Cybiko laptop, processor hat and other dreams

I had some strange dreams last night. The first I can remember goes like this.

I was talking with a friend in their dorm room, when suddenly I noticed that they were browsing the old Cybiko website on their computer. What?! The Cybiko website is back online! I asked him why he was there. “I read about the new Cybiko laptop. How is the battery life?” and so on, with more questions about it. I got the impression it was like the old Cybiko, but in laptop form: with something like a 12″ screen, but a better ~6 hour battery.

Not only that, but now the website has a social network component. All registered Cybiko users have a profile. I noticed that they also have “walls”, so people can leave public messages on peoples’ profiles: like Facebook. “Add Elliot”, I said. He typed “Elliot” and one of my many profiles appeared. He clicked the first one, and saw there was a video uploaded by this user. He clicked that, and saw an old video of Chocolate, when he was much younger, jumping around the room and catching a tennis ball. It looked like either the old den (before remodeling) or Audrey’s room in a different layout. I looked at the bottom of the website. (c) 2002 Cybiko, Inc.

Here’s another dream about a time when my family and I went to some kind of fair or shopping center.

I went with my family, and we drove up to a shopping center. I had it in my mind that I needed a replacement processor for a part that broke in one of my computers, so after looking around, I decided to go find that processor. I asked my dad to get one, but he came back with a baseball cap (a hat) and said: “What do you mean by a ‘processor’?”

I went up to the store and asked for a processor. The man opened the window and said: “A processor? *Thinks for a moment…* Oh! *Hands me a hat* Here you go. It has a microprocessor inside. There are two versions, but this one measures your heartbeat.” He closed the window. I observed the hat. It was a freebie, like the stuff they give away for promotion at career fairs. It was branded with some company name on the front. I felt the inside of the fabric. There were some thin electronics in it. I put the hat on. I felt it pulse as it counted my heartbeats, but I didn’t have time to figure out how it output the data, because time was running short and I needed to go do homework or something.

So I asked for directions back home, or back to the car.

Suddenly, Nat, a friend from USC, appeared. She said he didn’t know where I should go, and, humorously, showed me her map: it had a dotted line for my path, going in the opposite direction of the exit, and heading into a crudely-drawn spiral of doom.

Somehow, I decided I needed to take a shower, and found some public showers in a huge warehouse room with randomly-placed different types of showers all over the place. They had no doors or curtains, but some were strategically placed so that walls and other show stalls could be used for privacy. I went around to find a shower to use. The water from the random showers was spraying everywhere. I looked for a place to put my towel and robe, but there was no surface not getting soaked by water from some shower. I gave up, decided to just wring the towel before I dry off and go outside. Theo’s alarm rang.
With the advanced hat with embedded electronics, I can only guess that I have been given a vision of the future.

2 Responses to “Cybiko laptop, processor hat and other dreams”

  1. Henry Yuen says:

    Elliot, your dreams are fascinating. They remind me of when I’ve dreamt about the code I was currently working on. Maybe this is a sign you have to revive your Cybiko website, hmm? A portent of greater things to come…. :-P.

    Cheers,
    HY

  2. Pete says:

    I read your quip on this relationship, and I agree in full- The Cybiko was a wonderful piece of hardware, as have been many programable playthings I have gotten my hands on: Ti-89, TRS-80, TI-83… I feel having a piece of hardware, which is portable, and field-programmable, becomes more useful with every step given to increase it’s programmability. Many people simply do not realize the usefulness of a user-friendly programmable pocket computer!

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