Hello C64 From Ebay. Will You Be My PAL?
I finally managed to get my hands on a PAL C64. It came with a light gun, tension adjustable joystick, Datasette, and several games on tape. I have a NTSC/PAL S-Video to VGA converter box, but unfortunately the results were pretty horrible. I'm going to have to get myself a PAL capable monitor ASAP.
Breadbox64 - The Commodore 64 Twitter Client
As unbelievable as it may sound, there is now a Twitter client for the C64. It is called Breadbox64 and it was written by Johan Van den Brande. It is built on top of the Contiki network stack and requires a RR-Net compatible Ethernet card.
I have sent my first tweet from my C64 and it was good.
If you don't believe me, see for yourself. Here is a video from the author of the software:
I have sent my first tweet from my C64 and it was good.
If you don't believe me, see for yourself. Here is a video from the author of the software:
Did You Know That New Games Are Still Being Released For The Commodore 64?
It may surprise you to read this, but the venerable Commodore 64 is still getting new commercial game releases in this day and age. Although 99.99999% of the software industry left the C64 behind in the early 90s, there are a few independent developers and publishers here and there that still put out releases. One such label is Psytronik Software. Psytronic specializes in creative conversions and re-releases of classic 8 bit hits, and the development of new titles. Their most recent project, "Knight'n'Grail" has been getting a lot of positive buzz in the C64 community, and all indications point to the possibility of an instant classic. Check out this pre-release video:
More information about Knight'n'Grail can be found here:
http://psytronik.blogspot.com/2009/04/quest-for-holy-grail.html
http://www.binaryzone.org/retrostore/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=473
More information about Knight'n'Grail can be found here:
http://psytronik.blogspot.com/2009/04/quest-for-holy-grail.html
http://www.binaryzone.org/retrostore/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=473
I've Got Pac-Man Fever
If you grew up in the Atari age you'll undoubtedly remember the top-ten hit Pac-Man Fever. Pac-Man Fever was a single (1981) and album (1982) by recording artists Buckner & Garcia.
My fiancee happened to have a copy of the 1982 album which I've become rather reattached to since I recently got a Technics SL-1200MK2 Turntable. If you like Weird Al, you may find this album to be liquid crack. Unfortunately her copy has all signs of being owned by a child back in the day, so I set out on a hunt to get an archivable copy. Of course, the first thing I did was look to see if it made it to CD. I found it had been released on CD as a rerecording. Sadly the rerecording just doesn't do it for those nostalgic memories as the voices have aged and the original sound effects were not able to be re-licensed. Luckily I was able to import a "sealed" copy via gemm.com. It arrived from a record shop in Italy still in its wrap, but the seal was not 100% unbroken. Therefore, it had some mold/mildew on it that creeped in over the years, but otherwise it was untouched. I've managed to clean it up and I hope to digitally archive it ASAP.
My fiancee happened to have a copy of the 1982 album which I've become rather reattached to since I recently got a Technics SL-1200MK2 Turntable. If you like Weird Al, you may find this album to be liquid crack. Unfortunately her copy has all signs of being owned by a child back in the day, so I set out on a hunt to get an archivable copy. Of course, the first thing I did was look to see if it made it to CD. I found it had been released on CD as a rerecording. Sadly the rerecording just doesn't do it for those nostalgic memories as the voices have aged and the original sound effects were not able to be re-licensed. Luckily I was able to import a "sealed" copy via gemm.com. It arrived from a record shop in Italy still in its wrap, but the seal was not 100% unbroken. Therefore, it had some mold/mildew on it that creeped in over the years, but otherwise it was untouched. I've managed to clean it up and I hope to digitally archive it ASAP.
Track listing
- "Pac-Man Fever" (Pac-Man)
- "Froggy's Lament" (Frogger)
- "Ode to a Centipede" (Centipede)
- "Do the Donkey Kong" (Donkey Kong)
- "Hyperspace" (Asteroids)
- "The Defender" (Defender)
- "Mouse Trap" (Mouse Trap)
- "Goin' Berzerk" (Berzerk)
Yes, I'm a Cultist.
According to Infoworld.com, I'm a member of one of the biggest tech cults of all time:
http://www.infoworld.com/d/adventures-in-it/true-believers-biggest-cults-in-tech-433?page=0,4
http://www.infoworld.com/d/adventures-in-it/true-believers-biggest-cults-in-tech-433?page=0,4
New Goodies
A few new goodies have shown up over the past few weeks.
First up is a copy of Elementary Commodore 64. This book is very unique because the book is littered with some very trippy 80s artwork interpretations of computer language concepts. I may devote a future post to the artwork in this book since I didn't have time to take many photos today.
My 1541ultimate with Ethernet arrived last week. This is an amazing cartridge which offers full 1541 emulation while reading/writing to a SD card. It even has an audio out which sends audio that mimics the sound of a 1541. It also has a flashable cartridge ROM and many other very cool features. The current feature set can be found here. Apparently SuperCPU emulation is coming soon too, which is something I am very excited about.
Other notable recent items include a pleather dust cover for my main 1541 and JiffyDOS sets for 2 of my C64s, 1 1541, and 1 1541 II.
First up is a copy of Elementary Commodore 64. This book is very unique because the book is littered with some very trippy 80s artwork interpretations of computer language concepts. I may devote a future post to the artwork in this book since I didn't have time to take many photos today.
My 1541ultimate with Ethernet arrived last week. This is an amazing cartridge which offers full 1541 emulation while reading/writing to a SD card. It even has an audio out which sends audio that mimics the sound of a 1541. It also has a flashable cartridge ROM and many other very cool features. The current feature set can be found here. Apparently SuperCPU emulation is coming soon too, which is something I am very excited about.
Other notable recent items include a pleather dust cover for my main 1541 and JiffyDOS sets for 2 of my C64s, 1 1541, and 1 1541 II.
The Kindness of Strangers Near and Far
Last night I received a private message from a fellow lemoner who lives in the Toronto area that the Peggy Kelly Media Arts Studios had a Commodore 64, Commodore 1702 monitor, Commodore 1541 floppy drive, and a Star SL-10C printer that they were trying to find a home for. The manager of this arts center had posted to a mailing list that my internet acquaintance reads. Thankfully he remembered that I live in Saint Paul, MN.
I left a message with the arts center last night to let them know that I was interested. I received a call this morning that I could come and pick it up. Since I had the day off, I decided to make the drive across the metro area to save these retro goodies from ending up in a landfill. While I was there, I was shown around the the studio. The studio has a training area for electronic media production, a photography studio, a media conversion room (photos/VHS/Film to DVD, PAL to NTSC conversion, etc...), and a sound booth/audio recording facility. The art center that houses this studio also has an art gallery, coffee shop, and a shop with jewelry and other crafted items. The center is located in Edina and I recommend any readers in the area to check it out.
My thanks go out to both Golan and Phil for their kindness.
... and of course, the obligatory photos:
As you can see, both the printer and the drive appear to have never been used. The monitor is lightly used and in good condition. The tube appears to be in better shape than the 1702 that I've been using over the past year. The C64 is in good cosmetic condition, but unfortunately it boots to a blank screen. This is a very common issue with C64s that can be caused by several different failures that are usually easy to fix. I have a stack of dead C64s that I can use for parts, so I am pretty sure I can bring this one back to life with a chip swap or two.
I left a message with the arts center last night to let them know that I was interested. I received a call this morning that I could come and pick it up. Since I had the day off, I decided to make the drive across the metro area to save these retro goodies from ending up in a landfill. While I was there, I was shown around the the studio. The studio has a training area for electronic media production, a photography studio, a media conversion room (photos/VHS/Film to DVD, PAL to NTSC conversion, etc...), and a sound booth/audio recording facility. The art center that houses this studio also has an art gallery, coffee shop, and a shop with jewelry and other crafted items. The center is located in Edina and I recommend any readers in the area to check it out.
My thanks go out to both Golan and Phil for their kindness.
... and of course, the obligatory photos:
As you can see, both the printer and the drive appear to have never been used. The monitor is lightly used and in good condition. The tube appears to be in better shape than the 1702 that I've been using over the past year. The C64 is in good cosmetic condition, but unfortunately it boots to a blank screen. This is a very common issue with C64s that can be caused by several different failures that are usually easy to fix. I have a stack of dead C64s that I can use for parts, so I am pretty sure I can bring this one back to life with a chip swap or two.
