Best Of
Re: Oktoberfest 2021
I might be able to make it; will likely be a last minute decision depending on work shens. If I am able to, I won't need any accomodations.
Colgere
Q consumes 1 billion points
Sneaking up on all of us @QCH nails the 1 Billion mark like a split hog.
_k
Re: Oktoberfest 2021
Oh hey that's right, it's been two years. So just after ICOK 2019 I managed to convince the powers that be that having an extra dog at ICHQ was a good idea. So some of you hanging 'round may be meeting a new friend as you come by. Her name is Kiki, she's a 30# dog (I have no idea what breed, likely pure mutt but she's great) and she loves people. She may try to jump on you when she sees you, feel free to tell her to not. She gets NO people food, hard stop. I should be around to handle her for the most part (not that she needs much of that normally), and please refer to me or Linc/Aaron if you have any other questions/concerns.
cola
Post your cookware, bakeware and cutlery
I haven't seen a thread about cookware, etc. So I felt that it was time to put forth this discussion. It should be fun to see what everyone else is into cooking and what they use so post what you use and what you like to cook. Also post your wish lists of kitchen tools. Hell, why not include everything kitchen from utensils to appliances. Lets have some fun with this!
I like to cook (and eat) almost anything from glop to gourmet. I have taken classes in French Continental, general Italian, Southern Italian, Northern Italian, Spanish, Mexican and Asian. I really got into cooking when I was a wine buyer in the 80's. I grew up on Eastern European, BBQ and basic American staples.
I have generally had decent stuff in the past. But for the better part of the past dozen or so years was I had been in flux as I worked away from home and didn't cook much at that time. Now that I have been home full time for the past 2+ years I have been cooking more and more. That is when I felt the pinch of using a hodge podge conglomeration of cooking tools. So I decided to start collecting new cookware and cutlery to make cooking more enjoyable. While I have had names like All Clad, Viking, Henckels and Wusthof in the past I wasn't looking forward to the cost they command. So I looked at other brands and decided to try made-in by purchasing their Carbon Steel Wok and 3.5 qt Stainless Saucier. I fell in love with the 5ply stainless Saucier and was ready to try more of the 5 ply stainless line. So I got the 4 qt saucepan with lid, 3.5 qt sauté pan with lid and 8" and 10" stainless pans. Let me say the stainless pans are really nice to use and are my new crepe and egg pans. After learning how to season and use the carbon steel wok I got 1 10" carbon steel pan. I am now so in love with the carbon steel pan and wok that I use them whenever I can put anything in a pan. After seasoning similar to cast iron they are slick like non-stick and conductive like cast iron. The carbon steel pans also brown and braise like nothing else. And after some good seasoning and use are an easy clean up. All the stainless is as good as the Viking and All Clad I have had in the past. I am now looking forward to getting a 12" carbon steel pan, 12 qt stock pot and 5 qt saucier. While I already had 2 blocks of J.A. Henckels knives I have always liked the thought of the Japanese style knives over the German style. The Japanese style are cut to a sharper bevel and lighter than German knives. And I have always liked the look of Global knives (which I first saw on "Cooking with Giada") and decided to get a set. I have been more than impressed with these and use them now for everything but the heaviest jobs, which is where the heavier German knives excell.
Mt_Goat
Re: _K's krazy krash kourse of KATastrophe
Ghostrunner (6.5hours): Picked this game up free via Prime Gaming, almost bought it months ago but the demo felt too cheap in the game play. Warning: I didn't finish the game because it kept crashing at the same point and I am not going to spend an hour troubleshooting how to get around the bug while also having to play 10 minutes just to get to the point of the bug in the level every crash. The intro and outro are pretty basic you get a short story that some lady tried to kill you but you survived. Now you have to collect all your stuff while fighting your way back up this tower that is humanities final outpost after an apocalyptic event that has made the outside lethal to humans. There is a mix of stages in each level with platformer, battle arenas, and virtual worlds which are more platform stages. Visually the game is fantastic all the way around. There are some weird things they did like everyone grills brawts but they put so much detail across all of the game it is very impressive. You can wall run on everything so I have simply avoided some platform sections by running on top of the problem obstacle or the opposite wall, kind of funny when you can run on top of the electrified section of wall cause my game my way 
. The music is jamming too. Great environment all the way around in the game.
The big issue outside of the crashes that blocked me and some people. The battle and hit detection. I tried to make this game as easy for me when I did start playing and it still felt like bullshit. Hits that didn't hit, getting shot around corners or as soon as I pop out, warping and immediately shot in the new location, watching rapid fire shots have a normal spread and then when I warp seeing the aim jump 40 degrees to where I was going; super lame and frustrating. Like running on a wall and jumping away but I am apparently still close enough to be shocked and die. Plus coupled with the normal crap like the game deciding to not wall run me or jumping on a rail and then immediately decoupling me to kill me. At the same time it is very generous with me hitting enemies but when you jump over a ninja by 10 feet and still get killed by them it just turns you off. Apparently most of my screenshots are too big so here https://wall.alphacoders.com/by_sub_category.php?id=325288&name=Ghostrunner+Wallpapers
Games Completed: 170
Time: 10 weeks 167.7 hours
_k
Introducing: Nitro Porter, a data portability tool for communities
A week ago I created Nitro Porter, a new (old) tool for migrating communities between platforms. It's basically a data portability project that lets you move from 30 different forum platforms into a common format for importing elsewhere.
Today, I wrote about my first week working on it and started a website for it.
If you've been around a long time, you remember our epic migration project of a decade ago. That's where the earliest versions of this project came from, so it's super nostalgic to be getting back into it.
Linc
Re: Oktoberfest 2021
Arrival 28 Oct @ 1003P
Depart 31 Oct @ 925P
Have a rental car as well if anyone needs transport around those times.
Tushon
Re: Oktoberfest 2021
Protip: If you've reserved a rental car, you might want to see whether modifying your reservation will result in a lower price. Avis prices took a nosedive recently and I got a much larger vehicle for about $100 less than what I originally had.
mertesn
Dell XPS 13 9380 Laptop
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Laptop is in excellent condition, 8th Gen Intel i5-8265U CPU, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD, 1920x1080 infinity edge display (non-touch). I still have original packaging and it will be completely reformatted and fresh install of Windows 10. I am upgrading after 2 years of light use. This would be a great unit for a student or someone on the go. It is basically like new and well cared for.
$625.00 shipped.
Mt_Goat