I don't have as much to put up here as @alyaza but I thought it'd kick off the discussion as the debate begins.

Watch live on your local ABC station.
Edit: or on YouTube (thanks @deimos) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UWVO0Trd1c

Only 10 candidates and 1 night of debates this time.

I was a kintsugi bitch

A dull, forgotten, broken pot

And then you fixed me up

.

You lined me with your own

dweomercrafted brand of gold

Lac, Mel, et Saccharum

.

And when you’d starve me for attention,

Fed me more from your breast

Til you filled me up

.

And then I’d look you in the eyes

Sugar broiling in the stomach

Am I pretty now

..

Lost, full, and quite ignored

When you had leapt onto the floor

And said we’ve got to go

.

I grabbed your hand and followed blind

My stomach churned I lagged behind

You were the love I know

.

You said we’re going to the sea

My dear you’ll spend a life with me

We’ll make the waves a home

.

And I smiled ear to ear

Cheeks were blushing like a deer

Am I pretty now

..

And then we made it to the bay

quickly climbed into a boat

They never have to know

.

We headed south for centuries

They cannot take the memories

I never hunger now

.

And after weeks of solitude

A stranger came into the view

There was another boat

.

My stomach burned, concerned,

Not a soul had stood astern

You produced a rope

..

You gave a gentle kiss

And slid the twine across my wrists

And tied them into knots

Dipped my legs into the water

Either hand tied either helm

Stretched into a cross

I looked up at you in fear

Just to see you’ve disappeared

I started crying out.

My stomach burned under the water

And the sun was getting hotter

And I’m all alone.

I pleased come to feed me

Don’t leave me weak, depleting

I got no response.

The fish were getting curious

Flies buzzed something furious

They knew what I did not

That if you leave out milk and honey

In the heat, in weather sunny,

It’ll start to rot.

.

Months had passed in sickly motion

Head leaned back, my eyes were open

I died long ago.

The bugs ate at my open mouth

My skin was yellow, wrought with drought

My throat housed a mold

The waters smelled of sulfate

As the serpents ate my stomach ache

My blood has washed away

The rope gave up on hope and

Threw my purple, molten corpse into the ocean

Am I pretty now?

.

.

.

I'd love to see a recurring thread here in ~games.tabletop where we can talk about board games in a fun way. Here's my hook for this thread:

List one boardgame that you like, and we will suggest a boardgame that you may also like based on your one selection. Ideally, there will be an explanation for "why" as well.

Edit: I also encourage other people to post suggestions!

Let's mix things up a bit and talk about musicians and bands from our local areas. There's often some really great music happening in a local scene, which rarely sees the light of day. So hit us up with links to the music makers in your local scene (or your own band even!) so we can have a listen and maybe discover something new and amazing :)

This should be simple fairly simple to explain:

Even though the Vim front is well covered by things like Vimium, Vimium+ and qutebrowser (and it would probably be too much trouble to create a Vim mode for Tildes' text fields - especially when wasavi exists), Emacs-like keys might be a great addition for some people. Tildes seem to have a high number of Emacs and command-line users right now. I frequently find myself hitting keys such as:

• C-p previous-line
• C-n next-line
• C-m for return
• C-a to move cursor to the start of the line
• C-e to move cursor to the start of end line
• M-d to kill word
• C-k kill line
• C-u kill backwards line
• C-b to backward char
• C-f to forward char
• C-b to backward char
• M-f to forward word
• M-b to backward word
• C-w delete-backward-word
  • not a default Emacs keybinding but it's on readline and I think it makes sense

And so on.

There are, of course, alternatives such as Emacs Anywhere and Atomic Chrome, but they require an Emacs daemon to be running and are not a good alternative for quick edits since which switching to another editor is not practical.

So here's my suggestion!

This post is related and in some part a repetition of my other topic on how to buy a laptop for Linux.

Because I'm in Brazil, many brands and stores that do not ship to my country are out of the question, and even the ones that ship usually cost more than I can pay due to currency exchange rate and shipping costs themselves. What are some universal stores, brands and models that I can probably find on my location, that won't give me much trouble running Linux?

I don't require playing games or top performance (8GB RAM and i5 processor would be the minimum requirements). And SSD would be nice, but, for my budget, it's a plus.

I just need something that is durable and works reliably under Linux, especially when it comes to audio and HDMI output, video graphics adapter support, booting from USB, hibernating, sleeping and power management.

Thanks!

Because I'm in Brazil, highly specific brands that do not ship to my country are out of the question, and even the ones that ship usually cost more than I can pay due to currency exchange rate and shipping costs themselves. What are some universal brands and models that I can probably find on my location, that won't give me much trouble running Linux?

I don't require playing games or top performance (4GB 8GB RAM, a nice/vibrant screeen and an i5 processor would be the minimum requirement. SSD would be nice, but for my budget it's a plus. Just something that is durable (with a good guarantee) and works reliably under Linux, especially when it comes to HDMI output, video graphics adapter support, booting from USB, hibernating, sleeping, power management etc.

Thanks!

What creative projects have I been working on? It’s almost a labor to answer that one concisely, hence my lack of participation.

My mind is of never ending creative ideas, some great and some not, most not.. but they don’t ever seem to stop. I also like to be creative, and as a result, have ended up with more “started” projects then I’m willing to count.

So my question to fellow traverses of the tilde-verse is, what are some methods you use to sustain productivity in individual projects when creativity itself inspires starting new projects?

So given the outbreak of severe lung disease apparently related to vaping, mentioned in recent Tildes threads here, here, and here, I thought I'd provide some semi-informed opinion and experience.

I've had to kick a nasty smoking habit more than a few times, and the last effort was only partially successful. I stayed hooked on nicotine gum, got jaw problems, and switched to vaping.

Vaping was cool! You can play with the electronic gadgets, get involved in the vaping equivalent of hot-rodding and over-clocking communities, play with liquid formulas, build coils, and do all kinds of intricate hobby-type stuff... while slowly poisoning yourself. Vaping was cheap, both by comparison with cigarettes, and with the FDA-approved nicotine-cessation systems. I'd been spending $50/week on gum, but $20/month for the liquids.

I was breathing outrageous dragon clouds, going through 50 ml of liquid a week, and getting nowhere near nicotine freedom. Despite careful avoidance of noticeably irritating flavors, I was getting back to the good old smoker's cough in the morning.

I've since formulated a super-simple homegrown nicotine mint recipe (below) that's as minimally toxic as I can manage, and very slowly gotten down to the equivalent of a cigarette or two a day.

So here's my advice:

1. Avoid pre-made e-liquids and cartridges. There's no telling what's in them; in the U.S., at least, there are no labelling requirements other than nicotine concentration.

2. Avoid flavorings altogether. "Generally Regarded As Safe", the FDA designation for flavorings, only applies to food ingredients. Many common flavor chemicals are known as toxic to inhale. Extracts are often complex mixtures, and there's little data on how all the constituents may interact in your lungs.

I'm not going to provide advice on "safe" ones - just don't use flavorings.

3. If you must vape, do so at the lowest possible temperature. Even unflavored liquids can create toxic byproducts when heated.

You can get pure, unflavored USP-calibrated nicotine liquid base, in a wide range of concentrations, from the same vendors that sell other e-liquid ingredients. I personally preferred propylene glycol (PG) base, because it vaporizes at a lower temperature, and forms less toxic heat decomposition byproducts than glycerin.

4. Don't vape. Nicotine inhalation has some pharmacological advantages - quick brain hit, few or no gastrointestinal effects, but lungs really want clean air. If you're seriously nicotine addicted, you can continue on oral or dermal products with less risk. If you're in a country that doesn't charge outrageously for drugs, there are regulated nicotine nasal sprays.

If you're in a country that does charge outrageously even for over-the-counter medicines, my solution follows.

So, the latest and greatest version, the ultimate plug-and-play version, of the cheap garage DIY nicotine mint:

SAFETY WARNINGS:
Nicotine is a deadly, neurotoxic poison, even on skin contact.
-Do not use nicotine solution concentrations greater than 24 mg/ml at home. Even this concentration is potentially hazardous - wear gloves, work on a washable tray to contain any spills, purchase the smallest size containers you can. Higher concentrations are extremely dangerous without special precautions I won't discuss here.

• Store all nicotine products, treated mints, and potentially contaminated tools and materials far out of the reach of children and pets, preferably under lock and key.

• Wash any exposed skin under running water as soon as possible. Call a Poison Control Center immediately if you suspect that there's been an incident of ingestion or extensive skin contact with nicotine liquid.

• Store mints and materials only in properly labeled, secure containers. [I've found a labelled medicine bottle eliminates social awkwardnesses about not sharing candy.]

• Work on a washable surface, wipe up, wash down with soap and water, and safely dispose cleaning materials for any spills.

• Following these instructions is at your own risk. Based on my knowledge and experience, this nicotine mint recipe is safer than smoking or vaping, but to an unknown degree. You should consult a doctor and/or use approved pharmaceuticals.

Tools and materials:

• Intact 1-qt. (1 L) Ziploc or other sealable polyethylene bag

• 10 ml syringe, optionally with 12- or 14-gauge Luer-lock blunt needle

• Nitrile gloves

• 24 mg/ml (2.4%) nicotine USP solution in propylene glycol** (There are many potential vendors.)

• 8-pack of Altoids "Arctic" flavor sugar-free mints* (cheapest available price on Amazon)

This recipe makes approximately 389 mints at 1.2 mg/mint nicotine strength. Divide or modify it at risk of your own math.

Instructions:

1. Open tins of mints and empty them into the Ziploc bag.

2. Wear gloves. Using the syringe, measure and add 20 ml of nicotine to the bag. (Nicotine solution comes in sealed bottles. To minimize risk of spills, you can use a blunt needle tip on the syringe to pierce the seal and withdraw nicotine liquid without fully opening the bottle.)

3. Completely seal the Ziploc bag. Massage the mints and nicotine liquid together until uniformly distributed and completely coated.

4. Let stand at least overnight, turning and mixing the mints every few hours, until all the liquid is completely absorbed.

Use:

Dosing is similar to nicotine lozenges - hold a treated mint under your tongue until dissolved, repeat no more than a total dosage of 24 per day.

*There are other sugar-free mints that are usable, but I've found sorbitol mints work best for this purpose, and the 0.5 gm per mint size gives a nicely steady nicotine release for 15 - 20 minutes.

**You can use a lower concentration, but the dosage in the final recipe will vary accordingly. Exceeding 20 ml per 8-pack of mints may leave them sticky, and if the liquid isn't fully absorbed, you can become ill from handling the mints. Don't do it.

What have you been playing lately? Discussion about video games and board games are both welcome. Please don't just make a list of titles, give some thoughts about the game(s) as well.

Sorry, I usually post this on Monday and just realized I didn't do it this week. I'm bad at this and obviously need to add a proper scheduled-posting feature.

In an attempt to get somewhat back into shape, I've recently taken up meal prepping again. I love cooking but my previous job was ~60 hour weeks, and some things had to be sacrificed because there just wasn't enough time in the day. However, I have a somewhat more normal job now and I can get back into the things I love(d) to do.

I made some teriyaki salmon and veggies for the next week: https://imgur.com/a/GCFPeJS

Recipe: https://www.lecremedelacrumb.com/one-pan-baked-teriyaki-salmon-and-vegetables/

I'm not good with fish and I rarely try to cook with it (landlocked state so it's hard to get it fresh), l but I found that fish-based dishes very generally tend to be healthier and dairy-free (lactose-intolerant).

What are your favorite foods to prep for a week? Got any recipes? Any tips for a fledgling beginner?