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  • in gaming
  • 3 min read

My Own Steam Machine

My Own Steam Machine running on my 75" TV

Valve announced the Steam Machine earlier this month, a sqaure console-like PC that’s meant to hook up to your TV to play all your games in your Steam Library. My gaming PC is a loaner from my best friend, whose hand me downs were still better than what I had at the time. He’s upgraded again, and I have his latest hand me down. So my youngest gets his gaming PC upgraded with my old PC and now I have his old PC as an extra PC. Still with me?

So I decided to make my own Steam Machine and hook it up to my home theater with this older, extra computer. SteamOS is Arch Linux based and is really meant for Valve’s hardware, not for everyday PC use.

But Bazzite is. Bazzite was co-create by Jorge Castro, whom I met many years ago at a conference and still follow on Mastodon. It’s been fun watching him build a Linux distro and the community around it.

Bazzite is a spinoff of Project Bluefin a next generation Linux desktop based on cloud native principles, with tools to run everything as a container. Both Bazzite and Project Bluefin are spins of Fedora, which just happens to be my favorite Linux distro. But it’s actually an atomic desktop. Atomic desktops remove a lot of the friction and pain of the Linux desktop you may think you know, and Bazzite and Bluefin take that to the next level. They utilize Homebrew and Flatpack for installing command line and graphical apps respectively - no more dealing with your distro’s package manager. (I'm over simplifying and I won't pretend I understand all of it myself, but I've been using Linux for over 20 years, and this is the best experience yet).

Bazzite is meant to run on handhelds, desktops or laptops, and home theater PCs.

But you don’t care how it works under the hood - you want to know does it work?

To install Bazzite, you must answer three questions:

  • What version of Bazzite? (Handheld, PC, or Home Theater PC)
  • What GPU? (AMD, Nvidia, etc.)
  • GNOME or KDE (GNOME is always the correct choice)

This older gaming PC is running an AMD 5700XT and after successfully installing Bazzite, SteamOS would error out with an obscure error about user namespaces needing to be enabled and would drop me to the GNOME desktop (which I forgot how much I’ve missed). It looks like this is related to having two SSDs in the box. So I did what you should never do and typed in a command I found on the internet and it worked! On my next reboot, I was presented with Steam running in Big Picture Mode.

When I was first researching doing this, Steam has a page that shows you which of your games should work in SteamOS. I thought I had about 20 games that were compatible as I missed the “Show More” button on that page. So imagine my surprise when I booted up Bazzite and saw that I had 127 out of 177 games available to be installed on SteamOS. A lot of these are indie platformers I used to buy on Humble Bundles, but I’ve got some good platformers in there to play like Hollow Knight, Braid, and more.

Kudos to the Bazzite developers - it was a breeze to install and even easier to use, all with a Bluetooth Xbox controller.

Next up is to carve out some time to play the games and see how performance is. And, of course, how comfortable it is playing from the couch.

  • in podcast
  • 3 min read

The Zoom Podtrak P4Next

Zoom Podtrak P4Next

This falls into the category of a want, definitely not a need, but I picked up a new audio interface for podcasting. I've been using a MOTU M2 audio interface since I started podcasting a few years ago. It features two MIDI inputs that also work as an XLR input, which higher quality microphones that aren't USB use. I've been keeping an eye out for a new audio interface as I've been slightly disappointed with the gain level of the MOTU M2 - when recording, I would often have to apologize for the low volume.

I had been keeping an eye out on Rode interfaces, but there was no way I'm paying that much for a hobby. Then I saw someone on Reddit share the Zoom Podtrak P4Next as it was up for pre-order. After some research, I decided to give it a try, especially as it was only $179 and I think I can re-sell my MOTU M2 for about $150, less eBay fees, so it's not a super expensive upgrade.

The Zoom Podtrak P4Next features four XLR inputs, four USB inputs, and four headphone outputs. Additionally, it includes a built-in preamp and phantom power, so it's compatible with both dynamic and condenser microphones. What really got me interested was that it has a built in EQ and compressor, as well as a new "AI" feature to help remove background noise. Last, but not least, it features a microSD card and can be powered off batteries for recording on the go without a computer. This will be perfect for my unrealized dream of someday recording an episode of The Bootloader in person with Todbot - I even have a second XLR microphone to use!

Zoom's site still shows an expected date of December 5th before it's available. I pre-ordered mine from B&H Photo, which says coming soon, and I was shocked when it showed up on November 6th. I'm guessing I'm one of the first people to have one and I hope there wasn't an embargo to get B&H in trouble!

Of course I haven't been recording many podcast episodes since I got it, but I did use it for some of my intros and outros for some upcoming episodes and next week's recording of The Bootloader will use it as well. My early opinion - to my untrained ears, my voice sounds slightly warmer. I have a lot more testing to do, especially with the AI noise reduction feature.

Overall I like it - it's slightly smaller than a current gen Mac Mini and feels well constructed. The menu system is intuitive and it includes some nice accessibility features. It has better gain as well, as I noticed I barely had to adjust my volume in my DAW after recording. I'm looking forward to playing with it some more.

  • in podcast
  • 1 min read

I've re-opened the podcast sponsorship page on GitHub and PayPal. The Sponsors page includes a list of current and past sponsors and the cost breakdown for running the podcast.

If you're curious, it costs about $400 / year for the podcast. From the Sponsors page:

Cost breakdowns - annual fees

  • Podcast hosting (Castopod.com): $120 / year
  • Video recording (Boomcaster.com): $240 / year (Referral link)
  • Calendar and scheduling for guests (Fantastical): $60 / year

Miscellaneous costs (one-time):

  • Reaper digital audio workstation: $60
  • Hush audio app: $90

Thanks for your support - and stay positive!

  • in movies, tv
  • 2 min read

What I'm Watching - Q3 2025

Continuing on my journey to catalog everything I'm watching, here's what I watched in the third quarter of 2025. Highlights included the first six James Bond movies on 4K UHD, Tron and its sequel Tron: Legacy in 4K UHD, and some great movies on Netflix including some Alfred Hitchcock films I had never seen, and on The Criterion Channel, 90s movies featuring great soundtracks including Pump Up The Volume (1990) and Grosse Point Blank (1997). I was disappointed in Materialists and 28 Years Later.

Legend:

  • The Criterion Channel = *

  • 4K UHD = +

  • AppleTV+ = ^

  • Netflix = ~

July

  • Wild Things (1998)*
  • The Bear S4
  • Your Friends and Neighbors S1^
  • Heads of State (2025)
  • Thunderbolts* (2025)
  • Murderbot S1^
  • Ironheart
  • Georgie and Mandy’s First Marriage S1
  • Duster
  • The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)~
  • The Old Guard (2020)~
  • The Old Guard 2 (2025)~
  • Goldfinger (1964)+
  • Psycho (1960)~
  • Miami Vice (2006)*
  • Poker Face S2
  • The Long Goodbye (1973)*
  • Out of Sight (1998)*
  • Rear Window (1954)~
  • Copycat (1995)*~
  • Insomnia (2002)*
  • The Birds (1963)~
  • Black Doves S1~

August

  • Thunderball (1965)+
  • Freaky Tales (2025)
  • Pump Up the Volume (1990)*
  • Platonic S1^
  • Red-eye (2005)
  • You Only Live Twice (1967)+
  • Gross Pointe Blank (1997)*
  • Superman (2025)
  • Peacemaker S1
  • Diamonds are Forever (1971)+
  • Rick and Morty S8
  • Fringe S4
  • Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part 1 (2023)+
  • Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning (2025)
  • Materialists (2025)
  • The Graduate (1967)*
  • Inglourious Basterds (2009)
  • The Long Kiss Goodnight (1995)+

September

  • Nobody (2021)
  • Nobody 2 (2025)
  • Ballerina (2025)+
  • Weapons (2025)
  • Fringe S5
  • 28 Years Later (2025)~
  • Tron (1982)+
  • Tron: Legacy (2010)+
  • Star Trek: Strange New Worlds S3
  • Alien: Earth S1
  • The Naked Gun (2025)
  • Miami Blues (1990)*

Updating SongMatrix

One of my favorite CircuitPython projects I've done is SongMatrix. Using a microphone on a Raspberry Pi, it records the song playing in the background, uploads a sample to shazamio, uploads the song and artist to AdafruitIO via MQTT, and an S3 MatrixPortal listens for the MQTT update and displays it on an LED matrix.

I don't run it all the time, but I do like to use it when I'm listening to a new album to learn the song names. I know a lot of music and can sometimes tell you the name of the artist or the album within seconds of a song starting, but not so much the song title.

I'm using a 2.5mm pitch LED Matrix and I have not found a lot of 3D printed cases for either one or two LED matrices. That is, until a few months ago when I came across the Transit Tracker project from EastsideUrbanism.

It uses two LED matrices in a beautiful 3D printed cases that hold both of them and the S3 MatrixPortal and screws together. I printed it out months ago but couldn't get SongMatrix to work with 2 matrices.

In theory, I should be able to update the MatrixPortal library by changing: matrix = Matrix(width=64, height=32, bit_depth=3) to matrix = Matrix(width=128, height=32, bit_depth=3) But no joy. I started over with some simple test programs, and I could get a 128x32 matrix to work without a problem, but as soon as I tried in my original program it did not work.

Next I tried to replace the MatrixPortal library by using the pins directly. Success! But now it doesn't scroll across the matrix, it's just a static display. It turns out that using ScrollingLabel only scrolls when the character count is larger than the max_character when setting the text:

title_scroll = ScrollingLabel(
    terminalio.FONT,
    text=song_title_scroll,
    max_characters=20,
    color=0xff0000,
    animate_time=0.3
)

To get it scrolling, I just did a len on the string returned from AdafruitIO and added a string of spaces to get over the 20 character limit to scroll it.

But the weirdest part? The original program scrolled the text with less than 10 characters. I tried to recreate it with a basic ScrollingLabel example, and of course I couldn't get it to work. Don't believe me? You can see the original scrolling the band Metric which shouldn't be scrolling on the project's GitHub page.

What I'm Watching - Q2 2025

Continuing on my journey to catalog everything I'm watching, here's what I watched in the second quarter of 2025. Highlights included kicking off April getting ready for Andor S2 by re-watching the Star Wars Prequels, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Andor S1. I celebrated the life of Gene Hackman with Night Moves, The Royal Tenenbaums, and Runaway Jury. Other movies I enjoyed included The Long Good Friday, Tombstone, and starting to watch the classic Sean Connery Bond films on 4K UHD.

Legend:

  • The Criterion Channel = *
  • 4K UHD = +
  • AppleTV+ = ^
  • Netflix = ~

April

  • Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace (1999)+
  • Star Wars Episode 2: Attack of the Clones (2002)+
  • Star Wars Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith (2005)+
  • White Lotus S3
  • The Cleaner (2024)
  • Obi-Wan Kenobi+
  • Vanilla Sky (2001)*
  • Fringe S2
  • Mickey 17 (2025)
  • Andor S1+
  • Sneakers (1992)+
  • SportsNight S1

May

  • A Working Man (2025)
  • Showgirls (1995)*
  • Tombstone (1993)+
  • Strange Days (1995)*
  • The Long Good Friday (1980)*
  • Shutter Island (2010)*
  • Rosemary’s Baby (1968)*
  • The Insider (1999)*
  • Blue Steel (1990)*+
  • Andor S2
  • Rogue One (2016)+
  • Fountain of Youth (2025)^
  • The Handmaid’s Tale S6
  • Shampoo (1975)*

June

  • The Righteous Gemstones S4
  • Fringe S3
  • Sinners (2025)
  • The Taking of Pelham 123 (1974)*
  • The Accountant 2 (2025)
  • Coogan’s Bluff (1968)*
  • L.A. Confidential (1997)*
  • Night Moves (1975)*
  • Runaway Jury (2003)~
  • Predator: Killer of Killers (2025)
  • The Last of Us S2
  • Dr. No (1962)+
  • Heathers (1988)*
  • Havoc (2025)~
  • The Studio S1^
  • The Fog (1980)*
  • Sports Night S2
  • Lethal Weapon (1987)+
  • Deep Cover (2025)
  • From Russia With Love (1963)+
  • Shrinking S2^
  • The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)
  • Paper Moon (1973)*
  • in movies, tv
  • 2 min read

What I'm Watching - Q1 2025

Each year, the director Steven Soderbergh releases a list of all the movies and TV shows he's watching. It's a fascinating look at what he's interested in and can give a clue to future projects. I've also wanted to do something similar, and this year I'm finally keeping track of everything I'm watching. Mr. Soderbergh's list is a daily breakdown - I'm not going into that much detail, but with the exception of sports, I kept track of all the movies and TV shows I watched.

This past February was my birthday, and I treated myself to a subscription to The Criterion Channel. Criterion started as a home video company in 1984 that focuses on licensing, restoring and distributing "important classic and contemporary films". In 2019, Criterion launched a streaming service that offers a curated selection of Criterion's catalog. For only $99 a year, you get access to classic movies from the last one hundred years of cinema, including some modern classics, such as Minority Report or Down With Love. I'm really enjoying streaming the classics and broadening my knowledge of cinema history.

Even with the two podcasts and my electronics hobby, I watch a lot of TV and movies. TV Shows listed are the month I finished watching the season. Movies are in bold. This list includes physical releases, streaming, and re-watches.

January

  • Interstellar (2015)
  • The Thing (1982)
  • Se7en (1995)
  • The Day of the Jackal S1
  • Red One (2024)
  • Star Wars Skeleton Crew
  • Brilliant Minds
  • Marvel’s What If… S2
  • Better Off Dead (1985)
  • Dune: Prophecy S1
  • Juror #2 (2024)
  • Star Trek: Section 31 (2025)
  • Kill Bill Volume 1 (2003)
  • Kill Bill Volume 2 (2204)
  • The Substance (2024)
  • The Departed (2006)
  • Gattaca (1997)

February

  • To Die For (1995)
  • Moonstruck (1987)
  • Vertigo (1958)
  • Down With Love (2003)
  • Batman Begins (2005)
  • The Dark Knight (2008)
  • The Dark Knight Rises (2012)
  • The Gorge (2025)
  • Constantine (2005)
  • North by Northwest (1959)
  • Minority Report (2002)
  • Companion (2024)
  • The Last Starfighter (1984)
  • Conclave (2024)
  • Severance S1
  • High Potential S1
  • Crossing Delancey (1988)
  • Crimson Tide (1995)

March

  • Love Hurts (2025)
  • Demolition Man (1993)
  • Anora (2024)
  • Thief (1981)
  • Landman S1
  • It Could Happen to You (1996)
  • Manhunter (1986)
  • Glory (1989)
  • Heat (1995)
  • A Scanner Darkly (2006)
  • Severance S2
  • Welcome Home, Roxy Carmichael (1990)
  • The Killers (1964)
  • Once Upon a Time in the West (1969)
  • Mythic Quest S4
  • Reacher S4
  • Red River (1948)
  • Adolescents
  • An Affair to Remember (1957)
  • The Princess Bride (1987)
  • Ghost (1990)
  • A Face in the Crowd (1957)
  • in music
  • 1 min read

Favorite Albums of 2024

Like last year and the year before, here’s the list in no particular order:

  • The Staves - All Now: The trio of sisters returned as a duo on their latest album. The melodies are still sweet and the songs are catchy.
  • Japandroids - Fate & Alcohol: The duo return and it's exactly what you expect: loud and fast. It's their fourth and final album and I will miss them deeply.
  • Passage du Desir - Johnny Blue Skies: Sturgill Simpson returns under a new name and his fusion of rock, country, and bluegrass does not disappoint.
  • Waxahatchee - Tigers Blood: This alt-country gem is on a lot of end of year lists for good reason.

Favorite Find: Blade Runner soundtrack by Vangelis. I was floored when I received the weekly email newsletter from my local record store with this album in the restocks section. I had a different version in my wantlist on Discogs for years, and somehow missed this version, which seems to be fairly common. I rushed to Down in the Valley and picked it up right away.

  • in podcast
  • 1 min read

The Return of The CircuitPython Show

When I blogged earlier this year that The CircuitPython Show was over, I really thought it was over. But with the talk of #CircuitPython2025 kicking off, I started to give the podcast some thought again. And while I thought I had talked to most of the community members I wanted to talk to, there were still a few I hadn't reached out to yet.

But where it really intrigued me, was what if it wasn't just an interview show and I sprinkled topic based episodes in as well? I quickly brainstormed half a dozen ideas and realized there was more to do yet. I reached out to a number of potential guests and the reponse was overwhelmingly positive.

I'm excited to share that The CircuitPython Show will return in mid-January. It will still feature interviews with community members as well as topics including: how to design a PCB, building CircuitPython from source, creating games for CircuitPython, a panel interview about CircuitPython's new audio effects and filters, and more, with guests both new and returning.

Follow the show on Mastodon or Bluesky and find the show wherever you get your podcasts or visit The CircuitPython Show.