I love the instant pot especially for two things: Cooking beans and making broth.
I get a nicer texture from beans done in the instant pot than I do cooking them any other way. And I can knock out a big pot of chicken stock in like an hour. If you want it to be totally clear you have to let the pressure release naturally, but I don't care if it's cloudy because I'm just gonna turn it into something opaque anyway usually so I do a quick release so it's done faster.
I also used it to cook in summer before I got an induction burner, because my apartment's shitty electric stove dumps heat everywhere.
I have a few recipes that were clearly written or modified by someone using really old ground spices. Like I have a recipe for apple muffins that legitimately calls for two teaspoons of nutmeg.
I do like 4 rubs of a nutmeg on the microplane and it's perfect.
Pikmin! I love me some Pikmin, I was so excited they finally ported it to Switch. I was legit keeping my Wii around not for any wii games, but for the sake of having a console that could run some of my favorite Gamecube games -- Pikmin, Wind Waker, Metroid Prime. Now all I need is for them to port Wind Waker and Metroid Prime 2 and I can get rid of the wii.
The writing in The Three-Body Problem is so dry that I could barely keep up with the plot due to being deceased from boredom.
Totally a me problem but it just did not vibe with me. I could never bring myself to read the second book. Tho to be fair to Ken Liu I have trouble with translations in general and I've never read a translation of Chinese-language literature I did vibe with.
My other unpopular scifi opinion is I hate Becky Chambers books with the fire of a thousand suns. Like I don't just not like them, they actually make me angry with how twee they are.
In general I feel that way about any "cozy" books, I also ragequit The House in the Cerulean Sea.
A lot of nerds seem super pissed at Star Trek: Picard because it's "not Trek" and "too dark" but I actually like it because it's like "ummm this is colonialism actually???" and I have a tough time watching most older Trek because it is in fact colonialism actually.
Yeah the weird thing is I love the Expanse and also Tenet and my favorite book is Gnomon by Nick Harkaway, a book in which you literally have no idea wtf is going on until basically the last 10%. AND I studied a bunch of stuff about modern Chinese history and the cultural revolution in college so I have some background on the politics! Like, I SHOULD enjoy it, on paper. It's literally just the prose that's ruining it for me.
I actually really hope the TV show is good because I think I'd actually really enjoy it presented in a different format. Maybe I should try an audiobook.
I dunno that I'd rank it worse than GoT myself but I did really hate that ending.
Honestly between Lost, BSG, and GoT I'm kinda burned on endings generally. I can't really think of a show that isn't a super short limited series that I'm like, that ending was great!
Apparently they’ve pulled out of recent GBs they were set to be the US proxy for. They’ve set their discord to read only and deleted general chat. And their ticket system says it’s full and can’t accept new ones....
The classic hobby drama: Hobby has a surge in popularity, Very Small Business bites off way more than they can chew, Very Small Business collapses and/or ghosts while owing people a bunch of money/product.
While all forms of art require imagination, the genre of science-fiction is one in which it is especially crucial. Films in this category envision entire worlds of a bright (or dark) future or one inhabited by lifeforms of a greater intelligence — much like the filmmakers who created some of the following films that earned a...
I fucking loved TFA when I first saw it because it made me feel the way watching the original trilogy made me feel when I was a kid.
Unfortunately it's one of those movies that's held up less and less well for me as I've gotten some distance from it. Like, the vibe was good for me but there isn't really any substance there. I def don't hate it as much as a lot of people, and I REALLY have beef with a lot of the Star Wars fandom for their specific complaints about it, but also IMO it totally doesn't deserve to be on the same list with those other movies.
Reddit used to be a great platform to discuss some topic and get different points of few in a friendly but factual manner. However, slowly it seems like the platform has become a lot more like Facebook, where it's been invaded by toxic people that are constantly looking for opportunities to shit and hate on others....
I honestly think social media platform algorithms like Facebook/Insta/Twitter have actually trained us to do it more, too. Basically they're optimized for whatever keeps eyeballs on their platforms longest and it turns out that generating outrage is an easy way to do that, so they prioritize showing you stuff that's gonna get you to engage by pissing you off and/or making you feel self-righteous. And then that 1. makes people think that's just how people act cos that's what gets put in front of them and 2. encourages that behavior because it does numbers.
I've quit twitter twice (made it stick the second time) because no matter how hard I try, whenever I end up engaging I end up with people sniping at me and eventually I start sniping back. It just encourages me to be my worst self and it sucks.
I went through my late teens as the initial smart phone boom was happening. I had a Motorola q that could get TV channels and had a keyboard. I had the enV that flipped open. And many androids/blackberries that I loved for their unique form factor and functionality....
Plastic back and a removable/user replaceable battery.
Yeah yeah I know it "feels cheap" but honestly I LIKED when phones were made of more plastic. Now they're heavier and both sides are breakable. Like, the metal backs were fine, but apparently metal backs suck for NFC and wireless charging so instead of giving us some classy Nokia Lumia style plastic they went with glass backs.
Also I keep my phone in a case because otherwise the back is so smooth it shoots off the couch if someone walks across my apartment. It's legit only in the case to add some friction.
I can tell when my dog is playing with something he shouldn't (vs with one of his toys) without even seeing him because I can hear him having too much fun.
I have not found a toy that provides the same excitement as a dirty sock.
kprepublic sent me a shipping notification with a fake tracking number (so I couldn't cancel my order anymore) and then waited until I emailed them to tell me the stuff I ordered was out of stock and wouldn't ship for 2-3 months. I ended up having to file a chargeback.
I've had better luck with KBDFans for cheapie keycaps.
I'm a little bit of an outlier because I pretty much only like uniform keycap profiles, but I've been really happy with my Akko doubleshot PBT keycaps. I'm using Akko ASA low profile keycaps on both my work and home boards and they're great. The profile is very similar to XDA.
Akko definitely makes some sets with mac mod keys, tho I think not all of them.
I just got mine off Amazon because I was lazy and wanted fast shipping. :P
What are the best cooking hacks you've learned over the years?
What are the best practices you've learned to save time or make a meal better.
What are you playing this week? 24/6/23
Doom Eternal for me!
What's your Sci-Fi unpopular opinion?
It's a slightly click-baity title, but as we're still generating more content for our magazines, this one included, why not?...
Anyone got any info/thoughts on the Mechs & Co. drama?
Apparently they’ve pulled out of recent GBs they were set to be the US proxy for. They’ve set their discord to read only and deleted general chat. And their ticket system says it’s full and can’t accept new ones....
30 Sci-Fi Movies That Are Over 90% On Rotten Tomatoes (www.msn.com)
While all forms of art require imagination, the genre of science-fiction is one in which it is especially crucial. Films in this category envision entire worlds of a bright (or dark) future or one inhabited by lifeforms of a greater intelligence — much like the filmmakers who created some of the following films that earned a...
Why are conversations on Reddit often so hostile and toxic now days?
Reddit used to be a great platform to discuss some topic and get different points of few in a friendly but factual manner. However, slowly it seems like the platform has become a lot more like Facebook, where it's been invaded by toxic people that are constantly looking for opportunities to shit and hate on others....
What niche phone features would appeal to you?
I went through my late teens as the initial smart phone boom was happening. I had a Motorola q that could get TV channels and had a keyboard. I had the enV that flipped open. And many androids/blackberries that I loved for their unique form factor and functionality....
I think we've all been there
Recommended sites to buy keycaps? (shipping to USA)
Ordered a Keychron K2 which should be arriving next week, but I wasn't really feeling any of the keycap selections on their website...