The Mind Of OverlordTomala
Technology

Pining For Pine!

One of the many things keeping me from investing in a proper smartphone is the severe lack of control for the end user; you either have to sign up with Apple or Google if you want to use any apps, or you sideload all of your apps from an outside source (which can be risky if you don’t know what you’re downloading). I want a phone that functions like all of my other devices, and when Android was announced in what feels like an eternity ago I thought it was a novel idea to carry around a Linux powered phone. Of course, Android is just Creepy Uncle Google’s competitor against iOS, a version of Linux turned evil by those who claimed not to at one point. If there was a smartphone that offered the same level of customization without rooting/jailbreaking I would of have jumped on the smartphone bandwagon an eternity ago… and now something interesting this way comes.

I’ve been following Pine64 for awhile now, and so far the PinePhone seems to be the most viable option. It doesn’t offer much for the built in camera, but I wouldn’t really be using a phone for a camera when I prefer using kick ass cameras, but I do admire the idea of having physical kill switches for the microphone and camera functions. Of course, the best part for me is being able to swap out a MicroSD card with any Linux OS of my choice! By default it comes with Manjaro, and powered by KDE Plasma for the interface. I’m not ready to drop the cash on this project just yet though… I like the idea, but it’s still in the beta phase. I’ll be keeping an eye on things, and if it meets my standards in reviews I’ll snag one before it rolls out of beta. I would like a phone that I could just update via a main repository (and any other swag) like under typical desktop Linux.

That said… I am in need of a watch! and the smartwatch business never really interested me for a lot of the same reasons that persist with smartphones and most tablets: having to sign up for shit. FitBit, Apple, and others all track your steps and other analytical data that your device is capable of picking up. I’m well aware that the PineWatch isn’t as sophisticated as such other devices, but for what I want a smartwatch is going to be overkill. Give me something that tells time, tracks steps, and lets me program the shit out of it! The watch itself is a decent $26 at the time of writing about this, and if you want to do extra level tinkering, you can also purchase the devkit version containing a regular watch and an unsealed version for you to perform mad science experiments upon. For now I don’t think I don’t think I’ll be doing anything outside of swapping firmware depending on what version of infinitime the watch is running. I’ve also been hearing good things about WaspOS, as well.

I’ll do a follow up once the latter device is in my possession. 😀

Food/Drink

Apple Cider + Chai = Autumn

I’ve been continuing to plow through my tea collection, and I managed to polish off the last bit of red chai from Republic Of Tea, which if you haven’t tried it is a really nice blend of Rooibos and spices you would typically find in a chai. I still have quite a bit of cider leftover from the weekend, and decided to drink half red chai and half cider. Drinking equal parts cider and red chai is just instant autumn for me; the spices you would find in a chai are used throughout the season, and apples are also a must. I have half of my chai puerh leftover from work this morning… I might add cider to it tomorrow, assuming a little milk doesn’t seem more tempting to my weak morning stomach.

Open Threads

Out With The Old Electronics, In With The New

I had to say goodbye to my wireless Sennheiser headphones; I went to use them the other day, and no matter what I plugged the receiver base into it just would not produce a signal. They were old TV headphones that I picked up for my first Roku, and I’ve since repurposed them as headphones for listening to music on my Surface Pro Docking Station. The headphones themselves are about 6 years old, so it was actually a good run. Of course, this gave me an excuse to spend even more money (as if I need an excuse). I did my research over the weekend and finally settled on these. I don’t need them to be too fancy, but at the same time I appreciate good sound. I’m also considering a pair of bluetooth earbuds, but I might just pick those up locally. I’m also thinking about purchasing some form of bluetooth speaker/radio combo, but that will require some more research.

Food/Drink

Autumn Oatmeal: Apples & Cinnamon

It’s been awhile since I’ve wanted to make any oatmeal, and with the weather getting cooler it only makes sense to make something warm to enjoy in the morning. If you want to make this yourself you can use:

  • 1 scoop of oatmeal
  • 1 and a half cups of Apple Juice or Cider
  • 1/4 cup of pecans
  • 1/2 cup of diced apples
  • 1/2 tsp of fresh grated ginger
  • 1 tbsp of brown sugar
  • a handful of dried cranberries (optional)
  • a dash of cinnamon

It makes about two bowls. Cooking the oatmeal in the apple juice really gives it an extra flavour boost!

All in an Overlord's day / Open Threads

Evening Open Thread: Living For The Weekend

This week has been going a lot smoother. I actually have a clear mind for what I need to take care of this weekend, what my weekend breakfast will be, my weekend game, etc. Last week it was Quinoa, bacon and eggs. It’s been getting cold enough that I’m thinking oatmeal this weekend; it’s quick and easy to make, which means I can focus on getting some other shit done! Then after taking care of the important shit I’ll reward myself with something violent, or at the very least some spook stuffs.

Open Thread!

Computing / Technology

Reason 498603986 For Not Installing Windows 11

If you haven’t been paying attention; Windows 11 has been recently added as an optional upgrade to Windows 10 users clinically insane enough to upgrade to an open beta… especially if they have an AMD CPU.

Microsoft’s chief product officer Panos Panay once said “If you’re a gamer, Windows 11 was made for you.” Unfortunately, a couple of days after launching, it’s turning out to be something of an unwanted gift. Besides being blamed for Far Cry 6 crashes and deterring an entire cloud gaming service, Windows 11 is now causing performance drops on AMD chips as well. That’s according to AMD themselves, who announced in a support post that updating to Windows 11 could cause a 3-5% performance drop in some applications as well as a 10-15% drop in “games commonly used for esports.”

There are currently two problems; L3 Cache Latency, and Microsoft forgetting how to utilize AMD’s core scheduling technology. There was a similar issue that took place years ago under Windows 7 with AMD’s “Bulldozer” processors, but in this case it’s entirely an issue with Windows 11 not working properly. The L3 Caching issue is kind of interesting; what is so different between 10 and 11 to cause such a performance loss?

Either way I spent most of my time under Linux these days… so. 😛

Food/Drink

Let Me Pop Down To The Tea Cellar

 

 

I’ve been finding that I need more caffeine to get my ass motivated in on workdays. I’ve been sticking with black tea, mostly pu’erh in different incarnations. For the hell of it I calculated how much tea I consume in a week, and I have a consistent 5 litres a week for work alone. That’s not taking into account the afternoon/evening tea, which will be anywhere between a cup or another litre. I really do enjoy my tea, and since I’ve returned from vacation I’ve really been hitting the tea reserves hard! I used the last of my Cranberry Blood Orange black tea, and had to use some pu’erh to make up the difference. Last night I also drank the last of my apricot and watermelon collections. I’m still nowhere near low on tea either! I want to drink as much as I can before the holidays, or before I order more tea again. So many tea gifts and sales go by and things just add up after awhile.

Purging just gives me an excuse to buy more anyway. 😛

All in an Overlord's day / Hobbies

Audible Hurdles

Spent a bit of the evening editing some recently recorded audio, and piecing it into SFM to prep for the next session. The hardest part is always listening to my own voice; contrary to what most people might think I don’t particularly care for how it sounds, but I try not to let audible disfigurement get in the way. 😛 It might even annoy the right person!

Gaming

New Videos Around The Corner

This will be the month that I’ll finally be releasing some content again! A couple Saturday’s from now I will start releasing videos again, a few at least. I’m already working on a small thing for the end of a video for December… of this year and possibly next. In fact there are a couple of projects that I’m looking at right now that probably won’t be seen or heard from until around this time next year, if successful anyway.

Gaming

Amnesia Sunday

In continuing my spooktacular themed mood I decided to give Amnesia: The Dark Descent another chance. My last play attempt was back in 2015, and it was plagued with control issues. Needless to say I didn’t have that issue this time around, and so far everything has been running perfectly! I just found my way into the wine cellar and I’m trying not to go too insane. I think I’m getting close to the part where the creepy creeps will try to chase me.

Perhaps next week, if I don’t decide to play something else. 😛