Category: CoCoFEST!

If you missed the live presentations at CoCoFest here are some links to them. Also take a moment to subscribe to the Glenside Color Computer Club YouTube channel. 

CoCoFEST! 2024 - Preserve your CoCo Legacy
https://www.youtube.com/live/mxkrWQA0-9A?si=v9-lgQrsvmVHuyAy

CoCoFEST! 2024 - NitrOS9 EOU Updates
https://www.youtube.com/live/JKWN6snrONc?si=wdOBOlUloVh4ePvd

CoCoFEST! 2024 - CoCo on the Couch
https://www.youtube.com/live/0aYljHW8_P8?si=VKbooHv8JyjskGra

CoCoFEST! 2024 - The CoCo Deluxe
https://www.youtube.com/live/WaQNlA4q2Yc?si=VZMOyVgGX125D_Kq

Thanks
Brian Wieseler

By the time you view this, the crew will be disassembling their exhibits and packing for departure. It was a fun fest, a number of folks stopped me and commented how much they enjoyed the event.

Of course, the fest weekend would not be complete without some of the staples. Though it happened before the official start, the hotel managed to catch fire (a bit of it, anyway) and what appeared to be every fire department vehicle from the greater metropolitan Chicago area arrived. The fire fighters hacked part of the building away to stop the fire, started by some birds building a nest in a light enclosure:

And, no fest would be complete without the Saturday Jam session:

I am told the venue staff came in and “pointedly” closed the room doors when the jam got going. No one complained to me, though, so we’ll call it OK.

Numbers are still in flux, but it appears 117+ folks visited the show (that’s probably a bit conservative, as it’s based on those who filled out the door prize registration at the door), and the auction raise almost $5K. Thanks again to our generous attendees.

Yes, Virginia, there will be a 33rd Annual Chicago CoCoFEST!

Though we won’t have a full business meeting this week, feel free to join our regular business meeting Zoom call this Thursday at 7:30PM, where I’ll share more fest statistics and we can discuss items of note and improvement suggestions.

CoCoFEST! Coordinator Grant says he’s going to bed now…

We have Liftoff! I’m sure there are better photos others will take, but here’s a taste of the event:

Tables are set up, power strips are laid, exhibitors are filing in and setting up their displays! The Holiday Inn at Carol Stream put our name in lights!

NMBA!

One of the highlights of every CoCoFEST!, it’s the No Minimum Bid Auction. Thanks to the generosity of the community in both donating items for the auction, and for bidding on auction items, many of the funds needed to run each CoCoFEST are received from this auction. It’s such a draw that other classic computing events have implemented their own fundraising auction based on ours.

As in previous years, we’ve already amassed quite a collection of CoCo (and some non CoCo) items for auction, and I hope you consider sitting down with us Saturday afternoon and bidding on an item or 10.

Jason Timmons, co-organizer of the massive Fall VCF Midwest show, will once again wield the gavel as our auctioneer. If you’re on the fence about joining us, check out some of the items that went under the hammer in 2023:

In my opinion, gaming drives computing innovation, moreso than any other computing use case. I’ll fill my cup with some CoCo at the show and you can stop by and try to change my mind…

Even in the CoCo realm, I feel like pushing the platform via game development has unlocked significant platform secrets.

Over the years, we’ve enjoyed presentations on CoCo gaming from game designers/developers. Here’s Paul Thayer giving us a glimpse on his efforts to turn ideas into computing innovation through game development, using modern tooling:

For starters you should scroll to the bottom of the page and click <Other Post>. And keep do this page after page until you go back to mouth of March and then will have seen all the recent CoCoFEST! post.

Countdown to CoCoFEST: T-7 Days

Countdown to CoCoFEST: T-6 Days

Countdown to CoCoFEST: T-5 Days

Countdown to CoCoFEST: T-4 Days

Countdown to CoCoFEST: T-3 Days

Countdown to CoCoFEST: T-2 Days

Countdown to CoCoFEST: T-1 Day

Countdown to CoCoFEST!… T-11 Months

May the 4th Be With You! The 32nd Annual “Last” Chicago CoCoFEST!

CoCoFEST! Badge Artwork

CoCoFEST! and Carol Stream Restaurants

CoCoFEST Q&A and FAQ

Chicago Area Attractions!

Calling All CoCo Connoisseurs!

As a relative “noob” in the CoCo community, I was initially surprised when CoCo discussions started comparing the the TRS80 Color Computer to an Apple Macintosh. Community support notwithstanding, it’s patently unfair to compare an early 1980’s 8-bit platform with a early 2000’s 32 bit one. That aside, both sides had their proponents. The discussions touted the graphical UI and multi-tasking capabilities in the latter, though I assumed everyone already knew the Mac sported those in spades.

After a bit, though, I realized the discussion was not about the short lived Macintosh operating system OS 9, but the Microware real time operating system OS-9 for the CoCo, and sometimes specifically about the open source variant called NitrOS9. Researching, I determined OS-9 wasn’t just a multi-tasking OS, it was a true real time operating system (RTOS), the same type of OS designers choose when stability and guaranteed operation is a must! Now, everything from toasters to watches have a real time multitasking OS, so OS-9 may not seem as impressive, but it’s important to remember OS-9 on the CoCo was a thing before Windows 1.0 even arrived and just as the Macintosh first came on the scene.

Glenside welcomes all OS-9 (and NitrOS9) enthusiasts, and we typically have at least 1 presentation each year on some aspect of the OS. This year, L. Curtis Boyle and Ken Waters will present on the platform at 10:45 on Saturday, May 4. Below is their 2022 BASIC09 presentation:

As in previous years, the 32nd Annual “Last” Chicago CoCoFEST allows community members an opportunity to showcase advances in the “state-of-the-art”. Often times, these advances are specific to a Tandy or compatible platform, but other times the advance is more general in nature.

To be sure, few things are more general that the central processing unit in the Color Computer, the MC6809E microprocessor. And, just like anything used in the CoCo, there’s always room for improvement. Here’s Kevin Phillipson discussing his Turbo9 research effort, a modern implementation of the venerable 6809: