Recent posts

#21

Game Board / Would you rather?

Last post by Moondog - Sep 24, 2026, 08:24 AM

Pick which one of these ye'd rather do and then post up your own question!

Would ye rather have sour candy or sweet?

#22

Random Access / Re: Avatar suggestions

Last post by Moondog - Sep 24, 2026, 08:20 AM

It's 'ard to go wrong with a Redwall character, matey. I'd use one too if there were any with space helmets!

#23

General Discussion / Re: Favorite graphic editor?

Last post by Moondog - Sep 24, 2026, 03:48 AM

I'm still good with Photoshop! I guess maybe it's a little expensive now , but you can probably get an old one cheap on eBay. I just saw Photoshop 5 is up for sale there at about $16.

#24

General Discussion / Re: Favorite graphic editor?

Last post by James G. - Sep 24, 2026, 03:11 AM

I think GIMP is the standard on Linux desktops, although some use Krita. I don't think there are really any great alternatives to those for raster editing, or at least, I never saw any.

#25

Random Access / Avatar suggestions

Last post by Verdauga - Sep 23, 2026, 11:29 AM

The poll says it all; I'm shopping for an avatar, and am asking for y'alls thoughts. I'm unlikely to choose option 5, but that doesn't mean you can't suggest something. The odds are against you, is all.

#26

General Discussion / Re: Favorite graphic editor?

Last post by Verdauga - Sep 23, 2026, 11:25 AM

I use GIMP, as you'd probably expect, but that's not necessarily for the love of it. I'm comfortable enough with most of what I need it for, but it came more-or-less pre-installed on my machine.

I actually don't know what Mint uses for the purpose, if it has anything at all.

#27

Random Access / Re: What's the best ice cream?

Last post by Verdauga - Sep 23, 2026, 11:22 AM

My personal favorite is genuine moose tracks, with the giant glob of fudge interfering with every scoop. Next to that, idk maybe blackberry or smthng

#28

General Discussion / Favorite graphic editor?

Last post by James G. - Sep 23, 2026, 12:45 AM

Which graphics programs do you use to get work done? As a Linux user, I relied on GIMP pretty much exclusively; now that I'm over on the Mac side, I've found I really like Acorn. It offers just enough features in curated places, and then gets out of the way so that I can use them. There are probably a few things I can't do that I might find interesting, like use 1-bit Mac patterns, but it's good enough that I went ahead and got the license for it.

#29

Announcements / Tweaks & Changes (2026-09-22)

Last post by James G. - Sep 22, 2026, 09:19 AM

I rolled out a new emoticon set this morning. I expect it will still get improvements (they look a little boxy to me), but everything starts somewhere! This is based partly on the old UBB-esque standards, and partly on the text underlying the emoticons.

Also, the default avatar is now a blank pixel, getting rid of the annoyance of having a full-sized avatar (which actually exceeds the official limit) when the user may want none.

Thanks for reading! Hopefully the next entry will be more interesting.

#30

General Discussion / Re: Reflections in the snow

Last post by James G. - Sep 22, 2026, 09:12 AM

Oh, certainly. It can be quite the blessing to have past actions forgotten, and not simply forgiven.

It isn't always easy to do!

I think one instance of my view changing is the topic of names, which I believe I've brought up to you before through other means of communication. At the time of our original discussion on it, I placed less emphasis on the name, and more on the essence of the one holding it. But these days, I see it more as a standard to bear, and a legacy to leave. I carry the name of one of my great-grandfathers. I don't know much about him, but I want to learn more.

We naturally think a little more about legacies, I think, as we get older. When I was working on LAF/RAF at the time all those things were mostly just natural steps; something needed to be done, let's get on with it. The reflection about the impact was more something that happened later on.

I still raise an eyebrow if a modern (rock/CCM) song was simply made into an orchestra piece, but is still the contemporary, doctrinally-shallow song that lay beneath the melody.

Well, if we have too strong an idea about what a good song ought to be like, a critical spirit can cause us to miss out on what good we might have gleaned from it. Just because a song repeats the same thing 75 times, for instance, doesn't mean that it has no value at all. I'm more irritated by songs that are theologically or Biblically inaccurate. That said, there are, of course, some songs that are better than others.

If a piece is of the wrong spirit or attitude to begin with, then that's another matter. I am extremely skeptical about anything from the metal or rap families, for instance; I honestly can't imagine anything from the first family being acceptable, and the latter, only in a narrow range (which is not the range that actual rappers ever seem to use).

I find many people here (at a Christian college) commonly share the views that being an Independent Fundamental Baptist means one is necessarily judgmental, stodgy, and against progress.

The cultural standard now is against separation or standards of any kind (which they call legalism), so I'm not shocked. It's possible that there are some people who live up to those stereotypes; there's always some people, in any group that has a stereotype about it, who live up to that reputation.

I think I concur about socialization in the real world-- years pass by without much conversation (or much real conversation).

It bothers me, but people are so busy, and there are a lot of ways that things can be taken wrong. It tends to take special moments, or certain people, or both before I am willing to risk putting myself out there. Maybe that reflects a problem with me, but I think it's true for a lot of people. I don't want to come off as creepy or to put myself in awkward situations. Maybe it has something to do with the times I did try in the past and it didn't go well. I don't know that I subscribe to that idea about everything being repressed from your youth, but at the same time, there can be trauma or emotional wounds. Besides, it makes sense that if you do something and it doesn't work, you're encouraged by that experience not to do it again.

I'm actually more sociable 'IRL' than online, and I think I'm okay with that. There are worse flaws.

That's nearly gotten to be true for me too, but the trouble is that I'm not much more sociable in real life than I've historically been. So in practice I just haven't socialized much at all. That gets maddening. Like I mentioned on the RAF thread, I wouldn't be surprised if that helps drive LLM interactions. Getting the prompt reply triggers the same part of the brain that you would get from a real response, even if the product primarily parrots phrases back to you. (I do like alliteration...)

I'm at a sort of a cross-roads. I want my own place, and if I "had my druthers", it'd be in a rural location, so I'm not bothered. However, I realize that I have to have someone in my life, or else I'll get nothing done, so sticking it out in the dorms with roommates is the best goad for productivity I have.

I know l (less confusingly known as Tumbler) helped save my college grades on numerous occasions; I think we're sufficiently similar as to make that a good choice.