thedakar

DHO Tankers - Show off your best game screenshots here! Be it high damage, amazing XP, or just a game that makes you shake your head, share it here!

DHO! If you are buying something from Amazon, do DHO a favor and use these links below to start your navigation on Amazon.com. By doing so you help DHO collect advertising money from Amazon, and it costs you nothing! Below you will see some products that other dads have requested. Click on any of them to get started; DHO gets a small amount when you buy something - even if you don't purchase any of the items listed below! You can also access the Amazon affiliate links by clicking on the banner at the bottom of the forum from any page. This year we will be using Amazon Funds to fill the "Dad in Need" coffers - Money collected from the Amazon sales will be used to support a DHO Member that may be having trouble affording presents this year. The "Dad in Need" information and application is here. Thanks for your support, dads! By clicking the link FIRST and then getting the things you were already going to get on Amazon, you help support DHO with advertising dollars. It costs you nothing but a click, so we would greatly appreciate it. Just click one of these links - I know you need AA Batteries, AAA Batteries, a new HDMI Cable, or a 32g memory card - Don't need any of these? No worries, don't buy it, but DHO still gets a little bit of advertising revenue when you buy from Amazon when you start with one of DHO's links first. Looking for Video Games on Amazon? Want Fallout 76 this year? Support DHO at the same time! (Click the image!)

Have you ever heard of "The Red Queen Hypothesis"? It states that organisms must constantly adapt and evolve in order to simply survive. This theory has been applied to areas beyond biology - business, exercise, education to name a few. It also applies to dadshideout.com and other online communities. Remember "MySpace"? When you fail to adapt to the changing conditions, you don't just stop expanding, you actually shrink until you die. It seems no one can avoid the Red Queen - DHO is no different. Unless DHO adapts to changing conditions and evolves to be a better organization, DHO will follow in the steps of Myspace. Changing of the Guard In July of this year (2018), there was a huge change here at dadshideout.com. You may not have noticed it, but the custodianship of the website changed hands. With the changing of the guard came new views and new ideas. It also came with a realization. If dadshideout.com continued on its current course, the site would be dead in a year. So come along with “The Good, The Dad, and The Ugly” as we take a look at the past, the present and the future of DHO. The current custodians are @thedakar and @xJediDadx . They are the current Head Administrators for dadshideout.com and the DHO Discord Server. Previously, @Aftrthought051 and @MagmaFlow were the lead administrators with @joey791 and @Pinmonkey001 being invaluable supporters of DHO with other administrative duties such as TeamSpeak. This team has been in place since the inception of DHO and had done a fantastic job of keeping DHO and open and welcome place for dads. Yet, 8 years after the doors of the current forum opened to its first members, the original admin team was feeling the pressure. The passion was there, but the time to devote to DHO was, understandably, waning. Action was needed. The call for volunteers went out in June of 2018. Who was willing to take the responsibility of keeping the "lights on" and be the new Admins of DHO? The responsibility is a big one. Since October of 2010, there have been over 2300 dads that have joined the ranks of DHO. Tens of thousands of posts have been written in the forums. Dozens of clans have been created with “dadshideout” or “DHO” in their titles. DHO is more than a website - it is an entire online ecosystem. It goes far beyond a gaming clan; it is a place for dads to find advice, receive mentorship, and commiserate with other dads about being a dad. With the bat signal lit, xjedidadx and thedakar threw their hats into the ring. The council of admin dads conferred - who would be the chosen ones? After much deliberation, it was decided that thedakar and xJediDadX were to be given the honor and privilege of being the new administrators. Shortly thereafter, the accounts were transferred, the passwords given, and the keys handed over. With that, DHO had two new Dads at the helm. So there you go. All done, right? Hardly. Something Rotten in The State of Denmark One of the first things thedakar did was play around with all the options on the forum and found the holy grail of number nerds - analytics software. Analytics is the computational analysis of data or statistics aka: math that tells you things. The good news is that the math came as pictures (graphs). The bad news is that the math pictures were not saying good things: DHO Member Activity is Down: The volume of posts is down: Messages between Members is down: New Membership is down: In short, DHO was dying. DHO, by all metrics, has been shrinking from its peak in 2015, but the current trend was sobering. If the rate of decline continued, the site would be a ghost town within a year. With no one around, there would be no reason to spend the money keeping the site open and the legacy of DHO would disappear. So the new admins declared that something had to be done and change was coming! The old admins wished them luck and hoped for the best. The old admin team had tried to reverse the decline, so let's be clear that they are in no way to blame. Some of the long time DHO members shrugged their internet shoulders and said, “it has been tried before - good luck.” The reactions were rather lackluster - measured at best. The admins were volunteers, the decline had been happening for a long time, and what could be done on a non-existent budget, anyway? The odds seemed stacked against success. The Council of Elrond In August, thedakar put out the call to form a team of DHO members. Armed with his graphs showing the declining metrics, thedakar sought to get the experience and diversity needed to look at the problem, present solutions and debate the way ahead. The team would be made of long time DHO members, more recent dads, gamer dads, non-gamer dads, and dads of all ages. A dozen of dads raised their hands and offered to take part. The team was formed to tackle the problem. The idea was simple - figure out how to revitalize DHO. The answers were far more complicated. This will be a multi-part series where we walk you through the DHO Revitalization discussion, the lessons learned AND ( most importantly ) look for your feedback on the way ahead! Stay tuned to “The Good, The Dad, and The Ugly,” to learn more about DHO and its way ahead.

Welcome @TaroSanIf you need anything just let us know and we will be happy to help. Welcome to DHO!

Welcome to the fold, @Jamoley. What business are you in? You will find plenty of DHO playing world of tanks, if you need help getting in contact with the tankers, let me know. They use our voice comms through our Discord channel.

Welcome @BourbonNeat If you need anything just let us know and we will be happy to help. Welcome to DHO (good choice on the bourbon, too!)

Welcome @FPDoc If you need anything just let us know and we will be happy to help. Welcome (back) to DHO!

Welcome @_Major_Tomato! If you need anything just let us know and we will be happy to help. Welcome to DHO!

been looking around at the different options and unless you want to game, a "laptop" no longer has the advantage they used to - if you want portability and battery life with the same software the "surface" tablets do really well. I am writing you on my surface 3 (i bought it used - works perfectly for web surfing, video watching and writing) and it works better than any "notebook" laptop I have ever owned. With the new Surface Pro coming out this holiday season, I am waiting for some good used deals on surface 4/surface 4pro over the next few weeks. Otherwise, if you want to game and be "portable" gaming laptops fit that niche pretty well. It the mid range where you find so much crap. Easy market to get into and very little effort is put into it.

welcome back doc! long time no see!

As @Aftrthought051 mentioned you can use the stays to gather the excess more toward the back, or as I mentioned you can gather it on your sides. Otherwise, my suggestion is not too tight - it will become uncomfortable and distracting. Just enough tug to keep the shirt under control. You can try out "wrapping" around your leg - once pinned on the shirt, bring the stay around the back of your leg and attach to your sock/foot. You cna go on the inside (1/2 wrap) of the foot or the outside (complete wrap) of the foot. It pulls the shirt backwards, making the front tighter while (generally) giving more play to the back (which needs more as it pulls out when you sit.)

Calling all Dads! We are starting to draft our December news letter, and we want YOU to have the chance to be a part of it. We want to know whats going on - if you know of any events (DHO specific or just things online things dads might be interested in), if you are doing any charity things, or you have general announcements, let us know. We will gather up all the details from you and we will add it to the monthly news letter! Feel free to post below or send me a direct message.

Hey, you! With the shirt that's all wrinkled up and billowing out like a sail in a strong wind! Want a tip on how to look good? Shirt stays, my man. Wanna look sharp? Use shirt stays. Tired of your shirt coming untucked when you sit down? Use shirt stays. Got an interview? Wearing a suit? Wanna look like a million buck? You got it - use shirt stays! Shirt stays are something I take for granted. I learned about them from the retired Marine instructor of my Junior Reserve Officer Training Course (JROTC) in high school and have used them ever since. I joined the military (shirt stays practically a must use) a short while after high school and it wasn't until I was in college at age 25 that I realized - most men don't know what a shirt stay is! These “kids” wear wearing their slacks and button shirts, but looked like they slept in what they were wearing! At first, I chalked it up to young kids not giving a “care” and moved on. It wasn’t until I was doing a panel discussion one day when a fellow male student asked me, "How do you get your shirt to stay ironed even after you sit down?" At first, I didn’t know what he was talking about. My mind digested his inquiry as literal: Silly kid, you can’t iron a shirt you are wearing… Ohhh! The light bulb went off and I realized that because of my shirt stays, every time I stood up, my shirt was instantly pulled down, removing any sign of wrinkles. “Shirt stays,” I say. “Shirt whats?” he replies. I tilt my head slightly to the side the way a dog does when it hears a strange noise. How can he not know what a shirt stay is? I pull up the cloth on the right pant leg to reveal my shirt stay. “This thing,” snapping it to emphasize the device. He shook his head left and right - he had never seen one! And thus began the teaching of the young mind on the gloriousness that is the shirt stay. Why Use Shirt Stays In a word: Professionalism. Looking sharp is universally associated with competence and professionalism. Studies even show that dressing well changes the way you think - you think more abstractly and increases perspective! (https://www.psychologicalscience.org/news/minds-business/when-clothing-style-influences-cognitive-style.html#.WTmBucaZNBw) That old adage, “You only have one chance to make a first impression,” is true - and it is becoming more and more important as our lives become faster and faster paced. Shirt stays can also make clothing more comfortable as it helps keep your shirt (and sometimes your socks) in the right place, rather than bunching up and being a nuisance. You don’t have to starch a shirt as much with a shirt stay if you have a reasonable amount on tension, it helps “pull” creases away. Shirt stays also help you with posture and core engagement. No, seriously. If you have your shirt stay balanced, you can tell when you are slouching when standing or when you relax your core and let your stomach “hang out.” Which Type to Purchase There are different styles of stays - single stays, stirrup stays, clasp stays, garter stays, two lead and three lead, cross lead…. Take my advice, if you are going to get only one type of stay, get these: I wore these in the military and I wear them in the office. The stirrup style means I can wear them with any sock, pant or shoe style. If your shirt doesn’t need to be laundered, just slip the stirrup off and hang the shirt. Next time you wear it, slip the stirrup on and button up! The plastic grips on the clasps prevent damage to your shirts and you can adjust the strength of the grip by bending (ever so gently) the clasp piece with a set of plyers. If you are worried about the shirt stay showing when you pant leg rises, you could instead go with these: These will also act as sock garters to keep your socks pulled up snuggly, preventing saggy socks and raw heels. How to Use Shirt Stays To attach the stays, take one shirt stay and set the clasps on the shirt first. On the shirt, clip one clasp about a hands’ width forward of the shirt’s side seam and the other about a hands’ width behind the side seam. The side seam runs from your armpit to the bottom edge of the shirt. Using the ones I recommend above, you should now have a “Y” shape when you let the shirt stay hang down, the tail of the “Y” hanging along the outside edge of your thigh. Repeat attaching the remaining stay on the other side of the shirt. Once attached, pull firmly (not a jerk, but a tug) down on the clasps to make sure they are holding the shirt correctly. If they slip off, you can increase the grip by gently bending the arm as shown above. Now attach the bottom of the stay. With the stirrups, you slip them on your feet like a sock with the band resting in the arch of your foot. If using clasps, attach the clasp to the outside of the sock. Give those a firm tug. If they come off, adjust as needed to get a solid grip. Stand up. The stays should be pulling the shirt down, gathering any excess material toward the outside of your hips while making the front and back look smooth. If you don’t have any of that, maybe you don't have any tension! To set the tension (how hard it tugs the shirt) of the stay you need to for the buckle. On my recommended stays, there is a little metal buckle that grips the stay when flat and releases the stay when you lift it up. Some fancy styles have buttons, others have snap fittings. Move the stay tension buckle up or down until you find the stays are tugging comfortably on the shirt. I wear mine with enough tension that I can feel it lightly in my shoulders - you find what works for you through trial and error. The higher the tension, the “crisper” the shirt will look, but the more “unnatural” the shirt will feel. Also, if you go too high with the tension you risk having the clasps work loose no matter how much you bend the clasp for gripping strength. Too little and you might as well not wear the shirt stays…. Finally, put on your pants! Stand up and check that the stays are working. Bend to your left at the waist, then straighten up. Did the shirt go flat or did it just bunch up? If it bunched up, you need more tension. Sit down, stand up. Did the back of the shirt “retuck” itself? Good, you have it set right. Dad's Secret Fashion Tip So there you have it. The “secret” of sharply dressed professionals everywhere! You can use these on any tucked shirt and I promise you the difference is night and day. Oh, one last thing - if you wear an undershirt (which I highly suggest) tuck the undershirt into your underwear, then your dress shirt over your underwear inside your pants.

Nice! Before and after! lol

hey - does anyone know if we have a DHO clan for destiny 2 on PC?

You got diablo 3? sweet.

From DHO to you - Thank You for your service and sacrifice. We would like to list every one of you here, but we don't know EVERY veteran on this site. So rather than leave someone out, we just want to say thanks.

hell yes, seabee! US Air Force Civil Combat Engineer here!

I never knew it was such a secret - I thought the title was a joke, apparently, it was a true statement. Ironic!

yah, the download takes a minute...🙄

The First of a set of posts on the behind the scenes activity at DHO - the reason for the forum reorganization, why we have a new logo, why we have a discord server, what with this new blog thing? Most importantly, we are looking for feedback from the DHO membership! We want to hear from you - lots of things in the works, but if DHO ain't happy, then we need to know!

Awesome! I am making this an announcement! Great find, @Camelboy0 !

I can understand the line of thinking, but in this world of interconnectedness, i don't think of it as a hard and fast rule. The key is having limits - if the limit is a solid NEVER, then that's the limit. Keep in mind the perspective of grandfathers work view: the old days of "work" meant you did 20 to 40 years with a company, had good benefits for your family, retired, and got a pension. That created lifelong friends within the "employees" that relationships with "bosses" wasn't needed or sought after. Today, the average worker stays with a company for less than 5 years, benefits are more sparse, pensions aren't a thing, and employee perks means a coffee pot provided in the break room (but you have to buy the coffee...) Being human makes life a little less miserable. I tend to lean that way until I have a reason not to 😉

DADS! Derpsgiving is here! Rock and roll, lets see some "HE" SPAM!!!!! (YOU get "HE" and YOU get "HE" EVERYONE GETS "HE"!!!!!!!!)

DHO now has a blog! Which is great and all, but what is a blog without content? Now we need writers, authors, and dads with wisdom to share their thoughts, musings, and general knowledge! Rules and Requirements: Rules: You can write about anything you want - the lead bloggers will help you edit your drafts and have final say on if the topic is appropriate. Discussing different discipline techniques for children? Sure. Talking about how to best beat your kids? No. How to rekindle passion with your spouse? Yes. Specific descriptions of sexual techniques? No. You get the picture - Requirements: It should be dad related in some manner, but we are playing loose and fast on this. "Dad" related, "Man" related, even "Adulting" will generally work. You are not committing to anything - you write if you want, when you want, as often as you want. If you just want to try ONE article/post - go for it! If you are nervous about your skill at writing or if people will even like what you have to say we will help with editing and even post as DHO Guest Writer if that helps you try it out! Fine Print: When you submit an article or blog to DHO you give DHO the right to edit, modify, republish, sell, or advertise your content at any time. You retain the right to republish your own works elsewhere at any time. APPLY HERE If you have any questions, let us know!