Oct 2, 2022
It's
Spook Month 2022! To kick things off we are diving into the
frustrating depth of copy protection, piracy, and the origins of
commercial software. In 1969 the Great Unbundling made the software
market viable for the first time. Ever since then pirates and
software vendors have been locked in a battle over
bits....
Sep 18, 2022
Whirlwind represents a fascinating story of transition.
The project started in the middle of the 1940s as an analog
machine. As times changed it became a digital device. By 1951 it
was perhaps the fastest computer in the world, filled to the brim
with new approaches to design and new technology. It may have even
been...
Sep 4, 2022
In
the last half of the 70s there was one gold standard in home
computing: S100. This was a standardized bus that was the heart of
many computers. It allowed for the interchange of parts from
different manufacturers. Best of all, the S100 bus was simple. This
made for a wonderful platform for hobbyists, and helped
jump...
Aug 21, 2022
What
language has two stacks? What language is used on satellites and in
home computers? What language deals in words? Why, Forth, of
course!
Forth
is a highly unique language developed in the 60s by Chuck Moore.
And when I say unique, I mean unique. Forth uses reverse polish
notation for all operations, along with a...
Aug 7, 2022
Digital animation has really become an artform in and of itself. In the current epoch these animations play out on fancy bitmapped displays, but it's origins are far more visceral. Or maybe we should say far more hacky. This episode we are diving in to BEFLIX: an early animation toolchain from Bell Labs that produced...
