Friday, December 27, 2013

Classic 70s and 80s Games Online

The BBC says classic video games from the 1970s and 1980s have been put online by the Internet Archive and are playable for free.

The collection has launched with games from five early home consoles, including the Atari 2600 and Colecovision.

The other machines included are the Atari 7800, the Magnavox Odyssey (known as the Philips Videopac G7000 in Europe) and the Astrocade.

Well-recognised titles such as Pacman, Space Invaders and Frogger are all in the archive - with more consoles and games expected soon. 



Sunday, December 22, 2013

Pobeda ZiM 2602 Railroad Dial x 2

Two Pobedas by ZiM (Zavod imeni Maslennikova - Maslennikov Factory) from my collection. Both have large dials which look somewhat like pocket-to-wristwatch conversions and are in fact a variation on railroad dials.

This one in particular wants to be a wrist strap Molnija.


There is one thing to be said about this style of hour and minute hands -- you won't be likely to confuse them, no matter how nasty your hangover is.


Dial readability is also very good, very large digits, good for the farsighted especially. This dial is definitely a railroad dial as it meets all the criteria of said dials typically found in pocket watches but also in some wristwatches. Railroad dials tend to be simple and readable. As you can see, the emphasis is on functionality and readability, even under adverse conditions, typically utilizing bold, black numerals on a white background.


And another ZiM Pobeda with the same railroad dial and with exactly the same case but different hands.



 A similar large and very readable face but different hands.


A movement shot. 



This one is a Pobeda 2602 movement which harkens back to the premium European (Swiss) movements of the early 20th century and as such has all the features of the premium European watches of the 1930-40s --  the Glucydur balance, the Breguet hairspring, and the visually appealing bridge shapes with a subsecond hand. But, of course, it is a much later derivation of the movement simplified in many ways though not in underlying design.


Thursday, December 19, 2013

Lord Karnage Reviews Gran Turismo 6

A Classic Game Room HD review of Gran Turismo 6:




Classic Game Room - Gran Turismo 6 review for... by ClassicGameRoom

As an owner of Gran Turismo on PS1, Gran Turismo 4 on PS2, Gran Turismo on PSP, Gran Turismo 5 on PS3... I guess I've no choice but to buy this one too, though have yet to play Gran Turismo 5. 


Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Big Breakfast @ McDonald's

My restaurants: McDonald's Big Breakfast (with a double Egg McMuffin on the side) in a McDonald's place here in Moscow.

Here's what it looks like (real-life clickable pics).




As offered here in Moscow, Big Breakfast by McDonald's includes in a box: a pork patty, scrambled eggs, two halves of a grilled "English" muffin (I slap jam on it), a hash brown patty, some jam, salt and pepper pouches.

As (self-)served and eaten also includes a double Egg McMuffin (on the left), orange juice and a coffee latte. 

More pictures after the jump.









Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Shared: Wie spät ist es, Kosmonaut?

An article in German by Markus Boehm in der Standard.at about the first wristwatch in outer space which happens to be a Russian watch -- Yuri Gagarin's watch.

Link to the article:


Picture of said watch, borrowed from the article.