The Odyssey2 , branded as Philips Videopac g7000 where I lived, was my first computer, though I only ever used it for games. The joysticks were quite harsh, always gave me a blister between my thumb and index finger.....long before I discovered 'Nintendo thumb'. The noises of these games are burned in my memory, along with the layout of Pickaxe Pete. I also had the glorious box set of 'Quest for the rings' which had a fantastic concept but I never figured out how to play correctly.
The box art for these games, and those of systems that followed, always had such imagination compared to the simple blocks that made up the game. I remember when games reached a point where the box art ended up being screenshots of the actual gameplay and thinking tomyself 'The technology has finally caught up with the imagination', yet now it seems we have reverted and only yesterday I watched a trailer for the next Battlefield game that was majority pre-rendered content.....it feels like a step backwards.
"My" consoles growing up were the NES and the Odyssey2. I had an NES, my grandparents had an NES and an Odyssey2. Where everyone else has one or another Atari as their blocky-graphics early console, I've got the Odyssey2.
Man, those joysticks were something. I remember my favorite games were one that was probably intended to feel like shooting at TIE fighters with a quad cannon turret on the Millennium Falcon (the sprites even looked about as close to TIE fighters as they could get, without getting sued) and the basketball game. I think I played whatever version or port of Space Invaders the console had quite a bit, too. I vaguely remember some carts that used the built-in keyboard for more than just mode selecting, but can't recall what they were.
I have an aeropress for making coffee at work. It is quick and easy to use and it is very quick to clean but the main reason for me is the process. I get my cup, filter and press from my desk, fill the porlex grinder with some beans, then I stand in the kitchen nearest to my desk (very open-plan large office building) and grind the beans. Every time I grind the coffee people walk by and comment on the nice smell. I enjoy the process, I enjoy the sound of the manual grinder and I enjoy taking the time to perform the task after sitting at a keyboard for so long. I make the coffee (upside down) and watch other people go to the onsite cafe and buy a $5 coffee which takes longer to order than I take to make mine. I find it tastes great and is considerably better filtered than a french press. I have had this a fair few years now but I know I am approaching my 700th cup as I bought it with 2 packs of 350 paper filters and I will soon run out.
5 stars, would buy again.
( At home I favour a Bialetti Moka stove-top. )
I feel like I have bits of my memory and perception that are good and bits that are bad. I struggle with the idea of being asked to help with a 'photo-fit', to describe the person's face and reconstruct the features like you would when describing a suspect to a police officer or sketch artist, I simply cannot recall anyone's face. I can describe build, height, hair and colour, but the face itself is blocked in my mind.
I cannot recall the majority of events in my life and most that I do recall are very recent or in some way traumatic or unpleasant, even then I only remember a freeze-frame of the scenario and note the whole event. Being able to remember a sequence of events or a long period of time within the same day is limited to a very small number of memories. I cannot remember most of my childhood or anything beyond a few years ago, just tiny snippets here and there. However...
I remember nearly everywhere I've ever been, like a version of map software in my brain is keeping a record. I've re-visited places I've only been to once before many years earlier and been able to navigate the entire area without fault. I can remember the configuration of the shopping malls I've been to and I can even recall where nearly all products in the local grocery store or super markets are.... I can picture these things in my mind with real clarity. This ability also means I have fantastic dreams, often in the same places which only exist in my mind. I often remember dreams by where I was or what I was doing at the time based on which location I was in. I dream in first-person while also aware of what the third person sensation/ experience would be like. I can occasionally lucid dream so I know these dreams involve colour.
I cannot remember what anything smells, sounds, or tastes like. If someone asked, ‘what does your favourite food taste like?’ I honestly could not describe it, but I can recall the texture of it perfectly. Yet even though my few memories do not include these details, if I smell something during the day I can easily remember what that is…the same applies to hearing a tune or sound or seeing someone’s face in a TV show. The memories are there but the act of actually trying to recall something simply for the purposes of attempting to remember will result in a blank….passively try and remember something by association of some other stimuli then the memory will come back easy.
I worry that now my child is turning 3 years old I can only recall a handful of memories from his life so far, will this get worse? If he ever asks me what life was like when he was just a baby….what will I say?
I get the occasional itch on my head when sitting at my desk at home, only to find a Tree Weta crawling through my hair. It seems that they are not all that appealing to my cats who love catching other insects.
This is only slightly similar, but Ive played around with hexo to acheive a HTML only driven blog based on github hosted markdown files. Once setup and secured it is pretty much just me writing and publishing text files.
https://hexo.io/
It seems to be very popular in Japan as most guides I read were google-translated Japanese blogs.
I too made a comment about the huge drop in quality,
https://www.threadless.com/forum/post/1009183/disappointing_...
I even pointed out how they put a sizing sticker directly on the shirt print which pulls the design off when removed. No shirt I bought in that order survived more than 2 machines washes.
The design has been "borrowed" by any number of firms. I have an O'Neill (surf gear) shirt with a version of it. And there was a Disney one with Mickey's outline in the waves.
It seems to have entered the under-mind, as being "that design with the lines" and few people know the origin any more.
I got mine a couple of years back as I find that sitting down I hardly move, I just stare at the screen like a motionless zombie. Standing at a desk I pretty much dance about and find myself doing much more. My main issue was height/weight as I am 2metres tall and 110KG, I found most desks do not go high enough.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/catcameron/albums/721576482809...
The setup has slightly evolved since then and the cable management is much better.
Anyway, a last year I finally became a father and in the past few months I have found that little arms are talented at pulling any cable in sight...being able to keep the desk up has 'baby-proofed' my working area.
I think making sure you are not looking down when standing, even by a few degrees, is key to being comfortable, that and standing on something squishy like sneakers or a floor mat/carpet.
At work I have one of these
https://varidesk.co.nz/
it is surprisingly quick to use but I find myself sitting more at work.
I grew up knowing myself to be a 'Manc' before I found out it was short for 'Mancunian'. When I eventually left Manchester and moved to London I was just known as a 'Northern Monkey' to the locals. Now I live in New Zealand I'm just a 'POHM'.
I'll be a Red Manc till the day I die.
Northern Monkey is a term for anyone from 'the north'. Some say this comes from the 'Monkey Hangers' of Hartlepool.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monkey_hanger
The opposite would see you known as a 'Southern Fairy'
