Retrolife

Gadgets Summary - February 2008 Here we are again - I’m still a techie kind of guy. I still live in Tokyo. Nothing changed there. If you stick those two things together it really does amounts to a person who used to live in fear when he gets his salary paid into his bank over whether the next weekend poring over disturbing amounts of readily available technology in the bowels of denki-ya, or the fearsome Akihabara. Though the latter seems to be swinging over to it’s alter-ego of otaku fetishist zone quite a lot of late. ...

All I can say is that these are all real - none of them are faked. In fact, if you’re (un)lucky you may be able to repeat them. They’re just run of the mill examples of the fact that maybe sometimes UI designers, programmers, and who knows who else, maybe want to throw us something a little different. 2008 iTunes Loses Files; Can’t talk about it. Like a lot of people, I’ve been bitten by a problem syncing my iPod to my Mac, in that I see the following error, and the sync stops wherever it was. ...

This is just a collection of micro-reviews of films I’ve seen. They’re likely not new films (but some may be), and most likely B Movies I found cheap in the DVD rental shop… March 2007 The Wicker Man (1973) A very tight and well made view of the clash of beliefs, and modern sexually charged paganism in a Christian society well played by Christopher Lee and Edward Woodward. Rating: Worth looking for IMDB. ...

So it seems that I finally finished FEAR. That stands for “First Encounter Assault Recon” which I’ll be incorrectly reducing to ‘FEAR’ here, to save wear on my ‘.’ key. I don’t feel too bad about doing this, as the title is a bit of an oxymoron anyway. I bought it in October 2005, but looking at my saved games, it got about an hour of play a month until mid-August when I decided I should sit down and finish it. ...

The Background When I was in sixth form (16-18) back in England, I built up a cheap separates stereo system from working a lot of extra part time shifts. I loved that set up. I’m no audiophile, but I did like that set up. Rotel amp, Philips CD player, Aiwa tape deck and JPW speakers, mostly from Richer Sounds and from local dealers. I also had a cheap 15" TV and Memorex VHS VCR to go with it - hey, I was a student! ...

December 2004 “The Difference Engine” - William Gibson and Bruce Stirling ISBN 0-553-29461-X // USD 8 // 429pp. // 1991 Another re-read from over a decade ago, but this one is an underrated gem. It mixes steampunk with a who-dunnit in a world only Gibson and Stirling could produce. Some excellent characters in an alternative history of the 19th century - a fractured America, Japan dominant in Asia, and the British empire ruling through the power of it’s steam driven computers or “Engines”; a Britain run by meritocratic ‘Radical’ Lords like Babbage and Brunel. It really is a richly described world, and the tale they pull through it - of popular dissent, murder, an evil London summer, and ultimately, some engine punch cards which may or may not produce artificial life is excellent. The only downside is that it does jump about a bit, and the plot can get quite confusing, so you need focus on events. That said, it’s a great and generally easy read, well up there with both of it’s author’s best. If you ever wondered where Neuromancer could have it’s origins, it’s in this alternate history, and Stirling’s knowledge of the history of information technology shown in “The Hacker Crackdown”, undoubtedly helped here. It’s an often overlooked work, as many ‘co-authored’ books tend to be watered down versions of their contributors talents, but this one certainly plays to the best of both. ...

December 2003 Be afraid. Be very, very afraid - I finally got my drivers license converted to a Japanese one. As a Brit, it’s simply a case of going to the license centre, looking vaguely sober and sane, and filling in some forms, and giving them lots of proof you had your license for 90 days in your own country. It certainly beats spending all the time and money to get a Japanese license the other way - driving courses are really expensive. ...

This is just a quick page to list whatever I’ve been watching…maybe a quick review of cinema releases. Of course, I have to choose the best…and a few real turkeys! Remember, these might not be the latest, especially the DVDs, just what I’m watching. Bear in mind, that sometimes I go to the DVD/video rental shop looking for truly terrible looking films. August 2003 (A bit of a summary here for the last couple of months!) ...

All I can say is that these are all real - none of them are faked. In fact, if you’re lucky you may be able to repeat them! I decided to do a search from the MS press page, looking for logos, I clicked on a link and… So there I am. Attempting to install the Exchange 5.5 Administration Tools on my PC, when Outlook makes this complaint: ...

December 2002 Damn - December again! That makes this ‘diary’ a year old. Anyway, time for a small change. Now, I’m going to do more frequent, smaller updates under a given title, as shown this month. The holidays I often get asked if I work Xmas day in Japan. Of course I do, as Japan, despite the TV shows, the shops and all the adverts does not celebrate Xmas as such, not being a Christian nation. However, the adverts and shopping sales are hard to miss. The ’thing’ for Xmas then is geared more towards girlfriends/boyfriends, and many go on dates or to hotels on Xmas Eve - like a souped up Valentines day. It often surprises foreigners that Xmas decorations in Japan go up at the end of November, and often come down on Xmas Eve - it’s purely a look and doing an ’event’ - something which is a popular part of the culture. ...