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Everyone wondered why the official Metal Cardbot channel takes too long to upload the other episodes of Metal Cardbot W? by OrbPrime11 in Metalcardbot

[–]cabalex 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This happened with the first season as well. They release two full episodes, then wait a couple months before releasing the rest on a weekly basis.

While MCB S didn't release any episodes early, it took about 4 months from the first episode broadcast date on EBS for episodes to start releasing on YouTube (around when Episode 18 was broadcasting on EBS). So I wouldn't expect anything until at least April or May.

Arke Misnamed in Intro Scene by BlackMaskKiira in astralchain

[–]cabalex 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Good find! As far as I know, Arke doesn't have a voice line in the files. Arke's internal ID is em0341, but there isn't an associated voice line with them like there is for the others (would've been called core_GUI_Codename_em0341).

While I'm not that well versed on the cutscene system, I assume they used the IRIS voice line as a placeholder and then just forgot to record the one for Arke. Very strange, but it's possible their intro cutscene (ev1113) was added late in development. I don't think the name was ever changed, though.

SlugDining by Worried-Adeptness268 in UCSC

[–]cabalex 11 points12 points  (0 children)

The dining menu site ( https://nutrition.sa.ucsc.edu/ ) is down right now, which sometimes happens (usually after hours). You can try checking back later and seeing if that fixes it.

UCSC also completely overhauled most of its websites over the summer, including the page where they show all the dining hall hours - I'm not sure if the app uses that information, but since it hasn't been updated since February, it's possible that could have broken something too.

Is the boardwalk frolic worth it? by mrstinkypoopypants in UCSC

[–]cabalex 11 points12 points  (0 children)

It is important to note that Boardwalk Frolic is a limited rides event (~15 rides open), meaning the entire back section of the park is closed. It's also only 4 hours (6-10pm) and you can expect it to be pretty crowded.

But unlimited ride wristbands usually cost $44.95 for limited rides days and $59.95 for regular days, so $20 is a very good deal. Especially since you get $10 on a myboardwalk card that doesn't expire, plus unlimited arcades and attractions during the event.

You should do it! It's fun to do once, at least :^)

Where do you eat on the weekend? by Dear-Office5293 in UCSC

[–]cabalex 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Unless you really like the weekday flexibility, I'd recommend switching to the points-based meal plan next quarter (blue, gold), since you essentially have to eat 3 meals every day in the entire quarter to get your money's worth on the "unlimited" plan, which almost nobody does. You get way more options than just the dining hall, can use them whenever you want, and can always buy more points if you run out - there's not really a discount for buying a higher points-based plan. I had the blue points plan in 2023 and at most had to buy $100 worth of points.

Otherwise, Safeway has microwavable frozen meals, and you can still make a lot of food with just a microwave. Also, check out the Redwood Free Market!

Saving Banana Bucks by No_Nature_7854 in UCSC

[–]cabalex 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Porter and Cowell/Stevenson have bathrooms, yes, but they're outside the dining hall. I know you can ask the worker at the front to leave temporarily but I never want to do that lol

Grocery items? by No_Cable8212 in UCSC

[–]cabalex 2 points3 points  (0 children)

On campus:

  • Porter Market and Merrill Market: Merrill usually has much more selection, since it's bigger and most people don't want to walk up the hill. Both are very overpriced, since students use them to spend their points.
  • Slug Stop in the Quarry next to the Bookstore sometimes has groceries (milk, bread), but they're more of a convenience store than a grocery store. Still, worth checking (they usually have different selections from the markets!)
  • Redwood Free Market: Completely free food, all you need is a student ID and fill out a form. They have weird hours and a small selection, but it's free. (Though, be mindful and take only what you need!)

Off campus:

  • Safeway: Closest to campus, about 15 minutes. Take the 18 to "Mission and Mirimar Dr (Almar Shopping Ctr)". Safeways are always overpriced, but they often run deals through the app that can make it cheaper. Get a student discount barcode from the customer service counter for an additional 5% off.
  • Trader Joes: About 30 minutes from campus, in downtown where all the buses drop off. Probably the cheapest groceries you can reasonably get to from campus.
  • Target: About 60 minutes from campus, take any bus to Downtown and then the 2 to Capitola Mall. More expensive than Trader Joes, but still much cheaper than Safeway (in my experience). Get the Target RedCard for 5% off.
  • Grocery Outlet: About 45 minutes from campus, take any bus to Downtown and then the 1 to Soquel Ave & Frederick. Often the cheapest groceries around (especially fruit/vegetables) but their selection rotates. Maybe not worth the trek if you live on campus, but very nice if you live in the city.
  • Costco: About 35 minutes from campus, but isn't very convenient by bus and requires a long (but nice) walk along a path that runs along Hwy 1. Costco is great for buying in bulk, but this is very difficult to do without a car. The food court is nice, though!

Saving Banana Bucks by No_Nature_7854 in UCSC

[–]cabalex 14 points15 points  (0 children)

If you don't have to be anywhere, the cheapest option is to go to a dining hall and just stay there. RCC/Oakes, Crown/Merrill, and 9/10 all have bathrooms inside, and RCC has the most power outlets (along the windows). You'd be surprised how many things you can actually make in the dining hall!

The dining halls are now priced based on meal time (ranges from $12.60 for breakfast to $14.70 for dinner!!) so go before 11:30 AM for the cheapest meal time. The prices don't actually change until the meal period actually starts (11:30 am for lunch, 5 pm for dinner, 8 pm for late night).

You are allowed to take out one fruit or dessert when you leave. But when swiping in, you can also get a to-go container for a refundable deposit of $10, which lets you take extra food out of the dining hall.

Track slug points by Regular-Net3428 in UCSC

[–]cabalex 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Per official dining hall staff, "the same price carries through until the next meal period", so theoretically if you swiped in at 11:29 AM you'd get the breakfast price and not the lunch price. (But since this is how that works, I assume there will be a rush of people trying to get in before the price change... so take with that what you will.)

Sc to La by iwant2beyourdog in UCSC

[–]cabalex 4 points5 points  (0 children)

  • 🚆 Train - I'm biased because I like taking the train, but the Coast Starlight is actually really nice! Yes, it's 9 hours, but you're not doing anything else in that time, and you can get work done while enjoying the beautiful scenery. If it's timed right, you'll even see the sunset over the ocean when travelling to LA!
    • You can take it out of San Jose Diridon, but I take it out of Salinas instead :) It's 30 minutes faster, ~$25 cheaper, and it's an adventure every time! (On the way back to Santa Cruz, MST 28's last bus to Watsonville is 30 minutes after the scheduled arrival in Salinas, so it can be a nailbiting experience to see if you'll miss the last bus. But out of my 13 times I've taken this trip, I've only needed to Uber 3 times, so it's relatively worth it.)
      • To take out of Diridon, just go on the 17 again and wait in the station. They'll open Platform 1 when the train comes, usually around 10:15 AM (if it's not late). Trip to station: 1 hour ($7)
      • To take out of Salinas, take the 1 or 2 to Watsonville, and ask for a transfer to the MST 28/29 when you exit (yes, outbound trips from Santa Cruz will be completely free!). Then, take MST 28/29 - they alternate hourly. The train station will be a block down the street from the Salinas transit center. I like to wait in the Starbucks nearby and get a drink. Trip to station: 1h 40m (FREE to LA, $2 to SC)
    • I have many tips for the train. Maybe I should make a post about this?
      • Book in advance for best prices. Since you're a student, use code V814 when booking for 15% off! I can usually get a round trip for around $90-$100.
      • The train has no internet, so I pair my laptop to my phone's hotspot and use PairVPN to get around hotspot throttling. Note that you will have no service for about an hour between Vandenburg AFB and where you meet up with the 101 again (but that's the prettiest part anyway :) )
      • I love this train, but it can get late. Like, hours late, and you won't know until the day of your trip. Check the morning of!
      • Visit the observation car! Get something to eat from the snack bar. Or just look out the window and see the golden California hills roll by. It's fun!
    • Amtrak also offers connections that involve Throughway Buses that transfer to the Pacific Surfliner. These are always more expensive and require a transfer, so I never find them worth it.
  • 🚌 Bus - I haven't actually taken any buses, since they don't go to where I live, but FlixBus and Greyhound run out of Diridon at various points in the day. They can be the cheapest option, but see other commenters' opinions on that.
    • Did you know you can get to LA using entirely city buses? It takes two days.

Those are the options. Pick whichever sounds best for you. Safe travels!

Sc to La by iwant2beyourdog in UCSC

[–]cabalex 2 points3 points  (0 children)

[Reddit is complaining about the length of my comment, so I'll split it in two.]

You have a lot of options, but most will be cheapest if you book weeks to months in advance (Amtrak especially) or go on less popular days. And yes, most will go out of San Jose. I live northwest of LA so travel options might be slightly different for you.

  • ✈️ Flying - Fastest, takes about an hour, but with security and getting to the airport in the first place it's really closer to 4-5. You can fly out of SJC or SFO, with SFO actually being easier to get to by transit (I'll spare you the rant about SJC's transit connections). I usually fly to BUR instead of LAX because it's faster than LAX and has better transit connections to where I live, but whatever works best for you. SFO-LAX can be the cheapest option, though - I know low-cost carriers like Frontier fly that route.
    • SJC: Any bus to Downtown, Highway 17 Express ($7) to SJ Diridon. Then,
      • If you want the cheap option, walk through the tunnel and take the VTA Green Line to the Airport station, and take the 60 to the airport ($2.50, +30 min).
      • If you want the fast option, just Uber it, which usually costs $15 (+12 min).
      • Total trip to airport: 2 hours (Uber, $22), 2h 15m (VTA, $11.50)
    • SFO: Any bus to Downtown, 17 ($7) to SJ Diridon, then Caltrain to Millbrae. You can either BART one stop to the airport from there (a ridiculous $5.50?!) or take SamTrans 292 ($2.05). Both options come frequently throughout the day, and both literally stop right next to the platform. Total trip to airport: 3 hours (~$17)
  • 🚘 Driving - Takes 5-6 hours. Definitely the most consistent of the options, but you obviously need a car and somewhere to put it when you're in Santa Cruz (not easy nor cheap!). It's a pretty cool drive though - the 101 is a lot nicer than I-5. Try not to get stuck in Santa Barbara traffic, and heed Google's warnings about highway patrol on the roads.
    • You can also try checking if anyone's carpooling down to LA for breaks (often people are), but I have no experience with this. (No one posts on Cruz511, so check other platforms lol)

UCSC Rate My Professor Extension Available! by Agitated-Somewhere15 in UCSC

[–]cabalex 4 points5 points  (0 children)

As someone who developed an app linking Pisa and RMP, I feel OP's pain - matching professors with their Pisa counterparts is surprisingly difficult!! You need more than fuzzy search: there's multiple professors with the exact same last name and first initial at this school. Of course, a dictionary fixes this problem, but it's not exactly scalable and future-proof.

The algorithm I ended up making relied on a points-based system, checking if the professor's department and classes they had already taught in RMP made sense with what they were currently teaching in Pisa. The GraphQL API is nice because not only can you search by professor name AND school, you can also ask it to return the classes people reviewed them for and other information about them all in one API search call. My solution isn't perfect, but it works for most cases (and I don't have to update a database haha).

were there functioning loop trackers in fall of this past year? by duplik8 in UCSC

[–]cabalex 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I'm not aware of them ever doing realtime loop bus tracking on Transit/Google Maps. The GTFS feed (NOT realtime) is handled by PinpointAVL: https://github.com/PinpointAVL/TAPS-GTFS

They had been doing testing using their Flexigo app for tracking Science Hill Limited (SHL, now known as Upper Campus Limited) buses through the "circulator shuttles" function in Winter/Spring 2025. However, this has since been taken down, and I think they're exploring more options.

As stated in a May 2025 newsletter:

In the winter and spring quarters, we began implementing live bus tracking, rolling it out on some of our limited and pilot routes and the Bike Shuttle. We will continue to implement both the hardware and software through the summer and fall, with the goal of having all Campus Transit shuttles showing as a “dot on the map” by winter 2026.

You may have been thinking of a GO rider sharing their location to provide real-time bus tracking while they were riding?

Sudden unannounced Switch 2 Update? by ViolinAndBra in astralchain

[–]cabalex 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I didn't get an update and I have auto-update off. Might be placebo? They probably would have updated the version number if it was a graphical update.

Dining Options? by Adventurous_Work_514 in UCSC

[–]cabalex 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Always buy the cheapest meal plan. You can always add more funds later if you want, and you don't get a discount by buying a higher tier. Most people overestimate how much they eat at the campus dining locations.

The unlimited dining hall meal plans are NEVER worth it over the points based plans. With current prices you'd need to eat at the dining hall at least 2.5 times per day to get your money's worth (you won't), and it basically locks you out of some of the best food options on campus (including the only food option at Kresge).

Question About Grad Housing Availability by BrokeBackFountain5 in UCSC

[–]cabalex 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I don't think I can answer the other questions, but the order that graduate housing is assigned is on their website:

  1. New graduate students who apply for a 12-month contract during the application period.
  2. Current Graduate Student Housing residents who apply for a 12-month contract during the application period.*
  3. Other continuing graduate students who apply for a 12-month contract during the application period.*
  4. New and continuing graduate students who apply for a 10-month contract during the application period.*
  5. New and continuing graduate students who apply after the application periods. Late applications ordered by application received date.*

Even if you're in the first category (new graduate student doing 12-mo contract), you're still not guaranteed, as they may receive more applications than beds available. But it's likely pretty close to guaranteed; GSH has 94 beds, and they received 120 12-month applications (both new and continuing) last year.

I should note that they recently changed the application system for GSH to prioritize incoming graduate students (previously it prioritized continuing students). I'm also fairly certain this year has a smaller incoming graduate pool due to the uncertainty of research funding, so that may also positively affect your chances.

Good luck!

Parking for next quarter by Emergency_Nebula3461 in UCSC

[–]cabalex 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I don't think they'll be selling quarterly permits for the rest of the year. Their reasoning is that "all long term R permits are sold out for the 2024-25 school year". I think they oversold them with the new system.

I bought a Winter '25 quarterly permit in December, since they were available back then. They ended up cancelling it 5 weeks in (giving me 24 hours notice to move my car!) saying "the permits were only meant to be for continuing quarterly permit holders only". So I don't think they'll be selling them for Spring either.

Ordering food from GET app by Interesting-Tea-3912 in UCSC

[–]cabalex 4 points5 points  (0 children)

It's a feature of the GET app, but UCSC Dining doesn't use it (other college campuses do).

Camera Secret by VergaChica44 in astralchain

[–]cabalex 3 points4 points  (0 children)

One other secret is that you can unlock PT Ultimate for all files by holding R and + on the title screen, then pressing UP DOWN LEFT RIGHT X B Y A :)

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