I got a new computer. It's a thinkpad (x1 carbon gen10) and came with Ubuntu preinstalled. I often say this about new computers, but I really like it. I tend to get to a point when I'm mad at the new computer and then all feels lost until the next one. This one feels different; it feels like home. This is a blog post about bookmarks but first: a tour through computing disappointments from the thinkpad I had in 2010 to today:
- the thinkpad in 2010 did not let me down. I loved it. I lost it in a very bad breakup.
- job gave me a macbook. it was heavy and hot. I put ubuntu on it and it barely worked. I hated it.
- next job gave me a dell xps 13 with ubuntu. it was hot and sharp. the hard drive eventually died.
- I actually have no idea what the next job gave me. I just don't remember at all. that's weird. probably a mac book pro.
- next job gave me a thinkpad x1 carbon gen5. I put linux on it. I liked it mostly but it had very quiet speakers and a dim screen. Also hot.
- job forced a switch to mac. mac book pro 2018. I hated the touchbar. heavy and hot. really bad keyboard.
- microsoft surface go. this thing was adorable. Basically a netbook. Awkward on my lap, though, and ran real slow.
- microsoft suface book. the worst designed laptop I have ever used. screen cracked in my bag and it cut my thumb a few times.
- microsoft surface pro x. Also awkward on my lap and blue screened once a day. laughably unusable.
- system76 lemur pro. I had such high hopes. terrible keyboard, bad speakers, bad touchpad, and serious hardware issue around battery consumption. gave it away.
- job gave me an m1 mbp. I came pretty close to liking this laptop. ultimately it was macos that made it unpleasant for me. also, i did not love the keyboard.
This new bud has a _beautiful_ screen. decent speakers. A luxurious keyboard and touchpad. Big SSD. even the fingerprint reader works in Ubuntu. Since its first boot this laptop has felt like home.
Something about this home feeling has made me feel comfortable. Like I'm sinking into a cozy chair and taking stock of a warm, safe, familiar cottage. I set up Firefox and synced my stuff and felt like arranging my big pile of unsorted bookmarks from the past decade-ish.
here's some that felt notable. maybe i'll add more later.
(LINK https://www.increpare.com/ increpare.com) a large collection of interesting little games, many of which are playable in the browser. I do not know how or when I came across this.
(LINK https://frandallfarmer.github.io/neohabitat-doc/docs// neo habitat) a remake of the original graphical multiplayer game.
(LINK https://web.archive.org/web/20221218232044/https://mud.co.uk/richard/DesigningVirtualWorlds.pdf A PDF of Richard Bartle's Designing Virtual Worlds book) Unfortunately his site has gone down but the Wayback machine has a backup.
(LINK https://alba-valb.org/ lincoln brigade database) database of americans that volunteered in the (LINK https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_Civil_War spanish civil war)
(LINK https://twitter.com/dasharez0ne/status/979810839749210112/ this da share zone tweet my wife and i reference constantly)
(LINK https://us.v-cdn.net/6030815/uploads/983/406D7PPRTDZG.gif this gif)
(LINK https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0155636/ imdb entry for Colony Mutation) Came across this fascinating, kind of cronenberg-without-budget movie recorded onto a blank VHS tape in a thrift store.
(LINK https://patents.google.com/patent/US1214863A/en the patent for disco balls)
(LINK https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leopold_von_Sacher-Masoch the wikipedia article for Leopold von Sacher-Masoch). Masochism is named for him. Though he didn't want that.
(LINK http://www.oocities.org/capitolhill/2333/rookie.html drama in alphaworld)
(LINK https://imgur.com/a/SkZQ4 a gallery of cyberpunk/hacker zines) some really cool stuff i haven't seen elsewhere.
