zx3 @zx3@driveinsaturday.org

today in things that make me feel slightly better about the world even a little bit, Mystery Ben and his animation team are still working on videos for Mystery Skulls.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NN_Kbltsqx4

https://www.patreon.com/MysteryBen

BOC =

i am pretty sure the #cyberdeck is going to be one of those projects i poke at for a few months before it goes anywhere, i have other stuff i need to prioritize and the Big Upgrade i have planned for my main PC is going to need to come first--i feel nervous running DiS knowing that sometimes my GPU will just kick off a reboot because it's dying, and i hate the idea of that happening during a show.

that having been said, choosing color schemes for the thing did keep me up last night. i think i've settled on either 80's Synthesizer Metal-Flake Red with metallic gold highlights, or 70's Office Nouveau Typewriter Orange with metal-flake black highlights. either would be equally obnoxious, though i'm leaning towards the orange. maybe find a spot for the Burroughs logo. hmmm.

https://www.brandslex.de/img/logos/xl/b/logo-burroughs-01.png

before anybody gets mad at me, the non-functional C64-C that inhabited that shell has been sitting in my basement for the last decade in a storage tub marked "PROGENITOR TECHNOLOGY, DO NOT BREAK CONTAINMENT BARRIER, INFONECROSIS RISK" because i like writing dumb things in Sharpie. anyway, it wasn't living its best life, and besides i have a working C64 plugged into an old TV about ten feet from me right now. i mean, it worked the last time i turned it on, which was hunna grunna mumble years ago.

the guts of the broken C64-C are shambling about my basement now, looking for a new home like an evicted hermit crab. it's nudging the tape flap of one of my broken VCR's, that'd be a good home for it. go on, lil' guy, crawl inside and get comfy.

hey kids, you wanna build a #cyberdeck?

so as it turns out i might be pretty okay at pinball.

this is the second week of the league, and both weeks i have moved up a bracket, which is not bad for a robot whose main strategy is "keep the ball in play for as long as possible even if you're just gently juggling it back and forth between the flippers like a dork, eventually points will somehow accrue."

this is not to brag, just to chronicle something nice that is happening in my life.

what i don't get are the guys who slam their entire body into the machine and take out their frustration on it with the flat of their hand when it swallows a ball. it is not the machine's fault, Anger Boys. Gravity is a harsh mistress. be gentle to the machine, speak love to the machine and she will shower you with points. Blessed be the Bride of Pin-Bot. Z'ommmmm.

oh, and yes, there is a Dolly Parton pinball, it's real and it's spectacular. ⚙️

one more night on call, waiting for the regular 2AM outage...

https://youtu.be/SCZVkKzYZKs

see if you can find a pattern here:

* positive press drives engagement
* shameful acts and bad pubicity drives engagement
* bad publicity is automatically seen as good publicity by group A if it is perceived as making group B mad
* shameful acts are perceived as being either forgivable peccadillos, noble efforts, or unsubstantiated fabrications by the press if they are carried out in the name of pleasing group A or frustrating group B; regardless of real-world outcomes

and

* it is far easier to engage in shameful behavior than ethical behavior, since ethical behavior requires adherence to rules, thinking of others and considering the consequences of one's actions

*therefore* it is fair to assume that the vast majority of public figures are acting out of bad faith since there are few, if any, repercussions for their actions. the exceptions to this rule are becoming farther and fewer between.

statements like "at long last, sir, have you no sense of decency?" have no weight in the current context because we all know the answer is "no" and such an answer, expressed out loud, would result in a net loss of zero engagement.

we are knee-deep in stochastic war with an enemy who has surgically removed their ability to feel remorse or self-reflection; like a lab rat whose brain is hardwired to a big red button labeled "HATE" that jolts their pleasure center every time they press it.

how do we engage with people like this? how do we state our case, present our view of a better world for everyone? can we disable the HATE button? should we even bother?

more than anything, i want there to be an answer other than the one that rhymes with "schmilloutines in every public square" but my problem is i am just smart enough to quantify the problem and too dumb to figure out the solution and i really hope that someone, somewhere is furiously scribbling on a whiteboard and is getting REAL close to something testable.