Since it doesn't look like @basicbaconbitch is around (or they just intended it to be a one-time thing), I guess I'll post this!

What have you been reading? What do you think of it? No need to do a big review if you don't feel like it, but I think we'd all love to hear your thoughts! Recs or discussion of each others' reading habits is encouraged!

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Quick question: Do we want regular threads like these? Personally I think ~books is lacking a place to just drop in and talk about something that isn't news or a specific discussion topic, but maybe I'm alone on that.

I'm sure some of you might have this as a hobby or more of a profession.

I'm pretty new to it as I haven't really done much at all yet, and I'm looking to create a sheath for a knife. Are there any good videos to watch before diving into it, or any articles that come to mind?

Think of this as a place to discuss this topic as I didn't see one posted yet. Any input will be helpful!

The steam sale has been going on for a few days now. I'd like to start a discussion on recommendations for games that might not immediately grab attention or were given bad reviews at launch or really any criteria at all.

Recommend something!

This isn't a preper specific question, but a general preparedness thread. How prepared for general emergencies are you: apartment fires, blackouts, car emergencies, get-out-of-dodge situations, EDC, etc.

I'm interested in hearing how my fellow tildoes think and prepare :)

I've been a big fan of down-tempo electronica ever since I discovered Zero 7's Simple Things in an FYE about thirteen years ago. I can pretty much listen to anything (music is fun!), but I've always found myself coming back to down-tempo and the like.

Lately, I've been digging through various Youtube music compilations, like Homework Radio and ChilledCow, and it's so good. I still like to find new artists (the local college radio is great for this), but I still find myself coming home from work and throwing on a compilation like the one's mentioned above.

So, I was wondering if any of my fellow Tilderinos liked this sort of music too, and in the spirit of creating discussion, I figured I'd ask! Ya dig?

:)

Hey everyone!

So I've been writing poetry and ghostwriting lyrics for friends of mine for nearly a decade at this point.

Due to recent life events, I've gotten back into the hobby of writing my own songs.

Up til now, it's been entirely topline work. Sifting through instrumentals online until I find one I can't help but write for, then staying up until four am driving around for a couple nights and churning out lyrics. I've recently grabbed an entry-level DAW and a couple courses aimed at producing my own instrumentals. I'd like to be able to go beyond writing lyrics and get to a point where I can cover the whole process. It sounds fun to me to put money aside and casually build up a home studio! :)

One thing that's caught my attention recently is the different vocal styles that a lot of artists have. Not just in their delivery, accent, etc. but also in the way that the tracks are edited! Pardon the lack of jargon, but for some examples:

I notice artists like Hålsey tend to have a very "crisp" kind of sound,

artists like Joji tend to have a more "echo-y" sound,

and artists like Lil Peep do this cool thing where it sounds like he triple-layers his voice to give a more dynamic sound to his songs.

Are there any books or courses online I can look into to learn vocal editing? I follow along with YouTube channels like Roomie and Andrew Huang, so I've seen them play around with AutoTune a few times, but that's the limit of my knowledge.

Thanks!

I'm wondering what all the different ways people read here are! Do you always buy a new hardcover, or do you get everything from your library on your e-reader? Feel free to share both format and when/where/what you like to read.

Just finished watching Westworld S02 Finale, and while it creates more questions than it answers I found the whole experience exhilarating. It's been an amazing ride all the way from S01E01 and to the post-credits scene in the finale. I'm glad they left room for another season (or 2, or more who knows) because an AI story shouldn't end when all the fun is just beginning.

There are a ton of things and references to explore and I'd love to hear what all of you have to say while waiting for that Alt+Shift+X video to drop to clear everything up.

So I am currently reading books to pass time but they aren't fictional books; rather they are books on philosophy, religion, politics, state formation and history. They do require some level of concentration as they contain concepts of varying complexity and most content is invariably causally linked to the previous content but I just can't concentrate. Like at all. I'd read a sentence four or five times and still wouldn't know what's in it because I lose concentration mid sentence. This not only slows me down considerably but is also annoying and causes me to lose interest. I have a bachelors in EE and didn't have considerable problems (only an year ago) reading course books and understanding what was in them and applying the concepts so I don't really understand what's wrong with me. Can someone kindly help me? Thanks.

I was scrolling through Instagram when I saw an ad for an AI budgeting app called Cleo

I was wondering if anyone had experience with this app or has heard anything about it? I do want to start using budgeting assistants since I'm pretty bad fiscally.

Does anyone use budgeting apps? If so, what would you recommend?

I always look forward to fresh ingredients for substantial salads during the hot months of summer. Unfortunately, my repertoire is wanting. I make the same basic salad every time just changing a few ingredients depending on availability. This consists of greens, sometimes cold penne or other pasta, usually garbanzo beans, sometimes meat of some kind, tomatoes, cucumbers, celery, basil or oregano and/or mint and perhaps hard boiled egg, sometimes pickled beets.

Thanks for any suggestions or recipes.

Okay, I know the obvious answer is the history of the files. But how can I, from the command line, really understand what is hiding inside that .git directory?

Today I was doing one of my periodic disk space audits, trying to figure out where my usage goes. This comes from having a 64GB drive mounted as /home on my Linux laptop. I found some 15G of old video files to delete today, so I'm no longer as pressed for space. But my interest was piqued by one thing I have downloaded from Github that is ~120 megs for a very simple program. Poking around further I find that most of that usage is a single file:

$ ls -lh withExEditorHost/.git/objects/pack/pack-df07816cd15fb091439112029c28ebc366501652.pack
-r--r--r-- 1 elijah elijah 102M Mar 14 23:28 withExEditorHost/.git/objects/pack/pack-df07816cd15fb091439112029c28ebc366501652.pack
$ file withExEditorHost/.git/objects/pack/pack-df07816cd15fb091439112029c28ebc366501652.pack
withExEditorHost/.git/objects/pack/pack-df07816cd15fb091439112029c28ebc366501652.pack: Git pack, version 2, 299 objects
$

Is there a unzip or tar xzf equivalent for Git pack files? Naive usage of git unpack-file is only generating errors for me.

Hey everyone,

Intermittent fasting is a diet where the user fasts for either periods of their day for 10-16 hours or for set days throughout their week. As long as you don't binge eat and stick to your diet, it's a good option for losing weight. There's other science coming out from rodent testing concerning other potential benefits, though that's not always consistent for the effects on humans.

Check out this article for more information

So, any thoughts or experiences? Who else eats breakfast at 2pm?

I'm going to college soon, and I'm in the process of straightening out my accounts and login information. What password managers would any of you recommend? I'm looking for something that can be accessed on both desktop (PC) and mobile (Android).

Edit: I have set up KeePass and it looks like a great solution! Thanks for the help.

Any of my fellow Tilderinos into geocaching? I've been aware of the hobby for a while, but I just recently decided to delve into it with my friends. Even though I'm in a rural area in the South, I'm still able to see tons of these things on the map! It's a fun way to venture outside and explore nature. The cache I found Saturday was well worth the mosquito bites, that's for sure!

I no longer listen to the radio, nor do I discuss music much with friends. My favorite hometown station even switched to Christian rock. So now I'm no longer discovering any new music, and I have no idea what's good. What do you do to keep up with what's good these days?

I'd have to go with The Long Walk, personally. It's quite haunting, the way they had every choice to sign up, but chose to anyway. The way they never quite get used to seeing their fellow walkers get shot. I love the ambiguous fascist state: what exactly happened to America in the Long Walk? There is an oblique reference to fighting Nazis in the 50s for instance, but the time period is never quite mentioned.

All in all, it's remarkable, but terribly sad. It reminded me of boys going off to war, and the truth behind all ambition.

Where do you guys buy games from? I like the fact that Valve's been pushing Linux recently but I just feel wrong for buying games that need a client to be played, so I stick with GOG, even though there are no plans to bring GOG Galaxy to Linux any time soon. Thoughts?

Hey guys. I got MGSV on Xbox games with gold last month and I've been absolutely LOVING it but I'm not super creative with the game mechanics and I'm trying to branch out. They don't tell you too many advanced techniques, at least with how far I've been. I try to mainly go non-lethal with the occasional rocket blast (I'm addicted to Fulton capturing soldiers), but I would love to hear some stories and tricks you have used to great effect!

Not the release date (last intel: not in 2018, that's all we know), but the content. What's going to happen? Who's going to die? Here are my brief guesses for some of the main characters:

Jon: Inhabits Ghost for a while after his human body's death (like Varamyr in the ADWD prologue), then gets resurrected by Melisandre. GRRM has said he always found it cheap that Gandalf returned hardly the worse for wear in LOTR, so I'm interested to see how Jon's different. In the show he seems slightly more carpe-diem, but it also seems like the show has mostly forgotten about it.

Stannis: Takes Winterfell (look up the Night Lamp theory if you're not familiar with it) from the Freys and Boltons, and holds onto it against an eventual siege by the Others.

Bran: The show has probably disproven this, but I still think he becomes a prisoner of the Others next to his uncle Benjen, because the Others can't kill a Stark for some reason.

Sansa: I think Harry the Heir turns out to be a nightmare, but Sansa learns to deal with him and use the power of the Vale to help the Starks in their fight to retake Winterfell.

Arya: I think she comes back to Winterfell and gives the gift of mercy to her mother, after seeing what she's become.

Daenerys: I think she'll have a longer experience taking over the Dothraki than in the show, and she'll fly west across Essos, laying waste to the free cities and setting the slaves free. In Westeros it will be completely unclear to everyone whether she's mad or not.

Tyrion: I think he will continue to fall into moral decay and after becoming a close advisor to Dany will encourage her "fire and blood" side. (Especially since she's his aunt!)

Theon: Something about "what is dead may never die, but rises again harder and stronger" makes me think he's coming back as a wight.

Victarion: Blows the horn and dies from it.

Cersei: I think Jaime will kill her, and fairly early on. I think Aegon will have the role she had in the most recent seasons of the show.

Jaime: I think he survives the confrontation with Lady Stoneheart and, disillusioned with both her and Cersei, leaves high society to lead the Brotherhood Without Banners.

Brienne: Someone has to die with Lady Stoneheart, right?

Aegon: I think he successfully conquers King's Landing. He'll eventually die by foolhardiness, but probably not for a while.

What do you all think? Anyone I'm forgetting?

What I mean by "treat yourself" is something which makes you happy, not just something which satisfies an urge. We all get days where we just want to gulp down a nice plate of spaghetti but what meal do you prepare/buy for yourself when you really want to eat something special?

Do you have a favorite theory? Most hated theory? Books, show only, or both?

We're coming up on the 7th anniversary of the release of ADWD and I'm just trying to gather us all up for the inevitable sobbing next month.

Hey ~ers, I'd like to keep a weekly discussion going on this topic (every Wednesday or so?). Let me know if this isn't something you want to see in the future, I always liked these, but maybe not everyone does? Last one got a lot of interesting posts, let's see how it goes this time!

I've been playing Grim Dawn quite a bit lately. I've kickstarted it back in the day, but never got around to really playing it after the early access period. I was burned out on Diablo clones at the time: Torchlight 2, Victor Vran, Van Helsing, etc. I think the break did me good, as playing it fresh is quite enjoyable. There's a good variety of classes and builds, fun abilities, and tons of gear number crunching (playing thunder smashing shaman now). Just the way I like it! I'm hoping to snag one of the DLCs once I reach a high enough level and play with my friends on one of the unlocked hardcore difficulties.

I've been trying to get back into game dev recently and I'd love to work with someone if you're up for it. I'm also down to join existing hobbyist projects, although I have a thing I'm currently building at the moment.

• I'm based in SF; I'm willing to work remotely with someone, but would definitely prefer someone in the area.
• I'm a software developer with 6ish years of experience programming, a CS degree and just starting an out-of-college job.
• I've built some small games in the past, mostly in Unity.
• I've got a reasonable amount of UI/UX experience but I'm by no means a professional and none of it is all that game-related.
• I can do some pixel art though I'm by no means an expert.

If you make games for fun and are looking for a partner, feel free to send me a PM or just reply to this.

Similarly, I'd like to also suggest a Tildes ~LFG (looking for group) or other meeting-ish area.

The community here on Tildes is very small just like the Squash playing community. Wanted to see if there is any overlap. So anyway where are you from? How regularly do you play? What's you skill level? What's your main motivation behind playing squash? Favourite player?

Westworld Season 2 is in full swing and I love it so far, but would you live in Westworld if you could? A world with no consequences other than its own societal pressures seems pretty enticing...

The USA in particular has one of the lowest voter turnouts and the lowest registration levels of most developed countries.

http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/05/21/u-s-voter-turnout-trails-most-developed-countries/

In 2016 only 61% of eligible citizens voted and only 70% were registered.

https://www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/demo/voting-and-registration/p20-580.html

And that was a good year.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voter_turnout#Trends_of_decreasing_turnout_since_the_1980s

I'm looking for something challenging to read that is sort of on the fringe of philosophy and makes some interesting arguments. I would like to read classical philosophy but the girl I'm reading it with just finished a philosophy major and doesn't want to, so I guess I'm looking for something a little "softer".

I have to do an assignment for university soon-ish, and it requires Angular. I'm not very fond of that framework specifically, but I would be interested in making it more interesting as a learning project. I've also recently discovered PureScript, which I have no experience with right now.

Searching online, I've purescript-angular, which hasn't been updated in years. I also couldn't find much else. Of course, I may be missing something simple (for instance, it's actually supported by default in Angular these days), so I wanted to ask if any of you know if this is possible, and if so, how?

For any sort of art in general. What are you excited about creating?

For me, I'm a photographer, and I've got some plans for some large format shooting during my camping trip. Because my trip lines up nicely with a nearly new moon, and I'm going to be in an area with nearly no light pollution, I want to try capturing the Milky Way on slide (color positive) film, and also doing a shot of some star trails behind a lighthouse in that area, or star trails reflecting off the lake.

For those who don't know, you can get Quake Champions for free and you'll still have it forever, you won't have to wait until the full f2p launch.

Has anyone been playing? I picked it up right after the announcement at E3 and I've been having a great time. I played Quake 3 and Live pretty casually in the past, but I think I'm actually getting into this one. I'd love to play with some of yall or just hear your thoughts!

Since the website has a username and hundreds we were presented with an opportunity to pick a really nice or cool username on a site that I believe will rival reddit.

I just picked my favourite character. I wanted to pick my first name (which I am 100% sure is not taken) but kind of decided to go towards more anonymity. I decided not to use my reddit username because no one else literally uses it so I will always have an option to make a new account with reddit username

Did you think on that too or just used your reddit username?

EDIT: I have actually changed my username from "ironman" to "metal" since i made this post. Now im like super happy and excited about my "identity" here

Hey there!

I'm planning on going full linux again (last time was 5-6 years ago). The only problem is: i've lost track of the community and especially what hardware is currently best to run, especially tech that was really giving me headaches back then (GPU - remember the omega drivers?).

But searching for linux compatible laptops without purchasing a machine from some dedicated vendor is quite hard.

Any recommendations?

I often try and work on projects and ideas, although I find it difficult to continue a project that takes longer than a day or two. I'm surely not the only person that experiences this. Does anyone know why this happens? How do you deal with and overcome this in your own life?