I work from home, so the last thing I want to do on my leisure time is sit at the same desk I've sat at for the last 8 hrs. So I lounge on the couch and play through my huge steam deck library. It is not a cheap device, to be sure. But I felt it was absolutely worth it for me.
Portables are the best for this, imo. Steam Deck or a used 3DS are my choices. The latter is easy to mod and play all sorts of games including the gigantic DS/3DS library.
I find both systems clutch for the suspend function. Lets you pick right back up where you were. I will say the 3ds is much better at this with clamshell design that suspends on closing the lid and it's battery life in suspend is fantastic!
I also find stress relief games. Mindless 3rd person action games for me. Mad Max was great because I could drive around picking fights or crashing stuff. The Batman Arkham games and the Shadow of Mordor games are other great examples for me. I have not found any relaxing "cozy" games that work for me. Nothing has really grabbed my attention enough to stick with.
Pretty big caveat to that though. Joplin names the individual text files some huge hexadecimal value, unlike Obsidian (and maybe Loseq). And it appends some meta data in the file itself.
I personally felt this was unacceptable for my use case. And if Logseq's android app wasn't so bad, is be using it instead of Obsidian.
Was going to say the same. Obsidian has very little proprietary stuff in it, other than maybe some plugins users may elect to use. Other than that, it's just folders full of markdown files.
Same here. Works well.
Seafile is great...with caveats that seem to bother people away from it:
- Files are stored as git-like chunks on the server
- Features behind a paywall for more than 3 users (Pro vs Comminity versions)
- Documentation can be very confusing at times
Item 1 can be mitigated by utilizing tools like Rclone to mount the files on the server, reassembling the chunks, then back up and unmount when done. Item 2 isn't a deal breaker for me.
It is super fast and reliable in my experience. I specify wanted the selective sync because my stupid MacBook has a tiny SSD, but I still wanted access to files from other device libraries.
I've tried 'em all. And I am always on the lookout for new apps that can do what I want. So far, Obsidian is the best.
- Joplin: adds meta data to your text files making it nearly impossible to find anything outside of Joplin unless you export
- Logseq: the closest substitute to Obsidian. The android app is almost unusable in my testing. And it's an outlined based note app, so it requires a different mindset
- Silverbullet: such a neat project. The PWA runs great on every device I've tried it on. That said, I find it hard to navigate and will require more learning to take full advantage of its features
- Nextcloud Notes: decent if you already have an instance running. Not worth it just for Notes though. It's very spartan, feature-wise
- Quillpad: the closest Google Keep alternative I've found so far. Does require Nextcloud insurance to sync though. At least currently.
- Acreom: very cool project. Similar to Obsidian and Logseq. Local first.....unless you're on mobile, then you are required to have an account and use their sync.
- Notesnook: has great features but does not store the notes on plain text (due to encryption), which is a deal breaker for my use case
- Memos: very easy to selfhost. Think of it like a personal twitter feed. Stores entries in a db file, so it's out for me
I tested others, and many didnt last long enough in my testing to even be worth writing about. I find Obsidian's folder hierarchy easier to fit around how my brain works. And the plain text files in folders, maintaining the hierarchy, is a killer feature for me. Lots of folks self host a sync solution. And I want to but am currently paying for their basic sync plan of $5/mo.
Source?
Something to think about, if it's important to you. I went through this same journey. I had been using Day one, which is a beautiful app. But I began considering what would happen to those entries when I'm dead and gone. It's important that my wife and kids can read through the years if the desire. That lead me in a search for something that has the most "future proof" journaling approach. Something that would still be easily readable without a bunch of exporting or conversion should the company go out of business.
Obsidian is one of many apps that at its core, is simple text files in folders on your local machine(s). As others have said you can self host rather than paying for their home grown sync solution. I've tried Joplin, Logseq, Trillium, Memos, and I'm sure there are others I'm forgetting. They have all had some level of dealbreaker for me. Like Logseq has a horrible android app. Memos stores entries inside a database, so not easily retrievable. And Joplin adds meta data to the contents of your text files as well as screwing up the file/folder names to something that isn't human readable. So I've stuck with Obsidian. It's not open source, but the file format is platform agnostic and can be read by just about any computer or mobile device made in decades.
That said, you won't get the calendar features with dates/locations of photos like you mentioned unless someone has made a plugin for it.
I've found the PWA adequate for my phone usage. I found a custom CSS that is sort of a Gruvbox that I really like.
Miniflux is great. I use Wallabag as my read it later app and selfhost both on a cheap VPS. They're tightly integrated but Miniflux supports several other integrations
Honestly it seems like Obsidian is the one matching most of your criteria. $4/mo isn't bad for a bullet proof sync solution with version history, imo. I also have my vault backed up on each client locally for extra protection.
I'd love to suggest Logseq because FOSS, but man does the android app suck.
That said, I find Obsidian really lacks in the simple to-do/checklist function. So I use Quillpad synced to my Nextcloud server for Google Keep-like functionality. Everything else goes into Obsidian.
I have used Nebo as well and instead of exporting I did a select all, copy and paste. Not very elegant but it did work to sort of "convert" to markdown.
And the file names are not the note titles like Obsidian (and logseq I believe)
Pop!_OS is neat. I've been running it on my desktop and laptop for over a year now. I like that it doesn't look like Windows and has enough difference to it to not be a macOS clone either. Plus I think System76 is doing some great things with hardware design.
Hey! That works. Not sure how I missed that. Thank you!
Don't know if you saw that they added a $4/mo tier for Obsidian Sync. I thought $8/mo was too high and went to cancel it and saw the cheaper price. For how well it works as far as speed and reliability of syncing with version control, it's worth that for me.
Yeah, it's not perfect. I've noticed that when making a task list/checkbox note that you can't delete the line. Sure you can go and edit the contents of that line, but even if you delete all text, the line with a checkbox remains. Kind of annoying, particularly when I accidentally create another checkbox and have nothing to put in it. it's just an empty line and checkbox sitting there mocking me. You can still mark it complete of course, but it kinda makes my eye twitch. :)
Yes, that's how I'm using it. NextcloudPi on a Pi 4. It's been working really well for me.
It puts completed items at the bottom of the list, if I understand what you're asking
What's your financial cutoff point on game collecting?
I'm focused on NES, SNES, N64, Master System, and Genesis at the moment. I've just about reached the end of the cheap NES games and bought an Everdrive N8 Pro earlier this year. Mainly for ROM translations and homebrew, but I will admit to playing some of the higher dollar games on it. I'd much rather play actual carts though.
For me personally, I've found that I'll go upwards of $60+ for a RPG or meatier action adventure game, but haven't so far spent more than that on any of the consoles.
I've also opted to buy ports over original games in some cases. Chrono Trigger for example, I won't spend $250 on it so I bought the Japanese DS port since it was $30 shipped and supports English out of the box.
Undertale?
It's stupid cheap on Steam right now and I've never played it. I've been doing 100% of my gaming on the deck, which has me wondering how well this plays on it. Not graphically/performance because it'll clearly run on a toaster. But mechanically. Are there parts that are hard to use controllers vs kb/mouse for?
Now that I think about it, is there a resource that speaks specifically to this sort of question for games? I know of protondb but that seems to be focused on getting it to run easily and with good performance.
EDIT: thanks for the input! I've purchased it and I'm stoked to give it a playthrough. I WFH, so the thought of sitting at the same desk I was just at for 8+ hrs to game is not at all appealing. Been loving the deck for this exact reason!
Retro Homebrew ROMS?
I'm on the hunt for ROMS for old systems. NES, SNES, Genesis, etc.
I paid for a physical copy of Micro Mages for NES a few years back, and just recently bought the ROM for Dataman, also for NES. But I'm wondering if anyone has a source for several that fit this category.
Let me be clear, I will gladly support the developers of these games, but I have been bitten by a few stinkers. Where the trailer looked good but the game didn't feel like it was worth the $10+ for the ROM.
One in partiular that has intrigued me is Courier. I did some searching and can't find a demo or a ROM to try before I buy. And at $10, it's outside of my impulse buy range, if that makes sense.
What do you use the back buttons for?
I have really been loving my steam deck lately. I've now played through Fallout 3, New Vegas, all of their respective DLCs, and am about 100hrs into 4 right now.
Normally I play indie games since that's where my interests are and I grow tired of the AAA jackassery.
I mention that to illustrate that I do use and live the deck. But I guess I'm not creative enough to use the back buttons at all. So to the title question:
- What games do you play that make the most use of the back buttons?
- What functions are mapped to those buttons?
- Or are you like me and just never use them?
Launcher with specific features
I finally gave up on Nova Launcher after watching the various "calls home" its doing now after the acquisition by analytics company Branch. I held out for probably way too long considering the way things were inevitably going to go. I've tried Kvaesitso, KISS, and Neo Launcher so far. There are a couple of features I really miss from Nova that I thought I'd check to see if anyone knows of a workaround or a launcher that has these features:
App Drawer shortcut
Ability to remove browser badge from PWA and browser shortcuts added to homescreen
And lastly, while I don't have a photo example, pull to search in app drawer. This is the same gesture used in most mobile browsers to refresh the current page, if that makes sense.
I'm aware that the road to degoogle is paved with compromises, and I'm willing to make them if I need to.
Shared photo library options?
I'm starting a project along with my siblings to scan all of the family negatives, slides, and photos in an effort to preserve them.
I currently have Immich as well as Nextcloud Memories internally. That said, neither seem to be ideally suited to this task. I'm looking for a solution that would allow all siblings the option to view and upload scanned pics to the same library as we work through the shoeboxes full of memories. While Immich and Nextcloud both have account support, I can't seem to find a way to share a library amongst all accounts.
Does anyone have any recommendations for this project? I would then backup the scanned pictures on my server as well as B2 storage for redundancy and each sibling should have the option to download and backup the same library however they see fit.
I'm running an Unraid server as well as NextcloudPi on a Pi4. I also have two very basic VPSes that I rent.
Multifunction Laser Printer and Linux
EDIT: I purchased the Brother L2690DW on a Clearance deal from Walmart and so far it has been a breeze using it between my Linux desktop and laptop.
My faithful Brother laser printer just poo'd itself. And since I've not purchased a new printer with additional features since I switched to full-time Linux, I thought I'd better ask around to make sure the document scanning, copy, fax (maybe once a year if that), and other features will work correctly.
The printer I have no worked without issue with Pop!_OS. Very straight forward plug in play other than a weird quirk with scaling when printing from Firefox built-in PDF handler vs the Document Viewer that ships with Pop.
Does anyone have any advice on potential pitfalls to avoid? I'd like to stick with brother because they seem to be the least evil of the printer corps, but I'm open to other suggestions.
Raspberry PI Retropie or Batocera images?
Trying to find a ready to go image for a Raspberry Pi 5, either RetroPie or Batocera (or others I'm not aware of) for retro gaming. I know of Arcade Punks, but is there any other resource? Tried downloading a 128GB image from them and its taking forever due to no seeders. I did check megathread but wasn't able to find anything so far.
Android app to trace photos that supports SVG export
I know this might be a bit too specific, but I'll ask anyway.
Is there any FOSS app for Android that supports tracing photos that can export the trace to SVG? I suppose this means it would have to support layers, and also support the ability to export individual layers instead of the whole project as SVG.
The intent is to use my Galaxy Tab with S-pen to trace objects in a photo in order create an SVG I can import into an app like Carbide Create (not FOSS either, but it's all I know how to sorta use at the moment) for cutting on a CNC. An example is a photo of one of my chickens. I wanted to turn this photo into a silhouette of said chicken and be able to cut that on a plank of wood. I did try Inkscape, but due to the background elements it would not pick up just the chicken during the "Trace Bitmap" operation. And honestly seems like a shame to not be able to use the S-pen for this type of project.
I run Linux on my home PC and I'm not sure if it will support using the tablet
Facebook Marketplace
I'm guessing the answer is "no", but thought I'd ask for advice here regardless.
I don't have FB. Haven't for years. I ditched it long before I started giving a shit about Privacy, it's just so toxic and silly.
That said, I'm a retro gamer constantly on the hunt for holes in my NES/SNES collection and unfortunately the folks in my area seem to be quite a bit more active on FB Marketplace than Craiglist, Offerup, or Nextdoor For Sale pages. In the past I've asked my spouse to message the seller for me and then show up with cash and buy what they're selling. Increasingly, sellers are scared of scams and seem to be less responsive to this type of inquiry.
Is there anyway to minimize footprint in FB? Or perhaps a way to use Messenger without an account? You can browse the marketplace pages of your community without an account, but they'll pester you the whole time and you can't save your locale without signing in.
Or am I out of luck entirely? I thought about posting "In Search Of
CRT RGB modding
I just picked up my second CRT last night. A free 27" Sony Trinitron. It has composite only, just like my flat tube Toshiba. Both seem to be working well.
I've been reading up on how to do the RGB mods and which models are supported. As well as the dangers of working in and around the guts of these monsters. I have a good soldering iron, but I'm not so good at it. I've looked around locally to see if there are any folks I could hire to do it for me and I'm having no luck. I'd rather not mail a boat anchor if I can help it.
Months ago I found a directory of modding services all over the country with a focus on console mods. I cannot for the life of me find that again to check and see if any of those folks are near me and do CRT work at all.
Failing all that, how hard is it assuming I take all necessary safety precautions? From pics and videos, the components look to be much larger than some I've tried in the past so I'm not sure if that'll help or hurt me if I just YOLO an
Nextcloud Tasks & Tasks.org?
Does anyone here use both Tasks.org and have it synced to Nextcloud? I'm not sure if I'm doing something wrong of expecting behavior that doesn't exist or what.
I have Tasks.org installed on Android phone and tablet and signed into my NC instance that I have. If I create a task in NC Tasks, it will sync down to the Android devices in Tasks.org. But it won't go the other way (tasks.org ->NC Tasks). I have a heap of reoccurring tasks in my phone app but it doesn't show up in the web portal of NC Tasks. But if I mark a NC Task complete on my phone, it will reflect that change in NC Tasks.
To further muddy the waters: I found a Linux app called Errands that I signed into NC in order to Sync. If I create a task in Errands, it does indeed show up in the NC Tasks list. It's like Tasks.org has a weird one way sync or something. I've scoured the settings and looked through open issues on Github but I'm not seeing anything that would 'fix' this,
VPN to home network options
I currently have a server running Unraid as the OS, which has some WireGuard integration built in. Which I've enabled and been using to remotely access services hosted on that server. But as I've expanded to include things like Octopi running on a Pi3 and NextcloudPi running on a Pi4 (along with AdGuardHome), I'm trying to determine the best way to VPN to my home network with the goal of reaching services I'm hosting, and do it safely of course.
I have a Netgear Nighthawk that has some VPN functionality built in that uses a OpenVPN account. Is that ok or would it be advisable to come in a different way?
Habit tracking with ability to mark past success easily?
I've been using HabitNow since February and it's a nice app. But I'd much prefer a FOSS alternative. The problem is that I'd like to keep my streak from HabitNow and apps either don't let you mark in the past or they require multiple clicks.
So far I've tried Loop Habit and Habit builder. These both fall in the "multiple clicks" camp.
Are there any other options to consider or should I just start clicking away at the 250+ days I've succeeded?
EDIT: habit builder does have a reasonably easy way to tap previous days that I missed. But has no reminders or notifications that I can find.
Cross platform terminal emulator?
Is Termius the only cross platform emulator that includes Android as one of the platforms? It is quite good, in my limited experience, but too expensive for a hobbiest. I like that I can use my Linux desktop, MacOS laptop, and Android tablet/phone and the UX is the same across them all. The sync (trial for free, then charge) is great. But I'd be fine if it was something where I could DIY a sync method with something like Syncthing.
I'm aware of the likes of Alacritty, but no mobile app. And of course Termux is great for mobile, but no desktop versions.
It all boils down to wanting some sort of sync function either DIY or otherwise that includes hosts and SSH keys and while not as important, I do like the consistent UX between platforms. Is there something else to consider?
Thoughts on selfprivacy.org?
SelfPrivacy is in "Open beta" and promises to make setup and use of email, messager, password management, video chat and other services simple by leveraging the likes of Hetzner, Cloudflare, and Backblaze.
I stumbled on the app while browsing the F-droid app "store" and had never heard of them. I think the proposition is neat and while I'm comfortable hosting most of these services myself, my curiosity has been piqued. Searching for it elsewhere on the web as far as privacy rating, reviews, etc has left me empty handed. I dont' know if they're just too new or not. So I'm curious if anyone has tried them out or looked into it further.
Third party apps that sync with Nextcloud
I searched quite a bit and wasn't able to find a conclusive list of available third party apps that can sync with Nextcloud. So I thought I'd start one for folks who might be interested. Feel free to chime in with any you've used!
Notes
macOS:
- Nextcloud Notes Client - looks exactly like Apple Notes, but syncs with NC and supports Markdown.
Linux:
- Iotas - minimalist markdown notes app in the same vein as IA Writer.
Android:
- Quillpad - Google Keep clone that supports Markdown. Fork of Quillnotes. There are some quirks with this one. For example, if you create a task list from NC WebUI version of Notes, the checkboxes will show up in Quillnotes, but you cannot check them off as complete. Has a promising roadmap.
- Carnet - another Google
Raspberry Pi 1 B projects?
I have an old Pi hanging around doing nothing. When I originally got it it had the latest Pi OS with desktop loaded and ran like garbage, not surprisingly. So I messed with it headless for a bit, then found RISCOS as an option in Pi imager utility and that is just a neat OS. Fun to play around with for sure. But now I'm wondering what else I could use the old thing for. I see folks run Pihole on it, but I've already got 2 instances of Adguard Home running.
Could this handle Syncthing? Or would the data transfer be so bad it's not worth it? Wouldn't mind having an off-site backup device at my parents house if it would work.
Anyone else got one in their homelab?
Samsung Notes alternative?
Key features:
- PDF annotation
- S-pen/stylus support
- Sync (preferably NOT just via Nextcloud...looking at you, Saber)
- Handwriting recognition is a plus, but not required
As mention above, Saber fits the criteria well, but I don't use Nextcloud and that is the only sync available in that app (unless something has changed in the last couple of weeks). I have a Galaxy phone and tablet that both support S-pen and Samsung Notes is excellent, and free, but they're not exactly privacy concious, so I'm looking elsewhere. I had considered the Excalidraw plugin for Obsidian, but I'm not sure if that works on the Android version of the app.
Syncthing instead of Steam Cloud saves?
I have seen several mentions and articles about using this app to sync game saves for non-steam games. But I have yet to see anyone mention using it instead of Steam's own cloud based save game solution.
The reason I ask is I've been having so many sync errors between the deck and my Linux gaming PC and it's driving me crazy. For example, I just started Cyberpunk2077 for the first time now that 2.0 and Phantom Liberty are out. Put a few hours in from the desktop, then later wanted to play on the couch so I grabbed the SD and fired it up. Only one save had synchronized and it was very early in the prologue. So i went back to the desktop and tried the resync and same thing, will not sync. I read about how too many saves can cause a problem, but I literally just installed and started this game. Maybe 3 or 4 at the time? Up to 6 I think now. So this should be well within any arbitrary sync limits I would think. It's not just this game either. Starfield and Dave the Dive