I just had a strange experience for the second time in my life, where a book I'm reading felt like, just for a page or so, that it was about me. Actually, one book was so eeirly similar to my childhood it had my hair standing on end. But last night, I was reading Pattern Recognition by William Gibson (good read so far). And he was talking about Timex Sinclair computers and there was a guy collecting them, for some reason.

Well, going back in the "way back" machine, my first computer was a Timex Sinclair and I learned to program on one, because basically that was all you could do with them. It is what sent me down the career path I've been on ever since. I taught myself the low level assembly language and converted the instructions into hex and "poked" them into memory. Every time you wanted to run your program, you had to redo that program, because it had no storage. It was when I first met my internal nerd lurking inside me. Before that, I'd been a classical musician, or at least training to be one.

Anyway, in the story a character says, "The reason there are so many programmers in England is because of the Timex Sinclair computers. They were very inexpensive but you couldn't do anything with them, other than program them. So a lot of curious Brits did just that". And the weird part is... yeah, that's what I did too. Never really had thought that it had been the pivotal moment in my life that sent me down my career path, but I realized it had after I read that.

The other book, and I can't remember remember the title or the author, starts with a little girl who grows up in my city, just about the time I was that age (aka a long time ago). Just the cultural clues, the rides at disneyland, all that stuff really brought back a ton of memories and restored a lot of forgotten things from my youth. It was really cool and really creepy too. Gosh, I wish I could remember the author, maybe she's written other thing that would connect with me like that.

so what is deja vu?

Well, going back in the "way back" machine, my first computer was a Timex Sinclair and I learned to program on one, because basically that was all you could do with them. It is what sent me down the career path I've been on ever since. I taught myself the low level assembly language and converted the instructions into hex and "poked" them into memory. Every time you wanted to run your program, you had to redo that program, because it had no storage. It was when I first met my internal nerd lurking inside me. Before that, I'd been a classical musician, or at least training to be one.
Aaah, nostalgia. One of my first all-night programming projects involved collaborating with friend to get a VIC-20 to emit the perfect fart noise. The project was a resounding success and we were so proud we added an animation of a guy bending over and spreading his cheeks to accompany it. It still brings a tear to my eye when I think back on it. I'm sure my parents feel the same way.

My first program was in basic on a Vic 20. Stupid students was the name. Encompassing animation, sound and timing.

Ended up working for Electronic Arts for a while even though I wasn't intentionally looking to get into the video gaming business.

Now I manage a mobile control system for unmanned aerial vehicles. See what can happen to you?

so what is deja vu?

I feel as if I've heard this question before...

Well some say deja vu is when something happens to you identically for a 2nd time, the first time being in your lifetime, in another life, or even in your dreams.

But the most accurate description or explanation i should say of Deja Vu is when the brain is slow grasping (forgive me if this is the wrong word here) a "moment" and for some reason, your brain "analizes" it twice.

Two times in my life I saw my deja vu ahead of time. I'm not joking. I get the "deja vu" feeling and I see just a few seconds ahead of time and it happens, just as I saw it. I can't explain it, but I do specifically recall seeing things ahead of time, one not too long ago. And both times it started out as a "deja vu" feeling and suddenly I'm viewing a few seconds ahead, watching everything come to pass during my deja vu. My othe deja vus are just the normal deja vu feelings everybody else gets.

Freaky, no? Sure makes one wonder...

I was just wondering.

I was hit by it a few times this last week. That's all. Long ones too.

So real it was creepy.

What is more creepy is that when I have rounds of it like this, other people I know sometimes ask "hey, have you been having a lot of deja vu's lately, I am". This post was kind of like that.

I don't believe in any of it, but it's kind of hard to ignore. And I don't really buy the pat scientific 'explanation' for it. That it is somehow a (mis)firing of ultra ultra short memory.

I study Tarot and astrology. Alot of it I think, is pretty neat.

Most people consider Astrology soloy as the Sun Sign, or as in terms of Horoscope, yet thats not the case. Its drawing relations between planetary positioning and events on earth.

In my studies, most people who sense in other ways then the standard 5, have very strong Moon or Neptune/Pluto placements/ascpets. Moon linking to emotional, Neptune to dreams and Pluto to pyshic matters.

I admit its not always true, it is, in my studies however, true most often then not, so while it doesn't quailify for sciencitific law, per se, it can't be easily dismissed as pointless either.

I personally consider deja'vu as your mind has already processed a specific set of events once, be it either in dreams, life, etc, and the second time around triggered a memory which has been repressed/dismissed prior. For most people, this happens with people/events they are very close to, and thus form a kind of bond with.

This is common if say, Mercury and Moon are conjunct in a Birthchart, where Concious and Unconious tend to operate on a closer level then say, someone with another placement, as in, being more keenly aware of the emotional around you then just the real, if you find someone online typing to you, saying Hi just like they do every day, but one day you can tell they are sad, and even probly why that might be - having no other inforamtion, that may be the case. Your perceiving on a level most people are not open to, either naturally, or have closed down in childhood.

So tho I have ind of rambled on, I do think it happens, I do think happens more with certain people, or under certain conditions which can't be replicated in a lab.

-Fenier

C64 then a 286. ahh then the Packard Bell. Later on I got a job in a tech support call center, couldn't believe how many other people taught themselves hardware because they used to own a PackardBell. Most of the them were glad they had the PackardBell realized it taught a skill lol ...

Never owned a timex sinclair, had a uncle buy one and he thought it was great but .. I don't know that he ever did anything with it.

I would ride my bike to the local Radio Shack to handcode programs in their demo Trash 80.

They kicked me out a few times.

I got a C64 later. I loved that thing, still have it. I loved programming it. It just seemed so intuitive at the time.

My first computer was a TI994A. Used to type out programs for it and store them on tape cassettes. Those were the days...

My first computer was an Atari 400 with a tape drive and 8K of ram. I later upgraded to the Atari 800 with 64K of ram and thought "wow, I'll never need that much memory" ;)

TI 99/4A. That was my first computer. Even wrote a few Basic programs on it, too.

On the Deja vu topic; I believe there's stuff out there we don't understand yet, Deja vu being one of them. My folks always says it's God's way of telling you you're on the "right track". Although, I have absolutely no belief in God and I feel it's just a lame excuse to blame something else on "God." But, that's what they believe. /shrug

I think it's a release of a hormone or a cognitive misfire that makes you think you've just witnessed something you've witnessed before even though you know you never have.

Bah... you guys are all too young. My first computer was a slide rule :p

I think it's a release of a hormone or a cognitive misfire that makes you think you've just witnessed something you've witnessed before even though you know you never have.
It's definatly more than that. Like I said earlier, I've had very odd accurances of actually being able to see a few seconds ahead during a couple of my Deja Vus. No clue what it is, but I do know it's there.

I think it's a release of a hormone or a cognitive misfire that makes you think you've just witnessed something you've witnessed before even though you know you never have.A few times I have been in situations where I was absolutely positive I had already seen that precise moment long ago, usually in a dream, down to the very last detail. What's more, they were unusual events that I could not have reasonably predicted. Would that count as "deja vu" or more like a prophecy?

I still say its just a misfiring of the brain which gives you the feeling of having experienced something before, and we just fill in the details with whatever passes for "logic" to explain the feeling. Kind of how like false memories work.

Once you realize that your brain isn't perfect and not every feeling or experience is valid, it explains a lot of the weird things in life, IMHO.

It's a glitch in the Matrix... it means they changed something.

Once you realize that your brain isn't perfect
Nonsence! How dare you say our brain isn't perfect. Every brain is perfect! It's the creation of God! God is perfect! God has made everything from his image! Humans and their brian are the image of God; therefore, they are perfect!

/the giant penguins are here to destroy the world!

Humans and their brian are the image of God; therefore, they are perfect!

Brian? Thread is out of control let me do my part.. from "The life of brian"

<DT>Always look on the right side of life, <DD>[whistling]

<DT>For life is quite absurd <DT>And death's the final word. <DT>You must always face the curtain with a bow. <DT>Forget about your sin. <DT>Give the audience a grin. <DT>Enjoy it. It's your last chance, anyhow. <DT>So,... </DT><DT>Always look on the bright side of life. <DD>[whistling] <DT>Always look on the light side of life. <DD>[whistling]</DD>