eggmasterflex

I’m the same: I used it a ton when I first got it and now it’s collecting dust. Here are my personal issues with it:

• I find it a little too big and bulky for 2D, retro, and lo fi games, but too low res and weak for a good experience on most larger/newer 3D games.
• The controls and screen size/res are not adequate for most PC mkb oriented games.
• The size, battery life, and low screen visibility in bright places make it not worth traveling with compared to my Switch.

I guess I essentially just wanted a Switch that could use my Steam library for 2D indies and older games.

Aside from that, I think I also kinda bought it to rejuvenate my interest in gaming, but it only did that for a few months. That has nothing to do with the Deck though.

Getting two birds stoned at once.

For lentil soup you need:

As much chopped leeks as you can handle. Should cover the bottom of the pot at least. Leeks are huge, cheap, delicious, and freeze really well chopped, so I always keep them stocked. You can use onions instead, but I think leeks are much better for soup.

2-3 medium carrots, quarter slices

2-3 celery, sliced

2-3 cloves garlic

2 cups dry/raw green or brown lentils or split green peas

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1/2 cup pearled barley or orzo pasta (or other pasta/grain, or just use more lentils)

Half bunch kale leaves in bite size pieces

Extra virgin olive oil

Juice of 1/2 lemon or white vinegar

Salt, pepper, paprika

Optionally, bay leaves and turmeric

Step 1: heat a pot with oil and cook your leeks, carrots, and celery until soft. Leeks cook a bit longer.

Step 2: add the spices and let them bloom. Add tomato paste and stir until sauce forms.

Step 3: stir in lentils/peas and barley/orzo.

Step 4: add 7 cups water (adjust to preference) and bring to a boil, then let simmer. Cook for 30-45 minutes (or 15-20 in pressure cooker) depending on the lentils/peas you picked. Lentils are done when they are just about bursting.

Step 5: add lemon and kale

Obviously, a lot of this is to taste. If you don’t have good fresh veggies, the broth can be a little flavorless. You can add a bit more lemon and salt, or bullion if it’s really bland. If you know the veggies aren’t great, just use more of them in the first step. You can also use less water.

You can broil the kale with a bit of olive oil and salt for 3-4 minutes until it’s crispy before adding to the soup. This will give it a less fibrous, more crunchy character.

Sure. I posted the “formula” these recipes below:

1. Fry hard veggies in oil until soft - can be onions, leeks, carrots, celery, potatoes etc.

2. Add spices, soft veggies, and/or pastes and stir to form a sauce - tomatoes, peppers, garlic, ginger, etc.

3. Stir in your beans/chickpeas/lentils/peas. Most beans should be cooked, lentils and peas usually can be dry/raw.

4. Add water, bring to a boil, and simmer. Amount and time depends on if you want a soup, stew, or just some sauce.

5. Add leafy greens and anything that should be dissolved - spinach, kale, lemon, vinegar, sugar, cilantro etc.

So here is a really simple one I make at least once a week, as you can eat it hot or cold, with or without rice. It makes a great packed lunch. You can make the beans or chickpeas ahead of time or use a 30 oz can, but cooking them is much cheaper. Either way, make sure you rinse them off. I put in 1 cup dry beans/chickpeas (makes 3 cups cooked) in my Instant Pot with 4 cups water for 25 minutes for beans, 35 for chickpeas, instant release. Then I use the pot to cook the meal.

Also, you can chop and freeze most hard veggies (carrots, leeks, onions, celery, ginger, garlic). They aren’t as good as fresh, but it’s a lot more convenient if you have to cook after work.

This recipe is really flexible so I’ll just tell you what I do, but the ratios are all preference:

1 large onion, finely chopped

Equivalent amount of carrot, quarter slices

3 cups cooked pinto beans or chickpeas

1-2 cloves garlic, chopped or crushed

3 tablespoons tomato or red pepper paste (I use half of each but red pepper paste can be hard to find in US grocery stores)

Juice of 1 lemon or white vinegar

1.5 tablespoon sugar

Extra virgin olive oil

Salt and pepper

Optionally, bay leaves, paprika, and parsley

Step 1: frying hard veggies. Heat up a medium or large pot (stainless is best but any material will do) and add enough olive oil to fully cover the bottom and a bit more. It might be more oil than you think you’ll need. Fry your onions until soft.

Side note about onions: you can cook them quickly in 5-10 minutes at medium-high heat. They are ready when soft and translucent. But if you have the time and want a complex flavor in your dish, you can cook them for up to 20-30 minutes at low heat. Always salt them to help draw out the water.

Either way, add the carrots when the onions are almost done (2-3 minutes left).

Step 2: make the sauce. Add your garlic and let it cook a bit until fragrant. Add black pepper and optionally a couple of bay leaves and paprika. Stir for 30 seconds to let the spices bloom and then add your tomato/pepper paste and stir continuously until a sauce forms. About 1-2 minutes. The oil should be reddish.

Step 3: add the beans. Just stir them in and make sure they are covered in the sauce.

Step 4: water. Add 3 cups water (less if you’re in a hurry) and bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer.

Step 5: anything that should be added to the water. Add the sugar and lemon/vinegar. This is really to taste, so you can add more when it’s almost done if it needs it. It should be just a little sweet and tangy. You can also add leafy greens like kale or spinach, but I don’t add them if I plan on eating it cold later.

Let it simmer until it’s a very beany stew (not a soup), but at the very least 10 minutes. It should be a little watery. Check the flavor and add salt, pepper, sugar, lemon/vinegar, or olive oil as needed. Parsley makes a great garnish.

This can be eaten hot or cold, with or without rice. Will keep about a week in the fridge.

I’ll reply below with a lentil soup recipe that’s more or less the same thing.

So in what way is it a luxury?

Sorry, how is it a luxury? Vegetables, grains, and legumes are far cheaper and healthier sources of calories and nutrition than meat, despite the government subsidies. This perception that you should eat McDonalds and rotisserie chicken every day if you don’t have money to buy groceries is so strange to me.

There is a universal type of “recipe” that covers a ton of basic dishes around the world:

1. Fry hard veggies in oil until soft - can be onions, leeks, carrots, celery, potatoes etc.
2. Add spices, soft veggies, and/or pastes and stir to form a sauce - tomatoes, peppers, garlic, ginger, etc.
3. Stir in your beans/chickpeas/lentils/peas. Most beans should be cooked, lentils and peas usually can be dry/raw.
4. Add water, bring to a boil, and simmer. Amount and time depends on if you want a soup, stew, or just some sauce.
5. Add leafy greens and anything that should be dissolved - spinach, kale, lemon, vinegar, sugar, cilantro etc.

This can make lentil soup, Mediterranean or South American style bean dishes, chana masala, coconut curry, and lots of other stuff. Most can be made with a single pot.

Honestly, I’ve stopped chasing substitutes a while ago. Giving up meat and dairy is going to be a lifestyle change, that’s why people struggle so much with it. You can’t expect to just sub in imitations and keep eating the same foods. They’re not close enough to fool anyone, and they’re usually expensive and unhealthy.

The best way eat vegan is to fill your diet with minimally processed legumes, grains, fruits, and vegetables. Learn to cook a few staple meals from cultural cuisines where animal products are expensive (most cultures outside US/Canada and Western Europe) and you’ll realize how much great food you can make with a few simple ingredients and one or two pots. A huge number of them fall into the same basic formula, so if you learn one, you can easily make them all. Plus, it’s much, much cheaper than eating meat.

I’m not vegan but I do eat 95% vegan because my wife is and I agreed to buy and cook solely vegan in the house. I come from a culture with plenty of (accidentally) vegan home cooking already, so it wasn’t hard at all. But those substitutes are gross to me. Apologies to those who like them.

10 years ago I was like “why tf would I want to watch someone play a video game when I could just play it myself?”

Now I’m like “why tf would I play this game when I could just watch someone else?”

I guess I’m still interested in what’s going on in gaming in general, but I don’t have any desire to go through all the bullshit of a modern AAA game with a huge repetitive open world, dozens of half assed shallow mechanics (rpg/perk system, loot, crafting etc.), homogenized design, predatory DLC/mtx, and all that. I’d rather play Factorio and watch a streamer play whatever hot new game people are into.

It’s the same in biotech and pharma. We are basically always hiring skilled labor, even during layoffs. You can get a 6 week certificate that will land you a manufacturing job for $80k per year plus OT. No college needed. Many companies will even pay for it if you agree to a 6 month contract with them.

I think there’s a lot of self selection going on. Most people who migrated here did it based on principles (or a persecution complex), so of course they will have lots of political opinions, often extreme. Frankly, it’s getting a little tiring seeing it everywhere. Even on gaming subs it seems like every other post results in a discussion about the evils of capitalism.

There are plenty of employee owned businesses. You should work for one, or, better yet, make one.

I hope things get better for your friends. Tech is taking a hit right now.

I had trouble finding work after college, had to work some shit jobs and move around a lot, but I was never out of options, never at risk of going hungry or not sleeping in a bed. It takes a hell of a lot to go hungry or homeless in the US. There’s an insane amount of industry, wealth, and opportunity here.

Meanwhile, in my home country, there is 70% inflation in the past year. There is war everywhere on the borders (and conscription). There is no opportunity for young people. Inflation has destroyed most people’s ability to emigrate or get an American/European education. They’re just stuck there with a crumbling economy, a refugee crisis (about 10% of the population), an increasingly religious and oppressive government, and the constant threat of war.

It’s hard to see so many posts like these complaining about how hard everything is for people living in US, UK, Canada, France etc. from people with the most disposable income in the world, the highest carbon footprints, the biggest cars, the most meat consumption, good labor laws.

Yes, we should still strive to improve things. There are tons of problems in this system that result in conflict and inequality. But this kind of article is the epitome of first world problems from privileged people.

This whole site is filled with these cynical, self-pitying posts so we can all read them and think “yeah, everything is so unfair for me, everyone else had it so much easier” like everything is happening to us, and we have no control or agency in our own happiness and satisfaction. We bear no responsibility for our own situation. We live in the best part of the world in the best time of human history, yet we’re all miserable because everything is so terrible and hard.

Good thing the US underemployment rate, which includes part time workers, is also at near historic lows (7.3%). I’m not saying everything is honky dory, but this obsession with how hard our generation (millennials) has it, in denial of living in the wealthiest parts of the world at the most prosperous and peaceful times in human history, is pathetic.

Most of the news subs on Lemmy are just cynical pity parties for first world problems. Idk what to make of people here. Wealthy educated countries with historically low unemployment and yet no one can seem to find a decent job.

Downvoted for stating an easily verifiable fact lol

Oh cool, I didn’t realize that was possible. That would be a great reason to use the plugin. I never really play non controller supported games with the Deck, so I just have the track pads set to mouse and scroll for the occasional desktop task on the host and the paddles set to Moonlight shortcuts.

Is there still an advantage to doing it this way after the desktop Big Picture update? Is it different than using the controller configuration menu on the host PC?

I don’t think they care about this feature. Presumably, they don’t see enough people using it to justify properly maintaining it, much less improving it.

As others have said, Moonlight + Sunshine works much better. Add Moonlight as a non-Steam game on your Deck and set it to launch Big Picture directly on your host. That’s my setup and it’s pretty seamless. Ever since the Big Picture update for the desktop client, I forget I’m even streaming sometimes because the interface is the same.

From the article:

It is unclear if the claim of “at Gamescom” means that Nintendo will be holding a Nintendo Direct the week of the show (22nd to the 27th of August) or if the company with announce a potential Switch 2 at a Gamescom event, such as Geoff Keighley’s co-run Opening Night Live event on the 22nd of August.

The Switch was announced via a tweet in 2016, only a handful of months before the console’s release