Podcast Episodes

What can Lunar Lander tell us about FOCAL?

Episode 160

Lunar Lander is one of the best loves video games of all time. The game was created in 1969 as an homage to the recent Apollo 11. From there it would only spread. Just about anything that can print t…

Published on 4 months ago

The Intel 286: A Legacy Trap

Episode 159

In 1982 Intel released the iAPX 286. It's was the first heir to the smash-hit 8086. But the 286 was developed before the IBM PC put an Intel chip on every desk. It's design isn't influence by the PC.…

Published on 4 months, 2 weeks ago

INTERCAL RIDES AGAIN - Restoring a Lost Compiler

Episode 158

In 1973 the world caught it's first glimpse of INTERCAL. It's a wild and wacky language, somewhere between comedy and cutting satire. But the compiler was never circulated. There would be later imple…

Published on 5 months ago

Only S1 Users Will Survive!

Episode 157

The S1 operating system can do it all! It can run on any computer, read any disk, and execute any software. It can be UNIX compatible, DOS compatible, and so, so much more! But... can S1 ship? …

Published on 5 months, 3 weeks ago

RPG, a Different Paradigm?

Episode 156

How do you make a computer act less like a computer? It sounds like some kind of riddle, but in the early 1960s it was an actual problem. As IBM customers transitioned from tabulators to computers th…

Published on 6 months ago

LINC

Episode 155

In the early 1960s a neat little machine came out of MIT. Well, kind of MIT. The machine was called LINC. It was small, flexible, and designed to live in laboratories. Some have called it the first p…

Published on 6 months, 2 weeks ago

ACTing Up

Episode 154

The LGP-30 is one of my favorite computers. It's small, scrappy, strange, and wonderous. Among its many wonders are two obscure languages: ACT-I and ACT-III. In this episode we are exploring the ACTS…

Published on 7 months ago

The Keypact Mystery

Episode 153

When I was down at VCF SoCal I ran into a strange machine: the Keypact Micro-VIP. It's a terminal without a keyboard, covered in dials, with a speaker and a switch labeled "voice". This chance encoun…

Published on 7 months, 2 weeks ago

LIVE at VCF - Reviving Retro Panel

Episode 152

A special treat from VCF SoCal. While visiting I had the chance to host a panel on restoration and preservation. I was joined by:

David from Usagi Electric (https://www.youtube.com/@UsagiElectric)

Ro…

Published on 8 months ago

Episode 151 - The Friden Flexowriter

Episode 151

Have you ever looked at an old computer and seen a weird typewriter thing tacked on? In most cases that's a device called a Flexowriter. It's half electric typewriter, half teleprinter, half tap…

Published on 9 months ago