ANTIC The Atari 8-bit Podcast

Ann Lewin-Benham, Director of Capital Children's Museum Ann Lewin-Benham was executive director of the Capital Children's Museum in Washington, D.C. The museum was home to the first public-access computer center in the nation's capital, and indeed, one of the first in the United States. In 1981, Atari and Apple each donated dozens of computers to the museum. The exact number is unclear, but 30 is the number I've seen most often for Atari's contribution. The computer lab was called The Future Center. There, the museum offered computer literacy classes for people of all ages, from Compu-Tots for preschoolers, to programming classes for adults, there was even a computer literacy session for members of Congress. It also used the lab for birthday parties. (Last year, I interviewed a woman who had her 8th birthday party at the museum.) The museum used more of its computers in its exhibit on communication. It established a software development laboratory, called Superboots, in which developers created custom softare for the museum, and one product that was released commercially: the graphics program PAINT! In a 1982 article titled A Day At The Capital Children's Museum, Melanie Graves described the scene: "My twelve-year-old friend Sarah and I went to the museum to explore the computers. There are several dozen computers scattered throughout the building which are used for exhibits, classroom teaching and the development of educational software... A machine that calls itself "Wisecracker" is the noisest of the computers that beckon visitors to the Communication exhibit. "My-name- is-Wise-crack-er," it says in a monotone, "Come-type-to-me." This message repeats endlessly until someone types at the keyboard or turns off the computer. "Hello, how are you?" Sarah typed, and pressed the return key. "Hel-lo-how-are-you," the machine's voice responded. Sarah typed for awhile longer and then proclaimed, "It sure is dumb, but its voice is kind of cute." The computer next to Wisecracker has a data base program that asked Sarah her name, where she came from, and other questions. It informed her that she was the thirty-seventh person from Virginia to type in data that day... "Fifty-five percent of the people who came here were girls," she told me. Next to the data base, a computer is set up with a music program. Sarah pressed some random keys, causing notes to sound. At the same time, the letter names of the notes appeared on the keys of a piano that was displayed on the screen. There is also a Teletext terminal that tells inquirers about weather predictions, and news releases, the latest acquisitions at the public library, local cultural events and whatever else has been entered into the data base for that day... After playing with Teletext, Sarah and I went to the Future Center, a room equipped with twenty Atari 800s. On weekdays, the classroom is available to school groups ranging from prekindergarten to high school. On weekends, families arrive for courses in programming. Classes have also been created for working people, senior citizens, community groups, congressional spouses and other special interest groups. This summer more than sixty students from the Washington, D.C. public schools attended one of two free month-long computer camps at the museum." This interview took place on April 2, 2021. Ann's web site Museum in Atari ConnectionVolume 1 Number 4 A Day At The Capital Children's Museum

ANTIC Episode 76 - The Bill Kendrick Show

In this episode of ANTIC The Atari 8-Bit Computer Podcast… Bill Kendrick gets more mentions than when he's on the show, Kay discovers he owns more Atari disk drives than the rest of the Atari community combined, 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

• Worms? Source code archiving - https://github.com/savetz/worms
• Atari Speed Reading Receipts - https://archive.org/details/atari-speed-reading-receipts

News

• 800XL PCB remake:
• • https://ezcontents.org/atari-800xl-pcb-soldering-and-troubleshooting
  • https://ezcontents.org/atari-800xl-bill-materials-bom
  • https://ezcontents.org/atari-800xl-pcb-remake
• ATasm, a command-line based 6502 cross-assembler that's compatible with OSS's 1982 "Mac/65" macroassembler:
• • SourceForge page - https://sourceforge.net/projects/atasm/
  • The documentation - https://sourceforge.net/p/atasm/code/HEAD/tree/trunk/atasm.txt#l54
• Atari Projects - Jason Moore does it again! - http://atariprojects.org/
• • Learn about Vertical Blank Interrupts in BASIC for Atari 8-Bit Computers (30-60 mins)
  • Read "How Atari took on Apple in the 1980s home PC wars" by Benj Edwards (5-10 mins)
• Atari Flashback X with Atari Computer Games - https://www.atariteca.net.pe/2021/03/pack-con-mas-de-130-juegos-para-consola.html
• Paul Nicholls' Coded Snippets Cookbook - 6502 edition - https://syntaxerrorsoftware.itch.io/code-snippets-cookbook-6502-edition
• Atari Giant - http://atarigiant.com/ - Web site store that caters to Atari 8-bit
• Pro(c) issue 15 - https://proc-atari.de/en/proc-atari-magazine/proc-atari-issue-15-softcover-book-edition
• USB Keyboard Interface available from Lotharek - https://lotharek.pl/productdetail.php?id=311
• Belts for 1050 - https://console5.com/store/fabric-reinforced-belt-for-atari-1050-tandon-tm100-4p-floppy-drive.html
• Atari Compendium Website - Mostly 2600, with a smattering of computer - http://www.ataricompendium.com/game_library/controllers/controllers.html
• Gem Drop Deluxe - Bill Kendrick - http://www.newbreedsoftware.com/gemdrop_deluxe/

Shows

• Upcoming Shows where you might see Atari computers (or Atari people):
• • VCFSE August 20-22 http://southernfriedgameroomexpo.com/
  • KansasFest July 23-24 https://www.kansasfest.org ; virtual event
  • PRGE - cancelled
  • August 7 & 8, 2021: Vintage Computer Festival West 2021 (VCF West)
  • October 8, 9, 10, 2021: Vintage Computer Festival East 2021 (VCF East)
• 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

• The real fight Atari versus Commodore - IT Guy in Action - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFhAX9gijXY
• Atari 800 - Part 2 - Replacing Electrolytic Capacitors - ShadowTron Blog - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-dgDZ4MJYM
• NEW IMPROVED VERSION EN Atari 8-bit emulator (Atari800 emulator) - IT Guy in Action - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uoONYg8Yehs
• Gem Drop Deluxe! (Atari 800) - ArcadeUSA (William Culver) - Programmed by Bill Kendrick - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SNvh88SiW4
• Also Gem Drop Deluxe! video by Atari 8 Bits For Ever - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HBQOjnBKu8
• Gem Drop Deluxe! blog by Bill Kendrick - http://newbreedsoftware.com/gemdrop_deluxe/?fbclid=IwAR3VrwTV4-XAVd-S1exD5EiDdMhy0CQtRZIWBH8oqkfGqTVUJzWva3aE94M
• Quarter Express - 256 bytes intro for Atari XL/XE by Ilmenit / Agenda - For Lovebyte party 2021, "Low-End 256 byte intro compo" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UKnPHhKaFg
• Atari 800 XL Lite Rally Motorcycle racing game - The Modern Atari 8bit Computer (Nir Dary) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnG43ooEHtE

New at Archive.org

• Pigeons at Internet Archive Scholar. Several researchers tested pigeons' perception and visual ability using Atari 800 computers. A dozen papers dated 1983-1993 - https://scholar.archive.org/search?q=%22atari+800%22+pigeons&sort_order=time_desc
• Atari HQ Archive #1 - https://archive.org/details/atari-hq-archive-1
• Allan Bushman:
• • Your First Atari Program by Rodnay Zaks https://archive.org/details/your-first-atari-program-rodnay-zaks
  • Software Merchandising magazine, January, 1983 https://archive.org/details/software-merchandising-january-1983/
  • Current Notes magazines 1994-1995 https://archive.org/details/current-notes-volume-15-number-1-january-february-1995
  • Portland Atari Club newsletters 1994-1995 https://archive.org/details/portland-atari-club-january-1985
  • Adventure International's Airline manual https://archive.org/details/airline-adventure-international/page/n19/mode/2up

Commercial

• Touch Me By Atari (Commercial, 1979) - https://archive.org/details/touch-me-by-atari-commercial-1979

New at Github

• Atari 800 Soundbox https://github.com/zbyti/atari800-soundbox
• ATARI XE Replacement Keyboard https://github.com/gianlucarenzi/A130KB_MX
• XEGS-DS https://github.com/wavemotion-dave/XEGS-DS
• • Also A5200DS https://github.com/wavemotion-dave/A5200DS
• Atari800-Display-Lists https://github.com/pedromagician/Atari800-Display-Lists
• Atari 1090XL expansion box remake https://github.com/kenames99/1090
• Atari800-benchmarks https://github.com/pedromagician/Atari800-benchmarks
• Micview https://github.com/tschak909/micview
• Turbo Decoder https://github.com/baktragh/turbodecoder
• MidiJoy https://github.com/fredlcore/MidiJoy
• USB_to_RS232 Connector https://github.com/pjones1063/USB_to_RS232#usb_to_rs232-connector-usbmodem

Listener Feedback

• Vegas 1988 World of Atari show - https://archive.org/details/WorldOfAtariConventionLasVegas1998/

Closing

• END OF SHOW MUSIC: Donnie Iris and the Cruisers - Do You Compute? (1983) - music video featuring an Atari 1200XL - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2Rjyu_4HzI

ANTIC Interview 408 - David Maynard, Electronic Arts Worms? David Maynard created the game/simulation "Worms?" Published by Electronic Arts in 1983, it was a launch title -- one of the five initial releases from the company. David, one of EA's first employees, wrote Worms? for the Atari 8-bit in FORTH. It was later ported to the Commodore 64. Worms is an interactive version of Paterson's Worms, a family of cellular automata devised in 1971 by Mike Paterson and John Conway. It is an unusual program, in which the player teaches wormlike creatures how to move on a hexagonal grid -- what direction to move in various situations. The worm's goal is to to grow and survive, and to capture more space on the grid than its competitors. Up to four worms could play simultaneously, with any combination of human- and computer-controlled worms. But the program's manual didn't tell you all that straight off. In fact, here's the first thing you saw after opening the package: "You will find detailed instructions enclosed. Do not read them. Instead, sit down and get started. Don't ask how. Just start. You know how these things work... Resist them. Do not read them for a very long time. In fact, do not read them until you know how the game works... Then never read the instructions. Innocence is bliss." David also collaborated on Cut & Paste, a word processor published by Electronic Arts in 1984. After our interview, David sent me a binder of Worms? development documentation and source code for Atari 8-bit and Commodore 64, all of which I have scanned and are available at Internet Archive and GitHub. The originals are going to the Strong Museum of Play, at David's request. This interview took place on March 4, 2021. Worms? source code for Atari 8-bit and Commodore 64 Scans of printed Worms? source code Worms? Development Notes David's blog Worms? at AtariMania Michael Beeler's original Paterson's Worms paper Martin Gardner's article in Scientific American Darworms, Javascript version of Worms? Darworms instructions and explanation More Paterson's worm math EA We See Farther poster

This interview at YouTube

Atari at the Science Fair: Michael Fripp: Silent E An article was published in the Daily Press newspaper of Newport News, Virginia on February 13 1985, titled "Best in Show at Science Fair: Computer program helps young readers conquer the 'silent e' challenge'. Two years ago Michael Fripp wanted to make sure his younger brother didn't face a hard time learning how to deal with the "silent e" principle in reading lessons. Putting his own Atari computer to work, Michael developed a fun, educational computer program designed to teach then 6-year-old Daniel how to successfully pronounce words like "cap," "tub" and "man" when an "e" is added to each. "I remember the trouble I had with 'silent e' and didn't want him to have that trouble," says 13-year-old Michael, an eighth grader at Queens Lake Intermediate School. "There are lots of math but few English programs for computers. I hope to bridge that gap." Michael went on to expand the "silent e" program, complete with more detailed instruction and graphics, through his computer science class at school and entered it as an exhibit in the York County Science Fair. Michael's educational reading program — "Silent E: A Program for K-3" — was judged best in show. "We were pleased and surprised a computer program was picked because usually the judges pick pure science," says Carolyn Gaertner, who teaches math and computer science at the intermediate school.

Michael's computer program involves a simple story outline about an earthling named Tim and his spaceship landing on the planet EOP which is ruled by the Silent E's. There, Tim learns how the Silent E's simply and quickly turn words such as "pan" into "pane" with the addition of their favorite letter... He has copyrighted the program and hopes to market it commercially. More than 100 hours of work have gone into the project... "Computers are like a fever; they grow on you," says the young man. "I try to do a lot of programming at home but homework really limits me." The large photograph accompanying the article shows young Michael, replete with calculator watch, in front of an Apple II computer, not an Atari. I talked with Dr. Fripp to hear all about his program. This interview took place on February 28, 2021. Intro song: Silent E by Tom Lehrer

Heidi Brumbaugh, Antic and START Magazines Heidi Brumbaugh worked at Antic Publishing, where she started off as editorial clerk, then was promoted to editorial assistant, for both Antic magazine and START magazine, then was programs editor for START Magazine. She wrote many articles for Antic and START, including three programs for the 8-bits published in Antic: Red, White and Blue, a board game; Hot and Cold, a Master Mind-type game; and Antic Prompter, a teleprompter application. She met her husband through Antic publishing, START author and programmer Jim Kent, who also created the Cyber Paint program for Atari ST. This interview took place on February 28, 2021. List of Antic articles by Heidi Brumbaugh List of START articles by Heidi Brumbaugh Heidi's programs at Atarimania Heidi's review of Linkword Languages Cyber Paint by Jim Kent 2013 Interview with Jim Capparell, Founder of Antic Magazine

Atari at the Science Fair: Scott Ryder: Atari-Controlled Robot Here's an article from The Fresno Bee (Fresno, California) dated April 15, 1982: "Science proves Fair game to young minds". "Joseph Paul Ogas, 17, has designed a cheaper way to manipulate material beneath a microscope. Garey Nishimura, 13, has evaluated the relative flammability of several household fabrics. Theirs were the big winners among the 693 projects that filled the Fresno Convention Center Exhibit Hall for this year's California Central Valley Science and Engineering Fair. "There were other interesting projects that didn't win big [such as] 'The Effects of Birth Control Pills on Plants,' and 'Determining the Correlation Between Canine Howling, Cockroach Activity and Earthquake Prediction'." And later -- in the article's final paragraph, the reason for this interview: "Runners up [included] Scott Ryder, a sixth-grader at Ayer Elementary School: "Can an Atari 800 Control a Robot With Software?" Can an Atari 800 control a robot with software? And if so, why did an awesome Atari-controlled robot only earn a runner-up award at the Science and Engineering Fair? I talked with Scott to find out. This interview took place on February 21, 2021.

ANTIC Episode 75 - Video Wars

In this episode of ANTIC The Atari 8-bit Computer Podcast… we discuss the merits of Sophia vs. VBXE for video upgrades, kick off the BASIC 10-liners contest, discuss some new games, and talk about numerous hardware upgrades that are coming.

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

• Sid Meier's Memoir!: A Life in Computer Games - https://amzn.to/3k8avzS
• Code for Atari8BitBot (https://twitter.com/atari8bitbot) now on GitHub - (https://github.com/savetz/Atari8BitBot)
• PC BASIC Bot - https://pcbasicbot.com
• ACE80XL cart - https://www.vintagecomputercenter.com/
• Interview with Claus Buckholz and Lance Ward - https://ataripodcast.libsyn.com/antic-interview-292-claus-buchhoz-lance-ward-ace-80 in 2017

Recent Interviews

• https://ataripodcast.libsyn.com/antic-interview-403-dan-kramer-atari-trak-ball-controllers
• https://ataripodcast.libsyn.com/antic-special-episode-my-atari-by-suzanne-ciani

News

• External version of Ultimate1MB for Atari XL/XE under development by Sebastian 'Candle`o`Sin' Bartkowicz - https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=Rx20IQ94UuU&fbclid=IwAR0gZj99WWBTq1EDMLK5yUkmpTqa51-f7dLwighOuZUqjIRr-HU0Pjwn8Q8
• Atari800MacX emulator update - https://github.com/atarimacosx/Atari800MacX/releases/tag/Release_6.0.0
• Atari Projects: http://atariprojects.org/ - Jason Moore - latest project is on using Atari FastBASIC. Also recent projects on using CP/M through FujiNet, and the ACE80 carts.
• Version 6.0.0 of the RECOIL graphics browser from Atari computers and others has been released - http://recoil.sourceforge.net
• BASIC 10-Liner Contest 2021:
• • https://gkanold.server.deerpower.de/
  • https://twitter.com/Basic10L
• MouSTer for Atari 8-bit:
• • https://hackaday.com/2020/07/14/modern-mice-on-old-computers/
  • https://retrohax.net/shop/amiga/mouster/
  • https://retrohax.net/shop/
• Thingiverse Atari 800 Pi case - https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3110334
• Atari Homebrew Awards - BINARIES, INSTRUCTIONS & PACKAGING
• New game Albert by kski:
• • http://atarionline.pl/v01/index.php?ct=nowinki&ucat=1&subaction=showfull&id=1613313216
  • https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=atari+800&sp=CAISBAgEEAE%253D
• Atari 800 / Sophia-2 Install by Faicuai:
• • https://atariage.com/forums/topic/317398-atari-800-sophia-2-install-letting-antic-and-gtia-be-the-best-they-can-be/
  • https://thebrewingacademy.com/products/sophia-2-dvi-output-gtia-replacement?variant=32256340164710

Shows

• Upcoming Shows where you might see Atari computers (or Atari people):
• • VCFSE June 11-13 http://southernfriedgameroomexpo.com/
  • KansasFest July 23-24 https://www.kansasfest.org ; virtual event
  • August 7 & 8, 2021: Vintage Computer Festival West 2021 (VCF West)
  • October 8, 9, 10, 2021: Vintage Computer Festival East 2021 (VCF East)
• 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

• Atari 800 VBXE installation - gyorka (Candle o Sin) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=CvoUvU4AFEc&fbclid=IwAR0GQZIvUSN3-cwGnMR0tZSIZ9xTpoGAvkkvN-t7M1zMVJsLSVVydqk-6qk
• zxEmu and 8bit Atari (Rapidus, Ultimate 1MB, VBXE) - nowy80Retro - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzrXcf-WBXA
• Dingux-atari, new Atari 800 and Atari 5200 emulator for Miyoo consoles - silvacam - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXJ2Ekv7KiY
• Back to the Future Java (b2fJ) - Eduardo Ahumada Gallardo:
• • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQllSZyGrjI
  • Download - https://github.com/mzattera/b2fJ/releases/latest
• Polish games for Atari 8-bit developed after 2000 - https://youtu.be/GQQR7Xy-nTk

New at Archive.org

• Hobbit, Dutch computer magazine, March 1983 - https://archive.org/details/HOBBIT_1983_0003/mode/2up
• Paul Daniels:
• • Video - https://archive.org/details/twitter-710542070373429248
  • Paul Daniels' Magic Adventure - http://www.atarimania.com/game-atari-400-800-xl-xe-paul-daniels--magic-adventure_3906.html
• Allan Bushman: Strategic Simulations, Inc's Fall 1987/Winter 1988 Catalog - https://archive.org/details/strategic-simulations-inc-catalog-fall-87-winter-88-catalog/mode/2up