Podcast Episodes

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 5 months, 1 week 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 5 months, 3 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 6 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 7 months ago

Starting Windows Up

Episode 150

In the modern day Windows is a power house, but that wasn't always the case. In this episode we are looking at the fraught development of Windows 1.0. During development it was called vaporware, it w…

Published on 7 months, 2 weeks ago

IDRIS Is Not UNIX

Episode 149

This episode we are taking a trip back to UNIX world. We're looking at IDRIS, the first clone of UNIX. It was supposed to be highly compatible, but use no code from Bell Labs. IDRIS ran on everything…

Published on 8 months ago

Is BLISS Ignorance?

Episode 148

In 1970 a little language called BLISS emerged from Carnegie Mellon University. It was a systems language, meant for operating systems and compilers. It was designed, in part, as a response to Dijkst…

Published on 8 months, 2 weeks ago

Molecular Electronic Computer

Episode 127

In 1961 Texas Instruments unveiled the Molecular Electronic Computer, aka: Mol-E-Com. It was a machine that fit in the palm of your hand, but had all the power of a much larger computer. This was in …

Published on 9 months ago

The Z4

Episode 146

The Z4, completed by Konrad Zuse in 1945, is a computer with a wild story. It was made from scrounged parts, survived years of bombing raids, moved all around Berlin, and eventually took refuge in ba…

Published on 9 months, 2 weeks ago

Zuse's Mysterious Machines

Episode 145

In 1933 Konrad Zuse, a German civil engineer, caught the computing bug. It would consume the rest of his life. According Zuse he invented the world's first digital computer during WWII, working in ne…

Published on 9 months, 4 weeks ago