Justin Payne Posted September 15, 2019 Share Posted September 15, 2019 Just wondering but a little while back I heard that Ben from Bravo Sierra Computers had stage 4 kidney failure. I went out to his site (https://www.bravosierracomputers.com) and it appears to go to Amazon. The WhoIs also doesn't look good. So, I figured I'd ask if anyone knew him and how he was doing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Robot Posted September 15, 2019 Share Posted September 15, 2019 That website is blocked as a badware risk by uBlock Origin, and has an expired certificate so it gets flagged by Chrome and Safari as a security risk. I wouldn't click to go there. Im sorry I don't know anything about Ben Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin Payne Posted September 15, 2019 Author Share Posted September 15, 2019 Thanks for the heads up. So, no idea about his status? I was able to go to this linke (https://www.bravosierracomputers.com/8bt_soft.html) and got no warning and it appears that what was once his software list was no more and has been replaced with... Quote bravosierracomputers.com Buy this domain. 2019 Copyright. All Rights Reserved. The Sponsored Listings displayed above are served automatically by a third party. Neither the service provider nor the domain owner maintain any relationship with the advertisers. In case of trademark issues please contact the domain owner directly (contact information can be found in whois). That's not a good sign. I see that Antic podcast interviewed him back in 2016. Maybe he has some method of reliable contact with him but Stage 4 ain't a good prognosis so I think we can make some assumptions here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bandit Posted September 15, 2019 Share Posted September 15, 2019 He is still posting in comp.sys.atari.8bit and I talked to him a few months back, I had a couple friends that was going to buy off his Craigslist add in Portland as untested which was why I talked to him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin Payne Posted September 15, 2019 Author Share Posted September 15, 2019 2 minutes ago, bandit said: He is still posting in comp.sys.atari.8bit and I talked to him a few months back, I had a couple friends that was going to buy off his Craigslist add in Portland as untested which was why I talked to him. Well, that's good to hear. I was on that newsgroup a few months back to see how he was doing but haven't been back so I'll pop on over again. His site is one of the sources of software we use when we give price and availability during our game reviews and since the link was "bad" I figured the worst. Thanks for the update. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_The Doctor__ Posted September 15, 2019 Share Posted September 15, 2019 They keep trying to ship him off due to his bad health but he fights his way back every time... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+slx Posted September 16, 2019 Share Posted September 16, 2019 In the ANTIC interview he mentioned that his sister wanted him to get rid of all that computer stuff.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheNameOfTheGame Posted September 16, 2019 Share Posted September 16, 2019 I hope he can bounce back. Does kidney failure reverse? I don't think so, but if progression can be halted at stage 4, maybe he'll make it. I have bought Atari stuff from him before a couple of years ago. He's a bit of an odd personality, but he seems like a good person. My prayers are with him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunstar Posted September 16, 2019 Share Posted September 16, 2019 (edited) I bought stuff from Ben years ago, though I do believe it was still this century. I think I attempted contact through his store site a year or two ago with no response, or whenever the last time was the site was fully active, if not up to date. The intent being to purchase some stuff. I'm glad to hear he's still with us. Edited September 16, 2019 by Gunstar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin Payne Posted September 17, 2019 Author Share Posted September 17, 2019 (edited) 13 hours ago, TheNameOfTheGame said: I hope he can bounce back. Does kidney failure reverse? I don't think so, but if progression can be halted at stage 4, maybe he'll make it. I have bought Atari stuff from him before a couple of years ago. He's a bit of an odd personality, but he seems like a good person. My prayers are with him. I found this about it. It's not immediately fatal but it's also not a walk in the park unless that park is on a hill and he's walking up it. Quote Stage 4 chronic kidney disease is defined as having a GFR of 15–39 ml/min. This means your kidneys have lost nearly 85–90 percent of its function and will require the assistance medical therapy. Without treatment in the form of kidney dialysis, stage 4 kidney disease patients will be subjected to several negative symptoms that will not only cause pain, but also an overall decrease in quality of life. It is expected that stage 4 patients will not survive more than a year without dialysis treatment. With dialysis, however, patients are expected to increase survivability considerably, allowing them to extend their prognosis by an additional 2–5 years. By allowing a dialysis machine to perform the work normally done by the kidneys, your body can perform optimally again. However, it is important to note that every patient is different and may have additional circumstances that may affect survival. Edited September 17, 2019 by Justin Payne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_The Doctor__ Posted September 17, 2019 Share Posted September 17, 2019 dialysis until transplant or death is no fun at all... but at least there is time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+orpheuswaking Posted September 17, 2019 Share Posted September 17, 2019 I got a sales email from him in the last few days Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wesmond Posted September 17, 2019 Share Posted September 17, 2019 Try here: http://atarisales.sdf.org/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted September 17, 2019 Share Posted September 17, 2019 Bens a great guy. I hope he's able to bounce back from this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+orpheuswaking Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 17 hours ago, wesmond said: Try here: http://atarisales.sdf.org/ The main page is up, but all of his catalogs are gone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunstar Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 1 hour ago, orpheuswaking said: The main page is up, but all of his catalogs are gone. It's all working for me here... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+orpheuswaking Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 1 hour ago, Gunstar said: It's all working for me here... If you click on one of the catalog links it doesn't take you an access forbidden screen? I have tried it from several devices and browsers on both wifi and data to see if something was blocking it and I still get that every time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunstar Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 (edited) 8 minutes ago, orpheuswaking said: If you click on one of the catalog links it doesn't take you an access forbidden screen? I have tried it from several devices and browsers on both wifi and data to see if something was blocking it and I still get that every time. No, it goes to the catalogs. I use Windows 7 and Opera browser. Edited September 18, 2019 by Gunstar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+orpheuswaking Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 Very strange Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Preppie Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 All the the links at the bottom of the page work for me but if you click the 'Downloadable Atari Catalogs!' in the text it goes to an inaccessible ftp. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunstar Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 (edited) 6 minutes ago, Preppie said: All the the links at the bottom of the page work for me but if you click the 'Downloadable Atari Catalogs!' in the text it goes to an inaccessible ftp. Yes, I just checked and that is true for me too, but all the catalogs are at the bottom, which do work, and you can just copy and paste, so who needs the down-load-ables? The thing that should be the focus is if one can still actually order anything. Has anyone gotten in touch through the site yet? Edited September 18, 2019 by Gunstar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin Payne Posted September 19, 2019 Author Share Posted September 19, 2019 12 hours ago, Gunstar said: It's all working for me here... This is strange because when I go to the page it defaults to https://sdf.org with the title "SDF Public Access Unix System". Are you sure you guys aren't accessing a cached page? I did click the link Gunstar provided and I do get to his FTP though but if I take off the /ftp/ from http://atarisales.sdf.org/ftp/, it defaults right back to https://sdf.org. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+KlasO Posted September 19, 2019 Share Posted September 19, 2019 Just tested, works for me as well. Does not redirect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattsoft Posted September 20, 2019 Share Posted September 20, 2019 Ben's website has always had issues even when his health was better. I spoke with him by phone last month, and we was still alive and selling Atari stuff then. It was more difficult than usual for him to get stuff shipped, so he's definitely gotten worse. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tjlazer Posted September 21, 2019 Share Posted September 21, 2019 I visited him in person to buy some Atari stuff around 15 years ago, and saw he had some issues with weight. hygiene and extreme hoarding so I can’t imagine what these last 15 years have been like for him! I really do hope he can get well. But that usually requires hitting rock-bottom and doing a 180° change in your lifestyle, health and habits. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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