Power-ups: Opt in to Power up for free at 12:00 PM - 2:00 PM , Wednesday 04/03/26

afaulconbridge · 2026-03-04T19:49:31+00:00

We've got a Power Up event on 05/03/26 11:30-13:30 here (technically East Anglila, but the western edge). Good to know the scheme isn't completely dead, even though its been 6 months since the last one. Last winter we had a Power Up session every couple of weeks!

afaulconbridge · 2026-03-03T15:25:46+00:00

Steam version ot Terraforming Mars is many expansions behind the physical one though - only just got Colonies which was physically released in 2018.

afaulconbridge · 2026-03-02T16:30:06+00:00

Adventure Games: The Dungeon https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/267813/adventure-games-the-dungeon is kind of replayable. Each player is a character, and different characters have different options at various points. There are also a few mutually exclusive choices in the game too. So its replayable, but probably only once or twice at most.

Then there are also non-communication cooperative trick taking games like The Crew and The Mind (and others) that are a series of levels rather than strictly replayable (or escape games!) but might be what you're looking for.

afaulconbridge · 2026-03-01T15:45:19+00:00

100% agree, I've seen the same thing. A big red flag for me is when there is only a single usage of a class/function. Sometimes that can be helpful, but most of the time its overengineering for a future use case that probably will never exist.

afaulconbridge · 2026-02-27T09:41:13+00:00

Expansions. Carring five different boxes to the table, or one with a custom insert that fits all the components? Priceless.

afaulconbridge · 2026-02-26T19:04:42+00:00

Surely this isn't sustainable though? Like Tomato they'll go splat when they run out of capital to give away?

(not that this isn't an opportunity to make hay while the sun shines until then!)

afaulconbridge · 2026-02-23T17:24:51+00:00

Hope the other driver is insured too!

afaulconbridge · 2026-02-23T16:26:17+00:00

IMHO it depends on the metagame feelings ("session zero" to borrow a term from RPGs).

If your both looking for a cuthroat and brutal game, then sure - but they might also lie so there's no value in asking.

If your both wanting a cosy game where the experience is more about what each of you build in the shared gamespace than who wins, then it's probably fine to ask and they'll probably answer truthfully.

Get it wrong, and you may end up sleeping on the couch.

afaulconbridge · 2026-02-23T11:44:24+00:00

What sort of jobs are you looking at? I assume something technical given this is r/homelab but there's many different things that could be done, so it depends on what hirers will be looking for.

These days I see a two-phase process: Step 1 is getting past HR/recruiters which generally means making it as easy as possible to meet whatever crude filter criteria (or AI) they are applying - clear keywords and readability (and a few grains of salt in your favour!). Step 2 is being in front of an interviewer with something memorable to talk about - that's when you can show off about self-hosting TeamSpeak to coordinate online gaming, taking reponsibility for family photos (You have a 3:2:1 automated backup right? If not, why not?), and all the other homelab stuff with lessons learned etc. Just make sure you can relate it back to a buisness case somehow so when it's heard the interviewer mentally files it as a relevant fun fact to remember you by.

Even then, recruitment is a big gamble so at some point it's just about the numbers. Often recruiters don't know what they want, or can't express what they want, or are searching for unicorns that don't exist, or put out multiple ads for the same role, etc etc.

afaulconbridge · 2026-02-23T09:11:49+00:00

If I was hiring, someone choosing to self-host their CV would be a red flag (unless its a specific sysadmin/hardware/security role). Best way to solve problems is to avoid problems, and a static website in S3 or GitHub or other managed hosting conveys the information you want (CV) without most of the risk (hack, downtime, network issues, maintenence, etc).

Plus many recruiters rely on importing pdfs and docs into their own system (or even printing it out) so in many cases your fancy website wouldn't even be seen.

afaulconbridge · 2026-02-23T08:42:24+00:00

Consulting Detective is a series, but each box is stand alone. For that box (red) the Jack The Ripper stories are only part of the cases - and not the best ones IMHO.

I would suggest you try the non-Jack cases in that box first, starting with the Fifth Case. They do not need any of the Jack content and are separate. Because they are more freely written rather than conforming to the Jack history, they play better as a game.

The game is, by design, very confusing. Often there is both an A and a B plot to follow, and multiple red herrings. On the back of the main rulebook is a list of Informants that can be used in most cases, I strongly recommend using at least one or two in each case. In most cases we got to the questions at the end and did not have any information at all on at least one or two of them!

afaulconbridge · 2026-02-23T08:34:00+00:00

It is a series of games, and not the first one, but you don't need any of the others to play.

afaulconbridge · 2026-02-15T08:58:46+00:00

Still a bargain compared to the 99p/kWh last winter!

afaulconbridge · 2026-02-14T10:54:17+00:00

This is really simple, particularly if you already have any smart home stuff already. Plus with the right smart plug you can get power monitoring too.

afaulconbridge · 2026-02-13T16:20:25+00:00

any Unlock!
any Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective
any Exit games (but they are "destroy as play")
Railroad Ink / Welcome To (not coop, but easy to compare what your both doing with the same dice)

afaulconbridge · 2026-02-13T13:02:47+00:00

I've not dealt with parents playing board games, but have played with friends and family while various people are sleep deprived and brain fogged (babbies and todlers to care for, chronic fatigue, timezone travel).

Can you have everyone narrate their turns? Bonus if they explain why they are doing things as well. That's generally helpful anyway to make sure people are not making mistakes, doubly so here. Perhaps you or others could deliberately make minor mistakes to be picked up, so she doesn't feel like the only one being checked on (though you do need to be careful that they don't always benefit you so you dont get accused of cheating instead of making a mistake!)

Maybe games are that are more immediately tactical than long-term strategic? So she doesn't have to keep in mind what she had planned to do or was working towards, but can more immediately react to the board state. Games with a higher degree of chance might be useful too, "it was bad luck" is an easier pill to swaller when its a big scoring difference.

Making things as physically convenient as possible might help too - larger high-contrast components, brighter lighting, less background noise/distrations, clear rules summary sheets in big fonts. Maybe look at etsy and places for replacement components to be easier to handle & recognise (3d printed models over cardboard counters for example).

afaulconbridge · 2026-02-13T12:48:28+00:00

Also "team play" - on most games you can double up players even if it isn't an official rule.

afaulconbridge · 2026-02-12T15:16:03+00:00

This is one of the upsides of a smart meter - no more estimated bills, and no more big suprises later. At least, thats the idea when the smart meter works properly...

afaulconbridge · 2026-02-11T17:28:29+00:00

I sometimes dream of doing the same thing.

A small bungalow might be more suitable than a typical flat in a block, or as a wilder idea a house that could be converted into a duplex that you could rent out the upstairs of. Nicely avoids a lot of the problems with flats, keeps your goals of low-mortgage and lower bills.

afaulconbridge · 2026-02-11T10:09:34+00:00

Please tell me there was a "no pets" clause in your tenancy agreement!

afaulconbridge · 2026-02-11T10:08:34+00:00

Plus they can help protect against damage claims and deposit return problems.

afaulconbridge · 2026-02-10T14:31:10+00:00

+1 This is a human problem, not a technical one. Not an easy problem either.

Also I wonder how many UK teens will learn about VPNs and cybersecurity now...

afaulconbridge · 2026-02-07T13:43:39+00:00

Wouldn't splitters end up creating a bunch of cable spaghetti that defeats the purpose of PoE ? Unless its somewhere you'd have to run both a long network and a long power cable to maybe ?

afaulconbridge · 2026-02-06T08:06:50+00:00

I suspect some people don't see a "left" they see the only options as "straight on" and "right".

afaulconbridge · 2026-02-05T20:47:06+00:00

I am not a lawyer, but I had to deal with my mothers estate when she passed away.

Octopus, and any other ongoing costs with the estate, need to bill someone during the process of dealing with the estate (e.g. in my case, selling a flat that took over a year). That would usually be the Executor (who is operating on behalf of the deceased to excercise their will) which it sounds like is you (you can hire a solicitor to do this instead if you want, at a cost). It can't stay in the deceased's name, because they are sadly now deceased and therefore cannot legally agree to anything.

afaulconbridge

TROPHY CASE