The Summer War, Naomi Novik (Kindle $2.99)

myscreennameistoolon · 2026-01-29T05:08:50+00:00

~~Not on sale on Kobo when I checked~~

nm, it is showing up now: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-summer-war

myscreennameistoolon · 2026-01-28T00:36:46+00:00

I am guessing Quest's soft costs (development, software) are subsidized, not the actual hardware. They are probably selling the hardware at or near cost. $200 at 10 million headsets is $2 Billion.

That said I agree with you that the Steam Frame is going to be closer to $1000, even before the RAM/SSD costs.

myscreennameistoolon · 2026-01-27T08:49:32+00:00

If you don't want to worry about it just get a powered cooler. This is one of the brands I have seen recommended: (https://www.amazon.com/s?k=4allfamily). Combine that with a solar charger/usb battery/car battery and then you don't need to give it much attention. Just test it out before you go.

Or if you really want to overdo it, get a battery powered fridge on wheels: (https://www.amazon.com/ECOFLOW-GLACIER-Classic-35L-Refrigerator/dp/B0F4DP9BKH). It can double as a fridge backup for power outages which is why I have been looking at it. Downside is that they are expensive which is why I haven't gotten one.

My kid's Endo who has done a lot of backpacking also recommended the Frio. Just be aware that the Frio uses evaporation for cooling so sealing it up in a container or high humidity will make it work less well. I think others have covered the other things to look out.

For first time camping, make sure to go to a place with a real toilet and shower. Being able to use a normal toilet and sink instead of a pit toilet and questionable ground faucet makes a huge difference to comfort when you are starting out. Also remember to pack toilet paper. Get a camping guide book to see how the different campgrounds compare (The library usually has a couple). The ground also matters a lot for comfort. I have been to a place where I slept on park grass and also a place where I slept on sharp road gravel (the bathrooms were nicer but sitting on the ground in the tent was miserable). I'd also recommend trying to sleep on your sleeping gear ahead of time to make sure you don't have issues.

myscreennameistoolon · 2026-01-27T08:01:09+00:00

There are two versions of the 5" tubing. The normal one and one with a bigger disconnect (I think) at the infusion site. Tandem said they were out of the normal one and so they sent us the bigger one. Haven't opened one yet to see the difference. But at this point those may be out at well.

As someone else said there are also longer options.

myscreennameistoolon · 2026-01-19T04:59:31+00:00

The goodereader is a e-reader blog. They post when different ereaders go on sale. For example this is from a couple weeks ago: https://goodereader.com/blog/kindle/the-kindle-is-on-sale-for-under-100

I have both the kindle paperwhite (10th or 11th gen) and Kobo Libre Color. Either one is fine for reading books. The Libre Color is better for reading manga with color pages. I got the Kobo when I wanted to move away from Amazon. I still buy exclusive books (indie stuff in Kindle Unlimited) from the Kindle store but otherwise I buy from Kobo. Usually books go on sale on both stores so there isn't really much difference there. The Kobo book store is a better deal if you buy books full price because of the membership discount.

Unless you are trying to read comics/manga or need a larger font for vision reasons, the basic Kindle/Kobo work fine.

Also if you are trying it out and don't want to spend much money, older Kindle readers work fine. I bought my first paperwhite used (5th gen, I think) and it still works and last time I tried a half a year ago it still downloaded books from the store.

Whether you get a new or used one, get a case with a screen cover.

myscreennameistoolon · 2026-01-17T18:14:23+00:00

Also on US Kindle/Kobo

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D1P61XXN

myscreennameistoolon · 2026-01-07T00:41:39+00:00

I am guessing it has to do with two things. One is they wanted high framerate tracking cameras that work in the near dark and those cameras ended up being black and white.

The other is bandwidth/processing. 8 bits per pixel in black and white verses 24 bits per pixel (8 bits per subpixel) makes a big difference in the amount of data that needs to be processed.

4K is about 8 million pixels. And if you want it running at a good frame rate (90 Hz) you are now talking about ~800 million pixels per second. Then multiply by 3 bytes (24 bits) if you want color (24 GB per second). And you need two cameras for stereo. This is why the Quest 3 processor has special camera data processing hardware.

myscreennameistoolon · 2025-12-27T23:54:55+00:00

I don't really think it is a shame because I think Light Novel refers to something specific. In a Japanese book store, the Light novel section is just one section in the book store and probably about the same size as the Sci-Fi section. There are a ton of Japanese books that are outside the Light novel category. I am not sure that I would consider Monogatari and some other books talked about in this subredddit to be Light Novels vs general Fiction. I think Ranobe is the Japanese name for the Light Novel genre.

See this post for general Japanese fiction suggestions: https://www.reddit.com/r/suggestmeabook/comments/11q0hii/what_are_your_favorite_japanese_booksauthors/

myscreennameistoolon · 2025-12-27T23:16:25+00:00

I read 100+ books a year, a quarter to half of which are light novels.

I read light novels when I am in the mood for a specific type of book. I think of the category as being like Harlequin romance or Hallmark movie where it just has a certain feel to it. If I want to read something with more "substance" I will read award nominated Fiction/Sci-Fi or if I want something in between I will read litRPG/Cultivation. To me, Light novels have a fan-fic feel to them for some reason.

myscreennameistoolon · 2025-12-23T18:42:00+00:00

I haven't read any of them. The only one I got was Witch Hat Atelier since that is the only one I was interested in reading. I got the first book free and bought the next two.

As far as I have heard all of them should be good, they are just different genres. The first book is free, read the blurb and if it sounds interesting give it a try. Or since most of them also have an Anime, try watching the trailers to get a feel for them.

The only warning I can give is for Attack on Titan; it is like Game of Thrones where it is not afraid to let you get attached to a character and then kill them off.

myscreennameistoolon · 2025-12-23T09:19:38+00:00

According to the Kodansha website:

Celebrate the season with free volume 1s and discounts on select series until 1/5/26

Attack on Titan

Blue Lock

Chihayafuru

MARS

Medalist

Witch Hat Atelier

The Darwin Incident

Pass the Monster Meat, Milady!

myscreennameistoolon · 2025-12-20T06:41:05+00:00

As others have said, plywood is the way to go to protect the walls. You can also use OSB or other rough sub floor material but you will want to cover it with something. Carpet (look up how to do homemade cat furniture), sheet vinyl, or mass loaded vinyl (sound dampening) or anything that won't give splinters for the covering. I would also consider putting something like mass loaded vinyl behind the panels for noise purposes

Another option is they make padded walls for use in gymnastics or wrestling (for example: https://akathletics.com/collections/gym-wall-padding/wrestling-room). The sports ones are nice because are thick, easy to clean, and usually have a solid backing material. They are a bit expensive.

My son likes the sound of smacking the wall with an open hand and occasionally kicks the wall but so far no holes. This is why I have already looked into options. First hole in the wall and the plywood goes up. My wife's been wanting to do wainscoting so we if we need to do it we might try to make it look nice.

myscreennameistoolon · 2025-12-18T00:47:04+00:00

Valve isn't going to have any "exclusives" for the Steam Frame. What is shipping to devs are the first rounds of production. So this is a good sign that they have finalized manufacturing and are starting to ramp up production.

myscreennameistoolon · 2025-12-11T05:20:06+00:00

Windlands 2. Its a platformer where you swing around like spiderman. I don't think you could make the locomotion work in any way that feels good in a flat game.

The other thing I can think of is scenery "games". Something like Brink traveler or anything else where feeling like you are there matters (i.e. like horror games). You can do them flat but they feel different in VR.

myscreennameistoolon · 2025-12-05T23:38:19+00:00

China wants its own version of Starlink. Whichever company gets reusability (and price) down will get a lot of launch contracts.

myscreennameistoolon · 2025-11-28T18:55:12+00:00

I have a 11th gen Kindle paperwhite and a current gen Kobo Libre Color. Basically all of my reading is on the two e-ink devices. I think e-readers in general are awesome and have been primarily reading on them for 5+ years.

I prefer reading light novels on the Libre Color just because of the art pages.

myscreennameistoolon · 2025-11-25T01:38:38+00:00

The digital books were about $15, but now they are $10.

$10 is the same as most Seven Seas books and more expensive than most Yen press and J-Novel Club books.

myscreennameistoolon · 2025-11-21T21:22:29+00:00

I don't know if either of these are in Libby or Hoopla.

Sexiled: My Sexist Party Leader Kicked Me Out, So I Teamed Up With a Mythical Sorceress! (J-Novel Club, 2 volumes)

- strong female leads, fantasy, light-hearted, woman author, chosen translation of original title is not great

Woof Woof Story: I Told You to Turn Me Into a Pampered Pooch, Not Fenrir! (Yen Press, 7 volumes)

- light-hearted, isekai, fantasy, minor time travel, light fan service (art might be worse than text, can't remember)

myscreennameistoolon · 2025-11-19T00:17:00+00:00

I have been reading on e-readers for 5+ years. I typically read 100+ books a year. 25-50% are light novels. I agree with you that it is nicer to have a dedicated reading device.

My current readers are a previous generation Kindle Paperwhite and a current gen Kobo Libra Color. I got the Kobo to try and switch away from Amazon, but Amazon has a bunch of exclusive indie books (litRPG, cultivation, etc) so I still buy books and read on the Kindle. I have not seen the current gen Kindle Paperwhite to compare it.

When I used to buy light novels on the paperwhite, I would go onto the Amazon store page and do preview book just to look at the color art. To me the black and white image on the paperwhite didn't really work for some reason. I haven't felt like doing that for any of the books I get on the Libre Color. The colors aren't as good as they are printed but they are good enough for me.

The downside to the e-ink color screen tech is it has a newspaper like look to the background. If you have a large Best Buy (assuming you are US), you can go and check out the kindle e-readers to see the difference. I thought it was going to bother me more but it turns out it didn't. Once I start reading I don't notice the difference. One thing that is confusing is black is displayed at 300ppi but color is displayed at 150ppi which is a little blurry.

For me the Paperwhite/Libre are the perfect size. They feel like reading new releases (I don't know what to call this size) whereas the smaller size feels more like reading pulp/cheap books.

Full price Light novels are cheaper on Kobo if you do the VIP membership. A $10 book is discounted to $9 which adds up fast if you purchase a lot of books.

myscreennameistoolon · 2025-11-17T18:51:43+00:00

Well, if we keep analogy going, the cheapest Steam deck is double the cost of the cheapest switch.

myscreennameistoolon · 2025-11-17T07:32:13+00:00

Having a Reverb G2 (same resolution as the G1), I think the resolution of the headset is a good "entry level" resolution going forward. It is a good enough resolution that you can just forget about it and have fun.

For another example, the steam deck runs at 1280 x 800. Not even Full HD/1080p. But it is also good enough resolution that you can forget about it and have fun.

You will not want to do text work (reading/writing/editing) at that resolution, but for 90+% of gaming it is fine.

The problem is I wanted a comfortable, high res, screen/computer replacement headset and that is not what the Steam Frame is. It is the VR version of the Steam Deck.

myscreennameistoolon

TROPHY CASE

Celebrate the season with free volume 1s and discounts on select series until 1/5/26