So what happened?

I have a large caché of articles to go through this month, mostly because my flow from brain to “web” was interrupted. Unfortunately, moving interstate without a properly-researched plan can do this. I will go over the specifics of what happened upon arrival in Sydney at another point. Suffice to say for now that this is a sort of introduction to the future of this journal.

Fukk off, DVD pusher.

Most of the time, when I go to the local shops and look at goods, it lifts my spirits somewhat. For most of the preceding year, whilst sitting around the house, I have been feeling… how can I put it? Out of sorts? Like my baby has died? Like I am stuck in a society that would rather throw me away than expend any effort to help me be what I can be? Like I have a masculine parental entity whom I have recently determined is determined to break my spirit?

So I was running VirusBarrier earlier this week…

As long-time readers might already be aware, I opted out of the whole Windoze Unpaid Bugtester craze some time ago now. Although there are times when I curse the inconvenience associated with some of the effects, I do happen to feel that I am better for it. However, just like there are myths and stupid misconceptions associated with autism, skin cancer, diabetes, and just about everything else of significance in my life, there are also myths and stupid misconceptions associated with my computer of choice, the Apple iMac.

Want to make an computer or operating system that does not shit people up the wall?

As I sit here and go through the process of toying about with several devices that are based on computing principles, most obviously the desktop and laptop computers I own, it occurs to me. In spite of development that has gone on during my lifetime, and before, no real improvements have been made to the humble computer. In fact, as of June 2012, psychological professionals are still dealing with a phenomenon they refer to as Technology-Related Anger.

The Last Ninja, a quiet retrospective

In the year of 1987, a publisher called System 3 brought forward a game called The Last Ninja for the Commodore 64 (and other computers). The Commodore 64 was then, in spite of numerous advancements in computer manufacturing, the most widespread home computer product in history. It would remain such until a small handful of years later, when the inexorable pressure of business and wider acceptance drove consumers to greater, more powerful platforms.

Videogames that I have played in the past and what they say about me.

I make no secret of this. I play videogames. I have played videogames since sometime after my sixth birthday. One day whilst I was on my way home from school with my still very young mother, she told me cryptically that my male parent had something at home that I would like to see. That something turned out to be a Commodore VIC-20, the first of what is now many, many computers that have passed through the households I collective have and continue to reside in. Being that this was 1984, the price of a VIC-20 was likely quite cheap, and the machine turned out to be a source of entertainment enjoyed by the whole family as a collective. But whilst I was at the time mildly interested in the programming and creative aspects of the device, I got the games in a big way.

I did not know this at the time, but in the previous year, the Commodore 64 had been “unveiled”. Although it suffered reliability problems at first, by 1984 its greater flexibility and capability, along with its greater visual and aural capabilities (do not laugh) meant that the VIC-20 was quickly headed for retirement. I do not recall exactly what year my family traded in the VIC-20 for what came to be referred to in shorthand as the C64, but it probably did not take long. Now, by greater visual and aural capabilities, well, obviously by today’s standards that is a pretty sick joke. But the Commodore 64 could give brief real-time voices, constant music that, although low in quality, put the player right into the mood of the game, and crude representations of visual elements that in 1982 matched or even exceeded those of arcade machines. If you can imagine a bass voice saying “Another visitor. Stay awhile… stay forever!” in exaggerated tones, then you can sort of get the idea of my first impression of the Commodore 64.