There’s a new gaming convention called Infinite Bits and they’ve asked me to attend their opening show. It is in Miami, FL from October 23-25 2009.
I will be there to give panels, answer questions, show off whatever new gadgets I have and of course networking!
You can check out their press release by clicking here. Or visit their main site listed below.
http://www.infinitebitsconvention.com/
So if you’re in that part of the country, why not stop by? More info as it becomes available!
New Atari 800 laptop. Click here for super-sized, printable version.
For many years an Atari 800 laptop was my “dream project”. It was the computer I grew up with and thus I have fond memories of it.
Finally in 2006 I completed one. You can see it here. A few years later I did another by request. These were all well and good, but I didn’t feel I properly captured the spirit of the old machines.
Earlier this year I finished the long-gestating Commodore 64 laptop. It turned out great, and looked properly old. This left me conflicted however – I wasn’t a Commodore guy, but I had done a much better job on it than my beloved 800’s.
This year that all changed! Someone requested I build them an Atari 800 laptop, and I decided to go full out and not only beat my own C64, but make it perhaps my coolest project ever.
Riveting DOS action. Click here for super-sized, printable version.
After about a month this is the result. Quick specs:
To see more pictures and read the Making Of, click below.
My next project shouldn’t come as a surprise… in fact, chances are SLIM you won’t be able to guess.
Here’s an interesting controller I just finished for a customer. It swaps around the action buttons and d-pad, the left and right triggers are swapped, and there’s an extra set of X Y B A on the back.
The purpose of controllers like these is to allow more options for persons that may have a hard time with normal controller configurations. Remember, if you’re in need of custom devices, you can always email me to discuss. Please see this page regarding rates and terms.
Well I was at Best Buy today looking for Compact Flash cards to use on the new Atari 800 laptop, and I figured while I was there might as well ask about the new PS3 Slim.
A PS3 Slim, on the rotating work bench disc of death.
Turns out they got 40 in last night so I decided to buy one. “Would you like a warranty?” they asked, unlike Circuit City would of. “No, I’m ripping it apart”. I love saying that – it’s not a lie, and it stops warranty upsells dead in their tracks.
Ran it for a little while – it’s very quiet, in dashboard mode you can hardly hear it running. During a game you can hear the Blu-Ray making random access motions (if you turn off the game sound) but still, a fair degree less noise than the PS3 “fat” and several chainsaws of decibels below the Xbox 360.
Of course the next thing to do was rip it apart. Check out the rest of the article for in-depth analysis.
(Note: I know this info has already been on the web, but I wanted to take one apart, naturally, and I felt I may as well share my opinions on the unit as I do)
The New PS3 Slim – Now Only 1.618 Knightleys Thick!
For our 3 year anniversary of doing podcasts we discuss:
Enjoy!
Did an interview for their celebrity column, you can check it out below:
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/celebritology/2009/08/going_full_tilt_for_bill_paxto.html
Definitely a nice change of pace from the usual interviews I do!
Fear not though – I am working on other, non-Paxton pay projects, including a new Atari 800 laptop that I hope to make look even more retro than the recent C64 project. There’s other stuff too but I can’t talk about it yet.
Remember you can browse my work and that of the Benheck.com forum members by visiting our Showcase.
A while back I decided to take some time off and now I’ve finally done it! I’ve spent most of the last few weeks working on a long-gestating “dream” project of mine, which is to build my own pinball machine from scratch. Since my time off is coming to a close, I thought I would my show progress from these last few weeks.
Shown above is the main cabinet that I built last week, as well as the illuminated backbox. As many of you know, the theme of the pinball machine is Bill Paxton – a fine American actor who has thrilled audiences with a variety of characters over the years.
Why Bill Paxton? Well it’s as good a theme as any – I guess I could have gone with a more obvious geek choice like Bruce Campbell but to be honest, Paxton’s more interesting and has made movies people have actually seen. In the end what this project is really about is building something very complicated from scratch, so the engineering is the real star.
I should make clear that this is a personal, non-commercial hobby project for myself, since it clearly contains artwork and sound from movies, it could never legally be resold. But considering how few projects I actually build and keep (this would be the 3rd, after the original VCSp and my Neo Geo Arcade) I deserve to make myself something cool every once in a while!
For some more pictures and info, click below. You can also see some making off stuff on my YouTube channel.
My current plan is to have this completed in time for demonstration at the 2010 Midwest Gaming Classic in Milwaukee, WI – let’s see how I do!