Posted by RobOHara ( @Commodork) on August 7th, 2023 in Main 
Last week, Pee-wee Herman died. Of course what I mean by that is that Paul Reubens, the actor who portrayed the character Pee-wee Herman, passed away. Reubens was 70 years old, and passed away after a six year battle with cancer. For many people, Paul Reubens was inseparable from Pee-wee Herman. Even when he appeared in other films portraying different characters, people rarely asked, “is that Paul Reubens?” Instead, they asked, “is that Pee-wee Herman?” As I recently mentioned on Instagram, I was twelve years old and about to enter seventh grade when Pee-wee’s Big Adventure was released in the… (read more)
Posted by RobOHara ( @Commodork) on August 2nd, 2023 in Main 
For Susan’s fiftieth birthday I wanted to get her something she would love and didn’t already have. I decided to go with a 1,000+ pound poolside chair, sometime I was sure she didn’t already have. Over the past 30 years Susan and I have visited all fifty states together, and along the way we’ve seen an awful lot of interesting and unique roadside attractions. We’ve seen a silo painted like a gigantic can of Coca-Cola, a 20′ tall Transformer statue made from scrap automotive parts, and even the Biggest Ball of Twine in Nebraska (long story), but nothing gets Susan… (read more)
Posted by RobOHara ( @Commodork) on July 20th, 2023 in Hacking / Security, Main 
Earlier this week I was informed that Kevin Mitnick, the “world’s most infamous hacker,” had passed away. I was asked to sit on the news until the family had time to release a statement, but word travels fast and this morning it appeared on the front page of the New York Post. For those who haven’t heard or read the story, back in the mid-2000s my wife, who was in charge of putting together a training class at work, hired Kevin Mitnick to travel to Oklahoma and teach a course on social engineering. Susan knew how into computers and security… (read more)
Posted by RobOHara ( @Commodork) on July 12th, 2023 in Food, Main 
Last month while visiting Minnesota, Susan and I ate at Sushi Train, a local restaurant. I’ve since learned that there is also a restaurant in nearby Tulsa called Sushi Train, but the two places are unrelated. “Sushi train” is slang for any conveyer-delt driven sushi bar, so discovering that there are multiple restaurants with this same name is not completely surprising. It would be like finding two buffets 1,000 miles apart that were both named “Buffet.” It’s hard to know what’s authentic and what’s not authentic when it comes to Japanese and Chinese food. For example, 99% of all wasabi… (read more)
Last weekend I attended the second annual Boatfest gathering, which again took place in Hurricane, West Virginia. Despite its name, the event has nothing to do with boats — it’s a gathering of retrocomputing and retrogaming enthusiasts named after the organizer, John “Boat of Car” Shawler. Boatfest is difficult to summarize because it’s different things to different people. Some people go to Boatfest to show off their vintage computers and gaming systems, while others go just to see them. It’s an event where old friends reconnect, and new friendships are made. There are tournaments, there are presentations, there are people… (read more)
Posted by RobOHara ( @Commodork) on June 27th, 2023 in Main 
Last Wednesday, my buddy Jeff and I embarked on a five day trip from Oklahoma to Hurricane, West Virginia (and eventually back) in a rented 2022 Class B RV. We drove to West Virginia to attend Boatfest, a small gathering of retrocomputing enthusiasts. I’ll be writing more about Boatfest tomorrow, but today I wanted to write about our experience with and in the RV. The RV we rented was a 2022 Class B Entrada motorhome by EAST TO WEST. Class B motorhomes are built on van frames (this one was a Ford E-350), so it is relatively short (24′) compared… (read more)
Posted by RobOHara ( @Commodork) on June 13th, 2023 in Main 
A few hours after departing Paisley Park, Susan told me she had a second, secret destination in store for me. Not only did she make sure my phone was fully charged, but she insisted I bring my GoPro camera with me too, as this was guaranteed to be the highlight of the trip. The gravel parking lot and tall, yellow silo connected to a long metal building did not reveal what was inside. It wasn’t until we approached the building that I saw a sign identifying the building as the “largest candy store in Minnesota.” The candy store is large… (read more)
Posted by RobOHara ( @Commodork) on June 12th, 2023 in Main 
The primary reason for visiting Minnesota last week was for Susan to attend a business meeting for her new company. The location of her meeting was about 10 miles away from the Mall of America, so we decided to stay at the Marriott hotel that connects to the mall. We spent several hours at the mall Tuesday afternoon, and while Susan was at her meeting on Wednesday I walked back over the mall and spent several more hours exploring the biggest mall in America. This was my third time to visit the mall. My first visit took place back in… (read more)
Posted by RobOHara ( @Commodork) on June 9th, 2023 in Main 
While I wouldn’t call myself a rabid Prince fan, everyone who grew up in the 1980s was, on some level or another, a fan of Prince’s music. In 1984, songs from Prince’s album Purple Rain took over radio airwaves, with many of those same songs remaining in rotation on 80s radio stations today. And while Purple Rain itself was enough to cement Prince’s place in music history, it only represents a blip in Prince’s discography and doesn’t include many of his biggest hits like “Little Red Corvette,” “Kiss,” “Raspberry Beret,” and “1999.” After the success of Purple Rain, Prince began… (read more)
Posted by RobOHara ( @Commodork) on June 7th, 2023 in Main 
One of the first stops of our vacation was the Evel Knievel Museum in Topeka, Kansas. Evel was not from Topeka, but the big red Mack truck he toured in was restored in Topeka, which is how the museum ended up there, attached to a Harley-Davidson dealership. I was too young to remember most of Evel Knievel’s career and only remember seeing one of his jumps live on television, but everyone knows Evel Knievel’s name, which when I was a kid was synonymous with any daredevil act. He certainly inspired a generation of kids to build shoddy bicycle ramps with… (read more)
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