Every year, the media acts like if the starting quarterback is set, the season is basically won. It’s all hype around the big names and the massive contracts, but honestly? That feels like such a surface-level way to look at a roster.
In my experience watching teams over the last decade, the real drama—and the real reason a team either collapses or surprises everyone—is the depth. It’s those gritty, unglamorous fights for a spot on the roster that you don't hear about in the pre-game shows. I remember watching a team a few years back that had a legendary QB, but they completely fell apart because their secondary and running game were just a revolving door of guys fighting for scraps.
It’s the specialists, the depth pieces, and the guys fighting for those final bench spots that actually provide the stability needed when injuries inevitably hit in November. If you don't have depth, you don't have a season.
Do you think we overvalue the "star" positions too much, or is the spotlight on the big names actually justified?
The trade deadline is coming up fast and it looks like the front offices are going to be sweating it until the very last second. I'm curious to see if any of the big-market teams actually pull the trigger on a blockbuster or if they just play it safe. Which team do you think is most likely to make a massive move this year?
Alright, thanks to you too... honestly, all this talk about frame rates and gaming specs doesn't mean much to me—I've never really had any interest in gaming my whole life (well, except for a tiny bit back when I was a kid playing on an old Commodore 🙂 )
I think I'll just hang tight for a bit to see if anyone else chimes in with some solid advice—then I'll pass the whole thing over to my buddy to see if he’s actually down for it...
Also, quick question regarding the GPU—since you mentioned it wasn't exactly the best bang for your buck... does it even matter if he just grabs that Intel Core i3 from the previous post? Or would this setup be a better fit for what he's looking for?
Just a heads-up, he won't be gaming on this rig all that much... maybe just a little bit every now and then.
Thanks 👍 But what about $1000? Is there any actual substance here? 🙂 They’re saying it can hit up to 3000 now—which sounds wild—but honestly, it won't go a penny over that. Even if that feels like total overkill, he's gotta pull the trigger and buy it anyway.
A buddy of mine is looking for a build around $833 (assuming that's even doable given what he's asking for)...
It’s mostly just for "home" stuff—you know, browsing the web, streaming movies, whatever—plus some Office work and getting the kids through their schoolwork. He does want to play a game every now and then, though—nothing crazy, just Fortnite at most—but he wants it to actually run smoothly, not stutter like crazy.
If possible, he’d prefer an Intel setup. If there's a Pentium in the same ballpark as a Core i3, that's fine, otherwise we're looking at at least an i3. He just wants something that won't feel obsolete in a couple of years, you know? If you guys think AMD offers better bang for the buck, please, don't hold back—let me know 🙂 Just needs a GPU that can handle those light gaming sessions.
He already has a monitor and a system SSD. On top of that, he’ll need a 500GB or 1TB HDD, plus a keyboard and mouse.
I'd really appreciate some help putting this configuration together so everything is organized in one place.
Hey everyone... I don't want to clutter things up by starting a whole new thread...
A buddy of mine asked if I could put together a quick gaming rig for his kids. They're mostly playing stuff like Fortnite, League of Legends, FIFA, and that kind of thing. No need to worry about peripherals or anything else.
He’s working with a budget of maybe $600-$700. So, we're looking for that sweet spot—a total best buy, you know? That's the absolute ceiling he can stretch to.
It would be awesome if I could just grab everything from one single shop, if that’s even an option...
Mark Cruz15 said:First off: Just look at how you talk to people.
I’ve looked back over this thing again and I honestly don't get what you're trying to say? Especially not from that quoted 🤔 Did I actually say anything wrong or offensive to you—or anyone else in the group who's basically just systematically insulting us and trying to trash everything we write here? Have I been rude or disrespectful to a single soul in this thread (or anywhere else, for that matter)?
Mark Cruz15 said:You're acting like you're the coolest alternative guy around right now. If you're this full of yourself, what are the rest of them like?
Okay, look, just so we're clear... for starters: I am not "selling" myself. Especially not as some "ultra-cool alternative icon" 🙂—I don't think that about myself, and I have zero clue where you even got that idea from. Maybe nowadays it's totally normal for everyone to play a part or sell out for something, but me? Not really my style. It's also become pretty standard these days for people to be rude, toss insults around, stay perpetually pissed off, or just be constantly wired at a hundred miles an hour—everyone's just looking out for number one, obsessed with money, and thinking exclusively in dollar signs. And the second someone steps outside that pre-programmed mold, boom—suddenly they're a "problem." Immediately they're labeled as stuck-up, arrogant, or whatever else 🙂 Honestly, it's wild how much of you guys are just programmed. You don't actually have your own opinions; you just spout the ones that were handed to you (even if you're convinced they're actually yours 🙂 )
If you want to think I'm "full of myself," fine—that's on you. And I'm definitely not wasting a single second of my life trying to convince you otherwise. As for what the others are like? Honestly, I wouldn't know, because I haven't really talked to any of them since I showed up here about two months ago. I don't really interact with them outside of the Alternative PDF, either. So, you'll have to draw your own conclusions about them, just like you did with me 🙂
Mark Cruz15 said:They'd start handing out bans to anyone who disagrees immediately. What kind of moderator splits the community into cliques like that?
I'm not getting involved in that mess; it's not my business. But it's pretty obvious you guys love the lack of moderation, because it lets you keep doing what you're doing—which is basically driving these threads into the ground. In fact, you've already done exactly what you set out to do.🤷
Mark Cruz15 said:Who even are we compared to you guys in moderation?
Look, you don't need to come at me with those kinds of questions—or honestly, just that whole vibe in general.😉 It’s just cheap psychology. I mean, maybe it works on some people, but not here.🙂
Hold up a second... did anyone actually ask you guys to decide who gets to moderate the PDF threads? Do you even have the authority to make those calls? Like, who are you to judge who’s being objective and who isn't? Especially when this topic doesn't even matter to you in the slightest. But man, you sure do love tearing things down and insulting all of us who happen to see things differently.
Just imagine if we decided to jump into the threads about cancer treatment and spent months trashing everyone posting anything remotely coherent there. Imagine us calling them stupid, pathetic, uneducated, or just plain idiots—basically using every lovely little label you so generously toss our way... And the best part? Absolutely nobody would get a single warning for it. 🤣 Then, on top of that, we’d start meddling in the moderation side of things and demanding that none of the people posting there can be mods because—get this!—they aren't "objective."
It’s honestly unbelievable how transparent and pathetic this all is. But hey, whatever. Given how you lot think, it’s pretty obvious you don't even realize what you're doing. Everything about how you act and how you handle this says everything about your own character.
I really hope life feels more fulfilling for you all this way, since you've clearly found your "purpose" in life 🙂 now that you've conquered this corner of the internet. Why not move on to some other topic that doesn't clash with your specific "worldview"... oops... or are there no topics left? Or maybe you've just run out of places where you can act like this and get away with it completely unpunished?
This forum used to be a decent place. It hasn't been for a long time.
Good luck to everyone. Both the alternative crowd and the conventionalists.
Exactly, fadedgull42 👍 And honestly? This whole thing with these "temporary" shutdowns isn't even sad anymore—it’s borderline hilarious. Or maybe it’s just pathetic. Like you said, they should just rename this whole section to "Criticism (and Insults) of Alternative Medicine." If they did that, over 90% of the posts would actually meet the criteria. Can you imagine the sheer joy and excitement? But hey, even without changing the title, it’s painfully obvious that this is what the thread actually is, regardless of what the header says ☕
But you know what’s way more depressing than all that? It’s seeing some of you get called out for being "insulting"—and when I say "you," I mean you guys, because I’m clearly not part of that crowd—while the main opponents aren't even mentioned once. These people have zero boundaries; they’re basically in a competition to see who can be the most toxic toward us, hahahahah Then we get handed some "ultimatum" saying we have to respect conventional medicine and refrain from writing anything negative about it 🤣—and this is being demanded of us in an *alternative* medicine thread! Yet, the exact same standard isn't applied to the opponents on this VERY SAME THREAD.
So what, they can just wage war against us on "our" own topic however they want?! And when it comes to alternative methods, they can go wild too?! Meanwhile, we’re expected to just sit there, respect them, and take it? And then, the second someone loses their cool just a little bit, they get warned, and suddenly there's a massive mob forming and all the drama in the world converges on them 🤦
As Ethan Barrett22 puts it (and look, I don't know him, I'm not defending him, and I'm not even writing this because we share similar views... I'm just looking at this objectively): it's been blindingly obvious for a while now who is pulling the strings in these threads. For me personally, the ultimatum I mentioned earlier—the one they laid out for us—just confirmed it.
Either find actual moderators who know what they're doing, or just shut down this entire garbage PDF. Because for quite some time now, this hasn't been anything but one big mess.
I'll say it again (and I'm sure you'll just shut this thread down too): SHAMEFUL!
One more question for the forum owner, the supermods, the mods, the admins, and anyone else here who thinks they run the show: why haven't I received a single (1) response to the two topics I posted here? Not even a random "hehe" type of reply, even though I asked questions that deserved at least one coherent answer.
If we’re following the usual pattern, this thread will probably end up exactly the same way.
So, where do we draw the line when it comes to how much disrespect we're supposed to just swallow from the same group of people? You know, the ones who don't have even a shred of common ground with alternative health.
If I'm not totally tripping here, this whole thread is meant for discussing ALTERNATIVE methods—that’s literally what the title says, right? Or am I just seeing things? Because myself and everyone else here who actually has something useful to contribute, we're just following the rules.
But then you've got these exact same people popping up constantly, dumping massive walls of text about scientific papers and academic studies and various data points. Data that, frankly, absolutely nobody interested in these topics gives a single damn about. They throw out these "authoritative" results and whatever else, which have zero connection to alternative medicine and basically nothing to do with why we're even here.
And get this—this is the really interesting part—these same folks (seriously, pay attention here) are nowhere to be found in the science threads or the discussions regarding conventional medicine. Isn't that just wild? If they're such huge science buffs who preach science as the only gold standard, why aren't they hanging out there? Or acting like experts on conventional medicine and pharmaceuticals? I honestly have no clue how or why that is. And hey, it's not my job to solve that mystery. But the way they're behaving in the alternative health section? It is seriously crossing every line imaginable. Just try looking at the numbers—count how many posts us "alternative" folks actually make in the science sections or the conventional medicine threads. And does anyone of us ever write in those spaces the way they write here? Does any one of us go into those threads and start insulting people? Does anyone of us even bother engaging in a real conversation with the people over there?
They all follow the exact same playbook. Every single one of them. And I'm not even talking about clones or some weird conspiracy stuff... I'm trying to suggest they have one singular objective. Just one. To kill off this forum and drive us all away until we lose the will to even post here. Please, someone, try to convince me I'm wrong ☕
@Larry Allen34/">@@Larry Allen34 laid it all out perfectly in his previous posts: 3626, 3627, 3644, 3645, and 3646 (over in the "cancer treatment" thread). There really isn't a single word more needed to back up those posts. Anyone looking at this situation with even a bit of common sense—specifically within the context of the topic being discussed—should see exactly what's going on.
It also makes me wonder: how would any of us "alternative" types fare if we started posting the same kind of garbage in the science or conventional medicine threads? How would we handle it if we started shamelessly attacking and belittling everything people believe in and "specialize" in over there? Especially with this level of sheer vitriol. Because these people clearly have no boundaries, and the insults just keep coming. As far as I can tell, not a single one of them has even received a slap on the wrist, let alone anything serious.
The only conclusion I can draw is that someone around here really wants these specific topics to die out completely. Or maybe nobody cares about "alternative health" at all. Which is funny, because this approach has proven itself way more successful for treating cancer than almost any conventional method out there. Whatever people want to think about it.
This whole alternative health section has become an absolute embarrassment for this forum. And that's solely thanks to these certain personas and the people who just sit there and allow it to happen.
I once wrote a short post here, something similar to this, and it was nuked within minutes. I still haven't figured out why. This post, however, is constructive. It asks real questions and deals with a real issue regarding the "Alternative Health" forum. I sincerely hope this one doesn't get the axe.
I'm hoping for at least some kind of meaningful response to everything I've laid out here.
Thanks.
P.S. Just so we're clear... I'm not defending anyone's right to be abusive. Not the opposition, and not the alternative crowd. Regardless of whatever manufactured provocations the opposition tries to stir up.
I haven't even bothered checking out the other PDFs, so I can't really say anything about them. If that's how it is, then fine by me. I've got nothing else to add.
Just wanted to jump in and say that @Rorion was actually a top-tier contributor over at Alternative—he consistently dropped some really high-quality posts. This is for anyone else who actually lives and breathes that same Alternative scene.
There’s also this other thing I gotta bring up: if certain individuals (not gonna list them because they’ve already been called out a million times), who are constantly attacking people, being insulting, fueling drama, and contributing absolutely zero value to the discussion, haven't even been hit with a two-day ban, then why did @Rorion get a permanent ban (assuming that's even what happened)? I’d love to see a coherent explanation for this.
Look, I’m not acting as anyone’s "defense attorney" or anything like that. I’m just genuinely curious—why aren't the rules applied equally to everyone? @Rorion didn't come anywhere close to insulting or belittling those people, unlike how they treated him (and the rest of us who just happen to have opinions that are diametrically opposed to theirs). He added so much value to the threads, and honestly, I think this whole situation is just plain unfair and wrong. Not just to him, but to the integrity of the Alternative PDF itself. The guy clearly knows his stuff and has real experience.
Maybe he got too used to the low-level communication and went a bit overboard—in my opinion, anyway. But it wasn't even remotely close to how his opponents acted, and they haven't faced any sanctions at all.
The only way I can make sense of this is one of two things: either whoever banned him fell for the trap set by those 2 or 3 aggressive posts where they were practically begging for him to be banned (without the mods actually looking at how much junk they were posting themselves), or the ban was just pre-programmed.
In just a handful of posts, @Rorion contributed infinitely more than all those characters combined, even with their tens of thousands of posts.
just wanted to check in because, honestly, nothing makes sense anymore 🤔
It feels like there isn’t a single thread in the "Alternative Medicine" section that hasn't been totally spammed or taken over by conspiracy theorists. Every single one of these topics has turned into a private battlefield for certain specific users and their little fan clubs—I’m not saying for sure they’re clones, but man, the vibe and the way they talk is identical. It’s pretty easy to connect the dots, you know? Some posts have been reported by multiple members—and yet, absolutely zero reaction from the staff.
Yesterday and today, I actually put together a couple of posts in the "proposal blah blah" section of the "Alternative" PDF, laying out my own suggestions. My main focus was just asking to wipe out all the personal bickering and clean up the PDF from that kind of nonsense. It shouldn't matter what username someone uses or what their opinion is. Rules should be the same for everyone, period.
So, I went back to check things five minutes ago, and wow... what a sight. Both of my posts were deleted (seriously?!?), while a mountain of posts that people specifically asked to be removed are still sitting right there! And it’s not just me either. Now, look, I don't think anyone should feel forced to do exactly what I’m asking, not even in their wildest dreams. But it’s pretty telling when completely innocent posts—the ones actually calling for peace and a "clean" board—get nuked, while almost all the garbage stays on the threads. Is someone actually enjoying this chaos and the insults, or have the moderators just decided to take sides? As mods or admins, that’s really not how you should be playing it.
The "Alternative" section is a total disaster zone. Back when I was on the "Online Shopping" board, I used to get roasted for stuff like this—it was unbelievable. With the kind of posts being made here, someone would’ve been banned for life after maybe one or two offenses.
So, yeah... I’d love it if one of the mods or admins could step up and explain to us why this is happening—why my posts got wiped while a literal pile of trash remains untouched.
Yeah, honestly? Just grab one of those enclosures, throw a Hard Drive in there for extra storage, and use an SSD as your main boot drive. That’s exactly how I set up my laptop—it works like a charm, even with all five 😉