I can't comment generally but I use NixOS and have had no issues playing games on Steam. The setup was laughably simple, just `programs.steam.enable = true;` and Steam handles compatibility so well that I buy games without thinking "will this run".
Actually there was one thing I couldn't do but this isn't unique to NixOS. I tried to install a GTAV mod that allows you to ride your smart bike trainer in game: GTBikeV. The mod can be installed, but the Bluetooth doesn't work. This is a WINE limitation.
This reminds me of another story. Apparently zinc cadmium sulfide was dropped on Canadians by the US military in 1953 -- 2 Albertan towns, and Winnipeg. The timing was so close it made me wonder if it was part of the same program. It seems so, Winnipeg is mentioned in the full research paper.
I've seen this called Somatosensory Tinnitus [0], and it's what I have as well. Stretching my neck & clearing my ears of wax pretty much resolves it every time, or at least helps a lot.
I only have it on the left side, and my TMJ lines up marginally worse on that side, so it's probably related.
I pretty much got rid of my tinnitus, but my situation won't apply to most people.
So I don't have any permanent hearing loss beyond what's normal. My tinnitus is Somatosensory [1], in my case aggravated by neck and jaw tension. My jaw doesn't align all that well on one side, and I can hear a sharp ring if I move my neck/jaw in the right ways.
I first noticed it after a kayaking trip in which I packed my ear with water so badly that I gave up on getting it out. This went on for months until the conductive hearing loss (i.e. earwax) + neck/jaw tension combined to produce tinnitus. Obviously I didn't know the cause at the time, so it caused me some stress before I started to make progress.
This is just armchair medicine, but my tinnitus seems to be caused by poor signal to noise. If my neck/jaw is tense or misaligned, then the noise floor is raised. I think it's literally my auditory nerve picking up interference from my neck or jar. Similarly, if my hearing is blocked, then the signal is lowered. If the signal to noise is too poor, then my brain stops filtering out the noise, and I hear it as tinnitus.
The solution for me is just a combination of neck stretching, and protecting myself from all hearing loss. I have to monitor this because it will flare up occasionally.
Are bad capacitors common? I bought a brand new motherboard over the holidays, and one of the capacitors appeared to be leaking [1]. I went back to get it exchanged and the experience was interesting.
The representative initially agreed that the capacitor was bad. He grabbed a new board, pulled it out of the bag, and literally the same problem. Same capacitor even, which was unfortunate for me because the new determination was that maybe they're supposed to be like that? They had a tech in the store who claimed that it was residue from some kind of "conformal coating", and that 7/10 boards have capacitors that look like that. Somehow the residue is biased to appear directly under the capacitors, but that wasn't exactly explained. He also claimed that capacitors don't leak, at least the type on this board.
Eventually I just asked for one of the 3/10 boards that didn't have that residue, and the store was gracious enough to do that for me, but insisted that there was no issue the whole way.
They had to flip through 4 boards before finding one without residue under any capacitors, and I still don't know if I was being unreasonable.
well, it certainly looks like the cap leaked. new caps don't usually do that even if they're crap. It's also interesting that it was the same one each time, seeing as how all those caps are identical. i do think you made the right call, if it was some sort of glue to prevent vibration, it would be on all of them (it's definitely not conformal coating)
Thanks, yeah it is strange that the same capacitor leaked on both boards. Actually there was a second capacitor on my first "bad" board that might have also been leaking, but I never pictured it. It was less obvious. Also, I only saw 2 "bad" boards myself, so maybe it's just coincidence.
A friend thought maybe that capacitor was getting squeezed during production, or the board is just designed such that that capacitor is more likely to fail.
You certainly could be right. I don't know too much about capacitors, but from what I'm seeing it looks like it could also be a "Hybrid polymer capacitor" [1], which would have some liquid in it [2]. This is also an MSI board.
I grew up skiing Sunshine Village along the Alberta/British Columbia border. There's a lift called the "Great Divide" where the rider apparently starts in Alberta, crosses into BC, and then returns back to Alberta before reaching the top.
As you ride up, you're greeted by a sign that reads "Welcome to beautiful British Columbia", and then "Welcome back to sunny Alberta". My Dad used to always joke about the snow melt either traveling to the Hudson Bay, or the Pacific Ocean depending on where you are along the lift line.
Had to test it out for myself. Unfortunately the lift doesn't quite carve across the watershed boundary as I hoped, but it's very close, and it was fun to wonder about as a kid.
Actually there was one thing I couldn't do but this isn't unique to NixOS. I tried to install a GTAV mod that allows you to ride your smart bike trainer in game: GTBikeV. The mod can be installed, but the Bluetooth doesn't work. This is a WINE limitation.