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About this blog

Mostly Atari-related projects, and other ramblings. Home of the Artie the Atari comic strip.

Entries in this blog

Revisiting Juno First

So, I was looking through my folder full of WIP homebrews, and came upon Juno First. When last seen, Chris had put together a nice looking title screen:   But as was mentioned in the comments, it would have been nice to make the scores a single color, instead of multicolored:   So I was wondering if this would work... (I think this is what Bob mentioned in the comments, but I'm not sure):   First, you have the title and some of the text, made up of sprites, as before:   But then, t
Nathan Strum

Nathan Strum

13

Big Hero 6 - Spoiler-free review

I went to see Big Hero 6 well over a month ago during the Thanksgiving weekend, so this review is a bit late. In fact it's really late, because I saw the movie a couple of weeks before that, and still hadn't written a review.   I first saw it at work, when co-director Don Hall screened it for our students, and did a Q&A afterwards. This was a great chance for the student to see the film and hear Don talk about it, but I was stuck halfway behind a pillar in the back corner of the room durin
Nathan Strum

Nathan Strum

0

Predictions for 2011

It's January, which means it's time to guess incorrectly at what isn't going to happen this year.   I mean after the Seahawks beat the Saints today in the playoffs... there pretty-much isn't any point in trying to predict anything.   But first, a recap of my predictions from last year:   Apple will release a tablet computer - it will be more than just a big iPod... - Right. Mostly. The iPad was just a big iPod though, but managed to transcend that market and effectively kickstart the
Nathan Strum

Nathan Strum

12

Zootopia - Spoiler-free movie review

Sometimes, working at CalArts is a good thing. Like on Thursday. Co-director Rich Moore (Wreck-It Ralph) held a screening and Q&A session for his latest Disney animated film - Zootopia - which opens in the U.S. Friday. So hey - free sneak preview! Now, I thought Wreck-It Ralph was excellent, so I was hoping for good things from Zootopia. As the first trailers trickled out for it, the film looked like it would be funny and well-animated, making for a nice, cartoony return to the "talking
Nathan Strum

Nathan Strum

4

It's like eating potato chips

When you start getting homebrew games, you just can't stop at one.   So that's what sparked the idea behind my new avatar. My 2600 just can't get enough new games - it seems to be sitting there saying, "Feed me! Feed me!" As soon as I finish playing one game, it wants another one right away. (Of course, if you've gone without food for almost 20 years, you'd probably be a little grumpy, too.)   Besides all of the homebrews it's recently been fed, it's now able to absolutely gorge itself, than
Nathan Strum

Nathan Strum

19

True Grit (it's Jeff Bridges month at the movies!)

In this film, an old, fat, bearded Jeff Bridges mumbles his way through a script that at times is largely incoherent.   Oh wait... I think that was supposed to be part of my Tron: Legacy review.   I went out and saw True Grit today. Being a fan of the original (with John Wayne) I half-expected to sit there through the whole film thinking, "That's not how John Wayne spoke that dialogue." And while such comparisons are inevitable, this new True Grit does stand on its own, and manages to carve
Nathan Strum

Nathan Strum

2

172.42 GB

The digitizing is complete! Stella at 20 is now in the computer, backed up to a second external drive, and backed up to DVCAM tapes.   172.42 GB is how much space the source footage takes up. That translates into roughly 14 hours.   Wanna see it?     What - you thought I meant the actual video? Sorry. I don't have that kind of web space.   Also in that list you'll see Stella at 20 volumes 1 and 2, which I digitized as an editing guide.   After having watched all the footage, I can
Nathan Strum

Nathan Strum

9

Homebreviews - part 22

Twelve games. Twelve reviews. Two cartridges. It may take me awhile to recover from this one. Stella's Stocking 5/5 Stella's Stocking is a collection of five holiday-themed mini-games, originally sold during the AtariAge 2007 Holiday Sale. The menu for selecting the games squeezes amazing music out of the 2600, along with colorful graphics and titles that slickly scroll into place. Be sure to listen to the extra songs at the fireplace screen, too. This is one of the nicest presentations you'll
Nathan Strum

Nathan Strum

6

A Brief History of the History of Computer History

As I mentioned in a previous post, I recently rented Steve Jobs: The Lost Interview from iTunes. Here's the trailer:   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmguwF7ruoM   I'll admit to having a fascination with the history of computers, for a couple of reasons. First of all, my dad worked as a computer programmer, so even from the earliest days I was at least peripherally aware of things like punch cards and ASCII printouts on continuous feed paper (someone at his work would print out Peanuts calen
Nathan Strum

Nathan Strum

0

Not exactly insomnia

So, it's 5:00 AM, and I'm wide awake. This is a side-effect of this time of year at my job.   As with last year and the year before, and for that matter, the previous sixteen or so years, I've been burning the midnight oil at both ends (how's that for a mixed-metaphor?) getting our end-of-the-year showing of student films put together. The first show was on Saturday afternoon (May 1st), and from Friday through Sunday morning I was awake about 40 hours straight, minus a short cat-nap in my offi
Nathan Strum

Nathan Strum

6

Once more unto the breach

As with last year, and the year before, and the year before, and the year before, and the year before, and the year before, and the year before, and the year before, and even the year before that, (and all of the years before that before I had a blog), it's the end of the school year here at CalArts, and I've been buried in work, putting our student animation shows together. This is number 22 for me, if I'm doing the math right. No guarantees there, by the way. Last weekend... no. Ummm... wait
Nathan Strum

Nathan Strum

5

Real-world Lynx fun - part II

See what I did there with the II? As in Lynx II? No? Well... fine. I never claimed to be a good literaryist. I'm pretty sure that's a word. If I tell my spell-checker to ignore it, it works, and that's good enough for me. Anyway, a few years ago, I had written that I had dusted off my Lynx II and picked up a few new games for it. And while there were a few keepers in the bunch, after a little while the Lynx sat idle again. In the last couple of years though, it's had new life breathed into
Nathan Strum

Nathan Strum

2

Whatever Rally Championship

For each of the past several years, I've posted a blog entry about the WRC (World Rally Championship). But the series has gotten so predictably boring over the last several years, there's little point to it. Someone named Sebastien wins most of the races, then the championship, and everyone else sort of flails along behind.   This entry, more likely than not, will just sit here as a season-long placeholder, in case something interesting happens.   But so far, this year, it's more of the same
Nathan Strum

Nathan Strum

11

Who watches the Watchmen?

Well, on a Friday afternoon matinee, that would have been about eight people.   Some 20+ years ago, I read Watchmen when it first came out as a limited series comic book. It didn't pick up the "graphic novel" moniker until a later reissue. But even during its first run, it was still widely (or wildly) heralded as a masterpiece.   I really don't remember much about it, other than it seemed to take forever for DC to get all twelve issues out, and after the first run-through, I don't think I ev
Nathan Strum

Nathan Strum

15

Time Marches On

And so it's March. Where January and February went - I have no idea.   Anyway, I feel somewhat obligated to post a blog entry, just so I don't get pushed off the front page.   Music seems about as good a topic as any. As I'm working on various art projects, I like to listen to music that ties into what I'm working on. For example, if I'm working on sprites for a sci-fi game like Colony 7 or Juno First, I'll listen to sci-fi movie soundtracks. Tron works especially well for this, since it's
Guest

Guest

5

Homebreviews - part 26

I never reviewed this one, but I meant to...     AtariVox USB Interface 4/5   The AtariVox USB Interface allows you to hook up an AtariVox Speech Synthesizer to your computer via USB cable. This is absolutely essential for developing AtariVox speech and sounds for Atari 2600 homebrews. The interface lets you use programs like Phrase-A-Lator to develop your audio and be able to hear it played directly through the AtariVox. Perhaps even more important - it allows the AtariVox to work with e
Nathan Strum

Nathan Strum

1

Homebrew Art, part 2 - Backfire contest entry

Backfire (2003) Backfire was the second contest I entered (and lost). At the time, since I was still just getting back into drawing, I opted to make the label using 3D software (the long-defunct Infini-D) instead of illustrating it. The different elements were rendered out separately, then combined in Photoshop so I could tweak transparency and position, and add effects. What I was trying to go for was something reminiscent of the Imagic labels - where they kitbashed models and photographed t
Nathan Strum

Nathan Strum

0

Disney embraces the Dark Side

If you've been reading my blog, you'll know I've been following The Clone Wars animated series pretty closely since it started. It's had its hits and misses over five seasons, but in practical fact it's been nothing short of a milestone both in terms of TV animation, and theatrical-level CG work in a TV series.   It's also done something I didn't think possible - made me care about the prequel-era Star Wars universe and characters.   At the end of season 5, Over the course of the series
Nathan Strum

Nathan Strum

2
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