Word on the street is that the Atari Flashback 2.0 due out in the next month or two will have pin headers on the board allowing you to solder in your own real Atari 2600 cartridge port. From what I've read, the thing is basically a 6502 + TIA chip done in an FPGA or some such. Plus it'll have built in games, including some unreleased stuff, and new arcade ports done by Atari (Space Duel being among them). So definitely watch for this beast. It's not going to just be cheesy ports to NES hardware like the original Flashback.
"Nextel" and "modern technology" pretty much don't belong in the same sentence together, unless it's a sentence like this one stating how little they have in common. The phone I got a little over a year ago has a monochrome screen, and no Java support. Go Nextel.
Sure, their radio coverage is superb, but their phones are like 1998 models, and their packet services are pretty much a joke. Not to mention inaccessibly overpriced.
Madness! I demand MORE keys! I won't be satisfied until my keyboard has 7 different shifting keys and an Alt Lock, damn it! Though I suppose the caps might get a bit small cramming all that into my iBook's keyboard space...
The Space Cadet Keyboard
I imported the game a couple weeks ago, so I've had time to play with the editor. It's extremely powerful compared to things like Remix mode in Frequency and Amplitude. You pick treble or bass clef, adjust the key of the song, pick a tempo, and start placing notes. The music theory behind it is very solid (I assume - I know very little about music theory). You can also have the game generate chord progressions and harmonies based on key signatures that you choose. It's extremely impressive overall. The max BPM you can use is 300, and the songs can be at least 70 measures. I haven't checked the maximum length yet. As for instrument voices, there were about 40 or so when I counted.
There are a couple limitations, though. You get 8 individual instrument tracks, but each of those tracks is monophonic. To do any chording, you'll have to allocate more than one track for a particular voice. Also, you're limited to 4/4 time signatures.
The other editor mode (Hanauta de Gakufu) is quite interesting. You hum a tune into the microphone, and it quantizes into appropriate notes and adds a background track. Then you can load the creation in the full editor for further refinement.
Also worth noting is the official Nintendo Band Bros. download site. They've got some sheet music available. Right now they have Jingle Bells, and Slider (from Mario 64). http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ds/abbj/download/i ndex.h tml
And one more thing - it's not MIDI. MIDI is a serial interface spec for transmitting music control data, etc. Band Bros. has a synthesizer, not MIDI. Saying it has MIDI is like saying my web browser has broadband.;-)
"For me it was Tony Hawk- I played so much that I started sizing up curbs for grinding while driving home from work."
Thank god I'm not the only one. There are some bitchin' air transfer gaps into my bath tub, too.
DDR arrows are also the bane of my existence. Lying in bed with arrows scrolling past your eyelids is one thing, but when your legs start twitching instinctively at the sight...
Does the import Drill Spirits have such abysmal audio, or is this just a really crummy translation/dub? The voice acting is quite bad, and the ending song is an absolute disaster.
Good thing I've already got Mr. Driller Ace for the GBA, which has Drill Stone ("Wonderful Pacteria" in that version), single cart multiplayer, and not-sucky audio. Heh.
Don't get me wrong, Drill Sprits isn't a bad game. It's just got a couple flaws that will keep it from being a best-seller.
You know those little glass hand boiler things with the color liquid inside? You hold it, and the liquid bubbles up the tube and into a second bulb. Surely this sort of setup (slightly miniaturized of course) would be enough to turn a very small generator turbine. Since your hand would be on the mouse while using it, thus heating it up, I could see this working...
I'm referring more to the convenience aspect. Plug the thing in the wall for a while, or constantly keep a supply of fuel on hand? And said fuel has to be distributed somehow as well, and that will likely involve gas guzzling semi trucks. I'll stick with the wall plug for now. If they can make this thing appealing and marketable, great. Until then, no thanks.
Refresh my memory, what's the most widely used combustible fuel right now?
If it does run on something other than crude oil products, good. But I'm not holding my breath. Still, the little thing probably can't consume TOO much at that size. Ha ha.
Yeah, a portable turbine based on VEGETABLE oil would be pretty darned neat. But still pretty darned impractical too, if you ask me. I'd rather plug my stuff into the wall for a few hours than have to take it to the pump every couple days.
As a concept prototype, though, I can see the coolness, despite it being wildly unfit for marketing.
I've been saying for a while now that we just need the anti-virus software publishers to recognize adware and its heathenous kin as being in the same category as Code Red or Klez for the public to start taking it more seriously. It's actually more of a threat now than just plain old "viruses" (in most everyday cases, anyway).
I remember hearing on a radio program (yes, I actually listen to AM) that pancreatic cancer is one of the deadlier types if gone unnoticed for a while. Lucky they caught it in time, I guess.
Seriously though, somebody get this guy some UNIX/BSD/OS X. Fast. The concept of a "reinstall" exists only for massive software upgrade, or massive hardware failure (or massive sysadmin failure, in some cases).
Slashdot Mirror
Word on the street is that the Atari Flashback 2.0 due out in the next month or two will have pin headers on the board allowing you to solder in your own real Atari 2600 cartridge port. From what I've read, the thing is basically a 6502 + TIA chip done in an FPGA or some such. Plus it'll have built in games, including some unreleased stuff, and new arcade ports done by Atari (Space Duel being among them). So definitely watch for this beast. It's not going to just be cheesy ports to NES hardware like the original Flashback.
"Nextel" and "modern technology" pretty much don't belong in the same sentence together, unless it's a sentence like this one stating how little they have in common. The phone I got a little over a year ago has a monochrome screen, and no Java support. Go Nextel.
Sure, their radio coverage is superb, but their phones are like 1998 models, and their packet services are pretty much a joke. Not to mention inaccessibly overpriced.
14 feet? Now that's quite a firmware hack. ;-)
It's sad that this is not the first time I've seen that exact poem. (For more fun, find "Hatless Atlas".)
It's only a matter of time before The Alphabet Song includes punctuation and "backspace", I guess.
Madness! I demand MORE keys! I won't be satisfied until my keyboard has 7 different shifting keys and an Alt Lock, damn it! Though I suppose the caps might get a bit small cramming all that into my iBook's keyboard space... The Space Cadet Keyboard
I imported the game a couple weeks ago, so I've had time to play with the editor. It's extremely powerful compared to things like Remix mode in Frequency and Amplitude. You pick treble or bass clef, adjust the key of the song, pick a tempo, and start placing notes. The music theory behind it is very solid (I assume - I know very little about music theory). You can also have the game generate chord progressions and harmonies based on key signatures that you choose. It's extremely impressive overall. The max BPM you can use is 300, and the songs can be at least 70 measures. I haven't checked the maximum length yet. As for instrument voices, there were about 40 or so when I counted.
i ndex.h tml
;-)
There are a couple limitations, though. You get 8 individual instrument tracks, but each of those tracks is monophonic. To do any chording, you'll have to allocate more than one track for a particular voice. Also, you're limited to 4/4 time signatures.
The other editor mode (Hanauta de Gakufu) is quite interesting. You hum a tune into the microphone, and it quantizes into appropriate notes and adds a background track. Then you can load the creation in the full editor for further refinement.
Also worth noting is the official Nintendo Band Bros. download site. They've got some sheet music available. Right now they have Jingle Bells, and Slider (from Mario 64).
http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ds/abbj/download/
And one more thing - it's not MIDI. MIDI is a serial interface spec for transmitting music control data, etc. Band Bros. has a synthesizer, not MIDI. Saying it has MIDI is like saying my web browser has broadband.
"For me it was Tony Hawk- I played so much that I started sizing up curbs for grinding while driving home from work."
Thank god I'm not the only one. There are some bitchin' air transfer gaps into my bath tub, too.
DDR arrows are also the bane of my existence. Lying in bed with arrows scrolling past your eyelids is one thing, but when your legs start twitching instinctively at the sight...
Does the import Drill Spirits have such abysmal audio, or is this just a really crummy translation/dub? The voice acting is quite bad, and the ending song is an absolute disaster.
Good thing I've already got Mr. Driller Ace for the GBA, which has Drill Stone ("Wonderful Pacteria" in that version), single cart multiplayer, and not-sucky audio. Heh.
Don't get me wrong, Drill Sprits isn't a bad game. It's just got a couple flaws that will keep it from being a best-seller.
You know those little glass hand boiler things with the color liquid inside? You hold it, and the liquid bubbles up the tube and into a second bulb. Surely this sort of setup (slightly miniaturized of course) would be enough to turn a very small generator turbine. Since your hand would be on the mouse while using it, thus heating it up, I could see this working...
That's exactly what I was thinking. Aren't there wristwatches that do something like that?
I know the feeling. I live in southwest Michigan. Maybe I can get a few of these turbines for my socks.
Agreed, if it's using some sort of readily available carbohydrate such as an alcohol, I could live with it.
But I'm still not entirely convinced about getting and keeping a supply of fuel. What volume will this thing consume per "charge"?
Okay, the mathematics make that issue a little more comforting. Heh.
I'm referring more to the convenience aspect. Plug the thing in the wall for a while, or constantly keep a supply of fuel on hand? And said fuel has to be distributed somehow as well, and that will likely involve gas guzzling semi trucks. I'll stick with the wall plug for now. If they can make this thing appealing and marketable, great. Until then, no thanks.
Dear Mr. Nameless,
Refresh my memory, what's the most widely used combustible fuel right now?
If it does run on something other than crude oil products, good. But I'm not holding my breath. Still, the little thing probably can't consume TOO much at that size. Ha ha.
Yeah, a portable turbine based on VEGETABLE oil would be pretty darned neat. But still pretty darned impractical too, if you ask me. I'd rather plug my stuff into the wall for a few hours than have to take it to the pump every couple days.
As a concept prototype, though, I can see the coolness, despite it being wildly unfit for marketing.
Yes, what a great idea, let's INCREASE our dependency on fossil fuels for powering our portable electronics.
And the hot exhaust from the turbine would feel absolutely lovely against one's leg while being carried in a pocket.
Somehow I don't see this miniature jet engine concept really "taking off" (hur hur).
I've been saying for a while now that we just need the anti-virus software publishers to recognize adware and its heathenous kin as being in the same category as Code Red or Klez for the public to start taking it more seriously. It's actually more of a threat now than just plain old "viruses" (in most everyday cases, anyway).
Now with even more visible colors, it'll be even more obvious that your tint control is horribly off. Let's hear it for phase drifting!
I remember hearing on a radio program (yes, I actually listen to AM) that pancreatic cancer is one of the deadlier types if gone unnoticed for a while. Lucky they caught it in time, I guess.
Bring a few of these badboys into the theater and I don't think the night vision will be terribly effective.
"My eyes! The goggles do nothing!"
...But now they have to figure out what to pay the other 75% of the voice talent, i.e. the "SPECIAL GUEST STARS!!!"
Must be Windows ME.
Seriously though, somebody get this guy some UNIX/BSD/OS X. Fast. The concept of a "reinstall" exists only for massive software upgrade, or massive hardware failure (or massive sysadmin failure, in some cases).