2008: the year of the 33rd annual Trenton Computer Festival. As I was unable to attend the 2007 event, I swore to attend this one, and so I did. Let me tell you, I did not regret it.
The 2008 Trenton Computer Festival, which took place at The College of New Jersey, was divided into several sections, including a large fleamarket, a recreation center with tons of vendors, and two buildings packed with people eager to speak on the subject of computers. Although I arrived later than I expected (at around 11:00), I was able to experience a bit of how much TCF (Trenton Computer Festival) had to offer. And so, I give you my journey around the campus of The College of New Jersey.
The line of cars was moving extremely slowly as I pulled into the campus and searched for a parking spot. The first area I saw was the fleamarket, and eager to find something valuable, I quickly ran for the entrance. However, I was stopped by a security guard who demanded I pay. Now, I had two options: punch him in the gut and run (I was younger than him, and could outrun him!), or I could actually pay to get in. I chose the second option.
So, after being issued a yellow TCF wristband, I entered the fleamarket area. iMacs were a very common find. I even found a guy who was attempting to sell them for $10 each, but his items lacked the specs, and he did not specify if they worked. I managed to come across one person who was selling some old audio equipment, and I haggled him down from $25 to $17 for a Yamaha RX21L drum machine. Oscilliscopes of various sizes were also extremely common: there must have been at least 100 of them for sale. One of the more comical areas of the fleamarket was the sock section. For some reason, there were approximately three tables worth of nothing but socks of various shapes, sizes, and types. Kinda funny when you realize that a geek has the stereotype of wearing high socks, and the event must have been filled with computer geeks. I did not buy any socks, but my friend did almost buy a Mac computer for $35. However, towards the end of the event, he asked for a refund, as he had no room and no use for an older Mac computer.
At around 1:00, we headed towards the Social Sciences building for the end of the theremin concert by Kip Rosser. For those of you who do not know, the theremin is an electronic instrument that is played using two hands, but you do not even tough the instrument while playing. Accompanied by a synthesizer, Kip Rosser entertained an audience of people with a variety of songs, including a rendition of ?Hey Jude? by the Beatles.
When 1:20 came around, I headed for room 102 for the speech ?Ubuntu Linux: What It Is; Where It's Going?, given by Joe Terranova of NJ LoCo. As the speech was just beginning, the projector went into sleep mode, but Terranova did a great job conducting his speech while his slideshow was not available. Terranova gave his audience a brief explanation of Linux and walked the crowd through a tour of Ubuntu Linux. After showing several programs on the computer, the room was filled with laughter as one person asked if Windows was free. Sadly, it's not.
After the speech was over, we all followed Terranova over to the Rec Center, where several vendors and information booths were setup. Ubuntu was present, and so was the Amateur Computer Group of New Jersey (ACGNJ), as well as the Mid-Atlantic Retro Computing Hobbyists, who had many vintage computers at their booth, including an Atari 2600, Commodore PET, and Apple II. There was even one of those computers that require five men to lift!
The Rec Center was home to many products being sold, like pirated video games, old computers, sunglasses and batteries, and HDTVs. Sadly, my day was soon over, and after taking another look around the fleamarket, I left to go home and write this article. I look forward to attending TCF next year, and I hope some of my readers will, too.
Before I made some mistakes in my article, including misnaming MARCH as ACGNJ, and Evan Koblentz as Evan Williams. I apologize to those affected by my errors!
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Video game parodies have to make up some of the best humor on the net. These videos are just so hilarious, I can't stop myself from posting them. I find it amazing how many people, even if they are classic gamers, haven't seen this videos. And so, without further ado, I present to you my favorite video game parody videos.
1.Mega64 - This site has parodies of so many games, and they're all hilarious! Basically, what these guys do is go around in public places and act like the characters in video games. Some of the ones you must watch include Super Mario Brothers 3 and River City Ransom.
2.Mario in Real Life - This has to be one of the best ones out there! This video summarizes what it would be like if Mario were a real person, and just how hard it would be for him to accomplish what he does in the Mushroom Kingdom.
3.Megaman VS Donkey Kong - The battle of a lifetime. If only it lasted more than a few seconds....
4.Leeroy Jenkins Goes Bungee Jumping - I guess it's not really a parody of a video game, but a parody of a video game character. Either way, it's still funny. Watch Leeroy's antics as an instructional bungee jumping guide is filmed.
5.Tetris The Movie - I really wish this was real. Watch how awesome a Tetris movie would actually be in this fake trailer for a motion picture version of the classic Russian game. Personally, I expected to see more Russians in it, but it still is pretty cool!
And there you have it. Those are a few of the best video game parodies available on the net. So far, I haven't seen one that can beat Mega64, but time will tell if another video can make me laugh as hard as a guy in a giant boot does.
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This week's tech tip is a simple one to help you navigate the Internet better. If you are like me, you find it cumbersome to peruse Internet search results because every time you click a search result link the webpage reloads and you lose access to your original results page. Then, after you are finished reading the linked site you have to click the back button and wait for the screen to rebuild which takes time. Also, occasionally you come across a webpage in which the back button does not work and you become trapped. You must then resort to some browser trickery to get back to the results page.
In Google, the dominate search engine, there is a preference for launching all links into a new browser window or tab depending on which browser you are using. Using this preference, you can peruse the search result sites without losing access to the results page and you can view multiple search result sites at once.
To access this preference click the Preferences link which is to the right of the Google search box.
Example Image
Next scroll down the Preference page until you find the checkbox for Results Window. Check the box beside Open search results in a new browser window.
Example Image
That's all there is to it. No more having to constantly click the back button after each site visit. Also, as a corollary, in any web page whether it be a search result page or any other webpage, if you hold down the Shift key when you click a link the link will launch into a new window. If you hold down the Ctrl key while clicking a link, the browser will launch the link into a new tab.
Happy teching,
Ryan Williams
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With all the frustration and problems of next-gen consoles that we face everyday (that means you Xbox 360, with your Red Ring of Death!), one must miss the simplicity of the consoles of the past. But, for those of you longing to relive the days of 8-bit graphics, pulse wave sounds, and cartridges instead of CDs, all hope is not lost. There is still a community of people devoted to keeping these antique systems alive. Not only have they done a great job of spreading the word of these old consoles, but a few select people actually create their own games for these systems. These homebrew games may be remakes of older games, or they might actually be original creations.
Popular systems to create homebrew games on include the Ataris, NES, and SEGA Master System. RetroZone is a great place to find some homebrew NES games, but don't expect to be paying in pennies. Glider goes for $42, and a remake of NWC 1990 goes for $45.
The AtariAge Store is home to many homebrews for the Atari 2600, 5200, and 7800. These games are as cheap as $20, but when you think about it, that much is still a pretty high price to pay for a game for a system that isn't even made anymore. But, considering what fun the Ataris have created, it is worth it. Recently, one of the store's more popular products has included Adventure II a homebrew sequel for the the popular 2600 game Adventure. Now that the game is on the 7800, the graphics and gameplay have increased considerably.
Although homebrew cartridges for the SEGA Master System may be rare, SMS Power! is a great place to find homebrew ROMs for emulators, as well as a ton of information on programming SMS games in assembly language. There is a great tutorial by Maxim on how to get started with SMS programming, but those who are not familiar with the Z80 CPU or ASM may have trouble understanding it.
There is no need to cry anymore. Now that you own and have completed every game for the NES, you can spend your money on brand new games as they come out. Heck, you can even develop them yourself! I wish you happy gaming as you spend your life's saving on that limited edition glowing copy of Glider.
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April Fools Day 2008 was filled with some great pranks. I just had to take some time out to write of the ones that I thought had to be the best. So, without further ado, here are my top five April fools pranks of 2008:
1.Steve Wozniak Announces the 2 Ghz Apple IIpc - This one is pure genius. Benj Edwards (editor of Vintage Computing and Gaming) and Steve Wozniak (co-founder of Apple Computers) teamed up to create one of the best pranks ever. I must admit, I actually almost fell for it, especially because I stumbled upon it on the day after April Fool's. Basically, this claims that Steve Wozniak announced in a press conference that he would be marketing a remake of the Apple II computer for $1666.66. The spruced-up retrocomputer would include a 64-bit CPU, PCI slots, up to four gigabytes of ram, and a brand-new system case. What made me slightly believe this had to be the mentioning of how Steve is fascinated by repeating numbers, and the number for the Apple IIpc would include repeating digits, as well as the price of the computer.
2.Super Pii Pii Brothers - Oh, yeah. You knew it was a matter of time before this came out for the Wii. A virtual bathroom simulator. Basically, you use the Wiimote to make your virtual character pee, but be careful; you must aim correctly, and hit the animals that pop out of the toilets for extra points! A harness is included that allows you to strap the Wiimote to your groin. Classy and fun!
3.Betamax to HD-DVD Converter ? Now you can have those old episodes of MacGyver in two dead video formats! Simply press one button, and that box of Betamax will be a box full of HD-DVDs, or the other way around! Ha ha, this one was great.
4.gDay with MATE - Google has finally figured out how to look into the future. Well it's about time, Google. Using MATE technology, you can search for websites and data that will be added to Google's database sometime in the future. Talk about revolutionary!
5.Google Virgle - Google has teamed up with the founders of Virgin in order to make it to Mars. Yes, Google will be creating the first human colony on Mars, and you can be one of the first homosapiens there! All you have to do is make a 30-second YouTube video, and you could be chosen! Good luck! Ha ha!
There you have it. My top five April Fools jokes of 2008. I look forward to seeing what April Fools
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Mountain View, CA. Having organized all of human knowledge, Google has announced plans to organize all of human ignorance. At a recent press conference CEO Eric Schmidt explained: ?I asked our engineers to describe to me the largest computational task our company could undertake. Several of them said that organizing human ignorance is a task no other company could undertake. Admittedly, human ignorance is vast -- perhaps unlimited ? but our goal is to organize all of it. Consistent with our mobile strategy, we aim to provide anytime, anywhere ignorance.
Last month we did a brief test organizing a small portion of human ignorance. The process so strained our servers that they melted the steel shelves they sit on. We had to take the servers off-line to cool them down.
You might be wondering: 'What would be the advantage of having all of human ignorance organized?' Well, suppose you were seeking to do a particular task and wanted to know all of human ignorance related to that particular task. In a split second Google will deliver to you just that targeted ignorance you're looking for.
Similarly, students young and old can expose themselves to ignorance on a scale never before imagined. People will be able to walk around ignorant. Dazed and ignorant. In any country. At any time.
Here at Google we just want to give people options. Ignorance is an option and we want people to have that option.
I can say with confidence that we know of no other company undertaking this task. When this work is complete, all of human ignorance will be as searchable as all of human knowledge.
And here's the icing on the cake. Are you ready for it? To the right of our ?I'm feeling lucky? button on our home page, we'll be adding a new button: ?I'm feeling ignorant.? Ignorance at your fingertips. With a click of the mouse.
Thank you all for coming today.?
When not plastering and spackling black holes, the author likes to refurbish older computers to deliver to youth and adults who don't have a computer. In his spare time he revises his plans for an antique ebook store.
He recently blogged about multimedia letters to the editors and Lawrence Lessig's inspiring Change Congress movement.
Reader responses welcome in the comments below or at philshapiroblogger@gmail.com
Item #1 is the first entry in the database... ;)
I don't know. I just don't know...
The scariest thing about it is that it might make sense
PS -- That's me in the dark red shirt and tan baseball hat -- "me" is Evan Koblentz of MARCH. There is no Evan Williams and he's not from ACGNJ. :)
I was at TCF as a iMac seller. I know that PDP-8, an absolutely CLASSIC computer of the 1960's.
For decades, the TCF flea market was a place to buy OLD computers, not new. These days both are there, in smaller numbers. Hamfest and computer fleamarkets also sell socks and tools, no surprise. There were Macs, Intel-proc-based servers; digital test equipment; electronic parts. The vendors inside had CURRENT PC motherboards and parts; I bought a SATA DVD-RW for $23 new.
The photos shown are mostly of MARCH, not ACGNJ. MARCH has a vintage computing museum at InfoAge science center in Wall NJ. That PDP-8 with 4Kwords CORE is the original "straight-8" model from 1969, run by 70's high schoolers at national computer shows. It ran SAM-76, the "BASIC" of its time.
TCF was first to promote and provide personal computing technology, before the Web and email. It still has some vintage "chops", with groups like MARCH, ACGNJ etc.
Herb Johnson
retrotechnology.com
I had no idea that a Trenton Computer Fesitval exists. And I live right next to Princeton!
I probably would not have been able to go there anyway though :-(
Because Rutgers University, Cook College had their annual Ag Field Day & NJ Folk Festival on Apr 26 as well. Funn!
Interesting thing is even Princeton had a folk festival/flea market down in Nassau Street...