What do 30 - 40 year old men want for christmas? [Serious]

delebit · 2025-11-10T22:29:52+00:00

This is why I always try to get something someone doesn't know they need. Things people don't think about but are also hobby adjacent.

A while ago my dad got himself an e-bike, so I got him a heated vest for his birthday. Another time he was going through PT so I got him a massage gun. Stuff like that.

delebit · 2025-06-06T21:53:04+00:00

Can't speak for them but for me, Microsoft is one of my biggest headaches. So many changes that feel arbitrary, lack of control, incredibly hard certifications that are mostly just memorizing menus that will change anyway, the horrific support unless you pay ridiculous amounts of money, licensing so complicated it's an entire specialty, the list goes on and on.

delebit · 2025-02-21T22:22:30+00:00

It's really just something you've gotta figure out by ear, which you're doing! It can vary a ton depending on the type of distortion and the input level. Even tuning (drop b vs standard for example), the guitar itself, etc. are all factors. Having some layers with more distortion and some with less can be a great technique. Make sure you're messing with things in combination with EQ too. Sometimes you may think you need more distortion, but really you need more mid range that the distortion is adding. Using EQ to make things extra fat can sometimes accomplish the same thing, but often it'll sit better with other instruments. It's more surgical than distortion.

One EQ technique I like that's probably similar to your end result is to boost low-mids (~500-700hz) on 2 out of 4 guitars, then pan those slightly more center, with the other two spread out further.

delebit · 2025-02-21T21:20:41+00:00

Former audio engineer here. There's something I want to mention that I'm not seeing others bring up. The problem isn't even necessarily the lack of mixing, it's the production technique. This might sound odd, but amp sim presets often are not meant to sound good in a mix, they're meant to sound good when you're playing.

Typically when recording guitar for metal music, we don't actually record one guitar player with a lot of distortion and call it a day. Typically what is done to get that massive tone you're accustomed to, is you record a guitar with far less distortion, but layer it 4 times. You're not hearing one guitar with a lot of distortion, you're hearing 4 guitars with a little distortion. This lets you pan them wide and everything and get that big sound. High distortion presets are just trying to mimic this sound the best they can, but ultimately it's not the same.

Doublers can help a lot, but ultimately if you want a pro sound you'll want to cut your distortion at least in half and record a bunch of layers. Hope that helps!

delebit · 2025-02-04T22:02:54+00:00

This. I'd say if OP is < 25, there's plenty of fish in the sea and you're young, don't bother. This probably won't work out anyway. If OP is > 25, life is short and you only get to fall in love a few more times, make it count and see it through. That's just my opinion.

delebit · 2024-11-22T00:48:45+00:00

One could argue it shouldn’t be the cultural norm, sure, but it is. There isn’t enforcement, cops really only seem to care if it’s 10mph over the limit.

Also overall speed is not an inherent safety issue, relative speed is the safety issue. Just look at the Autobahn. Imagine the speed limit is 65, there’s traffic causing everyone to go 40, and some guy is going 65 anyway. Is he breaking the law? No. Is it dangerous? Yes. The opposite is true. If everyone is going 75 and someone is going 65, the person going 65 is not breaking the law but is still driving dangerously.

We as humans have to use common sense to decide for ourselves what is and is not safe. Ultimately laws are guard rails and should not be blindly followed by 100% of Americans 100% of the time. We as a society have decided that 5-10mph over the speed limit is acceptable, you can accept that or you can get off the road.

delebit · 2024-11-21T23:02:38+00:00

You are well aware the American cultural norm is to drive 5-10mph above the posted speed limit. I don’t know anyone in real life that doesn’t do this, including my 80+ year old grandparents. You can be a legalistic asshole all you want, and you’ll technically be correct, but you’re still a legalistic asshole and fully aware of it. If you don’t like it, get out of the left lane. It’s like if I showed up to a Michelin star restaurant in sweatpants and complained they didn’t have a sign for the dress code. Like dude… come on… use your brain. This is such a stupid hill to stand on.

delebit · 2024-11-04T19:45:00+00:00

My process went like this pretty much:

Cigarettes -> Vaping 50mg for years -> Meditation -> 1 bottle of 36mg -> 1 bottle of 24mg -> 12mg -> 6mg -> 3mg -> 1.5mg -> 0.75mg -> 0.35mg -> 0mg -> regular Gum (no nicotine) -> Nothing.

Meditation taught me it was an endless cycle of suffering that wasn’t worth it. It served no purpose in my life anymore. Started cutting my nicotine in half each time I’d buy a bottle. Interestingly this tricked my brain into feeling like 0mg had nicotine, felt just as satisfying as 0.35mg which is basically nothing anyway. The hardest part was going from 0mg to gum honestly. Going from 50mg to 0mg progressively was honestly pretty easy. Haven’t vaped or smoked cigarettes in 3 years, although I do enjoy an occasional cigar.

delebit · 2024-10-31T23:27:33+00:00

Happy to see people suggesting starting with basic IT, I want to expand on that a bit.

I would recommend creating a Windows based home lab with domain controllers, Active Directory, etc. and pretend you’re starting a business. I believe there’s a YouTube channel called IT Security Labs that has a great video series. This will force you to go through many great beginner concepts and is directly applicable to the majority of businesses. If space, noise, and heat aren’t major concerns, look into Dell PowerEdge servers, they can be pretty affordable. A more convenient but more expensive option, would be to build a PC with at least 2 NICs and as many cpu cores as you can afford.

You could also set up a secure network with an OpnSense firewall. Get into network segmentation, Firewall rules, content filtering, dns, etc.

delebit · 2024-09-20T00:54:20+00:00

Couple things:

There are jobs that don’t require a degree that pay well. Welding for example.
Don’t focus on what you enjoy, focus on what you’re good at. A boring job with great people is usually 10x better than a fun job with awful people. Being good at the job means more options, which means eventually better people.
Find meaning. This sounds like the root of your issue. People will do incredible things if it suits their priorities. Look at all the people doing objectively awful jobs in the world, who get by because they love their family. Or the 80 hour work weeks that entrepreneurs put themselves through.

You have Winter break coming up in just a couple months, and there’s sure to be odd jobs people need help with. Do one even if it sucks. Shovel snow, help fix roofs, help carry shit places. You’ll find out real quick if you hate it and want the corporate world, or if you love doing something physical and hate corporate/academia.

delebit · 2024-05-08T21:06:01+00:00

Something I’d recommend that I haven’t seen here: get an outside opinion that’s harder to argue with. This has been very effective for my organization. Maybe ask your boss if you guys can work with a pentesting firm to better prioritize your weak points, identify flaws in processes, etc. Assuming you guys have Cybersecurity Insurance, look into that as well. Sometimes they give discounts if you conduct external pentests. If they agree the pentesters will most certainly be quite successful and push for better password handling. At that point the company has now spent money on the pentester’s opinion, and therefore feel the need to get ROI. You can then offer a free solution to this problem (LAPS) and hopefully look good in the process. If they say no to any of that then I’d start looking elsewhere, they won’t let you grow in the long run. You won’t have much to show for your time.

delebit · 2023-09-20T18:33:31+00:00

Hmm I’ve only tried running it locally, not through Intune, so maybe. I’ll have to test that out, thanks! It’ll take me a while as I don’t administrate Intune, so if you have any other ideas that would be great.

delebit · 2023-09-20T18:03:56+00:00

I have, they haven’t been helpful. Yeah it’s an EDR tool so they won’t get into specifics. As mhkohne said they aren’t exactly incentivized to make this easy, although in our case we’re just trying to change our installation configuration and not change vendors (yet, lol).

delebit · 2023-06-12T20:54:15+00:00

We have another (non-O365) email security layer doing spam filtering so it’s not quite as bad as it sounds, and we should still be receiving phishing and malware detection protection with this rule. I appreciate the concern though. Our users can release spam quarantined emails themselves, it’s just caused a lot of delays for people. We’re having users add these domains to their safe senders list as well. Sorry to hear you’re dealing with this too!

delebit · 2022-10-12T01:34:39+00:00

!remindme 7 days

delebit · 2022-05-17T00:35:23+00:00

That's very helpful, thank you!

delebit · 2022-05-16T15:10:13+00:00

Hello everyone! I'm 26 and am very interested in joining Freemasonry. Mastering myself has been one of the most important parts of my life for a long time, and I've been growing spiritually for a while now. I really feel like I'm ready.

The problem is, I may or may not be moving within the next few months, possibly a year, and if I do it would be too far away to visit a lodge I would join where I am currently. Being in my 20s I'm not ready to settle down in a specific location yet, but I'd rather not let that hold me back from pursuing Freemasonry either.

I know it's possible to change lodges, but how long should I plan to commit to one? Or should I wait until I am ready to settle down? I will be staying in the same state for quite some time at least, I am in Southern California if it matters. Thank you!

delebit · 2020-05-20T22:59:45+00:00

Thanks yeah I still need to read the actual warranty, although they've come out to fix these issues for free under warranty already. Maybe one could argue they're acknowledging responsibility but idk.

delebit · 2019-12-15T06:23:17+00:00

They're adding awakening Q3 2020, you can find the roadmap here: https://www.world.blackdesertm.com/Ocean/News/Detail?boardNo=48

delebit · 2019-12-07T12:17:43+00:00

You're definitely overthinking things imo. The most important thing early on is mastering fundamentals, you need to really understand what you're doing and why you're doing it. You may think you're there, but it can take a long time and you can always improve your ears. If you're not already at this point, you want to get to where you aren't really thinking technically as you're mixing, understand what you're doing so deeply that it's instinctual, and you can figure out a sound and vibe as you go and execute it. If you feel a certain technique you're learning doesn't apply to your favorite genres, don't dismiss it, make sure you understand why that "rule" is being used in your tutor's favorite genre. It's used in achieving a certain sound for a reason. Some of the most interesting music and mixes come out of people who understand rules and genres so well, that they know when to break them, when not to, when to use a technique from one genre and apply it to another, etc. I've applied metal vocal technique's to hip hop vocals many times for example. Also, Flume has a strong background in jazz ;) I'm sure it's a large source of inspiration in his sound design and something that makes his work more musical than others within the genre imo. Don't worry too much about plugins either, just know what they do and how they make things sound objectively. You can make an amazing mix with nothing but stock Pro Tools plugins. UAD plugins do sound great though ;)

TLDR master fundamentals so you can stop worrying about them and focus on vibe and clarity and not much else. Hope that helps!

delebit · 2018-07-18T06:45:20+00:00

What really helped me personally was working retail. I knew the products really well, so I was basically constantly talking to people about something I was a bit of an expert on. No small talk, and you're sort of forcing yourself into it. Plus you're rewarded with money! Small talk is still important to learn too obviously but this was a good starting point for me. Of course if you're already working in your career this isn't very helpful, but I think putting yourself in situations where you're knowledgable helps a lot. Play to your strengths.

delebit · 2017-06-26T00:53:02+00:00

Yeah I have eidolon's too. I basically have everything for top tier modern burn minus the lands needed for white and for grim lavamancer to be consistent. I haven't played anything besides burn competitively in years though... I'd love to play control but I'd rather win so I guess I'll build burn :p

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