World of Commodore 2009 was held on December 5, 2009 in Toronto. This year the show was back at a hotel, with an innovative split-room configuration (a movable wall positioned so that only half of the room was divided) that kept the demos close but the noise under control. The hotel was very nice, with a pool, a large dining room, and a lounge area outside the expo hall.
You know what to do; click little pic for big pic!
IanC sets up the registration table. The chickenhead signs were placed along the roads to the hotel in the traditional manner. |
The lounge outside the expo room, where the tastiest bits of gossip were exchanged. |
This show marked the 30th anniversary of the Toronto PET Users Group, so a delicious cake was in order. |
To remember TPUG's thirty years, a Wall of History was assembled, showing many of the Commodore computers and calculators. |
The showpiece of the exhibit was the fabulously rare Commodore 65... |
...although I have to admit a special fondness for the beautiful 8296. |
TPUG president Greg van Laere gave a presentation on the two years of work it took to restore the club's disk library and put it on a CD (which was sold at the show). Check out the numbers: 1176 disks imaged, and only seven are missing! |
Unfortunately, the restoration team became experts on various forms of diskette degeneration, as Greg shows us. Disks were passed around that actually showed the pattern of the sleeve liner imprinted on the surface of the diskette. Ouch! |
Plenty of people came to this historic show... |
...and sales were brisk for the vendors. |
Among the items on offer were Commodore PC gaming cases, which have been sold in the US by tone007 and in Canada by Golan. |
A stylish fan keeps your modern computer cool if you're one of the lucky few who own one of these. |
John Easton came through for me again with a rare assembler... |
...which opens up like a record album. |
The posted schedule shows the meticulous organization this show is known for. |
Jim Brain showed his current projects, including the new JiffyDOS/ROM-el combination, which he sold at the show. |
There were a couple of networking demos at the show, including the long |
...which Jim Mazurek (jasmaz) promptly ran on an SX-64. Jim kept the demo machines networked by running IP masquerading on his Linux laptop. Thanks, Jim! |
Schema reviewed some of the available network programs for the '64, including Jonno Downes' new KipperTerm. Hmm, let's see... decisions, decisions... |
Schema's partner in crime, Rob Adlers, explains his MIDI setup. Note the prototype VIC-20 MIDI cart at left front. |
Later, Rob and Schema were joined by Chiron Bramberger, creator of PETSynth. Yes, you heard that right... |
Chiron on PETSynth! The guys played really well together, and I look forward to the chance to get a tour t-shirt. |
Dinner with Golan... need I say more? On his right is Eric Pratt (look for his name silk-screened on the 64NIC+ board). |
Later in the evening, Eric and Jim Brain discuss the future of 8-bit networking. |
As always, there was a goodly amount of hardware hacking, including this attempt by Jim Brain to diagnose a peculiar issue with the keyboard when using the 1541 Ultimate's menu (but only on a breadbox - not on a 64C). |
Eric K. tried as well, but I'm not sure they ever got it sorted. Never mind, it leaves something for the next World of Commodore. The hotel's already booked, so we'll see you there... |