:( indeed. This got me right in the feels.

We hoi polloi think in money numbers and what we can afford to purchase. For the Capital Class, it's all about power. Money is just how they keep score.

Ever see a toucan in person? I had an employee with a toucan he would sometimes bring into work. It could throw things, especially round fruit, with uncanny accuracy. Like it could easily play catch from at least 2m away.

Glaucous-winged gulls also seem to have uncanny accuracy with defecation, but that's not quite throwing.

Kind of an oversimplification here: Moiré is a form of interference pattern, in this case the "grid" of OP's image has a different pitch from the grid on your phone or computer display. By continuously changing the zoom (in contrast to discontinuously), the interference pattern shifts to create "peaks and valleys." Here's some more info: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moir%C3%A9_pattern

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nn1MqCMa1M

I am not really looking to upgrade my drivetrain to have mor in between steps

This right here. Fully agreed. For me, it's not about steps; it's about sheer range, especially for touring and mountain roads. I have a GT Grade with 2x10 + GoatLink and 11-42 cassette; 26-38 crank up front. It gives me a gear-inch range of 16.5" to ~100". But holy hell, it is so fiddly and sensitive. I have to tweak it about every 100 miles.

Shimano CUES is interesting in that Shimano seems to recognize what a mess they've made. With CUES, they are hopefully going to make groups that all just work within the line, instead of the compatibility quagmire it is now. Source: partner works in the LBS.

I was just wondering if, when 3x is basically gone, they may start selling it as the new shit again.

It's not going anywhere. Sure, the high end Shimano and SRAM groups mostly abandoned triples. But both of the Big Two still make mountain and road triple. Again, other niche manufacturers are stepping in to fill any remaining gaps. You might have to dig a little bit through QBP and very few production bikes come equipped by 3x. But it's very much available. If you want that NOS cred, Yellow Jersey (https://www.yellowjersey.org/) is a vintage dream, but 90s website warning.

Any decent bike technician has encyclopedic compatibility knowledge in their heads and can easily spec you out a modern 3x drivetrain in any shape you want. I bring some good beer to the shop where my partner works, ask the questions, and get the info dump. "Oh, sure. For that bike and target gear range, you want Muffler Bearings, double Blinker Fluid, and then hypernize with extra Elbow Grease." But actually meaningful info.

I want to know who the hell downvoted Freddie.

coffee and mango and cheese modulating outcome

I love all of these things! I feel like I'm missing some synergies in my edibles experience. Please tell me more...

Those who know, know. In order to get the same range as an 8-speed (or nine) triple, modern drivetrains have to be a Rohloff or Pinion. No other 1X/2X can get close without some ridiculous design. More than that, 1X drivetrains are expensive, fiddly, and proprietary.

Shimano and SRAM would prefer you to only be able to bike the way they think you should. But the profusion of kludges to get more gear range says to me that people actually miss their triples. So yeah, triples are mostly relegated to the realm of specialty vendors like Velo Orange, Microsoft, BOX, etc.

wonder how you would get to the small steps, like do you do something like front 1 up, rear 3(?) down, or just get used to the bigger steps?

For my 3x8 and 3x9, I used to memorize the steps and know when to shift both derailleurs. These days, I just go by feel and only shift the front when I want a different range. If you want to get every last available step out of your 3x, the late, great Sheldon has you covered: https://www.sheldonbrown.com/gear-calc.html

Did anyone else click and zoom for fun moiré effect?

ADHD + tinnitus here, and my tinnitus frequencies shift around too. I made white and brown noise clips in Audacity, then notched out the frequencies of my varying tinnitus. I play it on repeat and found it very helpful. Although the tinnitus always comes back, I can focus while listening.

If you want help with creating your own files or just want me to make them for you, DM me.

We will see this in a federal court case before too long. In the US cash is legal tender for transactions, but plenty of businesses are moving to card-only. This is kinda legal gray area now, but when I still owned businesses it was quite illegal. I consulted my business attorney about going to card-only because of too many hold-up attempts. That was a complete non-starter.