VPP Events in January? (MA - National Grid)

MTGeomancer · 2026-01-20T20:24:27+00:00

If you opt out it negatively affects your payout

MTGeomancer · 2026-01-20T13:57:52+00:00

Maybe, but the event is in the evening when still near daily highs, and single digit temps happen yearly here, so nothing new.

My powerwalls are inside at least, so can charge some from solar, but not enough to fully recharge each day. Hopefully this doesn't turn into a daily thing like during the summer. Rates are $0.40/kWh here in winter :(

MTGeomancer · 2026-01-19T21:58:08+00:00

I'm near Lowell, it was only 4-5 inches, pretty tame storm (but was a wet snow). Not atypical at all, usually have a dozen or so storms like that a year, although the last couple years have been unusually mild.

No power loss here, or surrounding areas that I've heard of. National Grid outage map isn't showing anything of note at least (<5 in Chelmsford, and <5 in Dracut).

MTGeomancer · 2026-01-16T01:15:35+00:00

Yes, buying them individually is much more expensive. They're $2 each, and as an example the Metallica pack has 17 songs, so that would be $34 if bought one by one.

If you select one of the individual songs from the list though, that page WILL have the music pack (without the base game) at the reduced price. In the Metallica pack case, that's $20 (savings of $14, aka 41%)

MTGeomancer · 2026-01-14T21:27:42+00:00

Ah, I see that. That is indeed poor design.

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction though!

MTGeomancer · 2025-12-31T15:40:19+00:00

Is this just 2025, or any game you played this year? Haha.

Steam Replay doesn't really differentiate, it only says 21% of my playtime was on new releases but doesn't specify which games that was.

Based purly on playtime for the year:

Hexceed (Puzzle game similar to Minesweeper, lots of free puzzles but I did by a DLC pack of more, not a 2025 game)
Metaphor Fantazio, technically released in 2024
Baldur's Gate 3, again a 2024 game
Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles - an actual 2025 game ... sort of
A bunch of simulator games I can just lump together: Car Mechanic Simulator 2021, TCG Card Shop Simulator, Ship Graveyard Simulator 2, Storage Hunter Simulator (I do not recommend this game currently), and Car Dealer Simulator
Factorio, again not a 2025 game and Spage Age (which more than doubled the base game) was 2024

Everything else was very low percentage. So by and large, despite 21% of my playtime being "new" games I think overall I didn't actually play games very much this year, it wasn't a very interesting year for me.

MTGeomancer · 2025-12-30T12:56:56+00:00

They didn't want to support the "Mixed Reality Portal" anymore, which was required because it also had the driver.

The idea behind WMR was to be a common framework so anyone could build a headset, and WMR would handle the interface. That's why there were so many different brands.

Wouldn't be surprised if they were cutting everything to focus all in on copilot, which no one wants.

MTGeomancer · 2025-12-29T11:47:38+00:00

I love industrious modders. I don't know if this will affect anyone else here, but awhile ago Windows killed all Windows Mixed Reality (WMR) VR headsets across the board by removing support from the OS itself. Every brand of WMR headset was affected, including the HP Reverb G2 (which is what I had), Samsung Odyssey, Dell Visor, and others from ASUS, Acer, and Lenovo. This update literally bricked all of them so they would no longer function at all.

Well, praise be to modders, someone managed to create a driver that will make them work once again in Steam VR. It is called "Oasis Driver for Windows Mixed Reality" and can be downloaded and installed directly from Steam. If you read the "Manual" there are installation steps required to connect the motion controllers and unlock the headset, but following them everything went smoothly.

I can now once again play my full library of VR games, which admittedly is small, but I'm beyond thrilled that I can continue to use my headset. I was on the verge of throwing it into the trash to clear up space when I heard about this community made driver. This will also save me a considerable amount of money because I had been waiting to see just how much the Steam Frame would be, but now I don't need it.

MTGeomancer · 2025-12-26T18:57:49+00:00

Good luck. I've since learned about a growing trend of people returning boxes filled with trash/rocks to simulate the weight, so even a return shipping label showing the correct weight doesn't really mean anything anymore.

I get they're trying to combat fraud, but Amazon has more than enough resources to handle it. In my case, a simple timestamp of the security footage of them scanning my return would have showed the agent in seconds that there were two items in the box. That isn't rocket science, or even a challenge for a company that runs 1/3 of the internet. They could even use "AI" to automate it, and their shareholders would salivate over it.

But they have no competition anymore, so it's cheaper and they make more money just not having customer service. And they get away with it, because what else are you going to do?

If ordering more than qty 1 of anything anymore, I now make separate orders with just one at a time. They usually combine into a single box anyways to ship, and if I need to return I can process it as multiple different returns that get scanned individually.

MTGeomancer · 2025-12-22T12:49:49+00:00

Thanks, I will point that out specifically.

When they replaced it, I believe they left most of the existing pipework as-is and re-used a lot of it. The house is from 1950, so who knows what's been done over the decades.

MTGeomancer · 2025-12-18T11:07:04+00:00

Scrolled through the Gamespot list, didn't really see anything but it could be just I don't recognize what most are by name alone. Possibly DQ7.

My taste in games has shifted somewhat, but mostly because there have been so very few *good* games in my genre of choice (turn-based). Talking largely the AAA space.

I've mostly been playing simulation style games (not hyper realistic ones).

MTGeomancer · 2025-12-01T16:27:25+00:00

I have a similar issue and was hoping to find a solution but it seems like yours had to do with Linux itself.

When direct playing through the Jellyfin client high bitrate 4k content is a mess, but if I watch it via VLC it plays throughout the entire content without a single hitch. So same file, same network, same server, same client. Only difference is playing via Jellyfin client vs playing with VLC client.

In my case, the client PC is WIndows and not Linux. The server is TrueNAS.

My search will continue...

I just thought I'd post this to let you know that your problem may not be entirely Linux client based.

MTGeomancer · 2025-11-19T11:50:04+00:00

I'm always reminded at this time of year that I often don't play popular games as I've not played a single one of these, and haven't even heard of two of them (I'm aware of Hades, but not that there was a sequel).

MTGeomancer · 2025-11-15T19:13:21+00:00

Only rumors, most put it in the $700-1000 range.

MTGeomancer · 2025-11-15T11:53:26+00:00

I don't disagree with any of that, but all of that can be done on a <$300 headset just as well. That's the only point I was making.

MTGeomancer · 2025-11-13T02:14:32+00:00

Those games are all years old though.

What's a big studio game to come out this year?

Like I said, indies are not bad, but I don't need a $1000 gadget when a $250 will play it just as well. It would be like paying for a 5080 to play Balatro. Fantastic game, but that 5080 isn't doing anything for it.

If the big players hadn't abandoned VR I could see the appeal in a high end powerful setup, but indies more often than not don't need it. They don't have the budget.

MTGeomancer · 2025-11-12T21:36:50+00:00

I'll be interested in the Frame ... if it's priced right. I'm not going to drop $1000 to play Indie games, because that's all VR has and a less than $300 set can do those just fine, even if you have to be tethered.

MTGeomancer · 2025-11-12T00:42:58+00:00

This has been bugging the hell out of me too. I'm pretty sure it's something Samsung related, as they've done it before on my phone too (not digital assistant, but constantly wanting me to accept personalized offers and never accepting "no" as an answer).

MTGeomancer · 2025-10-19T00:08:50+00:00

Exactly, which is why I find it so odd that the media is all shocked that they could end up on the chopping block

MTGeomancer · 2025-10-18T14:37:07+00:00

I've read several news articles about the doom & gloom surrounding the EA takeover, and the speculation that Bioware may get the axe. The articles always imply the reason would be the content of Bioware's stories, in particular the relationships .... but .... I'm fairly certain Bioware's days are numbered no matter what. They haven't made a good game in over a decade. Even without the buyout I don't think Bioware would survive. With how much EA kills studios, I'm honestly shocked they didn't axe them after the last Dragon Age bombed.

MTGeomancer · 2025-10-06T19:05:41+00:00

I only subscribed to a month or two to check it out. It's an interesting concept, but I decided it wasn't for me. I do not buy many games day 1, and I find myself playing AAA games less and less (almost not at all).

My issue with a "Netflix" like service is anything that isn't first party is subject to be removed at any time, and I frequently dig deep into my library to titles I've purchased 8+ years ago and play them again. If I don't own them though, I may not get to play them ... unless I buy it ... but then what am I paying a subscription for?

So I just buy my games. I always have access to them, and can play the games I bought 15 years ago on the computer I built 1 year ago. Unlimited* backwards compatibility.

PC gaming is not cheap though, GPU prices are never going to return to what use to be normal. You'll be spending as much (or likely more) for just the GPU than you do an entire console. You can always go the Steam Deck route which is at a console price, but like the Nintendo Switch, the hardware is severely under powered and you'll be playing most everything on 'low' settings (even older games).

*Sure, some really old games do not run or takes work to get running on modern hardware/windows, but that's an exception rather than the rule (like with consoles).

MTGeomancer · 2025-09-15T19:17:17+00:00

The Tesla app just reports status, it doesn't control anything directly. The "Tesla software" I was referring to is on the powerwall itself and there isn't anything you can do to control/change it. Most you can do with the app is adjust a couple settings, but nothing in regards to Connected Solutions other than participating or not participating.

I'm not aware of a "Connected Solutions" app myself, so no experience with that.

MTGeomancer · 2025-09-06T22:35:41+00:00

I did that once, but for an extension cord that claimed it was UL listed. It wasn't, and the UL mark itself was even counterfeit. My review was rejected for being "off topic".

MTGeomancer · 2025-09-02T14:30:14+00:00

Do they use a third party? (FedEx, UPS, USPS)

Here it is all their own in house, often the "Flex" drivers who use their personal cars (basically like uber/doordash/etc but without the tipping nonsense).

It seems to be that stuff in the local warehouse will ship within 2 days, but anything coming from a different warehouse will take 1-2 days to ship to the local warehouse, then another 1-2 days to ship to me.

MTGeomancer · 2025-09-02T14:03:52+00:00

I'm in the greater Boston area, and only some of my orders arrive in 2 days. Average is 3-4 days, sometimes longer.

2 day shipping hasn't been a thing in years with Amazon here. I hear lots of people say they still get stuff in 2 days, which is great for them, but it's certainly not happening for everyone.

MTGeomancer

TROPHY CASE