JohnA lifeBlog

Here is my current C-One Setup

Right now I am trying to figure out how to write emulator disk images to real disks that I can use on the C-One. This is not easy.

Anyway, once I get it all up and working, I’ll post more pics and even some videos.

EDIT: For those who asked about the above image, the main C-One board is mounted in the ATX case in the background behind the monitor. The laptop is an ancient Thinkpad running Windows 2000 that is hooked up to the first 1581 drive via an XM1541 cable. The other 1581 is hooked up to the C-One. There is a big stack of DS/DD 3.5″ floppy discs on the left hand side in front of the monitor. The monitor is the first Samsung LCD I ever purchased back in 2000(!). The “I Voted” sticker was placed November 4, 2008. I voted for Barack Obama. You probably read about it. The two center optical discs are a bunch of old Commodore disc images I burned and was trying(?) to install.

Although most people have more intricate dreams, I have accomplished one that I have had since I was a punk-ass kid back in the early 90’s.

As of tonight, I now own at least one unit of every single 8-bit or 16-bit computer the defunct Commodore Computer Company has ever produced. This includes the following CBM models: Commodore PET, Commodore VIC-20, Commodore 64, Commodore 128, Commodore 128-D.

But that’s not all. I also have a Commodore Amiga 1000, Amiga 500, Amiga 2000, Amiga 2000HD, Amiga 200HD Video Toaster, Amiga 1200, and Amiga 3000.

Let’s not forget the Commodore CD-32 Console, which completely sucks.

Finally, the Amiga 4000 sits alone without any display, printer, or other hardware to interface with it. If you can help, let me know.

And I know what Penn & Teller have said, but the truth is that my past defines me. If they are better than me in that way, go them. But I still appreciate my old dialup BBS chances.

So, as most of you know, I spend INSANE amounts of money building my perfect home theater. At this point, I’d say I’m at the $18,000 mark without including my media library.

Obviously, I get asked lots of questions. About equipment, about technology, etc. So I think the only fair thing is to open up the questioning. I’ll write a later blog about my equipment, but for now, the question that EVERYONE seems to ask is…

What is the ultimate demo scene to show off a home theater?

The answer is bittersweet for me, actually. Back in my LaserDisc heyday, I would have said the opening scene from Terminator 2: Judgement Day. But sadly, those days are gone.

Today, if you have a Blu-Ray player, then the best scene, hands-down, is the title sequence of Casino Royale. It is PERFECT. I mean, flawless in every way. When my older brother was here to visit (he’s a video professional who has mastered numerous DVDs), we watched this scene. His comment was that it was impossible to get that quality out of the bitrate allowed by Blu-Ray.

I am trying to find a way to upload it to the internets™, but even at 1080p, the internets won’t do it justice.

So, I joined eHarmony because my therapist seems to think it is the greatest thing since running water. At her advice, I answered all of my questions truthfully. And when they said to upload your picture, I dutifully followed their advice, and uploaded these pictures:

My First Pic

JohnA Pic #2

Can’t we be adults? Why isn’t there an option that says “You’re fugly.” Or perhaps “I’m so out of your league it isn’t funny”

So, if you choose to respond to this entry, please feel free to set your category to “Other”… everyone else does.

Hola!

I updated my Delicious Library. Feel free to check it out, and if’n you’re local, ask to borrow something!

New Study Finds Low Interest In Blu-ray

To be honest, I’m not surprised. I have an insanely large next-gen disc collection, and the pain and hassle of trying to watch a DRM encumbered disc is not worth the extra lines exhibited.

As you can see from my Delicious Library, I continue to buy large numbers of next-gen media. But the truth is that if I hadn’t bought and installed AnyDVD HD on my main home theater PC, it would be a complete puzzle of technologies and rights restrictions before I had even a single hope of playing a movie on my big screen.

Bottom line is that before Joe Sixpack will embrace Blu-Ray, it has to become transparent. No region coding. No mandatory online digital restriction management. Mr. Sixpack wants to put a disc in the drive, and watch a movie in 15 seconds.

Oh, wait. Blu-Ray has every single one of those restrictions. It takes at least 90 seconds for a factory fresh Blu-Ray disc to play. There is no way Blu-Ray can compete with upconverted DVD when they take over 90 seconds to display a single trailer you cannot skip.

Even with AnyDVD HD, it takes at least a minute for me to watch a movie. Will the studios ever learn?

Hello blogosphere friends. I’m in the market for a non-3G iPhone 8GB. Since I live in the sticks, we do not have AT&T 3G coverage, which would kind of make the whole 3G data plan not that useful.

If you have one you want to sell, please let me know!

iPod writing is a go!

Yes, this post was sent from my iPod. Which means that I can now write drivel from anywhere I have WiFi!

So, I upgraded Wordpress to the latest version so that I could post remotely from my iPod. Naturally, the crack open-source developers demonstrated their epic fail at QA, and I lost all of my categories. I’ve tried to restore most of them, but I lost a bunch of the smaller ones.

Anyway, this is a familiar reminder of why open source software will never replace properly QA’ed commercial software. And it means that I get to spend hours fixing bugs from my “free” software.

So, as I write this, I am watching The Hunt for Red October [Blu-ray]. Nothing too crazy about that, except that this was the first movie I ever purchased on LaserDisc. See, even when I was 11 years old, I was a videophile. I actually purchased this for the full retail of $34.95 at American Fare. And I watched it over and over and over. Until I could quote every single line. And amazingly, I still can.

Watching the film in Blu-Ray is a lot like watching it on LaserDisc the first time. The only thing that is disappointing is that while they remastered the video, they didn’t do much to the audio… so far, my subwoofer hasn’t fired once. Compared to the LaserDisc version, it is disappointing. But to the producer’s credit, the main soundtrack is MUCH more defined among the 7.1 speakers than the LaserDisc’s lonely 2 channel digital track.

So, while not the best Blu-Ray disc ever, it does a great job competing with my childhood memories.