the16bitgamer

This doesn’t sound like an issue for those who use Fusion frequently, however you may want to find ways to get local files, just to be safe.

So I am moving 14 hours to a new place with my SO, and got into a debate with my Dad about fuel efficiency. I argued that since we were towing the car it would be more fuel efficient than driving the 2 vehicles separate. He disagreed that it would be less since the truck would be working harder since it’s pulling both the car and the trailer. Especially since the vehicle we are towing is a Yaris.

Since we were picking up the trailer in the next state over, we got both data for driving both vehicles and towed.

So I just crunched the numbers, on hilly terrain pulling the truck was 11% more efficient.

While on flat terrain it was 20% more efficient.

While I was happy to win my bet, my dad decided to sour my victory by changing one parameter. Did we save money?

Since we knew the ratio of how much more efficient the moving truck was to the car, we could estimate how much gas the Yaris would’ve used to drive the distance.

The result: Car would’ve sucked back $60 worth of gas while the trailer rental cost around $200.

So while I won the bet, I lost the war. 😭

Well this was a fun way to start my day. I was trying to install Davinci Resolve on my Mint PC (since Mint 22 broke some of Resolves dependencies), and it was still giving the warning of missing dependencies.

One of the dependencies libasound2 couldn't install but apt recommended 2 others. Tried both and non worked. So I decided to uninstall both, and then Cinnamon Setting disappeared. I tried to fix it by reinstalling Cinnamon itself, but yeah... on reboot it would crash on the Mint file check.

However after trying the Recovery mode to get access to the terminal. I was able to access Timeshift, get the backup from yesterday and I'm back up and running.

So happy I enabled Timeshift. Hurray for safety nets actually working to protect me from myself.

I just got an email about this today. Here is more context:

To our valued Linux users:

After a great deal of internal discussion, we have made the difficult decision to sunset Linux support following the upcoming release of LightBurn 1.7.00.

Many of us at LightBurn are Linux users ourselves, and this decision was made reluctantly, after careful investigation of all possible avenues for continuing Linux support.

The unfortunate reality is that Linux users make up only 1% of our overall user base, but providing and supporting Linux-compatible builds takes up as much or more time as does providing them for Windows and Mac OS.

The segmentation of Linux distributions complicates these burdens further — we've had to provide three separate packages for the versions of Linux we officially support, and still encounter frequent compatibility issues on those distributions (or closely related distributions), to say nothing of the many distributions we have been asked to support.

Finally, we will soon begin building LightBurn on a new framework that will require our development team to write custom libraries for each platform we support. This will be a significant undertaking and, regrettably, it is simply not tenable to invest our team's time into an effort that will impact such a small portion of our user base. Such challenges will only continue to arise as we work to expand LightBurn's capabilities going forward.

We understand that our Linux users will be disappointed by this decision. We appreciate all of our users, and assure you that your existing license will still work with any version of LightBurn for which your license term is valid, up until LightBurn version 1.7.00, forever. Prior releases will always be made available for download. Finally, your license will continue to be valid for future Windows and Mac OS releases covered by your license term.

If you are a Linux-only user who has recently purchased a license or renewal that is valid for a release of LightBurn after v1.7.00, please contact us for a refund.

Rest assured that we will be using the time gained by sunsetting Linux support to redouble our efforts at making better software for laser cutters, and beyond. We hope you will continue to utilize LightBurn on a supported operating system going forward, and we thank you for being a part of the LightBurn community.

Sincerely,

The LightBurn Software Team

I’ve been buying games off of eBay before I’ve ever owned a credit card, and its web page could render on a PSP. Over the years I’ve purchased consoles, rare games, and common guff for my game library with virtually no issues.

Obviously eBay is full of scams and I’ve purchased my fair share of crap from china which either didn’t work, or never arrived, and grew to look at local sellers with returns or a good reputation. I’ve always saw the eBay Buyer Protection and thought it was neat, and that I’d never use it. Oh boy was a wrong.

Last month I found a console going for an insane price, not too low that it would’ve been an immediate red flag, but good though that I didn’t worry about the sellers non existent returns. The system looked good in the photos and the seller feedback looked legit. The only weird thing was the description was written by AI (eBay is pushing it and it’s as useless as you can imagine), but the condition was used, so I got it.

When it arrive the console was dirty as it was in photos. But nothing that a bit of elbow grease can’t fix. Then I noticed the ports were a bit dirty, and there was signs that it was opened by an ape before I got it. So I got my new cables, purchased separately since it wasn’t coming with any, plugged her in and… nothing.

No light, no life.

Took the system apart myself and the insides of the console was a complete mess. Rust and corrosion everywhere, so much I thought it was used as a boat anchor at some point. Or the side of the road in the rain.

So I contacted the seller and asked them for a refund. They offered to exchange it, and thought to play ball… 2 days later the other system was missing. Suuurreee.

I gave them an offer for a partial refund. Saying hey, this is so broken it’s not with the return shipping. Why don’t we compromise and you give me a return minus the amount it would cost me to return it and we’ll call it even. I paid $92 and I offered $67. They then offered me $27.

Nope going full refund. Then they went silent with no messages or instructions.

I escalated it with eBay, who gave them 3 option, pay for return shipping and refund me when it arrives, I pay for shipping and they reimburse me, then I got the rest of the money back, or we figure something else out.

They opted for the first option. I printed the label and I waited for their currier to pick it up. The seller also gave no instructions but thankfully tracking had enough info from the tracking label I knew what was happening.

Then the day arrived for the parcel picked up, and the currier was a no show. I checked the label and the address was wrong. Despite it showing up. Informed the seller, and they canceled the label. But ghosted me again.

EBay got back to me and told me the case will default in 3 day if it was not picked up. Then 3 days passed and I had to reach out to eBay again, who tried to restart the process. At this point I was frustrated and told them it’s been 3 weeks since I started this return claim, please either refund me or escalate this.

I got my refund that afternoon.

What I learned about eBay buyer protection is this. It works, but it’s work too. It’s quite fair to the seller, but its resolution is heavily in the buyers favor. My only advice is for buyers who’ve been scammed like I was, is to keep on top of your eBay rep, as replies are handed in a shared pool, and the support agent is not going to look back on the case history.

TL:DR got scammed on eBay, got money back from eBay buyer protection, however it took 3 weeks and keeping on top of eBay support.

The last time I touched Xbox was with the 360, and only because I needed to test used games to sell on eBay. But I've wanted to try out modern Xbox to see if things like GamePass and what exclusives they do have is worth it. Especially since on the used market, Xbox One games can be cheaper than PS4 games. With the loose justification of buying Conkers Bad Fur Day as my target price I bought Rare Replay and a Xbox One.

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Console Hardware

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The Xbox I got was the Original Xbox One, mostly because it was cheap, and because I got the Halo 5 version. I don't play Halo, but I love the aesthetics and blue accents. I wanted the Xbox One S since it's smaller and I like the design better. But I had a hard rule of "not buying white" and the color variants aren't as appealing.

From first boot to getting my games installed, I can tell a lot of care an attention went into the hardware and the UI. Might be my imagination, but the interface feels snappier than it does on PS4. And the store is actually usable and not bloated like Sony tends to do later into a console life cycle. I wish there was more customization to the menu, but there is a clear aesthetic which Xbox wanted to have for their console, and I can respect that.

The Xbox One controller has now become the "default" controller for me. Everything targets it, and since it now has a functional d-pad (looking at you 360), it's good. I prefer the musher feeling of a Nintendo D-Pad and shoulder buttons (or bumper as Xbox calls them). But it's a solid controller and with using AA batteries rather than LiPo, it'll last as long as I take care of it.

I really like the overall package. The only thing I wish I could do is test the HDMI In on the system. But I am pretty sure it's broken or defective. No a problem for a Games Box, but it is annoying.

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Games

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I got my Xbox One for one game, Rare Replay. And if I am honest, it plays fine. While I will praise Xbox for not mucking about with the interface there is no denying that this is a game box from 2013. Games play just as well as they do on PS4, and has the same level of support as the PS4 does.

I feel it's interesting that all games even disc ones install to the system. As I know not all games on PS4 like LittleBigPlanet 3 still run parts of the game from the disc itself.

Overall the quality of Xbox One was about as much as I expected it to be. No worse than PS4, and maybe better at times.

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Game Pass

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Nah the big draw for me was two thing, Game Pass and Backwards Compatibility (which is the next section).

Game Pass to me has always been the much needed revival of game rentals. For a modest fee, you get access to a treasure trove of games from just about everyone. And I got to try just about every game I wanted to try for my system. To build a list of games I wanted to play/try.

Unfortunately for Xbox, many of the Game Pass games I've played, like Nickelodeon All Stars 2, Physconaughts 2, and Persona 3 Reloaded, are games I feel I want to play on other consoles or PC's. I liked them, but I don't want them to be tied down to the system. While other times they offered me experiences to stay away from, or confirmed that they were games I wouldn't like.

But there are a few games which I honestly didn't think of or needed to play myself which I will be populating my Xbox with, and maybe even moving over to Xbox for. Like Sunset Overdrive, Halo 5, and Forza Horizons 5. Heck I tried Assassin's Creed Origin's and honestly I prefer to play it on Xbox rather than PS4. Plus the benefit I can have all the original games on one system is really tantalizing. Especially since the original 4 games can be found at bargain bin pricing at any good thrift store.

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Backwards Compatibility

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Which neatly brings me to Backwards compatibility. Like the native games, disc games are installed via the web rather than run off of disc. And I am fine with that. And it runs soooo well. Honestly I feel it's worth owning an Xbox One for the Backwards Compatibility alone.

Sure not every game works. But most of the ones you'll want to play are here. I've been replaying the crap out of Saints Row 2, and finally getting the chance to enjoy Saints Row 1. Or at least I was until the Xbox Servers went down.

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Online

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Now I've always known Xbox as the online gaming console. For the guys looking for achievements and playing Call of Duty with friends. But that's not me. I just want to play Rare Replay and other single player games.

But man has online gaming on consoles gotten bad since I last checked on PS3. I couldn't even start EA's Star Wars Battlefront II, with them demanding I make an account with them (or link my Xbox one to theirs). Most Xbox games I played almost expect you to be playing online and have that lobby menu thingy along side it. Guys I just want to play Halo, I don't even have the friends to even try co-op with.

Nope, but what killed any recommendation for this system was when Xbox's servers went offline, and my Xbox immediately turned into a brick. Sure I could look at things. But no game I installed would boot, not even my disc games and the system won't work unless I am signed in. Even my backwards compatible games refused to load a save until I remounted the "cloud storage".

On PS4 or Switch this isn't an issue, but if it was, one could make a Guest account, or an offline account. But that's not possible on Xbox. It's required that any account on any Xbox has to have a Microsoft account attached with it. Even for kids.

This wasn't a requirement on 360, and I remember Microsoft being a laughing stock of E3 2013 with their whole, "online only thing" and "Discs being locked to a single console". And while we didn't get the latter, I am shocked that the Xbox community is OK with the former.

But I wouldn't blame Xbox for this, as this decision has corporate Microsoft's hand prints all over it. Mandatory log in are now apart of even Windows 11. Ads taking up the lower third of your screen is also being baked into other aspects of Microsoft's software too.

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Conclusion

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And what's tragic is that this strong arming is hurting the end user experience on their hardware. I can't in good faith recommend an Xbox to friends or family, especially since if they want their kids to play Minecraft, they have effectively two choices. Let Microsoft track their kids and their every movement, or give their kids access to daddy's credit card since they have to use his account.

But as I said, I don't blame the Xbox team for this, I blame corporate Microsoft.

And for the services and continuing support for what is a 10+ year old console at this point. I am extremely impressed. Xbox One is still an extremely viable system in 2024 and I don't feel it's been outright abandoned like other systems of it's age, like the Wii U.

Honestly who I would recommend an Xbox to is the same demographic I use to see playing Xbox, teenagers. It's cheaper than a PC, plays almost all of the same games, and if they want to play online they'll need to jump through the same hoops.

And unlike Sony or Nintendo, who've destroyed their previous game console's library during the transition to newer hardware. I feel I can at least trust that Microsoft will continue to bring forward their game library to whatever they do next.

Yes Sony has more exclusives. But that's quickly becoming a very short list, as they've languished in the years which the PS4 has had dominance.

So If you don't want a PC which is the only other hardware with a larger game catalogue, or don't want to deal with the shoehorned in third party drm for every publisher. Then the Xbox isn't a bad platform to invest into, especially if you want to explore new games you want to try that's available on Game Pass.

TL:DR Using an iPad as a PC is possible, but only in a limited use case. I feel that for the average user the iPad can be as capable as a PC for them. However apple needs either allow proper third party app stores on their devices. Or add in missing functionality to iPad OS to make it feature parity to Mac OS, like being able to connect with third party devices over USB-C.

----Pre-Ramble My thoughts on an iPad and why I have one----

I think everyone has seen, or at least hear of this apple add, where a kid with an iPad asks "what's a computer". This ad has always irritated me since the iPad has never had the same power, let along software or support a traditional PC has ever had. At the time, and up until recently the iPad for me has been a Glorified iPod Touch with a bigger screen.

However since then Apple has attempted to make the hardware more computer like, moving from the more conventional A series of chips to their M series for their newer higher end devices. They moved away from lightning to USB-C on the iPads before the European Union forced them across their entire lineup. And with official keyboard accessories and the like, to my eyes the iPad was looking more and more like a Computer, than it use to.

I eventually got my own, a 3rd gen iPad Pro when they were discounted. I assumed the M chips would have a long shelf life, which so far has proven correct with iPad OS 18 support promised. It's purpose was for Facetime and iMessage chats with family, but eventually grew to be my Streaming Video player and Web Comic reader.

I tried to do more on my iPad to see if it could do more. But every time I found that the App I wanted was behind a subscription paywall, had hidden fees, or was always online. A sad reality as a result of Apple's policies and complete lack of third party app stores. As much as I detest Android tablets, because of services like F-Droid, they have a much more robust software library which I can trust. Even though I do prefer the iPad software library which feels like they were designed for the device.

----Using my iPad as a Computer----

Now the reason I tested to see if I could use my iPad like a PC was because of my useless laptop. It's a Gigabyte U4UD, and it has the worse battery life I've ever seen in a PC. It literally cannot last more than 30 minutes off the charger. Even when the battery was working well, it barely lasted 1-2 hours on a charge.

The reason I care about battery life was because I was going to visit my in-laws in the next Provence over. With several hours on the road and no guaranteed power jack near where I'll set up and I needed a device with a battery that will last long enough for me to do some work.

And my iPad... was the only device that was left. On paper it could do the work, I've settled on my Office Suite with Apple Works (Pages, Number, Keynote), the default mail client is better than K-9 on android, and for web browsing I just switched over to the Orion Web Browser, and while it's not perfect, it has a much nicer browsing experience than default Safari.

So I packed a much smaller bag, and was off on my 4 day trip.

I actually didn't charge my iPad the night before, and when we arrived at our first overnight spot it still had a charge. Now if you've used a modern PC with Modern Standby you should know how much of a shock this was to me. And the wins kept coming. I brought along a Pi Media Server for movie nights and it was acting up. I needed to SSH into it to see what was up. I didn't preload anything and a quick google search showed Termius would do the job, and it did. Though I feel my Logitech keyboard case really helped here.

My only issue was that I wanted to listen to music on my iPad, and forgot to sync my library via iTunes before I left. No issue I though most Apple app will let you import the files by "sharing" them. So I move a few songs over to test and... no share option. One Google search later revealed that it's not possible. Thanks Apple. Sure I could've used VLC, but I've already dug out my phone at just use that instead.

Day 2 we were on a ferry, and I again still haven't charged my iPad. It was around 30% ish I think. And I was able to spend most of that 1.5h ferry ride doing work on my iPad with Pages. Now Apple Work's isn't the best Office Suite, it feels more like Wordpad more than Word. But as it is a proper offline office software I couldn't complain. Google Docs and Word technically work, but are online office suites, which I don't trust to work where the internet isn't a guarantee. Collabora Office would be a good alternative (Libre Office is my goto at home), but it has virtually no compatibility with the iPad keyboard mode. So it's more frustrating to use than helpful.

By the time we arrive at our Hotel the iPad had 8% left. God I love M class silicon. But I also got a renewed hatred for iPad OS. We went for Fish and Chips and I got some nice photos on my Phone I wanted to share with those on iMessage. I tried to connect my iPad to my Android phone over USB-C and... nothing. I tried KDE Connect, and I couldn't find it. Why Apple, did I have to upload my pictures to Facebook, download them on my iPad before I could send them to people when my Phone was right there, and I know M chips can talk with Android, because I know MacOS can. Lessons learnt for next time, BRING USB-C FLASH DRIVE TO AVOID APPLE SHENANIGANS.

But we got to count our blessing when they happen. Because hey, I was playing The Legend of Zelda Oracle of Ages on my iPad via Delta from the App Store. Sure it wasn't a perfect experience, there was a bug that de-synced audio the longer you played GBC games (no I wasn't using Bluetooth headphones). And I was able to connect my PS Vita to my iPad to move the save over... even if the connection is finicky.

Apple really doesn't want you to connect anything to their devices do they?

Day 3 was were things got really interesting. Because I saw the light, the iPad started making sense. Sure I can't connect much to it. But when you are woken up by the 5am sun and you don't want to wake your wife sleeping next to you. The last thing you'd want is to mess around with cables and adapters and make too much noise.

I got work done in pages, check up and fired off some emails, all while listening to some video and podcast on my browser. I really wish the iPad had a headphone jack, but I've grown use to the USB-C adapters at this point. Even then I took some nice photos the day before and was going to wait and edit them when I got home. But remembered I could do them now since I had Affinity Photo (which was half off).

If you don't do much off device work, the iPad can be as capable as any PC. Especially now that most software designed for computers are just websites. Sure you can't code on an iPad, and outside of drawing most professional software is gimped. But if all you do is light office work and web browsing, then the iPad really makes sense, especially on the go.

----Closing thoughts----

Nothing interesting really happened on the last day. But when I got home, I was reminded yet again just how good the battery life was. On this trip the iPad tried to be my PC, and despite a few issues it did almost everything I asked of it. My iPad effectively replaced my phone at our overnight spots, meaning when I went out, my phone actually had a charge. Yeah, it had issues, 2 of them. I couldn't move photos over from my phone to my iPad, and I couldn't add downloaded music to Apple Music. But when I looked at the word I did while I was out, and how I can work around those drawbacks with better planning and a USB-C Flash drive. I think I can forgive it.

I am in love with the idea of the iPad for a small form factor travel machine. And it is perfect for that work load. Though when I got home, I tried to use it more, by my hand got cramps with the Logitech keyboard case. So I am back to my laptop/desktop if I need to do actual work. But with a massive move planned for me soon, I am happy to know I can pack away my laptop and lighten my load.

----Extra Notes----

I wanted to make this into a video, but I lost some footage, and I don't think this ramble would've been entertaining to watch. But I still wanted to get my thoughts out somehow.

Jokes aside. I wanted to do a fun numbers game and see if I could get an Xbox One and Rare Replay for the price of the N64 copy of Conkers Bad Furday. And it turns out I can.

Conkers Bad Furday on N64 costs around $150-$175CAD (before tqx) given the condition and its shipping location.

Meanwhile I was able to pick up Rare Replay for $10CAD at my local EB Games, and I was able to find Xbox Ones for as low as $100CAD, but on average around $140CAD.

This particular Xbox One was $160 at the end of the day, a bit over budget, but I love the colors and design. Even if I don't play Halo.

Totals

Xbox One - $121.39 + $25 Shipping + 21.96 tax = $168.35

Rare Replay - $7.99 + $1.20 tax = $9.19

Total - $177.54 CAD

Got the games years ago for the GBC, and I've always love it. But I always got stuck in a handful of dungeons. Level 3, level 4, level 6, and finally the black tower.

But I was finally able to solve it myself with no hints! This is in my view one of the best Zelda games.

So I wanted a small, and thin friction hing for another project, and I couldn't find the metal ones that they use for the iPad's Magic Keyboard case. So I design my own the parts I had on my desk.

The smallest nut that I had was 4mm wide which really limited how thick the design can be. The result is this

It folds flat at measure at a maximum thickness of about 10mm

It works a lot better than I thought it would, especially since this is my first prototype print. Need to figure out some things, like to stiffen the arms and to prevent/reduce twisting.

But as a basis to start from this works nicely. I think if I add a TPU washer on the back end, I might be able to get it stiffer and more consistent feeling. But I'll do that at another time.

So a very long time ago now, I upgraded from my ancient AMD FX 6100 to a Ryzen 5 1600, and now I am on my 3rd CPU with an Intel i3 12100f.

Why did I go with an i3 and not the i5? Simple, I was on a budget and I couldn't justify spending more than $250 CAD for this upgrade. I could've squeezed in the 12400 if it was in stock, but it wasn't.

Why didn't I just get a new AMD CPU and slot it in? Well I tried, but my Gigabyte motherboard (even with updates) refused to play nice with the 5500 I tried to upgrade too. If I was keeping with AMD I'd need to buy a new Motherboard and if I was buying a new Motherboard for this I might as well get the best bang for my Buck.

So what did I get.

Motherboard: MSI PRO B760M-P since it had the IO I wanted (2x M.2 slots and a USB C Port on the back)

CPU: Intel i3 12100f

And the results are... honestly surprising. Despite loosing 2 core and 4 threads, I gained in performance everywhere, or I was GPU limited with my 3050. 2 minutes off of my 10 minute handbrake render, 50fps extra in Doom 2016, and a doubling in Geekbench single core performance which I need thanks to my work in FreeCAD. FreeCAD is still slow, but the models I am loading are demanding.

Overall I am happy with my upgrade, and the best part is, since I am buying my Motherboards at the end of a socket generation rather than the beginning, it means when I want to upgrade in a few years, it should work with intel 13th and 14th gen CPU's.

Geekbench before: https://browser.geekbench.com/v6/cpu/6614622

Geekbench after: https://browser.geekbench.com/v6/cpu/6616466

TL:DR Emulators installed via Flatpak won't recognize steam inputs during remote play, However AppImages will work. So if you want to play PCSX2 via Steam Link from your main rig, install the AppImage version.

So this whole journey started when I wanted to play PS2 games from my PC on my Big Screen TV. Years ago I got a Steam Link, and outside of it forgetting my Bluetooth devices it's been quite reliable.

However when I switched over to Linux and installed my emulators via Flathub, I could start the emulator, but outside of mouse inputs, the emulator refused to recognize the inputs outside of those directly connected to the PC. I presume it's due to how Flatpaks work.

Reported the problem on the Steam Linux Beta github page, but that still left me without a solution. It's not like there exists a *.deb for every emulator, and if there existed one, it was out dated, so it was hit or miss if I could start a game with a controller.

However when I tried AppImages, it worked! I presume it's due to the fact that the AppImage runner is a locally installed package, which means it can hook into the systems inputs, like Steam Input. Thus far I've tested PCSX2, DuckStation and Retroarch, and everything appears to be working beautifully!