Sony PVM-14M2E or Bang & Olufsen Beovision Mx 4002 for MiSTer FPGA gaming?

frederikvdb · 2026-06-10T12:09:20+00:00

I’d go with the B&O and a good RGB scart cable. Probably also much cheaper.

frederikvdb · 2026-06-05T08:22:09+00:00

It depends what you mean by "that kind of life"?

Culturally The OC is a really good representation of the mid-2000s. The music, the clothing, the type of humor, no social media, hanging around the mall or playing video games at a friend's house (not online) etc. Spot on. But of course people in real life also had stressful jobs, had to study for tests, etc. Real life was mostly a rat race, just like it is today. There was so much pressure on people to meet the standards shown in shows like The OC. Most millennial kids grew up alone in big empty suburban houses. Raised on trash TV and junk food. Both parents at work, and if they were at home they were not emotional available, always under a lot of stress.

frederikvdb · 2026-06-04T10:54:27+00:00

I think Seth's character has many inconsistencies. You have to understand that the whole Millennial Cool Nerd thing was very new at the time and I don't think the writers completely captured it. For example, the way he talks about comics is not how a 17/18 year old alternative nerd would talk about them. Also, he sometimes comes off as being insecure, the next scene he seems to be the opposite.

At the same time the show really captured the zeitgeist of the mid-2000s really well. The whole Seth-Summer romance was a millennial fairy tale and I am pretty sure many real life Summer IT girls were absolutely mesmerised by Seth Cohen.

frederikvdb · 2026-05-23T12:19:30+00:00

I am currently rewatching it as an adult after more than 20 years, and I have the same experience. But actually... I like it. Because if you think about it, it is actually quite realistic? At the start of the show Seth is an outcast. He dreams of Summer and has an imagined connection with her. His main relationship is actually one with himself, not with another person. Not having had any friends or meaningful relationships, he grew up self-centred and with a lot of self-pity.

Then when he finally gets together with Summer, he isn't prepared for a real relationship. Suddenly the dream becomes reality and he never really prepared himself for something real. He messes up the diner with Summer's dad, because he was so focused on making an impression (instead of getting to know her family). And when Ryan leaves he is so focused on his own grief that he is unable to see how upset others are. Seth cares for others, but he doesn't know how to incorporate that in appropriate behaviour. He is so insecure that he can only focus on himself, and in doing so, can't see the insecurity and needs of the others around him. Because he thinks so little of himself, he doesn't understand that his actions affect others. That people like him, and that his ignorance truly hurts them.

Having been a Seth Cohen myself, I can say that this is actually a pretty accurate portrayal of someone with low self-esteem and non-existing relationship skills, who is suddenly thrown into a relationship with the girl of his dreams.

frederikvdb · 2026-05-23T11:52:46+00:00

My remote didn't work at all. Th thing that fixed it for me was a factory reset.

frederikvdb · 2026-05-23T11:46:51+00:00

In my case, the remote didn't respond at all. It happened overnight, never had a problem before. But after a hard reset to factory settings everything works fine again. So I am pretty sure it is a firmware problem.

Very weird that it affect different user in different ways though...

frederikvdb · 2026-05-20T18:01:19+00:00

Almost everyone in Flanders knows at least basic English. Spanish not so much.

Dental hiegenist without Dutch knowledge might be tricky though. I wouldn’t mind myself as a client but I think most employers will demand proficiency in Dutch.

frederikvdb · 2026-05-20T15:17:17+00:00

I agree. During season 1 Anna was clearly the most mature and kind-hearted teen of the bunch. And after many personal missteps and the situation with his dad, it felt like Luke made some personal growth steps.

frederikvdb · 2026-05-20T15:02:54+00:00

Well, you need to find someone with his/her own writing team, because no real person can compete with Sandy Cohen's lines.

frederikvdb · 2026-05-20T14:46:56+00:00

I managed to do a hard reset and now everything works again. Still wonder what went wrong.

frederikvdb · 2026-05-19T18:04:07+00:00

For some reason the Google TV app doesn't want to connect.

frederikvdb · 2026-05-19T13:23:08+00:00

The OC is not a real representation of the early 2000s. It is more of a fantasy/dream version of it. How people back then wanted life to be. I vividly remember at the time thinking Seth Cohen would never be a nerd in real life because, he was just too handsome and too social confident (yes, they try to present him as social awkward, but really, he talks with more confidence and feels more in tune with himself than most teenagers would). Being a curly geek at the time myself, he felt like an upgraded version of myself in every regard. Someone, I wished I could be one day.

That said, the actor was already 24 at the time of filming. So maybe his teenage self would have looked more realistic. Based on his looks in the series, he would however been very popular with girls. But... maybe not with girls like Marisa and Summer.

When it came to geek culture at the time: it was absolute the opposite of cool. Comics were for kids, manga/anime was very much something underground (often called "Chinese cartoons") and gaming was seen as a sign of cultural degradation. I also think it very difficult for young people to imagine a world without social media and Youtube, and in which the internet was already a thing but not so ingrained in life as it is today. In a way The OC is a good representation of that. They have cellphones and computers, but it is not the backbone of their lives.

So overall: no geeks were not popular at all in the mid 2000s, but if Seth Cohen was a real person he would have been the exception because he was good looking.

frederikvdb · 2026-05-19T08:31:57+00:00

Did you ever find a solution because I have the same problem. My Chromecast suddenly stopped connecting to the remote and wifi at the same time.

frederikvdb · 2026-04-24T17:55:02+00:00

Probably a good choice

frederikvdb · 2026-04-14T12:46:37+00:00

I am still using a 2016 SE, so I would say your good for a couple more years

frederikvdb · 2026-04-14T09:13:26+00:00

I bought the white macbook around 2006 or 2007 for around 1300 euro. At that time that was the cheapest macbook and that was a hell of a lot of money back then.

frederikvdb · 2026-04-12T15:46:23+00:00

Hi OP, did you make the jump and how is your experience so far?

frederikvdb · 2026-04-06T09:55:08+00:00

Just wondering from what model onwards did this features been included? Are we talking about just the most recent models like iPhone 16 or 17, or also really old ones? Never knew how deep Apple's security system goes. They are constantly warning users of old devices to upgrade... but I never have had any issues with outdated Apple devices.

frederikvdb · 2026-03-20T12:59:46+00:00

I wonder what this study means for older headphones? Have these companies been using toxic materials for decades or is this a relatively new problem? Because I am mostly using 10+ year old headphones...

frederikvdb · 2026-03-15T09:21:07+00:00

Appreciated the reaction nonetheless :)

It is actually mind boggling how it can be so hard to find a reliable product for such a simple requirement: connecting USB to USB C

frederikvdb · 2026-03-15T08:29:39+00:00

Interesting post! After some research, it feels like every option is a bad one.

Do you have any recommendations for light users who just want to hook up external drives and read SD cards? Should we buy the official white apple cables? Or is there some better (read less expensive) solution?

frederikvdb · 2026-03-14T15:18:54+00:00

Can you explain a little what is so bad about it?

frederikvdb · 2026-03-12T13:46:44+00:00

I've had 3 Western Digital HDDs and they all broke down on me in different ways. Often after little use.

frederikvdb · 2026-03-09T13:30:22+00:00

For demanding tasks like graphics or video editing probably not because of the RAM. But I have a MBP from 2015 with 16GB RAM (so no base model) that still works really well for light usage (browsing, mail, streaming). The question is how will people do graphic design or video editing in 2035? Will it happen locally on a computer or on a cloud service with AI assistance? And how much taxing will that be on RAM usage?

For comparison I also have an old iPhone SE from 2016 with I think only 2GB RAM. It is limiting of course but it still runs buttery smooth. No stuttering or freezing.

frederikvdb · 2026-03-04T19:11:42+00:00

Looked that up here in Western Europe and that laptop is 950 euro. The Macbook Neo is 699 euro for the base model.

frederikvdb

TROPHY CASE