i climbed a mountain. almost.

ladyface mountain, view from the bottom. ladyface mountain climbladyface mountain climbladyface mountain peak
I have wanted to climb Ladyface for ages. The weather was perfect and my morning was free. As i drove over, there was some fog still suspended in the morning chill.  Flowers were blooming, bees buzzing, and bunnies taking care of buisness.  The view from the bottom was a bit daunting.  I spent too much time with my camera and drone, so i didn’t quite reach the summit.  i also allowed more time than required for the decent. I will return in part 2!

ladyface mountain climb

My visit to the Vintage Computer Festival SoCal

Vintage Computer Festival SoCal Logo

There were so many incredible computers from the 70s, 80s, and 90s!  Beautiful computers that might have just been taken out of the box.  I got to play with an Amiga 4000 with a Video Toaster! (My dream box from the 90s)  I used a Commodore Pet that is older than i am. Some of my favorite stuff is modern boards that work with the vintage computers like micro SD floppy drives and Wi-Fi modems.

Vintage Computer Festival SoCal - Amiga 4000 ToasterVintage Computer Festival SoCal - Amiga 500 DemoVintage Computer Festival SoCal - Commodore PetVintage Computer Festival SoCal - iBook Rainbow
Vintage Computer Festival SoCal - Analog TV Demo

My visit to Nike Missile Site LA-88

Nike Missile Site LA-88

The Nike Missile Site LA-88 is back in the mountains of Chatsworth, not far from Oat Mt.  It’s an impressive 450 foot gain from the parking, but it’s a pretty cool piece of Los Angeles’ Cold War history.  The site includes some great dilapidation if your like that kind of thing.  Ruins of two Buses and a car as well as a few buildings and some very sketchy entrances into dark underground places.

Nike Missile Site LA-88Nike Missile Site LA-88

Nike-Missile-LA-88 SiteNike-Missile-LA-88 SiteNike-Missile-LA-88 Site
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Rehashing an old Mario trick

After watching the Mario movie with kids, i dropped original NES Super Mario Bros on them.  They enjoyed the new (to them) gameplay, while marveling at the limitations: you cannot go back?  With me remembering a surprising number of secrets, i got a bug in me to revive this ancient trick.  Unfortunately, i wasn’t able to get it working correctly in the limited lives i had.  Undaunted, i finally completed it just a few days later while waiting on an OS upgrade.

my favorite part was that it overflowed the numerals and became pictures when displaying the remaining lives. if you got too many extra lives, it ended the game.

Super Mario Lives - Crown Blue Square

My visit to Super Nintendo Land!

Super Mario Land - Universal Studios CA
There is just no describing the awe and magistracy of exiting that pipe to see Super Nintendo Land in all it’s glory!  I was very impressed.  However, that impression was short lived after i learned there was only a single attraction.  Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge’ ride was fun and included some novel new interactive play.  However, the interactive elements of the land were few and behind long lines and the required $40 NFC wristband. (my flipper read it as a NTAG I2C Plus 1K ISO 14443-3 NFC-a)  It seems that there is only one quest to do involving the collection of four keys. There also appears to be some interaction with the Mario Kart ride, though the specifics were unclear.  As the primary draw to the the park this visit, it was in turn the biggest disappointment.  i hope this 3D Bowser makes it worth it.

Super Nintendo World - Bowser Anaglyph 3D

Status update:

be3n wardriving wigle map

Half a million Wifi access points discovered!  I’ve also integrated the Raspberry Pi Foundation 7 inch touch display into the phone compartment on my Tesla center console.  This allows me to see the status of the scan as well as change operating modes.  There are almost no light leaks with the lid closed, but at night the screen is washed out in photos. A usb port was added for convenience.  I will want to clean up the USB port and add some physical buttons.

wardriving interface lid closewardriving interface at nightnightwardriving interface added usb