Hello,
I have been recording with a microphone, with all of the hardware listed at the bottom, for years without a problem. Only recently, when arming a track to record, did I notice this problem: My microphone quality when coming through Ableton suddenly sounds horrible; with a very quality-compressed, glitchy sound and frequent audio dropouts. At first, I assumed it was a buffer size problem because I've experienced the buffer size being at the wrong level before. However, after researching through multiple articles and changing and trying the sample rate and buffer size at every option and combination imaginable, I have realized that CHANGING BUFFER SIZE AND SAMPLE RATE DO NOT CHANGE OR FIX THE ISSUE.
For some reason, the microphone and interface just sound absolutely terrible when inputting into Ableton. I have tested them both out on other programs on the mac; for instance I recorded audio on OBS (screen-record application), and the audio sounds perfectly fine on everything besides Ableton. I have attached a video comparison of how the audio sounds anywhere else (in this case, OBS), compared to how bad it's sounding thru Ableton.
I've Tried so Far:

• I have tried other interfaces (my friend's presonus) and the audio input quality problem still occurs, only on Ableton. THEREFORE IT IS NOT AN ISSUE WITH MY SCARLETT 2i2
  
• I have tested the same inputs with the Scarlett on my Ableton copy on a gaming Windows PC, and it works perfectly fine. This is only an issue with my Ableton copy on the Mac.
  
• I have changed out the XLR cable, which fixed nothing.
  
• I have moved my headphones from the interface to the mac itself, changed output to external headphones, and that fixed nothing as well.
  
• Downloaded Focusrite Control app and Updated Firmware; no difference.
  
• Like I said I've adjusted buffer size and sample rate every which way. And yes they match focusrite control app.
  
• Mac software update; no help.
  

I am at my wits end because all the sources I've read online just almost always say that the solution is "change your buffer size or sample rate" and that does not fix my problem.
Obviously I'm on a mac so it's just running through CoreAudio, and theres no ASIO drivers or anything that need to be updated. Recording and engineering is my livelihood and I do not know what else to do to fix this issue, please help.
My Hardware:
USB-C connected third-gen Scarlett 2i2. There is a OC-16 Microphone connected in input 1 with an XLR Cable. There are Kali speaker monitors connected, and a pair of Audio-Technica ATH-m50x Headphones in the headphone port.
The mac is a 2023 M2 Macbook Pro
Heres the example video https://imgur.com/a/d2U6yzj

(If you haven’t seen GEMSTIN PRODUCTION’S smiling critters fan animations yet please do. The first one is an alternate ending to the first animation so I re wrote the script and the audio from the video was so bad I couldn’t tell what were some of the things the characters have said, not even closed captions worked so I changed some dialogue. I’m also working on new ideas for more fanfiction which I promise will remain appropriate for even a ten year old to read, if you have ideas maybe share them if you want)
The original: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSvmMBjPkY0
The critters assembled at the soccer field and formed together three critter teams. Crafty, hoppy and picky were wearing red vests while Kickin, bubba and Bobby were wearing blue vests. Dogday was the ref keeping the scores and catnap was in the background watching with two different signs he made himself one that says go team and a second one that says go other team.
Dogday: alright everyone hope your ready to have some fun, because today we’re gonna play soccer
Kickin: hope your ready to lose hoppy
Hoppy: you first
Dogday: now guys remember this isn’t a competition just friends having fun. So with that being said let’s play, safely
Kickin: don’t worry guys just stick with me and follow my lead, this is going to be a breeze
Minutes to maybe an hour later go by and both the red and blue team are currently tied with four points
Kickin: out of breath Jesé better than I thought
Bubba: maybe they have a super special technique under their sleeve
Kickin looks over at the red team, crafty is redesigning her red vest, picky looks like she is zoning out thinking about food and then her stomach rumbles, and as for hoppy she is doing the cotton eye Joe dance with the ball next to her feet
Kickin: I don’t think I’m worried about that
Bubba: then we should have a plan or our own. Lucky for us I thought up about seventeen different ways we can win this. The first one being-
Kickin: plan shman when hoppy kicks the ball over to me I’m gonna take it from her and kick it into the the goal as hard as I can
Bobby: can you do that?
Kickin: of corse B.B. they don’t call me Kickin chicken for nothing
Bobby: oh well if that’s the case than make sure you put your heart into it
Bubba: the likelihood that you fail and we loose I promise I won’t say I told you so
Kickin: gee thanks
Hoppy: bouncing the ball with her foot hey Kickin you ready to loose or not?
Dogday: it’s just a game hoppy
Kickin: thinks in his head okay Kickin you got this when she kicks the ball in my direction I’m gonna stop it and start kicking it towards her goal easy
Kickin thinks he is gonna stop the ball by blocking it and smacking him in the chest. When hoppy kicks the ball Kickin jumps a bit to high and the ball flies right into his groin
Kickin: holds his hands between his legs OHHH MY CHICKEN NUGGETS
Dogday: what the heck?
Bobby: oh my goodness
Kickin: crying in pain
Bubba: what in the world?
Hoppy: covers her mouth in shock and stutters allot
Dogday: okay everyone stay calm I’m coming over to you Kickin
Crafty: oh my gosh
Bubba: what just happened?
Bobby: I’ll go get the book
Dogday: nobody panic okay try and sit up Kickin
Kickin: high pitch I wish I could say I plan that
Dogday: did anyone bring any bandaids?
Bubba: a bandaid?
Hoppy: but I didn’t kick it that hard did I?
Bobby: the rule book isn’t saying anything about injuries
Bubba: of corse not I’m the one who wrote it I didn’t think it was necessary
Picky: guys I’m hungry
Bubba: picky now is not a good time
Hoppy: oh no is it really that bad?
Bobby: continues to flip though pages. Come on rule book tell me what to do here
Hoppy: tears up a little Kickin, I’m so sorry I didn’t mean to hurt you, I just really wanted to win
Kickin: *still high pitch it’s okay hoppy I wanted to win to, it could be worst
Dogday: okay let’s carry him back home
Hoppy, Bubba, Bobby and crafty carry Kickin back to his house ad then a few moments later they all come back to the soccer field
Dogday: okay everyone with Kickin out and at home recovering from what happened we need a new player on the blue team or the red team to subtract a member if anyone still feels like playing
Everyone still feels like playing but then bubba points out the obvious
Bubba: we’ll dogday is keeping track of the scores so who are we gonna-
Everyone looks at catnap and catnap just looks left and right
Bobby: clears throat so catnap do you want to play soccer with us?
Catnap: looks at the signs he was holding earlier and nods agreeing
Dogday: excelllent here put on kickin’s vest and let’s play
The critters played be more game together and catnap helped the blue team win and cheered for him. Catnap was blushing a little embarrassed
(This is what I think occurred after the events of hog wild)
The Original: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGZoBmvom8s
After a crazy filled day of endurance strength, balance and Felixability crafter was sitting all by herself under the tree on the picnic blanket for about an hour while Kickin and hoppy were helping picky excercise. Finally Hoppy and Kickin returned back to the picnic site to rejoin crafty
Hoppy: hey crafty sorry for leaving you so suddenly we followed Bubba and picky and
Crafty: mixed with frustration and sadness Hoppy I really don’t want to hear it, I’ve been waiting all this time and all of you just left me
Hoppy: guilty I’m sorry crafty
Kickin: hey I’m still up for this picnic as long as if you are
Crafty: so you won’t leave?
Hoppy: no we won’t, in fact how about a game of frisbee?
Crafty: well uhhm
Kickin: we’ll let you throw
Crafty Hmm okay
Hoppy, Crafty, and Kickin start playing frisbee together meanwhile Picky and Bubba were hav8ng ice cream
Bubba: I think maybe tomorrow we take a slow casual walk around town. Slowly meaning no strain no pressure easy way to burn some calories. I’ll join you.
Picky: sounds good as long as hoppy doesn’t help me with my flexibility
Going back to the park Bobby and Dogday surprise everyone
Bobby: hi everyone
Crafty: B.B. dogday, but I thought you were sick
Dogday: I’m feeling allot better today and I took some medicine I didn’t even know I had, it was really nasty
Hoppy: so do you feel like playing frisbee
Dogday: this sounds like an opportunity to see if I’m in good condition
Bobby: by the way why was picky chasing after you two earlier?
Kickin: let’s just say we tried helping her with some things and we went overboard
Hoppy: yeah, now Bubba is treating her to ice cream right now
Dogday: will they be returning here at all?
Kickin: don’t know we will see I guess
Speak of the prototype (devil) Bubba and picky arrive and picky was still covered in bruises from Hoppy and Kickin’s workout routine
Picky: hey dogday your here
Dogday: picky my goodness
Bobby: your a mess what happened to you, Kickin Hoppy
Hoppy and Kickin explain their action on what happen and catnap was sitting in the tree branch looking down at the other critter with a small grin wagging his long purple tail

This is going to be the first of a number of posts on famous cases of paranormal phenomenon. Looking at the posts on this subreddit makes it easy to forget some of the real mysteries that have been documented over the decades. We’re going to start with one of my favorites, the Scole Experiment.
The Scole Experiment, conducted from 1993 to 1998 in the village of Scole, Norfolk, England, and is one of the most well-documented and controversial series of séances in the history of paranormal research. Named after its location, the experiment aimed to provide substantial evidence of life after death through physical mediumship (mediumship producing physical phenomenon).
The Scole Experiment was distinctive in its approach, combining traditional séance methods with modern (at the time) recording equipment. The sessions were typically held in a darkened cellar beneath the Foys' house, with participants sitting around a table. The primary goal was to establish communication with spirits and capture physical phenomena that could be rigorously tested and verified.
One of the first types of phenomena reported during the Scole Experiment was the appearance of lights. These lights, described as bright, darting, and often colorful, would move around the room, sometimes responding to requests from participants. The lights were said to exhibit intelligent behavior, changing direction, and interacting with objects and people in the room.
In addition to lights, the experiment also produced numerous instances of “apports,” which are objects that supposedly materialize from thin air. These objects included old coins, gemstones, and even a small crystal. One particularly remarkable instance involved the appearance of a newspaper from 1944, which was said to be in pristine condition despite its age:

Accordingly MK took the paper to the Print Industries Research Association, a world authority on paper and printing, who informed him in due course that their detailed examination of the typeface demonstrated that it had been printed by letterpress, a long-since obsolete technique. Furthermore, their chemical analysis of the paper on which the apport was printed revealed it to be Second World War newsprint, long since unavailable. In his further investigations MK ascertained that the apported version differed from the copy of the Daily Mail for April 1st 1944 kept in the British Library only in that it was an earlier edition of that day's print run.

The apports often seemed to have specific significance or connections to the participants or the spirits they were purportedly in contact with.
Audio phenomena were also a crucial part of the Scole Experiment. Voices were frequently heard, sometimes through direct voice communication where the sounds seemed to emanate from the air rather than from the mediums. These voices would converse with the participants, providing information and answering questions. Additionally, anomalous sounds such as music and unexplained knocking were often reported.
Photographic evidence also played a significant role in the Scole Experiment. The group used both traditional film cameras and infrared video cameras to capture images during the séances. Numerous photographs were developed that appeared to show faces, scenes, and symbolic images. Some of these images were obtained under conditions designed to eliminate the possibility of fraud, such as sealed film canisters that were only opened and developed in the presence of independent witnesses.
One of the most striking aspects of the Scole Experiment was the variety of spirit communication methods employed. These included automatic writing, where spirits were said to control the hand of a medium to produce written messages, and direct writing, where messages appeared on pieces of paper without any apparent physical cause. The group also reported instances of materialized hands that would touch and interact with the participants.
Throughout the duration of the experiment, the Scole Group maintained a detailed log of the sessions, meticulously documenting the phenomena and the conditions under which they occurred. Independent investigators from the SPR, including respected researchers Montague Keen, David Fontana, and Arthur Ellison, attended many of the sessions. These investigators reported witnessing the phenomena firsthand and concluded that the events could not be easily dismissed or explained by conventional means.
One particularly controversial piece of evidence involved the locking of sealed rolls of film in a box which were later developed and shown to contain images exposed across multiple frames, which would only be possible by removing the film from the roll entirely:

Walter describes how he bought a roll of film, put the unopened film in the locked security box, and held the box in his hands throughout the session, neither putting it on the table nor allowing anyone else to touch it. He then supervised the development procedure. Despite the film he purchased being unopened and in a locked box in Walter's hand for the whole session, there was writing along the length of the film in the form a German poem.

Modern-day researcher Brian Dunning asserts that the box was vulnerable to tampering:

One of the investigators, Alan Gauld, wrote critically of how he discovered this locked box could be quickly and easily opened in the dark, which allowed for easy substitution of film rolls. This box was provided by the mediums. Whenever any other sealed container was used, no images ever appeared on the film. Yet even while acknowledging these facts, the authors of the Scole Report still maintain that the film images are most likely evidence of the supernatural.

Source: https://skeptoid.com/episodes/4179
However, Dunning leaves out additional information which complicates matters:

Just over three years later he came from Germany to the Scole Study Day to give an eloquent and concise (under-five-minute) account of the exact design of the box (he is a leading engineer) and the exact way in which he had held it during the experiment: three fingers pressed against one side; his thumb against another; his index finger on the top face; his palm covering the lock; the base resting firmly on the table. Only the side facing away from him (the base excepted) was uncovered by any part of his hand, and this side was slotted into the box from above and could not be removed without first dismantling the box from the top.

Source: https://www.thescoleexperiment.com/rosalind-oliver-the-scole-experiments-an-overview.html
Despite the extensive documentation and the involvement of reputable researchers, the Scole Experiment has faced significant criticism and skepticism. Critics argue that the conditions of the séances, particularly the dark environment, were conducive to trickery and sleight of hand. They suggest that the phenomena could have been produced by the participants themselves, either intentionally or unconsciously, through techniques commonly used by stage magicians—although throughout the thorough investigations no one was ever able to prove any such trickery actually occurred.
This case can’t be summed up in a single documentary or debunking. I encourage anyone who is interested to read the full report and consider the great lengths that investigators went to in order to try and determine the true cause. Uptimately, the ambiguous nature of parapsychological phenomenon means that what one ultimately chooses to believe about the case is going to come down to a matter of faith, not facts.
https://www.thescoleexperiment.com
https://psi-encyclopedia.spr.ac.uk/articles/scole-circle
A full-length documentary: https://vimeo.com/573225843
Book: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1189806.The_Scole_Experiment

I have two devices playback_bt (Connects to BT chip) and aduplex_rtp (which delivers audio to a device/speaker over rtp). I can use aplay to play sound to them individually. I want to be able to write sound to the Loudspeaker device and it come out of both devices simultaneously. Below is my asound.conf. This must me done with just ALSA and preferably without using the multi plugin.
I've tried adding a device before the rtp and BT devices that combined audio from the Loopback, but I can't get it to work.
Here's a diagram,
https://preview.redd.it/te1sd0zn693d1.png?width=2989&format=png&auto=webp&s=bf30f6846285ab690706e185c6b5b467c6441594
I want to figure out what I need to do to make the red lines work.

defaults.pcm.rate_converter "samplerate" defaults.pcm.dmix.rate 8000 pcm.capture { type dsnoop ipc_key 1765 ipc_perm 0666 slave.pcm "hw:Loopback,0" slave.channels 1 slave.period_time 20000 slave.periods 2 slave.rate 8000 } pcm.playback { type dmix ipc_key 1766 ipc_perm 0666 slave.pcm "hw:Loopback,0" slave.channels 1 slave.period_time 20000 slave.periods 2 slave.rate 8000 } pcm.aduplex { type asym playback.pcm "dmix" capture.pcm "dsnoop" } pcm.capture_rtp { type dsnoop ipc_key 1131 ipc_perm 0666 slave.pcm "hw:Loopback,1" slave.channels 1 slave.period_time 20000 slave.periods 2 slave.rate 8000 } pcm.playback_rtp { type dmix ipc_key 1132 ipc_perm 0666 slave.pcm "hw:Loopback,1" slave.channels 1 slave.period_time 20000 slave.periods 2 slave.rate 8000 } pcm.aduplex { type asym capture.pcm "capture" playback.pcm "playback" } pcm.LoudspeakerPCM { type plug slave.pcm playback hint { show on description "Loudspeaker PCM" } } pcm.NotificationPCM { type plug slave.pcm playback hint { show on description "Notification PCM" } } pcm.Loudspeaker { type softvol slave.pcm LoudspeakerPCM control { name 'Loudspeaker Master Softvol Control' card 0 } } pcm.Notification { type softvol slave.pcm NotificationPCM control { name 'Notification Master Softvol Control' card 0 } } pcm.aduplex_rtp { type asym capture.pcm "capture_rtp" playback.pcm "playback_rtp" hint { description "Duplex RTP" } } pcm.aduplex_rtp_plug { type plug slave.pcm aduplex_rtp hint { description "RTP Capture/Playback with Volume Control" } } pcm.capture_rtp_vol { type softvol slave.pcm capture_rtp control { name 'RTP Capture Softvol Control' card 0 } } pcm.Microphone { type plug slave.pcm "dsnoop" hint { show on description "Microphone PCM" } } pcm.MicrophoneSoftVol { type softvol slave.pcm Microphone control { name 'Microphone Master Softvol Control' card 0 } } pcm.!default { type plug slave.pcm "aduplex" hint { description "Combined capture/inject" } } pcm.bt-sco { type hw card BluetoothPCM device 0 channels 1 format S16_LE } ctl.bt-sco { type hw card BluetoothPCM device 0 } pcm.playback_bt { type plug slave.pcm "bt-sco" route_policy default hint { description "Bluetooth Playback" } } pcm.mic_bt { type plug slave.pcm capture_bt hint { description "Bluetooth Microphone" } } pcm.bt_mic_vol { type softvol slave.pcm mic_bt control { name 'Bluetooth Microphone Master Softvol Control' card BluetoothPCM } } pcm.playback_bt_vol { type softvol slave.pcm pcm.playback_bt control { name 'Bluetooth Playback Master Softvol Control' card BluetoothPCM } } pcm.capture_bt { type dsnoop ipc_key 103 ipc_perm 0666 slave { pcm bt-sco } } 

I have two devices playback_bt (Connects to BT chip) and aduplex_rtp (which delivers audio to a device/speaker over rtp). I can use aplay to play sound to them individually. I want to be able to write sound to the Loudspeaker device and it come out of both devices simultaneously. Below is my asound.conf. This must me done with just ALSA and preferably without using the multi plugin.
I've tried adding a device before the rtp and BT devices that combined audio from the Loopback, but I can't get it to work.
Here's a diagram, I want to figure out what I need to do to make the red lines work.
https://preview.redd.it/6ios057b693d1.png?width=2989&format=png&auto=webp&s=363e22e6c699c84de15f463ab339bf749e018d9f

defaults.pcm.rate_converter "samplerate" defaults.pcm.dmix.rate 8000 pcm.capture { type dsnoop ipc_key 1765 ipc_perm 0666 slave.pcm "hw:Loopback,0" slave.channels 1 slave.period_time 20000 slave.periods 2 slave.rate 8000 } pcm.playback { type dmix ipc_key 1766 ipc_perm 0666 slave.pcm "hw:Loopback,0" slave.channels 1 slave.period_time 20000 slave.periods 2 slave.rate 8000 } pcm.aduplex { type asym playback.pcm "dmix" capture.pcm "dsnoop" } pcm.capture_rtp { type dsnoop ipc_key 1131 ipc_perm 0666 slave.pcm "hw:Loopback,1" slave.channels 1 slave.period_time 20000 slave.periods 2 slave.rate 8000 } pcm.playback_rtp { type dmix ipc_key 1132 ipc_perm 0666 slave.pcm "hw:Loopback,1" slave.channels 1 slave.period_time 20000 slave.periods 2 slave.rate 8000 } pcm.aduplex { type asym capture.pcm "capture" playback.pcm "playback" } pcm.LoudspeakerPCM { type plug slave.pcm playback hint { show on description "Loudspeaker PCM" } } pcm.NotificationPCM { type plug slave.pcm playback hint { show on description "Notification PCM" } } pcm.Loudspeaker { type softvol slave.pcm LoudspeakerPCM control { name 'Loudspeaker Master Softvol Control' card 0 } } pcm.Notification { type softvol slave.pcm NotificationPCM control { name 'Notification Master Softvol Control' card 0 } } pcm.aduplex_rtp { type asym capture.pcm "capture_rtp" playback.pcm "playback_rtp" hint { description "Duplex RTP" } } pcm.aduplex_rtp_plug { type plug slave.pcm aduplex_rtp hint { description "RTP Capture/Playback with Volume Control" } } pcm.capture_rtp_vol { type softvol slave.pcm capture_rtp control { name 'RTP Capture Softvol Control' card 0 } } pcm.Microphone { type plug slave.pcm "dsnoop" hint { show on description "Microphone PCM" } } pcm.MicrophoneSoftVol { type softvol slave.pcm Microphone control { name 'Microphone Master Softvol Control' card 0 } } pcm.!default { type plug slave.pcm "aduplex" hint { description "Combined capture/inject" } } pcm.bt-sco { type hw card BluetoothPCM device 0 channels 1 format S16_LE } ctl.bt-sco { type hw card BluetoothPCM device 0 } pcm.playback_bt { type plug slave.pcm "bt-sco" route_policy default hint { description "Bluetooth Playback" } } pcm.mic_bt { type plug slave.pcm capture_bt hint { description "Bluetooth Microphone" } } pcm.bt_mic_vol { type softvol slave.pcm mic_bt control { name 'Bluetooth Microphone Master Softvol Control' card BluetoothPCM } } pcm.playback_bt_vol { type softvol slave.pcm pcm.playback_bt control { name 'Bluetooth Playback Master Softvol Control' card BluetoothPCM } } pcm.capture_bt { type dsnoop ipc_key 103 ipc_perm 0666 slave { pcm bt-sco } } 

In January I got a Pixel Watch and have been happy using it paired with my phone. I've really was just using Fitbit paid tier and it's been good. Recently I've taken up jogging and would like to map my runs, and that's where things have gotten confusing. I will attempt to succinctly describe what I want to do, what I have, and some general questions below. Any advice is appreciated.
Objectives (from highest priority to least): Track my workouts, steps, heart rate, and sleeps via the watch. Be able to look at my watch when working out and see my heart rate, without touching the watch. Map my runs. Guided runs (not a huge deal) Free would be cool, but not a deal breaker
What I have: Pixel 6a Pixel Watch 1st Gen Sony Bluetooth earbuds Fitbit (paid) on phone and watch Google Fit on phone and watch Nike Run Club on phone and watch Fittofit (for syncing data)
Situations I've come across: Fitbit has been great on its own except for no mapped runs or guides runs. I start and stop exercises from the watch.
Nike Run Club, When starting it from my watch it said it would turn off other tracking apps. Seems like it would be a trickynine to keep synced. I was not seeing my heart rate displayed. When I ran it from my phone, it provided audio queues over the watch speaker instead of they my earbuds which I prefer.
Google Fit: I don't know how to leave the heart rate display on. When running it from the phone Fitbit tends to want to come up by default instead of Fit. I also prefer the Zone Minutes on Fitbit over Fit Minutes on Fit as a metric.
Questions: Does NRC apps in the phone and watch run independently of one another?
How to I achieve the above objectives?
I'm not committed to any of these apps and I suspect I only need two of the three at most. If this is rambling or unclear, I'd be happy to clarify. Thanks!

I noticed a loud screeching sound when I am holding an earpiece (Jabra Elite 3) in my hand. I've had it happen once while I was laying down in bed, but I jumped quickly and haven't been able to recreate it. It requires little pressure.
​
I tested both noise cancelling and ambient mode, and this seems to only happen with ambient mode. Noise occurs whether one or both earpieces are being used, but the noise only comes from the earpiece under pressure.
​
I tried uploading the video to this post and a post on my reddit account, but the audio is not there, so instead I uploaded 3 videos to youtube, which the links are provided.
Video 1 is to show the problem. It is important to note that nothing is being played, but it is connected to my iPhone SE.
Video 2 has me using an audio display so any viewers can see how loud it is, and not confuse/assume it is only loud because the camera is too close.
Video 3 is to show the transition between ambient mode to noise cancelling. The noise does not play when in noise cancelling mode.
​
Sorry for quality of the videos. Youtube dropped the quality, but I can re-upload or provide more videos if needed.

Welcome to my blog about screen printing, fashion, and entrepreneurship from the ground up. I worked for 18 months saving money to start my business. By that time, I was 21, had been in the industry for three years, and hadn't ever sold anything I could make. Now, ten years later, I'm facing the challenges many growing business owners face, which is how do I build a healthy business with the proper foundation to flourish?
Come with me on my journey through Metro-Atlanta, taking on projects within my community and beyond. This blog will feature audio, video, photo, and plain literature, depending on the available resources. Through whatever means, I hope to shed a light on an industry that has gained increasing attention since the '90s, the larger implications of what is sold and why it gets made, and seek to live off of art.
If you have any questions feel free to drop me a message. I'll try to reply as quickly as possible.

So I started my PC like normal and it's making a fairly faint sound that sounds like a train going over tracks. It's repeats about every 1.5s. I actually didn't notice at first but my PC shut down out of nowhere and when I rebooted I realized that was likely the cause. Additionally, after it shut off by itself, it wouldn't turn back on. I had to disconnect the power supply and reconnect it to get it to turn back on. I have an audio recording of it but this sub doesn't allow attachments. I've checked the front and back fans and the CPU fans and they're unobstructed. From what I can tell, it's coming from the bottom of the computer which is where the PSU is so I could be a PSU fan? But I have no idea how to test this as it is covered by the case. Is there any way to change PSU fan speeds to test? Is that the likely cause?

I just passed CYSA+ on my first attempt with a 769! I'm so amazed!
To give context about myself, I started my journey into cybersecurity from an international relations background and transitioned into IT/cybersecurity. I did the Google Cybersecurity Certificate, studied and passed CompTIA Security + with a 784. I found my first job as a sys admin, then transitioned into my company's internal SOC. I've been working as a SOC analyst for about 4 months now. I passed CYSA+ with a 769, but I still feel I have much to learn.
Some of the things that helped me to pass CYSA. 1. Tryhackme. I did the Begginer course and learned about ethical hacking and the SOC level 1 path. Having some red team knowledge and how to use Nmap really helped during the exam. 2. Setting up a virtual cybersecurity home lab. There are many YouTube videos that demonstrate how to do this. I set a Kali Linux VM, set up a Windows server 2019 with active directory, a Windows 10 box, and Ubuntu on a virtual NAT network on Virtual Box. I also set up vulnerability with OpenVAS on Kali Linux. 3. I watched Jason Dion's video course for CYSA+. It's long but worth it. I also did many of JD's practice tests. The best I scored was a 78% before taking the real thing. 4. I read/listened to the Sybex CompTIA CYSA+ Study Guide. I'd read the book at home, and I'd listen to the audio book version while driving to work and while walking outside. I also did hundreds of practice questions from the study guide version of the book. 5. Also learn Linux! I downloaded Linux Mint Cinnamon and ran it in a VM to play around with.
Overall, I'm happy to have come a long way into the cybersecurity field, and I look forward to learning more!

The fact that NFS ProStreet is getting some love to both old and new racing or NFS fans are surprising. They love the attention to detail of crashing cars to the announcers acknowledging the cars, the place they are helding the event at, and the cars you totaled with another 6 to 7 whole hours of audio clips coming from the 3 announcers; the atmosphere, the car list, maybe a negative view on the vinyl options and decals where you have to drag few minutes to see each option one-by-one unlike how they did in NFS 2015 to Unbound where you can see all decals and vinyls in grid view; The soundtrack, the opponent's cars, the bosses and their cars (despite some of them sucks when you unlocked it), the progression, etc..
I remember when I first played it back in PS2 and despite that I like Underground 1 and it was my first game in my whole life to finish a campaign, this game is what I love the most and it will be my forever best racing game ever because of what I've mentioned above.
But, I remember many of the players hated it back in 07, and they pretty much prefer the NFSMW. But to me, this game is great and I'm happy that the game gave more attention than ever before 10+ years later. To the point that Eden even created a mod for the game and both Eden, Kuru and other YouTube gamers say this game is great.
But what do you guys think?

Kinda new to the software and just been trying myself on some simple edits for some friends of mine. I like to put the drop of some music on a very specific single frame in the video. In the preview it sound fine but when I render it and watch the finished video the sound comes just the SLIGHTEST BIT delayed (or too fast... really hard to hear tbh). I have no idea why it happens but it would be really good if there was a way to fix this other than estimating myself how many milliseconds my audio is offset to my video in the final render

With the talk of simplification and homogenization that has happened over the years popping back up again before the new expac goes live, I figured I would see what the opinions of the community would be about giving the jobs some form of variety or customization. This is not about compiling suggestions for the game but rather just for some 'What if?' style discussion that we know for sure will never in any way be actually added to the game. How you interpret 'variety' is entirely up to you so feel free to go with whatever comes to mind immediately. Be they rotation changes, visual/audio effect changes, etc.
For me I suppose the 'variety' I crave would relate to our combat playstyles. Right now many jobs feel like the same thing just reskinned (compared to the others in the same role/category) and our rotation is just a muscle-memory dance on the keys that changes at the start of a new expac then never again until the next one. So I would imagine more freedom to customize your rotation to an extent. Not necessarily meaning the same way other games do it such as WoW talent trees or GW2 specializations, but just any sort of system that could accomplish the same effect of allowing two people with the same job to have slightly different playstyles or skill priorities that they could change again if they got bored. Something to allow more experimentation or changing things up while between expac launches to keep things fresh. Obviously, such a thing is an object of nightmare for the balance team and again will never happen but that is my 'what if?' that I would 100% support if it ever did become a possible change.
Share your thoughts and desires freely, nothing is too out there or too simple.

Can anyone provide more details about this audio? Particularly, I'd like to know what they are singing and how I can find more like it. Also, I'd like to mention that the audio comes from the anime series 'Demon Slayer' when the title card appears, but I feel like 've heard it before in other anime. Thank you!

Dr Russel Norman produced this excellent summary of Luxon's War on Nature, links included.
It can be challenging to keep up with this many environmental attacks, coming from different Ministers and in different stages of development. To make it clearer, I have tried to list all the anti-nature policies below, provide some background, and give an indication of their stage in the policy process.
When you list them all like this, it really is entirely fair to describe it as a ‘war on nature’.

1. Fast track approvals bill is a fast track to destruction

The premier vehicle for the government’s anti-environmental war on nature is the Fast Track Approvals Bill, currently before Parliament’s Environment Select Committee. This Bill has been well traversed elsewhere but it is worth noting here a few things.
Firstly, this bill gives three individual ministers with no particular knowledge or expertise the ability to green light pretty much any project they like with almost zero environmental constraints.
There are panels who will provide advice to Ministers on individual projects, however these panels are handpicked by the Ministers and the Ministers are free to ignore the panels’ recommendations. The Ministers have publicly and clearly voiced their disdain for environmental considerations.

No public input

Secondly, there is no opportunity for public input.
They can approve an industrial incinerator next door and you don’t even have the right to make a submission on it. It’s a pretty wild level of disregard for the general public, but of course those who have connections to the government will have plenty of chances to lobby ministers at fundraising dinners and suchlike.
This results in poor decision making. One of the things about public submissions is that information comes to the surface that was otherwise hidden. In the Pakiri sand mining case for instance it was revealed through public submissions that the sandmining company was not telling the truth about its actual sandmining practices and that its expert had overestimated the annual sand replacement by a factor of ten.
Under this regime, it isn’t what you know, or whether you have a good project, it’s who you know.

Court decisions overturned

Thirdly, this process can overturn court decisions in which projects have already been declined due to environmental impacts.
This is patently the case with the South Taranaki seabed mining proposal which was rejected by the Supreme Court. Independent judges who tested evidence submitted and cross examined in open court found that the applicant simply couldn’t demonstrate that their project wouldn’t cause immense harm.
But this is all replaced by closed panels giving advice to Ministers who will make decisions with zero public scrutiny. It’s banana republic stuff.

Blocking renewable energy projects

One of the impacts of this kind of Government-by-Ministerial-Fiat is that that rational and evidence based decision making is put to one side in favour of individual favours.
An example of this is the conflict between seabed mining and offshore wind in the south Taranaki Bight. A normal rational decision-making process could look at both, but in this case, it will come down to which companies can woo the three Ministers the best.

Corruption

Finally, this is a process which is wide open to corruption, as corporations pushing projects that cause environmental harm seek to be placed on the fast track list, with a virtual guarantee of approval.
Ministers could be corruptly influenced by bribes in cash or in kind, by jobs for their families, by jobs for themselves post-politics, or by campaign donations. Advisers who provide access to Ministers and determine which corporations get onto the list will be equally incentivised to act corruptly.
Already, some of the companies that Ministers have invited to apply for fast track are their donors. Mining company executives have had secret dinners with Ministers that were only revealed by accident and journalists asking questions. How many secret dinners will we never find out about?
Even the Ministry for the Environment analysis can be summarised as the bill:
‘could diminish local voices, violate Treaty of Waitangi commitments, significantly impact human and environmental health, open legal risks for the ministers involved, provide an unprecedented back door for prohibited projects, and erode the value of conservation land’
This single bill, if it proceeds and if businesses have the gall to use it, will cause widespread harm. It could include seabed mining, incinerators imposed on local communities, mining most everywhere including the conservation estate, marine farms everywhere, industrial irrigation driving water pollution, etc etc etc. It is a war on nature but it is also diminishing democracy and opening the door to corruption.

2. Dismantling freshwater protections

One of the truly remarkable things about Aotearoa is the scale of ground and surface water pollution and its impact on biodiversity and human health. This government’s war on nature is set to make it worse.

Things are pretty bad already

The Ministry for the Environment concluded that ‘Most of our indigenous freshwater fish and freshwater bird species… are either threatened with extinction or at risk of becoming threatened’. Intensive industrial dairy has poisoned the well across much of the South Island – Canterbury, Otago and Southland have poisoned rivers and groundwater.
Land and Water Aotearoa found that ‘There is not a single monitored lake shallower than 10 metres in very good condition.’ Environment Canterbury in 2024 found nitrate levels increasing in 60% of the wells it tested. Many parts of the North Island with intensive dairying such as the Waikato are also heavily polluted.
Under pressure from the environment movement and the majority of New Zealanders, the last government brought in a series of national regulations to place some constraints on agribusiness pollution, particularly the National Policy Statement on Freshwater Management. Agribusiness virulently and vociferously opposed these regulations.
The new government is setting about undoing these regulations with its war on nature.

Delaying regional freshwater plans

This began in December 2023 when Andrew Hoggard, the former head of agribusiness lobby group Federated Farmers and now Associate Agriculture Minister, announced that regional councils would be given a further three years to update their freshwater plans to make the plans consistent with the new national regulations introduced by the last government.
The purpose of the delay is to weaken or remove the national regulations before the regional councils develop their new regional freshwater plans which must be consistent with the national regulations.

Replacing the National Policy Statement

He also announced that they would start the process of systematically weakening the national regulations by replacing the National Policy Statement on Freshwater Management (NPSFM) with a weaker version.

Removing rules on intensive winter grazing

This was followed up in April 2024 with the announcement of an amendment to the RMA which will remove the rules controlling intensive winter grazing.
Intensive winter grazing is a widespread practice in Otago and Southland in which feed crops are grazed intensively through winter. This results in cows, often pregnant, living in mud sometimes up to their bellies with massive sediment flows into rivers and lakes. The sediment smothers freshwater ecosystems.

Ensuring Te Mana o Te Wai doesn’t apply to consents

Also included in this amendment to the RMA is a direction to regional councils that a national regulatory instrument called Te Mana o Te Wai must not be applied to the assessment of individual resource consent applications. Te Mana o Te Wai states that, when making decisions on the allocation of freshwater, the needs of ecosystems come first, the needs of human health second, and other uses such as irrigation third.
Te Mana o te Wai was the foundation for hearing panels rejecting applications to take water and cause more pollution in Hawkes Bay and Southland recently. Giant dairy polluter Fonterra and agribusiness lobby groups objected to this use of Te Mana o Te Wai and appealed the decisions.
The new Government aims to ensure that commercial users can get first consideration ahead of ecosystems or human health. This also means the lessons of the world’s biggest crypospridiosis outbreak in Havelock North are abandoned .

Freshwater Farm plans to be weakened or abolished

Alongside this Freshwater Farm Plans, which were a requirement for agribusiness managers to plan to reduce their water pollution, will be weakened if not abolished altogether.
As you can see it is an intensive and extensive attack on the rules protecting freshwater as part of the broader war on nature.

3. Removal of requirement to identify important areas of biodiversity

A large part of New Zealand’s remaining biodiversity is on private land with very little legal protection, which is leading to dramatic losses. This happens through wetland drainage, agricultural intensification, subdivisions etc.
Even as recently as 2009 Landcare Research reported that ‘Agricultural intensification over the past 10 years has led to the highest rate of native vegetation loss since European colonisation.’ Landcare Research was deeply unpopular with the government and agribusiness after making this finding.
In response to the widespread destruction of biodiversity on private land the National Policy Statement on Indigenous Biodiversity was introduced in 2023 after many years of discussion and consultation. The purpose is ‘to maintain indigenous biodiversity across Aotearoa New Zealand so that there is at least no overall loss in indigenous biodiversity’. A part of this national policy statement is a requirement for councils to identify ‘Significant Natural Areas’ in their area as a precursor to providing for their protection.
The idea of rules to protect biodiversity ran up against agribusiness, the key driver of the ‘highest rate of native vegetation loss since European colonisation’, and hence Federated Farmers deeply opposed these rules.
As part of the RMA amendment bill announced in April 2024, the Luxon Government plans to remove the requirement that councils identify ‘’Significant Natural Areas’’, and hence biodiversity on private land will not even be identified let alone protected so its destruction can continue unabated.

4. Transport – more motorways, fewer cycleways and less public transport

Land transport is New Zealand’s second biggest climate polluter after agribusiness and yet this government has embarked on a radical policy agenda to increase pollution. The war on nature can be illustrated just by listing some of the initiatives:

Cuts to public transport

They have cut funding to public transport, walking and cycling and increased funding to motorways as part of the draft Government Policy Statement on land transport. Auckland Council pointed out that entire suburbs would be left without access to public transport as a result of the cuts and that fares would increase.
Across the whole country this draft policy statement will lead to more transport pollution and fewer trips by public transport walking and cycling. It also centralises much of the decision making around transport by preventing Councils from building cycleways alongside roads funded by central government money.
As part of the draft policy statement they removed climate as a requirement for consideration in transport decision making.

Impact on young people

They have removed the subsidies for young people to use public transport at discounted rates, not only making the cost of living crisis harder for them and their families but pushing them towards car transport.
They are moving to increase speeds around schools which not only increases injuries it discourages families from sending their kids to school by bike or foot because they know that speeding cars are more dangerous.
This sits alongside the attacks on traffic calming measures such as raised pedestrian crossings, which the NZ Herald has been busy providing misinformation about. Many Councils are resisting the idiots in Wellington, thank goodness, and are lowering speed limits anyway.

Interisland ferry funding removal

They cut the funding for the interisland ferry terminals and cancelled the new ferries which have lower emissions. The ferries connect the train network as well as the roading network.
Kiwirail lost its Climate Bonds certification as a result and will repay the $350m it borrowed plus interest.
The cost to the Government of breaking the ship build contracts is thought to be in the hundreds of millions. It’s an expensive mistake which a future government will have to fix.

Ending subsidies for low-emissions vehicles

They ended the subsidies for low emissions vehicles resulting in a collapse in EV and small car sales and once again Ford Rangers at the top of the list (guzzling gas and killing pedestrians and cyclists).
While we can’t simply replace traffic jams of internal combustion engine cars with traffic jams of electric cars, nonetheless EVs are part of the low carbon solution.

Removing council’s transport plans

The Government has moved to end Wellington’s transport plan with its focus on public transport walking and cycling and move towards more cars. There remains uncertainty as to the future solution but clearly they want more cars.
They abolished the Auckland Regional Fuel tax of ten cents a litre which was used mostly to fund the building of the first stages of the Eastern Busway and new commuter rail carriages. The Eastern Busway has now been reduced in size, as the fourth phase is unfunded.
They cancelled the Auckland light rail project. This project was troubled, with the previous government heading down the most expensive track, but there are still better options than just cancelling it.
There’s even more but you get the sense of it. Their transport policy is plainly designed to increase climate pollution as part of their war on nature.

5. The war on dolphins, seals and marine life

The government’s war on nature is not only being fought on land. It extends to the oceans too.

Marine biodiversity

The majority of Aotearoa’s biodiversity is to be found in the oceans around us and the main driver of biodiversity destruction in the oceans is the fishing industry.
This is particularly the case for practices like bottom trawling, where heavy nets are dragged along the ocean floor destroying corals and sponges in order to catch fish near the bottom.
Over the last decade the environment movement and the majority of New Zealanders have been slowly pushing governments towards improving oversight of the fishing industry and restrictions on their most destructive practices. But the new government wants to go backwards…

South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organisation

There is an obscure inter-governmental organisation called the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organisation (SPRFMO) that is meant to regulate fisheries in the international waters of the South Pacific.
The other countries in this forum are trying to restrict bottom trawling because of the immense harm it causes. As the last country actively bottom trawling in the international waters of the South Pacific, New Zealand is opposing these constraints, but under the last government had agreed to some modest restrictions.
The new government has changed its position, opposing protection of vulnerable coral habitats from trawling, and does not support any kind of restrictions on bottom trawling.

Cameras on boats

After the various scandals led to a 2016 Ministerial Inquiry into the Ministry of Primary Industries’ regulation of the fishing industry, the Key Government agreed to implement cameras on boats to better monitor illegal behaviour such as fish dumping, dolphin killing etc.
These cameras were finally rolled out over the last few years to about 120 fishing vessels and have so far resulted in a dramatic increase in reporting of dolphin and bird killings and fish dumping.
But Shane Jones, Minister of Fishing and recipient of seafood industry campaign donations, doesn’t like them and wants to review them. Another option the government is canvassing is to hand them over to Fishserv, the fishing industry owned company that oversees the Quota Management System.
None of these are good options but where it ends is still unclear.

Increasing catch limits

In spite of the collapse of numerous fisheries, the Minister of Fisheries decided to increase catch limits.
The population of one of the species, the southern bluefin tuna, has collapsed 92% since the height of fishing madness in the 1960s. This follows the collapse of orange roughy fishery, hoki, scallops, crayfish etc etc.
And with regard to killing endangered New Zealand sea lions the new Government decided there would no longer be an upper limit on the number of sea lions that the fishing industry can drown in trawl nets.
This will no doubt be the tip of the iceberg as more change emerges from the Minister.

6. Increased climate pollution

Aside from the long list of policies above that will increase climate pollution (e.g. transport), the government has introduced other policies to increase emissions. The impacts from these policies mean the government’s war on nature will be felt internationally.

Restarting offshore oil and gas exploration

The global battle against fossil fuels has both a supply and demand side.
On the demand side are the battles around fossil fuel electricity generation and internal combustion engines vehicles.
But the supply side is also critical because, as the International Energy Agency found back in 2021, we can’t afford to bring more fossil fuel supply online if we are to avoid catastrophic warming. The head of the IEA said: “If governments are serious about the climate crisis, there can be no new investments in oil, gas and coal, from now – from this year.” We know that once oil companies spend vast amounts to find and develop new fossil fuel reserves they will continue to sell them into the global fossil fuel market.
Hence the decision by the New Zealand Government in 2018 to stop issuing new offshore oil and gas exploration permits was a critical step forward in the global fossil fuel battle. Other countries have now joined this movement and there is a growing group of governments and civil society groups supporting a Fossil Fuel Non Proliferation Treaty.
The announcement by the Luxon Government that it will restart the issuance of offshore oil and gas exploration permits is a global leap backwards. It’s another sign that their fighting a war on nature, not fossil fuels
The Government is looking to subsidise the industry by providing insurance against future policy changes. They are also looking to remove the requirement that oil companies provide a clean up bond to cover future clean up costs. These clean up bonds were introduced after Tamarind oil company went bankrupt leaving the taxpayer with a $300m bill to clean up after them.
The Government is falsely claiming that the recent electricity shortages are linked to the 2018 decision to stop issuing new permits for oil and gas exploration – an argument that is transparently false.

Changing the way methane warming is measured

The global livestock lobby has a policy agenda to change the way that the climate warming of methane is measured. This is to make it look like methane causes less warming than it really does.
They want to move away from the global standard accepted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, as standard called GWP100. They want the world to adopt a standard called GWP*. Under GWP* New Zealand’s methane is recategorised as not causing warming! Agribusiness likes GWP* because they won’t need to cut emissions!
The New Zealand agribusiness lobby groups are part of this project, and now they have the former head of Federated Farmers in Government, they have their chance to push it. The Government has established a panel to look into the measurement of the warming of methane emissions. I would be very surprised if the panel does not recommend the adoption of GWP*.
Both the Climate Commission and the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment have concluded that there is no basis to review the science around the measurement of the warming effect of methane.

More cash for magic bullets

The New Zealand Government has given hundreds of millions of dollars to look for magic bullets to reduce methane emissions from dairy cattle and other livestock. So far no magic bullets have been discovered but the new Government has thrown another $18m at this greenwashing.
The purpose of all this is to avoid having to cut emissions by doing things that actually work like reducing fertiliser use and stocking rates.

Zero Carbon Act – greenwashing law retained

It is noteworthy that a Government conducting a war on climate and biodiversity policy has kept the Zero Carbon Act (ZCA) in place. But there is a good reason for that – the ZCA was largely a greenwashing exercise as was revealed once it was tested in court.
When Lawyers for Climate Action went to court to try to use the ZCA to actually force emissions cuts on the government, the Climate Minister, James Shaw, went to court to argue that the Paris Agreement climate goals referenced in the ZCA were merely ‘aspirational’ and not binding on the New Zealand government.
This was in spite of Shaw saying publicly that the ZCA made the Paris target legally binding on the government. Shaw won the case and the climate lawyers lost. The new Government is very fond of the ZCA because it is just ‘aspirational’.

He Waka Eke Noa – its job is done

One final piece of the puzzle is pricing agribusiness emissions. This was delayed throughout the course of the last government by the He Waka Eke Noa process. This will now be either quietly euthanised or kept as another greenwashing figleaf, but we can be sure there will be no price on agricultural emissions – they will be subsidised by the rest of us

Update

We have now found out that the politician chairing the select committee considering the fast track bill, David MacLeod, has illegally failed to declare $180,000 in donations. Moreover, some of those donations come from a major shareholder in the seabed mining company TTR. TTR is planning to use the fast track legislation to circumvent the Supreme Court decision blocking its seabed mining plans. In fact one of the decision-making Ministers under the Fast Track law, Chris Bishop, wrote to TTR inviting them to apply to use the fast track. So a major shareholder of TTR gave campaign money to the National Party MP who chaired the select committee on the fast track bill while the National Party Minister invited TTR to apply for a fast track.

Bought a used 2023 from Hertz on Saturday so today was first day going to work in it.

1. Love the way it drives, and I'll get used to the bad rear mirror view by using the sides I suppose.
   
2. Overhead cam view is great for parking.
   
3. No split screen on infotainment screen is a weakness (I come from Android Auto via phone)
   
4. Not being able to get the Volvo app to work without going to a dealership is silly, I only got one key with the car.
   
5. On my way to work I used the Range Optimizer the last few miles. When leaving (having added 100 miles at a ChargePoint charger in spite of two morons both driving EVs blocking chargers, but not charging) the Range Optimizer was stuck and would not turn off. It was 90 degrees and sunny and the AC wouldn't come on because it still thought the Range Optimizer wanted it that way. Whatever made it stuck also made Spotify, Tune-In, the Radio and Bluetooth to my phone not work at all. Thankfully asking the Google Assistant how to reset the Infotainment unit did work.
   

6a. When connected to my phone (Pixel 8 Pro) the assistant is having a hard time knowing how to behave. If I tell it to "text wife" the normal female google assistant voice comes on and says sure what do you want the message to say. But if I say "send a text message to wife" a male voice in super low, barely audible volume responds instead. I haven't figured out when the male takes charge, but I can't hear him if I'm moving. It also doesn't always mute the audio when I am reciting a message so it picks up whatever I'm listening to in the messages.
6b. Also when connected to my phone (as it has to be in order to send text messages) when I ask the assistant any question; it begins to answer, but a few seconds in a popup in blue across the top of the main infotainment screen comes up saying something like "bluetooth voice recognition is now being handled by your phone" and it stops reciting the answer
Most of my gripes are probably Google's fault rather than Volvo's, but still annoying. Facebook messenger and Whatsapp would also be great to have.

I’m an experienced journalist but I come from the languorous world of magazines. Lately I’m on a breaking news beat and I’m still adapting to the pace. I know there are a lot of tangible tricks you learn in a newsroom, and I need them!
So, what are some concrete, practical techniques for getting stories done fast?
Let’s say there’s a scrum or press conference with new developments on an evolving story that has a number of complex elements.
How do you set yourself up to publish 400-600 words as quickly as possible? Does it all come down to taking notes so effectively that you don’t need to listen to the audio?

Initially, I entered college with Computer engineering as my major. But recently, I decided to double major in EE to expose myself to other general EE fields (unfortunately, it has to be a concentration in computer hardware for the overlap to be possible). Thus, I took several signal processing classes, such as analog signal processing and DSP. They were very mathematically intensive—designing Butterworth, Chebysev filters, and understanding DFTs are some examples—but in the real world, I presume it won't be as mathematically intensive. (I think?)
I took some classes where I can see DSP being applied, like Embedded Systems Design and VLSI, and I plan to take an FPGA class.
Though I am curious about anything related to DSP, image and audio processing are really fascinating to me. I have done a few small programming projects with Python OpenCV and did a decent amount of school work with MatLab, exploring some of those areas. I know a bit of C, but I read that it's one of the main languages people use in DSP (I'm not sure). Is there any notable software that solely is needed for DSP? Or is it just programming languages?
I am currently reading Red Cedar's Guide to DSP and The Scientist and Engineer's Guide to DSP to understand some of its applications.
I saw that some people recommend going through Alan V Oppenheim's Book it be necessary for me to go through that? At my school, we used Signal Processing and Linear Systems from B. P. Lathi
(It's probably not possible, but) I am currently interning at a fiber optic and electrical slip-ring company. Is there any recommendation on how I could implement DSP into this? Of course, for learning purposes.
When it comes to looking for jobs, I saw that many people just end up in some software engineering job that has applications of DSP within it. I am thinking of more electrical engineering (like hardware or firmware or embedded systems). Do you have any idea which companies or what titles I should be looking out for? Or do you believe it would be better for me to pursue a master's degree in DSP to determine my interest?
Do you have any recommendations for books I should read or websites I should refer to for job interviews in signal processing? I am still figuring out what to expect. I feel like they could be programming or basic concepts intensive.
TLDR: I am curious about the options I can explore in DSP, but I need to figure out where to start and what to expect. I understand the mathematical insight but not the bigger picture. I am a little confused about the job search process for this field.

Hi, I am sorry to be one of those people that comes asking for help but I am getting desperate. I am wanting to stream and record my gameplay so I bought the Elgato HD 60X w/ chat link pro, and the Wave:3 mic. The major issues I was having was that OBS could not detect the game audio at all (it was detecting my voice on the mic just fine.) I found out today that if I unplugged the chat link pro from the console that it would then start detecting the game audio perfectly. This baffles me. I have tried different steps to no avail - I changed the audio to analog on the capture card settings. I added the capture card as a separate audio device. The results remain the same: perfect audio capture without the chat link pro and none while using it. A few notes: I can hear the game audio just fine through my headphones but no detection in OBS. Furthermore, I noticed that after changing the settings to analog that OBS seemed to only very faintly be picking up the game audio (still without the chat link pro mind you) unlike before when it was doing it great w/o the chat link pro. Once again, I am baffled. I do not consider myself to be super tech savvy but I don't think I'm completely ignorant either. I admit this is new territory for me but after all the troubleshooting and such I feel like this issue should be resolved, but alas I know not what is going on.
Some more info: what I'm trying to do is record/stream my gameplay and my commentary (with video) using the capture card, mic, and cam. Pretty simple, right? I have two screens: my tv mounted to the wall that I use for the actual gameplay and a large monitor that I have connected to the computer to work through OBS and the stream. Thus far, the only console I have attempted to test out is the Switch. I have a PS5 I plan to use too but I figured they'd be about the same in setting up (I hope so anyway) and am trying to work out the kinks with the switch first. I also plan to use my computer to stream as well which will be a whole separate ballgame but as of now I am completely unsure how that would work since I'm unsure how to both have the game application running and OBS and be able to keep an eye on them at the same time... if anyone wants to chime in there too I would not be upset. My understanding is that I would need to use two separate HDMI ports on my two screens and somehow only add one as a video source (the one I'm playing the game on) but that's just a guess - I have no actual experience and haven't started troubleshooting that just yet... but anyway
So with all of that info can anyone help me out? I've got a long ways to go and getting this audio issue fixed would be a huge win for me, and I really need a win. I do apologize for the long-winded post and the deterring into other territories. I appreciate any and all help that I can get.