I've definitely felt this. I have applied to quite a few roles that I am highly qualified for and get the "we selected someone else" email and then see the role posted again a few weeks later. I wouldn't necessarily expect to get every job I apply for, but I would expect to get a screening interview for most of them.
I bought these and started DAO again a couple days ago. I had them on console before, but it was cheap enough to add to my Steam account. I loaded up a ton of mods this time. So far I'm having fun, but it crashes a lot, so I'm quick saving constantly. I'm not sure if the crashing is the game, my laptop, or the mods. I'm assuming its the mods and so far don't care enough to figure out which one(s). The good news is, I can go from desktop to loaded game in about 30 seconds, which is a nice change from modern games that take forever to load.
For those commenting on EA, if you buy on Steam you'll get a launcher, but you don't need the EA app to play (at least for DAO, I haven't gotten to the others yet). However, if you just don't want to give your $7 to EA (after Steam's cut), that's totally understandable.
Sugar Bee and Rockit apples!
One of my prior roles was moved from a proper office to an open office and one of the "selling" points was "you can work from anywhere in our cool new building!". So, I spent most of my day anywhere but my desk. I got my work done and half my time was spent in meetings either way, but if I didn't have somewhere to be, I'd be in the quietest spot I could find in the building (cafeteria mid-morning/afternoon, conference area when there were no meetings, outside, the lobby, etc.). I was regularly commended for adopting the new culture.
In games that don't have good auto-save (like Skyrim), I'll map one of the back buttons to quick save.
From A Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur’s Court by Mark Twain (1890):
But when I saw them put the noose around his neck, then everything let go in me and I made a spring to the rescue—and as I made it I shot one more glance abroad—by George! here they came, a-tilting!—five hundred mailed and belted knights on bicycles!
The grandest sight that ever was seen. Lord, how the plumes streamed, how the sun flamed and flashed from the endless procession of webby wheels!
I waved my right arm as Launcelot swept in—he recognized my rag —I tore away noose and bandage, and shouted:
“On your knees, every rascal of you, and salute the king! Who fails shall sup in hell to-night!”
Mine has integrated graphics plus a dedicated card that it will switch to for higher demand applications. I was not aware of USB to HDMI, I'll check that out. I don't game when docked, so I only need the integrated graphics for that purpose. If that resolves my issue for now, I can put off a new purchase until I feel spendy enough to buy one of those Framework laptops!
I think you might be right that FIRE, as a movement, has sort of crested that initial wave of public enthusiasm and is not the topic of conversation that it had been, but is still flowing quietly in the background for a large number of people.
I think what the Reddit sub had going was lots of new or curious people asking questions and people providing feedback. It seems like we only have a small group of people that are already on the path, so we don't have much to talk about. If the back to basics approach drew in new people, that might help to get things started here. But I've always tended to be more of a lurker, so I don't have many ideas about how to increase engagement.
I have one and it would probably work for my needs when docked, but I mainly use my laptop as a laptop. Its frustrating that such an inconsequential part (the HDMI port) is making me consider replacing an otherwise functioning laptop. Trying to get it repaired is probably the smarter option, its a shame laptops aren't more user repairable. It definitely makes the Framework laptop that people are recommending appealing if I decide I'm willing to spend some money.
Switch game prices are ridiculous! I think my (teenage) kids have 4 games for their Switch because nobody wants to pay those prices. I don't know how many 100s of dollars they've spent on Steam games over the years at $5-20 per game, but they're never willing to spend $40-60 and they won't even put Switch games on their wishlist at that price.
I regularly buy the free games on Epic. I don't know if I've played any of them, but I buy them frequently.
What addon is that? Its very frustrating using LinkedIn and having to click through so many pages of useless results, especially all the listings from other job boards.