Hack Surfing

For those who can access that great expanse of area called the World Wide Web, here are some new places to visit that are of interest to the Commodore community. In early 1994, when the US Commodore WWW Site started, the number of sites online that catered to Commodore numbered in the 10's. Now, the number is in the 100's. What a change.

If you know of a site that is not listed here, please feel free to send it to the magazine. The following links have been gleaned from those recently changed or added to _CaBooM! - Your One Stop Commodore Links Site_. (http://www.msen.com/~brain/cbmlinks/).

To encourage these sites to strive to continually enhance their creations, and because we like to gripe :-), we'll point out improvements that could be made at each site.

Companies

• Centsible Software
  http://home.sprynet.com/sprynet/cents/
  Centsible Software has been a common name in Used Software Distribution for a while now. their WWW Site contains catalogs for the different platforms they support.
  C=Hacking gripe: Although the site is very informative and works well for either text or graphical browsers, it is rather plain. A bit of text here and some judicious use of HTML 1.0 tags would spice it up immensely. Text Browser compatibility shouldn't force WWW sites to be dull.

• Arkanix Labs, Inc.
  http://www.arkanixlabs.com/
  Arkanix Labs recently purchased Threshold Productions International in order to expand their presence in the Commodore Market. They have a stocked WWW Site, complete with a catalog and recent news press releases.
  C=H gripe: For the graphical set, the site is heavy on graphics, although it does offer text link alternatives.

• Herne Data Systems, Inc.
  http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/herne_data/cpm.htm
  In the 1980's, HDS created some utilities for the C128's CP/M mode. Jugg'ler 128 allowed the CP/M user to read over 140 different disk formats, while Scramb'ler 128 encrypted files and disks. Although HDS doesn't support these products anymore, they do provide them and numerous reference works on their WWW Site.
  C=H gripe: text based browsers might not handle the HTML TABLE very well.

  Demo Groups

• Demolition
  http://www.cei.net/~rreed/
  As the Webmaster puts it, " Demolition is currently more of a concept than anything." Demolition is slated to become a disk based demo programming resource magazine. However, at present, the site contains a few articles on topics like boolean logic and VIC internals. In addition, the site contains a comprehensive bibliography of basic and demo related programming articles.
  C=H gripe: The bibliography is on the main page, making it a lengthy piece of text.

  Reference Works

• The Commodore Web Ring
  http://www.ncf.carleton.ca/~ag090/HomePage.ringpage.html
  Although not a WWW site per se, this site starts you off on a journey through various Commodore WWW sites. It's entertaining and will undoubtedly take you somewhere you wouldn't have been before.
  C=H gripe: Graphical surfers might find the large "buttons" annoying.

• Info and Files for Commodore GEOS
  http://www.radiks.net/irv_cobb/geos2.html
  This, a sub page under Irv Cobb's home page, offers various GEOS utilities that were either programmed by Irv or that he finds useful. GEOS users should bookmark this page.
  C=H gripe: As above. A bit of HTML 1.0 would spice this page right up.

• The History of Commodore
  http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Heights/8329/History.html
  A sub page of "The Commodore Haven", this sites gives the low-down on Commodore, from its inception to its demise.
  C=H gripe: well done page.

• Commodore Pictures
  http://www.swt.edu/~ez13942/commie/cbmpics.htm
  Although the author of the page is not mentioned, he takes us on a tour of his various Commodore computer systems. It's always interesting to see how folks use their machine.
  C=H gripe: The graphics and the captions are all on one page, which makes the page a bit lengthy.

• The KIM-1 page
  http://www.magic.ca/~yhpun/ianpun.html
  For anyone who doesn't know what a KIM is or how it relates to Commodore, this page is for you. Featuring pictures and explanations of both the KIM-1 and the author's home-made expansion board, this site offers a glimpse of the life of the 6502 pre-CBM.
  C=H gripe: The KIM-1 stuff is on the same page as the author's personal and business information.

• CBMSearch - a search engine for searching Commodore related software. http://www.ts.umu.se/~yak/cccc/cbmsearch/
  Bookmark this site. Now. Offering a concise way to find Commodore software quickly and easily, CBMSearch can relieve the headache of trying to find CBM titles on the Internet.
  C=H gripe: Can't really say there is a gripe. The page is concise and could be spruced up a bit, but in this case, function overrules form.

  User Groups

• Bronx User's Group (BUG)
  http://www.mediaworks.com/bug/
  As Commodore Authorized User Group #0065, BUG's WWW site contains links to mail each of the officers and some links to other sites. A phone number is given for information.
  C=H gripe: The site's a bit low on content. We applaud the presence, but a map or some info about the group would be nice.

• Stone Mountain User's Group - Contains information on when and where we meet.
  http://www.cris.com/~Derektp/
  Although supporting all orphaned computer systems, SMUG (love the acronym) appears to focus on the CBM systems and contains information on meeting places and times.
  C=H gripe: As above, the content is a bit low, but at least directions and times are given.

• ICPUG Independent Commodore Products User Group
  http://www.icpug.org.uk/
  Although not devoted exclusively to the CBM 8-bit line, ICPUG does support them. A wealth of information, including the ability to join and club news is available.
  C=H gripe: For the graphical set, the site is a bit heavy on graphics. (For these sites, viewing with Lynx offers faster response.)

  Individual Commodore Users

• Commie web page -- Better red than IBM http://www.swt.edu/~ez13942/commie/
  Bo Zimmerman titles his page this peculiar way. He offers some history on his use of Commodore systems and offers some pictures of his various equipment. He also presents the Commodore Pictures page, detailed above.
  C=H gripe: the background makes for hard reading on some graphical browsers.

• Don's Page
  http://people.delphi.com/novan/
  In an effort to offer people with text browsers some picture content, Don has included ASCII art in his page. We are impressed. Basically, the site details Don's hobbies and how the Commodore fits in.
  C=H gripe: We really think the ASCII is great, but there's no reason to make all the text in the document mono-spaced.

• Dave's Commodore 64 page
  http://www.csun.edu/~hbbuse08/c64.html
  This page is for those looking for game information, SID tunes, and emulators. (Note: some of the files on this site are copyrighted.)
  C=H gripe: The top says "This page looks best when viewed with Microsoft's Internet Explorer or Netscape!"

• John Elliott's Home Page
  http://www.nsis.com/~prof/
  John has a very extensive site detailing computers in education, including a piece on using "obsolete computers" in the classroom. A number of pieces available on the site include education conference highlights, and a discussion of how he finally hooked up to the Internet. The site is best viewed with Lynx, as it is enhanced for Lynx! (that's a switch)
  C=H gripe: The layout of the pages seems a bit haphazard, but maybe it's just us.

• Irv Cobb's home page
  http://www.radiks.net/irv_cobb/
  If you want to know about Irv or where he grew up, it's all here. Hyperlinks are spread throughout the text to direct you to different topics.
  C=H gripe: none. Although it isn't as "splashy" as some pages, it is laid out well, and looks fine, although simplistic, on a graphical browser.
  
• Commodore 64 Online
  http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Park/4645/
  Tim Plelp's site is brimming with links to his favorite utilities and applications. Also included is a comprehensive list of PD/Shareware titles.
  C=H gripe: use unordered lists instead of "*" for the various items.
  
• Commodore Connection
  http://www.gis.net/~sunfish/crcbm.html
  Geoff Sullivan's personal site offers articles and software to make using a C64 or 128 more enjoyable. Besides links to other sites, he also offers up Perfect Print fonts and articles on how to expand your REU to 2MB and how to build a simple RS-232 converter. Of special interest is a collection of customized GEOS mouse pointer icons and a program called QWIKSTASH that will copy files in GEOS on bootup.
  C=H gripe: Great resource, but little information about Geoff and how he uses his CBM.
  

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Last Updated: 1997-03-31 by Jim Brain