=VG= SemlerPDX

Hell of a week so far for me, my damn back (up near the neck) has been out since Saturday, that kind where you can only hold yourself upright in one position without stabbing pains.  Can barely concentrate at times, it sucks - then I had to cough but couldn't move my back so I had to hold the front and back of my head just to get through the ordeal.  All I want to do is hang out with friends and play some Fallout 4 - the pain is half of what it was days ago, though, and I'm finally coming out of this... ugh.  Here and there I got a few hours where I felt okay, and I've been playing around with Settlement Building in Fallout.  Built supply lines between them all, and starting to build some shops to add to my in-game income.

Took this screenshot at one of the farther out settlements a little after sunrise - awesome scene of destruction from the nuke behind me.  The detail in this world is freaking gorgeous!

Hey! You mentioned changing HUD color in Elite Dangerous, and wanted to share the method I use in case you want to use it, too.

It's the Elite: Dangerous Profiler by DrKaii http://www.drkaii.com/tools/edprofiler/

And it gives access to a lot of menu options outside the game, and a bunch of other helpful tools.  Here's a screenshot of my own setup, I use it to go between 3 different settings profiles quickly.  I don't change my HUD color anymore only because dangerous things that are normally Red on the radar (to draw our eyes) will also change colors to something innocuous, and can then be hard to notice on the radar as a "dangerous thing".

History of Falcon Modifications - link for a friend:

Falcon 4 history.svg

Hmmm.... This hits home for me for some reason...

 "and the home of the brave."

Holy crap .. I won something!  WOOT!

I've been very busy getting things running again - it's up to some in-game admins to finalize their setup now.  If anyone who had some access doesn't have it, let me know and I'll set you up again.

Gonna play on the new VG ARK: Survival Evolved server again today - only Arma 3 and GTA V take more advantage of my GTX 970.  Amazing detail and gorgeous models for a team(tribe) based survival/building game.  Then again, the game sucks for a few reasons, one being the default game system values like Meat Spoil Time (one piece of food spoiling at default in less than 20 minutes real time) or even the time it takes to tame a Dino  (over 4 hours for a mid-level T-Rex, few can game in one session that long!).

I'm testing out custom values for most everything, and it seems good so far - only need to eat 3 times a day unless very active, and meat spoils in 2 hours instead of 20 minutes, even slower in a refrigerator or feeding trough.  If I can get it setup well, I may keep this server up 24/7 and open it up to Whitelist requests.  Anyone with ARK is of course welcome to test with me - message me for the password.

If anyone is looking to buy the Oculus Rift before January 31st 2019, or if you know anyone who is, I have 2x 10% off Coupons available from their holiday referral program: 

When you buy an Oculus Rift with coupon code (contact me for code) , you'll receive 10% off your purchase.*

*Valid only at Oculus.com. Expires January 31, 2019. One time use only. Cannot be combined with any other discount code or coupon. May not be redeemed for cash. Discount not valid on prior purchases and cannot be applied towards taxes or shipping charges.

In Portland, Oregon, where Darth Vader rides a unicycle while wearing a kilt and playing bag pipes that shoot fire around the Skidmore district, we have a saying, "Keep Portland Weird"
 

.... So this just happened, an official local brew from Portland Brewing:

Just got hit with a ton of heavy wet snow.  While it's melting quickly, some cool shapes are forming:

Last fall, I bought a few more PC monitor arms to free up desk space...  I have a transforming setup now, lol.

Made this GIF to show the different ways I can set this thing up so I can, for example, play VR without punching a hole in my main monitor or knocking over my drink. 

The laptop is connected to the smallest monitor on the right, the other two are connected to my PC.  I have to hide a lot of spaghetti behind the desk, but  all the cables are well managed.

Life has been extremely busy, and I've not been feeling well.  This has caused some of the projects I've been working on to get pushed to the back burner, but I expect to be active again real soon - this stuff is on my mind even when I'm not at my PC.  Plans for the VG Store, releasing an update for my voice control project, the VG Clubs Leadership (Wings) program, and getting requested servers installed and working are at the top of my list as soon as I can break away and get some time to tinker.  Apologies to anyone who is waiting on me to act and get things done, I had not anticipated these distractions, and when I do get time at my desk, it's barely enough time to make rounds and make sure things are solid before I'm busy again.

Love the garden pic on your profile!  I've been growing for around 15 years, indoors and 'drain-to-waste' hydroponics.  Last spring my crop went to hell when aphids invaded and evaded entire battalions of ladybugs I released to eat them.  One plant was completely ignored by the ladybugs, it was very frustrating.  Haven't fired up the grow room for a crop since, but I better get started soon cuz it's $150 an oz. at the shops, and lower quality that my grows.

Last best grow was Spring 2019 - pics if you're interested:  https://imgur.com/gallery/K6UIMSP

My jaw dropped at this amazing amateur cosmic photography by Thunderf00t - @11:35 Alien Mothership confirmed! (j/k) 

Oooh - time to grab soda and popcorn! It's a history of Punch-Out episode!

https://youtu.be/XAwM-lCI4YU

oooh... just hit 1000 content count!!

Road America IMSA Super Car Championship races

Slowly helping my Pop get his PC gaming setup(s) working, and I find out new things everyday.

Today I learned why all my attempts to get online (ARK, PR, etc.) fail from this house:  Pop has DSL... 1Mb/s Up...16Mb/s Down ugh!!!  Like stepping back in time!  

Soooooo..... I would be rather grateful if someone in ARK already in the VG Tribe could pop by my castle and fill up the feeding trough with raw meat and a few berries in a week or so.

They can all last about 3 weeks with server settings as is, and I'll be back home in September, but at least once would do them well so I don't lose any of my breeders, etc.

No biggie if I lose everything, tho - can always get new animals,  I have a few eggs in the fridge that I can hatch to start up again, slowly, but.... I have already lost the otters and a few dimorphodons, tribe log showed the loss.

So I get to go back into Physical Therapy for my left arm.  PT is hell, better described as Pain & Torture - but if I don't do it, I'll lose the ability to use my left arm.  Basically, I can't bend it from the elbow because something going to my shoulder is too short and my elbow feels like it's burst into flames while being frozen with ice during an electrocution.  Yea, it sucks.

I've defiantly been playing Falcon BMS a few times in the past week or two, and after an afternoon or evening session of several flights, I become unable to use my left arm at all and that hot/cold/shock sensation persists for hours, at a lower level than when I yank it, but still nagging at me.  I have to admit my limitations some times, and though I love my BMS, I have to be honest and report that I'm not the most consistent leader for that server.  I wish I could consistently play each day, and help grow our BMS crowd, but some days I can only sit and rest and watch crap on YouTube or play something that uses Voice Controls or my Xbone controller to where I can casually play while half lying down.

People must wonder where I "go" when I disappear for days on end, and I just want to say I am here, just not able to do everything I want when I want to.  I'm glad my friends here understand and are patient with me when I need to take frequent breaks.  Thanks guys, see you when I can!

So, it's been a crappy week for me.  Busy with projects at home, and on Monday, I threw out my right shoulder (I'm right handed) and barely finished my work tasks.  On top of that, I just launched a new server for my favorite game, Falcon BMS, and I've been unable to fly in it due to the whole "so much pain I want to vomit" issue.  Been so bored between the hot tub, ice packs, and frequent naps that I made a voice control setup for Steel Ocean so I can play a game using my voice (and a dual-axis controller in my left hand for aim/look).  Sleep schedule off, I tested it successfully last night around 2am, and it works.

I have to take frequent breaks, but I'll be around here and there to game with you guys. 

this is the sort of crap I make when I'm bored... not that I don't have better things to do, just farting around drinking my morning coffee

Was playing GTA:V online awhile ago, been saving up trying to get to $1 million for a long time just as a goal.  I don't spend much on cars, already got them, and guns galore...  I walked into AmmuNation to fill up on mags and sticky bombs, and accidentally the cursor moved from the Sticky Bombs to some half a million dollar alien gun on the wall.

Since I was just jamming the button to rebuy as many sticky bombs as I could hold, I instantly purchased this lame ass gun I didn't want when the cursor moved up.  I've since tried it out, it's pretty meh.  I'd rather have  the mini-gun if I wanted a heavy machine gun style weapon, for sure.

Luckily for my dumb ass, a new Casino is opening in GTA:V Online and they're having a promotion to launch it, including perks for linking Twitch Prime with your Rockstar Social Club.  I happen to have Amazon Prime, and Twitch, so I jumped through their hoops and BOOM!  EASY MONEY!  Also comes with a penthouse suite (free of charge/rent) at the new Casino when it opens on July 23rd.

We'd like to add a few client side mod keys to the 2nd Arma 3 server (Insurgency) and I tried a few times but failed.  I have no idea what I was doing wrong, literally trying to drop key files in the key folder from TeamViewer File Manager, RDP, or even FTP.  Kinda frustrating - I must be doing something wrong.

Contact me when you can, maybe you know how.  They want st_hud, st_movement (if available), JSRS, and something called badbensonEM.

Thanks!

(also, Nvram said something in chat "PITN Check your steam"  - whatever that means. maybe he sent u a message.

-Sem

Windows 10 is a marketing scheme!  DirectX 12 could have been a module for the Windows 7 operating system - easily.  The company is in the business of selling operating systems, and not content to build on past successes they will constantly redesign what does not need to be redesigned.  What is worse is that it is ON PURPOSE!  Microsoft purposefully went backwards with certain functions to make sure they do not function as well as in Windows 7, for which support & updates will soon be discontinued, so that people will buy Windows 11 one day and see it as an improvement over Windows 10.  They are doing this to ensure sales when in the past their customers would not upgrade to the latest product due to familiarity or proven functionality.

We had mice - so someone built a mouse trap and sold it to us.  It worked and everyone bought them all up.  But then Mr. Mousetrap wanted more money so they made a new one that doesn't work as well, but they get to sell it to us once again.  We don't buy it cuz it's crap, so they stop selling the first mouse trap to force one product.  Now we're stuck with a crap mouse trap and a company that won't sell us the good one anymore.  All those people defending them saying "it's better than nothing!" or "remember when we had mice everywhere?" can suck a spotted dick.
Give me back my good mouse traps!

Fuck You Microsoft! 

Wot I been up to:

Crafting the new VG Wiki using our database forms system, to allow any old joe with little to no editing experience to create or edit great looking Wiki pages in a very VG themed style.  All entries feature an automated Contents menu linking to any section with content, little 'edit' buttons next to any section that open the editor and jump to the part of the form containing that content, a Summary Box panel that sizes automatically with content (up to a certain min/max width), and up to 64 sections with optional inset image panel (with subtitle) which uses simple logic to stagger left/right on odd/even numbered sections.

Once the form/system is set, I'll be able to create additional categories, and even category-specific fields such as a standardized format for the Summary Box on a per subject/topic basis.  Permissions can be set separately for who can create new pages/entries, or who can edit, so we can create a roadmap of 'stub' entries that can be filled in by users of specific group(s) that we dictate (such as Jr. Officers and higher only, etc.).

This is also being used to learn about custom CSS and HTML, and IPS logic, as it pertains to in-page links that jump around the same page (such as the proposed 'Back to Top' button for this website, globally).  Like, I thought I knew a little about HTML and certain tags/properties like <a> and <div>, but this project has had me diving in much deeper requiring me to create my own custom <div> classes.  The little white square brackets around the in-page links like [edit] are custom CSS added before and after the parent class, and ended up looking a lot more concise than three <span>'s in a row all with their own style dictated any time they were used.

the difference being:
 

<div class="vg-wiki-edit-link"><a href="./?do=edit&#subsection-{$vg_wiki_section}"><span>edit</span></a></div>

instead of this ugly mess:

<a target="_self" href="./?do=edit&#subsection-{$vg_wiki_section}"><span style="color:#bababa;font-size:12px;">[</span> <span style="color:#dba901;margin:2px;font-size:10px;font-weight:bold;">edit</span> <span style="color:#bababa;font-size:12px;margin-right:15px;">]</span></a>

Got some pics - first is day 1 proof of concept, then day 2, then day 3... coming right along, a lot of the work now is in the system/editor as opposed to the front end "look" of the Wiki pages:
(*images and text, and subsection titles etc. are placeholders for visualization purposes, of course)

Yesterday we got 2 inches of snow in less than 6 hours centered around rush hour traffic. This only happens every several years, and no one seemed prepared. Whole damn city pretty well shut down and this morning it's crawling back onto it's feet with snow shoes on. The giant hill that is the main road off our street is a mess of pileups frozen in action, abandoned for the night. I saw a car with it's dome light on - at least one of them will have a dead battery when they return.

Not one can move as all the cars are touching and bearing the weight of each other. It will be an engineering challenge to safely dislodge them individually without sending one rolling off the side and into one of the houses along the hill.

I took a walk up the hill to look at the mess, there were about 10 cars a quarter of the way up this 1/2 mile hill, a steep hill with angles from 4 to 7 degrees. A set of four cars were sandwiched together right in the middle of the road.

Another pair were frozen in what was a head on collision and they're nearly rolling off the side of the road, and one of them is wedged a foot in the air where their front ends meet, it's tires suspended above the icy ground.

Everyone else that couldn't make it up the hill parked their cars along my street everywhere there was space. They'll have to wait for the snow to melt to get emergency equipment up the hill in order to resolve that massive pileup.

Firstly, people here do not know how to drive in the snow, and secondly the trucks think they can go full speed and ignore packed snow even when they are not 4x4 off-road style trucks. The ignorance and false hope is frozen in a picture of those cars parked in their crashed positions on the hill.