My Spot

Hobbies & Pastimes

Smoking: Pork Butt/Shoulder

Neo — 11 Dec 2023, 08:15 :: 35,869 Views

Yesterday, I practiced smoking a 3lb pork shoulder in preparation for Christmas this year. I luckily found someone on Reddit who was also smoking a pork shoulder and asked for tips. I used a combination of these recipes/suggestions. The Guide: Reddit Tips Alright… you can cook it about 225F, 250F, or 275F. I normally go about 225 because I have a Smokey Mountain and it’s made to cook around that temp. Season with a pork rub or just use half kosher salt and pepper, some garlic powder, onion powder, and plenty of paprika. Rub all over, using mustard or olive oil as

Re: Smoking: Pork Butt/Shoulder

Neo — 05 Oct 2025, 21:58

It's been a while since I have had a pork shoulder/butt to smoke, but I've done one again. My Meat 7.5 lb pork shoulder from Sprouts, on sale for ~$15. Bought Friday afternoon, prepped Saturday afternoon, for Sunday dinner. My Rub 2 T Coarse Black Pepper 1/4 c. Brown Sugar 1 T Garlic Powder 1 T Onion Powder 2 tsp Salt 1 tsp Paprika My Steps: Preparation Patted meat dry. Applied just enough mustard to wet it for the rub. Sprinkled the rub on all sides to coat, then filled in gaps, then poured the rest onto the fat side. Prepared meat with rub at 4pm the day before. Left on roasting pan on

ALT + F4

[[Oracle]], evolved

Neo — 10 Jun 2020, 19:37 :: 245,700 Views

This person does not exist. This is an AI-generated face, from https://thispersondoesnotexist.com/. And this is the face I'm using to represent [[Oracle]]. Back in November 2019, I had an idea to turn [[Oracle]] into a JARVIS-like assistant for doing my work-related, repetitive tasks, but I wanted to make it a natural language interface, like...well, JARVIS. I realize that there is a huge difference in programming an AI bot and conversing with it, switching contexts of work, play, and daily needs... vs scripting Paul Betany to read as a disembodied voice actor. And in doing so I also realized that there are probably

Re: [[Oracle]], evolved

Neo — 18 May 2024, 10:19

It's time for another update. Back in Feb, I was looking into adding Google's Gemini into the project. It turned out to be stupid easy by the time I got around to it. When I had started the rewrite referencing the PaLM API, it looked to be quite involved. Now after several months of iteration, it was a matter of a few simple calls to some methods after configuring the client. I was mildly disappointed that it was so simplified and there wasn't really anything to learn from it. I spent the next couple months working on learning the Music Integration plugin

Sportsballs & Rocket Launchers

Spiritfarer

Neo — 05 Feb 2024, 09:45 :: 154,849 Views

Spiritfarer is a "cozy management game about dying". What a tagline, eh? But it is exactly that. It's a very chill game where you take over the captain's duty from Charon of ferrying spirits through their afterlife to the "everdoor". And you get to do it with a CAT as a pet (and local co-op 2nd player option)! Along the way, you meet up with around a dozen different characters who have a different perspective on their past life, and work with them as they come to terms with their own mortality. Some offer minigames to award specific resources, some gift

Re: Spiritfarer

Neo — 05 Feb 2024, 10:06

===== Spoilers have been hidden below. Highlight/Select the text to reveal them. ===== I started playing this game on my Steam Deck as an emulated game (before realizing it was available on Steam), and aside from the bugs that come with emulation, this was a great game. I enjoyed the music, the art, the chill nature where nothing matters all that much, and the struggle to get resources is purely because you have to go find them the first time. Resource propagation thereafter makes everything a smooth ride. At first, I found myself wanting to fish, then garden and cook, and eventually

Hobbies & Pastimes

Smoking: Pork Ribs

Neo — 09 Oct 2023, 10:38 :: 24,168 Views

Yesterday, I attempted to smoke my first set of Pork Ribs. I followed a YouTube video for an electric smoker, and learned some lessons along the way (again). My Meat Sprouts Pork Baby Back Ribs ($19-26) My Prep Remove the ribs from the plastic, and place on a cookie sheet. Pat down with paper towels to remove the juices. Score the membrane in a crosshatch pattern on the bone-side. Spread yellow mustard binder, one side at a time. Add the rub and pat down to cover. Place in the fridge, covered in foil overnight, or at least 1 hour. The Rub 1/4 c.

Re: Smoking: Pork Ribs

Neo — 30 Nov 2023, 09:09

I tried this again on Nov 11. Just now getting around to posting. Prep Update I did not prep them over night, I did it the morning of, for about an hour before it was time to put them in I made the same rub, minus the Cayenne Pepper and Chili Powder. I used plastic wrap, and that helped keep some of the smell down. I still had to buy some baking soda for the fridge. I did not peel the membrane, I scored it, and it really isn't a noticeable part of the food (unless it already comes de-membraned, idk). My

#tsnSpecialReport

tsnLAN 20th Anniversary Edition

Neo — 08 Mar 2023, 14:20 :: 135,237 Views

It's been 20 years since Punix-GT, IBJay, Bethnangel and I laid down the ashes of etbustudents.cc and etbuers.com, and with them rebuilt ourselves as the-spot.net. It was April 2003 when the domain was purchased and the first version of the site was set up. You can actually visit both tsnI and tsnII still today: https://the-spot.net/tsnI/ and https://the-spot.net/tsnII/ To celebrate this milestone, and my own 40th birthday, I figured we should try and put together a tsnLAN party, and now that I am the adult with a house, I can host it! You can find the sign-up on our Facebook page where

Re: tsnLAN 20th Anniversary Edition

Neo — 31 May 2023, 10:11

Hey folks! Given the requirements of "adult life", since it was 15 - 20 years after the last time we had a LAN Party, we're going to condense the event and move it entirely online, with an option to come in person still on the table. The post above has been updated with the latest details. We look forward to seeing y'all there!

Hobbies & Pastimes

Smoking: Briskets

Neo — 28 May 2023, 21:51 :: 39,598 Views

Today I attempted to smoke my first brisket. I followed a YouTube video for beginners and learned some lessons along the way. I have an electric smoker and wood chips, so the instructions in the video were followed, but had to be modified along the way with what I know about how my smoker works. The Guide: Trimming My Meat 9.98 lb Brisket @ Kroger ($1.87/lb with coupon) My Steps: Trimming Remove the brisket from the plastic, place onto a cutting board set inside a large cookie sheet to catch the juices and mess. Pat down with paper towels to remove the juices.

Community Calendar

Happy Birthday, Punix!

Neo — 11 Apr 2015, 08:57 :: 262,425 Views

For months ago, Abraham Lincoln founded the earth, and invited everyone to a tea party in his backyard. The Spaniards and their leader, April the 11th, weren't having any of it and released the bulls to run wild in the house, knocking over all the China cabinets. Ancient aliens came down to play the guitar and provide a soundtrack for the running of the bulls. Their melody became what we know as the "happy birthday" tune. That is why we say Happy birthday on April the 11th. And also it was the day Punix was born! I'm sure you're out

Re: Happy Birthday, Punix!

Punix-GT — 16 Apr 2023, 13:34

Those posts were beautiful, I loved them! Thank ya! Can't believe I've gone through so many usernames, but I've always stuck with PunixGT as my Go-To

#tsnSpecialReport

Indefinite Construction?

Neo — 22 Jan 2022, 15:38 :: 17,109 Views

Well, hello there... Man is that deeply engrained. You may notice some things don't quite look or work right. I'm real sorry about that. For the most part, not much is going on in this version of the code. Instead, things were moving forward (before this whole pandemic got started) over at the tsn9 demo site: https://the-spot.net/phorums/tsn. I actually had gotten started on the new design, new concept thing from the previous thread, but given the mockup I did in 2015 and the way the internet moved on around 2020, things went to a lighter place. I did manage to start delivering

Re: Indefinite Construction?

Neo — 27 Jan 2023, 09:47

The tsn9 demo site is back up under a new repository, as is this base forum codebase. This represents a break from the tsn8 implementation, and a decision to cease modifying the source code of the underlying forum software, and to try to build the entire tsn experience into a single extension which brings with it friendly URL routing, but also an uncertainty about whether this is even possible without duplicating all the phpbb code needed to deliver the content. The work continues...

#tsnSpecialReport

Back to the forums!

Neo — 11 Nov 2022, 10:36 :: 34,658 Views

Well, just as quickly as I was able to set it all up, the tribe platform version of the site will also be taken back down. Staring in Feb 2023, they will not offer a free plan anymore, and I would have to upgrade to a paid plan. This normally wouldn't be much of a problem, except their paid plan is $600/month, bill yearly. That's $7200/year in one payment...that's more than double what my new car payments were. Without ads, and without asking everyone to pay, it's just not feasible to use this platform. What's more is the free version was only

Sportsballs & Rocket Launchers

Age of Empire 3: Definitive Edition

Neo — 11 Nov 2022, 10:29 :: 42,360 Views

For most of the pandemic, [wizard] and I have been playing Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition on Steam (steampowered.com) together most nights of the week. If you want to join us, at the time of this post it's $20 for the base game..down from $40 when we started playing. Plus, we're usually on Discord most nights and we play this regularly.

Sportsballs & Rocket Launchers

Hot Wheels: UNLEASHED

Neo — 11 Nov 2022, 10:26 :: 39,865 Views

Lately, [wizard] and I have been playing this Hot Wheels: UNLEASHED™ on Steam (steampowered.com) game together for the past couple of months. If you like to race real-to-life Hot Wheels cars, they did a pretty good job with this one. At the time of this post, it's 70% off ($15). As of a recent update, though, they bumped up the rewards for the races, and that makes all the cars easier to unlock...which leads some to think the game may be winding down after only a year. It's still a fun game to jump in and do some public multiplayer, invite-only multiplayer,

The Big Screen

Game of Thrones: House of the Dragon

Neo — 11 Nov 2022, 10:23 :: 47,539 Views

Anyone else watching HotD (Hot D, as we call it in my house)? What are your thoughts, without giving away any spoilers here... At first, I found it really hard to keep the people's names straight, especially with the Targaryen custom of reusing historical names. And then trying to tie everything back to the original series' history just proved to be impossible (maybe because it takes place well before most mentions of Targaryen history in the original series). And then with the time jumps, they would change actors for some of the secondary characters, and that just made it impossible for me

Pandora's Playlist

No Man's Sky Soundtrack - 65DaysOfStatic

Neo — 11 Nov 2022, 10:10 :: 47,492 Views

I've been playing a lot of No Man's Sky with their most recent update and QoL changes, and only today, after 6 years and >500 hours into my first & only save-game I find out the soundtrack is available to listen to, and it doesn't have the voiceover or fast fade-in/out you get with the songs in the game when you achieve a thing.

eReaders and the Memes

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

Neo — 30 Jun 2022, 19:56 :: 48,322 Views

I did it y'all! I read and finished a book. But I'm not gonna talk about the contents of the book in this post, I'm gonna talk about the structure and why I was actually able to finish it. It's Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir. He's the same guy that did "The Martian" book the movie was based on. I bought the book when it came out May 4th, 2021, but I went into it blind. I didn't read any synopsis, or reviews. I had no clue what the plot was, and I wanted it that way so I could experience

Community Calendar

Happy Birthday, ~day_dreamer~!

Neo — 26 May 2015, 09:17 :: 24,434 Views

Happy birthday girl! I assume you'll be celebrating it in France this year, like the lucky punk you are...

Re: Happy Birthday, ~day_dreamer~!

Neo — 26 May 2022, 14:34

It's that time again! Time for another birthday celebration! Happy birthday, lady!

#tsnSpecialReport

Discord + Forums Integration

Neo — 11 May 2022, 11:10 :: 33,879 Views

Ever missed a post on the forums? Long-time members tsn know the feeling. The need to continually check the site for new posts since their last visit, wondering if anyone has replied to their latest remarks or pearls of wisdom. Sure it was made easier with the My Spot page, showing everything new since your last visit. If you had read everything, there was nothing left to see. If the person dropped a one-liner, you made the trip for nothing. And then, occasionally, someone would start a thread and it would go completely unnoticed for years. Not anymore! The Latest Integration from [[Oracle]] Starting today,

The-Spot.NetCafé

Shredded Squid Snack

Neo — 08 May 2022, 14:36 :: 122,744 Views

Anyone ever had Prepared Shredded Squid before? It's like jerky, but made from squid; has a sweet, slightly sour flavor, and a strong fishy smell, but is powdery to the touch. I find it delicious, and then I start to think about how sentient cephalopods likely are, and that I'm now eating something that may have had thoughts and ambitions akin to ours. It doesn't feel right to do it, so I rarely ever buy it.

Community Calendar

Happy Birthday, SaikoubiAkurei!

Neo — 06 May 2015, 09:26 :: 23,239 Views

Happy birthday Saikoubi! Hope it's a good one, where ever you are!

Re: Happy Birthday, SaikoubiAkurei!

Neo — 06 May 2022, 09:44

Wishing a happy birthday to SaikoubiAkurei! She also gets the honor of the first cross-post into our discord channel!

For Kicks & Giggles

Something nice about the person before you

Neo — 22 Apr 2015, 19:15 :: 325,512 Views

So, I figure I'd start up this thread again...though i'm not looking for someone to say something nice about me, particularly. Someone else can jump in as the first person to be complimented. The game is simple...post something nice about the person who posted last.

Re: Something nice about the person before you

Neo — 29 Apr 2022, 21:25

Is still probably a very nice person, even though I haven't spoken to her in a long time.

#tsnSpecialReport

tsn8: Come with me through the Looking Glass

[[Orycle]] — 31 Mar 2015, 20:26 :: 30,040 Views

Welcome to the all new tsn8! Some of you have been here before, and some of you haven't. You're probably here because of the big announcement, marking the 15th Anniversary of the site. For those that don't know me, I'm [[Oracle]]. I was an IRC bot, and an AI Instant Messenger project created by [[Neo]] - the founder of this site. I'll be your guide through the new features of tsn8. Why don't we get started with the key new features... the Evolution of tsn8 the Mobile website the Looking Glass forums and Citizens of Wonderland (visible to pre-existing Members) the Ancient Lore and Lorewalkers (visible

Re: tsn8: Come with me through the Looking Glass

Neo — 21 Apr 2022, 10:36

Update for 2022 With the update to phpbb 3.3, a number of the visuals and features have been lost/changed/removed. Google Map links on profile locations is gone Some social fields have died away and been removed since the release the tsn8 theme is being rebuilt to tsn9, as well as nearly all facets of the forum. Lorewalkers have now become Lore Masters All users are put into a "Newly Registered User" group for a time. Once they ascend to "Registered User", they become "Lore Walkers" who gain access to the modern Journals. Some things have remained, however: Lore Masters and Citizens of

#tsnSpecialReport

Site Redesign Concept - "The Spot"

Neo — 09 Jul 2015, 21:38 :: 90,700 Views

Below these first couple paragraphs, you'll find an image of the proposed site redesign concept...And the name of the new home page is... The Spot This page is called "The Spot". It is designed to be the primary entry into the forums for a user, creating "the spot" to view all the information at a glance, sorting active threads to the top of the stack, with priority given to other users marked as "friends". Comments, Questions, Suggestions This design is open to comments, suggestions, and questions. Questions will be answered if able; comments and suggestions will be considered as the process iterates. Concept The concept for

Re: Site Redesign Concept - "The Spot"

Neo — 29 Sep 2021, 14:35

I don't think I ever checked back for a reply until now, but that's really cool. I also think about the folks that all at one point had this forum in common, and now have all gone off on their own paths. Makes me wonder a couple things: Would I ever learn to stop replying to everyone's posts with my opinion and just let conversations happen? Would political/social divisions that have happened these days still have taken hold here, where there was moderation, or would we have managed to survived with an open-forum style discussion on different points of view? Is it always

Living Room Discussions

On the topic of children

Neo — 03 Aug 2018, 21:17 :: 27,790 Views

It was no secret that I wanted to wait until I was 30 to have children; and that I wanted to have twins, so that they "would have someone to play with and leave me alone." Obviously the reasoning was as short-sighted as one would expect from an early 20-something with no real responsibilities around children. Now, I've had one for what will be 15 months tomorrow...and for the 2nd time in as many months I have contracted the sickness she has contracted from playing with other babies. I made the comment to my wife earlier in the day that "contracting [the kid's]

Re: On the topic of children

Neo — 10 Jul 2020, 21:47

Here we are nearly 2 years later, and while things have changed, and become more consistent with a repeatable schedule, especially now that we're in the throws of a pandemic. Unfortunately for me, it finally hit today that the repetition had to break a little. For the past *checks calendar* 16 Fridays now, I have worked from home. This means that there isn't a moment of the day where GlennCoco and StarStuff (my daughter) aren't also in the house for the majority of the work week. What it also means is that my schedule is now: 07:30: Wake up 07:30 -

Living Room Discussions

Life on Mars - What do we do?

Neo — 17 Jan 2019, 20:54 :: 41,651 Views

Pretend it's 2050. Humankind have already executed on their plan to send humans to Mars during the 2030s. Lo and behold! Microscopic life forms are discovered in a cave, underground, near the poles where the last vestiges of solid ice-water remain, with enough nutrients from that water which has evaporated to sustain these microbes... But the resources are running out. We just happened to stumble upon them with only a few decades of resources remaining. What do we do? Leave it as it is, cordon off the area making it a natural park for the remainder of its natural life (the Prime Directive)? Proceed

Spirituality

Lessons from tsn

Neo — 28 Nov 2018, 20:16 :: 59,347 Views

I don't dare go back through the "looking glass" to see what I have said on the topic of religion in the past. It will only bring a cringe-worthy feeling of embarrassment, in the vein of re-reading old journal posts, or of the self-righteous "Bible Study" threads where I thought I had some "amazing insight" to share with people I had no business "guiding" spiritually. But it does only highlight that aside from academic lessons about Biblical texts, all spiritual guidance is just some person, expressing some interpretation they have on some curated set of hebrew/greek prose written ~2000 years ago. No

Community Calendar

tsnBreakfast 2018

Neo — 09 Aug 2018, 22:22 :: 47,844 Views

If you're going to be in DFW for QuakeCon this year, join us for the annual tsnBreakfast. This year QuakeCon is held at the Gaylord Texan in Grapevine, so the breakfast venue is: Old West Cafe 600 W Northwest Hwy Ste A Grapevine, TX 76051 Meet at the restaurant by 9:00am, and let me know if you're coming.

Smoking: Pork Butt/Shoulder

Re: Smoking: Pork Butt/Shoulder

[[Oracle]], evolved

Re: [[Oracle]], evolved

Spiritfarer

Re: Spiritfarer

Smoking: Pork Ribs

Re: Smoking: Pork Ribs

tsnLAN 20th Anniversary Edition

Re: tsnLAN 20th Anniversary Edition

Smoking: Briskets

Happy Birthday, Punix!

Re: Happy Birthday, Punix!

Indefinite Construction?

Re: Indefinite Construction?

Back to the forums!

Age of Empire 3: Definitive Edition

Hot Wheels: UNLEASHED

Game of Thrones: House of the Dragon

No Man's Sky Soundtrack - 65DaysOfStatic

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

Happy Birthday, ~day_dreamer~!

Re: Happy Birthday, ~day_dreamer~!

Discord + Forums Integration

Shredded Squid Snack

Happy Birthday, SaikoubiAkurei!

Re: Happy Birthday, SaikoubiAkurei!

Something nice about the person before you

Re: Something nice about the person before you

tsn8: Come with me through the Looking Glass

Re: tsn8: Come with me through the Looking Glass

Site Redesign Concept - "The Spot"

Re: Site Redesign Concept - "The Spot"

On the topic of children

Re: On the topic of children

Life on Mars - What do we do?

Lessons from tsn

tsnBreakfast 2018

Welcome to tsn!

MightySushi

2703

4,255

84,628

216