Retro Computing delayed
	The second of the two new retro mags, Retro Computing Today, has had it's release delayed until June 2002 at the earliest. There's no details yet on the site about why the delay has occured.
	[icabod] - 19/02/2002 21:39

	Software at RealSoft
	Real Software have posted a few new programs that you may wish to check out: Quick Commander 2.63 ZX Spectrum Cross Assembler v1.4.4 ZX Spectrum Source Editor v1.1 AC-Edit 0.59 fix ASM to PT3.x convertor - final version Incidentally, I just noticed that AC-Edit 0.60 is available over on DJH Downloads.
	[icabod] - 19/02/2002 21:33

	Sprinter FAQ Update
	Just short notes I'll be giving you tonight. Frankly, I'm tired and I really need some sleep. It's the fault of playing paintball and drinking much beer over the last couple days. So before I go to bed, I'll let you know that there's been an update of the "General" FAQ for the Sprinter over on the Peters Plus webpage. Changes/Additions this time include: Sprinter Mainboard size. Existing Sprinter software (includes terminals, image viewers, cd-players, and of coz the Doom demo). ISA Cards and IRQ's.
	[icabod] - 19/02/2002 21:26

	Network Problems
	Finally for tonight I'll mention that the raww.net server is having some problems. In fact a whole bunch of servers in it's IP-range are having problems. It's kinda outta my hands I think. So you'll have some problems getting to a few sites, including Demotopia, DJH Downloads, and Papaya Dezign. Hopefully it'll be back with us soon. Sorry for the annoyance.
	[icabod] - 14/02/2002 23:23

	Emailer Games List
	Mad props go to Unbeliever over at POS for finding this link for more information on the old Amstrad E-M@iler. Yeah the link is prolly easily available, but frankly I couldn't be arsed. So, anyone thinking of getting one of these beasts? I think it's somewhere below XBox on my list. But hey, if someone manages to hack it, I could do with a new phone. Oh, and the headline? The list consists of just one game, as that's the only screenshot they've got. Galaxians or something. I'm sure there are a bunch more. Lets see if we can run demos on it, eh?
	[icabod] - 14/02/2002 23:19

	Twilight demoparty changes
	Thanks to Breeze for sending me info on a change to the Twilight demoparty. The main, and most important change, is that it's moved in time. It was going to be held in March, but it's now being held on 6th and 7th of July. I think March would be too cold. The official page will be updated soon with the new data.
	[icabod] - 14/02/2002 23:01

	Writing a *nix emulator?
	A post on c.s.s from John Elliott details a neat code library that you may find useful if you're writing an emulator under *nix (linux, unix, whatever). LibDsk provides you with the ability to access disks (and images), designed for use in things like emulators and format convertors. I'm not well-versed in *nix development (tho' I'm gonna be doing more of it at work soon), so I can't really comment on how good it is. Apparently it works well with Cpmtools (you'll remember that CP/M was available for the ZX +3).
	[icabod] - 14/02/2002 22:46

	banner.scenosaurus
	I have a couple other bits of news for tonight, but they can wait until tomorrow. Frankly I'm tired. So a last little mention of another URL-change. This one's for the old-called "scene.at.tut.by". The site has a much nicer home now, I think, called banner.scenosaurus.org. Hosted at the soon-to-arrive scenosaurus.org (oddly enough). So for all your button-y needs, check it out.
	[icabod] - 13/02/2002 23:50

	ZX-Meet in Holland
	Dr Beep (yes, you read that right) posted a message on the WOS Phorums plugging the 2nd International Sinclair & Sam Days. The meeting is being held on 27th and 28th of April in Holland, and if you fancy going you should check out this site.
	[icabod] - 13/02/2002 23:44

	TZX-playing under WinAmp
	Here's an interesting thingy. Ignacio Burgueno, the creator of the Gleck emulator has just uploaded a plug-in for WinAMP that enables you to play .TZX files. I inititially read the post on c.s.s wrong, and started thinking .TZX's were AY-files. Hehe. Anyway, they're not, as you should know they're tape "images", and this plug-in lets you play them through to your ZX via your soundcard. It's a beta, so there are some bugs, and there's also a suggestion that this ability could be included in the next version of Gleck. On the subject of which, I notice I've been looking at an old page again. Doesn't look like it's been updated, tho'. Monitoring will commence. Oh, the plug-in can be grabbed from here.
	[icabod] - 13/02/2002 23:35

	Write a ZX Game
	Thanks to Gasman for sending me notification of a new competition: SpeccyGame 2002. In case you didn't guess from the name, it's a compo to write a ZX game. It's informal, with no big prizes, so "epic masterpieces aren't required". Check the site if you're interested in writing a game. Or perhaps you could simply cheat by changing the graphics and text in another game. But that's prolly not a good idea <g>.
	[icabod] - 13/02/2002 21:51

	ZXMak emulator updated
	I last mentioned the ZXMak emulator when I "discovered" it back in November. There's a new update to it available, bringing the version up to v0.240 beta1. Odd that I missed the update to v0.230b1 only a few days ago. I guess WSW just didn't pick it up. So, what's new in these two versions? Looks like support for a whole bunch of file-formats, including full read-write for most in the newer beta. The video engine has been rewritten (works at 50Hz), and a few bugs have been fixed.
	[icabod] - 13/02/2002 21:45

	TDM Moves
	Another little note (I think little notes is all you'll get from me tonight). TDM\K3L has moved his own homepage. It now resides at hyperlinx.cz. And I just noticed I'm not linking to it. That's fixed now, too.
	[icabod] - 13/02/2002 21:39

	Zippo for Sprinter
	Little note to say that Peters Plus have added a version of PKUnzip written for the Sprinter to their homepage. Now, how about UnRAR? Actually, I wonder if this could become the next demo-platform for Z80-based machines? Interesting idea.
	[icabod] - 13/02/2002 21:31

	SE BASIC v0.70T released
	A new beta version of Andrew Owen's SE BASIC has been released. This new version, titled "Build 0.70T", features... uhm... well I guess it's bugfixes and the like. In fact as it's getting late, I'll let you go over and grab the file. It's tiny (5Kb), so you can also try it out. You'll need an IPS patcher, which can also be grabbed from the site.
	[icabod] - 11/02/2002 23:38

	More AY Toons
	As well as posting the source for AY-Emulator 2.6b2, Sergey Bulba has posted the latest version of his tracker-tunes archive. Version 2.8 weighs in at a tiny 6,842,306bytes, with around 7400 files. If you've never downloaded this before, then you should get it to see just what that little chip inside your ZX is capable of. If you have downloaded previous archives, update! Grab it all here.
	[icabod] - 11/02/2002 23:28

	DIY Pentagon
	In an attempt to post something vaguely scene-related, have you noticed how many competitions use the Pentagon as their main platform? I guess it makes sense if that's the primary machine in your area. Personally here in the UK, the good ol' grey-case +2 is king. Or the Playstation 2. Anyway, if you're sitting at home with a soldering iron in your hand, burning holes in the TV case with boredom, you could do worse than grab a new file posted on POS. It's the schematics for a Pentagon. Yep, build your own machine. Hardly a new idea, but it's a nice diversion. I had a quick glance at the specs, and ran away crying at the complexity -- that's what comes from being a software bloke. Soldering irons scare me.
	[icabod] - 11/02/2002 23:23

	ZX-News@narod
	Spotted a link (on V-TRD) to what appears to be a new ZX News site. I'm just trying to decipher one of Babel's trademark translations, so I could quite easily have missed the whole point. Either way, I've added a link, so you people can check it out and correct me. As usual. Hmph. Ooh, almost forgot the link! Go visit ZX-news. Oh, quite a nice collection of links too... I'll check and add them over the next few days. But... What!?!? Where's raww.org? Hmph.
	[icabod] - 11/02/2002 23:15

	More Amstrad E-Mailer
	Here's a little more info on the much-chatted about Amstrad E-M@iler. I'll just put up this link to the bit about ZX Game-ability. Just curious to know how soon it'll be cracked. The games are only stored in the system for a limited time -- so what, no tape port? No MB-02? Hmph. Had a quick look around, and there's no list of which games are available, either. Double-hmph.
	[icabod] - 11/02/2002 22:59

	Sprinter Coding FAQ
	Sprinter have done a fairly large update to their "Sprinter Coding FAQ". I'll halve my time here and list the new additions: "What does the EXEC function of DSS do?" "Where do you recommend placing the STACK frame?" "Whether will be saved registers which not specified in input or output parameters?" [1] "Can I use instruction "EXX" for saving registers during "RST 10h" execution?" "If I create or open any file in one directory then change working directory. Shall I restore directory for access to the file?" "Can I get the signal of disk change from FDD 3,5"?" "When I change working directory, should "\" be put at the end of name?" [1] Yeah, I'm not sure about this one, either?
	[icabod] - 10/02/2002 17:14

	Articles on POS
	There's three new articles posted on POS recently. I think most importantly is the latest version of the rules for the ASCII'02 demoparty. Not sure of the changes in this version. There's an interesting article on the management of the 128k's memory-pages, could be useful. Finally there's a proggy-listing for a calculator working in Binary, Decimal and Hex. Oh, and while we're here, let's mention that the final version of ASM-to-PT convertor (a tracker conversion tool) has been released, along with source.
	[icabod] - 10/02/2002 17:06

	Filthy, Dirty, Slutty, ... mmmm
	Hehe. There's an interesting post on Scenergy at the moment, titled "Digital porno". It's geek-based filth. Exposed hardware, "vintage" photos... lovely. If you can't be bothered to translate the article, then you can just click on the links.
	[icabod] - 10/02/2002 16:56

	WOS Backside Update
	Eheh, WOS has had an update in the "backside" department. Eheh. As you'll prolly know, there was going to be a big change in the behind-the-scenes part of the archive, and this has gone ahead. I won't bore you with the details here, as you can achieve that by looking at the update on the page. Suffice to say it looks like the system will be more concise, and much easier to use. Neater, with less clutter. Noice.
	[icabod] - 10/02/2002 16:43

	vbSpec 1.30 announced
	I really must get in touch with my ISP and "put the smack down" as it were. Andrew Owen warned me that there'd be some news about vbSpec posted on c.s.s early Feb. And sure enough there was. But I only see it 6 (six!) days after it's there. Go figure. So, what's the news? Well a new release, bringing this neat little 'mu up to version 1.30. As well as the 48k, 128k and +2, it now provides support for the TC2048 machine. Support has been added for .TAPs, and various optimisations included in the code. Oh, you can also grab a few demos of the TC2048's extra graphics modes: hi-res (512x192) and hi-colour (no vertical colour clash - sounds like rasters to me). Noice.
	[icabod] - 07/02/2002 21:14

	ZX-Chart votelists
	Here's something that a look at Scenergy reminded me I hadn't yet covered. Over on ZX-Chart they've released the votelist of #3 of... ZX-Chart. You can grab it from their download page, and it's certainly worth the tiny (3k) grabbage. So get it, and vote. Do it. And remember to vote for raww.org and Demotopia in the "Best scene web resource" category <g>.
	[icabod] - 07/02/2002 21:05

	SHIT'2001 compo deadline extended
	Yes I confess to not mentioning the sweetly-titled SHIT'2001 compo on here before. I simply missed the announcement. Sorry. Anyway, the compo is basically to find "The Shittiest Graphicians of the year 2001", tho' I guess it'll include a little of 2002 now as well. The rules can be found over on ZpiXel, and it seems like an interesting idea. So have a look, get out your easel (oo-er) and get scribbling. The deadline is now 1st March.
	[icabod] - 07/02/2002 20:51

	Get a cold one down your neck
	Yes, today (7th Feb) is a day when everyone with a soul must get drunk. Why? Because it's only the 2nd birthday of raww.org. Yeah, two years and the things hardly changed at all. I really should redesign this thing. But hey, I'm lazy. Want some stats? You know you do. Well there aren't any interesting ones really. This is the 824th post, all of which is written by me, icabod. It's a total of... ehm... around 713,822 characters I've typed. That works out at an average of 1.127 articles a day, each one being 867.341 characters per article. The longest article was #756, and surprisingly it was a "Blah!". It comes in at a whopping 3945-or-so characters. No-one really cares about the shortest. And most importantly of all, I've used the word "arse" 80 times. Not including this post. Now, go get drunk!
	[icabod] - 07/02/2002 20:02

	Twilight party dead?
	Got an email from today, with some possibly sad news about the upcoming Twilight demoparty. There's a chance that the party won't be happening, depending on the number of entries and visitors that register their work. There's a request that if you do plan to produce work for the party, you should fill in the application form ASAP. The deadline is 12th February, so only a week away. My theory (not that it's worth much) is that it's the same weekend as FOReVER3, which I think is the largest (ZX) party in Europe. That's quite a lot of competition. Application forms and comments can be sent to Pilot.
	[icabod] - 05/02/2002 22:55

	Optical Brothers URL change
	Little note in here just to point out that the homepage of Optical Brothers has changed. They're now hosted at ob.scenosaurus.org. The site's not in English, unfortunately, but that's life. I've also added a button to the side of the page. The logo still gives their old URL, tho'.
	[icabod] - 05/02/2002 22:46

	Retro Review a sell-out
	It's true. According to the latest news on the Retro Review homepage, the first batch of issue 1 of this new 'zine has sold out. They're in the process of printing a new batch now. I really should get my fat arse in gear and order myself a copy. It's my duty. Incidentally, there's 3 more additions to the FAQ on the page: "Can I write articles for the magazine?", "Will I get paid for an article?", and "I would like to see the xxx computer featured in the mag!". Eheh. I'd like to see XXX in all mags <g>. Oops. Hope my mum's not reading this.
	[icabod] - 04/02/2002 23:36

	Sinclair Hotline gets Domain
	A really rather neat site is Sinclair Hotline. I'm sure you've seen me mention it before. Well now they have their own domain name: sinclair.hu. So update your bookmarks. It's all still in Hungarian, but it's worth a look around even if you don't understand what's being said. Thanks to Ricsibu for the noos.
	[icabod] - 04/02/2002 23:30

	POS Repair Services
	The guys at POS have announced a new service they're providing: ZX Hardware Repair. I'm not certain from the post on their site whether it's guidance with DIY, or if they'll actually take your machine, fix it, and return it. I'm guessing it's the DIY guidance option. So, if you've got any problems with your trusty ZX, contact Himik's ZxZ for support.
	[icabod] - 04/02/2002 23:21

	ZX9200
	If you're one of those people with a Nokia 9210 Communicator, then you could do worse than grab yourself this neato emulator, the ZX9200 from WildPalm. In case you haven't already guessed, it's a ZX emulator for the handheld phone/pc thingy. It has no sound support yet, but the shots look good enough (tho' they may of coz be from an actual ZX). It's a staggering $10 (what!??!). Okay, so it won't break the bank, and besides it's free to download. News leeched from Scenergy.
	[icabod] - 03/02/2002 21:46

	Retro Computing Today. Today.
	As reported a couple days ago, you can now go and grab the first sample issue of Retro Computing Today. It's in .pdf format, so you'll need to grab some Adobe software to view it. I read somewhere that it'd soon be available as HTML, but I don't remember where. I can't comment on the 'zine yet, as it's only just being downloaded. Grab it. Read it. Decide for yourself.
	[icabod] - 03/02/2002 21:36

	Realsoft are back with Real Commander
	A little mention that the RealSoft homepage is back up-n-running, with a new version of Real Commander for you to grab. This brings it up to a neat v2.2. If only I'd mentioned this yesterday (v2.2 on 2/2/2. Eheh). New in this version is support for the Scorpion CMOS, and a renaming module. Seems that the site disappeared due to being deleted by the kindly ISP. Very nice. Thanks.
	[icabod] - 03/02/2002 21:31

	Hey, WOS Upgrade?
	An interesting bit of news on ZX uber-archive WOS (and yes, I know what "uber" means, but it just sounds right). Seems that they've been doing a lot of work "up the back end". The general result should be a massive tidy-up of what's there (over time, the archive must become a little messy), and should be much nicer to use. I mean, just how many copies of Bionic Commandos do you really need?
	[icabod] - 03/02/2002 21:24

	Speccy4ever is back
	Got an email from Davide Barlotti to state that Speccy4Ever is back online at a new URL: zxspectrum.it. In case you don't know this site, it's prolly the best place online to get Spectrum ROMs. Loads of ZX ROMs, including various mods, as well as ones for interfaces and addons. Worth a look.
	[icabod] - 03/02/2002 21:15

	Music News
	Thought I'd package the music news into a tidy little bundle today. Simply coz it makes it much easier for me, right? ZX Irony - Spotted on VORC that the latest update to this AY-site will be the last. The site has only been running a few months, so it's a shame to see it end. But check it out, the collection it rather good. Project-AY - An update for this site too, with 133 changes in the demo-tunes collection (a lot of header fixes I think). A bunch of new tunes appear in the Games section, too. Micro ST - Sergey Bulba has released a new version of this player. It's on beta 4. AY Tools - Also on the AY-E homepage are two more new downloads: Micro ST Source, and Ice Depacker for decompressing SNDH (AY/ST) files.
	[icabod] - 03/02/2002 21:04

	Demo and 'Zine releases
	Looking at a couple of the other sites there's been a few releases recently of a couple new demos and a heap o'zines. Most of the 'zines aren't in English from what I can see (the one's I've looked at, anyway). Pity. I've yet to check out the demos properly, so I can't really comment on them apart from to say you should check out Scenergy, POS, and DJH Downloads (rus') to see the files.
	[icabod] - 01/02/2002 00:26

	Peters Press Release
	There's a press release over on the Peters Plus webpage, with details of the Advanced Sprinter Mainboard. Basically, due to problems with acquiring chips and so on, the Advanced board will only contain 256Kb of VRAM, rather than the planned 512Kb. No big problem I think -- ZX coped with less than 7Kb for ages.
	[icabod] - 01/02/2002 00:19

	Wot No Realsoft?
	Seems to me that websites are doing the old "temporary disappearance" routine on a regular basis right now. Latest is the homepage of RealSoft. Not sure why it's gone from it's old location, but all I'm seeing now is the hotbox.ru page. Hmm.
	[icabod] - 01/02/2002 00:14

	Belarusian Demoscene Move
	A little note to say that you should soon be updating your bookmarks for the Belarusian Demoscene Portal. Heaven Aeroplane has posted the news that the site is soon to move to a new server, and will be available through the (rather cool, IMHO) URL http://www.scenosaurus.org/. The change is due to take place on Feb 4th.
	[icabod] - 30/01/2002 21:45

	zx.chuvashia
	Got a link posted to the site for zx.chuvashia (well, I'm not sure of the actual name). It's a download site that allows you to search for the game or demo you're looking for. It's a neat site, although the text is just coming up as random characters -- yep, it's not in English. But it's easy enough to work out what's going on.
	[icabod] - 29/01/2002 20:39

	Twilight party rules in English
	I honestly thought that said "Twiglet" when I first glanced at it. Well, over on the "Twilight" demoparty page, you can now find a load of information posted in English. Unfortunately the main news section is still only in Russian, but I think everything else is bi-lingual. You can go check the rules for the various compos, all standard ZX ones. The party is being held on March 16 (the same weekend as FOReVER3) in Grodno State University. Also, the site will soon be appearing in Polish, if that's your thing.
	[icabod] - 29/01/2002 20:30

	AY Emulator updates
	I'm getting tired, and I have software to build before I get any sleep, so I'm just going to point you to the official AY-Emulator homepage, and run through a quick list of what's happened: New skin for AY Emu' by Ironfist. YMEngine by Sledge Hammer is added, allowing you to add AY-Emulation in your own programs. Additional sources for YM Emulator With Filter is added. Ay-Emulator v2.6 beta 2 is released, with status-saving. There, I think that's it.
	[icabod] - 28/01/2002 22:25

	RealSpectrum news
	Nope, not a new release, but it's some news on the upcoming version(s) of RealSpectrum, one of the top 3 (three?) emulators. And no, I'm not getting into an argument about which is best. The traditional DOS release will soon be updated with a few new features and fixes, along with a release of WinRS or whatever it's going to be called. Keep a look-out.
	[icabod] - 28/01/2002 22:19

	ZX Party 2002?
	This post over on the X-board indicates that Habib may very well be organising the 2002 version of ZX Party to be held in Krakow, Poland towards the end of August. He wants to know who'll go, so get your decision hats on and send him an email.
	[icabod] - 28/01/2002 22:15

	Back for more
	I've been away for a few days again. To be honest I was kinda hoping there wouldn't be much news for me to miss, but there's a whole load of updates around the web. So I'll do a few tonight, and a few more over the next couple days. DJH : Spotted a couple updates on DJH Downloads, including a RAM utility and the latest version of UnrealSpeccy. Sprinter : A download has been added to the Peters Plus webpage. It's a tool to help programmers with their Estex programs. C64.sk : Nice scene-site (for the C64, natch!) was down for a little while. When I checked the page it looked like a complete server rebuild. Well stranger things have happened. It's back now. BBS : SCENE.at.tut.BY posted a new link for (among other things) a demoscene BBS, titled Eternal Dreams. Not sure if ZX-chat is fair game yet. RCT : A little announcement on the homepage of Retro Computing Today mentions that the first sample of the 'zine will soon be available from the site. Did we already know that? I forget. BMP2SCR : A small update to bring BMP2SCR to version 1.751. Changes are a little bugfix and it now runs in a window... and faster!? Go update. ZX Navigator : Scenergy has reported on I think a new version of ZX Spectrum Navigator. It's a neat little program that allows you to play with ZX files on a PC. Cool. Hmm. That's a lot of the news gone. I may be able to do it all at this rate.
	[icabod] - 28/01/2002 22:12

	Net Connecting a ZX?
	There's an interesting thread going on at comp.sys.sinclair right now, about possibly getting the Spectrum net-connected. I've not had a chance to really read through the thing properly (partly as I'm missing parts of the thread), but it's based on someones finding of a tiny TCP/IP stack for microcontrollers. I recall that... ehm... Zack(?) wrote a TCP/IP stack for the Z88. This gave several people ideas, including ZX-based IRC clients, and hey possibly even a Lynx-style web browser. Check the thread, contribute to it, and then stare bemused as the CSS-regulars reply by talking about crisps and Alysson Hannigan. Hmm.
	[icabod] - 24/01/2002 00:47

	Retro Review
	Today just seems the day for retro-zine news. The Retro Review webpage has details on it of the next issue of the 'zine. So far listed are part 2 of getting your Amiga net-connected, and a round-up of Disk Interfaces for the ZX Spectrum.
	[icabod] - 24/01/2002 00:38