Pentagon 48k AY-Emulator
	This is a mixed-up one. In order to test some new Z80-emulation code for AY-Emulator, a mini-Pentagon emulator has been created. Well, I guess it's one of the best ways to test a Z80-core.
	[icabod] - 27/10/2001 @753

	UnrealSpeccy. New version. Again.
	It's true, another version of UnrealSpeccy has hit the cosmic highway, just waiting for you to go grab it. According to DJH (where you can go to download it), it features an improved debugger, along with better sound, and Hobeta-loader.
	[icabod] - 27/10/2001 @752

	RadWar 2002 announced
	Well, Radwar 2002 could have been announced ages ago, but it's only just appeared on Scenet. This, if you'll remember from previous years, is the non-computer party, supporting all platforms. Does that make sense? It's all done via video, methinks. Anyway, the date listed is "Summer 2002", which is nice and precise.
	[icabod] - 27/10/2001 @749

	FREAX - Demoscene History book
	A very interesting post has appeared over on c64.sk, from Tomcat\Greenroom. And yes, it does involve us, not just the C64 scene. A book is being written, titled "Freax" about the history of the demoscene, covering all platforms including (and I quote) "smaller scenes like console, Sinclairs, ..." Huh? Smaller scenes? Check Demotopia to prove that wrong. Either way it looks interesting, and you can check out progress at the Freax homepage. You can even check out some of the work that's already been done. Also, fill in the survey, and remember to mark yourself as a ZX Spectrum-user... we'll show them... small scene indeed. But... what's this anti-Netscape crap? Hmph. Perhaps I should switch to Mozilla -- confuse the hell, eh?!
	[icabod] - 27/10/2001 @736

	More Hotline Updates
	Another couple emails from Ricsibu about the status of his ongoing project to document all of the Speccy's (current) hardware. A whole bunch of things happened over the last couple weeks with the Hotline team, so here's a quick (eheh) rundown: Ricsibu updated the main site with the image gallery. Also included in each update are several new items of hardware (see, the ZX isn't dead). In November, Ricsibu will be holding a seminar in Budapest, all about the Spectrum's history, at the ELTE University. Laszlo Nyitrai, has made English versions of his games, soon to appear on WOS. Do a search for "nyitrai". The team, led by Cozi, are to start work on a new ZX-Clone. Details aren't concrete yet, it could be a European Pentagon, or perhaps something brand-new. The founder and maintainter of Hotline, Balazs Kardos, has been working hard updating and improving the main site. It won't be long 'til it's available in full English. Hmm, so a lot of stuff going on. Check out both the original Sinclair Hotline, and the latest version of the hardware page.
	[icabod] - 25/10/2001 @998

	UnExceptable
	Well I got a mail from LaesQ that he's converted the rather massive "Exception" demo movie that I posted a little while back. He's converted it into two new formats, so you can pick size or quality. Alas I can't currently get to it. Hmph. I'll get something sorted out soon, and let you know when the bandwidth-friendly version is available.
	[icabod] - 25/10/2001 @994

	Blah!
	Ay, it's late again, and I'm rather tired. Shock! I've been away the last couple nights, so there's a bit of news to catch up on. I'll leave some of it for tomorrow (it almost is tomorrow), and for now I'll just put up a few nuggets: Phat1 : saw over at c64.sk that at least one of the entries in the compos had been altered (by the organisers?). You can grab the real version over there. Old Computers : I'm sure you've seen the site "Old-Computers", well they're currently looking for people to help out, mainly by writing articles. Heh, isn't everyone? UnrealSpeccy : Do SMT ever stop? According to DJH, they've released v0.12 of UnrealSpeccy, featuring speed optimisations and videofilters. ASC-ii v2 : Over on POS they've announced the rules to upcoming this upcoming party. Worth a look if you're thinking of going. ZpiXel : Noticed this on Scenergy -- it's a ZX Scene Graphics resource. Looks interesting, but I can't spot the link. Perhaps I'm missing something obvious. When I find it, I'll give it out here. Update : An update from the above... seems the C64-image that was "altered" in fact wasn't, and the correct version still appears in the archive. There. Now I really need sleep.
	[icabod] - 24/10/2001 @998

	Phat1 Results on Demotopia
	As the headline says, the full results for Phat1 have been posted to Demotopia along with the downloads. There's also some preview screen$ of the winners in each class (apart from the AY-compos -- screen$ of music can be rather dull <g>). I must say I'm disappointed with Gasman, as I was expecting him to make sarcastic comments about the early-ness of the results release <g>.
	[icabod] - 21/10/2001 @718

	ASM -> PT3 convertor
	POS have posted a new utility on their website, written I think by Himik himself. It's a tool to convert Advanced Sound Master modules into Pro-Tracker modules. I confess, not being a musician myself (I can prove this by pointing you to any demo that contains my music), I'm not familiar with ASM, tho' I do know a little about Pro-Tracker. So, if you're an AY-Scener, then check out the program.
	[icabod] - 21/10/2001 @716

	German -> English Zine-Scene
	As some of you may know, FBI over at Sintech helps to produce a German ZX-based magazine over in, uhm, Germany. This has been going on for 7 years, and is rather popular it seems. Of coz I've never seen an issue, as I don't speak German. But that could be about to change. Here's the man himself: " At present we are thinking about an English version of the magazine as well. In fact we want to produce the German mag as we do it now and when our work is finished we send the text to somebody to translate it and after translation we will print the English version. This just means the English version will take a little longer than the German, but on the other hand, German and English-speaking users have the same magazine. We are just searching for somebody who do the translations. Maybe you can ask on raww.org. " So that's what I'm doing. If you feel like contributing a little more to the scene, then get in touch with FBI over at Sintech, or send me a mail and I'll pass it on. [note: forgot to mention that the 'zine is titled "SUC-Session"]
	[icabod] - 21/10/2001 @714

	VORC.org goes English
	Thanks go to Hally for mailing me to tell me his site, VORC (the chiptune site), has moved to a new URL: vorc.org. In addition to this, the news is now coming out in English, making it much easier to follow for us monolingual Brits. And also for any other non-Japanese readers. The site covers the chiptune-scene, which of coz includes the AY. Noice. And hey look, we have a button for them, too.
	[icabod] - 21/10/2001 @699

	New ROMs and things
	Speccy4Ever has had an update containing a new, German version of the 48k ROM, written by Andrew Owen (he of ZXSE fame). My guess is the only change is the language. There's also, apparently, a new photo of the Kay 1024 clone, so if pictures are your thing you should go look.
	[icabod] - 20/10/2001 @738

	UnrealSpeccy released - again
	Another version of UnrealSpeccy has been released, and I still can't access any sites at chat.ru to check out what's new in v.011. But we don't really need to know it, do we? We just download the new versions and play, play, play. Spotted this news on DJH Downloads.
	[icabod] - 20/10/2001 @735

	Room for a Phat one?
	I went to bed last night feeling really tired, and it seems I have slept for several months, as when I wake up, the results of Phat1 have been released. Heh, enough poking fun at last years results shenanigans, here's a quick rundown of who-came-where, which I think combines all platforms, so I'll just list away: LoRes Colour Graphics 1 - future comes - antipod 2 - kore wa kireii desu - jailbird/tempest/padua + bizk/damage 3 - foto - klown/delirium tremens/freedom HiRes Colour Graphics 1 - inside your dreams - critikill/farbrausch/scenic/mawi 2 - chilli-chilli-boom-boom - acryl/haujobb 3 - phat1 - bedazzle Phat Logo 1 - phatalia - relict/phantasy/k3l corp 2 - phat - ralph 124c41+/castor cracking group 3 - space logo - berg ASCII/ANSI/PETSCII 1 - the phat ghostrider - cru/100%/toxxin/superior art creations 2 - phat - abhorence/twisted/flo 3 - phat1 - dmg Chip Music 1 - angeldust - factor6/k3l corp/phantasy 2 - mostly harmless - gasman/hooy-program/raww arse 3 - fat phitness - agemixer/scallop Digi Music 1 - sakura part 1 - fee.nix-z/phantasy 2 - hexagon - 187/phantasy 3 - sakura part 2 - fee.nix-z/phantasy CrackTro 1 - class - digital reality 2 - jumping - digital reality 1Kb Intro 1 - pivot - dr max/global corporation The full list of results can be found on the main homepage, along with releases, and some links to photo-reports. I'll queue up the releases for download and check them out. You do the same. Now.
	[icabod] - 20/10/2001 @733

	BMP2SCR goes Windows
	Yep it's true, LCD is soon to begin work on a Windows compatible version of his neat utility, BMP2SCR. This means that the v1.75 released just over a month ago will be the last version for quite some time. "BMP2SCR Pro", or mebbe it'll be called "GFX4SPC" will be written in RapidQ. Which will take some time, just to learn how to write software in it.
	[icabod] - 18/10/2001 @997

	Blah!
	A few things that have built up over the last couple days: DJH Downloads : Noticed via wsw that DJ Hooligan has updated his descriptions of some of the emulators in his list. I really must check out UnrealSpeccy on my new peecee. Project-AY : Heh, just after I mention Project-AY in a random article, it gets updated. Mainly new game tracks, but there's a few changes to the demoscene collection, too. There's also a heap o' info on the various players. Well worth checking out. Giants : Just out of interest, there's a robot in this fantastic peecee game, called the "Toby ZX-81" -- noice. Raww Arse Archive : In case you haven't already updated your bookmarks and email addresses (and it not, why not?), Demon have finally closed down LaesQ's original RAA and E-3 site. It's not of coz situated at raww.net. So stop using ethree.demon.co.uk this instant. Spectrum 2000? : Ricsibu pointed me to this Hungarian magazine. The main page show's his article: "ZX Spectrum 2000-ben?" -- so when do we get a transcript??? Pentagon Schematics : z00m on the X-board pointed to a site detailing the Pentagon Schematics should you want to build one yourself. Documentation (in Slovak) can be found here FollinDrome : I first noticed mention of the FollinDrome over on Scenergy. It's a site for all things Follin. Music, code, etc. Oh wait... that should just read Music. RealSoft : A fairly large software update over at their homepage, with a mass of new utilities to download. Queue them up and make use of your bandwidth. Demiurge Ash : A new section has opened on this homepage, with downloads for all of Demiurge's ZX work. Some nice demos, intros, and even some hand-drawn pr0n. Classic Trash : Quick mention of this site, which I found being discussed on CSS. Not checked it fully yet, but that doesn't mean you can't! Done. Oh, just one more post (above), then to bed.
	[icabod] - 18/10/2001 @986

	SpeccyAL: return of the emulator
	Seems like there's a lot of emulator development work going on right now, with constant updates to UnrealSpeccy, more news on the upcoming release of RealSpectrum, and now work continues on SpeccyAL. This is a rather neat looking emulator, and I have some news straight from the developer, Stephane Schmitz. The emulator supports plugins, a nice touch with the main plugins currently being completed. These consist of Sound, File, Input, CPU, and Graphics plugins. As well as the basic setup, work is also progressing on additional CPU cores (I guess you can just pick the one you prefer). What makes this emulator stand out, IMHO, is the release of a plugin SDK. Okay, it's not released yet, but when it is it'll allow development of all kinds of addons to the standard ZX. I don't have many details of how in-depth the plugins will go, but it shouldn't be too hard to write MB02, or General Sound plugins. Noice. If you're interested in developing plugins, perhaps even for inclusion in a release of SpeccyAL, then contact Stephane, and he'll furnish you with the details.
	[icabod] - 16/10/2001 @025

	Hotline Hardware update (almost)
	Had another email from Ricsibu, who as you'll remember is keeping his hardware page as up-to-date as possible. Want to know what's coming up in the next update? Sprinter 2000 (Standard and Advanced) ZX Spectrum SE LPT AY/YM Circuit Massive download times Hehe, yeah this new version of the page will be huuuge, with more than 2Mb of info/images to download. Whooh! If anyone feels like helping out, some information is still needed for the following: D40B / D80B Czech PC-Keyboard interfaces Scorpion 2000 You can send details to Ricsibu himself, or send them to me and I'll pass them on.
	[icabod] - 16/10/2001 @014

	Demotopia == WOS == Demotopia
	The news arriving on both Demotopia (note the URL: wasn't sure if it was set up, but it seems it is), and WOS is that they've formed an alliance of sorts. Martijn has finally succumbed to the fact that Gasman does a fantastic job of keeping the demoscene archive up-to-date, and that he really can't be beat. I guess this works kinda like Project-AY covers the AY-file side of WOS.
	[icabod] - 16/10/2001 @004

	Quiet for a couple days
	Well, I have some news, so I'll put it all into this post. Just a couple notes really at the moment. I actually had an email sent to me, ooh, last friday. But I refrained from posting any news due to an overwhelming urge to go out and drink beer. Well, you know how it is after a week in the office. It'll be even worse next week as I'll be doing some actual work!!! Zeroteam : Well it looks like the ZeroTeam homepage is finally back online, after being down for quite a while. Welcome back. [spotted on the X-board from Ellvis] Forever3 : Along with the ZeroTeam homepage comes more information about the upcoming FOReVER3 party. You can get a load of information here. I'll do a proper post soon. [also from Ellvis via X-board] UnrealSpeccy : According to WOS, SMT have released another version of UnrealSpeccy, bringing it 0.09b. I really should check this out, and if I could get to chat.ru, I would. Demotopia : A little update (and a quick stab at Phat1) over at Demotopia. Not much to note, apart from a classic (classic as in old) demo from the hands of Saposoft and Busysoft. From way back in 1991. RealSpectrum : Heard from Luca\Ramsoft that it's only the Windows version of RealSpec that'll feature General Sound emulation. Well it's a slight shame we'll have to wait, but I guess we should be moving with the times... and hopefully it means WinRS will be out sooooon! Ooh, that'll do for tonight. OH NO! It's actually this morning already. Don't you hate it when you get carried away!? I've been busy building an extension to the house, so I can fit my new PC inside. Well, it's that or chuck out some old stuff. And you know how tiring it can be, eh?
	[icabod] - 15/10/2001 @010

	Controversy in the land of ZX
	So while browsing through the latest set of translations over at POS, I spot mention of a letter written by X-Team, about the ASC-II party held, ooh, way back. I'll leave you to go and read the full details, long with the letter (only in Russian, I think). But in summary, there's a little tension between them and Brutal Creators Group. Hmm.
	[icabod] - 11/10/2001 @858

	FX Compo re-opened
	About two months ago, a competition being run by ESA was cancelled due to a lack of contributions. Well now it's started again, with the advent of the first entry. The FX Compo is something that I think has been missing from the scene for a while now. There are competitions for Musicians, and for Artists, but where coding is concerned some amazing code can be let down by bad music and graphics. FX Compo rectifies this by simply allowing coders to code. Only Czech and Slovak people will win anything, others will simply gain respect and "mad props" from all and sundry. So, the task is set, check the rules, and get to coding.
	[icabod] - 11/10/2001 @855

	Dimploma in Demoscenery
	Seems that you can get education in anything these days. I'm waiting for a space on the Klingon course at the local college. But some people are lucky enough to be working on something interesting, people like Chaot\Farbrausch\Padua. There's a post on Scenet today requesting that sceners fill in an online survey he's created to aid in his thesis for "Multimedia Arts". I'm not entirely sure what he'll gain, and me being the sceptic I would assume the information will be sold to the highest bidder (it's a joke <g>). But it doesn't really matter to me as the whole thing's written in German anyway. I can only assume that members of all areas of the scene are invited to complete the form, so if you understand German, and feel like divulging all your personal information, you could help out a fellow scener here.
	[icabod] - 11/10/2001 @848

	RealSpectrum Preview
	Thanks to another post on c.s.s by Bohus Kral, some news has come out about some features in the next release of RealSpectrum. As well as the already reported-on inclusion of General Sound support, standard AY/YM sound emulation will be improved. It'll use separate DAC-volume tables for sound, measured directly from real sound-chips, so you can be assured of fairly accurate emulation. Previously, RealSpec used mathematically calculated volume-ramps, which will still be an option if that's what floats your boat. Oh, and in case you wondered the upcoming new emulator from Ramsoft is codenamed "RealSpectrum for Windows" - hmm, hardly imaginative, but I guess it serves it's purpose. Personally I'd have chosen a codename like "RS:Splodge" or "RS:Cromulon", but that's coz I'm a little bit odd.
	[icabod] - 10/10/2001 @957

	Busy and Minigame Compo
	Thanks to a post on c.s.s, I now have a link to the homepage of classic scener, Busy. You've surely all seen his work. To get to the Speccy section, click on "daco", and surf around. Sorry, it's all in Slovakian (I think). And thanks go to Bohus Kral for posting the link. Also, a little news regarding the recently voteable Minigame Competition. The vote-pack has been updated. Not sure what's actually changed, but the tiny 73k file will hardly kill your bandwidth if you download it again. So go to it.
	[icabod] - 10/10/2001 @950

	Minigame Compo Voting begins
	I saw that Gasman has updated the Minigame Competition page. If you've missed it, it was a competition for games to be written on 8-bit platforms in either of two categories: 512b and 2048b. Well acceptance of entries ended a few days ago, and now voting begins. To get a full feel, and to be allowed to vote, you'll need to view all entries from the various platforms, but that shouldn't be too difficult with emulators today. So go and grab the voting pack, and get retro!
	[icabod] - 09/10/2001 @955

	SpeccyBob page updated (and found)
	Well I'd lost this page a while ago, but thanks to a post on comp.sys.sinclair from Mike Wynne, I found it again. SpeccyBob is a kinda DIY Spectrum. There's two versions, the full-on Spectrum + IDE + extra video + etc. And then there's SpeccyBob Lite, which is simply a clone. So if you're a whizz with the soldering iron, you could do worse than try building a system using the plans detailed on the page.
	[icabod] - 09/10/2001 @952

	Bippety Boppety Boo
	A few little items that you're welcome to check out: V-TRD is reporting that UnrealSpeccy by SMT is up to version 0.08. It's the only place so far that mentions it, and as the homepage is a chat.ru, I can't verify it. But there you go. A new archiver titled "Real Information Packer" has been released is v0.01. Apparently quite good. You can grab it at DJH Downloads and POS. If you're interested in games programming you should read this message on the X-board. It's from Dunric over in the USA who's interested in converting "Westfront PC: The Trials of Guilder" onto a number of platforms including the ZX. More details can be found at his homepage. Had an email from Demiurge Ash, who now has a new homepage. I've had a quick look through and I must say it looks rather good. Go look.
	[icabod] - 08/10/2001 @949

	Phat Photography
	Scenergy reported on a bunch of photos from the Phat1 party, posted to this site. Go look.
	[icabod] - 05/10/2001 @539

	WOS Archive update - it's huuuge!
	Martijn over at WOS has completed the latest archive update, and it takes in around 19 months of uploads, a total of 523 new files (along with a bunch of corrections). Doesn't look like there's any new demos, but with Demotopia stored on the raww.net server, it's not a big problem. I'll leave you to check what's new and leech all you can. Go to it.
	[icabod] - 05/10/2001 @533

	ZX Spectrum SE updated
	Andrew Owen has come back to his ZXSE project and updated the system specs again. I'll leave you techno-junkies to look through the full details. Basically, with SpeccyBob having a working replacement for the ULA, a hardware version of the SE is "back on the cards." " I have details of a disk interface for a generic Z80 machine that I am working on converting. The eZ80 will basically act as a bridge between the SE and the internet because even at 21Mhz the Z80 can't handle the content quick enough and can only access 64K. The eZ80 will also handle I/O between disks, hard disks and CD-ROM. Don't hold your breath for the release though, there's still heaps to be done. " Sounds interesting. I was wondering when someone would come up with a real use for the eZ80 chip. Or am I thinking of a different chip? Hmm. Dunno. Tired.
	[icabod] - 05/10/2001 @033

	Japanese Music Chef - Vorc Vorc!
	Hmmm. Do you see? Like bork! Aah well. Got an email today that's travelled miles, all the way from Japan, no less, from the keyboard of Hally. VORC is a chiptune newspage, currently under construction and available only in Japanese (English is coming soon). And hey, Babelfish chucks out some really wierd translation. Anyway, the site is there, and worth a look. It covers all news on chiptunes and music-demos, allowing you to filter by platform. Think of it as a musicians version of raww.org. For chiptunes. In Japanese. For now.
	[icabod] - 05/10/2001 @011

	Moure Sorce. Uhm...
	Seems that releasing source is becoming a bit of a craze right now. Oh I'm not complaining, and please don't stop doing it. Burial GFX Editor source is available for download over on POS. The news-article hasn't been translated yet, but I think we can make out that you'll be needing TR-DOS and Alasm for compilation. ... and yeah, I know about the spelling in the headline.
	[icabod] - 05/10/2001 @004

	Big Update at Hardware Page
	The soon-to-be-hosted-on-Hotline hardware page, currently found here, has had a big update again. This includes an image gallery (which will grow and grow), and it's all also downloadable in a .ZIPfile. The hardware currently covered is: MACHINES Didaktik Kompakt, Kompakt 48 Kb, Kompakt 128 Kb, M 48 Kb, M 128 Kb Pentagon 48, 128, 512, 1024 / Turbo Scorpion ZS 256, ZS 256 Turbo, ZS 256 Turbo+ Sprinter 97, 2000, 2000 Light ZX Spectrum +3e, +2e AZX-Monstrum DISK INTERFACES Beta-128 (both DD and HD versions) CDOS D40/D80 MB-02+ SMUC REAL TIME CLOCKS SMUC Dallas DS 1287 MB-02+ RTC KEYBOARD INTERFACES Proface AT (both external and internal versions) IBM PC Controller MUSIC ENHANCEMENTS ABC/ACB/BAC Stereo Covox Stereo Covox Soundrive General Sound (both 128K and 512K versions) OTHER 128K Expander GMX Board Kempston Mouse Melodik ProfROM ZXLprint MK III printer port Whooh. Big cut-n-paste. So, go check the page and give feedback to Ricsibu.
	[icabod] - 04/10/2001 @034

	AY-Emulator released and source
	Ooh, some interesting news over at the homepage of AY-Emulator. The tool itself looks to have come out of beta, with the release of v2.4. And even more interesting is the release of the source-code for it. Perhaps now someone can work on a *nix port of this sweet tool?! I know there have been requests for it.
	[icabod] - 04/10/2001 @026

	Little Fishies
	A couple notes that you may like to... note. Ehm. The Minigame 8-bit coding competition has closed and is accepting no more entries. Voting will begin shortly. Bacteria, the tiny emulator, has been upped a version to v1.6. I haven't checked what's new in this release. Factor6 hinted on the X-board that there may be a demo presented at FOReVER3 that hasn't been seen since Docy99. Hmm. Thinking "Exception" or "Genetic Error"!? H-Prg have released their first production using the skills of TDM. If you've not already grabbed "Profoundly Not Funny Demo, do so now. The homepage of Peters, the guys who make the Sprinter has moved. Now you can go to petersplus.com. V4.43 Stall edition of Alasm has been released, which you can grab at either POS or V-TRD. There's been two deaths reported in the scene recently. Matrix back in May, and a couple days ago RRA\Alien Factory. He wrote a few things for the ZX, including JPEG-Viewer. Condolences to all who knew them. c64.sk mentioned another report from Phat1, which you can read here at scene.ee. Thanks to Heaven Aeroplane for the news that old-computers.com are holding a poll to find the most popular 8-bit machine. As I write, the ZX is in second place behind the C64. Go vote!
	[icabod] - 04/10/2001 @021

	Exceptable
	Left the machine on last night grabbing some drivers and Service Packs. And if all went well I also uploaded the "Exception" movie to the server. Unless it bombed out for some reason. Wait, I'll check... Yep, all 19Mb of it is available for download by simply clicking this link. It's in standard .MPG format, and not in .DIVX, but if anyone feels like changing that then feel free to do it. That's all for now I think. More drivers to download.
	[icabod] - 03/10/2001 @423

	Still no news?
	Actually there is some news, but at the moment I don't have time to post it. I suggest you check out the following sites for updates, and I'll get back into the flow of things tomorrow, I hope: POS : Probably the better site for news, I think, and it's partly in English. Scenergy : Excellent site as well, although the English section seems to have died a little. WOS : For all your emulator updates, and "generic" news unrelated to the scene. Demotopia : Hopefully there'll be a bunch of demos from the recent parties there soon. Phat1 : For all releases from the recent party, and perhaps some results? Soon. X-board : General chatter, and often some interesting news. Out of interest I've noticed changes to a number of sites over the last couple days, too. Oh this is just what WSW has told me, and tomorrow I should be able to check them out properly. In the meantime you could look at the AY-Emulator homepage, the Sprinter page and hey, I'm sure you can pick up a few things yourself. So, what am I doing online if I don't have the time to do full news checking? Well I actually need to download Win2k SP2 from Microsoft. Hoping it'll be a tiny file. Heh, as if! Oh... look... it's only 101Mb. Should be quick on my 56k modem. Hmph. Well I'd best get it queued up then. While that's downloading, I can perhaps post Exception like I've been promising for about two weeks? Check back and I'll let you know when it's done.
	[icabod] - 02/10/2001 @840

	Plop
	Hmm. Just a little note really, this post. News has quietened a little, in the aftermath of recent parties I guess. On the subject of which, I've not spotted any releases from Phat1 other than a couple C64 demos. If you fancy checking those out, slip neatly over to c64.sk. I just installed Max Payne on my PC, and suffice to say it runs unbearably slow. Tho' it actually performs better than I was expecting, as my PC is currently running at 2/3's of the required rate. So, it's just as well I've ordered a replacement for "the beast". Aah, she's becoming a tired old gal, at only 300MHz. So she'll be taking a back-burner, and will be used just for 'net connection. The replacement is a neat machine. Fast processor, decent gfx-card, loads of memory, and a frankly obscenely large monitor ("hey girls, look at my 22 inches"). This is all assuming anyone actually bothers to take the parts off the shelf and deliver it to me. Something to do with out-of-stock memory. See, you never get this problem with a Speccy. So why am I telling you all this? Well I'll be putting "Beast2" together myself, so despite taking a week off to play, I prolly won't be online too much. Either I'll be enjoying a machine that doesn't die when I try to run anything by Microsoft, or I'll be stomping around the house swearing. I kinda hope it's not the latter <g> But I'll try to update with the important stuff anyway. Oh, was sent this link to the, rather nice, homepage of 7 Gods. I've updated my link to it, so there.
	[icabod] - 26/09/2001 @946

	More UnrealSpeccy
	News of another release of UnrealSpeccy comes from WOS. Again I don't know what's new, due to lack of checking-time, but you can grab it and find out for yourselves. It's up to v0.06b in case you were wondering. Incidentally, I'm still having problems with chat.ru sites. Kinda a sod, really.
	[icabod] - 26/09/2001 @937

	Halley Computaction ROM
	Okay, it's a kinda nifty name that, the "Halley Computaction SP 4.1". Not sure what it does? Neither was I, but according to the info on S4E, it's one of those little-black-box jobs. You know, like the Multiface, IF1, even the MB02. It was sold in Argentina apparently, and offered the standard "save, reset, return" functionality we're all used to.
	[icabod] - 25/09/2001 @907

	RealSpectrumGS and UnrealSpeccy 0.05
	A post on POS from Ramsoft indicates that, as we know, they're working on the new version of RealSpec for Windows. It also shows that it'll include some emulation of the General Sound system. Looking forward to it. On the subject of emulators, I spotted over on DJH Downloads that there's a new version of UnrealSpeccy released. Again I have no details right now of what's new, but you have nothing to lose from downloading v0.05.
	[icabod] - 25/09/2001 @900

	Phat1 report on Wiki
	Well, I think this is the first report from the recent Phat1 party. The first I've seen anyway. Found the link over on OJ I think. The report is posted on The Alternative Wiki, a site I mentioned a little while back, and you can read it directly with this link.
	[icabod] - 25/09/2001 @897

	Couple Linkies
	Here's a couple sites I've been sent links to, courtesy of Ricsibu and db\S4E. First we have a complete archive of all newsletter's and disc images from the "Opus Discovery Club". Guessing it's a club devoted to the, uhm, Opus disc system. And we also have a link to Kompakt Servis, a shop in .CZ that sells the Didaktik machine. Not checked it enough to see if they do mail-order, but it's worth a shot, eh?
	[icabod] - 25/09/2001 @894

	ZX Spectrum Blaster
	Okay, not entirely sure if ZX Spectrum Blaster is the correct name, but it'll do for now. It's a newish Windows-based ZX-graphics editor, which has been in development since March this year. I have it queued up for download so I've not used it yet, but it looks very noice from the screenshot. It even works with interlaced images. Get it. Try it. Love it.
	[icabod] - 23/09/2001 @937

	Spectrumania announced for November
	So you're sitting around wondering what to do in November. The leaves are falling from the trees, you're freezing to death. Unless you're somewhere sunny. Well why not go to Spectrumania. Okay, the site says it's "Spectrumania 2000", but the date shows 9th November 2001. I guess it's a pun or something. It's being held in Aidlingen, Germany. The party is not specifically for demos, tho' if you want to show demo-work I'm sure no-one will mind. And I notice something very interesting. There's going to be a demonstration of a ZX IDE interface working with the MB02. Mmm, the best of both worlds. So check the page and consider it.
	[icabod] - 23/09/2001 @932

	Spectrum Poll
	A couple sites have linked to Bla'dskie demoscene news. There's a poll at the top of the site about the ZX-Spectrum. It's in Russian, but according to POS the question is something like "is the Speccy up-to-much at demoparties these days?" Of coz I'm not entirely certain what the various options are, so I'm gonna skip the voting for now. Instead I prefer to scroll down the page to the topless blond. Mmmm.
	[icabod] - 23/09/2001 @926

	FOReVER3 announced
	Spotted a message from Ellvis\ZeroTeam (who's site is still down -- if there's a problem finding a host, let me know) over on the X-board. It's the announcement of next years FOReVER3 party. It's being held on the 3rd weekend of March 2002. There's no updates on the homepage yet, but there should be within a couple days. So get to work!
	[icabod] - 23/09/2001 @922

	Roll another Phat1
	Aah, by my counting I think that Phat1 is probably over. But... perhaps they're all partying 'til the early hours? Who knows. I hope we can expect the results quite soon (bear in mind that we've only just had the results of last years party - to quote flying over on Scenergy: "as always, results will be released around time when next PHAT takes place"). And more importantly, I simply want to see the productions. So did I win? I doubt it, as I yet again failed to enter any work. Time just runs too fast for me. Also ending, and perhaps with more chance of continued partying, Beerever was held this weekend. Perhaps. Anyone have any reports on this event? Does anyone who went even remember it? <g>
	[icabod] - 23/09/2001 @918

	Bacteria v1.5 released
	Well according to a couple other sites, v1.4 has been announced of the tiny Speccy emu, Bacteria. But according to the homepage itself, it's up to a healthy v1.5. Well either way I think it's worth checking out the latest version, just to see what can be done in a few Kb. Seriously, I think this little app would give many 4k pc-intro's a good run for their money.
	[icabod] - 23/09/2001 @916