I'd love a nice watch that I could browse classic Slashdot on. Fuck Beta.

I never noticed Defender in the arcade as a kid. However, with the new emulator machines at bars, I've played it a lot in my adult life. It's really a great game, and masterfully done. A lot of people these days look at old games as nostalgia, but if you think that, then the Beatles and Beethoven are nostalgia too. I used to go to a bar, and compete against other patrons at playing Defender. It's super simple, but really hard to master. There is something about having a high-score table to get your name in that is a motivator. One guy told me about playing Missile Command in the 80s and how after you scored 800,000 or so points, you could basically play forever. Anyway, he kicked Defender's ass. He only managed 78,000 points or so, but that's a drunk dude at a bar. It was inspiring to watch. I've spent a lot of time watching YouTube videos of Defender gurus, but even with seeing their strategies, it's still impossible for me. Defender has a lot of buttons, and looks really simple, so it turns a lot of people off. It has really cool stuff though, like particle effects when your ship blows up, and it awards strategic gameplay, even though it isn't much to look at. It's a nemesis to me, and although I hate it in a lot of ways, I have much respect for it.

About 6 years ago, I was working in a microfilm department and the keyboard on the computer that we used to scan barcodes wouldn't work. I insisted that I take a look at it instead of calling the help, powered it down, and unplugged everything. I then hooked it all back up and noticed that the computer wouldn't even turn on. I sat there saying "Stupid computer, what the hell?"... and then nearly had a heart attack when I started smelling burning. I quickly powered down and unhooked everything again and almost shit my pants when I realized what I had done. The connector to an unused power supply under the desk was the exact same DIN connector used by the keyboard, and I'd plugged it in to the keyboard port. When I called the help desk and told them what I'd done they burst into laughter and said that nothing like that had ever happened there before. Probably one of my most embarrassing workplace moments yet.