u/pillbox_dreams

We've got an old Google home puck speaker that unfortunately updated itself and got rid of Google Assistant and I hate Gemini. I ask for a simple thing and it goes on a whole lecture. Google assistant gave me simple answers and would ask me if I wanted to know more, and was great to ask random questions to.

I could ask assistant what they thought of other digital assistants and it had a couple canned but funny responses, Gemini isn't witty or even enjoyable to mess around with.

I didn't need a whole dissertation about when Puerto Rico was annexed, I just asked for the date. Is there any way to make Gemini give shorter answers by default?

So I've had this thought for a week or two since I saw someone's Thrawn on ESD: I need to make a Star Wars toon.

So I've been churning things over in my mind and I've come up with this so far: Turrets for turbolasers, maybe a missile launcher for the occasional torpedo; Antiproton pistols for the red blaster bolts.

What I need: the most swarzy ship possible, and anything thematically appropriate. For a ship, as much as I hate the look of it the Kobali Samsar may be my best choice. Maybe one of the Vaadwaur ships but please save me from that hideous Kobali ship! I'm also open to beam weapons as long as they can be passed off as something like Chiss spectrum lasers.

If I'm missing something or you wanna tell me to go back to SWTOR I appreciate your time!

I've taken the plunge and created myself a Cardassian toon. I've been considering the Cardassian bundle almost exclusively for the Galor cruiser.

However, I also have a T6 choice pack and have learned about the Keldon. I only have one and I've been waffling back and forth between the Keldon for my cardie or the TOS Dreadnought for my TOS toon. Would the Keldon be a better choice than spending 6k Zen for the T5 Galor? I'm shooting for the aesthetics here, as long as it can get me through story content and the occasional TFO for the events I'm happy.

Alright, so I used the free keys I got from the summer event and got super lucky with a T5 and T6 choice pack. I've got a handful of T6 ships for my Fed and Kingon toons, but nothing for my Romulan delta recruit.

I spun up my first Romulan on this last delta recruit event, completed the tutorial and haven't touched them since. What ships do y'all recommend for my pointy eared fellow?

Greetings! I've been kayaking 1-2 times a month last season and I'm looking to get out more. I've got basic safety stuff (good life vest, sun protection, emergency flares) but I'm looking for a more complete package.

I mostly kayak reservoirs, relatively calm rivers and streams, and don't really encounter rough water very often. I use a sit on top kayak with a good amount of scupper holes, so baling equipment isn't really necessary I don't think, so I'm mostly looking for waterproof radios and a PLB that won't break the bank in case I run into trouble.

I'm also trying to build out a first aid kit for common injuries on the water so any advice would be appreciated on that front as well!

Alright, so I'm finally planning an upgrade to my aging hardware. I play at 1080p with dual 24" monitors @100hz. Mostly factory builders, mmos, and space sim games. What's going to be the biggest bang for the buck upgrade?

I haven't had a planned out upgrade path with this build before, it's mostly been hand me down parts and bits I replaced when other parts died.

[PCPartPicker Part List](https://pcpartpicker.com/list/7yhWVF)

Type|Item|Price

:----|:----|:----

**CPU** | [AMD Ryzen 5 3600X 3.8 GHz 6-Core Processor](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/3WYLrH/amd-ryzen-5-3600x-38-ghz-6-core-processor-100-100000022box) | Purchased For $0.00

**CPU Cooler** | [Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO V2 62 CFM CPU Cooler](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/gmbCmG/cooler-master-hyper-212-evo-v2-62-cfm-cpu-cooler-rr-2v2e-18pk-r1) | Purchased For $0.00

**Motherboard** | [Gigabyte B450 AORUS M Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/WcjJ7P/gigabyte-b450-aorus-m-micro-atx-am4-motherboard-b450-aorus-m) | Purchased For $0.00

**Memory** | [Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro 32 GB (4 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/3yQG3C/corsair-vengeance-rgb-pro-32gb-4-x-8gb-ddr4-3200-memory-cmw32gx4m4c3200c16) | Purchased For $0.00

**Storage** | [Crucial MX500 500 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/ft8j4D/crucial-mx500-500gb-25-solid-state-drive-ct500mx500ssd1) | Purchased For $0.00

**Storage** | [Western Digital Blue 2 TB 3.5" 7200 RPM Internal Hard Drive](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/gHNxFT/western-digital-wd-blue-2-tb-35-7200rpm-internal-hard-drive-wd20ezbx) | Purchased For $0.00

**Video Card** | [PowerColor Red Devil Radeon RX 580 8 GB Video Card](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/PTfmP6/powercolor-radeon-rx-580-8gb-red-devil-video-card-axrx-580-8gbd5-3dhoc) | Purchased For $0.00

**Case** | [Phanteks Eclipse P360A ATX Mid Tower Case](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/ZJcRsY/phanteks-eclipse-p360a-atx-mid-tower-case-ph-ec360atg\_dbk) | Purchased For $0.00

**Power Supply** | [Corsair CX650 (2017) 650 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/3F2rxr/corsair-cx650-2017-650-w-80-bronze-certified-atx-power-supply-cp-9020122-na) | Purchased For $0.00

| *Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts* |

| **Total** | **$0.00**

| Generated by [PCPartPicker](https://pcpartpicker.com) 2026-06-27 18:11 EDT-0400 |

Cryptic I'm BEGGING you! I just want the Mk I phaser rifle visuals allll the way to the endgame. I don't want all the holographic, chrome, bulky stuff. I just want a phaser rifle I can carry through on my DS9/VOY themed toons without having to wait for them to unlock the reputation system and get enough delta marks to get to T3.

​

I know there's the sniper from the heritage ships bundle but I hate using it, it just sits in the secondary slot for walkin around and then the holo monstrosity comes out when work needs doing.

​

I'm over here re engineering the Mk I to make it do something at later levels but there's only so much I can do to it!

I'm using the delta event to spin up my Enterprise themed alt after picking up the pack earlier in the year and I'm noticing a distinct lack of shuttles for this era! We've got shuttles for Discovery, 23c, 25c, and 32c if I'm not mistaken. Kelvin and Enterprise seems to be the odd ones out.

​

Are there any plans or whisperings around adding Enterprise shuttlepods in the future? Heck even a Kelvin shuttle for the alt I'm planning for the next temporal event.

I've got a '19 PHEV and the charge port is very unreliable on of it wants to release the charger or not. Even opening the charge door is a coin toss on whether or not I have to use the manual release. I've done the auto lock button on both settings with seemingly no effect and even gotten the car to stop charging through the Kia connect app and even that isn't reliable.

Am I missing something here or is it time for me to look for a new charge port (or rebuild this one)?

So I've got an unconventional ask, I've seen discussions on what the best hangar pets are for dps, synergy, all that good stuff. I wanna know which hangar per deploys the largest *number* of pets. Valkyries deploy a good number, but is there one that deploys more? I'm not looking for the best one, to be clear, just one that deploys a whole mess of pets.

So, I'm a pretty regular customer of Digi-Key, and noticed they carry NACS to J1772 adapters for similar if not half the price of adapters from someone like Lectron. The data sheets say they're rated for 48a loads which is about all I need since my Niro PHEV will never draw more than 30a off L2.

The math makes sense to me, but has anyone used these generic adapters? Is it worth double the price for a proper Lectron adapter (or similar)?

Edit: The data sheet does say it is UL listed, otherwise I wouldn't even consider it.

So I'm trying to obtain an Einstein Heavy Destroyer for a Kelvin timeline toon I'm spinning up, but it looks like unobtainium. I'm pretty resigned to the fact I've gotta do the gamble box for one with my bits of zen and whatever I've got in my steam wallet, but would I have better odds doing the Infinity lockbox or buying Kelvin boxes off the exchange?

Just picked up a 2019 Niro PHEV and I'm already loving it! Getting used to the beeps and chimes of its driver assist features is gonna take some time though coming from a car who's most advanced feature was cruise control. Any tips and tricks for a new Niro owner?