I had been having pain in my "upper butt" when sitting for a few weeks, so I went to an orthopedic practice that has urgent care walk in hours. He diagnosed it as sacroiliac inflammation and gave me an anti-inflammatory (meloxicam) and a PT script. The PT did not have an opening until week after next, but the medicine has has really helped with the pain.

Them took xrays during my visit, and the side-looking one shows spondylolisthesis (one of my lumbar vertebrae has slipped forward). He pointed it out (casually) and didn't say much about it other than he thought it wasn't the cause of my pain. Maybe he thought I already knew about it?

I have been having lower back pain off and on for a long time. I went to my doctor one time, and he diagnosed it as a bulging disc. He had given me some meloxicam and strengthening exercises to do at home. Since then, I would have pain in my lower back intermittently as well as occasional numbness in my leg, but I had just assumed it was a disc and tried to keep strengthening my core.

I am overweight (280lb) and not very active (software engineer). I started a new job that is in office this year, so I'm a lot less sedentary than I was working from home. I have a fantastic yoga teacher, and I do that every week. My practice in between classes has been intermittent at best, but I am trying to make it more regular.

Right now, I'm waiting for the PT to start, and I have a followup appointment with the spine specialist at the ortho in a fee weeks.

My biggest problem is that whenever I think about the xray, and seeing that disc so misaligned, my anxiety really spikes to 11. I get the "heebie jeebies", the same creepy shivering feeling I get if a bug unexpectedly crawls on me. It's happening most days. I feel kind of betrayed by my body.

I have talked to my therapist about the anxiety, and we are working on it. But in the mean time it is very stressful and distracting.

If you made it this far, thank you for reading. I am not sure what I'm really asking for. There's plenty of information online about the treatments. I guess I am wondering if other people went through it, how did it affect your mobility, quality of life, etc? Are there things you wish you had known?

Honestly, I think I could just use a (virtual) hug.

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We recommend you install our mod web-chat so that you can chat while in your web browser. It turns the server into an old-school chat room.

<- Previous Thread

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.

Iranians right now are using a javascript based proxy to access the internet somewhat, it's what i'm using to access tildes.

I thought it'd be interesting to share, we don't have access to script.google.com but we do have access to www.google.com, so there's another method to access it and set it up.

Someone wrote a quick android app for it. link

It's limited from google's side as they've put a 20,000 requests daily limit on scripts, but it gets us online somewhat and... feels nice, to be able to have a way through.

We're also using github actions to download files to private repo's and download them from there (releases is still blocked, raw is not) which also seems to have a 2000 minute monthly limit.

From one side google colab also has Iran sanctioned so we can't access that, but that would be another way to get online aswell.

From another side we're also using DNS servers to tunnel traffic, but they get blacklisted after the user count goes up.

I recently visited Albuquerque and spent almost a full day at their botanical gardens. It was awesome and made realize how much I love bioparks.
Of all the attractions a city may have, they always delight and never leave me conflicted like I feel at zoos and aquariums.

So I ask the people of Tides: where are the best bio parks and what makes them great?

Submit your response here!

• Direct link: https://survey.tildes.community/form/what-country-do-you-live-in-2
• This survey closes on May 3, 2026 at 10:00 UTC
• The results will be published on May 3 shortly after the survey has closed. I'll edit this topic and post a comment about it!

The current plans for questions that will be asked in the coming weeks are as follows:

Please submit your ideas for questions here! Even if they've been submitted already by someone else. All input is valuable! You can view all submitted questions on this dashboard.

Thank you all again for participating! <3

CGA-2026-04 🦇🧛‍♀️🔥 INSERT CARTRIDGE 🟢 Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow

COLOSSAL GAME ADVENTURES PRESENTS: 🔥🦇🧛‍♀️ Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow

As always, mark ya spoilers as such with the following text block:

<details>
<summary>Spoilers</summary>

Spoiler text goes here.
</details>

Game Setup

Share which version of the game you're playing
Share what hardware you're playing it on
Share if there are any tools/mods that you recommend
Share anything you think is important for people to know before they start the game
Ask questions if you need help

Do you have any memories or associations with this game itself?
What about its system or era?
What aspects of retro gaming were common at the time?
What other games from the same time period are you familiar with?
What are you expecting from this game in particular?
Which Castlevania game has the best Death fight? 

FAQ

Many of us were dinosaur kids (I assume), but I know that our understanding of dinos has changed a lot from my childhood: more feathers, warm-blooded, and the brontosaurus survived its deletion attempt! Land Before Time, Dinotopia, We're Back! a Dinosaur's Story, Dinosaurs, and Jurassic Park have been supplemented by Jurassic World, Velocipastor, and many dinosaur "documentaries".

So Tildarianitearinis, what is your favorite dinosaur?

(For purposes of this question dinosaurs will be inclusive of prehistoric archosaurs without pedantry. Aka pterosaurs count. )

Breathe Deep Seek Peace Ψ

The blaze has officially ignited!

(and May has officially mellowed, for those going the chill route)

• Quicklink: Backlog Bingo

Etiquette:

• It is fine to make multiple top-level posts throughout the week.

• It is also fine to respond to your own posts.

• If you are playing Backlog Bingo, you can share your table either by markdown or through screenshots.

Gameplay guidelines:

• Goals for this event (if any) are entirely individual and self-determined.

• Playing Bingo is optional and not required.

• You do NOT need to finish games unless you want to. The point is to try out games and have fun, not force ourselves to play things we're not interested in.

Backlog Burner FAQ

Backlog Bingo FAQ

Important: All data for your Backlog Bingo card is stored on your device, not the server. Clearing your browser data will delete your card. You can use the export feature to make backups or move your card between devices.

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?

I keep thinking about this post from @first-must-burn and the genuinely amazing way he helped one of his family members, and it inspired me to ask this question.

No need to be modest or downplay your efforts in your answer. Feel free to pat yourself on the back and acknowledge the good job you did (even if it feels awkward to do so!).

It's almost time...

...for another Backlog Burner -- the event where you try out games you've always wanted to play (but haven't yet -- for whatever reason).

The Backlog Burner for May 2026 will officially begin in two days on May 1st.

If you're new to the Backlog Burner, check out our previous events to get an idea of what's going on:

• 2025 - November
• 2025 - May
• 2024 - November
• 2024 - May
• 2023
• 2022
• 2020

Backlog Bingo returns yet again!

• Backlog Bingo

You might notice that the already beautiful Backlog Bingo site has gotten even more beautifuller. That's because our intrepid u/Wes has been hard at work once again adding polish to the site, changing things on the backend to make them smoother and more elegant, and even sprucing up the category lists.

Backlog Bingo has literally never been better! Or more beautifuller!

If you participated last time, clear your old card and start fresh with a new one.

If you're new to the event, click the link above to generate your card (but only if you want to -- playing a bingo card is NOT required to participate).

Notification List

If you are interested in participating in the Backlog Burner, please comment in this topic. Anyone commenting/replying here will automatically be added to a notification list for the Backlog Burner, unless you specify otherwise.

Start Planning (or Playing)

Technically the event starts in two days, so you have time to roll your cards (if you're playing Bingo) and plan out what you'd like to play for the month. That said, if you're eager to jump right in, and start early, I certainly won't stop you!

Let's get ready to burn through these backlogs!

Backlog Burner FAQ

Backlog Bingo FAQ

Important: All data for your Backlog Bingo card is stored on your device, not the server. Clearing your browser data will delete your card. You can use the export feature to make backups or move your card between devices.

I'm in my mid 20s and have had a pretty lonely life. I had a very lonely childhood, a less lonely but still fairly lonely adolescence, and again a very lonely time in college (in that case, because of a mix of mental hangups, the pandemic, personal circumstance that was a major drain on my time, and not managing all those things as optimally as I could have). At this point in my life, I essentially only have one friend, who I met a couple years ago and has since moved across the country.

I have more time on my hands now, am probably more socially adept than I used to be, but I find myself having lost or losing the drive to make friends. I guess I've gone so long without friends that I've lost sense at an emotional level of what the point even is. It's also friggin hard to meet people in the adult world and it seems like you have to put twice the energy to meet people that you vibe with half as much as when you were younger. I want to want to make friends, but it feels like I'd be setting myself up for more pain and disappointment by putting myself in that headspace. It also doesn't help that I'm pretty socially picky (not in a judgmental way, but I'd prefer a small circle of people I'm really close with over a large group that I'm not) and that I have a strong need to feel like the friends I make aren't "arbitrary", that they are the ones I am "meant" to be around. Has anyone experienced something similar or have any advice?

Hello there, space rogue! It's time to dock with the mothership, put a glide in your stride and a dip in your hip, and report to us about your adventures.

Did you play Space Rogue? Did you uncover the mysteries of the universe? Did you conquer Hive? Did you forget to fill in the friendship book? Tell us about your experiences! Or if you didn't play, tell us why this title didn't pique your interest.

In a couple of days, we will leave behind the life of a pirate, trader and bounty hunter, disembark from the Jolly Roger and hoist the Jolly Roger for a life of a pirate, trader and bounty hunter, this time in Sid Meier's Pirates!, a game so brilliant that it deserves an exclamation mark.

See you on the salty seas! ^{Or not, if my lookout spots your vessel before yours spots mine, and my master gunner is on top of their game. Arrrr.}

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?

Hey, tildes - cqns here.

I know tildes ain't never do me no wrong (apologies for the heavy colloquialism), but I've been working off and on with a worldbuilding project for the past decade and a half. Some four years ago, I finally hunkered down and created a world map completely from scratch. Due to my extraordinarily high standards, I couldn't help but slowly figure out that there was a lot of things wrong with it after I went through the effort of making it, so I ended up redoing it several times over with additions and subtractions, still feeling like there was something missing.

Turns out, my hunch was correct. Long story short, I found a website called World Orogen that procedurally generates a planet within a certain degree of "realism". Tweaking some settings, I came across a design that was good enough for working on outside of the website, in which I was beset on another issue that quickly spiraled out of control, and I found myself completely out of my depth - map projections, which is a rabbit hole all on its own, and I could only understand the bare minimum basics, such as lat/lon, but that's pretty much the extent of my knowledge. Seriously.

Undertaking this next phase of the project would eventually (and I do say "eventually" because I haven't even gotten around to it yet) lead me to making individual isolated continent maps like how one would find in an atlas. I have asked the Orange Alien Website for tips on r/mapmaking, and while I did get some nudges in the right direction, I'm still attempting to wrap my head around the programs they had suggested. QGIS and G.Projector being the areas of my focus. It's hard enough for me trying to fathom the extensive features of QGIS in general, and as for G.Projector, it comes with its own kind of clunkiness that I'm slowly getting used to. My ultimate question here is...how would I go about finding a map projection to ensure size and area accuracy (because both are apparently different) of all of my continents?

For reference, I have included the map in question so that if anyone wants to give it a go and offer up a solution.

Catbox Link

Apparently my private health insurance covers pharmacogenetics testing to find the best ADHD medication. What is it, is it legit? What's the company going to do with my cheek swabs? How do doctors feel about me going up to them and say hey internet pharma bro tells me I should be taking this instead of what your years of medical school thinks.

What I can't figure out is how my insurance company benefits from this. I'm not paying extra for this service so I must be the product right? Here's part of the marketing FAQ info from my insurance provider:

Personalized Medicine uses advanced pharmacogenetic testing and pharmacist assistance to find the most effective medication for you.

If you’re starting a new medication for a mental health condition (such as anxiety or depression), chronic pain, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), or neurological conditions – or taking a medication for one of these conditions and it’s not working or causing side effects – Personalized Medicine could help. It’s offered through your extended health care benefits plan, so the cost of the test may be covered. To see the list of drugs tested, click here.

It involves a pharmacogenetic test. This is a type of test that identifies how you may respond to medications. Your test results are only for you and anyone you give consent to share them with, such as your doctor. The test is run by Personalized Prescribing Inc., a Canadian company. Manulife

(Forgot to mention this is for a Canadian employment extended health insurance.)

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!

Preface: I know not what I talk about.

INSTANCE: A Unifi network with multiple VLANs, each with their own subnet. A Linux client that is assigned to a single VLAN, connected to the network via Wi-Fi, and running a full-tunnel Wireguard config which tunnels data to the provider's endpoints.

QUESTION: While running full-tunnel VPN configurations supplied by a commercial VPN provider, how might the client device talk with other devices on the same (local!) LAN as it is, including devices that are on a different (local!) VLAN, and thus a different subnet?

Let's say, for instance, that I have the following network architecture:

Name        Subnet          Gateway     Mask
Internal    10.0.0.0/24     10.0.0.1    255.255.255.0
Hosted      10.5.0.0/24     10.5.0.1    255.255.255.0
Private     10.5.1.0/24     10.5.1.1    255.255.255.0
Guests      10.5.2.0/24     10.5.2.1    255.255.255.0

I have a device that is connected to the network via Wi-Fi, and is contained within the "Private" VLAN. It can also talk to devices that are in the "Internal" VLAN (by necessity), and devices in the "Hosted" VLAN.

Once I spin the VPN up, using a configuration gained from OVPN / PIA / NordVPN / whatever, the client can still communicate with devices on the same VLAN as it- for example, if the client is 10.5.1.132, it can still communicate with 10.5.1.42, but it cannot communicate with, say, 10.5.0.11. One would assume that is because the DHCP server has told it that it can access devices within a specific range through the correct gateway- and in-fact, this shows in the IP routing table:

Kernel IP routing table
Destination     Gateway         Genmask         Flags Metric Ref    Use Iface
default         unifi.localdoma 0.0.0.0         UG    1024   0        0 eth0
10.5.1.0        0.0.0.0         255.255.255.0   U     1024   0        0 eth0
unifi.localdoma 0.0.0.0         255.255.255.255 UH    1024   0        0 eth0

There are, as far as I can tell, a number of solutions for this problem. The first is to not use a full-tunnel VPN, and instead build a set of AllowedIPs which carve out the LAN ranges which you do not want tunneled. This, I think, is known as a split-tunnel VPN. If one wants to carve out all of the possible LAN IP ranges, as specified in RFC1918, it starts to become somewhat cumbersome:

AllowedIPs = 0.0.0.0/5, 8.0.0.0/7, 11.0.0.0/8, 12.0.0.0/6, 16.0.0.0/4, 32.0.0.0/3, 64.0.0.0/2, 128.0.0.0/3, 160.0.0.0/5, 168.0.0.0/6, 172.0.0.0/12, 172.32.0.0/11, 172.64.0.0/10, 172.128.0.0/9, 173.0.0.0/8, 174.0.0.0/7, 176.0.0.0/4, 192.0.0.0/9, 192.128.0.0/11, 192.160.0.0/13, 192.169.0.0/16, 192.170.0.0/15, 192.172.0.0/14, 192.176.0.0/12, 192.192.0.0/10, 193.0.0.0/8, 194.0.0.0/7, 196.0.0.0/6, 200.0.0.0/5, 208.0.0.0/4, 224.0.0.0/3

This might be the only solution that currently works on an Android device running the basic Wireguard APK, as found on Github.

An alternative solution is to carve out the LAN ranges you want to avoid routing through the tunnel using the PostUp/PostDown entries. For example:

PostUp = ip route add 10.5.0.0/16 via 10.5.1.1 [dev IFNAME?] [metric INT?]
PostDown = ip route del 10.5.0.0/16 via 10.5.1.1

This would work, on your local LAN, as long as you stay on the same VLAN and can connect to the correct gateway. Unfortunately, Android Wireguard cannot handle PostUp/PostDown entries, AFAICT. Small bother.

One final solution that I have heard mutterings about is known as "Classless Static Routes", or DHCP Option 121/249. This uses "CIDR" notation, and I'll be honest- here I am a little bit lost. I like the sound of this solution, as it means that I can configure the networking infrastructure itself to provide the required information for valid routing, and not have to faff about with the many, many Wireguard configurations on my devices.

Does anybody have any experience with this problem? Am I approaching this problem in an entirely stupid way? Is there a better way (insert infomercial here)?

Hello tilderinos,

I'd like to launch my tab manager soon and to ensure a smooth launch, I'm looking for early users who would be willing to try my app as part of the private beta.

For those who would actually need this product, I'm happy to offer one year free (or more!), but even if you don't need it, I'd really appreciate the help.

I don't really need anything fancy, I'd just like to have some people install the app and try it to know if it works properly for them or if any unexpected issues come up, especially major ones. I'd like to make sure that the actual launch will be smooth, especially considering that I've been working on this project for four years now. It'd be a shame if it all went to waste.

Thanks a lot in advance!

PS - I wasn't sure in which group to post

I’ve bought enough digital comic bundles now that they’re starting to take up a decent chunk of storage space.

What I’d love to do, if possible, is losslessly compress them all down to their minimum sizes, in the same way that FLAC does with music. Is this a thing? And if so, what’s the best way to do it?

If lossless compression isn’t possible, is there a lossy compression that’s effectively lossless in that I won’t be able to tell the difference anyway? Lossless compression gives me good piece of mind, but the storage savings from an invisible lossy one are honestly quite appealing too.

My hypoglycemia issues are not related to diabetes fwiw. That said, I tend to get hypoglycemia a few times a day. If I catch it quick enough and treat, it's usually not a big deal, but if I get too low (maybe once I get into the 50s mg/dl), then after treating (usually about 15 minutes later), I get so. freaking. tired. Like, barely able to stand up exhausted. Currently dealing with this as we speak, and it's very frustrating. My endocrinologist told me it's normal to get tired like this while recovering. I'm curious if anyone else deals with this? If so, do you have any advice for dealing with the fatigue?

Tildes might be too small of a platform for this. If no one deals with hypoglycemia here, please feel free to remove it. I thought with the prevalence of diabetes, it would be likely there are folks who encounter this.

EDIT: In case anyone ever stumbles on this, turns out it was an insulinoma. I finally had surgery. Don't give up hope, answers can be out there, even if you feel like there's no where left to look.