Hivemind Times Issue #35

Welcome To The Hivemind Times!

Ok yall imma be honest for once. Im drunk. This newsletter snuck up on me. What we have here is a crowd sourced peice of madness that comes from a place of love. Friendship has taken control of my life and I’m just sailing along. Unlimited is back rolling and yall support keeps me breathing I mean it.

This weeks edition has some real gems for yall and we all need to rejoice in the beauty and joyx3 of the randomness of people that are willing to put their words into print.

Ok I’ll stop myself before the lunatic seeps out, I appreciate it and remember the air you breathe is the first and the joke you make might be your last!

- Riley & Graydon

ALBUM RECS

Get up and dance, it’s Friday.

SPORTS

ARSENAL SMASH REAL MADRID 3-0 AT THE EMIRATES!!!

It was truly a historic night. Unforgettable.. Where do I even begin? 

Let’s start with Madrid. Shocking, lazy, uninspired. Ancelotti set up his team in a defensive 442/ 4222 out of possession to try and disqualify Arsenal from playing through the midfield with Vini and Mbappe leading whatever the hell this “press” was. Arsenal were able to easily play through them as it felt like there was no intention or thought into what was actually going to happen without the ball. I have not watched much of Real Madrid this season but based on what I’ve read about their style of play leading up to the game, I learned Ancelotti has historically wanted their star players to stay high, and if they win the ball, counter quickly. Arsenal did get caught out on one occasion with Mbappe through on goal, but striked the ball straight at Raya. Overall they were toothless.

Arsenal on the other hand. WOW. There was so much desire, I could feel it through my computer screen. Declan Rice, Myles, Timber, Saka. All unreal on the night. I couldn’t type into words anything unique from what you’ve probably already read about Declan Rice’s freekicks, so I’ll leave you with this: Fuck. 

That being said, I haven’t seen many people speak about Saka and his contribution to those goals. He was the one that won both FKs. You could tell Arsenal wanted to feed him and take on his man all game, and he had a newly returning Alaba on a hot dog with spicy relish. Second half they brought Bellingham back to double team him in possession. Which led me to think, did they really not respect him? On a field with the world's BEST attacking quartet, Saka was the most dangerous player on the pitch, bar none. 

What players we have on our hands in MLS and Timber. Vini? Clamped. Rodrigo? Double clamp. This kid MLS is a HOOPER bro. Remember when I talked about Real Madrid’s defensive set up earlier? Myles is the sole reason it fell apart, and here’s why: MLS drifted into central positions between Vini and Mbappe to form a double pivot with Partey, this gave Rodrigo a difficult decision. Do I mark him or hold the space? Most times Rodrigo ended up half marking him (lazily) which fell right into Arsenal's game plan. Declan Rice would move out of a central area and pick the ball up very wide on the pitch, in the space Rodrigo left, and he could turn and drive. Arteta got it spot on. Gonna shout out my #9 Mikey Mikel Merino what a finish lad. 

- Grant

A JOURNAL ENTRY

From Shvingi Ingëbörksen

I just read an article in the New Yorker about Chinese students’ experiences studying in theUnited States. There was some discussion about how this generation of kids differs from their parents. In one mother’s view, the younger Chinese had lost the concept of “chiku”, literally translated as “eat bitterness,” internalized by older generations.

A few interesting things going on here. First, self-sacrifice may always come with a serving of martyrdom; one cannot exist without the other. These parents have put everything on the line so their children can have every possible opportunity to succeed. Yet these same parents, in moments of candor, would say that the younger generation is spoiled and coddled.

By putting every egg in the one basket, though, this may be a self fulfilling prophecy. And it leaves the same parents with their own eggless baskets in their hands; their own selfish pursuits are thrown by the wayside. Anyone would feel kind of fundamentally irritated by that. Giving truth serum to the man who has just dived in front of a bullet, saving his child’s life, he might not have any regrets but there would still be a whiff of annoyance and simultaneous moral superiority.

No different than what people hear from their elders all the time: “things were harder back then,”etc. Or, “of course here I go sacrificing myself, you better make it worth it.” Put another way, the sacrifice is never totally selfless. Extreme examples include Neil in Dead Poets, or Matt Damon in School Ties.

Second, it implies there is one kind of linear struggle that, after continued sacrifice, moves closer and closer to zero. Maybe this is true for what we could call “tactile” struggle; physical manifestations of socioeconomic disadvantages. Non-exhaustive list: access to good food, safe shelter, medical care. This is happening both at macro and micro levels.

At the micro, family unit level, parents work hard so those that follow do not have to. At the macro level, productivity gains have made this generation of humans the wealthiest in existence. Generally speaking, you are less likely to experience “tactile” struggle than ever before.

Clearly, this is not the case for every type of struggle. For instance, depression rates in young people are skyrocketing. The disconnect between “tactile” struggle and mental struggle is difficult to explain. Unfortunately, mental struggle is simpler to comprehend than the tactile variety. It is easy for a doctor to examine someone and tell them they are starving to death, or address a leg broken while performing physical labor. It is much more difficult to explain why the stock broker with zero “tactile” struggle is trying to overdose on Ambien.

Maybe we're just now realizing that the nose-to-the-grindstone, Protestant work ethic which genuinely is making the world a much wealthier place has some gaping blindspots. Taking the idiom a step further, when one’s nose is very close to a quickly spinning rock, it is hard to take a step back and appreciate what else is going on in one’s mind. Am I fulfilled? What do I care about? What do I think about how things are going on around me in my community?

These thoughts might be a form of leisure activity fairly new to human existence. Previously, few would have the energy to really interrogate them

- Shvingi Ingëbörksen

VIDEO GAMES

Bringing the OG Xbox Back to Life

Why Modding My Original Xbox Has Been a Game-Changer

Lately, I’ve been spending a lot of time with the original Xbox—and I don’t mean just looking at it on a shelf. I finally decided to mod it, and honestly, it’s been one of the most fun and satisfying tech projects I’ve done in a while.

Modding opened up everything. I installed a custom dashboard, loaded up my old game collection, and even added emulators for a bunch of retro consoles. It turned the Xbox into this all-in-one retro box that’s perfect for couch gaming sessions. No more swapping discs, no loading issues, just straight to the good stuff.

But the real highlight? Playing Halo 2 online again, thanks to Insignia. For those who haven’t heard of it, Insignia is a fan-made service that brings back Xbox Live for the original system. It’s totally free and feels shockingly close to how it used to be. Matchmaking works, voice chat is back, and people are actually playing.

Jumping into Halo 2 online in 2025 is surreal—in the best way. The matches are fast, the maps still hold up, and the energy is just as intense as it was back in the day. No microtransactions, no clutter—just classic multiplayer the way it was meant to be.

If you’ve got an OG Xbox lying around, modding it is absolutely worth it. It breathes new life into an old console, and with communities like Insignia growing, the online experience is better than ever. It’s not just nostalgia—it’s genuinely fun.

- Tony

QUINN’S CHEMISTRY CLASS

If I had a pet mouse I would name it Mousz Edong

You walk inside your house with a fresh box of strawberries and you think to yourself, “Wow! These would go great with some whipped cream.” After opening the fridge, you notice a stark lack of whipped cream, so you head online and visit shopgalaxygas.com, your favorite nitrous supplier’s website, to buy a tank for your next batch of whipped cream. Oh no! They no longer offer nitrous tanks, only awesome paraphernalia with branded designs. 

Next, you visit Lord Bezo’s Bazaar, the online shopping conglomerate that sells bulk orders of your favorite nitrous brand. What the hell?! The listings for the nitrous canisters have been removed! You hop in your 1994 Toyota Camry, blasting “Fuck Your Life” by Corpse Pile on blown out Pioneer woofers, and head over to Walmart. You walk to the whipped cream aisle. Uh-oh Scoob, they’re fresh out of Galaxy Gas. 

Finally, you drive to the nearest strip mall and enter a small local business called “Good Time Super Smokrz World”. You ask the junkie at the cash register for a box of whipped cream canisters. He doesn’t respond, then you look up and realize he is standing up but also sleeping at the same time. You are disappointed, but also a little impressed. Don’t worry! In this article, we will learn how to synthesize our own Galaxy Gas at home! Your strawberries will not go to waste.

What is galaxy gas?

Galaxy gas contains a substance called nitrous oxide. Nitrous oxide, or N2O, is an oxidizing agent and anaesthetic compound that is a gas at room temperature and pressure. It is most commonly used at the dentist and other medical scenarios as an anaesthetic, known also as “laughing gas”, and famously used in cars to temporarily increase engine power with the push of a button. 

N2O is a pretty simple molecule consisting of two nitrogen atoms bonded to a single oxygen atom. The nitrogens are triple bonded to each other and the oxygen is part of a relatively weaker coordinate bond with the single nitrogen in the middle. At room temperature N2O is mostly inert, which means it does not react readily with most things, but at higher temperatures it breaks down and will donate the oxygen atom to molecules around it. This is why it is injected into car engines to make them go faster, it introduces extra oxygen into the air-fuel mixture, allowing the fuel to combust more completely. Most importantly though, when you breathe it in, it makes you feel funny for a little while.

How to galaxy gas?

This part is for real geekers only.

There are a few ways N2O can be synthesized in an accessible manner. The first method involves heating ammonium nitrate and feeding the resulting gas mixture through hot water into a gas collection receptacle. Ammonium nitrate decomposes into N2O and water vapor when heated to around 250 C. Unfortunately, nitric acid and ammonia are also formed in the gas phase, and under certain conditions other toxic nitric oxides will form as well (I’m 90% sure about that part). It is very possible to include some phosphates and control the decomposition to end up with pure N2O. In fact, this is the method used in industrial synthesis of N2O. 

However, ammonium nitrate decomposition is an exothermic process (it releases heat) which can lead to a runaway reaction where the heat from the decomposition creates a positive feedback loop of increasing the reaction rate, further increasing the temperature, leading to a scenario where you have an explosive compound rapidly heating up in a closed system. Another word for this situation is a “bomb”. Maybe we should try a different method.

There is a much safer method using easier to obtain reagents. This method involves a mixture of hydroxylamine, sodium nitrite, and distilled water. First, the hydroxylamine is dissolved in distilled water in a flask with a tube leading to a gas collection receptacle. Then, the sodium nitrite is added dropwise to the hydroxylamine solution. Mostly pure N2O, sodium chloride (table salt), and water are formed. The reaction is exothermic so it is wise to put the reaction flask in an ice bath and monitor the temperature so it does not boil over. If the sodium nitrite is added too quickly it is possible for some toxic nitric oxides to form. The N2O gas product can be bubbled through aqueous sodium hydroxide to end up with very pure N2O.

There are a few other useful methods for N2O synthesis that I don’t really know any details of but I do know that one of them uses urea, I call that one piss gas. In reality though, all of the lab methods for synthesizing N2O are stupidly expensive and you can end up with toxic byproducts if you don’t know what you’re doing. The only reason to actually do this is for fun and lab practice. If you really want cheap galaxy gas, go to a tuner shop, buy a bottle of NOS, and bubble it through 10% aqueous sodium hydroxide a few times. I’m not proofreading btw this so hopefully that all made sense.

- Quinn

A POEM FROM A FRIEND NAMED STEPHEN

FRIENDS

From an unknown face 
Carved with a smile of glee
Sprouts a dear friend 
That I’m happy to see

Friends are there for you
Even in moments of strife
Because they see the bigger picture
This beautiful portrait of life

Trust in a fellow human
Is difficult to come by
But I believe in all their words
They don’t sugar coat me with lies

My absolute favorite quality
Is the infectious smiles
It brings me up when I’m down
And my grin stays for a long while

Our paths have been unique
But we all found each other
With them in my life
I know there’s much more to discover

- Stephen

MERCH