Tired of the original basic header when you start up your #Commodore #C64 Ultimate? Change it with this handy tool.

https://c64.pro/

#retrocomputing #retrocomputer

a few years ago i mentioned that i wrote a book about the exciting, awkward and embarrassing experiences of growing up with computers and video games in the 80s and 90s.

i wanted to remember what it felt like being the only dorky computer kid at school. or what it was like to hear my first modem handshake sound. or starting the first flamewar on the school's national FirstClass BBS in the macintosh lab over the lunch-hour

it was originally something i wrote only for my family and friends who were there at the time.

and then i met all of you folks when i started my first masto instance 4 years ago. i had no idea there were so many hardcore retrocomputing and gaming nerds out there; unix and mac and ms-dos folks alike.

so i mentioned it casually. i was surprised by the interest in the book.

so i spent the better part of the past 3 years rewriting the book for *you* fellow mastodon dorkus malorkuses. the book is a celebration of all of the best (and worst) parts of a kid growing up in the digital age.

we're all busy old tired stressed folks now. so every memory and cringetacular story is short enough to read on a 5 minute bus/metro/toilet ride. they're weaved together into an arc that starts at my family's first Tandy TRS-80 and ends at my school's Mac LC II and building my first Pentium 133.

it's finally published, and i'm super proud of what it became thanks to everyone here nerding out for years.

enjoy the book. i wrote it just for you. ❤️

paperback edition: https://mybook.to/EDuUf

DRM-free ebook (EPUB format) and chapter samples here:
https://tomotama.itch.io/mages-modems

#books #indiePublisher #bookstodon #author #macintosh #vintageApple #vintageComputing #msdos #dosGaming #yeg #canada #alberta #bbs #smolWeb #indieWeb

It

MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

If you're in Washington come to LinuxFest NorthWest and check out my CGHMN talk!

#linuxfestnorthwest #lfnw #lfnw2026 #retrocomputing

"Hey, one last thing, before I head out," she said.

"Sure," he said, typing furiously on his mechanical keyboard, and not breaking eye contact with monitor.

"That firewall rule you put in for me a month or so ago, you remember that one?"

"Yep," He replied, the percussive keys still click clacking away.

"You can remove or disable that rule, we don't need it anymore, we stopped testing that software."

The keystrokes abruptly stopped. Silence filled the office for the first time that day.

"Everything ok?" She asked.

At this point he was looking down at his LED backed keys, but he managed to pluck up the courage turn and face her. They made eye contact for the first time since the start of their conversation.

A single tear rolled down his face.

"Whats wrong?!" She exclaimed, now concerned she had accidentally unearthed some deeply buried emotion.

"Nothings wrong, everything is fine" he was quick to reassure her, grabbing a tissue to wipe away the tear. "It's just, it's... that's the first time anyone has ever said that to me."

"Said what?" She enquired, genuinely confused.

"Said I can remove or disable a firewall rule, and I've been doing this for 25 years," the tears were flowing faster now. "It was just a beautiful moment."

bbs enthusiasts might remember the name Telegard - a bbs server written based on wwiv's source code and hugely popular with the ibm pc/ms-dos crowd

telegard had a long and tumultuous history by its authors, and its own source was eventually leaked and was modded into many more popular (pirate-friendly) ms-dos boards like Renegade, Oblivion and Iniquity.

while i was doing research a few months ago on the history of those systems, i found out that telegard.net - the original home of tg - was taken over by a domain squatter in 2010, populated with ads for the past 15 years.

two months ago, i noticed that the squatter had not renewed the domain, and it went into the long grace/redemption/auction/expiry cycle. i checked on it every single morning, and to my absolute delight, it was released this morning for purchase. 💸

the domain will be used purely for historical preservation of telegard and its many descendants

update: restored the old site from the WBM archived version to https://telegard.net

#bbs #warez #softwarePreservation