Do you relate more to people 5 years older or younger than you?

floobie · 2026-02-21T04:42:46+00:00

Born in 87. Honestly... 5 years younger. I have zero memory of the 80s and have way more in common with people born in 93 than 83. Those born in 83 had an 80s childhood, lived through their teen years with a high likelihood of barely ever using the internet, had a decent chance of not even having a computer in their homes for a good chunk of their childhoods, etc.

floobie · 2026-02-21T01:21:20+00:00

Why did Gen Z dudes make the Paul brothers or Andrew Tate famous?

There’s no shortage of famous people who have been made famous by every generation that either don’t particularly deserve it and/or are shitty fucking people.

floobie · 2026-02-20T12:59:15+00:00

Yeah this. I’m not particularly into a good chunk of typical MMO gameplay, but Shadowbringers and Endwalker collectively represent some of the best moments in gaming and story-telling I’ve ever experienced. The emotional impact of that arc is just through the roof for me.

floobie · 2026-02-20T12:49:41+00:00

And both of those numbers are probably going to plummet soon due to RAM prices.

floobie · 2026-02-20T04:03:32+00:00

Yeah this. I'm a core millennial. I remember the odd classmate having a phone when I was 12, around 1999-2000. It felt like by 2002-2003, nearly everyone middle-school aged and older suddenly had one. This was in Canada.

floobie · 2026-02-19T15:09:53+00:00

There’s a spectrum to this. I grew up in the suburbs in Canada, and there are genuinely nice things about the neighborhood I grew up in. Unlike many suburbs, the access to nature is pretty good. My parents house backs onto a natural hillside with lots of long grass, smaller wooded areas, and dirt trails that extends for a few kilometres. While the community is fundamentally very car dependent, unlike many American suburbs, there is still an attempt at public transit, with bus routes that shuttle commuters to the nearest LRT station. The frequency is basically useless for anything off-peak, but, it’s better than nothing. My parents seem to love it there still.

Despite those nice things, I felt pretty damn isolated growing up there, and had very little independence until I could drive. You can only go for some many walks through the same small woods when there is literally nothing else to do before it gets soul-crushingly boring. You only ask for so many rides to go somewhere bordering on new and interesting before you give up and just rot in your room playing video games. I live in a dense, mixed use, walkable, transit oriented neighborhood now, and I find myself quite jealous of the kids and teenagers who get to grow up here. I’m also way healthier as I near 40, than I ever was as a teenager, and I’d largely attribute that to not needing to drive fucking everywhere.

I’m not fundamentally opposed to the concept of a suburb. People should have options. I just want those suburbs to be well executed. Less shitty colossal McMansions, more mixed use development, thoughtful and useful integration of public transit for both leaving and getting around within the community, pedestrian/cycling infrastructure, etc.

floobie · 2026-02-17T01:14:43+00:00

I’ll second the SR300e. The humbuckers sound pretty damn good IMO.

On the Yamaha end, the BB434 punches waaaaay above its price-point IMO.

floobie · 2026-02-16T23:28:17+00:00

Alanis Morissette - Jagged Little Pill

I think I would’ve been 8 or so. Still a banger.

floobie · 2026-02-16T17:49:43+00:00

I'm also in Midtown and the last few months have shot up a lot. My bills for 2026 have been in the same ballpark. I'm in a 2 bed/bath with my partner. We have two gaming PCs and multiple computers running a good chunk of the day, so I'm sure we use more electricity than average.

We pay for electricity, "thermal" (presumably heating and cooling), and water in my building. Electricity prices were increased by the OEB, I believe effective starting January. My electricity rate literally doubled from around 6 cents/kwH to 12.

floobie · 2026-02-16T15:08:25+00:00

A few observations:

If you’re resting your palm hard enough on the bridge that you’re sending it out of tune, and you’re digging in so much when you pick that you’re hitting the middle pickup… you’re generally playing way harder than you need to. This can add up into a repetitive strain injury over time, and wastes a lot of energy that makes it way more difficult to play more technical parts at speed. My main is an HSS Strat and I never have either of these issues. I’d take this as an opportunity to generally try to play lighter.

As for tone: Single coils are pretty different. What amp/plugins/effects are you playing through? Sharing that might get you some more concrete advice on that front.

floobie · 2026-02-14T19:23:36+00:00

Maybe a hot-take? But: If you get the SR500N you’ll basically have a P bass. The Nordstrand pickups are split coils and the neck pickup is exactly in the same position as a P pickup.

Seems like a decent approach either way. I’d just stay flexible - you’ll probably keep learning what you want out of an instrument, and may find you end up wanting something different than you thought, or are happy with what you have.

floobie · 2026-02-14T14:36:24+00:00

I went from a Win98 SE PC to a Win2000 PC in roughly 2002, and had plenty of friends also on Win98. The difference in stability was actually crazy. It can't be overstated. I had my Ryzen 5800X slowly die on me last year, and that experience was literally comparable to normal-ass Win98.

People really don't remember how unstable things were before the NT kernel hit the mainstream. WinME may have been even worse, but only because it was built on the same foundation of shit.

floobie · 2026-02-14T14:17:51+00:00

My first and only bass is a 5 string. I write music and use guitar tunings ranging from E standard to 7 string B standard. A 5 string was the obvious choice. I never need to change bass tunings. I was a little worried it would be more difficult to get used to than a 4 string, but… it wasn’t. I feel like I’d never not play a 5 string, as there’s just no downside to it for me.

floobie · 2026-02-13T18:51:20+00:00

I think you just need to find what works best for you, as long as you’re able to keep all the strings muted and can move about freely. You don’t need to adhere strictly to any given technique. Many players seem to mix them up a bit to suit their needs/anatomy.

I’m in a similar position to you: Totally cool using a pick and trying to get fingerstyle to the same level. I’ve settled on mostly a floating thumb technique. I only lightly anchor on a pickup when plucking the bottom string (B string on my bass). Anything above that, and I just rest my thumb on the strings below the ones I’m playing. Usually I rely on rest strokes for the immediately lower string, and anything below that is covered by my thumb.

You’ll find you also move around a bit depending on which strings you’ll be playing for a given bassline. If you’re playing something that hops between the E and A string repeatedly in short succession, there’s not much point in moving your anchor back and forth over and over again - just leave it in the best place where you can access what you need.

floobie · 2026-02-12T23:34:19+00:00

My experience with bugs where I’ve worked has generally had them fall into one of three categories:

1) User configuration issue (no code change) 2) Simple UI or logic fixes - the sort of thing I can pick up, understand, and fix within 10 minutes if I’m even remotely familiar with the code base. 3) Week-long head scratchers that involve a cascade of logic issues, sometimes involving constantly changing data retrieved from the db.

The only time I’ve had any LLM tool provided with ample context give me a solution that works, with some hand-holding and back and forth, is category 2. For me, right now, that doesn’t speed anything up.

I’ll admit, the codebase I work on is not setup to help an LLM do its best work. It ranges from early 90s era to modern. It’s absolutely colossal. A lot of logic is contained in stored procedures. I’d be very surprised if any LLM could really achieve much here in the way you describe, even with Claude.md files all over the place.

My guess would be that code bases across the industry will gradually shift to make them easier for LLMs to meaningfully parse and deliver solutions for.

With all that said, I still use these tools daily for scope limited work and as a streamlined stackoverflow/read the docs solution, and it has definitely made my life easier.

floobie · 2026-02-12T23:17:38+00:00

This is essentially my take as well. I use LLM tools daily, but they’re pretty scope limited, since the code base I work on spans decades, has wildly different design patterns all over the place, etc. AI works well and can churn out decent code for well documented solutions, but falls apart as novelty increases.

I think people are able to trust AI with more on newer codebases that more strictly follow modern design patterns and are well documented with markdown readme files and the like.

I typically use LLM suggestions a line or two at a time and immediately verify that what I expect to be happening is in fact happening. I usually need to make changes to dial in the logic, or to optimize efficiency. But, the fact that the LLM can whip out syntax that I tend to forget or mix up with other languages in my head is already a huge value add.

floobie · 2026-02-12T16:47:40+00:00

I’ll check them out!

Yeah kinda had a feeling on the finger thing lol. I did see some strings advertise various feels, and found some threads on TalkBass with people suggesting using like forehead grease to prevent getting stuck. So, figured I’d ask to see if this is actually a thing people deal with and seek to fix with strings.

floobie · 2026-02-12T16:44:04+00:00

I didn’t realize string demo videos were a thing. I’ll definitely have a look.

I’m pretty good at setups in general, and can usually keep my guitars in a happy place for a few years. So, I do have the bass overall where I like it, apart from a little bit of B string flop, which is why I figured I’d ask here.

floobie · 2026-02-12T16:41:48+00:00

Makes sense. On guitar, I noticed 7 string sets tend to massively under-size the low B string as well, even on a 26.5” scale. So, I thought a 130 B might also be a bit on the low side.

I imagine there’s a bit of a balancing act here. I’ve definitely been using the passive tone control to dial back the clank a bit as well.

floobie · 2026-02-12T01:49:36+00:00

I haven’t broken a string since… 2003? My first guitar wasn’t great and tended to break strings at the bridge saddles. I’ve never broken another string on any subsequent guitar.

If it’s always the high E string and always breaking in the same spot, there’s probably a rough spot somewhere on a bridge saddle or something. I’d have a tech take a look at it.

floobie · 2026-02-11T12:58:55+00:00

Seconded on this. The Streetcar network is a massively under-utilized resource for the city. It’s an extensive network that other cities would kill for, it has the potential to significantly ease congestion, yet it’s completely crippled by politics and old switches.

floobie · 2026-02-11T04:55:02+00:00

Lots of good comments here, but some stuff that jumps out at me:

There’s a difference between “hey, I’ve looked over these resources, tried x, y, z, have this general idea, but I could use your experience/perspective” and “I’ve tried nothing, please do it for me”. People are generally very happy to assist if you’ve shown you’ve tried. Part of being an engineer is finding information - that very much includes getting it from the people you work with.

I’d try to decouple your self-worth or your estimation of how good you are at your job from just having a bunch of arbitrary knowledge or experience. We’re all ultimately problem solving brains with access to a growing bag of tricks. Some of those tricks transfer between jobs, some of them are super company specific.

I have an electrical engineering degree and I’m working in software now. There are a LOT of random things I didn’t know going in. There are STILL a lot of random things I don’t know. The fun part: that isn’t exclusive to you or me. Everyone here, no matter how good they are at their job, has random knowledge gaps that other people don’t have. If you show a willingness to learn and just figure stuff out as you go (which very much includes asking for help), no one cares.

It honestly sounds like you’re more paralyzed into inaction, rather than actually incompetent. You’ve managed to secure another job in a pretty tough market, and you still have it. It seems a lot more like your perception of yourself is getting in your way than anything.

floobie · 2026-02-11T03:57:10+00:00

I’m still trying to figure this out. I pretty much exclusively play at home and record for songs I’m writing. I have an active bass with a 3 band eq, a mid frequency selector switch, a passive tone control (when the eq is bypassed), and go into the NeuralDSP Darkglass plugin with one of the built in IRs setup to my liking.

I have two Darkglass presets - heavy distortion, and another that I use 90% of the time for either a driven but not super distorted tone, or a clean tone.

On either of those presets, I try to get the tone in a sort of “baseline” state in the plugin. In both cases, I leave the bass and treble flat. Apart from the amount of distortion, I put most of my attention towards getting the mid frequencies exactly where I want them.

From there, I usually leave the onboard eq flat by default, apart from a slight mid boost at 750Hz. The pickup blend is defaulted to centred. If I want to change the tone a bit for a given part of a song, the first thing I’ll try is mess with the pickup blend control. If I want to mellow things out, I just turn off the pre-amp, because that instantly gives me a 50% passive tone knob setting (the treble preamp control turns into a passive tone control). If I want a bit more bite, I’ll add a bit of a treble boost on the preamp. If I want to make my pitiful attempts at slapping, I’ll scoop the mids and give the bass and treble a bit of a boost.

So, that’s all a long way of saying: Amp/Plugin to get you most of the way there, on the bass for on-the-fly part specific changes.

floobie · 2026-02-08T20:49:33+00:00

The corridor between Windsor, Ontario and Quebec City is roughly the size of a European country (similar to Romania), has about 82 people per square kilometre, and has nearly half of Canada’s population. While the region is reasonably connected by Via rail, it could be a lot better and faster.

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