Brace yourself for the announcement of the new millennium. This is the news you've been waiting for since 2001 (well, actually, since 1999 :P )
...drum roll with horn fanfare...
The Two Guys From Andromeda (Scott Murphy and Mark Crowe), the creators of the Space Quest series from Sierra On-line, are back together and making another sci-fi comedy adventure game!
Their website: http://guysfromandromeda.com
Their Kickstarter: http://tgakick.com
They need your help to fund the game, over at Kickstarter...after only 1 day on Kickstarter there are already 1800 backers giving $90,000+.
Only $15 will get you the game and a bunch of bonus stuff.
Even better, they're making a port for LINUX!!! So it'll work natively on the good OSes like Ubuntu, Debian, Mint, and, most importantly, Commodore OS Vision.
Note that even though they are the creators of Roger Wilco and the Space Quest universe, they don't "own" the "rights" to those trademarks, which is pretty ridiculous (not their fault), so this game will be a SpaceVenture game. I'm excited that it'll be something completely new, though. It opens up the possibilities for which direction the game will take, as it's not automatically locked into a story about a janitor blundering his way into saving the universe. If this game goes well enough (which it will) then they will look into restoring their right to make another Space Quest.
Some links of interest:
Their official podcast:
Episode 1 with The Two Guys From Andromeda
Episode 2 with Troels Pleimert
Episode 3 with Ken Allen
SpaceQuest.net
Roger Wilco's Virtual Broomcloset - click the link at the bottom of the page to enter the site.
Happy adventuring,
Peter
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Saturday, April 21, 2012
Groove Collective concert on ArtOnAir.org!
I found a mind-blowing (as always) concert by Groove Collective hidden away at ArtOnAir.org. Check out the beautiful sounds!
http://artonair.org/show/groove-collective
They also have an interview with, and performance of Genji Siraisi (Groove Collective's drummer).
Peter
http://artonair.org/show/groove-collective
They also have an interview with, and performance of Genji Siraisi (Groove Collective's drummer).
Peter
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Does Sirius/XM have a reason to exist? Not anymore!
The following is a comment I made on this post at the official Hearts of Space blog. I suggest you read the HOS post, for even if you don't listen to HOS, it's an interesting and revealing story. Pretty much, don't waste your money on crap services like satellite radio as programed by XM/Sirius, and instead use and support quality online services, many of which are free, created by passionate DJs and hosts.
=========
Back in 2001, when XM came out, I was very impressed and excited. Around 2004, I finally had it via DirecTV, and fell in love with Beyond Jazz. I also appreciated the fact that Hearts of Space was carried, though I always listened to HOS via radio station KCHO. I no longer have DirecTV, and considered XM until I discovered that Sirius/XM no longer has the material I would be interested in, namely Beyond Jazz. Thankfully Beyond Jazz's Russ Davis now has an Internet stream similar to hos.com, at russdavismoja.com. No point supporting soulless corporations, when we can directly support the DJs and artists that we care about! Sirius/XM may very well fade away, not realizing they killed themselves by alienating the very people who would support the concept of niche programming.
=========
Back in 2001, when XM came out, I was very impressed and excited. Around 2004, I finally had it via DirecTV, and fell in love with Beyond Jazz. I also appreciated the fact that Hearts of Space was carried, though I always listened to HOS via radio station KCHO. I no longer have DirecTV, and considered XM until I discovered that Sirius/XM no longer has the material I would be interested in, namely Beyond Jazz. Thankfully Beyond Jazz's Russ Davis now has an Internet stream similar to hos.com, at russdavismoja.com. No point supporting soulless corporations, when we can directly support the DJs and artists that we care about! Sirius/XM may very well fade away, not realizing they killed themselves by alienating the very people who would support the concept of niche programming.
Monday, March 26, 2012
The Computer Chronicles and Chocolate Floppies
The greatest thing I discovered on the Internet in the last year, and quite possibly ever, occurred about six months ago when I discovered the classic PBS show The Computer Chronicles, and that almost 600 episodes from the show are online over at the Internet Archive. The show ran from ~1982 (the earliest archived show I've seen so far was from 1983) to 2002, when Stewart Cheifet, the host and producer, decided to take a break from this and his other show, Net Cafe. Plus, Leo Laporte's Screen Savers and Call for Help over on ZDTV / TechTV were possibly giving tough competition, but I don't see how, considering The Computer Chronicles was available to everyone on PBS, and was the gold standard for computer reporting.
This show is the absolute best! The hosts are charming; Stewart Cheifet, Gary Kildall (yes, the CP/M legend who founded Digital Research), Paul Schindler with the software review, Wendy Woods and others give the show a friendly and cozy ambiance despite actually being quite in-depth and even academic. Gary Kildall's gentleness and humility really shine through, as does his genius, and Paul Schindler's humor certainly makes me laugh.
The show is also very stylish, and gives you that good feeling inside that occurs when watching legendary PBS programs. One could say it's nostalgia, but I got that same feeling when watching Nova, Square One, Reading Rainbow, Newton's Apple, The Frugal Gourmet, and Nature back in the 80s, so I don't think that's quite it. It's just that it's very high-quality, and even epic. For example, both musical themes for the show, but especially the earlier one, are dramatic, and when the show starts with Stewart and Gary in the dark, only lit indirectly, the music booming, and then the lights come up, you know you're in for a treat!
The history contained in this show is priceless. Every time I watch an episode (which is at least one-per-day :) ) I am wowed by the incredible technology we already had in the 80s and 90s, and it makes me excited to try some of the devices or techniques they discuss, or sometimes I feel yearning for by-gone experiences and aspects of the computer culture, like the BBS community (yes, yes, I know, BBSes still exist through Telnet, but it's not like I can dial up some local number anymore). In fact, some of the software reviews and programmer interviews have led to me searching eBay and excitedly purchasing what I just witnessed on the show (especially regarding the 90s shows and CD-ROMs).
Except for a few early shows where the credits roll over an image of the darkened studio from a vantage point behind the video cameras (see? stylish!), the Computer Chronicles always ends with a news section, Random Access, and just like the rest of the show, these are always historically significant. It never fails that the news reader will mention some event that is still remembered today in computer lore!
My only beef with this show is: how could I have not known about it when I was young and it was on TV? Arg, grumble, harumph! I loved PBS and would watch it a lot; I can't believe I wouldn't eagerly look forward to this show every week. Maybe it wasn't carried in my market, but I doubt that. Goodness, I would've loved this show as a kid...thank heaven I discovered it now, though.
Well, while watching the 1985 Christmas guide, Wendy Woods pulled out a 5.25" chocolate floppy, and a year later, for 1986, she plugged a 3.5" floppy made by the same chocolatier (I'm pretty sure). Well, naturally this got me excitedly searching the net for chocolate computer devices, and while I couldn't find any floppies, I found something much, much better. Both 3.5" and EVEN 5.25" (yes!) chocolate/candy/soap molds! I purchased mine from Cybertrade's eBay store, though they have an amazon.com presence as well. They have a lot of new old-stock (or perhaps still in production) molds for computers and floppies and more. The coolest thing about these molds is that they're copyrighted 1984 and 1985...that's right, they're not merely retro and fad-like, they're truly vintage! I never new making chocolate would become one of my hobbies, but eating floppy chocolate has become my newest pastime.
Here is a great modern interview done with Stewart Cheifet in 2010 by the Retrobits Podcast:
Part One
Part Two
Peter
This show is the absolute best! The hosts are charming; Stewart Cheifet, Gary Kildall (yes, the CP/M legend who founded Digital Research), Paul Schindler with the software review, Wendy Woods and others give the show a friendly and cozy ambiance despite actually being quite in-depth and even academic. Gary Kildall's gentleness and humility really shine through, as does his genius, and Paul Schindler's humor certainly makes me laugh.
The show is also very stylish, and gives you that good feeling inside that occurs when watching legendary PBS programs. One could say it's nostalgia, but I got that same feeling when watching Nova, Square One, Reading Rainbow, Newton's Apple, The Frugal Gourmet, and Nature back in the 80s, so I don't think that's quite it. It's just that it's very high-quality, and even epic. For example, both musical themes for the show, but especially the earlier one, are dramatic, and when the show starts with Stewart and Gary in the dark, only lit indirectly, the music booming, and then the lights come up, you know you're in for a treat!
The history contained in this show is priceless. Every time I watch an episode (which is at least one-per-day :) ) I am wowed by the incredible technology we already had in the 80s and 90s, and it makes me excited to try some of the devices or techniques they discuss, or sometimes I feel yearning for by-gone experiences and aspects of the computer culture, like the BBS community (yes, yes, I know, BBSes still exist through Telnet, but it's not like I can dial up some local number anymore). In fact, some of the software reviews and programmer interviews have led to me searching eBay and excitedly purchasing what I just witnessed on the show (especially regarding the 90s shows and CD-ROMs).
Except for a few early shows where the credits roll over an image of the darkened studio from a vantage point behind the video cameras (see? stylish!), the Computer Chronicles always ends with a news section, Random Access, and just like the rest of the show, these are always historically significant. It never fails that the news reader will mention some event that is still remembered today in computer lore!
My only beef with this show is: how could I have not known about it when I was young and it was on TV? Arg, grumble, harumph! I loved PBS and would watch it a lot; I can't believe I wouldn't eagerly look forward to this show every week. Maybe it wasn't carried in my market, but I doubt that. Goodness, I would've loved this show as a kid...thank heaven I discovered it now, though.
Well, while watching the 1985 Christmas guide, Wendy Woods pulled out a 5.25" chocolate floppy, and a year later, for 1986, she plugged a 3.5" floppy made by the same chocolatier (I'm pretty sure). Well, naturally this got me excitedly searching the net for chocolate computer devices, and while I couldn't find any floppies, I found something much, much better. Both 3.5" and EVEN 5.25" (yes!) chocolate/candy/soap molds! I purchased mine from Cybertrade's eBay store, though they have an amazon.com presence as well. They have a lot of new old-stock (or perhaps still in production) molds for computers and floppies and more. The coolest thing about these molds is that they're copyrighted 1984 and 1985...that's right, they're not merely retro and fad-like, they're truly vintage! I never new making chocolate would become one of my hobbies, but eating floppy chocolate has become my newest pastime.
Here is a great modern interview done with Stewart Cheifet in 2010 by the Retrobits Podcast:
Part One
Part Two
Peter
More AdLib music
In one of my past posts, I discuss AdLib Yamaha OPL FM-synthesized music, and in particular, the music from the game Alpha Waves aka Continuum. Well I found another nice selection of AdLib music here:
http://www.ninjacode.org/audio_museum/pc_adlib/
and behold, it has Frederic Mentzen's Continuum! These are mp3s, and I don't know if the audio files were made from actually recording a Sound Blaster or something, or if they're just emulated, but either way, it's a nice selection, plus if you go up to the parent directory, there are more types of computer music to choose from.
Peter
http://www.ninjacode.org/audio_museum/pc_adlib/
and behold, it has Frederic Mentzen's Continuum! These are mp3s, and I don't know if the audio files were made from actually recording a Sound Blaster or something, or if they're just emulated, but either way, it's a nice selection, plus if you go up to the parent directory, there are more types of computer music to choose from.
Peter
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