Off the Retro Reserve

Yeah, I haven't exactly been a writing machine as of late.  Been taking some time for myself, lately.  Haven't been exactly up to speed as of late, and I really didn't want the blog to turn into a big whine-fest, so...

But I'm sort of slipping back into my normal mode.  Hopefully get some writing done soon.

Really haven't been doing much tech stuff.  Did get the new battery into the T410s, which has lead to my carrying/using it more.  Still running Lighthouse64 on the hard drive, but I find myself booting Puppy Slacko XL 5.5 off of USB more and more.  I like that system on the on the T410s a lot.  (I tried booting it on the X60s and the Dell XPS, but had problem with the sound on both, and the trackpad speed on the latter.  I've stuck with straight PhatSlacko 5.5 on the Dell, booting off  USB.)

I have actually left Win7 on the Dell, and for a very specific reason,  I just spent several minutes installing Cloanto's Amiga Forever onto it.  I installed the 2012 edition and did the upgrades.  Right now, I'm sticking with that, rather than buying the 2013 edition.  I was never an Amiga user back in the day, but I find the system fascinating.  I discovered the Amiga emulation stuff, I think after watching some of techguruuk's videos.  Well, one thing lead to another, and I ordered the emulator.  Had it installed on my 17" Toshiba Satellite. But, as that system sort of got packed away due to my Mac fetish, I haven't been playing with with the emulator. 

So, when the Dell XPS joined the fleet...  Well, one thing lead to another...  The Dell has more RAM and a bigger hard drive to play with, so,,,

Right now, I'm just running through some of the old demoscenes included with the package.  (At present, "Nexus 7" by Andromeda, c.1994.)  Pretty cool!

And, if you're wondering, no I'm not typing on the Dell.  While I was waiting for the emulation software to install, I dragged out little Sony Vaio and started playing around.  Haven't had it out in ages, so it's kind of fun to fiddle with.  (Really should upgrade from Precise Puppy 5.6.1 to 5.7.1, but...  I've actually been thinking of giving Upup Raring a run on this.  We shall see...)

Well, I just finished downloading, and am "installing" AmigaSYS 4 in the emulator.   Need to do the same with the AmiKit version they include.

My only problem with this setup is that I really am limited to the included software, which is mostly games.  I'd love to find a source of general programs for the Amiga like the Macintosh Garden site for Macs.  (I"m sure there is one, but I've just never really dedicated the time to properly search for it.)

Oh well...  Getting a bit worried.  The AmigaSYS install has been sitting at 50% for ages, and is just playing its musical accompaniment on and on. Better do some checking here...

Off to the Retro world...  Gee, wonder where I hid my copy of Tron...