• Activity
  • Votes
  • Comments
  • New
  • All activity
  • Showing only topics with the tag "advice". Back to normal view
    1. What steps should people take in case they need to quarantine?

      With quarantines becoming both a reality for many and an increasing likelihood for many more, what are the recommended best practices for preparing oneself and household? There's a lot of general...

      With quarantines becoming both a reality for many and an increasing likelihood for many more, what are the recommended best practices for preparing oneself and household?

      There's a lot of general advice already out there, so specific advice would be really helpful, as well as things people are likely to forget.

      16 votes
    2. Jailbreaking - How do you know if a tweak is safe?

      I've been jailbreaking for years now, and one of the things that have always puzzled me was how the jailbreak community determines whether or not a tweak has malicious code since they aren't...

      I've been jailbreaking for years now, and one of the things that have always puzzled me was how the jailbreak community determines whether or not a tweak has malicious code since they aren't always open-sourced. With the latest releases of checkra1n, and unc0ver, I've gotten back into jailbreaking since I wanted to jailbreak my 12.9" iPad Pro. From my understanding, the jailbreak itself (usually) is open-sourced, so it can generally be "vetted" that way. I typically stay away from using too many tweaks and try to stick with those from the "more well-known" developers, but I'm curious how others decide which developers/tweaks to trust and use? Do you strictly base it on "bug-reports" and a developer's reputation? What other factors come into play? There are tweaks like "Compatimark" that helps with compatibility information (but that's not really what I'm talking about).

      Edit: First time posting a topic here, so hopefully it isn't breaking any rules.

      9 votes
    3. Changing e-mail and cleaning up my Internet presence

      I'm trying to clean up my internet presence and move away from at least Facebook and Google. I've come a long way with deleting my Facebook and it's now basically an empty shell for messaging....

      I'm trying to clean up my internet presence and move away from at least Facebook and Google. I've come a long way with deleting my Facebook and it's now basically an empty shell for messaging. I've installed Signal and will start the grooming process with my friends and family now. If you have some solid arguments for the change regular ol' folks can understand please share them with me because as we all know "privacy" just isn't enough.

      Next phase is the big one...Google or basically G-mail.

      1. Is there any way to get an complete overview of where you've used your e-mail for a service online?

      2. What e-mail would you recommend?
      2a. I'm OK with paying a bit for overall quality, security and equally important UX!
      2b. I don't use any other relevant Google products like Drive etc. It's just regular e-mail and sign in credentials for other services I basically need

      3. I use a Mac, iPhone and iCloud. Is iCloud a problem? IF this needs to change it HAS to be an "easy" switch and not like setting up a server for myself. Because it won't happen and I'm not skilled enough.

      I would very much appreciate your input :)

      EDIT: Thank you all for your thorough comments!

      22 votes
    4. What do I need to know about switching to a vegetarian diet?

      My husband and I have cut back on meat consumption significantly in recent months, and I'm tossing around the idea of trying to do a full vegetarian diet for the month of March as a trial run for...

      My husband and I have cut back on meat consumption significantly in recent months, and I'm tossing around the idea of trying to do a full vegetarian diet for the month of March as a trial run for potentially going vegetarian full-time.

      I've searched around and there's a lot of conflicting information out there on the topic of vegetarianism, as well as the reality that a significant amount of nutritional information online is sketchy at best. I know we have lots of vegetarian/vegan users here, and I'm wondering if there's any significant need-to-know health concerns or things that need to be addressed. Do I need to supplement any particular nutrients? Do I need to measure my protein intake? Any other must-know information or do's/don't's I should be aware of?

      31 votes
    5. Tips on singing in chest mix (belting)?

      Hello everyone! I wasn't sure where to post this, so into ~misc it goes. I'm currently looking into auditioning for a professional musical theatre production. Now, being a baritone (E2-C5) would...

      Hello everyone! I wasn't sure where to post this, so into ~misc it goes.

      I'm currently looking into auditioning for a professional musical theatre production. Now, being a baritone (E2-C5) would kind of put me at a disadvantage as most musical theatre roles are for tenors, but I found a musical soliciting online auditions for baritones. Usually with musical theatre, they don't really care about your voice type; they care more about your vocal range. "If you can sing it, you're more likely to get the role."

      Anyways, my passagio (or vocal break) is around E4 and the audition (and therefore the musical) is requiring me to sing a G#4. I know that I'd be able to sing it because a) my range can do it and b) I've belted probably incorrectly an A4. I've never really had to use my chest mix range before, so would anyone have any tips?

      7 votes
    6. What are the best practices and platforms for an online study group?

      This is something I tried before with a Discord group for studying Python, but it was a catastrophic failure. Lots of people showed interest, almost no one showed up at the designated time....

      This is something I tried before with a Discord group for studying Python, but it was a catastrophic failure. Lots of people showed interest, almost no one showed up at the designated time. Besides, even the one person hardly interacted.

      After that, I started creating an online book/tutorial for beginners (well, anyone that is more of a beginner than me :P), but it was hard to stay motivated by myself — the whole reason for the study group was precisely to avoid that.

      The topic is not defined yet (I'm thinking logic...), but I'm inclined to try it again. Streaming video and/or audio is a possibility, but not a requirement. I'd rather avoid it if possible.

      Any suggestions on how to make this work?

      6 votes
    7. How do you buy a car?

      How do you decide which kind of car you want? How do you prioritize what you're looking for? How do you know if you'll like it or not? Bonus points for tips on selecting a car your spouse will...
      • How do you decide which kind of car you want?

        • How do you prioritize what you're looking for?
        • How do you know if you'll like it or not?
        • Bonus points for tips on selecting a car your spouse will like as well.
      • Why do you pick new/used?

      • How do you negotiate the price of the car?

      14 votes
    8. Any tips for painting miniatures?

      My D&D group mostly used Lego for the longest time, but we recently decided to give miniatures a shot because we were adding more people and I only have so many minifigs to share (unless you want...

      My D&D group mostly used Lego for the longest time, but we recently decided to give miniatures a shot because we were adding more people and I only have so many minifigs to share (unless you want Stormtroopers in your fantasy setting, that is!). A few weeks ago we met up to paint our miniatures for our new campaign and I think that was the most relaxing, calming thing I've ever done. We all sat in silence basically, noobing our way through the painting process and we had a lot of fun.

      My character is a sheltered rich southern man who sounds a bit like a mix between Colonel Sanders and Foghorn Leghorn. He's a sorcerer and despite how is mini ended up looking, he does not cast bubblegum -- https://imgur.com/fr4tc6Z

      But anyway, looking at it now there are some obvious spots where I messed up and certainly some things I'd do differently now. But until I'm able to get my hands on another miniature, I was wondering if anyone here had experience with painting miniatures and would be able to share some advice?

      11 votes
    9. Where can I find collected wisdom from Silicon Valley?

      I am talking about advice such as "make incremental improvements" and "ship the minimum viable product." Is there a name for this kind of advice - advice related to software and tech. I am looking...

      I am talking about advice such as "make incremental improvements" and "ship the minimum viable product."

      Is there a name for this kind of advice - advice related to software and tech.

      I am looking to make a compilation.

      7 votes
    10. What is a good free alternative to Wordpress that requires little coding?

      I have basic notions of HTML and CSS, but nearly zero JS knowledge. I can perform simple customizations and I know how to follow instructions. It is not my intention to create anything from...

      I have basic notions of HTML and CSS, but nearly zero JS knowledge. I can perform simple customizations and I know how to follow instructions.

      It is not my intention to create anything from scratch (so the platform should have plenty of free themes), nor do I want to become a webdev or webdesigner. This is not a technical project for me, my main concern is the content.

      I currently have a blog that uses Wordpress with a purchased theme. It's good enough, but a bit slow to load. Besides, simpler platforms might be easier to understand and manipulate.

      This alternative would also need to be FOSS and easy to self-host.

      As a plus, it would be awesome if I could manage the blog/website from within Emacs/Org Mode.

      Any ideas?

      14 votes
    11. Anyone have any experience with eSIMs?

      I have ordered a phone with an eSim this week and I have been reading a bit into it. As far as I know so far, you just have to download an app and you can just book some extra data as needed - it...

      I have ordered a phone with an eSim this week and I have been reading a bit into it.
      As far as I know so far, you just have to download an app and you can just book some extra data as needed - it seems especially cool because you can just book a local plan when you're abroad instead of getting a local sim card. Which can be more or less a hassle - 2019 I went to South Africa where it was pretty easy to get a sim card at the airport, 2018 I went to India, where it was a hassle.
      I guess for people in the US this is not a problem? Some of my friends have global contracts, and I had that too when I was there via googles project fi. We don't really have an equivalent in Germany

      I found the following pages in case anyone also wants to look into it
      https://esimdb.com/ - this is an overview page about different esims
      https://www.airalo.com/ - this is one specific offer that seems to be the cheapest for Germany, which is where I would try it, since I live here haha

      6 votes
    12. Hard drive dying, trying to save a VM

      I have a large VirtualBox VM on an external HDD. The HDD fails the S.M.A.R.T. test. The VM still works fine, but any regular attempt to copy the VM files over to a healthy drive fails ... there is...

      I have a large VirtualBox VM on an external HDD. The HDD fails the S.M.A.R.T. test. The VM still works fine, but any regular attempt to copy the VM files over to a healthy drive fails ... there is clearly already something corrupt in the VM's virtual HDD, although it is not (apparently? yet?) affecting the functionality of the actual VM.

      Any suggestions on how to save the VM? Linux Mint Guest OS, Pop_OS (Ubuntu) Host. The VM is nearly 800 GB. Both regular copy and rsync fail.

      Thanks,
      Eric

      PS: (and perhaps I should have led with this, but...) is it okay to ask these kinds of specific, technical, "help me with my tech-stuff" questions here on Tildes?


      Update to the update ... moved update info into a comment ... will keep my progress updated in that primary comment.

      Danke, y gracias to all

      14 votes
    13. [SOLVED] Friend's computer is cutting power randomly

      So my friend has a computer she put together, and after replacing what feels like every single part on the rig, multiple trips to the repair shop, and calling a priest wrestling the demons out of...

      So my friend has a computer she put together, and after replacing what feels like every single part on the rig, multiple trips to the repair shop, and calling a priest wrestling the demons out of it, it is randomly cutting power and we think the replacement power supply might be just as busted as the last one. Are there decent odds of that being an issue, or could it be something that we are overlooking?

      EDIT: So, I had a car issue pop up and I won't be able to to take a look at at it tonight. Will download the tools you all mentioned to a jump drive and will keep you posted.

      Was there, stayed up the whole time. Really thinking it might be a bad power switch that stuck, so it would turn off randomly. Thanks for all your help.

      FINAL EDIT: So I narrowed it down to the Graphics Card and/or the Cooling System. Running the Heaven Benchmark on Extreme pretty reliably cleans it's clock, especially turning it off and then turning it on again. This happens on the latest Windows Updates, with latest Nvidia Drivers. (RTX 2080) Pulling the card and running the benchmark anyway causes the same issue, and this time it powered on and then back off in a loop. CPU-Z stress caused it to crash, so I'm assuming it's the cooler. Thanks again.

      11 votes
    14. How do you explain tech topics when your audience doesn't understand the details?

      Hive mind: What advice would you give to someone who has to give a presentation to a non-technical person, and it's important that the listener actually understand the details? How do you go about...

      Hive mind: What advice would you give to someone who has to give a presentation to a non-technical person, and it's important that the listener actually understand the details?

      How do you go about it? Specific tips appreciated. Pretend it's for a friend you care about.

      (This is for an article. Ideally we could refer to you by reference for context and credibility, eg "an IT security pro at a midwest insurance company" or "aerospace engineer" so please give some kind of identification to use).

      12 votes
    15. Ask Tildes: Design practices for retrieving dozens (or hundreds) of related records over a RESTful API

      I'm looking for some feedback on a feasible mechanism for structuring a few API endpoints where a purely RFC-spec compliant REST API wouldn't suffice. I have an endpoint which returns $child...

      I'm looking for some feedback on a feasible mechanism for structuring a few API endpoints where a purely RFC-spec compliant REST API wouldn't suffice.

      I have an endpoint which returns $child entries for a $parent resource, let's call it: /api/parent/:parentId/children. There could be anywhere from a dozen to several hundred children returned from this call. From here, a child entity is related to a single userOrganization, which itself is a pivoting entity on a single user. The relationship between a child and user is not strictly transitive, but can each child only has one userOrganization which only has one user, so it is trivial to reach a user from a child resource.

      Given this, the data I need for the particular request involves retrieving all user's for a parent. The obvious, and incorrect solution to the problem is to make the request mentioned above, and then iterate through and make an API request to retrieve each user. This is less than very good as this would obviously be up to several hundred API calls.

      There's a few more scalable solutions that could solve this problem, so any input on these ideas is great; but if you have a better proposal that also works, I'm keen to explore that!

      Include user relationships in the call by default.

      This certainly does solve the problem, but it's also pumping down a load of data I don't necessarily need. This would probably 2x the amount of bytes travelling along the wire, and in 8 out of 10 calls, that extra data isn't needed.

      Have a separate /api/parent/:parentId/users call.

      Another option that partially solves the issue: I need data from both the child and the user to format this view, so I'd still need to make the initial call I documented earlier. Semantically, it feels a bit odd to have this as a resource because I don't consider a user to be nested under a parent in terms of database topology.

      Keep the original call, but add a query parameter to fetch the extra data

      This comes across as the 'least worst' idea objectively, in terms of flexibility and design. Through the addition of the query parameter, you could optionally retrieve the relationship's data. This seems brittle and doesn't scale well to other endpoints where it could be useful though.

      Utilize a Stripe expands-style query parameter.

      Stripe implements the ability to retrieve all related records from an API endpoint by specifying the relations as strings. This is essentially the same as the above answer, but is scaled to all available API endpoints. I love this idea, but implementing it in a secure way seems fraught with disaster. For example, this is a multi-tenancied application, and it would be trivial to request userOrganization.user.organizations.users. This would retrieve all other organisations for the user, and their users! This is because my implementation of expands simply utilises the ORM of my choice to perform a database join, and of course the database has no knowledge about application tenancy!


      Now, I do realise this problem could easily be solved by implementing a GraphQL API server, which I have done in the past, but unfortunately time and workload constraints dictate implementing a GraphQL-based solution is infeasible. As much as I like GraphQL, I'm not as proficient in that area as compared to implementing high quality traditional APIs, and the applications I'm working on at the moment are focusing on choosing boring technology, and not using excessive innovation tokens.

      Furthermore, I do consider the conceptuals around REST APIs to be more of an aspirational sliding scale, rather than a well defined physical entity, because let's face it, the majority of popular APIs today aren't REST-compliant, even Stripe's isn't, and it's usually both financially healthier and feature-rich to choose a development path that results in a rough product that can be refined later, than aiming for a perfect initial release. All this said, I don't mind proposals or solutions to my problem that are "good enough". As long as they aren't too hacky! :)

      10 votes
    16. How to best utilise 5k GBP

      Hey everyone, as a goal for this coming year I’d like to better put to use the small amount of savings I have. My first idea is: 3k emergency fund in a NS&I Government insured account. 2k in a...

      Hey everyone, as a goal for this coming year I’d like to better put to use the small amount of savings I have.

      My first idea is:

      • 3k emergency fund in a NS&I Government insured account.
      • 2k in a Vanguard index fund.

      A few questions:

      1. Is this sort of setup the best use for such a sum?

      2. If so, with the impending brexit, does it makes sense to move the money out of the U.K?

      3. Is there much maintenance with an index fund or is it sufficient to let the money sit? I’m aware anything of this nature is essentially a gamble.

      4. How do you calculate a worthwhile amount to invest considering the on-running service costs?

      5. Does anyone have experience with ethical index funds? If so which? And how have they performed for you?

      Any help is most appreciated.

      11 votes
    17. Ode to Baking Soda and Superglue

      Some days ago I came back home to visit my parents during these holidays. Yesterday evening, while we were watching a movie, nature called and I had to go to the bathroom. Because I'm a lazy bozo...

      Some days ago I came back home to visit my parents during these holidays.

      Yesterday evening, while we were watching a movie, nature called and I had to go to the bathroom. Because I'm a lazy bozo and it is closer to the living room, I did what no man should ever do - I used my parents' bathroom.

      Stumbling in the dark in this unfamiliar place I had no right being in, I clumsily bumped on the towel rack (an old 80s coat hanger looking thing) and to my horror, managed to snap one of its plastic arms off.

      Because it's a relic of its time, and perhaps because the bathroom is a sacred personal space which should never be altered if not for strictly necessary reasons, mom and pops were upset.

      I felt like shit, an outcast whose madness lead an entire family to despair and misfortune while trying to save himself literally a handful of pitiful steps.

      But a shining beacon of hope came from a fading memory, one which sounded utterly absurd, yet in times of desperation still came out as somehow plausible.

      "Just use baking soda and Loctite forehead"; this had been uttered from a German friend of mine while he had been admiring the broken mess that is my duct taped ps4 controller some time ago. Was it a joke? Was it a serious suggestion? German humor is often lost in translation...

      Still, I had to give it a go. I had to try something. And this morning an attempt was made.

      I'm still feeling ecstatic. Never have I hever felt this good about a DIY tryout. I can confirm that baking soda is an incredible catalyst for super glue; the result while somewhat sloppy-looking is rock solid.

      Pops couldn't believe his eyes when he saw his good ol' towel rack hanger thing stoically standing where it always did, in its rightful place, with no defects at all.

      Thank you baking soda and super glue, you saved Christmas.

      To all of you whose plastics need some fixing, remember this combo and give it a go - it will save you as well.

      Any other similar hacks that you might want to share are very much appreciated.

      TL;DR
      Baking soda and regular superglue are incredible for fixing plastics.

      Edit: forgot to put tags in post. Apologies.

      19 votes
    18. I'm starting a friends' book club and looking for pointers

      For any of you who have been in a book club before. Any lessons learned? Nice to haves? Things to avoid? This is going to be limited to a fairly small group (4-6 people), so I feel like I don't...

      For any of you who have been in a book club before. Any lessons learned? Nice to haves? Things to avoid? This is going to be limited to a fairly small group (4-6 people), so I feel like I don't need to get too formal with anything. But at the same time, I know that a good structure goes a long way to a successful regular reading club.

      We have pretty a varied reading pace between us. One of us can read a book a day. I'm more at the book (300~ pages) every week or two pace myself. I'm sure that others may read faster or slower than that still. So I figure a book a month is decent for keeping to a casual-but-intentional reading pace for most of us.

      Part of this is intended to be a way to keep in touch with friends I don't get to talk to as often anymore, and part of it is just reading new books I wouldn't even think to read.

      16 votes
    19. I'm freaking out and need advice

      My mother died last month and I've been thinking of leaving my father's house ever since then. I initially thought I'd be okay with doing that, regardless of whether or not my father would object,...

      My mother died last month and I've been thinking of leaving my father's house ever since then. I initially thought I'd be okay with doing that, regardless of whether or not my father would object, but he talked with me last night saying he'd be okay if I left and now I'm FREAKING OUT.

      Background: I'm 23 and living in Houston, Texas. I have an older brother who lives in Dallas who offered to take me in, but it wouldn't be very permanent as he plans on leaving the country for a trip next year and will be gone for some time. I also have a friend from high school who offered me a room, but she lives in Seattle and was fired from her job. No one else who is close to me is able to offer me a place to stay.

      My concerns: I dropped out of college. I was planning on going back but then my mother died and that plan was put on hold, so I don't have any marketable skills (I've only ever worked in retail). I also don't have a job lined up anywhere else. I've never had to take on so many bills at one time and therefore I don't know much about budgeting.

      I'd like to leave, but where I am it's secure and comfy. Maybe it's finally time I pushed myself out of my comfort zone and start taking control of my own life, but I don't want to risk my safety and finances on a crazy idea.

      I welcome any and all advice, and thanks for reading.

      edit: changed a word

      27 votes
    20. Can't seem to play the games I want to play, considering a forced-march approach

      I was wondering if anybody had any tips for muscling through a game. I've got a few games I want to play or go back to, such as Stardew Valley (I completed it before the 1.3 update, wanna play...

      I was wondering if anybody had any tips for muscling through a game. I've got a few games I want to play or go back to, such as Stardew Valley (I completed it before the 1.3 update, wanna play 1.4), and Factorio (I bought in a fit of passion, haven't gotten an hour in). There are others, but these are the two I find myself going "I'm going to play this!" and I just never get to, and it's not for time.

      I like the concepts of these games, and I've got something like 135 hours on Stardew Valley, but seem to get bored after I've restarted it (I lost some key items and bugs caused me to never get them back, plus the mine completion bug fixed in 1.3). I started Slime Rancher after playing through it in early access, but can't seem to get back into it after it went gold a couple years ago.

      I realize I'm sort of asking for a way to force myself to play games, but has anybody done this? I'm thinking for a given game I can set smaller goals to strive for, and work on doing that, but was wondering if anybody has any ideas.

      9 votes
    21. How can I converse with my 4-year-old nephew/godson who lives in another continent?

      I am, by all definitions, a strong introvert. Communication is an issue with people that are physically close, let alone on Skype video calls. When my sister got pregnant, I claimed the godfather...

      I am, by all definitions, a strong introvert. Communication is an issue with people that are physically close, let alone on Skype video calls. When my sister got pregnant, I claimed the godfather position. She was very happy. We're not even Catholics anymore, but we come from a Catholic background and it's tradition.

      She's bringing the kid to get baptized next month. Last time he was here, 2 years+ ago, I was able to "talk" to him and we even became "friends" (he was 1-years-old, so probably forgot about me by now). I have trouble Skyping with him (and everyone else for that matter). Every once in a while my mother asks me I want to get distant from my sister, and this causes some distress. It's not like I want to create a situation. My father is a lot like me in that regard, and it doesn't really bother me that it takes a few months for him to talk to me (I'm 99% sure I'm in the spectrum, not so sure about him). He showed me his affection multiple times before, on his own way.

      I'm aware not everyone is like me, and want to be more online-present for my godson and my sister. This may seem silly to some people, but it's hard to start or keep up with a conversation. I cannot talk about any subject, and silence is preferable to conversation for the sake of conversation.

      But in this situation, I must give space to his infant world, which obviously does not include my grown-up interests. I don't know how to proceed from that understanding. I actually like the kid, we had great "conversations" when my sister last visited. But it's been really hard to keep an online presence. And I think I should.

      22 votes
    22. How can I deal with corrosion from saltpeter (salt from the ocean) on my desktop computer?

      Also called niter. I live near the ocean. Around here we call this "salitre": salt from seawater that becomes airborne, shortening the life span of every electronic. Desktop computers are...

      Also called niter.

      I live near the ocean. Around here we call this "salitre": salt from seawater that becomes airborne, shortening the life span of every electronic. Desktop computers are especially susceptible.

      The only thing I hear in that regard is to just never turn off the computer, since doing so would allow the corrosion to take place at a lower temperature, without circulation, etc.

      But electricity is not cheap, and I put this machine together myself so I don't have to worry about voiding the warranty.

      And keeping the AC on 24/7 is both expensive and unhealthy.

      12 votes
    23. Has anyone done a Play-By-Post game? Tips?

      Has anyone done a play-by-post (PBP) game? Where you play online not in some service like Roll20, but in a forum structure (like Reddit, the Paizo forms, or, hey, here)? I'm thinking about...

      Has anyone done a play-by-post (PBP) game? Where you play online not in some service like Roll20, but in a forum structure (like Reddit, the Paizo forms, or, hey, here)?

      I'm thinking about starting a PBP game of Pokemon: Tabletop Adventures somewhere (maybe Reddit or Discord, not sure), but I'm not sure if I want to create maps for the whole thing. When I was working on my homebrew 5th Edition campaign, the thing that annoyed me most was map creation (mostly overworld, but since this is Pokemon and I know where I'm basing it off of, I don't have much trouble with that). I'd only use "maps" for combat (more like I'd use a combat grid that I steal off of Roll20).

      Would anyone here that have either run games in a PBP format or just GM'ed games in general have any tips for doing something like this?

      10 votes
    24. Information on SaaS companies and enterprise software companies

      I would like to know more about SaaS companies and enterprise software companies from a business and technology perspective - to know about challenges in the industries, what has been...

      I would like to know more about SaaS companies and enterprise software companies from a business and technology perspective - to know about challenges in the industries, what has been revolutionary, what hasn't, where it is headed, etc. Where would be a good place to start on this?

      3 votes
    25. Buying a car

      I've found myself in the market for a vehicle, and am looking for opinions. What I currently drive is very old, and I'm unlikely to get any meaningful trade-in value for it. Normally I would...

      I've found myself in the market for a vehicle, and am looking for opinions. What I currently drive is very old, and I'm unlikely to get any meaningful trade-in value for it. Normally I would simply look to repair what I consider to be a transportation appliance, but due to its age as well as the number and type of issues I've decided it's best to get rid of it. I've been interested in (and have been offered great deals on) the 2019 Nissan Rogue and 2019 Toyota RAV4 Hybrid. I drove options from Honda and Hyundai and was not thrilled. I'm uncomfortable with the fact that there is a network connection to the machine that controls my brakes, acceleration, steering, and safety system in each of these vehicles. Does anyone have any general advice, opinions, or other options I should consider?

      17 votes
    26. I want to learn programming. What language should i pick to write cli apps for linux?

      I'm interested in C or Go, but i'm open to ideas. I have plenty of sh scripts i created to integrate my tools and system, so i have some experience and i don't want a scripting language like...

      I'm interested in C or Go, but i'm open to ideas.

      I have plenty of sh scripts i created to integrate my tools and system, so i have some experience and i don't want a scripting language like python.

      My first plan is to learn the basics of the language and rewrite some of those scripts.

      I think my first pick will be a script that uses ffmpeg to convert my flac files to mp3 or opus. I use sndconv -opus/-mp3 and it checks if there are flac files in the folder (i only have full albums), converts and puts in a folder named "$artist - $album".

      My long term goal is to make a cli/tui music player like cmus.

      UPDATE: i'm having plenty of success with Go right now. I just wrote a basic version of my music conversion script. It's just converting a music i pass as argument to mp3, but i'll keep working on it and adding functionality just to dip my toes in Go. It seems like a good language and i'm having fun!

      Thanks for all the answers!

      18 votes
    27. Please criticize my idea for CHORES - a short-term TODO app for ADHD people (and myself in particular)

      Introduction I'm a beginner in programming, but a veteran in film and literature. I know that ideas come easy. Any normal person can come up with a good idea in a matter of minutes. The main...

      Introduction

      I'm a beginner in programming, but a veteran in film and literature. I know that ideas come easy. Any normal person can come up with a good idea in a matter of minutes. The main problem is doing it.

      Besides, I couldn't care less if someone does that before me. I'd probably benefit from their program, and even offer to collaborate. I have a bunch of other ideas in the oven anyway.

      And I'm humble enough to know that such a niche project would never attract the interest of a mega-corporation anyway.

      2. What is CHORES?

      CHORES is a short-term task manager. It's meant to organize nothing more than a few hours or less of your tasks. Month, weak or even your entire day are entirely out of its scope.

      3. Who is CHORES for?

      First and foremost, this app is for my use. But I'm certain there are other people with conditions similar to mine, especially ones with ADHD. I'm also autistic with a compulsive personality, and won't stop until I tinker with every aspect of an object. Not surprisingly, I'm a Linux, i3wm, Emacs and Neovim user. And they're excruciatingly customized.

      What I need is not a full-featured a TODO app like Remember The Milk, Todoist or Org Mode. They're too distracting, I end up just playing with the tools. I need something that allows me to track very short term chores. Thinks like brushing my teeth, taking a shower, eating, walking my dog, washing the dishes and making my bed.

      That's what I intend to do.

      4. What is ADHD

      From the United States National Institute of Mental Health:

      Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a disorder marked by an ongoing pattern of inattention and/or hyperactivity-impulsivity that interferes with functioning or development.

      4.1 Warning

      Please refrain from suggesting that the ones who use such tools just need to make an effort instead. That's a cliche most people with ADHD and other mental health issues probably heard many times, and by saying that you may cause distress. If you need more information, please refer to the link posted above.

      5. Why another "TODO" app?

      People with severe ADHD like myself frequently forget what they're doing, and what they should do in the very short term. I'm talking 2, 3 or 5 tasks from now. To give you an idea of how bad it is, right now I have an Emacs Org Mode file with the following tasks:

      * Now
      ** TODO Take Ritalin
      ** TODO Start chronometer on Ritalin
        - Tells me when the effect wears off
      ** TODO Take a shower
      ** TODO Take the laptop to the living room
      ** TODO Wash the dishes
      ** TODO Study Python
      ** TODO Post on Tildes
      

      But Emacs and Org Mode do a lot more than that, and this can be very distracting (right now I'm writing this post because creating another file from my now.org file was way too easy, for example).

      Considering that I am the main target audience of this program, any space for tinkering is a dangerous avenue for procrastination.

      6. Who is CHORES for

      The primary target of this project are people with:

      1. ADHD (Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder)
      2. similar conditions or personality traits

      In sum: if you have extreme difficulty focusing, remembering and fulfilling your tasks in the very short term, you may find this program useful.

      7. Who is CHORES not for

      The majority of people can concentrate and perform their short-term tasks with a reasonable degree of efficiency. If that is your case, you have little to gain by using CHORES.

      8. Features

      CHORES is a short-term task manager. It's meant to organize nothing more than a few hours: not your month, weak or even your day.

      1. CLI Linux app (Mac, Windows, GUI, and mobile could happen in the future)
      2. Hard limit of ten tasks (with the option to reduce)
      3. Only the very essential configurations available
      • tinkering is a huge time drain for ADHD people
      • because of that, the defaults will have to be extremely sensible.
      1. Started Stopped status clearly marked by character or highlighting

      8.1 What you would be able to do with CHORES:

      1. Add up to ten tasks
      2. Reorder/Start/Stop/Done these tasks
      3. Undo only one operation
      4. See only the last ten completed tasks

      9. Answer to Possible Questions

      9.1 Why Not Keep Using Org Mode? Or maybe Taskwarrior?

      Org Mode and Emacs are wonderful tools, but they're also a perfect playground for procrastinators. It simply does too much. Emacs is like a box of legos, and that's the last thing an ADHD person needs when it comes to tracking short-term tasks.

      Taskwarrior suffers from the same issue.

      9.2 Why Not todo.txt and similar apps?

      This may seem crazy, but for a severe ADHD person, even todo.txt gives way too many options and features. It is, after, an actual TODO app. I can add 1000 tasks todo.txt. It has an extensive wiki, projects, tags, context tags, special value tags. You might just say: just don't use these options. But that

      9.3 Why not use the extremely minimalist t task manager, by Steve Losh?

      I like t very much, and, depending on its license, I'll probably use at least some of its code. But t lacks some features CHORES requires, such as:

      1. Limit task amount
      2. Add tasks to the bottom (t last tasks randomly, or at least something that seem random to me)
      3. Reorder tasks
      4. Undo
      5. Easily view completed tasks
      6. Add Start/Stop status to a task

      9.4 Why not pen and paper?

      This is a very personal anwer, but here we go:

      1. I will lose the paper every 30 minutes
      2. I will lose the pen every 30 minutes
      3. I will forget to look at the paper, it will probably end up crumpled in my pock
      4. Many of my tasks, such as programming and studying, already happen in the computer anyway
      5. One of my medications interferes with my motor skills and my handwriting is hard to understand - even for me
      6. I like computers. The fact that I like computers makes more likely for me to actually look at the tasks.
      7. In the future, I can add alerts. Can't do that with paper
      11 votes
    28. A PV Solar company wants to build a PV farm on our land. I am not sure what to do.

      My dad died a couple years ago and I inherited a farm in the central EU. Some of the land is farm land, some zoned residential. My plan was to rent this house out Airbnb style. The surroundings...

      My dad died a couple years ago and I inherited a farm in the central EU. Some of the land is farm land, some zoned residential. My plan was to rent this house out Airbnb style. The surroundings are very pastural. This is the appeal for “agro-tourism.” We are also very close to ski resorts.

      My farm plot is the smallest of all the neighbors, but it is dead center in the planned farm. They want a 30 year lease for our land. One neighbor has already agreed. They are offering about $2500/hectare/year.

      My neighbors are actually farmers, and to them this is a big chunk of money. Especially as they have 10+ hectares each, I only have 1.25. For me the money is less than one month’s salary and is not that appealing. Also, this is about 15% of what I expected to make off of the Airbnb which would pay for my retirement. Yes, this is a privileged position.

      1. I don’t know what questions to ask in negotiations. One thing I verified is that inflation is included, year after year. What else?
        Note: Yes I will have a lawyer look at this, but honestly this is the first thing of its kind in our area.

      2. If you were renting out a house in ski-resort/farm country, would you care if there were a bunch solar panels in the fields instead of farm land? Would you like it more, or less?
        Note: I can upload photos or video to give you an idea of the area.

      3. Will this raise or lower the value of my home for resale?

      4. Any other general thoughts?

      Thanks!

      Edit: I should add that I am super-anti CO2, so my default position is “hell yes!” But I am just trying to be pragmatic about this. Of note is that this is the first time in my life I am experiencing a bit of NIMBY-ism. Also, I am extremely thankful for this opportunity.

      15 votes
    29. Looking for advice on a CI / regression testing platform

      Hi all, I'm looking for some advice regarding how to set up a basic CI regression / testing suite. This isn't my full time job, but a side project my group at work wants to spin up to... shall we...

      Hi all,

      I'm looking for some advice regarding how to set up a basic CI regression / testing suite. This isn't my full time job, but a side project my group at work wants to spin up to... shall we say, give us a more real time monitoring of functionality and performance regressions coming out of the underlying software stack development (long story).

      As none of us are particularly automation experts, I was looking for some advice from my fellow Tilderinos. Please forgive me if any of the below is obvious and/or silly.

      A few basic requirements I had in mind:

      1. Can handle different execution environments: essentially different versions of the software stack, both in docker form and (eventually) via lmod or some other module file approach (e.g., TCL), and sensible handling of a node list.

      2. Related to one, supports using the products of builds as execution environments. Ideally we'd like to have a build step compile the stack and install it to a NFS from which we can load it as a module.

      3. Simple to add tests. Again, this isn't our full time job -- we mostly want to add a quick bash script / makefile / source code or the like to the tests when we run into an issue and forgot about it.

      4. Related. We should be able to store the entire thing as a git repo. I have seen this to some extent with Travis, but my experience with Jenkins was... sub-par (is there a history? Changelog? Any way at all of backing up the test config?).

      5. Some sort of post-processing capabilities. At a glance we need to be able to see the top line performance numbers for 20-30 apps over the different build environment. Bonus points if there's a graph showing performance vs build version or the like, but honestly a CSV log file is good enough.

      6. Whatever CI software we get has to be able to run this locally. Lots of these are internal only numbers / codes. FOSS prefered.

      7. A webui for scheduling runs / visualizing results would be nice, but again this could be a bash script and none of us would bat an eye.

      Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

      7 votes
    30. How can I make "whereis" automatically open the file on Nvim when it is the only result?

      EDIT: SOLVED It looks like it was much simple than I thought and someone solved it on Reddit already. I won't delete, just leave the link if someone is interested. Runtime Environment OS: MX Linux...

      EDIT: SOLVED

      It looks like it was much simple than I thought and someone solved it on Reddit already. I won't delete, just leave the link if someone is interested.

      Runtime Environment

      Issue

      Sometimes I use "whereis" (aliased for "wh", but it doesn't make any difference...) for my own scripts.

      I usually copy their paths manually (using tmux) and paste to the command line resulting in something like this:

      nvim /home/my_username/my_scripts_folder/my_script
      

      Could I make that into a single command?

      Thanks in advance!

      3 votes
    31. Please tell me what you think about this idea for a text editor/Linux Distribution combo

      I know there are similar products I could buy in the US that would give me this experience, but I'm not in the US and I don't have much money. In the old days, my father had some kind of machine...

      I know there are similar products I could buy in the US that would give me this experience, but I'm not in the US and I don't have much money.

      In the old days, my father had some kind of machine that was not a proper laptop and not a proper typewriter. It opened instantly to a text editor. As far as I remember, there was no noticeable boot time. It had a keyboard and an entry for a floppy disk. You typed your stuff, saved it to the floppy disk, probably to send via email or to print in another machine. I loved that machine.

      I love these little gadgets that do one thing and one thing only. And, as someone with severe ADHD, they're often a necessity. If my Kindle had Youtube I would never read a book. If my PS4 had Emacs I would never play a game. The list goes on, but the principle is this: a lot of things are useful to me precisely because of what they cannot do.

      And that is why I wanna recreate my father's crazy computer-typewriter.

      Because I know how to use the command line, it really needs to be in total lockdown: I open it up, it shows a very simple text editor (with a few handy features that make it works even more like a typewriter) that I cannot configure, tinker or alter in any way. It's focused on writing (not editing) literature because that's what I need and other kinds of writing require an internet connection.

      It would save and back up automatically (like a typewriter) to one or more drives at your choice.

      There would need to be a few options because of different screen sizes, the number of screens etc, with an interface to make it easier.

      So the idea is an ultra-minimal, kiosk-mode Linux distribution that can either go on a flash drive or be installed on an old laptop. No package management, no internet connection, no access to the command line, no configuration files, no distractions whatsoever. I wanna forget I'm even using Linux. I wanna recreate my father's typewriter/computer that he never let me touch.

      How do I do this?

      14 votes
    32. Should I Get Into Gentoo? (x-post from /r/Gentoo)

      I've been using Linux for the past 5 to 10 years. I'm not a developer, but a mid-to-advanced user. I don't really know bash (or any programming language for that matter), but I got a folder with...

      I've been using Linux for the past 5 to 10 years. I'm not a developer, but a mid-to-advanced user. I don't really know bash (or any programming language for that matter), but I got a folder with 100 bash scripts I wrote myself. I compile my own Emacs (which I configured from scratch and contains more than 200 crudes functions of my own), Neovim (also configured from scratch) and other programs such as suckless terminal. I'm an i3wm user and currently use MX-Linux. I'm very good at Googling and pattern recognition.

      I got a brand new AMD desktop with a Ryzen processor (no dedicated graphics, wifi works fine with a USB adapter). Should I try Gentoo, or maybe I should study more (maybe with something like Linux Journey)in order to get a better experience?

      Reasons to install Gentoo:

      1. Learning experience
      2. A completely customized desktop experience
      3. Never having to reinstall my operating system again
      4. Masochism
      5. Putting my powerful processor to work
      6. It seems cool (and less painful than LFS)
      7. Some hypothetical performance gain
      3 votes
    33. Would it be bad to mount a macbook pro upside down on a VESA tray?

      I've got a smaller desk with two monitor arms -- one with a monitor (left side, different system) and one with a VESA mounted tray for my macbook pro (late 2013 15".) I'm going to be adding a...

      I've got a smaller desk with two monitor arms -- one with a monitor (left side, different system) and one with a VESA mounted tray for my macbook pro (late 2013 15".)

      I'm going to be adding a 1440p monitor from the macbook pro, but I'm short on desk space. Instead of having the laptop on the tray normally, if I lay it lid down with the laptop portion up, the laptop base could sit behind the new monitor with the screen coming out the bottom -- perfect for static applications like VSCode, iTerm2, etc.

      Here's a mock up. The thicker outline represents the macbook pro screen.

      Can anybody foresee any issues with this configuration?

      6 votes
    34. Is it possible to reprogram a coffee maker?

      Our new coffee maker moves the water too fast through the coffee grounds making the coffee weaker than we would like, and if we use a finer grain, overflows the basket. Is there a way to reprogram...

      Our new coffee maker moves the water too fast through the coffee grounds making the coffee weaker than we would like, and if we use a finer grain, overflows the basket. Is there a way to reprogram the rate of... I don't know, flow? It's a Mr. Coffee if that helps.

      10 votes
    35. I haven't owned a car in twelve years. What should I buy?

      My question is exactly what it says on the title. For the past 12 years I've lived in a downtown area and all my workplaces have been metro accessible. I've gotten by with car shares and rentals...

      My question is exactly what it says on the title. For the past 12 years I've lived in a downtown area and all my workplaces have been metro accessible. I've gotten by with car shares and rentals and borrowing other people's cars when I really needed them. but I'm applying for a job that would have about 45min to 1 hour commutes each way and will need a car to get by. I'm also just looking forward to having one, both because I have a dog now and my wife and I will start trying for a kid soon and it just seems more convenient to get around than relying on lyfts.

      Yet having been out of needing to care about cars for 12 years, the modern world of everything being electronic is new and scary to me. Apparently transmissions don't need to shift gears anymore, there are alerts and alarms and sensors everywhere. . . I'm lost. I need help folks.

      So here's what I'm looking for, ordered by priority:

      • Visibility! I live in a city with busy streets and am terrified of accidentally killing a cyclist or scooter. So visibility is important to me, both blind-spot visibility and visibility on turns. Every rental or car share I've used has had shit for rear visibility. This includes the Ford Fiesta, the Mercedes GLC, and the Mercedes GLA. The Chevy Cruze has been okay, but still pales in comparison to the faithful 1999 Sentra of my youth.
      • Fun! I haven't owned a car in forever. I want to enjoy driving it. A manual is out as my wife will need to drive it too, but something that feels peppy and has a good drive feel is important to me. I really like to "feel" like I'm driving and want something with really responsive steering and an okay amount of pick-up. We don't need to be getting into racer level, but I also don't want it to feel like I'm struggling to merge onto the highway (as I often do in a rental Fiesta or Cruze).
      • Easy to park. Again, I'm in a city and parallel parking can be a giant pain and I always feel guilty holding up the people behind me when I'm doing it. Some of these features to alert when you're close to the car behind you or the simulated overhead view that some cars can give you seem great. I'd probably just settle for a backup camera and proximity sensors though.
      • Cost of ownership
      • Roomy and easy to get in and out of, including loading dogs and car seats for kids. I want to be able to drive around 5 people comfortably, with decent shoulder room and not make people feel cramped on long drives.
      • Not too "basic." As in, I value some level of novelty and originality and would prefer something unique that not everyone else has. This is the most childish of my requests, so I don't rank it too highly.

      Price-wise I'm leaning towards around $30,000 and could maybe be persuaded to get to around $40,000 for something that's REALLY perfect and cheap to own long-term. I'm currently considering a Prius, the Mazda3, a VW Golf, and a Toyota Rav4. I generally prefer sedans because of the responsiveness and drive-feel.

      My logical brain is leaning Prius, but my inner teenager is saying "DO NOT GO GENTLE INTO BEING A LAME OLD MAN!!" The Golf and the Rav4 Hybrid are kind of tied. The Rav4 is bigger and harder to park, but it is roomier and has a lower cost of ownership. The Golf seems easier to park and would be more fun to drive, but it's also kind of expensive if I opt for a GTI or sport version. Plus it has less room, seems less luxe, and. . .I don't know it just looks kinda bland. I'm definitely leaning towards a low-mileage certified pre-owned whichever way I go just to not have to pay for depreciation.

      So, any advice? Any other suggestions? Anything, feature-wise, I should be paying particular attention to?

      The Mazda3 hatch seems really nice, but I'm worried I will 100% kill a cyclist

      17 votes
    36. Methods to sustain productivity

      What creative projects have I been working on? It’s almost a labor to answer that one concisely, hence my lack of participation. My mind is of never ending creative ideas, some great and some not,...

      What creative projects have I been working on? It’s almost a labor to answer that one concisely, hence my lack of participation.

      My mind is of never ending creative ideas, some great and some not, most not.. but they don’t ever seem to stop. I also like to be creative, and as a result, have ended up with more “started” projects then I’m willing to count.

      So my question to fellow traverses of the tilde-verse is, what are some methods you use to sustain productivity in individual projects when creativity itself inspires starting new projects?

      11 votes
    37. How do you achieve an efficient house move?

      I'm getting my own place -- i.e. an apartment that I own, and not rent -- and I find myself needing to prepare for another house move (this'll be the 4th of such events for me), only this time...

      I'm getting my own place -- i.e. an apartment that I own, and not rent -- and I find myself needing to prepare for another house move (this'll be the 4th of such events for me), only this time with a lot more stuff.
      I'm in a situation where I have to plan how I proceed carefully, since the elevator isn't working yet at the new place, and I have to carry everything up 7 flights of stairs.

      Every single time I've done a house move in the past it's been a disaster; didn't plan at all, just stuffed things into my car and left for the new place when it was full; rinse and repeat. I'm positive I did at least double the number of trips I actually needed.

      I want to think ahead on this one since the number of trips matter a lot.

      What are your tips for house moving? Any weird but efficient way of packing/labeling/sorting/whatever?

      Also interested in hearing the stories of your most horrible (or most enjoyable -- although I can't imagine this being the case) house moves.

      PS: don't want to hire a moving company, I like doing things like this on my own.

      13 votes
    38. Advice for first home server?

      Hello, I have a few questions. I didn't want to wast money so I wanna use what I have in terms of hardware, only the PSU and storage if needed. PC: CPU AMD 5 1600 RAM 16G SSD 125 GB for OS...

      Hello,

      I have a few questions. I didn't want to wast money so I wanna use what I have in terms of hardware, only the PSU and storage if needed.

      PC:

      • CPU AMD 5 1600
      • RAM 16G
      • SSD 125 GB for OS

      Services I think of running:

      • Node Tor middle relay
      • Node Bitcoin
      • Node XMR
      • Gitea or Gitlab
      • Maybe some service to host files or make a share for lan or a could service
      • Maybe a TS Server or Minecraft

      Questions:

      1. Do I have enough power to run all of this or I am being to greedy? I have raspberry(not pi 4) stopped at home doing nothing I could run some of this services on them if the computer can't handle everything.
      2. Should I virtualize? Can you explain me your response on this?
      3. I thinking of buying a good PSU since I am running this 24/7, should I invest in gold platinum or something like that?
      4. Should I have multiple disks if yes can you explain how much and for what.

      This is will be my first server at home so I would like to hear tips if you think I am forgetting something.

      Thanks in advance.
      Edit: visualize > virtualize

      17 votes
    39. Moving out tips

      I'm moving out: in the coming weeks I'll move to an apartment in Ankara, Turkey. This is the first time I'll have a home of my own, and the first time I live in an apartment as opposed to our...

      I'm moving out: in the coming weeks I'll move to an apartment in Ankara, Turkey. This is the first time I'll have a home of my own, and the first time I live in an apartment as opposed to our detached family home. I wonder if any of you have tips for a 25yo master's student moving out and changing city!

      31 votes
    40. Voting policy questions

      I tend to be generous with votes if I like specific posters and want to encourage them. I like to assume that's ok, but is there an official take on that? And what about people who are likely to...

      I tend to be generous with votes if I like specific posters and want to encourage them. I like to assume that's ok, but is there an official take on that?

      And what about people who are likely to share an IP address with me? I'm on a small node with fewer than 200 users, and at least 2 or 3 come here (got invited by one). I don't necessarily know them but will that look like alt accts boosting votes? Is there a whitelist or something like that for verified individuals on the same address maybe?

      9 votes
    41. Making the switch to Bitwarden, unsure how to go about it

      I have had several accounts taken over, and decided I've had enough. I decided to use a password safe, which I've been wanting to do for years, and finally settled on Bitwarden because it's fully...

      I have had several accounts taken over, and decided I've had enough. I decided to use a password safe, which I've been wanting to do for years, and finally settled on Bitwarden because it's fully open-source.

      The hangup is I'm unsure how to transition to it. I've logged some old email accounts I occasionally need to access, my new Netflix account (just got my own), and tildes, but I haven't changed my email password, for example (my email password is only used for email).

      For anybody who has done this already, is it best to dig up all my accounts and jump over to bitwarden, or to switch them as I see/use them over time?

      11 votes
    42. Weight loss for older people?

      My mom is almost 65 and she's pretty heavy. It has got to the point where it's affecting her life quality - she often has joint pain, heart problems, clogged arteries... She has to lose weight,...

      My mom is almost 65 and she's pretty heavy. It has got to the point where it's affecting her life quality - she often has joint pain, heart problems, clogged arteries... She has to lose weight, basically. Problem is, I feel like she has no motivation to do so. She never even tried doing it. I researched a bit online, and it seems like older people have it harder to lose weight, not just mentally, but also physically because they have less muscle mass and stuff. Is there anyone more knowledgeable on this topic?

      9 votes