pekt's recent activity
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Comment on Palantir employees are starting to wonder if they're the bad guys in ~society
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Comment on Palantir employees are starting to wonder if they're the bad guys in ~society
pekt Link ParentWell sir, thank you for giving me the Tolkien itch again. I now will be opening back up my Copy of the Fellowship of the ring which I've slowly been reading on my phone. I was reading my youngest...Well sir, thank you for giving me the Tolkien itch again. I now will be opening back up my Copy of the Fellowship of the ring which I've slowly been reading on my phone.
I was reading my youngest a bit of The Hobbit the other day to help him fall asleep which got me thinking I'd like to read some more Tolkien. Once I finish my current fantasy paperback book Dragons of Autumn Twlight, I think it'll be time to finally crack open The Silmarillion again for the first time since I was a tween/young teenager. I've been thinking about reading it for a while and I may give one of those podcasts that go through it a listen as well once I finish up since I know the lore is deep, and I'll probably miss things during this read though.
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Comment on Anyone else enjoying OSRS leagues? in ~games
pekt Link ParentI play almost exclusively using the mobile client. I don't have much time to play games and when I do get in front of my computer I usually want to play something I can only play on my computer....I play almost exclusively using the mobile client. I don't have much time to play games and when I do get in front of my computer I usually want to play something I can only play on my computer. Mobile works okay for the limited playing I do. I'm betting I would prefer playing on my computer once I got in to bossing.
I will occasionally buy a bond and play for a couple of weeks, but I mostly "play" by logging in a couple of times a week on my different alt accounts to shuffle some merchanting flips (buying items low and selling high) so that when I do decide to activate a bond I have GP to spend on things and enjpoy myself without feeling like I need to grind for GP during my membership time.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
pekt Link ParentI don't have a lot of time to play, so when I can get a run in it's fun since I'll still run into new things occasionally. I do agree that once the game has finished being balanced I'll definitely...I don't have a lot of time to play, so when I can get a run in it's fun since I'll still run into new things occasionally.
I do agree that once the game has finished being balanced I'll definitely play more. When it inevitably reaches mobile it will dominate my phone gaming time
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Comment on How are we all feeling about piracy these days? in ~movies
pekt Link ParentThat would have been great. I know some professors I had would co author books and mention what had changed between versions if you used an older version. One went so far as to offer a pdf with...That would have been great. I know some professors I had would co author books and mention what had changed between versions if you used an older version. One went so far as to offer a pdf with changes/new chapters.
This particular professor spent a solid 5 minutes of the lecture saying how you had to go out and buy this copy or you wouldn't be able to pass the class. Glad I never had any other classes she taught.
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Comment on How are we all feeling about piracy these days? in ~movies
pekt Link ParentWhen I was in university I had a teacher who wrote and published the required text book for the class that was bundled with an online component. It was mandatory that you purchased the textbook...When I was in university I had a teacher who wrote and published the required text book for the class that was bundled with an online component. It was mandatory that you purchased the textbook with the online access code to complete the assignments with some specific information for the homework contained in the text book, and she would make adjustments to the text book each term so that you were not able to purchase a used text book and just use the online portion (honestly reminded me of early DRM attempts where you would have to pull information from the game manual). $350 down the drain for her awful book.
Can't remember what the class was now, but I do remember it was a prerequisite class for many majors and each lecture she did would have a solid ~150-200 students in it, and she taught 3-4 lectures each term.
On the low end, if we assumed 150 students in each of 3 lectures, that is a total of $157,500 spent on just her text book by these students each term, and since my university had 3 main terms (fall, winter, and spring) that is total of $472,500 each year, on the upper end assuming full classes and 4 lectures that would have been $840,0000 spent my students. -
Comment on METRO 2039 | Official reveal trailer in ~games
pekt LinkI own Metro 2033 and this could nudge me in to playing it finally, hopefully my non-gaming focused laptop can handle it. Did anyone dive in to the books? Do the books compare to the games...I own Metro 2033 and this could nudge me in to playing it finally, hopefully my non-gaming focused laptop can handle it.
Did anyone dive in to the books? Do the books compare to the games favorably?
I read the original Metro 2033 and enjoyed it. I haven't read any of the sequels yet, but do plan to get to them eventually. I also didn't know there was an extended universe of other authors writing "metro" books that the author endorses, though from what I saw online most of them are not available in English and are of mixed quality, just like any shared literature universe.
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Comment on An insight into looksmaxxxing/blackpill "ideology" in ~life
pekt Link ParentI think my desire to have these men's only spaces stems from my experience in them. Playing American football in high school where I spent an inordinate amount of time with my teammates, both in...I think my desire to have these men's only spaces stems from my experience in them. Playing American football in high school where I spent an inordinate amount of time with my teammates, both in and out of the season (film review during lunchtime, morning weight lifting sessions before school, weight lifting in our lifting class, after school workout if you weren't playing a separate sport in the off season), and then the fraternity experience in college.
Hopefully I can set up something nice and productive, and in my own selfish desires this is going to help me make some friends in the community.
There are couples things the men grudgingly get dragged to and then after a while they become friends on their own to hang out.
I wonder how much of this is generational in some respects. The younger guys I meet (usually through church) generally want to be at whatever thing I'm at, but then again they could just be acting like that. Though I would like to acknowledge everything is say is my own limited experience and this could vary widely based on all kinds of local/regional factors. I know we live incredibly far apart, even when I still lived on the same continent as you.
I know my wife and mother in law both encouraged me to go to expat related events when we lived in another state so I could make friends, but I never took them up on that as the events would take place on the north side of the island (which was usually a ~40-50 minute drive from where we lived at the time) and were catered more towards retirees or people with older kids/sitters as the events would start at 8:30 - 9 PM. Just didn't seem worth it to me to drive that far to meet people I may not get along with and then drive all the way back just to get woken up early by my kids.
I know that my own tendency is to be a home body, and my own hobbies are mainly ones I would do at, and I'm hoping to break that mold a bit more by going out with guys I meet for a beer or just grabbing some nasi kandar at a local kopitiam (though I miss the superior nasi kandar in the state I lived before).
They had a giveaway for Fathers and single men: drive by and pick up $200 gift card worth of groceries including a brand new slow cooker crock pot already filled with delicious and nutritious stew ready to eat for the night plus a cookbook of easy crock pot recipes .
That is wild to me as I know free food is usually a sure way to get people in the door. Though I would probably have missed something like that as I'm not as connected in to local community things as I should be. It doesn't help that a lot of stuff is done here via Facebook groups or other social media and I got rid of my accounts years ago so the only time I see things like that is if my wife mentions it or my in-laws share it. My current church focuses on getting together to eat meals (break bread) together, so I'm hoping food will draw some guys in, and also finding things that we can do together like organizing a night to watch football or badminton during big games, or (ideally) doing something community service oriented.
I'd love to see more men take an active role in the affairs of their community and make a difference. If someone wanted to bounce ideas off each other, or even just chat about whatever they can always DM me on here. Great to chat to other Tilders about things like this.
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Comment on An insight into looksmaxxxing/blackpill "ideology" in ~life
pekt Link ParentI'm definitely a proponent of this, and while I try not to make it the sole purpose of my commenting here, after experiencing a college fraternity which had a space for just guys to support each...I'm definitely a proponent of this, and while I try not to make it the sole purpose of my commenting here, after experiencing a college fraternity which had a space for just guys to support each other I definitely can see what @Lobachevsky is getting at. Some of the best times in my college career were nights where we would "close" the house to non members and just have brotherhood focused events.
Post graduation I noticed that all of the churches I've attended would have a women's group and also usually a mom's group. While men would often get a men's weekend/retreat once a year and father's day. Once we got plugged in at my last church I had started talking to guys about forming a young men's group, but I didn't get it started before we moved, and the other guy who was pushing for it also moved at the same time so I don't think that will end up happening there which is a bummer.
I've made it a point to bring up the lead pastor of our new church my interest in starting both a dad's and a men's group at church. I'm not going to be able to get it started immediately, but I am talking to people I meet about it and everyone has been receptive. I'd like for fellow dads to get support from each other, with younger dads getting advise and mentorship from older dads. I'm also hoping while I still fall in the "younger adults" category that I can mentor some guys in our church. I've also started chatting with and am offering to mentor guys in my fraternity who are still in school.
It can definitely be intimidating to start something new, but I agree with you that men should go ahead and take the step and create the support groups and spaces that they need. Get some of the guys offline and around other men who can hopefully be a better impact on them. I know the ~21-23 year old guys I looked up to when I was new to college weren't always the best of role models, but they would still take the time to teach me something or help me out when I needed it and looked out for me at times when I made a fool of myself.
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Comment on An insight into looksmaxxxing/blackpill "ideology" in ~life
pekt LinkI'm glad you included explanations, as I've stopped keeping up current slang for just about anything. Reading things like this make me glad I'm married and not trying to date anymore. I met my...I'm glad you included explanations, as I've stopped keeping up current slang for just about anything. Reading things like this make me glad I'm married and not trying to date anymore.
I met my wife using Tinder when Tinder was still a fairly new dating app, this was in the mid 2010s. I felt like when I was using it I would get an okay amount of matches, and I'm a fairly average looking/average height guy, but I was also in a college town where there is more of a concentration of similarly aged single people. From what I've heard from my single guy friends who are now leaving their 20s or already in their early 30s is that most of them don't try using dating apps anymore as they're not worth their time/demotivating to use. A couple of them will open Tinder once a week and spend a few minutes swiping, but they don't really expect anything out of it.
In response to your conclusion instead of quoting your entire thing.
I remember seeing the modern iteration of the body positivity/healthy at any size happen around the time I was in college, again mid 2010s. Focusing on a guy perspective from that time period since that was the majority of my social circle, none of the guys that I knew bought in to it for themselves, and they would view being out of shape as a detriment to their chances for dating. That's not to say that it eliminated their chances like these black pill people would think of, I even met my future wife while I weighed a decent amount more than I personally wanted to, but that being in better physical shape would in most cases make them more attractive. For a lot of the guys I knew who met their girlfriends while being out of shape, they often met their girlfriend through a social event (something on campus, a philanthropy event, a party, etc.) compared to using dating apps. This definitely echoed what @boxer_dogs_dance mentioned of the ability to meet someone in person and having the chance to "judge" them based on other qualities besides looks.
I don't remember anyone falling down the "red pill" movement in regard to viewing women and success like that at that time, and among the guys I knew it felt more along the lines of focusing on self-improvement which would in term make you more attractive to a potential partner as a bonus. Lots of guys going to the gym together/studying together and treating each other as accountability buddies to make sure they were putting in the effort even when they didn't feel like it. Being a member of a fraternity may explain some of that mindset, though I did see similar outlooks in my friends who were not members.
Edit:
I did hear of one guy who was in my fraternity who years later got one of those surgeries to increase his height from being average to over 6ft. I heard this from guys who are closer to him since he was a few years older than me and I hadn't talked to him in ~7 years. Was a bit surprising as he never seemed insecure about his height or looks, and he didn't tell anyone that he was planning on doing it, or after he had done it and just showed up at an event a lot taller with the guys there obviously asking him what happened. -
Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
pekt LinkStill slowly making progress in Slay the Spire 2, I'm enjoying it immensely, but haven't switched over to the Beta branch as I haven't wanted to ask my friends to also make the switch to keep...Still slowly making progress in Slay the Spire 2, I'm enjoying it immensely, but haven't switched over to the Beta branch as I haven't wanted to ask my friends to also make the switch to keep friction to a minimum when playing together.
I also booted up and played a couple of levels of Creeper World (the original game). For those who haven't played it is a tower defense game where you play against a "goo" that is gravity based. It will slowly fill up lower areas before rising up to higher areas on the map. I picked it up years ago, and I enjoyed it enough to pick up Creeper World 3 which follows the format of the original game with more added to it. I wanted to "finish" Creeper World 1 by beating all the maps before I moved to Creeper World 3 since I don't think I'll want to go back to the original after playing with all the new bells and whistles. A fun game that goes on sale for cheap, and I've definitely enjoyed enough to say I got my money's worth. I think once I beat all the maps I'll have ~15 hours in the game
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
pekt LinkI've been playing some more Slay the Spire 2. I'm slowly working my way up the ascensions and doing some co-op runs with one of my friends during my lunch break which has been great. I've also...I've been playing some more Slay the Spire 2. I'm slowly working my way up the ascensions and doing some co-op runs with one of my friends during my lunch break which has been great.
I've also been wanting to dive in to a deeper strategy game. I had been thinking about picking up CK2 again, but I'm also wanting to get the cosmetic DLCs to add that little extra visual flair and let the mods I want to play have more variety as well.
Shadow Empire has been sitting in my library for a long time, so I started a game on easy, and I am trying to figure out some systems. It's a 4x game with a mix of war game features and with the release of the latest DLC a deeper political system as well. There's a pretty comprehensive manual, so I'll probably spend more time reading through that. I'm not a huge fan of the dev using so much AI art, but he does lay out his reasoning behind his use of it on his blog and also includes an option to completely toggle it off. He also has plans to add more human created art to the game to fit the previous style.
I know there are tons of games that you can play "forever" but this game could be one that keeps me hooked for a long time once I get over the initial learning curve.Getting thsi game started up actually got me to go finally go and start tracking down the issues with drivers on my personal computer since it was causing the game to crash randomly.
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Comment on Why Microsoft’s war on Windows’ Control Panel is taking so long in ~tech
pekt LinkI was always so annoyed whenever more functions were migrated out of Control Panel, only to have the Settings menu redirect to Control Panel randomly. I'm using the Windows 10 LTSC build which is...I was always so annoyed whenever more functions were migrated out of Control Panel, only to have the Settings menu redirect to Control Panel randomly.
I'm using the Windows 10 LTSC build which is nice as things won't change and then once the support window ends, I can just shift over to Linux. The only annoying thing is that I've run into some input related jank since switching to this build and I can't tell the issues are with specific drivers for my keyboard and mouse (or the keyboard/trackpad for my laptop) or if I'm having some input errors due to an actual issue with the keyboard on my laptop.
I remember before I worked in IT full-time that I'd be fully invested in spending hours diving in to something like this and getting it fixed. Now I just work around it to do the few life admin things that are much easier done on my personal computer. If it stops me from playing games or becomes bothersome I just turn off my computer and go read a book or do something else.
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Comment on Tildes Gardening Group: Week 6/4/26 in ~hobbies
pekt LinkI harvested a bunch of Javanese ginseng that was growing where the Owner had left it before they moved out. Was nice to get a couple of meals worth of veggie servings out of it. No real progress...I harvested a bunch of Javanese ginseng that was growing where the Owner had left it before they moved out. Was nice to get a couple of meals worth of veggie servings out of it.
No real progress planned this week. Still have life admin stuff I'm working through, and my wife is out of town so between work + kids + that stuff I'm just in maintenance mode watering our current plants.
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Comment on Megathread: April Fools' Day 2026 on the internet in ~talk
pekt LinkI saw that Reddit is doing another /r/place style thing over on /r/tyles starting on April Fools. I'm interested to see how it will play out. -
Comment on Solar oven/cooking in ~food
pekt Link ParentThat looks awesome! I think my wife wouldn't appreciate the price tag and I would need to use it every day for a long while before it would pay for itself in terms of energy cost, but definitely...That looks awesome!
I think my wife wouldn't appreciate the price tag and I would need to use it every day for a long while before it would pay for itself in terms of energy cost, but definitely saving this for a maybe one day as that would be super handy, also the ability to use it with electricity if needed would be cool, and it seems to fold down to a very easily manageable size. We could also use that at the beach here instead of needing to bring along a portable grill.
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Comment on Solar oven/cooking in ~food
pekt Link ParentI think I saw something similar in the video I watched where someone was using this. That could definitely work since it isn't very large and I could just set it on my driveway and then pick it up...I think I saw something similar in the video I watched where someone was using this.
That could definitely work since it isn't very large and I could just set it on my driveway and then pick it up later.
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Comment on Does anyone play older versions of Minecraft? in ~games
pekt Link ParentI'll be sure to let you know when I do get an official Minecraft account! After finding out I can play the beta versions for free I'll probably stick with those for the short gaming sessions I...I'll be sure to let you know when I do get an official Minecraft account! After finding out I can play the beta versions for free I'll probably stick with those for the short gaming sessions I have these days.
I'd love to play on the community server as it has been a very long time since I played on a server like that. The last server I played on was just a bit with my friend group who will once every few years spin up a server to play for a few months.
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Comment on Does anyone play older versions of Minecraft? in ~games
pekt Link ParentI have checked out his videos. I first watched some a ~year ago and enjoyed them and that got me thinking of it and sometime last week the urge to play again started up so I watched a couple of...I have checked out his videos. I first watched some a ~year ago and enjoyed them and that got me thinking of it and sometime last week the urge to play again started up so I watched a couple of his videos. I've been meaning to watch his longer videos where he dives in to those early build fork/mods.
I've avoided his Better than Adventure mod video though since I want to try that pack out fresh when I get around to it.
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Comment on Does anyone play older versions of Minecraft? in ~games
pekt Link ParentThat mod is one that I've been meaning to check out! I have a big list of mods like that for other versions of Minecraft that I saved on my personal computer. I think it's super cool and I'm glad...That mod is one that I've been meaning to check out! I have a big list of mods like that for other versions of Minecraft that I saved on my personal computer. I think it's super cool and I'm glad people are carrying on the Better Than Wolves torch by forking the game at different points.
I also say BTA raises the world height which definitely leans me towards playing that version. I'll probably play some vanilla 1.7.3 for awhile and then give that a shot.
I know there are several out there. I'm thinking either the Tolkien Professor or The Prancing Pony Podcast.
I've enjoyed a few of the Tolkien Professor's early podcasts on The Hobbit, and I've listened to some episodes of his Exploring the Lord of the Rings podcast.
I've also seen good reviews for The Prancing Pony Podcast, so I may check them out as well.