Spectrum SE news
	Got a mail today from Andrew Owen, creator of the, slightly quiet, ZX Spectrum SE project. Well, it seems that during his time in Australia (the reason the project went a bit dead), he's actually been doing some work on "the new machine." I don't have much info at the moment, but I hope to soon get the new specifications, most of which (with the exception of the 32k video modes) can be bolted onto a TC2048 or a Pentagon. As soon as I have them, I'll post them on the site for all to see. There's also some talk of getting someone to work on hardware emulation of the machine, but I'll get back to that when I have the specs.
	[icabod] - 17/01/2001 @995

	Spectrum +3e ROMs updated
	Spotted this post from Garry Lancaster on CSS last night. To save me some time, it's just gonna be a cut-n-paste: " At long last I've got around to updating the +3e ROMs! I hope you'll agree the new version (v0.87) was worth waiting for; there are a large number of useful changes, including: full support for two IDE drives additional compatibility with some previously unusable drives new commands for renaming partitions and showing current drive mappings ability to map floppy drives and RAMdisk to any drive letter (yes, you can now have your 3.5inch external drive as A: and the 3inch internal drive as B: if you want!) extensions to several commands so that drive mappings, default drive, Editor/BASIC colour schemes etc can be automatically set up each time you turn the +3e on improved boot speed for single-harddisk systems several fixes to minor +3 problems You can get the ROMs and full details from the new website (don't forget to update your links/bookmarks!) which is now at: http://www.z88forever.org.uk/zxplus3e/ Enjoy! (And don't worry - the next release is being worked on already!) " There. Looks quite interesting. After the recent photos of it, and seeing some of the comments in the newsgroup, perhaps I'll try modding one of my +3's.
	[icabod] - 17/01/2001 @990

	SpecView SE 2.1.9 released
	Over on World Of Heaven Aeroplane you can now download the new version (newer than the one released a couple days ago) of SpecView SE. The main change, aside from a couple bugfixes, in v2.1.9 is support for .TRD files. Now you can view pictures from TR-DOS disk images. Nice.
	[icabod] - 16/01/2001 @990

	Site changes
	Okay. Two sites have changed, one I noticed myself, and the other one I managed to completely miss. Hehe. I've lumped them both in here because... well one of the doesn't seem to have changed much at all! First I need to mention the new, and frankly sweet-as-hell, design over on ZX Banner Network. The reason I'd missed this was due to pages being renamed, but enough of the excuses. Go check this place out, if you've not seen it already. Next, I saw that Sinclair Tech Info Library has changed. But I've looked, and all I can find is a corrected email address. Perhaps there's something hidden in one of the many tech-files on the site. Best go read them all thoroughly, eh?
	[icabod] - 16/01/2001 @985

	Pentagon FAQ updated to 1.0.1
	Got a mail from MacBuster today stating that he's put an updated version of his Pentagon FAQ online. Now, I can't, I'm afraid, give you a rundown of what's new in this release, as I've not actually been monitoring this beast. But it's definately a worthwhile download. I've learned a lot from it, and that's after only reading a couple of the questions ;] So if you're new to the Pentagon machine, or if you just want to find out something you didn't know, then check this out.
	[icabod] - 15/01/2001 @998

	Emulator rumours and the +3e
	Thought I'd fit all the DB stuff into one post. Just a couple things, really. First I'll mention that over on Speccy4Ever you can now find some photos of the +3e HD System in the hardware section. I was also told of a rumour regarding a PSX emulator for the Spectrum. Yes, you read it right. Not a Speccy emulator on the PSX! It's an interesting thought, and I've been assured this isn't a joke. But hey, it's a good read either way: " This emulator requires 128k of memory and SIX disks to emulate PSX RAM and one for saving rendered pictures on it. Sure you can not play PSX games because Speccy has no CD-ROM drive, but it shows PSX start-up logo. But it really emulates all PSX chips and CPU. Rendering of single frame takes over 30 minutes. " Hmm. Well, if anyone finds this crazy beast, it'll be worth checking out, I think. Maybe there's now a good reason for Ramsoft to put a "go-faster stripes" option into RealSpectrum <g>.
	[icabod] - 15/01/2001 @992

	Generic Party News and Info
	Well, just a short post to say that I've added some more parties to the list over on the right. At the moment I think they all have Speccy stuff in them, but if not, they'll be removed as soon as I find out (probably after the event, hehe). Also, I saw a post on CSS about a "gathering" in America, named Classic Computer and Gaming 2001. Now I'm guessing that few people who read this page will be in America at the time of the meet (June 29th), but in case you are, I've cut the post into a neat little text file, which you can grab here
	[icabod] - 15/01/2001 @990

	z80Stealth 0.406 released
	Last for today is another release of emulator z80Stealth. This version is mainly a bugfix, but here's a rundown of the changes: Emulation of Profi hi-res (512x240) video mode has been added. Added a CP/M switch for Profi emulation. Fixed mouse handling code. Fixed some bugs in the video-mode code. Fixed a bug with screenshot saving. That should keep a few of you happy.
	[icabod] - 14/01/2001 @715

	Chaos Constructions - CC1
	After looking at a recent update on Demotopia, it occurred to me that, although I've mentioned this year's CC1 party, I've not really covered it in much detail. Heh, and it was announced ages ago! There's not really a huge amount to say, tho'. If you've seen reports on last years party, you know pretty much what to expect. It's being held in August, although the partyplace is undecided so far, and there will be all the usual parties from Spectrum (music, graphics, intro, demo, and wild). Of course, for full details you should check this file located over at Chaosite.
	[icabod] - 14/01/2001 @710

	Blah!
	Yeah, time to get this news down a little: Congratulations go to WOS for getting thier 1,000,000th visitor. Perhaps. Check the news site for details. Virtual TR-DOS has had a couple updates with a couple more 'zines (ZX Format #6/7), and some additions to the General Sound section. Added a link to ZX, a Spectrum 'zine that's worth checking out. And I'll be monitoring this one for news, too. Despite closing down for a month-or-so, DJ Hooligan has been updating his site some more, with a few additional games, and more importantly, v2.41 of Burial Graphics Editor. There's also some news about the release of the game Pussy, and a download for RIP#12. Power Of Sound announced they have a new download of Iris Ultrademo, by Flash Inc. I think. Alas, I can't translate this site due to fonts or something. Arse! Noticed that the World Of Heaven Aeroplane has been updated, with a new version of SpecView. v2.18 brings with it a couple new features, and I recommend this to be added to anyone's download list. Hoorah! Another lump done!
	[icabod] - 14/01/2001 @645

	Millennium Demoparty
	Okay. Still not feeling "up-to-scratch", so I'm just going to cover the really important stuff tonight. Another demoparty has been announced. The follow-up to last years party, this year sees Millennium Demoparty'1901. Being held in Minsk, on May 5th to May 6th, it's pretty much your standard affair. You know the score with parties by now. Platforms supported at M1901 are PeeCee, Amiga, and of coz ZX Spectrum. Competitions for the Speccy are 4k, 16k, and 640k demo, hand-drawn graphics, and AY Music. There's also a category for game programmers, and a "Wild Compo". Also, as usual with a lot of competitions these days, your work must pass the pre-selection Committee, which I know a few people have had... "problems" with in the past. Also, I'm going to stick my neck out and say I'm not too happy with the voting system. Check out the rules, and you'll see that "rare marks will be ignored", and also that if less than 20 people vote for something, it won't be included. Ehm... but what if these 19 people gave it top marks. It would probably win the averages, but wouldn't be counted! Not sure what's meant by the "rare marks" thing either. Okay, perhaps I'm being silly, and I certainly don't mean to sound like I'm picking on Millennium Demoparty'1901. It's just that we often see strange rules in competitions, and this can be the downfall of some really good work. What's wrong with simply taking all of the votes, and counting them up. The winner would be the one with the highest vote-count. Well, rant over I suppose. Blame it on me being ill. I always get grumpy when I'm ill. Things will be back to normal before you know it.
	[icabod] - 11/01/2001 @885

	Rewrite preview
	Well, it's not much of a change, but after waking up at around 1pm today, I decided to play about with the layout of raww.org. Things are now, I think, a little tidier, and fit much nicer onto a "bigger screen". Of course, some playing still needs to be done, and I'm working on that too. I've also added a couple more screenshots to those on the left (for those who have Javascript, anyway), of the raww arse entries into ZX-Party. That's it for now I think. If anyone has any problems with the altered layout, mail me. See. Sick days do have their bonuses <g>.
	[icabod] - 10/01/2001 @745

	They Came And Ate Us : ZX Party Photos part 2
	Yeah, you read that right. I've finally uploaded another set of photos from ZX-Party 2000. I only just got this done tonight, as I'm feeling rough as hell right now. I've been shooting-up Lemsip, so I'll see if that helps at all. If not, then maybe it's a day off tomorrow. Can't be all bad, eh!? Anyway, these photos, which you can find here come courtesy of Mike of ZeroTeam. Hope you like 'em.
	[icabod] - 09/01/2001 @935

	New files at ZX Downloads
	DJ Hooligan has updated his downloads page with a few nice things. Best one for me was a game (natch!). Well, it's a demo of Wolf3D, at least. Aah, memories. I used to play this on the PC when I was supposed to be doing coursework at college. Hehe. Anyway, as I said there's a couple nice updates, just before a "Site Holiday" until February.
	[icabod] - 09/01/2001 @930

	Forever 2e3 SE Information
	Got a note from Pol/Phantasy tonight, about the newly "done-up" Forever2e3 homepage. It's a nice new design, and loads much quicker on my minimal-bandwidth connection (roll on ADSL). And to top it all, there's a heap of information about the forthcoming Forever 2e3 SE party. I'll leave you all to find out the intricate details, but I'll give a quick rundown of what's happening. It's a party for 8-bit computers (of coz, or I wouldn't be mentioning it here), being held in Zlatovce, Slovakia. Entrance fee is 150Sk (that's a couple USD/GBP). Spectrum events will include all the usual competitions for Music, Graphics, and Intros/Demos, and there'll be the opportunity to fight with owners of C64 and Atari (joke!!!). What's more the party is taking place on the 3 days from March 16th to March 18th, 2001. Hmm. Just before my birthday. Now I have something else to add to my wishlist <g>.
	[icabod] - 08/01/2001 @999

	Which Emulator?
	Nice little feature has been added to WOS in the last couple days. There's often some rivalry between users of the various emulators. I myself am a fan of RealSpectrum, while I know lots of people are devotees of Z80Stealth and R80, amongst others. Well now you can see which is the most popular download from the WOS-site. Currently the top-of-the-list for PC emu's is the ever-popular WinZ80. I guess it's simply the most famous. Only problem I can see is that, I assume the list doesn't include downloads from any site other that WOS. Perhaps a full-on vote is in order?
	[icabod] - 08/01/2001 @997

	Anubis Up For Grabs
	Saw another sad post on X-Agon's board today, this time from SS/Anubis of ZeroTeam. Or rather ex-of-ZeroTeam. He's announced that he's decided to leave the Spectrum scene. Apart from the fact that it's another deserter to add to the list, it means that his review-site anubis.miesto.sk is up for grabs. I'm going to offer to take it over, or at least to provide a new place to host the reviews (well, I have a server just kinda sitting there right now). However, if you feel you could do something with it, then get in touch with him.
	[icabod] - 08/01/2001 @995

	Final Shoque results
	Last thing for today are some results for the Graphics competition, Final Shoque. visualise compo 1 - Keep ZX! - ZSV / MIU / CTL 2 - Do U Like? - Sinclair Club 3 - Lost - Prof / 4D graphics compo 1 - Keep ZX! - ZSV / MIU / CTL 2 - Pain - Gas13 3 - My Army - Surv!vor There you go. Seems that ZSV keeps astounding us all with graphics. If you remember, he even won the CC000 graphics compo. Thanks to Demotopia for this info.
	[icabod] - 07/01/2001 @915

	Mega-Zines
	Blimey! Just seen an update from Virtual TRD! It's dated mid-December, but it's only just come through to the UK. Now that's what I call Internet Lag! Anyway, if 'zines are your thing then I urge you to take a trip over there. There's been a huge update in that section, and while you're there you can pick up a Gameboy emulator, if that's your kinda thing. Well, it's z80-based, so it can't be all bad.
	[icabod] - 07/01/2001 @910

	ZX-Chart
	Got a mail from Demiurge Ash about the site ZX-Chart. He's said that the next issue will be in English, which should please all Euro-sceners, me included. He's also drawn up a new button for raww.org, which I'll add to my collection soon. And yes, I have a load of other buttons to put on the site... they'll come, be patient. In the meantime, you could do worse than check out the site of Real Software, the link for which I've just added to the links-bar.
	[icabod] - 07/01/2001 @900

	End of the Scene!
	Well, sort of. Read a post on Scenergy (in the English section, would you believe), that Scene Team are leaving/have left the Speccy. Sad news when anyone leaves the Scene. If you see what I mean.
	[icabod] - 07/01/2001 @885

	Forever 2e3+1 news
	Apparently, there's going to be some new information on the forthcoming demoparty Forever 2e3.1, posted on the site in the coming week. As I write, there's nothing up there, but I wait with baited breath for some info. Keep on checking the site, and let me know if I miss something <g>. Another note about a site worth keeping an eye on. I have it on good authority that Sinclair Hotline will soon be fully translated into English. I've reported about this before, and I'm now just waiting to see the change on the main page. 'Til then, check this pre-post version.
	[icabod] - 07/01/2001 @880

	Butros ROMs
	Yeah, BD has been at it again, adding a frankly stupid number of ROMs to Speccy4Ever. But hey, the more the merrier, right? You can now get an additional batch of ROMs for the Didaktik, two versions of the Spectrum Turbo ROMs (v2.3 and v4.4), and a bunch of ISOROMs. For information on this last lot, you could do worse than pop over here. But remember to pack your pocket-translator.
	[icabod] - 07/01/2001 @875

	Phat0 releases
	Haha. That had you all going! Well, it's partly true. Some of the productions from Phat0 have been released, and put onto Demotopia. You can pop over there now and download three of the intros, along with "Never Noised" by 4th Dimension. Some other news from Phat0 is that, although the results are still not officially released, there were 3 demos entered, with Hooy Program's "Yerzmyey's Nightmare" taking the winning place. Another demo release that I've not spotted on Demotopia yet is the first demo of 2001. Titled "PF2001", it's by 5SAMYC group, you can download it here.
	[icabod] - 03/01/2001 @999

	Z80-Stealth 0.402 released
	Only a small post about this new release, as it's yet another bug-fix. Seems like only a couple days ago that the previous two versions came out. Still, if z80Stealth is your thing, or you just like keeping up with the Jones's, then go grab the new kit.
	[icabod] - 03/01/2001 @997

	Sprinter 2000
	Another note I saw from DB (told you he was keeping busy), related to the Sprinter-board, that crazy Speccy-PeeCee-hybrid thingy. Check the site, you'll see what I mean. Anyway, I was pointed to this page, which holds details of the Sprinter 2000. Okay, so I'm perhaps a year out-of-date, but I think it's worth putting something in here now. Especially as the date on the document is only a few weeks ago.
	[icabod] - 03/01/2001 @995

	Scraggy Blah! Hunt
	The problem with going away, even just for a few days, is that you rapidly lose track of the news. So, following on from yesterday's dose, here's a little multi-vitamin: Yerzmyey sent out this votesheet from Demiurge Ash. It's the English votesheet for ZX-Chart. Although... the site seems to be down right now. But keep trying. I've added a link to the freakily-titled World Of Heaven Aeroplane. There you can download a couple nice utils to add to your collection. The ever-busy DB over at Speccy4Ever has added another ROM that I'd missed, this one being Andrew Owen's plus4. It's another mod of the standard 48k ROM, but this has built-in monitor, etc. Check the full details at the site. Claims to have around 90% compatibility. As the docs say, could be a good starting-point for some new hardware. Garry Lancaster posted a message on CSS to say that he's fixed a small error on his diagram for the +3e hard disk interface. Pinouts were incorrect, it seems. Tsk. Always blame the hardware <g>. Not demo-related, but a nice little gift has popped up in the news on Scenet. A cut-n-paste job: "New cool game for Speccy is released! I mean Pussy - all who wants to get it for FREE. please ask in ENGLISH to lcd@chello.at and you will get TAPE version (1mb)." WOS report that Sergei Dubarev has released SpecView v2.17, a Windows app to play with screenshots. Nice. Download from WOS. A nice little chunk gone. Now for more...
	[icabod] - 03/01/2001 @990

	ZX-Party Photos
	Well, I planned to get these out before 2001, but they'll just have to wait a couple more days. Yeah, I have some photos taken during ZX-Party 2000 by Mike of ZeroTeam. So don't worry, they'll be up there very soon. And in case you're wondering, I'm taking my time thinking up captions <g>.
	[icabod] - 02/01/2001 @815

	ProTracker 3.51
	This was planned to be an exclusive, but unfortunately I got the files just after I left for Bristol. It could still be an exclusive, as Scenergy seem to be having some technical difficulties recently. Anyhoo, thanks to UnBEL!EVER^x7m for sending this stuff to me. As you can probably gather from the Headline, we have the new version of Pro Tracker available. Now I'm not usually a fan of putting .TRD files on the site (preferring the generic .TAPs), but this one's a winner, and if I put it on now, it won't take long for a tape, or even MB02 version, to surface. So, in an Alice in Wonderland style... CLICK ME!!! There are a few instructions to go with this. You'll need to copy the .$b file into a .TRD image, and then just run the file in an emulator. It'll unpack the files you need. I'd do it for you, but after "re-organising" my hard-drive, I've lost all my useful tools. Time for some bulk-downloading again. I was also to have a version of Minimal Tracker, but the release has been delayed for a few days. UnBEL!EVER^x7m also sent me a couple 'zines, which I'll plop here as an added bonus. Abzac #1 is a Russian .PDF 'zine, which I kinda hope will be translated into English for the rest of the scene. And there's Becuul, a 'zine from Triumph and Hardwave Crew, which you can read in most emulators. Now to switch on the modem, and start up the downloads.
	[icabod] - 02/01/2001 @810

	Speccy4Ever ROMs
	Got a backlog of updates from Speccy4Ever to give you, namely a bunch of ROMs (shock!). Here's the list There's the Scorpion Service Monitor v4.02, supporting SMUC apparently. SCRPKEY which I think is for using AT/XT keyboards with a Scorpion (but I could be wrong). And most importantly, MB02.ROM, which you'll need to use with the new version of RS. That should please the ROM-hungry amongst you. Of coz, if memory serves me correctly, the MB02 ROM has been on Raww Arse Archive for a while <g>.
	[icabod] - 02/01/2001 @800

	Catchup
	Well, I'm playing catch-up after another weekend away. This time I was up in Bristol with Bogie and LaesQ, tho' frankly no Spectrum stuff was done. Instead, we generally did the party-thing. Popped out on Friday night to catch the opening of "Unbreakable", the new film by M. Night Shyamalan (he directed "6th Sense"). Worth a watch, say I. Anyway, on with some news (look above).
	[icabod] - 02/01/2001 @795

	Quick Commander 2.6 ROM
	Yes, it's Boxing Day, and I really should be up the pub. But just before I go out, I'll mention a new ROM on Speccy4Ever. It's version 2.6 of Quick Commander. And what's more, there's even an English translation of the .txt-file with it. I've not had a chance to read through it all yet, so I can't verify what disk-systems it'll work with (anything with a WD-FDC1793 chip at a guess). But thought I'd let you know.
	[icabod] - 26/12/2000 @935

	Z80Stealth v0.400 and v0.401
	Obviously not wanting to be outdone by the Ramsoft team, Kirill Kolpakov released a new version of his emulator, Z80Stealth, yesterday. And today, promptly brought out a quick bugfix. Here's a list of the combined fixes. Or rather, here's a list of some of them. The full list is huge so I recommend having a read while you're waiting for the download to complete. Scorpion ZS 256 and KAY1024 emulation. New High Quality sound-mode. New Cursor and Sinclair 1/2 joystick emulation. Reset emulator direct to TR-DOS mode. "dummy" General Sound emulation. Games designed for this device have no sound yet, but they're working! Provide Hayes modem for Speccy Emulation. Various new video-modes. Beta 128 disk interface emulation. Well, it's a day after X-Mas, but you've still time to go and fill your stocking with binary digits.
	[icabod] - 26/12/2000 @840

	New releases all over the shop
	Saw a mention on WOS of two new releases. One is an update patch for SEMulator, which fixes a couple problems with v0.33. The other is the release of a new .BMP to .SCR convertor. Worth checking out.
	[icabod] - 26/12/2000 @835

	Minimal Tracker released soon
	Scenet report that MmcM of Sage Group will soon be releasing a new AY-Tracker, named "Minimal Tracker". Seem to recall something about this a while back, when a new version of ProTracker was released. Could be dreaming, tho'. Not a huge amount in the way of details, but there's a chance that a tape-version will be released, meaning we won't all have to switch over to TR-DOS for yet another program.
	[icabod] - 26/12/2000 @830

	RealSpectrum beta9
	Ooh, ooh, ooh. Was about to go out for a traditional Christmas Eve Piss-up, when I spotted this little present from the generous sack of Ramsoft. It's a new release of RealSpectrum, and just in time, too. Here's a quick rundown of what's new: MB-02+ emulation (yep yep!). The z80 DMA and RealTime Clock are emulated, with disk images supported. Capture output to .AVI files. Yeah, now you can store movies of your favourite demos. Model Specific hardware properties (such as ROMfiles, etc). Multiface I and III emulation added, selected automatically according to model of Spectrum. Pentagon 512k Memory extension supported. New RS-232 emulation through the PC COMports, with customisable comms routines. Improved FDC765 disk emulation. Support for compressed files (.ZIP, .RAR, .ARJ, .ACE), used in the file selector as directories. Now you can save that precious disk-space. Various bugfixes. Queue it up!!!!
	[icabod] - 24/12/2000 @845

	Humbug
	Well, it is that time of year, when a fat man dressed in red, creeps into your bedroom late at night and empties his sack. But enough about life with Bogie, it's Christmas, season of good will, and all that crap. Personally I'm just pleased for some time off work. And a chance to drink vast quantities of alcohol, but really no-one needs and excuse for that. So, in an effort to sound vaguely festive, Good Cheer to you!
	[icabod] - 24/12/2000 @720

	ZX-Chart
	Yep, mentioned it a little while back, but like the fool that I am, completely neglected to add the link to the list. So, I'll do it now. In case you can't guess from the name, ZX-Chart is the "Top Of The Pops" of the Spectrum Demoscene. To save my poor fingers, here's a cut-n-paste from the site (passed neatly through translate.ru): " The purpose of this site - periodically to reveal the best software and the best experts of ZX-Spectrum platform. " Nicely put. On the site (sadly in only Russian for now), you can find categories including Best Group (surely Raww Arse), Best Coder (why, icabod of coz), Best Demo (yep, it's BOA), and so on. Can't see anything relating to Best Website, but that's probably for the best <g>. Anyway, go check it out, and remember to vote wisely, now!
	[icabod] - 24/12/2000 @705

	Demotopia and raww.net
	"Shouldn't that read raww.org, Mr icabod?". Nope. It's been a while in the making, and I've still not even got the webpage sorted out for it, but I'm taking this moment to announce raww.net. Basically, I splashed out (oo-er) on a server a while back, and until now I've just been playing with it, setting up domains, etc. However, I got a mail from Gasman a few days ago, stating that he'd run out of space for Demotopia. A few quick scripts later, and all of the downloads are now located on raww.net. You still need to go to Demotopia to get to them, tho'. Currently all you'll see if you visit raww.net is a crappy logo (not even lined up correctly to the background). But over X-Mas I plan to get something useful up there. The purpose of the server is to provide hosting to anyone who wants it, there will be information posted on the site in the near future. Until then, I'll let you get back to your surfing.
	[icabod] - 23/12/2000 @650

	Shrinking Scene?
	Seems that the demoscene is getting smaller by the minute. I read over on Scenet, a couple days ago, that Brokimsoft are leaving the scene. And now, I've just received an email from Breeze of ACL. As he puts it, "Ascendancy - Party is over!" Unlike most demogroups that leave the scene, ACL aren't simply moving to another platform, as they're leaving the PC scene behind as well. It's currently uncertain what the various members of the group are going to be doing now, although MAG and Tom Hial have decided to keep releasing software for the Spectrum. So maybe it's not a case of ACL dying, but being reborn. It's also unclear at the moment how this will affect the ZX Banner Network, which is run by Breeze (ex-Minisoft), although he's said he'll be concentrating on Internet work.
	[icabod] - 23/12/2000 @640

	Blart! the revenge
	Oooh, two Blah!'s in a row. And so far apart. Times are hard, I guess. WOS have got themselves a forum, in a "jumping-on-the-bandwagon" stylee. Scenergy reports on ZX-Chart at last being up-n-running. Pop on over and answer some stuff. Yeah. And they also report on a Speccy Emulator for the good ole DreamCast. Not a huge fan of consoles myself, but at least someone has put in some effort. I've been trying to do more "behind-the-scenes" stuff, but due to huge pressure at work, I've not had much chance to do anything at all. I've managed to plan in some time to eat, tho'. Poop.
	[icabod] - 19/12/2000 @925

	Blart!
	Another fairly quiet couple days, (just as well, as I'm still just too damned busy at work) so I guess it's time for another round of news-lite. WOS has won itself another award. Yeah, Martijn will soon need to buy a new cabinet for them! This time it's a Golden Web Award. Nice one Cyril! I (as in raww.org) got a mention on Gas13's site, basically in thanks for all the times I mention his site. I guess with this latest post, I'll get the link in <H1> ;] If all goes well at work tomorrow, then I should have the weekend free to do some work on the page. I may even get around to adding the backlog of buttons I have piling up! Tenuous demo-related item #8712: was checking out SWHQ, the page of one of my favourite musicians (Steve Wilson), and spotted his current playlist. In amongst NIN, Aphex Twin and Tangerine Dream was a band named Dies Irae. Which is also a fine demo by, uhm... Exodus. Fantastic. There. Fulfilled? I hope so.
	[icabod] - 14/12/2000 @930

	Zine uploads and Z80Stealth rumours
	Spotted a change to the z80Stealth pages. There's new 'zine downloads of Black Crow #2, #4, IzhNews #1-#0B, Ultimathum 1, and ZX Format 6+7. And there's also a note that a new version of z80Stealth will be unleashed onto the public soon. But more than that, I do not know.
	[icabod] - 12/12/2000 @999

	Not Quite Demos
	Well, demoscene is quiet (as we all know), but here's a couple (I think) interesting bits of Speccy-related news. First up, there's a new game in development for the PeeCee titled Hostile Waters. Nothing special in itself, except that this is vaguely based on another of my fave Speccy games, Carrier Command. Yeah, that good ole' how-the-hell-did-it-fit-in-128k game. What's more, the PeeCee version features Tom Baker (Dr. Who), Paul Darrow (Blake's 7), and (mmm), Dempsey and Makepiece's Glynis Barber. Another non-demo thing was this article posted to comp.sys.sinclair. Now I don't ever read the bosom-enriched newspaper "The Mirror", so I missed out on this, but thanks to "Pete" for posting it. It's all about how much better the Spectrum (or as they call it, the "Sinclair PC") is/was compared with candy-covered shite (oops, there goes the "family-oriented webpage" thing) like Pokemon and Teletubbies. And quite right too. They average the "interest" span of Spectrum's to be around 20 months. Hmm. I've had mine since the mid-eighties, and I still love it. Does that mean I'm not average? HEY! Don't all answer at once!!!! Guess this isn't quite demo-related, tho' it affects our favourite archive (okay Gasman, our 2nd favourite <g>), WOS. Seems they've been having some problems after the recent move with DNS-trouble. Oh, I know the feeling!
	[icabod] - 12/12/2000 @990

	The Gathering
	Spotted another demoparty update on the Calendar. This one's The Gathering, being held in Oslo, Norway, for a huge (in party-terms) 4 days! It starts on April 11th, next year (that's 2001 as I write). Nicely overlaps Birdie and EIL2, meaning the party-freaks will have their work cut out. It'll supposedly have Speccy stuff. I'll do some research on this and the parties mentioned a couple days ago "when I get some time" (which'll mean this weekend, probably).
	[icabod] - 12/12/2000 @975

	Tracker Music Archive updated
	Sergey has updated his archive of Tracker Music recently (like, over the weekend). And not a piffling little update, neither. No, this is a 50-tonne, bronzed-and-shining, phallus of an update. The last update, I recall, brought the collection to a tidy 2700. But this one brings it to a staggeringly wholesome 4200!!! If this wasn't a family-oriented webpage, I'd put in a few expletives. But we must think of the young, eh!? Thanks for a lot of this update go to one Ilya Kudryavcev, for around 2000 of the new tunes, and also to our own Gasman for indexing the tunes from First Association. It should also be noted that Power Of Sound have a new section dedicated to Sergey's emulator.
	[icabod] - 12/12/2000 @965

	Party news
	Recently added the Demoparty Calendar to my webchecker, and it's just as well I did. Currently listed as hosting Spectrum competitions are: Ambience 2001 : Held in the Netherlands, in March. Birdie : Held in Sweden, in April. Error In Line #2 : Held in Germany, also in April. Chaos Constructions 1 : Held in Russia, in August. Yeah, some news has been released about the next CC. It was actually released a few days ago, but you know me, slack! You can download some info here. Now, I'm away for the weekend (again), so you'll all have to wait until I get back for more news. Shouldn't matter, as things have been slow of late. If you're bored waiting for something to happen, then I encourage you to write an article for Subliminal Extacy. The more people who send in articles, the quicker it'll be released.
	[icabod] - 09/12/2000 @505

	More voting
	Gas13 has put a note up on his site that he's taking part in a kinda competition, too. Seems that everybody's at it right now! "I became a part of a Krasnodar gallery. Please, come and vote for my works." Well, go for it. The gallery can be found here, and Gas13's work here.
	[icabod] - 09/12/2000 @500

	Blah!
	It's been a quiet couple of days, which is just as well, as I've been working long hours the past few days. I guess everyone is winding down ready for X-Mas. So, just a couple notes for now: Noticed on ZXBN that they're in the same compo as Scenergy. I've put in my vote there, too. Or perhaps I've subscribed to some dodgy site. Do votes usually require credit-card details? Received a button from DJH Downloads. But... it's not going up yet. I'll put it up when my re-coding of the site is complete. So don't worry, it'll appear soon. Or if I get a chance, I'll put up the backlog of buttons and stuff in the next few days. Simple work, but I only just have time for the news, right now. Noticed that Scenergy has been quiet recently. Also noticed that http://www.scenergy.org/ has been mentioned on #z80. If anyone has news of what's the deal (both seem kinda dead right now), let me know. Got a link for MindReSources demoparty, being held in Moscow on 3rd and 4th of February (2001 presumably). Haven't had a chance to look through the whole page, but skimming through the compo's section revealed a distinct lack of Spectrum stuff. Am I wrong? Let me know and I'll do something about it.
	[icabod] - 06/12/2000 @990

	WOS updates
	There's been a couple interesting updates notes on WOS, which I'll share with you here: Leszek Chmielewski updated his utility BMP2SCR to v1.62. Attila Olbrich wrote a WAV to TAP convertor. There you go.
	[icabod] - 05/12/2000 @950