pekt's recent activity
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Comment on Recommend me some deep dive YouTube videos / Portland trip recs! in ~travel
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Comment on Recommend me some deep dive YouTube videos / Portland trip recs! in ~travel
pekt Link ParentI didn't know American Dream Pizza had a location in Portland, otherwise I would have recommended it. When I lived in Corvallis ADP was a great option for a pint and slice for lunch or as a casual...I didn't know American Dream Pizza had a location in Portland, otherwise I would have recommended it. When I lived in Corvallis ADP was a great option for a pint and slice for lunch or as a casual place to meet some friends.
I remember guys in my fraternity getting to know the bar tender there over the years, and it was one of the few places I'd frequent with them when they'd start their bar crawls since it was close to where we lived and wasn't too expensive. Usually it was my only stop of the night before heading home since I've never been a big bar guy considering I was on a budget and it was so much cheaper to not pay bar prices to drink.
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Comment on Recommend me some deep dive YouTube videos / Portland trip recs! in ~travel
pekt Link ParentWhen I was a kid, my favorite birthday or Christmas present was getting $20 to spend there, and I'd be able to get a pile of used books. I had a bit of sticker shock when I went there years later...When I was a kid, my favorite birthday or Christmas present was getting $20 to spend there, and I'd be able to get a pile of used books. I had a bit of sticker shock when I went there years later and saw how much the prices had gone up since I was a kid, but I was happy to pay more to support them since they're a local business.
As a fun side note, I found out one of my friends knows the family who owns Powell's Books since they go to the same church as them. Felt like one of those small world moments and how you can be only a few connections away from so many people.
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Comment on Recommend me some deep dive YouTube videos / Portland trip recs! in ~travel
pekt (edited )LinkPowell's City of Books is my number 1 recommendation for places people should visit when they go to Portland. It's my favorite place in the city and besides meeting a friend it is the only reason...Powell's City of Books is my number 1 recommendation for places people should visit when they go to Portland. It's my favorite place in the city and besides meeting a friend it is the only reason I would personally go in to downtown Portland.
Multnomah Falls is a great hike that isn't too far east of Portland, but I'm not sure how much the forest has recovered since I haven't been there after the wildfire, I assume it's doing well since I can't remember what year that was so it's probably be at least 5+ years.
Voodoo Donuts are a local chain, with alright donuts (in my opinion), several of them with entertaining/proactive names. I personally think Blue Star Donuts are better, but Voodoo is more well known.
Apizza Scholls has some great pizza, I hadn't been before but my friends brought me last time I was in town.
There's also a wide variety of craft beers to try from local breweries if you enjoy beer. McMenamins should have a decent selection not beers and the chain is local to Oregon/Washington.
If you want to try fast food that is local, Burgerville is a chain focuses on local/organic/sustainable. Their food has always been good, but pricier compared to other fast food. I haven't been in at least a decade so can't comment on it in recent years.
I hope to have a great trip! If you have any questions about the place feel free to dm me. I grew up in one of the suburbs, so while I didn't spend a lot of time in Portland proper since I'm not a big fan of the downtown/big cities in general, I can hopefully answer any questions you might have.
Ps. You may want to indicate you are talking about Portland Oregon. I got into a confusing discussion with my coworker about meeting up when we were both in the US only to discover he was going to Portland Maine
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Comment on Mewgenics | Review trailer in ~games
pekt LinkIt's cool to see this finally released after it's been talked about for so long. I played a lot of Binding of Isaac years ago, and thought this would for sure be a day 1 buy for me when if came...It's cool to see this finally released after it's been talked about for so long. I played a lot of Binding of Isaac years ago, and thought this would for sure be a day 1 buy for me when if came out. I'd be happy if I got it as a gift, but with how little time I spend on games now I don't think I'll end up buying this myself in the foreseeable future.
I'm curious how good this is, the videos that were posted of the gameplay looked interesting.
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Comment on The death of mass market paperbacks in ~books
pekt Link ParentI don't think I've ever read a book in that format, but I'll keep a look out next time I go to a used book store here in Malaysia since there is definitely going to be books coming from those...I don't think I've ever read a book in that format, but I'll keep a look out next time I go to a used book store here in Malaysia since there is definitely going to be books coming from those countries you mentioned here. I had to look up a size comparison online so wrap my head around the differences. That does look like a sweat spot between the trade and mass market paperback sizes.
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Comment on The death of mass market paperbacks in ~books
pekt Link ParentBooks are the one thing that I collect, and I'd definitely plan to slowly get more as I read the books I have. I love the old book covers, and if I had money and space I'd even collect some of the...Books are the one thing that I collect, and I'd definitely plan to slowly get more as I read the books I have. I love the old book covers, and if I had money and space I'd even collect some of the different editions since there can be so much variety between different regions and editions of some books over the years.
I know I often judge books by their cover when I'm quickly going through a bookshelf at a used book store.
I agree with you so much on the Wheel of Time covers now, I really dislike their modern color gradient books. This is definitely a personal preference, I understand some people like that for their bookshelf, but I always found my eyes draw to the chaotic images, heck I'd love to get some of the older pulpier books just for their outlandish covers.
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Comment on itch.io: No ICE in Minnesota Bundle in ~games
pekt LinkI remember thinking Humble Bundles would come with a lot of games, but I forgot how big these Itch.io bundles can be for things like this. I thought I'd look at a few of the things included and...I remember thinking Humble Bundles would come with a lot of games, but I forgot how big these Itch.io bundles can be for things like this. I thought I'd look at a few of the things included and then kept scrolling and scrolling and looked over and saw there were 1,439 items included.
For people who purchase bundles of this size, how do you approach looking through or sorting them for things you might be interested in?
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Comment on The death of mass market paperbacks in ~books
pekt LinkI remember seeing this a few months ago and thinking about posting it, but life tends to get busy, and a New York Times article come out a few days ago that also mentioned this, link:...I remember seeing this a few months ago and thinking about posting it, but life tends to get busy, and a New York Times article come out a few days ago that also mentioned this, link: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/06/books/mass-market-paperback-books.html
I chose to share the Publisher weekly link since it doesn't have a paywall and I don't have a New York Times subscription.
I've always enjoyed mass-market paperbacks for their size and cost. I loved being able to build up my collection with them over the years, and a big chunk of the books I own are in that format. I only really noticed the shift to trade paperbacks when I was collecting the Emberverse series and noticed halfway through the shift in form factor.
I always liked the variety of covers that older scifi/fantasy books had since they were more eye catching than many (not all) modern books have since many covers are now designed to be viewable as smaller icons in online stores in an ereader platform.
I don't have anything particularly interesting to share, I'm just a bit sad seeing the format end even though it makes sense from a cost and shifting consumer demand perspective.
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The death of mass market paperbacks
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Comment on Discord will require a face scan or ID for full access next month in ~tech
pekt (edited )Link ParentI read an interesting book on internet pornography and how addictive it can be for people, especially teens/young adults whose brains are actively developing. The book features a number of...- Exemplary
I read an interesting book on internet pornography and how addictive it can be for people, especially teens/young adults whose brains are actively developing. The book features a number of testimonials from people struggling with pornography addiction, but also included research that was current at the time. I didn't process that 2014 was over a decade ago until I started writing this comment, so it isn't up-to-date research being cited. The book is titled Your Brain on Porn.
I haven't looked in to subsequent research, but I did find how it was an interesting read in framing how different internet pornography is from previous forms of pornography. It also got me thinking about how addictive social media platforms/the internet can be. While they're not praying on the "reproduce" portions of the brain, they still offer that low effort novelty/dopamine that makes it so easy to just keep engaging with the platforms.
I'm not for Discord requiring IDs, since I don't trust them or other platforms with that information and would prefer a privacy first age attestation standard being adopted before platforms attempt to gate off any sort of adult content behind an age gap, but governments are definitely pushing for things like this from what I've seen regarding social media bans/adult content age enforcement laws going into effect. That being said, I thought I'd share this book as there has been some research done on the negatives of internet pornography for people.
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Comment on What are you reading these days? in ~books
pekt LinkI'm firmly in the latter half of The Crippled God, the final book in Malazan Book of the Fallen. I'm excited to see how the series wraps up! I keep debating what will the next big series I'll read...I'm firmly in the latter half of The Crippled God, the final book in Malazan Book of the Fallen. I'm excited to see how the series wraps up! I keep debating what will the next big series I'll read next is. Either a space opera or potentially just continuing down the Malazan rabbit hole.
I also started reading The Fort by Bernard Cornwell which is set in the American Revolutionary War. I've enjoyed his books for a long time, and had the itch to read Sharpe but didn't feel like diving back in to another long series so this book is scratching that itch. This also led me to see he published the last book in his The Saxon Stories series a few years back, which I'll pick up soon to see how that ends.
I started reading Dragons of Autumn Twilight a little while ago. I had a head injury with a minor concussion and took a day off work and decided I'd read something simple, and I'd had the box set of these books on my shelf for years after picking them up at a thrift store. It's filled with tropes, and I'm really enjoying it.
I've got a bunch of other books I jump in to occasionally, my reading has slowed down on this (and in general) over the last couple of weeks with some life stuff going on and I decided to use a bond in Old School Runescape so I had spent some of the time I normally spend reading playing that.
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Comment on I'm annoyed with mundane revisionist history in ~talk
pekt Link ParentI had multiple friends whose family's only got a PS2 since it also played DVDs, and the kids used that as a reason their parents should totally buy one since it did both. I've no idea how much...I had multiple friends whose family's only got a PS2 since it also played DVDs, and the kids used that as a reason their parents should totally buy one since it did both. I've no idea how much their families used it for DVD playing since we only played games on it while I was over.
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Comment on I'm back in ~talk
pekt Link ParentOne of my personal best decisions I made was start adding in filters to remove political topics. I like it here and while political stuff will still show up in random threads (since we're human...One of my personal best decisions I made was start adding in filters to remove political topics. I like it here and while political stuff will still show up in random threads (since we're human and bring political opinions/thoughts with us) people have the good grace not to completely derail a conversation on a niche topic into yet another discussion on the current political going ons.
For me having a space with cool people and interesting topics/discussion that isn't constantly revolving around current political thing has been refreshing. I'll turn off the filters occasionally to take a look, but they go back up pretty quickly.
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Comment on I'm back in ~talk
pekt Link ParentI'll stick with Tilders, nice and simple!I'll stick with Tilders, nice and simple!
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Comment on I'm back in ~talk
pekt Link ParentOn one hand I enjoy the idea of Tildes growing a lot and there being more users who share their niche interests and perspectives, on the other hand I'm glad the growth is slow and people take time...On one hand I enjoy the idea of Tildes growing a lot and there being more users who share their niche interests and perspectives, on the other hand I'm glad the growth is slow and people take time to get used to things here and the quality of posts remains high while the quantity is not overwhelming.
I also remember commenting this on another post that Tildes' lower quantity of posts also has made me want to start topics/conversations with people here and post things more often than I did on other platforms.
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Comment on What's something you've moved on from? in ~talk
pekt Link ParentI still go on Reddit some, mainly niche subreddits or /r/fantasy for more book recommendations since I clearly do not have enough books on my 1k+ to read list, but I definitely have noticed I feel...I still go on Reddit some, mainly niche subreddits or /r/fantasy for more book recommendations since I clearly do not have enough books on my 1k+ to read list, but I definitely have noticed I feel better mentally when I stay off of it.
I thought I'd share what helped me years ago when I had my first "huh I should really not spend so much time on Reddit" realizations. I took replaced the location of my Reddit is Fun icon on my phone with my ereading app once I started picking up reading again. Then when opened my phone I would muscle memory open up my ereader app instead of Reddit and I started making a lot of progress in books I kept saying I wanted to read but "didn't have time to read" since I would read a few pages here and there instead of looking at a random thread that ultimately I didn't get much out of.
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Comment on What's something you've moved on from? in ~talk
pekt Link ParentI also enjoyed discovering and trying out different sours after I started drinking less. I enjoyed a cucumber sour at a local brewer before I moved out of the states. I wish I could get some here,...I also enjoyed discovering and trying out different sours after I started drinking less. I enjoyed a cucumber sour at a local brewer before I moved out of the states. I wish I could get some here, but there are no craft breweries in this country (restricted brewing licenses and home brewing is technically illegal here, I live in a Muslim majority country so they have somewhat strict control on the production of and also highly tax alcohol).
When I went back to the states to visit my friends and family last year and enjoyed trying whatever sours were on tap when I'd go out.
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Comment on Super Monkey Ball web game in ~games
pekt LinkI was never amazing at these games, but they were always a ton of fun to play. I remember playing a bunch of the party games in Super Monkeyball 2 with my brother and cousins when I was younger....I was never amazing at these games, but they were always a ton of fun to play. I remember playing a bunch of the party games in Super Monkeyball 2 with my brother and cousins when I was younger.
Thanks for sharing this!
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Comment on What's something you've moved on from? in ~talk
pekt Link ParentI relate to you on people sharing about the other points of being over weed/alcohol. I feel like I could share "my story" but it is similar to a lot of other people and I think they said it better...I relate to you on people sharing about the other points of being over weed/alcohol. I feel like I could share "my story" but it is similar to a lot of other people and I think they said it better than I did.
After I graduated I went to work in a smaller IT team and I loved learning new things for work. I had a smaller home lab, I started studying for certs during downtime at work and outside of work as well. I could have worked harder on that, but still wanted to enjoy some of my other hobbies that I held on to outside of what felt like a continuation of my job. After having kids, I'm finding I'm having such a hard time getting myself motivated to learn new technologies and upskill myself. I know I want to do those things so I can get in a better position to provide for my family, but after working with tech for 8 hours a day I'd rather read a book (for fun/unrelated to tech), play with my kids, or get some of the stream of never ending house work done.
I've been thinking about starting a thread here to ask how other people who have families/familial obligations keep interested and up to date with all the trends in tech related to their job. I used to wonder why my dad, who also worked in IT, didn't want to play games or do more tech stuff after work (besides the bit of computer repair he did for friends/family as a side thing). Now I get it.
Now that I think about it, that was also the last time I went to their downtown location as well. The only solid deals I found were on their selection of very old vintage books, and some of the older/more beat up copies of used books. IIRC, my girlfriend (now wife) and I came out with an okay amount of books for $20 each and had some fun reading.
I wanted to visit it one last time before I moved out of the country, but there was still a visitor limit due to COVID, and I wasn't going to wait 2 hours in line with a baby and pregnant wife to go in, so we visited their Hawthorne branch and I think I only got 1 used book then for ~$4-5.
Definitely an experience I think people would appreciate, I agree with that it is probably more touristy and something to do to say you went and buy something to support the business. Now that I don't live in the US and don't earn USD, I don't think I'd go shopping there when I go back to visit, since I'm guessing prices have only gone up since I was last there.