About Me

Posted by Eric Gingell on April 17, 1977
Posted in: Sophie.

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About Me

My name is Eric Gingell. I’m 38 years old, I’m a delivery driver for Pizza Hut, I live in Salt Lake City, Utah, and I graduated third in my class from ITT Technical Institute with an Associates in Computer Science; although, for the most part, I am self-taught.

Sophie LaBüf is my inner child.

I am a closet programmer. I’m fluent in PHP, I’ve dabbled in Lua, ASP, and Java, and I’ve played with MSDOS batch and Linux shell scripting.

Most of the things I post, I did just to see if I could and, if I can’t do something, I try to figure out why and, sometimes, figuring out why allows me to be able to do it anyway. I like to rewrite API functions just to see if I can mimic the behavior of said function. Some examples, from Blizzard’s World of Warcraft UI API, can be found here, though I haven’t done much with Lua or WoWPedia/WoWWiki(old) since I quit WoW. I have also ported a few PHP functions to Lua to use in WoW interface coding. Those can be found here. Some of those on that page are not ported PHP functions, but I did write them. I’ve written several WoW addons. I don’t work in the field because this is fun for me and I don’t want it to become tedious. I will never ask for money, so if you ever see something I did with a cost associated with it, it’s because someone stole it.

I live with three cats, Fatty, Dingus, and Junior. I also live with my parents. Due to health problems, I am unable to make enough to move out.

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I enjoy table-top RPG, such as D&D, Fudge and Forgotten Armies. I also enjoy board and card games, such as Dominion, Uno (special “psycho” house rules (credit to Mark Whitley – good friend and former instructor at ITT Tech)), and Munchkin.

I am an observer. I like to watch and listen to people interact with one another. Sometimes I appear creepy, this is never my intention. I am also introverted. I’d rather not waste energy talking to someone I may never see again. I loathe small-talk, so if you see me in the hallway, don’t bother asking me how I am or what I think of the weather, this is a quick way to get on my bad-side. I hate every rendition of Sportball.

I like most forms of music, except country, but if it sounds good, I’ll listen to it even if it’s country. Heavy Metal and Classic Butt Rock are my favorites. Collective Soul is my all-time favorite band because they have a good variety within themselves (some songs are heavy, some are light). Their songs range from “I Love You ‘Cause You’re Such a Prick” to “Where the River Flows” to “Crown.” Classical Music, especially when it’s heavy viola or bass-violin, is the shit.

In conclusion: I’m a nice guy, but don’t ask me if it’s hot enough for me.

Final Fantasy VI

Posted by Eric Gingell on May 11, 2022
Posted in: Gaming. Tagged: , , , .

Final Fantasy VI is the sixth in the long running Final Fantasy series. In this post I will share some insights.

Zozo:

  • When you are about to leave Zozo you are asked to make a party of four. Celes and Locke are preselected. Don’t remove either of them. If you do, you can’t re-add them and you definitely can’t compete the Opera House scene without one of them. If you did, fear not, you can get them back without redoing the whole Zozo scene. You just have to trudge your way back to Narshe and speak to any of your cohorts in the building on the east side of town.
  • To unequip an esper, you need to select an empty slot under the espers list on the esper selection screen.
  • If you want to see what an item in a shop does, you have to have enough GP to buy it so you can select it to pull up the details.
  • You only need one each of Edgar’s “Tools” items.
  • Cmd.Set Short allows you to rearrange your battle command menus and changes the orientation of the items therein (they’re fanned out). If you change it back to “Window,” your custom arrangement will be saved, but you will revert to the default stacked list. Each character has his/her own list. Edit: The order reverts after reloading the save file.
  • Memo is a temporary save slot that gets deleted when you power off your PlayStation or quit the game.
  • Soft reset: hold down L1, L2, R1, R2, Start, and Select. You will lose all unsaved progress.

* Notice: The above apples to the PlayStation “Anthology” version (digital and disk).

Android 8 Notifications

Posted by Eric Gingell on July 2, 2019
Posted in: Android.

Android 8 (codename Oreo) Notifications

  • Possibly the best feature Google has implemented. As of Android 8 you can change the notification settings for every app individually based on categories wherein you can configure its visibility and sound.
  • This feature has to be implemented in the app’s code for this feature to work; however, each app has an on/off option regardless.
  • I have yet to figure out what “allow notification dot” means.

Edit: the notification dot is the number on the app icon on the homepage (ie unread count on the Messenger icon).

Scopophobia

Posted by Eric Gingell on February 13, 2018
Posted in: Sophie.

Scopophobia is the fear of being looked at or watched, but more specifically, in my case, the fear of being the center of attention. Circumstances vary from being on stage to taking on the phone about yourself.

I get bad anxiety when:

  • I’m talking to people on the phone.
  • Explain my feelings to someone.
  • Talking to people.
  • Showing up somewhere unannounced.
  • Showing up late.
  • Showing up too early.
  • Interviewing for a job.
  • Meeting someone somewhere–as in “I’ll meet you in the O.K. Corral at high noon.”
  • Changing my routine social interactions–ie greeting people I don’t normally greet.
  • Asking someone to go out–on a date or otherwise.
  • Requesting intimacy.
  • Performing for people–ie karaoke.
  • Talking about myself.
  • Offering condolences and/or congratulations.
  • Offering praise and/or criticism.
  • Being in a waiting room with one unknown person who’s also there alone.
  • Sharing an elevator or other conveyance.
  • Going to the movies alone.
  • Changing my routine such that people notice.
  • Asking for help.
  • Being helpless.
  • Offering help.
  • Being put on the spot.
  • Being spontaneous such that people notice.
  • Looking for a product in a retail store or supermarket such that people notice.
  • Waiting in line.
  • Sitting in the audience where there is audience participation–ie “The Price is Right” or “Whose Line is it, Anyway?”
  • Being in a group meeting where participation is expected.
  • I’m at a party.

I get around it by escaping into my phone–games, Facebook, whatever. If I can’t or feel like I can’t escape, I start to panic. Unavoidable things amplify my anxiety–like if a teacher calls my name during a lecture. I prefer being a wallflower at parties, if I go at all, because to be otherwise scares me.

How to spot clickbait and sharebait

Posted by Eric Gingell on August 20, 2017
Posted in: Social Networking.

Clickbait

Every time you see an article on social media, your finger starts to itch and you really want to click it. Well, 90% of the time*, it’s bait and the article is complete bullshit or not what it claimed to be and the link is nothing more than just an advertising platform. Well, here’s Gingell’s guide to spotting clickbait. If the answer to any of these questions is “yes”, then it’s clickbait.

  1. Does the title use exaggerated phrasing like, “the tweet that broke the internet”?
  2. Does it use buzz/polarizing words like “unbelievable” or “shocking” or “Trump” or “Obama”?
  3. Does it seem oddly familiar? Like, does it mention your work by name or something you like?
  4. Does it lead you to believe there’s more by using more exaggerated phrases like, “You won’t believe what happens next”?
  5. Does it promise a heartwarming story?
  6. Does it promise self improvement?
  7. Does it contain anything from your profile description?
  8. Does it use a phrase like, “only 1 out of 10 get this right”?
  9. Does it warn you of impending doom?
  10. Does it give you one item from a list of many items?
  11. Does it tell you to click?

    Sharebait

    Sharebait is a different animal. These compel you to like, comment on, and/or share them. Note that a like and a comment are as good as a share and good comments or bad, there’s no difference. Even those comments calling all the other commenters idiots counts. Many of the above also qualify as sharebait and, as with above, if the answer is “yes”, it’s sharebait.

    1. Does it use the phrase, “share if you agree”, or something similar?
    2. Does it use a phrase like, “only 1 out of 10 get this right”?
    3. Does it invite you to choose from two or more options?
    4. Does it show a picture of starving children, animals in distress, or other shocking pictures?
    5. Does it challenge you? E.g. “I bet you can’t think of a name that doesn’t start with Z” or “what’s 2+2+2+2*0+2”? (It’s 8, but the way.)

    *figure made up
    **this article is clickbait without the ads

    Moto G5 Plus

    Posted by Eric Gingell on August 17, 2017
    Posted in: Android.

    Moto G Plus (5th Generation)

    My last phone, a ZTE Nubia Z11 Mini, was and forever will be a piece of crap.

    “This phone teases you with its 64 bit octacore processor, 16mp camera, and 3gb of RAM, but it’s terrible. It randomly loses application data (apps occasionally start as if they’d just been installed). If you want notifications or accessibility services enabled for an app, you have to lock it so the phone doesn’t close it. You have to explicitly allow apps (such as add-ons to other apps and apps that run in the background like Tasker (as examples, Tasker won’t perform tasks and Greenify’s paid features won’t work without this)) to start automatically or they won’t work. There’s no Google calendar support. No way to directly access Google Settings out of the box. The power button is on the side near the middle–the perfect place for you to accidentally shut off your phone by holding the button for 10+ second. The camera sucks if the subject isn’t less than two feet away. The screen randomly shuts off. It’s dual SIM, but if you want to use two SIM cards, you can’t use an sdcard–it’s either two SIM cards or one SIM card and one sdcard. It doesn’t have NFC. Netflix works fine, but you can’t install it from the Play Store (though that may be a Netflix issue).”
    –My official review

    So I got a new one, a Motorola Moto G5 Plus. It seems promising, so far and it seems to use the unaltered AOSP (vanilla) version of Android. A few minor things I don’t like: no menu button, “back” is on the wrong side, I can’t take out the battery, and the alarm volume starts at 1 for about half a second before ramping up to the actual volume–nothing I can’t deal with.

    Nubia Z11 Mini

    Posted by Eric Gingell on June 17, 2017
    Posted in: Android.

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    Prologue

    I got a new phone recently. It’s made in India and some of the English text is awkwardly worded. It’s not without its weird quirks, but well worth the incredibly low price ($180).

    Quirks

    • Can’t directly access Google Settings. You have to make a shortcut using an app like QuickShortcutMaker (look in Google Services Framework).
    • Can’t manage trusted places or devices for Smart Lock.
    • Doesn’t sync Google Calendar out of the box. You have to get Google Calendar Sync from ApkMirror and install it (no need for root, just install it). Reboot afterwards.
    • Smart Powersaving Mode sucks. It’s far too aggressive, you should turn it off.
    • There’s a hidden multi-user feature which can only be accessed by making a shortcut with QuickShortcutMaker (look in Settings). There’s no way to switch users without unlocking the phone and switching from that hidden menu and only stock apps are available after seeing up a new user, so you have to reinstall QuickShortcutMaker and make a new shortcut to said hidden feature to be able to switch back.
    • Disabling notifications in the stock calendar app doesn’t work, so if you use a different app for that and you don’t want both apps to notify, you can simply deny Calendar access to Calendar in its permissions.
    • I have yet to find any way to block phone numbers.
    • It’s dual-SIM, but you can’t have two SIM cards and an SD card. You can either have two SIM cards or one SIM card and one SD card.
    • The battery is not removable.
    • If you use a third-party launcher, you have to make it default again in the system settings every time your launcher updates.

    Perks

    • There are more options for per-app notifications.
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    • 64-bit, eight cores, and 3GB of RAM.

    Tips

    • Long-click Back to show recent apps.

    FFXV

    Posted by Eric Gingell on January 9, 2017
    Posted in: Gaming.

    Final Fantasy XV is the latest in the long-running Squaresoft cash-cow. I’m going to share some insights:

    Grind for AP:

    • Prerequisites: Noctis must be allowed to drive during the day and night, the Ascension-Exploration/Roadrunning node must be activated, the Regalia Type-F (beat the game), and sticky tape (but not the residue leaving kind).
    • Drive to Lestallum and switch to Manual (Noctis drives).
    • Start heading southwest and tape down the R2 button.
    • You will drive in an endless circle gathering up AP along the way (the green circle in the figure below).
    • Notes: You will hit the guard rail where I put “CRASH” on the figure below every single time, you will occasionally hit other cars, and, if Prompto hasn’t asked you who he should take pictures of, he’ll ask once and not again until you rest; otherwise, you will never be bothered.

    Best Food

    • Lasagna al Forno: HP+4000, Double EXP, and nullifies fire, ice, and lightning.

    • Marrowshroom Clowder: Guarantees critical hits.

    Notes:

    • Each 24 hour cycle is roughly 48 minutes real-time.
    • Playing Justice Defenders 5 doesn’t stop the game clock.
    • Pressing Triangle while driving activates the car horn.
    • If you hear, “imperials above us” or “magitek engine, it’s close” and you don’t want to fight, find a tree to hide under and they’ll leave after a short time.
    • The entrances to Steyliff Grove and Castlemark Tower are only open at night.
    • Paths. Look for paths. Almost everywhere you go will have at least a partial well-beaten path to follow.