I ran my company "DDS - Dunfield Development Services" for about 30 years, then in 2019 I effectively died - When I "came back" my wife wanted me to retire and I agreed with her.

But... I had to do SOMETHING with all the nice graphics that had been created for the companies web site, stationary and other material... so...
I'm using the smallest/simplest "Page title" one as my Vogons avatar (for now, it may change to something a little cooler someday)

I chose mine because its probably the most misunderstood version of Windows nobody ever heard of.

RandomStranger wrote on Yesterday, 17:50:

gmaverick2k wrote on Yesterday, 17:16:

I used to watch anime and game a lot. Went cold turkey, just a reminder not to do that again...

Not to watch anime and game a lot again or not to go cold turkey again?

both

Jasin Natael wrote on Yesterday, 16:26:

Mine is a reference to the book series 'The Wheel of Time' by Robert Jordan.

I've not read the series yet - although I do have them and have "high hopes".

I liked the books by Brandon Sanderson, and when I saw that he had finished the "Wheel Of Time" series after Robert died, I knew I had to check them out.

I just haven't gotten a "round tuit" yet... (there was a bit of a delay - sadly one of the {very few} advantages to "severe brain injury" is that a lot of the stuff you once liked becomes "like new"- I've been working though Brandons works again) ... but WOT is defiantly on my list!

Boohyaka wrote on Yesterday, 17:20:

Reading the first page of this post, looks like you're doing your own designs so maybe it was your own creation?

Well in this case it's more Yuki Takahashi's creation (the first page of this thread was 12 years ago!!). HOWEVER if you zoom in real close and have some early 3d card eyes, you may notice this avatar was rendered on a PowerVR PCX2.

Mine is a clip I borrowed out of "The Transformers" Season 1 Episode 2 - "Roll For It" . Definitely one of the most hilarious and absurd episodes of the original series, and this was a moment from the show that is absolutely perfect for VOGONS. Chip Chase was sent an "Anti-Matter Formula" through the telephone lines to his ridiculously-over-sophisticated-for-1984 computer (which he'd just been using to control a Transformer remotely...). He apparently then copies it to a floppy disk. When he realizes that the Decepticons have arrived to steal the formula from him, he says that he has memorized the formula (all of it, somehow... without being at the computer) and then decides that the best way to keep it safe is to destroy the disk. He then proceeds to tear a 5 1/4" floppy up with his bare hands.

Shortly after he shreds the disk, Ravage enters the room... and then we are gifted with one of the most hilarious things that any animation studio has ever decided to actually leave in the final cut of a cartoon. I won't spoil it.

https://youtu.be/7eFZuvZ99NY?t=674

I recommend just watching the whole episode. It's amazing.

The Transformers is something I watched a bit as a kid in the 90s, and I had some (second hand) toys, but I didn't really become a big fan until about 10 years ago. That was when my wife and I realized the original show was pure comedic gold while actually having some pretty good writing and very elaborate (and often massively broken) animation. We've watched the whole series through a few times since then. There are so so so many quotable lines, and sites like TF Wiki make watching it even more enjoyable. I love watching an episode and then going back and seeing if all of the animation errors, plot holes or brain-dead actions of characters are listed in the wiki. It's also interesting to get some background and to see how different studios produced episodes of, erm... "varying quality" .... to get them out the door on time.

But yeah... that's why my avatar is what it is. Also, it represents how we sometimes feel while working on a retro project that is not going well. 😁

I remember going to the cinema to watch Transformers The Movie on its release day back in '86
Watch the cartoons, read the comics, played with the toys...
Then they killed the idea of it with the recent movies.

leileilol wrote on Today, 02:15:

Boohyaka wrote on Yesterday, 17:20:

Reading the first page of this post, looks like you're doing your own designs so maybe it was your own creation?

Well in this case it's more Yuki Takahashi's creation (the first page of this thread was 12 years ago!!). HOWEVER if you zoom in real close and have some early 3d card eyes, you may notice this avatar was rendered on a PowerVR PCX2.

Do you have some kind of history of your avatars? I'm talking about an older one of yours that I really liked but my memory of it is quite fuzzy. I just associated it with your account name 😀
Archive.org apparently didn't capture those, and I'd love to see it again! If not, no big deal 😁

We still talking about forum avatars here?

Well the current one I have now is pixel art I commissioned Ratte back in 2023 because I wanted both actual pixel art and something a bit more neutral / non threatening than me pulling a "Sean Connery's About To Shoot You" trope.

DaveDDS wrote on Yesterday, 19:20:

I've not read the series yet - although I do have them and have "high hopes". […]
Show full quote

Jasin Natael wrote on Yesterday, 16:26:

Mine is a reference to the book series 'The Wheel of Time' by Robert Jordan.

I've not read the series yet - although I do have them and have "high hopes".

I liked the books by Brandon Sanderson, and when I saw that he had finished the "Wheel Of Time" series after Robert died, I knew I had to check them out.

I just haven't gotten a "round tuit" yet... (there was a bit of a delay - sadly one of the {very few} advantages to "severe brain injury" is that a lot of the stuff you once liked becomes "like new"- I've been working though Brandons works again) ... but WOT is defiantly on my list!

Sanderson's work is on my "to do" list to read, likewise. I think that he did as good of a job completing WoT as could ever be expected.
If he hadn't taken on the task it wouldn't have ever been finished and that would have been a shame.
He should be proud of those books because they must have been very difficult to write, a few of the characters you can tell he struggled to capture in that first book but by the time he had made it to the end he had a pretty good handle on things. He is a talented guy for sure.

As far as the series goes it is truly the best thing I've ever read, but it's and undertaking. 14 books plus a prequel. The first book is good but might seem rather unremarkable at first, by the time you reach the third book it really starts to hit it's stride. There is a ton of lore and worldbuilding going on and a truly huge cast of characters to keep track of but it never seems cumbersome at least to me. The "slog" near the middle of the series is more of a perception in my opinion rather than a reality. You just have some time spent with other characters that you might rather not spend so much time with, but it's still all relevant to the story. A series that every fan of high fantasy should read in my opinion.

It's the flame from my website name/logo. When I'm testing out hardware it sometimes gets a bit destructive. Although ancient hardware tends to get the kids gloves.

Jasin Natael wrote on Today, 15:35:

Sanderson's work is on my "to do" list to read, likewise. I think that he did as good of a job completing WoT as could ever be e […]
Show full quote

DaveDDS wrote on Yesterday, 19:20:

I've not read the series yet - although I do have them and have "high hopes". […]
Show full quote

Jasin Natael wrote on Yesterday, 16:26:

Mine is a reference to the book series 'The Wheel of Time' by Robert Jordan.

I've not read the series yet - although I do have them and have "high hopes".

I liked the books by Brandon Sanderson, and when I saw that he had finished the "Wheel Of Time" series after Robert died, I knew I had to check them out.

I just haven't gotten a "round tuit" yet... (there was a bit of a delay - sadly one of the {very few} advantages to "severe brain injury" is that a lot of the stuff you once liked becomes "like new"- I've been working though Brandons works again) ... but WOT is defiantly on my list!

Sanderson's work is on my "to do" list to read, likewise. I think that he did as good of a job completing WoT as could ever be expected.
If he hadn't taken on the task it wouldn't have ever been finished and that would have been a shame.
He should be proud of those books because they must have been very difficult to write, a few of the characters you can tell he struggled to capture in that first book but by the time he had made it to the end he had a pretty good handle on things. He is a talented guy for sure.

As far as the series goes it is truly the best thing I've ever read, but it's and undertaking. 14 books plus a prequel. The first book is good but might seem rather unremarkable at first, by the time you reach the third book it really starts to hit it's stride. There is a ton of lore and worldbuilding going on and a truly huge cast of characters to keep track of but it never seems cumbersome at least to me. The "slog" near the middle of the series is more of a perception in my opinion rather than a reality. You just have some time spent with other characters that you might rather not spend so much time with, but it's still all relevant to the story. A series that every fan of high fantasy should read in my opinion.

I really enjoyed WOT for the first 3 books, for most people I say enjoy the first 3 then stop. Just like A song of Fire and Ice I fear the success and the authors inclination to ride the money train compromised these series as they reached their original planned end. Then they wrote more books to cash in. I consider the red wedding the end of the good Song of Fire and Ice, then it becomes extend and pretend.

Too bad these authors didn't move on to just building new worlds and series instead of expanding on arcs that had already reached their peaks. I think we would have much more interesting stories from them if they had.

Shagittarius wrote on Today, 16:04:

Jasin Natael wrote on Today, 15:35:

Sanderson's work is on my "to do" list to read, likewise. I think that he did as good of a job completing WoT as could ever be e […]
Show full quote

DaveDDS wrote on Yesterday, 19:20:

I've not read the series yet - although I do have them and have "high hopes".

I liked the books by Brandon Sanderson, and when I saw that he had finished the "Wheel Of Time" series after Robert died, I knew I had to check them out.

I just haven't gotten a "round tuit" yet... (there was a bit of a delay - sadly one of the {very few} advantages to "severe brain injury" is that a lot of the stuff you once liked becomes "like new"- I've been working though Brandons works again) ... but WOT is defiantly on my list!

Sanderson's work is on my "to do" list to read, likewise. I think that he did as good of a job completing WoT as could ever be expected.
If he hadn't taken on the task it wouldn't have ever been finished and that would have been a shame.
He should be proud of those books because they must have been very difficult to write, a few of the characters you can tell he struggled to capture in that first book but by the time he had made it to the end he had a pretty good handle on things. He is a talented guy for sure.

As far as the series goes it is truly the best thing I've ever read, but it's and undertaking. 14 books plus a prequel. The first book is good but might seem rather unremarkable at first, by the time you reach the third book it really starts to hit it's stride. There is a ton of lore and worldbuilding going on and a truly huge cast of characters to keep track of but it never seems cumbersome at least to me. The "slog" near the middle of the series is more of a perception in my opinion rather than a reality. You just have some time spent with other characters that you might rather not spend so much time with, but it's still all relevant to the story. A series that every fan of high fantasy should read in my opinion.

I really enjoyed WOT for the first 3 books, for most people I say enjoy the first 3 then stop. Just like A song of Fire and Ice I fear the success and the authors inclination to ride the money train compromised these series as they reached their original planned end. Then they wrote more books to cash in. I consider the red wedding the end of the good Song of Fire and Ice, then it becomes extend and pretend.

Too bad these authors didn't move on to just building new worlds and series instead of expanding on arcs that had already reached their peaks. I think we would have much more interesting stories from them if they had.

Can't comment on the WOT series, but Sanderson's Skyward series is very enjoyable. 🙂

Ozzuneoj wrote on Today, 16:26:

Shagittarius wrote on Today, 16:04:

Jasin Natael wrote on Today, 15:35:

Sanderson's work is on my "to do" list to read, likewise. I think that he did as good of a job completing WoT as could ever be e […]
Show full quote

Sanderson's work is on my "to do" list to read, likewise. I think that he did as good of a job completing WoT as could ever be expected.
If he hadn't taken on the task it wouldn't have ever been finished and that would have been a shame.
He should be proud of those books because they must have been very difficult to write, a few of the characters you can tell he struggled to capture in that first book but by the time he had made it to the end he had a pretty good handle on things. He is a talented guy for sure.

As far as the series goes it is truly the best thing I've ever read, but it's and undertaking. 14 books plus a prequel. The first book is good but might seem rather unremarkable at first, by the time you reach the third book it really starts to hit it's stride. There is a ton of lore and worldbuilding going on and a truly huge cast of characters to keep track of but it never seems cumbersome at least to me. The "slog" near the middle of the series is more of a perception in my opinion rather than a reality. You just have some time spent with other characters that you might rather not spend so much time with, but it's still all relevant to the story. A series that every fan of high fantasy should read in my opinion.

I really enjoyed WOT for the first 3 books, for most people I say enjoy the first 3 then stop. Just like A song of Fire and Ice I fear the success and the authors inclination to ride the money train compromised these series as they reached their original planned end. Then they wrote more books to cash in. I consider the red wedding the end of the good Song of Fire and Ice, then it becomes extend and pretend.

Too bad these authors didn't move on to just building new worlds and series instead of expanding on arcs that had already reached their peaks. I think we would have much more interesting stories from them if they had.

Can't comment on the WOT series, but Sanderson's Skyward series is very enjoyable. 🙂

I really feel Wheel of Time took off with book 4 personally. 5-6 were right there with it. Best arcs of the story.

An edit of one of Patrick Nagel's Intel 8088 ads:

https://archive.org/details/1982-10-byte-maga … age/56/mode/2up

One of the many game studios which came in to the claws of big bad EA. Most gaming time were spent on games from this studio. As a kid I borrowed the C&C discs about 6 times from the local library.

I can't believe this thread is 14 pages and hasn't become a guessing game. (Okay, a couple posts went there.)

What's mine? 😉

SiBurning wrote on Today, 19:18:

I can't believe this thread is 14 pages and hasn't become a guessing game. (Okay, a couple posts went there.)

What's mine? 😉

Let me Google AI that for you:

AI is awesome

... and totally besides the point

Mine is a singing character available for purchase on an online video game.
She is appreciated for her abilities everyone surrounds her for a boost. Her voice is of a singer in the real world.