a little corner of the web dedicated to trying to keep paranoia and depression at bay through media and learning!
recently, i watched Battle Programmer Shirase, quite the odd show. I feel like it really encapsulates that early 2000's late night japan feeling that i really enjoy. i wont spoil it because theres only a couple of hours to even watch, so i would just say to watch it yourself if you enjoy that sort of thing. However, ill give a little snippet. Basically, its about a otaku guy who is super good at programming (and hacking) uses his skills to help people out in exchange for rare stuff he wants.
heres the eibin electronics x68 series doujinshi scsi card used in the first episode to get the great bps to stop a hacker.
preamble before rewatching SEL: lain is one of the most memorable anime i have ever seen, and yet im not even sure why really. my understanding of the show as i write this is only on a very surface level and yet, i feel a strong connection with it. the general feeling created by the soundtrack, voice acting, art really resonates with the 17 year old otaku i guess. (INCOMPLETE)
often, i find myself reaching to my dsi for comfort when in uncomfortable places. to me, the dsi symbolized a time in my life when things were much safer and i wasnt plagued with so many hikikomori like problems. the dsi's lack of real network connectivity, general low complexity, high battery life and overall nostalgia allows me to make my own little bubble when i pull it out. being able to nearly entirely disconnect from whatever is around you by putting on some earbuds and pulling out your ds is a huge asset. when i get some more funds together i am going to homebrew my dsi, but for now its pretty much a dedicated Pokemon Pearl player. my goal with pearl is to get a lvl. 100 dragonite, as that is my favorite pokemon. however, its so damn hard! first, you have to beat the elite four (which i have done, no problem there) then you have to get the national pokedex by filling the gen IV dex. finally, get the super rod, catch dratini and then level him. im still on the national dex part, i only have 4 pokemon left, the three throwaway legendaries from gen IV and then that stupid baloon pokemon that only shows up on friday afternoons.
today i decided i would begin learning japanese using a guide that i found on neocities. this isnt my first time trying to learn, but i think i have a real shot this time because i really have nothing better to do this time around, and im tired of sitting around doing nothing during my classes. i guess ill log my progress here, and update this entry when i learn new stuff. maybe someone in a similar position will read this and find some kind of help or relatibility or something. dunno. anyways, hirigana and katakana, just started learning each one and the strokes ;) it takes to write each character. feeling pretty mentally fatigued now, so i am going to take a break for today. tomorrow ill start memorizing the sounds each character makes, might take a couple of days to memorize both kana, hoping for the best. | started memorizing the first 3 columns of hirigana... was forced to stop because dumbfucks in my class decided to play some loud ass mexican music. god i hate this trash ass school. how can you be so shameless? i really dont understand how someone can so selfish and okay with acting like an idiot in public.
still memorizing hirigana and tried out duolingo. not a fan of it, too corporate and paywall filled. ill stick to my FOSS elitist nonsense thank you very much. i started a notebook for taking notes and practicing writing characters, im really enjoying having something analog infront of me and doodling little characters next to notes. applying formatting in a space that doesnt have presets or requirements or syntax feels so freeing.
recently, the problems of only having a single system has been rearing its ugly head. Windows 10 and all of its security flaws, bloatware, and just general lame-ness has given me the desire for a linux based system. ive read a bit about my options, and i think i might try to get myself a cheaper old laptop for daily use. Id use it for things like editing this page, programming, studying japanese, reading manga and watching anime. i still need to look into linux distros, i was thinking about TAILS but i realized that i would probably like to actually store data on my system. Gentoo is my other thinking, as i saw online it was the most streamlined and hardcore distro, and im sure it would force me to learn linux. ill try and scrape some funds together and obtain myself one. would be nice to have a portable device with some actual security, not this soykaf school mandated laptop, or my government tracking device (smartphone.) MP3 player is also a must get, as i wont be getting a new smartphone after mine breaks, and my phone is basically just a music player at the moment.
woo, portable computing! my t440p finally came in the mail and i installed debian on it after an hour or two of fiddling with it. I decided to go with the xfce de since ive heard some really bad things about gnome from some chummers on lainchan, and so far im honestly not too impressed. making anything work on linux takes at least twice as long as it would have taken had it been on windows (though i am almost 100% sure this is due to me being a total n00b). another thing i noticed is that it seems my schools network seems to not be listed on my device, my guess is that they have linux systems blocked somehow... really need to find a work around on that because i dont want to use a hotspot for everything...
ok so my current network connection is really shitty, which makes checking edits on my more css heavy pages a real fuckface manuever, so instead im just gonna write what i would have written there: here. here being much more low bandwidth friendly. makes me feel for all the low bandwidth ppl trying to acess my page actually. maybe ill add a plaintext version of all of them. ANYWAYS, i was gonna write about lucky star; my favorite slice of life anime. there are many reasons as to why i like it: the casual pace, low levels of intensity, cute characters, and mostly funny jokes. i think after spending so many years watching the most serious, manly, and brosick anime, something like lucky star is a really nice change of pace. i normally reserve watching the show for lunch time, when i let myself take a break from studying and relax a bit.
so i switched over to arch linux after using debian for like a week. (this was all quite a while ago, so i may get some details off) i was stupidly swayed by 1337 internet fuckos and their awful memes. however, i actually ended up liking arch so much more than debian, as well as the wicked sick ricing i voimitied all over my desktop manager. (hint, its all lain themed, and i replaced all the icons i use with japanese characters that i dont even understand (what a loser!) for that extra addition of non user comfortability. people get too comfortable these days, they should be forced to memorize barly visible icons in order do use their taskbar! (or be forced to use the command line 1337 8006135 xd)
how sexy is that!? even has the asciiart banner and shit! my god. i love it.
for anyone looking to get a portable system, i reccomend looking on ebay for used thinkpads. they may not be the most powerful systems ever, but the pricepoint is truly unmatched. 
almost like a painting, what the series is about (at least on a deeper level) is never really directly stated. of course the show talks about its aliens and robots, but the actual "thesis" (for lack of a better word) isnt so clear, and i think for many people it has a different meaning to them. to me, flcl is about coming of age, of a time without worries and things dont seem to change suddenly becomes invaded by new factors. i regularly watch the show when i feel like life is just too much and i need to re-adjust my perspective. its okay to be a dumb kid sometimes. i reccomend putting on the flcl soundtrack on your mp3 player, getting your dusty old skateboard out of the closet, and cruising around the neighborhood. not much else gives me the same feeling of freedom and escape. 
