Sleep 0245 to 1100 (8-1/4 hours)

• MacWhisper’s last update added Nvidia’s Parakeet model. Transcribing three VODs totaling 9h 8m took 9-1/2 minutes for about 57.7x speed and normally would have taken more than hour. Transcription seems accurate too.

Sun Jun 29 2025

Sleep 0245 to 1130 (8-3/4 hours)

• Checked for Electron apps I have: find /Applications -name '*.asar' -print. It is OpenVPN and Discord.

Mon Jun 30 2025

Sleep 0530 to 1300 (7-1/2 hours)

• Ate a chicken thigh yesterday. Foot hurts today. Why is meat so yummy?
• Today still had a bit of protean — half a can of salmon, less than 4 oz.
• Actually what hurts most is my left foot achilles area. Feels very stiff and flexing it at all hurts. I can clomp around but maybe that’s doing damage.

Tue Jul 01 2025

Sleep 0630 to 1430 (8 hours)

• Foot getting worse? No meat today.

Wed Jul 02 2025

Sleep 0445 to 1045 (6 hours)

• Foot walkable but maybe getting worse slowly. Ate like 1/4 can of salmon with my meal. I’m really not setup for vegetarian. Should get some veggie pizzas; tofu and sauces (black bean or ma po tofu). Unfortunately can’t walk enough to do that.
• Nemo’s 100 hour streamathon started at 1400 PDT.
• Just realized that Silo — which I’ve often thought is a show where the unlit areas are so dark I can barely tell what’s going on watching on my iPad — is actually lit well enough on my Mac monitor that it doesn’t bother me. Most of my Apple TV+ non-sports watching is on my iPad so I hadn’t noticed it was different.
• ORCL is up to $229.98. So even after selling $50k worth (at the time) my individual stocks (the ones I can sell as everything else is 401k or Roth IRA) are worth $329k and previous high was $313k. If all it does is be stable at this price for a year I’ll be happy.

Thu Jul 03 2025

Sleep 0630 to 1200 (5-1/2 hours)

• Can walk about 80% of normal speed with a little discomfort and limp.
• Ate about 1/3rd of a chicken thigh tonight. Hope I don’t pay for it in the morning.
• More about DDO 32-bit to 64-bit migration. All accounts will (automatically) get 10 more character slots (too bad I bought some in the last sale). All accounts will get (via coupon code) 100 shared bank slots (which makes up for the extraneous character slots).

Fri Jul 04 2025

Sleep 2330 to 0730, 1430 to 1530. (9 hours)

• MacWhisper with Parakeet v2 working on a 20 GB video file (26+ hours) and it’s using 33 GB memory (My MBP M4 Pro has 24 GB memory). 17 GB swap used after I quit all other apps. Is it loading the whole video file? I thought it would just load the audio.
• Splitting it up into 6 to 8 hour segments — used VLC to export audio then Audacity to split it up — and MacWhisper tops out at about 8 GB memory. And it’s a lot faster — even taking into account the time to do audio export and splits — because going into so much swap space killed the transcription speed.
• Foot felt fine today, or at least good enough I think could go grocery shopping. Had another 1/3rd of the chicken thigh for dinner.

Ten best Mac games to buy during the Steam Summer Sale - An article recommending Mac games. Looking through I have six covered:

Broforce - side-scrolling shooter, runs on my Mac

Sid Meier's Civilization VII - massive turn-based strategy game. Have Sid Meier's Civilization VI, just the base game, and I think that's good enough. Runs on my Mac.

Baldur's Gate 3 - RPG. I have Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition and again should be good enough for an RPG Baldur's Gate experience. Runs on my Mac.

Cities: Skylines - CIty sim builder. I have it on Epic Game Store, just the base and there is a lot of DLCs. Unfortunately on Epic it's just Windows version while Steam also has Mac version.

Firewatch - First person investigative game. I have it on Mac App Store and works on my Mac.

Ogre - Steve Jackson Games wargame and runs on my Mac.

Of these I'd play Ogre, Firewatch, Broforce, BG3, Civ VII, Skylines in that order, to a certain extent prioritizing games I think I can finish (or are finish-able — Civ VII and Skylines are forever games).

Wargame Design Studio makes computer (Windows) wargames but they don't sell on Steam. Mentioned in Dispatches like them (or at least one guy loves them). Not flashy but good computer wargames.

They have some $0 smaller games and demos (though I guess the demos are cut down games that you can play fully rather than full games that you can only play for an hour or a set number of turns) which you can download and see if you like their UI and gameplay.

Four interesting games:

Grenada (Squad Battles) - US intervention in Grenada, 1983. 11 battles and six maps. Not sure if the scale is individual soldiers or squads. Grenada is quite unusual since the US was overwhelming which makes for a less exciting wargame.

Little Big Horn (Early American Wars) - US 7th Cavalry vs a lot of American Indians. Five scenarios and one map. I guess individual to squad level scale.

Modern Air Power Demo - US vs North Korea set today. The previous two were hex-based games but this one is a natural map — no hexes or areas or points and I guess more like playing miniatures. 29 scenarios.

Spanish-American War (Naval Campaigns) - Another game with a natural map since this is a naval game. 20 scenarios.

Sat Jun 21 2025

Sleep 0430 to 1100 (6-1/2 hours)

• Foot still slightly swollen.
• Apparently the USA used B2s to bomb three Iranian nuclear sites. Stock market may be down tomorrow so good thing I sold some ORCL stock when I did.

Sun Jun 22 2025

Sleep 0215 to 0945, 1 hr in naps (8-1/2 hours)

• Gaming at Woo’s place. Corina and Cjr were not there. Conversely Sophia and Jonathan made a few combat rolls.

Mon Jun 23 2025

Sleep 0330 to 1230 (9 hours)

• Foot is 98% fine. Slightly swollen still but doesn’t bother me at all. Haven’t tried running or anything strenuous.

Tue Jun 24 2025

Sleep 0315 to 1115 (8 hours)

• I tried several online QR code decoders and QR Code Raptor allowed me to drag and drop an image and decoded it correctly.

Wed Jun 25 2025

Sleep 0430 to 1230 (8 hours)

• C3 Dinner (Corina at work). Kajiken Nikumori Aburasoba which is their #1 dish and it’s good so I should stick with it. Have tried one or two other dishes there and wasn’t impressed.
• DDO Expansions Sale: 30% off Magic of Myth Drannor (this is the last released expansion and largest discount so far); 50% Vecna Unleased (same as for last Black Friday), 85% Fables of the Feywild (most ever); 85% DDO Expansion Trove (same as Black Friday 2023)

Thu Jun 26 2025

Sleep 0315 to 1115 (8 hours)

• HOA Meeting. I have a lot of TODOs.

Fri Jun 27 2025

Sleep 0415 to 0915 (5 hours)

• Foot hurts like it might swell up tomorrow. Still slightly swollen. Guess I started eating meat a bit too soon though was cutting it down to one piece a day instead of two.
• Comcast now offering unlimited data plans. For less money than current plans. And existing customers aren’t automatically updated to the new plans cause Comast doesn’t really care once you’re a customer hence a big reason why I stopped using Comcast when my building got Sonic as an alternative.
• YouTube Live popout chat can’t click and do mod commands. I assume it’s a temporary bug… I see now you have to click the three dots on the right to get that menu.

Now let's look at discounted Windows games most expensive descending.

Flashpoint Campaigns: Southern Storm (2023, $36, 40% off) - "a grand tactical wargame set at the height of the Cold War, with the action centered on the year 1989." Armchair Dragoons talked about an earlier Flashpoint Campaigns game and this series seems to be very detailed. Maybe too detailed. I do like that it's very graphical but doesn't try to be fancy — it's a hex-based map with counters and no extraneous 3D or animation effects.

Dwarf Fortress (2022, $24, 20% off) - "Build a fortress and try to help your dwarves survive against a deeply generated world." Roguelike with ascii-reminscent graphics and detailed simulation. I guess in the same mold as Caves of Qud though this one has no macOS version.

Reentry - A Space Flight Simulator (2018, $21, 30% off, Early Access) - "Reentry is a realistic space flight simulator based on NASAs space programs" Detailed in the cockpit with lots of instruments. Not necessarily interesting but looks cool.

Ehh, three is all I found before I got bored scrolling and scrolling.

Steam Summer Sale runs through Jul 10. I'm looking through all discounted macOS games by price descended and picking interesting ones.

Caves of Qud (2024, $24, 20% off) - "science fantasy roguelike epic steeped in retrofuturism, deep simulation, and swathes of sentient plants." More of a classic roguelike where the game looks like rogue with ascii-like map. Do have this on my wishlist.

Stray (2022, $18, 40% off) - a stray cat must untangle an ancient mystery to escape a long-forgotten cybercity and find their way home." You're a cat. You solve puzzles. Theoretically via various streamers I've seen this through to the end but probably wouldn't remember.

Empire Deluxe Combined Edition (2018, $18, 10% off) - I suppose this is the current version of Empire that I played on my roommates Amiga 500 in college. Graphics look about the same which is not a bad thing. I would be worried that, since it's from 2018, it's an Intel app so will stop working once Apple drops Rosetta 2.

The Banished Vault (2023, $16.75, 33% off) - "A strategy game of exploration, endurance, and space travel on an interstellar gothic monastery." It's like a complicated board game. Atmospheric.

Cult of the Lamb (2022, $12.50, 50% off) - "build a loyal community of woodland Followers and spread your Word to become the one true cult." After much paging down (and past a lot of adult-themed games which I figured out how to filter out by tags too late) finally settled on this game with a cute name.

Sat Jun 14 2025

Sleep 0230 to 1100 (8-1/2 hours)

• A bit gross but finally took a shower after two weeks (13 days). Probably could have done it a few days ago though iffy with my foot. Today I felt I could stand steady in the shower.
• Foot still getting better. Swelling definitely less now. Still can’t walk great. Going out to dinner tonight so we’ll see if I can wear shoes ok.
• Oops, parents coming over tomorrow. Hopefully foot swelling keeps going down.
• An ongoing problem with Apple TV+ Friday Night Baseball is, at least when I watch the VOD, sometimes for the whole broadcast the announcer/commentator voices are low compared to field sounds so it’s hard to tell what they’re saying. And I for one would rather have clear commentator voices than clear field level noises.

Sun Jun 15 2025

Sleep 0500 to 1245 (7-3/4 hours)

• Mom and dad came to C3’s place and Steph made dinner for Father’s Day— braised chicken legs in mushroom sauce with sliced carrots. Got a lot of food from mom and dad. Will take them to SFO airport tomorrow morning.
• Foot was not too bad today and getting better. Can put it in my shoe and walk around although a little pain.

Mon Jun 16 2025

Sleep 0045 to 0715, 1200 to 1330 (8 hours)

• Woke up early to drive mom and dad to SFO. They're on a United Airlines flight to London.
• Stopped at Trader Joe’s on the way home.
• Hobbling around but doable. Once I got home my foot hurt enough I rested it for half an hour and it felt better.

Tue Jun 17 2025

Sleep 0215 to 0945, 45m nap (8-1/4 hours)

• Woken up to help the county pool inspector get into the pool pump room which has a lock on it. Took a few minutes and a couple of phone calls to figure it out. The lock numbers need to line up to the top row not the middle row like most locks (or I suppose we could note to try a number that will cause the right number to line up in the top row).
• Walking around in my shoe is still a little painful but less than yesterday as my foot is also less swollen.
• Adobe has a free online utility to convert a PDF to Word doc. I used it to convert last year’s Summer Rules so I could make some edits. After importing to Apple Pages it wasn’t perfect and I ended up creating a new doc and copy/pasting the graphic and text (with lots of bullet sections). Then more editing. But a lot easier to recreate the same look and feel -- I can copy/paste from PDF itself but it’s mostly plain text (e.g. bullet lists don’t transfer).

Wed Jun 18 2025

Sleep 0600 to 1245 (6-3/4 hours)

• Foot feels pretty good. Can walk at almost normal speed. Foot a little swollen. Toe is a bit tender if I try to put weight on it.

Thu Jun 19 2025

Sleep 0300 to 1100 (8 hours)

• Submitted stock sale to BenefitsCal.com. Not the easiest interface and I had to settle for Other Income.

Fri Jun 20 2025

Sleep 0445 to 1130 (6-3/4 hours)

• Foot slightly swollen but now feels 95%

GOG's Good Old Games (a confusing label for the games they are committing to keep running on current Windows) that I own:

Akalabeth: World of Doom
Alone in the Dark: The Trilogy 1+2+3
Bling!: Sex, Intrigue and Scalpels
Bio Menace
Castles 1+2
Crusader: No Regret
Crusader: No Remorse
Dragonsphere
Dungeon Keeper Gold
Dungeons & Dragons: Dragonshard
Fantasy General
Final Liberation: Warhammer Epic 40,000
I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream
Iceland Dale 2 Complete
Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis
Jagged Alliance 2
Jazz Jackrabbit 2 Collection
Jill of the Jungle: The Complete Trilogy
Might and Magic: 6-pack Limited Edition
Myst Masterpiece Edition
Pirates! Gold Plus
Populous
Riven (1997)
Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri Planetary Pack
SimCity 2000 Special Edition
Star Control I & II
Star Trek: Judgment Rites
Star Wars: Rebel Assault 1+2
Star Wars: Tie Fighter Special Edition
Star Wars: X-Wing Special Edition
Starflight 1+2
Stargunner
System Shock 2 (Classic)
The Witcher: Enhanced Edition
Tyrian 2000
Ultima 1+2+3
Ultima 4+5+6
Ultima 7 The Complete Edition
Ultima 8 Gold Edition
Ultima 9 Ascension
Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar
Ultima Underworld 1+2
Ultima Worlds of Adventure 2: Martian Dreams
Warhammer 40,000: Rites of War
Warhammer: Shadow of the Horned Rat
Wing Commander: Privateer
Wing Commander 1+2
Wing Commander 3 Heart of the Tiger
Worlds of Ultimate: The Savage Empire

It's a lot more than I thought.

GOG Summer Sale is Jun 18 to Jul 09.

Let's take a look at Good Old Games labeled games, which are games that GOG is committed to keep running on modern Windows PCs in perpetuity.

Tomb Raider: Legend (2006) ($1, 86% off)
Tomb Raider: Anniversary (2007) ($4.50, 50% off)
Tomb Raider: Underworld (2008) ($4.50, 50% off)

These three are a trilogy (even though Anniversary is the original remade with current graphics engine). I have Anniversary on Steam (but it's not going to be updated so whether or not it runs well on Windows 11…). I also have Underworld from the macOS App Store (port by Feral Interactive) and supposedly still compatible (through Rosetta 2 I assume).

Fallout (1997) ($2.50, 75% off)
Fallout 2 (1998) ($2.50, 75% off)

I love Fallout and haven't played Fallout 2 but at least it's still isometric (and probably turn-based combat). I have them both from the Epic Games Store though once again whether they'll always work or not… Oh I forgot CrossOver which would allow me to run some Steam and Epic Games Store games.

Heroes of Might and Magic (1996) ($2.30, 77% off)
Heroes of Might and Magic 3: Complete (1999) ($2.50, 75% off)
Heroes of Might and Magic 4: Complete (2004) ($2.50, 75% off)

Turn based strategy games in the Might and Magic fantasy world. (I already have Might and Magic 6-pack Limited Edition). HoM&M 2 and 5 are not part of the Good Old Games project, though I suppose they might be added later on. M&M is not a series I've played other than the original and even then not to completion.

Sat Jun 07 2025

Sleep 0200 to 0430, 0515 to 1015. (7-1/2 hours)

• Took an Advil about 2000 before I went to see Lima. Then went to sleep. Woke at 0430 and foot in pain unless I had to in a specific position. Took another Advil and got back to sleep. About noon now and foot not too bad though still swollen.
• Got notification that my resting heart rate has been noticeably higher for 5 days which tracks with my foot issue.
• Noticed that Monterra Credit Union added 2FA option for authentication apps. Unlike every other site I’ve set this up on Monterra does not give you backup/emergency codes so I am leery to turn off SMS as a backup.

Sun Jun 08 2025

Sleep 0515 to 0945, 1115 to 1345 (6 hours)

• Last night we did another Gloomhaven scenario (minus CSr). Reward was a Cloak that if used you take 3 damage and get +1 Attack for attack action, great for my arrow storm.
• Foot has been not pained today. Took an Advil last night but not today. Can walk around slowly and it’s not painful. Still swollen. Hope that tomorrow will be even better.
• Music app still hadn’t uploaded the last D&D podcast file (iCloud status = waiting). I re-authorized my computer which then said I should turn off/on syncing. After doing that eventually it did upload the file.

Mon Jun 09 2025

Sleep 0130 to 1230 (11 hours)

• Viewing WWDC 25 Keynote in macOS Developer app. Not a great experience. Default windows has small video screen. You can make it full screen but then I can’t take notes. You can popup and make it bigger (up to video original size, not unlimited) but there is only pause/play control, can’t go forward or back.
• It’d be nice if Shortcuts ran in the background instead of bringing up the Shortcuts app to the foreground then running. This behavior is common to all Apple OSes.
• Playing DDO Keep on the Borderlands. For my campaign I was copying the dialog by hand. Forgot that the dialog is written in the General Log so I could have copy/pasted from there and saved lots of time.
• Foot was sore but not really hurting. Didn’t have to take an Advil last night nor today.

Tue Jun 10 2025

Sleep 0600 to 1315 (7-1/4 hours)

• Foot was hurting a bit last night. Today so far not so much. Still swollen. No Advil last night or today.

Wed Jun 11 2025

Sleep 0200 to 0800, 1400 to 1630. (8-1/2 hours)

• Can walk without pain, though not fast. Foot maybe a little less swollen. Standing up to eat lunch was pretty much fine. Even yesterday it was painful standing more than a couple of minutes.

Thu Jun 12 2025

Sleep 0345 to 1200 (8-1/4 hours)

• Oracle announced their earnings and stock jumped from $176.38 to $199.86. This time I really need to sell a bunch.
• Foot is a bit better. Maybe a hint of pain at the base of my toe when I flex it. Still swollen, maybe less than yesterday. Still wouldn’t want to walk more than a couple of minutes.

Fri Jun 13 2025

Sleep 0300 to 0830 (5-1/2 hours)

• Maybe walked/stood a bit too much yesterday as my left foot might is a little more sore. Swelling went down a little.
• Stock sold for $202 which is nice. Often it sells for less than you think. Even though stock price is now $215 that is fine as I have other stock so selling “too soon” not an issue.