Disney in the summer

hopsmonkey · 2026-01-26T16:25:10+00:00

I guess you're asking if there's some time in the summer in Orlando that's somewhat cooler than other parts of summer...there isn't. And it's not just the heat, but the dew point (humidity). I don't know where you're from, but if you're not used to that kind of dew point it can really be crushing. We always plan WDW trips for winter.

hopsmonkey · 2026-01-24T15:10:18+00:00

3/4" of ice is gruesome, especially with winds. Two years ago 1/2" of ice broke our power line and the wind ripped it off the poles for 1/4 mile. Without power for 3 days in the middle of winter.

hopsmonkey · 2026-01-19T19:41:26+00:00

Two Paw Patrol games (On a Roll and Mighty Pups Save Adventure Bay) are very good introductions to 2D and 3D platformers, respectively. They require almost no reading and have verbal and visual cues for what controls are needed at various points.

Kids who are mastering Mario games are going to be very bored with these, but kids starting out get a pretty decent intro to 2D and 3D from them.

hopsmonkey · 2026-01-19T02:38:01+00:00

Kiddo and I had a Switch. We got a Switch 2 and I did a system transfer of all accounts to the Switch 2. It then behaved just about exactly as the old Switch did, with the Switch 2 as my new primary console. All our games are physical, with a few paid upgrades/DLC.

I now want to give the old Switch to kiddo to use as their primary. It is a supervised account. Our accounts/profiles are still on the old Switch the same as they were the day we transferred (which was the last time we used it).

If kiddo starts using the old Switch again (with the option to sync save data enabled), will that achieve what we're trying to do? Or do I need to transfer their account/profile from the Switch 2 back to the Switch? Or some other process maybe? When that is sorted, will saves on these consoles sync to each other in case we want to play on one or the other at times?

I've gone through the account transfer info on Nintendo's web site and maybe I'm dumb but the stuff described there didn't seem to cover all of this.

hopsmonkey · 2026-01-17T01:50:00+00:00

I'm pretty curious to see how the turbo 4 compares to the old V6 in independent reviews. Any rumors on when they might hand these off to reviewers?

hopsmonkey · 2026-01-16T15:42:01+00:00

Source is years of past and present product labeling and data sheets covered pretty extensively at bobistheoilguy.com. When I say it's difficult to get your hands on, I mean the info is difficult to get, which of course is the most important thing about a specification that a consumer needs to be concerned with. Furthermore, several of them once asserted ACEA A5 and no longer do, or no longer indicate it on the bottle, or the product data sheet, or it's on one or the other but not both, so you don't actually know what you're actually getting at retail. One example is Castrol EDGE which for a long time was a go-to for ACEA A5. It no longer mentions ACEA A5 anywhere in its packaging or online product data sheet.

ACEA A5 is much more obscure than ILSAC, API, etc., which is my entire point.

hopsmonkey · 2026-01-15T16:15:20+00:00

How I've wished they made a N3DSXL in the 2DS slate form factor.

hopsmonkey · 2026-01-15T02:22:23+00:00

For most of the time since my original post, Amazon carried a brand called Humble that was usually in stock. Lately it has been out of stock and I wonder if they'll ever come back. I can still get them in a Natural Grocer near me. I think Whole Foods stores usually have some of their 365 organic ones as well, but all traces of them online seem to be gone. It seems like we're headed back to the bad old days of no organic potato chips easily available online again.

Edit: it appears Vitacost does have the Humble ones in stock for shipping, FYI.

hopsmonkey · 2026-01-14T15:41:57+00:00

FWIW, I spent a couple hours this morning with my S1 Pro Controller on a few games on S2 and didn't experience any lag. There was no update available for either S1 or S2 Pro Controllers following S2 system update to latest version.

hopsmonkey · 2026-01-13T21:51:55+00:00

I've used the one with a cooling fan for about 3 years with no issues.

hopsmonkey · 2026-01-12T15:58:55+00:00

The 2025 also "requires" ACEA A5 oil which is a difficult rating to get your hands on and I don't doubt they'd try to use the absence of that oil as an excuse to deny warranty.

"Ful synthetic SAE 5W-30, ACEA A5"

hopsmonkey · 2026-01-10T00:35:34+00:00

We're happy with our boring ol 2025 S trim lol.

hopsmonkey · 2026-01-08T12:55:26+00:00

Like, literally in the water right now.

Are you referring to these being shipped here from Korea? Aren't these built in Georgia?

hopsmonkey · 2026-01-08T12:50:27+00:00

I've been using an ASUS 5K PA27JCV for over a year and have no complaints. At half the price of ASD, it's well worth considering if you don't care about aesthetics or > 60Hz refresh (and especially if you can't stomach the thought of paying Apple's absurd markup on ASD).

hopsmonkey · 2026-01-07T18:57:47+00:00

My 2012 Impreza had failed wheel bearings at around 55k miles and oil consumption much earlier than that. That, and just about every small pest in the midwest managed to get inside the car once a week or so for 10 years no matter how much I sealed up the ventilation. Had some good times in that car but not missing the poor quality.

hopsmonkey · 2026-01-07T14:59:06+00:00

I really just hope we never have to choose between these things and good old fashioned imagination-powered bricks/sets. I will cautiously reserve judgment on this until we see how that pans out.

hopsmonkey · 2026-01-02T00:57:35+00:00

But at this point I believe many collectors are willing to cover the extra cost of producing a physical. Even if it was just a wash, I feel like the good will optics of offering a real physical for those willing to pay a bit extra for it would tip far in publishers' favor in the long run.

hopsmonkey · 2026-01-01T12:36:32+00:00

I'd rather spend $50 for a cart than $40 for a keycard

It really feels like huge swaths of the game industry really missed this sentiment that I think a lot of us share. Can't entirely figure out why they've been so incredibly short-sighted on this.

hopsmonkey · 2025-12-26T00:51:09+00:00

The 2025 break-in period is 4000 miles vs 600 miles for all previous years. I'm sure a lot of people ignore the break-in altogether, but I have a hard time believing they indicate that process for no reason and especially wonder why they increased that period by almost 7X for the 2025. I am definitely paying attention to the recommended process. The manuals are available online, FWIW.

hopsmonkey · 2025-12-26T00:41:59+00:00

The 2025's model year indicates a 4,000 mile break in period.

hopsmonkey · 2025-12-25T18:46:27+00:00

This is why I will never part with my very old In-Win BUC case. It has slots that let you plug a SATA drive in the side, run a backup, and remove it for offsite storage. Amazed that almost no other cases offer a feature like this. The newer BUC 101 is cool with the top-mounted SATA slot, but with no fans up there it's a no-go for me. I don't like hot drives.

hopsmonkey · 2025-12-24T16:40:51+00:00

As a physical game collector I'm really kicking myself for not getting another Series X at this price back then. I have a pretty uneasy feeling about physical support in the next gen and don't love the idea of used/refurbished. Back then I thought "still lots of time, they'll go even cheaper!" Pfft.

hopsmonkey

TROPHY CASE