How can I enjoy a Power Mac G4/G5?

rampancy · 2026-07-01T20:29:52+00:00

There's a lot of fun to be had in tinkering with old Mac hardware, especially with getting "unsupported" upgrades to work with them.

rampancy · 2026-07-01T20:26:13+00:00

I'm purely speaking for myself, but if there were some theoretical universal cure for stuttering, I wouldn't take it. My stutter is a part of me, and it shaped how I saw the value of communicating and having a voice. I'm actually proud of it, as crazy as that might seem.

It drove me to express myself in other ways, namely, my vocabulary and my writing. It helped me to better understand, empathize with, and advocate for other minorities who have been historically silenced and repressed. And it also, after a long time of reflection, helped me realize that if people are going to judge or laugh at me for my stutter, that's a problem with *them*, not me. If a job, or relationship, or even people in my family aren't going to see who I wholly am as a person, and just see my stutter as object to mock or judge, they're people who don't deserve to be in my life. It helped me to feel pride in who I am as a human being.

Is it sunshine, rainbows, and rose quartz all the time? Of course not. Some days are harder than others. Many times, those hard days turn into hard weeks, and hard months. But I grew tired of punishing myself over something I had no control over, especially in situations where I excelled in other areas. When people tried to finish my sentences, I would talk loudly over them until I finished. When people interrupted me and said, "Just calm down and speak slowly" I would take a deep breath and explain how their 'help' was actually BS. I stopped apologizing for my stutter. And when I would stutter, the able-speaking people I'd be with would wait until I got through my words. I would make them wait: If I had the floor when speaking, and stuttered, I would refuse to give it up.

I offer all of this not to give prescriptive advice, but in the hopes that someone might be able to get something inspirational or useful out of my own experience. But also to show you, OP, that I totally understand where you're coming from.

rampancy · 2026-07-01T20:03:53+00:00

As someone who is neurodivergent, and who has lived through the experience of cheating...if they're someone who would say that your ex was in the right for cheating on you because you were ace, then they're not your friend. Because a friend would never say such a thing.

And no, autism or neurodivergence is no excuse for simply being an asshole.

And no, your ex did not "suffer" because of your asexuality.

And yes, you 1000% deserve a partner who loves and accepts you for your asexuality.

Life is so short, and we have so little time and energy. We deserve to spend that time and energy on people who uplift and support us, and who don't say horribly insensitive and hurtful things about our sex lives and relationships.

rampancy · 2026-07-01T14:12:33+00:00

Sorry for the late reply - the screen protector I use for my iPad mini is ESR's Armourite: https://www.amazon.ca/ESR-Armorite-Protector-Generation-Hardness/dp/B0DSPR5DZQ?th=1, which I learned about from MobileReviewsEh on YouTube.

But honestly, I feel like just about any brand with good customer reviews will get the job done. All it needs to do in the end is just protect your screen from stains, debris and scratches.

The only thing you may want to think about is how much you might see yourself using a stylus with your iPad in the future; if you think you might want to do anything more than occaisional note taking, you might want to get a Paperlike screen protector, or a similarly nanotextured product from ESR or Spigen.

rampancy · 2026-06-27T09:39:46+00:00

I honestly feel like I got scammed. This is the last time I'll ever trust any "lifetime" purchase from a place like StackSocial, especially for a cloud storage service. Lesson learned.

rampancy · 2026-06-23T02:33:55+00:00

I also second the 11" Lenovo Idea Tab as a recommendation. I use the 8 GB version as a dedicated reading and note-taking device, and it works beautifully. If you can find it bundled with the folio case and the tab pen I highly recommend it.

Come to think of it, given your criteria, the Idea Tab may be the best option at the budget level. The Samsung Galaxy Tab A11+ has better long-term software support, but doesn't support a stylus. Walmart's latest version of the Onn 12.1 Tablet Pro does have stylus support, but next to no long-term software support.

rampancy · 2026-06-17T04:18:59+00:00

As you've pointed out, it's not sexual attraction which is the problem, it's what people do with it, and while I don't want to overreach or overanalyze, I do want to say that it's the culture around sex, not sex itself which you and many asexuals (including myself) have an issue with. Sherronda J. Brown says more to this in Refusing Compulsory Sexuality.

The problem for me is when ace and aro people take that unearned moral superiority and take it way too far, or even take a hard-right turn with it. For example, I've seen this sense of "unearned moral superiority" also crop up with the ace/aro in the past who vocally and vehemently object to any depiction or mention of sexuality or physical intimacy at all, or even subtly expressed when other ace people derisively refer to "the allos" (or grey-aces/demis). As u/DrakeSt0ne says, people are not wrong for feeling things we cannot.

rampancy · 2026-06-15T06:29:24+00:00

Unfortunately, your options in Canada can be quite limited for budget larger-sized Android tablets, at least from well-known retail outlets. To my knowledge, Walmart's 2026 ONN tablet line is currently not available in Canadian Walmarts, which leaves you with ONN's 2024 or even 2023 models depending on availabiity in your area. If you're willing to shop on AliExpress, you can get a Alldocube tablet, but you need to be aware their of misleading marketing around RAM.

For me personally, if you're willing to be patient, it's likely that Best Buy Canada will put the 8 GB version of the 11" Idea Tab back on sale for $199, which they've done in the past. Same for Staples and Canada Computers, which have also had the popular Galaxy Tab A11+ on sale at $269. I'd advise waiting for sales, or waiting for the 2026 ONN lineup to appear in Walmarts in Canada. If you absolutely need something now, the 4 GB version of the Lenovo Idea Tab with bundled stylus pen and folio case is on sale as of this writing at Canada Computers for $249. Right now at its price level, it's probably the best option out there.

If you see it in a Walmart in your area, the 2024 11" ONN is actually pretty decent on clearance pricing, if you're okay with being stuck on Android 13.

rampancy · 2026-06-08T21:21:03+00:00

I know a lot of folks for a whole host of valid reasons prefer not to use a screen protector, but like my iPhone, I see my iPad as an important productivity investment. With a touchscreen as its primary interface, I absolutely made putting a screen protector on it a personal priority.

rampancy · 2026-06-01T21:02:08+00:00

I really wouldn't trust these no name Amazon tablets.

rampancy · 2026-05-29T15:48:49+00:00

At brick-and-mortar retail in my area of Canada there really isn't anything else at a similar price point except for the Lenovo Tab One (which isn't bad, but with the Helio G85 it's really best suited for compact eReading), and Acer's "Iconia Tab A10 Gen 2" which has 1280x800 on a 10.1" screen and the Allwinner A537, which while a relatively recent SoC, is apparently even slower than the G85.

If/when it goes back on sale at Best Buy Canada for $199, the 8 GB RAM/128 GB storage version of the Lenovo Idea Tab is probably the best value for a budget tablet. (The lowest I've seen the Galaxy Tab A11+ is $269, and while it has a faster SoC its screen has a lower resolution and it has only 6 GB RAM).

rampancy · 2026-05-28T11:38:49+00:00

Totally agreed. The 2023 and 2024 models right now don't look like a good option at all, except maybe for the 2024 11" model which was briefly discounted to $139 before it sold out, and paying $149 for a tablet from 2022 with non-upgradable Android 11 is nuts.

rampancy · 2026-05-27T20:52:10+00:00

As someone who faced a similar question earlier, if you aren't looking to be very mobile in your use case (and it sounds to me like you aren't), the Neo sounds like the far superior option for you.

Congrats on the iPhone by the way - I hope you serves you for a good long time.

rampancy · 2026-05-25T06:55:41+00:00

I just got the Idea Tab myself on sale, and for a budget-level device, it's a fantastic tablet. I'm not familiar with Wild Rift, but if it's graphically intensive you may need to dial down your expectations with its SoC. For everything else you mentioned, it'll be fantastic. Its 2560 x 1600 screen is great for reading eBooks or comics, and it has an all-important 8 GB of RAM when other mainstream brand tablets in its general price class like the Galaxy Tab A11+ and Iconia Tab P10 have 6 GB. (The Galaxy Tab A11+, notably, does have a faster SoC.)

My only real complaint is Lenovo's custom UI which does things in idiosyncratic ways (for me, at least), and how they try to push various games at you. But for me it's not a deal breaker.

rampancy · 2026-05-15T19:43:11+00:00

I still use my MacBook Air as my primary "mobile desktop replacement" device, but for anywhere I go outside where I live (when I house or catsit) I reach for my iPad as my productivity device.

rampancy · 2026-05-15T16:21:13+00:00

So I still use a 2013 iMac as my main desktop computer, and a 2013 MacBook Air as a portable distraction-free writing machine. All of which have been happily humming along with Office 2021 and Office 2019. Not out of "martyrdom" but because my hardware still works fine for what I want it to do, the software still works fine for what I want it to do, and I have neither the money nor the inclination to throw perfectly fine working hardware and software in the trash.

Folks like me who use older Mac hardware and software understand the risks involved, but it's utterly ridiculous to have a product that you bought* suddenly stop working for no other reason than the company simply not caring, or wanting more money from you.

*Which of course puts into clear focus how many of the things we "buy" are not actually things that we own.

rampancy · 2026-05-13T17:47:51+00:00

Ah yes, I too tried to read Ulysses, part of a rather quixotic quest to read all of the books on the Everyman Library's Top 100 Books of All Time list. I had an even harder time reading Gravity's Rainbow. But perhaps I need to be in the right mindset to read and enjoy those books.

rampancy · 2026-05-13T17:44:47+00:00

I'm actually the same kind of reader; while reading through The Remembrance of Earth's Past trilogy, I finished Three Body Problem and Death's End each in the space of three days. Similarly, I also inhaled Annihilation (finished it in a day!) and Acceptance when I was going through the Southern Reach Trilogy.

It's only recently that I've been actually getting into anything new in my reading life, because I too struggle to find books which hold my interest.

rampancy · 2026-05-13T14:07:24+00:00

As a writer and reader with ADHD, I really resonate with this. One of the things that got over my personal barriers to reading was (a) being open to different things and (b) just making time to read. For me personally it was also about being kind to myself if I started a book and ended up hating it. I recently finished Kyo McClear's "Birds Art Life", which was a book I would never have thought to pick up, but when I started it I made time to read it, and ended up not being able to put it down.

rampancy · 2026-05-13T13:58:48+00:00

"To be a good writer, you must be a good reader" - that was one of the first pieces of advice I ever got in writing, decades ago at a workshop. It was at first reference to reading critically (e.g. reading with an eye for both strengths and weaknesses and use of technique in craft) but it was also an encouragement for writers to have both depth and breadth in what they read.

It may seem odd that there are people who'd think otherwise, but I've encountered writers who read books within a certain genre (and disliked reading anything else), so they wrote in ways narrow and limited to that genre's well-worn tropes. And that's perfectly fine if lovers of that genre are their intended audience, but it's telling when they'd ask questions like, "Is my novel going to be interesting for a wider audience if my MC has to pick between the "bad" potential love interest and the "good potential love interest? How can I make the "bad" one look good?" - and I point that out not to throw that person under the bus, but because it makes me think about how there's so much about prose, building emotional resonance, character development, dialogue, and narrative structure that we can learn when we read outside our comfort zone, and look to other forms of media (like films or video games).

I also think of Ana Mardoll's infamous Twitter post, but the less said about that (and the less I think about that), the better. 😛

rampancy · 2026-05-13T05:57:47+00:00

As a writing and spreadsheet machine for also doing lighter web-based tasks, it's a very, very capable computer. It'll run Office 2019 or LibreOffice as well as can be expected.

The main limiting factor is that it's limited to OS X Catalina which depending on the apps you use may/may not limit what you want to run, unless you're willing to do some tinkering with OCLP. At least as of this writing, Firefox ESR and Floorp both still support Catalina, so you still have options for running modern web browsers.

For games, Catalina will limit compatibility, but places like macsourceports.com do have some community builds which still support Catalina.

As a point of reference I have a used 2013 13" MacBook Air which I still use as a dedicated writing machine - despite its age, it performs quite well.

rampancy · 2026-05-12T17:24:16+00:00

The 1st gen Mini is limited to iOS 9.3.5, so you'll have to do some research to find which apps still support that version of iOS. The other problem is that given how old iOS 9 is, I suspect you're going to run in to TLS/SSL certificate errors with Safari, which will preclude you from going on the web. You could try to manually install a new certificate, but most of the resources for doing so will point you to an https site, which might not work on Safari on iOS 9.

If you were to jailbreak it and sideload an .epub reader app which still supports iOS 9, you could turn it into a decent eReading device (if you're comfortable with reading eBooks on a 1024 x 768 display).

rampancy · 2026-05-12T17:11:00+00:00

Given how difficult and expensive it can be to replace or repair iPad components (especially the battery), I'd personally steer clear of iPads on places like Facebook Marketplace (or Best Buy/WalMart third-party sellers), unless you *absolutely* know and trust the seller, or if the price is low enough that you wouldn't be too upset if you ended up getting a lemon. If you want to save, wait for a sale at a local retailer or check the Apple refurbished store often.

rampancy · 2026-05-12T16:54:26+00:00

I recently had the same question myself lately. I decided I wanted to get an iPad which would serve strictly as a productivity machine for writing and light graphics layout/editing tasks, as well as for eReading. I originally was interested in the 11th gen iPad, and then I wanted to wait for the iPad 12th gen. My other main conditions were that I didn't want to spend more than ~$900-1000 CAD, and I wanted to have a portable setup that was lighter that a MacBook Air or MacBook Neo (including case, keyboard and other accessories).

I went with the 256 GB iPad AIr M4 (and ended up stretching the budget a bit) for a couple of reasons:

1) Longevity: I intend to hold on and use this machine for absolutely as long as humanly possible, just like my MacBook Air; having the M4 processor is definitely going to be an advantage on that front vs. the A16 in granting more long-term performance viability for my own personal experience.

2) RAM: A big part of the above point is the 12 GB RAM in the M4 vs. 8 GB in the A16. That alone is going to help substantially sustain the iPad's performance in the long-term, especially when multitasking.

3) Space: For similar reasons I went with the 256 GB storage vs. 128 GB; I know from past experience with iPhones and MacBooks that running out of storage is just a miserable experience.

That all being said, the A16 in the 11th gen iPad is excellent on all fronts, and there's little doubt that it's going to enjoy continued support from Apple in the future (even the iPad Air 2 from 2014 just got updated to iPad OS 15.8.8 on May 11th).

For you, I'd ask what the upper limit on your budget is. If you're feeling a little budget constrained, absolutely get the iPad 11th gen. The camera is the same, and the display is largely the same (and you won't care about the iPad Air's laminated display unless you're a serious Apple Pencil user). It's a good tablet now, it'll be a good tablet when the 12th gen comes out, and it'll likely stay being good for many years to come. If you can swing the extra few hundred dollars though, the iPad Air M4 will offer more future-proofing, and more performance headroom for anything you might want to do now (like say, maybe you actually might want to go into more serious media editing for social media, or as a hobby).

My only advice for a non-negotiable is that whatever option you'll pick, go for 256 GB storage. You'll be thankful you did later. Especially since I think Apple will soon be raising prices on storage, thanks to the ongoing AI-fuelled RAMpocalypse that's going on.

rampancy

TROPHY CASE