The BB cafe

[Kazzl]

The BB cafe is open for business!
Welcome all to a new chill and chat place for everyone on the forum.

The BB cafe is whatever you want it to be. There are comfy sofas, tables and chairs, coffee machines, a kitchen stocked with everything. There's a pool outside, a bbq area, an annexe with comfy beds for a quiet sleep, tv, dvd, books and whatever else you would like to have here.

Most of all, it's a place to meet friends and fellow travellers for a bit of company. Talk over problems, tell jokes, share your day, escape into a world of your making. Grab a coffee and pull up a chair ... 

So, with a nod to the wonderful Carole King (Hard Rock Cafe) ...

Now if you're feeling just a little bit lonely
Don't sit at home just mopin'
Come on down to where the friendship flows freely
You know the door is always open

At the BB cafe
Come to the BB cafe
They will help keep your blues at bay
At the BB cafe

Important Message from ModSupport: 
The main intention of the BB Cafe is to encourage light conversation. Please look after your fellow community members by nuturing the BB Cafe as a place to escape some of the more pressing issues in life and save those conversations for personal threads. 

[Eagle Ray]

I just looked up the Amstrad and I can see it ran off cassette tapes. The Commodore 64 we had ran the games we had from floppy disks, but I think some Commodores also came with a cassette deck. That would have been disappointing not being able to swap games with friends but it must have been exciting when you saved enough pocket money and could go down to the electronic store to buy some new ones. I miss the very simple games back then. I loved the basic ones such as Space Invaders and another favourite was International Karate Plus. They were quite addictive actually. Of course the games today are truly incredibly sophisticated by comparison.

It's great you had that knack for computing. My cousin works in the field and it was the Dick Smith computer that also ran off cassettes that his dad brought home one day that started the interest. He just went with it too and decades later that's still his profession.

I'm glad you don't have bad comments to contend with on the YouTube channel. It's wonderful people have given you the positive feedback regarding your teaching. I'm sure patience helps people to feel comfortable learning from you. I understand and relate to the not knowing how to get angry. I think it's great you have been able to translate what you have learned in a commercial environment into knowledge sharing with others. Yes, that totally makes sense.

With regard to gaming, I think we all need that break from the real world and it can be really helpful to go into our imagination and creative/explorative/adventurous side, whatever form that takes. 

[smallwolf]

when I was in high school, and this next part what not that often.... would go to a place called timezone and play a game called offroad racer . I think it was only 20c to play.

Anyways...

going back to the Amstrad time... a friend then had a Apple 2e - the best game I played on that actually a text adventure game called Zork. When that game was loading it would tell you go get a cup of coffee while it was loading. It didn't take that long but that was actually funny.

But outside of games, I would actually type in code from magazines. I cannot remember their names now. Books were cheaper as well when it came to learning how to program.

[Eagle Ray]

We have Timezones here in WA which I am guessing may be the same gaming stores. I remember those consoles that used to be in some take away food stores and places like that where you could play things like Space Invaders and Pac-Man. And of course before those computerised games there were pinball machines.

That is funny about the message to go and make a cup of coffee. I do remember having to wait a while for games to load. And that makes me think of the early dial up internet too and the time it used to take for web pages to load where I do remember going to make a cuppa.

I remember some of the old coding words from writing very simple programs in BASIC on the Commmodore 64, such as GOTO, NEXT and RUN. As a kid I was able to absorb and learn those things from the book that came with the computer. Yet I remember when we did some basic computing in school using different programming languages that I had trouble following it. I think it was my ADHD-type brain that would often collapse in formal learning environments but do quite well on my own. I taught myself digital photography from books and I seem to learn best in a self-sufficient way a lot of the time where I can just quietly and intently focus on my own.

I think it’s great you did that early learning and were able to extend that into a career, both in your professional job and into the YouTube channel too. I expect even when you retire if you want to keep up some extra work just helping people out with programming and computer-related tasks you would be well-positioned for that.

I hope you are having a lovely day smallwolf.

[smallwolf]

my day turned out ok.  And hope yours was ok as well.

I started a YouTube channel because in the space that my videos sit, there are little to no channels. But it is also somewhat niche ... its one of the supposedly dying langages.

As far as early learning was concerned... when I was in high school I wanted to work in economics area. But I did not get into Uni. Instead I went and did a TAFE course in Business/Computing. And found the business side of things somewhat dull, and the computing side more interesting.

Doing that course it pushed what was my TE score into the 900s and that was enough to get into QUT where I computer science.

But it probably is a good skill to have... I helped out a few people today at work with their IT issues and not intentionally - just a normal day.

Can I ask what you do?

[Eagle Ray]

It’s great you are filling a niche smallwolf with the YouTube channel.

I can understand finding the business side less interesting with the studies. I think I would be the same. It’s good you were able to find your way to uni in that I imagined it opened up some more opportunities and allowed you to immerse yourself in the computing side.

Currently I’m no longer working due to health issues but I’ve done quite a number of jobs - education assistant, library work, customer service, retail, call centre operator, market research interviewing, research assistant, even horticulture work, some guitar teaching etc. My work history is like a strange patchwork that I think reflects my ADHD brain, the challenges of a trauma history and many life challenges and turns along the way. It’s like I was never destined to have a clear career. I had hoped to maybe start a photography-related business but my health had other ideas. I still hold out a bit of hope for that in whatever capacity I may be able to do it.

[smallwolf]

Wow, that truly is a rich and varied work history. It speaks not just to adaptability, but to resilience... a willingness to keep going, and exploring, and keep showing up despite the challenges. It sounds like you’ve navigated a lot, and that takes real strength.

And that hope you’re holding onto for a photography venture? Don’t let it go. Even in small ways, creative dreams have a way of finding their space when the time is right.

Is there a particular kind of photography that inspires you or like the most?

[Eagle Ray]

Thank you for your kind words smallwolf. Well, yes, I think holding onto creative dreams in small ways is still possible. I did recently sell an image to a cafe. I do sell a few images online as well. I only make very small amounts of money, but it may be something that can build up over time.

I would say that being a nature person that wildlife and landscape photography are my first loves in photography and still remain my favourite thing. In the past year I became interested in street photography as well. In practical terms I have considered real estate photography which is not my passion, yet it's probably one of the most likely sources of semi-reliable income. I do have an excellent lens for it, but these days you ideally need to be able to do drone footage, video footage etc as well. Though there would still be shoots I could do with my existing gear.

But at the moment it's very much a case of trying to improve my health status. So just sticking with simple things I enjoy is probably best. But if I could really improve my health a lot then I could do more. I'm certainly not one who has ever wanted to do wedding photography - too much pressure and stress associated with it. Portrait photography might be alright but I'm on the shy side, so would have to build my confidence to guide/direct people and help them feel comfortable which is important with portraits.

I've started to become interested in digital art. A few months ago the Affinity Suite of programs was on special for a cheap price, so I bought that and want to give some ideas ago. It's like a much cheaper version of the Adobe Suite yet still very highly regarded. You can buy it outright instead of having to pay a subscription. I have some specific ideas for it in my mind already.

I hope you and your family have an awesome weekend smallwolf.

[smallwolf]

there used to be (probably still is) a channel on youtube about photography - a pro photographer and a cheap camera such as a film and camera in one, in one video the camera was made of lego etc. I guess the point was that it is not so much gear that makes the shot (but it helps) and more about knowing how to take or what makes a good photo. I remember one photo ... it was a street short and a bird taking off. Not only was it a good photo but the part that got me was how long the photographer waited to get the shot. Perhaps a bit like fishing, it took a lot of patience.

[Eagle Ray]

Yes, that's very true smallwolf, that it's not so much the gear but the ability to see things and also the patience. Until fairly recently I had entry level gear but I still managed to do some good images with that over about 12-13 years. I bought a higher spec camera in 2022 and certainly it does some things much better, but some of my favourite images were taken with the older gear. I love learning about the different kinds of cameras and can watch photography YouTube videos endlessly 😂📷

[smallwolf]

lately ... spending (or wasting) time watching music videos and cooking videos....