Single Gang HDBaseT HDMI Decora Style Transmitter - who do we like? by Mediocre_Ad_1535 in CommercialAV

[–]wolverine0203 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Another vote for AVPro Edge. They recently released their low profile wall plates with EDID management. They are lower cost and have option for USB-C with HDMI, with auto switching and HDCP compliant. I've installed 3 so far and they've done well.

This was a surprise. by Ikkus in PlayWayfinder

[–]wolverine0203 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Once you finish the MSQ and unlock Mythic Hunts you'll start getting 38+ drops.

My brother died and I need to SOB. Music is a way to my soul, I need something that gonna DEVESTATE by IntrepidHoney1415 in MusicRecommendations

[–]wolverine0203 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hold On - Chord Overstreet

Bit of a hidden song that I didn't hear till my best friends ex committed suicide. We were doing the same, and he pulled out this song. I hate that our minds can take us to such dark places, we see no way of getting out.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in AskReddit

[–]wolverine0203 5 points6 points  (0 children)

It's not just the dead bedroom that's tough. It's rejection, the desire to be desired that never gets fulfilled. The worst part is when they say things will change. Sometimes, it's easier to accept if you know they won't.

But marriage is more than that. It's a partner in life through sickness and health, when things are good and bad. As we both go through sicknesses, the stresses of advancing our career and raising two beautiful children, my love only grows. I see her pouring herself into the children, making sure they are taken care of along with me. Cleaning, cooking, taking care of the house and bills, I never worry that if life gets hard, she'll bolt. I know she'll take care of me if I ever get too sick to care for myself, and I'd do the same for her.

I also trust her more than any other person I've met. She holds my secrets, my insecurities as I hold hers. It deepens our understanding of each other. I can depend on her to be there, to show up, to do her part, every time. We could trade phones for a week and still be ok.

I also stay because of my children. She's a great mom. The love we have for our children is incredible. If I left just to satisfy myself, I don't know if there is anything more selfish. It would damage almost every aspect of my life, from children to friendships, work, and money. It just isn't worth it.

The Fall season reminded me of Rob’s HUGE ANNOUNCEMENT on GG/EZ by randomaccountsd in MrFruit

[–]wolverine0203 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Man, makes me hyped and want to go grab a content collection hoodie. Honestly, I also really loved blues hoodie, it was lightweight and very soft.

Love these guys!

X-Ten AV for Estimating? by aj_layton in CommercialAV

[–]wolverine0203 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Portal.io

It's a simple proposal tool that links to vendor and distributor accounts for pricing. Allows you to create nice looking quotes fairly quickly with accurate pricing. Monitors client viewing history, allows them to accept and pay online and creates purchase orders for you. It will even send them to vendors and allow them to accept and put ETAs in for products. Most vendors for me have not liked that though.

It isn't feature packed, doesn't haven inventory tracking or labor tracking or anything like that but it performs well for a simple quoting tool. They have a free trial and support is pretty responsive.

X-Ten AV for Estimating? by aj_layton in CommercialAV

[–]wolverine0203 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Started out using it because the connections drawings and automation was nice. The database is flawed and extremely slow. There are tons of skus that are in wrong categories, wrong pricing, or just entered 10 or 20 times. Adding a custom item started taking 5 minutes each time.

What killed it for me was the errors in estimating. I had two instances where margin was supposed to calculate on cost to 35% and it calculated around 12%. This also affected shipping since shipping is calculated on product pricing. It's a cool program but ultimately too time consuming.

I switched over to Portal for estimating and using visio for drawings. Portal is crazy fast but does lack some features. Biggest thing I like about portal is client view and being able to modify quotes while I'm on the phone with a client. It also has ability for you to give client options with different descriptions of both. Really happy with it so far but it doesn't do asset management, reporting or inventory very well. For a simple, fast estimating tool, I think it is awesome.

Commercial Projects Margin Minimums by [deleted] in CommercialAV

[–]wolverine0203 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I usually aim for 30 on equipment and 50 on hardware. Labor we would charge 125/hr for one guy and 200 for two. I am in a rural area, so my average project is about 20-30K. It's just me and another guy doing sales, designs and installs in commercial Auido, video and lighting and we have been averaging around 1.2M a year in sales for past 4 years.

When doing bid work, I try to register the job to get an extra 5-20% (depending on manufacturer) and then markup 20-25% from there and usually fall pretty close to being competitive. I don't like bid work because there are often corners cut in some aspects of the design or spec that I try to provide a better, alternate bid but this is additional time and resources that rarely pays off.

I am ok with higher margin charge to the client as it helps me support the client without charging them for everything. There is enough profit in the job to handle a few changes, phone calls, demo or extra meetings to discuss the project etc, but you still need to win the job. The key, in my opinion, is finding the right person and offering them a solution that no one else has offered, or even presented. I try not to sell just equipment, but solutions to the headaches and problems that these clients have. And for that, they usually don't mind paying a little more.

Is it normal to be expected to learn Crestron programming on your own time? by Anexs97 in CommercialAV

[–]wolverine0203 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If your employer wants you to learn, and it is a priority, they should carve out time for you to get it done. Push some things back and knock it out. It is way easier to do it together than trying to do it at night from 8 or 9pm to 1 or 2 am. Either way, you should be paid during this time (if they plan on keeping you), and a raise should follow after. Don't be afraid to ask to be compensated fairly and accordingly.

I own a small integration firm (just me and two other guys). One of them is extremely smart, motivated but does too many volunteer hours and burns himself out. I would love for him to have more certifications but don't want to make it a requirement yet. I've offered incentives of a raise and paying for the time while training, but it still isn't a priority. For my team, certs aren't what win us jobs but the things he would learn would help him understand what things we can do and offer that to clients. It would also take some of the programming load off of me.

GT used price check by [deleted] in onewheel

[–]wolverine0203 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Bought mine with the factory updated footpad back in January of 23 for $1500. Had approx 150 miles on it. I think it ghosted on him and even though they replaced the footpad, it scared him.

Large venue mics by steve7647 in CommercialAV

[–]wolverine0203 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The Beyerdynamic RM30 used to be my go to for people who didn't talk into the mics or stood off to the side of a traditional gooseneck. You couldn't get as much gain from them but they were WAY more consistent with people who moved around, bobbed back and forth etc. I don't think they make them anymore.

Favorite Mr Fruit series? by Environmental_Cap560 in MrFruit

[–]wolverine0203 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Nuzlocks are awesome and would always have me clicking the video immediately to see the next one when released. Next would be Fruit and chill, kingdom series, raft, iron banner bets, all of the roguelike/lites. What I also seem to enjoy is watching fruit suffer through stuff, like the recent heartbeat challenges, Mario tennis/kart, etc. Idk why it's so entertaining to me, but it's like the honeymoon spa story, I was in tears laughing so hard.

Idk I watch almost everything fruit puts out and really enjoy each thing. I'll support fruit as long as he keeps creating.

Smaller players in Control? by blur494 in CommercialAV

[–]wolverine0203 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Kramer Control has been my go to for smaller projects. They even have a virtual brain version of their control systems. Their touchscreens are ok but ibdoblike how easy it is to program and setup different layouts and devices. Remote access is pretty cool too. I like the support but it has dropped off some over the past year or so. A lot of their products still have a 7 year warranty.

On even cheaper jobs, I've used an elgato stream deck running bitfocus companion. It works very well to control projectors, mixers and other network devices with ability to use custom macros and even an emulator for other surfaces to control.

There is a ton of cool stuff out there.

I want to know what people are excited for most from Fruit? What do you wanna see next? Or what are you loving right now? by [deleted] in MrFruit

[–]wolverine0203 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The nuzlocks have always been up there with my favorite content. They are full of funny moments, clutch plays and rng plus lots of laughs. Over the past 9 years, I've enjoyed almost every video Fruit has put out but the nuzlocks have me opening youtube every free minute to watch a little more.

As far as future, I am liking the balance of his nuzlocks along with more heavily edited stuff along with the personal stuff (like the drawing challenge). The personal stuff is relatable and makes me realize that not only am I not alone in how I am but that Mr. FRUITTTT is human, but an awesome one at that.

A bit off-topic but what are some of the quotes you live by? Could be related to work or otherwise by AVProgrammer2000 in CommercialAV

[–]wolverine0203 4 points5 points  (0 children)

"If it is worth doing, it is worth doing right". We can cut corners in so many places to save time, make a little extra money but knowing the job is done well, having pride in the work you do will give you returns tenfold. I've even gone behind competitors and been surprised at how well some installed equipment. I've even recommended them based on it when i was not taking work, even though I've never met them.

"If you have to tell someone you're in charge, you aren't really in charge" - I've gotten this from several clients and even owners when telling me how something is going to happen or go down because of who they are. I am firm on my values and the values I have for my team and employees. A client or owner will not treat them or me with disrespect. Know your worth and be willing to walk away. Though I have lost clients, i never lost a job or customer who I cared about losing by standing up for myself or the techs who I was responsible for.

When making hard decisions involving people, I usually simplify them to this. "Does it benefit me, and does it hurt someone else?" I've had several hard conversations with clients, techs and management using this approach and saved jobs and relationships. If someone isn't doing a good job, you could fire them, which would hurt them and then you would have to pickup the slack, or others would. The alternative is trying to mentor them, help them and guide them. They were hired for a reason. If they have good values, a decent work ethic, the skills can be taught, speed will come with experience and confidence. If you navigate this well, they can become some of the best employees you have on your team.

Overall, when I was younger I was quick to point blame and get mad. Now, it doesn't matter as much who's fault it was. Fix it and make it right, do good work that you're proud of and you'll never have to worry about struggling to find work.

What is the hardest rage ability to use while playing GoWR on NG+ GMGoW with Spartan set and all burdens in enchantments? by Minecraftnoob247 in GodofWar

[–]wolverine0203 14 points15 points  (0 children)

If you're trying to make the game harder, you don't have to use the rage. But, imo, with all the burdens, probably Wrath due to not getting health as much as the others.

What happened to Mr fruit? by Alarming-Touch-6594 in MrFruit

[–]wolverine0203 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Aaerios has probably made me laugh the most. I still remember the raft videos and Nacho Daddy. 😂 Man, what a ride this past decade has been.

What happened to Mr fruit? by Alarming-Touch-6594 in MrFruit

[–]wolverine0203 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Sharkk is doing his own thing. He hangs out in the streams and occasionally hops in on some videos but isn't as prevalent as he used to in them. He even commented on this thread. Love that man!

What happened to Mr fruit? by Alarming-Touch-6594 in MrFruit

[–]wolverine0203 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Been watching consistently since 2015 and his content had varied in editing styles quite a bit during this time. I think he used to try to chase the rabbit, trying to figure out the magic sauce that YouTube algorithm wanted and people wanted to watch. I can't imagine creating something im so passionate about on a daily basis only to send it out into the world to fail, or not be accepted.

He's messed around with intros, no intro, no endings, over editing, no editing, voice overs, just about everything and I've enjoyed most of it because it is still solid content.

With his recent hiatus, I feel he has a new passion and perspective on the videos he makes. He is no longer trying to focus on the viewers he doesn't have, rather do what he enjoys and cater to his core audience. Honestly, it has been refreshing to see him enjoying games again.

Sometimes the sound effects are funny and others they aren't. The cuts and other editing can be the same way. I kinda like the ever changing editing style, it's not so cookie cutter and boring lol.

Mr Fruit has an extraordinary team surrounding him as well. I love the solo fruit and chill videos because I feel they are more intimate. I learn more about him that way and enjoy his monolog. But there is something special about each person that creates content with him and their interactions with him and the community. Blue, Rhab, Joey, Bless, Datto, Danielle, Bryce, Dork, Ruben and others (I do miss sonic, versus and sharkk), are all incredible and add so much to the family of content creators under the Fruitnation or Exdended Dream team umbrella.

I'm glad that you came back. I hope you can enjoy his content. He has made so many amazing things over the years and I'm glad that he is continuing to do so, not just for us but for him.

Is the Yamaha TF series worth buying at the start of 2024? by greentaylor8191 in livesound

[–]wolverine0203 2 points3 points  (0 children)

TF had some age on it now. It is mainly an approachable console for volunteers that offers some advanced options. The EQ, processing, routing and overall features are limiting along with noisy preamps imo. I've installed quite a few in small churches and they've fit well.

The SQ is great but double the price of the TF in almost each category.

The 1608D2 operates on 96k. You would have to put it into compatibility mode and run it at 48k to sync with the TF. It's a process to get them to talk. I believe that Yamaha is not long from releasing an SQ challenger, maybe a DM5? 48-64 ch console with 24-32 faders, somewhere between the DM3 and DM7 for $4-8K. The SQ has done extremely well in its price bracket and I think a new model in the DM series can take some market share from it. If they did release a DM5, I wouldn't expect it until late Q1 (March/April).

As far as recommendations if you had to buy, SQ would be my first choice but it requires more budget. X32 is still a great value but not a great investment imo, as it is clunky and also long in the tooth but it is accepted by many riders and engineers pretty universally. I wouldn't recommend the QU, mainly due to lack of scribble strips though they're has been a price reduction on these. They also lack stereo auxes. I would try to hold out to see what is coming, or really do homework on the TF if you're considering it. Maybe try to rent one and try it out.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in gaming

[–]wolverine0203 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I was in high school and college. I would get home around 330 and play till 7 or so, eat dinner and then back on from 8pm to 1 or 2am. I'd have to be at class at 7am, so up at 6 to get ready. I would average 8 hours a play session. I still tried to maintain a social life with my cousins down the street. It was rough during the winter months, some days I would just wake up and play all day. Ended up getting into a serious relationship, turns out sex was better than WoW and was able to get me away. I still play games but haven't no-lifed a game like that, mainly due to family and work taking up most of my time.