A few months back while browsing YouTube, I found a video of a segment from the game “Sam & Max” where the two titular characters are in a support group style meeting for obsolete electronics. The group, known as the Computer Obsolescence Prevention Society, or C.O.P.S is a quirky little group, made up of an …
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Introducing The Amazing Compact Disc (1982)
Today I present you with this rather simple 1982 clip from the Australian television program “Towards 2000” where they discuss the newest thing in music – the Compact Disc. Starting off covering a history of non-magnetic music recording mediums; Wax Cylinders, Edison Diamond Discs, Standard 78 RPM records, then finally the microgroove Long-Playing record, the …
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A Feeling Of Freedom
So, as I write this, it’s 3AM. I really should be asleep, but let’s face it – with my work schedule being what it is an sleep issues, this isn’t anything normal. Right now I’ve got the Dido album “No Angel” laying. Haven’t listened to that in many years, and it’s just as good as …
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We May Finally Be Coming To The Beginning Of The End Of the Compact Disc
The Compact Disc, commonly known simply as “CD, the primary distribution method of music over the past nearly 30 years, is on its way out. This isn’t anything new to anyone – digital music sales have been climbing over the past decade, and now well surpass sales of physical media on a whole. The CD, …
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Fans Riot On The Streets Of Philadelphia Because Their Team Won The Super Bowl. Yes, Seriously.
I didn’t think I’d have to do a follow up to yesterdays article regarding sports, but here I am. This actually somewhat works as a fine follow up to the earlier article today on differing interests and opinions, too, but I’ll get into that. Regarding the Super Bowl last night, apparently the Philadelphia Eagles won …
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Diverse Interests And Opinions
One of the first things someone simply browsing this site would notice is probably a focus on a few very different subjects. While most websites seem to have a single theme about them, Xadara doesn’t. If you haven’t already read the description of the site, Xadara is, after all “a geeky little blog about nothing …
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The Obsession With Sports Makes No Sense To Me
So, right now the Super Bowl is going on; a yearly event that it seems everyone everywhere obsesses over for reasons I simply cannot grasp in the least. Let’s seriously look at this for a moment: the Super Bowl consists of 2 groups of adults tossing around some inflated oblong ball, trying to get it …
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What’s Coming For February 2018 On Xadara
With the way January goes for me, I didn’t even realize until last night that it was February, and that I should do the now standard “What’s Coming” article where I state a list of plans that I know I won’t be able to keep up with! A wonderful tradition, to be sure. Right, I …
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The Columbia Disaster: My Memories And Experience
On the morning of February 1st, 2003, the Space Shuttle Columbia was set to return from it’s 28th mission, STS-107. At 7:59 AM Central time the orbiter disintegrated on re-entry due to damage it had sustained on its left wing during launch on January 16th. In this article, I tell the story from my perspective. …
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Columbia
The Columbia Disaster February 1st, 2003 7:59 AM Central Standard Time OV-102, Columbia, Disintegrates over Central Texas Total loss of vehicle and crew 15 Years Ago Rick D. Husband William C. McCool David M. Brown Kalpana Chawla Michael P. Anderson Laurel B. Clark Ilan Ramon
60 Years Ago, The Launch Of Explorer 1: America’s Entry Into Space
In the late evening, just an hour before midnight on January 31st, 1958, the United States launched it’s first satellite – Explorer 1. Explorer 1 was our answer to Sputnik 1 and 2. At least, it was our successful answer – our previous attempt, Vanguard TV3, ended in a very famous disastrous failure barely leaving …
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The Computer Chronicles – Simulator Software (1983)
Ah, simulation software. Flight simulators, driving simulators, space simulators… you think of it, someone has probably coded a simulator for it. Hell, there’s even a joke name for a genre of game today called “walking simulator” where most of what you do is simply, well, walk. Computer simulations hold an interest to gamers in that …
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Bits And Bytes – Program 10: Computer Music
The computers of the 80’s are somewhat well known for the unique sounds they produced. While CD quality audio and digital sound samples are the order of the day now, and have been for several decades, in the early days of computers sounds, and thus, music, were produced via internal hardware that directly generated tones …
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Thirty Three
What’s that? It’s January 31st? Well, looks like I’ve survived another trip around the Solar System, as some would say. Awesome. I did have some crazy long post I wanted to make regarding this, but I couldn’t word it correctly. Something about it all just didn’t feel right as a way to celebrate. What I …
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The Amazing Success Of The Rocket Lab “Electron” Launch Vehicle
In a bit of rocketry news that I’m long overdue for writing about, back on January 21st, 2018, the New Zealand company Rocket Lab had the first successful launch of their Electron rocket – a booster designed to launch very small payloads into Earth orbit. Not only does this mark New Zealand’s entry into orbital …
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