News stories for Episode 179, September 26, 2020 show

News stories for Episode #179, September 26, 2020 show:

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1) An awesome interview on Dinty's Hideway as part of SepTandy: An interview with John Roach, who headed the computer part of Radio Shack during the creation of the Model 1, 2, 3 and Coco - Part 1:

 https://youtu.be/jNYvRX2z518

Part 2 (remembering Charles Tandy):

 https://youtu.be/1BicepDZjX8

2) Another SepTandy video by QuickThings on YouTube fired up his Coco 3, Orch-90 and disk drive for the first time in 30 years... and it all worked (well, some with a bit of cleaning).

 https://youtu.be/gMNqD0MouGI

3) Retrobits, as part of SepTandy, does a first look & more (including burning his own ROM cart games using the CocoEPROMpak from Mark Blair) on the first Coco 2 he has ever seen:

 https://youtu.be/gqds98xw9VY

4) Newsmaker Tech on YouTube does their 3rd Coco video this SepTandy - this time on the Coco 3:

 https://youtu.be/haEWda2j7kU

5) The Digital Orphanage (via Keith Mortimer on the Dragon Facebook group) has released the YouTube video "Dragon 32 (A nest of Dragons)" Part 2 (he is the one who took a ton of Dragon's home from the computer museum to refurbish). In this episode he goes into the internals (including showing the interior of a clock crystal (around 10:30) & a zoom-up on how the keyboard works), and fixing one Dragon - and some game demos:

 https://youtu.be/u-EyDOlxxRo

6) Another SepTandy sequel: TheRetroChannel - fixing up the HJL-57 with hacks & switches to the VDG video (includes trouble shooting the color, and also figuring out exactly what the 3 switches do) (he also did a shoutout to me and CocoTalk!):

 https://youtu.be/wgOSRHmwnC8

7) Ericomont on Discord, in the #coco-art-gallery channel, has put up multiple images:

 a) A 3D exploded model of a Coco 1:
   https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/719543899915550851/757239908887691304/SAIDA_t2.png
 b) A 3D model of a Coco 2 (ctrl-drag to zoom in - you can even go inside the case):
   https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/trs-80-color-computer-2-865ea89efb314f9494c0b1018323cb84
 c) A mockup of a PMODE4 artifacted outdoor winter scene, done on a PC:
   https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/719543899915550851/757373850043416576/pmode4.png

8) Neil Blanchard announced on Facebook that he is selling Coco 40th anniversary facemasks for Covid (possibly inspired by the Dragon ones we showed a month ago?)

 https://www.facebook.com/groups/2359462640/permalink/10158623483952641/

9) Robert Sieg put up a video showing a cool spinning globe demo (in assembly language) for the MC-10:

 https://www.facebook.com/groups/731424100317748/permalink/3237535526373247/

10) The Coco 3 gets a shoutout (with some questions) on episode #221 of the Retro Computing Roundtable podcast (start at 1:52:28). Thanks to Steve Rasmusen (aka Buck Owens) for letting me know about this episode.

 http://cdn1.cyberears.com/34166.mp3

11) Ken at Retro Things does his first mail call video - which includes him receiving a 512K upgrade, which he installs, as well as replacing the power cord, the RF connector, and he received a Coco 3 name plate that was missing on his Coco 3.

 https://youtu.be/p1UKSnTqVtI

12) Robert Sieg put up a screenshot of an interesting color demo he did on the CocoVGA. He uses the 64x32 text mode, and the redefinable character sets (which allow specifying patterns, and allowing the two colors in a semigraphics block to not have to have one of those two colors be black), to make more dithered colors available:

 https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=3732378673447629&set=gm.10158627508082641

13) Rutherford Le Blang has a cool picture of his maxed out Coco 1 and 3's on his abnormally clean desk:

 https://www.facebook.com/groups/2359462640/permalink/10158627509657641/

14) Kevin Ray on Facebook mentions that he is wanting some help and tips on converting his older Apple II programs to the Coco 3. Any tips from the panel? Possibly on porting from other machines as well?

 https://www.facebook.com/groups/2359462640/permalink/10158626921727641/

15) Another SepTandy video from Newsmakers Tech: This time, covering the MC-10:

 https://youtu.be/40D85SsFzFE

16) Tim Lindner posted a quick SepTandy video showing a locking plate for the Coco 3 and MPI, so that it makes it really hard to jostle them apart.

 https://youtu.be/EOnHVzI3CVQ

17) As part of SepTandy, YouTube page MindFlareRetro has a video on his Coco 2 "trash to treasure" part 1:

 https://youtu.be/sE_F-J7bJsE

18) Also part of SepTandy, AC's 8-Bit Zone covers the RF modulator fix he did on the two Coco 2's (out of the 5 he pulled out of storage after a couple of decades) that had lost color output: it was very easy). He also mentions that he has a composite video mod for the Coco 2 coming out next week - well, actually, two different composite mods.

 https://youtu.be/89zaEyWk4uA

19) And one more SepTandy video from 8-Bit Show And Tell on YouTube: He shows his TRS-80 collection, but also Easter Eggs on each of them. (The Coco part starts at 11:52). He also mentions a bit of cool history as to who originally owned this particular Coco 1:

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ez7x-untdA&t=712s

20) Online voting for Glenside is up and running as of this morning:

 https://www.tandylist.com/login?url=%2fvote.aspx

People running are: President:

 Eric Canales (Incumbent)
 Jim Brain

Vice President:

 John Mark Mobley (Incumbent)
 Terry Steege
 Tony Podraza

Treasurer:

 Brian Goers (Incumbent)

Secretary:

 Richard Bair (Incumbent)

Game On news:

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1) [REDACTED] put up a visualization video demo of boat racing that is part of the new graphics engine he is working for on the Coco 3.

 https://www.facebook.com/[REDACTED]/videos/3590224340997209/

2) Jim Gerrie has started porting the Japanese game "Heiankyo Alien" (the game that inspired Space Panic in the arcades, including some Coco clones), and has already revised it during the week. He also has the MC-10 .WAV loadable file and video out for it for the MC-10: Updated version:

 https://youtu.be/WAVHBGzR4Z0

He also did a port of "Go Fish" by Delton T. Horn from a 1981 book:

 https://youtu.be/fahKNu1aoSk

3) Ken Reighard now has his Coco collection of games that he has written up on itch.io. Most are free, and his special CocoFest edition of Nightmare Highway is only $5.00 (I think he does need to add another screenshot to each to actually show what the game looks like, not just the title page):

 https://cankenmakeit.itch.io

4) Paul Fiscarelli put up a couple of videos on Facebook demonstrating the current results of the sprite compiler he is working on for the Coco 3:

 https://www.facebook.com/groups/2359462640/permalink/10158626255567641/

5) Robert Sieg posted a cassette file for the MC-10 showing his Car14 game, with a challenge to other players to beat his score:

 https://www.facebook.com/groups/731424100317748/permalink/3242791372514329/

Also, he has a video up showing gameplay (running in an emulator):

 https://www.facebook.com/groups/731424100317748/permalink/3242759952517471/

6) Richard Kelly has uploaded a new, faster, improved version of the Coco 1/2/3 platform game he wrote called Ladderman 2 (version 0.9W). He is looking for input on bug reports, feedback, etc. Download for free on Facebook, and screenshots in the comments:

 https://www.facebook.com/groups/2359462640/permalink/10158630873287641/

7) Paul Thayer put up a VLOG of his current progress in his Coco 3 puzzle game, CocoBan (loosely based on Sokoban, but with a lot of extra gameplay elements, some show in this VLOG):

 https://www.facebook.com/groups/2359462640/permalink/10158629689597641/

8) simonwgb did a live stream of Dragon games early this morning from the UK, which covered multiple games. Since he used an emulator, he also tried some games with a PS4 controller, and also enabled composite colors on some of them (to simulate an NTSC Coco). Games included Speed Racer, Caverns of Chaos, Danger Ranger, Cruising, Tea Time, Dungeon Raid, The Wizards Lair, and Fire Force

 https://www.twitch.tv/videos/752503531