Panelists: Paul Hagstrom (hosting) and Jack Nutting (not hosting)

Topic: Feedback

So much feedback to talk about, we just talk about feedback.

Topic and feedback notes:

• Shopgoodwill
• Tindie
  • RC2014
  • Retroconnector
  • Tynemouth Software
  • GGLabs
• “Totally 80s Rewind” at Living Computers Museum + Labs
  • Geekwire writeup
• Samia Halaby, Amiga programmer (Guru Meditation)
• Oregon Trail handheld teardown
• Work on TI/99 ET-PEB (AtariAge thread)
• TI section of AtariAge forums
• Demo of CC-40 and Hexbus modem
• CC-40 multicart boards
• Banderstv television restoration
• Macrofab features
• Macrofab electronics podcast

Retro Computing News:

• An astonishing old calculator (Numberphile)
• Make BASIC Fast Again
• Retrochallenge
• The story of Tetris
• Modern eSheep

Vintage Computer Commercial

• VIC-20 careers

Retro Computing Gift Idea:

• MS Paint enamel pin
• Also: Beach Ball pin

Auction Picks:

• Jack: A well-loved Atari Lynx
• Paul: Apple feet
  • IBM feet
  • TI 58/59 Securities Analysis
  • Casio FX820P
  • Expensive UNIVAC and IBM/360 manuals
  • Radio Shack catalogs
  • New TAM
  • Arduino Altair 8800 clone
  • Tiny Arduino Altair 8800 clone

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 – link
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Panelists: Paul Hagstrom (hosting), Quinn Dunki, Jack Nutting, and Carrington Vanston

Topic: Costly Custom Creations

Continuing a discussion from last time, on the iterative process of designing, building, testing; costly custom creations; parts shortages; why it’s generally difficult.

Topic and feedback notes:

• Florida Retrocomputing Club (Facebook group)
• Keep the Bombe on the Bletchley Park Estate
• Poorly packed TeleType
• Call-A.P.P.L.E. 40th anniversary issue
• Interactive adaptation of WarGames
• Work on TI CC-40 peripherals (AtariAge thread)
• Atari Lynx HandyCast
• Ultima Codex: Favourite Fan Projects of 2017

Retro Computing News:

• Grand Digital computer race at NMOC
• Stunt Car Racer ported to Atari 8-bits
• ZXbaremulator (ZX Spectrum on a Raspberry Pi)
• Navy targeting computer on HaD
• Steve Jobs job application
• A.I. beats Q-Bert
• Q-Bert infinite points
• Benj Edwards’ tweet about his collection

Upcoming events:

• Florida Retrocomputing Club (Facebook group, meetup March 10)
• Home Computer Museum (opens March 16, in Helmond, The Netherlands)
• Vintage Computer Federation
  • VCF Southeast 6.0: April 21-22, Roswell, GA. Speakers: Bill Dromgoole, Don Eyles, Dave Walden
  • VCF East XIII: May 18-20, Wall, NJ.
  • VCF West XIII: August 4-5, Mountain View, CA.
• Tandy Assembly (Oct 13-14, Springfield, OH)

Vintage Computer Commercial

• Q*bert 1983 Commercial

Retro Computing Gift Idea:

• Handheld Oregon Trail game

Auction Picks:

• Carrington: Heathkit H-89
  • Society of Eight-Bit Heathkit Computerists
• Paul: Osborne car adapter
  • Toshiba HX-10D 64K MSX
  • Jumpman for the IBM PC
  • Atari Portfolio with Colman Network 8000 interface
  • Bag only

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 – link
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Panelists: Paul Hagstrom (hosting), Earl Evans, and Jack Nutting

Topic: Retrocomputing Replicators

Part of the fun of retrocomputing in the modern age is seeing what we can do with new technology to help our old hardware do things that were never before possible, or difficult, etc. With relatively easy availability of PCB design tools and fabrication shops, people set off to make their own projects, and share them. And maybe make a few and sell them. And people want them, and then they run out of time, interest, materials. Could things be better?

Topic and feedback notes:

• CFFA3000 Run 5 coming soon
• Centre for Computing History is running a “build-your-own-Z80-computer” workshop
• 10 PRINT official
• Qodem (Qmodem simulator)
• Cool-Retro-Term
• Video review of Qodem, using Cool-Retro-Term
• WinAmp in a browser
• Panic’s Audion story
• Radio Shack 1980s Cell Phone Review video

Retro Computing News:

• Cheap solution for what to do when the monitor finally breaks: Retro Man Cave on YouTube: Amiga to VGA | GBS-8220 Review (CGA/EGA/YUV to VGA)
• Atari is jumping on the cryptocurrency bandwagon
  • Bloomberg
  • Bitcoin
  • Fortune
• Kickstarter for the DSKY kit




• #plottertwitter
• Nolan Bushnell was offered an award at GDC, an offer that was rescinded
  • Polygon
  • Kotaku
• Game Master Cartridge. CoCo enhancer. Write-up on VITNO by John Linville




• Stewart Cheifet is considering producing a play about his friend and Computer Chronicles co-host Gary Kildall

Vintage Computer Commercial

• ORIC Atmos 48k

Retro Computing Gift Idea:

• Centipede Board Game (Atari 2600 edition)

Auction Picks:

• Earl: RARE Commodore 8296 Computer – A Real Beauty
• Jack: Oric Nova 64
• Paul: TI/994a Editor/Assembler
  • Kaypro 4 on Australian eBay
  • AT&T Septre
  • IIGS with buggy ROMs
  • Weird old Univac documents
  • Cheap computer tapes

Closing notes:

• Windfall magazine on archive.org

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 – link
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Panelists: Paul Hagstrom (hosting), Jack Nutting, and Carrington Vanston

Topic: Computers and advertising

In honor of the Big Sports Game in the US, we attempt to talk about computers and advertisements. What advertisements made an impression on you, caused you to buy something? Were advertisements really mostly aimed at kids? Or were those just the ones we saw because we were kids? How have things changed? Did Carrington appear in a Quark ad campaign?

Topic and feedback notes:

• Typography in 8-bit fonts

Retro Computing News:

• The Life of David Kelley, According to His Shelves
• BASIC 10Liners Contest
• TX_Dj vintage computer videos
  • TX_Dj Patreon
  • TX_Dj FAQ (modems, telnet, BBSing)
• Caper in the Castro: the first (?) LGBTQ computer game
  • CitC Stack on Archive.org
  • Article about CitC from Motherboard
• Apple II+ Mini
  • Apple II+ Mini writeup on callapple.org
  • Apple II+ Mini Facebook page
  • Apple II+ Mini video demo
• ZX Spectrum Next laptop project

Vintage Computer Commercial

• Atari VCS 1982 (Stick with me, Grampa)

Retro Computing Gift Idea:

• Altair 8800 iPhone case
• Altair 8800 on eBay

Auction Picks:

• Carrington: Star Saga: Two, The Clathran Menace for Apple IIgs
• Paul: MacRecorder
  • Echo PC+
  • 3.5″ semi-automatic disk labeler
  • IBM sorter control panel
  • NeXT Cube case
  • Mimic Spartan
  • HP-85
• Jack: HP 5036A trainer

Closing notes:

• Aleph One
• 1994 Paul is impatient to hear about Marathon
• Midwest Pirates’ Guild, Greg Schaefer Interview (raw footage from The BBS Documentary)

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 – link
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Panelists: Earl Evans (hosting), Paul Hagstrom, Michael Mulhern, and Carrington Vanston

Topic: Retrocomputing Goals for 2018

What are some of your retrocomputing goals and projects for the coming year?

Topic and feedback notes:

• ZX-Modules development tools going away
  • ZX-Modules page
• Realms of Quest V (VIC-20 RPG in development):
  • Thread on VIC-20 Denial forum
  • Thread on RPGCodex

Retro Computing News:

• The Night a UNIVAC Computer Predicted The Next President
• Ultimate Apollo Guidance Computer talk
  • Hackaday write-up on AGC talk
  • DSKY/kit instructable
• Lisa OS source code to be released
  • Gizmodo write-up on Lisa source code release
  • Announcement on LisaList
• France’s 1983 Minitel




• Xerox Alto zero-day crack
• The Culture of Tech Podcast (Benj Edwards)
• Classic Computing Show podcast (David Greelish)
• Jason Scott Talks His Way out of It podcast (Jason Scott)
• Soviet control rooms, analogue panels

Vintage Computer Commercial

• It’s An Atari Christmas! – 80’s Commercials

Retro Computing Gift Idea:

• Donation to the Internet Archive – an investment in our digital heritage!

Auction Picks:

• Carrington: PET 2001-8 C
• Earl: 4x Gold DIP Carriers for 1960s Logic Chips
• Michael: PDP-8
  • Millionaire II – Stock Market Simulation
  • Eye Com 1000 Microfilm Viewer
  • See also: Source for new Eye Com microfilm viewers
• Paul: Lisa 1
  • Osborne 3
  • “You might have a problem” Mac lot
  • Complete TI 99/4a system
  • Instant retrocomputer collection
  • NEC PC6001 mkII

Closing notes:

• DSE CAT info
• ST.Mac

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 – link
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Panelists: Paul Hagstrom (hosting), Ian Baronofsky, and Jack Nutting

Topic: 2017

YEAR++

Topic and feedback notes:

• Edladdin
• Retro_gaming (Instagram)
• “The Great Apple II BBS Tour” contest:
  • telnet://a80sappleiibbs.ddns.net:6502 (A 80’s Apple II BBS)
  • telnet://cqbbs.ddns.net:6502 (Captain’s Quarters)
  • telnet://dura-bbs.net:6359 (Dura-Europas)
• PDP-8/L renovation (page in Swedish)
• ABC80 archive (page in Swedish)

Retro Computing News:

• Doug Engelbart’s Mother of All Demos excerpts from a lecture from 1986
  • Vintage excerpts begin at 25:33
  • Full 1968 video
• Chris Osborn (FozzTexx) plays the Lucy & Linus song on an IMSAI 8080 via AM radio interference




• BMOW working on Apple II FPGA disk controller card
• The story of Tetris Max
• BMOW RetroUSB/Wombat (ADB-USB)
• Joe’s Computer Museum (Joe Strosnider) review of Retro USB
• Carte Blanche II
• OPL2LPT AdLib compatible parallel port board
  • OPLL2LPT review on The 8-bit Guy’s youtube channel
• Blake Patterson’s 8-bit holiday demos for 2017
  • Santa demo from The Voice (MUSE, Apple II)
  • Cows are cool (Paul as a kid recording his voice with The Voice)
• Dave Cheney dives into C. Gordon Bell’s “What Have We Learned from the PDP-11 paper” from 1976
• Olivetti Programma 101 early computer, nunmber game being played
• Ken Shirriff gets an IBM 1401 mainframe to create a Christmas card
  • The IBM 1401 wishes you a Merry Christmas (video)
  • Bitcoin mining on IBM 1401
• Skool Daze ported to Atari 8-bit

Some upcoming shows/gatherings:

• Retrogathering 2018 Vintage Computer Edition, January 27 2018, Västerås, Sweden
• VCF Pacific Northwest, Feb 10-11 (2018), Seattle, WA at LCM+L
• Retrocomputing devroom CfP for FOSDEM, February 3-4, 2018, Brussels, Belgium

Vintage Computer Commercial

• Olivetti Programma 101

Retro Computing Gift Idea:

• 5.25-inch floppy pillow

Auction Picks:

• Ian: Fujitsu FM-8
  • Byte Magazine May 1982 issue review of Japanese personal computers
• Paul: 3COM Audrey (Ocean)
  • Big orange DEC VMS manuals
  • LOBO MAX-80
  • Trockball
  • S-100 paper tape reader pre-order

Closing notes:

• C64 Cynthcart
• Funko Pop! figures staged on a NeXTstation TurboColor, punnilly captioned for an exceedingly narrow audience
• Kevin scanned an Apple brochure in which the colors are weird
• Large version of original Apple II ad
• The evolution and history of the Apple logo

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 – link
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Panelists: Paul Hagstrom (hosting), Jack Nutting (not hosting)

Topic: 3-Smooth

3x3x3x3x2.

Feedback notes:

• 7 Classic Home PC Follow-Up That Were Never Released

Retro Computing News:

• Atari shows off new joystick




• A digital clock implemented in Life
  • StackExchange notes on creating the clock
  • Conway’s Game of Life
• NASA fires Voyager-1’s thrusters for first time in 37 years




• CARDIAC (CARDboard Illustritive Aid to Computation)
  • 1969 article (Cardboard “Computer” “Helps” Students)
  • Python CARDIAC simulator
  • Python CARDIAC assembler
  • CARDIAC example code
• Paleotronic Magazine
  • MicroM8 emulator
  • Paleotronic Magazine Kickstarter

Vintage (Computer) Commercial(s)

• Voyager
• The Game of Life
• Commodore VIC-20

Retro Computing Gift Idea:

• Retro Pi Cases

Auction Picks:

• Jack: Avon Beauty Vision Personal Color Computer
• Paul: Otrona Attache
  • Macrotronics Terminall
  • NEC PC-8200
  • Intellivision computer module
  • Burroughs 8” Floppy drive
  • C64 WiFi modem

Closing notes:

• Advent of Code
• Glenda Adams’ Ultima 1 cross-stitch
• Cross-stitch detail

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 – link
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Panelists: Paul Hagstrom (hosting), Cynde Moya, and Jack Nutting

Topic: Living Computers: Museum + Labs

This week we are joined by Cynde Moya, collections manager, and chair of the acquisitions committee for the Living Computers: Museum + Labs in Seattle. We discuss various topics, including some of the new exhibits and acquisitions, philosophy of restorations, challenges in cataloging, availability of time sharing accounts, and lots more.

Topic notes:

• Search LCM+L’s catalog
• Get an account to log into LCM+L’s various time-sharing computer systems
• Start a discussion about using these systems
• Read LCM+L engineer’s restoration stories
• Multics, now on Raspberry Pi
• Multics simulator
• Honeywell 6180 Maintenance Panel is being driven by a Xilinx BASYS3, running this Multics emulation.

Feedback notes:

• RCR videos from #30 (July 2012) to #57 (September 2013)
• New ZX-81 emulator for iOS

Retro Computing News:

• 1088XEL




• 1088XEL Mini-ATX board assembly video




• Floppy Days interviews Stewart Chefeit




• Reviving the Atari 1027




• Terry’s Rubber Rollers




• HP archives destroyed in Santa Rosa fires (Santa Rosa Press Democrat)
• Loss of HP archive a wake-up call for computer historians (IEEE Spectrum)
• Bitsavers.org
• Ted Nelson’s junk mail collection (so far)
• Ted Nelson junk mail scanning costs spreadsheet
• The Friendly Orange Glow: The Untold Story of the PLATO System and the Dawn of Cyberculture (Brian Dear, 2017)
• cyber1 PLATO simulator online
• Software Preservation Network
• Minimal Computing thought pieces (see especially Old Machines Running Old Languages)

Upcoming show notes:

• VCF Pacific Northwest, Feb 10-11 (2018), Seattle, WA at LCM+L
• Retrocomputing devroom CfP for FOSDEM

Vintage Computer Commercial

• IBM Sage and missile defense

Retro Computing Gift Idea:

• Floppy Disk Bag

Auction Picks:

• Paul: System/360 front panel
  • COBOL coding forms
  • COBOL for C128
  • NeXTdrive
  • Packard Bell Corner Computer
  • IBM Aptitude Test for Programmer Personnel (1964)
  • HERO-1 (missing side panels)
• Cynde: DisplayWrite 4 word processing software
  • 1973 Vector Pak System Bread Boarding Catalog
  • Interdata model 80 with a lot of 16-bit software on paper tape
  • IBM 1401 console

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 – link
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Panelists: Paul Hagstrom (hosting), Jack Nutting, and Carrington Vanston

Host’s Topic: The Final Frontier

160. $A0. A high-ASCII space. LDY. Space bars. Keyboards? Places to put things? Yeah, we got nothing.

Feedback notes:

• Micro Computer Machines of Canada MCM/70
• Mac Portable ejects a floppy disk in space
• FitalyStamp for Palm

Retro Computing News:

• Steve Wozniak launches Woz-U
• Cross Chase, massively multiplatform game
• Cross Chase in play
• The infinitely profitable program
• Orca/C, Linker, and OrcaLib library available on GitHub
• 6502 Badge from VCF Midwest
• 6502 Badge build video
• Rob Justice and Apple’s SOS-internal DRM support

Vintage Computer Commercial

• Alan Greenspan promotes the Apple //c

Retro Computing Gift Idea:

• Floppy Disk Notebook

Auction Picks:

• Carrington: Apple Letter Quality Printer
  • See also: Printing graphics with Apple daisy wheel printer
• Jack: Atari Fossil Centipede Watch
  • Atari Fossil Asteroids Watch
• Paul: DEC cart
  • Intellivision computer module in box
  • Apple II random number generator card
  • Model 100 with DVI and monitor
    • “DVI” stands for “Disk/Video Interface”. Not “Digital”. Whatever. We’re not re-recording it.
  • TRS-80 Space Warp tape

Closing notes:

• Welcome to Macintosh – 12
• The story of Audion
• Steven Frank’s online Beagle Bros. museum
• Early Winter 1987 DAK Catalog

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 – link
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Panelists: Paul Hagstrom (hosting), Mark Lemmert, Michael Mulhern, and Carrington Vanston

Host’s Topic: Retro Gaming Evolution

What changes are there in game development with old hardware in a new context? Use modern hardware enhancements? Modern advancements in computer science, user interface, programming environments? To what extent is there still something left to squeeze out of these machines?

Retro Computing News:

• Nox Archaist Kickstarter
• Nox Archaist main page, 6502workshop
• Open Apple 74 (featuring Mark Lemmert, Nox Archaist)
• Open Apple 70 (featuring Mark Lemmert, Nox Archaist)
• Assembly Lines 54 (featuring Mark Lemmert, Nox Archaist)
• Unknown Realm
• TRS-80 Video Player
• Retro Roundup
• Ken’s blog entry describing Retro Roundup launch
• Transporter Lock Star Trek: Discovery podcast (Ken Gagne and Sabriel Mastin)
• Vintage is the New Old
• 44 years of Computer Weekly donated to TNMOC
• Computer Weekly (modern site)
• Ken Shirriff dives into fake RAM
• Play SG-1000 and Colecovision games on Apple IIe
• CP/M Turbo 7 card for Apple II
• PC-RETRO reproduction IBM 5150 motherboard
• Easy6502 interactive tutorial site
• Using 6502 Assembly Language (Randy Hyde) (pdf)

Vintage Computer Commercial

• Colecovision. Sorry, Atari

Retro Computing Gift Idea:

• Altair-duino kit

Auction Picks:

• Carrington: Infocom Witness for DEC Rainbow
• Michael: Apple IIc Mouse
  • See also: Kevin Costner uses a Lisa mouse
  • Compton’s CD ROM
  • Leonardo – The Inventor CD ROM
  • Tandy RC Van
• Paul: Northstar Horizon, box
  • Sony Series 35 Model 10
  • Dancing Demon
  • “The Information Revolution” 16mm 1982 documentary
  • Quadram Quadlink

Closing notes:

• RetroChallenge RC2017/10

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 – link
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