This is not much of a post, so much as a reminder for myself. Something specific to my system makes it so that occasionally Fedora issues a Kernal Panic warning, and I have to select a prior version to load. Three times now I have had to locate this Stack Exchange web page to fix the problem, so I thought I should just record the way to solve the problem here. Although I think I may end up trying Debian with Gnome next time I have time to rebuild my system. I think I would get a lot out of the stability that both offer. I think using Gnome instead of KDE will be the largest adjustment, but also will be fun to try.
Teleprompter Apps for Linux
Categories Tech 
A lot times when people record themselves, you see their eyes slowly drift down as they read through their script. An easy easy way to make it look like you know what your doing is to use a teleprompter app. It is not perfect, but at least it will keep your eyes in one place. For myself, I tried out two before settling.
Teleprompter by Nokse [link]
This is such a clean interface and very straight forward. I think Teleprompter fits right at home in a clean environment like Gnome. However, I am hoping to see more fine tuning control over the speed of the teleprompter, as I needed it to go just a little bit slower than it would allow me to lower the speed down to. I have opened a request on github for this, and hopefully the creator will be open to doing so, as I love the simplicity of Teleprompter.
QPrompt by Javier O. Cordero Pérez [link]
QPrompt does so many things. It can be complicated if you see the bar at the bottom and get overwhelmed, but it does not need to be. That is all stuff you can play with, but do not have to. Just click the little wrench icon and you can then adjust the “step acceleration,” or the speed of the prompter. This is what I ended up using for my needs, but I felt like this may be a lot for my simple needs. That being said, clearly a lot of effort went into QPrompt and it will probably serve more of the KDE mindset better. You have all the options you need, like opacity, alignment, velocity, countdown timers, backgrounds, and so on. If your like me, you can just paste your text in and set the speed and go as well. It should be noted that QPrompt runs on Linux, Windows, macOS, and Android.
Looking for a Challenge, Found a Disappointment
Categories Video Games 
I find it odd to be writing about The Elder Scrolls Online after having not played it for some months. It sticks in my mind though, as the game feels like home in a lot of ways. I love the world and how the controls feel as you move around it. I even enjoy the questing at times, despite how simplistic the characterization can often be. Mostly though, it is just a vibe and I will probably be back sooner rather than later.
That all being said, there is some heavy salt to it for me as well. Update 45 has just released and while there are some nice changes, like finally making the map readable and boosting mounts, it feels also like an affirmation that I see things differently.
Broken Combat
Light and heavy attack weaving is not fun, if only as a consequence of animation canceling. Mixing in light attacks between other, more grand abilities, is a neat thing!
However, animation canceling to do so is very very not-fun. What is worse, is this was not originally an intended aspect of combat. Zenimax Online Studios has just decided to leave it in for over ten years, and build the game around it. So now you get this silly thing where your characters grand spell-slinging gestures get stopped as soon as it starts. This is all so that we can break another aspect of the game that I will talk about next.
The Narcissism of Small Differences: The Distractions in Games
Categories Board Games, Video Games 
Twelve years ago I watched Adam Sessler talk about the necessity of throwing away all of his physical game cases. He had a phrase that stuck with me ever since, the “fetishization of minutia.” Sessler spoke of how games emphasizing special editions and unique DLC take away from the cultural conversations around games. Ultimately, he expressed that he felt everyone was being manipulated and missing the experience of just playing our games and not focusing on hypersensitivities.
I’m no saint speaking from a podium of purity. A couple of years ago, I was begrudgingly all in on the predatory Crown Store in The Elder Scrolls Online. I was played and felt awful for having participated in a part of what is an otherwise lovely game. I am not unsympathetic to appreciating the desire or hyper focus on wanting something. I have a shelf of unopened board games that knows this too well.
I Waited to Play Sons of the Forest
Categories Video Games 
Authors Note on January 16th, 2025: It appears there is life. The game has gotten a sizable number of fixes applied to it and raft structures have made an appearance. I’m going to leave the rest of the post as is for posterity. I will add that I have softened on the game after this. I do think communicating more updates were coming would have helped.
Original Post:
The original game, The Forest, gave me a ton of positive memories. Steam says I played it just shy of 60 hours, and I can say that I thought it felt like more because I was sucked in for a while. The game exuded horror and the survival elements felt like an ingrained challenge. Last year Realeo got me a copy of Sons of the Forest as a gift, but I wanted to wait until early access was over. Well it is over, sort of.
Sons of the Forest does not feel like the game I was hoping for next. I’m only about 15 hours in so far, but it is extremely apparent that the game is incomplete. With the last small hotfix coming 200 days ago, I do not think the game is going to see any more attention and that is a shame. The bones are still the same game, to a fault. However, balance and lack of growth hold Sons of the Forest back.
From the opening, you are treated to another flight-start but without the emotional investment delivered. Much like the first game, you collect resources and build a base of sorts, but this time you have an AI companion. Kelvin is this adorable fellow who you communicate to via written exchanges that are often ignored. You see, Kelvin has a singular brain cell. I won’t say too much more, but Kelvin is not the only friend you can meet but there are no more brain cells and so it is shared amongst them.
The Minor Keys: Christmas for One
I’m the holiday-type. It feels weird to need to say that, but I have met people who really do not welcome date-specific times of celebration. I enjoy an excuse to be merry and put up bright lights, but this year I am a bit at odds with Christmas. I find myself alone and living in an in-between town, squared center from where I was to where I am going, and that is not conducive to cheer. I’m doing my best though, I made a couple of people happy and that always warms me for a bit, but sometimes I just want to read a book or listen to music with people like me.
This post may come off a little bit Microwave Cooking for One, but there is a season for everything and everyone.
The Right Music
Joni Mitchell’s song, River, opens with a minor key contrast of Jingle Bells. Wouldn’t it be nice to get away from the loneliness of the season and skate down a river?
The Right Socks
Keeping warm during the holidays extends well beyond what you feel in your heart. Ground yourself with some special socks, even a single pair. Sometimes when we feel down, we forget
Firefox CSS: Centered Bookmark Bar with Hidden Text
Categories Tech 
I enjoy having my bookmark bar always showing, but the default styling is a bit much. This area is reserved for my most visited websites, a way to quickly jump from one to the other, and so seeing full names constantly is not necessary. Visually, I just think things should be centered and so there is that.
What This Changes
- Hide the bookmark text but show it if you hover over an icon.
- Adjust the padding around the icons so they aren’t so cramped together.
- Increase the icons sizes to 18px each. Anything more and it starts to look a bit blurry.
- Center the bookmarks and add a 2px padding below and above so they aren’t touching the edges of the bar.
- Style the separators on the toolbar using an RGBA color that goes well with the Nordic Dark theme. You can adjust this color to anything else you want at any RGBA color picking website. Just replace
rgba(77, 85, 101, 1)with whatever color you want.
The How
Changing the CSS in Firefox can seem complicated if you land at the official documentation pages, but it is a lot easier than that. A fair robust how-to page is housed on reddit and so I will not try to reinvent that wheel. Follow the link and when you get to the part about adding code, you can use what I have below.
Live Service Games Keep Shutting Down, Why Won’t They Learn?
Categories Video Games 
A lot of live service games have closed lately, games meant to be developed perpetually in a bid to find a golden cash cow. Less games have succeeded at this than have though, and it takes us to where we are today.
You can cite Concord, XDefiant or SEGA killing HYENAS, their most expensive game to date, before even launching it. The failure of these games to grab hold in the intended way is indisputable. What is missing from consideration is where games are today.