My C64 Ultimate arrived, and as expected, it went from "New Object" to "Object" almost instantly. Did a side-by-side comparison to my existing original C64, and yup, it's the same. Also as expected. I haven't fired it up quite yet, partly because I'm waiting for a rainy day to do a bunch of tech stuff, but mostly because my studiolab is a clutterfuck. Read more…
Tried 100 Days To Offload a couple years back and failed spectacularly. As is often the case with the "Do X in Y Timeframe" sorts of things, I don't generate enough momentum to actually get it done.
The other day, I was thinking about posting something on fedi, and kept getting in my own way because that's a microblogging environment and I wasn't thinking about a quick quip. I like longform writing a bit more, which isn't conducive to the firehose of particulate matter. I don't write about things in terms of soundbites and virality, and I don't really want to shoehorn that kind of thing into a string of language beads.
But I have a similar problem with writing at all. It's the same problem I have with finishing projects or developing habits - I stop before I gain real momentum. Of course, that's kind of the point with these sorts of challenges - you do them to build that momentum, and next thing you know, it becomes a habit. Hopefully a good one.
So my last couple blurbs about Commodore computers are going to count for the start of a new 100DTO. I have a lot of things I want to be doing more but just haven't gotten going. I have land to work. I have projects to build. And any time that I spend mindlessly stumbling through the Internet of Slop could be far better spent retraining my brain to do the things I really want to be doing.
3/100DTO
Of course, after writing a thing about the urge to repair the Commodore 64 I already have as opposed to buying the 64 Ultimate, I ended up buying the latter anyways. The trigger came from pricing out parts and upgrades for my existing unit, and once it got more expensive than just buying the C64U, I just pulled the trigger.
This bothers me. I know full well that I'll get the C64U soon, and I'll mess around with it for awhile. Maybe I'll even fall in love with it a little bit and spend lots of time tinkering. Maybe. More likely, I'll experience the immediate loss of novelty once the New Object simply becomes an Object. Read more…
Awhile back, Commoodore announced the C64 Ultimate, an FPGA reboot of the Commodore 64, now with USB and HDMI and ethernet ports. The C64 has a long history of reboots and implementations, mostly geared towards the retrogaming crowd. More recently there's been an appetite for a full system version. Various projects have eaten around the edges, which have all culminated in an officially-branded Commodore release.
Good on them, and I hope they're successful.
When I first saw the announcement, my lizard brain shouted "WANT SHINY" as it usually does when presented with new tech. It also poked the part of my frontal lobe that's suspiciously susceptible to nostalgia, which a great many industries and a few political movements also like to do. I thought about the original Commodore 64 that is currently sitting on my workbench, in need of a few minor repairs, but otherwise a better avatar of nostalgia. Pretty sure I got it for the same reasons at the time. Then I wondered to myself: why am I not just fixing the unit I have, and salivating for something I don't have with features I don't really want? Read more…
The past year has been wild. I found my dream house and moved into it. Starting to clear away land to build a growing dome for food production, settling in to the sleepy little town I've found myself choosing as the place to spend the rest of my life. It's quaint and idyllic here, the kind of place that's a close community without being exclusive or unwelcoming. I found my place here, and I'm quite content with it.
Part of this has meant spending a lot of time adjusting to homeownership and less time tinkering with projects on the bench, though the past month or so has presented a gradual shift to the latter. As winter approaches, I find myself subconsciously preparing for days with less sky and more screen. While the earth tucks itself into her deep slumber, I'll be spending my time honing contraptions and creating things that make me smile.
Looking over this site, there are some updates I should probably make. Not so much out of obligation, but more to keep myself occupied and continuing to make the things I want to see in the world. I've abandoned my feelings of guilt over being "not productive" just because I'm not constantly publishing or hitting milestones on the things I do. It occurred to me that I can just do what I want to, when I want to, and tinkering doesn't have to be some kind of surrogate hustle. Read more…
