i've worked in a bakery before. the early mornings were absolutely brutal on me, because i could NOT make myself go to sleep at 9pm no matter how hard i tried. some days i would just not sleep at all and then go to work.
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SLC, UT
nickmaynard wrote:
i've worked in a bakery before. the early mornings were absolutely brutal on me, because i could NOT make myself go to sleep at 9pm no matter how hard i tried. some days i would just not sleep at all and then go to work.
Did you drink any caffeine even 6 hours before? That can make it hard. I don't ever drink caffeine past about 5, preferably earlier.
Fink, have you checked into getting some certifications at all? I looked into getting the A+ and it was suprisingly easy. The practice tests at least were easy. The hardest part was that they had questions on there about DOS and stuff! Who the heck uses DOS?
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Minneapolis
DOS? Well, me for one. 
EDIT: I wonder if A+ offers a "legacy systems" cert... I could get that with my knowledge of prodos, GSOS, VMS, MSDOS, CBM/Commodore OSes and CP/M.
Last edited by arfink (Oct 26, 2010 4:09 am)
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SLC, UT
I'd look into it, I'm fairly certain that they now have different fields you can specialize in so I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if they did. If DOSbox counts then I guess I use dos too, but I meant from a technician standpoint. I cannot imagine ANYONE, EVER calls into tech support asking about DOS.
I just love Space Quest that's all.
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Minneapolis
OK, another update! First of all I apologise for the lack of information flowing out of the project. Things seemed to be in limbo there for a while, with unexpected problems coming up. The solution to the cable problem is (I hope) coming to a close. Once I've had a chance to play with the new design some more I'll fill you all in more completely. Many thanks to the beta members who have been very patiently and quietly waiting for their hardware. You guys rock! Also many thanks to Blargg who has kinda taken the entirety of the project in hand for a while so he could focus his lazer-like intensity onto some of the more pressing problems.
Last edited by arfink (Oct 30, 2010 7:53 pm)
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WOW MAN!
arfink wrote:
Blargg who has kinda taken the entirety of the project in hand for a while so he could focus his lazer-like intensity onto some of the more pressing problems.
Heh, that's a good description.
I learned so much from my brief time spent working on the litewall project with him.
Good to hear you're still making progress.
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Minneapolis
Alrighty, progress update: the new cable design works! Huzzah! Doing a burn in test at the moment to try and make it fail, and if all goes as planned then we should be one step closer to beta release. I'll need to double check with Blargg what other milestones we should hit before releasing the beta version, but I am thinking it won't be too much longer. Hopefully. 
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Minneapolis
You know the huzzah is the bomb. Better than nobama and Trent Reznor put together.
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SLC, UT
Two awesome uses of Huzzah come to mind immediately
1: Balrog in Cave Story.
2: Mermaid Man in Spongebob.
Call me childish for watching spongebob, but that show is hilarious.
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Since the cable design seems to be finished now, would it be possible for you to post about it, showing how others could design it, or at least what all is needed to make one?
Btw, I think the work you are doing is great, and wish to say Thank You.
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Minneapolis
Well, believe it or not, the cable design IS already online! This is rough, but here's some cable info: http://blargg.parodius.com/nes-code/serial/cable.html
Keep in mind a few things about this information: it's just how to build the cable, and has no code examples for the NES. Not yet anyway. Also, the Famicom connector schematic and NES expansion port schematic are totally untested at this point, and are speculative. I am hoping that this weekend I can test the Famicom version of the cable design. Keep in mind, the big thing is the RS-232 to TTL conversion so you don't blow up your NES. Anyways, the info on that page is intended for people who more or less know what they're doing with this stuff, so if it's too hard to figure out from that then you'll have to wait for the tutorial. Keep in mind, the cable isn't going to be useful without the software either, but you can at least order some parts if you must.
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Missouri
Awesome! Looking forward to this so hard. Right now I'm emulating my stuff with my PS3 >.< but I'd love to just break out my NES and do it this way.
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Minneapolis
Yeah, I'm pumped to, especially when I see the prototypes, and now the betas coming together so nicely. I got a test cable all hacked up for the Famicom and nearly ready to test. I overcame the stupidly-shaped famicom expansion port by taking a normal DB-15 connector with a molded-on housing and clamping it in a vice, then cutting away the unneeded parts with a brand new straight razor blade and a hammer. Worked like a charm. Once the Famicom support is tested and integrated into the unified bootloader then I can ship the beta out! Huzzah!
OH, one other thing about the Famicom cables and hacking them up with razor blades and such- I will not need to do this when I finally hit production for the final versions, this was just a quick and dirty way of getting something to test the code with until I can order proper cables for production.
Last edited by arfink (Nov 6, 2010 8:00 pm)