JAN 2010: Former Milton Bradley Company employee Mike Langieri provides information to noted TI-99 Cartridge Collector and Retro Gaming Times Chief Editor Bryan Roppolo about a planned Milton Bradley home computer system and information on the nearly released Milton Bradley Gemini game console that all but rewrites the hardware timeline for the TI-99/4 and 4A Home Computer.   

FEB 2010:  Ken Gilliland is inducted into the TI Hall of Fame. "On behalf of my fellow members on the Board of Governors of the TI99'ers Hall of Fame it is my pleasure to announce the induction of Ken Gilliland to your TI99HOF. Ken becomes our 30th inductee and the 8th inductee since April 1, 2009. Please take a moment to visit our site at www.ti99hof.org and read about the many contributions that Ken and the other previous inductees have made to the continuous enjoyment of our favourite little Home Computer. You can go directly to Ken's biography on the TI99HOF site. - Jacques Groslouis

- Jon Guidry of Bloomington, IL releases a 512K Multicart for the TI-99/4A. The limited production cartridge has four banks (0,1,2 and 3) of software, accessed via menu selection code written by Mike Brent. Besides his own expertise, Mr. Guidry points out that credit for the unique cartridge is shared by Carlos Randolph for the original 8K cartridge idea, Stuart Conner who helped with the original bank switching techniques, (technically not used in the Multicart, but helped with the original 64K project),  Mike Brent (Tursi) who worked with me to create the Multicart program and Jim Fetzner who worked to help neaten up my cartridge board design and helped me design my rough hand-made prototype (#0) into a formal board design.

-Bill Gaskill posts the following information on the On Line User Group message base regarding the approximate publication dates of the 'difficult to date' 99'er Magazines V1N4, V1N5 and V1N6.

V1N4 - Feb/Mar 1982 - The publication date is based on the existence of a Winter 1982 Consumer Electronics Show (WCES) report on page 48. The WCES took place in January 1982. Also the TI "Munchman Plan" ad on page 90 that is entitled "The Monster is Free", has a date range in it of Feb 1 to May 15, 1982 and it is the first appearance of the ad in 99'er. Assuming that at least 30-days lead time is required from the receipt of new information to inclusion in the layout for the next issue, that would put V1N4 at February or March 1982.

V1N5 - May/Jun 1982 - The publication date is based upon a Computer Mail Order ad on page 22 of 99'er V1N5 where the TI-99/4A is offered for $299.00. Computer Mail Order has the same price for the TI-99/4A in a May 1982 BYTE Magazine ad on page 424. Possible further verification might be that the Computer Mail Order ad in 99'er V1N4 (Feb/Mar 1982 issue) lists the TI-99/4A at $379.00. The Computer Mail Order ad in the April 1982 issue of BYTE Magazine on page 210 lists the TI-99/4A at $359.00. Lastly, the M1/5 "On Tape" offering in V1N5 carries a note which states that it will be available for shipment after June 1, 1982.

V1N6 - Jul/Aug 1982 - The publication date is based upon a report on page 12 of 99'er Magazine covering the June 1982 Summer Consumer Electronics Show in Chicago, the existence of the TI and Control Data Corporation announcement for PLATO on page 80 of 99'er Magazine, as well as the 'Texas Instruments Sponsors Computer Clubs For Children' newsbyte also on page 80. TI's own HUB Times internal newsletter informed employees of the agreement with Control Data in the June 1982 issue of the HUB Times on page 2. They also ran the 'Computer Clubs for Kids' article in the June 1982 Hub Times on page 11. Again, assuming that at least 30-days lead time is required from the receipt of new information to inclusion in the layout for the next issue, that would put V1N6 at July or August 1982. Lastly, the M1/6 "On Tape" offering in V1N6 carries a note which states that it will be available for shipment after September 1, 1982.

MAR 2010:

• CF7+ sidecar peripheral (slimline)
• Myarc rs232 card with original manual & Terminal Emulator II cartridge with original manual
• A 64k Jon Guidry cartridge board and game case (for making homebrew carts)
• A Navarrone 3 cartridge expander device (allows for three carts to be plugged in at once... select with 3 way toggle)
  

Winners:

1. Lunar Rescue (Marc.Hull)
2. Inaccurate Invaders (unHUman)
3. SSGC Racer (Kurt Woloch)
4. Chronicle of Sniffing Zombie (Sometimes99er)

JUN 2010:  

• Texas Instruments demonstrating their latest hardware, hopefully running a recompiled version of TI99SIM 4A emulator.
• Gary Smith demonstrating his new computer which has been called the Geneve 2, however I like to call it the Phoenix G2.
• Mark Wills demonstrating TI Forth and
• Fred Kaal demonstrating his latest software. 

AUG 2010: Jaime Malilong releases the 'nanoPEB' compact flash device that plugs into the I/O port on the side of the TI-99/4A Console. The nanoPEB comes with 32K RAM and an RS-232 port that can operate up to 19,200 kbs.  The specification for nanoPEB state that it includes a 32mb Compact Flash card, 32K RAM compatible with Extended Basic and Editor Assembler, emulates three floppy drives and 39 400K floppy disks.  Equivalent to 169 of the original SSSD disks. Works with Disk Manager 2, has RS232 port - TE-II compatible.  Power LED plus LEDs for Compact Flash access.  It requires a regulated 5v with 2.1mm barrel connector. Center pole is positive (USA Only) .  Power switch allows unit to be turned off with unplugging power supply. Manual and DOS utilities to move files to/from PC included as well as a CFMGR, which is a disk manager tool written in TI-99/4a assember.

MISC:  "Keeping a Pinball Wizard's Dream Alive" - Ever since I was a young boy, I've played the silver ball. But I'm no longer a young boy. And the silver balls are disappearing. Pinball is hanging by a thread.  Once you couldn't go to a bowling alley or an arcade without hearing the thing-thing-thing of those pleasure machines. The Who wrote a rock opera about a pinball  player. Fonzie banged the flippers on Happy Days. In the 1930s, there were around  150 small companies making some sort of pinball. As late as 1993, there were 100,000 machines sold in a year. But this year, pinball production may be 10,000  machines total—all of them by one company. Famous names like Bally, Gottlieb, and  Williams are gone. There is only one soldier left in the bells-and-bumpers army. Stern Pinball. If it goes, pinball goes. "Don't say we're the last—say we're the only," president Gary Stern jokes. "`Last' sounds like we're dying." Happily, The Only Pinball Maker on Earth is not dying. At 65, Stern remains an optimistic, wisecracking guru. He answers his own phone; no secretaries shield him. At his factory in Melrose Park, Ill., even high-level employees "must play 15 minutes a  day of pinball" They make notes. Discuss how a ball played. Stern's father, Samuel,  began as a game operator in the 1930s. The son carries on—despite obstacles. The economics of starting a pinball company today wouldn't make sense," Stern  says. He points to the half mile of wire in a typical machine, the thousands of  components, the intricate design, and the price tag—around $5000—for a new machine. And where do you put it? "Years ago, when a kid went to pick up a pizza, he'd play a game of pinball while he waited," Stern says. "Today he's texting on his phone. Our competition now comes from video games, Xboxes, computer apps, even Internet  gambling." The game world has gone wireless and portable. A machine that stands more than 6 feet tall and weighs nearly 300 pounds seems like a cruise ship. But that's the uniqueness of pinball. You can't just do it while you're bored at  work. It's a game of touch, action, movement, and unpredictability. The ball is wild," Stern says. "That's the magic." So Stern and company soldier  on, producing a few new models each year. Movie and TV themes are the most popular  (Batman, Shrek, Spider-Man), and in many cases, Stern licenses the real actors'  voices. ("Arnold Schwarzenegger did the lines for our Terminator machine.") Stern's newest model is based on Avatar and will feature 3-D elements. It's a long way from  pinball's roots, which stretch back to the French Bagatelle machines of the late 1700s. The coil-and-spring plunger was invented in 1871. Flippers came during the 1940s. It would be a shame to lose something so steeped in the history of leisure time. "Certainly the world would exist without pinball," Stern says, "but a little of the fabric of life would be gone." So The Only Pinball Maker on Earth keeps shipping his machines—to arcades, to overseas clients, to people's homes. Maybe you  played pinball as a kid. Maybe you had a favorite that you knew so well you could keep a ball alive for four or five minutes—until you heard that free-game knock. If so, you know the spark Gary Stern and his employees feel every day. "In business school, they teach you to be in love with business, but not your  business," Stern says, chuckling. "We break that rule. We're in love with our  business. It's pinball." The flippers are in good hands. (excerpted from an article written by Mitch Albom that appeared in the August 29, 2010 Parade Magazine on page 18).

SEP 2010:

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