Random off-topic stuff

[Norbert]

7. ...fictional hero(s)?

Two characters played by Patrick Stewart, namely superhero Charles Francis Xavier and 'real' hero Jean-Luc Picard.

[Norbert]

As another example. I first asked Copilot [...]

Recently I asked it, after a bunch of tweaking, this:

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Let's play a story game. You'll tell a story where I am the protagonist. Each of your responses will be 100 words, continuing the story. At the end of each segment, provide a question with four distinct options labeled A through D, each on a separate line, to determine how the story progresses. Avoid relisting options I did not pick in previous segments. Each question should flow naturally within the story. Please refer to me as "you" in the story and refrain from describing my feelings, thoughts, or emotions, letting me decide those myself. The story should occasionally force me to make difficult moral choices. Feel free to make anything happen and take the story in any direction. It may include phenomena or entities beyond the laws of nature, but try to keep the story at least somewhat grounded in reality.

Incorporate inventory management, where I can collect and use items during the adventure. Occasionally list inventory items as options A through D to pick which one to use in specific situations. Include puzzles or mini-games within the story that require solving to progress, using items from my inventory logically. Correctly solving the puzzle with the right item will unlock new paths or rewards. Ensure that the decisions about which items to use from my inventory have lasting effects on the story. Always list the contents of the inventory below options A through D as "Inventory: <listing>."

Works pretty well.

[Norbert]

I think Linux breaks USB sticks if there's not enough power going to it, and that its developers call this a "hardware problem".

It also has the issue where writing large amounts of data to a USB flash drive literally hangs the transfer.
This is another thing Linux fanboys try to explain away, here with complex stories about caching behavior.
But it drives users nuts and makes them move back to Windows.
This has been a Linux issue for, probably, decades.

The solution is adding these two lines at the end of /etc/sysctl.conf:

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vm.dirty_bytes=50331648
vm.dirty_background_bytes=16777216

Then rebooting, and finally verifying: $ sysctl -a 2>/dev/null|grep dirty

Also, don't copy using cp, but instead use:
$ rsync -av --progress fromdir/ tousb/

[Norbert]

I'm a fan of the Reincarnation Fish of the Head over Heels game.

If you have it, you can eat it where you want to save, which is a pretty cool thing, IMO.
So, you collect one or more of them while playing a level and then decide at which point during the level you want to use it.
A nice in-between/alternative for the no save option versus constantly being able to save (save states or whatever).
(Don't start playing Head over Heels, by the way, it's seriously addictive...)

I'm currently playing Kingdom Come: Deliverance.
It has "Saviour Schnapps", that are required to manually save the game.
It's not an extremely rare item. It can be bought, crafted, stolen, looted, found.

[Norbert]

(By the way, the song used is "To The Wilder" by Yoann Lemoine (Woodkid); song on YT.)