CardMeeting Dispatch

Greetings CardMeeting users,

URGENT: My new website @ https://ClubCompy.com needs your pledges and your publicity to succeed!

Before I begin, two links for you:

• ClubCompy - Kids [heart] computers! - my new website, dedicated to teaching kids how to program computers.
• My Kickstarter Campaign - This is my kickstarter campaign. It's a fundraising site, and I need your pledges. But I also need your help blogging and emailing and getting the word out. The campaign ends Wednesday Dec 29, 6:19am EST! Help!

Ok, now a little explanation ... I've hosted CardMeeting for over 4 years now, and in that time I know many of you have found it useful. I always planned to build out a commercial offering that I could sell because what I have for you today is merely a technology demo. But the components I needed to do that build out didn't exist in 2006 or 2007 or 2008. I was dismayed that on a hobby budget I was unable to scale out CardMeeting sufficiently to support a commercial release. I really felt terrible about this, that CardMeeting was not meeting its true potential as a full-fledged product.

Then, in 2008, I began to experiment with JavaScript and HTML5, thinking perhaps I could scratch out a minimalist interface and forego using Java Applets at CardMeeting.com in favor of the <Canvas> tag and JavaScript alone. Maybe taking the tech in a new direction would somehow help me make my dreams possible. Well, I can report that the browser is not capable enough today to do everything I have done with Java, and that kind of technology shift will likely not be possible for another 3-5 years.

However, my experiments revealed something fascinating to me about the capability level of JavaScript and HTML5: I realized that, if I was careful with how I used canvas, and knowing what I know about JavaScript, that the c. 2008 web browsers had enough muscle to simulate an 1980's micro-computer!

I know that sounds silly: that 1-3GHz PC's are reduced to the capabilities of a lowly 1MHz 8-bit computer. But remember, we're talking about web browsers here: just HTML and JavaScript. It's actually quite interesting that a page rendering web browser has advanced so much!

I had it stuck in my head that I could emulate or simulate a computer somehow, with no software to download - just do it all in the web page! It became an obsession. You see how I just disappeared in 2009? That's what I was doing, I was plotting and scheming and coding and experimenting.

Growing up, I cut my teeth on computers using the Commodore 64. I played and made videogames. Actually, I mostly typed in program listings for games from a magazine that my parents subscribed me to. In truth, that magazine taught me the basics of computer programming, and I learned more through my own determination and experimentation. I tell you honestly that I have a good paying job today because of my Commodore 64 and those magazines.

There's nothing like that experience for kids today! How do kids learn to program computers today? Well, ClubCompy is my attempt to vicariously relive the glory days through your kids! I want them to learn the way I did, with a BASIC-like computer language that I developed, called Tasty! It's so fun. I stripped out enough of the arcana that the language is quick enough to pick up. But it's capable enough to write games with and experiment with math, and physics, and computer science. And, most importantly, I will publish a companion magazine to give the kids activities!

As it pertains to CardMeeting, the work I've done at ClubCompy is very promising. To store the kid's files in the cloud, I needed elastic storage. Well, something came along just when I needed it: Apache Cassandra. It is a fascinating open source project that originated at Facebook, and it is totally a disruptive technology. I am building a world-class scalable storage solution for pennies! PENNIES!

So, once I get ClubCompy off the ground, I will retrofit my Cassandra Compute Cluster for CardMeeting, and then you will have the proper enterprise solution you so richly deserve. I will offer a private cluster edition for you to purchase, as well as a cloud-based edition. It will be grand, it will be splendid - and it all kindof hinges on this ClubCompy thing.

I need your help today, think of it as rewarding me for faithfully serving up CardMeeting for free all these years. Pledge something, if you are able. But also, if you can, please blog about ClubCompy, and get on the horn with other parents and sell them on the idea. Finally, ClubCompy is worldwide, so I can ship magazines internationally (if you pick the $62 option at the kickstarter campaign.) If you know people in Europe or Asia that would appreciate some old school computing for their kids - please let them know about this!

The sooner we can get this ClubCompy thing firing on all cylinders, the sooner we can get CardMeeting going strong as well. Many thanks and happy holidays!

Cheers,
Dave Woldrich

• Main website - https://clubcompy.com
• The Real World Benchmark - Link - Demonstrate the real power of ClubCompy's simulated computer and benchmark your PC/Browser.
• Twitter - http://twitter.com/ClubCompy
• Kickstarter campaign - Link
• About ClubCompy blog post #1 - Link
• About ClubCompy blog post #2 - Link
• YouTube ClubCompy howto video #1 - Link
• YouTube ClubCompy howto video #2 - Link
Should the kickstarter campaign be successful, we will mail out the first issue of the magazine in January or February. And the website is under active development, so check back often!