Glenside Club Meeting: Thursday June 13, 2024 @ 7:30PM Central

With the dust settled a bit, I wanted to extend another thanks to all of our volunteers, speakers, exhibitors, and attendees to CoCoFEST! I’d like to extend a special thanks for CoCoFEST coordintor Grant Leighty for putting on a very successful show.

Though we’re in the thick of Summer, it seems appropriate to gather in our meeting and share what we like (and what we’d like to improve) about the fest. We’re also in a better position to share some show statistics and financials. The main story, though, is that the fest was financially successful and there will indeed be a 33rd Annual Chicago CoCoFEST! With rising venue pricing and such, I know some had concerns, but your support made the decision an easy one.

So, whether you’re poring over your CoCo gaming or writing the next killer app, or you’re kicking back with a cold beverage in a lawn chair on the back deck (or quite anywhere doing almost anything), feel free to drop by this Thursday, we’ll keep things light and mainly just chat about the fest. As always, we’re constantly improving the show and your comments help us know where to focus energy.

Please join us this Thursday. We will open the call a bit early at 7:00PM to chat and address any Zoom connections issues folks might have.

Join the Meeting

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/82797367585?pwd=OUxibkJaR2N1SUtSOU9EUUlYeXBJQT09

Meeting ID: 827 9736 7585
Passcode: GCCC

One tap mobile

+13126266799,,82797367585#,,,,*686821# (Chicago)

Meeting ID: 827 9736 7585
Passcode: 686821
Find your local number: https://us06web.zoom.us/u/kdIAqFZbZR

Please download and import the following iCalendar (.ics) files to your calendar system.
Monthly: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/tZYqfu6rqDwvEtGPAHF62Rhv1v5lakjdaO9W/ics?icsToken=98tyKuGqqTItGdKStRGCRpwQB4r4KOnwpmZYj7d6rD7NJXYBUAvgZ_QXPrN0GtzR

For those unable to join us on Zoom or have prior commitments, we will livestream and have a replay available on our Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/groups/290791956162) and our YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFk2dMxcjJcX2qbSqFHQMbA).

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Live videos from CoCoFest

If you missed the live presentations at CoCoFest here are some links to them. Also take a moment to subscribe to the Glenside Color Computer Club YouTube channel. 

CoCoFEST! 2024 - Preserve your CoCo Legacy
https://www.youtube.com/live/mxkrWQA0-9A?si=v9-lgQrsvmVHuyAy

CoCoFEST! 2024 - NitrOS9 EOU Updates
https://www.youtube.com/live/JKWN6snrONc?si=wdOBOlUloVh4ePvd

CoCoFEST! 2024 - CoCo on the Couch
https://www.youtube.com/live/0aYljHW8_P8?si=VKbooHv8JyjskGra

CoCoFEST! 2024 - The CoCo Deluxe
https://www.youtube.com/live/WaQNlA4q2Yc?si=VZMOyVgGX125D_Kq

Thanks
Brian Wieseler
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Business Meeting How-To’s:

The Business Meeting will be on Thursday, June 13th.

Guideline #1: Everything is to be done decently and in order. So we follow Robert’s Rules of Order.

Guideline #2: We need you to attend, or share your ideas with leadership.

Guideline #3: Get involved. Leaders sometimes need to delegate responsibility to someone. As you get involved, you may have an opportunity to become a leader yourself. Leaders are expected to serve the GCCC community.

Guideline #4: Know the Constitution and Bylaws of the Club: https://www.glensideccc.com//wp-content/uploads/2020/12/GCCC-Constitution.pdf

Guideline #5: Know how and when to amend the Constitution and Bylaws of the Club.

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Countdown to CoCoFEST!… T-11 Months

By the time you view this, the crew will be disassembling their exhibits and packing for departure. It was a fun fest, a number of folks stopped me and commented how much they enjoyed the event.

Of course, the fest weekend would not be complete without some of the staples. Though it happened before the official start, the hotel managed to catch fire (a bit of it, anyway) and what appeared to be every fire department vehicle from the greater metropolitan Chicago area arrived. The fire fighters hacked part of the building away to stop the fire, started by some birds building a nest in a light enclosure:

And, no fest would be complete without the Saturday Jam session:

I am told the venue staff came in and “pointedly” closed the room doors when the jam got going. No one complained to me, though, so we’ll call it OK.

Numbers are still in flux, but it appears 117+ folks visited the show (that’s probably a bit conservative, as it’s based on those who filled out the door prize registration at the door), and the auction raise almost $5K. Thanks again to our generous attendees.

Yes, Virginia, there will be a 33rd Annual Chicago CoCoFEST!

Though we won’t have a full business meeting this week, feel free to join our regular business meeting Zoom call this Thursday at 7:30PM, where I’ll share more fest statistics and we can discuss items of note and improvement suggestions.

CoCoFEST! Coordinator Grant says he’s going to bed now…

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Countdown to CoCoFEST: T-2 Days

NMBA!

One of the highlights of every CoCoFEST!, it’s the No Minimum Bid Auction. Thanks to the generosity of the community in both donating items for the auction, and for bidding on auction items, many of the funds needed to run each CoCoFEST are received from this auction. It’s such a draw that other classic computing events have implemented their own fundraising auction based on ours.

As in previous years, we’ve already amassed quite a collection of CoCo (and some non CoCo) items for auction, and I hope you consider sitting down with us Saturday afternoon and bidding on an item or 10.

Jason Timmons, co-organizer of the massive Fall VCF Midwest show, will once again wield the gavel as our auctioneer. If you’re on the fence about joining us, check out some of the items that went under the hammer in 2023:

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Countdown to CoCoFEST: T-3 Days

In my opinion, gaming drives computing innovation, moreso than any other computing use case. I’ll fill my cup with some CoCo at the show and you can stop by and try to change my mind…

Even in the CoCo realm, I feel like pushing the platform via game development has unlocked significant platform secrets.

Over the years, we’ve enjoyed presentations on CoCo gaming from game designers/developers. Here’s Paul Thayer giving us a glimpse on his efforts to turn ideas into computing innovation through game development, using modern tooling:

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CoCoFEST! Links

For starters you should scroll to the bottom of the page and click <Other Post>. And keep do this page after page until you go back to mouth of March and then will have seen all the recent CoCoFEST! post.

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Countdown to CoCoFEST: T-4 Days

As a relative “noob” in the CoCo community, I was initially surprised when CoCo discussions started comparing the the TRS80 Color Computer to an Apple Macintosh. Community support notwithstanding, it’s patently unfair to compare an early 1980’s 8-bit platform with a early 2000’s 32 bit one. That aside, both sides had their proponents. The discussions touted the graphical UI and multi-tasking capabilities in the latter, though I assumed everyone already knew the Mac sported those in spades.

After a bit, though, I realized the discussion was not about the short lived Macintosh operating system OS 9, but the Microware real time operating system OS-9 for the CoCo, and sometimes specifically about the open source variant called NitrOS9. Researching, I determined OS-9 wasn’t just a multi-tasking OS, it was a true real time operating system (RTOS), the same type of OS designers choose when stability and guaranteed operation is a must! Now, everything from toasters to watches have a real time multitasking OS, so OS-9 may not seem as impressive, but it’s important to remember OS-9 on the CoCo was a thing before Windows 1.0 even arrived and just as the Macintosh first came on the scene.

Glenside welcomes all OS-9 (and NitrOS9) enthusiasts, and we typically have at least 1 presentation each year on some aspect of the OS. This year, L. Curtis Boyle and Ken Waters will present on the platform at 10:45 on Saturday, May 4. Below is their 2022 BASIC09 presentation:

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