Here's How to Watch the PGA Championship 2024 for Free

Golf fans, get ready, because it's time for the men's second major of the year: The 106th PGA Championship. Returning to Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky, for the fourth time (and the first time since 2014), the 2024 PGA Championship will see big names, including defending PGA champ Brooks Koepka, Rory McIlroy — fresh off his Wells Fargo title win — Scottie Scheffler and Tiger Woods competing for the $17.5 million purse.

Watch PGA Championship 2024 Live

The 106th PGA Championship begins Thursday at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville. The field features 16 former PGA champions, including Brooks Koepka, who won the 2023 PGA Championship and looks to repeat. Justin Thomas has returned to his hometown, seeking his third PGA Championship.
The first two rounds are set for Thursday and Friday, and the initial field of 156 golfers will be cut to the top 70 players and ties after the second round. Are you ready to follow all the action on the green at Valhalla? Here’s how to watch the 2024 PGA Championship, including the full TV schedule and more.

How to watch the 2024 PGA Championship:

• Date(s): Thursday, May 16-Sunday, May 19
• Location: Valhalla Golf Club, Louisville, KY
• TV channel: ESPN, CBS, Golf Channel
• Streaming: ESPN+, Paramount+, DirecTV Stream

What channel is the 2024 PGA Championship on?

For US viewers, the PGA Championship will air mainly on ESPN and CBS. There will be select coverage streaming on ESPN+, and the Golf Channel's alternative coverage airing on its network and streaming on Peacock.
ESPN will air the majority of the first two rounds of the tournament on Thursday and Friday, and then ESPN and CBS will share the third and final rounds on Saturday and Sunday. ESPN+ will have early coverage before the ESPN and CBS broadcasts all four days of the tournament and will also stream the practices Wednesday before the tournament begins.
Who is playing in the 2024 PGA Championship?
Brooks Koepka is the defending PGA champ headed into the 2024 tournament. Koepka will be joined by Rory McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler, Tiger Woods and more big names in golf.

How to watch the PGA Championship without cable:

To watch the PGA Championship 2024 without cable, you have several options. Firstly, check the official PGA Championship website for any live streaming options they may offer. Many major sporting events now provide online streaming services for viewers without cable subscriptions.
Secondly, consider signing up for streaming services that include sports channels. Providers like Hulu + Live TV, YouTube TV, Sling TV, and fuboTV often carry channels that broadcast golf tournaments, including the PGA Championship. These services typically offer free trials, allowing you to test them out before committing.
Thirdly, explore network-specific apps. Channels like NBC Sports, CBS Sports, and ESPN frequently offer live streaming through their apps or websites. If the PGA Championship is airing on one of these networks, you may be able to watch it without cable by logging in with your internet service provider credentials.
If you're in an area with good reception, you might also try using a digital antenna to pick up local channels broadcasting the tournament. This can provide a free option for watching the PGA Championship without cable.
Stream the PGA Championship on Paramount+
For streaming the PGA Championship coverage on CBS, you'll need the Paramount+ with Showtime tier, available for $12. The subscription is ad-free and includes live access to your local CBS channel.
In addition to sporting events like the PGA Championship, March Madness, Premier League and Champions League games, Paramount+ offers a host of other hit shows, new and classic movies and live sporting events. Unlike a lot of other streaming services these days, Paramount+ still offers a one-week free trial — so new subscribers can sign up to watch the tournament this weekend and check out the rest of the Paramount+ library totally free for seven days.
Stream the PGA Championship on ESPN+
For ESPN+ subscribers, early PGA Championship coverage will stream daily through the tournament. An ESPN+ subscription starts at $11 a month and grants you access to exclusive ESPN+ content, including all UFC PPV prelims, select F1 races, other live events, fantasy sports tools and premium ESPN+ articles.
Watch the Golf Channel's Live From the PGA Championship Peacock
While Peacock and NBC may not be airing the 2024 PGA Championship, the platform will have the golf Channel's Live From the PGA Championship coverage streaming live on the platform. A $5.99/month ad-supported Peacock subscription lets you stream live sports and events airing on NBC and thousands of hours of shows and movies, including beloved sitcoms such as Parks and Recreation and The Office and even recent theatrical releases.
Or for $12 monthly, you can upgrade to an ad-free subscription which includes live access to your local NBC affiliate (not just during designated sports and events) and the ability to download select titles to watch offline.
Is Tiger Woods Playing in the PGA Championship?
It's hard to say Tiger is guaranteed to play due to the injuries he's been battling over the past few years. However, the 15-time major champ has confirmed he's going to take a crack at the 2024 PGA Championship. Tiger was recently spotted practicing at Valhalla course and has told several outlets be plans to participate. Woods has won the PGA Championship four times in his career (the last time he won was in 2007). The 48-year-old is not expected to take the trophy this year but will no doubt be one of the biggest names to watch.
How to Watch PGA Championship Live Stream in The US
Golf fans in the US can watch PGA Championship live streams on ESPN and CBS. ESPN has coverage of all four days, while CBS will broadcast Saturday's third round and Sunday's final round.
No cable? No problem. Try a cord-cutting service like Sling or Fubo to watch the golf. There are no long contracts with these services, so you can try them and cancel whenever you've had enough. Fubo has the advantage of including both ESPN and CBS (as well as NBC's Golf Channel) in its $79.99/month Pro package – alongside 178 other channels.
The ESPN Plus streaming service will also host live coverage of the 2024 PGA Championship across all four days. A subscription costs $10.99/month or $109.99 annually. And you can watch CBS's coverage of the 2024 PGA Championship on the Paramount Plus streaming service. You'll need a Paramount Plus with Showtime subscription to watch the CBS Sports live stream. That will set you back $11.99/month or $119.99/year.
How to Watch PGA Championship Live Stream From The UK
In the UK, Sky will be your destination as Sky Sports Golf will televise action from the PGA Championship. A Sky Sports subscription will give you access to all nine Sky Sports channels, with the option to view in 4K and HDR (provided you have an HDR-ready Sky Q box and HLG-compatible TV).
Another option is Sky's Now Sports streaming service. You can get 24 hours of viewing for £14.99, or month-long access for £34.99 – though cheaper deals are often available.
How to Watch PGA Championship Live Stream From AUSTRALIA
In Australia, the most comprehensive golf coverage is offered by Kayo Sports where you can check out Fox Sports, which broadcasts the PGA Tour coverage. Not only can you watch a PGA Championship live stream from Kentucky, it's also the place to go for all the PGA Tour and DP World Tour events, and the other Majors. You can watch events from the LPGA Tour, too.
On top of all that, Kayo Sports offers access to over 50 sports live and on-demand, with some its big name channels including Fox Sports, ESPN, and beIN Sports. It's also good value at either $25 for Kayo One or $35 for Kayo Basic. Basic lets you stream sport on two devices at once.
2024 PGA Championship broadcast schedule:
Wednesday, May 15, 2024

• Live From the PGA Championship: 9 a.m.-5 p.m. (Golf Channel/Peacock)
• Practice rounds: 12-3 p.m. (ESPN+)
• Live From the PGA Championship: 7-9 p.m. (Golf Channel/Peacock)

Thursday, May 16, 2024

• PGA Championship, Round 1: 7 a.m.-12 p.m. (ESPN+)
• PGA Championship, Round 1: 12-8 p.m. (ESPN)
• Live From the PGA Championship: 8-10 p.m. (Golf Channel/Peacock)

Friday, May 17, 2024

• PGA Championship, Round 2: 7 a.m.-1 p.m. (ESPN+)
• PGA Championship, Round 2: 1-8 p.m. (ESPN)
• Live From the PGA Championship: 8-10 p.m. (Golf Channel/Peacock)

Saturday, May 18, 2024

• PGA Championship, Round 3: 8-10 a.m. (ESPN+)
• PGA Championship, Round 3: 10 a.m.-1 p.m. (ESPN)
• PGA Championship, Round 3: 1-7 p.m. (CBS)
• Live From the PGA Championship: 7-9 p.m. (Golf Channel/Peacock)

I feel sad.
No more Hope.
Messiah Complex was one of my first X-Men stories. I've previously read Whedon's Astonishing and some of the Ultimate line, but Messiah Complex is my real start of reading X-Men as on going comics. (This was at the same time as I picked up DnA's cosmic line (also RIP), JMS Thor, Batman RIP, Burbaker Cap)
Hope has been with me from the real beginning of my comic book journey (along with Rich Rider Nova, Dick Grayson Batman, Bucky Cap and lots of other things from that late 00's era). Of course lots of writers didn't know what to do with her. Her powers being what they are. Let's not talk about AvX here. But still Hope was always there in the background and I was always happy when she appeared, and her coming front and centre of Immortal X-Men #1 penned by Gillen made me briefly hopeful after Hickman's inevitable departure.
And two things happened in these last few issues.
Firstly, I felt quite annoyed about the treatment of Kafka and all the wide cast of mutants being left behind in the White Hot Room for editorial convenience reasons of having fewer mutants. I don't have an issue with the Decimation era. I know a lot of long term fans who were reading comics prior to House of M and even beyond don't like it, I totally get why. But I liked it at the time, and I liked how we have been climbing out of it with Hope's return to the present in Second Coming, new mutants appearing post AvX, and finally the work done in HoX/PoX. There was a journey to bring back old mutants and create new ones. And we just sort of kinda undid a lot of that. Not completely, but some.
And then he killed Hope. The writing was on the wall on retrospect, but still, that was the biggest hit to me out of the whole debacle of FoX and the end of Krakoan Age.
And poor Kieron Gillen who brought me some of my favourite Marvel and non-Marvel comics, having to write this. I felt rather apathetic about FoHoX and other Duggan penned tie ins, because expectations were low. RoPoX was better comics, not near Gillen's highs, but still good imho and I liked the continuation of the Sinister storyline, but the final act took Hope, killed (seemingly, I know) a character who I effectively grew up with. With barely an appearance from Cable. That more than anything else was the nail in the coffin of Krakoa to me. No more Hope in so many ways.
So yeah, this made me sad and annoyed, and inherently prejudicious against Simone and Ewing and Mackay and the rest, who I know to be very good comic writers, being lumbered with the fallout of the editorial direction I just don't like.
Once #700 hits the shelves I will go back and binge read Messiah Complex, Cable, Second Coming, the remainder of Uncanny through to AvX, AvX itself, Cable & X-Force, Jean Grey by Hopeless, maybe bits of Rosenberg's Uncanny where Hope showed up (with some beers), and then a selective reread of the Krakoan era with mainly focussing on mostly Hickman, Ayala, Ewing and Gillen's work with a few worthy tie-ins where appropriate.
P.s. appreciate RoPoX #5 is still due to come out.
Edit: and X-Force by Spurrier which I didn't actually read originally.

Yo yo homeies let me just address some common misconceptions here. I have 6 years of PC building experience, 4 of which is professional.

1. You don't need as much cooling power as you think as long as you're happy with a bit of noise and you run stock. If you want quiet, get that big ass cooler. If you don't care, that tiny one will work just fine. For example, Thermalright AXP90-X53, a 53mm tall cooler with a 90mm fan, can cool a 5800/7800(X3D) at 100% stock utilisation, even in a choked case. Intel CPUs aren't that scary either, as long as you get the right one. Nothing more than i5 in a choked case and you're normally fine. A good air cooler like the Dark Rock Elite can handle an i9 at 125W while still remaining quiet
   
2. If you select the right components, ITX is no more difficult to build than a normal mid tower. My recommendation is only use M.2 for storage, no need to deal with extra cables or mounting.
   
3. Custom loops are over rated. Yeah you can spend an extra $300 on custom loops, enjoy your stock performance over undervolted. ITX custom loops are rarely worth it. They're extremely hard to maneuver, especially hard tubed. The caveat is that, the more you'd benefit from custom loop, the harder it is to install. You don't need custom loop in a 20 litre case, but it'll be super easy to install. Custom loop would work wonders in a 9 litre case, but good luck installing one. If you have the patience, give it a shot, but my opinion is to give it a miss.
   

And a tip, use Velcro straps to hold everything tight. This mainly applies to choked cases, where there's almost no free space. Velcro straps will keep the cables tight and free up airflow. In a case like the fractal terra where the case fan is mounted under the PSU, it's imperative that space above the fan is kept clear and cables don't go into the fan blades. No need for fan grills, just strap Velcro around your PSU cables before mounting it and keep it tight against the PSU.
Use zip ties to mount fans where they can't normally be mounted, but make sure your fans are ones with the rubber corners, otherwise they'll vibrate and chatter like hell.
Feel free to ask more questions or opinions

I'm fitting a mini PC, cameras, switch etc to an Ergotron NeoFlex Mobile Media Centre Cart.
I'm looking for advice on how best to fit the accessories and wire everything together to be as neat and proper as possible.
I plan to use Ergotron's mini pc bracket to fit the pc to the trolley behind the display.
PTZ Camera is going atop the display on the Ergotron camera shelf. Sound/video bar is going below the display, attached to the vesa mounts.
I still need to fit a PoE+ switch with 8 sockets, and at least 3 power transformers. Transformers in particular I struggle with neat installation.
I have seen large metal plates with lots of holes for mounting which can attach to a trolley or vesa mount behind the display. I was wondering if this might be the best way to mount the PoE switch and power transformers neatly. I have forgotten the name/search term for these plates though and can't find them any more.
Otherwise I plan to group cables together with fabric cable ties (for easy of access/replacement) and then run the grouped cables through sleeving and where possible, the in built cable channel on the back of the cart. We swap a lot of different peripheral components in/out on the cart to connect into different rooms and systems so I want the wiring to be neat but still kinda accessible.
Any advice much appreciated.

Hey all,
My museum suffered its first artifact theft since I've been there and it's been quite disheartening to say the least. Luckily for us/me it was a modern artifact so I can easily replace it.
Long story short, we are more of a reactive and less proactive setting. I advised in initial development we needed to do something to secure this exhibit and it's items and my concerns were dismissed. Now that the theft has occurred its my responsibility to find a solution to prevent it from happening again.
I'm hoping anyone can point me in a viable direction. Caveats that make it exceptionally difficult:

1. I'm being told that "we" have $0. Unfortunately, as a defacto Curator I'm not allowed access to the budget so while I know these statements are not accurate, I don't have much cash to work with and have 0 insight into a realistic budget for any solution.
   
2. Our space focuses on design and esthetic above all else. Installing cable locks or another very apparent and present solution won't be approved as it'll "ruin the experience".
   

Current measures already include a robust camera system, roving docents, and some (but not all, because you know...design) artifacts are tied to their displays utilizing fish line.
Does anyone have any creative, less visible deterrents that they've deployed successfully?

Golf fans, get ready, because it's time for the men's second major of the year: The 106th PGA Championship. Returning to Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky, for the fourth time (and the first time since 2014), the 2024 PGA Championship will see big names, including defending PGA champ Brooks Koepka, Rory McIlroy — fresh off his Wells Fargo title win — Scottie Scheffler and Tiger Woods competing for the $17.5 million purse.
Watch PGA Championship 2024 Live
The 106th PGA Championship begins Thursday at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville. The field features 16 former PGA champions, including Brooks Koepka, who won the 2023 PGA Championship and looks to repeat. Justin Thomas has returned to his hometown, seeking his third PGA Championship.
The first two rounds are set for Thursday and Friday, and the initial field of 156 golfers will be cut to the top 70 players and ties after the second round. Are you ready to follow all the action on the green at Valhalla? Here’s how to watch the 2024 PGA Championship, including the full TV schedule and more.

How to watch the 2024 PGA Championship:

• Date(s): Thursday, May 16-Sunday, May 19
• Location: Valhalla Golf Club, Louisville, KY
• TV channel: ESPN, CBS, Golf Channel
• Streaming: ESPN+, Paramount+, DirecTV Stream

What channel is the 2024 PGA Championship on?

For US viewers, the PGA Championship will air mainly on ESPN and CBS. There will be select coverage streaming on ESPN+, and the Golf Channel's alternative coverage airing on its network and streaming on Peacock.
ESPN will air the majority of the first two rounds of the tournament on Thursday and Friday, and then ESPN and CBS will share the third and final rounds on Saturday and Sunday. ESPN+ will have early coverage before the ESPN and CBS broadcasts all four days of the tournament and will also stream the practices Wednesday before the tournament begins.
Who is playing in the 2024 PGA Championship?
Brooks Koepka is the defending PGA champ headed into the 2024 tournament. Koepka will be joined by Rory McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler, Tiger Woods and more big names in golf.

How to watch the PGA Championship without cable:

To watch the PGA Championship 2024 without cable, you have several options. Firstly, check the official PGA Championship website for any live streaming options they may offer. Many major sporting events now provide online streaming services for viewers without cable subscriptions.
Secondly, consider signing up for streaming services that include sports channels. Providers like Hulu + Live TV, YouTube TV, Sling TV, and fuboTV often carry channels that broadcast golf tournaments, including the PGA Championship. These services typically offer free trials, allowing you to test them out before committing.
Thirdly, explore network-specific apps. Channels like NBC Sports, CBS Sports, and ESPN frequently offer live streaming through their apps or websites. If the PGA Championship is airing on one of these networks, you may be able to watch it without cable by logging in with your internet service provider credentials.
If you're in an area with good reception, you might also try using a digital antenna to pick up local channels broadcasting the tournament. This can provide a free option for watching the PGA Championship without cable.
Stream the PGA Championship on Paramount+
For streaming the PGA Championship coverage on CBS, you'll need the Paramount+ with Showtime tier, available for $12. The subscription is ad-free and includes live access to your local CBS channel.
In addition to sporting events like the PGA Championship, March Madness, Premier League and Champions League games, Paramount+ offers a host of other hit shows, new and classic movies and live sporting events. Unlike a lot of other streaming services these days, Paramount+ still offers a one-week free trial — so new subscribers can sign up to watch the tournament this weekend and check out the rest of the Paramount+ library totally free for seven days.
Stream the PGA Championship on ESPN+
For ESPN+ subscribers, early PGA Championship coverage will stream daily through the tournament. An ESPN+ subscription starts at $11 a month and grants you access to exclusive ESPN+ content, including all UFC PPV prelims, select F1 races, other live events, fantasy sports tools and premium ESPN+ articles.
Watch the Golf Channel's Live From the PGA Championship Peacock
While Peacock and NBC may not be airing the 2024 PGA Championship, the platform will have the golf Channel's Live From the PGA Championship coverage streaming live on the platform. A $5.99/month ad-supported Peacock subscription lets you stream live sports and events airing on NBC and thousands of hours of shows and movies, including beloved sitcoms such as Parks and Recreation and The Office and even recent theatrical releases.
Or for $12 monthly, you can upgrade to an ad-free subscription which includes live access to your local NBC affiliate (not just during designated sports and events) and the ability to download select titles to watch offline.
Is Tiger Woods Playing in the PGA Championship?
It's hard to say Tiger is guaranteed to play due to the injuries he's been battling over the past few years. However, the 15-time major champ has confirmed he's going to take a crack at the 2024 PGA Championship. Tiger was recently spotted practicing at Valhalla course and has told several outlets be plans to participate. Woods has won the PGA Championship four times in his career (the last time he won was in 2007). The 48-year-old is not expected to take the trophy this year but will no doubt be one of the biggest names to watch.
How to Watch PGA Championship Live Stream in The US
Golf fans in the US can watch PGA Championship live streams on ESPN and CBS. ESPN has coverage of all four days, while CBS will broadcast Saturday's third round and Sunday's final round.
No cable? No problem. Try a cord-cutting service like Sling or Fubo to watch the golf. There are no long contracts with these services, so you can try them and cancel whenever you've had enough. Fubo has the advantage of including both ESPN and CBS (as well as NBC's Golf Channel) in its $79.99/month Pro package – alongside 178 other channels.
The ESPN Plus streaming service will also host live coverage of the 2024 PGA Championship across all four days. A subscription costs $10.99/month or $109.99 annually. And you can watch CBS's coverage of the 2024 PGA Championship on the Paramount Plus streaming service. You'll need a Paramount Plus with Showtime subscription to watch the CBS Sports live stream. That will set you back $11.99/month or $119.99/year.
How to Watch PGA Championship Live Stream From The UK
In the UK, Sky will be your destination as Sky Sports Golf will televise action from the PGA Championship. A Sky Sports subscription will give you access to all nine Sky Sports channels, with the option to view in 4K and HDR (provided you have an HDR-ready Sky Q box and HLG-compatible TV).
Another option is Sky's Now Sports streaming service. You can get 24 hours of viewing for £14.99, or month-long access for £34.99 – though cheaper deals are often available.
How to Watch PGA Championship Live Stream From AUSTRALIA
In Australia, the most comprehensive golf coverage is offered by Kayo Sports where you can check out Fox Sports, which broadcasts the PGA Tour coverage. Not only can you watch a PGA Championship live stream from Kentucky, it's also the place to go for all the PGA Tour and DP World Tour events, and the other Majors. You can watch events from the LPGA Tour, too.
On top of all that, Kayo Sports offers access to over 50 sports live and on-demand, with some its big name channels including Fox Sports, ESPN, and beIN Sports. It's also good value at either $25 for Kayo One or $35 for Kayo Basic. Basic lets you stream sport on two devices at once.
2024 PGA Championship broadcast schedule:
Wednesday, May 15, 2024

• Live From the PGA Championship: 9 a.m.-5 p.m. (Golf Channel/Peacock)
• Practice rounds: 12-3 p.m. (ESPN+)
• Live From the PGA Championship: 7-9 p.m. (Golf Channel/Peacock)

Thursday, May 16, 2024

• PGA Championship, Round 1: 7 a.m.-12 p.m. (ESPN+)
• PGA Championship, Round 1: 12-8 p.m. (ESPN)
• Live From the PGA Championship: 8-10 p.m. (Golf Channel/Peacock)

Friday, May 17, 2024

• PGA Championship, Round 2: 7 a.m.-1 p.m. (ESPN+)
• PGA Championship, Round 2: 1-8 p.m. (ESPN)
• Live From the PGA Championship: 8-10 p.m. (Golf Channel/Peacock)

Saturday, May 18, 2024

• PGA Championship, Round 3: 8-10 a.m. (ESPN+)
• PGA Championship, Round 3: 10 a.m.-1 p.m. (ESPN)
• PGA Championship, Round 3: 1-7 p.m. (CBS)
• Live From the PGA Championship: 7-9 p.m. (Golf Channel/Peacock)

One year ago I adopted two female Burmese cats. Originally it was three of them, the two girls and a boy who all lived with an elderly lady who sadly passed, hence why they were up for adoption. I adopted the two females, because the male had already been adopted and I didn’t want to spilt the two girls up. They aren’t siblings, they just had the same owner. There’s about a year between them. The place I rescued them from a recognised rescue centre, it was a little strange in that it was a little bit run down, but the cats seemed in good health when I visited them. And then brought them home immediately, I was sent all their paperwork etc in a couple of weeks by post and it all checked out:
The older female (6 years old) she is very confident and friendly. However, she loves to chew plastic, bags for life, electric cables and also loves to obsessively lick my skin.
The younger female (4) is more grumpy and reserved. However does love a cuddle here and there. She will literally grab food and run off with it. She will also persistently try and open kitchen cupboard doors. When she succeeds at openining them, both of the cats will eat what’s inside (including a whole packet of bread sticks, a tea cake, a packet of crisps)
I adore these cats! I obviously feed them twice a day, as advices by the James wel beloved bag on how much to feed in door cats. I feed them 21g twice a day.
Although I feed them plenty, they still try to get to my food and my housemates food. They will snatch and run off with food. Put their heads into stuff and go crazy, acting like they haven’t eaten. I also had to move the kitchen bins into the bathrooms because they were knocking them over and eating out of them.
I got some cable ties for the cupboards and they lasted a while, now they’ve managed to open them again.
I worm them regularly as directed by the vet so I’m not worried about that.
Personally I think it’s a behavioural thing, and they’ve learnt if they do it they’ll get more attention even if it’s annoyed at them attention.
They are indoor cats, they always have been, and due to their age and gullibility I’m not sure I’d want to let them out. I live in a busy city.
They have each other’s company and also my flat mate whilst I’m at work.
I’d like to train them not to go onto the kitchen counters because they really get themselves in the way when I’m cooking. Especially if it’s meat or fish, it’s impossible to have them in the same room without them going ballistic and trying to get the items that smell good to them.
I’ve basically just ranted… I’m wondering if anyone has any advice or has had any similar situations which they have solved etc.
Also fyi, I don’t have a door on the kitchen, otherwise that would be an easy win.
Many thanks

If you’d told me that the visitation with my son, an event that happened only every other weekend, would be extended indefinitely, I would’ve jumped with joy. In the end, I wish the circumstances under which they unfolded had never happened.
The clouds were sightless in the clear sky the day Jasmine dropped off my boy, a perfect day to play a little catch in the yard or go fishing at the nearby stock pond. Cyrus bounced out of the car and ran joyously toward me, unaware that his old man was a perpetual fuck up that had broken up the family in the first place. Oh well.
It was a happy day, the birds sang their old nostalgic tunes of a lost Summer in my own childhood. It was warm, not too warm, and the neighborhood was buzzing with excitement as the Spring showers had come to a close. It was as close as it could get to perfect.
The evening light danced against the tree tops, turning a violet hue as dusk began to settle in. Burnt orange water reflected the dying sun as it continued sinking away to nothing. We grabbed our tackle box, the giant beige one my uncle gifted me before he was stolen by cancer, and filled it with the empty, crumpled up bits of plastic that once held bologna sandwiches. As I said, it was a perfect day, very reminiscent of my own childhood.
We’d thrown the fat bluegill back that we had caught, I hadn’t felt like messing with cleaning and cooking them. Instead, dinner would likely be mac n’ cheese with some cut up hot dogs, a staple in my household whether or not Cyrus was visiting. Hopefully I hadn’t run through Oscar Meyer supply.
Home never felt so lonely, the walls never seemed so barren of old family pictures when Cyrus wasn’t around. Sometimes, he only added to the pain. I would never tell him that, though.
Even with the faucet turned all the way up, the water dribbled out and made boiling pasta a very patient game. Cyrus was babbling about some game he was playing on my phone. ‘He’s just a kid’, I thought, and pretended to be interested in whatever the hell he was talking about.
The sun had vanished and the moon was especially bright that night, having slid nearly halfway to its crescendo before dinner was finally done. Cyrus had stolen my phone to the living room, staring at the bright characters absentmindedly as a nondescript Netflix show played in the background.
“Here, buddy, sorry about the wait”, I sat the bowl of neon yellow stuff in front of him, the pink scramble of hotdog jutting out made me feel… a little ashamed? I plopped down next to him and flipped through the various titles on Netflix, most of which I had already seen a couple of times. Cyrus tossed the phone aside and picked at the mess of ‘food’ in the bowl. I can’t remember if he took a bite or not.
“Dad!”, I jumped, reeling from the doze I had fallen in. If Jasmine was here, it would’ve been such a perfect day, such a perfect day. Instead, this is where it all fell apart.
He massaged furiously at his temples, his knees pulled tight against his heaving chest.
“What’s the matter, are you okay?”, I jumped from the couch and got on one knee, putting my hands around his shoulders. I watched helplessly as Cyrus twisted and contorted his body, trying to run away from whatever pain was in his head.
Suddenly he fell still.
I studied him for a while, nearly on the verge of tears as his body had become totally limp. Then, a noise. At first it was quiet, then it grew and grew until it filled the room with totality. It’s hard to describe that noise, almost like a wind turbine if you were up close to it.
From behind the couch, just above my sons head, it peeked at me. Its thick, black fingers ended at sharp, nailess points. Just as I met its eyes, it slithered behind the couch and that’s when Cyrus awoke in a screaming fit.
I jumped awake again, Cyrus sitting next to me as pale as a sheet. His eyes were bulging, glued to the blank TV ahead.
I couldn’t help but check behind the couch, to make sure it wasn’t still there. Then, to my son who was still staring at the nothing on the television. His mouth was hanging open, just enough to allow the continuous stream of drool to fall out.
I ran to the kitchen to grab a paper towel and cleaned the odd amount of drool from his chin. There wasn’t a thermometer in the house but it didn’t take a rocket scientist to tell that he was burning up. A fever, I thought.
I carried the boy to his bedroom, feeling as though I was being watched the entire way, and tucked him into bed. A doctors visit would soon be on the horizon. I returned to the couch in the living room, careful to keep my gaze fixed on the TV and nothing else. Truthfully, I was too afraid to look in the shadowy corners.
That night was filled with nightmares.
The next day I rang Jasmine, letting her know that Cy was sick and needed to go to the doctor. Ordinarily, this wouldn’t have been an issue, but Jas was immunocompromised (she’d been diagnosed with breast cancer a few months before we divorced) and my son would be staying with me for the foreseeable future. I couldn’t complain, I didn’t get to see him nearly enough as it was.
That day was very much the opposite of the previous, the sky was gloomy and spits of rain fell consistently from dawn to nightfall.
The doctor had said that Cyrus had a particularly severe ear infection, but nothing that some antibiotics couldn’t fix. He sent us home with a tube of the stuff, my wallet noticeably lighter.
“Apply some of this twice a day, once in the morning and once before bedtime”, the older gentleman had said. He squeezed my shoulder and smiled, though there seemed to be something else behind his wary eyes.
He stopped me again as I turned to leave.
“Sir…”, he started, though he seemed to study his words carefully, “your son kept mentioning something he called the flumes”.
I shrugged, the only time I had heard the word was in reference to a ravine on the edge of town where we’d all smoke pot in high school. Nothing struck me as odd about it at the time.
“They come from the flumes, those noises, those noises, he kept saying”, the doctor pushed closer, his eyes growing wild. I stepped backward, tugging at Cy’s hand as we left the building wordlessly.
Aside from my busy mind, the car ride home was utterly silent. I could hear my boys heavy, labored breaths all the way from the backseat. ‘Inner ear infection, my ass’, I thought.
After laying Cyrus back down for bed, I fixed him a bowl of instant chicken and noodles and decided to give Jasmine a call. The phone rang endlessly before the robotic voice indicated that the caller wasn’t available. I tried once more but gave up after it rang a few more times. Probably sleeping.
I returned to the couch, deciding to rewatch Nightmare on Elm Street for the fourth or fifth time.
After a while, I decided to put on cable, growing tired of the listless titles on Netflix. I was never too interested in the local news, but today seemed as good as any to catch up on the towns happenings. The Grantfield Gators girls softball team had advanced to sectionals and one of the townsfolk were celebrating their 100th birthday.
A ‘Breaking News’ graphic slid below the frazzled newslady on the television. Wherever she was, it sure looked familiar.
‘Wild dog shits on mayors front yard’, I laughed at my own stupid joke and surely turned as white as Cyrus had the previous night as the lady on the TV continued.
“A local woman was found tied to a tree and disemboweled at the scene. Police are saying various symbols were branded all over the womans body, and the material used to bind her to the Elm tree was ‘of unusual property’”, she continued on for a while but I hadn’t noticed, the air had fallen heavy and that familiar warbling had filled the room again.
Heavy footsteps slammed up the staircase at an otherworldly pace. Up the staircase and towards my sons room.
I ran, I swear I ran as fast as I could but I knew… I knew.
When I got to his room, he was gone, the curtains blowing aimlessly in the wind as the window had been slammed open so hard that the glass had shattered in the panes. The bowl of chicken and noodles sat on the bedside table, untouched.
I tried calling Jasmine again and again and again. Still, no answer.
I wanted to write this, to whoever may be reading, so that you know where to look if I don’t return. I know where my son is, I know where Jasmine is.
The flumes took them, or whatever might be lurking in it.

Title says it all. I need a way to watch movies n chill
Room is made to scale. Heres the link : https://floorplancreator.net/plan/
Problems:

1. I want to watch a movie on my monitor from my screen, but I have no backrest on my bed so if Im laying down I either need to get 10 pillows (I have 2) or have 16 chins (thankfully I dont have 2).
2. When my door is open, i cant access 1/3 of my wardrobe.
3. I have a bunch of visible cables going from my pc (back is to the wall) to all my peripherals (theres like 7)

Im open to all ideas!
https://preview.redd.it/48ddhwvi2f0d1.png?width=609&format=png&auto=webp&s=55f90ef6426e4262c80f81a9a07476f864db27ea
Edit: After a little messing about i like this. Wardrobe and drawer align perfectly, and i can access both unobstructed. Behind the door i have a storage space for my guitar or school bag. So all storage is centralized and neat. Nice walkway, no more squeeze like the one to get to my pc in the old pic. Bed now has access from both sides, along with a backrest and and TVV!!!!! I can see the entrance from my bed and chair. you also cant see whats on my monitor from the entrance. In both the chair and the bed my back is to a wall. Behind my desk theres a good spot for my pc along with some extra storage beside it.
Only three problems i may have is sitting beside a radiator might get hot but i can just turn it down. LIght from the window might be annoying on the monitor screen but i can just close the blinds. Thirdly, one of my two outlets is behind the chair, so running the cable to the Pc might be a bit ugly but i could make it work with zip ties.
Thanks for the help and suggestions everyone, cant wait to get my new room!
https://preview.redd.it/e8exez3bsf0d1.png?width=705&format=png&auto=webp&s=b0fbf4fbefe0345b9485a3c9408aa85f9febd59c

Here’s my first watercooled build. I was given this thing a couple years ago from a good friend who first built it back in 2013. Let’s just say the maintenance was slightly neglected lol I’ve attached a couple pictures of the changes over time. Also including a picture of a more simple build that I did for my gf. Old specs: Asus Rampage IV Extreme I7 3960x 32gb Corsair Dominator GT 2 Evga Titans with a custom sli block Corsair ax1200i 2 2tb HDD 2 2tb SSD Ek water blocks for gpu, cpu and mobo Bykski pump housing Unknown radiators and reservoir 13 Corsair Fans
I threw my 3080ti in it and hopped on apex legends. It was playable but it suffered from some occasional stutters while playing at 165fps. At this point, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to rebuild it or start from scratch but I chose the most cost effective and started gearing up for the rebuild. My plan was to upgrade the cpu, gpu, mobo and ram while reusing as much from the previous build as possible. I started with a new mobo, cpu, ram and an ek monoblock. I installed the mobo, ram and cpu but I didn’t want to install the waterblock just yet as the cooling system was “tainted”. The coating on the inside of the fittings was chipping away and potentially clogging the loop. I had a fuck it moment and zip tied the original cpu block onto the new cpu socket (don’t judge me) and it actually worked out. Temps weren’t too high and the occasional stutters were gone. I ran it like this while I struggled to get a 4090 fe from Best Buy (thanks HotStock). Ordered an ek abp and cablemod vertical mount for the gpu, a bunch of fittings, acrylic tubing, some new fans, 2 2tb m.2 and tore the pc apart to start the full rebuild. I polished the case and got to work with installation and cable management. After getting the whole thing set up and running, I ran some benchmarks and experienced random shutdowns. Started diagnosing by unplugging some rgb lighting and fans. Ran the benchmark again with no issues. Determined the psu could no longer supply ample power. Ordered a new psu, drained the loop and pulled the whole thing apart again. Once I got the psu installed and filled the loop again, I ran the benchmarks with everything connected and no issues. Or so I thought. I discovered a pinhole leak on one of the radiators. Already fed up, I ordered 2 new 480mm rads and a 240mm to replace all the originals. What a ride.
Finally got everything set up and it runs beautifully. I was only able to reuse the case, reservoir and the pumps. I almost wish I started from scratch since my budget went off the rails but I’m satisfied with how it’s come along. Now I know I could’ve built this for less and used a cheaper waterblock but honestly, ek was the most appealing imo. This was also my first time bending acrylic tubing so go easy on me. I may still get some new cables from cablemod but for now, this is how it’ll stay. I’m hoping I won’t have to touch it for awhile other than simple drain and fills.
New specs: Asus Crosshair x670e Hero 7800x3d G skill Trident 64gb 4090fe Corsair hx1500i Corsair 480mm and 240mm rads Lian li sl fans Lian li tl fan 2 Samsung 2tb 990 pro
What are your thoughts and/or advice?

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temporary, ten, tend, tendency, tennis, tension, tent, term, terms, terrible, territory, terror, terrorist, test, testimony, testing, text, than, thank, thanks, that, the, theater, their, them, theme, themselves, then, theory, therapy, there, therefore, these, they, thick, thin, thing, think, thinking, third, thirty, this, those, though, thought, thousand, threat, threaten, three, throat, through, throughout, throw, thus, ticket, tie, tight, time, tiny, tip, tire, tissue, title, to, tobacco, today, toe, together, toilet, token, tolerate, tomato, tomorrow, tone, tongue, tonight, too, tool, tooth, top, topic, toss, total, totally, touch, tough, tour, tourist, tournament, toward, towards, tower, town, toy, trace, track, trade, tradition, traditional, traffic, tragedy, trail, train, training, transfer, transform, transformation, transition, translate, translation, transmission, transmit, transport, transportation, travel, treat, treatment, treaty, tree, tremendous, trend, trial, tribe, trick, trip, troop, trouble, truck, true, truly, trust, truth, try, tube, tunnel, turn, TV, twelve, twenty, twice, twin, two, type, typical, typically, ugly, ultimate, ultimately, unable, uncle, undergo, understand, understanding, unfortunately, uniform, union, unique, unit, United, universal, universe, university, unknown, unless, unlike, until, unusual, up, upon, upper, urban, urge, us, use, used, useful, user, usual, usually, utility, utilize, vacation, valley, valuable, value, variable, variation, variety, various, vary, vast, vegetable, vehicle, venture, version, versus, very, vessel, veteran, via, victim, victory, video, view, viewer, village, violate, violation, violence, violent, virtually, virtue, virus, visibility, visible, vision, visit, visitor, visual, vital, voice, volume, voluntary, volunteer, vote, voter, voting, wage, wait, wake, walk, wall, wander, want, war, warm, warn, warning, wash, waste, watch, water, wave, way, we, weak, weakness, wealth, wealthy, weapon, wear, weather, web, website, wedding, week, weekend, weekly, weigh, weight, welcome, welfare, well, west, western, wet, what, whatever, wheel, when, whenever, where, whereas, whether, which, while, whisper, white, who, whole, whom, whose, why, wide, widely, widespread, wife, wild, wildlife, will, willing, win, wind, window, wine, wing, winner, winter, wipe, wire, wisdom, wise, wish, with, withdraw, within, without, witness, woman, wonder, wonderful, wood, wooden, word, work, worker, working, workout, workplace, works, workshop, world, worried, worry, worth, would, wound, wrap, write, writer, writing, wrong, yard, yeah, year, yell, yellow, yes, yesterday, yet, yield, you, young, your, yours, yourself, youth, zone.

Like many in this sub, I had to convert my elderly mother's TV Japan service to their new JME streaming service. I installed the app on a Fire TV stick as well as a ROKU stick. And while thankfully my mom has mostly gotten the hang of it, there seems to still be bugs with the app, which only confuses her more.
Lately we've noticed that the live programing guide will go completely blank and show "off-air" at certain times of the day (we've seen this mostly on the ROKU stick). On the fire stick it will show one out of the three live channel guides at certain times of the day. No such issues when launching on a PC or Android phone.
We also noticed that the pause feature for live programming no longer works on the ROKU, but works on the Fire stick.
I've cleared out the cache, made sure the software is up to date on the sticks, and still the missing programming guide issue pops up sporadically.
Curious to know if anyone else has experienced these issues.
TV Japan should've launched JME a year prior, before cutting ties with the cable companies in order to work out all of the bugs. They should be giving discounts for the service until they iron out all of the issues.

I was working in IT, and while I wanted to move up, I tolerated the helpdesk work, and some days even enjoyed it. Then the layoff came. I was desperate and needed money, so I took the first job that accepted me. I thought it was an AT&T store job, either a branded store or target kiosk, but no, it’s a door to door job. And I don’t know. I do agree that fiber is objectively a better option than the old cable plans, I really do. But after just a few days of talking to people I see that many don’t care about the best quality, good enough is fine. They don’t care if they’re paying more than they could be, to them the convenience of being fine with what they have is good. Many seem to know about fiber and are pondering switching, but want to do their research before pulling the trigger. So knocking on doors and trying to convince people to make a hasty choice kinda feels… dirty. Thing is I need money. That also ties into the fact that doing a commission job is trusting that I can make enough to cover expenses, easier said than done. So I really do want the hourly wage, I want to not feel like I’m being a walking YouTube add for AT&T, etc. if I could give the shirt and iPad back today and start a different job tomorrow, I would. And maybe my being stubborn and only targeting IT jobs is slowing me down. Maybe my not considering pay lower than $20 an hour is slowing me down. But I also do need to cover my expenses. I just know I can’t keep knocking on doors and trusting my livelihood in people buying.

Compromise
First Prev
“Alright, so uh...” Alex picked the last larva out of the bowl and ate it. A burst of umami and the unexpected taste of alcohol. Now that it had soaked up some of the spice from the broth, it was pretty good. Not particularly flavorful, but a better eating experience than he would expect from a grub. “Why did Eleya put two towns into a warship?”
“I do not know.” Carbon was less fussy about the variety of ingredients presented, eating without playing favorites. It was what she’d picked out when pressed to recommend something for him, and the speed of the devastation she was enacting on what had been a bowl nearly filled to the brim said that it was actually a personal favorite. “I had heard some suggesting converting retired Naval ships into housing, using a decommissioned carrier as a space station once it could be towed into a proper location. Swapping out launch bays for community towers is not a long bridge.”
“That seems...” It seemed desperate. But given what he’d seen, desperate was where they had been in the weeks following the disaster. Where they still were, even if things were improving.
Were things improving?
“Born out of desperation, yes.” She closed her eyes for a moment. “We did not have many colonies, we had not built so many stations. We only kept old ships for parts as another means of efficiency in our fleets. There had been hundreds of thousands in transit all over the Empire at the time. On their way home, on their way to relieve others who now no longer had a home to return to.”
“Yeah, that-” He shifted some of the shredded cabbage-potato around his bowl, trying to figure out what to say. The ‘that sucks’ he had stopped himself from blurting out felt offensively inadequate. “That does present a huge challenge. Did they end up bringing ships online for that?”
“Oh, we did everything. Any idea that was not completely untenable got the blue light. Repurposing ships, building sealed micro-arcologies on less habitable planets, mining out sufficiently large asteroids, asking the Confederation for help. I saw one proposal that suggested an inflatable space station. I thought it was a completely deranged idea.” She paused and picked up the bowl, slurping out some of the broth. “Then Humans arrive to bring aid, and do you know what the first structure they brought with them was?”
“An inflatable space station.” He saw that coming. Everyone - well, everyone who was sufficiently interested in space ships - would recognize the Redoubt class from that description alone. The very definition of form following function, each ship was little more than a central cylinder with hard points for a dozen habitat modules, and engines bolted to one end. Light, fast, cheap. Once deployed, you had a small space station that could be packed up when you were done. Old technology, sure, but they were everywhere, and the configuration options were extensive.
“Exactly. Forgive me, but I laughed. I knew the intent was to help, but having seen that proposal just weeks before...” She smiled and laughed despite having just apologized for such a thing.
“No I get it, it’s a goofy looking ship.” He could see the humor in the situation as well. Having gone from ‘this is too dangerous’ to ‘of course the Humans brought one’ was pretty funny. It put a smirk on his face and got him close to laughing along with her. “Probably used it as a command post until something heavier arrived. Kind of the primary use case for those in Search and Rescue, which is what I think the aid mission was first considered.”
“I was not involved with that aspect of recovery operations, but it stands to reason.” She set her utensils aside in a very specific way, sliding the bowl towards the end of the table. “I cannot tell you why they put all these people here. My first guess would be that it was a somewhat straightforward swap. The bays are very securely attached to the structure, but they are intended to be removed and replaced. It would be important that Eleya use her ship as a proof of concept.”
“Royals lead?” Seemed the logical jump.
Carbon nodded. “The Sword is recognized as her flagship. It is named after her. The Stronghold is based heavily on the Imperial Palace in Ama’o - may it rest. Taking in civilians, thousands of them, is hard proof that she is not simply hiding in here. Having the senate on board also brings with it the need for support staff, creating a symbiotic relationship. It is... a good compromise.”
“Okay, wait. How is The Sword of the Morning Light named after Eleya?” That legitimately confused him. “All I know is the -ya suffix is feminine.”
“Another name mauled by your automatic translation, though this time it is a portion of the Empress’ full formal titles.” She gave him a pointed look, a little smirk hiding on the side of her muzzle. “The strictest translation would be ‘the sword that is used to cut back the night,’ but that is even worse. If I were doing translations and feeling poetic, perhaps I would call it Dawnsword. It would convey the meaning of the name well enough, I think, without being verbose.”
“Then why do you call it the Sword like we do?” He figured just using the actual Tsla name would be easy enough if Dawnsword was a better translation.
“When in Rome.” Carbon snickered. “The Confederate systems I was working with before leaving for the Haultain were not set up to handle Tsla, and none of the Humans I spoke to recognized the name when I said it, so it became a force of habit.”
“Ah, that’d do it.” He’d ask about the actual name another time - it being one of Eleya’s titles felt like a natural transition to learning the rest of her titles, and he didn’t give a single damn about doing that right now.
“Alright, Eleya needs places to put people, and a place to put a temporary capital until the new location can be properly sorted. Two birds with one stone, I suppose. Wouldn’t staying at Schoen be more of the... leader thing to do?”
“If she were to stay here beyond the end of this endeavor, perhaps so. For now, having this ship - and its civilians - as a base of operations, in what even we consider to be one of the most secure solar systems, is reasonable. Most governing at that level has been done remotely since before the disaster, so it doesn’t impede anything.” She paused to sip her tea. “No one needs a senator to be on site anyway. Their presence traditionally just interferes with real work.”
That did get a laugh out of Alex. “The more things change.”
“The more they stay the same, yes?” She said with a grin.
“It is so. All right, mystery of the Dawnsword’s surprise towns is put to rest.” He stopped talking as Haraya came out of the woodwork to remove Carbon’s dishes, bustling away with even less stiffness than before. Why did he feel like he was forgetting something? “Heck. Did... Did anyone tell you we have an appointment to see a designer about our uh, our insignia?”
“No, but my communicator has been going off like I am being told something like that.” Carbon laughed and leaned back into her chair, fishing the slim black device from her jacket, the screen coming on.
Alex was not intentionally staring at his wife’s abdomen as he pushed the bowl away and set his chopsticks out like she had done. “Zenshen said it was this afternoon.”
“Mmh, afternoon. Another curious translation.” She teased him gently, flicking items off her screen one by one. “Neya says it is with Aetena Lyshen, at three. He has stated that his schedule is open today, and we may come in earlier if we so desire. Oh. How unexpected.”
Three o'clock, Tsla’o time, was probably like a solid five or six hours away. Plenty of time to have a deeply personal conversation about what Neya had told him. Or, perhaps, just go talk to the guy sooner. It wasn’t like he was putting it off... but he was putting it off for now. “What’s up?”
“Neya contacted the Colonel to make sure that Zenshen was attached to your detail properly - it turns out she was. You are both already on the artifact project, so it was just a slight shift of duties. The Empress went through appropriate channels, and Lehnan agrees with her decision.” She glanced up at him as she processed that. “I did not expect it to be so proper.”
“She is trying to turn over a new leaf, at least as far as you are concerned. Ensuring I have the help to not fuck things up, and doing it properly, could be a part of that.” He managed to make it sound like a statement, even though it was very much a question. Did his insistence that Eleya needed to start following through on her words actually sink in?
“It is possible. She will need to do more than fill out a little paperwork to prove herself.”
“Yeah, obviously. It’s just that you seemed surprised, so I was left with the impression that was unusual.”
Carbon stared down at the phone in her hands. “I do not know. From what I have seen, she will normally adhere to formal channels. But in the past, when it has come to dealings with me, she has not. Relied on her word being law to make things happen.”
Like making it legal to marry a Human. Changed who knows how much legal history with a stroke of a pen, to unfold some new machinations. “Zenshen made it sound like she was mostly there to act as a buffer between me and the military, keep me from offending anyone. Which strikes me as Eleya looking after her investment.”
“That is a reasonable assumption. I fear she has more intent sunk into you than we can see, so...” She also stopped talking when their waitress returned for Alex’s dishes, giving the young woman a warm smile. “Perhaps it really is.”
Alex, being privy to at least one plan that Carbon was unaware of, instantly did not want to comment on that. “Like you say, it lies with her to prove... herself good.”
“So it does.” Carbon smiled at his butchering of their turn of phrase before glancing down at her communicator again. “All right. Do you have any further plans for this morning?”
“Not a one. Want to push up the meeting with Lyshen? For that matter, do we have any plans tonight?”
“I do want to get that done. Designers can be particular. Best to get started sooner, and also have a meal that we can excuse ourselves for without appearing rude.” She smirked, displaying a little bit of the knowledge she had accumulated growing up in an elevated class, and started tapping away at the screen with both thumbs. “As for this evening, nothing that Neya has made me aware of.”
“Sounds good to me.” Left the evening open to actually have a sit down with Neya, perfect. “Oh shit, that reminds me. Neya wants us to bring her breakfast.”
“Does she. Very upset about not being able to come along?” The tone she had said that Carbon was familiar with Neya pretending to be put out by that, as did the barely hidden smile and tiny little snort of a laugh.
“Absolutely heartbroken.” He played along. “I had to promise that we’d get her something this morning and that you’d make breakfast again tomorrow.”
“Mh. We will see who is making breakfast when the time comes, but I will have something sent to her and we will proceed to our appointment.” She flipped through the applications on her phone and started typing something else out. “There.”
Carbon slipped the slim black screen back into her jacket and stood, stretching a little bit before walking over to the end of the bar, Haraya hustling out to meet them with a small device like the one Carbon had used to pay in the other little restaurant. She set her palm down on it, it processed for a moment and played a happy little tune.
“Thank you both, it was an honor to serve you.” Haraya bowed again now that the transaction was done.
“You did well, thank you.” Carbon said it in Tsla as she returned the bow, glancing over at Alex to ensure he was doing the same thing.
“Sa meha.” He was. Paying attention to what Carbon was doing was getting him pretty far, as was having memorized how to say ‘thank you’ in Tsla.
They turned to leave, but Haraya spoke again before they could take a step. Quiet, and very timid. “May I ask you a question?”
Carbon didn’t even think about it as she looked back. “Of course.”
“I was mostly asking the prince, I am very sorry.” She looked just this side of terrified to be correcting a Royal.
“Oh yeah, shoot.” Alex caught himself speaking in English way too late. He pursed his lips and inhaled, just barely preventing himself from rolling his eyes at that little faux pas. Based on what Carbon had said about Haraya getting her information about how nobles work from movies, she would have interpreted that as aimed at her. He queued up a very quick reply. “Please do.”
“After you left, last night.” She glanced over at the bartender, who was not paying them any attention at all. “Adana kept saying a strange word, I assume it to be Human - untranslatable.”
The irony of the translator not being able to digest something in English was not lost on Alex. What had he said to the kid?
Carbon, meanwhile, thought it was hilarious. “It is actually two words, a phrase. Oh, busted. In this case I believe it means that he got caught doing something he should not have been doing.” She laughed, looking up at Alex with a grin.
Haraya’s relief at how this turned out was immediately visible. She was still tense, but didn’t look like she might have just caught an execution. “Adana likes to play with the door controls. They beep and flash, and he can activate the viewscreen... And open the door. That is what he was doing when he found the prince in the hallway, when he should have been in bed. It is not an offensive term?”
“Et.” Alex shook his head no. Score another point for knowing the basics.
“It is as he says. A harmless statement.” Carbon picked up the slack from Alex trying not to advertise that he spoke their language yet. She looked over to him again. “Perhaps used to tease a friend when they get caught out?”
He nodded as sagely as he could, a smirk barely suppressed as he caught that shade she was directing at him.
“His mother will be so glad. She has been concerned it was some kind of swearing, or something worse. I told her that the prince had been kind in my interaction with him, but she was-” Haraya exhaled sharply, wide brown eyes darting between them with a hint of that fear creeping back in. “She was afraid despite that.”
“Ah. If that does not settle her, please get in contact with me.” She pulled her communicator out, swiping along the screen for a moment and holding it out to the young woman. “We can arrange a meeting to clear anything up.”
She looked down at a swirling orange circle on Carbon’s phone, “I am not allowed to carry my- May I get it?”
“Of course.” Carbon smiled.
Alex lowered his voice as Haraya hustled away. “You sure giving her your number is a good idea?”
“No. But she is earnest and correct in her assessment of you.” She shook her head, her words quiet and sharp. “That boy learned a simple phrase, and his mother thinks it is a curse? I know why she did. I have met my own people. I think a gentle nudge may be in order to prevent it from being passed along.”
“When you say gentle nudge...”
She held a hand out to ease his concern. “I was thinking tea.”
Haraya returned, phone in hand and followed by an older, grumpy looking male dressed in the same natural fiber clothes save for a vibrant red scarf around his neck, voice raised as he tried to keep up with the excited teen. “You may not use your-”
“Akai.” Alex gave what he assumed was a manager a needlessly cheery greeting with a little wave of his fingers. Oh man, he had loved being a shit to managers when he was younger, particularly if they were on a power trip. The opportunity hadn’t presented itself recently, and the urge to abuse the power that he allegedly had now was so tempting.
“Floor boss!” Carbon was a step ahead of him, greeting the gray male in their own language loud enough to draw his attention away from their waitress. “What is it that I may not use?”
Alex’s translator sat unused for several seconds as the sounds that guy made never made it past shocked guttural noises, the realization of who he’d been yelling in the general direction of sinking in. Haraya was too busy getting Carbon’s contact information to notice, or might have just been ignoring this exchange as hard as the bartender was.
“It was- My words- Did not for you.” He held up his hands and backed away.
“Ah, a simple misunderstanding?” Carbon offered him as the phone dinged complete, and she slipped it back into her jacket.
“Yes, of course.” Couldn’t get out of there fast enough.
Haraya bowed again as she hid her communicator, the same black rectangle that Carbon and Alex appeared to have. “Thank you. I hope I will not have to contact you, but that you have offered...”
“The prince has shown me who he is, what is in his heart... It will not do to have anyone doubting his character.” Carbon smiled and returned the bow.
Alex followed suit.
The fear in her eyes was gone, and if anything there was a little bit of admiration in there now as she thanked them again, quietly, before running off to whatever her next duty was.
They left the same way they had come in, through the main dining area. The crowd had shifted, some groups gone, new ones in their place. Conversations to fill boredom, meals he didn’t recognize being consumed at every pace conceivable. Once again, he was pretty sure this was his kind of joint.
It only took the gentlest of questions to get Carbon talking about what she’d been doing all morning as they walked back to the tram, riding all the way to the stop closest to the bow this time. Alex was only slightly familiar about what she was talking about - had something to do with preventative maintenance checks on one of the shuttles. It was interesting to find out they had developed a very similar system to what he was used to, checking in on functionality after so many hours of use.
He didn’t understand the majority of what she was describing, but he enjoyed listening to her talk about things with such enthusiasm.
Lyshen’s office was easily the furthest forward he had been on the ship yet. Took the elevator up to deck 20 and then just walked towards the bow for another five minutes. He must have been as close as one could get to the plate armor and whatever buffer they put between it and the habitable areas. It seemed almost entirely unused - he was sure some of the bulkheads had dust on them.
For Alex, there were two potential reasons for this. Aetena Lyshen preferred the solitude of the area. It was actually very quiet, even compared to the hall in front of their cabin. Or, he had pissed someone off and gotten banished to a spot as far away as possible.
Whichever option, Lyshen had put some work into his workspace. The door was ringed in a delicate gold filigree, a lacework of glittering geometric shapes with his name and title contained in a small banner above the door. They were meeting with a Royal Artisan.
Carbon tapped the door controls and it slides open almost instantly. The young woman with light red fur inside is dressed nearly as formally as they had been last night, though in muted grays. She bows. Not too deep. “Welcome, the Chief Artisan is preparing for your arrival. It should be just a few minutes.”
Chief Artisan. Well. Alex shot Carbon a sidelong glance as the receptionist turned and they followed her through a waiting room. A simple rectangular area, with a few upholstered chairs and benches scattered around. It was the most Human looking area he’d been in so far.
The far wall caught his eye as they walked through, windows looking into a workshop. Alex walked over, the large floor beyond housing a dozen or so Tsla’o, all seated at desks or workbenches, engrossed in whatever they were working on. Almost to the last, they were using hand tools.
Alex had never really seen craftsmen up close, doing their thing. In movies, or videos, sure. But not right here a few steps away, carefully engraving some sort of... Breastplate? Cuirass? Big chunk of metal that looked like it went over the chest.
“I believe that is yours.” Carbon stepped up next to him, a smirk in her voice as she leaned against his shoulder. “To go with your gauntlets, and the rest of the armor that is no doubt being fabricated.”
“What makes you say that?” How could she pick that up from looking at it for, what, three or four seconds?
“Consider the size.” She nodded at it, the artist working on it laying out a star near the shoulder. “Who else would wear such a piece?”
“Huh.” Compared to the guy who was doing the work, it wasn’t exactly massive, but he would need a lot of padding to wear that. This raised a few questions for him about the ethics of receiving such gifts. But he wasn’t a politician... Not as far as the Confederation was concerned. “I guess it is.”
They stood in silence and watched work progress. A woman in the back was carving something, perhaps a chair leg. One guy in the corner making hinges with an induction forge and a tiny, specialized anvil.
Before long, the secretary approached them again. “The Chief Artisan is prepared for you now. Please.” She gestured to the only door that went somewhere other than the corridor.
The Chief Artisan was sitting behind his desk, wearing an outfit similar to his receptionist, pale green eyes switching back and forth between two screens. The primary one was built into the desk, and had been jury rigged to a Human made laptop that sat on top of it, a rat’s nest of cables connecting the two. There was a holoprojector built into the desk, a jumble of images floating over it. He waved them in and gestured to the chairs across from him, “Please, sit.”
Alex was quick to oblige, glad to be just some guy for the moment. Carbon didn’t seem to mind either, taking the seat beside him without a word. Aetena was the first green Tsla’o Alex had seen, sort of a dark forest green with jade stripes visible on his neck. Apparently a bit of a rarity given how often he saw the other colors on the ship.
“I am sorry to keep you waiting, the connection to your Solanet has gone down. Despite that, I believe I have enough saved locally to begin the process.” Lyshen trailed off, lost between the two displays before closing a dozen images from the holo. He picked a pen up from the table and arranged the remaining pictures neatly, four different coats of arms that claimed to belong to a Sorenson. The red enamel barrel blurred into an arc as he spun the pen in his fingers, voice picking up speed as he locked on to Alex. “There is a large amount of heraldry available for your surname, do you know which coat of arms belongs to your particular family?”
There was a deer, a deer head, a rearing horse and a weird shaped star. Maybe it was a flower, or a drip of paint. They were all surrounded by leaves and the occasional knight’s helmet. Alex wasn’t sure what any of it meant and up until now, he’d never even thought about it. Knights and damsels in distress had never really been his thing. “Uh, can’t say that I do, no.”
“Mmh. What geographic region does your lineage trace back to? I could find no significant references to the Berkley Soresons on your Solanet.” He leaned back and the pen continued to trace crimson circles in his hand.
“The name comes from Europe, but the last couple of generations have lived in California, and America before that for who knows how long... We’re from a little bit of everywhere.” It was an inside joke with the family, which had ties back into nearly every corner of the globe at this point. Now they had a relative from somewhere way off the globe as well.
That puzzled Aetena, ears flicking as he turned back to the Human screen and picked over the keyboard slowly. He didn’t like what he found. “All of these originate from the continent of Europe. Do you happen to know which country?”
“No, I’m not sure. Had an uncle do the family tree thing once, but between the civil wars and The Collapse, the lineage got spotty about a hundred years ago.” Alex wasn’t really into the whole ancestry thing once you got outside of living relatives. It was novel, sure, but right now all he really wanted to do was ask if he could borrow that Solanet access when it came back up. The rest of the ship had access to the Confed’s milnet, which tightly restricted what he could be sending across it - he just wanted to download a couple of movies and some music, but milnet barely overlapped with the wider public network.
Lyshen set his hand down and the pen switched back and forth like a metronome, clicking on his desk at the end of each arc. He closed his eyes for a moment, jaw working silently before he closed the images and started pulling up new ones. “Perhaps we should move on to other aspects of this endeavor. As I have been told that you wish to integrate Tsla’o and Human cultures in your marriage, I had intended to blend the existing Tshalan sigil with some of the Sorenson family heraldry. I thought it would be best to use the gear-star surround from the Princess’ family crest as a base to build from. Something that is immediately familiar to Tsla’o, to put the viewer at ease. As it is indicative of starship commands, exploration and the outer colonies, it will solidly represent both of you and the way you met.”
Alex raised an eyebrow at Carbon, “sound reasonable?” He had no idea if it was or not, but it did sound like it. Also, if they were serious about integrating parts of Tsla’o and Human cultures, they needed to actually get on that.
“Yes. I agree, that would be a good place to start.”
“Thank you.” He busied himself bringing up a few more pictures, rough combinations of the ten point gear-star and the various items from the Sorenson crests, bits of decoration and detail work.
The door chimed behind them and Lyshen stopped with a sharp glare. He eyed the clock and sighed, a whispered curse under his breath before he set his pen down and straightened up. “Come.”
There was a soldier partially concealed behind the door, the rank plate on his uniform loaded with details, not that Alex could read them yet. He swept the room with a rifle as he entered, the short barrel ending up pointed just a hair under Alex’s sternum. A pair of soldiers took up positions on either side of the door and covered him, a few more lined up in the waiting room.
When he spoke, it was crisp and authoritative. “Please back away from the Human.”
 
First Prev
*****
Never a dull moment on that ship.
Art pile: Carbon reference sheet. Art by Tyo_Dem

Just got done building in the Qube 500 Flatpack black edition, very pleasant experience.
Here is my review in bullet points. Then tips on building in the sucker as bullet points, and finally suggestions addressed to CoolerMaster (henceforth "CM") in, you guessed it, motherflippin' bulletpoints.

Review

1. Instructions: The written instructions were not great. Had that "draw the rest of the owl" energy to them. The order of the steps in the guide were all over the place for no reason. Please reassign the Extraterrestrial who writes your manuals to other projects. I feel this whole experience could be optimized and dialed in further. Maybe a number system or a colour code. Maybe CM can do a collab with Ikea and have their people help out. My body is ready for blue/yellow cases.
   
2. Flatpack concept: I really love the flatpack case concept; it's a few tweaks away from being great, and it has the potential to become the new standard for budget and mid-range cases. I really hope CM continues with this concept. Fundamentally, it's just 12 screws. 4 in the back, 4 in the front, 2 for the top and 2 for the bottom. All attached to the central Motherboard tray. Really hard to mess up.
   
3. Packaging: very high quality. The diagrams on the interior were not helpful. I think it was missing an overall diagram illustrating that this was packaged in layers, and you were expected to assemble layer by layer. I mean, I figured it out quickly, but a piece of paper at the top announcing what was going to be happening would have been great.
   
4. Case design elements: Lots of fluff text stamped everywhere on the case itself as well, text written about how each panel is steel, or that the glass is glass. We get it CM. The materials are made of materials
   
5. Cooling: It comes with 1 fan which, if that's all the cooling you use, is not going to be enough if its a gaming rig. I do wish an extra fan was included, I associate 1 case fans with budget cases, and this is definitely not budget feeling or priced. I added a few fans cannibalized from the old case, so no big deal.
   
6. Screws: I really appreciate that there was only one size of screws. That was a nice touch. Please only ever do this going forward for all the stuff you make. Give a raise to the person who came up with that idea. The inclusion of only silver coloured screws with the black case was dissapointing. What a weird corner to cut.
   
7. Extras: I really wish I could have bought extra accessories, attachments, panels or parts for the Qube when I ordered it. I understand from the promo materials that it's designed to play nice with 3D printing to some extent, but a modular design BEGS for a part catalogue for customization. The Macaron edition, with its extra cosmetic panels, is a good first step, but those should be available separately too. This case badly needed more options. This could be a flagship product for you guys, if the logistics can keep up with an initial marketing push.
   
8. Radiator Bracket: Without a mesh side panel for the left of the case I'm not sure I understand the point of the hinged radiator bracket. It's certainly not providing much in the way of sturctural integrity and without a flow through for air, why bother? Unless the case can be modded to switch the panels? I read nothing about that in the documentation provided and all the promo pics show it behind the glass panel. Weird. Thankfully it's removeable. If panels can be flipped and moved around, please indicate it more clearly. If they can't, well, why not?
   

Tips and tricks

My specific build was a "put lipstick on a pig" kind of project. Basically a case swap for an older system to make it re-sellable. The construction quality of this thing bumped a budget-looking system to premium-looking. Very happy with the result.

1. PSU positioning: My pig uses a non-modular ATX PSU. I was very apprehensive as the GPU option I wanted to put in, a 3070, was "too long" technically speaking and although I had a smaller PSU available, I did not want to swap it given the price point I'm going for with this build.
   Thankfully the GPU went in with room to spare. How? Turns out one of the pros of a fully non-modular PSU is all the cables come out in one area and so the spot where PSU connectors would normally interfere with a long GPU is totally clear and Cooler master had a channel just waiting there to route the PSU cables. See here.
   After testing, even if I would have placed the PSU in the lowest mounting bracket offered by the case (for water cooling), there would have been room for a longer GPU with this PSU configuration. Very cool!
   
2. Cable Management: Given that there is plenty of room behind the motherboard tray for cable management and plenty of tie-down points, the Qube turned out to be fantastic for cable management even with all the extra PSU cabling I had to deal with (my Pig also uss a 2.5 SSD drive too). Overall it looks much neater than I expected despite the unshrouded PSU situation. Honestly this might be the thing that surprised me the most about the case. It looks really clean. Granted I did a lot of the cable management as I went, BEFORE the step where CM suggests doing a bit of cable management (lol).
   I really disliked how unhelpful CM's instructions were in this regard. I did all of this out of experience, but I could see new builders getting frustrated. This case has plenty of room to cable manage when disassembled, and it in fact a pretty pleasant experience, but you really need to be diligent and ask yourself at every step what can you tidy up at that point.
   
3. Cooling: A Thermal Right Peerless Assassin 120 SE fits and has plenty of clearance even with the radiator bracket. Sucking in fresh air will be challenging however.
   I mounted fans to the panels as I installed them and spent a good amount of time routing motherboard cables prior to having the side panels locked in to help with airflow and clear obstructions. I used U cable adapters for the GPU's power connectors to keep them flat and out of the way and used black electrician tape to bundle and clean up hanging connectors here and there as much as possible.
   Ultimately, I placed the PSU in the highest bracket as I wanted space for a front fan and airflow. As a result of the PSU situation, I was able to fit a 140 mm fan in the front of the case with no obstruction, as well as another fan at the bottom close to the front's fan, creating a corner intake area. I added two top 140mm fans as well and kept the case's back 120 mm fan.
   
4. Future layout options: I could probably have 3 X 120 mm fans at the bottom of the case, although I'm leaning towards instead getting a PCIE riser cable to vertically mount the GPU. I think it will look nicer and give more room for the air to move diagonally. Based on my rough estimates it should not interfere with the bottom fan I already installed and CM includes an adapter to reorient the slots at the back. This layout possibility was unexpected (as I would have gotten a PCIE riser otherwise). This computer will look much nicer than I expected.
   
5. Power On: Don't forget to switch on the PSU before wrapping up. That said, two screws are between you and lifting the top panel if you did forget so don't worry too much about it.
   
6. Back Fan Cable: The included fan's connector cable position can interfere with the back panel's attachment (it gets squeezed in). I suggest fully routing the cable preemptively before screwing that in.
   
7. Hook up all the Mobo's connectors before screwing the panels together: I suggest routing and connecting anything and everything that latches on to the Motherboard as soon as you can. I'd route the PSU cables before actually attaching the PSU to the case as well, just in case you need to plug and unplug things for cable routing purposes. Once everything is in, especially with a chonky aircooler, it's incredibly difficult to access anything on the Motherboard. Very happy I'm selling this system rather than upgrading it, lol. Accessing the GPU release thingy is a nightmare on a cheaper motherboard. If you do need to do that, remove the bottom panel completely and slide a chopstick under there to press it.
   
8. Fan/RGB connectors: If you go with a Front-Bottom Pull to Top-Back Push airflow configuration, be mindful of the layout of the fan power connectors on your motherboard. You might need a fan controller. Same story with RGB connectors.
   

Suggestions for CM

1. Screw screws: Given the thickness of the panels, a snap system of some kind could have been used instead of screws altogether. A screwless flatpack case... maybe a collab with Lego instead? I'd love to connect the case panels lego style via overlapping panels touch points. If you added lego style texture to different parts of the case the amount of buzz you'd get on social media from people building little worlds in their case would absolutely be worth the hassle.
   
2. Side Panel Cowardice: Very disappointed that there is no left mesh side panel option and just glass. I feel the radiator bracket was included for that use case, but someone at CM chicken'ed out midway through production and here we are, with a useless bracket and a fragile glass panel.
   The glass panel stands out like a sore thumb considering the rest of the case is built like a Tank. Without that glass panel the amount of packaging and therefor the size of the flatpack itself could have been significantly shrunk down further which would have been fantastic. Really a missed opportunity here.
   
3. Give me diversity or documentation (ideally both): Although I appreciate all the different configurations you present outright (air, water, test bench), making side panels interchangeable (left/right) and allowing the front panel to be reversable (top/down) so that the IO is properly oriented for a side build (with feet that can be latched to the side panel), would have been better. Is it possible? I don't know! I did not see any mention of that in the confusing documentation you provided me. If these things ARE possible, then better documentation is necessary.
   
4. Simpler core design, more options: The interior motherboard tray is a bit overengineered. A simpler design could help lower the cost of the case and probably make it easier for you to make. CM could make fancy layouts still possible, by selling optional mobo trays, panels and parts that are compatible with a fundamentally simpler primary design. I think the "Qube 600 / Qube CM X Ikea / Qube CM X Lego / whatever the next iteration is going to be called" should have a much simpler design and instead feature a robust catalogue of optional panels and parts for customization.
   
5. Cable free cutouts: If you insist on overengineering your interior motherboard tray, then the Qube series would be a prime candidate for some of those new "cable-free motherboards" with the cables facing backward that require special cutouts.
   
6. Centre motherboard tray, flipped GPU, wait, did I just invent the Micro-Qube?: Alternatively, including a PCIE riser cable to allow the mounting of the GPU behind the motherboard tray would allow for a shorter tower and the now centred motherboard tray could provide more structural rigidity. "Bottom-Top" or "Side" airflow would be necessary but it would look killer. Maybe that could be the basis of a SFF "M-Qube" design?
   
7. Your hotdog moment: If you are going to include only 1 fan. Can it be nicer? This fan does not make me want to even bother looking at CM fans for the rest of the build. If you cut corners on your case with this fan, what corners are you cutting with your case fans? Think beyond the case for a moment. If you provide consumers with a super amazing fan or two in your cases, with a fairly unique design would that not lead to consumers buying more of the same fans to match? If it's only one fan, sure, swapping that out is doable, but if you include 2 or 3 of those with each case, then swapping all those out feels wasteful. Much easier to just add to them. Especially if they perform well.
   Consider this your Costco Hotdog. Include great fans. Hell, if you want to guarantee people pick your fans, use a bigger form factor (180 mm and 200 mm) If you design them unique enough, you are basically forcing people to buy into your fan ecosystem since there's almost no competition to begin with at those sizes.
   
8. Listen to the Bees: Why is the pattern of a case made by CM, a company with a hexagon as it's logo, circles rather than a grid of hexagons?
   Have you guys not received the memo? Hexagon is the bestagon.
   You need to leverage the competitive advantage you have in this area of geometry and leverage it hard. Across from me now sits the Lian Li 216. You know what I see at the back of it? Lots and lots of CM logos? Why? Because, they paid attention in geometry class and know it's the most efficient design to minimise waste in a pattern. Hexagons = better airflow. CM, wacha doin' baby. This should be YOUR thing.
   You could even integrate hexagons into your IO or better yet, integrate your IO into the hexagon design of your cases. Your case buttons are okay, but you need to do better. Go. Wild. With the motherboard cutouts of the motherboard tray, the screw heads, the included fan(s), if you can shape it like a hexagon, do it. OWN THAT SHAPE!
   I PROMISE you nobody will complain. This is a no-brainer. Come on guys...
   

Conclusion

Anyway, I'll be waiting for your request to sign off to you all the rights to all the good ideas I've provided you today, accompanied by a fat check or a custom made system of equal value featuring lots of hexagons. 🐝
You're welcome.
Now please go redesign the Hyper 212 Evo. ThermalRight has stolen your budget crown and you need to fire back with a dynamite value proposition...
Might I interest you in a hexagon-shaped radiator and fan setup? The CM Hexacooler? You know, to launch your new series of hexagon shaped fans. The world is ready CM, do it.
(T.L.;D.R.) Oh yeah, the case, ahem, 8/10. Better than expected, but still short from greatness.

The Spring of 1997 to roughly the Summer of 1998 was the most defining period of the Modern 1990s (or at least the purest portion of it), representing that cultural era the most. The period after the death of the Notorious B.I.G. but before the launch of Google, paving the way for the technological interaction of the new millennium.
I would personally consider this to be the last period of the Core 1990s because the 1990s zeitgeist was still totally felt in the overall sphere of culture, whether it was geopolitics, the economy, television, music, etc., plus this was right before the trends of the Millennium era really kicked off (i.e. Rush Hour, Pokémon, TRL, Britney Spears, etc.). However, this was when the transition from the Classic 1990s was finished after winter 1997 but before the Classic 2000s emerged in late 1998.
This was pretty much also the first period that really had any tangible pop cultural ties to the 2000s in the form of entertainment, the economy, and technology. Any 00s influence before this period was extremely minimal.
What I'm trying to ask is if you think it's closer to the classic 1990s or the classic 2000s?
P.S., for anyone out of the loop on what I mean by "classic", on this sub, the "classic" portion of a decade is merely just the first phase of that decade's culture.
Here's reasons for both with each year.

Spring-Fall 1997

Why it's closer to the Classic 1990s:

• Alternative rock was still popular.
• Bill Clinton was still President of the United States, now in his second term.
• The Post-Cold War atmosphere was at its absolute peak.
• Michael Jordan was still running the NBA with his Chicago Bulls dynasty.
• The WWF was still mostly in the New Generation era and its rival companies ECW and WCW were at their peaks.
• Princess Diana was still alive (for a good portion of the year).
• Classic 90s Eurodance was still alive but on life support.
• Shows like Home Improvement, Seinfeld, Family Matters, Beverly Hills 90210, Boy Meets World, and Step By Step were still airing new episodes, The Simpsons was still in its golden age, and so was Nickelodeon, and Cartoon Network was still in its classic 'Checkerboard' era.
• Titanic released this year.
• This was the last year that 4th Gen consoles were somewhat popular or relevant.
• This was the last year before HDTVs hit the market.
• Windows 95 was still the dominant OS.
• The last of the Memphis aesthetic is around.
• Musically, it was more Core 90s.

Why it's closer to the Classic 2000s:

• Grunge and gangsta rap are basically dead, paving the way for nu-metal and bling rap to take over (post-grunge was already popular at this point).
• The WWF was transitioning into the Attitude era.
• NBA stars like Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett, Allen Iverson, Tim Duncan, Steve Nash, Ray Allen, etc., were already in the league, and Kobe & Shaq were already a duo in Los Angeles.
• DVDs were now available as an alternative to VHS, despite being very expensive.
• Shows like Ally McBeal, 7th Heaven, Daria, Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Sabrina The Teenage Witch, King of the Hill, Oz, Friends, 3rd Rock From The Sun, Moesha, etc., were now on television.
• Disney Channel is now available on regular cable and the first DCOMs appear on the network.
• This year saw the birth of the 80s revival.
• Tony Blair would become Prime Minister of the UK.
• Netflix was now available as a subscription service.
• 5th Gen consoles were fully established as the "new kids on the block", taking over gaming with their 3D graphics, modern FPS games all started with GoldenEye 007, and modern gaming franchises like GTA and technically Gran Turismo (for Japan) would begin this year.
• Teen pop was now popular (although one could argue that the teen pop boy bands of the late 90s were actually closer to the more R&B-based boy bands of the early-mid 90s compared to the urban boy bands/male groups of the early-mid 2000s).
• The Y2K aesthetic was heavily present this year (although sort of overlapping with Gen X Soft Club's popularity during this time).

Early-Mid 1998

Why it's closer to the Classic 1990s:

• Alternative rock was still popular.
• Bill Clinton was still President of the United States, now in his second term.
  • The Monica Lewinsky scandal was very "90s"
• The Post-Cold War atmosphere was at its peak.
• Michael Jordan was still running the NBA with his Chicago Bulls dynasty.
• ECW and WCW were still in their primes.
• Shows like Home Improvement, Seinfeld, Family Matters, Boy Meets World, and Step By Step were still airing new episodes, The Simpsons was arguably still in its golden age (albeit post-Principal Skinner episode), and arguably so was Nickelodeon (kind of a 50/50 year since some would consider '98 more of a silver age year for Nick).
• Titanic was popular early on in the year.
• 4th Gen consoles still released new games.
• Windows 95 was still the dominant OS.

Why it's closer to the Classic 2000s:

• HDTVs would officially hit the market.
• The WWF was officially in the Attitude era.
• NBA stars like Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett, Allen Iverson, Tim Duncan, Steve Nash, Ray Allen, etc., were already in the league, and Kobe & Shaq were already a duo in Los Angeles.
• DVDs were now available as an alternative to VHS, despite being very expensive.
• Shows like Ally McBeal, 7th Heaven, Daria, Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Sabrina The Teenage Witch, Dawson's Creek, King of the Hill, Oz, Friends, 3rd Rock From The Sun, Moesha, etc., were now on television.
• Cartoon Network was now in its Powerhouse era, Nickelodeon was arguably in its silver age, and Disney Channel's Zoog era would begin this year, along with Toon Disney.
• The Siemens S10 released this year and was the first cell phone to feature a color screen.
• The US embassy bombings would take place.
• Tony Blair was Prime Minister of the UK.
• Netflix was now available as a subscription service.
• 5th Gen consoles were in their prime, taking over gaming with their 3D graphics.
• Teen pop was dominant (although one could argue that the teen pop boy bands of the late 90s were actually closer to the more R&B-based boy bands of the early-mid 90s compared to the urban boy bands/male groups of the early-mid 2000s).
• The Y2K aesthetic was dominant (although sort of overlapping with Gen X Soft Club's popularity during this time).
• Musically, it was a bit more Y2K (50/50 at best, very "Live 97").

I know I listed a lot of reasons, but there's just a lot of reasons to list for each.
If I had to personally choose, I'd split it like this:
Spring to Fall '97 was more Classic 1990s while Winter '97/'98 to Summer '98 was more Classic 2000s.
​
I beg you to comment on this post. I would like to know why you chose either answer.
View Poll

Hi there I just joined this page and I thought I’d share my opinions on the entire celebrity blockout situation. It’s been on my mind a lot and I have a LOT to say just don’t know where to! Firstly I admire the working class for recognizing that a lot of the rich and famous care very little for the well-being of the less fortunate, and I agree the Palestine situation should be discussed. HOWEVER I do have criticism of how this blockout is being approached and well reason for it. I’ve noticed this entire thing reminds me similarly of 2020s mass BLM support and how much performative activism spread as a trend throughout social media. We now laugh at the idea that posting a black square would do ANYTHING for racial Justice, but the only reason it is now judged is because it is no longer “relevant” to trend followers. I see this blockout taking the same turn. Id like to point out that simply blocking celebrities is not going to have the impact you believe it will. If you really want to attack someone and see some change, go for the politicians. After all it’s our current president funding Israel. If you plan on showing the rich who’s boss, then don’t buy films, don’t stream music or tv, cancel your Netflix and your Hulu and go back to cable, but even then the advertising will STILL feed them money. So might as well quit the Tv all together right? Get rid of your Samsung cause plenty of celebs are involved in partnerships. Stop buying from Sephora or Ulta, since plenty of celebs work with beauty brands or own a brand themselves. So you’ll buy drug store right? Well cover girl works with Zendaya and Elf has ties to Kim Kardashian. Want the latest fashion? Can’t buy SHEIN they’ve got child labor through the roof. So you’ll buy American Eagle and Lulu? They likely use the same child labor as shein just for a higher labor price but sell it to us for much more, and many Americans in this economy can’t afford quality clothing. How about small business and Etsy? Much better but still can be quite pricey and the same shareholders as Starbucks fund many sites. Our entertainment and luxury have been captured by the businesses and wealthy that you want to go after and yet many still believe hitting a block button will do anything. But from a more necessary consumer standpoint it’s so much more complicated. Instead of aiming for smaller branches of business like Starbucks, go for the corporations that own them. Go after Nestle, Coca Cola, Pepsi Co, Frito Lay, etc. Go after their shareholders and THEN you’ll see maybe even a SLIGHT impact. Only thing is it is nearly impossible to do so. The brands you should be attacking are being funded by the working class constantly because we need food. Many people can’t afford or have little access to local business and farms. And with how it goes any smaller business that shows some sort of success is at risk for grabs by a multibillion dollar corporation, and then the cycle continues. Point is the working class is pretty backed into a corner. And it’s so much of a bigger problem than JUST fighting for awareness for Palestine. I understand the reason behind it and I get the intent, but you really can’t think it will do what you think it will. Then you’re just falling for the performative activism these people love because it makes you THINK you’re doing something so you quiet down about the issues when in reality you haven’t even hurt a fly. Just being realistic.

How to Build a Desktop Computer
One of my favorite hobbies is computer building; it's a hobby that can either be inexpensive or ten- thousand dollars. It can either be extremely complicated or be as simple as “put this square thing in the square hole.” So ,in this essay, I'm going to explain to you how to easily construct a computer.
The first thing that you need to do is find a clear flat surface, a sharp object, a Phillips head screwdriver, a CPU, a motherboard, a stick or two of RAM, a storage device, and a case. All of the parts must be compatible with each other, and for this essay we are going to say that all of the parts are new. Place your case on the ground, and move your motherboard to the middle of the table with all the other parts to the side of it.
Let's begin by opening the motherboard's box with the sharp object; once the box is opened remove the motherboard and place it on top of the box. Make sure to move all of the accessories it comes with to the side, they’ll be used later. Next, after removing all the wrapping from the motherboard, open the CPU’s box and remove it. This CPU comes with its own fan which we will be using. Open the CPU slot on the motherboard by unlatching the socket’s lever and removing the socket protector. Remove the CPU from its plastic casing and place it carefully in the socket. If done correctly, the CPU should fit in comfortably; once this is done, move the socket lever back to its original position, securing the CPU. After this is done take the CPU’s included fan and remove the plastic covering at the CPU’s contact area. Once done, place the fan on the four screw-in points and use your screwdriver to screw in the screws. Make sure that the fan is placed correctly. When that is done, plug your fans connector into the four pin CPU fan connector ,often located beside the CPU on the motherboard.
Next, unbox your RAM and remove the sticks. Once all wrapping is removed locate the motherboard's RAM slots which have two to four slots depending on your model. For this build we have four RAM slots ,but have two sticks of RAM meaning that we're going to use dual channel configuration. Unlatch the A2 and B2 slots latches and fit your RAM in with the labels facing the CPU fan. Once the RAM clicks into place the latches should move back into their original position by themselves. Now, move your constructed motherboard over to a secure location at the side of the table.
Take your sharp object and use it to open your cases’ box on the floor, move it out gently ,and remove the two pieces of styrofoam on the two sides of the case. Place the case on your desk and remove the acrylic panel’s plastic wrapping gently. Afterwards remove the acrylic side panel by removing the two thumbscrews by using your Phillips head screwdriver. Remove all contents within the case such as accessories and packaging. Move the removed acrylic side panel to a secure area, and rotate the case.
Remove the backside panel the same way as you did with the other ,and move the side panel to the same location as the other side panel. Move your case to the front of the desk ,and grab your power supply’s box. Using your infamous sharp object, cut open the power supplies box and remove the power supply from the box. Included is the manual,warranty guide,accessories, and power cable ,make sure to keep these all safe for your sake. Unwrap your power supply and rotate the case until its backside faces you. Place the power supply in its square compartment ,and use the four included screws that came with your power supply. Use your Phillips head screwdriver to screw in the power supply so that it is secure. Next route the ATX and CPU cables to the front of the case by utilizing your case's routing holes. Take the power supplies PCI-E,Peripheral, and FDD cables and take the included zip tie and tie all of them together tightly. Move this bundle to an unpopulated area of the case. Now that that's finished rotate the case till it's facing you ,with your motherboard came with a flat piece of metal called an io shield. Take the io shield and push it from the inside of the case through the opening at the side of the case ,push the io shield outward firmly until it clicks in place(be careful because you can cut your finger with the io shield's edges).
Finally place your case downward with the front facing toward you. Depending on your cases’ form factor the installed standoffs(which is a type of screw that can have Phillips head screws screwed into it) may not be correctly aligned with the screw holes of your motherboard. Though our motherboard is the same form factor as our case ,so it's already set up correctly. Carefully place your motherboard on top of the standoffs if done correctly your motherboard's ports will align perfectly with the opening on the io shield and the standoffs will be correctly aligned with all screw holes on the motherboard. Whip out your Phillips head screwdriver and use the cases’ included motherboard screws. Then screw in all of the screws in their place.
After this process is finished plug the CPU and ATX cables into their marked destinations ,and plug in your cases’ power cable into the motherboard's main header normally found at the bottom right of the motherboard. Plug in the cases’ audio cable into the AUDIO1 header on the motherboard and plug in the large usb 3.0 cable into the usb 3.0 port which is often to the medium far right of the motherboard. Next take the motherboard's included sata cable and plug it into the motherboard which is often to the bottom right of the motherboard. Take the other end of the cable and route it to the destination of your storage device which for this build is at the back. After that is routed, take your storage device which for me will be a sata ssd ,and screw it firmly into the case using the cases’ included screws. Take your power supplies sata cable and the motherboard sata cable and plug them both into the storage device. After that is finished plug your power supply into the wall using the proprietary cable ,and plug in your monitor and peripherals. Once finished, turn on your computer and it should post. After your newly built computer is posted, download your favorite OS(Windows,Linux distro,Chrome OS,etc).
This was completed with the help of some google definitions and personal experience. And is definitely worth remembering if you plan on doing more builds or upgrades. I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed typing it.