Antic The Atari 8-bit Podcast

In this episode of ANTIC The Atari 8-bit Computer Podcast: Bill Lange guest-hosts with us and tells us all about the recent Atari Party East.  We talk about all the traveling and Atari things we did over the summer. Kevin throws in a mini-interview he did.  And, Jeff Fulton reviews Tempest Elite Plus. Plus, all the Atari 8-bit news we could find... READY! Recurring Links Floppy Days Podcast AtariArchives.org AtariMagazines.com Kevin’s Book “Terrible Nerd” New Atari books scans at archive.org ANTIC feedback at AtariAge Atari interview discussion thread on AtariAge ANTIC Facebook Page AHCS Eaten By a Grue   Donate to Ted Nelson project at: https://paypal.me/Savetz TEH: Tech Enthusiast Hour - https://tehpodcast.com What We’ve Been Up To Atari Party East 2018 video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JjvP6AA6xg8 Glen’s Retro Show - Atari Party East 2018 Stream - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JjvP6AA6xg8 Ted Nelson Junk Mail project https://archive.org/details/tednelsonjunkmail KansasFest - https://www.kansasfe

Bruce Artwick: Flight Simulator II, Night Mission Pinball   Bruce Artwick was co-founder of SubLOGIC, and creator of the best-selling program, Flight Simulator II. FSII was first available for the Apple II, with versions released later for the TRS-80, Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64, and other platforms. His 1976 master's thesis, A Versatile Computer Generated Dynamic Flight Display, about creating a real-time flight simulator on the PDP-11, provided some of the early research for his flight simulation software.    Bruce was also creator of Night Mission Pinball, a popular pinball game that was available for Apple II, Atari 8-bit, C64, and DOS computers.   This interview took place on August 7, 2018.   Bruce's article, 3-D Computer Graphics (Kilobaud magazine, October 1977)   History of Microsoft Flight Simulator   History of SubLOGIC   Bruce's thesis, A Versatile Computer Generated Dynamic Flight Display   Bruce Artwick in Wikipedia   AtariMania's list of SubLOGIC software   Kevin's Fight simulation books site

Jon Williams: Jet Boot Jack, Timeslip   Jon Williams created several programs for the Atari 8-bit computers, including Jet Boot Jack, Timeslip, Atari Cassette Enhancer, and Linkword German.   This interview took place on August 6, 2018.   Jon on AtariAge   Atari Cassette Enhancer on AtariMania   Atarimania's list of Jon's games

Carlos Reyes: Quick Menu, Rent Wars   Carlos Reyes wrote the game Rent Wars for the Atari 8-bit computers for First Star Software, which was never officially released but found its way onto the Internet years later. He also wrote Quick Menu, a 384-byte program that would display a menu of programs on a floppy disk and let the user choose one to run. The program was designed to fit into a floppy's three boot sectors, so it didn't eat into any of the usable space on the disk. The program was a popular interface to distribute disks of pirated programs, but most people didn't know that Carlos was the author — there was no room for his name in the tiny program. Carlos has found the source code and released it into the public domain.    This interview took place on August 3, 2018. In it, we discuss Jerry White, Fernando Herrera, and Bill Wilkinson, whom I have previously interviewed.   A video version of this interview is available.   Video version of this interview   Quick Menu source code   AtariAge discussion a

Greg Gibbons, Automated Library II    Greg Gibbons was the creator of Automated Library II, software for running school libraries, which was available for the Atari 8-bit and Apple II computers.   There's an article about the software in the April 1985 issue of American Libraries:   “The Automated Library II is a bar-code circulation system that runs on the Atari line of microcomputers. The program, designed for school libraries circulating 30 to 500 items per day, checks books in and out, compiles overdue lists, and prints class records and daily circulation summaries by Dewey Decimal numbers.   Software developer Gregory Gibbons studied the day-to-day activities of a junior high school librarian and then designed a system to automate as much of the repetitious work as possible. The program was extensively tested in a Los Angeles school for over a year before its release.   All inputs are prompted with simple English. The system is so easy to use that the test library used students to perform most of the ope

Tom Snyder, educational software   Tom Snyder was the founder of Computer Learning Connection, which was later renamed to Tom Snyder Productions, a company that created many educational software titles for the school and home computer markets.   The company's home software included Agent USA and Bannercatch (published by Scholastic,) Halley Project (published by Mindscape,) Run For the Money (published by Scarborough Systems,) and In Search of the Most Amazing Thing (published by Spinnaker.) Snooper Troops I and II, both published by Spinnaker, were the first educational software to make the industry's bestseller list. The company made many more software products that it sold directly to schools, including Decisions Decisions and The Other Side.   This interview took place on July 2, 2018.   "I think my favorite memories of all the programs I designed was sitting in bars with a legal pad writing the design out, you know, long before you write code. It was all on paper ... And the longer you can wait before yo

Bob Ertl, REWRITE Word Processor   In 1987, Bob Ertl’s master's thesis was titled "Narrowing the Gap Between the Word Processing Needs of Teachers and the Capabilities of Word Processors for Atari 8-bit Computers." As part of that project, he created a word processor for the Atari computers, aimed at the needs of math teachers. The word processor is called REWRITE and was never widely available. It was only used by a handful of teachers.   Bob has released two versions of the word processor in ATR format, along with the Mac/65 source code and the manual. I scanned his thesis. All of this is available at Internet Archive.   This interview took place on July 10, 2018.   "My wife would help me with this. The way she would help me is she was patient enough to let me explain what my assembly language code was supposed to do. So I had to say it clearly enough for her to be able to follow it, and in doing so I was often able to find the errors that I was looking for."   Master's thesis and REWRITE object/source code

Ed Meyer, physical chemistry experiments with Atari computers   In the 1990s, Ed Meyer was a professor at DePaul University in Chicago, where he taught physical chemistry. In August 1990, The Journal of Chemical Education published his article, "An Inexpensive Computer Station for Undergraduate Laboratories Using the Atari 800XL" in which Ed showed how to interface the Atari controller ports with a 12-bit analog-to-digital converter chip to do chemistry experiments. (The article includes schematics and code in assembly language and BASIC.)   From the article:   "The kind of “interfacing” that has been emphasized in chemical education thus far in this country has been largely limited to using the “game paddle inputs” of a home com- puter, which allows the connection of any device that looks like a variable resistor to the computer. This approach has served admirably as an introduction to the power and versa- tility of inexpensive home computers as data collectors and handlers but suffers from significant disad

John Harris, APX Can’t Quit   John Harris published one program for the Atari computer: Can't Quit, a game that was published by Atari Program Exchange. Can't Quit first appeared in the summer 1983 APX catalog. It was the only program published by this John Harris — although he has the same name as the John Harris who created Jawbreaker (whom I previously interviewed.)   This interview took place on July 5, 2018.   Can't Quit at AtariMania   Can't Stop at BoardGameGeek   ANTIC interview with the other John Harris

David Young, Omnimon   David Young was the creator of Omnimon, the popular hardware monitor/debugger for the Atari 8-bit computers. His other products included DiskScan, a floppy disk utility; Supermon, the predecessor to Omnimon; Omnicom, a terminal program; and Omniview, an 80 column E: handler.    This interview took place on June 11, 2018. In it, we discuss Wes Newell, whom I previously interviewed.    "The IBM PC came out. I looked at it really hard. ... And I thought, 'You know, I really should develop products for this guy.' But it was just such a ugly beast."   ANTIC Interview 212 - Wes Newell, Newell Industries   DiskScan and Atari Disk Data Structures Tutorial   Antic magazine review of Omnimon   Omnivore by Rob McMullen

Rockie "RJ" Morgan, APX Piano Tuner   Rockie “RJ" Morgan published one program through Atari Program Exchange: Piano Tuner, which first appeared in the summer 1983 APX catalog.   This interview took place on June 5, 2018.   Piano Tuner in the summer 1983 APX catalog   Piano Tuner at AtariMania   Unix: An Open Systems Dictionary

Michael McInerney, physics experiments with Atari computers    In the 1980s, Michael McInerney was a professor in the physics department at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, when he wrote several journal articles about how to control experiments and gather data using Atari computers.    The articles included Interfacing the Atari Microcomputer in the Science Laboratory, which appeared in the spring 1983 issue of Journal of Computers in Mathematics and Science Teaching; Game Port Physics - Introductory Experiments in Linear Dynamics, which appeared in the spring 1984 issue; and Computer-Aided Experiments with the Damped Harmonic Oscillator, which appeared in the October 1985 issue of American Journal of Physics.   This interview took place on May 21, 2018.   "The reviewers refused to believe I could do it which such cheap equipment. ... They said it wasn't possible to do it."   Interfacing the Atari Microcomputer in the Science Laboratory   Game Port Physics - Introductory Experiments in Linear Dynamics  

Norm Draper, Draper Pascal   Norm Draper was the creator of Draper Pascal, a version of the Pascal programming language for the Atari 8-bit computers. Draper Pascal started as a commercial program sold directly though advertisements in computer magazines, then later became shareware.   This interview took place on July 3, 2018.   "I offered club members to pay them for every bug they would find in my software. I'd pay them $3. ... There were a few. I didn't have to pay out that much money at all, really."   Draper Pascal "New Product" in Antic magazine, Feb. 1990   Draper Pascal 2.1 Manual   AtariWiki on Draper Pascal   AtariMania's list of Norm's software

Brooke Alderson, Atari TV Commercials   Brooke Alderson was an actor in the 1980s and 1990s: she appeared in several television shows including Murder, She Wrote and Family Ties; and is perhaps best known for her role as Aunt Corene in the 1980 film Urban Cowboy. She also appeared in many TV commercials. She did a 30-second spot for Atari home computers, and was featured on Atari's in-store point-of-purchase laserdisc.   In the commercial, Brooke played the part of a mom who is teased by her teenage daughter for not knowing the states and capitals. By the end of the commercial, having learned from her Atari 400 computer, she can quickly and correctly name the capitals.   On the Electronic Retail Information Center (E.R.I.C.) laserdisc, Brooke also played the part of a mom who extolls the virtues of Atari's educational software, with an emphasis on Scram, the nuclear power plant simulation; and My First Alphabet, software for teaching letters and numbers to small children.   This interview took place on July 2

Dennis Koble: APX Avalanche, Imagic   Dennis Koble was an early Atari employee, where we would become manager of the computer and consumer divisions. He designed Atari's "Touch Me" handheld electronic game. He also wrote three programs that were published by Atari Program Exchange: Avalanche, an adaption of the coin-op game which he also created; and the text adventure games Chinese Puzzle and Sultan's Palace.    He was at Atari for about 4 1/2 years before leaving to co-found the video game publisher Imagic. There, he was perhaps best known for creating "Atlantis" for the Atari 2600 (which we don't actually talk about in this interview.)   This interview took place on May 15, 2018. A video version of this interview is available.   "We had to show our best stuff. And we wanted to show technological tricks that we figured the Activision guys hadn't seen before. I don't know if they felt that rivalry toward us at that point, but it became a rivalry a little later, it really did."    Video version of this inter

Joe Hellesen: Deluxe Invaders, Pac Man, PQ: The Party Quiz Game Joe Hellesen programmed the Atari 8-bit versions of Deluxe Invaders (published by Roklan), and Pac Man (published by Atari,) Gyruss (published by Parker Brothers), and Mickey in the Great Outdoors (published by Disney.) He also coded PQ: The Party Quiz Game (for SunCom.)   This interview took place on April 14, 2018.   AtariMania's list of Joe's software   ANTIC Interview 265 - Ronald Borta, Roklan Software   ANTIC Interview 263 - Bill Stealey, co-founder of MicroProse Software

Atari Computer Roundtable In this episode of ANTIC The Atari 8-bit Computer Podcast: We got some of the biggest names of the current Atari computer community on a live, international conference call to ask: what’s happening in your Atari 8-bit world? Guests Thom Cherryholmes, Ethan Johnson, Joe Decuir, Simon Wells, Curt Vendel, Jeff Fulton, Nir Dary, and Roland Wassenberg. The conversation went in amazing and unexpected directions. READY! Recurring Links Floppy Days Podcast AtariArchives.org AtariMagazines.com Kevin’s Book “Terrible Nerd” New Atari books scans at archive.org ANTIC feedback at AtariAge Atari interview discussion thread on AtariAge ANTIC Facebook Page AHCS Eaten By a Grue   Donate to Ted Nelson project at: https://paypal.me/Savetz TEH: Tech Enthusiast Hour - https://tehpodcast.com What We’ve Been Up To Ted Nelson Junk Mail project https://archive.org/details/tednelsonjunkmail Sophia board project - 9-pin DIN to SCART to HDMI - http://atariage.com/forums/topic/258702-new-development-gtia-in-

Stephen Romejko: APX Melt-Down, Moon Marauder   Stephen Romejko published two games through Atari Program Exchange: Melt-Down and Moon Marauder. Melt-Down was first available in the winter 1982-1983 APX catalog. Moon Marauder was first available in the fall 1983 APX catalog, where it won third prize in the consumer category.   This interview took place on April 14, 2018.   "Melt-Down was causing some special issues ... Apparently the American Nuclear Society took offense to it. ... 'People would develop harmful misconceptions and phobias about the peaceful use of nuclear power.'"   Melt-Down in the winter 1982-1983 APX catalog   Moon Marauder in the fall 1983 APX catalog   AtariMania's list of Stephen's games

Allan Moose, Atari Assembly Language Programmer's Guide   Allan Moose was co-author of the book Atari Assembly Language Programmer's Guide, which was published by Weber Systems in 1986. He wrote the book with his wife and writing partner, Marian Lorenz. She passed away in 1992. The two also wrote many articles for Antic and A.N.A.L.O.G. Computing magazines.  Their articles included many about display list interrupts and vertical blank interrupts, and pretty mathematical graphics routines.    This interview took place on May 12, 2018.   "...pretty much a joint, cooperative effort in writing articles. Sometimes I would have an idea and would sketch something out. Other times Marian would have an idea."   Scan of Atari Assembly Language Programmer’s Guide   Allan's articles in Antic magazine   Allan's articles in A.N.A.L.O.G. Computing magazine   Article in Art & Science Journal    Display Lists Simplified (work in progress article) 

In this episode of ANTIC The Atari 8-bit Computer Podcast:  In this five-year anniversary episode of ANTIC, we reminisce back to show #1 all those years ago, our friend Nir Dary tells us all about Atari Invasion, Jeff Fulton of the Into the Vertical Blank Podcast gives us a game review of Star Island, plus all the Atari 8-bit news that we could find.  Happy 5-Year Anniversary to us! READY! Recurring Links Floppy Days Podcast AtariArchives.org AtariMagazines.com Kevin’s Book “Terrible Nerd” New Atari books scans at archive.org ANTIC feedback at AtariAge Atari interview discussion thread on AtariAge ANTIC Facebook Page AHCS Eaten By a Grue   Donate to Ted Nelson project at: https://paypal.me/Savetz TEH: Tech Enthusiast Hour - https://tehpodcast.com What We’ve Been Up To Dorsett paperwork https://archive.org/details/DorsettLessonQA Charlie Kulas sent and were scanned https://archive.org/details/UpNDown_source https://archive.org/details/BuckRogers_source How Atari 8-Bit Computers Defined a Generation by S