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    1. Best 120mm fans for a desktop?

      I was looking for preferences on 120/140mm case fans. RGB is a want, but not at the expense of quality fans. I'm pretty new to the topic and not super familiar with the technical side. So open to...

      I was looking for preferences on 120/140mm case fans. RGB is a want, but not at the expense of quality fans.

      I'm pretty new to the topic and not super familiar with the technical side. So open to reading more in depth too.

      Thanks!

      7 votes
    2. My dad had a stroke; looking for free Android games to help him pass time and recover

      Last month my dad had a stroke. Miraculously he didn't lose much functionality at all, though he does have some minor cognitive issues that we're working on in rehab - mainly memory. Accordingly,...

      Last month my dad had a stroke. Miraculously he didn't lose much functionality at all, though he does have some minor cognitive issues that we're working on in rehab - mainly memory. Accordingly, we want to find some games he can play on his tablet to help keep his mind active and focus his attention. But the mobile game market is hard for me to navigate and sort through for what I'm looking for.

      I need games that're about a dollar or less and don't have in-app purchases. Basically games you could give to your kid and trust that they're not gonna be psychologically manipulated into wanting to empty your bank card or something like that.

      Brain teasers and simple puzzles are ideal for sharpening his mind but any game that's good clean straightforward fun will work. I don't think he's going to be able to handle anything with a whole lot of moving parts like an RTS right now, for instance.

      I can't afford to spend much on this and I don't know what kinds of games will interest him most so I want to give him a lot of choices. I've already looked through a couple of the other mobile game rec threads on here and I'm checking out the games listed there, but I was hoping you all could help me think of some stuff more geared to my situation. Any pointers even just on where to go looking or what to google would be appreciated. Cheers!

      Edit:

      Thank you all for being so supportive! I've added a bunch of the games you recommended, and I also found a couple nice lists that I thought I'd add here for anyone else interested.

      Short List of Totally Free Games

      10 Completely Free Mobile Games

      Stay awesome tildes!

      20 votes
    3. Have you ever served on a jury, or faced a jury trial?

      Since Tildes participants generally come from nations with legal systems based on English common law or otherwise requiring jury trial for criminal cases, I'm curious what, if any, experience...

      Since Tildes participants generally come from nations with legal systems based on English common law or otherwise requiring jury trial for criminal cases, I'm curious what, if any, experience others have had of serving on juries, trying cases before a jury, or facing a jury as a defendant.

      I was unable to participate as fully in this discussion as I would have liked, as I was called to jury service on a child molestation case this week. I'm deeply saddened to say that it was the second time I've served as a juror for judgment on an accused child sex abuser.

      That case is now concluded, we returned a guilty verdict today, and I'm at liberty to discuss it if questions arise.

      One of the startling things about this case was the huge jury pool called - sixty people, of whom only 8 were seated (6 jurors and two alternates, and we weren't informed as to who the alternates were). The dismaying detail was that of those sixty people, representing a very diverse county, the selected jury pool consisted of 7 white, middle-aged, college-educated, relatively affluent women, and one older white man.

      In the U.S., the right to a trial by jury is foundational - it's specified in the Sixth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution as follows:

      In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense.

      Though it's not commonly considered as such, the U.S. civic duty to provide service as a juror is on par with military service, as illustrated here: https://www.hqmc.marines.mil/News/News-Article-Display/Article/551818/jury-duty-is-civil-duty/

      23 votes
    4. What does your desktop look like? What tools do you swear by?

      Between the recent discussions on the Useful Shell Scripts thread, and some of the tangents on the Desktop Usability thread, I thought it might be an interesting idea to have a desktop screenshot...

      Between the recent discussions on the Useful Shell Scripts thread, and some of the tangents on the Desktop Usability thread, I thought it might be an interesting idea to have a desktop screenshot sharing / unixporn thread where we talk about our setups, preferred applications, and share some pointers. This doesn't specifically have to be a Unix circlejerk though. If you have a Windows/Android/ChromeOS/TempleOS setup with some novel innovations, you're more than welcome to share too.

      34 votes
    5. What's your favorite song cover?

      As the title says. Bonus points for covers that really surprised you. My personal favorite is Sugar Ray's cover of The Steve Miller Band's Abracadabra. It's super faithful to the source material...

      As the title says. Bonus points for covers that really surprised you. My personal favorite is Sugar Ray's cover of The Steve Miller Band's Abracadabra. It's super faithful to the source material but Sugar Ray kinda heavied it up a bit

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

      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...

      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 Anilist, MAL, or any other anime/manga database you use!

      8 votes
    7. What have you been listening to this week?

      Oops, just noticed I didn't post this week! My mistake. 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! Feel...

      Oops, just noticed I didn't post this week! My mistake.

      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!

      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.

      11 votes
    8. Share your useful shell scripts!

      Disclaimer: Don't run scripts offered to you by randos unless you trust them or review it yourself I use this constantly, it just plays music by file name, specifically matching *NAME* with...

      Disclaimer: Don't run scripts offered to you by randos unless you trust them or review it yourself

      I use this constantly, it just plays music by file name, specifically matching *NAME* with case-insensitivity. Requires bash 4.something.

      # play -ln SONGS ...
      # -l don't shuffle
      # -n dry run
      mpv_args="--no-audio-display --no-resume-playback \
                --msg-level=all=status --term-osd-bar"
      shopt -s globstar nullglob nocaseglob
      
      shuffle=true
      dry=false
      while [[ "$1" == -* ]]; do
          if [[ "$1" == "-l" ]]; then 
              shuffle=false
          elif [[ "$1" == "-n" ]]; then
              dry=true
          fi
      
          shift 1
      done
      
      if [[ "$shuffle" == true ]]; then
          mpv_args="--shuffle $mpv_args"
      fi
      
      songs=()
      while [[ "$#" != 0 ]]; do
          songs+=( ~/music/**/**/*"$1"*.* ) # change this to match your music directory layout
          shift 1                                               # could probably use find instead
      done
      
      if [[ "$dry" == true ]]; then
          if [[ "$shuffle" == true ]]; then
              printf "Shuffle mode is on\n"
          fi
      
          for song in "${songs[@]}"; do
              printf "$song\n"
          done
        
          exit
      fi
      
      if [[ ${#songs[@]} != 0 ]]; then
          mpv $mpv_args "${songs[@]}"
      fi
      

      I make no claims to the quality of this but it works!

      36 votes
    9. What do you look for in a game and why do you play?

      I myself am a very, very competitive person. Because of this, I play almost exclusively competitive titles that feature a ranked ladder and esports. I find that even on a game that takes care to...

      I myself am a very, very competitive person. Because of this, I play almost exclusively competitive titles that feature a ranked ladder and esports. I find that even on a game that takes care to be competitive, there are still plenty (read: the vast majority) of people that don't seem to care for playing to win, or that don't make any sincere effort to ever improve. There's a guy called Labor on a game I play who plays hundreds and hundreds of ranked matches per season, but plays exactly the same today as he did a year or two ago. He's totally average, stagnant in rank, but keeps playing. Are any of you like Labor? If you are, what do you look for in a game? Even if you aren't, I'm curious. What kinds of games do you play? What types of experiences are you looking for? Why do you look for those experiences?

      18 votes
    10. Where would a beginner start with data compression? What are some good books for it?

      Mostly the title. I have experience with Python, and I was thinking of learning more about data compression. How should I proceed? And what are some good books I could read, both about specifics...

      Mostly the title. I have experience with Python, and I was thinking of learning more about data compression. How should I proceed? And what are some good books I could read, both about specifics and abstracts of data compression, data management, data in general.

      15 votes
    11. ~music Weekly Music Tracks Thread 1 - Uplifting Earworms

      Some people have mentioned they'd like to have some sort of weekly track-sharing thread, so let's have a little fun and find some good music in the process. Everybody's got that playlist somewhere...

      Some people have mentioned they'd like to have some sort of weekly track-sharing thread, so let's have a little fun and find some good music in the process.

      Everybody's got that playlist somewhere with all of your favorite earworms - the songs you put on repeat to the point where you annoy the hell out of everyone else in the room because you love them so much. Let's collect some of those earworms here and see what we can come up with.

      In particular, let's go for the uplifting kind - feel good music. When the thread settles down I'll pull these all together in a nice playlist and share that here as a separate link submission.

      Any time period, any genre, any style, popular, obscure, or even your own music, it's all good - just as long as it's positive energy and you can't stop spinning it. If you're on mobile, don't worry about making it into links, others can linkify it for you (and eventually, Tildes can do that automatically to make this all easier in the future). Share as many as you've got. If you've already got a playlist like this for yourself, you can share that too. ;)

      Oh, and don't worry about nebulous 'standards' or if people will like it. If you like it, that's all that matters. Don't overthink it!

      Edit: Almost forgot, feel free to make suggestions for the topics of upcoming share threads in the next few weeks!

      13 votes
    12. Recommendation for new Oculus compatible machine help

      Hey all. My old computer is fine, but the Oculus software has recently pushed an update where it no longer starts up, attempting to repair the software uninstalled it, and the install errors out...

      Hey all. My old computer is fine, but the Oculus software has recently pushed an update where it no longer starts up, attempting to repair the software uninstalled it, and the install errors out despite clearing out the install cache and existing files while running it in network capable Safe mode with Defender off as recommended.

      Eventually I narrowed it down to this error. https://forums.oculusvr.com/community/discussion/71083/cant-install-software-exiting-with-code-18 and since I'm using an old HP xw8400 build with two Xeon 5355 processors, it does kind of check out that this latest update finally became incompatible with my processor and it may be time to upgrade anyway. To my knowledge, there isn't really a way to get a more modern processor onto the motherboard, and I'm not going to rage at Oculus for not supporting hardware they were never supporting in the first place. (Auto Update and being unable to downgrade is meh, but I'm not going to win that fight.)

      So what would you guys recommended for a new processor/ram/motherboard combination? My Graphics Card (RX480) and hard drive is still fine, and I'd like to keep it on the cheap for as much as we can do with VR.

      6 votes
    13. 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! Feel free to give recs or discuss anything about each others'...

      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!

      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.

      8 votes
    14. Why is it becoming increasingly more wrong to kill animals for food?

      Probably in the majority of history people used to hunt, or kill farm animals for food without a second thought. But in the recent years it looks like the public opinion is shifting in a way when...

      Probably in the majority of history people used to hunt, or kill farm animals for food without a second thought. But in the recent years it looks like the public opinion is shifting in a way when perception of eating meat is kinda like perception of homophobia or racism. Arguments against eating meat and for preserving farm animal lives are actively upvoted, and with this tendency being non vegetarian is already becoming "uncool" and eventually will be frowned upon, like littering.

      Is that because hardcore vegetarians and animal rights activists got their voices spread in social media? Or it's mostly an environmental problem, particularly with large farm animals? Or humans are quickly becoming better, more civilized? If so, why meat eating is such a high priority issue to address when issues of people to people interactions are still far from being solved?

      23 votes
    15. Help! I'm indecisive and I want a keyboard.

      I know there are at least fifteen threads on ~comp alone about mechanical keyboards, but, this one is mine. I recently had a run in with tendinitis, which taught me the importance of ergonomics,...

      I know there are at least fifteen threads on ~comp alone about mechanical keyboards, but, this one is mine.

      I recently had a run in with tendinitis, which taught me the importance of ergonomics, but I still wanted the clickety clack of a mechanical keyboard, so I decided to consider buying an ergonomic mechanical keyboard.

      The first one that I looked at was the ErgoDox EZ (it was the first one I saw). It had a split layout, open source firmware, and a positive review from Linus Tech Tips.

      The second one was the Ultimate Hacking Keyboard (I saw the Hacker News thread). I was interested in it for the Trackball Module.

      These two keyboards are different enough from each other, so it's hard to compare them.

      In conclusion, why should I choose one over the other?

      14 votes
    16. What are you reading these days? #7

      What are you reading currently? Fiction or non-fiction, any genre, any language! Tell us what you're reading, and talk a bit about it. Past weeks: Week #1 · Week #2 · Week #3 · Week #4 · Week #5 ·...

      What are you reading currently? Fiction or non-fiction, any genre, any language! Tell us what you're reading, and talk a bit about it.

      Past weeks: Week #1 · Week #2 · Week #3 · Week #4 · Week #5 · Week #6

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

      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...

      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 Anilist, MAL, or any other anime/manga database you use!

      7 votes
    18. What have you been listening to this week?

      Filling in again this week at Whom's request. 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! Feel free to give...

      Filling in again this week at Whom's request.

      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!

      Feel free to give recs or discuss anything about each others' listening habits.

      You can make a chart if you use last.fm:

      http://www.tapmusic.net/lastfm/

      Remember that linking directly to your image will update with your future listening, make sure to reupload to somewhere like imgur if you'd like it to remain what you have at the time of posting.

      12 votes
    19. What have you been listening to this week?

      Filling in again 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! Feel free to give recs or discuss...

      Filling in again 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!

      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.

      14 votes
    20. Any literary translators here? What programs do you use?

      I've started doing this amateurishly a few months ago, translating a novel slowly, and nowadays I'm thinking of going to a few publishers and asking for actual contracts. Currently, I'm using an...

      I've started doing this amateurishly a few months ago, translating a novel slowly, and nowadays I'm thinking of going to a few publishers and asking for actual contracts. Currently, I'm using an Org mode file in Emacs to do the translation, but I'm not sure that this is the most optimal way to do it. I was doing it using paper for a while, but editing and commenting is more flexible in Org mode. Yet it is also rather cumbersome the way I do it:

      <<pageNo.paragraphNo.sentenceNo>> Text, text text
      #
      some text with a comment
      # comment about the part between this comment and the above empty one
      more text, more text. <<...>> Another sentence
      

      I'm thinking of adding some code to make this a bit prettier, though.

      But are there anything that's better out there already. My preference hierarchy: Emacs mode, yayyy! > Open source app, that's fine > Proprietary app, shit! but better than nothing.

      I'm not sure if this should go under ~comp, ~tech or here (~books).

      8 votes
    21. What are you thankful for?

      Hello everybody! As the Americans here are probably aware, this week is our holiday for Thanksgiving. One of the traditional parts of the holiday (at least as I've always practiced it) is...

      Hello everybody! As the Americans here are probably aware, this week is our holiday for Thanksgiving. One of the traditional parts of the holiday (at least as I've always practiced it) is everybody writing a list of the things they're thankful for in their life and over the past year. Especially since this is our first Thanksgiving together since Tildes was founded, I was wondering if you'd like to contribute such a list. :)

      17 votes
    22. Looking for a phone that doesn't follow recent trends

      I am generally dissatisfied with my phone options today. I want a phone that meets these requirements: microSD card slot 3.5mm headphone jack Unlockable bootloader without having to ask the...

      I am generally dissatisfied with my phone options today. I want a phone that meets these requirements:

      • microSD card slot
      • 3.5mm headphone jack
      • Unlockable bootloader without having to ask the manufacturer (i.e. fastboot oem unlock)
      • Either LineageOS support or Android 8+
      • Screen smaller than 6" (preferably smaller than 5.5")

      I'd also prefer not to have a notch but it's not a dealbreaker. I don't really care much about having the thinnest phone, or the biggest screen, etc. I'd much prefer having more control over my device and the way I use it.

      Does such a phone exist, or do I have my standards too high? I haven't seen a phone like this that came out 2017 or later.

      21 votes
    23. Stuck In A Ditch In The Middle Of A Desert In A Country I Don't Know The Name Of

      I'm sitting here, not being able to sleep and watching every single John Mayer music video ever made, finding myself a little stuck. I've got good friends, I've got a free environment to do...

      I'm sitting here, not being able to sleep and watching every single John Mayer music video ever made, finding myself a little stuck.

      I've got good friends, I've got a free environment to do whatever I want to do, and I've got enough stuff around me to keep me alive. Somehow, this isn't what I hoped for.

      Ever since I was a kid, I always dreamed of this moment. I'm on my own. I've got my axe, and I'm ready for battle, but, I can't swing this thing, man. I don't have enough motivation, something I've been struggling with since I was born. I'm a chronic procrastinator, even when it's about something I actually want to. I want to sit down, write music, and make people smile. I want to do all these things, but I can't find enough willpower to do it. Maybe it's just my current emotional state holding me back. I miss the connection I used to have with someone that put me at my absolute peak in life.

      It's so unbelievably unfair to me that someone that seemed to help me so much and bring me up can just walk out on me like that with no explanation. She made me a better person when she was around, and a worse person when she's not. I don't understand why I still think about it every single day. I guess this is more of a rant / self help post, but I do pose one question:

      How do I get rid of the constant thought of someone? She's connected to everything I do in life and I really gotta fucking stop. Is there something I'm missing when it comes to getting over someone? Do I chase her? I've tried before, but it ended worse the second time around.

      Anyone have similar experiences? I'm sure there are some sad wrecks out there tonight. Come and share your story about the best person you've ever met that you'll never meet again.

      12 votes
    24. Minimalism and/or zero waste life

      Hi there. It seems that minimalist and zero waste movements have picked up some steam recently in many first world countries as a reaction to the consumerist, greed-based lifestyles promoted and...

      Hi there. It seems that minimalist and zero waste movements have picked up some steam recently in many first world countries as a reaction to the consumerist, greed-based lifestyles promoted and upon realisation of our impact on the world. As an aspiring zero waste minimalist and general conversationalist, I am interested in your opinions, so I'll bombard you with some questions.


      Do any of you lead a minimalist or zero waste life, or are you aspiring to or making the transition right now?

      What is your opinion of the movements?

      Are you opposed to the lifestyles?

      Why are you/do you want to be minimalist or create zero waste?

      What is minimalism to you?

      Are you a minimalist in some or all parts of your life?

      What challenges did you run into when making the changes, and how did you overcome them?

      Is there anything you recommend to those who are still just aspiring?

      Does minimalism imply frugality?

      Do you have anything else to add?

      28 votes
    25. Anyone with a CAT phone?

      I currently have a Nexus 6P whose battery dies at 35% and unfortunately nowadays with unreplaceable batteries, that means I have to replace the phone (sigh). For my next phone, I'm seriously...

      I currently have a Nexus 6P whose battery dies at 35% and unfortunately nowadays with unreplaceable batteries, that means I have to replace the phone (sigh).

      For my next phone, I'm seriously considering a CAT S61.

      CATs (caterpillars) are a line of smartphones made for heavy-duty blue collar work. They're built to withstand shocks, drops, accidents and various intense situations. The S61 is a high end hybrid which pulls in USB-C, NFC and various other modernities. This makes it very tempting. The big pros for me are shock/drop resistance+waterproof and a headphone jack, microSD slot, no stupid notch, and a superb battery.

      Where the CAT loses is on display resolution, camera quality and probably CPU/graphics card but having never owned one, I don't know how bad these are. It's also much thicker but that I really don't care about. It also doesn't seem to be compatible with lineageOS (and even if it were, I don't know that there's drivers for the various custom hardware bits such as the thermal imaging camera).

      Before I drop $1k on one of these, anyone here got any hands-on experience with the CAT line?

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

      Sorry for the late post. Anyway, what have you been watching/reading this week? Feel free to talk about something you saw that was cool, something that was bad, ask for recommendations, or...

      Sorry for the late post.

      Anyway, what have you been watching/reading this week?

      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 Anilist, MAL, or any other anime/manga database you use!

      5 votes
    27. I would like to get into drones, any tips?

      I bought one of those cheap miniature drones that are flimsy but overall pretty fun to start with. Now, I have the bug to get something with a camera, more flight time, and can withstand the wind....

      I bought one of those cheap miniature drones that are flimsy but overall pretty fun to start with. Now, I have the bug to get something with a camera, more flight time, and can withstand the wind. Any suggestions on what I could get <$150 that would be a good investment.

      Any maintenance tips or flying in public tips?

      9 votes
    28. On YouTube and EU Article 13

      If you've been following tech news somewhat recently, you've surely heard about Article 13- the one where the EU essentially requires all content hosts to have extremely strict copyright checking...

      If you've been following tech news somewhat recently, you've surely heard about Article 13- the one where the EU essentially requires all content hosts to have extremely strict copyright checking tools and have automated takedown of any potentially copyrighted works.

      That got put on the backburner for a little bit, but now it's back with a vote being held in early 2019.

      YouTube, being one of, if not the largest content hosts in the world, is greatly affected by this motion. In fact, they have a whole website designed to encourage their creators to talk about A13 in their videos. The page very subtly hints at massive service changes that will happen in the EU if this actually ends up passing.

      The CEO of YouTube, Susan Wojcicki, has also written an op-ed for Financial times (linked to official YT blog since it's free there) about the issues facing YT if A13 passes.

      I haven't heard anything from official sources, but I've heard on the rumor mill that YouTube will completely suspend creators in the EU, not allowing them to upload any content, and potentially even removing their existing content from YouTube.

      What if this passes? YouTube is one of the biggest sources of free knowledge and entertainment we have today, and it's become engrained into the internet as it is today.

      With all this, I simply ask, "what's next?"

      9 votes
    29. Creative process discussion

      I'd love to hear about how you create your favorite works. Of anything. How did you write your best music? How did you create your favorite character in a story you wrote? Anything of the sort....

      I'd love to hear about how you create your favorite works. Of anything. How did you write your best music? How did you create your favorite character in a story you wrote? Anything of the sort.

      I'd love to hear all the different processes people have. It's really quite an interesting topic of discussion, for me.

      Personally, I grab a cup of coffee and listen to instrumental music (mostly avant-garde jazz [Coltrane, Washington, etc]) while creating the world of the story I'm writing. There's something very productive-feeling about being wired on caffeine while also having a constant noise in your ears. It's how I compose some of my better characters and settings.

      Due to my constant writer's block phenomenon, sometimes I'll smoke some pot to get past it. It's almost like phasing through a wall you can't jump over. There's something lifting about it.

      16 votes
    30. What are you reading these days? #6

      What are you reading currently? Fiction or non-fiction, any genre, any language! Tell us what you're reading, and talk a bit about it. Notes: Do any one of you follow any literary magazines? How...

      What are you reading currently? Fiction or non-fiction, any genre, any language! Tell us what you're reading, and talk a bit about it.

      Notes: Do any one of you follow any literary magazines? How do you follow fresh pieces of literature, and grab hold of them "fresh out of the oven"?

      Past weeks: Week #1 · Week #2 · Week #3 · Week #4 · Week #5

      22 votes
    31. If there was a giant meteor hurtling at the earth, and the end was near, what would you regret having not done?

      I’ll go first: I had this thought a few years ago, and for me it was my desire to write and perform music. Yes, I wanted to be a “rock star” in a way. I had a bit of skill, and some song ideas,...

      I’ll go first:

      I had this thought a few years ago, and for me it was my desire to write and perform music. Yes, I wanted to be a “rock star” in a way. I had a bit of skill, and some song ideas, while at the same time the idea of putting my soul out in front of everyone scared the crap out of me. I have major stage fright.

      So.. being the nerdy control freak that I am, I started my own Open Mic night at a friend’s bar. For many weeks I drove all of my audio gear there, I hosted lots of amazing people.. and eventually I performed. I played and sang my three songs. People loved it, but all the while my lips turned blue due to lack of normal breathing, and I certainly never made eye contact with the crowd more than once. That night I felt like I accomplished my goal, and learned my limits. Mission accomplished, I am now ready for the theoretical end.

      Would you have any regrets in a similar thought experiment?

      20 votes
    32. Tech Talk: What's the make & model of your current phone? What do you like about it? Dislike? What phones have you owned in the past?

      Following on from the Tildes 0.5 year survey in which 72% of users stated they used an Android device, and 24% used an iOS device, I thought it'd be fun to ask people in a longform manner to talk...

      Following on from the Tildes 0.5 year survey in which 72% of users stated they used an Android device, and 24% used an iOS device, I thought it'd be fun to ask people in a longform manner to talk about their current phone, and their dislikes & likes about it. What has your upgrade history been like?

      I'm currently utilising an iPhone XS (no "Max") in 256GB. This is my first phone upgrade where I've felt like the changes are a step sideways rather than forwards from what I've previously experienced. The minimal bezels are very nice, and once you understand how the iOS experience fits into the overall vision for Apple's phone lineup, the notch becomes an immediately obvious choice—a design compromise for the time being until we can place the sensor array under the display.

      Face ID is acceptable. It fails a bit more often than Touch ID ever did, but it fails in different situations, and also works better in others. For a first generation iteration it's acceptable; if it can get more diverse with time and work better in extreme sunlight and at wider angles, it'll become definitively better than a fingerprint scanner.

      I talked a bit about the OLED display in the XS in this comment here, where I can distinguish the pentile crosshatching pattern, and again, I feel that the OLED is a case of better in some situations, worse in others. The inky blacks are fantastic, but the dark ghosting is a compromise I'm less happy with. Apple's IPS LCD panels are so good, they had a high bar to meet here.

      The camera is again truly fantastic; not enough to ever make me consider selling my Sony mirrorless, but the computational photography aspects makes taking challenging photos more of a breeze than ever before.

      Finally, after living with a plus-sized phone for the past 4 years, a step back to a smaller form factor with a similar sized screen is a breath of fresh air—I can finally tie my shoelaces up with my phone in my jean pockets again.

      The watch & AirPods & continuity integrations will keep me happy in the Apple ecosystem for a while yet, but I'd need to see a very compelling new feature of aspect to a future phone to upgrade in the next 2 years at this point. Phones are lasting longer than ever before, as they should, and Apple knows this.

      Previously I've owned

      • iPhone 7 Plus, Jet Black 256GB. The Jet Black finish coupled with the weightier frame & thicker body definitely resulted in this feeling like the most polished iPhone 6-style design to date. Runner up for my favourite phone. Further more the P3-gamut display significantly improved image quality. I wasn't happy enough with the iPhone X to consider an upgrade.

      • iPhone 6 Plus, Silver 128GB. Might be my least favourite phone of all time? Too thin, slippery, suffered from bendgate; and had display issues which gave it a bad rap. Touch ID was cool; however.

      • iPhone 4, Black. Might be my favourite phone of all time, purely from a design standpoint? Utilising the steel frame around the edge of the phone as an antenna was completely unheard of back then and truly a fantastic design innovation. The sandwiched glass profile was both a fingerprint magnet and truly gorgeous; and the Retina display was breathtaking. I'd love to see a return to this design profile.

      • iPhone 3G. My first phone. I distinctly remember jailbreaking this device to change the cellular provider name in the top left corner & enable some extremely low quality video recording; this was also the good old days of fantastic games like Tap Tap Revenge.

      How about you?

      35 votes