#kb model

[breyer-horses-daily]

Today’s Breyer horse is: #1847 “KB Omega Fahim ++++//“ on the Shagya Arabian mold sculpted by Brigitte Eberl. Released in 2021.

[seithr]

girl i need to get this new laptop i swear to god

[reasonsforhope]

"Pictured: Lee Jae-myung, the presidential candidate for South Korea's Democratic Party, gestures while standing next to his wife Kim Hye-kyung, as he greets his supporters in front of the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, June 4, 2025.

Summary

Election called after president ousted over martial law

Lee leading with more than 49% after 99% of votes tallied

Main conservative rival Kim Moon-soo conceded defeat

New leader faces challenge of healing polarised society, shielding economy from U.S. tariffs

Nearly 80% of 44.39 million eligible voters cast ballots

South Korea's liberal party candidate, Lee Jae-myung, was elected president in Tuesday's [June 3, 2025] snap election, six months to the day after he evaded military cordons to vote against a shock martial law decree imposed by his ousted predecessor.

Lee's victory stands to usher in a political sea change in Asia's fourth-largest economy, after the backlash against the martial law brought down Yoon Suk Yeol, the conservative outsider who narrowly beat Lee in the 2022 election.

Nearly 80% of South Korea's 44.39 million eligible voters cast their ballots, the highest turnout for a presidential election in the country since 1997, with Lee terming the polls "judgment day" against Yoon's martial law and the People Power Party's failure to distance itself from that decision.

With more than 99% of the votes counted, the Democratic Party's Lee stood at 49.3% to PPP candidate Kim Moon-soo's 41.3%, according to National Election Commission data.

A subdued Kim conceded the race and congratulated Lee in brief remarks to reporters.

Lee had long been favoured to win, and his supporters erupted in cheers as exit polls by the country's major broadcasters showed him defeating Kim by wide margins.

In a brief speech to supporters gathered outside parliament after the polls closed, Lee said he would fulfil the duties of the office and bring unity to the country.

"We can overcome this temporary difficulty with the combined strength of our people, who have great capabilities," he said.

He also vowed to revive the economy and seek peace with nuclear-armed North Korea through dialogue and strength.

The martial law decree and the six months of ensuing turmoil, which saw three different acting presidents and multiple criminal insurrection trials for Yoon and several top officials, marked a stunning political self-destruction for the former leader and effectively handed the presidency to his main rival.

Yoon was impeached by the Lee-led parliament, then removed from office by the Constitutional Court in April, less than three years into his five-year term, triggering the snap election that now stands to remake the country's political leadership and foreign policies of a key U.S. ally.

Lee has accused the PPP of having condoned the martial law attempt by not fighting harder to thwart it and even trying to save Yoon's presidency...

Need for Change

Park Chan-dae, acting leader of Lee's Democratic Party, told KBS that the projections suggest voters rejected the martial law attempt and are hoping for an improvement in their livelihoods.

"I think people made a fiery judgment against the insurrection regime," he said.

The winner must tackle challenges including a society deeply scarred by divisions made more obvious since the attempt at military rule, and an export-heavy economy reeling from unpredictable protectionist moves by the United States, a major trading partner and a security ally.

Both Lee and Kim pledged change for the country, saying a political system and economic model set up during its rise as a budding democracy and industrial power are no longer fit for purpose.

Their proposals for investment in innovation and technology often overlapped, but Lee advocated more equity and help for mid- to low-income families while Kim campaigned on giving businesses more freedom from regulations and labour strife.

Lee is expected to be more conciliatory toward China and North Korea, but has pledged to continue the Yoon-era engagement with Japan."

-via Reuters, June 3, 2025

[frenchcurious]

Lincoln Model KB Coupe 1932. - source Amazing Classic Cars.

[thirstkanaphan]

Tinytown Digest - July 2025 Week 4

Hello! This newsletter comes out at the end of the week and will be pinned to my blog and reposted to the Ateez Community.

What Did I Miss?

ATEEZ earn their second entry on the Billboard Hot100 as ‘In Your Fantasy’ debuts at #68 on this week’s chart

Almost by Bradley Simpson ft. Hongjoong is out now. Be sure to support the song by buying a copy and streaming the song.

Mingi on 'Idol Eats : Fueled to Shine'

Logbook #183

Hongjoong and Wooyoung on '세호가중계' ENG subs now available!

ATEEZ are having a Japanese comeback with their 2nd full album 'Ashes to Light' on September 17th

ATEEZ appeared on TV Asahi's "M:ZINE" It doesn't look like this is available (yet) for international viewers, but here is a link to watch if you are based in Japan.

ATEEZ will appear as the first star on Studio K Original Reality Show 'ARTIST+ by KBS Kpop' premiering Aug 10 with a total of 8 episodes to be released every Sunday 6pm KST

xikers will be a Special Guest for ATEEZ 2025 WORLD TOUR [IN YOUR FANTASY] in Los Angeles and Arlington

ATEEZ on KPOPPED, premiering on Apple TV+ August 29

This Week

7/30 [IN YOUR FANTASY] IN NORTH AMERICA - TACOMA

8/2 [IN YOUR FANTASY] IN NORTH AMERICA - SAN JOSE

Coming Soon

8/3 ARTIST+ EP. 0 'First Take: The Interview Preview'

8/8 [IN YOUR FANTASY] IN NORTH AMERICA - LOS ANGELES

8/8 Yunho’s short drama series ‘전자두뇌 정과장’ to be released on 8th August via Kanta Japan app will have 33 episodes.

8/9 [IN YOUR FANTASY] IN NORTH AMERICA - LOS ANGELES

8/9 Happy Mingi Day!

Voting, Streaming, Charting

GOLDEN HOUR : Part.3 'In Your Fantasy Edition has surpassed 60 million streams on Spotify. It is their fastest album to reach this mark!

In Your Fantasy has now been added to the "Billboard HOT 100” playlist on Spotify

Golden Hour: Part. 3 (RE) at #7 on the 🇺🇸 Billboard 200

ATEEZ has reached a new peak of 5,884,679 (+43,850) monthly listeners on Spotify.

Wave reached 100 million streams on Spotify!

Congrats?! 😂

Magazines, Fashion, Brands

Seonghwa has been named as the first ambassador for SONGZIO via the Digital Cover of DAZED Korea

Hongjoong and Seonghwa announced as models for eyewear brand 'The Silent Soul' for a special collaboration launching Jul 28

ATEEZ Billboard Korea Artist Edition Interview: See Exclusive Photos, Plus Group & Individual Covers

 'Break Rules' With ATEEZ 

San's Interview (and feature) for Arena Homme+

Extras

The 25 Best K-Pop Songs of 2025 (So Far): Critic’s Picks

The 10 Best K-Pop Albums Released In 2025 So Far

Actress Kim Jung Nan ATEEZ concert vlog

This was a great reaction and breakdown of In Your Fantasy

Song of the Week

Crazy Form is close to 100 million! Let's get her over the finish line...

That's it for this week!

If you would like to be tagged for weekly updates reply below!

[adafruit]

🎄💾🗓️ Day 8: Retrocomputing Advent Calendar - Commodore PET 🎄💾🗓️

The Commodore PET (Personal Electronic Transactor) came out in 1977 and was among the earliest personal computers - featuring an all-in-one design with a keyboard, monochrome monitor, and cassette deck - all within a single chassis. Powered by an MOS Technology 6502 microprocessor running at 1 MHz, it had 4 KB of RAM and was expandable up to 96 KB in later models. The PET had Commodore BASIC stored in ROM, allowing users to write and execute programs directly. Its display supported text resolutions of 40×25 or 80×25 characters, using the PETSCII character set for semigraphic capabilities. While early models did not have sound, later versions included a basic beeper. PET's all-in-one design and user-friendly interface contributed to its popularity in education and business, and it sold approximately 219,000 units before its discontinuation in 1982.

Check out the wikipedia page for some extended history and great photos -

Have first computer memories? Post’em up in the comments, or post yours on socialz’ and tag them #firstcomputer #retrocomputing – See you back here tomorrow!

[byruit]

Apricot XEN (1985) 🍑

Released in October 1985 and developed by Apricot Computers, the XEN series was designed to compete directly with the IBM PC-AT.

The Apricot XEN series included three main versions: XEN FD, XEN HD, XEN WS.

The Apricot XEN was powered by the Intel 80286 processor, depending on the model, the XEN came with either 512 KB or 1 MB of RAM.

The XEN FD model featured two 720 KB floppy disk drives, while the XEN HD included a 20 MB hard disk drive. The XEN WS, a workstation model, did not include disk drives.

It ran Microsoft Windows 1.0, showcasing early graphical user interface capabilities. The XEN was capable of controlling up to 16 stations, making it suitable for business environments.

Despite its innovative design and advanced features, the Apricot XEN faced challenges due to its lack of IBM compatibility.

[faerymin]

Just My Luck: Episode One

Synopsis: With the discovery of a tribe populating a remote island between Japan and South Korea, your lover and head of the broadcasting network, Kim Namjoon, temporarily demotes you from your role as a news anchor and sends you on location in favor of filming a documentary. With your already cold relationship straining further, you’re sent to film the project only with a cameraman infamous around the station for womanizing, the recently recruited Jeon Jungkook.

Pairing: Jeon Jungkook x Reader (ft. Kim Namjoon)

Tags: Drama & Romance, Explicit Sexual Content, From Sex to Love, Infidelity, Brief Friends With Benefits Situation, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Workplace Romance, Dubious Morality, Fluff, Guilty Pleasures, I'm Sorry Kim Namjoon, Secret Relationship, Mutual Pining, Substance Abuse, Rich RM, (Kind of) Slow Burn, Eventual Smut

Word Count: 4.7k

Author’s Note: Cross-posted on AO3.

━━━

“Delusion detests focus and romance provides the veil.” Suzanne Finnamore, Split: A Memoir of Divorce

━━━

IN THE FIRST HOT MONTH of the fall KBS gave an obituary to a popstar who’d been admitted to Asan Medical Center with her wrists cut in a segment on the morning news, which you watched only because you forgot to switch off the TV and must have pressed some buttons in your sleep to play that particular channel. The medical records and the anchor (who was the weather girl before you’d divorced the broadcasting system) said exhaustion but in the afternoon you spoke to Seokjin and he told you about the actor who left her for an underwear model, which is why you spoke to him in the first place, because Seokjin knew about things like that, knew about people, and to appease you he continued to tell about the news anchor, Mido Nang, becoming the frequent visitor to a surgery clinic in Hannam.

“How do you know it,” you said. You were on the long white chaise in the employee lounge, and he smoked by the open window although it was forbidden. “How do you know she got anything done?”

“I know because I know this surgeon who did her. And you want to hear something funny? Apparently she asked to get her nose cut from all sides the second time so she’d look like Shin Minah in A Love to Kill. The poor thing doesn’t understand that’s not how bones work.”

“Her performance was lackluster this morning,” you said then, swirling sugar cubes into the coffee. “She was trying to pose for the camera while pronouncing the girl dead.”

“She’s lackluster every morning. The only reason she stays the anchorwoman is because she’s screwing, I think, the president’s nephew.”

Echo of voices bounced in from the hallway, and Naeun, who was a director and wore her hair choppy and boyish, flipped a page of the copy of Cosmopolitan she’d been exhausting for the better half of an hour, her foot swinging in the air in single pendulum motion. “If HR gets another complaint about the smoke you’ll be the next one pronounced dead.”

He laughed. “What are they going to do. Fire me?”

The lounge at once became populated with insiders of another crew who were responsible for an underperforming tabloid show and seemed perpetually exhausted. They had come from location, their faces grave and cameras slung across their shoulders, and milled about the kitchenette in a terrible racket. One of them said, “I got the footage of IU, the bitch, flipping me the bird.” Somebody answered, “You think that’s good? I have a shot under Suzy’s skirt, right at the angle where you see all the cellulite.” And they all appeared at once placid and greatly weary with this particular conversation as they got their sandwiches and instant coffee and spread their banquet upon the board in the corner, a Dantesque mass of white shirts and blazers. Naeun made a point to show her back to them.

“You’re a lot of laughs this afternoon, ladies.” Seokjin threw his cigarette out the window. “I’m glad I didn’t dine out.”

“Don’t leave,” you said, draped lazily across the chaise. You’d only begun to drink your coffee.

“Can’t, I already told you. I have to see someone about a job.” Seokjin’s fingertips grazed very lightly across your arm on his way out, and before the door had closed after him someone else entered, someone you realized was the cameraman only when he’d passed you.

“Sunbae,” he said, to neither of you precisely, and continued to the coffee machine.

You noticed Naeun’s foot had stopped swinging and after a moment she retired the magazine, looking at you. She did not have to say anything. The new on-location cameraman had joined the news station that summer, after a soapy program about a ghost copulating with a diner waitress got cancelled. The management liked him for being a son to a videographer who was acclaimed overseas but everyone was sceptical due to him being only twenty-four and having completed his master’s degree earlier in the year. Naeun especially was peeved at having him dumped into her department.

He was a bewildering presence anyhow, entirely emblemed in ink and sultry, and even when he took the jewelry out of his face there were small chinks in his lip and eyebrow. The air around him had proven persistently languid, all gum-chewing naiveté and a boredom so direct that it was offensive. Bets about when he would quit had already been made in his second week on set, and Naeun Bae placed thirty thousand won on ‘until September’ then and lost, because it was already September and instead of a resignation letter there were dressing room rumors about how he’d seduced half the talk show staff. Perhaps due to the hearsay, he seemed to change more recently from simply flippant to downright and impervious.

“You’re a sunbae,” you told her.

“Don’t start with me.” She leaned closer and the bangles on her arm clattered, air cloying with the note of iris in her perfume.“Minji from archives told me the other day she suspected he snuck in there for his rendezvous. She hasn't caught him yet but an employee pass is missing.”

“You think he’s getting it on next to financial reports.”

“I think I’m getting him fired.”

Both your hands wrapped around the cup. “Do you think the editors will give you those thirty thousand won back?”

“The way I see it,” she smiled, “they’ll all be treating me to a meal.”

“You’re optimistic.”

“I’m in a good mood this week, naturally.” When you said nothing, she fixed you with a sceptical eye, as if you had blundered at picking up a thread or failed to react appropriately to some particular allusion, but you did not know what she meant even as she gave pause, a moment of extra leeway for you to continue where she’d left off. “Are you not?” she said then.

“I’m fine.”

“You’re fine,” she repeated. “We have everything well underway and you’re fine. You in particular should be ecstatic.”

“Because of what?”

“Because,” she began, and then sighed. Her bangled hand came to rest against her forehead like she was nursing an impending migraine. “Have you heard nothing from Namjoon?”

You could say nothing, because indeed you had not heard a word from Namjoon, and you suspected you should have known something that was well underway and would make you ecstatic and that others already knew. Naeun took your hand and when she looked at you, because it was very hard for Naeun not to, she failed to avoid looking superior, soft fingers bringing yours into her lap.

“Well, he’s been so busy. He’s surely planning on telling you one of these days.” Then, leaning, she said, “He has to tell you, I mean. We can’t do the segment without our star anchor. Mido Nang will be green with envy when she sees it in a few weeks, that’s a promise.”

━━━

“I’VE BEEN BUSY,” quite funnily, was what Namjoon said the following evening, while you dined at Pierre Gagnaire in Executive Tower 35F, just off the Namdaemun road. You weren’t quite so fond of the floor-sweeping, white tablecloths or the chandeliers looming overhead, but he insisted on going there and you supposed the landscape of Seoul from so far up was nice. You were wearing, you realized only then, a babydoll dress from black chiffon he had bought you last summer. “There has been an offer for one of our series to be broadcast in America but I’m sure you don’t care for the details.”

Repeatedly he ordered an entire feast, numerous plates of roasted scallops, smoked eel, and a tenderloin steak which he now cut into morosely, face sullen as he stopped a dashing waiter and ordered another bottle of wine. Dessert, too, was to be brought out soon, but you had already stopped eating at the second course. “I don’t feel so good,” you said. “I can’t drink any more wine.”

“Then don’t drink it.”

“I mean,” you leaned over the table, “I don’t feel so good and I want you to take me home. I’m too unwell for dessert.”

“You have a delicate palette,” he said, and it did not seem like a compliment. “Stay put a bit longer. Chaulkin, the American, has a reservation here at eight. I have to speak to him. Then we’ll see.”

“Speak about what.”

“The series, Y/N. I just told you about it.”

“Why do you have to speak about it now.”

He lowered the silverware. “Stop that.”

“Sorry,” you told him after a while, and stabbed the sea urchin floating in your consommé. “I didn’t mean it. I’m tired.”

“You always say things you apparently don’t mean.” Namjoon retired his fork and knife entirely in pursuit of the wine glass. “When I’ve spoken to Chaulkin we’ll go. We’ll go home and spend time alone. I’ll make you some tea. Will that make you happy?”

“Yes.”

“Then please try to stay put until we’re done. I have enough problems as is.”

Conversations with Namjoon, as it were, often bore an illusion of a problem having been solved. There was nothing else to say now and you reposed on the chair, continuing to pick on the food. You desperately wanted to order water but felt that doing so now would seem frivolous.

He noticed and then he said, “When the American comes over, please don’t look so hostile.”

You left the Haute French restaurant at quarter to ten, after finishing the bottle the American Chaulkin had ordered, and at the end of nearly two hours plump with conversation it remained unclear whether they would be picking up the series; there was a dreadful altercation about a translation issue, talk about censoring a scene in which a character gets assassinated. “Too much blood,” he had said in clumsy Korean. “This is, how do you say, a purple-rated channel, and that is leaning towards a Tarantino film. And you.” He turned to you. “You said you’re an actress. You act in this show?”

“A news anchor,” you told him for the second time.

“Shame. You should be an actress,” he said for the third.

Namjoon was quiet then and he was quiet in the car.

When you arrived at his house in the Cheongdam area, Gangnam, he did not make you tea. Instead he sat on one of the lounges in his living room, all of which were dressed in cowhide and made an ellipse around the fireplace, and stared up at the ceiling. He closed his eyes and you knew the vein in his temple was pulsing. “Listen,” he said. “Come here.”

You did come, sitting beside him.

“I mean closer.” He still did not look at you when he pulled you by the waist, until you were cradled against his hip. He sighed and opened his eyes. “Listen. I love you.”

“I love you too,” you whispered.

“Right.”

His hand settled on the back of your head to pull you closer, but he did not kiss you until you kissed him.

“I really love you,” you breathed against his lips.

“I know you do.” He led your hand to his belt. “Take it out.”

“Namjoon,” you said.

“What?” He was preoccupied with kissing your neck, and when you weren’t fast enough he pulled on the thick leather strap until it popped off the buckle.

“Nothing.” Your hand dawdled reaching into his underwear. His skin was hot, almost scorching. “I love you.”

Later, while you lay across his bed, studying the books trapped inside his vitrine which had been organized in the same way since you’d known him (English ones in alphabet, Korean by width), you asked him about the well underway project everyone knew about aside from you.

“I was under the impression that it involved me directly.”

“Nobody told you about it. I’m certain I delegated someone to tell you.”

“Tell me what.”

“There’s this uncharted island between Jeju and Fukue. Staff from some cargo ship noticed people. Turns out it’s populated by a tribe, all Korean-speaking.”

“What does that have to do with me?”

“You’re going.” He rested against the headboard, naked, and put down his cigarette to chase a pain pill with wine. “Next Monday. You’re going with someone from the camera crew alone, the tribe chief wouldn’t allow it otherwise.”

“Why not some on-site reporter?”

“Because,” he said. “The footage needs a star.”

━━━

“LET’S GO TO ITAEWON TONIGHT,” Seokjin said when he picked you up in his Corvette the next morning. You could see through his sunglasses that he was eyeing the spotty discoloration on the back of your neck, but it was too hot to let your hair down and hide the marks. He would know they existed anyway.

“Why?”

“To grab drinks, listen to music, I don’t know, have fun. Seems like something you would need.”

“You think I don’t have fun.”

His hand wandered out of the car in greeting, then draped across the door. The roof had been brought down and wind was mussing his hair. “You’re cranky. We’ll fix that.”

“Do you think he knows?”

There was a long silence. “It happened a long time ago.”

“Maybe he knew for a long time.”

“We’re going to Itaewon,” he decided.

“I don’t want to do that.”

“Yes you do.”

━━━

FOUR DAYS BEFORE DEPARTURE, the cameraman chosen to accompany you ended in a small traffic accident which dislocated his shoulder. He had been a bulky man with a bent nose, your senior by a decade, and had years of experience on the scene. Seldom you’d spoken to him in the genesis of the station and remembered liking him. Somebody told you he’d been shot at before while filming. “Look,” Naeun said, tapping a mechanical pen against her desk in a deliberate, mind-numbing rhythm. There was a fleeting impression she was looking at you as she studied her hair in the wall-length mirror. “We need someone who can protect you.”

Her office occupied the highest floor in the building and was three doors away from Namjoon’s, on the corner which looked at the Jeongdong park. There were no curtains, abstract brush-stroke artwork occupied the indigo walls, and incense permanently burned in the enamel censer upon her desk.

“Don’t tell me that.”

She shrugged. “It’s true. You should know how this goes, you used to be a reporter.”

“And then I became an anchor, thinking I wouldn’t get demoted out of nowhere.”

“You’re not demoted.” She focused on you. “Listen honey, you’re not seeing this the correct way. This is a good thing for your career, this is a story nobody in the nation got a hold of yet. When the ratings skyrocket, it’ll be your face everyone remembers, and it’s nice having a documentary under your belt anyway. We’ll twist a spiel about how you’d chosen to do this yourself. Being humane is the chic thing to do right now.”

You sighed. “Just tell me who’s going with me instead.”

Naeun opened a drawer and gave you a file. Black and white headshot paperclipped to the carton. Jeon Jungkook.

“You’re serious.”

“About that. Someone from technical forgot to return their pass.”

“Who are you putting on air instead of me?” you snapped.

“Just someone.” When Naeun spoke again, her voice was flat and preoccupied. “We’re still seeing about it.”

You left her office and tried to see Namjoon, but his secretary told you he was having lunch with the American and head of the programming department and you left three messages on his machine, none of which he returned. That afternoon the bank called about your overdrawn account, your stockings ripped while filming the evening news, and once you left the dressing room you encountered Jungkook smoking at the back of the building with an apprentice journalist on his arm.

“Good night, sunbae,” he said, unconcerned with hiding the sneer in his voice. The girl untangled from him and bowed but you refused to look at her, in fact you refused to look directly at either of them and vaguely nodded, pulling hair over your neck. While you walked off there was a sigh, a relieved chuckle, the wet, wicked sound of a kiss.

━━━

IN A DISPLAY of what Seokjin had told you was a “self-destructive personality” streak and reason enough to “consider seeing a shrink,” in the days leading up to departure you began harboring great regard for the cameraman who’d help with the perilous expedition. Mechanics of him interested you, why the snark on his face, why join this broadcasting house in particular. There was no sleep, or hardly any at all, a continuous hovering over the coffee table, the scratch of pen as you wrote down, in order, everything you could remember he’d said or done. On Friday Seokjin copied his employee file and brought it to you, which he’d easily done not because he was the Chief Marketing Officer but because everyone knew he was Namjoon’s confidant. Just that morning there was a column about them in the tabloids, a photograph from a party of which you’d refused the invitation, with a starlet whose name you didn’t recognize.

“There’s some principle in here I’m not grasping.” He sat on your sofa, rolling a cigarette. “I’d really like to understand the inner workings of your mind.”

Papers were spread across the table, over the floor, all gridded scraps from notebooks, half-written pages that revealed nothing much in conclusion. “There’s nothing to understand. We’re going together. I want to know.”

He tapped the cigarette butt against the table, lit it, and watched you search through the file. After a time he said, “You never asked how the party went last night.”

“How did it go?”

“We went to my place afterwards.”

He left half an hour later when his phone rang, and he spoke to the person on the line all the while he put on his jacket and shoes. There was a tousle of hair, a promise he would call you later. The door banged. Silence fell upon your apartment again.

File belonging to ‘Jeon, Jungkook’ listed his place of residency as Nowon, the neighborhood on the outskirts of Seoul, nearly bordering Gyeonggi. He was born on the first of September, 1997. His social security number and financial information were scratched out with a blue pen. Korean by birth, but his education history suggested he’d lived in Australia, spent several years in Japan, and previous work experience was notched with helping his father on various documentaries, the last of which explored a jungle on the west coast of Tahiti and won numerous awards. When you searched his father’s name on the internet you found he was rather well-situated.

There were notes from HR about suspicions of “unprofessional conduct” in the workplace but no definite proof, and aside from those notes he appeared entirely clean, even competent. You copied his phone number and in the afternoon you called him.

“When we board that boat on Monday,” you told him. “I don’t want to see you being late.”

There was a smile in his voice. “I don’t know if you know this, sunbae, but you’re calling me on my day off.”

“I’m not your boss. I don’t have to call during working hours.”

“Then why are you calling me at all.”

“Because this is an important story,” you said. “Because you’re a novice.”

“I didn’t even know a celebrity had me on her phone, my heart is pounding with excitement. Who gave you my number. Naeun-sunbae?”

You paused. “Someone in HR the other day.”

“This is too fun.” His voice had a particular condescending quality that never really waned. “Am I allowed to save your number as well. Will you respond if I text you.”

You said nothing.

“It will be all right if that’s what you’re thinking. I’ve filmed documentaries, I know how to make it look good.”

“All right is not good enough, this has to be great.”

He laughed and you could hear him do something, perhaps unload a car. “You’re not a fan of me, sunbae. But I’m a fan of yours. Don’t lose sleep over it.”

After the call ended you stared for a long time at the list you’d compiled, of various names which had claimed an affair with the cameraman. In the administrative department were three names, five in marketing, and in programming there were twelve. You did not know what the name of that apprentice journalist was.

━━━

WHEN THE TELEPHONE RANG on Sunday, it was four o’clock in the morning, before dawn, and you untangled the cord in darkness. The evening had been hot and your skin was wet beneath the blanket, a dreamy lethargy you’d imagine of a snake poison permeating your muscles. In those days you did not sleep in your bed but on the leatherbound, glossed couch which made a terrible creak with every dip of pressure. The dreams which played when you slept there were terrors of Mido Nang and KBS, but you continued to doze off on the couch, in a convoluted pretence of an accident for no one but yourself. The ritual eventually began to seem penitent.

No sound came from those cords until there was a long, desperate draw on a cigarette. “You may be the only person in Seoul who continues to keep a landline,” the voice said, draggy, and then came a quiet, rustling sound of moving clothes. There was only one telephone in Namjoon’s home and it was in his office on the second floor, in the room with a window that overlooked his garden, which was the only place he didn’t allow visitors to roam.

“Besides you,” you said.

“Besides me,” he repeated. “People who do business have it. You have no need for it other than the fact you’re used to it. You keep it because you have trouble letting go.”

You lay very still on your back, brushing off a lock of hair that had stuck to your forehead. “Why aren’t you sleeping.”

He sighed. You could imagine him hunched over the grand mahogany desk. “I’m depressed.”

“What for.”

“I don’t know,” he said, then silence.

You didn’t want to rush him.

“This station would be shit if I hadn’t brought you on,” he said after a while. “You know that. Everything would be shit.” You could hear him take off his glasses, and when he spoke next it was with a careful, sensible voice of declaring condolences. “Listen, Y/N. I’m not good to you.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Maybe it was a mistake to mix business and feelings.”

You had always imagined that hearing him say this would hurt more than it did. “People do it all the time.”

“They do. People do all sorts of things. A little number of them are right.”

“You want me to resign,” you concluded.

“God, no,” he sighed again, “but I wouldn’t hold it against you if you did.”

Silence. Something awful was happening.

“Maybe we could try,” you said.

“Maybe we could.”

For a long time both of you thought of what to say next.

Namjoon took the coward’s way out. “Listen. Look pretty for the party today.”

Before you could get another word in, the call ended, and you stared at the telephone pensively for several minutes before you pulled the cord loose from the jack and turned around. No sleep came for you that morning, no matter how much you goaded the punishment of dreaming about Mido Nang replacing you on national television.

━━━

THAT AFTERNOON, fifteen hours before departure, the starlet you had seen in the tabloid was oiling her legs across the pool. Namjoon had thrown a party in honor of the brewing documentary and populated it with people you didn’t much like; now he spoke to an executive from Mnet two feet away from the chair she lounged on, but he didn’t seem capable of seeing her, as if she were spectral.

Her name was Binna and her last name used to be Lim, Naeun had told you so, and she was experiencing a crisis after a divorce with a B-rated movie producer which, she said, you could see in how her thighs had become rough. Now her agent begged for jobs to be given to her “as a favor to Donggeun.”

“That’s tragic,” you said, and meant it, but Naeun derived the sort of enjoyment from your words that made the lines around her mouth crease. Her eyes were not on you but on the girl’s legs. She was putting down the bottle of oil and turning to an actor’s assistant who’d been trying to get her attention for the past several minutes.

“When I see how dry her calves are, I feel almost… frightened.”

About the party there were crowded tables and a band and a thousand white napkins folded into doves, as if the courtyard had been dressed for a wedding. Nobody milling around registered to you as anything other than a foreigner, a hussy or a gangster, and there was a circle of people who’d gathered on the long cantilever deck and danced what seemed to be the tarantella. Someone, a girl, had stumbled and fell into the pool, and two or three people jumped after her, their costumes soaked as they dove out of the water and began to play Marco Polo. The ruckus made Namjoon’s forehead crease and he murmured something to the executive before they disappeared inside.

The crowd and the noise had made you queasy, and for a long time you listened to Naeun report on who was coming and going and pretended to study the small letters on the card, the digest of the upcoming documentary where “the star anchor Y/N” would uncover the traditions of a previously unknown tribe. This woman written about on the card seemed to you someone other than yourself, a grinning television representative you might see if you switched on any channel other than the one you acted for. You wondered if Mido Nang would be sent to a deserted island with only one cameraman.

“Your first documentary,” someone said behind you, and when you turned you saw that it was Min Yoongi. “Looking good, baby. It’s going to look great. Superb.”

Seokjin stood beside him and flicked the gold lighter closed, smiling as Yoongi kissed you on both cheeks like a European.

“How’s Namjoon?”

“Namjoon’s around,” you told him, but Min Yoongi was staring at the very young girl who’d fallen into the pool.

His head canted to get a better look. “I’d like to get into that,” he said contemplatively to Seokjin.

“I wouldn’t call it an impossible mission.”

“Not much competition tonight, mostly sissies. Foreigners.”

“Maybe she’d go for a sissy.”

“Maybe I show her what a good time looks like.”

“Riddle of the week, Min.” Naeun showed her polished teeth and leaned over the table. “Whose ex-wife has been spotted whoring herself out at this very party?”

“Let me guess.” He searched the courtyard until he spotted Binna Lim kissing the actor’s assistant and looked wayward at Seokjin, allowing him to light his cigarette. “Your friend from the tabloids?”

“Friend?” Naeun was scoffing now. “Did you enjoy fucking her?”

He smiled. “Not particularly.”

Min Yoongi was staring at the girl again. He absently patted your arm. “How’s it going, baby? How’s Namjoon?”

At the table on the terrace where Naeun and you sat for dinner, aside from Seokjin and Yoongi, there were a Japanese actor, the director of his latest film, and two talk show hosts who lived in the skyscrapers across from Samsung Town. You sat next to the director, who spoke no Korean, and during dinner Seokjin and the Japanese actor disappeared into the house. You could see the white specks under their noses, the thin red fissure of vessels on the cornea, but this was not mentioned on the terrace. The director and two talk show starlets were discussing the dehumanizing aspect of film succumbing to westernism, in Japanese. When the actor got up to dance with a girl in a red halter dress, you excused yourself to the bathroom, only to find once you stood before the mirror that your eyes were wet, and the mascara was beginning to blotch beneath them. Why were you crying, you wondered. You couldn’t think of an answer.

[ndav1d42]

hu, ez nagyon régóta fent volt a todo listán (csak nem volt nyomtatóm korábban hozzá...)

bruttó 14 óra nyomtatás (a teszt/prototípus/elbaszott darabokkal együtt, azok kb. 1,5 óra), nemtom hány gramm anyag (kit érdekel, van itthon 6-7 kiló), és soksok tervezés, h bepasszoljon a helyére, és legószerűen kis darabokból (korlátozott a nyomtató asztala is meg modulárisan könnyebb megcsinálni) összerakható legyen.

megy az Onshape már egész jól, de végül mégis Sketchupban csináltam a nagyját, meg ott van kész a lakás modell, meg egyedül gyorsabb benne dolgozni továbbra is... pedig nagyon hiányzik a parametrikus szerkesztés sokszor :/ mindegy, jó lett ezzel is az eredmény

az acélrudak bicikliküllőkből vannak, az volt a legolcsóbb ilyen mennyiségben/méretben 🤷 (24ft/db, vettem százat, alin/temun is sokszorosa lett volna), ráadásul ki tudtam használni, h meneted az egyik vége. #profit!!

next step: szerkeszteni meg nyomtatni egységes címkéket az üvegcsékre

(illetve legyen megemlítve az eredeti ötletgazda: ez volt a mintám, de ehhez képest mondjuk én nulláról terveztem újra az egészet, de az ötlet-kiindulópont az ő megoldása volt. sztem az enyém jobb 🤭)

[acquired-stardust]

Game Spotlight #17: Telenet Music Box (1989)

Acquired Stardust is back with another spotlight! Need something to read to get your mind of recent world events? Been hunting for some new music to listen to? Do you just like learning about cool obscure stuff? Join Ash for a look at one of the most obscure things as of yet featured on the blog in 1989's Telenet Music Box for the PC88!

When thinking about the history of video games, many people of a certain age conjure to mind a beginning marked by the boom that Nintendo's NES (known in Japan as the Famicom) brought to the world. Fewer people will be overly familiar with Atari's platforms or their competitors, and fewer still will likely have heard about the infamous crash of the American video game industry in 1983 beyond being able to regurgitate myths of Howard Scott Warshaw's adaptation of E.T. the Extraterrestrial (1983) bearing supposed direct responsibility.

This pop history approach becoming so normalized to people is frustrating but understandable because it's all around us. Being inundated with countless YouTubers and streamers professing a love for retro games has inadvertently created a narrative that video game history is a straight line through mainstream smash hit consoles and this couldn't be further from the truth - there is a whole world before and around the NES that has gone largely unexplored, particularly in the west, and odds are if you've spent much time on Tumblr you're probably passingly familiar with the subject of this spotlight.

Japan has finally begun to more widely adopt PC gaming (in part due to the phenomenon that is vtubing), with an absolute explosion in market share in the past decade. What you might not know is that Japan actually has a pretty rich history of PC gaming that really blossomed in the 80s and 90s with several hardware manufacturers such as NEC and ASCII offering options that would give the world some early looks at teams and individuals that would come to define the medium going forward.

One such game changer (no pun intended) is Hideo Kojima's Metal Gear debuting in 1987 with its definitive version on MSX PCs and getting an incredible sequel that puts the NES-exclusive Snake's Revenge to shame, and another Kojima title would go on to define the NEC PC98 in popular consciousness with classic sexy adventure Policenauts easily being the most memorable title which would subsequently be ported and updated several times for home consoles such as the Sega Saturn and Sony Playstation.

You may be familiar with the PC98 as screenshots from its many games are popular around Tumblr, most often featuring gloriously mid-late 90s anime girls rendered in stunning pixel art that feels like it exists somewhere out of time as things isolated from their origin as video game screenshots. Having been on Tumblr for over a decade (and the internet at large for even longer), it's my observation that the rediscovery of and appreciation for this retro anime aesthetic (and its later PC98 permutation) was really born here on Tumblr before spreading to other platforms to the point that you've probably seen at least one shot cross your dashboard before. But for this spotlight we're going even further back to the predecessor of the PC98, the PC88.

NEC's PC88 was released in the early 80s and most models featured a whopping 62 KB of RAM (in comparison to the NES's 2 KB) and many later models featured Yamaha sound chips which resulted in games often being visually and aurally significantly more impressive than you would see in home consoles at the time, in some cases lightyears ahead of the NES particularly in regards to music which is a pretty great thing for the sake of this spotlight. The games themselves were also quite varied in content from everything to the kawaii and comedic to erotic and even plenty of horror, with many standout games more accurately reflecting wider Japanese pop culture of the era than what you'd see on the comparatively sterile NES.

This wild west, edgy punk rock software library that goes part and parcel with Japan's nascent PC gaming scene is one of the coolest elements of going back to explore it. You never really know what you're in for, and you might be surprised (or even disgusted) with some of the unique experiences the platform has to offer. Many of these games (and those on the successor PC98) are completely untranslated and Japanese comprehension helps their enjoyment greatly and while often simple enough to enjoy without it that aspect has certainly contributed to their enigma in the west.

There are a lot of factors that have made PC88 and PC98 fandom and emulation not as glamorous as that of home consoles and some of that is due to limitations of the hardware in how it handles scrolling screens, with a noticeable chug as games scroll. Another factor is the compounding nature of its flaws and obscurity meaning emulators themselves are in Japanese and a bit tricky to figure out how to handle, old PCs infamously lacking a lot of user friendly features we take for granted today.

One such surprise is Telenet Music Box, a collection of then-prominent publisher Telenet Japan's biggest games' music. It's barely even a game and more a piece of software fit for a museum, with minimal activity limited to browsing game albums (a total of 13), choosing songs to listen to and creating custom playlists. Each of the 13 game albums is showcased with beautiful splash art and accompanied by a tracker for the keyboard as well as titles for each song and a timer for the length of songs.

Included in the mix is an impressive slate of Telenet Japan's games that showcase the depth and variety of the PC88's library such as Mugen Senshi Valis and even an early alternate manifestation of Shin Megami Tensei as a top-down dungeon crawler reminiscent of Gauntlet. Each of Telenet Music Box's 13 albums have their standout tracks, with some from Luxor and Final Zone being among our favorites.

Telenet Music Box is not a wholly unique concept and several other similar games were released for the platform (as well as the PC98), but it is an exceptionally clever one who's usefulness is perhaps all the more apparent now almost 40 years removed from its release, serving as a fantastic introductory course to a little understood part of video game history. It's a fantastic time capsule and with plenty to offer listeners of its roughly 3 hour runtime well beyond its value as virtual archaeology worth excavating.

Perhaps its most valuable asset is its ability to highlight the true nature of history. History is not a static thing with a start and an end but rather a living breathing thing that touches our everyday lives. Rare is it that anything begins or ends from nothing, with things instead in a constant state of evolution even when rising from the ashes of something else. One particular example of this is in Wolf Team's Final Zone (which features hilarious commentary in its opening scene that I'm not sure how made it past management - do look it up if you can) and Mugen Senshi Valis, the latter of which having been extremely popular in its time, spawning tons of ports and several sequels, with the team behind it eventually morphing into Namco's Tales Studio, responsible for some of the most beloved JRPGs of all time such as Tales of Symphonia and Tales of Vesperia.

While PC88 emulation can be frustrating to work out or find files for, an unforeseen strength of Telenet Music Box's concept of 'game as an album' is how much easier its discoverability is in recent years compared to the more traditional video games it shares a platform with, being far more easy to interface with and experience than the games it itself chronicles, and it can be found on YouTube in its entirety for your listening pleasure alongside plenty of other PC88 soundtracks. I invite you to dip your toes into this little-known scene and hope you come out of it with appreciation for the wide world of games outside what may be familiar to you, and maybe even some new favorite tracks.

A gem hidden among the stones, Telenet Music Box is undoubtedly stardust.

- Ash

[iwannapushthebutton]

Facebook HALP!

Van egy új telefonom, amit most setuppolok. De az istenért nem indul el rajta a facebook - mmint nem enged be.

Már letöröltem tízszer az appot és újra is telepítettem, újra indítottam a telefont, mindenhez is adtam hozzáférést, hogy az AI minden ismerősöm és a gyerekeik fingását is meg tudja hallgatni, töröltem a data-t, töröltem a cachet, és ugyanezt megcsináltam mindenféle sorrendben.

Eddig egyszer sikerült eljutnom oda, hogy a régi telóra küldött egy ellenőrző kódot, de miután beírtam ugyanúgy nem engedett be.

Már túl vagyok minden okos youtube videón. Néztem fórumokat - állítólag a Facebook Support sem túl segítőkész. van-e valakinek még ötlete?

amúgy nem lenne ez olyan nagy baj, ha az ismerőseimmel nem Messengeren tartanám a kapcsolatot 90%-ban és ne lenne a fiókom még pár egyéb, amúgy fontos appal összekötve.

Nem tudom, hogy 2025-ben le kell-e még ezt írni, de lécci tényleg csak segítő szándékú dolgokat írjatok, az ilyen minek mentem oda, meg miért kötöm össze a face-t ezzel meg azzal típusú dolgok nem annyira kellenek. Kb. 7-5 évente veszek telefont mert leginkább csak telefonálok és doom scrollozok meg zenét hallgatok vele. az előző telóm is 2018-as modell. nincsenek nagy igényeim, csak szeretném ha működne. nem gondoltam volna, hogy pont a Zuckerberg hiper-modern adathalász szara az, amiben egy ilyen szintű bug van. 🥹

[the-blind-geisha]

“Try and get out of that, you insufferable menace!” - King Boo

@silly-inky commented about how they could imagine my gijinka KB blowing bubbles with his pipe, and it was too good an idea to pass up.

So I turned it into his weapon. LOL 😂 Basically the equivalent to him capturing people in paintings, I guess, but in bubbles. Just don’t ask him to go above ground with it. It’ll turn into a Scuttle moment.

Made KB have a bit of bioluminescent parts as I wager he prefers the deeper parts of the ocean. Mer!Luigi I tried to model after a flying fish. They got mad ups, right? That’s good enough, I wager!

Enjoy the bubble boo. It was suggested by my friend on IG, Mightyroardraws!

[venusvity]

Yoo Mirae (Korean: 유미래, born January 6, 1997), known professionally as Bliss (Korean: 블리스; Japanese: 至福), is a Korean singer, dancer, and actress based in South Korea. She is a former member of the South Korean girl group Venus, formed by Angelico Entertainment in 2018. She is portrayed by Lee Yoomi & Wendy Son.

Mirae was born on January 6, 1997, in Gunpo, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. Her mother is the esteemed musical theatre actress Yoo Misun. Mirae attended high school at the School of Performing Arts in Seoul. Throughout her school years, she starred in multiple school musicals. She joined a school drama club and earned more experience in the entertainment industry by attending auditions.

In 2014, Mirae joined Angelico Entertainment as a trainee after passing its auditions. 

In October 2014, she appeared in Emphasis' music video for "Du Du Du!" as a lifeguard. The same year, she starred in Priority's "Say You Love Me" music video as Reid's love interest. In 2015, she would be featured in W Korea alongside Kang Juwon of Priority. Mirae would do a lot of modeling pre-debut, working with brands such as Laneige, Nature Republic, Amuse, Bobbi Brown Cosmetics, and Etude House.

𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟖: 𝐃𝐞𝐛𝐮��� 𝐢𝐧 𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐔𝐒

On March 17, 2018, Mirae would officially debut in VENUS with the release of their first extended play (EP), SHE DEVIL, and its lead single, "SHE DEVIL." She would take on the stage name "Bliss."

She was the group's co-leader, main rapper, and main vocalist.

𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟎 - 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟏: 𝐀𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐃𝐞𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐌𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐃𝐞𝐛𝐮𝐭

In January 2020, Bliss made her acting debut as the female lead in the web drama Please Try Again, which achieved record-breaking viewership.

On March 24, 2021, Bliss was announced as a cast member for the musical Midnight Sun as Seo Haena, with DAY6's Wonpil, Baekho, DeepDive's Kiwoo, GOT7's Youngjae, Shinee's Onew, Kang Hye-in, Kei, and Lee Ah-jin. To promote the musical, she collaborated with stage member Onew to release "A Melody Called You (너라는 멜로디)"

𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟒: 𝐃𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐔𝐒

On June 10, 2024, during the Venus contract transfer, Bliss, unlike the other four members of Venus, would not sign with Mydol Entertainment. A letter announcing Bliss's departure from the group would be posted to Venus' social media accounts.

It is still under heavy debate if Bliss left the group or was removed by Mydol CEOs.

On August 7th, 2024, Bliss renewed her contract with Angelico Entertainment.

Before her debut with Venus, Yoonah featured in advertisements for Samsonite, Smart Uniform, LG Electronics, and Nikon. 

In September 2018, Bliss and band-mate Baebi became endorsement models for Japanese cosmetics brand Kiss Me. 

In September 2021, Bliss was announced as the new host of the program Music Bank with L.O.L's Jesse. For their performance on the program, they were awarded with the Best Couple Award at the 2021 KBS Entertainment Awards.

In February 2021, Korean clothing brand It Michaa selected Bliss as its muse for its Spring 2021 collection. She was also appointed for the summer 2021 campaign on It Michaa's line, For a Day Michaa. 

In 2022, Coca-Cola Korea selected Bliss as an endorsement model for Dr Pepper.

In January 2023, Bliss stepped down as Music Bank host after sixteen months in the role.

In February 2023, Bliss became the new muse for the South Korean casual fashion brand SJSJ.

In December 2023, Dyson selected Bliss as its official Brand Ambassador, representing the new Dyson hair care products. Then, in January 2024, the American athletic apparel retailer Alo Yoga announced Bliss as the new face for its spring 2024 campaign. 

[frenchcurious]

Lincoln Model KB Boattail Speedster 1932. - source Amazing Classic Cars.

[computerclippy]

The IBM Personal Computer, Model 5150, was released as part of the Personal System/2 lineup. It was released in August 1981 and was discontinued in 1987. Sporting an Intel 8088 processor and 16-256 KB of memory, it had two different options for graphics! It’s Monochrome Display Adapter card allowed for high res text, while the Color Graphics Adapter card provided low to medium res colored images.

[adafruit]

🎄💾🗓️ Day 18: Retrocomputing Advent Calendar - Commodore 64🎄💾🗓️

The Commodore 64, released in 1982, is one of the ones we keep hearing got many people their start in their own computing history. Powered by a MOS Technology 6510 processor at 1.02 MHz and featuring 64 KB of RAM, it became the best-selling single computer model of all time, with an estimated 12.5–17 million units sold. Its graphics were driven by the VIC-II chip, capable of 16 colors, hardware sprites, and smooth scrolling, while the SID (Sound Interface Device) chip delivered advanced audio, supporting three voices with waveforms and filters, making it a lot of fun for gaming and music.

Featured a built-in BASIC interpreter, allowing users to write their own programs out-of-the-box. The C64’s affordability, large software library, lots of games, productivity, and educational applications made it a household name. It connected to TVs as monitors and supported peripherals like the 1541 floppy disk drive, datasette, and various joysticks. With over 10,000 commercial software titles and a thriving homebrew scene, the C64 helped define a generation of computer enthusiasts.

Its impact on gaming was gigantic, iconic titles like The Last Ninja, Maniac Mansion, and Impossible Mission. The C64 also inspired a demoscene, where programmers pushed its hardware for visual and audio effects. The Commodore 64 remains a symbol of computing for the masses and creative innovation, still loved by retrocomputing fans today.

Check out the National Museum of American History, and Wikipedia. https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/object/nmah_334636 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commodore_64

And…! An excellent story from Jepler -

== While I started on the VIC 20, the Commodore 64 was my computer for a lot longer. Its SID sound chip was a headline feature, and many of my memories of it center around music. Starting with Ultima III, each game in the series had a different soundtrack for each environment (though each one was on a pretty short loop, it probably drove my folks nuts when I would play for hours). There were music editors floating around, so I tried my hand at arranging music for its 3 independent voices, though I can't say I was any good or that I have any of the music now. You could also download "SID tunes" on the local BBSes, where people with hopefully a bit more skill had arranged everything from classical to Beatles to 80s music.

Folks are still creating cool new music on the Commodore 64. One current creator that I like a great deal is Linus Åkesson. Two videos from 2024 using the Commodore 64 that really impressed me were were a "Making 8-bit Music From Scratch at the Commodore 64 BASIC Prompt", a live coding session (http://www.linusakesson.net/programming/music-from-scratch/index.php) and Bach Forever (http://www.linusakesson.net/scene/bach-forever/index.php) a piece played by Åkesson on two Commodore 64s.

Like so many things, you can also recreate the experience online. Here's the overworld music for Ultima III: https://deepsid.chordian.net/?file=/MUSICIANS/A/Arnold_Kenneth/Ultima_III-Exodus.sid&subtune=1 -- the site has hundreds or thousands of other SIDs available to play right in the browser.

Have first computer memories? Post’em up in the comments, or post yours on socialz’ and tag them #firstcomputer #retrocomputing – See you back here tomorrow!