Congratulations to the 2009 Winners!

Find links to their sites at RetroChallenge 2009!

1. equant took first place with his Grackle68k twitter client for classic Macs.

2. A couple of intensive programming efforts tied for second; PrintStar spent a month grappling with GEM on mutiple platforms while Pukka whipped up a slick little driving game for old world Macs.

3. Crowding the winners' rostrum in a split for third are rsayers with his remarkable Tandy M100 gopher server and Paleoferrosaurus who went off in about a dozen different directions.

Honourable mentions go to Dog Cow for his network-enable Apple II snake game; Jonnosan for the Apple II gopher client; Jon Sharp for getting his Apple II talking over Bluetooth and Schadenfreude for his Gameboy photography.

And let's not forget that Luddite won the HUNT tournament!

Final Thoughts

Second Computer Bites the Dust

So the 540 was working fine. I attached an external SCSI harddrive to it that had the software program copied. After that, I got nothing but the white screen (more of a cream, really) that I have come to associate with a loose ribbon cable. I removed the SCSI drive and rebooted several times. All to no avail.

I have no time before tomorrow's class to dig into the 540 to fix this, assuming I can. So, class will go ahead without the Blood Alcohol Educator. Instead, students will be treated to a lecture by me. Yay!

So, to recap:

The 475 gives me the chimes of death.

The 540 has a blank screen.

No other machines can run the program and meet RetroChallenge requirements.

The DUI class is tomorrow.

No time is left to repair either machine before class. No time is left to finish the big "Mycroft's Virtual Bar" case mod.

Sooo......????

Change of Plans!

With the LC 475 sounding the chimes of death, I was able to find a PowerBook 520C to fill in. Boots fine. Class is tomorrow! There will not be time to do the fancy "bar-like" giant case mod before then, or to troubleshoot the 475, but at least the program will run on the PowerBook and I can take it to the class.



All that remains is to transfer the disk image to the PowerBook since it lacks a CD player.

Chimes of Death


Yesterday I booted the LC 475. Or, rather, I didn't. The infamous chimes of death have sounded! With only two days to go before class, looks like its time for a drink!

Computer Selected

I have picked the computer! The software needs at least a 68040 and the RetroChallenge needs nothing above a 68040. Looks like the only system in my stable that meets those requirements is an LC 475.

The idea will be to build the computer into the mobile base and decorate it like a bar!

Just to get a pre-build idea, something like this:



But, a lot flashier. The computer case will be on the inside. But, now...should the theme be sports bar? tech bar? bellydance bar?

And...can I get it largely finished before the next DUI class on Tuesday?

The Blood Alcohol Educator

The Blood Alcohol Educator is the software I wish to run. This organization:

http://www.b4udrink.org/

gave out free CD's with the program a few years ago:



Problem is, they no longer give out the CD's and have made their program web-based. Because of the heavy security on our work computers (dealing with Protected Health Information), we cannot use their web-based program!

So, the only solution, if I want to run the Virtual Bar software, is to run an older version on an older computer. Hey, that sounds like it could be a RetroChallenge!

Some download options for the older version:
http://homepage.mac.com/mhlewis/classic/BAE.IMG.sit
http://homepage.mac.com/mhlewis/classic/BAE.img.zip