Tildes is a very serious site, where we discuss very serious matters like hiring, sora and three cheers. Tags culled from the highest voted topics from the last seven days, if anyone was bemused.

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!

You know the trope: an epic fantasy world with magic materials that have strange properties or give people superpowers or what have you. It seems half of the time, this material is a type of crystal with some kind of electric power, and the other half of the time it's a type of metal that's basically steel, but stronger or something. The main examples that come to mind are Marvel, where you have the Soul Stones, Adamantium, and Vibranium.

Are there any other cool types of materials to use for this type of resource? Like maybe an obscure type of material that certain scientists study, but the general public doesn't know much about?

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.

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'll be brief. A friend of mine told me about an Android app called Slowly, which simulates sending letters to people around the world with a time delay representing their distance. I answered that I probably would rather send actual letters instead. I installed Slowly but it is a hellhole of gamification and aggressive monetization. So I went back to the idea of just sending letters to people that I write on paper. I am new to this and several websites exist to facilitate finding pen pals. One of them, Global Penfriends, also has an internal messaging system, which I felt kinda misses the point? Anyway, I think that might be a great inexpensive hobby but I have no idea where to begin with. Some websites have premium tiers too, but it is not clear if this is something I would need.

Any suggestions?

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!

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?

I got a new Verizon account in December 2025, and was surprised to learn they'd give me a free phone. I chose a Pixel 10 (128GB, Obsidian).

When I opened the Verizon account, the Verizon employee touched this Pixel 10 just enough to make sure the eSIM was configured, but we never even set up the OS. I moved the eSIM to my phone, so this Pixel 10 has never been used, never even finished the initial boot process.

I think Verizon carrier-locks their phones for 60 days. I got the phone on 12/17/25 so it should be out of carrier lock now.

This Pixel 10 is boot-loader locked and I use GrapheneOS, so it's of no use to me. I tried to sell it on eBay, but they wanted me to upload photos of my ID or some such nonsense, which I won't do. I tried to sell it on Swappa, but they refused because the phone is "financed"*.

This phone is technically in new condition except the plastic seal on the box has been broken.

If you'd like to buy an unused Pixel 10 for $500 + shipping, please send me a private message and we'll work out the details.

Photos can be seen here (link available until 4/30/26): https://immich.thewooskeys.com/s/pixel10

Let me know if you have any questions about the phone.

Offers will be considered.

*The "free phone" deal with Verizon is that they charge me the cost of the phone ($800) prorated monthly over 2 years, and each month they also credit me that same amount so the total charge each month is $0.00. If ever I cancel my plan with them, they will charge me the balance.