ON VACATION! Back on AUGUST 28!!

I AM NOW ON VACATION!

FINALLY August is here!

And I am going to go absolutely nowhere! Well, maybe Cobble Hill for coffee and ratatouille in the forest! Or walks on the beach! Or a longshot is Tofino or Alberta! But anywhere I do go, will be very random and very spur of the moment!

I did scale back my OAC posts this past year (September ’22 to August ’23) but still managed some fun posts and pages, as well as some updates and brand new random posts! And I plan on a few more when I get back in September! Who knows how busy September 2023 will be but .. it WILL be busy! I am already taking bookings for JANUARY OF 2024!!! YAY BOOKINGS!

You can always check out all my CHD Jeopardy training files here including my most recent Jeopardy Double Trouble in .pdf format. AND a YouTube video of Double Jeopardy it here! ENJOY!

AND ANNOUNCING THAT I HAVE FINISHED 99.99% of the NEWEST CHD JEOARDY –HALLOWEEN the 13th!!! In October and for all our new and returning COOPS

Good luck! And even MORE prizes (Chocolate! Gummy Bears and maybe SURPRISE PACKAGES TOO!) to win and new TYPES of questions too!

And I might also have a new shorter version of my CALL Orientation which will be only about 2 minutes long and less than a dozen slides! Okay, that was hard to do, to keep it THAT short, but I will still keep some Star Trek and Easter Egg elements in there … the usual for this Bog Blog! For a quick sneak peek, but only the working/BETA version, you can download it here in PDF format, or watch it at YouTube in video format! I even kept it shorter than the Star Trek: Strange New Worlds trailer ! But it will still probably change and be even better than it is right now! YAY!

Thanks for all the support and reading all my fun Bog Blog posts and pages at UVic! More to come in September! WOOT!

Everyone stay safe and healthy today, tomorrow and for the rest of the year!

Not to worry . . .

Back on August 28th to prep for
. . . Septem . . . PURR !!!!

I will bring Empire Donuts when I return to UVic!

Bogman

ON VACATION! Back on AUGUST 29!!

I AM NOW ON VACATION!

FINALLY August is here!

I did scale back my OAC posts this past year (September ’21 to July ’22) but still managed some fun posts and pages, as well as some updates and brand new random posts – you know the kind- COVID kind of interfered with daily updates as we had TWO years of students coming back to UVIC! The regular ‘1st Years’ and the ‘then’ the current ‘2nd Years’ … who never did set foot on campus during COVID! September 2021 was THE busiest I have ever seen on campus! Who knows how busy September 2022 will be but .. it WILL be busy!

Jeopardy XI Greg's Playlist — **Jeopardy XI Greg’s Playlist**

BONUS – we were able to do IN PERSON TRAINING FOR OUR NEW CHD STAFF FOR THE FIRST TIME in almost 3 years!! You can always check out all my CHD Jeopardy training files here including my most recent Jeopardy Greg’s Playlist!

CHD Jeopardy Greg's Playlist II — **CHD Jeopardy Greg’s Playlist II**

AND ANNOUNCING THAT I HAVE FINISHED 99.99% of the NEWEST CHD JEOARDY – GREG’S PLAYLIST II in September and for all our new and returning COOPS! Good luck! And even MORE prizes (Chocolate!) to win and new TYPES of questions too!

And I will also have a new shorter version of my CALL Orientation which will be only about 2 minutes long and less than a dozen slides! Okay, that was hard to do, to keep it THAT short, but I will still keep some Star Trek and Easter Egg elements in there … the usual for this Bog Blog! For a quick sneak peek, but only the working/BETA version, you can download it here in PDF format, or watch it at YouTube in video format! I even kept it shorter than the Star Trek: Strange New Worlds trailer ! But it will still probably change and be even better than it is right now! YAY!

Thanks for all the support and reading all my fun Bog Blog posts and pages at UVic! More to come in September! WOOT!

Everyone stay safe and healthy today, tomorrow and for the rest of the year!

Not to worry . . .

Back on August 29th to prep for
. . . Septem . . . PURR !!!!

I will bring Empire Donuts when I return to UVic!

Bogman

ON VACATION! Back on AUGUST 30!!

I AM NOW ON VACATION!

What an exhausting and long year since last August – my last full vacation!

And exhausting … for ALL OF US! I am so fortunate to have been able to work with such amazing and incredible colleagues at The Computer Help Desk over the past … 500+ DAYS! Yes, it has been that long since we started working remotely, late in March of 2020!

Without ALL of their support, humour, leadership, imagination, guidance and every single possible ‘intangible‘ that each and every single one of them, ALL BRING to our Teams meetings, emails, texts, GIFs, Emojis, Jeopardy, Quote Contests, it would have been impossible to accomplish a fraction of what WE ALL DID AS A TEAM!

THANK YOU ALL!

A few key UVic and BC websites for returning to campus in September for everyone!

Return-to-Campus Guidelines now available
Return to campus info for students
Communicable Disease Plan now available
UVic News
Update on getting your COVID-19 vaccine
Remote work arrangements announced for the fall
Working remotely
Post-secondary studies during COVID-19
NEW COMPUTERS IN CALL! YAY!
NEW FURNITURE IN CALL! YAY!

Not to worry . . .

August 30th to prep for
. . . Septem . . . PURR !!!!

Pandemic

I will bring Empire Donuts when I return to UVic!

Bogman

ON VACATION! Back on AUGUST 31!!

I AM NOW ON VACATION!

I have been taking combinations of Thursdays/Fridays/Mondays to have a bit of a break, some breathing room and to relieve a bit of stress. August is my traditional full vacation time!

A personal challenge (since we started working remotely), was to contribute a daily OAC post, relating to languages, computers, graphics, words, culture, UVic, technology (old and new!), puns, The CALL Facility or anything informative, educational and perhaps even funny!

I have been learning more and more about WordPress and have found some neat tricks that have helped me out – teaser – that will be a future post!

I will scale back my ‘Daily’ posts in September as the Fall semester will be unlike ANY OTHER SEMESTER, anytime in the past 30+ years that I have experienced at UVic. I still plan on posting once a week, but that will depend on so many things! Let me correct that – it will depend on … EVERYTHING that is going on at UVic in September …. and probably until next year!

Full Disclosure: Sometimes I had 3 or 4 posts all whirling around madly in my mind at the same time … and other times … I had NO idea what I would be writing about, even as I turned my computer on! Blogging by the seat of my pants! Fun Fact – that is basically how I got through U of Calgary too! It’s true … REALLY TRUE! 🙂

Today, July 31/2020, is actually Day 134 since March 19th, my last full on-campus day at The Computer Help Desk / The CALL Facility. I am hoping we can all return to UVic relatively soon, under safe conditions and help students, staff and faculty with their work!

Not to worry . . .

August 31st to prep for
. . . Septem . . . PURR !!!!

Pandemic

I will bring Empire Donuts when I return to UVic!

Bogman

Wonderful Wednesday . . . C64 Marketing

Wonderful Wednesday
. . . . .
Commodore 64 Marketing!

My first computer I EVER purchased! I think I might even have my original receipt! I will have to dig around my own computer archives aka ‘The Garage’ and see if I can come up with that papyrus document! And … drum roll …. I FOUND IT! Click on the image to see it in a bigger tab!

And why did I buy a C-64, specifically, the SX-64, the World’s First Luggable Computer? It cost me $901.95 (note there was no tax!) and that was a huge amount, in today’s dollars! Actually, it works out to be …. $1,962.18 in ‘today’s’ money! I used the Bank of Canada Inflation Calculator, which I did not know existed until this morning!

There were a few reasons – I had just started to work in a classroom that was FILLED with Commodore-64 computers, I was taking a graduate course at the U of C about Technology/Computers in Education and … a buddy of mine could buy it through his company AT A DISCOUNT! But none of those beat out … THIS IS SUCH A COOL COMPUTER! So had to buy the Commodore SX-64, which was also known as the Executive 64 or VIP-64 in Europe!

So it got me to wondering about how the Commodore became, at the time, the single best home computer EVER SOLD! And I came to the conclusion that … I don’t know why! LOL! Oh, well, maybe marketing has alot to do with it! Just look at Apple! I have posted about how Apple have made such fantastic ads before! (Yup, product placement!)

My ultimate, non-academic conclusion is that …. EVERYONE COULD OWN A HOME COMPUTER!!! And if Commodore could make it cheap, easy, small, available and FUN – then they found the magic recipe to sell MILLIONS OF THEIR COMPUTERS! And, literally:

The Commodore 64, also known as the C64 or the CBM 64, is an 8-bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International (first shown at the Consumer Electronics Show, in Las Vegas, January 7–10, 1982). It has been listed in the Guinness World Records as the highest-selling single computer model of all time, with independent estimates placing the number sold between 10 and 17 million units. (From Wikipedia)

And it is a bit unknown as to how many SX-64 computers were sold. There was a rumoured DX-64 with dual floppy drives, but that never appeared.

The exact number of SX-64 sold from 1984 to 1986, when it was discontinued, is unknown. The serial numbers of over 130 SX-64s from series GA1, GA2, GA4, GA5 and GA6, with serial numbers ranging over 49,000 for series GA1, 1,000 for GA2, 17,000 for GA4, 11,000 for GA5, and 7,000 for GA6 have been reported. (From Wikipedia)

I will have an SX-64 dedicated post in the future, showing how fast it booted, cartridges that I have and how I can connect it to my Toshiba large screen tv too!

It really was an amazing computer! And speed – it boots up in about 5 seconds! And it only had the one floppy drive! Remember sorting through floppy disk banks! Good times, good times!

Fun Fact – did you know that Commodore actually made other computers, including a Commodore PC compatible and another one called the Commodore 128? Fun Fact!

Be sure to look closely at some of the vintage print ads I included after all of this! William Shatner HIMSELF – CAPTAIN KIRK – was a spokesman for the Commodore VIC-20 – the computer that came out BEFORE the C-64!! I can legitimately say – I own an Official Star Fleet Computer!

And that is about it for today! Lots of meetings and workshops! I might throw new stuff in later! You just never know!

Enjoy!

As long as there are a bunch of old computers in my basement, there will be Wonderful Wednesdays!

ENJOY!

TTFN!

Commodore SX-64
TV Ad 1984

Commodore 64 US Adverts

Commodore History Part 1
The PET

Commodore History Compilation
Parts 1-8

C64 Accolade Comics

Games That Push the Limits
of the Commodore 64

World’s First All New
Commodore 64

So You Bought a C64
Modern Guide for Retro Buyers

Pandemic

Terrific Tuesday … ENCORE! More Computer Humour

Terrific Tuesday
. . . . ENCORE . . . .
MORE Computer Humour!

Let’s take a breather today and just have a few chuckles about computers and our digital lives! That and I have multiple meetings, training sessions AND I get to pick up a refreshed laptop today too! So I just want to chuckle and laugh today!

There is no doubt working from home or remote working, continues to be very challenging!

So a little diversion is very welcome, at least for me! And for me, meditation, getting up and walking around, stretching, a walk in my yard, tea and honey, scheduled and impromptu chats, coffee breaks and conversations with my colleagues are SO important to me! I haven’t quite reached the stage of throwing my computer across the room yet!