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pixeldashblog · 1 year ago

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Sonos Era 100 review: the only good "smart" speaker

The Sonos Era 100 may not have gotten all the hype its big brother, the Era 300, received, but it's arguably the most important speaker Sonos has released in years.

The Era 100 is a thoughtful update to the iconic Sonos One speaker and, like that speaker, offers the advantages of a smart speaker without having to sacrifice on terrific sound quality. It brings a brand new design, meaningfully upgraded audio quality, and modern touches to Sonos' tried and true hardware features.

While any of Sonos' microphone-equipped speakers can be installed with Amazon Alexa for smart home control or asking for the weather report, I'm not sure how many people are planning to run their smart homes off an Era 300 or Sonos Arc.

The Era 100, then, finds itself alone in a crowded field of the smart speakers that do make sense to run your whole home from. This is the only smart speaker that actually sounds great, and that goes a long way.

Smart speaker prowess

I'll start by clarifying I am not the biggest fan of Amazon Alexa on principle (I use Apple HomeKit despite its limitations). The company's record on privacy and police compliance is abysmal, and I'm not keen in giving Amazon an ear to my home. But if you are deep in the Alexa ecosystem, the Era 100 will be a great tool for expanding your voice-enabled access points.

The Era 100 lacks a thread radio and isn't Matter compatible yet, so you will still need an Alexa-enabled device that can also act as your smart home hub, but the 100 gives you the choice to make sure the rest of the ways you interact with your smart home are also great speakers.

The Era 100's microphone array was easily able to pick up my voice from across the room and requests were processed by Alexa without issue. If you want to hide your Alexa hub away and fill your home with Era 100s instead, you shouldn't have an issue.

When I concluded my testing with Alexa, I fell back to relying on Sonos' in-house voice assistant for the remainder of the review period. The Sonos voice control requests are processed locally on your speaker and the assistant is rather limited in functionality, although it makes up for it in speed. All you can do is ask for music and timers, plus controlling your whole Sonos system if you want to move music around the house. If you don't care about smart home control, or use another platform for that purpose, Sonos' solution is simple, secure, and incredibly fast. Requests for songs are handled without issue and playback starts immediately.

Design

The Era 100's design, while not as radical as the Era 300's is perhaps its most welcome upgrade. Gone is the blocky look of the Sonos One and in is this slightly ovular cylinder. It's one of the cleanest looking speakers Sonos has ever made and it looks great just about anywhere in my home.

I prefer the soft white color to black, but if you do get an Era 100 in white I suggest wiping of the rubber feet of the speaker before setting it down. My dresser has quite a few stains on it now from the Era 100, similar to those the white Apple Homepod was leaving on unfinished wood surfaces. It's a preventable issue but still a minor annoyance.

The speaker's top is adorned with Sonos' new control scheme: a play/pause button flanked by skip forward and back buttons, plus the new volume slider also found on the Era 300. There's also a button to quickly disable the speaker's voice assistant. The top is certainly busier than the Sonos One's but it also makes the controls easier to understand for first time users.

Around back is the switch to physically disconnect the 100's microphone if you'd like to totally cut off access for any reason, which is a welcome addition.

Upgraded sound

Inside the Era 100 is where the real magic happens. The Sonos One was a mono speaker with a single tweeter and woofer. The Era 100 adds a second tweeter for true stereo playback, plus a new mid-woofer that's 25% larger according to Sonos.

While the added tweeter doesn't mean you'll get real stereo separation from the single Era 100, it's no longer downscaling tracks to mono like the One, thus bringing a noticeable uplift in clarity. I noticed female vocals to be the greatest beneficiaries of the 100's new hardware, with a great sense of sparkle and detail the Sonos One just couldn't provide. The twin tweeters are also equipped with waveguides to better disperse sound evenly throughout the room, and Sonos utilizes them well here. There's definitely still a sweet spot the closer you get to the front of the speaker, but songs manage to fill out the room without too much loss in detail that I've experienced with other waveguide-equipped speakers.

The results from the new mid-woofer were less dramatic in comparison. While low-end capability is expanded here, the 100 is by no means outputting bass you can feel in your chest, much like the Sonos One.

Due to some cosmetic issues with my first Era 100 review unit requiring a replacement, I briefly had the chance to test a stereo pair of the speakers while I waited to return that initial unit. Much like the Sonos One, this is when the Era 100 turned from a great to a downright amazing music experience. Two mid-woofers working together is always better than one, which is what made a twin pair of Sonos One speakers such a treat to the ears. With an extra set of the Era 100's new tweeters in the mix, plus some distance between the units for true stereo separation this is going to be a very popular choice for people wanting a barebones audio setup that doesn't sacrifice on quality. I can also see them being a dream for amateur vinyl collectors who want a simple way to start listening to their records.

Better wireless and new features

The 100 packs in some new tricks for overall usability along with the Era 300. The most welcome is sure to be Bluetooth, which can easily be activated at the press of a button. Sonos pitches this as a quick way to let guests play music on your system without having to join your WiFi network.

Much like any Bluetooth speaker, once you connect your device it will reconnect automatically the next time you turn it on. It can also only maintain a single Bluetooth connection at a time, but does retain memory of previously connected devices. While the Era 100 was paired to my iPad over Bluetooth, all it took was tapping on the speaker from my iPhone's Bluetooth settings to quickly reconnect. Adding new devices is also really quick, with the speaker showing up in devices' Bluetooth menus as soon as I long-pressed the 100's Bluetooth button.

Sonos has also shipped the Era 100 with WiFi 6, and with it dropped support for SonosNet, a long-standing protocol that allowed Sonos devices to create a stable mesh-network when one speaker was connected to Ethernet. Even products as new as the Sonos Arc and Beam (Gen 2) supported SonosNet. Those soundbars released in the 2020s but only supported WiFi 4, which was adopted in 2008. SonosNet was needed to provide stability and multi-device support that WiFi just couldn't before WiFi 6. While the change is controversial I don't think users will be missing it when they grab a new Sonos speaker and have a sufficiently modern router. WiFi 6 is incredibly stable and finally offers the functionality Sonos had to handle itself for ages.

Frustratingly limited USB-C

I'm giving the USB-C port on the Era 100 (and 300) its own section because I find Sonos' use of the port to be extremely frustrating.

As of today you can use the type-C port for playing music over line-in with Sonos' $20 adapter accessory, or for connecting the speaker to Ethernet if you need to.

Basically, Sonos only wants you to use the type-C port for connecting a record player (or anything else you'd want to use line-in for) today and pay an extra $20 for the privilege. While you can connect your phone via an aux cable using this adapter, there's no real added convenience here over streaming or Bluetooth.

The Sonos Five ($550) has had a 3.5mm line-in jack for years, no adapter required, and adding one to the Era 100 and 300 probably would've been cheaper than a USB controller, if only by a few cents per part.

It's frustrating to see Sonos install such a versatile port to this speaker without taking full advantage of that versatility. The Sonos Combo Adapter ($40) allows both line-in and ethernet signals to be fed to the speaker? Cool, but there's so much more that could have been done here.

Instead it seems a waste that you can't connect a computer or tablet via a standard USB-C to C cable to the Era 100 for low-latency audio. I can easily see customers buying a pair of these to add music to their home office and upgrade their PC's audio. Why not connect a tablet to a pair of Era 300s over USB so you can experience hi-res lossless audio directly without worrying about streaming compression?

Right now it seems the Era 100 and 300's Type-C ports exist to sell customers more dongles, but I hope to see the option to use these speakers as USB-audio devices unlocked in a future update. While there is a lot of work needed to build the right drivers to allow these to interface with any computer over USB, it would be a genuinely useful upgrade if that functionality ever arrives.

Smart, but a speaker first

The Era 100 is the speaker you should fill your home with if you want the music you ask your smart assistant for to actually sound good. Whatever parts-bin Echo speaker Amazon churns out next won't come close. The aging Google Nest Audio has been seemingly abandoned by Google, and comes nowhere close to the Era 100 in depth and detail. The Era 100 is more expensive than most of its rivals' offerings, but that cost is directly reflected in the quality of the product.

On the higher-end, Apple's $350 full-size HomePod puts out noticeably more impactful bass, but costs $100 more and the Era 100 still wins out on overall clarity and detail to my ear. You're also limited to Siri with the HomePod.

If you're looking for a great Alexa-enabled speaker, or just something that can quickly play the music you'd like with Sonos voice control, the Era 100 appeals to the widest breadth of music listeners and smart home enthusiasts without compromising it's appeal to either camp. This is the speaker you buy to last and love for ages.

#technology #sonos #sonos inc #tech #tech news #product recommendations #review #tech review #music #smart speaker #wireless speakers

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sirfrogsworth · 3 months ago

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Froggie's Guide to Budget Headphones

@nimrella I am more well versed in traditional audio and home theater with big honking speakers, so I don't have much personal experience with headphones and headphone accessories. But I can tell you what I've learned from other people who are in the headphone world. And since you are starting more within the "budget" range I think I am somewhat qualified to guide you at this level.

You have three paths to choose from...

Wireless, low impedance wired (no amplification required), and high impedance wired (amplification required).

Basically... easy, medium, and hard.

But also... good, better, best.

Wireless Headphones

Wireless headphones have come a long way. Audiophiles used to scoff at them but now there are options that really do sound fantastic and the Bluetooth data rates are good enough to deliver high resolution audio. They also have noise cancellation options which may be desirable. If you do not have a quiet, dedicated space for listening to music you might find high end noise cancellation a godsend. People love them especially for planes, trains, and automobiles.

I don't know if everyone knows how noise cancellation works or not, but basically the headphones have microphones that listen to the world around you. They measure the incoming sound and then generate an opposite sound that just about kills ambient noise. If you play the same sound 180 degrees out of phase it basically nullifies those sound waves. The tech works best between 50 Hz and 1000 Hz. For reference we hear between 20 Hz and 20,000 Hz (lower if you are old). So anything super high or super low pitched can still get through.

In any case, if that sounds appealing, wireless headphones should be a consideration.

The other advantage of wireless headphones would be the ease of use. They pair to your phone, your laptop, your TV. They have controls to help you pause and skip songs and change volume. Some allow you to take phone calls.

But the big downside is the sound quality takes a bit of a hit. As I said, the bluetooth standards have actually gotten very very good. (Though there are audiophiles who will swear it still sounds like a 1990s MP3.) So streaming the actual media files are not really an issue. But trying to cram all of that tech into lightweight headphones you can wear around town all day requires compromises and added expense. Not to mention the battery has a limited lifespan. You may have more limited or inconsistent frequency response, poor dynamic range, distortion problems, weak output, and a high noise floor. Wireless options still can't match wired headphone systems in the same price range. And the wireless options that come close are quite spendy.

Wireless Headphones Suggestions

In your price range the two wireless options that I hear mentioned over and over again are the Sony WH-1000 series and the Bose QuietComfort. They are both well regarded for having a good mix of sound quality and noise cancellation while also being a decent value. You might be able to visit a Best Buy and demo them to see if you prefer the sound and comfort of one over the other.

The Apple AirPods Max are said to work really well within the Apple ecosystem. They have some interesting spatial sound modes and very good audio quality. I've heard the noise cancellation is some of the best currently available. But they seem too expensive and a lot of people feel they are too heavy. I also suspect they are due for an update. That said, if you wait for the new ones to come out and buy used, they could come into your price range. I'd really only suggest these if you have multiple Apple products that you will be streaming sound from.

Before we move into wired headphones, let's go over some terms that you might see pop up when doing research and reading reviews.

Froggie's Glossary of Audiophile Terminology

Driver A speaker is made up of drivers. Some speakers have a woofer, a midrange, and a tweeter. Each individual thing is a driver. And with headphones you will often hear "headphone driver" instead of speaker because it is more specific. Headphones typically have an all-in-one driver that does all frequencies. A woofymidteet.

That's not a thing.

I made that up.

Frequency Response This is the range of frequencies produced by the drivers from low to high. You want to make sure your headphones have good, deep bass. That will make more of a difference than anything else. It's the foundation of all sound and what is sorely lacking in devices with small/cheap speakers.

Music typically doesn't go much below 40 Hz in the bass range. So if you are only interested in music listening, that is plenty deep. Movies can go down to 20 Hz, but this isn't necessary for a good immersive experience unless you have giant subwoofers. So if you find something that can play ~40 Hz with decent output, you should be all good. Every speaker has a frequency response curve. It looks something like this.

The X-axis represents the frequency and the Y-axis represents the volume in decibels. We are most concerned with the 40 to 10K Hz section, as most sound happens there.

I'm not going to go super in-depth and overwhelm everyone, but typically you want this graph to look fairly flat in that range. A flat-ish line will give you a "neutral" response.

The above graph gets a little bumpy in the high frequencies. That means those frequencies will have a higher volume than the lower frequencies. If a higher frequency has a big peak, that could make your sound seem too bright or tinny.

Or you could have the opposite problem. You could have a null in the bass where the output dips below everything else. This can make your sound a bit anemic and lacking punch.

Whereas a more flat speaker will output all frequencies at about the same volume and sound much more balanced and smooth.

Equalization or EQ A flat response is good because it will accept EQ well. Equalization is where you add peaks and dips in volume deliberately to taste.

This can be as simple as 3 knobs.

Or it can be a more complicated parametric EQ.

A lot of digital EQ methods have presets to help get you started. I promise it isn't as intimidating as it looks.

Some people like to buy speakers/headphones that are EQ'd how they prefer out of the box. (Or if you get Beats by Dre they just turn the bass all the way up and say "Fuck them other frequencies!") But this is often a bit of a crapshoot because it is hard to EQ a speaker that sounds good in every room or every environment or just to varying individual preferences.

By making the speaker more neutral, it can be much easier to equalize specifically to your needs and enjoyment.

So if you like the bass a little bassier and the mids a little quieter, you have the power to dial that in with great specificity on a neutral speaker. You can apply any EQ you wish and you won't be fighting the speaker's predetermined response.

Basically if you are reading reviews and the headphones are described as "flat" or "neutral" that's a good thing (in my opinion). Just remember nothing is going to be perfectly flat. We're shooting for flat-ish.

If you do decide to get a neutral sounding pair of headphones you may find them a little bland out of the box. Do not panic. You just need to learn a bit about how to apply EQ, but thankfully YouTube is plentiful with tutorials.

The Harman Curve was researched to be most liked by the most people, so you might start there. (Also, SoundSource is a very popular EQ app for Mac.)

Dynamic Range This is the spectrum of how quiet to loud something can get. If you have speakers that can render both a pin drop and a big explosion with great fidelity and proper intensity, you will be in audio heaven. There is so much emotion and drama that can be expressed by expansive dynamic range and most cheap speakers compress it to an inch of its life. When the soft and the loud sounds are the same you miss out on so much audio information intended by the composer.

Distortion This is just how loud a speaker can go without breaking up. Low distortion is good. While every driver distorts at some point, usually that is at a much higher volume than you will use. This typically only plagues cheap, tiny drivers.

Sound Pressure Level (SPL) This is a measurement of how loud a speaker can get. While you don't want to listen to anything louder than a sustained average decibel level of 80 to 85, you do want peaks over 100, especially in the bass. Bass is less damaging to ears and hearing damage is all about sustained volume rather than quick peaks here and there. Most headphones can comfortably do an SPL between 90 and 110 dB. The ability to go louder is good, but only because that expands headroom, not because you should actually listen to them that loud. So if the headphones can get super loud, that means they will have a much easier time delivering normal levels.

Noise Floor Every sound system has background noise. You know that static you hear when you turn a radio up really loud when there is no sound playing? That is your noise floor. You want that to be as quiet as possible because if you turn up the volume, you don't just turn up the volume of the sounds you want to hear, you also turn up the volume of that background noise.

If you can find a headphone system with a decent low noise floor and you can also find a very quiet space to listen in, you could have a religious experience. I don't think people realize how much the room you are in matters, even when listening to headphones. When you are in a quiet room, you can play at lower volumes. And that can mitigate a lot of the problems associated with cranking the volume. You won't damage your ears for one thing. But the speakers won't have to work as hard so you'll have less distortion and better clarity.

Noise mostly comes from the amplifier, which I will talk about later on.

Froggie Pro Tip: If you want cheap speakers to perform better, go to a quiet room and move them as close as possible. This allows you to play them at a lower output while maintaining your desired perceived volume.

Okay, now we can finally talk about...

Wired Headphones

You have open back and closed back styles.

Open back tends to have a more natural sound and feels more comfortable. Like listening to regular speakers. People generally feel they are able to listen to them longer because they don't create a seal and cause pressure on your ear drum. However, if sound can get out, it can also get in. So with open back headphones people nearby will be able to hear what you are listening to. And if you are not in a quiet room, all of that sound will leak in. Meaning you have to increase the volume and the noise floor and the distortion.

Closed back seals off your ears and gives you a quiet and immersive experience. You can be in a noisier room without having to crank the volume as much. Some prefer this style just because it helps them feel like they are going into their own personal dimension of sound. These are great for ASMR too. But ear fatigue can become an issue and you may need to take little breaks to let your ears breathe and your ear drums rest.

And the last thing we need to discuss is impedance.

The impedance of headphones mostly determines how hard they are to amplify. Impedance is measured in ohms which is this little horseshoe symbol... Ω.

Lower ohms means less electrical resistance and easier to amplify.

Higher ohms means more electrical resistance and difficult to amplify.

If you get headphones rated below 100 ohms, they can typically be driven by smartphones and laptops just by plugging into a standard headphone jack. Though depending on the device, 100 may sound a little quiet so you may want to go lower. 30 ohms is fairly typical if you plan to drive your headphones with everyday electronics.

Above 100 ohms you are going to need some sort of amplification—usually a DAC with a headphone amplifier. (There are DACs without amplification so be sure to check that.)

A DAC, or digital-to-analog converter, is already built into your phone and laptop. But those are very small, don't have a lot of power, and might have a higher noise floor due to interference from other components and heat and just a lot of electrical signals nearby.

By getting an external DAC w/amplifier you separate out the components, make them larger and more powerful, and typically improve the sound quality. Because it is more isolated, the amplification can be much quieter despite being more powerful.

If you plan to stay in a static location and you have high impedance headphones, you can get a little box DAC that sits on your desk. It works like an external sound card for your computer. If you record music or stream, a digital audio interface works great as well (remember to check the Ω).

But if you need to be more mobile with your headphones you can get a little USB dongle DAC, though you will probably not get the same sound quality and power.

Both will be superior to the internal DAC built into your computing devices.

So, low impedance headphones are easier if you need to move around.

High impedance headphones are better for staying put in a single location unless you get a dongle DAC.

Just remember, high and low impedance doesn't necessarily indicate quality. It's just that in order to drive high impedance headphones you need the larger amplifier with the nicer components and, by necessity, you automatically get that quality bump.

You can get very good low impedance headphones. However, if you power them *only* with a smartphone, you may not use them to their full potential. Which is why getting an external DAC is a good idea regardless.

But the nice thing about low impedance is you can get the headphones and still use them until you save up for the DAC. Or you can use them as normal while out and about and have a special listening spot at home with the DAC.

To review...

Low impedance and high impedance can both be high quality.

Low impedance (less than 100 ohms) works with anything.

High impedance (more than 100 ohms) requires amplification.

Both will be used to their full potential with a DAC/headphone amplifier of some kind.

Wired Headphones Suggestions

Again, I have not personally listened to any of these. I am just relaying what experts I trust have mentioned as being nice quality in your price range.

The beyerdynamic DT 770 headphones are some of the most well-regarded budget headphones I've heard of. They come in low and high impedance versions.

The Sennheiser HD 560 high impedance headphones are also praised for their value and performance.

If you can go a little pricier...

The HIFIMAN Sundara headphones have low impedance and can be driven easily by all your devices.

And the HIFIMAN Edition XS are even lower impedance and about the same price.

And if you want to try a DAC, I've heard good things about both Fosi and Schiit (yes, like the poopies), though there are many different brands. Just make sure the DAC has a headphone amplifier rated for the ohms you need.

The FOSI K5 Pro is a cheap "beginner" DAC that will power anything up to 300 ohms. This is the kind that sits on your desk.

And if you want a more portable dongle DAC, you can get something like the iFi Go Link.

I've also heard good things about the AudioQuest Dragonfly, though I hate recommending AudioQuest products due to them claiming they can do magical things. They use scientific gobbledygook to scam customers most of the time. That said, the DragonFly might be their only valid product.

Note from Future Froggie: AudioQuest just can't help themselves. While the Dragonfly itself is a good product and not a scam, they developed the "DragonTail", which is a scam.

It's just a USB A to C Adapter for the Dragonfly. But they have to find a way to justify 30 fucking dollars so they came up with this bullshit.

Definitely need to stabilize my geometry. If I have unstable geometry that could lead to quixotic trigonometry. And we all know that could introduce vertices into dodecahedrons. Which leads straight to accelerated cosmotic entropy catalyzing the heat death of the universe.

Fucking AudioQuest.

ANYWAY...

An inexpensive DAC may be all you ever need but DACs can get crazy expensive—just like headphones. And if you are really fancy you can get a DAC and a headphone amplifier as separate items. Audiophiles claim when you simplify components to a singular function you increase quality. While I think there is some small truth to that, I suspect they just think the tubes look neat.

Froggie's Disclaimer: I am not telling you to get these specific things, but I do think you'll probably be happy with anything I've suggested. But sound is a subjective experience and it is always best to test things out before you buy them, if possible. Or make sure there is a return policy. You might see if there is a brick-and-mortar store nearby that allows you to demo headphones. Remember that comfort can be just as crucial as sound quality for long listening sessions.

Final Thoughts

Good sound has been life changing for me. And I am excited when anyone goes down this journey. While the stuff mentioned is considered "budget" by audiophiles, this can give you a good starting point if you want to upgrade down the road. You'll get to know your preferences and get a better understanding of how this all works and choose your own adventure from there.

Though it is very possible you'll be quite content with "budget" and the sound quality is more than enough.

Personally, while I am very happy with my current home theater setup, I am hopeful one day I can upgrade one budget tier above where I currently am and that will be my endgame. I've heard $10,000 speakers and it is mostly a land of diminishing returns once you reach that level.

I'm fine in "budget" land.

Further Research

I didn't mention the different types of headphone drivers because I didn't want to put too much data in everyone's head. But if you want to do additional research you can learn about the 4 main types... dynamic, planar magnetic, electrostatic, and balanced armature.

#long post #headphones

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mikgreo · 3 months ago

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Hiiii I wanted to place an order!! :))

My name is Anna I use she/her pronouns. I identify as straight and I’m 18. I would like to request a haikyuu matchup with some fluff headcanons please!! I love to read and write, I am always listening to music and love to sing too. I ammm on the more introverted side but can get more extroverted once I’m comfortable with someone. For any physical descriptors-I have brown eyes and long dark brown curly hair!

thank you so much and have a good rest of your day/night 🫶🏼

i decided to pair you with tsukshima because i just immediately got tsukki vibes, you two would make the cutest most chillest but funniest couple ever.

tsukishima definitely shares his earbuds with you, wireless or not.

definitely stopped using headphones (🎧) just for the purpose of listening to music together with you

has a playlist for you both, which is over 20 hours long.

lets you write him letters, and poems. sometimes if hes feelinf generous enough he writes them back.

has a polaroid of you two on the back of his phone under his case, which his friends always ask about.

usually doesnt go out to eat with his friends alot, so he plans stay at home dates or normal dates with you.

for dates he takes you to not very known ramen places or restaurants, and maybe sometimes the side of a lake for a picnic. stuff where its just you two and its quiet and calming.

he loves playing with your hair, watches you take care of your curls silently.

buys you hair products, but keeps the receipts just in case you try to tell anyone.

he loves cuddling with you while listening to music, and when your writing sometimes he’ll just lay in bed while your sitting at your desk, and admires your long curls and the little movements you do while singing.

#tsukishima kei #tsukishima x reader #haikyuu fluff #haikyu headcanons #haikyu x reader #tsukishima headcanons #hq tsukki #fluff #mikgreo writes

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leahnardo-da-veggie · 6 months ago

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Love

People say I'm too sensitive. I take everything too seriously. I laugh too much, and cry too hard. But I must ask them: How could you not?

How could you not love the cheap plastic toy that comes with your Macdonald's meal, knowing that it was the product of a thousand years of innovation? How can your heart not break at the sight of it, holding a miracle of modern technology that your ancestors could not even dream of? How can you not weep, when faced with the badge of progress?

I must stop to listen to the off-tune jingle of the supermarket, because it is the product of a thousand musicians dedicating their lives to building and discovering musical theory. I must hug my friends every time I see them, because out of the millions of people in the city, we found each other. I must photograph every cat I see because I was lucky enough to see them from this angle, at this time.

Life is a swarm of chaos, of an infinity of worlds and combinations and choices, and somehow I ended up here, at this moment and in this place. Can you not see how astronomically unlikely it was? Each of us, and the world we have been born into, is a miracle in and of itself. The fact that just the right sperm and egg matched for a thousand generations is beautiful enough to bring me to my knees.

That this is on your screen right now should be enough to crack Earth itself apart with emotion. So much went on behind the scenes for these words to live in our minds. To think! We had to invent language, give meaning to scribbles and lines. We had to invent electricity, and its children, social media and wireless transmission. You had to scroll through and see this post out of the millions of others circling the web right now.

Even the worst irritants and pains in the world are beautiful. Those rock pigeons crapping on the floor have feathers that shimmer like a peacock's tail. The morning traffic jam is hundreds of people living in synchrony, tied together by fate and chance. The morning alarm clock that wakes you up was made by a forgotten soul in a faraway factory long ago, a soul who is connected to you by one thing: that clock.

So I will love the adverts on the walls, because we are a species who somehow managed to bring meaning to those squiggles and lines on the wall. I will love the rotting garbage lying on the sidewalk, because we have the abundance in this world to waste food in any amount. I will love you, and myself, and even the people I despise, because we all somehow ended up in this world together, and met each other against all odds.

Companion piece to Envy and Rage.

Taglist:

@coffeeangelinabox, @dorky-pals, @calliecwrites, @kaylinalexanderbooks, @shukei-jiwa

@thewingedbaron, @pluppsauthor, @cowboybrunch, @wylloblr, @possiblyeldritch

@ramitola, @urnumber1star, @fortunatetragedy, @bigwipscholar, @ratedn

@vampirelover890, @possiblylisle, @illarian-rambling, @the-ellia-west

@finicky-felix, @evilgabe29, @glitched-dawn (Anyone else who wants to get added can tell me in the comments, pm me, or send me an ask about it!)

#writeblr #writing #my writing #creative writing #writerscommunity #writing community #spilled ink #short story #nonfiction story #realistic fiction

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stanart4clearskin · 1 month ago

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challengers head cannons

patrick is a boy dad through and through

art is a girl dad 100%

tashi can be either a girl or boy mom but i feel she leans towards girl mom

patrick unironically loves pineapple on pizza

art loves sardines but it’s his little secret

tashi hates pizza with red sauce. white sauce only

patrick hates theme parks and deems them boring as fuck

art and tashi love theme parks (art loves universal studios and tashi loves disneyland)

patrick reads the occasional book

art doesn’t have the attention span to read

tashi is a reader (she has definitely read fanfiction)

patrick HATES taylor swift. like absolutely despises her

art really has no stance on her and will listen if her music comes on

tashi likes the occasional taylor song but she’s not a die hard fan

patrick thinks tom is the villain in 500 days of summer

art thinks summer is the villain

tashi thinks tom and summer are both in the wrong (she is correct)

patrick will only ever be caught wearing wired earbuds

art always has wireless headphones or airpods

tashi will use wired earbuds as a teen but switch to wireless as she gets older

patrick and art have messy as shit handwriting

tashi’s is neat most of the time but it can get bad if she’s feeling lazy

patrick blasts sad music when he’s feeling depressed

art will listen to classical music when he needs to concentrate

tashi drowns everything out with rock music when she’s pissed off

patrick and tashi love dairy products

art is lactose intolerant (this doesn’t stop him from gouging his face with ice cream)

#art donaldson #challengers #mike faist #challengers movie #patrick zweig #josh o'connor #tashi duncan #zendaya

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nintendroid · 2 months ago

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Happy belated birthday to the Nintendo 64, released in North America on September 29th making it 28 years old!

No other console I've owned gives me the nostalgia bug like the N64. I have so many stories of the adventures I had with it I could almost write a book. Maybe someday I will, but for right now let's talk about how you can celebrate Nintendo's most unappreciated console. We'll look at some modern software, some underappreciated games you should play and some cool N64 oddities. (NOTE: None of the items mentioned are sponsored. I just really dig the products)

Essential Hardware:

Brawler 64 Controller!

Available wired or wireless, the Brawler is for players who want to play the N64 with a more modern controller. I bought one some years back and have been nothing but satisfied with it. Check out my original review here. Shop here.

The Everdrive 64!

A cartridge capable of storing every N64 game EVER! Not just official games either, but fan-made game mods too! An absolute must if you're hardcore into N64 gaming. It should be noted, there are cheaper alternatives out there, but the rumor is that they can fry your console. KRIKzz-brand Everdrive's are known for their quality and for my money I want something that's not going to ruin my hardware. Check out my original review here. Shop here.

Underrated Games: Even with such a short library, there are good N64 games that don't have the Nintendo or Rare label on them. These aren't all of them, but here's a few that pop up in my mind when I think of the topic of underappreciated N64 games. Yes, some of these are ports but the N64 ports are the way I experienced them and I still prefer the N64 versions.

Duke Nukem: Zero Hour

In my opinion, the best sequel to Duke 3D. Don't let the 3rd-person perspective deter you, this is an authentic Duke Nukem game. Go through time shooting zombies, aliens, Jack the Ripper and send those alien scum packing. Duke's sense of humor is present, even under Nintendo's famous censorship guidelines.

Road Rash 64

A motorcycle racing game where you clobber the other racers with pipes, crowbars and plungers while avoiding the cops. It's so awesome and features one of the greatest songs Sugar Ray ever put out.

40 Winks

It was cancelled at 99% complete in the N64's heyday but publishing company Piko Interactive bought the rights and gave it an official release in 2019. While not what I would call a "classic" It's still a fun game to play over a weekend. As mentioned in my original review, it reminds me of a 3D adaptation of Nightmare on Elmstreet for NES.

007 - The World Is Not Enough

While not quite known as it's big brother, TWINE is a fun FPS Bond game in its own right. Eurocom (who developed Duke Nukem Zero Hour and 40 Winks!) knew they wasn't going to top Rare's iconic Goldeneye, but they did their best and it shows. The one advantage TWINE has over Goldeneye is multiplayer bots so you can play multiplayer because you don't have friends willing to come over because you're a 35-year-old father of two with a mortgage and 9-to-5.

Mods: The modding scene on the N64 is opening up and as a result we're getting some quality titles that extends the life of our favorite system. The one's mentioned here can be played on your actual N64 with the assistance of an Everdrive.

Smash Remix

Everyone collectively loves the original Super Smash Bros, but we can all agree it's pretty barebones in terms of content. Smash Remix fixed that with tons of new N64-era appropriate character additions, new levels, gameplay modes, music, costume changes and MORE. Phenomenal mod if you're a Smash 64 fan.

Shotgun Mario

Its Super Mario 64 but he has a shotgun. Fun for a laugh but adds a fun new mechanic to a classic. No more hoppin-and-boppin, Mario is here to dispense justice!

AKI-engine Wrestling Game Mods

I know most of you reading this aren't wrestling fans but the N64 had some iconic wrestling games thanks to Japanese studio AKI. Fans have been making mods for the AKI-developed titles like WWF No Mercy, Virtual Pro Wrestling 64, WCW vs NWO World Tour ect for years. It's hard to choose just one and each game has a wealth of characters, new arenas, match stipulations, create a wrestler options and much more.

Weirdo N64 Products: Any other time I would have 100 things to list but this is all I could find in the short time I have.

N64 Shirt!

Yes this bad boy is official. What other officially licensed shirt has Fox McCloud and a stormtrooper on it? In modern times, your best luck of finding something like this would be in a midwestern flea market.

Bill Goldberg Memory Card!

WCW legend Bill Goldberg had a memory card for some reason. I'm not complaining because it's awesome. Nothing I would love more than looking down after losing races in Diddy Kong to see big Bill yelling at me, motivating me to be a champion.

In conclusion: The N64 is a flawed but legendary console - it's popular but underrated, widely-known but intimate. My wishlist for the future is more awesome game mods of well known titles AND lesser known titles (let's fix Superman 64 or Carmageddon!). If you read this far, I hope this got you in the mood to play some N64.

#n64 #nintendo 64 #wcw #bill goldberg #stormtrooper #nintendroid #nintendo #90s #1990s #00s #2000s

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