This Kidde brand smoke and CO detector is a fancy model that talks saying what it detects. It's from 2018 and should last 10 years.
I went to test it and the test went ok but started beeping after and would not complete another test again. The reference guide says it's a malfunction; so I had to buy a new unit. So don't forget to test your detectors because you never know when they could break.
It uses ionization and contains Americium-241. The source is still in the can and the geiger counter detected it a bit. I've seen much worse from clocks so it's not too bad, I won't eat it though. That other metal tube is for CO detection. And you can see the two speakers, one for voice and the other for beeping.
幾つもの祈りへ (Ikutsu mo no Inori e; To many prayers) by swancry was released on December 25, 2024. This is their first album. It's a very emotional and powerful album. The vocalist hikage was previously in the group ゆくえしれずつれづれ and that's how I know about her, I'm glad she is continuing to make beautiful music still. My favorite track is 幻夜 (Maboroshi Yoru; Phantom Night).
Photos throughout the year, didn't take too many this year.
Snow and ice build up ripped gutter off house.
It's only the beginning of December.
Likely my last bike ride until next spring, it's quickly getting too cold.
そんなことどうだっていい、この歌を君が好きだと言ってくれたら。 (Sonna Koto Dou Datte ii, Kono Uta wo Kimi ga Suki da to Itte Kuretara.; Don't Care About Anything as Long as You Say You Like This Song.) by ハルカトミユキ (Harukatomiyuki) was released on May 28, 2014. It's their 3rd EP. I like when the lyrics are done in a hand written style in the booklet. It has a large OBI covering the back with their discography printed on the inside.
The Nintendo Game Boy Printer was released in 1998 and the bluetooth printer probably sometime in the last few years. Both are thermal printers marketed to children for non-professional use. That means not to expect high quality results; only fun. What I don't like about thermal printers is the low shelf life of the paper and the low longevity of the print-outs. That's pretty much why it's for fun only. It's interesting that the new one came with colored and sticker thermal paper just like how the Game Boy printer paper was.
These are actual Game Boy printer paper prints I did around 2005 or 2006 while the paper was still usable. I bought the pack of paper from a book store that had an old stock of it for some reason. I can still tell what most are. I think I printed a roll and a half worth back then. The last picture are prints on newer paper done in the last few years; still look ok but some are starting to fade.
Game Boy Printer: It doesn't look too bad for it's age but it does have annoying horizontal lines. It's slower and louder but still more fun to use than the other.
Bluetooth Printer: The Android software required to use it is terrible but at least it works. It automatically blows images to max size of the paper but it really does look good and clear though. It's annoying that I have to move the images to my phone to print.
The leaves are falling and it's getting colder.
The Famicom Robot came out to play with Danbo.
The Simplex Fire Alarm model 4251-20 was first made in the 1970s. It's a single-action T-bar pull station to signal a fire alarm system. It's not something that can normally be played with so I had to get my own. The button inside is pressed in normally and depressed when the bar is pulled or unit is opened. It has to be opened and closed with the key to be reset.
The Vigilant ARO brand Fire and Burglar alarm is from the 1960s. This is a small buzzer activated by a pulling a pin or heat from a fire. It's just cheap plastic but I guess it does what it's supposed to. It comes with string and mounting hardware to attach to a door or window. It runs on 2 "AA" batteries and is loud enough to hurt my ears after a few seconds. I hooked it up to test the pull station.
サンキュー!! (Thank you!!) is the third single by HOME MADE 家族 (HOME MADE Kazoku; Family) released on January 26, 2005. Another classic, I think both of the songs on this single are my favorites from HOME MADE 家族. The song is about gratitude to all the people they have met so far, can't get any more pure than that!
Track 1 "サンキュー!!" as the 2nd ending of BLEACH from the DVD of the compilation album "BLEACH THE BEST" (Shown here on March 17, 2022). Again with more music found from BLEACH.
The B-side (Track 2) "HOME SWEET HOME (Reborn)" was shown in the speaker test video last week. This song was originally a 2004 independent release.
I have a pair of 150 watt Sansui speakers from the 1980's. They are attached to a stereo system that connects with most of my media devices. I noticed that sometimes the left speakers woofer makes random static noises. There is rubbing when I push into the cone that doesn't happen with the other speaker so I decided to change it out.
The replacement looks exactly the same other than the dust cap is not dented. It luckily doesn't have any rubbing so I think it should work better but I need to do longer testing.
Video of the rubbing then a before and after sound test. It didn't have the static issue during the recording so the old and new one pretty much sound the same. Audio played by my JVC 5-disc CD player.
Autumn is coming quickly.
From Royal Condor SRM CO. INC. and released in 1992. I can't find any info on the company who made them but they have other similar toys too. They both came with original batteries inside and were still working in the Fazer II and Mini Fazer. But the batteries leaked in the other and it doesn't work except when I start poking around inside it. While the trigger is pulled it vibrates, flashes lights, and plays a random sound effect. The slider on top adjusts the speed of those three features up or down.
Back when toys were a higher quality; big vibration motor and speaker along with real light bulbs. The Fazer II is the same design but with two extra light bulbs and a cool clear case. Because translucent is always better. But the original design is really nice and it's cute the mini fazer looks like it.
Scary footage showing the gun in use.
GENESIS by Not Secured, Loose Ends was released on July 17, 2024. This is their first single since they started back up with the new name and the first original song that's not just a translation of older songs. There are two B-sides only available on the physical CD release. I'm upset the lyrics were not included for tracks two and three.
A handheld electronic maze game released in 1978 by Coleco. There are 8 game modes; 6 of them are 2 player only. An LED display shows the program then when start is pressed shows the start and end squares. A red and green LED which players turn it is. The main idea is to get through an invisible maze from the start to end square before the other player does. I really like that there is a built in compartment to store the game pieces. The game makes a big deal about the wrong move buzzer sound effect "Raspberry". They must have just invented it or something because it's listed as a main feature and always explained in detail and in bold.
VHS footage of the single player game 5 "solitare maze". Most of the mazes have been easy, I only messed this one once where the "Raspberry" can be heard.
This Japanese cell phone was released in 2008. It was made for older people or someone who wants a simple to use phone. It has a nice easy to read screen (240x320) with large fonts and a simple UI. The small screen (64x64) on the outside is always on and has different types of clocks with the press of a side button. There is a special switch on the bottom that sounds a loud alarm in an emergency when activated.
Some build in features include a camera with a max resolution of 640x480, Barcode reader, Infrared communication, GPS, Pedometer. There is a flash game that's very similar to the Nintendo DS game Brain Age.
There are text messages still saved on it.
Some of the previous owners pictures from 2009 to 2011. I think that guy might have been the owner. I love the places they went!
Pictures I took from May to June 2024. The camera has noisey images and is bad at low light areas. I took the pictures at the highest setting.
Released on May 23, 2007; this is their 1st album. This is the limited edition version so it includes a CD and DVD. It's a great upbeat and happy album! I found out about this group because of the song 爪先 (Tsumasaki) as the 11th ending of the anime BLEACH. They are still around with three original members and their newer stuff is good too.
The DVD includes a documentary of live performances from 2003 to 2007 and seven music videos.
Two of my favorite songs included on the DVD: 爪先 (Tsumasaki) and 忘れもの (Wasuremono). I can't find their old music videos anywhere on the internet and that's a big reason why I bought this album.
The earliest Mavica I own, FD7 was released in 1997. It's a bit different from the others because it uses a TV camera sensor to record the image. You can select whether to record the field or the frame, depends if you will have a lot of movement in your picture. It also has a slow 1x speed floppy drive. The good is the 10x optical zoom, manual and auto focus modes.
It's not bad. The manual focus is hard to see on the screen, it's a little less resolution then the other models.
no place that feels like by ellis was released on April 26, 2024. This is her second full album following the 2020 album born again. It's a great album and has a different feel than the previous. This was signed and came with a nice note. My favorite tracks are "forever", "it'll be alright", and "home".
VHS footage of the record playing.
This is a quick and easy document and photo scanner released in 2010. It was cheap at the thrift store and I needed one. It's nice that it doesn't need a computer, only pluged in and with an SD card and it's ready. It has selectable 300 and 600 dpi resolutions. But sometimes it puts lines in the scan and refuses to suck in some photos.
Photos I took of Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon in 2004.
Photos I took from around the mid 2000's.
Old family photos.
Another one of the too many models of Mavica. Released in 2001, the model number is one digit off my favorite model but is very different. It supports floppy disks and Sony's Memory stick. Max image size up to 1472x1104 and video is 320x240. The 8x zoom is great since many later Mavicas only do 3x. It also has a cool mode that creates 160x120 animated GIFs up to 10 frames long. Battery life is good since the backlight can be off while outside.
These GIFs were taken with this camera in June 2022.
Also in June 2022, the pictures of my old car were taken with it.
I shot most pictures in the lowest resolution to fit more in the floppy. It's still early spring, everything is gray. I took it with me on my first two bicycle rides of the year.
This is FLOW's 17th single released on December 10, 2008. This is a double A-side single with three tracks. Track 1 "SNOW FLAKE ~記憶の固執~" is a ballad and is well done, vocals and instruments are great. Track 2 "PULSE" is much more upbeat, it's not too bad but nothing too special. Track 3 "Phantom" is my favorate, the vocalists voices work well together. Overall it's a very impressive single.
Released in 2004 for the Nintendo Game Boy Advance, It's an accessory for texting messages to people nearby. At first I thought this was a worse version of the DS's Pictochat and maybe it is but it has some interesting features. The 3 mile wireless range and receiving messages while off are surprising. It has a rechargeable battery and uses the GBA SP charger to charge. It's cool and still works but you need to know someone nearby with one to be useful.
The top green light is on when charging and off when complete. The bottom red light is on when a message is received in standby mode. The batteries are old and only hold a charge for a short time. Looks like the battery is replacable if someone really wanted to.
Testing long range messaging, I was around 1100 FT (335 M) away from a unit powered down in standby mode. The Nintendo DS wireless would never go that far.
VHS footage of it in action with bonus footage at the end.
Released on February 24, 2021 this mini-album is 15 years after her major debut. YUI's solo career became inactive after 2012 and in 2013 she became the vocalist of FLOWER FLOWER. I was really surprised when this was released as I never expected anymore YUI releases ever again. I have the limited edition so it includes a Blu-ray disc along with the CD. The packaging is really nice, a fold-out cardboard case with a booklet and two discs inside. The booklet is well done with translucent pages spread throughout that work together with photography on the page behind it. The CD includes six of her most popular tracks completely redone with her current band. My favorite is "SUMMER SONG", I think it might even be better than the original. It took until recently to watch the Blu-ray because I just bought a player for it. The BD includes four tracks from "インコのhave a nice dayツアー2020-Streaming Live-".
This is a Ice White NTT docomo STYLE series SH-02A phone released in the end of 2008. It uses the FOMA W-CDMA 3G network which unfortunately will end in 2026. It runs the Symbian OS and has a SH-Mobile G2 CPU. The 5.2 MP main camera is really nice, supporting auto-focus, image stabilization, and barcodes. Maximum of 1920×2560 resolution pictures and 640×480 video. It's a nice thin size but feels fragile and the plastic is getting brittle. Membrane keypad doesn't feel great to use either. The small screen on the outside is dim but displays the time and track info if music is playing. The small button on the side turns on the flashlight or pauses a playing track.
A cute theme is applied and surprisingly there is a English mode for the UI.
Came with a docomo SIM card inside. The battery is still good and holds a charge.
Three songs were saved on the phone.
Pictures taken from the previous owner in 2013 and 2014. I like the Animal Crossing figure collection they have.
Panorama mode is interesting but I was probably shaking too much.
Summer 2023.
Winter 2024. It takes great pictures! Nothing like the flip phone cameras we had in the USA.
I have an original "glacier" GBA in ok condition. There is a small mark in the middle of the screen and there's some screen burn that gets worse on angles. It's still playable but I've wanted to know what a new screen would be like. I still have an original "fuchsia" colored GBA in better condition if something went wrong but the mod is reversible anyway.
Well, the screen is much easier to see and is very bright and clear. The shell does glow in the dark which is always cool. The screws it came with stripped instantly so always use the orginal ones. The screen does have an OSD with some settings. Now I wonder how battery life will be.
This small personal heater/fan was released sometime in the 70s. It's a beautiful orange with colorful control buttons. Complete in box, looks like it was barely used. I found this yesterday at the thrift store for 4 USD. Also unbelievably that Game & Watch was there for 20 USD!
Thermal video of the heater in action. Works great!
This is the model CR130DR8 13 inch color CRT TV released in 2007. It has a mono speaker, one RF coax input and one RCA composite input. It also has a coaxial digital audio output for surround sound support. I have the Famicom hooked up via RF and it works perfectly transmitting to channels 95 or 96. The Famicom RF signal looks so good you really can't tell the difference between a higher quality so don't listen to anyone that says RF is terrible. The only bad thing about this TV is there is no input select or TV/DTV select buttons on the TV itself; the remote is required.
In the USA, all TVs released from the beginning of 2007 are required to have ATSC digital TV tuners buit in. This would be one of the few CRT TVs with both analog and digital over the air television support as fancy flat panel TVs were more popular at this time. With small rabbit-ear antennas I'm able to receive three DTV channels from my bedroom. When there is a good signal the channels come in clear and look great. I still miss analog broadcasting though.
OUROARBOROS by ゆくえしれずつれづれ (Yukueshirezutsurezure) was released on January 10, 2024. This is their fourth re-recording album. They started back up in the end of 2023 with a mostly new lineup after about a three year disbandment and are now called Not Secured, Loose Ends. Another change is they are now singing in english. That's surprising because I don't think any of the members are fluent in english but I was excited to maybe be able to understand what the songs mean. This album is all older songs converted into english and they did a good job with it. The lyrics mostly make sense and fit together well, It's a challenge to understand them though.
I was also surprised that a member of ぜんぶ君のせいだ。 (Zenbukiminoseida) joined the group.
Here are the lyrics from one of my favorite songs on the album:
| Wish// |
|---|
Lyrics: GESSHIRUI Translation, Music, Arrangement: syva |
As if the fallen wings were blown by the wind so strong might My heart felt uneasy, consumed by anxiety Was it really meaningful, that first step I embarked on? "Don't want to face it," I muttered, broken-hearted The emotion streaming down my face as I cried Hey I'm wondering if I'd ever be forgiven? And if you're suffered and cry alone tonight Take my hand, let me be your guiding light Can my hand enfold you embracing your dismay and swallow your pain, with a word of love? Tonight I'll just say a word to you Love is indeed Even if you're the only one in the world, I'm your only ally That is the truth At least I'm here, right by your side And if you're shivering, let me be your guide You don't have to stand alone in this fight Weakness is not a sin, and kindness is what's right Beside each other Remember? the warmth and air of the hand that day I doubt the meaning of being born, at times Tomorrow can be gone, and the future can be closed blinds, if that's what God says So make a wish, though it's hard to do, that tears don't overflow, I'll be here for you When I looked up and laughed at the night, I felt a connection, as I held your hand tight And if I'm suffered and cry alone tonight I want you to just be standing by my side Without any need for you without doing anything Just be by my side, that's my wish |
Here is the PV for the original japanese version.
This is a Japanese Pachislo machine made in December 1997. Even though it's over 26 years old it still works perfectly. Unfortunately it did get a little damaged during shipping but it was cosmetic. Modern machines still retain a similar button layout but has fancy LCD screens and are themed to video games, anime, or movies.
It's 1-3 coins per spin and if using credits can be selected with the 1, 2, or max bet buttons. Up to 50 credits can stored in the machine and wins after that are ejected to the coin tray. The small red button to the left of the reel spin lever ejects all credits and turns off credit mode. The reel lever can be pushed up or down to spin and the reels are stopped each in whatever order you want.
Inside the machine is the power switch, a couple fuses, reset button, key switch for setting the odds between 1-6 (hard to easy), coins in and out counter, and some other settings (don't know what the two switches do).
My favorite detail is the Electrocoin logo reflected off the coin tray.
The ballast for the top fluorescent tube stopped working shortly after I got the machine. I switched the ballasts around so the top tube could work and replaced the bottom one with a small string of cheap LED lights. The LED string wires are stuffed into the 120V supply of power to the non-working ballast.
It came with over 100 coins with many different designs. It uses many small incandescent bulbs and two fluorescent tubes, not easy to find spares. The light bar on top and bonus counter lights are LED.
The graphics on the machine are great! A lot of small details.
Showing coin insertion, button operation, and gameplay.
Gameplay, full big bonus round, and coin hopper empty error. The error music is my favorite feature.