Well yeah, consignment stores and thrift stores are inherently different business models. A thrift store owns the donated items they’re selling. A consignment store offers a storefront for items that people want to sell. Sort of like Facebook marketplace or eBay. The consignment skims off the top for operating costs and service fees, and then sends the rest of the money to the actual seller.

Say you have an item that you know is worth $250 on the market, but you don’t have an easy way of selling it yourself. You take it to a consignment store, and they add it to their shelf listed at $250. It sells. The consignment store takes $25 from the sale, and sends you the remaining $225. You made less than if you would have sold it yourself, but you were willing to pay $25 for the convenience and foot traffic of a storefront. Because again, you didn’t have the means to list it yourself, so you found a place that was willing to list it for you.

It’s a base64 encoded URL. You can usually recognize base64 by the two equals signs at the end. Just do a google search for a base64 decoder, and paste that text into it. You’ll get a usable link. (Technically you can decode them directly on your computer, but I don’t feel like walking you through the console commands for that…)

The base64 encoding is mostly to prevent bots from automatically issuing takedowns on piracy-related discussions. Because there’s the plausible deniability of “well we weren’t posting links.”

Careful with this. My buddy started collecting library cards. He had cards for all the neighboring towns, local universities, some out-of-state universities, etc… After he collected like 30 or 40, Libby banned him.

Personally I have three cards; My local public library, the public library from the largest city in the area, and the library from my hometown. Between those three, I can usually find anything I want.

There used to be issues with tracking ratios when using a VPN. And since many private trackers require users to maintain a specific ratio, it meant that many private trackers effectively banned VPNs. Because if you were using a VPN, you’d be stuck at a 0.00 ratio and quickly get banned.

At least one side needs an open port in able to connect. So if your ports are closed, you can only connect to seeds/peers who have an open port. Opening your port ensures you can connect to anyone.

UPnP is widely considered to be a significant security risk, just FYI. Because it allows any random device on your network to poke holes in your firewall whenever they want. You should go disable it on your router.

Plus UPnP doesn’t work in a lot of configurations. CGNAT, for instance, blocks UPnP.

The Switch is a little more involved, simply because it requires firmware and encryption keys from a switch. Sort of like the BIOS files that PSX emulators need, these files tell the emulator how to actually decrypt the game. Because Switch games are encrypted, so they can’t be played without extracting keys that are stored on a real Switch. There’s also the issue of game updates, DLC installation, etc… So it’s not as simple as just “download the ROM” anymore.

Sure, you’re 90% of the way there. But that’s not super helpful when everyone knows (and expects) that 90%. It’s the last 10% that trips up newcomers, and it’s what causes the most questions, (just like OP’s.)

Yeah, you can technically extract your own keys from your own Switch, and (at least with current laws and court precedents) that would be legal. But extracting the keys requires hacking your Switch, which either requires an early generation Switch (early Switch models have an unpatchable exploit that allows them to be hacked via the USB-C and MicroSD ports,) or installing a modchip in newer/current Switch models. And that’s probably more involved than you’d like to be.

There’s also the whole issue with Lockpick (the homebrew utility used to actually extract the keys from a hacked Switch and dump them onto the MicroSD card,) being taken down by Nintendo months ago. So even if you tried to get the keys in a more legit way, you’d still need to visit some sketchy sites just to get the Lockpick homebrew. This is also how you could acquire the firmware files in a legit way. You can just extract the files directly from your Switch.

But that’s a lot of extra effort (and a lot of potential for bricking your Switch when trying to install a modchip) when you can just download all the necessary files.

Technically speaking, sharing the shader cache is illegal. Just like sharing the game files is illegal. You can 100% still find complete shader caches online, and it’s just a matter of dropping them into the correct folder. But again, it’s technically illegal to do, so you’ll likely need to visit some sketchy sites with your adblocker enabled.

The shaders are akin to the uncompressed game files, which are ready to use. It’s not a perfect comparison, but that’s the short version. So the shader cache will likely be just as large as the actual game.

It could be a config issue. If you’re using OpenGL, it could also be caused by shaders, which can cause the game to stutter the first time they’re generated. Once it’s generated, it’s cached and able to be recalled quickly. But the first time it’s used, it takes a moment to generate, which can lead to stuttering.

Basically, due to shaders being generated and stored, the game will tend to get smoother as you play it more, and will likely be stutter-free (or at least, nearly stutter-free) by your second playthrough.

Depends on your hardware. For instance, the Steam Deck runs Yuzu beautifully.

Yup. Steam Deck is literally the Switch 2.0 at this point. Upscaled graphics, better frame rates, modding capability, etc…

PIA’s service is still decent and offers all the features that other VPNs do, but they got bought out by a company that has added spyware to programs in the past. So many users jumped ship when that buyout was finalized, because it’s hard to trust their application or their service when the owning company has a known history of intentionally infecting their users.

Yup. Debrid is a superleecher service. It doesn’t actually seed anything, so it contributes nothing back to the torrents. If everyone used debrid, there would be nothing to torrent as there would be no seeders.

Between The Internet Archive, Anna’s Archive, and AudiobookBay, I’ve never struggled to find books on public trackers.

Private trackers are a false sense of security. If you’re able to get an invite to a private tracker, you really think a multi-billion dollar industry won’t also be able to get one?

At most, private trackers offer more consistent content and more accurate seed/leech counts. But they absolutely won’t protect you from the lawsuits from media companies. If anything, being on a private tracker increases your chances of getting fucked in court, because enforced seed ratios means every single user is liable. Remember that leeching isn’t a crime, but seeding is. Because distribution is what the media companies care about, and that’s only accomplished through seeding. Just like how cops won’t typically be interested in busting a drug buyer, when they can bust the dealer instead.

Your nice shiny 12.0 ratio means you’re getting fucked hard when the dildo of consequences finally arrives. And the dildo of consequences rarely arrives with lube.

Honestly, with services like Jellyfin/Plex and the Sonarr suite, pirating has never been more convenient.

I add something to my Plex watchlist, and it automatically appears on my Plex server in 1080p or 4K (whichever format I prefer, with subtitles and metadata ready to go,) in like 20 minutes. And I can stream that to as many devices as I want. Hell, I can even give friends access to my server, and I can access theirs too. All through a single UI, with no regional restrictions or “sorry you can’t watch that without signing into your home wifi, because we want to make sure you’re in the same household” BS.

Streaming services were supposed to save us from the hassle of physical media, and be better than cable TV…

While I agree, there are entire communities built around retro consoles. But that also means legit copies of retro games can be difficult to come by.

No, the legit copy of the game allows you to play pirated copies of other games. It bypasses the piracy check in the console and allows you to swap discs to a pirated copy of whatever other game you want.

Okay boomer