Posted by RobOHara ( @Commodork) on January 27th, 2012 in MainLast Saturday my friends and I had a going away party for my long time friend and cohort in crime, Mr. Jeff Martin. Jeff has accepted a position in Atlanta, approximately 900 miles west of where I am currently sitting. (Click here to see Photos from the Party) Jeff and I met back in 1985 on the first day of 7th grade. The two of us ended up in music class together, and shortly after class began our teacher handing out copies of the lyrics to the first song we were to learn: “You Can Be A Rainbow.” After receiving… (read more)
Posted by RobOHara ( @Commodork) on January 22nd, 2012 in MainAs a kid, I probably watched this tape at least a hundred times. I recorded the Huntington Beach Pro OP Skateboarding Championship off of ESPN back in 1986, around the time skateboarding began making a comeback. I can remember dreaming about building a half-pipe ramp just like this one in my backyard. That never happened, but Jason Meziere ended up with a quarter-pipe at the end of his driveway and those of us who were brave enough would build up much speed as possible in an attempt to “catch air”. I never caught any air, but I distinctly remember catching… (read more)
Posted by RobOHara ( @Commodork) on January 20th, 2012 in Commodore 64, MainOkay, it’s probably not the “world’s largest” … but it’s the largest one I’ve ever owned. I currently own literally thousands of vintage 5 1/4″ floppy disks. Over half of them are the same ones I accumulated back in the 1980s on my Commodore 64. The rest are ones I’ve picked up here and there since then. Up until recently, these disks have been stored in milk crates, cardboard shoe boxes, and mismatched vintage disk containers. While roaming the stores a few weekends ago I ran across the following storage container: It’s a Sterilite 3-Drawer Cart. They retail for around… (read more)
Posted by RobOHara ( @Commodork) on January 17th, 2012 in MainIf I had to guess, I would say that I have somewhere between 50 and 60 regular old PC power cords hidden somewhere in our new house — and yet earlier this weekend, I couldn’t find a single one when I needed one. This really irks me to no end. I once read that not being able to find a tool in your garage is the same as not owning it. Same goes for computer parts and cables, I figure. Over the past week I’ve been dreaming of a set of shelves full of bins that I could store cables,… (read more)
Posted by RobOHara ( @Commodork) on January 15th, 2012 in Arcades/Arcade GamesAfter spinning my wheels for the past several weeks, yesterday I sold five arcade games … and the funny part was, three of them didn’t even work. One of the most important parts of sales and marketing is knowing your audience, and that’s something I’m definitely encountering in my efforts to sell these machines. There are lots of reasons why people buy arcade games. Most regular people might think that the only reason to buy an arcade machine would be to play it, but there are actually several other reasons. Sometimes, arcade enthusiasts will buy a machine just for the… (read more)
Posted by RobOHara ( @Commodork) on January 10th, 2012 in MainYesterday at CES, Broadcom debut their new 802.11ac wireless network equipment. According to Broadcom, 802.11ac will deliver gigabit speeds, wirelessly. The new technology is not without sacrifice; namely, that 802.11ac will operate in the 5ghz range, compared to 802.11n’s 2.4ghz (or dual-band routers, which use both). 5ghz means faster speeds, but less range. I suspect for the average home owner it won’t matter much, but it might make connecting to your neighbor’s router a bit more difficult. Gigabit networking is not cheap. Not only do gigabit (1000 Mbps) routers cost more than older 10/100 Mbps ones, but you also need… (read more)
Posted by RobOHara ( @Commodork) on January 9th, 2012 in MainWhen Susan and I bought our first “real” house back in 1998 (the one we bought when we moved back from Spokane), we were thrilled to finally have our own “big blue” trash cart on wheels. For the year and a half we spent in Spokane, we lived in an apartment. When it was time for the trash to go out, we had to carry the bags of trash out of the apartment and over to the giant trash dumpster that sat not too terribly far from our front door. It wasn’t the end of the world, but the ability… (read more)
Posted by RobOHara ( @Commodork) on January 3rd, 2012 in Interactive FictionBack in December of 2011, Ice Cream Jonesy and Roody Yogurt (yes, those are their real names) suggested holding a “Hugo Speed IF” competition. The “IF” stands for Interactive Fiction (aka “Text Adventures” for you/us old timers); “Hugo” is the language the games were to be programmed in, and “Speed” part refers to works created in a very short amount of time. The “Hugo Speed IF” morphed into the “Hugo Open House Competition”. Originally I declined to participate for a number of reasons — the top three being I didn’t have the time to work on a game, I didn’t… (read more)
|
|
|