Podcast Episodes

Zork

Episode 68

Make sure you have some extra batteries for your lamp, this episode we are delving into the depths of Zork. Written in 1977 Zork would quickly become the epitome of text based adventures, pushing as…

Published on 4 years, 1 month ago

Debug!

Episode 67

This episode I face my greatest fears: computer bugs. We are going to dive into the origin of the term, and examine the origins of debugging. The simple fact is that as soon as computers hit the scen…

Published on 4 years, 2 months ago

Viruses and the PC

It's Spook Month on Advent of Computing! Every October we cover the more spooky, scary, and frustrating side of computers. To kick off this year we are looking at viruses again, this time with a spe…

Published on 4 years, 2 months ago

Teletype, Teleprint, and Telegrams

In today's episode we take a long hard look at the telegraph, and try to see how character encoding developed. We are dealing with 100% pre-computing technology, but there are some shocking similari…

Published on 4 years, 3 months ago

Gemini's Tiny Machine

Episode 64

Today we are talking about computers in space! 1964 saw the launch of Gemini I, the first spacecraft to carry an onboard computer. The aptly named Gemini Guidance Computer was responsible for guidanc…

Published on 4 years, 3 months ago

What's With The Wedge, Part 2

Episode 63

This concludes my series on the distinctive shape of early home computers. In this episode we finally cover the Sol-20 itself, the first system on the market to be shaped like a wedge. More generall…

Published on 4 years, 4 months ago

What's With The Wedge? Part 1

Episode 62

Early home microcomputers have a very distinctive shape to them. From the Apple II and the ZX Spectrum, to the Commodore 64 and the Amiga, wedged were the order of the day. I've always wondered why …

Published on 4 years, 4 months ago

FRESS and Practical Hypertext

Episode 61

Hypertext has really become a core offering of daily life, and defined the face of the Internet for decades. But the links and formatting we know so well only make up part of the story. Today we are…

Published on 4 years, 5 months ago

Q&A

It's here! My celebratory question and answer episode! Contains ramblings on my checkered past, why computer history is important, and why FOIA is so cool.

Published on 4 years, 5 months ago

COBOL Never Dies

Episode 60

COBOL! Just its name can strike terror in the hearts of programmers. This language is old, it follows its own strange syntax, and somehow still runs the world of finance and government. But is COBOL…

Published on 4 years, 5 months ago