This list is in progress, and will be updated as events are scheduled.
Come to hear engaging discussions on topics across the demoscene.
In July 1985, famed American artist Andy Warhol introduced the world to the Commodore Amiga, a revolutionary new home computer, by using one to draw a live portrait of rock singer Debbie Harry before a large audience. The Amiga was unlike any computer before it, sporting incredible multimedia capabilities and an ease of use that allowed anyone to become an artist. Becoming one of the first to use this medium, Warhol was contracted to produce a variety of new and adapted works to advertise this new machine. Lost to history until very recently, these languished on inaccessible floppy disks primarily located at the Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh before they were rediscovered and recovered by the CMU Computer Club working in cooperation with CMU's Studio for Creative Inquiry and New York based artist Cory Arcangel. Two members of the Computer Club who led the effort will describe both the restoration process and the historical significance of this find, including details of the graphics formats encountered and the large array of hardware Warhol had at his disposal in his early computer art studio.
Take a break from the party to pick up a few new skills.
OK, so demos are cool, but why are the graphics on those retro demos so cheesy compared to what your game console, or even your phone can do? Is that funny looking 80s computer you found in the basement worth messing with? Is there a sane reason for 2-letter UNIX commands? This talk will cover the answers to these questions and many more with an overview of cool developments in computing from the early days to today, focusing mostly on the 1970s through the 1990s. You should attend if you would like to learn more about the history of computing (don't worry, it won't be all names and dates, and there's no quiz at the end), various retro computers, and some of the seemingly arbitrary design decisions that remain with us today.
The CPC was a later entry to the 8 bit marketplace by the British company Amstrad. While not successful in American markets, the CPC was rather popular in Europe. It led the market in some countries like France, and held a strong second place after the C64 in Germany. The talk will cover the CPC platform, its components, limitations, capabilities and use. See what European kids got to play with, and adults could use as a home office computer, in the 1980s.
Why limit your hacks to software? Come to this talk to learn the tricks of this trade. Tools and locks will be provided.
3D modeling is a powerful tool. With a solid grounding in Blender, you can build anything from cityscapes to aliens. In this brief intro course, we will give you an overview of what 3D modeling software can do for you, teach you the tools that you will need to get started, and point you toward more resources that you can use to hone your craft.
Our yearly retro gaming room returns! Play all the games you fondly remember on authentic hardware.
Throughout the weekend, we'll be showing demos and other video presentations.