the16bitgamer

TL:DR Went back to Windows, crawled back to Linux begging it for forgiveness.

So for context. This year, I made my transition on my main rig from Windows 10 to Linux. At the time I had a Ryzen 5 1600 with a Gigabyte motherboard. I got a new boot SSD for it, and the transition was smooth.

From time to time I swapped between Windows and Linux for some use cases, finishing projects started in Windows only software, and the like. But by the spring I switched over to Linux full time.

Now how I swapped wasn't dual booting with GRUB, but instead booting off of the two different SSD's. Where Linux boot drive can see my Windows 10 boot drive. And Windows can't see my Linux one. Can't corrupt anything if you can't access it.

By the end of my transition I had saved up enough money and I was able to upgrade my hardware. I moved to an Intel i3 12100F for it's single core performance (huzzah FreeCAD and it's single core dependence).

Now at some point during this process I lost access to boot from my Windows 10 boot drive. It eventually turned out to be a Motherboard configuration. But at the time I didn't know and honestly didn't care. Linux Mint + Windows 10 VM (for iOS backups) handled everything I needed to do with my machine and more. And so I kept using it... until today.

Today I updated my Motherboard, x-mas sales means potential deals on 13th and 14th gen Intel. And a Motherboard BIOS update to stop it from frying a potential new chip was a good idea in my head.

That was until the flash was done, and my machine wouldn't boot. Turned out to be Secure Boot re-enabling itself, which I disabled. But while I was messing around I accidentally fixed my Windows 10 boot fixed. So I booted it to see if it worked.

When I turned it on... it was fine and worked well. But then an MSI Utility popped up for no reason (didn't even prompt it thanks windows update). Then I decided to clean shop, and started uninstalling stuff that wasn't necessary for my Windows boot drive. Since there's no point in having steam if Linux works. And I can save space.

As I am doing this I noticed that my copy of Windows 10 de-activated itself since my hardware changed. No problem I said, let me get my old Key and try again... nope. Didn't work.

I tried the troubleshooter utility... again no, and required a microsoft account to use.

Ugh, fine. Sign in with and it takes over my PC... and still won't activate my Windows.

At this point I say screw it. Returned my account to a local one, and stopped since my Windows 10 machine doesn't need activation. It just needs to play games. But even then the Xbox app won't let me log in since it was "offline" despite connecting and downloading from the internet.

I was off of Windows for 7 months (according to the newest installed app), and I wanted to go back to Linux. It's not that Windows is a bad OS, but that it's so bloated with tamper protection and account authentications that it makes using it a chore.

An OS is suppose to just be a tool. The bridge between the Hardware and Software so that the user can focus and do what they want to do on their machine. And Linux (for those who understand computers) is beyond good enough to replace Windows. It just sucks that many pieces of software is locked down to the platform. SteamOS can't come out soon enough to force these companies to move away from Microsoft.

For me I'll testing to see if there is any real benefits of using Windows on my machine (games only). If there isn't I'll probably wipe the drive and use it as my game cache.

Got spammed by google today saying my apps are being brought over.

So this week I got myself a Framework 13. I am so far liking it, especially with Linux Mint. But I feel the push for high resolutions is pushing the poor iGPU a bit too hard in games.

But since I got the 2880x1920 display, it can be downscaled to 1440x960 without too much loss of quality. However the closest resolution I can find to it is 1440x900, which breaks my desktop icons, and other applications which wants to use the full screen.

I've tried xrandr and cvt as described in this ask ubuntu post but all I got out of it was a black screen.

Am I just stuck with the default or am I just missing something?

EDIT: Attempt #1: Tried Gamescope, wasn't apart of the included packages on Mint. Tried to build, failed, tried to cleanup, borked my install, had to restore from previous day's backup. Not doing that again.

Just wanted to share this, especially with how well it turned out.

It is 3 layers of Vinyl stickers, cut on my cutting machine, and carefully removed (with a few mistakes).

Got the SVG from Pottermore, and modified it to her taste in Inkscape.

Got this in an email today… oh my

It’s a slight modification to my existing design which can be found here: https://www.printables.com/model/261466-apple-pencil-gen-1-case-mkii

The two tone was originally created by accident as we were running out of light blue and I decided to go all out on the top side.

She is very happy with the results.

This came in a form of an email and isn’t on their website yet.

Canada Post committed to reaching negotiated agreements as CUPW strike continues

With the support of the special mediator, discussions have continued with the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) this week, with the intent to reach negotiated agreements.

Canada Post is now in day seven of CUPW’s national strike which has shut down our operations across the country during the critical holiday period. Our plan has always been to continue operating and maintain this vital service, even in the event of rotating strikes by the union.

We have seen a significant impact in our volumes across the network. The strike activity has also created serious challenges for businesses of all sizes including yours, at the busiest time of year. 

What to expect

Mail and parcels have not been processed or delivered since the start of the national strike and some post offices have been closed. All mail and parcels in the postal network are secure and will be delivered as quickly as possible once operations resume. Service guarantees will be impacted for items already in the postal network. And no new items will be accepted until the national disruption is over, except for parcel returns – which continue to be accepted at post offices that remain open.

A national strike of any length will impact service to Canadians well after the strike activity ends. Processing and delivery will take some time to fully return to normal and your business should expect delays.

What we’ve offered

Canada Post is at a critical juncture. Even with losses mounting since 2018, we have continued to put forward offers that protect and enhance what’s important to our current employees. We’ve offered competitive wage increases and additional paid leave, while protecting the defined benefit pension and job security provisions. To help secure the future of the company and meet your business needs, Canada Post has put forward proposals to offer seven-day-a-week parcel delivery and other important improvements while allowing more competitive pricing. This new delivery model is essential for the future of the company, and critical to our ability to afford the offers.

Our commitment

We thank you for your patience at a time when we know you need certainty, and we value the trust you place in us to deliver for your business. We know you are looking for details to make informed decisions and will ensure you have the details you need to plan and prepare for when our operations resume.

This is so that it’s easier to plugin old and new consoles without having to go on my hands and knees to Plug and unplug consoles.

So what's the problem.

eBay, purveyor of buying and selling the stuff from your Grandma's house, or from China. Has a IMHO terrible fee structure which works like this.

You sell the item you want (S), then it gets taxed (T). That taxed sale then has two additional fees applied to it, one for transaction (E), another for international (I). Finally a static fee is needed for the listing itself (F). Oh and all of this is taxed.

This results in the following Formula to calculate how much you will actually make from a sale (P).

S - ST - ([ES*(1+T)])T - ([IS*(1+T)])T - F(1+T) = P

This is stupid, and I shouldn't be taxed on my tax, but whatever. I just need to math my way out of this. It took all evening but I was able to take the formula above and isolate S

P+F+F(1*T)

------------------------------------------- = S

1-T-E-E*(2T+T^2 )-I-I(2*T+T^2 )

The result of this is a sale prince which accounts for eBay's fees

I've attached a screenshot to my excel sheet to prove that it works. I'm going to bed.

I’ve tried the dev branch of FreeCAD for a while now, but backed off due to how unpolished it felt. But when I saw FreeCAD V1 RC2 pre-release on GitHub Id thought to try it out.

My first impressions didn’t blow me away, sure there were nice UI touches here and there. But nothing really stood out to me. But that changed when I started cading.

It’s not a major overhaul to my eyes. But the nice touches are everywhere. Like adding a TinkerCAD navigation controls option for beginners, and smart snapping and auto constraints enabled by default. So, so nice especially for noobs who don’t know that >.< is a centre constraint in the tool bar.

But I had a quick project, tonight. Redesign an older model from scratch to add in new parts. My original designs were some of the first real work I did in FreeCAD so it was nice to see the improvements. Out side of legacy bugs like attaching a 3 point arc to a line still being present, the process was smooth, not as pain free as Fusion, but better.

Then at the end when I was adding text to my part. I got to see the best update of them all. If you aren’t aware, adding text to a model is annoying. Especially if you want it a distance from a side or in the middle. You needed to use the measuring tool to get deltas and re measure after every change. I was using the new measuring tool like that too, and thank you devs for adding manual controls and deltas. But at the end, I left the measurements on the text, updated the values, and noticed the numbers updated on me… OMG best feature of all time 10/10 best CAD software in the world. This makes my life soooooo much easier now.

If you haven’t already try the RC versions of FreeCAD do so. Sure there is still some open source jank in it, but it’s so much more polished than before that I feel this upcoming release deserves the V1 moniker.

While for the most part this kind of damage is fine (this game is playable), it's questionable for how much longer. If you have the hardware or the capability, always remember to back up your physical games.

So my trusty USB-C Dongle which I use to connect my switch to a TV on the road is dying. The cable has frayed and I don't want to touch it any more.

So I decided to turn it into a USB-C Hub... basically give it a shell to hide away the cable.

Designed the part in FreeCAD in 30 min, and BOOM

Needed to do a bit of a redesign after the first print, what you see here is the V2. The Lid slides on and the USB-C to C female connector is slotted in. Needed to heat it up to get it to fit.

But I am very pleased with the design. Works well (now the slots are bigger. And I can safely throw it into a bag without risk of self destruction.

Sure I do need more cables but this also means I can upgrade/replace cables when they ware down.

5/7 would recommend!