I was reading one of several articles that have appeared recently on the subject of the 25th anniversary of the Apple Macintosh when Sarah came in and looked over my shoulder. I started telling her about the Macs I've previously owned (and how my first had just a nine-inch black-and-white screen!) and came to realize it was more than I suspected.
I first met and fell deep for the Macs in computer labs at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. I got a Mac of my own as my first computer in my senior year: a Macintosh Plus. Not having a hard drive, I would boot from one of a collection of 3.5" floppy disks (even though they'd long since ceased to be floppy), and sometimes swap it out for an application disk. I had MacWrite, MacPaint, and even SuperPaint, which could switch between painting and drawing. I'd save files to disk and print using LaserWriters at the labs. My papers looked very nice.
The Plus followed me to Seattle, but in a few years I switched up to the Classic II. This had the same form factor as the Plus and the original Macintosh, but with faster and with an internal hard drive. It also had the Apple Desktop Bus for connecting the keyboard, mouse, and other peripherals together using the same connectors, instead of requiring separate ports for each - that was something I remember really wanting.
Some time in Olympia I changed to the Powerbook Duo 230, my first, and so far only, laptop. 16 shades of grey. Trackball. Quite lightweight. I remember carrying it slung over my shoulder while biking around town. I also got the Duo Dock and a Sony colour monitor. Ejecting the laptop from the dock was so satisfying that I found myself doing it just for fun. Having the larger monitor allowed me to move into more professional graphics and desktop publishing work.
Years later I traded up for a Macintosh clone. I can't even remember who made it except I seem to remember it being endorsed by Mac luminary Bob LeVitus. This had the PowerPC processor so I must have needed to replace lots of software for its completely different RISC architecture. I kept my colour monitor and peripherals. I'm sure by now I was also doing Internet publishing and programming via an external modem.
In Portland I traded up to an iMac G3. I was seduced to return to the all-in-one form factor, and was really attracted to a computer without fans - quiet. I was also impressed by the Harman Kardon-designed integrated stereo speakers. By that time, the original Bondi Blue colour was replaced by fruits; I picked Blueberry. It also had a CD/DVD drive, new to me, and it came with A Bug's Life. I was so impressed by the resolution of a DVD movie that TVs became instantly dingy-looking, and our young family watched many a movie with it at home. Our music collection also passed through its drive one disc at a time as we ripped to MP3 (and later MP4). It came with System 8 as an operating system, but it eventually cohoused the OS X beta, then 10, then 10.1 as I made the change to the redesigned Aqua interface, only switching back to OS 8/9 to do graphic design with older software. Purchased for about $1200, same as my Mac Plus, it was sold to a friend for $25 as we prepared to move overseas many years later.
Two short years ago I purchased my present iMac at the Apple Store on Regent Street in London, carrying it home to Ipswich via Tube and train. I was thrilled to have new goodies like an Intel dual-core processor, a letterboxed flat screen, and the little remote for the Front Row software to control movies, pictures and music. I intended to sell it before returning to North America and buy a newer one, but as the time approached I saw that the latest models had specs that weren't substantially higher, so it seemed cheaper to just ship it. I'm still running OS 10.4 (Tiger) and may upgrade to 10.5 (Leopard) soon, or just wait for the Intel-only Snow Leopard release, which will be even faster.
I wonder what my next Macs will be like.
Friday, 30 January 2009
Sunday, 25 January 2009
Ice Wine
It's a rare pleasure to experience a new drink - not just a new variety of drink, but a new genre entirely. I think the last time this happened to me was trying Pimm's two summers ago.
This time it's ice wine. We actually gave a few bottles to friends over the holidays but this weekend was the first time I tried it myself. It is made from frozen grapes - the water freezes, but the sugars don't, so it is more concentrated, making for an ideal dessert wine. British Columbia and Ontario produce some of the best-known ice wines in the world, so it was great to be introduced to a local treat of such renown.
To me, it has a similar taste to plum wine but the taste of the Riesling grape is strong. I quite enjoy it and will look forward to having more over the winter.
This time it's ice wine. We actually gave a few bottles to friends over the holidays but this weekend was the first time I tried it myself. It is made from frozen grapes - the water freezes, but the sugars don't, so it is more concentrated, making for an ideal dessert wine. British Columbia and Ontario produce some of the best-known ice wines in the world, so it was great to be introduced to a local treat of such renown.
To me, it has a similar taste to plum wine but the taste of the Riesling grape is strong. I quite enjoy it and will look forward to having more over the winter.
Saturday, 17 January 2009
My New Habit
I've never really gotten into role-playing games. To my mind, they've long been associated with elves, fairies, swords and all that, a genre that has little interest for me. But recently I've been curious about a video game called Fallout 3 (winner of several "game of the year" awards in 2008) and decided to try it, and now it's taking up a lot of my free time.
It is a role playing game, but involves a setting I'm much more interested in: a near-future (albeit one based on an alternative history) post-apocalypse, more in tune with the hard-science fiction I enjoy reading. To my mind, it's more in league with "sandbox" games like Grand Theft Auto. I've enjoyed these games for years as they have large environments to explore, and this really stimulates my brain. In addition, in playing both games, the player is given an ever-expanding set of tasks to perform in order to progress the game's plotline. As a player, you choose which tasks to take on ... or not - you can always take the day off and just wander around. The major difference with this game is that the character is continually making choices (you can be nice or a meanie), and these choices affect the progress of the game.
But it's Fallout's particular environment that is most captivating me. There's a vast tract of post-apocalyptic Washington, DC to explore, and unlike most sandbox games, in this one the buildings and structures can be explored internally also. There's the desertlike wasteland, the irradiated Potomac, the urban core of crumbling buildings, the abandoned Metro tunnels, the museums and monuments of the Mall, and interesting settlements created out of scrap metal and highway overpasses, all patrolled by and/or infested with a menagerie of mutated beasties and rogues. Granted, there's some repetition in environmental elements - you couldn't expect such a vast world to be made with everything being unique - but there's so much for me to explore. And the game's pacing is quite rewarding - just when I think I've seen most of what there is to see, the game reveals some juicy new scenario, like the room at the top of the Washington Monument that houses an alternative radio station's transmitter; the water purification laboratory in the rotunda of the Jefferson Monument; and the black-and-white VR world based on 50's conservative American suburbia that you get temporarily stuck in.
Another attraction for me is that, in this game, there's always something interesting to do. Finishing one quest (grrr, that's such a role-playing term ... should I say "task" instead?) can lead to several more.
So most evenings, when Sarah and Margo go to sleep, I put on headphones, boot up the PS3, and soon I'm in my shack in the town of Megaton, ready for another excursion across the postnuclear DC landscape, with my sledgehammer at the ready.
It is a role playing game, but involves a setting I'm much more interested in: a near-future (albeit one based on an alternative history) post-apocalypse, more in tune with the hard-science fiction I enjoy reading. To my mind, it's more in league with "sandbox" games like Grand Theft Auto. I've enjoyed these games for years as they have large environments to explore, and this really stimulates my brain. In addition, in playing both games, the player is given an ever-expanding set of tasks to perform in order to progress the game's plotline. As a player, you choose which tasks to take on ... or not - you can always take the day off and just wander around. The major difference with this game is that the character is continually making choices (you can be nice or a meanie), and these choices affect the progress of the game.
But it's Fallout's particular environment that is most captivating me. There's a vast tract of post-apocalyptic Washington, DC to explore, and unlike most sandbox games, in this one the buildings and structures can be explored internally also. There's the desertlike wasteland, the irradiated Potomac, the urban core of crumbling buildings, the abandoned Metro tunnels, the museums and monuments of the Mall, and interesting settlements created out of scrap metal and highway overpasses, all patrolled by and/or infested with a menagerie of mutated beasties and rogues. Granted, there's some repetition in environmental elements - you couldn't expect such a vast world to be made with everything being unique - but there's so much for me to explore. And the game's pacing is quite rewarding - just when I think I've seen most of what there is to see, the game reveals some juicy new scenario, like the room at the top of the Washington Monument that houses an alternative radio station's transmitter; the water purification laboratory in the rotunda of the Jefferson Monument; and the black-and-white VR world based on 50's conservative American suburbia that you get temporarily stuck in.
Another attraction for me is that, in this game, there's always something interesting to do. Finishing one quest (grrr, that's such a role-playing term ... should I say "task" instead?) can lead to several more.
So most evenings, when Sarah and Margo go to sleep, I put on headphones, boot up the PS3, and soon I'm in my shack in the town of Megaton, ready for another excursion across the postnuclear DC landscape, with my sledgehammer at the ready.
Recyclable Toy
One of the gifts Sarah got for Christmas was an Erector set. It works out particularly well for us. I help her construct something, and when it's done, she has a durable toy to play with. When she's bored with it - and this takes a few days at most - then we just take it apart and make another one. It's brilliant.
So far we've made a helicopter, a truck, and today, a construction crane. These were all built from plans supplied with the set. However, Sarah's getting ready to move beyond supplied plans - her next scheme is to build a pair of glasses.
In related construction news, another favourite activity of Sarah's is playing the LittleBigPlanet video game. It's a platforming game, but rendered in a super-cute collection of realistic fabrics like wood, metal, cotton, and glass, plus a variety of backgrounds and decorations. The other part of the game is the ability to make your own levels and objects. This is what Sarah is drawn to. So far she's made about a dozen levels, some with lots of obstacles and some that have fun slides, as well as a few custom objects such as a rocket-powered sled.
So far we've made a helicopter, a truck, and today, a construction crane. These were all built from plans supplied with the set. However, Sarah's getting ready to move beyond supplied plans - her next scheme is to build a pair of glasses.
In related construction news, another favourite activity of Sarah's is playing the LittleBigPlanet video game. It's a platforming game, but rendered in a super-cute collection of realistic fabrics like wood, metal, cotton, and glass, plus a variety of backgrounds and decorations. The other part of the game is the ability to make your own levels and objects. This is what Sarah is drawn to. So far she's made about a dozen levels, some with lots of obstacles and some that have fun slides, as well as a few custom objects such as a rocket-powered sled.
Sarah's Sayings
We've been noticing that Sarah periodically uses certain phrases around the house. These vary every few weeks. Lately it's been "What the?" That's it. Just the two words, never completed.
This joins the growing list of sayings that comprise about 80% of the words that come out of Sarah's mouth:
This joins the growing list of sayings that comprise about 80% of the words that come out of Sarah's mouth:
- "No fair!" (Meaning, "This displeases me!", and having little to do with the concept of actual fairness)
- "Dad!", "Mom!" (Each spoken as three syllables)
- "Stop it!" (When we tease her and she's not in a good mood)
- "Be quiet!", "Why you!" (When we tease her and she is in a good mood)
Winter Weather
Today we had sunshine for the first time in weeks. It's been a rough winter, weather-wise. I've lived in the Northwest for most of my adult life, but can't remember snow lingering this long. There are still piles of snow on our street, though our sidewalks are almost completely free now, and downtown and other centres have no snow at all. I've been going out in hiking boots for the last two months, and wearing soft-soled shoes today felt noticeably different.
It's been very foggy this week. Today was no exception. I made an excursion to North Vancouver, taking the Seabus across the Burrard Inlet. It's a ferry that runs as often as a bus. Looking out the windows, there was almost no visibility. I probably should have been concerned but wasn't, and looking around, nobody else seemed to be.
(One thing I haven't mentioned before is seeing skiers and snowboarders on buses and other mass transit here. You can take transit to lower Grouse Mountain and ride the gondola uphill to the ski runs.)
Afterwards, having boated back to downtown, I got this shot looking up Georgia Street. The fog could be seen moving slowly between buildings. Here, the tallest building in Vancouver is mostly hidden in the fog.
We're supposed to have sunny weather for most of this week so I'm looking forward to getting out in it.
It's been very foggy this week. Today was no exception. I made an excursion to North Vancouver, taking the Seabus across the Burrard Inlet. It's a ferry that runs as often as a bus. Looking out the windows, there was almost no visibility. I probably should have been concerned but wasn't, and looking around, nobody else seemed to be.
(One thing I haven't mentioned before is seeing skiers and snowboarders on buses and other mass transit here. You can take transit to lower Grouse Mountain and ride the gondola uphill to the ski runs.)
Afterwards, having boated back to downtown, I got this shot looking up Georgia Street. The fog could be seen moving slowly between buildings. Here, the tallest building in Vancouver is mostly hidden in the fog.
We're supposed to have sunny weather for most of this week so I'm looking forward to getting out in it.
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