So I wanted a small, and thin friction hing for another project, and I couldn't find the metal ones that they use for the iPad's Magic Keyboard case. So I design my own the parts I had on my desk.

The smallest nut that I had was 4mm wide which really limited how thick the design can be. The result is this

It folds flat at measure at a maximum thickness of about 10mm

It works a lot better than I thought it would, especially since this is my first prototype print. Need to figure out some things, like to stiffen the arms and to prevent/reduce twisting.

But as a basis to start from this works nicely. I think if I add a TPU washer on the back end, I might be able to get it stiffer and more consistent feeling. But I'll do that at another time.

So a very long time ago now, I upgraded from my ancient AMD FX 6100 to a Ryzen 5 1600, and now I am on my 3rd CPU with an Intel i3 12100f.

Why did I go with an i3 and not the i5? Simple, I was on a budget and I couldn't justify spending more than $250 CAD for this upgrade. I could've squeezed in the 12400 if it was in stock, but it wasn't.

Why didn't I just get a new AMD CPU and slot it in? Well I tried, but my Gigabyte motherboard (even with updates) refused to play nice with the 5500 I tried to upgrade too. If I was keeping with AMD I'd need to buy a new Motherboard and if I was buying a new Motherboard for this I might as well get the best bang for my Buck.

So what did I get.

Motherboard: MSI PRO B760M-P since it had the IO I wanted (2x M.2 slots and a USB C Port on the back)

CPU: Intel i3 12100f

And the results are... honestly surprising. Despite loosing 2 core and 4 threads, I gained in performance everywhere, or I was GPU limited with my 3050. 2 minutes off of my 10 minute handbrake render, 50fps extra in Doom 2016, and a doubling in Geekbench single core performance which I need thanks to my work in FreeCAD. FreeCAD is still slow, but the models I am loading are demanding.

Overall I am happy with my upgrade, and the best part is, since I am buying my Motherboards at the end of a socket generation rather than the beginning, it means when I want to upgrade in a few years, it should work with intel 13th and 14th gen CPU's.

Geekbench before: https://browser.geekbench.com/v6/cpu/6614622

Geekbench after: https://browser.geekbench.com/v6/cpu/6616466

TL:DR Emulators installed via Flatpak won't recognize steam inputs during remote play, However AppImages will work. So if you want to play PCSX2 via Steam Link from your main rig, install the AppImage version.

So this whole journey started when I wanted to play PS2 games from my PC on my Big Screen TV. Years ago I got a Steam Link, and outside of it forgetting my Bluetooth devices it's been quite reliable.

However when I switched over to Linux and installed my emulators via Flathub, I could start the emulator, but outside of mouse inputs, the emulator refused to recognize the inputs outside of those directly connected to the PC. I presume it's due to how Flatpaks work.

Reported the problem on the Steam Linux Beta github page, but that still left me without a solution. It's not like there exists a *.deb for every emulator, and if there existed one, it was out dated, so it was hit or miss if I could start a game with a controller.

However when I tried AppImages, it worked! I presume it's due to the fact that the AppImage runner is a locally installed package, which means it can hook into the systems inputs, like Steam Input. Thus far I've tested PCSX2, DuckStation and Retroarch, and everything appears to be working beautifully!

I think I saw parts of the engine a little while back.

Running Linux Mint, with the latest updates on both my iPad and my PC. And it just worked. Needed to put my password in to trust my device, but duuude! It just works. So nice.

Just saw this on a walk. No idea why this happened.

Here is the reverse side:

For the long and short of what this is. I make 3D Printable e-reader cases that are held together by stitching cloth or leather. Up to now the cover had the magnet as a part of the design, but with no way to upgrade or change it out. This is my solution for that.

With 8 screws and a tight fit, the cover can be swapped out when you upgrade or change out your e-reader. That way you can keep the case itself and just upgrade the components you need when you need it.

Still testing it, but very happy with how it turned out.

I feel this happens to everyone. Buy a PC, be happy that it's better than what it replaces, then after a few years get annoyed that's slow.

This happened to me with my now 6/7 year old Ryzen 5 1600x. It was so much faster then my FX 6100, but my workload changed, and while multicore it's good, single core leaves much to be desired, especially since my CAD software of choice FreeCAD is very dependent on single core/thread performance.

So I've been keeping an eye on the markets, waiting for a deal to be had, and I found one, with the Ryzen 5 5500 going into my budget. So I bought it thinking that my old Gigabyte B350M Motherboard would support it. I mean Gigabyte says it's supported and they've never lied about anything before... let alone deny by rebate claim for my laptop.

So I installed the CPU, booted it up, and boot loop. So I took out a stick of ram and it posted, was planning on fixing that later. Configured my BIOS to my liking, saved and restarted into my OS. It booted, for 3 seconds, then promptly black screened and crashed. Not even the power and reset buttons worked, so I had to hard kill it.

OK Troubleshooting time. Check BIOS version. 52h, hummm looks good but there is a 53, lets install that. And a reboot after, no fix.

OK let ask Google, within the dozens of responses asking for BIOS version, there was reseating the RAM. That did nothing, and underclocking the CPU to 3000MHz. That shockingly worked, and I booted into my OS. Neat, I can troubleshoot that later.

Now let's install my other stick of RAM and lets get to fixing this sucker... and it's boot looping again. I've reset the CMOS, put both sticks of RAM into all slot configurations, and nothing.

So I re-installed my 1600x to sanity check myself, and it worked, with both RAM installed. So back to Canada Computers I went to get a refund. While I was tempted by the Intel CPU's on the way out, I got new thermal paste and now I am writing this post on my PC with the 1600x.

Lessons I learned today.

1. If you are upgrading a 1000 series Ryzen stick with the 3000 series as 5000 compatibility is dodgy depending on the manufacturer.

2. The Manufacturers can and will lie about compatibility, and hardware upgradability is hit or miss depending on the Motherboard.

3. I'm not buying from Gigabyte ever again. Though I've heard Asus isn't much better.

Now PLEASE NOTE BEFORE COMMENTING. I do not have the 5500 and will not go back and get it again, so no troubleshooting, please. I just wanted to share my experience and kind of warn those who plan on doing the same.

I took this picture at Peggy's Cove NS.

You can download the files on:

Thingiverse: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:6615905

Printables: https://www.printables.com/model/874747

FreeCAD Design Files: https://github.com/the16bitgamer/16BitVirtualStudiosDesigns/tree/main/GLoA%20E-Reader%20Cases/6%20inch

The files are for all the 3D Printable components which makes up the e-reader case. What's not included in the files is the cutting profiles for the case that holds it. But you can just use duck tape or some flexible adhesive and it'll work. Along with the screws, nuts and magnets required.

From the videos description: News on what the UK government response means on the issue of game destruction by publishers! It's not all awful, just most of it! Also, some news on how the campaign to end game destruction is going internationally. Relevant links below:

Australian Petition: https://www.aph.gov.au/e-petitions/petition/EN6080

UK Petition: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/659071/

Canadian Petition: https://www.ourcommons.ca/petitions/en/Petition/Details?Petition=e-4965

https://stopkillinggames.com

Running a Gigabyte U4UD, been having battery problems for months now, and the battery health only reports 50% capacity. Started playing Battlefront and got distracted and saw my battery looks like this now. Been doing this for 15 min, so either my battery is magical... or the Clevo design is flawed. Seeing how long she goes for on battery before it just dies.

I am not looking for tech support, just thought this would be funny.