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changed username to Daniel B rich-c: greetings, Daniel Daniel B: Hi Rich! I know, I'm late! rich-c: ca va bien? Daniel B: oui, ca va! rich-c: tu es assez tot, je pense Daniel B: J'ai manqué le rendez-vous de mercredi soir. Daniel B: J'étais parti et après j'ai parlé avec James sur Yahoo Messenger. rich-c: oui, il y avait quelque autre besions, je me souviens Daniel B: What's new? I hope Dr.D will be fine soon. rich-c: maybe he will turn up and tell us - I have not heard anything much since Wednesday rich-c: he was hobbling around without his crutch - I am not sure that was wise rich-c: he was also a bit put out - George came on and was being childish rich-c: you still there? Daniel B: I suppose no one talked about the scrolling demo or the "panic at work" picture. rich-c: no, we got preoccupied with other things as it happened rich-c: don't even rmember what, precisely, though ron was on and that distracted us Daniel B: I can't tell you why but I knew it, I knew that last saturday no one will talk about my e-mails. Daniel B: Well, I did my best to add Coleco things in your week. rich-c: yes, and do not think it is not appreciated- those who understand it are very impressed wtih your work rich-c: I am sure if I knew anything about programming I would find it impressive too Daniel B: making scrolling things with the colecovision or the coleco adam is difficult. most of the time, it looks "choppy" like saying some critics. rich-c: right - it can be done and side scrolling is used in a number of games rich-c: but it is used sparingly as it is hard, I guess rich-c: I can not think of any that scroll vertically rich-c: I would guess that is an artifact of slow cpu speed, limited TI9918 video chip, and small memory Daniel B: the VRAM calls cost time Daniel B: using a buffer in RAM help but we don't have enough ram for all the screen rich-c: right - the Adam I believe has a 16-bit video ram rich-c: but on the Colecovision a portion of that would be needed for processing, wouldn't it? rich-c: I'd imagine the cpu would need some place to stack things even if the program itself is in the ROM chip Daniel B: The best solution is to use pre-calculated data in ROM to free some RAM spaces and use it in the appropriate way in VRAM to optimize the effect and minimize the "time cost". rich-c: right - do you know if this was ever done on any of the original Coleco game carts? Daniel B: No, but I like the effect in BC Quest for Tire and in "unreleased?" Moon Patrol. rich-c: been so long since I look at Quest I really don'r remember it, and I never saw Moon Patrol Daniel B: I said "unreleased?" because only one commercial copy and a prototype exist rich-c: yes, that would sort of account for my not seeing it ;-) rich-c: though teh way things float around the Adam community, lots of "secrets" have been exposed Daniel B: Which "secrets"? rich-c: all sorts of little things - for instance, there are icons on the Adamcalc screen for devices Coleco planned but never produced rich-c: a lot of the "supergames" slipped out in unfinished form though unreleased publicly rich-c: Phil Kozowski who worked at Coleco has a prototype printer interface (dot matrix) rich-c: and of course Dr. D. has a long list of "Easter eggs" from the games rich-c: (there's also a well-known Easster Egg in Adamcalc Daniel B: well-know... for those who use this software. :) rich-c: actually, the finder publicized it fairly widely, so even non-users know it's there Daniel B: I didn't know it's there. tell me more :) rich-c: essentially, when you boot the entry screen, it asks do you want help Daniel B: (hehe I'm making you talk too much... with you hands. hehe) rich-c: if a that point you push the arrow keys in a certain sequence, type "furnazi" and hit enter rich-c: you get a new screen giving the names of the programmers and little personal icons Daniel B: who are the programmers? rich-c: oh, I am very used to talking with my hands - I am on a bulletin board every night rich-c: you should see my postings, getting close to 2000 already Daniel B: I have a "long road to do" before having 2000 posted messages like you did. rich-c: well, in the discussion section, any topic is legitimate, so we talk a lot rich-c: in the subject specific areas opinions can get hot and heavy, leading to much backchat rich-c: and of course there's a certain amount of teasing goes on, too Daniel B: May... soon it will be summer time... many things to do. rich-c: I wish it felt more like May - it is 21 here this afternoon but cloudy with a chill wind rich-c: they are talking -1 as the low on Monday Daniel B: our last "spot" of snow finally disappear. rich-c: oddly enough our trees seem to be leafing out early, surprising when it has been so cold rich-c: yes, you are further north and further from teh lakes so your winter lasts longer rich-c: we are starting to get our songbirds back now Daniel B: 16h... it's almost time to figure out what to eat for supper. rich-c: time to go, is it? reminds me I have to get up the wine rich-c: you be able to make it Wednesday? Daniel B: I hope so rich-c: good, we'll hope to see you then Daniel B: Rem: if you learn latine language, you may know that in DINNER you have the word DAY. Why english peoples use dinner for the night? rich-c: sorry Daniel - it's been over half a century since I used Latin rich-c: dies I know but the word for dinner I forget Daniel B: Here, we said "dînner" (dee-nay) for the lunch time at noon Daniel B: when the sun is very high in the sky rich-c: that's Quebecois, isn't it,? replacing the French "dejeuner" with Franglais? Daniel B: It's true that some people in Europe are talking in english too. rich-c: also the circumflex over the "i" gets to me - it usually indicates a dropped "s" Daniel B: yes Daniel B: like HOSPITAL for me it's "HÔPITAL" rich-c: well, English seems to be a very common second language over there though it varies by regioin Daniel B: and dejeuner means "restart eating" Daniel B: and this is why i said "dejeuner" for breakfast rich-c: on the other hand, in Quebec teh sign says "arret", in France it says "stop" :-) rich-c: the latin derivation there is not clear to me Daniel B: "de" (opposite) "jeuner" (not eating) Daniel B: and during night we stop eating :p rich-c: "jeuner" = fasting; but that's French, not Latin, surely? rich-c: yes, in English one "breaks one's fast" with - surprise! - breakfast :-) Daniel B: well, you are probably right for this one :) Daniel B: I can't denied this rich-c: I have forgotten all my Latin, just most of it rich-c: just as re French I am sesquilingual (that's one and a half languages) Daniel B: your french is very good. it's not a lie. rich-c: I can generally read it (you'll notice I get your meaning almost every time) but my writing vocabulary is too slow to be useful rich-c: with a cheat sheet I can do just fine because I know what I'm doing, but it's too slow for conversation rich-c: but I have been known to use the French instructions on something if the English was unclear Daniel B: and if you talk to me in person, I will probably talk in "franglais" with you. :) rich-c: yes, although Ron and james are better at that, both having had lots of time in Ottaw3a Daniel B: yes, James told me about that. he said I must go there to listen people talking in "franglais" regulary. =P rich-c: also I have not travelled into Quebec recently rich-c: have you not travelled to Ottawa, Daniel? most Quebecois seem to be great at roaming Daniel B: not recently... Last time I travelled in Ontario, I was 8-10 years old (I think). rich-c: well of course you are young yet, but even so the young travel far moe now than in my day rich-c: I was about 25 before I got into any serious travelling Daniel B: yes, I'm still young for a man. rich-c: oh, there are women around who are young too ;-) Daniel B: I knoe Daniel B: I know :) rich-c: I have never been out of North America but have been through all the provinces except Newfoundland and 44 US states rich-c: we can't go to Newfoundland because we would have to take the ferry, and Frances takes showers because she'd get seasick in the bath ;-) Daniel B: well, I can't say I visit the states. I stay only 2 days for the PhillyClassic last year... that's all. rich-c: well, at least you made it to Philadelphia. Did you drive or fly? Daniel B: seasick in the bath? le mal de mer dans son bain? =P hehe rich-c: :-) Daniel B: Well, I didn't have a driver liscence. I've been there with friend in a car. rich-c: let's just say she does not take to sailing very well rich-c: right - I do hope getting a licence is on your agenda soon, though Daniel B: like I said... summer time, many things to do :) rich-c: good, glad to hear you have it planned in any case - and summer is closer than it looks rich-c: all of our travels are by car, for all practical purposes Daniel B: I know, there is no more snow outside now here. :) rich-c: we have taken flights to Seattle, San Francisco, and Halifax but that's all I can recall Daniel B: I never take plane rich-c: right, and we can't move around teh city for teh construction Daniel B: I never take train Daniel B: I take boat, car and bus rich-c: I believe I was Air Canada's first family fare passenger (it was Trans-Canada Air Lines then) Daniel B: Air Canada is in problem now. rich-c: yes, it is in considerable difficulty rich-c: seems to have too many executives who don't know how to run an airline Daniel B: they give too much peanuts and now they have no money to continue giving peanuts =P rich-c: but then that's hardly new - where's PanAm or Easstern these days? rich-c: airlines seem to attract managers who don't know what they're doing rich-c: and politicians who want to mess around on the basis of vast funds of ignorance rich-c: sort of like nuclear plants Daniel B: Eaststern, Weststern, Pan American ? I know all these named because of a song by "beau domage" (or "beau dommage"?) Daniel B: err.. I mean, I already know these name, because they are mentionned in a song. rich-c: PanAmerican was one of the world's great airlines, the American pioneer in trans-Atlantic service and South America rich-c: their boeing "Clipper" flying boats crossed teh Atlantic and Pacific Daniel B: ok, I remember now : it was the song "LINBERG" in "STAR MANIA". the singer was Charlesbois and... I can't remeber her name. rich-c: at the outbreak of WW2 (for the US) one of teh Clippers got strafed by Japanese fighters while re-fuelling at Wake Island rich-c: I know nothing about popular music, English or French, though I gather the Quebecois scene is very good rich-c: when I have the radio on I listen to the classical music station Daniel B: Well, it's almost time to quit... 17h soon :) Daniel B: see you wednesday (I hope so) Daniel B: and I like classical music Daniel B: bye! rich-c: eh bien, au revoir - a mercredi
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