hellooooo

[drarem]

Hi, I'm over 40 and been loving the 8-bit age since I was 14. Been doodling on graph paper when I was 11 back in the late 70's and computers were too expensive.  I had seen an ad for a TRS-80 and I imagined how I would do the graphics based on the then current Pong games on the market.

Now it's 2013 and I found out later I wanted the C64 (but my sister gave me the Atari 800). The Atari was a beast and dependable, I even fixed the fuse in the power supply when it tripped and the belt on the 5 1/4" floppy drive I bought for $160 back then. It was put through it's paces. My friend had a C64 but I noticed how many times it crashed on it, but the Atari was rock solid. I think now if I had gotten my Vic-20 for Christmas instead of that stupid Radioshack 'computer', I would be alot further than I am now. I even gave the money to my parents I earned from birthdays to help pay for it. I got this God-awful thing instead, and I think my parents lied to me saying I would have to buy a special monitor to use the ViC-20 (or the salesman lied). Either way like most kids I blame my parents, just like the president blaming bush. Regardless, here's the POS I was stuck with for a couple of years:

http://cdn2.computerworlduk.com/cmsdata/slideshow/3291946/img_062711-kids-computer-5_thumb555.jpg

It was just wiring the terminals together, hitting buttons and playing generic maze type games I made up. I think the displays were manual too where you had to slide the plastic display in and out, such as if you were playing trivia.

That is me in a nut shell, with extra nuttiness.
Later yall.
ATZ
+++

[combatking0]

Greetings drarem,

Your early computer looks interesting - just the sort of thing I would have been looking for when I was starting to learn about electronics.

I miss the good old days when we could repair almost any failure without bricking the machine.

What language(s) do you use for programming these days?

[drarem]

C++ is the main one, I play with Java from time to time. Freebasic is also interesting, been toying with SDL and openb3d. I would like to make a few games and have some ideas.

[emook]

Hi, just found this site myself and love to see the demoscene still bubbly away

I've been a programmer on and off (never that good) and have come fromt he Spectrum > Amiga > PC.

Still love the scene, still play with my old machines - can't wait to get stuck into this site.

[combatking0]

Greetngs emook.

[Raizor]

Hello drarem and emook

[Hotshot]

Hello drarem and emook, Welcome to the forum and enjoy your Day