• RGB3x3@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      19
      ·
      11 months ago

      My wife and I literally started our first conversation with abortion. I’d jokingly mentioned it because she said she liked deep conversation and she went “fuck it, let’s go.”

      “Fuck it, let’s go” has been our life philosophy ever since.

      • shalafi@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        3
        ·
        11 months ago

        Had a gf back in the day and we started at the bar like that.

        “I’m a man, my opinion doesn’t really count here, but I have one.”

        “Correct answer.”

    • Railison@aussie.zone
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      12
      ·
      11 months ago

      Be careful with your expression so that you offend supporters of both sides equally

  • TeaHands@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    54
    arrow-down
    2
    ·
    11 months ago

    On our old WoW guild application form we included:

    “Please rank all of the Star Trek captains you know from best to worst”

    and then gave them a nice big empty text box to go to town in. Some answered seriously, and exhaustively. Some only knew Kirk, or didn’t know any at all. Some chose to go off on a rant about Star Wars being better, or include a joke or tell an anecdote about their relationship to scifi.

    Whatever the answer we always learned something about the person and that was a good jumping off point if they got accepted. We did get the occasional humourless “wtf this is stupid” type response but, shockingly, this was rarely the only reason we had for denying such applications.

      • Black616Angel@feddit.de
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        12
        ·
        11 months ago

        It has to do with Linux.

        Linux itself is not a fully fledged operating system as most people would expect it. Since Linux has to work on servers and microchips as well as on desktop PCs, lots of stuff is not shipped with it.

        For example Linux is missing a way to display windows and has no real package manager.

        A distro (or distribution) is a predefined set of of software, that makes it easier for a user to use Linux.

        This is mostly a window manager or desktop environment like KDE or GNOME, a package manager like apt or pacman and useful software like an office suite, a browser and other stuff.

        Distros also exist for servers, the ln they don’t include a way to display images, but still have a package manager and other useful stuff preinstalled.

        That’s of course not all, but maybe gives you a little overview.

        • Globulart@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          11
          ·
          edit-2
          11 months ago

          That’s a great summary and completely explains it, thanks bud.

          And I presume Arch is one of the more (if not the most) popular distro for PCs? Just because I see it referenced all the time

          • Ludrol@szmer.info
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            5
            ·
            11 months ago

            Arch is most memy distro out there besides Hanna Montana Linux. It became that way because Arch is super hard to maintain in working condition and became a status symbol to use it in some circles. Now there are couple layers of irony vowen into this meme and I am not quite sure where we are right now.

            I just checked steam hardware survey and now I am not sure. SteamOS is most popular due to Steam Deck, and with arch and ubuntu right behind.

            Still whats popular is not always the best for starting out.

            For begginers I would recommend Linux Mint. If you don’t like the start menu or file menager ask in one of linux communities, they would be happy to help.

            • Globulart@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              4
              ·
              11 months ago

              Appreciate the info thanks mate, I’m not really interested in using it tbh, I was just curious.

              My PC gets used to play trackmania during boring meetings at work and not a lot else these days. Simple and easy with next to no thought or maintenance is what I’m after so windows is fine for me.

          • umbrella@lemmy.ml
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            3
            ·
            edit-2
            11 months ago

            Ubuntu is the most popular simple to use distro, Arch is meant to be modular and customizable for advanced users.

          • Black616Angel@feddit.de
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            3
            ·
            11 months ago

            There are a lot of big ones like Ubuntu, Mint, Debian, Fedora or Arch. Arch is for users with a little more experience. But funnily enough Arch has like child-distributions, that build upon its core. Ubuntu is also a ‘child’ of Debian an Mint builds onto Ubuntu.

            It’s kind of like three or four big families, that had lots of children. 😂

            (and then there are NixOS, OpenSuse and lots of others, which I forgot)

          • noughtnaut@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            2
            ·
            11 months ago

            I heartily commend you for asking, and was happy to see you get a good response.

            “What is the most common distro” is not straightforward to shat because of the breadth of users. Arch is one of the more… esoteric… distributions, it will allow you very, very fine grained control of everything - but it also requires you to be able to make those choices. At the other end of the scale we might find Ubuntu and Mint which are far less customizable* but “just work” out of the box and, as such, are obvious choices for users new to Linux or unwilling to invest in “tinkering”.

            Really, the freedom of choice is overwhelming to many newcomers, and at the same time the strength of the whole system.

            *Any distro is very customizable. You can make nearly the same changes to Ubuntu and Arch, it’s just that Ubuntu is not designed to make that easy for you.

        • Empricorn@feddit.nl
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          1
          arrow-down
          2
          ·
          11 months ago

          Much, much, much shorter answer:

          It’s the equivalent to an operating system, like Windows.

    • GFGJewbacca@lemm.ee
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      3
      ·
      11 months ago

      Fedora 39, and it runs beautifully on my gaming laptop. I’m pondering trying out the COSMIC DE for kicks, but I’m also liking GNOME 45.

      • shrugal@lemm.ee
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        3
        ·
        edit-2
        11 months ago

        This question is like catnip for Linux users, we just can’t help it.

  • loobkoob@kbin.social
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    43
    ·
    11 months ago

    My usual go-to is to ask what their latest/current obsession is. It works really well for a few reasons:

    • it’s nice and simple to ask - it doesn’t require a monologue/wall of text to set up, and it doesn’t require you to know anything about them to ask it;
    • it’s both as personal and as low-stakes as they want it to be. They can give very intimate, in-depth answers if they feel like it, or they can just mention something like the latest film they enjoyed. There’s no risk of making them uncomfortable by asking it;
    • it lets you filter out boring people who don’t really take interest in anything;
    • assuming they do have interests, it often gives you plenty of opportunities to dive into deeper conversation;
    • it’s often engaging for them because they get to talk about something they’re passionate about;
    • it’s often interesting for you because people talking about things they’re passionate about is awesome (and often attractive).
    • it’s pretty much always relevant and fresh because their latest obsession will change over time. This makes it particularly great for things like dating sites/apps because people’s bios will often be out of date and/or they’ll have talked about the things mentioned in their bio so much that they’re kind of sick of them.

    I’ve actually had multiple people on dating sites tell me how great a question they think it is, and that they’re going to use it themselves in the future. So obviously it’s not just me who thinks it’s a great question!

    • urshanabi [he/they]
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      3
      ·
      11 months ago

      I sometimes ask what has been keeping them busy, usually like that, I find it doesn’t work. What sort of phrasing do you use? Or is what I asking like really different from what you are referring to?

      • ElTacoEsMiPastor@lemmy.ml
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        3
        ·
        11 months ago

        Pretty different, I’d consider it. Something may keep me busy, while not being passionate about it.

        I (body) am normally busy bc of work-related shenanigans, but I (mind) am obsessed with the latest game installed on my PC.

    • lucullus@discuss.tchncs.de
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      edit-2
      11 months ago

      That sounds really cool.

      @fellow_germans: How can I express this in german? The literal translation “Was ist deine aktuelle Obzession?” doesn’t sound right, because of the different meanings of obsession. Maybe “Welches Thema beschäftigt dich gerade?”, though this also doesn’t seem to have the correct ring to it.

  • Superfly Samurai@lemmy.one
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    33
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    11 months ago

    I had a friend in college that would just say, “So, what’s your deal?”

    I’m shocked at how well it worked. Open ended, so you only get what they’re willing to talk about, but they’ll still be ok talking.

      • Superfly Samurai@lemmy.one
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        10
        ·
        11 months ago

        Delivery had a lot to do with softening the approach.

        Definitely not for all situations, but to be fair, no approach could be.

      • jcg@halubilo.social
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        7
        ·
        11 months ago

        “What’s YOUR deal?” sounds pretty aggressive, “what’s your DEAL?” sounds borderline inflammatory, but I think there’s a very neutral delivery without particular stress that sounds more like an open ended question than an aggression. Still, probably not great around fully sober folks.

      • Björn Tantau@swg-empire.de
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        6
        ·
        11 months ago

        Thanks to Jurassic Park it was the Velociraptor. But then I learned that their depiction was totally wrong. But then again my children taught me that they are even cool as murder chickens. So everything is well.

        But still, I think the Emu is cooler.

    • cheesymoonshadow@lemmings.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      11 months ago

      I can’t believe how easy it is to get a forklift certification. All online, never have to touch an actual forklift.

      I don’t know if that’s common knowledge, but I just found out because I went through the process myself to get certified.

      • kent_eh@lemmy.ca
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        11 months ago

        I can’t believe how easy it is to get a forklift certification.

        That varies by jurisdiction.

        Where I am, it requires a theory test and an in-person practical test.

        And you need to re-certify every 3 years.

        • cheesymoonshadow@lemmings.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          2
          ·
          11 months ago

          I’m in Illinois. After the online stuff, they sent me a certificate which has a signature line for someone at whatever company hires me, to be signed after they train me on the specific truck they have.

      • KISSmyOS@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        edit-2
        11 months ago

        No, a bread sandwich is a sandwich in which the filling between two slices of bread is itself a thin slice of bread.
        A recipe for bread sandwiches is included in the invalid cookery section of the 1861 Book of Household Management by Isabella Beeton, who adds, “This sandwich will be found very tempting to the appetite of an invalid.”
        In November 2011, the Royal Society of Chemistry, after calculating the cost as low as £.075 per sandwich, named it “the country’s most economical lunch”, offering £200 to whoever could create a cheaper edible meal. Due to an overabundance of submissions, the offer was closed seven days later and the £200 given to a randomly selected entrant.

    • grayman@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      11 months ago

      TIL you do NOT call a piece of meat on a bun a sandwich in AU/NZ… That’s called a burger. I argue a burger, regardless of its own definition, is still a sandwich.

  • CosmicSploogeDrizzle@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    17
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    11 months ago

    So what do you like to do for fun? Or, What are some of your hobbies?

    I find these much better than “so what do you do for work?”, which is what I’m asked constantly. “Yes, person who I don’t know, let me discuss work during my free time with you.”

    • dingus@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      10
      ·
      11 months ago

      This is one of the questions that gives me the most social anxiety when meeting new people. It stresses me out because I don’t have any conventional hobbies. I don’t think dicking around on Discord, Lemmy, and YouTube really counts as much of a hobby.

      • CosmicSploogeDrizzle@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        9
        ·
        edit-2
        11 months ago

        I mean what Discords do you participate in? What Lemmy communities do you follow? What videos on YouTube do you like to watch?

        You can reframe this and say, “I like to participate in online chat forums about the latest gaming news and technology (discord). I look for cool recipes and cooking techniques (Lemmy cooking community). And I love trying to find new funny comedians to listen to (YouTube).” I think if you narrow it down to the interests you enjoy, rather than “dicking around online” you’ll find that you have interesting things to talk about.

        Obviously those examples are my own, but I’m sure you use those platforms because they feed you certain content that you enjoy.

      • Corroded@leminal.space
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        5
        ·
        11 months ago

        Someone else said asking what your current obsession is would be a good icebreaker. Do you think that would be better?

        I feel like that way nontraditional hobbies could be included so you could talk about things like Lemmy or whatever your favourite Youtuber is up to. Would that bring up the same level of anxiety?

    • phcorcoran@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      8
      ·
      edit-2
      11 months ago

      I find that this backfires sometimes because many people don’t seem to have any hobbies.

      In the context of an interviewer, I sometimes ask “can you teach me something cool about one of your interests in 5 min?” It’s not the same context obviously but you learn a lot about a person quickly that way. Bonus point is, I learn cool stuff about new things I’m probably not familiar with haha

          • Pat_Riot@lemmy.today
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            5
            ·
            11 months ago

            Well to start I play the guitar, bass, two kinds of banjo, drums, synthesizer and sing. I’m not picky about genres. I record using a DAW called Reason. I made my electric guitar about 5 years ago out of lumber sourced from the cabinet of a dead transistor organ I could never quite get to work properly that my wife finally told me had to quit taking up space. I have a Lofi synthesizer and a theremin that I built also. I’m also slowly building a collection of homemade effects pedals. I enjoy RC. I have a small helicopter and rock crawler truck, but no airplanes that are air worthy at the moment. I build Gundam models, and have also dabbled in kitbashing unrelated models like cars and airplanes together. This hobby I share with my 12 year old son. I have a couple of 1980s Honda 3 wheelers that I keep alive and occasionally ride. I bake often and I will never be skinny again because I’m good at it. Oh, brewing. I do like to make mead and occasional fruit wines. I’m especially fond of making floral meads with hibiscus or chamomile for example. I’ve been known to paint when the urge takes me. I have a 3D printer. I have even made a few useful things with. I designed a well working samba whistle that I keep forgetting to upload to thingiverse, and a few other things I have managed to wrestle out of blender. I know I’m forgetting something. My wife calls me a hobby spider.

            • urshanabi [he/they]
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              1
              ·
              11 months ago

              Sick, what synthesizer? I got a midi keyboard and use Reaper, what’s good about Reason? Also if you do wood stuff, do you do it by hands with a saw and chisel or with machines?

      • CosmicSploogeDrizzle@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        5
        ·
        edit-2
        11 months ago

        I have friends that claim they “don’t have hobbies” but the truth is that they spend all their time with their kids and working.

        So if they say, “well I don’t do much in the way of hobbies because I’m too busy working and taking care of my kids.” You can then follow up with “well what do you do for work?” Or “what’s the last vacation or outing you did with your kids?” Or “what are your kids interested in? How old are they? Tell me about their personalities.”

        The fact that they “don’t have hobbies” isn’t necessarily it backfiring, you then just need to pivot based on their answers. This is just a way to break the ice with someone.

        Everyone spends their days doing things, you are really just asking them “how do you spend your time?” Everyone has an answer to that…unless they are in a coma.