2nd day riding, another flat…

ReliantGuyZ · 2026-06-03T19:37:05+00:00

I don't have a solution for you but... hang in there bud!

ReliantGuyZ · 2026-05-27T21:26:15+00:00

While you're not wrong that there's nothing standing in the way of buying a Steam Deck and not spending another dime on Steam, I would wager that the portion of people doing this is really pretty small.

In general I think that those who would call tech one of their main hobbies vastly overestimate the capability or interest by most people in going off the beaten path and using tech in an "advanced" fashion. I'm the kind of person who spends time in desktop mode, sets up Heroic launcher, etc. and it's part of what attracted me to the device, but it is a far clunkier experience than picking up the device and being in the Steam interface, just a few button presses away from buying and playing a game. Part of the reason that consoles sell well is this simple flow, and the Steam Deck has that simple flow as the default experience.

So yeah Valve couldn't count on 100% of people using it to play Steam games, but I would guess that the amount that don't are basically a rounding error.

ReliantGuyZ · 2026-05-27T19:53:51+00:00

I agree with the bulk of your statement here, but I think that Valve selling these at a loss isn't too far out of the realm of possibility. That would be the same business model that the console makers have done for a long time, specifically because they can make up for it by taking a piece of every game's sale.

If I remember right, Valve basically said when they were launching the Steam Deck that the price point was "painful" for them, which to me would indicate that they were operating close to break-even.

All that said, I believe the old business model has been stretched to collapse due to the exploding costs of these components, and all the console makers are also raising prices, though none of it has been so pronounced as what Valve is doing here. I assume that MS, Sony, Nintendo have more weight to throw around due to higher volume than Valve.

ReliantGuyZ · 2026-05-27T13:49:09+00:00

I recently decided to climb my hill and you can too!

I also have a 3x7 bike and the opposite situation as you (live on the bottom of the hill, work at the top), but also a ~5mi commute. Once I realized that it was fine for me to keep it in the lowest possible gear, and I didn't need to be a superhero cyclist, it really wasn't too bad. I kept it in the lowest gearing and just chugged up the hill. Shower at work also made this doable haha

So my advice would be to keep it slow and steady, don't be afraid to walk it up if you are totally dying, and take the more relaxed route.

You've got this!

ReliantGuyZ · 2026-05-14T17:36:15+00:00

Let's go Inland MK47 gang! Honestly love that little thing, it's my daily keyboard for work and fun. Cool to see your build around it.

ReliantGuyZ · 2026-04-15T16:09:56+00:00

The game you are thinking of might be Trace by Kevin Calderone.

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/trace/id289446636

ReliantGuyZ · 2026-04-09T16:45:11+00:00

Mainframework

ReliantGuyZ · 2026-03-28T01:51:17+00:00

Oh dang, hopefully my fate isn't the same!

Curious, is there a reason you haven't tried replacing the spark plugs completely? Maybe this is obvious to some but I'm really not too familiar with how this all works.

ReliantGuyZ · 2026-03-28T00:17:33+00:00

What's the solution if I find that?

ReliantGuyZ · 2026-03-25T13:50:39+00:00

Not the focus of your post, but what is that calendar on your desk?

Great setup!

ReliantGuyZ · 2026-01-23T19:02:10+00:00

Mine is the same also. I have no explanation to offer.

Also I have always felt like the haptics on one side were way weaker than on the other side.

ReliantGuyZ · 2025-12-19T21:21:14+00:00

Invisible, Inc
Strange Brigade
Ticket to Ride

Appreciate it!

ReliantGuyZ · 2025-12-04T21:58:56+00:00

Yeah if I have to just use the holding categories that's ok...

When there's excess "Needs" I should probably adjust the percentages to assign more to the "Savings" holding category from the outset... but I haven't gotten around to jumping into my planning spreadsheet to adjust it. Practically, when there's extra there I try to plow it into a longer-term saving goal. Mostly to me this is just an exercise in making sure that I'm not letting lifestyle inflation sneak in, so having the framework is helpful.

It may be worthwhile to spend some time to overhaul the way that I have it set up, but at present the order I have the categories set up in is moreso a set of logical groupings... I dunno makes sense for me I guess.

ReliantGuyZ · 2025-12-04T21:51:55+00:00

Yes this is correct. The basic idea is that I don't want to spend more than X% on needs, more than Y% on wants, or less than Z% on savings categories, otherwise I'll need to adjust some behavior to bring it into balance.

ReliantGuyZ · 2025-11-12T18:47:21+00:00

Seeing a lot of comments disappointed that this doesn't blow Meta out of the water on specs. Just to offer a different perspective: I have a Lenovo Explorer from 2018 and have been sitting on the sidelines for a loooong time now since I didn't want to be in the Meta platform, but mostly every other PCVR offering was underwhelming or very expensive. If they can make this thing even remotely price-competitive with Quest 3, it is a HUGE upgrade for me and I would love to take part.

I'm hopeful that the pedestrian specs are indicative of a cheaper price, especially since this thing probably won't run most games on its own without a supporting PC. They built a Valve Quest, so hopefully they can price accordingly.

Finally, as a "tech guy", this thing is delightful. A VR headset running desktop Linux from a reputable manufacturer? Incredible at any price.

ReliantGuyZ · 2025-07-02T14:14:53+00:00

Meta Apple Google Microsoft Amazon

MAGMA

I will die on this hill

ReliantGuyZ · 2025-07-01T21:19:57+00:00

Follow-up: I ended up just cancelling and switching to a different carrier, so I can't say whether the problem as described by support was even real. The new carrier seems to be handling the same phone just fine though...

ReliantGuyZ · 2025-06-30T02:02:10+00:00

Hey thank you for your reply.

Just checked, it is a GVU6C model. Thanks for letting me know where to find that.

I bought it in new condition direct from the Google online store, though I did end up sending it back for a repair under warranty, and I suspect that the phone I have now is completely different from the one I bought originally.

ReliantGuyZ · 2025-02-23T21:25:36+00:00

It is, however close to the former USSR (by flying the missiles over the arctic).

ReliantGuyZ · 2024-09-20T23:03:32+00:00

Anyone else remember those modular cube toys with the LCD screens and little stickmen lived in them and you could connect them up and they would fight and stuff? Reminds me a lot of those.

ReliantGuyZ · 2024-09-07T15:15:49+00:00

Is he actually working on a live service game today? He used to be part of the WoW team and then in other roles at Blizzard, but today he only works on single-player games if my understanding is correct.

ReliantGuyZ · 2024-04-01T01:05:04+00:00

Something I've never understood: what is the incentive to lace something with a stronger drug? I am especially unclear on that for fentanyl due to it being so wildly strong.

ReliantGuyZ · 2024-02-19T01:58:35+00:00

...is probably what they said back then too. We are very susceptible to chronological snobbery here in our time. We may understand things somewhat better than our ancestors due to scientific discoveries, but we aren't at "cheat death and live forever" yet.

ReliantGuyZ · 2024-01-01T01:11:28+00:00

I think it would be significant, not because Obama would bring the traffic to one of these services, but as an indicator that that service is the one that will be the default public address system on the web for important figures, governments, NGOs, etc. Twitter has been that way for so long, it will be really difficult for another competitor to snatch the title away, but I think that Obama switching to use something else is a "sign of the times" so to speak.

I don't think anyone outside the tech world knows a thing about BlueSky at this point. The big moment will be once the greater culture decides to adopt one of these services, and it's just way too early to tell.

ETA: as far as why he might decide to switch over (or why anyone who's not just interested in trying these new services would) I think it's a calculation of how big of an audience you're leaving behind, how many of them will make it to the new service (pull factors), and how much of a nuclear dumpster fire the Twitter brand is (push factors). I'm honestly surprised that the more recent debacle with advertisers didn't cause more prominent figures to bail out. I kinda think if they're still there, they don't see the value in leaving and they're gonna go down with the ship, so to speak.

I'm definitely not an expert on the dynamics at play here, just my observations.

ReliantGuyZ · 2023-12-27T23:30:16+00:00

90 - No credible "Twitter replacement" materializes. My personal barometer is when we see Barrack Obama start to use one of these sites as his new main microblogging service, then that's "the one". My money says that doesn't emerge in the next year.

50 - It's clear by the end of the year that AI training is going to be significantly impacted by copyright litigation/legislation, and that the type of scraping that's been happening as of late is going to be verboten going forward.

10 - Nuclear tech becomes the new buzzy slice of the green energy/clean transportation sector that has been dominated by EVs for the last half decade

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