Stardate: 20240721.2004
Location: Local SBUX
Input Device: Steam Deck with folding BT keyboard
Audio: Cheezy SBUX muzak
Visual: FMD + CRT + Transparent background of meatspace.
Emotional: Refreshed?
I just woke up from a nice long nap that I think my body needed.
Unfortunately, it is 8PM and I am drinking hawt coffee, so I will
prolly be up for awhile.
The old (handheld) computer challenge (OCC) v4 has ended. I felt
m0ar disconnected this year due to my choice of device(s). I
(hastily) chose 2 handheld devices that could potentially go the
distance. The pa1mOne Tungsten E2 from 2005 and the Nokie N900 fro
2009.
I think that v4 was much m0ar of a challenge for me that v3. With
OCC v3 [1], I used a Sun Microsystems Ultra 10 from 1998 and an ASU
eeePC 701 from 2007. Both had full-sized user interfaces (screen,
keyboard, and mouse) and were easy to use when the initial setup wi
worked out.
With OCC v4, I don't think I really got into much of a rhythm with
the devices. Each time I used the devices, it felt like an uphill
challenge that kept changing. Power issues, software instability,
small screens, hardware incompatibilties, limited network, etc. It
felt like survival computing or something.
Both devices are stil functional, but I doubt I could use them as a
daily driver, outside of the OCC. Then again, they were not really
made to be a main device. Pairing it with a laptop would be much
m0ar manageable.
ONe of the things I noticed was that my eyes are so used to larger,
higher-rez screens these days. Going back to the lo-rez older
devices took some adjusting, but eventually got used to it. Not my
preferred, but somewhat useable in limited amounts of time. Also,
eyes are not what they were back then.
With the E2, I think I will still continue using it for the time
being for my PIM stuff and maybe get syncing going.
With the N900, I will probably set up USB networking, like I did ba
in the day. With the setup, I can access the device through the
terminal and through x11vnc. The battery will also stay charged.
will probably move it on a larger TV display since I use the 7"
broken clock thing for testing and retro gaming. Most likely an ol
portable DVD player with RCA input whose battery died long ago but
can still function with a wall wart.
For the challenge, I was definitely challenged. I did not do much
with the tasks I wanted to do and was not able to connect to the
community in realtime,..which kinda reminded me of communications
back in the day... I did have fun and glad that I was able to
participate this year!
Thanks, Solène, for starting this happening and to all of the
participants of OCC v4!!! I still have many OCC logs to catch
up on and visit outside of gopherspace on the smolnet.
DIR [1] the old computer challenge 2023