Cateye Velo 5

Bike computer... also known, somewhat grandiloquent-ly, as a cyclocomputer.

This Cateye Velo 5 is about 7-8 years old already. Still operates on the same battery (CR-something.

The above photo was made on the go, the speedometer reading is about 5.6 km/h. I nearly fell off the bike taking the picture, so no higher speed was achieved in the interests of safety. 

Now in the clock mode (above), while the speedometer reading is 0.0 km/h - consistent with staying put, no mistake here. The time is 15:39. Over the 7 or 8 years I have had it, I never bothered to adjust the time so it is now 1.5 hours late. The 1 hour is probably due to the summer/winter time malarkey. Also, this thing winters in my cold country villa which is uninhabited in the winter, with temperatures sometimes falling as low as minus thirties. Still it gradually un-thaws -- as do many other electronic devices (including radios, game consoles, TV sets that I leave there) and works OK during warmer times. I could probably set the right time but you do have to find the manual first.

Dst 211.03 is a trip distance, which I haven't reset in a long time.

Top speed achieved is 27.9 km/h. In fact, this is not the topmost speed as I once hit 40 km/h down some slope but unfortunately accidentally reset the computer thereafter.

Odo: 781.3 km. This is the length I traveled by this bike since I installed the computer. Overall, there's about 2,000 km on this bike. But I ride it only once every two weeks.

All modes can be cycled through by pressing one button -- the only one it has.

Odometer.

Compaq Presario 900

Cataloging the computers that I have gone through - Compaq Presario 900.

Years of service in my ownership: 2003 - 2008. Five years of use that I got out of it may not be too bad for a laptop but it's not the best result ever I think. But I did use it almost all day every day during the period. 

It's rather thick, especially by today' standards, and the speakers are in the front edge.

The first thing to break was the CD-Rom (DVD?) drive which is a common occurrence with laptops / notebook computers. I think I precipitated its demise by playing GTA 3 on it at the time; it stopped playing games but could still be used for installing programs and for watching movies on DVDs for a rather long time after that before going off completely.

One day it just refused to turn on... and was subsequently destroyed in very unscientific attempts to revive it. Good thing it was connected via LAN to my desktop so everything important was backed up.  

HP iPAQ Pocket Computer

My pocket / palm computer - HP iPAQ circa 2005.

HP iPAQ x11-21204 - to call it by its full name [edit] or may be it is not its name, may be it is hx2000 or something.

Before the iphone and ipad there was the iPAQ... also it was before twitter or even youtube really in 2005.

As you can see, its OS software dates back to 1.01.04. 

It has a chargeable battery like a mobile phone.

Home screen. The black button on top is ON/OFF, the buttons on the lower end - navigation.

It has a stylus too... with which you poke at the screen.

The Start menu. It looks packed with programs.

 Some games -- both pre-installed (bubble breaker and solitaire) and those I installed myself (two chess programs).

In the end, the only thing I used it for (and still use occasionally) is to play chess vs Pocket Fritz 2. And the Fritz means business, make no mistake (literally). 

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. 

The Console Living Room