The Summer of Chrome

 

AI-generated art by Disco Diffusion

This has been a brutal summer.  By June, 2022 had already achieved the dubious distinction of the sixth warmest year on record.  At the time climatologists considered it unlikely that we would replace 2021 as the fifth warmest...but that was before the record heat of July hit.  Whether you lived in England or America, Lisbon or Rome, you baked in July.  Even a cursory glance at the news will show a record of droughts, wildfires, and sweltering cities around the globe last month.  And August, at least in my part of the world, has been no kinder.  As I write this, my area is suffering through yet another heatwave, and rain has been virtually non-existent (a moderate drought has been declared).  

Have I before mentioned how much I hate the summer?

Even before climate changed aggravated conditions, I was never one for the heat and humidity of summer.  I am a proud indoor person.  Give me the cool, rainy days of autumn; those wonderfully low-hung gray cloud days that encourage you to forget the bug-ridden, humidly-soaked, sun-baked, and annoyingly noisy (if it's not fireworks, its the racket that comes from gearheads on motorbikes or landscapers with leaf blowers!) world of summer and curl up with a good book, or your favorite electronic device, and enjoy the indoor fruits of a civilized, high tech world of comfort.  The New Yorker gets it:

You know what's ironic? I hate summer yet I am more of an authentic summer person than the people who claim to love summer.  Why?  I don't like A/C.  Even during scorchers like this year, I survive with open windows, lots of fans, and a swimming pool.  In other words. I feel every moment of summer.  The irony is found in the lifestyles of those fragile "summer flowers" who, based on my experience, often live in air conditioning, work in air conditioning, and drive in air conditioning.  Most summer enthusiasts seem only to enjoy summer in manageable increments that they choose when convenient (e.g., on the weekends; while dining outdoors; at the beach).  I had to laugh earlier today when the local news team was heard bemoaning this most recent heatwave, this after asking "how long until summer arrives?" just about every day since December 21.  Guess what? THIS IS WHAT YOU WERE ASKING FOR! I have discovered that these fleurs d'été wilt quickly in the heat just like their garden counterparts. 

Sorry. I sometimes get heated about the charlatans of summer. They want it, but I suffer through it.  

So, what does this have to do with Google's Chrome?  

Last October, I upgraded my nine-year old PC to a CyberPower powerhouse.  The good thing about that is that it's a powerhouse (as previously indicated 😁).  The bad thing is that all that horsepower produces heat. Lots of it.  So much so, that even when my PC is idling, I can feel a cloud of warmth around it.  During more civilized times - a.k.a. any season but summer - this is of no consequence whatsoever, and during the cold days of winter is an actual benefit. However during the summer, especially a hot and humid summer like this one, well, you might as well plug in a space heater because the result will be the same - a sweltering room.  Because of this, my go-to gaming rig this summer has been my Chromebook.  That is, my Chromebook with its attendant nVidia Geforce Now subscription.  Frankly, without this duo, I suspect my gaming time would have been miniscule.  However, with GFN, I could use my little workhorse of a Chromebook to access some of my favorite games, such as Elite Dangerous: Odyssey, No Man's Sky, Stellaris, Crusader Kings III and Wargame: Airland Battle/Red Dragon.  And if I wanted to expand into new gaming realms, other cloud gaming services, such as Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and new kid on the block, Amazon Luna, were ready for me to jump on their cloud service with their own selection of titles (sadly, and ironically, I can't recommend Google's own Stadia as that service is the only one that struggles over my home WiFi for unknown reasons).  

Being able to access a big chunk of my favorite games and leave the waste heat to the data centers of nVidia has been a pleasure. Being able to relax on my breezy exterior deck while playing titles that usually require a beefy indoor desktop has been both a pleasure and a marvel.  It truly is a time of technological wonders! 

As I write this (on my Chromebook, of course), there are twenty days until Labor Day - the unofficial end of summer in America - and thirty-six days until the official end of summer.  I will celebrate both days while the summer flowers will no doubt caterwaul about how their favorite season, the one where they spent the majority of it hiding in air conditioned environs and complaining about it being too hot, ended too soon.  Autumn is my time.  But until that glorious season arrives, I will be gritting my teeth as I feel every last lash of this most obnoxious season.  

One hot summer long ago, June Christy crooned that "I'd like to order something cool, it's so warm here in town, and the heat gets me down." This summer when the heat got me down, my "something cool" - in more ways than one! - was Geforce Now on my trusty Chromebook.