Category: Computers/Tech/Games

SLLEA RCA Video Adapter – You Get What You Pay For

The old saying “you get what you pay for” is usually true. Recently I had a brilliant idea. Instead of hooking up my old computers and video game consoles to a large television, wouldn’t it be nice if I could hook them up to a small flat screen monitor? I have a couple of 4:3 ratio flat screen monitors out in the garage that could work for just such a project. The only hurdle is that those monitors only have VGA inputs, and my old computers and video game consoles all have RCA (composite) outputs. If only someone made a… (read more)

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Give it Away, Give it Away, Now

If I were to tell you I purchased the computer currently sitting on my dining room table fifteen years ago, you might wonder what I was doing with such an ancient piece of technology. The truth is, when I purchased the computer back in 2003, it was already 20 years old! The machine is an Apple IIc, the fourth machine in Apple’s line of “II” computers — there was the original, followed by the II+, the IIe, and finally the IIc. Despite weighing almost eight pounds, the “c” in the computer’s name stood for “compact,” and, relatively speaking compared to… (read more)

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Here We Go Again: The All New Atari VCS

What’s old is new again. This time it’s the Atari VCS, a new game console aimed directly at the nostalgic hearts of those of us who grew up in the late 70s and early 80s playing the Atari 2600. If you’re wondering what the Atari VCS is, what it does, how it compares to the Atari Flashback, and whether or not it’s worth buying, read on. Those who were there (and any retrogamer worth their weight in buried E.T. cartridges) knows that Atari’s original console released back in 1977 was also known as the Atari VCS. It wasn’t until the… (read more)

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A Donkey’s Fall From Grace: The Billy Mitchell Controversy

Rob O'Hara at the Kong Off 3

In 2013, I traveled to Denver, Colorado to attend the Kong Off 3, an officially sanctioned national Donkey Kong tournament. That weekend I got to see some of the world’s greatest Donkey Kong players play live in person, people like Hank Chien, Steve Wiebe, and Robbie Lakeman. Of everyone there, the person I was most excited to see play was Billy Mitchell. At least in video game circles, Billy Mitchell became a household name after the release of the 2007 documentary The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters. The film follows two gamers, Billy Mitchell and Steve Wiebe, on… (read more)

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Speaking to the Association of Information Technology Professionals

Last night I had the honor of speaking to the Association of Information Technology Professionals (AITP) at the University of Central Oklahoma about my experience as a computer specialist for the Federal Aviation Administration. Approximately 100 students showed up last night to listen to me ramble about my life as a federal employee. I had originally planned to focus my presentation about experiences working with security, but a couple of weeks ago I learned that last month’s guest was a security pen tester, so I decided to expand the scope of my presentation a bit and cover my entire career… (read more)

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An Old Drive Bites the Bits

In December 2002 I splurged and bought my first DVD burner: a Sony DRX-500UL. I paid $430 for the external unit, which burned DVDs at a whopping 2X (30 minutes per disc). At the time, a war of formats was brewing between DVD-R (DVD “minus” R) and DVD+R (DVD “plus” R). The Sony was one of the first I found that could burn discs in either format, so even though it was a bit more expensive than some other drives on the market, I was covered no matter which format ultimately prevailed. On March 20, 2003, I made the mistake… (read more)

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iPad 3: The Light is Fading…

My wife once told me we shouldn’t have a television in our bedroom because Oprah said so. That’s not the real reason. The real reason is because Susan can’t sleep with the television on, and it doesn’t bother me at all. If it were up to me, I’d start a movie every night before bed and fall asleep during the murky middle. If it was a good movie, I’d watch the end the next night. If it wasn’t, I’d start another one. But Oprah didn’t say anything about iPads, so I put one on my nightstand. Except for road trips,… (read more)

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Enabling the Aux HDMI Ports on an LG Hotel Television

I’m away from home this week, working in Texas and staying at a large hotel chain. I’ve been messing around with my Raspberry Pi a bunch lately, so I decided to bring one with me, assuming that the television in my room would have one or two unused HDMI ports that I could connect to. It did — it’s a 40″ LG television, with two HDMI ports available on the side. When you press the “Aux” button on the remote… …this is the menu that pops up. And when you select the second HDMI port, this is what you get:… (read more)

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Free NES/SNES Controllers (Review)

In early June I ran across an ad on Facebook for free USB NES controllers. The offer was posted by Epictronics, who said all one had to do to qualify for the offer was “Like” their company on either Facebook or Instagram and cover shipping costs. Not a bad advertising gimmick in my book. I don’t need another USB game pad, but they’re handy to have around, especially when setting up and playing with Raspberry Pis. Besides, Epictronics had me at “free.” Two minutes after seeing the ad I had already Liked their Facebook page and was busy filling out… (read more)

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Old Skool NES Raspberry Pi Case

Last year, Nintendo released the NES Classic Edition. It was a game console that looked like a tiny version of the original Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) from the 80s. It had 30 built-in games and cost $59.95. Nintendo woefully underestimated demand for the console. Stores couldn’t keep them in stock, and when they did hit shelves, scalpers scooped them up and resold them online for huge profits. And then, with thousands of potential customers begging Nintendo to ramp up production, the company confusingly cancelled the product instead. This led lots of techie people to roll their own solutions, the most… (read more)

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