RSS Feed Readers
RSS Feeds allow one to subscribe to a website and be notified of its changes when updated. I use it to follow various youtube channels without creating a youtube account and to follow various blogs in general, mainly Sacha Chua's weekly emacs updates. It reverses the relationship one has with notifications today, instead of being pushed to your device and trying to compete for your attention, you intentionally enter the RSS Feed Reader application and reload it to get more notfications, and it's all in one app. I use Emacs' Elfeed as my RSS Feed Reader alongside Elfeed-Tube to watch youtube videos without having to access the website (and as a bonus, it pulls the transcript for the videos that you can save or reference in your notes, and also highlights them in realtime. Works with sponsorblock and all the other usual youtube add-ons) and Elfeed-Org so I can manage and tag my RSS feeds in a single easy to use file.
Permadeath in SWTOR
I got extremely bored with the Jedi Consular story in Star Wars: The Old Republic, so I decided to try to make the game feel more interesting by first creating a new character that's a light side Sith Warrior and second, also commiting to a self-imposed permadeath rule. I have died 3 times now (all stupdily from fights with enemies much higher leveled than me.) This experiment has resulted in what I want so far, I've found myself actually reading more about the abilities in the game and not selling off all of my medpacks. It still doesn't capture the feeling of KOTOR but it's a lot closer now. Playing with permadeath has also given me the ability to try out options I wouldn't usually touch since I know I'll be back there again anyway. I probably won't stick to this long but is fun so far.
SWTOR: Jedi Consular vs Sith Warrior
After being pretty disappointed with the story of the Jedi Consular class in SWTOR, I decided to try out playing as a Sith Warrior instead. The first thing I noticed is that the Sith Warrior has the storyline that I wanted the Jedi Consular to have, with engaging in more of the political and philosophical side of Star Wars. It's weird to me that the Jedi Consular didn't have a storyline closer to this as I was expecting something similar to the interactions Luke had in the Thrawn Trilogy with him contemplating what a Jedi would do in various scenarios and also learning that the Jedi also frequently served as mediators in random civil disputes. As for the light side Sith Warrior character, he believes in the Sith Code and views the Jedi as ignorant and responsible for many of the tragedies that have occured in the galaxy including the Force Wars and the Mandalorian War. He also despises the Empire and sees most Sith as those who blindly sacrifice passion for power rather fully engaging in passion as the code teaches. He is therefore subtley working against Darth Baras and the Empire, which means not engaging in any missions that sabotage the republic when avoidable and picking the light side option in more cases.
Vim Keybindings in the Browser
At this point it is extremely frustrating to use a web browser where I don't have a vim plugin like Vimium C installed. (assuming qwerty bindings): Pressing "f" to highlight all of the links to select ("F" to open them in a new tab), "G" to go to the bottom of a page, "gg" to go to the top of a page, "j" to scroll down, and "k" to scroll up, "J" and "K" to scroll through the open tabs are all keybindings I use often.
EXWM: Emacs X11 Window Manager
Some features of EXWM include: treating every single application and window like a normal Emacs buffer, using simulation keys to get emacs keybindings (or whatever your preferred bindings are) anywhere, having emacs shortcuts work even when within another application, and also having your project management and window management rules and packages apply to your entire desktop as well. If you're an emacs user, I highly recommend trying out EXWM alongside configuring your web browser to have one tab-per-window. It makes using any other window manager or interface feel like a pain in comparison.
Permadeath in Rita's Rewind
This made the game a lot more enjoyable to me, especially when you turn on the tougher or maximum enemies modifiers. It also gives the game's "continue system" a reason to exist rather than just being completely useless. I also added the rule that once I beat a stage, I can't go back, meaning if I don't get an S-rank score or get all the collectables, then I'll just have to try harder in my next play through. I was inspired by the idea of making Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Rita's Rewind feel more like a classic arcade game by emulating losing one and also deleting my save after every game quit.