KansasFest 2020 Megapodcast

Welcome to Retro Open Poly Roundtable Chicken Missile Lines Drop Museum Gruecast.
The annual “megapodcast” from KansasFest, this time conducted virtually. Note: Reading the links below could be “spoilers” for the game.

Participants:

• Quinn Dunki (Blondihacks,
  Open Apple,
  Retrocomputing Roundtable)
• Earl Evans (Retrocomputing Roundtable,
  Next Without For,
  Retrobits)
• Ken Gagne (Polygamer,
  Transporter Lock,
  Retrocomputing Roundtable)
• Paul Hagstrom (Retrocomputing Roundtable,
  Drop III Inches)
• John Leake (RetroMacCast)
• Charles Mangin (How II)
• Rob McMullen (Player/Missile)
• Blake Patterson (Retrocomputing Roundtable)
• Kay Savetz (ANTIC: The Atari 8-Bit Podcast,
  Eaten By A Grue)
• Kate Szkotnicki (RetroMetal: Old Games on Old Machines)
• Carrington Vanston (Retrocomputing Roundtable,
  Eaten By A Grue)

Game-related links:

• KansasFest
• KansasFest (YouTube channel)
• National Dairy Council Grab A Byte
• Ancient Tarot
• Canadian Tire Complimentary Cassette
• The Missing Ring
• Softline Mar/Apr 1984
• Magic Knight Rayearth
• Gertrude’s Secrets
• Conan: Hall of Volta
• Apple Cider Spider
• Firebug
• Old Timers: MUSE Software (KansasFest 1992)
• Three Mile Island
• Senseless Violence 1 and 2

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
Show audio files hosted by CyberEars

Listen/Download:

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Panelists: Paul Hagstrom (hosting), Blake Patterson, and Carrington Vanston

Topic: Architecture shifts

Apple announced that it will be shifting its processor architecture from Intel to ARM. This has happened before, not just at Apple, but, well, mostly Apple or Apple-adjacent. We try to think of some other examples as well.

Topic/Feedback links:

• New Golden Age for Computer Architecture
• Communications of the ACM
• John Cocke (Wikipedia)
• Dimension 68000 ad (auction)
• Dimension 68000 review (Creative Computing)
• InfoWorld: “Jack of All Trades, But Master Of None” (Dimension 68000)
• Dimension 68000 review (YouTube)
• Altair 8800 in Unity
• Swipecard retro game loader
• RetroSwiper (GitHub)
• 68K coprocessor for Apple II being revived
• 68K coprocessor design for Apple II

Retro Computing News:

• TI Silent 700 Model 703
• Miniature IBM 1401 Datacentre
• 6502b (@miniatua) on Instagram
• Virtual Colossus
• Mini PET
• Finding an Old Friend

Vintage Computer-related commercials (or, well, chunk of audio):

• IBM promotional film (from about 1970)

Retro Computing Gift Idea:

• Colour Maximite 2
• See also: 8-bit Guy demo of Colour Maximite 2

Auction Picks:

• Blake: Apple-1
  • Targa graphics card
  • Olympus America DS-1 / 300-01 Floppy Disc Computing Device Video
  • Inside NeXT book
  • See also: Blake’s NeXT photo (in book)
• Carrington: MacWeek cloth bag
  • The Gutenberg for Apple II and III
  • Cyborg for Apple II (NOS)
• Paul: Popular Electronics, Jan 1975
  • SX-64s and a reminder of our mortality
  • Assembled Altair-duino
  • ERE I AM JH. Macnifier
  • See also: Macnifier ad
  • xu1541 nano
  • See also: Applesauce
  • PX-8, MU64
  • Personal Portable Computer, model 16BC
  • Apple II+ in its box
  • See also: A Labor of Labels (blog post about Apple II serial numbers)

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
Show audio files hosted by CyberEars

Listen/Download:

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Panelists: Paul Hagstrom (hosting), Earl Evans, Blake Patterson, and Carrington Vanston

Topic: Home v. Hobby

How have you kept the home/hobby balance? What has allowed you to remain friends/married/peaceful? Boundaries? Shared interest?

Topic/Feedback links:

• Byte Cellar panorama
• Stitching together with QuickTime VR Studio 1.0
• QTVR file of the panorama
• Collapse OS
• Basic mechanisms in gun control computers (US Navy, part 1)
• Basic mechanisms in gun control computers (US Navy, part 2)
• Analog Computation in a Digital World (lecture, Dr. Corey Malay)
• Mythbusters Big Rig episode
• Riptide pilot
• Captain Kirk’s PET
• Applefritter’s eWorld reboot

Retro Computing News:

• Geekring webring
• It’s now safe to turn off your computer
• Imagine That (Ed Smith, autobiography)
• Ed Smith and the Imagination Machine: The Untold Story of a Black Video Game Pioneer (Fast Company, interview)
• Mini PET
• The mysterious origins of an uncrackable video game
• Entombed: An archaeological examination of an Atari 2600 game (academic paper)
• Retrogame Archaeology (John Aycock, academic monograph)
• Retrogame Archaeology (John Aycock, lecture)
• Double Low Res amper-library for enhanced Apple II

Vintage Computer-related commercials (or, well, chunk of audio):

• Bill Gates talks about Microsoft and the Altair 8800

Retro Computing Gift Idea:

• KansasFest 2020

Auction Picks:

• Blake: Timex FDD3000 computer
  • See also: Timex FDD3000 (Wikipedia)
  • Medical Graphics Microloop 1100 Spirometer
  • Lotus JAZZ Pin Badge
  • See also: Memphis Group design examples
• Carrington: The Works by First Star Software
  • See also: First Star Software
  • See also: Kay Savetz interview with Fenando Herrera
• Earl: Altair MITS 8800 CPU Parts Kit
  • Epson PX-4
• Paul: IIc bag in nice shape
  • Another IIc bag
  • Light pen new in box, rescued from the Titanic
  • TRS-80 Model III in its box
  • Microsoft… Office…
  • Red Book Blue Book
• Tobias: RCA COSMAC VIP

Closing words links:

• Smart Enough To Know Better
• Next Without For

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
Show audio files hosted by CyberEars

Listen/Download:

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Panelists: Paul Hagstrom (hosting), Jack Nutting, Blake Patterson, and Carrington Vanston

Topic: On whether RealPlayer suuuuuuux

Computer video: What have been the most striking impacts computer video has had on you?

Topic/Feedback links:

• My first taste of CGA composite color
• 1K colors on CGA: How it’s done
• Full Motion Video World
• Steve Gibson’s page on subpixel rendering
• The mysterious orange vertical line (Apple Orchard v1n2 Fall 1980)
• Cornica.org

Retro Computing News:

• Triton – The Forgotten 1970’s Home Computer – Part 1
• An Absurd Number of People Still Play Microsoft Solitaire
• Play MS Solitaire Online
• Living Computer Museum + Labs is closed at least for now
• Microsoft Open-Sources GW-BASIC
• Github: Microsoft GW-BASIC Interpreter Source Code

Upcoming shows

• VCF Southeast 8.0. July 10-12. Atlanta, GA.
• KansasFest. July 24-25. Online.
• WozFest SWEET 16. Sat Jul 25. Online.
• VCF West. August 1-2. Mountain View, CA (Computer History Museum).
• VCF East. October 10-12, 2020 (rescheduled). InfoAge. Wall, NJ.

Vintage Computer-related Commercials:

• Windows 95
• TRS-80 Model 4

Retro Computing Gift Idea:

• Bitsbox subscription for kids

Auction Picks:

• Blake: CBC-7000 Model No. Dialer VI
  • See also: Discusson of the CBC-7000 (@Foone)
  • Apple IIc in original pacakaging
  • Vintage 61414 Monochrome Display Monitor Conrac Corporation
  • See also: Discussion of the monitor
• Carrington: Alice Through The Looking Glass for Lisa and Mac
  • See also: Chess.app on Mac OS X and OpenStep
  • See also: Screens: Mac Plus
  • See also: Alice (Folklore.org)
  • See also: AliceX online
  • Legacy graphical text adventure for 128K Mac
• Paul: Cheat code for Apple hardware completist
  • Very white Apple II joystick
  • Model 4P in its box
  • Another nice 4P set
  • Hyperportable CP/M machine
  • NEC PC-8001A and peripherals
  • TAM

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
Includes: “Corncob” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) which is
licensed under
Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
Show audio files hosted by CyberEars

Listen/Download:

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Panelists: Paul Hagstrom (hosting), Earl Evans, Jack Nutting, Blake Patterson, and Carrington Vanston

Topic: As Seen on TV

Retro computers, as featured in TV and movies. What shows at the time had computers in them? What shows of today has yesterday’s computers in them?

Topic/Feedback links:

• Rebuilding James Bond’s Apple IIc – A Software Forgery
• Blake mentions: War Games, The Fantastic World of D.C. Collins, Whiz Kids, 2010: The Year We Make Contact, Electric Dreams, Cloak and Dagger, Weird Science, Knight Rider, Kindergarden Cop, City Slickers, Wayne’s World
• The War Games IMSAI 8080
• Earl mentions: Terminator – Rise Of The Machines, Star Wreck – In The Pirkinning, UFO, Colossus: The Forbin Project
• Jack mentions: Manhunt: Unabomber
• Carrington mentions: Desk Set, Alphaville, World on a Wire, Crosstalk, The Rachel Papers, Evilspeak, Takeover, The KGB, The Computer, and Me, Triumph of the Nerds, Pirates of Silicon Valley, Computer Chess, John Wick series, Magic 2.0: Off to Be the Wizard (Scott Meyer).
• Paul mentions: Halt & Catch Fire, Stranger Things, The Americans, The Goldbergs, Young Sheldon, Schooled, Blindspot, Devs, The IT Crowd, Lost, Preacher, Timeless, Mr. Robot
• Spectrum Next unboxing video
• New C64 printed circuit boards
• Camelot dungeon game, on Cyber1 (PLATO)

Retro Computing News:

• Bill Metcalfe, BBS game developer, passed away
• Apple and Steve Jobs’ Biggest Mistakes Ep 1 – The Macintosh
• GraphicConverter now opens Apple II formats
• ATR Image Explorer
• The Long View – Macintosh Y2020
• Moritz & Alexander (2019). Vintage electronics for trusted radiation measurements and verified dismantlement of nuclear weapons. PLOS ONE.
• Bubbles Whiting—Using Punch Cards
• 1970s Unbuilt Kit Computers
• Sylvain Lefebvre made a DooM-chip
• Brief Engadget write-up of DooM-chip

Upcoming shows

• VCF Southeast 8.0. July 10-12. Atlanta, GA.
• KansasFest. July 24-25. Online.
• WozFest SWEET 16. Sat Jul 25. Online.
• VCF West. August 1-2. Mountain View, CA (Computer History Museum).
• VCF East. October 10-12, 2020 (rescheduled). InfoAge. Wall, NJ.

Vintage Computer-related Commercials:

• Are you keeping up with the Commodore?

Retro Computing Gift Idea:

• UpCart Plus for C64

Auction Picks:

• Blake: Mindset Computer System
  • See also: Mindset Computer (Bytecellar)
  • Exatron Stringy Floppy Disk Drive Wafer media
• Carrington: AOL t-shirt
  • My Other Computer Is An Apple II (sticker)
  • My Other Computer Is A Commodore 64 (sticker)
  • My Other Tablet Is A Newton (sticker)
  • Radio Shack CGP-115 4-pen printer
  • Spare paper rolls for CGP-115
• Earl: MAINDEC-11-DZMMC-A-PB (PDP-8 paper tape)
  • Commodore Computer Gold Rim Shot Glass
  • NeXT shot glass
• Paul: Applesurance diagnostic disk controller
  • See also: Apple II The Review, Spring 1986 (p. 18)
  • See also: Stephen Buggie presentation (KansasFest 1996)
  • Personal Software VisiStuff
  • Tandy 1000 EX
  • DEC PDP etc. stuff
  • Martek Electronics Apple II external keyboard
  • See also: Compute! (Feb 1989)
  • See also: Computist (#74)

Closing words links:

• Clipper Summer 87 unboxing
• Home Computers: 100 Icons that Defined a Digital Generation (book, CNN Style)

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
Show audio files hosted by CyberEars

Listen/Download:

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Panelists: Earl Evans (hosting), Paul Hagstrom, Jack Nutting, and Carrington Vanston

Topic: Things we (came to/no longer) hate

Things we used to hate, but maybe no longer do. Or maybe still do. Or maybe didn’t used to hate, but now do.

Topic/Feedback links:

• RetroMacCast interviews Rocky Bergen about papercraft creations
• Mimic Spartan

Retro Computing News:

• Mini vMac for Nintendo 3DS
• MacRumors write-up of 3DS Mini vMac
• ComputerLand and the BC88
• Al Alcorn explains early color graphics
• Retrofair 2020
• Mar Hicks: Scapegoating COBOL
• Why I Still Use A 34-Year-Old IBM Model M Keyboard
• Tweeting from the Teletype
• Volkseigener Betrieb (VEB) Robotron PC 1715 on parade, East Berlin, 1987.
• 10 pfennig 1987 stamp featuring the Robotron PC 1715
• Primary Optics, Robert Henke’s Commodore CBM 8032 Based Audio-Visual Art
• Robert Henke Loop 2015 Keynote: Failure = Success

Upcoming shows

• VCF Southeast 8.0. July 10-12. Atlanta, GA.
• KansasFest. July 24-25. Online.
• WozFest SWEET 16. Sat Jul 25. Online.
• VCF West. August 1-2. Mountain View, CA (Computer History Museum).
• VCF East. October 10-12, 2020 (rescheduled). InfoAge. Wall, NJ.

Vintage Computer-related Commercials:

• Computerland commercial

Retro Computing Gift Idea:

• Floppy Disk iron-on patches

Auction Picks:

• Carrington: PS/2 Googly Eyed Duck Mouse
  • TRS-80 Model I Briefcase
• Earl: Pi 1541
• Paul: TRS-80 Model 16B
  • Bunch of Apple II era manuals of no particular rarity
  • Black Hole Colorforms
  • Power Mac power button replacement
  • Atari Lynx kit case

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
Show audio files hosted by CyberEars

Listen/Download:

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Panelists: Paul Hagstrom (hosting), Jack Nutting, Blake Patterson, and Carrington Vanston

Topic: Virtual Retro-gatherings

Given that retrocomputing gatherings are going virtual, what aer ways that we can make this experience a good one?

Topic/Feedback links:

• C64 guitar
• Compressorhead: Ace of Spades
• Computer Sport Athlete
• nMigen tutorial

Retro Computing News:

• Atgtha in Absurdia Roguelike game
• VCF T-Shirts
• FujiNet, reading data over https
• What is FujiNet?
• John Conway obituary (Princeton)
• John Conway obituary (New York Times)
• John Conway obituary (xkcd)
• John Conway on Numberphile
• Doomsday Rule
• Atari Lynx 2020 programming contest write-up
• Atari Lynx 2020 programming contest entry
• Project SPHINX: When the USSR tried to change the computer forever
• Meet Sphinx: The 30-Year-Old Soviet Smart Home Concept

Vintage Computer-related Commercials:

• The Game of Life
• Atari Lynx
• Motorola pager
• Fidelity Chess Challenger

Retro Computing Gift Idea:

• Home Computers: 100 Icons That Defined a Digital Generation (MIT Press)
• Home Computers: 100 Icons That Defined a Digital Generation (Thames & Hudson)
• See also: Guardian write-up
• See also: Publisher’s Weekly write-up

Auction Picks:

• Blake: Darth NeXTER Mask
  • 3D Connexion SpaceBall 5000
  • Qantel Model 4150
• Carrington: Macintosh SE/30 new(-ish) in box
  • Apple II dust cover with maybe-red logo
  • TauonPC-1
  • See also: TauonPC-1 site
• Paul: Pin featuring Apple logo
  • Vintage Apple Macintosh 6500
  • See also: Garfield minus Garfield
  • Apple //c video+audio cable adapter
  • World’s slowest PC
  • Cal-Kit dongle
  • Cal-Kit that doesn’t need a dongle (sold)
  • Cal-Kit on Kijiji
  • NeXT mug/shot-cup
  • Mouse phone

Closing words links:

• Panic 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 – link
Show audio files hosted by CyberEars

Listen/Download:

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

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

Topic: Coprocessors (Part 1)

We all love coprocessors, but does anyone use them? Did you have any, did you use them? Do you have any, do you use them? What would you use them for now?

Topic/Feedback links:

• Jif peanut butter labels
• Unofficial Retrochallenge
• Retrochallenge (canonizing the unofficial one, happened after we recorded)

Retro Computing News:

• Swift on Mac OS 9
• More progress on Prince of Persia for Atari 8-bit computers
• ZX Spectrum prototype ROM available for download
• New Jersey urgently needs COBOL programmers

Vintage Computer-related Commercial:

• Power Macintosh (Windows/DOS compatibility)
• Grace Hopper at MIT (MIT Lincoln Laboratory, 25 April 1985)
• New Jersey and You

Retro Computing Gift Idea:

• Developers Developers Developers Developers shirt

Auction Picks:

• Carrington: Intacorp Button And Badge Maker for Apple II
  • Apple HD concept prototype
• Paul: Whistler TRS-80 X-10
  • Norton Utilities 3
  • Apple logo stuff
  • Super Elf
  • Digi-Comp I
  • See also: 3D-printable Digi-Comp I on Thingiverse
  • DOS compatibility card
  • Applied Concepts The Mate chess game
  • APMSX card
  • See also: apple2.net
  • See also: Review of APMSX on Finapple
  • TRS-80 Program pak file

Closing words links:

• Apple IIc Plus Accelerator Control
• Quinn Dunki: Spelunking the IIc Plus KansasFest 2016

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
Show audio files hosted by CyberEars

Listen/Download:

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Panelists: Paul Hagstrom (hosting), Earl Evans, Blake Patterson, and Carrington Vanston

Topic: Computer viruses

What experiences did you have in the “retrocomputer era” with computer viruses or related malware? Which ones do you remember? Any that caused a memorable headache? Any that you wrote? Any that had interesting technology? Do you remember antivirus software causing memorable headaches? Did you write any antivirus software? Did you write any antivirus software to eliminate a virus that you also happened to have written?

Topic/Feedback links:

• Someone had a Destructivity disk
• PLA20V8, a cheap PLA replacement for C64
• PLA20V8 video on YouTube
• Interact with Atari’s 6502 in BASIC

Retro Computing News:

• ASCII art + permadeath: The history of roguelike games
• Cult of Mac iOS / Mac Brogue article
• Brogue homepage
• Beneath Beneath Apple Manor (KansasFest 2019 talk)
• Relax, It’s On Us: free music from 8 Bit Weapon
• How Prince of Persia Defeated Apple II’s Memory Limitations
• How Prince of Persia Defeated Apple II’s Memory Limitations (video)
• Command Line Heroes – Floppies: The Disks That Changed the World
• The 80×25 terminal size
• Commodore Los Angeles Super Show postponed
• Where in North Dakota is Carmen Sandiego

Vintage Computer-related Commercials:

• Mac: Viruses
• Norton: Chicken vs. Dokken

Retro Computing Gift Idea:

• The Making of Prince of Persia (Jordan Mechner)

Auction Picks:

• Blake: Original Commodore Big Eyed Mouse
  • GGLABS 2MB MACSIMM
  • Super Boulder Dash (Atari)
• Carrington: Serpentine for Apple II
  • Rescue On Fractalus for Tandy Co-Co
  • Apple II with DuoDisk and Color Monitor 100
• Earl: ORCA/Integer BASIC compiler for Apple IIGS
  • See also: Opus II from Juiced.GS
• Paul: Duodisk 3.5” prototype
  • See also: A rare glimpse of a memorial Apple prototype display at Frog
  • Apple II/e dual 6522 GPIO PCB kit
  • Clear case //c
  • Lisa 2 bezel with box
  • “Fully Operational Apple I Computer”
  • SCRG Extend-a-slot

Closing words links:

• Make It With Punched Cards (1971 book)
• Going back to EDASM
• Retro Computing forum

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
Show audio files hosted by CyberEars

Listen/Download:

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Panelists: Earl Evans (hosting), Paul Hagstrom, Jack Nutting, and Blake Patterson

Topic: Work-study credit and a satisfying kerchunk

We continue to survey our panelists’ first computer jobs, this time focusing on first jobs in which we used a network wiring tool that made a satisfying kerchunk and/or got work-study credit.

Topic/Feedback links:

• Minesweeper
• ABB keyboard from a more modern setup

Retro Computing News:

• Canon object.station 41
• HP Color Recovery
• Larger demo of Blake’s NeXTSTEP HP
• WINGINE Graphics Subsystem
• VCF Pacific Northwest cancelled due to COVID-19
• Atari hotels
• Atari hotels news article
• 6800 CPU with nMigen
• Spotify for Atari 8-bits
• Spotify for Atari 8-bits (Github)

Vintage Computer-related Commercial:

• Compuserve

Retro Computing Gift Idea:

• Meggy Jr RGB Soldering Kit from Evil Mad Scientist

Auction Picks:

• Blake: APPLE 1 Original 1976 Computer System 1st Steve Wozniak designed computer and L@@K!!
  • Lisa 1 Mouse and poster
  • Microsoft Office Pro 97 CD from 1997
  • Apple II Quantum Leap SmartChip Card
• Earl: Radio Shack TRS-80 II Software Lot of 18
• Paul: Metrowerks art shirt
  • Metrowerks BSC shirt
  • Base Two flashcards
  • Epyx 500XJ joystick
  • IIe Card Y-cable
  • FoxPro 2.5 upgrade
  • ET-3400, ETA-3400

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
Show audio files hosted by CyberEars

Listen/Download:

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed