Speculation: And yet again...the Off-Topic Thread

[MabusIncarnate]

Really liked SoA, it does start to drag in later seasons but it's not as bad as shows like Walking Dead or Dexter. I liked the series enough to watch it through twice, lot of wow moments along the way.

 

[Lil Sebastian Cossa]

Really liked SoA, it does start to drag in later seasons but it's not as bad as shows like Walking Dead or Dexter. I liked the series enough to watch it through twice, lot of wow moments along the way.

Bummer in ep 4 when that smokeshow went back to the abusive shit because that’s better than a gunfight

 

[Ed Ned and Leddy]

Never played ball hockey in an organized setting myself, but I like the idea. Ice can be so cost-prohibitive, anything that exposes more folks to the game is cool imo.

On the subject though, I really wish there were more opportunities to play inline. Beer league ice hockey leagues are great, but not everywhere has that much ice. You can get an inline league going in a warehouse or even outside some places. I think more inline opportunities could get a lot more people interested in trying hockey, especially since more people will be comfortable on skates/blades than on ice.

Growing up in metro Detroit there was plenty of inline opportunity, but here in DC not so much. The closest to me is in NoVa I think, which is probably a bridge too far.

 

[jaster]

Inline hockey culture is weird. It's a very different game, different systems (or, most often, no systems), and every time an inline player steps on the ice, they are lost, or just cherry-picking. It's like they are out there playing a different game than the other 9 skaters.

In short, disband all inline hockey and build more ice rinks - tax the billionaires so we can have it all funded

 

[Ed Ned and Leddy]

Inline hockey culture is weird. It's a very different game, different systems (or, most often, no systems), and every time an inline player steps on the ice, they are lost, or just cherry-picking. It's like they are out there playing a different game than the other 9 skaters.

In short, disband all inline hockey and build more ice rinks - tax the billionaires so we can have it all funded

Haha the systems point is a good one. I'd guess the no offsides/icing idea was to help the flow of the game, but it can get pretty sloppy if people stretch it to the extreme.

I'd love to see a better ice hockey infrastructure too. If there are two things I'd ask of the next NHL commissioner it would be to a) market the players better to bring in more casual fans, and b) expand its efforts to grow the game at the grassroots and youth level.

Ultimately I think hockey, especially on ice, is always going to be a tough ask for parents who didn't themselves play growing up. You've got to invest in so much equipment that you outgrow like every two years, you've got to get skating lessons, league costs are high due to ice costs, etc. Much easier to say, "Here, take this soccer ball I got for $10 at Dunham's and kick it around the back yard."

I hope we can find a way to get more kids (and adults) involved in the game though, because once you fall in love with the game it's pretty tough to beat.

 

[jaster]

Haha the systems point is a good one. I'd guess the no offsides/icing idea was to help the flow of the game, but it can get pretty sloppy if people stretch it to the extreme.

I'd love to see a better ice hockey infrastructure too. If there are two things I'd ask of the next NHL commissioner it would be to a) market the players better to bring in more casual fans, and b) expand its efforts to grow the game at the grassroots and youth level.

Ultimately I think hockey, especially on ice, is always going to be a tough ask for parents who didn't themselves play growing up. You've got to invest in so much equipment that you outgrow like every two years, you've got to get skating lessons, league costs are high due to ice costs, etc. Much easier to say, "Here, take this soccer ball I got for $10 at Dunham's and kick it around the back yard."

I hope we can find a way to get more kids (and adults) involved in the game though, because once you fall in love with the game it's pretty tough to beat.

Yep. No doubt hockey is relatively cost-prohibitive. There have been some good initiatives out there to make it more accessible, but it can still be tough. Especially once you get into all the politics of youth hockey. Parents with no experience walking into that are going to get bull-dozed by the 'good ole boys' cliques of parents. Between that and the costs, there are some major road blocks.

 

[Bench]

Yep. No doubt hockey is relatively cost-prohibitive. There have been some good initiatives out there to make it more accessible, but it can still be tough. Especially once you get into all the politics of youth hockey. Parents with no experience walking into that are going to get bull-dozed by the 'good ole boys' cliques of parents. Between that and the costs, there are some major road blocks.

Growing up I recall kids good enough to make travel rosters but their parents couldn't foot the bill. So even if you can get kids on ice, now there's different financial tiers layered on if you want your kid to play competitively.

I remember hearing, "We can do this because you're an only child but not everyone is so fortunate," from my dad when it came to stuff like that. A good lesson from a young age that achievement was a mix of skill AND opportunity.

As for the inline/ball hockey banter, I feel they are great alternatives. But unfortunately I also feel like hockey is intimately married to ice. Soon as you remove the ice, you're really playing a different game with a different structure. So much of what makes hockey a thing is what you can achieve on skates. Anyone growing up with hockey knows how much time in practice is dedicated exclusively to skating - it's the core part of the whole thing. So I'm not trying to be elitist or anything, it's just difficult to separate the two without losing a huge part of what makes the game special.

Hockey without ice really plays more like lacrosse to me. Which is actually an awesome sport, too.

But absolutely for recreation and growing the sport, I think the alternatives should be promoted and enjoyed. Lord knows how much street hockey I played growing up.

 

[waltdetroit]

Ghost of Ethan Hunt - quote​

I don't watch tv (I read) & stream hockey, so I'm unfamiliar with most of their content. It's hilarious to ponder how these 5 got together. Or are they friends/family/co-workers? Were they in a Korean BBQ & all happened to be doing "their part" when they noticed the others doing so also? So many questions.

May Tree was on "America's got Talent." The singer who does the percussion was thrown out of a group because they said he couldn't sing. So he formed the May Tree. All of the singers were on various South Korean TV shows before they got together. I have seen the videos of them on YouTube but don't understand nor read the Korean language.

I'm told they nailed "Game of Thrones

 

[Ghost of Ethan Hunt]

for the video gamers in here:

What were your 1st game systems?

What got you hooked?

What keeps you hooked (well into adulthood)?



( actually more like '76/'77-ish ) iykyk

 

[MabusIncarnate]

First console was an Atari/Colecovision compound unit, we had a Commodore 64 also. This was probably the mid 80s. I liked Asteroids well enough, among a few other games, but I didn't get hooked until NES.

I got the NES with the light gun, Mario Bros/Duck Hunt cartridge came with it. I also got Blades of Steel and Legend of Zelda with it, I think it was a birthday. That got me forever addicted, and I continue to like experiencing the evolution of gaming and the new stuff they can do.

We are also in the golden age of indie games imo, there are dozens of brilliant ones, a lot call back to the retro days. Even recently, TMNT Shredders Revenge was a blast to play through. I'm a big fan of rogue-lites and metroidvanias, but I play just about everything except JRPG and fighting games.

 

[Ghost of Ethan Hunt]

First console was an Atari/Colecovision compound unit, we had a Commodore 64 also. This was probably the mid 80s. I liked Asteroids well enough, among a few other games, but I didn't get hooked until NES.

I got the NES with the light gun, Mario Bros/Duck Hunt cartridge came with it. I also got Blades of Steel and Legend of Zelda with it, I think it was a birthday. That got me forever addicted, and I continue to like experiencing the evolution of gaming and the new stuff they can do.

We are also in the golden age of indie games imo, there are dozens of brilliant ones, a lot call back to the retro days. Even recently, TMNT Shredders Revenge was a blast to play through. I'm a big fan of rogue-lites and metroidvanias, but I play just about everything except JRPG and fighting games.

I got the Commodore 64 in summer of 1980! Was an adult by late 80's & stopped playing video games since, but the "modern" (think mid '90s & beyond) graphics look great & I'm sure they're beyond addictive.

However a friend of mine ~'96 had a system he'd play Perfect Dark on...very cool game I played for several months, basically kill or be killed. One of my favs was the Laptop Gun.

 

[Ghost of Ethan Hunt]

First console was an Atari/Colecovision compound unit, we had a Commodore 64 also. This was probably the mid 80s. I liked Asteroids well enough, among a few other games, but I didn't get hooked until NES.

I got the NES with the light gun, Mario Bros/Duck Hunt cartridge came with it. I also got Blades of Steel and Legend of Zelda with it, I think it was a birthday. That got me forever addicted, and I continue to like experiencing the evolution of gaming and the new stuff they can do.

We are also in the golden age of indie games imo, there are dozens of brilliant ones, a lot call back to the retro days. Even recently, TMNT Shredders Revenge was a blast to play through. I'm a big fan of rogue-lites and metroidvanias, but I play just about everything except JRPG and fighting games.

a friends Blades of Steel & EA sports (very early) NHL '91? ...had Ysebaert w/the 60ft. slapper coming down the left wall got some play time, esp. EA.

 

[jkutswings]

My brother and I played Frogger and Pitfall for hours on end on our friend's Atari. We actually had a ColecoVision and something similar to an ActiVision that was a series of shooters that interacted with a sensor on the TV.

Then we alternated who bought the latest Nintendo console from the NES to the GameCube. Soooo many hours of Mario Kart and GoldenEye in college.

Now I play mostly PC games, but use the Switch with the kids and have a PS4 collecting dust. After college there was a decade of WoW with Diablo and Warcraft/StarCraft mixed in, but I don't really have time for subscriptions any longer.

Good times.

 

[Bondurant]

Other than being a fanboy or using for CAD or video editing software is there any reason to pay double for a MacBook Air over a Lenovo both with 256 GB internal storage? The previous is slightly smaller and a bit lighter than the latter. I like that but in and of itself not a reason to pay double.

Both are currently discounted $150-200 this weekend at Costco.

 

[Lil Sebastian Cossa]

Other than being a fanboy or using for CAD or video editing software is there any reason to pay double for a MacBook Air over a Lenovo both with 256 GB internal storage? The previous is slightly smaller and a bit lighter than the latter. I like that but in and of itself not a reason to pay double.

Both are currently discounted $150-200 this weekend at Costco.

The main benefit of apple that is a tangible thing is its place in their own ecosystem. Like if you have a bunch of apple stuff it works more seamlessly with other items from the same company. Also, Apple’s build quality does tend to be exceptional.

The main difference is taking a peek at the specs. I have no idea what the difference in specifications are without researching them.

There are legitimate reasons that aren’t “apple premium” why you’d pay more for it../ but unless you’re well versed in what those differences are; I’d say it isn’t worth it. Like if you know why you’d need a MacBook Air over the Lenovo or the Lenovo was just majorly underpowered in comparison, go MBA. Otherwise, save the cash and go Lenovo between those two choices

E: to clarify, the CPU power, the battery life, graphics card/onboard graphics, and ram are the key ones, moreso than internal storage size.

 

[TCNorthstars]

Other than being a fanboy or using for CAD or video editing software is there any reason to pay double for a MacBook Air over a Lenovo both with 256 GB internal storage? The previous is slightly smaller and a bit lighter than the latter. I like that but in and of itself not a reason to pay double.

Both are currently discounted $150-200 this weekend at Costco.

I am heavy into the apple ecosystem, but I never buy their pc’s. I buy refurbished Lenovo business laptops and usually run linux.

 

[Bondurant]

Went with the Lenovo. Price too good to pass up. Primarily a streaming and browsing device with the occasional Word document so no need for anything fancy.

 

[waltdetroit]

I have only ever played Pong, Asteroids, Space Invaders, and Pac-Man back in the day. I was already in my 30's. My nephew is a current player so to see what the excitement is all about, I went to YouTube and got hooked watching Skyrim and 40K videos. The modern games are so awesome. The characters and animation are excellent.

 

[RayMoonDoh]

Other than being a fanboy or using for CAD or video editing software is there any reason to pay double for a MacBook Air over a Lenovo both with 256 GB internal storage? The previous is slightly smaller and a bit lighter than the latter. I like that but in and of itself not a reason to pay double.

Both are currently discounted $150-200 this weekend at Costco.

I am heavy into the apple ecosystem, but I never buy their pc’s. I buy refurbished Lenovo business laptops and usually run linux.

Been working on dells and Lenovo the past few years but got a spec’d M1 MBP earlier this year for work and it’s really grown on me.

Torn now between building a pc or getting my own MBP at this point.

 

[FabricDetails]

Mines was the IntelliVision... "Don't @ me".

 

[TCNorthstars]

Been working on dells and Lenovo the past few years but got a spec’d M1 MBP earlier this year for work and it’s really grown on me.

Torn now between building a pc or getting my own MBP at this point.

Now those are two different things! What do want the pc for? My laptop gets limited use because I can do almost everything I need on my iPad pro.

 

[RayMoonDoh]

Now those are two different things! What do want the pc for? My laptop gets limited use because I can do almost everything I need on my iPad pro.

I’m trying to pin down my own requirements lol. Need something I can develop on (nothing outrageous, just the typical 50 chrome tabs, hosting projects locally, maybe set up a VM). I also have some creative projects like video editing and music production and my wife works a lot in procreate.

And I still have a little gaming habit, though it’s down to only about 5hrs/wk. I did preorder a steam deck, but unsure if I’m going to purchase when my number is called.

I like the idea of swapping out components in a PC build over time so I’m not locked in outside of the motherboard choice, but maybe I’m fooling myself on the level of modularity.

 

[TCNorthstars]

I’m trying to pin down my own requirements lol. Need something I can develop on (nothing outrageous, just the typical 50 chrome tabs, hosting projects locally, maybe set up a VM). I also have some creative projects like video editing and music production and my wife works a lot in procreate.

And I still have a little gaming habit, though it’s down to only about 5hrs/wk. I did preorder a steam deck, but unsure if I’m going to purchase when my number is called.

I like the idea of swapping out components in a PC build over time so I’m not locked in outside of the motherboard choice, but maybe I’m fooling myself on the level of modularity.

I have built 3 pc's now (2 about 10 years ago) and one recently. I have never upgraded the first 2, but I am not much of a tinkerer and they are both lower power machines. Tough decision for you. For 2k you can build a pretty good pc.

 

[Bondurant]

Microsoft sucks eggs. Edge is terrible. Ad blockers are not as efficient as Firefox. Still getting as in my Yahoo E-mail and Hulu is running like ass. Device will not let me download Firefox because it's in S Mode. Getting out is not intuitive. Who would think to select "Get" to remove a shit setting? Now it's in perpetual "Getting this ready". Might just take this damn thing back.

 

[MabusIncarnate]

Microsoft sucks eggs. Edge is terrible. Ad blockers are not as efficient as Firefox. Still getting as in my Yahoo E-mail and Hulu is running like ass. Device will not let me download Firefox because it's in S Mode. Getting out is not intuitive. Who would think to select "Get" to remove a shit setting? Now it's in perpetual "Getting this ready". Might just take this damn thing back.

How to Turn off S Mode in Windows 10 in 7 Easy Steps

Disable S Mode so you can install any software you want Windows 10 S Mode is designed to provide enhanced security users, but it has a huge downside. S mode only allows you to download apps from the Microsoft Store, and you can only use...

www.wikihow.com

I got a few Lenovos and had to disable S mode, this is an easy method to turn it off, and then you can DL Firefox or whatever else.