A C64 is one of the only retro machines I’ve never encountered before in-person. Presume they were less popular in the UK because of the Spectrum.

But I have a default appreciation of it because of my childhood Amiga adoration.

I actually installed Virtual64 on the Mac the other day and was trying to learn some ways to mess around in BASIC. Hoping to get to know the C64 (and Spectrum) better, mainly just for the fun of it.

Well, context is everything. Obviously there’s no single best distro for all use cases.

This is a 13 year old MacBook Pro, with ancient Linux-hating hybrid Nvidia/Intel graphics that needs an NVRAM modification and vga_switcheroo to do things like video acceleration properly.

And not my main computer, just for learning Linux and playing some old games.

So Endeavour worked great, but seemed like ultimately a computer that old is probably best off with stability and minimal updates rather than being bleeding-edge and subjecting it to gigabytes of updates each week.

Yep. I was using Plasma on Mint for a while but the consensus was you’re best off using a DE officially supported by the distro.

Never encountered any issues personally up to that point, but seemed to be the majority opinion when I researched it.

But my most recent switch was from Endeavour, so made much more sense to install Debian 13 than to Install Mint and then immediately switch DE.

Went back to Mint a few times but ultimately I like Plasma over Cinnamon, so Debian it is!

Thanks so much for sharing that

Voyager

My 15” 2012 is on Debian 13 also.

Linux learning experience of a lifetime trying to fully get the graphics working properly, but got there in the end!

Yep, literally the only time I watch a sponsor segment on YouTube, insane the effort they go through compared to other channels

Amazing level of detail, love it 🙌

Map Men / Jay Foreman

Interesting and genuinely amusing for about 15 years at this point.

I’d personally have…

My Master System plugged into my grandparents’ old wood-effect TV. Along with my Amiga and PS1, and a 90s Mac with The Settlers II.

The Sophtware Slump on CD and my cassette I made with the first two Garbage albums, one on each side.

Ghostbusters and The Goonies recorded onto VHS off TV, both with all their 90s ad breaks. On a TV that otherwise broadcast early Simpsons, X Files and Ren & Stimpy.

A Scalextric set and tons of Lego.

And all of the crisps (potato chips).

“There are more connections in the human brain than there are atoms in the universe”

I used to genuinely worry as an 8 year old that I’d get older and just lose all sense of fun and silliness.

Turns out in my early 40s I’m just that very same 8 year old but I know a few more things and like boobs more than I used to.

The Ramones.

If it’s been a while, I’ll listen to 5 tracks and be like “Yes, The Ramones!!!”

Then after a couple of tracks more I suddenly really need to put on something else.

Not a particularly cool band these days, and not well-known outside the UK, but Madness have a great rhythm section.

Or maybe “had”… their newer stuff is pretty unbearable to me…

But songs like Our House and Wings Of A Dove would be great to play along to on drums. If you happen to like the music, which you might not!

Invincibility!

I just found a scan of the manual for Sonic 1 on the Master System, the first Sonic version I ever played, which refers to that monitor as “Invincible”

Nope, never.

I live in the UK, I’m in my 40’s and I’ve only ever known a single person who needed to be circumcised for medical reasons.

Beyond medical reasons, which are honestly pretty rare in reality, there’s no need.

I’ve literally never heard an uncircumcised person express a desire to be circumcised.

I thought cars were awesome as a kid and teenager, and couldn’t wait to pass my test. Had my license within 6 months of being old enough to drive.

But then as soon as I went to uni I didn’t have the money for a car or a use for it in a major city.

And then I started to view cars way more negatively due to their impact on society and the environment and never became a car guy.

I love cars in computer games, but in real life I’m more of a “fuck cars” guy these days.

Yes, exactly this.

As a personal example, when I was very young, possibly about 5, I saw a “ghost” of my mum, at home one evening when she was out. My mum is very much as alive now as she was then.

I don’t clearly recall the event directly anymore, and we would generally agree a child is a less reliable witness than an adult (although believers would counter that the child’s brain is somehow more open to such things). Although I remember that I wasn’t making this up, and I could describe the clothing and jewellery I saw her wearing.

So does my experience prove ghosts exist? As always it depends on what you mean by that. Scientifically the experience doesn’t carry enough weight to prove anything. It does add credence to the view that people who are being truthful report seeing such things.

But also, most people who believe in “ghosts” think they’re the spirits of the dead - which my experience actually runs completely contrary to. So from one point of view you could say my experience of seeing a ghost disproves ghosts!

No. Or maybe. Depending on your definition of each particular supernatural thing.

Do I believe that every “UFO” spotted in the sky is a craft from an alien race? No. However, do I believe people genuinely see things that can’t be explained or identified in the sky, that could plausibly be extraterrestrial, inter-dimensional or top secret in ways we generally don’t currently understand? Yes, absolutely.

Do I believe that we all have souls that exist outside our physical form, that persist after death? Absolutely not. But do I believe people who aren’t lying genuinely see people or entities that we would generally refer to as “ghosts”? Yes. But beyond believing people really do “see” these things, I don’t know if they are always hallucinations or if people are witnessing some kind of other phenomena.

I’m a sceptic at heart. There’s nothing I won’t believe for ideological reasons, but evidence is key. Things that there is currently no evidence for could theoretically still exist, but will always require proof for me to actually believe in.