There Are Times...
when I really wish that stuff in sf books was real:
"Tell me about Sandbenders," Masahiko said...
"It started with a woman who was an interface designer," Chia said, glad to change the subject. "Her husband was a jeweller, and he'd died of that nerve-attenuation thing, before they saw how to fix it. But he'd been a big green, too, and he hated the way consumer electrnoics were made, a ckouple of little chips and boards inside these plastic shells. The shells were just point-of-purchase eye-candy, he said, made to wind up in the landfill if nobody recycled it, and usually nobody did. So, before he got sick, he used to tear up her hardware, the designer's, and put the real parts into cases he'd make in his shop. Say he'd make a solid bronze case for a minidixk unit, ebony inlays, carve the control surfaces out of fossil ivory, turquoise, rock crystal. It weighed more, sure, but it turned out a lot of people liked that, like they had their music or their memory, whatever, in something that felt like it was there.... And people liked touching all that stuff: metal, a smooth stone.... And once you had the case, when the manufacturer brought out a new model, well, if the electronics were any better, you just pulled the old ones out and put the new ones in your case. So you still had the same object, just with better functions."
..."And it turned out some people liked that, too, liked it a lot. He started to get commissions to make these things. One of the first was for a keyboard, and the keys were cut from the keys of an old piano, with the numbers and letters in silver. But then he got sick...."
Well, I'm not happy that a fictional character got sick and died, but I would dearly love one of his creations.
It's quarter past ten, and I'm feeling a tad short on spoons. Despite my house being quiet as the grave all week, today was visitor day, some invited and announced, some not. They were all welcome, but I'm a bit tired - and all the cups in the house have been washed at least twice. The good news is, my Chinese friends that I called over to make sure they knew what to do with the census have already filled in the forms, no problem. The bad news is I lost three chess games. *Sigh* I never said that I was good at it.
I am sipping 'Sleep' tea, which tastes like a very weak form of peppermint tea. I could really use a coffee, but I gave it up for Lent.
Sucks to be me.
Just out of interest, how many people actually read this blog? Feel free to comment.
"Tell me about Sandbenders," Masahiko said...
"It started with a woman who was an interface designer," Chia said, glad to change the subject. "Her husband was a jeweller, and he'd died of that nerve-attenuation thing, before they saw how to fix it. But he'd been a big green, too, and he hated the way consumer electrnoics were made, a ckouple of little chips and boards inside these plastic shells. The shells were just point-of-purchase eye-candy, he said, made to wind up in the landfill if nobody recycled it, and usually nobody did. So, before he got sick, he used to tear up her hardware, the designer's, and put the real parts into cases he'd make in his shop. Say he'd make a solid bronze case for a minidixk unit, ebony inlays, carve the control surfaces out of fossil ivory, turquoise, rock crystal. It weighed more, sure, but it turned out a lot of people liked that, like they had their music or their memory, whatever, in something that felt like it was there.... And people liked touching all that stuff: metal, a smooth stone.... And once you had the case, when the manufacturer brought out a new model, well, if the electronics were any better, you just pulled the old ones out and put the new ones in your case. So you still had the same object, just with better functions."
..."And it turned out some people liked that, too, liked it a lot. He started to get commissions to make these things. One of the first was for a keyboard, and the keys were cut from the keys of an old piano, with the numbers and letters in silver. But then he got sick...."
Well, I'm not happy that a fictional character got sick and died, but I would dearly love one of his creations.
It's quarter past ten, and I'm feeling a tad short on spoons. Despite my house being quiet as the grave all week, today was visitor day, some invited and announced, some not. They were all welcome, but I'm a bit tired - and all the cups in the house have been washed at least twice. The good news is, my Chinese friends that I called over to make sure they knew what to do with the census have already filled in the forms, no problem. The bad news is I lost three chess games. *Sigh* I never said that I was good at it.
I am sipping 'Sleep' tea, which tastes like a very weak form of peppermint tea. I could really use a coffee, but I gave it up for Lent.
Sucks to be me.
Just out of interest, how many people actually read this blog? Feel free to comment.
posted by theamazingcatherine | 10:08 pm
11 Comments:
Well, just so you know I'm reading over on the lj feed.
It is a little strange not knowing who is out there reading your thoughts.
I too am reading over there in LJ land
Well, I'm reading. *Hugs*
I know about the not enough spoons feeling, although yesterday was lots of fun and today I'm feeling a lot more bouncy than I was last week.
I should go and do some homework...
Well, hiya Three Monkeys, pleased ta meetcha online. *shakes hand*
*shakes hand*
Just in case you didn't know, we have met in rl, albeit without significant conversation, at a couple of conventions. I'm sure Stephanie can verify.
Just so you know, I have you friended on LJ (OK, so technically, I have a syndicated feed to your blog friended on LJ, but like the Labyrinth worm said, "'s the same thing, really, innit?"
This means I read every entry you post... I just don't always have anything constructive to add to the mix, so I don't always comment.
Lotsa hugs, and understanding and empathy for the lack of spoons.
Starfire
Hey Catherine, it's Anna from Mordavia *waves cheerfully*
I've been reading for a while but I'm usually too shy to comment. But I enjoy your entries.
What's the LJ feed for your blog?
Hi Anna [waves]
Cat's feed is: http://syndicated.livejournal.com/lagataencantada/
Mine is: http://syndicated.livejournal.com/nz_swordmaiden/
Unlike Cat, I didn't pick the name, and in fact it took about a month of poking around in LJ land before I realised that this nz_swordmaiden person that my friends kept referencing was actually me. [shrugs]
Hey Cat,
FYI, there is a big thing nowadays in building customer computer cases. Do a google search for case mod and you should find a whole pile of stuff.
Lots of pretty stuff, although often masculine in tone to display the owner's wanna-be alpha male qualities in the context of a LAN game.
Of course, true alpha males display that quality by their very prescence <cough>.
Most case-mods have a very techy aesthetic. Most common is a window in the side so you can see the guts, and illuminating bits like fans, UV flurescent cabling etc. I can appreciate the asthetics of this (motherboards should be seen) but haven't indulged myself. At that level, you just buy the bits you want.
More elaborate case mods require engineering and other craft skills - gingerbread house computer case, mahogany computer case, whatever.
Unfortunately, "just replace the innards" isn't as easy as it sounds - e.g. you make your greenstone iPod, but the model you later want to update to has a bigger screen.
You can spend lots of money on case mods, but only maladjusted weirdos would do so - as opposed to people who spend lots of money making their computer really quiet, who are all upstanding, intelligent and attractive, of course. :-)
Hey there,
I read via RSS, so I catch up about once a week.
xx Deb
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