Kind: Notes

short content: a post or status update with just plain content and typically without a title

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I’m not saying that has some easter eggs in it’s documentation but there is at least one Chubie (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhXoYgB7rPU&t=13693s) and a mysterious secret hidden in one of it’s demo elements 🤓

Had a good chuckle and now I wonder what the secret is. It wasn’t just base64 or rot13 tho 🤔

Is this a paper chase?

http://augmented-ui.com/

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Okay, I did some recording of SpaceBourne 2 and added a voice over and even subtitles… and I conclude that is way too much work but in case you’re interested into a sneak peak of this early access go ahead: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vz4uK2Irofo / https://tube.tchncs.de/w/5h9VoeHs5vTAu3bgptc7bN

Video: Dipping into SpaceBourne 2 – Rebuilding A Friend
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This content is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license.

Looks like children can fritter a ton of sand from a single sandbox within 5 years.

Possible that the cats help. The jury is still out on that. Nobody wants to touch the evidence 🤡

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Scribbles to run a X52Pro as two virtual gamepads via moltengamepad

Put this in ~/.config/moltengamepad/gendevices/x52-pro.cfg

[events="superset" vendor="06a3" product="0762" driver="hid-generic"]

# 06a3:0762
# Options file is license as WTFPL http://www.wtfpl.net/
 
name = "x52_pro_controller"
devname = "x52_"
exclusive = "false"
change_permissions = "false"
flatten = "false"
rumble = "false"
split=2
1.device_type = "gamepad"
2.device_type = "gamepad"
 
# btn_east = "cross", "The cross (X) button"
 
# Event mappings
 
# 1.key(288) = "cross", "Primary fire button"
1.btn_trigger = "left_trigger", "Gun Button Step 1"
# 1.key(302) = "right_trigger", "Gun Button Step 2"
1.btn_trigger_happy15 = "bbb", "Gun Button Step 2"
 
1.btn_thumb2 = "a", "A button"
1.btn_top = "b", "B button"
1.btn_top2 = "x", "C button"
1.btn_thumb = "y", "Safety fire button (Fire 2)"
1.btn_pinkie = "guide"
1.btn_base2 = "button_16"
 
1.abs_x = "left_x", "Left stick X axis"
1.abs_y = "left_y", "Left stick Y axis"
1.abs_rz = "right_x", "Right stick X axis (Z axis)"
1.abs_z = "right_y", "Right stick Y axis (Throttle axis)"
1.abs_hat0x = "leftright", "HAT POV up"
1.abs_hat0y = "updown", "HAT POV right"
1.btn_trigger_happy4 = "right_thumb", "POV2 up"
1.btn_trigger_happy5 = "right_shoulder", "POV2 right"
1.btn_trigger_happy6 = "left_thumb", "POV2 down"
1.btn_trigger_happy7 = "left_shoulder", "POV2 left"
 
2.btn_trigger_happy3 = "left_trigger", "Scrollwheel click"
2.btn_dead = "right_trigger", "Mouse button (click)"
# 2.btn_trigger_happy15 = "x", "I button"
 
2.btn_base = "a", "D button"
# 2.btn_base2 = "b", "E button"
 
2.key(719) = "left_shoulder", "Function button"
2.key(722) = "left_thumb", "Function page up"
2.key(723) = "left_thumb", "Function page down"
2.key(726) = "right_shoulder", "MFD select button"
2.key(724) = "right_thumb", "MFD select button up"
2.key(725) = "right_thumb", "MFD select button down"
 
2.abs(004) = "left_x", "Left stick X axis"
2.abs(003) = "left_y", "Left stick Y axis"
2.abs(040) = "right_x", "Mouse X"
2.abs(041) = "right_y", "Mouse Y"
2.btn_trigger_happy8 = "up", "Throttle POV up"
2.btn_trigger_happy9 = "right", "Throttle POV right"
2.btn_trigger_happy10 = "down", "Throttle POV down"
2.btn_trigger_happy11 = "left", "Throttle POV left"
2.btn_trigger_happy17 = "start_stop", "Start/Stop"
2.btn_trigger_happy18 = "back", "Reset"
 
# Aliases
 
# 1.btn_trigger = "primary"
alias primary a
alias secondary b
alias third x
alias fourth y
 
alias start start_stop
alias select back
alias mode guide
 
alias thumbl left_thumb
alias thumbr right_thumb
 
# right shoulder
alias tr right_shoulder
# right trigger
alias tr2 right_trigger
# left shoulder
alias tl left_shoulder
# left trigger
alias tl2 left_trigger

Run this with moltengamepad --num-gamepads 2 --mimic-xpad and press button on the joystick _first_ and on the throttle _second_ so they get assigned in the correct order.

This should result in two gamepads _and_ the X52Pro so even really braindead games that do only support gamepadS should be able to read this at least in any way.

AntiMicroX showing X52 Hotas mapped to two virtual gamepads

If the game does support only one gamepad consider binding joystick _buttons_ to keyboard presses (e.g. with AntiMicroX instead).

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All that balloon talks going on and I can only think about my odyssey on the weekend to find lumpy 10l of Helium.

We usually buy this in an industrial bottle because the one-time bottles you can get for birthday parties are… meh. In costs, litres and waste of the empty can (litre litter).

The 10l bottle is enough for years and several birthday parties and can be refilled.

So I was puzzled when I went for a refill on Saturday just to find out that my usual dealer doesn’t have any. I was told that their dealer holds deliveries back to provide hospitals first at the moment. This is also going on for ~1.5 years by now.

In the end I found another local dealer who had some in stock but to what cost! 10l for ~122 EUR!

I never bothered to check where Helium is coming from but it all makes sense. It’s basically natural gas and it’s coming from the same deposits that are all in bad supply due to various reasons and it’s used a lot as coolant e.g. for medical equipment.

I guess the next birthday parties will see way less balloons 🎈

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Trying to get (or even find) a cheap TV in 2022 is a horrible experience. Especially on Amazon, because there are no filter for this and the search function will simply not care and keep shoving all kinds of Smart TVs in the face. Various other websites designed to compare TVs also do not offer such a filter and I really wonder why, because there are very valid reasons to *not* want a Smart TV. Yes, I don’t even want the Telefunken ones that come at least with Linux!

For reference, our current is some very old Samsung with whopping 720p (including burnt in artefacts) and I’m out for replacing this for a while now.

I’m also not out for the greatest and widest since the TV may be part of our living room but that room is not designed around the TV. It’s more a corner thing. It should be a real upgrade for the 720p so “just HD” is out of the question. I kinda settled with the idea of something around 55″ and 4K – so not quite a computer monitor any more, due to it’s size, where I’d have way more choice. And cheap please. I really do not spend much time in front of the TV.

Apparently Sceptre is one of the few selling some non-Smart TVs but that seems to be US only (e.g. Walmart) so not an option for me.

I was already close to giving up when I randomly stumbled over the homeX U55NT1000. I’ve had no idea about this brand before, nor do I have an idea about the quality but they _advertise_ with the fact that this thing is “As smart as I want it to be” by connecting external devices of my choice: https://www.homex.eu/4k-uhd.html

Apparently it also comes with a Triple-Tuner that I don’t care about but it’s nice to have that option I guess. Also no idea about it’s audio connectivity. I’ve my own AV receiver for that anyway 😁

And it comes pretty cheap (roughly 300 EUR according to historical data on the net) ticking off all my boxes:

☑ ~~cheap~~ affordable
☑ 4k (UHD)
☑ ~~dumb~~ non-Smart
☑ HDMI
☑ 55″

So I ordered. I’m already very curious how this will play out and will update this once the TV arrives.