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RickR

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Everything posted by RickR

  1. Related to this topic slightly....my mom, whose dementia continues to progress 😞 For a long time, we had a simple "ladybug" cell phone for her to use. But she eventually lost the ability to use it...BUT we switched her back to a land line with the phone pictured below. And she loves it. She answers it and calls us successfully. So thank goodness these are still available. It costs more than a cell phone, but totally worth it for her situation.
  2. While I agree with that on principle, I'm also an engineer and know dang well that if there is a way to screw it up, users will find it. Therefore, a system should be designed to be idiot-proof. Store updates on the console itself and do not re-flash carts, for example.
  3. I'm sure I've posted this one more than once already, but this one NEVER fails to make me laugh. Trombone sneeze.
  4. My family has had a land line and the same number for ages. A few years back, I finally convinced my wife that we should switch to an IP phone service. So sure enough, we ported our old phone number over and it works exactly the same way. I even hooked up our old wireless phone set (with 3 handsets!). I estimate the switch saved us about $300 a year. My wife liked it so much, she switched her small business over too. As for the cell phones, I think it's cool to see people without them. I like having mine mostly to order food ahead with the discounts offered on apps. But otherwise, I totally get your point. So distracting! Also, travel is getting harder without a cell phone. Some airlines actually charge for printing out a printed boarding pass! And we've also found the luxury of NOT renting cars and just using Lyft/Uber. For traveling, a cell phone helps a lot.
  5. Aha! More research shows that this is a hardware limitation of the SID, and that it has been hacked for hobbyists who have added a second SID to their system! Here is the hacked version on C64:
  6. I just noticed something that I found a bit surprising. For the EA classic M.U.L.E., the theme song for the Atari version (which came first) has 4 voices. The C64 version, with the mighty SID chip, there are only 3! Here are a couple of videos cued up to a spot where it is easiest to hear. It starts with drum, then bass, then synth line. The Atari version clearly has two. C64, only 1! The lower-pitched rhythm synth is missing!! Do you hear it too? In any case, it is one of my all-time favorite video game theme songs. Atari version (start at 39 second point if I didn't embed this properly): Commodore version:
  7. YES! Thanks for posting this, as I was unaware. I'll check this out more closely when I get a spare moment. Some truly awesome efforts in the homebrew space not just this last year, but over the last decade.
  8. 2600 "Adventure" is one I return to often. I also really love 8-bit MULE, One on One basketball, and Blue Max. And I am known to play Windows Spider Solitaire when I have a minute to kill.
  9. Oh wow. My family had a TON of these, as one of my aunts was an Avon salesperson. We had the cars, and presidential busts. When I had to liquidate my parents' estate, I sold them all, but kept one...a Portland Trailblazer bottle that kind of looks like a trophy.
  10. RickR

    Disneyland in a Monsoon

    Exactly. We were together, we were adjusting and managing. It could have been much worse! We saw several people that were very upset about it to the point of tears. It is understandable, but what can you do? Roll with the punches, baby.
  11. Oooh, that looks good. And a nice price too.
  12. Same. First time I've ever heard of this.
  13. It is a good idea -- some form of video-game based entertainment show. But it needs to be bigger than just Atari. The retro industry as a whole should be included. Nintendo for sure. I'm reminded of the really old Nickelodeon Arcade show. It was exciting at the time to see some of the latest games and how other people play.
  14. RickR

    Disneyland in a Monsoon

    We still had a lot of fun. But the rain made it pretty exhausting after a while. I've been to the Florida parks when it has rained. The difference is that in FL, it rains HEAVY for a while and then stops. This rain was different...it was heavy and never stopped. While we had fun still, it was sobering to think that there was flooding in the area. Hopefully, everyone in the area and their property are all ok.
  15. I also feel like the flippers don't really offer any satisfying power. They are like slow wet noodles. BUT these are very minor nitpicks. I think the game is excellent.
  16. I've had minor trouble with all of the memory expansion boards I've tried on TI. It feels like the timing has to be just right for it to work. For the three solutions I've tried, all of them were finicky and may not work correctly upon first booting. Usually, a few reboots fixed them. Also, cleaning the expansion card connectors helps.
  17. RickR

    Disneyland in a Monsoon

    PS - flights were good, hotel was nice. We ate well. Stayed healthy. Very much to be grateful for.
  18. We had made our plans months ago, figuring early Feb would be a nice time to go to Disneyland with less crowds and ride the new "Runaway Railway" ride. As the date approached, we could see the weather forecast was getting worse and worse, with an "atmospheric river" approaching. Bah! We are Oregonians, rain is of no concern! So my wife and I decided for forge ahead (full disclosure, I asked a couple of locals what they thought). How was it? Well. Bad. 1.5" of rain on both days we were there. Crowds were a bit less than normal. But the part we didn't anticipate was how many rides were shut down. Even a lot of indoor rides had to be closed due to water intrusion! BUT, we still had fun. We rode the new Runaway Railway several times (it is awesome) and Rise of the Resistance as well (still awesome). Many rides had no lines at all. Which was nice. And waterproof coats and shoes held up well. And we now have interesting stories to tell. I have just a few pictures to share. They don't do justice to how much it rained with so much water on the ground.
  19. Same. This game is awesome. I may try the asteroids controller for this.
  20. 70,245. Left difficulty = A I agree with Mayor @greenween....we should be playing the expert mode (left difficulty on A). The "b" mode is too easy and the games go on a lot longer. Does anyone object? @Justin are you OK with this change?
  21. I remember a 5.2 or so here in Portland probably 20 years ago...I was also in a high rise on the 12th floor. My boss went running to the stairs -- a really old guy. It is funny in retrospect. No one knew he could run that fast! Once it was done, we could clearly see that our building and all the other high rises were swaying like pendulums and I learned to trust the technology. But at that moment....TERRIFYING!
  22. 14,500 on 10-Yard Fight. That is one touchdown, and made it down to the 10 yard line for round 2. I can def do better, but I may just move on to R-Type for now.
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