"Windows 10 support ends October 14"

Too bad i'm not in the market for new-to-me hardware. Ebay ( and a few others, and landfills ) is going to be flooded with cheap but decent intel/amd based machines here soon i suspect. 

And bet prices will drop on some of the older ( but still good ) devices too.  Before i stopped buying and went to downsizing instead i noticed the 'tinys' were slowly going up in price. But all of them are locked out of win11, so the 'unwashed masses' wont want them and i bet go way down in price by end of the year.

My guess is mostly landfills.  Most people don't know how to deal with this other than the garbage can.     Which is a shame.

Coming to a cornea near you,  digital contacts..

( i think i saw this show. )

Retina e-paper promises screens 'visually indistinguishable from reality'

https://newatlas.com/materials/retina-e-paper/

So as i have mentioned before, not fond of electronics where it does not need to be.  One example: my wrist.

Go back perhaps 15 years, and i resisted the 'smart watch' movement. No thanks.    But.. a startup company called Pebble, were making minimalist ones, that had actual buttons. No touch screen crap.  Looked pretty interesting, even to me, and when they came out with the 'steel' version, i had to get one.

loved the thing. it was perfect for me. Did want i wanted, wasn't obtrusive, etc.

Then around 2015 they talked about getting into the health monitor businesses.. then in 2016 fitbit bought them to get rid of competition that made a better product.. killed the line, killed the apps, killed the back end infrastructure, all of it.  So all the 'smart' of it was gone, so no point, and went back to only my mechanicals.   They were a few months away from adding color to the 'steel', which looked neat and was on the pre-order list.

I kept it in the drawer for a long time. Got rid of it last year during purging. "this will never be useful again, why take up the space"

This year, totally unexpected, the original pebble guy rebuilt the company.. selling minimalist watches again ( tho not as nice as before, only plastic.. but gotta start somewhere ).. and just today announced the infrastructure is back for the old ones too.

ARRRRRRGGGGGHHHHHH

Thu Nov 13 2025 18:33:23 UTC from Nurb432

So as i have mentioned before, not fond of electronics where it does not need to be.  One example: my wrist.

Go back perhaps 15 years, and i resisted the 'smart watch' movement. No thanks.    But.. a startup company called Pebble, were making minimalist ones, that had actual buttons. No touch screen crap.  Looked pretty interesting, even to me, and when they came out with the 'steel' version, i had to get one.

loved the thing. it was perfect for me. Did want i wanted, wasn't obtrusive, etc.

Then around 2015 they talked about getting into the health monitor businesses.. then in 2016 fitbit bought them to get rid of competition that made a better product.. killed the line, killed the apps, killed the back end infrastructure, all of it.  So all the 'smart' of it was gone, so no point, and went back to only my mechanicals.   They were a few months away from adding color to the 'steel', which looked neat and was on the pre-order list.

I kept it in the drawer for a long time. Got rid of it last year during purging. "this will never be useful again, why take up the space"

This year, totally unexpected, the original pebble guy rebuilt the company.. selling minimalist watches again ( tho not as nice as before, only plastic.. but gotta start somewhere ).. and just today announced the infrastructure is back for the old ones too.

 

 

ARRRRRRGGGGGHHHHHH

 

Support him. I just bought a Casio calculator watch. I was in Italy, a little store was selling retro stuff, and there was an original Casio calculator watch for $200. My wife was like, "Geek, you don't need that," and shamed me. So I didn't buy it. And regretted it. Came home and searched. Casio sells a modern retro calculator watch. $25. No game. I bought it. When I wear it, people go nuts. I should have bought the real deal in Italy. I shame her about it ALL the time - and she feels bad. She knows she was wrong denying me my UberNerd urges. Seriously. She has said, " you know your instincts on things like that, you shouldn't let my response influence you. You should have bought it." 
Which is nice. Too little, too late, but nice. ;) 

Tho im not fond of plastic, i actually did try.

I got on the waiting list, and when it was time i tried to buy it but just could not the payment to go thru. Tried it over a 3 day period even got my bank involved.. gave up finally.

Sat Nov 15 2025 05:40:09 UTC from ParanoidDelusions

 

Support him. 

 

i still have my casio calculator watch-  with the game. 

Sat Nov 15 2025 05:40:09 AM UTC from ParanoidDelusions

 

 

Support him. I just bought a Casio calculator watch. I was in Italy, a little store was selling retro stuff, and there was an original Casio calculator watch for $200. My wife was like, "Geek, you don't need that," and shamed me. So I didn't buy it. And regretted it. Came home and searched. Casio sells a modern retro calculator watch. $25. No game. I bought it. When I wear it, people go nuts. I should have bought the real deal in Italy. I shame her about it ALL the time - and she feels bad. She knows she was wrong denying me my UberNerd urges. Seriously. She has said, " you know your instincts on things like that, you shouldn't let my response influence you. You should have bought it." 
Which is nice. Too little, too late, but nice. ;) 

 

Wanna sell it? PM me. 

Tue Nov 18 2025 07:55:16 UTC from test2

i still have my casio calculator watch-  with the game. 

 

 

 

na, sentimental. i have most all my old stuff. much to my wife's chagrin. 

Sat Nov 22 2025 03:33:27 AM UTC from ParanoidDelusions

Wanna sell it? PM me. 

 

Tue Nov 18 2025 07:55:16 UTC from test2

i still have my casio calculator watch-  with the game. 

 

 

 

 

I knew I had offered to buy a Casio watch from someone, somewhere online. Couldn't remember here. Damn whiskey. At least it wasn't an e30 325i BMW... :D 

Tue Nov 25 2025 02:30:57 UTC from test2

na, sentimental. i have most all my old stuff. much to my wife's chagrin. 

Sat Nov 22 2025 03:33:27 AM UTC from ParanoidDelusions

 

na, sentimental. i have most all my old stuff. much to my wife's chagrin. 

The first time you have to clean out someone else's house (for example, a deceased parent) you start to think about the clutter in your own home.

I'm in that space now.  Aggressively.  Lots of stuff is going away.  If it hasn't been used in a year, out it goes.  The only exception is tools -- when you need a specific tool, you need it, and sometimes nothing else will do.

I've got a pile of old Model M keyboards lying around that have various issues (mostly the infamous space bar wire).  I think I might try to ebay them as a lot "as is".  If I can get a hundred bucks for the lot it's a win.  Normally I don't bother to try selling my old stuff but these could bring in a decent handful of coin.

That is how i ended up with a garage of tools, 4x of everything..  My dad was as bad as I.  Or is it i'm as bad as he was? :)    ( we both 'worked' so having the tools made sense, but we would go overboard )

Wed Dec 10 2025 17:56:59 UTC from IGnatius T Foobar

  The only exception is tools -- when you need a specific tool, you need it, and sometimes nothing else will do.

 

I have one for small things.  like why do i need 15 screwdrivers ( of the same size/style )  8 - 1/2" sockets? or even 2 - 2" ones ( across the entire size spectrum )..  or 4 hand-drills ( since i have moved to battery now i have my 2 + his 2... AND 2 battery powered ones.. ). Once the tub is full going to call family "hey... "  Then start filling it again.  lol.

Some of the bigger stuff has moved on to other family members over time, but i still have WAY too much.  

Its a process.  And im running out of time so i need to get my butt in gear.

( sorting sockets is a royal pain, its hard to read those things.. )

Sun Dec 14 2025 03:57:42 UTC from IGnatius T Foobar

 and I'm starting a crate labeled "surplus tools" so that I can make up tool sets for anyone who needs one.

Hmm a couple of older RISC-V boards escaped the last purge somehow. But not this one. Bye bye bye.

I worry about... I have $10,000 worth of records, at purchase price. Value is significantly higher. 

Same with my comic books.  I just looked up a title I remembered. $.15 cover price. Low price was $50.00 and I've got 1000 comic books. Not all of them are $50 low titles, but a LOT of them are. 

My daughter is going to get raped when I die by some vulture estate-sale picker. 

He'll give her $5000 for $30,000 worth of eBay items. I don't know how to tell her no to give in. 

And $50 was low price. My copy if probably a $150 copy. VG++. 

I had several hundred albums before the great purge here a decade or so ago. Some exceedingly rare. I kept perhaps 5. Tons cassettes too. Dunno the total tapes ( or how many were recorded and how many were commercial ), it was a large box full of them.   I did keep my 100s of CDs and DVDs. Not real sure why, but i did.

Literally 1000s of books and magazines headed to the door too. Kept perhaps 30 special ones. ( some really old hand-me-downs from family and some art books )

100s of retro machines, including a box of HP calculators and a couple of printers. Kept 2. Made a few collectors happy. LoL.

Had a friend once, had a 12x12 ( approx ) room as his "music room". Shelves on all 4 sides, floor to ceiling, even above the doorway ( and no window, it was covered ).... all packed with records. Beyond counting, only guessing and doing some math ( i think i estimated around 1200 albums per shelf, and f course had 6 or 7 shelves, and then basically 3 walls of it  ).   He would pull one out every so often and play it "guess who this is" i rarely missed one.  I guess he worked at a music warehouse as a kid.. got stuff for free...  I'm sure its worth a few bills, if he still has it and is still around. ( not talked to him since perhaps 1991 )

Tue Dec 23 2025 05:13:53 UTC from ParanoidDelusions

I worry about... I have $10,000 worth of records, at purchase price. Value is significantly higher. 

I guess the RAM shortage is now expected to run into at least 2028.. Another reason to hate these damned AI data centers, as that is where its all going.

( and yes, i know, i have a friend who is employed due to this nonsense, but i can still not like its 'side-effects' )