My first major interest is to use old computers made by Radio Shack. One of my favourites is the Colour Computer or "Coco." I own a Colour Computer 2 (bought by my parents in 1984 for my sister) and Color Computer 3. Until recently I was still able to use my Colour Computer 3 to hook up to the Internet at 2400 bps using 42bis. The CoCo 3 runs a multi-tasking, multi-user operating system called OS-9, with a graphical user interface called MultiVue. It was quite advanced for its time (1986) considering the PC world didn't really have these features until Windows 95. I have since installed a new 6309 chip into my Coco 3 and upgraded OS-9 to the NitrOS9 operating system, which was created by volunteers. I also run an TRS-80 MC-10 bought in 1983. I'm an active member of the Facebook group for MC-10 enthusiasts. It's called "Retro computing!"
Another of my hobbies is to gaze at the night sky. I am a supporter of the Royal Astronomical Society. When I was a kid, I occasionally went to the observatory run by the Hamilton group. I enjoy viewing the planets, especially the planet Mars and Jupiter and its moons. I like trying to imagine the universe in three dimensions as I gaze out into space. Unfortunately there is too much light in most cities for ideal viewing. It is only when I am able to travel to remote areas that I can do my best viewing. I also enjoy reading science fiction. My favourite authors are Robert J.Sawyer, Isaac Asimov, William Gibson, and Ursula K. Le Guin. I also like the stories you can find in works of interactive fiction.
My third hobby is computer programming, which I have been doing since I was eleven years old. I started on a TRS-80 model III that my mother brought home from school. My programming really got going when I bought my first computer, a TRS-80 MC-10, in 1983. I have written many programs for the MC-10 and Coco and IBM computers using the following languages: JAVA Script, "C", Pascal, Visual Basic, Basic, Fortran, and SQL. The picture link at the top left will take you to my software page where you can see some of the programs I have made over the years. Unfortunately, you can only run these programs if you have the archaic computers they run on, or an MC-10 emulator, Color Computer 2 emulator, or Color Computer 3 emulator program for your Windows machine. There are also Java-based on-line emulators for the MC-10 and for the Coco 2.
I have written several articles about retro computing including A Plea for the Preservation of Early BASIC Game Programs Canadian Journal of Media Studies/Revue Canadienne d'études des médias,18(1) 2022, pp. 90-113.
And "Software Preservation Insights on the Power of BASIC" in Game Science. Digital Humanities for Games and Gaming. (Disk Book). Melanie Fritsch, Stefan Höltgen, Torsten Roeder, Editors. Weimar: PolyPlay 2023.
And Engaging in Civic Activism