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  • Showing only topics with the tag "survey". Back to normal view
    1. What are some rookie mistakes you've made as a cook?

      I'll start: Cooking everything on high. If you stick a meat thermometer all the way through the meat, you're measuring the temperature of the pan. Thinking I disliked all cooked vegetables. Turns...

      I'll start:

      • Cooking everything on high.

      • If you stick a meat thermometer all the way through the meat, you're measuring the temperature of the pan.

      • Thinking I disliked all cooked vegetables. Turns out I prefer them either raw or cooked until crispy.

      67 votes
    2. What have your experiences been with losing interest in video games as you get older?

      I came from the generation that played obsessively through middle and high school, and there’s a part of me that really misses when I’d be able to absorb myself into a video game for weeks at a...

      I came from the generation that played obsessively through middle and high school, and there’s a part of me that really misses when I’d be able to absorb myself into a video game for weeks at a time.

      Now that I’m a working adult, it’s a bit more difficult to convince myself that spending all day playing a video game is worth it as opposed to doing chores, practicing some more “productive” hobbies (art, exercise, cooking) or socializing. Part of it also seems to do with the fact that when I do get fully immersed into another video game and spend hours and hours playing at a time (thank you elden ring), my standard for dopamine seems to increase, and I’m not as interested in reading or playing music when I could get that instant dopamine hit from playing a video game, if that makes sense. The games I tend to play now lean towards relaxing/cozy games, generally offline games I can play at my own leisure, where I used to be very into the Overwatch/CSGO/Call of Duty scene.

      I’d really love to hear how other people have experienced this, if at all, or what your experiences have been. Have you noticed a shift in the types of games you play? Do you specifically try not to play games to keep a healthier balance with your other obligations and hobbies too?

      122 votes
    3. How familiar are you with your local environment?

      We often talk about the environment in abstract terms, using phrases like "good for the environment", "bad for the environment", "environmental problems", and so on. Obviously there is a place for...

      We often talk about the environment in abstract terms, using phrases like "good for the environment", "bad for the environment", "environmental problems", and so on. Obviously there is a place for this, but I think it also serves to abstract what is a very immediate and concrete thing that we interact with each day — our local environment.

      So I wanted to ask, how familiar are you all with your local environment?

      • Do you recognize (or even identify) different plant and animal species in your area? Do you know which are native and which might be invasive?

      • Do you notice changes in your environment throughout the year? Do you know why these changes happen?

      • Thinking longer term, if you have lived in one location long enough, have you noticed changes over the years? If so, what?

      • Do you know what the most pressing local environmental issues are?

      I'm hoping this can be a thread for people to talk about their local environments, but also to share tips on how to be more tuned in to your local nature.

      I myself would not say I am very familiar with the flora and fauna of where I live, but I have been trying to get better. I use the app Seek (which is similar to iNaturalist for those who might be familiar, but with better recognition capabilities in my experience) to identify plants around where I live, and I'm slowly trying to get better at recognizing them. The process of stopping to take a photo has really helped me slow down and pay attention to things around me — I notice a lot more garbage, roadkill near the big crossings, etc. In addition, seeing pictures of some of these plants online have made me realize just how water deprived a lot of the ones around me are, which is no doubt an effect of the drought my area has been experiencing. This has lead me to be more intentional with seeking out news regarding water laws and rights and trying to be more tuned in to these issues.


      Edit

      Some great additional questions from this comment of @skybrian's:

      • Do you know where your water comes from?
      • Do you know where sewage goes?
      • Where is the landfill that your garbage goes to?
      • How is recycling done?
      46 votes
    4. Where do you share your art with the world?

      Where do you share the art that you make with the world? Do you use a social media site? A personal website? Do you keep it all to yourself? Is your art something that can't be shared online so...

      Where do you share the art that you make with the world? Do you use a social media site? A personal website? Do you keep it all to yourself? Is your art something that can't be shared online so easily?

      35 votes
    5. Any archery fans in here? Let's get something started!

      Hey guys! I do traditional archery, make my own gear, and I love talking about it. If you're not an archer, please feel free to peruse the comments and ask questions if you have any! As for my...

      Hey guys!

      I do traditional archery, make my own gear, and I love talking about it. If you're not an archer, please feel free to peruse the comments and ask questions if you have any! As for my questions for you:

      • How did you get into it?
      • What's your setup like?
      • What are your archery-related goals and expectations for the year?

      My first exposure to archery began as early as Zelda 1 for the NES. I instantly understood the value of being able to attack moblins and gohmas from afar. It was not until the pandemic some 30 years later that I picked up my old man's bow and fell in love with something that I feel I've been missing all of my life. My setup is a 50" cartel doosung epic zen korean bow that reaches 50# @ 32" max draw length with a modified cowhide and deerskin grip. I use only wooden arrows. I tend to draw my bow only to 28", however, which reaches 36#, and that's enough for now as I'm recovering from some shoulder pain. My goals this year are to recover, stay in form, and to make an educational video about arrows.

      26 votes
    6. Terrible, terrible movies?

      Since there are topics about cult classics and movies that everyone loves, I figured I'd make another thread about movies that you love that everyone else hates! I've got to start with Jupiter...

      Since there are topics about cult classics and movies that everyone loves, I figured I'd make another thread about movies that you love that everyone else hates!

      I've got to start with Jupiter Ascending. A lot of you know that I'm an unabashed fan of the Wachowskis, and this is almost universally recognized as their worst movie. It's pretty easy to see why; it's a confused mess. But even so, you can see the vision behind it. The story goes that they wanted this to be a three-film series much like they did with the Matrix sequels, but at one point the studio decided that they just wanted to make one film, so we got a very long hyper-compressed version where things weren't allowed to make much sense. The visuals are fantastic as you would expect from a Wachowski film, but the real diamond in the rough here is Eddie Redmayne's performance.

      Branded is an almost objectively terrible movie. It's a fairly well put-together movie, but the idea behind it was bad. To make matters worse, the company that promoted it released trailers that basically just lied about what it was about, basically just scamming the audience into thinking it was a much more interesting movie. The IMDB page still has a fairly misleading description to this day. Thankfully I went into it blind, and I actually enjoyed it. The message was good, even if the storytelling wasn't, and it had a surprisingly excellent soundtrack.

      54 votes
    7. You Only Live Once (First Impressions of Earth - The Strokes) is maybe the best opener to an album. Thoughts?

      While listening to the album this morning, I had a thought. You Only Live Once is a perfect transition from The Strokes previous two albums (Room On Fire, Is This It), to the evolved, more mature...

      While listening to the album this morning, I had a thought. You Only Live Once is a perfect transition from The Strokes previous two albums (Room On Fire, Is This It), to the evolved, more mature sound on display in this album. It bridges the albums so perfectly. What do you all think? What are your favorite album openers?

      Also, I'm new to tildes, a reddit refugee (redfugee?). Really glad to be joining the community!

      6 votes
    8. Beer peeps, what have you been drinking?

      Lately I've been into La Fin du Monde, which is a Triple Blond from Canada. When I took the first sip it put a smile on my face. Very complex flavors. It has that Trippel flavor but I detect some...

      Lately I've been into La Fin du Monde, which is a Triple Blond from Canada. When I took the first sip it put a smile on my face. Very complex flavors. It has that Trippel flavor but I detect some of what I'd call 'berry and spice'. I'm not some beer expert, nor do I have the vocabulary to accurate explain the profile. All I can say is it's worth a shot!

      Other than that Sam Adams Summer has been great for the hot days.

      47 votes
    9. How did you learn to cook?

      How did you learn to cook? Who taught you? What factors were important? Looking back, what do you think could have been better? Or, if you're learning to cook: how is it going? What are you...

      How did you learn to cook? Who taught you? What factors were important? Looking back, what do you think could have been better?

      Or, if you're learning to cook: how is it going? What are you finding tricky? Is it easy to find teaching resources?

      46 votes
    10. Musical remixes from non-musical samples

      /// The list so far /// @FluffyKittens mentioned Oneohtrix Point Never - Replica; Nicolas Jaar. @OmniLeft mentioned Rooster Teeth - Facebox; Bernhard Ludescher - Retrowave auctioneer. @kitschqueen...
      /// The list so far ///

      @FluffyKittens mentioned

      @OmniLeft mentioned

      @kitschqueen mentioned

      @cfabbro mentioned

      There are some very groovy mixes out there. Which ones are your favorite?

      Mine is Alice by Pogo, whimsical and slightly spooky, just like the movie it's sampled from.

      So apparently Pogo has held some problematic opinions in the past, I'll go with my second most favorite being this Breaking Bad remix.

      7 votes
    11. What are two things that are your favourite colour?

      I would like you to think of two things that you associate with your favourite colour. For example, if your favourite colour were black you might choose "the night sky" and "New Zealand rugby."...

      I would like you to think of two things that you associate with your favourite colour. For example, if your favourite colour were black you might choose "the night sky" and "New Zealand rugby." Try not to put too much thought into it, and don't expand the spoiler sections below until you have your two things.

      The point of this These two things that you have thought of are supposed to describe your personality. Please, discuss with the class. Please also share any other fun thought exercises you have done as part of teambuilding/icebreaking sessions. They're tacky and dumb, but I enjoy hearing about them, if just to cringe.
      Some backstory Inspired by the "favourite colour" thread over in ~tildes, I thought back to an old job where as part of an ice-breaking exercise we were tasked to do exactly this. We all sat around in a circle, and listed our two things that were our favourite colours. There were a lot of sports teams, flowers, foods... that sort of thing. My turn came around, and I announced that my two objects were fire & blood (I hadn't seen or read Game of Thrones at this stage either). When we had all revealed our pair of coloured items, the guide on this awkward teambuilding journey revealed that the two things we had picked were indicative of our personalities. Cue an awful lot of funny and/or concerned looks pointed my direction. I never lived it down, but nor did I last long in that job before actually wanting to burn the place to the ground, so...
      13 votes
    12. I played and reviewed eleven demos from the Steam Next Fest in 24 hours. Which ones impressed you the most?

      In general, I found a lot of real gems this year! The indie scene is thriving like never before, and smaller teams are being enabled by the likes of Unreal Engine to create really beautiful games...

      In general, I found a lot of real gems this year! The indie scene is thriving like never before, and smaller teams are being enabled by the likes of Unreal Engine to create really beautiful games on a budget. So I had a lot of free time today and yesterday, and decided to go through my discovery queue and check out a few demos. That quickly ballooned into sitting down and playing right through over a dozen demos, two of which (The Lies of P and Wizard with a Gun) I didn't get far enough into to give any coherent thoughts on. How many demos did you check out? Are there any games you're looking forward to on that basis?

      The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood: 5/5
      From Deconstructeam, a Valencian studio with a strong emphasis on narrative, choice, and empowering the player to create their own art, this demo was one of the big winners for me. Gameplay revolves around conversations, VN style, but those conversations often happen in the context of you performing, essentially, tarot readings where the cards are all designed by you. I had a lovely, relaxing time making my own cards, and the challenge of interpreting them to the people around me in a way that felt… true, I guess, was memorable. There is an impressive level of responsiveness to your choices on display here, both on a micro level and, it seems, on a macro level, so I have to think that the game will be pretty replayable. My one gripe was that the dialogue felt a bit stiff and unnatural at times. The game isn’t voice-acted, and the lack of rhythm or cadence in a lot of conversations kept them from flowing well. But that said, even if individual lines of dialogue fell a bit short, placed in context, the conversations felt meaningful, engrossing, and interesting. I will be buying this on release.

      Death Must Die: 4/5
      I’m a sucker for the “Survivors” genre. My first experience with it preceded Vampire Survivors, the little $3 game that swept the world last year and popularized the new gameplay style; I started with the mobile game that inspired VS: Magic Survival. I had tens of hours in that game. And each subsequent entry into the genre; VS, HoloCure, 20 Minutes Til Dawn, etc., etc. have only worn me out more. These games are all the same: more enemies fill the screen; you get more autofire weapons to deal with them and dodge around to avoid contact damage. Fun for half an hour, but don’t really leave you wanting more. Death Must Die is different. Isometric rather than top-down, the combat here is all manual. You click to fire off an attack that needs to be well aimed; enemies don’t deal contact damage but instead have telegraphed attacks that you have to dodge. It feels very ARPG, actually; a bit Diablo. And the level-up system, which sees you selecting boons from different gods, is clearly inspired by Hades and offers considerably more interesting choices (so far, at least) than the usual Survivors game. Feels a lot more skill based, and a bit more build-craft-y, than usual. And I even caught a whiff of a story, though how well it’ll be executed remains to be seen. I look forward to the full release. Just wish there were more defensive options – maybe a parry?

      El Paso, Elsewhere: 4/5
      This is cute. A Max Payne-style third person shooter that’s well written in a surreal, noir sort of way; corny enough to be delightful; dark enough to maintain the tension. Visually, it’s a low res, low poly callback to the PS1 era. The gameplay is pretty tough; I didn’t finish the demo, but I imagine it would be a lot of fun to master. I’m keeping my eye on this one, even if it’s not my usual type of game. A special callout: there are biblically accurate angel enemies in this game, which makes me a very happy woman.

      Escape from Mystwood Mansion: 3/5
      I like escape rooms, and this demo is just a well-constructed escape room – actually, it skews very closely to the types of puzzles and mechanics I’ve come to expect from physical escape rooms. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing; I do wish the game used its medium to get a little more wild with it. But the puzzles were generally pretty well constructed and offered a few fun “aha!” moments when I solved them, and I didn’t need to look at a walkthrough or lean on hints to get through. That said, the hints that I did use were pretty lackluster, and in one case, actually wrong, so that system needs some revision. Some of the sound design got a bit grating, too. I don’t know. Were this a co-op experience I’d probably like it a bit more. The appeal of an escape room is the excitement of solving it with a friend, and there are certainly enough self-contained puzzle sequences here to support that. But no; Mystwood Mansion is a solo experience, and I’m not sure if it’ll be that fun to solve multiple predictable escape rooms alone, staring at a computer screen.

      The Invincible: 3/5
      I am of two minds about The Invincible. This game is an atompunk sci-fi walking sim adapted from a novel (my roommate tells me) by Stanislaw Lem, and so, suitably, what we have in this demo is a slice of high-concept sci-fi steeped in personal stakes. I have a hard time thinking of anything bad to say about this game. It looks good, runs well, has an interesting story that left me wanting more. And yet, one day after playing it, I just do not want to pick the game up again. I suppose part of it was the pace. Some of the best walking sims – What Remains of Edith Finch – tell incredible stories in the space of two hours. Meanwhile this demo was 40 minutes long and felt like only a small piece of some grand, sprawling story. Environments are huge and your walking speed is pretty slow, so there’s a lot of time between set pieces where your character is just having headaches or struggling to breathe, which really wore me down. I can’t imagine playing this game for 10 hours; 5 might be pushing it. It’s not super tempting when I could just read the book.

      Loodlenaut: 2/5
      Oh boy, Loodlenaut. Where to begin. Okay, so, I actually like this game. It’s pretty, and relaxing; an ocean exploration game where your job is to clean up trash, rescue wildlife, and climb the tech tree. I have played through the entire demo, done everything there is to do, which took about an hour. And I will absolutely not be playing the full game. If you’ve played Powerwash Simulator, you know how satisfying it can be to get rid of muck and watch a meter climb up to 100% clean, and Loodlenaut scratches a similar itch. The problem here is that the game feels so clunky and limited that the frustration often outweighs the satisfaction. For example, you have a cleaning gun that picks up trash, destroys goop, and breaks boxes. But you don’t aim the gun, the game does, and it’s not really based on where you're facing or what you're closest to so much as it is on the game’s capricious moods. Say you’re trying to pick up a glass bottle, but there’s a crate nearby that you can’t break yet because you don’t have the right upgrade. Well, Loodlenaut will snap the gun to the crate and repeatedly try to break it, until you wiggle around enough to get it to change its mind and pick up the bottle. Wielding the gun is a constant frustration, as is sluggishly moving through the ocean. Your swim speed is slow, and your boost recharges slowly, so going back and forth between central base and the area you’re cleaning – something you have to do pretty frequently – takes what feels like an eternity until you sink lots of resources into infrastructure. None of this is a bad idea – incentivising players to craft boost rings to improve traversal is a good idea; auto-targeting is more comfortable than aiming on a controller – it’s just these systems are poorly implemented, which leads to frustration.

      Luna Abyss: 5/5
      Luna Abyss is a fucking wild demo. I downloaded it because the game’s description used they/them pronouns for its protagonist. I had no idea what I was getting into. So, okay, the best comparison I have for this game is to Returnal. Like that game, Luna Abyss is a high-production value 3D shooter where hitting your shots is easy, and the difficulty comes from avoiding the attacks of bullet-hell style enemies. And like Returnal, it has a strange, unsettling atmosphere, tight movement, and punchy, satisfying guns. Of course, Luna Abyss isn’t a roguelike, and it appears much more straightforward with its story beats so far. I don’t know, I’m having a hard time capturing what makes this game so great. Let’s start with the world, which is bleak and dark and oppressive. You run through cavernous metal structures, all black and grey, lit in harsh red. Enormous metal pipes twist and curl and embrace each other like enormous, mechanical intestines, and you run across them to get to your next objective. This place was not designed for you, and you feel that so clearly as you traverse it. You jump off the pipes and enter into combat, where a generous aim assist ensures that all your shots will hit. But there are a couple of enemy types to prioritize. You fire your shieldbreaker at a flying enemy, killing it, and time slows to a crawl, increasing the impact of the shot and giving you a tiny moment of respite to see what bullets you’ll have to dodge and decide what enemy you should prioritize next. A miniboss spawns in, grinning facelessly, and releases a flower of projectiles. You sprint and jump and dodge and you keep firing until she’s dead. The room is clear, and the demo is over, and your screen is awash with the bright, striking red of the UI. “Thanks for playing,” it says. I felt like I should be thanking it, instead.
      It’s impossible to say, at this juncture, whether the game will be good. The crumbs of story were certainly engrossing; the combat fun; the world, striking. At the very least, Luna Abyss looks like it will be one of the most interesting and unique games of the year, whenever it comes out. I can’t wait.

      Sea of Stars: 3/5
      This one is alright. The world is beautiful, the music peppy, the character designs good. I just honestly have not played enough turn-based isometric RPGs to compare it to anything. I did have two big disappointments: I thought the writing was a little… on-the-nose, I guess? Characters just stated their objectives and everything was pretty surface-level. Dialogue wasn’t attacking or defending, only conveying information. And while the combat was fun and had a challenging timing element, it ended with a boss who I spent like ten minutes fighting for a single attempt, used all my items, did everything I could, and still lost to in dramatic fashion with no indication I had done any real damage. My suspicion is that the boss is simply meant to be an organic end to the demo, a scripted loss, but I don’t know; if not, it probably indicates that this type of game isn’t for me, since I found it to be quite a slog.

      Stray Gods: 2/5
      I really wanted to like Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical. It is, essentially, a choice-based VN in the style of a broadway musical about ancient Greek gods struggling to live in modern society. A tantalizing premise, if a bit theatre-kid-y. But my degree is literally in theatre criticism, so I have a lot of tolerance for the genre’s usual excesses. I can’t think of another musical video game, but Stray Gods’ demo did not convince me that the idea could work. The performances aren’t the problem here; Laura Bailey is a charismatic lead with pipes good enough to carry the show, and the supporting cast of big names (Troy Baker, Felicia Day, Khary Paton) are no slouches either. But so much about this game is just not working for me. Let’s start with the sound design. This is one of those games where it feels like all the actors are recording in totally separate rooms. There’s a lot of dead air, not a lot of dynamism or one person bouncing off the other during conversation. It robs scenes of a lot of momentum and impact. And when I say “dead air,” I mean dead air. Bafflingly, the game seemingly has no room noise, no background audio, so when people aren’t talking, or music isn’t playing, everything is completely, uncannily silent. It’s genuinely weird.
      The musical numbers alleviate this weirdness by filling the soundscape but do little else to pull me in. We get to see four songs in the demo; two from the opening act, two picked from later in the game. All of these songs are very similar – fugues or duets, where one character has one perspective and another character (or chorus) has another perspective, and their conflict is expressed and then resolved through song. Which is a fine structure for a song in a musical, don’t get me wrong, but it is not a fine structure for every song. Even our main character Grace’s “I Want” song, the song that establishes her, her desires, and internal landscape and should absolutely be a solo, is a duet with a woman she’s just met. It does not work. And when the game has you making dialog choices during songs, it robs them of a natural arc; there’s no organic progression from the characters’ starting points to their ending points. Some part of me hopes that this game will be good, but I’m not optimistic. Stray Gods is no Hadestown.

      Vampire Hunters: 3/5
      In the Death Must Die blurb, I praised that game for refining the “Survivors” genre by making tweaks that allow for more skill and expression. But fuck that. Vampire Hunters is a braver game than Death Must Die will ever be, because it dares to ask, “What if Vampire Survivors was a boomer shooter where all your guns were on screen at the same time?” The result is absolutely wild; by the end of a run, more screen space is devoted to your guns than the entire rest of the game. It feels pretty weird to play, too; all of your guns have different ammo counts and may or may not be automatic, but all fire with the same button, so it can be tough to manage all of their separate ammo pools. And XP drops have a tiny pickup radius, so you really have to move to get them all. The neatest trick the game pulls is that it increases enemy spawn rate when you sprint, so moving at a high speed carries a lot of risk. But apart from that, this game is maybe too audacious to be enjoyable.

      Viewfinder: 4/5
      I am not a frequent puzzle game player, but I, like most every PC gamer, have a soft spot for the kind of reality-warping sci-fi-y puzzle genre originated by Portal and carried forward by the likes of Superliminal and, now, Viewfinder. First: this game is a technical marvel. You are able to, in essence, carry around entire environments, often with a wildly different art style from the rest of the game, and place them seamlessly and instantaneously in the world. I played this at 1440p, >100 FPS with nary a stutter on my midrange system. The ability to place photos and enter them is genuinely incredible on all levels other than technical, too; it feels magical, like stepping into a painting that you yourself made. My only question, one that the demo did not answer, is whether Viewfinder will be able to construct interesting puzzles out of this mechanic. This was something that I think Superliminal often failed to do, too; when the central mechanic of your puzzles is so unique and novel and powerful, how can you limit it in such a way that players actually have to think and put in effort to solve problems? For me, at least, every puzzle in Viewfinder was solved pretty much instantly, with no “aha!” moments, and that does worry me a bit.

      34 votes
    13. Have you ever had your phone number spoofed?

      This is currently going on with me. Someone has spoofed my home phone number, and has been using it to call other people. Whenever the other person misses the spoofer's call they end up calling...

      This is currently going on with me. Someone has spoofed my home phone number, and has been using it to call other people. Whenever the other person misses the spoofer's call they end up calling me. I have answered quite the handful of calls from this. It has been happening since Wednesday, and it has gotten often enough that I have been carrying around a wireless phone in my pocket. I did end up reporting it to the fcc, but that hasn't done anything yet.

      Anyway this gets me wondering, have you ever had your phone number spoofed? If so, how did you deal with it?

      23 votes
    14. Calling all analog photographers and cinematographers of Tildes

      As a hobbyist, I do digital and film photography, but I tend towards film unless the situation calls for it (like doing motorsports photography, for example). I'm curious how many of this smaller...

      As a hobbyist, I do digital and film photography, but I tend towards film unless the situation calls for it (like doing motorsports photography, for example).

      I'm curious how many of this smaller community shoot film, and what everyone's relationship with film is. Do you shoot casually? Professionally? Part of this post is trying to gauge how much interest there could be in the occasional discussion of analog photography subjects. Would love to hear anything you have to say on the subject, be it film itself, gear (liking or collecting gear is not a bad thing!), or the process of shooting on analog formats.

      If anyone is in the CA Bay Area there is a film group (organized through the Meetup app) that does semi-regular meets that we'd love to have more participants in.

      Feel free to drop a link to wherever you post your work, if you do. I've really been enjoying posting on Glass for the last 6 months. It's paid but sure as hell beats Instagram, in my opinion.

      26 votes
    15. Any people who do not consider themselves part of the "community"?

      I would probably be considered asexual, but I've never really tied too much if my identity to it or anything. The reason being that I find myself a little put off by the political nature of social...

      I would probably be considered asexual, but I've never really tied too much if my identity to it or anything.

      The reason being that I find myself a little put off by the political nature of social advocacy. I'm non straight and non white and non neurotypical, but never in the "popular" kind if way. I'm not BIPOC or LGBTQ or whatever the hip neurological problem to have is.

      I'm wondering if anyone else has this kind of perspective. I realize asking this in an LGBT forum is probably not likely to reach people that feel alienated from identifying with the LGBT community, but I'm just seeing if there's other lurkers like me on.

      22 votes
    16. What are your favorite Postgres features?

      You could use any SQL database to create a few tables, insert some data, and do queries, while ignoring anything vendor-specific. But Postgres has a lot of other features and many extensions. What...

      You could use any SQL database to create a few tables, insert some data, and do queries, while ignoring anything vendor-specific. But Postgres has a lot of other features and many extensions. What do you recommend checking out beyond the basics?

      I've used a lot of databases, but it's been many years, so I assume things have changed quite a bit. I skimmed a few PostgreSQL release notes and learned that there's now a MERGE statement that looks pretty handy. (It's standard SQL.) And from Neon's list of supported extensions, the plv8 extension caught my eye. It would let me write stored procedures in JavaScript. Does anyone use that? Do you use stored procedures at all?

      I wonder what Tildes uses?

      (To keep discussion organized, please write about one feature per top-level comment.)

      17 votes
    17. What have you been listening to this week?

      What have you been listening to this week? You don't need to do a 6000 word review if you don't want to, but please write something! If you've just picked up some music, please update on that as...

      What have you been listening to this week? You don't need to do a 6000 word review if you don't want to, but please write something! If you've just picked up some music, please update on that as well, we'd love to see your hauls :)

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

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

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

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

      24 votes
    18. What wiring decisions do you wish you made when building a house?

      I’m building a house and will have ample opportunity to walk with the builder to specify outlets, cat 6, and coax runs and locations. What sorts of little things do you wish you had done in your...

      I’m building a house and will have ample opportunity to walk with the builder to specify outlets, cat 6, and coax runs and locations. What sorts of little things do you wish you had done in your house or would be useful?

      I plan to run cat 6 from mostly every room (some in multiple locations) to the office where my servers will be. I will also be running a few runs of cat 6 out to the shop for future connectivity out there. Anything else that might be useful?

      36 votes
    19. Introductions | June 2023, part 2

      The previous introductions thread was only a few days ago, but it's getting pretty long and we expect more people. So here's another one! This is a place for new users to post an introduction with...

      The previous introductions thread was only a few days ago, but it's getting pretty long and we expect more people. So here's another one!

      This is a place for new users to post an introduction with a few fun facts about themselves. You will find the post box at the bottom the page. Maybe say hi to someone else you see while scrolling down?

      If you like, you can also write something about yourself in your profile. See "Edit your user bio" on the settings page. Anyone who clicks on your username will see it in your profile. (It appears on the right side of the page.)

      You can find out more about how to use Tildes in this topic: New users: Ask your questions about Tildes here!

      120 votes
    20. Which apps do you use for your mental health and wellbeing, if any?

      I have lost my r/finch community, and am feeling curious to see if there are any folks here who also find apps can be helpful for their mental health. I struggle with anxiety and am processing a...

      I have lost my r/finch community, and am feeling curious to see if there are any folks here who also find apps can be helpful for their mental health.

      I struggle with anxiety and am processing a lot of grief, and may or may not have ADHD (I am in the process of getting tested, but it takes a while). My experiences with therapy are a bit mixed, so I am currently going down the route of trying to DIY my wellness a little. Starting simple with things like, sleep more, try to focus on drinking enough, go out in nature, switching off podcasts and phones and reading more. It's actually helped me, bit by bit.

      One of my 'tools' is an app called finch, a virtual pet that encourages you to set goals, check in how you are feeling, journal, do mindful breathing and such. I tried many things and this app is the one that stuck and actually works.

      Just wanted to ask, do any others here use wellness apps? And have they worked for you? Which do you recommend?

      Just to be clear, I mean apps that work as a stand alone solution, rather than apps like 'better help' which ultimately just connect you to a therapist. Although Better Help has its uses too!

      30 votes
    21. Any modded Minecraft players around here?

      I personally cannot stand playing vanilla minecraft anymore and always play modded, recently ive been playing through Create: Astral and its so much fun. I love the steampunk factories of create...

      I personally cannot stand playing vanilla minecraft anymore and always play modded, recently ive been playing through Create: Astral and its so much fun. I love the steampunk factories of create and even though im terrible at automating its still so much fun to just mess around. I was wondering if anybody else has any other favorite modpacks they've been playing recently.

      31 votes
    22. What is your favorite “so bad it’s good” movie?

      We all have that one special movie that makes other people raise their eyebrows. Maybe it’s a movie they just don’t get, maybe it’s super campy, or maybe it really is bad but it still owns some...

      We all have that one special movie that makes other people raise their eyebrows. Maybe it’s a movie they just don’t get, maybe it’s super campy, or maybe it really is bad but it still owns some real estate in your heart for your own reasons.

      Mine is the obscure ‘Saturday the 14th Strikes Back’. It truly is awful. It has nothing to do with its horror parody prequel, the acting is uneven, the story is unmoored - but it’s zany. Lots of unexpected absurdities. I won’t force this movie on anyone, but it was a regular comfort rental for me back in the day.

      So, what’s yours?

      47 votes
    23. Anyone interested in joining a small, tightly-run accountability group?

      I am co-admin of a small Discord group (currently 5 members; we like to keep it up around 7-9) that is dedicated to enthusiastic, interactive accountability, support, task management, habit...

      I am co-admin of a small Discord group (currently 5 members; we like to keep it up around 7-9) that is dedicated to enthusiastic, interactive accountability, support, task management, habit tracking, yada ... all that good stuff. Atomic Habits is one of our popular guiding stars.

      And, yeah, we've lost a couple of members recently, and we're looking to invite a few new people to the group.

      This is an active group. We expect people to contribute (at least) daily, both regarding their own efforts, and in helping/supporting others in their efforts. One of the things we try to emphasize is providing active support and feedback to others, rather than just posting our own goals and efforts ... this is one of the areas where we feel that "traditional" accountability buddies/groups fail.

      Drop me a DM if you're interested, and we can discuss details.

      Edit: Thanks for the replies. I think we have enough "new blood" for now. If you're still interested, just keep an eye out for another invite post in a few months, when membership starts to flag.

      16 votes
    24. How do you like your smart home setup?

      Just interested in how people's smart homes are set up and how they enjoy things or what they may dislike/wish was changed. Alexa? HomeKit? Google? A mix? Other? Glitches? Any complex or otherwise...

      Just interested in how people's smart homes are set up and how they enjoy things or what they may dislike/wish was changed.

      Alexa? HomeKit? Google? A mix? Other?
      Glitches?
      Any complex or otherwise unique use cases you've set up?

      40 votes
    25. What are you currently reading?

      What are you reading and what's next on your list? Are you enjoying it or just trying to get to the next book you want to read? I'm almost finished with Columbine by Dave Cullen. It's an in depth...

      What are you reading and what's next on your list? Are you enjoying it or just trying to get to the next book you want to read?

      I'm almost finished with Columbine by Dave Cullen. It's an in depth look into what led up to the massacre, the aftermath, and how it could have been avoided. It's a well written book and sadly still very relevant today. I would recommend it to any true crime enthusiast.

      Next up is either Mindhunter by John Douglas & Mark Olshaker or Children of Dune by Frank Herbert. I've been in a true crime phase for the last year, but I'm also trying to finish the entire (original) Dune series.

      57 votes
    26. Gag and parody dubs

      So let's be real, a lot of dubs don't live up to the original. Stuff gets lost in translation, the actors aren't as good, for some reason they choose a guy who sounds like he's 10 to voice the...

      So let's be real, a lot of dubs don't live up to the original. Stuff gets lost in translation, the actors aren't as good, for some reason they choose a guy who sounds like he's 10 to voice the teenage protagonist (coughanothercough). A lot of people prefer subs for that reason.

      But sometimes, sometimes the dubs throw out the original script and go all-in on the hamminess for gag dubs, and by god they can be amazing.

      The golden example: the Ghost Stories dub. They got a generic ghost hunting anime that they knew wouldn't sell that well in western markets, and thus gave the English distributors free reign on changing the script. Every episode is like an Abridged series, and so politically incorrect but so amazing for it. The voice actors are very obviously having a blast with all the ad-libbing going on, you can see them developing the characters themselves and loving it.

      So what other amazing gag and parody dubs do you guys know of?

      9 votes
    27. Shoegaze!

      I love shoegaze. Nowadays, I am a bit out of the genre and scene but hearing shoegaze always makes me happy. My first introduction to the genre was through Lowtide. They are an Australian trio...

      I love shoegaze. Nowadays, I am a bit out of the genre and scene but hearing shoegaze always makes me happy.

      My first introduction to the genre was through Lowtide. They are an Australian trio (originally quartet) that were inspired by the classics like Slowdive. "Held" was the first ever shoegaze song I remember hearing a/o loving. Their self-titled album is one of my favourites of all time, and I have it on vinyl!

      Of course, the landmark shoegaze album remember by many is Loveless by my bloody valentine. Great album, noisy asf and has awesome songs like "Only Shallow" ,"To Here Knows When", "Blown a Wish", "Sometimes", "Soon", "I Only Said". There are many other bands out there that deserve recognition, like Show Me Mary with "A Dream" from their self-titled EP.

      So yeah. Post some of your shoegaze picks, if you love shoegaze.

      33 votes
    28. What did you do this week (and weekend)?

      As part of a weekly series, these topics are a place for users to casually discuss the things they did — or didn't do — during their week. Did you accomplish any goals? Suffer a failure? Do...

      As part of a weekly series, these topics are a place for users to casually discuss the things they did — or didn't do — during their week. Did you accomplish any goals? Suffer a failure? Do nothing at all? Tell us about it!

      16 votes
    29. Pets 2!

      In light of our 4th 5thish? anniversary here, I believe it is time for another thread on those beloved furry/scaly/feathered friends we all know and are beholden to. So fellow Tilderinos, share...

      In light of our 4th 5thish? anniversary here, I believe it is time for another thread on those beloved furry/scaly/feathered friends we all know and are beholden to.

      So fellow Tilderinos, share your pets! Photos! Stories! Antics! Attitudes! How they've changed your life! How you've changed theirs!

      Inspired by this thread

      37 votes
    30. Fitness Weekly Discussion

      What have you been doing lately for your own fitness? Try out any new programs or exercises? Have any questions for others about your training? Want to vent about poor behavior in the gym? Started...

      What have you been doing lately for your own fitness? Try out any new programs or exercises? Have any questions for others about your training? Want to vent about poor behavior in the gym? Started a new diet or have a new recipe you want to share? Anything else health and wellness related?

      26 votes
    31. What's your favorite cult classic movie?

      I love hearing about obscure or forgotten films that people are passionate about. I was in a thread on Reddit, IIRC, and someone mentioned The Man From Earth. I just watched it for the first time...

      I love hearing about obscure or forgotten films that people are passionate about. I was in a thread on Reddit, IIRC, and someone mentioned The Man From Earth. I just watched it for the first time and I can see its appeal.

      I'm sure you have more than one. For me, a couple of favorites off the top of my head are Wristcutters: A Love Story and Wings of Desire. And some old timey classics that I rarely hear mentioned anymore are I Know Where I'm Going and The Lady Eve.

      69 votes
    32. Do you think there should be more customization of user profiles on Tildes? If so, what should be added?

      When talking about adding new features to tildes, many people talk about adding more ways to customize your profile, since right now we only have the username and the user bio. The most common way...

      When talking about adding new features to tildes, many people talk about adding more ways to customize your profile, since right now we only have the username and the user bio. The most common way other sites do this is by having profile pictures, but considering tildes is text based that wouldn't work out well.
      Another way of doing this would be signatures. Not only would that distinguish tildes from reddit and HN, but it would be text based and look ok on the tildes layout. But what do you guys think? Would it be neccessary?

      Edit: u/TooFewColours said this and i think it seems good. I've also heard about allowing your username to be a certain font:

      I'd be opposed to profile pictures, but maybe simply being able to choose a single colour that decorates your profile page in a simple way would be a cute addition. Given the colours in the logo, I think it would be on-brand.

      32 votes
    33. What is your least used piece of kitchen equipment / what do you "regret" buying?

      I've got a small collection of equipment. I've been really cautious about buying more. There are a few things I regret buying. A series of knives that were good enough, but actually garbage,...

      I've got a small collection of equipment. I've been really cautious about buying more. There are a few things I regret buying.

      1. A series of knives that were good enough, but actually garbage, rather than just spending £30 on a victorinox or similar.

      2. A garlic thing which looks cool but is hard to use. Garlic crusher by Royal VKB

      And I was wondering, are there any bits of kit that you thought were going to be great but which ended up in the back of a cupboard or drawer?

      76 votes
    34. Is there interest in games created for game jams?

      Hello everyone. I am an avid gamer but I allocate my playtime very differently from most other players. I prefer to spend my time playing very short(typcially under 30 mins) games created for game...

      Hello everyone. I am an avid gamer but I allocate my playtime very differently from most other players. I prefer to spend my time playing very short(typcially under 30 mins) games created for game jams(limited time themed game development events) on itch.io.

      Here is example of what a set of game jam entries looks like.

      Many of these games are only about 15 minutes long so it is possible to play and review many of them per week. My question to you guys is that given the short nature of most of these experiences, is there at least mild interest in posts about these games and if so would it be better to post a weekly thread where I focus on a specific gamejam and review some of the games and encourage other users to join in and review some more of the games or should I focus on posting direct links to the best games I find when I sifting through these collections.

      I’m am excited to share this area of gaming that people don’t talk about much and I would love to hear peoples thoughts on the subject.

      Edit: The first thread is up

      22 votes
    35. Are there any other simracing enthusiasts?

      Hey all, I will admit, one thing I will miss about the other site is having the strong simracing community. Have any other sim racers made the jump? I told myself I wouldn’t buy another F1 game...

      Hey all,

      I will admit, one thing I will miss about the other site is having the strong simracing community. Have any other sim racers made the jump?

      I told myself I wouldn’t buy another F1 game (hell, I partially got a PC to keep F1 22 alive with mods), but F1 23 looks like it’s a huge step better. Maybe that will be my last F1 game, lol.

      Otherwise, I find myself really only playing Assetto Corsa. I know other games are better at one thing or another, but AC just seems to have the best all-around. I play single player almost exclusively, so I want a decent AI and also be able to race everywhere they do IRL. For example, I hear the indycars are better in Automobilista 2, but AC has all the track mods, and I’m honestly having fun using AI apps to fix any kind of AI dumbness that occurs. Same with WEC- AC probably isn’t the best physics, but I have all the cars and the tracks.

      Any other sim racers here?

      21 votes
    36. What programming/technical projects have you been working on?

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

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

      46 votes
    37. What board games have you played this week (to 19th June)?

      It's been another week and I thought – if there's not too much protest – we could all talk about what we've been playing again. Personally I got in the one game of Hegemony at three players. I've...

      It's been another week and I thought – if there's not too much protest – we could all talk about what we've been playing again.

      Personally I got in the one game of Hegemony at three players. I've played it twice before at two, and adding the third player really took the tension up a notch.

      I played as the proletariat, which I think is the simplest class to play. Once again played no strikes or demonstrations, so I really think I might be missing a concept as it never seemed like a worthwhile pursuit. But it's really hard to predict how pulling any particular string in this game will resolve, so I think I'd just go for it in a subsequent game to see what happens.

      The capitalists, like in previous games, started very weak but by the last few rounds were raking in the points. I managed a very narrow victory of four or five points over the capitalists. Middle class, who had to take a loan mid-game, never really recovered and were twenty points behind. Fun game, I can see why it's popular.

      So what have you all managed to get played this week?

      20 votes
    38. Favorite "cozy" games?

      I'm a HUGE lifestyle sim player. I've played Animal Crossing since Wild World came out on the DS. I've put waaaay too much time into the Sims. Stardew Valley is my absolute favorite farming sim. I...

      I'm a HUGE lifestyle sim player. I've played Animal Crossing since Wild World came out on the DS. I've put waaaay too much time into the Sims. Stardew Valley is my absolute favorite farming sim.

      I just decided to buy Kingdoms and Castles Complete Edition because it's on sale. What other games should I check out? I have a Switch and Mac ecosystem for my games.

      48 votes
    39. Movies that everyone likes (e.g. Shawshank redemption)?

      What's a guaranteed hit, not everyone's favorite, but anyone can enjoy? (i.e. maybe not 9 or 10, but no ratings below a 6) Shawshank redemption is my #1 pick. Others up there i think would be the...

      What's a guaranteed hit, not everyone's favorite, but anyone can enjoy? (i.e. maybe not 9 or 10, but no ratings below a 6)

      Shawshank redemption is my #1 pick. Others up there i think would be the Sandlot & The prestige.

      32 votes
    40. I wanna hear your music!

      I was told by the overlords that this was the way to ask permission to hear you! I wanna share, discover, and enjoy your personal music. I’ll add myself and some other projects to the bottom of...

      I was told by the overlords that this was the way to ask permission to hear you! I wanna share, discover, and enjoy your personal music. I’ll add myself and some other projects to the bottom of this post, but I truly only want to hear you.

      https://jlawson.bandcamp.com/album/visions

      https://jeakams.bandcamp.com/

      https://on.soundcloud.com/VkPckGcot1Xt9mjA7

      Much love,
      Jeakams

      30 votes