It’s funny, watching this printer slowly fill in a shape with plastic on the build plate reminds me of watching old computers in the 80s fill a shape in with pixels on a CRT #3dprinting #retro #retrocomputing

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/204601967725

#RetroComputing

NCoT @james is posting a blog series on how to set up a retro MS-DOS C development environment with DJGPP and RHIDE, and use it to write programs:

https://ncot.uk/nostalgic-dos-development-setting-up-the-machine/

https://ncot.uk/nostalgic-dos-development-part-2-writing-our-first-programs/

#retrocomputing #msdos #c

I saw this happen with video games and couldn’t stand it. Now it’s happening with retro computers, and it’s just as infuriating. Someone’s asking €1200 for a Macintosh Quadra 840AV—seriously? Yeah, yeah, the market doing its thing. Well, screw the market.

#retro #retrocomputing #vintage #Vintagemacintosh #vintagecomputing #macintosh

A picture of the most retro of the #retrocomputing devices I have.

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A 13 register wooden abacus.

Stressful holiday? How about relaxing with some quality #retrocomputing #longreads?

Discover the community that made cool art and games in the 80s/90s using a little-known protocol for Atari ST bulletin boards, called "Instant Graphics and Sound."

https://breakintochat.com/blog/category/instant-graphics-and-sound/?order=asc

#Atari #AtariST #pixelart #history

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This screenshot shows previews for six articles in a multi-part series on the history of "Instant Graphics and Sound."

How the developers of Bravo at Xerox PARC overcame the limitations of Alto to design the first WYSIWYG editor and make it run efficiently.

http://billverplank.com/CiiD/Bravo-Newman.pdf

#XeroxAlto #XeroxPARC #retrocomputing

Neuzugänge im Alteisenregal. #vintagecomputing #retrocomputing #risc #parisc #powerpc #cpu

When I took these photos in early 2015 I still had my copy of Microsoft Publisher for Windows 95. I had bought the Italian edition with an educational license a couple of decades earlier as a Computer Science student.

I sold the product shortly after taking the photos.

#retrocomputing #microsoft #dtp

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Closeup view of the front of the product box of a packaged software application, Microsoft Publisher. The box is set on a wooden surface with the front facing the camera.

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The product box of a packaged software application, Microsoft Publisher, and the contents of the box: a paperback manual, 7 3.5" micro floppy disks, two booklets with licensing and warranty information, and one brochure. The items are set on a wooden surface. The front of the product box and the covers of the manuals and booklets are facing the camera. The floppy disks are arranged in a fan shape.

VEF Mikro 1025 - personal computer manufactured by the Riga Electrotechnical Plant (VEF) in 1980
#retrocomputing

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big orange box with CRT, front panel switches, flat-top keyboard. Slightly above home electronics project.

Read this diatribe by Al Morgan in the voice of Emily Litella, crossed with Well Actually Guy.
#retrocomputing #coco

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Page 19 Commentary. . . HoOoW MUCH MEMORY? By Al Morgan Of late, I have been somewhat shocked at the attempts to expand the Color Computer to memory limits not even recognized as necessary by mainframe computers. This alone is bad enough, but then to expound on a defamation of Tandy Corp. because the poor little CC cannot handle the load is quite unfair. The idea that more is better is not only false, but ridiculous as well. Back in the 60s when I first started working with computers (in the Navy I might add), all we had were gears, rack and pinions and funny little gadgets called disc ball integrators. Yes, these were computers. As the years went by and technology exploded, we evolved to the computer of today. The fact is most mainframes have about 32K to 128K.

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This does not, of course, include the giants used for who-knows-what. At the other end of the spectrum, you have the Sinclair IX88 with only 1K. And guess what? Programs are being developed in BASIC for even the 1IX8@ which are superior, programming-wise, to many of the ones for the other micros like the Color Computer. Why is this? It is because more memory leads one into sloppy programming (of course, not in all cases). The answer does not lie in expanding memory for a specific computer but in utilizing mass storage devices like discs. 1 do understand the need to experient, but let’'s all keep our heads while doing this. Besides my Color Computer, I own an Apple II, a Health H-89 and I work with an HP processor at work (noy I'm just a tech writer). Never have I run out of RAM. Sure, there (Continued on Page 16 )

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MEMORY (Cont’d fros Pg. 19 ) are times when I wish I had more, but then I sit down and pick my brain for a better way. It we all voice our opinion and let it be known that we want better programs using less memory rather than being forced to expand in order to purchase or utilize a particular ’ program, then this hobby (or, probably more appropriately, new technology) will grow and become such more fruitful.

GOTY, if the year is 1981 and you have a CoCo.
https://archive.org/details/zeldabat.coco
#retrocomputing

(Zelda's shooting is erratic and almost completely disconnected from your keypresses. But I like the aesthetic.)

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Zelda the witch (no relation) with cauldron, bottle of bats, weird clouds, and fluttering bat.

Python got loop-assignment (a while ago), great!

while p:=nextPC(): stuff

still fails because p might be 0, which is false. End up doing:

while (p:=nextPC()) is not None: stuff

Uugh. Still need to do more design on the toy impl before I start rewriting in something fast.

But, got named subroutines with local variables now. Just 436 LOC.
#retrocomputing #basic

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# test.mrw REM shows all main language features PRINT "Hello, world!" LET name$="global" GOSUB yourname PRINT "global name$=",name$ PRINT "global _return$=",_return$ LET pi = 3.1415927, r=16 ?"\"pi\"=",pi,", radius=",r GOTO answer REM never gets here STOP LABEL answer PN "The answer is " ?42 END *yourname LOCAL name$="unknown" PRINTN "What is your name? " INPUT name$ PRINT "You're awesome, ",name$,"!" RETURN name$

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% ./Morrow.py test.mrw; echo $? Hello, world! What is your name? Mark You're awesome, Mark! global name$=global global _return$=Mark "pi"=3.1415927, radius=16 The answer is 42 0

So I started putting together a "standard library" as I was making the arena game. But how do I know it works? Dumb menu of test code. The title banner moves, there was a bad example program in Rainbow I improved.

After arguing with modern systems, dumb shit like this is such a relief.
#retrocomputing #coco

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* Marklib Demo * Dice Names Leftpad Continue Yesno Joystick Quit

I've come to the conclusion that computers after 1990 are not just a mistake, but do not exist.
#retrocomputing

Software packaging drinking game:

+ Every time there is a distinction between libc, glibc, mlibc, libc++, etc., full drink.
+ Every time you are told to install some package, drink.
+ Every time the package doesn't work on your OS, drink.
+ Every time you need to install an older OS version, drink.
+ Every time there's a religious reference in the docs, DRINK.

YOU HAVE DIED
OF CIRRHOSIS OF THE LIVER

#fuckSoftware #computersWereAMistake #retrocomputing #isTheOnlyGoodComputing

Amazing videogames from JARB SOFTWARE (which I kept misreading as JORB)
https://archive.org/details/laserstar.coco
(disk didn't work in XRoar, I had to hit Load, pick game.bas, then CLOAD and RUN; I love loading old software)

Then it updates like once every 3 seconds, and you can't aim, just hope it shoots forward half somewhere.

Not that it's awful for a short BASIC type-in, but Star Raiders came out in 1980, and JARB is clearly aping their scoring system and tone but it's… uh.
#retrocomputing #coco

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* * LASER STAR * * © JARB SOFTWARE 1981

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ships in starry space, the final frontier. One's maybe a rocket made from like 6 pixels, the other's a UFO. Big "LASER STAR" in the center.

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FINAL SCORES MDH RANK IS: *FLIGHT COMMANDER* YOUR FINAL SCORE IS 50 JORB RANK IS: *FLIGHT CAPTAIN* YOUR FINAL SCORE IS 0 THANK YOU FOR PLAYING * * LASER STAR * * PRESS <E> KEY TO END

Interesting, this works, ran about 45% faster in my quickie test in emulator. What's it like on real hardware?

On Atari there's a "fast mode", but it turns off the screen. Used to use that in long processing like fractals, hours generating one screenful.
#retrocomputing #coco

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CPU SFPEEDUP Despite the stuff wvou may believe or have been told about the speed of the COLOR ComPuter’s 6809E CPU, {its really a Pretty swift little device. In fact, 4f vou want to see a Radio Shack store manaSer’s eves bo99le, Just Put a COLOR CompPuter next to a Mod III in his store, uwrite a short for-next 1looP to count the numbers from 1 to 1,000 on both machines and then run them at the same time. Can you 9uess uhich computer finishes first? YeP, old COLOR ComPuter! But, there’s a way ¢to make vour EQLDRH‘Canuz(r run even faster. Just ‘POKE 65495,0 You’ll be able to see “this In action right auay, becauze ‘the cusor will start chan2ing colors more AQuickly, To 9et _back to the “normal" sPeed, Just( POKE 65494.0, You have to 90 back to normal for cassette 1/0 and to transmit to the printer. If wou don’t, wou et all sorts of messy Sarbagse. And in ref- erence to SarbaSe, vou Probably will 9et some on the screen (or lose control) {f you let your Program end while wvou’re =till in the fast for- mat. Making your last line reaqd: "POKE 65494,0:END" will handle that Problem Just fine. Its a nice fea- ture for all sorts of uses, <ocr text, but I fixed the pokes so they're correct>

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978 971 972 973 974 975 976 977 978 979 988 981 98 2 983 984 985 986 987 988 989 998 991 992 993 994 9 95 996 997 998 999 1000 0K LIST 10 INPUT "FAST";F:IF F THEN POKE 65495,0 20 FOR I=1 TO 100:PRINTI;:NEXT I 30 SOUND 255, 1:PRINT 48 IF F THEN POKE 65494,0 95 END 0K

"Oh what about Linux?" Linux is a bottom-feeding parasite that uses ubiquitous shitty Intel to scrape by, like some kind of slime mold.

"Oh what about BSD?" The remaining BSDs are on life-support, like blind cave lizards, after being exiled from the SUN, which was eaten by FUCKING ORACLE OH SHIT it hurts to even type that. That Larry Ellison gets to lounge with his whores in a stolen Japanese castle, and SUN is gone.

The bad guys just completely won our timeline.
#retrocomputing

Also it so pisses me off to a level I can't even express without howling like a wild beast, that fucking Intel & MS won, snuffed out all of the competing home computers*.

INTEL SUCKS SO MUCH SHIT IT MAKES SEWAGE PLANTS THROW UP IN DISGUST.

Microsoft is like if Hitler made an OS.

* (except Mac, which was objectively the least interesting of the non-PC home computers. But they made more money, and got a $150M lawsuit payout from MS, so barely escaped bankruptcy.)
#retrocomputing

When you're leeching an entire series of a magazine, it quickly becomes obvious what the lifecycle was. Rainbow starts as this ratty little mimeograph with some issues on color cardstock, then a gigantic-ass 300+ page monthly tome, then shrinks again to 64, then 16 pages.

I'm a little shocked they got to have a final issue, most just ceased, maybe you got a postcard saying "your $X subscription is now ended".
https://archive.org/details/rainbowmagazine-1993-05/mode/2up
#retrocomputing #coco

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<black & white curves> the RAINBOW Vol. I No. 1 First of all, welcome to the RAINBOW!

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The RAINBOW May 1993 The Time Has Come Old Dog Tray's ever faithful; Grief cannot drive him away; He is gentle, he is kind. I'll never, never find A better friend than Old Dog Tray.

Ah, here's the missing manual:
https://archive.org/details/Color_Computer_Disk_System_Owners_Manual_1981_Tandy/

#retrocomputing #coco

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WHY A DISK IS FAST A disk is for storing your information. The precise term for it is a ‘‘mini-diskette,’ but in this book we’ll just call it a disk. It is far superior to tape, the other alternative. A disk is especially designed to ‘‘file’’ your infor- mation so the Computer can immediately get the information you want. For you, this means storing and retrieving information — which takes a long time on tape — now can be done quickly and efficiently.

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CoCo with one arm & legs, Radio Shack® monitor with happy face, cartridge with ribbon cable to disk drive stood vertically and long legs, happy floppy 5 1/4" diskette with arms & legs jumping up & down because he's gonna get to go GRONK GRONK in the drive! Sure it's cute now but if you saw this for real you'd freak the fuck out.

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Otherwise, you can * D.O n?t turn t!xe system ON or OFF with the . o S s disk in the drive. insert your “application program” disk. (If you have more than one drive, insert, the disk *Keep disks away from magnetic fields in drive 0). (transformers, AC motors, magnets, TVs, radios, etc.) + Handle disks by the jacket only. Don’t touch \C,A“”&“w any of the exposed surfaces, even to dust | <7 %‘&1 them. ’% * Keep disks out of direct sunlight and away 3 % from heat. "%%fi » Avoid contamination of disks with cigarette = ashes, dust, or other particles. * Use a felt-tipped pen only to write on the disk label. * Store disks upright in a vertical file. * Open the DRIVE DOOR. * Position the disk with the notch on top, Note: Your disk drives should be on the right side of as we show in the picture above. your television set. IMPORTANT NOTE! If you have an earlier model of the Color Computer, the disk system might cause interference on your screen. If so, bring the computer to a Radio Shack Repair Center for additional grounding connections. (There will be no charge for this service.)

All right, made the usual thing. Will add a shop, then some kind of arena fighting, put a disk image up later.

It's amusing to learn the quirks of each machine.

For example, CoCo BASIC only has 2-letter vars, but acts like they're any length. It's missing a lot of functions, and usual MS shitty string handling. No line number on RESTORE!

But Extended BASIC has some really cool graphics & sound commands. I should use those.

#retrocomputing #coco

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Monsters Adventure C: Create new char Q: Quit Creating char... <black text on bright green, reverse for "lowercase">

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Ojevaq Minotaur Level: 3 Adds: 21 AP: 0 STR: 32 [32] ...

I was having fun with trs80gp's CoCo emulator, but it doesn't fully implement some things, like Sh-↑ for escape in EDIT, which is kind of a big deal! Some other quirks. But I loved the gronk-gronk disk noises it made.

Switched back to XRoar which is boring but works.
http://www.6809.org.uk/xroar/
EXCEPT, no gronk-gronk, and it doesn't use system capslock. Only way I can find to shift is ^Z (turn off keyboard map), Sh-0, type lowercase/inverse, Sh-0, ^Z. Every fucking time.
#retrocomputing #coco

Damn it, I want this, and nobody's archived it:

https://www.computerhistory.org/collections/catalog/102660986
#retrocomputing

Hey, I didn't know there was a Volume II of Atari Age magazine,
https://archive.org/details/AtariAgeIssues1-7/Atari%20Age%20Issue%201%20%28May-June%201982%29/

and then a 2018 reboot:
https://archive.org/search?query=creator%3A%22Atari+Age+Magazine%22

#atari #retrocomputing

Screwing around with the CoCo emulator and graphics, using Bob Albrecht's TRS-80 Color Basic (1983).

https://colorcomputerarchive.com/repo/Documents/Books/TRS-80%20Color%20Basic%20(Bob%20Albrecht).pdf

And of course, computer people are all about RPGs: BRP, D&D, RuneQuest, Tunnels & Trolls.

#rpg #ttrpg #retrocomputing #runequest #tunnelsandtrolls

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21. Have you h.eard of Dungeons and Dragons, Runequest, or 'funnels and Trolls? These are fantasy role-playing games. If you haven't heard about these games, ask any kid about them. In the unlikely event that he or she can't enlighten you, start v.•ith tl1is booklet: Basic Role-Playing: An Introductory Guide, by Greg Stafford and Ly11n Willis. From: Chaosium, Inc., P.O. Box 6302, Albany. CA 94706.

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For more infor1nation, try these: Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) from TSR Hobbies, P.O. Box 765 Lake Geneva. VVI 53147. Runequest (RQ) from Cl1aosiu1n, Inc., P.O. Box 6302, Albany, CA 94706. Tu11nels & Trolls (T&T) from Flying Buffalo, 111c., P.O. Box 1467, Scottsdale, AZ 85252.

I mentioned in my new introduction that I am interested in #uucp, and I thought I should get into this a bit more.

uucp is technically only a unix tool, or maybe toolset, that came around very early in computing (first proper release in '79), to help with early network connections.

The abbreviation is for unix-to-unix-copy, and that's exactly what it does: it copies files between different systems 1/?

#retrocomputing

Despite FUCK I did bang on Cavez code a little bit, improved item distribution so there's no guaranteed-lose runs. Will fix tunnel backtracking tomorrow maybe?

I have to figure out how save/load will be designed. You can't do it anywhere or you'd just save-scum. Probably save points around the tunnels.

I'd like to move more game logic into the objects/monsters instead of the verbs, but working code > aesthetics.
#gamedev #retrocomputing #scheme #lisp

Harsh reviews of the Atari VCS Pac-Man.
https://intotheverticalblank.com/2020/03/16/s3e2-ataris-biggest-mistake-part-1/
#videogames #retrocomputing #atari

Shockingly non-sexist comments. Way earlier, there's some attempt at racial equality that still makes it sound like all, uh, the less harmful N-word, come from the ghetto but the good ones will be recognized and go on to high school. 1969, you know?
#retrocomputing

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So, the question, “Who becomes a computer programmer?” can be answered this way: “The high-school or college gradu- ate who has enough aptitude and motivation to acquire the necessary training.” overly pretty women in dresses staring at printouts in a computer room, not sitting at IBM console.

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Can Women Become Programmers? Unequivocally, yes. A large number have done so. Not only that, a good many have cracked the top echelon to become supervisors and systems analysts. The strong need for program- mers keeps the field wide open for women who possess the attributes that make a good programmer. Women have special qualifications that make them better programmers, too. As a rule, women have a greater capacity for infinite detail than men do, and this is a definite advantage in programming. Usually women are more dextrous than men; this makes women more adept at operating consoles. Women and girls are making inroads into programming at an accelerated rate. At one computer-programming school, 30 percent of the graduates last year were women. There are more women running key-punch (and tape) machines than men. A recent woman graduate of one programming school, who also holds a master’s degree in electronics, went directly into an im- portant company as a systems analyst. Another young woman, after a few years in a public relations firm, finished a program- ming course and within two years had developed an impressive clientele as a computer-system consultant. The best program- ming student one computer school ever graduated is a girl with only a high-school education. In California, a blind girl gradu- ated at the head of her programming class and had a job within a week as a junior programmer. No doubt about it, women make good programmers.

The good parts: Actual computers in use. Shitty photos, scan, PDF, rip. If I had access to the raw scans I'd use those…

1. 50% of trainees are women. She may be unamused by Big Boy there poking at the console.

2. Lies, damned lies, and motherfucking Waterfall PERT charts. You assholes.

3. Professional murderer programs his latest kill into the machine.

4. The one good use, Dartmouth students doing time-sharing! The world-changing thing is barely touched on in this book.

#retrocomputing

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Students receiving instruction in computer console operation. IBM front panel

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IBM asshole in tie, with chalkboard.

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US Army sergeant using a computer. IBM front panel, banks of tapes

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Students and faculty avail themselves of the GE-635 computer in Dartmouth's Kiewit Computation Center. cubicle maze, each with a teletype machine I believe pictured student is working out his turns in Star Trek.

Watch Billy as a Data-Processing Machine Operator, Programmer Trainee, Junior Programmer, Senior Programmer, and Systems Analyst write a program!

The entire "design", "programming", and "coding" parts seem to happen in step 2. A miracle happens.
#retrocomputing

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ELECTRONIC DATA …CESSING SYSTEM footpath cartoon 1. <customer in suit with comically big paper that just says PROBLEM> Problem presented 2. <pinstripe suited weasel moves to analyst's desk>. Problem assigned to project status a program developed and adapted to capacity of system 3a. <blonde & brunette ponytail girls at card punch> Data and program (machine instructions) put on punch cards or directly on magnetic tape 3b. <trainee takes stack of pancakes to next station> 4. <Joe Hardy at Card Reader -> Data -> Tape Recorder> data cards are fed into card reader 5. <Nerdly hustles tapes> Input or data tape with data card information removed from tape recorder 6. <Magnetic Tape Unit -> Data -> Magnetic Tape Unit -> Data -> Memory Drum -> Program Processing> Input (Data Tape), Output (Answer Tape), and Program (Instruction Tape) mounted in magnetic tape units 7. <Another blond guy at wall of blinkenlights> entire coordinated system started and controlled to solve problem, print results in desired form, and verify accuracy and progress of computer 8. <data flying thru the air to card output, tape output, printed output, spewing things at The Joker in hatched suit> results recorded three different ways

Your Future in Computer Programming, Davis,Sidney (1969)
#retrocomputing

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A. Data is recorded into punch cards… By a card punch <Original Documents ... punch> Automatically from radio, … <antenna ... digitalized recording instruments> Automatically as documents are typed: <Original Documents ... teletype> B. and can be converted to magnetic tape or can serve as direct input to… Punched Cards -> Processing Unit, Tape, Disk, Drum, Tape C. data processing machines or systems which calculate, rearrange, do table look-up and process current data with master data and historical data stored on magnetic tapes, drums or disks... D. to produce updated master files and finished results which are recorded into punched cards, magnetic tape, magnetic disk files or printed reports

"Expensive Apple computers were for kids of engineering managers and math geniuses like Eric, while Atari was made for kids who might one day end up on skid row."

LOL
#atari #retrocomputing

Also catching up on Antic podcast, and I find out there's an Atari podcast I wasn't aware of: Into the Vertical Blank. So I have 100+ hours of Atari fanboying to listen to!
https://intotheverticalblank.com
#atari #retrocomputing

A reminder that the past is a beautiful and also very problematic place.

I was just paging in a couple to see the table of contents, and there's a long series of these sexist card reader ads. Pregnant. Shopping. Angry. Every '60s stereotype of women, they do it!

Also the guys in this magazine are the squarest, whitest, WASPiest, Army birth control glasses wearin' motherfuckers you've ever seen.

Whew. Don't take me back that far. I'm a hippie to these assholes.
#retrocomputing

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green hemispheres in every combination, luminance time sharing DATAMATION November 64

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yellow-orange rocket glow color Saturn rocket being launched hand down to button programming on-line systems DATAMATION May 63

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Our optical reader can do anything your keypunch operators do. (Well, almost.) <cute girl at water cooler> It can't goof off at the water cooler. Or file its nails. Or eat lunch. But it can read.

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Our optical reader can do anything your keypunch operators do. (Well, almost.) <cute girl hugs indifferent suited asshole> It can't make time on company time. Or use the office for intimate tete-a-tetes. Or be a social butterfly. But it can read.

Long shot, but does anyone have documentation how the IBM LEXX editor was extensible with REXX? (how extensions/macros were integrated)

#retrocomputing #rexx

The old SDLTRS emulator doesn't run on 64-bit Mac, but TRS80GP does:
http://48k.ca/trs80gp.html
#trs80 #retrocomputing

There's 28 pages of TRS-80 games on Moby Games:
https://www.mobygames.com/platform/trs-80/

My personal favorites were of course Telengard, Raaka-Tu & a bunch of other text adventures, and Sea Dragon (the Scramble clone).
#trs80 #retrocomputing

So I'm catching up on Retro Computing Roundtable, 277 is about 1977 and The Trinity. And everyone's like "there's no games or packaged software for the TRS-80 Model I or PET", and I'm like WTF alternate reality dudes.

First, fun stuff:
http://bigpants.ca/trs80/
https://gdcvault.com/play/1023267/Emptying-the-Trash-A-Last

Then the long-running (but "resting") Trash Talk podcast:
https://www.trs80trashtalk.com

And the TRS-8-Bit newsletter, which I didn't know had 3 2024 issues!
http://trs-80.org.uk/downloads.html

#trs80 #retrocomputing

In which Taylor goes thru the Odyssey2 Computer Intro type-in. One of my favorites!

Tho almost entirely I got my documentation from 3rd party. De Re Atari might be the only official manual I used for more than intro/quick reference, but magazines, and the Compute! books, were way more useful.

We don't have official computer manuals anymore, but some of the 3rd party ones aren't awful. I like a lot of
https://pragprog.com

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lUiUQOvRHQ
#retrocomputing

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Taylor: Generation X Baby!