Bradley's Old Fashioned Weblog

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  • Dune sequel books contain really complex themes and ideas

    I’m surprised by how well the story has held up, considering that it was written in the 70s.

    I need to reread the part about the transformation in the desert, because I’m not sure how or if that really fit into the story’s world. It felt more like magic than science or evolution.

    The author describes patterns of human activity that repeat over eons. He approaches the idea that people need to stay connected to the immediacy of life and human nature. Somehow, the story strikes me as being anti-technology and a call for people to be spiritual but not religious. There are also constant criticisms of the role of religion in creating excuses for, and a need for, violence.

    The end of the story gave me some ideas about Shai-Hulud. Unless I really misread things, the goal of the Dune story is to describe replacing the big worm or driving force below the desert, which makes me wonder if this is a repeating cycle that has happened before.

    Herbert draws heavily on various religions in the creation of his universe, so a circular conception of time and the embodiment of “divinity” in an actual character whose existence becomes the literal and spiritual foundation for galactic civilization would be right up his alley. It would also make for a really epic story.

    The scale and complexity of the ideas the author is tackling grows in each new Dune book. Some people may not like it or understand a lot of it. I know I didn’t when I tried to read these books at 13, but they are thought-provoking and fascinating to me now, 27 years later and being much more well-read. There are obvious, like really obvious, references to Islam, Judaism, and Christianity, but also hints of Hinduism and Buddhism as well.

    For someone like me that has been interested in religions for their entire life, this series is exceptional.

  • Bethesda accidentally deleted my Fallout 76 account

    Update: I was able to fix the problem and regain access to my character and progress. Here’s how.

    I had a conversation with #Bethesda Support about unlinking my Xbox Live account and ended the conversation with telling them directly not to do it because they told me it would result in loss of characters/progress/etc. in #Fallout76.


    I asked them to unlink my Steam account from a secondary Bethesda account instead so I could transfer that over. (The ultimate point being that I would start playing Fallout 76 through Steam instead of Windows Store).


    Can you guess which account they unlinked anyway?


    Almost 150 hours of time invested. $130 of Fallout 1st, extra atoms, character, items, progression, all gone. Just like that.


    If they don’t restore it, I guess I’m done playing Fallout 76. I’m not reinvesting all of that time. I don’t have that kind of time to waste redoing the same things.

  • I love you more than tuna

    Thumper taking a nap

    Today is the two-year anniversary of the passing of our favorite cat, Thumper. I picked up a copy of this book a few months ago and hid it on top of the bookshelf. This evening, I pulled it down and my wife and I read it together. Even after two years, it’s hard to comprehend that she’s gone, and the world still managed to spin around the sun two times without her being here with us.

    The book is excellent. Not all cats are the same, but somehow, the stuff in this book was about 95% on point, and it brought back a lot of good and sad memories.

    Thank you, to the author and illustrator.

    I’m grateful for the time we had together, but I wish she was still around.

  • Live to experience life

    The sun shining through the leaves of trees in Fort Tryon Park on a warm afternoon.

    The idea that you need to profit from every activity and experience is incorrect and unhealthy.

  • “Goblin Slayer” anime

    Goblin Slayer about to slay some goblins.

    This was an excellent anime adaptation of the #manga. I was really surprised that they didn’t tone down the violence much, and I’m really looking forward to watching “Goblin’s Crown”.

    The vibe of this anime really reminds me of #Claymore, but it’s not as serious and has less depth, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Sometimes it’s fun to watch characters who are predictable.

    I’m going to rewatch Claymore soon and see if it’s as good as I remember.

  • Godzilla was inspired by World War II

    Today, I learned that the original 1954 #Godzilla film and the concept of Godzilla were inspired by the #atomic bombings of #Hiroshima and #Nagasaki by the US during World War II. I never really thought about it, but it makes sense.

  • A book about a guy catching a fish

    “Every day is a new day. It is better to be lucky. But I would rather be exact. Then when luck comes you are ready.”
    ― Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea

    I never thought I’d be this interested in a book that is all about a guy on his boat catching a fish. Of course, there are themes about the importance of community, tradition, dedication, and the reality that hard work sometimes ends in failure, but it’s really just a book about some guy getting into his boat and trying to reel in a fish for almost 100 pages.

    And it was amazing.

    I’ve read almost 800 books, not counting comics and manga and portions of books that I read for college, and after a while it seems like almost all books are basically the same story, just in different settings and with differently named characters, so it’s nice to read something a bit different for a change. I’m finding that I want to read classic literature more now when I want a novel because the books that have lasted tend to be books that focus on human nature and the human condition and I appreciate that the books are offering something deeper and more meaningful to me than just entertainment.

    “You did not kill the fish only to keep alive and to sell for food, he thought. You killed him for pride and because you are a fisherman. You loved him when he was alive and you loved him after. If you love him, it is not a sin to kill him. Or is it more?”

    Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea

  • Solving no audio after loading into a Fallout 76 game

    Short answer at bottom of post

    I have a set of Bose QC25 headphones that I converted into Bluetooth headphones by attaching a Btunes adapter. This worked fine on my laptop, but when I started using a new desktop I ran into an issue where, after clicking through the start menu, the audio would cut out shortly after loading into the game. I solved this in two steps.

    First, I started looking at the settings and did some searching around online and I thought the problem might be that the device only had 1 channel 16 bit output available. I couldn’t change it because the option was grayed out, so I figured it had something to do with the drivers. After reinstalling Windows, I never did go back and reinstall all of the drivers that came with my motherboard because I no longer had the installation disc and everything seemed to be working ok.

    So, I went to the MSI website and downloaded the latest Realtek Universal HD driver for my motherboard, the MSI Mag B550m Mortar. Once installed, the headphones registered as two separate devices. One was a stereo output and the other was a “hands free” device that registered as an output and an input. I figured this was the microphone input.

    I disabled the device registering as “hands free” input and also set Windows to “do nothing” (not lower the volume) when a “chat” was detected. Then, I tried to run Fallout 76 again, but I still had the issue with the audio cutting out. Even worse, the game started to hang and wouldn’t close properly. This clued me in that the issue was probably related to the microphone, so I started the game again and checked the audio settings. I turned off push to talk and started flipping through the chat settings (area, team, etc.) to see if there was an “off” option, but there wasn’t. However, for about 2 seconds after changing the chat mode the game audio would come back.

    I looked at the Windows taskbar while the game was running and noticed a microphone icon in the bottom right. Fallout 76 was accessing the microphone even though I had disabled the only microphone device available. This was probably why the game was hanging and crashing on shutdown. I tapped the Windows key to open Windows Search and typed “microphone” and selected the option for “microphone privacy settings”. I went down the list and flipped Fallout 76 to “off”.

    The next time I started the game, the problem was solved. There’s just some weird conflict between Fallout 76 and the Bluetooth adapter on my headphones, I guess.

    Short answer:

    1. Make sure you have the most up to date Realtek Universal HD Driver from your motherboard manufacturer’s website installed
    2. Revoke Fallout 76’s microphone access in the “Microphone privacy settings” menu

    Now that the audio issue is fixed, the next time I have a chance to play, I’ll actually be able to play.

  • Being happy with enough

    A lot of the problems we have in the world right now are because people want things that they don’t need, like a new phone every two years for example, and it creates a constant dissatisfaction with the present.

    I wonder if this is why rich people kill themselves? They have so much, and not knowing what to do with it and not having time to use it must create additional layers of dissatisfaction.

    The focus on living in the present moment that Marcus Aurelius wrote about reminds me of Buddhism. Aurelius even says that we shouldn’t worry about the past or the future because they do not exist.

  • So I’m an ordained minister now

    Universal Life Church Ministries Credentials of Ministry certificate

    Apparently this is legit, and I’m an #ordained #minister with the Universal Life Church now. I didn’t realize it was that easy to get this title. It felt like I completed a level 2 quest in an online MMO starter town:


    “Quest Complete!
    Title Unlocked: Minister”


    I’m going to file paperwork with the City Clerk’s office and then if the need arises I’ll be able to perform marriages, baptisms, etc. in New York.


    I was inspired to look into this by “The Big Bang Theory” TV show. In season 5, episode 24, Sheldon, Leonard, Raj, Penny and Amy all go online to get ordained as ministers to perform Howard and Bernadette’s wedding ceremony together.

    It was one of my favorite moments in the show, and I thought it was just for TV that they were all able to get ordained online. I looked it up and found out that it’s a real thing, and finally got around to doing it myself. I suppose I did it more for the novelty of the idea than anything, kind of like how owning a few doge coins is kind of interesting to me. But hey, maybe I’ll be able to use this.

    I’d like to get certified as a public notary too, because why not?