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RobertB

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Posts posted by RobertB


  1. Happy, hot September, C= amd Ami comrades!

    The Fresno Commodore User Group has its next meeting from 11 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., Sunday, Sept 10 at --

     

    Bobby Salazar's Mexican Restaurant

    2839 North Blackstone Ave. (corner of Blackstone and Michigan)

    Fresno, California

    (559) 227-1686

     

    Note that the meeting this month is on the second Sunday instead of the third Sunday.

    For discussion we'll talk about the October 21-22 Sacramento Amiwest Show again. On the hardware side, the Educator 64 makes the rounds from the Southern California Commodore & Amiga Network meeting to our meeting. If it gets here in time, we'll examine the new Vampire 500-to-Amiga 2000 CPU slot adapter board from Paul "Acill" Resendes.

    In applications we'll check out the VIC Music Composer for the VIC-20, a bunch of BASIC extensions for the VIC-20, C64, Plus/4, and C128, a modernized game, Empire 128 - Enhanced; and a new C64 game, Galencia.

    Finally, this is your last chance to tell me if you need any C=/Ami goodies from Europe! :)

     

    Truly,

    Robert Bernardo

    Fresno Commodore User Group

    http://www.dickestel.com/fcug.htm


  2. Happy September, C= and Ami comrades!
    The next meeting of the Southern California Commodore & Amiga Network is Saturday, Sept. 9, from 2 to 5+ p.m. at

    Panera Bread Restaurant
    19662 Nordhoff Street
    Northridge, California
    (818) 407-9400

    I'll summarize my thoughts on the July 29-30 Commodore Vegas Expo (big thanks to the SCCAN members who came in force to CommVEx!), and we'll talk about the upcoming Amiwest Show on October 21-22 in Sacramento.
    In addition to the usual Amiga 1200, Plus/4, and VIC-20, there will be the Educator 64, last seen at the June Pacific Commodore Expo (no AmigaOne G4 this time in order to make room for the E64). If I can dig it out, there will be the Vampire 500 (still not installed in any machine, though I'm leaning toward the Amiga 2000).
    Have your Commodore/Amiga orders ready, because I'm going to Europe and can bring back small/medium-sized C=/Ami items in my suitcases. Closer to home, I'll be distributing a carload of C= stuff from former user Tim of Idylwild.
    As always, bring any Commodore or Amiga items you wish to share!

    Truly,
    Robert Bernardo
    Southern California Commodore & Amiga Network
    http://www.portcommodore.com/sccan


  3. So I finally got around to watching John Wick 2 this weekend. Pretty good movie.

    Yes, I saw that Commodore in John Wick 2, also. In other recent movies, a C64C with PET-style datasette sitting on top was in the Charlize Theron pic, "Atomic Blonde". Since the movie is supposed to be in 1989, she is in this "hacker/passport-making" lair, and the place is strewn with computers. The C64C with datasette wasn't doing anything, and neither were the classic Mac's. However, there was an Atari ST with something scrolling on the display monitor.

    Then there is the newly-premiered, "Remembering Leonard Nimoy". In this very personal look into the family life of actor/director/writer Nimoy, in one scene it shows him inserting a floppy disk into a brown 1541 with a brown C64 in front of him. It went by so fast that I couldn't recognize the monitor.

     

    Writing from Portland, Oregon,

    Robert Bernardo

    Fresno Commodore User Group

    http://www.dickestel.com/fcug.htm

     

    Writing from Portland, Oregon,

    Robert


  4. Happy, hot August nights, C= and Ami aficionados!

    The Fresno Commodore User Group has its next meeting from 11 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., Sunday, August 20 at --

    Bobby Salazar's Mexican Restaurant
    2839 North Blackstone Ave. (corner of Blackstone and Michigan)
    Fresno, California
    (559) 227-1686

    For discussion the topic is the July 29-30 Commodore Vegas Expo; we'll go over how the show went. And there will be CommVEx goodies to give away! We'll also talk about the October 21-22 Amiwest Show in Sacramento.
    On the hardware side, we'll examine the recently acquired Commodore PC20-III which came from the Sacramento Amiga Computer Club, the host for Amiwest.
    In software, we'll play around with the C64 Forever 2017 CD and the Amiga Forever 2017 DVD's. We'll also have fun with the competition game of CommVEx, the classic C64 game, "Ringside Boxing", from the 1988 special issue of Compute!'s Gazette. At the July meeting we were so busy with testing out member David's C64 system that we didn't get to many of that month's software presentations; those remaining are the VIC-20 Meteor Wave, VIChaos, and VIC-20 Doom; the Plus/4 Botticelli Bilderdisk 42 art disk; and the C64/C128 plus SuperCPU -- RAY, Wolfenstein 3D, and Doom. Let's see how many we can get to this time.
    I'll be seeing C= repair tech Ray Carlsen in a few days; if you need anything repaired, give it to me and I'll give it to Ray. Finally, for those members who attend the meeting, start thinking about what you want from Europe! icon_smile.gif

    Truly,
    Robert Bernardo
    Fresno Commodore User Group
    http://www.dickestel.com/fcug.htm

  5. Though the photos are not ready (but will come soon), some videos from the Commodore Vegas Expo 2017 have been uploaded. They are:

    A Look Around the CommVEx Room on Friday night



    Leigh L. Klotz and LOGO for Commodore



    Van Pelt and updated C64 games



    Enjoy,
    Robert Bernardo
    Fresno Commodore User Group
    http://www.dickestel.com/fcug.htm
    July 29-30 Commodore Vegas Expo v13
    http://www.portcommodore.com/commvex

  6. It has come down to the last few days before the Commodore Vegas Expo!




    The preparations are continuing with the set-up day on Friday, July 28, 2017 – the unofficial third day of the show. Set-up starts at 2 p.m. in Ballroom 9, third floor, of the Plaza Hotel & Casino, 1 Main Street, Las Vegas, Nevada. Set-up continues until everyone is satisfied that their Commodore and Amiga gear is in place. For those who cannot make the Friday set-up, set-up resumes at 8 a.m. on Saturday morning until the 11 a.m. start of the show. Here is the rest of the official schedule:


    Saturday, July 29 – CommVEx begins and continues, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.


    After 5, buffet dinner at the Main St. Station Hotel & Casino.


    After dinner, late-night CommVEx activities in Ballroom 9 of the Plaza Hotel.


    Sunday, July 30 – Morning set-up is from 9 to 11. Show begins and continues, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m..


    Tear-down after 5 p.m.. Sunday dinner at the California Hotel & Casino.


    -------------------


    The Commodore commercial was filmed in honor of the 40th anniversary of the Commodore PET, the 35th anniversary of the Commodore 64, and the 30th anniversary of the Commodore Amiga 500 and Amiga 2000.




    This commercial used "old-school" C64 programs - the Write Stuff 64 with built-in Busy Bee Talker (S.A.M. - Software Activated Mouth) and the Flexidraw hi-res drawing program.



    See you at CommVEx!

    Robert Bernardo

    organizer – Commodore Vegas Expo v13



  7. It has come down to the last few days before the Commodore Vegas Expo!




    The preparations are continuing with the set-up day on Friday, July 28, 2017 – the unofficial third day of the show. Set-up starts at 2 p.m. in Ballroom 9, third floor, of the Plaza Hotel & Casino, 1 Main Street, Las Vegas, Nevada. Set-up continues until everyone is satisfied that their Commodore and Amiga gear is in place. For those who cannot make the Friday set-up, set-up resumes at 8 a.m. on Saturday morning until the 11 a.m. start of the show. Here is the rest of the official schedule:


    Saturday, July 29 – CommVEx begins and continues, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.


    After 5, buffet dinner at the Main St. Station Hotel & Casino.


    After dinner, late-night CommVEx activities in Ballroom 9 of the Plaza Hotel.


    Sunday, July 30 – Morning set-up is from 9 to 11. Show begins and continues, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m..


    Tear-down after 5 p.m.. Sunday dinner at the California Hotel & Casino.


    -------------------


    The Commodore commercial was filmed in honor of the 40th anniversary of the Commodore PET, the 35th anniversary of the Commodore 64, and the 30th anniversary of the Commodore Amiga 500 and Amiga 2000.




    This commercial used "old-school" C64 programs - the Write Stuff 64 with built-in Busy Bee Talker (S.A.M. - Software Activated Mouth) and the Flexidraw hi-res drawing program.



    See you at CommVEx!

    Robert Bernardo

    organizer – Commodore Vegas Expo v13



  8. Happy CommVEx month, C= and Ami comrades!

    The next meeting of the Southern California Commodore & Amiga Network is Saturday, July 22, from 2 to 5+ p.m. at


    Panera Bread Restaurant

    19662 Nordhoff Street

    Northridge, California

    (818) 407-9400


    I'll be talking a bit about Commodore at the May Maker Faire in San Mateo and the June Pacific Commodore Expo in Seattle. The big topic will be the July 29-30 Commodore Vegas Expo! In fact, by the time of our meeting, my car will be packed with most of the C= goods I need for CommVEx. :)

    Though member Mario will be absent, I think Richard will be bringing in his NTSC/PAL-switchable Plus/4. The expanded Amiga 2000 is already off to Vegas, and so I'll have SX-64, Amiga 1200, AmigaOne G4, and PAL VIC-20 (the last two going to CommVEx, too). For the A1 G4, we'll look at a couple of DB9-to-USB joystick adapters from Retronic Designs of Canada. We'll try to connect all through the newish CommVEx projector - a NEC NP-400 with almost all the video inputs we'll ever need. The Vampire 500 board has not arrived in the mail, but if it should arrive by Saturday, then you'll get to see it.

    Once again I'll be going up to Pacific NW in mid-August, so if you have any Commodore 8-bit hardware that needs repair by Ray Carlsen, bring it to the meeting (I already have an Amiga 1070 monitor, a Commodore CM-141 monitor, and C64 heavy-duty power supply that need to be fixed.).

    As always, bring any Commodore or Amiga items you wish to share!


    Truly,

    Robert Bernardo

    Southern California Commodore & Amiga Network


    • Like 1

  9. Boing! Gideon Zweitgzer of 1541 Ultimate fame is now considering the Ultimate-64! A more radical redesign of the original C64 than the C64 Reloaded board, the Ultimate-64 is a FPGA implementation of the C64 and is still meant to fit within a C64 case. And it comes with the 1541 Ultimate built into it. See

    http://1541ultimate.net/content/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=74&catid=9

    Truly,
    Robert Bernardo
    Fresno Commodore User Group
    http://www.dickestel.com/fcug.htm
    July 29-30 Commodore Vegas Expo v13 -
    http://www.portcommodore.com/commvex


  10. Happy CommVEx month, C= and Ami aficionados!

    The Fresno Commodore User Group has its next meeting from 11 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., Sunday, July 16 at --


    Bobby Salazar's Mexican Restaurant

    2839 North Blackstone Ave. (corner of Blackstone and Michigan)

    Fresno, California

    (559) 227-1686


    We are back to our regular meeting schedule, and for discussion the big topic is the July 29-30 Commodore Vegas Expo! We'll get into the last-minute details of the show so that we don't forget anything in the journey from California to Las Vegas. Also we'll look at the auction listing for Admiral Kirk's Commodore PET 2001 from the movie, "Star Trek II: the Wrath of Khan!" (I was way overbid!) :)

    For the hardware part of the meeting, we'll examine a bulletin board disk that was created on a SFD-1001 disk drive. Naturally, for that to happen, there will be a SFD-1001 disk drive with parallel cable and Telesys IEEE Interface (and if a club member can bring a meter, we could figure out the Batteries Included BusCard II IEEE interface's electrical pins that lead to a certain resistor on the C64). Member Alex may want to bring more of his Commodore or Amiga collection for us to see. Also if the Vampire 500 v2 board (for the Amiga 500/1000/2000) arrives in time, it will be on exhibit for all to see.

    We have our usual, ambitious, software agenda to go through. For the VIC-20 -- Meteor Wave, VIChaos, VIC McKracken screenshot, Legend of the Lost Catacombs, and VIC-20 Doom. For the Plus/4 -- Botticelli Bilderdisk 42 (art graphics designed on the art program, Botticelli). For the C64/C128 plus SuperCPU -- RAY, Wolfenstein 3D, and Doom (all released by Mathias "AmiDog" Roslund and the last two being released within the last couple of months).


    Truly,

    Robert Bernardo

    Fresno Commodore User Group


    July 29-30 Commodore Vegas Expo v13 -



  11. CommVEx v13 is only one month away, and there are so many details to take care of -- gathering the prizes (especially from those who are donating the goods to be raffled), getting the C= and Ami systems ready, putting together the A/V gear, prepping for the long drive, and filming and editing the CommVEx video presentations!

    I myself have to film 1 or 2 interviews to do in the Bay Area, not forgetting to take care of filming the CommVEx presentations of FCUG members. My car will be so crowded with C= goods that I may have to depend on SCCAN (Los Angeles area) members to take some of the cargo to Las Vegas. :)

    Then I have to make final contact with members from SCCAN, BACC (south San Francisco area), TOGA (San Jose) and SACC (Sacramento) who want to exhibit items at CommVEx. In other words, I'll have a lot of pre-CommVEx traveling to do, criss-crossing between Fresno, the Bay Area, Sacramento, and Los Angeles.

    The presentations may be changing; keep an eye out at the CommVEx website, specifically at




    The door prizes, raffle prizes, and freebies may be changing; watch the CommVEx website, specifically at




    All of this so that you, the attendees, can enjoy a fabulous show! CommVEx, July 29-30, at the Plaza Hotel & Casino, third floor, 1 Main Street, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.


    Sincerely,

    Robert Bernardo

    organizer - Commodore Vegas Expo v13

    Fresno Commodore User Group - http://www.dickestel.com/fcug.htm

    Southern California Commodore & Amiga Network - http://www.portcommodore.com/sccan

    The Other Group of Amigoids - http://togausergroup.org

    Sacramento Amiga Computer Club - http://www.sacc.org

    Bay Area Commodore Collective - http://www.meetup.com/sfbacc/

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