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    1. "Rate limit exceeded. Please wait 56 minutes before retrying"

      I got this error message this morning when making content ( replying to a thread ) first thing in my Tildes.net session https://paste.pics/SN1N0 Oddly, I didn't have any trouble making a new...

      I got this error message this morning when making content ( replying to a thread ) first thing in my Tildes.net session

      https://paste.pics/SN1N0

      Oddly, I didn't have any trouble making a new thread ( this one ), just replying to existing threads.

      It happened on only the second comment I tried to make this morning.

      10 votes
    2. TV Tuesdays Free Talk

      Warning: this post may contain spoilers

      Have you watched any TV shows recently you want to discuss? Any shows you want to recommend or are hyped about? Feel free to discuss anything here.

      Please just try to provide fair warning of spoilers if you can.

      6 votes
    3. What do you do to secure your Linux server when exposing ports to the internet?

      I've been self-hosting for a few years. However, now I have a single server hosting all of my things whereas, before, I had multiple old machines physically isolating services. I'm getting ready...

      I've been self-hosting for a few years. However, now I have a single server hosting all of my things whereas, before, I had multiple old machines physically isolating services. I'm getting ready to host a game server or few (at least one for Tilde) on this machine.

      While I'm not a neophyte to Linux, I'm not a guru and definitely not an infosec expert.

      Given that, what steps do you take to secure a Linux server, LXCs, and docker containers that are receiving port-forwarded internet traffic?

      FWIW, I expect I'll have an LXC running docker containers. I can instead run a VM doing same.

      Advice welcome!

      35 votes
    4. What significant dates from fiction have we reached?

      This question is inspired by two things: @carsonc’s comment in the hard sci-fi topic about Kim Stanley Robinson’s Red Mars starting off in 2026 (which is right around the corner). I started...

      This question is inspired by two things:

      1. @carsonc’s comment in the hard sci-fi topic about Kim Stanley Robinson’s Red Mars starting off in 2026 (which is right around the corner).

      2. I started reading Ministry for the Future (coincidentally also by Kim Stanley Robinson) for the Tildes Book Club, and the titular organization starts in, of all times, January 2025 (as in, right now! The book was a perfect pick for this month).

      It got me thinking about how a lot of science and speculative fiction books from the past imagined a future ahead of themselves, and how the passage of time has brought us to or even past those imagined futures.

      So I’m interested in specific date milestones from fiction that we have met or passed already. They do not have to specifically be from science/speculative fiction, though I imagine most will be.

      25 votes
    5. CES 2025

      CES 2025 kicked off with some big hardware announcements. AMD CPUS for desktop, mobile, and handhelds Nvidia 5000 GPUs (see separate discussion here) But what else are people excited (or not...

      CES 2025 kicked off with some big hardware announcements.

      But what else are people excited (or not excited) for that doesn't necessarily deserve its own thread?

      19 votes
    6. How do you organize images you've collected? (e.g. memes, art, inspiration, etc)

      I imagine most people don't save or just keep images together with the photos they've taken on their phones. But it would be nice to have a simple place to store and organize those images. I've...

      I imagine most people don't save or just keep images together with the photos they've taken on their phones. But it would be nice to have a simple place to store and organize those images.

      I've seen these recommendations: https://tildes.net/~tech/1l48/pinterest_alternatives , but I don't know if that's the best format. Maybe I'm just overthinking it. For now I only have a folder on iCloud with sub-folders. Quick and simple, syncs across devices, but not super organized.

      18 votes
    7. Tildes End-of-Year 'Awards' 2024

      Happy end of year, everyone! I saw a comment today on Tildes that reminded me of a type of thread that I really enjoyed back on Reddit: end-of-year awards. Those were typically in individual...

      Happy end of year, everyone!

      I saw a comment today on Tildes that reminded me of a type of thread that I really enjoyed back on Reddit: end-of-year awards. Those were typically in individual subreddits and involved a lot of specifics and inside jokes related to that community, but I think Tildes is a small enough place where we could do one site-wide. (Full disclosure, I am not sure if this is a great idea and am open to any and all suggestions.)

      Brief explanation:

      • For starters, there are no actual awards to give out, sorry. Just some pats on the back and maybe some street cred to go with it.

      • The purpose of the thread is mostly to highlight cool, helpful, and interesting things or users you've seen here on Tildes in the last year. This thread is hopefully a gateway to those interesting posts/comments/discussions that you might have missed.

      • Top-level comments should be an award category (for example: Most Interesting Thread, Best Discussion, Most Helpful Comment, Funniest Joke, Most Helpful User, Best Prediction, Favorite Recurring Thread, etc.) Note that none of these examples are negative because again the goal of this thread is to highlight awesome stuff that others might have missed over the last 12 months.

      • Responses to those top-level comments should be the actual nominations, preferably with a link to said comment/thread, and a quick explanation as to why you think it deserves recognition.

      • Upvotes serve as the votes for each category, though I encourage you to vote for as many nominees as you'd like since the awards aren't real and the points don't matter.

      That's pretty much it. I'll post a few comments as examples, but hopefully it should be pretty straight-forward. Feel free to add your own award categories, and please nominate as many users/comments/threads as you'd like!

      If this thread helps at least one person discover a helpful thread from 6 months ago that they might have missed, then I'll consider it a success.

      49 votes
    8. Also looking for GPU recommendations

      I saw a similar thread recently and since I also happen to be looking for a gpu, I thought I'd ask here as well. Soo, I suppose I should start by saying that I really do not know much about...

      I saw a similar thread recently and since I also happen to be looking for a gpu, I thought I'd ask here as well.

      Soo, I suppose I should start by saying that I really do not know much about hardware. All the computers I had were purchased pre-built and I didn't really open them up apart from occasional cleaning or plugging in a new drive. Either way, my current hardware is as follows:

      • CPU: Intel i7-8700
      • RAM: 16GB DDR4
      • GPU: integrated Intel CoffeeLake-S GT2
      • Displays: 2560x1080@60hz and 1920x1080 up to 165hz but usually sitting at 60
      • Motherboard: 0NC2VH (from Dell OptiPlex 7060 SFF)
      • PSU: 200W

      So the 2 things worrying me here are:

      1. The PSU power output is probably too low
      2. The entire case is kind of on the smaller side, I'm not sure what gpu would be able to fit there (though that's a thing I asked about when buying this pc, and apparently small form factor gpus should be fine?)

      As I said earlier I'm really clueless about this kind of things and I'm not sure where to start, so I don't even have any candidates. Generally, I don't do too much gpu-intensive stuff (which is why for a long time I've been fine with an iGPU) and most of the games (2d stuff like various roguelikes or Factorio) I play run fine, but recently I've been playing some more games like Fall Guys or Supermarket Together with friends and it's been a bit frustrating to lower the graphics settings to the very lowest they can be and also decrease the resolution to have them run at a playable framerate (though even Factorio has been having some frame drops recently as my factory keeps growing, but I'm not sure if it's actually the igpu causing the bottleneck).

      Any advice would be appreciated! I can provide more information if there's something relevant I haven't mentioned (which I imagine is quite possible)


      Edit: I am now instead considering a full upgrade, since it might make more sense as people pointed out

      Edit2: a pretty important thing I forgot to mention is that I primarily run linux, so driver compatibility is a big thing for me.

      13 votes
    9. Is anyone else kind of scared by the internet?

      I don't mean that I'm scared by some terrible content on the internet, or that I'm actually afraid of using it. What I mean is the same feeling I often get from open-world games: FOMO, a sense of...

      I don't mean that I'm scared by some terrible content on the internet, or that I'm actually afraid of using it. What I mean is the same feeling I often get from open-world games: FOMO, a sense of chaos, being lost and lacking direction.

      Internet is inherently like an open-world game. There's so much content available. In your entire life, you won't see even 0.001% of it. This very post will probably be seen by like 100 people at most, which is such a tiny share of all internet users.

      I get very anxious thinking about this. People often talk about how they miss "the old internet", which consisted of small websites and had to be explored. To me, that sounds like hell. I don't want to explore internet. I want to know where something is and how to find it. Information is on Wikipedia. Opinions are on Reddit. Et cetera. But the internet doesn't work like that - there's so much stuff that I don't even know how to grasp it.

      I recently discovered https://are.na because someone mentioned it here on Tildes. I signed up, and immediately got that feeling. There's a huge amount of content, and I'm supposed to just explore in until I stumble upon something?

      Tildes is one of the few websites where I don't feel that, because the amount of content is relatively small so I have a feeling of keeping it under control. But it also makes me think about how there are countless other small communities like Tildes, and ones that I'll never be aware of - and that's also pretty scary.

      Does anyone else feel something similar? I've seen many people talk about similar feelings regarding keeping up with social media, but that doesn't actually bother me, but the amount of communities that can be explored does

      35 votes
    10. Outdoor CCTV recommendations?

      Hi all. I need to set up an outdoor CCTV camera and since there seem to be a hundred different brands and as many pitfalls I'm wondering if anyone here can help me navigate that minefield. I have...

      Hi all. I need to set up an outdoor CCTV camera and since there seem to be a hundred different brands and as many pitfalls I'm wondering if anyone here can help me navigate that minefield. I have zero experience.

      I have the following basic requirements:

      • Waterproof: It's outdoors, it will be rained on, plus there will often be high humidity, pollen and dust. It should not get fogged up. (IP66 or higher I think?) This also means there shouldn't be exposed plugs, otherwise it's not really waterproof.
      • NOT battery powered. If there's a battery power option, battery degradation shouldn't prevent the camera from working, since otherwise that will massively impact longevity. I'm looking for something that can be wired directly to AC power.
      • Wifi support: Comms cannot be wired in this installation. Norm will probably be n (2.4ghz) but ac+ should ideally be supported for future proofing.
      • I probably can't buy it if it's not available in Europe (this often excludes some american startups).

      With regard to what happens to the footage:

      • I think IP streaming would be ideal?
      • Abso-fucking-lutely no "cloud" based services. I have no interest in having to bounce footage through the US or china, or paying a monthly fee for unnecessary nonsense. I'm afraid of brands not being clear about this being a requirement before I spend my money.
      • Some brands seem to have their own "server"/hub hardware? Why? No! I already own computers, so I don't need to waste money on a proprietary unitasker for talking to my camera.
      • I think there are some open standards for camera streaming and open source software for handling the cameras. Support for these would be great. I'm accepting software recommendations too.
      • I'm not in theory opposed to SD card support, but I'd rather not have to use local storage at all, and don't mind if it's not an option. If a setup requires storing in an SD card and then reading from it that's not the worst, I suppose (it's not that expensive to replace dead SD cards once every few years).

      Optional bells and whistles:

      • There is some illumination in the location at night, but some form of night vision would be highly desirable. Optional built in lights are probably also a good idea.
      • Microphone is a nice plus.
      • Motion detection and human tracking are a nice plus. The camera doesn't have to rotate 360 degrees; probably a ~60 degree angle of vision would be plenty. At the extreme, I'd say more than ~120 degrees is literally useless due to obstacles. (Obviously if an ideal solution has full rotation, I'll just take it.)
      • Resolution+framerate (bitrate) can be as high as wireless-n can comfortably handle, but I don't really think I need more than 1080p.

      Thanks in advance if anyone knows enough to be able to help.

      4 votes
    11. Any Tildeans who have lived in China or Russia and the West? What were the differences in the daily lives of average people?

      edit: It's been a surprisingly active thread in a way I hadn't expected. Thank you everyone for the light debate, and I'm sorry if any of this was a source of discomfort. The internet has...

      edit: It's been a surprisingly active thread in a way I hadn't expected. Thank you everyone for the light debate, and I'm sorry if any of this was a source of discomfort. The internet has historically been a safe place to find out things that would be difficult to ask in person even if you know who to ask, and I appreciate the fact-checking, reality-checking, what-have-you that comes with that.


      Things like:

      • What things felt free to do and not free to do? Was that a quality of law or society? (e.g., freedom of speech, gay relationships, zoning, running a business, jaywalking, etc.)
      • Trust or reliability in government
      • Educational quality
      • Relationship to the media
      • What luxuries people tended to have (e.g. modern imported gaming consoles, domestically produced products, number of cars, etc.)

      Posting from America here. As the great power politics seems to have heated up these past 3-10 years, it feels like the environment has become more polarized as well. Eventually I started to ask myself what exactly I was supporting or opposing philosophically, in wanting my country to have the largest influence. The measures I came up with were not things that my own country did well on, and often felt like things I couldn't get the most accurate picture on without Russian or Chinese language acquisition. I happened upon a BBC article about new Chinese graduates I guess going through what millennials did in 2008, and found the general similarity of it interesting.

      67 votes
    12. [SOLVED] Looking for recommendations on new GPU

      GPU Purchased: RX 6650XT for $330+tax Overview I am currently looking at replacing my GPU, as I believe it is broken. I do not want to spend a high amount as money is a bit tight for me. However,...

      GPU Purchased: RX 6650XT for $330+tax

      Overview

      I am currently looking at replacing my GPU, as I believe it is broken. I do not want to spend a high amount as money is a bit tight for me. However, I am open to spending a bit more than the cheapest option, if it will last me longer.

      Current Hardware

      • CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 5500
      • RAM: 32GB DDR4
      • PSU: 550W
      • GPU: NVidia GTX 970
      • Primary Display: 1080p60
      • Secondary Display: 1600x900 60hz

      Workload

      I do not do need that strong of a GPU, since I primarily play games a bit older and I occasionally do video editing. For video editing, my video projects tend to be relatively lightweight, so I do not need a beefy GPU for it.

      A couple game examples:

      • Minecraft
      • Far Cry 5
      • Civ VI

      Other factors

      For budget, I am trying to stay as low as possible. However, I do want to buy new, as I am pretty sure my GPU is the problem, but do not know for sure so want to be able to return it. For OS, I am running Fedora KDE. I had my GTX 970 working with it, but I have heard AMD cards work better for Linux. Is switching to AMD better overall or just easier to setup?

      Current GPU Considerations:

      Edit: After some suggestions, I am currently leaning towards the RX 6650XT for $330

      12 votes
    13. Looking for some advice on a cat food dispenser

      I have a simple gravity fed cat food dispenser that is great but it needs a little help. No matter what gravity feed dispenser I use it never keeps up. My cat has food out 24/7 and he regulates...

      I have a simple gravity fed cat food dispenser that is great but it needs a little help. No matter what gravity feed dispenser I use it never keeps up. My cat has food out 24/7 and he regulates his food on his own.

      I 3d printed a new dispenser in hopes it would solve the food falling out constantly all day, but it's not working as I expected.

      So what I'm hoping to do is make a simple vibrating device that will help the food fall out constantly all day long. Maybe a raspberry pi that has a cell phone vibration fob thing that will run a routine? I don't know. I'm having a really hard time finding examples of this. Does anyone have something to reference?

      Also open to ideas on non-mechanical feeders that work well, or very simple battery operated options.

      Thanks!

      19 votes
    14. 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.

      7 votes
    15. 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?

      17 votes
    16. Looking for some insight / advice on dog behavior

      I visited my in-laws over the holiday break. They have 2 border collies (and really shouldn't but that's a whole nother other...). Both border collies absolutely lose it barking and aggressively...

      I visited my in-laws over the holiday break. They have 2 border collies (and really shouldn't but that's a whole nother other...). Both border collies absolutely lose it barking and aggressively posturing when anyone but MIL/FIL enter a room they are in, UNLESS MIL/FIL are not home. Then they can't be bothered to even sit up from where they are napping.

      I find this behavior really confusing. It appears the dogs are ?protecting? my in-laws, and that in-laws have somehow unwittingly trained them to do so?

      After they're done barking they're affectionate and playful. I'd love to find a way to encourage the dogs to skip straight to the petting/play time.

      Thoughts? Advice?

      thanks in advance Tildes!

      10 votes
    17. Square root of 0<x<2

      bit of a dated post but something I am curious about. I watched Terence Howard's first appearance on Joe Rogan and found it mostly funny but something he pointed out did pique my interest. the...

      bit of a dated post but something I am curious about. I watched Terence Howard's first appearance on Joe Rogan and found it mostly funny but something he pointed out did pique my interest.

      the root of his issues with basic math seem to stem from a fundamental misunderstanding (or dislike?) of 2 things in particular:

      1. that any number multiplied by a fraction results in a smaller number (basically he struggles a lot with logic of fractional math) and
      2. the fact that for x where 0<x<2 , that x2 < x*2 when he is apparently under the notion that x2 should always be bigger than x*2 and to him, the fact that that isn't the case for 0<x<2 is evidence of some big mystery or conspiracy

      but it did make me wonder if there's a certain name or property given to the numbers where 0<x<2 to note the fact the fact that for those numbers, x2 < x*2?

      7 votes
    18. Offbeat Fridays – The thread where offbeat headlines become front page news

      Tildes is a very serious site, where we discuss very serious matters like half life.3, pornography and popeye. Tags culled from the highest voted topics from the last seven days, if anyone was...

      Tildes is a very serious site, where we discuss very serious matters like half life.3, pornography and popeye. Tags culled from the highest voted topics from the last seven days, if anyone was nerding out.

      But one of my favourite tags happens to be offbeat! Taking its original inspiration from Sir Nils Olav III, this thread is looking for any far-fetched offbeat stories lurking in the newspapers. It may not deserve its own post, but it deserves a wider audience!

      14 votes
    19. What contemporary books do you think will still be widely read 100 years from now?

      F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby celebrates its 100th anniversary this month. It got me thinking: what are the books from our time that you think might be widely read/taught a century from...

      F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby celebrates its 100th anniversary this month.

      It got me thinking: what are the books from our time that you think might be widely read/taught a century from now? What do you think will give them that kind of staying power?

      No hard limits on what counts as “contemporary” by the way. An easy cutoff would be anything released in 2000 and on, but if there are books from before then that you have strong feelings about, by all means share them!

      31 votes
    20. 2 January is National Science Fiction Day (in the US)! What are some sci-fi films you feel are particularly memorable or that you return to regularly?

      Today is Isaac Asimov's official day of birth, according to Wikipedia. Apparently it has been made National Science Fiction Day in the US. So what are some of your favorite films you return to...

      Today is Isaac Asimov's official day of birth, according to Wikipedia. Apparently it has been made National Science Fiction Day in the US.

      So what are some of your favorite films you return to from time to time and what are some films that made a strong impact on you as an adult or when you were growing up? I wasn't sure about starting another thread just for TV shows, we could include sci-fi TV shows here as well.

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

      What have you been watching and reading this week? You don't need to give us a whole essay if you don't want to, but please write something! Feel free to talk about something you saw that was...

      What have you been watching and reading this week? You don't need to give us a whole essay if you don't want to, but please write something! Feel free to talk about something you saw that was cool, something that was bad, ask for recommendations, or anything else you can think of.

      If you want to, feel free to find the thing you're talking about and link to its pages on Anilist, MAL, or any other database you use!

      8 votes
    22. What did you do this week (and weekend)?

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

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

      8 votes
    23. Midweek Movie Free Talk

      Warning: this post may contain spoilers

      Have you watched any movies recently you want to discuss? Any films you want to recommend or are hyped about? Feel free to discuss anything here.

      Please just try to provide fair warning of spoilers if you can.

      11 votes
    24. What do you think about the Apex Pro Keyboard?

      The other day I was in Target and they had a keyboard display, and in that display was a SteelSeries Apex Pro TKL. For those unfamilliar with them, they feature what they call omnipoint...

      The other day I was in Target and they had a keyboard display, and in that display was a SteelSeries Apex Pro TKL. For those unfamilliar with them, they feature what they call omnipoint keyswitches, which basically means that they are all essentially analogue inputs, which means you can adjust the actuation point in software.

      I know there are a lot of keyboard enthusiasts here on Tildes, so I thought I'd ask what you thought about it. While I'm probably not going to buy one anytime soon, I'm interested in it. But I'd also use it almost exclusively for typing, which isn't really the target audience for it. I generally prefer tactile switches but I realized while demoing the Apex that I've been using rubber dome switches so much in recent years that it doesn't matter too much.

      16 votes
    25. Tildes Video Thread

      Find yourself watching tons of great videos on [insert chosen video sharing platform], but also find yourself reluctant to flood the Tildes front page with them? Then this thread is for you. It...

      Find yourself watching tons of great videos on [insert chosen video sharing platform], but also find yourself reluctant to flood the Tildes front page with them? Then this thread is for you.

      It could be one quirky video that you feel deserves some eyeballs on it, or perhaps you've got a curated list of videos that you'd love to talk us through...

      Share some of the best video content you've watched this past week/fortnight with us!

      5 votes
    26. Pinterest alternatives

      Seems to be a common subject online that pinterest sucks. I've found so many threads of people asking for alternatives...but I've yet to find a replacement, or really recommendations. I've been...

      Seems to be a common subject online that pinterest sucks. I've found so many threads of people asking for alternatives...but I've yet to find a replacement, or really recommendations.

      I've been trying out the site cosmos.so, Interesting concept but it is limited by the lack of android and Firefox plugin support

      Any suggestions? What I am looking for is a tool that I can use to save stuff I find online, links, images, screenshots. Preferably open sourced or privacy friendly, but at this point I'll take anything lol.

      I feel like there has to be something out there!! Not sure why I am having such a hard time finding it. Any recommendations would be appreciated

      11 votes
    27. How do you generate and record your goals for the year?

      I don't have much to add as the title kinda says everything. If anyone wishes to disclose their personal goals that is fine but not required. I am not good at long term planning so learning how...

      I don't have much to add as the title kinda says everything. If anyone wishes to disclose their personal goals that is fine but not required.

      I am not good at long term planning so learning how others do it can help me make my own.

      As always in this kind of question I will keep things broad. There is no limit in scope, difficulty, complexity, etc. Any planning methods are welcome.

      Thanks!

      15 votes
    28. You make friends *HERE*?!

      No, really. Sincerely putting this out there. Using Tildes sometimes feels like talking into the void. The UI, even in Three Cheers, is minimal. The conversations sometimes clinical, though I...

      No, really. Sincerely putting this out there.

      Using Tildes sometimes feels like talking into the void. The UI, even in Three Cheers, is minimal. The conversations sometimes clinical, though I greatly appreciate the compassion that comes through here versus other places that shall remain nameless.

      Yet I am struck. I've seen people here, more recently, cite meeting other Tildans (Tildaniens? Tilwhoseits?).

      As a somewhat reclusive 51 year-old married dude with only furry children, I don't get it. But I do know that I need more friendships. It gets harder, as you get older. (As for me, not keeping toxic friendships from school and later 2 decades working remotely led to, well, this.)

      So how do you connect with humans as humans here? How do you "make friends"?

      Asking as someone who has a diagnosed potent ADHD and perhaps other as yet medically undetermined NDisms.

      (No idea what tags to use for this. Help?)

      67 votes
    29. What creative projects have you been working on?

      This topic is part of a series. It is meant to be a place for users to discuss creative projects they have been working on. Projects can be personal, professional, physical, digital, or even just...

      This topic is part of a series. It is meant to be a place for users to discuss creative projects they have been working on.

      Projects can be personal, professional, physical, digital, or even just ideas.

      If you have any creative projects that you have been working on or want to eventually work on, this is a place for discussing those.

      4 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?

      6 votes
    31. TV Tuesdays Free Talk

      Warning: this post may contain spoilers

      Have you watched any TV shows recently you want to discuss? Any shows you want to recommend or are hyped about? Feel free to discuss anything here.

      Please just try to provide fair warning of spoilers if you can.

      10 votes
    32. Seeking advice re learning the basics of data analytics

      I was contacted by a recruiter regarding a job in my field but they wanted someone with data analytics skills. I'm taking this as a sign that I should improve my skill set. Does anyone have advice...

      I was contacted by a recruiter regarding a job in my field but they wanted someone with data analytics skills. I'm taking this as a sign that I should improve my skill set. Does anyone have advice for where or how to start with a very small budget?

      Thanks for your help.

      13 votes
    33. Is it just me or has advertising lost the plot entirely?

      If you know me you probably know I hate advertising with a passion. I have blocked ads on my computer but I have limited control on my TV and phone when it comes to YouTube advertisements. And the...

      If you know me you probably know I hate advertising with a passion. I have blocked ads on my computer but I have limited control on my TV and phone when it comes to YouTube advertisements. And the other day I got this incredibly bizarre ad.

      I only speak the tiny amount of Spanish I have learned through osmosis, but the phrase they are using is essentially “we’ll eat at home.” The scenario is a familiar one; you’ve got a kid in the car out in town and they see a restaurant they want to go and they ask if they can stop to eat. The parent says no, we’ll eat at home, because there are a lot of reasons why it’s better for them. Home cooked meals are cheaper. They can be higher quality, both in terms of taste and nutrition. They might have food that will go bad soon and so they want to go and eat it first. They don’t want to normalize eating rich unhealthy foods for their kids.

      But this isn’t an ad for groceries or processed food products. This is an ad for DoorDash. A food delivery app. Literally none of the reasons you would want to eat at home apply here. Actually, using DoorDash in this particular situation is dramatically worse, because you are paying more money to get food you could have just picked up on the way only to get a worse version of it because it is no longer freshly prepared and is likely cold.

      I just can’t get over this because it’s so incredibly out of touch with reality. Many people have had to have signed off on this for me to see this ad. What were they thinking? Are they so out of touch with reality that they think this is something that people do? The fact that this is clearly targeting Hispanic Americans makes it even worse. I live in Southern California and about a third of the people I know are Hispanic and all of them would laugh at this. I can’t help but wonder if the teams working on them were full of privileged white guys who are saying “yeah, this is what Mexicans are really like” or if there are also rich Hispanics on board who thinks this is something that people really do.

      But this is just the most egregious example of out of touch advertising. YouTube ads are supposed to be targeted right? But why do I get ads for CRM, ERP, and accounting products when I don’t own a business? Why do I get ads in languages I don’t speak? Why is it that I can report and tell Google that an advertiser is inappropriate or against their terms and still they will show me the ads again?

      And beyond that I am astonished at how many ads I see that exist to mislead you. Almost every time you see something compared or tested there is somthing they aren’t telling you. The most obvious example is Scott toilet paper; they advertise that they have rolls that are significantly longer than their leading competition. But what they neglect to tell you is that their product is single-ply while their competitors are double- or triple-ply. They actually have a very comfortable amount of toilet paper on each roll. Weirdly, all toilet paper is misleading though; what is a “mega roll”, how does it differ from an “ultra roll”, and why is one roll of it somehow equivalent to six of some unspecified other type of roll? In the meanwhile Old Spice is trying to take advantage of balding men like me by telling me that their shampoo increases the volume of hair by however many percent while there is fine print at the bottom saying that it is compared to unwashed hair, meaning their shampoo probably doesn’t do anything the cheapest generic product at the dollar store won’t.

      I know this is basically just a rant, but I can’t be the only one who notices this stuff, am I?

      54 votes
    34. How do you decide when to buy a book?

      I've been thinking about this question lately. We have so many options for consuming literature these days - checking something out from the library, listening to it on your platform of choice,...

      I've been thinking about this question lately. We have so many options for consuming literature these days - checking something out from the library, listening to it on your platform of choice, etc. Many options don't require spending money specifically on that item (for example, if you use the library, Kindle Unlimited, or other options where you might pay for a subscription but not for a particular item).

      For me, because of this abundance of choice in consumption for free, I've started to feel a bit paralyzed by decision fatigue when trying to decide if I want to purchase a book - either physical or digital. Digital is easier to make a final call on - I'll check the library. If they don't have it, I may or may not buy it in digital form, depending on how compelled I am by reviews or peer pressure. Recently, I've been snagging anything interesting-looking that is available for free on Kindle, so my digital purchasing might increase in the future, or I might subscribe to Kindle Unlimited.

      But physical? Recently, physical books have come to mean a couple of things to me: first, clutter. I am less likely to accept even a free book because we don't have room to hang onto something I'm not actively invested in. We have two bookshelves and they're both full. Second, owning (and keeping) a physical book says that it's special to me in some manner - I either really like it or wanted to support the author or both. When I do buy a physical book, I try to buy from a local bookstore (though I'm not amazing at this yet). I just preordered two books after maybe a month of debating and comparing purchasing avenues. (Meanwhile, I purchased a set of 8 children's books at 6 am yesterday because I dreamed about a character from them... so my decisions aren't always rational!)

      What are your criteria for buying books? Feel free to share how you make your decisions for any format - and also anything about your personal setup that might make decisions for you!

      20 votes
    35. Is there a free LLM frontend that works out of the box?

      I want something like typingmind but for free, and that doesn't require installation. mainly for gemini and mistral (or perhaps groq too) I just want to be able to paste my API key and just use...

      I want something like typingmind but for free, and that doesn't require installation. mainly for gemini and mistral (or perhaps groq too) I just want to be able to paste my API key and just use it. I know about OpenWebUI and msty but OpenWebUI requires installation, and msty doesn't have an android version.

      anyone know something like this ? (would also be nice if it supports LaTeX)

      17 votes
    36. Best new install steps for Windows 11 gaming PC?

      Hi folks--I am very excited about a gaming PC that I just bought for my family (mainly 13yo son into gaming, coding, and digital art). I installed the video card (only piece sent separately), went...

      Hi folks--I am very excited about a gaming PC that I just bought for my family (mainly 13yo son into gaming, coding, and digital art).

      I installed the video card (only piece sent separately), went through Windows setup/updates. Installed peripherals. Updated video card drivers. Installed Steam/GIMP/Krita. Made 13yo an adult in my Steam Family. Installed a few of the games so something is ready to run right away. I even have the small Wacom tablet working in GIMP and Inkscape with a good pressure profile!

      All that said, I used to set up my own Windows PCs (looooong) ago, and I'm wondering if it's really that simple. It was very easy.

      I did small utility things like run Startallback and install PowerToys. I figured MS Visual Code is next?

      Anything else you all can suggest?

      (P.S. is there a way to move all his Minecraft stuff to his new Microsoft account? He's tired of logging in as me, and I'm tired of sending him auth codes.)

      26 votes
    37. Private DNS (DoT) on Embedded / IOT Android Devices - Help With Connection Errors

      Good evening, everyone. I was wondering if any of my fellow Tilders had experience with using Android's Private DNS feature on unconventional android devices e.g. WearOS, Android TVs etc. It was...

      Good evening, everyone. I was wondering if any of my fellow Tilders had experience with using Android's Private DNS feature on unconventional android devices e.g. WearOS, Android TVs etc.

      It was quite easy to figure out exactly how to set up an alternative DNS server on these devices. By default, Google has hidden the private DNS setting on them, but it is still accessible from ADB. In both of my examples it is likely easiest to enable “Wireless Debugging”, pair the devices successfully, and then run the commands.

      settings put global private_dns_specifier one.one.one.one (replace this with the pertinent server!!)
      settings put global private_dns_mode hostname

      The issue I have been running into, however, is if there is seemingly any form of content filtering enabled on the DNS server of your choice, the WearOS device seems to think internet is unavailable when first connecting. If you open the Settings app and leave it open for long enough on the Wi-Fi page, it will switch from “Internet not available” to “Connected”. Contrary to this, if you open an app like Samsung Internet for, it does not take this time and just refuses to use any configured Wi-Fi network.

      To go into my specific situation in a little more detail, I use NextDNS configured with Hagezi Multi PRO++ block list. I have no issues on my S24+ with regard to internet being deemed unavailable by the OS (sure the occasional public Wi-Fi network blocks DoT—I just use mobile data then). I have also yet to try it on my Smart TV, which is frankly the more important target device than my watch (I will get around to it in the new year once the holidays are over).

      This is all a potentially very convoluted way to ask what people's experiences are with this, and if they have faced similar problems to me when using providers like NextDNS, AdGuard etc. that provide content filtering options on their encrypted DNS connections.

      Merci beaucoup !

      4 votes
    38. Tildes Book Club discussion - December 2024 - The City We Became by N K Jemisin

      Warning: this post may contain spoilers

      This is the ninth of an ongoing series of book discussions here on Tildes. We are discussing The City We Became by N K Jemisin. Our next book will be Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson at the end of January.

      I don't have a particular format in mind for this discussion, but I will post some prompts and questions as comments to get things started. You're not obligated to respond to them or vote on them though. So feel free to make your own top-level comment for whatever you wish to discuss, questions you have of others, or even just to post a review of the book you have written yourself.

      For latecomers, don't worry if you didn't read the book in time for this Discussion topic. You can always join in once you finish it. Tildes Activity sort, and "Collapse old comments" feature should keep the topic going for as long as people are still replying.
      And for anyone uninterested in this topic please use the Ignore Topic feature on this so it doesn't keep popping up in your Activity sort, since it's likely to keep doing that while I set this discussion up, and once people start joining in.

      20 votes
    39. Tildes Video Thread

      Find yourself watching tons of great videos on [insert chosen video sharing platform], but also find yourself reluctant to flood the Tildes front page with them? Then this thread is for you. It...

      Find yourself watching tons of great videos on [insert chosen video sharing platform], but also find yourself reluctant to flood the Tildes front page with them? Then this thread is for you.

      It could be one quirky video that you feel deserves some eyeballs on it, or perhaps you've got a curated list of videos that you'd love to talk us through...

      Share some of the best video content you've watched this past week/fortnight with us!

      15 votes