ANTIC The Atari 8-bit Podcast

By Randy Kindig, Kay Savetz, Brad ArnoldNews Technology Tech News

ANTIC The Atari 8-bit Podcast episodes

June 19, 2021 ANTIC Interview 418 - Rick Trow, Computers: Expressway to Tomorrow
Rick Trow, Computers: Expressway to Tomorrow
This is the second interview episode about Computers: Expressway to Tomorrow.
Computers: Expressway to Tomorrow was a school assembly, sponsored by Atari, that played at hundreds of middle schools and high schools throughout the United States in 1983 and 1984. In the previous interview episode, I interviewed one of the show's presenters and the filmmaker. In this episode, my interview with Rick Trow. Rick Trow was the president of Rick Trow Productions, the company that created the Computers: Expressway to Tomorrow show -- as well as more than 40 other school assemblies and other productions over the years. Mr. Trow wrote the script for the 40-minute show, which combined two synchronized films with a live actor to teach computer basics to young people. This interview took place on June 5, 2021. ANTIC Interview 417 - Computers: Expressway to Tomorrow The Career Game Rick Trow Productions Employee Newsletters 1983 "Taking the Show on the Road" in Personal Computing September 1983 Atari Brings Multimedia Computer Show To Schools in AtariAge v2n1
1 hr 1 min
May 31, 2021ANTIC Episode 78 - The Extremely Elderly Computer Geeks Club
ANTIC Episode 78 - The Extremely Elderly Computer Geeks Club

In this episode of ANTIC The Atari 8-Bit Computer Podcast… We discuss lots of new things you can do with your FujiNet, the differences in FujiNet versions, the Old Computer Geeks Club, and other recent Atari news...

READY!

Recurring Links

Floppy Days Podcast

AtariArchives.org

AtariMagazines.com

Kevin's Book "Terrible Nerd"

New Atari books scans at archive.org

ANTIC feedback at AtariAge

Atari interview discussion thread on AtariAge

Interview index: here

ANTIC Facebook Page

AHCS

Eaten By a Grue

Next Without For

What We've Been Up To

Interesting conversation with Mike Albaugh - https://twitter.com/KaySavetz/status/1388206215356829696?s=20

2013 Mike Albaugh interview: https://archive.org/details/MikeAlbaughInterview

Brian Manning - Academy on Computers tapes and newsletters https://archive.org/details/@savetz?query=academy+on+computers

TIARA - The Internet Archive Research Assistant - https://github.com/savetz/tiara

News

FujiNet - Astronomy Pic of the Day (APOD) - http://www.newbreedsoftware.com/fujinet-apod/?fbclid=IwAR3gDo6hV8Sgx4fPgcfE-5s0n26Rpe7jD_3O8V-vbAVPbFx5yq2gEzBoLYc by Bill Kendrick

Latest Atari Projects - http://atariprojects.org/

Purchase and Assemble a SpartaDOS X Cartridge (15-30 mins)

Explore Demoscene Demos (15-30 mins)

Explore ANALOG Computing Magazine (30-60 mins)

Purchase a 3D Printed Case for your SIO2PC (10-15 mins)

Michael Darland died - https://ataripodcast.libsyn.com/antic-interview-394-michael-darland-microperipheral-corporation-and-sofcast

and John Skruch, Atarisoft:

https://ataripodcast.libsyn.com/antic-interview-299-john-skruch-atarisoft

https://www.facebook.com/john.skruch

Personalized dust covers for the Atari XL series. - https://atariage.com/forums/topic/320047-personalized-dust-covers-for-the-atari-xl-series/ - nowy80

Dust covers for 1200XL users - https://atariage.com/forums/topic/318555-good-news-for-1200xl-lovers-new-dust-covers - "papa*nannysfunstuff"

Kilobyte Magazine - Jason Worley - https://archive.org/details/@kilobyte_magazine

Atari XE PCB Remake Pre-Order Thread - https://atariage.com/forums/topic/319881-atari-xe-remake-pre-order-thread/

Sokoban 2021 http://a8.fandal.cz/detail.php?files_id=8029

Old Computer Geeks Club (OCGC) - https://www.facebook.com/groups/atari8bitcomputers/permalink/3918610088176468/ - Monthly meeting

Shows

Upcoming Shows where you might see Atari computers (or Atari people):

KansasFest July 23-24 https://www.kansasfest.org ; virtual event

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)

Fujiama Sep. 12-19, Lengenfeld, Germany, http://fujiama.eu/

VCF East October 8, 9, 10, 2021: Vintage Computer Festival East , Wall, NJ

Event page created by Chicago Classic Computing - http://chiclassiccomp.org/events.html?fbclid=IwAR3Fm5hf7PCQj0yXBxXvj9J8Mp8GDwD2w1bfD_qktpPOnNYNoQUmN_EpgB8

Event page created by Floppy Days - https://www.facebook.com/VintageComputerShows/

Event page on Vintage Is The New Old - https://vintageisthenewold.com/vintage-is-the-new-old-releases-new-events-calendar/

YouTube videos this month

Spectrum, Commodore, and Atari emulators for Android - IT Guy in Action - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rX9sj8OoK2Y&t=0s

3D rendering of 800, 810 drive, and Amdek monitor by EmuRetro - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCA5UshDfpY

How I built my modern Atari XL computer by GeSpy Build Stuff - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fbeg5dx5CE

Atari 800XL: Sophia 2 DVI video upgrade - by Mr. Lurch's Things - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQyNmJtPrBQ&t=1s

Dead Atari 800XL: Fix and Extreme Restoration by FlashJazzCat - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-IEetUJB1w

Atari Fujinet inside a 1030 Modem by Doug Venner - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcmxCWUO2GE

New at Archive.org

The "Archives of CSS(tm)" can be found at https://archive.org/details/@cs_stuttgart by DjayBee (Joachim)
59 min
May 29, 2021 ANTIC Interview 417 - Computers: Expressway to Tomorrow
ANTIC Interview 417 - Computers: Expressway to Tomorrow
Interviews and research by Kay Savetz Imagine this. It's 1983 or 1984. You're drudging through yet another day of middle school or high school. But today, there's a surprise, a break from the monotony. The teacher tells your class to put away their stuff and go to the gym, or the cafeteria, or the auditorium. Today, there will be an assembly. As you and your class -- and all the other classes -- get settled in the uncomfortable folding chairs, or the bleachers, or even the floor, you take in the scene: two large projection screens. Some speakers and audio equipment you haven't seen before. One of your peers is getting ready to run a spotlight. Then, this enthusiastic person -- older than you but really not by much -- explains why you're here. Today, at this assembly, you're going to learn about computers. The lights go down, the spotlight comes up on that energetic host, and you realize this is a different sort of school assembly than you've seen before. Two projectors come on, lighting those two big screens -- it's a synchronized wide-screen movie. The presenter -- that not-much-older-than-you person -- talks to the screens, interacting with the movie and talking to the audience too. It's kind of corny, but your peers seem interested so you keep watching. The show discusses the basics of computer operation, and how computers work differently than the human brain. There's a scene where the computers talk in voices like people. There's a section about robots, and a part where Suzanne Ciani shows how she makes music using computers. It touches on computer art, and the social implications of computers in the world. 40 minutes later, the show is over, and it's back to class. You learned a few things about computers, and talk about the assembly with your friends at lunch. Maybe you'll ask your parents for a computer for your birthday. This scenario played out more or less exactly that way for more than a million middle school and high school students in 1983 and 1984. The assembly was called "Computers: Expressway to Tomorrow" and it was financed by Atari. According to a 1983 article in InfoWorld: "Atari has a fleet of ... people traveling around the country giving the Atari multimedia presentation 'Expressway to Tomorrow' to a minimum of 500 people per performance at high-school assemblies." (Full disclosure, the article claimed "Atari has a fleet of 700 people" putting on the show, but I can't believe that number is accurate. More likely the number was closer to 7.) The traveling show would visit 2,000 schools in 1983, and was booked a year in advance. With the required minimum attendance of 500 students per show, that's a million kids. More than a million kids saw this assembly. that year. The September 1983 issue of Personal Computing magazine said: "Since January 1983, nine separate touring units have crisscrossed the United States, presenting the show to nearly 1,400 public and private schools — a total of 1.2 million students to date. Touring begins again this September after the summer break, and will run through December 1984." In reality, I believe the show ended by mid-1984. According to that article: "The show is a lively one, with the host on stage for the entire presentation. Several film projectors are going at once, filling two huge screens with fast-moving shots. Music is constant throughout. The host is busy either talking to the audience or interacting with characters on screen. ...The program aims to give people [a] feeling of comfort about computing. The show focuses on the many applications of computers today, from storing recipes to teaching a language, to tutoring." What survives of this show today? Not much that I know about so far. We don't have the film or the script. Audio tapes were available to help the presenters learn their lines. Informational packets were produced for teachers to hand out after the assembly. So far, I haven't been able to find anyone who has any of those things. (If you do, contact me!) What I do have is two interviews: memories of that project by one of the performers who went from school to school running the assembly, and the filmmaker. Before we get to the interviews, I want to give some background about the business of producing school assemblies. It turns out that school assemblies are a big business. Computers: Expressway to Tomorrow was one of many shows put on by Rick Trow Productions of Willow Grove, Pennsylvania. These shows were often sponsored by corporations, designed to educate kids, but also to get them excited about whatever it was they wanted to promote: taking pictures with Kodak cameras. Going skiing. Buying new music. According to an article in the Boston Globe from 1972 -- this is 11 years before the Atari show, but some of the few hard stats I could find -- Rick Trow Productions staged 7,000 assemblies in 1971, maintained 23 touring companies offering 16 different shows to schools. They put on educational assemblies that promoted products and services from companies that wanted to reach the "youth market" -- CBS Radio, Air France, Eastman Kodak, and others. Its multimedia productions also included titles such as "The Black Experience", "Environment: Challenge to Action", and "The History of Rock and Roll". At the time, according to the article, the company charged a school just $80 per assembly. But by the time of the Atari show in 1983, the company seemed to have changed its business model to offer the shows to schools for free; earning their money entirely from the companies whose products its shows promoted. The companies got access to an audience of young people who might become eager to buy their product (or to ask their parents to get it.) The schools got free access to (hopefully) an educationally worthwhile presentation that would broaden their students' horizons. A classified advertisement by Rick Trow Productions seeking presenters stated that in the early 1980s, presenters could expect to receive a salary of $100 per week during rehearsal period, and $500 per week for salary and expenses while on tour. My first interview is with Veronica Wiseman, who was one of the presenters who traveled from school to school putting on the Atari show. Her name at the time was Ronnie Anastasio. Veronica did three "tours" of Expressway to Tomorrow, from January 1983 through April 1984. (interview) Next, my interview with Dr. Chuck Sterin, the filmmaker. (interview) The interview with Veronica Wiseman took place on October 23, 2020. The interview with Chuck Sterin took place on June 5, 2020. Thanks to Chuck Sterin and Veronica Wiseman, and to Tom Bregatta, Bob Barto, and Frank Darby, who were also presenters who provided background information for this episode. If you remember seeing Computers: Expressway to Tomorrow at a school assembly, I'd love to hear your recollections. If you happen to have any of the materials, such as the script, practice tapes, or the film, please contact me. Check the show notes for links to magazine articles about the show, as well as scans of material that Veronica Wiseman saved, including Rick Trow Productions employee newsletters, a large collection of thank-you and feedback letters from many schools where she presented, and her photographs from that time. Veronica Wiseman's collection of letters from schools Rick Trow Productions Employee Newsletters 1983 Veronica's photo album New Educational Film Show Charts Future Computer Careers for Students in Atari Connection v3n1 Atari Brings Multimedia Computer Show To Schools in AtariAge v2n1 Spring CUE Conference article in Infoworld v5n4 "Taking the Show on the Road" in Personal Computing September 1983
2 hr 5 min
May 22, 2021 ANTIC Interview 416 - Bob Evans, Capital Children's Museum administrator
Bob Evans, Capital Children's Museum administrator This is the fourth in our series of interviews about the Atari computers at the Capital Children's Museum. Bob Evans wore many hats at the museum: he was director of special exhibits, where he worked on the museum's exhibit on the history of human communication, which used several computers, both public-facing and behind the scenes. He was administrator of Superboots, the museum's software publishing lab -- it published the computer art program PAINT! but no other software. Bob was administrator of The Future Center, the museum's public computer lab, and administrator of the museum's summer computer camp for disadvantaged youth. This interview took place on April 22, 2021. ANTIC Interview 391 - Tracy Frey, Atari Birthday Girl ANTIC Interview 410 - Ann Lewin-Benham, Director of Capital Children's Museum ANTIC Interview 415 - Peter Hirshberg, CCM computer center director
33 min
May 15, 2021 ANTIC Interview 415 - Peter Hirshberg, Capital Children's Museum
Peter Hirshberg, Capital Children's Museum Peter Hirshberg was curator of the communications wing of the Capital Children's Museum in the early 1980s, where he helped build The Future Center, the computer lab outfitted with Atari 800 computers; and museum exhibits, some of which were computer controlled. This interview took place on April 12, 2021. In it, we discuss Ann Lewin-Benham, director of the museum; and Guy Nouri, from the Superboots lab, both of whom I previously interviewed. Compu-tots and Other Joys of Museum Life by Peter Hirshberg, Instructional Innovator, Sept 1981 ANTIC Interview 410 - Ann Lewin-Benham, Director of Capital Children's Museum ANTIC Interview 407 - Guy Nouri, Interactive Picture Systems Finding Home Computer Uses, NY Times article by Andrew Pollack Gray Area art and technology center This interview on YouTube
1 hr 13 min
May 08, 2021 ANTIC Interview 414 - Bob Puff, Computer Software Services
Bob Puff, Computer Software Services Bob Puff is owner of Computer Software Services, a company that began creating hardware and software for the Atari 8-bit computers in 1982. Bob became president of the company in 1991. He designed a bevy of hardware products for the Atari computers, including The Black Box, a hard drive host adapter; The Multiplexer, a networking system; the UltraSpeed Plus operating system upgrade; upgrades for the XF551 floppy drive; the Super-E Burner EPROM burner; and others. He also created a number of popular utility programs, including the BobTerm terminal program; Disk Communicator, to convert boot disks to a single compressed file for transfer over modem; and MYDOS version 4.53; among other software. This interview took place on April 27, 2021. Computer Software Services legacy site 1993 Computer Software Services catalog scan ANTIC Interview 393 - Charles Marslett, MYDOS and FastChip
47 min
May 01, 2021 ANTIC Interview 413 - Valerie (Atkinson) Manfull, Atari Game Research Group
Valerie (Atkinson) Manfull, Atari Game Research Group Valerie Atkinson was a member of Atari's Game Research Group. Now named Valerie Manfull, she was on the team that designed and programmed the game Excalibur, along with Chris Crawford and Larry Summers. Excalibur was published by Atari Program Exchange in fall 1983. She is also one of the programmes of Ballsong, along with Douglas Crockford. Ballsong is a music and graphics demo program released by Atari, in which a ball bounces on the screen in response to an improvised tune. She was one of the programmers, with Ann Marion, of TV Fishtank, a demonstration of an artificially intelligent fish. (It's unclear if the fishtank program was released anywhere, though it apparently was shown at the 1984 SIGgraph conference.) This interview took place on April 22, 2021. ANTIC Episode 4 - Chris Crawford ANTIC Interview 240 - Douglas Crockford TV Fishtank at SIGgraph Jim Leiterman describes TV Fishtank Chris Crawford describes the development of Excalibur in The Art of Computer Game Design Excalibur announced in Atari Program Exchange, fall 1983 Excalibur review in Atari Connection Excalibur at AtariMania Video of Ballsong

Added 2024: A videotape of animation from Atari Research including TV FIshtank and other projects
25 min
April 30, 2021ANTIC Episode 77 - Jason Moore PhD
ANTIC Episode 77 - Jason Moore, PhD

In this episode of ANTIC The Atari 8-Bit Computer Podcast… Jason Moore joins us to discuss his atariprojects.org Web site and we discuss all the news rocking the Atari 8-bit world...

READY!

Recurring Links

Floppy Days Podcast

AtariArchives.org

AtariMagazines.com

Kevin's Book "Terrible Nerd"

New Atari books scans at archive.org

ANTIC feedback at AtariAge

Atari interview discussion thread on AtariAge

Interview index: here

ANTIC Facebook Page

AHCS

Eaten By a Grue

Next Without For

What We've Been Up To

Ed Fries source code, mac/65 tokenized:

https://github.com/savetz/edfries-seachase

https://github.com/savetz/edfries-anteater

https://github.com/savetz/edfries-frog

https://github.com/savetz/edfries-nitro

https://github.com/savetz/edfries-chess (Xuel got it working at https://atariage.com/forums/topic/318961-assembly-source-code-for-5-programs-by-ed-fries/?do=findComment&comment=4799922

Prentice Associates Classroom Computer News and Apple II source code disks. Classroom computer news - https://archive.org/search.php?query=creator%3A%22Intentional+Educations%22&sort=-publicdate

News

FrogFind! http://frogfind.com/ - The Search Engine for Vintage Computers

AtariAge thread on FrogFind! - https://atariage.com/forums/topic/319514-new-websites-for-your-old-computers/

Atari Projects - Jason Moore does it again! - http://atariprojects.org/

US based Amiga store, AmigaOnTheLake, has branched out into wider retro territory and now includes multiple Atari 8-bit items - http://amigaonthelake.com/atari-8-bit/

ABBUC (Atari Bit Byter User Club) Website is down until further notice due to a hackers attack - https://vintageisthenewold.com/abbuc-atari-bit-byter-user-club-website-is-down-until-further-notice-due-to-a-hackers-attack/

10-line BASIC contest results

https://gkanold.wixsite.com/homeputerium/results-2021

Table of entries https://twitter.com/romwer/status/1378364035607977984?s=20

ABBUC 2021 Software Contest - https://atariage.com/forums/topic/319869-abbuc-software-contest-2021/

8-Bit Dungeon which is being created with the 8-Bit Unity platform has a tech demo out - https://www.atariteca.net.pe/2021/04/descarga-demo-jugable-de-8bit-dungeon.html

TCL language - https://atariage.com/forums/topic/269553-test-computer-language-version-22-from-d-firth/?tab=comments#comment-4807575

ABBUC magazine #144 - https://atariage.com/forums/topic/319736-abbuc-magazine-144/

Bill Kendrick transcribed 1982 Byte magazine article Advanced Star Raiders Tactics and Strategies - http://www.sonic.net/~nbs/star-raiders/advanced-star-raiders-tactics-and-strategies.html

Issue 32 of Atari User Magazine is available - https://www.atariteca.net.pe/2021/04/atari-y-c64-se-enfrentan-en-nuevo.html

Shows

Upcoming Shows where you might see Atari computers (or Atari people):

KansasFest July 23-24 https://www.kansasfest.org ; virtual event

VCF West August 7 & 8, 2021: Vintage Computer Festival West

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 , Chicago area

VCF East October 8, 9, 10, 2021: Vintage Computer Festival East , Wall, NJ

Event page created by Chicago Classic Computing - http://chiclassiccomp.org/events.html?fbclid=IwAR3Fm5hf7PCQj0yXBxXvj9J8Mp8GDwD2w1bfD_qktpPOnNYNoQUmN_EpgB8

Event page created by Floppy Days - https://www.facebook.com/VintageComputerShows/

Event page on Vintage Is The New Old - https://vintageisthenewold.com/vintage-is-the-new-old-releases-new-events-calendar/

YouTube videos this month

CROSS HORDE =+ ATARI 800 XL += NEW GAME 2021 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcc4TtB1e9U - Atari 8 Bits For Ever

MOON CRESTA !!! ATARI 800 XL - VBXE - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVmH7_1hFGA&t=42s - Atari 8 Bits For Ever

Atari 800XL Music - "Return of Atarians" - On Real Hardware (( IN STEREO )) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jHQaT1Ei28 - Paul Westphal

Retropie 4.6 Atari 5200 Tutorial - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTZCK5EX5AA - Ace1000ks1975

Atari 800 - NOS Keyboard and Reassembly - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6K-JRvFzci8 - ShadowTron Blog

New at Archive.org

https://archive.org/details/zongmagazine

Atari Playing David To The Giants - https://archive.org/details/atari-playing-david-to-the-giants

GRASSHOPPER — A Low-Level Language for Use on the MOS 6502 Microcomputer - https://archive.org/details/grasshopper-6502
1 hr 13 min
April 24, 2021 ANTIC Interview 412 - Linda Brownstein, Atari VP Special Projects
Linda Brownstein, Atari VP Special Projects As I've researched Atari and it's 8-bit computer projects over the years, one name has come up over and over again, attached to the most interesting projects. Linda S. Gordon. Executive Director of Atari Computer Camps. Linda. Executive Producer of The Magic Room, Atari's movie about its camps. Atari's collaboration with Club Med to offer computer labs at vacation destinations — Linda again. Atari Club, the fan group that published Atari Age magazine - Linda launched that. More recently, in my interview with Ann Lewin-Benham of the Capital Children's Museum, Linda's name came up once again -- she was the liaison between Atari and the museum. Linda worked on the most interesting projects. Today, her name is Linda Brownstein. Linda joined Atari in December 1980 as Vice President of Special Projects, where she worked on most of the projects that I mentioned before. In October 1983 she became Senior Vice President in Atari's Education group. She left the company in July 1984 after Jack Tramiel took over the company. This interview took place on April 21, 2021. ANTIC Interview 78 - Manny Gerard, The Man Who Fired Nolan ANTIC Special Episode - Atari Summer Camp ANTIC Interview 410 - Ann Lewin-Benham, Capital Children's Museum ANTIC Interview 185 - Ted Kahn Atari Computer Camps — The Magic Room Video version of this interview
1 hr 1 min
April 17, 2021 ANTIC Interview 411 - Mark Simonson, Atari Artist and Font Designer
Mark Simonson, Atari Artist and Font Designer Mark Simonson used his Atari computers who create art that was published in magazines in the 1980s, including a portrait of Nolan Bushnell that was commissioned by TWA Ambassador, an inflight magazine; a colorful street scene for the cover of Minnesota Monthly, the magazine of Minnesota Public Radio; and a juggler for the cover of Credit Union Advantage magazine, among others. Professionally, Mark is a font designer. He created Atari Classic, a free TrueType font family for modern computers that looks like the Atari 8-bit screen font. Today, you'll see Atari Classic used in many Atari emulators, web sites, the WUDSN IDE, and elsewhere. This interview took place on April 15, 2021. Mark's Atari reminisce blog post

Mark's Mac/Atari Fusion site Mark's Nolan Bushnell portrait in Hi-Res Magazine Issue 1 A wild Mark appears on AtariAge FujiNet This interview on YouTube
1 hr 2 min