iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

gbl08ma @gbl08ma.com · 15/09/2026

It's a bit of a weird launch for Valve standards, when the Steam Frame doesn't play nice with the Steam Machine, for now at least... and this is a product that was delayed for months, and ships in this state? gbl08ma.com/posts/steam-...

gbl08ma.com

Steam Frame, a Linux machine, doesn't support Linux? · gbl08ma's personal website

I expected some gambling, but not like this.

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gbl08ma @gbl08ma.com · 09/09/2026

TBF, people who know the least about something are the most likely to have controversial opinions about it.

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gbl08ma @gbl08ma.com · 09/09/2026

It's all fun and games until the CFAA is used to put an inconvenient innocent who merely used a LLM in jail. Wait, we didn't need LLMs for that - they'll just bring efficiency gains. ...We didn't _need_ the CFAA for that either. And, traditionally, the fun and games have continued regardless. 😩

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gbl08ma @gbl08ma.com · 28/08/2026

Yes, the RT noise was difficult to ignore, but I find it slightly less noticeable in motion and I think it will barely matter when seen on a TV. Now, if only there was a platform where this game could benefit from all the RT innovations and CPU performance improvements of the last 6 or 7 years...

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gbl08ma @gbl08ma.com · 28/08/2026

It's an honest, load-bearing meow.

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gbl08ma @gbl08ma.com · 28/08/2026

This will feature in GTA VI, a game that won't ship on a disc at launch. Satire, self-awareness and/or "the consequences of my own actions?"

Part of a frame of the GTA VI "An Extended Look" published yesterday, showing a storefront for a business named "Video Forever." It features an arched yellow facade and large windows with several "Store Closing" and "Everything Must Go" signs.

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gbl08ma @gbl08ma.com · 27/08/2026

Interestingly I find it's this reliance on the web that makes it easier for a wider number of people to switch to Linux these days; it definitely is the case for me. I basically just need Firefox, my Firefox extensions, my games, VSCodium, a terminal emulator, and I'm set...

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gbl08ma @gbl08ma.com · 27/08/2026

Maybe it's not even really about email, and more about how web apps became good enough for the overwhelming majority of users, leading to declining investment in native apps with rich feature sets.

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gbl08ma @gbl08ma.com · 27/08/2026

IMO the alleged lack of good email clients for Linux says more about the state of email than about the state of the Linux desktop. Are there even good email clients for Windows these days? MS Office Outlook used to be the enterprise standard but I hear it's been progressively enshittified.

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Eepy Rose @eepyrose.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

It's crazy how whenever people talk about digital ownership, some mf comes along like "Well, it's in the terms that you agreed to that you don't own it" and like YEAH THAT'S WE'RE TALKING ABOUT! WE SHOULD CHANGE THAT!

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gbl08ma @gbl08ma.com · 18/08/2026

This goes for more than social networks btw

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gbl08ma @gbl08ma.com · 18/08/2026

The platforms that try to respect their users don't tend to intentionally implement a bunch of dark patterns to capture as much of their users' attention, time and money as possible... if one platform is addictive and the alternative is not, people won't move, or at least they won't be as active.

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gbl08ma @gbl08ma.com · 18/08/2026

At the same time, if it turns out that an overwhelming majority dislikes such openness - especially in the face of AI AI AI being able to gobble up and correlate everything (maybe "big data" is the actual enemy here... a buzzword that predates the new AI cycle) - then such a protocol is a bit moot.

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gbl08ma @gbl08ma.com · 09/08/2026

Yeah I'm well aware of yabridge... but unfortunately many of the VSTs people want to use don't work at all or have limitations that must be worked around. And yes, right now it seems unmaintained. It also doesn't help that some paid VSTs are riddled with DRM that doesn't play nicely with Wine.

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gbl08ma @gbl08ma.com · 09/08/2026

Not a Serum user but I am really happy they're finally doing this. Hopefully more VST developers will follow suit, especially considering there's no behemoth that will fund and build "Proton for VSTs" like there was for games.

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gbl08ma @gbl08ma.com · 09/08/2026

This fallacy was specifically called out in the materials of the high school geology and biology classes, over a decade ago, and ofc we mocked the Americans for such thoughts. It's bittersweet to see the real deal.

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gbl08ma @gbl08ma.com · 28/07/2026

You can fix this with some about:config setting, IIRC it's widget.use-xdg-desktop-portal.file-picker set to some magic value and maybe you need to install a couple packages too. It's been like this for years and it's incredible how this isn't the default yet.

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gbl08ma @gbl08ma.com · 27/07/2026

Especially given that not everyone lives in the US, and I know that the same political themes are also present elsewhere, but still... IMO being able to discuss things other than politics, and without tying everything to politics, is a requirement for healthy political discussion.

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gbl08ma @gbl08ma.com · 23/07/2026

OK so you have bbi.to blacklisted too. I guess I'm going to have to do that, I think it's wrecking my labeler.

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gbl08ma @gbl08ma.com · 23/07/2026

If you are "waiting for SteamOS" and you really don't use your computer for anything but to play games, not even to run e.g. Discord at the same time, then you're probably right to wait for SteamOS. Otherwise, I strongly recommend you just pick one of the other popular distros making the rounds.

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gbl08ma @gbl08ma.com · 23/07/2026

Flatpak *has its merits* but I wouldn't want to use it for all software (especially not web browsers, as Flatpak's architecture prevents them from using certain sandboxing strategies). Presenting "common users" with a safer sandboxed experience can be fine, but not at the cost of good UX.

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gbl08ma @gbl08ma.com · 23/07/2026

The main thing that jumps to mind is that the most obvious and supported way to install software in SteamOS is through Flatpak (via Discover), and that will cause problems like, for example, file drag and drop to/from programs not always working; weird file location selections in file pickers, etc.

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gbl08ma @gbl08ma.com · 23/07/2026

I use SteamOS regularly and daily-drive a "regular" Linux distro. I can confidently say: everyone "waiting for SteamOS" has just been waiting to get a clunkier Linux desktop experience for everything except gaming, compared to just using CachyOS or even an immutable distro like Bazzite.

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antirez @antirez.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

[blog post] Not just development, distribution of software may change as well: antirez.com/news/170

antirez.com

Not just development, distribution of software may change as well - <antirez>

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gbl08ma @gbl08ma.com · 22/07/2026

That last one was alluding to an observation in @robbielegu.me's video at 1:40 youtu.be/q1Kt3qQGWX8?... I might eventually write a long ramble about these areas and the hundreds of hours me and others have spent "climbing like a racoon attempting insurance fraud" 😂 in this and other games

youtu.be

The scale and secrets that make Night City legendary | NoClip Nomad

YouTube video by Robbie Legume

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gbl08ma @gbl08ma.com · 22/07/2026

I dislike how my list of ideas for blog posts is pretty much all about the impact of LLMs on my profession... ...except for that last one, but it'd need so much visual support it's probably best as a video, and at that point it gets into "requires too much effort" territory.

Blog post ideas

- Excuses to do nothing
- how "AI AI AI" made it worse
- Possibly more generally appealing variation on the above: how "agentic coding" has made it less valuable to share small pieces of software (anything simple enough can be custom built at the distance of a vibecoding session)
- Tangentially, the same "agentic coding" has made Linux more amenable to a wider population, as anything that "can be fixed with a script" is now reachable by more people (with potentially less than desirable side effects, but still)
- It also means that FOSS will suffer (even more than already known) because that "initial simple project" that sparked a bigger one (as it evolved to respond to the requirements of different users) will either not be published at all, or it will get lost in a "sea of vibecoded slop"
- i.e. people won't look for a pre-existing solution to their small problems, they'll just prompt something anew and people will be using a thousand hyper-specialized private solutions rather than contributing to a series of fewer common solutions that solve more problems for more people
- at the same time: this sounds like the Unix philosophy at work... except the "one thing doers" never get published, and they might not "be doing it well"
- Is it still worth it to have a projects portfolio in the age of AI? Won't it just be understood as "here's what I prompted Claude to do?" (And if yes, might there be some value in that?)
- https://www.reddit.com/r/cscareerquestions/comments/1uy5m4u/every_junior_portfolio_i_screen_now_is_incredible/
- Note: this post is basically already written under this page https://gbl08ma.com/works/software/
- CP2077 and the out-of-bounds parkour/exploration meta-game it evokes in me
- Robbie Legume briefly touched on this in one of his videos, how certain areas almost seem designed for this type of activity

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gbl08ma @gbl08ma.com · 18/07/2026

Unsurprisingly, Starlink was (and still is) subsidized. Nobody could ever see it coming.

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gbl08ma @gbl08ma.com · 16/07/2026

Here's my late contribution to the "physical vs digital" debate, whose latest iteration was prompted by Sony's infamous announcement. Digital media can be even better than physical, when it has no artificial limitations. We should strive to remove some of those. gbl08ma.com/posts/digita...

gbl08ma.com

Digital media is nerfed · gbl08ma's personal website

It could be so much more powerful, if everyone were willing to put less effort into it.

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Writing on Games @writingongames.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

News of Bandcamp layoffs really sucks. For all its problems, Bandcamp has always been far and away the best means of supporting musicians online. Was wondering when acquisition-driven shite was going to make itself apparent. Was good while it lasted.

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gbl08ma @gbl08ma.com · 01/07/2026

My timing really is impeccable. There's nothing like promoting my writing about **purely hypothetical** Valve malfeasance, just a couple hours before Sony decides to remind everyone who's the much bigger actual villain now.

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gbl08ma @gbl08ma.com · 01/07/2026

To be fair, when someone does that I don't think they're really following much of any theory other than "XYZ also did it this way / everyone is doing it these ways / doing it any other way is so 2000s/2010s"

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gbl08ma @gbl08ma.com · 01/07/2026

@debiscomusic.com a new Discord alternative is finally dropping! It's still very early from what I can tell, but it seems a bit more "normal" to navigate than Matrix, at least!

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gbl08ma @gbl08ma.com · 01/07/2026

At least while humans are still involved in maintaining code, there's also the fact that (much like in classic arts) much of the process is about what is conveyed and communicated to other people; a "better" solution is not usually better if no one else can understand/expand it.

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gbl08ma @gbl08ma.com · 01/07/2026

There _is_ methodology to software engineering and architecture; there are good practices for secure, maintainable code, etc. and ways to model and argue about these things, but in practice... it's a bit like music theory: it models what happens but it can't always make the right decisions for you.

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gbl08ma @gbl08ma.com · 01/07/2026

In my professional experience, programming (or perhaps more accurately software engineering) also gets very "vibey and shit" once one moves past the "basic ass programs." The more complex a system is, the more ways there are to design it, and _usually_, there is no single objectively right one.

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gbl08ma @gbl08ma.com · 01/07/2026

My favorite part about that "quote" is that it has its own "actually," moment from Stallman himself www.gnu.org/gnu/incorrec...

gnu.org

Incorrect Quotation - GNU Project - Free Software Foundation

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gbl08ma @gbl08ma.com · 01/07/2026

"I'd just like to interject for a moment. What you're referring to as Linux, is in fact, Plasma/KDE/GNU/Linux, or as I've recently taken to calling it, KDE's flagship product Plasma plus GNU plus Linux. (...) Through a peculiar turn of events, the version of Plasma which is widely used today (...)"

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👁️🍄🪸 @bloomfilters.plus · 01/07/2026

if i can be completely honest the platonic form of a game is to me a digital file that is easily replicable and has no anti-piracy locking and can be put on a physical medium by a person if they want a physical version but there is little mass production of plastic for their distribution

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Astra ⎔ @astrra.space · 01/07/2026

vendor-backed hardware attestation is an extremely harmful trend in software and everyone trying to impose it onto other people should be shunned from the space

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gbl08ma @gbl08ma.com · 01/07/2026

An example of such a game I own on Steam is DiRT 3, it still "exists" as an entity in Steam and I can still play it, but if you press the "Store" link in steamdb it just takes you to the Steam store homepage. steamdb.info/app/321040

steamdb.info

DiRT 3 Complete Edition Price history (App 321040)

SteamDB record for DiRT 3 Complete Edition

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gbl08ma @gbl08ma.com · 01/07/2026

I'm not sure if it's the case for _all_ delisted games (probably depends on the specific legal and contractual circumstances surrounding the delisting) but, generally speaking, buyers keep the licenses in their Steam account after the store page goes down.

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gbl08ma @gbl08ma.com · 01/07/2026

Sorry guys, I think I jinxed it by reminding Sony that Rockstar was still putting out new disc (re-)releases of some games as of just a couple months ago.

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gbl08ma @gbl08ma.com · 01/07/2026

It's really depressing that, with current regulations and implementations, "digital only" games on console mean: no reselling, no backups, no preservation, etc. Digital purchases on PC, **for now at least,** are still better because we get the files to archive, even if they're DRM-encumbered.

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gbl08ma @gbl08ma.com · 01/07/2026

I wrote down some thoughts on Valve's latest gambling mechanics of sorts - the ones oriented towards allocating the limited supply of their newest hardware. To be fair, this is not something only Valve is doing... and it seems it's only going to be more and more of a necessity for consumer hardware.

gbl08ma.com

Steam Slot Machine · gbl08ma's personal website

How to introduce consumers to gambling before they even get to launch Counter-Strike on the thing.

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gbl08ma @gbl08ma.com · 01/07/2026

I certainly didn't expect Bluesky to capture most of X's users, but I expected more dispersion across other platforms, both old and new. The network effect is one hell of a drug, and neither most companies nor most public figures have left X (not even the EU politicians pushing for sovereignty 🙄).

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gbl08ma @gbl08ma.com · 01/07/2026

...but the most surprising thing to me, is that so many people are still using X, with its "interesting" algorithm, "interesting" approach to verification/paid promotion, pushing of "features" such as grok, etc. It lost me years ago, maybe because I prefer "no experience" to a "bad experience?"

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gbl08ma @gbl08ma.com · 01/07/2026

Since you posted here, GTA VI has been delayed twice, memory prices have exploded -> PS5 and Xbox prices have been raised at least twice, [and I won't be buying neither just for that game anymore], the first RDR was finally re-released on current gen consoles (including a disc copy for the PS5!)...

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Mike P @fentiger.wtf · 30/05/2026

"You are in 'detached HEAD' state. You can look around..."

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