jaybird3rd

My condolences.  Coincidentally, we had to put down one of our longtime family dogs this morning, too.  17 years old. 

I counted something like twelve separate reports.  We had to bring out the super-sized mop for that one!

^ Should I use Media Mail, or should I use Media Mail?

(Apparently the "Reply" button is hard to find, too, considering how often that happens.)

(I would also agree about the problems people have maintaining concentration and focus.  Social media in particular has been ruinous.)

^ I can second that recommendation!  I can also recommend "Digital Minimalism" (both the book and the practice) by the same author, Cal Newport.  I have both books, and they're very interesting.

I spent *many* hours as a young kid hunting down typos, often with my longsuffering mother (who knew nothing about programming) looking on to help.  Annoying, but it develops focus, and patience, and attention to detail, all of which were essential to my later career with computers.

Admittedly I'm biased, but I think 80's kids were the best kids.

I love it, too!  The Z80 is a great microprocessor, especially for educational applications: assembly language programming, computer architecture, electronics, etc.  Without all the complexity of modern computers, classic computers can still be wonderful learning tools.

That's interesting, I can't say I've noticed a difference between the volume in the two versions.  I'm curious to give it a try now.

I've seen fairly new TVs thrown in the garbage even though they only needed minor repairs.  One had a bad power supply board; a little work and less than $50 in replacement parts brought it back to life.

^ I still enjoy all six of the original Trek movies.  (And yes, I can even find a lot to like about the accursed "Star Trek V.")

The Director's Edition solves many of the pacing problems, but it's certainly a more drawn-out movie than most people are used to.  "The Andromeda Strain" (also directed by Robert Wise) gets many of the same criticisms, but I still enjoy them both.

The life of a cat owner, in microcosm.

When it comes to basic usability, I increasingly find most of the biggest websites—Facebook, Pinterest, etc.—to be completely incomprehensible.

I recommend checking the Marketplace.  You can create a post in the "Wanted" section with a list of what you're looking for: https://atariage.com/forums/forum/197-marketplace/

I'd say some of them also have defective memory, are permanently underclocked, and are overdue for a reboot.

I'd like to have a HAL 9000 simulator for the Atari.  I just don't want it to kill me.

^ I'll get a PVM if I can pick it up cheaply enough, but you're right, a good CRT TV is just fine.  It's still possible to find them cheap (or free) in my local area, but I know there are fewer all the time, which is why I have a hard time turning them down.

I've been hoarding CRT displays lately.  I have a 27" TV, too, but most of my PVMs are a lot smaller.  I tend to use the JVC TM-A13SU, a 13" PVM, as a display for my retro systems.  There are bigger ones out there, but they work well for me (and are much easier to move!), and I've managed to find a few for under $50 shipped.

I went to fill the tank as usual on Tuesday morning without having checked the news, so I was puzzled at first why the lines were so long.  Fortunately, I found a station that hadn't already run dry and filled the tank for $2.79 a gallon, which is a bit expensive for my area but not too bad.

I believe that it is.  I used to have a hole-in-one strategy for every screen in Miniature Golf.

^^ We've had many discussions here over the years about the crash; it was such a huge change that it's almost akin to the dividing line between BC and AD in video game history.  I'm sure you'll find lots of threads which can tell you a lot more.

The video game crash is a huge topic in itself.  The crash I'm referring to was a crash in the consumer market, although arcades had their ups and downs, too.  Opinions differ, but I think most would trace its beginnings to about 1982, with the fallout unfolding over the next three years or so.  There were several causes: too much product for the nascent video game market to support, too little quality control, etc.  Whatever the reason, those were the brutal years when the major American game console companies—Atari, Mattel, Coleco, and Magnavox—exited the business, disappeared, or were sold off, clearing the way for Nintendo and for the massive cultural shift which followed.

^ I followed a similar path.  I was introduced to video games and computers early in life with the Atari 2600 and TI 99/4A, respectively, with the Atari 800 and Odyssey² following soon after.  I got into the Intellivision much later, but there hasn't been a day in my life since ~1981 that I haven't had some sort of Atari machine.  The Atari 800 and a succession of PC-compatibles became my main focus in the mid-80s, but I still played 2600 games throughout.  The NES didn't have the same appeal for me as for my younger siblings; I was already playing more interesting games on the 800.