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Finally: Broadband for the Commodore 64

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the answer-to-a-question-that-didn't-need-asking dept.

GP writes "Now even die-hard Commodore 64 users are able to enjoy the benefits of broadband Internet connectivity. A newly announced Ethernet card together with the Contiki operating system lets you surf the web, send e-mail, host web sites with the built-in web server, and soon even play LAN games on your good old Commodore 64! All this with a computer that is old enough to drink."

41 of 442 comments (clear)

  1. Wahoo! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Now I can play Tank! With my friends in Iraq!

    1. Re:Wahoo! by falzer · · Score: 5, Funny

      Hey, now Junis in Afghanistan can get high-speed Internet access!

    2. Re:Wahoo! by anagama · · Score: 4, Funny


      Might I suggest a solution to this broadband problem.

      --
      What changed under Obama? Nothing Good
  2. New kind of bottle neck by Brahmastra · · Score: 5, Funny

    It'll be the first ever time the CPU bus is a bottleneck to the Internet connection

    1. Re:New kind of bottle neck by DavyByrne · · Score: 5, Funny

      It'll be the first ever time the CPU bus is a bottleneck to the Internet connection

      But if the good ol' C64 is old enough to drink, can't it can buy those wide-mouth cans and avoid bottle necks entirely?

    2. Re:New kind of bottle neck by Psychic+Burrito · · Score: 4, Funny
      What's the use of broadband when it has just 64k of RAM? It'll download all it can store in memory in just over a second even using a dial-up connection..


      Well, but it's great for streaming videos :-)
  3. Uhmm.. by Xerithane · · Score: 4, Funny

    All this with a computer that is old enough to drink

    Am I the only person who has no idea just what in the hell that is supposed to mean?

    And oh yeah, good job on the ethernet stuff for the C64.

    --
    Dacels Jewelers can't be trusted.
    1. Re:Uhmm.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

      legal in super-conservative places like the US

    2. Re:Uhmm.. by Kedisar · · Score: 1, Funny

      I don't recommend actually getting it a beer tho...

      Hey now, beer makes a GREAT coolant!

    3. Re:Uhmm.. by stretch0611 · · Score: 4, Funny
      All this with a computer that is old enough to drink... Am I the only person who has no idea just what in the hell that is supposed to mean?

      It means I feel old because my first computer was a Commodore Vic-20, which came out a few years before the 64.

      --
      Looking for a job?
      Want your resume written professionally?
      DON'T USE TUNAREZ!!!
    4. Re:Uhmm.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      Is there a way to get a photo ID for a computer? Maybe use it's serial number to form some sort of Federal ID card? Can I bring it into liquor stores and buy some 151?

    5. Re:Uhmm.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      A macintosh walks into a bar in Afghanistan. It asks for a drink. The bartender says "this isn't a gay bar, get the hell out!"

      Pissed off, the mac leaves. On his way out, in comes a Pentium PC. It asks for a beer. The bartender says "we don't serve your kind here." PC leaves.

      In ambles a C64 with a cocky stride. Bartender says "hey C64." C64 says, "hey Junis. Gimme a beer will ya?"

    6. Re:Uhmm.. by spektr · · Score: 4, Funny
      All this with a computer that is old enough to drink
      Am I the only person who has no idea just what in the hell that is supposed to mean?

      That means that this computer I loved so much years ago grew old and became a farting old drunkard who is jealous of my athlon workstation. I feel a little embarassed when I see him trying to keep up with the young generation. Now he got broadband. Drills new holes into his case. They are laughing behind his back. At night I hear him crying silently. I really breaks my heart.
  4. alcohol problem... by norsk_hedensk · · Score: 3, Funny

    "...All this with a computer that is old enough to drink." uh....to drink? since when do things get so old that you can drink them?

  5. Progression by eyepeepackets · · Score: 4, Funny


    Does this mean that some day, following a screwy bit of logical progression, I'll be able to run WindowMaker on my TI-56?

    I can hardly wait! *hop*

    --
    Everything in the Universe sucks: It's the law!
    1. Re:Progression by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

      > I'll be able to run WindowMaker on my TI-56?
      >
      > I can hardly wait! *hop*

      If you have a difficult time with "waiting" then maybe running WindowMaker on a TI-56 isn't for you.

  6. Well thank God! by evil-osm · · Score: 5, Funny

    I was beginning to fear that I would have to upgrade at some point!

    --


    E.

    Never rub another man's rhubarb - The Joker
  7. Post please by Libor+Vanek · · Score: 5, Funny

    Okay, start posting "C= 64 was the 'my first'/'last real'/'first real'/'best' computer/piece of crap" messages.

  8. Equally impressive by spellcheckur · · Score: 3, Funny

    I finally got networked play going for my Atari 2600.
    I gotta tell you, being able to play "Combat" head-to-head over the Internet is an absolute revolution in gaming!

  9. watch out by Tumbleweed · · Score: 5, Funny

    Get ready for lots of 40-column width formatted Slashdot postings! :)

  10. Neat by pavon · · Score: 5, Funny

    Wow, and the way that the contiki webbrowser is designed you can even view site like slashdot who's html is larger than the amount of RAM in the machine itself!

  11. C=64 sucks, ATARI RULES!!!!!!! by bluGill · · Score: 3, Funny

    Your junk C=64 machine sucks. My Atari rules. ATASCII is soo much better than that ugly ASCII you have to use.

    I was going to post this in all caps like any kid back then would have, but I decided to save everyone's eyes. (I think the lameness filter would have stoped that)

  12. just the first step by thnmnt · · Score: 2, Funny

    imagine a whole beowulf cl....ahh forget it.

    --
    Go read some bible: nubible.com
  13. Noooo dumbasses.... by dhowells · · Score: 2, Funny

    I and (perhaps) all the rest of the Europeans out there thought: Old enough to drink... For a nice burgandy that probably means '94.

    D.

    --
    use Blunt::Instrument;
  14. Commodore 64 ported to slashcode. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    *** Commodore 64 for slashcode ***
    *** PerlBasic 0.9, for C64, BY A.C ***
    *** 32095904383 basic bytes free ***

    READY.

    0 REM BSD IS DYING.
    1 EINIT, JBQ0, 127.0.0.1
    2 LPIPL,HTTP,"E"
    10 JLX,E,ROX,40,slashdot,org,80
    20 ROXP, SDPS, goatse.
    30 PJP 20
    40 ?RD, 0

    PL, BB$59!

    THE GOATSE.CX LAWYER SAID WE NEEDED A
    WARNING, SO IF YOU ARE UNDER 18 OR YOU
    ARE USING A COMMODORE 64, PLEASE DON'
    T LOOK AT IT! THANK YOU

    [ stinger ]

    BSD IS DYING!

  15. secret options by Sarin · · Score: 5, Funny

    It's not in manual but let me reveal:
    you can connect an original arcade(r) stick to the internet adaptor. By wiggling it left-right really fast you can help the adaptor process packets, thus upgrading its speed.

  16. Hmm... by Joey+Patterson · · Score: 2, Funny

    There must be somebody out there who's really desperate for a good Slashdotting of their Commodore 64.

  17. Irresponsible by Waffle+Iron · · Score: 5, Funny
    It's irresponsible to put these machines on the Net! They're running kernels that haven't been patched in 2 decades. The user always runs as root. Hell, the CPU doesn't even have a privileged mode! How many minutes do you think it will be before a C64 with broadband is cracked?

    It's bad enough that people who try putting their C64 on the Internet will probably lose all of their valuable data. What really worries me, though, is a plague of dozens of zombie C64 machines under the control of hackers bringing down valuable services like Google and Yahoo with DDoS attacks.

    1. Re:Irresponsible by Tumbleweed · · Score: 3, Funny

      I don't think a mass DDoS attack from all the C64s in the world would overload my wristwatch. :)

    2. Re:Irresponsible by poot_rootbeer · · Score: 4, Funny

      What really worries me, though, is a plague of dozens of zombie C64 machines under the control of hackers bringing down valuable services like Google and Yahoo with DDoS attacks.

      I, for one, welcome our new 8-bit overlords...

  18. Liquid refreshment by morcheeba · · Score: 5, Funny

    It means that, in order to run at a decent speed, you have to overclock the C64's 6502 so much that it requires a water cooling setup.

    --
    HIV Crosses Species Barrier... into Muppets
  19. Those impertinent whippersnappers... by Colin+Douglas+Howell · · Score: 2, Funny
    Old enough to drink...BAH!

    How about old enough to run for President?

    :-D

  20. Take that trolls! by Gzip+Christ · · Score: 3, Funny
    I was beginning to fear that I would have to upgrade at some point!
    Preach it brother. I am so sick of all the "C64 is dying" trolls on Slashdot spreading their FUD. The C64 is alive, its development community is vibrant, and people will be flocking back to it in droves once SCO starts demanding $699 per seat for all modern operating systems.

  21. YOU OWE ME A NEW C64!!!! by babyrat · · Score: 2, Funny

    You said:
    All this with a computer that is old enough to drink

    so I poured a beer into mine, and now it doesn't work...

  22. It's just not the same. by Raven42rac · · Score: 4, Funny

    It's just not the same as the feeling I got when my 300 baud modem finally came in the mail that fateful day, now that was broadband back then. I remember dialing up to Q-Link, which I believe became AOL. I remember picking up a Basic game programming book and not leaving my computer room for 3 days until I had programmed and saved them all. I may have to dig out the old keyboard and try this for myself. I think my monitor is wonky though. And I do have that sweet 128 cartridge that plugs into the back of the keyboard. Blue screen=good, green screen=even better.

    --
    I hate sigs.
  23. Sigh... by armyofone · · Score: 2, Funny

    If I had a C64, I'd be happy to hook it, (or anything else), up to broadband. If it was available where I live, that is.

    Thanks for nothing Verizon...

    --
    "A revolution without dancing is... a revolution not worth having"
  24. Related projects by Hoi+Polloi · · Score: 5, Funny

    In the spirit of an ethernet card for the C64 I'm working on the following:

    1. Climbing with gear from the 1800's
    2. Souping up a Model T
    3. Creating a fully automatic muzzle loader
    4. Compression scemes for 5.25" floppies
    5. Teaching a VERY old dog new tricks

    --
    It is by the juice of the coffee bean that thoughts acquire speed, the teeth acquire stains. The stains become a warning
  25. Comp.Sys.Amiga.Games needs your troll! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Calling all trolls! Calling All Trolls! Masters of the NNTP Protocol, we need your trolls in the comp.sys.amiga.games newsgroup.

    Goatse, Tubgirl, spin.gif, we need it all. Amiga is dying posts!

    If you dont post in comp.sys.amiga.games then your a nullo! Body nullification

  26. No NetBurst by MBCook · · Score: 2, Funny

    That's because its CPU doesn't have Intel's NetBurst technology!

    --
    Comment forecast: Bits of genius surrounded by a sea of mediocrity.
  27. First Command by shoemakc · · Score: 2, Funny

    LOAD PORN,8,1

    -Chris

    --
    --an unbreakable toy is useful for breaking other toys--
  28. Re:C64 is actually FASTER than Sun Workstation by lxs · · Score: 4, Funny
    My C64 is actually FASTER than the Sun Workstation that I have on my desk.
    let me guess... you've just thrown your C64 out of the window?