I plugged it into the optical output of my PS2 and recorded all the radio stations in GTA and GTA:Vice City. There was something delectably awesome about driving down the road and listening to Wave 103, commercials and all.

I bought my MZ-N505 in May of 2002, for about $300. At the time, the only MP3 players you could buy for that kind of money were gigantic Discman-sized behemoths. I was looking for something portable. MiniDiscs definitely fit the bill.

Moreover, I was PC-only back then, and didn't have FireWire on any of my computers. Even if I wanted an iPod, and didn't mind the fact that it cost twice as much as the MiniDisc player I got, I wouldn't be able to use it.

In theory I also bought it to bootleg concerts, since there weren't any MP3 players with optical inputs, but I actually never used it for that purpose so it's moot.

And how can you not like having a variety of interesting-looking MiniDiscs? They definitely looked like they came from the future. A future that allowed you to personalize your listening experience by using discs that had Hello Kitty silkscreened on them, if that was your thing.

Regardless, I used it for about three years. In those three years, I also special ordered a remote, and flashed the firmware so that I could access all sorts of previously disabled function.

Then the honeymoon ended. The prices of iPods came down, and I began to realize that the ATRAC sound quality was terrible if you wanted to fit more than one CD's worth of stuff on one MiniDisc. And the software was absolutely terrible.

I ended up buying a third-gen iPod off a friend of mine, and never looked back.

Anyhoo, long story short: MiniDiscs were *the* portable music solution eight years ago, but they weren't able to keep up the pace with other technologies. Now they're wholly irrelevant.

The development now under the design guidance of Richard Rogers with developer Lend Lease, where the scheme has seen a 30% rise in floor space over the 2 years, and includes a “150m long Peninsula extending into east Darling Harbour” that will allow for views to the Sydney Opera House.

The previous competition winner Philip Thalis has labeled the new development as the “worst of Dubai”. (the history of the development is summarised in a concise blog entry on Super Colossal, if interested – http://supercolossal.ch/2010/01/13/blueprint/)

In relation to this blog, I find it quite interesting to conceive of building an island for a view – as opposed to an example of political sovereignty, this development is building onto the harbour to capture its icon. However, this is not to say the development is not without political controversy – the “state government is poised to waive planning rules so a developer can fill in part of the harbour to build the city's biggest hotel…”

And here continues the strange zone of legality for Australia in realtion to islands – the only Island Continent.

The development now under the design guidance of Richard Rogers with developer Lend Lease, where the scheme has seen a 30% rise in floor space over the 2 years, and includes a “150m long Peninsula extending into east Darling Harbour” that will allow for views to the Sydney Opera House.

The previous competition winner Philip Thalis has labeled the new development as the “worst of Dubai”. (the history of the development is summarised in a concise blog entry on Super Colossal, if interested – http://supercolossal.ch/2010/01/13/blueprint/)

In relation to this blog, I find it quite interesting to conceive of building an island for a view – as opposed to an example of political sovereignty, this development is building onto the harbour to capture its icon. However, this is not to say the development is not without political controversy – the “state government is poised to waive planning rules so a developer can fill in part of the harbour to build the city's biggest hotel…”

And here continues the strange zone of legality for Australia in realtion to islands – the only Island Continent.

It's interesting to muse on the island biogeographical dynamics on the Web. Although its ideology might wish it, the Internet is hardly immune to the formation of islands. But on the Web as in geography, no island is ever an island.

One more insular oddity that's always captured my fancy: Rome's Ponto Rotto. The bridge collapsed on both ends in (I think) the 17th century, turning it into an island. There it stands out in the Tiber, a bridge no one can walk upon, a piece of urban geography gradually wilding in sight of the bustling city on the banks.

It's interesting to muse on the island biogeographical dynamics on the Web. Although its ideology might wish it, the Internet is hardly immune to the formation of islands. But on the Web as in geography, no island is ever an island.

One more insular oddity that's always captured my fancy: Rome's Ponto Rotto. The bridge collapsed on both ends in (I think) the 17th century, turning it into an island. There it stands out in the Tiber, a bridge no one can walk upon, a piece of urban geography gradually wilding in sight of the bustling city on the banks.