Computer Stuff

RC5 | Programming | Nerd | Commodore Blues | Emulators for C64, Amiga...

CPU cycles to burn?

Join the Amiga RC5 Team and take part in the RSA 64 bit secret key challenge.Even if you don't have an Amiga, consider the thrill to be a part of the biggest distributed computer on Earth... and join the Bovine RC5-64 project!

Some assorted information sources concerning programming:

• Roguelike game developer info
• Amit's game programming info

Assorted nerd-ish links:

• Windows NT Admin info
• Tweakers.net

The Beginning - C64

Back in 1985, I bought myself a nice new Commodore 64-II. Not the brown log, but the sleek white flat one. Soon after, the expansion devices arrived: 1541-II disk drive, a Final Cartridge 3, and a 1084S color monitor. What a dream machine it was! Hours and hours on end I played games, wrote Basic, coded demos in 6510 assembly, collected utility disks... Some random keywords from this time, to remember and keep the images vivid:
Fast Hack'em. Frogger. Dutch Breeze / Blackmail. Fairlight. Hawkeye. Giana Sisters. Draxx of Vibrants. Maniacs of Noise. SuperKit 6. Future Science (my "group"). LDA #00/STA $D020. SYS 64738. Tapes. Run/Stop+Restore. Outrun. Summergames. Zak McKracken. And, of course, LAST NINJA. Eventually I did something very stupid. I sold all the gear, somewhere around 1989.

The Next Step - Amiga 500

Around 1989 I replaced my trusty C64 with the next mean machine: an Amiga 500. Oh, the joy! What a killer beast, 1 MB RAM, 32 bits 8 mhzCPU, copper, blitter, built-in 3.5", 4 channel digital stereo sound, Fat Agnus for 4096 colors on screen (HAM). Some random keywords: Kickstart. X-Copy. Lemmings. Xenon-II the Megablast. Shadow of the Beast. Pinball Dreams. Deluxe Galaga. AsmOne. SAS/C. DirOpus. Scoopex. BTST #6,$BFE001. Super Frog. Lotus Turbo Challenge. Copperlist.

Big Brother - Amiga 4000

As technology and requirements progressed the time came to ditch my 500 in favour of the top Amiga model: an Amiga 4000. That was in 1993. I still use it today, mainly for programming AmigaPython related stuff, and taking part in the Amiga RC5 Team. I equipped it over time with a 50 Mhz 68060, 32 Mb RAM, and a CyberVision 3D graphics card. I thought that would do for some time. [can you believe it?]

1998: Switch

In 1998 I bought a Pentium-II PC. The mismanagement from the late Commodore, caused its bankruptcy. Ciao, Amiga. Eventually I was forced to jump ship and switch platforms. Thankfully my old A4000 still works. And I triple-boot my PC in NT (office/production), Win95 (games) and SuSE Linux (hacking and coding).

Late 1999: Back on Track?

Rumour has it that Amiga inc. will release a new Amiga - the Amiga Next Generation - sometime soon. I'm sceptical. The technology brief is a load of buzzword compliant vapourware. It remains to be seen what innovations Amiga can come up with as 2000 approaches.

• Vice - the Commodore 64 emulator
• UAE - the Universal Amiga Emulator [WinUAE] [Other WinUAE link] [XFree86]
• Amiga Emulator Page
• Emulation