• 6 Posts
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Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: June 10th, 2023

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  • The problem is that games don’t run at all or require major effort to run without issues.

    A major cause for that is the distro - when it comes to gaming, the distro makes a huge difference as I outlined previously. The second major cause is the flavor of Wine you chose (Proton-GE is the best, not sure what you used). The third major cause is checking whether or not the games are even compatible in the first place (via ProtonDB, Reddit etc) - you should do this BEFORE you recommend Linux to a gamer.

    In saying all that, I’ve no idea about pirated stuff though, you’re on your own on that one - Valve and the Wine developers obviously don’t test against pirated copies, and you won’t get much support from the community either.


  • Unfortunately you chose the wrong distro for your friend - Linux Mint isn’t good for gaming - it uses an outdated kernel/drivers/other packages, which means you’ll be missing out on all the performance improvements (and fixes) found in more up-to-date distros. Gaming on Linux is a very fast moving target, the landscape is changing at a rapid pace thanks to the development efforts of Valve and the community. So for gaming, you’d generally want to be on the latest kernel+mesa+wine stack.

    Also, as you’ve experienced, on Mint you’d have to manually install things like Waydroid and other gaming software, which can be a PITA for newbies.

    So instead, I’d highly recommend a gaming-oriented distro such as Nobara or Bazzite. Personally, I’m a big fan of Bazzite - it has everything you’d need for gaming out-of-the-box, and you can even get a console/Steam Deck-like experience, if you install the -deck variant. Also, because it’s an immutable distro with atomic updates, it has a very low chance of breaking, and in the rare ocassion that an update has some issues - you can just select the previous image from the boot menu. So this would be pretty ideal for someone who’s new to Linux, likes to game, and just wants stuff to work.

    In saying that, getting games to run in Linux can be tricky sometimes, depending on the game. The general rule of thumb is: try running the game using Proton-GE, and if that fails, check Proton DB for any fixes/tweaks needed for that game - with this, you would never again have to spend hours on troubleshooting, unless you’re playing some niche game that no one has tested before.







  • d3Xt3r@lemmy.nztoAsklemmy@lemmy.mlDo you practice self care?
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    2 months ago

    Pretty much the same as you, but I do yoga instead of qigong. Plus I focus a lot on diet and nutrition and try to make sure I’m getting everything I need, whilst trying to minimise or avoid things that are bad for you, like processed foods, sugary stuff etc. Bought a Garmin smartwatch and smart scales last year to keep a track of my exercise goals, hydration, HRV, and sleep quality, and that’s been real helpful in keeping track of my health.

    Also planning to take up some basic martial arts as well; I was looking at kyokushin, but might pick wing chun due to it’s practicality / self-defence aspects.

    Bonus question: Where else can I post questions besides Ask Lemmy?

    You can also post questions on Ask Lemmy’s evil twin - !asklemmy@lemmy.world




  • Paper boxes may be equally bad or even worse, since many of them are coated with PFAS (aka “forever chemicals”) - which can leach into your food and the environment.

    Now whilst the FDA has banned sale of PFAS-coated containers earlier this year, it is expected that such products may remain on the market till sometime next year. Of course, it also doesn’t stop someone from ordering cheap PFAS-loaded boxes from AliExpress or elsewhere. And if you’re not in the US, you’d have to find out if there’s a similar ban in your country, and/or verify whether the manufacturer of whatever container/utensil you’re using is PFAS-free.

    It would also be prudent to check even non-paper food-related products (spoons, spatulas, chopping boards etc). Even so called 100% recyclable “food safe” plastic, bio-plastics made from plant pulp, and traditionally eco-friendly wooden containers and utensils may be coated with PFAS.


  • d3Xt3r@lemmy.nztoAndroid@lemmy.worldDoes Samsung have region locking?
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    2 months ago

    The answers here are only partially correct. If you want to use your device internationally, there are four things or categories you need to consider:

    1. Carrier locked devices
    2. Region-specific devices
    3. Carrier whitelisting
    4. Regulatory requirements

    Carrier locked devices are exactly that, these are the ones sold by your carrier and subsidised, they usually mention that you can’t use them with other carriers. Eg the SM-S928U of the S24 works only on AT&T. If you have one of these, you may be able to buy an unlock code online to unlock your phone. Depending on your model, you might also need to flash compatible firmware or unlock additional bands from the service menu, if you want to be able to actually use it with your destination carrier.

    Region-specific devices generally have limited cellular bands, meant for usage in that country. Eg although the SM-S928U1 variant of the S24 is factory unlocked (unlike the SM-S928U), it may not carry all the bands required for operation outside the US. If you’re unsure about compatibility, use this website to check the bands for your target country/carrier. Generally though, if you travel a lot, it’s recommend to buy the international / global variant of a phone. As an alternative, if you have a US variant Samsung, you could use the service menu to enable all bands. Though regardless of the variant, it’s always a good idea to check the band compatibility before you purchase the device/travel.

    Carrier whitelisting is a recent annoying thing which carriers have started doing for some technologies such as 5G, VoLTE, VoWiFi etc. Some of these features may or may not be critical for you, for eg, if the destination carrier no longer offer 2G/3G services, that means you must be able to get VoLTE in order to make calls. And VoWiFi is needed if you’re in an area with poor reception, but have WiFi access. Finally, 5G would be a bonus thing but most carriers allow only whitelisted models to connect to their 5G services. Samsung normally should work in general, but given how many variants Samsung makes, there’s no guarantee that your specific variant would be able to use some/all of these services. So you’ll need to check with your target carrier in advance to see which of their services your phone would be able to support.

    Finally, some countries may have regulatory requirements which may legally prevent shops/carriers from selling you a SIM card, if your phone isn’t in their database. For instance, in Japan, it’s technically illegal to operate a device without a “giteki” mark - and if your phone doesn’t have this, operators may refuse to sell you a card. In this case however, you should be fine if you order a compatible SIM/eSIM online before arrival (eg from Sakura Mobile).


  • It’s easiest to just register a domain name and use Couldflare Tunnels. No need to worry about dynamic DNS, port forwarding etc. Plus, you have the security advantages of DDoS protection and firewall (WAF). Finally, you get portability - you can change your ISP, router or even move your entire lab into the cloud if you wanted to, and you won’t need to change a single thing.

    I have a lab set up on my mini PC that I often take to work with me, and it works the same regardless of whether it’s going thru my work’s restricted proxy or the NAT at home. Zero config required on the network side.


  • d3Xt3r@lemmy.nztoSelfhosted@lemmy.worldDo you encrypt your data drives?
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    3 months ago

    This shouldn’t even be a question lol. Even if you aren’t worried about theft, encryption has a nice bonus: you don’t have to worry about secure erasing your drives when you want to get rid of them. I mean, sure it’s not that big of a deal to wipe a drive, but sometimes you’re unable to do so - for instance, the drive could fail and you may not be able to do the wipe. So you end up getting rid of the drive as-is, but an opportunist could get a hold of that drive and attempt to repair it and recover your data. Or maybe the drive fails, but it’s still under warranty and you want to RMA it - with encryption on, you don’t have to worry about some random accessing your data.





  • A microplane grater - it’s been really great for dealing with ginger, and even garlic (although for garlic I mostly prefer to just squish it with the flat side of my knife). I’ve also used the slicer end to make chips out of baby potatoes and turnips.

    Another go-to for me is a conventional pressure cooker - I use it when I’m feeling lazy, I just chuck everything in it - lentils/beans + rice + veggies + condiments, and it’s all done in one go, only takes 15-20 minutes and there’s no need to soak stuff beforehand. The best part is that I put all my ingredients in just a single ceramic bowl, so cleaning the cooker is super easy (just rinse it with water), and I can eat directly off the bowl, which saves me from having to use a separate dish.