Since your son enjoys drawing, something like Pixicade[1] can help teach him basic concepts of game development without any programming.
Readit Newsjfrej commented on Ask HN: 9-yo son wants to build a game, I'm lost. What can I do? · Posted by u/welfare
jfrej commented on He spent his life building a $1M stereo washingtonpost.com/style/... · Posted by u/bookofjoe
Speakers and a certain kind of microphone are exactly the same thing at the basic level. Sound hitting the diaphram (the bit that moves to produce sound) of a speaker will cause a voltage to be produced on the speaker wires that can be recorded.
Exactly. I used to plug in my earphones into the mic socket to use as a microphone when I didn't have one around.
jfrej commented on Black currants were banned in the USA (2017) foodtolive.com/healthy-bl... · Posted by u/thunderbong
Cordial is a thick juicy syrup added to drinks, but is not alcoholic itself.
I think the GP means ‘squash’ or ‘diluting juice’, which sometimes gets called cordial too (though I associate cordial with the thicker stuff)
It's worth noting that Ribena also comes ready made. If I ever buy Ribena, that's what I go for. Especially the carbonated version.
There are alternative blackcurrant cordials for diluting which are much cheaper and taste good. I think every British supermarket has their own brand one.
jfrej commented on Black currants were banned in the USA (2017) foodtolive.com/healthy-bl... · Posted by u/thunderbong
Oh, so there's no Ribena[1] in the US? Or is it imported?
jfrej commented on Jazz² Resurrection: Open-source Jazz Jackrabbit 2 reimplementation deat.tk/jazz2/... · Posted by u/generichuman
Tip of my tongue request.
Looking up images of DOS platformers like Secret Agent and Crystal Caves reminds me of a game that was loaded on some elementary school computers in 1998. I don't recall if they were Mac or DOS, but they certainly weren't the cutting edge G3. I think the game had a character in a trench coat and they were maybe a sleuth of some kind. The color palette was dark but there were yellow-ish lights coming from above in a conical shape.
I know memories are usually warped and wrong, but hopefully this is enough of a description to jog someone's memory. I have been able to rediscover all of the games I played as kid. Most I never revisited, but it feels satisfying to learn what they were. Big ones that bugged me for ages are Tyrian and Descent.
Another one that fits the dark palette, conical lights and sort of trench coat wearing character[1] is Blues Brothers by Titus[2].
[1] https://www.lemon64.com/assets/images/games/screens/blues_br...
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Blues_Brothers:_Jukebox_Ad...
jfrej commented on A peek inside Japan's largest “Dagashi” store one-from-nippon.ghost.io/... · Posted by u/kizunajp
It's always bittersweet when I visit Japan and come across old establishments or traditions that an ageing proprietor or volunteers are trying to keep going. You can see the love and spirit they have for it, but it often looks like something too disconnected from the interests of young people and the vicissitudes of the changing economy to survive for much longer. A kissaten (old-style cafe) owner in Nagasaki who shared stories and gave me an umbrella (apparently his practice); a jazz bar owner in Sasebo who stays open so as "not to disappoint patrons who might show up", even though he doesn't really get enough business to justify it due to the waning of interest in jazz in Japan. Their low popularity also means they don't charge high prices.
It's a huge contrast with the anonymous, impersonal service you get in big cities and chain stores; a similar anonymity you get all over the world wherever poorly-paid workers don't have a stake in the businesses they work for. The difference is a profit motive versus simply enjoying a practice or being a place for community. Both get shoehorned into the concept of a "business", but they're worlds apart. And in a climate of increasing rents, individualistic places tend to die out, barring the occasional dagashi vendor that manages to reignite community interest in its offerings.
Related to this I recommend the instagram account of Lee Chapman [1].
For example this series documenting old bars and their owners [2] or this one about old shops that don't seem to sell anything [3].
(Instagram links used to be publicly accessible but looks like that's no longer the case. You can also see Lee's photos on his blog [4].)
[1] https://www.instagram.com/tokyotimes_lee/ or https://twitter.com/tokyotimes
[2] https://www.instagram.com/p/CiuP00iPy4W/
jfrej commented on Show HN: I made a retro game archive for Polish games polishpixels.com... · Posted by u/zepesm
This is missing Electrobody / Electroman
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electro_Man
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GosPJVggVmI
As per burmistrz for c64, I remember playing a differently looking version, all mostly black? Maybe v1? http://www.gamebase64.com/game.php?id=20415&d=36&h=0
Available to play in the Internet Archive! [1][2]
jfrej commented on There's something off about LED bulbs nymag.com/strategist/arti... · Posted by u/brainfog
"Good indoor lightning"
Man I'd love me some indoor lightning, no matter the cost.
You can get it in a bottle. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-93Ij5WIcok&t=28s
You can see the loss of traffic in their charts [1] (from archive stats [2]). Looks like it started on the morning of the 26th Nov.
And it seems to be back now. Also visible in the charts.
This instagram account has a nice collection of different ones [2].
[1] https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0e/Coffee_p...
[2] https://www.instagram.com/mymokahome/