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    1. What podcasts are you listening to?

      First off, hello, I'm new here, and I hope this is an okay place to ask...what podcasts are you all into? Here's some of my favorites: Dispatches from Myrtle Beach: Link from Good Mythical Morning...

      First off, hello, I'm new here, and I hope this is an okay place to ask...what podcasts are you all into?

      Here's some of my favorites:

      Dispatches from Myrtle Beach:
      Link from Good Mythical Morning has a conversation with his father. It's a strange mix of funny, heartwarming, raunchy, and endearing.

      The Newest Olympian:
      Mike Shubert from the Potterless podcasts reads the Percy Jackson books (I tried reading along with the podcast because I'd never read them, but couldn't put the books down, so I'm ahead of the podcast now). It's a funny podcast regardless if you've read the books.

      RadioLab and the new season of RadioLab's More Perfect podcast
      If you've never listened to radio lab, just pick any episode. They're interesting and weird and you'll learn stuff. They're just good. The new hosts are still finding their way, but it's still good, so maybe start with some of the older episodes.

      Judge John Hodgman

      • He settles stupid disputes between people...e.g., "Is a hotdog a sandwich" (No.)

      Song Exploder

      • Even if I've never heard of the song I listen. It's about how songs are made, and it's super interesting.

      99% Invisible

      • it's about recognizing all the fascinating things in the world around us that we pass by every day without noticing. Always read the plaque.

      Oh No, Ross and Carrie

      • they do non-sciencey things and then discuss from a science perspective. (E.g., joining a religion, going to flat earth meetings, visiting psychics, getting holistic medical treatments, etc)

      This American Life
      just interesting stories about people and things in life?

      The Memory Palace
      super cool podcast...usually pretty short that takes things from history and tells the story in just a unique and interesting way.

      Science Friday
      deep dive into science news for the week

      Behind the Bastards
      all about the worst people in history.

      Sawbones: A Marital Tour of Misguided Medicine
      Hilarious podcast about medical history

      The Adventure Zone
      The McElroy family plays dnd and other role play games

      The Moth
      people tell personal stories to crowds of people.

      The Daily
      New York Times's podcast

      Wait Wait Don't Tell Me
      news comedy gameshow

      60-Second Science
      as described

      Good Job Brain
      pub trivia podcast

      A Hotdog is a Sandwich (but it's not)
      Good Mythical Kitchen's Josh and Nicole debate food things

      Dead Pilots Society:
      really interesting. They take scripts from failed TV pilots and hire actors to do table reads of the script. Every other week is an interview with the script's writers too, so you can listen to those if interested or just the table reads if not.

      Brainstuff:
      just interesting tidbits. Short podcasts.

      I'd love to hear your recommendations!

      Edit: Thank you all for all the recommendations! I'm still reading all the posts and adding them to my list to give them a shot!

      60 votes
    2. Please post your podcast preferences

      I'm always in the market for new podcast recommendations, so here are some of mine. All available via your regualar podcasting app, probably. No Such Thing As a Fish, the QI podcast. Odd facts and...

      I'm always in the market for new podcast recommendations, so here are some of mine. All available via your regualar podcasting app, probably.

      No Such Thing As a Fish, the QI podcast. Odd facts and trivia. Rarely do I hear things I already know on this one. Obviously it's no Answer Me This but what is?

      A Problem Squared, comedian Bec Hill and stand up mathematician Matt Parker answer listener questions, usually in excessive and fascinating detail. The presenters are good friends in non-podcast life and it shows in their chemistry.

      The Guilty Feminist, a great mixture of standup comedy and discussion on a wide range of topics. Great selection of guests.

      Lateral, Youtuber Tom Scott hosts a panel quiz where lateral thinking is rewarded. Fairly lightweight but still fun.

      A Podcast of Unnecessary Detail, the Festival of the Spoken Nerd team do a podcast (Steve Mould, Matt Parker, Helen Arney). It is as you might expect, nerdy facty sciency stuff.

      Wheel of Misfortune, comedians Fern Brady and Alison Spittle take listener submissions on unfortunate or embarrassing events and discuss their own misfortunes with a guest with a different topic each episode. More funny than perhaps it sounds.

      49 votes
    3. Apple Keynote Discussion Thread [September 10, 2019 @ 10:00 am PDT]

      The Apple Keynote is on September 10th, at 10am Pacific Daylight Time (daylight savings is in effect). I'm making this thread as a place to discuss the announcements here on ~tech. TIme: 10:00am...

      The Apple Keynote is on September 10th, at 10am Pacific Daylight Time (daylight savings is in effect). I'm making this thread as a place to discuss the announcements here on ~tech.

      TIme:

      • 10:00am PDT (California / Apple time)
      • 5:00pm GMT (Greenwich time)

      Livestream Links


      Tl;Dr of actual announcements (updating right now)

      • Apple Arcade announced
        • $4.99 / month and one month free.
        • 100 indie exclusives on launch
      • Apple TV+ announced
        • $4.99 / month, launching November 1
        • New originals every month! 100 countries at launch
        • Including 1 year free with device (iPhone, iPad, or mac) purchases starting today.
      • New base model iPad
        • 10.2 inch display, Runs A10 Fusion chip, (optional) smart keyboard
        • New iPad is made from 100% recycled aluminum (like the new MacBook air)
        • Starts at $399 (competing with chrome books). $299 for education customers.
        • includes Apple Pencil support
      • Apple Watch Series 5!!!!
        • Health and Fitness video
        • 3 New health studies!!!
          - Apple Hearing Study
          - Apple Women's Health Study (How cycles affect various health conditions)
          - Apple Heart Study
          - Enrollment is voluntary. OPT-IN by downloading the app and getting enrolled.
        • Apple Watch Series 5
          - ALWAYS ON LTPO OLED display, with Dynamic Refresh Rate (1Hz - 60Hz VRR)
          - Same 18 hour battery life
          - International Emergency Calling on all cellular models
          - 100% recycled aluminum.
          - Stainless Steel, Titanium, Ceramic
          - Series 3 watch starts at $199, Series 5 starts at $499
      • iPhone 11!
        • Aluminum and Glass, comes in a bunch of colors
        • Spatial audio + Dolby Atmos for next level smartphone sound
        • New Camera -- 120º FOV Wide angle camera, 12MP with 100% Focus Pixels
          - 0.5x Optical Zoom out :)
          - New Image processing pipelines, with semantic rendering and adaptive tone mapping
          - Portrait mode improvements (wider portraits, and more) (yay, now for pets!)
          - Night Mode has adaptive image slicing and fusion for reducing blur in long exposure.
          - 4K HDR video at 60fps (was previously 30fps!)
          - Front Camera is now 12MP wide angle
          - 4K 30fps HDR video, Slowmotion Video for front facing camera! :)
        • A13 Bionic processor
          - fastest GPU and CPU ever in a smartphone
          - Game demo showing off Metal 2 Shaders, Bloom, and AA in realtime at 60fps
          - Battery is now 1 hr longer than the previous XR
          - U1 Chip? (on slide, not mentioned)
        • Wifi 6 support!
        • 2m water resistance for 30 minutes
        • 6.1 inch Liquid Retina display
        • Priced sanely at $699
      • iPhone 11 Pro
        • 3 camera array
        • Matte Textured Glass
        • Super Retina XDR Display.
          - 2,000,000:1 contrast ratio
          - 1200 nits of brightness
          - 426 ppi
          - Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos
        • A13 Bionic Chip Design
          - Machine Learning Matrix Multiplier Accelerators make matrix operations 6x faster on iPhone
          - Best ML platform of any Smartphone
          - Lower power design using 7nm+ lithography
          - 8.5 Billion Transistors
          - 4 High Efficiency CPU cores
          - Hundreds of Voltage domains and clock domains
          - Each region of the chip is at least 20% faster, and uses at least 20% less power
        • 3 camera system
          - 4x zoom range (0.5 to 2x)
          - 53-13mm focal lengths, and f1.8 to f2.4
          - Deep Fusion camera system - stitches together burst photos + long exposure to maximize detail and reduce noise.
          - Filmic Pro demo -- allowing multiple camera use at the same time.
        • iPhone 11 Pro at $999, Pro Max at $1099
        • iPhone 11 at $699 and XR at $599 and iPhone 8 at $499 to complete the lineup.
      • Apple Store Updates
        • Apple Watch Studio - pair any watch with any band of your choice. Configure as you want
        • iPhone trade ins can now be used for a lower monthly rate if you buy an iPhone, rather than simply taking off the purchase price.
        • 5th Ave Store is being redesigned and re-opening Sept 20th!

      Other miscellaneous / fun stuff


      Edits:

      • fixed part about browsers with HLS support, and added a table showing compatible browsers.
      • remved "what we're expecting" section, and started updating the event live feed.
      26 votes
    4. What are some of your daily use/most important apps?

      I just got a new phone, and I opted to download all the apps I usually use manually, rather than having them transfer over automatically. It's like a nice cleanup thing that I get to do every...

      I just got a new phone, and I opted to download all the apps I usually use manually, rather than having them transfer over automatically. It's like a nice cleanup thing that I get to do every couple of years. I feel like I partially should just have a list somewhere of the apps I usually use and was wondering what people would download first (plus if I forgot anything)

      For me, this was my process yesterday:
      Password manager - Bitwarden - mostly so I can copy/paste my logins for everything
      Authentication - Not listing these but ya know
      VPN - MozillaVPN - just something for hostels and travelling
      Browser - Firefox Beta or Nightly - for downloading my new wallpaper and general use (including Tildes!)
      Sleep + Alarm - Sleep as Android
      Car things - My car app, EVGo/Electrify America - getting around and things
      Rideshare - Uber and Lyft - When I'm in a new city!
      Food - Doordash, Grubhub, asian specific food apps - to eat when I'm lazy!
      News - Boston Globe, AP News, BBC - Kinda obvious what they're here for
      Todo - TickTick - Checklists and all that
      Fitness - Fitbit, my smart scale app, and my gym app - general fitness stuff
      Language Learning - Duolingo and Lingodeer!
      Banking + Investment + Payments + Insurance - not listing these but yeah!
      Music + Podcasts - Spotify
      Streaming - D+, Netflix, Vudu, Peacock, Max, Movies Anywhere, Dropout, Hulu, Prime Video, Twitch - General Streaming
      Books - Kindle and Audible
      Messaging and Social Media - Signal, Beeper, Messenger, Discord, Slack, Instagram, etc. - just daily entertainment and connections
      Games - Slay the Spire, Dead Cells, Nonograms, Don't Starve, Cards of Terra, Bloons, etc.

      Bonus Q: I've been thinking of trying to add Obsidian to my general day to day, how? Might ask a question about this later though!

      49 votes
    5. Favorite podcast app?

      I just got an email stating that Stitcher, the podcast app that I use, "decided to discontinue operation of the Stitcher app and website effective August 29, 2023." Any good recommendations for...

      I just got an email stating that Stitcher, the podcast app that I use, "decided to discontinue operation of the Stitcher app and website effective August 29, 2023."

      Any good recommendations for another podcast app? ETA: I listen on my Android phone.

      42 votes
    6. What is your favourite episode of a podcast?

      Please share why it's your favourite took, avoiding as many spoilers as you can. Mine is Episode 45 of Darknet Diaries, Xbox Underground (and also Part 02). It is about a group of hackers called...

      Please share why it's your favourite took, avoiding as many spoilers as you can.

      Mine is Episode 45 of Darknet Diaries, Xbox Underground (and also Part 02).

      It is about a group of hackers called the XBox Underground who infiltrated the networks of major video game companies. Their motives started out harmless, with members of the group enjoying playing early versions of games. However, things take a serious turn and there are many twists and turns as the story unfolds.

      It's so good that I have listened to it every year since it first came out.

      36 votes
    7. Desk setup / Battlestation Thread.

      I am a pretty big fan of the PCMR Battle station posts where everyone shares their computers and desk setups. I have never seen one here so I figured I would start one! Here is my desk, three 32"...

      I am a pretty big fan of the PCMR Battle station posts where everyone shares their computers and desk setups. I have never seen one here so I figured I would start one!

      Here is my desk, three 32" monitors (two facing the desk, one facing my living room on the back ). I primarily use my lower monitor and have background stuff on the upper (spotify, torrent client, youtube, podcasts, winamp, twitch, discord, etc etc). I have a bunch of old Xbox360 controllers and enjoy playing PC games on the couch on my rear monitor (as well as streaming obviously). The rear monitor also has a firestick and my only source of sound (other than my headset) is an Amazon Echo (which also controls my living room lights). The PC is a prebuilt from iBUYPOWER, it was my first time buying a prebuilt (I was hesitant to do so) and the only reason I did was because I was wanting to build a new rig right as crypto mining was driving up the cost of everything and I was able to get a great deal on this one. So far it has performed great. I still have two RAM slots open so I think that is the next thing I am gonna do.

      I built my last computer in 2008 so I was way overdue for a new one and my S.O. has informed me I went a little overboard =)

      9200 i7-8700K 6-Core 3.7 GHz | Liquid Cooled | Z370 Motherboard| GeForce GTX 1070 | 16GB DDR4| 1TB HDD | 240GB SSD |

      Lets see what you guys have!

      EDIT: sorry for the low picture quality, my cell phone is garbage.

      EDIT2: forgot to include a screenshot

      It's the same background on all three, but the taskbar is basic on the two secondary (and icons are only on the main). And if anyone was confused about the random monitor hanging off of the back of my desk this kinda shows it better.

      26 votes
    8. Podcast Recommendations

      I was wondering if anyone had any good humor or social commentary podcast recommendations. I've come to a blank when trying to find new ones. Any and all suggestions welcome!

      21 votes
    9. What do you guys think of these AI-generated stand up comedy specials?

      So I came across this new dudesy video titled "George Carlin: I'm Glad I'm Dead" and it put me down a weird rabbit hole. I'm not a Carlin super fan but I know some of his famous bits and respect...

      So I came across this new dudesy video titled "George Carlin: I'm Glad I'm Dead" and it put me down a weird rabbit hole. I'm not a Carlin super fan but I know some of his famous bits and respect his work and maybe that's the perfect setup for watching this because... I'm honestly blown away. I planned on listening to 3 minutes of it to make fun of stupid AI but ended up letting it run for the entire hour and actually laughed quite a bit. It all makes sense. It does sound like him. I don't know how much editing went into it, how much prompting and discarded material. I especially don't know if it just dug up old jokes somewhere else and copied them. But still.

      It feels like we just had awkward AI-wordsalad experiments and things like the infinite Seinfeld stream which was fun in a so-bad-it's-good kinda way but... I mean, it obviously was bad. The funny part was that it was unpredictably bad.

      But only a year later we're having some uncanny valley shit. I looked it up and apparently this started with a comedy podcast with an AI co-host which produced a clip for a fictional Tom Brady standup routine which turned out popular enough to get them sued, apparently.

      There's this part in the fake Carlin special where he talks about the future of entertainment being 24-hour streams where an AI comedian comments on daily news events in real time or something and I can't say I wouldn't watch that. Just to see what it's like. But I also get people calling it disgusting. It kinda is. I get [his daughter says "machine will ever replace his genius"](machine will ever replace his genius), she's right of course. But that video got close IMO.

      You can still point at little flaws here and there with AI generated content but with this trend, it will be 3 or 5 years before we get perfectly polished content machines that don't trip over any of the easy and obvious stuff. What place would such content have in the entertainment industry?

      What do you guys think?

      27 votes
    10. What are some interesting websites (tech related or not) that I can add to my endless rotation of Reddit, Tildes and Hacker News?

      My online habits are too limited by these three websites. What other aggregators, blogs or websites you suggest for me to open my horizons? Some of my interests: Long-form film criticism (not...

      My online habits are too limited by these three websites. What other aggregators, blogs or websites you suggest for me to open my horizons?

      Some of my interests:

      • Long-form film criticism (not movie news)
      • History of American cinema
      • Urban exploration (sewers, abandoned places, spooky stories)
      • Python
      • Learning techniques
      • Transportation (subways and trains, mostly)
      • True crime
      • Science fiction literature (both new and old)
      • Stand up comedy
      • War history

      I'm particularly uninterested by American or World News.

      I currently am not listening to podcasts because my headphones break every week and I don’t have enough money to buy headphones that will last more than that.

      40 votes
    11. Building a home media server on a budget

      Hi I figured before I start venturing into other forums dedicated to this sort of thing, I'd ask here on Tildes since I'm at least comfortable with the community and how helpful they can be here....

      Hi

      I figured before I start venturing into other forums dedicated to this sort of thing, I'd ask here on Tildes since I'm at least comfortable with the community and how helpful they can be here.

      I'm tired of all of the subscription services I have, movies and TV shows disappearing from them, buying a film on Prime and only being able to watch it offline through a specific app. Even then, half the time we're watching comfort TV shows that we have on DVD already (X-Files and Friends for instance).

      So I figured that building a home media server would give me the chance to cut the cord with a couple of these services and allow us to start using and controlling our own data again.

      I have a budget of around £300 (I could perhaps push to £400 if needed) and I'm honestly not sure at all where to start. I have knowledge on how to build brand new, medium to high end gaming PCs as I've done it since I was in my late teens and built my first PC with the wages from my very first job but building a budget minded PC for use as a home media server goes completely over my head.

      I've noticed that a lot of the pre-built NAS or media server boxes are very expensive so my first thought was to buy a refurbed workstation or small form factor PC that has enough "oomph" to do the trick but I don't know what ones to even start looking at and then I start to feel a little bit out of my comfort zone.

      Things like getting the right CPU in these refurbed machines that offers the features I'm looking for like hardware transcoding etc., integrated GPU's, ensuring there's enough SATA ports for multiple hard drives and an SSD for a boot drive, and then to top it all off ensuring that while achieving these features the thing shouldn't draw too much power when idling as it'll be on for long stretches of time, if not left on 24/7.

      I've also got no knowledge of Linux, I've never even looked at it but if it's genuinely easy enough (for someone with next to no Linux experience) then I'd be happy to give it a shot if it offers better performance compared to using Windows 10 or something.

      All the server will be used for is watching TV shows, perhaps the odd film, listening to a bit of music perhaps and the odd podcast now and again. Simultaneous streaming will be fairly minimal, perhaps 2 streams as me or my partner watch one thing and our daughter watches another on her tablet. In regards to streaming outside the house that will also be almost non-existent, perhaps, again our daughter watching a kids TV show like Pokemon or Fireman Sam on her tablet when we're out but me and my partner don't tend to watch anything when we're outside the house, certainly not TV shows or movies anyway.

      Redundancy isn't something I'm too horrendously worried about, I wouldn't be storing anything like photos that we wouldn't want to lose on it and while it'd be annoying, losing a drive with TV shows or films on it wouldn't be the end of the world.

      Any help would be massively appreciated, thanks.

      36 votes
    12. Which apps do you use for your mental health and wellbeing, if any?

      I have lost my r/finch community, and am feeling curious to see if there are any folks here who also find apps can be helpful for their mental health. I struggle with anxiety and am processing a...

      I have lost my r/finch community, and am feeling curious to see if there are any folks here who also find apps can be helpful for their mental health.

      I struggle with anxiety and am processing a lot of grief, and may or may not have ADHD (I am in the process of getting tested, but it takes a while). My experiences with therapy are a bit mixed, so I am currently going down the route of trying to DIY my wellness a little. Starting simple with things like, sleep more, try to focus on drinking enough, go out in nature, switching off podcasts and phones and reading more. It's actually helped me, bit by bit.

      One of my 'tools' is an app called finch, a virtual pet that encourages you to set goals, check in how you are feeling, journal, do mindful breathing and such. I tried many things and this app is the one that stuck and actually works.

      Just wanted to ask, do any others here use wellness apps? And have they worked for you? Which do you recommend?

      Just to be clear, I mean apps that work as a stand alone solution, rather than apps like 'better help' which ultimately just connect you to a therapist. Although Better Help has its uses too!

      30 votes
    13. Favourite audio dramas/fiction podcasts?

      Over the last year, I've found myself listening to quite a few audio dramas. I've never been one for traditional podcasts so it was pretty surprising to me that I loved them so much the moment...

      Over the last year, I've found myself listening to quite a few audio dramas. I've never been one for traditional podcasts so it was pretty surprising to me that I loved them so much the moment they went from nonfiction to fiction. It's pretty similar to watching TV, except you can still use your eyes for other tasks! Audio books are nice too, but they don't quite scratch the same itch. So with all that, here's an unordered list of some of my favourite audio dramas (along with a small synopsis and some personal opinions), and I invite you to post your own in the comments!

      Title Official Synopsis Personal Notes
      ars PARADOXICA When an experiment in a time much like our own goes horribly awry, Dr. Sally Grissom finds herself stranded in the past and entrenched in the activities of a clandestine branch of the US government. Grissom and her team quickly learn that there's no safety net when toying with the fundamental logic of the universe. Along with everything in the official description, this one also has secret codes at the end of each episode so you can play along at home, and has a cast with quite a bit of diverse representation.
      The Imperfection Charlie and Amber suffer from a disorder that causes a constant stream of hallucinations. When they discover that their psychiatrist is missing, they rally together with the other patients to search for him. Along the way, they encounter secret societies, half-human half-spider centaurs, and a hidden borough of New York under the East River. But how can you find the truth when you can’t tell what’s real? This one is mostly a comedy with a rather absurdist sense of humour, but it has some really heartfelt moments. The creators are professionals as well, so the sound design is very nice to listen to.
      Wooden Overcoats Rudyard Funn and his equally miserable sister Antigone run their family’s failing funeral parlour, where they get the body in the coffin in the ground on time. But one day they find everyone enjoying themselves at the funerals of a new competitor – the impossibly perfect Eric Chapman! With their dogsbody Georgie, and a mouse called Madeleine, the Funns are taking drastic steps to stay in business… A British comedy through-and-through, I've had to stop listening to this one in public for fear I look totally crazy, giggling like a hyena. It's also totally family friendly, so you can listen to it with your kids/parents/neighbour's dogs as well!
      NORA These recordings were emailed to us without explanation. The sender has not responded to any questions. We cannot confirm the veracity of the information contained within, but believe that the creator of these recordings is acting in good faith. The woman, who calls herself NORA, is investigating a strange series of events that wander between the boundaries of perception and reality. There is some suggestion of organized crime, paranormal influence, or perhaps simple madness. We will continue to make these available as they are sent to us. They present no danger to the listener and seem to provide a source of support for the creator. Ok, this is a strange one. It's pretty short (only 7 episodes of about a half-hour each), but I was left thinking about it for days afterwards. If you like more weird, interpretive stories, this one is up your alley. It kind of reminded me of House of Leaves, which is a book I love a lot, so take that as you will.

      All of these can be found on basically any podcast app (I use AntennaPod on Android), so if any piqued your interest, do give them a shot!

      37 votes
    14. What is something you have changed your mind about in the last year?

      It can be anything, big or small! I think it's valuable to be able to change your opinions and not cling to them out of loyalty, so let's celebrate our flexibility! I'll go first. I never used to...

      It can be anything, big or small! I think it's valuable to be able to change your opinions and not cling to them out of loyalty, so let's celebrate our flexibility! I'll go first.

      I never used to listen to audio versions of books that I haven't already read, because I felt safety in the fact that I already knew what was going to happen and didn't feel concern over missing a passage from distraction. But in the past few months I realised that I listen to podcasts constantly, and that audiobooks (of the right kind) can be thought of as longer form podcasts.
      So I've been jumping more into audiobooks for when I'm on long drives or commuting to university, and honestly it's great. I've been really enjoying Stephen Fry's Greek mythology series, and was finally able to finish "reading" the Hitchhiker's Guide series. As I have a bit of a mental block on actual reading that is unrelated to my masters, it's extremely cool to still be able to enjoy non-academic books without the feeling of guilt.

      20 votes
    15. When do you listen to podcasts?

      I started listening to podcasts in June of 2017 after having heard about them being great for years but never getting around to listening to them. I preferred music at the time and would put on a...

      I started listening to podcasts in June of 2017 after having heard about them being great for years but never getting around to listening to them. I preferred music at the time and would put on a playlist or an album if I had a long drive, walk, etc. Once I started listening to podcasts I was hooked. The amount of time I spent listening to music plummetted and since I started I've spent 4% of my time listening to podcasts, I've used the same app since I started which makes keeping track of that easy.

      I mainly listen to mine whenever I have some tedious or when I don't need too hard about what I'm doing. Walking the dog, driving, all of the housework, and some video games when I have time to play one and just want to zone out a bit and do something. Its made me enjoy cleaning more which my wife has appreciated a lot.

      I was curious when other people listen to podcasts, how you fit them into your schedule, and if you're keen on sharing what your favorites are. I have way too many podcasts bookmarked in my app to listen to but its fun to add more to the ever growing list.

      25 votes
    16. Let's talk about humorous podcasts

      Hey there people! Seeing how last post I could find on the topic was posted almost one year ago and how my question is a bit more specific, I thought a new one could be worthwhile. Admittedly, I...

      Hey there people!

      Seeing how last post I could find on the topic was posted almost one year ago and how my question is a bit more specific, I thought a new one could be worthwhile.

      Admittedly, I am not an assiduous podcast listener - what I'm mostly looking for is a show to 'scratch the itch' every once in a while which features good chemistry between its hosts, exploring whatever topic with humorous tones; bonus points if said topic is interesting.

      To exemplify, some of the best podcasts I can think of on the spot are How did This Get Made (I can particularly recommend the episode dedicated to Mr. Nanny), or How to Fuck Up an Airport.

      The first one is a serie that analyze extremely poor or obscure movies, while the second one unveils the debacle surrounding the 20 year old (and still aging) Berlin Brandenburg Airport project; I know this last one might sounds boring, but it's a baffling and hilarious journey - surely and by far my favorite Podcast.

      TL;DR
      So yeah, what are your most entertaining, hilarious, and generally fun podcasts?

      25 votes
    17. Do Nazis deserve electricity?

      I'm reading about the latest Gitlab shakeup, about (not?) filtering customers on moral grounds. Yesterday, it was Github's decision to continue to support ICE. There's Twitter's decision to allow...

      I'm reading about the latest Gitlab shakeup, about (not?) filtering customers on moral grounds. Yesterday, it was Github's decision to continue to support ICE. There's Twitter's decision to allow politicians to (somewhat?) violate its own rules about threats and harrassment. Blizzard banned a star video game player for speaking out about the Hong Kong protests.

      I'm on Mastodon, and while it's faded from the headlines a bit, the Gab-war still rages there, with the Tusky-v-Fediverse debate over apps blocking domains, and instances blocking other instances over their support for yet other instances.

      Yada.

      I'm thinking a lot these days about the "slippery slope". Mastodon, Twitter, Facebook, Github/lab, etc ... these are all business(-like) entities, privately controlled, which are nonetheless approaching the status of public infrastructure ... at least, sort of.

      PG&E intentionally shut off power to millions of Californians last week, to prevent hypothetical fires. You see where I'm going with this.

      When/As smart capabilities for power grid, ISP, etc emerge, do racists, white supremacists, get Internet? Electricity? Hospital/Ambulance service? Where is that line?

      Is reverse discrimination appropriate? "We don't rent to racists..."?

      Not sure what I'm expecting here. Just starting the thread, see where it goes.


      ETA: A really interesting, thoughtful 2-minute excerpt from a Rogan podcast


      Edit #2: The Hacker News thread that prompted me to start this thread.

      16 votes
    18. Favorite game shows?

      I just started watching Taskmaster after finding most TV right now pretty boring. I do like the silly challenges (and dry British humor in general lol). I never really watched game shows growing...

      I just started watching Taskmaster after finding most TV right now pretty boring. I do like the silly challenges (and dry British humor in general lol). I never really watched game shows growing up, I'm aware of the bigger ones of course, (Jeopardy, Millionaire, etcetc.) but I wonder what I've missed in the meantime. I feel like sometimes game shows bleed into Reality shows a bit, which kinda turned me off from the genre until now. I do love trivia and seeing people solve problems in interesting ways though!

      To throw in some of my favorites,
      Game Changer on Dropout - My favorite at the moment, just because the cast is great and the tasks are great. Sam Reich is a great host too of course, and I just love the things they come up with.

      The Mole on Netflix - Even though I don't loveeee reality shows for some reason this one got me. The players were super dumb but it was kinda interesting. I watched it a while ago though so my opinion might be different now.

      Lateral (Podcast) - Tom Scott's trivia/gameshow podcast. It's really chill and I really enjoy the trivia I learn while walking my dog. The guests are (mostly) fun and interesting people too! The questions themselves are super "thinky" and playing along is fun.

      15 votes
    19. Which audio drama podcasts do you recommend?

      You might be able to tell by my username which is my favorite audio drama. If you haven't heard of it, Wolf 359 is a space opera dramedy focused on a cast of deeply likable characters who find...

      You might be able to tell by my username which is my favorite audio drama. If you haven't heard of it, Wolf 359 is a space opera dramedy focused on a cast of deeply likable characters who find themselves carrying out mysterious research onboard a space station owned by a soulless corporation. Heads up, the whole thing is very enjoyable but the creators say the real story doesn't get going for real until about episode 9 and I would agree. It's funny and entertaining but gets pretty serious around there. Don't worry, the early episodes are super short and still good.

      Other audio dramas I highly recommend are:

      Bronzetown
      1865
      Limetown
      Edict Zero FIS
      Station 151
      Archive 81
      The Magnus Archives
      Theater of Tomorrow
      The Hyacinth Disaster
      Life After / The Message

      37 votes
    20. Podcast discussions & recommendations! What are you listening to?

      Tildes has had a couple of threads about podcast recommendations in the past, but most of them are over 18 months old now, and podcasts are always evolving, and we have new members who may not...

      Tildes has had a couple of threads about podcast recommendations in the past, but most of them are over 18 months old now, and podcasts are always evolving, and we have new members who may not have participated in those threads before—I certainly only picked up podcasts in the last few months.

      So. Three questions!

      • What podcasts are you listening to?
      • What podcasts have you dropped, or picked up, in that time?
      • If you had to recommend a couple of podcasts to others, which shows would you pick? Why do you recommend them? Got a favourite episode?
      28 votes
    21. Self-hosters! Share your reasons for self-hosting and favorite apps!

      Self-hosting has been a rabbit hole of wonder that I've explored and delved into over these past few months. I'm curious to hear what others use it for, what apps they love, and their rationale...

      Self-hosting has been a rabbit hole of wonder that I've explored and delved into over these past few months. I'm curious to hear what others use it for, what apps they love, and their rationale for doing so?

      I'll go first.

      First, in terms of rationale, this is a wonderful article that I think is worth checking out that encapsulates much my of ethos about pursuing self-hosting.

      https://kylechayka.substack.com/p/essay-the-digital-death-of-collecting

      The TL;DR is that we no longer have control over the things that we 'own' digitally for these massive cloud companies. For instance the songs / artists you listen to on Spotify may suddenly and unexpectedly become unavailable, certain things (most recently podcasts) may be forced upon you in unpleasant ways. Having complete control of your digital data is a very liberating feeling.


      In terms of apps:

      Hyperbackup - I use a synology NAS, so hyperbackup has been wonderful and use both external HD's and a cloud interface to create encrypted backups of everything which gives me peace of mind.

      Plex - One of my most used apps, being able to stream anything remotely has been a dream. Plexamp has given me back control of my music library in a way I never thought I would have.

      Tautulli - Great for more informatics on my plex usage

      Calibre / Calibreweb - Phenomenal for keeping track of my book collections

      PiHole - Ads be gone!

      *Arr apps - Specifically Sonarr/Prowlarr/Radarr, really like Overseerr for an interface tying everything together

      Daily Notes - A clean interface for keeping regular notes


      Some things that I'm not currently self-hosting but would love to hear if others are using alternatives...

      Instapaper - I know there are a few similar FOSS apps out there but haven't found one as convenient and well laid out

      TickTick - To do app, but similarly haven't found a FOSS alternative that was as robust and nice to use

      OneNote

      86 votes
    22. Recommend a piece of fiction that gives a specific feeling, regardless of genre or medium

      I've been looking lately for something new to read/watch/listen to/play and I've been chasing a particular feeling that some of my favorite works have given me in the past. It's something that's...

      I've been looking lately for something new to read/watch/listen to/play and I've been chasing a particular feeling that some of my favorite works have given me in the past.

      It's something that's hard to describe succinctly, so it's not exactly easy to just google search for something, and usually just telling people I like x thing gets me y recommendation which is maybe a similar style or genre but doesn't really elicit the particular feeling that I'm after.

      I figure other folks might have a similar problem, so I thought it might be fun to have a thread for requests for works that make you feel a certain way, regardless of genre or medium.

      I'll start mine in the comments and other folks feel free to ask for requests as top-level comments as well!

      22 votes
    23. What are your most trusted news sources and why?

      My personal favorites are Vox and The Guardian because they have detailed articles often showing different perspectives on the same issue and site sources I find reputable. Some other sites I...

      My personal favorites are Vox and The Guardian because they have detailed articles often showing different perspectives on the same issue and site sources I find reputable. Some other sites I really like are ProPublica and Five Thirty Eight (especially their politics podcast).

      27 votes
    24. RSS users - how do you use, organize and maximize your enjoyment of RSS?

      It's not something I've thought about much until I had a conversation with someone who sets up their RSS reader, and uses it, completely differently to me. I self-host FreshRSS, and typically just...

      It's not something I've thought about much until I had a conversation with someone who sets up their RSS reader, and uses it, completely differently to me.

      I self-host FreshRSS, and typically just use the Web UI provided by that - sometimes I use Android RSS apps to consume from that, but I've never found one I like that much. But I just categorize my RSS feeds by broad theme, e.g. computing & tech, local news, programming, tech news, gaming, business and so on...

      For the most part, I just browse through my main feed a few times per day and see if anything catches my eye. The only exception to this is that I have a few feeds in the 'Important' feed. One example is the forum related to a university project, where I need to know about entries pretty quickly.

      The person I was discussing with never subscribes to anything noisy. No BBC, no Ars Technica, and really nothing that posts more than once per day. They split their feeds into "Important", "Casual", "Videos", "Podcasts" (I never thought to add Podcasts, as I use a separate map) and "Comics". They have it set up with the intention of reading everything that comes through.

      I respect the curation effort that it must take to have an RSS feed where everything is interesting enough that you'd want to read it all. But for me, RSS is a method of discovering content. I don't need it too clean or overly curated. For the most part, I'm just going to skim it for interesting titles and subjects. The most curation I do is removing feeds after a while, if I notice I'm never interested in their content.

      I'm very keen to hear how you use RSS.

      46 votes
    25. Which podcast is your go-to recommendation to others?

      I listen to quite a few, from ones related to my industry to ones related to my hobbies, to some just related to history or storytelling. Most of my choices have been at the recommendation of...

      I listen to quite a few, from ones related to my industry to ones related to my hobbies, to some just related to history or storytelling. Most of my choices have been at the recommendation of others, so I'm looking to add some to this week's lineup.

      Queued up for my upcoming week:

      • Citations Needed
      • Darknet Diaries
      • Reply All
      • Rev Left Radio

      If you don't know of a good recommendation, what podcasts do you have queued up for this week?

      19 votes
    26. Coming up with a good personal domain name

      This is something I've been struggling with for a couple of months now. I want to make a website. I have the design I want to implement. I have a few things I want to post there. I have what seems...

      This is something I've been struggling with for a couple of months now.

      I want to make a website. I have the design I want to implement. I have a few things I want to post there. I have what seems to be a reliable hosting platform ready for use.

      What I don't have is the URL.

      It's a conceptually-difficult problem, because I want this URL to be permanent. I don't want it to be my name, because I don't want this thing I make to be about me. It's about what I do. This what I do is what needs the name, and I have nothing.

      A few people around the Internet know me as ThatFanficGuy, but using that creates false expectations, because my writing is mostly original. A few people around the Internet know me as FirebrandCoding or simply Firebrand – it's my GitHub handle, among other things – but it's an old name that I'd like to transcend.

      Essentially – and I hate myself for saying this – I need a brand name. I need a banner to unite the wide collection of all the things I do under a recognizable symbol. I write, worldbuild, code, design, blog, make games, photograph, potentially make music and even record podcasts... All of this needs encapsulation, and I've been racking my brain for a good name to no avail since November.

      A great example of such a name would be Magic & Wires. The website is currently empty. It used to be a game dev company, led by Firestream, who made Destiny RPG (now defunct) and Titan Conquest. If you scroll down on the main page of both games, it says "Made of magic and wires", which is such a cool way to use your name. I'm not one for murder, but I'd kill to have a name so cool.

      Has anyone experienced something similar? How have you dealt with it? Is there some sort of theory behind picking a good name for your project?

      25 votes
    27. Reply All is officially dead. What to listen to now?

      Reply All was consistently one of my favorite podcasts on my player. I've been a listener for years, and while risking sounding parasocial, I felt a huge loss when the show finally ended. There's...

      Reply All was consistently one of my favorite podcasts on my player. I've been a listener for years, and while risking sounding parasocial, I felt a huge loss when the show finally ended. There's something about the consistency of some content, and the nostalgia for the rough patches where that content helped make things easier, whether it be a podcast, TV show, or blog.

      It was that right mix of personality, investigative journalism, humor, and weird internet culture. I have a lot of alternatives in my player, but none of them seem to fill that RA-shaped hole. Here's what I'm listening to nowadays:

      • Underunderstood
      • You're Wrong About
      • Endless Thread
      • Darknet Diaries
      • Crypto Island

      Basically, I'm begging for podcast recommendations from shows you consider to be your favorite. Preferably, if you can include a recent, really good episode to get started with, I'll give it a listen and report back. Thanks!

      21 votes
    28. What noise canceling headphones can block?

      One of the greatest sources of stress in my life right now is noise. This is consistent with the (presently unconfirmed) hypothesis that I'm probably on the spectrum. I live in a very noisy...

      One of the greatest sources of stress in my life right now is noise. This is consistent with the (presently unconfirmed) hypothesis that I'm probably on the spectrum.

      I live in a very noisy neighborhood, with many sources of loud music several days a week. I use a regular headphone to try to isolate myself, but they're not always effective. I was thinking of purchasing a noise canceling headphone (NCH). I'd listen mostly to podcasts and white noise. Hence the title question: can these headphones cancel variable non-regular noises like loud music around me? And to what degree?

      Product recommendations are welcomed, with a focus on great noise canceling. I have a preference for over the ear headphones, but that's not a hard requirement. Other than that I don't have any requirements.

      Thanks!

      11 votes