We are now less than 70 days until the 2024 Annual “Last” Chicago CoCoFest. The weather is getting warmer and the days are getting longer, and it will be here before we know it. I just wanted to provide a few updates on this year’s CoCoFest.
First, the tables sold out in the main room faster than any year before. I have worked with the hotel and we have come up with a couple of ideas. I have added 14 tables that will be in the hallway, and 9 tables that will be located across the hall in a smaller room. Both options will have power available to them. Each table will be 6 foot in length, and will cost $30 each. The main difference between the two locations will be the overflow will be locked up at the end of the night after the show. The tables in the hallway will need to be taken down and placed into one of the rooms at night. I would like to keep the tables in the main ballroom for people who are displaying or selling items. If you are wanting a table for a place to call home, or a place just to seat down, please use one of the hallway tables. If you want to move your existing table to another location, please send me an email to cocofest@glensideccc.com and we will get that done for you. One last thing, since we have to rent the extra tables, there will NOT be any extra tables to purchase on the day of the fest. To purchase a table for this year’s CoCoFest, go to our website at tandylist.com.
I am still looking for people to give presentations this year. If you want to give a presentation, please send me an email and I will get you add to the list. Don’t forget that this year’s theme is Star Wars. I would like to see the tables decorated in the Star Wars theme. There might even be a prize for the best decorated table. If you have any questions you can reach me on the CoCo Discord, or by email at cocofest@glensideccc.com.
The new t-shirts for the Annual “Last” Chicago CoCoFest! 32 are now available. Just like last year we have two designs to choose from. Both designs are done in this year’s theme which is Star Wars. You can purchase the t-shirts from Glenside Spreadshirt store at https://glensideccc.myspreadshop.com. The store also sells more than t-shirts, like mouse pads, coffee cups, water bottles, buttons, and several other items. All the profits from the sales go back to the club to help put on CoCoFest. I would like to thank both Ron Delvaux, and Salvador Garcia for designing the t-shirts this year. Make sure to purchase your t-shirts now so you can wear them at the fest this year. May the fourth be with you!
Welcome to the first Glenside Color Computing Challenge in 2024! We welcome all people who are interested or new to the platform to consider submitting a Mad Lib entry for the challenge.
The TRS-80 Color Computer, affectionately known as the CoCo has been around since 1979 when it was first announced as a 4K RAM, Motorola 6809 CPU and grew into several variants until its final commercial release of the Color Computer 3 with options up to 512K in its initial release, with a multitasking OS in Microware’s OS-9 and many, many additional options and upgrades from 3rd-Party sellers since.
The rules are simple:
THE PLATFORM Submissions need to run in a virtual CoCo or in hardware. MS BASIC, BASIC-09, Assembly Language, or another option on the platform. Please submit it so the program/submission can run in a Virtual Environment like XROAR, VCC or CoCoPi/MAME.
Take your own pick on the target platform. This is a general guide of what you might choose (just remember it should be usable via the emulators listed above). – Color Computer 1, 4K or MC-10, with Color Basic – Color Computer 2, Extended Color Basic, BASIC09 under OS-9 Level I – Color Computer 3, Extended Color Basic on the CoCo 3 with additional capabilities. BASIC09 under OS-9 Level II.
Our goal in this and upcoming challenges is to bring interest to the TRS-80 Color Computers for someone who might already have an interest in other similar 8-bit computing platforms, someone young looking to find a retro-challenge, or anyone who loves the CoCo.
Since this is our first whack at a challenge like this, and based on the feedback and participation we have plans for other future challenges, we may modify the judging (if in person at the CoCoFEST!), the prizes and timelines.
Just an example from the internet of a MadLib and how it is filled out when completed. (source: Medium article 2018)
THE CHALLENGE
Create a MadLib program that allows a user to enter the fields/options for a MadLib style word game to produce a resulting ‘story’.
We ask that any resulting Mablibs be respectful of the community and platform; we are all here to enjoy and have fun, not at the expense of one another. Keep the MadLibs short enough that it isn’t a novel. Plenty of examples can be found online (but a 10-15 word fill-in seems about right).
If you are new to the platform, there are resources to get you up-to-speed in BASIC on the CoCo, and many useful examples of BASIC code at the Color Computer Archive. You can navigate through the Books, Manuals, or other resources there to get you started. Those who knew the computers from the start used the “Getting Started with …” books as a great introduction to BASIC programming and widely touted as the best introduction to BASIC written.
WINNERS will be announced at the 32nd Annual “Last” Chicago CoCoFEST! Submissions are due by April 15, 2024 by 11:59pm. Submit your entries as an email to newsletter@glensideccc.com. Please include a shirt size with your submission if that is the winning prize for your category.
PRIZES may include vintage computing T-Shirt, a Color Computer 2, CoCoSDC (an SD card reader that emulates drives for easy use and loading of software), and more!!! We are waiting to see the initial response to determine what prizes will be available for this first challenge!
Are you ready, player one?!
For this challenge we will have two age groups.
Group 1 is ages 12 and under Group 2 is for ages 13+
Details on judging and awards will follow…
An example of MadLibs and what can be done is demonstrated with this mobile app and there are printable examples: https://www.madlibs.com/printables/
If the rising prices on eBay CoCos and peripherals are any indication, there’s more interest than ever in the platform (all of them, really). I hope you acquired or received some new hardware or software for your system recently. If not, as they say, “there’s still time”.
Since we’ve moved meetings to the second Thursday of the month, it’s time again for our monthly meeting. This month, we’ll be continuing our discussion about the club setting aside funds to procure items of significance for preservation or archival. If you have any questions or comments, join us and share.
I don’t want to steal our CoCoFEST! coordinator’s thunder, but we’ve added some more tables to accommodate the demand. If you have yet to secure one, don’t wait until it’s too late!
Please join us this Thursday. We will open the call a bit early at 7:00PM to chat and address any Zoom connections issues folks might have.
At the height of the pandemic, Glenside found it would not be possible to hold our annual CoCoFEST event. We were not alone, with every classic computing event canceled in 2020, with some cancelled yet again in 2021. I know I was disappointed, and I suspect most were. Folks come to our event for many reasons, some for the platform itself while others for the friendships. That year, we all had to be content with virtual visits with friends.
Many GCCC members also view or participate in a weekly video video cast called “The CoCo Nation” (then named CoCoTALK!) and they felt an event of some type should still happen. So, they quickly arranged an unofficial Virtual CoCoFEST! around the time we had originally planned for the actual event. You can view it here (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2PgbMjWkDM). Though it was not an officially sanctioned event, I think it helped many who were disappointed a physical event could not be held.
Time marches on, and, even though we had to delay our 2021 fest until later in the year, GCCC restarted our face-to-face events. We held the belated 29th event in November 2021, and will host the 32nd on May 4 and 5 2024. I hope we will see you at CoCoFEST! in Carol Stream, IL!
As someone who works remotely and spends a large portion of their week on virtual teleconferences via Zoom and Microsoft Teams, I empathize with folks who don’t want to spend another second on camera. That said, as someone who presented in a number of virtual 2020 and 2021 events, including the virtual CoCoFEST!, I found value in virtually presenting:
As we all found in 2020, it’s not always possible to travel to a physical location. Even though Glenside has returned to physical events, some folks are either too far away, don’t have the means, or physically cannot travel to an event. If they are just an attendee, streams of the show floor and the presentations may suffice, but if they want to present, we’ll miss that opportunity.
To address the above issue, some would suggest a virtual presentation at CoCoFEST!. It’s entirely possible, and I believe we’ve done it a few times. However, we feel it best to give preference to in-person presentations, and we often have enough of those to fully fill our speaker schedule.
And, speaking of our presentation schedule, there are limitations. By the time you factor in starting the show at a reasonable hour, Saturday and Sunday lunch, our Saturday auction, Saturday dinner, and our need to be out of the venue by 5PM Sunday, there are a limited number of half-hour and hour presentation slots available. Once they are claimed, we’re full.
There are some projects that don’t lend themselves well to travel. Do you have your CoCo 3 running your home entertainment system? That’s awesome, but probably not all that portable. Is your MC-10 handling data entry for a home weather system? Maybe that Alice is living a second life handling NC plots for your plasma cutter. Sure, one could take videos or pictures and create a presentation for our flagship event, but there’s nothing cooler than seeing a CoCo or MC-10/Alice in action
Some folks need a bit of a “push” after the holidays to resume their project work towards a CoCoFEST! completion. Demonstrating your efforts in January/February while your creation may just be a bunch of breadboards or not yet plug-n-play as a way to motivate you through the home stretch or even to whet CoCoFEST! attendees’ appetites a few months prior to the show can be a compelling argument.
Maybe you’re not sure about your ability to present in front of an audience, or maybe you feel your project or demonstration is not as important as others and you don’t hog a spot. I doubt either is true, but maybe a virtual presentation is an easier and safer lift.
For these reasons, I’ve long thought a virtual event in January/February would be a great addition to the yearly event lineup. Thus, Glenside and The CoCo Nation have partnered to hold the 2024 Virtual Fest on February 24/25, 2024. As The CoCo Nation has much more expertise holding video events, they’ll be handling much of the logistics. Mark Overholser (cocotech@thecoconation.com) is accepting presentation requests, and the event will be streamed on The CoCo Nation and the GCCC Youtube and Facebook channels.
For those wondering, GCCC is still holding our in-person event in May, and we’ll stream as much content as we can (last year, we had some Internet bandwidth issues, but we’re working to address those for 2024). This virtual event does not replace our normal yearly one, but I do hope we can drive some virtual value for the Tandy Color Computer community. If you have something you think is of interest, please send a note to Mark, even if you’re unsure if it’s “worthy” or a presentation slot. In fact, I’d go so far to say that this is an ideal time for those smaller and/or simpler presentations. Are you a young enthusiast just getting into the community? Take some time to present on your entrance, or how you’re getting along on finding information about the platform. Do you want to test the waters prior to the May event? This is your chance! There are a host of reasons to take advantage of this virtual event, and I hope folks take us up on the offer.
Above all, I hope the community enjoys this attempt to create something of value for the platform. I know it won’t appeal to everyone, but one size does not fit all, and this may be the best way to reach another part of the community.
I hope to see your on February 24 and February 25!
Jim Brain, 2023-24 Glenside Color Computer Club President
