pekt's recent activity
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Comment on At what age do you consider someone to be an adult? in ~talk
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At what age do you consider someone to be an adult?
I've been rereading The Fellowship of the Ring and saw the mention of Hobbits having their coming of age at 33. "At that time Frodo was still in his tweens, as the hobbits called the irresponsible...
I've been rereading The Fellowship of the Ring and saw the mention of Hobbits having their coming of age at 33.
"At that time Frodo was still in his tweens, as the hobbits called the irresponsible twenties between childhood and coming of age at thirty-three."It made me wonder what all of your opinions are on adulthood/coming of age. Some questions I thought might be interesting around this topic include:
- Are there any coming of age ceremonies where you live or that you partook in?
- Are there any coming of age ceremonies you've heard of that you think would have been cool to participate in or think should be more widely adopted?
- When did you feel like you were an adult?
- Do you think the legal age that someone is considered an adult in your country should be changed?
- Do you think there are some things that should be age gated beyond the age of legal adult good? (I.e.: in the US alcohol being restricted to those who are 21+ years of age while someone is a legal adult at 18.)
Curious to see your thoughts on this!
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Comment on What have you been watching / reading this week? (Anime/Manga) in ~anime
pekt My slow watch through of Taiyou no Kiba Dagram continues! I've watched through episode 45 so far. This episode was interesting and carried right where the previous episode left off exploring the...My slow watch through of Taiyou no Kiba Dagram continues! I've watched through episode 45 so far.
This episode was interesting and carried right where the previous episode left off exploring the side character Rita and her relationship with Destin (who I previously referred to as Donovan, I should have double checked that since I hadn't watched in awhile).
Rita over hears Destin confirming he's a traitor while speaking to his handler and arranging his next job. She then decides to confront him and ask him to run off with her as she still appreciates all he did for changing her life. Destin then panics during the encounter thinking she had betrayed him and ends up shooting Rita.
The gorillas get a tip off that an incoming train has been loaded with a shipment of arms to give the federation forces a reason for an armed intervention into the area they are hiding. Dougram and the gang manage to get the weapons disposed of before they make it to the checkpoint and have a quick mech fight to round off the episode.
I've really enjoyed this anime so far, after 45 episodes we've only had one recap episode and no episode that feels like filler. There hasn't been a random beach episode or some contest with people in a random town. Each episode has built on the prior ones and I've enjoyed seeing the plot progress.
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Comment on What books do you recommend for someone looking for positive vibes or casual amusement or escape in ~books
pekt I would recommend the first book The Misenchanted Sword as a great starting point. It gives some nice background to the series and is set during the establishment of the Etshar city states. I...I would recommend the first book The Misenchanted Sword as a great starting point. It gives some nice background to the series and is set during the establishment of the Etshar city states.
I started with the second book, With a Single Spell and loved it.
The author goes over the books he thinks are good starting points and what later books serve as follow ups/loose sequels to specific previous books on his FAQ page in question 9.
I know how you feel about long book series. I'm currently on Book 7 of Malazan Book of the Fallen and while I love it I find myself thinking a lot while reading it. With my work getting a bit nuts I've been branching out into some easier to follow and lighter books.
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Comment on What’s a book about your area that you think would be interesting to people outside of it? in ~books
pekt The Phoenix Project was a novel written to help give a narrative and example for the implementation of the devops movement. While I don't work in a devops role within IT, I got this as part of a...The Phoenix Project was a novel written to help give a narrative and example for the implementation of the devops movement. While I don't work in a devops role within IT, I got this as part of a bundle when spending my IT education budget to grab a copy of the Devops Handbook as I wanted to explore it further.
I did not expect The Phoenix Project to be so good, and I ended up sitting on my couch and reading the entire book over the span of a day the weekend after I picked it up.
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Comment on What books do you recommend for someone looking for positive vibes or casual amusement or escape in ~books
pekt I'd like to recommend the Ethshar series. I mentioned this in another book suggestion thread, but they do fit here. They're standalone novels (for the most part) set in the same setting. They're...I'd like to recommend the Ethshar series. I mentioned this in another book suggestion thread, but they do fit here. They're standalone novels (for the most part) set in the same setting. They're all generally light-hearted and fun reads, and are relatively quick reads at that. For me, they really capture that feeling of fantasy that is "fun" to read, quick and enjoyable stories that don't overstay their welcome. I actually started reading another of them after bringing them up in the other thread because I felt like I could use something quick and lighthearted right now.
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Comment on Book suggestions in ~books
pekt (edited )LinkIt wouldn't be a book recommendation thread without the obligatory you should read Malazan! Very epic fantasy, but darker than Brandon Sanderson's work by a good amount. I'm currently reading it...It wouldn't be a book recommendation thread without the obligatory you should read Malazan! Very epic fantasy, but darker than Brandon Sanderson's work by a good amount. I'm currently reading it and have loved the series so far.
Have you read the Lord of the Rings? It still holds up to this day and is the classic epic fantasy adventure that has gone on to influence many other works over the years, whether directly or indirectly. It is also shorter than a lot of people remember. The entire trilogy clocks in at ~480,000 words, which is less than Wind and Truth (the latest Stormlight Archives novel for those who are not familiar with the series) and this word count also includes the brief introductory chapter about Hobbit lore which can be skipped by those who are not interested and the appendices which I would guess are mostly skipped/browsed lightly by people who read the series.
I'd like to recommend the Ethshar series. This is a series of standalone fantasy books set in the same world. I've only read the first two so far, and admittedly read book 2 before book 1 without feeling lost or confused. The only benefit to reading the first book is it explains some of the back story for the setting and details how the kingdoms/city states (its been awhile since I read these) got started. They're short and great fun! Book 2, With a Single Spell, follows the adventures of a novice mage who only learns a single spell (how to cast a fireball, essentially) before his master passes away. This was written as a sort of challenge due to someone asking the author, who ran a custom TTRPG, how someone would play a character with only 1 spell (the mages were able to pick spells by rolling a D100 to determine how many spells their character knew).
The Obsidian Chronicles may be enjoyable for you. This is a trilogy following a young man who manages to survive a dragon attack on his village. I don't want to give away any of the plot points as I really enjoyed seeing how this series progressed.
The Corean Chronicles is a gunpowder fantasy series that has an interesting magic system. I have only read the initial trilogy, but found it a great read and enjoyed seeing the main character increase in power and learn more about the world, while really only wanting to get back to his farm and enjoy his quiet life.
The Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn series is very much epic fantasy. I found the series to be a bit of a slow burn and really got to know the characters and watch them grow throughout the series. I enjoyed this and look forward to reading the other books in the setting eventually.
A bit tangential, but I've really enjoyed the Dresden Files series. This is an urban fantasy series where you follow Harry Dresden, a wizard who is a private investigator in contemporary Chicago. The series is long, but each book is relatively short. I do give the warning that the first two books are the weakest (I still enjoyed them and think they are worth reading) and that the series really found its footing in book 3 and then started running. You get to watch Harry grow through the series and one of the biggest appeals to me is seeing how he interacts, and his relationships grow with the different characters.
I'd give more recommendations, but just these series should keep you covered for a while. I hope some of these click for you, and if they do, I'd be happy to hear your thoughts about the books.
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Comment on What have you been watching / reading this week? (Anime/Manga) in ~anime
pekt My slow watch through of Taiyou no Kiba Dagram continues! I've watched through episode 44 so far. Life has continued to be busy, and I haven't had a smuch time to sit down and watch anime as I'd...My slow watch through of Taiyou no Kiba Dagram continues! I've watched through episode 44 so far. Life has continued to be busy, and I haven't had a smuch time to sit down and watch anime as I'd like. I actually watched this a few weeks ago and forgot to write down my thoughts for this one after watching it.
This episode started off with more political intrigue. A series of false flag operations have begun to paint the guerillas in a bad light, by having mercenaries pose as them to rob banks and kill police/ordinary citizens during the process.
We also got some backstory on a couple of supporting/side characters. Rita, ditsy singer/semi gyaru character, used to be some type of stripper/adult dancer and was convinced to stop by Donovan (I'm pretty sure that's his name). This sheds some light on his character and makes you wonder what caused him to eventually flip sides and become so mercenary. Donovan ends up feeding Rita information and setting a trip for Dagram and company.
Through the power of plot armor the main characters are able to break out of the ambush without losing anyone and Dagram does what it does best, be the #1 mech and wreck the federation forces. A friendly newspaper then published an account of this ambush.
Seeing the ramifications of the political back and forth with propaganda being used to try and destabilize the other position is great. It's not the central theme and I feel like if I had watched this while I was younger I would have given the political element less focus.
Also there are pay phone booths in the far future on this planet and people complain about long distance calls costing so much while holding a bag of coins to pay the fees. This retro futurism is always great whenever I spot things like that!
I'm excited to finish this series! My goal is to have it be done this year. I have a couple of long flights coming up and I play to watch most of it during those.
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Comment on You can change ONE thing about a game. What do you change? in ~games
pekt (edited )Link ParentIt's a worth a replay in my opinion! The gameplay is missing some modern conveniences but every time I play I find myself drawn in and all I want to do is just keep playing. One of these days I'll...It's a worth a replay in my opinion! The gameplay is missing some modern conveniences but every time I play I find myself drawn in and all I want to do is just keep playing. One of these days I'll go for a complete photo album run!
There's a modder who is adding some quality of life features in a ROM hack which I'm excited to play when it is released.
There's also an excellent strategy guide that was made by a fan of the game which he released for free as a PDF. There's also a printed version he makes which is very high quality. My wife got me a copy a few years ago and I love it!
If you were ever curious what was displayed on the 4th channel on the television there is a fan translation project that is translating all of those episodes and providing great background information/context that would be needed to understand the shows. Here's a link to their project named Lost in Localization!
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Comment on Grand Sumo Hatsu (January) basho discussion [Spoilers through day 15] in ~sports.combat
pekt Chinese New Year kept me busy so I haven't been able to respond sooner. I think Hoshoryu's title and promotion are going to get the lion's share of discussion, with good reason! I'm excited to see...Chinese New Year kept me busy so I haven't been able to respond sooner.
I think Hoshoryu's title and promotion are going to get the lion's share of discussion, with good reason! I'm excited to see how his career as a yokozuna progresses. I think we may be returning to a time when the yokozuna is the best currently fighting, but not the clear favorite to win every basho they enter. I've been cheering for him for years now, but even with his clear improvements I don't see him currently being head and shoulders above everyone else in terms of his skill.
Regarding his dohyo iri, I haven't watched his first one yet and I'm looking forward to it. I did hear on Grand Sumo Breakdown that there are preferred styles for the different ichimons which can influence the choice a yokozuna makes when they decide.
I agree with you on the other performances overall. I think Oho really turned a performance corner this basho and put things together. Kotosakura may have an injury impacting him and I'm surprised he didn't pull out to get extra recovery time. Kinbozan I had a hard time considering a favorite to win even as we entered the final stretch.
The Waka brothers also disappointed this time. It felt like they both lacked power and weren't able to give their 100%.
Ura continues to be entertaining in his bouts. He always seems like he's having the most fun out of anyone in the top division when he is in the ring. He always goes for the fun/interesting kimarite.
I watched NHKs official English broadcast this time around as Natto Sumo's has been relegated to an alternative source and I didn't like the camera work as much. It was okay, but I wish they'd just hire Natto to do their graphics and release the videos he makes for a subscription fee. I feel like I'm missing so much information when I watch their highlight videos.
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Comment on You can change ONE thing about a game. What do you change? in ~games
pekt Coming from playing older Harvest Moon/Story of Seasons games it still feels odd to me that time doesn't pause indoors when I play. If I played SDV on my computer I'd definitely install a mod to...Coming from playing older Harvest Moon/Story of Seasons games it still feels odd to me that time doesn't pause indoors when I play. If I played SDV on my computer I'd definitely install a mod to do that.
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Grand Sumo Hatsu (January) basho discussion [Spoilers through day 15]
Warning: this post may contain spoilers
I'd love to hear everyone's thoughts who watched through the basho.
I don't have all my thoughts together yet but wanted to post this after watching the last day of the basho to get the ball rolling on any discussion.
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Comment on How nine popular YouTubers helped US President Donald Trump win a second term in ~society
pekt Your comment had me reflecting on my own experience growing up. I relate to both the group identity and the physical touch aspect a lot. Below is a bit long winded reflect on my own personal...Your comment had me reflecting on my own experience growing up. I relate to both the group identity and the physical touch aspect a lot. Below is a bit long winded reflect on my own personal experience with both of those aspects. It felt like reading your comment really nailed my own experiences growing up and my current experience of being more socially isolated in person where I'm lacking a group to belong to but get my share of my physical touch having two young boys.
While I had friends growing up on my classes the ones I tended to be closest with were the ones I would also would play basketball on the youth league. I never liked basketball but my parents thought a sport would be good and since I had friends play it each year it became a self perpetuating cycle of playing until I got into high school.
I joined the football team and that combined both the something to belong to that I shared with my teammates and the physical touch aspect. I felt like I had a great group of guys I got to spend time with throughout high school. Even though for most of them I shared little in common outside of the team I still would spend 20-25+ hours a week with them during the season and 5-10 hours a week in the off season. Working out and with the associated physicality of spotting each in weights, running drills, etc.
My fraternity was my next step in college of having something bigger than myself to be a part of and share with a group of guys, and it was an amazing experience for myself and had a lot of the same elements of my football team. A mostly seniority based hierarchy, workouts with guys who were interested, regularly scheduled events, a sense of belonging to an organization with our own chapter being nearly 100 years old when I joined and all of its associated history.
You mentioning groups scattering is dead on in my experience. I still have a core group of high school friends after all these years but my football friends all drifted a apart in the months following our final season and then even faster once graduation happened. Similarly my fraternity brothers would start drifting apart after graduation. It was common for the oldest brothers to be fairly checked out at the end of the time as an active member (myself included) as they were either burned out or focused on starting their post college life.
My fraternity didnt historical and doesn't currently have a strong alumni program with events and things to keep us in regular contact and I've been having to make an effort over the years to reach out to brothers to keep in contact with them since it's become so easy for us to not talk for years without having the chapter or other things to keep us in contact. I was shortlisted to become our chapter's alumni board president if I had ended up living in the major city near my chapter and revitalizing how we handle our alumni experience was one of my main goals.
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Comment on What are you reading these days? in ~books
pekt I read through that several years ago and remember it petering out a bit around that point as well. It was an interesting read and the end of it was pretty good. I think around the point you're at...I read through that several years ago and remember it petering out a bit around that point as well. It was an interesting read and the end of it was pretty good. I think around the point you're at I took a break and read another shorter book before coming back to finish it, which helped me not feel so bogged down.
I'd be curious to see what your thoughts are on it when/if you finish.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
pekt My wife took our kids out for a few hours, and that was the first time I've had to play games in a long while. I thought about playing Kingdom Come Deliverance which I was kindly given in the...My wife took our kids out for a few hours, and that was the first time I've had to play games in a long while. I thought about playing Kingdom Come Deliverance which I was kindly given in the Christmas/holiday games giveaway, but wasn't sure when I'd get the time to play again, so have kept that shelved until I feel like I can play a good amount.
I booted up Factorio for the first time after getting gifted Space Age by my manager at work. A couple of hours disappeared into some early game spaghetti. I realized I build a smelting column with Medium power poles in mind and now need to set up another one since I don't have access to steel yet. That game is amazing and every time I play I have to set a timer since I will end up playing way too long if I don't (my friend and I had a free weekend in college and played for 17 hours straight).
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Comment on Bearblog: A privacy-first, no-nonsense, super-fast blogging platform in ~tech
pekt I'm not currently using another platform. I like the idea of blogging, and hopefully will start writing somewhat frequently again. Good luck finding a platform that fits your needs!I'm not currently using another platform. I like the idea of blogging, and hopefully will start writing somewhat frequently again.
Good luck finding a platform that fits your needs!
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Comment on Bearblog: A privacy-first, no-nonsense, super-fast blogging platform in ~tech
pekt Bearblog was great and easy to use while I used it. I still think about going back and posting somewhat regularly again. The only thing stopping me is I found that I wanted my ideas to be more...Bearblog was great and easy to use while I used it. I still think about going back and posting somewhat regularly again. The only thing stopping me is I found that I wanted my ideas to be more polished when I was posting them somewhere that was my "own page" even if it was anonymous, and found myself spending a lot more time on it than I had originally planned.
Awesome platform and glad to see it continue to be used.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
pekt Running my current character at 19 with ~$800 was not my smartest choice. When I can play again I'm going to see if I can make this run successful, if I get stopped by the cops or something...Running my current character at 19 with ~$800 was not my smartest choice. When I can play again I'm going to see if I can make this run successful, if I get stopped by the cops or something catastrophic happens I'll write this guy off and try again.
I feel like the atmosphere of the game really draws me in while I'm playing. I definitely got sucked in the first time I played and only got pulled out when my alarm went off that I set, so I didn't stay up too late. The sound especially really captures that feel of being in a spaceship. I'm looking forward to the UI changes they add, and I'm hoping they add more things like the nav console and how immersive it feels to pilot your ship.
I've actually had this game sitting in the back of my head since I got it. Hopefully I'll be able to sit and play soon.
I'm not sure if you've seen it, but Objects and Space also has a great atmosphere as well, but sadly development was cut short and left the bones of a potentially great game sitting there. It doesn't scratch the same itch, but I'd love if some of the systems, specifically the repair and interface system with the different components on a ship, made it into Ostranauts. I'd be so happy if the code base for the game was released as an open source project since the developers are not going to touch it again, and I did see that there is someone in the community who has been trying to get that to happen.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
pekt I also just picked this game up and have been thoroughly enjoying it. I've only got ~2 hours in so far. There have been a couple of odd behaviors that a reload fixed for me (my user model...I also just picked this game up and have been thoroughly enjoying it. I've only got ~2 hours in so far. There have been a couple of odd behaviors that a reload fixed for me (my user model completely disappeared at one point), but for the most part it's been stable.
I had someone mention in the Discord when I asked how old people tend to age their characters that after 30 years of age there starts to be a chance to randomly developing negative traits when I asked how old people age their characters.
I've so far killed my first character by docking too fast, and my second character I started very young and didn't know there were some freebies on K-LEG that I didn't see, so I've got no money and am about to go in debt. Planning to scrap sell some items at the scrap kiosk and use the free welder to repair some items while I fly to the Flotilla to see if I can make any money there so I can afford a license.
I enjoyed the looting aspect of Neo Scavenger, and this game is basically that. I'm looking forward to what else they add to the game and quality of life improvements. It feels like there is tons of room for this setting to be expanded by the developers or mods. There are so many asteroids in the solar system that could house stations.
I only get to play in 20–30 minutes chunks on average, so a lot of my progress is pretty slow, especially just starting out as I'm figuring out how to play the game, but it's one that I can see myself slowly putting in a lot of hours.
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Comment on Why aren't we talking about the real reason male college enrollment is dropping? in ~life.men
pekt (edited )Link ParentI also have some anecdotal experience from my time in a US university, which is tangentially related. I graduated closer to 10 years ago, which is starting to make me feel older. I joined a...I also have some anecdotal experience from my time in a US university, which is tangentially related. I graduated closer to 10 years ago, which is starting to make me feel older.
I joined a college fraternity during my freshman year, there were several guys I knew from high school who had joined, and my childhood best friend was also rushing, so I thought I would give it a go. It was great having a space to hang out with my friends and have guys be guys, we had bylaws that were enforced and systems in place to remove guys who didn't meet our chapter's academic standards or were problematic (for lack of a better word to describe a variety of behaviors that were unacceptable).
That being said, it felt like there was a double-edged acceptance of Greek life existing, but a hostility to it at the same time. During my freshman year they removed the ability for freshmen to move from the dorms into a Greek life house, even though the university didn't have enough dorms available, which meant they had to rent apartments for some students to live in. We were eventually given the ability to house freshmen again if we met certain standards, including requiring hosting university sanctioned educational talks on a variety of subjects each term. During my three years living in our chapter house, every speaker we had present spoke down to us regarding the topic and acted as though we were responsible for everything wrong that they would be presenting on (alcohol safety, rape culture, racism, etc.).
It felt as a whole that having a space for only men was treated as a negative and a something to be viewed with suspicion by the university and members of the staff. We had an entire term of social events removed because a freshman woman decided to drink too much and come to our house for a party because she knew one of our pledges. When we saw the state she was in, we invited her to sit on our couch inside and got her water to drink. She became unresponsive, so I called an ambulance for her. Even though she admitted at the meeting I had to go that she drank nearly an entire fifth of vodka before she came to our house and was only there for ~30 minutes before being picked up by the ambulance, it was our fault because she was at our house and by virtue of us hosting a party we caused her to drink too much.
When I became president of my chapter, the amount of meetings, and hoops I had to jump through with the university put me off from ever wanting to support them financially. So many meetings to get small things approved or be questioned on events, things that were happened, things reported about our chapter (the vast majority of which were not true, but I still had to go into a meeting for it). Plus having to deal with them changing polices mid-year based on a whim; when a new community director was hired or a member of their staff changed and their idea of what was acceptable for us to do was different from their predecessor; or some negative event related by a Greek Life chapter happened on the other side of the country. My year as president was one of the most stressful years in my life, but also taught me so many valuable lessons in an environment where I had my fraternity brothers to support me, call me out on things, and help put me back on track when I needed it.
Historically, Greek Life alumni have been some of the largest donors to universities, but I wonder if that trend will continue in the coming decades based on the trend I've seen of increasing university hostility towards Greek Life. I'd much rather give my money to support my chapter, a fraternity scholarship, or the international fraternity as a whole then give the university that caused me so much headache a dime.
This is all my own experience, I'm an avid proponent of the value Greek Life provides to its members. I wouldn't be the man I am today without having that environment to learn and grow. I had guys help me through some of my darkest moments, give me tough advice that I needed to hear, or just be the shoulder I needed. I also was part of that same support network, helping guys through tough breakups, the death of parents or close family members, drug and alcohol addictions, among many other things. That all being said, I'll freely admit that we have our own share of problems in the community and there are members and chapters who deserve being shut down and legally prosecuted for the things they do.
If you don't mind me asking, which country are you from?
After moving to South East Asia, I've seen how much more common it is for children to stay with their parents well into their adulthood than it was in the US. Though I understand that has been shifting as the economy does not nice things, student loans, etc. From the people I've met since moving here, their families usually see it as a waste for that person to live away from home if their job is in the same area, especially when they're not married.