Episode 0033: The One Without a Title
Do you remember your first computer? Mine was an Apple //GS with two floppy drives (5.25″ and 3.5″), no hard drive, a whopping 1.25MB of RAM and an ImageWriter II dot-matrix printer that churned out a whopping four pages per minute (maybe 1-2ppm if I used the color cartridge). Eventually, I added a blazing-fast 2400-baud modem and connected to my first bulletin board system.
I’ve owned a number of Windows PCs since the late 1980s, but this year I came full circle; I’m typing these show notes on Dr. Heckle and Mr. Jive, my dual-booting MacBook. Lest anyone think the poor, old Apple //GS was abandoned, let me assure you that it lives to this day, housing the Lair’s artificial intelligence, BECKI.
On this episode of the podcast, we hearken back to days gone by, reminiscing about computers in an age before dial-up Internet access, when the BBS was king and life moved at right around 30 characters per second. We also preview Project: Truth, a brand new board game from Evil Overlord Games.
Chatter
- What’s a MUSH?
- Okay, so what’s Inform?
- And…Python?
- Overlord Miller has a new podcast! From Python Import Podcast. Get your snake on.
- Overlord Johnson is reading The Magicians by Lev Grossman.
- Overlord Miller hasn’t quite started reading The Kingdom of Ohio by Matthew Flaming.
BBS: The Documentary
- A film by Jason Scott.
- Jason has another documentary coming soon, Get Lamp.
- Jason’s website is Textfiles.com.
- And then there was FidoNet.
- Later, there was The Cleveland FreeNet.
- Back in the days of wine and sexy, Overlord Miller was co-sysop of a BBS called The Pleasure Dome.
- What’s ANSI, anyway?
- NOTACON 7 takes place in Cleveland, Ohio from April 15th-18th, 2010.
- Download BBS: The Documentary at The Internet Archive, or purchase the 4-disc DVD set.
Musical Interlude: George R. R. Martin is Not Your Bitch by John Anealio.
Preview: Project: Truth from Evil Overlord Games
- Project: Truth is a conspiracy board game from Evil Overlord Games.
- The game was created by Scott Hammermill and Tim Darrows-White (Dry Dock).
- Players attempt to uncover a global conspiracy before The DOOMSDAY Clock runs out.
- The game is basically cooperative, but one player may become The Mole at any point.
- Project: Truth retails for $34.95, but is on currently on sale for 33% off. (Sale ends April 06, 2010.)
- At least one expansion is planned, which will span most of the first half of the 20th Century.
Lairkeeping
- Our theme music is “Skullcrusher Mountain” by Jonathan Coulton.
- Visit us on the web at trip-dubs dot thesecretlair dot com.
- Try StatusNet for those short updates. This service is invite-only, so send us a note if you’d like to join.
- Got something to say that 140 characters just won’t cover? Say it on our community site.
- Coming up on The Secret Library, The Wordy Shipmates by Sarah Vowell.
- The Secret Lair blog is powered by WordPress.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 43:09 — 39.5MB)
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Tags: BBS, BBS: The Documentary, bulletin board system, Cleveland FreeNet, Evil Overlord Games, From Python Import Podcast, Get Lamp, Project: Truth, Python, Textfiles.com
Episode 0048: The Great Old Pumpkin
Oh goodness, the silver age of cyberspace.
The first computer I put my hands on was a TRS-80. The first one I used regularly was a Commodore Pet (the one with the tape drive). The first one I programmed on was an Apple II.
I have to say my favorite historic machine was my Amiga 500. (sniff, died of a cooked power supply, sniffle).
I remember the big day I got a 2nd phone line just for my 2400 baud modem so I could dial into my Genie account and not tie up the phone line. Oh those were heady, carefree days.
I need to give a call out to my first and favorite BBS as well. A little Ann Arbor based Unix system with a wonderful, active community. It still exists even today (check out the domain name, one of the admins was on the ball and registered early): http://www.cyberspace.org/
Carry on.
Wow. I thought I was the only one who had a Timex-Sinclair back in the day. After that I had an Atari 800XL personal computer and then a Commodore 64. I probably wouldn’t be a programmer today without that Commodore.
Same thing here, Greg. If not for my C64, I would probably be a doctor or a lawyer. Thank heavens I dodged that bullet.
My first computer experience was when my stepfather at the time was teaching computer classes at Tri-C. He would let me come to the saturday class with him and I was allowed to “Program” the computer to print out pictures….. using punch cards as the programing medium. I remember sitting there for hours using this weird typewriter looking things to do the card formatting. After that I often when to his work where I learned about COBALT and the saw the big magnetic tapes the main frames used. Later of course I used Trash 80s and Commodore 64s. I did not actually own a computer till the mid 90s when we got a Windows 3.1 computer from best buy. I am no where near the geek gurus you guys are but I’m still amazed at how much has changed!
My first program was on an Apple ][+; when I was hogging that too much, my parents got me a Timex-Sinclair (which I now have in my office at work; non-functional, but of immense nostalgic value). After that it was the Commodore 64, followed by the upgrade to the Commodore 128.
I echo everyone’s sentiments about the value of programming on these computers, but it brings me to a question I’ve been thinking about a lot lately — what’s the corresponding environment for today’s kids? I’m thinking of starting with my old Mindstorms kit — simple enough to program, with a direct, real-world effect. Plus, it’s a freaking *robot*.
@Ken That’s a very good question, and the answer is that there really isn’t much. They cover this topic on A Shot of Jaq: http://shotofjaq.org/2010/03/the-new-hacker-generation/, and I know that Jono Bacon is working on a kid’s Python compiler here: http://www.jonobacon.org/2010/04/08/making-programming-easier-for-kids-with-pyjunior/
[...] giving their work away for free, an examination of Charlie Stross’s The Atrocity Archives, reminiscences of programs of years gone by, and various and sundry [...]