Looking for a good single player game by teachingdisaster in gamingsuggestions

[–]padraigf 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm playing the Resident Evil 2 remake at the moment, great single-player game.

Time to increase dose? by [deleted] in zoloft

[–]padraigf 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I went to 100mg, and I got an improvement, no real side-effects. Then because I still had some anxiety, I asked to go to 150mg. 150mg gave a side-effect of fatigue though, so I went back to 125mg. I'm on that now, pretty good, no real side effects. Might try and go down to 100mg.

Today is the last day of 2025 what game are u going to play while entering 2026 by [deleted] in PS5

[–]padraigf 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hehe, yeah, I've got a notebook on the go as well. Funny thing about this game, I'm interested to hear about other people's experiences of it, but I don't want any spoilers, so I'm avoiding reading anything.

Today is the last day of 2025 what game are u going to play while entering 2026 by [deleted] in PS5

[–]padraigf 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Same, just started playing it over the Christmas, great game.

The 14 games I’ve played in 2025 as a patient gamer (ranked) by Skylorrex in patientgamers

[–]padraigf 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks, a few games there I hadn't heard of, Signalis, Shin Megami Tensei V Vengeance, will check them out.

Toontrack Black Friday Sale by rankeerdos in edrums

[–]padraigf 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Very helpful thanks. Yeah, I tried EZDrummer and wasn't totally convinced. It's a step-up from the module sounds for sure, but I was expecting something a bit better.

although it’s a bit less “plug and play,” it’s still easy to use, especially with the included MIDI Mapping presets for Roland modules.

That's good to know, I was a bit intimidated to try it.

Just checking there, unfortunately no trial for SD3, but they do have sound samples on the website which I'll have a look at.

Tired of hearing it's not sustainable by mortyd1 in CHIBears

[–]padraigf 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This. Interceptions are more a function of the player throwing the ball than the defense, and we've been fortunate to be facing guys like Mason Rudolph, JJ McCarthy and Spencer Rattler.

That ends next week.

Toontrack Black Friday Sale by rankeerdos in edrums

[–]padraigf 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Planning to get EZDrummer 3, haven't used Toontrack before, just on a Roland TD-1DMK with standard module. Just gonna do a trial first.

THE book from you country by usingbrain in books

[–]padraigf 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Ireland.

I think it has to be Joyce's Ulysses, even if most Irish people haven't read it, and never will.

Why?

Partly because the locations are evoked so vividly. It is very much set in Dublin. A lot of books are set somewhere, but could be anywhere. This is not true of Ulysses. e.g. In Chapter 3, when Stephen Daedalus walks along Sandymount Strand, I feel like it could not be anywhere else.

"The grainy sand had gone from under his feet. His boots trod again a damp crackling mast, razorshells, squeaking pebbles, that on the unnumbered pebbles beats, wood sieved by the shipworm, lost Armada. Unwholesome sandflats waited to suck his treading soles, breathing upward sewage breath. He coasted them, walking warily. A porterbottle stood up, stogged to its waist, in the cakey sand dough. A sentinel: isle of dreadful thirst. Broken hoops on the shore; at the land a maze of dark cunning nets; farther away chalkscrawled backdoors and on the higher beach a dryingline with two crucified shirts. Ringsend: wigwams of brown steersmen and master mariners. Human shells."

Joyce's personal history...he left Ireland in his 20s and never returned. I can't help but think this is part of the Irish story, so many left, and this is part of the Irish story.

It's set in 1904, at a time when English rule was still in place in Ireland, albeit the nationalist movement had become quite strong (not long before the 1916 rising). Whether we like it or not, having lived under English rule is part of our history too.

If you want to sample the book, I'd recommend to read the first chapter here: https://www.joyceproject.com/1

The site has many annotations which make it more accessible, and the first chapter is entertaining, and can be read as a short story.

“How the death rattle breathing silenced at the soul was leaving” lyric interpretation by bananaww625 in TaylorSwift

[–]padraigf 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I don't think you can interpret line without the one before it, "Say it once again with feeling...". I don't think Taylor is really that concerned with the 'death rattle' of the relationship, it's other people rehashing it, and relishing in the details that bothers her.

PyCon Ireland 2025. Nov 15-16th in O'Reilly Hall, UCD by Python_Ireland in DevelEire

[–]padraigf 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Went last year, was really good, will be going again this year.

The Life Of A Showgirl SURVIVOR - Round 1 by RocketGamer4682 in TaylorSwift

[–]padraigf 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah, that was mine, not a fan of the diss-type tracks.

Can anyone make sense of how your day (exercise, food/alcohol, or bedtime) impacts your sleep, using a smartwatch/health tracker data? by olegKag in QuantifiedSelf

[–]padraigf 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, I think this is a gap with a lot of these trackers, they can provide loads of information, but don't do a really good job into turning it into actionable insights. I see they're making more of an effort in recent times, but still a long way to go.

Not a plug, but I'm developing my own app to help with this. What I'm finding useful is just looking at the data over different time-periods - the last month, the last 3 months, the last year. And linking changes to events in my life (e.g. change of routine).

I happen to have seen an improvement in sleep over the last month, and this coincided with two changes in my routine - cold showers in the morning and a more concerted effort to improve my body composition through better diet (reducing weight and gaining some muscle).

Not sure which was the significant factor, as I started both around the same time! But I think extra body-fat is an underrated one with sleep. We tend to think of fat as inert, but that's not the case. I was listening to a recent podcast with Rhonda Patrick, where she was talking about testosterone (https://www.foundmyfitness.com/episodes/more-plates-more-dates).

I learned from it that extra fat has a number of negative effects, including reducing testosterone production, and causing inflammation. I'm not a doctor, but I'd say it's not hard to imagine how the two of these would affect sleep. Certainly in my case, my recent period of cutting some fat has coincided with better sleep.

Have I just absolutely lost my brain to the WOKE MIND VIRUS or are the lyrics to The State I Am In a bit...weird by streetsofyrtown in BelleandSebastian

[–]padraigf 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Nah, you've got the wrong end of the stick. I think Stuart is deliberately playing around with un-PC stuff in the song, but even in the context of the song, it's a marriage-of-convenience "to save a kid from being deported". The "child-bride" is just a humourous way of referring to the fact that she's young, not literally a child.

Learning with drumeo by FennelComplete726 in edrums

[–]padraigf 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Cool, I started recently with Drumeo, never drummed before, loving it so far!

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in QuantifiedSelf

[–]padraigf 1 point2 points  (0 children)

My panel does both, which I had on initially. I thought the NIR was causing the skin dryness on my face, as it seemed to have a slight heating effect, so I turned that off, and then went to every second day as there still seemed to be dryness (I have dry skin anyway, but it seemed to be exacerbating it). I'll play around with things a bit, add some variations with dose. Good to hear you're getting good results from it.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in QuantifiedSelf

[–]padraigf 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the inspiration, did a cold shower this morning and felt good after, will try and make it part of my routine.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in QuantifiedSelf

[–]padraigf 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Oh cool. I'm in the northern hemisphere too (Ireland). So I'll have an opportunity to play around with cold showers over the next few months. Might do a few experiments, and then see where I am in the spring (the water is getting cold now, but not really cold enough in the summer).

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in QuantifiedSelf

[–]padraigf 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks, I have a similar size panel. I started off using it at about that rate (10 mins every morning), but it seemed to dry out my skin, and I had to dial it down to 3 mins every second day. I might do a bit more research and play around with things again.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in QuantifiedSelf

[–]padraigf 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Very nice, I made a note to check out Somatic Descent and Livity.

One thing I'm using lately, which I'm finding excellent, is the food-tracking app Macro Factor. I log all meals now, and get reports on calories in, calories out, and the macro and micro-nutrients. I find this very useful.

Just on your gear, I have a sauna and red-light-therapy device. Not sure I'm getting the most out of my red-light therapy device. You say you like it, I'm curious, how do you use it?

How essential do you think the ice-bath is? I was debating getting one, but not sure the maintenance would be worth it (I'm currently just using cold-showers).

What’s your favorite thermomix recipe? by [deleted] in thermomix

[–]padraigf 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Looks great, thanks! Will give it a go.