Random Updates about Greg

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Today/Yesterday I learned that DVD Players are proprietary garbage at its finest, I mean I knew DRM decoders and such exist for DVD Players, but you know what does not exist? The ability to read simple mp4 Files from a Data DVD, like what the fuck. So when compiling the Vacation Footage of my Parents onto a DVD I first made it a Data DVD with the 38 (rather boring) Clips they filmed, that did not work to my surprise, so one Full Size DVD wasted on what essentially is a Backup now.

So what did I need to do to make it work, you ask?

Step 1:
concatenate the 38 Clips into 1 single large mp4 File using ffmpeg. In order to do that more easily I just did an “ls > input.txt” in the Command Line to get a List of all Files I need to put into the input.txt.
Step 2:
convert the mp4 File into an mpg File more than twice the size than the original. Said mpg File had to be not only explicitly cast into the PAL Format, but I also had to explicitly state 16:9 aspect Ratio.
Step 3:
create the File Structure of a typical Video formatted DVD using dvdauthor twice from command Line.
Step 4:
turn said Structure into an ISO File so I could directly burn it onto the DVD. Btw did you know VLC Media Player can read ISO Files? It’s a nice to know thing for testing if you did the ISO File properly.

Just why cant DVD Players just read Files from a DVD, it cant be that hard… Had to waste 3 hours on finding out how to get that shit to work…

Note: None of the Mini DVDs were used in this process, i have a bunch of regular Size CDs and DVDs laying around, the Mini ones are for Portable use only.

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Sounds like CD Players reading burnt MP3’s, most of the time they just outright refused.

Most of these players were built under the assumption that recording and the ability to play back recordings would hurt sales. They saw how the VCR changed how media was controlled and were terrified at the prospect, hence why it was very rare to get DVD players with recording features.

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Ugh, I really hope I get back the previous Asthma Spray on the 16th (for twice a day use), because now the temperature shift messes up everything and brings me into a ping pong of good and bad motivation… It’s Saturday and I have nothing for GT6 again…

The Reason I originally aborted that Asthma Spray was because I thought I had problems with Side Effects of it, but turns out, the same thing that I had when I blamed it on the Spray last year, happened this year again in the same month, so some seasonal garbage came in and made me think it was a side effect of the Asthma Spray. (It was a Migraine alike thing btw, not even the headache kind, more the “body freaks” out kind)

That is why I am going to make a general Allergy Test to see if that was the cause, or if I am really just very susceptible to temperature shifts.

And to top it all off, the CPAP ofcourse doesn’t work properly when the temperatures aren’t in a good range, too hot and I sweat into the Mask after about 45 minutes, too cold and my breath condensates inside the hose and flows back to my face within 30 to 60 minutes.

Both things are very bad for me because I hate the unnerving feeling of Fluids flowing on my skin, and instantly get the compulsion to prevent said fluids from touching anything they are not supposed to (such as my bed/pillow). The only reason I can take showers or baths is because those two places are quite literally supposed to have Liquids in them, so there is no reason for me to prevent contact of Liquids with those, also soap gets easily removed by water and water evaporates quite seamlessly, so I don’t need to worry about that either.

So the CPAP doesn’t work often/long enough to justify me having it (according to health insurance), and they are probably taking it away from me. I essentially only used it 2.5 hours a day over the past year, which combined with the fact that I only sleep 4 hours while I use it (because good sleep recharges me much faster) makes it absolutely impossible to reach the 4 hours a day threshold even if I used it literally every day of the year (note: if I clean the Mask, then I cant use it the day I cleaned it, so it is indeed impossible).

To those who think “why didn’t he just cheat and put the mask on while awake?” I actually did try to do that, but quickly found out that having the Mask on while awake messes up my concentration and heartbeat quite badly, leading to high heart rate induced headaches.

Also gonna get new Glasses because my eyesight got very slightly worse over the last 3 years, and that in an asymmetrical way (left eye being worse than right), so I now get a headache from my current Glasses. Ofcourse they are gonna have an identical Circular Frame to my current ones, so still Eggman-esque tinted Glasses.

There we have it, random Greg Update of the month. XD

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44

Another thing I wanted to mention, I dont know how long I will accept donations via PayPal directly, probably still for quite a long while, since no store accepts any other online currency, but some of the shady things PayPal did recently, especially its anti-industrial-standard refund policy, kinda made me feel like stopping to use them whenever I can actually stop. They are starting to become the EA of Online Banking.

Patreon gets slowly less broken, they did fix OneBoxes, but I still have that Editor Issue that I can’t do anything about, so I am slowly moving away from posting there due to that Issue.

Now in the past I was rightfully paranoid about financial Stuffs so having Savings was important for peace of mind, but ofcourse those times are kinda over, so I would only encourage donations if you seriously wanna throw money at me for no reason, but not if you are short on money yourself.

All of this is just a consideration on my end, I might end up just leaving everything as is. I still hate money, but I know having it makes stuff safer, and I can spend it on random Hardware Stuffs. Also probably gonna soon need to use money for hosting a proper Server and Domain for my Website, and yes I know it is actually very cheap if you dont let yourself get ripped off.

Well, now that I got that off my mind too, I am still feeling tired, just why…?, I spent way too much time in bed and the temperature is actually a stable 22°C since today (central heating configured semi-properly and running now). I think I will use the on-demand inhaler before i go to bed now, and not only before leaving the house. I wont leave the house this week anyways, so it’s fine dosage wise, also I had a twice a day inhaler before, (which I’m trying to get re-prescribed back), so I know that will work in the end. ^^

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And another Update: I really hope the twice a day Asthma Spray is gonna help with the lack of CPAP, just like it did the first time, the once before going to bed Asthma Spray definitely helps me sleep at least, but doesn’t keep me all that motivated during the Day (I don’t wanna overuse that Stuff because I dont know which Type the on-demand one actually is).

Also fun fact, apparently my Computer is kinda heating up my Room by at least 1°C, at least when I am in the Desk Area, so the thermometer (in my Alarm Clock) shows 23°C on the Desk even though it’s around 22°C near the Bed. The Radiators are supposedly set to 20°C (there is air bubbles still in them even, so they are less heat emitting), meaning I guess the Computer does heat up by at least 3°C that happen to stay in the Room. So yeah Temperature is definitely in an acceptable Range for me now. ^^

I’m definitely motivated to do Stuff, but not motivated enough to be creative. So I end up trying to learn more about Programming Stuff for when I’m making my Game. Such as deciding on how the Chunk System is gonna work.

I am likely going for the Octree kinda Chunk instead of an x³ Chunk, that way Objects can be larger and smaller than a Full Block is (making huge Empty or huge “Just-Unknown-Rock” Areas way more performant), and likely combine that with a Marching Blocks type Algorithm for Rendering, with a Resolution deep enough to make Microblocks possible too (They will be 32x32 in terms of MC resolution, but 1/64th the Block Size, so technically 8x8). This can make rendering reflective Surfaces also way easier.

Another Option for Chunks was 256³ sized Chunks, yes that fucking huge per Chunk, and a Shape System to have Slopes work fine that way. But Slopes do work with Marching Blocks too and a lot of times are way more suitable when submerging Blocks in Liquid, which is why I won’t go the Big Chunkus way.

Other Interesting News: Fuck Apple.
https://developer.apple.com/documentation/security/notarizing_your_app_before_distribution
Obviously Apple Support on my end was a questionable thing for me already, I thought “well if it happens to work then fine, they can play on whatever OS they want”, but now Apple forces people to Register any Applications that run on their shit, and reinvents/abuses the word “notarizing” for it. I dont know if Apple finally allows Linux back on their Hardware, but last time I heard was that ONLY Windows 10 was allowed in Bootcamp. So good luck getting my Game to run on any recent Apple Devices, because all I can say is “Install Windows 10” to my knowledge.

Well there is no time like lunchtime, luckily I said all I wanted to say. XD

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There we go, I got the daily Asthma Spray back, and I also found out I don’t have any Allergies.
Now I am lacking any explanation for the seasonal Migraine apart from “maybe dehydration?” and “increase in temperature”.

My Migraine is not of the headache kind (Migraine does not always mean Headache), I often dont even notice it while I am up right, but as soon as i lay down anywhere for more than a few minutes, my brain decides to shoot short firework bursts of minor signals into all directions until I decide to rotate around to lay on the other side (and then it starts again after a while). You can see how that may be annoying when you’re doing something such as trying to sleep, because I’m not rolling around anymore once I am asleep (leading to lucid dreams and sorta nightmares).

Other things that I tend to have during a Migraine are:

  • a “Screen Burn-In Effect” in my eyes especially while reading
  • a Black Pattern appearing in my eyes for a fraction of a second after opening them. Looks exactly like Blood Veins, might be related to the screen burn in effect. (And yes i got my eyes checked at a specialist, there is no random gray blob that is gonna blind me, so it’s purely eye signaling being laggy or something).
  • an increase in the Tinnitus noise in my ears.

Those Effects are not even bad enough to distract me, so I dont notice them most of the time.

There is no pain involved in all of this, nor are the random signals strong enough to actually move my body, so I guess that is an upside.

Now I just need to wait until my Mom buys the Asthma Spray (I will just continue using the on-demand one until then), and get my glasses fixed (they were a couple years old and cause headaches now when I wear them too long, so I need new adjusted lenses), and then most IRL Issues are fixed until the inevitable “it’s too cold for me to walk around outside” issue will make me unable to go to that dumb Jobcenter thing.

Edit: Oh and also got Flu vaccinated on Monday, dont forget your own vaccinations against Stuff, we dont want diseases to spread, do we? :wink:

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Well yesterday was a stupid day at that Jobcenter mandated thingy I have to attend to. I witnessed one of the Teachers bullying one of the Participants into psychological and even financial breakdown. This is obviously very much not okay, so I filed a complaint at the Jobcenter for letting that happen, and hope that they will do something about it.

That Teacher is the same woman who also told me things like:

  • “You should take off your seeing glasses in public because it’s not normal”
    I wear tinted Glasses for my light sensitivity and she knows that, and she said it for the in general purpose not just for the conversation!
  • “Wait somewhere else before class, there is other companies in here and it doesn’t look good if someone stands around.”
    she said that at 8:05am while unlocking the door, with class starting 8:30am absolutely no publicly visible companies even being in that corridor, no one actually walking around in said corridor at that time, and the fucking corridor on the opposite end ALSO being used for Classrooms (and those are used for German Language Courses for people evacuated from Syria). people fucking know that this Area is used for Class Rooms, why wouldn’t they be understanding of people waiting for fucking Class?!

She is the type of person who just ignores all problems and tries to get her will through without any considerations for what the cost is, even if it means intentionally paying pack the Bus Ticket Money late, making sure the Participant in question get all their welfare-income taken away, trying to make sure they cant move to another city like they planned, not accepting they already got a job in said city after just 1 week of effort, because she didn’t help with their Job and therefore their own efforts are invalid. (the Jobcenter is supposed to help people get a job, so I guess that is quite the opposite of whats supposed to happen).

This is worrying me that I might be the next target once the previous target is gone, so I simply had to file a complaint containing all the Information I got on this Issue, and it’s much more alarming if I already have to report someone else being bullied than myself being bullied.

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Was going to say you should report this but you beat me to it. Job centers are depressing enough to attend without being made to feel worse by the people who work there. Even if it’s just acknowledgement someone needs to tell her that that attitude isn’t helping.

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You know whats also fun? There is a TON of Smokers standing in front of the Main Entrance because smoking is illegal inside public buildings, surely THAT doesn’t look asocial or shitty in any way compared to some lone person standing in an unpopulated Corridor. And I have to walk through that Smoke Cloud every morning and dont fucking complain how bad it looks! (except for this Post, but I wouldn’t actually complain about that, since its just a second or two of inhaling some of that passive smoke)

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So yesterday the German version of the Supreme Court decided that Hartz IV (aka welfare) cannot be cut past -30%, meaning I am pretty much fully financially safe now, because I can live with 70% should I decide to say “fuck it! I’m not cooperating anymore!”.

Speaking of that, I noticed I cant breathe at all with Air Temperatures below the freezing point for more than like 5 Minutes (warm clothes dont fucking help, and covering mouth with scarf only delays the inevitable by a couple minutes), so once it gets too cold, I will no longer be able to show up to that Jobcenter mandated thing until around March next year, because Public Transport involves waiting outside. I will definitely go to the doctor when that happens for the first time, and then i will go to the lung doctor again to get that checked.

I really hate being overly sensitive to almost everything (Hot, Cold, Brightness, Contrast, Distraction, Loud Sound, Chemical Cleaning Supplies, Smoke, Sprays, Deodorants, most Shampoos and more…). This obviously screws with a lot of Aspects of my Life (I for myself can deal with it, but some others apparently dont want to and “think” they can fix that…). Luckily most things I like doing involve the Computer in some way so I am not screwed in my free time with that.

Well as I mentioned in the Update Post, the eveningly Asthma Spray definitely keeps me more motivated by now on a long term basis. Took a week or two work in full force, but now it feels much better to do thinks like “waking up” and “getting out of bed”, even when I dont use the CPAP (though I recently started using that again too since the Temperature is in the working range again).

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That’s a lot of sensory type symptoms you got there, the doc hasn’t come up with a root cause for all those sense mishaps being linked in some way?

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I was pretty much born like that so I am used to it, but it can still get annoying as fuck.
The Hot/Cold thing is because Asthma (that wasn’t always like that), Brightness and Contrast is because my eyes dont like overall Brightness or bright spots of Light (such as Street Lanterns or the Sun), Distraction is because I can only focus on one thing at a time, Loud Sound is just because I can hear really well (though I do need to actively listen in order to pay attention to something), Cleaning Supplies, Smoke, Sprays and Deodorants (even ones on other people) are all because Asthma too (but that has always been the case), I simply cant breathe that shit, which also includes the “scentless” deodorants… and Shampoos because as soon as it gets to my eyes it just hurts a lot, not to mention that the stronger ones (that I would actually need) also have a “burning” feeling on my Hair.
And none of those are actual Allergies, they are just annoying to deal with, or annoying to explain to people all the fucking time when I get asked why I wear Tinted Glasses or why I dont use Deodorant (I do shower before going outside, but the sweat just re-appears ofcourse, because my body cant regulate temperature well, I dont sweat a lot but the smell can be noticeable at a few occasions).

You can imagine how this accumulation of some smaller Issues leads to bigger meta Issues.

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Well, I found out that 277 Kelvin is close enough to my lower limit on Temperatures to make me almost faint at the bus stop this morning. I sat on the sidewalk waiting for the bus, since walking back home at that temperature was not an option. Luckily it did get warmer later like I hoped, so I didn’t break down again afterwards.

Guess I got some stuff to “organize”, since I cant leave the house without being driven in the car. Organize as in Doctors appointment and telling the Jobcenter that shit happened.

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Indeed it almost appears as if all your senses have been dialed up to 11. You make sure you stay warm over the winter then.

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So, was at the Dentist about an hour ago because cold sensitivity on two of my teeth. Now it turns out I need a Root Canal on at least one of them on Monday (this means I’m gonna test and release on Sunday). Right now I have a temporary filling in that tooth with some stuff that is supposed to kill the nerve down there. The right half of my mouth is still feeling numb from it (since it’s very fresh). Luckily this wasn’t a US dentist, knowing how they heavily drug patients for just fixing tiny holes. XD

As for Doctors appointment for the Lung thing, apparently because I was at that Doctor this quarter of the year already, they dont wanna give me an appointment right away for the inability to breathe cold Air. Glad this isn’t an Issue for me personally, just for literally everyone else who has to deal with me irl. XD

On other unrelated news, damn I can get a lot of shit done now, I completely forgot how well that daily Inhaler worked! I’m essentially back in the mental shape that I had 3 years ago! Before that I just wanted to stay in bed all time, but now I actually want to stay out of bed. XD

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That was apparently Root Canal Part 2 of 5. Got 3 Appointments left (spread over the next 3-4 weeks). But the Dentist did seemingly good work because now that the numbness in my cheek wore off I dont feel pain. Except for my jaw unhinging due to being opened too wide, but that fixes itself after a while anyways (that was the type of unhinge that you get by yawning too hard, nothing serious). X-Ray revealed that all other teeth are “fine” and dont need any serious attention.

As for that one tooth on the opposite end that I actually went to the dentist for, a special toothpaste is supposed to fix its cold sensitivity, so I’m gonna try that. If it doesn’t work after the 3-4 weeks I’m gonna tell the Dentist that again, but first lets get that root canal completed before doing anything else.

It’s fun how special tooth paste is free (they just threw me one at the dentist), 2 pills of 800mg ibuprofen are free (I just said we dont have painkillers at home, which I think is true, and they gave me them just in case), but electrically measuring how deep the root canal is gonna have to be costs me 10 bucks, because insurance doesn’t pay that fully, because health insurers have problems with new medical practices and other concepts such as “electricity”, because what they pay and cannot pay is determined by Law, and you know how slow Law can be.

There is only 2 bad things about this whole situation for me:

  1. The provisorical filling tastes a but ugh.
  2. I can only chew on one side for yet another Month. (during late October i already avoided chewing on that side due to cold sensitivity)

Since there is no pain I wont have any concentration Issues, so that is a good thing. ^^

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Back on the Asthma + Coldness Issue, I finally got a reply from the Lung Doctor, who said I should double the Daily Asthma Spray again (so that it is exactly the amount it was last year), and a week later I should check if that helped with the Issue.

If it helps then woo I can go outside when needed again, but if it doesn’t I am definitely cutting that stuff back to once a day again. I know it’s probably only because I just started using twice of it yesterday, but I ended up being awake almost 24 hours that day unable to physically calm down, while my back said “stop sitting around, go lay in bed”. And if no benefit comes from taking more of it, I am not taking more of it.

As for the Tooth Stuff, no updates there until next week.

The aforementioned “hyperactivity” has led to me catching up on the few D&D One-Off Episodes I skipped so far at least, so once I am through those there only is “Random Stream Footage I watch in the Background while working” left, and after that pretty much nothing but Music, which ofcourse is all to be listened to in the Background.

Speaking of Music, the SiIvaGunner “King for another Day Tournament” started earlier Today, meaning instead of mostly having garbage Meme Remixes and few good Remixes, the YT Channel currently has a huge batch of very decent Remixes released in quick succession!

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Increasing the Spray dose did not fix my cold air sensitivity, so I guess I am going back to one dose a day. I will probably use that dose at lunch, that way I will be less hyperactive when I am supposed to sleep. The Spray has to be used before eating something, because residue of that spray in the mouth can lead to issues, and eating something obviously cleans most of that out. Glad I can actually watch stuff at 1.5x Speed with the Energy I have, wasting far less time watching Informative Videos (Let’s Plays are background fodder and dont count towards Informative).

Also just came back from part 2 of 4 of the Root Canal, yes its 4 parts, apparently my first visit to the dentist doesn’t count towards the root canal. This time without any need for local narcotics at all (yay nothing is numb). I didn’t expect them to have killed the nerves in that tooth so well that he can just drill around in it without me feeling any pain. Just what the fuck must US Dentists do to their patients, if they need full blown global narcotics to perform surgery.

The aforementioned 10 bucks were actually 9.05 bucks, which I decided to just directly pay since I did not want the whole thing to rely on bills sent via mail. For some reasons I randomly picked up enough coinage from the road in the last 3 months to have exactly 5 cents (1+2+2) in my wallet (the rest was full value euro coins).

You probably already heard about the FTC vs Youtube thing, and while I do think that Youtubers will survive that somehow, I seriously hope the Let’s Players I watch wont be screwed over, because most of them aren’t Child Friendly content, but could still accidentally end up on a List just because of being Gaming Related. Not to mention the Animation based Youtubers of which some definitely have Child Friendly Content.

I decided to download a ton of Videos from Channels I had in my “eh, gonna watch their stuff later” List, just in case shit happens (for some reason I binge watch Shadiversity and Primitive Technologies due to that). Cant wait for people to pre-roll their Videos with “This Video is only suitable for Mature Audiences - SHIT! FUCK! HELL! ASSHOLE!” with just enough swearing at the beginning to make it not Child Appealing, while also not having too many swears that the Advertisers demonetize the Video.

A few dozen Posts back near the end of September I mentioned that CPAP issue with the Health Insurance, due to me “not using it enough” (for good reasons though). That issue has been resolved yesterday. At least until they ask again next year. I bet I will have to explain everything again when it comes to that…

I btw wanted to tell the Lung Doctor today at the phone that the double dose did not have the desired Effect, well I at least told the Answering Machine about it, because nobody picked up the damn phone. Heck they even called back once, fully knowing that I was still in their waiting Loop! Seriously answer your fucking calls first before trying to call back!

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Okay per-Lunchtime might’ve been not Ideal timing for the Inhaler, ended up laying in bed lazily this morning, so I need to put the timing inbetween lunch and late evening. I’m also experimenting with adjusting the Thermostat in my Room properly (to get it 1°C lower to reach about 22°C). But hey I am still as motivated during the day as I should be! Just being flooded with random things I “have” to do, that kept me away from MC.

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Another Update, dont mind the contextual Grammar, I cutpasted the first 2 paragraphs from what I originally wanted to post on the GT6 Thread:

Experimented with the Thermostats on my Radiators to get the Ideal Work and Sleep Temperature going, and hope it was successful (so far it has been). And the best timing for the daily Inhaler seems to be around 17:30, so I am not failing to fall asleep, while also waking up early enough to do more Stuff before lunch.

Still need to deal with setting up my Stepdads new Smartphone, which is surprisingly hard if he doesn’t know shit and I intentionally never had a Smartphone myself because of hating the touchscreen controls and the insecurities. Sadly no good pure Linux based Phone out yet, only Android Garbage. And yes I know there is a Debian based Phone out, but that thing still has problems. Gonna stay with my Normal Phone + GPD WIN 2 Combo until then.

Speaking of portable Tech, Shovel Knight King of Cards is gonna release next Tuesday the 10th of December! I cant wait for the best Character in that Series to be playable!

As for my earlier comment on Youtubers having to put swearwords in their Videos, seems like MatPat found a good way to implement that without swearing. Just put a bunch of “difficult” Words children dont understand instead! Clearly those Kids dont know words like Defenestration (throwing someone out of the Window). XD

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