ANTIC The Atari 8-bit Podcast

Stanley Trost, Electronic Arts Financial Cookbook Stanley R. Trost wrote several books about early microcomputers, including Atari BASIC Programs in Minutes, Doing Business with VisiCalc, Multiplan on the Commodore 64, Useful Basic Programs the for IBM PC, VisiCalc for Science and Engineering, and others. He was also the creator of Financial Cookbook, which was published by Electronic Arts in 1984 (and one of only two "home management" titles released by EA, the other being Cut and Paste, "the Remarkably Simple Word Processor"). Financial Cookbook provided 32 financial calculators and decision-making tools, including understanding your marginal tax rate, living on your savings, how much life insurance you need, variable rate mortgages, and so on. Versions of the program were sold for Atari 8-bit and ST, Apple II, Commodore 64, Macintosh, and perhaps other platforms. This interview took place on March 24, 2025. Atari BASIC Programs in Minutes Doing Business with VisiCalc Financial Cookbook at AtariMania Inverse ATASCII podcast about Financial Cookbook, including many screenshots Support Kay's interviews on Patreon

Bill and David Lappen, Buy-Phone It's a dangerous game in the computer history field to call anything the "first." But Buy-Phone is a very strong contender call itself the first online yellow pages. Years before before Yahoo!, before Craigslist, Buy-Phone was a text-based dial-up service — available at 300 and 1200 bits per second — that provided business listings, movie times, and personal ads, all for free to callers. The service launched in late 1982 and was limited to the West Los Angeles area. Buy-Phone was the brainchild of brothers Bill and David Lappen. Here's what the August 1984 issue of IEEE Computer wrote: "Buy-Phone's "electronic yellow pages" service for Los Angeles is answering over 3000 consumer requests per day, on any thing trom movies to restaurants to auto repair - and the best part? It's all free. The philosophy was to provide sponsored information paid for by the advertiser, not the consumer. The computer organizes over 10,000 listings to respond exactly to the caller's request. According to the company, the system had to be easy for computer novices to operate, yet powerful enough to be of value. Four proficiency levels are used, each introducing additional features. Beginning users see only six different categories of listings (restaurants arranged by price or nationality, movie schedules, plays...). As users advance, they see an expanded list and are shown how to formulate a search. Retrieved listings are arranged by their distance from the user, with the closest shown first. Expert users are able to specify the time and day they want to buy an item and get information only about stores that are open then. Buy-Phone is now testing expansion to determine how difficult it will be to create similar systems in other cities. To discover Buy-Phone's service call (213) 474-0270 (300 baud), (213) 470-4679 (1200 baud). Access assistance is available at (213) 474-2220." I interviewed Buy-Phone founders Bill and David Lappen on March 14, 2025. Video version of this interview Buy-Phone advertisements, clippings, and ephemera Buy-Phone Computer Consulting web site Support Kay's interviews on Patreon

ANTIC Episode 115 In this episode of ANTIC The Atari 8-Bit Computer Podcast… we talk lots of contest news, Mr. Paint, a DIY Atari-themed monitor, and lots of other Atari 8-bit news. Plus, we find a book on “exhausting” Atari games! READY! Recurring Links Floppy Days Podcast AtariArchives.org AtariMagazines.com Kay’s Book “Terrible Nerd” New Atari books scans at archive.org ANTIC feedback at AtariAge Atari interview discussion thread on AtariAge Interview index: here ANTIC Facebook Page AHCS Eaten By a Grue Next Without For Links for Items Mentioned in Show: What we’ve been up to Scanned stuff from Timothy Onders https://archive.org/details/stx_Atari_400_800_Personal_Computer_System_Operating_System_Listing_1981-02_CO16579 https://archive.org/details/stx_Atari_400_800_Personal_Computer_System_Hardware_Manual_CO16555_1980-10 https://archive.org/details/APX_Isopleth_Map-Making_Package_manual_APX-20103_1982-06 Pilot book - “Atari 400/800 Student Pilot Reference Guide” by Atari - https://archive.org/details/atari_pilot-student-guide Scanned JACG (Jersey Atari Computer Group) newsletters: October, 1985 - https://archive.org/details/jacg-newsletter-1985-october-vol-5-no-2 November, 1985 - https://archive.org/details/jacg-newsletter-1985-november-vol-5-no-3 Atari newsletters at Internet Archive - https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1RkznDDlOL2O_K-RrbkajIuo6DvYof6Ajrn7j9NTcoDM/edit?usp=sharing Recent Interviews ANTIC Interview 453 - Giann Velasquez, Atariteca - https://ataripodcast.libsyn.com/antic-interview-453-giann-velasquez-atariteca ANTIC Interview 452 - Dean Garraghty, DGS Software ANTIC Interview 454 - Steve Kranish, Parker Brothers Frogger News Mr. Paint by Wade Ripkowski: https://github.com/Ripjetski6502/MrPaint https://forums.atariage.com/topic/379270-mr-paint/ Atari ‘faux neon’ LED logo sign, $40 on pre-order - https://atari.com/products/atari-neon-led-sign-white-12-x-13 “errant” on git - using Atari as a keyboard for a PC. Code and instructions posted: https://git.sdf.org/errant/keytari https://voidptr.org/ Arcade Centipede emulated on Atari 800XL - https://forums.atariage.com/topic/379015-centipede-emulator-for-the-atari-800xl/ FujiCup 2024 Results Announced: https://fujicup.pl/ results page for 2024 - https://fujicup.pl/wyniki2024 Video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xW-z9tD1OW4 Download all 2024 games in ZIP archive Atari Homebrew Awards 2024: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0b3g4Czr0BE Best Atari 8-Bit/5200 Homebrew (Original) - https://forums.atariage.com/topic/379180-7th-annual-atari-homebrew-awards-atari-8-bit5200-homebrew-original/ Best Atari 8-Bit/5200 Homebrew (Port) - ​​https://forums.atariage.com/topic/379181-7th-annual-atari-homebrew-awards-atari-8-bit5200-homebrew-port/ Best Atari 8-Bit/5200 WIP (Original) - https://forums.atariage.com/topic/379182-7th-annual-atari-homebrew-awards-atari-8-bit5200-wip-original/ Best Atari 8-Bit/5200 WIP (Port) - https://forums.atariage.com/topic/379183-7th-annual-atari-homebrew-awards-atari-8-bit5200-wip-port/ 800XL gets a mention in Hackaday article - https://hackaday.com/2025/02/21/genetic-algorithm-runs-on-atari-800-xl/ XCL10 Monitor - Marcin "Fokaszalot" - Baran - https://atarionline.pl/v01/index.php?ct=nowinki&ucat=1&subaction=showfull&id=1740334426 BASIC 10-Liner Contest - https://gkanold.wixsite.com/homeputerium/copy-of-games-list-2024 Via bill kendrick - https://www.timeextension.com/features/interview-it-was-a-suicide-mission-larry-siegel-reflects-on-ataris-failed-war-on-nintendo Compute! Magazine ATR by Issue #4 to #95 - Rory McMahon - https://discord.com/channels/1071168010427060324/1071168010427060327/1340108131690348607 https://www.eurogamer.net/40-years-on-rescue-on-fractalus-remains-a-rare-reminder-of-the-magic-of-lucasfilm-games Computer Dealer Demos: Selling Home Computers with Bouncing Balls and Animated Logos by Patryk Wasiak, Institute for Cultural Studies, University of Wrocław,...

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. Video version of this interview 2007 interview with Steve at Atari Compendium Steve's games at AtariMania Steve on Atariage ANTIC Interview 200 - John Harris: Jawbreaker, Frogger, Mouskattack Support Kay on Patreon

ANTIC Interview 453 - Giann Velasquez, Atariteca Hello, and welcome to this interview-only episode of ANTIC, The Atari 8-bit computer podcast. I’m Randy Kindig, your host for this episode. Giann Velasquez is the owner and curator of the popular, Spanish-language, Atari 8-bit news site, Atariteca. Giann is a consummate Atari 8-bit fan and lives in Lima, Peru. This interview took place on June 30, 2024. Links Atariteca - https://www.atariteca.net.pe/ Blog about Atari 8-bit computers. News, guides and analysis on emulators, games and programs for Atari XL/XE series computers.

ANTIC Episode 114 - Andy Diller Returns! In this episode of ANTIC The Atari 8-Bit Computer Podcast… we have special guest Andy Diller for a FujiNet update and to let us know about all the great things he’s working on… READY! Recurring Links Floppy Days Podcast AtariArchives.org AtariMagazines.com Kay’s Book “Terrible Nerd” New Atari books scans at archive.org ANTIC feedback at AtariAge Atari interview discussion thread on AtariAge Interview index: here ANTIC Facebook Page AHCS Eaten By a Grue Next Without For Links for Items Mentioned in Show: What we’ve been up to ANTIC Interview 450 - Robert Leyland: AtariArtist, KoalaPainter, MicroIllustrator Kay’s 2024 wrapped - https://www.patreon.com/posts/kays-2024-119233408 Lee Pappas ANALOG disks treasure hunt: https://forums.atariage.com/topic/378256-lee-pappas-analog-disks-treasure-hunt/ https://github.com/scttgs0/titan-prototype-atari8 S.T.A.R. newsletter - https://www.atariorbit.org/star/ Rogul game: https://www.atariorbit.org/2025/01/16/rogul-an-interview-with-wojciech-bocianski/ http://bocianu.atari.pl/ YouTube video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOm0njTd4tI Installing Altirra on ARM Macs - https://www.atariorbit.org/2024/12/26/altirra-arm-and-sequoia/ News TNFS GUI for OSX & Windows (nwah) - https://github.com/FujiNetWIFI/tnfsd-gui?tab=readme-ov-file#tnfs-server-manager FujiNet Virtual Printer Output Examples (Thom Cherryhomes) - https://fujinet.online/2025/01/22/fujinet-virtual-printer-examples/ FujiNet and GitHub (Thom Cherryhomes) - https://youtu.be/aYwUGnfU5c0 FujiNet NOS By Example (Thom Cherryhomes) - https://fujinet.online/2025/01/08/fujinet-nos-a-network-only-dos/ Atari 65XE in laptop form on Hackaday - https://hackaday.com/2025/01/05/atari-65xe-in-laptop-form/ New season 2025 of the High Score Club: https://forums.atariage.com/topic/378830-new-season-2025-of-the-high-score-club/ https://forums.atariage.com/forum/60-8-bit-high-score-club/ Replacement Case for 800XL Coming to Kickstarter Q2 2025 - joeventura - https://forums.atariage.com/topic/378702-replacement-case-for-800xl/ from Atariteca: Inufuto releases «Mieyen» for Atari 8-bit and 60 other retro systems: Article at Atariteca - https://www.atariteca.net.pe/2025/01/inufuto-lanza-mieyen-para-atari-8-bits.html YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqRwCAygyeI (Atari 8 Bits For Ever) A8E - Atari 800 Emulator - https://www.zerstoerung.de/ A JavaScript emulator built using A8E - https://forums.atariage.com/topic/224709-jsa8e-javascript-atari-800-xl-emulator-online/ BW-DOS 1.5 update - https://github.com/HolgerJanz/BW-DOS Upcoming Shows Vintage Computer Festival SoCal - February 15-17, 2025 - Hotel Fera Events Center, Orange, CA - vcfsocal.com Midwest Gaming Classic - April 4-6 - Baird Center, Milwaukee, WI - https://www.midwestgamingclassic.com/ VCF East - April 4-6, 2025 - Wall, NJ - http://www.vcfed.org Indy Classic Computer and Video Game Expo - April 12-13 - Crowne Plaza Airport Hotel, Indianapolis, IN - https://indyclassic.org/ VCF Europe - May 3-4 - Munich, Germany - https://vcfe.org/E/ Vancouver Retro Gaming Expo - June 14 - New Westminster, BC, Canada - https://www.vancouvergamingexpo.com/index.html VCF Southwest - June 20-22, 2025 - Davidson-Gundy Alumni Center at UT Dallas - https://www.vcfsw.org/ Southern Fried Gaming Expo and VCF Southeast - June 20-22, 2025 - Atlanta, GA - https://gameatl.com/ Silly Venture SE (Summer Edition) - July 31-Aug. 3 - Gdansk, Poland - https://www.demoparty.net/silly-venture/silly-venture-2025-se Fujiama - August 11-17 - Lengenfeld, Germany - http://atarixle.ddns.net/fuji/2025/ VCF Midwest - September 13-14, 2025 - Renaissance Schaumburg Convention Center in Schaumburg, IL - http://vcfmw.org/ Portland Retro Gaming Expo - October 17-19 - Oregon Convention Center, Portland, OR - https://retrogamingexpo.com/ YouTube Videos Using Atari with FujiNet to build source from Github Part 2: The Princess and the Frog -...

ANTIC Interview 452 - Dean Garraghty Hello, and welcome to this interview-only episode of ANTIC, The Atari 8-bit computer podcast. I’m Randy Kindig, your host for this episode. Dean Garraghty is the proprietor of DGS Software, which sold, and continues to sell, software for the Atari 8-bit computers since the 80’s. This is a very low cost, 191-disk set that includes an entire utility pack, games, issues of a disk-based newsletter, a sound and music package, an interesting programming language called Quick, and more. Dean has been an Atari enthusiast since the 80’s and has an interesting story to tell concerning his journey with the Atari 8-bit. This interview took place on April 6, 2024. Links DGS Website - http://www.dgs.clara.net/ DGS post on AtariAge - https://forums.atariage.com/topic/268373-dgs-pd-library-the-whole-lot-to-download/ YouTube channel - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLn2nyiuk_OaW1Is4cZtvtQ

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 Floppy Days Podcast AtariArchives.org AtariMagazines.com Kay’s Book “Terrible Nerd” New Atari books scans at archive.org ANTIC feedback at AtariAge Atari interview discussion thread on AtariAge Interview index: here ANTIC Facebook Page AHCS Eaten By a Grue Next Without For Links for Items Mentioned in Show: What we’ve been up to FASTBASIC on Mac - (https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=EricCarr.fastbasic-debugger) 10-liner option of FASTBASIC - https://github.com/dmsc/fastbasic/blob/master/compiler/USAGE.md#passing-options-to-the-compiler Finished archiving Lee Pappas’ disks!! - https://forums.atariage.com/topic/378256-lee-pappas-analog-disks-treasure-hunt/ Eaten by a Grue is back - https://monsterfeet.com/grue/notes/56 Kay TODO - https://www.atariorbit.org/2024/12/26/altirra-arm-and-sequoia/ https://www.smoliva.blog/post/friend-of-the-blog-006-kay-savetz-antic-hybrid-arts/ Keeping Up With Atari: Neoliberal Expectations in Early Electronics Advertising - https://tmgonline.nl/articles/10.18146/tmg.847 keyboard to replace domes on 130XE - https://amzn.to/4i10QZz News Clearcase Kickstarter update - https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/seethruit/injection-molded-clear-case-for-atari-800xl-computer SpartaDOS 4.50 update - https://sdx.atari8.info/index.php?show=en_download_release RM800XL update (from Philsan) with images: Philsan post - https://mastodon.world/@Philsan/113627289787765526 RM 800XL site - https://revive-machines.com/index-en.html FujiNet news: FujiNet RAPID 13 (2024 wrap-up) and RAPID 12 by Andy Diller - https://www.atariorbit.org/rapid/ FujiNet news substack by Brian Cox - https://fujinews.substack.com/ Video by The VintNerd and Brian Cox on FujiNet - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XcsSznKbTs Atari FujiNet User's and Programmer's Guide (First Draft) - Thomas Cherryhomes - https://fujinet.online/2024/12/31/early-draft-of-fujinet-users-manual-for-atari-users-0-0-2/ Atari Party East 2024 update from Andy Diller (Photos): https://www.flickr.com/photos/vladimirvince/albums/72177720322425117 https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/t0qh6ekylnscbq6vbkkh8/APXF0_WBraGyO64fhDhVFIQ?rlkey=iey7dmfhet3ecahy229tzhfsy&e=1&dl=0 Atari 1200XL-1MB, Solder-Less 1088K SRAM-Based Memory Replacement Board by MyTek - https://forums.atariage.com/topic/378131-atari-1200xl-1mb-solder-less-1088k-sram-based-memory-replacement-board/ The Joy of Sticks article in ROMchip Journal https://www.romchip.org/index.php/romchip-journal/article/view/204 Altirra V4.30 - https://forums.atariage.com/topic/378003-altirra-430-released/ ABBUC Magazine 159 - http://www.abbuc.de Bubble-Bobble for the Atari 8-bit released - https://vega.atari.pl/main-page/bubble-bobble/ 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” - https://github.com/billlange1968/Kaiser/wiki “Archer Maclean’s DropZone returns with 40th Anniversary Edition landing this December” - https://www.flickeringmyth.com/archer-macleans-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 - vcfsocal.com Midwest Gaming Classic - April 4-6 - Baird Center, Milwaukee, WI - https://www.midwestgamingclassic.com/ VCF East - April 4-6, 2024 - Wall, NJ - http://www.vcfed.org Indy Classic Computer and Video Game Expo - April 12-13 - Crowne Plaza Airport Hotel, Indianapolis, IN - https://indyclassic.org/ SFGE / VCFSE - June 20-22 Atlanta, GA - https://gameatl.com/ Fujiama - August 11-17 - Lengenfeld, Germany -...

Daniel Serpell (dmsc), Creator of FastBasic Daniel Serpell (dmsc) is the creator of FastBasic, a modern implementation of the BASIC programming language for the Atari 8-bit computers. He released the first version to the public in 2017. Today, the GPL-licensed language is up to version 4.6, and is a favorite of 10-line BASIC game contest entrants and anyone who wants a speedy, modern take on Atari programming. I'm going to crib from AtariWiki's description of FastBasic: "It is a complete re-implementation of the BASIC system, using a built-in bytecode compiler rather than a tokenizing interpreter. Typical BASICs use an interpreter that examines every line of code as the program runs. ... FastBasic works on an entirely different principle. When a line is parsed in FastBasic, it (essentially) compiles the entire line into tokens and then leaves them in memory. This way the line does not have to be repeatedly parsed, even from the simplified token format, which makes it much faster to run." FastBasic has other enhancements, including new commands for player-missiles and communicating with FujiNet, an option to only use faster integer math instead of floating point, and structured programming instead of line numbers. This interview took place on December 21, 2024. Video version of this interview FastBasic at github FastBasic at AtariWiki 10-line BASIC Contest Daniel at atariage Viña del Mar, Chile BW-DOS ANTIC Interview 436 - Rodrigo Castro, Atari in Chile FastBasic Debugger Extension for VSCode Support Kay's interview on Patreon

Robert Leyland: AtariArtist, KoalaPainter, MicroIllustrator Robert Leyland programmed AtariArtist, KoalaPainter, and MicroIllustrator (along with Steve Dompier) - the graphics applications that worked with KoalaPad, Atari Touch Tablet, and Chalk Board PowerPad drawing tablets. Prior to that, he programmed The Dragon's Eye (published by Automated Simulations/EPYX), Murder on the Zinderneuf (published by Electronic Arts) and, with Jaron Lanier, the Atari version of Alien Garden for Automated Simulations. This interview took place on January 21, 2023. Video version of this interview Robert's utilities at AtariMania Robert's games at AtariMania ANTIC Interview 104 - Aric Wilmunder, Star Raiders II, Temple of Apshai ANTIC Interview 70 - Jon Freeman, Freefall Associates De Re Atari Support Kay's interview on Patreon

Tim Boehlert, Atari's WCI Labs Division Tim Boehlert began at Atari in 1982. He worked at WCI Labs, the New York Atari subsidiary, where he worked on the broadboard of the 600XL, robotics projects, and mass storage devices. This interview took place on June 4, 2022. Video version of this interview ANTIC Interview 65 - Steve Mayer, 400/800 Designer ANTIC Interview 332 - Mike Matthews, Alien Group Voice Box ANTIC Interview 383 - Gregg Squires, Atari Manager of Hardware Engineering Strong Museum of Play Support Kay's interview on Patreon

Frank Foster, Hybrid Arts Frank Foster was one of the founders of Hybrid Arts, the company that made MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) hardware and software for Atari 8-bit and Atari ST computers. Frank was in charge of marketing for the company. After Hybrid Arts, Frank headed the music division at Atari, where he build marketing partnerships with Tangerine Dream, Fleetwood Mac, Peter Gabriel, and other musicians. I talked with two of the other Hybrid Arts founders, Robert Moore and Paul Rother, in my previous interview. This interview took place on February 20, 2024. Video version of this interview My interview with Robert Moore and Paul Rother Hotz MIDI Translator: Atari Team Redefines Electronic Instruments Frank Foster Biography Frank's SIGGRAPH documentary on computer graphics Hybrid Arts Timeline, Founders, and Goals document by Robert Moore Midi Maze at AtariMania ANTIC Interview 434 - Michael Park: Swan and Fujiboink Demos, MIDI Maze ANTIC Interview 193 - Gary Yost, The Catalog and Cyber Studio Support Kay's interview on Patreon

Robert Moore and Paul Rother, Hybrid Arts MIDIMate Robert Moore and Paul Rother were two of the founders of Hybrid Arts, along with Frank Foster and Alan Hart. Hybrid Arts created the MIDIMate, hardware that added Musical Instrument Digital Interface capability to the the Atari 8-bit computers; and various software for it including MIDITrack. Hybrid Arts continued on to make a wide variety of MIDI and music software for the Atari ST (which has built-in MIDI) including EZ-Track. Paul was the programmer, Robert the music and sales person, and Frank Foster was the marketing person. Frank couldn't make it to this interview due to scheduling issues, but he'll be in my next interview. This interview took place on January 18, 2024. Video version of this interview Hybrid Arts Timeline, Founders, and Goals document by Robert Moore Hybrid Arts - Revolutionize the Process of Modern Movie Making Hybrid Arts on Computer Chronicles (starts at 8 minutes) 8-bit Hybrid Arts software at AtariMania Atari ST Hybrid Arts software at AtariMania MIDI Track III Manual Midipatch: DX Editor for Yamaha DX manual mt-32pi Roland MT-32 emulator Support Kay's interviews on Patreon

Mary Eisenhart, MicroTimes magazine Mary Eisenhart was editor of MicroTimes magazine, a free, advertising-supported magazine that was distributed in California. The first issue was May 1984, and Mary remained at the magazine until 1998, producing more than 180 issues. MicroTimes provided interviews, computer industry news, rumors, and columns, and - of course - advertising. For most of its run, there were two editions of each issue: Northern California and Southern California. When she left MicroTimes, Mary took with her a copy or two of every issue, which years later were scanned by Internet Archive. The almost-complete collection is now online, full-text searchable, where they can be read online or downloaded. As a young teenager growing up in Southern California, I read MicroTimes whenever I could find it, usually in record stores. It was a great computer magazine, with the huge bonus that it was free. When I graduated college in Northern California, I wrote for MicroTimes as often as possible (Mary was my editor.) The $200 per article paychecks were the start of my freelance writing career. Mary and I didn't talk too much about Atari in this interview, but rest assured there was plenty of material of interest to Atari lovers in MicroTimes. For instance, issue 1 has Mary's interview with Jon Freeman and Anne Westfall, creators of Archon. A 1985 cover article features "The People Behind 'The Print Shop'" — and there was a long-running Atari ST column written by Helmi Kobler. This interview took place on November 25, 2024. Video version of this interview at YouTube MicroTimes at Internet Archive [NEEDED for scanning: Volume 2 Number 12, most of Volume 3] Mary's web site BAM Magazine in Wikipedia Hedy Lamarr issue Kay's first published article Support Kay's interviews on Patreon

ANTIC Episode 112 In this episode of ANTIC The Atari 8-Bit Computer Podcast… we have several Christmas ideas for you, we tell you about projects that would allow creating a new reproduction Atari 800XL, and we wet our appetites for the current Atari’s hot sauce while wearing their ugly Christmas sweater … READY! Recurring Links Floppy Days Podcast AtariArchives.org AtariMagazines.com Kay’s Book “Terrible Nerd” New Atari books scans at archive.org ANTIC feedback at AtariAge Atari interview discussion thread on AtariAge Interview index: here ANTIC Facebook Page AHCS Eaten By a Grue Next Without For Links for Items Mentioned in Show: What we’ve been up to Vox ex Machina: A Cultural History of Talking Machines by Sarah A. Bell - https://archive.org/details/mit_press_book_9780262375870/page/169/mode/2up?q=savetz Intellivision: How a Videogame System Battled Atari and Almost Bankrupted Barbie by Tom Boellstorff and Braxton Soderman - https://archive.org/details/mit_press_book_9780262380553/ MIT Press: Open Access Materials - https://archive.org/details/mit_press_open_access A Treasure Chest of Ampex Tapes Saves Early Computer History - https://www.ampex.com/a-treasure-chest-of-ampex-tapes-saves-early-computer-history/ Atari 400/800 Reference Card (Atari BASIC and Microsoft BASIC) by Nanos Systems Corp. - https://archive.org/details/1984-03-anticmagazine/page/102/mode/2up Best of Creative Computing (Volumes I & III): https://archive.org/details/Best_of_Creative_Computing_Vol_1_1978_Creative_Computing_Press https://archive.org/details/bestofcreativeco0003unse Cassette repair - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DCGJ7GQF Stray Pointers podcast with the ANTIC crew - Jim Lawless - https://straypointers.com/e/s2e19.htm Recent Interview Shows ANTIC Interview 442 - Bob Stein, Atari Research ANTIC Interview 443 - Rick Reaser, Current Notes Magazine ANTIC Interview 444 - Nick Kennedy, SIO2PC and ATR ANTIC Interview 445 - Vince Cate, The Critical Connection News Ugly Christmas sweaters - https://atari.com/collections/holiday-collection?filter.p.product_type=Sweatshirts&sort_by=manual Atari Hot Sauce - https://atarisauce.com/ Christmas Critters: https://www.atariteca.net.pe/2024/11/anuncian-demo-de-christmas-critters.html And at AtariAge - https://forums.atariage.com/topic/375904-christmas-critters-wip-game-demo/ he just released an “engine prototype demo” - https://tigerskunk.itch.io/atari-xmasdemo And Saberman has already done a quick video on it - https://youtu.be/efP2WOLnxvY Revive Machines is working on the injection molds of RM 800XL, the modern FPGA recreation of the Atari 800XL - Philsan69: https://x.com/philsan69/status/1856461217792999494?s=58 https://revive-machines.com/index-en.html Clear Case Kickstarter for 800XL has begun (Nov. 1) - https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/seethruit/injection-molded-clear-case-for-atari-800xl-computer/ Brian Reifsnyder Designs an "Advanced Remake" of Atari's 800XL Mainboard - https://www.hackster.io/news/brian-reifsnyder-designs-an-advanced-remake-of-atari-s-800xl-mainboard-95cbc0823bb3.amp AtariBASICs November newsletter - John Zielke - https://ataribasics.com/ Atari Addict Collector’s Magazine - https://www.pixel.addict.media/shop/atari-addict-magazine Atari Programmers Society Newsletter: https://archive.org/details/wire-taps-atari-programmers-society-newsletter-april-1986-vol-4-num-4 v1n6 1983 - https://archive.org/details/wiretaps-v1n6 Cartridge extender card for the Atari 1200XL - ReifsnyderB - https://www.tindie.com/products/5cfab/cartridge-extender-card-for-the-atari-1200xl/ Improved Keyboard on an XE - https://amzn.to/4i10QZz Vintage Computer Center starting back up (Gavin Haubelt) - http://www.vintagecomputercenter.com FastBASIC install/debugger - Eric Carr https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=EricCarr.fastbasic-debugger https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fOm8Mq4qFA 400 mini it is available from Amazon Germany for $54...

Vince Cate, The Critical Connection In my last interview, I talked with the creator of SIO2PC, which let Atari users use a DOS computer as its disk drive and printer. This interview is with the creator a product which - six years earlier - let Atari users use a CP/M computer as its disk drive and printer (and keyboard.) Vince Cate owned a company called USS Enterprises, with just one product: The Critical Connection. Critical Connection was a combination of a specialized cable and software for connecting an Atari 8-bit to a computer running CP/M. The long cable had an SIO plug on one end and a 25-pin serial plug on the other, and some chips in the middle, allowing the Atari and CP/M box to communicate at 19,200 bps. The Critical Connection was released in 1983, six years before SIO2PC. They shared many similar features: with it you could: use an entire CP/M floppy disk as an emulated 600K Atari disk drive, create 92KB CP/M disk files which emulated Atari 90KB disks, and print from the Atari to the CP/M computer's printer. The CP/M machine even acted as a print spooler. You could also use the CP/M machine's keyboard to type on the Atari. Vince needed to create a file format to store virtual floppy disks on the CP/M machine: the filename extension was .ATR. I don't know positively, but I'm pretty sure it's a different file format from the well-known .ATR format that Nick Kennedy created for SIO2PC six years later... just similar functionality given similar names. Nick Kennedy told me that he had never heard of The Critical Connection. Here's what Jerry Pournelle wrote about Critical Connection in the September 1983 issue of Byte magazine: "Vincent Cate continues to improve his Critical Connection. This gadget makes an Atari think a CP/M computer system is a set of disks. The only requirement is that your CP/M system have an RS-232C serial port operating at 19,200 bps. Given that, you needn't buy disks for an Atari; by using The Critical Connection, you can make the Atari believe you have four disks. The really nice part is that you can use 8-inch as well as 5 1/4 -inch disks. Cate's new software package has automatic installation for a number of CP/M systems, including Kaypro, North Star, Sanyo, CCS, Heath/Zenith, and Morrow. ... Cate's documentation is improved, but it's not what I'd call good. Still, you can puzzle it out, and if you don't want to invest a lot in an Atari system but still want to use disks with it, Cate's Critical Connection is the way to go." This interview took place on November 20, 2024. Video version of this interview on YouTube Vince's web site Vince in Wikipedia Critical Connection review in ANALOG magazine 1986-02 CC version 1 in Antic XL version in Antic In Byte 1983-09 In Dr. Dobbs Journal 1983-09 Critical Connection at AtariMania ANTIC Interview 444 - Nick Kennedy, SIO2PC and ATR Support Kay's interviews on Patreon

Nick Kennedy, SIO2PC and the ATR File Format Nick Kennedy is the creator of SIO2PC, the hardware and software combination that allowed Atari 8-bit computer users to use a PC as a peripheral. In 1989, this was unprecedented, a new way to connect the little Atari to the bigger world, to the (relatively) massive storage and speed of a computer running PC-DOS. For the first time, Ataris could use a PC as storage, RAM disk, and printer. Nick also created the .ATR file format, which quickly became the standard for using virtual floppy disks on Atari emulators. Nick also created 10502PC, a cable that let you connect an Atari floppy drive directly to a PC; and AtariCOM, a less well-known utility that allowed two Atari 8-Bit computers to communicate using the SIO and joystick ports. And, he created Atari-based amateur radio tools: a terminal program for packet radio, and Morse code keyer software, which he and I talked about in detail in our previous interview. This interview took place on November 1, 2024. Video version of this interview on YouTube Nick's web site Nick's SIO2PC page Previous interview with Nick about ham radio: ANTIC Interview 441 - Nick Kennedy, Atari Morse Code Keyer ANTIC Interview 144 - Stephen Lawrow, Mac/65 assembler Bob Woolley's Review of SIO2PC in Atari Interface Magazine 1991-01 1993 Atari Classics article: SIO2PC: Slave An IBM To Your 8-Bit The .ATR File Format ANTIC Interview 441 - Nick Kennedy, Atari Morse Code Keyer AtariCom software DAK catalogs Best Electronics Mapping the Atari by Ian Chadwick AtariMax APE and ProSystem Old Hackers Atari User Group newsletter disks Nick Kennedy on AtariAge Support Kay's interviews on Patreon

Rick Reaser, Current Notes Magazine's 8-bit Editor Rick Reaser was the 8-bit Editor of Current Notes Magazine, a popular magazine dedicated to the Atari computers. He began in 1992, and wrote a column called 8-Bit Tidbits. Rick used his Atari 8-bit computer exclusively through his college years and for programming for grad school. He was also president of P3ACE - Pikes Peak Poke Atari Computer Enthusiasts - a user group serving the Colorado Springs area. This interview took place on February 11, 2023. Video version of this interview at YouTube P3ACE newsletters Rick's "Atari Revolution" quote Current Notes at Internet Archive The Current Notes issue Kay received from Rick Art of Computer Programming by Donald Knuth Rick's letter to Antic Magazine Volume 7 Number 11 "My kids love Talking Toddle" Support Kay's interviews on Patreon

Bob Stein, Atari’s Encyclopedia Project Bob Stein worked at Atari Research for 18 months beginning in 1981. He was hired by Alan Kay. He worked almost exclusively on an encyclopedia project, a potential collaboration between Atari and Encyclopaedia Britannica that never went anywhere. I learned about Bob after he uploaded an item called The Atari Drawings to Internet Archive. It's a collection of nine colorful pencil drawings, drawn in 1982 by Disney animator Glen Keane. The drawings depict futuristic scenarios where people use a computerized encyclopedia to get information: for instance, "An earthquake wakes a couple in the middle of the night. The Intelligent Encyclopedia, connected to an online service, informs them of the severity of the earthquake and makes safety tips readily available." and "A mother and her children looking into a tidepool in Laguna ask the Intelligent Encyclopedia about the plants and animals that they see." Bob described the collection of art in his introduction to the document: "In 1982 executives from Warner, Inc., Atari's parent company, were scheduled to visit the Research Lab where the Encyclopedia Project was located. Brenda Laurel and I came up with these scenarios to give the execs a sense of what we were working toward. The drawings were made by Disney animator, Glen Keane. When you look at these, remember they were made 16 years before Google and 12 years before Yahoo, even 8 years before the earliest web-based search engines. That said, one of the most interesting things about these scenarios as seen today, is that with the exception of the image of the architect and the teacher none of them indicated any inkling that the most important element of the web to come was that it would bring people into contact with each other. What we see here is almost entirely people accessing content from a central server, no sense that we would be communicating with each other or uploading our own contributions to the collective culture. My own explanation for this lapse focuses on the print-era mentality that saw readers purely as consumers of content." Bob saved and scanned a large number of materials from his time at Atari, and uploaded them to Internet Archive. In addition to the scans of Keane's Atari Drawings, the documents include memos about the encyclopedia project and a transcript of a 1982 seminar for Atari Research featuring Charles Van Doren. Check the show notes for those links. After Atari, Bob was co-founder of The Criterion Collection, which restores and distributes important classic films; and co-founder of The Voyager Company, the first commercial multimedia CD-ROM publisher. In 2004, he co-founded The Institute for the Future of the Book, a think tank "investigating the evolution of discourse as it shifts from printed pages to networked screens." This interview took place December 16, 2023. Video version of this interview at YouTube The Atari Drawings ANTIC Interview 420 - Brenda Laurel, Atari Research Whither The Encyclopedia Project - Atari Encyclopedia Project memos Back to the Future -- In honor of Encyclopedia Britannica giving up its print edition (Wayback machine) Stein Kay Atari Memos Pt 1 Stein Kay Atari Memos Pt 2 Exchange With Steve Weyer And J. David Bolter 1983 Hadley Letter 1980-12-01 Atari...Ifugao Question Journal, Michael Naimark CVD Atari Seminar 20 December 1982 Encyclopedia And The Intellectual Tools Of The Future . . . November 1981 Bob Stein Archives at Stanford The Digital Antiquarian — Bob Stein and Voyager Charles Van Doren in Wikipedia Bob Stein wants to change how people think about the book (2010)

ANTIC Episode 111 - “Is Kay Really Funny, or is it Just a Courtesy Snicker?” In this episode of ANTIC The Atari 8-Bit Computer Podcast… We go over the ABBUC Software Contest winners, we cover PRGE, Kay accelerates his interview publishing schedule, and we ask the question: Is Kay really funny, or are Randy’s snickers simply courtesy? You decide … READY! Recurring Links Floppy Days Podcast AtariArchives.org AtariMagazines.com Kay’s Book “Terrible Nerd” New Atari books scans at archive.org ANTIC feedback at AtariAge Atari interview discussion thread on AtariAge Interview index: here ANTIC Facebook Page AHCS Eaten By a Grue Next Without For What we’ve been up to PRGE - https://www.retrogamingexpo.com/ Priming the Pump: How TRS-80 Enthusiasts Helped Spark the PC Revolution by David and Theresa Welsh - https://amzn.to/40l4vv1 (sponsored link) Recent Interviews ANTIC Interview 439 - Making Modern Atari Hardware ANTIC Interview 440 - Ed Sabo, UltraBASIC ANTIC Interview 441 - Nick Kennedy, Atari Morse Code Keyer News ABBUC 2024 Software Contest: https://www.atariteca.net.pe/2024/10/ruff-in-trouble-ganador-del-abbuc-2024.html https://abbuc.de/2024/10/ergebnis-abbuc-softwarewettbewerb-2024-result-abbuc-software-competition-2024/ ABBUC Magazines - https://abbuc.de 4th ATASCII Compo 2024 - Presentation Pre-Launch for Clear Case for 800XL has begun: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/seethruit/injection-molded-clear-case-for-atari-800xl-computer/ https://forums.atariage.com/topic/373926-pre-launch-for-clear-case-for-800xl-has-begun/ Bouncy World Server Available - https://www.atariorbit.org/2024/09/27/bouncy-world-server-available/ Replacement cartridge slot - Screaming at the Radio - https://forums.atariage.com/topic/373896-replacement-cartridge-slot/ Mastertronic Collectors Archive - Atari (8-Bit) Mastertronic Checklist - https://mastertronic.co.uk/atari-mastertronic-checklist/ Upcoming Shows Retro Computer Festival 2024 - November 9-10 - Centre for Computing History, Cambridge, England - https://www.computinghistory.org.uk/det/72253/Retro-Computer-Festival-2024-Saturday-9th-November/ Silly Venture WE (Winter Edition) - Dec. 5-8 - Gdansk, Poland - https://www.demoparty.net/silly-venture/silly-venture-2024-we Event page on Floppy Days Website - https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vSeLsg4hf5KZKtpxwUQgacCIsqeIdQeZniq3yE881wOCCYskpLVs5OO1PZLqRRF2t5fUUiaKByqQrgA/pub YouTube Videos Atari XL/XE -=Go! Tony Go!=- - Saberman RetroNews - Atari XL/XE -=Go! Tony Go!=- LIVE from PRGE 2024 Day 1: AtariAge New Releases & WIP - ZeroPage Homebrew - LIVE from PRGE 2024 Day 1: AtariAge New Releases & WIP (FIXED!) Videos of the ABBUC winners, such as: Atari XL/XE -=Eat Me!=- ABBUC Software Contest 2024 - Saberman RetroNews - Atari XL/XE -=Eat Me!=- ABBUC Software Contest 2024 1K Rainbox - Saberman RetroNews - Atari XL/XE -=1K RainBox=- ABBUC Software Contest 2024 My Atari 800 prints out the news and weather every morning! - Sascha Segan - My Atari 800 prints out the news and weather every morning! New at Archive.org https://archive.org/details/horten-computer-welt-11-85-preise/ https://archive.org/details/brace-bits-vol-3-no-1/BraceBits%20vol1%20no4/ https://archive.org/details/@allan52?query=portland Github https://github.com/marktmiller/atari-8-bit-forth-projects/tree/main/fig-forth1.1/FP%20library https://github.com/ivop/saprtools