Harmony cartridge for the Atari 2600

Don’t you just love getting home from work to find that postman has stuffed something fun in the mailbox for a change instead of endless amounts of snail mail spam, take out menu’s and bills. This latest package, all the way from Oregon, USA is certainly not spam and is one I’ve been easily awaiting delivery for the past fortnight.

My new Harmony Cartridge for the Atari 2600 VCS by Fred Quimby

In a nutshell, the Harmony cartridge is a flash storage device for the Atari 2600 that let’s you store and load games directly from SD card. The entire Atari 2600 game library can fit on to a single 1GB SD memory card and files are presented in menu system accessible via joystick.

I don’t think anything can compare to owning and collecting the original cartridges (if not only for Atari’s wonderful game box art) but having backups on one cartridge is an extremely useful device to have for any Woody fan.

..but best of all, with this cartridge, it’ll let me play modern home brew games as well as various fan based games and hacks. One such title I’m particularly looking forward to playing is an update of Berzerk that has been changed so that it closely matches the original arcade version and also includes the missing sampled speech…speech, on an Atari 2600!

I’ll be back with pictures and videos as I setup and test drive this little beauty.

In the meantime, to find out more about the Harmony cartridge and to place your own order information, please visit –

http://harmony.atariage.com/

H

Microsoft Windows 8 – Preview running on my Acer 1825ptz.

After downloading Microsofts preview edition of Windows 8 from their developer site, I thought I’d give it a go on my Acer tablet/netbook in the hope that I could test drive the new touchscreen interface.

Not wanting to wipe my current Window 7 harddisk, I’ll be swapped it out for an unused SATA drive i have. Its only 80gb but should be fine for testing. I suppose I could dualboot but this way it’s a lot less messy.

My Acer netbook is without cd/dvdrom drive therefore I’ll be booting the Windows 8 installer from a 4gb USB pen drive.

I think I’d left my regular pen drive at work therefore i had to nip out to get this one. These things are so cheap nowadays it’s a shame they didn’t have any 8gb in store, I would have liked the extra storage space!

There are many ways to create a bootable pen drive including manually or via software apps.

For me, I though it would be fun to do it via command line. You can find a great tutorial here for Windows Vista or Win 7.

Apart from using my favourite Daemon Tools for mounting the .iso file, the above tutorial worked out pretty well.

Last task before installing Windows 8 was to swap over the internal hdd, insert my USB Pendrive and select USB boot options from within my Netbook’s BIOS settings.

At the kitchen table nearest to the coffee pot….and making a mess

Installation was pretty straight forward and at this stage mirrors Windows 7. You can pretty much leave it alone for this bit. At the first reboot, don’t forget to remove the pen drive (or change the boot order back to HDD).

Heres the new setup page. Looks like MS have ditched blue in favour of green.

After an initial setup, you’re presented with the familiar Explorer desktop. Everything looks a little less cluttered and the Start menu has been streamlined and doesn’t contain as much crap as before

At the moment I’m still finding my way around! Where’s my crap

Here’s the new tablet mode which resembles Windows phone interface. It’s early days yet but I’m really liking it and the touch control is
miles better than on Windows 7 with the same netbook.

Here’s a quick video I did whilst messing around with the preinstalled apps.

iOS looks dated!

My tech reward

At the end of Febuary I’d decided once and for all to quit smoking cigarettes. I’d half heartily tried this in the past and only managed a few days before being sucumed to these devilishly addictive little things. I’d hoped that this time was going to be different and went into it with determined passion. Once I’d got over those initial few weeks (tough few weeks) things started to get easier as time progressed to a point where I didn’t even think/crave about them anymore. So here I am, nearly five month later, smoke free and wondering why I even started smoking in the first place. Ask any ex smoker and they’ll tell you that the sense of freedom from cigarettes is such a great feeling.

One of the things that had really helped during this time was to take the equivalent cash value of what I would have spent each day on cigarettes and place this to one side. So….As I would usually smoke a packet of cigarettes a day, I would put the £5.50 to one side.

As you can imagine,in a few days, this little pile of cash started to mount up and up and up! As reward I’ve been treating myself to a few new tech gadgets (my new NAS server being one) and yet this little pile of cash kept growing and growing until it was in the hundreds and it’s here that it hits you how much smoking cigarettes actually costs…not to mention the health risks blah blah blah.

As a bigger reward for making just shy of six months smoke free (and to spend some of this lovely cash) i decided to buy a bit of tech that I’ve been drooling over for some time now.

Yep, got myself an iPad 2

It’s only been a few days but I’m just loving this device, it simply works so well. I thought my iPhone was cool but this is just fantastic. I won’t bore you with the details as the web is full of dedicated sites and reviews but as a companion device for my camera/photography and having so many wonderful apps and my digital content with me at a swipe of a finger….beats smoking any day!

I wrote this post on my iPad thanks to the wonderful WordPress app. I hope I didn’t leave too many typo’s unchecked

My very best wishes and good luck to all those folk out there who have decided to quit smoking.

StiGGy

ZyXEL NSA210 NAS Server

Well, I’ve had my new little NAS box up and running for a few days now and so far so good and couldn’t be more happier with it. There’s so many configurable options and addons to tinker around  with it’s certainly in line with some of the more professional solutions but without the hefty price tag.

Here’s a link to a pretty good review of the ZyXEL NAS Server at PC Pro magazine  -

http://www.pcpro.co.uk/reviews/storage-appliances/355213/zyxel-nsa210

Hat’s off to eBuyer for such a speedy delivery. I ordered mine at 3pm and received it  before noon the following day! Impressive to say that this was on their economy five day service!

Box contents include the NAS unit itself, Mains PSU, Setup CD, Ethernet cable, instruction booklet and and removable stand/cradle.

The NAS unit appears to be well made with a sturdy outer casing, rear cooling fan (which hopefully won’t be too loud) and a finger print loving black gloss front panel.

The plastic feet/cradle thing is a little flimsy but does it’s job to keep the enclosure from falling over. I’ll be having the unit tucked under my desk in a horizontal position therefore I won’t be using the cradle.

Installation of the SATA hard drive was very easy. Simply undo one screw at the bottom front of the unit and remove the front panel and  slide in the HDD (Sata/power side in first) until it clicks into place. Refit the front panel, tighten the screw and hey presto, installation complete.

Fitting my 2TB drive.

Here’s a shot of the rear of the unit showing the USB port (which I’m using to network my USB printer throughout my LAN), eSata port for Raid 1 support, Ethernet port for connection to my Router, Power input and cooling fan – which I’m please to announce is very quiet.

At first, I was getting a little vibration noise whilst the hard drive disk was spinning up, especially having the case  on a wooden desk. However, once I’d affixed a couple of little adhesive foam pads to the bottom of the NAS case, it was almost completely silent.

Here’s the front panel – please note, the blue power light isn’t that bright, it’s just the way my iPhone camera has caught the moment. Also note the ‘copy/sync’ button – once configured via the webgui any USB thumbdrive/external HDD plugged into the front USB port can be auto sync’d to the NAS (or vice versa) at the touch of a button…..very useful for a snapshot back up of my thumb drive.

With the HDD installed & the NAS unit powered on, you use the enclosed CD software to detect and setup the unit (or browse to the default IP address via a web browser).

Device setup.

Once you’ve prepped the HDD and set TCP/IP details (also support DynDNS), browsing to the NAS box gives you access to the entire device, shares, and a multitude of services and features.

Here’s the status screen…I do love my stats!

Setting up my initial shared folders. I can even have these accessible over the Internet.

Here’s some of the wonderful features that’s included -

Time Syn server

Supports DynDNS

Disk tools for copy, migrating disk images.

Static/Dynamic IP address mapping

You can configure an external HTTP admin port (obviously need to port forward on your router)

FTP server

Media Server – can stream content to a range of DNLA certified  devices – I’m currently using standard mapped drives to stream content to my HTPC. I will be experimenting with streaming via VLC soon.

BitTorrent client – very useful for unattended d/loading and has lots of configurable options like up/down limits, priority jobs, number of connected clients and man y more. Also support DHT.

Can act as a web server and publish content from the shares

Can be used to host a WordPress blog

Can auto upload pictures to Flickr

Can auto upload video to YouTube

Can capture footage from a USB/IP based Webam/CCTV camera..hmm, want to try this out with my IP cam.

Unattended upload to an FTP site.

Can auto download from RSS feeds/links. I’m finding this very handy for auto downloading podcasts!

Print Server – turns a standard USB printer into a shared network resource.

Power Management including the ability to set up scheduled power on/off/reboot based on daily, weekly or monthly time slots – by far one of the most useful features and means that my NAS is not always left switched on overnight (unless required).

Very detailed logging options can be configured for all aspects of the NAS and are acccesable via the web gui or can be pushed to email and/or to a Syslog server – As a Techie, this is heaven

Backup or configuration/data

Can act as a iTunes server to stream content.

Firmware upgrades

Supports SSL connections

Very detailed help guide available via the web gui.

Package Manager – With this handy feature, you can connect to a package repository and download/add more functionality to the NAS. This includes pyload, phy/mysql, backup planner, emule client, NFS protocols, web picture gallery and more.

So….as you can see, for simply sharing your files and folders around your network the ZyXEL NAS server is the perfect solution…and for you tech heads that want plenty of options and cool toys to play with, the ZyXEL NAS server is the perfect solution

Please also note, ZyXEL also produce a twin bay NAS box with the same frontend if you’d prefer a RAID solution or increased disk space options.

Not another NAS box!

Stepping away from a DIY Freenas based home NAS build, an Ebuyer offer caught my eye the other day for a single bay NAS/Home server. I’ve placed my order so hopefully it might arrive at the weekend. This should give me plenty of time to consolidate all of my data which, of late, is strewn about over multiple devices and drives. I do love a bit a tech housekeeping!

Freenas has served me well for many years but I think it’s time I stepped away from a resource zapping pc and replaced it with purpose built NAS box.

I’ll be back again with words & pics.

VGA TV Box.

As my collection of older computers and games consoles increases, so does my lack of space on my desk as it’s usually filled with all manner of PC TFT monitors and TV’s. For some of my older stuff, I have 3rd party or homebrew VGA converters but for most unmodified systems like my Commodore or Sinclair collection most are connected to a standard TV via an RF connection.

Ideally, I’d like reclaim my desk and have the one PC TFT monitor. Of course, PC monitors don’t usually contain all of the usual A/V ports that most TV’s offere so it was with great interest that I happen to come across a solution that might help.

VGA TV Box from Gadmei.

With this, I can connect a whole host of computers/consoles to a standard VGA PC monitor (TFT or CRT) & speakers rather than having to have a separate LCD TV on my desk.

Here’s the specs -

• Highest resolution: 1280 X 1024 /75Hz
• Resolution rate up to 800*600, 1024*768 or 1280*1024
• Refresh rate up to 60Hz or 75Hz
• Built-in Speaker
• Stereo FM function
• Works without your PC, no drivers or software needed
• Simply plug in an aerial lead, and connect to your LCD or CRT monitor
• Connect a set of speakers for sound
• Compatible with LCD/CRT monitors, PDP and Projectors
• This TV BOX is a high quality digital colour PCTV, with 24 bits true colour picture
• Unique MMI AV Cable can be connected with DVD/PS2/XBOX/Game CUBE/VCR or any other composite source
• RF input
• PC Line/Speaker jack
• Supports multipicture, exploring
• 4,9 or 16 Thumbnail scanning of TV channels
• Supports watching TV under windows system (PIP) Function
• 3D noise-reduction
• Full subjoin channel receiving and compatible with Cable TV and Wireless TV of a PAL/I system, up to 256 channels
• No installation software needed, compatible with any PC system
• Plug and Play, cot occupying computer resource
• Full function remote control
• OSD display control on the PC model

My first test was with my Sinclair Spectrum +2 (Thanks to Andy of RCM). Here I’ve connected the RF output from the computer to the VGA box which is them connected to my test VGA PC monitor. The other leads are for audio but as I’m using RF, i won’t be using these yet.

Selecting one of the spare channels, I set the unit to auto tune via the OSD. This can actually take some time as it scans through all of the frequencies but once it’s found the correct one it can be saved to the unit. Although the automatic tuning did a pretty good job, I had to make fine adjustments with the manual options.

You can control the OSD either via the buttons on the actual unit itself or via the supplied remote control.

‘Finders Keepers’ loading from tape on the +2. So far the picture is pretty good. There’s a little color bleeding but nothing too distracting.

Swapping over to the Spectrum +3, you can see the color bleed on the left. I swapped over the RF cable and the picture was improved somewhat.

On the Sinclair Spectrum +, the boot text was pretty crisp and readable (ignore the pinkish tint to the screen, the bright sunlight/iphone camera was producing some discoloration).

Things didn’t look to great on the BBC Micro though and no matter how much manual tuning i did, this was about the best i could do and as you can see it’s pretty awful. However, the beeb is usually connected via a BNC connector and it looks like the RF port hasn’t been used in a few years therefore it’s probably a dirty connection rather than a faulty VGA unit/cabling. I’ll need to investigate further!

I tested a couple of Commodore C64 breadbins and C64 model C’s  via RF and all looked pretty good.

Something a bit more modern this time therefore I hooked up my Playstation 2 via composite. This looked much much better than RF (as you’d expect) but the screenshot below doesn’t do it justice – I should have picked a still instead of the opening sequence from Tekken 4

O.k, so is it better than connected directly to a TV…erm no. However, considering that the VGA box was only £29 and about a quarter the price of the cheapest 15″ LCD TV it’s certainly an economical solution and one that will save me a bit of desk space!

iPhone test

After many years of not having my own mobile phone, thought it’s high time I finally joined the masses & brought myself an iPhone. Really enjoying it so far & thought I’d checkout this funky WordPress app for blogging on the go.

Currently typing this from inside the Greenhouse!

My new Netbook – Acer touchscreen 1825ptz

A few days ago I was able to spend some time with my new Acer 1825 PTZ Netbook therefore I though i post a few words and pictures. From the store model I demoed, this is practically the same model as the Packard Bell Butterfly touch netbook.

Under Windows 7 (64-bit edition), it certainly seems to fly quite nicely due to the beefier CPU than most Atom based Netbooks and oodles of Ram to munch into. Despite Win7 not being my  favorite flavor of Windows, I’m actually quite chuffed with it. It’s very light and battery life appears to be just over 8 hours.

Prior to purchasing my Acer, i’d tested quite a few netbooks from 8″ & 10″ and glad that I settled on a slightly larger 11.6″ model which retains the compact design but  web pages are much more readable without having to resize or scroll around too much. Likewise, keyboard footprint is much bigger allowing for easier typing on the larger keys and better speed and accuracy.

 

At the top left of the keyboard is two additional buttons. The first (marked ‘P’) is a programmable button that can be assigned up to three functions or program launchers. Bit of a gimmick but handy as a desktop lock or Firefox launcher. The other button launches an auto backup process (after preselecting drives, files or folders for backup with the the pre-installed Acer backup utility). Again, a bit gimmicky but i’m actually finding it quite useful.

I didn’t really buy my Netbook as a gaming netbook but I have ran Call of Duty and Colin MacCrae Rally 2005 will all options set to the highest and frame rates are well up in the 60′s according to Fraps….and of course, those all important  emulators run perfectly. It’s a shame the cursor keys are a little on the small side though so I’m having to get used to that classic gaming combination of Q,A, O & P again

Call of Duty

The touchscreen is just sublime and so much more responsive than my first tablet notebook. Items can be dragged,  rotated and resized with touch screen gestures with no detectable lag. It’s best trick is the rotating screen allowing me to read documents, eMags & eBooks in portrait mode which is something I’d really missed with my HP TX1000. The vertical viewing angle is more than acceptable but the  horizontal is a bit hit and miss not unlike most netbooks and notebooks outside of the Apple camp.

Flipping the screen around. A small magnet holds it in place and I haven’t had any problems with wobbly screens etc.

With pen for scale. The touchcreen is capacitive as apposed to resistive therefore much more accurate with fingers.

 

Retro Gamer Magazine #30 taken from the Digital eMag edition loaded in Foxit .pdf application.  The screen auto rotates depending which way you are holding the Netbook and despite other reviews I’d read,  I found it rotates in a fraction of a second.

Pages can be ‘turned’, scrolled, zoomed in/out with finger gestures on the touchscreen.

Zoomed in….

….and out

There’s also the usual splatter of input/output sockets including x3 USB, HDMI, Multi Card reader, VGA out, Audio in/out, LAN & Webcam. Speaker output is as expected and not the most powerful however I was surprised by sound quality from Dolby speakers.

Bloatware was also quite light on this model therefore there wasn’t too many useless applications, toolbars and shortcuts to remove.

My only criticism is that the Acer recovery/restore DVD creation utility wouldn’t  run without first attaching a USB DVD drive (the 1825ptz is without optical drive). It would have been nice to have the option to create a backup .iso file (it didn’t work with a virtual drive either via Daemon Tools).

Although there’s not much in the way of touchscreen app for Windows based PC’s the inclusion of the touchscreen pack from Microsoft has a few cool applications, especially the pictures, video and music apps.

MS Surface Lagoon. Glorified screensaver but fun all the same!

 

New netbook tablet has arrived.

After a brief delay due to recent weather conditions my new netbook/tablet has finally been delivered. Unfort, i’ve only had chance to make sure it’s working before being whipped back in to the box until Christmas day morn!

Although a very brief play with it, it’s all looking rather good. Super fast, a touch screen that actually works a great portrait ebook reader.

Just got to wait a few more weeks before i can really take it for a test spin.

 

 

 

 

Tablet Netbook ordered.

After much deliberation, reading various reviews and hitting the stores, I’ve decided that the tablet netbook for me is the Acer Aspire 1825ptz. Can’t wait to unwrap this one come Christmas day morn.

Hoping I can resist the temptation to take a peek