Gunstar

I seem to have a bit of catching up to do with several pages added to the thread since I was last here. My absence was because my mother passed away a couple of weeks ago (my father passed away in Dec. of 2010), and so obviously I've been attending to all that entails and family matters. Her passing had been expected at anytime for the last two years, since she was first diagnosed with heart and kidney failure and given less than a year to live. At 85 they wouldn't touch operating on her with a ten-foot pole. A cocktail of meds kept her alive for another 2 years. So, at the age of 55 I have become orphaned. Anyway, back on topic. Here are a couple more Atari name and Fuji logo oriented conversions. I've re-attempted both many times over the past couple of weeks and let them run for days. I never achieved as good of conversions as I was striving to reach. But considering the colorful subject matter, I knew I was attempting a near impossible task for the graphic hardware, as amazing as it for 45+ year old tech way ahead of it's time. Both allowed to run on the final attempts, when things seemed to be going the best so far, into multi-billion evaluations. Both had multiple, glaring HPOS artifacts, but Rasta Slide 4.3 was able to fully repair both. Atari Reflection. 87 colors. GS_AtariReflection.xex Bell-bottom Fuji. 62 colors. GS_BellBottomFuji.xex (I'd love to have a Tie-Dye shirt like this, but I'd prefer the standard straight-leg Fuji since the LS*D already causes it to look bellbottom as it melts and runs down my shirt and onto my joysticks, one Atari branded, one not)

OK, a couple of tips...set the 'number of solutions' high, in the thousands or tens of thousands. This allows Rastaconverter many more attempts to get the conversion closer to the destination image. Images will take much longer to resolve, but will be much more representative of the destination image. Also, the higher the contrast the easier it is for Rastaconverter to choose from the limited color pallette between best color and shade when down grading the color depth from the 256 color palette of the destination image to the 128 color palette of the Atari's graphic mode Rastaconverter uses and limitations in color change and position (less horizontal line stripes throughout the image). Don't be afraid to experiment with drastic changes in the color brightness, contrast and gamma levels and all other settings to see what happens and experience will allow refinement of control and best initial guess for setting on any given image. It's more a learned skill, nearly an art form in itself in finding the best settings for Rastaconverter to get the best results on any given image. I liken it to photography, back when everything was manual, pre-digital cameras, when a photographer had to have knowledge and skill and talent to get the right lighting conditions, proper lens choice and adept focusing skills, on to development of the film to make the best photos. The best (manual-analog) camera in the world will only produce pictures based on the skill and talent of the photographer.

Circle Atari Fuji. 40 colors. GS_CircleFuji.xex Classic Atari Fuji. 63 colors. GS_ClassicFuji.xex

Atari black & White reflection. 8 colors. GS_AtariBWReflect.xex Atari Aqua Fuji. 83 colors. GS_AtariAqua1.xex Atari Vector Fuji. 52 colors. GS_AtariVector.xex Atari Fuji rainbow. 43 colors. GS_AtariFujiRainbow.xex Red Atari. 24 colors. GS_RedAtari.xex

Same here. Subscribing member for the last few years they were around. My first experience at writing articles or any writing out of school was for their newsletter. Around the same time my first officially published article was for Atari Interface Magazine.

Prove to me that is what he was referring to. Where did you read or hear him say or write that he was talking about democracy. Because he is a U.S. citizen for one, and the United States is not a democracy, it is a REPUBLIC. Go learn the difference. It's a REPUBLIC that still respects the minority's opinion, NOT a Democracy which steam rolls the minority, which is why our incredibly intelligent founding fathers specifically chose to be a Republic and not a Democracy. A Democracy is where the minority could actually get their way despite a majority vote, but that is political science and politics are not allowed here. A Republic actually respects the minority while still insuring the minority doesn't end up controlling the majority. But that is far to complicated to explain in a reply here. I don't believe you truly understand what either means or the consequences of an open democracy compared to a republic. I thank God the U.S. is a Republic and not a democracy. But I'm not going to explain the deep truth about both forms of government to you, there are plenty of sources for you to learn for yourself as you obviously wouldn't take my word for it anyway. People that think the U.S. is a democracy are very ignorant or very stupid people. If you are still feel the need to reply because you are a masochist, then please PM me were we can debate/argue this all further and I will be happy to oblige you, but let's not continue to derail this thread. I could teach you the actual politics of a democracy then too, which you clearly have a false concept about. I can also help you out with English too, of which I have a college degree.

It's a direct quote of Nolan, if you have an issue with his quote, correct him, not me. But I will patronize you with a reply to your view on Nolan's quote. I'm not going to "edit" his quote, as it's not my place as I'm quoting, him not presenting my own statement of belief or ideology. And I know what he meant, regardless of proper use of the English language or not, and I agree with what he meant, which is why I present it here. But did you confer with Nolan and he told you that is what he is talking about? Otherwise that's pretty presumptuous and arrogant to say you know what he was talking about. Also, if everyone agrees and come to a consensus, then there are NO minority opinions to be respected according to your own logic here. If you walk into a room as a person who is the leader of a group, but came late, telling them to start without you, and know what they would have been discussing, and that everyone present came to a consensus and you ask "so what is the consensus?" that would be a grammatically correct statement even though not everyone was there (the group was missing you and possibly others could have been absent too). But it was only the majority of the group came to a consensus, as not everyone who belongs to that group was present at the time of consensus. I certainly see nothing about the quote at all that infers democracy or compromise. There can be a majority agreement on something and have nothing at all to do with democracy or compromise. The word "majority" can be used in many instances that have nothing to do with voting or even people, to assume that is ridiculous on it's face. For example, "scientific consensus says the majority of insects in the world are still undiscovered species." -There nothing to do with democracy or compromise or even people.. I believe Nolan was referring to corporate discussion surrounding ideas and decisions. And a corporation is most definitely not democratic. And corporations don't have to compromise based on employee group discussion and consensus, final decisions are left up to those who own the company, or the person(s) they put in charge, like a CEO, regardless if they accept input and discuss with employees first.

Wild! Sure give me the pictures of the vineyard, etc. This is exactly the type of subject matter that my grandfather loved to paint. He would have done it with pastels or water colors.

Me too, I had no idea it was a picture of an ongoing natural disaster! We were struck with a 5.1 magnitude earth quake in my area last night, I am about 50 miles from the epicenter. Fortunately there was no damage near me, I just felt like I had just tossed a coin into a vibrating bed for a few minutes (It struck at around 11:30 PM just after I had gone to bed).

It reminds me of an image from video tape that is "paused" on a VHS player.

Old River Mill. 85 colors. I'd hoped this would come out better, but after dozens of attempts this is the best. Certainly not my best work, but after the time put into it I decided not to just discard it. GS_OldRiverMill.xex

Over the last 5 or so years I've been looking for some other 8-bit brand alternatives that could come close to my expectations I've grown used to from my Atari 8-bit. And I too found very few other 8-bits that I'd actually use by not falling too short of my standards set by the A8 line. The C64, of course, fits my criteria. Other than it, I found only the Amstrad CPC and the other 8-bit I did acquire instead of a C64, due to the high prices original C64's and peripherals are going for these days (regardless of being the most common 8-bit of all time!). What I ended up with as my second 8-bit is the RadioShack Coco 2 (with upgrades). I do now have a third 8-bit computer too, though it isn't as powerful as the Atari or Coco 2, I built it myself from ancient vaporware schematics, which is an upgraded Bally Arcade to a full-fledged 32K computer. I have blogs I started, but have yet to finish on both of my other 8-bits: Though I haven't finished the blog for the Bally Arcade, I do have photos of the finished machine not yet in the blog:

Steampunk Inventor. 63 colors. GS_SteampunkInventor.xex

M.L.K.J died 5 months and 8 days before I was born.

Star Pilot. 96 colors. GS_StarPilot.xex

Sorry, bud for not getting back to you on that here or in the PM's. Just a busy life and I kept forgetting to open up my 1010 to recall where I connected them. Still haven't, BUT, in my posts on the last page showing my upgrade and your schematic, I reread my own post, and I mentioned in that post that I connected 4&5 to each other apparently; I wasn't clear on that point, but I know that is what I meant, otherwise I would have specified where else they would have been connected.

Space Force: Be Out There. 38 colors. GS_SpaceForceBeOutThere.xex

I've been fixing, refurbishing and restoring vintage electronics for years and one of my go-to products for fixing broken plastic (mainly cases for consoles, computers and peripherals) has been JB weld. I still stand by it, but it does take a long curing time. But I found a Youtube video with an alternative that will cure in a very short time. The products used are super glue and cement powder (apparently Baking Soda works too). Below is the link to the video. Skip ahead to 4:20 to see the most relevant part for plastic cases. I have not tried it myself yet, but I intend to soon. The technique seen in the video for the repair is the same technique I use with JB Weld too.

Love the DLI coloring and different speed parallax scrolling between top and bottom.

Well, now that I know it's not an across the board problem, but only effects some, I'm less confounded by the situation as my line of thinking definitely was: "How can Atari allow themselves to lose so many sales with the site/store app not working properly for a month or more? Surely they'd have done something by now since they must be losing tons of money with zero sales through the site? Your answer reduces my frustration toward Atari since I felt the situation to be totally careless toward the VCS that I just got a month and a half ago, but it certainly doesn't reduce frustration over the immediate situation. Digital download purchase-only gaming consoles already have two strikes in my book as I prefer owning physical copies and I worry about long-term availability of my software collection once a console is no longer supported. Not being able to even buy a digital download isn't just a third strike in my book, but a total game loss. I wasn't going to purchase any brand of console anymore if/when things went digital only on them, which seems the inevitable trend, but the VCS was a gift. I may just give up and stick to all my classic systems and physical games, hell, they all have new hard-copy content coming out for them still too. Maybe just resign to use the VCS as a versatile thumb drive OS changing PC, nearly as portable as a laptop. I love it for just those features alone. There is nothing else I even want from Atari other than new software. I'm not interested in the 2600+ or the Gamestation Pro hardware as I have all the classic systems and libraries already, even upgraded for modern displays and homebrews.

The double space before the zip code does not work!!! I have attempted to purchase games on half a dozen different occasions, with and without this so-called work around and several attempts each occasion. I have been trying to buy games since the beginning of September with the same issue. Instead I've purchased $300 worth of games and hardware for other systems that ATARI would have had in their pockets for VCS games otherwise!!! What the h*ll ATARI? If you don't want sales, you guys are being quite successful in avoiding them, so kudos to you! Atari would make thousands from me alone over the next few years for the VCS...if I could actually purchase anything, but I'm about to give up and move on to other systems and won't be buying anything for my classic and new Atari systems from Atari ever again. Including AtariAge store I'm so frustrated. The VCS is great for using as a PC with multiple OS's just a thumb drive swap away, but the VCS side has been nothing but headaches with OS and updates and buying and downloading from day 1. Where is Nolan Bushnell when we need him...to run Atari...

double post

I have been trying to purchase games for over a month with the same zip code error! Have you had any VCS store sales in the last month or two? If not this is probably why! You must be losing tons of sales, about $100 worth just from me currently!

Over a month later I go back to the VCS store to try and purchase games again and I get the exact same denial of purchase due to the ZIP code issue. I even tried adding a couple spaces before the zip code like was suggested to circumvent the error but no change! Does ATARI even want to sell anything in their online store? It doesn't seem so. If they don't want my money I'll just spend it on my other systems. This is ridiculous!!! WHY IS THIS NOT YET FIXED? DO YOU REALIZE YOU ARE LOSING TONS OF MONEY IN ONLINE SALES ATARI?!?