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Atari Projects - a new Atari 8-bit computing book


scitari

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I am pleased to announce that I have published my book Atari Projects: 50 Fun Projects for Your 8-Bit Home Computer.

 

The goal of this book is to provide a series of fun projects to make it easy for beginners and experts alike to get the most out of their Atari 8-bit retro-computing hobby. Most projects are designed to be completed in less than an hour, and are ideal for the weekend hobbyist. The format of each project is a how-to that lists the pre-requisites, the time estimate for completion, some introductory information, a step by step guide, and some comments. The projects are presented in a sequential order that could be followed by someone new to the hobby. The book starts with projects related to purchasing and working with Atari computers and peripherals followed by chapters on software, BASIC programming, and useful resources. Included are projects on original hardware and software, as well as projects covering recent developments in technology such as flash memory devices and emulators that can enhance the Atari experience.

 

The book is 122 pages with lots of color photos. It is printed on high-quality paper and sells for $19.80 on LuluOf course, all the projects can be found for free on the Atari Projects website if you don't want to buy the book. The advantage of the book is that the projects have been curated, presented in a logical order, and heavily edited. I hope you find the book fun and useful! 

 

Cover.jpg

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What a great way to publish a book! I have checked the Lulu website and the site is even "European" friendly ? Low shipping costs and it is even possible to pay with European online banking. So I have ordered one ?

 

I am very curious to see how the book looks like and (ofcourse) the contents. This book will be a nice addition to my book collection!

 

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14 minutes ago, Fred_M said:

I am very curious to see how the book looks like and (ofcourse) the contents.

 

Here is the table of contents:

 

Introduction     1

1. Purchase an Atari Computer     2

2. Tips for Finding Local Hardware     5

3. Read the Purple Book     8

4. Test the RAM of an Atari Computer     9

5. Purge Dangerous Power Supplies     11

6. Clean an 810 or 1050 Disk Drive Head     13

7. Upgrade a 1050 Disk Drive with the Happy Board     15

8. Purchase an Indus GT Disk Drive     17

9. Purchase an 850 Interface Module     19

10. Replace the Ribbon and Paper in an 820 Printer     21

11. Replace the Ribbon and Paper in a 1025 Printer     24

12. Repair a 1020 Printer    26

13. Connect Your Atari to a PC     29

14. Purchase an Atarimax Maxflash Cartridge     31

15. Purchase an SDrive-Max Disk Drive Emulator     34

16. Connect Your Atari to an LCD Screen     36

17. Connect Your Atari to an LED Screen     39

18. Connect Your Atari to the Internet     42

19. Fun with the Atari Touch Tablet     45

20. Tips for Storing Your Atari Hardware     47

21. Tips for Downsizing Your Collection     50

22. Explore Disk Operating System Versions     54

23. Make Floppy Disks     57

24. Make Floppy Disks Double-Sided     60

25. Explore Floppy Disk Collections     62

26. Back Up Floppy Disks to ATR Images     66

27. Install the Altirra Emulator     67

28. Connect an Atari Joystick to Your PC     69

29. Save an ATR File from Altirra to Your PC     70

30. Edit ATR Images     71

31. Play Sea Dragon     73

32. Play Star Raiders     75

33. Explore Game Easter Eggs     77

34. Read the Book Atari BASIC     79

35. Read the Book De Re Atari     80

36. Try GTIA Graphics Modes in BASIC     82

37. Make a Playfield in BASIC using Redefined Character Sets     84

38. Draw Halloween Pumpkins in BASIC     89

39. Learn About Display List Interrupts in BASIC     92

40. Learn About Player Missile-Graphics in BASIC     95

41. Read the Book Breakout     99

42. Read the Book Atari Inc.: Business is Fun     100

43. Read the Book Terrible Nerd     101

44. Listen to the Floppy Days Podcast     102

45. Listen to the ANTIC Atari 8-Bit Podcast     104

46. Watch the Fate of Atari Documentary     106

47. Read the Atari 8-Bit FAQ     107

48. Join Atari Age     108

49. Participate in a Retro Challenge     109

50. Attend a Vintage Computer Festival     110

 

 

Edited by scitari
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5 hours ago, scitari said:

I am pleased to announce that I have published my book Atari Projects: 50 Fun Projects for Your 8-Bit Home Computer.

 

The goal of this book is to provide a series of fun projects to make it easy for beginners and experts alike to get the most out of their Atari 8-bit retro-computing hobby. Most projects are designed to be completed in less than an hour, and are ideal for the weekend hobbyist. The format of each project is a how-to that lists the pre-requisites, the time estimate for completion, some introductory information, a step by step guide, and some comments. The projects are presented in a sequential order that could be followed by someone new to the hobby. The book starts with projects related to purchasing and working with Atari computers and peripherals followed by chapters on software, BASIC programming, and useful resources. Included are projects on original hardware and software, as well as projects covering recent developments in technology such as flash memory devices and emulators that can enhance the Atari experience.

 

The book is 122 pages with lots of color photos. It is printed on high-quality paper and sells for $19.80 on LuluOf course, all the projects can be found for free on the Atari Projects website if you don't want to buy the book. The advantage of the book is that the projects have been curated, presented in a logical order, and heavily edited. I hope you find the book fun and useful! 

 

Cover.jpg

Purchased. Will review on the Into the Vertical Blank Podcast if I can break myself away from reading and playing with the projects! ? 

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6 hours ago, scitari said:

I am pleased to announce that I have published my book Atari Projects: 50 Fun Projects for Your 8-Bit Home Computer.

 

And I am also pleased to support this kind of initiative so I purchased one.

I see that you filtered out the articles about the 2600 which is fine.

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3 minutes ago, ebiguy said:

And I am also pleased to support this kind of initiative so I purchased one.

I see that you filtered out the articles about the 2600 which is fine.

I did. Hope to do a book like this for the 2600 some day. Thanks for the support!

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Additional topics to consider next time:

 

1. Why You should Always Watch Nir Dary's youtube videos

2. Don't start an Atari-themed YouTube channel. Nir did it first!

3. Upgrade your XC12 with the "Turbo" mod!

4. What the hell is a "Turbo" mod?

5. You mean I still have two wait for two minutes for a game to load? Why would I install the Turbo mod?

6. HOW MANY "Turbo" loaders were released on cartridge. WHY???

7. Wait, there's a 6000 baud "Super Turbo" loader?

8. How to make a purchase of Atari Exotica on Allegro.

9. How to pay for a purchase on Allegro with a credit card, when the credit card won't be accepted, even though the seller insists that he or she takes credit cards.

10. How to convince sellers on Allegro that Canada is, in fact, a country, and not something that you made up, and that you can in fact ship packages to your address from Europe. (Okay, this actually happened on eBay, and not Allegro, but I'm on an Allegro theme here).

11.How to contact Allegro's customer service when you can't understand their payment options. SPOILER: You can't!

 

BTW, bought a copy of your book. ;)

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  • 2 weeks later...

Jason, I got your book in the mail a couple of days ago. Thank you! Great printing quality for something that's made to order. I was pleasantly surprised. Obviously, thank you for curating the most interesting projects off your website into a single volume. Nothing beats paper! :)

Edited by abbotkinneydude
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On 9/11/2019 at 8:53 PM, abbotkinneydude said:

Jason, I got your book in the mail a couple of days ago. Thank you! Great printing quality for something that's made to order. I was pleasantly surprised. Obviously, thank you for curating the most interesting projects off your website into a single volume. Nothing beats paper! :)

Thanks! Glad to hear you like it :)

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13 hours ago, scitari said:

I haven't planned for that because all the same projects are available online in HTML. Thanks for planting the seed though.

You're welcome!  I love your project website -- it is so cool!  Here's another angle for planting the seed:  if you were to come out with a PDF for $9.95, you would then have three distinct price points -- Free (AtariProjects.org Website), $9.95 (PDF), and $19.95 (Physical Book).  This way, you cover all the possible markets for your book.

 

Continued success to you, your website, and your book!!

 

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