Amanda

People always forget the income tax savings. On a $150K household income, you save $12,000+ per year JUST on state income tax. That pays for a lot of AC.

Latent Space is mandatory for anyone working in AI. It is technical but not unapproachable. Learned more from that podcast than from any online course.

The "you don't need a master's" take is true for DFW specifically. The market here values practical skills. Bay Area might be different, but DFW companies hire builders.

Claude Code is a different beast entirely. It is not a copilot — it is an autonomous agent. I gave it a ticket description and it implemented the entire feature across 8 files, wrote tests, and they all passed. I just reviewed the PR.

This is going to blow up in people's faces. When companies audit tool usage and realize half their knowledge workers are finishing their jobs by noon, the layoffs will be swift. Enjoy the ride but have a backup plan.

I work at a DFW defense contractor and we are not allowed to use any of these. Everything has to be on-prem models. The gap between what we use internally and what is available commercially is painful.

Animal Well being made by essentially one person is staggering. The depth of secrets in that game is unprecedented. The community found a hidden layer THREE MONTHS after launch that nobody knew existed.

Super Metroid's atmosphere is unmatched. Landing on Zebes with no music, just ambient sounds and rain, is one of the most iconic openings in gaming history. Modern Metroid games are great but the original set the bar.

Common Ground Games is the best spot for board game beginners. The staff teaches you how to play anything in the library. I learned Wingspan there and now own three copies.

Nintendo Switch 2 backward compatibility is the smartest decision in the console space. My entire Switch library carries over. Sony and Microsoft should take notes.

32GB RAM being necessary in 2026 is wild. I remember when 8GB was overkill. Games are eating memory like crazy now.

Al Ewing on Immortal Thor continues his streak as the most consistent writer at Marvel. His understanding of cosmic mythology and how it connects to the human experience is unmatched.

Part 2 being a high school comedy is the most Fujimoto thing possible. He had the hottest action manga in the world and decided to write a coming-of-age story instead. No other author would take that risk.

As someone who played Part II and initially hated Abby's section, I came around by the end. The show is doing the same thing but the pacing needs to be tighter for television.

The original Jurassic Park from 1993 looks better than most CGI movies made last year. Stan Winston's animatronic T-Rex has weight and texture that digital rendering still cannot match.

Lord of the Rings is the only correct answer for number one. No trilogy has all three films above 90% on Rotten Tomatoes with that level of cultural impact. It is not debatable.

Hot Cheetos during a horror movie is elite. You are already stressed so the burning fingers just add to the experience.

Sinners not being in your top spot is wild to me. The juke joint sequence alone is worth the ticket price. Coogler and MBJ cannot miss together.

I thought the third act was fine. Not every MCU movie needs to apologize for having a big finish. The Sentry going full power was earned by the buildup.

The demand increase from crypto mining and data centers is the part nobody talks about. ERCOT approved more new industrial connections in 2024-2025 than the previous decade combined.

Tarrant County folks: TAD is aggressive on initial appraisals but the informal hearing adjusters are reasonable. Bring your comps printed out.

Tarrant County (TAD) is notoriously aggressive on appraisals. Always protest in Tarrant. Success rate is even higher because they overshoot.

Important: being respectful matters. You can assert your rights without being aggressive. "I respect what you do officer, but I do not consent to a search" works perfectly.

Justice Court (small claims) in Dallas County is at the George Allen courthouse. No lawyer needed. Filing is $75. Average case takes 30-45 minutes.

Just bookmarked the ERCOT dashboard. Every Texan should know this exists.

Fort Worth suburbs (Keller, Southlake, Colleyville) always get overlooked in these lists. The Tarrant County side is just as nice with less traffic.