Book Review: The Future Was Here

12 May 2012 in Miscellaneous | No comments

The Future Was Here: The Commodore Amiga is a new entry in the MIT Press Platform Studies series, written by Jimmy Maher. As a former user of an Amiga 3000 computer, I have been looking forward to reading this book, which opens with a short overview of the platform:

The Amiga 1000 was introduced in 1985, amid aesthetically bland and technologically limited IBM personal computers and the then-monochrome Apple Macintosh. In comparison, the Amiga offered “a palette of 4,096 colors, screen resolutions up to 640×400, four-channel digital stereo sound, true preemptive multitasking” and more.

Computer journalists struggled to understand just what practical implications these sorts of new features would hold for users. Many wrote about how the Amiga would surely advance the world of computing, though not everyone saw the potential. “There are products now that address every need of the business person,” said computer retailer Bert Helfinstein. “Why add another one unless there is a compelling reason? And in [the case of the Amiga], that compelling reason doesn’t exist.”

Maher spends the rest of the book showing us compelling reasons why the Amiga was indeed a groundbreaking computer: “the world’s first true multimedia PC.” Descriptions range from technical historical journalism reminiscent of classic Byte magazine articles, to surprisingly in-depth (yet layman-friendly) computer science surveys to help us understand how the Amiga hardware and software was wired together.

I am delighted with the level of detail and behind-the-scenes trivia that Maher has provided. Some interesting bits that stood out to me:

  • The origins of the IFF file format to allow Amiga users to more easily share data across applications
  • The selection of the name “Amiga” in order to appear before “Apple” and “Atari” in alphabetical corporate directories
  • Inner workings of Deluxe Paint’s “undo” functionality, which explain some of its odd behavior that might not have been understood from the surface
  • A thorough overview of the original “boing” bouncing ball demo that kicked off the Amiga’s graphics-producing fame

I always knew that the Amiga platform was ahead of its time, but it is fascinating to gain more insight into just how advanced it was, and how clever its developers were with the resources they had to work with.

There are a number of illustrations included in the book, but I imagine it would be perfectly readable in Kindle format as well. Also available as an eBook directly from the publisher.

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Buying Used, Sight Unseen

11 April 2012 in Photography | Permalink

I’ve heard mixed stories about buying used camera equipment, ranging from recommending it in order to extend your equipment budget, to describing it with disdain as being too much of a gamble. So far, every SLR camera and lens that I have purchased has been new, but I thought I would try my hand at ordering a used lens. Today I received a used Canon 85mm/1.8 lens, described by the seller (a reputable camera dealer) as being in good/excellent condition.

A quick inspection of the lens suggested that it was slightly dinged up, but appeared to be pretty good. The glass looked clean. I put it on my camera, and took Samantha outside for some test pictures. Even with a fast maximum aperture of 1.8, it was hard to capture any non-blurry shots of Samantha running through the yard…

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After about fifteen shots, the camera (Canon 5D) suddenly locked up and displayed “ERR” status. That has only happened to me once or twice with this camera, since 2006. Could be a coincidence, but it seems odd that it happened after putting this new (used) lens on. I restarted the camera and took about 50 more pictures of Samantha without problem.

Back inside, I examined the lens more carefully, and noticed that the manual focus ring seemed to exhibit more than expected friction when turning. Autofocus seemed reasonably smooth, but focus by hand was a little tough and a little loud. Finally I more closely examined the glass elements of the lens, and observed dust on the inside of the lens. Not a big deal in terms of image quality, but it just heightened my suspicions that the lens wasn’t quite up to par. So I packaged it back up in the box to return.

As far as the 85mm/1.8 lens in general, it appears to be a good short-telephoto portrait lens, which is exactly what I was expecting. I didn’t keep this lens long enough to try it out on any people, and Samantha wouldn’t sit still long enough for me to get a good portrait of her, but some other tests look positive.

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So I guess I’ll be ordering a new one after all, and forgoing the expected savings…

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Roundabout in a Cornfield

26 March 2012 in Miscellaneous | Permalink

I guess I wouldn’t be a good urban planner, since I would not I have thought that if you’re going to develop a cornfield, the first thing you need is a roundabout for a street that does not presently intersect with another street, and an elaborate modern-art statue of corn to decorate the roundabout…

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More photos

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Being Elmo

20 March 2012 in Miscellaneous | Permalink

I stumbled upon a fascinating documentary about Muppet performer Kevin Clash, which provides insight into his journey from being intrigued by watching Sesame Street to being an executive producer of the show and responsible for one of its most successful characters.

Like many children, I imagine, I too was captivated by the Muppets, making some attempts at building my own puppets (initially out of construction paper, and eventually working my way up to foam rubber and fabric), all the while in the back of my mind occasionally wondering how someone could land a job actually working as a Muppet performer.

The film gives some clue as to what it would take, namely, a lot more dedication to puppetry than I’ve ever expressed! But what impressed me the most was that Kevin’s story serves as an example of deciding to do something in life and working hard at it. I think too often people idly wish something would happen in their lives but never actually take steps toward seeing it comes to pass.

Buy on Amazon / Watch on Netflix

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