Terminal TiltSo, I thought it might be time for an update.
What have I been up to?
First, I've been dealing with some health issues. I'm okay, but if you're familiar with the spoon theory, let's just say I haven't had many spoons lately. Doctors still seem to be missing the mark despite a mountain of tests. I'll keep working at it, slow progress is still progress.
On the culture front: I binged the full season of Audacity. It is a solid show. On the audio side, I've gotten really into Acid music. Thanks to a Qobuz free trial, my music discovery has been really good.
Now, what about technology?
I've been distro-hopping a bit. I switched both my desktop and laptop to Gentoo for a week just to prove (to myself) I could. Emerging everything from source was an experience. Maybe I should try LFS for a greater challenge? Probably not. I'm back on CachyOS now and I love it. My homelab is fully on CachyOS too, running their new server kernel. The difference in IO scheduling and idle power consumption on the Zimaboard is actually noticeable compared to the standard LTS kernels I was running before. That has been fun.
Speaking of the homelab: I grabbed a Zimaboard 2 and added it as a second node (also CachyOS). Node 1 handles the heavy lifting with the arr stack, while the Zimaboard runs the utility services. Balanced load, happy servers.
A note on FOSS applications: They are still a priority, but I've made some concessions. I've come to the realization that there is no good Discord alternative yet, despite trying Stoat, Matrix, and others. I now consider Discord a proprietary necessity for gaming, just like Steam.
We don't always have to be perfect, even in our tech use. Perfect is the enemy of good. My threat model isn't state level. It is mostly corporate surveillance. Being conscious of what your tech does and shares is more important than total isolation.
And speaking of gaming, I'm back into Overwatch and Diablo 4. I tried Forza 6 but got bored quickly.
Regarding social media: I realized I often fall for rage baiting on both this account and my personal one. I hate how posts claiming "everything sucks" make me feel anxious all day. I want to be more present on Mastodon, so I'm setting up serious filters to protect my mental energy. We'll see how that goes. Has anyone found a filter set or keyword list that works well without silencing actual nuance? I am always open to hearing what helps others protect their peace.
As for the YouTube channel, I still plan to create content. I got stuck in a cycle of reviewing products because, who doesn't like free gear? But the economics are harsh. I got my first check after three months of monetization. It was about $100. That was despite hitting 100k views on a video and being consistent weekly. The creator economy is not paying the bills.
Moving forward, I plan to stick strictly to topics I truly care about and do far fewer hardware reviews. Less noise, more signal.
