Retro-1980s-Arcade-Machine Part 1: Destroy a laptop

GOAL: Build a table-top retro arcade machine from an old computer.
Target completion date(s):

1. June 2009: Best!
2. September 2009: Good!
3. Ever: Acceptable.

After initially thinking that my current desktop PC would work great, I decided to switch to an old laptop because that would save space and make the cabinet lighter. First I decided to remove the screen and see what I found. This is a Dell Inspiron 7500 laptop. I think it has a P3 chip, I don't remember the chip speed. Good enough, though, to run 25-year-old games with.

I had to remove the keyboard to get the screen off.


Here are things all taken apart. I was a bit worried that I would screw everything up at this point. Oh well, no risk no reward!

Ever wonder what the back of an LCD screen looks like? No? Well it looks like this!
I will need to get two 'extension cables' to make this work in the cabinet. One is that green ribbon cable and the other is the pink-and-white power cable. I (HOPE!) neither of those are difficult to find at a used PC parts store... That little card just sitting there is part of (or all of) the video card, I think. Not sure, don't really care, I'll just keep it connected after the modification.


Plug the things back together and it still works. How about that! I was a little surprised, myself.

That's right, baby! This is what it (will be) all about!!!


I leave you with two words smushed into one that I ordered today:

TankStick

Google it.

Advanced Star Wars Trivial Pursuit & Wii Boom Blox

Shawn visited from LA for Thanksgiving. We had a great time, and played some marathon sessions of Wii Boom Blox and Star Wars Trivial Pursuit. By the second or third day, we started adding additional rules to make the games more challenging.

In fact, we added the rules to the SW Trivial Pursuit game in the middle of the first turn, when it looked like I was going to run the board on Shawn (having won the roll to go first and then gotten about 15 answers right without a miss).

So, here are our new rules:

Advanced Star Wars Trivial Pursuit:

• Gaining a 'pie wedge' ends your turn. Thus each player can only gain 1 wedge per turn--and no player can run the board on the other.
• To win the game (in the center of the board after filling up) the player must answer every question on the card correctly. Not just the 1 category chosen by the opponent.
• You do not need to leave and return to the center after a failed win attempt. The piece just stays there and a new card is drawn on subsequent turns.

Even with these rules in place, this was the fastest game of trivial pursuit we had ever played. (Yea, we're both major Star Wars geeks--at least for the classic trilogy.)

Advanced multi-player Wii Boom Blox:

• On 'throw' levels and some 'pull' levels: You cannot aim at the top block of the tower.
  
• On other 'pull' levels: You must dislodge (or substantially move) at least one other block in addition to the one you are pulling.
• On other 'pull' levels: You must pull the lowest possible block that will not obviously topple the tower. (This makes for a very quick game.)
• On the frame 'knock out' levels: You can not aim at the highest-value block. Or, alternately: You must aim for one of the lowest-value blocks.

Enjoy! Happy gaming.

Point/Counterpoint on Alice's Commute

Point:
The (my) Prius gets better gas mileage than the (her) Jetta does.
Alice commutes. I don't. There is a parking discount for hybrid drivers at Expedia, which will save us an additional $75 each month in addition to the gasoline savings. This makes it the better choice for her commute from from both an economical and environmental standpoint. It just makes the most sense. It is better for us and the world if she drives the Prius to work instead of the Jetta.

Counterpoint:
Hey, that's my car!

The HDMI Video Cable Scam (or: Do You Know What DIGITAL Means?)

The other day, I was in a big computer and electronics store and saw a rack of HDMI video cables right by the entrance with prices ranging from $50 to over $100!!

This is a SCAM! Identical cables can be purchased on Amazon for $1.50 or so. There were even some used ones that were listed at $0.01. (Plus a couple bucks shipping, I assume.)

Now, some of you audiophiles may be saying "You can see and hear the difference on a better cord!" and that may be true (or may not be) for your analog equipment, but this is DIGITAL. Digital means "NUMBERS." Do you understand the difference yet? Let's look at some numbers, shall we:

100
100
100
100
100
100
100

Hmmm, all of those numbers have the SAME VALUE, don't they. Whether they are big or small, bold or italic, or not.
Imagine that first BIG BOLD number as coming from a top-of-the-line $100 HDMI cord and the last tiny italic one coming from a $.01 used HDMI cord. THEY HAVE THE SAME VALUE: FOUR!*
As long as that value gets through, your TV will give you the exact same image and sound.

You're welcome.

*This joke was for the ultra-geeky. If you didn't get it, just assume I said "one-hundred" and be happy that you are cooler than that.

PS: The difference in quality between HDMI and Component Video IS NOTICEABLE! And completely worth your $1.50.

ContactClone Video

Watch my video!



This was done to show off our new iPhone software, ContactClone and ContactClone Pro.
I tried (several times) to get a decent video using both a webcam and an actual video camera and nothing worked. The lighting was always terrible, and the iPhone screen was usually blurry. So I animated the thing in Flash using screenshots. It worked great!

And it was the first time I'd really used Flash in 10 years!! And WHO KNEW THAT THIS WAS STILL ON THE WEB!
http://www.burford.net/clipart/
I didn't. It's kind of fun to watch some crazy stuff you did a long time ago and had nearly forgotten about.
NOTE: Clip Art Theater contains scenes of explicit cartoon violence and is not for the the weak of comedy.

Maui. October, 2008 - Part 2

These guys were blocking the stream with leaves to make the pool deeper. Then jumping in off rocks.



Not just a crazy car, but a crazy car parked in a handicapped space.

Notice the bananas.




I don't think this boat just sank, but it seemed pretty crazy.




Me at Lulu's!!!!

Maui. October, 2008

A batch of pictures--mostly underwater--from Maui.