Retro Thing

Cee Lo Green + Rock-afire Explosion Live In Las Vegas

Two retro-fueled YouTube phenomena take the stage in a series of live shows in Las Vegas on February 27th. A couple years back, Cee Lo Green's Motown inspired grooves hit the net with a song who's name we're reluctant to say on a family website. You can hear a bowdlerized version on the radio called "Forget You", but it lacks the juice of the fiery original. It's a hysterical tune that namechecks Atari among other things, and the accompanying music video is a retro delight (you can spot a Casio SK-1 on the counter top in the diner). Love that song, and it went huge on the internet.

Another massive phenom on the net also goes back a few years with the Rock-afire explosion. This all mechanical group was the house band at kiddie pizzerias in the 80s. The robots don't really play the instruments, but their animated automaton antics won the hearts of many a joyous face covered in birthday cake. When Showbiz Pizza transformed into Chuck E. Cheese, some determined fans bought the old Rock-A-Fire robot "show" and reprogrammed them to sing new songs. It's both amazing and unsettling to see these cherished children's characters grinding ouut some sexy R&B beats. The internet went crazy, and there was even a fine documentary (watch it HERE for free) produced about the phenomenon.

Aaron Fechter, inventor of the Rock-afire Explosion, has been at the helm of this reprogramming scene. We've seen the RF band appear in music videos and feature films, and today the band takes up residency as part of Cee Lo Green's live Vegas show at Planet Hollywood opening the show with a rousing Rock-afire rendition of "F*** You".

"Cee Lo grew up having his childhood birthday parties at Showbiz Pizza Place in Atlanta," says Fechter, "and now, he's bringing his childhood's first live band, musical influence with him!" This is a seven week engagement, with a hint of possible further performances after that.

If I were in Vegas, I'd grab a couple slices of cheap pizza and join the party. Any of our readers local and able to go?

A Shockingly Decent $50 Stereo System

I've used a pair of Logitech computer speakers with a powered subwoofer in my office for years. I've never been particularly happy with the quality; yes, they can make the floor joists vibrate and sever the auditory hair cells from my cochlear nerve. Just not in a nice way.

So I set out to find a replacement.

I realized in a hurry that mainstream big box stores weren't going to be much help; they've been overrun by plasticy iDocks and a smattering of component systems – replacing my sound system with something that sounded better was looking to be an expensive proposition.

Then I remembered a product that I wrote about in 2009 – a tiny bargain-priced amplifier that used a digital amplifier chip manufactured by Tripath. It offered surprisingly clean sound for the money. Sure enough, Parts Express still offers a range of Tripath-based amplifiers and the price has come down considerably. Figuring that they'd all sound much the same, I opted for the no-frills Lepai LP-2020A+, a $20 unit based on a Tripath TA2020 chip. It's capable of outputting 20W + 20W into 4 Ohms at full power and includes a 12V, 2A power supply.

This minuscule amp is just about as bare-bones as they come, with defeatable treble and bass controls and a volume knob on the front panel. The back offers a 3.5mm jack for an MP3 player, alongside stereo RCA jacks. The inputs are tied together, so you can only use a single source.

Of course, finding the right amplifier was only half of the battle.

Luckily, I stumbed across a review in Stereophile that praised a $29.98 pair of Dayton B652 bookshelf speakers, also from Parts Express. The review concluded, "Keep a pair in your dorm room, a pair on your desktop, a pair in your office. As long as your expectations are realistic and you're willing to have fun, the Daytons are sure to please." That was good enough for me.

These moderately sized speakers measure 11-13/16" H x 7-1/16" W x 6-7/16" and can be placed almost anywhere because they don't have a rear bass port that needs to be kept open. You shouldn't expect great beauty at this price; the B652s are basic black vinyl-covered rectangles with cheesy plastic spring clip connectors on the back. There's a wall mounting hook (these would be perfect in a reception area or small restaurant), and the removable cloth grilles are mounted on fiberboard, but they do the job.

Inside, you'll find a 6 1/2" polypropylene cone and a 5/8" ferrofluid-cooled polycarbonate dome tweeter. Each speaker is rated to handle 40W RMS (70W maximum) into 8 Ohms, with a 70-20,000 Hz frequency response and a sensitivity of 87 dB 1W/1m. They're well suited to the little Tripath amplifier.

All in all, this combination offers amazing bang for the buck. As long as you keep the volume at a reasonable level and defeat the tone controls, you're rewarded with clean, uncolored sound. Don't expect floor-shaking bass from this setup, but this minor shortcoming is shared by other inexpensive bookshelf speakers that tend to bottom out well above 50 Hz.

Pricewise, there's nothing to complain about. You're looking at a total of $49.98 plus around $10 for UPS ground shipping, a fraction of the cost of an MP3 player dock. In return, you'll receive a system that should offer years of faithful service in an office, garage or workshop.

Check out the Dayton B652 Bookshelf speakers and Lepai LP02020A+ amp at Parts Express.

A First Look At KORG's MS-20 Synthesizer Reissue

We first mentioned KORG's new mini version of the classic MS-20 synthesizer last month. Here's a hands-on look by Peter Kirn at Create Digital Music.

Peter comes away impressed; KORG has managed to cram the essence of the 1978 original into a somewhat modernized package. It still only plays one note at a time, there are no patch memories and you can only control notes via MIDI -- don't expect to tweak knob settings from the comfort of your computer desktop.

That said, this little synth is a great value for $599, although public response has been polarized. Some electronic musicians absolutely love it, while others question the need for yet another standalone analog monosynth with limited MIDI capability. Personally, I'm sold.

Explore the MS-20 in more depth at Create Digital Music

Free High Rez Vintage Poster Downloads

Mamie Young writes, "I recently launched a new poster website. The goal of this project is to create one of the web's largest collection of free, high quality, downloadable vintage posters."

While this isn't the first site to offer decent scans of classic advertising posters, the images are larger than most. The quality is a bit varied - some images appear to be drum scans, others are photographs, but it's nice to have a chance to view these as more than thumbnails. There seem to be a couple of hundred posters online so far, but I suspect more will follow.

Visit FreeVintagePosters.com for more, or check out a few images after the jump.

The Smallest Analog Computer Ever Made?!

From the early 1960s brochure: "Donner's Model 3500 is a full-fledged analog computer weighing just 28 lbs. Designed for engineers, educators and scientists, it can be used to study almost any physical system that can be described by differential equations. It can be operated on desk tops and benches by anyone who can run a slide rule. The standard 3500 contains 10 amplifiers, stabilized or unstabilized as the user chooses. The computer performs accurately with 1% or 0.1% computing components, and is furnished ready-to-work for $1850, depending upon specific equipment desired."

Fast forward 50 years, and I'd much rather have a Macbook. It's astounding to realize just how far we've come in the past half century; the Donner 3500 used vacuum tubes and was anything but simple to use. These days, you could create a comparable analog function generator using a variety of solid-state op amps and buffers that cost only a few cents each.

Learn more about the Donner 3500 at VintageComputer.net

Everybody Needs A Passenger Train In The Basement

Jason Shron is a train fanatic who built a replica VIA Rail train car in his Toronto basement. His crazy scheme involved purchasing a retired VIA coach and stripping the seats, groovy Seventies carpeting, luggage racks, coat hooks, garbage receptacles, signs and everything else he could get his hands on. 

Shron explains: "Some guys have model trains in their basements. Some guys have some memorabilia from real trains in their basements. I think I can safely say I'm the only guy in Canada with a real train in his basement. 

We each have a favourite place: a place where we feel completely at home, where the stresses and headaches of daily life seem to melt away and we can just chill and regroup. My favourite place is on board the VIA train, especially on board the VIA trains of my youth, riding the Rapido between Toronto and Montreal. Now I have this special place in my house."

I suspect Jason will find it incredibly hard to sell his house if he ever wishes to move, but at least now he can grab his favourite seat by the window and wonder if the train will ever leave the platform... just like the real thing.

KingstonSub [via Hacked Gadgets]

1984: Finally, An East German Home Computer

In most of the world, the era of 8-bit computing was winding down in 1984, even though computers like the Commodore 64, Radio Shack CoCo and Apple IIe still dominated the home market. Things would change dramatically in the next year, with the introduction of machines such as the Atari ST and Commodore Amiga with their powerful Motorola processors, custom chipsets and svelte 3.5" floppy disk drives.

Things were much different in the German Democratic Republic. It would be another 5 years before the Berlin Wall crumbled, and the struggle to appear modern in a world of microprocessors and accelerating technology was getting harder with each passing month. The GDR has a burgeoning electronics industry, but the primary focus was the production of desktop machines destined for business use. Home computers were unheard of. 

That's where the Robotron Z1013 comes in. Once you got past the rustic presentation, it was a reasonably powerful home or educational machine. The processor was initially a Z80 clone running at 1MHz, with a 2K ROM bootloader, 16K RAM, monochrome video output and a cassette tape interface for program storage.

There were a couple of gotchas, of course. Available as a DIY kit, this single board computer didn't include a real case and the horrific membrane keyboard was arranged alphabetically. Worse, a chronic shortage of microchips meant that the system used chips that had been rejected for use in commercial machines -- the Z80-compatible processor and memory were de-clocked from 2MHz to 1MHz, simply because they didn't function reliably at full speed.

The Z1013 was on the market for five years, but sales dried up with the collapse of the communist regime and the sudden availability of much more sophisticated machines from the west. Still, many brilliant German programmers learned to code on this machine before stepping to the forefront of software design in the early 1990s.

Read more about the Robotron Z1013 in the computer museum

Wall To Wall Retro Video Games From Ikea For $10

Originally I was going to write about an ongoing retro video game Ebay auction that had already reached more than a half million dollars, but the listing has been pulled. We were wondering whether those bids could have been real, but it's "game over" on the auction. Sadly, the point is moot.

That said, we would have thoroughly enjoyed the affiliate fees had one of our faithful Retro Thing readers won the lot, but we figure that perhaps it's smarter to find a thriftier way to share our love of old video games. For me, being a career cheapass is what got me into retro video games in the first place...

Ikea, of all places, is offering a set of wall decals to retro up any room in your house that has... uh... walls. While not devoted to any specific game, you can feel the ghost of Berzerk & Space Invaders here. Because the decals are lo-res blocks of a single color, I'm reminded of the stripped down graphics of the earliest home consoles, so this is about as retro as retro gaming gets.

For $10, the SLÄTTHULT (I know, I know...) provides you with four sheets of decals about the size of a legal pad. It's the same lineup of characters on each sheet, and you get two color variations. The sameyness is even MORE of an authentic retro gaming move if you ask me.

Other companies have offered similar retro gaming wall decals, but they've almost universally been way too expensive. Only a few have been of actual gaming graphics - most I've seen show characters like Mario and Zelda rendered as cartoons. Cute, but my memory of these characters is a but more on the blocky side.

For those of you who don't want to splash out the 10 smackers for the Ikea decals, and if you want to go even deeper into video game history, you'll be pleased to know that Retro Thing is negotiating to bring you wall decals of our own. For $4 we hope to send you the end of a roll of masking tape, and instructions on how to create your own wall-sized Pong diorama.

SLÄTTHULT computer game stickers

R.I.P. André Cassagnes, Inventor Of The Etch-A-Sktch

On January 16th, 2013 we lost André Cassagnes, 86 year old inventor of the Etch-A-Sketch. The Etch-A-Sketch is one of those rare enduring classic toys that has changed little in the decades since its birth, and is just as beloved today as ever.

Cassagnes was a French electrical technician. In the late 50s he was installing a new light switch plate, peeled back the protective decal which had attracted some nearby metallic powder thanks to the natural electrostatic charge of the plastic. He made some marks on the clear plastic, and noticed that they became visible through the reverse side. it took some years to transform the idea into a toy, which he then sold to Ohio Art in 1959 for $25,000.

For most of its life, Etch-A-Sketch stood steadfastly by its original iconic design. Originally mimicking an early television (in those early days of TV, lots of products made a point of resembling a television set), the red frame and white knobs remained a staple of good toy design - and good package design. Long before every toy boasted an appealing "try me" button, Etch-A-Sketch invited young fingers to play. Toy shelves transformed into impromptu art galleries of all of the pre-sale attempts at Etch-A-Sketch masterpieces.

While the standard Etch-A-Sketch is still sold in stores today, there have been a number of variants over the years. Different colored screens, glittery frames, pocket sized versions, even a 1980s all-electronic version that could save and playback multiple chunky pixel images to create animation.

"Serious" artists have scribed astonishingly detailed (and elaborately pre-planned, I'd guess...) pictures with the humble toy. Once completed, artists often drill a hole in the bottom and dump out the aluminum powder to make sure that no one accidentally erases hours of work with a careless shake.

To show you how relevant a 50 year old toy can still be, recently Etch-A-Sketch joined the sketchy world of politics during the seemlingly interminable 2012 U.S. presidential election. A careless comment from one of Mitt Romney's senior advisers, Eric Fehrnstrom, likened his boss' campaign strategy to the classic toy: “Everything changes. It’s almost like an Etch A Sketch. You can kind of shake it up and restart all over again.”

Whoops. A comment possibly intended as a bragging point about flexibility came off sounding like the candidate had no actual political agenda. Both sides of the aisle were in rare agreement that this quote was a spectacular goof. The winner was, of course Etch-A-Sketch, who saw sales rise by 30% (including a new blue-framed model for ardent Democrats).

Ohio Art, manufacturer of the Etch-A-Sketch, miraculously kept the manufacture of the classic toy in the USA until 2000. Just three years later, Etch-A-Sketch was named in 2003 as one of the 100 best toys of the 20th century - a tremendous legacy by any measure. So let's honor André Cassagnes' brilliant invention by giving our Etch-A-Sketches a good shake, and then we can all spend the rest of the day trying to draw a circle.

Retro-8: Sleek New 8mm Film Digitizing System

Movie film can last for many decades if stored in a cool, dark and dry environment. The problem is that few of us still own projection equipment, so the film shot by our parents and grandparents goes unwatched. Moviestuff in Utopia, Texas provides an impressive lineup of film digitization gear that helps you to revive old movie memories for the YouTube era.

Moviestuff's latest transfer machine is the Retro-8. This high quality device resembles a reel-to-reel tape player more than a film projector, but it can handle both Standard 8mm and Super 8 film using a state-of-the-art sprocketless film gate that allows you to mix the two film types without worrying about sprocket hole damage.

Designer Roger Evans tells us, "It runs at 2fps so it takes about 30 minutes to scan 50 feet. However, you can intermix Regular 8 and Super 8 on the same roll and it is totally automatic. The unit will stop itself at the end of a run, or in case of film breakage or jam. It is designed for home use and requires a PC with win 7 64 bit and 8 gigs of ram.

The unit connects via USB, so no special capture card is required. The software will eventually handle color negative film, too. We know neg works but the beta version of the software will be reversal (projection film) only. The final version of the software will also have a notification feature that will message your phone when the unit stops or completes its run. The gate features zero image area contact and the guide rollers are rubber that handle the film by the edges only."

The introductory price for the Retro-8 scanner is $2495. Understanding that many hobbyists don't have that kind of money, Moviestuff will also rent the machine for $100 per day, with a 5 day minimum. While that might seem expensive at first glance, if you've inherited a large stash of film reels it can work out significantly cheaper than paying a film transfer house for a decent copy.

For more information, visit the Moviestuff site.