Archive for April, 2014

Happy Easter!

April 20th, 2014

Hope you all have a Safe and Happy Easter Sunday! Don’t eat too much chocolate!
Jesus died for our sins and gave us eternal life with his resurrection. Today (Easter Sunday) we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Throwback Thursday – The TI-99

April 17th, 2014

I bet not all of you remember the Texas Instruments TI-99 computer? It was a fairly popular machine, but in no way shape or form did it receive the publicity or following that the Commodore 64 received when it was released just a year later. The TI-99/4a was released in June of 1981, while the Commodore followed in January of 1982. Back in those days households did not have access to the internet and as such the TI-99 didn’t provide access.

The TI-99 was the first computer I used in the early to mid 1980’s. And the little-machine-that-could provided me with knowledge I still hold to this day. We owned the TI-99 with the voice synthesis and a tape drive. Yes that’s right, I said a tape drive. Back in the day you would record data, programs … ect on regular cassette tapes in the same way you would later record data on floppy disks, CDs, DVDs, Hard Drives or by Cloud Storage.

I remember spending many days typing in programs (mostly games) provided via Family Computing Magazine into Basic on our TI-99. Then saving them to the Tape Drive. The first game I entered was a racing game where you would control the car with the keyboard. If I remember correctly it was called Roader. To get that game working I had to type in five full pages of basic coding. I was probably ten or eleven at the time. Typing in the program must of took me about three full days. Once I was done I had to go back through the debugger to fix all the errors. When I was finally able to get the program up and running it felt like an incredible accomplishment. The idea of the game was to see how far you could get before hitting one of the walls on either side of the track. It was such a simple game, but provided hours of fun along with a fantastic learning experience.

We also had the video game Alpiner, which was on a cartridge. The computer was a gaming machine and a computer. I never really understood why computers moved away from accepting gaming cartridges. Anyways, the TI-99 was the first machine of its kind to include a technology called voice synthesis. Alpiner was one of only a couple games that put the technology to use. Alpiner was a blast to play. It was a one or two player game with the object being to race to the top of a mountain as you avoid falling objects. That is where the voice synthesis came into play. In the 1980’s, hearing a computer talk to you was something out of this world. I remember the TI-99 telling me to “beware of falling objects” and “Onward and Upward” along with a number of other sayings. The voice synthesis made Alpiner so much more fun.

Looking back now I understand the impact this little machine had on my life. It probably had a similar impact on many other peoples lives as well. The TI-99 provided me with years of learning experiences and fantastic memories. I’ll always have special memories of the TI-99.

World Book Night 2014

April 16th, 2014
World Book Night 2014

Here are some of the books that will be given away during World Book Night 2014.

World Book Night 2014 is right around the corner. The annual celebration of books is held on April 23rd of each year. On World Book Night good Samaritans from all over the world hit the streets to give away over a half a million books. The books given away are new and specially printed by a select group of publishers. Simply put: reading is enjoyable. Good books make a strong impression on the lives of their readers and help to expand their minds. Plus, reading brings people happiness. The main idea of World Book Night is to put books in the hands of individuals who don’t regularly read. This gives them the opportunity to experience a pleasant new pastime. The above image shows a few of the books that will be given away this year. To see the complete list as well as more details on the event, please visit the official World Book Night website. You may also volunteer to be a “book giver” or find the location where free books will be distributed in your community.

Archie Goes Out With A Bang

April 9th, 2014
Life With Archie Comic # 36 - The Death of Archie

Life With Archie Comic # 36 – The Death of Archie

Betty and Veronica’s favorite guy, Archie, isn’t going to be around for Life with Archie issue #37. The popular comic icon from Riverdale is going to die in issue #36. As sad as it is to see Archie pass, he will be going out as a hero. Archie Andrews won’t meet his fate via old age or car crash, but saving a friends life. If you have to go, there’s no better way. Life with Archie #36 goes on sale July 16, 2014 and will ship with several exclusive variant covers. The comic is written by Paul Kupperberg. The artwork is by Pat Kennedy, Tim Kennedy and Fernando Ruiz.

Going forward issue #37 will be released one week later, (July 23rd 2014) but the storyline takes place a year after Archie’s passing. Life with Archie #37 will not be as serious as #36. It will be uplifting in almost a celebratory look back at Archies iconic character and meaningful life.

For those of you that just can’t take the thought of Archie dying, all is not lost! Archie will still be alive and well in Archie Digest as well as other series published by Archie Comics.

Below you can take a look at some of the possible covers for issue #’s 36 and 37.

Life With Archie Comic # 36 - The Death of Archie

Life With Archie Comic # 36 – The Death of Archie. Possible variant cover.

Life With Archie Comic # 36 - The Death of Archie

Life With Archie Comic # 36 – The Death of Archie. Possible variant cover.

Life With Archie Comic # 36 - The Death of Archie

Life With Archie Comic # 36 – The Death of Archie. Possible variant cover.

Life With Archie Comic # 37

Life With Archie Comic # 37 takes place a year after the death of Archie.

Life With Archie Comic # 37

Life With Archie Comic # 37 takes place a year after Archie’s death.