Atari and COVID-19 - how are YOU keeping yourself occupied???

[Mr SQL]

Rene Descarte wrote a book a long time ago, Microbes Terraria, with advice that is still helpful in fighting the Corona virus today:

Breaks in the terrain, can allow Corona to bypass our natural defenses more easily -

Wear chapstick

Inhale through your nose, not your mouth.

Play Atari, every day

 

[chuckwalla]

It's been a good time for many gamers to catch up on titles you haven't played in a while, maybe even experiment with different emulators.

That's how I learned about the FUSION emulator a few years ago (when I was down with a huge chest infection) that plays Sega Genesis, Master System, Game Gear, and Sega CD titles.

I use it more than my hardware now.

Something good comes about when something bad happens.

[+splendidnut]

On 3/17/2020 at 6:55 PM, BIGHMW said:

That makes me want to fire up my Flashback 9 and play Chaotic Grill!, as that seems to (along with Pac-Man 4K and Space Rocks) be my current favorite homebrew at this time, so I'll make @splendidnut proud and do that after I take a quick shower (5 minutes just to keep myself up), and then it's GAME ON! after that. 

 

Happy to hear you're enjoying.  Maybe someday I'll finish it.

[+Nathan Strum]

3 minutes ago, splendidnut said:

Happy to hear you're enjoying.  Maybe someday I'll finish it.

I hope you do - it's a terrific port.

 

And I always enjoy a good burger.

[root42]

I assembled a stick from Monster Joysticks. Works fine. Second button does nothing or optionally maps to UP for games that use this for jumping. 
 

Modded my stick from @virtvic to support two button games like Scramble. Simple add of a 330Ω resistor. Was intrigued that he 3D printed the holding thingy for the microswitches. Holds up great since... almost a year now? 
 

Best thing is I now have two great joysticks for playing Galagon with two people!

[dr. kwack]

I have been:

• Doing lots of housework- laundry, dishes, washing walls and getting ready to paint a few rooms (got the paint about a week before all the hubub started).
• Trying not to bug Mrs. Kwack as she works from home.
• Taking care of Ma & Pa Kwack.
• Entertaining the Kwack kitties (3 of 'em! Frankie, Stella and Lucy).
• Watching WWII movies (A Bridge Too Far, Midway (1976), and Bridge on the River Kwai so far).
• Making a few custom action figures (Clu from Tron is the current project).
• Adding new games to/organizing on my Intellivision Ultimate Flashback. Love this thing! So many emulators and games!
• Playing (or at least trying to play) games I never had time to.

[VectorGamer]

Spent much of the past weekend watching concerts in my YouTube playlist.

 

Signed up for NFL Game Pass so I'm watching condensed games from the Eagles 2017 Super Bowl season.

 

Watched Charles Bronson's Death Wise V that I recorded a year ago. I liked how he fixed the bad guy's dandruff problem.

 

When I'm bored watching TV, I txt a friend of mine and we take turns picking a video game to play and then we txt each other our scores. We started doing that Friday night. So far we've played Frostbite and BurgerTime on the 2600 and Pooyan on the NES.

[BIGHMW]

3 bits of advice, in which all of us here on this forum have already taken, especially as our Governor Jay Inslee (D - WA) has issued a 2-week-long stay-at-home, stay-safe order banning all gathering and limiting travel (except for grocery store, gas stations, pharmacy, banks, state offices). I work at the local Safeway here in Port Townsend (store 538) and therefore am exempt but only to go to and from work, but here are the 3 bits of advice for the rest of you:

 

If you've got a home theater system, put something on it and watch it.

 

If you've got a home arcade system (and many of us own more than one unit), put something on it and play it.

 

If you've got a home stereo system, put something on it and listen to it.

 

STAY SAFE, STAY INDOORS and please for the sake of your loved ones, stay at least 6 feet away from each other!!!

[virtvic]

On 3/20/2020 at 9:23 PM, root42 said:

I assembled a stick from Monster Joysticks. Works fine. Second button does nothing or optionally maps to UP for games that use this for jumping. 
 

Modded my stick from @virtvic to support two button games like Scramble. Simple add of a 330Ω resistor. Was intrigued that he 3D printed the holding thingy for the microswitches. Holds up great since... almost a year now? 
 

Best thing is I now have two great joysticks for playing Galagon with two people!

3D printed thingy ??? You mean the octagonal restrictor? It’s because the joysticks only ever come with a 4/8 way restrictive snd they are not as accurate as having the octagonal angles for your stick to ‘snap’ into when doing diagonals.

[root42]

On 3/31/2020 at 12:47 PM, virtvic said:

3D printed thingy ??? You mean the octagonal restrictor? It’s because the joysticks only ever come with a 4/8 way restrictive snd they are not as accurate as having the octagonal angles for your stick to ‘snap’ into when doing diagonals.

Yes! The octagonal restrictor. TIL a new word. Your stick is still my main Atari stick. It is really great!

[seastalker]

To answer the original OP, I have put aside all tech projects of recapping, MiSTer, S-Video mods to my atari 800 etc. I have been looking into some anomalies. When have we ever seen the whole world agree on something without any loud alternative narrative? It is both quiet and strange. There are many doctors (Dr. Andrew Kaufmann is just one) that explain viruses in a way I cannot ignore that stands in the face of the media is telling us. I hope others look into this if nothing more than to have a different perspective  than what mainstream is offering. There is no harm to look, and either find value or dismiss it.  Anyone looking into this?

[Keatah]

There are many doctors with that name perhaps you can be more specific or better yet point to a specific work he did.

 

I tend to avoid mainstream media in detail. As as overview filter or alarm bell it's alright. I'm taking a course in virology and am about 6 lectures into it. I'm *still* amazed that the molecules just somehow know where to go; and that such complexity can exist.

 

In addition to studies, I'm also building DoomBoxen, just another 486 rig specifically made for Doom. Why? Just because.

 

Edited April 14, 2020 by Keatah

[seastalker]

Keatah, I spelled his name incorrectly. The doctor's name is Dr. Andrew Kaufman and though his channel can be found HERE, perhaps the most interesting presentation is how he took the covid 'test' himself and is sharing his findings. Refreshingly, he shows actual microscope images and applies critical thinking:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzRbq9XJ7mA

 

He has a longer discussion with authors Dawn Lester and David Parker discussing similar findings. Dr Annie Bukacek has been speaking about how doctors are being instructed to fill out death certificates. 

Hopefully that helps in your study on virology. The human body is quite an interesting and amazing thing. These topics are interesting to me to play in the background as I do repair work: Not a good day for retrobrighting, so I may try and get some Commodore 64 boards (longboard and 'c' model) up and running and some spare keyboards. 

 

I'll check out the doomboxen project. Haven't heard of it before. I