ANTIC The Atari 8-bit Podcast

Bill Stealey, co-founder of MicroProse Software

Bill Stealey was co-founder of MicroProse Software, with Sid Meier. They started the company in 1982, and Stealey ran the company until it was sold to Spectrum Holobyte in 1993. MicroProse specialized in flight simulation and war games — the company's games for the Atari 8-bit computers include F-15 Strike Eagle, Hellcat Ace, Kennedy Approach, Silent Service, Solo Flight, Spitfire Ace, Chopper Rescue, Crusade in Europe, and Floyd of the Jungle.

This interview took place on January 3, 2017.

Teaser quote: "He learned a new technique so he made a flight simulator out of it. And Solo Flight beat out Fight Simulator that year at Handleman."

Video version of this interview: https://youtu.be/VFDKbseZrlY

Bill on Twitter: http://twitter.com/ZoomieWildBill

Wikipedia On Bill: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Stealey

Wikipedia on MicroProse: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MicroProse

MicroProse Software at AtariMania

The Digital Antiquarian on MicroProse

Dan Corona, Atari Engineering Manager

Dan Corona was Atari employee #9 — staring in 1972, where he remained until the Tramiel takeover in 1984. Dan was Engineering Manager, and worked in many divisions: coin-op, pinball, handheld games, and consumer.

This interview took place on November 29, 2016.

Teaser quote: "It pretty much killed the company. You know, you can't continue building the same thing over and over again and not create anything new."

Steve Ahlstrom: SynFile+ and PaperClip

Steve Ahlstrom was half of The 4th Works, with Dan Moore. Together they programmed SynFile+, which was published by Synapse; and PaperClip, published by Batteries Included. The team also created BackTalk, a telecommunications program; and Sherlock, a disk sector editor utility.

This interview took place on October 4, 2016.

Teaser quote: "What's weird is, every now and then -- and this is, what, 40 years later -- I still get a random e-mail asking me for support for Sherlock or for SynFile, which is kind of strange."

ANTIC interview with Ron Luks

ANTIC interview Gary Yost

Inverse ATASCII on SynFile+: https://inverseatascii.info/2014/12/16/s1e6-synapse-synfile/

Ben Smith, Atari sales and service

This interview is part of the set of interviews we've done where we talk to many of the people still out there providing hardware, software, and/or support for our favorite computer. This interview is with Ben Smith, of Bravo Sierra Computers. As you will hear during the interview, Ben has been in the business of selling, servicing and supporting Atari items for about 32 years as of the recording of this episode. I hope you find this interview interesting and let Ben know that you appreciate all he has done and continues to do for the Atari community.

This interview took place on March 26, 2016.

Links:

• Bravo Sierra Computers - http://www.aracnet.com/~atari/
• http://www.atari.org

Wynn Smith, Mosaic Electronics

Wynn Smith was co-founder of Mosaic Electronics, a company that produced memory upgrade cards for the Atari 400 and 800 computers, as well as the Commodore 64 and VIC-20. He started at Tektronix, where be wrote code for the OEM graphics division at the age of 17. After Mosaic, he worked on memory upgrades for Intel.

This interview took place on December 27, 2016.

"It became obvious to me that if you put the wrong boards in the wrong order, not only do they not work, but there's a danger of blowing out some chips."

Mosaic memory board flyer

AtariMania list of Mosaic Electronics games

VintageTEK Tektronix museum: http://www.vintagetek.org

In this episode of Antic the Atari 8-bit podcast...

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

ANTIC Facebook Page

AHCS

What we've been up to

• Bard Ermentrout's disks
• Virtuoso Play Mode Sampler - Virtuoso Play Mode Sampler on Atari 8-Bit
• Kyroflux - http://www.kryoflux.com/
• C64 microfiler + cross-compiled version
• Harry Stewart's printouts: Atari PILOT Source Code , Atari PILOT II Source Code, Atari 400/800 Shepardson Contracted Math Package, Atari WSFN Source Code, Atari 400/800 Operating System Source Code
• Bill Wilkinson Articles - Atari
• Optimized Systems Software - Scans And Pictures
• Eaten By A Grue podcast - http://monsterfeet.com/grue/
• Amiga video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ws3DJF7MbMU

News

• Megaoids Released - posted by peteym5 (Peter Meyer) on Atari Age
• Laser Blast X at Video 61 - http://members.tcq.n...deo61/main.html
• MAD Studio by Gury on AtariAge - http://atariage.com/forums/topic/258728-mad-studio/
• Dual Right Angle XL/XE Cart Expansion - Dropcheck (Bits of the Past)
• Gardner Pomper — co-founder of Games Computers Play — has died. 2015 interview
• Stan Ockers is in hospice care
• Upcoming Shows where you might see Atari computers
• • Feb. 18, 2017 - "Atari Invasion", Marsveen, Holland - http://atari-invasion.nl/
  • VCF East - March 31 through April 2, 2017 - http://vcfed.org/wp/festivals/vintage-computer-festival-east/
  • VCF Southeast

Holiday Gift Guide

• Lotherek Rapidus Card $170EU - http://lotharek.pl/product.php?pid=107
• Best Elec 600XL 256k Memory and Composite kits both for $49.95 - http://www.best-electronics-ca.com/
• Joystick from Edladdin controllers - http://edladdin.com/
• AtariAge homebrews for the Atari 8-bit - https://atariage.com/store/index.php?l=product_list&c=45
• Art Of Atari by Tim Lapetino $25 - http://amzn.to/2hrX54h
• Coming in April: Atari of Atari Poster Collection $19 - http://amzn.to/2hd2wTI
• 3-D Printed Atari 800 from Rabbit Engineering $10 - https://www.etsy.com/listing/457193354/mini-atari-800-3d-printed
• Bill Lange - printable Atari 8-bit poster and Atari 8-bit 2017 calendar

New at Archive.org

• MAAUG Newsletter Volume 2 No. 11 Nov. 1985
• MAAUG Newsletter Volume 2 No. 9 Oct. 1985
• Portland Atari Club October 1989
• Portland Atari Club October 1989
• Portland Atari Club Atari News Vol 1 Issue 2 September 1991
• Portland Atari Club Newsletter October 1991
• Portland Atari Club Newsletter August 1991
• Sams Computerfacts Atari 400
• APX Seven Card Stub
• Hack News Atari newsletter September 1988
• HACK News Atari newsletter October 1988
• HACK News newsletter November 1988
• Atari HACK News August 1988
• Optimized Systems Software - Scans And Pictures
• Bill Wilkinson Articles - Atari
• Atari PILOT II Source Code
• Atari WSFN Source Code

Nir Dary Segment - SilliVenture 2016

• Files
• Pictures

Closing

• END OF SHOW MUSIC - Virtuoso Play Mode Sampler

Bruce Frumker: APX Memory Match, Cleveland Museum of Natural History

Bruce Frumker is author of Memory Match, a memory game that was published by Atari Program Exchange. It was first available in the winter 1982-1983 APX catalog. As part of his job at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, Bruce created interactive, laser-disc based exhibits that used Atari 8-bit computers. He wrote an article about that project, "An Atari-based Interactive Laser Videodisc System", which appeared in the March 1989 issue of A.N.A.L.O.G. Computing magazine. Bruce was also co-founder of the Atari Computer Enthusiasts of Cleveland.

This interview took place on September 15, 2016.

"...Sounds really Rube Goldberg, but the thing worked and it produced a series of exhibits that visitors enjoyed ... all controlled by the Atari."

Memory Match in the winter 1982-1983 APX catalog

Memory Match at AtariMania

Bruce's Laserdisc article in A.N.A.L.O.G. Computing

Steve Panak, Game Reviewer

Steve Panak was a prolific writer of Atari computer game reviews. He wrote the Panak Strikes! column in A.N.A.L.O.G. Computing magazine, and also wrote reviews for Antic magazine and ST-Log magazine.

This interview took place on November 28, 2016.

"Companies were just sending me games to review there at the end, so I was just getting buried in games."

Bev and Bryan Wilkinson, Optimized Systems Software

Bev and Bryan Wilkinson were part of Optimized Systems Software, the company that brought DOS XL, Mac/65, Action!, BASIC XL, BASIC XE, and other products to Atari computer users.

Bill Wilkinson was founder of OSS. Bev was his wife, and Bryan his son. I interviewed Bill in December, 2014, and he died in November 2015. As a small family-owned business, Bev and Bryan were involved with the day-to-day running of the company.

This interview took place on September 25, 2016 in my dining room in Portland, Oregon.

"And Bill would carry these tomes, books to the bathroom with him, and he'd read these books in the bathroom. I said 'Why are you doing that in the bathroom?' He said, 'It's the only room in the house that has a lock on the door.'"

Photos, brochures, and art from OSS: https://archive.org/details/OptimizedSystemsSoftware

Complete collection of Bill Wilkinson articles: https://archive.org/details/BillWilkinsonArticles

Bill Wilkinson interview

Steven Lawrow interview

Dale Lemke, Compu-Cable Systems

Dale Lemke is founder of Compu-Cable Systems, a company that created the SpectraView and SpectraView II Graphic Generator Cartridge, information display systems for use by television stations and cable companies, which ran on Atari 8-bit computers.

The company is still in business: today it is called Display Systems International, it specializes in character generators and television program listings.

This interview took place October 18, 2016.

"We had an Atari in Trump's Castle in New Jersey for a while ... We had an Atari in Museum of History in Chicago — they were using it with their ticket kiosks."

YouTube demo of SpectraView II cart: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3cAlaGUoYNI

AtariAge discussions of SpectraView II: 1 2

Display Systems International: http:/www.displaysystemsintl.com