+x=usr(1536) Posted October 2, 2019 Share Posted October 2, 2019 (edited) 21 minutes ago, Flojomojo said: Bumper stickers, is there anything they can't do? I might send some of these to members the Super Secret Supporters Society. Reveal hidden contents Corollary or complementary? You decide! Spoiler As affixed to the dashboard of every Mahindra Roxor currently sold in the US. Personally, I find the straightforwardness refreshing. Edited October 2, 2019 by x=usr(1536) 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flojomojo Posted October 2, 2019 Share Posted October 2, 2019 Good advice. We have one of these at work. Spoiler 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JaqenHghar Posted October 2, 2019 Share Posted October 2, 2019 9 hours ago, Spriggy said: What's your answer on why so many pigeons backers are defending Atari SA so vehemently, after all this time? Interesting reads if you are so inclined: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/how-risky-is-it-really/201007/why-changing-somebody-s-mind-or-yours-is-hard-do https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/02/27/why-facts-dont-change-our-minds https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2017/03/this-article-wont-change-your-mind/519093/ The mechanisms of stubbornness behind everything from VCS to politics. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flojomojo Posted October 2, 2019 Share Posted October 2, 2019 At last, the update everyone has been waiting for: an exclusive look "behind the scenes" video of Mike "Bloom" Arzt and Rob "Bialystock" Wyatt, hard at work with the AtariBox. Quote QUICK CUT TO BIALYSTOCK'S SLEEPING FACE. HIS EYES POP OPEN. CUT BACK TO BLOOM. BLOOM Yes. Yes. It's quite possible. If he were certain the show would fail, a man could make a fortune. CUT TO BIALYSTOCK. BY NOW HE IS HALFWAY ACROSS THE ROOM. HIS WHOLE BEING TINGLING WITH ALERTNESS. HE MOVES TO BLOOM'S DESK AND HOVERS OVER HIM, WAITING EXPECTANTLY FOR MORE INFORMATION. BUT BLOOM IS LOST IN HIS WORK, UNAWARE THAT BIALYSTOCK IS HANGING ON HIS EVERY WORD. BIALYSTOCK Yes??? BLOOM LOOKS UP. HE IS STARTLED TO SEE BIALYSTOCK'S FACE SO CLOSE TO HIS OWN. BLOOM (at a loss) Yes, what? BIALYSTOCK What you were saying. Keep talking. BLOOM What was I saying? BIALYSTOCK You were saying that under the right circumstances, a producer could make more money with a flop than he could with a hit. BLOOM (smiling) Yes, it's quite possible. BIALYSTOCK You keep saying that, but you don't tell me how. How could a producer make more money with a flop than with a hit? BLOOM, SLIGHTLY EXASPERATED, PUTS HIS PENCIL DOWN AND FACES BIALYSTOCK. HE SPEAKS TO BIALYSTOCK AS A TEACHER WOULD A STUDENT. BLOOM It's simply a matter of creative accounting. Let us assume, just for the moment, that you are a dishonest man. BIALYSTOCK Assume away! BLOOM Well, it's very easy. You simply raise more money than you really need. BIALYSTOCK What do you mean? BLOOM You've done it yourself, only you did it on a very small scale. BIALYSTOCK What did I do? BLOOM You raised two thousand more than you needed to produce your last play. BIALYSTOCK So what? What did it get me? I'm wearing a cardboard belt. BLOOM Ahhhhhh! But that's where you made your error. You didn't go all the way. You see, if you were really a bold criminal, you could have raised a million. BIALYSTOCK But the play only cost $60,000 to produce. BLOOM Exactly. And how long did it run? BIALYSTOCK One night. BLOOM See? You could have raised a million dollars, put on a sixty thousand dollar flop and kept the rest. BIALYSTOCK But what if the play was a hit? BLOOM Oh, you'd go to jail. If the play were a hit, you'd have to pay off the backers, and with so many backers there could never be enough profits to go around, get it? BIALYSTOCK Aha, aha, aha, aha, aha, aha!! So, in order for the scheme to work, we'd have to find a sure fire flop. BLOOM What scheme? BIALYSTOCK What scheme? Your scheme, you bloody little genius. BLOOM Oh, no. No. No. I meant no scheme. I merely posed a little, academic accounting theory. It's just a thought. BIALYSTOCK Bloom, worlds are turned on such thoughts! BIALYSTOCK STARTS MOVING IN ON BLOOM. BIALYSTOCK Don't you see, Bloom. Darling, Bloom, glorious Bloom, it's so simple. Step one: We find the worst play in the world -- a sure flop. Step two: I raise a million dollars -- there's a lot of little old ladies in this world. Step three: You go back to work on the books. Phoney lists of backers -- one for the government, one for us. You can do it, Bloom, you're a wizard. Step four: We open on Broadway and before you can say 'step five' we close on Broadway. Step six: We take our million dollars and fly to Rio de Janiero. BIALYSTOCK GRABS BLOOM IN HIS ARMS AND BEGINS TO LEAD HIM IN A WILD TANGO AROUND THE ROOM. BIALYSTOCK (sings) "Ah, Rio, Rio by the seao, meo, myo, meo ... " BLOOM (afraid of the scheme, afraid of the dance, afraid of Bialystock) Mr. Bialystock. No. Wait. Please. You're holding me too tight. I'm an honest man. You don't understand. BIALYSTOCK (leading Bloom as he talks) No, Bloom, you don't understand. This is fate, this is destiny. There's no avoiding it. AT THIS POINT, BIALYSTOCK SWEEPS BLOOM INTO AN ELABORATE DIP. 4 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lodmot Posted October 2, 2019 Share Posted October 2, 2019 32 minutes ago, Flojomojo said: At last, the update everyone has been waiting for: an exclusive look "behind the scenes" video of Mike "Bloom" Arzt and Rob "Bialystock" Wyatt, hard at work with the AtariBox. Dude, is that Jackie Gleason? xD omg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flojomojo Posted October 2, 2019 Share Posted October 2, 2019 Just now, Lodmot said: Dude, is that Jackie Gleason? xD omg Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder. "The Producers" is a classic you must see, preferably the 1967 original. 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cybercylon Posted October 2, 2019 Share Posted October 2, 2019 2 hours ago, JaqenHghar said: Interesting reads if you are so inclined: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/how-risky-is-it-really/201007/why-changing-somebody-s-mind-or-yours-is-hard-do https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/02/27/why-facts-dont-change-our-minds https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2017/03/this-article-wont-change-your-mind/519093/ The mechanisms of stubbornness behind everything from VCS to politics. Indeed, cognitive dissonance runs very deep with this whole Atari VCS thing. I am not sure why to what will amount to a crap in a box product in the end, and there are already individuals companies putting out those kinds of products out there (by individuals, I mean those people that show up at conventions selling retropie boards in a 3D printed case, loading it up with a bunch of emulators and roms, and selling them for a stupid amount of money). I was going to grab a picture of a converse shoe box and put a pile... oh never mind. I don't have the time, and that is gross... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inky Posted October 2, 2019 Share Posted October 2, 2019 5 hours ago, Clint Thompson said: If they ever go as far as trying to shut down Atari Age (which is still more Atari than Atari could hope to be) then there simply will no longer be Atari at all. It will be the ultimate self destruct for their brand. I mean, you see how suing Jeff Minter over TXK worked out so well for them. In my mind, AtariAge IS Atari. Has been for a long time. This is where the true spirit of the once proud former brand currently lies. 18 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Jentzsch Posted October 2, 2019 Share Posted October 2, 2019 3 minutes ago, Inky said: In my mind, AtariAge IS Atari. Has been for a long time. This is where the true spirit of the once proud former brand currently lies. So true. AtariAge has this spirit for much longer than Atari ever had. 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Nathan Strum Posted October 2, 2019 Share Posted October 2, 2019 3 hours ago, x=usr(1536) said: Just to be clear: the above was a play on the following bumper sticker aphorism: What kind of cookies? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+frankodragon Posted October 2, 2019 Share Posted October 2, 2019 This is more like it. 7 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+x=usr(1536) Posted October 2, 2019 Share Posted October 2, 2019 27 minutes ago, Nathan Strum said: What kind of cookies? Tacookies! 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flojomojo Posted October 2, 2019 Share Posted October 2, 2019 Awww, I was hoping for Wookiee Cookies. 2 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digdugnate Posted October 2, 2019 Share Posted October 2, 2019 1 hour ago, Flojomojo said: Awww, I was hoping for Wookiee Cookies. are they a little.... Chewie? 1 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Spriggy Posted October 3, 2019 Share Posted October 3, 2019 9 hours ago, JaqenHghar said: Interesting reads if you are so inclined: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/how-risky-is-it-really/201007/why-changing-somebody-s-mind-or-yours-is-hard-do https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/02/27/why-facts-dont-change-our-minds https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2017/03/this-article-wont-change-your-mind/519093/ The mechanisms of stubbornness behind everything from VCS to politics. Thanks for the links. The whole behavioral side in this debacle, has me genuinely interested. Being in law enforcement for over 20 years, definitely gives you insight into the human psyche and eventually you become somewhat of a backyard behaviorist persay. I'm au fait enough with the subject to understand the general reasoning of the pigeons behaviors with Ataco & the Shoebox, as do a lot of others here, as can be seen on the recent replies to my query to Tidus. Although I want to hear his opinion, the query was obviously going to get others to chime in. Good to hear other opinions, especially from people who know a hell of a lot more than me. It was also meant to show the numpties, like Werner and associates, that we are a lot more open here and think a lot more deeper than their reddit cultist shit show ... and not a bunch of whinging trolls. 4 hours ago, digdugnate said: 4 hours ago, digdugnate said: 5 hours ago, Flojomojo said: Awww, I was hoping for Wookiee Cookies. are they a little.... Chewie? ? 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrBeefy Posted October 3, 2019 Share Posted October 3, 2019 One of them at least have stock in Atari. They were the one wanting to make @The Historian "famous" for coming on here and being pro Atari VCS. How dare he belong to a pro Atari VCS supporters group, and also belong to a forum in which he talks positive things about the Atari VCS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Agillig Posted October 3, 2019 Share Posted October 3, 2019 25 minutes ago, Spriggy said: Thanks for the links. The whole behavioral side in this debacle, has me genuinely interested. Being in law enforcement for over 20 years, definitely gives you insight into the human psyche and eventually you become somewhat of a backyard behaviorist persay. I've been a cop almost 18 years, and I can vouch for this. I'd like to think that having people lie to my face constantly on a daily basis has tuned my b.s. meter pretty well. Once I catch someone in their first lie, I have a hard time buying the rest of the story. Atari told way too many whoppers early on to be credible. Showing pictures faking people playing the system and later backtracking and saying it was "For illustrative purposes" is about as credible as someone saying "These aren't my pants" when you find 20 grams of crack in their pocket. 6 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrBeefy Posted October 3, 2019 Share Posted October 3, 2019 2 minutes ago, Agillig said: I've been a cop almost 18 years, and I can vouch for this. I'd like to think that having people lie to my face constantly on a daily basis has tuned my b.s. meter pretty well. Once I catch someone in their first lie, I have a hard time buying the rest of the story. Atari told way too many whoppers early on to be credible. Showing pictures faking people playing the system and later backtracking and saying it was "For illustrative purposes" is about as credible as someone saying "These aren't my pants" when you find 20 grams of crack in their pocket. This is all true. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+frankodragon Posted October 3, 2019 Share Posted October 3, 2019 Pretty much what's said is mentioned on the last comment below. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scotterpop Posted October 3, 2019 Share Posted October 3, 2019 6 hours ago, Flojomojo said: Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder. "The Producers" is a classic you must see, preferably the 1967 original. Yes, abso-freaking-lutely! One of the funniest movies ever made. Everyone sing along: It’s springtime, For Chesnais, And Atari... 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lodmot Posted October 3, 2019 Share Posted October 3, 2019 This is probably a waste of time (I know), but just for fun... I've been analyzing the picture of that board very closely in Gimp, and I'm trying to see whether those indents to the left of the CPU are the underside of where the RAM is on the back... It's really hard to tell, but those indents seem to be lined up neatly vertically, so it's possible I suppose... If that is indeed a working motherboard, and if Atari would've just posted a fucking VIDEO rather than giving us one vague picture to go off of, a lot of the speculation on that "prototype board" would be completely unnecessary. But once again, leave it to Atari to be exponentially vague. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Spriggy Posted October 3, 2019 Share Posted October 3, 2019 15 minutes ago, Agillig said: I've been a cop almost 18 years, and I can vouch for this. I'd like to think that having people lie to my face constantly on a daily basis has tuned my b.s. meter pretty well. Once I catch someone in their first lie, I have a hard time buying the rest of the story. Atari told way too many whoppers early on to be credible. Showing pictures faking people playing the system and later backtracking and saying it was "For illustrative purposes" is about as credible as someone saying "These aren't my pants" when you find 20 grams of crack in their pocket. Hah. Yeh. As you well know Ag, our BS meters are pretty accurate if we can see the person of interests face, even better the whole body, whilst they're talking bollocks. In relation to the Ataco saga, almost all of the data and talky-talky is coming to us via text, hence the aforementioned "meters" don't work anywhere near as well. Anyways ..... 1 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flojomojo Posted October 3, 2019 Share Posted October 3, 2019 "Show, don't tell" It's really not that complex. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+x=usr(1536) Posted October 3, 2019 Share Posted October 3, 2019 (edited) Something I haven't seen mentioned in relation to the Askfab PCB (and this is all very much stream-of-consciousness for the moment): Date of manufacture on the board is marked as 3519. That would put its build date somewhere between August 26th and September 1st of this year. Let's say it took a week to make it from the fab and into someone's hands at Atari SA. The latest that would likely have happened by would be September 8th - and that's assuming no hold-ups in Customs, missed deliveries, etc. The announcement showing the PCB made it out on the 30th of September. This means that, by the absolute most generous calculations and assuming that the thing actually works, it's had a whopping 4 weeks of QA put into it. 4 weeks. To determine if the design works, requires revisions, and to submit and turn around those revisions. Think about that. (My personal suspicion is that the photo was taken and slapped onto the Interwebs 5 minutes after the package containing the PCB arrived, but that's just my hater nature talking. I really can't prove that to be the case.) Let's say Atari SA pulled a rabbit out of a hat and came up with a design that's 100% suitable for their purposes on their first run. Are they aware of how long type approval takes? The labs that are certified to put devices like this through testing and certification usually have a queue, and it's typically not terribly short. Not to mention that it'll likely require approval in both the US and EU at a minimum, and the process can be costly. (Note regarding the above paragraph: that's based on the last time I had to watch hardware go in for approval, which was around 2001. Things have almost certainly changed in that time, though I suspect at least some parts still hold true, such as lab lead times.) If this is on the market by Q1 2020, it'll be interesting see how they pull it off - particularly given that the Thanksgiving (in the US, anyway) and Christmas-through-New Year's weeks will be dead, and they'll lose two more weeks at the end of January and into February for the Chinese New Year. Also, we're now in Q4, and anyone ramping up production to make it to market for Christmas is going to be tying up every lab & fab between now and the middle/end of November at the latest. Backers hoping for a shiny new Ataribollocks(tm) under the Christmas tree this year may want to adjust their expectations accordingly. Edited October 3, 2019 by x=usr(1536) 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JaqenHghar Posted October 3, 2019 Share Posted October 3, 2019 1 hour ago, Flojomojo said: "Show, don't tell" It's really not that complex. Don't worry. Now that they have a prototype board I'm sure they'll be getting started on writing the AtariOS presently. It should be done in a jiff. (I know I know.... It's supposed to be based on Linux but you see they're writing a new perfect Linux workalike from scratch.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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