There's going to be a new form of connectivity for MSX fans out there. Jan Wilmans and Aaldert Dekker are working on an MSX USB interface that will eventually come in cartridge form, connecting your MSX to the USB port of your PC. This should allow you to download your most wanted disk images directly to your PC and load them on your MSX, effectively turning your PC into a nice and reliable virtual disk drive for convenience and speed.

There should also be the potential to access files on your PC directly from your MSX, although I'm not sure how useful this would be except for cross developing software to run on the machine. The device, along with further information, is available from www.myquest.nl, where you may also pre-order the device. The expected cost per unit is currently 50 Euros, and the number of pre-orders received will determine the future of the project. It certainly looks interesting enough, so I'd better get my MSX in working order some time soon.

For those of you out there who have purchased a C64DTV and are eager to learn its mysterious secrets, there's now a place where you can find out more and send in your own questions too, over at www.geocities.com/dtvhacking. The site was setup by hardware designer Jeri Ellsworth in order to answer the many technical questions that were posed about the device, and is proving popular with all of those would-be hackers out there. And although the last time I picked up a soldering iron I managed to make my C128 work less than it did before, I'm seriously interested in turning at least one of the DTV units into a 'real' C64 by adding a keyboard. I'll let you know what happens (the likelihood is that I'll have to buy another unit because I'll probably render both useless) as I'm extremely curious about the hidden extras in this device. Go check it out for yourselves.

Ever wanted to hear CD quality music from your humble C64? Even better, ever wanted to play MP3 files from it? Well it's now possible, providing that you own a device called the MMC64 first. MP3@64 is an expansion to the popular MMC64 expansion card that already allows standard SD cards to be used on the ancient technology. It's all thanks to tech guru Oliver Achten. This device is expected to cost around 49 Euros, with more information being available from ami.ga/indexe.htm - another thing to add to my gadget collection, methinks.

Just in case you missed it, I spent a couple of months working with Mat Mabe, Spanner Spencer and others working on an electrozine (that's a fanzine to you) which is available in PDF format from Download Trader (www.download-trader.com) and Click Gamer (www.clickgamer.com). The zine is called Retro:Bytes Lite and costs just a quid if you want a quick retro fix on your PC, MAC or other device capable of reading PDF files.

Right, I'm going to be taking a break for a few weeks or so, but don't worry, I'll be leaving you in good hands with James Bray (I'll be helping out while he settles in). As a famous actor once said... "I'll be back".