In case you missed it, in December 2016, a software update to CoCoSDC and SDC-DOS was released. You can find it under “Latest Firmware” on this page:
http://cocosdc.blogspot.com/
SDC-DOS is now up to version 1.14 and includes the following changes:
AUTOEXEC. If “AUTOEXEC.BAS” if found on a mounted disk image, it will automatically run on startup. Holding down SPACE on startup will bypass this. (I think Kenton’s RGB-DOS did this?)
EXP. A new “EXP” command has been added. It will mount an image called “SDCEXP.DSK” and, if present, run “AUTOEXEC.BAS” from that image.
DEF DW. You can now specify DriveWire baud rates.
WRITE/COPY MEM. These commands can now write to flash pages $FExx on a CoCo 3.
RUN @bank. Code to select and execute one of the virtual ROM banks has been rewritten to make it more compatible with various ROMs.
DSKINI. Fixes a bug where drive motor could remain on when using a CoCoSDC and a real floppy controller at the same time.
The update comes with a .DSK image that you mount and then run a utility which will take care of the upgrade.
Nice! I just started setting my CoCo system back up, and will be trying this out soon.
Previously, I began this article by discussing my first experience making a website back in 1995, along with mentioning a custom program I wrote to help speed up the process.
Over the years, the web has grown considerably, and the HTML “language” has evolved and added more features. (Does anyone remember the “blink” HTML tag?) It’s taken two decades, but we are finally getting to the point where web browsers are finally standardized enough that website designers don’t have to rely on all kinds of hacks and tricks just to make their sites appear similar on different systems.
In the early days, a browser called Netscape dominated. Microsoft introduced their first Internet Explorer (bringing the World Wide Web to PC users) and Apple had whatever the heck it had. Other operating systems, like IBM’s OS/2 Warp, had browsers of their own … and all rendered HTML a bit differently.
It was a mess.
Pages wouldn’t look the same when using Netscape on a PC versus Mac. Internet Explorer was even made for Macs at one point, and initially it added features that the PC version didn’t have.
It was a mess.
I know I just said that, but I feel it is worth repeating.
It was a mess.
Today, it seems pretty rare to find folks editing HTML by hand. There are endless options for HTML editors (like Dreamweaver) that aid in building websites using templates and libraries of HTML code. There are also tons of content management systems like WordPress (which this site currently uses) that let folks easily set up a site based on a pre-existing theme and customize it a bit without ever touching a line of code.
And this is why so much of the internet looks bland, boring, and similar. Folks like me pick out some very common WordPress theme and look like thousands of other sites using the same theme.
Because writing a modern-looking website is hard.
However, last week I stumbled upon something that appears to let my ancient 1995 HTML skills quickly and easily create a modern-looking website with very simple HTML code.
In the next installment, I will introduce you to the w3.css. If you have ever built HTML by hand, and are unaware of w3.css, hopefully you will be as impressed as I am by what it is capable of.
This article will discuss an amazingly easy way to create modern websites using a cool thing I just found out about.
But, like most of my articles, we begin with a long, rambling story about my history with the web…
I built my first HTML web page in 1995, I think. It was the early and crude days of the World Wide Web. I remember having my first public website (which we all called “home pages” back then) on a free service called GeoPages. This server was later renamed to GeoCities and was eventually acquired by Yahoo!
Here is the Wikipedia entry with some of the history. It’s quite interesting seeing where things began:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yahoo!_GeoCities
According to a news article referenced by Wikipedia, the name change happened in December 1995. I wish I still had copies of my first home page, but space was limited back then so few of us kept earlier versions of the things we did.
At some point, I moved my home page from GeoCities to Delphi, and it stayed there for awhile before I finally archived it to my own domain. It looks like I last updated it in 2000, so here is an archive of my old site that begin in 1995:
http://alsplace.os9al.com/alsplace.html
My original home page, as it was in 1999-ish.
Those were the days! HTML 1.0!
In those days, HTML was edited by hand in a text editor. I used the umacs editor on a SunOS workstation, and later, umacs for MS-DOS on a Toshiba laptop. I wrote several programs in C to help me built more complex sites by using template files and includes. I basically created a C-style “#ifdef”, “#include” and “#define” preprocessor for HTML, and also added variables.
If I wanted a consistent header and/or footer at the top of every page, I could create a file like “TOP.TEM” (top template) with that code, and then in my page files (INDEX.TEM, ABOUT.TEM, LINKS.TEM) I would do a “#include TOP.TEM”. When I ran my preprocessor, it would parse the files and generate the actual .HTM files. (Ah, those lousy days in the PC world where file names were limited to eight letters and a three letter extension!)
For variables, I could create a “#define EMAIL alsplace@pobox.com” in a template, and then anywhere the text “%EMAIL%” appeared in the file would get replaced with “alsplace@pobox.com”. It let me make global changes to my site and rebuild in seconds.
Years later, I would purchase the expensive Macromedia Dreamweaver, which is today known as Adobe Dreamweaver. (Hmmm, why is everything I use acquired by someone else?) This industrial strength web editor finally allowed me to edit in a more visual mode rather than raw HTML coding.
But, even though it added the concept of Library items and Templates, it was (and still is!) so far slower when generating a site than my ancient 1995 preprocessor.
I am having to raise some funds, so I am selling off a 2011 Mac mini. It has been upgraded to 16GB (the max it can handle). Beyond some scratches on the bottom from where it sits, it is in excellent shape. It comes with the original box, even.
I am selling my 3rd generation Apple TV, in case anyone is interested. There were two revisions of this model made, and mine is the second revision. It is complete with the original box and everything:
I am selling my 3rd generation Apple TV, in case anyone is interested. There were two revisions of this model made, and mine is the second revision. It is complete with the original box and everything: https://www.ebay.com/itm/332089630970
I just found this Commodore Amiga documentary on HULU and watched it last night. You can find more information on the official website:
https://amigafilm.com
For those too young to remember, the Amiga was the most advanced home computer ever sold. It was incredibly ahead of its time, especially compared to any of the competing systems that were sold when it was released in 1985.
Us old timers recall the early days of home computer with systems like the Apple 2, Commodore PET, Atari 400/800, and TRS-80. There were many other systems, like the Timex Sinclair ZX81, Texas Instruments TI99, VIC-20 and then the massively popular Commodore 64 (and later less successful 128). Thanks to the internet, I have learned about dozens of other competing systems that I never even heard of back then.
The next generation of computers were things like the 1984 Apple Macintosh and the Atari ST. The Commodore Amiga blew everything out of the water. It had multitasking and amazing color graphics (back when a PC produced only 4 awful colors on a “high resolution” screen). It had 4-channel STEREO digital sound. It was just amazing.
I recall seeing an Atari ST in a shop in Houston, and really wanting one, but it was just too expensive. Sure, my CoCo setup ended up costing way more as I added more and more components, but I could do all of that gradually. The entry level cost of an Atari ST (or Amiga) and the required monitor was simply out of my price range.
But I had Commodore 64 friends that moved on to the Amiga, and I remember getting to see one of the first time (probably in late 1987). The bouncing ball demo brought tears to my eye. I had simply never seen anything like that on a home computer screen.
This documentary gives some of the background of the creation of the Amiga, and how it ended up at Commodore (and almost ended up at Atari).
It’s a fascinating look at what was truly an amazing piece of hardware.
The movie is streaming on HULU if you have a subscription, and can be rented or bought on many other services. I recommend it, though I wish it were about 10-15 minutes longer so it could give a more complete timeline of the various models that came out and why they were created (especially things like the CDTV and CD32).
Years ago, I posted some articles on the AIPTEK 3D i2 camera.
I finally got to hook this camera up to a 3D TV and see the videos and images in full color 3-D (instead of the red/blue anaglyph conversions I’ve been doing). It works amazingly well!
I will soon post some tips on converting these images to play off of a USB stick (they do not, directly)…
Since I have had no luck finding such a list online, I plan to start a new Apple TV page that will cover the various multiplayer and 3-D games.
Multiplayer implies more than one player at the same time. There is no category for this in the app store, so unless the developer puts that word in the description, you won’t find these games with a search.
I was very surprised to find that the new 4th generation Apple TV supports 3-D content. The Pangea Software games (some of which I’d played on the Mac years ago) are the only ones I’ve found so far that work in 3-D. Really neat.
