The Magic Bullet

Socially active and totally intenese!

2009-01-22T12:28:00.000-08:00

Good (whatever) folks!

In the last month I've been out and about more than your average lover of comic books (that isn't to say I'm not watching episodes of The Justice League when I can) - in the last week I rocked my partially-nude self at a killer electronic dance show and I'm recovering from hosting a pornographic party on Inauguration Day. I'll explain them both a bit in proper order, with steamy pix.

Menergy is a brain-child of Grandmother Grant and Time Squid. Grant rocks the wheels of steel (ie - he plays the music that makes you shake assorted muscles and grope suggestive body parts) and Squid rocks a video feed that's out of this world. This was the fourth Menergy show, dedicated to Squid's birthday and the release of their sexy-man-themed calender, Menneapolis. I danced like I haven't danced before - after being stripped of most of my attire by the audience. Half-naked, I moved through the crowd like a lubricated eel and ended the evening with suggestive groping and a bit of the ol' light bondage. Below is a picture taken by Jon Hester, which was featured in his write-up on the City Pages.

(left to right: Grandmother Grant, myself, Time Squid)

Stranger still, was how we celebarted Inaguration Day. With the aid of Time Squid on the VJ equipment and Bankie Phones playing a killer electronic set, we played a slew of pornographic material and danced up storms. With a steady two-dozen people through-out the house, it was a hot and steamy affair unlike what St. Louis Park has ever seen. Oh, and the local Ghostbusters fan-crew, Ghostbustin' 911, brought out their Ectopacks and drove in style - with their Ecto-1C. In the aftermath of the party, I've been photoshopping pictures of the guests. Below is one of Hal and I knuckle bumpin'. *bump*

Feliz Navidad, or something of the sort.

2008-12-23T22:35:00.000-08:00

Before I play a bit of the ol 'Lego Batman' and fall asleep with the controller in hand, I figured I should drop in and kick things off in a fabulous way and wish everyone a happy holidays.

Take note that I covered my ass by omitting any particular event above. There are just too damn many overlapping that naming one doesn't run the gamut. Also, jamming them all together into a string of characters is cute, but entirely impractical. This is a middle-ground, nobody in particular is endorsed, and I do the least amount of work possible to achieve that end.

So, happy holidays. Do whatever it is that you do, love whoever it is that surrounds you and in general - be awesome to each other.

Divinely Bad Idea

2008-12-17T20:40:00.000-08:00

Within the last day or so, it was announced that Electronic Arts' Redwood Studios (the team behind the acclaimed horror title Dead Space) would be making a go at a venture based on Dante Aligheri's 'Inferno.'

The following is lovingly torn from a gamesindustry.biz article on the announcement.

"The time is right for the world of interactive entertainment to adapt this literary masterpiece, and to re-introduce Dante to an audience that, until now, may have been unfamiliar with the remarkable details of this great work of art," said Jonathan Knight, executive producer for Dante's Inferno.

Upon conclusion of that paragraph, I agree. Dante's "Inferno" is a great work of art. It's a fantastic piece of literature that has endured countless translations and no matter what language you may read it in, the romantic heart of the arcing story still holds.

My optimism was severely dashed when I later read the following in an article on Eurogamer.net.

"It's described as a third-person action-adventure adaptation of the first canticle of Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy."

...action-adventure? It's been a few years since I trudged through the circles of Hell, but if I recall... the most 'action' that the story had was a boat ride over the river Styx and a time of being flown about by a winged demon. The vast majority of the book is political and social commentary while referencing the fates of historical figures. How in the 9 Hells would 'following Virgil and observing the damned' translate into 'action'?

And then the remainder of my optimism was completely obliterated when I found out that Kim Kardashian introduced a trailer of it during the Spike awards.

I now find this venture appalling on every single level. Not too long ago, EA decided to change their venture strategy to invest in more original properties and try more unique titles. A few months back they showed disastrous losses and I fear that this is the result - the complete bastardization of classic literature in the hopes of economic recovery.

What's next? A role playing game based on The Grapes of Wrath? Maybe a fishing simulator based on Watership Down? No - I've got a better idea. A rhythm game inspired by Death of a Salesman.

DesertBus: A Charity for Hope

2008-11-29T09:18:00.000-08:00

Desert Bus for Hope, one of my very favorite charities, has started their annual drive. If you are unfamiliar with them, here is a link to their press release.

Being that I am a fan of video games as well as a person holding sadistic tendencies... this is a perfect charity for me to get behind. The more you donate, the more virtual miles that the LoadingReadyRun folks log in at the drivers' seat of the worst game ever made. And the more you donate, the more sweet video games that children receiving support from the wonderful Child's Play donation receive.

As of this writing, they just passed the $11,000 mark. Last year they raised $22,805. I urge anyone who likes children, video games or the ability to remotely inflict pain to donate to Desert Bus for Hope... and if you're truly a sick bastard, they have live cams for you to watch.

How-to: wiring MIDISpeak for both play modes

2008-11-04T18:35:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the first 'How-to' entry of the re-launched 'Magic Bullet'. As promised, I'm going to detail (in excruciating detail) how I wired up my Speak and Spell to function in ROM Modes A and B, as well as Keypad mode with the MidiSpeak kit from HighlyLiquid.

For an (admittedly shotty) diagram of what I did above, and what I will be describing, click on the preview picture below.

Here are the parts that I used (or would have used) in addition to the MidiSpeak kit.

(1) male-to-male DB25 cable.
Make sure that it has all 25 pins active.

I'd advise using a multimeter to double-check this (I ended up buying what appeared to be a functional DB25 cable and found out it only used eight pins, after the fact).
(2) panel-mount DB25 jacks.
(3) single-pole, single-throw switches.
(1) double-pole, single-throw switch.
(?) drill bit(s) matching in size to the shafts of your chosen switches.
(2) feet of five-conductor ribbon cable.
(1) half-meter of twenty-conductor ribbon cable (it's cheap to buy from HighlyLiquid).
(3) feet of wire (doesn't matter, just keep it small - we're working in tiny spaces)
(1) dremel tool with cutting discs.
(1) socket that fits the DIP switch provided with the 'kit.

I ended up using an eighteen (if I recall) pin socket that fit the switch, and cut off the unused legs and spaces on the socket. Just find a socket that fits the DIP switch, and test for continuity across the legs to make sure it functions properly.

Now, I'm going to assume that if you're interested in this project, you've either done your research on modifying a Speak and Spell and are familiar with the tools for the job, or that you've already modified a Speak and Spell. If you have not done either, I'd suggest at looking around for any guide on circuit bending a Speak and Spell for a good explanation on how to open the case, what not to do and so-forth. If you're still interested in making your 'Spell be a Swiss-Army Knife of play methods, read on.

The DIP Switch Explained

How the DIP switch functions with the 'kit is that, on completion of a power-circuit, the position of the switches determines how the 'kit is going to be configured to operate. Because the switch is located on the board, and we'll be placing our board inside the case when we're done, changing play methods after installation would traditionally be off-limits. However, we're going to set it to default to run 'on all cylinders', and use in-line switches as convenient methods to play Gatekeeper.

In this way, we can power-down the 'kit, flip a few switches, power-on the kit and have it boot into another play mode.

How-to: re-locating the DIP Switch

First, cut around two eight-inch sections of the five conductor ribbon cable, remove one of the conductors and strip both ends. What you're going to be doing is soldering the cable between each of the four contact points for both rows of the DIP switch on the 'board, to corresponding pins on the socket you purchased. Once the cable is cut and stripped, tin the ends and solder wire between the contacts for DIP Switch pins 1 thru 4 on the circuit board of the 'kit and the socket legs for pins 1 thru 4. Do this for both sides of the switch pins and socket legs.

Now, we're going to wire up two of our single-pole, single-throw switches in-line between the contacts for DIP Switch pins 5 and 6 on the 'board, and the socket legs for pins 5 and 6. Cut and strip the ends off of (roughly) two foot-long lengths of wire, and solder a length between the contacts for DIP Switch pin 5 and a leg on one of the switches. Do the same for the pin 6. Now, cut and strip another two foot-long lengths of wire, and solder the other leg of each switch to their corresponding leg on the socket. To complete this love affair, we're going to (again) cut and stirp another two foot-long sections and solder them betwen the remaining DIP Switch pin contacts on the 'board, and their corresponding legs on the socket.

If you test continuity on the 'board between matching DIP switch contact points, you should get no continuity between pins one and four, and your in-line switches should determine if you do or do not have continuity for pins five and six.

If that is the case, you rock. Continue.

The Keypad Connections, ROM and Keypad and us.

If you've poked around the HighlyLiquid website and taken a gander at the connection notes for ROM and Keypad mode, you would notice that they're drastically different. What we're going to be doing, using the design of Cedric Bodereau as inspiration, is use a DB25 cable and two DB25 jacks to switch between the connection points. How this works it that we wire all of the output points of the 'kit (Keypad 1-13 and Glitch 1-6) to a DB25 cable and wire each of the proper points on the board to corresponding DB25 jacks.

How-to: wiring the DB25 cable and jacks.

Measure about three feet from the end of your DB25 cable and cut it open. Now, get to strippign (and you better strip good). If your DB25 cable is anything like mine, you'll have a web of annoying shielding to get through before you even get to the conductor ends. Once you have the ends free and stripped, test continuity between each of the pins on the end of the cable and the stripped ends. I'd suggest marking each end with table designating what number pin it is, for the time being.

Now, solder conductors 1 thru 13 to the board connections for Keypad 1 thru 13. Then solder the connections for Glitch 1 thru 6 to the DB25 conductors for pins 14 thru 19. Now cut about two foot-long sections of the 20 conductor cable. One one of them, strip it down to having 13 arranged conductors, so you have created a 7 conductor ribbon cable. Strip both of the ends on both cables.

How-to: the Keypad DB25 jack

Now solder between the designated places on the 'board for the Keypad connections, and the corresponding pins of the DB25 jack (with the first pin for the DB25 jack going to the Speak and Spell circuit board point for the Keypad 1 conneciton, and so-forth). This will take up an entire row of pin connections on the DB25, as well as the 13 conductor cable you created. Save the 7 conductor cable that you created for the ROM DB25 jack, and strip three conductors off of the complete foot-long length of 20 conductor cable you have. Strip both ends of the 3 conductor cable you created and make connections between the 'Suggested Glitch Points' (see the Keypad installation guide) and pins 14 thru 16 of the DB25 jack.

How-to: the ROM DB25 jack

The ROM jack is much easier to deal with, because we're only using eight of the pins on the DB25 jack. Strip 2 of the conductors off of the aforementioned (and now mangled, 17 conductor) ribbon cable, you'll need that for the ROM trigger points. Strip both ends and make connections between pins 1 and 3 of the DB25 jack, and their corresponding points on the Speak and Spell circuit board (see the ROM installation guide). Seperate one more conductor off the 7 conductor cable you created (to create a 6 conductor ribbon cable), and strip it's ends. Now make connections between the listed Glitch points on the 'board and pins 14 thru 19 on the DB25 jack.

Power cycling the 'Kit

Now, the MIDISpeak kit requires a power-cycle for it to notice any changes in the DIP switches, so we're going to have to put an in-line switch between the battery and the power contacts for the 'kit.

How-to: Power Control for the 'Kit

All you need to do is strip 4 conductors off of what remains of your ribbon cable. Strip all of the ends. Now, make a connection between the negative (-) terminal of the battery case for the Speak and Spell and one of the legs of your double-pole, single-throw switch. Likewise, make a connection between the positive (+) terminal of the battery case for the Speak and Spell and the other leg of your double-pole, single-throw switch. Now make connections between the negative (-) leg of the double-pole, single-throw switch and the negative (-) power point on the cirucit board for the MIDISpeak. Again, make another connection between the positive (+) leg of the double-pole, single-throw switch and the postive (+) point on the circuit board for the MIDISpeak.

(Please ignore the switch to the right of the speaker, that is an in-line switch for the speaker and it is not discussed in this guide)

How-to: Jumper 4 to Keypad 10

One of the funky differences between Keypad and ROM mode is that, in ROM mode, there is a connection made between the contact point for Jumper 4 and the contact point for Keypad 10, on the MIDISpeak board. Just seperate two conductors from the mangled remains of your 20 conductor cable, strip the ends and connect the contact point for Jumper 4 to one leg of your single-pole, single-throw switches... and the other leg of the switch to Keypad 10.

Summary: What we Did

Here is how you work what you have now. Let's say you want the Speak and Spell to be set to act for Keypad mode. Just connect the DB25 tail that you soldered to the Keypad and Glitch points on the MIDISpeak kit's board to the corresponding DB25 jack. Then, you flip the proper switches. For instance, in Keypad mode you do not want DIP Switch pins 5 and 6 to be sending power, so you flip the corresponding in-line switches to their 'off' position. You also flip the switch for Jumper 4 - Keypad 10 to be in it's 'off' position. Then you flip the in-line power switch for the MIDISpeak kit to be 'on', and then you turn the Speak and Spell on.

For going to ROM mode, you'd then turn the Speak and Spell off, turn the MIDISpeak off, flip the switches again and then turn the MIDISpeak on, and the 'Spell on.

The Manifesto for a New Generation

2008-10-26T23:43:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the blank-slate of the new, different Magic Bullet.

Inspired by the wonderful journal kept by Chris Randall, this time 'round I'm going to try to keep things entertaining, but geared more towards the creative aspects of my life. As things go on, I'd like to see this space develop in a two distinct ways:

A greater emphasis on my hobbies - featuring more in-depth rants on the creative parts of my life than I can fit within the tables of my portfolio.
Enjoyable meanderings on my interests - expect rants regarding what I enjoy, including what I'd be reading at the time, what films I've recently enjoyed and what albums have my ears bleeding.

For those of you who ever frequented this space in the past, this should be a drastic change from what you're used to. None of this space will feature discouraging tales of 'woe-is-me' life, and all of it should feature only the best of the best - if not the most entertaining of the worst.

One of the trickle-down benefits of the re-develop, I hope, will be that my portfolio will not only get more exposure, but maybe what I can't fit over there... I can over here. I think I'll probably kick this place off with an in-depth explanation of my latest little effort, a Speak and Spell outfitted with a MIDISpeak kit from Highly Liquid. I'm very pleased with the end result and would like to spend an entry or two reviewing the 'kit, as well as explaining what I had done and what I plan to do with it now.

Bring out the disco ball, turn on the pin-light, crack open some cheap beer... it's going to be much more fun in here.
-Erik