Mastodawn

I'm going back through the @ataripodcast library and heard @savetz mention a fun interview with Mark Knutsen, who won first prize at a science fair with his simulation of the gravitational interactions between four stars, which he implemented in #ValFORTH on an #Atari800 after reading an article by A. K. Dewdney in the January 1986 #ScientificAmerican magazine, outlining how star cluster behaviour is investigated using computational models.

The interview with Mark Knutsen is on YouTube, where he demonstrates his program running in an emulator: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwLgCPqi8FA

The same video on archive.org, if YouTube gives you the ick: https://archive.org/details/mark-knutsen

Mark's software as Atari disk images: https://forums.atariage.com/topic/324288-marks-1986-science-fair-project/

The podcast episode on which I heard Kay's mention of the interview: https://ataripodcast.libsyn.com/antic-episode-81-whos-in-control-the-atari-or-the-pi

The ValFORTH documentation, if you're inspired to explore further: https://archive.org/details/ValFORTHDocumentation/mode/1up

Thank you @savetz (and @floppydays!) for your time and effort arranging, recording, editing and publishing these interviews. It's important social history of a unique time and circumstance.

Atari at the Science Fair: Mark Knutsen, Star Cluster Simulator— interview

YouTube

Kay Savetz Apr 13

Some guy is launching a new retrocomputing magazine called… COMPUTE!’s Gazette. The original magazine of that name was C64 only, but apparently this one is not

https://markets.financialcontent.com/stocks/article/prlog-2025-4-11-iconic-computes-gazette-magazine-returns-after-35-years-expands-focus-to-entire-retro-computing

Iconic Compute!'s Gazette Magazine Returns After 35 Years, Expands Focus to Entire Retro Computing

Kay Savetz Mar 16

Here's my new interview with Bill and David Lappen, founders of Buy-Phone. Launched 1982, it may be the first online yellow pages. It provided business listings, movie times, and personal ads in the Los Angeles area, for free to callers at up to 1200 bits per second. https://youtu.be/jUXe_HN9SYE

Also: scans of Buy-Phone advertisements, news clippings, and ephemera https://archive.org/details/buy-phone

Bill and David Lappen, Buy-Phone founders — interview

YouTube

Kay Savetz Mar 10

Amin Girasol Mar 10

Interesting interview episode of "ANTIC, The Atari 8-bit Podcast" by @savetz with Steve Kranish, who reverse-engineered Frogger while at Parker Brothers to produce the 8kb cartridge version for the Atari, a format for which Parker Brothers had the rights.¹ (Remember the board games Monopoly, Clue[do], Risk and Trivial Pursuit? All Parker Brothers games.)

Steve is blisteringly critical of Parker management, repeatedly condemning them for being risk-averse and short-sighted, among other sins. His critique is refreshingly biting and gives a taste of the way incumbents flailed around, attempting to understand and predict the possibilities of computer gaming, sometimes handing a lead to a more adventurous competitor.

Episode webpage: https://ataripodcast.libsyn.com/antic-interview-454-steve-kranish-parker-brothers-frogger

Media file: https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/ataripodcast/ANTIC_Interview_454_Steve_Kranish_Parker_Brothers_Frogger.mp3

#RetroComputing #CrashOf83

¹ The legal shenanigans around Tetris stemmed from breaches the same kind of format-dependant licencing arrangements.

ANTIC The Atari 8-bit Podcast: ANTIC Interview 454 - Steve Kranish, Parker Brothers Frogger

Steve Kranish, Parker Brothers Frogger Steve Kranish is the creator of the Atari 8-bit and Atari 5200 versions of Frogger, the versions published by Parker Brothers. Parker Brothers had the rights to publish cartridge versions of Frogger. Sierra On-Line had already published versions of Frogger on floppy disk and cassette, so Parker Brothers bought the rights to use that version as the basis for its cartridge version. But there were a few problems: for one, the 13K cassette game would need to be shrunk to fit on an 8K cartridge. Another: the source code was lost. Steve also worked on an Atari 8-bit version of the board game Risk, and a game called Baker’s Dozen, both of which were unfinished. He also worked on Project Zelda, Parker Brothers investigation into distributing Atari VCS games via cable television. This interview took place on March 2, 2025. In 2016, I interviewed John Harris, who programmed the Sierra Online version of Frogger (as well as Jawbreaker and Mouskattack). Check the show notes for the link to that.

Kay Savetz Feb 28

Jeff Atwood Feb 28

Vintage Tech Stickers: time to remind ourselves what we can truly count on. https://www.vintagetechstickers.com

Vintage Tech Stickers

Kay Savetz Jan 24

I created this site years ago. Free, printable versions of the founding documents of the USA, including the U.S. Constitution, Bill of Rights, Declaration of Independence, and other rights laid out by America's founders. No ads, no tracking. https://www.PrintableConstitution.com

Printable U.S. Constitution

American founding documents including Constitution, Bill of Rights, and Declaration of Independence, free to download and print.

Kay Savetz Jan 19

Useful tonight for #tiktok Americans with command line skillz:

yt-dlp -o "%(id)s.%(ext)s" h t t p://tiktok.com/@username

(remove the extra spaces in http — mastodon is trying to be helpful by making it a link)

Kay Savetz Jan 4

Hot off the podcast press Atari 8-bit goodness https://ataripodcast.libsyn.com/antic-episode-113-feeling-fancy

ANTIC The Atari 8-bit Podcast: ANTIC Episode 113 - Feeling Fancy!

ANTIC Episode 113 - Feeling Fancy! In this episode of ANTIC The Atari 8-Bit Computer Podcast… The clear case Kickstarter doesn’t make it, lots of FujiNet news, and we end the year 2024 with a bang by bringing you all the rest of the Atari news; all while Kay is feeling fancy… READY! Recurring Links Interview index: Links for Items Mentioned in Show: What we’ve been up to FASTBASIC on Mac - () 10-liner option of FASTBASIC - Finished archiving Lee Pappas’ disks!! - Eaten by a Grue is back - Kay TODO - Keeping Up With Atari: Neoliberal Expectations in Early Electronics Advertising - keyboard to replace domes on 130XE - News Clearcase Kickstarter update - SpartaDOS 4.50 update - RM800XL update (from Philsan) with images: Philsan post - RM 800XL site - FujiNet news: FujiNet RAPID 13 (2024 wrap-up) and RAPID 12 by Andy Diller - FujiNet news substack by Brian Cox - Video by The VintNerd and Brian Cox on FujiNet - Atari FujiNet User's and Programmer's Guide (First Draft) - Thomas Cherryhomes - Atari Party East 2024 update from Andy Diller (Photos): Atari 1200XL-1MB, Solder-Less 1088K SRAM-Based Memory Replacement Board by MyTek - The Joy of Sticks article in ROMchip Journal Altirra V4.30 - ABBUC Magazine 159 - Bubble-Bobble for the Atari 8-bit released - Via Bill Lange on bluesky: “Playing "Kaiser", a pretty version of "Hammurabi" or "Kingdom" on the Atari 8-bit. I translated most of the German to English here” - “Archer Maclean’s DropZone returns with 40th Anniversary Edition landing this December” - Upcoming Shows Vintage Computer Festival SoCal - February 15-17, 2025 - Hotel Fera Events Center, Orange, CA - Midwest Gaming Classic - April 4-6 - Baird Center, Milwaukee, WI - VCF East - April 4-6, 2024 - Wall, NJ - Indy Classic Computer and Video Game Expo - April 12-13 - Crowne Plaza Airport Hotel, Indianapolis, IN - SFGE / VCFSE - June 20-22 Atlanta, GA - Fujiama - August 11-17 - Lengenfeld, Germany - Event page on Floppy Days Website - YouTube Videos How Atari 8-Bit Computers Work - The 8-Bit Guy - Bubble Bobble: Saberman RetroNews - Atari 8-bits Forever - CCA - Atari 8Bit Demoscene - 48k to 128k - The 400 Mini - Exploring Demos - CoffeeCupArcade - Seven Amazing New Atari 8-Bit Games including Bubble Bobble & Time Wizard Deluxe Edition! - ZeroPage Homebrews - Silly Trip Demo for the Atari XL/XE PAL, 64kb and single POKEY by Desire - Heaven6502 - The Best *#@! Christmas Ever: An Atari 8-bit Journey Into The Vertical Blank - Into the Vertical Blank - Atari 2024 Recap video - Al Alcorn presents "Early Days of Atari" Lecture @ Museum of American Heritage (August 22) - 6502 coding on Atari - Ellyse - New at Archive.org

Kay Savetz Jan 3

I've posted my annual letter summarizing my computer history work in the past year. It’s an opportunity to take stock, reflect on accomplishments, and make a plan for the new year. It's my longest-ever "Wrapped" letter, signifying a productive year! https://www.patreon.com/posts/kays-2024-119233408

Kay Savetz Dec 25, 2024

Christmas morning 40 years ago, I got an Apple //c