Panelists: Paul Hagstrom (hosting), Quinn Dunki, Earl Evans, and Blake Patterson

Topic: The One With All The Ones

The Retrocomputing Roundtable has reached the end of its 8-bit run.

Topic/Feedback links:

• Byte
• 8-bit computing
• Nibble
• Big boxes history video
• Traveler (Wikipedia)
• Traveler (Imperial Encyclopedia)
• Traveler (Mongoose Publishing)
• Mayday 2022
• Manhunt
• Wonderful Things (story about Manhunt)
• Open Apple 41 (November 2014). Seek to 2:03.
• Identify II v2.01

Retro Computing News:

• Tweeting from the Teletype, April 2020
• Tweeted from the Teletype
• FASTRAND (Powerhouse Collecttion)
• FASTRAND (Univac memories)
• FASTRAND (Computer History Archives Project)
• FASTRAND (Wikipedia)
• Kenbak-1 Emulator
• HP9830a Repair
• The Apple Boogie

Vintage Computer(-related) commercials etc.:

• Elephant Memory Systems mini micro floppy disk (Italian)
• Laser Computer (Katja Schuurman, Dutch)

Retro Computing Gift Idea:

• 8 bit game cartridge cutting board

Auction Picks:

• Blake:
  • Laser 386SX/3
  • Y2K Bug
• Earl:
  • Altair 8800
  • Ventana World Wide Web Kit
  • See also: Ventana (PC Magazine review)
• Paul:
  • Elephant mug
  • Intel inside
  • MPF-1P
  • MPF-Ib
  • See also: MPF-I (Wikipedia)
  • See also: Flite interview (Elektor)
  • Tomy Tutor
  • ZX-80
  • HHC set

A2Stream file:

• a2stream file for this episode: http://yesterbits.com/media/a2s/rcr255.a2stream

Feedback/Discussion:

• @rcrpodcast on Twitter
• Vintage Computer Forum
• RCR Podcast on Facebook
• Throwback Network
• Throwback Network on Facebook

Intro / Closing Song: Back to Oz by John X
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Panelists: Paul Hagstrom (hosting), Quinn Dunki, Earl Evans, and Carrington Vanston

Topic: Fortran, for better or for worse

The year 1954 brought us Fortran (not named after the year though) to help us with our math, and development of SAGE to scan the skies for threats.

Topic/Feedback links:

• IBM 650
• Drum memory
• Wurlizter SideMan (not 1954, but related via tangent)
• SAGE (Gizmodo)
• SAGE (Wikipedia)
• Fortran
• Fortran 2018, 202x

Retro Computing News:

• system7.app
• macos8.app
• Tech details for system7.app, macos8.app
• Return to Monkey Island
• ACM opens first-50-years backfile
• Game of pong in a single sprite
• Sprite pong video
• SWTPC 6800 rescue
• SWTPC 6800 fan site
• ADB makes fun of the IIGS manual
• University of Saskatchewan self guided computer history tour
• A2stream, audio server
• A2stream demo
• AppleWin with Uthernet II
• a2stream file for this very episode: http://yesterbits.com/media/a2s/rcr254.a2stream

Vintage Computer(-related) commercials etc.:

• IBM SAGE (1960)

Retro Computing Gift Idea:

• Atari sneakers
• See also: Atari NFT sneakers

Auction Picks:

• Carrington:
  • Apple Credit salesperson’s kit
  • Apple branded radio lunchbag
• Earl:
  • MMD-1 8080A Trainer
  • See also: MMD-1 (Oldcomputermuseum)
• Paul:
  • Funniest CD of the century
  • The drive of a new generation
  • USB evangelism mouse
  • Companion diskette
  • Astra 1620 dual drive for Atari
  • VM 4209

A2Stream file:

• a2stream file for this episode: http://yesterbits.com/media/a2s/rcr254.a2stream

Feedback/Discussion:

• @rcrpodcast on Twitter
• Vintage Computer Forum
• RCR Podcast on Facebook
• Throwback Network
• Throwback Network on Facebook

Intro / Closing Song: Back to Oz by John X
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Panelists: Paul Hagstrom (hosting), Earl Evans, Michael Mulhern, and Carrington Vanston

Topic: Prebricked drives

Episode 253 relates to 1953. Core memory begins its long dominance of the RAM space, the IBM 701 is introduced. A year that was kind of between things, so as one might expect the conversation keeps sliding into a discussion of beverages.

Topic/Feedback links:

• Magnetic core memory
• Advent of Computing, episode 77
• The Thinking Machine (1961)
• IBM 701
• Williams tube
• Jeffries tube
• Exploring the Amiga series, assembly language programming
• Brief tour of the PDP-11
• Top 20 C64 games from 2011-2021
• Commodore 64 turns 40

Retro Computing News:

• SystemSix desk calendar
• SWTPC 6800 rescued (Adrian’s Digital Basement)
• Jobs for the boys?
• The ultimate multics project
• A quarter century of Unix. Peter Sallas. 1994 Addison-Wesley
• The evolution of the Unix time sharing system
• Compatible time sharing system
• Incompatible time sharing system
• Easter Egg found in Windows 1.0.
• Mariupol Computer Museum in Ukraine
• Club it8bit
• A Brick for Some Bytes: My First Hard Drive (Byte Cellar)
• One of the Biggest Frauds in Tech History – The Miniscribe Brick Fiasco (Tech Time Traveler)

Vintage Computer(-related) commercials etc.:

• Tab

Retro Computing Gift Idea:

• The Art of Point and Click Adventure Games

Auction Picks:

• Carrington:
  • MCM/70
  • About the MCM/70
• Earl:
  • IBM Core Memory
  • See also: Core memory shield for Arduino
• Michael:
  • RCA Selectron 256bit
  • See also: Selectron tube
• Paul:
  • QuickLetter
  • Murder Party
  • CA Simply Tax 1993
  • eMate pin

Feedback/Discussion:

• @rcrpodcast on Twitter
• Vintage Computer Forum
• RCR Podcast on Facebook
• Throwback Network
• Throwback Network on Facebook

Intro / Closing Song: Back to Oz by John X
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Panelists: Paul Hagstrom (hosting), Quinn Dunki, and Carrington Vanston

Topic: UNIVAC liked Ike

Episode 252 relates to 1952. The year when UNIVAC correctly called the election early and nobody believed it. The year the paper introducing the Huffman code compression algorithm was published. And the 50th anniversary of all the things that happened in 1902.

Topic/Feedback links:

• UNIVAC predicts the 1952 election
• CBS news election coverage, 1952
• A method for the constructions of minimum-redundancy codes (Sep 1952, Proceedings of the I.R.E.)
• The Huffman algorithm, and family
• Stuffit end of life announcement
• Mac Folklore Radio, Raymond Lau (Stuffit) interviews
• RetroMagazine World, issue 13 (EN)
• David Ahl’s magazine auctions, some signed
• The Capacitor Plague
• The Lost Sectors, playthrough of Deathlord

Retro Computing News:

• Monmouth College typewriter class
• TubeTime’s QuadLink repair and reverse engineering project
• Apple patenting the home computer?
• The Amiga Show
• Apple II video to HDMI using Raspberry Pi Zero/Pico
• Teardown of a Minitel terminal

Vintage Computer(-related) commercials etc.:

• Remington Quiet-riter

Retro Computing Gift Idea:

• The Colouring Book of Retro Computers
• Highlighters for reproducing yellowing

Auction Picks:

• Carrington:
  • Computer Bug
  • 1990s Tech Stock Bubble in a can
• Paul:
  • Woz near Steve Jobs
  • Tim Cook near Steve Jobs
  • Steve Jobs Rare
  • Just Stuffit World Tour shirt
  • AutoDoubler
  • PKZIP 2.70
  • Multiputer

Feedback/Discussion:

• @rcrpodcast on Twitter
• Vintage Computer Forum
• RCR Podcast on Facebook
• Throwback Network
• Throwback Network on Facebook

Intro / Closing Song: Back to Oz by John X
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Panelists: Paul Hagstrom (hosting), Charles Mangin, and Carrington Vanston

Topic: Memories of Whirlwind I

It’s been 71 years since 1951. So, we talk about some things kind of loosely related to 1951, including computer music, the Whirlwind I, and memory technology.

Topic/Feedback links:

• Whirlwind I
• Jim Butterfield C64 training tape
• David Ahl’s BASIC Computer Games, ANIMAL
• 3D construction kit (Spectrum, Sam Coupé)

Retro Computing News:

• BASIC Computer Games book programs updated to modern languages
• Laurie Spiegel, Music Mouse
• See also: AlphaSyntauri
• Million Perfect Letters
• Hello World collection
• The Hobbit (IF50)
• The Hobbit (Digital Antiquarian)
• The Hobbit (Internet Archive)
• The Hobbit (eBay)
• The Hobbit (eBay)
• Deathlord Relorded
• Deathlord Relorded (GitHub)

Vintage Computer(-related) commercials etc.:

• Pac-Man cereal
• Whirlwind interview
• Corncob

Retro Computing Gift Idea:

• Floppy disk coasters
• And storage box

Auction Picks:

• Carrington:
  • Remington Rand UNIVAC sales brochure
  • Codewriter for Apple II
  • See also: Codewriter in COMPUTE’s Gazette, Sept 1985
• Charles:
  • Pac-man rug
  • Pac-Man lunchbox
  • Pac-Teacher pin
  • See also: Museum Character Hall of Fame induction for Pac-Man
• Paul:
  • MEK6800D2
  • See also: MEK6800D2 (Wikipedia)
  • See also: photos of unbuilt MEK6800D2 kit
  • See also: Apple-1 motherboard
  • See also: 6800 running on an Apple-1
  • See also: 74154
  • Tractor feed option kit
  • See also: Hardware Wars
  • Computer Shopper July 1988
  • See also: Computer Shopper on Internet Archive
  • See also: Computer Shopper debut
  • Gigabyte me
  • Softsel product encyclopedia 1985
  • See also: Everything project spreadsheet
  • Commodore 64 reset switch

Feedback/Discussion:

• @rcrpodcast on Twitter
• Vintage Computer Forum
• RCR Podcast on Facebook
• Throwback Network
• Throwback Network on Facebook

Intro / Closing Song: Back to Oz by John X
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Panelists: Paul Hagstrom (hosting), Earl Evans, and Carrington Vanston

Topic: Computing Machinery and Intelligence

It’s been 72 years since the year Turing published the paper that outlined the Turing test. So: Let’s talk about interactions we’ve had relating to artificial intelligence in some form or another.

Topic/Feedback links:

• RetroMagazine issue 12, English version
• Total Replay booting from the DigitalOcean cloud on an Apple II with FujiNet
• Commodore Computer Museum Kickstarter (NZ)
• Aroma Disc
• Sounds and Scents of the Holiday season
• Aroma Disc player, unopened
• Aroma Disc player, unpacked

Retro Computing News:

• How The US Census Led to the First Data Processing Company
• Leonard Tramiel recalls Bill Gates at a trade show
• See also: WAIT 6502, 10 and other easter eggs
• Nostalgic Computing Center
• JavaScript version of Prince of Persia runs on Apple Watch
• PrinceJS
• Junk in the PC DOS 1.1 boot sector (Michal Necasek)
• Junk in the PC DOS 1.1 boot sector (The Starman)

Vintage Computer(-related) commercials:

• Atari 65xe
• Aroma Disc
• DEC laptop

Retro Computing Gift Idea:

• MeowToast 1/2AA battery replacements

Auction Picks:

• Carrington:
  • 1988 West Coast Computer Faire program
  • Make friends with: West Coast Computer Faire button
• Earl:
  • Digital Rainbow PC100-B2
• Paul:
  • Versawriter
  • A-1 with or without Bernie’s mods
  • See also: UncleBernie on applefritter
  • QX-10/16 SemiDisk RAM card with battery backup
  • QX-10/16 ComFiler hard drive
  • QX-10/16 hard drive card PCB to build
  • What you call your game when all the good game names are already taken
  • See also: Metal band name generator
  • Roguelike to perhaps the greatest degree
  • Atari 65xe painted black, with two AtariMax cartridges (originally listed at $250)

Closing discussion links:

• Like a DOS podcast
• Meat stylus
• DOS Nostalgia Podcast

Feedback/Discussion:

• @rcrpodcast on Twitter
• Vintage Computer Forum
• RCR Podcast on Facebook
• Throwback Network
• Throwback Network on Facebook

Intro / Closing Song: Back to Oz by John X
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Panelists: Paul Hagstrom (hosting), Earl Evans, Michael Mulhern, and Blake Patterson

Topic: 2020 also

We enter the third year of 2020. Yet another New Year’s, yet another opportunity to make the New Year’s resolution joke.

Topic/Feedback links:

• Mega II project (single chip Apple II)
• Mega II project progress
• Acorn – a world in pixels (extended edition)
• HP 9845 part 2 (Beige-o-Vision)
• See also: HP 9845 part 1 (Beige-o-Vision)
• Nichrome project

Retro Computing News:

• Appreciating the physicality of floppies
• How many Commodore 64s were sold, really?
• The Forgotten History of the Blinking Cursor
• See also: Blinking cursor turns 54, hardly anyone notices
• See also: Retrocomputing forum thread re: blinking cursor
• Yellowstone is a go
• Virtual BBC Micro
• Virtual BBC Micro description
• See also: Zero Page

Vintage Computer(-related) commercials:

• Are you keeping up with the Commodore
• Prime Computer

Retro Computing Gift Idea:

• Beagle Bros floppy warnings mug
• See also: Penguin’s version
• “ours were better” reddit thread

Auction Picks:

• Blake:
  • Philips Videopac G7400 Game Console
  • See also: Philips Videopac G7400
  • See also: Magnavox Odyssey 2
  • See also: Magnavox Odyssey
  • See also: National Museum of American History Exhibit – Places of Invention
  • Matra Alice 8000 PROTOTYPE ULTRA RARE Number 24
  • See also: Matra Alice 8000 (Rare and Old Computers)
  • See also: Matra Alice 8000 (AtariAge thread)
• Earl:
  • 6 Vintage BASIC Coding Form Pads 40 plus pages each
  • Digital DEC STARION 960 Intel Pentium 166MHz 16MB RAM Vintage Computer
• Michael:
  • ADB Black Vintage Rare Macintosh TV M2706 computer
• Paul:
  • PR1ME Computer ashtray
  • Pumpkin spice Silent 700
  • See also: Regular Silent 700
  • ImageWriter II with sheet feeder

Closing discussion links:

• Pits of Death
• ScanTailor Advanced OS X

Feedback/Discussion:

• @rcrpodcast on Twitter
• Vintage Computer Forum
• RCR Podcast on Facebook
• Throwback Network
• Throwback Network on Facebook

Intro / Closing Song: Back to Oz by John X
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Panelists: Paul Hagstrom (hosting), Earl Evans, and Carrington Vanston

Topic: So long, 2021

At the tail end of 2021, we talk about our retrocomputing-based adventures during the year, with a little bit of a look ahead at what might come after.

Topic/Feedback links:

• Drop /// Inches, episode #11 (re: visiting Stanford archives)
• Mac networks game spreadsheet

Retro Computing News:

• The Mac Game of the Year was… Myst
• The RMC Cave soft open
• Overclocking the Tandy 102
• “I made my partner learn DOS in 2021”
• Building a new Commodore 1581 disk drive in 2021

Vintage Computer(-related) commercials:

• BurgerTime (Intellivision)
• Myst (Japanese, Sunsoft)

Retro Computing Gift Idea:

• Piper Computer Kit 3

Auction Picks:

• Carrington:
  • Power Macintosh 8200/120 in original box
  • TRS-80 CoCo Videotext
  • Radio Shack tone dialer
• Earl:
  • Heathkit computer (looks like an H89?)
• Paul:
  • Ethernet microdock
  • PET modem
  • Jewelled mouse
  • 1977 British Airways Compute-a-Tour
  • See also: Dick Clark, New Year’s Eve 1977

Feedback/Discussion:

• @rcrpodcast on Twitter
• Vintage Computer Forum
• RCR Podcast on Facebook
• Throwback Network
• Throwback Network on Facebook

Intro / Closing Song: Back to Oz by John X
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Panelists: Paul Hagstrom (hosting), Quinn Dunki, and Blake Patterson

Topic: Computing 24/7

In honor of episode 247, we talk about stuff vaguely related to “all the time.” Mostly we wound up talking about whether we turned our computers off or not.

Topic/Feedback links:

• RetroMagazineWorld #11
• The World of Commodore 2021 event information
• The World of Commodore 2021 video
• Python C64 emulator, sort of

Retro Computing News:

• Reverse-engineering the Yamaha DX7 synthesizer’s sound chip
• TRS-80 PC-1 / Sharp PC-1211 LCD replacement
• Beginner’s Guide to the Amiga – Workbench
• Beginner’s Guide to the Amiga – Amiga OS tutorial
• Crash course to Amiga assembly programming
• Santa’s Workout – new C64 Christmas game, from Vector5games (Indie Retro News)
• The Pudding Strikes Back (2021 Christmas game, Apple II)
• DOLORES double LORES library
• Flapple Bird
• The Register article on the BBC Micro and Elite
• BBC Micro Elite source code deep dive

Vintage Computer(-related) commercials:

• Enterprise 128
• DX100 synthesizer

Retro Computing Gift Idea:

• THINKING cap
• See also: NeitherNet adapter

Auction Picks:

• Blake:
  • Enterprise 128
  • Apple IIgs Computer
• Paul:
  • TK 2000
  • COVOX
  • How to use the C64
  • See also: Blue Commodore 64
  • Echo+

Feedback/Discussion:

• @rcrpodcast on Twitter
• Vintage Computer Forum
• RCR Podcast on Facebook
• Throwback Network
• Throwback Network on Facebook

Intro / Closing Song: Back to Oz by John X
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Panelists: Paul Hagstrom (hosting), Jack Nutting, and Carrington Vanston

Topic: Data hoards and privacy

Retrocomputing collectors often collect retrocomputers, which often have disks or hard drives, which might contain private data. Particularly as computers get recent enough to have hard drives. Particularly particularly in the future when retrocomputers might contain SSD drives.

Topic/Feedback links:

• Retro Collectors are Uncovering Hoards of Old Data

Retro Computing News:

• Tandy Computer Cassette Recorder models
• Fujinet is slowly eating the world. Adaptations for Coleco Adam, C64, and Apple ][ are underway!
• Fujinet on Facebook
• Intel 4004 turns 50
• Intel’s official anniversary page
• 4004.com

Vintage Computer(-related) commercials:

• BASF (1991)
• TRS-80 model 100

Retro Computing Gift Idea:

• Circuit Board Coaster – from AQuarterPastEight (Etsy)

Auction Picks:

• Carrington:
  • Factory sealed Apple IIc and peripherals
  • See also: Sold on eBay: New-in-box Apple II, never opened
• Paul:
  • Intel 4004 commemorative clock (turns 25 this year)
  • BASF keychain
  • Joystick with a face

Feedback/Discussion:

• @rcrpodcast on Twitter
• Vintage Computer Forum
• RCR Podcast on Facebook
• Throwback Network
• Throwback Network on Facebook

Intro / Closing Song: Back to Oz by John X
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