical, and psychological paradox. If you are content when being unhappy, then your preferences are satisfied. So, you wouldn't want to change anything and, in...

      This is sort of a philosophical, logical, and psychological paradox. If you are content when being unhappy, then your preferences are satisfied. So, you wouldn't want to change anything and, in that sense, you are happy. But if you're happy, then your preference is unsatisfied and so you're unhappy. But, it seems plausible in real-life that someone, for some complicated reason, actually doesn't want to be happy. If we accept that such a thing exists, then what exactly are we talking about?

      23 votes
    25. Blog owners, do you write under your real name, or under a pseudonym?

      And what do you write about? Currently, my personal website is under my real name. I'm asking this question because I'm about to rebuild it (as is tradition), which gave me some energy to write...

      And what do you write about?

      Currently, my personal website is under my real name. I'm asking this question because I'm about to rebuild it (as is tradition), which gave me some energy to write about a recent personal event, and I'm realizing that I'm not comfortable with writing this under my real name. So I'm here, wondering what to do with my personal thoughts that I want to share, but not too loudly.

      If you own a personal website or blog, what do you do? Do you use a pseudonym for everything? Are you ok with publishing personal stuff under your real name? Do you have two blogs to separate things?

      19 votes
    26. What kind of contractor do I call to evaluate another contractor's work?

      I'm going to try to make a very long story short, but we had a large structural retaining wall replaced. The driveway sits on top of the retaining wall. It is about 7 feet tall at the highest end...

      I'm going to try to make a very long story short, but we had a large structural retaining wall replaced. The driveway sits on top of the retaining wall. It is about 7 feet tall at the highest end and tapers down over about 30 feet.

      We selected a contractor who was at the higher end of the price range but not like the highest highest. It's not like we cheaped out. But we are SO not happy with the work. There are sagging "deadman" posts, there are a ton of shims forced into it to make it lean the correct direction, and it is visibly not dug out enough.

      We have tried to work with the contractor but he keeps cheaping out and "jerry rigging" it further to fix the defects. At this point, we are thinking small claims court. We want an expert to come out and tell us if it is structurally sound and document the defects.

      I thought maybe a general home inspector could just inspect a part of it, but we contacted three and they said they only do whole structure inspections, like the whole house. And even if the retaining wall was included they would not really look much further than making sure it's not rotten. I tried a structural engineer but the two I contacted almost seemed confused at what I was asking. One just told me they don't do things like that and the other one I'm pretty sure just wanted me to go away and said $10k.

      What kind of speciality can tell me if this thing is going to collapse or not? I feel like this is important information if we sue the previous contractor. Any help would be appreciated.

      16 votes
    27. Are we burning it down by proxy?

      Is anyone else in a part of the US where there are a ton more fireworks this summer than ever before? It can't be just my neighborhood. Literally every night since the beginning of June, someone...

      Is anyone else in a part of the US where there are a ton more fireworks this summer than ever before? It can't be just my neighborhood. Literally every night since the beginning of June, someone is setting fire to their (presumably inversely proportional, that is to say, increasingly diminishing) disposable income. The prices of everything are higher than ever—gas, food, housing, everything—and yet. What is going on out there??

      21 votes
    28. Need advice about work

      Hello! I need some advice about work. I'm 34 and I have a child. What direction do you think I should be looking in job-wise? Because of AI, I'm not sure whether it's worth staying in IT and on...

      Hello!

      I need some advice about work. I'm 34 and I have a child. What direction do you think I should be looking in job-wise? Because of AI, I'm not sure whether it's worth staying in IT and on top of that, my department was recently shut down at my company, so I'm out of work.

      My goal is to be able to rent a decent place, cover health/medical costs, food obviously and to take my child on holiday at least once yearly (I couldn't affort it before).

      I'm based in Europe. Right now I'm actively learning to knit, just in case.

      Could you suggest what kind of work you'd recommend so that I can be that "man of the house" for myself and support myself properly? If it matters: I'm celibate and I don't plan to enter into a relationship, but I need to get my child on their feet and I honestly have no idea which way to move.

      My salary has always been low, I'm tired of it and I'm responsible for a child. So I'm ready for anything. Ready to learn anything, do anything!

      Thank you!

      28 votes
    29. Relationship troubles

      Hello, I am using a throwaway account since I don't want this account publicly associated with the rest of my Internet persona. Some identifying info will be fudged for the sake of keeping as...

      Hello, I am using a throwaway account since I don't want this account publicly associated with the rest of my Internet persona. Some identifying info will be fudged for the sake of keeping as anonymous as possible.

      Me and my partner of nine years have been constantly fighting about little things these days. The fights have started from shallow stuff. From my perspective, it usually starts out of silly things. One recurring thing is that sometimes, working from home, I want some hugs every now and then during the day. The problem is he's watching Netflix or whatever and doesn't want to be interrupted midmovie. He complains I asked for them too frequently, which is fair. But I think the cause is when he does accept my proposal to hug, I'm just the one hugging him and he's still watching the movie. Gives me a tap in the back of what objectively could be a hug but there is just no emotion.

      Alright, getting annoyed is one thing and should be easy to fix. However, he does some variant of "escaping the conversation". Whether it's leaving the room suddenly or answering questions in what I think is bad faith. All of these, in his head, I know he has a rationalization. Leaving the room, according to him, is good for calming down. And he's read that somewhere. Can't refute that. But what I try to explain, and am probably not explaining well, is that he just can't leave me like that because it feels like he doesn't care about it. I find it very disrespectful, it makes me angry, and it just elevates what could have been a quick discussion to some big blown-up fight where no one is really sure anymore how it started or why it dials up to 11 very quickly.

      I've recently started opening up to friends out of desperation. He "does not like" that our friends know about our business. Relationship troubles and all. I understand, and I tried to respect this wish for the nine years we've been together. But now I'm desperate, I did start talking about it with friends. They gave me a lot of insights that I didn't have before and they pinpointed that the biggest obstacle we have is proper communication.

      In the beginning, I talk and let him talk. But his responses are one-liners like "yes" or "sure". Which is completely ambiguous if it is in agreement to what I just said or if it is just to signify that he's listening. This gave me the tendency to talk more. Because either the conversation finishes there, which according to him is already concluded because he agreed to what I wanted. The thing that is lacking is some sort of feeling of warmth or empathy. In principle, "yes" already does the "admin part" but "yes I understand what you mean and I will try to do better" takes care of the emotional side. This is something that I have tried explaining but unfortunately in vain. Maybe it's his blind side.

      I don't think anything of what he's doing is malicious or intentionally done to make me angry. I think it's just how he is. I don't think he realizes it. And as someone who cares for him, I hope he does.

      The status now is that we are "broken up". I'd like to mark that with an asterisk because our fights these past few weeks end up with someone saying they want to break up. It has since elevated to "we are breaking up". It's getting tiring. I know that this relationship is down in the gutter. However, I am still optimistic for that Disney ending where we all realize our problems and live happily ever after.

      But yeah. I really don't know what I want in posting this. I think I just need to pass the time since we are both currently in the same apartment. It's big enough that we have our own rooms for these trying times. Advice and analyses and opinions are certainly welcome. Obviously, there's bias for me since I wrote it. So yeah. Open to anything. Thanks for reading in any case.

      19 votes
    30. 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.

      10 votes
    31. Last night was terrifying

      Went on a guys trip to Johnsons Shut-Ins the last week. Go ahead and Google what happened there last night. I don't really know the point of posting this here but I feel like sharing. It started...

      Went on a guys trip to Johnsons Shut-Ins the last week. Go ahead and Google what happened there last night. I don't really know the point of posting this here but I feel like sharing.


      It started raining around 11pm. The tents held up fine for a while.

      I remember waking up at one point to hard rain. I checked the tent but things seemed fine. That was probably about midnight or 1am. Around 2am I woke up cause something felt wrong. The tent was moving and shaking.

      I opened the door and saw chaos. It was like looking at the sea in a storm, and I was being carried off by the rushing water. We were swept into a shelter, where I was able to find footing to grab my kid (I was telling "GET UP, GET UP NOW" the whole time) and toss him onto a table out of the water.

      I managed to grab quite a bit from the tent and toss it on too and then wedge the tent between two trees.

      I then saw the other tent from my group float past. I couldn't help them.

      My kid is crying, a torrent of rising water is at my feet, and I spotted that the bathroom shelter nearby was higher up. I grabbed my kid and had to fight my way through the raging water worrying I'd drop him with any misstep. I made it across and we were the first ones there.

      Slowly others came. First my FIL and then other campers tricked in. We didn't know what had happened to my bil or my nephew, just they they'd been swept away. My FIL had been sucked out of the tent when he opened the door.

      Another family we could hear yelling across the water. A father and son stuck in the trees. They showed up later at the shelter, apparently the son had been pulled away from his dad but wedged on a tree and was able to escape. The dad went back to find the rest of the family. They were all ok.

      A few hours later, my bil and his son showed up. They'd been pinned by the current to the trees for at least 2 hours. Hypothermic and exhausted, but safe.

      Dawn came and the rain stopped. We gathered what ever else we could find and then left through flooded roads.

      92 votes
    32. 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.

      10 votes
    33. 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!

      8 votes
    34. What’s something that didn’t work for you?

      Something that generally works for most people, but you were an exception. Something you were expecting to help, but it didn’t. Something that promised a lot but failed to deliver. Something that...

      Something that generally works for most people, but you were an exception.

      Something you were expecting to help, but it didn’t.

      Something that promised a lot but failed to deliver.

      Something that fell through.

      Something you couldn’t get used to.

      Could be an item, a piece of advice, a plan, a path, a relationship, etc.

      Whatever it was, it didn’t work and that was significant.

      What was it? Why do you think it didn’t work? How do you feel about it?

      34 votes
    35. Introductions | July 2026

      How do you do, fellow users? I've just arrived. Hi-ho! Anyone else new here as well? What do folks usually do around these parts? Any do's and don'ts for new users? Edit: Woah thanks y'all for the...

      How do you do, fellow users?

      I've just arrived. Hi-ho! Anyone else new here as well? What do folks usually do around these parts? Any do's and don'ts for new users?

      Edit: Woah thanks y'all for the warm welcome! Can't reply to everyone but I really appreciate all the advices.

      40 votes