24 August 2005

From: Robert Bernardo

 Herd/Haynie video ready for download

At the Commodore Vegas Expo (CommVEx), former CBM engineers Bil Herd and Dave Haynie were not able to attend the show.  In their place, they sent a special video presentation in celebration of the C128's 20th anniversary.

Not only did they talk about the C128 but they also showed some rare prototypes, including the Commodore LCD!

It's now available for download in .mpg format.

http://www.c128.com/bilndave.mpeg for a sraight download
http://www.c128.com to save the file to disk first.

or James Crook's site -
http://24.208.112.150/commodore.html
The link is at the bottom of the page.

Note from Ken Ross:
I've  downloaded  this movie file. The size = 167MB and the running time is 18 mins. As downloaded it's not directly ToastVCD compatible on the Mac ~ but running it through VCDgear converts it okay for both Toast & Charismac Discribe . ( Neromax still don't like it though ). It's a very good item to have in your collection .

6 February 2005

You may have heard a rumor that CS50 will be the last issue of Commodore Scene. Well, it is correct that there will not be a CS binder for 2005 - BUT I want to make this perfectly clear - providing there is still enough interest, CS will return in 2006 with an all new binder.

So what happens between now and then ? I am well aware that Commodore reading is running a bit thin at the moment so I am going to supply FREE of charge a newsletter, ( CS News), to all subscribers and interested parties in 2005. So, spread the word and get people to e-mail me at allan.bairstow@btinternet.com for a FREE copy.

I have had to take a break for 2005 as last year saw me taking on more than I could handle. Also, there was a death of a very close relative in my family and one of my children had to have an operation. All of this took its toll on myself & my family and that is why CS had to take a back seat for a short while.

During 2005 1 intend to complete all those projects that I have had to put off due to time restrictions ( 64HDD, C=VGA, IDE64, CSOOOM64, etc). Also in 2005 we are hoping to have some type of club meetings to discuss and thrash out ideas for our Commodore 64s (and others).

Commodore Scene WILL be here through 2005 and it WILL still be here in 2006 too. So everybody just hang in there until things get back to normal.

Thanks for your patience, Allan Bairstow

4 January 2005

You go away for Christmas and come back to find Commodore, the name that is, has ben sold again!

The Dutch company, Tulip, announced last week that they had sold the Commodore name to the US company, Yeahronimo Media Ventures, for $33m.

Tulip have tried various ruses to get money from the Commodore name since they bought it in 1997. Most recently has been the C64DTV.

I fail to see why companies keep paying good money for the Commodore name. We afficianados have moved on and are unlikely to be swayed into buying new products by the name alone. They need to be good products, not copycats of past glories. It is not known what Yeahronimo intend to produce.

At least Tulip is still in business, which is more than can be said for other owners of the Commodore name over the years.

7 September 2004

This long out of print book that charts the start of the home computer game, with particular reference to Jack Tramiel and Commodore, has now been scanned and is available for download.

Here is a synopsis

The Home Computer Wars
An Insider's Account of Commodore and Jack Tramiel

In one of the most intriguing moves in modern corporate history, Jack Tramiel, the most successful consumer computer manufacturer, recently left Commodore, the company he had founded, and bought Atari, one of his biggest victims in the billion-dollar battle for the personal computer dollar.

A survivor of the Nazi Holocaust, Tramiel had taken a tiny typewriter parts company and built it into a major American corporation. In the process, he became a modern corporate legend. Some of his vice presidents thought he was a saint; some thought he had the world's hardest heart. But few deny the brilliance of this complex entrepreneur.

For the past four years, Michael Tomczyk was Tramiel's assistant. Throughout Commodore's explosive rise to leadership in the computer field, Tomczyk was a close insider. Most importantly, Tomczyk is a keen observer, and his book takes the reader into a vivid, dramatic world where a powerful, brilliant businessman almost single-handedly fashions the American consumer computer industry.

It was a titanic struggle, a two-front war. Conflict raged inside Commodore, as careers rose and fell. Outside, archrivals Texas Instruments and Atari fought a losing battle against an increasingly aggressive Commodore attack. This book takes you through some of the most exciting episodes in modern American business, concluding with the latest events at Jack Tramiel's new company, Atari.

For those of us who have been around since the early days of IPUG, this book makes a fascinating read

Point your browser at:
http://www.jbrain.com/pub/cbm/books/hcw/

The first six chapters are in an odd format, as regards newline characters. It is best to click each file in turn to view them and then save to a file on disk for reading offline.

11 July 2004

The first annual "Classic Gaming Expo UK" is being hosted in South London this July.

The event is a 2 day interactive experience at the end of July - come and play on arcade machines, consoles and computers from the 70s - 90s. Test drive a Sinclair C5. Take part in our competitions AND meet some famous names from British computing history - Matthew Smith - creator of Manic Miner and Jet Set Willy, and The Oliver Twins - creators of the many "Dizzy" games for Commodore etc...

For more information, please visit www.cgeuk.com

4 February 2004

GEOS is now ready for downloading. Just go to:

http://cmdrkey.com

...and you'll find a link there to the download pages.

I'm still open for suggestions on the download section for GEOS, so if anyone has any ideas or finds any errors, missing files, bad files, etc., please post a report them on the Homestead list.

Also, I'd like not to get flooded with personal email from new users on how to do this or how to do that in GEOS. I hope you understand. But that's what the Homestead list is here for. Please post your help and questions there on the list. There are many, many, experienced GEOS users here just waiting to help. I'll still post answers to questions if I have time, but most likely there is already someone else here with the answers and maybe even better answers than I can provide.

It would also be good if someone can post a bunch of useful GEOS links there. These should be links that can help a new user.

Have fun, and start enjoying GEOS.

Maurice

Any Commodore Topic Goes List
http://lists.videocam.net.au/mailman/listinfo/homestead

8 November 2003

Micromart is having another expo at the N.E.C.  Birmingham, UK on 30th November 2003. More info at:
http://www.micromart.co.uk/default.asp?category=fair

Sean Bebbington is organising a retro section again. Ken Ross is putting the finishing touches to another video that should be shown there . Subject? Commodore of course .

15 July 2003

Do you remember in the death throes of Commodore it seemed that whomsoever picked up the rights to the Commodore name immediately went bust? Well Tulip, who have held the rights for a while, without going bust, have licensed a company called Ironstone the rights to the Commodore 64 name for entertainment type products. Tulip retains the rights for business oriented products.

Apparently Ironstone want to release retro style games via an 'Official' Commodore 64 emulator for current operating systems. This stuff will be available via an 'Official' Commodore 64 web portal. They have already threatened other unoffocial users of the Commodore 64 brand, although non-commercial sites are safe from the threats.

Tulip are planning to introduce new hardware that uses the emulator. But like the always promised, but never seen, Amiga update, I'll believe it when I see it!

15 March 2003

Adam Dunkels sends this information:

I am very proud to announce the availability of the first version of the Internet-enabled Contiki operating system and desktop environment!

This first version runs on the Commodore 64, but ports to a bunch of other systems such as the VIC20, CBM PET, Plus/4, Apple ][, Atari 8-bit, NES, Atari Jaguar, etc., are under rapid development.

The first version of Contiki consists of:

* Multitasking kernel.
* Windowing system with themeable GUI toolkit.
* Screensaver.
* TCP/IP networking with RS-232/SLIP or Ethernet (PPP support is under development).
* Personal web server for convenient file transfers (currently only on C64/TFE systems).
* Simple Telnet client (instead of the web server on RS232-systems).
* Web browser (the world's first true web browser for 8-bit systems!).

Contiki is written almost entirely in C and is therefore highly portable. See the Contiki web site for more information, a FAQ, lots of screenshots and for downloading the binaries or the source code:

http://dunkels.com/adam/contiki/

Contiki was written in the C programming language by me, (Adam Dunkels), with encouragement, suggestions and support from Ullrich von Bassewitz, author of the cc65 C compiler. The VIC-20 port has been made in cooperation with Anders Carlsson, the Atari 8-bit port in cooperation with Christian Groessler, and the NES port together with Groepaz/Hitmen. Chris Morse is currently working on the Apple ][ port and Matthias Domin is working on the Atari Jaguar port. Lawrence Chitty is working on PPP support and on porting Contiki to the Sharp Wizard PDA, Fabio Fumi is porting selected parts of Contiki to the Casio PocketViewer, and James Dessart is porting Contiki to the Tandy CoCo. Mikael Backlund has drawn the Contiki desktop icons. Huge thanks to all for making this possible!

15 August 2002

A Retro attraction at the N.E.C, Birmingham, which will include many formats. Obviously, we have the capibility for a C128 or C64 to surf the Internet via the Wave, and intend to fully demonstrate all upgrades for as many computers as possible.

The dates for the show are 21st and 22nd of September 2002 - tickets are £5.00 with free parking. Consessions etc... will apply. For full information, please see:

http://www.micromart.co.uk

or pick up a copy of Micro Mart magazine from your local newsagents (UK).

Email me for more details: Shaun@micromart.co.uk

I can send you a full list of the technologies that will be there, including many rare items. (Possibly get hold of a Commodore MAX for the show!)

Shaun.

Update (9 September 2002)

Ken Ross tells me that, all being well, visitors to the retro section of the micromart expo should be able to see a short film about the Commodore 8000 series, produced, directed etc ....

3 July 2002

Just add 3*A4 sheets of card and you can have a 1/4 scale 8032 sitting on your display shelf !

See http://users.macunlimited.net/kenross/KIT.HTML

(at some point a matching 8050 drive will be worked on) ;->

16 February 2002

The second annual Commodore & Classic Computer event (a.k.a. U.K. Commodore Expo) is coming June 22 to the Limelight Club in Crewe, Cheshire, England.  Tickets are free, though donations may be accepted. 

For updates, please see Commodore Scene or Retro Computing Today.

http://commodorescene.org.uk
http://members.aol.com/retrocomtoday/index.htm

Thanks,
Shaun.

5 September 2001

Hi all Commodore friends,

Today, on 5th of September 2001, GoDot is no longer commercial software. I declare GoDot to be public domain.

It will be downloadable from my website in two sizes.

One - containing only the major loaders and savers and the most important modules - will be a single D64 file.

The other, being the complete version accompanied by sample images and GoDot related supplies, will take five D64s resp. one D81.

The free release of GoDot does not include any manuals or other written stuff, so the owners of their rights may sell their products as usual. I'm sure, however, that alternative articles and written help will be published soon. I'd even like to encourage people to share their experiences and skills with other GoDot users. At least, new publications from my side are in their making.

Have fun using free GoDot!
Download: http://www.godot64.de/download

Arndt Dettke, GoDot C64 Image Processing ( http://www.GoDot64.de)
support@GoDot64.de 

10 July 2001

A PRESS RELEASE - The UK Commodore Event Of The Year !

Shaun Bebbington (staff writer for CS) is organising a UK event/show to showcase what is  happening with Commodore at the moment. Details are a bit sketchy at the moment but a probable line up would be as follows :

Ticket price is £1 per person, payable in advance at CS or directly to Shaun.

Probable dates are either 18th or 25th August or 1st, 8th, 15th September 2001.

The event will take place over a weekend in Crewe and may even be two days long.

A minimum of 40 people need to pre-order tickets to enable the venue to be booked.

The line up for the event is still under negotiation but people who have said they WILL attend are as follows :

Shaun Bebbington - displaying various Commodore items (and more).

Allan Bairstow / Commodore Scene - displaying various high powered set-ups and the latest CS-SuperPSU, 4 player adaptor, etc.

Jeri Ellsworth (from the USA) - Displaying her new CommodoreONE computer.

High Street Micros - items for sale.

Further attendees who have yet to confirm are :

Graham Howden - RetroX shop and Retro Classix magazine.
Jason MacKensie - Commodore Zone.

There will be topics and talks being given on many subjects throughout the day and it promises to be THE event for the Commodore in the UK for 2001.

It is now in your hands as a Commodore user ~ if we don't get the ticket orders then the event will not happen  . It is worth the small fee alone just to see and hear Jeri speak all the way from the USA  ~ if she can make the effort to travel all that way then I am sure we can travel a small distance to see her  . If you only ever visit one Commodore event in your life then please make it this one !

More details will follow soon. These will include local accomodation, travel details,etc.

Contact: Allan at the usual editorial address - allan.bairstow@btinternet.com
OR Sean at - Ramlink666@aol.com

Allan Bairstow & Shaun Bebbington

20 May 2001

Another (U.S.) supplier of Commodore hardware has pulled out of the market. the official announcement follows.

As of June 1, 2001 CMD will no longer be accepting any new orders for Commodore related equipment. We will however entertain all serious offers for the purchase of remaining parts inventories and the production rights to CMD products. Please note that production quantities on many products will be limited to parts that are in stock and as a result CMD reserves the right to cancel any resulting back-orders that exceed our current parts inventories.

We request that only serious offers be submitted for consideration. Please submit any proposal via email to sales@cmdweb.com or fax to 413-525-0147.

Sincerely,
Charles A. Christianson
Vice President, CMD

(Ken Ross: This means, if you want some Commodore equipment, it's best to have words with Alan Bairstow and his import service promptly!)

12 May 2001

Classic Gaming Expo 2001

Jackie Gaughan's Plaza Hotel and Casino
Las Vegas, Nevada
August 11-12

Classic Gaming Expo is an annual celebration of the roots and history of the videogame industry.  If you remember what it's like to cram a videogame into 4k of ROM with only 128 bytes of memory to work with, or would like to chat with some of the people who made the industry you are part of what it is today, Classic Gaming Expo is for you.  Dozens of the pioneers of the videogame industry will be on-hand as well as hundreds of videogame fanatics.

[John Harris, president of the Amiga Group Enthusiasts of Fresno, and speaker and attendee at last year's CGE, tells me that thousands of people were there.  And he tells me that Commodore gaming is there, too.]

Feast your eyes on just a few of the special guests who attended last year's CGE:

Ralph Baer - Often referred to as the Father of Videogames as he designed the Odyssey I - the first cartridge-based game system.

Blue Sky Rangers - The original group of Mattel programmers responsible for most of the Intellivision game library.

Activision Originals - Steve Cartwright, David Crane, and Garry Kitchen were household names to anyone with an Atari 2600 in the early 80's.

>Atari 2600 Programmers - Dennis Koble, Steve Woita, Rob Fulop, Howard Warshaw, Bob Smith, Tod Frye, and Bob Polaro created some of the best VCS games ever.

Joe Decuir -Worked with Jay Miner to design the Atari 2600 and also worked on the Atari 800 and the original Amiga 1000 computer.

Electronic Games Magazine - Arnie Katz, Bill Kunkel, and Joyce Worley were major players at the gamer's magazine of the 80's.

Special guests are only a part of what's happening at CGE.  There will be literally dozens of classic arcade games lining the walls and available for play, scores of vendors offering classic games for sale, game contests and tournaments, keynote speeches and roundtable discussions, and a museum boasting the most comprehensive collection of classic videogame hardware and software ever assembled.

More information on the show and the festivities planned can be found at: >www.cgexpo.com

For ticket and/or booth reservations, email info@cgexpo.com

4/10 April 2001

Hallo,

Some people complained about the fact that neither the original maintainer of the Commodore Ring, nor Yahoo, replies to any mail regarding the Ring. The ring itself has not been updated for a very long time as well. So I can only assume that the maintainer is "dead".

In an earlier mailing in comp.sys.cbm I already offered to host a new ring but only after it is proven that the above is true and nobody else has better ideas or is willing to accept the task. Before I take any steps at all, I'll wait a few weeks for any response to this mail, positive or negative.

If the idea for a new ring is accepted my personal intention is to keep the original names and logos, unless the original owner of these complains. But other ideas are welcome as well.

Date: Tue, 10 Apr 2001

Yesterday evening I uploaded the first pages of the new Ring. Please have a look at:

http://home.hccnet.nl/g.baltissen/ring.htm

I'm working on a new, simpler, URL. I welcome all comments, ideas, help and critics. This includes comment on the name. If someone has a better idea for a graphic, (s)he is welcome as well.

Groetjes, Ruud
http://Ruud.C64.org

Editor: This is a seriously good site and a vital resource for the Commodore 64 enthusiast. I had a quick look at this site and searched around. Following Craig Bruce's home page I came across the Transactor Archive at:
http://www.csbruce.com/pub/transactor/

Transactor was a marvellous magazine for C64 techies. This site shows scanned images of the magazines pages and is easily readable. I had a look at the languages issue and noticed an article on Hidden (6502) Op-Codes. I thought that's interesting - I might get a name check in this since I did some original work. Blow me it referred to Raeto West's book instead. Raeto only copied my article from the ICPUG magazine but had the decency to acknowledge me!

3 April 2001

Vintage Computer Festival Europe 2.0
April 28 and 29, 2001 in Munich, Germany

The second annual European Vintage Computer Festival awaits you!

Our mission is to encourage the preservation of obsolete computer hardware and software, to promote interest in researching and documenting the history of the computer age ... and to have fun playing with old iron.

The Vintage Computer Festival is already a fixed entry in the Silicon Valley timetable. Now it will also become a European event, celebrating our computer heritage.

Let us return to those thrilling days of yesteryear, when geeks were geeks and floppies were really floppy.

Exhibition

Dozens of old, (but still not obsolete), computers to be viewed and touched. No barrier between you and your dreams.. (It may be a good idea to ask the exhibitor before dismantling his unit :)

Speeches

A series of speeches will be given to describe some systems in detail, discuss classic developments from today's perspective or other topics of interest to collectors.

There will also be a VCFe-Excursion to a hands on life demonstration of a real classic big number cruncher.

Flea Market

No system will be ever completely debugged, so we are offering part of the hall to vendors to sell and trade historic gear. Anything is possible - as long as the item is computer related and more than 10 years old.

Peoples Choice Award and Give Away

All visitors are called to vote for their favourite piece of history. Unlike a constitutional poll, you may even win great stuff.

Are you ready for the NERD TRIVIA CHALLENGE?

The Nerd Trivia Challenge is your chance to prove just how much of a geek you really are. You're pitted against two other nerds in a game-show style contest of computer history trivia. If you end up the Alpha Geek, you'll walk away with fame (and a great prize). Think you're up to the challenge?

Where, When and What ?

Mehrzweckhalle des ESV Muenchen Ost
Baumkirchner Strasse 57
81673 Munich
Germany

28th April 2001 from 1000 to 1830
29th April 2001 from 1015 to 1700

Further Information

The web pages are in a process of constant improvement (Is there any static page within the web ?), so please stop by and check for updates. Information about lodging and other attractions in and around Munich during the VCFe will be added. The VCF is an open event and depends on active folks to participate with their own idea about our mission. Everybody is invited to raise his hand and help to form the VCF community.

Contact Address:

H.Franke
Schweigerstrasse 6
81541 M?nchen
hans.franke@mch20.sbs.de

VCFe Web Site:
http://www.vintage.org/vcfe
http://www.homecomputer.de/vcfe

18 May 2001

REVIEW OF THE EVENT

Hi!

Came back from the BIT Live event just a few minutes ago.

First of all, I would really like to thank Chris Abbott for this great event. It was the best thing I've been on for a very long time.

I got myself Back in Time 2 & 3 and the Nexus CD. Still haven't heard them, but I sure will listen to them at work tomorrow.

I wanted to write a little about the composers and the persons I met here, so people who didn't make it gets a picture of the whole thing.

Paul Kubiszyn: Actually, Paul found me, because of my big name-tag. :) We had a very short, nice chat, and then he pointed out Mark Cooksey for me, which I wouldn't recognize without his help. I was angry with myself for not finding Paul again, to continue our chat, as he really is a nice guy.

Mark Cooksey: Mark held a very low profile, and I bet not half of the people even knew he was there. I had some great laughs and a nice chat with him.

Marcel Donne: Another nice surprise was to meet Marcel here, as I've been in contact with him a little in the past. Nice to finally meet him. A very nice guy too!

Antony Crowther: Whoha, this guy looks exactly the same as the very old picture I have of him. I had some very great laughs with him and Ben Daglish.

Ben Daglish: What can I say? Ben sure is the one who surprised me the most. When I came over to him, he said directly: "Hey, you fixed the bugged version of "Footballer of the year" this morning! (Warren told him about that before I got to the place). Then Ben started humming the tune rather wildly... "di di do..."  etc. Later on the evening I showed him my little mascot I brought with me (a tiny Thing on a spring fluffy toy). He said: "Whoha, you ought to have William Wobbler aswell." and then he started humming on that tune too, walking around the place in a perfect William Wobbler style. (You should all seen this!!!). Late at the evening there was a "air-guitar" competition where the winner would get a real C-64, signed by all the composers at the place. I talked Ben into competing, and I said to him: "Come on, you can do better than them."  He got really excited about competing, but at the same time he reached the stage, they shouted out: "aaaaaaaaaand the winner...." So Ben never got the chance to perform.   Too bad, I bet it would be a nice show.

Richard Joseph: I talked quite a lot in the end of the party with Richard, and it was a really nice chat which were more about life than computers.

Fred Gray: I found Fred to be among the calmest of the persons. He's a person you just have to like. We didn't talk about computers at all, still we talked quite long. Very nice!  (Yes, Fred, I will send you the photos on a CD as promised.) :)

Jeff Minter: Jeff was a quite funny guy who made the lovely light-show at the party. Well, I was talking to Jeff about the past, and I just felt like asking him about which animals he currently has. "Well, I have a dog, 2 goats and 3 sheeps....   Hey, hang on..." Then he pulled up a digital videocamera and showed me sequences where he filmed his animals. So he showed me the sheeps saying: "This is Flossie, this is Anna-bell...."  (Sorry, Jeff, I don't recall the names of them.) When Jeff was leaving from the party, he waved down the window from his taxi, and then sounded like a sheep "Baaa!"...  :)

David Whittaker: Another very nice fellow who was really nice to talk to. He even bought me a drink.  I never thought the celebrities would be ME drinks. I thought it would be the other way around... :) Well, thanks David for the drink and the nice chat!

Rob Hubbard: Poor fellow. Rob really got some real fans here...  Directly when Rob entered, people directly came to him, and he stood still in a corner for at least 2 hours, just letting people take photos, and answered the same questions over and over again, all the time with a nice smile on his face. He's a very calm man, who I admire for putting up with us and all the questions and photos. He told some rather interesting thing about when he did Sanxion, Commando and so on... The last words from Hubbard to me when we left was: "I really hope to see you in 16 years..." (I then came to think of the old times listening to all his tunes.  I would never think in 1985 that I would sit in a room with all these great composers...  but it happened!)

Martin Galway: I've been in contact with Martin for a while, and I must say even if I knew from his mails that he was a very warm, nice guy, with lots of humour. I never expected him to be THIS nice. I really enjoyed talking to him. The last thing Martin did when he said goodbye was to give me a big, friendly hug! I will never forget this moment!

Tomorrow I will listen to all these composers best tunes, thinking about how nice they were, and I'm sure their tunes will get me new emotions, and I will think about the chats, and all the laughs we had this very special evening.

Chris Abbott: I must say that Chris really made his very best to make this a very special evening, and I must say he did very well. I'm just a little sad that after all the hard work Chris put into this, he still had to run around to make sure everything went as planned. So, he really didn't get the chance to enjoy this as much as the others. He really did deserve just to be able to hang around, chat and be happy after all the work he put into this. And Chris, if the composers weren't so nice to talk to the dancefloor would be really full, but chatting with all the happy guys at this place just beat everything I ever been to.

So thanks everybody that I didn't mention here, who came and made the evening so great (especially Warren, Lala, Adam, James, Kate and Per.)

The pictures of the composers will hopefully be up at:
http://composers.c64.org/

Best regards, Peter Sandén.(yodelking@formec.com)

9 March 2001

http://www.backintimelive.com

Combined C-64 club night, 80s retro synth and Back in time 3 launch party...

May 16th, 2001, 9:30 -> 2:30, Birmingham, UK, Club DNA

C64 VIPs will be in attendance  :)

It will be one amazing night, and the web page should answer most of your questions and has detailed descriptions both of the event and the nightclub (which is new, futuristic, big and cool).

Email me direct with non-FAQs

See you there!

Chris Abbott
chris@c64audio.com

7 March 2001

Justin Beck, (a.k.a. Hard Hat Mack), the radio station KDVS-FM disc jockey who has hosted approximately 100 one-hour shows of Commodore SID music, is leaving the air!

KDVS-FM 90.3 is the University of California at Davis radio station which has been the base of the 6581 SID Show for the last 2 years.  Justin's show has been broadcast every Tuesday at 8 p.m. Pacific Time through the airwaves in Northern California and around the world via the Internet.  His show has had interviews with renowned C= music dignitaries, such as Rob Hubbard, Tim Follin, and Warren Pilkington.

In a phone call, Justin related how the 6581 SID Show was taking over 10 hours a week to produce, time which he no longer had, due to job responsibilities.  He felt that he had said all that could be said, that it was time to move on.  He was hoping that someone would take over the reins of the 6581 SID Show, but no one was forthcoming.  Justin was also grateful to the devoted C= fans who supported and who had listened to his show.

He will continue to be a C= enthusiast, developing his programming skills, possibly composing SID music himself, and possibly writing articles on his C= trials and tribulations.  At present, the 6581 SID home page will stay in place at the KDVS website -- www.kdvs.org/6581SID/   The 6581 SID page has many links to important SID music contacts in the world.

Justin has been the public spokesman, the public voice promoting Commodore SID music for the last few years.  We are losing that voice, and an excellent voice it has been.  I am sad that the 6581 SID Show is passing into history, but I am happy that Justin is going to continue with Commodore.  I wish him all the best in his future endeavours, and who knows?  We may hear Justin once again as a guest in a future KDVS program.

                                        Truly,
                                        Robert Bernardo
                                        Fresno Commodore User Group

23 February 2001

Open Letter to Commodore Users from CMD

Dear Fellow Commodore Enthusiasts,

While it is our intention to continue our support for the Commodore C64 and C128 computer systems, declining sales have prompted us to examine this portion of our business. Based upon our review, it has >been determined that in order to continue these efforts certain cost >saving measures must be taken.

In the coming months, we will be making changes in the way that we market and support our products for the C-64 and C128. These changes as well as substantial decreases in staffing are necessary if we are to remain profitable.

Please note the following changes:

Effective March 1, 2001 CMD will drop our (800) phone service and will only accept phone orders on our main phone number (413-525-0023) between the hours of 1PM and 5:30 PM Eastern Time, Monday through Friday. We have also implemented the e-commerce portion of our website www.cmdweb.com/cbm/misc/orderlist.asp for online ordering. As always, we will accept orders by mail and fax. Our phone support hours will remain the same (1PM - 5:30 PM EST, Monday through Friday).

RamLink and all related accessories will no longer be produced after current inventory is sold. There are approximately 50 units currently available for production.

CMD will only be shipping products on Tuesday and Friday. Customers should allow 3 - 4 weeks for delivery for all products that we manufacture and a minimum of one week for all other items.

CMD will continue to offer our repair services for Commodore computers and disk drives. Earlier this month our hourly rates increased to $45.00/hour with a one hour minimum charge per item. All repairs must be accompanied by a Return Merchandise Authorization (RMA) number, any packages received without prior approval will be subject to refusal. RMA's may be requested by phone during technical support hours or by contacting CMD via email at sales@cmdweb.com.

Due to the recent increases by UPS and the USPS and increases in the cost of packaging materials we were forced to restructure our shipping and handling prices. For our current shipping matrix, please refer to our online ordering area at www.cmdweb.com/cbm/misc/cmdship.html or you may contact us with your final order and we will provide the correct shipping and handling amount.

Once again, we are taking these measures in an effort to continue support for our many loyal customers and longtime friends. Any questions or inquiries related to these changes may be emailed to sales@cmdweb.com. Inquiries may also be faxed or mailed to the attention of customer service. Thanks again for your many years of support and encouragement.

Sincerely,

Charles Christianson
Vice President, CMD

(Editor: I think that this means that people wanting the RAMlink  best get a move on!)

20 October 2000

(Cue the melodramatic music.)

(Cue the announcer's voice.)

You asked for it!  You got it!  Chicago Commodore Expo 2000 photos for your viewing pleasure!  See Maurice Randall point to The Wave!  Marvel at Jeri Ellsworth and her 24-bit video board for the C64!  Gaze upon Dale Sidebottom and his digital still camera!  Astound your friends with images of Raymond Day, Randy Harris, Stephen Blasko, Jason Compton, Steve Judd, Adrian Gonzalez, Mark Seelye, Robin Harbron, and more!  Click on the pictures and watch them expand (or download) before your eyes!

You'll laugh; you'll cry; you'll shout, "Oh, my...!"

Go to http://home.att.net/~rmestel/expo2000.html   Go there!  Go often!  You won't regret it!

(Announcer switches to rapid-fire)

A Dick Estel website production.  Photos by Robert Bernardo.  Above claims not verified by any government agency.  No animals were harmed.  Void where prohibited by law.

(Fade out the music.)

11 February 2000

The latest stuff to download for the CBM/PET includes the following:

comal0.zip    - comal for the 8000 series including comal for 8096
comal3.zip    - comal prg files
comal4.zip    -  comal prg files
coml0txt.zip - description file
coml3txt.zip - description file
coml4txt.zip - description file

and a brand  new prg for the 21st century !!!

lynx8017.zip - this is what the screen says when you run it on your 8000:

this is an archiver prg for the 8000 series
ken ross _independent commodore library
petlibrary@bigfoot.com
it's been designed to be compatible with lynx17 by will corley on the c64
this is a non compressing archiving system
it works by making a copy of all the files wanted into a single file
so the target drive must have a disk with enough room on it for it
to work on - other than that there's not much more to say except
lynx8017 - created feb 2000
************************

(adverts & info over it then asks you about what you want to do & for set up info)

examine a header create or dissolve archive (enter e / c /d )
source device 9 or 8 (enter 9 or 8 )
use which drive on source 1 or 0 (enter 1 or 0)
target device 9 or 8 (enter 9 or 8 )
use which drive on target 1 or 0 (enter 1 or 0)
************************

It then proceeds to wend its merry way through things. The files to archive are chosen from a menu with yes or no options. It then asks you for an lnx archive name - to cope in the 8.3 world it'll shorten names that are too long !

To download this program goto http://members.tripod.com/~petlibrary/ and then the download page for ''lynx8017.zip'' which will unzip to ''lynx8017.gt''. This program will only work on CBMs using BASIC4.

28 January 2000

Chris Sparks writes to tell us that he is writing the web site for the Commodore Scene magazine. You may wish to take a peek by pointing your browser at www.commodorescene.org.uk.

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