• Activity
  • Votes
  • Comments
  • New
  • All activity
    1. Chocolate chips wouldn't melt?

      I make candy as a hobby, but don't usually mess with chocolate because I know it can be finicky af. I decided to try making some peanut butter cups as it seemed easy enough, but the stupid...

      I make candy as a hobby, but don't usually mess with chocolate because I know it can be finicky af. I decided to try making some peanut butter cups as it seemed easy enough, but the stupid chocolate chips would not melt. They went from hard to a chalky mess immediately. I was microwaving them on 30 second intervals at 50% power. I made sure my bowl and spoon I was using to mix were completely dry. Is it because they were sitting opened for a while? I don't know what they want from me

      11 votes
    2. Why are these external SSDs so different in price?

      I'm talking about this 2 TB LaCie Portable SSD and this Samsung T7 2 TB SSD. They both have the same ~1 GB/s read-write speed, the same 3-year limited warranty, and the same USB 3.2 Gen2...

      I'm talking about this 2 TB LaCie Portable SSD and this Samsung T7 2 TB SSD. They both have the same ~1 GB/s read-write speed, the same 3-year limited warranty, and the same USB 3.2 Gen2 connector. But the LaCie drive is $369, while the Samsung drive is $130.
      Am I missing something? Or is it just luxury tax?

      6 votes
    3. Tildes Video Thread

      So, quite a few people don't like/watch video content, and don't like seeing the homepage filled with videos. Let's try something new, see if it sticks. What are the best videos you have watched...

      So, quite a few people don't like/watch video content, and don't like seeing the homepage filled with videos. Let's try something new, see if it sticks.

      What are the best videos you have watched this past week/fortnight?

      24 votes
    4. What data backup strategies do you use/recommend? How much do you invest in backing up your personal data?

      I recently had an SSD fail on me, less than a year old. Nothing important was on it and I'll be getting a warranty replacement, but this got me thinking - I still don't have a proper backup...

      I recently had an SSD fail on me, less than a year old. Nothing important was on it and I'll be getting a warranty replacement, but this got me thinking - I still don't have a proper backup strategy. If my boot drive failed with most of my documents on it, that'd be lost or be expensive to recover.

      What do you do to back up your data? What do you recommend others do? We have things like cloud backups, disks that act as a full backup and a whole lot more. Personally, I want to be able to set something up and not worry about it going wrong.

      26 votes
    5. Android Mozilla browsers with access to about:config

      Hi Android Mozilla browsers with access to about:config. Examples are... Firefox Beta and Firefox Nightly Back in the day there were lots of config tweaks for PC Firefox. But there's not much...

      Hi
      Android Mozilla browsers with access to about:config.
      Examples are...
      Firefox Beta
      and
      Firefox Nightly

      Back in the day there were lots of config tweaks for PC Firefox.
      But there's not much config information about Android Firefox.

      I found these two posts on Reddit.
      https://www.reddit.com/r/firefox/comments/11shvus/fixing_performance_problems_in_firefox_on_android/

      https://www.reddit.com/r/browsers/comments/1278zp5/improving_performance_in_firefox_android_part_ii/

      Does anybody here have other about:config suggestions?

      11 votes
    6. 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
    7. 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
    8. Newbie here looking for advice on how to get into Programming/CS by building a project

      Been lurking for a week on tildes now and I am really glad this place exists. The crow here is exactly what I have been missing on Reddit for a while now. Having said that, the whole Reddit...

      Been lurking for a week on tildes now and I am really glad this place exists. The crow here is exactly what I have been missing on Reddit for a while now.

      Having said that, the whole Reddit situation has some-what motivated me to get the balls rolling on an idea that I have had for a while and I am looking for advice on the same.

      I have often heard this phrase "Learn programming by building" but whenever I dive in to the resources, I fall flat due to the information overload and the general abstractness that the field has (I appreciate abstractness but here it demotivates me) and I have never found a proper resource that I could follow to actually build something instead of just blindly following tutorials and playing with them.

      So, my question is how do I translate "learn by building a project" into a practical framework.

      I know of 100 days of swift and I really like that approach however I don't think I want to start with swift or build an iOS app right now.

      24 votes
    9. Tildes Userscript: Tildezy

      Updated: June 29th 2023 Hello folks, Like many of the other people that have been around lately, I'm new to Tildes, I've been browsing it without an account since last Monday or so while waiting...

      Updated: June 29th 2023

      Hello folks,

      Like many of the other people that have been around lately, I'm new to Tildes, I've been browsing it without an account since last Monday or so while waiting for an email response (thanks @Deimos), and in that time I've been working on a little tool to add some QOL features I thought would make my experiences with the site feel better.

      I didn't plan on sharing it initially, because I didn't think I'd be able to get the javascript into a usable state, and I'm not fond of sharing my code in general, as I always get a big wave of impostor syndrome whenever I do, "What if they look at my messy code and see how silly I do some things", that sort of thing. But with Tildes I want to try to correct some of my internet behaviours, for years I've generally stayed as a lurker, never commenting or sharing content of my own, so, hello there, hopefully, I stick to my guns and you see more of me.

      Onto the script itself, currently, I've built five main features into it all of them being rather minor on their own, I did do bug testing on everything and couldn't find anything else, but if you notice anything please feel free to report it to me or post an issue on the repo. It's easy to miss bugs when you've only got one set of eyes.

      Tildezy Github

      The GitHub contains installation instructions if you've never used a userscript before, and contains some images showing off each feature described below.

      Comment Collapser The comment collapser was built because, with my shakey hands, I had a few times when I would click someone's name instead of the [-] beside it. With this feature *Triple* clicking anywhere on a comment, be it text or header, will collapse it as if you used the [-] button. It's set to 3 clicks as sometimes I double-click to begin copying a line and didn't want the conflict, but it can be changed to any amount of clicks on line 132

      https://github.com/TeJayH/Tildezy/blob/main/Tildezy.user.js#L132

      Group Stars/Favourites Allows you to click a ☆ beside each ~group on the Tildes homepage to *favourite* it, moving it to the top of the list. Supports as many or as few favourites as you'd wish.
      Scroll to Top Button Adds a button pinned in the top right of every Tildes thread that sends you back to the top of the page. No more scrolling or reaching for the home key
      Open Comments in New Tab Replaces the default function of a posts "x comments" to open the page in a new tab instead of the current tab
      User Colors This one is the thing that I made the entire script for, an entirely useless feature but one I love for silly reasons. Replaces the stock username color with a randomized one based on a hash made from the user's username. So everyone gets assigned their own color which will always be their color anywhere you see them. This one helps multi-person conversations flow better in my head
      New Comment Traveller Gives you navigation buttons either beside the Collapse Replies/Expand all buttons when scrolled up, or pinned in the top right when scrolled past those buttons. Navigation buttons jump quickly between each new comment in a thread.
      Markdown Buttons Adds a selection of various buttons under every comment box that automatically insert markdown for you. No more forgetting which bracket style goes first for a clickable URL.
      Settings Not really a *feature* on its own, but it exists. Adds a "Tildezy Settings" beside the Log In/Username button in the top right of the header, which opens a settings window to enable/disable any and all features of the script. Features can also be disabled by modifying lines 26-41 in the script, allowing you to hard toggle everything *including the settings itself* off should you wish.

      https://github.com/TeJayH/Tildezy/blob/main/Tildezy.user.js#L26-L41

      Hopefully, someone gets some use out of this with me, I look forward to chatting with you all.

      EDIT
      Refactored the code and added a new comment traveller feature based on some of the comments below.

      EDIT 2
      Up to 1.3.0, we've got markdown buttons now, see comment explaining the change or check out the github readme

      120 votes
    10. Pixel Fold reviews (and possible concerns about its durability)

      The Verge, Washington Post, CNET, Engadget reviews RIP to my Pixel Fold: Dead after four days Haven't had time to go through all the reviews but as it's a major new device from Google I thought...

      The Verge, Washington Post, CNET, Engadget reviews

      RIP to my Pixel Fold: Dead after four days

      Haven't had time to go through all the reviews but as it's a major new device from Google I thought there might be some interest here.

      33 votes
    11. So what's the VR scene like for the people who have invested into it?

      I've only experienced VR at an escape room and a few hours on PS4VR, both in 2019. The escape room was an amazing experience with a dedicated facility but held back by some cumbersome hardware. On...

      I've only experienced VR at an escape room and a few hours on PS4VR, both in 2019.

      The escape room was an amazing experience with a dedicated facility but held back by some cumbersome hardware. On the other hand, PSVR was interesting but lacking in flexibility and a little pointless with new hardware on the horizon.

      Nearly bought a setup in lockdown but ran into decision paralysis. PSVR issues above; Index/HTC are a lot more expensive and would need a PC upgrade while Oculus is that sweetspot with price and portability but demands you interact with the Zuckerverse ecosystem.

      And in the years since, from the outside it seems like a lot of the hype is just gone. There was a brief time where the Metaverse monopolized the discussion, soured everyone's appitite and promptly died. I've seen VRChat community have a tough time with some anti-player decisions. PS5 VR was hit with a big delay and considerable price tag on top of the console price. And lately with the summer games showcases, I only really recall Assassins Creed and Powerwash Sim VR as notable big budget experiences.

      So I'm curious what the space is like for people who are committed to the experience. How often do you play? How locked in are you to an ecosystem? What are you playing and looking forward to? How is the hardware holding up? But most importantly, would you recommend people buying in now?

      38 votes
    12. 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
    13. How do the human-like Cylons work, in 'Battlestar Galactica' (2004-2009)

      First It was mentioned that, there are 12 of them. If one dies there memory is uploaded and another gets activated, I thought it was somewhat like cylo in star wars. later, we see all of them...

      First It was mentioned that, there are 12 of them. If one dies there memory is uploaded and another gets activated, I thought it was somewhat like cylo in star wars. later, we see all of them operating together, so they sync continously or at certain period? I'm wondering how do they actually work, in data sharing/sync scenario?

      PS. My heart weeps for firefly.

      6 votes