a celebration of science fiction, anime, and geek culture
The search started with the strange smell of burning plastic as we sat on the sofa. It took a few minutes to pinpoint the source as not being in the current room and not from the cellar, which only left upstairs. I ran my hand to the back of the tower case and felt the fan of the power supply still going strong, but when I opened up the side of the case it was obvious where the problem was.
The BBC has a news story today about the current protest against popular Facebook application Scrabulous. Now, who didn’t expect that one to happen?
I’m quite a fan of Scrabulous and it’s really the only reason why I spend time on Facebook. A much improved experience over my original online Scrabble place of choice over at the pixie pit.
I guess I’ll patiently have to wait until the copyright expires into public domain. But I won’t hold my breath. I suppose I could go play Wabble while I wait.
I’m Mac curious.
And while I’m not losing any sleep over how the hair on my head can be fuller with iTonic, which mammals will start flying first, or any other airy announcements likely to come tomorrow, I’m excited nonetheless. Not fan-blind giddy, but excited enough to add a couple extra feeds to my RSS reader.
You see, my first computer was an Apple //c, complete with green monitor, external hard disk drive, and mouse. That Apple was where I first started playing games like the Ultima series and to see it evolve from Ultima to Ultima V, all on the same hardware, was impressive indeed. A recent PC of mine which could play Baldur’s Gate was crippled in spades by it’s sequel. I couldn’t even cast magic missle without the game grinding to a halt. I couldn’t hope to cast something like Vas Flam. But I realise it’s unfair to compare the technological achievements within the Ultima series to the Baldur’s Gate series. Anyway, I digress.
Lately I’ve been hankering to give Macs a try. I’ll admit the main reason is because they look so nice but even the crappiest one is better than my current Vaio. I don’t have any illusion that a Mac will make me more creative, give me chunky framed glasses, or multiply the sweater vests in my wardrobe. In fact, if anything, I have no idea what would be gained by owning a Macbook other than receiving knowing looks in Starbucks.
But I still want one.
I’ve been kindly asked to provide a few musings while the master of the house is away for a short spell. I’m slightly nervous, as the responsibility feels great. It’s like being asked by a neighbor to look after their home while they’re away by bringing in the mail and rummaging through their closets for that lived in look.
So a bit about myself.
I’m Dave Kim and have known Aziz since back in the day when climbing over fences was the standard transportation method. Although we haven’t lived in the same zip code in a long, long time, the magic of modern technology has kept us in touch, more or less, over the years. And since we were raised on the same fluorinated water, we have the same geeky tendencies. In fact, most of my sci-fi sensibilities are because of his influence.
These days I live in the UK, near Cambridge to be precise. I’ve been here now for the past six years but still get back to the States about once a year. Just enough for me to recharge my ‘Why is everything so expensive in the UK’ batteries.
I used to blog in a pseudo anonymous manner, since being Dave Kim on the internet is like being a needle in a needlestack, but haven’t in some time. But I’m sure it’s just like riding a bicycle and it will take me at least month before I start driving away readers like I used to.