http://oldskoolblog.com Reliving the past 8 bits at a time Sat, 16 Aug 2008 01:29:32 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en I've moved this blog to a new hosting site (Bluehost) and hope to start posting more regularly. Some posts and comments didn't survive the transfer process for some reason, but it mostly looks okay. http://oldskoolblog.com/2008/08/16/moved-2/ Wow. It's 25 years since the first virus was released into the wild. While the Elk Cloner wasn't technically the first virus, it is generally accepted as such because it was the first to spread widely on personal computer which were starting to become popular and widespread. I'm glad to say ... http://oldskoolblog.com/2007/09/03/happy-birthday/ A while back I wrote about the Micro-Comp, a small single-board Z-80 computer I built from a kit many years ago. For those who are interested, Talking Electronics still has copies of the magazine which contains all the instructions and PCB layouts required to build the Micro-Comp. The magazine is ... http://oldskoolblog.com/2007/08/10/yet-more-on-the-micro-comp/ Bil Herd, one of the key designers of the Commodore 128, popped into the Retrobits forum to explain how and why the Z80 made it into the Commodore 128. So if you ever wondered why the 128 had a CP/M mode, here's the story straight from the horses mouth. http://oldskoolblog.com/2007/07/27/why-was-there-a-cpm-mode-in-the-commodore-128/ Damn! I just discovered that Jim Butterfield, one of the leading lights of the Commodore world passed away on June 29, 2007 after losing his battle with cancer. I remember reading countless magazine articles and one or two books written by Jim over the years - he was one of ... http://oldskoolblog.com/2007/07/10/jim-butterfield-14-february-1936%e2%80%9329-june-2007/ I am often amazed at the price some items go for on eBay. For example, take this Vic 20. It comes complete in its original box, has an 8K RAM expansion cartridge, two reasonably common game cartridges and a couple of books. Now Vic 20's have been less common recently, ... http://oldskoolblog.com/2007/07/09/ridiculous-ebay-prices-and-postage/ Here's a list of various kits and projects based on classic microcomputers of yesteryear. Some of these are true to the original (down to using original components where possible) while others are re-imaginings of old systems. Micro-KIM - A KIM-1 clone that appears to be reasonably true to the original, though ... http://oldskoolblog.com/2007/07/02/links-to-various-kits-and-projects-based-on-classic-microcomputers/ One of my other hobbies is electronics and it is always a bonus when two or more of my hobbies combine. For example, a couple of years ago I saw a kit for a "Classic TV Pong Game" in my local electronics store so I had to get it. It ... http://oldskoolblog.com/2007/02/11/pic-pong/ I think it is time to (temporarily) halt my eBay activities. At least until I get my current collection properly sorted out and catalogued. I'm spending way too much time buying "new" computers/peripherals/software/books when I don't really know exactly what I have and can barely find the time to play ... http://oldskoolblog.com/2007/02/04/trading-freeze/ Work has eased up a little bit, but things are still pretty full on so I haven't had much chance to get back to my hobbies. Having said that, I have managed to add to my collection - another Mattel Aquarius complete with mini expander, RAM expansion, tape unit and ... http://oldskoolblog.com/2007/01/14/still-alive/