It's interesting to me

[6744957135160fox]

Variety: "Syd Mead Dies: Visionary Futurist Who Worked On ‘Blade Runner’ & ‘Tron’ Was 86"

2019 turned out to be a very fateful year for Mr Mead, a godfather of the Cyperpunk aesthetics. He must've been very proud how alive and admired his vision for the future still is. He'll be missed!

[674495713532dKolya]

Aw crap, I'm sure he would have liked to stick it out to 2020. He was the best.

[6744957135449fox]

The Future is Now
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgWhuFeYkb4

[674495713556cKolya]

While scouting for holiday locations I found something that looks like a satellite near the Greek coastline.
https://www.google.com/maps/@40.2146842,23.7669694,599m/data=!3m1!1e3
[2020-01-04 20_36_50-Window.png expired]

[674495713566cfox]

Currently watching the finale of Homeland's season 4 - some details are not entirely believable but it's still pretty damned great for a TV-show. However, it feels very weird with everything that is currently going on in Irak/Iran. In the show it's about Pakistan but the parallels are eerie.

[6744957135795Kolya]

I watched the first season of Homeland right until she starts an affair with the main suspect. That certainly upped the ante but it was on the same unprofessional level as a xeno biologist removing his helmet to pet a clearly aggressive alien snake. I stopped watching Homeland right there.

[67449571358d6JosiahJack]

I hate it when they do https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ContrivedStupidityTropes

[67449571359d5Kolya]

Homeland was very smart until then and I'm sure it never reached Prometheus levels of contrived stupidity. There were probably many great episodes after this. But I didn't feel like watching a series with stakes that high where characters can act that stupidly, even if only occasionally.

[6744957135b10fox]

I can relate to that and she continues to do some very hair raisingly stupid things - enough to make me scorn her appearances at times. It is a testament to the writing, that I still think it's one of the best written shows ever, so far. Up there with The Wire, Breaking Bad & Co. It's bold to make a character like Carrie Mathison the central character of a TV show.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9WZ72oPnDM

[6744957135c3eKolya]

I don't know why I never thought about this, but I just discovered these work together pretty well. Emergent webdesign. 
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[6744957135e43Kolya]

I watched No country for old men for the first time last night. Now I know where ZylonBane gets his annoyed image from.

The film was very well made and created a lot of suspense in the beginning that evaporated in the end. The killer Anton Chigur has no motivation nor backstory, he just goes around killing people to get to the MacGuffin, which he clearly doesn't plan to return to his clients, because he kills them too. The protagonist deals with the ensuing cat and mouse game surprisingly versed and unperturbed. The fact that he's a Vietnam veteran never seems to fully explain his calm demeanour. And then there's the old cop who nostalgically reminisces about the good old times, although he's told the old times were hard as well by an even older ex-cop. He never gets involved and is apparently better off for it.

In the end it's all rather random and either the film  has no message at all or calls for some very high concept interpretation of which I read a few. Generally the killer = chaos/death in those and the rest is about how different people deal with a chaotic life that can end at any time. I think this idea is refuted in the film itself, when the killer offers someone a coin toss to decide whether they'll live or die (ie a chaotic decision) and she makes it very clear that the coin toss has no meaning, it's his decision to attach meaning to it. This isn't the first time it's being discussed whether a coin might just be a coin or something more meaningful. And maybe that is all there is to it. Quite possibly the Coen Brothers intentionally left it to the viewers to attach meaning to their film or not. They certainly gave it all the trappings of meaningfulness, but what that would be they didn't say.

[6744957136117Kolya]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDcnLfLaFiY

On January 26, 2006, while driving down a winding canyon road in Hollywood, Joaquin Phoenix veered off the road and flipped his car. The crash was reportedly caused by brake failure. Shaken and confused, Phoenix heard someone tapping on his window and telling him to "just relax." Unable to see the man, Phoenix replied, "I'm fine. I am relaxed." The man replied, "No, you're not," and stopped Phoenix from lighting a cigarette while gasoline was leaking into the car cabin. Phoenix then realized that the man was famed German film director Werner Herzog. While Herzog helped Phoenix out of the wreckage by breaking the back window of the car, bystanders phoned for an ambulance. Phoenix approached Herzog to express his gratitude, but Herzog returned to his home nearby.

[6744957136227JosiahJack]

Ok.  Now this is cool
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSKBtEBRWi4

[67449571363a6icemann]

That's very awesome.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GH0ZpaTwqs

Repair and retrobriting of a Commodore 64. I just find all the repair videos that the 8-bit guy does, super interesting. From the repair end, to the retrobriting, which is the attempts to remove yellowing of plastics, common with pre-2000s tech.

[67449571364fbvoodoo47]

ah yes, the C64.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KK13BXhP6Qs

[67449571368daKolya]

That's very awesome.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GH0ZpaTwqs

Repair and retrobriting of a Commodore 64. I just find all the repair videos that the 8-bit guy does, super interesting. From the repair end, to the retrobriting, which is the attempts to remove yellowing of plastics, common with pre-2000s tech.

I was surprised he didn't start with seperating the chassis  and the tech inside. He cleans it with baking soda, window cleaner and whatnot and the shit gets everywhere. THEN he takes it apart and removes the baking soda with an airgun. 
I must have missed something there, as I was watching with subs and no sound.

[67449571369eficemann]

That got me as well. I was thinking "Erm, wouldn't that get into the circuit board and cause damage?" but nope as later bits show.

[6744957136dd4RocketMan]

Ah the good old C64.  Used to have one but alas it's lost forever.  I should get around to buying one before there are none left in decent condition.

[6744957136f7cRocketMan]

In other news, I finally got the correct bloody supercharger that I've been waiting for for 3 frickin years.  If only people could read emails and follow instructions...  Oh well, at least now I'm in business:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmcuM5lu9CE

[67449571371a8JosiahJack]

My dad had the lovingly referred to commode-ore 64 and the TRS80 (trash 80) back when they came out.  He programmed them to do all sorts of things.  Now he says he's tired of learning new ways of using electronics and he just asks me now how to change X setting on his phone or fix X problem with his PC.  Maybe that means he's old lol.  If he keeps it up he'll be worse than my Grandpa.  I can understand...seems like stuff has been getting more of a headache and more learning curve.  Like the new iphone swiping crap...ohh yeah, totally intuitive {sarcasm}.  And these new fangled phones have no home button??  Screw that, I'll stick to my S7.   Dang, guess that means I'm old too, at least at heart.  I don't want to spend time learning how to do the same things I already know how to do...I just want to get work done.

[6744957137569fox]

In other news, I finally got the correct bloody supercharger that I've been waiting for for 3 frickin years.  If only people could read emails and follow instructions...  Oh well, at least now I'm in business:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmcuM5lu9CE

I'm jealous of your LS3 (and impressed that you are designing your own parts)!

[6744957137706RocketMan]

Full disclosure I did not design the supercharger, only the supporting infrastructure and method of deployment... but it is certainly more personalized than having a speed shop put a Procharger on your recently purchased car.

[6744957137901ZylonBane]

I kind of want a VR setup now, even though I know I'd totally suck at this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gV1sw4lfwFw

[6744957137cbffox]

Full disclosure I did not design the supercharger, only the supporting infrastructure and method of deployment... but it is certainly more personalized than having a speed shop put a Procharger on your recently purchased car.

There's a reputable guy offering street legal LS3-swaps for my car (BRZ/GT86) and I've been lusting after it for quite a while but in the end I can't justify spending that kind of money. Truth is, that I'm totally fine with the car's perfomance 95% of the time as it is. That V8 sound though...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUOmh7w8Ugo