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episodes

  • S6E06 APX/Atari My First Alphabet

    Podcast: Download

    This episode features My First Alphabet, originally released in 1981 by APX Software, then later by Atari. This is a educational title. It was developed by Fernando Herrera who was the first to win Ataris’ Star aware, and later was one of the founders of First Star Software.

    Intro music is an excerpt from a chip tune by Wizwars named 8 Bit Raceway.  It is used under Creative Common license Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 United States.

     

    17 min
  • S6E05 Antic Software CalcMagic – Supplement

    This episode features CalcMagic, originally released in 1985 by Antic Software.  This is a spreadsheet. It was developed by Metamorphosis Development and programmed by Dave Middleton.

    Podcast: Download

    Ad from Antic Software catalog in 1988:

    CalcMagic in Action

    Show Links:
    • AtariMania: http://www.atarimania.com/utility-atari-400-800-xl-xe-calc-magic_30580.html
    • Inverse ATASCII S2E08 Synapse SynCalc: https://inverseatascii.info/2016/02/23/s2e08-synapse-software-syncalc/
    • Inverse ATASCII S1E08 VisiCorp VisiCalc: https://inverseatascii.info/2015/01/13/s1e8-visicalc/
      • Intro music is an excerpt from a chip tune by Wizwars named 8 Bit Raceway.  It is used under Creative Common license Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 United States.

      17 min
    • S6E05 Antic Software CalcMagic

      Podcast: Download

      This episode features CalcMagic, originally released in 1985 by Antic Software. This is a spreadsheet. It was developed by Metamorphosis Development and programmed by Dave Middleton..

      Intro music is an excerpt from a chip tune by Wizwars named 8 Bit Raceway.  It is used under Creative Common license Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 United States.

       

      17 min
    • S6E04 XLEnt Software MegaFiler – Supplement

      This episode features MegaFiler, originally released in 1984 by XLEnt Software.  This is a database featuring a powerful search and reporting engine.  It was developed by Jerry Kwit.

      Podcast: Download

      Manual cover:

      MegaFiler in Action

      Show Links:
      • AtariMania: http://www.atarimania.com/utility-atari-400-800-xl-xe-megafiler_29351.html
      • Inverse ATASCII S4E02 XLEnt First Word Processor: https://inverseatascii.info/2017/11/02/s4e02-xlent-software-first-xlent-word-processor-supplement/
        • Intro music is an excerpt from a chip tune by Wizwars named 8 Bit Raceway.  It is used under Creative Common license Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 United States.

        30 min
      • S6E04 XLEnt Software MegaFiler

        Podcast: Download

        This episode features MegaFiler, originally released in 1984 by XLEnt Software.  This is a database featuring a powerful search and reporting engine.  It was developed by Jerry Kwit.

        Intro music is an excerpt from a chip tune by Wizwars named 8 Bit Raceway.  It is used under Creative Common license Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 United States.

         

        30 min
      • S6E03 DataSoft Crosscheck – Supplement

        This episode features Crosscheck, originally released in 1986 by DataSoft.  It was a game title.  It was published by Intellicreations Inc and programmed by Tom McWilliams.

        Podcast: Download

        Tiny (clean) box image:

        Larger, not so clean, images of the box:

        Crosscheck in Action

        Show Links:
        • AtariMania: http://www.atarimania.com/game-atari-400-800-xl-xe-crosscheck_1417.html
        • Mr Bacardi Datasoft Archive: http://www.idiology.com/8b/bacardi/Datasoft/datasoft_2.html
        • DataSoft Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datasoft
        • The Software Toolworks Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Software_Toolworks
        • The Software Toolworks: https://toolworks.com
        • Les Crane Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_Crane
        • Decahedron Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentagonal_trapezohedron
          • Intro music is an excerpt from a chip tune by Wizwars named 8 Bit Raceway.  It is used under Creative Common license Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 United States.

          14 min
        • S6E03 DataSoft Crosscheck

          Podcast: Download

          This episode features Crosscheck, originally released in 1986 by DataSoft.  It was a game title.  It was published by Intellicreations Inc and programmed by Tom McWilliams.

          Intro music is an excerpt from a chip tune by Wizwars named 8 Bit Raceway.  It is used under Creative Common license Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 United States.

           

          14 min
        • S6E02 APX Circuit Lab – Supplement

          This episode features Circuit Lab, originally released in 1983 by APX. It was an education title designed to teach basic DC electronics.  It was developed by Mark Davids and Sheldon Leemon.

          Podcast: Download

           
          Supplemental Scans

          Advertisement (APX Catalog) from 1983:

          Disk image:

          Circuit Lab in Action

          Show Links:
          • AtariMania: http://www.atarimania.com/game-atari-400-800-xl-xe-circuit-lab_1062.html
          • Atari Archives: https://www.atariarchives.org/APX/showinfo.php?cat=20215
            • Intro music is an excerpt from a chip tune by Wizwars named 8 Bit Raceway.  It is used under Creative Common license Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 United States.

            14 min
          • S6E02 APX Circuit Lab

            Podcast: Download

            This episode features Circuit Lab, originally released in 1983 by APX. It was an education title designed to teach basic DC electronics.  It was developed by Mark Davids and Sheldon Leemon.

            Intro music is an excerpt from a chip tune by Wizwars named 8 Bit Raceway.  It is used under Creative Common license Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 United States.

             

            14 min
          • S6E01 Broderbund Bank Street Writer – Supplement

            This episode features Bank Street Writer, originally released in 1982 by Broderbund. It was a beginners word processor.  It was developed by Intentional Software, Bank Street College of Education and Franklin E. Smith, with the Atari version being credited to Charles Olson Jr.

            Podcast: Download

            Supplement Scans

            Advertisement (Retail) from 1983:

            Advertisement for the Scholastic version from 1983:

            Bank Street Writer in Action

            Boot screen:

            Blank Editor:

            Menu:

            Some Errors:

            • Take out the cartridge!
            • Not enough memory!
            • Memory is running low.
            • Memory is full!

            Editor with some basic formatting shown:

            • On the Atari 8 bit.
            • On the Apple II.

            Initializing a disk:

            Exiting the program:

            Retreiving a file from disk:

            • Ooops! Error! File does not exist.

            Saving a file to disk:

            • Password protecting your document!
            • Ooops! Error!
            • Aw. Disk is full!

            Bank Street Utility Program

            • Booting
            • Menu. Display Passwords? Thats not very secure!
            • Save changes?
            • Looking at files and their passwords. Why have a password option?
            • So insecure and easily bypassed. Dont use the password option!
            • Changing the screen color.

            Tutorial

            The tutorial is rather extensive and is aimed at the beginner, as it the entire program:

            Files

            Viewing the contents of a file from SpartaDOS, and Atari DOS 2.5:

            • Saved with a password, but not encrypted.
            • Looking at the file with T:Edit.
            • Files on the program disk.

            Printing

            I couldn’t get any correctly formatted output via emulation, thus I’m not sharing it here.  I think this was an emulation issue rather than a program fault.

            Show Links:
            • AtariMania: http://www.atarimania.com/utility-atari-400-800-xl-xe-bank-street-writer_12520.html
            • Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bank_Street_Writer
            • Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/Bank_Street_Writer_1982_Broderbund_Disk_1_of_2
            • @A8Bit Manuals: https://atari8bit.net/software/?d=c&g=Books&f=Manuals
            • Bank Street College: https://www.bankstreet.edu
            • Bank Street College History: https://www.bankstreet.edu/about-bank-street/history/
            • Scholastic: https://www.scholastic.com/home/
            • ERIC Studies: https://eric.ed.gov/?q=%22Bank+Street+Writer%22&ft=on
            • Tech & Learning: https://www.techlearning.com
            • Tech & Learning May 2005: http://www.globalschoolnet.org/gsnabout/history/t&lmag_25thannivreport2_may05.pdf
            • AtariAge ST Informer Scanning Post: http://atariage.com/forums/topic/288486-st-informer-magazines-for-archiving/#entry4224612
              • Intro music is an excerpt from a chip tune by Wizwars named 8 Bit Raceway.  It is used under Creative Common license Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 United States.
              32 min