Okay folks, here's the deal. I'm going to have to effectively put all streams on hold for the next 4-5 weeks as I'm feeling extremely unwell and worn down right now; I'm pretty sure it's not directly COVID (in that I'm somewhat certain that I'm not infected), but at the same time, it is indirectly caused by it, because the majority of this year, I've been pretty much worn down by everything, and it's now come to a head, meaning that I need to suspend streaming and work on things that are less stressful for me, as I'm really not coping as well as I initially thought, and yesterday was a reminder of that. I was initially considering 2 weeks, but instead, I'm going to follow the flow of the current lockdown, meaning I'm going to suspend streaming until the 2nd of December. It's my hope that by then, I'll at least have my PC sorted, as well as also fixing up my blog, overlays, etc. to some extent, but no promises, as I'm going to have to take it easy for the majority of this week, lest I make it worse for myself later!

I am officially suspending SGU Thrifts as well as my TfL Quote of The Day segment on Instagram (which I did in conjunction with my thrifting), but unofficially, you'll likely see me doing that on an erratic schedule, as I re-adjust to everything, as I have recently learnt that the "geek shop" I went to has been shut down since July, and is no more, which has put a dent in my plans, though honestly, I don't expect to get things in this regard back on track to February at the earliest. I am hoping to eventually do some game unboxing videos and either posting them on my video channels, or the main Gamed Up one (with me setting up a playlist of all the unboxings I've done on there on my channel), but in any case, no time scale as to when they get done. As for my other video projects, they're gonna take longer to do, but I do want to at least try to post on Instagram every so often, just to show that I'm still active.

I suppose too, it's a good time to work out the Patreon, SubscribeStar, Ko-fi, and other things too, albeit staggered out so I don't wear myself down too quickly. As I said earlier, and more directly this time, the "spooky stream" is not happening this year, and I'll still be reverting my name on Twitter, and that of Geeked Up and Gamed Up, ironically on the first day of the lockdown, but eh. Either way, for this month at least, also expect my posts to be erratic, as I'm not sure when I'll be able to make them, as already this one is taking a lot out of me, but needs to be typed! I'll also be somewhat erratic on social media, but contactable all the same, but just keep in mind that I can't provide exact dates of when I'll be streaming next, until I get closer to the 2nd of December; assume Monday and Thursday streams from now until February (assuming the Fortnightly Team Stream - name pending, but called FTS for brevity from now until a name is decided - is on a Saturday), unless otherwise stated, where it might change to Tuesday and Friday (if a Sunday FTS instead goes ahead), capping at a maximum time of 5-6 hours, covering 15-30 mins of pre-starts and organisation, and up to 30 mins of breaks, all depending on who shows up, and how many do.

The way I currently see it, there will be a maximum of 5 people, and typically 4... or so I think that would be the case, but maybe there's provision for 6 people in an FTS, and up to 10 for 'Among Us' streams, if enough of us want to play at once, and we could also just invite some viewers to play with us too! Additionally, I'm scaling back my streams (regardless of when I start them) to typically last for around 3.5 hours (including the pre-stream chat and break - unless it's a special stream, where it will extend to the specified time in a related post, with the breaks also specified), and I'm going to try to stream from 20:00 (19:45) from there, but the "up to one hour" rule still applies for now. This therefore means that the starter game will typically last for an hour (as usual), with a 15 minute break over the course of the stream, to allow me to change the game, but also to attend to stuff I need to such as topping up my drink, or using the bathroom! I need to cut the streams short by an hour so I am able to better sort out stuff for videos, as well a make it less of a mission for me to stream, because sometimes, I get overwhelmed at the thought of streaming for even an hour!

I may actually stream for 1 or 2 hours some days (partly in order to set up a routine), and sometimes I may just have "starter game streams" where I only stream stuff like Isaac, Barony, and Streets of Rogue (amongst others) rather than actually have a main game! As for the showcases, they'll still go ahead, but I am going to try and get through the first 3-4 hours of a game off-stream before I play it on stream, so I bypass the tutorial, and also understand the basic mechanics of the game so I don't make as big an eejit of myself wrestling with how to play the game blindly (xD)! There will still be potentially some element of blindness in the game (especially if it has random elements, such as in roguelikes or roguelikes), but I won't subject viewers to watching me learn the controls and mechanics of a game, so I can better focus on the actual meat of the game, and people get a better idea of what it's about, and I can explain it better! However, if it is a time-limited demo, and takes within 3 hours to complete, I'll bypass the starter game completely, and fully focus on the game being showcased, with either an early finish, or a quick run of the starter game at the end if there's time!

Either way, my current plan ultimately is to try to make my streaming schedule more consistent, less stressful, and a bit more uniform, and also allowing me to get some videos out in a schedule down the line too, but I'm not worrying about that till at least December, which is Xmas month, I know, but there isn't much of 2020 left now, which is a good thing! That said though, January is also a quiet month, so it may be that February is when the ball properly gets rolling there! I'm hoping as well from next week I'll be able to do the PC case and upgrade stuff too, plus I also will have my other retro laptop in, and have plans to get a close match to the Pico Model 98 (actually built by Clevo) laptop too, especially now I have a better idea of the specs! Of course, one issue is that the Pico's screen needs to be looked at, and either outright replaced, or have a component related to the screen replaced! The laptop I'm getting in has the same issue as well, so I need to eventually fix them, but certainly not right now as I don't trust myself enough to even have a look inside!

The IPC Starnote+ K6 300 which I received on Saturday is a cousin model to the Pico, also being classed as a Model 98 - having the same label as the Pico and therefore also being built by Clevo, and having an identical form factor - though the serials differ, as do the colours and certain details on the cases, with the Starnote+ being black, and having certain things being a different style, but still following the exact same layout to the Pico, except it's the specs where they get interesting. First of all, the sound cards are exactly the same, as is the caddy type for the internal HDD (of which the Starnote+ unfortunately didn't come with one), which meant I could use the HDD from the Pico in the Starnote+, which was handy as I have no idea what sort of connector it is to source a replacement! Using the Windows 98 install of the Pico came with a few issues, which necessitated me having to switch between the two constantly!

And whilst the caddys, sound card (drivers worked perfectly thankfully!), and general form factor were all virtually the same, the CPU and graphics card differed, the latter of which caused some issues! First of all, the Starnote+, as you might have worked out has a 300MHz AMD K6 as a CPU, with the Pico having a 233MHz Pentium MMX chip, which the Starnote+ is faster than, even despite the inferiority of the chip compared to a 300MHz Intel CPU, but that wasn't an issue overall. What is an issue however is that the graphics cards are slightly different; both laptops have an S3 ViRGE MX+, but the Pico has a 4MB variant with Macrovision Rev E, and the other is a 2MB variant, which doesn't work with the drivers installed on the Pico's hard drive! This also means that I can't match the Starnote+ with the Pico, as the speed difference ultimately would have been relatively negligible when it came down to it, but the GPU is what lets it down. The AC connectors (and chargers) are also different, and technically can't be used with each other, but that's of little consequence, though I do need to find a new 3 prong cloverleaf connector or use a European to UK converter to connect it to the mains!

Don't get me wrong, I still needed the Starnote+ because it was the only lead I could get on the Pico Model 98 at the time, but I have since found some new information, and whilst I think the Pico is a great little machine, and perfect for DOS and using with Windows 98 SE for some gaming (though I'd keep to less demanding games under Windows), they're also a this point as rare as hen's teeth and a massive ballache to find information on (though I have found some, between using tools and googling), leading me to instead recommend a Toshiba Tecra 550CDT as a better alternative, though it is pretty tricky to find too sometimes! It's 33 MHz faster than the Pico (which is negligible, really... even 66MHz isn't that much of an issue), but has a similar 4MB S3 ViRGE MX, except it's an 'MX 3D', rather than an MX+, but it's probably the closest match I'll be able to get for now, so it'll do! The MX in general is crap for Windows gaming anyway, but is great for DOS gaming, at least if the game doesn't need 3D acceleration, because by that point, you'd probably want a Savage/IX or similar card, and we're then getting into low-mid tier Windows 98x gaming, at least if you're looking at the Toshiba Portegé 3440CT or similar models!

Also, if you do go towards retro Toshiba laptops, avoid anything that is CDS or CS (if those exist), because the screens are not suitable for gaming because they're DTSN Passive Matrix (or something like that - most is correct) and for gaming, you need an Active Matrix LCD to handle gaming, due to the fast movements on the screen! I have been logging data for all of these laptops, and as I have said, I plan to put all the info on a wiki someday, but I dunno when that is. In any case, I haven't been resting on my laurels, even if I haven't been streaming, because detailing these laptops is part of a wider project I'm working on for Geeked Up, especially as there isn't a definitive guide to retro DOS and Windows laptops out there, although it could potentially extend to the old Mac laptops too, but that's going too far ahead! In any case, even if I don't stream, I'll always be up to something when I'm able to to it, so do feel free to have a chat to me about what I'm working on, but don't ask me about time-frames as I don't know!

Another reason for me to take a step back (possibly for 8 weeks) for a short period is that I want to do a "Lv2 City and Guilds Diploma in ICT Systems Support Level 2", to replace the Lv1 cert I lost, by making it redundant and no longer necessary, but also to provide a prerequisite for (after taking a break) a "Lv3 City & Guilds Network Infrastructure Specialist" which will allow me to move onto stuff like being a Certified Ethical hacker, but this also helps me with my plans to refresh and expand my hardware knowledge, that I can then use with my other project, "Technical Alchemy" (TA), but also more confidently work with computer systems in terms of my "Storm's Workshop" (SW) segment too! Whilst I can build PCs fairly competently, laptops are something I've always been wary of, so I'm helping this will give me more confidence in general when working on PCs, be that for TA or SW!

I also want to get a more up to date version of the ECDL to replace the certificate I lost (I handed my entire qualifications portfolio to my former work and they lost it, so I no longer have it), rather than shell out for a replacement, especially as my one is from 2005! I have other qualifications I need to think about replacing too, but I need to stump up the cash for those, and whilst they're not urgent to replace, I do want to get them all back eventually, though it'll cost me a fair chunk of change, and the Lv2 PC Maintenance and ECDL will be free for me as I'm currently out of work, and that brings my replacement certificate costs down, as well as providing me with an alternative income stream if videos/streams/Patreon/Ko-fi/etc ever become an issue to earn money from, which is likely to be the case for a while! Either way, I need to try to move myself forward in some way, and I am going to try to make some things happen next year, as well as having a more streamlined/combined backend for all Stormhaven Media stuff!

But I'm gonna call it here for now, as I'm really tired. In any case, between now and February, expect things to be rejigged, refined, and... uh, re-fleshed out as I try to put 2020 behind me, and make the most of 2021 and 2022... and potentially 2023, because we won't be out of the woods until COVID is more under control, and a vaccine is some time away! And given this, I have to rethink everything, which is why I have shared some of those details aboved, so people know what to expect, because I think we all need some predictability right now, and whilst I may not have a predictable timescale to work from, the steps above are a statement of intent. There are other things too, but I'm not going to mention those, seeing as I'm not sure what some of them are, and for others, if I mention them, I run the risk of not doing them, and beating myself up for it when they don't get done, so better to just affirm those in private!

But yeah, now you all know what's going on, some of what I'm doing, why I'm doing it, and some of what I hope to have accomplished at the end of it. I do have plans to supplement my IT-related stuff with a few related small courses too, but I'm gonna have to think about how to factor that in, and also what I want to do, because ideally, I want to refresh my previous education skills, and get myself as close to a MSc as possible by the time I'm 40! Sure, I'm about 16 years off, but better late than never, plus I should be able to accomplish that at least! A PhD... that on the other hand I'll ponder much later on, but I figure getting the equivalent of a Masters should eventually be achievable, though perhaps not before I hit 40, but we'll see what happens.

Anyway, if you've read this far, breathe out... it's over as I'm done for now. As always, I'll keep people up to date on things, because there are things I've said casually elsewhere that I plan to do too, as well as things I haven't thought about yet, and you'll all be informed in due course, though really I need to get into the habit of making weekly announcements, and then also putting my streaming schedule at the bottom of the post to save a bit of time! In any case, I'm done with blogging for now, so good night and I'll catch you later on in that regard; again, do feel free to approach me on social media or Discord if I'm on your server as having a geeky chat would be cool!

Slán agat!

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