devalexwhite's recent activity

  1. Comment on Fitness Weekly Discussion in ~health

    devalexwhite
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    As the cold & rainy season has started to move in, I did my first Zwift ride with the group this morning. It was a lot more fun riding with people I know, but virtual still isn't super fun....

    As the cold & rainy season has started to move in, I did my first Zwift ride with the group this morning. It was a lot more fun riding with people I know, but virtual still isn't super fun. Thankfully we are still planning to do in-person morning rides when it's not rainy/snowing.

    Also started swimming again. The city built a new gym+aquatics center 5 minutes from my house, so that's been a good motivator. Have to convince myself to try some weight lifting as well, really no idea how to start though. I've always been focused on cardio.

    Trying to control my eating on top of everything, looking at cooking more/eating out less. Been making some fish+veg dishes that have been yummy. Doctor recommended the DASH diet which I have to look into.

    1 vote
  2. Comment on What's a product or service that you use but don't want to pay for and why? in ~life

    devalexwhite
    Link Parent
    I highly recommend installing Lockbox on your iPod if you haven't already, the fact that it can play FLAC files it create playlists on the fly is so cool (not to mention that it runs DOOM). A big...

    I highly recommend installing Lockbox on your iPod if you haven't already, the fact that it can play FLAC files it create playlists on the fly is so cool (not to mention that it runs DOOM).

    A big advantage to physical media is that my 3 y/o son can just look through a drawer and grab the game/movie/book he wants. Same as going to the store, he's able to actually browse and find things that look interesting to him.

    I too have a massive Steam library, although I haven't bought anything for a few years on it. If I buy a modern game (which is exceedingly rare), it's typically physical on Switch.

  3. Comment on What's a product or service that you use but don't want to pay for and why? in ~life

    devalexwhite
    Link Parent
    Oh man I totally understand that feeling! I've got 2 rental properties and love working on them, but when it comes to your own house there's the thought of "if I mess up, I'll see my mistake every...

    Oh man I totally understand that feeling! I've got 2 rental properties and love working on them, but when it comes to your own house there's the thought of "if I mess up, I'll see my mistake every single morning I wake up". At the same time, most contractors cost $1,000 just to show up, so often we have no other option but DIY.

    2 votes
  4. Comment on What are some interesting landmarks in your neck of the woods? in ~talk

    devalexwhite
    Link Parent
    Oh that pretty much describes the suburb it's located in!

    something so manicured and uniform

    Oh that pretty much describes the suburb it's located in!

    1 vote
  5. Comment on What's your favorite hobby? in ~hobbies

    devalexwhite
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    Hmm favorite would probably have to be cycling (also, most expensive ugh). I do multiple group rides a week, including a couple at 5am. Got into the hobby/sport early last year and slowly went...

    Hmm favorite would probably have to be cycling (also, most expensive ugh). I do multiple group rides a week, including a couple at 5am. Got into the hobby/sport early last year and slowly went from riding an old bike from college 5 miles to having new road and gravel bikes, wearing lycra and riding 100-150 miles a week.

    Outside of cycling, reading, retro games and hiking are probably tied for second place haha

    5 votes
  6. Comment on What are some interesting landmarks in your neck of the woods? in ~talk

  7. Comment on What code editor / IDE do you use (2025)? in ~comp

    devalexwhite
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    JetBrains at work as we're a PHP shop and nothing comes close for PHP/Laravel. Helix for personal coding, love the terminal and hate big corps.

    JetBrains at work as we're a PHP shop and nothing comes close for PHP/Laravel. Helix for personal coding, love the terminal and hate big corps.

    2 votes
  8. Comment on Help choosing a new linux computer? in ~tech

    devalexwhite
    Link Parent
    Hmm after reading the thread posted by fxgn, I feel like it's a non-issue. Omarchy and Hyprland have been drawing a ton of attention to Linux, Framework is known to run Linux well, so of course...

    Hmm after reading the thread posted by fxgn, I feel like it's a non-issue. Omarchy and Hyprland have been drawing a ton of attention to Linux, Framework is known to run Linux well, so of course they'd promote it. I seriously doubt a single person involved in the decision knew anything of the political stance of anyone involved (hell I've been a DHH follower for years and this is the first I'm hearing of his political views).

    Also, please note this is not a political stance or support in any way on my part. Just an observation of the situation.

    10 votes
  9. Comment on Help choosing a new linux computer? in ~tech

    devalexwhite
    Link
    Hey there! I'm guessing you are thinking about a desktop? I'd recommend building your own (it really isn't that hard, stuff just snaps together). You can use something like PC Part Picker to...

    Hey there! I'm guessing you are thinking about a desktop? I'd recommend building your own (it really isn't that hard, stuff just snaps together). You can use something like PC Part Picker to select parts and confirm compatibility. Most hardware will be just fine in Linux, but going with AMD for graphics over Nvidia is preferable.

    You could also consider getting a new case and I'm sure most of the alienware parts would fit in a bigger case, so you could reuse what still works. Things will run fast in Linux versus Windows with the same hardware.

    If you are thinking of a laptop, Framework is the best bet for sure. Some Lenovos and HPs are good choices as well, but do your research on specific models. Stay away from System76 (bought a pang12 laptop from them, horrible computer). You can also consider an older M1 MacBook Pro with Asahi (that's what I daily drive with Linux, great hardware).

    As for distro, it really comes down to desktop environment (DE) instead of distro. Main choices are Cinnamon, Gnome, KDE or something more complex (like Hyprland). You really can't go wrong with any of the main DEs, although Cinnamon and KDE are probably most familiar for someone coming from Windows. Fedora is my choice for KDE/Gnome, Mint for Cinnamon.

    16 votes
  10. Comment on What's a product or service that you use but don't want to pay for and why? in ~life

    devalexwhite
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    I maintain very few subscription services and instead use alternatives for most. IE I buy blu-rays and DVDs rather than use streaming media, have a Synology NAS at home rather than pay for file...

    I maintain very few subscription services and instead use alternatives for most. IE I buy blu-rays and DVDs rather than use streaming media, have a Synology NAS at home rather than pay for file storage, buy CDs and load them onto my iPod, and prefer playing or buying older physical games than overpriced new games or game subscription services. We also heavily rely on the library system.

    Outside of the tech space, I'd probably say home contractors. I'll do anything I can to do it myself before paying someone, contractors are just too expensive (for example, replacing a window with a contractor is $2-3k US dollars, the same window is $400 at the store). I also manage our rental properties myself, as most management companies charge 10-15%.

    13 votes
  11. Comment on CGA-2025-10 đŸ•šī¸â° đŸ—ēī¸ 🐸 INSERT CARTRIDGE đŸŸĸ Chrono Trigger in ~games

    devalexwhite
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    Oh this sounds fun, I'm in! I've started Chrono Trigger so many times but never finished (due to life getting in the way, definitely not due to the game), finally gives me a reason to make sure I...

    Oh this sounds fun, I'm in! I've started Chrono Trigger so many times but never finished (due to life getting in the way, definitely not due to the game), finally gives me a reason to make sure I finish it!

    I'll be playing the DS cartridge on my New 3DS XL. I'd love to play it on my SNES, but I lost the cartridge during our last move.

    3 votes
  12. Comment on Deus Ex Remastered | Announcement trailer in ~games

    devalexwhite
    Link Parent
    Man I agree with those so much, it's cool to see my exact thoughts written down. I recently picked up a PS2 and have been thinking how the graphics were great and fit the need perfectly. So much...

    Man I agree with those so much, it's cool to see my exact thoughts written down. I recently picked up a PS2 and have been thinking how the graphics were great and fit the need perfectly. So much visual, artistic style in the games. Modern huge production games look realistic, but the almost never hold my attention like a PS or Vita game.

    4 votes
  13. Comment on My take on Apple's Liquid Glass in ~tech

    devalexwhite
    Link Parent
    Pretty well! It's definitely holds up as a daily driver, performance is good and nearly everything is supported now. Installation is very straightforward. Only gotchas that really remain at this...

    Pretty well! It's definitely holds up as a daily driver, performance is good and nearly everything is supported now. Installation is very straightforward.

    Only gotchas that really remain at this point are a lower battery life than Mac OS (not horrible, but not as good), no video out from USB C (my laptop has HDMI so not a issue) and by default the screen is doesn't use the top part with the notch (you can enable via kernel flag).

    4 votes
  14. Comment on My take on Apple's Liquid Glass in ~tech

    devalexwhite
    Link
    I upgraded my 2021 M1 MacBook and my months old M4 Pro work MacBook to Tahoe, and both have been sluggish, oddly enough the work MacBook more so (although that's probably due to the amount of...

    I upgraded my 2021 M1 MacBook and my months old M4 Pro work MacBook to Tahoe, and both have been sluggish, oddly enough the work MacBook more so (although that's probably due to the amount of background stuff IT installs).

    I agree with the author, there are parts of Tahoe that look really nice, like the new icons or the tabs in Safari. There are parts that are such a cool effect they distract, like the "plus" button on spaces when you hover over it refracts the background in such a cool way. And then there are parts that are just plain ugly or unusable, like the control panel over a solid color or the inconsistent border radiuses.

    As for me, I'll just keep using my personal MacBook with Fedora.

    9 votes
  15. Comment on What programming/technical projects have you been working on? in ~comp

    devalexwhite
    Link Parent
    Very cool, thanks for sharing the example. The closed beta explains why I didn't see much on a simple Kagi search. The annotations are interesting.

    Very cool, thanks for sharing the example. The closed beta explains why I didn't see much on a simple Kagi search. The annotations are interesting.

    1 vote
  16. Comment on What programming/technical projects have you been working on? in ~comp

    devalexwhite
    Link Parent
    That's super cool, sounds like a big project! I had never heard of Jai.

    That's super cool, sounds like a big project! I had never heard of Jai.

    2 votes
  17. Comment on What programming/technical projects have you been working on? in ~comp

    devalexwhite
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    I've been working on a CMS for static HTML websites. Built out of a desire to enable my small business clients to make updates to their websites, without turning to some heavy/expensive CMS...

    I've been working on a CMS for static HTML websites. Built out of a desire to enable my small business clients to make updates to their websites, without turning to some heavy/expensive CMS platform. It also has a built-in, privacy focused analytics platform and simple CRM for managing form responses. I wrote about the why and tech stack on my website!

    4 votes
  18. Comment on Playing tricks with web browser tabs in ~comp

    devalexwhite
    Link Parent
    Yeah that website is awesome, I love that they are daily driving G4 and G5 machines. The favicon trick is super cool, I almost wish I hadn't read the article and instead had been tricked.

    Yeah that website is awesome, I love that they are daily driving G4 and G5 machines.

    The favicon trick is super cool, I almost wish I hadn't read the article and instead had been tricked.

    5 votes
  19. Comment on Taco Bell rethinks AI drive-through after man orders 18,000 waters in ~food

    devalexwhite
    Link
    The Whitecastle near me has the absolute worst implementation of AI in the drivethru. When you approach, it shows a screen of terms & conditions and requires you to say "I accept the terms" to...

    The Whitecastle near me has the absolute worst implementation of AI in the drivethru. When you approach, it shows a screen of terms & conditions and requires you to say "I accept the terms" to start ordering. Then when you finish, it just goes on and on and on about some membership or something, I just drove away.

    10 votes
  20. Comment on Make new friends here! in ~life

    devalexwhite
    Link Parent
    Completely agree, I felt more at home in Taiwan than I do in the US. So many parts of the culture and and lifestyle align with me. Did you study at NTPU?

    Completely agree, I felt more at home in Taiwan than I do in the US. So many parts of the culture and and lifestyle align with me. Did you study at NTPU?