Author: geekpower

Okay, so you’ve gotten yourself a FujiNet. Now what?

Quickly, a FujiNet is a WiFi/SD card device that plugs into the SIO port on any Atari 8-bit computer to provide access to both the internet via (you guessed it) WiFi and an SD card via a small port on the side of the device. Once connected to WiFi software can be found and loaded into the Atari’s memory via tnfs servers (see quickstart guide below). If you place disk or cartridge images on the SD card, those can be loaded into the Atari’s memory as well. It’s a pretty simple system – and it’s menu-driven.

Well, it’s time to have some Atari 8-bit fun. But for that fun to transpire you’ll likely need to have a few questions answered first. So here are the resources I found useful when I first started out with my FujiNet.

Fujinet.online – this is the online home of FujiNet and, I believe, the best resource for starting out. You can find a quickstart guide (linked below) here, an informative wiki (also linked below) and firmware to download and update your FujiNet device. And lots of other stuff.

Quickstart guide – This is a relatively helpful quickstart guide. It’s not based on the latest firmware, but most of what is presented here, especially for the new FujiNet owner, will be helpful.

Fujinet Wiki – This is a great place to start diving into all the functions of the FujiNet and it tends to be well-maintained and up to date with the latest firmware.

Discord – The FujiNet discord server is fairly active and it’s a great place to ask questions and get help. Like many Discord instances, it’s not the easiest place to use if you’re looking for raw information. For that, I recommend…

Atari Age FujiNet Forum – This is a very active and friendly forum that’s easy to search and well-organized. Fujinet humans are wonderful examples of the species and tend to be both helpful and good-humored.

Atari Mania – If you’re looking for software for your Atari 8-bit, this is a great place to start. It has a huge database of programs from games to office productivity to utilities and more. Most have links for downloading a disk, cartridge or cassette images.

Alright, time to get online with your Atari 8-bit and have some satisfying, nostalgic fun.

Remembering my favorite arcade game.

As a young teenager I lived in the French Quarter in New Orleans. It shared quite a bit with Mos Isley at that time; the quote “You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. We must be cautious” was an apt description of the Quarter at that time. But nonetheless, my parents let me roam freely through the mean streets of NOLA as I assume they were under the impression there was likely little trouble their 14 year old could get into seeing as he was such an insufferable nerd.

Down the street from our apartment above the Washing Well LaunDRYteria was a Circle K; a common enough convenience store for the US at the time. And within this Circle K, shoved right up next to the glass entrance door was the holy grail of arcade cabinets, Spy Hunter. The moment I pulled open the door and was smashed in the ears by the Peter Gunn theme blasting from the cabinet’s speakers, I knew I was in heaven. And I would commence to shove every available quarter I could beg, borrow and steal into the thing.

Near the end of my freshman year in high school we moved to a slightly less seedy part of the French Quarter and the four of five more block walk was just too much for me; that, and we were now within spitting distance of Imagine, the most glorious game shop ever created. And as my interest shifted from Spy Hunter to D&D I found myself letting go of that glorious game and the Circle K experience and spending all my time immersed in thick fantasy tomes at the game shop.

But I still have such a happy place in my heart for that glorious cabinet,  though I’ve not seen one since the summer after my freshman year in High School.

(written on my Amiga 1000)