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    1. Dvorak, Colemak and other alternative keyboard layouts

      I wouldn't really consider it a hobby, but couldn't think of where else to try and have this discussion. How many of you have ever heard of, or even considered the idea of alternative keyboard...

      I wouldn't really consider it a hobby, but couldn't think of where else to try and have this discussion.

      How many of you have ever heard of, or even considered the idea of alternative keyboard layouts!? As unanimous as it is, why are the letters of the alphabet even placed that way on our keyboards anyway? Alternative keyboard layouts attempt to optimize the layout by placing letters in such a way as to make typing more ergonomic. Often ideas include focusing on the home row, rolling fingers, alternating hands, high frequency letters on index and middle etc.

      Some examples to look into if you've never heard of the concept:

      • Dvorak, the most well known alternative keyboard layout. Prioritizes alternating hands by separating vowels and consonants by hand.

      • Colemak. As opposed to Dvorak, prioritizes rolling the fingers rather than alternating hands and attempts to limit same-finger bigrams.

      • BÉPO, a layout optimized for the French language!

      • Others include Carpalx, Workman, MTGAP, Norman and many, many more. Creating rather than using layouts has sort of become a hobby for some...

      So what do you think? Supposed ergonomics vs standardization. Would you ever consider switching or do you think it's a bunch of hocus pocus? Perhaps you have switched or tried to switch and would like to share your experience.

      20 votes
    2. Alert users if link already posted in last 7 days

      I think it would be sensible to have an option to tell a user if a link was already submitted to a particular group recently. I don't think they should be stopped from posting it, but these...

      I think it would be sensible to have an option to tell a user if a link was already submitted to a particular group recently. I don't think they should be stopped from posting it, but these reminders would be helpful to avoid needless duplication.

      Example of what happens without this. u/cfabbro said this was planned for the future but I can't find it in the docs.

      Thoughts?

      30 votes
    3. What is your favourite Stephen King book, and why?

      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...

      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.

      8 votes
    4. What's in a git repo?

      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...

      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.

      17 votes
    5. Daily Tildes discussion - title editing

      Pretty straightforward topic today, but I think it's worth discussing briefly at least. I'm able to edit users' titles now (and the edit will be logged in the Topic Log in the sidebar). In the...

      Pretty straightforward topic today, but I think it's worth discussing briefly at least. I'm able to edit users' titles now (and the edit will be logged in the Topic Log in the sidebar). In the future, this ability will probably also be extended to others, both allowing users to edit their own titles, as well as giving others the ability to do it (will probably be tied into the trust system).

      So the question is: when should titles be edited? It's nice for me to be able to fix typos or other mistakes, remove spoilers if that comes up, and also remove (or at least reduce) editorialization when that's an issue. Are there any other cases where I should (or shouldn't) edit titles?

      Along with all of the other docs that need to be written, maybe a sort of "what makes a good title?" section in the submission guidelines would be good as well, so if you have any thoughts on that please feel free to post them.

      37 votes
    6. Any predictions for The Winds of Winter?

      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:...

      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?

      9 votes
    7. How do you keep up with new music?

      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...

      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?

      17 votes
    8. Tolkien fans unite! Which is your favourite Tolkien book and why?

      I've personally read The Silmarillion 3 times and have found comfort and connection with the book and its stories. Sure, the names are still intimidating and the geography confusing sometimes but...

      I've personally read The Silmarillion 3 times and have found comfort and connection with the book and its stories. Sure, the names are still intimidating and the geography confusing sometimes but all that is part of the enjoyment for me.

      11 votes
    9. What's your favorite "treat yourself" meal?

      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...

      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?

      22 votes
    10. Password manager suggestions?

      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...

      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.

      33 votes
    11. Anyone interested in 3D printing?

      If there aren't many 3D printer hobbyists here, still feel free to comment if your interested. It's a great hobby open to all price ranges and skill levels. If you can't afford a printer, many...

      If there aren't many 3D printer hobbyists here, still feel free to comment if your interested. It's a great hobby open to all price ranges and skill levels. If you can't afford a printer, many libraries and schools have printers open to public use.

      What are your projects? What do you like to print? Materials? Printer? Etc.

      I've been getting into 3D printing more seriously. I have worked with cad software for many years but only printed on occasion, never personal stuff. I bought the Prusa Mk3 kit at the end of last year and patiently waited for its mid-spring arrival. It's a fantastic printer worth every bit of waiting. I print in PLA for fun stuff & online models and PETG for functional & outdoor models.

      My most recent print was a window fan mount for my car for car camping. I designed it to create some airflow to keep the car from getting stuffy while keeping bugs and water out. It's very low power, so no issue there.

      I am currently printing the pangolin awareness toy from thingiverse in white PLA for fun.

      What do you like to do with 3D printing? or what do you think of it?

      18 votes
    12. Interrupting a Tender Moment via Improbably Aimed Barrels [D&D Game Tales]

      So. I'm Dming a group and this night we had an unusually large session. We just added in a new PC who will be joining us for the remainder of the campaign and a visiting friend who was a guest...

      So. I'm Dming a group and this night we had an unusually large session. We just added in a new PC who will be joining us for the remainder of the campaign and a visiting friend who was a guest character for the night.

      The PC had successfully managed to get into the favor of a local Baron, who invited them all to dinner. The guest was playing a premade character, the bastard son of the baron who had just returned home hoping to earn his asshole father's respect.

      So dinner goes fine, the Baron is a smarmy asshole and a monster attacks. After a very tough fight the PCs are victorious. Then things get weird. The son goes to the Baron to tell him of the victory and they have a moment. Fearing his father losing interest, the son then lied and told the baron that there was a treasure trove of a caravan down waiting for him at the foot of the 200ft tall hill the Baron's castle is located on. The pair start walking down, the son the whole time trying to think of some way to get out of the lie he made.

      The other PCs follow them outside and stop at the top of the hill, and one of them says, "You know, that Baron was a real asshole. Be a real shame if something heavy happened to fall on him from this high up."

      A quick investigation later and they find a 200lb barrel of tar in a barn. One of the PCs, who is both good aligned and canonically an idiot, tries to stop them and gets knocked the fuck out and tied up. The remaining PCs manage to lift the barrel, carry it to the top of the hill, and then toss it.

      Meanwhile, the son is nailing his charisma rolls against his father and soon has him eating out of his hand. They get to the bottom of the hill and the father for the first time in the son's entire life tells him he's proud of him.

      And then a 200lb barrel of tar lands on the Baron after falling 200ft, instantly killing him.

      What follows is a roaring rampage of revenged that killed one PC and nearly killed another, so in the end we decided to take everything after the boss fight as a non-cannon fever dream the whole party had.

      It was probably the hardest I have ever laughed during a D&D session in my entire life.

      I love this game.

      18 votes
    13. Programming Challenge: Given a triangle of numbers, find the path from the top to the bottom of the triangle with the largest sum.

      This problem is based on the Project Euler problem here. Goal: Given some input describing a triangle of numbers, find the path starting from the top-most row of the triangle and ending at the...

      This problem is based on the Project Euler problem here.

      Goal: Given some input describing a triangle of numbers, find the path starting from the top-most row of the triangle and ending at the bottom-most row of the triangle that contains the largest sum of all of the numbers along the path. You may only move downward and you must select an adjacent position to move to. Efficiency is not a requirement for completion.

      Constraints:

      • The first line of input for a triangle will be a single integer telling you how many rows the triangle will have.
      • Each following line of input will be the next row of the number triangle, starting at the first row.
      • For each line describing the number triangle, the individual numbers will be separated by a single space.

      Note: The constraints above are to keep hard-coded triangles out of submitted solutions while also ensuring that all languages can equally handle this problem without annoying workarounds for lower-level languages. The consistency also makes it easier for beginners to review and understand someone else's code, and makes it easier to receive help if you get stuck. They're not necessarily required, but are highly encouraged.

      Example input:

      4
      1
      3 2
      4 5 6
      7 8 9 10
      

      Corresponding triangle:

         1
        3 2
       4 5 6
      7 8 9 10
      

      Expected result: 19 (1 + 2 + 6 + 10)

      Extra Credit: As noted on the Project Euler page, you can solve this using a brute force method, but it's incredibly inefficient. Specifically, a brute force solution would be O(2n) time (exponential). There exists a solution that can be solved in O(n2) time (quadratic). Find this solution.

      13 votes
    14. A deep dive into the reclassification of gender incongruence by the WHO

      It’s one thing to read an article or see a reaction and another to find the source. I was curious myself so I dug through the World Health Organization’s website and here’s what I found. Gender...

      It’s one thing to read an article or see a reaction and another to find the source. I was curious myself so I dug through the World Health Organization’s website and here’s what I found.

      Gender incongruence, meanwhile, has also been moved out of mental disorders in the ICD, into sexual health conditions. The rationale being that while evidence is now clear that it is not a mental disorder, and indeed classifying it in this can cause enormous stigma for people who are transgender, there remain significant health care needs that can best be met if the condition is coded under the ICD.

      For mental health conditions, ICD codes are especially important since the ICD is a diagnostic tool, and thus, these are the conditions that often garner much of the interest in the ICD. These include gaming disorder, which evidence shows is enough of a health problem that it requires tracking through the ICD. Other addictive behaviours such as hoarding disorder are now included in ICD-11, and conditions such as ‘excessive sexual drive’ has been reclassified as ‘compulsive sexual behaviour disorder’.

      http://www.who.int/health-topics/international-classification-of-diseases

      8 votes