War Games will be 30 next year so for now I am concentrating on Tron.
So a artist who posts by the name of Tron Legocy put up a bunch of videos and I liked them so much I wanted to share. I want to thank TronLegocy for all the hard work on making these videos.
Here is a video of Flynn’s Arcade built out of Legos.
Here is a video of the TRON Legacy Recognizer built out of Legos.
TCNJ Hosts 37th Annual Trenton Computer Festival on March 10, 2012
The 37th annual Trenton Computer Festival (TCF), the world’s original personal computer show, will be held Saturday, March 10, at the College of New Jersey (TCNJ) in Ewing Twp, NJ. The TCF is an excellent opportunity to see, learn about, and discuss the latest in
computers and digital and electronics technology while interacting with leaders in the profession.
A full schedule of informative panel sessions, tutorials, demonstrations, and other computer-related educational events is scheduled from 10 am – 5 pm. The opportunity to study for and take amateur radio license exams will also be offered. All events will be held in the Social Sciences Building.
TCF is proud to continue the tradition of associating with other premier conferences. The Information Technology Professional Conference (IT- PC) and the Integrated STEM (science, math, engineering, and technology) Education Conference (ISEC) will be held Friday, March 9, also in the Social Sciences Building. IT-PC and ISEC attendees also
have free admission to TCF.
This year’s keynote speaker is Jeff Gomez, the President and CEO of Starlight Runner Entertainment, the world’s leading producer of transmedia entertainment properties. Starlight Runner has been an integral player in the production and marketing of blockbusters such as Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean and Tron Legacy, James Cameron’s Avatar, and Hasbro’s Transformers. Jeff is a consultant to governments and organizations across the globe, and spoke about his company’s work at the TEDx conference in Geneva in September,
2010. He will speak on “From the Inner City to Pandora: The Power of Story in a Tech-Driven World”. His story is sure to inspire.
Admission to TCF is $10 in advance and at the gate. Advance tickets may be purchased from www.tcf-nj.org. Attendees who purchase tickets in advance are eligible for special door prizes and conference access. Parking is free.
Visit www.tcf-nj.org for more TCF ’12 details, including speaker registration.
What is the Vintage Computer Festival East and why do you want to go?
VCF brings computer enthusiasts from all over to display, teach and talk about vintage and classic computing. For those of you who enjoy classic car shows, this is like that and then some.
Why do you really want to go?
First of all a lot of really cool people come to VCF to show off their computers:
Yes, you go for the computers. You go for the workshops, but what you REALLY go for is to meet really good people.
I myself am a member of MARCH and the reason I am is because of Vintage Computer Festival East. It is where I met the MARCH crew and I saw the museum and I said I had to join.
I have also met a lot of other great people in the vintage computer community, too many to list. I have also met people that I never ever expected to meet.
Last year Bil Herd from Commodore fame showed up. He wasn’t a speaker, he just showed up and he brought a Commodore 128 Prototype to show everyone. We were all floored.
You never know who is going to show up and that’s what makes it great.
If you want to meet great like minded people who share your love for vintage technology, then you really should come to VCF East. You won’t be disappointed.
For more pictures and videos of previous Vintage Computer Events please check out any of the links below.
MARCH, The Mid Atlantic Retro Computing Hobbyists is having their annual Vintage Computer Fair over at the Infoage Science, Learning Center and Museum in Wall NJ..
All of this on top of all the great machines that will be displayed for you to enjoy.
Again this year there will be a marketplace for people to buy vintage computers, books, magazines and other items.
The lectures and classes start at 9:30am and continue to 2pm
The exhibit hall and marketplace runs from 2:00pm until 7pm on Sat and from 2pm until 5:30pm Sunday.
Tickets are $10 for one day, $15 for both days, and FREE for ages 17 and younger. Parking is free.
If you wish to display your computer or wish to sell anything in the marketplace I suggest you contact the MARCH members on their yahoo group : groups.yahoo.com/group/midatlanticretro/
(I was waiting till CES to post this, but I saw everyone else posting their articles ..Oh well Eh..)
What they didn’t know was the icon that they created.. The Commodore 64 wasn’t just another 8bit computer in the 80s.. It was the Volkswagen Beetle of home computers.
See, they look alike
It was inexpensive, but very capable
It had a round case
and it sold in massive numbers, est 17 million between 1982 and 1994
It touched the heart of computers users all around the world, many who still use the C64 today.
The Commodore 64 is listed as the best-selling computer of all time in the Guinness Book of World Records and for good reason. The C64 retailed for $595.00 and it had:
64k of RAM, 20k of ROM
320 x200 screen resolution with 16 colors
Microsoft Basic
3 Channel Sound
In 1982 this was a lot for $595.00. Compared to it’s competition it was much cheaper and still quite a capable computer. Remember you had to spend roughly $900 for an Atari 800 back and at least $1000 for the price of an Apple II. The C64 brought a lot of people who wouldn’t have normally bought a computer into the world of computing because the price was good given what it could do.
I had friends with Apple IIs who would come over to play games on my machine. Given the graphics and sound capabilities and the large numbers of users, many software companies produced games for the C64.
Also like the Volkswagen Beetle the Commodore 64 has a large and dedicated following that still creates new hardware & software for their beloved systems.
To give you in idea of the popularity of the C64. In 2004 the C64 Direct to TV was released. It wasn’t just one of those 10 games in one joystick that connects to a TV.. It was a complete Commodore 64 on a chip. It was designed by Jeri Ellsworth. It was so popular it sold 70,000 on the first day. Now the joysticks are collectors items commanding prices that exceed what they sold for originally. Many of them were taken apart by hackers and made into C64 clones or other projects.
Here is a tiny palmtop that was made using the C64 Direct to TV device, The Picodore 64
The Picodore 64
Now you may say, why is this computer so popular and so well remembered?
The Commodore 64 given it’s low price made it possible for many people like myself to have a real home computer. It’s graphics and sound capabilities made it a killer game machine and because of that it swayed a lot of people who would have bought a console like the Atari or even a NES to come to the world of computers.
The Commodore 64 was not my first computer. I had a Timex Sinclair 1000. Later on I got my C64. While I did learn a lot on it, I spent a lot more time on the Commodore playing game after game after game. While other people were buying the Nintendo NES, I still had my C64. When the Sega Master System came out, I still had my C64. I had my C64. Why have a console, when you could have a full computer?
For many people, the 64 was the first computer and it introduced them into the wonderful world of computing. It was the system they played games on, or the system they used to communicate over modems, or programmed their HAM Radio or balanced their check book or did their homework on. I mean there are many stories and memories. Like a first car or a first love, it will be remembered fondly.
Funny story, I was at a Hackers on Planet Earth conference and the speaker was John Lee, from the group Masters of Deception and he was talking about the old days of breaking into the phone company’s computer systems using his Commodore 64.
There are hundreds of stories like this out there, feel free to share your own in the comments area.
For collectors and hobbyists, this is a great computer to have.. They are still inexpensive because they are far from rare. They are built well and you can probably find a working one easily and there are many people who still have them so you can find someone to help you. Do a simple google search for Commodore User Group and you will see many pop up. It shouldn’t be too hard to find one near you.
Below are some great videos and some great sites to explore
Here are a number of great sites about the Commodore 64 and about Commodore in general
www.commodore.ca : Great Site about Commodore History, covers all Commodore models
