Recommendations thread.

[Barefoot]

I thought this might be a nice idea, a thread where people can recommend everything from T.V programs to food to art materials.
The idea came from a conversation I was having with some friends a few days ago, it was the whole 'what would you bring to a desert island' thing. Most people went for the usual: food, water etc... But one guy said "a box set of Threesome", naturally, everyone was confused. He explained that it was a T.V program and recommended it very highly.
We all watched it that night and were completely blown away by how brilliant it was.
So I'll get the ball rolling: I recomend (Obviously) Threesome. You can get it on various websites, its a sit-com, but a british one, so its actually funny. Here's a link to a youtube video of the main characters explaining what it is: Threesome youtube link
http://www.conceptart.org/forums/att...1&d=1321397180
http://www.conceptart.org/forums/att...1&d=1321397180

[JFierce]

Suggestions huh.
My biggest suggestion would be reading the comic Berserk. Will caution very very adult material. Violence galore, sex, some disturbing shit here and there but it's still amazing. It's a manga but unlike most manga it's not rushed. The artist takes his time and it's a series thats been going for 20+ years.

http://www.goodnightcircle.com/sites...t/berserk1.jpg

[Chris Bennett]

A little wind-up torch for the car glove compartment.

-No batteries to go all funny and provides exercise for the passenger.

[j.s. sabastian]

uuummmm...spaced
uk guy's Simon pegg nick frost illegal for some b.s. about ripping off goerge lucas and othershit like i've never done that.....cmon shuan of the dead/hottfuzz/ pual!!!!!!!

[Barefoot]

Another recommendation: another british (more specifically english) sitcom: Him and Her. Its very much along the same lines as Threesome, that's just my sort of comedy I suppose.
Link to the website: Him and Her site
Link to BBCi player (where you can watch it): Series 2, episode 1

There are 2 series, and you can get series two on BBCi player right now. Its on on Tuesdays at 10:30, BBC 3.
Main characters are: Steve (Russell Tovey) and Becky (Sarah Solomani).

You might know Russell Tovey from Being Human, but he's been in tons of things: Doctor Who, Ashes to ashes (not as good as life on mars but hey), Sherlock etc... I cant think of what else Sarah Solomani's been in though.
http://www.conceptart.org/forums/att...1&d=1321459318
http://www.conceptart.org/forums/att...1&d=1321459318

[Velocity Kendall]

Box sets of Sopranos and Neon Genesis and something to watch them on.

[Barefoot]

uuummmm...spaced
uk guy's Simon pegg nick frost illegal for some b.s. about ripping off goerge lucas and othershit like i've never done that.....cmon shuan of the dead/hottfuzz/ pual!!!!!!!

I loved spaced, really good. Simon Pegg and Nick Frost are hilarious! All those references to old sci-fi and comics are half of what makes the films, it just cracks me up and appeals to my inner (and outer) nerd.

Suggestions huh.
My biggest suggestion would be reading the comic Berserk. Will caution very very adult material. Violence galore, sex, some disturbing shit here and there but it's still amazing. It's a manga but unlike most manga it's not rushed. The artist takes his time and it's a series thats been going for 20+ years.

Not a huge fan of anime and it doesn't really sound like my sort of thing, but in the spirit of things, I'll give it a look.

A little wind-up torch for the car glove compartment.

That sounds like a smart idea, I'll need a car first though.

Box sets of Sopranos and Neon Genesis and something to watch them on.

Was Sopranos that gangster-crime programme? I always meant to watch it.

[Velocity Kendall]

"Was Sopranos that gangster-crime programme? I always meant to watch it."

better than movies, best tv show ever.

[Ilaekae]

Don't buy a transparent plastic bag of potatoes that are on top of the pile in a super market if there are fluorescent lights directly above that section, or the pile gets a lot of direct sunlight. They can kill you.

Light makes the peel turn green, which most people ignore, but indicates the peels are extremely poisonous, as are the sprouts that may be forming. Grab a bag from the bottom of the pile and run if the entire display collapses, pay, and live another day...

[Arshes Nei]

For the budget conscious I found crockpot recipes simple enough. I do have to say though, if you're working at home the smell of it...can be difficult (ie MAKES YOU HUNGRY). Yes, you gotta buy a crockpot, but the investment is worth it. Plus beats that college diet of "Ramen" Lasted me a week when I had to live on just unemployment for a while.

1 whole chicken

4 ribs celery, cut into pieces

6 carrots, cut into pieces

6 small red potatoes

1 package onion soup mix

1/4 c. Worcestershire sauce

2 c. white wine



Rinse chicken and place in a crockpot. Add the celery, carrots and potatoes. Sprinkle onion soup over chicken and veggies and then add Worcestershire sauce and wine. Cook on high for 6 hours or until everything is tender. Serves 6

http://www.familycrockpotrecipes.com...ot-recipe.html

[Robert.B]

I recommend this thread broaden its subjects to any and everything considered resourceful that you would like to share.

[mozchops]

A kettle that is full of lime-scale not only looks terrible, but takes longer to boil and wastes electricity because the scale prevents the element from conducting heat well. Eventually the element can burn out if it is not descaled, so you'd have to throw it out and get a new kettle.

Choose which ingredients to use. You can use white vinegar or citric acid (lemons), whichever you have available to you. See "Tips" for information on using commercial descalers.

If you are using vinegar, dilute it with water in a 1:1 ratio.

If you are using citric acid, mix 30g (1oz) of the lemons with 500ml (2 cups) of water.

Using vinegar to de-scale: Vinegar should be left in the kettle for 1 hour, without boiling.

Using lemon juice to de-scale: Pour the lemon juice in to the kettle and boil. Leave the kettle to cool before emptying it.

Fresh lemons: If your kettle only needs mild de-scaling, you can try quartering a lemon, filling the kettle with water and putting in the lemon. Boil the kettle once or twice, and leave to soak until the water has cooled.

Wipe down. If there is any lime-scale left in the kettle, you can wipe it down with a small amount of bicarbonate of soda on a damp cloth. Let the element cool down, and unplug the kettle before you do this.

Rinse. Fully rinse the kettle with fresh water at least 5 times before using again.


Ok, next week i'll upload "How to Descale a Magimix Coffee Maker"

courtesy of wikihow

[Barefoot]

I recommend this thread broaden its subjects to any and everything considered resourceful that you would like to share.

That's what it is

@Mozchops
This one actually helped me, I live in london where the water is really hard, and the kettle is always covered in limescale.
I almost don't want to admit to this, but instead of buying a teapot, I just make tea directly in the kettle, works pretty well...

[blogmatix]

A little wind-up torch for the car glove compartment.

-No batteries to go all funny and provides exercise for the passenger.

Indeed an excellent idea, and nowadays, with LED bulbs, the bulb will also not burn out just when you are halfway through changing a flat tyre in the dark.

Another useful thing to keep in the car might be a small fire extinguisher. You could end up saving someone's life - it's remarkable how often cars burst into flame after even relatively minor accidents.

[blogmatix]

Book recommendations, for this age of rampant post-modernist unreason:

The Demon-haunted world, by Carl Sagan

Unweaving the rainbow, by Richard Dawkins

The Black Swan, by Nassim Nicholas Taleb

And for allthose prone to fly into panic about health scares:

Bad Science, by Ben Goldacre:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bad_Science_(book)

He also runs a blog:

http://www.badscience.net/

[OmenSpirits]

Suggestions huh.
My biggest suggestion would be reading the comic Berserk. Will caution very very adult material. Violence galore, sex, some disturbing shit here and there but it's still amazing. It's a manga but unlike most manga it's not rushed. The artist takes his time and it's a series thats been going for 20+ years.

http://www.goodnightcircle.com/sites...t/berserk1.jpg

Ever play the Sega Dreamcast game? I own it. Game ROCKED!

[manlybrian]

For under fifty bucks.

Roku LT Streaming Player

[Chris Bennett]

The Black Swan, by Nassim Nicholas Taleb

I've read those others but this is new to me. Having just checked this guy out I'm definitely going to get hold of a copy of this.
Much thanks!

[Arshes Nei]

Ever play the Sega Dreamcast game? I own it. Game ROCKED!

I would have liked to have seen the PS2 game released for English. I have played the DC game it's a hack n' slash but the story was good.

I know the movie is supposed to come out next year in Jan, and OAV releases following.

[JFierce]

Ever play the Sega Dreamcast game? I own it. Game ROCKED!

No I've always wanted to, then they rereleased it on PS2 but still haven't lol. Same as said above.

[Barefoot]

@Manlybrian: what is that thing? From the link it looks like some sort of digi-box, but it looks too small for that...

[Barefoot]

If any of you play online PS3 or XBOX games, make sure you set your nat type to open and choose 'local matches only' whenever it's an option. (the option will be ingame in an options menu rather than a router option.)
An open nat type allows you to join a wider variety of games/lobbies. 'Local only' connects you to hosts in the same country, meaning there are less lobbies to join, but your connection to the host is much better, meaning less lag.
Both these changes combined means you get slightly less games to join (9,000 instead of 50,000, so it doesn't make any real difference to the games YOU can join), but MUCH, MUCH less lag and much better connections.
So this lowers latency, VASTLY reducing the number of times per game you shout: "WHAT THE FUUUUUUCK!?"

There is also probably an old dialup plate somewhere in your house (most often in that little white box outside your front door with all the pipes leading into it), restricting your connectivity.
Back in the old days those things were necessary for doing something with your dialup (I forget what exactly), but now, in the broadband era, they just stop the higher frequency of wave getting to your house.
If you are paying for, lets say, 12mbs internet speed, and you are a mile away from the nearest exchange, you should get 8-9mbs but you might only be getting 6-7mbs. Your internet comes up the wire on lots of different frequencies, the higher ones are struggling to get through, but the lower ones have no problem. Removing the dialup plate stops the higher frequencies from being restricted. This doesn't mean more frequencies get through, it just boosts the ones that are struggling.

DO NOT try to remove the plate yourself, you could give yourself a VERY nasty shock (lethal maybe), call up BT (most of the plates are BT anyway) or whatever provider you're with (or just a professional), and get them to do it for you. If you want the full 12mbs you're paying for, you're going to need to move next door to the exchange, or get fibre-optic, but that's expensive and not necessarily available everywhere (should be ok in cities, but if you're rural they'd have to lay new wires, so you aren't gonna get your mitts on it).

Hope this all helps increase your internet speeds!

[tehmeh]

I've been reading and watching a lot of Carl Sagan's stuff lately, truly inspirational... this is the perfect introduction and has soundbites from his work - http://saganseries.com/

[xerenity]

I've been reading and watching a lot of Carl Sagan's stuff lately, truly inspirational... this is the perfect introduction and has soundbites from his work - http://saganseries.com/

Oh, Sagan is awesome.... definitely helps to put the universe in perspective sometimes. And, no one can argue with this quote of his, cracks me up every time.

For my recommendation, I suggest City Hunter; it's a S Korean drama loosely based on the manga... I was friggin hooked and it ended too quickly It's also on Netflix if you have it.

[CLANLESS]

The Road - Cormac McCarthy




Food? I love talking about food. Here are some easy tips. Okay, for the lactose intolerant or the ones who have bad reaction to milk; try goat milk. I cannot drink regular milk without getting drowsy or bad skin, but goat milk was good for me. The 'goaty' taste you find in store-bought goat milk will be an acquired taste, but once you get used to it you might end up loving it.

Soak your beans and nuts (only raw) before consuming them. The water will be so filthy that you will think, "All this time, I was eating that crap. Why didn't I wash them off before?"
Nuts will also taste much better and sweeter after soaking.

This may take some sacrifice but it is an option out there for people who would like it or need it. Follow this advice as many times as you can and you may feel much better and look much better as how I did:
If you won’t eat it, don’t put it on your skin.
If you won’t put it on your skin, don’t eat it.

I suffered from being underweight, and bad skin. I got ill very quickly and dealt with headaches regularly to the point I cannot move. When I was young, people thought I was simply "born weak".

A month ago, I made dietary changes. I tried to eat healthy all my life, but my world really shifted once I began eating raw and adding more fermented food into my diet. This is the first year that I never got a 'temperature shock' from the cold season. I feel less tired and my skin looks better. I do not enjoy chips anymore. Even the foods that I thought I loved like ice cream and peanut butter... I suddenly realized that I am not driven to eat them as I used to be (and these were not necessarily junk food either in most people's standards). I do not regret sacrificing some foods in my life as I feel so much better. It's an option out there for people who are willing to cut out some food out of their diet. I changed my diet because I was desperate. I am surprised at how quick the results were.

"Food should be your medicine".. it is so true.
I can go on forever but I do not want to fill this thread with too much enthusiasm.

[Psychotime]

Neon Genesis

Don't buy the movie unless you want to break furniture.

[manlybrian]

@Manlybrian: what is that thing? From the link it looks like some sort of digi-box, but it looks too small for that...

It's tiny. I just bought one because I was running a monitor cable from my laptop to the TV and it was ghetto and inconvenient. This will connect to your wireless internet and stream movies straight to your TV. Anything from Netflix, to Hulu Plus, to Crackle, to HBO, to popcornflix, to Internet video sites like diggnation, to weather, to news, and the list goes on. Naturally many of the channels require subscriptions, but there are a lot of free ones too.

[Reutte]

Well I'm wondering if anyone can recommend a good brand or type of ruler that doesn't smudge paper when slid across the surface?

Right now I'm using a rubber ruler but when I slide it across my sketchbook, it smears the graphite and makes the paper very dingy. I've also tried a wood ruler and a stainless steel one and they also smudge. Of course I could also just pick the ruler up, but you know...

[Barefoot]

Right now I'm using a rubber ruler

well there's your problem!
Whenever I use a ruler (which isn't very often to be honest), I just use a regular shatterproof plastic one, and it doesn't normally smudge anything

[Barefoot]

It's tiny. I just bought one because I was running a monitor cable from my laptop to the TV and it was ghetto and inconvenient. This will connect to your wireless internet and stream movies straight to your TV. Anything from Netflix, to Hulu Plus, to Crackle, to HBO, to popcornflix, to Internet video sites like diggnation, to weather, to news, and the list goes on. Naturally many of the channels require subscriptions, but there are a lot of free ones too.

That's a pretty good idea, I might see if I can get my hands on one, seems a shame to waste an ugly, chavy T.V that's too big for the room its in, doesn't it?