iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Ellen Juniper Kaplan @juniper.ellen.zone · 30/07/2026

Open question—are any of my friends or mutuals or followers currently employed at Mozilla? If so, I would really like to talk to you!

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Ellen Juniper Kaplan @juniper.ellen.zone · 12/07/2026

as a side note, i don’t think galaxian 3 is the best shooter in their collection. that honor goes to STRIKERS 1945 III, a psikyo classic that i’ve never gotten to play on a cabinet before. phenomenal game, highly recommend the switch port.

an original STRIKERS 1945 III cabinet from 1999, a world war ii shoot-em-up developed by psikyo. the screen displays a GAME OVER, with gameplay of a semi-realistic plane bombing naval vehicles below.

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Ellen Juniper Kaplan @juniper.ellen.zone · 12/07/2026

i certainly wish they still had their ridge racer theater installation, though according to their facebook even *they* don’t know what happened to it. it’s a miracle galaxian 3 is playable at all. hopefully, @gamehistoryorg.bsky.social will get to document it properly before it disappears.

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Ellen Juniper Kaplan @juniper.ellen.zone · 12/07/2026

it’s also worth a visit if you like the idea of visiting a family entertainment center whose best days were clearly two decades ago. it feels oddly frozen in time, and being honest, i don’t know how long it has left, even though there were plenty of families there today.

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Ellen Juniper Kaplan @juniper.ellen.zone · 12/07/2026

it’s worth a visit if you’re in boston and want to engage in some arcade history within an hour’s drive, particularly if you like old-school redemption games, though i honestly don’t think attack of the zolgear is worth a visit on its own, given how many of the control stations aren’t working.

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Ellen Juniper Kaplan @juniper.ellen.zone · 12/07/2026

fun world is a very strange place in general, from the various arcade machines in disrepair to the new-for-this-year mining installation. the rickety himalaya ride was running, but the go-kart track out back has clearly been closed for years. the playground eventually opened, but remained empty.

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Ellen Juniper Kaplan @juniper.ellen.zone · 12/07/2026

fun world’s collection also includes a large variety of ride-on arcade cabinets, like Top Skater, Daytona USA, Rapid River, and Prop Cycle. none of them are in the greatest shape, unfortunately, but they’re all still playable. two of the Daytona units still have CRT displays!

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Ellen Juniper Kaplan @juniper.ellen.zone · 12/07/2026

on top of attack of the zolgear, we also got to play a round of bowling on Bowlingo, a fully automated electro-mechanical mini bowling installation released by Capcom in 1990. this was genuinely very fun, and worked surprisingly well!

a small scale bowling alley with tiny balls and segmented LED displays to track score. only one of the lanes has a wood panel floor. the machine is coin operated and is labeled with the “bowlingo” and “capcom usa” logos

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Ellen Juniper Kaplan @juniper.ellen.zone · 12/07/2026

the installation has definitely seen better days. the laserdisc player was replaced this year, and i’m sure that helped! but a couple of the controller stations are non-functional (or less than functional) and the sound is so quiet it might as well be off. maintaining this can’t be easy at all.

a closer look at the screen. color-coded player stations from 01-06 are marked underneath it, with a sci-fi looking faux display below those marks. the screen displays the words MISSION BRIEFING, with status information for the player ship on the right hand side. it does not photograph well.

a shot of one of the two projectors. it is a divided CRT style projector, with three distinct lenses—one red, one green, and one blue.

a closer look at the sign. a mirrored sign displays GALAXIAN3 PROJECT DRAGOON, while a craggy detailed sign below it proclaims the subtitle ATTACK OF THE ZOLGEAR. According to the sign, the planet “EXIA” has been attacked by “ZOLGEAR” the giant monster, and the player must fight back in “heavily armed stormer of UGSF Dragoon J-2: new generation, dragoon class”

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Ellen Juniper Kaplan @juniper.ellen.zone · 12/07/2026

got to play galaxian 3: attack of the zolgear at fun world today! i didn’t even have to ask a tech to turn it on for me, it was just running. it’s one of four left in the whole world, and the only one left in the US. feeling grateful i got to play it.

a large scale arcade installation labeled “GALAXIAN3” in an exciting font, with a craggy sign under it detailing the “ATTACK OF THE ZOLGEAR” update. it has blue and yellow trim, and there is a dedicated “ENTRANCE” and “EXIT”. the interior has a large theater like projection display, and six different player stations with seating and gun controllers.

a closer look inside the unit. the worn out looking projection display shows the game’s title (GALAXIAN 3, stylized as if it were “Galaxian Cubed”) and INSERT COINS text. there are various spaceship-like details surrounding the projection surface, including a CAUTION light.

another look inside. the “cockpit” type controllers are visible, white boxy things with red lights and handle like buttons. they are motion controllers which a player must manipulate to move their aiming reticle across the screen.

the display is very washed out, and poorly color balanced. it’s clearly two projectors, with a demarcated line where one projection surface ends and the other begins. a space sky is spread across both of them, with a health bar across the top. the color balance is wildly off, leaving one projection surface blue where the other is green.

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Ellen Juniper Kaplan @juniper.ellen.zone · 08/07/2026

her lines as narrator are so fucking cute!!! i can’t find a video of her so instead here’s zunda party night on master (not me, i can’t do this) youtu.be/l6ErZpiaerY

youtu.be

ずんだパーリナイ MASTER AP+【maimaiでらっくす外部出力】

YouTube video by S.R.project

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Ellen Juniper Kaplan @juniper.ellen.zone · 08/07/2026

back at it again at the circles machine

a SSS+ score (100.7722%) on 空回りライブラリ (Karamawari Library) by yukino ito on expert in maimai dx prism plus

a SSS+ score (100.5720%) on なんかノイズにきこえる by HaNaMiNa ft. Hana on expert in maimai dx prism plus

a SSS score (100.3146%) on オーバーライド (Override) by Yoshida Yasei on expert in maimai dx prism plus

a SSS+ score (100.7837%) in マヌルネコのうた by 小田朋美 on expert in maimai dx prism plus

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Ellen Juniper Kaplan @juniper.ellen.zone · 26/06/2026

Had the opportunity to visit Quassy Amusement Park at Lake Quassapaug in Connecticut last weekend for a @ridewithace.bsky.social New England event! Perfect weather for a swim in the lake. Wooden Warrior’s an easy new A-tier, the CoasterCon crowds were nice, and the food was great.

a picture of the train on wooden warrior, a gravity group family wooden coaster, descending down its roughly 35 foot primary drop

the twisting, winding tracks of wooden warrior from behind

a photo of lake quassapaug and a house on the shoreline, taken from a boat

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Reposted by Ellen Juniper Kaplan

Ellen Juniper Kaplan @juniper.ellen.zone · 23/04/2026

After 8 incredible years I’m sad to share that I’ve been laid off from Discord. I can’t describe how grateful I am for the chance to work with so many great folks, both inside the company and the developer community I served. Taking some time to rest before looking for my next DevRel adventure.

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Ellen Juniper Kaplan @juniper.ellen.zone · 23/04/2026

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Ellen Juniper Kaplan @juniper.ellen.zone · 24/02/2026

I highly encourage you to read the full post before rushing to judgement or assumptions.

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Ellen Juniper Kaplan @juniper.ellen.zone · 07/02/2026

Batsugun (1996) is really, really fun. Great patterns, super cool weapon leveling system. Glad I’ve been playing more Saturn lately.

A screenshot depicting a red spaceship flying over a sunny beach while being shot at by strange blue circular ships with giant propellers

a screenshot depicting a green spaceship fighting off a large enemy spacecraft in the background, approached by more of the blue circular craft

a screenshot of a blue spaceship frantically shooting enemies in some manner of airfield or military installation. a shower of bright blue bullets fires ahead of the ship.

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Ellen Juniper Kaplan @juniper.ellen.zone · 03/02/2026

hi i'm ellen let me tell you about why your game should have an api thanks

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Reposted by Ellen Juniper Kaplan

Eric Z @zeman.bsky.social · 03/02/2026

PCMag is now hiring for TWO roles. The first is for a Writer to cover mobile, and the second is for a Senior Writer to cover mobile. This is the Writer job: www.ziffdavis.com/careers/jobs... This is the Senior Writer job: www.ziffdavis.com/careers/jobs...

ziffdavis.com

Search Jobs - Ziff Davis

We hire only the best and brightest because we know it takes great people to make a great company. We embrace the power of collaboration, have an entrepreneurial spirit and promote a work environment ...

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Ellen Juniper Kaplan @juniper.ellen.zone · 30/01/2026

oh, yeah nbd! i can totally do that.

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Ellen Juniper Kaplan @juniper.ellen.zone · 29/01/2026

Sweet! I’ll be at the Discord booth literally all week so come by and look for me, I look basically like my avatar but real.

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Ellen Juniper Kaplan @juniper.ellen.zone · 29/01/2026

Hi!! I’m definitely interested in saying hello! I know Unbeatable has a partial implementation of Discord rich presence hidden under the hood and I’d love to help y’all get that finished where I can!!

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Reposted by Ellen Juniper Kaplan

Wes Fenlon @wes.readonlymemo.com · 25/01/2026

Hello! Would you like a long, distracting read about chasing a dream, perfecting analog video, battling AI-driven manufacturing shortages, and sticking to the principle of doing right by the open source MiSTer community? Here's that

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Reposted by Ellen Juniper Kaplan

Jacob Geller @jacobgeller.com · 21/01/2026

gaming is only books if the game has a defined ending and then you sit back and think about it

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Ellen Juniper Kaplan @juniper.ellen.zone · 20/01/2026

meowdy! figured i'd create a professional account in advance of GDC so i had a space to put my thoughts on the state of the industry and follow folks that make things i care about. if you've got questions about getting your game integrated with discord, feel free to reach out, i'm happy to answer!

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