robio said:

Truth be told, I just dropped some serious coin on a new mattress, and I believe it is the most expensive thing I have ever purchased that is not a house or a car. It was not the most fun purchase I've ever made, but if I stop feeling like I'm 80 years old in the morning it will be completely worth putting off getting a new console.

We had a weird adventure searching for a mattress a month ago. Went to a whole bunch of different big box furniture stores and mattress places. They pretty much all had the same inventory of serta memory foam (not interested), the same few brands of coiled mattresses, more being either really bad or really expensive, or both. We wanted plush, and that seemed to be non-existent on a budget, with only one or two at around $2k being passable.

As a last stop we went into this local furniture place that we didn't know if they even had mattresses. They had some weird off-brand we hadn't seen anywhere, yet for < $1000 including tax and delivery we found the best mattress under $3k we'd come across. Had to keep walking away and coming back to make sure we weren't deluding ourselves in an exhausted mattress-hunting haze.

So Stardew Valley is making its way to the Xbox One. It looks interesting and I was wondering what the opinions on this game are. I never played any Harvest Moon or other games of this nature.

https://johnryanbydesign.co.uk/understanding-beds/latex-mattresses-explained/

Here is your one stop shop for everything you need to know about latex mattresses. Latex is a natural milk taken from the rubber tree which when converted into a foam provides superior comfort and durability. The premier latex foam mattress material also commands a premium price. The marketing jargon that surrounds latex mattresses can also make it a very tricky area. We now hope to shine some light on the truth with this article on latex.

One key fact to bear in mind is the depth of Latex and construction method used. As Latex becomes more and more popular bed retailers are including it in their ranges, but not always for your advantage. Due to the high price tag adding a Latex component can allow retailers to increase their prices without necessarily increasing the benefits to you over other foams.

For example, a retailer may have a ‘latex’ bed in their catalogue. You may believe that this brings you the full benefits of latex. Upon further investigation, you find it is a 2cm top layer of completely Synthetic Latex, sitting on top of Memory Foam or a pocket spring unit. Our previous posts on memory foam have established that any layer of foams less than 5cm have no practical use as the accepted compression amount is 2cm on most mattresses.

This means that when the mattress compresses, which all foams will and this is natural, your latex 2cm layer would become completely unusable. Therefore, you would have been better buying a memory foam mattress or cheaper equivalent with 5cm or more of foam! Although the mattress contains a premium material the application of it completely removes the benefit. Though you’re still left paying the price tag for it. Confusing isn’t it?

Oeko-tex is a safety standard applied to the Latex manufacturing industry. Quality latex should always be Oeko-tex tested and certified. All our Latex is fully certified with the Oeko-tex standard. All of our latex products are routinely tested for harmful substances according to the Oeko-Tex Standard. Our products not only meet the requirements, but they were evaluated as class I, which is for baby articles. This is a worldwide standard.

Another example is where a manufacturer claims their bed is latex when in reality it only contains partial latex, especially in mattresses that have perimeter support, where cheaper foams are used around the edges to firm up the bed. So although it contains latex again it is not a consistent application of latex. Other sales tactics will claim latex filled toppers, again which are 2cm or use 100% synthetic latex rather than natural latex. Some even contain only latex byproduct materials, which could be shredded or mixed with other fibers! The one lesson here is not all latex is the same and you need to apply the same rules of depth, density, quality to your list of must-know questions!

Manufacturers may claim 100% latex, implying its 100% natural but this is false. The ‘100% latex’ label usually is 100% Synthetic so make sure you ask the right questions. Again the retailers version of ‘natural’ latex is usually 60% natural and 40% synthetic, at best! We have also found natural latex mattresses that are only 20% natural latex and 80% synthetic!!

All of our solid latex beds, however, are solid core latex, so the confusion can end here. We only offer 100% natural latex variety in our solid core latex mattresses. They can be turned rotated and flipped like a traditional mattress. We only recommend solid core as its consistent and so you know exactly what you’re getting for your money, no hidden surprises!

Latex Certification:  Our latex has been tested and passed under Oeko-Tex Standard 100 Class 1 which is classed as being suitable for babies and above, ie a really sensitive class of latex testing

Latex is incredibly versatile, pliable and resilient and is frequently found in medical gloves, contraceptives, high-quality paints, moulds and cushioning materials such as beds.

As we’ve already hinted there are many types and qualities of latex. Many tricks are used to stretch the latex claim, sorry for the pun, and to cash in on this market.

There is also chemically synthetic latex made from a chemical called SBR (styrene butadiene). Natural latex, however, has the edge as its a far more complex material with better breathability, durability, resilience and hypo-allergenic qualities that Synthetic Latex can’t fully match. Synthetic ‘SBR’ latex, however, has the edge on price as it is much cheaper than natural latex.  You need to be fully aware of what type of latex you are looking at when comparing products. Manufacturers will claim 100% latex but this can mean 100% Synthetic Latex, so you need to ensure you are comparing like for like!

When you unzip a latex mattress you will no doubt see lots of tiny holes or perforations. This is not because your manufacturer is ripping you off, but because these perforations are the only way the manufacturing process can get consistent heat flow through the latex when baking it.

These holes are caused by pins which allow the latex to be cured consistently, like baking a cake and making sure the middle isn’t all goopy inside. It also ended up having the natural benefit of increasing airflow hence making a latex mattress far cooler than memory foam or equivalent!

It is important to note that the perforations don’t necessarily go all the way through the latex, especially with our deep cores. This is no cause for concern as the perforations are there as part of the manufacturing process and not intended to always perforate the entire depth of the mattress. With a topper, ie a shallower depth of latex, you may see the perforations all the way through but with a deep core say 18cm they may only go partially through. Here is an example of the process with Talalay latex where rods are used which lead to perforations. In the manufacture of Dunlop latex, this would be a larger conveyor belt with rods that cure and bake the latex.

Some brands will brand a latex mattress as having perimeter support as a benefit. With quality natural latex, like the models we offer, you shouldn’t need perimeter support. All this means is that another type of material, usually a dense cheaper foam, is used around the edge, reducing the amount of latex and firming up the edges. A quality latex mattress should never need this.

As you can see there’s plenty to be on the look out for when buying a latex mattress. You need to ensure what the blend of latex is. Is is 100% synthetic or 100% natural? Chances are it’s a blend in between. Also, the density of the latex will dictate its tension which is important to note. Lastly don’t forget to check if it is solid core latex, the best construction method, if not you may be buying a mix of latex and cheaper foam.

-----------

I bought mine from a German site called Neonatura.de, it's all in German but the contact there speaks English and can do a Paypal invoice for you. I went with them because they are literally half the price of most 100% Natural Latex mattresses and no import duty if you live within the EU.

From my own experience I would say that you need at least a 20cm thick mattress. It's not as comfortable as Tempur but if you use a cotton mattress protector it doesn't roast you to death like memory foam. I have only used the Dunlop made ones, which are firmer and more durable but I would consider Talalay for a softer one in the future. But you could always get a Dunlop core one and then buy a Talalay topper.

Archangel3371 said:

So Stardew Valley is making its way to the Xbox One. It looks interesting and I was wondering what the opinions on this game are. I never played any Harvest Moon or other games of this nature.

I played it on PC earlier this year. Its basically what Harvest Moon would have turned into had it stayed a 16-bit game and never changed directions over the year. Stardew, as well as Harvest Moon, is all about time management. You have a limited about of time in the day so you have to decide what you're going to focus on. Are you going to spend more time working in the fields to grow crops? Socialize with people in the town? Scavage the mountains for wild berries for quick money? Its all about balancing that stuff out and learning what the right combination for you is in order to thrive.

As far as Stardew Valley it is a complete ripoff of Harvest Moon right down to a lot of the graphics. The only innovation of its own is an item combination system that is found in a lot of RPGs and Minecraft. Still, the developers of Harvest Moon (in Japan or America) don't make Harvest Moon games like this anymore so it's actually kind of nice to see it again. The one problem is that it does really feel like a fan project. There are a lot of questionable design choices in terms of layout of the town, and how the game is balanced. Some say it's way too easy to access everything in the game within the first years' timespan). It doesn't really have the feel of someone who knew what they were doing, and is more like someone who was copying someone else's ideas. Still, I think the guy who made it copied all the right things and did a pretty good job. While I'll say there are better Harvest Moon games, there aren't better recent ones, so it's worth looking into.

SupremeAC said:

Well YOU started it...

Also, I dispise radio programs where the whole program is basically just callers giving their opinions.  It's lazy, and uninteresting at best.

FF15 suffers Bloodborne-like frame-pacing issues on PS4even worse on PS4 Pro

That's strange... The last line of the article reads: "That said, the PS4 Pro’s Lite mode offers the most consistent performance in terms of frame times, and is currently the best way to play the game."

Also they have a video series at GameSpot where Mary Kish plays through the Resident Evil games with Mike Mahardy guides her. It's called Resident Kinevil and they are now on Resident Evil 3. They play through all the games in their entirety leading up to the release of RE7. Each episode is about an hour long and they generally put out one or two episodes a week. I find it a lot of fun to watch especially when something like the Nemesis jumps out and scares her.

I've listened through the new GU podcast, in a few sittings as per usual.  And as per usual a lot of fleeting remarks I had have already fled my memory, so here's the only one I remember:

MS and Sony moving to an ecosystem makes sense for them, as hardware is the part of the software-hardware equation they lose money in.  If they can cut R&D costs by releasing more incremental updates based on less-custom parts every 2-3 years, while locking their consumers into their back- and forward compatible ecosystem in one go, it's an all win situation for them.  For Nintendo on the other hand, things are different, as they do make money from their hardware, and their hardware is also differentiated more between generations, while Sony and MS work more on software-side innovation in online and peripheral functionality like streaming.

I'm also recalling Aspro comparing VR to those stereoscopic image viewers of old, where it's nice to have, but not inherently better than just looking at a 2D image.  Again, AR will prove to be the watershed moment, as that does allow for a big breakthrough as our virtual and physical worlds finally, at least visually, merge.

Going even further back in your podcast, I agree that the Switch is a continuation of the merits and mistakes of the WiiU.  I still think it's success will hinge largely on it's pricepoint.  If Nintendo manages to sell stand-alone versions without the dock for €159 within the first year after launch, they might stand a chance of garnering handheld-like sales.  If not, it won't be able to shake the shakles of continueing poor home console sales.