A whole lot of poorly configured or cheaply made electroninc appliances or chargers … yeah I can often literally hear when you’ve plugged something in wrong, it makes a high pitched whine, because it is overamping.

Also, if you’re near high tension power lines?

You have to be pretty darn close to be in danger from actual electromagnetic effects.

But… that hum? The buzz?

Turns out that that is actually what causes a lot of long term health problems in people sensitive to it.

Literally the sound, not the EM field, makes you agitated, stressed, on edge, and if that is just your baseline for 20 years, that constant stress accumulates and basically ages you faster, and can cause mental health problems.

Well I’m glad you have/had a supportive family instead of a dysfunctional awful one like me.

I’ve been forced through an ever evolving series of mental health diagnoses by my family until after 20 years of the wrong meds for misdiagnosis… yeah turns out I am autistic and have ptsd/cptsd from my insanely narcissistic and manipulative and mentally unstable family.

Turns out once I get the fuck away from them, I can actually manage fairly well on my own. Oh and theres the whole got two bachelors degrees simultaneously and am very good at a multitude of tech/programming/db admin/data analysis type stuff, and I was making more money than my entire immediate family combined until their most recent attempt to declare me insane for disagreeing with their (objectively wrong) econonomic and political opinions (my degreees are in econ and poli sci, none of them have any degrees).

… Anyway, there’s much more to an autism diagnosis than just the heightened hearing/seeing/touch sensations, but that is a fairly significant component of it.

There are some decent, long form, like 200+ question tests you can take online from actual medically endorsed autism awareness organizations… if you think you may actually have it, take one of those and then take your results to a psychologist.

I used to be able to do this as well until I got into my 30s and my vision naturally degraded.

Was quite good at FPS games, paintballing… the first time I went to a rifle range for an introductory shooting class, the instructor suggested i look into a shooting scholarship due to my exceptional fine motor control and visual acuity… I had very fast reaction times in martial arts (Karate), but being naturally timid and having a skinny twink build kind of cancelled that out.

The reality is most people think you are delusional, and if your family/friends are authoritarian, they’ll try to get you mentally evaluated as seeing hallucinations.

Its less Superman and more Xmen being persecuted for being different.

I too have significantly more sensitive hearing than seemingly just most people, and can hear and often get annoyed by high pitched but low decibel sounds, very often caused by electronics, off balance high speed fans, etc.

Got gaslit about it by my family as well.

You may wanna look into an autism diagnosis, autists often have this kind of thing going on.

You’d think it would be called super hearing, but instead its often everyone without heigtened senses calling you delusional.

Same thing happened to me when I described seeing the entoptic blue field phenomenon to my family, but not knowing the fancy name for it because I was 11. Family got very concerned I was hallucinating, the reality is I am just more attentive to reality than they are.

For what its worth, CyberPunk 2077 is … an alt history that diverges from our own … at some point in the 1960s I think?

Like… the Soviet Union still exists. In 2077.

Point being: The ‘Japanese megacorps taking over much of the American economy’ fear of our own 1980s is very, very much a big part of the lore/universe.

Pondsmith published the first version of the lore in 1988 as the TTRPG ‘Cyberpunk’, originally set in 2013, and this kept getting added to and expanded with subsequent editions.

Arasaka is… well hopefully without spoiling too much, Arasaka corp is basically run by a Japanese fighter pilot ace who pretty much swore eternal vengeance on America after Japan got nuked and lost the war, and his idea of how to do this includes figuring out how to become immortal, so that he can continue to run a megacorp that ultimately usurps American sovereignty and turns the country into his neo-corpo-feudal subjects.

You can get almost all of that by playing through the Corpo intro character path and actually watching the informative slideshow thing in the elevator and on walls/screens in the … megalobby, so hopefully thats not too spoilery.

Also in Die Hard it is Nakatomi Plaza iirc, Nakatomi being the name of the fictional Japanese corp.

Anyway woo random trivia.

Ok so… FOSS Dev submits a software (music creation tool) to Steam, to be ‘sold’ for $0, ie, available freely.

On the splash welcome screen to the software, there is a link to his patreon for donations.

Steam’s automated vetting/verification process identifies the keyword ‘patreon’, but misreads a u as a v, or that reversed, in the url, and sends out an automated response saying ‘direct links to request donations are not allowed, please remove’.

FOSS Dev somehow thinks this is a real person talking to him, writes up a response (with valid objections, that Godot and Krita and others feature donation links)…

… He does not recieve a response, but changes the link in his software to point to another webpage with a different url, where that webpage then points to his patreon, and uploads this new build to the automated first pass vetting system…

… and is surprised when this immediately passes vetting and is accepted.

Ok. Mhm. Yep.

…

Does FOSS Dev… did it occur to him that a platform like Steam that recieves, what, thousands of these kinds of applications a month, tens of thousands?, and is extremely well known for having a shockingly small employee headcount… might be using automated systems?

Might have a detailed flow chart for producing what are basically detailed error messages?

Has this person never heard of how call centers for large firms just give their phone support staff a script generated by such systems?

Has this person never used an automated support chat bot that only actually kicks you over to a real person if you specifically request it and/or exhaust its pre built in help options?

I am sorry but this dude is having an emotional breakdown from an automated bot response he doesn’t realize is an automated bot response.

He at no point ever shows the response from Steam to his pointing out that other FOSS software has donation links. There apparently… wasn’t one? … Because actual lengthy responses get assigned to a ticket cue for an actual human to read and reply to at some point, later?

I am absolutely baffled as to how anyone with any familiarity with ‘Steam Support’ could possibly think they are talking to an actual human being in this scenario.

This is like feeling personally betrayed by a nonexistant YouTube video reviewer support person when you upload a video with copyrighted music and are told it won’t be elligible publishing.

…

Now as to the actual Steam policies, the actual issues here… yes, in general, Steam is not geared toward FOSS releases with optional donations, yes it is bullshit that there are older software/games that got grandfathered in, no argument with any of that.

But he already solved the problem, on his end.

He already changed the url to not include a direct donation link by bouncing it to patreon via some other link.

The entire tech support adventure he had with trying to get donation DLCs was completely unneccessary… he already had an accepted build with a donation method accepted.

The entire tax adventure he had is also… he just says he has a very weird and uncommon legal setup with his sole proprietorship, and is frustrated that that makes the process complicated as well.

I get that this is frustrating, but again… if Steam said no to a donation only DLC… and he already has a build, accepted, with a working donation link that entirely circumvents the process, meaning he would not even be getting any payouts from Steam at all, and Steam will not be generating any revenue, whatsoever, because that software is listed as available in Steam for free, so there is no Steam cut…

Then this person is complaining about having to deal will some bs paperwork to be able to have his free software published on Steam, for no cost to him, at a cost to Valve, and he benefits massively by increasing the number of potential eyeballs on his software.

This is analagous to complaining that you have to fill out paperwork to recieve like free food benefits or reduced cost housing or a low cost bus fare.

…

In conclusion, yes, Steam is not the best option for FOSS releases.

Yep. Its a commercial storefront, primarily.

Alternatives exist, that are specifically supportive of FOSS projects with flexible donation/payment models.

I don’t know why you’d go to the hardware store and be angry that they don’t sell fresh fruit.

Should there maybe be some kind of push to try to convince Valve to offer some kind of option like that?

Well… maybe?

If Steam actually did basically what itch.io does, then uh, itch.io stops existing in … what, 2 years?

Platitudes do protect the poor from thugs if platitudes are embodied by people of courage and moral character willing to meaningfully advocate for them and protect them with force if necessary.

If your society does not do this, your society is of low moral character.

Actually acting in line with your expressed morality is the bare minimum, first threshold of your supposed, proclaimed, performed morals being… things you are actually willing to promote in the world.

If your morals do not actually guide your actions, you are merely cosplaying them, and are just a pedantic preening poser… with low moral character.

Socrates disagreed with the reasoning behind his assigned fate, but accepted it nonetheless, in accordance with his conviction to his principles.

A morality that is not built on responsibility and duty to others is no morality at all.

How to actually do games preservation:

Reform IP laws.

Mandate open sourcing of hardware and software architectures after some period of time. 10 years? 5 years after no more of that hardware/software is sold? Yes texhnicalities are insanely complicated but you get the idea.

Oh, how about government funding for emulator development? We fund libraries that preserve books, and movies, and other stuff.

I hope youre right.

In my lived experience… no, it is not.

90% of poor or moderately well off people I’ve known will still argue for supply side Jesus right up untill the moment their worldview is actually applied to them personally.

EDIT: And then the 10% that do agree with that idea theoretically, well they absolutely never apply it personally, in their own lives, amongst people they know personally.

A society’s moral character is best judged by how it treats its least, not by how it treats the average, or median, or best.

Hit detection doesn’t work, going into pure darkness makes the AI hallucinate to the point it distorts the map layout, npcs will teleport around ot just disappear… runs at like 640p at maybe 20 fps, textures are a blurred indistinct mess…

Oh and it requires basically a super computer to run this.

Brilliant.

Gaming has not been ‘fine’ since:

Hypercaptialist corporate acquisitions have basically bought all recognizable IP/dev studios and manage them under an increasingly smaller number of actual parent companies who own increasingly huge numbers of IPs/dev studios, and then basically all of these companies are absurdly mismanaged by corporate nonces who make bank, and game devs are routinely overworked and underpaid.

MTX became the new norm / the mobile gaming scene exploded (basically concurrent phenomena)

Nvidia/Unreal decided that actually, having efficiently coded lighting that runs on moderately priced hardware is stupid, what you actually want is horrifically inefficient lighting that runs on absurdly expensive hardware, and then Nvidia plasters a bunch of AI Frame Gen/Upscale all over that foundation to further enforce their monopoly.

… Like, yes, there are still great indie or AA games, but those are the exception to the rule.

The overall industry is a fucking nightmare for anyone who works in it, and from the consumer perspective, we keep getting overpriced, overproduced iterations of the same basic game… sandwiched on the other side by an avalanche of garbage tier indie slop/scams. Something like 80 to 90 % of the games listed on Steam are that, and they are constantly fucking with their algorithms to be able to actually detect them and filter them.

… It also doesn’t even matter if you personally will never own a high end gaming PC.

All the AAA game dev studios need them to develop the games. And now those are all 30% more expensive, at least. Oh and all of the employees cost of living just jumped 30% as well, I am totally sure that their wages will increase to compensate this. Oh wait no, they’ll actually lay them off even faster and exploit them even harder.

Game dev in America is going to largely grind to a halt, with again, the exception of a few, now even smaller in number, amount of new games that can be developed with much less powerful hardware, or an even smaller number of AAA titles that quintuple down on MTX, addiction based pricing models.

But uh hey, basically every other industry in America is utterly fucked too.

Leisure/luxury expenditures crater the hardest during a depression. Which is what we are looking at. Not a recession for a year or two, no, this is a gonna be a decade of you learning how to cook with rice and beans, sewing your clothes back together because you can’t buy new ones, where your Xmas gift to your kid is decent shoes, not a game console.

I suggest you check out Decky FrameGen.

The technicals are … very complex, but the upshot is: It basically injects FrameScaling/FrameGen modes into games that don’t officially support them on AMD hardware.

So… I’ve done this with CP2077, and if I understand this right, basically it injects FSR3, but under the DLSS settings under the game’s options menu… and it works better than the game’s current officially supported FSR 2 for the Deck.

Elden Ring may also be able to benefit from it.

Yep, I already said the Switch 2 makes sense if all you care about is playing Switch 2 games.

I am not trying to aruge that the Deck is just hands down, inherently superior in all cases, for everyone.

I hope there’s a way for you to put parental controls on your 12 yo’s Fortnite account’s ability to buy microtransactions, and that you have enough time to teach them how to identify and disregard all the dark patterns in the game that encourage irresponsible spending habits, as well as resist all the social peer pressure that comes with an MTX heavy game.

The offical dock is $80, but you can get the Baseus Dock for between $30 and $40.

Point by point:

1: I mean, I guess? I do not even have a mouse myself right now… but if I needed just a cheapo one for basic use… you can get something functional for $20 or under, a basic mouse you’d get for a work laptop type thing.

2: People have all kinds of ‘unusual’ Deck set ups.

The mouse dongle you just mentioned wouldn’t… really make that much sense, as … you can just hold it… and use the touch pads… or the touch sensitive screen itself…

But its actually not uncommon for people to dock their deck, sync it to a controller or M+K, and then stream it to a smart tv, or a dumb one via a dongle or direct connection to the dock. No, you’re not gonna get true 4k on any non retro game, but a good number of people do something like this.

3: … As compared to…? Your minimum 3x more expensive PC you can upgrade with even more money? Another console/handheld you… can’t upgrade?

Unless the Switch 2 can play Cyberpunk 2077 at better than 45 fps, with graphics basically medium/high, I don’t see how the Deck is ‘showing its age’ compared to other similarly priced handhelds.

Decky FrameGen is pretty neat. I think I managed to tweak mine up to an avg of almost 55 on the benchmark, and thats without mucking around in CET to squeeze out even more.

4: I absolutely understand buying a Switch 2 is your best option if you want a very straightforward, doubleplus legal, and expensive way to play Switch 2 games.

Like, if you’re super dedicated to current era Nintendo games, sure, fine, yep, get a Switch 2.

But if you just like games in general…

5: Pretty much yeah, I agree. Its possible to get it working with a Deck, but its gonna be a lot more hassle, and you’ll need peripherals, yep.

wait wait wait.

Fucking… what?

… Are they trying to preempt the expected ‘GTA 6 MSRPs for $120, base edition and breaks all video game pricing’ thing?

I’m seeing $80 for Mario Kart World.

puts on eyepatch and peg leg

So… its $50 more than an LCD, 256 GB Steam Deck (the Switch 2 is also LCD).

A Deck has two touchpads that work as mice.

And you can buy a real mouse with those $50 bucks you saved.

Oh right and it has a bigger screen, can run almost every modern to ancient PC game, and basically every retro game if you can handle an EmuDeck or RetroDeck guided installer, oh and it also just is a computer that does everything a mid tier linux laptop can do.

It can even run Switch games, and probably will be able to run Switch 2 games in… what, 2 years? 3 years?

I’m really not trying to rain on the parade here, but uh… yeah I do not understand the cost benefit analysis on a Switch 2 vs a Deck unless:

You really, really want to play Switch 2 games soon

OR

The Switch 2 somehow has vastly superior performance to a Steam Deck

… I kinda doubt that last one being the case, but the specs aren’t out yet (afaik) so I guess it is possible.

EDIT: Ok, so uh… tariffs just happened.

Switch 2 may now be $600.

https://www.tweaktown.com/news/104409/nintendo-switch-2-price-may-jump-from-449-to-600-following-trumps-tariffs/index.html

Preorders have been delayed.

Steam Decks are manufactured in Taiwan… so they’ll likely jump in price too… but that could possibly be delayed for at least a bit…

I think Valve has warehouses in the US full of them, and they are also a private company with absurdly deep pockets, and thus don’t have the ‘maximize shareholder profit in current/next quarter’ mandate… so they may be able to keep their costs to consumers from raising, by just internally subsidizing them…

But I really have no idea.

Sorry to hear you’re in a similar situation with family, but at the same time, happy to hear your story, to commiserate, to have an impromptu therapy session haha.

I had a hunch, looks like I was basically right.

I… come from a family that’s… well let me just put it this way:

The last time I talked to my dad, I think 3 years ago now at this point, he was fully, fully down the QAnon rabbit hole, told me about how Tom Hanks’ son rapes and kills children, after extracting their adrenochrome… and he then proceeded to show me how he partially mills, taps, and assembles AR 15s and 18s in his garage, having sourced parts that don’t have serial numbers… thats what you call a ghost gun.

He is exactly the kind of person that does these 180 flip flops and … either doesn’t remember he did, or has an elaborate nonsensical excuse/explanation.

I am unfortunately way, way too familiar with basically nearly every right wing conspiracy theory that’s existed in the last 40 years.

… I actually have Jewish cousins, and … yeah, basically since as long as I can remember, he’s made bigoted ‘jokes’ either behind their backs or occasionally even actually at family functions.

My dad is my archetype for MAGA people: an abusive alcoholic narcissist asshole with no friends, who is never wrong, proficient in gaslighting, life didn’t go the way he wanted it to, and it’s all the fault of whoever right wing AM radio/ Fox News/ insane facebook posts and shit tier ‘journalist’ grifters told him to be mad at in the last week.

… thats all probably a bit more info than necessary, but I’m still pretty traumatized from a life time of that, and venting helps lol.