Productive "Computer Shtuff"

I finally sat down with Altirra, the Atari 8-bit Emulator for Windows & managed to manipulate files & disk images & now have it as a booting system loading up the sequencer software I used years ago on my Atari 8-bit for songs from Pocahontas. 

With the help of SpartaDOS, I finally got a directory listing of all the songs I put on that jukebox disk so you can see what songs I did with it. They all have lyrics synchronized to the music & NOW I CAN FINALLY DO STEREO MIXES! A stereo mix of Colors of the Wind is already in the works (mostly just separating a sound channel or 2 into left & right) because now I can choose which POKEY sound channels to play. So when I finally plop those tracks in Audacity, I can figure it out. I'll be checking more floppies because I want to see how much of my efforts from 30 years ago I can recover. 

HOWEVER, I got Antic Music Processor set up for a special project I wanted to do - though I'll need to refresh my memory on how to use the software! I nearly completely forgot! It has been 22 years since I last did this (Mom losing the house to a 2nd mortgage foreclosure in 2003 really put a cramp on things & I never managed to get it set up again...) so I have some information to find. But I have the sheet music I need already!

Finally getting to do "Computer Stuff" today was productive. I found out my A8 Pi Pico cartridge survived my best efforts to kill it when I soldered it together weeks ago & thanks to videos I found was able to set it up & looks like the onboard flash memory is working.  While it has 16 megabytes for that & the entire Atari 8-bit library could easily fit on there several times over, its main use is as a cartridge emulator. So even any size single load binary file game would run with it. Disk images not so much.

So anywho, I hope I have more data recovered in the coming weeks. I need to read up on configuring SpartaDOS X 4.50.

1st post for 2025

I'm glad I got out yesterday & did stuff while temperatures were above freezing which made it tolerable to do so. Officially placed the Previews order for 4 books & then got Groceries at Walfart so I could use the measely $25 United food card...

Eggs were decimated. This is what you get for not vaccinating chickens for the flu.

 

Also the cheap canned Boyardee pasta was nearly sold out... I watched a Vtuber from Poland try a taste test of Boyardee products & she was not impressed... & in fact sickened from the flavor... Oh my. I bought 3 sample products to check if my tastes have changed & even got my favorite Beefaroni.

Also found Hawaiian Punch changed the Piña Colada White Water Wave name to Coconut Wave? Ummm this isn't a change anyone asked for or needed made. SO WHY?

General Mills seems to be doing Old Throwback cereals & they dug out from 1961! the designs for Twinkles cereal. This reminds me of Remilia Nephys' favorite Honey Stars which I had been trying to get but haven't found anything cheap enough to consider. And in the Markdown shelf I got a $2.50 box of Extra. Extra what? I don't know.

The Cat Sand shelf was also nearly empty!!! WHAT THE HELL. So I had to settle for the Lightweight fragrance free stuff. It costs more & doesn't last as long as the regular but I needed more right now.

Couldn't find catnip & forgot the little can of sliced olives for making Puerto Rican Rice..  among other things but mainly covered my list. I didn't buy any Valentine's candy (no special KitKats) nor kids class Valentine's cards (no Monster High).

Everything went mostly as expected from taking out my trash & cat crap to getting an electric cart some selfish asshole took outside the store & left it in the rain!!! for me to swipe off the water collected in the seat so I could sit on it. YOU BET I SAT ON THAT COLD WET SEAT. 100% charge & I took it in.

Also found I could buy 2 Imperial 15 ounce tubs of margarine for 30 ounces & save $1.09 by not buying the 45 ounce.

Also Maintenance left notes asking people to drip their pipes & open the cabinet doors for under the sink because of the cold for the next few days. I also hope the heating doesn't go out.