Museums of Brantford
Posted by in commodore computers on May 19th, 2009
Copyright (c) 2008 Wes Fernley
Brant County Museum
The Brant County Museum showcases the history both of Brantford and of all of Brant County. People, places and events which have shaped the area are showcased in its exhibits. It is run by the Brant Historical Society, which in 2008 celebrated its 100th anniversary. There are two locations for the Brant County Museum in Brantford: one on Charlotte Street and the other on the square. Admission to the Museum in the Square is always free.
Personal Computer Museum
Founded by local computer whiz Syd Bolton, the Personal Computer Museum is dedicated to the history of computers. The museum houses over 300 machines, with over 45 interactive displays where you can actually get hands on experience with computers from days past. Some of the machines included in interactive displays are IBM, Commodore, Apple, Atari and more. The museum is only open for special events or by private appointment. To set up a personal appointment or book a group tour, call (519) 753-8825 or check out their web site at www.pcmuseum.ca
Canadian Military Heritage Museum
Over the years many persons from Brant County and the surrounding area have contributed to Canada’s military heritage. The Canadian Military Heritage Museum was founded to honour these brave men and women. The museum houses over 10,000 artifacts spanning a history from the Loyalist Era all the way up to modern times. Some of its artifacts include weapons, uniforms, ceremonial objects, manuscripts and more.
Bell Homestead National Historic Site
The family home of Alexander Graham Bell in Brantford has been restored to appear as it did in the 1870’s. It was in this home in 1874 in which Bell first came up with the idea for the telephone. After that he spent several summers working on the telephone project in his laboratory right here on the homestead. Staff where authentic 19th century period costumes for tours, providing a realistic experience not only of what it was like for Alexander Graham Bell as he was inventing the telephone, but of life in general during the 1870’s.
Woodland Cultural Centre
The Woodland Cultural Centre, located on the Six Nations Reserve at Brantford, Ontario, is dedicated to teaching the history and culture of First Nations. Its member nations include the Wahta Mohawks, Six Nations of the Grand River and the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte. It houses over 35,000 artifacts spanning a timeline from the prehistory of the Iroquoian and Algonkian people to the modern day.
Myrtleville House
Originally built in 1831 by Allen and Eliza Good of Ireland, the Myrtleville House in Brantford reflects the life of early 19th century Canada, along with even older artifacts from their Irish home. Over the years the Goods came to be a prominent family in Brantford life, with over 600 acres of land and doing much to benefit the community. Their family home now stands as a monument to this important era of Canadian and Brantford history.
MELISSA
Did you grow up in the 80’s & remember this?
Posted by in Uncategorized on May 14th, 2009
-You know what “Sike” means.
-You know the profound meaning of “Wax on, Wax off.”
-You know that another name for a keyboard is a “Synthesizer.”
-You can sing the McDonald’s Big Mack,Filet-o-fish, quarter pounder, and French fry song.
-You know who Mr. T is.
-You know who Fat Albert is. And who was old boy with the pink mask?
-You ever wore fluorescent, neon clothing.
-You could breakdance, or wish you could.
-You wanted to be The Hulk for Halloween.
-You Believed that “By the power of Greyskull, you HAD the power.
-Partying “like it’s 1999″ seemed SO far away.
-You thought that Transformers were “more than meets the eye”.
-You knew that knowing is half the battle.
-You wanted to be on Star Search.
-You can remember Michael Jackson when he was black.
-You wore a banana clip at some point during your youth.
-You remember the garbage pail kids, and owned some.
-You knew what Willis was “talkin’ ’bout.”
-Rut row raggy. and Zoinks.
-You HAD to have your MTV.
-You actually thought “Dirty Dancing” was a REALLY good movie.
-You remember when ATARI was a state of the art video game.
-You owned any cassettes.
-You were led to believe that in the year 2000 we’d all be living in space.
-You know what leg warmers are and probably had a pair.
-You wore biker shorts underneath a short skirt and felt stylish.
-You wore your Izod shirt with the collar up.
-You had a Swatch Watch with the Swatch Guard.
-Your Legos collection started with the free sets in a Happy Meal.
-You remember when Happy Meals came in a box, not a paper bag.
-You remember when Saturday Night Live was funny.
-You had Wonder Woman or Superman underoos.
-You know what a “Push Up” ice cream is.
-You had to come in the house when the street lights came on.
-You had to change into play clothes after school.
-You owned, or knew somebody with a Commodore 64.
-You hated Scrappy Doo.
-You recorded songs off the radio with your boom box.
-You wished you had a light saber.
-Somehow you still know all the words to songs played on VH1’s “Big 80s”
-Your arm was full of rubber bracelets.
-You have ever said, “Gag me with a spoon.”
-You have ever wondered what happened to Saturday morning cartoons.
-You had to get up to change the channel, or had one of those noisey “clicky boxes”.
-You can still sing 1 to 12 from the Pinball machine song on Sesame Street.
-You thought the Thriller video was pretty cool.
-You remember the first time you went in to a video store to rent a movie.
-Canadians watched…Romper-Room, Mr. Dress-up, and the Friendly Giant - remember the teeny weeny furniture you wished you had?!
-You wore those wide, colorfull shoelaces.
-Quiet Riot’s “Come on feel the noise” was the best song - ever.
-You know where “I want my two dollars” came from.
-You still cannot go in to the water because of that damn movie Jaws.
-El Debarge’s “Get a beat to the Rhythm of the night” plagued the radio every hour.
-You remember life before minivans and SUVs.
-Cars…Gremlins were cool - Pacers were not!
If you can identify with at least half of this list then you, my friend, are a “Child of the 80s”.
MATTHEW
Anybody Know The Name Of This Game ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Posted by in Uncategorized on May 8th, 2009
I think it was originally for one of the old consoles like the commodore 64 but the company “Sold Out” where selling it as a PC game but i cant remember what the name of the game was. It was an army game with small soldiers, alot of the scenery was greenery and the objective was just to kill the enemy.
if anybody knows what im on about please say.
Thanks
DEBRA
Digital Video - A Look Towards the Future
Posted by in commodore computers on May 1st, 2009
In our increasingly wired world digital video is beginning to make it’s mark on our society. Being of the generation that has watch the personal computer grow from the Commodore 64 of the eighties to the powerhouse machines of today, it is interesting to watch how the internet, and particularly online media is changing the way we entertain ourselves.
It is estimated that close to fifty percent of people below the age of 33 watch videos online at least once a week. Many of them turn to the internet more often than that for their viewing needs. This push towards online video is changing the way people watch movies, television, and the way they stay up to date with current events. It is also changing the way companies advertise and the media industry as a whole. It is estimated that online video advertising, a $121 million market in 2004, could become a $2.9 billion industry by 2010.
With these changes have come issues with copyrights, bandwidth, even internet addition has become a problem for some in the wired world of today. It is all a part of our changing society. With any change there comes problems, but it is looking towards the future that everything starts to come together.
What is the future for online video?
I think that over the next couple decades we are going to see the media world push all video media online. Cable television will become a thing of the past, and your video signal will come through your internet connection. Most likely to your wireless flat panel screen that is on your living room wall. The technology for a lot of it is already developed or under development.
Products like the Nintendo Wii which, along with being a gaming device, allow users to connect to the internet are already beginning to move us forward. Instead of watching the nightly news you can now choose which news you want to watch on your television using the Wii and devices like it. One of Apples new creations, Apple TV, allows users to wirelessly send purchased movies or television shows to their TV from their digital video collection on their PC. It is with technology like this that we begin to move towards the future of media consumption.
Last year some big players in the movie industry started a digital rental/purchase website. The site Movielink — a joint venture including some of the biggest names in the movie world — offers users digital rentals or purchase of a huge selection of movies. It isn’t the first site of it’s kind (and probably not even the best), but because of who owns it, it shows how the media industry is beginning to accept that traditional media delivery is no longer enough.
With the explosion in popularity of online, video fueled by websites like YouTube, it will be interesting to see what is to come. In the next few years I think we are going to see even more change than that which has taken place with online video thus far.
JEFFREY
Georgia Tech football- some recognition please?
Posted by in Uncategorized on March 5th, 2009
Now I will agree the SEC is more dominant than the ACC. In addition to that, isn’t the Mississippi State Bulldogs in the SEC?… They are pretty good right? Well, wasn’t there a game couple of weeks ago that proves my point- versus the Auburn Tigers, who were ranked in the top 15 at the time (in a 3-2 loss)? WAIT!— Another game versus the LSU Tigers (#5 at the time) in Louisiana where the Tigers won, but only by a score of 34-24. And yesterday- where the Mississippi St. Bulldogs beat those “charging up the polls very slowly” Vanderbilt Commodores 17-14. So, the Bulldogs from Mississippi are TOO a fighting team that does not get much recognition in losses as being a good team. HOWEVER, it is important to point out that even in these “nail-biter of a ballgames” that they have a legitimate shot of a future good ball team. Now- (my turn) what about that team from Georgia that NO ONE gives any recognition to? Yes, they only did beat a Gardner-Webb team yesterday 10-7, but need to be noticed when they beat a team of good caliber (proved in my point above and forget about yesterday) like the Mississippi State Bulldogs 38-7! Give some notice please or it might bite you later on.
DOROTHY
Why Buy A Sony Playstation?
Posted by in commodore computers on March 2nd, 2009
Long gone are those times when the flatness and basic graphics of Pac Man came to existence in the 1980’s. Today the gaming console has made major breakthroughs in gaming. A look at the Sony Playstation may just seem like a black box, but there is so much benefit to buying a Sony Playstation.
If you don’t have much recollection of the 1980’s, thinking about what kind of games were available and the consoles around you may not remember them. The 1980’s had so few gaming consoles. There was the Atari’s with there cartridge games. There was those Commodore 64’s. There was also a lot of other type of consoles, but a lot of them you had to make yourself! This was not like a Mechano kit, it took some understanding. And to further that, there were a limited range of games.
Nintendo came in and demolished the competition. Here you had the original Nintendo gaming system, and after a few years in came the SNES. Games improved and were great; however, the games only resembled the arcade genre. Though it was great to have, and you did not have to go to the arcade to play, it just couldn’t catch up to what was happening with the computers being released.
Sony has always been an innovator of technology. Sony brought us the Walkman, which Sony invented. Looking at today, the iPod is based on the Walkman and its portability. When Sony said they were releasing a gaming console which would be like having a PC, but with supreme graphics, a lot of people wanted one.
The PS1 was released and became an instant hit, as I am sure you are aware. Selling 100’s of millions of units worldwide is the major reason games companies have produced games for the Sony PlayStation. However, this was not enough. The computers available were getting faster.
In came PS2 and this made major breakthroughs in graphics. Finally we now have the Sony PlayStation 3 or PS3. This gaming console is more like a PC than any other Sony PlayStation that came before. A PS3 has many features that make it worth buying.
For example with gaming, there are thousands of games available for the Sony PlayStation, and the backward compatibility is great at allowing you to play existing games on.
The Sony PlayStation 3 also allows you to play online with multiplayer. So, even if it is 3am in the morning, and you don’t have anyone to play with, you can put the game on and play online! This feature really makes the Sony PlayStation a great feature to have. You don’t have to go to your PC only to play games online.
Even if you are not a major game buff, a Sony PlayStation 3 can be beneficial in many other ways. You can play DVD movies, and also play your CD’s on the PS3. The PlayStation can be considered an entertainment device rather than a gaming console anymore.
Sony has put a lot of effort into producing an entertainment device which meets the needs of people in these changing times. With the amount of games and the features available, the Sony PlayStation can go great as part of a home theatre system.
SAMUEL
Playoff questions. serious playoff questions?
Posted by in Uncategorized on March 1st, 2009
“Serious”? Who are you kidding? Anyway, this is inspired by me going crazy waiting for the puck to drop tonight and the press conference I saw today. A Sidney Crosby press conference. (Yeah, everyone’s favorite.) Look closely at “The Kid” tonight if you watch the Sens/Pens game. It seems he’s growing in that greasy moustache that he once grew (and dyed to make darker) during a playoff run in juniors.
PLAYOFF BEARDS SURVEY:
1) Who will have the best beard on your favorite team?
2) Who will have the worst?
3) Best beard in the entire NHL?
4) Worst in the NHL? Maybe they have red hair, it’s like a fro on their chin, or their last name is Commodore.
5) All-time memorable beard?
6) Is growing a beard something you expect out of your team’s captain?
7) Should players not cut the hair on their head either? 
(LINK A PICTURE OF A BEARD HERE)
I’ll start off: http://a123.g.akamai.net/f/123/12465/1d/media.canada.com/3ca29868-a2b8-4cc7-ae56-6e8c67b32770/niedermayer0620.jpg?size=l
WILLIE
Ever heard of a game called Booger?
Posted by in Uncategorized on February 23rd, 2009
You pass out the whole deck of cards. And then you play them and the next person has to lay down a card that is higher. Jokers being the highest, then deuces, then Aces down to 3’s. If you lay down the same card as the person before you, the next person gets skipped. The first person out of cards is King, next person is Assistant King*, Commodore*, Peasant, Assistant Booger*, and Booger. Then the next round the Booger has to give his/her two highest cards to the King, and the Assistant Booger gives his/her one highest card to the Assistant King, and the King has too give two cards (doesn’t matter) to the Booger, and Assistant King gives Assistant Booger his/her one of his cards (doesn’t matter).
Anyone ever played it?
*If you have enough people. Usually if you have more than 4 people you need two decks of cards to make it any fun.
DONNA
College basketball question?
Posted by in Uncategorized on February 23rd, 2009
Who do you think wins the game between the Florida Gators and the Vanderbilt Commodores tonight?
give specific reasons for your choice.
CHRISTINA
Online Gaming Soon to be the Only Gaming?
Posted by in commodore computers on February 15th, 2009
Most of us are old enough to remember when the Commodore 64 first came out followed by the Atari system. The initial reaction to these systems was sheer amazement as we played with our pixels for hours upon hours. Soon we learned how to beat the Artificial Intelligence and the games replay value suffered greatly.
So why do video games become boring or outdated? Obviously a huge factor is technology and graphics, but a stronger component is competition and the ability to adapt. Single player games do not offer the ability to adapt; the artificial intelligence today doesn’t allow for complex strategies or maneuvers to be utilized, but we know who can – Humans! Yes, there is nothing like outthinking, outmaneuvering, besting, owning, fragging, or whatever you want to do, to another living, breathing, frustrated human being.
When you get that kill shot on a computer you know they don’t get emotional, but when you take out a live opponent, you know he/she is slamming their keyboard and possibly ripping out their cable modem (Stracraft comes to mind for this). It is not the mere act of succeeding but rather how hard the success was to obtain. Even killing “newbs” (new players) after a while gets old as you need more of a challenge; you need someone that is adept at thinking on the spot and maneuvering in such ways that the computer or a newb could never achieve. You have now reached a new level of your gaming ability and the only way to grow further as a player is to play the best.
To play the best you will need to play against the world, literally. By playing online users, one can play the best users all across the globe in an effort to test adaptability, focus, reflexes, strategy, and yes digital-courage. It isn’t enough to have competitor A go first, then competitor B go to see who can outscore or time trial the fastest on a map. That is the weakest form of competition as it is not direct. No, you need to play against each other in real time in order to the get the adrenaline rush.
My latest example is the game Joust. This game is old, outdated, crappy graphics, and previously single player. No one really played this game today. That is until it was announced it would become a multiplayer game on the Xbox 360 live. Now you can Joust against others; the game has now evolved from defeating simple AI mechanics to a full blown strategy/reflexes game against the best. This can be seen with PS3 having Mortal Kombat available for online play. This game is very old as well and mostly used for nostalgia until the online component breathed life and competition back into it.
Just what are the advantages to Single Player games than, if any? Well, the technology isn’t that cheap and most can’t afford a PS3 or Xbox 360 plus the Live fee. The advantages are only cost and beginning practice. As the cost gets cheaper the only added benefit one can get from Single Player is map memorization, game mechanics, and the very basics the game has to offer. Most don’t want to play against other opponents till they understand the intricacies of the game, and rightfully so. Single player games are going the way of the Dodo as cheap Online Games take it place. Who would have thought Joust and Mortal Kombat I would be resurrected in 2008, well over a decade after their initial release? Ask you parents to have a kid brother, or go online and experience the wonders of making someone spam you with profanity, or ripping out their modem as you harass them endlessly. Online Games bring out the worst and best of us, while Single Player games just alleviate some boredom. Hell, even Pong can be fun if it’s a nationwide competition. Sending this article to a friend will help them realize to get off their single player RPG kick
GERALD