Gemini* and Gopher

• Personal/Opinions

  • Tribute to Lloyd Center

    In the happier days of the 1990s, shopping malls were still seen as the core of a community. At the time, malls had everything, and lots more were built around them. Malls were destinations, not just places to get in and out.

    As a young adult in Seattle, I often spent time at the Westlake Center for cheap dinners or to browse the shelves of the Brentano's bookstore. When I moved into my very first apartment, my uncle took me to the Factoria Mall to get the household essentials at Target. Bellevue Square had the art museum on the top floor, and there was an all-you-can-eat Italian restaurant on the first floor. Then the SuperMall of the Northwest, billed as the biggest in the Pacific Northwest at the time, opened in Auburn. I remember spending hours there.

  • Reunion

    Several weeks ago I missed my 25 year high school reunion. Actually, missed is the wrong word. I skipped it. I avoided it.

    The event was held less than ten miles from my house, and I went out of my way not to go.

    To be honest, this was the closest I've come to going to one of these reunions. A few weeks prior, I had pulled out my old senior yearbook and spent an afternoon looking through it. I read the messages that were written in the interior cover pages, looked through the team, club, and organization photos. I studied every single one of the over 400 senior pictures in my graduating class, trying to recall anything I could about each of those young people who were now so distant from me in time and space.

  • heirlooms

    doll legs dangling from the top shelf of the closet childhood favourite watching over heirlooms no one dared let go

  • Bike shedding

    The art of bike shedding is to argue about something that is suitable to be argued about; this includes the term bike shedding itself. In the original definition there are three items for discussion in a meeting: a coffee service, a bike shed, and a nuclear reactor. The coffee service is too trivial to argue about, and the reactor too complex, but the bike shed is just right, being in the argumentative Goldilocks zone where most anyone can weigh in with an opinion as to the materials or paint color or whatever. This definition assumes a stereotypical corporate lackey, where the coffee service is beneath their notice and reactor above their paygrade.

  • Re: Radio Amateurism

    Your comment about your family reminded me of a family I would hear on a local repeater in the previous town I lived in years ago. On the commute home from work the husband and wife would see where each other were and set plans for dinner, what shopping was needed and who was picking up one of the kids from a friend's house. It was a fairly quiet repeater so I'm sure no one cared nor was really listening. They most likely used their radios as it was becoming illegal to use your phone in your vehicle in some cases. Amateur radio was exempt from all those rules.

  • Petanque?!

    Petanque is a boules-type game played with sets of hollow steel balls and a small wooden ball called a "cochonnet". Its modern version originated from southern France in the early part of the 1900's. Petanque is played around the world, and is a very accessible sport or pastime for all age groups and levels of athletic ability.

• Homeworlds

  • Homeworlds: More About Green Ships

    As far as ship colors to start with and focus on, green has seemed like a good choice, as (1) green ships can be used in conjunction with blue stars to allow for rapid growth; and (2) once most of the green ships have been taken out of the bank, it is possible to sacrifice a large green ship to do the factory trick, allowing you to build multiple ships and then get the large green ship back as your third build. However, something that does offset this second advantage is that, in order to pull off the factory trick, you have to have another green ship at the star system where you want the large green ship to respawn. This is often problematic, as having two green ships stationed long term at one star system makes them more vulnerable to an overpopulation attack. If the large green ship is at your home world, it is also often the case that you will need to send that second green ship off to another system to help grow a fleet elsewhere. So, often you will find yourself in a situation where you technically can perform the factory trick, but you don't have another green ship at the place where you want to respawn.

• Technology and Free Software

  • internet use tracker

    i've been vaguely trying it out this week - not really tracking anything but paying attention whether this makes sense at all. i think the socials and the one-vid-for-eating make sense and are perfectly doable, as is the backgammon. but there's still a lot of time to fill and trying to be Creative about it is exhausting, it's very easy to get drawn into something else for hours (like playing on the switch). i'm hoping that the incoming autumn will awaken me from the summer stupor and i'll have more energy to do the active figuring-out sort of things... not sure that counts for much of a plan...

  • Cale Loveridge's MiniPin Pinball Machines Are Printable on Almost Any 3D Printer — With One Spool

    Maker Cale Loveridge has launched a crowdfunding campaign for playable pinball tables with a difference: they're miniaturized for printability on even compact 3D printers.

    "MiniPin is a highly detailed, 3D printable miniature pinball machine that captures the look, feel, and charm of a full-size pinball machine in a compact desktop format," Loveridge explains of his creation. "From the cabinet and backbox to the side rails, lockdown bar, pinball legs, arcade-inspired buttons, plunger, and interchangeable playfields, MiniPin recreates the iconic elements of traditional pinball in miniature form."