smoontjes's recent activity

  1. Comment on Enough phone (compact phone) kickstarter is up in ~tech

    smoontjes
    Link Parent
    That's still significant though. Basically every big company nowadays only make phones that are 6 inches or more. It's pretty much impossible to get a flagship smartphone that is smaller than that.

    That's still significant though. Basically every big company nowadays only make phones that are 6 inches or more. It's pretty much impossible to get a flagship smartphone that is smaller than that.

    3 votes

  2. Comment on Real-life 'Truman Show' pulled from TV as it's branded 'psychological torture' in ~tv

    smoontjes
    Link Parent
    He was paid but he was essentially extorted. If he didn't agree to let it air, he would only be paid DKK 25000. If he agreed, he would get paid 800000 for the 4 months of work. That's USD $4000 vs...

    He was paid but he was essentially extorted.

    If he didn't agree to let it air, he would only be paid DKK 25000. If he agreed, he would get paid 800000 for the 4 months of work.

    That's USD $4000 vs $120000.

    5 votes

  3. Comment on Real-life 'Truman Show' pulled from TV as it's branded 'psychological torture' in ~tv

    smoontjes
    Link Parent
    Lifelong best friend and business partner. They also manipulated the show itself. In the scene where it's revealed to him that it was all a lie, he gets up and leaves, but they re-use an audio...

    his close friend (?)

    Lifelong best friend and business partner.

    They also manipulated the show itself. In the scene where it's revealed to him that it was all a lie, he gets up and leaves, but they re-use an audio clip of him laughing to make it look like he thinks it's funny when it's pretty obvious that he's upset.

    TV2 are rightfully being put on blast for the entire thingand thankfully pretty much everyone in the country agree how messed up it is. And some of the 149 participants have already fully publicly apologized for participating.

    21 votes

  4. Comment on 2026 United States midterm elections distractions topic in ~talk

  5. Comment on Midweek Movie Free Talk in ~movies

    smoontjes
    Link
    Always a shame when movies have great ideas but just lack the execution. Tuner (2025) and The Dog Stars (2026) both fit into this. Tuner had a really excellent first half, the sound design was...

    Always a shame when movies have great ideas but just lack the execution.

    Tuner (2025) and The Dog Stars (2026) both fit into this. Tuner had a really excellent first half, the sound design was incredible, but the movie just became a bunch of cliches towards the end sadly. The Dog Stars never really got off the ground but it was still an interesting concept in that it did post-apocalypse a little different than usual, but also too many derivatives too sadly. 5-6/10 for both.

    3 votes

  6. Comment on Russia’s return to international hockey triggers European boycott and sponsorship crisis in ~sports.hockey

    smoontjes
    Link

    An arbitration ruling ordering Russia’s reinstatement has prompted European federations to refuse matches, corporate sponsors to withdraw and Germany to reconsider hosting the 2027 World Championship. The dispute now threatens the organisation of several international tournaments and raises wider questions about Russia’s return to world sport.

    International ice hockey faces an unprecedented confrontation between its governing authorities, national federations and commercial partners following a ruling requiring Russia’s return to international competition despite its continuing war against Ukraine.

    The decision by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne on 30 October has triggered coordinated opposition across Europe, with six national federations refusing to play against Russia, major sponsors withdrawing their support and Germany considering whether it can proceed with hosting the 2027 World Championship.

    3 votes

  8. Comment on Supermarkets freezers across Europe hit by second suspected cyber-attack in ~tech

    smoontjes
    Link
    Also report about Ireland and Estonia supermarkets: link Seems like hybrid warfare of some kind?

    Supermarket chains in Sweden, Belgium and Luxembourg have said the temperatures of their refrigerators and freezers in dozens of stores rose overnight, prompting fears of a cyber-attack similar to one that caused millions of euros of food losses in France.

    Also report about Ireland and Estonia supermarkets: link

    Seems like hybrid warfare of some kind?

    12 votes

  10. Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games

    smoontjes
    Link Parent
    Yeah and then you go back to TMUF which had 7 and yet the new stuff is way harder to learn because of so many types of surfaces too! It was basically asphalt, dirt, and grass, nothing else. I...

    Yeah and then you go back to TMUF which had 7 and yet the new stuff is way harder to learn because of so many types of surfaces too! It was basically asphalt, dirt, and grass, nothing else. I can't count how much there is nowadays. Not to mention what happens when your tires get wet or icy or both @_@

    1 vote

  11. Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games

    smoontjes
    Link Parent
    Trackmania is such a different game than it used to be. Before the current live service version, it was pretty straight forward. It was all about precision with very few tricks and special...

    Trackmania is such a different game than it used to be. Before the current live service version, it was pretty straight forward. It was all about precision with very few tricks and special techniques, at least regarding the stadium environment car. It has of course always been an arcade racing game, and there was always wallrides, loops, and jumps. But that was more or less the extent of it. Now though they've added so much stuff it's crazy, like I'm sure it's still fun but as someone that grew up on the old game it feels so weird to be turning the car around 90 degrees to drift on the ice and then go underwater and then go bouncing around on plastic haha

    2 votes

  12. Comment on How do you handle being around other people? in ~talk

    smoontjes
    Link
    I don't really :( Following this thread with great interest.. after I do things with others, almost no matter who it is, half the time I have serious crashes afterwards

    I don't really :( Following this thread with great interest.. after I do things with others, almost no matter who it is, half the time I have serious crashes afterwards

    3 votes

  13. Comment on Midweek Movie Free Talk in ~movies

    smoontjes
    Link
    Spiderman 4 came out on streaming recently so I got around to watching it. I thought it was pretty good but not impressively so. 7/10. No in depth analysis or review here, just continuously...

    Spiderman 4 came out on streaming recently so I got around to watching it. I thought it was pretty good but not impressively so. 7/10.

    No in depth analysis or review here, just continuously wondering what makes Spiderman so succesful compared to everything else in the genre. I like the MCU franchise but I really don't understand what makes this particular character so much more interesting or appealing than all the others, especially to the point of selling that much better?

    4 votes

  14. Comment on Looking for advice: How do I find out what stocks to invest into? in ~finance

    smoontjes
    Link
    Thank you everyone here for their advice, suggestions, and help! I'm glad I posted here because I've really learned a few things about investing as well as about the way forwards with a retirement...

    Thank you everyone here for their advice, suggestions, and help! I'm glad I posted here because I've really learned a few things about investing as well as about the way forwards with a retirement account. I wish there was an @everyone tag or something unintrusive that isn't to just outright tag everyone individually because I want you to see that I appreciate you but also not spam 😅

    1 vote

  15. Comment on Does Tildes welcomes “self-promoting” links to personal blog posts? in ~tildes

    smoontjes
    Link
    I think you're perfectly fine and probably the silent majority never had any issue whatsoever with any of your postings.

    I think you're perfectly fine and probably the silent majority never had any issue whatsoever with any of your postings.

    10 votes

  16. Comment on A deep sense of ease – what the Danes call ‘tryg’ – is a collective responsibility that allows individuals to flourish in ~health.mental

    smoontjes
    Link Parent
    I mean we probably have a better social cohesion than the US but that's also a really, really low bar. I'm a little afraid you're romanticizing us and doing the reverse to your own country maybe?...

    I mean we probably have a better social cohesion than the US but that's also a really, really low bar. I'm a little afraid you're romanticizing us and doing the reverse to your own country maybe? Because we certainly have plenty of littering, dog poop, linecutters, loud music, and people being loud in public.

    12 votes

  17. Comment on A deep sense of ease – what the Danes call ‘tryg’ – is a collective responsibility that allows individuals to flourish in ~health.mental

    smoontjes
    Link Parent
    Reminds me of this silly thing that made the rounds not too long ago. Like the Germans are geniuses for this novel concept of.. checks notes.. opening the windows once in a while! So yeah, agreed,...

    Reminds me of this silly thing that made the rounds not too long ago. Like the Germans are geniuses for this novel concept of.. checks notes.. opening the windows once in a while! So yeah, agreed, it's so stupid.

    8 votes

  18. Comment on Maybe I hate technology in ~tech

    smoontjes
    Link Parent
    Yeah early social media seemed to be what chatrooms evolved into. For my surroundings at least it was a natural change to go from MSN Messenger to Facebook back in the late 00's. So yeah irl stuff...

    Yeah early social media seemed to be what chatrooms evolved into. For my surroundings at least it was a natural change to go from MSN Messenger to Facebook back in the late 00's. So yeah irl stuff was what was prevalent in posts. Most people no longer use social media that way for some reason or other, you're right. I'm not quite sure why that even changed? Seemed like it was slow and gradual.

  19. Looking for advice: How do I find out what stocks to invest into?

    ~finance Ask (advice)
    First of all, I am not asking for advice about what to invest in. TLDR: I just want to ask for advice about how to know what to invest into? Background information and/or irrelevant rambling...

    First of all, I am not asking for advice about what to invest in.

    TLDR: I just want to ask for advice about how to know what to invest into?

    Background information and/or irrelevant rambling below:

    I have minimal experience with stocks, having only invested €2500 into a pension account thanks to it being a gift from my father some years ago. Early this year I got taxed about €200 for unrealized gains of my stocks, mainly one of them (RHM.DE) and it takes up a little more than half of the value of the stocks I have. At that point in time when I got taxed it was up almost 100% compared to when I bought it almost two years ago. It has now fallen quite far again and as a result is up less than 10% and my gains are €180 so basically the massive gains (if I had sold at the right time) got cancelled from the taxes. Although to be fair I don't actually know if that's how the tax system works, but I do know I was unlucky to not just sell it off at that peak. But speaking of luck, I am still up like 60% overall thanks to another lucky stock which is up 150% (ENR.DE) compared to when I bought it.

    Again, I have no sense for economics or financials or investing lol, genuinely just lucky??

    The investing I did was based entirely on Merz changing the direction of German defense policy when he got elected where he said his government will heavily invest in defense. Rheinmetall being a German weapons manufacturer, it only made sense (and it paid off for a while) and the Siemens investment I made was just an afterthought in order to not have all my eggs in one basket. I also have other stocks that are up like 60% 75%, 90%, and then get this: a stock I didn't even buy (it was like a split-off of something else, and given to me automatically?) is up over 800% so I still have an overall value of €4000 from a starting point of about €2500 and €1500 gained in less than two years is, of course, and I cannot emphasize this enough, just purely luck lol

    I might as well have gone to a casino.

    Long story short and reason for posting I'm now wondering what to do with that RHM.DE stock. Because it doesn't seem good anymore and maybe the ~€2100 value is better spent somewhere else? But how do I know?

    23 votes

  20. Comment on Since season 4 of The Diplomat is out today, here is one of the best scenes from the show (season 2 episode 6 spoilers!) in ~tv

    smoontjes
    Link Parent
    If you liked The West Wing you'll definitely like this. Janney doesn't really appear until season 2 as I remember, but from then on she's in the main cast.

    If you liked The West Wing you'll definitely like this. Janney doesn't really appear until season 2 as I remember, but from then on she's in the main cast.

    5 votes