§ ¶X68000 PSU Repair Guide
I've put up a detailed guide on repairing those flaky X68000 power suppies, have a look.
/nfg/x68repair/
/nfg/x68repair/
§ ¶More thoughts on the brain.
The MIT Press recently sent me an update concerning some books they've recently published that I might be interested in, one of which is a kind of introductive series of primer articles on human consciousness. Reading through the introduction sample chapter they have online I was struck by a bit of an insight, and remembered an earlier article I had written about the brain.
I had talked about creating an artificial brain, and I had come up with two levels of brain function that would communicate between the various brain 'processors' such as vision, memory, feelings and so on. I figure there's a symbolic network that allows for fast communication of concepts and emotion (A blue car) and a detailed network carrying hard data (A blue 1989 Renault 5 GTE).
The book MIT offered has a list of the differences between conscious and unconscious thought. By the time I'd reached item #3 I was reeling from some part of my brain saying "Yo, here's an idea!" By #4 I had to stop and sort out this idea pinballing through my head, force myself to sort the idea into words like putting a shirt on a hyperactive child (At this point I'm resisting the urge to digress into a discussion on labels and the way language determines what and how we think only because I think the first idea is more important).
The MIT book excerpt concentrated on the idea that since we cannot yet define consciousness the best way to work on it was to focus on the difference between conscious and unconscious. Here's the first four items on the conscious/unconscious list from the MIT book:
The very idea of these different states seemed to directly correlated to my idea of a detailed and symbolic network within the brain (note that there need not be only two networks). Conscious thought seems to be exactly what I imagine would result from a focus on the detailed network's communication. Conscious: Explicit, immediate, informative, attended. This car is blue, slightly darker than sky blue. It's a Renault five, you can tell by the boxy shape and hatchback configuration. Unconscious: Implicit, long-term, predictable, unattended. This is a blue car, it's mine, I've been driving it for years, it's a friendly, warm, reliable car.
I imagine someone whose faculties are impacted, perhaps by injury, and in a state where the base brain, the symbolic part is functioning more than the advanced, detailed part, and I see how closely their actions seem to coincide with the unconscious list. They can't answer complex questions, but know old memories by heart. They know their address, but couldn't give you directions. They know you're a friend, but can't tell you why, or where you met, or perhaps your name.
An example of the opposite state, someone with an overactive higher-level network focus might be the professor so intent on noticing details of the car that he fails to realize it will knock him over if he does not move. The lower brain performs the gross calculations, the higher brain checks the details, does the math. Between the two a balance is struck and action - or inaction - is chosen based on available data. Two networks, both mandatory for complete operation of the brain.
Herein lies the crux of my internal debate on the algorithm for creating a synthetic brain, and what seems to be the question among scientists trying to study the nature of consciousness: What is the mechanism for evaluation and decision? What part of the brain receives and processes the different layers of thought and arrives at a conclusion?
One idea I had was that there is no such part, and that the body is merely a puppet of the out of control mind, constantly warring between the primitive mind (Eat, hate, fuck) and the advanced mind (it's tuesday, I have a 3:30 appointment). When the signals from one brain network become significantly energetic or forceful that network is given priority of the body, a kind of "Incoming rock, flee!" vs "What's Jimmy doing bending over and moving his arm like that?".
Food for thought...
I had talked about creating an artificial brain, and I had come up with two levels of brain function that would communicate between the various brain 'processors' such as vision, memory, feelings and so on. I figure there's a symbolic network that allows for fast communication of concepts and emotion (A blue car) and a detailed network carrying hard data (A blue 1989 Renault 5 GTE).
The book MIT offered has a list of the differences between conscious and unconscious thought. By the time I'd reached item #3 I was reeling from some part of my brain saying "Yo, here's an idea!" By #4 I had to stop and sort out this idea pinballing through my head, force myself to sort the idea into words like putting a shirt on a hyperactive child (At this point I'm resisting the urge to digress into a discussion on labels and the way language determines what and how we think only because I think the first idea is more important).
The MIT book excerpt concentrated on the idea that since we cannot yet define consciousness the best way to work on it was to focus on the difference between conscious and unconscious. Here's the first four items on the conscious/unconscious list from the MIT book:
| Conscious | Unconscious | |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Explicit cognition | Implicit cognition |
| 2. | Immediate memory | Longer term memory |
| 3. | Novel, informative, and significant events | Routine, predictable, and nonsignificant events |
| 4. | Attended information | Unattended information |
The very idea of these different states seemed to directly correlated to my idea of a detailed and symbolic network within the brain (note that there need not be only two networks). Conscious thought seems to be exactly what I imagine would result from a focus on the detailed network's communication. Conscious: Explicit, immediate, informative, attended. This car is blue, slightly darker than sky blue. It's a Renault five, you can tell by the boxy shape and hatchback configuration. Unconscious: Implicit, long-term, predictable, unattended. This is a blue car, it's mine, I've been driving it for years, it's a friendly, warm, reliable car.
I imagine someone whose faculties are impacted, perhaps by injury, and in a state where the base brain, the symbolic part is functioning more than the advanced, detailed part, and I see how closely their actions seem to coincide with the unconscious list. They can't answer complex questions, but know old memories by heart. They know their address, but couldn't give you directions. They know you're a friend, but can't tell you why, or where you met, or perhaps your name.
An example of the opposite state, someone with an overactive higher-level network focus might be the professor so intent on noticing details of the car that he fails to realize it will knock him over if he does not move. The lower brain performs the gross calculations, the higher brain checks the details, does the math. Between the two a balance is struck and action - or inaction - is chosen based on available data. Two networks, both mandatory for complete operation of the brain.
Herein lies the crux of my internal debate on the algorithm for creating a synthetic brain, and what seems to be the question among scientists trying to study the nature of consciousness: What is the mechanism for evaluation and decision? What part of the brain receives and processes the different layers of thought and arrives at a conclusion?
One idea I had was that there is no such part, and that the body is merely a puppet of the out of control mind, constantly warring between the primitive mind (Eat, hate, fuck) and the advanced mind (it's tuesday, I have a 3:30 appointment). When the signals from one brain network become significantly energetic or forceful that network is given priority of the body, a kind of "Incoming rock, flee!" vs "What's Jimmy doing bending over and moving his arm like that?".
Food for thought...
§ ¶It's all true.
The rumors you heard are true. The other day Zumi and I started playing Magic: The Gathering again. We had great, great fun with these cards back in the day, no doubt largely due to the quality of our companion players. Since moving to Japan we've played not even once, but now... "Oh, yeah, this was FUN!"
§ ¶Breadmaking
Today's breadmaking adventure: Raisin Bread. Breadmakers are dreadfully cool, the procedure is simple and fast: insert ingredients according to list. Put tray in baker. Starto!! It's surprisingly fun watching it first mix the ingredients, then beat up the dough. Come back in an hour, and add some raisins. 3 hours after that come back and eat bread. Nothing to it.
We did a rush-bake of some super-rich Milk Bread the other day. Super-delish bread in 2.5 hours. Excellent stuff.
Zumi is, as I'm sure you can imagine, hugely pleased.
We did a rush-bake of some super-rich Milk Bread the other day. Super-delish bread in 2.5 hours. Excellent stuff.
Zumi is, as I'm sure you can imagine, hugely pleased.
§ ¶Makin' bacon bread
Zumi, long a champion bread eater, bought a breadmaker the other day. A few questions were answered:
Q. Why breadmakers the size of large, upended toasters?
A. Because most Japanese homes don't have ovens.
Q. Who's this no-name company MK that made our breadmaker?
A. They're the Japanese company that invented it. All other manufacturers sell licensed makers.
So our adventures in breadmaking were filled with excitement. Zumi somehow got it into her head that 140g of flour was equal to 140ml, so we put in about half as much flour as we should have. Wait until morning for the sweet smell of fresh bread, only to find a half-sized misshapen loaf of disappointment in the machine.
Last night we tried again, making sure not to press the wrong button and mix some of the yeast in too early like last time, and also using the proper amount of flour. Fast forward to this morning when we enjoyed delicious fresh-cooked whole-wheat bread for breakfast. Woo etc.
Check out an unmade zumi examining her new toy.
Q. Why breadmakers the size of large, upended toasters?
A. Because most Japanese homes don't have ovens.
Q. Who's this no-name company MK that made our breadmaker?
A. They're the Japanese company that invented it. All other manufacturers sell licensed makers.
So our adventures in breadmaking were filled with excitement. Zumi somehow got it into her head that 140g of flour was equal to 140ml, so we put in about half as much flour as we should have. Wait until morning for the sweet smell of fresh bread, only to find a half-sized misshapen loaf of disappointment in the machine.
Last night we tried again, making sure not to press the wrong button and mix some of the yeast in too early like last time, and also using the proper amount of flour. Fast forward to this morning when we enjoyed delicious fresh-cooked whole-wheat bread for breakfast. Woo etc.
Check out an unmade zumi examining her new toy.
§ ¶The Atkins thing
So we tried the atkins diet to roaring success. Seven kg in about two weeks were lost by me (that's 15+ lbs) but then, as warned, there was a plateau. Zero weight lost since then, a full week of zero weight fluctuation, so fuckit - probably going back to the crappy food we used to eat, just 'cause it's so damned convenient. pizza + vanilla coke here I come!!
§ ¶Cellular Phone news
Our first month after I was granted a PIN to download cellular phone games cost us nearly $125 CDN. A lot, considering the amount of our normal bill. The most recent Dorimaga shows the download fee for Namco's Ridge Racer to cost nearly Y1,100 - Y500 for the basic game, and Y600 for the packet fees, a mere 256kb in this case. Regular users pay through the nose compared to AU's all-you-can-use 800kb/s service, a mere Y4,000 / month. That still astonishes me.
There was an interesting bit on cloned cellular phones on 6ch news tonight, where users are being billed for packet charges they deny are theirs.
In one case a teenaged girl had her phone locked in a drawer for 30 days and still racked up nearly Y20,000 in charges. The phone company's (Docomo) response? "Parents today are often unable to tell if their children are lying" and other similarly rude statements.
Another user, carrier unknown, was charged the equivalent of several thousand dollars for a months' packet charges, including a one-hour segment where he allegedly sent over four thousand messages. The speed typing king or what?
The end result is Japan's first lawsuit against a phone company. The girl's family is seeking Y60,000 in packet fees to be refunded. The girl apparently made the choice even knowing it would cost nearly 10x more for the lawsuit, in order to clear her name. Interestingly Docomo refused to release detailed information on the packet charges.
There was an interesting bit on cloned cellular phones on 6ch news tonight, where users are being billed for packet charges they deny are theirs.
In one case a teenaged girl had her phone locked in a drawer for 30 days and still racked up nearly Y20,000 in charges. The phone company's (Docomo) response? "Parents today are often unable to tell if their children are lying" and other similarly rude statements.
Another user, carrier unknown, was charged the equivalent of several thousand dollars for a months' packet charges, including a one-hour segment where he allegedly sent over four thousand messages. The speed typing king or what?
The end result is Japan's first lawsuit against a phone company. The girl's family is seeking Y60,000 in packet fees to be refunded. The girl apparently made the choice even knowing it would cost nearly 10x more for the lawsuit, in order to clear her name. Interestingly Docomo refused to release detailed information on the packet charges.
§ ¶It's raining.
We went for a short walk today, to a new supermarket that opened a klick or two from us. Maruetsu, it's called - part of the giant Daiei conglomerate I think (the logo is the same). It's one of, if not the first 24-hour stores in the area that's not a corner-store. It's very lovely inside, with a wide variety of stuff, some I've never seen before. The problem is... The prices! They're mad, they're crazy high. They've taken the idea of a supermarket with a huge selection and combined it with the convenience store's 24-hour schedule and prices. If they really wanted to fly I think they should have gone with the supermarket pricing instead. We won't be going back.
§ ¶The real Japan
Just a followup to my last post, here's a few more ridiculous things you might not know about Japan:
Foreign perspective on Japanese politics: "hopelessly corrupt and run by yakuza."
A bogus two party system: If this trend continues, the health insurance system itself will go bankrupt.
The looting of Asia: 30 million murdered and thousands of tons of gold hoarded by Japan.
Every couple of days there's a special on TV about Kim Jong Il, the bizarre lunatic leader of North Korea, or how the North Koreans are freakishly brainwashed and no doubt dangerously mad. If you were a goverment intent on confrontation with a country, wouldn't you belittle them in front of your people first?
Freaks me out. No one has rights in japan. no consumer protection, no medical protection, no legal protection. If _anything_ goes wrong I'm so far down the list of people to be helped I might as well swim home. Between their faltering economy, belligerent attitude toward N. Korea, political reform... It's a nation run by blind, angry old men with money. The faltering economy, belligerent attitude toward N. Korea, lack of any kind of reform... Subservient to a deranged America...
Foreign perspective on Japanese politics: "hopelessly corrupt and run by yakuza."
A bogus two party system: If this trend continues, the health insurance system itself will go bankrupt.
The looting of Asia: 30 million murdered and thousands of tons of gold hoarded by Japan.
Every couple of days there's a special on TV about Kim Jong Il, the bizarre lunatic leader of North Korea, or how the North Koreans are freakishly brainwashed and no doubt dangerously mad. If you were a goverment intent on confrontation with a country, wouldn't you belittle them in front of your people first?
Freaks me out. No one has rights in japan. no consumer protection, no medical protection, no legal protection. If _anything_ goes wrong I'm so far down the list of people to be helped I might as well swim home. Between their faltering economy, belligerent attitude toward N. Korea, political reform... It's a nation run by blind, angry old men with money. The faltering economy, belligerent attitude toward N. Korea, lack of any kind of reform... Subservient to a deranged America...
§ ¶Dooshiyoo...
What should I do? Trying to decide what next to do with our lives... Japan's out because it's a country headed for a meltdown, Canada's troubling because the internet and celphones are so astronomically expensive there, and we can't get the same quality of food we can here, and Australia seems to be a one-way solution: where we can fly from Japan to Canada for $500 return, it costs $2000 to do the same from Australia. Welcome to Australia, chaps. You can't go back.
I love the alure of my life back in the Okanagan, my friends, the roads, the mountain biking (which can't be underestimated in my evaluation priorities), the weather, the snowboarding... But that's basically it. Social and leisure paradise, economic disaster. The jobs in Kelowna are ludicrously bad, the IT sector pays less in Canada than any other developed country and since everyone runs their own business the competition is cutthroat. It's not healthy.
If I want a nice car, I can get 'em cheap in Japan, but can't import anything to Canada that's not 15 years or older. It's for safety, see - no new cars that aren't specifically matched to Canadian standards, but you can import any 15-year-old bomb you like. Everyone knows standards were stricter back then.
So here I am, agonizing about it. Everywhere sucks. I think I'd rather go back to Canada and be a social animal, with the biking and the movies and game nights and hanging out with my old friends, to hell with money and internet... But christ, I can't even run a webserver in Canada, if it's not prohibited by the ISP's AUP the costs of bandwidth at a hosting facility would murder me ($200+ per month!). The cost of a 100mbit line in Canada: $1788/month, $2000 to install it, and you pay for your bandwidth. The cost in Japan: $80. In South Korea: $30. Australia's worse than all of the above. Hell, in Japan I can get unmetered cellular internet at 2.4mbit speeds for $40/month! That's mobile broadband faster than a cable modem for less cost!
I love Japan, but I can't stand the fear and uncertainty. The justice system - isn't just, the political scene is a farce, the medical systems are hellishly broken, industries practically unregulated. It's frightening.
I love the alure of my life back in the Okanagan, my friends, the roads, the mountain biking (which can't be underestimated in my evaluation priorities), the weather, the snowboarding... But that's basically it. Social and leisure paradise, economic disaster. The jobs in Kelowna are ludicrously bad, the IT sector pays less in Canada than any other developed country and since everyone runs their own business the competition is cutthroat. It's not healthy.
If I want a nice car, I can get 'em cheap in Japan, but can't import anything to Canada that's not 15 years or older. It's for safety, see - no new cars that aren't specifically matched to Canadian standards, but you can import any 15-year-old bomb you like. Everyone knows standards were stricter back then.
So here I am, agonizing about it. Everywhere sucks. I think I'd rather go back to Canada and be a social animal, with the biking and the movies and game nights and hanging out with my old friends, to hell with money and internet... But christ, I can't even run a webserver in Canada, if it's not prohibited by the ISP's AUP the costs of bandwidth at a hosting facility would murder me ($200+ per month!). The cost of a 100mbit line in Canada: $1788/month, $2000 to install it, and you pay for your bandwidth. The cost in Japan: $80. In South Korea: $30. Australia's worse than all of the above. Hell, in Japan I can get unmetered cellular internet at 2.4mbit speeds for $40/month! That's mobile broadband faster than a cable modem for less cost!
I love Japan, but I can't stand the fear and uncertainty. The justice system - isn't just, the political scene is a farce, the medical systems are hellishly broken, industries practically unregulated. It's frightening.
§ ¶It's all over!
So we're thinking seriously of moving back to Canada. There are many reasons, I'll try to detail a few here, as if anyone cares.
I like Japan, I love a lot of the things I can get here. The food is great, the drinks are far better and more varied than the sugarfied crap in Canada (or at least it's different sugarfied crap).
There's a lot of things I don't like. I don't like the Japanese government's complacency, the complete lack of consumer protection, the pathetic and inexcusably primitive medical services, the blocking of the sky + horizon by powerlines...
I'm gonna go into a more detailed rant soon, but suffice it to say we're (and by that I mean zumi) checking out housing prices back in Ye Olde Valley, and we're evaluating other places to move to, but not as seriously.
Reckon we can do the same thing as we're doing here but pay 50% less to live. Zumi figures she can fly back here every month or two if need be, I'm working on a plan to leave a computer behind with the 100mbit fiber and a capture card so we can record the shows Zumi wants to see and not hassle anyone to send a tape.
That's the big news. No date set, but I'm thinking fall next year... Time to plan, save up, pack, maybe buy a cool car to bring back...
I like Japan, I love a lot of the things I can get here. The food is great, the drinks are far better and more varied than the sugarfied crap in Canada (or at least it's different sugarfied crap).
There's a lot of things I don't like. I don't like the Japanese government's complacency, the complete lack of consumer protection, the pathetic and inexcusably primitive medical services, the blocking of the sky + horizon by powerlines...
I'm gonna go into a more detailed rant soon, but suffice it to say we're (and by that I mean zumi) checking out housing prices back in Ye Olde Valley, and we're evaluating other places to move to, but not as seriously.
Reckon we can do the same thing as we're doing here but pay 50% less to live. Zumi figures she can fly back here every month or two if need be, I'm working on a plan to leave a computer behind with the 100mbit fiber and a capture card so we can record the shows Zumi wants to see and not hassle anyone to send a tape.
That's the big news. No date set, but I'm thinking fall next year... Time to plan, save up, pack, maybe buy a cool car to bring back...
§ ¶Neo Geo Video System Detailed
I've made a comprehensive list of differences between old and new Neo Geo cartridge hardware. Please have a look. Warning: Technical!
§ ¶Dammitalltohell
Yesterday I went biking out to Kazo and back, a trip of some 40-50km. It was a gorgeous sunny day and I had a fun time, even with the slight headwind on the return trip. I met up with Zumi at McDonalds in town here and since we were heading out for some shopping I loaded the bike into the back of the car. I left my helmet and gloves on the roof, and now they're gone. We retraced our route twice yesterday and they're still gone, and I'm seriously bummed about it, in ways far more intense than I'd have expected.
I don't lose. I never lose. I'm a slow, disorganized lazy useless sumbitch, but I never lose my battles, and knowing that I fucked this up is just killing me. I've been thinking about little else for the last 18 hours, and there's this horrible gnawing feeling in the pit of my stomache won't leave me alone.
A lot of it has to do with the fact that they were quality gloves + helmet, they weren't cheap costco crap. Also, I Can't replace them here, nothing in this country comes remotely close to fitting me, so I've got to go through the hassle of finding an online retailer or having someone I know pick them up for me in canada, then pay them for it, etc.
I've still got my old helmet and gloves, luckily, so I won't have to give up biking, but I feel like I can't be bothered to even do that. I'm pissed off and disgusted and depressed about the whole sad affair.
Bah.
I don't lose. I never lose. I'm a slow, disorganized lazy useless sumbitch, but I never lose my battles, and knowing that I fucked this up is just killing me. I've been thinking about little else for the last 18 hours, and there's this horrible gnawing feeling in the pit of my stomache won't leave me alone.
A lot of it has to do with the fact that they were quality gloves + helmet, they weren't cheap costco crap. Also, I Can't replace them here, nothing in this country comes remotely close to fitting me, so I've got to go through the hassle of finding an online retailer or having someone I know pick them up for me in canada, then pay them for it, etc.
I've still got my old helmet and gloves, luckily, so I won't have to give up biking, but I feel like I can't be bothered to even do that. I'm pissed off and disgusted and depressed about the whole sad affair.
Bah.