u/Bonkers_Reality

I have a large photo collection stored on iCloud (including family, pets, and sports) and I'm running out of space. iCloud has also been unreliable lately—syncing is inconsistent, and sometimes I can't download full-resolution photos.

I own an old iMac with an i7 processor, 32GB of RAM, and a 2TB SSD. I'm thinking of turning it into a self-hosted iCloud alternative using Immich and a Cloudflare Tunnel for remote access. What do you guys think? Are there better options?

So a few weeks ago my wife, our youngest son, and I were traveling around Europe — mostly France and Belgium. One evening we’re sitting outside at a restaurant, just enjoying the vibe, when we see this couple walking their dog. Cute labradoodle‑looking thing. Totally normal moment.

We finish dinner, go for a walk… and boom, the same couple with the same dog shows up again. This time a few miles away from where we first saw them. Our son goes, “They look like NPCs, they’re not even talking,” and I joke, “Imagine if we run into them again somewhere else.”

Fast‑forward two days. We drive to Brussels. Big city, tons of people, zero chance of random repeats.

And guess who we see casually walking down the street?

Yup.
NPC Couple with their labradoodle.
Same vibe. Same silence. Honestly, I think they were even wearing the same clothes.

At this point I’m convinced we accidentally clipped into someone else’s simulation instance.