DescentBB

I want to know what you are into! I have to know.

I think the defining characteristic of a person is how the choose to spend their free time. That and how many people they've killed.

I was just thinking about all the different hobbies or activities I'll never get a chance to do, because most of my free time is spent wasting it, like a normal person. And I was thinking how getting into something new is kind of life changing to a small degree. I mean, if that something kills you, then it was completely life changing and probably lots of fun.

For this post don't give me normal stuff we do. "COOKING"= everyone cooks... i cook... that's not really a thing to "get into". "Yard work" = I have to do yard work or the HOA will break my legs as warning.

WHAT ARE YOU INTO!?


Judgment free zone begins here:

Roller Blading.
Also just bought a road bike (first bike in 15 years)
Bird Photography

Curling is awesome, and a thinly-veiled excuse to drink.

https://www.viz.com/shonenjump/chapters/one-piece

It is totally worth the $1.99/mo subscription just to be able to read this one series. Yes, all 1041 chapters as of this post. It is amazingly good at what it is trying to be. I've been reading it for over 20 years and it never gets old.

Ah, a man of culture I see.

Marimo.

Krom wrote: ↑Thu Mar 03, 2022 4:27 pm...$1.99/mo subscription...

Oh no, I found something on that site I want to read. This is not something I need in my life, haha.

On topic: One of my hobbies is making greeting cards. I've made them my whole life, but these days I pay special attention to them and some take a lot of work. Basically papercraft. As we slip deeper into digital worlds I find it's quite rewarding to make a thing that goes through the mail.

Everything mentioned is stuff I wanted to get into or stuff I should try. Like I never considered curling before.... Like I've seen it at the Olympics, but I don't know where I'd even do it here in Texas.

Is there street curling? Like rolling puck?

Puzzles. You know, the kind that come in a box and the finished item is a purty picture.

dissent wrote: ↑Thu Apr 14, 2022 10:21 pmPuzzles. You know, the kind that come in a box and the finished item is a purty picture.

Last year I did a jigsaw puzzle for the first time since I was a kid. The puzzle was a gift and one of those challenging types that are mostly a solid color, in this case the night sky. It wasn't fun at all. I'm rather OCD so I managed to finish it over the course of a week, maybe 20 hours of work. It was more difficult that expected since the print quality was very bad. On the box the image had at least some definition, but in reality the little color it had was muted and desaturated. And because the print quality was bad, the finished product mostly looked like a sheet of black paper and not very exciting to look at. There was no sense of reward and no enjoyment in the process since you never completed a "part" of the puzzle, it was just an uninteresting gradient.

Now, you might say the reason I didn't enjoy this was because the bad image quality, but I disagree. I think there is something fundamental about puzzles that make them uninteresting. They would be more interesting if you didn't know what the end result was beforehand. The puzzle would then be more about discovery rather than a kind of rote problem solving. Of course, you can take this further if the finished puzzle had some kind of personal meaning to the person doing it. So in my opinion, jigsaw puzzles are better if you are communicating a meaningful message or idea to a person who has to "decode" it.

I find they engage my mind if the picture is interesting. I let my younger relatives help with the harder puzzles as their interest permits - I like them as they require patience and delayed gratification, and teach the younger folks some persistence, a virtue for their own lives.

1. Quadcopters. Not sure why Descent players are so rare in this hobby. It's incredibly accessible if you just want to fly, and incredibly rewarding as well, even more so if you're also into building and customization. You can get into FPV flight for 300 bucks with an RTF Tiny Whoop kit. With a little research, you can get higher quality gear for about the same price (quadcopter, box goggles, transmitter about $100.00 each, going used will get better gear but caveat emptor!)

me (just ignore the crash at the end, it was intended as a landing, I swear!):

Currently have a dozen or so various aircraft in the "hangar". Part of my 'always learning' philosophy, I'll be getting my FAA commercial certification and I'm thinking about upgrading my FCC certification, though I'm not sure I will need the upgraded operating privileges.These days, a lot of the new hardware is FCC rated and thus doesn't require a Ham license. Need to attend a few local HAM meetings and learn more I think.

2. Another RC hobby I find enjoyable (it's a Sunday thing 'round these parts). Once again, building and customization really increase the depth of my enjoyment. We currently have several 1:10 Scale crawlers, several 1:24 and one 1:18 scale. Future build TBA (but will likely be Twisted Metal 2 themed).

(not me):


and of course that brings us to the thread that ties all together!

3. 3D printing. Just the stupid FTIJPI (f that I'll just print it) pieces make it all worthwhile. The ridiculously simple designs I've made in TinkerCad have solved problems from plumbing, to furniture risers to switch plates and more. Freebie STL's widely available on the internet have been useful in just about every aspect of my life. Including drone parts, and Scale RC crawler parts ofc. I'm pretty sure I'm waaaay underutilizing the potential of my FDM machine. The big problem with 3D printing is that a lot of people don't realize that just getting the damn things to work can be a hobby all by itself. And upgrading. With parts you printed yourself or purchased, or both.

I have an RC helicopter (Blade MCPX BL) I can hover around, technically its a full collective pitch chopper that can do all the crazy stuff you see them doing like hovering inverted. Basically a quad copter on steroids that is a bit harder to control but in exchange can do some pretty absurd maneuvers. If you were getting one today, there is a version 2 that has been out for ~3 years now:


Sadly Descent sklls don't really translate well into controlling a RC helicopter (especially with no FPV).

I have a simulator I can hook my radio up to which lets me crash simulated collective pitch choppers all I like, it is largely thanks to getting it that I can hover around the yard relatively competently. Sometimes I think about swapping out the radio for the newer ones that have the safe recovery panic buttons and the like, it would give me slightly more confidence. But I just don't spend that much time on it generally and my steam library (and even more expensive computer) already keeps me pretty occupied during my "free" time.

RC gone Descent.

Krom wrote: ↑Mon Apr 18, 2022 5:22 pm I have an RC helicopter (Blade MCPX BL) I can hover around, technically its a full collective pitch chopper that can do all the crazy stuff you see them doing like hovering inverted. Basically a quad copter on steroids that is a bit harder to control but in exchange can do some pretty absurd maneuvers. If you were getting one today, there is a version 2 that has been out for ~3 years now:

Sadly Descent sklls don't really translate well into controlling a RC helicopter (especially with no FPV).

If you haven't flown FPV, you really need to give it a shot. Just don't try it in a heli. It's awful. VORT3X from Rotor Riot rigged one up and it was juddery as hell. I can get by in LOS but you have to be pretty skilled to pull off some of those LOS maneuvers I see CP guys whip out. Edit: Descent Skills definitely do translate to FPV flight in general I think, though the controls are definitely arranged differently, the spatial awareness aspects are really key. Just gotta learn to stop banging into the edges of the air, bad things happen to props. (end edit)

There's lots of great FPV sims, all of which will allow you to use your USB-compatible radio as a PC controller (I use my all 3 of my Taranis radios, plus the DJI controller). Velocidrone is a standalone, but DRL and Liftoff are both on Steam. Each has pros/cons, but Velocidrone has realistic physics in the simulator mode, and Liftoff is the most "game-ish" with DRL right in the middle.

Bonus.. Velocidrone has a combat mode (which I haven't tried yet for some reason but it really intrigues me)

I'm surprised that pilots still post here - come to discord and come play some 6DOF!

https://discord.gg/ub4yFcrt

Overlanding, off-roading, mountain trail biking, camping is something to look into if you're into adventure. Once I'm done modifying the 4Runner and get a better bike, off to Colorado. Still thinking about doing Moab in the future like Hells Revenge or something.