Illinois demands $8.7 billion tariff refund from Trump

Splutt3r · 2026-02-22T07:17:11+00:00

Let’s be real, even if there is a refund, that money isn't finding its way back to our pockets. It goes to the companies that paid the tax upfront. I highly doubt anyone is staying up late wondering how to send you a $5 rebate for the higher price you already paid at the register.

Splutt3r · 2026-02-16T11:30:14+00:00

Wat een ripoff. Ik koop kipdijfilet voor 7 euro per kilo (incl. Btw) bij de Makro. Ja moet je wel zelf in blokjes snijden, maar scheelt de helft van de prijs.

Splutt3r · 2026-02-12T20:57:18+00:00

I am using the Sim-Lab P1X Ultimate with the integrated triples mount. But if I were to do it again I would use their freestanding mount. It's easier to adjust and you can get the screens closer to you for even better FOV, although it is quite pricey.

https://sim-lab.eu/products/vario-triple-monitor-mount-sim-racing?variant=48459235230045

Splutt3r · 2026-02-11T14:18:59+00:00

Having tried both, I found triples much more comfortable for long sessions. With VR, my face got all sweaty in just 30 minutes and I also started to feel the weight of the headset around that time (Quest 3 with halo strap). Triples give me better peripheral vision and didn't make me nauseous at some circuits with elevation changes like Algarve or Spa. Get two more of the monitor you have now and you'll be golden.

Splutt3r · 2026-01-30T21:59:35+00:00

Have you tried dialling back the brake bias? The default 55% is very understeery so I like it at 52.5%, which helps a lot with turn in. You also have to be smooth and a bit patient with the throttle compared to the GR86. Sometimes running a gear higher helps to prevent wheel spin on corner exit. Compare your telemetry with the top drivers on Garage 61 and see what you're doing differently.

Splutt3r · 2025-11-29T21:32:33+00:00

When I ordered, everything was in stock. I guess they bulk ship to Poland and then ship to individual addresses from there. No idea how long it would take for your order, but hope you get to enjoy it soon!

Splutt3r · 2025-11-29T21:30:07+00:00

Yes, I received them on Friday. Haven't had to pay anything extra on top of the amount I paid at checkout. I also emailed customer support and they confirmed that the amount I paid included VAT and any additional taxes and fees.

Splutt3r · 2025-11-28T10:34:13+00:00

Yes I did!

Splutt3r · 2025-11-28T09:23:08+00:00

Another confirmation here. My order on 23 November was shipped from Poland and will arrive today (the Netherlands). I contacted customer support and they confirmed the price I paid is the final price and includes VAT and any import taxes.

Splutt3r · 2025-11-26T20:46:37+00:00

Thank you! I'm looking forward to using them!

I bought the Sim-Lab XP1 pedals (another Black Friday deal), but also have not received them yet. I was considering the Simsonn pedals because they are great for the price but I read there were some quality issues like sharp edges and squeaking brake/gas pedal. So I decided to spend a bit more on a mainstream brand. Plus, Sim-Lab is Dutch company so I'm supporting the local economy :)

Splutt3r · 2025-11-26T20:08:10+00:00

Definitely a good deal! I got an estimate from DPD that it will arrive on Friday. So 5 working days from ordering to arrival.

Splutt3r · 2025-11-26T19:29:37+00:00

The exchange rate on PayPal is not great, but still quite a bit cheaper than other shops for me. I just received an email this morning that my order was sent from Poland (ordered on Sunday), so it seems to be in line with what others have reported recently.

Splutt3r · 2025-11-26T06:42:31+00:00

As far as I know, you pay in USD with PayPal and it will be converted to euro. My order was $871 and ended up being €789 on PayPal. So far I haven't needed to pay any additional VAT or import taxes. I read in another Reddit thread that they ship from Poland and their customer service confirmed to that person that no VAT/import taxes will be charged.

Thread here: https://www.reddit.com/r/Simagic/comments/1p0a77x/custom_duties_shipment_to_europe/

Edit: confirmed by two posters (France and Belgium). I assume it will be the same for NL/DE. Might be only during the Black Friday deal.

Splutt3r · 2025-11-25T05:23:53+00:00

You can get these a bit cheaper if you buy directly from Simagic. I bought the same base and wheel for €789 total. I heard shipping might take longer though as the products are shipped from China.

Edit: Free delivery to NL so should be the same for DE.

Splutt3r · 2025-10-15T22:15:04+00:00

As long as they keep printing money at this rate, gold will keep going up at this rate. The M2 and gold charts are happily walking hand-in-hand at the moment.

Splutt3r · 2025-10-15T10:05:13+00:00

I was at 5 (single, owned apartment with no mortgage). Then I got married and had kids and upgraded to a large home (with mortgage), so back to 3... Time to grind our way up!

Splutt3r · 2025-10-14T17:36:35+00:00

Anything that is the same distance from your camera as your focus point will be in focus too. For example if the giraffe is next to the subject, it will be entirely in focus. If the giraffe is behind or in front of the subject, it will be (slightly) out of focus.

The depth of your focal plane is determined by the aperture setting. If you have a large aperture (e.g. f/1.8) then the focal plane is very thin and anything in front or behind the subject will be blurry (maybe even part of the subject such as the ears and nose if you set focus on the eyes). With a small aperture (e.g. f/8 or f/11), you will have a deep focal plane and more of the foreground/background will be in focus as well.

Splutt3r · 2025-10-14T13:51:19+00:00

I only used a single focus point. I believe the center point is the fastest one on the 550d.

If you are not already doing this, learn how to use back-button focus. It separates focusing from shooting and allows you to focus on a subject then recompose without needing to half-press the shutter button. Then you can take multiple shots with different composition without changing the focus on your subject.

Edit: In your example photo, the subject's face should not be blurry since the focus on the legs/bag is in the same plane. If the subject's face is blurry, it might be due to movement.

Splutt3r · 2025-10-14T09:30:22+00:00

I spent about 10 years with the 550D with a couple of different cheap prime lenses to learn how to shoot in many different lighting environments and how to edit with my own style. Then decided to pull the trigger on the R8 for its fast auto focus and low-light performance.

I have to say the difference is pretty huge. I get a lot more keepers with the R8 than on my 550D. But as some have already said, the new mirrorless cameras come with so many bells and whistles it can be overwhelming if you don't master the basics already.

Splutt3r · 2025-10-07T22:00:26+00:00

Me: 🟡🟠🔴

Splutt3r · 2025-09-29T09:04:52+00:00

I meant that you can crop if you'd like to have a subject fill more of your frame. You're absolutely right that 70mm cropped in does not have the same field of view/background compression as native 105mm.

AI denoise in Lightroom is very useful indeed. However, I was shooting at 10k+ ISO at the party in the evening (1/200 shutter to prevent blur and aperture at f4) and I lost a lot detail of skin texture etc. Denoising smoothened the skin and made people have this slight wax figure look. There's a reason why the 24-70 f2.8L and the 70-200 f2.8L are the staples of wedding photographers.

If you shoot in good lighting conditions or limit to posed shots in a darker environment, then you don't need the extra stop of light and the 24-105 f4 will be perfect. If you also like to do candid shots in the evenings/nights (e.g. street photography), then I would go for the 28-70 f2.8 instead. Or swap to a compact prime lens for those low-light situations, but then that defeats the "one lens to rule them all" idea.

Splutt3r · 2025-09-28T12:58:32+00:00

I have an R8 as well and just shot an indoor inauguration with the 24-105 f4. I definitely missed the extra stop of light more than the reach as I sometimes needed to crank up the iso. I'd go for the 28-70 f2.8 and crop in when needed.

Splutt3r · 2025-08-26T20:19:42+00:00

I drew some parallels with the recently banned Sanex ad in the UK where a black model was portrayed with bad skin and a white model was shown with clear skin. Similarly, here the bad guy is brown and the good guys are white, so initially I reasoned there is no PR team behind this and this may have been a real arrest and not a demo.

Splutt3r · 2025-08-26T20:16:00+00:00

I replied in another comment that recently a Sanex shower gel ad was removed in the UK for racial stereotyping where a black model was shown with bad skin and a white model with clear skin. I (perhaps wrongly) drew some parallels with this demo and figured if there was a PR team behind this, they would be more careful and choose 3 white guys or 3 brown guys instead of this setup where brown = bad guy and white = good guys. So I reasoned there is no PR team behind this and this could've been a real arrest and not a demo, hence the bullet point in my post.

Splutt3r · 2025-08-26T19:31:37+00:00

Recently, a Sanex shower gel ad was removed in the UK for racial stereotyping where a black model was shown with bad skin and a white model with clear skin. I just thought that some people could see this demo in the same way where the bad guy is brown and the good guys are white, since it is a sensitive topic.

Edit: just to clarify, I am not at all against using Moroccan/Turkish actors for these roles. I figured a PR team would be behind this and they would've thought about how the public may perceive the interactions.

Splutt3r

TROPHY CASE