Paperwork sucks. Have to renew my daughter’s visa. So I guess I should go over the list of documents that I need.

1. Application for extension: http://www.moj.go.jp/content/001290225.pdf
2. 外国人登録証 （コピー)
3. パスポート（コピー)
4. 健康保険被保険者証（コピー)
5. 住民票
6. 市県民税所得課税証明書
7. 納税証明書
8. 在職証明書
9. 給与所得の源泉徴収表

Seems easy enough, I guess I’ll get to it and start to build a folder for the documents. I also might as well go to the store and start making copies for stuff.

I’m not sure if I’m trying to talk myself into or talk myself out of this stupid idea. Right now I have two computers, an Asus UX305 and a HP Chromebook 13 G1. The Asus UX305 has been my main driver for the last several years. Over all it’s a pretty good computer, 13.3″ full hd with a fanless processor 4GB of RAM, and a 128GB SSD. Has a decent battery life and a nice keyboard layout. My ideal daily driver would be 14″ 1440p, 8GB RAM, 256GB SDD, and USB-C charging. Right now the Thinkpad Carbon X1 series seems to be ideal replacement, but those computers are stupidly expensive.

The HP Chromebook 13 G1 is a computer that I bought as a replacement. It has a 13.3″ 4k screen, fanless, usb-c charging, and 32GB of onboard storage. My thinking was that I could get around the short comings of the hardware, but after trying, there are too many flaws. The main flaw is track pad. It’s tiny and over all pretty terrible. It doesn’t feel anywhere as fluid as the Asus track pad. The keyboard doesn’t stack up, and while the keys have a decent click, the Chromebook keyboard leaves out a lot of common keys like delete, page up, page down, home and end, which I use a lot. The computer will always force suspend mode when closed, there isn’t a driver for the onboard audio, and 32GB of onboard storage fill up stupidly fast.

So I figured I’d go back to the drawing board. Effectively I want two computers. One computer would basically be a windows computer. I don’t use Windows every often, but there are a few occasions when it comes in handy. Specifically Daemon tools and really information from disks is a life saver. And I don’t like running Wine on Linux. If I need to do anything on Windows I prefer to have a network drive where I can drag and drop files to have something done on Windows and then copy back to Linux directly.

So my thinking was to have an X220 computer and an X240 computer. The X220 would be a simple Windows computer to run stuff on occasionally and the X240 would my main driver with Debian Gnome. Either that or get a e495 and use that as my main driver and convert my current Asus into a windows computer. Though my issue is that the e495 seems pretty expensive for a minor upgrade. It has 8GB of memory, 256GB of SDD, and USB-c for charging. But basically without the 1440p screen it seems like an expensive mid-step for a year or two before I replace it again.

So effectively for my uses, the X240 with a 1080p fills the same roll as the e495 for a fraction of the price. Originally I was thinking an X220 and an X240, but I’m actually tempted to go for 2x X240’s to have one with Windows 10 and the other with Debian/Gnome. That means that I can effectively have the same power connector and have one that uses windows and one that uses Linux and share the same hardware experience between them.

This is not something that would normally go on this blog, but I wanted to try and make a list of Youtube bands

Against the Current – https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mo0aDYpNNJhFWkYLyGyst_B-mU4vDBnZw
Beast in Black – https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZ6oHxEMKXlnjCzs_Ae55oA
Cristina Grimmie – https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_lx788HkfcMMJgJ1Tel0jC0Jg1scgvINgA
Jonathan Young – https://www.youtube.com/user/jonathanyoungmusic/videos
Caleb Hyles – https://www.youtube.com/user/CalebsCovers/videos
NINA – https://www.youtube.com/user/NinaSingzMusic/videos
The Midnight – https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_l6hWMoCv_dj643agxih8yEIc_F-igrT3k

Something my brain won’t stop thinking about is an open source handheld based on the Raspberry Pi. I know in general there are a lot of DIY handheld cases for the Raspberry Pi, but I can’t say that I’m a big fan of the designs, which generally tend to be the original Gameboy with four face buttons.

For the most part I really want a Gameboy Advance clone to program for more than anything. Gameboy advance or potentially PSP. If there was a kit that replicated one of these two options that would make me super happy. I think when it comes down to it, that’s really want I want, either a Gameboy advance or PSP clone with XP-input controls and a full size SD card for fan games.

Because I’m a stupid idiot, and I keep thinking about hardware I’ll go ahead and make a quick list of the Raspberry Pi clones I would love to see (or make if I had any talent).

1. Piboy Pocket – Clone of the Gameboy Pocket with a black and white (e-ink would be amazing if the refresh rate wasn’t terrible) screen at 640 x 480 . With D-pad, A, B, Select, Start.

2. Piboy Color – Clone of the Gameboy Color with an IPS display at 640 x 480 . With D-pad, A, B, Select, Start.

3. Piboy Advance – Clone of the Gameboy Advance with an IPS display at 800 x 480 . With D-pad, A, B, X, Y, R, L Select, Start.

4. Piboy Portable – Clone of the Sony PSP with an IPS display at 800 x 480 . With D-pad, A, B, X, Y, R, L Select, Start, Left Analog.

5. Piboy Portable2 – Clone of the Sony PS-Vita with a touch-screen IPS display at 800 x 480 . With D-pad, A, B, X, Y, R, L, R2, L2, Select, Start, Left Analog, Right Analog

6. PiBoy Switch – Clone of the Nintendo Switch Lite with a touch-screen IPS display at 1280 x 720. With D-pad, A, B, X, Y, R, L, R2, L2, Select, Start, Left Analog, Right Analog, Right Analog Click, Left Analog Click.

If I could choose only one from this list, I think it would probably be the Piboy Portable. I think that would generally be a good starting point of having four face buttons, two trigger buttons, the main input being a directional pad, with the option of using the analog for more control. I wonder if there is a happy medium between the PSP and PS-Vita that could be targeted. But in general, I would really like to see a well designed kit for a Gameboy Advance or PSP that is it’s own kit that you can put together and not have to mod the original console.

Though if that’s what I’m looking for, then it might be a good idea to buy a pre-made version of the Gameboy Advance Pi mod.

The Gameboy Color is an iconic handheld system. It has a small color screen, with a D-pad, two inputs, start and select buttons. As iconic as the system is it seems to be remembered for Pokemon and Links Awakening DX. And outside of those two games, most of the library seems to be devoted to poor adaptations of N64 games, and bad movie spin offs for bad movies. It seems like with the Gameboy Color’s limited pallet and limited controls, it seems like there should be more simple games built around the limitations of the system. So that’s going to be the focus of this Gameboy series of blogs is to look into the Gameboy’s library to find the most notable entries for graphics and gameplay on the system, and try to find the best games in addition to Pokemon and Zelda that are on the system.

1. Super Mario Land 1 (DX patch)
2. Super Mario Land 2 (DX Patch)
3. Super Mario Land 3 : Wario Land 1 (no Patch)
4. Wario Land 2
5. Wario Land 3
6. Links Awakening DX (New Awakening Patch)
7. Tetris DX
8. R-Type DX
9. Legend of Zelda (Ages and Seasons)
10. Shantae
11. Metrod II (DX Patch)
12. Pokemon Red and Blue (DX Patch)
13. Pokemon Yellow (DX Patch)
14. Pokemon Gold and Silver
15. Pokemon Crystal
16. Megaman XTreme (1 & 2)
17. Castlevania (GB)
18. Pokemon Trading Card Game
19. Project S-11
20. Metal Gear Solid : Ghost Babel
21. Harvest Moon (1 , 2, 3)
22. Commander Keen
23. Worms Armagedon GBC
24. Contra Operation C
25. Dragon Warrior

26. Crystalis
27. Star Ocean: Blue Sphere
28. Survival Kids
29. Kirby (GB)
30, Megaman V
31. TMNT

Homebrew:

Tobu Tobu Girl : https://tangramgames.dk/tobutobugirl/
Micro City : https://github.com/AntonioND/ucity
Floracy : http://www.nesworld.com/article.php?system=gbc&data=gbchomebrew
Space Invasion : http://www.nesworld.com/article.php?system=gbc&data=gbchomebrew
Tyrian 2000 : http://www.nesworld.com/article.php?system=gbc&data=gbchomebrew

Missing:
– Dark Souls
– Legend of Zelda NES (remake)
– Gun Star Hero’s
– Ikaruga
– Luigi’s Mansion

After spending some time to design an open source console based on a Dreamcast themed concept kind of looks stupid now that I’ve fleshed it out. Ideally I think a PsVita/ Vita Tv approach is probably the simplest and easiest. For the PS Vita everything can pretty much stay the same except for usb-c inplace of the micro-usb, SD card instead of the Vita card format, no touch panel on the back, no R2/L2, 800×480 resolution, and X-input for the buttons. I think the analogs could also be replaced with nubs, but that’s kind of beside the point.

Likewise the VitaTv can basically remain the same except swap out the barrel jack for a USb-C and the game format for micro-sd (system~ and SD card (game). The controller can basically be a stadia controller. And I think that would be a pretty simple, pretty compelling open source console concept.

01. Ikaruga
02. Skies of Arcadia
03. Jet Set Radio
04. Power Stone / Power Stone 2
05. Phantasy Star Online
06. Shenmue / Shenmue 2
07. Typing of the Dead
08. Virtual-On: Oratorio Tangram
09. Dead or Alive 2
10. Ill Bleed
11. Resident Evil Code Veronica
12. Soul Calibur
13. Rival Schools Project Justice
14. Sonic Adventure / Sonic Adventure 2
15. Samba De Amigo
16. Sword of the Beserk: Guts’ Rage
17. Space Channel 5
18. Grandia II
19. Evolution / Evolution 2
20. Time Stalkers

I moved mml.dashgl.com and dashgl.com hosting to gitlab. For gtk.dashgl.com I could probably download the entire site as static pages and then host the static pages on Gitlab as I’m probably not going to be adding anymore gtk tutorials. For blog.dashgl.com, I’m not taking very much advantage of this site. So I might switch the blogs to minds.com or something where I can post things and not need to manage a VPS.

A few thoughts for hardware of things I’m thinking about buying but probably shouldn’t buy.

1. WiiU – Would be pretty nice to have for some of the Wii HD ports, but it’s not very likely for me to have time to play with this device and I don’t know how much I could use the tablet on its own and how much I would be need the screen for.

2. PspGo – WOuld be pretty nice to have a thin and light Psp to carry around with for NES / SNES / GBC / GBA / PSX / PSP games. Problem is that I don’t know how well the controls perform with the analog stick. And while it would be a cool device to have and play around with, i’m not sure how much of a practical device it would be.

3. PsVita – I have a black PsVita with a broken right analog stick. The device works well enough and it’s a little tempting to buy a new white model that works to be able to play Psp and PsVita games. The weird thing about the Vita is that it feels weird to start adrenaline and use the device like a slightly better Psp, when you could just buy a Psp.

So for all three of these, it seems like it would be a better idea to look for an android device with built in controls for to play emulated games on. Because that would probably handle Dreamcast and possibly Gamecube as well if I got one with good specs. The Switch Lite could also be a possibility, but I don’t want to mess around with CFW on a system with an active life-cycle.

I was about ready to jump in on the Pixelbook, which still seems like the leader. But once I’ve confirmed how much the Pixelbook will cost, I should then do a double check of what can be done for the same amount of money. So in quick and dirty equation, we can say the Chromebook will be $600, pen $100 and then a Pixel 2 (phone) $200, so we’re looking at about $900 plus shipping and handling. We can take an opportunity to ask, if we’re shelling out $900 for hardware, what else can we get for the same amount of money, and how does it compare?

Galaxy Note:
We can do a quick comparison against a full-on note setup. Galaxy Note 8 ($300), Chromebook Plus V2 ($370), DexDock($40), 15 inch 4k monitor ($300). So we end up with around a thousand dollars. I guess the 4k monitor isn’t needed since i have a fullHD model at home. So we basically have around $700 for a computer and phone combination. And then $200 leftover to spend on Raspberry Pi stuff or commissions.

Normal Computer:
Options are Dell XPS 13 and Thinkpad X1 carbon. I’d be tempted to go with the X1 carbon if I can find a 1440p model for a decent price. Though I can’t find either of these computers are a price that costs less than both a chromebook and a phone. So there’s there’s that. The only normal computer that I think I would consider is the Surface Laptop 3, and that’s out of my price range.

So the main comparison that we’re down to is the combination of a Pixelbook with a Pixelphone, or a Samsung Galaxy with a Samsung Notebook (or a NexDock). In general there isn’t too much reason that I couldn’t buy a Pixelbook and a Samsung phone, but I really like the idea of having two different devices that use similar design language. The main reason that I want a Samsung Galaxy phone is that the idea of having Dex sounds really appealing. I really like the idea of being able to have a phone, pop it into a dock, and then be able to use the phone as a desktop.

The main issue is that I would like to try this approach or have this option available. I don’t have much time to sit down at a desk very often, so I should go with the device with a better laptop functionality and that’s the Pixelbook. Also right now the Samsung phones have Dex enabled, but if desktop mode were to become an option on the Pixelphones, then that would make the case for the Pixel-family really one sided. As that’s the main reason I have for leaning towards Samsung in general.

The other comparison to make in this situation is the Chromebook experience. In terms of flat out Chrome usage, I don’t see much reason to choose the Pixelbook over the Chromebook Plus V2. Since I would be using both for light emulation, browsers and terminal availability. It’s mostly the idea of putting Linux on the device is what gives the Pixelbook massive advantage over the Samsung options as the 64GB on the Chromebook Plus v2 would quickly become a limiting factor. As for the pen, I really like the idea of having a store the pen on the Chromebook Plus v2. But that’s in the case of ChromeOS. Otherwise in practical application I don’t mind leaving the at home, and being able to use the pen only when at home, and using the computer as a standard computer otherwise.

So I still have a few more questions to address. How much would the Pixelbook be compared to the Zenbook I have now? And which version of the Pixel phone makes the most sense?