Japan

<--- was in Japan 1986 - 1990, Misawa Air Base. I was a military dependent, though far from 'dependent'.

I sold PC/XT/AT clones purchased directly from Tai Wei Electronics out of Tai Pei Taiwan - mostly 'Beltron' equipment. Fun days.

I held a contract to support all Zenith Z100, Z248 systems on base - a good tax free way to make good money and keep myself busy.

My favorite thing to do was to drive off base and get yakitori from the mom and pop shops, canned Japanese coffee from the vending machines and hit the beach a short drive away from Misawa and have my moments of Zen as it were.

During my time there I had a ton of clone PC systems and had my stint with Amiga computers - A1000, A500 - and also ran BBSes from 1984 until about 1994 - I also got my first copy of SCO Xenix in 1987 - the rest as they say is history.

I also owned a 1977 Nissan Skyline at the time - I was, and still am, such a GEEK!

I had a great time in Japan, my ex prolly has a different view - he rarely saw me just the way I liked it! LOL!

Cheers,
Karyn

Welcome to the board! I experimented with Xenix back in '90. I had just entered my teens and was fascinated with Un*x systems. Had a SCO server running on an 80386 box and a Xenix system. I eventually got a hold of some Maxterms and was actually able to get a 3-user setup going via a serial network. It was magical

Welcome to the board, and wonderful GEEK spirit!

techgrrl wrote: I had a great time in Japan, my ex prolly has a different view - he rarely saw me :) just the way I liked it! LOL!

Excellent use of italics!

skywriter wrote:

techgrrl wrote: I had a great time in Japan, my ex prolly has a different view - he rarely saw me just the way I liked it! LOL!

Excellent use of italics!

I was waiting for you to arrive at this thread.

Nekochan seems full of former Japan residents and visitors... wonder why.

Nekochan seems full of former Japan residents and visitors... wonder why.

sgi fan's seem to be the geekiest of the geeks...
and there exists a high correlation between geekyness, and infatuation with things Japanese heh..

In all seriousness though, the whole "alternative" computing scene seems to go hand in hand with jap. culture fans..
I cant tell you why, I never got into the whole foreign culture thing.. but there is no denying the connection.

Over my many years of exploring different operating systems/hardware/software, there always seemed to be
very many people interested in dressing up their os'es with anime swag.. Seems like they look for the same layout,
simple desktop, sexy background, transparent term, osview prefmon, etc..

I mean what better way to use your retro unix gear than to display your scantly clad anime backgrounds, and
window sitters.. They sure do it in style!

Maybe a few of the japan fans could fill me in.. How did your interests progress? What ended up bringing you to SGI's ?
What drew you to Japanese culture?

Interesting, I was just at a yakitori-ya earlier this week, and had chashu shoyu ramen there. The omakase yakitori included pork belly, chicken hearts, and a few other tasty things. Unfortunately it wasn't a true yakitori, though, so there was no kewpie mayo or shichimi karashi.

pilot345 wrote:

Nekochan seems full of former Japan residents and visitors... wonder why.

sgi fan's seem to be the geekiest of the geeks...
and there exists a high correlation between geekyness, and infatuation with things Japanese heh..

I don't care for anime though I do like asian food on occasion. And while some people say I geek out about some things, computers aren't one of them. The SGIs are cool because... I don't know. They just seem right. Really a collector's item or curio at this point. I wouldn't geek out over some old apple or the latest and greatest 6 gigahertz PC. My secondhand HP works just fine.

techgrrl wrote: I held a contract to support all Zenith Z100, Z248 systems on base - a good tax free way to make good money and keep myself busy.

Ah, Heath/Zenith's dual-CPU S-100 systems that the military bought in quantity, as opposed to the (I think) Z148 PC/XT clones?

techgrrl wrote: I also owned a 1977 Nissan Skyline at the time

I'm betting that car would fetch a lot of interest on some of the gearhead sites now. There definitely seems to be a Skyline cult out there...

pilot345 wrote: n all seriousness though, the whole "alternative" computing scene seems to go hand in hand with jap. culture fans..

I'd love to know what "alternative computing" means, if it's a term in general use. I'm imagining eco-friendly Pee Cees on communes that are run off of generators powered by carefully collected free-range llama alpaca farts...

As for the questions about correlation, I don't know what to tell you since I don't necessarily see it moreso than other influences. I've seen a lot more general space stuff, sci fi/fantasy and mythology associated with computers and workspaces than anime.

For myself, and my general interest in Japanese culture and history -- aside from growing up with cartoons from Speed Racer to G-Force there was the general obsession with Japan Inc in the early to mid-80s and I wound up with a history elective on Japan in high school that helped round out the picture a bit. Then I ran into "Japanimation" (I believe that's the term that was used the most at this event) at the first Creation Conventions Doctor Who shindig in Philly in the 80s. I forget what they were screening, but it made a huge impression - particularly compared to the pablum that was generally available.

So anyway I do have a strong affinity for anime, but it isn't necessarily a direct connection to my computer obsessions. This is likely to be more common for a particular age bracket, but I was more intensely influenced by TRON than by anything out of anime with respect to computers and technology.

sybrfreq wrote: The SGIs are cool because... I don't know. They just seem right.

I like that

They just fit, for me too.. I guess I could say they represent the qualities I scrutinize for in any product.. I wouldn't say I reach
the extremes in any sense of geekyness. Having, large in numbers, just for the sake of it has never been my objective.

Oh, and by recommendation of a couple of your posts, I've been looking at HP xw series workstations. They are some great systems..

sorry to get off topic...

smj wrote: I'd love to know what "alternative computing" means, if it's a term in general use.

Hahaha, I guess that word cant be used now without having some kind of conservation/eco-friendly connotation.
great mental picture with the alpaca fart cluster by the way..
All I meant by that, was non windows... I guess it would be better described as "computing for fun". Using rare hardware/
software just for the sake of it (putting up with bad software because its free? ). The stuff that we do, that will never make
sense to your average consumer. I guess I've had a hard time explaining my SGI habit to just about anyone I know
outside here.. including other computer enthusiasts!. Does that make sense?
Also, unlike a lot of people here, in my time in the computer field, SGI's werent exactly top of the line any more.
The unix hardware in general was looked at by the users as "antiquated".. So I'm not drawn to sgi's in a nostalgic "old glory days" sense.


I guesss I phrased it that way, because my first exposure to anime, came about because of my interest in computers.
I didn't encounter fan's of this stuff, until I started digging around the internet. I got the feeling that a lot of the people that
liked exploring computers as a hobby, also enjoyed anime/Japanese stuff.

smj wrote: the general obsession with Japan Inc in the early to mid-80s

Yeah, I'm not very old... sounds like this phenomenon was a bit behind my time.
That, and I didnt exactly grow up in the most "culturally enriched" environment, heh.

So anyway I do have a strong affinity for anime, but it isn't necessarily a direct connection to my computer obsessions. This is likely to be more common for a particular age bracket, but I was more intensely influenced by TRON than by anything out of anime with respect to computers and technology.

TRON - truly the movie that got me ADDICTED to computers(ing)! Just watched it today! Can't wait for the new one - just watched the trailer and it looks FANTASTIC ! Can you say readdiction ?

Hell, I had dreams about Tron when it came out. The new one has made me (to use a quote from a different movie,) giddy as a schoolgirl. Which is funny, since I'm not a girl.

I found a company online that sells the side art to the TRON arcade games - I am SO tempted to buy a set and decorate the O2k!

Anonymous Freak wrote: Hell, I had dreams about Tron when it came out. The new one has made me (to use a quote from a different movie,) giddy as a schoolgirl. Which is funny, since I'm not a girl.

I love Tron. As a matter of fact, I've never met anybody who doesn't love -or at least like the visual style of- Tron. Here's an outfit for you...