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    1. You should know about Beste Zangers

      How this show is now in its twelfth season without being more well known baffles me. It's a Dutch reality television show where they collect a group of singers, then send them off to a resort and...

      How this show is now in its twelfth season without being more well known baffles me. It's a Dutch reality television show where they collect a group of singers, then send them off to a resort and pamper them. The singers get to know each other and take turns covering songs for each other that have influenced them in some way.

      Each episode has one of the singers being serenaded by the rest of the group. The songs are in every language and style you can imagine, most of them being performed by singers who are stepping well outside of their own comfort zones/styles (and native languages in some cases). There are amazing performances on this show.

      It's blowing up this season because Floor Jansen is one of the guests, and that means the Nightwish army is pimping it all over the net which is how I stumbled on it. I want to know where I can find the past eleven seasons, and why this hasn't been syndicated all over the globe yet, it's a genius idea for a music television show.

      There's a youtube channel that posts entire episodes with english captions so you can follow the conversation.

      A couple of highlights so far this season...

      6 votes
    2. Book review - Turn Of Mind by Alice LaPlante

      Turn of Mind is a mystery. It's for the most part written in journal format. Interestingly it's a journal that sits in the house of a person with Alzheimer's disease. Jennifer White was an...

      Turn of Mind is a mystery. It's for the most part written in journal format. Interestingly it's a journal that sits in the house of a person with Alzheimer's disease.

      Jennifer White was an orthopedic surgeon in Chicago. Once brilliant, Dr. White is now in the later stages of the disease and the journal is written in by family members and housekeepers to help her remember who she was and who she is. A fractured portrait emerges of a cold and strong minded woman who has had a full life that she remembers in bits and pieces. Amidst the pages is mention of a neighbor, Amanda, who has been murdered. Slowly things come together for the reader while Dr. White's disease progresses into confusion.

      Yet she still has moments of lucidity, remembering the details of her profession, where she was considered one of the best and most respected hand surgeons in the country. Her deterioration is something she's at times very aware of, and it is this that makes the book so powerful.

      The narrative often lapses into Jennifer's past memories of both her parents and her children. This adds authenticity to her mental condition but also made me impatient for what seemed to be more important details. As Jennifer is interviewed by police officers and pulled into interaction with her grown son and daughter, we can begin to understand the horror of this disease, especially regarding how hard it is to trust people who may be trying to manipulate the sufferer for their own purposes.

      I'd put this near the top of my list for books enjoyed in 2019. It brings to mind The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time by Mark Haddon, narrated by an Aspberger's spectrum person. Turn of Mind is a hard book to read, but it's even harder to put down once you get into it.

      4 votes
    3. How do we want to handle Podcasts?

      So, when we want to link to a podcast , should we link to the webpage or preferred aggregator, or directly to the MP3? Should we have an embedded object for playing audio built into Tildes, or is...

      So, when we want to link to a podcast , should we link to the webpage or preferred aggregator, or directly to the MP3? Should we have an embedded object for playing audio built into Tildes, or is that out of scope?

      6 votes
    4. Slush Idea Bin

      Here's something I want to try, a sort of here's an idea thread for things you want to write down or think that are a good idea, but have no intention of exploring. All top level posts should be...

      Here's something I want to try, a sort of here's an idea thread for things you want to write down or think that are a good idea, but have no intention of exploring. All top level posts should be similar to shower thoughts in spontaneity, but allow you to further explore them should you choose to. Effectively, it's an Adopt a Thought!

      22 votes
    5. Tabletop Weekly Discussion #3 - What's one of your favourite games?

      This is a recurring thread in ~games.tabletop where we can talk about board games in a fun way. Feel free to discuss boardgames in any way you want, but I like to add a bit of a hook each week to...

      This is a recurring thread in ~games.tabletop where we can talk about board games in a fun way. Feel free to discuss boardgames in any way you want, but I like to add a bit of a hook each week to spice things up. Here's my hook for this thread:

      What's one of your favourite board game and why?

      Edit: I made the question a bit less hard to answer - instead of your absolute favourite, pick a favourite, and talk about it.

      9 votes
    6. What games would you consider "expired classics"?

      If there's a better or more commonly used term for this let me know, but my idea of an "expired classic" is a game that was acclaimed and beloved at the time of its release but that would be...

      If there's a better or more commonly used term for this let me know, but my idea of an "expired classic" is a game that was acclaimed and beloved at the time of its release but that would be nearly unplayable or unacceptable by modern standards. Not just less impressive or weaker, mind you, but outright bad. Think "aged poorly" but like, REALLY poorly.

      The quintessential example is Goldeneye 007. While absolutely landmark for its time, gamers that pick it up now would likely be baffled by its controls and appalled by its significant, unforgivable framerate issues. Even some people that used to love playing it have a hard time enjoying it now (myself included). It is a game that has "expired" over time.

      The expiration doesn't have to be due to technical issues either. It could be due to cultural issues, design issues, or any other factor that makes the same significantly less palatable today, even to those that want to play it!

      What are some other examples, and why have they expired?

      35 votes
    7. Programming/software design practice?

      So, I've been going through Project Euler and solving problems as a way to brush up on my programming abilities, but it's mostly a math-focused set of problems. Which is cool..they're nice little...

      So, I've been going through Project Euler and solving problems as a way to brush up on my programming abilities, but it's mostly a math-focused set of problems. Which is cool..they're nice little puzzles that get the gears turning...

      BUT I'm wondering if anyone here has suggestions for a website/course that teaches software design in a piece-wise way. Like... each problem is a nugget of software design that builds off previous problems and eventually you're creating an entire application utilizing different algorithms/design patterns/data structures/etc.

      I'd appreciate any resources similar to that idea. Thanks!

      7 votes
    8. Have "whispers" been implemented?

      I'm really curious if they have, because on this thread, there's a bunch of comments from "unknown user." If whispers have been implemented, how do I use them? I can't seem to find any information...

      I'm really curious if they have, because on this thread, there's a bunch of comments from "unknown user." If whispers have been implemented, how do I use them? I can't seem to find any information about them.

      11 votes
    9. Announcements from Oculus Connect 6

      I made a separate post about the hand-tracking specifically because I think it's especially cool, but Oculus is announcing a lot of things today. Here's a list of some stuff so far, and I'll...

      I made a separate post about the hand-tracking specifically because I think it's especially cool, but Oculus is announcing a lot of things today. Here's a list of some stuff so far, and I'll probably add some more if there are other details/articles/videos.

      There's an official overall summary post here: Oculus Connect 6: Introducing Hand Tracking on Oculus Quest, Facebook Horizon, and More

      Official individual blog posts (mostly with embedded videos):

      Other posts:

      10 votes