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The America's Cup.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago

    The Alpha Lotus

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  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago

    The legendary spray and pray.

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  • [+] 130 points 1 year ago* (3 children)
  • [–] 117 points 1 year ago (10 children)

    3 other cool nerds to play board games with consistently.

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  • [+] -29 points 1 year ago (7 children)

    Are you calling yourself cool? That's so not cool.

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  • [–] 40 points 1 year ago (4 children)

    Self confidence is in fact very cool. And I'll convince you over a game of Agricola.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    Oooh, hey!! I have that game but haven't played it yet. It looks freaking dope. Any suggestions? If I can't convince my family to play I was just going to try it solo

    It's the "revised edition" if that matters

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  • [–] 2 points 1 year ago

    It's a fantastic game. If you're playing with less experienced gamers I would probably leave the occupation/improvement cards out at first.

    And seconding what Cile said. You show up to a gaming meetup with Agricola and I can pretty much guarantee someone is going to want to play. It's a classic for a reason. Way easier to convince someone that already likes board games.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 year ago
    1. organize a "games night" and see if people are interested: "Hey, on Friday night I'm inviting people over to play Agricola. Do you want to come?"
      Board Games, in particular Euros that take can take over 2 hours to play are not something that get pulled out on a whim during social gatherings.

    2. find a board game meetup near you (try meetup.com for example). It's easier to turn board gamers into friends than friends into board gamers.

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  • [–] 80 points 1 year ago (6 children)

    Well, my hobby is searching for historical religious artifacts, so...

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  • [–] [S] 40 points 1 year ago (3 children)

    Your Holy Grail is the Holy Grail

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  • [–] 62 points 1 year ago (19 children)

    Woodworking: An entire log of American Chestnut.

    About a century ago, the species was all but wiped out by a blight that came from Japanese chestnut. Some three billion trees died. The blight actually survives in the forest living on but not damaging oak trees, so American chestnuts are struggling to reclaim their historic habitats. The species is critically endangered and efforts to rehabilitate the population are underway, including trying to breed large surviving individuals or to genetically engineer blight resistant trees. Logging is of course completely out of the question.

    American Chestnut is an excellent lumber, with many of the properties of white oak in a faster growing tree. It is straight grained, hard and strong, easy to saw and split, rot resistant due to tannins. A fantastic choice for indoor and outdoor furniture, structural timber, even telephone poles. Reclaimed chestnut timber from old buildings is highly prized, and what woodworker wouldn't love access to a few hundred board feet of freshly kiln dried American chestnut...if it was possible to ethically source.

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  • [–] 20 points 1 year ago (9 children)

    A couple more things about American Chestnuts:

    -Chestnut forests used to cover a shitton of the northeast before being reduced to basically nothing

    -"Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire" is about the tradition of eating American Chestnuts in the winter...

    -... Because for some, it was a treat. And for others, it was practically a staple food! They were an extremely abundant resource

    -Seriously, look at the size of the original American Chestnut forest:

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  • [–] 15 points 1 year ago (4 children)

    Farmers used to just let their critters loose into the forests to eat the chestnuts off the forest floor because there were just so many. Now I think every American chestnut tree alive has a name.

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  • [–] 8 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    If I could time travel, I'd go see the chestnut forests first. I only learned about them a few years ago but I think about it a weird amount (maybe because I have a huge elm tree in my yard)

    Like can you imagine entire states covered in them? I don't think they were quite the size of redwoods but they were ancient and well-established forests. And it makes me sad that most people don't even know what we lost because some rich asshole just HAD to have foreign trees on their estates.

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  • [–] 3 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    What is growing there now? It sounds like a pretty shitty situation.

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  • The surviving forests are often oak, hickory, ash, pine. A different blight is working its way through the Eastern Hemlock, which are truly the giant sequoias of the East. Humongous old trees.

    Also, corn, wheat, rice, tobacco, towns, cities, suburbs. Probably a third of the US population lives in that green area, to include Washington DC, New York City, Boston, Philadelphia, Altoona, Pittsburgh, Nashville, Memphis, Charlotte, Asheville, Atlanta...looks like it misses Colombia and just barely grazes Raleigh.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 year ago

    Stumps and other trees. And of course, a ton it was leveled for housing/infrastructure/etc

    Captainaggravated had some great info a few comments down about the remains of the forest if you want to know more!

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  • [–] 10 points 1 year ago*

    This is really interesting. A few years ago I bought this American Chestnut salt and pepper set. The guy who made it did tell me that he got the wood from a beam out of a barn built before the Civil War but I didn't realize why. I just thought it was a really good looking salt Shaker and pepper grinder...

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  • [–] [S] 6 points 1 year ago (4 children)

    Why can't they just be grown here instead of japan?

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  • [–] 29 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    Because the disease has become endemic to American forests.

    The American Chestnut was the dominant tree in the ecosystem of the forests of Eastern North America. Per Wikipedia, "it was said that a squirrel could walk from New England to Georgia solely on the branches of American chestnuts." In the late 19th century, Japanese chestnut trees were imported, and they brought with them Asian Bark Fungus. American Chestnuts are quite susceptible to this fungus, and it largely wiped out the population.

    The fungus infects the above ground portion of the tree, killing it. New shoots will emerge from the stump as the below ground portion of the tree isn't affected by the fungus, but the new growth doesn't get very far before the fungus kills it off again. We have no hope of eliminating the fungus from the forests.

    So we've got these zombie tree stumps that will grow enough of a plant to keep the fungus alive and running (it also survives on other species of tree), but not enough to grow large and reproduce. There are some remaining adult trees here and there but the species is considered functionally extinct in the wild as it really isn't able to thrive because this fungus is among us. So unless we can hybridize or otherwise breed fungus resistant chestnut trees, we ain't got no American Chestnuts.

    American chestnuts are also susceptible to ink disease and the Chinese Gall Wasp.

    A lot of problems were caused by importing plants to North America; tumbleweeds aren't indigenous, they're Russian, and a massive fucking problem.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 year ago

    American chestnuts will die here, but I have a magnificent large Chinese chestnut tree in my yard. It's not the same, but at least we get to harvest some 10-15 gallons of chestnuts every fall.

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  • [–] 3 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    Thanks, now I want one too. Is there any feasible way to start trying to grown some of these myself, while obviously attempting to prevent infection of my crop?

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  • [–] 56 points 1 year ago (3 children)

    In the typewriter community, the “holy grail” differs from person to person, but for me it was a 1930s Royal P equipped with a rare typeface called Vogue. Very, very rarely they’ll pop up from people who don’t know how significant that is, and that’s the only way to get one at a reasonable price - because those who do know what it is will ask thousands of dollars for it.

    Eventually I found one for a comparatively cheap price (sub 1k), and the only reason someone else didn’t snap it up before I saw it was because the guy refused to ship it. Local pickup only. So I took the chance to drive the 10 hours round trip to snag it, and it sits proudly as the crown jewel of my collection:

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  • Your actions were the only correct option. This is the same way I snagged my Onix Reference 3 floor speakers. Someone on Facebook marketplace was giving them away for free because they belonged to the previous owner of their new house, and the speakers were taking up too much space in the theater room the new owner wanted to use for Netflix and yoga. I only had to drive 2 hours, but I got immediately into my truck. They also included a Velodyne DLS-3750R Powered Subwoofer, and an Onix Rocket RSC200 Center-Channel Speaker.

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  • [–] [S] 68 points 1 year ago* (10 children)

    For example, in the headphone world, the Sennheiser HE-1 headphones are said to be like the pinnacle of headphones and most expensive, costing $59000 for a pair.

    Edit: added image

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  • [–] 12 points 1 year ago (6 children)

    Out of curiosity, what would you plug those into to get the best use of them? I couldn't imagine the headphone jack on my motherboard would be able to take full advantage of them.

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  • [–] 35 points 1 year ago (3 children)

    They're super special electrostatic headphones, so they have to be run with a special type of amplifier, and the one they come with come is absolutely insane, and is a huge part of the cost. Honestly, I bet you could cost cut the whole thing down to under $20k, but you're paying a LOT of money for stuff like the fact that the amplifier case is made of marble and has one of the coolest boot sequences imaginable, where all the tubes and knobs rise out of it and retract back in so the whole thing is seamless. It's very much one of those things that get built when engineers are handed a blank check and told "We don't care what it costs, have fun"

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  • [–] 5 points 1 year ago*

    Cadillac 16 energy imo. I think part of what's wrong with the world today is all companies suck, have no fun anymore and don't care if things are actually cool. I know it sounds stupid but everything is black, white, or grey on the road and everything is a shapeless blob. Oh you want nice headphones, or computer case, etc? Enjoy our exciting options of black or grey, and fresh new material of cheapest plastic we can make shiny.

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  • [–] 10 points 1 year ago

    That thing has an inbuilt DAC, as well as S/PDIF and USB inputs, so I'd imagine any device with enough processing power to play lossless audio files and has the proper drivers should be enough.

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  • [–] 5 points 1 year ago

    You'd use a dedicated audio setup with it, yeah. I don't know if the 59k is the headphones only or if it includes an amplifier, but a hi range amplifier can cost thousands too.

    I'm not an audiophile tho, ain't got the money, and even if I did my setup would at most cost €1000. So if anyone wants to post some real numbers go ahead.

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  • [–] 9 points 1 year ago*

    I had the pleasure of using some at Sennheiser's booth at CES a few years back. They sound VERY nice, but I don't think they're worth $59k. Maybe 8k or something, although I know a lot of the cost is in the tubes and accessories.

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  • [–] 29 points 1 year ago* (4 children)

    My hobby is (or rather was) collecting Seiko watches.

    I stopped buying watches, but my holy Grail would be "The" Pogue. The original 6139-6005 yellow face automatic chronograph worn by Col. William Pogue on the Skylab mission.

    Original Seiko Pogue

    Other than the NASA issued Omegas, this was his personal watch that he just took with him into space, as NASA didn't want the Astronauts to take their Speedmasters home and so they couldn't train as much with them.

    This also was the first automatic chronograph in space, as no one had tried before if they would work without gravity (surprise, they did, as momentum is still very much a thing in space).

    Here is a very nice write up by a very knowledgeable guy:

    https://www.plus9time.com/blog/2017/12/24/the-true-seiko-pogue-chronograph-6139-6005

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  • [–] 2 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    To clarify, would you consider this specific individual watch the holy grail, or one of that make, model and spec?

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  • [–] 2 points 1 year ago

    Well, the ultimate holy Grail would be this individual watch

    Second would be a "true Pogue" of the same spec and very close in serial number, although that would have to compete with a few other nice Seikos... There are so many out there. A platinum first Grand Seiko. A Seiko Spacewalk. A working and complete Seiko TV Watch (as seen in James Bond - Octopussy) 😉.

    I do own a fine 6139-6002 yellow dial. However, that's a later "rest of the world" model, with a more golden dial and different wording. Still nice, though. 😊

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  • [+] 26 points 1 year ago (3 children)
  • [–] 25 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    I'm a book collector, sadly most of the books in my preferred address are, and forever, will be out of my reach. My holy grail is The Magus by Francis Barrett (1801), it's basically a guidebook to the occult. I've got a facsimile edition published in 1970 but I've never seen or heard of a original copy for sale - not that I've searched, I don't wish to see an old man cry.

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  • [–] 23 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    I like collecting games, nothing crazy like graded games (graded anything is a scam) or like I have to have every game ever made for a specific console, I just like having a big shelf of games.

    I really want a like new, in box green Halo edition original Xbox. People want stupid money for them but I just want to have one. I've got a good condition boxed regular black console and a boxed Halo 3 Xbox 360 but I reeeeally want the green OG.

    Here's what people are trying to sell a NIB version for

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  • [–] 2 points 1 year ago

    Hell yeah. If I had space and money this is what I'd be doing. I have some PS1 games (and of course my fav Halo 1-3) from my childhood that are stored away somewhere at my mother's... might have been thrown away by now it's been so long :^(

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  • [–] 22 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    In photography: Global Shutter. So whenever you see object bending horizontally while they're moving, that's because most digital camera sensors have a rolling shutter.

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  • [–] 21 points 1 year ago (4 children)

    I dream of one day finding an original Model M keyboard in a Goodwill or yard sale for like $10. Every time I'm in a thrift store I look over the electronics section JUST in case.

    Also waiting for the day I find a random copy of Panzer Dragoon Saga for the Sega Saturn. Only 20,000 north American copies were made, which sounds like a lot but in video game numbers is insanely low. I've only ever seen it in the real world once at a gaming convention and it sold for $1,500.

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  • [–] 8 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    If you want the model M just for it's feel you should check out Unicomp keyboards. They make modernized versions that feel identical according to a friend who uses one. Although they are way more expensive than 10 dollars.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 year ago

    JFC I had that game! Only could get like six games for the Saturn in the US (nights into dreams, clockwork toy knight, a tactical RPG that had a big rabbit in the intro (sorry I forgot the name), owner dragoon, and virutua fighter). Dan I had so many super obscure games from the discount bin cause they weren't popular new. Now everybody wants them.

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  • [–] 21 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    For me with gaming (both playing and dev), a Steam Deck. Never wanted anything more in my life, seeing people have them and barely use them hurts. But I'm on long-term sick leave and live paycheck to paycheck, not able to save anything and it doesn't look like that'll change anytime soon. And it's more than just wanting a cool thing, all I have is a shitty laptop from 2010 that barely plays 1080p video, and a TV I found outside that gets so warm that it's hard to sit in front of for longer than two hours at a time. The laptop has no battery so it has to be used with the charger connected all the time and it's too heavy to comfortably use anywhere but at a desk. I also have back and knee problems and having something like a Steam Deck would allow me to play and develop in bed or on my sofa and save me some pain.

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  • [–] 20 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    Owning that super special version of Nintendo World Cup that they made for some tournament and only 4 copies in the entire world exist. And IIRC, James Rolfe (the Angry Video Game Nerd) owns 3 of them.

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  • [–] 18 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    I finally saw a Baltimore Oriole (bird) in real life at my feeder. Its was beautiful and vibrant and now I need to find another cool bird to look at.

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  • [–] 35 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    Any serious guitarists will let you know their holy grail.

    It's not any guitar; it's another guitar.

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  • [–] 5 points 1 year ago

    I bought mine for $100!

    I got it new back in the early 2000s but it had a flaw in the fretboard. I returned it for exchange but they discontinued it so refunded me instead. Telling this story to someone a decade later, they suggested eBay. I looked and there it was, bought it on the spot and had it in my hands a week later.

    I have enough guitars but am now looking at other instruments. A cello is high on the list.

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  • [–] 17 points 1 year ago (6 children)

    Elite Dangerous: the grail is the Fleet Carrier. Spent 7 years of non-grindy playtime saving up for mine.

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  • [–] 5 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    If you got one is it the kind of ship you could use or is it to valuable to risk?

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  • [–] 6 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    You can use it, and can't really lose it, but it costs a lot of money to operate. (The carriers are about 3.5 burj khalifas long. They are huge)

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  • [–] 3 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    Got one, really couldn’t find a use for it, let it go. If you have a gaming group to play with on E:D they’re far more useful for everyone to keep their ships on and engage in group objectives. I generally do exo, so having to maintain that beast while I was out in the black wasn’t worth it.

    Good luck getting one, it’s still kinda thrilling to achieve that objective.

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  • [–] 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

    When the fleet carriers came out, I think I had mine in a week. Of course, I didn't keep paying it off, I never really saw the point of them.

    You just need to find a good freight loop. It's actually pretty fun running cargo with no shield (but extra armor). I had an imperial cutter customized for cargo hauling and if done right, you made money at astounding rates.

    It took a while to locate, but I found a loop between three stations that allowed me to essentially buy low and sell high at every stop on the route. Though one leg of the route was all cargo transport missions, and they always invited interdictions. If done right you can drop out of FS and then jump right back out before the other ship gets their bearings. With a ship that big nobody can stop you.

    But it was scary a few times. I may have lost it once or twice...

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