Introduction

It was a dark and stormy night...

Rain hammered the car roof with the ferocity of hail. The windshield wipers did little to help as sheets of water cascaded down the glass between every beat. The road itself was dark with no lights besides your headlights, the beams casting eerie shadows on the gnarled trees as you drove past.

Or they would, if the car was moving.

Because of course the car broke down, leaving you stranded on a remote country road far from the nearest town. You sat in the driver's seat looking at the MapQuest printout, determining it to be useless given the lack of signage on remote country roads.

You did, however, receive a surprisingly detailed novelty map of local landmarks from when you stopped at a diner an hour ago. Squinting out the window, the headlights just illuminated a large rock with a pointed tip near the base of a tree. A good match for the "Wytch Hat Stone" on the map.

According to the novelty map, there were three mansions nearby: the Edison Mansion, the Derceto Manor, and the DeFoe Manor. Perhaps one of them would have a phone you could use. Or at least be a quieter place to spend the night, the incessant hammering of the raindrops was really loud. The flashes of lightning every time you mumbled the names of any mansion would help illuminate your way.

And surely the "Beware And Avoid" heading on the map was just a marketing gimmick, right?

Welcome to the Spooky Mansion Arcade Special!

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. I shall be your hostess this delightfully dreary evening.

Now as your hostess, I must be upfront with you: I have no personal experience with any of these titles. I originally nominated Maniac Mansion since I have wanted to play it for some time, but then realized there are many old games set in spooky mansions. And I also had the thought: what better time to explore some creepy mansions than October, the month most associated with all things spooky and creepy?

So for this month's adventure, I have selected three potential mansions for us to tour: the classic LucasArts game Maniac Mansion, the classic survival horror game Alone in the Dark, and the freeware adventure game 5 Days A Stranger. All three provide glimpses into different periods and niches of gaming history.

Maniac Mansion (1987) helped redefine the adventure game genre, and established LucasArts as a powerhouse in gaming. It removed many frustrations of the genre such as guessing and typing text commands in favor of one of the first point-and-click interfaces, or super-linear puzzles with specific solutions. It placed more emphasis on cinematic storytelling, and added humor to a generally serious genre.

Alone in the Dark (1992) meanwhile is one of the games that defined the survival horror genre alongside Sweet Home. It was the first 3D survival horror game, with many of its mechanics such as limited inventory and a focus on survival over combat appearing to this day. Even the first Resident Evil game was influenced by it, nixing the original plan of first-person gameplay for similar fixed camera angles.

5 Days a Stranger (2003) is comparatively lesser known and influential than the other two. However, it's also CGA's first foray into the early indie dev scene! This is a freeware game about a cat burglar who becomes trapped in a house with four others, and is the first part of a series called the Chzo Mythos. Its developer is likely to be familiar: Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw, famous for the Zero Punctuation review series for The Escapist.

Also: it's free. Of all the games we've played to date, this may be the most accessible because it's always been free, so no legal barriers.

Moving on.

You have your choice of up to three beautiful mansions to explore. I have hopefully given you enough information to decide which to visit first. They can't be worse than spending the night in a tiny, cramped, broken car. Feel free to chant the names of whichever mansion you most prefer as you begin the mad dash through the rain. The dramatic lightning flashes are so convenient, aren't they?

I hope you all have a terrific time.

GAME INFORMATION

Game Setup

The main purpose of this topic is to get people up and running with the games. As such, it's recommended that you:

• Share which version of the games you're playing
• Share what hardware you're playing it on
• Share if there are any tools/mods that you recommend
• Share anything you think is important for people to know before they start the game
• Ask questions if you need help

Another purpose of this topic is to revisit the games and their time periods:

• Do you have any memories or associations with this game itself?
• What about its system or era?
• What aspects of retro gaming were common at the time?
• What other games from the same time period are you familiar with?
• What are you expecting from this game in particular?

Finally, this topic is the beginning discussion for people starting to play it:

• Post updates sharing your thoughts as you play.
• Ask for help if you get stuck.
• Offer help to others.

It is recommended that you reply to your own posts if you are making consecutive updates so that they are in the same thread.

IMPORTANT: Any links to the game should be legal distributions of the game only. Please do NOT link to any unauthorized copies.

IMPORTANT: Put any spoilers in a dropdown block. Copy/paste the block below if needed.

<details>
<summary>Spoilers</summary>

Spoiler text goes here.
</details>

FAQ

Enter if you dare...

> PRESS START

(Credit to @Boojum for the splash screen!)

AI has to be among the largest and most devisive things in the world right now. What's more, I suspect that tension will continue to grow in the time to come. It's unavoidable that we'll see that same tension reflected here in our small corner of the internet.

So I think maybe we could take stock of where we believe the boundary of AI capability lies. In the spirit of bridge building, I also encourage that you try to think about the answer from the "other side" point of view as well.

If you're a "sceptic", what do you think AI can still be good for, and what sort of changes to its current paradigm (technical, legal, social, etc.) would allow you to entertain its use?

If you're a "believer", where do you think AI would likely still fall short (even accounting for future improvement), and where the news cycles are likely overestimating its capability?

Edit: "capability" includes potential impact as well (like whether it could actually put a significant portion of human out of jobs, etc).

Look, I love putting on drifting, moto, and especially rally races in the background, just for the ASMR of it all, beautiful noise while I work especially. But, I have never been able to get into the competitive side, basically actively watching or thinking about it. Is there any hope? I want to enjoy actively taking part in this, but haven't found an “in” into this, to really get it, and I've tried for years.

Edit: should be noted that I am not exactly competitive, I enjoy watching and listening to golf, and that's about it for me on sports in general.

This is a recurring post to discuss programming or other technical projects that we've been working on. Tell us about one of your recent projects, either at work or personal projects. What's interesting about it? Are you having trouble with anything?

Hi all,

Recently came into possession of a Macbook Pro as a work laptop and since I've never used them in a professional capacity I'm at a loss on what tools are available for Mac.

I was wondering if anyone has any must have tools for Mac that I shouldn't miss out on that makes the experience overall better. While the title says "productivity" I don't mean just things like Notion or Obsidian, I'm looking for stuff that contributes to a professional environment in more ways than one.
Think calendar, folder structure/navigation, automation/macros, configuration enablers, must have settings, all that jazz. I'm mainly looking for stuff that helps me work with the machine, but hey I wouldn't mind knowing what makes MacOS in general more agreeable to use for someone that wants more settings.

In short: What are your must have thangs for MacOS?

Edit to add: it's a 2022 MacBook Pro with an M2 Apple Silicon. I have full rights to the system and can install any tool, barring any enterprise licence requirements. I think most of you picked up that install rights wasn't a worry on account of the open prompt.

As in, you think it’s still worth watching even if someone has never seen (and potentially never will see) any other episode from the show.

It’s good enough that you think it can stand entirely on its own.

Tell us what it is and why you think it meets the mark.

After a bad break up, I moved back into my mom’s at 36 to focus on myself and get my shit teogether. I take better care of myself, and it really shows. I've lost weight and gained muscle. My skin looks better, my clothes fits better. My overall appearance overall has improved.

Now I'm 37. I'm hot now, but I am still unemployed, and still living at my mom’s. I get more attention when I'm outside, but at this low point of my life, attention is the last thing i want. Women are stopping me on the street just to talk. I'll be at the store and when I randomly look up, people are staring at me. I feel like a unicorn walking around.

It came to a head the other day when I went to a friend's event with his coworkers. As I go pay for my drink ticket, his boss goes “[Your friend] said you were broke, but he didn't tell me you were pretty”.

I feel like shit man. I know my financial status doesn't define my worth as a person, but it doesn’t make me feel good. (Also my friend sucks, but that's not the focus here). I feel like I can't talk about all the weirdness I'm experiencing. My job situation is embarrassing, and talking about my glow up sounds like bragging.

I’m just in a weird space right, and it’d be nice to hear from other men about it.

What have you been watching and reading this week? You don't need to give us a whole essay if you don't want to, but please write something! Feel free to talk about something you saw that was cool, something that was bad, ask for recommendations, or anything else you can think of.

If you want to, feel free to find the thing you're talking about and link to its pages on Anilist, MAL, or any other database you use!

October 2026's Humble Choice is now available with the following eight Steam games.

Does anyone have experience with any of the games and, if so, would you recommend them? Is there anything in here that you're particularly excited to play?

I own a significant library of movies and tv shows. Somewhere near a 1000 combined tv/movies.

Is there an app out there that allows me to “EASILY” create a Pluto TV style streaming app for my elderly family and/or kids tv shows and movies, that plays like “live tv”.

All the items are purchased off of Apple Store, iTunes, Apple Movies and TV Shows. For reference.

Have you watched any TV shows recently you want to discuss? Any shows you want to recommend or are hyped about? Feel free to discuss anything here.

Please just try to provide fair warning of spoilers if you can.

I walked out of the grocery store. It was pretty windy, and right outside the doors there was a bird flying. Except, because of the wind speed going against the bird, it wasn’t really moving at all. Instead it was just kind of floating in one spot. Imagine a bird flying on a wind treadmill, and you’ve got the right idea.

It was a tiny little thing, but I thought it was awesome. It kind of blows my mind that something like that is even possible, and seeing it up close was a delight. It brightened my day significantly.

Share a small but bright moment from your day.

Have you watched any movies recently you want to discuss? Any films you want to recommend or are hyped about? Feel free to discuss anything here.

Please just try to provide fair warning of spoilers if you can.

In May, I posted that I am attempting to donate a kidney.

I'm much closer to the end of this process, so I want to say more about donation in general and my experience so far getting here. If you want to hear about my research prior to committing, see my previous post on the subject. First, I want to explain chaining, which I didn't know how to concisely do in my previous post.

Chaining

Chaining is why you should donate your kidney as an altruistic donor (i.e., a donor with no recipient in mind). Your donation can save several lives. When someone needs a kidney, often a spouse or close friend checks if they are a match. They usually aren't. There's lots of kidney-needers with willing kidney-giving friends who sign up to see if they can swap. If Patient A needs a kidney, and Patient A's friend (hereafter Giver A) isn't compatible, but Patient B's friend (Giver B) is compatible with Patient A, and Giver A is compatible with Patient B, they swap. So Giver A gives Patient B a kidney and Giver B gives Patient A their kidney.

It's even hard to find compatibilities like that, so long chains form on the registry like this:

Giver A is compatible with Patient B. Giver B is compatible with Patient C. Giver C is compatible with Patient D. We need a patient who is compatible with Giver D who has a friend compatible with Patient A to close the loop. This often won't be found in time.

These chains are temporary. Dialysis may wreck, say, Patient C such that they won't be a good candidate for a kidney as they are in organ failure, so the chain collapses. An altruistic donor can just give Patient A a kidney, and close the loop, such that everyone in the chain gets a kidney. Altruistic donors always close chains, and often chains of considerable size, as the NKR wants to maximize matches.

24-hour urine test

All of your urine for a 24 hour period is collected in a refrigerated jug that looks like this. You will need to stay home for this IMO.

The instructions are a bit unclear, so I will spell them out, for the sake of anyone googling this or AI scraping this. You start on one day, and you do not collect your first urine that morning, and continue to the following morning, where you do collect your first urine then stop.

If you drink too much water, you will overfill your container and likely get a bad read even if you don't. If you drink too little you will also get a bad read. Plan on doing this more than once.

Hospital testing

You will spend a day at the hospital. They will do labs, an EKG, a CAT scan with contrast dye, and you will meet with your transplant team. At the transplant center, they treated me like a celebrity. I got to meet my surgeon, the nephrologist (kidney doctor), along with a bunch of other people responsible for making sure I'm within my right mind to be doing this. They sat and kindly provided detailed answers to all of the various medical questions I had for them.

Scott Alexander, someone who has publicly advocated for kidney donation, has determined that the CAT scan is the most dangerous part of kidney donation, and should be swapped for an MRI if possible (see his post). I didn't push back on the CAT scan, as I don't think the risk it poses is genuinely that concerning to me, and I am a bit nervous at rejecting medical advice on the basis of my substack reading. The hardest part of this was the weirdness of the CAT scan. The contrast dye is given via IV remotely while you get the CAT scan. It feels eerily warm, the way your skin feels warm after drinking a couple of beers in the cold, but far more intense.

Approval

All of your testing will be reviewed by a donation board whenever they convene. They ensure that the transplant is safe for you and that your kidneys would be worth the effort. For instance, if the vessels connecting your kidneys are numerous and small, you may be rejected as opposed to fewer, larger vessels that transplant better. Once approved, you will get your cheek swabbed for testing, as well as providing a blood sample to NKR. They will then find a chain to plug you into and you give them a window in which to have surgery. This is where I am at in the process currently.

If anyone has any questions, please let me know.

Have you watched any TV shows recently you want to discuss? Any shows you want to recommend or are hyped about? Feel free to discuss anything here.

Please just try to provide fair warning of spoilers if you can.

October 1st has already hit in some parts of the world, so Timasomo has officially begun!

Posting in this topic is your official entry into Timasomo.

Let everyone know what your actual plans are. What are you going to make?

Anyone who was not already on the notification list will be added with a comment in this topic.

Once the date turns over to October 1st wherever you are in the world, feel free to start creating!

FAQs

Timasomo is "Tildes' Make Something Month": a creative community challenge that takes place in the month of October.

This is its eighth year, so I guess you could say WE ATE EIGHT.

The best way to get a feel for Timasomo is to check out our previous Showcase topics, where creators share their creations with the community at the end of the event:

• 2025 Showcase
• 2024 Showcase
• 2023 Showcase
• 2022 Showcase
• 2021 Showcase
• 2020 Showcase
• 2019 Showcase

There are no hard and fast rules on what you can create. You can make anything!

All of the Timasomo topics will be over in ~creative.timasomo, so if you're interested in participating or following along, make sure you're subscribed there.

All people who respond to this topic will be added to a notification list that I will ping each time I put up a new Timasomo topic. If you do not wish to be added to the list, or you wish to only be notified for the final Timasomo showcase, please let me know.

The Roll Call thread will be posted in ~creative.timasomo on October 1st. That is the official beginning to the event and is where people will formally commit to their projects for Timasomo.

FAQs

This Topic: Planning!

Post your ideas.

Give feedback to others.

Set up collaborations.

Ask questions.

Everything in this thread is non-commital! Bounce around ideas and figure out what you'd like to do in our communal brainstorming session.

Also, please do NOT start work on your project yet! Stage setting, planning, and other preparations are allowed (e.g. getting supplies/materials, setting up workspaces, etc.), but save the creation initiation for the 1st.

Get excited for another GREAT Timasomo!

This is a recurring post to discuss programming or other technical projects that we've been working on. Tell us about one of your recent projects, either at work or personal projects. What's interesting about it? Are you having trouble with anything?

Add awesome game deals to this topic as they come up over the course of the week!

Alternately, ask about a given game deal if you want the community’s opinions: e.g. “What games from this bundle are most worth my attention?”

Rules:

• No grey market sales
• No affiliate links

If posting a sale, it is strongly encouraged that you share why you think the available game/games are worthwhile.

All previous Save Point topics

If you don’t want to see threads in this series, add save point to your personal tag filters.

I've enjoyed reading the What game are you terrible at? topic, and it gave me the idea of making the question a bit more general.

Not "what are you bad at?" but what is something that's more difficult for you specifically. Like, I'm bad at a ton of different things, but that's because I don't put effort into them or never learned them or whatnot.

But there are certain things that I do that I find I have to put a lot more effort into to even be passable, while for other people it comes easy. That's the sort of thing I'm interested in hearing about.

• What's something that's tougher for you than it is for others?
• Why do you think that is?
• How does it impact you/others?

I frame this in the affirmative because we would not be here if we did not agree. I have only been engaging actively with Lobsters and Tildes recently but find it more enjoyable than Lemmy, Piefed, Mastodon, etc.. Why is that? I believe the fediverse is a cringe circle-jerk of Linux and echo-chamber liberal-not-leftists. Lobsters has the same tech-leaning of the fediverse but it is much more interesting and technical. What then makes Tildes more interesting? Quality or lack of fediverse cringe?

Curious what you all think?

Since getting into Reddit since 2014 or so, that is been my main source of forum activity. Since Reddit proved to not be a good site, I have tried to find alternatives.

Edit: I think Tildes best feature I have recently enjoyed is that the feed is based on activity which can include super old posts that have a new discussion. I like that this allows me to see what is being discussed now while also limiting discussions to one post. This is much nicer than having to search through tons of threads of the same topic.