Vegard Skjefstad

2 hours ago / 0 Comments

The New Atari VCS – Is It Really Happening!?

Can the long awaited Atari VCS take Atari back to its heydays, or will it be the company’s doom?

I was absolutely sure I’d posted about the new Atari VCS in the past. Since I couldn’t find the post, I though that perhaps I’d shared an article about it on my Twitter feed. But I couldn’t find it on Twitter either! Then I realized I’d shared an article on Facebook, and that post was deleted with my Facebook account. So let me tell you about the Atari VCS right here, right now!

If you’re a nerd of the late 70’s and early 80’s, there’s a good chance you remember the Atari 2600. The 8-bit home video game console was the first commercially successful unit with microprocessor-based hardware, and games stored on ROM cartridges. Atari, Inc. sold over 30 million units during the console’s 14 year lifespan.

Quite a lot has happened to Atari, Inc. since the Atari 2600 was released¹. The company was split up into a software and a hardware company, which were then sold, sold again, and sold some more, before going bust, then being re-born with another Atari-name.

Today’s Atari is a mere shadow of its former self. But perhaps the planned re-issue of the Atari 2600 can take the company back to its heydays?

June 10, 2019 / 0 Comments

Kickstarter: Even More Long Overdue!

Let me tell you the story of two Kickstarter campaigns that are taking their sweet time to deliver on their promises.

Since we last spoke, I’ve been throwing a little more money at Kickstarter campaigns. Despite the fact that the projects I’m pledging to fail left and right, I just don’t learn, do I? My most recent backing was €10 to Superego, a pixel art adventure game calling itself “la primera aventura gráfica documental”.

Yes, that’s Spanish, a language in which my proficiency is limited to ordering a beer. All together now: “un særvesa, pårr favår”! According to Yandex, “la primera aventura gráfica documental” translates into “the first documentary graphic adventure”. As it turns out, Superego is a game based on the life of its creator, Héctor Bometón. And based on the header image of the campaign, he lives a very interesting life. So interesting, in fact, I used the image in this post to grab people’s attention. Sorry about that Héctor.

But this post isn’t about a Kickstarter campaign that may result in me playing a Spanish documentary graphic adventure. This post is about some of the Kickstarter campaigns I’ve pledged to that are long overdue on delivering on their promises.

June 8, 2019 / 0 Comments

Yandex Translate Firefox Extension

I made a Yandex Translate Firefox extension¹ that lets you translate between any two language from the Firefox address bar. Awesome!

When I write for this site, I use many different tools². To spice up the language a little, I use Thesaurus.com. Dictionary.com is a life saver when I want to look up definitions of words. And Yandex Translate is handy because English is my second language, and I often find myself in need of a little translation from Norwegian.

Both Thesaurus.com and Dictionary.com are easily available through Firefox search engine integrations. I simply open a new tab, hit either t for thesaurus or d for dictionary, enter the word I’m looking for, and the respective site in queried. It’s all very convenient. For a while I’ve been looking for a similar solution for Yandex Translate, but I’ve found none. The Firefox extensions that exist for Yandex Translate are either massive feature creeps, or very limited.

I needed a simple extension that made it possible to translate between any of the languages supported by Yandex Translate. And what’s the programmer’s approach when we have a problem that isn’t already solved by someone else? We solve it ourselves, of course!

June 8, 2019 / 0 Comments

You Don’t Own The Things You Buy

So you thought the digital music, movies, books, and games you buy are yours to enjoy forever? That’s only natural to think, but you couldn’t be more wrong.

It might not come as a huge surprise that you don’t own the music you listen to on Spotify, or the series and movies you watch on Netflix. These services are, after all, subscription based. If you cancel your subscription, you lose access to the service, and by natural extension, everything the service provided.

In many cases, you’ll find the same entertainment elsewhere. There’s a myriad of music and video streaming services online, and many of the them have much of the same content in their selection. There are, of course, a lot of exclusives, but in the case of movies and series, you often only watch them once anyway.

So what about the digital books and computer games you actually purchase? You own them like you would a physical copy, right?

No, that’s not the case.

June 1, 2019 / 0 Comments

June One-liners

A brand new month must be celebrated with some brand new funny one-liners. These are mostly lifted from the virtually bottomless pit of well-known Unix fortunes. Enjoy!

“A black cat crossing your path signifies that the animal is going somewhere.” — Groucho Marx
“Don’t take life so serious, son, it ain’t nohow permanent.” — Walt Kelly
“Don’t worry about the world coming to an end today. It’s already tomorrow in Australia.” — Charles Schulz
“Early to rise, early to bed, makes a man healthy, wealthy and dead.” — Terry Pratchett
“Here’s something to think about: How come you never see a headline like `Psychic Wins Lottery’?” — Jay Leno
“I base my fashion taste on what doesn’t itch.” — Gilda Radner
“I don’t deserve this award, but I have arthritis and I don’t deserve that either.” — Jack Benny
“Things will get better despite our efforts to improve them.” — Will Rogers
Every journalist has a novel in him, which is an excellent place for it.
“The advertisement is the most truthful part of a newspaper.” — Thomas Jefferson
The world really isn’t any worse. It’s just that the news coverage is so much better.
Don’t stop to stomp ants when the elephants are stampeding.
“Dying is one of the few things that can be done as easily lying down.” — Woody Allen
He is truly wise who gains wisdom from another’s mishap.
“He who knows that enough is enough will always have enough.” — Lao Tsu
“He who knows others is wise. He who knows himself is enlightened.” — Lao Tsu
If you find a solution and become attached to it, the solution may become your next problem.

www.vegard.net

The New Atari VCS – Is It Really Happening!?

Kickstarter: Even More Long Overdue!

Yandex Translate Firefox Extension

You Don’t Own The Things You Buy

June One-liners

Random quote

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