#Preowned Laptops

[buzzlift]

Investing Smart: Why Pre-Owned Laptops are a Great Option

Discover the savvy choice of investing in pre-owned laptops. Learn how they offer excellent value, performance, and sustainability, making them a smart decision for budget-conscious consumers and environmentally-conscious individuals alike. Explore the benefits and considerations of opting for a pre-owned laptop in this insightful guide.

[maplestarcomputer]

Buying Preowned Laptops - Affordable Yet Latest Technologies

Find the smart option for people who love tech – check out buying used laptops in Dubai. Get a good deal without giving up on new features. Discover the best-refurbished laptops in Dubai, where cool ideas and saving money come together.

[sitepathos]

From Gold to Mold

Chapter 3: The End (Warning: this will be dark. Read at your own risk)

The last bell of the day rings, letting everyone know that they’re free to go. In unison, your classmates begin shoving books and papers in their designer book bags before getting up and flooding the exit all at once. People begin to pair up with their friends, talking about hanging out and staying over at one another’s house for the weekend, but as usual, you’re left by yourself; when you first enrolled in GA, many students wanted to be your friend, but you could tell they were more interested in Bruce Wayne being your father than you because they talked more about Bruce than you. When Tim became Timothy Drake-Wayne, everyone flocked to him, starstruck that he was now a member for two of Gotham’s most elite families. Since you lack Bruce’s good looks and charisma, Dick’s athletic prowess, Jason’s brute strength, Tim’s intelligence, and Damian’s pure pedigree, everyone here has deemed you unworthy of a passing glance; you’re painfully average in every aspect and in a family as prestigious and remarkable as Gotham’s beloved Wayne Family, that’s an unforgivable sin.

It didn’t matter to you, though. You didn’t care that no one in school or in your “family” acted like you didn’t exist and think you unworthy of a fraction of their attention, you had your video games. When the silence of Wayne Manor became deafening to you, you had your faithful 3DS with multiple generations of teams full of loyal and strong Pokémon that have defeated the mightiest of champions and your preowned laptop that’s allowed you to play a wide variety of games, your favorite being Fallout New Vegas as it took place in your rightful home of Nevada and started off in your beloved Goodsprings. You’ve gone through countless playthroughs because you feel close to your childhood home, no matter how many times you go through the same dialogue options and quests.

In fact, video games have been a major influence on you that you’re determined to be an indie video game developer when you finally graduate. Your laptop isn’t too old to run a visual novel maker software that came out four years ago and you spent over a year scribbling away in a notebook that held all the details that would form your first game, staying up late for three months working on the plot alone and the remaining nine months on side quests, combat, dialogue, and everything else. Despite your best efforts, you’re not an artist like Damian (and how ironic that someone so spiteful like him has the gift to create beauty) or a musician, so the only thing you’re able to work on right now is the code, but you’re not tech smart like Tim so it’s full of bugs and errors and despite you following your Guide to Making Video Games book to the letter, the code just won’t do what you want it to do. With spring break around the corner, maybe you’ll be able to make progress on it.

As you step through the front door of the school, you see Damian and Tim being dragged into a bear hug by Dick, the little shit quickly breaking free; Dick laughs and ruffles his hair before all of them getting into the older man’s car and drive off, leaving you behind. That’s nothing unusual, though, Dick’s always picked up the two of them from school and you know they always go get ice cream or go to an arcade while you get left behind to find your own way home. You’ve never been offered a ride to or from school or asked if you’d want to go hang out with them and with how they’ve treated you over the years, you’d sooner have a tea party with the Mad Hatter before you ever got in a car with any of them. Knowing them, Damian would probably try to strangle you with your seatbelt, Dick would most likely try to guilt you to spend more time with your “brother,” and Tim would just sit there, not saying anything, no matter how wrong their words were or how upset you got.

You’ve been relying on Alfred to give you rides (always a block away from the school since you didn’t want them knowing you were relying on him), but Bruce gave him the month off. He tried to turn it down, of course, insisting that he had important duties at the manor (you knew it was because he was worried about what would happen to you while he was gone), but Bruce insisted. Only after you promised to text him everyday and call him the moment something went wrong did he book a flight to Essex. After taking care of a museum the size of the Smithsonian, taking care of a family full of assholes, and dealing with your emotional baggage, the man deserved to take off and relax for a while.

Since he’s been gone, you’ve used the bus to get to where you need to go and have kept a wide berth between you and the Waynes and so far you’ve managed to stay under their radar. Though, with you not even clocking on their radars, can you really claim such an achievement. Hell, you’re positive they wouldn’t notice you even if you were right behind them. World’s greatest detectives, your ass.

That’s right, you knew about their nightly activities of wearing bird themed costumes, jumping across rooftops, and battling with the demented freaks locked up in Arkham. Not because Alfred told you (and god knows they’d never tell you shit), but because your status as the unwanted and forgotten firstborn of Bruce Wayne is like an invisibility cloak allowing you to walk in plain sight without anyone noticing you and it’s thanks to that you’ve been able to spy on conversations. You’ve come down many times in the late hours of the night to find them sitting at the dining table, eating, talking, laughing, and enjoying their lives as if you don’t even exist. Sure, it hurt you to see them so happy while you sit above them, miserable, what hurt even more was the fact that Alfred didn’t tell you. Sure, you have no intention on joining them in fist fighting Joker or solving the Riddler’s Saw-inspired puzzles (not that you could, you obviously lacked the capabilities), but you thought that after all that they’ve out you through, you were entitled to know what was going on.

But, you know that Alfred is also in on it, providing support from cave under the mansion (that you found after investigating the library while they were all out) and since he’s helped you through the bad times, hugging you tightly white you cried your eyes out, you decided to keep your discovery to yourself. Besides, if the secret ever comes out, you have plausible deniability.

Your phone rings and when you pull it out to check the caller ID, you see a picture of Alfred and you on the screen.

“Hey, Alfred,” you answer.

“Good afternoon, Master Y/N. Did you have a pleasant day at school?”

“I did. Since spring break is next week, the teachers toned down on the lessons.”

“And how did you fare on your algebra test?”

“Fine, I guess,” you mutter. “I’m sure I got more right than wrong.”

Math’s always been your worst enemy (at least until you met Damian) and getting an A on an anything math related was always once in a blue moon. A B was always your goal back in Goodsprings Elementary, but with Gotham Academy being a prestigious institution, their math classes were as difficult as a speed run in Dark Souls. Sure, all your classes are hard, but math has always been your Achilles’ heel.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t there to help you prepare for it. Maybe I should come home—“

“No,” you quickly say, cutting him off. “It’s fine. I studied my notes and found some practice problems online. I’m sure I passed.”

There was a brief pause before the man said, “Very well, Master Y/N. If you’re sure. How have you been faring? I trust you’re eating three meals a day and sleeping enough?”

“Of course,” you say. You’re lying, of course. You skip breakfast and dinner since they’re all downstairs at the same time in the mornings and at night use before going out on patrol and only eat lunch at school, where lunch is prepared by five star chefs because their elite students will accept nothing less. As for sleep, you’ve been cramming for this test and trying to work on your game, where as soon as you fix one bug, three more come to take its place.

“Of course,” he says, obviously not convinced, but chooses not to call you out. Not over the phone, anyway. Had he been here in person, it would be a different story. “And how have the others treated you?”

“Like I don’t exist. So, things are status quo.”

“I know their behavior has been nothing less than unacceptable, but have you tried talking to your father? Maybe he’ll be more receptive to you if you approached him while he was alone.”

“We both know that’s not gonna happen, Alfred. Bruce can’t stand the sight of me because I’m his greatest mistake.”

“Master Y/N!”

“It’s true and you know it! Both he and Momma were young and stupid, one thing led to another, and I was their reminder why condoms were invented. He got stuck with me and he’ll never forgive me for that. You know it and I know it.”

His silence tells you he knows you’re right. You hate to say how you really feel since you know that Alfred raised the man after his parents were murdered and telling him things like this makes him feel like he failed as a father figure, but after being treated like shit for most of your life, you’ve really run out of fucks to give. Hell, when you turned eighteen last month, you had your bags packed and were ready to buy a ticket on the first bus to Las Vegas, but Alfred begged you to stay long enough so you could graduate and since it would be a pain in the ass to transfer this close to schools letting out for summer, you agreed. Plus, it’d look good on a resume that you graduated from Gotham Academy. .

“Maybe I could talk to him for you? I just don’t want you to leave hating your father so much.”

“Look, Alfred, I really don’t wanna talk about this. I gotta go, I’ll be late for work.”

“Very well, Master Y/N. Please be safe. You know I hate you being out at night all alone.”

“Don’t worry, I will. Talk to you later, Alfred.”

And with that, you hang up and head to the nearest bus stop to take you to Chinatown. When you turned sixteen, you decided that it wasn’t fair taking Alfred’s money (in your defense, you helped out in cleaning the mansion, but you were still taking his hard earned paycheck), so you went out and found a job working at Gotham Games, a small store in one of the few nicer parts of Gotham that specialized in video, trading card, and tabletop games. Your boss, Mr. Chen, is a sweet old man who loves to talk games with you, especially Pokémon; in fact, he always gives you a free booster pack when he hands you your paycheck, saying that it’s a bonus for doing a good job. You love your job and aside from Alfred always willing to lend an ear to listen to your troubles, it’s made living in this hellhole of a city actually bearable.

After arriving at the bus stop in Chinatown, you walks a few blocks to find Mr. Chen closing the door and locking it.

“Mr. Chen,” you say when you near him, making him turn around to face you.

“You’re always on time, Y/N,” he says with a chuckle, but you can see he’s sad about something.

“Is the store closing for today?”

“No, I’m afraid I’m closing the store for good.”

Your heart stops and you feel yourself losing balance a little and you quickly steady yourself. You quickly think for any reason why the store would be closing for good.

Poor sales? No, you helped Mr. Chen with the spreadsheet for last month and sales had gone up by 11% thanks to the Pokémon TCG tournament you hosted.

Too much theft? No, you keep a close eye on all the customers and last time you checked, all inventory was accounted for.

Threats? Please, Mr. Chen’s been here for twenty-five years and is a pillar of the community. If anyone ever had the dumbass idea to threaten him, all shop owners in the street would rush to his aid, yourself included.

So, why?

As if he read your mind, he says, “My daughter said she was worried about me when the Penguin broke out of Arkham the other day and his car chase with Batman ended when he crashed a block away from here. She said that she and her husband had already set up a room for me at their house and now they’re here to take me with them to Florida.

You remember hearing about that. Bruce devotes all his time to fighting Gotham’s crime problem and one would think all the time he doesn’t spend with you could go to keeping things like car chases with Arkham’s inmates far away from innocent people and their businesses, but guess that’s what you get for having expectations when it comes to Bruce.

“What will happen to the store?”

“Mark’s already taken care of it. He called up some company that owns plenty of stores that’s just like mine and they agreed to buy my entire stock. They’ll have some people here tomorrow to get it all.”

For the second time in your life, it feels like your entire world’s been turned inside out. Working here and being around Mr. Chen was the best thing that’s happened to you since you over to Gotham and with Alfred gone and the loss of your job and boss, you’re extremely tempted to get on the nearest bus and ride it out of Gotham right now.

“I also wanted to wait for you so I could give you this.” He hands you a neatly wrapped box that you just now realize he’d been holding this entire time. “To thank you for keeping an old man company.”

You take the box and with shaky hands, you unwrap it and open the lid to see a pristine aqua blue Game Boy Advance surrounded by several cartridges. When you take a closer look, you see that they’re all Pokémon games, ranging from the original Red and Blue to Red Rescue Team.

“You appreciate the classics and it seemed a shame to let that Game Boy and those games just sit around, collecting dust. Plus, it’s my way of saying thank you for taking care of an old man.”

At this point, you realize you’re crying and can’t help but hug your boss. “Thank you, Mr. Chen.”

“You’re welcome, Y/N. When you move back to Nevada and win big in Vegas, don’t forget to give me a call so we can celebrate.”

You laugh at that and it makes you feel better, but only a little bit. When he promises to call you when he’s set up in Florida and you promise to call him when you’re back in Nevada, you two separate and watch as he gets in his daughter’s car and drive off, waving at him until he’s out of sight.

As you neatly tuck the box into your backpack, you realize that your schedule’s totally fucked up now. Normally, Alfred comes and gets you when you get done working at 7, but with him gone, you’d been using the bus that comes at that time to take you to the closest stop to Bristol and walk the rest of the way to Wayne Manor, but that bus won’t be here for hours. And you’d sooner chew your own arm off before calling any of them for help.

You mull it over for a minute or two before deciding to walk to the nearest stop, hop on the bus, and ride it to as close to Bristol as possible. With the store closed (and your beloved job lost) you can use the time to get ahead on your spring break plans and work on your game, ironing out bugs and working on your art. You pull out your map of Gotham’s bus stops and see the closest station is over in the East End, a place no one with a half working brain cell goes. Still, it’s the closest bus stop and you’ll only be there for a few minutes. You’ve survived Wayne Manor for thirteen years, surely you can deal with Gotham’s trash can for a little bit.

With your mind made up, you make your way to the East End. As you cross into the district, you’re greeted by a group of kids playing Cops and Robber, but instead of cops, one of them plays the role as Red Hood, complete with two stick guns and a red plastic pail on his head. That’s right, East End is Jason’s territory and is well loved by many of the children. The thought of the brute gives you even more incentive to leave the area as fast as possible because you’ve heard Jason yelling at the others for entering the East End because it’s his to protect and he doesn’t want any of them unless it’s a really big emergency and even then, they need his permission. Knowing him, he’ll accuse you of invading and try to fill you full of lead, despite the fact that you’re not a vigilante and he ever pulled his head out of his ass, he’d know that, but you guess that being in a family full of distrust and paranoia has polluted his higher reasoning skills.

The further into the district you get, the closer you hold onto the straps of your book bag. With every step you take, you hear glass shattering, people screaming, and even a gun shot or two, making you regret ever coming here. You should’ve found another bus stop or just found something to kill time until your regular bus showed up. Still, you’ve already come this far and turning around would probably be more dangerous than continuing forward, so you keep your head up high and try to change your stride to be more confident, hoping that appearing more confident would keep people away from you.

You see the bus stop and pick up speed to get there quickly, but just as you get close enough to see the map and schedule, you feel something grab your book bag and you’re quickly yanked backwards. You turn to look behind you to see three men staring down at you and by the way they’re grinning down at you, you can tell this won’t end well for you.

“Well, what’s a little GA snob doin’ here,” one of them sneers.

“Surprised you’re actually walking,” the other jeers. “Thought all you little shits were carried around by your butlers and maids. Too good to use your own legs.”

That little joke actually pissed you off because you’re not like the rest of your classmates who have their private drivers open their car doors when they go to the airport to spend Christmas on their private islands. You aren’t using Bruce’s money to pay for every little thing you see (not that he’d give you any because he’s forgotten you exist), you actually have a job and work hard for your money, damn it!

“Bet there’s someone who’d pay a pretty penny for you,” the man, obviously the leader of the other two, says. “Looks like we’ve hit pay dirt, boys.”

You struggle to break free of their grasp, but the three of them are too strong for you. The leader pulls out a rusty pipe from his back pocket and the last thing you see is said pipe rushing towards your head before everything goes black.

“Wake up, you little bitch,” a gruff voice says as you’re overcome with feelings of sheer cold and wetness.

You open your eyes to find that you’re sitting on n extremely dirty floor. You look up to see a man looking down at you, a sadistic look on his face and a dirty metal bucket in hand. Your mind finally boots back up and you remember being stopped by three dirtbags and being knocked out be a pipe to the head. As if on cue, the memory triggers immense feelings of pain in your head and while you’re no doctor, you’re pretty sure that you have a mild concussion. When the rest of your senses come to, you realize that you’re tied to chair with thick ropes you have no chance of getting out, at least without a knife. Through blurry eyes, you’re able to look around to see you’ve been dragged to some dirty shack and based on what you see through the busted windows nearest to the door, you know two things: that you’ve been dragged to Gotham Woods and you’ve been knocked out for a while.

“Alright, now that you’ve had your beauty sleep, it’s time to get to business.” The leader squats down to your level, an old flip phone in hand. “You’re gonna give us a number we can call to ransom you off. Try any funny business and…” he trails off as he brings out a gun and points it at you. “You won’t live long enough to regret it.”

You hears the words, but all you can focus on is the gun aimed at you. You’ve known Gotham is a dangerous place and going to certain parts of the city at night is practically committing suicide, but you never thought you’d be in this position, where the slightest action or inaction was the difference in sleeping in your bed or being put to rest in a pine box when everything was said and done. Ever since you’d turned eighteen, you’ve kept a tally of how many days you have until you graduate and put this city of the damned behind you and now there’s a good chance you’ll die here, in a city you’ve hated since you were forced to move here.

“Hey,” he says, breaking you out of your stupor. “Number. Now.” He emphasizes his point by waving his gun.

At first, you’re tempted to give him Alfred’s number, knowing the butler would probably come to your rescue and kill these thugs John Wick Style, but you know that they wouldn’t appreciate talking to someone on the other side of the world and right now, you couldn’t take the chance on pissing them off; you need someone here in Gotham and as much as every fiber in your body wants to throw up at once just for even thinking it, you know Bruce is your only hope of making out of this in one piece. Even if he doesn’t care about you, he’ll be able to swoop in and bash in the heads of a bunch of kidnappers, so that should be enough of a reason to bring him here.

“Alright, you can call my father,” you say, the word “father” leaving a bitter taste in your mouth, but right now, you can’t afford to let your hatred for the man get the better of you; not when your life hangs in the balance. You give him the manor’s home phone number, which he dials and puts it on speaker.

You wait with bated break as the phone rings. After the third time, you can feel yourself breaking into a cold sweat and when you look up at one of your captors, you can tell he’s getting angry by the second; with every ring, his scowl gets more and more intimidating and the gun starts to shake in rage.

Finally, after an eternity, you hear someone pick up.

“Hello,” Bruce’s voice comes through, and based on the tone, he sounds pissed. Knowing the time, he was probably getting ready to go out on patrol. Still, you can’t help but feel just a little to relived to hear his voice. You just might make it through the night. “Bruce Wayne speaking.”

“Holy shit, man, we’re about to be rich,” one of the other men whispers to his cohort, who nods in agreement.

“We have your son, Wayne,” the man says with an air of confidence. “Do as we say and you—“

“No, you don’t,” Bruce says, cutting off the man.

“What,” the leader says, the wind obviously taken out of his sails.

“No, you don’t,” Bruce repeats.

“Fuck you mean,’ he shouts. “I’m looking at him right now! Don’t you know you’re missing a brat right now?”

“All my kids are right here with me and I’m none of them are missing,” Bruce says in a matter-of-fact tone that makes your heart stop.

“Did you really think we wouldn’t notice if someone was missing” Dick chimes in.

“Man, you’re fuckin’ stupid,” Jason mocks.

“You’re not the first to fake holding a Wayne for ransom,” Tim explains. “It hasn’t worked before and it won’t work now.”

“If you lowlifes put as much effort into finding a job as you did trying to steal money, you’d be rich,” Damian taunts.

“Wow, you’re a loser,” Cass laughs. “Don’t you have anything better to do with your life? Why don’t you get out of your mom’s basement and go outside to touch grass and maybe talk to a girl.”

They all laugh at that and you can feel your heart just collapse in on itself. Right now, you have a better chance of sprouting wings and flying out of here than this man letting you go after being insulted by every member of the Wayne Family. And based on the fact that his face is as red as a beat, this definitely won’t be for you.

“As you can see, all my children are home, where they should be. I don’t know how much you hoped to get out of this, but you aren’t seeing a dime.”

And with that, the call ends and so does your chances of leaving here in one piece. You always thought that your existence was a complete unknown to them, but to actually see something that proves it? You can’t help but begin to cry, both at how the call went and for the world of hurt you’re no doubt about to experience with your captors.

“Bet you thought that was funny,” the man says as he slowly flips the phone shut, indicating that he’s pissed off beyond words.

You decide that Alfred is the one you should’ve had him call, but before you correct your mistake, you’re filled with pain as he strikes you on the head with the pipe. He hits you again and the force sends the chair tumbling to the floor, but that doesn’t matter to the man; he’s pissed and all he cares for now is hurting you. He’s spouting off insults and threats, but all you can focus on is the immense pain you’re in. He never hits in the same place twice, spreading the pain to your head, arms, torso, and legs. You feel your skin tear, bones break, and blood shed and the pleas you’d been shouting since he began his assault finally die, opting for crying and sounds of pain.

By the time he’s finished, you’re in so much pain, you can barely think. All you want to do is die.

“Hey, look what I found in his bag.” You look up through swollen and blood filled eyes to see one of the other men is holding up your Momma’s pen. “Looks like real gold. Might be worth something.”

After the pen incident three years ago, you’ve lived in constant fear that Damian would take you pen in an act of revenge, so you’ve kept the pen on you at all times, even keeping it under your pillow as you slept, only taking it out when you were in the safety of your room. Up until now, it’s kept your most treasured possession safe, but it looks like it’s about to cost you dearly.

“At least it’s something. Anything else?”

“Naw,” the man responds as he rummages through your bag. “Just the regular school shit, a wallet with a few bucks in it, and…” He pauses before pulling out the box Mr. Chen gave you and opens it. “Holy shit, looks like an old Game Boy! And there’s a bunch of games with it!”

“Is it worth much?”

“Might be able to get something for it. A bunch of collectors out there looking for shit like this. Couldn’t hurt to check around.”

“Haven’t seen one of those in years,” the last man chimes in. “Had one when I was a kid. Someone stole it, though. Hey, if we can’t get much of it, can I keep it?”

“Not now, Butch,” the leader growls. “Batman’s busy dealing with that clown bustin’ outta Arkham and all we got out of this is a lousy pen and a stupid video game.” He looks down at you. “Since you didn’t give us a name to ransom you off to, guess no one’ll care if you go missing.”

He picks his gun up and aims it at you. You feel your heart skip a beat at the sight of staring down the barrel of a gun aimed at you.

“No, please,” you beg, struggling to spit out the words as you’re so badly hurt, it’s a miracle you’re able to talk at all, but right now, all that matters is that you do what ever it takes to survive this.

“What’re we gonna do with the body,” one of the men asks.

“There’s the chasm near Mt. Gotham,” the one called Butch says. “That thing goes down for miles. We dump him in there and not even Batman’ll find him.”

Is this how it ends? After everything you’ve gone through, you die from being shot by three thugs in the forest and you’re thrown in a big ditch like a trash bag when you’re so close to leaving this damn city behind. You try to open your mouth to say something, anything that will at least buy you a few more minutes, but whatever you wanted to say is drowned out by the flash of a muzzle and the bang of a gunshot.

Your world goes to black.

A/N: Sorry, we were a little under for on cliffhanger quota, so we had to up production. The original plan was to split this chapter into two, with the kidnapping at the end of the first and the shooting at the end of the second, but with October upon us, I think things are going to get really crazy for me this semester, so I decide to be merciful (this time) and make one big chapter that only has one cliffhanger. Enjoy the wait for the next chapter! Also, if you asked to be added to the tag list and don’t see your name, I promise it’s not because I didn’t do it on purpose, but because when I went to tag you, Tumblr didn’t find your blog. I always check twice before uploading a new chapter to ensure everyone who asked to be tagged has been added.

Tag List: @space1crow @bat1212 @minkyungseokie @solelifauna @nosyrobin @bunbunboysworld @kitty-from-daaaa-voidddd @feral-childs-word @l0serl0v3r @phoenixgurl030 @soriansick

[dragontatoes]

“Switch to Firefox!!!!” or you could just stop updating your shit and use outdated tech. A different browser won’t do anything if you’re using devices from this year. In fact nothing will do anything bc absolutely all tech corporations are assholes that love to make their products worse every passing minute.

I’m starting to think being on windows 8 instead of 10/11 is the reason all my shits still working. Like idk what you all mean about ublock not working on youtube mine hasn’t skipped a beat. Pinterest glitches out but still blocks all ads, and I’m on chrome too. After everyone said chrome would explode ublock back in december.

[dajo42]

every time i mod a 3DS the process has drastically changed from the last time

last time i had to download pokemon picross as a crucial step for some reason? i think to exploit a vulnerability in it? i was scared to delete pokemon picross off the system afterwards in case that bricked it somehow. pretty sure it wouldnt have. the system bricked itself eventually anyway because it was a shitty half broken preowned 2DS and one of the ribbons connecting to the top screen broke or whatever im sure the way that sentence is inevitably wrong stands out to somebody

the time before that, the first time i ever did it, had me open one of the base 3DS applications nobody ever uses and use a QR code to permanently change that app to a homebrew launcher but it became infinitely more complicated by the fact that it was a shitty preowned half broken 2DS where the home button didnt work because the previous owner- a small child- stabbed it. the home button was crucial to the process. anyway the bottom screen stopped working eventually. because of when the kid stabbed it

this time on my not shitty or preowned ancient original 3DSxl from 2016(?) the process had no picross and, helpfully, had a step where the controls to open certain menus could be changed in the case of a stabbed broken home button that would have been great before, and had me navigate to a specific point in the 3DS settings menu, take the sd out, put the sd in my laptop, run a batch file on it, and put the sd back in the 3DS which felt like it was going to explode my poor dual screened surgical patient but instead just automagically changed the settings menu to a homebrew installation menu

this version of the process was the easiest so far though. modding your 3DS has never been more accessible and is the best way to ensure you can continue accessing 3DS games after the 3DS eshop closure.

just dont get one a kid stabbed, or where the top screen sometimes doesnt work and then eventually always doesnt work

[dsumpsbluey]

My review of Bluey Seasons 1 & 2 DVD (A side post of sorts)

This post is my personal review of the Bluey Season 1 & 2 DVD set released in the USA around 2022. The preparation for this post ended up putting me on a DVD rabbit hole I didn’t think was possible before, so with that out of the way, let’s get to it.

The DVD Set itself: 4 discs containing all 104 episodes of Bluey Seasons 1 & 2, including a collection of shorts and Australian cuts of episodes that were altered/censored in the USA. My copy of the DVD came preowned from ZIA Records for a whopping $12, about half the regular MSRP ($25). I bought this as a means of preserving copies of each episode from the collection for my personal offline enjoyment. Currently, I’ve been using them to supply the screenshots for the Unofficial Bluey Timeline.

Quality: Well, I expected the episodes to be of lower quality due to them being on DVD’s, an obsolete format for quality when compared to their “blu”-counterparts. But while first checking each DVD to see if they worked, I’ve noticed that the quality on the season 1 episodes in particular really sucked. Each episode AFAIK was interlaced, which makes it a pain to view the episodes in any resolution bigger than its intended resolution. The interlacing affects pretty much anytime there is rapid movement, either from the characters or the camera; the times where the show looks normal is during still images, unless said stills are in the middle of a movement. Because of this, the look of the episode feels off while watching on a high-quality monitor, which in my case is my laptop display, and sometimes my phone. You probably need to play these on a CRT to not notice, but I don’t got one lol. I especially noticed this while making some content for part 2 of the UBT (coming soon).

I assumed that all the episodes in the collection would look like this until I inserted the season 2 DVD's, and found no interlacing?! Like, aside from the low quality, these episodes for season 2 look pretty good. Not only that, but even the season 1 episodes included in the “Australian originals” extras are noticeably better than their season 1 counterparts. To demonstrate, I made a video that displays the intro from both season DVD's to show the noticeable quality difference of each. Take note of the motion on Bandit and occasionally pause on some frames to find signs of the interlacing I'm talking about. Obviously, since both videos are low quality and squished down, the differences are hard to spot, but trust me that these are more noticeable in a fuller screen.

When paused, while the S2 video shows a freeze frame, the S1 video often suffers from some graphical like blurs, after images, and that pesky interlacing.

While researching, I found an archived reddit post from a year ago that also made observations of both season's DVD's I didn't notice, and found out that all of season 2, intro and episodes, were slowed down slightly, due to them being "Disney releases". After making some personal observations, I can safely say that Disney did indeed slow down all their episode releases. Now I can never look at Bluey the same way again; once again curse those darn Disney overlords for tarnishing our show. I found while making these comparison videos, that I had to make the season 2 footage faster by 104.25% speed (in adobe) to match.

Also, during research, I found out the season 1 & 2 disc set has a different set of discs, perhaps from when it was a Target exclusive. This video from Bentendo I watched before purchasing my copy had disc art that looks different from my copy.

Bentendo's copies from their video, notice how both season 1 & 2 share the same decal art

By comparison, these are my personal copies of the season set

I had to make sure my copies were legit (doesn't hurt to try). Sure enough, I found some Mercari listings of the set that had the new decals, though not plenty since most were still sealed copies. What I could only assume is that the set I got is an updated version that still came around 2022, as both disc copyrights share the same year. If I remember correctly, season 2 of Bluey wasn't previously out as a separate DVD release before the season 1 & 2 disc set here in the US. Perhaps my copy makes usage of the season 2 discs made for that separate release, but that doesn't answer why the season 1 discs are different. AFAIK, these decals weren't used in any prior release of season 1, so perhaps they're also new versions? If that's the case, why are they so crappy? With that knowledge, I'm not sure if any versions of these discs are any different quality-wise, as Bentendo's video only took recordings straight from their tv, and I ain't buying every episode again for the sake of finding out.

Other than that this DVD set is well worth it for those who don't pay for/want to watch Disney+. I sure hope in the future that the season 1 discs get the season 2 treatment it needs by the time season 3 does come out. I wanted to make this post since the DVD media hasn't been documented as much as I thought, so good to have it out here. Shout out to those I researched, their sources are embedded to the post. If anyone's got some knowledge about the DVD's in particular, leave a reply; I'd love to learn more about this. Anyways, got to get back on the UBT grind.

[questersrest]

I had to beg my parents to let me buy DQ9 back in the day... they did NOT want me to play video games with violence and swords. Idk how I ever convinced them but in doing so, I paved the way for my younger siblings and now we're all nerds. XD

lmao, good job

my dad bought me dq9, it was just after my birthday in 2011 so he took me to a game store and let me pick out any 2 ds games from the preowned section. i saw it and though huh i remember seeing the ads with jedward and thinking that game looks real fun so i picked it up.

i know my mum didn't want me playing "war games" by which she meant like violent games with guns, she wouldn't have cared about fantasy violence with swords. but she didn't regulate the games that i bought, and i mostly played handheld games growing up so she wouldn't have seen bc it's not like i was using the family tv. if i was using the tv it's bc i was on the wii playing super mario galaxy to 100% for the billionth time.

she has, in recent years, sat on the sofa and watched me playing animal crossing: new horizons on the tv and commented that she doesn't have to worry about me playing war games because these are the sorts of games i play. which is very funny because a) i'm an adult, i play whatever games i like and b) around ages 12-16 i was playing tf2 on a garbage laptop with my friends a lot, if she payed any attention to me growing up, she would've not approved.

[ghostmoon1]

OOOO YOU HAVE MW?? THATS SO COOL HOW FAR THROUGH ARE YOU,??

NO BUT I SAW MW2 IN EB GAMES, AND I COULDNT BUY IT. I NEED FULLBODY PHOTOS OF ROACH FOR A COSPLAY WHICH I CANT FIND ANYWHERE ONLINE-

-spidey anon

HELLO AGAIN!!

Well, its taken me multiple tries to get it to work honestly. I bourght it on steam, only for my laptop not to run it so now its sitting in my library collecting dust... then I tried to steal my dads cause I still live at home, too expensive to move out yet, but it didnt work on my own ps4 bc it doesnt connect to the wifi properly lmao-

So now, I am stealing my dads PS5 and it is updating as I write this, so havent gotten through any of it yet! It has like a.... 7 hour update... so I'll possibly start playing tomorrow or sometime when I don't have work!!

I just bourght MW2 from EB a couple days ago bc it was preowned and on sale, so good deal heh :3 I'm buying all the games my dad doesnt have LMAO.

But if your looking for stuff about Roach, he was in the OG games, not the reboot sadly! I don't even remeber seeing a full body of Roach while playing the OG games.. Maybe I gotta play through them again and double check-

[digitalworkshopza]

How to Save Money Shopping

Shopping is an essential part of our lives, whether for groceries, gadgets, clothing, or gifts. But spending doesnt have to mean breaking the bank With a little planning-savvy strategies and the right tools, you can shop smartly and save big. Here are some tried and true tips and tricks to help you save money while shopping.

1. Plan Before You Buy

Impulse buying is one of the biggest culprits behind overspending To combat this, create a shopping list before hitting the store or browsing online A list helps you focus on what you truly need and prevents unnecessary purchases.

If you are shopping online, take advantage of wishlists or shopping carts to compare items and evaluate their importance over time.

2. Use Price Comparison Tools

Before making a purchase, check if youre getting the best deal by using price comparison websites or browser extensions Platforms like Honey or CamelCamelCamel allow you to compare prices across multiple retailers including Amazon and eBay These tools can also track price histories so youll know if the current deal is truly a bargain or if waiting might save you even more.

3. Leverage Sales and Discounts

Sales events like Black Friday Cyber Monday or Prime Day are excellent opportunities to score discounts on highticket items Additionally, many retailers offer seasonal sales clearance events or daily deals Sign up for newsletters from your favorite stores to get early notifications about these events Websites like eBay often feature limited-time promotions, while Amazon has Todays Deals and Lightning Deals for even more savings.

4. Use Cashback and Reward Programs

Make your money work harder by enrolling in cashback programs Websites like Rakuten or apps like Ibotta offer cashback on purchases made through their platforms Additionally, many credit cards provide reward points or cashback for shopping at partner stores. By combining these rewards with discounts, you can significantly reduce your expenses.

5. Consider Buying Pre-Owned or Refurbished Items

For items like electronics furniture or even clothing, buying preowned or refurbished can save you a considerable amount eBay is a treasure trove for secondhand items in great condition, often sold at a fraction of the retail price Refurbished electronics on Amazon come with warranties, giving you peace of mind while saving money.

6. Take Advantage of Free Shipping Offers

Shipping fees can add up quickly, especially for online shopping Many retailers, including Amazon, offer free shipping for orders above a certain amount or for subscribers to services like Amazon Prime eBay sellers often include free shipping as an incentive Plan your purchases strategically to qualify for these offers and save on delivery costs.

7. Apply Coupons and Promo Codes

Never check out without looking for a coupon code! Websites like RetailMeNot Couponscom and Slickdeals often feature promo codes for popular retailers Additionally, browser extensions like Honey automatically apply the best available coupons at checkout, saving you time and money.

8. Shop Out of Season

Timing can make all the difference in saving money For example, buy winter clothing at the end of the season when stores offer clearance prices Similarly, purchasing holiday décor after the holidays can help you save significantly for next year. By planning ahead and shopping offseason, youll score big discounts on quality items.

9. Avoid Paying Full Price for Technology

Electronics often see price drops shortly after release as newer models hit the market Wait a few months after a product launch to buy gadgets like smartphones laptops or gaming consoles Refurbished models and openbox deals on Amazon or eBay are also fantastic ways to save money while still getting high-quality products.

10. Be Patient and Strategic

Finally, patience is key when it comes to saving money If youre not in a rush to buy, set up alerts for price drops on items youre interested in. Both Amazon and eBay allow you to watch products and notify you when prices change. This strategy ensures you are buying at the optimal time and not paying a premium out of haste.

Final Thoughts

Saving money while shopping is all about being proactive and resourceful From leveraging technology like price trackers and cashback programs to strategically timing your purchases, there are countless ways to keep your spending in check without sacrificing quality By following these tips and tricks, youll not only save money but also become a more mindful and confident shopper.

[kaoarika]

Dang.

Do I want to really have a long conversation to the people in charge of several design oversights on Windows 11's UI/UX. Like. For reals.

Too tired of this "user friendly" mentality that is extremely too friendly (or perhaps only thought for those that use smartphones and/or tablets) and hide the usual things behind more hiding options and/or worse.

I dunno how casual have gone through all these things with W11, and me, that I have had big issues in the past with my computers, I have been quite wary about it as a whole. I did disabled a few things that were recommended (like blocking Copilot, and sighing on relief it looks my laptop is not able to go through Recall?), and I have been turning off options that I feel are unnecessary (and real dumb) for my experience... but even so.

I hate that, for much long I used Windows 7 (and including my honeymoon time with Windows XP all the way through 2004 to 2010), my few years using Windows 8 (with that godawful Start menu screen)... and the early version I had of Windows 10 (that also had blocked the updates...), and the more I get used to Windows 11, I like some things... but also hate others... especially the very small that I feel I shouldn't worry much...? but MAN, do they bother me :)

Like, just earlier I had this one thing about the icon of a odt (the LibreOffice extension for their equivalent of Word) not appearing as such in the start menu, BUT a very generic icon of programs that cannot be identified... and the more I tried to save on it, I didn't changed shit :)))... so, I moved the contents of it, I renamed the file and VOILA, like new... JFC. But then, I ask myself... why do the start menu even HAS this option of "recommending me files I just saved or opened, regardless"? And so, and so.

Part of me wishes that I shouldn't be complaining like this, you know? Like... I have been a Windows PC user for a great majority of my life, my first computer had Windows 95 and had to go through hell with W2000, because it had an adware issue at some point in 2001~. I tried to use Macs because College, and part of the jobs I did, had them, but I never seem to find myself into them (and ppl of my own major being VERY snobs about them was certainly what ended up bittering my opinion about Apple in general... not to mention my previous experience with my iPod and iTunes which was annoying to say the least :), it would be interesting? to have a macbook, or smth... but MAN... I'm not so ready to move myself and my things there, I FEEL). And so, I even wish I had the patience and be much more tech savvy to say "yes, let's test Linux to avoid stuff like... this"

Of course, I always go back to "you are only looking for the minimal things because you had issues with all your PC/laptops since 2011" and, yeah. I feel so unconfident about my computers, ever since. And the last one time I SWEAR I was happy on "hey, I bought this preowned and it works wonders (although I had to be like 3 hours waiting for it to have all the updates because it was resetted to factory, I think?)" and then it blocked me off because it had an issue with its battery/charging plug???. And almost a year later, I had a disk error.

I had the decision of not testing this new laptop back in May? June? up until... two month ago, and, even so? afaik, it is working all well. And, compared to the other ones, this is the one "new" computer I have had since 2011. But, the worrywart brainworms get through me. And looking for things that I am cautiously pessimistic? about, that are too unknown to me (precisely because MS decided to hide EVERY single useful thing over more Settings options and making Control Panel? quite redundant at this point), brings me to read about other several issues that other ppl are going through, regardless if they mod their computers or what, within W11, which, obvs, it all sucks.

I feel like I have been knocking wood wishing that my laptop isn't going to break or else, because... man. At that point I will know I'm so cursed.

*Insert here my worriness about using my drawing program of choice and CSP, and still not feeling brave in connecting the Wacom Intuos I have :'D, I feel I need to ask to more savvy people about this, more artist inclined, that do not have too much bias about Wacom and perhaps are also always battling about stuff within Windows 11 :(*

[raheltade]

Check out this listing I just added to my Poshmark closet: Tory Burch | Large York Tote | Laptop Sleeve | Camel.

[buzzlift]

Why You Should Consider Purchasing a Pre-Owned Laptop in Dubai: A Comprehensive Guide

Explore the benefits of buying a pre-owned laptop in Dubai with our comprehensive guide. Discover the best deals on high-quality, used laptops from trusted suppliers. Save money without compromising on performance. Buy your pre-owned laptop in Dubai today!

[grandmasgarage]

Check out this listing I just added to my Poshmark closet: Dickies Plaid Messenger laptop bag case shoulder strap and handle.

[awesomethinz]

Check out this listing I just added to my Poshmark closet: Leather Laptop Messenger Bag Briefcase Sachel Buckles Pockets.

[generalalmondbagelflower]

Check out this listing I just added to my Poshmark closet: The North Face Blue Surge Backpack.

[juicyhammburger]

Check out this listing I just added to my Poshmark closet: Think tank my 2nd brain 13 laptop messenger case.