#anyway that was a mac and now i have a gaming laptop

[transkovsky]

idk if i told you guys but i got a laptop. this is my first time using a personal desktop computer since 2019

[jorvikzelda]

Talked to about 17 different people. My takeaway is the people in the live chat are way more helpful than the people over email (it honestly kind of seems like they don’t have access to the full thread of emails and as such can only respond to the last email you sent which has huge ramifications when you don’t realise it and don’t describe your issue in detail in every single email)… but only until they run out of solution. In the end I was basically told to check again tomorrow if the issue had resolved itself lmfao. And then I googled the problem and found 10000000 different people who had the same problem as me like how do you guys at least not KNOW the standard solution isn’t working for people. Anyway props to the one customer service chat guy whose birthday it was????? I’m still not sure he wasn’t a bot because his responses were out of left field as hell sometimes but happy birthday to him lmao

EA's customer service is downright the most unhelpful experience I've had in my life I keep having the same

Me: Hi I have an issue these are the things I have tried to do which did not work

Customer service representative: ok but have you tried [thing you said you already tried which did not work]

[spell-bloom]

What is considered both a reasonable and maximum polycount for custom content hair and other types of custom content in The Sims 2 and does it depend on gaming specs? Also your work is great!

Thank you for taking the time to read it.

I, personally, use hair that is under 25K polys unless it's unique and cute. Anything over that is overboard and should get decimated. Any furniture or clothing over 10K is extreme for me.

As for specs, I'm inclined to believe that it's a game limitation, how powerful your computer specs are, and a secret third and fourth thing, your OS, and if you're a laptop user.

This OS talk is a side tangent, so bear with me:

Big disclaimer that this is all my opinion, not a factual piece. Don't take this as gospel and I'm far from an expert on operating softwares, computers, and CC for that matter. I went a little bit insane with the OS talk because you mentioned specs and this has been on my mind for a while 🥴

Every single time I've heard that someone installed TS2 on Linux, they are able to play on maximum settings with a BUNCH of CC for a long time and experience no pink soup or pink soup related crashing. I want to do my own research and play the same heavily detailed lot for the same amount of time on Windows and Linux and compare the differences as well as compare how they use resources differently. If I already did not have an attachment to Photoshop CC 2017, I would have made the switch by now.

Okay so Windows... I've played TS2 on my Asus laptop from 2020 and on my new desktop. Here's the spec difference

Laptop: Intel Core i7-9750H 6 Core Processor, 8 GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 (Windows 10)

Desktop: AMD Ryzen 5 2600X Six-Core Processor, 16 GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Windows 11)

My laptop was really good for it's time (I bought it in March 2020), but it was pink soup galore for any cluttered CC lot, even with all of the fixes and GRM edits. My current setup is a mish mosh of my bf's and ex's computer parts and it runs perfectly fine, but I do not play long enough to encounter pink soup. (I have a job and I mainly play to get CC previews these days.) If you noticed, both my CPU and GPU were made before my laptop was sold, and yet it still performs way better. Laptops with top of the line hardware will never be more powerful than PCs with even mid to high level hardware from 5 years ago. Don't forget that laptops will throttle performance to protect itself from overheating and causing damage.

There is also no difference between installing and playing the game on Windows 10 and Windows 11, except that you should absolutely uninstall OneDrive if you haven't already. There might be some issue if you install with discs, but I don't own the discs.

And as for Mac, I truly believe that Mac is the worst way to experience Sims 2. Between the Super Collection crap, not being able to use third party tools (SimPE, Hair Binner, any other .exe files made to run for Windows), and the file limit that really hits you hard if you download a bunch of CC that you can't merge anyway because CCMerger can't run on Mac. I should say I have never played Sims 2 on a Mac, but this is my opinion after reading about the struggles of other MacOS users online.

The point of this OS tangent? None, really. I'm not trying to persuade you to use Linux or stop using Mac, this is simply what I've noticed and my opinions on the matter. There's millions of variables I did not cover such as DXVK, texture sizes, difference in specs between each OS and user and many other things I am forgetting.

Feel free to correct, add on, extrapolate or whatever. If you have any thoughts, please comment, add it in reblogs, or tag me in your post. I'm very interested in the current topics about high polys, pink soup and big textures for this game.

[mixelation]

I feel your pain with unrepairable Mac computer bc I had very expensive, very nice gaming PC for several years I saved up for. it was Alienware. do not get an alienware pc they use so much proprietary shit apparently… i didn’t know that when I got one. I kept going back to this repair shop and they’d be able to fix some problem and I’d have to go back months later. Eventually it was unrepairable. They were great though, eventually ended up paying them to build me a PC and it works perfectly.

that sucks! there is a point where just buying a whole new computer is better financially than repairing, but it's hard to figure out where that point is if it's a bunch of repairs adding up. :(

i do have an appointment to get my laptop looked at in the near future, so here's to hoping that 1) it IS just a battery problem, and 2) the quote they gave me online for a battery replacement is right. i do want to get a new laptop (i was hoping to get one this fall but uuuuuh then some things happened) so i was hesitant to go the repair route bc a multi hundred dollar repair now + new laptop later is more expensive than just a new laptop..... but if i have to put off getting a new one until 2025 anyway, it's probably worth it >.>

[manonamora-if]

Another late weekly devlog... but this time I didn't forget, YAY! Also taking this space to announce I will be more or less offline for the next two weeks at least. I may pop up here and there, maybe dropping some stuff unannounced...

Anyway, let's recap what's been done this past week(s):

This is super recent - aka just now - and completely done last minute, but I've added another template to the Template Assets page! The Title Page Template, with 7 different ways of making a simple title/menu/landing page for SugarCube Projects (both with the BaseUI and Custom). Download it here!

Also complete, published and downloadable, is the SugarCube Guide! Loads of words, loads of code, updated explanations and fixed examples. And now you can use it offline! Get it there!

Also, I should have access to a Mac laptop in a few days (for a week), so I'll try to see how to make the Tweego Folder useable for Mac computers!

Also, also, I'll be adding all these to GitHub soon (promise) so to track issues report in the repos...

Anyways, if you've tried any of those assets, consider leaving a little comment or a rating :) Or send me the link to your project!

MelS completed all edits for Chapter 5 and sent it back to me. I'm doing one last sweep at the document for missed comments and grammar before I'll start coding.

In the meantime, he's back writing for Chapter 6.

It's been busy town here lately, so not much more progress on anything else. I've mainly been playing games in my down time (see @manonamora-if-reviews, I'm trying to finish the Comp 2 months late!) or trying to hack at projects, or organising secret stuff.

Loads of stuff happening in the close future:

The ShuffleComp entries will start trickling in in the next few weeks. Voting will start just after the New Year!

The SeedComp Round 2 has started! If you are looking for an idea to make a game, almost 100 seeds were submitted this season. Deadline to create a game based on those seeds is end of February!

Made a short game this year (>30min play)? Want people to talk about it? Check out the IF Short Game Showcase! They accept up to 3 entries!

Also recently started, the annual Partim 500. It's like the @neo-twiny-jam but in French and with a theme!

The Second Round of the XYZZY Awards will be happening very soon.

Other fun stuff happening soon:

The Queer Vampire Game Jam starting in January

The Zack Jam starting in January

The Text Adventure Literacy Jam 2024 (parser IF) starting in March

The SpringThing also in March (you need to submit an intent before March!)

Other jams happening with the @neointeractives (TBA)!!

I think that's about it for now :)

I'm going back to pressing business :/

[kopawz]

whats up gamers it is wip wednesday. chapter 11 time... who IS chai anyway? like yeah he's a cocky, confident little guy who wants to be a rockstar, but uh. where'd this guy even come from? its like he just appeared outta nowhere sometimes

The air condition whirred in the clean, dimly lit hospital room. Fingers lightly tapping laptop keys interrupted the occasional monitor beeping, and the soft clicking of a bored 808’s tail.

After some well-needed rest (3 hours is probably enough), Peppermint had decided to visit Chai, and had been planning and throwing some things together.

First, things first, she wanted to make sure Chai’s mom got her damn car back.

Peppermint guessed it would still be in the on-shore parking garage, since he had never bothered to go back for it to leave. So, she had gotten in touch with the parking lot employees on-shore. After asking for (she didn't, she just needed to call them to establish an entry point) and processing through crap-tons of entry registers from around Chai’s arrival, she had found his ticket in.

With Roxanne’s authorization, they could pull out his mother’s car from parking, and… have it towed to her… house?

"Wait," Peppermint paused, squinting at her bulky gaming laptop she had 808 bring her to the hospital. Even if they have the ability to tow the car, “...Where the hell are we even going to tow it to?” Confusion pooled in her face.

Better question: …Where the hell did Chai even *live* before he came here?

Because, she’s just now realizing that he hasn’t talked about his homelife at *all* before coming to Vandelay. Even with the two stories he told, the information given was kind of vague as a simple, cheeky retelling of events. Probably on purpose.

Sighing, Peppermint shifted her weight on the hospital bed, crossing her legs. She looked behind her shoulder at him, speaking quietly, "Y'know, this would be a lot easier if you helped out a little, Chai."

She tilted her head at him, as if he would reply, "You wouldn’t happen to know her number, would you?"

He continued sleeping beneath the thin, heavy blanket, not offering much more of a response than a muffled rock tune shuffling onto his player. She recognized the song’s riff, and rolled her eyes with fondness. Hilarious, Chai. She doubts getting her phone number would be that easy.

She couldn’t really ask him anyway, he'd be knocked out for a few days, at the very least. The repairs on his power unit and arm replacement were remarkably easy, but Chai still had to be given, like, two different pain medicines for everything else.

Before Peppermint came back after a hot nap to visit him in his room, he apparently kept suddenly waking up to have a bad coughing fit, before slumping back down into bed. He had caught a nasty fever from either his core heating up so much, or catching something from diving into freezing ocean water; likely both. That, and his body was weak from the completely one-sided battle.

Looking at him now, though, he was just resting with a clammy face. Peppermint was relieved to see he seemed a bit better now; at least physically. The hospital staff said Chai would be knocked out for a long while as he recovers and cools down, but he could still be visited, at least.

But the matter still stands of where the hell he even lives… She decides it might be a good idea to ask around.

Clicking open her messages, and ignoring how many she's missed from the IT department for now, Peppermint figures she should start with the band.

Surely one of them has an idea on where he lives. She clicks open their group chat:

7:53 AM.

p:3ppermint: guys, i have a question

K_Orsica: Sure, go ahead.

K_Orsica: Wait. Rock.

CNMN#0001: Paper! 📄

p:3ppermint: scissors

Macarooooooooooooooooooooon: Alright, shoot.

Macarooooooooooooooooooooon: Wait. <:(

CNMN#0001: I suggest working on additional greetings, Sir Macaron!

p:3ppermint: sorry mac you make it easy

p:3ppermint: ok before i ask, are you guys at work rn or should i do some more digging and ask later

[sibyl-of-space]

GUESS WHO HAS BUILT A DEMO THAT ACTUALLY RUNS LOCALLY ON A COMPUTER AND NOT JUST IN A BROWSER!!! ...now to be fair it's Unity doing all the work here, but I did have to spend about an hour adjusting player settings so that if you fullscreen it doesn't break the 4x3 aspect ratio which makes the game unplayable. (literally unplayable. not in the meme sense but literally actually the game does not work if it isn't in 4x3 much of it is HARD CODED around that aspect ratio)

things left to do:

test this on an old 2015 pre-Catalina mac to see if the build is backwards compatible or if i need to do another build for older versions

figure out player settings to build for windows as well

test on my ~2016 Windows 10 PC, which I have every reason to believe can run it silky smoothly as long as I get the build settings right

test on my ~2011 Windows 7 laptop, which I have every reason to believe will NOT be able to run it on account of being ancient, but will be a good test of just how bloated and not-optimized my shit is (since it can run pure VNs from early/mid 2000s just fine).

I would love nothing more than to ensure the final game can run on a shitty 2011 laptop running Windows 7 but unfortunately that's not a #1 priority. It probably looks terrible on a 4k screen but I don't really give a shit about that. I also want to build for Linux but that depends on whether a Linuxpilled friend is available to playtest for me, otherwise it has to wait until I have the time to set up Linux on a machine and test myself.

BUT ANYWAY! GAME IS ALMOST READY? THIS NEVER FELT LIKE IT WOULD ACTUALLY HAPPEN. I've been saying "almost ready" for so many months solid now that the fact "almost" now means "i literally have like 4 more minor things to draw and put in and then it's DONE done, plus i ALREADY have A VERSION OF IT THAT PLAYS LOCALLY ON A COMPUTER START TO FINISH"

HASHTAG GAME DEV??????

[havnblog]

Early Mac Mini Takes From Someone Who’ll Probably Get One

For a while now, I’ve thought that I’ll most likely get a Mac mini when it gets refreshed. My intended use case is pretty specific — and not as my main computer:

Connecting some external storage, and using it for

backups,

and as a media server. (Jellyfin, perhaps?)

**Maybe use it for some smart home stuff. **

And I’ll also connect it to my TV, via HDMI, for some light big-screen gaming. (Like UFO 50! But also things that I want to play with a controller that’ll run at least as well as on my M1 Pro 16 GB laptop.).

Thoughts regarding my use case

I got to say, the update is pretty perfect for me. The new form-factor is great for my TV furniture, and I can probably get by with the absolute cheapest one. The only upgrades I’m considering, is 24 GB RAM and 10 Gigabit Ethernet. Would love input on this!

General thoughts

In general, I think this is a great update at a good price. And at last we’re finally out of the 8 GB hole! 256 GB is pretty rough, though… But it’s OK for me! So, in principle, if Apple had non-criminal upgrade pricing, I wouldn’t mind it starting that low. But they don’t.

They made the right choices regarding the ports

The new Mini has the following ports on the back:

3x Thunderbolt 4/5

HDMI

Ethernet

Power

And the following in the front:

2x USB-C

Mini-jack

There are two questions we need to look at:

How many ports should the enclosure size account for?

And then, which ports should those be, and where?

Partially I think, in a world where the Mac Studio exists, they went for a sensible size and port number (9 — one more than the M2 Mini, and one less than the M2 Pro). It’s OK to disagree with that — but I think we have to keep that separate from the port types and placement.

I’ve seen some disappointment voiced about the jack being on the front. And while I have zero issues with someone preferring that for their specific setup, I still think it’s wrong to say that Apple made the wrong choice for the majority of people. For those with speakers connected permanently, there are _so _many options for connection. And which port on the back should’ve been moved to the front instead, then?

I also think it would’ve been a travesty if they sacrificed USB-C ports for USB-A ones. Just get over it…

The power button placement is fine

I mean, it uses very little power while in sleeping, so how often do you need to turn it off? And it’ll probably be OK to reach anyway. (Remember that the back of the Mac will be closer to you than with the last one, as the footprint is smaller.)

I’ll have to think about it some more, but I think this will be my next purchase. And I think this will be a great Mac for many people for many years.

[purplesurveys]

1848

💻 Laptop Computer 💻

Do you own a laptop? I do. It's nearly a decade old now and works for only an hour when charger-free, but it's my baby all the same.

Are you on a laptop right now? Yup.

How many laptop computers have you owned in your lifetime? This has been my first and only one that was gotten for me specifically. The laptop I used in high school had been my dad's.

What color was your first laptop? This laptop is silver.

What color is your current laptop? It's the same laptop.

🖥 Desktop Computer 🖥

Do you own a desktop computer? No. I used one in school, but I never owned one.

Do you prefer Windows computers or Mac computers? Apple.

What were your favorite computer games to play as a kid? What are your favorite computer games now? There was a website called Y8 that had all these flash games and my sister and I were on that damn site every single day for a few hours. Anyway, I don't play any computer games currently.

Which do you use more: a computer or a phone? 📱 Phone.

Are you good at remembering passwords for websites, or do you always forget? I'm not, so I always have the remember password option turned on. I'm not into the idea of noting my passwords down on my phone either, because I'd be fucked the moment I misplace my phone or if it gets stolen.

What is your current computer desktop background? It's BTS smiling. 

Do you have a desk job? I guess you can say that. I work from home, but yes I do work at my desk for all 8 hours of it.

What were some of your favorite websites as a kid? What are some of your favorite websites now? I liked looking at people's profiles on Friendster, mainly because I was not allowed to have an account and that was my way of pretending I was a part of that website hahaha. I was also already on Twitter back in like 2009 and it's always been one of my favorites, although I have more of a love-hate relationship with it now tbh.

These days, my favorites would be YouTube and Reddit.

Were you alive before the Internet was invented?  I sure wasn't.

How many tabs do you have open on your computer right now? 6.

⌨️ Computer Keyboard ⌨️

Are you a fast typer? I am. I've gotten a few reactions before haha.

Do you enjoy typing on a keyboard? Yes. Typing can be fun when you know how to do it fast.

Have you ever used a typewriter? I've seen a typewriter, but have never used one.

Do you own a typewriter? Nope.

What color are the keys on your computer's keyboard? They would be black.

🖨 Printer 🖨

Do you own a printer? We do, but I hardly use it because bluetooth is so fucking tricky lmao.

What was the last thing you printed off? It was like an authorization letter thingy my workplace provided to allow my hospital to administer a physical exam on me.

Have you ever printed anything off in a library? More times than I can count – we didn't have a printer at home when I was in high school and college. In a way it helped me become more disciplined, since no printer meant I had to finish papers and stuff a day before a deadline to have them printed out on time.

Do you prefer to use black ink or colored ink? Black. Having to print anything colored stresses me out because it's like what if it runs out of ink in the middle of printing ahaha??

Do you know how to change the ink in a printer? No, it's something I never learned how to do lol.

🖱Computer Mouse🖱

Can you see the computer mouse emoji? 🖱 Hardly.

Do you wonder why they made this emoji, when it's hard to see because it's white? I mean it'll only be a bitch if your background is white, so I don't see much of a problem.

Do you own a computer mouse? Yeah. I won one at a company Christmas raffle 2 or 3 years ago but have just never gotten around to using it.

Do you use a computer mouse? Nope. I prefer a trackpad sooooooooo much more.

If you own one, what color is your computer mouse?

Do you prefer to use a mouse or a trackpad? Trackpad. Having everything inches from each other helps me a lot.

Have you ever used the computer mouse emoji? I don't think so.

💾 Floppy Disk 💾

Have you ever saved anything onto a floppy disk? I've never used a floppy disk.

Do you own any floppy disks? Nope. The only thing going for me with floppy disks is that I'm old enough to remember them, but not to have used them.

When was the last time you used a floppy disk? I never used one.

What are three things you like (besides floppy disks) that are floppy? Idk...slime? Oh my beagle's ears! Hahaha. I can't think of a third one.

Have you ever cried because you lost something that you had saved onto a floppy disk? Nope.

💿 Compact Disc 💿

Have you ever burned a CD? I didn't, because again I wasn't old enough to have been doing it regularly; but I remember Andi making me a mixtape when we were in Grade 5. That'd be my one and only experience with a burned CD.

Have you ever made a mix CD? I didn't, but a friend had done it for me.

Have you ever done a craft project using old CDs? I don't remember ever doing so.

Do you own any CDs still? Yes. I've kept all my Beyoncé albums around, although it's only up until self-titled since I was never able to find physicals for Lemonade and Renaissance.

Then of course there's BTS, so since I collect merch I have since grown a good number of their physical albums. I'm just missing the stuff for 2016-2019.

What was the last CD you listened to? Do albums on Spotify count since I never listen to CDs anymore? Hahaha...it would be Hope on the Street.

What was the first CD that you purchased? Camp Rock OST lol

💽 CD in Plastic Case 💽

Did you burn CDs and then put them in a plastic case? I never burned CDs.

Do you own any plastic CD cases? Just the ones my older albums go in.

Have you ever written on a CD with a permanent marker? Nope.

Have you ever used this emoji? The one in this section? No.

Do you still own any of the mix tapes or mix CDs you made when you were younger? I don't think I have the mixtape Andi gave me anymore.

📼 VHS Tape 📼

Do you own any VHS tapes? I don't think we've kept them.

Did you used to watch movies on VHS tapes when you were younger? I didn't reach those anymore, but I'm sure my parents did. They ran a short-lived business selling VHS tapes.

Do you remember the orange Nickelodeon tapes? No.

Do you have any home videos that are on tapes? Yes :) They are my absolute favorite to look back on and I'm so glad my dad had that kind of foresight to...vlog his kids growing up haha.

Do you own a VCR? No.

Do you remember having to rewind VHS tapes? Nope.

📞 Telephone ☎️

Do you remember a time before cellphones? Tbh no. By the time I was 5 my parents both had phones and before that my memory's pretty much hazy.

How old were you when you got your first cellphone? I was 7. It was 2005 and I got a Sony Ericsson flip phone.

Do you work in an office with a telephone? Each desk has a telephone, yes; but there isn't a lot of opportunity to use them since I work from home.

Do you have a home phone or just a cellphone? I have a cellphone, but at home we also have a landline still. My grandma prefers calling us that way as she's always refused to own a phone, so we keep it around.

Do you still remember your home phone number from when you were growing up? Yes.

Have you ever made a prank call? No.

📠 Fax Machine 📠

Do you own a fax machine? Never. I only ever saw faxes in hotels lol but I think even they got rid of those now.

Have you ever worked in an office with a fax machine? Nope.

Have you ever owned a fax machine? We never had one at home.

Have you ever used this emoji? Nopes.

What are three things you like that rhyme with "fax"? The sound of the sax, time to relax...and that's all I can think of really.

🗄 Filiing Cabinet 🗃

Do you own a filing cabinet? My family does in general. We have this tiny drawer that houses all of our important documents like passports and birth certs.

Do you enjoy organizing things? It's fun when I do it, but as a whole no because I'm terrible at maintaining.

Are you a very organized person? At work, to a fault. In real life, eh it depends on my mood.

Is there an office in your home? Nope. My room is my work station.

When was the last time you shopped at Office Max? We don't have that but I also can't remember the last time I was at an office supplies store. Safe to assume years ago.

What was the last thing you bought at Office Max? That's lost on me now.

🗂 Manila Folders 🗂

Do you own any manila folders? We should have a few here at home.

Do you organize your computer files into folders? Absolutely.

Did you ever use Lisa Frank folders for school when you were a kid? No, we couldn't afford those. I wasn't a fan of the style anyway so it didn't feel like I was missing out.

Do you still own any of the colorful folders you used to use for school when you were a kid? Nope.

What are three things you have stored in folders (in real life, not on a computer)? Documents, activity sheets for school, and if we are counting binders – photocards haha.

📌 Thumbtack 📌

How many bulletin boards are there in your home? I just have one – mine.

Have you ever spray-painted a bulletin board, and if yes, what color? No.

Do you own a set of colorful thumbtacks? I know I do, someone had given me a pack for Christmas back when I was still in my corkboard phase haha. I just wouldn't be able to tell you where it is right now.

If you own a bulletin board, what are three things you have pinned on it? I don't use mine anymore.

Have you ever stepped on a thumbtack? No, thank god.  

✂️ Scissors ✂️

How many pairs of scissors do you own? We have around 3-4 pairs at home.

Have you ever ran with scissors? Probably, but I always do it cautiously and holding it from the blades.

What color are your favorite pair of craft scissors, if applicable? Whatever man, as long as it gets the job done.

What color are your hair-cutting scissors, if applicable? I don't cut my hair.

Do you cut your own hair? 💇♀️ ^ There you go.

Do you have a special pair of scissors that you use to open boxes? 📦✂️ No, but I just use a cutter lol

Do you have different pairs of scissors that you use for different things? Just scissors and cutters.

What color was the last pair of scissors you used? What was the last thing you used a pair of scissors for? I can't recall the color anymore, but it was to open a box of products to sort out for work.

Do you know how to do a scissor kick? I can try but I would like 98% fail.

When was the last time you did a scissor kick? I've never done one hahaha.

🧷 Safety Pin 🧷

When was the last time you used a safety pin? Sometime last year when I needed to pin my top from the back because it was too loose.

Have you ever used this emoji? I doubt I have.

What was the last thing you used a safety pin for? Oh, I touched on it already haha.

Have you ever ran a race and had a number pinned to your shirt? No. But for work I've needed to be the person who was linking the pins to the bibs so everyone can put it on their shirts lol.

Do you own a box of safety pins? I don't think we do, actually.

📎 Paper Clips 🖇

When was the last time you used a paperclip? January when I was fixing some contracts for work.

What was the last thing you used a paperclip for? Damn I really need to stop overexplaining LOL

Do you remember Clippit, the Microsoft Word paperclip? 📎👀💬 I do but only because of memes and stuff. I never encountered it from our family computer.

Have you ever received a piece of advice from Clippit? Nope.

Do you own a box of paperclips? Nope.

📏 Rulers 📐

Do you own a ruler? We probably have one somewhere.

How many rulers do you own? None that I can call my own.

What was the last thing you used a ruler? When was the last time you used one? I honestly can't remember.

Do you know how to draw a straight line without using a ruler? Depends, but probably not. If I'm drawing on paper, I'd fold it so it makes a dent, but even then I doubt it would be perfectly straight.

What does your favorite ruler that you own look like? I don't have a 'favorite ruler' lol, but when I was a kid I like those rulers that came with shape outlines that you can trace so you could draw like a perfect square or heart or whatever.

🖊 Pen 🖊

Do you prefer to write with pens or pencils? Pens. Easier to handle.

What color ink pen do you write with the most? Black.

Where do you normally buy pens? I'd go to the local bookstore chain.

What was the last thing you wrote down? I was logging in as a guest at Bea's condo.

Do you enjoy writing? Do you enjoy how it feels as your hand glides across the page? ✍️ I like writing. My wrist just gets tired too quickly so I don't do it a lot, but when I'm in my element I definitely enjoy how passionate I can get.

🗑 Trash Can 🗑

What do you call a trash can? Do you call it a trash can, wastebasket, rubbish bin, garbage can, or something else? I call it a trash can, the trash, or the Filipino word for it. 

Do you need to take the trash out soon? Nah, not so much a need for it yet.

What day is trash pick-up day in your city? Monday, if I'm not mistaken.

Are there things you are holding onto that you probably should just throw away? There are some I can think of, yes.

When was the last time you took the trash out? A few days ago. My sister and I alternate.

📋 Clipboard 📋

Do you own a clipboard? I used to.

When was the last time you had to sign a paper that was attached to a clipboard? Long long long ago. I want to say college.

Have you ever held a clipboard just to make yourself look more official? No, but I am reminded by someone who'd do this haha.

Do you have neat handwriting? Yeah. I get complimented on it fairly regularly so I guess it must be nice to some extent.

Would you rather write in cursive or print? Print.

📆 Calendar 📅

What is today's date? April 20th.

How many months are there until your birthday? 🥳 24 hours.

How old will you turn on your next birthday? This

Do you have a calendar on your wall? If so, what is this month's calendar picture? I have a 2023 BTS calendar on disply, but I never updated it after June lol.

Are you counting down the days to anything? I'm counting down the hours til my birthday!

What is your favorite season? We don't have the four easons.

🗒 Spiral Notepad 🗒

When was the last time you used a spiral notepad? Can I answer for notebook instead? I can't even remember the last time I used a spiral notepad lol. Anyway, for notebook – a few months ago when I felt like writing a poem.

Do you own a spiral notepad? Still for notebook. I do – it's my (former) college notebook. Back in college I had this notebook that had 5983738573948 pages in them because I thought I was gonna be scribbling down notes in every single class. Well some classes I took ended up not being note-heavy, so I was left with a notebook that was only half-filled haha.

A few years after graduating I ripped out all the pages that had lessons in them so it could feel like a new notebook again. I use it every now and then in case I feel like writing.

Would you rather write or draw? ✍️ Write.

Do you make to-do lists? I have a spreadsheet I use absolutely religiously for my work to-do list.

What are/were three items on your to-do list for today? I needed to finish a press release that I'd been holding off all week; finish a post-event report deck; and review a couple of videos produced by someone we outsourced so we could send it to a client for their sign-off.

What is something you did yesterday (or today) that you really enjoyed? Played looooooots and lots and lots of Rhythm Hive.

What is something that you've been putting off, if there's anything? Dyeing my hair purple again.

Are you thankful that your life story is still being written? Yes. I'm turning 26, so I'm only in like season 2 of Friends haha. I've got time.

⏰ Alarm Clock ⏰

What time do you usually wake up in the morning? Anywhere between 7:30 - 8:30 AM. 

Is your bed made right now? Not perfectly. I didn't prop up the pillows properly since I was in a hurry to get to work.

Do you wake up to an alarm, or do you wake up naturally? I wake up naturally. Alarms don't wake me 80% of the time :/

Do you normally follow a schedule, or are you more spontaneous? I like some level of stability, and it's only when things are more or less in order that I'd feel comfortable with going spontaneous.

Do you prefer to follow a schedule or be spontaneous? Follow a sched as much as possible, but again I'm not closed off from spontaneity.

Do you have a clock on your wall? Nope.

What do you normally use to tell time? Do you use your phone, computer, wristwatch, the sun ☀️, a wall clock, a bedside alarm clock, or something else? Phone. We also have a clock in the dining room.

💡 Lightbulb 💡

How many lamps can you see from where you're sitting right now? One.

When was the last time you changed a lightbulb? Never have.

Have you ever used your phone as a flashlight? 📱 Hundreds of times. 

Do you own a flashlight? 🔦 We have one at home in case of brownouts. On my own, I have my phone and my BTS lightstick HAHAHA

How many lightbulbs can you see from where you're sitting right now? Two.

💿🗄💻📆🗂 Final Questions! 🗃📋🖇📠💾

Do you work in an office? We have an office but we're on a permanent WFH setup. We have a mandatory office day once a month, but anyone's free to book the place for use if they feel like working onsite for the day.

Have you ever had an office job? If so, did/do you like it? If you haven't had an office job, do you think you would like one? I'm currently technically in an office job. It's okay. I like the stability. There's always going to be a bit of a love-hate relationship with it, so I try to address it by striking the balance between passion and burnout and finally learning how to set boundaries.

What is your favorite thing to do on a computer? 💻 Take these surveys, heh.

Would you rather own a desktop computer or laptop computer? 💻🖥 Laptop.

What is your dream job? Doing PR for WWE.

Do you prefer writing something down or typing something up on a computer? There are things to each I like, so I don't have a preference. I like that typing is easier and is a lot lot quicker; but I like how much more personal handwriting something is.

Do you own a desk? If so, what does it look like? What do you have on top of it? Yup. I just have my lamp and work laptop on it, as well as a pen holder wih some pens + notepads from my Layover albums haha. During the day it will also have a cup of coffee.

What do you think is your favorite emoji among the ones on this survey? The CD one is quite pretty.

[linuxlife]

Linux Life Episode 84

Hello everybody and welcome back to Linux Life I admit its been a little while since I made an entry which was informing you of the death of Mangelwurzel and entry of the new Dell Inspiron 3525 I am currently using to type this article on.

Reason its been so long was I actually went back to Windows (stop spitting at back please it’s not pretty) because I wanted to play Blur and a few other games. Well I did and in that time I also tried several ways to have a Linux installation in some form of VM.

So first I used Virtualbox which is a Type 2 Hypervisor basically what that means is everything is emulated in its own little sandbox and all the hardware is virtual. I did manage to get Ubuntu Studio running but to say it was rough would be an understatement.

Virtualbox does not like KDE to say the least and it was painful to run. Also the networking was slow. Sure I could have used normal Ubuntu to see if GNOME was faster but for all I have tried it many times I really don’t like GNOME. Everything needs extensions and the interface is horrible.

Finding apps requires typing in a search because of that stupid Mac Launchpad icon design. I really detest it. I’m sure if you were using a touchscreen then it makes sense but most laptops definitely are not.

Anyway after far too many hours wasted with that I moved on to try Hyper V which is a Type 1 Hypervisor which allows much more connection to base metal components... it lets you use your actual graphics card, the hard drive can be accessed better and you have access to USB and the likes which makes it much better.

Now at the time I was using Windows 11 Home as that’s what came pre-installed on the Dell. So I had to download Hyper V as it wasn’t there by default. So first I try Ubuntu as Canonical have an agreement with Microsoft due to WSL.

Sure enough it installed and was pretty fluid but it had no sound. There was an enhanced mode which refused to work as to do so it needed RDS (Remote Desktop Support) which also prevented sound from working (Huh ?).

To get RDS you need Windows 11 Pro which Microsoft informed me if I wanted a key would be £119. Hmmm not happy obliterated Ubuntu VM. Went web-side got a Windows 11 Pro for £1.67 as it was OEM key. They key would have been £3.35 but I found a 50% off code.

After a bit of fiddling I got Windows 11 Home to go to Pro using a key to switch it then once it did that registered the new OEM key and it worked and guess what I have access to Remote Desktop Services.

So as I felt that Hyper V could cope I now tried installing EndeavourOS which installed without a single hitch. I admit the network was slow but a million times quicker than Virtualbox.

It had no issues with KDE whatsoever but once again no sound. I installed several Hyper V tools and things from the AUR. Even changed out pipewire back to pulseaudio but no matter what I did, sod all worked. RDS couldn’t see the VM even including doing the various Powershell tips.

Bugger all, now sure I could have run Endeavour without sound but I had come this far damn it. OK deleted VM. OK I now have Win 11 Pro so lets try the Ubuntu stuff again.

OK now enhanced mode shows a dialogue and when I log in screen goes black and bugger all happens. Click off enhanced mode and Ubuntu is working. Enhanced mode just black. Setup Ubuntu. reboot now enhanced mode doesn’t come up and even the VM crashes now.

This wasted too many hours and days of messing around. I even got the RDS side running but when I tried to Remotely Access using RDS it crashed. What a complete waste of bloody time.

I even tried running a Ubuntu Studio VM using VMWare Player 17. It didn’t work.

I doing think about setting up a KVM version of QEMU to run a Linux installation but guess what if you want sound on QEMU you need to get a specific version called the Screamer and it won’t let you use KVM setup meaning it wouldn’t allow you to install the Linux.

By this point I just gave up I honestly don’t care what type of Hypervisor it is I am obviously too thick to get things running as they should and I gave up.

I almost tried Proxmox and XCP-NG but upon seeing what they entailed just gave up.

After all that I thought I would leave alone and just use Windows. Then everyone started informing my Facebook had been cloned, well lets just say that didn’t happen when I had Linux.

The internet under Windows just ran slower than when I had Linux. Watching YouTube stalled regularly, downloads failed due to time out and my frustration levels were getting to breaking point.

I tried to dual boot Linux as I found out how to shrink the partition in Windows and use it for Linux installation. So tried EndeavourOS but because of the Secure boot it wouldn’t let the system install.

However for some reason Fedora will install if Secure boot is still on. So I installed Fedora Beta 40 because I wanted to try the new KDE Plasma 6. Now I know it’s beta software so not to have many expectations but most of the software I use was not in the store nor could I find the appropriate dnf installer.

However Fedora now would boot but my Windows 11 wouldn’t the partition was there but it didn’t add it to the menu so now I could load Fedora but Windows wouldn’t load.

Tried OS Prober, Grub Customizer, no matter what I did could not get the Windows 11 partition to boot or get it in the options

Pissed off now I finally turned off Secure boot. Wiped the whole hard drive and installed EndeavourOS Galileo Neo (the latest version) and set up the Dell with KDE.

It now is running on KDE 6 Plasma 6.0.2 running Wayland. It is running seamlessly, the internet is quicker. No issues with YouTube. Updating fine. When I tried KDE 5 Plasma Wayland, Steam and several other programs stopped working.

Well Steam is working fine using XWayland (a Wayland to X11 bridge) and there is a version of Cairo Dock that works with Wayland (it is experimental but so far has not died on me).

So all is right with the world in that respect. Only issue is screen capture isn’t great in Wayland but someone is working on it. OBS and other video capture work fine but screen capture programs such Flameshot, Shutter and other need work.

Well Wayland is slowly being adapted so in time I am sure these things will be fixed over the next few months as more and more main distros seem to be moving to Wayland.

It works well enough and to be honest it's even faster for program launch it seems than the original X11 which is now over twenty years old.

I am yet to try the Steam Proton games such as Path of Exile but who knows maybe next time we speak I may have done so.

So with all that madness abound I bid you farewell for this episode.

Hopefully I will try not to break anything major... until next time take care.

[netscapenavigator-official]

You’ve invited me to talk about myself. How could I resist??

Also @meltyb you tagged my primary account on this same post, and it reminded me that I already had a version of it saved to my drafts. So, here goes:

Last Song: "Real Low Low" by Gloria Tells (So many modern songs try so hard to replicate even a fraction of the raw disco vibes this song achieves. I am obsessed.)

Favorite Color: A nice earthy, rich green.

Last Movie/Show: Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom

Relationship Status: Tbh I don't think I'm in the headspace to have a relationship right now. If it happens it happens, but I'm not going out of my way to make it happen.

Last Thing Looked Up: “MacBookPro8,2 Linux Night Light not working" (Recently reinstalled Zorin OS on my laptop, and I forgot on my previous install I disabled the AMD dGPU. For some reason, this dGPU is incompatible with the Night Light feature, and the iGPU is not.)

Current Obsessions: Nancy Drew PC games, Nintendo DS games, Trying to get Zorin OS to run stably on an ARM Mac's Virtual Machine.

@adam-magus @msmimundo @bradspace2000 @jupyter-notebook @happinessisntfun @shit-that-we-all-love @jukain4216 @demigirlboss2girlrotboogaloo @meltyb

You first three are long-time mutuals of my primary blog, so no pressure to hop in. I just wanted to tag y'all because I never get the chance to tell you guys that I love you all, and I love seeing y'all in my activity inbox

Also, I'm sorry for re-tagging you last two, but I was struggling to come up with more people. I'm sure there are some I missed, but if I put off posting this any longer, it'll never get done. For what it's worth, I would've tagged y'all anyway, and I've already gotten to read y'alls', so all's well and ends well.

Nine people I'd like to get to know better

Tagged by @meghawhopp <33

Last song: Down by the River by Borislav Slavov from the Baldur’s Gate 3 Soundtrack (or more specifically the cover of Down by the River by Nerissa Ravencroft)

Favorite color: Blue and purple!

Last movie/TV show: Seinfeld, I’m currently on season four!

Sweet/spicy/savory?: I have a huge sweet tooth, so sweet things

Relationship status: Single

Last thing I googled: I searched up the show “Arthur” because I was trying to find that one meme where Buster was like “You really think someone would do that, just go on the internet and spread lies?”

Current obsession: Fragaria memories and tears of themis mostly^^

Tag Nine People: @kyaruun @xinieeee @deadmansbistro @florapot @hunita812 @scuffle-with-spirals @rexonalapis @maxellera @manicpixiedoomedgirl

[twinhood-2dot0]

A Shallow Dive Into: Computer Hardware

I made a post on tech geekery (I checked, it's geekery, according to Google anyways) long ago but that was pretty worthless with barely any information, and back then I only just got into the hardware side of stuff, so I wasn't qualified to talk about that yet, but now I think I am, so here goes. Also, if you're not Alex and reading this, a disclaimer, that I oversimplify a lot, and not everything will be perfectly accurate because I'm writing this on a mobile phone, so I can't research as much as I'd like to, but if there's a glaring mistake, please leave a comment so I can correct it.

There are mainly 4 components that are really important in a computer. Those being the CPU, GPU, RAM, and storage device. Yeah, there are, like, motherboards and PSUs and stuff, but like, what would I really say about them? All you really need in a motherboard is it to have decent I/O and like match your CPU chipset, and PSUs just need to be a reputable brand and enough power to handle all your components. I’m only really talking about things with specs and stuff.

CPU

There are two main CPU architectures in consumer electronics, ARM and x86(-64). ARM is what your mobile phones, certain chromebooks and low power laptops and recent Mac and iPad devices use. ARM is more energy efficient but it has less power relatively, although Apple’s implementations are pretty powerful. X86-64 or AMD64 is what modern desktops and laptops use. Intel and AMD are really the only two producers of x86 but ARM is more lenient with its licensing.

So, generally in a CPU, you’ll want to look at its clock speeds, L1-3 cache, and core and thread counts. Clock speeds generally measure the speed, but it should not be the only metric. L1-3 cache are memory modules built directly into the CPU so it can process data faster, and core and thread counts contribute to multitaskability. You should also look at memory type, chipset and socket. Memory type can be DDR3-5, which I will talk about below, and the others have too many kinds so you can check out the Further Watching section. The former are performance specs, and the latter are compatibility stuff.

Intel

Intel has mainly 3 brands. Xeon, Celeron/Pentium, and of course, Core. Xeon is their server and workstation CPUs, Celeron and Pentium are really weak budget CPUs, which they dumbly renamed Intel Processors? The heck? WHYYYYY??? Ahem, and Core is what most consumers will want. Core are further split into i3, i5, i7 and i9. I3 are budget friendly CPUs, i5 is mid-range, i7 is higher end, and i9 is enthusiast grade.

Intel CPU names look generally like i5-13500K. The first two numbers (or just the one, in older models) denote the generation, so that CPU is 13th gen. The last three numbers generally denote performance tiers, so 500 is more powerful than i5-13490F. For the letters at the end, refer to the Further Watching.

Addendum: Oh, for god's sake Intel, do you have nothing better to do??? Intel is scrapping the i. Their processors are now called Intel Core Ultra 7/9 Processor and Core 5 Processor. Worse still, names are like Intel Core Ultra 9 Processor 1090H. Whaaaaat the freaaaaakkkkinnngggg helllll???

AMD

AMD likewise has EPYC, Athlon, and Ryzen respectively. Ryzen is further divided into 3, 5, 7, 9 and Threadripper. Yeah, they mean the exact same things as Intel minus the i. Threadripper is the middle ground between Ryzen and EPYC. Good for workstations, multithreaded applications and servers and decent enough for gaming but not its purpose. Ryzen also employs a similar naming scheme, like Ryzen 5 5600X. The first number is generation, the rest is performance tier. 4-6 is high performance, 7-9 are enthusiast and the rest are mainstream. Ryzen doesn’t have too many letters, so I’ll discuss them here. X is high performance, G has Radeon Vega integrated GPUs, T is low power desktop, S is low power with GPU, H, U and M are high performance, standard and low power mobile.

GPU

GPUs handle Graphics Processing. Everything you see on this screen is thanks to the GPU. There are two kinds of GPUs. Integrated and discrete/dedicated. Integrated graphics come with the CPU and aren’t for much more than light usage, like watching videos, indie/retro gaming etc. In the past, if you wanted to do more than light gaming, you would need a discrete card, but AMD’s CPUs (Or APUs, Accelerated PU, as AMD calls their processors with integrated GPUs) have been slowly closing the gap. If you have an AMD APU, not all hope is lost (for gaming). AMD and NVIDIA have had the duopoly on the GPU market, but Intel is coming out with their own too now.

GPU Specs to Look Out For: Core Count and clock speeds are basically the same as CPU. Dedicated GPUs also have their own VRAM (videoRAM), unlike integrated which use system RAM which makes them in general slower. Modern games require at least 8 GB of VRAM, but you can survive with less, I game on 4GB of VRAM :P. There are more, but I’m in a rush, so here, the first result I found in a google search :P https://www.binarytides.com/graphics-card-specs-explained/

AMD

AMD only really has one line unlike NVIDIA which makes my job easier, the Radeon. Their recent GPUs use the RDNA Architecture. Their GPU names are in the form 6950XT. First number is generation, ranging from 5-7 as of the time of writing, the rest are the tier, from 500-950. XT slots in between tiers, like 6700XT is between the 6700 but worse than 6800. Their new cards also have XTX, which is used in the 7900XTX because it’s the best they have to offer.

NVIDIA

NVIDIA has some more lineups, like Quadro, which is for like server and ML stuff, but I’ll only talk about GeForce because the average person never needs the others. GeForce is further split into GT and RTX, but the GT lineup is discontinued. The GT cards are older consumer-grade GPUs from the 2 series to the 1600 series. The naming scheme is pretty much the same for both, like the 1660Ti. First one or two numbers(16) denote generation, and the rest denote tier. RTX cards are basically GTX but with RT (raytracing) Cores, allowing for better lighting in video games. In some games (like Minecraft) it can be a drastic improvement  while in others it’s barely noticeable.

Ray tracing basically allows for more realistic lighting, although rasterization has gotten really good to the point where it’s really hard to see a difference in games like Shadow Of The Tomb Raider.

RAM or Random Access Memory

 is a form of volatile storage used by the computer. Basically, the data stays on it until it is freed or power is turned off. Accessing data on RAM is much faster than accessing data on a non-volatile storage device, so the more RAM you have the faster your system runs. RAM has 2 important metrics. DDRX and MTs. CPUs and motherboards support one or sometimes two kinds of DDR (Double Data Rate) RAM. Older computers (like my desktop) use DDR3 RAM, and most relatively modern computers use DDR4 RAM, and very new computers use DDR5 RAM. If you have older than DDR3 uh the stone age called, they want their computer back. MT/s stands for Mega/million transfers per second, basically how much data it can transfer in a second, so higher the number, the faster the RAM. DDR4 RAM ranges from 1600-3200 MT/s while DDR5 ranges from 4,000-8,000 MT/s.

Storage devices are mostly Hard Disk Drives (HDDs) or Solid State Drives (SSDs). HDDs are bulky drives with a magnetic platter that stores data we're all familiar with. SSDs store data using flash memory which is an electronic form of storage, so there's no noisy mechanical parts, and they're also much faster than HDDs but also tend to be more expensive. So to store large amounts of data (unless you're rich) you're better off using HDDs, while for a boot drive an SSD is much better. Seriously, I had a 128GB SSD on my laptop with Windows installed, so it just went completely unused, and while switching over to Nobara Linux, I decided to just wipe Windows off, since I only used it for gaming before, and Linux gaming has gotten to the point where Windows is unnecessary, and oh my lord. My boot time, which used to be like more than half a minute, jumped to under 5 seconds and opening Firefox went from similar times to around a second. I seriously underestimated the impact of an SSD. Of course, it's still only 128GB, so I can’t store games on it, so I'm still stuck with very long loading screens, but if I could store it on the SSD I'm sure I'd have very little load times.

Okay, that's all of the crucial components. Of course, there are more stuff like motherboards and PSUs and coolers and stuff, but those have less impact on performance and you don't really need to care about their specs so much, so I excluded them. I would try to make it less of a wall of text, but I’m in a bit of a rush.

Further Watching

(I realise I should make a playlist but pfffff too much effort)

If you want more info on any of the above mentioned topics, you can probably find a video on it by Techquickie.

[noro-noro-noro]

earlier had some dream about being in a hotel with people on a school or family trip & then trying to break into some high tech psychopass like with genshin impact characters.

 i don’t remember a whole lot. something like me & my sister (also some of my other family) in a hotel? or maybe it was a school trip. i’m in the basement room chatting with some dude, & he has a problem that like the bed is trying to absorb him or everything is too small & he can’t do what he wants to do. i was wiping something off & i thought there was like lint on a pillow so i patted it once with a damp rag & then the guy was like THOSE ARE MY JEANS & then somehow they were soaking wet from one touch with a damp rag. there’s 4 people in that room, 2 double beds, & one of the girls down there was someone friendly. i dont’t remmeber too much. there was also a balding angry fisherman who was accusing everyone of trying to touch his stuff. we looked at a world map & the continents were kind of weird. half of east asia was gone - not like replaced with water or empty space, bt just like as if it had never existed. new coastline! taiwan & the other islands were there! it’s just like china & russia were cut in half & everything was moved over. 

then something like me, my sister, childe genshin impact & thoma were trying to enter some kind of Highly Observed Area where there were machines that could read your intent or at least your danger level & things would occur based on that. we were standing in line. my sister disappeared & teucer showed up instead. i got through no problem & a lady pointed me down the hall to Tha Factory Area that we had to go to. Thoma tried to go through, but the thing flagged him & he continued walking anyway bc we HAD to do this & then this statue behind the checkpoint activated & like shot energy lances at him & blasted his body full of holes. acting like a regular concerned citizen, i ran over there to catch him as he passed out from this. childe genshin impact as a fatui harbinger realized “well this won’t work for me i need to make a break for it” & he picked up thoma & started running down the hallway, taking several hits. but unlike thoma he’s like super warrior man or whatever so he tried to take these more in stride. his little brother was fine. i decided to stand behind both of them & like put some kind of energy shield up, bc this is a skill that i had all of a sudden, & we went out of range of the thing & disappeared down the hall. childe’s little brother was careful to mop up all the blood (he still thought this was a game somehow). he was excited about it! well, great. 

childe stopped to tend to his wounds & also thoma’s, so i checked out the next room, it was some kind of parkour challenge with floating polygons & also a giant rotating mac laptop in like iridescnet purple that woulld unfold like an accordion. you had to jump through & up these things. this room was fun! i was now playing it like a genshin event rather than something happening in real life, so childe’s character model was awkwardly carrying thoma’s, but he also had voiced dialogue for when he got ahead of you & would wait up. 

after this room & the next couple sequences, we achieved our mission but were caught on the way out by the same lady that let us in. we decided to wait politely bc they were going to offer thoma medical treatment & THEN sentence him to punishment or smth - they seem to have forgotten that childe wasn’t scanned, or maybe teucer did a little scamming so despite the robot thing impaling him a couple times as well, he didn’t have to go to jail or whatever. whiel he was medically treated, the lady interrogated me about why i shielded people who were breaking the law if we weren’t in cahoots, & i was like “i didn’t want to see anybody die :(((” & then that BALD ANGRY FISHERMAN FROM EARLIER SHOWED UP & WAS LIKE THAT BITCH PUNCHED MY FOUR YEAR OLD DAUGHTER AND DESERVES TO BE KILL & then i had to argue witih him that thoma was well beloved by hte community & the daughter still seemed close to him & he was wildly rounding up “daughter had jam all over her face & he helped wipe if off” & also how nicely beloved he was by thte weird hotel community vs how detested & annoying the fisherman was in the weird hotel community, & apparently my testimony was good enough so when thoma was conscious again he was returned to us. 

then i woke up 

[alsjeblieft-zeg]

422 of 2022

i don’t understand how people don’t care about music. it’s annoying when people post the same statuses all the time. i’m old enough to drink, but i don’t really drink much. i could eat mac & cheese every day. i am sick with a cold/sinus infection at the moment. ^i get them all the time. :( i’ve lost so many friends because they were “better than me”. i’ve lost so many friends because their boyfriends were “more important than me”. I love watching ‘Keeping Up with the Kardashians’. ^Scott’s a douche. i always feel like i have a fever, but i don’t. i really want (and need) to lose weight. moe’s is yummy! i know so many teenagers who are pregnant right now, it’s ridiculous. my cat is a creeper. my cat likes to growl at our neighbors. i love it! i really cannot stand rap. (the opposite) my cat likes to hide. sirius black is my favorite harry potter character. ^along with ron weasley. I’m currently procrastinating on something. i’ve been annoyed by everything lately. i’m addicted to using chapstick. my cat loves to watch deer in our backyard. i love my cat more than anything! i like irish & scottish accents better than english accents (no offense to the english). I don’t have a best friend. ^i used to, but they all seem to think they are “better than me”. i love getting those free victoria’s secret panty things in the mail. i have 300+ friends on facebook. night light is hilarious. i’ve been eating way too much chocolate lately. i know the correct pronunciation for saoirse ronan’s first name. ^ speaking of her, i thought “the lovely bones” was a good movie. i really want to watch “the last song” but i can’t stand miley cyrus. gaspard ulliel is hot. 'nough said! i’d much rather watch a gory horror movie than a cheesy romantic comedy. (rather nothing at all) Not a single person in my family has blonde hair and blue eyes. ^ In fact, all of us have dark hair and dark eyes. i enjoy listening to some of taylor swift’s songs, but i don’t really like her. adam lambert looks tons better without the heavy eye make-up. my favourite models are miranda kerr and coco rocha. it’s almost impossible for me to go to sleep before midnight. My cell phone has a touch screen and a QWERTY keyboard. (no AZERTY) My laptop/computer is not in my favourite colour. i have a few people from xanga added on facebook and msn. ^ and i’m also following a few of them on twitter. i haven’t watched my favourite tv show in quite a while. I want to learn French and Italian. They’re both such gorgeous languages. (nah we learn French in schools) i play mousehunt on facebook. i really, really, really need to go to bed right now. No one ever listens to me the first time I say something. ^Then I just say 'Forget it’ because I don’t feel like repeating myself. i can’t seem to find any surveys anymore. ^so i take my own. I honestly have no life whatsoever. i’ve read a novel by dean koontz before. i have a wireless mouse for my laptop. the cartoon mac and cheese tastes better than regular mac and cheese. random people follow me on twitter. i only know a few people in real life that i follow on twitter. i play games on club bing. people tend to gang up on me (by making fun of me). i don’t want to get married or have kids. i plan on becoming a crazy cat lady ;). i’m known for being sick a lot. I don’t really care about celebrities lives but I still go on the gossip sites. (you know how fun is to troll the comments while drunk? XD) i like different tv shows than my family does. ^so i always have to watch things alone. i like being a loner. I like Twilight, but I’m not obsessed. ^i like robert pattinson way before twilight anyways. formspring is stupid. hockey is the best sport. ryan reynolds is sooo sexy. ^thank you canada for both of those things! <3 i like reading outside when it’s nice out. something smells gross in my house. French is better than Spanish. People ALWAYS spell and say my last name wrong. (there are some alternative spellings in my language, so) ^Unless they are of the same ethnic background or know someone with the same last name. I still love watching animated movies. I have never broken a bone. ^But I have sprained my wrists and ankles more times than i can count. my pet is soooooooooooooo much different when he’s at the vet. (shameful fact, she pooped in the vet’s office one day while we were carrying her XD) i have nothing in common with my dad. one of my parents is laid off. i can’t stand when people tell me to “describe my pain”, i can’t. it fucking hurts, that’s it. every girl best friend i’ve ever had leaves me for their boyfriend. There’s a song that makes me smile every time I hear it. i’ve been awfully depressed lately. I wonder what kind of first impression I give. i don’t dot my i’s. i’ve never had a problem swallowing pills. my handwriting isn’t legible at times. I use Google every day, it’s so handy. i can’t use the internet on my phone. (something’s wrong with the settings) I don’t like when people get close to my face when they’re talking to me. someone keeps constantly letting me down. i’ve had a nightmare recently. i facebook creep on everrryone. i think i 'like’ too many people’s statuses on facebook. i hate pumping gas. i feel like i’m going nowhereeeee in life. if i don’t look absolutely perfect, i wont leave the house. I hate when pills have a yucky after taste. i’m allergic to cats. i haven’t really been myself lately, at all. i cry really really easily. I’ve met someone who looks like me. i’ve never been a huge fan of pda. I don’t like to kiss and tell. I have friends who consider me “one of the guys”. (it’s normal eh?) I wish I had $$$. I’ve applied to a lot of jobs recently. i hate getting lost while driving. i’d rather be the passenger in the car than the driver. I don’t understand why girls WANT to get pregnant so young. i won’t be a teenager on my next birthday. (lmao) i should be sleeping right now. i plan on buying the jersey shore when it comes out on dvd. the winter time makes me depressed. i own at least one sports bra. i could never be a vegetarian, ever. i’ll be old enough to vote in the elections this year. (lol) i prefer a tanning salon over natural sunlight. my school ends for the summer in june. i can’t walk up a flight of stairs without being a little winded. i don’t understand how some people could fail english class. (pass physics then lol) i can fit into a size two or smaller. i can eat anything i want without gaining a single pound. i don’t understand why some people freak out when two people of the same gender kiss. i wish they offered a language other than spanish or french at my school. (French is mandatory here as one of the official languages, they never offered Spanish, unless in private courses) i’ve called somebody a bad name before and meant it. somebody has called me a bad name before and meant it. i never have plans for the weekend. i’ve looked at somebody and thought, “i’d never want to be them.” mondays aren’t that bad. it bothers me when people claim to be “afraid” of falling in love. i think bruises are cool. i hate when people try to talk to me when i have headphones on. i have at least one fake designer purse. if you’re always worried about what could happen, you’re never going to have fun. i’m in my school’s band. i play an instrument but i’m not in the school band. it never snows where i live. (very rarely) i hate when girls freak out when their boyfriend even looks at another girl. i love wearing low cut shirts. i could never be a tomboy. the college i’m going to/want to go to is out of state. (yay the surveys made exclusively for American girls lmao) i just want to move out of my parents’ house as soon as possible. i’d never want to live somewhere where it is always hot. i trip over my own two feet. i want to be a model. i want to be an actress. i want to be a famous singer. i don’t see the point in wishing on 11:11. scene kids, please stop. i don’t have any school spirit at all. i hate coming home to a house with no food. i absolutely loathe waking up early. my foot usually finds small, sharp, pain inducing items. i’ve broken something that did not belong to me before. i hate gym class! i feel bad for people in wheel chairs. (well, I’ve been one of them before, so at least I know how it feels) i have a class ring. i plan on going to my high school reunion. i’m scared to go to the doctors because i’m paranoid they’ll give me really bad news. i work in a restaurant or cafe. i got a job because my parents made me. please, like i have a job. i have terrible balance. i attend parties and school related activities just for the high school experience. (I used to) i live with both my parents. it seems like there are more divorced people than married people. i have a nightly routine that i must follow. i live near a body of water. my parents have at least one bumper sticker on their car. my family has more than one vehicle. i hate public transportation (the bus). i’ve been to san antonio before. i’ve seen the alamo up close and personal. i hate the world and everybody living in it. people disgust me. everything on me has to match before i go out in public. i don’t understand girls who put make up on even though they’re not going to be leaving their house. (I don’t, but it’s their business after all) i can’t run for a long period of time. my parents won’t let me bring food up to my room. i eat in my room all the time. i don’t need a man to make me happy. (I just happen to have one and I am happy, but even if my life was different, I’d still be) that may be true, but i sure do love the man in my life right now! i prefer to eat out than cook something at home. anytime i don’t feel well, i check webmd. ^i am a hypochondriac. ^my family hates that i am. i am having back pain at the moment. i’ve had a teacher that i absolutely hate. i literally have a library of books. ^i love to read! i have a ton of chapstick. i have xm radio in my car. i wear a lot of earthy colors. i have a ton of dvds laying around that i still need to watch. my earphones block out all noises. my pet is really furry. ^and cute! i have a wireless mouse for my laptop. i procrastinate way too much. ^i’d like to change that. ^but i keep procrastinating. i’ve been having neck pain lately. ^and have no idea why. i am getting a new cell phone soon. ^mine is literally broken. people tell me that i’m hard to buy for. ^i don’t think i am. i got new sneakers recently. i used to hate american eagle, now i love it! i use hand santizer all the time. i am freaking tired. i own more than 10 pairs of flip-flops i am obsessed with tea i own a pez dispenser i dance a lot i have used my hairbrush as a microphone before i have watched monty python at least a million times i am a junior in high school i was voted prom king/queen i don’t/didn’t give a toss about school i have itunes on my computer i have played ddr before & i sucked at it i probably have every good cd known to man i love the movie ferris bueller’s day off i like techno music i have a fear of public bathrooms i’m a germ-a-phobic i wash my hands 30 times a day i have a graphic maker program i own an ipod nano i chew my fingernails i used to wear little boy underwear when i was young i love cookies i love my car i hate my car i have been to the cinema in the past month i have seen the hills have eyes eeyore is my favourite character from winnie the pooh i love monkeys i have about a million pictures of me and my friends in photobooth i am currently engrossed in something i am currently reading a book i visit the library regularly i’m always punctual, never late i wear my sunglasses at night i live in a very populated city i have never moved in my life i rock out to 80’s music i have more than 4 favourite radio stations that i listen to (lmao military radio) i read the daily newspaper i love my family i own over 10 shirts of the same colour i need to go to the post office and mail something i have a favourite actor i think this survey is stupid i can do a very impressive cat-call i have a brand spankin’ new computer i have a boy hair-cut or very short hair i can play the guitar i hate rock music i like talking about myself (but I like to listen to others more) i ride/rode a bus to school everyday i have a favourite movie that i watch over and over and recite the lines to i know a lot of html i have over 2,000 songs on my ipod Spotify i order pizza for dinner at least once a week i’m unhealthy i like to run with scissors i used to light the heads of my barbies on fire i like the band panic! at the disco (one song lol) i own a record player or records i was born in the '80s i own like every disney movie ever made i am a '90s child i have gotten straight a’s on a report card before i write or read fanfiction on a daily basis when i was younger i used to get tons of valentine’s cards and candy on v-day batman is my favourite super-hero i am obsessed with fortune cookies i have a corkboard i am very pale i like my eyes i get compliments a lot i need a haircut i have something to do other than take this survey right now i’m going out to eat tonight i go to the zoo a lot i have very thin hair i have a cool mousepad i’ve said “that’s groovy” in public before & i wasn’t embarrassed i have a diary someone has read my diary before without my consent i listen to hardrock & metal i have more than 5 pairs of sunglasses i’m an organization freak i prefer boxers to briefs i own a motorcycle my nails are long i love men in kilts i’m from irish or scottish descent i think i’m intelligent i can spell a guy’s smile is what really does it for me i have big feet i’m tall for my age (well, I’ve always been) i own cowboy attire i text a lot i wash my face daily when i run out of toilet paper, i always put the new roll back on its proper place i have really loud, obnoxious neighbors i spell the word 'color’ with a u i have a british accent i’ve made a snowman before i love margaritas john lennon is my favourite beatle i have band-aids with cartoon characters on them, not just the boring generic ones i’m wacky and you never know what i’m going to do next i’m only dating someone to make someone else jealous i’m eating something right now i love coffee mugs

[thatspacepirate]

Hey! I know quite a bit about classic Doom and Quake mods, so I think I can help. The process of getting Doom mods to run might be a little difficult for newcomers, but once you get into it, it's mostly just a process of copying and pasting files into the right folders. Here's an in-depth beginner's guide (with pictures) on how to play the mod!

(NOTE: This tutorial is assuming you are on a Windows PC. It should be mostly the same across Linux and Mac, but keep in mind that there will be quite a few differences across operating systems. You can't play the mod on consoles or mobile devices, only on PCs and Laptops.)

Step 1: Obtain a copy of DOOM2.WAD or FREEDOOM2.WAD

A "WAD" or "Where's All the Data" file, is the source file for Doom engine games. They hold all the levels, textures, enemies, maps, code, music, etc. Of course, to play a Doom mod, you actually need Doom, so to run MyHouse, you will need the a copy of the game Doom 2, or more specifically, the game's source file DOOM2.WAD.

If you don't own the original game, don't worry! There are a ton of ways to get a copy of the game for yourself:

Purchase Doom 2 on Steam or your preferred game store, then look through the source files until you find DOOM2.WAD

Use Freedoom, a fully compatible free version of Doom that uses original assets. I think it's probably your best starting point if you want to get into classic Doom. It's not completely the same, but hey, it's free!

Do you own Doom Eternal, Doom 2016, or Doom 3? If you do, I've heard that they actually include the old WAD files in those games as a tribute! If you own any of these games, try looking through their source folders for a copy of DOOM2.WAD.

Look for a copy of Doom 2 on the Internet Archive website. This is probably the least ethical option as you're not actually buying the game when you do this, but you can find copies of the original 1994 MS-DOS version there (cough cough) that you can download as a zip file, and that zip file should have a copy of DOOM2.WAD inside. Again, this isn't actually purchasing the game, so if you choose this option and end up liking it, please consider officially buying it sometime.

Step 2: Get GZDoom

GZDoom is a Source Port of the original Doom engine. Source ports are applications that run super old video games on modern systems. GZDoom is extremely popular among modders, as it adds all sorts of fancy modern features to the original engine, such as (drumroll please...) The ability to look up and down!

But that's not all! GZDoom has support for custom code, 3D models, modern file formats, HD audio and textures, and even things like reflective surfaces and portals! Because of all these fancy features, there are quite a few modern non-Doom games that use it as their primary engine, such as the games Hedon and Selaco. GZDoom modding is a rabbit hole you could go down forever, so for the sake of time I'll just give you the download link:

Got it? Good! Extract the zip file into a new folder. If you did things right, your folder should look like this:

Now take that DOOM2.WAD file from before and copy+paste it into the GZDoom folder, like this:

The app will automatically detect the WAD file, which means that now you can start playing some classic Doom!

Step 3: Set up the game

Double-click and run the GZDoom app. If your computer stops it from opening, click "More Info" and "Run Anyway". If you did everything right, you should be met with this splash screen:

Now press enter to activate the menu, then select settings. I suggest changing your keybinds, choosing your HUD size, and adjusting the resolution and aspect ratio to match your computer's screen. Also, you're gonna want to bind Save and Load to two different keys so you can save your progress as you play. But above all, even if you don't change any other settings, please, PLEASE, turn off texture filtering:

You will thank me later.

After you've changed the settings to your liking, I'd suggest playing through the first 2-3 levels of Doom 2 to get used to the gameplay.

Step 4: Installing MyHouse.WAD

Here is a link to the original forum post for MyHouse. Click on the google drive link to access the mod's files. The link will take you to this page:

Technically all you need to download here is the "files" folder, but I suggest downloading a copy of the entire google drive folder so you can look through it later.

Now that you have the zip file, double click it, navigate to "myhouse.pk3" under the "files" folder, right-click the file, and select Copy. (The mod is often referred to as MyHouse.WAD, but the completed version uses the .PK3 format instead. It's a little confusing, so just think of PK3 files as a fancier version of WAD files.)

Now go back to your GZDoom folder, right click in an empty space, and select Paste.

Now that you've copied myhouse.pk3, all you need to do is run the mod! You could do this by installing a launcher, setting GZDoom as a default app, or writing a config file, but those are pretty time-consuming. So instead, let me show you the easy way to run a GZDoom mod:

(Drag and drop myhouse.pk3 onto the gzdoom executable to instantly run the mod. It's that easy!)

You did it!!!

This process applies to pretty much every Doom mod. If you ever see a video of a mod you wanna try out, just download, extract, and click and drag it onto GZDoom and it should open! But for now, you've got a demon-infested house to investigate...

This map has some neat surprises, so it might take a little while to load. This is totally normal (at least for this specific mod).

This mod is, well, an experience. It's not the kind of mod you can play in one sitting. Yes, it's just a silly video game map, but it's one that likes to play games with your head. I played it during a nonstop six-hour session and got totally wiped out, so I'd suggest taking frequent breaks or playing through it with a friend. With all that being said, I hope you enjoy the mod! It's one of the most unique and unforgettable gaming experiences you will ever have.

I hope this helped! Have fun!

If anyone knows where to get myhouse. Wad can you please tell me how to download and install it and what I need

[molotovmetro]

should I spend money on an sd card in order to download bootcamp onto my mac? Probably not.

Am I gonna do it anyway? Probably.