amiga

It may be 29 years later, but I can still remember looking at what was about to be my Commodore 64, up on a shelf at a Long's Drugs near my father's house.

This wasn't my first computer--that had been a Commodore Vic-20, a machine with the same body as the C64 but with just 2 kilobytes of memory. I can recall using that little machine with my old friend to write the most elementary little BASIC programs:

But then it was time to upgrade. I'd inherited a tiny bit of money, and off to the drugstore I went. I knew what I wanted. Commodore's all-new C64 was on every geek's wish list, and I was no different. What would I do with it? I wasn't sure. But I had to have it.

And have it I did. Bringing the beige machine home--along with its fantastic innovation, the stand-alone floppy disc drive--was one of the best days of my childhood, and over the years, I used that computer for everything: homework, playing games, joining my first bulletin board systems and, yes, downloading pirated games at what I think must have been 300-baud speeds.

Now, a new version of Commodore, the company, seems ready to re-introduce the Commodore 64. At least, it's putting out a modern computer built inside the familiar-looking plastic case. It has an all-new operating system, yet the company promises that the OS is backward-compatible, meaning that if you still have a copy of "Pooyan" or "Kilowatt," you might be able to run it. … Read more

A win today for those bothered by unsightly overhead wires snaking through otherwise pleasant views of cities, towns, and countrysides around the world.

Today, American Semiconductor announced it's filling its biggest order to date for its high-temperature superconductor (HTS) wire, which is used in underground direct-current superconductor cables.

Superconductor cable manufacturer LS Cable of Korea has ordered over 3 million meters of the HTS wire. The wire, which will be manufactured in Massachusetts, will be used in LS Cable direct-current superconductor cables to be laid across Korea in conjunction with a project with the Korean utility KEPCO, and also … Read more

Xtreme Power announced Wednesday its PowerCell energy storage and Dynamic Power Resources energy management system will be used in what could be the most significant transmission station in the U.S. electric grid.

In March, Tres Amigas got approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to offer transmission services at negotiated rates across the three main arteries of the U.S. electrical grid. The agency is now considering allowing it to build and connect a mega-hub based in Clovis, N.M.

Specifically, the proposed Tres Amigas SuperStation would allow power to be transmitted as needed among three independently operating U.… Read more

As a teenager I just about lived in the video arcade (Abbey Road in Farmington Hills, Mich.--anyone remember it?). I owned an Atari 2600, an Apple IIe, an Amiga, a Sega Dreamcast, and just about anything else that was good for games.

You'd think, then, that I'd go ape over something like C64 for iPhone 1.7, a newly updated Commodore 64 emulator that revives such classics as "Boulder Dash II," "Jupiter Lander," and "International Karate."

And you'd be wrong. While I have nothing but fondness for the videogames of … Read more

Long before Beyonce, there was Mark Salud. Long before ProTools, there were modded Amiga computers. Long before YouTube, there was public access TV. And long before AfterEffects, there was Video Toaster.

These four facts are celebrated majestically in the following video.

P.S. Various Mark Salud music modules for the Amiga are available on Aminet.