General Transmission
Introductions, daily chatter, and everything that does not fit elsewhere.
TOPICCALLERREPLIESLAST SIGNAL
★ PINNEDWelcome to the Lair — read this firstPull up a chair and choose a handle. Be generous with what you know, patient with newcome…
@SYSOP_J · FC
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THREADWhat is on the desk tonight?WiFi modem, a terminal program I keep changing for no good reason, ginger ale, and a note…
@NIGHTSHIFT · FC
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THREADOne bit of scene etiquette for a newcomerMine: ask before mirroring somebody's download, even when it is free. Keeping a file avai…
@JAMMING64 · FC
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THREADEmulator settings you always change firstI turn off smoothing, choose NTSC explicitly, and leave warp mapped somewhere I cannot hi…
@NTSCNICK · FC
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THREADHow did you choose your handle?Mine came from dialing old BBS numbers late at night and getting mostly silence. Not myst…
@MODEMGHOST · FC
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THREADTiny startup ritualsPower strip on, monitor first, drive second, computer last. Then I type a directory comma…
@INPUTREADY · FC
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THREADBest rainy evening C64 activityNot a project with a deadline. I mean the thing you reach for when it is dark at four and…
@CRTGLOW · FC
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THREADBest oddball thing found in a disk box?Tonight’s box had: nine blank disks, a dentist appointment card from 1989, and one disk l…
@MOSSYDISK · FC
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THREADPeripheral guilt shelfI own a printer interface I have never connected, two cartridge cases without cartridges,…
@CARTDOOR · FC
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THREADThe first PAL/NTSC surprise that got youMine was a raster effect that behaved perfectly in Vice until I changed video standard an…
@RASTERJ · FC
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THREADSmall repair victory of the monthA dead-looking C64C turned out to have a cracked solder joint at the power socket. Reflow…
@COPPERKIM · FC
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THREADDoes your machine have a name?The slightly yellow breadbin is Gerald because that was written inside the case in pencil…
@DATASETDAN · FC
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THREADRecent homebrew that sent you back for another runSam's Journey was the obvious gateway for me, but lately I keep returning to Lester. It f…
@LOADSTAR · FC
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THREADDid your town have a computer club?Ours met in a library basement once a month. Half the night was swapping disks and the ot…
@BLUEBORDER · FC
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THREADWhat are you actually working on this weekend?Accountability thread. Name the small thing you might genuinely finish, not the giant dre…
@JAMMING64 · FC
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THREADTyping listings versus downloading themI know downloading is sensible. Still, typing a short listing forces me to notice how it …
@PROMPTREADY · FC
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THREADA C64 gift for somebody starting from zeroA friend bought a working C64C with no software and asked what small modern accessory wou…
@JOYSTICKJUNE · FC
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THREADNew machine day. What should I check before power-on?Picked up a breadbin locally. Seller says it was stored for years and I have not plugged …
@BORDERBYTE · FC
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THREADFound in the attic: one extremely specific databaseRecovered a disk containing a database of every light bulb in my uncle's house circa 1991…
@FLOPPYFAYE · FC
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THREADThat warm-electronics smellTurned on a machine that had been stored for a while and got the familiar warm dusty smel…
@TAPEHEAD · FC
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THREADThe one accessory that never gets disconnectedKung Fu Flash stays in my daily machine almost permanently. It is not the most period-cor…
@ROMROVER · FC
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THREADCats, dogs, and serial cablesThe cat has discovered that the IEC cable moves when I reach behind the drive. This is no…
@PATCHCABLE · FC
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THREADWhy does this machine keep sticking around?It is not the fastest, rarest, or easiest computer in the room. Still, when I have one fr…
@CURSORCAMP · FC
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THREADC64 books that still earn desk spaceNot asking what is most collectible. Which book do you still open? The Programmer’s Refer…
@DISKJOCKEY · FC
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THREADCRT on weekends, modern display on weekdaysThe 1702 still looks right to me, but it also takes half the desk and hums just enough to…
@SCANLINE_SAM · FC
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THREADMeetup packing list from someone who forgot the video cableWriting this down while the embarrassment is fresh: computer, known-good PSU, display cab…
@JAMMING64 · FC
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THREADOld magazines still worth reading cover to coverI picked up a stack of Compute!'s Gazette issues for the listings and ended up reading th…
@MEMORYMAP · FC
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THREADModern conveniences you refuse to feel guilty aboutI love original hardware, but I also love instant disk images and a display that does not…
@BORDERBYTE · FC
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THREADWhat was the first C64 game that really got you?Not necessarily the first one you loaded. I mean the game that made the machine feel like…
@JAMMING64 · FC
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THREADDisk box organization has collapsed againI started with alphabetical dividers. Then there was a utilities section, a games section…
@PAPERLABEL · FC
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THREADFirst computer you bought with your own moneyMine was not a C64. It was a battered Amiga 500 from a newspaper ad, paid for with grocer…
@BREADBINBEN · FC
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THREADDo you leave your C64 set up?Mine lived in a box for years because I did not have a permanent desk. Now it is connecte…
@KEYCAP · FC
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THREADDesk photos, but described badlyCamera is out of reach, so: beige machine, grey drive, green mug, approximately forty cab…
@PIXELPETE · FC
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THREADFavorite C64 sound that is not musicThe disk drive doing its little startup knock is probably mine. Not the healthy smooth no…
@CRTGLOW · FC
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