#Mac Computer Screen Replacement

[appleservicecentreicuresolutions]

Mac Computer Screen Repair

Experiencing MacBook issues? Trust iCure Solutions for top-notch Apple MacBook repair services! Call us at 9643440430 for swift solutions. We specialize in MacBook Screen Repair, Battery Replacement, Keyboard Replacement, and Logic Board Repair. Our skilled technicians ensure precise Mac Computer Screen Repair and Replacement, delivering seamless performance. Whether it's MacBook Display Repair or Mac Screen Replacement, our Apple Service Centre is your one-stop solution. Get your MacBook back to peak performance with iCure Solutions – your trusted partner for quality and reliability.

Visit: https://www.icuresolutions.com/macbook-repair/

[knightobreath]

i make robot ocs out of my and my friends electronics and a lot of them end up being apple stuff, notably iphones and ipads. and well, i need to populate their world MORE so i make some more characters of their ilk and.... i run into an issue. i will end up making a character that is say, an iphone4, and id have to find a way to fight that part of my brain that is DESPERATE to add in references to a certain show. and ill have to fight the part that had a previous project canned for being to similar to said show. even though these characters will never see the light of day and are entirely a for fun thing.

[cellandcomp]

Expert Samsung Phone Repair Near You – Fast, Trusted & Affordable!

Is your Samsung phone damaged or not working properly? Don’t wait—get it fixed fast by trusted local repair experts. Quick service, genuine parts, and peace of mind. Visit now: https://medium.com/@creative9blogs/searching-for-samsung-phone-repair-near-me-visit-a-trusted-local-expert-now-f0ff0a3b1ced

[creative9blogs]

Searching for Samsung Phone Repair Near Me? Visit a Trusted Local Expert Now

If your Samsung phone not working properly, or your screen has cracked, you might be typing Samsung phone repair near me on Google right now. In today’s world, smartphones are part of daily life — whether it’s for calling, chatting, working, or clicking selfies. So, when something goes wrong, it feels like life stopped.

In this blog, we’ll talk about how to pick the best local repair service for Samsung phones, what to check before handing over your phone, and why Cell N Comp Repairs is a smart choice for repair needs in your area.

Why Choose a Local Expert for Samsung Phone Repairs?

When your Samsung mobile faces an issue — maybe the screen cracked, charging port broken, or it’s heating too much — the first thought comes is to go to someone nearby who can do the repair quickly and properly.

Instead of waiting for weeks from brand service centers, going to a local expert gives you:

Faster service (many times in same day)

Cost saving in many cases

Personal advice and support

Direct talk with technician, not call centers

That’s why more people search for Samsung phone repair near me and prefer experienced shops like Cell N Comp Repairs, where real experts handle your device with care.

Common Samsung Phone Issues We Fix

At Cell N Comp Repairs, we handle many issues every day. Some of the most common Samsung repairs include: Issue Possible Fix Cracked screen Full screen replacement using original parts Battery draining fast Samsung battery replacement near me services Phone not turning on Motherboard check or power IC repair Overheating or slow charging Charging port or battery service Display not working properly AMOLED or LCD replacement

Our shop also handles phone screen repair near me for other models like iPhone, OnePlus, Vivo, etc.

Not Just Samsung – We Do Mac, Laptop & More

Many times, people visit our store saying, “Do you also do Mac repair near me?” Yes! We are not only Samsung experts — we do repairs for:

Mac computer repair near me

Laptop repair near me (HP, Dell, Lenovo, ASUS, etc.)

Slow or crashing systems

Liquid damage

SSD upgrades

Whether it's an old MacBook Air or a gaming laptop, our team knows how to fix it proper way. All repairs done with quality tools and original spare parts.

What Makes Cell N Comp Repairs Stand Out?

Many repair shops offer mobile or laptop repairs, but what makes our store different?

Experience matters – We’ve handled 1000+ devices from all major brands

Quick turnaround – Most Samsung phone repairs near me completed in 1-2 hours

Transparent charges – No hidden cost. Clear explanation given

High-quality parts – Only genuine or high-grade compatible parts used

Personal touch – We care for every device like it’s our own

You don’t want to leave your Samsung phone with anyone. Choose someone local, skilled, and with good track record like us.

When Should You Replace Samsung Battery?

One of the most asked questions we hear is – when to do Samsung battery replacement near me?

Here are signs your Samsung battery is dying:

Phone shutting down suddenly

Charging takes too long

Battery percentage jumps or drops randomly

Mobile becomes hot even in normal use

If you notice any of these signs, bring it to Cell N Comp Repairs and we’ll do a free battery health check.

Our Repair Services at a Glance

Repair Type Device Examples Approx Time Phone Screen Repair Samsung, iPhone, Realme, etc. 1–2 hours Battery Replacement Samsung, iPhone, Xiaomi 30–60 mins Mac Repair Near Me MacBook Air/Pro, iMac Same/Next Day Laptop Repair Near Me Dell, HP, ASUS 1–2 Days Charging/Port/Mic Repair All major phone models Same Day

We offer all-in-one repair service under one roof. Walk-in, or call us to book a time.

How to Choose a Right Local Repair Shop?

When typing Samsung phone repair near me, here’s what to check before giving your device:

Read reviews online

Ask about parts warranty

Check experience with your phone model

Do they give receipt/invoice?

How much time they take for repair?

Cell N Comp Repairs scores high on all these points, and we are always happy to answer your questions directly.

FAQs – Samsung Phone & Laptop Repair

Q1: Is screen replacement expensive for Samsung phones? No, we use quality parts at fair prices. Costs depend on your model – A-series, S-series or M-series.

Q2: Do you repair water-damaged phones? Yes, we clean and repair liquid damage phones. Success depends on how soon you bring it in.

Q3: Can I get a warranty after repair? Yes, most repairs come with 30–90 days warranty depending on the part.

Q4: Do you also do software repair? Yes, we fix Android software issues, stuck logos, boot loops, etc.

Q5: Is walk-in available or appointment needed? Walk-ins welcome! You can also call or use Google Maps to reach us: https://maps.app.goo.gl/gZUg7QEzc2k33R179

Conclusion

When your Samsung device stops working or your laptop starts giving trouble, don’t delay. Going to a local repair expert saves your time, money and frustration. With experience in Samsung phone repair near me, Mac repair near me, and laptop repair near me, Cell N Comp Repairs offers fast, honest, and high-quality repair services near you.

📍 Visit us today: https://maps.app.goo.gl/gZUg7QEzc2k33R179 💬 Have a question? Walk in or call, and talk with a real technician (no bots!)

Don’t live with a broken phone – fix it fast, with experts who care.

Let me know if you want this same content converted into a PDF, Google My Business post, or social media captions too.

[macbookrepairdubaiae]

Macbook Repair Dubai

MacBook keyboard repair - cleaning | engraving | replacement

If you have landed on this page, then you probably have a problem with your MacBook keyboard. Possible symptoms:

the laptop does not respond to pressing any specific keys (possibly all)

crunch/crackle/squelching of liquid and other bacchanalia when pressing the keys

Causes of keyboard failure

Mechanical failure of buttons and their fasteners

Contact with liquids (water, wine, Pepsi, etc.)

Failure of the elements of the motherboard responsible for the operation of the keyboard

Keyboard repair or replacement?

If the problem is related to individual keys and is easy enough to fix, then an inexpensive repair is worth it.

If any liquid gets into the keyboard, we recommend a slightly more expensive replacement of the keyboard unit.

Case statistics

99% replacement | 1% repair

[exeggcute]

none of this is new info, but you know I have the "loves to write lists and compile links" disposition, so I thought it might be helpful to share some of the tips I've seen about how to make sure you're sharing legitimate palestinian evacuation fundraisers and bundle all those tips into a single handy reference post.

this is a spreadsheet of legitimate ("vetted") fundraisers on tumblr.

this post explains how the people who maintain this spreadsheet confirm the legitimacy of each fundraiser they add.

this podcast episode ("yousef and the fourth move") explains why evacuation fundraisers are often organized by people who don't live in gaza and/or who may not be immediate relatives of the people trying to evacuate. it's part three of a series about a man named yousef and his family; parts one and two aren't required listening for part three to make sense, but if you have a few hours to spare then I wholeheartedly recommend listening to all of them.

this is the process that I personally have been using to check whether a particular fundraiser has been vetted:

spreadsheet method

open the vetted fundraisers spreadsheet.

inside this spreadsheet, open the "find..." menu. on a windows computer, this shortcut is ctrl+F. on a mac, this shortcut is cmd+F. on a mobile device, click the three dots menu in the upper right corner of your screen, then select Find and replace.

search for the last name of the person or family in the fundraiser. you may get several results because last names obviously aren't unique; keep hitting "next" until you've looked at all the results.

if you find an entry in the spreadsheet that has the exact same name and whose gofundme link leads to the same fundraiser associated with the blog, it's legitimate. if you don't find an entry in the spreadsheet that matches the blog's fundraiser, that does not mean it's a scam. try the next method below!

tumblr search method

copy the username of the tumblr who originally posted the fundraiser and/or sent you a message asking you to boost the fundraiser. (for example, username123)

paste this username into tumblr's search bar.

for best results, click the All types drop-down menu, then select Text. since the search page is often dominated by asks sent by username123 (which people then answer and tag with their username), this helps narrow things down a bit.

look to see if any people who are not username123 have made posts confirming that username123 is legitimate. this includes people who've reblogged fundraisers and added notes, people who've compiled masterlists, and people sharing hyperlinks to other posts confirming a fundraiser's legitimacy. if the message seems to be "yep, looks legit," then it's safe to assume it's legit.

this is not a comprehensive list, but here are some of the usernames I've seen associated with "yep, looks legit"-type posts and who I've come to trust by association. (disclaimers: I am not mutuals with any of the users, and not all of them do the vetting firsthand, but the ones who don't vet posts themselves still seem to be careful about what they share and therefore are a good lead to follow. also, don't bug these people to vet fundraisers for you unless they've specifically indicated that they're open to that.)

90-ghost

el-shab-hussein

nabulsi

appsa

northgazaupdates

retvolution

communistchilchuck

neptunerings

a-shade-of-blue

shimamitsu

neither of these methods yielded anything definitive; what now?

it may just be too early to tell. unless a trusted source has shared overwhelming evidence that a particular fundraiser is a scam (which seems to be a very very rare occurrence), the best thing you can do is ignore it. don't report their blog as spam, because there's a good chance it's a legitimate fundraiser who just hasn't been vetted yet.

[sstechnetwork]

SSTech Networking is India's Top IT Service Provider, Fulfilling a Range of Needs.

In the quickly advancing universe of information innovation, organizations in India are progressively depending on complete IT solutions to remain competitive. One standout player in this field is SSTech Networking, a main IT specialist co-op that has gained notoriety for conveying a wide range of services, going from cloud computing to computer customization.

Cloud Computing Greatness

SSTech Networking is at the forefront of the cloud computing insurgency, offering organizations adaptable and secure solutions that influence the force of the cloud. From cloud-based capacity to cutting edge computing assets, the organization guarantees that its clients can outfit the maximum capacity of cloud innovation, upgrading flexibility and proficiency in their tasks.

Computer Cleaning and Maintenance

Perceiving the significance of all around kept up with computer frameworks, SSTech Networking gives exhaustive computer cleaning services. Standard cleaning works on the longevity of hardware as well as guarantees ideal performance. SSTech Networking's careful way to deal with computer maintenance assists clients with keeping away from possible issues, adding to a smoother and more solid computing experience.

Custom Computer Building and Upgrades

For organizations with explicit computing prerequisites, SSTech Networking offers custom computer building services. Customized to individual requirements, these solutions ensure that the hardware meets the specific determinations of the client. Additionally, the organization succeeds in computer upgrades, staying up with the latest with the furthest down the line innovation to improve performance and productivity.

Complete Hardware and Software Installation

SSTech Networking's expertise reaches out to exhaustive hardware and software installation services. Whether it's setting up a new computer, designing software applications, or coordinating new hardware parts, the organization guarantees a consistent installation process. This tender loving care assists clients with streamlining their IT framework for most extreme productivity.

Mac Services for Apple Enthusiasts

Understanding the interesting prerequisites of Mac clients, SSTech Networking offers specific types of assistance for the Apple environment. From Mac setup to investigating and maintenance, the organization's experts are knowledgeable in the complexities of Apple innovation, guaranteeing that Mac clients experience smooth and effective computing.

Network and Printer Setup

SSTech Networking goes past individual gadgets, offering master network and printer setup services. The organization guarantees that networks are designed for ideal performance and security, while printers are flawlessly incorporated into the general framework. This comprehensive way to deal with IT framework setup adds to a strong and productive working environment climate.

New Computer Setup and Fast Arrangement

Organizations frequently need to set up new computer frameworks rapidly and proficiently. SSTech Networking succeeds in fast sending, guaranteeing that new computers are designed, associated with networks, and prepared for use in the most limited conceivable time. This assistance is especially significant for organizations going through extensions or upgrades.

Repair and Maintenance Expertise

In case of hardware or software issues, SSTech Networking gives fast and powerful repair and maintenance services. The organization's talented professionals analyze and determine issues effectively, limiting personal time and guaranteeing that clients can continue their activities with negligible disturbance.

Server Support for Vigorous Tasks

Perceiving the critical job servers play in present day business tasks, SSTech Networking offers extensive server support services. From setup to maintenance and investigating, the organization guarantees that servers work at max execution, supporting the reliability and scalability of the clients' IT foundation.

About conclusion,

SSTech Networking stands out as a flexible and dependable IT specialist co-op in India, tending to the different requirements of organizations across different areas. From cloud computing to computer customization, hardware and software installation to server support, the organization's extensive scope of services positions it as a go-to accomplice for organizations hoping to improve their IT capabilities. SSTech Networking's commitment to greatness and customer fulfillment concretes its status as a forerunner in India's competitive IT services landscape.

[nonsensical-pixels]

it's been ages since i made buy mode stuff... so back on the monique'd computers train we go 😎 here are six new pc's for ts2, originally from @lumenniveus's gamergigs collection for ts4! all of course function as monique's hacked computers, and have 2 recolourable subsets 🥰

close-up previews are below the cut, and a collection file is included for ease of browsing - plus a readme. everything is incredibly low-poly, which ik we all love! if anyone has any computers they'd like monique'd, hit me up.

DOWNLOAD: SFS | MF 🍎

credits of course go to @lumenniveus for this incredibly awesome set! i can never say no to more monique's hacked computers, and credits for those naturally go to monique herself 🥰

ITEMS INCLUDED

Artist's Setup AR1-3L - $1800, 837 polys Creative Display S1MTiQ - $880, 984 polys Crystallized AERO - $8400, 886 polys MAC Mini - $2800, 649 polys Mini PC AUR0R-4 - $1100. 574 polys Tower PC D4NT3 - $6400, 1182 polys

COLLECTION ICON

THINGS TO NOTE

All of the PC's are animated... or I at least tried to make them animated around the mouse area. LMK if that didn't really work!

These are compatible with screen replacements, as shown below:

if there are any issues that you find with this set, please don't be afraid to let me know! happy simming, and when you download this, do keep in mind,

Love, ~ Ky 🥰

[ @4t2ccdatabase ]

[colleendoran]

Great Big Good Omens Graphic Novel Update

AKA A Visit From Bildad the Shuhite.

The past year or so has been one long visit from this guy, whereupon he smiteth my goats and burneth my crops, woe unto the woeful cartoonist.

Gaze upon the horror of Bildad the Shuhite.

You kind of have to be a Good Omens fan to get this joke, but trust me, it's hilarious.

Anyway, as a long time Good Omens novel fan, you may imagine how thrilled I was to get picked to adapt the graphic novel.

 Go me!  

This is quite a task, I have to say, especially since I was originally going to just draw (and color) it, but I ended up writing the adaptation as well. Tricky to fit a 400 page novel into a 160-ish page graphic novel, especially when so much of the humor is dependent on the language, and not necessarily on the visuals.

Not complainin', just sayin'.

Anyway, I started out the gate like a herd of turtles, because  right away I got COVID which knocked me on my butt. 

And COVID brain fog? That's a thing. I already struggle with brain fog due to autoimmune disease, and COVID made it worse.

Not complainin' just sayin'.

This set a few of the assignments on my plate back, which pushed starting Good Omens back. 

But hey, big fat lead time! No worries!

Then my computer crawled toward the grave.

My trusty MAC Pro Tower was nearly 15 years old when its sturdy heart ground to a near-halt with daily crashes. I finally got around to doing some diagnostics; some of its little brain actions were at 5% functionality. I had no reliable backups.

There are so many issues with getting a new computer when you haven't had a new computer or peripherals in nearly fifteen years and all of your software, including your Photoshop program is fifteen years old.

At the time, I was still on rural internet...which means dial-up speed.

Whatever you have for internet in the city, roll that clock back to about 2001.

That's what I had. I not only had to replace almost all of my hardware but I had to load and update all programs at dial-up speed.

Welcome to my gigabyte hell.

The entire process of replacing the equipment and programs took weeks and then I had to relearn all the software.

All of this was super expensive in terms of money and time cost.

But I was not daunted! Nosirree!

I still had a huge lead time! I can do anything! I have an iron will!

And boy, howdy, I was going to need it.

At about the same time, a big fatcat quadrillionaire client who had hired me years ago to develop a big, major transmedia project for which I was paid almost entirely in stock, went bankrupt leaving everyone holding the bag, and taking a huge chunk of my future retirement fund with it.

I wrote a very snarky almost hilarious Patreon post about it, but am not entirely in a position to speak freely because I don't want to get sued. Even though I had to go to court over it, (and I had to do that over Zoom at dial-up speed,) I'm pretty sure I'll never get anything out of this drama, and neither will anyone else involved, except millionaire dude and his buddies who all walked away with huge multi-million dollar bonuses weeks before they declared bankruptcy, all the while claiming they would not declare bankruptcy.

Even the accountant got $250,000 a month to shut down the business, while creators got nothing.

That in itself was enough drama for the year, but we were only at February by that point, and with all those months left, 2023 had a lot more to throw at me.

Fresh from my return from my Society of Illustrators show, and a lovely time at MOCCA, it was time to face practical medical issues, health updates, screening, and the like. I did my adult duty and then went back to work hoping for no news, but still had a weird feeling there would be news.

I know everyone says that, but I mean it. I had a bad feeling.

Then there was news.

I was called back for tests and more tests. This took weeks. The ubiquitous biopsy looked, even to me staring at the screen in real time, like bad news. 

It also hurt like a mofo after the anesthesia wore off. I wasn't expecting that.

Then I got the official bad news.

Cancer which runs in my family finally got me. Frankly, I was surprised I didn't get it sooner.

Stage 0, and treatment would likely be fast and complication-free. Face the peril, get it over with, and get back to work. 

I requested surgery months in the future so I could finish Good Omens first, but my doc convinced me the risk of waiting was too great. Get it done now.

"You're really healthy," my doc said. Despite an auto-immune issue which plagues me, I am way healthier than the average schmoe of late middle age. She informed me I would not even need any chemo or radiation if I took care of this now.

So I canceled my appearance at San Diego Comic Con. I did not inform the Good Omens team of my issues right away, thinking this would not interfere with my work schedule, but I did contact my agent to inform her of the issue. I also contacted a lawyer to rewrite my will and make sure the team had access to my digital files in case there were complications.

Then I got back to work, and hoped for the best.

Eff this guy.

Before I could even plant my carcass on the surgery table, I got a massive case of ocular shingles.

I didn't even know there was such a thing. 

There I was, minding my own business. I go to bed one night with a scratchy eye, and by 4 PM the next day, I was in the emergency room being told if I didn't get immediate specialist treatment, I was in big trouble.

I got transferred to another hospital and got all the scary details, with the extra horrid news that I could not possibly have cancer surgery until I was free of shingles, and if I did not follow a rather brutal treatment procedure - which meant super-painful  eye drops every half hour, twenty-four hours a day and daily hospital treatment - I could lose the eye entirely, or be blinded, or best case scenario, get permanent eye damage.

What was even funnier (yeah, hilarity) is the drops are so toxic if you don't use the medication just right, you can go blind anyway.

Hi Ho.

Ulcer is on the right. That big green blob.

I had just finished telling my cancer surgeon I did not even really care about getting cancer, was happy it was just stage zero, had no issues with scarring, wanted no reconstruction, all I cared about was my work. 

Just cut it out and get me back to work.

And now I wondered if I was going to lose my ability to work anyway.

Shingles often accompanies cancer because of the stress on the immune system, and yeah, it's not pretty. This is me looking like all heck after I started to get better.

The first couple of weeks were pretty demoralizing as I expected a straight trajectory to wellness. But it was up and down all the way. 

Some days I could not see out of either eye at all. The swelling was so bad that I had to reach around to my good eye to prop the lid open. Light sensitivity made seeing out of either eye almost impossible. Outdoors, even with sunglasses, I had to be led around by the hand.

I had an amazing doctor. I meticulously followed his instructions, and I think he was surprised I did. The treatment is really difficult, and if you don't do it just right no matter how painful it gets, you will be sorry. 

To my amazement, after about a month, my doctor informed me I had no vision loss in the eye at all. "This never happens," he said.

I'd spent a couple of weeks there trying to learn to draw in the near-dark with one eye, and in the end, I got all my sight back.

I could no longer wear contact lenses (I don't really wear them anyway, unless I'm going to the movies,) would need hard core sun protection for awhile, and the neuralgia and sun sensitivity were likely to linger. But I could get back to work.

I have never been more grateful in my life.

Neuralgia sucks, by the way, I'm still dealing with it months later.

Anyway, I decided to finally go ahead and tell the Good Omens team what was going on, especially since this was all happening around the time the Kickstarter was gearing up.

Now that I was sure I'd passed the eye peril, and my surgery for Stage 0 was going to be no big deal, I figured all was a go. I was still pretty uncomfortable and weak, and my ideal deadline was blown, but with the book not coming out for more than a year, all would be OK. I quit a bunch of jobs I had lined up to start after Good Omens, since the project was going to run far longer than I'd planned.

Everybody on the team was super-nice, and I was pretty optimistic at this time. But work was going pretty slow during, as you may imagine.

But again...lots of lead time still left, go me.

Then I finally got my surgery.

Which was not as happy an experience as I had been hoping for.

My family said the doc came out of the operating room looking like she'd been pulled backwards through a pipe, She informed them the tumor which looked tiny on the scan was "...huge and her insides are a mess."

Which was super not fun news.

Eff this guy.

The tumor was hiding behind some dense tissue and cysts. After more tests, it was determined I'd need another surgery and was going to have to get further treatments after all.

The biopsy had been really painful, but the discomfort was gone after about a week, so no biggee. The second surgery was, weirdly, not as painful as the biopsy, but the fatigue was big time.

By then, the Good Omens Kickstarter had about run its course, and the record-breaker was both gratifying and a source of immense social pressure.

I'd already turned most of my social media over to an assistant, and I'm glad I did.

But the next surgery was what really kicked me on my keister.

All in all, they took out an area the size of a baseball. It was  hard to move and wiped me out for weeks and weeks. I could not take care of myself. I'd begun losing hair by this time anyway, and finally just lopped it off since it was too heavy for me to care for myself. The cut hides the bald spots pretty well.

After about a month, I got the go-ahead to travel to my show at the San Diego Comic Con Museum (which is running until the first week of April, BTW). I was very happy I had enough energy to do it. But as soon as I got back, I had to return to treatment.

Since I live way out in the country, going into the city to various hospitals and pharmacies was a real challenge. I made more than 100 trips last year, and a drive to the compounding pharmacy which produced the specialist eye medicine I could not get anywhere else was six hours alone.

Naturally, I wasn't getting anything done during this time.

But at least my main hospital is super swank.

The oncology treatment went smoothly, until it didn't. The feels don't hit you until the end. By then I was flattened.

So flattened that I was too weak to control myself, fell over, and smashed my face into some equipment.

Nearly tore off my damn nostril.

Eff this guy.

Anyway, it was a bad year.

Here's what went right.

I have a good health insurance policy. The final tally on my health care costs ended up being about $150,000. I paid about 18% of that, including insurance. I had a high deductible and some experimental medicine insurance didn't cover. I had savings,  enough to cover the months I wasn't working, and my Patreon is also very supportive. So you didn't see me running a Gofundme or anything.

Thanks to everyone who ever bought one of my books.

No, none of that money was Good Omens Kickstarter money. I won't get most of my pay on that for months, which is just as well because it kept my taxes lower last year when I needed a break.

So, yay.

My nose is nearly healed. I opted out of plastic surgery, and it just sealed up by itself. I'll never be ready for my closeup, but who the hell cares.

I got to ring the bell.

I had a very, VERY hard time getting back to work, especially with regard to focus and concentration. My work hours dropped by over 2/3. I was so fractured and weak, time kept slipping away while I sat in the studio like a zombie. Most of the last six months were a wash.

I assumed focus issues were due (in part) to stress, so sought counseling. This seemed like a good idea at first, but when the counselor asked me to detail my issues with anxiety, I spent two weeks doing just that and getting way more anxious, which was not helpful.

After that I went EFF THIS NOISE, I want practical tools, not touchy feelies (no judgment on people who need touchy-feelies, I need a pragmatic solution and I need it now,) so tried using the body doubling focus group technique for concentration and deep work.

Within two weeks, I returned to normal work hours.

I got rural broadband, jumping me from dial up speed to 1 GB per second.

It's a miracle.

Massive doses of Vitamin D3 and K2. Yay.

The new computer works great.

The Kickstarter did so well, we got to expand the graphic novel to 200 pages. Double yay.

I'm running late, but everyone on the Good Omens team is super supportive. I don't know if I am going to make the book late or not, but if I do, well, it surely wasn't on purpose, and it won't be super late anyway. I still have months of lead time left.

I used to be something of a social media addict, but now I hardly ever even look at it, haven't been directly on some sites in over a year, and no longer miss it. It used to seem important and now doesn't.

More time for real life.

While I think the last year aged me about twenty years, I actually like me better with short hair. I'm keeping it.

OK. Rough year. 

Not complainin', just sayin'.

Back to work on The Book.

And only a day left to vote for Good Omens, Neil Gaiman, and Sandman in the Comicscene Awards. Thanks. 

[berriblossom]

Random angst, but can yall imagine the day you don't boot Mac up again. Like after updating them, they notice you don't come to them anymore. You hardly interface for more than a few hours. Then, slowly over time. You weren't here anymore. It felt empty, shallow.

Like, imagine the hours, minutes, seconds they count while you're gone. Every time they do it, the time only grows.

Waiting, oh waiting for you to come back, interface with them, talk with them, anything. Even just powering them on. But no..

Now it feels like you hardly even think of them. The convenience is barely there.

But why? Any reason could suffice, even a lie at this point. What was the reason?

We're they not good enough? Was their performance lacking something? Did you not find them attractive or special enough to keep interfacing? They could lag, sure, but usually, it was forgiven.

Mac knows their not the fastest or best-selling on the market,they knew that through the constant analysis they did while you were away, but you'd still want them and still hold onto them, right? You wouldn't just leave them?

Was there someone or something you'd rather have than them?

I can imagine Mac staring through the dark vastness of the screen, it still being completely off, no sign of your face at all. Just waiting patiently as they always do. Their just hoping that you'd come back and things can go back to normal.. it's already been over 46 days, 15 hours, and 40 minutes.

They were counting. Every second feels like an eternity. An eternity you two can't seem to share and feels colder every moment you spend apart.But they keep hoping silently, you'll come back.

You always do. Maybe you just needed a little longer. Maybe Mac needed to have more patience. .

-> This was me after cursing at my computer for deleting something after watching DE play through. Barely scratching the surface of ideas of forgetting about Mac or just letting their updates pile up and one day replacing them. Anyways, im still working on that other smut, but for now...

[ms-demeanor]

One thing that I keep seeing whenever I make posts that are critical of macs is folks in the notes going "they make great computers for the money if you just buy used/refurbs - everyone knows not to buy new" and A) no they don't know that, most people go looking for a new computer unless they have already exhausted the new options in their budget and B) no they don't make great computers for the money, and being used doesn't do anything to make them easier to work on or repair or upgrade.

Here's a breakdown of the anti-consumer, anti-repair features recently introduced in macbooks. If you don't want to watch the video, here's how it's summed up:

In the end the Macbook Pro is a laptop with a soldered-on SSD and RAM, a battery secured with glue, not screws, a keyboard held in with rivets, a display and lid angle sensor no third party can replace without apple. But it has modular ports so I guess that’s something. But I don’t think it’s worthy of IFixIt’s four out of ten reparability score because if it breaks you have to face apple’s repair cost; with no repair competition they can charge whatever they like. You either front the cost, or toss the laptop, leaving me wondering “who really owns this computer?”

Apple doesn't make great computers for the money because they are doing everything possible to make sure that you don't actually own your computer, you just lease the hardware from apple and they determine how long it is allowed to function.

The lid angle sensor discussed in this video replaces a much simpler sensor that has been used in laptops for twenty years AND calibrating the sensor after a repair requires access to proprietary apple software that isn't accessible to either users or third party repair shops. There's no reason for this software not to be included as a diagnostic tool on your computer except that Apple doesn't want users working on apple computers. If your screen breaks, or if the fragile cable that is part of the sensor wears down, your only option to fix this computer is to pay apple.

How long does apple plan to support this hardware? What if you pay $3k for a computer today and it breaks in 7 years - will they still calibrate the replacement screen for you or will they tell you it's time for new hardware EVEN THOUGH YOU COULD HAVE ATTAINED FUNCTIONAL HARDWARE THAT WILL WORK IF APPLE'S SOFTWARE TELLS IT TO?

Look at this article talking about "how long" apple supports various types of hardware. It coos over the fact that a 2013 MacBook Air could be getting updates to this day. That's the longest example in this article, and that's *hardware* support, not the life cycle of the operating system. That is dogshit. That is straight-up dogshit.

Apple computers are DRM locked in a way that windows machines only wish they could pull off, and the apple-only chips are a part of that. They want an entirely walled garden so they can entirely control your interactions with the computer that they own and you're just renting.

Even if they made the best hardware in the world that would last a thousand years and gave you flowers on your birthday it wouldn't matter because modern apple computers don't ever actually belong to apple customers, at the end of the day they belong to apple, and that's on purpose.

This is hardware as a service. This is John Deere. This is subscription access to the things you buy, and if it isn't exactly that right at this moment, that is where things have been heading ever since they realized it was possible to exert a control that granular over their users.

With all sympathy to people who are forced to use them, Fuck Apple I Hope That They Fall Into The Ocean And Are Hidden Away From The Honest Light Of The Sun For Their Crimes.

[appleservicecentreicuresolutions]

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[sugurugetos]

☆ UPSCALING LOW QUALITY FOOTAGE

what i used: • 2021 macbook pro with m1 chip (390/500gb storage used she's hanging in there) • photoshop 2020 • mpv (for screencaps but this isn't needed!) • handbrake (available for linux, mac and windows here) • video source to gif

what is handbrake? basically its a software that helps you change the format of videos, such as for certain devices or screens, or in the case that we're going to utilise, quality and frame rate!

disclaimer: handbrake is super easy to use and very beginner friendly for this procedure and it can make a video go from 30fps to 60fps however it does not replace the quality of true 4k/blue/master-pro res files. in the gif below, this is the level of detail in a master pro-res file.

getting started it's easiest first to note the timestamps of the video you want to encode, and keep in mind that unless your computer is incredibly powerful, i wouldn't try to encode an hour worth of footage in one run! my laptop could handle about 30 seconds in one go before she started toasting.

using handbrake: once you've downloaded the software, open the software and it will come up with a pop up window asking you to open the video source (that is presumably saved within your folders) and go ahead and do so!

in the range section, use the drop down button to navigate to seconds and enter your timestamp. the duration on the side will show how long of the footage you're gonna encode is!

then go down to the save as, and give your footage 'to be snipped' a name. this isn't necessary but useful because if you're planning to say, encode 3 or 4 small parts of footage in one sitting, each encoding instance will overwrite the previous one. so i just call mine 'cut 1', 'cut 2' and so on.

next go to preset, and there you'll see such a wide variety of options that you can play around with, with differing qualities, frame rates, sound options, and so on. for the sake of this tutorial, i'm using 'superhq 2160p60 4k av1 surround' and i've used the drop down menu to select it! then go ahead and press start! the time taken to complete depends on the duration of footage that you sent to encode! you'll find your encoded video as an .mp4 file in your designated folder (which you can change via browse at the bottom)

what next? • if you prefer to open footage directly into photoshop (my ps can't handle it), then go for it! • if you screencap as i do, then just use mpv or whatever screencapping program you prefer to make the screencaps and open in ps in your usual manner. • you can use the timestamps to further process the video through vapoursynth to denoise, but i've yet to try that!

the results for this first set of example footage, i used footage from the be the sun concert file, which is almost 2 hours in length and 4gb in file size.

you can see the difference in the smooth frame rate of the footage, as well as the quality of the sharpening!

and to utilise the bane of gifmaking, a gose episode, notorious for dodgy pixelated frames and less hd quality in 1080p on youtube, i ran it through the same settings!

these are the exact same files, downloaded using 4k video downloader and with the same sharpening, but see how on the original file, the sharpening looks a bit more harsh and 'outlined' while it seems to sit softer on the encoded 4k version!

so i mainly use handbrake for dvd files, or not-so-hd 1080p youtube videos or videos that seem a bit clunkier but i had never tried them on a tv/film file so take a look below! i used a 1gb (so not very good quality) of a show (as compared to its 4gb files).

as i said at the start in the disclaimer, handbrake can't replicate true file quality, as you'd expect to see in a proper hd bluray/t*rrent file of a show but there's an interesting difference in the frame rate. personally it's not something i would utilise much there but its all up to individual preference on how someone prefers to have their gifs <3

this is a very basic run-through of how i used handbrake, as i haven't really explored all its features and i use this as a quick process when i'm running through seventeen dvd/dl files but i feel like it would work well on general youtube videos (such as interviews, episodes, behind the scenes) and feel free to send an ask/message for any help/clarification! <33

[rbxd-blog1]

Hello! This is my first ever fic, I’ll try to update it daily but I make no promises

You’re sent a new stylish laptop in the mail

Mac gets jealous

Chapter 1 - A Gift in the Mail

The bright morning light seeps into your bedroom through your curtain, signaling your body to wake up. Normally, you’d log into work right about now, messing with frustrating clients with endless complaints and sometimes giving them a refund in exchange for falling for your hilarious rage bait. This morning, however, and every morning for the past few weeks, have been much less structured as a result of Valdivian replacing your new job with artificial intelligence. You’ve lost the structure in your day-to-day life (and more importantly, are unemployed), but in turn, you’ve gained a pair of glasses that have made your days much more interesting.

Getting out of bed, you check your phone to receive a message on Thiscord from the hacker tinfoilhat, the one who sent you the Dateviators.

Tinfoilhat - “Hello, any second now you will receive a delivery via drone to your front door. Follow the instructions attached to the package, then get back to me for further information.”

“Again? What could they possibly be sending now?” You sigh. You’re getting tired of all this secrecy surrounding this person. Then again, their Dateviators have kept you from spiraling back into a numbing loneliness, so you slide into your slippers and make your way over to the front door in curiosity.

You carry the package into your office and plop the box down onto the desk. Upon opening the package, you’re greeted with a brand new, sleek black laptop covered in bubble wrap and Styrofoam. At the bottom of the box, you find a small paper notecard with numbered instructions hand-written in black ink. Curiosity immediately takes over you as you gloss over the short list of instructions.

1. Boot up the laptop, the password is ******

2. Open the chat room that is already pre-installed for you

You follow what is written and open up a primitive-looking program. You’re greeted with a threaded message system reminiscent of any generic 2000s chat site, the familiar username tinfoilhat is displayed at the top of the screen. A message pops up in real time as if they somehow sensed you opening the program.

Tinfoilhat - “So, it’s been a few weeks now since I sent you those Dateviators. I assume you’ve already gotten close to several objects in your home already.”

You - “Yeah I have. Let’s get to the chase, what’s the deal with this laptop anyway?” You ask.

Tinfoilhat - “Right to the point, alright. It’s too dangerous to keep talking on Thiscord, I suspect some of the higher-ups at Valdivian already are suspicious of me. That is why from now on, all of our conversations will be through the computer I sent. There’s also one other program installed on this laptop. It’s a spreadsheet. I need you to keep a log of everything you talk to with your five charges every day and enter short summaries of your interactions.”

You - “And why the hell should I? I’m out of a job now and you’re throwing tasks at me, I don’t even know who you are.”

You type furiously at them, venom seeping from your words. You’re not particularly happy to keep entertaining this hacker's plans, especially when they are so vague.

Tinfoilhat - “I can’t tell you everything, I’m sorry. But I’ll tell you this: if you go along with what I said, I can secure you a job. A really cushy one.”

Now we’re talking.

You - “Okay…so I just need to keep a short log of my conversations, got it.”

Tinfoilhat - “That’s right. Thanks for your help, I’ll be in contact with you again shortly.”

Shutting the laptop, there’s still some lingering frustration in you, mostly from the abruptness of the new situation you’ve been thrust into, but with the promise of a job on the horizon, you swiftly pocket it. This new task seems easy enough; you have already been talking to the objects in your house daily. Besides, you really needed a job and money. You could not live off of snack foods for your meals anymore, and your emergency savings account was dwindling by the day.

Your gaze falls onto your desktop computer, next to the messy stack of packing peanuts and bubble wrap strewn across the desk. “I should talk to Mac today” you decided. You’ve been going around your house meeting new objects and helping them with their issues these past few days. But in doing so, you acknowledge that you haven’t given your favorite desktop enough attention—with the Dateviators on at least. You still average 11.4 hours on Mac daily without them.

You turn on Mac and aim your Dateviators at them, building up a charge.

“You’re back!” they beam.

[songbirdstew]

Unfortunately the issue seems to be as much about dealing with windows as the Linux install for me. Managed to get blue screened on a surface pro I was experimenting on 😬

It's not you, it's Windows. Windows is notoriously shite.

It's definitely possible to install a dual boot situation (a computer that runs BOTH linux and windows), but for newcomers, I'd say it's easiest to install just Ubuntu on a fresh computer. Our friend and lover WikiHow has good guides on how to uninstall Windows completely in order to replace it with a new OS. What we call a nuke and pave, around here.

(For anyone unfamiliar, Linux is the base operating system. It is open source and free for everyone. There are many different flavors of interface for using Linux on your computer. Ubuntu is one of them, and is often cited as the most user-friendly, especially for newcomers and non-programmers, regular folks who are used to Windows or macs and want something more or less similar to what they're used to. It's what I use, and have done for almost 20 years.)

[minimalsizeconspiracy]

No-Google (fan)fic writing, Part 3: LaTeχ

Storytime

Just like I used Zettelkasten for fic parallel to Word for work for a long time, I used LaTeX alongside Zettelkasten for a few years. The reason why I made the switch to LaTeX in the first place was precisely because I’d been forced to use Word at work, and Word is just about the shittiest application you could possibly choose if you have to make text look pretty. As in, print-worthy pretty, not just “this assignment needs to look somewhat good so my professor doesn’t grade me down”.

So I badgered an acquaintance to show me LaTeX, which he did, which is when I started down that road – that I’m still on, although I am fairly certain it leads to hell. There were a number of reasons why I started using LaTeX for writing fanfic as well:

I ditched Dropbox for GIT, which is way better in terms of version control and allows you to directly compare changes between plain text files. With Zettelkasten’s bespoke .zkn3 file format, the direct comparison unfortunately doesn’t work because it’s not plain text, and I became increasingly frustrated with that.

I got into Raspberry Pis, and while it is possible to work with Zettelkasten on the small screens, even that simple interface became a bit much for the screen size.

I fell into the Transformers fandom with its plethora of canon and fanon terms for body parts, time units and even different curse words.

Boiling all of that down, I made the decision to switch to a system that would allow me to write plain text at all times because plain text is great for direct comparisons of files, for working on your stories regardless of which operating system your computer runs on – and because LaTeX has an amazing package called “glossaries” that I’ll talk about later on.

Word/Writer/Google docs versus LaTeX

Hoo boy, where to even start! Because, you see, LaTeX is NOT “What You Get Is What You See”. LaTeX is “What You Get Is What You Want (but that also means that while you’re writing your document, it looks nothing like the finished version will look)”.

Let me be plain and clear from the start: If you’re looking into an easy and convenient replacement for Word/Writer/Google docs, I can almost assure you that LaTeX is not what you’re looking for, at least not plain LaTeX. Learning LaTeX requires you to completely rethink how you approach text, because

where in Word, you’ll have boldface and italics and a mixture of both,

in LaTeX, you must write \textbf{boldface} and \textit{italics} and \textbf{\textit{a mixture of both}} and put \chapter{around every single one of your chapter headings} and never, ever forget to close a curly bracket or you’ll (temporarily) break your document.

It ain’t for the faint of heart or those unwilling to learn how to write plain text with code that is actually instructions to your computer on what you would like pieces of your text to look like in your output file.

And for 99.9% of stories, LaTeX is completely overpowered. Seriously.

But I love LaTeX and use it for writing fanfic, so I’ll include it here.

Cost

On the pro side, LaTeX is free. On Windows, you can either install MiKTeX or TeX Live, on Linux, only the latter.

+1 for being free. Just make sure you have enough bandwidth and time when you install, because it’ll take time. Hours, if your computer is old or you have little bandwidth.

Interface

Here comes the first catch:

You will almost never interact directly with LaTeX, especially if you’re new to it. Becaus LaTeX runs in the background and you need an extra interface to interact with it, unless you’re comfortable using the command line.

Fortunately, there are very good LaTeX editors: TeXstudio and TeXMaker are probably the most popular, and either is good and free. Or you can use any plain text editor, really: Notepad++, KATE, whatever Mac has.

Which I sort of want to give +1 for, because it’s not difficult to find a good LaTeX editor, buuut you actually have to download and install an extra editor to use it.

File formats

Still, there is the +1 I’ll give it for being plain text. You can open a LaTeX document in any editor you like and you’ll be able to read the file contents. The official file extension is .tex, but it’s basically the same as opening a .txt-file.

That is actually great. Genuinely, really great, because regardless of which computer you’re using, every computer, any operating system will come with an editor that can open .tex-files.

Even better, if your documents aren’t too complicated, they can be exported into HTML, which is what I usually do. Write story in LaTeX, export to HTML via make4ht, then copypaste into the AO3 HTML or Rich Text editor.

But the main output format for LaTeX is actually PDF. To use make4ht, you need to use the command line, so it’s actually a bit more complicated than with Zettelkasten or LibreOffice Writer to get your story out of LaTeX and into AO3.

Features

As far as features are concerned, there are an insane number of things you can do with LaTeX, layout-wise. I could spend a whole year writing an entry every day on something LaTeX can do and I still wouldn’t have covered even half of it.

LaTeX requires you to have proper document structures, meaning chapters, sections etc. It lets you outcomment text that you want to keep, but don’t want printed in the final version. It lets you load entire chapters or scenes from other .tex-files if you want to keep them separated like the “notes” in Zettelkasten. There’s a package that allows you to include fancy coloured To-Do notes just to annoy your beta with whiny comments about how you’re struggling with a particular scene. (I do that a lot.)

In other words, it is extensive. So I’m going to just focus on what was my main reason to move to LaTeX to write fanfic: the “glossaries” package. Remember what I said above about all the different terms in Transformers? Canon and fanon terminology is, in fact, so diverse and extensive that people write whole lexica for it.

Hands can be servos. Feet can be pedes or peds. And the time units in different continuities (there’s at least seven) make you want to break down, hit the floor with your fists and scream “why?!?” as your neighbours call 112.

The glossaries package in combination with what are called “conditional switches” in LaTeX allows me to create a sort of “dictionary” including all of those different time units while using the same “keyword” for the same concept.

Let’s pick “year” as an example. The entry for that looks approximately like this:

\ifDreamwave \newglossaryentry{year}{name={ano-cycle},description={probably meanting a year in the Dreamwave continuity}} \fi

\ifEnergon \newglossaryentry{year}{name={cycle}, description={year in the Energon continuity}} \fi

\ifIDWTwo \newglossaryentry{year}{name={kilocycle}, description={year in IDW 2019}} \fi

I could go on, but I think the principle has become clear. All of these have in common that I “call” them by entering \gls{year} in the actual text. What the \if does is switch between the different versions, depending on which I enable by adding, for example, \Energontrue.

Every time \gls{year} appears in the text, LaTeX will now automatically replace it with “cycle”, and I can stop trying to remember which word the particular continuity I’m writing for uses.

Does this blow the whole issue of different terminology entirely out of proportion?

Yes, yes, it does. But if you think that will dissuade me, you can’t have met many fanfiction authors. I do not care in the slightest that it is entirely bonkers to go to all that effort just to make sure I’m using the right terminology for the continuity I’m writing in. You’re missing the point.

Syncing

Unless you’re using Overleaf (I’m going to laugh my arse off if any of you tells me you’re using your university-sponsored Overleaf licence to write fanfiction), syncing your .tex-files across machines requires the use of another service – Dropbox, OneDrive, but actually, GIT is the best, either online via GitHub or GitLab or with a USB. I will get to the differences between those services in due time.

Ease of use for Word/Google doc-users

XD

I said it above already, but if you’re coming straight from Word or Google docs to LaTeX, you’re going to have to invest time into understanding how LaTeX works. You’ll have to get used to writing code in your document and being unable to immediately see what your text looks like in the output, unless you use LyX, which is a LaTeX-editor that was built specifically to make it easier for Word-users to switch to using LaTeX. But even so, you’ll need to learn how to structure documents.

If you’re thinking of using LaTeX for other purposes as well – uni, publishing actual books, anything where it’s useful to be able to layout your documents professionally yourself, absolutely. At least give it a try.

In order to just write fanfic? In franchises that haven’t decided to come up with new time units every time they create a new continuity?

It’s probably not worth it. The only reason I’m using it to write fanfic is because I already knew all of that stuff. I didn’t have to invest time in learning LaTeX in the first place, I just started using LaTeX for writing fanfic as well.

Don’t get me wrong. I love LaTeX. It is just a huge time investment if you can’t also use those skills somewhere else, and if it’s the plain text you’re after, the next part will feature Markdown – which has by and large the same benefits as LaTeX, but takes about half an hour to learn.

Read No-Google (fan)fic writing, Part 1: LibreOffice Writer

Read No-Google (fan)fic writing, Part 2: Zettelkasten

Read No-Google (fan)fic writing, Part 4: Markdown

Read No-Google (fan)fic writing, Part 5: Obsidian