The MOS 6502, Woz, and Pac-Man!

Three wild topics are on my mind today.

First: Any computer wiz older than 30 knows about the legendary MOS Technology 6502 processor -- the heart of computers like the Commodore Pet and Apple ][.  The chip's top developer, Chuck Peddle, rarely engages in public speaking.  But he's appearing via live videoconference this Saturday morning at the Vintage Computer Festival East 4.0, in Wall, New Jersey.  (Disclosure: the VCF East is hosted by my own user group, a.k.a. MARCH.)

Peddle's lecture and audience Q&A are part of a 30th birthday celebration for Commodore's computer division -- they were not originally a computer company.  Joining Peddle, but in person, will be Bil Herd, Bob Russell, and Dave Haynie, all famous early Commodore engineers as well.

Second: My former colleagues at eWeek wrote about the 30th anniversary of the aforementioned Apple II's debut.  They also interviewed Woz.  The popular ][e model was my first microcomputer (although I previously used Commodore and Tandy systems in school), and it's the system on which I learned BASIC.  Those days of adolescent programming are very happy memories for me.

Third: There's one final version of Pac Man, from original developer Toru Iwatani.  Just for smiles, play a web version here.