# The Off Topic **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous\ **Created:** [June 9, 2018, 4:36am UTC](https://forum.headphones.com/t/the-off-topic/1684 "2018-06-09T04:36:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 118

**Author:** ![robson](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.headphones.com/robson/32/59145_2.png) [@robson](https://forum.headphones.com/u/robson)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2023, 6:28am UTC](https://forum.headphones.com/t/the-off-topic/1684/2412 "2023-12-10T06:28:00Z")

> [@pennstac](#): > > Getting hard to find the 100 watt incandescent light bulbs it needs Just get the LED equivalent, it uses far less juice 😉 ---

**Author:** ![generic](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.headphones.com/generic/32/61169_2.png) [@generic](https://forum.headphones.com/u/generic)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2023, 10:49am UTC](https://forum.headphones.com/t/the-off-topic/1684/2413 "2023-12-10T10:49:47Z")

> [@pennstac](#): > > hard to find the 100 watt incandescent light bulbs What are you talking about?!? You can kill two birds with one stone. Easy-Bake Tube Amp cakes add unique sweetness to all music. ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/uploads/headphones/original/3X/1/7/17dea9742f1d112bfde4eb061a9cfda6e2966069.jpeg) > [@Tubes, glow and tube amps](https://forum.headphones.com/t/tubes-glow-and-tube-amps/7937): > > Show off your glow, tubes or tube amps. Pic must be taken by you. Let’s start with some nice glow, thoriated tungsten that is: 801A: 01A: Elrog 300B All mesh Stellaris with RGN2504 and PX4 Crazy wasteful to have everything on but couldn’t resist: The Cavalli liquid glass did its best Even a small input can show off, my old Stratus: ---

**Author:** ![mgosdin](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.headphones.com/mgosdin/32/47331_2.png) [@mgosdin](https://forum.headphones.com/u/mgosdin)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2023, 11:16pm UTC](https://forum.headphones.com/t/the-off-topic/1684/2414 "2023-12-10T23:16:49Z")

ThingMaker, I literally burned two of those up. Mark Gosdin ---

**Author:** ![Audiophool](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.headphones.com/audiophool/32/49422_2.png) [@Audiophool](https://forum.headphones.com/u/Audiophool)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2023, 4:33am UTC](https://forum.headphones.com/t/the-off-topic/1684/2415 "2023-12-15T04:33:29Z")

Happy whole cake day @Resolve !! 🎂 ---

**Author:** ![pennstac](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.headphones.com/pennstac/32/381_2.png) [@pennstac](https://forum.headphones.com/u/pennstac)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2023, 2:36am UTC](https://forum.headphones.com/t/the-off-topic/1684/2416 "2023-12-23T02:36:53Z")

Amid the constant mediocre minor football bowl games pre New Years, we have a welcome break tomorrow. Arsenal v. Liverpool Gunners!!! ---

**Author:** ![frkasper](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.headphones.com/frkasper/32/9408_2.png) [@frkasper](https://forum.headphones.com/u/frkasper)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2023, 4:05pm UTC](https://forum.headphones.com/t/the-off-topic/1684/2417 "2023-12-25T16:05:08Z")

Merry Christmas everyone! 🎅 ---

**Author:** ![pennstac](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.headphones.com/pennstac/32/381_2.png) [@pennstac](https://forum.headphones.com/u/pennstac)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2024, 12:46am UTC](https://forum.headphones.com/t/the-off-topic/1684/2418 "2024-01-01T00:46:26Z")

Challenge: Who will have the last post of 2023? @Torq ? @SenyorC ? @taronlissimore ? @android ? @PaisleyUnderground @Polygonhell @prfallon69 @generic ? @hottyson? Or someone else? And who will get the first post of 2024? Entries will be adjusted for longitude. And this raises the question. When is New Year’s at the North and South Poles? ---

**Author:** ![SenyorC](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.headphones.com/senyorc/32/13567_2.png) [@SenyorC](https://forum.headphones.com/u/SenyorC)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2024, 1:04am UTC](https://forum.headphones.com/t/the-off-topic/1684/2419 "2024-01-01T01:04:18Z")

I already did the first of 2024, you guys are so '23 😁 ---

**Author:** ![pennstac](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.headphones.com/pennstac/32/381_2.png) [@pennstac](https://forum.headphones.com/u/pennstac)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2024, 1:22am UTC](https://forum.headphones.com/t/the-off-topic/1684/2420 "2024-01-01T01:22:57Z")

What part of > [@pennstac](#): > > Entries will be adjusted for longitude. don’t you understand? ---

**Author:** ![SenyorC](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.headphones.com/senyorc/32/13567_2.png) [@SenyorC](https://forum.headphones.com/u/SenyorC)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2024, 1:59am UTC](https://forum.headphones.com/t/the-off-topic/1684/2421 "2024-01-01T01:59:47Z")

Barring any message from @prfallon69 , I am closest to GMT, which, as we know, is the “boss” of all time zones! ---

**Author:** ![generic](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.headphones.com/generic/32/61169_2.png) [@generic](https://forum.headphones.com/u/generic)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2024, 5:42pm UTC](https://forum.headphones.com/t/the-off-topic/1684/2422 "2024-01-05T17:42:00Z")

I used to get confused if a post was from “Roark” or “Rhodey”. I don’t get confused with these icons. > [@Donald North Audio (DNA)](https://forum.headphones.com/t/donald-north-audio-dna/13070/343): > > off > [@Donald North Audio (DNA)](https://forum.headphones.com/t/donald-north-audio-dna/13070/344): > > off ---

**Author:** ![Lou\_Ford](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.headphones.com/lou_ford/32/32441_2.png) [@Lou\_Ford](https://forum.headphones.com/u/Lou_Ford)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2024, 6:07pm UTC](https://forum.headphones.com/t/the-off-topic/1684/2423 "2024-01-05T18:07:22Z")

> [@pennstac](#): > > Arsenal v. Liverpool > > Gunners!!! ABL (Anybody But Liverpool) ---

**Author:** ![Lou\_Ford](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.headphones.com/lou_ford/32/32441_2.png) [@Lou\_Ford](https://forum.headphones.com/u/Lou_Ford)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2024, 6:12pm UTC](https://forum.headphones.com/t/the-off-topic/1684/2424 "2024-01-05T18:12:23Z")

> [@pennstac](#): > > When is New Year’s at the North and South Poles? A little late, but the South Pole follows New Zealand time. The North Pole is not attached to any geo-political entity, so it’s whatever time you want it to be there. ---

**Author:** ![Torq](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.headphones.com/torq/32/16384_2.png) [@Torq](https://forum.headphones.com/u/Torq)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2024, 1:41am UTC](https://forum.headphones.com/t/the-off-topic/1684/2425 "2024-01-24T01:41:47Z")

Weird, possibly, random observations for the start of the year … **Audio Related:** - I now have more hours on the Sennheiser **HD660S2** than I did on my HE-1. - **THIE AUDIO Monarch MKIII** are an almost perfect alternative to the Empire Ears Odin, for when I don’t mind giving up a _little_ on the technical side, but also want a more prominent bottom-end (albeit less than a Raven or Legend). - **7Hz x Crinacle Zero:2** … bought a handful of them to toss in with my portable game systems, Apple 3.5mm dongles, and so on. Very impressed in general. Can’t go wrong for \<$25. Often can’t be bothered to switch them out for something else once I have them in my ears. **Things I have enjoyed far more than I expected to:** - **[Analogue Pocket](https://www.analogue.co)** - **[Anbernic](https://anbernic.com) [RG35XX Plus](https://anbernic.com/products/rg35xx-plus) & [RG35XX H](https://anbernic.com/products/rg35xx-h)** - **[Lego “Icons” Concorde](https://www.lego.com/en-us/product/concorde-10318)** - **Cuban Christmas Dinner (Noche Buena):** **Random Irritants:** - The obnoxious, loud, incomprehensibly fat, slobberingly-drunk and unnecessarily ugly, nob-weasel that sneezed all over everyone (didn’t even attempt to cover his mouth/nose) in the bathroom halfway through my last cruise - and giving me the cold-from-hell (no, **not** COVID … and the first cold I’ve had in 4+ years). - Any TV series that finds success in the early stages of its first season, and then pivots to draw the story out for several more seasons than it can support and THEN fucking ends without resolving the original plot-arc! * * * \*It’s very flexibile and easy to use even if you **don’t** have LEGITIMATE access to images for games (“ROMs”), but I’m not touching that aspect of things. \*\*Yes, I have either original cartridges, discs and/or boards, or just the actual (original) ROM chips from full-size arcade machines. \*\*\*Adult Fan of Lego. ---

**Author:** ![Torq](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.headphones.com/torq/32/16384_2.png) [@Torq](https://forum.headphones.com/u/Torq)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2024, 11:19pm UTC](https://forum.headphones.com/t/the-off-topic/1684/2426 "2024-01-24T23:19:24Z")

> [@Torq](#): > > [Anbernic](https://anbernic.com) [RG35XX Plus](https://anbernic.com/products/rg35xx-plus) New firmware/software for this dropped today. Useful improvements. Compared to the Analogue Pocket, though, applying updates to these things is a **lot** of fannying about. (Download a multi-part 7zip file, from a Google Drive share - which has usually exceeded its quota, extract it, image an microSDXC card from it … which requires something like “balena Etcher” (no simple file copy here) …) ---

**Author:** ![raindownthunda](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.headphones.com/raindownthunda/32/20082_2.png) [@raindownthunda](https://forum.headphones.com/u/raindownthunda)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2024, 5:29am UTC](https://forum.headphones.com/t/the-off-topic/1684/2427 "2024-01-26T05:29:06Z")

I had my eyes on the Anbernic handhelds for a while… No performance complaints? The form factor looks wildly nostalgic, which I make up adds a lot to the experience. I ended up getting a ROG Ally instead - not a direct comparison by any means, but more of an all-arounder for my gaming habits. The performance is wildly impressive for a handheld device, even with demanding AAA games (I’ve found 900P to be the sweet-spot). Though it does take a commitment to tinkering with things like fan curves, and experience in the fine arts of Windows drivers and registry tweaks to get it to a happy place. I was amazed to be getting better FPS and a smoother overall experience with Starfield on a handheld than I do on my Xbox Series X. Sure, you can’t compare 900P to 4K, but with the screen-size and viewing distance it looks great… Pretty useless on the go unless you’re packing a 65W+ power bank or plugged into AC. Although I got it for travel, I’ve found myself mostly using it docked on my LG C2. 4K OLED + 120Hz + indie Windows games / emulation from the living room is dreamy with an Xbox controller. Only thing missing is Freesync - damn LG and their lack of DP input! Oh and if you see someone playing Tetris Effect: Connected on an airplane, it’s probably me. ---

**Author:** ![Torq](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.headphones.com/torq/32/16384_2.png) [@Torq](https://forum.headphones.com/u/Torq)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2024, 12:21pm UTC](https://forum.headphones.com/t/the-off-topic/1684/2428 "2024-01-26T12:21:02Z")

> [@raindownthunda](#): > > No performance complaints? No … but I’m not trying to run PC games, of any kind/era, on it. There’s about 100 truly classic arcade games (think stuff no older than 1985, with most of them older than 1982) I care about, and a handful of console games coming up to the SNES/Genesis era. It handles all of those without issue. It’ll do PS1 and PSP games, also, and those are generally fine. To be fair, if there were cores for all 100 of those arcade games on the Analogue Pocket, I’d probably just have stuck with that. Though there’s definitely something special about playing classic GameBoy games on a display that looks just like the original (down to the sub-pixel boundaries/substrate) … and then being able to flip it to something modern, mid-game, so it’s much easier to see. As the same time, the Anbernic stuff, especially at $65, is still very impressive. I can replace one next-day if I break/lose it (unlike with the Pocket … where I have a spare unit in case I break one). The screen is a bit small for arcade games in vertical mode (most of them), but it’s crisp and clear enough, refreshes cleanly and is more than bright enough. It’s not without issues … so far I have not gotten sound via HDMI output working on any MAME or VARCADE game, nor have I gotten any Bluetooth controllers to work at all, but otherwise they’re a nice, very portable and inexpensive, way to play around with this stuff on the go. I expect by the time GarlicOS 2.0 is final for the RG35 XX Plus or H the whole thing will be a lot smoother/simpler. It’s very “hobbyist” at the moment. And, again, updating the thing requires directly imaging SD cards. ---

**Author:** ![Torq](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.headphones.com/torq/32/16384_2.png) [@Torq](https://forum.headphones.com/u/Torq)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2024, 11:33pm UTC](https://forum.headphones.com/t/the-off-topic/1684/2429 "2024-02-24T23:33:54Z")

More GAI/LLM/GPT “fun” … Among the current cohort of want-to-be software engineers I’m mentoring, there is a LOT of consternation about AI making them jobless. This was this weeks’s example as to why it’s not likely in the near future … (I’m deliberately using naive/primitive prompts here to illustrate a point) **PROMPT:** Create a photograph of a devious-looking black-and-white cat (tuxedo cat), subtly sharpening its claws, and clearly plotting something evil, while trying to look sweet and innocent. ![DALL·E 2024-02-24 18.11.58 - A photograph of a devious-looking tuxedo cat, with a sleek black and white fur pattern. The cat is subtly sharpening its claws on a small piece of woo](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/uploads/headphones/original/3X/f/0/f0e02e51e680c04c32ab1335400eb99e406076e3.webp) Okay, this is not bad (especially given the extremely naive prompt). I can’t really tell it’s sharpening anything, and its a bit TOO cute to be plotting anything (except maybe a nap), but the basics are there. We’ll try again, in the same session: **PROMPT:** That needs more evil. And more claws. ![DALL·E 2024-02-24 18.11.55 - Capture a more menacing tuxedo cat, its black and white fur sleek and glossy. The cat is now prominently displaying its sharp, elongated claws, diggin](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/uploads/headphones/original/3X/2/c/2cbda720c2e95ffebfa29e49ed75ddc88a512a0d.webp) I mean, DAMN … is that not awesome? Looks just like one of my moggies when I won’t let him outside. It only lacks the “subtle” and “cute” parts. And then … **PROMPT:** Keep the image **exactly the same** but make the eyes more innocent. ![DALL·E 2024-02-24 18.22.38 - Revise the image of the menacing tuxedo cat to maintain all elements exactly as they are, with the exception of the cat's eyes. Transform the eyes to](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/uploads/headphones/original/3X/e/6/e62d9408b051e4cb6174c8d790aee796a942f730.webp) “I’ve updated the image of the menacing tuxedo cat with more innocent-looking eyes, **while keeping all other elements the same**.” Oh dear … … and this is why LLM/GAI/GPTs are not usefully interpreting requirements anytime soon. HUMANS can’t do it reliably … machines have a long way to go. * * * I shouldn’t mock, though. I used GPT4/DALL-E 3 to create all of the images for one of my startup’s websites. Icons. Logos. Thematic illustrations. In minutes. For much less than even the cheapest FIVERR artist would charge. * * * I’m not going to show you what Google’s “Gemini” came up with, but if you’ve read any tech-news this week I’m sure you have a good idea. ---

**Author:** ![pennstac](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.headphones.com/pennstac/32/381_2.png) [@pennstac](https://forum.headphones.com/u/pennstac)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2024, 12:50am UTC](https://forum.headphones.com/t/the-off-topic/1684/2430 "2024-02-25T00:50:59Z")

The middle illustration is not a “tuxedo” cat. It’s an “Orca” cat. ---

**Author:** ![generic](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.headphones.com/generic/32/61169_2.png) [@generic](https://forum.headphones.com/u/generic)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2024, 11:29am UTC](https://forum.headphones.com/t/the-off-topic/1684/2431 "2024-02-25T11:29:13Z")

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