What is new in your little world?
Re: What is new in your little world?
20 years ago I ran an ATI Radeon 9800 Pro and that card was crazy fast for it's day. I think that was the era ATI had closed the gap to nVidia. They couldn't make it stick, though.
Re: What is new in your little world?
My last ATI card was a 9500 or 9550 AGP back in 2005. Once I upgraded to Nvidia's EVGA 6600, I never looked back. I was really happy to kick Intel to the curb when the Ryzen 9 released though.
Re: What is new in your little world?
Re: What is new in your little world?
In a word, close...
I've been on a 'committee' for near 50 years, older than most here
Anyway, we are just 3 weeks away from our 50th Class of '73 High School Reunion and the short is, it has been and I trust will be just a magical experience 
We've had previous reunions, like 10, 20 and 35 but 50 years!!
Sadly some have classmates have left this world and I shed :tear: :tear: for them..
In a word, close...
I've been on a 'committee' for near 50 years, older than most here
Anyway, we are just 3 weeks away from our 50th Class of '73 High School Reunion and the short is, it has been and I trust will be just a magical experience We've had previous reunions, like 10, 20 and 35 but 50 years!!
Sadly some have classmates have left this world and I shed :tear: :tear: for them..
[color=orange]Physicist [/color][color=white]of [/color][color=green]Q3W[/color]
Re: What is new in your little world?
The magical part for me is how easily I've forgotten them...
Re: What is new in your little world?
I'm terrible at remembering things. I went to the same high school and college/university as my brother and a mutual friend and they can just talk endlessly about teachers we had. I can't remember most of their names to be honest. And I can't remember the names of most of my class mates. Same with work. I've had so many colleagues move in and out of the companies I worked at that I can't remember most of them. Other (ex-)colleagues just know their names, the absurd stories around them, the nicknames we've given them and everything. Sometimes it bothers me because I just can't be that guy that tells the hilarious anecdotes. When other people tell them I go "oh right, I remember that" but I just can't come up with the anecdotes myself.Κracus wrote:The magical part for me is how easily I've forgotten them...
Re: What is new in your little world?
Yeah it honestly concerns me too. I've completely forgotten even family members that I haven't seen in a long while. I imagine that's a bit like what Alzheimer's is like except with more immediate family and things.
Yet I remember the konami code like nobody's business so I don't know. Maybe I'm just built different?
What's great though is that I completely forgot movies. So I can re-watch them and even though I know I loved that movie when I first saw it, it's like watching it for the first time again! Also, some movies haven't aged well, fyi.
Yet I remember the konami code like nobody's business so I don't know. Maybe I'm just built different?
What's great though is that I completely forgot movies. So I can re-watch them and even though I know I loved that movie when I first saw it, it's like watching it for the first time again! Also, some movies haven't aged well, fyi.
Re: What is new in your little world?
lol, I actually keep a list of movies and series (and what seasons) I have seen because I often forget if I've already seen something or not.
I don't think it has something to do with our ability to remember something, but whether something interests or concerns you enough for it to stick. Even with games, some of them I remember every single level other I can barely remember if I played them at all.
I don't think it has something to do with our ability to remember something, but whether something interests or concerns you enough for it to stick. Even with games, some of them I remember every single level other I can barely remember if I played them at all.
Re: What is new in your little world?
I am good at remembering faces and sometimes yes, putting a name to them is impossible. Same said for actors here. I'd say to the Mrs, who was in that movie? We'd eventually end up in the IMDB.
Computer games - recent mention of ETQW and RTCW had me thinking. I bought most 3d 1st person shooters (back then) and checking my cupboard there was the DVD for ETQW
I simply must have played it 
I can't see RTCW but looking at images and videos on a Google search, I would say I played at sometime in years past.
For interest
Return to Castle Wolfenstein, released November 2001.
Enemy Territory: Quake Wars, released September 2007
Computer games - recent mention of ETQW and RTCW had me thinking. I bought most 3d 1st person shooters (back then) and checking my cupboard there was the DVD for ETQW
I simply must have played it 
I can't see RTCW but looking at images and videos on a Google search, I would say I played at sometime in years past.
For interest
Return to Castle Wolfenstein, released November 2001.
Enemy Territory: Quake Wars, released September 2007
[color=orange]Physicist [/color][color=white]of [/color][color=green]Q3W[/color]
Re: What is new in your little world?
Started renovating our bathroom. I'm not doing anything myself because anything without a Ctrl-Z option isn't for me.
Yesterday the workmen started taking off all the wall tiles and they're busy with it now as well. There's also a granite floor that needs to be chopped open. It's noisy as hell.
I really don't enjoy this whole process. So many things I'm afraid could go wrong. Sigh. I'll mostly just have to sit through it but eh, I think it sucks. Can't wait until it's all finished and my house is my own again.
Yesterday the workmen started taking off all the wall tiles and they're busy with it now as well. There's also a granite floor that needs to be chopped open. It's noisy as hell.
I really don't enjoy this whole process. So many things I'm afraid could go wrong. Sigh. I'll mostly just have to sit through it but eh, I think it sucks. Can't wait until it's all finished and my house is my own again.
Re: What is new in your little world?
You think that's bad...
I sold my house last year. So I'd rented the house to a couple with a family, they turned out to be complete assholes. I had a barn behind my property that I was using to store my dirtbike which the tenants knew to stay out of. The doors were locked, they didn't have a key. 10 months after they'd moved I randomly went over to check on the barn and I found to my horror that the barn door had been unscrewed from it's hinges and someone had went inside. My dirtbike was still there but it was propped up against a workbench instead of on it's stand where I'd left it. I also found that whoever had gone in had taken the seat off to access the battery. It was dead and that was my fault but it probably wound up saving me from having a stolen dirtbike. The thief likely tried to start the bike unsuccessfully.
I immediately suspected the tenants husband. I moved the bike uptown where I lived and then told the tenants I had to do some work on the house and dropped in the next day. I had an attached garage so I went there to work on something and while I was there I inspected all the spare bolts on the worktable and sure enough I found one of the bolts that belonged to my dirtbike there. Now the garage and the barn aren't attached so I immediately knew my suspicion was correct and it was indeed the husband who tried to start the dirtbike. He likely planned to sell it on me so I gave the family their eviction notice as they were always late paying rent. I told the wife why and she didn't believe me.
That whole process took 2 months and once they left they vandalized as much of the house as they could. They literally broke down bedroom doors. I was contemplating taking them to court but decided to just sell the house. The housing market here in Canada was nuts at the time. Foreigners buying up property, sight unseen for 3x what the owners had paid for it so I did that. I just listed the house at 3x what I'd originally paid for it. I didn't hide the damage and made it clear to potential buyers they were buying something that would need renovations.
Along comes a buyer, seemed like a nice guy, had a wife, 2 kids, and they seemed eager to find something affordable and I was asking a lot less than most properties at this point. He said he could pay for the house in full and wouldn't need a mortgage since I was asking so little for it, 100k for those curious. I had bought the property during a slump from a bank for 45k. I had him put a security deposit down, filled out the paperwork and things seemed good to go for the end of the month as a closing date. Property was being sold as is.
A week later, long before the end of the month he asks if he could clean up the yard a bit. I was having back problems at the time so I wasn't so mobile so I said sure, if he wants to I have no problem with that. Keep in mind, I didn't live there, I lived uptown about 20 minutes away. My car was getting repairs done and my bike was my only way of transport. I drove down, seen how nice the yard looked and thanked him for the work. Later he asked if it would be ok to clean up the basement, it had flooded and there was some mold down there and he wanted to rip out the moldy parts and clean that up a bit. I said sure, no problem, that was gonna have to happen anyway and they knew that when they agreed to buy the house.
A week later, I go by the house to check up on things and to my surprise this guy has a contractor on site. Everything inside has been ripped up, there's a new roof on the house, the foundation has been completely repaired and redone/resealed. Most of the house has new drywall in it and they're in the midst of installing new windows. I'm like wtf guy I didn't agree to this. I check things over and to me it looks like they've done substantial repairs. Like 30k worth of stuff at least.
At this point, I have him sign a waiver on the things he's done meaning I don't owe him anything and I tell him, as long as he buys the house it's all good. I figure at this point, even if he doesn't he's added so much value to the house I could probably sell it for more.
The closing date is getting close so I contact them and they advise they won't be able to close on the agreed date. I say ok, well increase the deposit and i'll push the date further back. We do that and then that date comes and goes. At this point I'm starting to worry so I go on site, take pictures of everything. This is a Friday night. Monday rolls around and the neighbor calls me saying that the guy who bought my house just got arrested. I go on site and he's there with an ankle bracelet. I'm like what the fuck? At this point the house is full on reno mode, the kitchen is partially completed. There's only one bathroom and everything else is pretty much torn up.
There's a lot of new stuff like windows, floors, walls, roof, foundation fixes etc... So I tell buddy to get lost. he's not happy and won't go, insists he put so much money into the house that I should let him stay here while he's under house arrest. I tell him to pay for the house and he can stay as long as he wants but of course he's got nothing. I wind up having to get the cops involved to get him out of the house, that's a funny story on its own.
Now I have a half finished house, I put it back up for sale for 120k, believe it or not the work he did actually increased the value of the house and I get a developer to buy it. Even they dicked me around near closing date and I wasn't having it. Made them pay an extra 5k for dicking around and sold the house.
Now I gotta wait for the next buyers market.
I sold my house last year. So I'd rented the house to a couple with a family, they turned out to be complete assholes. I had a barn behind my property that I was using to store my dirtbike which the tenants knew to stay out of. The doors were locked, they didn't have a key. 10 months after they'd moved I randomly went over to check on the barn and I found to my horror that the barn door had been unscrewed from it's hinges and someone had went inside. My dirtbike was still there but it was propped up against a workbench instead of on it's stand where I'd left it. I also found that whoever had gone in had taken the seat off to access the battery. It was dead and that was my fault but it probably wound up saving me from having a stolen dirtbike. The thief likely tried to start the bike unsuccessfully.
I immediately suspected the tenants husband. I moved the bike uptown where I lived and then told the tenants I had to do some work on the house and dropped in the next day. I had an attached garage so I went there to work on something and while I was there I inspected all the spare bolts on the worktable and sure enough I found one of the bolts that belonged to my dirtbike there. Now the garage and the barn aren't attached so I immediately knew my suspicion was correct and it was indeed the husband who tried to start the dirtbike. He likely planned to sell it on me so I gave the family their eviction notice as they were always late paying rent. I told the wife why and she didn't believe me.
That whole process took 2 months and once they left they vandalized as much of the house as they could. They literally broke down bedroom doors. I was contemplating taking them to court but decided to just sell the house. The housing market here in Canada was nuts at the time. Foreigners buying up property, sight unseen for 3x what the owners had paid for it so I did that. I just listed the house at 3x what I'd originally paid for it. I didn't hide the damage and made it clear to potential buyers they were buying something that would need renovations.
Along comes a buyer, seemed like a nice guy, had a wife, 2 kids, and they seemed eager to find something affordable and I was asking a lot less than most properties at this point. He said he could pay for the house in full and wouldn't need a mortgage since I was asking so little for it, 100k for those curious. I had bought the property during a slump from a bank for 45k. I had him put a security deposit down, filled out the paperwork and things seemed good to go for the end of the month as a closing date. Property was being sold as is.
A week later, long before the end of the month he asks if he could clean up the yard a bit. I was having back problems at the time so I wasn't so mobile so I said sure, if he wants to I have no problem with that. Keep in mind, I didn't live there, I lived uptown about 20 minutes away. My car was getting repairs done and my bike was my only way of transport. I drove down, seen how nice the yard looked and thanked him for the work. Later he asked if it would be ok to clean up the basement, it had flooded and there was some mold down there and he wanted to rip out the moldy parts and clean that up a bit. I said sure, no problem, that was gonna have to happen anyway and they knew that when they agreed to buy the house.
A week later, I go by the house to check up on things and to my surprise this guy has a contractor on site. Everything inside has been ripped up, there's a new roof on the house, the foundation has been completely repaired and redone/resealed. Most of the house has new drywall in it and they're in the midst of installing new windows. I'm like wtf guy I didn't agree to this. I check things over and to me it looks like they've done substantial repairs. Like 30k worth of stuff at least.
At this point, I have him sign a waiver on the things he's done meaning I don't owe him anything and I tell him, as long as he buys the house it's all good. I figure at this point, even if he doesn't he's added so much value to the house I could probably sell it for more.
The closing date is getting close so I contact them and they advise they won't be able to close on the agreed date. I say ok, well increase the deposit and i'll push the date further back. We do that and then that date comes and goes. At this point I'm starting to worry so I go on site, take pictures of everything. This is a Friday night. Monday rolls around and the neighbor calls me saying that the guy who bought my house just got arrested. I go on site and he's there with an ankle bracelet. I'm like what the fuck? At this point the house is full on reno mode, the kitchen is partially completed. There's only one bathroom and everything else is pretty much torn up.
There's a lot of new stuff like windows, floors, walls, roof, foundation fixes etc... So I tell buddy to get lost. he's not happy and won't go, insists he put so much money into the house that I should let him stay here while he's under house arrest. I tell him to pay for the house and he can stay as long as he wants but of course he's got nothing. I wind up having to get the cops involved to get him out of the house, that's a funny story on its own.
Now I have a half finished house, I put it back up for sale for 120k, believe it or not the work he did actually increased the value of the house and I get a developer to buy it. Even they dicked me around near closing date and I wasn't having it. Made them pay an extra 5k for dicking around and sold the house.
Now I gotta wait for the next buyers market.
Re: What is new in your little world?
This story sounds really familiar. Did you post it before?
Also, why would you give anyone access to your house before the deal is closed and they're the legal owners? Sounds like you even gave em keys. Real shady.
Also, why would you give anyone access to your house before the deal is closed and they're the legal owners? Sounds like you even gave em keys. Real shady.
Re: What is new in your little world?
Yeah I might have... I'm getting old, telling the same stories again.
You're absolutely correct, I absolutely shouldn't have. I trusted them since they had given me a fairly substantial deposit. I also didn't think or know they would be able to get contractors to work on a house they didn't own. By the time I realized what had happened they'd already done so much work the value of the house was actually increased rather than decreased so by that point I figured if things went south, and they did, I'd still be winning on that deal, which I was and I did. It just took longer to sell the house than I'd hoped for at the time. It should have sold by the end of April but wound up selling mid November but hey, an extra 20k for my troubles were worth it. I could have gone after them for more and the old tenants but I figured I got what I wanted, plus a little more for my troubles and that was enough for me.
Edit: I had originally given them the keys to do an inspection of the house. That was the only reason they had the keys.
You're absolutely correct, I absolutely shouldn't have. I trusted them since they had given me a fairly substantial deposit. I also didn't think or know they would be able to get contractors to work on a house they didn't own. By the time I realized what had happened they'd already done so much work the value of the house was actually increased rather than decreased so by that point I figured if things went south, and they did, I'd still be winning on that deal, which I was and I did. It just took longer to sell the house than I'd hoped for at the time. It should have sold by the end of April but wound up selling mid November but hey, an extra 20k for my troubles were worth it. I could have gone after them for more and the old tenants but I figured I got what I wanted, plus a little more for my troubles and that was enough for me.
Edit: I had originally given them the keys to do an inspection of the house. That was the only reason they had the keys.
Re: What is new in your little world?
Two reunions, two Saturday nights... Soon
Edit days later.
• A 50th class of 1973 Senior Year School Reunion and there were some classmates there I hadn't seen in that 50 years
• A work reunion where I met some workmates from 35+ years ago.
This is a yearly gathering and it was a first time attending for some and yes, a number, 10 or so, have passed away in the year since our last gathering
:tear: Great workmates well remembered!
Edit days later.
• A 50th class of 1973 Senior Year School Reunion and there were some classmates there I hadn't seen in that 50 years
• A work reunion where I met some workmates from 35+ years ago.
This is a yearly gathering and it was a first time attending for some and yes, a number, 10 or so, have passed away in the year since our last gathering
:tear: Great workmates well remembered![color=orange]Physicist [/color][color=white]of [/color][color=green]Q3W[/color]
Re: What is new in your little world?
i like how so many people turn up for your reunions they can risk having them for one year only rather than, say, a five year year chunk
my college reunion included pretty much the entire 1990s :olo:
my college reunion included pretty much the entire 1990s :olo:
Re: What is new in your little world?
Regards what is new in your little world, me, well I am celebrating 16 years this day since my heart attack that probably should have killed me. Yay
Click for the post of the era
Click for the post of the era
[color=orange]Physicist [/color][color=white]of [/color][color=green]Q3W[/color]
Re: What is new in your little world?
Glad you're still with us Whiskey
Re: What is new in your little world?
... and the strange thing is, it still feels like yesterday
[color=orange]Physicist [/color][color=white]of [/color][color=green]Q3W[/color]
Re: What is new in your little world?
i have an old friend who's had to fight off heart attacks and also lung cancer (he's still going thanks to medical science), and as a result of all those near-death experiences he developed PTSD as well
that shit is heavy :dts:
that shit is heavy :dts:
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Don Carlos
- Posts: 17506
- Joined: Thu Jan 01, 1970 12:00 am
Re: What is new in your little world?
I am off to the Indy 500 next year...looking forward to that
Re: What is new in your little world?
NiceDon Carlos wrote:I am off to the Indy 500 next year...looking forward to that
Staying long in the US? Doing the tourist thing?Regards what is new in your little world, me, a new coffee machine and range hood (over hotplates).
Coffee machine leaked a little too much water, Got a quote to repair ($66AUD) and if we elected to proceed that would come off repair cost. They quoted $250! We bought an new machine for $209
Range hood went BANG. Acrid smell of electrical stuff burning lingered. The RCD (breaker) tripped. Got a sparky out and discovered control circuit board inside blackened because of a blown capacitor
Went looking for replacement circuit board (16+ year old range hood) so no surprise couldn't source. New range hood on the way 
Oh, and our PVR (personal video recorder) was acting up. We have 2 Topfield models. Guess what, they don't make them anymore
I did say was as I did a factory reset and fingers crossed, might have fixed.... and before you ask, we have PVRs to record free to air TV so we can jump through those (very) annoying and repetitive advertisements. We have never bothered to 'subscribe' to 'Flix or Foxtel (cable services).
Fun!
[color=orange]Physicist [/color][color=white]of [/color][color=green]Q3W[/color]
Re: What is new in your little world?
I decided to take the VR dive with the price of the Meta Quest 2 being so affordable and man... What a wild ride. It's so next level.
I have a full driving rig at home, so wheel, pedals and shifter setup on a frame with a seat and a single monitor setup. I also have a full flight sim cockpit setup too and add the VR to those and it's like being right there. It's so awesome. Last weekend I bought Half Life Alyx and then cleared up a room at my place so I'd have a dedicated VR space and I can't put into words how awesome playing a game like Alyx is. The gun play is amazing, you have to actually pop out the old mag, put a new mag in and then chamber the bullet so when you're getting rushed by face huggers or combine soldiers it's SO nerve racking (wracking?) idk... Anyway yeah, I got in a fight with some drones and I was so nervous I dropped like 2 full mags on the ground. After the fight I'm looking around and I'm like damn, I need that ammo!
Felt like godamn john wick after killing 5 combines with a couple grenades and a hand gun but I'm sure I just looked like humpty dumpty running around an empty room lol. Don't even get me started on the flight sims, it's so cool to interact with all the dials and buttons in the cockpit and it's so much easier to pilot. The plane I've been flying seems so much smaller inside than I thought it'd be!
I have a full driving rig at home, so wheel, pedals and shifter setup on a frame with a seat and a single monitor setup. I also have a full flight sim cockpit setup too and add the VR to those and it's like being right there. It's so awesome. Last weekend I bought Half Life Alyx and then cleared up a room at my place so I'd have a dedicated VR space and I can't put into words how awesome playing a game like Alyx is. The gun play is amazing, you have to actually pop out the old mag, put a new mag in and then chamber the bullet so when you're getting rushed by face huggers or combine soldiers it's SO nerve racking (wracking?) idk... Anyway yeah, I got in a fight with some drones and I was so nervous I dropped like 2 full mags on the ground. After the fight I'm looking around and I'm like damn, I need that ammo!
Felt like godamn john wick after killing 5 combines with a couple grenades and a hand gun but I'm sure I just looked like humpty dumpty running around an empty room lol. Don't even get me started on the flight sims, it's so cool to interact with all the dials and buttons in the cockpit and it's so much easier to pilot. The plane I've been flying seems so much smaller inside than I thought it'd be!
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Don Carlos
- Posts: 17506
- Joined: Thu Jan 01, 1970 12:00 am
Re: What is new in your little world?
I struggled with the VR headset at the start with my racing rig; because I had driven a few of the circuits that I tried out, my body was expecting a reaction in terms of G Forces when going around certain corners or in dips. Nothing, so I got quite fuzzy quite quickly. But after a few hours (not in one setting) I got more and more used to it. Improved my best lap times by about 3 seconds too.
Re: What is new in your little world?
I haven't noticed an improvement in lap times but I did notice it was substantially easier to stay on track in BeamNG while racing off road. I wanted to try Dirt 2's VR mode but I bought the microsoft version instead of the steam version so it won't let me enable VR mode. Really dumb.
I'm all about that half life Alyx though, that game is amazing. I'm tempted to get Skyrim VR...
I'm all about that half life Alyx though, that game is amazing. I'm tempted to get Skyrim VR...
Re: What is new in your little world?
been watching a playthrough of Alyx. a really step up from HL2 visually. some gorgeous vistas (as gorgeous as they can be with infestations and metal combine shit everywhere)Κracus wrote:Last weekend I bought Half Life Alyx and then cleared up a room at my place so I'd have a dedicated VR space and I can't put into words how awesome playing a game like Alyx is. The gun play is amazing, you have to actually pop out the old mag, put a new mag in and then chamber the bullet so when you're getting rushed by face huggers or combine soldiers it's SO nerve racking (wracking?) idk... Anyway yeah, I got in a fight with some drones and I was so nervous I dropped like 2 full mags on the ground. After the fight I'm looking around and I'm like damn, I need that ammo!
Felt like godamn john wick after killing 5 combines with a couple grenades and a hand gun but I'm sure I just looked like humpty dumpty running around an empty room lol.
i see they leaned harder into the horror aspect this time. wondering if that's a product of the VR limitations (slower gameplay)
Re: What is new in your little world?
The slow pace of the game I'm sure is on purpose and it suits VR just fine. It would be boringly slow if it were just a PC game but in VR it's amazing. Like I cannot state how amazing it is, saying it just doesn't convey the atmosphere and gameplay when you're in it. The details, the way you interact with objects the way you fumble an ammo clip when you're panicking etc... It truly is next level.
Same goes for flight sims and driving sims. There's no comparison to driving down a stretch and looking next to you to see another car racing door to door with you down the straight. In dogfights too when airplanes fly by in front of you you're able to track where the enemy planes go by following them with your head, it makes corrections and lining up so much easier and more effective.
If you have 400$ Cad lying around burning a hole in your pocket I recommend the Meta Quest 2, it's cheap, works well and it's well worth it if you're into games and there's probably going to be a lot more coming in the future with the release of the apple vr system.
Same goes for flight sims and driving sims. There's no comparison to driving down a stretch and looking next to you to see another car racing door to door with you down the straight. In dogfights too when airplanes fly by in front of you you're able to track where the enemy planes go by following them with your head, it makes corrections and lining up so much easier and more effective.
If you have 400$ Cad lying around burning a hole in your pocket I recommend the Meta Quest 2, it's cheap, works well and it's well worth it if you're into games and there's probably going to be a lot more coming in the future with the release of the apple vr system.