secret_online's recent activity
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Comment on Tildes Minecraft Weekly - Tiny Little Babies Edition (26.1 Update) in ~games
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Comment on Jet Lag Season 17: Taiwan Rail Rush | Trailer in ~hobbies
secret_online (edited )Link ParentOuttakes video (Nebula) Episode 8 spoilers Sam's face after Michael asked which other animal is orange with black stripes really says it all. There was a lot of discussion on the podcast, as one...Episode 8 spoilers
This was a very fair and well-deserved... loss
- Sam Denby, 2026 (within the first minute of the podcast episode)Sam's face after Michael asked which other animal is orange with black stripes really says it all.
There was a lot of discussion on the podcast, as one would expect for this finale. The main takeaway they had was that this was not caused by the game design, but by strategy. They also came to the conclusion that even at the start of the day, things weren't looking too good for Sam and Michael. The train schedules didn't really line up for them to be able to grab all of the high-value challenges, which they reasoned wouldn't be worth it. They only discovered the route to do the variable challenge later on, and they figured it would be more consistent and give them an opportunity to go big if they could.
Personally, I think their strategic mistakes came from throwing 5s down on the coastal low-speed line, then going back up and fortifying the other line on Day 4. Adam and Ben were only ever going to try and push into Taipei, and the most time effective way to do that is on the high speed line, where they can then make a more informed decision. I think the fact they had fewer chips at the end of Day 4, and the stalemate only helped the boys. Their time then was better spent flipping stations.
An interesting stat thing they mentioned is that Ben and Adam earned more chips, but spent fewer, while holding more stations for the entire length of the game. They also mention that Sam and Michael spent a lot of their time travelling on their own territory, even with the boys needing to take the long way back around.
The final thing I'll mention is the fact that Sam and Michael's victory depended on the boys failing the steal at Taipei 101. Adam convinced Ben to do the challenge anyway after the other team conceded, and they put the entire attempt in the outtakes video. Before you think "it must be short", there was a 5 minute time limit so it's entirely reasonable to put the full attempt in a bonus video. Anyway, I'll put the result of the attempt in a spoiler block. Take your guess, say it out loud if you have commitment issues, then expand.
The Taipei 101 steal.
Did you actually commit to a guess? Come on, it's fun!
It took 5 seconds for Ben to know where Adam was, and about 3 more seconds to be zooming in on his location.
The game was over.
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Comment on Minecraft: Java Edition finally adds free peer-to-peer multiplayer and friends list in ~games
secret_online LinkOh, cool! This is something Minecraft has needed for a long time. I was not expecting it to happen, given Mojang has a financial incentive to make Realms attractive. This will be great for just...Oh, cool! This is something Minecraft has needed for a long time. I was not expecting it to happen, given Mojang has a financial incentive to make Realms attractive.
This will be great for just popping into a friend's world to hang out. Hopefully it also works smoothly for modded games too (assuming all clients have the same mod list of course).
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Comment on Jet Lag Season 17: Taiwan Rail Rush | Trailer in ~hobbies
secret_online Link ParentEpisode 7 spoilers I believe Sam and Michael were in much stronger position towards the end of the previous episode compared to where they are by the end of this one. Hemorrhaging their chips on...Episode 7 spoilers
I believe Sam and Michael were in much stronger position towards the end of the previous episode compared to where they are by the end of this one. Hemorrhaging their chips on lines with lots of stations that Adam and Ben aren't considering is certainly a very risky play, and basically means they have to achieve their challenges in the north and commit to making their way down the east. I haven't seen the finale yet as of writing this, so I'm interested to see how this season turns out.
The challenge that Sam and Michael did at the rainbow village had to be slightly modified on the fly. The opening hours on Google Maps had it closed on Saturday and Sunday, but they arrived on Monday and it was closed. They could only access the outside, so they had to choose from photos on characters on the outside only. I think Michael's description was very good, and maybe this challenge was tuned a bit on the easy side, but that's just how this goes.
The two of them also did well with the roundhouse, after all they were only off by 1ft and I feel like that's only because Michael didn't round their guess up to 150. The fact that the pavings are 1ft by 2ft definitely helped, which can be estimated by looking at their feet. My watching buddies and I briefly debated whether this counts as "using only your body", and we figured it was close enough.
Though the big thing in this episode is definitely the setup for the stalemate. I definitely think that Adam and Ben have the upper hand here, as Sam and Michael must be the ones to move first. Sam and Michael have some level of control based on when exactly they try to leave, but with how fast it is for the boys to catch up to them, especially since they have to stop for challenges before heading down the east line, that's not going to be much of a time advantage. Genuinely, I think that Sam and Michael might have thrown their incredibly strong position away from an episode and a half ago, and I don't think they got much from doing so.
There honestly wasn't too much in the way of discussion on the podcast for this episode. A few anecdotes here and there, some little stories that didn't really go anywhere. They were definitely holding back a bit because they didn't want to talk about the resolution of the stalemate, for obvious reasons.
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Comment on Tom Scott: England — Official teaser for Nebula in ~travel
secret_online Link ParentI really loved this episode. It was pretty clear from the start that this was a special episode for Tom, and I got this feeling of joy from him while watching. It just felt good. It's cool that 3...I really loved this episode. It was pretty clear from the start that this was a special episode for Tom, and I got this feeling of joy from him while watching. It just felt good.
It's cool that 3 of the boats are still remotely operated by cable and that even that linear movement is enough to make it feel more real during the show. I'm sure that's helped by having the others freely moving thanks to having a human inside of them.
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Comment on Tildes Minecraft Weekly in ~games
secret_online LinkAs I've mentioned in other posts, I've spent a bit of time connecting the Emerald Empire to Hamster's rail line and making it look a bit nicer. It's a rail tunnel, so isn't all that fancy, but I...As I've mentioned in other posts, I've spent a bit of time connecting the Emerald Empire to Hamster's rail line and making it look a bit nicer. It's a rail tunnel, so isn't all that fancy, but I have made the walls sandstone in keeping with our theme. I've made the leaves on the roof a bit more sparse here, even though there's still a lot. In the next section are some note blocks that you can right click to switch tracks. The water slows the minecart down enough to give you enough time to click and for the track to switch. That then takes you up the much more lush tunnel (that also has the blue carpet roof) that terminates at a small station platform.
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Comment on Tildes Minecraft Weekly in ~games
secret_online Link@creesch Are you able to add a new rail line to bluemap? It's @hamstergeddon's line that @artvandelay has been working on, and I've connected to Eth's and my cave. I don't know if there's an...@creesch Are you able to add a new rail line to bluemap? It's @hamstergeddon's line that @artvandelay has been working on, and I've connected to Eth's and my cave. I don't know if there's an official name for this line yet.
Coordinate lists
I've included the Y coordinates in here, because there's a couple of slopes at different points.
-646, 40, 105Storage
-620, 40, 105
-620, 40, 104
-620, -6, 58
-620, -6, 42
221, -6, 42
242, -27, 42
339, -27, 42
360, -6, 42
996, -6, 42Hamster's floating island-175, -6, 42
-175, -6, 70Tilde Town Central208, -6, 42
208, -6, 32
208, 28, -2
208, 28, -6
222, 28, -6Emerald Empire -
Comment on Tildes Survey #3: What country were you born in? (Results) in ~talk
secret_online Link ParentUnited States of AmericaUnited States of America
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Comment on Jet Lag Season 17: Taiwan Rail Rush | Trailer in ~hobbies
secret_online Link ParentEpisode 6 spoilers I think there's definitely reason to keep watching, if anything because both teams are still capable of making bad decisions. One of my watching buddies pointed out what Adam...Episode 6 spoilers
I think there's definitely reason to keep watching, if anything because both teams are still capable of making bad decisions. One of my watching buddies pointed out what Adam and Ben thought, which is that fortifying the low-speed low-frequency line with 5s is a bad idea. Especially so when there are two other paths through that area, one of which is a high speed line that cuts right into heart of Sam and Michael's area with more options for challenges and claiming. They run the risk of putting themselves low on chips, and with them having fewer stations at this time, they're the ones that need to make the first move in a stalemate.
It was cool to have a challenge at the chrysanthemum festival. I love events like that and always make an effort to go when my city's gardens have an event on. I think they did ok at the challenge (especially since they passed). I would have got the first round wrong, but for different reasons.
Sam's Grindr profile joke for Ben being represented by the bear was re-recorded in post. He did say it in reality, but there was an issue with the mics. The mics they usually have record to two audio channels, so they can grab each person in the team's audio separately. However tech breaks often enough in this game that they have spares and buy more during the game. The mini version of the mics they used as a replacement do not record to separate audio channels, so when Sam was going around and explaining his choices both Sam and Michael's audio was being recorded to the same channel. Unfortunately for the production and editing team, Michael was watching TikToks the whole time, and the sound from those was all through the audio. They were tempted to leave the audio in, but couldn't due to copyright.
Not terribly much else interesting from the podcast chatter, in part because one team is just sitting in the snack zone the whole time.
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Comment on What's the longest place name in continental Europe? in ~humanities.languages
secret_online Link ParentI enjoy the jokes Tim makes with his music choices, but the one at the end of this video is just perfect.I enjoy the jokes Tim makes with his music choices, but the one at the end of this video is just perfect.
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Comment on Tildes Survey #2: What country do you live in? (Results) in ~talk
secret_online Link ParentTūtira mai ngā iwi...Tūtira mai ngā iwi...
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Comment on Tildes Minecraft Weekly in ~games
secret_online Link ParentThat's @hamstergeddon's gatehouse/starter base! The rail line was originally dug by hamster hamster's so they could get from there to their sky island quickly, and it just so happened to intersect...That's @hamstergeddon's gatehouse/starter base! The rail line was originally dug by hamster hamster's so they could get from there to their sky island quickly, and it just so happened to intersect directly with @Ethinolicbob's and my cave, which is how the underwater tunnel came to be.
I've started a branch off the line for a stop in our cave, but I've had a terrible connection to the server recently. It's definitely network related, but literally everything else on my PC is connecting just fine. I'll try using a VPN next time to see if tunnelling my connecting to different places makes it better, otherwise doing anything is pretty painful.
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Comment on Jet Lag Season 17: Taiwan Rail Rush | Trailer in ~hobbies
secret_online Link ParentEpisode 5 spoilers Well done Adam on walking with a stack of 6 cans across a windy bridge. As they were trying it out in the 7 Eleven I was thinking about there was no wind in the store, and as...Episode 5 spoilers
Well done Adam on walking with a stack of 6 cans across a windy bridge. As they were trying it out in the 7 Eleven I was thinking about there was no wind in the store, and as soon as they get out there it's blowing a lot. Adam's shirt is tucked in which makes it more obvious, but look how much it's billowing there. They make it, they get the chips, and they decide to commit going north.
And that's about where the good news for them ends.
Sam revealed on the podcast why they knew there was a challenge at the crayon factory. I have mentioned in earlier comments that they didn't know all of the details about challenges going into them, but one they did know was that somewhere there were giant crayons, and that they'd be doing mastermind there. They did not do research on how to play mastermind before doing the challenge. As soon as they saw it, they now knew where it was. Michael had never played mastermind before, so on the walk back from the factory to the train station he was watching YouTube and studying how to play the game. I think he did pretty well. When Sam asked if he wanted to do another practice round, he knew they didn't have much time and op-ed to just go for it. It ended up timing perfectly with the train coming in as he wins the game. They're not beating the scripted allegations on this one...
In hindsight, this is the point where the boys say they should have turned around and gone back around the island. Of course, that's not what happens when you see yourself having a chance at getting through that giant wall of stations, especially with a call your shot challenge after you've smashed two call your shot challenges already. One of my watching buddies (I've recruited another friend into watching the series) audibly cringed at Ben's confidence that 6 wasn't that much worse than 5. Of course, we all know how that turns out. To finish this bit off, "Ethan slop" anagrams to Hospental. I hate anagrams (my least favourite part of doing cryptic crosswords), so did not get this until after.
This was another tipping point episode, where everything before it led to this circumstance. There isn't really any way for the boys to break through and go up to Taipei, so it's going to be a looooong train ride next episode.
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Comment on Jet Lag Season 17: Taiwan Rail Rush | Trailer in ~hobbies
secret_online Link ParentEpisode 4 spoilers Quote of the episode: Looking back at this episode, so little and so much happened here. This feels like a turning point almost, where everything the teams have done before led...Episode 4 spoilers
Quote of the episode:
Ben: Well, I'm holding a banana.
Adam: wheeze
Ben: ...and it tastes like a banana.Looking back at this episode, so little and so much happened here. This feels like a turning point almost, where everything the teams have done before led to this point.
Of course, the big thing that happens in this episode is that Sam and Michael have a path to steal the steal, and do it. The challenge itself seems to be one that wasn't quite calibrated correctly, but i mentioned in last week's comment that that's just a natural part of this game. It seems very much like they looked at a map, took the most straightforward route to town, and the place they were looking for was on the corner of the main street.
The big knock-on effect is that Adam and Ben have do throw down so many chips on their stations so that the steal didn't give Sam and Michael an even bigger chip lead. They might've won 70 chips with the taste test challenge, but they had throw them all down in an area that Sam and Michael were never going to contest. Now they're basically in a position where the have to go big on the can stacking challenge in order to try and break through the barrier to where the challenges are.
I'm very interested to see how the next episode plays out, because a lot of this game now depends on whether Adam can walk 200ft with a stack of cans. If he succeeds, then there's the possibility of breaking through into the Taipei area where both teams are rushing to claim challenges. If he fails, then it'll be difficult to dethrone Sam and Michael. I'll always root for the boys, but I definitely want them to succeed even more here.
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Comment on Tildes Minecraft Weekly in ~games
secret_online Link ParentYep, that was me! This would be yet another longer project for me, so if there's other uses for that space then don't worry about my reservation. It might also be worth letting @hamstergeddon...Yep, that was me! This would be yet another longer project for me, so if there's other uses for that space then don't worry about my reservation.
It might also be worth letting @hamstergeddon know, since they've already run a rail line in this direction. Whether it uses the same line or whether we run a new one closer to the surface to a smaller hub that connects to their line, I don't know yet.
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Comment on Jet Lag Season 17: Taiwan Rail Rush | Trailer in ~hobbies
secret_online Link ParentEpisode 3 spoilers Monkey mountain delivers! The team on the podcast all agree that 40 monkeys was about bang on the correct number for this challenge, in that it was both high but also...Episode 3 spoilers
Monkey mountain delivers! The team on the podcast all agree that 40 monkeys was about bang on the correct number for this challenge, in that it was both high but also achievable. Sam and Michael had quite the shock learning that the boys earned 80 coins from that, especially after going low with the boba challenge.
The zoo challenge entirely depended on whether there were grazing animals in there. Luckily there were, and it's quite funny that they immediately walk in and find a llama. They do comment on how challenges sometimes deviate from their expected value (sometimes a low value challenge is hard, or a high value challenge is easy), and that's just part of the game. There is also some chatter about the spreadsheet they were using to track everything, and how they blacked out the rows until that challenge was unlocked, and used colour coding to note the state of it. It's a lot of manual admin to be doing mid-game.
I have to say, I enjoyed some of the edits in this part of the episode. Sam and Michael drop their bags off and comment on how freeing it is, then we cut to Adam and Ben having to lug their packs up the mountain. Adam and Ben talk about how they need to find monkeys, then it jumps to Sam and Michael outside the zoo looking at the monkey enclosure. Later we see both teams wanting to get on the train they need, one team get on and the other doesn't.
On the podcast they mention how these two challenges were almost simultaneous, and there were tough editing decisions to make those cuts work. The boys completed monkey mountain only about 10-15 minutes before Sam and Michael attempted the zoo challenge, which is so close when you think about the fact they are doing two animal challenges on opposite ends of the country. I'm glad they did shift things around a little, as watching the entirety of monkey mountain in one go without the cuts to the other team would have been really long.
Sam and Michael not making it onto their train actually helps them here, because they end up with the ability to go for a different steal. Trying to count jellyfish in curved tanks in a low-light mirrored room is the kind of thing you'd see in actual reality tv. I think they both did a very good job at following through on the challenge. I've quite enjoyed these challenges where the two team members have to be in sync with each other, and it seems they do too so I wouldn't be surprised if more of these featured in future team games.
I'm really enjoying how this season is going. This is a good format for the location they've chosen, and I think there are things they can definitely take into future games.
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Comment on Tildes Minecraft Weekly in ~games
secret_online Link ParentThis has been a slow burn project of mine. Ever since we settled in the area I wanted to restore the ruined portal that was naturally spawned and decorate the space around it. Our base itself...I just noticed @EthinolicBob and @secret_online now have a beautiful nether portal along the path to their bases. Not sure if this is new, but I know they've worked on their bases a bit.
This has been a slow burn project of mine. Ever since we settled in the area I wanted to restore the ruined portal that was naturally spawned and decorate the space around it. Our base itself doesn't have a nether portal (well, we have the roof portal I guess), we decided that we would use that one instead. It encouraged us to make the path down from our hilltop to the portal, which then informed the terrain Eth designed. It also gave us the starting point for Eth's roads that connect the spruce forest to the other areas of the server.
I want to build a custom tree in the centre of the clearing, and add some more market stalls, then do some armour stand work to liven the place up. I want it to feel like a window into some past timeline where the portal was the centre of some celebration before it was abandoned and left to ruin. I haven't figured out the story of it yet, and whether I want to hint at whatever went wrong (if something went wrong). As I said, it's a slow burn project.
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Comment on Introducing EmDash — the spiritual successor to WordPress that solves plugin security in ~tech
secret_online Link ParentOh, right. I read that statement as a "it could support normal money ¯\_(ツ)_/¯", and your statement of explicit support as x402 either supporting normal money right now or at the very least having...Oh, right. I read that statement as a "it could support normal money ¯\_(ツ)_/¯", and your statement of explicit support as x402 either supporting normal money right now or at the very least having an explicit definition of how it would be implemented.
As far as I can tell, no established payment provider/facilitator (even Stripe, which has integrated using crypto and even then is only available to US-based merchants) has actually made a statement or indication that they will support it. There are 8 main crypto networks defined, but 0 real world currency identifiers either mentioned or reserved. Payment amounts are sent in the API calls as
$, which you would think is the US dollar (ignoring the 29 other types of dollar) but is actually the USDC stable coin. Yes, it's pegged to the US dollar, but it is once again referring to a crypto concept and not a real-world one.As irrationally annoyed as I am about it, I want an open payments standard to succeed, and I want it to succeed in a way that doesn't fuck over the internet. I think there's too much VC money dumped into crypto for me to trust it. If a reputable provider does support real money in my country, then I'll consider using it. Until then, I'm going to be filing it under "crypto".
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Comment on Introducing EmDash — the spiritual successor to WordPress that solves plugin security in ~tech
secret_online Link ParentWhere are you seeing this? Because everywhere I've seen the docs site talk about fiat or credit cards seems to be avoiding the topic, rather than saying "here's how it could work if someone were...It's also extensible with classic payment methods, in fact explicitly supports this
Where are you seeing this? Because everywhere I've seen the docs site talk about fiat or credit cards seems to be avoiding the topic, rather than saying "here's how it could work if someone were to support it". Instead all of the extensions that exist are very much crypto focused and seem to be entrenching crypto as the way to use x402.
I don't expect a project co-founded by Coinbase will want to support payments with actual money. I know Coinbase themselves don't take a slice from anything x402 related, but they have an interest in giving crypto a use case that doesn't include a way to bypass the crypto. Much like Web Monetization before it, I don't see x402 decoupling itself from crypto, and that leads me to believe it will never be taken seriously by the web world at large.
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Comment on Tildes Minecraft Weekly in ~games
secret_online Link ParentPlease do! I think cactus flowers would actually go really well with our build style, plus they're just really nice blocks.Please do! I think cactus flowers would actually go really well with our build style, plus they're just really nice blocks.
Hooray! Eth has wanted baby baby glow squid to put into the tank in front of our slime farm, and now we get to do that. It's going to take a while, as the local mob cap for them is 5 and there's a 5% chance of them being a baby.
For those who use my modpack, you should be able to upgrade to the latest v12 version.