AdamCon.org > chat > Sat 2004-05-01

Chat for Sat 2004-05-01 14:56:37

rich-c: confirm
rich-c: refresh
moved to room Meeting Place
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
Daniel B left chat session
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AdamCon.org > chat > Sat 2004-05-01
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