Best Of
Happy(?) New Year Icrontic!
Happy New Year y'all! That is assuming 2020's finally dead, we thought that last year though.....
Re: Icrontic Byte Archive II
shwaip: "I posted twice, actually"
Gargoyle: "I did too, actually"
Lincoln:


Re: Oktoberfest 2021
I'm planning to come Friday afternoon to Saturday. Rented an Airbnb. Excited for hugs and hanging out! ❤️

So the most exciting piece of silicon is not from Intel, AMD or NVidia, but Apple????
For the first time in forever I've been really jazzed about some unexpected hardware news. I used to obsess tirelessly over AMD, Intel and NVidia specs often making the argument that AMD was the pioneer and innovator that drove the market, and in the past few years I finally feel somewhat validated by AMD. What's fascinating though is the progression that I figured AMD would make in developing truly exciting cutting edge desktop class SOC's in a way that matters to enthusiasts and content creators. Well.... Apple is doing it, and my mind is kind of blown. The M1 Max is the most exciting thing to happen in computer hardware, maybe ever?? Consider it's power envelope, it's overall efficiency, it's ability to deliver high end graphics at 4K without the need for a discrete GPU. I figured AMD would get there first, they certainly have the engineering, I'm not sure if they lacked the vision, or if they are afraid of cannibalizing the discrete GPU space. Either way, I truly believe Apple has found the way forward in silicon design. If you would have told me this was going to happen when Apple said they were going to transition from Intel about a year ago, I'd of had a hard time believing it, but here we are. - https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2021/10/introducing-m1-pro-and-m1-max-the-most-powerful-chips-apple-has-ever-built/
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.

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.

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.

ICOK Wine Tasting: Who Want's to Drink Some Port!?
Hi all,
So I have several bottles of port that have been aging cough cough pandemic... and I think we should get together and drink them.
- Linc has graciously allowed me Friday night for tasting during ICOK, October 29th. So after we light the offrenda, we can drink some wine and have some eats.
For those of you that have not had Port before, Port tends to be on the sweeter/dessert side and have an increased alcohol content. The bottles I have purchased are across the spectrum from white to aged tawny style. Oldest bottle in the tasting will be 41.5 years old, so we have an exciting time ahead of us. As the alcohol content of this is high, and I think we will have a decent turn out for ICOK, I am opening 24 spots for the taking.
- Cost will be: $35-40/seat depending on participation numbers
- 8 ports 1 oz each + many snacks
- Will for right now be just taking a first come, first serve list to be posted here. Will take payment closer to the event. Don't want to jinx it now with COVID. Please message me on discord and I'll put your name here to secure your spot. Will also take a few backup spots in case we have people that drop out.
Can't wait to see you all
Tasting Seats:
PandEpic Prizes!
Hey y'all,
Here's the current list of prizes! Stay tuned for more.
PANDEPIC Prizes!
1 Quantum Age Adventures (Recycled Comics omnibus)
1 One year premium membership to boardgamearena.com
1 Pair of Custom Earrings from The Crafty Archivist @WagsFTW
1 $50 giftcard to Crunchyroll.com
1 3 month gift card for Crunchyroll Premium
1 Hornmug
1 PS5 Controller
1 Harley Quinn “Mini Glass set” of 4 shot glasses (x1)
3 Pandepic laser etched Yeti cups with lid and straw
1 KrakenDice Leather Dice Tray
1 The Mandalorian gift set (socks, "the child" 12oz mug, Grogu enamel keychain)
1 8" Tom Nook plush with 151g bag of sour skittles
1 8" Koopa Paratroopa plush with 191g bag of starburst
1: Mega Construx Charizard kit
1 Among Us: Crewmate Plush (Choose color)
1 Splendor Board Game (Marvel or Regular Edition)
1 Sushi Go
1 Codenames
1 Codenames Disney
1 Telestrations After Dark
1 Canvas art piece, Marvel, 2 pieces