Other What currently makes your life awesome?

For the first time in probably more than a decade, I'm re-watching Samurai Champloo. It's just so good. The art, the music, the story. It's also so amusing to recognise the voice actors from other Animes. What a wave of nostalgia.

 

Got back into watching "Spy x Family" last night, and I was surprised at how little I now need to read Crunchyroll's subtitles!

 

Yeah, I can see that.

It's all individual cases, I dare say your if your wife was also furloughed it may have been very different for you? Being stuck home alone is a very different scenario.

And fair play to your wife, working in care homes and hospitals during that period, well, I wouldn't wish that on anybody.

Seeing multiple deaths a day, protected by a bin bag and being worked to the bone while being thanked with a pan percussion - I didn't envy any of them.

E: Anyway, sorry bit of a thread derailment on my part

 

Hooked my desktop up to our new TV last night to take in the 4K, mini LED, HDR10+ 144hz goodness...

Played a bit of Cyberpunk with all the settings cranked and learnt a couple of things...

The TV is waaaaaay nicer than my main monitor and my 4070 can only output around 50FPS in CP2077 with everything cranked (including PT). Now as this was with DLSS Frame Gen enabled the actual frame rate (with DLSS on performance) was ~30 so a bit sluggish. Helped somewhat by playing on a controller on the sofa.

Also the game looks lovely (at times, other times its looks flat as a pancake...) but I just don't gel with it at all.

All that said I am tempted to move my desktop into the H1 case I have in the loft so it can actually sit full time in the lounge. The Zephyrus can act as my "desktop" upstairs as needed.

Hmmm ideas...

 

Had a similar experience a while ago with Death Stranding and Horizon Zero Dawn on my TV. I only have a 3070Ti, but playing those games at 4K HDR on a 65” screen with 120Hz VRR… damn…!

Death Stranding (which is admittedly a “marmite” game at the best of times) looked utterly incredible at that resolution and screen size. At times the landscape and scenery looked like it was straight out of a big-budget film, not a video game. That moment in the prologue when (not a spoiler) you’re approaching the first city, the camera pans back, Low Roar’s “Don’t Be So Serious” gently kicks in… Instantly hooked.

 

Been putting a lot of hours into Horizon:FW on PS5 at the balanced setting. Looks and plays beautifully - although I keep forgetting I do not have the shield weaver armour from ZD so get my ass handed to me by higher level machines...

 

[eagerly awaiting release date announcement for PlayStation exclusives on PC intensifies]

Horizon Forbidden West is “early 2024”. Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is “not available on other formats at least until May 29, 2024”. God Of War: Ragnarök has zero news whatsoever. (TBF I still haven’t finished the first one yet!)

Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad I’m not going to have buy a console to play these games, but…. come on, man….

 

The wind an rain.

Why? Because it made one of the local kestrels come and sit on our garden fence for a good few minutes.

Beautiful.

 

We have a large oak tree in the garden and weather like this tends to make the local tawny owls sit in there and hoot all evening, presumably complaining about it not being good flying weather.

My neighbours keep complaining about the tree blocking the sun from their garden and when are we going to cut it down... Nope, not whilst it is a favoured perch for the owls and squirrels, plus it keeps the sun off our garden and house too and I kinda like that.

Also, I am not sure that they really do want it removing, they wouldn't have anything to moan about then and I don't think they are happy unless there is something to be grumpy about...

 

An oak favoured by owls? I'd go see the council about a tree preservation order, so the neighbours can't sue you to cut it down.

 

There's a lot of it about, compulsive moaners that is.

 

These two are some of the worst that I have come across. We have 4 cats, they know we have cats and I had them with the "your cats are crapping all over my garden, you need to stop them getting in here"... Let him carry on a bit then hit him with the "But they are house cats, they never go out"... "oh... right [insert mumbling here]".

Then when he spotted me taking one of them to the vet for their yearly ckeckup and vaccinations "Oh, more expense then..." - Nope, don't cost us a penny, got them all on vaccinations for life".... "oh, ok....[add more mumbling]".

"Was that an Ocado delivery van yesterday evening?" "yup"........... "Oh, alright for some...." "nope, doesn't cost much more than an Asda shop".

Thankfully other than the occasional hi, we each keep to ourselves for most of the time.

They're nice enough in general, just your typical council estate miserable types.

 

Who the hell wants to cut down an oak tree?

Get a preservation order slapped on it like @IanW says and just shrug when they whinge.

We have a barn owl nearby, the kestrels use one of the oaks and bats bomb up and down the hedgerow and past the house when it's warmer.

Anybody tries to take an oak down round here and I'm strapping myself to it

 

Flying out on Tuesday to Paul Ricard for some running with the 36, will be my 1st test session and I'm still pinching myself.

 

Messed around with Samsung DeX no the Fold 3 last night. Why I haven't tried this before I don't know. Even works over a USB-C Dongle with power being provided etc.

Can easily see why some people would be able to just use such a device as their only "computer". Few things were annoying for me as I have used multi monitors for so long but could be worked around.

Was kind of eerie as well as the phone is completely silent. My desktop is quiet but not to this degree. Was that weird scenario where I am sat in front of the same screen using the same KB& Mouse but there was no sound.

Thinking I might try the same now with a iPad Pro (full Apple Ecosystem and don't really want to mess around to switch fully). Combine both the note writing with my main "desktop" PC into one device.

 

I use Dex daily, it is awesome, been using it since S8 its come on leaps and bounds, Samsung is good at software on these things it pretty close to being the best all in one device, Apple has the potential to do a far better device for the one thing does everything now the pads have same chip as the macbooks but as yet they don't take advantage and the ipad is nowhere near as good as a PC replacement perhaps one day Apple will, that said I've not tried on our new m2 12.9 pro, I should get the gear on the ipad see how it goes.

If Apple did implement such that my phone could be a fully functional mac it might be a reason for me to join the collective.

If you want to run a second screen off of the fold I believe you can use displaylink docks. to mirror phone screen in addition to the dex screen.

 

From what I have seen online the latest iPadOS (17.xxx) has finally added multi screen support and better window management which is a vast improvement over what was there before. Will be interesting to find out.

From memory it was watching a 9to5Mac video where he showed how it works within his workflow. Ultimately it comes down to that specific point, does it work for your workflow / what you want to do. If so they great, if not then you need to look at different options.

I think I can make it work for my workflow (would love to try it on the Fold tbh but already hit some stumbling blocks around Authenticator and using an Apple watch for multiple things which is causing me more headaches than its worth), and it would be nice to consolidate a few devices into one to streamline things a bit.

I need to check out the Displaylink docks though as that would be awesome.

 

We're on holiday at Butlin's (Bognor Regis), it seems Bethesda did the graphics.

 

Ah man shame I am not at home I'd have come along and annoyed you

Have fun dude.

 

Careful you don't start clipping into the floor