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We Are One

We Are One

Auteur(s): Thomas Bernal & Melody Bernal
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 Tom & Melody dive into discussions about their interests: Tom is into theme parks, retro-computing, and sci-fi/fantasy; Melody is into food, politics, and games. Hang out with us every week!Copyright Thomas Bernal & Melody Bernal Sciences sociales
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  • (S1E6) 8-Bit Computers, Mental Health

    (S1E6) 8-Bit Computers, Mental Health
    Mar 7 2021
    What was your first computer? If you can't immediately answer that then you didn't live through the late 1970's/early 80's. Melody, for example, had a nameless PC compatible by some unremarkable manufacturer. Computers nowadays are pretty much all the same. During the heyday of the home computer market when Tom was growing up, every computer was its own universe. One computer from company A would not necessarily be compatible with a computer from company B, and in fact neither with another computer from the same company A; compatibility was not the norm. This led to everyone having their favorite brand and be fiercely loyal to that brand, similar to the way some are loyal to the Xbox or PlayStation consoles. The big four home computer companies in the US back then were Atari, Apple, Commodore, and Tandy/Radio Shack. Tom is a Commodore guy, ever since he first used a computer in high school. His high school had mostly Commodore PET's and a few Commodore 64's, and that's where he taught himself to program in BASIC. The first computer that Tom owned was a Commodore 128, which was compatible with the Commodore 64 but had twice the specs. His father bought it for him, along with the associated 5.25" disk drive and a Commodore dot matrix printer. Tom saved up his birthday and Christmas money to buy the matching Commodore monitor (he used a black & white TV until then). The Commodore 128 had a Commodore 64 mode that could be accessed with a BASIC command (GO64) or holding down the C= (Commodore logo) key on boot, and that way it could run all the software of its predecessor. Tom mostly used it to play games, to be honest, but he also learned about how computers worked. He learned how to code in 6502 Assembler, and poured over the disk format block by block with a software called DiSector. His mom used the software Print Shop to generate custom greeting cards that she printed out in black & white (the printer did not have color). Tom used to share software with his high school friends who had a Commodore 64 or 128 computer. Another striking difference to modern computers is booting up: an 8-bit computer of the era would boot up literally instantly on applying power. They would drop you into their version of the BASIC language, and that was your user interface. In the episode Melody mentions that she was introduced to BASIC by a friend, but later off-mic she told Tom that he was that friend and she was hoping he would remember. So on these 8-bit computers everything had to be done with BASIC commands, even to load your game from disk. On Commodore computers the entire screen was used to enter commands or lines of BASIC code; contrast with MS-DOS or Unix shell where you are only editing one line. Another difference to modern computers is the user manual. You would be lucky if your new PC came with a single setup sheet. The Commodore computers came with a hefty user guide (180 pages for the "Commodore 64 MicroComputer User Manual", 2nd Edition 1984) that explained everything about the computer, including how to program in BASIC and how to use the computer's graphics and sound features in BASIC. And programming graphics and sound on a Commodore 64 involved poking and peeking values in specific memory addresses which could be done in BASIC; the Commodore 128 introduced advanced BASIC commands to do this. However, as a user interface, BASIC was not the most friendly. Tom had been impressed by the graphical user interface of the Apple Macintosh, so he was very excited when Berkley Softworks came out with GEOS or Graphical Environment Operating System. It is very impressive that they could get a GUI to run in a Commodore 64. It was later bundled with the redesigned Commodore 64C, which my brother was gifted by his father along with the new Commodore 3.5" disk drive. Sadly, after Tom got his Commodore Amiga his 8-bit system fell into disuse. He donated most of his software collection to a friend who would be using his Commodore 64 for a...
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    33 min
  • (S1E5) Star Wars and Star Trek, Using Good Experiences to Adopt New Foods

    (S1E5) Star Wars and Star Trek, Using Good Experiences to Adopt New Foods
    Feb 14 2021
    We delve into science fiction fandoms, starting with the big two: Star Wars and Star Trek. Tom saw Star Wars in the theaters when it first came out in 1977. Melody's first experience was limited to the VHS tapes of the original trilogy. Tom's first lightsaber, back when the first movie came out, was an officially licensed black flashlight with a white tube attached that emitted white light. The toys got better after Empire Strikes Back, and then again after the prequels. Tom eventually got a combat lightsaber to play with Melody's nephew, but Melody thinks they're so expensive and should not be banged up in battle. Star Wars is big in Tom's family and he and his dad bond over it. Tom's dad has had many different and interesting jobs, but when he was an Air Traffic Controller in the 1980's he was so good at it that his coworkers nicknamed him Luke Skywalker. Melody and Tom took his dad out to see the prequels and sequels, and would love to take him to visit Galaxy's Edge at Walt Disney World. Tom has read some of the expanded universe, and is partial to Timothy Zahn's "Heir To The Empire'' Thrawn trilogy. He bought the books at the store at the exit of the Star Tours ride, and would read them while sitting next to the tank in The Living Seas at Epcot while listening to the dolphins. Melody and Tom attended several cons, including Celebration V where they saw Jon Stewart interview George Lucas and Melody almost ran into Carrie Fisher as she rushed by. Melody used to role play Star Wars with her elementary school friends. Her brother had a cardboard cutout of Darth Vader that she valued more than he did. Also, Han Solo was her first crush! Tom is a big Trekker. He really enjoys Gene Roddenberry's vision for the future, and likes that it's a show that makes you think. Melody can appreciate Star Trek but is not a fan (yet). However, she has only seen up to the second season of The Next Generation, so she hasn't seen the better episodes. Tom got deep into Star Trek in college, but unfortunately there had been no sci-fi conventions in Puerto Rico. Close to the time he left the island however, some company did a test con. It was a tiny, intimate gathering with two guests, Jonathan Del Arco who played Hugh Borg and one of the writers, and a few merch tables. He attended both nights and got his first Star Fleet pin and pips, and a Bajoran earring and nose prosthetic. We give a YouTuber Shout-Out to Nasser, who started doing Harry Potter content but has gained a following doing first time movie reactions. His reactions to watching the Star Wars original trilogy for the first time were very entertaining, and Melody loved his reaction to the Luke & Leia relationship. After completing her first two weeks on the full elimination stage of the Auto-Immune Protocol (AIP), Melody can't say that she notices much of a difference in how she feels. She believes this is due to the gradual transition that she made to this stage, and having already reaped much of the benefits. Currently her Crohn's symptoms are barely noticeable, and she feels her skin condition is improving. We celebrated Valentine's Day early and Melody overindulged on AIP junk food, which she found out is possible. The silver lining to the repercussions of overeating is the motivation you get to refocus on healthier choices. Melody has always been a picky eater and has found it is important to have a positive experience when trying new foods. She makes a point to have a good recipe in order to try foods that intimidate her. Having successfully integrated bone marrow into her diet with a marrow cheese recipe, she will next attempt to outgrow her distaste of seafood by trying a recipe called "nomlette" for an egg substitute made with whitefish. *** YouTuber Shout-Out *** Nasser https://www.youtube.com/user/acciohorcrux100
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    32 min
  • (S1E4) Living Among Theme Parks, Progressive Transition to Full AIP

    (S1E4) Living Among Theme Parks, Progressive Transition to Full AIP
    Feb 4 2021
    Tom discusses his experience with the local Orlando theme parks, how it was growing up versus living in the area. Visiting the parks as a kid used to be a big, expensive endeavor that happened at most twice within a decade. In between visits, Tom was able to feed his theme park needs by watching the occasional Disney TV show or anniversary special that showed the parks. All his friends saw living close to and working at the theme parks as a lofty goal. So as soon as Tom moved to Orlando he couldn't wait to get an annual pass to Walt Disney World, and later Universal Studios Florida. He found that experiencing the parks as a local with an annual pass is a very different experience, making them feel like your extended back yard. From going to Epcot with friends after work, or running to get Mardi Gras food during his lunch break, annual pass life is sweet! Even though they are expensive, annual passes do save money if you go as often as Tom & Melody did, which was weekly in pre-COVID times. But the biggest benefit comes from the whole different way to experience everything the resorts have to offer, with a lot less stress than if you were only here for a few days. Tom gives a YouTuber Shout-Out to Adrian from Theme Park Express, who gives news updates on the parks and has fun livestreams featuring his girlfriend Koda and her "Baby Yoda", Nugget. Melody's YouTuber Shout-Out goes to Stacey of RealWorldAIP, whose unorthodox recepies are excellent for nutrient density (e.g. marrow cheese, nomlette), and Melody gained an appreciation for her ability to do recipe substitutes with whole foods. Melody has lost 90 pounds in 16 months and she gets frustrated when she is asked if she feels better. One of the reasons she starts a weight loss journey is when she gets to a heavier weight her knees start to hurt. She doesn't notice feeling better until and unless she relapses and starts noticing how bad she felt before. As she has entered a temporary maintenance phase, despite having lost 90 pounds, if she gains just a couple of pounds her knees start to hurt. Melody is five days into the full elimination phase of the Auto-Immune Protocol (AIP). She intends to do this phase for at least 90 days or until she feels better before reintroducing foods. Some people are afraid to start reintroductions because they feel so good eating only elimination phase foods, but they miss out on key nutrients. Melody continues her slow transition to the AIP which focuses in turn on "out with the bad", "in with the good", water intake, sleep, physical activity, and skin health.
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    29 min
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