I genuinely had a massive reversal. I always thought Star Trek was lame for some reason. I love it now, aim to watch absolutely everything. I’m also bringing others to the fandom.

I do think maturing as a person helped me appreciate it more. And maybe Star Trek’s influence is doing its own part in it all.

It’s so optimistic, principled in some ways, very refreshing. Burned out from all the grim and dark gritty ‘realism’ in fiction (and reality I guess…). I’ve also come to appreciate how brave the earlier series were.

Nice and tidy setup. What specs do the Thinkcenters have? And what rack is that?

I was a Star Wars fan all my life.

I became a Trekkie somewhere through that trilogy.

No, but I’ve started thinking about getting a plan B ready (despite being in very stable circumstances). I am a late arrival to tech, but came to this field because I’m genuinely interested in it and want to immerse myself. It’s not my background and trying to catch up and keep up is tricky, but it has been interesting.

Yet, with what tech is trending towards (chat control, government IDs required to participate online, talk of banning adblockers and VPNs, the ever expanding reach of FAANG or whatever the acronym is) I’m not sure whether I can keep the enthusiasm up. What attracted me to tech was the scrappy underdogs in FOSS, the people standing up to the monopolies…but I’ve been losing some of my initial optimism.

AI is just the latest development in the saga, which puts question marks on the viability of a career in tech, as well as providing sort of poisoned chalice of convenience to somebody still starting out. I want to know and learn whatever I can myself, but my peers are ahead and using AI. Whenever I use AI I can feel my patience, curiosity and satisfaction atrophying.

Windows 12! Are you a time traveller?

Nice. I am the target audience for this post. Only played one of the older games on the SNES but find platformers quite difficult so never really played it seriously. I love Dracula (the novel) though and love the over the top Gothic atmosphere. Enjoyed the Netflix series of Castlevania too. Weirdly find the whole Dracula’s castle aesthetic cozy.

Power naps? In the car (since you’re not driving) or at any point you can get even 5-10 mins. Get a sleep mask and ear plugs if you need to. Try to sleep max 15 mins at a time, so you don’t get that super groggy feeling. Set an alarm or timer. If you drink coffee or tea, supposedly if you drink it just before your nap it will metabolise while you nap and give you a boost when you wake up.

Go for a walks in between to energize yourself. You can also do a sort of walking meditation to try and reduce stress, just kind of look around at the colours, light, shade and movement, listen to the sounds around you (and the gaps between sounds), the feeling of your feet meeting the ground and lifting up again, etc. Try to just take it in as pure perception and if you start thinking, just return to the physical sensation you are focusing on. Even 10 mins will do.

Eat an apple or two for a healthier sugar rush.

Even though I’ve seen TOS I never connected the dots! Didn’t realise their characters had appeared before. Must watch those episodes again some time.

Cidona, it’s basically a non-Alcholic version of one of the biggest alcoholic apple cider brands in Ireland. A gateway drug.

I never really played 2, but the art and music in 3 are amazing. Very fond of that era in fantasy art.

Warlords 3 Dark Lords Rising, Age of Wonders a close second.

I would second this. Find social events that are structured around some shared activity, whether it’s sporty, nerdy or anything in between. Takes the pressure off to meet somebody, alleviates loneliness even temporarily by keeping you busy and engaged. And if you do run into somebody that interests you and that might be interested in you, it’s way easier to break the ice and get talking naturally without any expectations by just focusing on the activity at hand. It’s a chance to forge a bond over shared interests and activities rather than the transactional detached experience you seem to be describing from dating apps. Some scenes also soft of have a naturally less conventional and more diverse following, so it might be easier to find somebody compatible.

Nice thanks, will check it out. I last checked pre- Steamdeck.

Cool, my friend always told me about it but when I looked into it last it didn’t seem to work on Linux. Must try it.

Does it work on Linux?

I’m not British, but I know about Kielder Forest because of Geowizard’s straight line mission YouTube videos.

Not part of the Commonwealth since 1949.

Hmm, I see. I do this all the time as well. Always wonder with memes can I just relate because they’re ordinary human reactions or traits or actual indicators of some kind.

Is this an ADHD thing?

Sorry was too lazy to link everthing. Extra Ordinance was more an example of the fact that Luanti can do all kinds of stuff and it’s a single game.

These might be more to your taste:

https://content.luanti.org/packages/Wuzzy/mineclone2/

https://content.luanti.org/packages/ryvnf/mineclonia/

https://content.luanti.org/packages/Mantar/exile/