zZed is listening to ...

Turrican_2/mdat.intro_and_title on (manual) loop.

I had to compile UADE from source - the audacious plugin needs to be disabled since it only supports version 2.0. I couldn't get the TMFX plugin for xmms to work (although i was impressed that slackware still includes xmms).

But yeah ... just sitting back with a couple of G&T's and reminiscing about 'good times' ...

Computers were so much more fun back in the early 90s. Weekend hacking was trying to see how few scan-lines you could get a MOD player to execute in or see how many bobs you could get on the screen within a frame - not writing a fucking ELF loader. Actually those 'good times' were pretty lonely and miserable too; maybe that's why I return whenever I'm again feeling shit.

I plugged one of the small amps I got into my workstation and hooked it up to some desktop speaker modules I acquired at some point to try them out (some sony vaio ones, they're decent enough). I thought the remote on my amp wasn't working so I took it apart and had a look. Oh dear the soldering and component mounting was surprisingly shithouse - some of the pins were nearly touching and the circuit board was covered in splattered solder. I reflowed the main amp IC and a few other pins and added some extra jumpers for the main output signals, did a bit of a clean-up, (the tracks get very thin in places) and made sure the power socket was properly soldered in (it was well short of enough solder). In the end I realised the remote only controls the MP3 module anyway so it was pretty much a pointless exercise apart from a bit of soldering practice.

Last night I finally started playing Dragons Dogma after downloading it from PS+ a few months ago. After Oblivion and Dragon Age it's character creation system is actually pretty decent - people look like people; and the cut-scenes almost look pre-rendered even with your custom character in them. Well pretty people anyway, and if i'm going to look at them for a few days solid that what i'd rather be looking at even if you mostly just see their backs and awkward gait. If I keep on playing it anyway; just can't seem to get much into games for the last couple of years but occasionally something keeps me busy for a while.

Had a weird and disturbing dream though. One of the "trying to run but feet can't get any purchase" variety which is pretty much a recurring nightmare of the last 20 years from my body trying to wake me up either from sleep apnoea or overheating. At least this one was dodging meteorites which was something new and novel, although by the end my mobility was so impaired I was reduced to crawling and still not being able to make forward progress (an alarmingly unpleasant experience, real or not). The Armageddon themed ones are always the most interesting although waking up from them is still horrible.

Ran out of Tonic, trying to find a quaffer in the cellar which isn't off ... they're all off so far. Damn.