Messages

276

General Chat / Re: The COVID-19 Virus is Coming For Us All Thread

« on: February 09, 2021, 03:13:10 PM »

Turbo Tax 2020 has a specific section for Covid relief and should ask you what you received for each round of stimulus. I messed it up because I miss-remembered how much I got when initially plugging in numbers and when I corrected it I watched my taxes due go up so it does have a direct impact.

For context, I received the full amount each round but put less for the second one, so it gave me a tax break for the 'missing amount'. When I added it back in the number changed to remove the benefit. Taxes are so depressing for me and wife as we always tend to owe no matter what we do (and we get advice to assist us each year to make sure we are maximizing things).

As our original tax advisor stated: "Welcome to the middle class! You are too rich to benefit from what you used to benefit from, but too poor to afford living without those benefits". Our two rounds of stimulus are basically going to cover our 2020 tax bill. On one had we have been blessed, but on the other the system sure makes it a pair in some ways.

277

Movies & TV / Re: SPOILER ALERT: MCU Thread (MCU on the TV-View: WandaVision)

« on: February 09, 2021, 02:30:01 AM »

Anyway, my working theory now is that Agnes might be trying to resurrect the Infinity Stones. Or at least one Stone...that is interesting, because Vision's Brain was the Mind Stone.

So the idea is truly resurrecting Vision (as opposed to reanimating him like he currently is) and restoring the mind stone as well for her to take? We already know that the stones aren't gone-gone since they could go to another timeline and take borrow those ones. Having the occasional threat of their return would be a way to bring back some major threats of the past. Though I could imagine it getting old if it becomes a too-often recurring plot.

I thought the stones could reform themselves since they are products of the natural universe? The atoms would just reassemble overtime somewhere randomly? Maybe Wanda is actually reassembling the stone(s) and not realizing it by altering matter of the universe?

278

General Chat / Re: The COVID-19 Virus is Coming For Us All Thread

« on: February 08, 2021, 09:30:48 PM »

p.s. the COVID Stimulus Relief bill was also passed.
I didn't get the first 2, and I'm not holding my breath for the 3rd, but I read somewhere that those that never received their prior benefits should still be eligible to receive them.

Were you supposed to qualify for them? You can follow up with the treasury if you didn't get them and both can be applied as tax credits if you didn't receive them yet (this is according to TurboTax when I started plugging my numbers as I understood it).

My sister filed her taxes later in the year due to extensions and got the first one mailed to her after filing since it was her first year filing taxes, so that could also still happen to folks as well.

279

Nintendo Gaming / Re: poll: How many Wii U ports have you double dipped on?

« on: February 08, 2021, 09:25:06 PM »

I've got ports of games I'd never bought before on an earlier system like Pokken Tournament, FF7, World of Goo.

I almost counted those, but it didn't seem to jive with the intent of the thread. I'm sure folks would agree that most of the ports are great and desirable games on their own merit, so it makes sense to buy them on the new system instead of the old for the typical extra features and content as well as the expected improved performance. The only reason it would be preferred to buy the older title would be for the possible lower price of a discounted older system or for collectors sake.

Do others feel the same way or am I being too picky with the terms?

280

Movies & TV / Re: IT'S MAHVEL BAYBEE!! [OT] for the Marvel Cinematic Universe (Movies & TV)

« on: February 08, 2021, 09:19:53 PM »

Its tough, because on one hand, I'd love more content at once, but on the other it could become overwhelming and exhausting like it did for Arrowverse. It will also create a form of FOMO (fear of missing out) because of how rampant spoilers are across the internet. I'm also wondering if we as a fandom can collectively maintain the excitement levels long-term in a television format. With films you had one every few months or more so there was time to digest, decompress, and theorize. Now with the breakneck speed of one a week I see the youtubers struggling to keep up. Just watched an episode of FilmTheory about WandaVision that is already a bit out of date from 4-days ago and even that video had to be edited with corrections/updates from an episode that aired during the post-production.

Add more MCU shows to the mix and your interest as a viewer gets fatigued. ALSO add in other shows you want to keep up on and it gets even more daunting. I intent to follow the Star Wars shows as well so its already feeling like a LOT of television content from just one outlet, not even considering other outlets like Amazon and Netflix. Something is going to give eventually for me at the very least. I try hard to avoid spoilers but it gets harder and harder as shoddy journalism and youtubers vie for your attention by slipping spoilers into headlines and thumbnails. I've already blocked nearly every geek/nerd/fandom site on my Google Now news feed app in an attempt to protect myself. Its going to just become exhausting at some point like it did for Arrow, and once you take a break, it will become more overwhelming to try and catch up in the proper viewing order.

281

Nintendo Gaming / Re: poll: How many Wii U ports have you double dipped on?

« on: February 07, 2021, 12:24:27 AM »

Ports I owned on Wii U
Mario Kart 8
Lego City Undercover
Hyrule Warriors
Minecraft
Pikmin 3
Assassins Creed Black Flag

Ports I owned on Wii
Xenoblade Chronicles X
Swords & Soldiers
Okami
Super Mario 3D All Stars (Wii)

Ports I owned on other systems
The World Ends with You (DS)
Super Mario 3D All Stars (N64/GC)
Turok (N64)
Monster Hunter Generations (3DS)
Final Fantasy Chrystal Chronicles (GC)

I...own a lot more than I thought. And I can think of many more I plan to pick up one sale down the road. Guess I like having the portability and easy availability to play these without pulling out old systems.

282

Movies & TV / Re: SPOILER ALERT: MCU Thread (MCU on the TV-View: WandaVision)

« on: February 06, 2021, 01:02:38 AM »

I thankfully was shielded from the spoiler other than "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! I am so angry and disappointed with the reveal at the end of the latest episode. Since this is a spoiler thread I'm just dropping it out there."

I forgot it was MCU day and opened the thread and saw that and closed everything.

So I new there was a big reveal. The episode was obviously leading you to think Pietro and...whelp, it was A Pietro.

I never saw the X-Men films he was in but had enough recollection of promos for that film to figure it was him. This might lead us right into the Multiverse of Madness. They did say it was nearly confirmed that we would get a scene in that film where the FoX-Men would cameo.

I'm wondering how different Vision is and how much of his personality was preserved/brought back. Wanda mentions how he is behaving in ways he never had in the past and I don't think that is all her gaslighting him or him having a nervous breakdown of sorts from the fake reality. Shuri was pretty close to disconnecting the stone from Vision in Infinity War so I suspect a lot if still there, but he may experience memory loss or personality changes in the process.

283

Movies & TV / Re: IT'S MAHVEL BAYBEE!! [OT] for the Marvel Cinematic Universe (Movies & TV)

« on: February 05, 2021, 02:07:30 PM »

And with how things are being pushed back on the MCU film front (we may see Black widow delayed yet again) they may delay the start of some new films as well as things continue to back up on the release side.

284

TalkBack / Re: Nintendo Releases Third Quarter Fiscal 2020 Results

« on: February 03, 2021, 05:09:48 PM »

Their unique take on all ages games have never been a problem. Its a specific part of their foundational design philosophy that is flawed. They do amazing work, but with an "our way or the highway" in terms of execution. Its why Breath of the Wild was so explosive in popularity. That was one major game that didn't punish you for wanting to do things differently than the designers intended, as opposed to games like Animal Crossing that punish people who want to collect it all or play efficiently, as there are dozens of little things that are done to hinder people from playing this way.

I saw a great youtube video breaking down the problem but can't seem to find it again.

285

General Chat / Re: Building A Computer - $800 Budget - New Build for 2021!!

« on: February 03, 2021, 04:56:03 PM »

Did you hardware not come with it's own program? I'd check the manufacturer site and see if they have any tools linked there for you.

286

General Chat / Re: Building A Computer - $800 Budget - New Build for 2021!!

« on: February 03, 2021, 02:14:55 PM »

Installing Windows on an SSD is a great performance improvement. I've never moved an install so no idea how easy or difficult it would be to complete.

287

Movies & TV / Re: IT'S MAHVEL BAYBEE!! [OT] for the Marvel Cinematic Universe (Movies & TV)

« on: February 03, 2021, 02:12:56 PM »

I'm wondering if this is also a way to attempt to handle the loss of Chadwick Boseman. I can't think of an easy way to deal with his loss jumping straight into BP2, so maybe this helps build up towards the sequel. There are also rumors that Letitia Wright (Shuri) might get recast/removed because of her comments on Covid vaccines, so they may be attempting to build up a new cast.

288

NWR Forums Discord / Re: Today is James Jones's birthday.

« on: February 01, 2021, 05:20:54 PM »

We should all chip in and get him a box to hunt once more.

289

General Chat / Re: Building A Computer - $800 Budget - New Build for 2021!!

« on: February 01, 2021, 12:30:21 PM »

The lack of an optical media slot in the case was a problem for me when planning. Seems they are being phased out at this point, but I have a lot of media so didn't want to go without. Settling on an external drive fixed that problem and I just keep it in a drawer unless I need it.

290

General Chat / Re: Building A Computer - $800 Budget - New Build for 2021!!

« on: February 01, 2021, 01:13:24 AM »

Quickly on the ram, you need to make sure they are in the primary positions. They are typically the odd or even ports and have some sort of vague marking. If you have four ram slots and two sticks you aren't supposed to just fill the first two slots with ram. Gotta alternate them. Mobo may just ignore the sticks not conforming to that patter and be undetected.

I bought a new edition of Windows 10 Pro because I need the features. Paid $130 for a disk which was the cheapest listing from a pcpartpicker.com suggesting vendor (I'm not chancing any of those other vendors with cheaper offerings as many seemed to sketchy to be worth it) as I also bought a portable CD/DVD/BD player that plugs in via usb-c (and my mobo has integrated usb-c). I just plugged that in and booted from that and installed Windows directly.

291

Movies & TV / Re: SPOILER ALERT: MCU Thread (MCU on the TV-View: WandaVision)

« on: January 31, 2021, 12:42:05 AM »

Felt like they were just making medical staff a bit more bad-ass since they regularly deal with wild incidents on the fly, but my wife is a nurse so I may be reading too much into that.

It was only three weeks since the un-blip if I caught the dialogue correctly. It does look like we'll be gleaning more of the side effects from the blip as we get more shows, though I suspect it won't take center stage because of just how truly messy and rough the situation is. Feels a lot like a narrative minefield.

It actually gets me wondering if they won't eventually try to completely undo the effect in the future. Maybe a sort of way to do an MCU 'reboot' with totally new actors an such if things just get too messy, maybe make it from an alternate multiverse to explain it away to a point. The MCU is already a deeply nuanced universe and I question how far we will be able to go before things get too deep and too heavy to carry on as-is.

292

General Chat / Re: Building A Computer - $800 Budget - New Build for 2021!!

« on: January 29, 2021, 12:45:31 PM »

This was similar to my issue and I had the gpu in the wrong slot apparently because when I moved it everything worked. Maybe try that?

293

NWR Forums Discord / Re: Dear me from a week ago

« on: January 29, 2021, 02:07:34 AM »

You need to find a better brokerage service then. Vanguard is generally regarded as a good one and I don't believe you need a minimum to start there. I use Fidelity since that is where my company's 401k is managed. Robinhood is on everyone's **** list because of the Gamestop shenanigans so I'd avoid them for the time being.

I learned enough to make an informed decision once it hit 140 the other day and I didn't have enough liquid to feel it was worth the effort to jump on the bandwagon. But its been fun to watch the show. I also tend to avoid single stocks and focus on indexes and mutual funds. My 401k is in mutual funds since I'm limited by employer selection, but that's been doing above market average. Last time I ran the cumulative numbers I was at 16% rate of return over 5 years.

294

General Chat / Re: Building A Computer - $800 Budget - New Build for 2021!!

« on: January 29, 2021, 02:00:07 AM »

M2 is a type of connection I believe. I thought all M2s were SSDs, but it should work fine so long as it is an M2 whether it is an SSD or HDD. My mobo has multiple M2 spots so you could run one of each it you wanted.

And so long as you having an already existing windows key that is not from a pre-install in the past should should be good there. You might have to "de-authorize" your old computer from that windows license though.

Sweet lights on your fans!

295

General Chat / Re: Building A Computer - $800 Budget - New Build for 2021!!

« on: January 28, 2021, 12:32:37 PM »

Makes me glad I didn't get a liquid cooler!

I attached the cpu, ram, and ssd to the mobo before adding it to the case.

I stuck the PSU in first so I could play out the cords and get a feel for where they go, then I stuck in the mobo and settled where the various psu cords went best.

Stuck the gpu in the wrong slot and nothing would appear on the monitor, but fixed that and it all thankfully worked.

296

General Chat / Re: Building A Computer - $800 Budget - New Build for 2021!!

« on: January 27, 2021, 02:40:33 AM »

Finding the time to build is its own challenge. I bought my parts over the summer but didn't get around to building it all until the Fall.

297

Movies & TV / Re: Mandoverse: Disney's Other 'Cinematic Universe'

« on: January 26, 2021, 06:41:28 PM »

I think the real challenge with Mando removing the helmet/armor will be when attempting to unite the different Mandalorian factions. He is the key to getting the Death Watch/Children of the Watch to join the fight and they may very well reject him because he no longer 'has honor' in their eyes. Its been easy enough for Mando to break down his walls and perceptions when being isolated from others that thought him and thought the same, but with Grogu out of the picture (temporarily) he'll potentially caught between various Mandalorian cultures. I'm expecting we'll see all of the various clans reuniting, including long-lost clans and ones we've not gotten to see yet.

298

Movies & TV / Re: Mandoverse: Disney's Other 'Cinematic Universe'

« on: January 26, 2021, 12:27:35 PM »

Thrawn never properly failed in his role and was always a step ahead of the Rebels; it was always his underlings who botched or ignored his orders and cost the win, other than the space whale ending which I disliked.

And sure, Mando S3 will most likely be the retaking of Mandalore, but that is one show out of at least three that will lead to something bigger with Thrawn at the center of it.

299

Movies & TV / Mandoverse: Disney's Other 'Cinematic Universe'

« on: January 25, 2021, 05:41:11 PM »

Figure it will be worth starting a thread for the new Star Wars "Mandalorian Cinematic Universe" shows like we have for Marvel.

Anyone else been enjoying Mando and excited for the new series of shows? I'm pumped to see the build up towards Thrawn and on the hype train for seeing Heir to the Empire come out of it.

Also hoping to see the rise and rebirth of the Mandalorians seeing them become a power in the galaxy once again. This was covered much later in the old EU novels but having them rise up sooner could make for some great conflicts between them and the Imperial Remnant and the New Republic, as well as an introduction to the Chiss Ascendancy.

Also hoping to see Rogue Squadron be a telling of the taking of Coruscant, since that occurred during the Rogue Squadron books.

What hopes and theories do you all have for the new Star Wars shows?

300

Movies & TV / Re: SPOILER ALERT: MCU Thread (MCU on the TV-View: WandaVision)

« on: January 25, 2021, 05:30:16 PM »

I wonder if the whole "bee keeper" deal will turn out to be SWORD folks in special suits that are supposed to allow people to enter the reality relatively unaffected, but Wanda is still able to push them back out via her "rewind" ability even if the mind-altering properties are blocked.