pekt's recent activity
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Comment on What are your personal crackpot conspiracy theories about the world right now? in ~talk
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
pekt Link ParentOne of these days I plan to pick up Vintage Story! Maybe as a birthday present to myself next year. Every time I see people play it or when an update comes out it makes me want to pull the trigger.One of these days I plan to pick up Vintage Story! Maybe as a birthday present to myself next year. Every time I see people play it or when an update comes out it makes me want to pull the trigger.
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Comment on What are you reading these days? in ~books
pekt LinkI haven't read as much during the last two weeks, in part due to juggling sick kids, sick me, and team members being out at work during some major incidents. I also figured I'd stop including...I haven't read as much during the last two weeks, in part due to juggling sick kids, sick me, and team members being out at work during some major incidents. I also figured I'd stop including books I'm not making progress on until I start picking them up again since it inflates the list for the time being, unless they were ones being read during the last list.
I did find out that I am able to read at a decent speed on my phone in split-screen mode while also doing agility in Old School Rune Scape. Not sure if I'll get another bond soon, but It was fun doing both at once.
Finished:
Under the Eagle by Simon Scarrow is a story about the roman empire during Claudias' reign following a young man who has been granted his freedom through joining the 2nd Legion. This was a very enjoyable read. Quick with a good amount of actions
Eternity Road by Jack McDevitt released in 1997 - The story follows an expedition in post apocalyptic world to find a mythical location that was used to store and preserve knowledge/history of the pre-apocalypse world. I thought it was a great read and it is also interesting in that it gets a mild "retro" futurism thrown in as the apocalypse takes place in the 2200's so we have some predictions on what technology would be like in the form of surviving technology.
Mountain Man by Keith C. Blackmore released in 2011 - A zombie novel that follows a more average joe character (main character was a house painter) starting 2 years after a zombie break out has destroyed the modern world. He found an off the grid house with a wall outside of the smaller city in Canada where he lived after things broke out and has been living there and scavenging that city to help him stockpile food before the Canadian winters kick in. From what I've gathered it takes place in a near future (at the time of release) sometime in the late 2020s.
This was a shorter novel that was quick to read through. I enjoy zombie books occasionally and this was nice having it follow someone who wasn't currently/previously a member of the armed forces. The main character drinks a very unhealthy amount of alcohol to cope with the zombies and his experiences.Progress made
The Fellowship of the Ring - Read a few pages but haven't had that point where it hooks me and I start reading several chapters, but as always with The Lord of the Rings I read in spurts when the mood takes me
The Silmarillion - I managed to read the first couple of pages, but it is harder for me to find time to sit down and just read my physical copy so this is probably going to take me awhile to read.
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Comment on What change would make you quit Tildes? in ~tildes
pekt LinkI think if the flood gates were opened and Tildes was no longer invite only. With the rise of AI accounts on other platforms I'd like to avoid that here for longer if possible. I also read this in...I think if the flood gates were opened and Tildes was no longer invite only. With the rise of AI accounts on other platforms I'd like to avoid that here for longer if possible.
I also read this in my morning tired brain as "What changes would make you quit your job" and was very confused at the first couple of comments.
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Comment on An open letter to the University of California Regents requesting that standardized testing be re-introduced into admissions, >200 UC Professors signatures in ~humanities
pekt Link ParentI grew up in Oregon and in the late 00's early 10's remember myself and family/friends not needing to pay for the first time taking the SAT, and we were required to pay for any retakes.I grew up in Oregon and in the late 00's early 10's remember myself and family/friends not needing to pay for the first time taking the SAT, and we were required to pay for any retakes.
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Comment on When did your preferred fighting game franchises peak? in ~games
pekt Link ParentSo many hours spent in this game playing with friends. I had friends that got in to competitive smash during university, and it was always cool seeing the things that they could do their and them...So many hours spent in this game playing with friends. I had friends that got in to competitive smash during university, and it was always cool seeing the things that they could do their and them going to local tournaments.
My fraternity kept a Game Cube (and I think still does) in the living room that was/is almost exclusively used for Smash. Waiting for literally anything, why not play some smash with whoever is around.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
pekt (edited )LinkI decided to pop/redeem the bond I had been sitting on in Old School RuneScape (OSRS) recently. It has been fun playing and making some progress on my account. I've done a few more quests and...I decided to pop/redeem the bond I had been sitting on in Old School RuneScape (OSRS) recently.
It has been fun playing and making some progress on my account. I've done a few more quests and still have a bit over a week on my bond. I've been leaning in to some of the more AFK methods to do on the side while I work to increase my stats.The thing I enjoy about OSRS as a Dad is that the bit of progress I make on my account is still relevant whenever I come back. Some gear may be out classed, but they do a good job of not making gear completely redundant like you would expect when a new World of Warcraft expansion releases. Barrows is a minigame/bossing content that was released in 2005 and the content is still very relevant in 2026.
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Comment on What's your favorite personal gaming memory? in ~games
pekt Link ParentHis parents only visited a couple of times during that year and didn't list the house until after graduation. We also kept the house clean for the most part and would spend some time at the end of...His parents only visited a couple of times during that year and didn't list the house until after graduation. We also kept the house clean for the most part and would spend some time at the end of each weekend cleaning up. Since we hosted the LAN in one room everytime it wasn't hard to just put everything in the trash and run a vacuum. I'm pretty sure they knew about the LAN, but didn't care. His uncle would stop by every now and then to help him take care of the property and would have seen all the tables and chairs + whatever we left there.
He never hosted any ragers. He got asked when people found out he lived alone to which he replied "I live here, I don't want you guys trashing my house".
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Comment on What's your favorite personal gaming memory? in ~games
pekt LinkI had a friend whose family moved out of state during his senior year of high school but didn't want to move him away from all of his friends that last year so they left him living in their old...I had a friend whose family moved out of state during his senior year of high school but didn't want to move him away from all of his friends that last year so they left him living in their old house with the plan to sell it after he graduated.
Another friend and I over the previous year had got our whole group to move to PC gaming, and we started having regular LAN parties at his house on weekends. After the first couple of LANs we started leaving the tables we brought over there and only taking them out when one of our families needed them for something. My Dad would do some computer repair work on the side and had plenty of extra stuff, so we had a small minecraft server running on a desktop in the corner and extra peripherals and cables in case anyone forgot something. Some of my friends who weren't involved in extracurriculars would sometimes stay at his house on weekdays as well, so the LAN felt like it was never really ending.
So many amazing memories:
- Staying up late most nights gaming until the morning, a lot of the time bundled up in blankets as the heater in his house had issues during the winter and would cut out randomly
- Playing League of Legends together, with 5 v 5 matches when we had enough people
- Weekend long Civ games, with at least one guy always cheesing Mongolia
- Counter Strike lobbies and playing other random FPS games together
- Having one person play a horror game on the TV while we had all the lights turned off in the house
- Someone bringing over their Xbox 360 and playing through split screen Halo co-op
- Nights when we'd have ~6-10 guys doing homework and playing random games while chatting
- Late night pizza/burrito/snack runs
Besides one guy leaving the group for reasons, we've all remained in contact and I still hop on their Discord occasionally to chat as my morning is their post work hangout time. We have done a few LANs post graudation from high school. Some during college, others post graduation from college. We had a final one before my oldest was born and I moved abroad as a pre "responsibilities"/send off. When I next come to the US we're going to try and get everyone together, even the guys who have moved out of state.
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Comment on What has changed as you've gotten older? in ~talk
pekt Link ParentWe would usually ask when they pledged if they had any dietary or personal restrictions like that. If a guy doesn't want to drink that's his choice. We had a guy who mentioned he wouldn't drink...We would usually ask when they pledged if they had any dietary or personal restrictions like that. If a guy doesn't want to drink that's his choice. We had a guy who mentioned he wouldn't drink beer as he had crohn's disease and beer would cause flare-ups or the vegetarian guy etc.
I wouldn't necessarily call the hauling of sand a fun activity, but it was a bonding experience for the entire pledge class and their big brothers. I'm sure someone would come out of the woodwork and call it hazing, but I think we managed a very good balance of having the experience be challenging and the initiation week feeling like a rite of passage of sorts.
Alumni are able to re-visit. Usually you'll see recent alumni come by for a party or two if invited by active brothers and older alumni will drop by when they're in the area to take a look at the house, share some stories, and usually drop off a case of beer for the active guys. Some of the guys I went to school with still live fairly close and go by regularly for tailgating and other events that alumni are invited to. I think I went by twice post graduation to guys I was still friends with. Since then they've had a big rennovation project and if I can swing it I may take a drive down to visit again when I go visit my parents again in the US, just depends on if I bring my family along or not since I wouldn't want to bring them on a 4 hour round trip just for nostalgia.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
pekt Link ParentOSRS I believe is more popular the mainline RuneScape 3. It recently hit an all time high player count of over 250k concurrent players, so it is still alive and well. There's a free to play tier...OSRS I believe is more popular the mainline RuneScape 3. It recently hit an all time high player count of over 250k concurrent players, so it is still alive and well.
There's a free to play tier and I'd recommend giving it a try, with the paid to play tier unlocking a ton more content if you enjoy free to play.
I've been playing RuneScape since I was a kid, and I did play some after OSRS first released and would play on and off for years. I unfortunately lost my account due to switching authenticator apps and having a work thing come up mid switch and leaving it off for awhile. Came back to my account being banned for botting.
My new account I made ~7 years ago. What's nice is that any progress you make in the game remains relevant no matter how long a break you take. I play rarely and in small bursts doing a few quests and what not. I have other friends who have maxed accounts and do end game content.
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Comment on What has changed as you've gotten older? in ~talk
pekt Link ParentThe toga party is one of our formal house dances, with my chapter hosting the first one in 1950 before it was adopted by the entire fraternity a few years later. Getting the sand in is a bucket...The toga party is one of our formal house dances, with my chapter hosting the first one in 1950 before it was adopted by the entire fraternity a few years later.
Getting the sand in is a bucket brigade by any active member/pledge who wants to join in. Usually some mixed drinks/jungle juice as an incentive to test out what we'd serve during the party. Getting the sand out was also a bucket brigade powered by pledges and their big brothers as part of initiation week. If they have a smaller pledge class other brothers will help out to make sure it isn't too much work for them. It's a team building activity, not a punishment after all.
Something funny was that during a somewhat recent big renovation they replaced wall paneling and found decades of sand layered behind it almost like tree rings. You could see the different shades of sand over the years.
I haven't watched many fraternity movies. Old School was funny but not very accurate. I'm personally a fan of Animal House, classic movie and my manager at my university job was president of the Sigma Nu chapter where they filmed the Omega House scenes. I've had friends tell me Blue Mountain State caught the feeling even though it isn't about fraternity life. Monster's University is pretty fun, classic bottom house improving story.
I think it's a very unique experience and I really do recommend people to approach if with an open mind. You'll meet people from so many different walks of life. We had straight edge brothers who wouldn't touch a drop of alcohol or any drugs and they never got any problems. We had one guy show up to a drinking game with a gallon of milk instead of alcohol and we all thought it was hilarious. You also learn to live with and bond with people who are vastly different from you. I remember seeing one of our Christian brothers taking a radical atheist to hospital after he broke his wrist or a staunch "communist" sitting down with an avowed MAGA conservative to help him with homework he struggled with. Those same brothers would then go out to bars and come back to argue with each other about politics (which was very annoying when I was playing Smash Bros while baked).
I'm an open book about my experiences since I think people have a lot of misconceptions or assumptions about it. The only off limit topic is the fraternity's initistion ritual, as that is the one secret part that serves as a tie that binds us together. For non members it would just be a "oh that's interesting" curiosity, but for the members it is a meaningful experience that feels earned after the pledging process.
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Comment on ‘The Mandalorian and Grogu’ reviews mixed: “Boring and lifeless” vs. “best Star Wars in years” in ~movies
pekt Link ParentI still need to dive in to the EU. It's been on my reading list for ages, but I just haven't gotten around to it yet. Not sure why I never got around to it, but one of these days I'll enjoy those...I still need to dive in to the EU. It's been on my reading list for ages, but I just haven't gotten around to it yet. Not sure why I never got around to it, but one of these days I'll enjoy those books.
Most of my EU content exposure was through Star Wars video games.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
pekt LinkI've continued with my background flipping for Old School RuneScape (OSRS) on my various accounts. If you're not familiar with OSRS, I'm essentially buying low and selling high. My focus is...I've continued with my background flipping for Old School RuneScape (OSRS) on my various accounts. If you're not familiar with OSRS, I'm essentially buying low and selling high. My focus is usually on high volume/low margin items. Items where a large volume of them are traded daily, and I can gain 1-2 GP per transaction.
I finally got around to knocking out the remaining F2P quests on my main, and I am debating popping my bond and playing through some members content for a bit. Most of this will just be doing some background skilling and flipping during my work day with a bit of questing thrown in. -
Comment on What has changed as you've gotten older? in ~talk
pekt (edited )Link ParentThings could change, and I've moved past it bothering me in most cases. If they don't want to talk to me, they don't owe me the response. Out of the people that stopped responding there's only one...Things could change, and I've moved past it bothering me in most cases. If they don't want to talk to me, they don't owe me the response. Out of the people that stopped responding there's only one that I'd actually want to reconnect with, but I don't have a way to get in contact with him besides through his brother and I don't want to put him in that awkward situation. I also don't think he would be receptive as my other friend, whom he also cut off, is pretty sure his girlfriend (now wife) was the reason he stopped talking to us. Long story there, but at this point it's been ~10 years.
I've unfortunately been immature and ghosted a couple of people previously. Not a high moment for me, but not something I plan to do again. Easier for everyone to just end things directly and not leave someone wondering.
Edit: I changed back to past since I meant I had moved past this bothering me.
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Comment on ‘The Mandalorian and Grogu’ reviews mixed: “Boring and lifeless” vs. “best Star Wars in years” in ~movies
pekt Link ParentWhen I see Star Wars things now I always wonder how Disney had so much material prewritten for them in the form of the Extended Universe, that they could have easily adapted/rewritten as movies...When I see Star Wars things now I always wonder how Disney had so much material prewritten for them in the form of the Extended Universe, that they could have easily adapted/rewritten as movies and instead chose to make the sequel era movies instead.
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Comment on What are you reading these days? in ~books
pekt Link ParentIs this your first time reading through the Lord of the Rings?Is this your first time reading through the Lord of the Rings?
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Comment on What has changed as you've gotten older? in ~talk
pekt Link ParentInteresting, I feel like Reddit's has gotten worse lately when I do visit it. I used to see a lot of highly upvoted posts from Subreddits I was subscribed to, and now I see a lot more random...Interesting, I feel like Reddit's has gotten worse lately when I do visit it. I used to see a lot of highly upvoted posts from Subreddits I was subscribed to, and now I see a lot more random posts. I've also occasionally seen it subscribe me to Subreddits that I never subscribed to. It gets worse and worse and I try to stick to niche subs these days.
YouTube I feel has a decent lock on things I'd find interesting, but I wish they'd tone down how aggressive it recommends things. I watch one video that looks interesting, and then I'll see similar videos recommended a ton for a while.
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Comment on What has changed as you've gotten older? in ~talk
pekt Link ParentI probably should have phrased that the playing games was something that I did besides just wanting to. I still very much want to do that in my 30s! Though I do find gaming to be a much lower...I probably should have phrased that the playing games was something that I did besides just wanting to. I still very much want to do that in my 30s! Though I do find gaming to be a much lower priority for me. I think once my kids are a bit older and can play with me, I'll probably start gaming a bit more and in the distant distant future when they are adults I'll play a lot more regularly.
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Comment on What has changed as you've gotten older? in ~talk
pekt Link ParentI would say yes/no. My shift out of partying also came as part of my embracing of my faith so there's a bit of Philippines 3:8 to how I view a lot of my actions at that time. I have some fond...I would say yes/no. My shift out of partying also came as part of my embracing of my faith so there's a bit of Philippines 3:8 to how I view a lot of my actions at that time.
I have some fond memories of the crazy things they we did, but there are actions I took that I look back on and can't help but cringe.
Some highlights:
- Filling a basement with 5 inch layer of sand for a toga party
- The closed house party we'd do before our pledges officially became pledges which included full contact capture the flag
- Nights of bonding with random people after drinking/drugs during parties and some of these people actually becoming real friends
- Some of the nights where very real conversations due to alcohol loosening people's tongues and helping them get things off their chests
Some lowlights:
- Bad trips
- Hurting people with my selfish actions and sleeping around
- Grades tanking the year I partied hardest due to a mix of getting over a breakup, not being interested in my major, and partying
Midlight:
- I sold pot brownies to help pay for tution and we tried a "death batch" that was super strong. Had 9 friends each eat one to test it out. I had a free day and me and one on my best friends got stuck on my futon. Could not get ourselves to get up for hours and had to half crawl to the bathroom. I was high for ~18 hours. The positive of it was I had nothing to do and we watched Record of the Lodoss war and other anime all day
I met my wife towards the end of my partying phase and we did a decent amount of partying together from fraternity parties to raves. We met each other at very low points in our lives and climbed out together through the grace of God.
I needed to put on some extra tinfoil for this one. Make sure you add an extra layer to your hats before reading.
The lizard people are building up the chaos in the world so that they can take their mask off at a critical juncture and assume control in their regular forms, as the resources needed to maintain their flesh masks prevents them from growing their population. The investment in AI is due to our technology finally reaching a point to where it can b e used to develop a system powerful enough to pilot their damaged starship they have stashed on the moon. With the AI pilot they can plot a course back home and enter in to suspended animation.
Once they are prepared to leave they'll harvest any remaining natural resources they want to bring back with them leaving us with a husk of our earth and everyone very angry at each other, assuming they don't decide to get rid of us on their way out.
For a less out there theory:
The world elites are actually wanting a major world conflict to allow them to cull the world's population as they will be more insulated from it. People are absolutely not prepared for a widespread conflict with how globalized the economy has become. Assuming that Taiwan question finally demands a solution and the major powers decided to a gentleman's agreement to not use nuclear weapons, the resulting chaos from a major world power conflict would leave hundreds of millions to potential 1-2 billion people dead. This death toll depends a lot on the scope of the conflict, and which countries participate.
I think that in the aftermath of this conflict the elites would be able to seize additional power and much of the population would be grateful for some form of stability and regular access to food/water/peace in their lives after the resulting chaos of a major conflict that they would accept their freedoms being greatly curtailed.
I don't think people should go full doomsday prepper level, but taking the time to start preparing things in this crazy world would help immensely. Having multiple weeks/months of supplies works as a certain form of insurance for lose of job in the crazy market, and would also allow resources to be allocated to other members of the community during times of natural disaster/conflict.