Category: nostalgia

Forgotten tech

Are you old when you can recall technology from the past? Technology that either no longer exists, or the name you use for it is no longer in use.

My father used to say photostat and fax. In my youth there was dial-up and BBS. The device halfway between a smartphone and tablet was a phablet. We had MP3 players like the Creative Rhomba, flip phones that fit in the palm of your hands. PDAs. All forgotten like tears in the rain. Saved in our memories, while they last.

Saving. That reminds me, most children today do not know where the save icon comes from. The good old floppy disk. Not the 5.25 inch, the real floppy, but the 3.5 inch rigid 720MB SD (880 Amiga) or 1.44HD.

Old technology. Guru meditations.

Kingpin

I have old game discs lying around. I even have a few floppies, albeit they are rarely used thanks to emulators, and my last floppy drive having developed the click of death. I keep only the games that I enjoy, and continue to do so. Ones with a journey, a campaign, a linear storyline with entertaining gameplay.

Games with titles such as Kingpin, Cadaver, Max Payne, Half Life, and the more recent The Last of Us, and Uncharted. All offering virtual escapism for hours on end. With well trodden familiar territory. I’ve lost count how many times I’ve completed Kingpin. Yet despite the aging graphics, it still entertains me. Occasionally It’ll replay Doom, Quake, Duke Nukem, and other 90s FPS titles, but Kingpin remains my favourite.

I’ve played mods and have my favourites, especially for Max Payne. New Dawn leads by far. I know the levels inside-out. Some games I’ve played so many times that I’ve gone way beyond a hundred percent completion, beyond easter eggs, and testing boundaries, to testing how the games handle the unexpected. Most stand the test of time. My hats off to their QAs.

I’ve dipped back into point and click revisiting Monkey Island, the Amazon Queen, Enchantia, and Kyrandia. Said hi to Simon, Larry, Sam and Max. Dropped in on top-down with the early GTA and very early Commando. And I’ve emulated the Valhalla Classics. Yet I keep coming back to my well-worn Kingpin disc. I’ve replayed this at least once every decade, if not more. Maybe every half-decade. I keep coming back to it. The forgotten classic.

What games have stood the test of time with you? 

I had one of those

I had one of those.

It’s the car show small talk equivalent of saying “Busy night?” to a taxi driver. You walk up to the proud owner sitting besides their pride and joy, and you have that look on your face that you want to say something. And it’s usually something along the lines of  I, my dad, my uncle, my grandad had one of those indicating the car. Only it was X colour with Y optional extras and Z modifications. So one like it but not exactly the same.

It’s then followed by “Nice to see one still around”. Then you move on. Nostalgia box ticked, useless information handed over.

Until you spot another reminder. Ooh my auntie Jane had one of these, only it was blue, with chrome bits, and the interior was different. Nice to see one still on the road though.

Reflections

I’m walking on a beach reflecting. It reminds me of another beach, long ago at the start of my career. I was sent to the South coast to work with a client. I was lodged at a lovely hotel with pristine beaches. It’s the end of a productive day and I’m walking along the beach on a call discussing the future with a friend. The road ahead looks bright.

Cut to the present. I’m on another beach, memories of the first triggered. How did life pan out? Did my career go how I wanted it to go? Am I where I wanted to be at this age?

Reflections.

Navigating without Sat Nav

I was loaned a courtesy car recently. It had no sat nav. In fact you couldn’t even connect your phone to it. It was slow and well-used, and basic.

It was great.

No one could reach me and I had to navigate old school, by looking at signs and landmarks. It took me back to when I first learned to drive. My first car didn’t even have a working radio. The thrill and freedom of owning a car, being able to go wherever you wanted when you wanted was enough. You didn’t need tech to keep you entertained, to keep in touch with people when driving, or to navigate.

Just you and the car.

It was nice.

Treacle vodka

I saw someone drinking a treacle-coloured alcoholic drink recently and it immediately took me back to my University days and a drink some Scottish friends of mine would drink: Treacle vodka.

They would place a bottle of vodka in the freezer and leave it there. It would never freeze but it got very cold. Later they would place ice in a glass with Irn Bru and pour the cold vodka over it. Voila! Treacle vodka. A lethal drink but great for late night coding or gaming.

I wonder if anyone still drinks it?

Technology of the past

I walked by a public payphone. One of those old red boxes you hardly see anymore. There was a phone inside. Also rare. Not a collection of second hand books or a defibrillator. An actual phone.

It took me back to my University days. I practically lived in those phone boxes. I knew where every one was within walking distance of campus. I didn’t have a mobile phone, yet. I used calling cards to phone friends all over the world. We used messaging services and mailboxes.

I started thinking about all the technology I used to use that my children will never use, or possibly see, outside of a technology museum. My Grandma’s rotary dial telephone. The kitchen phone with its long curled cable so you can hand the phone to someone in the dining room. The VHS player, or VCR. Cassette players, record players, mini disc players, even CD players. Full fat TVs, walkmans, pagers, PDAs, and tiny flip phones. All gone, replaced with the latest technology and digital streams.

There’s still a few public payphones around though. For now.

Dandelion and burdock

I suddenly had a thirst for dandelion and burdock. A drink I haven’t even thought about since childhood.

It was popular in 1980s England. The lemonade man used to sell it. He’d pop around with his lorry full of pop each week. You could get the usual flavours like lemonade, cola, fizzy orange. Then there was the more exotic flavours like American cream soda, and dandelion and burdock.

It tasted like cola in the same way Dr Pepper tastes like Cherry Coke. Similar, but not the same. Something slightly different giving it something extra for the taste buds to savour.

I’ve tried finding a can or bottle with no luck. Friends up north can locate some but I have yet to locate any down here. I’m not giving up though. A taste memory from my childhood needs satiating.

Zero results found

Back in the early days of the internet there was a game we played with Google, where we would try to search for something that would return no results. We would do this on purpose. As more and more data made its way onto the internet it became harder and harder to find something that returned zero results, or even just a single result.

These days it’s practically impossible. Google will always return something, even if it’s just a page of sponsored links. And now there’s AI adding content to the results of your search.

So much data. Zero results.

Adventure is calling

Looking out to sea watching the cargo ships come and go I think back to the many ships I have sailed on. Travelling from port to port enjoying both the journey and the anticipation of the destination. With each new country came sights and sounds,  places to explore, culture and communities to immerse yourself in, food and drink to savour, new people to meet.

The thrill of adventure. Never knowing what’s around the corner or over the next hill. Castles and historic houses, kingdoms of old, deserts, mountains, rivers, and beautiful beaches. Music, laughter, walks, exploring. Sleeping under the stars, swimming in lagoons, sailing through swamps and bayous.

Adventure is calling.