ZXLib for ZX-Style
	ZXLib is a neat C++ Library is designed for writing ZX-Style 2D games to run on Windows or Linux. It could be handy for anyone who wants to produce up-to-date version of ZX games. Obviously requires some coding knowledge, but I'm guessing you wouldn't even consider getting it if you didn't have any.
	[icabod] - 05/09/2002 22:30

	Some news for yous
	Here's a few bits of news for ya. It's later than I expected it to be before I was able to sit at my PC and start writing up stuff. So I'll bunch most of it here for now. Vortex : A new release of Vortex Tracker II brings us the ability to view, play, and edit .PT3 files. Lovely. It's on 1.0a2. Gas13 : An update on this homepage with Gas13's image from CAFe Party. It's called "Chunked". Some nice history of chunk graphics, too. Worth a read. Gooey : There's a prototype GUI tool for the Sprinter by MVG over on the Peters homepage. It's a "Spectrum-only" version (eh?) but check it out. POS : Good news, POS is back with us. No details of just why the site disappeared, but they're back with some CAFe downloads, amongst others. Scenergy : I'm too lazy to translate it, but it looks like Scenergy is celebrating two years online. Congratulation sirs. Happy Birthday. (now I'll wait for people to say I'm wrong, and that's not what it all means). CAFe : In case you missed it all, you can go to scene.org to get results and releases from this party. SevenuP : There's a new release of this Graphics Editor out. v0.6 takes it into beta status, with various updates that you can see on the homepage. Paradox : The Paradox 2002 page has been updated it seems, too. Some info about the party-place and timetable. Or was that all there before? Oh, I don't know. ZX Shows : There's a CSS post detailing some upcoming German ZX shows. Could be worth a trip if you're in the area. SEA ROM : There's a new ROM available, called the Sea Change ZX Minimal ROM. It was mentioned in this CSS post, and looks like a massive rewrite. One for the collection. Ooh, that'll do for tonight. I have some things to do. Like sleep. 'Nite.
	[icabod] - 05/09/2002 00:16

	Beerever Photos
	Okay, I'm going to be slack today and, apart from a fixed link and a couple other minor tweaks, I'm only doing the previous article and this one. There's a few other bits of news, but they can hopefully wait until tomorrow. The reason? Well, I have a few things that need fixing up on raww.net, and I've also been working on a collection of photos from Beerever. Yes, there's finally some photos online. A little blurry, and very rushed, but it's a start, right? You can check them out by clicking on the menu on the right, or by clicking here.
	[icabod] - 03/09/2002 22:58

	X128 v0.94 released
	Well, it's been a long time, but finally a new version of X128, one of the more popular emulators from way back, has been released. v0.94 bring with it a large number of features and fixes, a few of which are listed here: Added support for FDI, FDD, SCL, and Hobeta ($?) files. Better support for .TRD files. More/better joystick support. Mouse support. Support begins for D40/D80 disk interface. Oh hell, there's a load of little fixes in there. It seems to be a bit of a revamp to bring the emulator more up-to-date. But feel free to correct me if I'm talking out of my arse.
	[icabod] - 03/09/2002 22:54

	Paradox
	Another little reminder that Paradox 2002 is taking place this coming weekend. English versions of the rules, etc, are available on the site, so you've no excuse for at least checking them out.
	[icabod] - 02/09/2002 00:54

	More Tools
	A little mention of some tools that are available for download should you need them. On DJH Downloads you can get v0.2b of "ZX Screen Viewer", a PC-based, ehm, ZX Screen viewing program. On Virtual TRD you can grab... well, I'll just list what I can see there: HorrorWord v1.01, AC Edit v0.63, ProTracker v3.57, Digital Studio Player, Total Commander v1.2. And there's also a new version of es.pectrum released. Speed enhancements, better sound, and early Pentagon support among other things brings this emulator up to v0.6b.
	[icabod] - 02/09/2002 00:51

	CAFe Results again?
	I spotted over on DJH Downloads a new set of results from the recent CAFe Party. There doesn't seem to be any change in the top 3's of each ZX section, so I'll not waste space and list them again. If you want to be sure you have up-to-date, correct results, go get them. Also if you haven't already grabbed the releases from the party, then you can get them from Scenergy, and also "Stripped" by Brainwave (5th place, 512b) is available on their site.
	[icabod] - 02/09/2002 00:45

	Vortex Tracker II
	If you head over to the homepage of AY-Emulator you'll now find a new download waiting for you in the shape of Vortex Tracker II. As mentioned on VORC, it's based on Vortex Tracker, and older project which never appeared and eventually went open-source. Source for v1.0a is also available.
	[icabod] - 02/09/2002 00:36

	CAFe Party
	Well, the full results are out now for CAFe Party, along with a whole bunch of releases. As I mentioned in my previous post, I'm happy for someone else to do the work, so here's a few of the places you can find the information you want: The official CAFe Party homepage of course is a good place to start. Full results and a few releases can be found on DJ Hooligan's page. Scenergy of course has lots of news including a link to the ZX Entries. There's also mention on Scenergy about an after-party compo. It's for the best photo. Check out the homepage for more information. Oh hell, why not be complete and put up the usual top-3's from the compos, eh? A bit more information this time around. ZX Demo 1 - Inbetween - Placebo 2 - Summermilk - Skrju 3 - demo21 - Eye-Q ZX-Spectrum AY-music 1 - ElectroGodzilla & Pink Socks - Siril^4D 2 - The Awakening... - Key-Jee^Triebkraft 3 - SHot - Spirit^Virtual Masters ZX-Spectrum graphics 1 - Elite - Rion 2 - Bloody tears - Schafft^Colour of Magik 3 - Wrong Way - Diver^4D ZX-Spectrum 512b intro 1 - INTERNITY - Alff^CyberPunks Unity 2 - Fucking thing - Doctor Max^GLOBAL Corporation 3 - We're Back - Flying^Digital Reality Yes, that was the official results (more are available on the party-page). That's your lot. Go to bed.
	[icabod] - 30/08/2002 00:09

	Phat 2
	I was going to write a huge amount here about the upcoming Phat2 party. But to be honest, I'm getting tired tonight, and the text has already been written and emailed to me. So I'm going to be lazy. Yes. " P.2 is a copy/demo/muzik party taking place in Riga, Latvia (exact place - 3-floor building in huge industrial territory of radioelectronics factory) starting with 20th september and going on for 3 days and 3 nights. P.2 is not "8 bit only" party anymore however its not much PC oriented too - it's here to support ALL platforms, doesnt matter how exotic they are (besides c64/c128 we'll have machines like zx spectrum, amiga, mac, trs80, atari65/130xe, nes, snes, dreamcast, psx, atari2600, apple ][ and more). compos? gfx, music, demo, 1kb intro, ascii/petscii, logo, (crack)intro, photo, wildemo and more.. all in several categories. you can also take part in compos by sending your entries to organizers. the music part is also really special there with over 30 latvian bands and DJs performing and also special-star-guests (mostly scene related and some using c64s for their live-sets!), just watch this: lackluster aka distance/tpolm (defocus/merck - finland) tero aka deetsay/dcs (rikos - finland) goto80/hack'n'trade/up rough (bleepstreet/penpal records - sweden) role model/hack'n'trade (bleepstreet - germany/sweden) lektrogirl (rephlex/micromusic - uk) i-f (murdercapital/viewlexx - holland) manou (wmf/monika records/micromusic - germany) focus (narva records - estonia) not to mention ~10 latvian VJs + those: zden/satori (message/no such - slovakia) copenhagen brains (musicsystem - denmark) all this is divided in 5 main areas: demohall with seats and bigscreen + audiosystem scenetown: area with rooms - group-HQs where you can sleep, booze, code etc, reserve room for your group now! musichall#1 musichall#2 outside for trips and additional action - industrial area and park within it entrance is free, donations accepted though. more info to follow soon indeed. PHAT stands for PHreedom and ATmosphere. " Thanks to Egons for saving me some time <g> Website should be up soon (hopefully) here and mirrored here.
	[icabod] - 29/08/2002 23:57

	The News
	For someone with no social-life, I certainly seem to be away quite a lot. Yes, I've been away from my PC again for the last, uhm, 2 nights. This means there's been no updates (as you'll have noticed). Sorry, but sometimes we have to venture outside, right?! So, what's been "up" in the last couple days? Well mainly news about the recent CAFe Party, but also a few other things: Language : I noticed on Ellipse' homepage that it's not just me who has trouble with foreign languages. Hmm, better translation engines are required. TZX Vault : If you get yourself over there, you can grab a bunch of updates to the vault. New tape and disk images from various 8-bit platforms. Czech Floods : I'm sure we've all seen the results of the flooding in Prague, etc. I thought this was a novel way to raise funds. And when you've done that, you can go look at the nekkid women. Oh, guess I should say it's over-18's only, right! If you're under-18, you didn't hear it from me. ... : Just in case you wondered, I mentioned that last bit as many sceners come from Prague/Czech. And I was there a couple weeks ago. And it's a nekkid women site. SE Basic : A new version of ZX SE has been released fixing a few bugs. For full details look at CSS (post hasn't appeared here yet). Oh, it's non-public, so email Andrew Owen if you want a copy. ZX Spec : The cleverly-named emulator, "ZX Spectrum" has been updated I think, to v3.01. Not sure of updates - something to do with optimisations. ChipTrack : Over on Virtual TRD you can grab v0.01b of a player for ChipTracker 1.x. Go grab. Hmm. I think that's the main bits. Oh, apart from CAFe and some news on Phat2. But they get separate posts.
	[icabod] - 29/08/2002 23:47

	CAFe Results
	Well CAFe Party is over, and some pre-results are already out on the 'net if you know where to look. Luckily for you, I do know where to look. Scenergy has posted a whole bunch of things from the party in the last few days, and Diver/4D + Siril/4D have sent preresults. AY Music 1 - Siril/4D 2 - Key Jee/TBK 512b Intro 1 - Alff/CPU 2 - DoctorMax/Global 3 - Flying/DR Graphics 1 - ZSV 2 - Schafft 3 - Diver Demo 1 - PCB 2 - Screamer/Skrju 3 - MHCG Of coz these are early results and not official, although it seems that the winners are quite far out in front, so that's unlikely to change. If you get over to Scenergy now you can grab the full ZX pre-results, and also some releases from the party. I've got them queued up now. Just remember... it ain't official just yet.
	[icabod] - 26/08/2002 22:24

	Power Of Sound?
	There's not really a huge amount to say about the most recent change to POS, apart from... "Where's it gone??!" Yes, it would appear the someone has stolen POS from the web, and replaced it with a message saying the site is closed. I actually remember some talk of this a little while back (or am I imagining it?). Either way, I kinda hope it's a temporary thing. If not, then farewell.
	[icabod] - 26/08/2002 22:07

	ROMs, links, and other animals
	Just a few mentions of some "stuff" here: Hooy Program : Thanks to Yerz for reminding me to change the link to the homepage of this crazy demogroup. You can get there here. SE Basic : Got a note from Andrew Owen to say that his ultra-modded Basic ROM has now gone Open Source. You can get the source by emailing him. SoftROM : Still on the subject of ROMs and stuff, Speccy4Ever has just posted a SoftROM along with a techie document about the hardware. Hmm. Tekkno : Remember I mentioned a while back about "Spectrum of Terror" project? Well Yerz has just announced the release of their latest tune. And hey, a link to the homepage, too where you can grab the music. That's that little lump outta the way.
	[icabod] - 26/08/2002 22:01

	vbSpec v1.50 released
	An announcement has just appeared for the fact that vbSpec (an emulator written in Visual Basic) has just been updated to v1.50. Going from the post on comp.sys.sinclair (and of coz from the homepage), updates are some fixes to the Z80 core, TC2048 keyboard corrections, and full support for the .TZX tape format. There's lovely.
	[icabod] - 26/08/2002 21:43

	Where he be?
	I've been poorly, cry cry! Yeh, sorry I've been away from the keyboard for a few more days again. A good reason this time, I've been ill. Actually too ill to turn on the PC. That's pretty bad. Tho' today I was at work (on a nice sunny Saturday), but I have to pay my bills too. So, apologies over, here's a few bits of news: Sprinter : There's a new poll over on Peters Plus about the launching of applications from file manager. Is it good? Not good? Go vote. Sprinter : Another item of Sprinter-ness is the review from the most recent issue of Retro Review, which is now available online in the archives section. If you're thinking of buying this machine, check out the review. Of coz, you should already be subscribed, right!? Paradox : Well CAFe is underway, but Paradox is only two weeks away. I see that there's now an English version of the site, and also the (updated) rules. Check them out. ZXMak : A new version of ZXMak has been released. There's been a few Z80 Core changes, but importantly there's now an English UI. Very handy. It's up to v0.280b3e. The 'e' is for English. ZX Transfer : I spotted a post on CSS about a handy ZX Transfer program, for piping files through an IF1. Homepage is in Italian, app is in English. Handy. AC Edit : A new version of this text editor (0.63) is up for downloading over at DJH's page. BDA : Just recently found a link to Binary Dimension Association, where you can go to grab ooh, loads of stuff. Demos, tools, and of coz Deja Vu 'zine. Optical Bros : After a bumpy start, there's now a new design for the homepage of Optical Brothers. It's nice, you should go look. And we can look forward to an English version soon (well, it's hosted on a server in England, so it's only fair <g>). ZXVGS : I remember Adamski from the '80s. Crap music. But Jarek Adamski is a rather clever chap (think I met him at ZX-Party). Check out his site, which details a whole bunch of his hardware, ehm, things. Including his ZX O/S, ZXVGS - looks nice. Yes. Jarek : A little note about the link to the site I just mentioned actually -- added it to the Demogroups/People section. Well, it seems to fit there quite nicely, eh? Scorpion : A new ROM for the Scorpion has cropped up on Speccy4Ever. It's the ProfROM v3.9f 128k. Grab it if you need it, or just for completeness. CAFe : If you're wanting a lot of very up-to-date news on the goings-on at CAFe Party, then hook yourself up with a translator at get your arse over to Scenergy, where there's been a couple fairly large posts already, and also to POS, where Himik is making regular updates. Phew. I think that's all. I know you all hate these "catch-up" sessions... I'm not keen on them. But frankly when there's this much news (I mean, when I've been away for a few days for some reason) it really helps to clear out the back-log. Oh well.
	[icabod] - 24/08/2002 23:46

	Klive released
	A new emulator is on the streets (as if there weren't enough already). This one goes by the handsome name of "Klive". Aah. It's a pity the page that links to is empty right now, tho'. If you want to grab the emulator get yourself over to WOS where I first heard of it. Supports, ooh, some interesting sound stuff (anyone remember the SpecDrum?). Not sure of the version number, but it's for Win98 and above, with DX7.0. Let's hope a page appears soon.
	[icabod] - 19/08/2002 23:50

	Retro Review issue 4?
	While I'm waiting for the postman to do his job (ahem), and deliver me my copy of Retro Review #3, there's news out of what's to come in the next issue. Part two of the guide to writing emulators is included, along with tips on how to build up your Retro collection of computers. Hey, mine's going okay. I accidentally bought a Sega Megadrive over the weekend. Oops. If you've not yet subscribed I suggest you do so. #3 included an interview with the team behind Sprinter (that'll be Peters Plus then), information about building your own hardware, and ooh, other stuff too.
	[icabod] - 19/08/2002 23:40

	Syndeecate 2002 results
	Well the party is over, and the results from Syndeecate 2002 are out, although I'm not sure how official, as they don't seem to be linked from the homepage. In fact, most of the homepage links are currently pointing to 2001 information. Anyway, I found this link posted over on VORC along with the AY results, which I think is all there was to represent the ZX: zx music 1 - kumball - x-agon 2 - ejkus - bezl 3 - ??? - gasman Hmm. Interesting set of results. Hopefully the official version will be a little more... detailed. We await the releases. AY music is great!
	[icabod] - 19/08/2002 23:35

	Game-On
	So, what have I done with my weekend? Well yesterday I went up to London and visited the Game-On exhibition at the Barbican Arts centre. In case you haven't heard of this, it's an exhibition showing the history and culture of video games, from Pong through to Doom 7 (or whatever). So of course, I was interested in how the ZX Spectrum and it's family would be represented. The first mention of Sinclair comes in room 2: "Home Consoles". There's a short "history of Sinclair" plaque (to complement the ones for the other leading companies, like Sega and Microsoft), along with a ZX81 encased in glass. You can also play on an un-powered 48k Spectrum with a PC keyboard - the game is "Ant Attack", and yes, it's an emulator. And that's about it for the appearance of actual machines, but there's a lot of related material there. Such as Elite running on a NES, things like that. Upstairs it gets a bit more interesting, with a screening room showing (amongst other things) "Thumb Candy", the C4 documentary about video games. As everything is on a loop I decided not to wait for x-hours, and walked around some more. Some interesting items I thought included the "original" version of Renegade - it was a Japanese game based in a schoolyard. Aah, the differences in culture. Oh, but the Japan section was great, mainly for the large numbers of Manga-Chicks. Yum. Another worthwhile section was room 9: "Sound", covering how sound is used in games. But more importantly they has listening booths where you could check out some music compiled by the guys at c64audio.com - the ZX was represented by "Ping Pong" 128k by Martin Galway, and "Agent X" 48k by Tim Follin. There was a lot of Tim Follin and Rob Hubbard music there, actually, including a comparison of the Atari and Amiga versions of the LED Storm music. Oh, and the Last Ninja music, which simply rules! What else? Oh yes, they had a couple old ZX magazines: Your Spectrum #12 from March '85, and Crash #1 from February '84. On my way out I passed the screening room again, and Uncle Clive was on-screen. Luckily I was able to catch the Matthew "Manic" Smith parts of Thumb Candy, and what can I say? What a scary chap! Summing up, if you're into video/computer gaming, and have even a vague interest in it's history, this exhibition is worth the effort. It's only in London for another month before apparently travelling around the world, so get in quick. Oh, did I forget to mention they have over 150 playable games in there? Very nice.
	[icabod] - 18/08/2002 18:54

	Paper-zine scene
	A couple mentions for the big paper-zines out there. Retro Review #3 as I mentioned is finished and out there. I've not received my copy yet, but I'm sure it's in the post (hint hint). And it seems that they have an offer on right now... subscribe for 6 issues, and get 7. I only spotted this from a post in CSS, but sure enough it's there on the site. Not a bad deal for 15 quid. I also spotted a post on CSS (you really should check that newsgroup for announcements) about SUC-Session. The latest issue of this zine is out too, although it's currently going through the translation process. If you subscribe to the German language version you should have it in a couple days. The rest of us will wait a couple weeks. And in case anyone's wondering, yes, I subscribe to both zines. Worth a few quid for something retro to read on the train to work!! Of coz you can also go and download various e-zines, but few of them seem to come in English, which is a pity. Check them out tho' on POS, Scenergy, and Virtual TRD.
	[icabod] - 18/08/2002 18:24

	Thunder in the Deep
	I keep thinking that the title "Thunder in the Deep" sounds a little like it should be a pr0n movie, but perhaps that's just my dirty mind. Either way, it hasn't stopped Peters Plus from posting three animated images of the hero of this upcoming Sprinter game on their site. The animations are of Thunder walking, pushing (I think), and kinda vaporising. Unfortunately the images are posted in an archive of .FLC files, which is nice in that they can be viewed on a Sprinter, but personally I don't like the format. Not much, anyway. So as a little treat, here's the images converted into .GIFs for you: There, and who says I never do anything for you?
	[icabod] - 18/08/2002 18:15

	More AY Discussions
	There's a thread going on on the X-board at the moment about getting dual-AY up and running on ZX systems. The thread starts here, and there's some interesting thoughts so far. Another AY-related bit of news is that Kohina have posted some stats on their playlist. Suffice to say the ZX comes in quite low down, but there's only a few tracks in the list so far. They've also posted links to a couple seminars from Mr Rob Hubbard (yes, you know the name). Full movies of two talks can be found linked from their news page - the files are hosted on Scene.org. Be prepared if you want to view them... they come in at over 400Mb. That's too much for me to cope with on my 56k modem. Perhaps some kind gent will download them and burn a cd? Hehe.
	[icabod] - 18/08/2002 17:34

	ZX HDD updates
	If you get yourself over to the ZX Hardware DIY site, you can find an update of the schematic for the ZXATASP project, allowing the connection of a hard-drive to your ZX. There's also images of a boxed ZXATASP - hmm, doesn't look too different to things like the MB02. I'd get confused with all these boxes attached to the back of a ZX.
	[icabod] - 18/08/2002 17:27

	AY-Emulator fix 3
	Kinda going back a version, there's been a new release of AY-Emulator v2.6. This update, titled "fix3", corrects errors that have been spotted in the engine during the development of the new v3 code. Basically it fixes some problems playing .YM5 and .YM6 files. There's also been a couple changes made to the WaveOut functionality, and a couple interface changes have been made. I'm not entirely certain that this update was required considering the speed of the v3 development, but I won't complain if we're getting fixed software. Source code is also updated.
	[icabod] - 18/08/2002 17:22

	Little Thingies
	First up, tonights news is going to be quite quick and to-the-point. I'm just not in the mood for long posts. Secondly, it's seems strange that I was in Prague only a few days ago, and now it (along with other places in Europe) is flooding like crazy. I hope the damage can be minimised, and I hope everyone involved is doing okay (I know from the news that's not quite the case, but you know what I mean). Let's just hope that the people and places don't suffer too much. Thirdly... some ZX stuff: TR-Songs : Sergey Bulba's TR_Songs archive has been updated. Version 3.0 brings with it around 8300 AY tunes. Grab it from his site. CAFe : The site for this upcoming party now has a Progress section detailing submitted items so far. There's a few ZX entries in, but I'm sure more would be welcomed. Syndeecate : Another upcoming party, this one in just a few days time. Either go along to the party or send your work to TDM. AY-Tunes : More AY-tunes, these spotted on Virtual TRD by VORC (I missed it). It's a collection of 14 AY tunes by "Intel Outside". Sprinter : A screenshot of the upcoming game "Thunder in the Deep" is shown on the Peters' website. Check the forum for more information. Retro Review : Well, they've not run off with our money... #3 of Retro Review is out. Should be in the post now, in fact. Check the FAQ on the site too, coz it's had a whole bunch of new questions added. 9-channel AY? : For some interesting AY-tunes, check out this message on the X-board. It's got links to 9 and 6-channel AY tunes. Old tunes, but now re-released as .MP3s. That's all for now.
	[icabod] - 14/08/2002 22:29

	So. Quiet. Hush. Hush.
	It's very quiet these last couple days, I think. Either that or people have moved their websites and not bothered to tell me. Aah, that could be the case. Seriously, there's been little news it seems. Another issue of Lamergy has come out. I've not actually checked this out, as I think it's Russian-language only (hey, mail me to tell me I'm wrong and I'll download them all). If you want, you can grab them all from various places around the 'Net: DJH Downloads, POS, Virtual TRD to name but a few. Oh and if you want, you could check out the latest updates to the Minigame Compo. Nothing new on the ZX front, but it could be a good opportunity to grab emulators of some of the other 8-bit machines. So what am I up to? Oh, I'm glad you're interested enough to ask. I've been away today, learning about stuff. Quite a fun day, we were making concoctions out of brandy. All this in the name of education. Fantastic. I have some photo's back from Beerever, and when I get a chance I'll be making some kinda showcase out of them. I'm sure you'd all enjoy that. No really. I've got a few things to do actually tonight, so it's just as well it's a slow time. The photo's will come soon. All the other things I've said I'd do... well, they'll have their moment. It just won't be right now.
	[icabod] - 12/08/2002 20:46

	Twilight Results announced
	Lastly for tonight, the counters have counted, and the checkers have checked. And someone has typed up the results to the recent Twilight demoparty. You can grab the full results here, but here's the top-3s: ZX Graphics 1 - Crazy Cow - D-Art / Fenomen 2 - AIS - Fox / AIS 3 - CC - MIC / DPL ZX AY Music 1 - ??? - Fatal Snipe / Fenomen 2 - ??? - Sinus / SVR 3 - ??? - Klim / OHG Aah, looks like Fenomen are at the top. Pity there was no intro or demo compo, but that's like I guess.
	[icabod] - 10/08/2002 00:50

	Peters Thingies
	Oh I'm getting tired again. Can you believe I only got around 3.5 hours sleep last night? It's not enough. A quick mention of two "goings-on" at Peters Plus. A new poll is up on the site, asking about BIOS versions in your Sprinter. I think this is a fairly limited poll, as it's technically open only to owners of the machine. Something partly related is a program called "Timer" which is used to time routines and things. There's even a thread started on the forum detailing the results. A quick look shows that if you want Turbo mode to really be Turbo, you need the latest BIOS. Kinda stands to reason, I guess.
	[icabod] - 10/08/2002 00:42

	ZX Kohina
	A couple things have cropped up on Kohina, the streaming Retro Radio site, that I thought worthy of mention. First up there's a couple threads going on in the forums both talking about AY music. The threads (here and here) cover "Spectrum 128k game music" and "Russian AY music" respectively, tho' why concentrate on Russian music specifically, I don't know. Tho' it does mention how the Russian scene is a little, ehm... detached from the rest of the world, but I think this is changing a little now. Anyway, check through the threads and perhaps comment. After all, we on the ZX scene are perhaps the best people to advise when it comes to listening to ZX music, right? The other thing I wanted to mention was something I found rather funny. raww.org has been linked-to from Kohina, and the text on the link says it's "the biggest spectrum news site." Well, I don't know about that, but thanks for the vote of confidence. Much appreciated. Stakker of Kohina also wanted suggestions for more AY tunes to put online. Oh, I can think of several that would be good. Any thoughts? Mention them to him. But be selective -- we don't want to flood the thing <g>.
	[icabod] - 10/08/2002 00:25

	Welcome Freeart
	Can you believe, I created the subdomain freeart.raww.net a little while ago, and it's actually been in use. But I completely forgot to formally welcome Freeart to the lovely raww.net server. Yes, another site is hosted here now. Checked the site and it seems they're settling in quite nicely.
	[icabod] - 10/08/2002 00:20

	Sup
	So. I said I'd do a proper update on Wednesday, and I disappear for a couple more days. Not polite I grant you. But I've had a busy, if short, week. And I'm here now, fresh out of the pub, and ready to treat you to some, ehm... news. I've sent my film in to get developed so hopefully over the coming week you should have a gallery of the Beerever festivities. If not then I suggest you go to Czech Republic, drink lots of beer, and recreate the event yourself. It's fun. Really. Forever4 : Already there's some talk on the X-board of the compo rules for this party to be held, ooh, next year. Check out the details and comment if you feel the need. Syndeecate : Another bit of party-news, this time a URL-change. The new homepage for this party is here, and I also noticed that I'd got the link wrong in the calendar. Doh! Pentagon : A word from the oddly quiet LaesQ reveals that he may be looking to sell his Pentagon. The post was on the X-board. AY-Emulator : Sergey has been at it again, and AY-Emulator 3.0 Alpha 9 is out. It can now play .AYM files, and also has a couple little fixes. Minigame : A quick check of the Minigame Compo homepage reveals that there's now a total of 8 Spectrum games (excluding the ZX81 games, of coz). Go check them out, they're tiny to download. Paradox : It really is party-time. Some news on the official Paradox 2002 homepage shows that there's a winner of the Flyers compo, and that you can now start to upload your work to the party ftp-site. Go to it. ASC Music Show : Those lovely people from POS have just posted a new (old) music disk on their page. Basically, it's been converted to FDI image format. In case you needed it. UltraCarga : Hmm, not actually heard of UltraCarga, but there's some information on it over on Speccy4Ever. A new shot of the game Cobra. One day I'll take the time to check through all these kinda sites. Ahem. ASM Photos : If you're interested in seeing some scene photos from last weekend's Assembly'02 party, get yourself over to SlengPung. Some snaps have just been posted. CZ Spectrum : This site is dedicated to the CZ Spectrum, and Argentinian ZX clone. This clone is new to me, I admit, but the site looks quite well-presented so we can all learn.
	[icabod] - 10/08/2002 00:14

	Nuggets
	Oh, it's just become the morning, and I have to be at work in about 8 hours, so I need to get some sleep. Before I go I'll quickly mention a couple things that have popped up on the 'net over the weekend: Thunder : A picture of the hero from the upcoming Sprinter game Thunder in the Deep has been posted on Peters Plus site. A demo version should be released this week. LIBman : The library manager for Sprinter, and also LIBShaos (a collection of routines) has been updated, also on Peters' site. Grab them if you wanna start coding on the Sprinter. +3e : On Speccy4Ever you can see a photo of the PCB from the Spectrum +3e project. It's one for the hardware fanatics out there. SevenuP : The new alpha release of this ZX Editor for the PC brings with it a few changes, and some optimisations. It's on 0.52a. Scenosaurus : Check out the old home of Scenosaurus if you want to see what's happened to the old sites it hosted... they've been linked from the now defunct page. That's it for now. There's more, as I've not gone through all of my email yet, or translated a few more pages. But this can wait until tomorrow. So until then, 'nite.
	[icabod] - 07/08/2002 00:17

	AY-Emulator 3.0 Alpha 8
	Nothing much to say about this I think, as you've all seen what's going on. The re-write of AY-Emulator is now up to Alpha 8, which adds playing of an extra subtype of .AY (EMUL). It involves new Z80 emulation. In addition, some playing of .YM5 and .YM6 files has been fixed. Grab it.
	[icabod] - 06/08/2002 23:59

	Shucon Write-up
	There was yet another party happening this last weekend, this one titled Shucon. X-Agon has posted a quick write-up of the party on his X-board, which you can check out here. Hmm. The drinking and the flies sure makes it sound like Beerever.
	[icabod] - 06/08/2002 23:58

	Assembly 02 Over
	Yes one of the other parties that happened this last weekend has finished. Assembly'02 has finished, and Gasman is back having presented the first ever Spectrum demo to appear in competition at the party. His work is called "Losing Victoria" released under the Hooy Program banner, and I've just watched it. Very chill, and slightly depressing. You can grab it from Demotopia. In case you're wondering, it came in at number 8 in the "Wild Demo" category. Other than that there's a distinct lack of ZX stuff at the party. Lot's of C64 tho'. We await a full write-up from Gas' if-as-and-when. Until then you can check the full official results here.
	[icabod] - 06/08/2002 23:55