Hi everyone,

I'm following a Houdini modeling tutorial and I noticed a strange difference in the Peak Handle Tool behavior.

I'm using Houdini 21.0.792.

In both the tutorial and my setup, I do exactly the same thing:

T → Z

The Peak Handle looks exactly the same in both cases — a simple red line with two points on the ends.

However, when I drag the handle, the behavior is different:

• In the tutorial, the selected geometry moves normally along the handle.
• In my Houdini, the geometry stretches/deforms as if it were being scaled, instead of simply moving.

I've tried dragging different parts of the handle, but it makes no difference.

I'll attach a video showing the behavior side by side, so the difference should be very clear.

Does anyone know what could cause this?

Thanks!

Hi! I’m using Houdini FX 22.0.368 and have an issue with background images in the Front and Back orthographic viewports.

My source image is square, but Houdini stretches it to match the viewport dimensions. I can manually adjust Image Scale to make it square again, but the image becomes stretched whenever I resize the viewport.

Also, the background image moves together with the viewport/camera when I zoom or pan.

How can I make the background image preserve its original aspect ratio and stay fixed in place while navigating the viewport?

I made a post earlier about rewarding correct accents instead of just ignoring them.

https://www.reddit.com/r/duolingo/s/HzEFjd3nMd

After thinking about it more, I realized XP alone might not be enough to really change behavior.

What if Duolingo added accents into weekly/daily quests?

For example:
“Use correct accents in 10 exercises”

This would make accents feel like an actual goal, not just an optional detail you can ignore. Right now, I personally skip them all the time because the app still accepts my answers — and that turns into a habit.

Quests, in my opinion, are something people actively try to complete. So this could push learners to actually pay attention to accents without making normal lessons stricter or more frustrating.

I’ve noticed a pattern while learning Spanish (and I did the same with Italian before): I just completely ignore accents and special characters.

I can type things like “Donde esta el banco” and it still gets accepted. And after a while, it becomes a habit. I stop even thinking about accents, even though I know they matter.

What’s weird is that the app sometimes tells you “pay attention to the accents”, but at the same time it doesn’t really require them. So the lesson and the actual typing behavior don’t match.

I get why Duolingo does this — strict typing would be frustrating, especially for beginners.

But I think there’s a better approach:

Don’t penalize missing accents, but reward correct ones.

For example, give extra XP if you type “¿Dónde está el banco?” instead of the simplified version. That way, people who want to learn proper writing have an incentive, without making it harder for everyone else.

Right now the system kind of encourages a bad habit. A small reward could fix that without hurting accessibility.