I’ve always felt the Game Boy is the biggest icon of old Nintendo, before their more modern and less consumer friendly form. Its portability and low price also made it a more accessible system worldwide for many years, making it a good symbol of worldwide gaming for that era in general.
It’s a mess of proprietary software and drivers. Some of it I hopefully can get working, it’ll just take time. I’ve had a friend suggest a windows VM before, so I’ll definitely look into Quickemu and see how much I can manage. I swear one day I shall be free!
I’ll give that a shot, thank you! That will alleviate the latest, greatest annoyance at least.
I’ll still have to run OOSU10 for like three dozen other settings I can’t even remember, but that’s never going to change. It shouldn’t be that hard just to keep your settings.
I really do appreciate the tip, though. I will enjoy having copilot fuck off forever.
I know I have to turn this shit off every time, and I even have a program that reverts my settings in one click. But I still forget every damn “security update” until I notice that fucking copilot is on again. I will never, ever find it acceptable for my changes to be reverted on a regular basis. When any other program fails to keep my settings, it’s a bug and it’s a bad enough one that I usually don’t use the software. But Microsoft keeps doing it on purpose and it absolutely infuriates me that there isn’t more of a backlash.
I really wish I could get more of my stuff working in Linux to make a complete switch. I don’t even need all of it; I’ll give some stuff up.
Yeah, I understand very well. My disability is different, but money is still tight and when my Sound Blaster died it was really annoying trying to find a way to replace it within my budget and without rearranging my whole setup. I’m new to audiophile stuff too so it’s intimidating and a lot to learn.
For my use case, I look more into the USB audio interface side of things because I need to have an XLR input and a monitoring plug with zero latency. If you don’t need anything like that, then a DAC or a DAC/amp combo is what you want. I’m not really an audiophile and this is getting into that area so I’m not the best person to explain it. Definitely take anything I say with a grain of salt and make sure you check. But I think you only really need the amp if it’s required to drive your headphones. If you don’t have high impedance headphones, then you should be able to skip the amp and just get any DAC that fits your needs.
There’s a huge variety of brands, price points, and features. It’s dipping your toe into the audiophile world so the rabbit hole is bottomless, but you can also find very good quality gear on a budget. FiiO, Topping, and Hifiman are brands I recognize, but there are plenty of others I don’t which I’m sure would still be good. It’s the kind of gear somebody buys and expects to still be working in ten years.
The one thing I personally would look for is I would avoid anything with an internal battery. That’s why my Sound Blaster died. For whatever reason, they gave it an internal battery so you could unplug it and use it as a portable headphone amp. I never needed or wanted that, but the battery started expanding and died after over ten years, so that was the end. It’s not a feature I care about, so I’m better off getting something without a battery.
For what it’s worth, a quick search suggests any USB DAC should work fine in both Windows and Linux as long as it doesn’t require special software. So if you look for an affordable USB DAC with physical buttons/dials and all the inputs and features you want, that should help narrow things down to start. You can definitely find one with multiple inputs for both the speakers and a headset, and possibly different volume settings. But I’m not sure - different settings for different inputs might also be more in the realm of a USB audio interface, which may not be as good of a fit for your situation. But you could always look: Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 and Motu M2 2x2 are very strong contenders for me.
Also, at least in the US, Sweetwater is a reputable site for audio gear. I’m sure there are others, of course, but it’s a start.
Good luck!
I haven’t made the switch away from Windows yet, but I hope to try in the near future. So I don’t know if my suggestion is of any help to you. But I’m one of the other weirdos not using onboard sound. Is there a reason you need a PCI card specifically?
Most good options these days are external. I had an external sound blaster for years that I bought before learning that it was basically just a sound blaster branded external DAC. When I can, I want to replace it with either another external DAC from a proper audio manufacturer or a USB audio interface.
If you look for those instead of sound cards, you’ll find a lot more options. I have no idea if that’s useful to you or if any of them work in Linux, though. Well… some idea. I know somebody who I think is running Linux with his DAC, now that I think about it.
So, I hope that’s helpful to you. Cheers :)
I’m similar. Definitely way more sluggish and depressed in summer, and my sleep is very poor even if I control the temperature. I enjoy rain and darkness. I prefer night shift. Autumn is my favorite because summer is finally over and it’s the longest time before summer comes again, plus it has the best holidays. I sleep best in winter and I’m more productive, energized, and happy.
But unlike SAD, it’s a lot harder to fix than just getting a sun lamp. I already do sleep in as dark a room as I can get during the day, but it’s never enough. Though the few times I’ve had access to a truly pitch black room to sleep in, it’s been really helpful.
It’s a weird way to be and most people really don’t understand.
It’s a fun sport to watch for so many reasons, but the first that stuck out to me when I first saw it was how fast it is. Sure, there’s a lot of ceremony and lead up between matches, but the matches themselves are short and intense. If you watch a summary that cuts straight to the matches or just have it on while you do other stuff and look up when the match is about to start, you’re basically getting nothing but highlights. Every single match is worthy of a slow mo action shot.
The more you learn about it, the more interesting it gets.
It’s capitalism. Unverified, but I’ve heard it explained as a result of tracking growth through new subscribers. Keeping around an old show won’t drive new subscribers unless it’s a huge show that generates a lot of buzz. New shows have a better chance of appealing to people who aren’t already subscribers. So they cancel the old one and start up another new show instead.
I like how all three of them have wildly different body language, and the guy on the left is not using his inside voice.
I used to get Taco Bell like twice a month because it was tasty and cheap, even if it was garbage. But when fast food prices exploded the last few years, it really lost its appeal. The quality and variety dropped, too, and it just doesn’t make any goddamn sense to drop $15 to eat at fucking Taco Bell. There are countless better options for that price. I think I maybe ate there once in the last year and nothing about it made me feel like I missed it. A bit sad since I used to enjoy it, but in the end I’m better off.
They’re not hurting animals. Even if you want to focus just on the sex, consider: one has no control over their sexual preference and fetishes. By commissioning artwork and engaging in roleplay with consenting adults, they have a healthy outlet for their desires which harms nobody, nor any animals. You don’t have to understand it or like it. But it’s just nsfw art and adults having sex. It’s nothing to clutch your pearls over.
I’m sorry you had that experience, but glad that you continued trying and had better ones. There are definitely bad therapists, and more often it’s just a bad fit. The same way you’re not going to be friends with everyone, not every therapist can really work for you. It can take a few tries to find one that really clicks. I’ve met too many people who just gave up after one try, some after literally one session. Most were not anywhere near as bad as your experience. So give yourself a lot of credit that you kept trying even after that!
I wrote this out partially for anyone else who may be earlier in their mental health journey. If it’s not a good fit after a few sessions, you can ask for a referral or just stop and find someone else. A professional will not take offense. It’s pretty normal and an expected part of their job.
For what it’s worth, although it seems like a tangent, I do think that’s what was originally meant in the comment that started this chain and I was trying to help. I agree that people are using it with its intended meaning (but could be making an error in judgement).
Since the gendered nature of the term has been brought up, your comment makes me think of the word “bitch” compared to asshole or jerk. All three terms get used entirely subjectively, but I think most reasonable people agree that “bitch” is at least a bit more crass and tasteless due to its more gendered nature. I know we’ll never get rid of ugly words when using words to hurt and offend, but I think it does show that it matters if a term is gendered. So maybe when people are offended by a term being gendered, we should listen no matter their gender. And I think people who like using those terms, especially when told they’re hurtful, should have a long think about what feelings they get from using them.
It just made me think so I wanted to write that out.
The real question isn’t what it means, but whether or not it’s being overused. Even if the person using it knows its meaning and intends to use it that way, I think it’s still reasonable to ask if it’s being overused. Because we’re really asking if the existence and support for the term is creating a social environment where its use does more harm than good. If it’s mostly drawing attention to bad behavior so we can correct it, then it’s doing good. But if it’s causing people to see malice where there isn’t any or being used itself as a weapon, then we can say it’s being overused. I can’t answer that question, but it does seem worth thinking about.
How much wiggle room is enough will obviously vary a lot by player, but I do truly find the older Souls games to have much more of it than people realize if you play smart. Even a little too smart in some cases.
But I feel you on the carpal tunnel. There are a few rhythm games I enjoy, but I can no longer play them on a moderate difficulty for more than an hour before the pain starts - and it takes a couple days to settle down again. I basically have to play on the lower difficulties or not at all. It was a sad day when I learned that.
Compared to most action RPGs, they’re notoriously more methodical and slower paced. But, they’re still action RPGs. Elden Ring leans more heavily towards the action where memorization and reaction times have the most influence on success. You have to learn the patterns, but good stats and gear can make it more forgiving when you make a mistake. DS leans more towards RPG, which makes it more flexible. You can play it as a pure action game and rely on good reflexes and pattern memorization, but you can also largely brute force it with a powerful character the same as many RPGs.
If you wanted to just mod Elden Ring into something more casual, the closest thing is the seamless co-op mod. But that would rely on having at least one friend to join you. It does drastically alter the balance, but I don’t think it would help the parts of the game that make it feel inaccessible if it’s a reaction time sort of thing that’s spoiling the game for you.
I myself have played nothing but slower paced and turn based games for the last couple years, so I get it. But I have had the Souls craving creeping up on me again recently.
I find their older titles more accessible because they were a bit lower budget, more experimental, and not trying so hard to cater to players who want the hardcore experience. That means the balance is all over the place, which can make the game stupidly hard if you just dive in unprepared. But it can also make the game fairly easy if you know how to cheese the bosses, where to find the OP gear, and what spots are good to quickly level up and just overpower the game. There’s nothing wrong with reading some wiki pages or watching videos ahead of time so you can play more optimally instead of floundering around and brute forcing your way through with an underpowered character.
Demon’s Souls can have long runs back when you die, but is extremely exploitable. DS1 can still be overleveled and you can sequence break to get OP gear, but there aren’t as many blatant boss exploits.
If you get really into it, you can always do challenge runs with certain restrictions, weapons, or builds. You can always make it harder to get the magic back - if the difficulty is part of the magic for you. If it’s not, then using strategy to make it easier is just improving your enjoyment.
I get quarterly botox injections from my neurologist for my migraines. It’s 20+ little injections in my brow, jaw, neck, and shoulders. Before insurance would allow it, we had to try all other available treatments/medications, including a monthly at-home injection you give yourself. For me, at least, it’s been way better than the earlier treatments. I used to have 2-4 migraines per week at a pain around a 5 or 6 with a couple a year that would hurt more like an 8 or 9. Now I get 0-2 per week, usually no worse than a 3 on pain. It’s pretty common to go a few weeks without any, then just get one a week in the last month before my next injection.
Results vary a lot, probably because there are a lot of potential causes and even how we experience our migraines can vary so significantly. Efficacy can fade with time, too. But for me, at least, it’s held out for several years, and worked better than I or my doctor even expected.