The greatest thing ever

One of the greatest things on the planet showed up in my mailbox today – the Retro-Bit RetroGen.

What is a RetroGen? Only a portable Sega Genesis. That puts it solidly in the running for “The Greatest Thing Ever” award.

The pitiful photo above is one I tried to take of the RetroBit running Sonic The Hedgehog 3. I took about a dozen photos and they all came out fuzzy and horrible. So I got frustrated, scaled one down to nothing, wrote “suck” on it and then posted the photo here.

Fortunately, the system is a heck of a lot better than the photo. I bought the RetroGen for about $50 (with shipping) from Video Game Central. That’s cheap considering what a great system this is.

I had originally set out to buy a Sega Genesis Nomad but was deterred by the expense of the things (around $100 easy) and the fact those things simply suck down batteries – 6 “AA” batteries last less than two hours in that thing.

The RetroGen is a lot cheaper, it’s licensed by Sega and has a built-in battery that lasts up to six hours and is recharged through a USB port. The 2.8” screen on the unit is more than adequate and I’m even getting used to the control pad (it doesn’t feel a thing like the one on my Sega Genesis). The only two complaints I have about this unit is that the absolutely huge cartridge slot does get in the way (leading to a bit of discomfort) and the tiny speaker in this system is terrible.

Still, those slight negatives don’t detract much from this fine unit. The ability to take classic Genesis games on the road is too great for words and the unit is pretty solid. The emulation has been very good so far. It takes both Genesis and Mega Drive carts and can be switched between NTSC and PAL display formats.

And this unit is built on the Firecore emulation engine. All that means is this – there are still Genesis games being developed on the Firecore platform and this unit can run them with a special cartridge and mini SD card (apparently). I’m not too excited about this as this unit comes with 20 built in games and they all stink.

The exciting thing, of course, is that I can take that beloved Sega Genesis library of mine on the road. And for $50? That’s a steal. Want one? Get it by clicking here.

Casinos – just what we need in Arkansas

Michael Wasserman needs to stay in Texas and keep the hell out of my state.

Who is Michael Wasserman? He’s this fellow who keeps trying to get the voters of my beloved Arkansas to grant him a monopoly so he can build casinos all over the damned place.

He tried to get proposals on ballots back in 2006 and 2009 that would allow his company – and only his company – to set up casinos in Arkansas. Neither proposal made it to the ballot.

Now he’s back with a new proposal that would allow him to put up his sleazy little casinos in Boone, Crittenden, Garland, Jefferson, Miller, Pulaski and Sebastian counties. In other words, he wants voters to allow him to set up some mini Pottersvilles and lining his Longhorn pockets with our cash.

To hell with Wasserman and greedy little gnats like him.

I’ll admit up front that I hate casinos. In my mind, the only good casino is one that is empty, on fire and not covered by insurance. I don’t want them in Arkansas any more than I want the two current state-sanctioned gambling dens in Arkansas – Oaklawn (horse racing and a bunch of things that look like casino games but aren’t classified as such) in Hot Springs and Southland Greyhound Park (which has more of those casino lookalike games) in West Memphis. If you want to throw your money away, go blow it at one of those two filthy eyesores or (better yet) send it to me.

Yes, I’m simply opposed to casinos as I don’t want to live within 200 miles of one of the nasty things. However, my objection to Wasserman goes beyond moral concerns – as much as I detest casinos, the idea of giving someone a state-sanctioned monopoly so he can run one is simply ludicrous.

Why should Wasserman have the right to operate a profitable business when no one else can? If we’re going to let him show up in Arkansas and open one, how can we exclude the next guy or the one after that? How can we – as Arkansans – possibly allow a situation to exist where a guy can build a business that is absolutely free of competition?

If the people of this state won’t casinos, then let’s allow the things. Don’t just allow one guy to come in, build seven of them and not let anyone else compete. The way I see it, we either allow casinos or we don’t – monopolies are nasty and we ought not have them sanctioned by state law.

And, yes, that means that Oaklawn and Southland ought to be forced out of existence or forced to deal with the prospect of (gasp!) having to deal with competitors for a change.

Wasserman will, apparently, start his “Let Me Rape You, Arkansas” tour soon by trying to get enough signatures on petitions to put his self-serving proposal on the ballot. I do hope Wasserman and his flunkies get a chilly reception from my fellow Arkansans.

Looking for real estate news?

No, I’m not out trying to sell anything.

Nope.

I don’t talk about my “day job” a whole lot around here, but I make my living as a public relations guy for the Arkansas Realtors Association. One of the things I do there is maintain our blog, The Arkansas Realtor.

So consider this an invitation to head over for a visit and sign up for our free digesting service by filling out the light blue subscription form in the right sidebar on that blog. You’ll get the latest in Arkansas real estate news as well as discussion of national trends, issues that impact consumers, etc.

The digests come out every two weeks and I do hope a good number of people subscribe. At the very least, I hope some of you folks will pay The Arkansas Realtor a visit and find something useful over there.

Music Monday – U2’s ‘Pride (In the name of Love)’

Come join Music Monday and share your songs with us. One simple rule, leave ONLY the actual post link here. You can grab this code at LJL Please note these links are STRICTLY for Music Monday participants only. All others will be deleted without prejudice.





PS: Because of spamming purposes, the linky will be closed on Thursday of each week at midnight, Malaysian Time. Thank you!

Pervert alert!

Now, folks, there’s a photo that demands attention, isn’t it?

It makes you curious – makes you wonder what it’s all about.

Just admit it – you want to find out all about the pervert. You want to know about what identified the particular individual as a pervert and what right minded people are doing about it.

Well, you can read all about the pervert (and his weird, trick sweatpants) by clicking here and heading over to the blog I maintain for my employer. The story is well worth reading. I promise.