ScuzzBlog: Diaries June 2018 Entry 2nd June 2018: Post: 1: VIC-20 VIC-20 - The things we do for love I am currently spending almost every waking hour editing and updating hundreds of web pages so that Google gives me a thumbs up for being mobile friendly. Means an end to Frames but hey. In-between the page editing I have been running through various computers and checking to see if they are running fine. This week I have been mucking around with the Atari XE, which I found a video cable to run on the Amiga monitor ( the horror ). Also playing SONIC on the Amstrad MegaPC... totally addictive that. Been on the C64 and various 5.25" floppy drives mostly checking out the older style C64 and transferring files from tape to the 5.25" disks. Did a but of programming and got a bit frustrated not having various commands like PAUSE and so fired up the C64C with Simons BASIC which makes all the difference. Next I fired up the Electrons and had a muck around. Mostly though I have been running through the CPC464 book programming from each of the chapters until I discovered that the book has been printed with the chapters in a muddle. Fortunately I have others. I finished up programming 'Bomber' a small prog that is like a solo Space Invaders. Got so excited with the taped programs I copied them via the DDI-1 to 3" disk and moved to the 6128Plus up here for a play. I do like the CPC464 shame I didn't have one in the day. The tape just makes life so much easier. What is more it gives out a friendly click when it has completed the recording process. Great bit of kit. Today I was checking over two VIC-20's and reflecting on what could have been had I turned a different corner. I have discussed previously on these pages how in 1981 I was transfixed by the VIC-20 that I viewed each and every night as I walked into Birmingham City having completed my day at Architects John Madin Design Group on Hagley Road. It was the highlight of the day for me and I was saving my pennies to buy one. In those days it was around £140 if I recall. Lunchtimes we would play Games Workshop board games and Friday nights we had an almost all nighter each week playing Risk. We were for ever trying to find games that removed the element of chance from throwing dice. I knew the computer was the only way forward and I gave up buying Games Workshop boxes and figures and was saving for the VIC-20. By November I had saved around three quarters of the money and then disaster struck. I met the girlfriend and blew it all going out and wining and dining. Chicks cost money.. The things we do for love. My route through the computer world would have been very different I guess had I bought the VIC-20 and I sense I would have gotten to the Amiga a lot quicker. That adventure with the female did turn out to be the most expensive endeavour of my life and did cause me to avoid many of the computer pitfalls of spending loads of cash on kit until I eventually was able again to have sufficient surplus to enjoy myself. And so to turning a different corner and maybe things would have been a little different. Like I say... The things we do for love. 10CC The things we do for love I did go to see 10CC in their prime and I recall them winding up the tape machines to sing I'm Not in Love and Eric Stewart mucked up his lines and they had to start over. You could actually hear all the tapes being rewound showing how much they actually didn't play live. Godley and Cream went on to invent the 'Gizmo' which was a device attached to the bridge of the guitar to create a violin style sound. Very odd. Mostly the VIC-20 The still very stylish VIC-20 Has a square style power supply unique to the VIC-20 and this modulator box so you could play on a TV. The unit was also known as the VC-20 The pastel blue and off white don't really work very well on the black and white I never did get my VIC-20. Instead all I could afford was the ZX-81 Quite naturally I then moved to the Sinclair 16K and then 48K Onward to the +2 which was dreadful Which caused me to buy a PCW9512 which was a work oriented machines I stayed with the 9512 all the way from 1987 to 1993 amazingly and only stopped using the computer cus the drive finally gave up on me. And so enter the true love of my life Needs must.. Win95 and then Win98 And then XP and Win7. I also have a DeLL Win10 that I refuse to use. Its just a glorified bloody mobile phone. Crap Back to the VIC-20 and this unit has the Vixen Also has the C64 printer interface When I think about it no other computer has set my heart a racing so much as the sight of the VIC-20 in that shop window And why ?... Well nothing else had happened yet. It was the beginning of a very exciting and rewarding journey. One I eventually travelled by a different path... The VIC-20 was like a chocolate box and those keys still look good enough to eat Sadly I took a different corner

If you can only see this CONTENT window
then click the image above for the full site

Last updated 02/06/2018

Chandraise Kingdom

Keep the Faith
scuzzscink 2018