Interview with Sind

gyr/food

Session Start: Tue Sep 08 02:44:52 1998

<gyr> How much time you got to talk? :)

<sind> I'm not in a hurry. =)

<gyr> Well, what I'll do is I'll just log the session and palm that off to Adok as the interview. :)

<sind> OK. =)

<gyr> Okey dokey, here goes. :) Hmm.. I suppose these things are traditionally started off with... Who are you, and what's your life story? :)

<sind> I'm sind (IRL: Tuomas Niinimaki), currently I'm 17, I've been coding since I was 6, so it makes 11 years or so, mostly on XT, but started to this demoscene stuff about 3 years ago, as we founded the pdg (paranormal demo group).

<gyr> Cool. :)

<sind> Yeah...

<gyr> Awww shit.. I've totally drawn blank on what question to ask next. :)

<sind> =) Sounds good. =)

<gyr> Hmm... where exactly on earth are you at the moment? :)

<sind> I live in Heinola, Finland. A city of 20000 people some 150 kilometers north from Helsinki.

<gyr> Hmm... is it true that in Finland you're taught how to code Assembler before you can walk or talk? :) (That's the way it seems to everyone else on the planet. :)

<sind> Well... not perhaps Assembler, but when I made my first Basic program, I had learned to write only 3 months before. Write and read that is. =) So I guess that thing's kind of in the blood or so. =) It was kinda tough to read manuals. As I didn't yet know how to read Finnish very well... =)

<gyr> Whoah! (For the record: I meant the above as a joke, didn't think it was nearly true. :)

<sind> Hmm. It's really true. But my first Basic programs just printed out the first 10 numbers or so. =) But still. My big brother taught me some of the coding with XT, you just can't do anything else. =)

<gyr> Ahh... did you ever do the one that printed your name out all over the screen? :)

<sind> Yes... I did it all over again. With different variations. =) And I did that kind of stuff for _too_ many years. =)

<gyr> Hahah. :) Hmm... Did you go to Asm98?

<sind> yes.

<gyr> What did you think of it?

<sind> Assemblies kinda suck these days. The first Assembly that I was in was Asm94. There's not much left of the spirit anymore. Too commercial... not a real _demoscene_ thing anymore. But it was still quite enjoyable.

<gyr> Hmm... But will that stop you from going to Asm99? :)

<sind> I don't really know. I have planned to go also next year, but as I have this compulsory military service, I really don't know. =)

<gyr> Do you really want to do the military service? Or don't you have a say in the matter?

<sind> Basically I don't support war, military etc. But we have to do it. (Well, we have an alternative: social service... taking care of old people, handicapped and stuff - don't like that too much either.)

<gyr> So you're a pot smoking hippie? :)

<sind> Well, not a hippie, but an idealist... World could be a better place without wars. What a truism =)

<gyr> Fair enough. :)

<sind> =)

<gyr> I suppose this question has to be asked, did you meet gaffer at Asm98? :)

<sind> I suppose not. But if I did I just can't remember. =)

<gyr> Hahah... you'd have noticed him if you met him, he really does say "arse" a lot when he talks. :)

<sind> =)

<gyr> Hmm... So do pdg have a web-site for everyone reading this to go look at? :)

<sind> One can be found at www.pommi.eu.org/pdg/, and my personal site is at http://www.vip.fi/~sind/. That pdg site is under construction (surprisingly).

<gyr> Haha. :)

<sind> But I guess I'll finish it soon enough. =)

<gyr> I'm running out of questions again... :)

<sind> Whoa. =) If I could make a point of my coding stuff... I have a policy not to read any infofiles and tutorials. Because of that idea, I consider myself as different... Or actually that is a general idea of coders in pdg.

<gyr> That's definatly unique in the cut'n'paste times we "live" in. :)

<sind> Yes... I'm kind of disappointed of the way people do their stuff... Of course there are many good groups who made the stuff by themselves (someone has to do it =) but in general the current situation is quite depressing, at least for me. :)

<gyr> Argh! I can't phrase this question right...

<sind> I ain't a native english speaker. =) I'll just have to understand. =)

<gyr> Oh no, it's not your fault, it's just me and my stupid brain not playing nicely together. :)

<sind> Heh. =)

<gyr> Hmm... Just figured out why my brain's not working, it's 3am. :)

<sind> 3am?? Wow... au == Australia??

<gyr> Yeah. :)

<sind> Always thought it was Austria. =)

<gyr> Well, it's understandable... only an 'al' between Australia and Austria. ;)

<gyr> Hmm... Do you feel that the scene is on the rise or on the fall?

<sind> Hmm... that's a tough one... There are, of course, some rising groups and new genres, like the java competition... But the spirit of the scene has somewhat disappeared. So maybe it's not rising or falling, but just changing... I think this change can bring something new and fascinating to the scene, but in general I'd like the scene the way it was in 1994 =) or even before... =)

<gyr> Is that because there was more style/innovation back then?

<sind> There was much more originality back then... There's of course more style/design/artistic impression in demos today, but there could be more... People are not taking everything from their computers... They just do some stuff, and then e.g. leave the code unoptimized...

<gyr> So do you think extra-processor-power has killed the demo star? :)

<sind> Actually yes... But of course one could do more things with this extra speed of the new processors... I don't know if the speed of processors is really related to that feeling... Times just seem to change... :(

<gyr> Talking of times changing, what do you think of the rumours that Hornet will shut down at the end of the year?

<sind> What?? Hornet will shut down? I haven't heard that... Too bad if it does... :(

<gyr> (For the record: I heard it from Skaven. :)

<sind> Well. It could be true...

<gyr> Does Hornet play a big role in your demo life?

<sind> They haven't yet checked our production. I sent it there some 2 months ago. :( Hornet is a good source for demos, but at least for us Finns it's still way too slow. Downloading demos with 0.6kbps is not fun. At least when you have to pay your phone bills. =) We still have ftp://ftp.scene.org. =)

<gyr> Do you have timed local calls in .fi?

<sind> Yes.

<gyr> Eek. That must be harsh. :)

<sind> My Internet connection costs me around 1usd/hour. Not much, but still...

<gyr> Eek.

<gyr> Hmm... I suppose now is the time for the dreaded question... :) What do you think are the best three demos ever done? :)

<sind> inside/cncd

<gyr> That's a damn nice demo. :)

<sind> Hannu ja Kerttu 2000 by m0ppi productions, and the last is quite hard to say... There's quite many...

<gyr> Fair enough. :)

<sind> Secret life of Mr. Black by Orange could be the third. Hmm... (Could we swap the first and the second... =)

<gyr> Haha. :)

<sind> Inside just came first to my mind. =)

<gyr> It's no wonder why, cncd are style kings. :)

<sind> Yep...

<gyr> :)

<gyr> Hmm... Do you have any last words? :)

<sind> (And I think my father has been a teacher of yolk =)

<gyr> Whoah. :)

<sind> 'The meaning of life is not to make the mistakes, but to make the same mistakes all over again' ... Inventing new stuff without reading any files is an experience every coder should make.

<gyr> OK, I think that's about it. Thanks for putting up with me bumbling my way through the interview. :)

<sind> No prob. It was fun... =)

<gyr> :)

Session Close: Tue Sep 08 03:48:04 1998

- gyr/food