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About Steven

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This page lists posts that give insight into my personal interests, along with a biography you’re welcome to use for introductions.

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I Spent $6 at a Honolulu Vintage Show: Here’s What I Found! 2016 top 10 posts Geeking Out Army retirement package

Biography

Steven B. Combs, Ph.D., is the creator behind retroCombs, a pair of YouTube channels and this blog. Both channels and the blog share one idea: technology is more fun when someone takes the time to explain it.

On @retroCombs, Steven explores retro computing with a focus on Commodore 8-bit machines and the MEGA65. There are series on the Commodore 64, VIC-20, NABU, ZX Spectrum, and Raspberry Pi, plus stories from vintage computer festivals and shows. Since September 2021, he has also hosted Sunday livestreams with the community. His work with MEGA65 developer Gürçe Işıkyıldız includes the BASIC 65 primer and the premiere of the demo The Silent Enigma.

On @retroCombs-tech, launched in 2023, he puts modern gadgets through honest, story-driven reviews built on real testing. He covers streaming boxes, capture cards, VHS-to-digital gear, handhelds, pocket computers, and retro-style keyboards. As the channel’s tagline puts it: “Hooked on tech since ‘73.”

Before YouTube, there was writing. With Jay H. Zirbel, Steven co-authored 11 AutoCAD and 3D Studio textbooks and workbooks (more than 19 counting international editions and variations) for publishers including Que, Autodesk Press, and Prentice Hall. He has blogged since 2011, and his chapter-by-chapter MEGA65 User’s Guide series pairs each written chapter with a companion video.

He also co-hosted Brick in my Pocket (BimPCast), a podcast for adult LEGO fans, with The Lovely Accountant, and later the Pixel Power Podcast on Google Pixel and Chromebooks. He is now writing a novel: an ’80s action story built on retro computing and alternative history. He’ll be the first to admit he is his own worst editor.

All of it grows out of a long career in higher education. Steven spent many years teaching in the classroom and helping other faculty teach, and his doctoral research focused on faculty development and online curriculum design. Curriculum development is the part of education he loves most: breaking a big topic into clear, hands-on steps that build on each other. That’s the same approach behind every video, guide, and post here. It just has more blinking cursors.

Steven is proudest of his 27 years in uniform. He started as an enlisted airman in the United States Air Force, training in automatic flight control systems and avionics in the early 1980s. Later that decade, he earned his commission through ROTC into the United States Army Reserve as an Armor officer. His first tank was an M60A3. He later served as an Adjutant General officer and retired from the Army in 2011. His service still comes up often in his livestreams, on Discord, and in posts like his COBI M60 Patton build.

Steven shares life with The Lovely Accountant (TLA), three kids, two dogs named BINGO! and Váli, and a cat named T.

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