Louisiana won't Recognize Same-Sex Marriages


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Do you know who originally wrote this? Was it the person that sent it to you or someone else?

The person who sent it to me, merely said "a friend sent this to me" - he never said "my friend wrote it" or "he wrote it"

So I dont know

I tried searching some of the text verbatim and didn't pull up an exact match

The title of the document was "An invented right" v 1st Amendment"

However the title of the email was "The Practice of Homosexuality and The decline of Morality"

Louisiana won't Recognize Same-Sex Marriages

 

Good. some states still have some standards unlike the supreme court.

 

the way i see it... the further society as a whole drifts away from God (and His standards) the worse it gets in the long run (allowing Gay Marriage (and the like) is another step away from God). but good luck getting many people in society today to see that simple truth that the more sin in the world the worse it gets.

 

on a side note: http://goo.gl/DldZ7r (Glorifying homosexuality sign of society

Good. some states still have some standards unlike the supreme court.

 

the way i see it... the further society as a whole drifts away from God (and His standards) the worse it gets in the long run (allowing Gay Marriage (and the like) is another step away from God). but good luck getting many people in society today to see that simple truth that the more sin in the world the worse it gets.

 

on a side note: http://goo.gl/DldZ7r (Glorifying homosexuality sign of society

  • Like 3

You don't have to support them but your religious views on marriage start and stop at your front door. You can't impose your religious belief regarding marriage on others. If you don't like gay marriage, don't marry a same sex partner. 

 

Well America had those standards for a long time and then in a very short period of time (maybe 10-15 years or so) changed. people became more corrupt. where does it end?

 

i don't think they start and stop and the front door when it's a view a lot of people had for a long time which helps form the standards of society. Marriage will always be between a man and a woman in the eyes of God. this can never change.

 

even religion aside... there are studies that say children need a father and a mother.

Well America had those standards for a long time and then in a very short period of time (maybe 10-15 years or so) changed. people became more corrupt. where does it end?

America also had slavery for a long time, then in a very short period of time, changed. People became more humane to each other, where does it end?

 

i don't think they start and stop and the front door when it's a view a lot of people had for a long time which helps form the standards of society. Marriage will always be between a man and a woman in the eyes of God. this can never change.

 

even religion aside... there are studies that say children need a father and a mother.

 

If you're going to bring fairy tales and superstition into the conversation, first you must prove they exist, otherwise they have zero relevance or place in the discussion. Here'a a little history lesson for you.  Marriage existed long before organised religion, long before the god of the Christians or the god of the Jews. Long before the gods of the Romans, or the Greeks, or the Sumerians, Hittites, or any other early civilisation you care to name.  

 

Marriage has had many forms over the millennia, it has been between man, woman, man & man, woman & woman, groups, children and so on.  Who are you, a tiny minority in an upstart little nation with barely 600 years under its belt, to dictate to the world what marriage should be?

America also had slavery for a long time, then in a very short period of time, changed. People became more humane to each other, where does it end?

 

 

If you're going to bring fairy tales and superstition into the conversation, first you must prove they exist, otherwise they have zero relevance or place in the discussion. Here'a a little history lesson for you.  Marriage existed long before organised religion, long before the god of the Christians or the god of the Jews. Long before the gods of the Romans, or the Greeks, or the Sumerians, Hittites, or any other early civilisation you care to name.  

 

Marriage has had many forms over the millennia, it has been between man, woman, man & man, woman & woman, groups, children and so on.  Who are you, a tiny minority in an upstart little nation with barely 600 years under its belt, to dictate to the world what marriage should be?

 

Slavery is wrong though (denying people their basic freedom) so it's no wonder why that was abolished. sin on the other hand can't be accepted as normal/no big deal.

 

the kind of proof you are looking for you are unlikely to find as i have a feeling you just won't believe even if it was right in front of you. http://goo.gl/lQ03FV ; science says that should not be possible (tied to Catholic religion).

 

also, i am not dictating what marriage is. God is. any true Christians are against gay marriage which means a good portion of the planet. surely not a tiny minority to say the least.

Slavery is wrong though (denying people their basic freedom) so it's no wonder why that was abolished. sin on the other hand can't be accepted as normal/no big deal.

 

the kind of proof you are looking for you are unlikely to find as i have a feeling you just won't believe even if it was right in front of you. http://goo.gl/lQ03FV ; science says that should not be possible (tied to Catholic religion).

 

also, i am not dictating what marriage is. God is. any true Christians are against gay marriage which means a good portion of the planet. surely not a tiny minority to say the least.

 

Yes, you ARE dictating what marriage is. Not everyone subscribes to your god delusion, so telling them what they can or cannot do is 100% coming from the mouths of humans to other humans.

 

As for that link; fairy tales.  Prove it actually happened.

  • Like 1

Yes, you ARE dictating what marriage is. Not everyone subscribes to your god delusion, so telling them what they can or cannot do is 100% coming from the mouths of humans to other humans.

 

As for that link; fairy tales.  Prove it actually happened.

 

Well that's the thing... religion does play a part of society as it helps form peoples moral views. without a good moral guide people pretty much make stuff up as they go and it slowly gets worse and worse.

 

you got to draw the line somewhere ;)

 

link is not fairy tales, but truth. if something cannot be preserved for that long, but yet remains... that surely has to say something.

Well America had those standards for a long time and then in a very short period of time (maybe 10-15 years or so) changed. people became more corrupt. where does it end?

 

 

Accepting gay marriage doesn't in anyway equate being corrupt. 

 

 

i don't think they start and stop and the front door when it's a view a lot of people had for a long time which helps form the standards of society. Marriage will always be between a man and a woman in the eyes of God. this can never change.

 

even religion aside... there are studies that say children need a father and a mother.

 

 

 

America has changed many views in it's few hundred years of existence, this isn't anything new in that regard. It doesn't matter if many of you share said view, again it's your belief that marriage is part of god's plan or what ever. It's not your job to make sure others accept that belief and it's not your right to keep someone else from getting married because you hold that belief. You keep talking about god when god has nothing to do with anyone's marriage that doesn't share the same view of god as you. Marriage is purely about those who get married, not you or anyone else. If god really wants his views heard on marriage then its up to god to present those views directly, not through third party like yourself. 

 

Children is moot as marriage isn't about having kids. You don't need marriage to have them and you don't need to have them if you get married. There are studies that show children of same sex couples do just as fine as others. Your point is moot. 

  • Like 2

Well that's the thing... religion does play a part of society as it helps form peoples moral views. without a good moral guide people pretty much make stuff up as they go and it slowly gets worse and worse.

 

you got to draw the line somewhere ;)

 

link is not fairy tales, but truth. if something cannot be preserved for that long, but yet remains... that surely has to say something.

 

 

 

You can be just as morally good or bad with or without religion. You don't need god telling you have to behave. 

  • Like 3

Well that's the thing... religion does play a part of society as it helps form peoples moral views. without a good moral guide people pretty much make stuff up as they go and it slowly gets worse and worse.

 

you got to draw the line somewhere ;)

 

link is not fairy tales, but truth. if something cannot be preserved for that long, but yet remains... that surely has to say something.

 

All it says is that religious types are good at spinning a yarn.  Unless the events were corroborated by people who had -nothing- to do with the church, it just so much fiction, like the bible is.

 

And I can assure you I have plenty of morals, morals that are not imposed on me through fear of what may happen to my "soul" should I commit sin. I am without sin and can never commit it for sin is a crime against something which doesn't exist, and how is it possible to offend something that isn't there?

 i am not dictating what marriage is.

 

Marriage existed long before the invention of Yahweh.

 

religion does play a part of society as it helps form peoples moral views. 

 

Didn't you just say slavery is bad? And now you are saying religion helps people? religion supports slavery. Are you sure you read your bible? 

 

 

any true Christians

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_true_Scotsman

 

 

also, i am not dictating what marriage is. God is.

 

 

Which biblical marriage type (as dictated by yahweh) is your favorite?

 

marriage.jpg

  • Like 4

Well that's the thing... religion does play a part of society as it helps form peoples moral views. without a good moral guide people pretty much make stuff up as they go and it slowly gets worse and worse.

Christianity is a TERRIBLE moral guide. It advocates sexism, homophobia, murder, violence and slavery. It is one of the reasons there is so much intolerance in the world, along with other organised religions (Islam, Judaism). I'm non-religious and my moral compass is just fine.

 

The sooner religion disappears the sooner society will improve.

Valid question, one that I don't have a ready answer for. But that doesn't mean that the quick fix of "fire all the Christians!" is automatically the right choice. Just means the compromise needs to be well-thought out.

 

Not every Christian has an issue. So far, only a few seem to find it morally unacceptable to give a license to a gay couple but do not seem to have an issue giving an license to non-virgin, unwed w/ children, divorced and adultery couples. Go figure.

  • Like 1

Well that's the thing... religion does play a part of society as it helps form peoples moral views. without a good moral guide people pretty much make stuff up as they go and it slowly gets worse and worse.

Hope you don't mind if I toss in a PoV here...what you're saying here is a very dangerous and slippery slope to go down. Many self professed Christians, both in the US and around the world, have really shamed the name of Christ in the public eye after demanding a certain code/law/outlook be adopted in his name, and then breaking that very code/law/outlook themselves.

Personally, my own moral code hasn't changed a whole lot from before I accepted Christ to after. What has changed are my efforts to follow it. Being a Christian puts me under a microscope. I slip up and I had better be ready to take my lumps like a man, so to speak. But how this ties into the topic is that, If I'm going to live as a Christian, I need to accept certain things, like the fact that I cannot change the world, or even one person. The best I can hope for is to present an example to someone that I can only hope mirrors a little of Jesus. Be slow to anger, don't condemn, Love lots and rant and control little....

What Christians today are doing is taking a book that is relevant for learning, but is based on a law which has been superceded, the OT. And at the very end of the NT (Rev 22:11) we are told in no uncertain terms to allow people to live as they do. And I've made some very good friends over the years doing exactly that.

I know how this may look, and to clarify, I'm not attempting to lecture, not at all, so please don't take it that way. I just think it's important to note that there's a good reason that every single book in the NT with the exception of the 4 gospels is written specifically to Christians, yet so many Christians are trying to force the tenants of those books on people who are not Christians......

Just my humble 2 cents.

Peace

I need to accept certain things, like the fact that I cannot change the world, or even one person.

 

The world has drastically changed since christianity was unleashed upon the world.

 

1) Witches are no longer burned (in western society).

2) People are not longer stoned to death for menial things (in western society).

3) Slavery was abolished (in western society).

4) Women were given equal rights (in western society).

5) Blacks and now given equal rights as whites (in western society).

6) Gays are now given equal rights as everyone (in western society).

 

etc etc etc....

 

People CAN and DO change the world little by little. Religion holds society back by NOT trying to change it.

 

What Christians today are doing is taking a book that is relevant for learning,

 

For christians maybe, the rest of the world are starting to see it as a tool for learning what NOT to do.

 

 

Being a Christian puts me under a microscope.

 

Everyone is, repercussions for one's actions are independent and irrelevant of the belief of how the person individually feels about the action.

 

yet so many Christians are trying to force the tenants of those books on people who are not Christians......

 

 You must not follow christianity very well... the very foundation of what you believe is based in blackmail. Love and accept yahweh or burn in hell forever. If that's not forcing, what the heck would you consider being forced? lol.

Well America had those standards for a long time and then in a very short period of time (maybe 10-15 years or so) changed. people became more corrupt. where does it end?

 

i don't think they start and stop and the front door when it's a view a lot of people had for a long time which helps form the standards of society. Marriage will always be between a man and a woman in the eyes of God. this can never change.

 

even religion aside... there are studies that say children need a father and a mother.

If I may respectfully ask, what years are you referring to when you say 10-15 years?

Also, (you don't have to answer, of course), are you of the Catholic or Protestant persuasion? I ask because I"m Protestant and don't know the Catholic beliefs well.

You must not follow christianity very well... the very foundation of what you believe is based in blackmail. Love and accept yahweh or burn in hell forever. If that's not forcing, what the heck would you consider being forced? lol.

You have an extremely distorted view of Christianity. It's easy to understand why given some of the more public examples of what Christianity is. Whether I follow "it" well or not isn't up to you, or even me really, to judge.

Regarding your list:

1. People have manufactured plenty to replace the witches. Plenty of folks get burned at the figurative stake all over the world.

2. Police brutality (Mike Garner, Tamir Rice - the list is way to long. Why stone when you can shoot?

3. Slavery has been replaced in western society by the 1%ers milking everyone else for their money.

4. Somewhat. The world over they're still treated like trash in large part.

5 & 6. More equal rights isn't a bad thing, no argument there.

On the OT as a learning tool, again you have an extremely distorted view of what I said. #1 my statement is a direct NT biblical reference, not a suggestion to you, and #2, oddly enough the bible also uses it as a deterrent against certain beliefs and actions.

The microscope comment - My concern is how Christians are representing Jesus. The rest of the world is going to do what it does regardless of that.

Well that's the thing... religion does play a part of society as it helps form peoples moral views. without a good moral guide people pretty much make stuff up as they go and it slowly gets worse and worse.

 

you got to draw the line somewhere ;)

 

link is not fairy tales, but truth. if something cannot be preserved for that long, but yet remains... that surely has to say something.

Let me see if I have this right,

You are actually using the bible as your moral compass, and think everyone else should as well ?  Are you mental ?  Have you even read the thing ?  I have - its a disgusting joke of a book.  a 1700 yr old fiction that advocates genocide, jealousy, bigotry, incest, murder, slavery, hate, - oh hell I could go on - re-read Exodus, or hell - re-read all of it - it is a simple minded book written by men almost 2000 years ago (the Iron Age) with ZERO divine influence... ZERO.  It is a hodgepodge of era-centric beliefs, that only now people who are faithful are beginning to make excuses for the painfully obvious silly parts (ie the Old Testament) - how many times have you heard, "well thats the Old Testament - thats all just allegory" ?  How nice you can just delete 1/2 the bible you claim is god's spoke word...  

This is your moral lightning rod ?  This is the book that tells you what is right and wrong ?  FloatingFatMan brought up slavery was in the bible, your reply, "well thats just..."  you're dismissing what your god said was OK ?  You know better than your god for these modern times ??  I believe thats called heresy.

Your thoughts tell me 3 things:

You never read the bible

You didnt understand it because you were too young when you forced to go by your family

You have absolutely no idea what good and bad is, truth or fiction, right or wrong.

Most people aren't capable of original thought - they simply dont have the capacity - so they follow others, making miniscule decisions throughout life - If you're a decent person, nothing really wrong with that per se, but others question things, want to find out the answers, and make their own decisions, not simply regurgitate what they were told without further thought.

So -  dont talk about the bible when saying what is right and wrong - because then anyone could introduce making the same moral choices from Mother Goose, or Humpty Dumpty - and will bypass all the killing.  Hmmm might be something to that....

 

Most people aren't capable of original thought - they simply dont have the capacity - so they follow others, making miniscule decisions throughout life - If you're a decent person, nothing really wrong with that per se, but others question things, want to find out the answers, and make their own decisions, not simply regurgitate what they were told without further thought.

 

For some reason, I feel really quite saddened by that concept.  I agree with you for the most part, but, it really quite sad, isn't it?

 

I honestly don't believe I'm in any way superior to any of my fellow humans, but I'm intelligent, thoughtful, and have had many original thoughts in my life. Surely, -everyone- should be capable of doing that, right?  I think they just need the will...

For some reason, I feel really quite saddened by that concept.  I agree with you for the most part, but, it really quite sad, isn't it?

 

I honestly don't believe I'm in any way superior to any of my fellow humans, but I'm intelligent, thoughtful, and have had many original thoughts in my life. Surely, -everyone- should be capable of doing that, right?  I think they just need the will...

You know I thought for a couple minutes before typing that - I was going off on a tangent and didnt want to sound pompous, or that I think I am smarter than everyone else... but then I thought of everyday observences, what the supposed average IQ is, blah blah blah - and I thought - well I am going to include this, but I need to word it in a way that isnt so spiteful - so I threw in that it is perfectly OK - you can be a good person without being insightful - and being a good person is more important to most than being a genius.  I honestly believe that is true - I fail miserably at being a good person - I dont particularly care for people - I wish I was a more pleasant person who cherished the life of others.  I dont go out of my way to harm people, but, for the most part, I dont care if they are harmed.  dogs ... I do care about them being harmed... kills me...

But yes it is sad, I wish everyone could enjoy inquisitive thought, to really think about something, the origin, the infinite chain of events that culminate in a particular instance that happens so fast it is forgotten almost immediately - The amazing subatomic aspects of matter - most things we see around us are made of nothing... just air and some molecules -  simply fascinating.  When you mention things like this, the common reply is "oh I never thought about that, or just a deer in the headlights look, but most of the time - I get the , "damn, you really are a nerd !" playful comment.

 

^ I just can't really imagine people NOT thinking about stuff like that! I know I certainly do. Not all the time obviously, but quite a lot.  I never accept -anything- on face value UNLESS the person doing the telling has excellent credentials in the field they're talking about, and even then, I read up on it.  -Everything- interests me. :)

^ I just can't really imagine people NOT thinking about stuff like that! I know I certainly do. Not all the time obviously, but quite a lot.  I never accept -anything- on face value UNLESS the person doing the telling has excellent credentials in the field they're talking about, and even then, I read up on it.  -Everything- interests me. :)

amen brutha

You have an extremely distorted view of Christianity. 

 

And I suppose I should view it like you? Isn't this what every single one of the 40,000 individual christian denominations say to everyone (including other christians) outside their own individual interpretation?

 

 

Regarding your list:

 

Excuses and horrible comparisons by any standard.

 

 

On the OT as a learning tool, again you have an extremely distorted view of what I said. #1 my statement is a direct NT biblical reference,

 

You may not know this, but it's the same deity in the both the first and second testament. A common, but still big,  oversight from christians. You can't have one without the other and must take the good with the bad. Sorry.

 

The microscope comment - My concern is how Christians are representing Jesus. The rest of the world is going to do what it does regardless of that.

 

You personally may have this concern, but luckily the world is quickly (relatively) seeing mythology for what it is. The belief in supernatural deities is being replaced by common sense and humanism, slowly but surely as seen by the last  100 years. This ruling on gay marriage is just another rejection of an immoral law set upon the world by people who believe in magic, thankfully.

And yes, I'm well aware it's the same God in both books. Do you even have a point there?

 

Then why act as if it's a good deity?

 

 

It's amusing, this antagonistic atitude you have towards someone you've never met.... everything you've typed to me so far basically reeks of internet tough guy garbage.

 

It's amusing, since you are doing the very same thing. You have an odd sense of what an "internet tough guy" is.... you mean someone who disagrees with your points? Then yes, and this is me in real life as well. Don't like it? Too bad. Your beliefs are open to be challenged. If they were perfect beliefs, what would be to challenge? Says a lot right there doesn't it?

 

snipped

 

If you ask anyone around me, I am the happiest, most feel good person they know. To a christian person who is for the oppression of the rights of others, I can see how they might see it as angry, but its not, its a passion to treat people good and fair.

 

 

I don't engage you for you, I engage you for the benefit of others who may be reading/will read this chat now and/or in the future and can see the flaws of your arguments. If no one argued your points, we would be in a society that would still be similar to the ancient middle east. You should be happy that "my diaper is full and I'm angry" people exist. Without us, society is stuck.

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As you will see, the completed build looks like it belongs in a server or meter closet rather than as a showpiece on someone's desk. On what I am calling the rear, there's a Mini DisplayPort (1.4), two 2.5 GbE ports, with Type A 3.1 USB ports, and then the barrel connector port. Around the front, there are two SATA6 ports with a power connector in the middle. Left side Right side One side is completely free of ports. On the other there's a slit that allows for the feed of a CPU fan cable, and a PCIe 3.0 X4 slot. Top Bottom The top is entirely made up of a heatsink except for the extended height for the I/O on the rear. Around the other side, you can find the ZIMA branding and some regulatory information stamped near the bottom. As you may see from the bottom of the ZimaBoard 2, it scratches quite easily from just moving it around on my Ikea island. Teardown Before we get started, let's have a look at this thing on the inside. The steps to get to the board are as follows: Remove the four smaller Torx screws on the bottom of the ZimaBoard 2; Remove the four larger Torx screws on the sides of the device; Carefully unstick the CMOS battery from the PCB; Remove two Phillips screws on the PCB; Lift out the PCB. Yes, as you can tell from the instructions, you need three different tools to remove Torx and Phillips screws (10 in total), and unhelpfully, one of the screws is located under the CMOS battery, which is stuck onto the PCB. Building Now comes the fun part. Because the ZimaSpace website does not provide any guidance on how to put the Starter Kit together. They only have guidance for connecting the CPU fan. However, they did upload a video to their YouTube channel that shows the entire process. To install the fan, first remove the four screws on the bottom of the ZimaBoard 2, then on the inside, there is a CPU FAN connector where you can attach the fan, reattach the ZimaBoard 2 frame, and feed the fan cable through the provided slit. Then remove the nearest screw on the side and attach the fan frame to the side of the device using the same screw. ZimaBard 2 screws Aligning the screws Bottom view Remember those four screws we removed to access the CPU FAN? Longer screws are provided in the box with the HDD Expansion Bracket, which is what you will now need to attach the ZimaBoard 2 to it. Helpfully, the orientation on how to attach it is made obvious when the frame can only be screwed on at the same overall length as the ZimaBoard 2. If you do it the wrong way around (which is what I did initially) one side hangs off the frame, and it becomes difficult to attach the PCIe Adapter Card cable. PCIe card frame Other side PCIe slot connector Next, it's time to attach the PCIe card frame, which is fastened with the help of 3.5-inch SATA HDD (3 screws). These are toolless screws that you can just use your fingers to fasten them with. Then it is time to connect the provided PCIe cable with the slot connector on one side of the ZimaBoard 2, feed it through the bottom of the HDD frame, and fasten it with two standoffs. Both bracket options 2280 standoffs with 2x 4TB MP44Q The PCIe 3.0 X4 card comes with a short bracket option, handy if you decide to place it inside a different NAS or rack server, but here we need the long bracket. Oddly enough, the M.2 standoffs were preinstalled into the 22110 position, but extra standoffs are included in the box, which I installed at the 2280 position for our use. I added a couple of MP44Q M.2 PCIe 4.0 SSDs (2 x 4TB) that can be availed on Amazon for $478.99 (the lowest price for 3 months) that TEAMGROUP supplied us with Then we have the almost completed build, you just need to push the card into the PCIe slot. Unfortunately, IceWhale Technologies did not provide a screw for the PCIe card frame (this is also apparent in their own video). Here it is at several different angles, with the last pic showing the SATA Y-Cable connected to the two WD Red Plus 4TB drives. Setup and Usage Next, you connect your cables to the I/O, and the ZimaBoard 2 powers on automatically, as there is no power button on the device. Power is controlled through the Settings in ZimaOS. BIOS The ZimaBoard 2 includes an Aptio BIOS from American Megatrends [1, 2, 3], and you can setup pretty much everything here including the boot order, which is locked to the UEFI OS, however above that choice you can enable or disable booting to a SATA/USB bootloader so this would still allow you to switch to an alternative bootloader and boot from it, or disable it to instead always start from the first disk with an OS installed on it. Initial Setup Upon connecting to the LAN and booting up, the ZimaBoard 2 can be reached by navigating to the IP address (shown if you have a monitor connected), or you can find it using the ZIMA Client desktop application, which is essentially a Zima device finder. Initializing the ZimaBoard 2 The ZimaOS setup process is pretty straightforward, through a wizard, and in full above, it basically consists of setting up an account and some handy tips, and that's that! Post Setup (ZimaOS update) Upon first boot, you are alerted that there is a ZimaOS update from 1.5.0 to 1.6.1, which I applied; the full process is shown above with the changelog. ZimaBoard 2 Storage Setup Next, it is time to set up the storage. ZimaOS actually throws everything onto the eMMC flash drive; it is also the default location of AppData, which is definitely something to be wary about, as the 45GB available storage could fill up quickly. HDDs I first attempted to create a Storage Pool using the two 4TB WD Red Plus NAS drives, and got an error message: After several attempts and then looking online, I discovered it was a bug with ZimaOS where the fix was simply to reboot ZimaOS and then try again, this time I was able to create a RAID mirror using the two drives. SSDs I did the same for the SSDs, as you will see in the above gallery, when I created the second Storage Pool, it only allowed me to select available drives. ZimaBoard 2 AppData ZimaOS comes with an App Store that includes a repository of almost 400 apps, so you will be able to find most of what you'll need for a NAS (although after a quick search, I wasn't able to find a Surveillance Manager), and now comes the important part: moving the default AppData location off the 45GB eMMC and onto a larger volume: Open Settings Then Apps Then, in the Select a new location field, click on the new Storage volume you want to move it to (in my case, the Apps Storage Pool), which is the SSD RAID mirror. Confirm the Migration warning Be praised! You can also do this for Docker (which by default installs onto the 45GB eMMC flash drive) and the User database. Plex Setup Next, I tested the configuration by installing the Plex Server app from the App Store. The library folders must already exist (which I placed into the Storage Pool). Plex Server setup is straightforward and requires very little configuration. In my case, all I had to do was add the media path I just created, which you can also browse to using the folder icon in the path field. In addition, you can now map the new Media library in Windows Explorer using the Zima Client. Oddly enough, it is not possible to access the ZimaBoard 2 over the Network Neighborhood; you must map drives using the client, which is shown in the last image in the above gallery. I watched one of my Blu-Ray rips, which is Dolby Vision with Dolby Atmos, and the content played fine with no stuttering or buffering, which is what anyone needs in this scenario. ZimaBoard 2 Zima Client mobile app There's also a client for mobile. It is pretty barebones, as shown in the above gallery, for example, the Apps screen launches the WebUI for that app, and the Backup must be done manually. On opening Backup, you can select internal storage folders on your phone to backup to the ZimaBoard 2's storage, and although this is constantly scanned, the backup action itself must be manually triggered. There is an option to allow foreground backup (last image in the above gallery), but this basically means the queued backup gets triggered when you manually open the app. Benchmarking SATA PCIe 3.0 X4 A CrystalDiskMark test on a mapped network drive from within a Windows 11 25H2 PC (image above) connected over a 2.5 GbE was well within acceptable ranges. Writes were generally better on the SSD RAID mirror. SATA PCIe 3.0 X1 I also ran the NAS Performance tester, which tests the link speed performance. As you can see, it pretty much maxes out the 2.5GbE connection. Of course, you can also opt to bond the two 2.5 GbE connections for a bit more umph, but I didn't do that. Thermals Top PCIe card SATA HDDs Next, I measured some hotspots while playing content on Plex. It's fair to say this will perform better than a NAS that is enclosed in a metal or plastic case, as almost everything storage-wise is exposed! Anyway, the ZimaBoard 2 did not break a sweat with Plex streaming or disk benchmarks. ZimaOS Factory Reset ZimaOS does not include a factory reset option. Instead, you have to download the ZimaOS image and flash it to the eMMC manually. The flashing process is shown in the above gallery. The steps to do so are listed below: Download the ZimaOS image here; Open BalenaEtcher (Run as Administrator) and select the image; Select your inserted USB drive (min 8 GB) Flash to it; Connect your USB drive, monitor, keyboard, USB hub (optional), mouse (optional), and network cable (recommended) to the ZimaBoard 2; Connect power and press F11 continuously; Select your USB drive starting with UEFI in the boot device menu; Press Enter on the Install ZimaOS option; Select /dev/mmcblk0 (MMC) flash drive as target; Confirm with (three times) to wipe the target disk; Wait a couple of minutes while ZimaOS installs; Remove the USB drive and confirm with a reboot; Your ZimaBoard 2 has been factory reset. However, you don't have to stick with ZimaOS, in fact the company also offers official CasaOS images, that are based on Debian; or as they say themselves, put anything you want on this "hackable single board server" it's up to you. Conclusion I had a lot of fun putting this together. I've custom-built all my own PCs and servers since the 90s, and this is the first time I have had to put a NAS together. Even if the actual base ZimaBoard 2 was already a completed build, it still feels pretty custom. I just wish that IceWhale Technology included a getting-started guide in the box for the Start Kit, which would have really completed this kit. Instead, I had to search for the official video on the YouTube channel to make sure I wasn't doing anything wrong. So who is this for? Definitely the hobbyist who is comfortable building their own PC and servers. It also has a much smaller footprint than its nearest equivalent (in terms of specs), like the Beelink Me Pro, which is another NAS I will be testing soon. Although the Beelink does not come with the PCIe 3.0 X4 expansion, the ZimaBoard 2 Starter Kit suddenly looks to be a great bargain, even if it only offers the two 3.5-inch bays over the four in the other example. It makes a lot of sense to use Intel's N150 chip inside a NAS; it is more than capable of doing what the ZimaBoard 2 is intended for, media streaming and backup. It also looks like the IceWhale Technology staff are quite active in the official forums helping people with issues they come across with ZimaOS and the devices, peer support seems to be good as well, I was quickly able to find why I was not able to create a new Storage Pool in ZimaOS v1.6.1 even though that is quite a serious bug, hopefully it will be fixed in the next update. If you are comfortable with the command line and Docker, you'll be fine. You can do great things with this hardware. This was my first time with ZimaOS. It seems a bit barebones in comparison to the likes of Synology DSM, TOS, and UGOS, but it has a ton of apps to get you started with your home or small business NAS. Where to buy As of publishing, IceWhale Technology is running a discount of up to 5% for the Starter Kit. If you opt to get just the ZimaBoard 2 itself, it does come with a SATA Y-Cable, so you will be able to connect up to two 3.5-inch HDDs to it. ZimaBoard 2 1668 Starter Kit for $534.50 on Amazon US (was $548.60) ZimaBoard 2 832 Starter Kit for $372.88 on Amazon US (was $390.60) Zimaboard 2 1668 (16GB+64GB) for $419.90 on Amazon US Zimaboard 2 832 (8GB+32GB) for $359.90 on Amazon Disclosure: IceWhale Technology provided a free sample without any editorial input or review pre-approval. Good to know The Amazon link is U.S. specific, and not available in other regions unless specified. We only use first-party seller links (at the time of article publishing); ensure that you purchase from a first-party seller link only. Check out Today's Deals on Amazon | or our recent tech deals. 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    • It's in the Insider's group so yes it's technically beta, though these days it's hard to see much of a difference unless you opt for the most extreme beta builds, which I don't. When I moved here from the Release Preview channel I did so primarily because I wanted to see how well the restored taskbar functionality (restored from Win10, and earlier) is working and whether it was time to finally abandon SAB--and it is--working fine, so far. Not as polished as SAB, but it'll do for me.
    • I've been using MWB Premium for a number of years so that along with Windows updates and updated browser should be fine. Thanks for that.
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