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28 Mar 2024 10:55:54 EDT (-0400)
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From: Dick Balaska
Subject: Re: Maze equation
Date: 6 Nov 2019 23:06:13
Message: <5dc39835$1@news.povray.org>
On 9/24/19 1:32 PM, Bald Eagle wrote:
> dick balaska <dic### [at] buckosoftcom> wrote:
> 
>> I wrote a maze generator for the Atari VCS / 6502 :)
>> 1KB of ROM and 128 bytes of funky-RAM (read address was different than
>> the write address)
>>
https://archive.org/details/atari_2600_tunnel_runner_black_box_1983_cbs_electronics_richard_k._balaska_jr._an#
> 
> 
> And exactly how old were you when you wrote THAT?

22.

> 
> And how did you get it coded onto a commercial ROM cartridge for the Atari
> system?

A friend of a friend (who turned out to be the Stu in my musical) worked 
for CBS Video Games (CBS Electronics).  In 1982 they were desperate for 
game designers/6502 code monkeys.  HR was very concerned about hiring an 
engineer with no college, but I knew more about the 6502 than a handful 
of people.  So I got the job.  Got a patent for my wacky solution to the 
lack of expansion on the Atari 2600/VCS.
http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?patentnumber=4485457

One sad note, as a kid, this was my first engineering job.  We all had 
offices with doors and we had money to burn. "Look at these world's most 
expensive workstation/desks!  Let's buy a dozen!"  My next job I learned 
about cubicles and budgets ("maybe you two could *share* a computer?").

> 
> I wanna hear this story   :)

We had this 6 inch U-channel that ran around the whole office above 
everyone's door, for network cables and such.  One night at our 3am 
powwow in the hall, someone thought it'd be cool to have a train running 
on it.  So for $10 a share, I would run the train past your office.  I 
hot glued HO track to it and Stu made two bridges to cross hallways; one 
of Erector Set (a CBS property) and one of IC tubes and PC boards.  The 
train didn't run much because of too much RF interference on 1980s 
networking.
My VP came back from Paris and was just livid that I'd wasted time from 
my 90 hour work week to do that.  Threatened my job, blah blah blah.
Then, everytime he had a visitor, he would call me, "Balaska, turn on 
the train...  I don't care if Stu is trying to print something."

> 
> 
> 


-- 
dik
Rendered 22,077,619,200 of 40,928,716,800 pixels (53%)


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From: Ton
Subject: Re: Maze equation
Date: 7 Nov 2019 05:55:00
Message: <web.5dc3f7a25469b4b35c17c1320@news.povray.org>
Dick Balaska <dic### [at] buckosoftcom> wrote:
> On 9/24/19 1:32 PM, Bald Eagle wrote:
> > dick balaska <dic### [at] buckosoftcom> wrote:
> >
> >> I wrote a maze generator for the Atari VCS / 6502 :)
> >> 1KB of ROM and 128 bytes of funky-RAM (read address was different than
> >> the write address)
> >>
https://archive.org/details/atari_2600_tunnel_runner_black_box_1983_cbs_electronics_richard_k._balaska_jr._an#
> >
> >
> > And exactly how old were you when you wrote THAT?
>
> 22.
>
> >
> > And how did you get it coded onto a commercial ROM cartridge for the Atari
> > system?
>
> A friend of a friend (who turned out to be the Stu in my musical) worked
> for CBS Video Games (CBS Electronics).  In 1982 they were desperate for
> game designers/6502 code monkeys.  HR was very concerned about hiring an
> engineer with no college, but I knew more about the 6502 than a handful
> of people.  So I got the job.  Got a patent for my wacky solution to the
> lack of expansion on the Atari 2600/VCS.
> http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?patentnumber=4485457
>
> One sad note, as a kid, this was my first engineering job.  We all had
> offices with doors and we had money to burn. "Look at these world's most
> expensive workstation/desks!  Let's buy a dozen!"  My next job I learned
> about cubicles and budgets ("maybe you two could *share* a computer?").
>
> >
> > I wanna hear this story   :)
>
> We had this 6 inch U-channel that ran around the whole office above
> everyone's door, for network cables and such.  One night at our 3am
> powwow in the hall, someone thought it'd be cool to have a train running
> on it.  So for $10 a share, I would run the train past your office.  I
> hot glued HO track to it and Stu made two bridges to cross hallways; one
> of Erector Set (a CBS property) and one of IC tubes and PC boards.  The
> train didn't run much because of too much RF interference on 1980s
> networking.
> My VP came back from Paris and was just livid that I'd wasted time from
> my 90 hour work week to do that.  Threatened my job, blah blah blah.
> Then, everytime he had a visitor, he would call me, "Balaska, turn on
> the train...  I don't care if Stu is trying to print something."
>
> >
> >
> >
>
>
> --
> dik
> Rendered 22,077,619,200 of 40,928,716,800 pixels (53%)

Great story, Dick, sorry Mr Balaska, from now on.
There are some clever people using Povray.
I always thought Erector was the American name for the British Meccano. Why CBS
property?

Cheers
Ton.


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From: Thomas de Groot
Subject: Re: Maze equation
Date: 7 Nov 2019 06:48:58
Message: <5dc404aa$1@news.povray.org>
I truly enjoyed this story indeed. Thank you very much! At least, it 
explains the train in your animation! ;-)

-- 
Thomas


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From: Dick Balaska
Subject: Re: Maze equation
Date: 7 Nov 2019 13:17:47
Message: <5dc45fcb$1@news.povray.org>
On 11/7/19 5:53 AM, Ton wrote:

> Great story, Dick, sorry Mr Balaska, from now on.
> There are some clever people using Povray.
> I always thought Erector was the American name for the British Meccano. Why CBS
> property?

Wow, I was unaware of Meccano (although Hornby Trains are highly 
collectible).  I'm surprised there wasn't a life long international 
court battle between A.C. Gilbert (Erector) and Hornby (Meccano).

A.C. Gilbert died in the 60s and his toy company floundered.  Gabriel 
Toys bought his stuff and CBS bought Gabriel.
CBS also owned Fender Guitars and Steinway Pianos through other 
acquisitions. (And of course, they owned Michael Jackson and Billy Joel. 
  "Thriller" made a noticeable amount of money for the very large company.)

-- 
dik
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From: Jörg "Yadgar" Bleimann
Subject: Re: Maze equation
Date: 8 Nov 2019 08:14:13
Message: <5dc56a25$1@news.povray.org>
Hi(gh)!

On 07.11.19 19:17, Dick Balaska wrote:


> Toys bought his stuff and CBS bought Gabriel.
> CBS also owned Fender Guitars and Steinway Pianos through other 
> acquisitions. (And of course, they owned Michael Jackson and Billy Joel. 


...and finally, we end up with one monstrous giga-corporation, let's 
call it GloFac, with a stock majority held by the Communist Party of 
China, owning literally EVERYTHING on the planet, not just any business, 
  but also all natural resources down to the very water and air and even 
life-time, every human being on Earth, their thoughts, their feelings, 
even their memories (for which they have to pay license fees, otherwise 
they would be interned in a "laogai" camp and processed into human 
protein concentrate)...

clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack
clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack
THE-PARTY-IS-ALWAYS-RIGHT!
clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack
clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack
TWO-PLUS-TWO-IS-FIVE!
clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack
clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack
THE-ELECTRIC-FENCE-MAKES-ME-HAPPY!
clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack
clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack
PLEASE-VAPORIZE-ME!
clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack
clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack
PLEASE-VAPORIZE-ME!
clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack
clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack
PLEASE-VAPORIZE-ME!
clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack
clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack

See you in Khyberspace!

Yadgar


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From: Thomas de Groot
Subject: Re: Maze equation
Date: 9 Nov 2019 02:29:55
Message: <5dc66af3$1@news.povray.org>
Op 07/11/2019 om 19:17 schreef Dick Balaska:

> Toys bought his stuff and CBS bought Gabriel.
> CBS also owned Fender Guitars and Steinway Pianos through other 
> acquisitions. (And of course, they owned Michael Jackson and Billy Joel. 

> 

In: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erector_Set they have a little 
different story ending:

[quote]
A.C. Gilbert died in 1961,[1]:186 and the company went into decline, 
filing for bankruptcy in 1967.[1]:191 The product was redesigned, adding 
many plastic parts, but the "clunky" looking models failed to compete 
with the new, more-realistic scale plastic models coming onto the 
market. The Gabriel company of Lancaster, Pennsylvania bought the 
Erector brand name and continued to market the recently redesigned 
system. Sales were slow, and by the 1980s the trademark Erector was 
acquired by Ideal Toys and then Tyco Toys. In 2000, Meccano bought the 
Erector brand and unified its presence on all continents. The two brands 
are now sold under the Meccano brand name, with the Erector Set being 
marketed as "Erector by Meccano".
[/quote]

-- 
Thomas


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From: Bald Eagle
Subject: Re: Maze equation
Date: 9 Nov 2019 09:10:00
Message: <web.5dc6c8855469b4b34eec112d0@news.povray.org>
I got a few of the "Engino" sets for STEM - I think they are Russian.

I've seen a few videos of the Kinex sets - but they are $$$

Zome by George Hart looks interesting.

I wish I still had my very extensive set of molecular modeling kits from before
the Apocalypse.

Here in the uSA, It seems that LEGO has virtually dominated the market.


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From: Dick Balaska
Subject: Re: Maze equation
Date: 9 Nov 2019 11:58:17
Message: <5dc6f029$1@news.povray.org>
On 11/9/19 2:29 AM, Thomas de Groot wrote:
> Op 07/11/2019 om 19:17 schreef Dick Balaska:

>> Toys bought his stuff and CBS bought Gabriel.
>> CBS also owned Fender Guitars and Steinway Pianos through other 
>> acquisitions. (And of course, they owned Michael Jackson and Billy 

>> large company.)
>>
> 
> In: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erector_Set they have a little 
> different story ending:
> 
> [quote]
> A.C. Gilbert died in 1961,[1]:186 and the company went into decline, 
> filing for bankruptcy in 1967.[1]:191 The product was redesigned, adding 
> many plastic parts, but the "clunky" looking models failed to compete 
> with the new, more-realistic scale plastic models coming onto the 
> market. The Gabriel company of Lancaster, Pennsylvania bought the 
> Erector brand name and continued to market the recently redesigned 
> system. Sales were slow, and by the 1980s the trademark Erector was 
> acquired by Ideal Toys and then Tyco Toys. In 2000, Meccano bought the 
> Erector brand and unified its presence on all continents. The two brands 
> are now sold under the Meccano brand name, with the Erector Set being 
> marketed as "Erector by Meccano".
> [/quote]
> 

Ships passing in the night apparently.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CBS#Gabriel_Toys

Gabriel Toys
CBS entered the video game market briefly, through its acquisition of 
Gabriel Toys (renamed CBS Toys), publishing several arcade adaptations 
and original titles under the name "CBS Electronics", for the Atari 
2600, and other consoles and computers; it also produced one of the 
first karaoke recording/players. CBS Electronics also distributed all 
Coleco-related video game products in Canada, including the 
ColecoVision. CBS later sold Gabriel Toys to View-Master, which 
eventually ended up as part of Mattel.



-- 
dik
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From: Thomas de Groot
Subject: Re: Maze equation
Date: 10 Nov 2019 02:51:13
Message: <5dc7c171$1@news.povray.org>
Op 09/11/2019 om 17:58 schreef Dick Balaska:
> On 11/9/19 2:29 AM, Thomas de Groot wrote:
>> Op 07/11/2019 om 19:17 schreef Dick Balaska:

>>> Toys bought his stuff and CBS bought Gabriel.
>>> CBS also owned Fender Guitars and Steinway Pianos through other 
>>> acquisitions. (And of course, they owned Michael Jackson and Billy 

>>> large company.)
>>>
>>
>> In: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erector_Set they have a little 
>> different story ending:
>>
>> [quote]
>> A.C. Gilbert died in 1961,[1]:186 and the company went into decline, 
>> filing for bankruptcy in 1967.[1]:191 The product was redesigned, 
>> adding many plastic parts, but the "clunky" looking models failed to 
>> compete with the new, more-realistic scale plastic models coming onto 
>> the market. The Gabriel company of Lancaster, Pennsylvania bought the 
>> Erector brand name and continued to market the recently redesigned 
>> system. Sales were slow, and by the 1980s the trademark Erector was 
>> acquired by Ideal Toys and then Tyco Toys. In 2000, Meccano bought the 
>> Erector brand and unified its presence on all continents. The two 
>> brands are now sold under the Meccano brand name, with the Erector Set 
>> being marketed as "Erector by Meccano".
>> [/quote]
>>
> 
> Ships passing in the night apparently.
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CBS#Gabriel_Toys
> 
> Gabriel Toys
> CBS entered the video game market briefly, through its acquisition of 
> Gabriel Toys (renamed CBS Toys), publishing several arcade adaptations 
> and original titles under the name "CBS Electronics", for the Atari 
> 2600, and other consoles and computers; it also produced one of the 
> first karaoke recording/players. CBS Electronics also distributed all 
> Coleco-related video game products in Canada, including the 
> ColecoVision. CBS later sold Gabriel Toys to View-Master, which 
> eventually ended up as part of Mattel.
> 

LOL
Showing how reliable/complete info can be or not. History is always more 
complicated. ;-)

I get the impression that CBS did /not/ aquire the Erector /brandname/ 
apparently together with Gabriel Toys but were interested in the video 
game branch. If I read the info right: the "trademark" Erector was 
acquired by Ideal Toys in the 1980's while (at the same time?) Gabriel 
Toys was acquired by CBS. Which explains why you can now find "Erector 
by Meccano" sets. http://www.meccano.com/about

Oh well...

-- 
Thomas


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From: Paolo Gibellini
Subject: Re: Maze equation
Date: 13 Nov 2019 02:16:21
Message: <5dcbadc5@news.povray.org>
Dick Balaska wrote on 07/11/2019 05:06:
> On 9/24/19 1:32 PM, Bald Eagle wrote:
>> dick balaska <dic### [at] buckosoftcom> wrote:
>>
>>> I wrote a maze generator for the Atari VCS / 6502 :)
>>> 1KB of ROM and 128 bytes of funky-RAM (read address was different than
>>> the write address)
>>>
https://archive.org/details/atari_2600_tunnel_runner_black_box_1983_cbs_electronics_richard_k._balaska_jr._an#

>>>


Thank you for sharing this memory, it made me go back in time!
;-)
Paolo


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