A Story About My Uncle (PC) Your uncle has been gone for longer than normal. Set off on a journey to a strange new world to find him.
Since much of gaming feels (IMO) like a dumpster fire of soon to fail live service open world extraction shooter clones and reboots of stuff I played when I was 25 (being the same age as old people is weird.), I decided to dig middling deep into my backlog and found this 12 year old little gem.
This is a 3D platformer Portal-ish experience. No combat, just puzzles, a special suit with a grappling hook and rocket boots, and .. frog people? You play as a tween boy looking for his missing uncle, who has invented a "garbage portal" that it turns out leads to some strange dimension/planet. There are signs your uncle was here recently so you set off to find him.
The narration is actually really good. Music is nice. Mechanics are.. mostly good. I like the art style, it's quite colorful. There are places where it's so dark it's damn near impossible to see what you're standing on, and that's not just in areas where it's on purpose. This might be due to the new to me OLED monitor I played it on? I do keep it a bit dim, shrug.
Your suit is the main star of the show here. A charged jump, electric grappling hook, and later rocket boots contribute to all kinds of platforming hijinks. The levels are mostly long gaps to be crossed between small floating islands. As you travel this realm you discover frog people inhabiting it. One of them comes along with you in your search for your uncle as they miss him too. She literally climbs on your back, which seems odd, till he explains the suit makes it so you barely notice she is there.
Most of the game is fairly basic platforming until the final stretch, where a sudden brutal difficulty curve appears, so be prepared to fall into the abyss a LOT. Or maybe that's just me cause I'm now an old 🤷 I rolled credits, but it was tough. I do rec checking this one out.

#ShareYourGames #PC #Gaming #Steam #VideoGames

https://coffeestain.com/game/a-story-about-my-uncle/

A Pizza Delivery (PC, PS5, Xbox) "B" is making her final delivery of the day, but it turns into a surreal journey through a strange world.

So I don't really want to describe this game more than the line above, I feel this is one of those ones it's best to just experience. One of those "artsy" type games. It's introspective at times. You interact with odd characters. There's things to collect and read.
The graphics are pretty simple so it should run on most things. It ran fine on my Linux PC. Music is decent. It's fairly short, 2-3 hours to roll credits. It's currently on sale, tho.. you might want to wait for a half off sale? I feel the price I paid was "worth" what I got out of the game, but YMMV 🤷

#ShareYourGames #Gaming #VideoGames #PC #Steam
https://store.steampowered.com/app/3415450/A_Pizza_Delivery/

🖥️#PC-ul de tip consolă Valve urmează să se lanseze în această vară: Tot ce știm despre #Steam Machine.

🔗 https://wp.me/p9KpFA-5ktW

#Știri

Hi everyone! 👋 I know it's been a while since I was last here, but I had a very specific reason for it. I've spent the last few months with my small team intensely developing a project I mentioned to you once before. Every moment of my inactivity here was simply coding, designing the architecture, and endlessly solving problems

Today, I am proud to announce - LibreConnect has moved past the phase of vague plans and become a fully functional app!

We managed to deliver what was absolutely most important to us - an ecosystem connecting your 💻 computer and 📱 smartphone that respects your privacy 100%. Zero external clouds and hidden telemetry. Everything is based exclusively on a direct P2P connection within your local network and strong E2E encryption 🔐

So, what can our app actually do?
- Virtual camera and microphone from your phone
- Mobile device file manager right from your PC 📁
- Notification and clipboard synchronization 📋
- Receiving and sending SMS/MMS from your computer 💬
- Two-way media playback control 🎵
- Remote keyboard and presentation control from your phone
- Finding your phone by triggering a loud alarm (overriding silent mode) 🚨
- And a few other minor conveniences

We also made sure the project is truly cross-platform. LibreConnect runs natively on Linux, macOS, Windows, and Android. It's worth mentioning that the app isn't limited to just x86_64 architecture - we support ARM64 as well! To make updates easier, we've set up our own F-Droid repository, along with native packages for Linux package managers (APT, DNF, Pacman)

The code is 100% open-source under the GNU GPL v3.0 license However, I have to be honest - the project is still very young. The app is highly usable, but it still requires optimization, might have some silly bugs, and can occasionally be unstable 🐛

That's why we need you so much right now. For the continued development of this app to make any sense, we need a small but engaged user base. I encourage you to install it, test it out, and report bugs, and for those interested - to join the project as contributors (you'll find a CONTRIBUTING.md in the repo) 🤝

If you like our vision, leaving a star ⭐ on our GitHub repository is the form of support we would appreciate the most. It's these stars that will allow us to take the project out into the world! Because of this, for the next few days, my activity here will focus mainly on promoting the app and its features - we need your help to build the right momentum. Thank you in advance for your support!

You can find all other info here:
https://libreconnect.one

#LibreConnect #Privacy #PrivacyByDesign #OpenSource #FOSS #Freedom #Software #FreeSoftware #Libre #BigTech #Tech #Technology #Dev #Programming #Code #App #Apps #CPlusPlus #Qt #Phone #PC #Computer #OS #OperatingSystem #Linux #RaspberryPi #Apple #Mac #Windows #Android #FDroid #Obtainium

Alt...

A mobile screenshot of the LibreConnect Android app showing a "Connected" status. Below the app logo are four large, touch-friendly buttons for quick access - Media Remote, Remote Keyboard, Presenter Mode, and Sync Clipboard.

Alt...

A desktop screenshot of the LibreConnect app in dark mode on Linux. The "Messages" tab is open, showing a sidebar with features, a list of SMS conversations in the middle, and an active chat on the right containing large emoji messages.

Alt...

A desktop screenshot showing the LibreConnect "Media Remote" interface on Linux. The app displays title, artist name, album name and art, a progress bar, and playback controls for a song. In the right corner of the screen, a native Linux media widget mirrors the exact same song, showing seamless system integration.

Alt...

A desktop screenshot of the LibreConnect "Notifications" tab on Linux. The app window lists active phone notifications. In the bottom right corner of the screen, a native Linux popup notification from LibreConnect displays a new SMS message, demonstrating integration with the desktop environment.

The Steam Machine will be the hottest thing this summer!

Valve's Steam Machine and VR headset shipping date officially announced

https://www.polygon.com/valve-steam-machine-summer-release-date-steam-frame/

#Valve #SteamMachine #SteamFrame #VR #PC #Hardware #Gaming

Step 2: In addition to Windows, there are a couple of other things you want to grab.

Check to make sure you have the latest UEFI (AKA/FKA BIOS) version for your device. Get this from the vendor with their name on the box directly from their website. Download the version specific to your model/serial number.

Also grab the latest system/platform, graphics, and network/wifi drivers from the manufacturer's website. 90% of these "executables" will be zip files that you can extract and point Windows at the folders later.

Lastly, you want to grab other stuff you want to install immediately. For me, that's Privacy.Sexy, WinAeroTweaker, Vivaldi browser, a Copilot Killer Script and the latest releases of PowerShell, Windows Terminal, and PowerToys.

After you create your install USB, you can copy the BIOS update, drivers, and miscellaneous programs to it.

#Windows #Microsoft #Laptop #PC #Security #Reinstall #Copilot #Malware #Dell #HP #Lenovo #ASUS #Acer

Step 3: Update UEFI/BIOS. Specifics are going to depend on your device and its process. Make sure you're on the most recent version, especially because of the Secure Boot certificate expirations.

#Windows #Microsoft #Laptop #PC #Security #Reinstall #Copilot #Malware #Dell #HP #Lenovo #ASUS #Acer

Step 4: Boot Windows 11 Installer. Start fresh, blow away everything on the existing internal drive. The default manufacturer programs are almost never worth saving. The restore partitions are going to have old crap that will be replaced almost immediately when you start updating.

Modern devices won't have a Windows license sticker; the key is baked into the UEFI. Sometimes the Windows installer will pick up the right edition (home/pro/enterprise), sometimes you have to select it yourself. Either way, you can install Win11 without needing to provide a license key at this step. See also the MAS further down.

#Windows #Microsoft #Laptop #PC #Security #Reinstall #Copilot #Malware #Dell #HP #Lenovo #ASUS #Acer

Step 5: Install drivers for devices Windows didn't handle during installation. The old Device Manager still exists. Right-click on the Start button/Windows logo, and select "Computer Management". There you can see devices, including ones that don't have working drivers. Either run the executables you downloaded earlier, or right-click on the problem device and "Update Driver", pointing it at the folders you unpacked.

#Windows #Microsoft #Laptop #PC #Security #Reinstall #Copilot #Malware #Dell #HP #Lenovo #ASUS #Acer

Step 6: Kill the annoying semi-setup bullshit Windows pulls after updates. Settings app -> System -> Notifications -> Additional Settings -> Uncheck "Suggest ways to get the most out of Windows and finish setting up this device" and "Get tips and suggestions when using Windows". These are the terrible interruptions Microsoft has started imposing after some updates that will do the absolute bullshit like tricking you into using Onedrive or switching your browser back to Edge. They're gross and terrible and if we had working antitrust enforcement they'd get another deserved crotch-kicking over it.

#Windows #Microsoft #Laptop #PC #Security #Reinstall #Copilot #Malware #Dell #HP #Lenovo #ASUS #Acer

Step 7: Run the RemoveWindowsAI script. Kill it all, roll back to "classic" Paint/Notepad/Snipping Tool. Uninstall a bunch of MS garbage like Onedrive, Teams, the Office stub, and whatever else you don't need.

#Windows #Microsoft #Laptop #PC #Security #Reinstall #Copilot #Malware #Dell #HP #Lenovo #ASUS #Acer

Step 8: Install PowerShell7/Terminal/PowerToys, configure to taste. You can install MS Office here too, if you need it. If you don't, we'll install LibreOffice later.

#Windows #Microsoft #Laptop #PC #Security #Reinstall #Copilot #Malware #Dell #HP #Lenovo #ASUS #Acer

Step 9: Update Windows. Settings -> Windows Updates -> Check for Updates and Advanced Options -> Optional Updates. Just grab everything, get to the latest version. Check "Receive updates for other Microsoft products" too. This covers MS Office and PowerShell. This will take a while, and make sure the bullshit in step 6 didn't get re-enabled.

#Windows #Microsoft #Laptop #PC #Security #Reinstall #Copilot #Malware #Dell #HP #Lenovo #ASUS #Acer

Step 10: Run the RemoveWindowsAI script again, because "no" isn't a term Microsoft understands.

#Windows #Microsoft #Laptop #PC #Security #Reinstall #Copilot #Malware #Dell #HP #Lenovo #ASUS #Acer

Step 11: Install Vivaldi, set as default browser, configure as desired. For me that's a dark mode theme, crank the built-in ad-blocker to max, make Settings a tab instead of its own window, setting the search engines to DuckDuckGo, and install the extensions for 1Password, PrivacyBadger, and uBlock Origin.

#Windows #Microsoft #Laptop #PC #Security #Reinstall #Copilot #Malware #Dell #HP #Lenovo #ASUS #Acer

Step 12: Install/run Privacy.Sexy and WinAeroTweaker.

Privacy.Sexy can break things, so I normally just use the "Standard" setting. I've had good luck with its revert options when it DID break things, but your mileage will vary.

WinAeroTweaker will restore some older Windows defaults to their better options. Once you find settings you like you can save and load those settings to a simple file.

#Windows #Microsoft #Laptop #PC #Security #Reinstall #Copilot #Malware #Dell #HP #Lenovo #ASUS #Acer

Step 13: Verify Windows activation. Settings -> System -> About -> Product Key and Activation. The system has probably already activated itself in the background. If not, do it now. Or not. I'm not the software police. You can also use the MassGrave Activation Scripts, at your own risk.

USE AT YOUR OWN RISK: Massgrave.dev has published the "Microsoft Activation Scripts (MAS)" on MassGravel GitHub: https://github.com/massgravel/Microsoft-Activation-Scripts These can be used to activate Windows and Office through a couple different methods.

#Windows #Microsoft #Laptop #PC #Security #Reinstall #Copilot #Malware #Dell #HP #Lenovo #ASUS #Acer

Step 14: Everything else. I've used Ninite for decades to bootstrap a bare computer into usability. Check the boxes, get an executable that will download and install the apps with the best defaults. Only criticism is the free version dumps a bunch of icons on your desktop.

My personal absolute minimum app list is this:
Vivaldi
Firefox
WinDirStat
7-Zip
VLC
Notepad++

For utility, I'll add these:
Paint.NET
IrfanView
LibreOffice
FileZilla

You can keep the Ninite executable around and rerun it later to update existing installs. The EXE isn't locked to a specific machine, so if you're doing several machines you can just dump it on the install flash drive and run it directly.

Manufacturer utilities like Dell's SupportAssist can be okay, but you've got to keep a close eye on them to make sure they don't do something dumb like install McAfee for "free".

#Windows #Microsoft #Laptop #PC #Security #Reinstall #Copilot #Malware #Dell #HP #Lenovo #ASUS #Acer

Step 15: Restore your documents/pictures/music/miscellaneous backed-up data. Now's a good time to make sure you have a comprehensive and tested backup scheme for your data too.

#Windows #Microsoft #Laptop #PC #Security #Reinstall #Copilot #Malware #Dell #HP #Lenovo #ASUS #Acer

Now you should have a usable, fast Windows 11 device with the minimum Microsoft bullshit hanging around.

#Windows #Microsoft #Laptop #PC #Security #Reinstall #Copilot #Malware #Dell #HP #Lenovo #ASUS #Acer

Do you have a new/new-to-you/used Windows device that needs a fresh start? Here's the process I've refined for myself over the years to get the best, most usable device possible. Start with zero added crap like McAfee or manufacturer sales programs.

You'll need a couple of USB flash drives for this process. Grab one that's at least 16 GB (install media) and one that's at least 32 GB (data backup). If you're going to be doing this often, you can replace the install media flash drive with an IODD device. I've got one with a 1TB SSD with a bunch of Windows and Linux ISOs, a separate folder for drivers, and a little 1 GB FAT32 partition specifically for holding BIOS updates.

#Windows #Microsoft #Laptop #PC #Security #Reinstall #Copilot #Malware #Dell #HP #Lenovo #ASUS #Acer

Step 0: BACK UP YOUR DATA. On a separate, external device like the 32 GB or larger flash drive. Copy your user profile(s) and set it aside. You can just copy C:\Users and get 99% of things you'll care about. Get one that's visually distinct, label it, and put it somewhere else so you don't overwrite it. Do this even if you have multiple drives in the system. Don't count on your ability to keep internal storage devices straight. You can skip this step if you're pulling the device straight out of the box.

#Windows #Microsoft #Laptop #PC #Security #Reinstall #Copilot #Malware #Dell #HP #Lenovo #ASUS #Acer

Step 1: Prepare Media. This requires a working computer.

Microsoft provides clean (for Microsoft) Windows 11 ISOs directly on their website: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows11 Download the ISO directly from Microsoft. Don't download the ISO from any third-party sites. You can also use the Microsoft "Create Windows 11 Installation Media" program which will automate a lot of the process.

With the Windows 11 ISO, you can use Rufus to create your Win11 install flash drive. Rufus can do some fun things like kill the Microsoft Account requirement.

MAKE SURE YOUR INSTALL USB DEVICE ISN'T YOUR BACKUPS USB DEVICE

You can also just dump multiple ISOs on your IODD. I keep older versions of Win11 install ISOs around specifically so I can just use the bypassnro trick to create a local account, but there will probably always be some option to get around the online account requirements.

#Windows #Microsoft #Laptop #PC #Security #Reinstall #Copilot #Malware #Dell #HP #Lenovo #ASUS #Acer

Irgendwie wundert mich bei RescueZilla das sich das Backup nicht auch gleich automatisch verifizieren läßt? Muss man scheinbar immer manuell machen... Clonezilla macht das direkt, wenn man es möchte.

#clonezilla #rescuezilla #linux #backup #backups #pc

Spannendes Video, ich würde kein Nvidia kaufen, die haben echt den Bezug zur Realität verloren: https://peertube.heise.de/w/hctPq3GTgFmAGvsDLhQ7cD
#PC #nvidia #pcgaming #unplugbigtech

Asus’ RTX Spark-Powered ProArt PCs Promise Pro Performance for Creators https://petapixel.com/2026/06/03/asus-rtx-spark-powered-proart-pcs-promise-pro-performance-for-creators/ #asusproartp14 #asusproartp16 #proartminipc #Technology #asusproart #Equipment #rtxspark #windows #laptop #minipc #nvidia #News #asus #pc