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    1. Formula 1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2025 - Qualifying and Race Discussion

      Warning: this post may contain spoilers

      Last of this triple header!

      Saudi Arabian Grand Prix
      Jeddah Corniche Circuit
      April 18-20, 2025

      Qualification Session:
      Saturday, April 19, 2025 - 17:00 UTC / 1:00p US EDT

      Grand Prix:
      Sunday, April 20 2025 - 17:00 UTC / 1:00p US EDT

      See your local time here


      Grand Prix Results -- SPOILER
      Pos No Driver Car Laps Time/retired Pts
      1 81 Oscar Piastri McLaren Mercedes 50 1:21:06.758 25
      2 1 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT 50 +2.843s 18
      3 16 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 50 +8.104s 15
      4 4 Lando Norris McLaren Mercedes 50 +9.196s 12
      5 63 George Russell Mercedes 50 +27.236s 10
      6 12 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 50 +34.688s 8
      7 44 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 50 +39.073s 6
      8 55 Carlos Sainz Williams Mercedes 50 +64.630s 4
      9 23 Alexander Albon Williams Mercedes 50 +66.515s 2
      10 6 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls Honda RBPT 50 +67.091s 1
      11 14 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes 50 +75.917s 0
      12 30 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls Honda RBPT 50 +78.451s 0
      13 87 Oliver Bearman Haas Ferrari 50 +79.194s 0
      14 31 Esteban Ocon Haas Ferrari 50 +99.723s 0
      15 27 Nico Hulkenberg Kick Sauber Ferrari 49 +1 lap 0
      16 18 Lance Stroll Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes 49 +1 lap 0
      17 7 Jack Doohan Alpine Renault 49 +1 lap 0
      18 5 Gabriel Bortoleto Kick Sauber Ferrari 49 +1 lap 0
      NC 22 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT 1 DNF 0
      NC 10 Pierre Gasly Alpine Renault 0 DNF 0

      *Provisional results. Note - Lawson received a 10-second time penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage.

      DOTD: Max Verstappen

      Source: F1.com / FIA (PDF)

      Qualifying Results/Starting Grid -- SPOILER
      Pos No Driver Car Q1 Q2 Q3 Laps
      1 1 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT 1:27.778 1:27.529 1:27.294 19
      2 81 Oscar Piastri McLaren Mercedes 1:27.901 1:27.545 1:27.304 18
      3 63 George Russell Mercedes 1:28.282 1:27.599 1:27.407 16
      4 16 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:28.552 1:27.866 1:27.670 19
      5 12 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:28.128 1:27.798 1:27.866 17
      6 55 Carlos Sainz Williams Mercedes 1:28.354 1:28.024 1:28.164 23
      7 44 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:28.372 1:28.102 1:28.201 20
      8 22 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT 1:28.226 1:27.990 1:28.204 16
      9 10 Pierre Gasly Alpine Renault 1:28.421 1:28.025 1:28.367 22
      10 4 Lando Norris McLaren Mercedes 1:27.805 1:27.481 DNF 11
      11 23 Alexander Albon Williams Mercedes 1:28.279 1:28.109 14
      12 30 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls Honda RBPT 1:28.561 1:28.191 11
      13 14 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes 1:28.548 1:28.303 14
      14 6 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls Honda RBPT 1:28.571 1:28.418 12
      15 87 Oliver Bearman Haas Ferrari 1:28.536 1:28.648 15
      16 18 Lance Stroll Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes 1:28.645 9
      17 7 Jack Doohan Alpine Renault 1:28.739 9
      18 27 Nico Hulkenberg Kick Sauber Ferrari 1:28.782 8
      19 31 Esteban Ocon Haas Ferrari 1:29.092 9
      20 5 Gabriel Bortoleto Kick Sauber Ferrari 1:29.462 8

      Source: F1.com / FIA [PDF]


      Next race:

      Miami Grand Prix
      Miami International Autodrome
      Sunday, May 4, 2025
      Sprint Race Weekend

      10 votes
    2. Is it possible to get short term health insurance in California?

      I was recently removed from medi-cal due to “potential fraud”. Long story short, I didn’t commit fraud. I have had zero income in over a year, have something like $1500 total, and receive no other...

      I was recently removed from medi-cal due to “potential fraud”. Long story short, I didn’t commit fraud. I have had zero income in over a year, have something like $1500 total, and receive no other benefits.

      However, I’m currently dealing with bureaucratic confusion as the trail of who is responsible has dead ended and no one seems to be clear on what happened or why.

      The medi-cal coordinator at the county social services office thinks it’s best if I just reapply but while I wait for my new application to be processed I am uninsured. Of course, if it goes through then I should have coverage dating back to the 1st of April.

      Yet, given that there’s no good reason for it to have been canceled in the first place I’m wary of placing all my eggs in that basket. And would prefer to have some sort of catastrophe insurance if at all possible.

      Is this even possible in California? It seems like short term health insurance might be banned here? Any ideas would be welcome. The whole situation is frustrating to say the least.

      11 votes
    3. [RESOLVED] Tech support request: my game stream is lagging every five minutes

      The Issue I'm streaming games from a desktop PC hardwired into my router (running Sunshine) to a laptop wirelessly (using Moonlight). It works beautifully. Except, every five minutes, the stream...

      The Issue

      I'm streaming games from a desktop PC hardwired into my router (running Sunshine) to a laptop wirelessly (using Moonlight). It works beautifully.

      Except, every five minutes, the stream chugs: my framerate drops precipitously, and Moonlight gives me a warning telling me I should lower my bitrate. This happens for only a few seconds, before it resolves and goes back to normal.

      I timed the interval between the chugs several times and got approximately 5:07 between each slowdown. It is remarkably consistent.

      Because it's so consistent, I assume there's some scheduled task or something running every five minutes that's causing it to chug. Dropping the bitrate makes the chugging less noticeable, but it still happens.


      Ruling Things Out

      I think it's safe to rule out the idea that it's my router or the host PC.

      I have a smaller 13" laptop that I used to stream to, and I just recently bought a 17" to replace it. The five-minute issue only happens on the 17", even with identical stream settings (same resolution, FPS, and bitrate).

      The computers are obviously different hardware, but they're also running two different linux distros.

      The 13" Laptop is running MX Linux 23.5 (KDE). This is the one that works.

      inxi -Fxz
      System:
        Kernel: 6.1.0-32-amd64 arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 12.2.0
          Desktop: KDE Plasma v: 5.27.5 Distro: MX-23.5_KDE_x64 Libretto September 15
          2024 base: Debian GNU/Linux 12 (bookworm)
      Machine:
        Type: Laptop System: Dell product: Latitude 7370 v: N/A
          serial: <superuser required>
        Mobo: Dell model: 0XFY7T v: A00 serial: <superuser required> UEFI: Dell
          v: 1.28.3 date: 02/07/2022
      Battery:
        ID-1: BAT0 charge: 12.6 Wh (62.1%) condition: 20.3/34.0 Wh (59.6%)
          volts: 8.1 min: 7.6 model: SMP DELL WY7CG58 status: charging
      CPU:
        Info: dual core model: Intel Core m5-6Y57 bits: 64 type: MT MCP
          arch: Skylake rev: 3 cache: L1: 128 KiB L2: 512 KiB L3: 4 MiB
        Speed (MHz): avg: 2496 high: 2758 min/max: 400/2800 cores: 1: 2400 2: 2758
          3: 2400 4: 2429 bogomips: 11999
        Flags: avx avx2 ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx
      Graphics:
        Device-1: Intel HD Graphics 515 vendor: Dell driver: i915 v: kernel
          arch: Gen-9 bus-ID: 00:02.0
        Device-2: Realtek Integrated_Webcam_HD type: USB driver: uvcvideo
          bus-ID: 1-9:5
        Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 1.21.1.7 with: Xwayland v: 22.1.9 driver: X:
          loaded: modesetting unloaded: fbdev,vesa dri: iris gpu: i915
          resolution: 1920x1080~60Hz
        API: OpenGL v: 4.6 Mesa 24.2.8-1mx23ahs renderer: Mesa Intel HD Graphics
          515 (SKL GT2) direct-render: Yes
      Audio:
        Device-1: Intel Sunrise Point-LP HD Audio vendor: Dell driver: snd_hda_intel
          v: kernel bus-ID: 00:1f.3
        API: ALSA v: k6.1.0-32-amd64 status: kernel-api
        Server-1: PipeWire v: 1.0.0 status: active
      Network:
        Device-1: Intel Wireless 8260 driver: iwlwifi v: kernel bus-ID: 6c:00.0
        IF: wlan0 state: up mac: <filter>
      Bluetooth:
        Device-1: Intel Bluetooth wireless interface type: USB driver: btusb v: 0.8
          bus-ID: 1-2:2
        Report: hciconfig ID: hci0 rfk-id: 1 state: up address: <filter> bt-v: 2.1
          lmp-v: 4.2
      RAID:
        Hardware-1: Intel 82801 Mobile SATA Controller [RAID mode] driver: ahci
          v: 3.0 bus-ID: 00:17.0
      Drives:
        Local Storage: total: 238.47 GiB used: 31.99 GiB (13.4%)
        ID-1: /dev/sda vendor: Toshiba model: KSG60ZMV256G M.2 2280 256GB
          size: 238.47 GiB
      Partition:
        ID-1: / size: 232.43 GiB used: 31.47 GiB (13.5%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/dm-0
          mapped: luks-a8eaaa90-b4ba-4943-8c1d-ddace5892f40
        ID-2: /boot size: 973.4 MiB used: 524.1 MiB (53.8%) fs: ext4
          dev: /dev/sda2
        ID-3: /boot/efi size: 252 MiB used: 274 KiB (0.1%) fs: vfat dev: /dev/sda1
      Swap:
        ID-1: swap-1 type: file size: 3 GiB used: 3.8 MiB (0.1%) file: /swap/swap
      Sensors:
        System Temperatures: cpu: 80.0 C pch: 68.0 C mobo: 48.0 C
        Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A
      Info:
        Processes: 251 Uptime: 33m Memory: 7.65 GiB used: 3.56 GiB (46.6%)
        Init: SysVinit runlevel: 5 Compilers: gcc: 12.2.0 Packages: 2789 Shell: Bash
        v: 5.2.15 inxi: 3.3.26
      
      /etc/crontab
      17 *    * * *   root    cd / && run-parts --report /etc/cron.hourly
      25 6    * * *   root    test -x /usr/sbin/anacron || { cd / && run-parts --report /etc/cron.daily; }
      47 6    * * 7   root    test -x /usr/sbin/anacron || { cd / && run-parts --report /etc/cron.weekly; }
      52 6    1 * *   root    test -x /usr/sbin/anacron || { cd / && run-parts --report /etc/cron.monthly; }
      

      The 17" Laptop is running Linux Mint 22.1 (Cinnamon). This is the one that has the five minute chugs.

      inxi -Fxz
      System:
        Kernel: 6.8.0-58-generic arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 13.3.0
        Desktop: Cinnamon v: 6.4.8 Distro: Linux Mint 22.1 Xia
          base: Ubuntu 24.04 noble
      Machine:
        Type: Laptop System: Dell product: Inspiron 7773 v: N/A
          serial: <superuser required>
        Mobo: Dell model: 0R58C3 v: A00 serial: <superuser required> UEFI: Dell
          v: 1.19.0 date: 12/15/2021
      Battery:
        ID-1: BAT0 charge: 34.9 Wh (97.5%) condition: 35.8/56.0 Wh (63.9%)
          volts: 16.0 min: 15.2 model: Samsung SDI DELL W7NKD7B status: discharging
      CPU:
        Info: quad core model: Intel Core i7-8550U bits: 64 type: MT MCP
          arch: Coffee Lake rev: A cache: L1: 256 KiB L2: 1024 KiB L3: 8 MiB
        Speed (MHz): avg: 658 high: 867 min/max: 400/4000 cores: 1: 400 2: 800
          3: 400 4: 400 5: 800 6: 800 7: 867 8: 800 bogomips: 31999
        Flags: avx avx2 ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx
      Graphics:
        Device-1: Intel UHD Graphics 620 vendor: Dell driver: i915 v: kernel
          arch: Gen-9.5 bus-ID: 00:02.0
        Device-2: NVIDIA GP108M [GeForce MX150] vendor: Dell driver: nvidia
          v: 550.120 arch: Maxwell bus-ID: 01:00.0
        Device-3: Realtek Integrated_Webcam_HD driver: uvcvideo type: USB
          bus-ID: 1-5:2
        Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 21.1.11 with: Xwayland v: 23.2.6 driver: X:
          loaded: modesetting,nvidia unloaded: fbdev,nouveau,vesa dri: iris gpu: i915
          resolution: 1920x1080~60Hz
        API: EGL v: 1.5 drivers: iris,nvidia,swrast platforms:
          active: gbm,x11,surfaceless,device inactive: wayland,device-2
        API: OpenGL v: 4.6.0 compat-v: 4.5 vendor: intel mesa
          v: 24.2.8-1ubuntu1~24.04.1 glx-v: 1.4 direct-render: yes renderer: Mesa
          Intel UHD Graphics 620 (KBL GT2)
      Audio:
        Device-1: Intel Sunrise Point-LP HD Audio vendor: Dell driver: snd_hda_intel
          v: kernel bus-ID: 00:1f.3
        API: ALSA v: k6.8.0-58-generic status: kernel-api
        Server-1: PipeWire v: 1.0.5 status: active
      Network:
        Device-1: Intel Wireless 3165 driver: iwlwifi v: kernel bus-ID: 02:00.0
        IF: wlp2s0 state: up mac: <filter>
      Bluetooth:
        Device-1: Intel Bluetooth wireless interface driver: btusb v: 0.8 type: USB
          bus-ID: 1-7:3
        Report: hciconfig ID: hci0 rfk-id: 4 state: up address: <filter> bt-v: 4.2
          lmp-v: 8
      Drives:
        Local Storage: total: 238.47 GiB used: 36.5 GiB (15.3%)
        ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 vendor: Samsung model: MZVLB256HBHQ-000H1
          size: 238.47 GiB temp: 25.9 C
      Partition:
        ID-1: / size: 229.63 GiB used: 36.21 GiB (15.8%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/dm-1
          mapped: vgmint-root
        ID-2: /boot size: 1.61 GiB used: 291.7 MiB (17.7%) fs: ext4
          dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2
        ID-3: /boot/efi size: 511 MiB used: 6.1 MiB (1.2%) fs: vfat
          dev: /dev/nvme0n1p1
      Swap:
        ID-1: swap-1 type: partition size: 1.91 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%)
          dev: /dev/dm-2 mapped: vgmint-swap_1
      Sensors:
        System Temperatures: cpu: 30.0 C pch: 32.5 C mobo: N/A
        Fan Speeds (rpm): N/A
      Info:
        Memory: total: 16 GiB available: 15.36 GiB used: 1.82 GiB (11.9%)
        Processes: 338 Uptime: 2h 38m Init: systemd target: graphical (5)
        Packages: 1996 Compilers: gcc: 13.3.0 Shell: Bash v: 5.2.21 inxi: 3.3.34
      
      /etc/crontab
      17 *	* * *	root	cd / && run-parts --report /etc/cron.hourly
      25 6	* * *	root	test -x /usr/sbin/anacron || { cd / && run-parts --report /etc/cron.daily; }
      47 6	* * 7	root	test -x /usr/sbin/anacron || { cd / && run-parts --report /etc/cron.weekly; }
      52 6	1 * *	root	test -x /usr/sbin/anacron || { cd / && run-parts --report /etc/cron.monthly; }
      

      Help Request

      Anyone have any ideas for tracking down what might be causing this? I was going to just wipe the machine and replace Linux Mint with MX Linux to rule that out, but I figured I'd ask here before doing that, especially because it could be the hardware and not the distro that's causing the issue.

      19 votes
    4. Rockhounding

      Hello all, are there any other rockhounders/collectors, whatever you want to call yourselves, out there? I'm looking to hear about others' experiences, specifically in mining or surveying(not sure...

      Hello all, are there any other rockhounders/collectors, whatever you want to call yourselves, out there?

      I'm looking to hear about others' experiences, specifically in mining or surveying(not sure if that wording is correct), but really, generally, hearing of diverse experiences. Some of the coolest places you've been, where you want to go, favorite finds, rocks you lust after, equipment, etc.

      I'll start. I have been collecting rocks my whole life, but as a purposeful hobby, only in the last few years. So far I have scoured a few areas of the Great Lakes in the USA. I loved Lake Superior, especially the MN parts. When I visited Michigan, I didn't feel equipped to do much hounding and the few places(tourist based) I went seemed to be more into panning ? I visited the Indiana Dunes, and hounding there also seemed much different from hounding in more still water.

      Hounding on the East Coast of the USA is also totally different, and I'm an amateur there. I'd say the advice to look for recent rock slides is pretty good, but requires right time/right place kind of planning.

      I'm wondering for those who hound in areas that require "tools", so to speak, what it's like? As a gear-head type person, I always want a pick-axe but have no need for one.

      Also debating if I need waders or not? I have yet to go deep into water to hound, so any experience or advice there is much appreciated.

      Also, my current rock of obsession is Ehtiopian Opal, but I can't pull the trigger on it because I don't know if I can take care of it, or if it's worth the financial hit.

      Looking forward to others' responses!

      16 votes
    5. 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.

      5 votes
    6. I think I don’t like Pokémon anymore

      TLDR: I think that I don’t like Pokémon games anymore because the battle system literally puts me to sleep, I can’t be bothered to “catch them all” all over again, and there’s just nothing else...

      TLDR: I think that I don’t like Pokémon games anymore because the battle system literally puts me to sleep, I can’t be bothered to “catch them all” all over again, and there’s just nothing else about the mainline games (not even the story or anything) that makes them interesting for me. Anyone else?

      Disclaimer: If you love Pokémon, then I’m very happy for you. Seriously. This isn’t a rant about the games being bad (not even the modern ones). I’m not casting judgment on the quality of the games nor the people who buy and play them. This is 100% about my astonishment at how much my personal taste for video games has changed.

      I decided to share my thoughts on this matter with all of you here to see if anyone has had a similar experience.

      I only got into Pokémon in the year 2000, I think. I still managed to play Red, Blue, and Yellow before Gold, Silver, and Crystal released. Out of these six, the only one I never owned was Gold. But on top of that, I played the ever-loving heck out of Stadium 1 and 2. There is a non-zero chance that I invested more than 1,000 hours into all of these games combined. I even got my mother hooked on the Stadium games. It was wild.

      Then gen III rolled around, and while I did get a GBA, I somehow never managed to buy a single new Pokémon game. My guess is that I was too busy fawning over all of the crazy, weird, and fun games that I was playing on the Gamecube, two of which I spent a lot of time on: Animal Crossing and Sonic Adventure 2: Battle. So, I totally missed out on Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald, FireRed and LeafGreen. I also never played Colosseum or XD: Gale of Darkness.

      I returned to the series on the NDS, with Diamond, which was a lot fun (at least I don’t remember anything negative about it), but that was close to the beginning of a period in my life where I played almost no video games, let alone Pokémon.

      This may sound silly, but what I enjoy about Pokémon (or at least, what I enjoyed about gen I and II), was the adventure. Does that make sense? I loved exploring the world, befriending six “cute” creatures (I always was more interested in carrying the more animal and pet-like ones in my party), becoming the very best, like no one ever was, defeating bad guys, and learning more about the lore surrounding certain legendary Pokémon.

      Side note: I did try to catch them all, but Celebi completely eluded me.

      It wasn’t until like... I think, 2023? That I went back to the series and played Emerald (through cough cough “alternative” means), and forced myself to plow through the game until I beat the League. And I mean “forced”. It wasn’t like the game was bad, and I enjoyed the adventure to some extent (though the story didn’t quite “grip” me), but the grinding ground my gears (pun intended).

      Yes. I had to grind. I can’t remember what my team was and at what level they were (I think around 55 each) when I reached the League, but I remember grinding at the exit of the Victory Road to raise their levels because my first attempt failed. (It’s definitely, at least partly, a skill issue. lol) I had, however, been grinding a little bit before each gym already, and whenever I did, I had to listen to podcasts or YouTube videos in the background or whatever, because I would literally fall asleep while doing it. lol

      Most recently I tried HeartGold. Before that, I tried FireRed and White, and with neither of them, I managed to get past the third or fourth gym before I just couldn’t deal with the tedium anymore and gave up.

      Fast-forward to this month of April.

      I’ve decided to focus on GCN games, since there are many that I never had the chance to play. I replayed Metroid first (needed to scratch that itch) and had fun. Yesterday I finished Paper Mario TTYD, which was a dream come true. Been waiting 20 years to play it. I absolutely loved it.

      But today I tried Pokémon Colosseum.

      And... I think that I want to give up. lol

      I just can’t anymore.

      I think that I have become an Old Person™. lol Like, something about the battle system just literally puts me to sleep. I’m not kidding you. I was playing the game today, and whenever I had to battle, I began to feel Drowzee (pun intended).

      I played for a little over an hour and then checked Bulbapedia, only to look at the list of “snatchable” Pokémon and think to myself: “Do I think that the ‘adventure’ in this game will be interesting enough to keep me grinding through all these many battles?”

      My hearts tells me no. I don’t think that it will.

      So, after all these years, I have to sadly conclude that I just don’t like Pokémon anymore. I can’t deal with the battle system. It’s too tedious for me. I also can’t deal with the grind of catching and raising them. Neither the adventures nor the stories catch my interest anymore. It feels all too repetitive, like I’m playing the same game over and over.

      But do you know what the irony is? I have replayed Crystal a few times over the years—maybe a handful. It feels easy to pick up somehow. I still grind, but the grind doesn’t grind me down. And I am willing to bet that I could pick it up today and play it all the way to the end without getting tired. It must be the nostalgia. I don’t know how else to explain it otherwise.

      I don’t think that my machine can handle playing gens VI to current through “alternative means”, so those are completely out of the question for now, but I have been following the franchise close enough that I feel skeptical that even those would entertain me.

      So, I guess that’s it. I don’t like Pokémon anymore. It’s just a game but it somehow feels so tragic. lol

      And I’m not sure what other GCN game to pick up instead. Any suggestions? Here are the ones that I have played so far:

      • 1080° Avalanche
      • Animal Crossing
      • Burnout
      • Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance
      • The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
      • The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
      • Luigi's Mansion
      • Mario Party 4
      • Metroid Prime
      • Metroid Prime 2: Echoes
      • Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
      • Pikmin
      • Resident Evil 4
      • Sonic Adventure 2: Battle
      • Star Fox Adventures
      • Super Mario Sunshine
      • Super Smash Bros. Melee

      I’m mostly interested in 3D, third-person action adventure games—basically singleplayer games where you take control of a main character. I’m open to try out other genres though.

      25 votes
    7. I am baffled by the existence of Wattpad

      wattpad.com is a popular website where mostly young people host their fiction so it get votes and visibility. I was feeling lonely, and my usual online mates are not enthusiastic about reading my...

      wattpad.com is a popular website where mostly young people host their fiction so it get votes and visibility.


      I was feeling lonely, and my usual online mates are not enthusiastic about reading my stuff, and I am always in search of feedback. So I got in touch with online groups for those who have an interest in writing. Mostly young people who, seemingly in their early 20s, give or take. Someone asked me if I was making something for the "Wattys", which I later learned is Wattpad's literary award. Another gave me a link to read his stuff on Wattpad. I had to make an account to read it on my phone. Annoying, but they kinda asked me nicely, so I installed it and created an account. Way too many hoops just to read some text, but okay! I started reading. There was an ad below, but that's okay. Suddenly, my phone was taken over by a full-screen ad. A full-screen ad. FOR TEXT. That was too much so I started looking for a way to read Wattpad outside of Wattpad. Maybe there is, but I paused my search to make this post.

      Displaying text is a solved problem, and it has been for quite some time. It is so fucking trivial, I coud write a novel right here on this text box! I now hate Wattpad with such a passion, I don't think I'm reading that kid's story!

      Wattpad feels like someone trying to fuck up reading.

      On another note, I find it a little unsettling how these kids seem more concerned with their marketing than their writing. They have full press kits even before they learn the basics of writing proper sentences. There is also no love for short stories, they start writing novels as soon as they start writing. Everything is a novel with twenty chapters. I'm pretty sure Wattpad has a hand in that. But maybe that's just me being old, so feel free to disregard that.

      I get the idea of a website that helps readers find authors, but in some sense at least, Wattpad feels like a water popsicle an I hate it.

      37 votes
    8. Tildes Minecraft Survival

      Server host: tildes.nore.gg (Running Java 1.21.4) Bluemap: https://tildes.nore.gg Playtime Tracker: https://tildes.nore.gg/playtimes.html Tildes website extension (shows online status & location):...

      Server host: tildes.nore.gg (Running Java 1.21.4)
      Bluemap: https://tildes.nore.gg
      Playtime Tracker: https://tildes.nore.gg/playtimes.html
      Tildes website extension (shows online status & location): Firefox (Desktop and Android) - Chrome
      Verification site: https://verify.tildes.nore.gg
      Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/TildesMC

      Plugins and Data Packs Data Packs:
      • Terralith - Overworld terrain upgrade
      • Nullscape - End terrain upgrade
      • Armor Statues [Vanilla Tweaks]
      • Bat Membranes [Vanilla Tweaks]
      • Cauldron Concrete [Vanilla Tweaks]
      • Husks Drop Sand [Vanilla Tweaks]
      • Mini Blocks [Vanilla Tweaks]
      • More Mob Heads [Vanilla Tweaks]
      • Player Head Drops [Vanilla Tweaks]
      • Silence Mobs [Vanilla Tweaks]
      • Wandering Trades [Vanilla Tweaks]

      Plugins:

      • Bluemap - Adds a live 3D web map
      • Clickable Links - Makes http URLs in chat clickable (only for registered players)
      • CoreProtect - Records all block/container/mob changes (Anyone can look up changes with /co inspect)
      • EasyArmorStands - GUI for editing armor stands
      • Hexnicks - Enables Tildes usernames to be displayed
      • LuckPerms - Locks down unregistered users
      • Nerfstick - Allows survival use of the minecraft:debug_stick item (requires admin to spawn in)
      • Rapid Leaf Decay - Increases the speed of leaf decay by 10x
      • WorldEdit - Used for occasional admin stuff
      • WorldGuard - Prevents unregistered users from changing anything in the world

      The server operates on a soft whitelist. Anyone can log in and walk around, but you need a Tildes account to gain build access.

      16 votes
    9. 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.

      1 vote
    10. Three Cheers for Tildes: App updates and feedback (April 2025) — Version 1.4 adds a text size setting

      This topic is for the Three Cheers for Tildes mobile app. I'll summarize the major updates at the start of each similar topic, so people can read the updates and then hit Ignore if they don't care...

      This topic is for the Three Cheers for Tildes mobile app.

      I'll summarize the major updates at the start of each similar topic, so people can read the updates and then hit Ignore if they don't care about more frequent updates and user feedback.


      Recently:

      [Android] Version 1.4.2 (Apr 11, 2025): Reduced highlighting when formatting markdown. Fixed minor text size bugs.

      [iOS] Version 1.4.1 (Apr 11, 2025): Fixed a bunch of text size bugs reported through TestFlight, especially when rendering comments. Reduced highlighting when formatting markdown.

       

      Version 1.4.0 (Apr 6, 2025):

      • Added text size setting
      • Fixed markdown formatting bar bugs

       

      The text size setting for accessibility is long overdue. I've been feeling bad that some users couldn't even use the app because the text was too small.

      This has been another large change where I had to go back and re-test screens throughout the entire app, and fix many layout bugs caused by the dynamic text size. It's been very tedious!

      In fact, the iOS release is delayed because I found some last-minute bugs and have had to go back to figure out solutions. iOS is up on TestFlight!

      Also I am aware that there are still bugs in some places when you set the text excessively large. It's not a priority for me to fix those, unless they make the app unusable.

      Have been particularly busy so far this year and that will continue for a while, so I may be less responsive here, even though I likely will see your messages. Thanks for continuing to report issues; v1.4 fixes some bugs based on those reports.

       

      Previous topic: February 2025

       


      Where to get it

      Android version on Google Play Store: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.talklittle.android.tildes

      Or sideloadable APK at https://www.talklittle.com/three-cheers/

      iOS version on the App Store: https://apps.apple.com/app/three-cheers-for-tildes/id6470950557

      Join TestFlight for iOS beta testing: https://testflight.apple.com/join/mpVk1qIy

      91 votes
    11. Why are integrated batteries so accepted?

      Just something I was frustrated by ever since it became increasingly common even outside of smartphones and tablets. For a few years now I increasingly see basically any battery powered product...

      Just something I was frustrated by ever since it became increasingly common even outside of smartphones and tablets.

      For a few years now I increasingly see basically any battery powered product having mostly internal accumulator options(aka proprietary battery of uncertain ability to replace), especially in more expensive items in the category. Why?

      I mean do see several advantages from the business side, I simply have no idea what advantage would there be for the actual user.

      I could see it if the batteries had comparable lifespan to the product, which they most definitely do not unless the item is of truly bad quality.

      42 votes
    12. United dropped coverage for my kids' pediatrician. What's the most efficient way I can make them, as a company, suffer for this decision?

      I'm a ball of rage over my pediatrician having to drop their contract with United due to some disagreement, as we really like our pediatrician. I kind of don't care if it's actually the office's...

      I'm a ball of rage over my pediatrician having to drop their contract with United due to some disagreement, as we really like our pediatrician. I kind of don't care if it's actually the office's fault at this point; I'd like to direct this anger over bullshit affecting the care my kids receive at them while I'm still motivated. It's probably not going to help, but what is the most effective way I can badger them, pester them, inundate their support lines, etc to get back?

      Or, y'know, diplomatic means if it'd actually help?

      52 votes
    13. What's a game that you feel like you missed out on?

      Examples: A live service game that got shut down A multiplayer game that no longer has a live community A game whose cultural relevance has faded An older game that doesn't stand the test of time...

      Examples:

      • A live service game that got shut down
      • A multiplayer game that no longer has a live community
      • A game whose cultural relevance has faded
      • An older game that doesn't stand the test of time
      • A game you had spoiled for you
      • A game that got updated and went in a different direction
      • etc.

      Let us know what it is, and why you feel that you missed out on it.

      31 votes
    14. Daychilde's walking thread

      In 2022, I had a BKA - below-knee amputation - on my left leg. Because of my health issues, I wasn't able to start walking immediately. My health has improved in some ways since then (and in other...

      In 2022, I had a BKA - below-knee amputation - on my left leg. Because of my health issues, I wasn't able to start walking immediately. My health has improved in some ways since then (and in other ways gotten worse), but I'm trying to get back to walking and get out of this stupid wheelchair.

      Thanks to my severe ADHD, I struggle with walking every day. Every single day, I deal with fatigue to a larger or smaller degree. So every day, I think "I'm tired today. I'll walk tomorrow" and I never do.

      So late last year, I started recording my walking and posting it in a couple of places. I found that it made me feel "responsible" for posting it - that helped overcome the ADHD and I walked every day.

      I had some issues that caused me to have to abandon that, but I've restarted that again. And since I've come back to Tildes, I'd like to post that here.

      Instead of a new thread every day, I figured I'd post a new comment every day. I hope that's okay. If it's not, I'll stop updating and delete this. But I've found that interacting with people I care about - of which there are some here - helps me do this every day. And some folks seem to like seeing the progress. heh.

      I've posted all the videos here: https://www.youtube.com/@Isaac.Eiland-Hall/videos

      62 votes
    15. Trying to fully ditch Windows for streaming. So close, but this audio issue is breaking me.

      Okay, I’ve been grinding through the process of replacing Windows 10 in my Twitch streaming setup with Pop!_OS. I’ve got OBS dialed in, my old NVIDIA card is holding it together surprisingly well,...

      Okay, I’ve been grinding through the process of replacing Windows 10 in my Twitch streaming setup with Pop!_OS. I’ve got OBS dialed in, my old NVIDIA card is holding it together surprisingly well, and video performance is right where I need it.

      But the audio. Is. Destroying. Me.

      It’s this horrible crunchy, crushed mess when I stream from Linux. Same exact hardware, same OBS scene setup. On Windows 10 it’s crystal clear. I’m pulling audio from my mixer and theres no “Line In” I can see. Something in the Linux chain is mangling it.

      Here’s a side-by-side if you want to hear the pain:

      Pop!_OS (crushed audio): https://youtu.be/wQUVlufAQs8?si=RlGH8Z90dK0X9KhA

      Windows 10 (clean audio): https://youtu.be/hbJzIHzg_ek?si=ThiZpbBgTk89qL2p

      Sample rates seem to match, nothing obvious is clipping. I’m out of ideas and running on pure stubbornness at this point.

      Would love to hear from anyone who’s made Linux work in a similar setup. Tips, gotchas, weird fixes. Whatever you've got. I'm so close to fully escaping Windows here. Grrr.

      For reference, here’s how I got my Pop!_OS setup working so far (OBS + NVIDIA NVENC + GTX 960):
      https://doubledropdown.com/abdoanmes/2025/ditching-windows-setting-up-obs-with-nvidia-nvenc-on-linux-pop_os-gtx-960/

      29 votes
    16. MTG Commander updates for April 22 - banned list and gamechangers updates

      There are two relevant articles, both of which provide insight into why these changes were made.; they are relatively lengthy, but I have provided summaries of the changes. Commander Banned and...

      There are two relevant articles, both of which provide insight into why these changes were made.; they are relatively lengthy, but I have provided summaries of the changes.

      Commander Banned and Restricted Announcement – April 22, 2025

      Summary: 5 cards have been unbanned and are now on the game changers list

      • Gifts Ungiven
      • Sway of the Stars
      • Braids, Cabal Minion
      • Coalition Victory
      • Panoptic Mirror

      Commander Brackets Beta Update – April 22, 2025

      Summary: no major changes to the mechanics of how brackets function. Two cards have been removed from the game changers list and 18 cards have been added.

      • Trouble in Pairs removed
      • Trinisphere removed

      The following cards have been added to the game changer list: Teferi's Protection, Humility, Narset, Parter of Veils, Intuition, Consecrated Sphinx, Necropotence, Orcish Bowmasters, Notion Thief, Deflecting Swat, Gamble, Worldly Tutor, Crop Rotation, Seedborn Muse, Natural Order, Food Chain, Aura Shards, Field of the Dead, Mishra's Workshop

      9 votes
    17. 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?

      28 votes
    18. How do you stay organized/avoid procrastination?

      After my last post on procrastination, it got me wondering what are successful strategies that are used by other Tilders to keep their lives on track. When I was in university and needed to get...

      After my last post on procrastination, it got me wondering what are successful strategies that are used by other Tilders to keep their lives on track.

      When I was in university and needed to get myself on track to graduate after a bad year of school, I adopted the Getting Things Done methodology which worked great for me then, but I didn't find myself applying it as consistently post graduation.

      I've been reading Atomic Habits lately as I want to improve my own habits, but I'm also thinking about a more general "how I want to organize my life" and be more proactive on managing things.

      Are you a user of to-do lists, calendar reminders, sticky notes, or something less conventual? I'm interested in hearing about it.

      33 votes
    19. Is there a legitimate place to buy Steam keys in bulk?

      Company I work for has game nights (with prizes) as team building, mostly play free games, but occasionally a paid game as well. This week's game is paid and am looking for a place where I can buy...

      Company I work for has game nights (with prizes) as team building, mostly play free games, but occasionally a paid game as well. This week's game is paid and am looking for a place where I can buy about 20 Steam keys for the game that's legitimate.

      Steam will only let you gift a game if you're friends with them on Steam, which complicates things and would be a pain.

      Game is Move or Die in case that matters.

      17 votes
    20. 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.

      8 votes