Magnificent Obsessions: Building a Game Console

If I said someone was working on building their own computer gaming console that would plug into a TV you'd probably say something like "I can believe it".

If I said the person wasn't working on a 63 or 32 bit modern system but was going to build their own 8 bit computer system along the lines of the Nintendo Entertainment System you'd probably say "I can't imagine why anyone would do it but I can still believe it".

If I said that the person in question isn't going to use any modern components except for an inexpensive modern microcontroller. All the support chips, memory, video timings, and the like will be handled with components that were available back in the 8 bit era. At this point you'd probably agree with me that this qualifies as a magnificent obsession.

Brad Graham from Lucid Science is attempting just such a feat. He's building the Lazarus-64 which he started thinking about while on vacation and named because:

The name "Lazarus-64" was penciled on the top of the notebook, and it seemed fitting considering the mythical character that rose from the dead.

The project is very much a work in progress but there has been a lot of progress. Going through the work Brad's done so far will remind us old fogeys just how complicated early systems were. No simple systems-on-a-chip back then. I'm looking forward to seeing how far the Lazarus-64 will progress. It reminds me of how much programmers and designers could get out of systems that seem incredibly limited by modern standards.

Magnificent Obsessions: Eating a City and Eating the World

Here's a typical conversation that can happen in large cities with lots of different restaurants. It starts with:

"Where do you want to eat?"

Typically followed by:

"I don't know. What type of food do you feel like?"

In 1989 a group in Toronto decided to solve the questions of "where do you want to eat?". They'd eat at every restaurant in the city, one a week, in alphabetical order. Every year they take the Toronto Yellow Pages restaurant section and continue from whichever restaurant they last visited. The Serial Diners are still going strong. Their agenda shows that as of July 2010 they had reached the letter K - kniblets LMT to be exact.

Their site has the rules, and copies of several articles that chronicle the story of the group. If you own a restaurant in Toronto which starts with the letter L then be prepared. On a seemingly random Friday a large group of friendly diners will descend on your restaurant unannounced.

That solves the question of where to eat. What about the type of food?

Well three intrepid diners living in New York are trying to systematically handle that problem. They are going to eat the cuisine of the United Nations. Again the approach is to take the countries in alphabetical order. But they aren't going to fly around the world. They don't need to do that. After all they live in New York City. Home of the United Nations and one of the most diverse cities on the planet - at least in terms of cuisine.

So, to use their tag line they will be "eating the UN, A-Z without ever leaving NYC". The wonderfully named Confined Nomads are not quite as proscribed in their choice of restaurants. They don't have to visit every Chinese restaurant. They will jut try and do a representative sampling of the cuisine of China. Their journey, which as of now has reached Columbia, is filled with discussions on how much is representative and insights into the cuisines and restaurants they've encountered.

Being Canadian I decided to check out what the confined nomads came up with for Canadian cuisine. Canada is blessed with being a large country where we freely eat and enjoy the foods of the world. Toronto is probably even more diverse in terms of ethnic and regional restaurants than even New York. But we've been so busy eating the cuisine of the rest of the world that I'm not sure we've created a unique cuisine of our own. So I was a little hesitant to find out what represented Canada in New York City.

Canada, according to our restaurants, is TPoutine (and who doesn't love the concept of poutine), Tim Horton's Donuts (though they didn't like the coffee. Must be all that over roasted and burnt starbuckian crud the USA calls coffee. At least it isn't the watered down barely dark brown water they used to serve in the US), and The Ontario Bar. They didn't make it to Mile End which is a Montreal style deli.

Poutine, Donuts, and an inviting bar with Canadian beer and Whiskey? That's good enough representation for me!

A Mythbuster Explains

Adam Savage is one half of the Mythbusters. If you thought the show was interesting... watch Adam outside of his Discovery Channel habitat.

Watch him talk about his approach to solving problems, then talk about his colossal failures, and finally he goes into details of his level of obsessions.

Magnificent Obsessions: When One Script isn't Enough

Sometimes things just all fall into place. First I wrote about how Chinese is a hard language to learn. Next came a follow up on various writing and calligraphy systems of the world including Chinese. On a completely unrelated note I wrote about how I don't like The Lord of the Rings.

And then out of the ether a webpage start making the rounds. Write Your Name in Elvish in Ten Minutes by Ned Gulley gives directions on how to take an English word and write it in an elvish script. I can imagine many tattoo artists using this page as a howto manual.

But there's more to Tolkien's various created languages then directly writing english in a new font. Much more. Books have been written on the languages and scripts Tolkien created. A short introduction to Tengwar, one of his languages, is on Omniglot.

Fair warning. Omniglot is a dangerous wonderful website for anyone who loves languages and writing. There are examples of many ancient and modern scripts. A section on fictional alphabets and undeciphered scripts. And it goes on and on and on. All with links to other resources and sites. Omniglot certainly qualifies as a magnificent obsession.

Magnificent Obsessions: "Life is like a ten speed bicycle..."

Life is like a ten speed bicycle. Most of us have gears we never use. - Charles M. Schultz

As often as I can I walk home from work. Usually with an mp3 player blasting music of any and all types - heavy metal included. Occasionally I consider getting myself a bike and sparing some wear and tear on my shoes. The idea quickly goes away for two reasons. One is that I'm barely awake in the morning so I'm not sure I would be aware enough to avoid the idiotic drivers on the road. Second - I do like to lose myself in audiobooks, audiodramas, or music for ninety minutes during my walks home. A bike would get me home too quickly.

If I ever do seriously think of buying a bike I'll do a lot of my research for buying using Ken Kifer's Bike Pages. I stumbled across Ken's website with a link to his article on Cycling Cadence and Bicycle Gearing. Math, physics, and the quest for the easiest ride up the hills. What's not to like? The entire website is full of useful articles. From tips on touring to how to perform basic repairs. From traffic safety to humour. Ken was passionate about bicycles and the bicycle lifestyle.

Yes... was. Ken was killed in 2003 by a drunk driver in pickup truck who hit him while he was riding his bicycle. The website is being kept online because of how much it meant to Ken. Ken's website covers more than just bikes. He was passionate about many things and he poured his energy into his website. There isn't a more fitting tribute than just leaving his website running for people like me to come across. Ken certainly used most of his gears.

Magnificent Obsessions: From a Cube to a Pizza

There are people in the world who have the energy and drive to create magnificent obsessions. Jeff Varasano is a person who has obsessed magnificently at least twice in his life.

In the 80s I picked up a small book that detailed a method of solving the Rubik's Cube in under 45 seconds. Jeff Conquers the Cube in 45 Seconds - and you can to (also out as Conquer the Cube in 45 Seconds) was how I learned to solve the cube quickly. At the time most of the early published solutions were based on solving the cube layer by layer. You formed the bottom layer, filled in the middle, and then finished with the top layer. Jeff's version was to work from the corners in. The technique also had the option of simpler bits (sections that you could complete using only a couple of combinations but you may have to do them several times in a row) or more complicated bits (solving the same sections in fewer moves but you had to remember more move combinations). His method was good enough at the time to let him set a world record of 24.67 seconds at the age of 14.

I can blame thank Jeff for writing the book that I absorbed and memorized and that gave me some serious pre-computer geek cred. Everyone else in my high school who learned the cube used clunkier methods and they couldn't compete with me.

That's obsession number one. AN obsession that hasn't made a lasting impact on the web except that his method is still talked about and listed in various comparisons of how to do the cube. Jeff's second obsession, the one that has left an impact on the web, happened because he moved from New York to Atlanta.

Now there's nothing wrong with Atlanta. Great city. Great people. But... according to Jeff the pizza in Atlanta is awful. Nothing like the thin, quick cooked New York city pies he loved growing up. So what's a person to do?

Obsessively try to recreate New York pizza of course. While documenting every step of the way. From which flour and water. To how to get the dough just right. To which toppings to use. To how to jury-rig home ovens to get hot enough (he doesn't give details... but the secret is to bypass the locking mechanism and to use the high heat cleaning cycle). It's all there on his site. With links to what he considers the best pizzerias in the country, lots of pictures of how the perfect pie should look, and helpful advice on how to do it yourself.

I stumbled across Jeff's pizza page a couple of years ago when he was in full obsession mode but before he opened a restaurant in downtown Atlanta to finally bring good pizza to his new hometown. Varasano's Pizzeria is the obvious conclusion to this second obsession. Luckily he's kept all the details on how to create the perfect pie online for all of us to consider trying out ourselves.

I wonder if Jeff has another act to play out now that his restaurant is open? Will he be happy running his restaurant and sharing the perfect pizza? Or will he start obsessing about something else? Only time will tell.

Magnificent Obsessions?: Keeping a Head Above Water

When I first defined Magnificent Obsessions I said it was when "a person or group puts untold effort and time into building their site. Part of you will wonder why. Another part of you will be in awe of the dedication and energy." 


I think this falls into the category of 'why?' because this is about a site that shows people walking on water. Okay... running on water. Apparently speed is important to make it work.

Now there is an old joke about us Canadians believing that Jesus walked on water. We just figured it was the middle of winter. But the water in question here isn't ice.

You see if this was just a simple online video of someone walking on water of the unfrozen variety I wouldn't be too impressed. If it was just a single web page I wouldn't be too impressed. But when the video is put together with the quality of a commercial video and everyone takes the idea so seriously... well... how can I resist.

Liquid Mountaineering is relatively new. It may only qualify as a magnificent obsession in the making. (A proto-obsession?) But what makings it has. From the opening post that admits:

We are still pioneering the sport and the techniques to run across water, but we’re pretty sure it could be the next big thing. We're truly lucky to live in this historic time when technology and human skill come together to make the impossible possible.

Through the video of their adventures and achievements in the field... Liquid Mountaineering has so much potential. Let's hope they keep pushing the limits of technology, human stamina, and human credibility for a while yet.

Magnificent Obsessions: Not Computer Teaching as We Knew It

For the best educational videos on an ever growing list of subjects visit the Khan Academy.

Math from "1+1" through to advanced calculus. Physics, biology, chemistry, and finance are also covered with more being created all the time. All of them the work of one man - Salman Khan.

Khan Academy videos seem to break all the rules of educational videos. There is no on screen instructor - Salman Khan is just a voice over. Many of the videos have nothing but a black screen on which Salman draws and writes on using his offscreen graphics tablet. Some of the videos do have backgrounds that aren't just black. The chemistry videos may have an onscreen periodic table for instance. Even then the backdrops are for writing and drawing on.

He doesn't seem to work from a detailed script. He knows what he wants to cover and he gets to it. He makes mistakes and corrects himself. He uses phrases like "super duper strong" and other colloquialisms. He doesn't talk down to students or lecture endlessly. All the things that just "are not done" in most educational videos are the things that make these videos so accessible.

The collection is growing. The list of topics ever expanding. I don't know if Salman Khan will be able to continue doing this for as long as he wants. He started by using his own savings as he put together this free resource. Here's hoping he finds funding, donations, or grants and continues for a long time. Even if he doesn't continue much longer his obsession has already created an educational resource that is freely available and never going away.

Magnificent Obsessions: Who Knew Corporate Hell Could be Funny?

I've been an office worker for my entire full time career. The personalities, politics, and inanities of office life are part of my daily life. When I finally leave the world of the office behind I'm not sure I'll miss those parts of corporate life. Luckily for us some people did miss it and set out to recreate part of it with hilarious results. Here's part of the explanation for Pretend Office which is "Almost certainly among the best companies in the field that it's in".

For a couple of months myself and some friends and strangers have been communicating via a mailing list as if it’s the “everyone@” company-wide list in an office where we all work.

Why, you ask, would anyone pine for the "everyone@" company-wide email list?

A little backstory. A few times over the past couple of years I’ve discussed with freelancing friends how we miss out on some of the aspects of working in a proper company: the Christmas lunch, the after-work drinks, the fire alarm tests. All that bonding.

Yes... you guessed it. I'm pointing you to the email archive of a pretend company's internal mailing list. Start with the opening salvo way back in February 2009 and you'll spend hours clicking "Next message:".

I know... if you haven't already given it a read you're wondering whether it will make you laugh or cry. It will definitely make you laugh. It may hit a bit too close to home sometimes but I've never actually cried. Yet. It's over the top and yet somehow only slightly absurd. Haven't you worked in an office where this type of message has gone around:

Please be careful in customer reception today. The new floor is proving to be very slippy in this wet weather, so PLEASE do not shake your umbrellas out on the floor, and WIPE YOUR FEET if you come in that way. We've already had one fatal accident this morning and don't want another!! 

But the floor does look amazing, so congratulations to Tim, Alex and the rest of the team in Facilities Actualisation (Floors & Ceilings) for their hard work over the past few months.

As I said... it's absurd while still sounding almost plausible.

In my own real corporate life I have kept an email that went around one hospital warning staff of an aggressive goose that made leaving the main building to go to the staff parking lot dangerous. It warned not to approach the bird as "there is potential to be pecked." As funny as the Pretend Office mailing list is maybe it isn't too over the top after all.

In case you want comic relief on an ongoing basis there is even an RSS feed. Follow along. It will make you want to fill out your "Competency Assessment Questionaire Self-Assessment Programme 2010".

Magnificent Obsessions: An Insular World

Not every post will be related to the current topic though I plan to have more than half the posts be on topic. Off topic posts aren't as focussed. They'll cover whatever subjects and parts of the longer web strike me as interesting.

Magnificent Obsessions are those parts of the web that took a long time to put together. Where a person or group puts untold effort and time into building their site. Part of you will wonder why. Another part of you will be in awe of the dedication and energy. Magnificent Obsessions are a fascinating part of the longer web. 

I recently stumbled across the existence of a hobby I'd never heard of before. A short while later I was reading about the way in which radiation can alter antiques to try and raise their value. Follow along and you may look at the utility poles in your neighbourhood with new appreciation.

I've heard about collecting stamps. I've heard about bird watching. But I hadn't heard of collecting electrical insulators. I hadn't suspected that people searched for old insulators and bought and sold them. Did you know there is a National Insulator Association? Or that this July in Boxborough Massachusetts there will be the 41st annual show and convention?

Neither did I. 

Turns out that a little investigation into this hobby can lead to all sorts of other discoveries. It makes one think about the invisible pieces of technology that are all around us. Those items that need to be in place to make everything work. We tend to think of electricity as a given. It's always there isn't it? We take the power grid for granted. We certainly don't think about the individual parts that make up the grid.

It wasn't always this way of course. There was a time when the nights where lit by candle or fire. When hot water was boiled on the stove and the only horsepower available needed to be fed.

By the way.... what must it have been like to live in a big city when there where no cars and only horses? How much manure did London or New York generate? Here are some numbers and some background (pdf).

Back to electricity. To electrify a city or a region there needs to be generating stations, transmission lines, and wiring into each building. Electricity isn't like water where it's kept in a tank or a resevoir. All the electrical outlets in your home are directly connected to the power grid and then directly to the generating stations. You aren't using electricity generated yesterday. If the power plant stops or a wire is cut the power stops instantly. That's why the electrical safety devices in our homes are called circuit breakers - they just break the connection between the wires in your house and the rest of the grid.

The power grid is nothing but long wire and myriad other wires that connect our outlets to the generators. (Okay... yes... I'll admit that's a major oversimplification). Wires carrying electricity need to be kept away from the ground and away from anything which can cause a short circuit. Insulators safely hold the wires so they don't short out. Insulators allow the largest transmission lines to be strung over metal towers.

Whether the insulators are made of glass or ceramic (click on 1st Floor to see some photos - ah yes... the good old days of frames on websites) there is an active group of collectors buying, selling, searching, researching, and displaying their collections online. There are histories, lists and even a magazine for collectors called Crown Jewels of the Wire.

The Insulator Index at oldinsulators.com is a good jumping off point to many other sites if you want to explore the hobby.

These links are not just to other collectors or reference sites. I ended up surfing to a explanation of how glass is coloured. A few clicks on glass bottle collecting sites later and I stumbled across the controversy about "irradiated" fruit jars. I knew people would go to great lengths in order to 'improve' the value of their antiques but I never suspected irradiation. I wonder if the experts on the Antiques Road Show will start carrying geiger counters.

So next time you walk down the street give the utility poles in your neighbourhood a glance. Those industrial insulators that keep us electrified may one day be valued collectibles of early 21st century industrial technology. Who knew?