Arcade cabinet restoration complete!

Well, 99% done. I still need to create a better marquee as the one I have created is printed on paper. Instead of buying one online I am considering calling around to some local print shops to see if they will take my design from Viso and print as a decal. I also need to figure out how to create some button descriptions for the control panel. I'm looking into water decals, but am worried that those would rub off. Will check around online.

Despite stripping down the computer's OS to bare minimum, some games stutter slightly. I may consider building the kids a new PC and taking theirs for the cabinet. The cabinet currently has a 1ghz Gateway while the kid's is a 2ghz with an external AGP video card.

I've also e-mailed Ultimarc as the controller will not switch to 8-way mode for some reason. This is making some top-shooter games difficult to play (1942, Gunbird, Sinistar, etc.).

Oh, and what a b$#@! it was getting this thing up the basement stairs!! Ouch!

Arcade cabinet restoration: Part 3.5 - Controls and front panels

I still need to do some additional touch-up, but for the most part she's ready!

Arcade cabinet restoration: Part 3 - Controls

Ok, it's coming together. By tomorrow afternoon I should be chasing Inky and Blinky....and the other two....

I ordered my controls from Ultimarc last Sunday and had them by Wednesday (I guess that's why I paid $18 for shipping). All told it took me about 3 hours and 2 trips to Radio Shack to complete the process of installing and wiring. I must say I'm quite pleased with the results, especially since they ACTUALLY WORKED when I plugged them in!!

I'm not typically very anal about wiring. In this case though I was a bit more careful and took my time. I avoided using solder on all connections but one and used crimped connectors mostly. Everything worked in MAME perfectly.

I'm in the process of painting the front panel and should have that ready by morning. Excelsior!

Arcade cabinet restoration: Part 2 - Painting & Finishing

The cabinet is coming along nicely. Some sanding and a few fresh coats of paint are adding some life to my project. I also had to do some additional spray painting inside the cabinet and on the VGA monitor frame (black, it was coming out of my nose after the shower this morning, blech). To my dismay the original plexiglass screen had a teeny tiny crack right dead center. Small, but surely large enough to annoy me every time I play Shinobi. I put on a new plexiglass screen and marquee. I also designed the marquee decal. It's printed on plain paper for now and I will replace with high quality glossy stock later on.

I placed my order for the iPac controls from Ultimarc. In the meantime I will be designing the controller surface and front. Hopefully, I get everything done over the next weekend and will have it ready when the joystick and buttons arrive.

As you can see, Emma is hard at work helping me test more ROMs. Good job sweety!

Controller Layout

While I await a trip to Lowes for some paint and parts I fired up Visio and created a controller layout. I found this dude who already had custom shapes and part numbers in a VSD. I'm not going crazy on mine with the trackball, spinner, or loads of buttons. Just the basics for DK, Pacman, Dig Dug, etc.

UPDATE: The controls are 'spensive!!! So, I opted for a single player controller layout. So, scratch one of the player controls above.

Arcade cabinet restoration: Part 1 - Cleanup

About 12 years ago I had the opportunity to acquire an old arcade cabinet after the Funspot in Dover closed. I gutted it and removed the VGA screen and electronics (it had been out in the rain) with the intention of one day restoring it as a MAME cabinet. Well, "one day" finally came. My daughter Emma has become a fan of the early 80's arcade classics and goaded me into completing it. A recent trip to Funspot in Gilford probably helped here!

I had started down this path before in R&D mode only, so I have an idea of what I'm getting into. Luckily there is a bit of a cottage industry in arcade cabinet restoration with several websites, blogs, and stores offering tips and parts. So, after creating a basic project plan (yes, in MS project) I dragged the old cabinet out of a dank corner of the basement and got to work. So begins the journey!
I should note that this was originally "Time Pilot '84", a very crappy sequel to "Time Pilot" (which was a great game). Ignore the mess around the cabinet! Eeeshhh....

After buying a CF bulb and wiring a new plug I was delighted to see that the marquee light still works!

I apparently did not do a good job emptying it out initially so I dug in and removed the remaining debris. SCORE!! I found a number of old tokens in the base.

Note the silver ones. I had forgotten that Funspot used to be a Club Video. I wonder if these still work??

I had a can of satin gloss black Krylon so I touched up the edging, top, and back of the cab. Next steps are to remove the decals on the side and the marquee. I started doing the marquee but after 25 minutes I realized that I should call my neighbor to see if he has a heat gun for the rest (Mike, expect a call).

The process here will be two fold:

1) Restoring the cabinet, which includes painting, replacing the plexiglass, new decals on the marquee and side. I also need to construct the front face of the cabinet and shelves inside to support a monitor.

2) Readying a PC with M.A.M.E. (with MaLa front end). I'll be ordering the I-Pac by Ultimarc with various controls/buttons and testing them out. I've been testing MAME on Ubuntu Linux. The bootup speed on this OS is astounding (don't want to be waiting around when ready to play). Plus it's FREE!

Emma has agreed to help out by testing all of my ROM's to determine which ones will be included in the MAME install. :)

Check back soon!

Elton John or Sleestack?

For my first blog post in 2 years, I bring you Elton John or Sleestack!?!

Battlestar Galactica Top 10

Only a fan of the show will find this funny!

We don’t want to ever hear about midi-chlorians ever again

The Deadbolt published a great article containing their speculations on the new Star Wars TV series. This is so good I wished I had written it. Here is my favorite snippet. Full article link below.

" 8. We want politics, real politics.

Can’t believe we’re saying this during Ballot Bowl 2008 or after how much we hated all the Galactic Senate stuff in the prequel trilogy - but we really want the TV series to delve deep into the politics and personal convictions driving both the Empire and the Rebellion. We don’t want all Imperial agents to be blatantly evil or greedy enough to be swayed to the Dark Side. We want to see some true believers, both fanatics and sympathetic idealists who really, really believe that Emperor Palpatine is the best thing ever for the galaxy and we want them to be able to argue their reasons intelligently. On the flip side, we want to see the ugly aspects of the Rebellion - the in-fighting, the questionable guerilla tactics, the desperate measures, and the bad decisions. Good-vs-evil works in big mythic blockbusters, but we need something a little more meaty on weekly basic cable. Show us why a young recruit might choose to become an Imperial guard or why a local moisture farmer might not support the Rebellion. Show us why everything isn’t always black and white in the Star Wars universe, and we’ll happily follow the series through 100 episodes and more."


Paul's View: Heck, who are we kidding? "Revenge Of The Sith" might be considered somewhat of a redemption for the sh!t-stain that was "Attack Of The Clones", but it wasn't enough to convince me that Lucas isn't going to make this series for his 46+ kids and grandkids. This will be a cable series shown on Manchester's channel 50 on Saturday afternoons at 1:30 (right after candle pin bowling). Sigh....

Read full article here....

That is why you fail.

This is sweet! Not since Jedi Outcast came out have I been so excited to see the next Star Wars game! I mean, c'mon, using the force to take down a Star Destroyer!! Damn!

Check out the trailer here!

Happy Birthday to me!

Oh man, this is just way too cool. I gotta' have it!
My birthday is coming (or for fans of Nicole Kidman in "Birthday Girl, it's called 'bad day'). Oh, not one of her best films by the way...but I digress. Chris, please buy this for me!!!

Enjoy the video from my friends at Revision3!

....you'll have to go out and buy another coat hanger....

I absolutely LOVE stories like this! I have always said that you really, really, really, really, really, really, need to have a super-trained ear to tell the difference between Monster Cable and standard Radio Shack small gauge speaker wire (sold on a spool at a SIGNIFICANTLY cheaper price per foot). This guy takes it one step further (and better). I'm bummed because I put really cheap speaker wire into my wall (for my HDTV) and could've put coat hangars instead! :(

From the Consumerist:

Can you tell the difference between music that passed through a pricey Monster stereo Cable, and a coat hanger? A reader forwarded us a post from the Audioholics Home Theater Forum and its author says no. He says his brother ran an experiment on him and four other audio aficionados listening to a new CD from a new group blindfolded. Seven different songs were played, each time heard with the speaker hooked up to Monster Cables, and the other time, hooked up to coat hanger wire. Nobody could determine which was the Monster Cable and which was the coat hanger. The kicker? None of the subjects even knew that coat hangers were going to be used. This is, of course, "nothing new," a Google of "monster cables vs coat hangers" shows that some users have been saying this for a while. Still, this is an experiment begging to be recreated under controlled conditions (say, for instance, a double-blind test). Science fair project! Read how it went down, inside...

Read Full Story

28 billion bottles of water

I saw this on Digg today. My daughter will be proud that I'm posting something "green".

Won't you be mine

I came across this video during breakfast on Sunday (just before church of course).
Hilarious!!!

Hey Jude....

Holy crap is this cute or what???



Of course, I would've been super-impressed if the kid actually played the guitar to.

"Keep you in the dark you know they all pretend"

"Keep you in the dark and so it all began..."

I went to see the Foo Fighters last night at in Worcester, MA at the legendary DCU Center (formerly the Worcester Centrum)! Indeed, it was a great time and one of the best rock shows I've scene in history!!

The Foo Fighters, headed up by front man Dave Grohl, are in support of their latest CD, "Echoes, Silence, Patience, and Grace". I found it odd that with all of the arenas present in New England that the closest they could come was Worcester. However, it has traditionally been difficult catching a show by the Foo. If I were to guess it may be because they have a relatively low "market presence" in NE (yes, there is such a thing measured for bands). Here are some highlights and "cool stuff" from the show:

- They opened with "Let It Die", my number 1 favorite Foo song of all time. I was tripping. Check out the video below.
- They had an amazing stage and lighting setup. 4 big screens behind the band showed videos and effects.
- They came out and performed their acoustic set "in the round". Right in front of us!! Plus, the "unplugged" members of the band joined them on-stage for that.
- The violin chick....grroowwwllllll!
- Dave was hilarious whenever he bantered with the crowd.
- 3 song encore was amazing!

Also, Dave brought his daughter to the show. We could see a toddler dancing in the middle in the mixing stage. It took us a bit but then recognized the mom as Dave's wife (from the DVD). He would occasionally walk down the ramp and play for her, so cute!


We didn't shoot this video as we had MUCH better seats than this guy. But way cool for him to capture and post from our show!

PSA: Starching the perfect shirt

So I think I found the answer to ironing and starching a shirt that is NEAR the quality of professional pressing/dry-cleaning. I'm wearing a blue polo today that, despite my hour drive and two meetings, has maintained it's crispness. Hears the secret:
1. Iron with minimal steam first, the entire shirt
2. Let stand for an hour to dry
3. Iron entire shirt again with starch (Niagara seems to be the best)*
4. Let stand for one hour on hangar
5. Apply a "gentle glazing" of starch to the entire shirt while it's on the hangar
6. Do not put back in closet as it will crumple (unless your closet isn't stuffed to the max like mine).

*When applying starch during ironing process, apply an even glaze across area to be pressed, holding canister approximately 6" from shirt. Also, make sure you use distilled water in your iron. This is supposed to keep the iron clean and prevent the "yellowing" affect on white shirts.

So, I thought y'all would like to know this. Thank me anytime....and if anyone finds my man card please e-mail me at pgcomputerguy@comcast.net. Thanks!

Nellie McKay ...melt....

Ignore the hens sitting at the piano.




Folks, I'm telling you here and now, this girl is going places. I bought her latest album "Obligatory Villagers" and it is simply amazing! Pure genius.

We watched "Godzilla vs. Megalon" last night on an episode of MST3K. I forgot how hilarious that show was!! So, for your viewing and listening pleasure....see below!

New contacts

Hey, I put in new contacts today!