A pandemic ago I decided to heed the warnings on the Apple ][ Facebook group and remove the 30-year-old battery from my Apple IIgs computer. This is harder than it should be since Apple thought it was a good idea to permanently attach this ticking time bomb to the motherboard. My solution was to clip out the old battery and solder in a plastic battery holder instead. This is not that hard to do, but I am a complete klutz when it comes to soldering. Destroy the motherboard with a mountain of silvery metal was always a possible outcome. I documented the process and present it here. Originally I had intended to do a hilariously comic narration over the video but I eventually came to my senses. Enjoy the video, video enjoyers:
Tag: video
Moving images and other hard drive consuming media.
Three More Martian Law Videos
Here are three more videos of my Martian Law songs. These were all created in FL Studio.
“Natural Kitty” Official Video
This is a track from my second computer music release called, Upgrade Downgrade (2001). The music was created in MadTracker 2 on a Windows 98 PC. The voice was from AnalogX’s SayIt software and most of the samples were probably found online somewhere.
“March of the Mustard King” Official Video
20 years ago this month I released an album’s worth of computer music. If you weren’t one of the lucky 3 people who got a CD, this is what you missed. Last night I made an *official video* for the song “March of the Mustard King.” This was pre-Garage Band. Back when making songs on a computer was like watching the code of the Matrix scroll by. Music by nerd(s), for nerds.
This is a track from my first album of computer music called, “The Exciting Sounds of a Compaq P133” (1999). The music was created in FastTracker ][ on a Windows 98 PC. This video is showing the excellent FastTracker ][ Clone from 16-bits.org.
Nonagon PSA
I directed this short promotional video in anticipation of the release of my band’s new record, People Live Everywhere. It’s basically a shot-for-shot remake of a late 80s anti-drug public service announcement starring our drummer, Tony, and his daughter, Isabella.
“I Need a Vacation” by Jim Bakus
https://www.facebook.com/video/embed?video_id=461268539285
This is the b-side of Jim Bakus’ “Delicious” single from my not-so-vast record collection. The a-side is legendary, the b-side is still pretty good to.
Professional Motion Graphics Artist
Add to my slowly growing list of technical capabilities (in addition to Puzzle Quest Maester and lawn mowist) Motion Graphics Artist.The last couple of days of work have been spent making a video presentation for a major northeastern Illinois power company. I’ll let you guess to which company I am referring. Video is pretty fun to work with but it is somehow physically exhausting. Perhaps it is just the strain of having to listen to stock audio over and over again. In any event, I now want to get a newer version of After Effects. Good times.
Copyright and YouTube
I just noticed today that a video I had posted in YouTube was just blocked in the U.S. because of some music I used in the background. Specifically, they blocked my PC Transporter video that I used to demo some hardware I was selling on eBay. The video is pretty mundane, but I used a Señor Coconut track in the background along with various beeps and noises from the Apple ][gs. Come on, who is going to download the song with all sorts of disk drive noises on top of it? WMG thinks people will do this, so now only people outside the U.S. can view the video. But, get this, if you can view the video in your region, it gives you direct links to download the song on iTunes or Amazon! That is a brilliant business move, but apparently using user created videos as a promo tool in the U.S. is beyond the pea brains at WMG. So, for my sake, please steal Señor Coconut’s record off the Internet (search for it on Google, you’ll find it for download from Rapidshare or similar site) and don’t buy the record if you live in the U.S.A.! I will find a way around YouTube’s blocker soon and repost the video here as soon as I can.
A Text-to-Movie for my Daughter
Here’s a brief movie I made for my Daughter using xtra normal’s text-to-movie web app. (xtranormal.com/watch/5839651) if you are having trouble seeing the video).
UPDATE: Xtranormal is no more. Links are dead.
eBay Auction: PC Transporter for the Apple IIgs
This is the Applied Engineering PC Transporter. It allows you to run MS-DOS applications on your Apple IIgs! It can also be used as a ~800K RAM disk. Click the following image for a closer view:
This auction includes all the items pictured above, including the following:
- PC Transporter card, includes original box and manual
- II GS Installation kit, includes original box and the cards an cables need to connect the PC Transporter to your Apple II GS
- A 2 Bay “Transdrive” Floppy Drive for MS-DOS disks and its leaflet manual (with instructions on setting jumpers, etc.)
- Original PC Transporter System disks (both the 3.5″ & 5.25″ versions)
- An original IBM MS-DOS 2.0 disk and accompaning system tools disk, both are 5.25″ floppies.
Note: The MS-DOS drive spins quietly the entire time that it recognizes that there is a disk inside. This has no apparent effect on its operation, and I assume this is the correct behavior for the drive. But it’s been more than a decade since I used this with any regularity, so I don’t know for sure.
At the time of this posting, this has been completely tested and is working. Here is a video demonstration of the actual item I am selling that I recorded just before removing the parts from my GS and packing them up for this auction (or watch the annotated version with dorky stock music on YouTube):
Even though the card is leaving here in working form, I can make no guarantees as to if it will work in your machine. Therefore, I am selling this item AS IS. Please buy shipping insurance if you have any concerns. I will ship to the US only. The entire package is going to weigh somewhere between 8-10 lbs. Contact me if you have any questions. Here the link to the eBay Auction… bid early… bid often!
UPDATE: The package eventually sold for around $155! Woo hoo!