Floppy Days Vintage Computing Podcast

Floppy Days 126 - Interview with Bob Frankston, Co-developer of Visicalc Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays Sponsors: 8-Bit Classics  Arcade Shopper   Hello, everyone!  Welcome to episode 126 of the Floppy Days Podcast, with yours truly, Randy Kindig, as the host. Everyone, and I mean everyone, listening to this podcast has surely heard of the ground-breaking application (for its time) Visicalc.  Visicalc was the first spreadsheet computer program for personal computers, originally released for the Apple II by VisiCorp on October 17, 1979.  It is considered the killer application for the Apple II, turning the microcomputer from a hobby for computer enthusiasts into a serious business tool, and then prompting IBM to introduce the IBM PC two years later.  More than 700,000 copies were sold in six years, and up to 1 million copies over its history.   Initially developed for the Apple II computer, VisiCalc was ported to numerous platforms, both 8-bit and some of the early 16-bit systems, such as the Commodore PET, Atari 8-bit, TRS-80 (TRSDOS), CP/M, MS-DOS, and even the HP Series 80. VisiCalc was later replaced in the market by Lotus 1-2-3 and eventually by Microsoft’s Excel, which is the dominant spreadsheet today.  Spreadsheets, along with word processors, and presentation tools are still today considered one of the key applications for computing. Bob Frankston, along with Dan Bricklin, are the co-inventors of VisiCalc.  This month, we have an interview with the aforementioned Bob Frankston.  Bob was kind enough to take time to talk with me about what it was like to create such a ground-breaking tool. Before doing that, I have a few new acquisitions to discuss and I’ll tell you about upcoming computer shows. New Acquisitions/What I’ve Been Up To Retro Innovations  Lige and the YouTube show “The Commodore Room” - https://www.youtube.com/@thecommodoreroom4554  Console5 (cap kits)  Upcoming Shows The 64 bits or less Retro Gaming Festival - June 3-4 - Benton County Fairgrounds in Corvallis, Oregon (sponsored by the Portland Retro Gaming Expo) - https://www.64bitsorless.com/  Boatfest Vintage Computer Exposition - June 23-25 - Hurricane, WV - http://boatfest.info  VCF Southwest - June 23-25 - Davidson-Gundy Alumni Center at University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX - http://vcfsw.org  Pacific Commodore Expo NW v4 - June 24-25 - “Interim” Computer Museum, Seattle, WA - https://www.portcommodore.com/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=pacommex:start  Kickstart Amiga UK Expo - July 1-2 - Nottingham, UK - https://www.amigashow.com/  KansasFest, the largest and longest running annual Apple II conference - July 18-23, 2023 (in-person) - July 29–30, 2023 (virtual) - Rockhurst University in Kansas City, Missouri - https://www.kansasfest.org/  Southern Fried Gaming Expo and VCF Southeast - July 28-30 2023 - Atlanta, GA - https://gameatl.com/  ZZAP! Live 2023 - August 12 - The Holiday Inn, Kenilworth, CV8 1ED - https://fusionretroevents.co.uk/category/zzap-live/  Silly Venture SE (Summer Edition) - Aug. 17-20 - Gdansk, Poland - https://www.demoparty.net/silly-venture/silly-venture-2023-se  Fujiama 2023 - Aug. 30 - Sep. 3 - Lengenfeld, Germany - http://atarixle.ddns.net/fuji/2023/  VCF Midwest - September 9-10 - Waterford Banquets and Conference Center, Elmhurst, IL - http://vcfmw.org/  Tandy Assembly - Sep. 29-Oct. 1 - Courtyard by Marriott in Springfield, Ohio - http://www.tandyassembly.com/  AmiWest - October 14-15 - Sacramento, CA - https://retro.directory/browse/events/4/AmiWest.net  Portland Retro Gaming Expo - October 13-15, 2023 - Oregon Convention Center, Portland, OR - https://retrogamingexpo.com/  Chicago TI International World Faire - October 14, 2023 - Evanston Public Library, Evanston, IL - http://chicagotiug.sdf.org/faire/   World of Commodore - Dec. 2-3, 2023 - Admiral Inn Mississauga, Mississauga, ON - http://www.worldofcommodore.ca/  http://chiclassiccomp.org/events.html  Facebook show listings - https://www.facebook.com/VintageComputerShows/  Interview Bob’s Website - https://www.frankston.com/  New York Times article on Bricklin and Frankston joining Lotus (acquisition) - https://www.nytimes.com/1985/04/10/business/business-people-former-friendly-rivals-joining-forces-at-lotus.html  Bob interview on TwitTV - https://twit.tv/shows/triangulation/episodes/4 

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays Sponsors: 8-Bit Classics  Arcade Shopper   Welcome to Floppy Days #125 for April, 2023.  And I’m your host, Randy Kindig. We are currently in the year 1982 for home computers.  This episode is the continuation of a multi-episode arc that covers the Sinclair ZX Spectrum through all the usual topics.  This is the seventh of those, with the first having been the interview with John Grant of Nine Tiles, the second and third being coverage of the history of the Spectrum with Alessandro Grussu, the fourth being the interview with the author of the terrific book “The ZX Spectrum Ula: How to Design a Microcomputer”, Mr. Chris Smith, the fifth covering tech specs for the Speccy with Chris, and the sixth covering the topics peripherals, using the machine, and magazines with PJ Evans, Tour Guide and Sinclair curator at The National Museum of Computing on Bletchley Park in the U.K. The topics covered in this episode include books, software, ads, modern upgrades, emulation, buying one today, community, and Web sites.  Once again, my co-host will be PJ Evans, who did a wonderful job last episode.  This will be the final episode covering the ZX Spectrum, after setting the record in terms of number of episodes on Floppy Days about a single machine. As usual, I will also talk a bit about what I have been up to, including an update on any new acquisitions that have come my way.  In addition, I’ll briefly tell you about upcoming shows of which I’m aware. Before we get started I want to mention the show sponsors for Floppy Days. https://www.8bitclassics.com, run by my friend Corey Koltz, is a great place to get vintage computer items.  This includes video cables, power supplies, PC boards, cartridges, upgrades and more for a wide variety of vintage computer platforms.  In the New Acquisitions section I cover each month on this show, often one of the items I talk about has been ordered from 8-Bit Classics.  Corey has been a friend of the show for some time and I really appreciate his support of the podcast.  Check out the site… he has some great stuff. https://www.arcadeshopper.com, run by my friend Greg McGill, is another terrific site to get vintage computer items.  Greg has a wide variety of hard-to-find items for a large number of platforms.  This is another site that I do and have done a lot of shopping at and have mentioned numerous times on Floppy Days.  If anything shows out of stock, just ping Greg through the contact form and he can check whether he has or can get more of the item for you. I also wanted to mention those listeners who appreciate the show enough to donate through patreon.com.  This includes Chris Petzel, Tony Cappellini, laurens, Richard Goulstone, Josh Malone, Andy Collins, Simon McCullough, Jason Moore, Quentin Barnes.  I really appreciate you guys and it helps offset the cost of running the podcast. Links Mentioned in the Show: New Acquisitions and What I’ve Been Up To Amiga 500 Parceiro - amiga.parceiro@outlook.com  Atari XEP80-II Case - https://thebrewingacademy.com/collections/atari-800-xl-xe-xel-xld/products/xep80-ii-by-mytek  FD sign and shirt - http://www.vistaprint.com  book - Over the Spectrum - https://amzn.to/3AmFaSZ  ZXPand+ Case - http://www.sellmyretro.com  Upcoming Shows Indy Classic Computer and Video Game Expo - April 29 & 30 - Crowne Plaza Airport Hotel, Indianapolis, IN - https://indyclassic.org/  The 64 bits or less Retro Gaming Festival - June 3-4 - Benton County Fairgrounds in Corvallis, Oregon (sponsored by the PortlandRetro Gaming Expo) - https://www.64bitsorless.com/  Boatfest Vintage Computer Exposition - June 23-25 - Hurricane, WV - http://boatfest.info  VCF Southwest - June 23-25 - Davidson-Gundy Alumni Center at University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX - http://vcfsw.org  Pacific Commodore Expo NW v4 - June 24-25 - “Interim” Computer Museum, Seattle, WA - https://www.portcommodore.com/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=pacommex:start j KansasFest, the largest and longest running annual Apple II conference - July 18-23, 2023 - Rockhurst University in Kansas City, Missouri - https://www.kansasfest.org/  Southern Fried Gaming Expo and VCF Southeast - July 28-30 2023 - Atlanta, GA - https://gameatl.com/  ZZAP! Live 2023 - August 12 - The Holiday Inn, Kenilworth, CV8 1ED - https://fusionretroevents.co.uk/category/zzap-live/  VCF Midwest - September 9-10 - Waterford Banquets and Conference Center, Elmhurst, IL - http://vcfmw.org/  Tandy Assembly - Sep. 29-Oct. 1 - Courtyard by Marriott in Springfield, Ohio - http://www.tandyassembly.com/  AmiWest - October 14-15 - Sacramento, CA - https://retro.directory/browse/events/4/AmiWest.net  Portland Retro Gaming Expo - October 13-15, 2023 - Oregon Convention Center, Portland, OR - https://retrogamingexpo.com/  World of Commodore - Dec. 2-3, 2023 - Admiral Inn Mississauga, Mississauga, ON - http://www.worldofcommodore.ca/  Books books listed at World of Spectrum - https://worldofspectrum.org/archive/books  Spectrum Machine Language For The Absolute Beginner by William Tang 2020 - https://amzn.to/3Ix6mn3 (Retro Reproductions) Over the Spectrum by Philip Williams 2020 - https://amzn.to/3YFsbGu (Retro Reproductions)  Spectrum Games Bible 1982-1984 Paperback – June 11, 2008 by P Johns - https://amzn.to/3KfL0vy  ZX Spectrum Games Code Club: Twenty fun games to code and learn Paperback – November 23, 2015 by Gary Plowman  (Author) - https://amzn.to/3EgSFGk  Spectrumpedia by Alessandro Grussu (2 volumes) - https://www.alessandrogrussu.it/sp.html  Volume I (English) - https://amzn.to/3Ek9boX  Volume II (English) - https://amzn.to/3IGVwet  The Micro Kids: An 80s Adventure with ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64 and more Paperback – Illustrated, December 8, 2018 by Gary Plowman - https://amzn.to/3Klsan7  The ZX Spectrum Ula: How to Design a Microcomputer Illustrated Edition by Christopher David Smith - https://amzn.to/3IwGgjU  Sinclair ZX Spectrum : A Visual Compendium - https://www.bitmapbooks.com/collections/by-system/products/sinclair-zx-spectrum-a-visual-compendium  Software archive at World of Spectrum - https://worldofspectrum.org/archive  TOSEC at archive.org by Lady Eklipse - https://archive.org/details/zx-spectrum-tosec-set-v-2020-02-18-lady-eklipse  Top 10 games - https://www.techradar.com/news/gaming/30-best-zx-spectrum-games-594151  1. Elite – Firebird Games 2. R-Type – Electric Dreams Software 3. Chuckie Egg - A'n'F Software 4. Manic Miner - Bug-Byte Software Ltd 5. Knight Lore - Ultimate Play The Game 6. Back to Skool - Microsphere 7. Football Manager - Addictive Games Ltd 8. Lunar Jetman - Ultimate Play The Game 9. Horace Goes Skiing – Beam Software 10. Boulder Dash – Front Runner Productivity and Education Software from Sinclair Catalog (all cassette) - https://archive.org/details/sinclair-research/ZX%20Spectrum%20Software%20Catalog/mode/2up  Ads and Appearances Starring the Computer - http://www.starringthecomputer.com/  Ad - http://www.retro8bitcomputers.co.uk/Sinclair/ZXSpectrum  Modern Upgrades ZX-AY external stereo audio interface for all ZX Spectrum models - https://www.bytedelight.com/?product=zx-ay-external-stereo-audio-interface-for-all-zx-spectrum-models  ZX-HD HDMI Interface - https://www.bytedelight.com/?product=zx-hd-hdmi-interface-with-ulaplus  DIVMMC - https://www.thefuturewas8bit.com/shop/sinclair/divmmcfuture.html SpectraNet - https://www.bytedelight.com/?product=spectranet-internet-interface-with-closed-case  Emulation Emulator list at World of Spectrum - https://worldofspectrum.net/emulators/  Spectaculator (paid) https://www.spectaculator.com/  Fuse: Windows - https://sourceforge.net/projects/fuse-emulator/files/fuse-utils/1.4.3/fuse-utils-1.4.3-win32.zip/download  macOS - https://fuse-for-macosx.sourceforge.io/ Linux - http://fuse-emulator.sourceforge.net/  Speccy - https://fms.komkon.org/Speccy/  Eighty One - https://www.aptanet.org/eightyone/  Retro Virtual Machine (RVM) - https://www.retrovirtualmachine.org/  ZEsarUX - https://github.com/chernandezba/zesarux/  ZX Spectrum 4 Android - https://www.zxspectrum4.net/android/  QAOP (browser-based) - http://torinak.com/qaop JSSpeccy (browser-based) - https://jsspeccy.zxdemo.org/  Community Facebook Spectrum Forever - https://www.facebook.com/groups/491247224287188  Spectrum for Everyone - https://www.facebook.com/groups/400461880300289  World of Spectrum - https://www.facebook.com/groups/1571053279836005  ZX Spectrum - https://www.facebook.com/groups/164156683632183  Twitter ZX Spectrum Code Club - https://twitter.com/zxspectrum_club  Mastodon Sinclair ZX Spectrum Bot - https://oldbytes.space/@zxspectrumbot@mastodon.cloud  Spectrum User - https://oldbytes.space/@spectrumuser@toot.wales  Forums AtariAge - https://www.atariage.com  https://worldofspectrum.org/forums/  https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/forums/index.php  https://www.sinclairzxworld.com/viewforum.php  Podcasts Our Sinclair: A ZX Spectrum Podcast by Amigos Retro Gaming - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/our-sinclair-a-zx-spectrum-podcast/id1454120857  Reddit https://www.reddit.com/r/zxspectrum/  Web Sites Byte Delight shop - https://www.bytedelight.com  The Future Was 8bit shop - https://www.thefuturewas8bit.com/  Power supplies for Spectrum machines at Retro Games Supply - https://en.retrogamesupply.com/collections/other  Dr. Steve Vickers at YouTube - https://www.cs.bham.ac.uk/~sjv/  “The first ZX Spectrum prototype laid bare” article about John Grant - https://www.theregister.com/2019/03/05/the_first_zx_spectrum_prototype_laid_bare/  The official world archive for the Sinclair ZX Spectrum - https://worldofspectrum.org/  The Spectrum Show by Paul Jenkinson - https://m.youtube.com/user/BuckingTheTrend2008  The MagPi - https://magpi.raspberrypi.com/issues/67 Interview with Steve Vickers & Richard Altwasser - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLnuY3EKnWE  References Retro 8-bit Computers - http://www.retro8bitcomputers.co.uk/  Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZX_Spectrum  Old-Computers.com museum - https://www.old-computers.com/museum/default.asp https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays Sponsors: 8-Bit Classics  Arcade Shopper   Welcome to Floppy Days #124 for March, 2023.  And I’m your host, Randy Kindig. We are currently covering the very productive year for home computers of 1982.  This episode is the continuation of a multi-episode arc that covers the Spectrum through all the usual topics.  This is the sixth of those, with the first having been the interview with John Grant of Nine Tiles, the second and third being coverage of the history of the Spectrum with Alessandro Grussu, the fourth being the interview with the author of the terrific book “The ZX Spectrum Ula: How to Design a Microcomputer”, Mr. Chris Smith, and the sixth covering tech specs for the Speccy with Chris. The topics covered in this episode include peripherals, using the machine, and magazines.  Next episode we will complete the ZX Spectrum coverage, by talking about books, software, ads, modern upgrades, emulation, buying one today, community, and Web sites. As usual, I will also talk a bit about what I have been up to, including an update on any new acquisitions that have come my way.  In addition, I’ll briefly tell you about upcoming shows of which I’m aware and share any feedback I’ve gotten. Before we get started I want to mention that I now have some show sponsors for Floppy Days. https://www.8bitclassics.com, run by my friend Corey Koltz, is a great place to get vintage computer items.  This includes video cables, power supplies, PC boards, cartridges, upgrades and more for a wide variety of vintage computer platforms.  In the New Acquisitions section I cover each month on this show, often one of the items I talk about has been ordered from 8-Bit Classics.  Corey has been a friend of the show for some time and I really appreciate his support of the podcast.  Check out the site… he has some great stuff. https://www.arcadeshopper.com, run by my friend Greg McGill, is another terrific site to get vintage computer items.  Greg has a wide variety of hard-to-find items for a large number of platforms.  This is another site that I do and have done a lot of shopping at and have mentioned numerous times on Floppy Days.  If anything shows out of stock, just ping Greg through the contact form and he can check whether he has or can get more of the item for you. I also wanted to mention those listeners who appreciate the show enough to donate through patreon.com.  This includes Chris Petzel, Tony Cappellini, laurens, Richard Goulstone, Josh Malone, Andy Collins, Simon McCullough, Jason Moore, Quentin Barnes.  I really appreciate you guys and it helps offset the cost of running the podcast. Links Mentioned in the Show: New Acquisitions and What I’ve Been Up To Amiga 1000 - amiga.parceiro@outlook.com  Commodore SX-64 repair video by The Commodore Room - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Flsn_FD2zpA  Upcoming Shows Midwest Gaming Classic - March 31-April 2 - Wisconsin Center, Milwaukee, WI - https://www.midwestgamingclassic.com/  VCF East 2023 - Apr 14-16, 2023 - InfoAge Science and History Museums, Wall, NJ - https://vcfed.org/events/vintage-computer-festival-east/  The Commodore Los Angeles Super Show - April 15-16, 2023 - Burbank VFW Hall, Burbank, CA - https://www.portcommodore.com/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=class:start  31st Annual “Last” CocoFest - April 22-23, 2023 - Holiday Inn & Suites Chicago, Carol Stream, IL - https://www.glensideccc.com/cocofest/  Indy Classic Computer and Video Game Expo - April 29 & 30 - Crowne Plaza Airport Hotel, Indianapolis, IN - https://indyclassic.org/  The 64 bits or less Retro Gaming Festival - June 3-4 - Benton County Fairgrounds in Corvallis, Oregon (sponsored by the PortlandRetro Gaming Expo) - https://www.64bitsorless.com/  Boatfest Vintage Computer Exposition - June 23-25 - Hurricane, WV - http://boatfest.info  VCF Southwest - June 23-25 - Davidson-Gundy Alumni Center at University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX - http://vcfsw.org  Pacific Commodore Expo NW v4 - June 24-25 - “Interim” Computer Museum, Seattle, WA - https://www.portcommodore.com/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=pacommex:start j KansasFest, the largest and longest running annual Apple II conference - July 18-23, 2023 - Rockhurst University in Kansas City, Missouri - https://www.kansasfest.org/  Southern Fried Gaming Expo and VCF Southeast - July 28-30 2023 - Atlanta, GA - https://gameatl.com/  ZZAP! Live 2023 - August 12 - The Holiday Inn, Kenilworth, CV8 1ED - https://fusionretroevents.co.uk/category/zzap-live/  VCF Midwest - September 9-10 - Waterford Banquets and Conference Center, Elmhurst, IL - http://vcfmw.org/  Tandy Assembly - Sep. 29-Oct. 1 - Courtyard by Marriott in Springfield, Ohio - http://www.tandyassembly.com/  AmiWest - October 14-15 - Sacramento, CA - https://retro.directory/browse/events/4/AmiWest.net  Portland Retro Gaming Expo - October 13-15, 2023 - Oregon Convention Center, Portland, OR - https://retrogamingexpo.com/  World of Commodore - Dec. 2-3, 2023 - Admiral Inn Mississauga, Mississauga, ON - http://www.worldofcommodore.ca/  Feedback Claus, webmaster at www.mtxworld.dk  Using the Machine http://www.retro8bitcomputers.co.uk/Sinclair/ZXSpectrum  Popular Magazines/Newsletters https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:ZX_Spectrum_magazines  https://www.old-computers.com/museum/default.asp   Crash https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crash_(magazine)  Modern Crash - https://fusionretrobooks.com/collections/crash-magazine  articles for Crash written by Paul Evans - https://www.google.com/search?domains=www.crashonline.org.uk&sitesearch=www.crashonline.org.uk&q=paul%20evans  Your Sinclair  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Your_Sinclair  Current blog - https://www.ys3.org/  Sinclair User https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinclair_User  https://archive.org/details/sinclair-user-magazine?&sort=-week&page=2  Spectrofon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spectrofon  Sinclair Programs https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinclair_Programs  https://archive.org/search?query=Sinclair+Programs&and%5B%5D=mediatype%3A%22texts%22  ZX Magazin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZX_Magaz%C3%ADn  References Retro 8-bit Computers - http://www.retro8bitcomputers.co.uk/  Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZX_Spectrum  Old-Computers.com museum - https://www.old-computers.com/museum/default.asp  https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/   

Floppy Days 123 - Amiga 1000, Parceiro and Podcast Tenth Anniversary! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays Sponsors: 8-Bit Classics  Arcade Shopper   Welcome to episode 123 of Floppy Days for February, 2023, where classic computers are all the rage and we lovingly take you back to the days when computers were simpler and we were younger. This is a special show for me, because this month (Feb. 17 was the publish date) marks the 10th anniversary of publishing this podcast!  Man, oh, man, where has the time gone?!  This podcast itself has become vintage, depending on your definition of vintage. My original intent was to continue the coverage of the ZX Spectrum this month, but my special co-host for that show was unable to record this month.  I decided this was the perfect opportunity to have a special show to in some way commemorate the 10-year anniversary. My co-host and I have scheduled the recording for the Spectrum show for early March, so I’ll publish that as early in March as I can.  In the meantime, for this show I wanted to talk about how the show has changed and grown over the years and what my plans are for the future. I apologize for not having one of my two typical formats (machine coverage or interview)  for this show.  Not to worry though, I’ve got what I think is an interesting story around my recent work to test and set up some Amiga 1000s that have come my way; including some information about a great upgrade for the A1000 called Parceiro II. I do also want to mention that I now have some show sponsors for Floppy Days. https://www.8bitclassics.com, run by my friend Corey Koltz, is a great place to get vintage computer items.  This includes video cables, power supplies, PC boards, cartridges, upgrades and more for a wide variety of vintage computer platforms.  In the New Acquisitions section I cover each month on this show, often one of the items I talk about has been ordered from 8-Bit Classics.  Corey has been a friend of the show for some time and I really appreciate his support of the podcast.  Check out the site… he has some great stuff. https://www.arcadeshopper.com, run by my friend Greg McGill, is another terrific site to get vintage computer items.  Greg has a wide variety of hard-to-find items for a large number of platforms.  This is another site that I do and have done a lot of shopping at and have mentioned numerous times on Floppy Days.  If anything shows out of stock, just ping Greg through the contact form and he can check whether he has or can get more of the item for you. I also wanted to mention those listeners who appreciate the show enough to donate through patreon.com.  This includes Chris Petzel, Tony Cappellini, laurens, Richard Goulstone, Josh Malone, Andy Collins, Simon McCullough, Jason Moore, Quentin Barnes.  I really appreciate you guys and it helps offset the cost of running the podcast. On a sad note, one other thing I wanted to talk about was the passing of a good friend in the community, James Shackel (aka Airshack).  James passed from this earth in January of this year due to illness, and it was a shock to me to realize I would no longer have James to talk to.  James came from the TI community, but was interested in a lot of the vintage machines.  Over the years, I traded a Sinclair ZX Spectrum +2A to him for a TIPI network card for the TI99 and James sent me things numerous times, such as books or software.  Most recently, just 3 months ago, I traded a Commodore 128 to him for an Atari 1200XL he had.  He also had been a patreon donator for Floppy Days for some time.   He pinged me all the time to discuss ANTIC or Floppy Days or just to let me know about some new vintage computer thing he came across.  I saw James at Tandy Assembly in October last year, just the second time I had ever seen him in person, but he never told me he was ill. James had a singular sense of humor and I will miss it, and him, very much.  It reminds me that we need to appreciate the people around us while we can, as we don’t know how long they will be around.  James, I will truly miss you.  Ok, let’s get on with the show.  I hope you find something interesting out of this episode.  Here’s to 10 more years of Floppy Days! Intro James Shackel passed away - https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/legacyremembers/james-shackel-obituary?id=39585348  New Acquisitions computer trading cards - https://www.8bitkick.cc/home-computers.html  Yamaha MSX AX-150 Computer - https://www.msx.org/wiki/Sakhr_AX-150  memory mapper + SD card interface - Arcade Shopper  Amiga 1000 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amiga_1000  Parceiro II by David Dunklee: https://bytecellar.com/2021/12/13/parceiro-an-extraordinary-upgrade-for-amiga-1000-users/  amiga.parceiro@outlook.com to order one Upcoming Shows Midwest Gaming Classic - March 31-April 2 - The Wisconsin Center, Milwaukee, WI - https://www.midwestgamingclassic.com/  VCF East 2023 - Apr 14-16, 2023 - InfoAge Science and History Museums, Wall, NJ - https://vcfed.org/events/vintage-computer-festival-east/  The Commodore Los Angeles Super Show - April 15-16, 2023 - Burbank VFW Hall, Burbank, CA - https://www.portcommodore.com/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=class:start  31st Annual “Last” CocoFest - April 22-23, 2023 - Holiday Inn & Suites Chicago, Carol Stream, IL - https://www.glensideccc.com/cocofest/  Indy Classic Computer and Video Game Expo - April 29 & 30 - Crowne Plaza Airport Hotel, Indianapolis, IN - https://indyclassic.org/  Pacific Commodore Expo NW v4 - June 24-25 - “Interim” Computer Museum, Seattle, WA - https://www.portcommodore.com/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=pacommex:start  KansasFest, the largest and longest running annual Apple II conference - July 18-23, 2023 - Rockhurst University in Kansas City, Missouri - https://www.kansasfest.org/  Southern Fried Gaming Expo - July 28-30 2023 - Atlanta, GA - https://gameatl.com/  Portland Retro Gaming Expo - October 13-15, 2023 - Oregon Convention Center, Portland, OR - https://retrogamingexpo.com/  http://chiclassiccomp.org/events.html  10th Anniversary Special Content OldComputers.net timeline - http://oldcomputers.net   

NEC TREK PC-6001, Part II Please donate at: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays.  Welcome to Floppy Days #122 for January, 2023.  And I’m your host, Randy Kindig. We are currently covering the very productive year for home computers of 1982.  As regular listeners will know, we’ve been covering the ZX Spectrum and the myriad of information about that machine.  While we still have more information to cover, such as emulation, Web sites, and a lot more, we are currently taking a tiny step back to pick up coverage of a machine that I recently acquired and wanted to talk about, but which came out in very late 1981.  That machine is the Nippon Electric Company (NEC) PC-6001 and its US variation, the PC-6001A, or NEC-TREK.  It actually was released in November, 1981 in Japan.  Thus, you can see that this is really a very tiny detour to go back and pick up this machine.  It’s one I didn’t know about, honestly, and when I acquired a very clean, boxed version in the Great Barn Find of 2022, not only did I decide to keep the machine but also to cover it on Floppy Days.  I hope you can forgive me this minor detour off the path of covering the machines in the approx. order they were released.  I think you’ll find this machine interesting, as I did, and enjoy hearing about it. This is the second episode of a 2-part arc on this machine, due to the amount of material we were able to pull together and length of time it took to go through it.  Last episode we covered history and tech specs (as well as a brief interview with my co-host), and this month we will cover the remaining usual topics. With me this month again to provide the co-hosting duties will be Carlos Camacho.  Carlos lived in Japan for a while and has a great perspective on this line of computers, as well as a lot of experience and knowledge around Japanese computers in general, which I think you’ll find interesting.  The research he did on the PC-6000 line a few years ago was a tremendous help in pulling together information for this show.  At the end of the day, if you have an interest in acquiring anything for this platform, you’ll need the information that Carlos provides on how to navigate the Japanese vintage computer market.  I know I learned a ton from Carlos. Very soon we’ll return to ZX Spectrum coverage. As usual, I will also talk a bit about a few new acquisitions (beyond the barn find) that have come my way.  In addition, I’ll briefly tell you about upcoming shows of which I’m aware and share any feedback I’ve gotten. I hope you enjoy the show! Links Mentioned in the Show: New Acquisitions IBM PC5140 Display Adapter - http://ohlandl.ipv7.net/5140/5140.html#CRT_Display  Spectrum Machine Language for the Absolute Beginner by William Tang - https://amzn.to/3Y1p8rq  C128D JiffyDOS - https://store.go4retro.com/jiffydos-kernal-rom-overlay-ic/  Atari Fast BASIC - https://github.com/dmsc/fastbasic  Upcoming Computer Shows VCF East 2023 - Apr 14-16, 2023 - InfoAge Science and History Museums, Wall, NJ - https://vcfed.org/events/vintage-computer-festival-east/  The Commodore Los Angeles Super Show - April 15-16, 2023 - Burbank VFW Hall, Burbank, CA - https://www.portcommodore.com/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=class:start  31st Annual “Last” CocoFest - April 22-23, 2023 - Holiday Inn & Suites Chicago, Carol Stream, IL - https://www.glensideccc.com/cocofest/  Indy Classic Computer and Video Game Expo - April 29 & 30 - Crowne Plaza Airport Hotel, Indianapolis, IN - https://indyclassic.org/  Pacific Commodore Expo NW v4 - June 24-25 - “Interim” Computer Museum, Seattle, WA - https://www.portcommodore.com/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=pacommex:start j KansasFest, the largest and longest running annual Apple II conference - July 18-23, 2023 - Rockhurst University in Kansas City, Missouri - https://www.kansasfest.org/  Southern Fried Gaming Expo - July 28-30 2023 - Atlanta, GA - https://gameatl.com/  Portland Retro Gaming Expo - October 13-15, 2023 - Oregon Convention Center - https://retrogamingexpo.com/  Feedback Khalid Yousif NEC PC-6001 MkII SR FM synth music capability - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvVq8MHoybA  Khalid’s website to document and archive findings on the Iraqi Warkaas - https://warkaa.org/  YouTube Playlist by Todd Geiger - Computers - In Their Own Words  Byte High No Limit Podcast - https://sunspotstories.podbean.com/  Popular Magazines/Newsletters  PC-6000, 6600 information magazine SAVE, produced by Hokuten (owner of pc-6001.net) - http://www.pc-6001.net/p6/save/index.html  Oh, PC! - all NEC models - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:First_Issue_of_Oh!PC.jpg  I/O Magazine - https://archive.org/details/iomagazine  PIO Magazine - https://archive.org/details/PioVol.1  Books PC-6000,6600 related book list -  http://www.pc-6001.net/p6/syoseki/index.html  Amazon Japan - to get books in Japanese  Software TOSEC: NEC PC 6001 (archive.org) - https://archive.org/details/NEC_PC_6001_TOSEC_2012_04_23  Software Compilation Neo Kobe - NEC PC-6001 (archive.org) - https://archive.org/details/Neo_Kobe_NEC_PC-6001_2016-02-25  Ads and Appearances https://oldcomputers.net/nec-pc-6001.html  video ad - (Japanese with English subtitles)  https://archive.org/details/necpapikonpc6001acomputercommercial1981subsvtcdvplemfm  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTCdVPlemFM  Emulators https://retrocomputing.stackexchange.com/questions/12241/how-do-i-use-nec-pc-6001-p6-or-cas-files  PC6001V - http://papicom.net/p6v/  PC6001VW - http://p6ers.net/bernie/develop/pc6001vw3.html  iP6 and iP6 Plus Windy’s Room - http://www.eonet.ne.jp/~windy/index.html  iP6 home page - http://www.retropc.net/isio/ip6/  VNECTREK - October 27, 2009 in the Wayback Machine - https://web.archive.org/web/20091027114600/http://www.geocities.com/emucompboy/  MAME/MESS - https://www.mamedev.org/  Buying One Today freight forwarding companies buyee  zenmarket  Jauce  Community Facebook - Japanese Vintage Computer Users - https://www.facebook.com/groups/japanesevintagecomputers  Forums AtariAge - https://forums.atariage.com/forum/116-classic-computing-discussion/  VC Federation - https://forum.vcfed.org/index.php?forums/other/  PC-6000,6600 information bulletin board at pc-6001.net - http://www.pc-6001.net/cgi/p6bbs/imgbbs.cgi  Reddit - https://www.reddit.com/r/pc6001/  Current Web Sites Purchasing today at The Beep Shop - https://www.beep-shop.com/list/pc60_c.html  Write-up of the PC-6001 at the 1982 Consumer Electronics Show in the May, 1982 Byte Magazine (archive.org) Write-up of the PC-6001 in the March, 1983 Byte Magazine (archive.org) https://archive.org/details/byte-magazine-1983-03-rescan/page/n503/mode/2up?view=theater&q=6000  NEC PC-6001 search at archive.org - https://archive.org/search.php?query=nec+pc-6001&sin=  Obscure Systems Showcase: 10 Games For The NEC PC6001 by Sharopolis (YouTube) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jREmdyXXLhE  The PC-6001: NEC's home challenger by Re:Enthused  (YouTube) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYfC3YwvGLA  PC-6001 series portal site - http://p6ers.net/  some PC-6001 software (WAV for real machine and .P6 for emulator) - http://inufuto.web.fc2.com/8bit/  iP6 information and links at retropc.net - http://www.retropc.net/isio/2ndindex.html  PC-6001 World - http://www.pc-6001.net/p6/index.html  http://vector.co.jp  - download site  References https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PC-6000_series  NEC Retro - https://necretro.org/  https://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=177&st=1  GiantBomb.com - https://www.giantbomb.com/nec-pc-6001/3045-115/  OldComputers.net - https://oldcomputers.net/nec-pc-6001.html  https://www.wikiwand.com/en/PC-6000_series  https://forums.atariage.com/topic/233915-i-now-own-and-am-baffled-by-a-japanese-nec-pc-6001/  Co-host The Color Computer Store - https://twitter.com/trs80cocostore, @TRS80CocoStore, https://www.ebay.com/usr/colorcomputerstore

Please donate at: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays.  Welcome to Floppy Days #121 for December, 2022.  And I’m your host, Randy Kindig.  Happy holidays to all! We are currently covering the very productive year for home computers of 1982.  As regular listeners will know, we’ve been covering the ZX Spectrum and the myriad of information about that machine.  While we still have more information to cover, such as emulation, Web sites, and a lot more, we’re going to take a tiny step back and pick up coverage of a machine that I recently acquired and wanted to talk about, but which came out in very late 1981.  That machine is the Nippon Electric Company (NEC) PC-6001 and its US variation, the PC-6001A, or NEC-TREK.  It actually was released in November, 1981 in Japan.  So, you can see that this is really a very tiny detour to go back and pick up this machine.  It’s one I didn’t know about, honestly, and when I acquired a very clean, boxed version in the Great Barn Find of 2022, not only did I decide to keep the machine but also to cover it on Floppy Days.  I hope you can forgive me this minor detour off the path of covering the machines in the approx. order they were released.  I think you’ll find this machine interesting, as I did, and enjoy hearing about it. With me this month to provide the co-hosting duties will be Carlos Camacho.  Carlos lived in Japan for a while and has a great perspective on this line of computers, as well as a lot of experience and knowledge around Japanese computers in general, which I think you’ll find interesting.  The research he did on the PC-6000 line a few years ago was a tremendous help in pulling together information for this show. This will be a 2-part episode, due to the amount of material we were able to pull together and length of time it took to go through it. After that, we’ll return to ZX Spectrum coverage. As usual, I will also talk a bit about what I have been up to, including an update on the The Great Barn Find of 2022, as well as a few new acquisitions (beyond the barn find) that have come my way.  In addition, I’ll briefly tell you about upcoming shows of which I’m aware and share any feedback I’ve gotten. Finally, while I usually abstain from talking about monetary support for this podcast, I do want to mention that I have a way for you to help if you have the  inclination.  I have a page set up at https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays where you can donate.  Any funds will be used to defray the cost of managing the podcast as well as acquiring new hardware to  talk about.  On that topic, I do intend to beef up the various Floppy Days offerings, including some additional content depending on the donation level at Patreon.  Look for that as soon as I’ve figured out what I want to offer and how to manage it.  I do want to send out a heart-felt thank you for everyone who has already contributed and continues to contribute! I hope you enjoy the show! Links Mentioned in the Show: New Acquisitions Tandy M100/T102 items from http://www.ArcadeShopper.com  Inside Commodore DOS by Richard Immers and Gerald G. Neufeld  The Personal Computer BASIC S Reference Manual by Donald A. Sordillo  An Introduction to Electronic Data Processing by Roger Nett and Stanley A Hetzler  Principles of Compiler Design by Alfred V. Aho and Jeffrey D. Ullman  A Comparative Study of Programming Languages by Bryan Higman  Assembly Language Programming for the IBM Personal Computer by David J. Bradley  Upcoming Computer Shows VCF East 2023 - Apr 14-16, 2023 - InfoAge Science and History Museums, Wall, NJ - https://vcfed.org/events/vintage-computer-festival-east/  31st Annual “Last” CocoFest - April 22-23, 2023 - Holiday Inn & Suites Chicago, Carol Stream, IL - https://www.glensideccc.com/cocofest/  Indy Classics presented by Indy Vintage Computer Club - late April - near Indy airport - TBA Feedback Byte High No Limit Podcast episode - https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/byte-high-no-limit/id1649091845?i=1000590462992  You can play the Elite game yourself here - https://www.bbcelite.com/hacks/teletext_elite.html  Co-host Interview The Color Computer Store - https://twitter.com/trs80cocostore, @TRS80CocoStore, https://www.ebay.com/usr/colorcomputerstore 

Dontate at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays Welcome to Floppy Days #120 for November, 2022.  And I’m your host, Randy Kindig.  I hope everyone is well. We are currently covering the very productive year for home computers of 1982.  This episode is the continuation of a multi-episode arc that covers the Spectrum through all the usual topics.  I’m still unsure how many episodes we’re going to end up with in this arc.  There’s so much to talk about and so many knowledgeable people on the subject, that the Spectrum is probably going to set the illustrious Floppy Days record for the number of episodes about a single machine. This is the fifth of those, with the first having been the interview with John Grant of Nine Tiles, the second and third being coverage of the history of the Spectrum with Alessandro Grussu, and the fourth being the interview with the author of the terrific book “The ZX Spectrum Ula: How to Design a Microcomputer”; Mr. Chris Smith. As I don’t know of anyone who knows more about the internals of this machine than Chris, as evidenced by his book, other than maybe the original designers, Chris continues to help me with this episode and we cover the tech specs of the Spectrum. As usual, I will also talk a bit about what I have been up to, including an update on the The Great Barn Find of 2022, as well as a few new acquisitions (beyond the barn find) that have come my way.  In addition, I’ll briefly tell you about upcoming shows of which I’m aware and share any feedback I’ve gotten. Finally, while I usually abstain from talking about monetary support for this podcast, I do want to mention that I have a way for you to help if you have the  inclination.  I have a page set up at https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays where you can donate.  Any funds will be used to defray the cost of managing the podcast as well as acquiring new hardware to  talk about.  On that topic, I do intend to beef up the various Floppy Days offerings, including some additional content depending on the donation level at Patreon.  Look for that as soon as I’ve figured out what I want to offer and how to manage it.  I do want to send out a heart-felt thank you for everyone who has already contributed and continues to contribute! Before we get started, I want to apologize for the lateness of this episode.  It’s being published a couple days into December due to my son having been in the hospital the past week.  However, I’m happy to report that he’s home now and I’m delighted to be able to get this to you now.  I hope you enjoy it. Links Mentioned in the Show: Upcoming Shows World of Commodore = Dec. 3-4. - Mississauga, Ontario, Canada - https://www.tpug.ca/world-of-commodore/world-of-commodore-2022 - Virtual and Physical! VCF East 2023 - Apr 14-16, 2023 - InfoAge Science and History Museums, Wall, NJ - https://vcfed.org/events/vintage-computer-festival-east/  Indy Classics presented by Indy Vintage Computer Club - late April - near Indy airport Feedback Josh Renaud blog - https://breakintochat.com/blog/2022/11/26/bringing-dry-bones-back-to-life-the-kirschen-software-collection/  Tech Specs The ZX Spectrum Ula: How to Design a Microcomputer (ZX Design Retro Computer) Illustrated Edition by Christopher David Smith (Author) - https://www.amazon.com/ZX-Spectrum-Ula-Microcomputer-Computer/dp/0956507107 

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays  Welcome to Floppy Days #119 for October, 2022.  And I’m your host, Randy Kindig.  I hope everyone is safe and sound... We are currently covering the prolific year (for home computers) of 1982.  This episode is the continuation of a multi-episode arc that covers the Spectrum through all the usual topics.  I don’t even know yet how many episodes we’re going to end up in this arc.  There’s so much to talk about and so many knowledgeable people on the subject, that the Spectrum is probably going to set the illustrious Floppy Days records for the number of episodes about a single machine. This is the fourth of those, with the first having been the interview with John Grant of Nine Tiles, and the second and third being coverage of the history of the Spectrum with Alessandro Grussu. In this episode, I talk with the author of the wonderful book “The ZX Spectrum Ula: How to Design a Microcomputer”; Mr. Chris Smith.  I don’t know of anyone who knows more about the internals of this machine than Chris, as evidenced by his book, other than maybe the original designers.  In this episode, I interview Chris about him, his book, his collection and other topics. As usual, I will talk a bit about what I have been up to, including an update on the The Great Barn Find of 2022, attendance at a computer show, as well as a few new acquisitions (beyond the barn find) that have come my way.  In addition, I’ll briefly tell you about upcoming shows of which I’m aware. Finally, while I usually abstain from talking about monetary support for this podcast, I do want to mention that I have a way for you to help if you have the  inclination.  I have a page set up at https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays where you can donate.  Any funds will be used to defray the cost of managing the podcast as well as acquiring new hardware to  talk about.  Thank you so much everyone who has contributed and continues to contribute! Links Mentioned in the Show: New Acquisitions and What I’ve Been Up To Apple GS monitor connector for CoCo - Mike Rojas, Facebook - (https://www.facebook.com/commerce/listing/392874865780089/?ref=share_attachment)  GFA BASIC - http://gfabasic.net/  “GFA BASIC Training Reboot Camp - A Beginning Tutorial for the GFA BASIC Interpreter” - https://docs.dev-docs.org/  “GFA BASIC Book - An intermediate programming tutorial for GFA BASIC” - https://docs.dev-docs.org/  GFA BASIC Atari Reference Manual  Tandy Assembly - http://www.tandyassembly.com  Vintage is the New Old with Paulo Garcia - https://www.vintageisthenewold.com/  Jeff Birt’s Website at Tindie - https://www.tindie.com/stores/hey_birt/ Upcoming Shows Chicago TI International Worlds Faire = Oct. 29, Evanston Public Library, Evanston, IL - http://chicagotiug.sdf.org/faire/  World of Commodore = Dec. 3-4. - Mississauga, Ontario, Canada - https://www.tpug.ca/world-of-commodore/world-of-commodore-2022 - Virtual and Physical!  Interview with Chris Smith The ZX Spectrum Ula: How to Design a Microcomputer (ZX Design Retro Computer) Illustrated Edition  Chris’ Web site - http://www.zxdesign.info/indexPage.shtml  Harlequin - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ZX_Spectrum_clones#Harlequin  ZX Spectrum 30-year Anniversary event - http://www.computinghistory.org.uk/news/23039/Celebrating-30-Years-of-the  MicroMen: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1459467/  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIcAyFVK0gE 

“The Great Barn Find of 2022!” Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays  Welcome to Floppy Days #118 for September, 2022.  And I’m your host, Randy Kindig.  I hope everyone is doing well.. I decided to take a 1-month break from the ZX Spectrum series of episodes, of which I’m currently in the midst, in order to talk about some other vintage computer activities with which I’ve been involved lately.  There has been a lot going on the vintage computer front for me, as well as some changes in my personal life that I wanted to share with all of you.  I apologize that you’re just going to hear my voice for the entire show, but I’ll make sure not to drone and try to keep it lively. I will talk a bit about what I have been up to, an amazing barn find, attendance at the largest vintage computer show of the year, and an incredible computer museum adventure, as well as a few new acquisitions (beyond the barn find) that have come my way.  In addition, I’ll briefly tell you about upcoming shows of which I’m aware. Next month, we’ll pick up where we left off with the Spectrum series.  I have some additional guest hosts lined up to really dive into topics like tech specs, peripherals, books, magazines, modern upgrades, Web sites, etc.  I think you’ll enjoy the remaining Spectrum topics and guests I have planned.  Links Mentioned in the Show: What I’ve Been Up To VCFMW - http://vcfmw.org/  Kevin Ottum and his Nu-Brick company - https://www.facebook.com/commerce/listing/181163469893545  Jim Brain and his RetroInnovations company - http://go4retro.com  American Computer and Robotics Museum - https://acrmuseum.org/  Upcoming Shows Portland Retro Gaming Expo = Oct. 14-16, Portland, OR - https://www.retrogamingexpo.com/  Chicago TI International Worlds Faire = Oct. 29, Evanston Public Library, Evanston, IL - http://chicagotiug.sdf.org/faire/  World of Commodore = first weekend of Dec. - https://www.tpug.ca/category/woc-posts/ NOT YET ANNOUNCED

Dontate at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays  Welcome to Floppy Days #117 for August, 2022.  And I’m your host, Randy Kindig.  I hope everyone is doing well.. Thank you so much, Andy Collins, for providing your thoughts and memories about the ZX Spectrum to kick off this episode.  Great work! We are currently covering the prolific year (for home computers) of 1982.  This episode is the continuation of a multi-episode arc that covers the Spectrum through all the usual topics.  I don’t even know yet how many episodes we’re going to end up in this arc.  There’s so much to talk about and so many knowledgeable people on the subject, that the Spectrum is probably going to set the illustrious Floppy Days records for the number of episodes about a single machine. This is the third of those, with the first having been the interview with John Grant of Nine Tiles, and the second being coverage of the history of the Spectrum through about 1984. In this episode, I once again talk with the author of the wonderful book “Spectrumpedia”; Mr. Alessandro Grussu.  In this episode, Alessandro and I continue to walk through the history of the machine, covering additional models that were produced, its competition at the time, its positives and negatives, and ultimately the impression it left in home computer history books. As usual, I will talk a bit about a few new acquisitions that have come my way in my attempt to use up every square inch of exhibition and storage room in my home, as well as bring you news about upcoming shows. Finally, while I usually abstain from talking about monetary support for this podcast, I do want to mention that I have a way for you to help if you have the  inclination.  I have a page set up at https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays where you can donate.  Any funds will be used to defray the cost of managing the podcast as well as acquiring new hardware to  talk about.  Thank you so much everyone who has contributed and continues to contribute! Links Mentioned in the Show: New Acquisitions A500 mini - https://www.amazon.com/Amiga-A500-Mini-Retro-Console-Commodore/dp/B09BW8N7JZ  BlueSCSI - https://scsi.blue/  Upcoming Shows VCF Midwest = Sep 10-11, Elmhurst, IL - http://vcfmw.org/  Tandy Assembly = Sep 30-Oct. 2, Springfield, OH - http://www.tandyassembly.com/  Portland Retro Gaming Expo = Oct. 14-16, Portland, OR - https://www.retrogamingexpo.com/  Chicago TI International Worlds Faire = Oct. 29, Evanston Public Library, Evanston, IL - http://chicagotiug.sdf.org/faire/  World of Commodore = first weekend of Dec. - https://www.tpug.ca/category/woc-posts/ NOT YET ANNOUNCED References “Spectrumpedia” by Alessandro Grussu  https://www.alessandrogrussu.it/sp.html  Amazon.it: Spectrumpedia - seconda edizione: volume 1 - Grussu, Alessandro - Libri  Wikipedia    

donate at https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays  Welcome to Floppy Days #116 for July, 2022.  And I’m your host, Randy Kindig. Mark Hacker provides his thoughts and memories about the ZX Spectrum to kick off this episode. As mentioned in the last show, 1982 was a landmark year for home computers, as there were some significant introductions in this year.  One of the most impactful computers released at this time was the ZX Spectrum; in the UK by the iconic Sir Clive Sinclair.  This episode is the continuation of a multi-episode arc that covers the Spectrum through all the usual topics.  In fact, there’s such a rich history leading up to the introduction of the Spectrum, and through its lifetime in the market, of which many in the US may not be aware, that we’re going to be spending three (3) full episodes just on its history.  This is the second of those, with the first having been the interview with John Grant of Nine Tiles, who played a part in the development of the Speccy. As I was looking for materials to help discuss the history of the Spectrum, I had difficulty in finding books and other references that went into the full timeline, other than Wikipedia.  Luckily, I happened upon a wonderful reference that covers all aspects of the machine, called “Spectrumpedia” by the Italian Alessandro Grusso.  I was able to contact Alessandro and he graciously agreed to co-host on one or more topics, starting with history.  His book has a wonderfully complete and detailed section about the history of the Speccy.  In this episode, Alessandro and I attempt to walk through the introduction of the machine, all of the different models that were produced, its competition at the time, its positives and negatives, and ultimately the impression it left in home computer history books. I will, as usual, talk about a few new acquisitions that have come my way in my never-ending adventures to discover new modern upgrades for my collection of old machines; as well as bring you news about upcoming shows. Finally, while I usually abstain from talking about monetary support for this podcast, I do want to mention that I have a way for you to help if you have the  inclination.  I have a page set up at https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays where you can donate.  Any funds will be used to defray the cost of managing the podcast as well as acquiring new hardware to  talk about.  Thank you so much everyone who has contributed and continues to contribute! Links Mentioned in the Show: New Acquisitions Commodore 64 Assembly Language Programming by Derek Bush and Peter Holmes - https://archive.org/details/Commodore_64_Assembly_Language_Programming/page/n13/mode/2up  Complete Commodore Inner Space Anthology by Karl J. H. Hildon - https://archive.org/details/Complete_Commodore_Inner_Space_Anthology_The_1985-03_Transactor_Publishing  Visible Solar System cart - https://www.amazon.com/Visible-Solar-System-Commodore-64/dp/B001RY5X0U  The Paper Computer Unfolded by Mark Jones Lorenzo - https://www.amazon.com/Paper-Computer-Unfolded-Twenty-First-Illustrative/dp/1537421131/  Vic-20 Exposed edited by John Vander Reyden - https://www.amazon.com/VIC-20-Exposed-Retro-Reproductions/dp/1789825857/  Upcoming Shows VCF West 2022 =  Aug 6, 7, The Computer History Museum, Mountain View, CA - https://vcfed.org/wp/festivals/vintage-computer-festival-west/  VCF Midwest = Sep 10-11, Elmhurst, IL - http://vcfmw.org/  Tandy Assembly = Sep 30-Oct. 2, Springfield, OH - http://www.tandyassembly.com/  Portland Retro Gaming Expo = Oct. 14-16, Portland, OR - https://www.retrogamingexpo.com/  Chicago TI International Worlds Faire = Oct. 29, Evanston, IL - http://chicagotiug.sdf.org/faire/  World of Commodore = first weekend of Dec. - https://www.tpug.ca/category/woc-posts/ NOT YET ANNOUNCED References “Spectrumpedia” by Alessandro Grussu   https://www.alessandrogrussu.it/sp.html  Amazon.it: Spectrumpedia - seconda edizione: volume 1 - Grussu, Alessandro - Libri  Wikipedia 

https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays Please consider donating to keep Floppy Days going! ZX Spectrum Part 1 History with John Grant Welcome to Floppy Days #115 for June, 2022.  And I’m your host, Randy Kindig.  I hope everyone is doing well. As you know, we are generally following the timeline of computers as they were released to the world.  We have arrived in the year 1982.  1982 was a landmark year for home computers, as there were some significant introductions in this year.  Machines that played a critical part in the rich home computer period of the 1980’s.  In particular, I’m talking about the ZX Spectrum and the Commodore 64 as well as some other interesting machines. One of the most impactful computers released at this time was the ZX Spectrum; across the pond in the UK by Sir Clive Sinclair.  This episode kicks off a multi-episode arc that covers the Spectrum through all the usual topics. The first topic we always start with is history.  I was able to catch up with a person who played a significant role in the history of the Spectrum through his company Nine Tiles.  Of course, I’m talking about Mr. John Grant.  John was kind enough to talk about the work he did on the machine and some of the stories surrounding its development and introduction.  I hope you find this interesting. I will, as usual, talk about a few new acquisitions that have come my way in my never ending quest to discover new modern upgrades for my collection of old machines; as well as bring you news about upcoming shows. Links Mentioned in the Show: New Acquisitions XEP-80 II by MyTek (Michael St. Pierre) MyTek Website - https://ataribits.weebly.com/xep80-ii.html  Purchasing XEP-80 II at The Brewing Academy - https://thebrewingacademy.com/collections/atari-800-xl-xe-xel-xld/products/xep80-ii-by-mytek  MidiMaze cart + SIO2Midi + cart shells SIO2Midi by MyTek - https://ataribits.weebly.com/midi.html  SIO2Midi at The Brewing Academy - https://thebrewingacademy.com/collections/atari-800-xl-xe-xel-xld/products/midi-for-your-atari-8-bit-400-800-xl-xe-xel-xld  8-bit cartridge shells at Vintage Computer Center - https://www.vintagecomputercenter.com/product/atari-8-bit-cartridge-shells  OSS 4-in-1 cart - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optimized_Systems_Software#:~:text=Optimized%20Systems%20Software%20(OSS)%20was,bit%20family%20of%20home%20computers  FujiCart + case MyTek Website - https://ataribits.weebly.com/576nuc.html  FujiCart and case at The Brewing Academy - https://thebrewingacademy.com/collections/myteks-576nuc-atari-computer/products/myteks-576nuc-and-internal-fujinet?variant=39350116024422  Steve Boswell (Mr Robot) site - https://atari8bit.net/  Upcoming Shows VCF Southeast - July 15-17  Southern Fried Gaming Expo - https://gameatl.com/  KansasFest 2022 = July 19–24, 2022, Kansas City, MO - https://www.kansasfest.org/  VCF West 2022 =  Aug 6, 7, The Computer History Museum, Mountain View, CA - https://vcfed.org/wp/festivals/vintage-computer-festival-west/  VCF Midwest = Sep 10-11, Elmhurst, IL - http://vcfmw.org/  Tandy Assembly = Sep 30-Oct. 2, Springfield, OH - http://www.tandyassembly.com/  Interview Links Grant, who also worked on the guts of Sinclair's ZX80 and ZX81 (and can be heard talking about his experiences in Randy Kindig's Floppy Days podcast), donated the prototype hardware to the museum  “The first ZX Spectrum prototype laid bare…” at The Register - https://www.theregister.com/2019/03/05/the_first_zx_spectrum_prototype_laid_bare/ 

https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays Please consider donating to keep Floppy Days going! Interview with Howell Ivy, Co-founder of Exidy and Developer of Exidy Sorcerer Computer Welcome to Floppy Days episode 114 for May, 2022.  I am Randy Kindig, your host. Again this month, I have a special interview show for you that actually has been a few years in the making.  Some time ago, I had come across and had gotten initial contact with Howell Ivy, who it turns out was co-founder of Exidy and was instrumental in the development of the Exidy Sorcerer computer. The Exidy Sorcerer is a machine that I covered clear back in 2014 in episode 17 of Floppy Days.  It was a very early machine, just after the release of the home computer triad of the Commodore PET/Apple II/TRS-80 Model I and before the Atari 400/800, with great graphics, a Z-80 processor, and one of the first home computers (after the VideoBrain) to have plug-in cartridges (these based on the 8-track tape cartridges).   After the initial contact with Howell, he went silent and I was unable for the last few years to get an interview set up.  Finally, recently, I was able to get a response and quickly got the interview in the books. I also recorded a video for an interview for the first time!  The link to the video interview on YouTube is in the show notes here. Before getting into the interview, I do want to talk about some vintage hardware or modern upgrades I was able to acquire, as well as bring you information about upcoming vintage computer shows. Finally, while I usually abstain from talking about monetary support for this podcast, I do want to mention that I have a way for you to help if you have the  inclination.  I have a page set up at https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays where you can donate.  Any funds will be used to defray the cost of managing the podcast as well as acquiring new hardware to  talk about.  Thank you so much everyone who has contributed and continues to contribute! Links: New Acquisitions Mattel Aquarius Aquaricart and 32K RAM "Combo Pack" - https://www.ebay.com/itm/124471439128?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649  Apple II Yellowstone Disk Controller - Big Mess o’ Wires  Upcoming Shows Boatfest Retro Computing Festival 2022 - June 24-25 - Hurricane, WV - https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/boatfest-retro-computer-festival-2022-tickets-222333103297  The Commodore Los Angeles Super Show 2022 - June 25-26 - Burbank, CA - https://portcommodore.com/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=class:start  VCF Southeast - July 15-17  Southern Fried Gaming Expo - https://gameatl.com/  KansasFest 2022 - July 19–24, 2022, Kansas City, MO - https://www.kansasfest.org/  VCF West 2022 -  Aug 6, 7, The Computer History Museum, Mountain View, CA - https://vcfed.org/wp/festivals/vintage-computer-festival-west/  VCF Midwest - Sep 10-11, Elmhurst, IL - http://vcfmw.org/  Tandy Assembly - Sep 30-Oct. 2, Springfield, OH - http://www.tandyassembly.com/  Interview Links The History of Exidy - http://allincolorforaquarter.blogspot.com/2013/05/the-ultimate-so-far-history-of-exidy_24.html  Howell Ivy interview at RetroGamer - https://www.retrogamer.net/profiles/developer/howell-ivy/ 

https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays Please consider donating to keep Floppy Days going! Interview with Monte Davidoff, Developer of Altair BASIC Floating Point Welcome to Floppy Days episode 113 for April, 2022.  I am Randy Kindig, your host. I’m going to take a break this month from covering machines in order to bring you a special interview show.  Monte Davidoff worked with the very early Microsoft, while in college, when they were famously getting started by developing a BASIC for MITS and Ed Roberts for the Altair 8800.  Monte developed the floating point routines for that BASIC that they so desperately needed at the time. If you’re like me, I previously was unaware of Monte’s contributions to essentially the first BASIC developed for arguably the first personal computer. It’s interesting to hear Monte’s perspective on how he managed to get involved with Microsoft, Bill Gates, Paul Allen and the project on which he worked with them.  His recall of specifics about programming for the 8080 is pretty amazing. Before getting into the interview, I do want to talk about some vintage hardware or modern upgrades I was able to acquire, as well as bring you information about upcoming vintage computer shows. Finally, while I usually abstain from talking about monetary support for this podcast, I do want to mention that I have a way for you to help if you have the  inclination.  I have a page set up at https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays where you can donate.  Any funds will be used to defray the cost of managing the podcast as well as acquiring new hardware to  talk about.  Thank you so much everyone who has contributed and continues to contribute! Links: New Acquisitions Odyssey multi-cart - https://atariage.com/forums/topic/306480-magnavox-odyssey-multicard-call-for-orders/  TI-99 TIPI  https://github.com/jedimatt42/tipi/wiki  https://atariage.com/forums/topic/277635-tipi-usage-and-support/ https://thebrewingacademy.com/products/tipi-ti-raspberry-pi-interface-for-the-ti-99-4a?variant=31641974669414  Upcoming Shows CocoFest 2022 - May 14th & 15th 2022, Elk Grove Village, Illinois - https://www.glensideccc.com/cocofest-2022/  Boatfest Retro Computing Festival 2022 - June 24-25 - Hurricane, WV - https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/boatfest-retro-computer-festival-2022-tickets-222333103297  The Commodore Los Angeles Super Show 2022 - June 25-26 - Burbank, CA - https://portcommodore.com/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=class:start  VCF Southeast - July 15-17  Southern Fried Gaming Expo - https://gameatl.com/  KansasFest 2022 - July 19–24, 2022, Kansas City, MO - https://www.kansasfest.org/  VCF West 2022 -  Aug 6, 7, The Computer History Museum, Mountain View, CA - https://vcfed.org/wp/festivals/vintage-computer-festival-west/  VCF Midwest - Sep 10-11, Elmhurst, IL - http://vcfmw.org/  Tandy Assembly - Sep 30-Oct. 2, Springfield, OH - http://www.tandyassembly.com/  Interview Links https://www.theregister.com/2001/05/11/microsoft_altair_basic_legend_talks/  https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2000/12/31/alter-egos/91b267b0-858c-4d4e-a4bd-48f22e015f70/  ​​https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altair_BASIC 

https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays Please consider donating to keep Floppy Days going! The IBM PC 5150 Part 5 with Jim Leonard Welcome to Floppy Days episode 112 for March, 2022.  I am Randy Kindig, your host.  As a reminder, we are currently finishing up talking about computers released in 1981.  This is the 5th of 5 shows covering the release of the IBM PC 5150, the grand-daddy of most modern personal computers.  I know 5 shows about one computer seems like a lot, but it IS one of the few computer lines that actually became a standard and many of the computers we use today are based on this original architecture.  Besides, it just turned out there was a lot to cover about this machine. As on the earlier IBM PC episodes, I’m extremely happy to have Jim Leonard as co-host for this final episode on the 5150.  Jim is a fount of knowledge on all topics IBM PC, so I’m honored he was able to help us take a walk through the various aspects of the machine and all of its associated information. In this episode we will cover emulation, buying one today, Community, and Web sites. Before we get into the main part of the show, I will be talking a bit about new acquisitions in the vintage computer hobby. New Acquisitions Coleco Adam video cable - https://www.8bitclassics.com/product/coleco-adam-composite-av-cable/  Coleco Adam power supply - https://www.arcadeshopper.com/wp/store/#!/Adam-replacement-power-supply/p/363366783/category=17839014  Coleco Adam ADE Virtual Disk - https://github.com/Kalidomra/AdamNet-Drive-Emulator  FujiNet for multiple machines - https://atariage.com/forums/topic/331791-low-cost-fujinet-v16-includes-usb-and-coleco-adam-hardware-components/  Upcoming Shows VCF East 2022  =   Apr 22, 23, 24, Infoage Science and History Museums, Wall, NJ - https://vcfed.org/wp/festivals/vintage-computer-festival-east/  CocoFest 2022 = May 14th & 15th 2022, Elk Grove Village, Illinois - https://www.glensideccc.com/cocofest-2022/  Boatfest Retro Computing Festival 2022 = June 24-25 - Hurricane, WV - https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/boatfest-retro-computer-festival-2022-tickets-222333103297   The Commodore Los Angeles Super Show 2022 - June 25-26 - Burbank, CA - https://portcommodore.com/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=class:start  VCF Southeast - July 15-17  Southern Fried Gaming Expo https://gameatl.com/  KansasFest 2022 = July 19–24, 2022, Kansas City, MO - https://www.kansasfest.org/  VCF West 2022 =  Aug 6, 7, The Computer History Museum, Mountain View, CA - https://vcfed.org/wp/festivals/vintage-computer-festival-west/  Emulation  86box - (https://github.com/86Box/86Box)  IBM PC emulator for browsers - https://www.pcjs.org/  dosbox - (www.dosbox.com)  hardware emulator - https://hackaday.com/2021/07/28/emulating-the-ibm-pc-on-an-esp32/  Community Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/groups/VintagePCEnthusiasts/  classic computing mailing lists -  http://www.classiccmp.org/lists.html  Discord -  https://discord.gg/CwhYHY2  Vintage Computer Federation Forums - https://forum.vcfed.org/  Upper Memory Block Podcast - (http://umbcast.com/  DOS Game Club Podcast - https://www.dosgameclub.com/  Adrian’s Digital Basement - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCE5dIscvDxrb7CD5uiJJOiw  The Oldskool PC - https://www.youtube.com/c/TheOldskoolPC  Web Sites over 1000 games - https://www.dosgamesarchive.com/games/  Winworld pc - (https://winworldpc.com/home  resource for troubleshooting IBM PCs, XTs and ATs -  www.minuszerodegrees.net  magazines, books, software, emulation - http://www.archive.org 

Patreon link for supporting the show: https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays  Welcome to Floppy Days episode 111 for February, 2022.  I am Randy Kindig, your host.  As a reminder, we are currently finishing up talking about computers released in 1981.  This is the 4th of 5 shows covering the release of the IBM PC 5150, the grand-daddy of most modern personal computers. As on the earlier IBM PC episodes, I’m extremely happy to have Jim Leonard as co-host for these remaining episodes on the 5150.  When Jim and I went to record what was to be the final episode on the IBM PC, it ran so long that I decided to break it into 2 episodes.  That means there will be one more episode next month, for 5 total on this historic machine. In this episode we will cover ads appearances and modern upgrades.  Next month, in the final episode, we will focus on emulation, buying one today, Community, and Web sites. Before we get into the main part of the show, I will be talking a bit about new acquisitions in the vintage computer hobby. One other thing I wanted to mention to the listeners is that this month coincides with the 9th anniversary of Floppy Days!  That certainly makes Floppy Days one of the grand-daddys of vintage computer podcasts and makes me wonder where the last 9 years went.  It’s been a fun ride and it’s a long way from over.  The interest remains high from listeners, with over 300,000 downloads since it started.  More importantly, my love of the topic and interest in keeping this going remains high!  We have a lot more machines to talk about!  1982 & 1983 were extremely rich years for the introduction of new home computers and I want to bring all of them to you. Finally, while I usually decline talking about monetary support for this podcast, I do want to mention that I have a way for you help if you have the  inclination.  I have a page set up at https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays where you can donate.  Any funds will be used to defray the cost of managing the podcast as well as acquiring new hardware to talk about.  Thank you so much everyone who has contributed and continues to contribute! Links Mentioned in the Show: New Acquisitions SIO2MIDI - https://thebrewingacademy.com/products/midi-for-your-atari-8-bit-400-800-xl-xe-xel-xld  ABBUC membership - http://www.abbuc.de  Upcoming Shows VCF East 2022  =   Apr 22, 23, 24, Infoage Science and History Museums, Wall, NJ - https://vcfed.org/wp/festivals/vintage-computer-festival-east/  CocoFest 2022 = May 14th & 15th 2022, Elk Grove Village, Illinois - https://www.glensideccc.com/cocofest-2022/  Boatfest Retro Computing Festival 2022 = June 24-25 - Hurricane, WV - https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/boatfest-retro-computer-festival-2022-tickets-222333103297   The Commodore Los Angeles Super Show 2022 = June 25-26 - Burbank, CA - https://portcommodore.com/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=class:start  VCF Southeast = July 15-17  Southern Fried Gaming Expo https://gameatl.com/  KansasFest 2022 = July 19–24, 2022, Kansas City, MO - https://www.kansasfest.org/  VCF West 2022 =  Aug 6, 7, The Computer History Museum, Mountain View, CA - https://vcfed.org/wp/festivals/vintage-computer-festival-west/  Ads and Appearances Movies and TV: “Starring The Computer” - https://www.starringthecomputer.com/computer.html?c=58  Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)  Halt and Catch Fire - Season 1, Episode 1, "I/O" (2014)  Halt and Catch Fire - Season 1, Episode 4, "Close to the Metal" (2014)  Pirates of Silicon Valley (1999)  IBM Ads https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPLGvI03Vrk  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQT_YCBb9ao  Modern Upgrades Lo-Tech 1MB memory board (Jim’s favorite version is https://texelec.com/product/lo-tech-1mb-ram/)  XT-IDE - https://www.tindie.com/products/glitchwrks/glitch-works-xt-ide-rev-4a/  Serge Kise’s “monster-fdc project” - https://github.com/skiselev/monster-fdc  YouTube video for using a gotek - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTAWjtQPYF4  RGBtoHDMI - https://github.com/hoglet67/RGBtoHDMI  References https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_Personal_Computer  https://www.ibm.com/ibm/history/exhibits/pc25/pc25_birth.html  https://www.ibm.com/ibm/history/exhibits/pc25/pc25_reference.html  http://oldcomputers.net/ibm5150.html 

contribute to the show via Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays  The IBM PC 5150 Part 3 With Jim Leonard Welcome to Floppy Days episode 110 for January, 2022.  I am Randy Kindig, your host.  As a reminder, we are currently finishing up talking about computers released in 1981.  This is the third of four shows covering the release of the IBM PC 5150, the grand-daddy of most modern personal computers. As announced last show, I’m extremely happy to have a co-host for these remaining episodes on the 5150.  And that co-host is Jim Leonard, one of the people responsible for putting together VCF Midwest each year and a huge early PC enthusiast.  Jim has an amazing amount of detailed knowledge about these machines and really enhances the podcast! In this episode we will cover peripherals, using the machine, software, magazines, and books.  Next month, in the final episode covering this venerable machine we will focus on ads, emulation, modern upgrades, Community, and Web sites. Before we get into the main part of the show, I will be talking a bit about new acquisitions in the vintage computer hobby and what I’ve been up to.   Finally, while I usually decline talking about monetary support for this podcast, I do want to mention that I have a way for you help if you have the  inclination.  I have a page set up at https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays where you can donate.  Any funds will be used to defray the cost of managing the podcast as well as acquiring new hardware to talk about.  Thank you so much everyone who has contributed and continues to contribute! Links Mentioned in the Show: New Acquisitions  Apple IIc VGA - http://www.a2heaven.com/webshop/index.php?rt=product/product&product_id=135  Apple IIc monitor - https://madeapple.com/apple-monitor-iic/  Apple IIGS RGB-to-SCART cable - https://cocoman.onlineweb.shop/Apple_IIgs_SCART_Cable/p7004829_21371801.aspx  VTech Precomputer 1000 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VTech_PreComputer_1000  HP-85 EBTKS - Philip Freidin - http://www.fliptronics.com/EBTKS/index.html  Upcoming Shows in 2022  VCF East - Apr 22-24, Infoage Science and History Museums, Wall, NJ - https://vcfed.org/wp/festivals/vintage-computer-festival-east/  CocoFest - May 14-15, Elk Grove Village, Illinois - https://www.glensideccc.com/cocofest-2022/  VCF Southeast - July 15-17  Southern Fried Gaming Expo - https://gameatl.com/  KansasFest 2022 - July 19–24, Kansas City, MO - https://www.kansasfest.org/  VCF West - Aug 6, 7, The Computer History Museum, Mountain View, CA - https://vcfed.org/wp/festivals/vintage-computer-festival-west/  Magazines/Newsletters  Magazine LIst -  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_computer_magazines  Byte - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byte_(magazine)  Creative Computing - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creative_Computing_(magazine)  Compute’s PC Magazine - https://archive.org/details/compute-magazine  Personal Computer World magazine - http://www.computinghistory.org.uk/sec/573/Personal-Computer-World/  Books  Compute!'s Mapping the IBM PC and PCJR Paperback by Russ Davies - https://www.amazon.com/Compute-Mapping-IBM-PC-PCJR/dp/0942386922/  References IBM Archives - https://www.ibm.com/ibm/history/exhibits/pc25/pc25_fact.html  Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_Personal_Computer  Old-Computers.com - https://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=274&st=1  Vintage Computer Federation forums - https://forum.vcfed.org/index.php  IBM 51xx PC Family Computers - http://www.minuszerodegrees.net 

IBM PC 5150 Part 2 with Jim Leonard Welcome to Floppy Days episode 109 for December, 2021.  I am Randy Kindig, your host.  As a reminder, we are currently finishing up talking about computers released in 1981.  This is the second of a now anticipated four shows covering the release of the IBM PC 5150, the grand-daddy of most modern personal computers.  Back in episode 106, I covered the long and interesting history of the 5150.  How it came about and why we are living today with the choices made clear back in 1981. I’m very happy to announce that I will have a co-host for these next 3 episodes where we cover tech specs, books, magazines, Web sites, and all the usual topics.  And that co-host is Jim Leonard, one of the people responsible for putting together VCF Midwest each year and a huge early PC enthusiast.  Jim is a fount of knowledge about these machines and adds a ton to the podcast! It turns out that just covering the tech specs about the 5150 alone was more than enough material to fill an entire episode, so Jim and I will focus on that in this episode.  Next month we will cover peripherals, software, magazines, books, and more and in the final episode covering this venerable machine we will focus on ads, emulation, modern upgrades, Community, and Web sites. Before we get into the 5150 tech specs, I will be talking a bit about new acquisitions in the vintage computer hobby and what I’ve been up to.   I have a page set up at https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays where you can donate to help keep this podcast going. New Acquisitions Commodore 128 RGB to SCART - https://c128adapter.pook.nl/  Atari 8-bit 576NUC+ - https://thebrewingacademy.com/collections/myteks-576nuc-atari-computer/products/myteks-576nuc-and-internal-fujinet  Atari 8-bit ACE80XL Cart - https://www.vintagecomputercenter.com/product/ace-80  Upcoming Shows VCF East 2022  =   Apr 22, 23, 24, Infoage Science and History Museums, Wall, NJ - https://vcfed.org/wp/festivals/vintage-computer-festival-east/  CocoFest 2022 = May 14th & 15th 2022, Elk Grove Village, Illinois - https://www.glensideccc.com/cocofest-2022/  KansasFest 2022 = July 19–24, 2022, Kansas City, MO - https://www.kansasfest.org/  VCF West 2022 =  Aug 6, 7, The Computer History Museum, Mountain View, CA - https://vcfed.org/wp/festivals/vintage-computer-festival-west/  Interview - Jim Leonard Jim interview on Floppy Days #7 at VCFMW 8.0 (2013) - https://floppydays.libsyn.com/floppy-days-episode-7-vintage-computer-festival-midwest-8-0  Total DOS launcher - https://github.com/MobyGamer/total-dos-launcher  The Oldskool PC YouTube Channel - https://youtube.com/TheOldskoolPC  Reference - Tech Specs https://www.ibm.com/ibm/history/exhibits/pc25/pc25_fact.html  https://forum.vcfed.org/index.php  http://www.minuszerodegrees.net  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_Personal_Computer https://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=274&st=1

Interview with Albert Cory, author of “Inventing the Future” about the Xerox Star Welcome to Floppy Days episode 108 for October, 2021.  I am Randy Kindig, your host. This month is a special episode based on an interview I was able to get with Albert Cory, author of the recently published book, “Inventing the Future”.  This book is a semi-fictional account of what it was like to work at Xerox in the late 70’s and early 80’s, while the company was working on the concept of the “Office of the Future” and the amazing computer known as the Xerox Star. For me, this interview and book finally pushed me into researching this incredible part of computer history; of which I had a cursory knowledge, but had never gone into any detailed research.  The Xerox Star was ahead of its time and the technology that went into this computer set the stage for our modern computers in many ways. While Xerox didn’t truly take advantage of all this amazing technology, as the Star was considered a commercial failure, many other companies took the mantle from Xerox and successfully utilized much of its technology. Albert sits down with me and talks about what it was like to work at Xerox in those days, what prompted him to write the book, and many other topics. I think you’ll find it interesting.  I know I did! Before getting into the interview, I do want to talk about some vintage computer shows I was recently able to attend and, of course, some vintage hardware or modern upgrades I was able to acquire. Finally, while I usually eschew talking about monetary support for this podcast, I do want to mention that I have a way for you to help if you have the  inclination.  I have a page set up at https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays where you can donate.  Any funds will be used to defray the cost of managing the podcast as well as acquiring new hardware to  talk about.  Thank you so much everyone who has contributed and continues to contribute! Links: New Acquisitions VCF Midwest - http://www.vcfmw.org  ZX80/81/TS1000 ZXpand Super Serial + wireless module - https://www.sellmyretro.com/offer/details/zxpand%2B-super-serial-card-40640  ZX80/81/TS1000 ZX-Key: The ZX81 Mechanical Keyboard and Interface Card (Gateron Black Switches) - https://www.sellmyretro.com/offer/details/45028  ZX80/81/TS1000 ZX-Key main Web site -  ZX81 Keyboard Adventure  Apple IIGS RGB-to-SCART cable - Cocoman - https://cocoman.onlineweb.shop/Apple_IIgs_SCART_Cable/p7004829_21371801.aspx  Microsoft BASIC I for Atari - https://atariwiki.org/wiki/Wiki.jsp?page=Microsoft%20Basic%20I  Tandy Assembly - http://www.tandyassembly.com  MCX32SD for Tandy MC-10 - https://thezippsterzone.com/mc-10-items-for-sale/  REX# for M100/T102 - Steve Adolph - https://bitchin100.com/wiki/index.php?title=Ordering_Information  Backpack Drive for M100/T102 - Jeffrey Birt - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3es0NLJmd2c  Upcoming Shows CocoFest November 6-7 Elk Grove Village, IL  https://www.glensideccc.com/cocofest/  Commodore Los Angeles Super Show (CLASS) November 6-7, Burbank, CA, http://www.portcommodore.com/class  VCF East April 22-24, 2022: Vintage Computer Festival East , Wall NJ  VCF West August 6-7: Vintage Computer Festival West , The Computer History Museum, Mountain View, CA  Interview Links Albert Web site - https://www.albertcory.io/  Bitsavers documents - http://bitsavers.org/pdf/xerox/sdd/  “Inventing the Future” by Albert Cory - https://amzn.to/3EtBOO1  “Dealers of Lightning” by Michael Hiltzik - https://amzn.to/3w7xVM0  Read the reviews from the participants - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/57138737-inventing-the-future 

Bill Degnan, Kennett Classic https://www.vintagecomputer.net/  https://www.kennettclassic.com  Second Annual Kennett ClassicSept. 25, 2021Kennett Square, PA

The History of the IBM PC 5150 Welcome to Floppy Days episode 106 for August, 2021.  I am Randy Kindig, your host.  As regular listeners will remember, we are currently talking about computers released in 1981.  It just so happens that the next computer up is the IBM PC 5150, the grand-daddy of most modern personal computers.  It just so happens that this very month, August, is the 40th anniversary of the venerable IBM PC.  This wasn’t planned.  It just fortuitously worked out this way.  I’m planning to have a couple-episode arc on this topic, starting this month with the long and interesting history of the 5150.  How it came about and why are we living today with the choices made clear back in 1981? Although I’ll be running solo this month, as Bill Gates just couldn’t free himself up to co-host with me, I will have a co-host for the follow-up episode where we cover tech specs, books, magazines, Web sites, and all the usual topics. Before we get into the 5150 history, I will be talking a bit about new acquisitions in the vintage computer hobby and what I’ve been up to.   Finally, while I usually eschew talking about monetary support for this podcast, I do want to mention that I have a way for you help if you have the  inclination.  I have a page set up at https://www.patreon.com/FloppyDays where you can donate.  Any funds will be used to defray the cost of managing the podcast as well as acquiring new hardware to talk about. New Acquisitions iWoz book - https://amzn.to/2Wurftw  Jobs movie - https://amzn.to/3kC9IYQ  PCJrSD + case - https://www.raphnet.net/electronique/sdcartJR/index_en.php  MS-DOS 5 disks from Jim Leonard - https://www.pcjribm.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?t=26  MCX32 SD - https://thezippsterzone.com/mc-10-items-for-sale/  Retrocomputer Coloring Book by Quick Web Books - https://amzn.to/3zwK1iG  AmtixCPC Magazine - https://www.patreon.com/amtixcpcmagazine/posts  Upcoming Shows VCF Midwest Sep 11-12 http://vcfmw.org/announce , Elmhurst, IL (Chicago)  Second Annual Kennett Classic September 25, https://www.kennettclassic.com/ , Kennett Square, PA  Tandy Assembly October 1-3 in Springfield Ohio, http://www.tandyassembly.com/ (play ad for Tandy Assembly)  VCF East October 8, 9, 10, 2021: Vintage Computer Festival East , Wall NJ  Commodore Los Angeles Super Show (CLASS) November 6-7, Burbank, CA, http://www.portcommodore.com/class  References https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_Personal_Computer  https://www.ibm.com/ibm/history/exhibits/pc25/pc25_birth.html  https://www.ibm.com/ibm/history/exhibits/pc25/pc25_reference.html http://oldcomputers.net/ibm5150.html

Floppy Days 105 - Joe Decuir - Developing the Amiga Hello, and welcome to another interview edition of the Floppy Days Podcast for July, 2021.  I am Randy Kindig.  I am extremely honored to bring to you today an interview with one of the true pioneers of the personal computer, one of the designers of the Amiga 1000, a primary designer of the Atari 8-bit line and Atari 2600, and the developer of modern USB based on his work developing the SIO port for the Atari 8-bit: Mr. Joe Decuir. I’ve interviewed Joe for Floppy Days before, but that was about his amazing work on the Atari 8-bit line.  Joe was able to provide a lot of history around the development of the Atari 8-bits for the shows where I was covering the 400 and 800 computers. The majority of this interview is around the work he did on the Amiga.  Joe worked closely with Jay Miner and others to design a computer in the days when personal computers were just in their infancy.  Joe shares with us the thoughts and reasoning that went into the design of the Amiga 1000  and thus brings all of us a little closer to being a part of an amazing time in computer history.  Joe also mixes in some Atari 8-bit and Atari 2600 information, talks about the Apple II, has a story involving the TI-99 and numerous other tidbits. Before diving into the interview, I will cover a few of the new acquisitions that have been added to my ever-growing vintage computer and modern upgrades collection. I had a great time, as always, talking with Joe and learning more about what it was like back in the 70’s and 80’s as a developer of some of the most incredible hardware developed up to that time.  Please enjoy! Links: Amiga .5MB upgrade - https://www.ebay.com/itm/274483642683  AmigaSD - ozkanocakli at gmail.com - https://www.vintageisthenewold.com/sdcard-interface-for-the-commodore-amiga  Amiga Addict Magazine - https://www.amiga-addict.com/  Upcoming Shows VCF West August 7 & 8, 2021: Vintage Computer Festival West , The Computer History Museum, Mountain View, CA  VCFSE Aug 20-22 - https://gameatl.com/vintage-computing-festival-southeast-8-0-at-sfge/ or http://southernfriedgameroomexpo.com/ , Atlanta, GA VCF Midwest Sep 11-12 - http://vcfmw.org/announce , Elmhurst, IL (Chicago)  Tandy Assembly October 1-3 in Springfield Ohio - http://www.tandyassembly.com/  VCF East October 8, 9, 10, 2021: Vintage Computer Festival East , Wall NJ Commodore Los Angeles Super Show (CLASS) November 6-7, Burbank, CA - http://www.portcommodore.com/class

Floppy Days 104 - Interview with Leonard Tramiel Welcome to Floppy Days episode 104 for June, 2021.  Randy Kindig here again, as your usual host, to talk about vintage computer topics. For this month, I have another interview for you in which Commodore and Atari fans will have special interest.  One of the most iconic figures in vintage computer history, and one who was a big part of the home computer wars back in the late 70’s and into the mid-to-late 80’s was Jack Tramiel.  Jack at one time owned Commodore and later Atari, and involved his sons intimately in the business.  Although Jack is no longer around there are plenty of interviews available on YouTube and other places where you can see and hear Jack.  For this episode, however, I was able to track down one of Jack’s sons, Leonard, and get his perspective on being involved in home computers with his father during that time.  Leonard was particularly involved in the development of the Atari ST and much of this interview will revolve around that, but there is a lot of other content here as well. For this month, I’m going to forgo any other content and just focus on the interview itself. This interview took place February 2, 2020. Please enjoy! Links: Leonard Tramiel, Computer History Museum profile - https://computerhistory.org/profile/leonard-tramiel/  Interview at Arcade Attack - https://www.arcadeattack.co.uk/leonard-tramiel/  The story of Commodore and the 8-bit generation | Leonard Tramiel | TEDxMidAtlantic - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRBU8pEDWwY  Leonard Tramiel Greets Those at CommVEx 2017 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNGEd7QbLjI 

Floppy Days 103 - Kay Savetz Interviews Mark Englebardt, Wayzata Technology Mark Englebardt was the founder of Wayzata Technology, a company that was one of the earliest publishers of CD-ROM software. The company was founded in 1991, and produced hundreds of CD-ROM titles before going out of business in 1996. The company's discs were primarily for Macintosh but many worked with all ISO-9660 compatible platforms. Its most popular product was the Wayzata World Factbook, a disc of information about countries and territories around the world.  Downloadable versions of more than 80 of Wayzata CD-ROMs are available at the Internet Archive. This interview took place on January 26, 2016. Inc Magazine: Pioneer CD-ROM Maker Hit by Hardball Competition Downloadable versions of Wayzata CD-ROMs at Internet Archive

The BBC Micro, Part 3 with Daniel Jameson Hello, and welcome to episode 102 of the Floppy Days Podcast for December, 2020.  I just love these old machines and love to learn and talk about them.  The year is 1981 and we are talking about the legendary BBC Micro or Beeb as it’s affectionately known.  This is the final episode on this incredible machine, where we will be covering Ads and Appearances, Modern Upgrades, Emulators, Buying One Today, Community, and current Web Sites. Again, as with the last episode, since the BBC Micro is a British machine I thought it only right that my co-host for these episodes should be someone from the UK.   Daniel Jameson, a prominent member of the stardot forums, graciously agreed to help me with this and provide the “color” commentary during this episode.  I think he adds a lot to the show. Before getting into the details of the Beeb, I will talk a bit about new acquisitions and what I’ve been up to, a very brief mention of any upcoming shows, and then right into the meat of the episode. New Acquisitions PC Junior VGA video card - https://www.ebay.com/itm/164149429851  C64 TapeCart - https://www.c64-wiki.com/wiki/Tapecart  FujiNet for Atari 800/800XL - https://fujinet.online/shop/  book “Beneath Apple DOS and ProDOS 2020” By Don Worth, Pieter Lechner - https://www.lulu.com/en/us/shop/pieter-lechner-and-don-worth/beneath-apple-dos-and-prodos-2020/paperback/product-g9kwzm.html?page=1&pageSize=4  MVT100 - https://bitchin100.com/wiki/index.php?title=VT100 - Steve Adolph  Apple IIC composite cable - https://www.ebay.com/itm/Apple-IIc-2c-DB15-Color-Composite-Video-amp-Audio-Cable-Tested-/233772943854?nma=true&si=tHD2mKl633oUtVis3c7Y7F3AfKY%253D&orig_cvip=true&nordt=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557  ZXpand+ - https://www.sellmyretro.com/  MISE/FreHD cases: re490 https://www.ebay.com/itm/Custom-3D-Printed-2-color-Case-Enclosure-for-TRS-80-MISE-w-Pads-screws-NEW-/124383293703?hash=item1cf5d27107  https://www.ebay.com/itm/Custom-3D-Printed-2-Color-Case-Enclosure-for-TRS-80-FreHD-w-Pads-screws-NEW-/124383299365?hash=item1cf5d28725  Upcoming Shows April 9, 10 & 11, 2021: Vintage Computer Festival East  June 11-13, 2021: http://southernfriedgameroomexpo.com/  August 7 & 8, 2021: Vintage Computer Festival West  Feedback Adam Trionfo - Computer and Videogame Collection - Video 1 - Books, Books and More... Books! - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GhMBeqkfB8  Ads and Appearances Starring the Computer - http://www.starringthecomputer.com/  1980s BBC Micro Used By Everyone/The Story of Daphne Ad - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6GQaC4Em8E  ads at 8bs.com - http://8bs.com/othrdnld/manuals/ads.shtml  ads at vintagecomputing.com - http://www.vintagecomputing.com/index.php/archives/657  Vintage PC Ads - https://twitter.com/vintage_pc_ads  https://twitter.com/vintage_pc_ads/status/938943770065764355/photo/1  https://twitter.com/vintage_pc_ads/status/954526425599676416/photo/1  4Corn Computers - http://4corn.co.uk/8bit.php  Modern Upgrades RetroClinic’s “INTERNAL RASPBERRY PI 1GHz MULTI-CORE CO-PROCESSOR KIT” uses a Raspberry Pi to emulate a number of the Tube processor expansions - https://www.ebay.co.uk/str/retroclinic  TheFutureWas8Bit “SD2BBC BBC Micro SPI SD Card Interface” - SD2BBC  SPROW Ethernet Adapter - http://www.sprow.co.uk/bbc/masternet.htm  Acorn BBC Micro RGB SCART - Cool Novelties  Acorn BBC Micro RGB SCART - RetroComputerShack  RGB to HDMI directly using RPi Zero https://stardot.org.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?t=14430&start=90  https://stardot.org.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=20404  GreaseWeazle - https://github.com/keirf/Greaseweazle  modern USB mouse adapter - SmallyMouse - https://www.domesday86.com/?page_id=245  Emulation BBC Micro emulators - Emulation General Wiki  B-EM - The BBC Micro Emulator , https://github.com/stardot/b-em  BeebEm - BBC Micro and Master 128 Emulator  BeebEm For Mac  BeebEm for UNIX - http://beebem-unix.bbcmicro.com/  JSBeeb: JSBeeb - Javascript BBC Micro emulator  https://github.com/mattgodbolt/jsbeeb  The Complete BBC Games Archive a website holding nearly all software for the BBC Micro, most with links to play online for free in JSBeeb. Matt Godbolt’s blog and videos - https://xania.org/Emulation  model-b, a BBC Micro Emulator for Windows  b2 - https://stardot.org.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=13081 , https://github.com/tom-seddon/b2/releases  Community Facebook Acorn Computer and BBC Micro Enthusiasts - https://www.facebook.com/groups/AcornAndBBCMicro/  Mailing Lists - BBC Micro mailing list - http://lists.cloud9.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/bbc-micro  Twitter - BBC Micro (@acornproton) - https://twitter.com/acornproton  Forums AtariAge - http://www.atariage.com  stardot.org.uk  6502.org - http://forum.6502.org/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=3482  Current Web Sites General Info BBC Micro - Tips BeebMaster BeebWiki BBC Micro - Wikipedia Inside The Master 128 - Motherboard picture mdfs.net - Software and documentation covering such subjects as Acorn BBCs, Econet and networking  R. T. Russell: The home of BBC BASIC The BBC lives! Sprow's webpages - BBC Mecca The Retro-Kit Collection Yellow Pigs BBC Computer Pages BBC and Master Computer PD Library 8 Bit Acorn Webring  The BBC micro as a `multi-multimeter' - https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1989PhyEd..24...44T/abstract  Vic from the 10pence Arcade podcast recently teamed up with Kingy from the RGDS podcast presenters to talk about some of the games for the BBC Micro The Press Play on Tape podcast also did an episode on Acorn a few years back Stores RetroClinic | eBay Stores - Mark Haysman Cool Novelties - BBC Micro & Acorn - Retro Gaming, Electronics and Novelty Gifts DataServe Retro - repair BBC PS - Steve Gledhill

The BBC Micro, Part 2 Hello, and welcome to episode 101 of the Floppy Days Podcast for September, 2020.  The year is 1981 and we are talking about the legendary BBC Micro.  In this episode and next we will fully cover this incredible machine; from tech specs, peripherals, and books/magazines/software to emulators, modern upgrades, and current Web sites. The BBC Micro is a British machine, and I thought it only right that my co-host for these episodes should be someone from the UK.  I acquired my BBC Micro, a BBC Master Series model, from my good friend and frequent contributor to the show via feedback, Andy Collins.  We did an international swap, where I sent him a machine that is common in the US (the Apple IIGS) and he sent me a machine common in the UK (the aforementioned BBC Master).  It would have cost each of us a not-insignificant sum of money otherwise to acquire our respective machines, as they each are rare in the country from which they did not originate.  I’m very happy with the trade and thankful to Andy for helping me get a BBC Micro. In any event, Andy agreed to co-host this episode, for which I’m grateful, and I will have another UK resident for next month’s co-host. Before getting into the details of the Beeb, I will talk a bit about new acquisitions and what I’ve been up to, a very brief mention of any upcoming shows, and then right into the meat of the episode. Links Mentioned in the Show: New Aquisitions The History of the Fortran Programming Language by Mark Jones Lorenzo - https://amzn.to/3iboEK4  The Atari Experience by Adrien Lamothe Jr. - https://amzn.to/36fakOh  The Easy Guide to Your Atari 600XL/800XL by Thomas Blackadar - https://amzn.to/36eTCyF  Compute!’s ST Programmer’s Guide by The Editors of Compute! - https://amzn.to/3kVLVkX  Elementary ST BASIC by C. Regena (Compute! Books) - https://amzn.to/2Gk4vUQ  Beginning Programming Using Retro Computing, Learn BASIC with a Commodore Emulator by Gerald Friedland - https://amzn.to/3jiVlqn  PRM-85 - Bill Kotaska - https://vintagecomputers.sdfeu.org/hp85/prm85.htm  H85Disk - Mike Gore - https://github.com/magore/hp85disk/tree/master/  groups.io HP Series 80 list - hpseries80@groups.io  Upcoming Shows October 10 - 12, VCF East, InfoAge Science Center, Wall, NJ - http://vcfed.org/wp/festivals/vintage-computer-festival-east/ VIRTUAL + LIVE  Peripherals Acorn Dual Analogue Joysticks - https://www.retro-kit.co.uk/page.cfm/content/Acorn-Analogue-Joysticks/  Kempston Competition Pro 500 Joystick - https://www.retro-kit.co.uk/page.cfm/content/Competition-Pro-Joystick-for-the-BBC-Micro/  Acorn Data Recorder - https://www.retro-kit.co.uk/page.cfm/content/Acorn-Data-Recorder-ANF-03/  BBC Turtle - https://www.geeksaresexy.net/2009/10/22/remembering-the-bbc-micro/  Magazines BBC Micro Magazines - http://8bs.com/magazines.htm  BBC Micro User/The Micro User/Acorn Computing - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Micro_User  Acorn Programs - https://archive.org/details/acorn-programs  BeBug - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BEEBUG  Disk User Magazine - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disk_User  Books 55 BBC Micro Books - http://www.acornelectron.co.uk/eug/revs/dvds/55_Bbc_Micro_Books_000.html  BBC-related manuals - http://8bs.com/othrdnld/manuals/applications.shtml  "BBC Microcomputer User Guide" by John Coll - BBC Micro User Guide [Remastered PDF]  "The Advanced User Guide"/"The New Advanced User Guide" Advanced_User_Guide.pdf  New_Advanced_User_Guide.pdf http://www.acornelectron.co.uk/info/electron/acornsoft_adder/The-New-Advanced-User-Guide.html  The "BASIC Rom User Guide" by Mark Plumbley - BASIC ROM User Guide [Remastered PDF]  Advanced BASIC ROM User Guide by Colin Pharo, 1984 - Advanced BASIC ROM User Guide [Remastered PDF]  Forth on the BBC Microcomputer  by Steven Flintham - http://8bs.com/othrdnld/manuals/applications/forth-on-the-bbc-microcomputer.zip  LISP on the BBC Microcomputer - http://8bs.com/othrdnld/manuals/applications/LISP-doc-SBL14.zip  Assembly Language Programming for the BBC Micro [Remastered PDF]  Software Top 20 BBC games - http://bbcmicro.co.uk/about.php  Educational Software Archive for the BBC Micro - http://www.flaxcottage.com/  ROMS!!!!!! - http://www.flaxcottage.com/BBC_ROMS/Default.asp    A guide to making your own ROMs - https://mansfield-devine.com/speculatrix/2019/12/making-roms-for-the-bbc-micro/

Ed Smith, developer of the Imagination Machine Ed Smith is an African American was born in 1954  in Brownsville Brooklyn, NY. Ed studied electrical engineering at Westinghouse High School, then computer science and marketing at Pace University. Ed is one of only two African Americans to develop a video game system in the 1970s and the first African American to work in the design of a personal computer – The Imagination Machine. Links Mentioned in the Show: Intro Floppy Days that covered the MP1000 and IM-1 back in 2014 (episode 22) - https://floppydays.libsyn.com/floppy-days-episode-22-the-apf-imagination-machine New Acquisitions/What I’ve Been Up To book - Commodore the Final Years by Brian Bagnall - https://www.amazon.com/Commodore-Final-Years-Brian-Bagnall/dp/0994031033/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&linkCode=ll1&tag=flodaypod-20&linkId=2145a99d3cb6c0a9d26dc08ee0b9394f&language=en_US  MagPi Magazine - https://magpi.raspberrypi.org/  Pi4 8GB - https://www.raspberrypi.org/products/raspberry-pi-4-model-b/  Fusion Magazine - Amiga special - https://fusiongamemag.com/collections/magazine/products/fusion-amiga  Current Notes magazines - collection at Archive.org - https://archive.org/details/@allan52  Next Without For Podcast - http://www.nextwithoutfor.org/#:~:text=Welcome%20to%20Next%20Without%20For&text=Next%20Without%20For%20is%20a,or%20(b)...  Upcoming Shows July 24-25, KansasFest - https://www.kansasfest.org/ (virtual) cost $20 to register August 1-2, VCF West, Computer History Museum, Mountain View, CA - http://vcfed.org/wp/festivals/vintage-computer-festival-west/ - going virtual Aug. 20 - Aug. 23, 2020, Fujiama, Lengenfeld, Germany - http://abbuc.de/~atarixle/fuji/2020/  September 12-13, VCF Midwest, Elmhurst, IL - http://vcfmw.org/  October 10 - 12, VCF East, InfoAge Science Center, Wall, NJ - http://vcfed.org/wp/festivals/vintage-computer-festival-east/ NOTE: You can order a t-shirt to support the VCF events at http://vcfed.org/wp/t-shirts/ for $20 + shipping October 24, Chicago TI International World Faire, Evanston Public Library, Evanston, IL - http://chicagotiug.sdf.org/faire/  October 30 - November 1, 2020, Tandy Assembly, Springfield, OH - http://www.tandyassembly.com/  December ?, World of Commodore, Mississauga (Toronto), Ontario, Canada - https://www.tpug.ca/ - No word on the Website yet Interview Ed’s Website - https://www.imaginethat2.com/  article on Ed Smith, Black Enterprise, Dec. 1982 - http://books.google.com/books?id=N6pacvfrf0wC&lpg=PP1&pg=PA40#v=onepage&q&f=false https://www.fastcompany.com/3063298/ed-smith-and-the-imagination-machine-the-untold-story-of-a-black-vid  by Benj Edwards, Fast Company, 9/2/16 “Imagine That!” by Ed Smith and Benj Edwards - https://www.amazon.com/Imagine-That-Americans-personal-computers-ebook/dp/B0846535TR 

The BBC Micro - Interview with Hermann Hauser Hi, everyone, and welcome to episode 99 for May 2020 of the Floppy Days Podcast, where we look at home computers of the 70’s and 80’s across the globe, not just the U.S. This episode is one in a series of episodes on one of the iconic British machines that was so important to the home computer revolution: The BBC Micro.  In episode 97, I had an interview with one of the key members of the BBC Micro team: Mr. Steve Furber.  In this episode, with Steve’s help, I was able to get an interview with another key member of that team: Mr. Hermann Hauser. Last episode (#98) I summarized the history of the BBC Micro and I don’t want to repeat that here, but I want to give you just a bit of information about Hermann to help set the stage for the interview to follow: Chris Curry and Mr. Hauser set up a company called Acorn Computer Ltd. and in January 1979 they launched their first product: a microcomputer kit named Acorn System 75.  The name Acorn was chosen because the microcomputer system was to be expandable and growth-oriented and appeared before "Apple Computer" in a telephone directory. Their follow-up product was a microcomputer called the Atom.  After it had been released into the market, Acorn (due to an idea proposed by Hermann) decided to build an improved 6502-based machine with far greater expansion capabilities: the Proton. Hauser quickly pulled in Steve Furber (who had been working for Acorn on a voluntary basis) and Sophie Wilson to help complete a revised version of the Proton which met the specifications that the British Broadcasting Corporation was shopping around to find a partner for their planned literacy program.  BBC visited Acorn and were given a demonstration of the Proton. Shortly afterwards, the literacy program computer contract was awarded to Acorn, and the Proton was launched in December 1981 as the BBC Micro. Hermann Hauser believes that if he had had just a little more foresight all those years ago, the world would now talk about Acorn compatible rather than IBM compatible computers.  Wouldn’t that be interesting? Anyway, I’m very excited and proud to have gotten an interview with Hermann and I enjoyed talking with him very much.  I hope you enjoy it as well. I’m still planning, in upcoming episodes, to cover all of the usual topics on the Beeb, such as its history in depth, tech specs, modern upgrades, Web sites and a ton of other information about this machine. Before we jump into the interview, I’ll spend just a moment to let you know about any new acquisitions I’ve managed to get for the hobby and any hobby-related things I’ve been working on. Please enjoy! Links Mentioned in the Show: New Acquisitions Heathkit ET-3400 Microprocessor Trainer - https://www.vintage-computer.com/heathkit3400.shtml  ET-3400 Microprocessors Book 1 - https://archive.org/details/6800-Microprocessors-Book-1and-2-Heathkit-1985  Oh! Pascal by Michael Clancy - https://www.amazon.com/Oh-PASCAL-Doug-Cooper/dp/0393954455  Software Tools in Pascal - Brian Kernighan - https://www.amazon.com/Software-Tools-Pascal-Brian-Kernighan/dp/0201103427/  Personal Pascal for the Atari ST  https://www.amazon.com/Personal-Pascal-Atari-1040-Version/dp/B000Q9VAOU  https://www.atarimagazines.com/v5n1/pascalandmodula2.html Upcoming Shows July 24-25, KansasFest - https://www.kansasfest.org/ (virtual) cost $20 to register August 1-2, VCF West, Computer History Museum, Mountain View, CA - http://vcfed.org/wp/festivals/vintage-computer-festival-west/ - going virtual Aug. 20 - Aug. 23, 2020, Fujiama, Lengenfeld, Germany - http://abbuc.de/~atarixle/fuji/2020/  September 12-13, VCF Midwest, Elmhurst, IL - http://vcfmw.org/  October 10 - 12, VCF East, InfoAge Science Center, Wall, NJ - http://vcfed.org/wp/festivals/vintage-computer-festival-east/ NOTE: You can order a t-shirt to support the VCF events at http://vcfed.org/wp/t-shirts/ for $20 + shipping October 24, Chicago TI International World Faire, Evanston Public Library, Evanston, IL - http://chicagotiug.sdf.org/faire/  October 30 - November 1, 2020, Tandy Assembly, Springfield, OH - http://www.tandyassembly.com/  December ?, World of Commodore, Mississauga (Toronto), Ontario, Canada - https://www.tpug.ca/ 

The BBC Micro: History Hello, everyone, and welcome to episode 98 of the Floppy Days Podcast for April, 2020! I hope everyone is staying safe in these days of isolation due to the coronavirus pandemic.  One day we’ll look back at this as a strange time in all our lives. Again, for the podcast, we are finishing up the tail-end of the year 1981 in the personal computer timeline and the primary topic of this and the next couple of podcasts will be the BBC Micro.  I talked with Steve Furber, one of the primary developers of the Beeb, in the last episode concerning his part in and thoughts about those heady times.  In this episode I’m going to cover a more general history of the BBC Micro to give everyone a view of why the machine was developed and its huge impact on personal and educational computer history, especially in the UK.  For the UK listeners, you’ll likely be very familiar with the Beeb’s history.  For the  US listeners, and listeners in other parts of the world, you may be less familiar with the story.  I know that until I dove into the research for this episode, I only had a cursory familiarity with this machine and had no inkling of its true place in computer history. For future episodes, software, emulators, books, Web sites, modern upgrades, etc. will be explored. I hope you enjoy this short excursion into the history of a machine that I’ve come to love and respect. Links Mentioned in the Show: Thoughts and Memories - Richard Broadhurst Richard’s Games on the Complete BBC Micro Games Archive - http://bbcmicro.co.uk/index.php?rt_R=&rt_B=&rt_M=&rt_P=&rt_U=&rt_W=&rt_L=&search=broadhurst&on_T=on&on_Y=on&on_P=on&on_A=on&on_G=on&on_S=on&on_Z=on&on_C=on&sort=b  Richard’s Games Videos on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1eiw5ttGL3ZagVI0c_vSe19KNALTwuXX  New Acquisitions/What I’ve Been Up To Fusion magazines - https://fusionretrobooks.com/  Erebus - Oric Atmos SD Interface - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Erebus-Oric-Atmos-sd-card-flash-cart-Oric1-/174120579582  Home Computer Course and Home Computer Advanced Course magazines https://archive.org/details/The_Home_Computer_Course  https://archive.org/details/The_Home_Computer_Advanced_Course_01/  Spectrum DIV/MMC Future - https://www.thefuturewas8bit.com/shop/sinclair/divmmcfuture.html  HP85Disk project - https://www.tindie.com/products/hp85disk/hp85disk-disk-emulator-for-hp85-series-computers/ BBC Micro formatted CF card and ROM - http://www.retroclinic.com/  Upcoming Shows After VCF PNW 2020 was cancelled in March, an individual allowed exhibitors to post their own videos to this website - http://www.retrofair2020.com/ CoCoTALK! hosted a live, virtual CoCoFEST! Saturday April 18th. You can view at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4qkRI1JyqU&feature=youtu.be July 10 - 12, VCF Southeast, in conjunction with Southern Fried Gaming Expo in Atlanta, GA - http://vcfed.org/wp/festivals/otherevents/vintage-computer-festival-southeast/  July 24-25, KansasFest - https://www.kansasfest.org/ (virtual) cost $20, expect to open registration on April 30th  August 1-2, VCF West, Computer History Museum, Mountain View, CA - http://vcfed.org/wp/festivals/vintage-computer-festival-west/  Fri, Aug 14, 2020 – Sun, Aug 16, 2020, Portland Retro Gaming Expo, Portland OR - https://www.retrogamingexpo.com/ CANCELLED Aug. 20 - Aug. 23, 2020, Fujiama, Lengenfeld, Germany - http://abbuc.de/~atarixle/fuji/2020/  September 12-13, VCF Midwest, Elmhurst, IL - http://vcfmw.org/  October 10 - 12, VCF East, InfoAge Science Center, Wall, NJ - http://vcfed.org/wp/festivals/vintage-computer-festival-east/  NOTE: You can order a t-shirt to support the VCF events at http://vcfed.org/wp/t-shirts/ for $20 + shipping October 24, Chicago TI International World Faire, Evanston Public Library, Evanston, IL - http://chicagotiug.sdf.org/faire/  October 30 - November 1, 2020, Tandy Assembly, Springfield, OH - http://www.tandyassembly.com/  December ?, World of Commodore, Mississauga (Toronto), Ontario, Canada - https://www.tpug.ca/  References There is a docudrama "Micro Men" about the early 80s and winning the joint government/BBC contract to produce a computer that would be the focus of the initiative. 78 page PDF by Tilly Blyth of the Science Museum: "The legacy of the BBC Micro - effecting change in the UK's cultures of computing" “Now the Chips are Down: The BBC Micro (Platform Studies)” by Alison Gazzard - https://amzn.to/2yLnYdf 

The BBC Micro - Interview with Steve Furber Hi, everyone, and welcome to episode 97 for February 2020 of the Floppy Days Podcast. This episode kicks off a series of episodes on one of the iconic British machines that was so important to the home computer revolution: The BBC Micro.  This machine has an amazing history and continues to have a very large following among vintage computer enthusiasts. What better way to start off this series than by beginning with an interview with someone who was right on the front lines in the development of the machine.  Those of you who aren’t familiar with Steve Furber will be much more familiar after listening to the interview that I was able to get with him for this show. Steve worked at Acorn Computers in the decade of the 1980’s where he was the principal designer of the BBC Micro and the ARM microprocessor.  I’m very honored to have been able to talk with Steve for about 50 minutes and am elated that I’m able to bring this interview to you this month. Next month, we’ll kick off some episodes to cover all of the usual topics on the Beeb (as it’s affectionately called), such as its history in depth, tech specs, modern upgrades, Web sites and a ton of other information about this machine. Before we jump into the interview, I’m a bit behind in letting you know about any new acquisitions I’ve managed to get for the hobby and any hobby-related things I’ve been working on, so I’ll try to do some catch-up there. Please enjoy the show and let me know what you thought of it.  Links Mentioned in the Show: New Acquisitions Juiced.GS - https://juiced.gs/  SDrive MAX 810 case, Gavin at Vintage Computer Center -  https://www.vintagecomputercenter.com/product/atari-810-sdrive-max  The SDrive MAX daughterboard and basic case idea are thanks to the great work of Steve Boswell - atari8bit.net  TRS-80 PC3 LCD - Robert Baruch - https://www.tindie.com/products/halfbakedmaker/lcd-replacement-for-trs-80-pc-3-sharp-pc-125x/  Incognito for Atari 800 -  https://lotharek.pl/productdetail.php?id=275  BBC Micro CF formatted card and ROM - http://www.retroclinic.com/  BBC Micro single joystick adapter - https://www.ebay.com/itm/283745815116?ViewItem=&item=283745815116  Astra 1620 dual disk drive for Atari 8-bit - http://gury.atari8.info/hardware/162.php  “Adventures with the Atari” by Jack B. Hardy - https://archive.org/details/ataribooks-adventures-with-the-atari  “Atari Pilot for Beginners” by Jim Conlan and Tracy Deliman - https://archive.org/details/Atari_Pilot_For_Beginners/mode/2up  C64 Maxi - https://retrogames.biz/thec64  Upcoming Shows March 21-22, 2020, Vintage Computer Festival Pacific Northwest, Living Computer:Museum+Labs in Seattle,Washington - http://vcfed.org/wp/festivals/vintage-computer-festival-pacific-northwest  March 21, Indy Vintage Computer Club Expo, Camby, IN - https://www.facebook.com/events/188334755647918/  April 18-19, 2020, CoCoFest, Elk Grove Village, IL - http://www.glensideccc.com/cocofest    April 24-26, 2020, Vintage Computer Festival East, InfoAge Science Center, Wall, NJ - http://vcfed.org/wp/festivals/vintage-computer-festival-east  July 21 - July 26, 202, KansasFest, Kansas City, MO - https://www.kansasfest.org/  Fri, Aug 14, 2020 – Sun, Aug 16, 2020, Portland Retro Gaming Expo, Portland OR - https://www.retrogamingexpo.com/  Aug. 20 - Aug. 23, 2020, Fujiama, Lengenfeld, Germany - http://abbuc.de/~atarixle/fuji/2020/  October 30 - November 1, 2020, Tandy Assembly, Springfield, OH - http://www.tandyassembly.com/  Feedback “Micro Men” (movie) - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1459467/  The Home Computer Course (magazine) - https://archive.org/details/TheHomeComputerCourse