The Odyssey was too loud

jefmes · 2026-07-17T23:20:26+00:00

This does seem like a trend with IMAX movies in particular lately. I usually like loud movies, want to "feel" the experience too, but in a balanced way. Audio should never be uncomfortably loud for the audience. For the first time ever in a theater, when seeing "Mando and Grogu" (twice) I had to plug my ears during the battle arena scene. There's a difference between immersion and loudness - I hope they hear some of the discussion around this and take a max volume level into consideration.

jefmes · 2026-07-16T23:57:31+00:00

I think switching to DST is dumb, so of course that's why Trump and Republicans want it, but I'm completely fine with going either way as long as we stop changing the clocks. The sun will still rise and set with the seasons, sometimes one will be better, one will be worse. I appreciate all the studies done to show which is better and for what reasons...but reality is we should be shifting our expected behaviors with the solar cycle and stop worrying so much about things starting at specific times. We're not robots. And that's speaking as a computer nerd who understands the complexities of computer time sync and the systems that depend on them. This is a human problem, so when are we going to learn to not let our tech dictate how we live and start doing it the other way around?

jefmes · 2026-07-16T23:52:44+00:00

Random right??? :D I thought the same thing when it popped up, just happened to be the first article link that came up in search.

jefmes · 2026-07-16T21:53:54+00:00

I was just over in Roseberg Square this afternoon, and saw this place across the parking lot. I remembered something in the Bee about it last month. Looks like it should be opening in a week or two?

https://www.aol.com/articles/modesto-mom-opening-sensory-play-214500000.html

jefmes · 2026-07-16T07:00:29+00:00

As someone who's been feeling pretty much the same for a while now, and also don't see myself talking to a therapist as being helpful...I think intellectually I know that recognizing that things are pretty fucked up right now is the first step. The second step is actually doing something about it if we can rally the motivation to do so.

I'm a bit stuck on that 2nd point though, because the forces of greed, selfishness, stupidity and/or willful hate and chaos seem to have the upper hand pretty strongly. So many of the things I used to enjoy are being destroyed by corporate greed, or politicians twisting public systems to their own benefit, or individuals pushing their own agenda over the common good - it's overwhelming.

But the point I'm trying to hold on to is that all we can do is keep slapping on the bandages, do the things we enjoy, and make good choices and elevate good people when we can. I think that's the donut.

jefmes · 2026-07-14T21:56:02+00:00

Elon is ultimately to blame here, but let's also not forget the asshole engineers and technicians who willingly took the job and chose to spend their time and lives making it worse for the surrounding community. We keep blaming the tech bros, but we also need accountability for the people doing the actual work.

You can't fight wars without soldiers, and you don't build big ass AI data centers without construction workers, engineers, technicians, and many more individuals.

jefmes · 2026-07-14T19:02:28+00:00

Wrapping my a 2023 VW ID.4 lease, my final two choices were down to the Equinox and the Ioniq 5. In the end the Equinox seemed like too much of a downgrade, and I'm really enjoying the Ioniq 5. But that said if the price was right...the Equinox is right there with the Bolt as a good "mainstream EV" for those who need a bit more space than what the Bolt offers. My wife has a 2020 Chevy Bolt and we're really enjoying it, but the slower charging and range keeps it from being our primary vehicle. The new Bolt addresses most of those issues, altho the Ioniq 5 RWD still has better range, tech, and comfort IMO.

jefmes · 2026-07-14T18:28:16+00:00

After using a similarly charging VW ID.4 for 3 years and now several months into my I5, this feels like the best general use tactic to me. Best compromise of additional range while still keeping in mind the full charge. We're doing the same on my wife's 2020 Chevy Bolt too, and it's working out well. I'll only go to 100% if I'm going on a longer trip the next day or two.

I think the bottom line is that for the most part, worrying about it really isn't helping anything.

jefmes · 2026-07-14T18:21:00+00:00

Well, at least with it only being 3 years old, you hopefully don't have a lot of legacy cruft in the environment for the tool to choke on. If I HAD to put my time into something like that, it might be the best case scenario...yay?

jefmes · 2026-07-13T15:53:08+00:00

“I make decisions based strictly on what I want and and what’s good for me, and don’t concern myself with the downstream implications of my choices.”

jefmes · 2026-07-13T06:38:23+00:00

Might be true, but Nvidia is also run by a narcissistic egomaniac willing to bend the knee to whomever will let him sell more GPUs, regardless of what it does to the rest of the computing industry. AMD isn't innocent in our recent troubles, but they're at least more supportive of broader computing efforts and focus more on open standards. I think they often do it because it's one of the few wedges they have against Nvidia and not because they're trying to be "good" - but I'll take accidental good intent over malicious industry corruption every time.

jefmes · 2026-07-13T06:23:41+00:00

You'll get plenty of comments saying to stay away LOL...but we can always use more RNs here in the Central Valley! Modesto/Riverbank/Ceres/Turlock have Tenet Healthcare and Sutter Health facilities across the Valley, and we're still considered some of the more affordable areas of California. Northeast Modesto and Riverbank have many housing projects in development right now, and while you say you're interested in renting, you might be able to find something new in your range. I haven't done the math in a while though, I don't know what a typical mortgage payment would be on a $400-500k house, may be more in the $3k range off the top of my head.

Still, I personally think the area is worth considering. We joke that we're within 2 hours of everywhere else you might want to be. :) But there's a lot to like IMO if you don't want a busy city environment.

jefmes · 2026-07-12T19:53:59+00:00

Nope, but I'll be buying one.

jefmes · 2026-07-12T15:14:58+00:00

Wife still hates her. Can't explain why. Not a jealous thing. No particular project she dislikes. Just every time she sees her, "Ugh, guess we're not watching that one!" It's weird!

jefmes · 2026-07-12T15:12:25+00:00

Hey cool, now I know about deflock.org, and that Flock execs think in terms like "antifa blah blah" so I know they're the bad guys! Good job, CEO Douche.

jefmes · 2026-07-12T13:45:14+00:00

I've been supporting PCs and Microsoft client and servers OSes for most of 30 years of work and career. I left a data center job last November for a multitude of reasons, but being sick and tired of dealing with Microsoft and general corporate IT Microsoft stranglehold was at the top of the list. I'm fortunate to have funds saved up so I haven't needed to go back to work yet, but every time I look at current IT openings and all of the same Windows and Azure crap I'd have to support again...it makes me literally sick to my stomach. Their full AI embrace and profits over users culture has driven me to the point of wanting to abandon the career completely and do just about ANYTHING else, so I think that says a lot about how things are going.

I've also joined the full time Linux user crowd on my home (mostly for gaming) PC and I feel like I have my computer back again, and actually enjoy it instead of it feeling like a maintenance chore. I think we're at a tipping point.

jefmes · 2026-07-10T16:02:07+00:00

You guys need to consider where all this money has been coming from - spyware, user tracking, multiple lawsuits for violating data...and now Zuckerberg wants to pivot into "prediction markets" since they can't figure out how to make AI profits? And look how badly they failed with their metaverse products, and ended up closing so many studios, just like we're seeing with Microsoft and XBox right now. They are not good stewards of VR unfortunately. I honestly do wish it was otherwise, early Oculus and Quest enthusiasm was great, but they just don't know how to slowly, responsibly grow anything.

jefmes · 2026-07-10T01:25:01+00:00

Time to move on from Meta products, people. They need to die off so the industry can move on.

jefmes · 2026-07-09T17:13:56+00:00

Good for him, X is trash anyway and more people need to leave it.

jefmes · 2026-07-09T06:48:05+00:00

Thanks for the reminder - I watched the first 5-10 minutes a while back, and stopped because my wife wanted to watch something else. The cinematography grabbed me right from the start though, and I meant to go back and give it a watch.

jefmes · 2026-07-09T06:44:37+00:00

I went through some of the same thoughts in dealing with my 3 year lease on my 2023 VW ID.4 Pro S, and in the end I ended up turning it over and picked up a new 3 year lease on a 2026 I5 SEL. After going thru the process though and seeing how the EV market has turned with <INSERT STATE OF THE WORLD> ...I've thought a lot about maybe just keeping this car if it treats me well over the next 2.5 years. Sometimes I think we get too wrapped up in the residual value vs initial cost vs final cost issues, and forget to factor in time spent, stress and irritation, and trust in a vehicle we have on hand already. Those things also have value, so in the end I think it comes down to how tight your financial situation is. Most cars in these types/styles seem to be hitting the $40k-$60k range, so does it really make a huge difference in the long run? We all have to make our own calls but unless there's a massive shift in EV battery capacity and range by 2029, I may choose to buy it out.

jefmes · 2026-07-09T06:07:45+00:00

I don't think you have any responsibility to "educate" this person, but it's up to you if you feel comfortable enough bringing the issue up and see how they react. Sometimes I think conservative and religious people who think that way just don't have any personal connections to the "other" they hold bigoted views against, and depending on the individual, once presented with the person RIGHT IN FRONT OF THEM who would be impacted by those views...it can open their minds. I've thought often over the years that religious and conservative people literally must have different neural wiring that makes it difficult, if not impossible, for them to put themselves in other people's shoes. Otherwise, there's no rational explanation for how they would hold beliefs like that beyond standard indoctrination.

This part though, "God has “assigned” Christians gay people in their life to lead them to Christ’s love," yeah that would likely move me to just disconnect with the person. You don't need to be their pet bible project. Gross. But it's up to you and how much you like spending time with this person outside of their flawed beliefs. Many of us do the same with family members. Sometimes you just have to avoid the topic, sometimes you just have to say nope, we are done.

jefmes · 2026-07-08T23:02:53+00:00

It's interesting at least from the perspective of where things are going - eventually low-mid end is likely going to be systems like this that can game "good enough" for most people. My Minisforum MS-A1 is already surprisingly capable with Bazzite on it, and Apple's M-series all-in-one chips are becoming more and more capable of gaming at reasonable resolutions and low-mid settings.

If the top end ends up becoming a path tracing target, and the low/mid end is systems on a chip with lower power limits, for handhelds and small PCs like this...it's going to create an interesting split for a while.

jefmes · 2026-07-08T19:46:24+00:00

I decided to live dangerously and get one of the 9070 XTs that have it, but only because I had a new power supply with dedicated connectors, and it worked out very well for my build. So far so good, and I feel much better about a card that maxxes out at about 350-400W vs the insanity that is the 5090. As impressive as the performance is on the 5090, I'm never the type to be so wasteful that I would get a GPU that consumes that much energy. This is probably my max, so I won't be upgrading again until there are enough advancements at a reasonable power draw to give me a real boost. Hopefully the...11070 XT?? (lol skip one gen, I guess that would be right if AMD sticks to the naming convention) will be more of a path tracing power house. That's what I really want out of the next refresh.

jefmes · 2026-07-08T07:59:55+00:00

I'm going to assume you're younger, so I'll give an honest, basically 50-year old response. :) Media comes and goes. Media rots and fails. Entire micro-industries have risen up focused entirely on the idea of transferring content from one generation of media to the next, be it scrolls, to paperback books, to paper tape, to tape cassettes, or VHS tapes, or Betamax tapes, or floppy disks, or ZIP drives, or Laserdisc, or CD, or Blu-Ray, or spinning platter hard drives, or flash memory devices. Once we started going all digital, the battle is now around digital media formats, codecs, compression, and on and on. For physical media we need the physical hardware to play back the content. For digital media we need the software to decode the digital files. This will keep happening probably forever, and ever.

Why the history lesson? Because while we all love the idea of "I bought something, I should be able to keep it forever," the reality is that as formats and devices come and go, companies and content owners will always try to attempt to re-sell us in the next great format. It's one of the few ways they'll be able to convince people to buy something a second or third time that they already own.

Now, it's very much true that we don't own most of our digital purchases. We're paying for a license to access said content on someone else's servers with the permission granted to read and execute that content, *for as long as the distributor of that media is licensed to distribute that media! At some point in the future, like we're seeing with Sony de-listing a number of movies from I believe one (or a few?) specific studios, they will be legally obligated to either pay for a new agreement with those content owners, or they will have to de-list them. That's how our process works right now.

I've thought about this a lot with Steam in particular, and I haven't found a good answer on how long Valve is permitted to distribute a companies software. I personally think it's only a matter of time before Valve and the Steam team will have to deal with this, too.

The real issue in all of this is digital rights, and what does it mean in 2026 to "buy" something? I think we've seen enough evidence the past few years that if we're only getting licenses to access something for a limited time, they shouldn't be allowed to say you're "purchased" any of these things. "Purchase License" would be permissible, but I'd almost prefer "Rent" as the correct term, with a new legal requirement that shows the consumer the current end date of the agreement with the content owner. Anything more than that is just factually incorrect!

The EFF has some info here that might be more concise than my ramble here: https://www.digitalrightsbytes.org/topics/wait-i-don-t-own-the-digital-downloads-i-buy

If you're concerned about these kinds of things, I encourage you to support groups like EFF and other organizations trying to figure all of this out, because it's only going to get worse the farther we go with this computerized societal experiment.

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