Author: insecure_automaton

Little bit of this, little bit of that.

Tuttle Y-DNA matches

My paternal line is Tuttle. There was some confusion over which Tuttle line my branch belonged to so I recently took an FTDNA Y-DNA test to confirm it genetically. We descend from this gent, William Tuttle, b. 1607 in Ringstead, Northamptonshire, England, and d. June 1673 in New Haven, Connecticut, and his wife Elizabeth, b. ~1609, also in England, and d. 31 Dec 1684, also in New Haven. They immigrated to the New World about 1635.

Some concise interesting reading on these Tuttles from the New England Historical Society.

Much more in-depth genealogy (two volumes) on William and Elizabeth’s descendants.

30th anniversary interview with Galaga creator/designer Shigeru Yokoyama

Neat background info on everything Galaga, from the programming to the cabinet design: https://web.archive.org/web/20150803002342/http://shmuplations.com/galaga

Galaga screenshot, courtesy The Society of Peripheral Studies
Galaga screenshot, courtesy The Society of Peripheral Studies

“The Core”: resurrecting Atari 2600 homebrew abandonware/vaporware…

…from a single screenshot more than 20 years after it disappeared due to unfortunate circumstances.

Interesting thread here at AtariAge discussing the current effort and a contemporaneous description of the game by the original developer, Paul Oswood, here.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t link to the original screenshot of course:

Original screenshot of
Original screenshot of “The Core” ca. 2000

Digitpress interviews David Rolfe…

…developer of – among other things – the Intellivision Exec OS and Star Fire, the first arcade game to use a sit-down cockpit, and more notably, allow a user to enter their initials after achieving a high score: https://www.digitpress.com/library/interviews/interview_david_rolfe.html

David Rolfe, programmer of Star Fire and Intellivision Exec OS
David Rolfe, programmer of Star Fire and Intellivision Exec OS

 

 

Browser-based 8080 PCjs machine emulation of 1978’s Space Invaders

Suh-weet: https://www.pcjs.org/machines/arcade/invaders/

Also, the Github repo for PCjs.

Jeff Minter (Yak) of Llamasoft

Previously shared a trailer for an upcoming Atari game Akka Arrh. Forgot to link to the Wikipedia entry, but its developer, Jeff Minter, is a hoot. You may also recognize him as the actor whom murderous author Jerome Davies from the Black Mirror film Bandersnatch.

Poster for Black Mirror's film
Poster for Black Mirror’s film “Bandersnatch”

SCP liminality

qntm is a fantastic sci-fi author. Previously I’d only been exposed to the fiction at his personal site qntm.org, but lately I’ve started diving into his SCP works, specifically the works at the Antimemetics Division Hub.

Addictive, addictive reads.

Rare and valuable Atari 2600 games

Amazing the obscurity of some of these titles and the resultant sales prices: https://www.racketboy.com/retro/rarest-and-most-valuable-atari-2600-games

Sales tax and aircraft registration in Kansas

Back in the summer of 2022, I bought my first personal aircraft, “Artie”, an old 1947 Aeronca Champ L-16 (Air Force version of the 7BCM) taildragger that was decommissioned and given to the Civil Air Patrol in 1956 with several hundred of its brethren. CAP eventually sold Artie to a university in Missouri in the late ’60s/early ’70s who used him for flight training. He changed hands several more times until ending up with me last year.

One of the things that folks may not generally be aware is that there’s a fairly hefty state tax burden on aircraft owners, at least in Kansas. However, the Kansas legislature – in all its enduring, ever-present wisdom – did at least one thing right and ensured that folks who use their antique or homebuilt aircraft for recreational purposes can get an exemption to the tax. However, to do so, you have to apply for the exemption.

To save other Kansas folks the headache of figuring out what to do, here’s the process I went through – your mileage may vary:

  1. Legally acquire the aircraft – should go w/o saying but you never know!
  2. Fill out a Tax Exemption form per K.S.A. 79-213.
  3. Fill out an Addition to Exemption Application (Aircraft) per KSA 79-201k and KSA 79-220.
  4. Attach a copy of your flight logs for the preceding year for the subject aircraft. If you don’t have them – say, you just bought it – reach out to your county appraiser’s office for guidance.
  5. Enclose a copy of your FAA registration certificate or, like I did, a copy of the the FAA application for registration.
  6. Enclose a check for the filing fee – this fee varies by county but you can usually find the filing fees listed somewhere on your County Appraiser’s website. In Sedgwick County where I’m based the fee has been $100 since 2014.
  7. Send all of the above documents to your County Appraiser’s office.
  8. Profit!

On some periodic basis, a Board of Tax Appeals will meet and decide your fate. That’s all there is to it! I just completed step 7 myself so I’ll update this post later if any wrinkles pop up.

In the meantime, check out some Champ pics below! You’ll notice I label it as a 7AC instead of 7BCM – at some point in its history, the larger C85 engine was swapped first for a C90, then down to an A65. So, it’s a 7BCM at this point in name only.

Aeronca Champ 7AC over Kansas before sunset
Aeronca Champ 7AC over Kansas before sunset
Aeronca Champ 7AC at Anthony, KS
Aeronca Champ 7AC at Anthony, KS
Aeronca Champ 7AC at Argonia, KS - got to love grass strips!
Aeronca Champ 7AC at Argonia, KS – got to love grass strips!
Aeronca Champ 7AC at Rose Hill, KS
Aeronca Champ 7AC at Rose Hill, KS

Programming the Atari 2600 VCS

As I wrote previously, I’m considering taking a stab at programming Atari 2600 games for fun and _.  May just update helpful links here:

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