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Alienware 34" Curved OLED Gaming Monitor

Alienware AW3423DW Details With the Alienware AW3423DW 34.18-inch Quantum Dot-OLED Curved Gaming Monitor, you can immerse yourself in the ultimate gaming experience. With its impressive 3440x1440 pixel resolution and a lightning-fast 175Hz refresh rate, every detail comes to life with stunning clarity. The 1800R curvature wraps around your field of view, pulling you deeper into the action. With a true 0.1ms gray-to-gray response time, motion blur is virtually eliminated, ensuring smooth and precise visuals. The 1Million:1 contrast ratio delivers rich blacks and vibrant colors, enhanced by the support for 1.07 billion colors. The Lunar Light design adds a touch of style to your gaming setup. With a brightness of 250 cd/m2 (typical) and a peak brightness of 1000 cd/m2, the monitor delivers vibrant visuals even in bright environments. Plus, with a maximum power consumption of 200 watts, it provides efficient performance for long gaming sessions. Get ready to take your gaming to new heights with the Alienware AW3423DW. Read More Alienware Waiting two weeks for this computer just felt too long, but it’s not unheard of, since I bought an Alienware computer that took nearly a month to ship to me (I’ll never do that again). …

Oh man! I survived Black Friday this year. Despite showing up a little early for MicroCenter’s Black Friday, there was a massive line outside the store (going past another store in the same area). They were letting in 20 people at a time, and my wait time was about 45 minutes to actually get inside the store.

Once inside, if you were buying a computer part, you had to stand in another line for a salesperson.

Since I knew what I wanted to buy, either an Alienware AW3423DW 34" 2K WQHD Curved OLED Gaming Monitor or a LG’s 48 inch OLED 4K Gaming Monitor, I headed to the computer display area. I found a salesperson right away (MicroCenter had probably had over 200% work force this Black Friday), and had him look up the Alienware monitor. I told him it was this or that 48 inch LG, but he agrees, at that size, it’s basically a television (and like I said earlier, I don’t know if it will even fit on my desk).

Now that I have the monitor and using it, I love it. This is one of the best image qualities that I’ve ever seen on a display, thanks to the QD-OLED’s perfect black and bright colors (per pixel) and literally no delay (.1ms response time). Not only does the images looks great, but motion is smooth and clear. There is no ghosting because of the non-existent delay in changing colors per pixel.

I do have some minor complaints about the monitor, however… and will break down the cons and the pros of the monitor:

Alienware 34" with HDR at 175hz with NVIDIA Ultimate

Nvidia Ultimate: First of all, the price is very high … even at a sale price! There is a cheaper version of this display, but they removed the NVIDIA Ultimate. I am fine with paying a little more for NVIDIA support because I have an NVIDIA 3060 card that will run the display at 175hz with HDR! Not every card can do this (some topped out at 100hz for HDR because they don’t have the ‘Ultimate’ option).

Resolution: My other complaint is the resolution is 3440 x 1440, which is not 4k. This is also related to my other complaint, which is the aspect ratio, which is 21:9 (UltraWide). Movies, YouTube, Xbox, Nintendo, PlayStation, and anything using a standard 16:9 will have two black bars on the side. The only saving grace is that since the black bars are true black, in a darkened room, you won’t notice the bars… but it still annoys me that I cannot take advantage of the full 34 inches. On the brighter side, since the monitor is so long, you have to think of it as having a dual 17-inch monitors setup.

No Built-in Speakers: No built-in speakers. This is common with computer monitors… but given the high price, you would think they could throw in a pair of speakers (even if they’re not good). Instead, you have to use the audio line-out port at the back of the monitor or headphone jack at the bottom of the monitor. For my PC, I’m using a USB speaker (plugged into the monitor), and for my Xbox, it uses an audio-out.

Anti-Glare: Anti-glare coating. While this is listed as “feature”, I am not a fan of it. I suppose in a bright room, the anti-glare makes sense… but I personally would prefer glossy over matted (I always find that matted colors look muted compared to glossy vibrant colors).

Burn-in: Also, obviously I haven’t experienced it, but there is a problem with burn-in common with OLED screens. How Dell is combating this problem is by shifting pixels every four hours or so. The screen also powers off when there is no movement on the screen for a certain time. Colors will auto-dim when there’s no movement, and other annoying things will only be noticeable once you use the screen for a period of time. All of this is done to keep the screen from burning in… which is good, but can be annoying.

Curve: Otherwise, this is an amazing premium display. Now some of the cool thing about this display: it’s a curve screen, giving an immerse view when your eyes look left and right. However, I wish it was curvier, more exaggerated … but Dell decided to only make it slightly curve (which may be more natural).

HDR: This screen also has HDR (high dynamic range) built in, which has better contrast… Unfortunately, not all games or movies are calibrated for HDR, but for the games that do support it, it looks great. I just have it on by default, and it hasn’t bothered me.

Design: The monitor is well-designed with great cable management. All the cables are tunneled through the metal foot stand, making for a nice, clean look. I recommend plugging in all the input right away, even if you’re not going to use those ports. The reason why is that it can be a hassle to put in cables because you have to remove the back cover and running the wire through the stand, etc.

USB Upstream: This Alienware monitor also comes with a USB 5 Gbps pass-through and hub. I never knew I needed this, but now that I have it on the monitor, I don’t think I can live without it now. How this work is you have one USB input cable that plugs in the back of the monitor. Once you plug it to your computer, you now have access to four additional USB on the monitor (2 at the bottom of the monitor and 2 hidden in the back). This is amazing. I have plugged in my keyboard, my mouse, my Xbox controller, and my headphones to the monitor. With one cable to my computer, I now have access to those four accessories! This frees up my computer’s three USB for other things.

Viewing Angle: You can adjust the monitor for height position, you can swivel, you can tilt, and you can slant the monitor. They’re limited to 20° and 4.3 inches, but it’s enough for that perfect viewing angle.

Cables Included: Also, I really appreciated that Alienware threw in all the cables that I will need: a high-speed HDMI cable, Display Port, Mini Display Port, and USB upstream cable. They could have saved some money and not included those cables, but I really appreciate using them since I trust that these are cables will take advantage of maximum throughput. For example, if you used an old 1.0 HDMI cable, you might not be able to use HDR or 1440p resolution, because of the limitation of the first-generation HDMI standards. Plus, Display Input or Display Input Mini are semi-rare, so I really like getting another cable for my collection.

So yeah, this is a great monitor… if you have a powerful PC to take advantage of all of its features. Remember, if your PC can only do 60 frames a second, that means the Alienware monitor will only display 60hz.

Anyway, for testing purposes, I’ve been playing The Last of Us Part I, which does support Ultrawide. It looks great, although you may not be able to see the HDR or various special effects on the screen shot… but what you do see is all the high details and how wide the game looks. You can see so much in the background. I will test out “dark” and scary games and see how much black we can (or can’t) see.

Yours,

Weekend Gamer

PS, I would have tested out more games on UltraWide (with HDR), but unfortunately, most of the big games I had uninstalled for space issues… so I’m re-installing some games just to try it out on the new display.

Last of Us Part I in Ultramax setting on Alienware display (3440 x 1440)

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vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

Black Friday 2023

Read More Black Friday With Black Friday coming up this Friday (November 25), we are already starting to see some really good deals on Bluray/UHD discs. Some of my favorite A24 films are on sale, including X, Everything Everywhere All At Once …

The annual shopping holiday, Black Friday, is this week, November 24, 2023. However, if you have been paying attention, Black Friday sales actually started as early as November 1st.

The best deal I’ve seen for the Xbox Series X is this Target with a $75 Gift Card and $110 off for the Diablo IV bundle. That’s about $200 off, making the cost roughly $360 for the whole thing. If you already own an X, like I do, I’ll have to pass on this… but man, it’s a good deal since I paid full price of $500 with no free games.

LG 48” 4k WebOS TV for $570 (Black Friday 2022)

I’m also in the market for an OLED screen. Like last year, the cheapest OLED Television is from Best Buy, who is selling their LG 48” 4k WebOS TV for $550, twenty dollars cheaper than last year’s Black Friday Deals. I do want the television… but last year I spent my entire time looking at my computer’s monitor, so I’m more interested in an OLED Monitor.

Unfortunately, despite sales, the cheapest OLED monitors are still around $800 to $1,200 (and that’s the sale prices). The main reason for wanting OLED on a monitor is that the response time on these monitors is less than .3 millisecond, have higher refresh rates, and they have NVIDIA or AMD video card support (meaning fast response and no screen tearing).

Alienware AW3423DW 34" 2K WQHD Curved OLED Gaming Monitor (Dell)

I think I have my heart set on the Alienware AW3423DW 34" 2K WQHD Curved OLED Gaming Monitor. It is an ultrawide curved 2K screen (3440 x 1440), and has support for NVIDIA G-Synch at 175Hz with less than 0.1 ms response time. The best part is that it’s QD-OLED, which stands for quantum dot organic light-emitting diode. It’s basically a better version of OLED, as the Quatum Dots widens the color palette even further: brighter lights, better saturations.

There are some concerns with burn-in that is common with OLED displays… but I’m not that worried about this since you need to have the same images in the same spot for long hours. The other concern is that it’s an ultrawide. I’ve been using a standard 4k monitor and have gotten used to the large resolution. Downgrading to 2k might be tough, but with that said, with the curve display, with HDR-support, and gaming might be improved (running at a lower resolution), it might be a good tradeoff.

In the past, I have complained that some games do not support UltraWide, so in those cases, the games have large black borders on the left and right of the screen. It’s very annoying, but I can’t fault the monitor for not being a 16:9… but I blame the game developers for not taking into account people’s displays (or more like they don’t care).

Most movies are shot on Widescreen (16:9), so you’ll get black bars on the sides. However, since I do enjoy Shaw Brothers films, they use “Shaw Scope”, which is basically UltraWide… so you can maximize Shaw Brothers films on these monitors.

Anyway, the Alienware monitor is normally $1,299.99, but it’s currently on sale for $900 at MicroCenter… which I may actually have to pick up this Black Friday. Also, I did notice that there were two returns, so you can get an open box for $650. I’m not sure if there are missing items, but if I can save even more, I will ask about it.

Update: It appears that MicroCenter has dropped the Alienware monitor to $800, making it a little more desirable than going with an open-box. Also worth checking out is the LG’s 48 inch OLED 4K Gaming Monitor is $700. That’s $800 off and seems like such a good deal. I think my problem is that 48 inches might be a little too large for a computer desk. I don’t know how close I want to sit next to the monitor... but at that size, it would make for a really good television. Of course, you have to factor in buying a speaker system to pair with the monitor. Still, that is something doable, since I do have audio solutions (or can look into buying a good soundbar).

I will be at MicroCenter this Black Friday to make my OLED monitor purchase. At the moment, I am leaning heavily towards the Alienware, but if I walk out with the LG Monitor, no one can blame me for going with a larger display for a cheaper price...

Yours,

Weekend Gamer

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vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

Weekend Gamer: PC Handhelds 2023

Read More Steam There’s no more waiting… You can now buy Steam Deck, right now, without reservation. According to steampowered, it’s been more than a year since it was first announced, but due to numerous supply chain issues and …

Steam Deck OLED
steampowered.com

Faced with competitions from Asus ROG Ally and the recently-released Lenovo Legion Go, Valve announced the new Steam Deck OLED.

The Steam Deck OLED addressed most of the complaints of their first version of the Steam Deck… mainly a better display and a better battery life.

While I’ve had the original Steam Deck since August 2022, I didn’t immediately notice how bad the screen was until I had the ROG Ally to compare it to. Looking at a side-by-side image, you can clearly see the clarity of the ROG Ally display vs the original Steam Deck.

Since Valve decided to keep its original 800p display, I don’t believe it will compare to a native 1080p or better resolution. However, looking at 800p on an OLED display will probably look fantastic.

Almost everything inside the Steam Deck have been upgraded, including larger cooling fan and maximum storage to 1TB (previous Steam Deck maxed out at 512GB).

Unfortunately, the processor is still relatively the same speed… which means the ROG Ally and Legion Go still have a speed advantage over the Steam Deck. The other unfortunately thing is that the Steam Deck still uses SteamOS, which is based on Linux… meaning that some Windows-based games (like all the anticheat software) will not run on the Steam Deck.

As a handheld gaming enthusiast, I am very interested in playing around with the Steam Deck OLED… but as someone who owns the original Steam Deck (and with a gaming budget), this is probably a pass for me.

NOTE: There’ll be a limited-edition version of the Steam Deck OLED which has a transparent case. It looks great, but I would imagine that it will be priced above $700. For that price, I would rather get the Legion Go.

Read More Lenovo I am very excited about this, because I am currently rocking a Lenovo Legion Gaming PC since Nov 2022, and it’s a pretty solid desktop PC. It comes with an NVIDIA 3060 card that can run any modern games. …

Legion Go
lenovo.com

You know I’ve been interested in the Lenovo Legion Go since August 2023, and now, in November 2023, the Legion Go is out now.

In my original writeup, I said that Lenovo is somewhat late to the game. And as much as I am interested in testing out the Legion Go, I already own the Steam Deck and ROG Ally, so I don’t really need yet another handheld in my life.

The pricing is the same as the ROG Ally, but for $50 more you can upgrade the storage to 1TB. However, for $100 more, MicroCenter will upgrade the storage to 2TB for you… making the total price $800.

If you don’t own a PC handheld gaming device, all the devices offer something different. Steam Deck is Linux and user-friendly, ROG Ally is Windows, and now the Legion Go offers the largest display (8.8 inches) and detachable controllers. The two standout features of the Legion Go might tip gamers in their direction, but unfortunately the size and weight doesn’t exactly make it portable. If you’re looking for a large display and controllers (including first person mode), the Legion Go sounds like it’s for you.

For me, I’m all in the ROG Ally world, because the 1080p/120hz display is so good, and it’s small and portable. It’s smaller than the Steam Deck, which is a monster (it’s larger than you think).

I say all this, but if I have the extra cash and I see it in stores, I might bite and do an impulse buy.

Read More ROG Ally Now enter the ROG Ally from Asus. The ROG Ally will address all the things that I wanted in my Steam Deck: Windows, faster chip, better screen, higher resolution, pleasing looks, and the ability to dock in their enhance graphics …

ROG Ally
asus.com

I’m more interested in seeing the upcoming Switch 2 or “Super Switch”… even though I probably won’t buy it. The original Switch processor is very slow and any current modern games won’t even run on the Switch. The last game I bought, it suffered from horrible stutter, I realized it’s not a great gaming device. I’m hoping the Switch 2 will be much faster.

If Switch 2 games are not compatible with the original Switch, then I definitely will not be buying the Switch 2. I don’t want to re-buy all my games… no one does.

I hope there’s a Steam Deck 2 (unlikely since they just announced the Steam Deck OLED) in the works… and I’m hoping for a new ROG Ally 2. What I would like to see in a future ROG Ally is the ability to use any eGPU, two USB-C, official dock, better battery life, better grip/design… maybe take a cue from Valve and put in a great OLED screen.

While we wait for the ROG Ally 2, Asus released the inferior (but cheaper) version of the ROG Ally. The cheaper version uses the Z1 chip (vs the faster Z1 Extreme chip) and costs $599. Personally speaking, I suggest spending the extra cash and getting the Z1 Extreme chip, which is currently selling for $620 because of the upcoming Black Friday Deals.

If you really want to save, the Z1 version is currently on sale for $500 because of Black Friday, and it’s a fantastic price.

Right now, my handheld gaming device of choice is the ROG Ally. When I’m not gaming on the go, I have it docked with the ROG Azoth Keyboard and a 32 inch monitor, for a desktop experience. The device is powerful enough to run all my Windows software and I can use it as a secondary productivity device.

Yours,

Weekend Gamer

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vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

Techtober

iPhone 15 Pro Max Camera Details From dramatic framing flexibility to next-generation portraits, see what you can do with our most powerful iPhone camera system. The 48MP Main camera is more advanced than ever, capturing super‑high‑resolution photos with a new level of detail and color. You’ll see the improvements in your portraits. And now you no longer have to switch to Portrait mode. If your subject is a person, dog, or cat, iPhone automatically captures depth information. So you can choose to instantly see your photo as a portrait, with an artful blur effect. Or later in the Photos app. For iPhone 15 Pro Max, we designed a 5x Telephoto camera with the longest optical zoom of any iPhone ever to fit in our compact Pro camera system. Now you can take sharper close‑ups from farther away — like a phenomenal photo of your friend or a goal in your kid’s soccer match. 5x optical zoom with the 120 mm lens. Read More iPhone So in November 2021, I purchased the iPhone 13, and have been very happy with both the device and my ability to connect multiple devices. Speaking of hotspot, there is a 5 mbps cap when you tether. That’s still faster than my old DSL ....

iPhone 15 Pro Max
apple.com

You know I love my iPod (before it was replaced by the cellphone) and my iPad (own the original iPad and currently loving the new 11 inch iPad Pro), but I was never an iPhone guy. However, all that changed when I switched phone service to Visible… and because there were no restrictions on the iPhone, I decided to switch to the iPhone 10.

It worked so well with the iPhone, that I bought the new iPhone 13 in November 2021. Then I bought the iPhone 14 Plus in October 2022.

In keeping with tradition, I’ve upgraded to the new iPhone 15 Pro Max recently. I think after that hefty price tag, I am going to stop upgrading until they come out with some amazing new features.

Here are the new things in the iPhone 15 Pro:

USB-C: Finally! Thanks to the UK, Apple caved in and now their iPhones uses the universal serial bus. Now I can use the same cable that charges my iPad with my iPhone. I’m all for this new change. Also 20x faster file transfers.

Titanium: Lighter, harder, looks great. This is the same alloy that they make spacecraft out of. Lightest iPhone Pro models ever. Titanium is here to stay.

A17 Pro: Apple’s fastest chip yet, they claimed it’s 40% faster than the competition. In tests, it beats the Google’s Pixel 8, and the new iPhone can play a console game, like Resident Evil 4.

Action Button: This replaces the silent switch. You can change this to a physical camera button, so you can use your phone as a traditional camera.

Dynamic Island: A gimmick that was introduced in last year’s model, but it’s been improved thanks to the upgrade cameras.

Upgraded Camera: The new periscope has a 5x optical zoom.

I’m mostly interested in the telephoto lens in the new iPhone. According to Apple, the iPhone 15 Pro Max provides the longest optical zoom at the equivalent of 120mm. This is great for taking concert photos, or just take some “close up” photos in general.

In my own test, taking photos at the back of the venue, I found that the new 120mm camera on the iPhone is pretty impressive (considering that it’s on a tiny pocketable device). I know there’s less details on the iPhone camera, but no cellphone can beat a real camera. Still, the iPhone photo is still very usable.

Apple claims it’s their best camera ever, and from what I’ve seen, I’m a believer.

iPhone 15 Pro Max vs Sony A7IV

Read More Google a Google home, as everything is built around the Google Home Hub application. If you don’t mind giving Google your information, you can use many of their services - for free. That’s the attractive thing, it’s mostly free. …

Nest Audio
google.com

I recently purchased the Google’s Nest Audio Speaker on clearance at Target. I didn’t have a need for the speaker, but seeing as it’s normally $100, I couldn’t pass it up for 50% off.

If you stream music and subscribed to audio services (such as Spotify or Google Music), I think this is a great speaker to have in your home. It sounds great, it fills the room. It’s a very capable speaker. It is just that I do not subscribe to any music services. I own all my music on CD that I ripped myself.

You can also use it as a Google Assistant, asking it all sorts of questions. If you have a Google Nest Hub or Lenovo’s Smart Display or Smart Frame … you do not need the Nest Speaker.

I’m currently using it as a Bluetooth Speaker (you need to enable this feature on your Google Home App), and it’s fine. There is a slight delay and audio sounds out of sync compared to the video… I’m sure there must be a way to fix the syncing issue.

I do somewhat regret buying it … because I don’t really have a use for the speaker. Perhaps I will evict it to the garage. Maybe if I need to stream music in the garage from my iPhone, it would fill the room.

When am I ever spending time in the garage for anything? I guess I can throw a party and move the Nest Audio to the party room. I do not know what to do with this speaker.

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vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

Sony Camera News (October 2023)

Read More Sigma However, I am eyeing on the Sigma lens… which is available as “Art” ($1,100) and the budget “Contemporary” lens ($900). The main difference is the Art lens has higher quality optics and starts at 24mm while the Contemporary version starts at 28mm. ....

Sigma
sigma-global.com

According to dpreview.com, Sigma has announced that it is developing a 70-200mm F2.8 DG DN OS for Sony full-frame cameras. The lens will be available in December 2023.

The F2.8 lens will be part of their Sports line (with superior weather resistance), and is the second lens to use their “HLA” (high response linear actuator). The lens will also include Sigma’s own optical stabilizer with the latest algorithm “OS2”.

While not prices have been announced, I feel Sigma needs make it affordable to be competitive in this space. I am predicting about $1,700 or less. Anything more, it would just make sense to jump to the Sony G-Master series. The Tamron version of 70-150mm F2.8 is $1,100, but does not have stabilization and falls short of 20mm. You can find the Tamron version used for as little as $900, so that is another option. However, from my experience, images look better on the Sony G-Master lens due to the high-quality glass and stabilization.

As you know, my main concert lens is the Sony G-Master 70-200mm F2.8 FE lens, which is basically the best of the best for sports and low-light. Unfortunately, that also comes at a high cost - currently the Gen II lens retails $2,800. Again, if Sigma can come through on their price, I can see more camera enthusiasts using the Sigma lens (especially if it offers the same or similar performances as the Sony G-Master).

Read More Sony Right now, the one lens I am using is the Sony 70-200mm F2.8 GM and it’s an amazing lens. However, it’s missing some key focal range of 24, 35, and 50 (the “nifty fifty”). This is why I’ve been looking at the 24-70mm … and now the 35-150mm F2-2.8 lens. …

Sony
sony.com

Last month, Sony announced a pair of new cameras: Sony a7c II (33MP) and Sony a7cR (62MP).

These two cameras are an evolution of the original Sony a7c, which was the best (and cheapest) way for people to get into full frame photography. Originally released in September 2020 for $1,800, it was my first full frame camera.

As much as I like the compact / small design, it was missing some features that I wanted, such as a faster processor or a double SD card reader… which was what led me to buying Sony a7 IV.

So, what is new with the Sony a7c II and Sony a7cR? From my understanding, the a7c II is basically a compact version of the Sony a7 IV, while the a7cR is a compact version of the Sony a7R IV.

I think the main problem are the prices. The a7c II is $2,200 with less features than the a7 IV, which I’m sure you can get used for about the same price. For the a7cR, it’s $3,000… which is basically the price of the Sony a7R IV. Again, because of the compact nature of the camera, you’re losing buttons and extra SD card slots… but you’re paying the same price (for less).

The only new features you’re getting are the new BIONZ X processor and new Autofocus… so that leaves me to believe that what you’re actually paying for is the smaller sized (and lighter) camera. To me, if they were the same price as the bigger version, why not just buy the bigger body and get more buttons and options? To be fair, some people just wants a smaller form factor, and I can understand that.

There are not enough new features in the a7c II, that I may actually recommend getting the original a7c, if you can find it for a good price.

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vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

You Are Berry Special

Read More Helena Deland Montreal’s Helena Deland to open. Tour dates: 03/19 Los Angeles, LA Echoplex 03/20 San Francisco, CA Rickshaw Stop 03/22 Portland, OR Doug Fir Lounge …

HELENA DELAND
helenadeland.com

Montreal-based songwriter and musician Helena Deland recently shared her “Strawberry Moon,” the final pre-release single from her new album Goodnight Summerland ahead of its release on October 13th, 2023 via Chivi Chivi. The single is described as a folk lullaby for lovers lost in the nightfall, with its wistful piano melodies and a sweet, textured acoustic guitar.

According to Helena, the song was written “during an annual vacation at a beloved friend's cottage by the lake, where strawberries are known as 'heart berries' in the Anishinaabe tradition, ‘Strawberry Moon’ is sleepless and peaceful. I was clear minded, able to welcome both the eagerness and weariness brought forth by the love story unfolding at a distance. These sentiments infuse ordinary nights with the colors of fate. Every year of our lives has taken us to where we are. We're not just witnesses to this moment; we're an integral part of a world where strawberries bloom every year. This is the final single from and last song on Goodnight Summerland, out October 13th. My North American tour starts November 2nd with support from Jana Horn and Shaina Hayes.”

The tour will find its way to Minneapolis on November 13th, at the 7th Street Entry.

Tour dates:

11/02/2023 - Vancouver - Fox Cabaret
11/03/2023 - Seattle - Madame Lou’s
11/04/2023 - Portland - Mississippi Studios
11/06/2023 - San Francisco - Cafe du Nord
11/07/2023 - Los Angeles - Lodge Room
11/08/2023 - San Diego - Casbah
11/09/2023 - Phoenix - Valley Bar
11/11/2023 - Denver - Lost Lake
11/13/2023 - Minneapolis - 7th st
11/14/2023 - Chicago - Lincoln Hall
11/15/2023 - Detroit - El club
11/16/2023 - Toronto - Horseshoe
11/18/2023 - Brooklyn - Music Hall
11/19/2023 - DC - Songbyrd
11/24/2023 - Montréal - La Tulipe
11/25/2023 - Québec - Le Pantoum
02/13/2024 - Baden - One Of A Million Festival
02/14/2024 - Munich - Milla
02/15/2024 - Berlin - Privatclub
02/16/2024 - Amsterdam - Paradiso Upstairs
02/17/2024 - Paris - Pop Up Du Label
02/19/2024 - Brussels - Botanique
02/21/2024 - London - The Lexington

Read More Christmas It never fails, every year, around this time, we get a ton of new Christmas songs. It’s a tradition, after all. …

JOHN BERRY
johnberry.com

Grammy Award-Winning Artist John Berry (not to be confused with John Barry) announced his first dates for his “Christmas With John Berry” 27th Annual Christmas Tour.

“Twenty-seven years have passed, and I could never have foreseen the incredible blessing of sharing my music and commemorating the birth of Christ throughout this journey,” shares Berry. “It’s deeply meaningful to see so many of you returning, year after year, alongside your loved ones and friends, all coming together to embrace the joy of the season. I look forward to sharing this time of giving with each and every one of you and I'm forever grateful for your continued support.”

The 27th Annual ‘Christmas With John Berry’ 2023 Tour Schedule:

NOV 24 - The Eagle at Sugar Hill / Sugar Hill, Ga.
NOV 25 - High Point Theatre / High Point, N.C.
NOV 26 - Newberry Opera House / Newberry, S.C.
NOV 28 - The Park Theatre / McMinnville, Tenn.
NOV 30 - Williams Auditorium / Henderson, Tenn.
DEC 01 - Imperial Theatre / Augusta, Ga.
DEC 02 - Kentucky Downs / Franklin, Ky.
DEC 05 - Ironton High School / Ironton, Ohio
DEC 07 - Jefferson Plaza Hall / Jefferson, Ind.
DEC 08 - Hasting Performing Arts / Hastings, Mich.
DEC 09 - Dogwood Center / Fremont, Mich.
DEC 13 - Majestic Theatre / Chillicothe, Ohio
DEC 15 - Cedartown Performing Arts Center / Cedartown, Ga.
DEC 16 - The Grand Opera House / Macon, Ga.
DEC 17 - The Classic Center / Athens, Ga.

Key Features 2.4GHz quad-core 64-bit Arm Cortex-A76 CPU VideoCore VII GPU, supporting OpenGL ES 3.1 Dual 4Kp60 HDMI® display output 4Kp60 HEVC decoder Dual-band 802.11ac Wi-Fi® Bluetooth 5.0 / Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) High-speed microSD card interface with SDR104 2 × USB 3.0 ports, supporting simultaneous 5Gbps 2 × USB 2.0 ports Gigabit Ethernet, with PoE+ support 2 × 4-lane MIPI camera/display transceivers PCIe 2.0 x1 interface for fast peripherals Raspberry Pi standard 40-pin GPIO header Real-time clock Power button Read More Raspberry Pi I’ve been playing around with my Raspberry Pi 4 (4 GB Model), a lot lately. I’ve had the single-board computer since November 2019, even though the RP4 wasn’t supposed to launch until 2020. As a result …

RASPBERRY PI
raspberrypi.com

Today (September 28), the Raspberry Pi foundation announced the Raspberry Pi 5. The tiny best-selling computer is coming out at the end of October 2023 for $60 for 4GB and $80 for 8GB. There are no announcements for a 1GB or 2GB version.

It’s been so many years since Raspberry Pi 4 (November 2019), so I am eager to get my hands on the new single-board computer.

Looking at the specs, I see that for the first time, the Raspberry Pi will now come with a power button. Finally! I’ve never understood why previous boards have never had a power button.

The other key feature that I’ve noticed is the new board has a PCIe 2.0 lane, meaning you can attach a very fast NVME storage or some sort of graphic interface that uses PCIe. I’m curious to see how developers will use PCIe products.

Also, for the first time, we’re seeing a real-time clock on board. While I honestly don’t care or asked for this, I think this has more to do with programming and perhaps security… either way, I’m glad it is in the new board.

What I don’t love are the micro-HDMI that carried over from the Raspberry Pi 4. Although I understand why they went with the smaller HDMI, I’ve always hated it and had hoped that they’ve abandon micro for full sized HDMI. Unfortunately, they kept the micro.

It looks like the Raspberry Pi 5 produces incredible heat, so that they’ve released an official active cooler for the board. In fact, the board, itself has a fan header interface. Personally speaking, I think they should just sell the Raspberry Pi 5 with the cooler installed.

While the Raspberry Pi 5 isn’t going to be replacing my gaming PC or ROG Ally, I’ve always like tinkering around with the computer… especially because they’re so affordable. I already own five Raspberry Pi 4, for example. I used them for different projects.

Yours,

Weekend Gamer

Read more Weekend Gamer and Technology.

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

Coffee Day (2023)

National Coffee Day is Friday, September 29, while International Coffee Day is October 1, 2023.

Black Coffee
music by Sonny Burke
lyrics by Paul Francis Webster

I'm feelin' mighty lonesome
Haven't slept a wink
I walk the floor from nine to four
In between I drink

Black coffee
Love's a hand-me-down brew
I'll never know a Sunday
In this weekday room
I'm talkin to the shadow
One o'clock till four
And Lord, how slow the moments go
And all I do is pour

Black coffee
Since the blues caught my eye
I'm hangin' out on Monday
My Sunday dreams to dry

flowerovlove
twitter.com/flowerovlove

London’s 18-year-old musician flowerovlove returns with “Coffee Shop”, a cheery dream-pop single.

You can watch the music video on YouTube.

Coffee Shop

Take me down the coffee shop
The one you said that you like so much
And my hair glistened in the light
So bright could’ve lost your mind

I know you’ve been saying that
I glow ‘cause I love it when
You grow and more and more and more

WILL KNOX
will-knox.com

British singer-songwriter (but currently based in the Netherlands), Will Knox just shared his new single “Instant Coffee” today (September 28th).

The single is produced by Ian Grimble (Daughter, Bear's Den, Matt Corby) and was a double A-side release featuring bonus track, “Leave The Light On”. The new music is the first to be released from Will's forthcoming debut album set for release in autumn 2024.

Talking about the song, Will said, “I started writing new music during lockdown, having learned I was going to become a father for the first time. The time allowed me to confront a lot of issues from my past, and I was determined not to pass them on to my son. ‘Instant Coffee’ is a song about that process of healing, and in my case learning that there are no quick fixes. It’s OK if it takes time.”

EMBER MUG
ember.com

I recently saw that Target put some Ember Mug on clearance for as little as $50. I know that doesn’t sound much like a deal, but when you consider that the original price for these Ember Mugs were $170, $50 is a bargain.

The key gimmick of the Ember Mug is that it keeps your coffee hot, from your first sip to your last. I hate stale, cold coffee, so I love this idea.

Unfortunately, the clearance mugs were all sold out at that location. So, I started looking at other Target locations in my area, and, of course, they were all sold out across all the Target near me.

After a week of searching, and not getting any luck, I was going to give up on owning an Ember Mug. There was one last Target that I hadn’t gone to, and it’s for good reasons. It’s in a bad neighborhood… and wouldn’t you know it, they had a clearance Ember Mug at that location!

As soon as I brought it home and unpacked it, I gave it a wash and downloaded the Ember app. After charging the cup with the saucer bottom, and then syncing it through Bluetooth, the mug immediately asks to download and update. This was a lot of work just to drink coffee!

What is nice about the mug is that you can see how hot the coffee is. You can set it to alert you when the right temperature cools down, so no more hot McDonald’s Coffee issues. The mug can also tell if it’s empty, although I’ve had some false alerts.

You can also tie it to your health app and log how many drinks you’re drinking and it keeps all the relevant data in the app. I don’t know how useful this is, but it’s cool to keep tabs.

Overall, I think it’s a very stylish white mug. It’s a very well-made mug, and well-insulated (it’s cool to the touch on the exterior), and it’ll keep your coffee hot for an hour and a half. It’s a great mug… but there’s no way it’s worth the $50 price tag, let alone the original asking price of $170. Still, I’m happy to own this and I use it every day to drink coffee now.

Star Trek Coffee Roast
herowithinstore.com

Love coffee? Love Star Trek? Go where no one has gone before: Star Trek Coffee, created by Jedidiah Coffee and Hero Icon.

There are three blends: Janeway Jumpstart Breakfast Blend, "Not Earl Grey Tea" Medium Roasts, and the Warp Core Breach Dark Roasts.

They’re $20 each, or buy all three for $50. Free Energize Lounge sticker included.

Details:

Time to boldly go in the morning with a cup of Energize Lounge coffee! First offered at our San Diego Comic-Con Offsite Activation, the Energize Lounge Coffee Roasts sold out to Trek fans. Since that time many of your have emailed us about making some available for fans that were not at San Diego. We had our roaster, Jedidiah Coffee, create a small batch for our Newsletter Subscribers! For a limited time, you can now order a 12oz bag of our Janeway Jumpstart Breakfast Blend, “Not Earl Grey Tea” Medium Roasts or the Warp Core Breach Dark Roasts. They make great gifts and won't be offered again online so make it so!

2023's Best Coffee Cities in America
wallethub.com

Based on spending, WalletHub released their data for 2023’s Best Coffee Cities in America, with San Francisco ranked as #1. I’m not sure I agree with this finding. I’ve always thought Seattle or Portland should be #1, as they are the hipster capitol of the world… but apparently not in the world of coffee consumption.

Top 10 Cities for Coffee Lovers

1. San Francisco, CA
2. Portland, OR
3. Seattle, WA
4. Orlando, FL
5. Honolulu, HI
6. Tampa, FL
7. Austin, TX
8. Oakland, CA
9. New Orleans, LA
10. Pittsburgh, PA

Read More Keurig My sister told me that the K-Cup are a dream, and I'll love coffee because it makes the best cup. I'm a coffee drinker, but I've told her that I'm not buying a Keurig because of their stupid ....

KEURIG
keurig.com

I talked about Keurig in Feb 2015, because the coffee maker wanted to put DRM (Digital Rights Management) on their cups to combat fake K-Cups. I hated that idea and was promoting Rogers Family Company’s “Freedom Clip” to bypass the DRM.

The backlash was so bad that Keurig reverse their DRM plans about three months later.

Now, fast-forward to today, and I’m now an owner of the Keurig K-Slim + ICED Single Serve Coffee Maker, which I bought on sale. And you know what? It’s very good. It makes a good cup of coffee.

If you’re not into destroying the environment with all these disposable K-Cups, you can brew your own coffee by using Keurig’s official cup adapter or a third-party adapter. I have both and I can tell you that the third party does not exactly work in my Keurig. For the official adapter, it works pretty well, but it does come with a variety of add-ons to make sure it works with Version 1 or Version 2. It’s also a little inconvenient because you have to remove a whole section to put in the adapter… and it’s a pain in the butt to clean. I would recommend buying these cup filters, which is a little easier to remove and dispose.

Yours,

Weekend Coffee Drinker

Read more Technology.

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

Stardock

Read More Humble Bundle Game On: Humble Bundle I already own at least five of these games (on discs and digital), but I couldn't resist paying the average price to get these games again. When I donated, they gave me a breakdown of how ....

If you want to customize your Windows (especially Windows 11), there is a great Humble Bundle offer available now. You get six Stardock software for $25… or if you prefer, you can donate a higher price or lower the price and get just three or five items.

I will break down what each software does and why you might want to use them:

Start11
Customize the Start Menu to how you want. You can make it look like Windows 7, you can change the Icon, you can change the search… If you hate the default Windows Start Menu, this is a great way to make it useable.

Multiplicity KM
Multiplicity can enable keyboard and mouse to access two or more client computers from a host computer. I have my ROG Ally, that perhaps I can access or vice versa. This might be a great way to share files and work across multiple computers.

SpaceMonger
Manage your space over your multiple hard drives. I haven’t really use it, but it can be useful to find very large files to delete.

Fences 4
This is a great way to organize your desktop. Like many people, you can have a million icons on your desktop… with Fences, you create these floating windows and organize these icons. When I first ran it, it automatically organized my desktop, which is pretty awesome.

IconPackager
Create custom Icons or use their theme Icon packages. I’ll eventually will create my own custom icons, but right now the theme is pretty good (but limited).

CursorFX4
If you hate the default Windows pointers, this will make it much easier with their themes. You can also create your own custom pointers.

Yours,

Weekend Gamer

Read more Weekend Gamer and Technology.

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

Weekend Gamer Update: Labor Day

Weekend Gamer Update:

Read More Games Can you believe it? Baldur’s Gate 3 is out now on the PC. I paid full price ($60) for this game in Oct 2020, and have played a demo or early access of the game. I maxed out my character, and have patiently waited for the full …

Baldur’s Gate 3

After over 60 hours, I finally made it to Act II. There are three acts in the game, and each Act, I felt could have been sold as three different games.

Act I set up the story and throws you in the outskirts Baldur’s Gate. All signs points to Baldur’s Gate, so the goal is to travel there… but getting there is harder than it looks. Act I basically is a giant tutorial on how to play the game. You have to solve the goblin crisis, the grove, and help inhabitants along the way. I tried to complete everything in the first part: killing the hag, killing the giant spider, saving Halsin … and murdering every goblin!

Act II, you are given several choices to get to Baldur’s Gate 3. You can travel through the underdark, you can try to go through Githyanki, and finally through the cursed land. Your companions’ stories also unfolds, with Lae’zel’s story the most compelling to me. Her entire belief turned upside-down… and even her god, the undying queen, is out to kill her.

Shadowheart’s story is no slack either… you have to make some hard decisions to keep her in your party, because fighting her will result in her leaving your party. You’re given an impossible decision to save both Shadowheart and the Nightsong… and, there is a way to save both of them! My first play, Shadowheart kills Nightsong. After reloading the previous save, I confronted Shadowheart and she got angry and left! I’m sorry, we can’t have that, because she’s my only cleric and a useful one at that! Finally, after various choices, I was able to reason with Shadowheart and as a result, save both of them! It’s the best scenario… however, I know most players will just “go with the flow” and continue the game.

Anyway, currently, I’m about 100 hours into the game… and I finally got to Act III! It’s been a long journey, and I have a feeling that it’ll end up being 150 hours when I finally finish the game. And when I see the credits roll… the first thing I want to do is start another game, with a different character build!

For those who are interested in checking out the game, I wholly recommend it.

Read More PlayStation For the lowest priced, PS+ Essential, you only get three or four “free” monthly games… and the ability to play online games, just like the original PlayStation Plus. For $3 more, you can get PS+ Extra, which includes the monthly “free” games …

PlayStation

With the extra-long Labor Day weekend, that means more weekend gaming for me. Originally, my plans were to see Soul Asylum at the Minnesota State Fair, but having walked about 10 miles on the Second Day of the Fair and seeing that this weekend is going to be over 100 degrees Fahrenheit… I think it’s probably in my best interest to stay indoors and keep cool.

With the Labor Day weekend here, there’s actually a lot of sales going on right now. GOG is having an Autumn 2023 Sale, which includes the original Baldur’s Gate 1 & 2, Cyberpunk, The Witcher, etc. A good sale, unfortunately, I own all those great games, so there’s not much for me… but if you are interested in those games, get it on sale and try them out.

Steam has a PlayStation sale… including, for the first time, a sale on The Last of Us Part 1. The game launched poorly on PC, and I wasn’t really didn’t love the television show… so I haven’t exactly been excited to re-play the game again. I bought the game when it was on the PS3, and re-bought the game for PS4. Do I really want to get it again for the PC? I probably will get it… but who knows.

Speaking of Sony, they recently announced a huge price hike in their PlayStation Plus subscription, with their premium plan going from $120 to $160. What do you get for the extra $40? Absolutely nothing.

On top of that, with the recent useless $200 PlayStation Portal (a tiny screen to stream games locally from your PlayStation 5), I’m not a PlayStation fan at the moment. I’m glad I never bought a PlayStation 5, instead going with Xbox for this (and next) generation.

Yours,

Weekend Gamer

Read more Weekend Gamer and Technology.

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

Amazon Locker

Read More Amazon Speaking of which, there is a strange “Pre-Order” page for the ROG Ally on Amazon, so eventually I am assuming you can get it from any retailers. …

I order a lot of things through Amazon and I’ve only had one or two problems. Sometime they say they’ve delivered something, but it won’t show up for days… but I’ve never had an issue with my home address. Then, since Amazon Prime Day/week, I’ve had two packages that were delivered to the wrong location. I believe both were delivered by the USPS… so now I have very little faith in the post office.

After spending a little time chatting with someone in India about my missing Amazon packages, I have decided to now only get deliveries at an Amazon Locker. This Amazon Locker service is free for Prime members.

It is a little inconvenient for me to drive to a public location, but knowing that I won’t lose a package again, I am willing to do this. Thankfully, there are a few lockers located near me, so it’s not all terrible.

My first Amazon Locker pickup will be tomorrow (Thursday), so I’m a little nervous about this.

From what I’ve read, once the package is delivered, Amazon will email me a special code. I can punch in that number at the pickup location and get my order. I hope it goes smoothly for me.

In the meantime, I have looked at other locker locations… one being inside a pizza place, so now I’m thinking I could order a pizza while I’m doing my Amazon pickup. I’m not sure if you actually need to talk to someone behind the counter or are you there to use a self-checkout. It’ll be a learning experience once I experiment in shipping to different lockers.

Amazon Locker

Update: The pickup was a success! Everything went smoothly, meaning the code worked, my package was there, and absolutely no issues. I have heard that sometime you may see someone else’s package (in addition to your package) in your locker. So that is concerning if it is true. I also had a hard time locating the Amazon Locker. However, once I found it, I do not think I will have any problems getting future deliveries at this location. It’s well-lit, it seems like a safe area, and I am going to love getting packages there. The sad thing is that not every items can be delivered to a locker. This has to do with third-party sellers or deliveries from overseas. Still, there are enough products on Amazon that will deliver to Amazon Locker... so I am looking forward to buying more things soon.

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com