rinthians   
   12, "The body has many parts, but it is all one body." So, likewise, a   
   program has many keystrokes, but it is all one program.  Like Colonel   
   Hannibal Smith says in the "A-Team" series, "I love it when a plan comes   
   together." I feel the same way when I program.  So this little hidden blip   
   in my program repertoire brings back where I really was when I started to   
   take programming seriously.   
      
   I guess there's not much to do with a program code that you had planned on   
   destroying anyway, but I have learned to give credit where credit is due   
   and "Bill Attack" gave me a burst of expanding ideas to make two more   
   prototypes that brought me to where I am now.  Like my writing teacher   
   always said, "Save everything; you never know, that napkin note may be your   
   next best seller."   
      
   =====================================   
      
   *************************************   
     A COMPARISON OF SOME COMMON FAST   
              LOAD CARTRIDGES   
             By Wilfred Wells   
   *************************************   
      
   Hello all;   
      
   I came late to the Commodore world.  My first computer was a TRS 80 a CoCo   
   II, and in 1990 a friend lent me a VIC and a C64.  We used terminal   
   programs to connect to BBSes, and played very few games- 'coz we had almost   
   none!   
      
   When he heard CBM was preparing to file bankruptcy, he turned his back on   
   the company in disgust.  I was left to my own devices.  Haunting flea   
   markets and thrift stores I picked up what I could.  The only carts I had   
   that worked were an Epyx FL cart, a Write Now word processor cart, and a   
   Hearsay 1000 speech cart.  Eventually I found a single disk of LoadStar,   
   and found that they were still up and running, and I learned to really use   
   this thing and at least hear of what I had missed.   
      
   With my cartridge port occupied by CMD devices and Jiffy-Dos installed, I   
   didn't have any real use for cartridges; I never had any of the 'super   
   carts' that seem to be so desired now.  I stayed with LoadStar until my   
   system finally wore out in the last decade.   
      
   Since getting back into my C= hobby- I'm typing this on a C64C, looking at   
   it on my no-name-screen TV- I have been trying to learn everything I had   
   missed out on.  For a year and a half, I've picked up cartridges here and   
   there, games and even FL cartridges.  I decided to do a comparison test, so   
   here goes.  For the purpose of this test, I am using a flat C128 and an   
   Aprospand 4-slot expander.  I am loading the Filebrowser and directory of   
   many files I have downloaded, from my SD2iec bought from The Future Was   
   8-bit in the (Creative) UK.   
      
   BETTER WORKING TURBO LOAD/SAVE:   
      
   w/ Basic V4; not compatible with the SD2iec unfortunately.   
      
   PARTNER 64/128:   
      
   This nifty PDA-like cart has a fast load built in; Partner64 V1.0 will load   
   FB in about 2 seconds!  I use a blank D64 on SD for info.  I highly   
   recommend this for functionality, though the rubber 'foot' on the back may   
   need to be removed if you use a port expander like I do.  And the calendar   
   DOES start at 1987.  Oh well...   
      
   PARTNER 128:   
      
   Oops, no 80 column monitor to test definitively!   
      
   FINAL CARTRIDGE III:   
      
   Although somewhat complicated to use, it will load FB in about 3 seconds.   
   And I am fascinated by the GUI and resident tools.  Made for a disk-based   
   system, and I have not used the freezer (yet).   
      
   SHAREDATA UTILITY CARTRIDGE:   
      
   This overlooked cart will load FB in 3-4 seconds.  Not bad!  Type in Load   
   "*",8 as the cart utilities are not compatible with the SD2iec.  Also has a   
   handy reset button.   
      
   EPYX FAST LOAD:   
      
   The old reliable, budget cart.  I used one to load LoadStar for years   
   before cracking open my C128 and installing Jiffy Dos chips.  Punching   
   Run/Stop and C= keys together will quickly load FB.  ö opens file   
   utilities, unfortunately not compatible with the SD2iec.  And it lacks a   
   reset button.   
      
   MACH 5 CART BY ACCESS:   
      
   Loader V.1B, not compatible with SD2iec.   
      
   MACH 128 CART:   
      
   64 and 128 mode, with sliding switch, reset button; 64 V3.A Warp Drive and   
   128 V2.A Warp Drive are not compatible with SD2iec.   
      
   MAGIC DESK 1:   
      
   Since I have one- it sits next to the Visible Universe in my Aprospand- I   
   gave it a try.  After typing a file, I tried to save it to SD2iec- no luck.   
      
   SPEED CART 64:   
      
   I have one of these bright yellow, possibly German-made(?) carts, it's   
   meant to slow down screen activity by a rotary dial to make it easier to   
   negotiate games.  Could it have a fast loader?  Typing the load command, in   
   about 4-5 seconds FB was up on screen!  Hitting the Aprospand's reset   
   button, my C128 went into 128-mode, 40 col.  Curious, I typed the load   
   command in, and voila!- in about 4 seconds, there was FB 128!  If anyone   
   reading this has any of these type carts, I believe they are worth another   
   look-see.  (Though I don't recommend the slow down function, didn't help   
   me.)   
      
   Edit:  On further examination, I found that although it will load menus in   
   both modes, loading games was painfully slow!  My bad.   
      
   DATEL DISKMATE V2.2:   
      
   Although compatibility was stated- and it would read the card's directory-   
   I never could get it to load on my 128 in 64 mode (?).   
      
   All in all, this was an enjoyable evening!  For anyone looking for an   
   affordable fast loader, I hope this was helpful, or at least interesting.   
   If anyone wishes to correct me, question me, or just comment on this, I am:   
      
   ciencefictionman@yahoo.com   
      
   Still learning about my Commodore!   
      
   Cheers from Virginia!   
      
      
   =====================================   
      
   *************************************   
   INTERVIEW WITH ALESSANDRO ABBRUZZETTI   
            Creator of KERNAL64   
   *************************************   
      
   CF:  Please introduce yourself to our readers   
      
   AA:  Hi, my name is Alessandro Abbruzzetti.  I live in Rome, Italy.  I'm 46   
   years old with a wife and two kids.   
      
   I have a Master's Degree in Computer Engineering.  I work for Ericsson, one   
   of the world's leaders in telecommunication infrastructures and services.   
   In particular I work in the Usage area of Telecom Italia where we build   
   software related to the backend of mobile services.  Software development   
   is one of my favorite activities.   
      
            - - - - - - - - - -   
      
   CF:  Can you give our readers a short history of how Commodore has touched   
   you life, and the process you went through to create KERNAL64   
      
   AA:  I started programming when I was twelve, my parents purchased my first   
   computer, a Commodore 64.  This event practically changed my life:  I   
   discovered a real passion for programming and technology in general.  It   
   was early in the '80s:  I was part of the 8-bit generation, when, at least   
   in Europe, there was the Commodore vs Sinclair "fighting", when one of the   
   most important source of computer related information were the computer   
   dedicated magazines.  Of course, I'm a little bit nostalgic about that   
   time...  I felt in love with my Breadbox:  I started programming in BASIC   
   (it was a great school) and then in Assembler.  A few years later I sold my   
   C64 and I bought a Commodore 128.  Afterwards I sold this for a PC/XT where   
   I started programming in Turbo Pascal, C, C++.   
      
   In 2013 I was accidentally reading an article about emulation, and I   
   wondered how hard it would have been to build from scratch a Commodore 64   
   emulator.  I started collecting information, articles and also emulators   
   about Commodore 64:  It was a huge effort, mainly because I did it in my   
   spare time and also because the amount of technical information was   
   immense.  I began with the cpu emulation, the MOS 6510, then with the   
   memory model, and day by day I added new pieces connecting them and   
   refactoring the code as well.   
      
   Sometimes it was frustrating because I had to interpret what didn't seem   
   clear in the documentation.  Sometimes I guessed right, sometimes I guessed   
   wrong...  To properly understand the documentation I also needed a handy   
   electrical scheme of the motherboard, with all the chips connections, the   
   signals, etc.  In some circumstances I needed to "steal" some missing info   
   from the source code of the available Commodore 64 emulators, like Frodo,   
   or Vice or some other Java ones.   
      
            - - - - - - - - - -   
      
   CF:    
      
   --- MBSE BBS v1.0.4 (GNU/Linux-i386)   
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair ---:- dragon.vk3heg.net -:--- (3:633/280)