nodBard's web log

they/them🩶 | musician🎸 | composer🎼

[nodbard]

It's a hot summer and the sequel just got delayed so pass the time with a cover of my favorite track from the original

[nodbard]

I made my very own DataTel Advanced Communications Suitcase from the world of Cyberpunk 2077. It has offline backups of websites like Wikipedia, Project Gutenberg, and the USDA Canning Guide. All of my favorite music plays through two Rockford Fosgate speakers in a custom enclosure and a USB hub allows me to connect controllers to play almost any (read, every) retro video game.

My build is objectively not as cool as the original design by R. Talsorian Games (1991) because it does not have a wireless keyboard or a fax machine. In version 2.0 I will correct this design flaw.

My wife says these official-looking in-universe stickers are going to get me in trouble. She is probably right.

The first proof-of-concept test answered the most important question: Can it play Cyberpunk 2077?

A Pelican 1200 case was the ultimate limiting factor for the size and scale of the project, which I ended up incredibly thankful for having, otherwise it would have crept and crept.

Cutting speaker box panels is outside of my skillset so my wife did most of the woodworking.

Assembling the speaker box was the single-most time consuming step thanks to the drying and curing times of wood glue and silicone.

Nothing says "stolen corporate property" like an employee badge for Konpeki Plaza and a gibberish warning about cyber security.

The fingertips on my right hand are still sensitive from wiring this speaker box. It reminds me of learning to play the guitar.

The brain and brawn of the build!

The Raspberry Pi 5 (8GB) and HiFiBerry Amp4 Pro are connected via GPIO and mounted to a piece of thin MDF behind the speaker box. The original design had poor weight distribution and would tilt backward when opened.

[nodbard]

Update: I redesigned the outer graphics to achieve a more cohesive "corporate standard issue" aesthetic.

I re-arranged some of the permanent peripherals to reduce wire clutter and project complexity. The previous iteration required unplugging the video cable from the Raspberry Pi in order to close the case so I replaced the video cable with a more flexible one and used Velcro to adhere the excess to the inner lid.

[viralfrog]

[asphor]

I really loved this bit

[nodbard]

I made my very own DataTel Advanced Communications Suitcase from the world of Cyberpunk 2077. It has offline backups of websites like Wikipedia, Project Gutenberg, and the USDA Canning Guide. All of my favorite music plays through two Rockford Fosgate speakers in a custom enclosure and a USB hub allows me to connect controllers to play almost any (read, every) retro video game.

My build is objectively not as cool as the original design by R. Talsorian Games (1991) because it does not have a wireless keyboard or a fax machine. In version 2.0 I will correct this design flaw.

My wife says these official-looking in-universe stickers are going to get me in trouble. She is probably right.

The first proof-of-concept test answered the most important question: Can it play Cyberpunk 2077?

A Pelican 1200 case was the ultimate limiting factor for the size and scale of the project, which I ended up incredibly thankful for having, otherwise it would have crept and crept.

Cutting speaker box panels is outside of my skillset so my wife did most of the woodworking.

Assembling the speaker box was the single-most time consuming step thanks to the drying and curing times of wood glue and silicone.

Nothing says "stolen corporate property" like an employee badge for Konpeki Plaza and a gibberish warning about cyber security.

The fingertips on my right hand are still sensitive from wiring this speaker box. It reminds me of learning to play the guitar.

The brain and brawn of the build!

The Raspberry Pi 5 (8GB) and HiFiBerry Amp4 Pro are connected via GPIO and mounted to a piece of thin MDF behind the speaker box. The original design had poor weight distribution and would tilt backward when opened.

[cyberxbattalion]

[johnnyrico]

[perestroika-hilton]

Hot girl summer

[reggiemess]

Cannot stand the trend of censoring any and all words that describe concepts that might make you go :( especially when the censoring is done in that quarter-assed way that's just 'did a lil scribble over a vowel so you know that I know this word describes a no-no."

I'm not even going to be vague about what sparked this. Do not fucking censor the word 'stole.' I'm at my fucking limit.

[reggiemess]

Who does this benefit. Who is made safer by this. Whose life is made better by this. Who is out there going "Wow I sure am glad I didn't have to see that word without it scribbled on a little. That really reduced the emotional impact of reading that word." Can I kill them?

[justme--48]

[thememedaddy]

[isuggestrevolution]

i suggest not letting it get this far

[basuralindo]

So I just simultaneously did, and possibly didn't lose my job today :)

Very much did in the sense that I literally do not know where my job is at the moment. But, for the time being I haven't been let go because nobody else including the store owner knows where it is either.

So, I don't wanna risk doxxing myself by posting pictures but goddamn am I tempted because this is not a believable event. This is a cartoon problem. For looneytoons.

But yeah, so, I work(ed?) at a kiosk selling boba tea, right? Freestanding kiosk in the mall with full water and electrical hookups and multiple fridges and sinks and a mini kitchen and the works. Fully functional tea shop. Very important to note that it was there last night, The work chat was discussing another issue last night at closing time. I'll get back to this.

It's been showing signs of being on the way out with how business is being handled lately and I've been considering other options, which is probably why I'm not as torn up about this as I should be, but maybe it just hasn't set in yet, but that's not the point. The point is there's been a lot of shit breaking and not being replaced and nobody mentioning anything about it until I walk into work in the morning and have to figure out why shit like the fucking cash register isn't there today. So I'm kinda used to having to ask questions about big things that nobody bothered to update me on. I was out for two weeks recovering from a surgery, so I came to work this morning assuming there'd be some kind of bullshit, yeah?

So, the question I had to ask the chat this morning was:

Not a text I ever thought I'd have to send in sincerity, but there it is. Because what I found instead was a fenced off patch of discolored tiles and a few holes in the floor where my entire place of employment used to be.

And the answer? Nobody knows! It was there last night when the mall closed, and every single trace of the structure and all its contents including drink making supplies and our safe and cashbox was gone when it opened again. And when I say nobody knows, I mean everyone from last night's closers to the actual (former?) owner of the store jad no fucking clue about this until getting that text from me this morning. For once I am actually the first to know. 🎉.

So. I guess I didn't so much lose my job as had it stolen. Not by AI, but good old fashioned hands-on human beings picking it up and carrying it away somehow. All mall security would tell me was that they were instructed not to tell me anything and have us contact our management. Who also don't know anything. And later on I came across some construction workers around the gravesite of the kiosk discussing filling in the holes, asked them about it, and was told that they "weren't at liberty to say".

So, not only is my job gone in the most literal physical sense of the word, but it was taken in some kind of super secret kiosk extraction in the dead of night without any warning or witnesses and nobody is allowed to speak of it. The store owner said she was gonna figure it out 10 hours ago and still no word back.

I don't know what else to say aside from I've been laughing all day and I'm gonna have a hell of a time explaining Schrodinger's Unemployment to the benefits office.

[basuralindo]

Update that is not an update because I'm basically certain this isn't what actually happened:

My mother in law thinks the FBI took it.

Not any of the other stores around the state. Just the one little kiosk.

Why? Because she loves a conspiracy and is just a little bit extra.

Also because she was around for the massive crackdown on Yakuza-owned businesses in Waikiki (in her homestate) that did actually involve the FBI seizing stores (no confirmation of making kiosks cleanly disappear in the middle of the night though).

Still no word from my job on what's actually going on, but the most likely theory so far is that maybe the kiosk was on lease and got repossessed? The mystery continues

(also shout out to the person who proposed Carmen Sandiego)

[basuralindo]

ACTUAL (partial) UPDATE:

According to the owner, based on what she's been able to find out, the kiosk was not removed legally and they're starting a potentially long process of legal action. I hope she gets to sue the shit out of whoever did it but for now at least I know for sure I'm unemployed.

Really hoping for more details in terms of who/why/how, so I'll keep updating if I learn anything.

For now the summary is: An unnamed entity that is most likely mall management (on account of mall security cooperating with them) stole an entire kiosk and all the contents including money and machinery with barely a trace in the middle of the night grinch-style, with zero warning or explanation, and ensured the silence of both security and the construction crew, in an action that was definitely preplanned and illegal, and as far as I know nobody knows its whereabouts.

So now I'm officially out of a job. Because my workplace was literally stolen in the night.

[basuralindo]

Actually fuck it let's share some photos cause I wouldn't be inclined to believe this myself. It's not like anyone can stalk me at my job now and I'm not gonna have to see any coworkers that might find my tumblr.

Enjoy the unintentionally funniest text I've ever sent in my life

Aaand a close-up:

The last remains of a once Very Much Solid And Immobile Workplace

[basuralindo]

HEY HI HELLO THIS ONE'S MY FAVORITE

via @kagaminilen

[mysteryteacup]

[cut to a kiosk on legs, sipping a boba, while wandering into the nearest forest on chicken legs]

[ardanelvilyafeanturi]

Here you go @a-bit-too-dyscrasic

[dizzyxfawn]

kill your darlings (ep) is out everywhere now!

https://open.spotify.com/album/4NiiE6THG3SpUlWay7GcJV?si=O7MvYZYaR_Osq8ds37UDzQ

[bisexualgoth]

monday affirmations

- i am not tired

- eight hours is not that long

- i slept well the night before

- the only reward for hard work is more work

- i feel well rested

- the 40 hours workweek will collapse in my lifetime

- i definitely got enough sleep

[sapropel]

Apolitically killing bandits and savages in my video game with no messages

[diet-poison]

asked the skyrim bandits why they were living in a cave and they explained the war effort has buried the economy so they can't find work and lost their homes. I use my shout to blast them across the cave and find a preeeetty nice sword among their belongings

[orthusisintheforest]

Hi this reminds me of the skyrim quest I always think about constantly.

It happens during the whole vampire questline. It's not related to vampires. I may misremember details so forgive me for that. But you have to go through old dwemer ruins and you meet the last living snow elf in Skyrim. You know, the snow elves. Who were enslaved by the dwemer and went blind and feral and still live in the ruins long after the dwemer are gone. The falmer is what they're called now. Here's the last one who's in their original form.

And oh hey, to get to where you need to go you have to take a path that's an old snow elf coming of age rite of passage. And he's going to take you through it and you're going to learn about this dead culture, this culture that was killed.

And now you've got what you came for and there's one way out. Now that you've learned what the falmer used to be, where they came from, what was lost because of the dwemer enslaving them, you have to go through a falmer village.

It's a narrow canyon lined with huts. There's no way to avoid it, in order to get through you have to kill them. They attack you because that's what they do to people invading their territory. You're invading their village. You have to kill them or they'll kill you. It's the only way out. You feel terrible.

If you stop to loot one of the huts on your way out you'll find a book full of unreadable text. Take it to the winterhold college and give it to the librarian and he'll tell you that it's a remarkable find because it's evidence that falmer have retained intelligence. They're not just mindless feral monsters. They have this book, they've kept this book even though they can't see. They have a culture. Maybe they still remember what happened to them. Maybe that's why they're so mad.

You just killed so many of them. You're going to have to kill many more.

Anyway.

Video game with no messages.

[datura-45]

[ventismfsblog]

[izorfia]

And it's fucking amazing

We love u gooseworx

We got the best tumblr sexywoman ever

[vimeddiart]

I redrew this mermaid from when I was 11:

I really appreciate how she turned out! Soft.