Ves

Ves

@vesdba.me

I constantly read, frequently do database stuff, sometimes write, and occasionally take pictures of space.

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Ves
@vesdba.me

How to read Kobo books on a Kindle: 1. Buy book on Kobo 2. Download book 3. Open explorer to download location 4. Drag book to Adobe Digital Editions library 5. Close book (leave library open) 6. Right click on book, show in file explorer 7. Open book with calibre 8. Convert epub to epub 1/2

Ves
@vesdba.me

I voted over the weekend (thank you mail-in voting (which in this case was putting the ballot in a dropbox and not actually mailing it)). I voted down the line for democrats - not because I want to but because I sure as hell don't want republicans getting seats (and I want billionaires to pay taxes)

Ves
@vesdba.me

You can get Xenonauts 2 on Steam for $39.99. Alternatively, you can get it in a Humble Bundle along with 7 other games for $25. I'm not clear how the economics of this function.

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Ves
@vesdba.me

If it had not been for Mass Effect, I would not have gotten back into playing video games. I would have never have become Dragonborn, or spent an age living in different eras of assassinhood. I would never have had my heart broken the way it did in Clara Obscura. 13/?

Ves
@vesdba.me

So thank you to everyone who was involved in Mass Effect over the years. I can never repay what you've done for me in creating what you did. I will carry the stories in my heart and on my skin for all time. If you made it this far, I should go... 14/14

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Ves
@vesdba.me

Change the Virmire survivor? Absolutely. Send the wrong team on the final mission in ME2? Yup. Destroy all the Geth? Definitely maybe. I have a few ME tattoos. They are part of the "meaningful set." The games have meant and still mean a great deal to me. 11/?

Ves
@vesdba.me

It's heartbreaking to know that I'll never get the joy of a new game in that universe. It's heartbreaking to know all the people who were hard at work on creating something new and amazing, no longer have a job and have to watch their hard work be thrown away for private equity garbage reasons. 12/?

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Ves
@vesdba.me

I started playing. After completing ME2, I played ME3. Then went back and started again with ME1. Each time I played as Femshep (a few years later I tried playing as male shep and it just wasn't the same for me) because of JH. The game was amazing. The story, the character work. 9/?

Ves
@vesdba.me

Just everything about it was incredible. I put a great many hours into it. I still go back and play it every year. When things get too heavy or painful, it's a universe where there's an escape. A place where I can make decisions and change things. A renegade playthrough? Why not. 10/?

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Ves
@vesdba.me

And Jennifer Hale came over. She brought some cookies that had been left for her, and a bunch of artwork from her table that she didn't want to have to take home (this was the pro stuff she was selling as merch). She said how it was just too much to take home and offered it to us. 7/?

Ves
@vesdba.me

I asked Sami, who'd run Jennifer's line, what the artwork was related to, because it was aliens and spaceships and I'm a scifi nerd. She explained Mass Effect to me in general terms. Based on the clear devotion of the attendees and Jennifer Hale's treatment of them, I picked up ME2 on Steam. 8/?

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Ves
@vesdba.me

Jennifer Hale was as nice to the first person as she was to the last. She was bright, friendly, and eager to meet everyone and talk to them all (not all celebrity folks are like that - I've met a few who aren't). Honestly, I've no idea where she gets her stamina. 5/?

Ves
@vesdba.me

I would have been exhausted after fifteen minutes, and yet she kept this up for days. I honestly think she genuinely enjoys the fan interactions. At the end of the weekend, a couple of greenshirts were sitting on the floor (as it was preferrable to collapsing). 6/?

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Ves
@vesdba.me

The small area downstairs was setup for 4 actors. Quinton Flynn, Wil Wheaton, Felicia Day, and Jennifer Hale (the voice of Femshep). Over the next three days I helped manage lines for Flynn. The next line over (and overflowing) was that for Jennifer Hale. 3/?

Ves
@vesdba.me

I expected long lines for Wil and Felicia. I had no idea who Jennifer Hale was or what voice acting she did. What I knew was that hundreds of people came down her line. A significant portion of them were dressed up in various costumes (at the time I did not know they were ME related). 4/?

Ves
@vesdba.me

After attending my first ECCC in 2011, I volunteered for 2012. It was my first time. The morning of the first day, someone asked for greenshirts to go off and help in another area. I stuck my hand up and it was off to the depths of the Tower in the old Washington Convention center. 2/?

Ves
@vesdba.me

Bioware is shutting down and I am angry and upset. They've produced amazing games over the years and were working on a new Mass Effect game. EA just putting all those people out of work thanks to the private equity purchase.

Ves
@vesdba.me

This is nonsense. Bluey is Bluey for adults.

Anon Opin@anonopin.bsky.social

Ted Lasso is just Bluey for adults.

Ves
@vesdba.me

England were terrible against Scotland last week. Somehow they are even worse against Ireland. They can't even complete fundamentals and Ford is once more lacking.

Ves
@vesdba.me

That moment when you've spent hours changing code and then find a better way to implement what you want to do.

Ves
@vesdba.me

Comcast with a nothing sentence that doesn't even make sense, 6 hours into an outage: "Your Xfinity service interruption should be resolved as soon as possible"

Ves
@vesdba.me

I have mostly decoupled my ebook purchases from Amazon (despite the many steps it takes to get books on to my kindle). Now I'm stuck where some authors, whose work I get often, that only publish via Amazon. Either I stop reading them or continue with a kindle and cumbersome process.

Ves
@vesdba.me

Did Star Trek: Starfleet Academy just eliminate the Star Trek comic books as cannon?

Ves
@vesdba.me

I learned the other day that mouthwash has "no theraputic properties" and that it can cause tartar build up and staining. My hygenist told me to stop using it. I looked at the dentist, somewhat aghast. She backed her up. Big mouthwash is lying to us.

Howard Tayler@howardtayler.bsky.social

I learned (from the deep-gum-cleaning tech) that the conventional wisdom I grew up with (if you get cavities you didn't brush enough) is false. New-ish science: Mouths are different. Some of us don't get tartar, but get cavities. Others don't get cavities but have tartar. Saliva acidity is key.

Ves
@vesdba.me

Imagine how bad a game of Football would be if you only had white players.

Adam Serwer@adamserwer.bsky.social

Italians, your white card has been revoked. Stefani Germanotta is a perfidious latin

Ves
@vesdba.me

Also - from October, Discord announced a data breach of 70,000 user by one of their third-party services that handled age verification - discord.com/press-releas...

Wario64@wario64.bsky.social

Discord will require a face scan or ID for full access next month - all accounts set to "teen-appropriate experience" by default www.theverge.com/tech/875309/... discord.com/press-releas...

Ves
@vesdba.me

I will find out the Superbowl winner by the volume of fireworks and gunfire. It's not great.

Ves
@vesdba.me

My January 2026 reading was 9 books (3050 pages) with an average rating of 4.31. Related - why is nobody filming the Bloodsworn trilogy by John Gwynne as an epic TV fantasy? #booksky

Ves
@vesdba.me

Well this is awesome news.

Seattle Orcas@mlcseattleorcas.bsky.social

We are proud to announce the Seattle Orcas Women’s T20 Open, a first-of-its-kind tournament designed to accelerate the growth of women’s cricket in the United States 💚 More details 👉 www.seattleorcas.com/news/seattle... #SeattleOrcas #AmericasFavoriteCricketTeam

Ves
@vesdba.me

Microsoft and their shitty acronym reuse is completely orthogonal to any ability to get things done in a simple and cohesive manner.

Ves
@vesdba.me

I spent the weekend moving from Windows to Ubuntu on my personal laptop. I'm partially done - lots of software I've yet to get functioning. Why does the Ubuntu GUI still look it did in 2000? It is ugly and not particularly functional. I'm considering Mint but that would be another few days spent.

Ves
@vesdba.me

Shoe repair? Laptop repair? Fish tank cleaning? Personal trainer? Lots of dry cleaning? Courier service? Appliance delivery? Plumber to fix a faucet and then bring that plumber back to unclog a drain? This is quite the list.

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Ves
@vesdba.me

I am so tired of the MS OS abusive behavior with things like Edge, that I'm actually going to put a linux distro on one of my machines and try it out as a daily driver.

Ves
@vesdba.me

My wife is away on a snorkeling adventure in Hawaii. When asked where she is, I tell them she's "swimming with the fishes." It gets a reaction.

Ves
@vesdba.me

Bounced to the Seahawks game during a break in the Torrent game. Why is Chris Griffin from Family Guy commentating?

Ves
@vesdba.me

Lamponi Thai on the Sammamish plateau in Washington State. Small family business who fled the Kmher Rouge in Cambodia. The food had more flavor than anything I'd encountered (before or since). They did something with their pad Thai to make it attend out. I've not been able to figure out what.

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Ves
@vesdba.me

After moving an hour away, I would still go back weekly and pick up food for the family. Sadly, the owner of the strip mall jacked up rents and they could no longer afford to run the business. It was sad when it closed. But it did get their kids through college (and one through dental school).