Akihabara: has other stuff apart from trains

[railsquid]

So, about six or so years ago, I wandered over to Akihabara as I was thinking about purchasing some new innergubbins for my desktop PC, and in those days purchasing such gubbins was the only reason why I haunted Akihabara. But on that fateful day I was tired and decided I couldn't be botherered working out which ZX81 chipset would be suitable for which Intel Murky Pond generation of processors, and whether to worry about AMD at all, and whether "Crossfire" is a game for a PS3, etcetera, and by coincidence wandered into a shop which seemed to be selling model trains, and the rest, as they say, is history. Oh, and the Squidlet came along, and the PC kept soldiering on (I'm typing on it right now), but today was finally the day when I returned to Akihabara to buy what I was intending to get all those years ago (well obviously there's a whole plethora of new acronyms and chipsets and whatnot, and there is a bizarre amount of innergubbins which seems to light up in garish colours for whatever reason), so I went and came back with this whole bunch of non-train stuff for a change:

 

 

which should keep the current iteration of the PC (it's been going since 1993, although no longer contains any of the 1993 parts of course; current version is from 2012) for a few years.

Edited November 18, 2020 by railsquid

[disturbman]

1 hour ago, railsquid said:

So I went and came back with this whole bunch of non-train stuff for a change:

 

hum... Kato case... hum

Edited November 18, 2020 by disturbman

[cteno4]

This all goes in an EH500, correct? 😜

 

jeff

[Yugamu Tsuki]

Ah, the original Akihabara. I got lost for a few hours in one of the parts shops just pouring over everything.

[railsquid]

6 hours ago, disturbman said:

hum... Kato case... hum

 

Your eyes deceive you! Just an optical illusion!

[bikkuri bahn]

8 hours ago, Yugamu Tsuki said:

Ah, the original Akihabara. I got lost for a few hours in one of the parts shops just pouring over everything.

Me too.  Back in the early eighties, going to the part shops to find tools for making plastic models (files, nippers, metal straightedges, metal toolboxes, etc.).  Other than the places for model trains or plastic kits, the current Moe version of Akiba kind of gives me the creeps (ymmv). 

[disturbman]

8 hours ago, railsquid said:

Your eyes deceive you! Just an optical illusion!

Are you trying to hide new trains from us, like you do with your wife?

[cteno4]

the trains are in the I5 core box. hes picking these up in the trash and bringing home trains inside them. trojan horses...

 

jeff

[Yavianice]

“Have you been buying trains again?”

 

“Nu-Uh! I’ve been computer shopping! Honest!”

[railsquid]

On 11/19/2020 at 4:33 PM, disturbman said:

Are you trying to hide new trains from us, like you do with your wife?

 

I don't acquire new wives that often, and certainly wouldn't hide one under a pile of electronics ;).

 

On 11/19/2020 at 2:06 PM, bikkuri bahn said:

Me too.  Back in the early eighties, going to the part shops to find tools for making plastic models (files, nippers, metal straightedges, metal toolboxes, etc.).  Other than the places for model trains or plastic kits, the current Moe version of Akiba kind of gives me the creeps (ymmv). 

 

There's still a decent density of shops selling electronics stuff, though the hole-in-the-wall parts stores are dwindling. Corona hasn't killed off the maid cafes, though the streets are not quite as extensively lined with "maids" of varying degrees of eye candy, and there's no shortage of cat, rabbit, owl and hedgehog cafes...

[cteno4]

4 hours ago, railsquid said:

I don't acquire new wives that often, and certainly wouldn't hide one under a pile of electronics ;).

mrs squid would certainly hope  not! Now she will be looking under that 60” tv box you dragged home...

 

jeff

[nah00]

On 11/20/2020 at 7:56 AM, railsquid said:

Corona hasn't killed off the maid cafes, though the streets are not quite as extensively lined with "maids" of varying degrees of eye candy, and there's no shortage of cat, rabbit, owl and hedgehog cafes...

 

Ok, maid cafes I get, same with cat, rabbit and I guess hedgehog cafes...but having handled birds of prey extensively...how does the owl cafe work? Every owl I ever worked with was skittish at best. Snowy owls usually aren't too bad but the beak and talons are no joke. 

[Martijn Meerts]

I've been to an owl cafe, and the owls are mostly just sleeping on their perch. Every once in a while they'll have a quick glance at what's going on, but that's about it. Only 1 of the bigger owls was walking and flying around the place. Pretty sure they get pedicures for their talons at least so they're not razor sharp, and their beaks didn't look quite as sharp as they should be.

 

Now, one could say keeping these in captivity and basically filing down their talons and beaks is animal cruelty, but the cafe I went to at least, all the birds were rescues from things like being struck by a car and no longer able to fly, being abandoned as a chick by their parents or were kept as pets and so used to humans they wouldn't survive in the wild anymore. All of them looked in good shape, no feather plucking or any signs of stress at all.

 

[railsquid]

I wonder if maid cafes work on the same general principle?

[katoftw]

On 11/25/2020 at 5:03 AM, nah00 said:

 

Ok, maid cafes I get, same with cat, rabbit and I guess hedgehog cafes...but having handled birds of prey extensively...how does the owl cafe work? Every owl I ever worked with was skittish at best. Snowy owls usually aren't too bad but the beak and talons are no joke. 

Cats, rabbits and hedgehogs will all be skittish if the haven't had exposure to humans for long periods of time. Normally from birth, but can be mid life if rescues.

 

You cannot approach a wild rabbit in the wild and not have it run for their hides when to gey close.

 

Hedgebogs, Ginea Pigs, mice and rats and all skittish animals also. We mostly see the domesticed versions handled since birth. But in the wild the run away long before we even know they are there.

 

Alley cat vs house cat. You get the deal.

 

Bird are no different. Bird of prey like owls do have preprogrammed genetics that they will flight before fight. But like eagles eyc, they will fight a little more than other birds. But as long as they don't see us as a threat, they they relax just the same as the animals a mentioned above.

 

p.s. Sorry to all for the off topic tangent.

Edited November 25, 2020 by katoftw

[Welshbloke]

I have a visiting Tawny Owl which will perch within 3m of me when I'm out with my telescope. Doesn't mind being photographed, but I wouldn't try to approach it! Just my feathery astronomy buddy who's dealing with the local mouse population.

 

Hedgehogs tend to freeze if approached. Be quiet and gentle in your movements and they'll tolerate a few photos. They like leftover cat food.